Merry Christmas

May you find peace amidst the chaos, love within your four walls and joy within your heart.  

Wishing each and every one of you a beautiful Christmas surrounded by those who mean the most.

A New Job = Helping Others

I'm sitting here in my Lubbock, TX hotel room typing this after a long day training at my new job.  I will have spent a good portion of this week and last here, away from home, learning the ropes of a new office in a part of the healthcare field that I am not all that familiar with.  I'm anxious to learn all I can about hearing loss and helping those who suffer from hearing loss.  I have always had a desire to help others and this job enables me to do just that.  Happy to be back in the healthcare field and back at work.  Excited to open a brand new sparkly office with my clinician and to help others live a better quality of life.  Our motto at Livingston Audiology and Hearing Aid Centers is "EVERYTHING MATTERS" and ironically it's so very true.  Every little thing does matter. 

This crazy new beginning happened even though I wasn't expecting it.  So many other things have been going on, and some are so truly amazing while others have been quite serious and even downright scary, that have kept us hopping with no time to think about anything else.   These are the things that have kept me away from lots of things I love to do and also from being crafty which does not make me a happy girl.  Hoping to get into a routine that will enable play time, time to workout and I hope to have things under control as soon as possible although my family's schedules are pretty nutty so we will see how that works out.

I am looking forward to the holidays that are ahead of us and the fall weather has started to make an appearance.  It's my favorite time of the year and also my family's so I hope that things can calm down so that we can truly enjoy our time as a family as those moments are so fleeting. 

Here's to a new adventure and a new beginning!

Summertime Memories

You must take several minutes out of your day to watch this video from Kinfolk Magazine.  You won't be disappointed in the loss of those moments, I promise.

Tell me though, while you were watching it were you taken back to your childhood?  To the lazy days of summer and the simpler times?  To the beauty of nature and glorious pleasures we celebrated as we were growing up?  Missing the freedom and the slower pace of life as it was then?

I long for those days ~ I really and truly deeply miss how life once was.  I somehow feel like those moments are etched in my mind so deep but yet I find I forget that they are there.  It seems that life and all the hub-bub tends to monopolize all the space in my brain and I don't always go back to that place....the place where the living was easy and the pleasures were bountiful and more often than not free.

Recently I made a last minute road trip back home.  I realized my dad's 65th birthday was coming up as well as my mom's 64th so since I had missed the big party thrown for my dad's 60th, which was the same year as my 20th class reunion (which I also missed) as well as the year I remarried, I decided that since I was unemployed I would make the trip to surprise both of my parents.  I made the journey alone and had a week to prepare myself as well as the family for my absence.  Preparing to be gone is so much work that most of the time I dread even knowing I am leaving.  The music was loaded up on my iPod, my old iPhone as well as my current iPhone because if you have done any amount of traveling by car you know that if you do not have satellite radio (which we did but no longer do) dealing with terrestrial radio is annoying.  In the end having enough music was definitely not an issue and I think during the entire trip there were only two or three songs I heard more than once.  I brought my own food and drink with me so that I could eat on the 'go' and only stop when I needed gas or to use the glorious restrooms along the way.  I figured doing that would cut off some time and I think it probably did although I made up for the time by having to spend probably an hour each way dealing with road construction and being at a standstill literally in the middle of nowhere on a two-lane road for some of it.  I realized about an hour from home I had forgotten my DSLR which was probably the biggest bummer of the entire trip.  

I spent 14+ hours on the road until I pulled into my mom's place.  Her husband knew I was coming but it was a surprise for her.  When I walked in she had no idea I was even standing there.  I probably stood there for at least 60 seconds until she realized that there was someone in the house with her and her reaction when she noticed someone was there was priceless.  All she could see was a silhouette of someone standing there so she had to actually get up and walk up to me to find out it was me!

