Hurt.

I fully expected to post about my amazing vacation that I was able to take last week, until I got a call late last night from my mom. By now you know she resides in Hawaii, and she said she was flying home tomorrow because her Dad (my Grandpa Phil) was refusing surgery for something else that has come up because he was afraid he wouldn't make it through it. Truth is, he's probably right.

I told you all a couple months ago that he has been battling throat cancer for some time, and this time when it came back, they said its terminal. He started chemo and radiation to prolong his life, but since then has had many, many more horrible complications.

He's going home from the hospital today, to return home, gather his things, and go to Hospice. I'm angry, I'm scared, and I'm hurt. I don't want him to go. He's too sweet a man to go so soon. Although we aren't that close, I want him to know the Lord. I spent a majority of last night in tears, and in prayer. I know that some of you who read my blog aren't very spiritual, but if you are, could you please say a prayer for him and my entire family?

It would mean everything to me.

SURPRISE ;)

Happy Friday, friends!

I would rather...
...be on a beach than in my cubicle...

oh hey, long hair!

...have my toes in the sand than in office appropriate shoes...

...decide on which floppy hat to wear, over which work pants to wear...

...stay up too late with our best friends, than go to bed early...

...enjoy beach side sunsets every night, than be stuck inside...

...read a book on the beach, than read finance articles...

...wear a bikini all day in another country, than be in Ohio...

...lay out on a sandy white beach, than be stuck in my office...

Are you sensing a theme here at all? Well, if so...you're onto something.

SURPRISE!

I've been doing all of those things that I said I'd "rather be doing", all week long :)

Caleb and I have been on vacation ALL WEEK now with our best friends (you know, Erin & Jared - also known as my sister/brother in law!?)... yes, you read that right. We're having the time of our lives, finally taking an out-of-country vacation together like we've talked about for years. Pretty sure my heart could explode from happiness. Seriously, spending a week with three people you love!? It really doesn't get better than that. I can't even wait to fill you in on everything we experienced.

Enjoy your weekend, friends :) we'll be back home tomorrow!

Goals for April!

Yeah, its the second week of April, and I'm just now making my list of "to-do's" for the month.

Hiiiii, my name is Slacky McSlackerson.

Unfortunately taken before I got my hair done.

Craft something for our apartment. Yeah, we literally have like nothing on our walls. I'm talking...like one thing. It's embarrassing. What's even more sad? I feel like I have pretty good taste to design something, just no time/motivation to do it. So this month? I'm determined!

Run 8-10 miles straight. Yep, you heard that right. Ow...my legs hurt even thinking about it...but my first half is in almost a month, so I've got to kick my butt into gear!!

Write in my journal more. "But you have a blog", well, yeah...but there is something about having history written by hand. & yeah, I just made my life sound more important by calling it history :)

Try a new recipe. The past couple of weeks have been so busy. Between photography consultations, church events, work, and a social calendar...I've hardly been cooking/eating a decent dinner. I feel bad for Caleb. I want to be a better wife in the kitchen - does that make me sound weird? I hope not. I think I need to pull out that crock pot finally. Anyway, send your best recipes my way, please!!

Declutter. Caleb and I do a pretty good job of throwing things out, etc...but I think there's always room for improvement!!

Finish 2 books. I'm already thinking "yeah, right"...but I'd really like to prove myself wrong here. Besides, its on my 25 before 25 to finish 50 more books...so I better start now!

Lets hope I can accomplish all of these. What are some of your goals for the month?

Drool worthy cookies.

Yeah you read that. Let me introduce to you...BANANA BUTTERSCOTCH COOKIES!

Yeah, you're welcome.

All you need are 4 ingredients, and you probably already have them all. I literally can't remember if I've blogged about this recipe before, but you know what? If I have, twice can't hurt. These cookies are insane...and by insane I mean so freaking tasty I can eat 8 of them in like a minute.

All you need;

A box of yellow cake mix (any brand is fine)

Butterscotch chips

2 cups oats (I used whole grain)

3 large, very mushy bananas

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Get out a large bowl and mush the bananas together until they are at a paste-like consistency.

Then, add in the yellow cake mix. Only do a LITTLE AT A TIME, its a little easier to stir that way!

Add in 2 cups of oats (also do a little at a time), and to answer your question, YES its going to get very, very, verrryyyy thick! Like, you'll have a serious arm workout...I much prefer doing it this way so I don't have to spend 30 minutes cleaning out my kitchen aid mixer!

Last, add in your butterscotch chips. Use half the bag, or use the whole bag. Honestly, I use almost ALL of it every time!!

Once you have that all mixed up, place teaspoon sized (or just slightly bigger) portions on a non-stick cookie sheet. 

Bake for ONLY 12-13 minutes. No longer or the butterscotch starts to burn to the pan (trust me). Don't keep them in longer waiting for them to "brown" either, remember these are cake cookies and are supposed to be moist (ugh, that's my least favorite word...but I had too).

Once finished, remove from the cookie sheet and place them on racks to cool for 5-10 minutes! Once they are cool, you'll immediately want to place them in a sealed container to keep them soft!

This makes a ton of little cookies, so be hungry when you make these. Can't wait to see what you guys think!

{maternity shoot}

HAPPY FRIDAY, FRIENDS!!

