ANNOUNCING... {+ a LuLaRoe giveaway}

Where are my LuLaRoe lovers at? Because I'm sooo excited, and a little nervous, but mostly excited to share the news that I am now a LuLaRoe fashion consultant!! In other words, I'm your newest hook up for beautiful, comfy clothes ;)

Let Me See You Sparkle Photography

So here's the deal... ever since we moved to Arizona I have been a full time stay at home mom. I feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to spend my days with my kids whom I love most in this world, BUT! I do miss my salon, my creative outlet, bringing in a little extra money (let's be honest here!) and having something for me! Now I realize clothes and hair are two totally different things, but since a salon just isn't an option for me right now, Eric and I both agreed that LLR sounds just right for now!  I love helping women feel beautiful and comfortable in their own skin... we all deserve that, don't we?! I know these clothes do just that for so many, and will continue to do so! Mia and I have quite the collection of LLR in our closets (as pictured above), so why not spread the love ;) It's totally scary to put myself "out there" with something like this, but the support from Eric (from the second I threw the idea at him just to see his reaction... which I totally wasn't expecting! But he's really excited for me to find something I can be in love with while again, doing what I love most and spending my days with our little people!), my family and friends (that knew about this), have given me so much confidence that it's okay to be excited about this! So here I am, sharing my excitement with all of you, who continue to support and love my little family through every phase of our lives that I've shared!

I'm excited to announce that my online launch party is Wednesday, May 25th on Facebook! Be sure to follow along now as I will be offering fun giveaways and share the most gorgeous skirts, dresses and more. Man, I can't wait to show y'all the goodies (where's the heart eye emoji when I need it?!) Speaking of giveaways... I'm so excited about my news that I'm giving away $100 shop credit between 5 winners (so $20 each!) because, the more the merrier, right?! I wish you all could win, but this is something I can do to show my love and appreciation for all of you! Be sure to follow along on Facebook and Instagram for more giveaways, and don't forget to tell your friends ;) Thank you, again, for your continued support and GOOD LUCK! xo

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a girl's best friend... {Azazie}

My Skirt Azazie Mia's Bow Her Joyful Studio

Tulle is a girl's best friend... oh, and diamonds! Definitely can't forget the diamonds ;) Seriously though, can a girl have too much tulle in her closet?! If you ask me and Eric's my mini, the answer is NO! Luckily for all of us tulle obsessed girls, I'm sharing your one stop shop, or as I like to call it, tulle heaven!
Azazie offers the most gorgeous bridesmaid dresses, accessories and more! If you're planning your wedding, you seriously needn't look any further than Azazie with the amazing collection they have! Or, if you're like me and have been married for forever (8 years counts as forever, right?!), this is my go to for all the tulle creations I've dreamt up in my head! You can find multiple length options (a floor length tulle skirt is next on my dream list!) and every color imaginable. I mean seriously, does it get any better than that?! I think not!
I absolutely love that my skirt can be worn casually while on a shopping date with my kids, or I can dress it up for date night with Eric, or I can really dress it up to wear to a wedding... the possibilities are endless! Since black goes with everything, don't be surprised if I wear this at least 5 days out of the week (because let's be real. I don't get dressed and out of the house every day ;) ha ha. At home you will most definitely find me in Eric's basketball shorts!) until I add more skirts to my collection ;) Hurry and get your own and join the "twinning" party with Mia and me!

Save This Memory Photography 

my mini(s)

...because you know I can't ever stop at just ONE post when it comes to sharing photos ;)

Our Dresses Lularoe Our Bracelets Poppy Lane and Co Blanket Bebe Au Lait

Have I mentioned how much fun we had during our mini shoot with Let Me See You Sparkle Photography? James wasn't invited to the party but we are just in that stage of life of "wherever mommy goes, baby goes!" so he got a few photos taken as well. Be still my mommy heart! James is such a little dream boat ;) And you can totally see the love they have for each other in these photos. My heart could not be more full! 

If you live in Arizona and want darling photos of your littles- these mini sessions are just for you! Fun themes, short time frame (perfect when photos involve children, ha ha!) and precious memories captured forever! 

Part 1

currently

I found this on Instagram but I'm not sure who to give source credit- let me know if you know :)

Loving: how comfortable we feel living in Arizona these days! I've been feeling very blessed lately when I think of the amazing friendships we've made these past few months, and the old friendships we've been able to grow because of living here. One of my dear friends moved here just a few months ago and she has quickly come to be one of my best friends, and I have Arizona to thank for that! We still get homesick for Utah's beauty and our family, but that just gives us the best excuse ever to go back and visit while we can! In the mean time, we are having a lot of fun exploring our newish (is it still new after living here almost a year and a half?!) state and all there is to offer here!