I spent about 36 hours at her place and then took off to spend some time with some other friends for a day before heading home to surprise my dad.  While I was hanging out with my friend sitting at Starbucks my step-mom calls.  In the part of the conversation where she tells me she had just gotten done talking to everyone to invite them over to celebrate my dad's birthday she says how much she wishes my sister and I were closer so that we could be there as well.  What she didn't know was that I was less than an hour away and would be there to surprise her as well in less than six hours!  So perfect this trip was progressing I even surprised myself!  So after spending the day with my best friend ever in the whole entire world I headed home.  I had not been to my dad's new home so I had to find it and once I did I pulled into the driveway but saw no cars and was thinking they must be parked in the garage.  I was hoping no one would see me out the window because I could not get a true reaction if that was the case.  I went to the door and rang the doorbell several times but no one answered.  I finally decided to check the door to see if it was locked and it was open so I let myself in.  As I did that the door on the other side of the house opened up and my step-mom came in from the back deck.  She looked at me a moment and had only a silhouette to go by (same thing as my mom since it was dark in the room and the light was behind me) and when she realized it was me she ran to me and hugged me and started crying.  She squeezed me so tight!  Then she took off out the door to go find Taryn only to find out I was alone.  Just about then I ask her where my dad is and she tells me he just left for the chiropractor and to go down and surprise him so that's where I headed.  I am again concerned that he will be sitting there and see me out the window but when I got there I wasn't even sure if he was there since I didn't recognize the truck.  I went in and found that once again I was safe and that he was already in a room having treatment.  I went to the back and assisted the chiropractor in removing the hot packs and playing a bit of a chiropractic assistant!  Don't worry...that's old hat as I used to work in a chiropractic office.  So as I am talking to him and finding out about what is bothering him I tell him that maybe his aches and pains are because he's getting old and about then I could tell he wasn't amused anymore.  He still hadn't recognized it was me so this was going awesome!  Anyway, the doctor had him turn over on side and just as he did he realized it was me.  The look on his face was priceless!

And oh my gravy was that trip priceless goodness.  It was good for my soul and it went off without a hitch.  I don't think I could have planned for the surprises to work out any better than they did.  I got to see my family who I have not seen in years, more years than should truly be acceptable and I got to see friends that I also had not seen in years and years.  And I got to see my dad's new home which is absolutely beautiful.  It was by all accounts blissful.

As I was making the trip and listening to all that music I brought along to keep me company I was taking in all the beauty of the countryside.  I had flashbacks of things I had forgotten about.  Living  in a concrete jungle can definitely lead to forgetting what is out there, especially if you grew up somewhere much smaller like I did, where the town is small (population roughly 6000), where everyone knows everyone including their business (which isn't exactly a perk) and where it takes about two minutes to drive to any edge of town where you find nothing but fields and countryside.  The things that I had forgotten were the beauty of wheat blowing in the wind, the flowing fields that look like patchwork quilts, the country roads that are gravel and the smell of the country complete with the infused cow manure scent wafting through the air as well as the smell of freshly cut grass on the farm.  The sight of silos and the beautiful red barns living here is a rarity because we do not often escape the city.  It was so quiet there I had actually forgotten what that was like and was realizing I was a bit lost without the noise I am so used to living with in the city.  I'm not saying that's a good thing ~ it's just something that I guess I've gotten used to over the 22 years since I left home.  In fact, that 22 year mark literally just passed by the other day and was something I forgot to consciously acknowledge.  And it's official, I've been away from home now more than half my life.  I did find myself calling Texas home several times throughout the trip and actually hearing it was a little surreal.  I found it odd because each time I would say it I felt like I was offending my true home, the place where I grew up but I don't truly have a home there anymore since my parents are divorced and they both live in a different home than where I grew up.  I still feel like I'm a little girl and I guess that security I felt is something I have never wanted to part with, knowing that without a doubt I always had somewhere to go.  I guess it's like being a little girl knowing she can go home to her parents.  I guess my roots are there but my home is here, where my children are.  I know how silly that sounds but sometimes it's hard to wrap my head around it and even though I might be an adult and even though I know how life has changed and how things are......I still just want to go back and be that little girl who lived that carefree life amidst all those wonderful memories that are safely tucked away to be pulled out one by one and not have a care in the world.

