Updates

Hopefully you've noticed I've been bloggin a bit more this summer :) That can be credited to my friend Bri changing her blog roll up a bit. Basically those who don't blog get 'called out' big time! I love it :) But didn't love being on the bottom of this list!! I know I still don't blog enough - but I'm trying to get better about that :)

Of course with my return to blogging I've had to update my site too. I know the layout is basically the same - that's not changing for now :) I did shamelessly copy Bri on the blog roll. I only show the last 10 updated blogs! So if you're name isn't showing - you're job is to blog and knock someone else off the list!! Most of my friends have totally fallen off the blog bandwagon - so I'm hoping to light a fire under you guys!!

Since people I know have stopped bloggin - I've had to start reading random people's blogs!! I'll be adding links to my favorite 'random folks' too. There are some VERY FUNNY people out there, and talented writers!

And for those of you who need some inspiration - here are some ideas to start with:
~ A vacation recap from the summer
~ What you'll miss most when summer is over
~ A MEME: 5 songs you're embarrassed to say you like.

Also I think it's best to take the pressure off about bloggin. No need to catch folks up on your entire life while you've been missing - just post a picture or two - or one funny story. Keep them short! That's going to be my motto at least :)

GET BLOGGING!

You Can Let Go

It's been a while since I've been emotional... until I heard this song just now for the first time.

You Can Let Go
Crystal Shawanda

Wind blowing on my face
Sidewalk flying beneath my bike
A five year olds first taste
Of what freedom's really like
He was running right beside me
His hand holding on the seat
I took a deep breath and hollered
As I headed for the street

"You can let go now daddy
You can let go
Oh I think I'm ready to do this on my own
It's still a little bit scary
But I want you to know
I'll be okay now daddy
You can let go"

I was standing at the altar
Between the two loves of my life
To one I've been a daughter
To one I soon would be a wife
When the preacher asked
"Who gives this woman?"
Daddy's eyes filled up with tears
He kept holding tightly to my arm
'Til I whispered in his ear:

"You can let go now daddy
You can let go
Oh I think I'm ready to do this on my own
It's still feels a little bit scary
But I want you to know
I'll be okay now daddy
You can let go"

It was killing me
To see the strongest man I ever knew
Wasting away to nothing in that hospital room
"You know he's only hanging on for you"
That's what the night nurse said
My voice and heart were breaking
As I crawled up in his bed and said:

"You can let go now daddy
You can let go
Your little girl is ready to do this on my own
Its gonna be a little bit scary
But I want you to know
I'll be okay now daddy
You can let go
You can let go"

I'm am and will always be in awe of folks who write lyrics. Music is an amazing thing :)

Hello Bagger Guy. Listen Up.

I know I am a carbon copy of my mom - and everyday I slowly become more and more like her. Sometimes it's great. Sometimes I'm not so happy with the transformation :) But tonight - I wish I could have had a little more of her in me - then I would have told the bagger guy at Kroger to "Stop f'ing throwing my peaches into the bag". Seriously. When I saw him to it my whole body cringed and I wanted to scream at him. "Do you know how much peaches cost? I like mine without bruises and soft spots!" Um it was 10pm, the store was empty, it's not like he was busy and in a rush. He wasn't 16 - more like 23 so he's old enough to know better. I'm still kinda mad at myself for not saying something.

Ah but that's just the beginning of my issues with the bagger guys. You go to Wal-Mart and they seriously put maybe three items in each plastic bag, then 'spin' to the next. I get so frustrated when I walk out with 10 bags of stuff that would certainly have fit easily into 3. Who in running their job training sessions. Obviously not someone who cares about company costs or the environment.

So now I have the (super cute) reusable bags. It's taken some training to make sure I actually have them on me when I shop, but I'm getting there :) Here we have the exact opposite problem than the one at Wal-Mart. I guess since the reusable bags are durable the bagger guys play a game of 'let's test the weight limit of the bag'. I have at least 9 bags with me usually - plenty of bags that the can pack them normally, so I can carry them, and not run out. But no - they insist on packing them as full as possible to see how few they can use. Which leaves me with bags I can barely lift - and I'm a pretty strong girl. Errrr. Again with the fruits & veggies thing - they'll back a bag full of produce making it extremely heavy and almost impossible to get home without harming the produce.

