thankful thursday - I didn't ask you...

like most women i know, i am hard on myself.  little mistakes play in my mind over & over, thinking about what i should've done differently.  so on a day i was disappointed in myself for an unkind spoken word, these words by shauna niequist in cold tangerines were very appreciated & timely:

in my best moments, when i calm down & listen closely, God says,

"I didn't ask you to become new & improved today.

that wasn't the goal.

you were broken down & strange yesterday, & you still are today,

& the only one freaked out about it is you."

i think it is important to point out i do believe God calls us to better ourselves, to become the best version of ourselves.  but some days maybe, just maybe, doing your best, not your better, is enough.  

for a timely & encouraging word, i am thankful.

i hope you can think of something today for which you are thankful.

love love,

kjp.

a beautifully cool & rainy saturday.

this summer in birmy has been absolutely gorgeous.  if you like fall-like weather, then the last few days would have made you swoon!  we went four days without making it into the 80s.  that's right, the eighties.  it was fabulous!  & cloudy & rainy & i loved every second of it.  so when blakey finally made it home saturday morning, we enjoyed a beautiful morning on our patio.  coffee & tanky & greenman, of course.  our saturday morning happy place.

to make our saturday morning even more amazing, we got to see little man of facetime!  he's so darn cute.  & man that boy has a lot of go in him.  crawl crawl crawl crawl.  search for a kitty.  play with the puppy.  & he can stand up all on his own!  we saw him do it.  big little man!

after body pump, we enjoyed our new favorite saturday lunch - a gigantic bowl of fro yo with granola & chocolate & blueberries & candy & so much deliciousness.  ice cream on the patio in the rain after the gym.  absolutely lovely.

& then you'll never guess what i did next - i cooked dinner!  it's been forever.  it was so nice to get in the kitchen & chop & stir & smell the deliciousness.  my happy place.  i made my mom's marinara sauce with ground turkey & spaghetti squash.  homey & healthy.

{our wedding flutes & wedding rings}

to wind down our fabulous, rainy day, we had a glass of dark, thick beer in our beautiful wedding flutes.  because everything is more fun in a champagne flute.

{tanky holding his dad's hand}

love love,

kjp.

good people, good beer, & a good game.

blakey & i had a wonderful weekend full of many fun things, not a one of them productive.  we sat in bed watching friday night lights with coffee & breakfast & a sleepy t-man all saturday morning.  we body pumped a couple of times.  we enjoyed a warm sunny afternoon at the pool.  we spent some time on the patio while tanky ran around with green man & we hung out with a few of our lovely neighbors.  we had a fantastic date night in with a delicious dinner & more friday night lights.  we made it to church to hear another great sermon on improving our marriage.  we watched the USA mens team win the gold cup at birmy's own good people brewing company with birmy's own birmingham hammers.  a couple of our friends from small group were there too, which made "watching" soccer way more fun!  & we closed out the weekend with a dinner date on the patio at rojo.  pretty perfect.

 {to good people & good beer.}

 a weekend filled with all sorts of "doing nothing" with the byrds.  simply perfect.

love love,

kjp.

party your porter off!!

blakey's 30th birthday was a blast!!!  we had neon balloons & pixelated sunglasses & crazy straws.  ou football, a surprise cornhole set, & a southern bbq.  lots of sun, a few showers, & truly great friends.

{our bright patio party}

the theme for blakey's birthday was "party your porter off"!!  you can thank cari for that bit of genius.  pretty fantastic, right?!  

blakey requested a true southern bbq for his birthday meal - the best wings in the world from moe's, the amazing frank stitt's pickled shrimp, watermelon salsa, bleu cheese slaw, & bourbon creamed corn.  & for dessert, the birthday boy wanted cookies.  a man after my own heart!  peanut butter, white chocolate chip macadamia nut, & brown butter snickerdoodles.  love cookies.

{tanky LOVED partying with the big kids.}

all of our best birmy friends joined in the fun!!  we were so grateful to celebrate with so many of our favorite people.  you all are the best.

for blakey's birthday gift, i gave him a custom-made cornhole set!  it's ou gameday ready crimson & cream with "PORTER" across each table.  we are officially southern with our very own game.  now we just need a lot of practice to catch up in the skill area.  i see many game nights ahead!