A Creatively Made Home

I cannot let this opportunity pass by without giving it a mention.  Seriously, a class put together by the great Jeanne Oliver about a Creatively Made Home?  Ummm...yes, I do think so!!  I'm a little embarrassed to admit to this but I've been visiting Jeane's blog, looking at the course, the pictures of the adorable hosts and the great pics of their creatively made homes...heck, I've even stalked all their blogs.  (hanging head in shame)  I won't tell a lie, I've also been gazing at Jeanne's new LookBook.  Divine I say, simply divine!  Anyway, I've pondered the money it would take away from the family budget, since I am still unemployed after losing my job two weeks before I had my knee surgery back in March, and haven't gotten up the courage to ask TheHusband if he would mind if I splurged on myself. I realize food on our table for our children is a much more important need right now and oh my word do those kids eat a lot of food.  Oh the horrors of being unemployed.  On the one hand it's a delight to be here and be the Domestic Goddess I always wanted to be but on the other hand it's also a real drag to not be able to have the extra money to do some of the things I want to do.  Props to TheHusband for all he does for this family and thank goodness for unemployment benefits. cough*cough (sorry about that...the benefits, oh the benefits-just thankful to have something)

Anyway, my sweet friend Victoria of the blog Whimsy by Victoria has a giveaway going on right now at this very moment, and is giving away three, yes, I did say three.  3.  count them~THREE....1,2,3 spots for the five week e-course.  Such a generous gift and a great opportunity to take what I think will be a fabulous class to transform the homes of all who take the class become a Creatively Made Home!

Now, what are you waiting for....get on over there and sign up!  What have you got to lose?

MIA

**disclaimer

So I've been a little MIA for quite sometime now.  In fact, I've been so out of the loop that Blogger has actually changed again.  I was just getting used to the last changes and now I've got to completely figure this out again.  Nice. 

So I think I mentioned a while ago, somewhere back eons ago (yep, I totally did, that post right. down. there. that was months ago) that I just really wasn't feeling myself.

So as this time was passing no blog posts were being posted.  Here and there I would set up posts in my head, totally blowing it out of the water thinking it could possibly be an award winning post covering world hunger and global unity but it never happened.  There they were in my head being produced but I never put fingers to the keys.  I realize that most of you probably do not care about what I have to say (and I probably don't even know most of you) but you may be here reading this, sooooo....all's I can say is lucky you!  Anyway, tonight I did just that, concocted that superior blog post in my head.  All official and clever and just, really bare myself, for everyone to see but of course I don't remember a thing I was going to say now that I'm typing away.  Typical. 

And somehow I do this so much better in my head like I could be addressing heads of states or something, or so it seems.  Maybe I should put that little recorder that I purchased for "other" things to use and record what I am thinking so I can transcribe it into a post.  How ironic that would be, huh?! 

Approximately February of 2011 something happened to me that threw me off my course.  I never really could put my finger on it but I knew I felt different. Heck, I was different.  I'm still not feeling like me.  Like all of a sudden I changed over night and somehow I wasn't even thinking how I had thought the previous day before.  Okay, it may have not been that drastic with how I was thinking but I'm serious, some switch flipped.  Not in a bad way or anything like I wasn't going to go off on the next person who wronged me on the road or in the market or anything but something just changed in me and I couldn't figure out what was happening.  I mean, here's an example.  I used to be so excited about certain things (I will not list these things as I do not intend to make anyone feel bad and please get your mind out of the gutter because this has absolutely nothing to do with gutters) and all of a sudden I really didn't care if I did these things or not and when I did do them they did not fulfill me as they once had.  In fact, my entire demeanor was different when I did do those certain things compared to previously.  And it wasn't all things, it was only certain things ~ things that actually had defined who I was as a person previous to this switch flipping.  I struggled to try to figure out why and days where I felt like maybe, just maybe I was getting back to my old self were merely hours where I was somehow tricked into thinking that maybe I was reemerging as the old me.  I tend to think it was a good thing that there was still sparkle in there somewhere, that I knew wanted out.  So one day as I was talking to the Mister about it he mentioned that he had noticed the change too and he suggested something I had not thought of.

