In case anyone is wondering...

Yes, I'm still alive.

And in case anyone is wondering... yes, I still want these:


And these:

Any by anyone, I mean Chad.

Ah Home

So after a whirlwind trip last week to Maryland for my granddaddy's funeral - I'm back home and slowly returning to normal.

It was an emotional week, but one that made me so thankful for my family. We stayed in the most beautiful hotel on Prince George's Island that had beautiful views of the Potomac River from every room.

{view from our balcony}

We had so much fun as a family. On the night of my granddad's viewing, we all came back to the hotel and my parents, siblings, husband, cousins, aunt, uncle and opened (several) bottles of wine and just shared stories and enjoyed our time together.

Anyone who has been through a funeral or two knows that there is something about such a somber occasion that make funny situations all the funnier. We certainly had a few of those this past weekend.

One started when we checked into our hotel and the front desk woman enthusiastically explained to us all the hotel's amenities - including free bikes and kayaks to ride. We didn't think much of it at the time. We went in, got settled in the room, and decided (after a couple of beers) to walk down to the pier right behind the hotel. Chad spotted the kayaks and decided quickly he wanted to take it for a joyride. Without missing a beat, my brother Mike seconded the idea and the two of them hopped in without a second's thought.


As you can see, they got pretty far out.


Once they paddled in a bit closer, we could see Chad in the back soaking wet, and Mikey in the front dry as a bone. After watching some of the paddling, we noticed that every time Mike dipped his paddle in the river, it would send a spray of water right onto Chad's face.

We yelled at Mike about getting Chad soaked, since Chad obviously wasn't mentioning it. At that point we all had tears streaming down our faces at the absurdity of it all. Then, of course, we got Mike laughing so hard he couldn't stop... and his arms quit working making it hard for Chad to row them both to safety.

Eventually they made it back in. And those bellyaching laughs got us through the weekend.


But back to the seriousness of it all, it was so great to be able to be at the viewing and funeral and hear people talk about my granddad. It gave me such a great appreciation for who he was - and for who my own daddy is. I'm so thankful for both.

The thing that struck out to me most about this whole thing was seeing how my parents interacted with each other. When my dad finally made it home from Maryland two days after my granddad passed, I remembered watching him go into the kitchen and hug my mama for a long time. Even without talking, you could just see the bond they have. I think that is the payoff after all those years of marriage that people forget about. Sure it's not the schoolboy+girl crushes and these grandeur feelings of love and romance. It is beyond that - and deeper. Sure they might not get butterflies around each other every day... but what's left is something beautiful.

It's a shared history. It's getting through all those ups and downs together. It's having your best friend get you through a situation that you would struggle to handle alone.

They've had more than 35 years of being there for each other. A commitment that in this day and age is NOT easy or common. So this experience was a great lesson for me - and one I'll hopefully remember for years to come.

Sorry for the delay

Sorry for the delay in posting - we've had a busy/stressful couple of weeks at home.

Last week we learned within a day of each other that Chad's aunt and my granddad were diagnosed with cancer. While Chad's aunt is on the mend - with admittedly a long battle ahead of her - my granddad unfortunately passed away two days ago. It was shocking because it came about so soon. We learned of his diagnosis last Tuesday, and by this Monday, he died. I've been blessed with long relationships with all of my grandparents - and some of my great-grandparents - so it was hard for me to lose my first one.

So my blogging has obviously been on the back burner. But I just wanted to blog long enough to remind everyone to give thanks for their families - and to remember that with all the hustle and bustle of work, school, social activities, etc., to never overlook the importance of family.

I'm so thankful for mine.

When the husband's away...

My mister has a job where every year and a half, he goes through an "outage" where he has to work 12+ hour days, 6 days a week. He wakes up about 4:30 a.m., and doesn't get home until about 6:30 p.m.

It stinks. But it's a small price to pay in the scheme of things - it's a great job and we're thankful for it.

So while Chad's gone all day, I do my best to keep some sort of normalcy (to the extent I can) in our lives at home. We usually eat dinner around 6 p.m. - but now, it's more like 7 p.m. When he goes to bed around 8:30, I get in bed with him. Just little things, so that his schedule (at least while home) doesn't feel completely out of wack.

However, coming from a family where food is the ultimate comfort, I think making sure there are yummy dinners waiting for Chad when he gets home is one of the most important things. That and fixing him hearty lunches and delicious desserts (to share with coworkers of course) to bring to work.

Yesterday, I made a delicious homemade chicken tortilla soup that I let simmer on the stove for a good 6 hours. It hit the spot. And even a grouchy Chad after a long day at work made a point to comment more than once how much he loved it.

Take a look:
I'm ready to make another pot again soon!