Keepin’ Things Exciting with 3 Little Ones & the Most Delicious Meals.

Good morning!  We are showing off some pretty delicious meals with you today and also sharing some things Andrew and I are doing for our relationship during this crazy time of life.  This post is sponsored by Blue Apron.  I have a great deal for you at the end of the post.  Enjoy!

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Skye was pretty excited to see what our Blue Apron box included this time around:)  Gotta love being able to skip the grocery store scene with kids and instead have everything delivered right to your door.  Blue Apron sends everything to you in all of the exact proportions that you will need for your meals in a refrigerated box.  After using Blue Apron for almost four years now, every ingredient that I have ever received from them has always been fresh and ready to use!  Blue Apron is dedicated to developing a sustainable food system.  They always use high quality ingredients.

We chose the 2-Person Plan this time (you can also choose the Family Plan if that works for your situation) and selected three recipes for Andrew and me.  They offer 8 recipes to choose from each week (they use to offer 6) so you have so many different and delicious dinners  to choose from that your taste buds will love.

We started with the Baked Pepper & Potato Hash w/ Eggs & Cheddar Cheese.  I love all of the colors:

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You start off by boiling the potatoes and then searing them before adding everything together to put in the oven!  The potatoes turned out so crispy and creamy on the inside.  The cave-aged crumbled cheddar cheese pieces were the perfect topping for this meal.

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This dish took a total of 35 minutes for us to make.  It was so good and full of nutrients.

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Somehow Blue Apron made Kale taste delicious;)

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Another one of the meals I wanted to show you from this Blue Apron box was the Zesty Shrimp & Fettucine w/ Calabrian Chile & Sweet Peppers.

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I shared a few of the noodles with Brooke and she actually loved the heat in this dish from the Calabrian chile paste… I’m proud of her.  She is quite adventurous with food these days!

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In case you are wondering about pricing, Blue Apron starts as low as $8.99 per serving!  We always finish our meals from Blue Apron full and satisfied so don’t worry about it not being enough food either, we always have enough.

This shrimp dish was one of my favorite meals ever from Blue Apron.  The entire meal was so flavorful and the rich cream sauce that you make for the pasta was excellent.  I love pasta and when you add shrimp and a new-to-me sauce to the mix, I’m a happy camper!  The sweet peppers had the perfect crunch and as I am typing this I am dreaming of eating it again right now ha.

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Happy eating everyone—>  we’ve got to fuel these engines of ours so we can keep running strong!

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Let’s talk about something else going on in our world—>  Turns out new little babies attempt to and somedays successfully take over their parents’ lives;)

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Between Brooke, Knox, Skye, work, Andrew’s schooling, church responsibilities, training and my deep need (otherwise I’m not fun to be around) for plenty of sleep…  Sometimes Andrew and I realize that working on our relationship is hanging out on the back burner which is not okay for us.   We have started doing a few things together to really make sure we put each other first and I’m not gonna lie, it has been really fun.

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1.  Yoga at night together or at any time during the day we have a few minutes without kids.  It’s something we can do at home and it is something other than my normal go-to of just turning on Netflix and zoning out at night together once the kids are asleep.  It is something that is good for our health and our running and it is something we love to do together.  Half the time I end up laughing so hard over us both failing at having any balance or flexibility but we love it.   It can be 10 minutes or 45 minutes but we get to talk and have something to do at home together without having to get a babysitter.

2.  Switching up the routine.  Just adding the smallest changes to our routine makes the biggest difference for us.  Life is probably pretty monotonous for a lot of us—>  diapers, work, clean, dishes, sleep, run, eat, laundry repeat but throwing in little changes into our time together is the best.  It keeps things fun.  Whether that is dancing in the living room, writing little notes to each other, grabbing the other person’s favorite treat for them, a foot massage, driving around looking at our dream homes or sitting on the porch together once the kids go to sleep, it is so nice to switch up the every day routine a bit.  Andrew is much more spontaneous than I am (routine is my middle name;) so I love getting out of doing the same thing all of the time and thinking of little things to switch up.

3.  We have times where we talk about everything but the kids.  This is kind of more my problem than Andrew’s but there are times where I just talk non-stop about kid stuff.  We decided that each day we need to spend time talking about all of the other things in life besides our kids that we have going on in our brains.  I feel like it is so easy for me to get caught up in the kids but I love spending time with Andrew where we just talk about us and our goals/thoughts/needs.

