Crazy weather!

Not the most thrilling of posts, I know...but good heavens!

Saturday, it stormed allll day long. Pouring rain with thunder and lightning. On Sunday it was over 80 degrees. Yesterday it was breezy and cool. Today? WINDY (like 30 mph sustained, with gusts over 50 mph) and cold! This afternoon we had a weird storm come through that had hail and a snow flurry!

What the heck?

A sweet weekend

I'm feeling pretty blessed tonight. It's been a really nice, family weekend.

Shannon and I had a fun girlie day yesterday. We started off going for haircuts, and then I finally talked her into get her brows waxed for the first time.

We had already planned to go bathing suit shopping, so after our brows were done, we headed down to the mall. We found two cute suits for her, and one for me. I also got a CUTE pair of sunglasses. All on sale! Woot!

After that, we just sorta mall-crawled for awhile. Went to Hot Topic, people-watched...you know, the good stuff. We were having good talks about growing up, who she wants to be, etc. it was just nice.

Shannon asked me if she could get her ears double-pierced, and I couldn't see why not...so I said yes. We went to Claire's, and as it turned out...Shan wanted a cartilage piercing. I've had that before, so I told her how much it was going to hurt, how long it takes to heal, how she wouldn't be able to sleep on that side, etc...and she still wanted it. I think I shocked her by saying OK, but you know what? It's an ear. It's really ok with me. So...she got it done! I sent Patrick a picture of it with the caption "Baby's First Body Mod." LOL! He wrote back and said "OMG! I'm 100 years old!" Ha!

After that we came home and watched movies, snuggled, etc. Just nice.

This morning, we dropped her off for her Confirmation class and Patrick and I went out to breakfast...alone! LOVELY! After we picked her up, Shannon commented on what a pretty day it was, and how it'd be a great day to go to the park. A new green space has opened near us, so I said that we ought to go check it out. We went over there...and OMG! It was sooo beautiful! Gorgeous walking/biking path...and it was SO fun! We ended up walking 3 miles!

We came home and Shan worked on her homework. Patrick watched NASCAR, and I laid out on the deck reading a Sookie Stackhouse book. FANTASTIC! Shan and I went to a Bible study potluck tonight. Good fun, good food, and good fellowship. When we got home, Patrick had vacuumed the entire upstairs, and cleaned our master bathroom. Talk about bliss.

I love my family.

A couple of pics from my weekend

My friends and I have some less than flattering shots of each other now...but we have mutually agreed to keep them to ourselves, lol. Part of our "mantra" of the weekend was "What happens at Hartwell, stays at Hartwell." But the other part was "No Facebook!" Meaning, we can't share any of that craziness in our FB albums, lol. Only too happy to oblige, lol!

But I do have a couple cute pics that I want to share!

First, a cute group pic, taken the first night we got there. We were sitting on my friends docked boat, after midnight...just laughing like a bunch of fools. I wanted to see if I could get my timer to work on my camera...and cha-ching! I could!



That's me in the foreground, in case you're unsure.

Here I am, with my friend Teresa, on my first-ever Sea-Doo ride! I went on many more that day...but this is my first! Go me!



And one of us, a bit closer in:


Me, on the boat...enjoying a fun and beautiful day!

Home again, home again

Jiggity jig!

I had SUUUUCH a great girlie weekend. I am blessed to have great friends, and we had the best time together. I went sea-dooing for the very first time ever! It was SO awesome! I also did jell-o shots for the very first time ever, and that wasn't so bad either, lol! Anyway, I feel a bit invigorated and energized after the time away. Also I feel blessed to come home to my amazing family...they always love me and support me. Wonderful!

I feel like I have to get back into the habit of blogging regularly. Spring time is notoriously busy at preschool, and it's easy for me to let this slip to the back burner. My Beth Moore reading has fallen off...I'm only on Chapter 4...but I'm still poking along. I just can't believe that it's already mid-April! My last day of classes is a month from tomorrow!!! Awesome, and scary all at the same time!

Ummm

Not sure if you can't see the pics I linked to in my previous post, or if no one is stopping by, lol! It's funny to finally post pictures, and then to be able to hear the crickets chirp! LOL! I'm actually giggling at this, not being sarcastic. I had myself in such a "yank" to get these pictures up, and now I can see that the unrealistic time-line was all within myself.

Even more ironic, is that I was coming to blog about how I'm ticking off things, one by one, from my to-do list...and I slowly feel like I *might* make it! Aaaaah...what's with me and time-lines!?!

I'm going out of town tomorrow afternoon with girlfriends...but before that, there have been SO MANY things that need to get done.

Laundry.
Shop for food to take on trip.
Prepare bible study lesson for someone else to teach.
Make poster to hang at art show.
Set up for art show (tomorrow after preschool).
Babysit this afternoon.
Babysit tomorrow afternoon.
Get Shan to her meeting with clergy session.
Pick up fundraiser check for Shan tonight.
Look over 3Day Crew paperwork...I think I'm signing up again! Woot!
Pack! (Oh yeah! Pack...I almost forgot that one. Srsly.)

I can doooo iiiiiit. I've been putting one foot in front of the other, just trying to get things finished.

Mulling it over

I've always tried to keep a bit of distance between my "real" life and my "blog" life...but I use our real names here, and am fairly open with what I post. I don't walk around giving people in my day-to-day life my blog address...but I think that's more just a privacy thing than a security thing. I dunno.

I've been wanting to put up more pictures from our Nashville trip, but I've got a little tummy bug, and I just don't have it in me to compile them on an "anonymous" site...or to upload them all to Flickr, etc....so guess what? You get to go to my FB page to see them. Yay for you, lol!

