erica danielle

I looked at my dresser last night and I couldn’t help but think: what a depiction of what I value and care about all in one space. So here is a window into my world.  1. This was my grandpa Eddie. He was always someone I couldn’t wait to spend time with and he made me feel like the most special kid. He spoiled us with donuts and candy when we were little and then money to go to the outlet mall when we got older. He took us fishing and spent hours with us showing my sister and I how to cast. Being around him made you feel like a constant giant hug, safe and loved. He loved Jesus and his family and I miss him. I love this picture of him. It makes me smile to remember him. And I think this symbolizes how much I care about family. I want my kids to know their grandparents and feel the love they give, as it’s so different than the love I give. I hope they’ll look back with super happy memories of time spent with a generation older and different from them.   2. My last 3 marathon me...

 Last night Sten had his first men's gathering. When he worked at Cedarbrook he was gone multiple nights a week with church activities. It was draining on us, and when we started Midcurrent we vowed we have more family nights together, and less night meetings.... Sometimes they are inevitable, but, when you start the church you get to decide how you want it to run! Anyway, on top of him being gone I had told a friend I could watch her 3 kids too, so by the time bedtime came around I was ready to crawl into bed myself.... Putting the kids to bed alone, is probably my least favorite thing to do. It feels like I am a broken record of "put on your jammies, brush your teeth, did you go to the bathroom? put on your jammies, put on your jammies, put on your jammies..."I was helping Olle into his spaceship jammies last night and I said we should probably wear socks to bed as well. I picked out a pair of knit socks that he NEVER wears. Instantly he says "I hate those socks...

I feel like I haven’t talked about these 2 recently. It’s school season, and 3 of the 4 cousins are in school this year, so it makes getting together harder with more schedules to coordinate. Lucy and Olive will forever get a joint family party (whether they like it or not 😉). We celebrated 5 with all things ‘my little pony’ and the highlight was for sure watching them open a joint present with 6 big pony’s inside. We all wished we could have captured their faces.  I know I’ve talked about this before, but growing up with a sister is really special. I wanted that for Lucy, and instead God gave us Olive-- I feel like this may even be an upgrade! These two love each other, they are close like sisters, fight like sisters, and even call each other sisters. I’ve loved watching their friendship grow and can’t belive they’re 5! Pretty soon we’ll be buying them make-up and clothes instead of coloring books and pony’s. 😩 I love these two so much! Here’s to wishing 5 is their best year yet...

This one goal has been my very favorite 18 in 2018. It forces me to do something different when sometimes I wouldn’t naturally gravitate toward going for a hike. I’m always extremely glad I did, and find the time I spend with the kids hiking around getting easier and easier as the months have gone on. Yesterday Lucy looked at me and said: this is really fun. This is coming from a girl who in January told me: I’m just not an outside girl :) I’ve been doing body pump at 5am with my friend Karen 2x a week, and she is such an intentional person. She asked me as we were standing in the dark YMCA parking lot yesterday at 6:15am what she could pray for me about that day. I thought for a minute and said: I really want to give my kids a lot of attention today. God gave me the best day to do just that. We hiked to the falls, walked up the stairs to the lookout, then made our way back to the car. I didn’t want our time to end so I took the kids to Knoke’s for a treat and we sat down by the river ...

I don’t think the sun has been out in 5 days. Summer left with a swift exit and in its place we got the dreariest fall. The leaves are beautiful and Lucy and Olle are all about fall colors right now, but set against a gray sky.... they just don’t have the same pop! Yesterday I couldn’t take it anymore. We bundled up and headed outside in the misty rain and cold for a walk around the neighborhood. We looked for leaves, raced each other, stopped at our little library and came back feeling better than before. Don’t get me wrong-- I still want/  need  the sun to shine soon, but forcing myself outside on a not nice day almost makes me feel like I’ve got super powers or something.  These 2 seem unaffected by the weather. Of which I’m so glad. I get down when cold comes, but they seem to embrace it in a way that’s equally annoying and refreshing. :) I could learn a lot from them.  Here’s to hoping the sun comes out today. 🤞 xo. edc