Reading/Watching: kid books are my jam, y'all. That's the only thing I make time for right now. But I did host an Usborne book party for a friend and I'm super excited to get our new books in the mail and have new stuff to look at with the kids! I'm so a mom, aren't I?! Ha ha.
Watching, what am I watching? I haven't even had time for shows these days... Now that we caught up with Fixer Upper on Netflix, we don't feel the need to rush to the TV once the kids go to bed ;) ha ha, I'm kidding! Eric and I are finally watching the latest season of Bones on Netflix. I finished Hart of Dixie (so cheesy, but I just can't help myself!) and now I'm on the hunt for something else to reel me in.

Trying to: be a good mom. I don't know why my first reaction is to be annoyed when most of Mia's responses to most of my commands (ha, oops) is "why". Like, shouldn't she just accept whatever I tell her because I, her mother, said it?! NOOOO! No, she shouldn't. Why do I keep forgetting that Mia doesn't just know everything?! She is learning EVERYTHING from how to clean a certain way, how we act in public, how we react to certain situations, etc and I'm the one that is supposed to teach her! I sure do hope to get my self in check and start teaching her with the grace and patience she deserves!
Whew! How was that for light hearted conversation? Ha! And now we all know what a bad/mean mom I can be.

Wishing: I could get my sweet tooth (and the salty one, too. Gimme all the junk food!) under control... I cleaned up my eating habits SO good after Mia was born but I am struggling this time around. So! Since I don't have a handle on that, it's time to up my workouts, AGAIN! I picked up my running a month or two ago and I've made major progress, but my wimpy weight lifting isn't cutting it. It's time to get serious about gaining more muscle! I'm going to start BBG next week- who's done it?! Do you love it, or hate it?!

Excited for: so here's the deal... I'm going to do something real annoying that drives me crrrrazy when others do this (because I'm so gosh, dang nosy!) and tease you all with something big, without actually sharing what the news, ha ha. But seriously, I've had something BIG in the works for a couple of months now and I am thiiiiiis close to sharing the secret. I am SO excited, a little nervous (okay, a lot nervous if I think about it too hard), but mostly really excited! You all have been the most amazing friends and supporters of mine, so I can't wait to share the news with you FIRST, in just a few days :)

night terrors :(

Let Me See You Sparkle Photography

Every Friday I usually feature a shop and product but tonight I have a heavy heart and I just can't seem to get in the right frame of mind to share my feature I had planned for this week. We've had a rough couple of nights with Mia- she's been waking up every couple of hours crying and I started to suspect night terrors. Well, tonight (Thursday night) it was confirmed when I went in her room to comfort her. I would hug her and hold her close, she would cuddle into me then moments later jump out of my arms and cry, "where's my mom?! I want my mommy!" and try to get around me and head for her door. She repeated that a few times before I took her to my bed to see if that would comfort her, but she didn't like that either. As I was carrying her back to her room, she suddenly started talking to me normal. I laid in bed with her and sang to her until she fell back asleep a couple minutes later. I was hoping to go to bed early(and was contemplating skipping blogging, oops!) as I've been so exhausted from lack of sleep, but what's the point now, right? I figured she would wake up again and sure enough, about an hour later we were on round 2. 

Of course I feel so defeated and helpless, but as I started researching and talking to people, I discovered that you're not supposed to wake them up (waking them up is when they act normal again, like I mentioned above) and I accidentally woke her up both times tonight. Cue the mom guilt on top of all the other emotions I'm feeling over watching my baby girl suffer! The first night we experienced this, I was so tired (and a little out of it myself from being woken up) and had little patience for her screams as I was trying to calm her down before she woke James up (they share a room) and wished she would hurry up and fall back asleep as I lay next to her, so that I could go back to my own bed and go back to sleep... mom of the year! Now tonight, all I want to do is sleep next to her to try and do all that I can to comfort her. 

I realize these night terrors are out of my control, but I would love to hear any experiences you all have had with your children?! Did you make a connection with any triggers? I'll be on the lookout for triggers with Mia and would love ideas of what to watch for. I know we could be experiencing much harder trials with Mia than just night terrors, but tonight I'm feeling pretty heart broken about it and wishing I could take them away from her and make them my own :(

tea time partay!

