Cast Iron Skillet Pizza + Pictures

Let's rewind a little bit, shall we?  I want to talk about my Mother's Day weekend.  This year was my second Mother's Day.  Last year was perfect, so we figure why mess with it and did something similar.  Mommy slept in while Daddy and Lilly made breakfast - this year there was a little more participation on Lilly's end.  I woke up and we had cards and presents and flowers (Frozen on Blu-Ray, the Frozen soundtrack, and a new Willow Tree statue).  Then we enjoyed some stuffed french toast.  It was heavenly.  I'm so spoiled.

My hubby likes to treat it like a Mother's Weekend though, so on Saturday while we were making our shopping list, he asked what I wanted for dinner.  And I knew exactly what I wanted.  I wanted this.

Cast Iron Skillet Pizza from How Sweet Eats

So we set out to the store for all the ingredients.  I was really unsure about it.  I mean, a fully cooked pizza in 3 minutes?  No way.  It can't be!  But I was so wrong.  It was amazing.  It was so good, I didn't mind at all that we didn't eat until almost 10 PM.  And immediately Mark decided this was the only way we could ever eat pizza again (it was that good).  We're gonna give it another try again soon, but with some different toppings.  They were amazing, but we just want to try some other variations.  So hopefully when we do, I'll take some pictures and write a post all about it!

In the meantime, please enjoy these other pictures of my favorite person in the world, Lilly!

Refresh 2014

My word for the year for 2014 is Refresh.

I don't usually do resolutions.  They're too easy to break, too easy to forget, easy to lose in the everyday chaos that is life.  2013 brought much more chaos into our lives - we settled into our house, jobs, family life.  We expanded our family by adding our daughter, the best and most fun source of chaos since welcoming Dash three years ago.  Since Lilly entered my life, I have been forced to look at things differently, and resolutions are one of the many things I'm rethinking.  As Lilly grows and gets older, I want to refresh my way of thinking, our way of living and doing things.  We've been doing the same things over and over and over, expecting different results, so I decided it's time to refresh our lives.  I need a breath of fresh air, and isn't the new year a wonderful opportunity for everyone to hit the refresh button?

I will make this year count by looking at things through my daughter's eyes.  Crawling, playing, laughing more.  Having a baby changes every single aspect of your life, in ways you NEVER thought possible.  I want to refresh our attitudes, our relationships, our home.  I want to be more active and sit around less.  No one ever died thinking that they wished they had watched more movies or tv.  I want to move more, run more,  dance more, do more.  Schedule less.  Leave the dishes and the toys and the beds unmade and make memories. 

I am going to refresh because my daughter deserves the very best me I can give her.

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Little Things

I know it's been a while since I've posted and this post is going to be short.  With the holidays almost over, I'm hoping things calm down enough for me to get back to a regular blogging schedule! 

In less than a week, my baby girl will be 9 months old... and I will be planning her big 1st birthday party!  Where did the time go?  It seems like just yesterday I was taking pictures of all the little things I wanted to remember forever...

Her tiny hands stole my heart...

and her tiny feet ran away with it.

Beautiful big eyes

Her tiny belly button, where we were connected for so long

Tiny ears, covered in hair!  Don't worry, it's all gone now :)

The cutest mullet I've ever seen!

The most adorable baby nose I've ever seen

Perfect pout

Love those lashes

25 Days of Christmas: Part 1

1. Tree

1. Tree - I took this photo in our entryway, looking at the tree from the mirror we have hanging there.  I love how it almost looks like you're looking through a window.

2. Lights

2. Lights - I took this photo trying to capture the Christmas tree bokeh.  It was around 4 PM.  I chose to focus the camera on the snow globe in order to get the pretty bokeh in the background.  I love how the snow in the globe is half settled and still floating around.

3. Ornaments

3. Ornaments - This picture wasn't one I was trying to take.  I wanted a picture of the glitter globe ornament, lit from behind.  What I got instead I like so much more!  I love the detail in the branches of the tree and how my red bow looks like it's a part of the globe ornament. 

4. Decorations

4. Decorations -  This photo is of our centerpiece for our dining room table.  I wanted to capture some more bokeh in the background, and my little trees were perfect for it.

5. Red

5. Red - I took this picture of the wreath on our front door.  I love how the red is just so bright!  Let me tell you how much I LOVE taking pictures when the sun is out.  It makes for much better pictures since I'm still learning how to use all the different settings on my camera!

25 Days of Christmas

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So as I've said before, I'm trying to learn how to use my camera better.  What is the point of having it if I never use it?  As I was browsing Pinterest the other night, I came across a photo challenge for Christmas.  The goal is to take one picture of something Christmas related for 25 days.  I'll be posting my photos, but I haven't decided yet whether I'll do one big post or break it down into a few.  Anyway, here is the photo challenge!

25 Days of Christmas Photo Challenge

1. Tree
2. Lights
3. Ornament(s)
4. Decorations
5. Red
6. Green
7. Silver
8. Gold
9. Nativity
10. Santa
11. Stockings
12. Snow
13. Sparkle/Glitter
14. Gift
15. Angel
16. Warmth
17. Snowman
18. Reindeer
19. Bells
20. Wreath
21. Cookies
22. Candy Cane
23. Giving
24. Family
25. Celebrate

Photography

I read a blog the other day that said if you enjoy photography the best way to get better at it is to take pictures every single day!  I'm not quite there yet - I do have a full time job, home and family to take care of - but I'm trying!  Here are some pictures I took yesterday of Lilly.  I'll be posting my favorites on the blog so I don't annoy all my FB friends by constantly creating albums!

Happy Hump Day friends... only one more day of work for me, and then I'm off for a wedding! 

Three Month Pictures

About a month or two after we found out I was pregnant, Mark and I started looking at DSLR cameras.  I really wanted a nice camera because my Kodak point and shoot was quite a few years old and I knew I'd want to take pictures of Baby T with something more than my cell phone.  We were really close to buying one on Black Friday, but we didn't actually get around to buying one until March.  I wish we had gotten one sooner, then I could have actually learned how to use it BEFORE Lilly arrived, but hindsight is 20/20... 

Anyway... here we are, three months after Lilly's birth, and I'm just getting around to learning how to shoot in... gasp... manual!  I was terrified of using settings other than auto, but I found some really good tutorials (off Pinterest, of course) and have been testing them out on my favorite subject.  This weekend, I did a photo shoot with Lilly for her three month pictures:

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend - we really enjoyed ours!  We are looking forward to a short work week, and a wedding on Friday!