sentimental cards and how much I love them

Have you ever gotten a card from your friend, family member, lover, etc. and just LOVED what it contained? It's crazy to me how much I loooove getting cards from Colby and my dad.

All my life, my dad has always written his girls sweet, mushy-gushy cards. Every Christmas,  most birthdays, you can expect a nice card from my dad that highlights every accomplishment that has happened in the last year/few months of your life. He tells us how proud he is of us, how much he loves us, etc. It's better than any gift  he could really give me (well maybe not any gift, but 99% of gifts!). One year, he even wrote us letters on a softball (he had purchased us all softball gloves, so it was kind of themed).

The point of this story is that I really do love personal cards. Colby is not a huge card writer, but when he does write me a card, or a note on flowers, etc., I love it and save it in my wallet, on a mirror, etc. until it gets all crumply.  On my bathroom mirror, I have a note from our First Anniversary that is a little note about how he loves me, then it has "1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 5..-->Forever" with the 1 crossed off (meaning we made it a year, lets mark off years til forever)!  Last Valentine's Day, he wrote me a card that wrote every attribute he loved about me. It made me glow inside and I kept it in my wallet forever (until I switched wallets and it wouldn't fit!). I love hearing the deep, "mushy gushy" feelings that Colby has for me, especially because he's not super "wordy" or mushy gushy, so when he does get a little mushy gushy, I melt!

Anyways, here are some great letters between famous couples I found via online places. I underlined my favorite parts!

 Ludwig van Beethoven
 Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), one of history's most famous and mysterious composers died at the age of 57 with one great secret. Upon his death, a love letter was found among his possessions. It was written to an unknown woman who Beethoven simply called his *Immortal Beloved.* The world may never put a face with this mysterious woman or know the circumstances of their affair and his letters are all that is left of a love as intensely passionate as the music for which Beethoven became famous. Compositions such as the Moonlight Sonata as well as Beethoven's many symphonies express eloquently the tragedy of a relationship never publicly realized.

July 6, 1806
My angel, my all, my very self -- only a few words today and at that with your pencil -- not till tomorrow will my lodgings be definitely determined upon -- what a useless waste of time. Why this deep sorrow where necessity speaks -- can our love endure except through sacrifices -- except through not demanding everything -- can you change it that you are not wholly mine, I not wholly thine?
Oh, God! look out into the beauties of nature and comfort yourself with that which must be -- love demands everything and that very justly -- that it is with me so far as you are concerned, and you with me. If we were wholly united you would feel the pain of it as little as I!
Now a quick change to things internal from things external. We shall surely see each other; moreover, I cannot communicate to you the observations I have made during the last few days touching my own life -- if our hearts were always close together I would make none of the kind. My heart is full of many things to say to you - Ah! -- there are moments when I feel that speech is nothing after all -- cheer up -- remain my true, only treasure, my all as I am yours; the gods must send us the rest that which shall be best for us.

Your faithful,
Ludwig 

Napolean Bonaparte (this guy knows how to talk to his lover!!)
 In addition to being a brilliant military mind and feared ruler, Napolean Bonaparte (1763 - 1821) was a prolific writer of letters. He reportedly wrote as many as 75,000 letters in his lifetime, many of them to his beautiful wife, Josephine, both before and during their marriage. This letter, written just prior to their 1796 wedding, shows surprising tenderness and emotion from the future emperor.

Paris, December 1795
I wake filled with thoughts of you. Your portrait and the intoxicating evening which we spent yesterday have left my senses in turmoil. Sweet, incomparable Josephine, what a strange effect you have on my heart! Are you angry? Do I see you looking sad? Are you worried?... My soul aches with sorrow, and there can be no rest for you lover; but is there still more in store for me when, yielding to the profound feelings which overwhelm me, I draw from your lips, from your heart a love which consumes me with fire? Ah! it was last night that I fully realized how false an image of you your portrait gives!
You are leaving at noon; I shall see you in three hours.
Until then, mio dolce amor, a thousand kisses; but give me none in return, for they set my blood on fire.

Mark Twain:  I like this because its simply expressive and not over the top. Seems very heart felt and sexy rugged!!
May 12, 1869

Out of the depths of my happy heart wells a great tide of love and prayer for this priceless treasure that is confided to my life-long keeping.