There's some really neat ones on there...I hope you'll check them out!

Mom n Me Monday

Monday already? Well...actually not quite...but look at me! Ahead of the game! Woot! Julie at The Peanut Gallery...Exit Here hosts one of my favorite blog carnivals. It's called Mom n Me, and is meant to encourage moms to get out from BEHIND the camera, and into the pictures with their kids.

This week, Shannon and I went to Nashville. We just stayed one night, but we went to the zoo, the Parthenon (the REAL reason we went), and saw the State Capitol building. Shannon is a huge Greek mythology buff, so once she learned that there was a Parthenon in Nashville, she HAD to go.

I have LOTS more pictures to resize and upload...but here are the "selfies" we took of ourselves.

Getting to know you Sunday

We're home from our trip, and it was a blast! I have (way too) many pictures to size, upload, etc. I kind of got hit with that "bug" that when you have so much to say/post that you don't know where to start...so you don't say anything at all. Oops.

We've had a lovely spring break. Just the right mix of doing nothing, going places, accomplishing tasks around the house, etc. It's back to school for us tomorrow.

But for now, to ease myself back into posting, lol...


It's time again for Keely's weekly blog carnival called Getting to Know You. Here are this week's questions...and my answers!

1. What color do you wear the most? I'd have to say blue or black...but probably blue, since I wear jeans just about every single day.

2. Would you rather have $10,000 dollars or a dream vacation? Definitely $10,000...it would last longer, I could do more with it...and I could probably sneak a vacation in there, too!

3. Do you have a weird, quirky or unusual habit? I asked my daughter, and she said "Mom, you're you. You ARE a weird, quirky and unusual habit." LOL 'Nuff said.

4. I really need to start..........? Exercising again. Tomorrow's the day. Seriously. This has been the plan all along. Finish up Spring Break, and when I head back to school, the workouts start again.

5. What was the first blog you ever read? It's been through many incarnations over the years, but the first blog I ever read was LaLaGirl. Laura's one of my favorite girlies...I always look forward to reading her take on things.

6. Do you collect anything? Mmmm, I've kind of gotten out of collecting things. Over the years, I've collected dolphins, Mary Engelbreit stuff, Donald Duck stuff, Abe Lincoln stuff...but not really any more. I collect things I love. How 'bout that?

7. How old were you when you had your first kiss? I was 15.

8. Do you text/twitter while driving? I used to, but I really try not to anymore. If the need presents itself, I wait til I'm stopped at a light, etc.

Road Trip!

My best girlie and I are hitting the road in the morning! We're headed to Nashville, and will be home late Thursday!

When I get back, I'll post pictures of my new tattoo and of our adventures in TN!

Friend Makin' Monday - Easter

It's time again for Friend Makin' Monday, by ae filkins. This time, the Easter edition!



This week, Amber isn't feeling well (get better, Amber!)...so she just wants to hear about our Easter experiences.

We had a lovely Easter this year. One aspect of it wasn't planned well, and I feel badly about that, but the rest of it was simply marvelous!

Patrick and I went on a big date Friday night...and got tattoos. I imagine some people don't love tattoos, but Patrick and I do. I think they can be beautiful forms of self-expression...and this latest one is my fourth! The bad planning part? I thought I was being so smart...getting it on the first day of Spring Break; so I would be all healed up by the time I go back to school on the 12th. The part I didn't think of? Easter. You see, I tattooed my foot. I absolutely, positively COULD NOT put on a shoe yesterday morning, and so we had to miss church...because of my tattoo. That is AWFUL. Of all the reasons to miss church. I have some guilt over that, but we read the Easter story, and sang our favorite Easter songs and hymns...and well, moved on.

Now for the GREAT parts! I love our little family. I love celebrating holidays together. Saturday afternoon we dyed eggs. I had gotten this "fun" dye...different from the regular dye we normally get. You dye your eggs, and then spread glue on them. Then you wrap them in this foil paper, and peel it off...leaving beautiful foiled designs on your eggs. Except...yeah, it didn't work. The coloring part went perfectly. The foiling part? Not so much. It turned into muttered hilarity, and our eggs looked pretty much like they always have, lol!

Shannon hunted eggs when she woke up. We made Resurrection Rolls for breakfast, and egg salad sandwiches for lunch. We ate too much candy and all took naps in the afternoon. For dinner we ate ham, scalloped potatoes, and asparagus. We finished off our day by watching "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown." I don't think it could have been a better day. Well, maybe if we could have gone to church...but other than that? PERFECTION!

Oh! I almost forgot to add...while dinner was cooking, I asked Shannon to take out the trash. Seemed like she was gone forever. Finally, she came back in and said she had seen the "Easter Bunny," lol! We have a little rabbit that lives in the woods behind our house, and apparently when she went out, he was just sitting there on the lawn...looking at her. So she sat down and watched him til he hopped away. Fun!

Happy Easter!

Christ the Lord is risen today....

Alleluia!!!

Dear God, Thank you for Spring Break. Amen.

I survived March!!! And I am SO grateful to have behind me. Not only was it incredibly busy, or as Ria at Life as a Wife! says..."it was FULL." But, there were also a few really stressful zingers thrown in there, too.

I've fallen behind on my Beth Moore Insecurity reading, but have plans to read Chapter 4 either tonight or tomorrow. Shannon is at a band fundraiser tonight, so I may just veg, and let my mind unwind. I can sleep in tomorrow. (Thank you, Lord!) Patrick has an appointment at 11, Shannon has to be at a birthday party at noon, and then I'm babysitting from 12:30 til 4:30. After that I'm officially off until 4/12.

Now...to relax.