No, I'm not nuts!  And no, I am so not bipolar.  Truth.

He summed it up by saying that he felt that my spirit had been crushed.  Wow.  Did the heavens just open up and did I hear the angels sing?

You know, I almost felt like that was the closest explanation as I could possibly come up with.  When he suggested that I actually felt better because I honestly felt like he may have hit the nail on the head.  It made sense and it was actually something that I felt happened to me.  Like really happened as I could pinpoint certain things or incidents that just really beat me down.  Finally that straw that broke the camels back, I guess.  And at the moment of the change that I felt the biggest thing going on in my life was that I had just recently changed jobs and was completely miserable about how things were going at this supposed "wonderful" company. And the things I saw and the wonderful things I put up with AGAIN.  You know, bullying isn't only a sport for the youngsters....it happens all the time to people of all ages.

It's only been a couple weeks since he mentioned this to me.  I've been really trying to figure out how to fix this but unfortunately I keep running into walls and road blocks that keep me from living the life I had intended to live.  So much has happened.  So many things have beat me down.  And just the other day I got another dose of "kick me in the balls".  I'm thinking that eating stress for breakfast is the least of my worries anymore as there seem to be bigger fish to fry.  Good thing I've come to like fish.

Moral of the story:

And I'll continue to smile and tell everyone I'm okay when really I'm just beat up, battered and bruised.  I'll be looking for that rainbow I've been in search of for so long.  Truth be told, I ALWAYS get back up after I've been knocked down.

**This is not intended to sound like a "oh woe is me pity party" but is merely a way for me to acknowledge how my world is revolving.  I'm ready to get back to my regularly scheduled programming!

off my game

I've been off my game for quite a while now.  Not sure what the culprit is.  I've been searching to find out exactly what is going on but have only been led to dead ends.  I feel like I'm living an out of body experience.  I really wish I felt like me.  Sometimes I actually feel like I'm back on my game only to have the rug pulled out from underneath me and I find I'm back right where I started.

A lot of changes. 
A lot of busyness. 
Lots of choices and decisions to be made. 
But in the midst of it all I've still got my sweet family.  My kids seriously are a never ending source of giggles and fun times and the mister...well, he's here when he can be.  We try to do what we can when he's off.  We spend time doing silly little things most people would probably think is pointless and mundane but what matters is that we are together and we are having fun.  And at this point it's truly the little things that count. 

So much inspiration flowing all over the internet.  One of my fav designers, Rhonna Farrer, was on her local afternoon show in Utah yesterday Fresh Living.  Follow this link to her segment.  (Currently it's not working but hopefully it will be back up soon!)  She dishes on some really great Valentine's Day ideas that are not only easy but they are very affordable.  If you go to her blog here you can get the direct link to download a free printable for Valentine's Day.  You must open an account over on her digital design store Rhonna Designs but it's so worth it!  And if you are so inclined, check out her store with all her digital goodness and be prepared to be wowed!

Pinterest is abuzz with many ideas that are dedicated to Valentine's Day but also to everything yummy!  Lots of goodness here on my Valentine's Pinterest board! 

(image found here)

I thought this was a great idea from The House that Lars Built.  You send a "heart attack" to your intended recipient.  A box full of different sized hearts in all different colors of paper.  What a fun little unexpected box of love they will open!  In fact, if you have time, check out the blog...lots of great inspiration abounds plus there are several other "heart attack" Valentine's Day ideas to check out!