Our Dresses Lularoe Our Bracelets Poppy Lane and Co

Am I the only one dying, DYING over these gorgeous photos from our mommy and me tea party themed mini shoot by Let Me See You Sparkle Photography?! Okay, I realize I probably I am because I'm completely biased, but you can't deny how adorable these photos are!!
In honor of Mother's Day, Mia and I were invited to participate in these mini sessions and I can't even describe how much joy and love I feel when I see these photos! We were treated to the cutest dang set up EVER, and Mia dove right in and made herself comfortable. Treats? Check! And Mia did her best to eat her way through every single one. Teddy Bears? Check! And Mia practically named each one and picked out multiple to bring home with us. So many teaching moments were created here as I tried to explain to Mia that we had to leave treats and all the bears for other kids to enjoy, ha ha! There wasn't a single moment of awkwardness or shyness as Mia and I got lost in her imagination of tea time play, plus lots of snuggles and tickle fests! We had the best time just playing with each other for a solid half hour without any worries or to-do lists hanging over us! It honestly went by too quickly... what mom of a toddler ever said that about a photo shoot?! It was seriously that enjoyable!
Let Me See You Sparkle Photography is so creative and offers mini sessions for every holiday and other fun dates throughout the year! Her next session of minis is right around the corner and it's her favorite theme... sweet summertime minis!! Can you imagine just how great this will be?! Take a peak on her Facebook page! The dates are June 24, 25 and 26. So what I'm trying to say is this, if you live in Arizona and have littles, hurry and save your slot before they all sell out! You definitely won't regret having the sweetest candid moments captured of your precious kids!

Mother's Day 2016

“Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in, it is what God gave you time for.” - Neil L. Anderson

Let Me See You Sparkle Photography

Mother's Day is such a special day to celebrate even though Eric, you guessed it, worked ;) I'm pretty sure he has worked every Mother's Day since Mia was born, ha! But he always makes the day as special as he can for me! My day was a simple one that started with church and watching Mia sing with the primary for her first time! Oh my momma heart was bursting with happiness as I knew how much Mia loved being up there singing! She's the cutest :) She brought home the sweetest Mother's Day card for me with her hand prints as flowers and a questionnaire that I've been dying to get since I became a mom. I still can't stop laughing over some of Mia's answers. My mom's full name is: "just Courtney." I can totally imagine how she said that with a "duh" type of attitude, ha ha! My mom is "38" (not bad considering we've never talked about this. She was only 10 years off!) and weighs "bigger". I love it when my mom "reads books" which is what I plan on doing as soon as I finish this blog post. I'd say we're due for a cuddle sesh and enjoying something we both love after the doozy of a Monday we've had so far... I couldn't resist sharing a photo on Instagram if you want to see the rest :) We took a nap, called our mom's to wish them a Happy Mother's Day when Eric got home. He made me dinner and we ate it while watching a movie (during which Mia cuddled with me almost the whole time!!) and he baked my favorite pie- lemon meringue. It was a day filled with simple moments that truly meant the most to me! I love my people! I'm also incredibly grateful for our mom's for raising Eric and I to the best of their abilities, and being the very best grandma's to our babies!
This year was such a sweet one as it's my first Mother's Day since becoming a momma of two! James, that sweet boy, has reminded me what a sacred calling motherhood is. Mia and James are so innocent and pure, loving and forgiving and they never cease to amaze me with their incredible relationship. I can see just how much they love me written all over their faces and every day I will try harder to honor my calling as their mom, because we all deserve my very best effort! I love my babies and their daddy, and I'm so thankful to be a mom!

