awerded-awardiness!!

to my friend vanessa from {the best is yet to be} i'd like to say thank you!! she gave me my first [ever] blog award and i'm super excited!!

with awards come certain considerations, so here's how this works:

1. thank and link back the person who awarded you this award [see above]

2. share seven [random] things about yourself

3. award five [recently discovered] favorite bloggers [please contact these bloggers and tell them about their award]

ok, 7 things about myself....

[1] i'm the second oldest of seven children ages: [sisters] 30 & 17, [brothers] 20, 18, 12 & 10.

[2] i'm 5'6", 116, brown hair, brown eyes.

[3] i love to run and i love to cook [more]. (i realize these two things aren't really related to, except that they don't mix well simultaneously)

[4] i want to be a lyricist & an artistic photographer when i "grow up"

[5] i need 8 hours of sleep a night in order to function. period. i mean like, the same way i need air to breath.

[6] i have an obsession with music.

[7] i hate whining. of any kind. from anyone.

there ya go! :-)

now, to award my favorite bloggers....disclaimer: since my blog is so new i currently only follow 3 (except vanessa who gave me this award) but these 3 are no-doubt deserving.....

i love you to the moon ....i love her sunny smile and contagious positive attitude!!

J. Thompson Photography ....this girl has TWO, very busy 2 year olds AND a baby girl on the way. somehow she still takes time to pursue her hobby of photography and does a fabulous job!

The Art of Catching Happiness ....i usually can't help but smile when i read her posts

Now it's your turn to share the love!

'mine'-day

{via}

...this makes me happy. truly. i am a strong believer that we are the creators/makers of our destiny and while i myself have most certainly been guilty of the occasional "monday blues" i resent the mindset that it's 'dooms day' or even remotely similar.

i prefer however to view it as a clean slate, a new start, or perhaps just another pretty day in the life of the hoffmann household. i'm striving to be a person who finds the positive and the potential in every situation {and day of the week ;)} so, while i appreciate my weekends, there are many things about mondays that i thoroughly enjoy and even look forward to.

since it is after all "make-a-list monday" here are 5 of my favorites about this day:

-new words & "tricks" accompanied by giggles & smiles from the 3 little faces that fill our home during the week.-

-the smell of dryer sheets-

-asher's helpful little hands-

-quiet evenings with miss mollie all to myself {before her daddy gets home}-

-cooking dinner for my hubb-ay-

take ownership of your week!

happy 'mine'-day!

make-a-list monday

so. i've decided to make mondays list day :]

20 things i want to do before i croak:

~see the christmas lights on the san antonio river walk~

~run, complete, and place in a 10k~

~watch the ball drop {live} on new year's eve, in time square~

~carve my name in an old oak tree~

~take a summer winery tour in hills of california~

~visit the vatican city~

~climb a water tower and write "sarah was here" on the tank with a sharpie~

~walk across the ohio river {under the i24 bridge}~

~take an autumn walk along cape cod's seashore~

~visit all 50 states {and collect the magnets}~

~spend the day on the coney island boardwalk~

~own and restore an old historic home~

~take a picture to be featured on a bottle of jones soda~

~spend a season overseas~

~see the lion king on broadway in new york city~

~have a yard with a hammock~

~take a romantic canoe ride, complete with a picnic~

~teach my kids how to play "pooh sticks"~

~take my 1,000,000th picture~

~pass on only a minimal amount of amazing opportunities~

happy monday! what's on your croak list?

mixer? oh, like a blender!

so, for my mom for christmas, my siblings and i pitched in together to get her one of these:

although i wanted to get her a red one, all target had in stock at the time was white so i purchased one at the sale price with the intention of exchanging it later.

all that being said, there are at least 5 different target stores within a 10 mile radius of our apartment so over the past few days i've called the different locations to see who had replenished their supply of red mixers. upon calling one of the stores and requesting to speak with someone in kitchen appliances, this conversation may or may not have occurred:

me: "can you please tell me if you have a 4.5 qt kitchen aid countertop mixer in red?"

female employee: "sure, please hold"

(2 minutes later)

female employee: "umm, what brand do you want?"

me: "kitchen aid"

female employee: (smartass tone) "i heard that the first time, but what brand is it?"

me: "i'm sorry, but kitchen aid is the brand?"

female employee: (annoyed) "k, hang on"

(another 2 minutes later)

female employee: "umm, what does it do?"

me: (not sure if she's serious!) "well, it's a mixer? like the handheld ones, only not, because it stands alone with the bowl secured so you can have your hands free"

female employee: (still confused) "i'm sorry, like what would you use it for?"

me: (SERIOUSLY!!? i'm trying hard not to laugh at this point) "to make cookies, cakes, etc?"

female employee: (insert lightbulb over her head) "OHHHH, like a blender!!"

me: (trying REALLY hard not to laugh/scream out loud) "um, no! not at all actually. never mind. but thank you and have a great day!"

