Life Lately + Spruce Your Spring $250 Giveaway!

Hey friends, spring is officially here (yay!) so what better time to give a little life update? I don’t usually share much of my personal life on my blog, but I think I’m going to start changing that. I plan on giving little ‘Life Lately’ updates here and there to share what’s going on in my world in the hopes that we can foster some deeper relationships! Who says internet friends can’t be real friends?! 😉 **Also, stick around to the end of this post because I teamed up with Table + Hearth and 13 other bloggers to bring you a FABBBB giveaway of a $250 gift card to your choice of store – Pottery Barn, Amazon, Home Depot, or Target!**

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Life lately has been… ridiculously challenging and draining, I’m not gonna lie! You know those circus performers who spin plates on those little sticks? I feel like I’m spinning a hundred and that they are going to come crashing down at any moment. This has been a season of busyness, stress, and trying to balance it all. Good combo, huh? But before this gets too depressing, let’s take a look at some of my Life Lately moments!

What I’m Reading: I just started the Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon. I’ve heard a lot of people really like it and my mother-in-law is hooked, so she lent me the first book! I really love time travel, period pieces, and Scotland (the land of my people!) so it seemed like a no-brainer. I recently just finished The Book Thief and oh. my. I do think it is one of my most favorite books ever – the writing is spectacular and nothing like I’ve ever seen before in my years of voracious reading.

What I’m Binge-Watching: I watch a loooootttt of Netflix while I’m working all day (one of the perks of working at home!) – so I’ve caught up on a looott of shows. I’m currently re-watching Gilmore Girls while I’m blogging – gotta love those witty pop culture references! When I’m with the hubby, we are always watching our two favorite shows – Grimm and The Blacklist.

What I’m Creating: Creating is something I do everyday for the blog! While I love it and it’s what I’m talented at, sometimes I like to create things that don’t go on the blog – meaning I don’t have to stop every two seconds to photograph something. When I’m not working on blog projects, I love crocheting and making jewelry and sewing pouches for my friends.

What I’m Needing: A vacation! Like I mentioned before, there is just too much going on in my life and I’m carrying too much stress. Even weekends have been busy lately! I’d love a week-long break where I didn’t have to worry about work or the 1209509345 things going on in my life and just sip mai tais on a beach somewhere 🙂

What I’m Listening to: My go-to artists are Coldplay, John Mayer, and Mumford and Sons – having their songs on repeat and singing along just makes life so much better and their music just speaks to my soul!

What I’m Wearing: When I’m not in sweats or yoga pants or pajamas (which I am about 89.75% of the time) I’ve really loved getting dressed in leggings, a tunic, cardigan, paired with a scarf and boots. Even though it’s technically springtime, It’s still rainy and windy and stormy in good ol’ Washington state, so I’m still dressing like it’s fall!

What I’m Dreaming about: I’m dreaming about where this blog could go and how I’m going to take it there. I’ve got so many ideas and ventures and things I want to do and make – now I just need to stop dreaming and start doing!

What I’m Worried about: My puppy, Pippa. She’s had some mysterious health issues – extreme unquenchable thirst, not being able hold her bladder for longer than a few hours, and most recently, having trouble using her back legs. It’s really scary and she’s only a baby (10 months old) and the vets aren’t really sure why she’s struggling this way. They’ve run lots of tests and so far all of her results are basically normal. So we are trying different things here and there to try to eliminate what’s going on. I worry about her all the time and sleep has been minimal the past couple months.

What I’m Excited For: My brother-in-law gets married in May, so the whole family is going over to South Dakota to celebrate! Sooter family weddings are always a blast and it’ll be fun to take a little weekend getaway and just not stress. Plus getting dressed all fancy and dancing the night away with a drink in hand is always fun 😉

What I’m Learning: I’m learning that I can’t always do it all and that it’s okay if there are things on my to-do list that don’t get done. I’m a hardcore perfectionist and I love being efficient, so realizing and accepting that things are messy and chaotic and often not perfect and efficient is something that’s hard for me to swallow. But the times I have let myself not worry about my long list of to-dos, I’ve felt a lot better and more at peace. So here’s to trying to be okay with things not being perfect!

What I’m Loving: This one’s more of a who – my husband. Even though things have been nuts and stressful, he’s always been my constant. Even if we are both stressed at the same time, we make each other a priority and hold one another up when it feels like we can’t go on any longer. He always asks what I need and how he can help me, and he brightens my days by bringing me Starbucks, treats, taking me on walks in the fresh air, and telling me I’m beautiful. Gosh, I love him.

What about you guys? What’s life been like lately for you? Let me know in the comments below and let’s start a conversation of support and camaraderie 🙂

And now it’s time for the giveaway!

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I’ve teamed up with 14 of the best blog friends a girl could ask for to bring one lucky reader $250 to their choice of my favorite stores: Pottery Barn, Target, Home Depot or Amazon!

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