Friday, December 14

Our Palm Springs Anniversary Trip

Palm Springs
(Mural at the Ace Hotel and Swim Club but Laura Berger.)

Johnny and I recently celebrated our anniversary with a trip to Palm Springs. December is a busy month for us, so we rarely go "all out" with celebrating. This year I decided it was time to skip the overnight trip to Kansas City or St. Louis and go to where the sun would warm our faces.

We started the trip by missing our first afternoon/evening in PS because of flight delays. That part was tough. If you follow me on IG you probably know that Johnny has been dealing with a bulging disc in his lower back, so sleeping on the floor at the Denver airport was no bueno. We did make it through the night, though (obviously), and found ourselves in the warm sunshine a day later than expected.

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We stayed at a quite little place called The Desert Star. It was precious and secluded, but still VERY close to the stuff we like do when visiting Palm Springs. We spent most of our first day recovering from lack of sleep, so it was a chill(y) day getting in the pool, napping, and sitting by the fire pit.

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The next day we hit King's Highway for brunch and then headed the Cabazon Dinosaurs (my favorite!). We actually went specifically to the Ace Hotel to see the Laura Berger mural. I've been a fan of hers for a long time, so this was really fun to see in person!

After the dinos we did some shopping and sight seeing, and ate at Evzin for dinner. I don't have any pictures because I fully believe in finding the balance between being in the moment and having documented memories, but let me tell you- that was one of the best meals of my life. So, so good!

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It was a short trip, but there's no one I'd rather spend it with. (And spend those long travel days with. 😉) We've been back for a week and a half and I still haven't unpacked, though. Why is unpacking simply the worst? Any crazy unpack-the-day-I-get-home folks out there? I (lovingly) think you're aliens. 😉


Wednesday, October 24

Broken Cameras and Big Button Dresses

Mallory
I have no idea how this happened because this week feels insane, but I BLOGGED TWICE IN ONE WEEK! I feel like after typing that in all caps my computer is gonna bite the dust or something. 😂 Anyway, my friend, Mallory just released her new collection and I'm in love with this dress! The color! The buttons! The pockets! I I think it's going to be a main go-to for Fall!

Mallory Mallory 
Mallory Mallory Mallory
Dress: Mallory // Shirt: Urban Outfitters // Tights: Target // Boots: Jeffrey Campbell

Fun story (big time sarcasm here): We took the girls on vacation to Destin, FL last month and I decided to throw my DSLR in my backpack so I could capture some beachy photos. One of my girls had been rifling around in my bag for sunglasses and hadn't zipped it back up all the way. My camera, sitting at the top of an over-stuffed backpack, pushed its way free and hit the pavement. Devastated, I grabbed the camera and just hoped, by some crazy amount of voodoo luck, that when I pushed the shutter button it would miraculously have gotten away unscathed. Nope. It was BUSTED. We reached the beach (we were literally across the street- there's almost no pavement!) and I sat and shed some tears under a beach umbrella for a quite a while, mourning the loss of my camera. It's one of those stupid moments when you're just so frustrated, but it's not really anyone's fault. Then I bought myself a piña colada and decided I wasn't going to let it wreck my entire day. 🤷🏼‍♀️
So yeah, I'm back to using my partially broken Canon 60D while my 7D is in the shop. Light a candle for her, won't ya? 😉 This also explains the double photo shoot locations. My 60D is a finicky girl.

Life happens, I suppose.

Oh, yeah- I've decided to scrap the "Weekly Wears" title since I haven't been keeping up with outfit posts. They can just be a happy spot when they actually happen. I love documenting cute outfits and getting to look back on them, though, so maybe I'll start doing it more frequently.

I hope you're having a great week so far. Be sure to check out Mallory's new collection if you get the chance!


Monday, October 22

Bits of Halloween Around the House

Halloween House
Have you heard me mourn the loss of my former mantle recently? 😂 Whenever I'm decorating for a holiday, I find myself missing my fireplace mantle so much! I've finally come to the realization that I can use my entryway table as I would a mantle. I WILL have a fireplace in my house again-- I have big plans for this, I'm just not quite there yet.

Anyway, here's a peek at some spooky things around our house! I'm getting to the point where I want to start decorating for every holiday, not just seasonally.

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Do yourself a favor and buy some mini witch hats at your local craft store. You won't regret it! They are so cute on everything!

Do you decorate for Halloween? I didn't used to, but so many of my friends make their houses darling for Halloween and they've inspired me!

