Friday ~ Play Day

This morning I went and picked up my niece and nephew so that their mommy, who's been waylaid by morning sickness, could have the day off. We started out out "play day" by going to the park before going to "grandma's house." The swings were a big hit! I couldn't help laughing myself at their gleeful non-stop giggling. I did learn something, though. When going down a long twisty slide, always check the bottom of the slide for pooled water. I found the puddle as I slid (rather fast) down the slide with D-boy in my lap. It was literally a wave, soaking me to the skin and dripping down my legs. Thankfully I had a sweater I could tie around my waist. I learn a lesson every day

Thursday ~ 20 Reasons That I Would Make a Terrible Wife & Should, Therefore, Never Marry

1) I absolutely hate to share a bed. I can't stand something live (other than a cat) touching me while I'm trying to sleep. Ugg.

2) I don’t like to cook.

3) I hate it when people touch me. Touch is NOT my love language.

4) I often prefer burying myself in a book all day instead of talking to organic life-forms around me.

5) I MUST own at least five cats to be relatively happy. I am the crazy cat lady.

6) I do not like packing work lunches.

7) I cry way too easily.

8) I am a peculiarly picky eater. Add not liking to cook plus being a picky eater, any husband would probably starve.

9) Sports do absolutely nothing for me. Bored to death.

10) I’m a control freak.

11) I already have all my children’s names picked out. And they are unique. And I will not waver.

12) I’m easily offended.

13) I can’t stand bad breath. Sharing a bed? Morning breath? Negative.

14) I despise facial hair.

15) I’m OCD about getting places on time or early.

16) I’m too stubborn.

17) I'm always losing things. And when I lose something, my stink-face comes out. Code for: Watch out.

18) I leave bobby-pins e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e.

19) I sleep very light and toss and turn constantly at night.

20) Whenever I see a cat, I involuntarily say “meow.” Potentially annoying/embarrassing.



See?

Wednesday ~ The Evening Get-Away

Last Wednesday night, on a whim, Mom, myself, Scott, KJ and Stuart loaded up into my little Mazda and drove the 45 minute drive to a river park/wildernessy-area. It was heaven. Scott fished and Stuart fished. Mom, KJ, and I found clefts in the rock...and just read for a few hours. The beautiful terrain, the cool breeze, the gurgle of the river, the quiet of nature. It was wonderful. At one point, mom sighed and said "this is like a mini vacation." We all sat in the quiet as the sun slowly began to go down.

 I'd vowed to myself to climb the giant "hill," something I'd never done despite the numerous times of having been there over the years. Stuart, KJ and I hiked up, which is where we also so an old abandoned gold mine. We sat on a log on the top, next to a deer trail and soaked in the sunset vista. I honestly can not find words to describe how beautiful it was. Golden. That's the only word that comes close to capturing it.

We plan to go back very soon.

{photos courtesy of mom (except the one of her); edited by me}

Tuesday #2 ~ Last Week's Camping

Just some photo-glimpses of our 5-day camping trip last week:

 {hiding from the smoke}

{all photos courtesy of mom; edited by me}

Tuesday ~ Starbucks Tuesday

I was so tempted to celebrate the advent of autumn by having my first Starbucks fall drink...but no! I must hold out until October 1st! Which is so close! To appease my fall-ish cravings, I pulled out one of my long-sleeved cardigans from last year (since it's cool enough for sweater...even though I wear cardigans all year long?), wore my Chucks to work, and turned on classical music in my office. And you know what? It feels like fall!!

I threw caution and weight-gain to the wind and got:

Grande' Cookie Crumble Mocha Frap, with regular whipped cream instead of the chocolate whipped cream. Despite my rave reviews on this drink several months ago AND the "Ode to the Cookie Crumble Mocha" that I wrote, I actually haven't had this drink a second time since then.

Hope anybody reading this is having a fab Starbucks Tuesday! Play yourself some classicals today and get in the mood! Oh, and to prove that it really must be fall: I'm getting my frantic fall/winter urge to sew!

Monday ~ Just Monday

via

It's been a long weekend that involved:

• waxing my car
• being a bridesmaid in an over-the-top-highly-stressful wedding
• finding out I'm going to be an auntie for the sixth time next May (hurray!)
• thinking I'd lost my beloved cat
• having to be strong when another is weak
• breaking into my house (literally, like up-a-ladder-through-the-closet-window-(in a pencil skirt)-take-the-door-knob-off-with-a-screw-driver kind of break it.)

And that's just a small portion of my weekend! To soothe my aching brain, I buried myself in a book and a cat. The above picture couldn't express me any better. 

Happy Monday. And Hello, Fall.

Thursday ~ I live. I love. I like...

Nature Valley Dark Chocolate & Oat granola bars.

Finding the perfect shoes for my bridesmaid dress and totally diggin’ the whole outfit.

Being overwhelmed this morning by the undeniable smell of fall.

Free Route 44 root beers from Sonic.

Spontaneous evening get-aways: sitting on a rock along the river, reading a good book. So peaceful.

“Hiking” up a steep hill with my siblings on that same get-away to see an old gold mine.

