red hair and something from my heart

Today has been a super day.  I woke up early and went to a bodystep class at 8am and then to the grocery to get some teething tablets and diaper cream.  I had been thinking of making some changes to my hair and going red has been one of those things on my bucketlist for quite some time.  Since I was childless I took a little extra time and found my self in the hairdye aisle.  I found a shade I liked and thought, "why not?"  So I came home and dyed it all before the first session of general conference started.  After Evie saw me she said, "Ooooh princess hair mommy!"  That has got to be the best compliment.  So, here are way too many pictures of my new hair.

There is something else on my heart I'd like to share.  A couple weeks ago a man came to our church and spoke.  The topic of his talk was "Unapologetically Christian".  Since then I have not been able to get that phrase out of my mind.  I've been wondering what I can do better in my life to adopt that motto and apply it to the way I live and go through my days.  So I'll just share a few things.

This weekend is a special weekend for members of my church all around the world.  I'm sure most of you who read this blog know that I am a Mormon. My faith is such a big part of me and has helped me to cultivate a relationship with my Savior Jesus Christ and has brought me so much joy in my life so far.  

So twice a year we have General Conference and our prophet Thomas S Monson speaks to us, 15 million Mormons all around the world, as well as the apostles and other leaders of our church.  This is such a unique opportunity because we can hear what the living prophet has to say to us and what The Lord wants us to know about our day.  

I look forward to these all year and they are such a strength and nourishment to my soul and spirit.  Today there were 3 incredible sessions of conference and tomorrow there are two more.  

I would like to invite anyone and everyone I know to watch these conference sessions and see if they bring a peace and good spirit in to your heart.  Hearing from the prophet and his apostles has changed my life for the better and has encouraged me to live a happy and meaningful life.

If you are interested in that for yourself the sessions are from 12-2 and 4-6 eastern time.  You can go to lds.org to watch it live! 

cauliflower crust pizza

 Many of you asked about the recipie for this Cauliflower Crust Pizza.  I'm sure you could find many recipies all over the Internet but I based mine off of Paula Deens recipie.  I made one small change though.  Which I'll share down below.

Ever since my sister inlaw visited back in January and introduced me to Cauliflower rice, I always keep a head of cauliflower on hand.  We make the rice about once a week and use it for a side with meals or we put it in to a whole wheat tortilla with fresh sliced peppers, pepper jack cheese, and some light ranch.   So since I was feeding the missionaries last week and I had a head of cauliflower I needed to use up I decided to try an experiment and make cauliflower crust pizza.  Besides, who better to try out food experiments on than hungry 19 year old boys.  Plus they have to eat whatever you fix, I'm pretty sure that's a mission rule.  

It turned out great! I actually really loved it and it is such a better alternative when those pizza cravings hit.  We topped ours with turkey pepperoni, roasted squash, zucchini, and yellow and red peppers.

Cauliflower Crust

Process 1 medium size cauliflower head in food processor until finely grated.

Microwave for 6 minutes.

Let it cool for about 10 minutes then stir in 1 egg, 1 cup shredded mozzarella, and 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.  I also added 1 tablespoon milled flax seed.

Spread crust out on a baking sheet and pre cook at 425 without toppings for 12 minutes.  Take it out and add your sauce cheese and toppings and then cook again until cheese is melted and bubbly.

I've made this two times. The second time I didn't let the cauliflower cool all the way from when I microwaved it and it was definitely a fork pizza.  The first time I made the pizza when it cooled from coming out of the oven we were able to eat it by picking it up.  All in all it was an experiment gone well!

Avett Mills Murphy

Born October 18th at 3:23pm at 41 weeks and 5 days

10 pounds 3 ounces

22 inches long

7 hours of labor

A beautiful NUVBAC

The experience of bringing him in to the world was beyond words and we are all so captivated by him, including his big sister!

the plan

A few weeks ago we received some amazing news that we had been waiting for, Mr. Murphy has gotten into the University of Georgia!

 He will be finishing his bachelors and Masters there as an accounting major.  We hope to be able to get it all done in about 3 years.  I am so proud of him and can't wait to see what this new adventure holds for us. 

We will be moving our little family of four back to the country and into my mothers house. When she got married in February she moved out to Douglasville with her new husband. So now we will have that big beautiful home and land all to ourselves.  I loved raising Evaleigh there for the first 9 months of her life and I can't wait to do the same with Avett.  Our days were spent outside swinging under trees, playing in the barn, and laying out on blankets in the pasture.  

We will make the move at the end of October a few weeks after Avett is born.  It will be a hectic time to pick up our family and move but we know it's the right thing.  I feel sad about leaving the city that I love so much and in my heart I hope we will be back in the future.  We have so many wonderful friends here and we are grateful for the love and support they have shown us.  John has been with the same company for the past 4.5 years and he has learned so much, it has been wonderful for is. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to be with them for as long as we were.

We are so excited to move along to the next chapter in our lives. We are a little nervous about going back to the student life but it's also exciting to do it together! So, that's the plan, and we can't wait to get stared!

