Summer Time

Hey ya'll!! I know it's been a while since I posted so I wanted to do a recap of my summer for ya :)
It's been a SUPER fun summer and I really hate to say goodbye to it, but I am anxious to start school next week and get going again. I am ready to get finished! Did I mention that my husband also started back school this semester? I am so proud of him... he has returned to school after receiving his BA nearly 10 years ago so it was not an easy thing for him to do. BUT he is going to get his Master's and is enthusiastic about his return, so GO JIMBO!

Our summer fun officially ends this weekend when we visit our good friends in Atlanta, GA! I can't wait see them and go to a Braves game :) But here is what we've been up to:

SWIMMING IN THE OCEAN, BIKE RIDING, BOATING, SUN BATHING, CELEBRATING MY NIECE'S BIRTHDAY, PAINTING, BUILDING SAND CASTLES, PLAYING BOARD GAMES, SKATING, BEING SILLY, EATING LOTS AND LOTS OF ICECREAM, VISITING, AND LOTS MORE!!!

AND- I have to say I had a blast working with our cousin, Mrs. Wendy Hardwick, on her Pre-K classroom this summer. We spent a lot of time cleaning out, organizing, and working on various art projects to prepare her classroom for the her students who started school this week. She is a fantastic teacher and it was an honor to work with her. Thanks for thinking of me, Wendy!

Hope everyone had a great summer too! What did you do? BTW- congrats to NieNie!! She is pregnant in case you didnt already know that!!

Love, E

Five Question Friday

I can't believe it's already 4rth of July weekend. This year is flying by! We have lots going on this weekend...
tomorrow we are celebrating my sister-in-law's bday; Sunday, we are going to the beach with our friends Maranda and Jason; and Monday we are cooking out at my parents and then at my husband's parents house. What are your plans for the 4rth??
Happy Birthday SIL! Hope you have wonderful birthday!!

Now... for Five Question Friday! You should link up at... My Little Life

1. If you had the opportunity to bungee jump, would you?

You know what? I think I might- but I might just pee my pants if I did, LOL
I have always said I would never do things like that.. like jump out of a plane or anything, but as I am getting older, I am getting more adventurous and wanting to try new things. :)

2. Would you rather go to the movie theater or to the drive-in?

I have never been to a drive-in because they don't have them where I live, but I think it would be awesome if there was one here!! Although, I really love the air conditioning that is provided in our theaters lol, because it is HOT here!

3. Do you have your groceries delivered?

Never! I love grocery shopping and yes.. I am one of those couponers! The pic shows my current shopping list :)

4. Eyebrows: Do you wax, thread, pluck, or stay au naturel?

I used to wax, but now I just pluck. Either way... it sucks. :(

5. Would the people you went to high school with be surprised by your life today?

Me in high school.. such a nerd!

Me now... still a nerd!

I don't know. I think my life has been pretty predictable. I work at a university and am in school to be a high school history teacher. I think most people could see me as a teacher. I dunno.

Hope you have a fantastic 4rth! Be safe!

Love, E

Five Question Friday

Good Lawd! I'm so glad it's Friday! I am seriously pumped about this weekend. Tomorrow night me and my girls are going to a Paint and Pals party to celebrate my friend Erica's birthday and I can't wait!! Always fun taking a break from the every day agenda and spending time with friends old and new. I will have to update you with pics next week! It's also another best friend of mine's birthday too, Ashley.
Happy Birthday girls- I love you!!
Don't know what I would do without you in my life.

Ashley and I enjoying cake on her birthday two years ago :)

 

Erica and I at my sister-in-laws baccalaureate party

And now to Five Question Friday!

1. What is your favorite summer time activity?

Going to the beach for sure!! We have beautiful beaches here in coastal Alabama and there is just something about the smell of salt in the air, sun tan lotion, an ice chest packed with home made sandwiches and juice boxes, and swimming in the Gulf all day. Don’t know what I would do without it.

2. Do you have one laundry soap you stick to, or do you buy whatever's on sale?
I really like Gain detergent but lately I have been buying Arm and Hammer.

3. What is your favorite dinner to make in the summer?
Broiled shrimp, new potatoes, and corn on the cob...Add some craw fish and I’m set!! Some people call this “Buford Stew.”

