I'll be continuing to use this as a way to save a letter each year for Zoe, and then giving it to her on her 12th birthday (there's just enough pockets!) For year one, I'm going to add some handwritten notes from when she was inside me, as well as notes from throughout her first year, since I didn't start this tradition until her second birthday. Here's a peek at the insides of the first few.

Wow, Sorry guys, I've been in a little bit of a slump lately, just anxiously waiting for the fate of our future to be determined. It kinda blankets the house in a nail-biting, can't really think about anything else, type vibe, which is a killer for creative juices.
However, since the acceptance at BYU-Idaho, our nerves have calmed just slightly as we wait for more letters. This has cleared the anxiety just enough to get the creative juices flowing again.

I saw these letter flashcards at Homemade by Jill and I came straight home and made a set for Zoe. Here's the link to the download. (It's free) I cut out the cards and glued the corresponding letters together and then laminated them, for durability.



I've had these pictures sitting on my scrapbook desk for weeks but I was totally uninspired until now. I had so much fun masking with my new Mr. Huey, navy mist. Except that I had to go to church today with navy dyed fingernails.


We usually dress Zoe, but occasionally I give in and let her pick out her own outfits. This was yesterday afternoon, post nap. All her, right down to the brown mary-janes. Pre-nap, she was wear a dress my mom made her and a sweater. She has a style all her own. Yeah that's an understatement.


Oh, I almost forgot. I promised dress-up pictures. ( Please do not judge my photography skills based on this photo. It was late.) This is a bridesmaids dress that I wore when I was pregnant with Zoe, make-shifted into a dress for a 2 year old. Not pictured is the makeshift crown and jewels.


I must have been bit by the cooking bug today, because I cooked a full dinner for the first time in a long time. Ryan probably thought I forgot how to cook. Oh, and I also made some more oatmeal bread.
So yummy!

I hope you all have a great week.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

It's a good thing I like potatoes. I'd like to announce that my amazing smart, talented, hardworking husband was accepted to BYU Idaho! We are still waiting to hear back about BYU Provo, but at the very least we are moving to Idaho at the end of the year.

We are nervous but excited at the same time.

Sorry to be so short, I'm blogging from the iPhone and it's kinda difficult to write a lot.

P.S. Happy birthday to Zoe's BFF Ethan, we are so happy you are a part of our lives.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

Crispy fall air....It's here to stay!
I love just the faint of a chill that's starting to become a permenant fixture in our days.

I love all things fall, and to celebrate, I indulged in a few fall essentials.

Shade clothing is liquidating and having an amazing sale. I bought this dress this morning for less than $20.

Today is all about the scrapbooking!

First off, that layout I took down for publication is now available in the September issue of ScrapStreet Magazine. The link to my page is here (my page is toward the bottom, so scroll down)

Next up, I've been waiting months, literally since June when I started taking pool/water pictures for this line of paper. You might remember my post about it here. But I finally got it! and Here's the proof!


I'm actually kinda bummed I don't have a ton more water pictures because I *love* this wave paper. I had so much fun splatting the blue mist all over the page, sometimes getting messy is fun. Although I did look like I had Smurf fingers after I was done.

And Finally, I'm going to be de-stashing my scrapbook stuff a bit in the near future and will be selling small lots of supplies that I'm no longer going to use, everything from paper, to ribbon, to punches. If you're interested let me know and I'll send you the info and pictures and prices.

Well that's all for today.

XOXO,
Holly & Co

Listening: Michael Buble on Pandora
Eating: Oatmeal
Drinking: Diet Coke
Wearing: AE jeans and sweater, despite it being over 100 yesterday and most likely today.
Feeling: Anxious
Weather: Over 100, praying for fall to come quickly
Wanting: To scrapbook, but hard finding the time
Needing: A haircut. Zoe got one yesterday and  I realized how badly I need one too.
Thinking: about the holidays, packing, scrapbook supplies I want but should wait to order.
Enjoying: Zoe and her constant observational chatter, "Door," " Mommy's dress,"" Do you hear that?"
Wondering: if I'll get to sleep in this weekend.


What are your currents?


XOXO,
Holly & CO.

We've been spending a lot of time here this weekend.
This is the place Ryan & I got married.
This is a sacred, spiritual place.
Being here gives me peace and comfort.
If you'd like to read more about this special place, you can go here.



XOXO,
Holly & Co.

The layout I posted yesterday is up on the company Cosmo Cricket Blog.

See it Here!

I told you this week was busy, I had no time to blog. But I'm here now with lots of pictures!

My parents came into town this weekend just for fun! It'd been a long time since they had been out here to visit, so we were excited to show them around.
Day 1: Thursday. My parents didn't get into town until almost 10pm but they came by to say before they went to their hotel.
Day 2: Friday. Ryan had to work, but I took the day off. We got up bright and early and headed to the Sacramento Zoo. Zoe had never been to the zoo and none of us had been to the Sacramento one.
Right as we got into the park, they had the train. It was empty, but we went to ask about rides. They said we could go right then, and have it all to ourselves. It was great!

Zoe really enjoyed seeing the monkeys and that's what she's pointing to. The Sac Zoo is a lot smaller than the huge Denver Zoo I grew up visiting, but we were able to get SO much closer to the animals. We were about 5-6 feet from 2 jaguars with nothing but a wire fence in between us. We saw the new tiger cub. We also got to pet a desert turtle. It was nice to get a little bit closer than we would have been able to at a big zoo.
Zoe didn't want to ride in the stroller or walk, she wanted to be carried, but I made her walk and she was less than happy about it. Holding hands with Papa and Nona made it a little better though.
We were going to head over to Fairytale Town, but it looked really busy and lunchtime was nearing, so we decided to head towards home to get some lunch. We stopped at El Torito, so Zoe could have some salsa (her favorite). While Zoe took her nap, my Mom and I headed over to Tayo's fabrics and spent almost 2 hours looking around.
Ryan and my Dad hung out with Zoe for the night while my Mom and I went to our Ward Service Auction. It was so great to have my Mom there to help. We won lots of fun stuff. Jamie's muffins, a sock monster kit, a reed diffuser, it was great.

Day 3: Saturday. My Dad and Ryan got up bright and early to play some golf. Zoe and I went and picked up my Mom at her hotel and we went shopping! Zoe has grown a lot in the past couple months. Her waist is the same, but she's shot up like 2 inches. None of her jeans fit her, and her shorts are beginning to be a bit immodest. So we went to Old Navy and stocked up. We even got her Halloween Costume -
We're not that big into Halloween, but I didn't want her to be without a costume, so she's going as a pretty pink skeleton this year. (and they double as jammies, so win/win!) The hardest part will be keeping them in the package until Halloween.
After shopping and Golf, we headed up to Lucille's BBQ in Rocklin...mmmm....
Best strawberry lemonade ever...and they serve it in a mason jar...double plus!