i thankfully found one at a different store with much less difficulty. although i was very tempted to drive the other location and introduce the poor girl to martha stewart, paula deen and maybe even my own grandmother!! seriously!!

so, this weekend i will deliver my mom's mixer to her in person and see my brother off to ft. knox, ky. it'll be a bitter-sweet trip home but a trip home none-the-less. i'm excited for him and hopeful of good things to come!

happy friday, everyone!! enjoy your weekends :)

{via}

noah comes to visit

last week i had the privilege of keeping a little boy that i had watched the end of last summer. his name is noah and he is just a few weeks younger than mollie. the two of them had a grand time entertaining each other for a few days....

such a cutie!!

take. take another little piece of my heart now, baby.

the last few months of our life seem like a blur.

but this past week has been especially hard.

mike's grandfather was admitted to the hospital last thursday and is not doing well. it has been a rather emotional, frustrating and exhausting 6 days and i'm afraid i'm not quite brave enough to express my truest feelings about the whole situation just yet.

regardless, it brings back memories of a time that was even more difficult and emotional for me.

here is something i wrote about feelings from back then...

sterile cold and plain

i take in this room once more

the silence helps the pain

but hurt won't let me close this door

we sit quiet, patiently and wait

for the other shoe to drop

wishing away the hatred

and the tension not to pop

"daddy's girl"

that's for another world

day late, a dollar short

another fleeting moment's gone

a wound i pray won't hurt

i'll miss you when you're gone

but i'll miss more what could have been

perhaps someday a hope there'll be

to see your handsome face again.

i cherish the few moments

that i lay my head upon your chest

the silence only hurt the pain

while leaving questions in unrest

"daddy's girl"

that's for another world

day late, a dollar short

another fleeting moment's gone

a wound i pray won't hurt

i sit here now in darkness

and wonder what has changed

i hear murmured voices all around

but only silence helps the pain

this's a little piece of my past. of my heart. so please. handle with care

{via}

asian love

this is a screenshot of an email i received over the weekend. i saved it, just in case something happens to my mike ;)

new.ness

it's 2011! and i won't waste time making exasperating exclamations of how the last year flew by. i will however, take a moment to reflect on the days of my 2010 that i am especially thankful for and fond of:

• january 5th: we found out we were having a baby girl
• march 3rd: i received the Sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist during the Easter Vigil
• april 9th-11th my friend vanessa and her husband greg came for her birthday visit, we defied our claustrophobia and rode to the top of the st. louis arch and rewarded ourselves with a tour of the anheuser busch brewery!!
• april 30th: our b-e-a-utiful and amazing daughter was born, miss mollie claire. she weighed 6 lbs 7 oz and was 21.5 inches long. and was practically perfect in every way.
• may 31st: we celebrated mike's 27th birthday, st. louis style, and took 4 week old mollie to see the cardinals vs. reds game :)
• june 20th: we celebrated our one year wedding anniversary by sharing leftover frozen cake, old champagne and our favorite wedding day memories. followed by a viewing of our "first date movie" you, me & dupree
• june 25th: i celebrated my 25th birthday!! (yayy for lower car insurance!!)
• july 3rd: we celebrated the marriage of two of our two dear friends, lance & lara trudell and had the wonderful privilege of being a part of their wedding party and beautiful day!
• july 16th-18th: we attended the steubenville conference in springfield, mo
• september 3rd-6th: my youngest brothers, tim and mike came to visit and we spent the weekend visiting the zoo and science museum (both of which are free)
• august 8th: mollie was baptized. with my best friend allison and mike's best friend lance as her godparents.
• october 4th: mike started his new job as a branch manager for us bank!!
• november 22nd-28th: we traveled home to paducah, ky to visit family for Thanksgiving and throw my mom an epic surprise 50th birthday party

we enjoyed an amazing end to a spectacular year with a great holiday season, and can say that all in all we were blessed with a happy, healthy 2010!

i don't believe in new year resolutions, but i do like the idea of making the life you want to live by setting goals accordingly.

that being said, here's one of my goals for 2011....

this year for Christmas i received:

The Canon EOS Rebel XS

so, goal número uno:

get better at photographically documenting life. get to be best of friends with my new piece of equipment. and fully learning it's potential!!

and in the mean time.....here are a few of the *amateur* pictures i've captured thus far.....

...the result of a little creativity and momentary boredom on Christmas afternoon
my beautiful baby girl happy after her evening bath
funny faces in the tub
(great) grandma & grandpa hoffmann, rich & liz, mike, mollie & i

Christmas morning excitement!

loving a visit with nana!
more bath time fun
this is my brother joe. i love the way she lights up his face *heart melt*
he loves her

this is the precious son of a good friend of mine

this is a baby picture of my dad. notice any resemblance?
my boo and myself too bad she doesn't love me ;)
cousins!

i have a lot to learn. but i'm excited!

i can't promise that my posts this year won't be heavily weighted with pictures. but i do promise to post.

happy 2011 everyone!!

blessings