September is here! I can't remember where I read this this week, but someone was commenting on how September isn't their favorite because it's supposed to feel like Fall, has all the sweet newness of Fall, but you're still sweating in the Southern heat. Very jealous of those of you who get cooler temperatures a bit earlier. :) I'm really excited for the upcoming weeks and getting back in the swing of routines. I feel like I've spent a ton of time with my head in my planner (launch day is September 6 if you want to snag one!) planning some wonderful things for the next few months for us. Lots of sweet holiday celebrations including a Fall fellowship with our home group, riding the "Polar Express" as a family, taking a weekend girls trip with two of my best friends, celebrating our five year anniversary with a trip to San Fransisco, going to a wedding in Kansas... the months ahead are filling up and I am so excited! What do y'all have planned for the fall? My goals for this month are simple and few.. but I need it that way, haha!

What's Up Wednesday: August 2017

Note.. my blog is looking rough so I'm hoping to have this thing under construction the next few days. Be patient with me! :) 

1: WHAT WE’RE EATING THIS WEEK:
Leftover soft chicken tacos, spaghetti squash casserole, and a night out with friends! :)

2. WHAT I’M REMINISCING ABOUT:

This week, one of my favorite people in the world rushed Texas A&M Kappa Alpha Theta... 

Our Time in Nerja, Spain

Our time in Nerja was phenomenal. It's a really meaningful place for some of our family and so it was a huge joy to get to experience it with them. It felt so relaxing to have a full blown beach vacation in the middle of our trip exploring lots of other cities. We always say that we don't go on vacation, we take trips! Haha. But this was such a fun time just relaxing and being together in such a beautiful place.

Our family has owned this house for around 20 years and it is so gorgeous!

It was really nice for Ben and I to take turns being "off the job" haha. 

Bits of Victoria: A Few New Routines

I'm always amused by people's ordinary routines. Those are the most interesting blog posts for me to read. It's always interesting to see how other people make life simpler, more organized, or sweeter. These aren't necessarily meaningful things, but I realized that we've changed up a few things recently and thought I would share them. I'd love for you to leave in the comments some ways that you simplify around your house!

•  I always go through the mail the second I bring it into the house. I immediately throw away the junk, and deal with what's in front of me. It takes 2 minutes usually, and it keeps the job from spiraling out of control. I've done this for years but still thought it might be worth sharing :) 
•  I recently gave up seasonal soaps. Some of y'all are like okay great no big deal.. but I used to love getting different soaps for each season. It really is a fun touch.. but I ended up with tons of leftover soap each season and would have to store it, then sometimes forget about it, etc etc. Now we just used Honest foaming hand soap in all bathrooms and replace it when it runs out and it's not something I have to think about.
• I've been making homemade granola bars or "energy balls" every week and keeping them in the fridge and we're obsessed! I've pretty much eliminated all random processed snacks from my diet because these delicious little balls are SO much better than a 90 calorie pouch or whatever. I've been trying out different recipes each week trying to find the perfect ratios.. but look on pinterest for energy balls and you'll find what I've been making. Ground flaxseed, peanut butter, chocolate chips, oats, honey.. YUM! I should try some without the chocolate but it's hard to give up, haha!
• I've shared several times that laundry is NOT my jam. It's the hardest household chore for me to keep up with but I've finally started taking the advice of wiser women who have gone before me. Doing a load EVERY day keeps it from piling up and keeps me from really disliking it. It's been so much easier to keep on top of and it's almost become a no brainer. Not quite, but we're getting there. 

Just a few little tidbits from around our house to brighten your Monday! Hope y'all had a great weekend! :) 

Friday No. 68

No. 1 

I'm the type of person that buys all my seasonal children's pajamas the second that they hit websites because I'm crazy and afraid that what I want for Beau will sell out. Love me through it. 

Thanksgiving Jams and Halloween Jams 

No. 2

One of the first blogs I ever read Love Taza (formerly The Rockstar Diaries, haha!) recently went to Barcelona and I was so excited to see that they sat at the same table we did at Brunch & Cake a few months ago. Here's my photo evidence. :) A little bit silly but kind of cool! 