Leave me any links to fun Halloween decor in the comments! It can be your own home or just one you've seen around the internet! Happy Monday!

sources: Coraline doll 1, 2, 3, 4 // mini witch hats // glitter pumpkins // bison // silhouettes // entryway table (similar)


Wednesday, September 5

What Katie Cooks

What Katie Cooks
Here's another small round up of some meals I've cooked recently. I typically like to make meals that are fast and easy, so these are some ideas to spark new food ventures in your life!

Okay, so the photo above-- what is it??

Hoisin Tofu with Veggies
*tofu sautéed in hoisin sauce
*onions, peppers, and mushrooms sautéed in olive oil
*steamed white rice
*cilantro
*veggie dumplings (store bought)

Keeping the veggies separate from the hoisin tofu kept this meal from tasting too hoinsin-y (the technical term). I just love veggie dumplings, so we pick them up from our local grocer pretty regularly. Tossing these in a pan with liquid aminos is so good! I like to serve them with ginger dressing on the side.

What Katie Cooks

What is it?

Tomato Gouda Avocado Toast
*7 sprouted grains bread
*gouda cheese
*2 egg whites
*avocado
*tomatoes
*pepper

This meal was super simple and showed off just how beautiful and delicious my garden tomatoes have been. The gouda is smoky and gives the effect of bacon very nicely. I'm pretty sure I should make this for lunch today...

What Katie Cooks

What is it?

Tofu Scramble with Cabbage Hash
*medium firm tofu with turmeric, salt, and pepper
*napa cabbage
*orange bell pepper
*fresh cilantro
*chives
*avocado
*wheat toast

This one isn't that photogenic, but it tasted so good! Johnny's been having some food allergies lately (we think eggs may be contributing) and I really wanted to try tofu as an egg substitute. It worked SO WELL and the turmeric even makes the tofu look like eggs. I used this method with meatless sausage and pico in a breakfast burrito this same week and it was amazing!

Like I've said before, I'm no food blogger and I'm certainly no food photographer, this is just a fun way to share some meal ideas that we've had in the past few weeks! Happy cooking!!


Friday, August 31

Happy Birthday, Hope!

Hope is 16
For those of you who have been reading this ol' blog for a while, get ready to feel like we're living in an alternate universe. I'm a week late here, but Hope is officially 16. What??? It's true. We celebrated her 16th birthday last week and my mind is trying to figure out how time has gone so quickly. I guess it's true that the older you get the faster time goes. Or maybe we just keep ourselves so busy that life blows by? I don't know, but my "forever 7 in my mind" little girl is ready to start driving. Legally. On her own. 😳

hope bday 1
We had an all-day celebration last Wednesday. We started the day with donuts and photos, the bookstore, and Mexican food. When Poesy got out of school, we headed an hourish south to Branson to jam in all the family fun we could handle.

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We hit the sledding hill, went shopping, found a mirror maze, rode a rollercoaster, drove go-karts, and ate our weight in spaghetti. I'm serious when I say we crammed in as many things as humanly possible.

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We spent 7:46, the time Hope was officially born, at the top of the ferris wheel. There are magical moments in life for sure, and this was definitely one of them. Happy birthday, Hope. We love you!


Tuesday, August 14

We Bought A House!

We Bought A House!

These are exciting days here in the Shelton household. This lovely place we've called home for the last 2 1/2 years (we've been renting) is officially ours! It's been a huge goal for us to buy a house for the last year or so, we just had to get ourselves in a position to do so. I get a lot of questions about our buying situation and why this is so big for us, so I thought I'd share more on our past ownership and how we got back here. I'll warn you though, if you're not interested in the backstory, feel free to skip the whole middle section. 😉

Johnny and I bought a home together a year after we were first married. It was definitely a "starter home" that we spent way more years owning than we had originally planned. At this time in our home-owning lives, Johnny worked as worship leader at our church and helped run our youth center (it was pretty cool), and I was a preschool teacher/turned stay-at-home-mom/turned blogger and Skunkboy Creatures handstitching extraordinaire. We weren't flush with cash, but we were mostly getting by and making our life together work, all while still chasing some sort of dream... well, more me than Johnny, but that's a deeper conversation.