I made this soup last night at it truly was a 20 min (or less) soup to make. So easy and really very tasty. Packed with protein and veggies, it was super satisfying. I should have made a double batch, I try to freeze soups so in the winter (or after baby comes) we can pull out a soup and quick heat it up. I’m determined to get my kids to be soup people. We’re not quite there yet, but they always try and usually if there’s a muffin or something to entice them to at least have a small bowl they’ll finish it. Someday they’ll appreciate my cooking. I know it!  This is not my photo-- it comes from this blog: https://www.rachelcooks.com/2014/02/03/turkey-bean-spinach-soup-healthy-soup-recipe/ There you can find more in- depth directions, but really this recipe is super straight forward-- I used garbanzo beans bc that is what I had in hand, I added a green pepper, an extra cup of broth and more spinach bc I love spinach. Oh! And I didn’t put in the cheese, I let everyone add to their liki...

Finished my 6th marathon this weekend while pregnant with baby number 3. I made a goal this pregnancy to increase my long weekend run to coorespond with how many weeks pregnant I was. So at 15 weeks, I did 15 miles, 16weeks, 16 miles.... it was a method called "pairing" I learned from a podcast I listen to. Pair something you don’t  like (being pregnant) with something you do like (running). This worked great for me. I looked forward to each long run and seeing what my body could still accomplish. When I got to 18 miles the TwinCities Marathon was only 2 weeks away-- I felt great at my 18 miler and thought: I wonder if anyone is selling their bib on Craigslist. Sure enough! Piper Bain was selling her bib and I bought it from her and ran under her name :) I got texts from friends and family all weekend saying: GO PIPER! 😂 I’m so glad I signed up. It was super fun to run and even though I was under trained (18 miles being my longest run and most weekly mileage around 30 miles)...

Yahoo! Friday is here! It was a good week, much of it spent recouperating from the retreat last weekend and loving my family who I missed!! I swear Lucy and Olle grew up over the 2 days I was gone. I got the biggest hugs when I came home. I guess I need to leave more often :)  A trip to our favorite grocery store for our TJs staples. Seriously, we love this place. I think it’s because they always have samples and they give you an entire roll of stickers at checkout.  For Lucy’s birthday she got a princess cake making kit. It was the real deal, with fondant and pearl sprinkles. This little beauty took us over an hour, but look how proud Lucy is!!!!! She told me later it was the highlight of her day!  Olle made himself a computer out of a piece of cardboard and has been working like Sten all week. It’s so funny. And cute! October update:  I’ve made $33.75 in selling things from our basement so far this month!! Whoop!! On our way to a date night!  I’ve been sweets ...

I juuuuust made it in time for my monthly "go to a state park" goal last week and it was one of my favorite days in a long time. I actually didn’t know what to expect since we haven’t spent a ton of time at Kinnickinnic State Park, but the natural playground was a blast. And then we found the most amazing spot for lunch and my day was made. Looking out at the water, basking in the sunshine. It was really magical.  Then, later in the week we headed out to LT’s grandparents tree farm to pick pumpkins! It was a blast! We got to ride out to the patch on the Kubota, snip our own pumpkins, see the neighbors cows and mules, pick wild raspberries and hang out with our friends! These are the days I live for!  Lastly, I made my first batch of pumpkin muffins today on this cold rainy first day of October.  Without any refined sugar, I feel confident eating these even with my "no sweets" October -- it’s called balance! 😉 INGREDIENTS ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin oli...

Hello Fall. We have entered into cooler temps and shorter days. Seemed like it happened overnight.  This month I have big goals: Run a marathon next weekend  Eat No sweets  Turn off my phone at 8pm Meal prep all food on Monday mornings (that means I have to grocery shop and meal plan on Sunday’s)  Sell some things in our basement to make enough money for a date night with Sten.  Our budget is pretty tight these days. We firmly believe in what Dave Ramsey says: " Live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else". that is hard sometimes. We’ve both acknowledged that saying no to things feels restricting and like some of our freedom has been ripped from us 😉.  I’ve made it a monthly goal to make just a little extra cash to have enough for a date night. Whether it’s some hand lettering jobs, or selling some stuff, or any odd job someone asks us to do, I’m committed to making this part of my month!  I had a really great weekend up north with s...