Summer Lovin'

I haven't blogged in two weeks.  I think that's the longest I've gone since I started blogging, but it's been busy.  I don't think anyone but my family looks at it though so it's ok.  We went to the lake last weekend for Memorial Day.  It was a lot of fun.  We'll be going more now that school's out.

Speaking of...school was over Friday.  Britton got some awards (A/B honor roll and perfect attendance) at the awards program at school.  We're still trying to decide on a football camp.  Otherwise, he's bummed he won't see his friends every day.

God willing, the sale of my house should close this week.  I am praying it works out and closes.  I have faith!!  It will be a total relief.  My dad blessed us with his truck, so now we can sell Phil's car and alleviate a car payment (even though we only have 1 year and 1/2 left).  We should make some money that we can sock away.  

We've been visiting a church here in Lumberton and have been loving it.  Today was such a great service and it's the happiest I've seen Phil about going to church since we married.  I am feeling so happy and optimistic.

We have right at a month left before the surgery.  I am so excited, I could bust.  I actually could be pregnant in the next few months. It's all up to the Lord, but I am praying for good things.

We've been working out and plan to go into the summer really working out hard.  We'll see how that goes.  

I have been so domestic lately.  I've been making homemade everything.  I need to post some of the recipes, but I am obsessed with allrecipes.com.   I find so much stuff on there...I love it!!!

I have finally been able to scrap a little this past week and weekend.  I was on a bit of a two week slump.  Here are the layouts.

SMILE AND THE WORLD SMILES WITH YOU

I'M SPOILED ROTTEN

BENTLEY

LOVIN' LIFE

SO CUTE

Not much else to say.  I am feeling really good, blessed and happy right now.  After being in a bit of a funk for the last 8 months, the last 3 months have been pure joy and all the pieces of my puzzle are coming together.

Week in Review

This last week was a doozy.  Court week is always hard for me, but when it's in Lufkin, the back and forth is for the birds.  To add to that, Phil was out of town so I had parent duty all by myself.  Needless to say, I was glad for Court week to end and for Phil to be home.  I've spent most of my weekend recuperating.  

On the work front, I had so much faith restored in our bankruptcy system this past week.  Hurricane Ike was so emotional for all of the residents of Southeast Texas who were affected by it.  In our immediate area, Bridge City got the worst of it.  The people who had the water in their homes have been through a lot, and the ones that were not classified flood zones and had no flood insurance, have really been through a lot.  It's even affected people who work for the Court, so it's sensitive.  Our trustee and Judge are in Tyler and have had no direct knowledge of the trauma.  Anyway, without going into too much of a drawn out story, our Judge really championed for a family severely affected by Hurricane Ike and appeared none to happy with our trustee who argued an extremely insensitive position (at least in my opinion).  It was very emotional.  The Judge's staff cried throughout the hearing, the Debtor on the witness stand cried throughout the hearing, and it certainly affected me (and they weren't my clients...I was just an observer).  I have not felt that much emotion in a hearing in my entire 10 years of practice, nor have I ever left a hearing feeling more proud of the job that I do.  

On the home front, Phil is continuing to work in the yard.  We've gotten the curtains hung in our bedroom and still need a piece of art and a mirror for our bedroom.  We are having an ongoing argument regarding blinds versus roman shade versus a sheer.  I have to figure all that out this week.

On the kiddo front, Britton is running for student council treasurer.  We've been making posters, cards and helping with speeches.

On the family front, we went to see my dad's group Saturday night.  They have a new keyboardist and vocalist.  Really good.  We totally enjoyed that.