Merry Christmas

 
via here

I couldn't let the end of the year go by without at least jumping on and wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas.  2011 has been a really crazy ride and I do hope that with the new year just around the corner things will be a little bit more laid back.  Actually, who am I kidding?  Really, just when I think things will settle down something else jumps out in front of me and kicks me in the teeth so I'm sort of used to the pace and the lifestyle...just trying to find my center.

A little recap of the past few months:
September found the hubby and I traveling to Hot Springs, AR for a little R&R as we spent our anniversary in a quaint B&B called the 1890 Williams House.  It was truly divine.  Heck, we loved it so much we ended up staying an extra day.  We sampled all sorts of yummy food and spent time on the porches of the house.  We were within walking distance to downtown and even had an afternoon at the spa.  We had dinner at the Fisherman's Wharf on the lake.  We took a duck tour which was the first thing we did when we arrived and it was so much fun and really informative.  We even brought back spring water and the taste of it is definitely one you can taste.  The springs coming out of the ground are really, really hot.  We went to the Hot Springs Mountain Tower and checked out what we could see for miles.  Absolutely gorgeous green trees for miles and miles.  We had a wonderful trip and would love to go back soon.

Our son also started college in September and so begins another chapter in our lives.

In October I ran the Santa Fe 5k in 32:49.  Definitely ran it below what I set out to run it in.  I was so proud of myself.

We also had four Halloween parties to attend in October.  It was quite a busy month with those on the calendar.  I can honestly say by the end of the party line I was totally sick of my costume.

November wasn't overly exciting.  Thanksgiving was quiet, as it always is.  I ended up seeing an orthopaedic doctor for my leg at the end of the month and was diagnosed with hamstring and Achilles' tendonitis as well as an Achilles' strain.  I'm currently nursing my leg and haven't ran since November 18th which is totally irritating to me, especially because I had upped my mileage and my time had gotten much better.  Nothing like having to start from scratch when I can finally run again.  I've also been really lazy and haven't drug myself to the gym and I SO need to go.  I can really tell I haven't done anything at all and it's starting to bug me big time.  I would be doing my Jillian DVDs but I can't really do anything that is high impact and that pretty much excludes every single DVD I own so it's either ride my bike or go for a walk or go to the gym and ride the stationary bike, walk on the treadmill or do the elliptical.  Choices, choices.  I'm also so much more mindful of the food I put in my mouth when I'm working out as opposed to when I'm not.  I need to get better about that.

December has also been a bit uneventful.  I lost a friend last week.  I was unable to make it home to the funeral which saddened me but sometimes things cannot be helped and this was one of those cases.  Mother Nature isn't very nice when winter rolls round and going alone driving in winter weather isn't exactly the smartest choice so I opted to stay home where I was safe. There are a few other things on the burner at the moment but those are to be kept quiet for now.  Don't want to jinx anything anymore than I may have already done so I'm just going to continue to keep my fingers and toes crossed and see what happens.

Christmas is less than two days away.  I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Hold your loved ones close, cherish each and every moment you have with them and don't forget to tell people how you really feel about them.  We have but only moments....don't waste them.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

time passes

oh so quickly.  The last day of August is here and tomorrow we will be entering a brand new month.  In just a few weeks fall will be upon us and hopefully we who live in "heat wave central" will be lucky enough to experience cooler temps and be blessed with some much needed rain.  We've had a few teasers over the past few days but nothing that's amounted to anything that will make a difference.

The lawn is taking a beating because we need some of this

This has only happened once with any measurable rain since May.  I hate to mention it but I say bring on a hurricane because I'm really sick of this

And as you can tell from the first photo....I'm really sick of it because the lawn is really taking a beating now.  No, not proud of it....just tired of it.  One thing I will always have anywhere I live from here on out is a sprinkler system.  So kicking myself in the hind end for not doing it years ago because living here, while not the desert, we need it.  Speaking of desert...I so didn't sign up to live in the desert which is why I am in Texas although this year it doesn't seem like I live anywhere but the stinking desert.  I mean, 65 days so far at 100+ degree temps.  Seriously over it.  Like back in May, over it.

