This weekend, Zoe and I (with a LOT of help from my parents and several helpful men from church) moved back to Rexburg. Ryan stayed down in Utah, flat on his back awaiting his surgery.

Yep - he's having surgery too. Great timing, huh?

We finally got internet today, 3 long days without it, and while I'm still recovering from my surgery and unable to move a lot, I'm unpacking and getting my house as ready as I can.

Zoe starts school in two days and I'm so excited for her.

I'm also terribly sad because I will miss her first day. I will miss her first week. I will be in Utah staying with Ryan through his surgery and recovery, and my mom will be here, taking care of my sweet little girl. I've never had to choose between my husband and child in this way before. I'm physically unable to be in both places, which breaks my heart. I am, however, very grateful I have family close enough to help like this.

We've been so fortunate to live (relatively) close to either my parents or Ryan's, our entire marriage. What am I going to do in a year when we move away? We have no real idea where we will be headed after graduation, but I think after years of being students, we are ready for an adventure.

I'm not doing a lot of anything lately. Mostly getting ready.
Getting ready to spend one more year in Rexburg (I'm already appreciating the cooler weather).
Getting ready to help Ryan prepare for interviews, applying for jobs, and graduating.
Getting ready to embrace some lifestyle changes.
Getting ready to try again for a baby.

I'm in prep mode right now. Which involves many to do lists and carrying my planner 24/7. The Back to School vibe is in the air, which ignites the planner in me. I'm anxious to get things back to normal and back in order.

XOXO,
Holly & CO.

With the neon trend in full swing, I wanted to take advantage of the color scheme and make some fun cards.
I used American Crafts white textured cardstock, black ink, some stamps, Silhouette Double sided adhesive paper and a neon glitter sampler pack from Michael's, it's similar to this one, but the colors are neon.

  Birthdays with my friends are often driven to phone calls, Facebook messages or texts even. It just seems to head that way when you get older, add kids and jobs. But, I came up with an idea to help them celebrate even though I'm miles away.

  This Birthday Party for One package is only a bit more work than a card itself, but it leaves a big impact!
1. Birthday Card - the one below is handmade but I made a similar printable version available for download here (card is sized to A2)


2. Confetti
3. Candle
4. Funfetti Mug Cake Mix
       (8 Tablespoons of cake mix measured out into a Ziploc bag with printable instructions)

At the beginning of the summer, I found this fantastic box at Ikea (and you can buy it online!) Over the weeks and months we've been filling it up with art supplies for Zoe.

There are three features of this box that make me love it so -
1. the top is flat which can be used as a working surface
2. it comes with several dividers so you can rearrange the box to fit your supplies
3. it is big enough to store all her supplies in one place



With these items, including the box, you can have your very own art box for under $10! And it's school supply season, you might even be able to score these items for less.

Box - $4.99
Crayons 8ct - $0.69
Markers 8 ct - $0.97
Glue - $1.77
Scissors - $0.89
-----------------------
Total = $9.31

Now that is just the basics, and you may already have a lot of those things around your house or other items you can swap in, like colored pencils or glue sticks.

Now, for the deluxe edition....

All items above are from Target Dollar Bins, each item was $1.00. Entire contents of each package is pictured.

Other items you could include:
- Popsicle sticks
- stamps or stamp markers
- watercolors or watercolor crayons
- colored paper
- stickers
- shoelaces or string (for making bead necklaces)

The options are endless and really great to control the mess art supplies sometimes come with. These would also make great gifts or road trip companions.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.