I'm done with keeping my mouth shut. From now on I'm going to be the annoying woman at the check out that tells the bagger guys how 'not' to pack my groceries. Hmmm. Maybe I should start teaching the training class.

Congrats J & J

Woohoo! You did it! What a beautiful ceremony overlooking the mtns :) Just perfect. We were so happy to share this with you guys!

Your day was full of personal touches that made all your guests feel very special and included on YOUR day :) The love you two share for each other and your friends & family was everywhere. It's been so fun to watch your love blossom over the past year and lead you to your wedding! (I remember you whispering in my ear on that bike ride last summer that you had a crush on J! As if I couldn't already tell)

I have to say in 20 years what I'm going to remember most is the moment at dinner when you told us you'd like to reenact the unity part of the ceremony in a way that much better represented you guys. Out came the milk and oil. Classic!

PS. Doesn't the hubby look good :)

Happy 6th...

...birthday BLUE. Wow. Over 105,000 miles together. Good times, not so good times (we've suppressed memories of vandalism and speeding tickets). New states and adventures. Your kick a$$ roof rack which made me fall in love with you all over again. Cramming the crate in your backseat so the 'boys' behave in the car. It's been fun. I hope you're ready for another 6 years together (or more)!

note. I don't really talk to my car :)

Rain & Hail & Lightning, oh my.

Early evening had been hinting at big storms. While I was reading in the hammock I could hear the thunder off in the distance, then light sprinkles finally sent me up to read on the porch. They didn't last long and things calmed down for a couple hours.

Triple M's made our night by arriving with coconut jelly cookies :) Yum. We were catching up around our new 'gathering' table when the thunder returned - much closer. They realized they were 10 minutes too late starting their walk home :) Then came the rain - heavy rain. And the hail. Which was pretty crazy and darn exciting to watch! I haven't seen a good hail storm since I was a kid! I couldn't get great pictures because it was pretty dark and gloomy, but you can see the amount of decent size hail we received.


The hailed died down, then the rain, and Triple M's headed down the hill. We retreated to the couch for movie watching and book reading. The storm picked back up again with steady thunder and lightning. At one point Todd startles and says 'What was that?' Of course me engrossed in my book didn't notice anything. We went and looked out the front door - it was really dark now and we couldn't see anything! Oh well - back to the couch. Right before bed I went to make sure my car was locked. I noticed a funny shadow at the bottom of the driveway and called T, 'Honey, you better come check this out.' It was apparent the sound he heard involved the tree at the bottom of the driveway.

This is the view we woke up to this morning. (It was still really hazy/foggy out - so the pictures aren't great)

Close-up you can see the culprit was lightning. The tree is burned all up the sides, not just at the spot of the split. (You can see the fence is unharmed)

The view out.

The view looking in. You can really see the gap in the shape of the tree from this view.

Here's a picture taken a week ago. You can see the tree in it's full glory in the background.

Hopefully the main part of the tree is still structurally sound, so we can just clean up the mess and be done. Our wonderful neighbor stopped by on his way to work today to drop off his chainsaw and offer to help tonight after work.

In the meantime Todd took his jeep off-roading through the yard and down the hill so we could get to work! :)

SugarBoo

ohh la la! I just discovered SugarBoo Designs - a husband and wife company in Georgia who create amazing art. At least I think so :)

"Each photobox is a unique customized piece of art. All are completely handmade and handpainted. We use real wood and painted finishes that create a warm, aged look. Choose from 18 custom color finishes and from 60 thoughtful quotes to create your one-of-a-kind piece of art!"

How special are these!! Perfect as a wedding gift, baby gift, anniversary gift, or any occasion really :)





These large (20" x 20") pieces are a little pricey at $265. But if you think about the handmade work of art - it's worth the price. They also have smaller (11" x 20"), just as special pieces, perfect for a babies room! ($99)


To personalize the piece even more you can have a quote of your own painted for an extra $100.

I'm in love :)

PS And people wonder why I still read a wedding blog - long after my wedding. For cool finds like this!! (A heartfelt Gift)

Sibling Round-Up

It's great that T's siblings live within an hours drive triangle (ish - not equilateral) from Roanoke. In between big family events we try to meet up for lunch to hang out. L-boy wasn't able to join us this weekend - but the rest of us had fun. We spent a couple hours eating and chatting at the City Market Building downtown.