The #1 record was set back in 1980 at 69 days of 100+ degree temps and while they say we won't quite make breaking the record I say bring it on....we didn't suffer all summer long, for the past 3 months, all 90-some days, just to fall short of the record.   Come on Mother Nature...throw me a friggin' bone, will ya?

With the heat there has been lots of this going on

So many little shaved ice stands have popped up all over.  It's a refreshing treat after a long, hot day.  This cute stand, in particular, I run by nearly every time I am out for a run and when I run at night it's always all lit up and so festive.  The other night I was jonesing for some shaved ice so I took myself on a little date to 1/2 Price Books and then stopped by for a night cap.  It was definitely yummy and there are so many flavors to choose from it nearly blew my mind.  This is the only stand I've seen with personality - a pirate ship complete with a mermaid on the bow called the Skallywags!  Too stinking cute!

The little and I stumbled upon these cute samples of Starbucks at Target one day while we were out shopping.  I must say considering the calories in the regular size the sample size definitely did the trick and I didn't have to consume and entire days' worth just to get a fix!

This summer found us attending a 40th birthday party for a family member (family even though not by blood) where we had a date playing broomball at the Dr. Pepper StarCenter.

Tanner getting ready to play

That was absolutely the most fun I had all summer and I tell you what...there is no question that I can keep up with the boys on the ice.  I was the only girl who actually played the entire hour.  I even scored two goals which had the boys shaking their heads.  All I can say is never underestimate this girl, a 42-year-old girl at that!

This summer also found me quitting the job I started right before Christmas to go back home to work for the company I left back in December.  It's been a change as I get used to the new account.

I received some beautiful flowers on my last day.  I hung around all week long, each day, WAY past my time to leave just so I could hang out with my peeps.  I had become close to several people while there.  I had mixed feelings about leaving and honestly still do.  I know that I made the right decision but it doesn't mean I don't wish I could just take all my favorite peeps from everywhere I have ever worked, bottle them up and have them here with me so we could still work together and have fun while doing it.  I cried all the way home that day and it was probably the hardest time I've ever had leaving a job, especially being there so few months.  And I have to say that my manager tried everything he could that last day to get me hired on full time so that really spoke to me about how much they thought of me and that they didn't want to lose me but ultimately big business is big business....and you never win against big business.  But that's okay...I can still visit and someday should the right opportunity open up maybe I'll go back.  Who knows where life will take me.

We've had date nights

Halloumi Salad @ Cafe Malaga

 Fondue

 Don Piquillo

Cheesecake Martini

even though the man has been working overtime like crazy and hasn't been home much at all this summer.  We manage to steal away for dinner once or twice a month but that's about all the "us" time we've had.  This basically means everything falls on my shoulders so this would be the very reason why I've been so lax in my blogging lately.  Our favorite date night so far has to be our dinner at Cafe Malaga.  Ah*maz*balls is all I can say!  The pictures above don't even tell the whole story about our evening there because that wasn't all the food we ordered.  It realize it looks like a lot but they serve their food tapas style, which is food served on small plates, so it's actually...what is that they say...."objects may be smaller than they appear".

 
A few of our date nights, but only two, entertained the "double date" theory.  We have a couple that we go out with on a fairly consistent basis where we basically schedule 'date nights' a month or two in advance but with the man working so much this has only happened once since May.  I mean, I spent the 4th of July with these friends minus the man and I am so thankful they don't mind the "third wheel" hanging around!  The other time we were actually able to go out I arranged a surprise visit with one of the man's old friends so they could catch up and I finally got to meet his fiance.  They happen to be getting married this weekend and we're looking forward to that wedding.  The fun times with them were spent here:

 Splitsville

which is the very same place we ate this California roll just Monday night.  Yep, you guessed it - another date night for just the two of us.