On the scrappy front, I got a little scrappy time this weekend.  Here's some recently completed layouts

THE VIEW

Studio Calico May kit

Some pretty Colorado pics

NASCAR WEEKEND

Studio Calico May Kit

Some pics of Phil's weekend with his Air Force buddy, Kevin

MY MAN

AMM May kit

Some pics from our anniversary

A MOTHER'S LOVE

AMM May kit

I also entered this in the Webster's Backside contest

A pic of me, mom, Granny and Mrs. Clark on Mother's Day

JUST US

Studio Calico May kit

Pic from our engagement photo shoot

D IS FOR MY DOG WAITING AFTER WORK

Studio Calico May kit

Just a little Annabelle layout

AT 36

Studio Calico May Kit

Layout about what's going on with me now 

THE EXQUISITE LIFE...2 YEARS (& GOING STRONG)

AMM May Kit

Layout dedicated to my anniversary

On the pet front, anyone that knows me, knows that my little Annabelle LOVES me.  She loves to be right where I am.  While I was scrapping Saturday, she was sitting under my chair, with just her head sticking out.  When Phil and Britton came home, this is the photo he snapped...thought it was cute.

Have a great week!

Is it Friday yet?

Is it???  Anyone?  Unfortunately not...only Tuesday.  This sucks!!  Oh well, tomorrow is Wednesday at least.  That is an improvement.  I can't begin to describe all the ways that this week has sucked for me.  Phil is out of town and it's Court week...in Lufkin...ick.  I could go on with my issues, but I won't.  I am really trying to focus on happy and positive things these days. Oh well.

Let's see.  What has been going on in my life?  

MAY 5, 2009-Well, my sweet Mr. Phil and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary on May 5. It was such a happy day.  Here is some then and now.  We've had our ups and downs and things are better than ever.  I look forward to each new day and adventure with him.  He's my rock and supports me more than I ever could have asked for or imagined.  I thank God every day for him.

MAY 5, 2007

MAY 10, 2009

(ok I forgot to take it on the 5th, but it's close enough)

MAY 8, 2009-Granny's Birthday.  Granny celebrated her 84th birthday.  All the grandkids and mom got together for a birthday lunch.  Unfortunately, Granny isn't remembering anything these days and while she can converse, she has no short term memory.  She didn't realize it was her birthday or that she was 84.  She is still in relatively good health and gets around.  She still has her sense of humor, but the memory part is really sad.

MAY 10, 2009-Mother's Day.  I am also sharing some photos from Mother's Day...we took our moms and my granny to brunch, then to Donna's to celebrate with Mrs. Clark and then to dinner with my whole family. It was a lovely day and I am so happy for every year with these great ladies.  I am also grateful that I get acknowledged on this day.  I am just a step-mom, but have all the duties and responsibilities of full time motherhood.  I am hoping by next year that I'll be a mom for real, but only time and Jesus knows if this will happen for us.

MOM & GRANNY

PHIL AND HIS MOM

ME AND MY MOMMA (MUD)

ALL THE MOMS

Just a cute pic of my sweetie on Sunday

Finally, some layouts I have finished...some for NSD and some I finished this past week.  I have been feeling a little "mojoless" lately and have been relying on challenges, sketches, etc lately. When I get like this, I often just grab a stack of pics and paper and just make things happen. Sometimes I love it and sometimes I hate it.  Most of these were made that way.  Sorry if the topics of the layouts are redundant, but I grabbed a stack of pics and a lot were from the same stuff.  It feels good to get some of it scrapped though.

HOMECOMING

This was the NSD Food Challenge at AMM.  I had to use monochromatic paper, glitter, stitching, bling and journaling around something-I journaled around the stars.

FUTURE AIRMAN

Corrugated Cardboard challenge for NSD at AMM

I used my Pink Paislee that I've had and just not used for these pics I've been holding on when Phil and Britton went to the air show.

FIRE MAKER

This was for the technique challenge for NSD at AMM.  I used an altered chipboard challenge.  I painted, stickled and inked my chipboard to look like flames in this layout about Britton's firestarting abilities in Colorado.  I used a piece of Sassafrass I've been hoarding and some Hambly scraps I love

P.S. I won this challenge...woo hoo!!

DURANGO TRAIN

This was for the Graphic 45 sketch challenge for NSD at AMM.  I really love this layout.  It was a fabulous sketch to work with.  I cut out my papers tracing another shaped paper I had.  I have been hoarding this Basic Grey and decided it was time to use it.  I love these pics Phil took on the side of the road on our way out of Durango. 

