{ life lately: by instagram, collages & iPhone pics }

Life's been crazy busy lately but then again when is it not.  Between Bunco, Bible Study, Book Club, Couples Community Group, working full time, commuting, two big families with tons of get-togethers,  trying to get some quality time before our little family of 2 expands AND general prepping for baby, I haven't had as much time to spend blogging.  I miss it!  Here's a little bit of what we've been up to according to my phone pics...

This was one of our fun, cozy weekends in Bend, OR, with my husband's family.  We stayed at an awesome log cabin!

We were able to break away to use a free trip I won to stay at a hotel in Portland.  It was so fun and relaxing.  We're sort of sad about how the days of "just us two" are quickly coming to an end so we're enjoying every last minute together!  We did a LOT of shopping for our little man this weekend, saw The Vow, watched Swiss Family Robinson (a classic we can't wait to show our son), and of course watched a Blazer game :]

This little lad is already SO spoiled and loved!  We've received tons of hand-me-downs, a hand knitted cardigan [top right] from a sweet older gal in my Bible Study, flowers from his Great Grandma & Grandpa, and SO MUCH MORE!  It brings me to tears how much he's already loved and blessed by so many generous family & friends!

 We've had a few random snowy days here in OR - I love it.  I was able to work from home several days and there's nothing better than working in pj's while snow falls outside!

I can't get enough of these delicious little Dove Milk Chocolates...added bonus: the quotes..

 

Less than 16 weeks left to meeting our little lad!

It always melts my heart when my sweet hubby talks to our son...

Next project - we're working on trying to get the baby boy's nursery in order...

 

I'm hoping to simplify life a bit and try to embrace these last few months before we enter the crazy "parenthood" journey!  Pray you're all doing well!

Love,

All 3 Reeds

{ san diego part 2 }

Here's the second part of our San Diego trip, in more picture collages .  We had such a wonderful time and we got to see baby Ruth on her very first visit to the beach and touching the sand !  We feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends .  We love you guys!

 

{ san diego part 1 }

Last weekend we went to San Diego to visit my best friend down there, her husband, and their brand new baby girl Ruth (how darling is her name!?).  We had so much fun seeing all our friends down there and spending time with all of them.  Here's a few pics from our trip in collages.  [ more to come...]

how darling is she?!  she looks just like her mama .  I couldn't kiss those cheeks enough ! :]

they have the best farmer's market down there - we couldn't believe we hadn't discovered it while we were in school there.  Fresh flowers, samples galore, fresh coconut juice, handmade jewelry & more .

ruth's adorable nursery

  It was the perfect weekend.  except that it wasn't long enough.  We were sad to leave our friends but so thankful to have the time with them!

{ annual beach trip }

every summer my husband's family takes a trip to the OR coast.  All the relatives from CA come up for some good family fun.  This year was probably my favorite trip so far.  We made smores by the campfire, played beach volleyball for hours (we were blessed with lots of sunshine), did family devotions every night, and this year we started a new tradition - an Iron Chef cook off.  My aunt-in-law had a great idea to put together a random bag of ingredients, separate all of us cousins into two teams, and give us 30 minutes to cook some delicious appetizers.  The judge was my uncle-in-law since it was his birthday.  The food turned out delicious and we had a blast.  This year also fell on the 4th of July weekend, so we had a big barbecue and watched an awesome fireworks show.  I love family trips and this one was especially fun...

Right before our trip I finally got a pair of TOMS...I really love them...

Here's the two huge houses we stay at every year with beach access:

not sure if you can tell, but towards the bottom right are the stairs to the beach !

I LOVED spending time with the family from CA that we don't get to see as often...

beach volleyball was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

the view & sunset from the houses is breaktaking..
[this pic with my phone doesn't do it justice]

We also had a ping pong tournament going all weekend...

My cute husband bbq'ing

 praying..

My brother in law playing guitar and leading us in songs

[all the presents on the table were gifts from our white elephant gift exchange...so fun!]

One of my husband's younger cousins leading devotions

I didn't have much time to plan out outfits before the trip but here's 3 I tried on quickly while packing:

[excuse the messy room again...]

Even though it was really beautiful, we pretty much lived in sweats all weekend - I should've known : ]  good thing I overpacked as usual and took plenty of comfy clothes.  And even though I didn't wear all these, I can save them for another trip or just another day when I have no idea what to wear! 

I've been so busy [back to work] which is why this is so late getting posted. 

Hope you're all having a great summer!

[ps. I promise to be better about posting more often!]

{ vegas vacation in pics }

Here's our recent trip to Las Vegas in pics. 

We had a fabulous time, starting out with just a girls' trip with my friend below, we stayed at a separate hotel than the guys then met up with them for the second half of the trip to celebrate my little bro-in-law's 21st bday & my husband and his friend Nate's 30th bdays.

I have a new way of packing for trips like this.  I try on outfits & take pics with my phone to see what I really want to pack & what outfits don't work well with my body type [& should be left behind.]. 

I highly recommend doing this to anyone going on a trip.  It helps pick out your outfits ahead of time {especially helpful if you're indecisive like me}, all the way down to what jewelry & shoes to wear.  This way you spend your valuable vacation time doing fun stuff & not worrying about what you're going to wear. 

I will admit, it didn't help me narrow down HOW MUCH to take, but I was lucky enough to be on a flight [southwest] that allowed two 50 lb suitcases ;) 

{I have to work on my over-packing habit}

Here are some of my outfit options I put together before our trip & referenced [just look at your phone pics] during the trip to reduce my "getting ready" time.

|| please excuse my messy room ||

[Set 1:]

[Set 2:]

[Set 3:]

do you have any fun summer trips planned???

try planning out your outfits ahead of time!