I'ma keep running

In my last post I mentioned that my body was responding to the injectables. It was a long 20+ days but things were moving in the right direction. Well, after the positive response, the follicles on the ovaries are stimulated and there are [approximately] 4 million additional hoops that need to be jumped through in order to get pregnant. 

Our first IUI did not work. The silver lining is this; we responded and arrived at the point where we could give it a shot!

The news was hard to hear. PJ brought home pizza, we drank good wine and cuddled with our girl; the best cure for a positively shitty day.

Just about the time where we came to accept our failure and were ready to move on, we find out that our next cycle is cancelled. Cancelled. Cancelled due to cysts on my ovaries. I'm telling you, infertility is not for the faint of heart.

This turn of events is not ideal but there is nothing we can do [have to keep telling myself that] so we keep our heads up and keep on keeping on. Keep our heads up and obviously take advice from Beyonce. 

Switching gears. Tyler's Married!

WOAH.

My little brother is hitched and we had a great time celebrating. I laughed, cried and was so proud of him. 

rehearsal dinner

sibs

best of the best

happy moments = happy life

I am starting this post in my freshly cleaned house with beautiful peonies staring at me (thanks, tyler), a cold glass of proseco and the smell of fresh cut grass wafting through the windows (thanks, phil). Life is pretty good - isn't it? 

I had an awesome reminder this week via a friend of a friend to be present (hey kaylz). It is not a new concept or not even on that I don't tell myself time after time, but sometimes even the best practices need a little nudge to the front of my brain. 

I sent her my thanks because it was a reminder that I desperately needed.

Along the same lines of presence, I am reminded of this quote that I stole from an instagrammer that I follow:

Maybe we're all wasting our lives waiting for something. A big promotion, summertime, the weekend, a baby. The constant waiting and lack of satisfaction can be seriously exhausting - believe me. 

I am going to set a reminder on my phone with a link to this blog post every so-often because it is far too easy to fall down the rabbit hole. The waiting/wishing/wanting rabbit hole. There are happy moments every single day that are worth celebrating. By celebrating the happy moments, we achieve the happy life. 

That said, I am off to throw some brats on the grill, drink some bubbles and enjoy.

6 months?

Woah.

It's been 6 months since my last blog post and A LOT has happened. 

AUGUST - 

we took a little trip CO with good friends and experienced all that the mountains have to offer.

unedited. unfiltered. 

OCTOBER - 

WE MOVED INTO OUR NEW HOME! 

We started the house search early in the summer and after a lot of duds we found our home, fell in love, made an offer and the rest is history.

wellll, maybe it wasn't quite that easy!

Moving day was difficult and super challenging but as Phil and I kept reminding each other - "we're on the same team". 

It wasn't long before this place started to feel like home. 

DECEMBER - 

My favorite month of the year; no question. Phil took me to LA. I turned 30. Hosted our first big holiday. It was great, magical and every other corny word that I can use. 

cruising on the PCH on my bday

santa monic pier ferris wheel

santa monica pier

toys for tots donation

the crew

typical

best of the best

carving the bird

Cheers, here's the new year & to blogging more.

Lately

Lately I've been...

COOKING

Homemade skinny french fries. These have been a staple with all grill-outs at the Mahal house. Super simple. Super delicious. 

preheat oven to 425

cut up several potatoes and place them in a bowl with ice and water for 

10 minutes (this will make them nice and crispy!)

toss the potatoes in olive oil and lay on parchment paper - season as desired 

(I've been using rosemary) 

bake for 25 minutes, flip, cook for an additional 10-15.

DRINKING
Fruit infused waters; cucumber, mint, strawberry, lemon. If it's delicious - I'm infusing it!

READING
The Girl on the Train! It's the Book Club book of July.

PLAYING
with Charlie.

WASTING
Time .. watching the Bachelorette. It's such trashy television but it's like a car crash - I can't stop. I really do like Kaitlyn, she's unapologetic and I think that it's a key characteristic in these reality dating shows. 

WISHING
That summer would stop moving so quickly!

LOVING
My husband

WEARING
dresses. every. single. day!

It's so much easier to throw on a dress and a pair of flats and head off to work - especially in the warm summer months.

FOLLOWING
The 2016 presidential election. I know, I know it's early but I really enjoy the debates, banter and everything else that will go on in the next 18ish months.

#tbt :: a puppy + a pupcake

Charlie's friend Ace just turned 2 and he was so generous to share his birthday pupcakes 

(i suspect when you have kids the dogs in this story change to children, no?)

Ace's mom (Kaylee) made amazing pupcakes; shredded carrots, peanut butter, milkbones - everything a puppy dreams of.

This montage of her demolishing this pupcake is probably the cutest thing ever:

All done! 