4.  Reading books together.  We both have different types of books that we naturally gravitate towards but we have been wanting to choose books every now and then that we both will find interesting that we get to talk to each other about.  Andrew listens to books mostly while running (because he has so much to read for school he doesn’t really have other time to read) and I get in a lot of reading during breastfeeding.  The first book we read/discussed together was You Are A Badass (please read, so good) and it was so fun to be reading the same thing and see each other’s different perspectives on the book.

5.  Eating something other than pancakes (or some other boring meal ha;).  I am not the most creative chef on the planet so I love having meals from Blue Apron that gets us out of my pancake rut and making something way more flavorful, healthy and exciting.  We’ve had the goal the last few months to eat at home more often (which I’m proud to say we have actually stuck to and it’s been amazing) and Blue Apron helps us to fulfill that goal.   It’s always fun for Andrew and I to spend some time together in the kitchen talking while we make something delicious for us to eat and having a mini date together at home.

I made him do this picture for me, it was not his idea to reenact Lady & the Tramp.

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Time for you to get a deal—>  First 50 readers will get $50 off their first two weeks of Blue Apron!  Just click HERE!   Remember there is no commitment with Blue Apron, you can skip or cancel the service at any time!   Don’t forget to check out all of their recipes here—>  they are always adding new meals to their menu each week!

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Any good book recommendations that you think both Andrew and I would like?  I like our two-person book-club ha.  

Are you more of a routine type person or spontaneous?  

Who has been doing yoga lately?  Do you go to a studio, gym or do it at home?

What things/people keep your life busiest at this point in your life?

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41 comments

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I’m the more spontaneous person in our relationship. Trevon likes everything planned out and I want to get in the car and go.

I think our church callings and kids keep us pretty busy right now but we are getting into a pattern with things. Some days are completely crazy with school/work, homework, nap time, gymnastics, meetings for our callings… some nights we really don’t even see each other more than 30 minutes until 10:00 pm!

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You are like Andrew, I love it! Yes, church callings are taking up a bunch of my time lately now too! You are an amazing mom and wife… you rock those crazy days. Have a wonderful Wednesday Jenny!

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Ah! I’ve been bugging my BF to take a lady in the tramp picture with me!! Someday!

I do agree that cooking together is good for couples. It’s one of our favorite things from finding a recipe to youtube videos, buying the food, and cooking. :)

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HAHAH show him ours and maybe he will;) I love that you guys cook together, I agree… it is so good for us! Have a beautiful day Emma!

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Aww I love the things you and Andrew are doing together! And I’m reading You Are a Badass right now. I just started it the other day, but I really like it so far! Have y’all read Bob Goff’s new book Everybody, Always? If not, you should add that one to your list!

I have quite a few things that keep my schedule insane, but I wouldn’t change it! I love working with the high school girls, youth I tutor, and also my small group at church. But my body has definitely been requiring more sleep lately. I didn’t even get up to run this morning, and I won’t be able to after work today, so looks like I’ll be doing that on my lunch break today! :)

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I am so glad you are reading it… it is such a good buck. I haven’t read his book but I am adding it to my list right now, thank you Natalie! You seriously are so busy and you are such a good example to me of helping others daily… thank you for that. Have a great run during lunch:)

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Any good book recommendations that you think both Andrew and I would like? The 7 husbands of Evelyn Hugo was stellar.

Are you more of a routine type person or spontaneous? Spontaneous 100%. I don’t like to commit to anything unless I’m positive I can do it. Example: My mom lives 2 hours away. After work last Friday I decided to go take her to dinner, so I called her up and told her I was on my way. I ALWAYS do this. I like to do what I want, when I want :) This is TOTALLY doable if I have kids right ( hahahaha yeaaaa jokes going to be on me)

Who has been doing yoga lately? Do you go to a studio, gym or do it at home? Nope. I just avoid it entirely. Yoga is the pitts. Well, I just hate sitting and stretching. It’s so boring!! I should do it though, obviously.