You cannot see its intangible waves as they flow towards you, darling, but in these lines you will hear, as it were, the distant beating of the surf.
Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), American writer, to Olivia Langdon, his future wife.

I love reading old letters when couples used to write back and forth! My grandparents have some letters like that and its such a cool thing to keep around for your kids/grandkids to read one day!

Anyways, Happy Friday!

Sara

Family

I love my family. Truly and deeply, even when some of them drive me crazy. I love everything that a family is, represents, supplies, gives and does.  Being a sister, daughter, auntie, granddaughter, cousin and niece to such a wonderful family fulfills a large part of my life. I love it.

This is my entire immediate family. Bowen (nephew), John (Bro-in-law & Katie's hubby), Katie, Lisa (sister), Jude (nephew), my mom, Harper (niece), Hallie(niece), my dad, Landon (nephew), me, Allison (sister), Grant and Ryan (bro-in-laws).

 

Very thankful to have all of these people in my life. Thank you, Lord.

Sara

Some Things...

The other night, I went  out to dinner and Salvation Army with my dear friend, Amber! We ate at Noodle Zoo and feasted on chicken fajita salad. It.is.so.good. YUMM. Then, we went to Salvation Army. Amber had been wanting to go, and for the most part, I think she liked it. Here's a couple pictures of a cute white inlet top I purchased for around $1.50.

I loved the sleeves. They are dainty and feminine:) I wore this to the Rascal Flatts concert that a ton of people went to last night. Their openings acts were INSANE..They had Eli Young Band (MY FAVES!), Little Big Town and Eden's Edge. Such a great line up.

Here's some group shots (missing lots of ppl but the only ones I've got!):

PS: I loved the earrings I had on.. can you see them? They are torquoise and dainty.

I have had such a busy week. Last week, I traveled to Oklahoma for work on Tuesday and Wednesday, got back around 6pm, picked up Katie and Deana, then hauled our fannies down to the Iowa State Fair to watch Hunter Hayes on the free stage. Colby had a surprise for me and had gotten us a pass to do a meet and greet with him! It's nice having him work for the fair! Here's our pic with Mr. Hayes:

This is Katie's hot pink tank top. I love it. She got it as a gift from TJ Maxx.

On Friday, I went to the Fair with all my family! We do this every year and it is a blast. Such a great time to hang out with everyone and see the kids enjoy themselves. Well this year, we were in for a treat: we saw a baby calf be born! It was soo surreal and made me want to be pregnant!  Hallie, my oldest niece and Katie's firstborn, was there to see it and she loved it! She kept saying, "Do you see that, Sara?!" The vet had to hook a rope around the calf's feet and yank him out, and the poor mama cow looked like she was in so much pain! As soon as the calf came out, Mama Cow walked over and started licking the baby. It was such a powerful moment! Simply amazing to see something like that! Here's some pictures:

You can see the feet/hooves being pulled out of the Mama Cow here.

Mama Cow immediately started licking Baby Calf. So precious.



On Saturday afternoon, I helped my mom and dad install hardwood floors. They are beautiful! It was nice to be able to learn how to install the flooring, too. I think my neck will be mad at me for weeks because of it, though! (I really need a better pillow, I'm thinking. My neck is always out of wack). Here's some pictures of the progress made:

I think Mom and Dad are going to be really happy with it!

And... last but not least, here is an update on my pepper plants! They are just taking off. I have around 5 medium sized peppers, with lots more hanging, just getting ready to get picked! I can't wait until I can actually pick them! Here's a picture:


Anyways, have a happy Monday! It is absolutely gorgeous outside today!  I LOVE IT. I have been humming, "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day in the neighborhood, so won't you be mine?"  (Loved me some Mr. Rogers back in the day.. Quality TV show if you ask me!).

Sara



M.I.A. and things I am looking forward to!

I have been on furlough for a week or two!  Not really.  I have just been enjoying the last snippets of summer!  As Sara mentioned, we went on vacation with the whole Vandergirl crew plus a bonus family!  We had an amazing time!  It takes me a good week to get out of "vacation mode."  How about you?  Do you stay on mental vacation?



















































 On the home front, we have just been hanging out enjoying this glorious weather!  Here are a few pictures of my cuties!  The girls are loving dress up  these days...It tends to be highly entertaining for me!

