Dear Verona... {Year 3}

My dear sweet Verona girl,

It’s hard to believe you are three, because I still very clearly remember a day that I was praying for you to come into existence. As I pleaded with God, laying on a tear soaked pillow, I prayed for a curly blonde hair, blue eyed daughter who loved sundresses, singing, dancing and laughing. I prayed for a smart, silly, lover-girl with a calm demeanor, but strong-willed personality. I often wonder if God gave me these desires, or if you were simply an answer to a prayer I always knew I needed. Three years doesn’t seem that long, because I feel like I’ve known you all my life.

Thank you for being my air, sunshine & light. Thank you for being my Rainbow. Thank you for always being down for dance parties, Starbucks runs, & trips to Target. Thank you for telling me I’m a good mama, even when you can tell I’m having a ‘bad mama day.’ Thank you for always saying “hey mama, you so awesome” 102 times a day because you know it makes me smile. Thank you for being strong willed, I promise this is a good thing, even if people try to turn it into a flaw. Thank you for all the daily kisses, hugs, snuggles and forehead hugs, some days they are the only thing holding me together. Thank you for always laughing at my funny faces and for saying “oh mama, you so funny” and for loving all the girly things that I love.

I have so many dreams for you, my beautiful girl, but I promise to always be your cheerleader, no matter what direction you choose to go. I want you to always know that I am here to give you guidance but I will try my hardest to make sure it’s never hateful or judgmental.

This next year was going to be a big one for you, with going to preschool and meeting new friends. I’m so sorry that it won’t be happing due to current state of the world, but this year is still filled with so much promise and excitement, and I can’t wait to explore this world with you!

I’m so grateful for the beautiful little girl you are turning into, and when I look into your sweet smiling face you make my heart quadruple in size. They always say three is a hard age, but I’m so ready to go through this next year to continue to watch you grow into who God is creating you to be. I know you are going to do big things and I love you more than life.

with love,
Your imperfect mama

My Peloton Cycling Hack...

Okay, so the number one & two questions I get on Instagram is : “How much do you love your Peloton bike?” And when I tell them I don’t own one, the next question is: “Then what bike do you have and do you recommend it?”

Lets go back to 2016, when I learned that I actually enjoyed spin classes by buying a cheap stand for my road bike (which I hated, because it was loud and awkward). I highly recommend learning whether or not you like spin classes before you make this investment, because this type of workout isn’t for everyone.

But I’m going to be real with you all, because you know that’s just how I roll. Listen up. If you have the money to invest in a legit Peloton bike & you already know you love spin classes, I will tell you, WITHOUT A DOUBT, invest in that bike. I’m just biding my time until I can afford to buy one of my very own, but this little hack in the meantime has helped me!

Flash forward to 2018, Ryan asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and after just coming off of a full year of breastfeeding Verona, I was ready to tone up, but didn’t want to go back to my makeshift bike stand. To his surprise, I said “Please get me a spin bike. Or a Peloton” In true Ryan fashion, he proceeded to get on Consumer Report, and read everything he could to figure out the most bang for our buck. We only had a couple hundred dollars to spend at the time, and so he bought me a Sunny Health Stationary bike. (They don’t make it anymore, But I have linked one similar).

My View. Notice the top left corner telling me my heart rate and cadence.

The key to success was the add ons: switching out the caged pedals with legit cycling pedals, getting riding shoes, a cadence sensor and heart rate monitor & downloading and paying for the Peloton app. {Which is free for 30 days right now, with a new signup btw}

When using the Peloton App on my iPad, I can connect my heart rate monitor and cadence sensor through bluetooth and it makes it so much easier to follow along with the workouts! I set my iPad on the handle bars, clip in and get to work.

Unfortunately, you won’t know your resistance or output, but a lot of times the instructors will describe how the “road” should be feeling. (ie. Flat road, cycling through mud, steep hill, etc)

I can’t say enough good things about the Peloton app. Not only do I adore the cycling classes, but they also have Treadmill workouts, Vinyasa Style Yoga, Strength classes, bootcamps, Cardio, Outdoor Running Audio, Meditation, stretching and more. I can easily find something to do each day, depending on what level of exertion I want to do.

I love cycling. Especially when the workouts are tough, and the music is loud and amazing. I’m one of those people who is easily motivated by music, but it has been KEY right now for me to tune out the world and do the hard work.

Go to this link : << My Workout Love List on Amazon >>if you want to find my favorite sports bras, preworkout, protein powder, yoga favorites and more. I’m going to do a post later about my health journey, because I think that’s very important as well.

All the images below have links to each item if your interested! And if you have any more questions, please leave me some comments and I’ll try to answer as I go!!

...Because I Love to Share.

I’m coming up on ten years of owning this domain. It started as a photography blog/business, and I used to blog almost every day. Some days it was interesting, and sometimes I was so bored that I wrote a poem about my pumpkin scone. But I have kept this little space here on the inter-webs to come back to every now and again because I will forever have this dream of one day blogging more about my life. I don’t find myself particularly interesting. I’m not famous, and I may never go on to do anything noteworthy to be added to the history books, but I love my family, I love being a mom & I love sharing.

“Are people even reading blogs anymore? Is this still a thing? :Check: :Check: “Is this thing on?”

”

The question always comes up “Why do you post so much online?” And my answer is this. “Because I love to share.” I do. I always have. I love connecting with people and making people feel less alone, especially if it’s by sharing something funny, sad or embarrassing that I’m going through.

I tell myself every couple months “Well once my kids get a little older… once life settles down… once I get the house in order… once I get a better handle on creating content… etc” The truth is, I always have an excuse to not show up here in this space because I think I’m not put together enough for people to find me interesting or actually care. And, well, that may be true. Maybe no one reads this and maybe I spent 20-30 min downloading my thoughts and feelings just to send it out into the void for no one to care, but I’m realizing that I’m okay with that. I want to be able to look back on this time and have a record of how life unfolded.

Life is messy. Life isn’t perfect, and not every photo is going to be perfectly curated, and I’m okay with that. I just want to be able to show up. Put together or not. So, here you go, here are some photos of our life lately… Happy Tuesday!

Funfetti Unicorn Cookies

In lieu of having a party with all our families, this year I asked Verona how she wanted to celebrate, her response warmed my heart. “I want a unicorn cake at our house, and bring cookies to my family and friends.” So thats what we did, baked and delivered some to her grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins… and now I’m sharing the recipe so you all can make them as well!

Yield: 30-36 cookies

Author: Jordanne Marie

Print

With ImageWithout Image

Funfetti Unicorn Cookies

Prep time: 5 MCook time: 9 MTotal time: 14 M

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Butter softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 box sprinkle cake mix (15.25oz)
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1-2 cups of Toll House Unicorn Morsels (I'm not going to tell you how much to do, you do you) 

Instructions:

1. Preheat over to 350º
2. In a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar for 1 min.
3. Scrape sides of  bowl, add eggs & vanilla. Mix until Combined.
4.  Add cake mix & flour and mix until dough comes together.
5. Add unicorn morsels. (you do you) 
6. Scoop dough into 1-2 inch balls. I usually use my small pampered chef scoop, and then gently flatten.
7. Bake 9-10 min, until VERY lightly browned.
8.  Allow to cool 1-2 min after taking out of oven before transferring to cooling rack.
9. Store at room temperature in air tight container. I apologize in advance for your new addiction. 

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @jordanne__marie on instagram and hashtag it #jordannemarielovessharing

Created using The Recipes Generator