Happy Independence Day!

Happy Fourth of July! 

Yesterday my family drove in from Santa Cruz, CA. They were kind enough to make the 12 hour drive with a bunch of stuff for our little girl, like a sweet rocking chair and a co-sleeper! And the added benefit, we get to celebrate the 4th together. Usually we like to be lounging on the coast, spending time with Danny's family in Carlsbad, but it didn't work out this year. So the 110 degree weather will have to do! I am so glad to have my family with us as we BBQ, watch some fireworks, and celebrate the Liberty we have as Americans. It is a precious liberty that we have to honor and respect. We can't take it for granted because people, for hundreds of years, have fought for this freedom and it is our duty to hold it sacred.

Enjoy your celebrations! Be safe!

#oertlefamilyvaca: Big Bear Lake, CA

Last night Danny and I returned to our very warm abode after a great family vacation. While vacation was everything it should be, there is just something so nice about returning to your own home and your own space. I am realizing more and more that I have really adjusted to my home here in Tempe. I love it. I love pulling into our neighborhood, seeing our home in the distance, and hearing the sound of the key unlock the front door as I re-enter our little sanctuary of family life. Anyway...back to the great vacation!

We left on Saturday morning and drove the 5 or so hours to the San Bernadino Mts., eventually arriving at the cute little city of Big Bear Lake, CA. Danny and I arrived before the rest of his family, so we walked a long the lake a bit and grabbed a coffee. Once his parents arrived, we went to the house. From the outside, it looked awesome! It was very cabin-like and looked like it would be spacious. As we spent more time in the house, we began to realize it had some major shortcomings, the main one being an ant infestation. And I mean infestation. Ants in beds, ants all over the kitchen, ants on the couches. So Danny's dad, after some major arm wrestling with the rental agency, was able to get a new accommodation. And let me tell you...IT WAS AWESOME. To give you a taste, here was our view for the last few days:

We were up pretty high and had the most beautiful view of the lake. Since that was the best part of the house, there was a huge deck with plenty of lounge chairs. We spent a good amount of time out there just reading and talking and spending some good quality time together. And in the evenings, this view lent us wonderful sunsets! 

We had some good celebrations up there, too. Father's Day was on Sunday and my 25th birthday was the following day. I had already given Danny his gift before we left...you can't exactly bring a gas grill wrapped and ready to give, so I opted to let him have it before. 

For my birthday, we happened to choose that day to rent a boat and take it out on the lake. Even though I couldn't do any of the major activities like cliff jumping and tubing, it was still great to just spend a few hours on the lake with the family. It was fun to see our little nieces (4 and 2) conquer the tube with out a second thought and to see Danny goofing off with his sister Carrie when it was his turn! 

It was a little windy! 

Stella chowin' on some oranges and giving us a funny smile! 

Norah behind the wheel!

The man I love! 

 One of my favorite parts of the whole vacation was seeing Danny play with his nieces. He is going to be the best dad to our little love. He is so gentle and loving, fun and goofy, all while being such a man. I love him and I can't wait to see him thrive in his fatherhood! Here he is playing with Norah...helping her float in the doorway.

Magic!

Before heading out yesterday, we stopped at one of Big Bear's tourist attractions: Alpine Slide. It is basically a huge luge that you slide down. I couldn't go for obvious reasons, but it was still fun to see the family come down the mountain with a little speed and huge smiles! Even the little girls got to go!

Alpine Slide

Danny going up the ski lift and coming in (top left to right)
Candyce coming in with Norah and Smitty coming in with Stella (bottom left to right)

The drive home wasn't too bad, but it is always a little sad leaving family vacations for reality. This morning Danny woke up early and left for work and I am back to home projects. In fact, I should be leaving to head up to Restoration Hardware and West Elm! Time to conquer the AZ heat!

Home Sweet Home

For the last two weeks, I have been in Santa Cruz, California visiting my immediate family. I always look forward to coming home and being refreshed by the beauty of Northern California. I looked forward to this trip for weeks, constantly texting my little brother about all the awesome things we would do and the delicious things we would eat! (I am pregnant, after all, and the food in Santa Cruz is so fresh and good. It is A MILLION times better than anything you can find in Phoenix!) The trip, however, was drastically different than all of my other trips home. It is hard to articulate why, but I know one of the main reasons: Santa Cruz is no longer my home. It is weird to say that or type it because I love California and I love home, but now I have my own home. I have a husband and a baby on the way and it broke my heart to be apart from him for two weeks. I always missed him before, but this was a whole new level of missing. He is my home. So cheesy, but so true.