Obviously, that is not my adorable pregnant belly seen below. That would be a friend from church. She and her husband asked if I'd be interested in a maternity shoot this Spring and of course I jumped at the chance, and we made it happen one evening earlier this week! Heather is seriously beautiful, and she has the most adorable little family, plus a little guy on the way! I hope you enjoy these shots as much as I enjoyed taking them!

Yikes. Any more beautiful faces and I think your screen might burst ;) hope you enjoyed.

Getting to know your Great Grandma!

I had this idea the other day, to take my Great Grandma Agnes out to dinner for her birthday, and really spend time getting to know her. Honestly, how many of us can say we know that much about the early life of our grandparents? I'm lucky enough to have a Great Grandma, she's been through so much. Guys, she was born in 1930. 1930! Can you imagine the things she's seen and been through!? She was almost in tears that we took time out of our lives to take HER out, and celebrate her 84th birthday.

Meet my Great Grandma Agnes.

I asked her lots of questions, and so did Caleb, her responses to some had us cracking up, others were  more on the serious side. It was a tremendous night and I thought I'd share what I learned about her and the questions we asked her.

Whats your middle name? Lois

What did you like best about High School? Probably all the cute boys, if I'm being honest! Oh, and also English class...cause I wasn't a whizz in math at all. 

Who was President when you were born? Oh heck, I don't even know! I know Roosevelt was around there somewhere. (Caleb googled it, it was Hoover!)

What was your husband's name? Lyndel. Kayla, you do know he got to see you before he passed, right? (this almost brought tears to my eyes. I never had the privilege of really meeting my great grandpa, so this meant so much to me)

What was the first job you ever worked? I was a stay at home mom once I got married, but the only job I ever had was when I was young, at a cosmetic counter...selling all the pretty make up.

When did you find the Lord? Lemme tell ya, I was a trouble maker until I met Lyndel. His entire family were devout Christians, but heavy drinkers...some of them strayed away, but not us. I've never looked back!

When did you become a mom? I was only 20 years old when I had your grandpa Tony! I don't recommend getting married at 16 these days though like I did.

What's the craziest thing you've ever done? (she couldn't stop laughing - she said she had too many stupid stories about all the silly things she'd done we'd be there all night...and she wants me to ask her again next time we do this)

She ate her birthday treat that she made sure to save room for... and continued to talk about her random stories and we just couldn't get enough.

We talked about politics, our faith, food, the weather, our dreams and everything in between. We found out she got married at the young age of 16, talked about how she grieved over the passing of one of her son's, Mark...and how she still hang dries her clothes outside when the weather is right.

She confessed that she thinks Bill Clinton is "quite a looker", and hopes she can live to see a female be President of the US. We asked her if she ever found interest in anyone else after Great Grandpa passed, and she said that God had other plans; "besides, who wants to cook and clean for another man, and pay for a wedding all over again?" then she winked at us. When I asked her what she would do more of if she could? She said without a doubt, she would travel.

Caleb wanted to have a little fun with her. Back story...any of you who know us for real, know that my husband LEGITIMATELY wants to name our future son Thor...its not a joke. So he asked "Grandma Agnes, what do you think of the name Thor?" --- "the name what?" -- "THOR...T-H-O-R"... "what do you mean?" (I'm cracking up at this point)...he says "like, for a baby boy", and she started laughing so hard she had to put the napkin over her face and said "Caleb honey, to be frank, I don't quite like it". She just made my night. I love her spunk and sassiness. 

I hope to be just like her.

Cheers, to 84 years!

Also a huge birthday hug to one of my favorite ladies, Anna! I'm so happy to have "met" you through this crazy blog-land...and I hope we can make it official this summer!

Happies, its a thing.

Last week, Caleb had the worst cold ever. I'm talking a sneezing, coughing, mouth-breathing, snotty, yucky type cold. I took care of him the best I could, and by Saturday it went away. Guess who started to feel like absolute CRAP the minute he began feeling better? You guessed it. When you get married you share more than a last name...you share germs too!

I'm finally feeling a little better, but hoping its gone by this weekend! So instead of focusing on my yucky head cold, I'm choosing to look at my "happies" as of late. Yes, its a word.

When your sister in law snapchat's you a picture of her in the cutest dress, and you realize...um, I tried that on the DAY BEFORE and almost bought it, too. Talk about soulmates.

Don't you like my socks?? They go so well with the dress, I know.

Doing 3 photography consultations last week. Whenever I don't have the best of days, I remind myself that I get to make someone's wedding day more enjoyable, by delivering them awesome wedding day shots. Know what makes it all worth it? When the bride texts me with "HOLY CRAP  KAYLA! THESE ARE AMAZING!!"... and I can breathe a sigh of relief, and happiness...that makes all the late nights of editing, hours of chugging coffee, and sore feet worth it.

Spending the entire Sunday being sick, but it being totally worth it because its the first nice Spring day out in forever...and you're surrounded by little ones...and getting to watch your husband be extremely attractive while "coaching" basketball.

Finally creating a (tiny) about me page. My new blog gal Kelli, made me aware I needed one of these ASAP so we could tell how freakishly alike we were. Turns out its true, she's my twin separated at birth. I'm just kidding, she's the cutest though, and has the best blonde hair ever. No, she didn't pay me to say any of that. But its all true...so go check her out right meow.

Speaking of meow...I'm still rocking out to Katy Perry's CD, yes...this many months after she released Prism. Don't judge.

Linking up with the sweetest, Shanna!

Enjoy your hump day!!