Weekend in a Nutshell

2 posts in one day....sure thing!

First full week of summer is gone....waaaaahhhhhh.....already it's going too fast. Major and I had a busy week that will be capped off by an even busier weekend....Here's a sneak peek:

I plan on giving lots of love to these dudes (not the creepy dude with the 'stache on the left side though, that'd be weird):

and finishing up on some projects with my 3rd love:

Then I'm gonna go for a run with these new babies:

Probably try to tackle this pile: 

We are gonna go pick a whole buncha these:

I'm gonna sit on this:

And enjoy this:

And try to fit into this sometime this weekend: 

I'm least excited about this pic and just realized how unflattering this picture even is before my fatty self gets into the thing. I don't think the bottoms are that big....maybe they are and I am in denial. Ugh, maybe I will just swim in the dark, alone, in a wetsuit or something. 

Whatever your plans this weekend, hope they are great and you get to spend them with people that make you happy :)

You want to bring me where?

Saw this on the blogosphere today....totally pertains to a specific situation in my life right now. I really don't feel that I am "above" anyone, however, I am fighting through, struggling through, no, praying through a situation that really bothers me. Without being to specific bc I don't really want to make the situation worse,  there is a person in my life who I love more than anything that chooses to be miserable and make miserable choices, hold grudges and focus in on ridiculous stuff rather than the big picture. It's sad, it sucks, and I hate it. Very, very easily I could let it bring me down, I could choose to battle everything in my life, hold grudges and be hateful, but rather I want to love my life, I want to live it, be grateful for it, cherish it. I don't want this situation bring me to the place of negativity and bitterness that this person lives in. That's what they want.  Anyway, this spoke to me today because even though I don't feel that I am above ( said person) I do feel that the choices I make and the way I choose to live my life are more positive than theirs.

I always try to bring the silver lining out of a situation because by nature I am not a glass half full kind of person. My husband is, but he's awesome. :)  I feel like the truth in this situation is that I can be responsible for one person and that's me. I can't predict, manage or choose the choices someone makes or how they live their life. I can pray for them. Pray for me. Pray for guidance and understanding especially because I love this person. I can make a choice for me to be better, to make better choices, to not feel guilty about the way I feel about this situation. I can hope. That's my silver lining. What I will not do is feel guilty for making a choice to be better, to not be dragged down into a sad, miserable, grudge holding place. I will not be a doormat and will not be walked on. Sometimes in life, you travel down these roads with people you should never travel them with. Life is too short to not make an effort for the people that are most important in your life. I've learned to do all that I can, be at peace with it and if the other end falls short, well, then at the end of the day, I gave it my all.

Ok, where should I send a check for that therapy session?!? :) Haha, for any of you who actually stayed with me through that bore fest, well bless you! Now go do something fun with someone you love a lot, a lot!!!!

Happy 7th Anniversary

Josh and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on May 14th. It is crazy to think that we got married 7 years ago and even crazier to think that we have been together nearly half our lives. We have been through so much and come a long way since those first newly wed days. Yesterday we reflected a bit on our marriage. The interesting thing about our relationship is that because we have been together so long, we are so much a part of each other. Sure we have separate interests, but we are very much one unit. We grew up together, dated from the time we were 15 and 16, got married in college and started a family. So many things about who we are as people are a direct result of being together so long. Many of our core values and philosophies were developed together. Instead of meeting and falling in love as adults, then trying to combine 2 lives into one, we just kind of  were always one. It's so hard to imagine me without him. I know there are critics that would say it's unhealthy to rely so much on your spouse; that it is critical to have interests and such away from each other. We do have separate friends and separate interests, but we also have many of the same interests and the same friends. We certainly don't have it all figured out, but we know what works for us. We are stronger, closer and more in love today than we have ever been. We are each other's counterpart and balance. Where I am weak, he is strong and vice versa. One of my favorite parts of our wedding vows was "when you are happy may your joy be doubled and when you face saddness may your sorrow be halved".  I love this and think that we have done a good job of living that out. We are each other's biggest cheerleaders and support system. We know that in times of happiness or saddness we always have someone in our corner to share those moments with. Josh always says that he thinks everyone has a perfect someone. Someone that is the perfect compliment to every aspect of who you are. I am happy, blessed, grateful and fulfilled with him in my life and so glad that I am his perfect someone. I can't wait to grow old together, to continue to experience this life together, and continue to fall in love over and over again. As Jack Johnson says, "we are better together" :) Happy Anniversary Babe.  I love you!

Here is a picture of one of our first dates in May 1999:

Here is a pic of our wedding day - May 14, 2004

Of course we didn't take a picture on our actual anniversary but here are our super awesome gifts to each other this year:

I think I love this sewing machine as much as I love him!!!! So excited to use it!

And these are the ugliest things ever, but he was pretty excited to get them!!! :)

It's that time again....YAY!

Guess what time it is?????? Party planning time!!!!!! YAY!!!! Call me a crazy nut, but every year in May I start planning for his party in November. I love, love, love lots of personalized details so it takes a while. This year Major helped me decide on a theme. As of now though I am way more excited! All of the details are running a million miles an hour through my head!!! The biggest question now is to have it at home or somewhere else, like pump it up. Major says home with a bouncy house here and Josh says at PIU. We shall see :) I'm pretty sure Josh wants to tie me up and put me in the garage so I can't talk about it for 6 months. Lucky for me, I have an awesome craft room, my sewing machine and my cricut to keep me company!

My happy little place :)

My water baby

I was a believer as soon as I met Kelly and learned about ISR. Now that Major is 2 1/2 weeks into it and SWIMMING UNASSISTED, I am forever, forever a believer!!!! It is awesome that Major isn't at all afraid of the water. He is a total water baby, however, with that comes some fears. ISR has taken so many of those fears away.  I want to rent a billboard and tell everyone about this program. With that said, no child is ever safe around the water unassisted or is ever "drown proof" but this makes many of those fears much smaller. For us, we are around the water all the time. We live on the lake and in the pool in the summer and spend at least a few days a week in the pool in the winter. Because of that, I feel that it is so important that Major know how to swim. What I love about ISR is that it is a swim AND rescue class. He learns how to not panic and how to get air when in the pool. She started throwing him in and "flipping" him over in the pool so he feels a little disoriented. She practices this with him so that in the unfortunate event that he does fall into a body of water, he will be a little better prepared to rescue himself or at the very least stay in a safe position til someone can get to him. I feel so proud and happy and excited to see him swim. He loves it!

Here are some pics of my water baby:

Swimming with the amazing Mrs. Kelly

Roll 

Float

Major movie :) 

My guys

I love him...like a lot a lot!!!

And this guy too. He pretty much is the coolest kid I know!

They make my world go round.

Sure they may drive me crazy occasionally, but at the end of the day, they are all I have, all I need, all I want. They are my world, my rock, and the reason I want to be better everyday. I love them and am so thankful that God thought enough of me to put them in my life.