What things/people keep your life busiest at this point in your life? My husband & our home, & our family . We have 3+ acres, and my hubs is always looking at projects to do. We just got a camper, so we expanded our driveway for it(what a fun, self inflicted project!!!) . I also have 5 siblings, and my boy has 3, so we’re always trying to see people and make time for EVERYONE. Being the favorite is exhausting *ha*

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Can’t wait to check out 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo… thank YOU! Andrew is just like you, he is not a fan of routine and loves to be spontaneous. I LOVE what you did last Friday, your mom is so lucky to have you! 3+ acres… ummm can we come live on your lot, that is amazing. Hahaha I can’t even imagine how hard that must be to expand a driveway. I get the exhaustion that comes with being the favorite with your family;) Your comment made me laugh, thank you so much. Have a wonderful day Heather!

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it is a really great read, but depending on the type of reader Andrew is, he might not love it. roughly speaking it’s a tale of a famous woman’s love life over her lifetime – but it is much more than that too. it’s definitely one of the better books i have read this year though – for sure.

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Have you read any of W. Bruce Cameron’s books? A Dog’s Purpose, sequel A Dog’s Journey, and his latest A Dog’s Way Home (different story) are all amazing and really make you think about what’s going through your dog’s head!
Your Lady and the Tramp pic cracked me up! I made my hubby do this once when we were dating, but I kept laughing every time we tried, so that was the end of that! :)

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I haven’t… this would be perfect for us. Thank you so much, I always wonder what is going on in Beretta’s head! Hahah try it again now;) Have a wonderful day Jenny and thanks for the recommendation, Andrew will be so excited.

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I am a super routine person! And I love it.

Book recommendation – I laugh out loud at AJ Jacobs’ books. I highly recommend Drop Dead Healthly. Hilarious and I imagine it would be a fun one to read with a partner. He does these human experiments on himself and often describes his understanding wife’s reactions :) Knowing you and Andrew only through the blog of course, I “think” you might both appreciate the humor. I don’t have affiliate links. Ha! Here is just a regular amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Drop-Dead-Healthy-Humble-Perfection/dp/1416599088

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Yep.. you know us well! THIS IS PERFECT FOR US!! Thank you so much Amanda, we are going to love this. THANKS and have a beautiful day!

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I agree, This was a good book!

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This post came at such perfect timing! My husband and I literally had the discussion last night about how monotonous our lives have become, and our baby isn’t even here yet! Thanks for the tips to help get us started. ;) Our big other plan was to go to Costco and Lowe’s tonight after he gets home from work – slow us down!

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Yes yes yes… that’s how we felt. Let me know if you figure anything else out to help break up the monotony! So excited for your new baby! Hahaha… sounds like our kind of night! Have a wonderful day Allison!

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I love your “Lady and the Tramp” pic. You are such a cute couple!
I mostly like routines, but when we are driving somewhere, I am totally spontaneous. I travel for business a lot and I never get lost in new cities because I have a really good sense of direction, but my husband constantly looks at google maps. I told him on our last trip, “put your phone away, and let’s just drive around”. HaHa.
I found 30 Days of Yoga online, a free +/- 30 minute yoga class. The yoga instructor Adrienne is based in Austin, Texas (my home state). You can follow a new video every day. It’s free and you can do on your schedule, at your own pace, which works good for me.
Random – I just finished “Girl, Wash Your Face” by Rachel Hollis. Great reading. I hi-lighted so many ideas and it helped me look at my life from a different perspective.

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I LOVE that Kate… how fun to just completely explore and find things on your own in a new city. That sounds fun for me (also because I hate looking things up and making a decision ha)! I am SO glad you loved that book, seriously amazing. I hope she continues writing more and more books. Oh and I am totally going to try these classes, THANK YOU! This is perfect for us. Have a wonderful day Kate and I hope your nest trip for work is a great one.

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One thing I do know is just because two people are parenting the same child, does not mean that their feeling, emotions, experience is the same. There was so much time and ROUTINE doing the same sorts of things, how could I be feeling like he did not really understand or know me? I can vividly remember after about 6 months of Hope’s life we had such a needed conversation in which we actually talked from our hearts about what it was like being a parent for each of us. We laughed, we hugged, I sobbed at some point…………………

………..every now and again I will ask C “what do you think my biggest personal challenge being a parent is right now.” When his answer is spot on, I know he gets where I am at. When it is not close, I make sure to open up again.