I've also had mommy-daughter time and this is what we typically eat

The girl is so hooked on this place it cracks me up.  She ♥'s it which makes my ♥ happy because so do I!  And I think I may have sold her on the grilled onions just the other day when she tried my burger with them! In-N-Out is definitely the bomb!  Of course we spend a lot of time shopping so it is a necessity as we need our strength as we traipse from store to store looking for "fashionable" bargains!

I've done a little crafting but considering everything we've had going on this summer I have not spent as much time on it as I had initially planned but I did manage to wrap these delightful little packages for a bridal shower and I do have a wedding gift that needs my attention because it won't make itself and that wedding is three days away!  Yikes!

I've spent tons of time with my boy, too, but he doesn't like it when I take photos although I did manage to snap two on the day he turned 18. I can't fail to mention that the very next day he started college.  Talk about major changes going on around here lately.  Whew!

And that, in a nutshell, is basically an overview of what has happened over the past couple months.  I say bring on September, fall, cooler temps, rain, falling leaves that crunch under my feet and all the glorious holidays that happen over the next few months!  I'm ready....are you?

a day late & a dollar short

Hope everyone had a safe and very happy 4th of July.

Photo taken at Red, White & Boom in McKinney, TX on July 4, 2011 with my iPhone 3G, edited using Labelbox and Instagram.

Happy Father's Day

(via Sweet Petula)

Today is Father's Day.

I wish I could be with my dad today to celebrate 'his' day in style, to dote on him as it is his day and to tell him how much he means to me and that I love him so much more than he will ever know.

I wish I could be with my dad today to tell him that the woman I am is due to the things that he taught me and that HE is my HERO.  I will never stop learning from him.

I wish I could be with my dad today so that I could hug him and feel his strong arms wrapped around me for just a moment.  

I wish I could be with my dad today so that I could hear his voice, in person, while he plays his guitar and sings.  I want to listen to his jokes, his stories and just spend time with him.

Happy Father's Day, dad.

And happy Father's Day to "the husband", the man who stepped in and took on the role of dad to my precious children, the only father they will ever know.  We all love you.

three hundred

For a month I've been sitting here wanting to make post #300 some big whopper of a deal but somehow that doesn't look like it's going to happen.  I've got so many thoughts that run through my head daily and so many ideas/things I want to blog about but time just seems to get in the way.  I read on one of the social networks  in the past day or two that someone compared time sucking to that same black hole that eats our socks.  I can totally relate.

The last month has been a whirlwind and the day I drove home from the airport with an empty car it all came to a screeching halt.  Might have had a little something to do with the 3:45 a.m. wake up call, I don't know.  I know at that early hour there's definitely a fog in my head!  There's always something very hard but also very hopeful for me about arriving at the airport on departure day as I slowly drive by the gate hoping my visitors don't want to brave throwing themselves out of the moving vehicle risking injury then running behind the car to grab the luggage from the trunk to start their trek home.  That trick didn't work for me this time as my brother-in-law threatened he knew someone who knew someone.  You get the picture. 

Truth of the matter is it's always incredibly difficult for my sister and I to go our separate ways.  I love the closeness that we share and am so blessed to have her as my sister, we both just wish she lived here.  Maybe someday.  The husband seems to think it will happen and I really hope he's right.  Funny....I don't think we got even one picture of the two of us during this visit.  So much going on neither of us thought about it. 

There was a lot of celebrating.  A lot of eating.  A lot of exploring.  A lot of everything and it was wonderful.

We're now headed down an exciting new path writing the next chapter in our book.  I'm very happy about the decisions my precious boy has made about school and I look forward to watching him continue to grow and evolve.