DURANGO PHOTO TIME

Just a random layout using some of my Making Memories Just Chillin' papers.  It was an issue getting Britton to cooperate for photos on this trip...he's just at that age I guess.  This was one of the ones we were able to get him to pose and smile for.

DURANGO NIRVANA

This was made with the Studio Calico May kit.  Picture of our house in Durango and the view from it.

DUDE

Another layout with pics from the Air Show using Making Memories Just Chillin'

YOU MAKE THE CUTEST CRAZY FACES

Using the Studio Calico May kit and some additional embellies (Sassafrass Paper whimsies and Tim Holtz charms)...I must say I love the way this came out.

AIR SHOW SATURDAY

Another air show layout using my Pink Paislee

I am going to Court tomorrow and will probably update on Thursday or Friday, assuming something interesting happens or I have something to share.  

Fleetwood Mac High

As promised, here is a pic from Britton's first shave.  He is so excited about shaving.  Pretty funny.  He didn't want to attempt it until Phil gave him lessons.

Well, let me just say, that this is probably one of the most fun weekends I've ever had...EVER!!  My husband took me to see Fleetwood Mac at the Toyota Center in Houston.  There are a lot more pics, but here are a few.  They aren't great because I had to use my little Sony Cybershot. There were no cameras allowed, so this was all I could sneak in.  Had Phil worn his cargo pants we could have snuck the good one in.  Oh well...our seats were really good and the band was fabulous.  They are getting old but they didn't act or sound old...just a really great show.

Nic came and got Bentley on Friday and Evan and Britton left out around 8:30 Saturday morning.  Phil and I headed out around 1, dropped off Annabelle to my mom and then went toward Houston.  We got there around 3:00.  We stayed at the Omni near the Galleria.  Really nice hotel.  We ran into Marshalls before we headed downtown.  We picked up Liz and Renate and went to eat at Spaghetti Warehouse.  Not my favorite, but I'm picky about my Italian food. From there we headed to the theater.  

We saw so much stuck in the 70s fabulousness and ladies channeling their inner Stevie.  So much fun.  The band sang for about 2 1/2 hours.

We slept in this morning and headed home around 11 after a great lunch at Pappasitas.  We picked up Annabelle and Britton and Nic had dropped off Bentley about 10 minutes before we got home.  From there, just a nice relaxing evening.

TGIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so happy that today is Friday.  As I type this I am completely alone at home while Phil has Britton and his bud at the movies.  Nic and Cat came and picked up Bentley for the weekend.  In the morning, I am dropping off Annabelle at mom's and Britton is going to Evans for the night and Phil and I will be off to Houston to see Fleetwood Mac.  I can't wait.

This week has been an emotional roller coaster.  First, PMS is killing me..I am crying one second, mad the next and feel like I weigh 200 lbs.  Acckk.  Monday, was dinner at moms with some folks from the church who had recent losses.  It was a lovely evening full of laughs and reminiscing on old youth group events.  I loved it.

Britton had TAKS Tuesday and Wednesday.  Phil's been continuing to work in the yard and it's looking better and better every day.  Loved American Idol this week...sad to see Matt go.

Tuesday, Phil rescued two kitties that Keri and her family decided to take.  They are so cute and I hope to get a pic from her to share.  They are probably only 4 weeks old and were living in his plant.  They were going to get hurt if we didn't rescue them.

Britton had his first shave this week...it was so cute and I will upload a photo later along with a really cool You Tube video that I have come across.

Thursday was a little traumatic.  I don't want to type it and it's probably dumb to anyone who heard the story, but I was sad.  I also had to go to a visitation this week for a friend who has lost her daughter at the age of 34 to cervical cancer. This was really hard, but God is good and she's got more faith than I can imagine and is truly an inspiration.  We were able to have dinner with Nic and Cat.

Friday was busy as normal but I was so busy it flew by.  I am still not feeling well but want to try to scrap!!!

That's all for my totally random week in review.  I will be back on Sunday with some pics and updates from my weekend!!!