Old Blog Photos renegade

As my Skunkboy Creatures dream was gaining traction and keeping me extremely busy, our church ended up going through a split and there wasn't enough money left to support Johnny's position. We were pretty tight on the monies as it was, so losing his job and stability was devastating for us. All around the same time this was happening, I was VERY pregnant and about to have Poesy. We made the decision to move out of our house and put renters in pretty soon after Poesy was born. Long story short (ish), the renters destroyed our house and we couldn't afford to get the house back up to a livable standard before the bank was going to take it. This is how we experienced our first (and hopefully ONLY) foreclosure. I was so embarrassed at the time and felt like such a failure. I had a partner and two children, but couldn't even afford to keep their safe space for living. It honestly took me several years to work through this. But again, that's a deeper conversation to be had.

After all of this sank in, we realized that there was nothing left for us in the town we had lived in for so many years. We actually knew this many years earlier, but after losing any anchor tying us there, it was time for us to find a community more appropriately suited for our young family. We decided that Springfield would be a good fit for us. We already had lots of friends here, since the norm at Lake of the Ozarks is to move away once you are college-age, and we knew the town pretty well since we would visit often. I found an adorable rental in a good neighborhood, and we made the plunge. I say "plunge" because Johnny was born and raised at the lake and I had lived there since I was in elementary school. A change of scenery was good. Very good. Life wasn't perfect, obviously, but we loved that house for 3 years until we found ourselves moving into this beautiful, historic home where we still reside today.

Goals 2018

Now, if you're here for the part of the story where we got back on our feet and fixed our credit enough to buy a house, here it is! I feel especially proud of us for striving hard enough to get our things in order to buy the house we really wanted before the owners were ready to sell.

The first thing we did was SET OUR GOAL. We knew our timeline and what we had to make work, so mapping out how to get there was essential. (We are also NOT planners, so this was big for us. 😅) If you've gone through a foreclosure, there is a specific amount of years that have to pass before anyone is willing to approve a home loan. This was a key part of our specific timeline.

The next big thing was SAVE MONEY. Obviously, this is easier said than done, but we skipped a lot of trips/house upgrades/etc just to keep that money in the bank. This one can be quite a balancing act when you're working extra hard. Feeling like you're doing the overtime but depriving yourself so much that you question why can be tricky. If you're in this boat right now, first remind yourself of your dream and goals, and maybe buy yourself that extra latte if your tired brain needs it. Save the money, but also feed the mental sanity.

Something I didn't know about until I started talking with our lender was CREDIT REPAIR. As you can imagine, Johnny and I didn't have good credit AT ALL when we started this journey. We were scared of credit cards because we didn't want to overspend, and we had a foreclosure on our records. I got hooked up with a reputable credit law firm and they made a world of difference. The cost is a bit different for everyone, but we ended up spending less than $1,000 for the two of us combined and we have seen insane results. They even got our foreclosure removed on a couple of the reporting agencies! I highly recommend this if you're in a position to do so. (The link is to my specific credit law firm, so if you decide to look into them, be sure to ask for Jacquelyn!)

Going back to some of my past fears, my advice is to go ahead and GET A CREDIT CARD. My credit repair contact was the first to push me in this direction, but if the goal here is to build credit, you've got to show that you can spend responsibly and pay on time. This how you build the credit. I mean, we all kind of know that, but as a person who overspent on credit cards in the past, this was a big step for me. My opinion was always that I didn't need credit cards when I could just pay for things on the spot. If you want to build credit, it's essential.

Another thing that really helped me was to GET OBSESSIVE. Download Credit Karma or an app like it and watch your credit climb. It's a great way to stay motivated and feel proud of all your efforts. Honestly, I looked forward to paying my bills every month because I would get to see that number rise. It sounds dorky, but it was very satisfying.

Last but not least, if you're on a pretty tight deadline, it's okay to HAVE A BACKUP PLAN. Even if you go through all the work, it isn't guaranteed that everything will work out as planned. You'd better believe that I spent the last several months scoping out different homes in our area, just incase we encountered an unforeseen hiccup. Thankfully we didn't, but it isn't admitting defeat if you have an auxiliary plan in place. You've gotta take care of yourself and your specific situation/circumstances. 😊

Home
(illustration by Rebecca Lynn Illustration)

Johnny and I closed on our house on July 26th and we're excited to A) own a home after all these years, and B) start planning the bigger projects you get to do when a home is YOURS!

If you're still waiting to get here, I am rooting for you! Sometimes the road can be a long one, but with hard work, it's possible! Whatever your current situation, don't wait to make your space feel like your own. We had especially great landlords that let us do a lot more than most would, but there are lots of ways to make a house feel like home... even if you're currently in limbo. 💛