4. Do you have any talents?
I’m very artistic- if you consider that a talent. I love to paint and make things and I’m kinda good at it, so I’m going to claim that as my talent. :)

5. If you could instantly be an expert in something, what would it be? Why?
I would like to be an expert on… wow, I don’t know. So many things that I wish and I absolutely love learning. Believe it or not.. google has taught me so much LOL
A subject will come up around our house and when I start giving my two cents on the topic, my husband will ask, “How do you know so much about that?” and my answer is always, “because I googled it one day and began researching it!” I love digging deeper and learning about new things. This is so out of left field, but If you know me well, then you know that I love aviation. So maybe I would like to be an expert on aviation and how avionics work. I know… I’m a nerd. Deal with it.

via

And last but not least.... Happy Father's Day to the men in my life. Daddy- for raising me right! My husband- for blessing me and our son with his GIANT heart, and my Father-in-Law for raising such a fine young man that loves me! :) YAY for Daddy's!!

MY DADDY

MY BABY'S DADDY

MY BABY DADDY'S- DADDY!! LOL

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Love, E

A Few of My Favorite Things

You know I have to update you on current things I'm loving! So... here goes...

Dylan's Candy Bar accessories! She is the famous Ralph Lauren's daughter and like her Father, she is oh so creative. I loved looking at all the cute stuff on her web-site and would love to visit the actual store one day.

i (intelligent) products! I'm using the i-extend right now which helps extend your tan longer. It comes in the teal bottle (not shown below) and you can buy it at most tanning salons or order the products online. I LOVE the scent of the products which has a nice, clean smell to it. Here is a list of the different products and their purposes.

Working out again! Last year I started running for the first time in my life and I lost a lot of weight and was feeling so good! Then the winter time came, we moved, and I got side tracked, but NO MORE! I am getting back on track! I enrolled in a muscle toning and conditioning boot camp on campus and it's kicking my butt! And that's exactly what I need.

And I most certainly need to work out because my next favorite thing is this stupid
ICE CREAM!
Blue Bell's "Krazy Kookie Dough" is by far the BEST ice cream I have ever put in my mouth and I have been completely obsessed with it LOL but that's GOT to come to an end soon! It's cake batter flavored ice cream with sugar cookie dough. Good Lord help me!

Pool Time!
Even if it's in a blow-up pool in my back yard. Hey- ya gotta do whatcha gotta do. It's HOT here in Alabama!

 and last but not least (for the time being anyway)...

This "Hello Yellow Third Birthday Party" presented on The Sweetest Occasion (my fav. website) .

 What's your current favorites?

Love, E

Our Alabama/Mississippi/Tennessee/Arkansas Trip

Hello dolls,
So... last week I told you all about how we were going to travel with my in-laws to Memphis for a family member's wedding? Well, we did and we had a blast! I love going on road trips and this one was a little extended due to a wrong turn. Not sure who's fault that was lol, but I do know that the signal was lost on all i-phones in the car! Lol- that's okay though, because we had plenty to entertain us... tents in the back seat, eating snacks the ENTIRE trip (what is it about getting the munchies while riding long periods of time in the car?), watching movies, and laughing our butts off at each other's delirious babble.

We finally made it there, but not before we had a lemon incident at the "Huddle House".  Long story short- has any one ever heard of having to pay the price of a lemonade when you order a water with a lemon slice? Me either. Until the Huddle House. Kinda silly- just saying.

The next morning, we took Judson to the Memphis Zoo and I have to say, it was very nice! The zoo grounds were really pretty, the staff was extremely friendly and helpful, and they had a BROAD range of animals. The three of us had a really good time and would not mind going back sometime.

We went back to the hotel, took naps, visited other family members who were at the same hotel, and then went to Kristi and Tyler's wedding. My child is really good- but he was tired and getting hungry as the wedding started, therefore he was cranky, did not want to sit still, began to pick their flowers that were hanging on the end chairs, and wanted to chit-chat A LOT! That's why we had to bribe him with the Mac (his pacifier). He looks really thrilled to be taking a picture with me here.