And finally, I am REALLY really REALLY looking forward to going to the Iowa State Fair.  Sara's pictures got me even more pumped up for it!  It really is one of the highlights of my summer!  Some other big things I am looking forward to....Hallie starting preschool and soccer, directing our Cubbie program at our church, possibly being a contributor on a REALLY cool Des Moines blog for moms, fall clothes, Apple Orchards, OH-and the list could go on and on!    

Outfit post and Good Times at the IOWA STATE FAIR!! Yee haw.

Hola mi amigas!

So, I had just gotten home from Wisconsin when I was gonna make a little trip down to the greatest place on earth, the IOWA STATE FAIR! I wanted a cute top because I feel like all my clothes are really 'blah' to me. So, where do you wanna guess I went? That's right: Salvation Army!!!  Here's two cute tops I found and wore to the ISF on Saturday and Sunday night.

Saturday night:

Isn't this shirt cute? It's Candies brand (I think from Kohl's likely). Anyways, got it for $1.50. I wore it with dark skinny jeans and little mini-wedge sandles. It was nice and breezy and comfy.

Sunday Night:

Here's the other shirt I bought. It is a weird brand that I don't know but it seemed boutique-esque. Got it for $2.00.  Also, yes I did wear a fanny pack. I have a stiff neck and didn't want to have extra weight on my shoulders. I loved that sucker! Being hands free was ideal. 

Sunday I went down to the ISF with Kelly and Kelly, and their daughter Kadance. We walked all over and saw all of this:

This is a Belgian horse. It was so tall and had a super thick neck.

This was a fat and happy pig! It's legs don't even rest on eachother!

This pig was smiling.

Here's Kadance and Kelly relaxing on some rocking chairs at the ISF museum house.

This cow was soo cute. It's all curled up. Must be a cuddly cow! HE HA.

How gorgeous are these wood floors? They were in the ISF Museum house. They are the original floors from the old country house. I want floors like this someday!

Kadance standing by the state fair winner for Biggest Pumpkin. FYI. this is not even that big. They are usually monsters.. I think the drought might be effecting things this year.

Kadance eating the "hit" new food at the fair: A double wrapped bacon corndog. I had a bite and the bacon flavor was faint. I think they used the skinny little pieces of bacon. They need to put some thick applewood smoked bacon on those suckers!

Butter Cow. Enough said. This is an ISF tradition that goes back forever and ever. They are making a movie about butter sculptors.

This is an old printing press. This guy and his wife were running it. They were laying out an actual newspaper and would put little kids names in it--for free! Kelly and Kelly gave a donation to them and they gave Kadance her metal name press along with her pressed out name. It was so neat.

ALERT! Prepare to be grossed out! This is a foot bath that sucks all the toxins out of your body. These legs are not mine. I was walking by and SHOCKED by what the ladies told me. They told me the water was CLEAR when they started and all that brown/green bubbly stuff represents the toxins literally being expelled by their bodies. How gross is that? It was $30 for 30 minutes, so I didn't do it, but really wanted to try it!

We watched the VitaMix presentation. It is sooo cool.  I want one... but they cost around $500, so I will pass for now!

On Sunday night, Colby got us box seats to the Miranda Lambert concert through his work (ISF). It was pouring down rain and one of the best concerts I've ever been to! Here's some pictures. BTW, Homegirl Miranda rocks.

Here we are looking like wet pups! Colby's brother, Tad, and my cousin, Hannah, went with us!

Me and LoveFace. I love him.

Fanny pack under a sweatshirt=looking like a sassy pregnant lady.

Here's what Miranda wore. She is soo pretty and "real" looking!

Anyways, hope you guys have a great Monday! I am traveling to the great state of Oklahoma Tuesday and Wednesday!

Sara



Peppers are growing!

I got home from vacation and one of the first things I did was check on my pepper plants. They look huge!!! My grandpa Clate watered them for me while I was out of town. I looked around in the leaves a bit and found three decent sized peppers!!! Here's some pictures:

Watermelon sorbet

This is some sorbet I made! Purée watermelon then add sugar (I added crystal lite lemonade packets). Then freeze. This stuff is great. Also it's nice if ur watermelon isn't the greatest. Good way to use your melons!