Life Lately

Here's a look at life lately around here. This picture is from a few weeks back on Valentine's Day. Grandma bought Hannah an outfit, so I snapped a quick picture of the kids when I dropped Hannah off at school. These two have my heart!

Work Wear for Spring

Today I'm sharing an outfit that I think is perfect for work and the transition to spring. Which I know we are all excited about. I just got these Calypso espadrille wedges from Vionic, which is one of my favorite brands for both quality and comfort. Vionic is all about creating shoes that support natural alignment in your feet as well as giving arch support that works with both flats and heels. 

These are my forth pair of Vionics and they will be perfect for both spring and summer. I also love that the wedge is not super tall, so they are perfect for days at school when I need to be on my feet. I paired them with these kick crops from Loft, which I bought last spring. They still have them but only in a few very small sizes. These are similar and all sizes are available. 

As for my tops, this cardigan is super old and the tank is from Target last spring. 

One Night in Winter

You guys. One Night in Winter is the best book I've read in a long time! I recently scored it along with a bunch of other books from the Dollar Store and it's pretty much the best dollar I've ever spent.

Based on a true story, this book takes place in Russia just after World War II. We are introduced to a group of kids who go to Stalin's prestigious school. All the kids' parents are the elite within the government, and they have a love for the Romantic Literature class, taught by a beloved professor. The kids love a Russian author named Pushkin and celebrate him with a club they've created which I would compare to the Dead Poets' Society.

 They do reinactments of his literate, but everything goes wrong when they are reinacting a scene with pretend guns, which have somehow been replaced with real guns. Two of the kids end up dead and  what started as a child's game is turned into a conspiracy to overthrow the government, after their club's book is found with some controversial information inside.

This novel gives a pretty intense view into what life was like under Stalin's Russia and will keep you up reading late into the night. You should definitively add this to your must read list today.

Clothe Yourselves with Compassion

Recently in church we had a guest pastor who spoke with us about how to treat others. He referenced these verses:

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

I'm not going to lie, I LOVE these verses and the power behind them, as they impact how we treat others each and every day. I also know that sometimes it's easier said than done. 

The verse that stuck out to me was "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." The pastor went onto to talk about marital counseling he does. He talked about the pre-marital counseling and how the two love birds can't seem to have enough good things to say about each other and truly see each other through rose-colored glasses. Then he talked about those who are deep into marriage and the rose-colored glasses are long gone-they can sometimes struggle to even think of one good thing to say about the other. How time had changed them. 

I think a lot of us can relate to this, either within our married lives, with our kids, with our friends, or with our extended family members. It's the ones we love the most who we can show the least love, compassion and forgiveness too. 

I think it's time to view things the way our heavenly father does. He forgives, when we don't deserve it and he is the ultimate example for us to follow.  We all have bad days, but taking it out on those we love or holding past wrongs against them not only hinders our relationship with the person as well as hinders out relationship with God. We end up focusing on the wrongs we perceive them to have done towards us and we forgot all the good things about them. 

I'm working to let past wrongs go within all my relationships and working to clothe my self with compassion, kindness, humility, and gentleness and those are the best things to wear!

Spring Style

Today I'm doing something I haven't done in a long time, I'm sharing an outfit post. I just got this dress from Pink Blush and adore it! Back when I was pregnant with Hannah I shared with you a number of maternity clothes from Pink Blush's maternity line, so I was excited to get to collaborate with them again and share this dress with you.

It is super stretchy and flattering and obviously of good quality. I also love that it has sleeves, so I don't feel like I HAVE to layer it. Our weather is beginning to warm up, so I know I'll get to wear this soon. I think it'll be perfect for Easter too!

Five Simple Tips for Decluttering Your Home

I'm going to level with you. I feel like I do a pretty good job of keeping house, but there have just not been enough minutes in the day to declutter the way I'd like to. Luckily, Gordmans has some great bins and totes to help me get organized and decluttered.

Today I thought I'd share five tips to help you get decluttered in your home too.

The Art of Fielding

Over Christmas my book club did a white elephant book exchange and it was the best idea. I ended up with The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. It won book of the year a few years back and I'm surprised it had never made it on my to-read list before.

This book revolves around a small college called Westish near Lake Michigan. We learn about the lives of multiple people, mostly revolving around the players on the baseball team. We see how their stories are connected, what friendship are love look like, and how the choices we make not only impact us, but others around us too.

I really enjoyed this book and wish we'd done it as our book club book as I think it would spark some great conversations. It'll make you think, for sure.