The trip was also jam-packed with activity. I flew in on a Saturday afternoon, had a baby shower that evening, went to this awesome town pancake breakfast Sunday morning, drove to Modesto (two hours or so away) for my nephew's 1st birthday, had a few days to breath, attended my brother Joe's Baccaulaurete Mass on Thursday, prepped for a graduation party on Friday which included a run into Costco and picking up a precious package, my sister Mary, from the airport in San Jose, a graduation and HUGE party on Saturday, and then a few relatively low-key days at the end, though we did take one trip to Oakland to see Mary's history exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California. See. BUUUUUSY. It was just go-go-go. Usually my trips consist of morning Mass followed by coffee with my mom at a near-by coffee shop: Pacific Coffee Roasting Company. They include a few walks in my favorite forest: Nicene Marks. We enjoy a number of low-key but awesome family dinners. This trip lacked almost all of those entirely, with the exception of a few things I squeezed in the last two days home. And honestly, I was getting a little down about it. I was bummed. On top of that, I had terrible allergies which turned into a chest cold.

As I reflected on the whole week, I realized there were so many good things about this trip. Even though it was hard in some aspects, I really enjoyed my time in a different way. I was here to experience some great and important things. While Santa Cruz is no longer my home sweet home, it will always be my home away from home.

Here are some things I loved about being home:
1. Lunch in Aptos with my sweet baby brother, Joe.

 2. My lovely baby shower with these sweet women who I am so blessed to know and have in my life.

 3. This delicious pancake breakfast under the redwoods.

This guys pancake making skills were an art. So yummy, made fresh to order with eggs, bacon and hashbrowns.

 4. Morning walks with views like this alongside our handsome dog, Odie.

You don't just see llamas on the side of the road in Tempe.

5. Seeing my baby bro graduate from high school! He's the last one of the family!

 5. My sassy little niece, Siobhan! Every morning she would snuggle with me. And who doesn't love this look?

Here she is looking for a gopher (in a beautiful dress, nonetheless). "Don't worry guys, he'll be up in a minute!"

6. Going to Penny Ice Creamery in Capitola with my niece, Shiyah. (Didn't capture that one!)

7. Watching my nephew Aedan play a mean game of T-ball!

8. Our trip up to the Oakland Museum of California to see an exhibit my sister put together with her fellow graduate students. (Followed by lunch at the delicious Chop Bar!)

9. A great, big family dinner on my last night to celebrate the birthdays of Maeve, Mary, and myself. It was so nice to laugh and be together as one big group!

Not the best image, but a great moment. Aunties and Maevers blowing out our birthday candles! 

Maeve is my look-alike. We'll see if our little looks like me or Daddy! 

10. A quick coffee update with our friends, the Fowler's, who moved up north from Tempe after they got married last October.

There were many more little sweet moments, but these are just the first 10 that come to mind! We have to always choose to see the good in this short life of ours. There will be plenty of not-so-good mixed in, but if we choose to focus on the small blessings, life will be so much sweeter and we will see how abundantly blessed we are!

Showers of Love

I have to write this down now before I forget all the lovely details. Tonight my sister Joy hosted, with the help of my mom and niece, a beautiful baby shower. I love showers, bridal or baby. It is such a great time to join together as women and love on the woman of the hour. I love showering and being showered. Tonight, of course, I was showered. My sister was so thoughtful in the way she went about hosting this shower. Instead of playing a traditional shower game, she and Shiyah, my niece, came up with a craft to allow people to socialize while doing something baby-oriented. She bought a bunch of onesies and burp clothes, along with some stencils, paints, and other crafting materials, so that the women could decorate some of them. They all turned out so cute.

Congregating in the kitchen as guests slowly arrive. (That champagne was used to make a delicious drink...which I  passed on). 

My best friend, Clare. This is our first life-milestone that we haven't gone through at the exact same time. 

The women crafting around a delicious spread of cheeses and fruit. 

Towards the end of the crafting time, there was a time to share pieces of wisdom for a new mom, me. I wanted to make sure to write some of these down before they leave my very short-term memory. So, here are a some:

• From Lisa: Enjoy every moment. Always focus on your spouse-the best way your children can learn to love and behave is by seeing you love your husband and by seeing your husband love you. Remember your children are not yours. 
• From Laureen: Let your children be free. Do not put them in a box and try to make them be a certain way. Your one job is to help them bring out the gifts God has placed within them. 
• From Joy: Let them wear whatever they want. 
• From Mom: Through motherhood, you will grow even closer in your relationship with Our Lady, as you experience some of the sufferings she experienced with Christ. 
• From Nicole: Enjoy the changes your relationship with your mother will undergo, as you learn to appreciate all the love and care she gave to you as a child. 

Of course it wouldn't be a shower without some desserts. My sister got some great cakes and tarts from two local bakeries she knew I loved. The chocolate cake came from Gayle's and was full of delicious chocolate mousse. The tarts came from The Farm. I had never had the pear tart, but let me tell you, I hope I have it again. SO. GOOD. (Perhaps this is pregnancy talking!)