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Okay, you just gave me goosebumps with what you said about your experience. That is so similar to a conversation we had the other day and it was amazing to see his perspective. I have a hard time forgetting people see things differently than I do when it comes to certain things so this was so good for us. I’m going to follow your lead and ask that question. Thank you Erica. Wish we could hang out today!

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I am so lucky to have an amazing yoga tune-up teacher at my gym. I really do everything I can to go once at week (2 times on good weeks) and it makes such a big difference. We are basically rolling (medicine ball and foam rollers) for an hour, usually alternating between upper body (neck, shoulders, traps, lats, etc.) and lower body (glutes, hips, hamstrings, quads, etc.). I don’t already realize how tight my muscles are until I get in there. And I feel so much better after. Good on you two for finding time for yourself with everything you have on your plates! Life can get so crazy…Always a challenge but worth it!

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I want to go with you to her classes at the gym, that sounds AMAZING. My body is craving that. Thank you Mel, you are the best and I hope you are having a great Wednesday so far!

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Your lady and the tramp picture is so cute! YAY for Andrew for indulging you with it. It really is the little things, right?

I love yoga. There is a studio by my house that has a restorative class on Tuesday nights that I went ot all spring term becuase it helped me sleep better. But that gets expensive. I teach a yoga-based class called Body Flow, but I like going to classes to turn my brain off. But it’s not always financially a viable thing (especially in the summers where I get no paycheck). And sometimes when I am stressed and frantic, the idea of a class that’s 60 or 75 minutes–plus driving to and from–just adds to my anxiety. No bueno. My friend Nikki who is a passionate yogi and who got her teacher training created an app called 19 Minute Yoga. There are free classes, and like getting a memberhsip to a yoga studio (but a lot less $$$), you can “unlock” some “classes.” Everything is just a 19 minute sequence. That’s it. I turn to that a lot–just following the sound of her voice and putting my own self-created playlist on my iTunes in the background–because, following the kind of self-talk you give yourself often, if I have 30 minutes to spend on facebook zoning out before I turn to what’s next, then I have 19 minutes to spend on my mat (and then maybe the last 10 minutes on social media! ha!).

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I want to come to your Body Flow class! Nikki’s app sounds awesome… I’m going to get this. 19 minutes is PERFECT! I’m so excited and you are right, if I have time to scroll… I’ve got time for yoga. Thank you and I hope you have a great day Stephanie!

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Oh I have an idea–HOW ABOUT, if I find myself scheduling a poetry reading in Utah, I make my visit an extra day or two so I can come to you and teach you and your high school girls’ group through your church a Body Flow class? I promise to make the entire playlist as focused on really uplifting/empowering songs and “girl power” songs as much as I can! And Nikki’s app really is amazing. I more than highly recommend her ‘beginners’ sequence or her ‘gentle yoga’ sequence as a great post-run stretch session after one of your hard, hurts-so-good-but-still-so-bad workouts!

(by the way the official publication date for my poetry collection is next Friday! I am so excited!!!)

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Ummmm YES!! I would love that so much! I am so excited for you, next Friday! You are amazing! Thank you, can’t wait to try it out.

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I think yall should read The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah! I just read it and loved it…it was so fun to talk about with my husband and he didn’t even read it.
Routine person all the way!
I do Yoga With Adriene videos on youtube all the time!
Family and my dog keep me so busy!

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Thank you Erinn, I can’t wait to check this out! I’m loving these comments. Her videos are awesome! Your family and dog are so lucky to have you:) Have a wonderful day.

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i so need to read this…!

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I am definitely a routine person right now mostly because of my training/racing schedule but I also like spontaneity. I had a week day off so the other half and I headed out to enjoy a gorgeous day just about an hour out of town. We packed a picnic lunch and just chilled for a few hours. It was perfect.

Ooh – there are two books I really liked recently both fiction. One is called Childfinder. Another is called Lion – about a little boy in India who gets lost in a train station and is separated from his family. He is eventually adopted by a family but 25 years later he finds his way back to his biological family. Was a fantastic read and I believe it’s also a move.

No yoga lately.

I would say working on my career and also making sure my partner and I have quality time together – we spend a lot of time together but often we are each doing our own thing and it can be easy to tune the other person out.