I felt like a terrible mother after we arrived at the wedding reception and I realized it was so late and he must be STARVING! That baby was so hungry that he grabbed a fork and ran to the back of the cake table..and..was..sooooo close.. just inches...away from scooping out a big bite of the wedding cake! Thank the lord I grabbed him up! I would have died.. you hear me? DIED. Here's a pic of the kids (mine included) waiting for the cake to be served.

Good thing that the Neely's were catering! If you watch the Food Network then you know who I'm talking about!! They were the nicest folks and I sware that was the best BBQ I've ever had. The wedding was beautiful and once our tummy's were full.. we were all HAPPY!! I think Judson even did a little dance :)

 (My in-laws. Aren't they cute?)

Cousin Wendy and I.

We ended the trip with a nice wrong turn (okay, a few) that led us into Arkansas, then we came back for a picture in front of the Pyramid Arena and it was so blinding out there that our heads did not show up in the pics LOL, lunch at the Neely's resteraunt, and of course more snacks on the way home!!!

Seriously FUN trip.

Love, E



Update

Dear Friends,

Wow- it seems like forever since I updated my page, but things are getting better around my neck of the woods, so I should be around more! This school semester was the most demanding of them all , but finals are over now and I have a had a 3 week break before summer semester starts. I am still working full time, but at least this summer I am only taking two classes so it should be an easy ride! So many things have taken place in the past few months that I don't even know where to start at, so I will stick to the simple stuff.

My hair is FINALLY getting longer! Remember when I cut it all off into this boy cut here? Well, it was kinda cute at times, but overall I really missed getting to do things with my hair, so I am growing it out for awhile. I'm sure I will eventually get tired of it again like I always do and chop it off again, LOL but never as short as I did that last time.

Judson is getting so big- you all saw his 2nd birthday party? It was a lot of fun, but it also seems like so long ago. It's so weird him having an opinion about things now- he tells you what he wants and doesn't want; he tells us he wants to hold us, lol; and he is so smart! I'm sure everyone says that about their child, but really, he is! He ceases to amaze me every single day. We took him on a dolphin tour at the beach and he had a blast. Isn't this picture of him and the hubby cute?

We have been talking about having another baby. Not sure when that will happen, but it's definitely up for discussion. I for sure have baby fever, but I'm on the fence.

3 reasons to get prego soon: 1) we're not getting any younger; 2) we want our children to be close in age, and 3) We want 4 kids so if we're getting older and want our kids close in age, we better get started on that 2nd child!

3 reasons to NOT get prego soon: 1) I'm the busiest person I know; 2) School is getting really demanding as in my internship and all is coming up soon; 3) it's scary thinking of adding another person and all it's stuff into our itsy bitsy house. ohhh and 4) We're going to Disney World in November and if I'm prego I can pretty much promise you that I will not have a good time.

I'm analyzing this wayyy too much, aren't I? Just tell me the truth. What do you think about all this? :)

On a lighter note, during my first week out of school I read one of the best books I've ever read and you should read it too! The movie is coming out in August, so you should go ahead and read the book before it comes out because we all know that books are way better than movies, and believe me, you don't want to miss any detail of this great book! Check out my sidebar too and see what I'm currently reading. I tend to read a lot during the summer months, so you should see a nice variety over there.

I have also been working on some projects in our home. I have been collecting pics for photo collage I have wanted to do for a really long time in our living room. I took photo's from some of our favorite family past times and painted various frames to match my decor to exhibit them on our wall. Here's what it looks like so far- not a very good picture, but you get the idea.

I have also been sanding and re-painting a little old chair that was dug out of my grandparents barn a while back. There were several of them in the barn (it is being torn down) but I only asked for one because I wanted to paint it and put it in the corner of our kitchen. I got finished with it and realized that the cushion I purchased for it does not quite fit, so I've got to make one for it.

Oh.. and I have been working on another nursery for our sweet friends, Maryann and Kevin. I can't wait to share with you how cute the mural turned out, but want to give the mommy-to-be a chance to to share pics with her friends and family before I post them.

Well ladies, that's about it for now. We are going to Memphis, TN for a family member's wedding this weekend, so I am excited about the road trip. We are also planning on taking Judson to the Memphis Zoo. He's going to love it! I am sure I will have lots of pics to share with you after our adventure. Hope you have a great Thursday! Feels good to be back!

Love, E