Portland.

Last month we took a trip to Portland, Oregon! We had such a blast! We spent the week with my sisters, Rebecca and Stevie, our friend Kaleb, my brother-in-law, Calvin and our little family of three. Here's how our trip went.

There was plenty of time for snuggles and to be read to by Aunt Kiki.

We got to try some strangely delicious treats from VooDoo Donuts.

We spent an afternoon at Canon Beach where there was basking in the salty breeze...

Lots of running in the surf...

Lots and lots of running in the surf.

And plenty of little footprints left in the sand.

One afternoon we visited Multnomah Falls.

Where I got a photo with my gawgeous sisters.

And discovered a fairy bath in the trees. (As my sister Becca so adorably named it!)

We stopped at a park that overlooked the beautiful mountains.

 There we got lots of kisses...

...lots of kisses.

We ooh'ed and ahh'ed at the creatures at the aquarium in Newport Beach.

We really checked them out.

But we did NOT touch them!

Activities that weren't photographed were: a day spent in the Hawthorne district shopping at fantastic shops and thrift stores and eating the best curry I've ever had in my life, a day spent at Newport Beach watching the sea lions and having fresh seafood, a few hours beach combing at Agate Beach where Stevie found an amazing piece of rock, and lots of time in between enjoying the green city and each other!

Tacky.

Troy once asked if it was tacky that I told people how little I paid for something if they compliment me on it. No, way, Jose...and Troy.

I love thrift stores. The extended version of that statement is: "I love finding stuff at thrift stores, googling said item, and discovering it costs a fortune! Or covering it in spray paint and making it look like it should have cost a fortune."

Which brings me to this shirt:

It is by a company called All Saints from London. I don't think they carry children's clothing anymore, but their men's shirts sell for $120 and up. I paid $3.

Tacky? Nope. Genius. And Zeke looks so studdly in his $3 designer European shirt!

Choo Choo.

Friday Becca and Zeke and I hopped a train to Salt Lake. Technically, we bought a ticket and walked on, but hopping trains sounds so adventurous.

We spent the afternoon at Gateway Mall. Ate sushi. Made a few googly eyes at Anthropology. And took the train home.

Projects.

I heart thrift stores + spray paint! I got this chest of drawers at D.I. for $30. It was a bit worse for wear, but I loved the dreamy hardware and curvy legs.

Five cans of spray paint later and I get this sexy lady (yes, she's a lady...duh):

Months ago I found this adorable mail holder at Savers for around $4. I loved the potential, but having a mail slot for each day was not functional for me. 

And my new desk area has lots of white and natural wood tones and was screaming for a pop of color, so it was time for a bit more spray paint:

I LOVE it! I took out several of the dividers, leaving five compartments: Bills, To File, To Mail, Coupons and a place for envelopes and labels. I also added a knob since it was missing one.

Hopefully this week I will get the desk cleared off and show y'all our new family command center! It's coming along nicely, so I'm excited to show it off.

Anyone else spray painted any thrift store buys lately?

Welcome!

The first post of our new family blog is intimidating. I thought of writing about Zeke's brush with death on Friday, but that seemed like a downer start. I've thought of showing everyone how messy our living room is and how I keep blaming it on moving, but is really more about laziness, but again...who wants to start out on that foot?

So, instead, the first post is going to be a short and sweet, hello! Thanks for reading our family blog. I'm not really sure of my plans here other than documenting our daily lives and having a place to talk where I can pretend people are listening. But I am excited to be able to mark this off of my list of things I'd like to make time for someday.

Here's a few things we'd like you to know about our family:

Kimberly

Hi. I'm Kim. I'll be writing most (or all) of the stuff that you read here. Here are a few things that I love -

family, toddler cuddles, spray paint, thrift stores, books, blogging, grass, my faith, singing, show tunes, my vacuum cleaner (weird, right?), sleeping in, staying up late, planting stuff (even though it usually dies), laying my head in my husband's lap while watching TV, red nail polish, disposable dishes, home cooked meals, Mississippi, my girlfriends, card games

Troy

This sexy man is my husband and the Patriarch of our home. In my opinion, he's the best thing since sliced bread! We sure do love him! His hobbies and loves are -

guitars (and lots of them), discovering unknown bands, music, teaching children music, playing basketball, humor, making others laugh, Star Gate (of which we've watched 60+ episodes this year...curse you, Netflix!), being a dad, having a son, reading, writing (he leaves me in the dust with journaling), the Gospel, deep conversation, local music stores, open mic nights, eating home cooked meals, jamming with friends, giving his wife back rubs and cleaning the house (here's to testing the law of attraction!)

Zeke

You'd think that with my control freak tendancies or with Troy's strong leadership of our home that we'd be in charge around here. Nope. We were until this little guy came along. He totally runs the show. And makes it a pretty fun place to be! He really loves -

yo Gabba Gabba, puzzles, playing outside, jamming with his daddy, snuggles, being read to, reciting the alphabet, his grandparents, his aunts and uncles, traveling (he's been to 9 different states in his short 2 years of life), Angry Birds, cars, trains, planes, walks to the part, cheese