Have a great day! Your kiddos are adorable :)

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Yes, that is how we feel sometimes too… we are together a lot but working on our own things so we are right there with you on the quality time! I LOVE what you did on your week day off, that sounds perfect. THANK YOU for the recommendations. Lion is a movie!! YOU HAVE to watch it… and I am going to read the book now and look up Childfinder, thank you so much Kristine! Keep rocking your training and racing, you amaze me!

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The picture of Knox holding on to Brooke holding on to you…PRECIOUS!!!! My little are now 12 and don’t hold on to my legs like that anymore and I miss it. I know it can drive you crazy sometimes but it’s so sweet.

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Oh I bet you miss that a lot! I know I am going to miss it (except for when they do this and it makes me fall haha;)! I hope you are having a wonderful day and your kids are so lucky to have you!

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Those are good ways to spend time with your husband. We need to come up with some things for us too. He doesn’t cook so I’m not sure he’d be up for cooking together but maybe doing the book thing because we both like to read. We need other things to talk about besides kids. Sometimes I don’t know what else to talk about. Ha!
What yoga do you use? I’ve done a few online runners world yoga videos but that’s it. The classes at the gym we go to are always in evenings right around dinner time so haven’t made those work because of being on kid schedules.

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I am definitely a routine person. In fact the last 2 weeks I have been out of my routine a bit and it has totally thrown off my days of the week. My fiancé is more spontaneous though and I do like when we randomly get to go out for dinner or cook something at home. It is nice to change things up from time to time. His work schedule is unpredictable but it makes us appreciate the time we have together more. Last year we had both left our jobs and traveled Australia and New Zealand for 3 months. That was the most spontaneous and adventurous I have been. We literally got a visa and booked a one way ticket to Sydney and planned as we went booking more one way tickets until we decided to come back. It was an amazing experience though and I’m so glad we did it because I feel like it was a good time before settling down and everything.

I’ve been focusing on yoga this week since I did my first powerlifting meet last weekend. My coach suggested taking a week off lifting and it has been hard as my energy levels are not the same without my gym sessions, but yoga has been nice. I did a yin class one night and aerial yoga last night. I typically go to a studio because I don’t have room at home and I can focus better, but we just bought a house so I am working on the design for my office/yoga room.

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2 person book club: maybe ask Andrew to also also read Deena Kastor’s memoir? i found it pretty enthralling! so much to discuss. but if you want to read to get away from running, i am reading “rich people problems” it is so beyond silly. there are 3 books, first one starts with “crazy rich asians” – i haven’t read that one yet, but my mom friends all say i have to read this one.

i’m the routine person, the husband is the spontaneous one. in fact, it is impossible to plan with him b/c he flakes out A LOT. i usually have my calendar booked 2 months in advance but i am trying to whittle it down to 1. i have a friend who books out her calendar 6 months ahead of time. it is really impossible to try to go to the opera with her :) (we are opera buddies since husbands typically opt out)

i have not been doing yoga lately but i usually go to the studio nearby us

family and work definitely keep me busiest. as well as non profit commitments and running! i need to simplify…!

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the books i recommended are on the “fluffy” side if that helps gauge the type of read it is.

my husband also recommends “american war” which is a futuristic look at a new civil war in the u.s. (propagated by deeply divided partisanship – not so unlike what we are living now!) and all that goes with it. lots of world-building and action – i have it on my to-read stack still – but he really liked it so i will get into it at some point.

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Oh I LOVE yoga. I go to a couple of studio classes per week and use videos at home as it makes such a difference to my running. I even tried some SUP yoga recently which was such fun.

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Lately I do my yoga at home. I don’t need a ton of time but it makes me feel better, physically and mentally.

The Joy of Happiness by Desmond Tutu and the Dali Lama. It’s just so profound but very down to earth.

On the weekend we like to get in the car and go without a specific plan in mind. It’s nice to do different things and explore other places.

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I’ve always wanted to kiss someone with that noodle eating thing on each end!

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I love those ideas that you shared, I am for sure going to try and make my partner do some of them with me :) Life with a new baby on top of everything else is crazy and sadly our relationships seem to be the first that get put on the backburner. Thank you for sharing those!

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