No. 3 

We've decided to make Ben's office an office/playroom. It just seems like a good fit for us in this season to use that as a shared space.. so I'm brainstorming the way we want to decorate the space to make it a sweet area for Beau but also somewhere that Ben can relax and work in the evenings and early mornings. Examples like the photo above from My Texas House are really inspiring me! 

No. 4 
Y'all probably know that one of my favorite blogs to read is Shay Shull's Mix and Match Mama.. I've LOVED her Eats cookbook and I'm so excited for her next one on crockpot meals, Simmers! It will be perfect for our busy fall! These books are so easy and great for busy families.

No. 5
I did this workout this week for the first time and LOVED it. 15 minute sweat sessions that make you sore are GOLD for a busy mama.. am I right? I also feel like this isn't a HIIT workout that you can't do. Some are like okay do a minute of jump squats take a ten second break and then do a minute of jump tucks. Not realistic for a beginner or even a non beginner sometimes, haha! This one is totally do-able!

All of my Friday posts can be found here.

Talking Wedding Ceremony Planning on Southern Weddings

If y'all have been around here for any amount of time, you know I love Southern Weddings. Even almost five years into marriage, I love their blog + brand so much!

I'm thrilled to be over on their blog today, talking about My Three Favorite Things About Our Ceremony. I'd love for y'all to hop on over there and check it out!

Thank you SO much to Southern Weddings for having me! 

And to go along with this fun post, for the next month, enjoy 25% off anything in the Southern Weddings Shop with the code VICTORIA25! (Valid until September 25, 2017) There are a lot of goodies over there that I would recommend if you're not a bride, but if you are, then I'd suggest this would be a great time to grab their wedding planner! :)

Also linking up to Thoughts for Thursday.

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Traveling to Spain & A Stop in Seville

I'm trying to wrap up all of our travel posts over the next week or so, so bear with me on that, haha! This post seems kind of weird to be a complete post but our next stop has SOOOOO many photos that I needed to break it up a little bit. 

The night before we left we went old school and printed off google maps and then my aunt handwrote directions to our destination. They have a house in Spain and it's been such a sweet part of their family story for almost 20 years. We were so excited to get to travel with our family and see this place that means so much to them. My older cousin had to work, but my younger cousin and her boyfriend, my aunt, my brother, Ben, Beau, and I all were Nerja bound!! 

When we booked our trip we decided instead of flying straight with them to Malaga (close to Nerja) we would fly into Seville, stay the night, and drive. But once we had been spending so much time with family we decided to just spend a few hours in Seville and then hit the road. I'm really glad we made that call. I'm sure we would have loved more time in Seville, but it just really worked out well. 

After a very early taxi, 4:30 am, followed by our flight, we had arrived in Sevilla!!! 

I like when you deplane on stairs, makes me feel fancy

We arrived in Seville, got through customs and whatnot, and then had a big hiccup with the rental car. My dad had been helping us with some planning and had booked the car for us so it was technically in his name although we were supposed to be on the account to pick it up. So the lady said she couldn't give us the car. So we asked if she could make us a new reservation right there and cancel the other one and she said they don't take day of reservations because they might not have cars available. Basically she didn't want to help us at all. Meh. So we rented from another place after a few others also didn't have cars available. The original place ended up covering the cost of the car we ended up with for our inconvenience. 

We drove through Seville, stopped for lunch, and then decided to explore the Plaza de Espana! It was beautiful and we had so much fun, even though it was very hot and we were honestly ready to get on the road. We're so glad we stopped to see this beautiful part of Seville.

We then drove our few hours to Nerja, and enjoyed some podcasts on the drive. When we arrived, we were SO pleased to see that my aunt had arranged for a high chair. After feeding Beau in our laps for a week.. this was AMAZING!!

And what better way to recover from several hours in the car.. we hopped in the pool! XO 

Life Lately

Last Friday morning (August 11) I got up with a strong feeling that I needed to look at my phone to see if one of my best friends, Kayla, had gone into labor. I brushed it off and went to the bathroom and came back and looked at my phone leisurely a bit later and I had about a million texts and missed calls starting at 2 am... Kayla's water had broken and they were already at the hospital! I called Ben immediately to come back from being on his way to meet a friend for breakfast to get Beau.. bc I had to get to the hospital!! 

