July - Finding the Joy of Nothing

*this month's joy of nothing*
-watching the fireworks from the window in my grandma's hospital room
-taking selfies with my grandma
-looking through all of my grandma's jewelry and receiving precious heirlooms
-combing my grandma's hair after her shower
-falling asleep on the plane ride home
-relaxing on the couch all day only moving for lunch and dinner
-eating green beans that we grew in our own garden
-browsing the farmer's market
-walking to the store (from my car) in the pouring rain
-having sore legs from the gym
-the smell of sleep in my husband's hair

What joy have you found this month?

Happy Tortilla Pizzas

I am not a chef by any means, but I enjoy cooking (I'll let you clean up any day though!!) and trying new things. Last year I joined Weight Watchers and to try and keep our meals healthy, but still happy I kind of made up my own recipe! I'm sure this exists somewhere else, but when I made them the first time I just pulled ingredients out of the fridge and threw it all together, without following any recipe, so I like to call it mine. It was really fun and so super tasty and one reason I super love this recipe is that it is so easy to make for just one or two people! So many recipes I find are for a larger amount of people and in our home it's just us, so trying to calculate it out is not my favorite thing to do (actually I don't do it, I make Derek do it because he is so good with math). So here is the recipe!

Tortilla Pizzas

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 10-15 minutes
Preheat the oven to 375°

Ingredients:

whole wheat tortillas
low fat alfredo sauce
feta
olives (your choice, but we use medium black olives)
green bell pepper
tomato
chicken
italian seasoning

Instructions:

1. Start by laying your tortillas out on a pan, and spreading 1 tablespoon of alfredo sauce over the top. I try not to put much more than this because if I do it makes the pizza kind of floppy and soggy.

2. Continue by layering all of your ingredients on top of the sauce.

3. Bake for 10-15 minutes

4. Cut and ENJOY!

If you make this for yourself let me know if you liked it and feel free to share some pictures of your final product!!

some of my favorite instagrammers

I love instagram! It's so fun and I am often inspired by the way people see the world and how they capture it! So I wanted to showcase a couple of instagram accounts I really enjoy following!

@thiswildidea

(maddie on things) (this wild idea)

Theron Humphrey. He and his sweet little maddie the coonhound go on adventures and document their days! I first found his account some years ago and fell in love with seeing this cute little dog balance on the craziest things!

@jeremyjamesr

(jeremy james roloff)

Jeremy Roloff. I love this guy's work! The way he sees the world around us is inspiring. It makes me feel. I love when an image makes me feel, feel the light breeze, hear the quiet chatter of friends in the background, smell the old wood. Its like cozying up with a warm blanket and a cup of hot cocoa looking at his work! 

@tunameltsmyheart
(tuna in action) (more tuna in action)

Oh Tuna! This little pup just makes me giggle because he is soo cute! Tuna is a chiweenie born with an overbite and he couldn't be any cuter!!

Who are some people you enjoy following on instagram?

guest posting

Hi friends! I am guest blogging over at one of my favorite blogs today, Bound by Love! I am sharing a recipe for one of my favorite meals! It's quick, easy, and healthy!! Greek Salad with Herbed Pita!!

Head over there to go check it out!!

with love, aubrey

Happy Tuesday y'all!

This is one of the paintings I am selling on my Etsy. It is one of my favorites and it is so hard not to keep it for myself and hang it up on our gallery wall! To celebrate my birthday next month I am giving you 28% off of your order when you use the code "YAYFORBIRTHDAYS"! Happy Shopping!! I do take requests for custom quotes! Contact me to inquire about details!

Friday Letters

Dear Derek, I am so thankful for you and the fact that you take care of our little family! Thank you so much! Dear Heather, I can't wait for you to start your blog!! I am so excited!! YAY! Dear Lauren, Thank you for allowing me to write a guest post for your blog! I am so excited for your vacation and can't wait to see pictures when you get back! Dear Motivation, Feel free to come back anytime! Dear Mom and Dad, I miss you! I hope that we can plan a visit soon! Dear Fire, You were awfully close to our house and got even closer and bigger when the wind shifted. I hope that doesn't happen again! Dear Derek, Thank you for being cool and prepared when we saw the fire. I'm glad that I have you by my side! I love you!

Home

I grew up in the Army and we moved around every few years. So I never really have a place to call home. One of the places I was lucky enough to live was Alaska. My parents fell in love with the state and retired there. They have lived there for almost 10 years now and over the years I have come to consider it home, even though I don't live there and only get to visit every couple years. This is part of the beauty that is Alaska. My last trip there was in August of 2012. During the trip we drove out to Chena Hot Springs and on the drive out there are a few spots like this one where the moose frequent for a snack and a fun little swim. One of my favorite things about Alaska is the beauty that is around every corner! So many untouched places, so many colors, and animals. There is a different demeanor over there too. In my opinion they are a bit more relaxed and easy going, and I really like it! I am dreaming of this place today. 