Somebody wanted to remind us that she was the most important hungry one!

Check out that lip action!

MMMmm. That's what I'm talkin' about.

Much happier :) Love those big blue eyes!

After lunch we headed up to Mill Mtn Zoo so AG could get her first peek (and smell) of some crazy animals! There was a storm brewing - which was to our advantage because I think most of the animals were more active than usual.

My favorite part was when the monkey pulled back the tire swing, then jumped on for a ride :)

Hmmm. It won't let me update anymore pics. Make sure to check out the llamas over on M's blog!

The zoo was small - but it surpassed my expectations. It's a cute little place - maybe a but pricey, but it's for a good cause right ;) Next time we'll ride the train.

Daddy's Day

I'm confused on Father's Day. It kinda comes and goes with little thought since 'physically' (cards, presents, phone calls, dinners) I can't celebrate with my wonderful dad :) Of course I miss him greatly, but I miss him every day. Today isn't necessarily any harder than the rest, though I guess I feel like it should be.

Today was pretty cool. Subconsciously I was drawn to him by things that we shared or reminded me of him. I really feel like he's been by my side all day :)

This morning while cleaning off the kitchen table I grabbed a pile of change to dump in our money jars. Something in me said - "hmm wonder how much we have?" I grabbed the jars & roll papers and headed downstairs. As I began counting out nickels, dimes, and quarters it dawned on me. How appropriate that I'm rolling coins on Father's Day, something my daddy taught me to do when I was kid and something I enjoyed doing with him & for him :) Yes I know they make machines that do this for you now, but I love the sentimental feeling & memories of rolling my own. It always reminds me of dad and makes me feel close to him :)

Later, after weeding the front flower bed and re-potting some plants I set to work organizing the garage a bit. I came across the stain we bought a couple weeks ago and decided to stain the golf ball display that belonged to my dad. His good football reffing buddy had made the golf ball display case. I snagged it from his office after he passed away - but just haven't gotten around to staining it yet! (yes I am that much of a slacker - 4 years!) As I began to sponge on the stain - it hit be again - how appropriate I'm working on this project that's part of my dad!

Of course Father's day isn't only about me and my dad, it's also about my grandpa, my brother, my brother-in law, my friends that are celebrating their first Father's Day today, my friends who are experienced father's and so many of my friends that are hoping and praying they'll be able to celebrate being a dad next year! I hope everyone of you has had a wonderful day!

I especially enjoy watching my brother be a Dad! He's awesome at it!

I don't think AB knew quite what to think about the 'floaty swimsuit'.

Here she is, unphased by the waves that try to tackle her,
knowing Daddy is right there to take care of her!

Green Thumb

It's a fact that I can't go into Lowes without coming home with a new plant :) The colors and blooms call my name!! I haven't always had a green thumb - usually due to my lack of watering - but that is changing! We have 8 hooks across our porch that beg for beautiful blooming hanging plants... and that can get 'spesive! I decided to try my luck at growing plants from seed this year. The last time I tried this had to do with a science fair project ;) So I picked up some of these seed starter peat pellet kits. Seemed pretty low maintenance to me! Just add water so the peat pellets expand - then poke a hole with a pencil and bury the little seed :)

I chose seeds soley based on the pretty pictures. I was hoping to grow the plants that would grow over the hanging baskets and cascade downwards - but the guys at the hardware store weren't great in answering my question and guiding me to such varieties. So I stuck with color and bloom as my deciding factor :)

Not all the pellets produced plants, but I'm pretty darn shocked with my green thumb!! Check out the baskets!!

This one is a little harder to keep moist because the pot is so small, plus I don't think it gets as much sun. I just love the heart shaped hanger though!

What I like to call the 'jungle'. See the red leaves to the left, that's sweet potato vine that I did actually buy already growing. I love sweet potato vine and thought I'd need it to fill in some space, little did I know my little seedlings would take off!

I took all the leftover peat pellets that hadn't grown and planted them 'wall to wall' in this pot, just to see what would happen. Glad I did because these flowers started growing - I'll transplant these to fill in some spots in the baskets :)

I'm really excited at the progress!! Of course I don't know which plants are which, but hopefully they'll start blooming soon - and all summer long :)

I also planted herbs and veggies from seed - will fill you in soon on that progress soon!