Once I got there at around 8 Kayla had already gotten her epidural and at her last check she had been at a 3. Ben ended up bringing Beau up to be with me while he went to a quick meeting so he got acquainted with the waiting room life. 

No biggie, just waiting on your girl to be born. Haha! 

Not long after this photo we left the room for Kayla to have her check and the grandmas to be in the waiting room got a text saying she was at a 9!! We all thought it was a joke at first but were then thrilled to know there would be a baby by lunch! 

Susannah and I left to run get a cookie cake, of course! :) 

Beautiful Ella Mae was born at one o' clock on the dot. 

Just look at this beautiful family!!! 

Can't get enough of this girl! 

So you might be thinking... didn't one of your other friends just have a baby too? YEP. Kayla and Rachel are actually childhood best friends (Kayla is how I know Rachel, although her and her husband are now in our home group too!) and they had baby girls three days apart, totally unplanned. What's nuts is that their original due dates were 9 days later than when they had the babies, but still ended up 3 days apart. Rachel's baby was breech so she had a scheduled c-section, and Kayla went into labor early. This is nuts, right? Anyway, it's going to be so sweet for these girls to grow up together. 

So last week I went to pick up our Wal Mart Grocery pickup on the way back from getting my tooth adjusted at the dentist. I got home, opened the trunk, and saw Sunny D, Cheetos, and a bunch of other stuff I don't buy. They gave us the wrong groceries! I called back and they said that we could come pick up our groceries, but that they couldn't resell the groceries if I brought them back.. so this lead to Ben eating cheetos and feeding Beau his first Lunchable! HAHA!! 

On Wednesday we had our first accountability meeting with Baby Laurel and the girls were LOVING it!! 

Afterwards I went with my mother in law to run a few errands and my sweet boy fell asleep before lunch! He usually would wake up when I picked him up but he was OUT! 

Such an unexpected blessing to get to cuddle my sleeping boy! 

Look how big he looks trying on this hat.. hurts my heart! 

A photo of my big strong boy the night before his surgery! 

(Beau's pajamas + sign) 

For those who have asked, this was NOT Beau's thumb surgery. That will happen sometime this winter. We have our appointment with his hand doctor at the end of October and will hopefully schedule then. This was just an outpatient procedure, and although this is super unlike us, we're choosing to keep the details of it offline. However, I love and appreciate you all so much and am so grateful for you caring about our boy! 

Waiting to get checked in! 

After we checked in and he had all his vitals checked, we got to go visit our family in the waiting room for about 30 minutes before Beau would go back for his procedure. 

Look at our strong and sweet boy. This photo hurts my heart so much. He hadn't eaten or drank anything in so long and he was still in such good spirits! My sweetest little heart. I shared this on instagram but people kept commenting on his hair (of course! haha!) and how happy he was. We have the happiest boy! 

Playing with Granny and Pops for a last few minutes before surgery!

My boy in his hospital gown. Hurts my heart!

We waited in the waiting room for about 2 hours with our family. Thankfully my niece was there to keep me distracted, I love that girl so much! The hospital kept texting me updates throughout telling me that he had fallen asleep, the procedure had started, was going well, closing had begun, and was finished. Then our awesome doctor came out to tell us that everything went perfectly! Praise the Lord. While talking to him a nurse came to get us to sit with him until he woke up. When we went back he was laying on a little bed with an oxygen mask laying off to the side to help his system clear out quicker. He was under a big blanket and was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. We sat by his bedside until he woke up and then I could hold him, even though he quickly fell back asleep. 

So this is funny.. we were both texting people updates and Ben decided to take a new photo of Beau and I for every message "because it's easier" haha! So he literally sent his Granny this photo of me texting. So goofy! 

That night was ROUGH. We've never experienced Beau waking up a million times before and it was crazy! But we ended up having a lot of really sweet cuddles although we were exhausted! This little boy was in good spirits the next morning during breakfast, though! 

Once we realized that Beau was doing so well and acting mostly himself while he was on his medicine, we decided to get out of the house! 

On Saturday morning we went to go check on Ella again.. look how sweet! Can't wait for many more photos of these two, exactly 15 months apart to  the day! XO