wood ya look at that {Mulberry House}

We live in a rental and we are seriously dying to buy a house asap (Fixer Upper has NOT helped curb our desire to find a home and make it ours, ha ha!) but unfortunately we haven't felt settled enough to take the plunge and put some roots down (evident by our move every couple of years! We moved 3 times in Utah, and now we are in Arizona!) With each move and new rental, I become less and less motivated to decorate the house, but I've discovered that though the home isn't ours, these personal touches help make it feel more "homey" until we do buy our own home!
When we moved to Arizona, we had Mia's room completely unpacked and decorated in the first couple of days. The move was such a big change that we wanted her to have something familiar, a safe place to go that felt like hers. Now that she and James share a room, I just keep adding to the decor and their room is definitely our favorite place to be. It feels like home :) I can't wait to share a full reveal of their bedroom, but below is one corner of their room with that beautiful "Be Brave" sign from Mulberry House.
I'm ashamed to admit that our bedroom (the master bedroom) has never been decorated... I keep waiting for the day that we buy a house, can paint the walls, buy the bedroom furniture we truly want, spend the money on decor knowing that the color scheme will be there to stay for awhile, etc. But as soon as I saw those "LOVE" letters from Mulberry House, I knew I had to have them! I LOVE the feel they bring into our room and I'm actually feeling inspired to keep decorating! Even Mia noticed the letters and she's always mentioning them when she's in our room. It just feels so good to have something personal hanging on the wall, and I can't wait to keep filling up empty wall space!  I may even get a little crazy and splurge on some accent pillows ;) ha ha!
So if you haven't noticed by now, I'm completely obsessed with Mulberry House! The shop is based in Arizona and they have the most beautiful wood art! I was just scrolling through the shop to check out their new items, and I fell in love with a lot of their older ones all over again! I want to (and will!) fill my house up with all of their fun, timeless designs! There are so many great gift items as well- Mother's Day (for all you procrastinators... I belong in the club with you, ha ha!), teacher gifts, home decor, etc. I've got nothing more to say besides, check 'em out, NOW! ;)

Wood Letters and Sign c/o Mulberry House

you know you've been married forever when...

Skirt c/o Azazie

Thank you everyone for all of the sweet anniversary wishes all over social media! It made our celebrating that much more fun! Gosh, I remember when we were newly weds and five years seemed so far in the future... then I blinked and suddenly we've been married for eight years and have two babies! Marriage isn't always easy or fun, Eric and I still haven't figured out how to stop arguing over some of the same dumb things we've been arguing about since day 1 (ha ha), but I wouldn't want to experience the nitty gritty with anyone else! Marriage is worth fighting for and I'm so grateful for our relationship, our loyalty to each other and every moment we've experienced together!

Good ol' snapchat :) Find me @courtneybrink

Eric ended up having 5 days off over our anniversary and sadly we didn't realize it in time to plan a little getaway. Instead we had to do lists, doctor appointments and other lame adult stuff ;) But we made the best of our time together and I'm definitely feelin' the "Monday blues" today as it's his first day back at work. We kind of celebrated all weekend long in the simplest of ways, but it was just perfect for where we are at in life right now! Saturday night we put the kids to bed early and sat in front of the TV with some take out and binged on food and our shows. Brought back memories of how that was the norm before we ever had kids, ha! We were true party animals and stayed up past 9! No worries though, we were dead asleep before 10 ;) Eric and I each planned a date to celebrate our 8th anniversary so Monday night, Eric took us all out to Cheesecake Factory. He had hoped to get a sitter but I had already snatched one up for my date! Tuesday morning my friend took the kids and I had planned to take Eric shooting (we haven't done this together since Mia was 6 months old!) and enjoy a picnic... but we don't live in Utah anymore! There really isn't desert that we know of where we can drive out and shoot guns, and when I finally did my research late the night before, I discovered the shooting range is only open on the weekends. Oops! So I thought I'd surprise Eric with golfing instead. Well, who knew you had to have a reservation AND that it takes hours to complete the course?! Not this girl because, you guessed it, I didn't do my research, HA! James doesn't take a bottle so we had a timeline to keep to, so instead of doing the course, we hit up the driving range and actually had a ton of fun! It was totally relaxing to not have to worry about the kids for a couple of hours! We got to play, be goofy, relax and enjoy being carefree for a couple of hours. It was just what we needed!! And it made me realize once again how precious dating each other is! I've made it a goal to get a sitter once a month so that we can get out and have some care free fun together! Anyway, our celebrations were so simple (I didn't even wax my out of control eyebrows... you know you've been married for 8 years instead of just 1 when.... ;) ha ha!) but just right! I am excited for the years to come, growing pains and all, with Eric by my side!

8 years later and I couldn't be happier with my life and the people in it! LOVE my family!

8 years

where it all began

We did it!! We beat the 7 year itch... not that I was worried or anything ;) Jobs, vehicles, cities, states and so many other changes, too many to list, we've experienced together- it hasn't always been easy, but there's no one else I'd rather experience the ups and downs life has to offer with! 

Back in the day, when Eric used to smile willingly for the camera ;), I never could have imagined the life we would build together in 8 short years. Our life, our two precious babies, our marriage, it's all just so good! It's worth fighting for, and that can be hard to come by these days. My cup runneth over.

8 years down, eternity to go! Happy Anniversary to us!

 I'm waiting to get family photos back, but in the meantime, it doesn't get sweeter than this! LOVE my family!