Tanner,

I wonder where the time went and how we got here so quickly.  As I look back on the years remembering all the special moments that touched my heart I find it difficult to believe that you're ready to start down the road to your future, a future that you will write based on decisions and choices you will have in front of you.  I recall a day many years ago where I couldn't even fathom the thought that you would be old enough to graduate thinking that the time would go so much more slowly and that I "had time" for everything.  I found out all too quickly that that really isn't the case.  The time goes so much more quickly than you can comprehend right now and while you grew up much too quickly and have endured so much more than you deserved, you've come out of it on top and learned so much from it.  I'm so proud of you for all you've accomplished, how brave you are and all you continue to do and be on a daily basis and I am proud to be your mom.  You've so much promise and so much of yourself to share with the world my only wish is that you find what it is you love to do and do it, for life is too short not to.  

You have been all a son should be and more.  I want you to know that I will always be here for you to support you no matter what because I am your biggest fan.

I love you little boy.  

your mommy

Yes, he still calls me mommy and yes, he hugs me anytime he leaves the house as well as before bed.  It's official, he's still my little boy and I'll take it for as long as I can get it! 

(source)

*whew*

So much has happened in the past week that it's hard to believe it all actually took place in such a short time.  And it's May to boot!  How is that possible?  We're closing in on half the year being over already and I feel like it just barely began.  I'll have to start planning for Christmas soon and even I'm not sure I'm ready for that right now!  I've got too much to do in the next few weeks.

Let's see, the wedding of the century took place and it was definitely a fairy tale.  I was up at 3 a.m. CST to participate in the festivities.  It was beautiful beyond words and as my sweet friend Michelle posted over on her blog, these words from the ceremony were magical 

"be who God meant you to be
and you will set the world on fire". 

How amazing for Kate to be living a real life fairy tale~I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like although I digress I do try to at least picture what it could possibly be like.  I will forever consider myself a Princess but clearly I'll never lead a life like she is lucky enough to have been blessed with.

As the mother of a little girl, I sat and wondered the other night how her mum must feel about all this.  How is one even able to comprehend the fact that when this child was born how could they even begin to imagine what her future held for her.  HRH is quite a title to bestow but heck, I'd place it at the beginning of my name in a heartbeat!

 (source)

My own royalty.......

This mom experienced what it is like for her baby to go on a first date.

She also experienced a first prom and all that goes along with it like renting a tux and getting to see her little boy all dressed up with a very sweet and pretty girl on his arm.  This all happened in one night.  Was I ready?  Hell no. I have no problem sharing that I am so not ready for my little boy to grow up.  

I'm so blessed though as he's been so amazing at going easy on me.  He's right there beside me helping me to let go and that's making it so much easier although easy isn't exactly the word I would use to describe what it's like when you realize that soon your baby will be graduating and off to college finding his own way in the world.  Letting go is the hardest part but if the past is any indication of the future it's all good.  I couldn't have been blessed with better kiddos and that makes it easier to handle the big changes coming our way.

So with that we've added yet another driver to the family.

See....I told you that it's been crazy around here with a lot going on in a very short time.  My little is now driving and we're one step closer to the end of childhood with her as well.  Granted I've got a few years left but I know from experience that they are going to rocket by at lightening speed so we're cherishing every moment we have together as a family for too soon it will be over and all that will be left of this chapter will be the echos of the memories etched into my very soul.  The kids have reached a place in their relationship where they don't fight much at all.  It's now more joking around and giving each other a really hard time and believe me they can both dish it out really well.  They're both incredibly funny and that makes for some really great times here.  It's fun to listen to them banter back and forth and oftentimes I sit back to listen and watch just to capture what I can to stick away for memories~it makes me smile and my heart so happy.

Something very big happened on May 1st, 2011~ the U.S. was finally able to take out the mastermind behind the worst terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil - God Bless America and all those who fight, have fought and will continue to fight for our freedom.