{asher loved his after-party with his mom & his super hip sunglasses!}

{& little man slept well after all of his partying.}

a fantastic day celebrating a fantastic man.  happy 30th birthday, byrds.  love you the most.  for sure. 

love love,

kjp.

thankful thursday: beautiful nola.

blakey & i both admit that i am the planner of this marriage.  the planner, the organizer, the schedule-keeper.  but for some reason, i just don't like to plan vacations.  luckily for me, blakey is really really good at planning vacations.  this trip was the perfect example.  so i am thankful.  for my wonderful husband.  for his fantastic vacation planning skills.  for a fabulous vacation.  & for beautiful new orleans.

enjoy...

{strolling down the river on a beautiful morning}

{the river, the bridge, downtown, & the french quarter}

{the beautiful st louis cathedral}

{& the beautiful inside}

{blakey is always learning.}

{jackson square & the gigantic live oaks}

{what a smart tree - you cut off my limb, i will grow a new branch}

{a stroll through magazine street}

{a peak into a private courtyard in the french quarter}

{blakey loves pirates}

{the rules of new orleans.

cat selling has something to do with
america's oldest profession...}

oh, the hotel blakey booked was perfect too.  le richelieu in the french quarter.  a beautiful boutique hotel.  perfectly nola with our second story balcony & wrought iron railing.

{always always learning.}

{our across the street neighbor!

i loved this man & his morning coffee.}

{enjoying a little thursday afternoon fantasy football on the balcony}

{love you, husband & your perfect vacations!}

i hope you can think of something today for which you are thankful.

love love,

kjp.

my favorite sunday morning.

sunday mornings in our new home have become a favorite part of my week.  little guy & i {& blakey too if he's not working} sit on our patio to enjoy the beautiful mornings.  i usually have a big cup of coffee & tanky always has green man.

i've been re-reading mere christianity by c.s. lewis.  wow, he was a smart fellow.  i do believe i am enjoying it more the second {third?} time through.

i do love our new home.  especially on sundays.

love love,

kjp.

i just love the smell of pine!

it is bachelorette week here on love, the porters!!  my friends & i had so so much fun in breckenridge celebrating our dear bachelorette, cari, & her adorable fiance, aric.  they are a fabulous couple.  she's one of my best friends in the world & he treats her like a queen.  i am so excited for their wonderful winter wedding in a few shorts months.  so this was a fabulous way to start out the party...

our home for the weekend was a gorgeous "big ass mansion" on the mountain in breck.  a fabulous kitchen {pictures coming!}, hot tub in the back yard, & a view that will take your breath away.

 {home sweet vacation home}

{the view!}

so i must tell you the story about the "big ass mansion":  in our gigantic three-story home, we each had our room.  & it was the first time any of us had slept with no husbands &/or no dogs in quite some time.    & with the gorgeous mountain air, we all slept with our windows open.  so the house made noises.  

night one: success.  night two: not so much.

i wake up to a phone call in the middle of the night from cari.  "are you awake??  come downstairs right now. [click]"  have i ever mentioned i do not like being woken up from a good sleep?  so i go downstairs.  all of the girls are already in cari's bed.  & they are freaking out.  "oh my gosh... i heard a nosie!  i think someone is in the house!"  

for the first time ever, i was the calm one.  {seriously, first time EVER.} 

i explain that i doubt anyone is in the house since nothing has happened yet.  but if we are going to stay up worrying about it, we should call the police.  we call & explain the situation, so they send some people out.  a few minutes later, we get a phone call from the police trying to figure out which house it is, to which armstrong replies "the big ass mansion".  to which the officer responds "oh, right.  THE big ass mansion."  haha.  love him already.

so they come in & check everything out.  find nothing.  & the officer chick was super nice to explain it was probably a bear on our back patio, etc etc.  &, of course, armstrong takes pictures so we can always remember our midnight excursion.  yesssss.

in addition to hanging out with the attractive police guy & his buddy in the middle of the night, we had so much fun around breckenridge!  we enjoyed a beautiful morning on the patio of a coffee shop before heading to our spa date...

we did a little shopping in this quaint mountain town & enjoyed some delicious burgers...

we took advantage of our back patio with happy hour & a rainy afternoon in the hot tub...

{the adorably pregnant ladies are drinking alcohol free wine :) }

& celebrated our wonderful bachelorette all weekend.

love you, cari marie!!  check back for more fun to come on the blog this week!

love love,

kjp.