Where is home for you? What is your favorite thing about your city/state?

last week in review

This past month has been pretty stressful and hectic, but at the same time, very very good. I spent most of the month in California helping my grandma because she fell. Early in the month, my brother and his family had planned on visiting her and I was going to go there to visit as well. The week before I was supposed to leave my house to head down there, my grandma fell. So I quickly and unplanned-edly (that's a word right) packed and headed to my grandmother's the very next day. I was down for about two weeks, came home and then left about two days later to go back while my aunt was out of town. While I was down there the second time my grandma fell again, but this time the fall was a little bit more serious. Last week I got home, and as happy as I was to get home to my sweet Derek and the fur-kids, I was sad to leave her! Here is my recap of last week!

Monday: After the second fall, my grandma got admitted to the hospital because as a result of the fall two of her vertebrae collapsed. She has to wear a back brace (you can sort of see part of it in the picture on her -the right of the picture-) and is restricted from bending, lifting, and twisting. The hospital ordered at home physical therapy for her. So Monday the physical therapist, Trevor, came by to assess my grandma's condition and add her into the system as a new patient, which meant a lot a lot of questions!

Tuesday: Trevor came by again to get the physical therapy started and to walk me and my aunt through everything that my grandma needed to be doing, so that we could help her stay on top of it all. My grandma had lung cancer last year and the Doctors removed part of her lung, and as a result she has C.O.P.D. and gets anxiety/stressed very easily, but also she gets very winded with minimal activity. So after physical therapy she took it easy and rested the rest of the day. I laid in bed with her and we chatted for quite a while and we took "selfies" together!

Wednesday: I flew home on Wednesday, it was a long day of flights, but I got to read on one flight, and then got to sleep on the other! I also got a seat in the very front of the plane just two rows back!

Thursday: After being gone (and away from Derek) almost all month, he had to fly to Las Vegas for work the day after I got home! He worked all day, so we left a little early to take him to the airport so we could stop and have a mini date at Chipotle!

Friday: I worked all day on Friday! It was unofficially my first day back in the office since I had been gone. I say unofficially because I was still working in California when I had some free time, and because I wasn't in the office for much on Friday. But while I was in the office, I got some of my month's blog posts planned/scheduled!

Current Playlist

I love music! I jam out in the car, while I clean, doing yard work, while I work out, at night... all the time!

I love the artists, I love how emotional they get in their music, and how impactful their work can be for listeners.

Here is my current playlist that I am loving!

Disclosure - Latch
Foy Vance - Be the Song
Robby Hecht - New York City
Jillian Edwards - Sink My Feet
John Mayer - Assassin
La Roux - Bulletproof
Foy Vance - Guiding Light
Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud
Passenger - Whispers
Mumford & Sons - Awake My Soul
Elenowen - No Such Thing As Time
Foy Vance - Joy of Nothing
Tyler Ward & Anna Clendening - Photograph

What are you listening to this month??

Friday's letters

A long long while ago, I found this sweet blog of a husband and wife who wrote letters to each other. I enjoyed reading their letters from the day. I thought I would love to have a similar collection for myself. I have seen other bloggers post about "Friday's letters" and I think I will jump on that wagon.

Dear Derek, You sure are my favorite! I love getting random texts from you through out the day just asking how my day is going! Also, you rock! I'm so proud of you for 1st place in your age group at your race today! Dear Fireworks, I am going to miss you tonight! You are so sparkly and fun! Maybe we will be able to see you from the window. Dear Grandma, I am so thankful for this time we have together! I have loved getting to know more about your life and just hang out together! I hope you start to feel better soon! Dear Water, Why is it so hard for me to get enough of you?! Dear Cindy, I am glad that you were finally able to have your surgery and that I could be here to help you out. I hope that you are feeling back to yourself in no time! Dear America, Happy Birthday YO! Dear Southern California, You have so much green! I love that everywhere I look there is some beautiful plant! Dear Derek, I miss you! I haven't seen you much this month with all our traveling and I can't wait to be home with you!!

how to summer to do list

SUMMER IS HERE!

My friend Lauren is hosting a little summer bucket list link up over on her blog. So I jumped at the chance to make a list (something I love doing) and make some summer memories!

Here is my summer bucket list so far

you can find your own how to summer list here. I cropped mine for the picture.

What are your plans for the summer, I plan to add some things to my list later on!

I linked up with Lauren over at Bound by Love! If you want to join in head over to her blog to link up with her!!

July Goals

Well, this is sort of my first goals post in here. It's not - but I'm starting fresh, so we'll call this the first. I have been setting monthly goals for about a year and a half and I love it! It has really helped me take life on! 

Now that summer is officially here, I'm ready for some summer fun! Trips to the lake, camping, hiking, YAY!

July Goals

-Watch the fireworks on the lake with my grandma

-Complete my personal challenge with disposable cameras

-Get back on track with exercising and eating

-Hang up the rest of our frames on the gallery wall

-Start one summer craft

-Go hiking

-Spend a whole weekend doing absolutely nothing with my sweet Derek (soaking each other in)

That is it for July, what are your goals? Share them in the comments below!