Co-workers who think throwing paper clips all over my desk is suitable payback for what I did to him (which was undeniable un-toppable, hehe!).

Being part of a bluegrass lovin’ (and playin’) family.

Stacking a cord of wood with my brother while wearing gardening gloves and flip-flops.

Castles in the sky.

Tuesday ~ Starbucks Tuesday

Well, it's Starbucks Tuesday here in the office! Wherever you are, I hope you're having a great day - whether you're having a Starbucks Tuesday, a bagel-and-cream-cheese Tuesday or an Egg McMuffin Tuesday. If it's the later, my sincerest condolences.

 I really debated last night and today on whether I should continue my Starbucks Tuesday events. Because, to borrow the colloquialism, I'm trying to lose weight. Yeah, yeah, I know. Everybody's trying to lose weight these days and I promise this will not become a"look how I lost weight" blog. We see enough of those on Pinterest, thank you. Anyways, I've been gradually gaining weight the past few years and it's now picking up at an alarming rate. I blame nothing but myself. I'm the one who opens my mouth and puts things in. I've always been a skinny girl and when I tell people I'm working on losing weight, they usually still scoff at me. But believe me, folks, I know how to hide it; there's more beneath this sweater than meets the eye. *grin*

Anyways, it's also not just about losing 20 pounds; it's also about me learning discipline, physically and spiritually. I'm terrible at self-discipline. I've developed that nasty habit of "comfort eating." When I was younger and I'd hear women talking about how they were always defaulting to eating, I'd think "well, just stop eating!" Now as a 25 year old woman who's dream metabolism changed at age 22 and who's learned that eating yummies is a great escapism, I'm finding out that "just stop eating" is not as easy as it sounded to my teenage self. Can I get an amen? Anyways, I need to learn to not let food be my go-to; as a Christian, my go-to should be Christ.

All that to say, I thought about cancelling S.T. for awhile, but I finally decided to at least start out by not getting something loaded to the gills with milk and creamy fatness.

It being a cold morning that felt like autumn was just about here, I went for:

Hot cocoa. :) It's kinda nostalgic, doncha think? I always feel kinda juvenile ordering hot cocoa at Starbucks, but it's so good! Not as good as a local coffee shop's hot cocoa, but still delicious.

Side note: anybody out there getting spammy email notifications on blog comments that aren't there? I've been avalanched with them and their all laughable not real, but they're still coming from the same "noreply-comments" email address that all my legit comments email notifications come from.

Thursday ~ I live. I love. I like...

Fred Astaire.

Homemade chicken sandwich on potato bread.

Being bridesmaid for the fifth time next week.

Real-life mysteries to solve.

Granola bars with 10 less calories.

A one year old nephew who can not only count to ten, but who also knows all the ABC's. Genius child.

My pretty quilted apron that I don't wear enough.

Finding a brand-new-never-yet-read series. Two of them, in fact.

Epic soundtracks scores.

Getting off of work early to go camping!!

Tuesday ~ Starbucks Tuesday

So, remember my White Chocolate mocha from last week? Well, thanks to that beauty, I was sick all day. Like head-exploding-wanna-puke kind of sick. All while having to be at work. I have that reaction to coffee in the early mornings if I drink it on an empty stomach. I guess my three bites of left-over homemade coffee cake wasn't enough to convince my stomach that it was full. Ever since last week's episode, just the thought of coffee makes me want to be sick all over again, kind of in that last-thing-before-you-got-the-stomach-flu kind of way. So, I've sworn of coffee drinks for awhile, until my stomach can catch up with my head again. But since Starbucks does have some lovely non-coffee beverages, I'm really not that hard pressed.

So, I went for a grande Strawberries & Cream again (yes, that's what I had two weeks ago. What, you don't remember??), and splurged a little and got a slice of Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake, which if I might add, is quite tasty!

Yes, my computer sits on top of a box and a dictionary - I'm trying to uphold good office ergonomics! And no, the marine themed mouse pad that says "Pollution Prevention" was not my pick of the lot. ;)

Monday ~ Huzzah!

Saturday ~ Family Get-Together 2012

Last Saturday was the maternal family's annual get-together. As we've done each year since before I was born, we gathered all together at my grandfather's iconic "mansion." It's really not a mansion, but as a little girl, the grand 1930's two-story farm-style home was like something out of a fancy movie. It was a huge part of our growing up lives, and still holds enumerable memories today. With lots of property, yard, and pool, it's become the trademark of our entire family. And we love it.

WARNING: out of the following 25 pictures, about 15 of them contain one or more of my nieces and nephews. Just sayin'. :)

{little mooch}

{Stuart makes a great uncle!}

{watermelon face!}

 {unhappy little mooch}

{boy cousins talking about boy things}

 

{...boy things such as rockets, my uncle's hobby}

{daddies and their little girls}

{B-babe}

{weeeee!!}

{auntie Ryn and B-babe playing in the "jungle"}

{winners of the 2012 get-together guessing games!}

{D-boy was very ready to share}

{he was a good sharer!}

{I tried to get into the horse-shoe thing...}

{volleyball}

 {we ended it with the 8th annual outdoor movie night. This year's was Voyage of the Dawn Treader}

{battle stations}