Keep on rollin'

Howdy, friends! And how are we at the start to another beautiful week in November?

It's getting nice and chilly out - just how I like it! Not the kind of cold that makes your face sting when you walk outside, but the perfect chilliness (word? maybe? yes?) that allows me to snuggle up close in bed to Chaddy to keep warm as we drift to sleep.

It's been a busy few weeks in our world. Chad is continuing to work like a madman as he finishes up his big work ordeal. I'm just trying to keep things moving at home!

This past Friday, I was lucky enough to get to spend some quality time with girlfriends. Two of my best friends also have M.I.A. husbands (one in California and one in Oklahoma) - so we decided instead of all sitting at home by our lonesome (me a little less lonesome since Chad is home... but mentally, not really), that we'd do an old fashioned sleepover.

To make a long... long... very long evening short: three girls + two dogs + lots of wine = best/worst sleepover ever. Best because we got to be together. Worst, because the dogs barked at each other the whole night. We also watched Sex and the City 2 --- and agreed it was definitely one of the absolute worst movies we've ever seen. No plot, horrible acting - and it lasted for what seems like 9 hours. We should have just put it on mute and glanced up periodically to check out the clothes. But I came home Saturday afternoon with about four hours of semi-sleep from the night before... so Saturday was pretty much a wash. I laid on the couch - and only getting up long enough to run a few loads of clothes and fix Chad supper.

Sunday, I was up early to go to church and teach Sunday school to my little 2nd/3rd graders. Chad and I usually teach together, and we took off the month of October (b/c of Chad's work), so this was my first week back teaching solo. I was worried that after a month away, they would have forgotten who I was. Needless to say, that was not the case and I get several big hugs and quite a few "Where's Mr. Chad?" It was good to feel missed! I'm so blessed to be a part of a church I love.

The rest of Sunday included spending time with family and watching a bunch of NFL. For the past couple of months, we've gotten into the habit of spending Sundays with my brother Mike and sister-in-law Molly. It is the perfect, relaxing way to end every weekend. I'm just hopeful that once Baby B comes along, we'll still be able to keep up our Sunday tradition.

This morning, I was invited to speak to three public relations classes taught by a former professor. It was wonderful seeing him and getting to talk to a large group of students about my career and hopefully pass along some excitement and encouragement as they get ready to leave the sheltered world of higher education and make it in big business!

The rest of the week promises to be just as busy! Just trying to take things one day at a time and thank God for every bit of this little life of mine!

Oh Christmas cards, oh Christmas cards...

I know, I know - two posts in two days: and both Christmas-related, no less!

But yes, my mind is already on the holiday season. Last year I remember lamenting to you all about how I was so last minute with my Christmas cards, since we were dealing with the aftermath of Chad's surgery. But this year, I'm going to be prepared. And lucky for me, Shutterfly has some uber cute holiday card options for me to choose from!

I have a few favorite Christmas cards that might end up with me and Chad's smiling mugs on it this year. Like this one:


This one would be cute if there if we had a child/dog. I'd feel funny putting five different pictures of Chad and me on it. I can just hear it now, "Yourrrr so vain. I bet you think this Christmas card is about you, don't you, don't youuuuu." I hope someone gets the musical reference.

And this:

And this:

Oooh, and this:

And since I love putting scripture on my Christmas cards, this one is nice:


And Shutterfly even has cute return address labels to finish it off! Now if only they had a little elf on-site to write the actual recipient addresses for me, we'd be in business!

Since this is our first Christmas in our new home... this year's picture might have to be of us in front of it! Now I need to work on begging my design-minded brother with his DSLR camera to come take our picture.

Happy Christmas (card) shopping!

Too early to decorate for Christmas?

Probably... but that doesn't mean I don't want to.

I know some people loooooooooove Halloween. It is definitely not my favorite holiday, but this year I made an effort to get into the Halloween-spirit. Friday night, I went to a pumpkin carving party at a girlfriend's house. That was a step in the right direction - yummy food and pumpkin guts.

Then I spent about $75 on candy for all the neighborhood kids - since we have a billion of them.

I didn't hang any fake spiderwebs or skeletons around the house, but I did plant some pansies, put out a pot of mums and displayed some carved pumpkins.

So last night, Chad and I, along with my parents and brother Mike and sis-in-law Molly (and their little green bean tummy baby --- had I mentioned on my blog yet that Miss Molly is PREGNANT!!!), sat outside and gave away handfuls of candy and laughed all the kids and their cute costumes. Best of all, we got to see some of our favorite little "pumpkins" (who belong to our friends)... sweet little Emma Claire was a cupcake and our precious Annabelle was a ladybug.

All in all, it was a successful Halloween!


Now- only a few more weeks til I get to do the REAL (i.e.: Christmas) decorating. And I can't wait!

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!