SUMMER IS HERE!

the smell of grass, a cold glass of wine on the patio, frizzy hair, fresh flowers, tan lines, catching fish, farmers markets, dairy queen runs, twins games, jogs.. being outside!

Our summer is super busy but I am so excited for some of the plans we have; weddings, celebrations, weekends at the cabin, travels, amazing concerts. 

It's worth being busy when there are so many crazy amazing things on the docket. 

Also, since I'm a typical two months removed from a post - here's our life.. in bullet points:

• Charlie graduated from her Beginning Obedience Class. She placed second in her class (and was the youngest by a long shot). We're clearly super proud! 

• The puppy and I have started an amazing Saturday morning routine; wake up - cuddle - walk/run around Cleary Lake - browse the farmers market - grab some Starbucks - head home to relax. 

• Little brother is traveling in Spain! Check out his travel blog here. He's having a blast but it will be great to have him back in MN soon. 

until next time...

iphone pic roundup

I know you're sitting there thinking to yourself; 'man, i wonder what crappy iphone photos Amanda has been taking lately'. Don't worry, I'm here to oblige. 

This puppy gets soo tuckered at daycare that she can't even be bothered to put her tongue in her mouth when she passes out. 

The struggle is real.

During our stretch of warm weather, the puppy learned the joys of passing out in the sun.

So sorry for the food posts but Phil and I discovered something new at Von Hansons. For as much as we frequent that joint, it shouldn't be possible to find something new - but we did! 

Peppercorn rubbed beef skewers & Chipolte Chicken skewers (with zucchini, of course). We grilled it up, sat on the deck and enjoyed the weather!

The little lady celebrated her first 1/2 birthday. 

Pretty typical cuddle sesh. 

NEW MUMFORD. 

I'm going to be honest, I wasn't a big fan of Believe. One radio station compared it to Coldplay and then that's all. i could. hear! The Wolf is much better and (in my opinion) much more true to them. 

Guacamole + Cucumber Infused Vodka = All the makings for a bitchin' Friday night on the patio. 

There you have it. I'm glad I could grace you with my mediocre photos.

Until next time, folks.

I believe...

Nah, not necessarily in the religious kind, but I have beliefs - strong ones at times. Here's my list of what is generally important in my life. 

I believe in..

- Red Wine

- Live music. My favorite saying is "Live Music is good for your soul" and I really, truly believe this.

- Keeping my nails short

- And, having them polished 

(side note: sally hansen gel, no light, polish is the greatest gift to me - and my checking account).

- A cold beer at a baseball game

- That dogs really are a girls best friend

- Farmers Markets & Fresh Flowers

- My husband and our relationship

- That my girlfriends are my sisters

- Date nights

- An MPR membership & Birchbox are great investments

- Handwritten notes are always a good idea

- Coffee

- The Eve's of holidays are better than the actual day. And, of those, Christmas Eve takes the cake. 

- Minnesota is the best state in the world. Yeah, I said it, WORLD. 

What do you believe in? 

world's worst blogger

A lot has happened since my half-assed, iphone pic only, blog. Sorry about the length but I've got to get caught up here!

1 - GRADUATION! 

Charlie graduated from Puppy School. Graduation day was filled with games, races and competitions. After each game, the winning puppy was given a small bone and the puppy with the most bones was the winner of the Graduation Ceremonies. Charlie won. Not to brag because it probably was her parents' competitive nature that catapulted her into the winners circle. 

shaking hands to accept her diploma

diploma!

"give me that kong"

2 - ENGAGEMENT!

Tyler and Courtney are engaged!! It has been a couple months since Tyler told me that he was planning on popping the question. After that, the planning and scheming came into play. I wish I could say that all went exactly according to plan, but it didn't.. but who cares? They're getting hitched!! 

A couple days after the big question - family gathered at bonfire for 30 mimosas a congratulatory toast. It was so wonderful! I can't wait for the wedding!!

celebrating!

3- VALENTINES DAY.

You may or may not know that Phil and I really don't celebrate valentine's day, per se. What we do do is eat a heaping pot of mac & cheese with cut up hot dogs and dip into a nice bottle of wine (or two!). It's fun and it's us. And really something that I look forward to every year!

I mean.. just look at that amazing-ness. 

 4 - CHARLIE

This little puppy is testing us! She's starting to push the boundaries and test our limits. Even when we want to scream - she licks our face and looks like this. Can't get enough!

5 - CABIN WKND

We made our annual winter trek to the cabin and brought along a few buddies! I didn't get stuck (first time in 2 years) and we had an amazing time - per the usual. 

deer in the clearing

saddle up buddies

ride it.

ice fishing buddy

I had a crappie on my line and wasn't so sure about it. Phil and Corey were yelling at me; "Do you have a fish?". Then I pulled this beaut out of the lake. Boom!

cribbage & coffee

the best

That's all, folks!

Until next time - which hopefully won't be months and months away.