(Back in 2011 when we moved in for the first time)

e & a's shared nursery

So, truth be told it really made no sense to even create this room except for the fact that my nesting instincts were off the charts.  I told myself early on that I was no going to change around Evie's room before Avett came.  But when my mother purchased this toddler bed for us and CJ created their quilts, I literally couldn't stop myself.  I don't know what was driving me other than shear hormones.  Seeing that we are moving in two months Avett will most likely never even sleep in this room. However, now that I satisfied the urge to rearrange and redo 'their' room I actually sleep better at night. I don't toss and turn with crazy pregnant lady thoughts of how to decorate for Avett and make a space that is all his own. Not that that even makes sense since he will be in a bassinet the whole time we finish living here. Geeez pregnant ladies are nuts....

The only two new purchases were:

Crib sheets: Land of Nod

Rug: Ikea

strip quilt

We have gotten a lot of special things for this baby boy but this is probably my favorite.  My soul friend Lisa's mother handmade this incredible quilt for Avett.  I had this idea to throw a bunch of fabrics together in strips without any thought of a color scheme.  I pulled fabrics from things I had at home and then CJ let me go shopping in her fabric stash! We cut fabric strips together for 4 hours one day.

The blanket is so special because we can look at it and say "That fabric came from an antique shop in Colorado when I was shopping with Aunt Makayla when she was pregnant with McKenzie."  Or, "These are scraps from when I accidentally made backwards Z's for Jenna's wedding."  Or, "These were pajama pants for Karen and this was the leftover from Lisa's linen pants."  

Every piece in there has a story.  And let me just tell you how amazing CJ is.  When you thought it couldn't get any sweeter she goes and makes a matching small version of the quilt for EJ to play with for her baby dolls.  They are both something that we will cherish forever, thank you CJ, we love you!

goodbye

My dearest and greatest friend is moving away and I couldn't be more happy or more sad about it.   I am so excited for the new phase in Lisa's life but I will miss her and her snaps and dances terribly.  The promise of Skype dates calms the sting a bit.  So last night Jamie and I threw her a little going away party complete with a surprise gift of a new Baby Lock sewing machine that we all chipped in for.  It was great to be together.  

We will all miss you so much Lis and hope that Utah is everything you dream it will be!

a *little* announcement...

...about the size of a grape right now to be exact!

Murphy baby #2 due October 6th!

And we are thrilled!

2 0 1 2

Two thousand twelve was the absolute best.

I remember crying the first New Year's Eve that John and I were newlyweds.  I was sad that I couldn't say that we were in the year that we had been married in anymore.  If I had only known then how much better each year after that would get I would have never been so silly.

I started off 2012 as a very VERY pregnant woman. I loved every minute of being pregnant and can't wait to do it again when it happens.
On January 17th our perfect Evaleigh Joy Murphy was born in to this world and changed us forever.  That was by far our greatest accomplishment of 2012.
We enjoyed our first moments of being a family to the fullest by making forts and eating yummy things.

I soaked in every moment with my sweet little newborn.
John and I participated in an art project for a friend.
I started Tunes & Spoons Design.  I am so grateful for all of my wonderful clients and the super successful first year of designing that I had!  Can't wait to continue designing and making beautiful little spots on the internet.

Evaleigh had her very special blessing day at church and all of our family came.
Spearmint Baby featured EJ's nursery.
We cloth diapered Evie for several months

I had my gallbladder removed.  It was the most painful thing ever, by far worse than the c-section.  But I got to spend time relaxing and recovering with my sweet little family.
I threw my sister a baby shower for Parker.
Evie took her first swim at Nanny's house.

May was a very eventful month.  Cousin Parker was born!!
I had my very first Mother's Day.
Mr. Murphy and I celebrated two awesome years of marriage in Savannah.  We ordered lots of delicious food up to our river front hotel.  Evaleigh tagged along and we felt like real grownups.
EJ took her first trip to the beach.

My little girl grew and grew.
We took a trip down to the Glenn Murphy Ranch and got to be with our nieces.  Mom came down and EJ got her first teeth.
I tried to see the good in our situation of still living with my mother.

Evie tourtured me by refusing to say 'mama'
I tried super hard to make my great gandmother's famous...literally famous Caramel Cake.
Evaleigh turned 6 months and I marveled at how fast she was growing.

I got to make music with Mr. Murphy and we performed for an unplugged event.
I got to help throw a really cool Bridal Shower for a dear friend with a pretty cool lady.
I started Evaleigh's Instagram Alphabet Book.

I bought an amazing chartreuse chair.
I had a fun adventure of designing sets for Holly Robbins for a couple of her photo shoots.  I enjoyed working for her and creating beautiful things.
We spent lots of family time together and hung outside of the temple.

I turned 25 and chose to stay young and play on the playground with my husband that night.
We did fall things with Evie.
WE MADE THE BIG MOVE TO THE CITY!!  We got a townhouse and settled in for the Holidays.  Having our own place feels like being newlyweds again, we forgot how fun it was!

We got a teensy bit of a rough start in our new place.  But it didn't phase us because we were too excited to be there.
We bought our Christmas tree from some interesting Boy Scouts.  Evaleigh was also mistaken for a boy.
We got to dress our place up for Evaleigh's first Christmas.

I had a life changing experience at the Symphony with my father.
We soaked in every bit of Christmas that we could.
EJ had her very first Christmas.

Oh...and we had a puppy for about 24 hours.
But thats another story for another day.

2012,

Thanks for being so great.  Can't wait to see what 2013 has in store.  
Another Baby?  
John rocking it starting back to college? 
New friends?  
Married parents?

So excited.

(See last year's review here.  And the year before that here.)