Five Years Old

Today, my daughter turns five. Part of me is feeling all sappy and teary-eyed that my baby is so dang big. But mostly, I’m reflecting on the strong, smart, sassy little woman that she is clearly becoming. Ya’ll, this girl gives us a run for our money! She’s just as stubborn as me, which is terribly frightening and encouraging, all at the same time. I know that her strong will can take her far in life, we just have our work cut out for us in helping her to use her stubbornness for good and not evil.

This girl stormed into the world at her own pace (which was as fast as possible) and she continues to amaze us with her determination. She plays hard, loves hard, and we absolutely adore her.

Happy birthday, sweet girl!!

An ode to coffee

I love coffee. I started drinking it at around age 12, despite all of the assurances from those around me that it would stunt my growth. (I’m nearly six feet tall today, so clearly that wasn’t a problem for me.) My first coffee was from a church coffee urn, which hadn’t been cleaned in who knows how long. It was wretched. But when you add enough coffee creamer, any coffee is drinkable, at least to a 12 year old.

Around this time, coffee shops like we know them were in their infancy. There was a bagel shop close to my high school that had an espresso machine, and some mornings my mom and I would leave for school early and grab a bagel and coffee before she dropped me off. I even had one of their plastic branded travel mugs. I thought I was pretty cool and sophisticated.

My freshman year of college found me in Seattle, the birthplace of Starbucks, and my first real job (not working for my parents) was slinging cappuccinos to patrons at the Seattle Repertory Theatre. One night, our manager rushed behind the bar and kicked my co-worker off of the machine to make a cappuccino. We found out later that this particular cup of joe was consumed by Bill Gates.

After the theatre job, I worked in the cafe at Barnes & Noble and finally at a small coffee chain in Boulder, Vic’s Coffee. I can say with confidence that my taste in coffee has matured quite a bit since that first cup in my childhood church’s fellowship hall. After Josh and I got married, we started making our own coffee creamer in a quest to eliminate processed foods from our diet. We also started ordering organic, shade-grown beans from a roaster in Washington State (for more info on why organic and shade grown is important, check this out). We used a coffee press back then, but have since moved to an electric coffee maker, mostly for conveniences since having kids.

In the last six months, our coffee has continued to evolve. We now add grass-fed butter, MCT oil, powdered coconut oil and liquid stevia to our joe. It was weird at first, not going to lie! But now, it’s our breakfast in a cup. And now that Fall is here, I’ve been adding a smidge of pumpkin purée and spices for my own pumpkin spice coffee, minus all of the junk you would get in the syrups. Every so often I look at the ingredients in coffee creamers at the stores, even from places like Sprouts and Vitamin Cottage. I still put the containers back on the shelf in disgust. Just… yuck.