This week I am featuring my new friend Kristy. She’s pretty much awesome…I love learning things about other mothers and having a glimpse into their daily life. Finding common ground among other mothers is comforting…validating…We find little pieces of ourselves in new friends and learn to respect the differences. Getting to know one another is a GOOD thing!  If you are interested in sharing some of your life with us in the “Mom Spotlight” , let me know and I will get YOU on the schedule!

The Basics:

Name: Kristy, Mom, Momma & Love.

Age: just turned the big 3-0.

Kids: I was blessed with two. C almost 5 & K almost 3

Hometown: Home of the East Wind, Corbett, OR.

Kid Stuff:

Children’s TV show I actually LIKE: Curious George. Love that monkey.

My children are NOT allowed to watch: I really don’t like them watching any of the “older” cartoons. They pretty much stick to PBS, some stuff on Disney. We mainly watch movies & stuff on Netflix.

One kids’ movie I really love is: Oooh, this is a tough one. Our fav’s right now are Toy Story 3 {totally got all teary at the end, I couldn’t give my favorite toys away, in fact, mine are still in a box!} & Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. I like that they put in funny lines that adults would find humorous.

My favorite book(s) to read to my kids are: There’s an Alligator Under My Bed, The Polar Express & We’re Going On A Bear Hunt.

My kids go to bed at: between 7pm & 7:30pm since they don’t nap {ahhhhh!!!!!} anymore. It’s crucial that they go to bed early because they are already falling apart by 5pm & I need my sanity to be recharged.

My favorite rainy day activity is: building a “tent”/fort in the living room & building a “campfire” out of pillows so we can roast marshmallows!

When it’s warm out: we play out in the backyard in the pool or we head to the river on Lola & Papi’s boat! Growing up my parents had a boat, so we spent many a hot summer days out on the Columbia & also love to go camping!

My favorite kid friendly restaurants are: Top Burger or Chipotle. Those are C’s favs, so that’s where he picks to go!

Let’s Eat:

The pantry item I absolutely cannot live without is: I pretty much keep these items on hand ALWAYS: Greek yogurt, cilantro, hummus, chicken stock, shallots, cheese {goat cheese, pepper jack, parmigiano reggiano} & uncooked tortillas

My go-to weeknight dinner is: Quesadillas, homemade salsa & guacamole. C LOVES quesadillas! We have those at least once a week.

My go-to company meal is: Roasted Red Pepper & tomato sauce with spicy chicken sausage over pasta, bread & salad. Or paella, tapas & wine J

The food I pretend to buy for the kids that is really for me is: Cliff kids bars. I love the s’mores bar!

My food weakness is: chocolate chip cookies hot out of the oven, cupcakes {they’re hard to resist!} & creamy mochas.

I am not myself in the morning until I’ve had my cup of: Chai Tea. Don’t talk to me; don’t ask for me to make breakfast right away because I won’t do it. Not until I sit down, drink my hot tea, read emails & blogs. Then I’ll think about it. 😉

ME:

Aside from my kids, I am PASSIONATE about: photography. I love it. I love producing beautiful images for people & of course of my children/family & the places we’ve been. And I love to cook. I love creating wonderful, delicious food.

If I had a whole day all to myself, I would: probably stand there and not know what to do for about 30mins. Then I would sit down & edit {I usually only get to edit at night once the kids are in bed}, do a workout then draw a hot bubble bath. Make myself a molten chocolate cake then watch some girly chick flick.

My absolute most favorite movie of all time is: I honestly don’t have a favorite but one of my top favs is Dumb & Dumber. SO funny. It makes me laugh every time.

My favorite TV show is: Modern Family {Phil Dunphy yo!}, 30 Rock, Grey’s Anatomy, Friday Night Lights, Glee, & House Hunter’s International.

My celebrity crush is: Fernando Torres, Serigo Ramos, & David Villa. Pretty much the whole Spanish National Football team. Oooh momma!

If you were to put my ipod on shuffle, you’d likely hear: my workout playlist which consists of: Katy Perry, Black Eyed Peas, Ke$ha {bumping music to help get my sweat on!} But if you were to check out my itunes library you’d find all sorts of music. We have a very eclectic mix of tunes.

The best book I ever read was: The Bible. Seriously. So much wisdom & daily inspiration. Daily Inspiration for Mothers{a daily devotional for mom’s} is a great book. For college I had read a book by Ramachandran about cognitive neuroscience. It was amazing. The workings of the brain blows my mind. {my degree is in psychology specifically in neuroscience & human development} purely fascinating.

My spouse (partner) and I keep romance alive by: Having date nights. My parents will take the kids for the weekend {which is so nice} so we’ll plan to either go out to dinner at a restaurant we’ve been wanting try. Or we’ll just make dinner at home & watch a movie. We take turns planning our Anniversary, & the plans are secret until the day of or a few days before. It makes it so fun to look forward to!

My favorite place to shop is: H&M, Zara, IKEA, Target & Etsy.

I am sent to my breaking point when: the kids are just fighting & attacking each other. The house looks like a tornado blew through & the hubs gets home late from work. At that point I think about running away!

When I’m stressed out I: Clean. Clutter makes me freak out. So by restoring order & organization helps. Or a glass of wine & a hot bubble bath.

My favorite (most tolerated) way to exercise is: I love to workout. I love Jillian Michael’s workout videos. You actually feel like you got a good workout in without going to a gym. Which is great for me since I have two kids so I just do my workout from home. I also, love to run. Back in the day I played soccer & ran track. I miss my soccer days.

The best piece of advice I ever received was: just breathe & pray for God’s grace.