A Crafty Monday

I've had the urge for weeks now to do something crafty but have had lack of inspiration. It doesn't make sense really. I've wanted to make something, to create something.....but had no idea where to begin or what to do. So I've been blog hopping for a few days and found a blog by Lelly that featured a "SUMMER FUN" banner. It was completely adorable.

Well to backtrack a bit, my husband has now been gone for 2 months for his career in the U.S. Coast Guard. I've been counting down the weeks and days until his return home. Today I woke up and realized that I only have to be patient 9 more days. How thrilled I was to discover that the countdown was now in single digit numbers.

So, I figured I'd make a banner to welcome him home. I wanted to make a cloth banner like Lelly's but searched at a few different stores and could not find the colors that I was looking for. Finally I settled on making a paper banner. (Perhaps that's me wishfully thinking that I won't have to reuse a WELCOME HOME banner so much that it needs to be made of cloth.)

So I sat down on the ground and pulled out all the materials. ( I used the ground this time around because I just recently bought Season One of Boston Legal and wanted to watch DENNY CRANE as I created this masterpiece for my husband. hahaha!)

Atlanta decided to oversee the project. (Her eyes don't like the flash on my camera.)

I'll post the final product once he's home and we can pose in front of it together.

Today while my friend Kendra and I were out craft hunting we both started getting kind of sentimental and emotional. I think we're both a bit nervous about what is to come in the upcoming months. It's about time for Joe and me to get orders to our next location and as excited as I am for the next step, I'm extremely sad about saying goodbye to friends that have become family to us. It's scary to think WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? She and her husband have been the best friends that we have ever had. Many couples wish to find another couple to hang out with and we've been blessed to have them in our lives. I don't believe we'll ever find anyone else like them. I know that these first couple of years in the CG have been so much easier on us because of friends like them. (Here I am getting all emotional again.....)

Let me dry my misty eyes.....

Anyways, I also now must begin a project that my niece Haley so kindly reminded me of: a handmade blanket for her. Last year I made her and her sister, Madison, scarves for winter and she begged me for a blanket then. I told her,"Okay, remind me next year." So she has reminded me. I'm pulling out my crochet needles as we speak and getting ready to begin a blanket handcrafted with love.

An Evening at the Park

Last night I met up with my friend Carissa and her 3 daughters. (four if you include the one growing inside of her) We had a wonderful evening playing at the park together.

After the park we returned to my house and watched a few movies and munched on popcorn. The girls chased my dog Atlanta around endlessly. There were lots of giggles and a few tired eyes by the time the evening came to a close.

Saturday Snapshots

I just got home from my friends engagement party. They are so wonderful together and I'm so overjoyed that they found one another. I know they will be tremendously happy. Meet Marty and Jen
They asked us to help them 'stock their bar'. This is a funny photo I thought. Marty opened this gift and started cradling it like it was a baby. We just couldn't resist.
I had a fabulous night with my friends and am once again reminded how lucky I really am.

Wordless Wednesday

Go, Jump In The Lake

This event is right around the corner and if you live nearby than I hope to see you there.

Girls Night Out

My ribs are still aching from laughter.

My mind is still spinning with stories.

My body is still a bit sleepy.

A half dozen of us met up for dinner and a movie. I'd previously met all the women at different points but we had never all gone out to do anything. You always worry about the chemistry of a group of women. Turns out we all mesh well. We all got so into the conversation at dinner that we were almost late to the movie.

Once we got to the theatre we filed into our row of seats and noticed a cute group of old women sitting in the row behind us. Perhaps a glimpse into our future....

I was worried about being too noisy for the women behind us. Turns out that they fit right in with us. haha! A preview came on for a new romantic comedy and one of the women said,"That looks like it will be good. Too bad we all may kick the bucket before it comes out." All of them began laughing...and so did we.
My friend Crystal (awesome name...hehe) turns around and says,"I'll visit your grave and tell you if it was any good."
The women all burst out laughing and said,"You're my kind of women. You've gotta be able to laugh at life."

So as "Julie and Julia" played we all whispered or occasionally said something loud enough so the other group could hear. It was such a great night out. I was happy to get to know my group of women better, and to get to joke around with another group of women. Age is just a number after all, it's your state of mind that really matters.

HOME

I just got home from Philadelphia....it's been a BLAH day so far. Although the mail just came and I saw this...

I'm very happy to see this.

I'm going to try to break my habit of not unpacking for weeks. ha! So I must unpack and do some laundry. Then dedicate a bit of time to cleaning up the rest of the house before I feel comfortable enough to relax.

Then tonight I'm going out with a group of girls to dinner and a movie. Kendra is ready for a girls night out so she is joining us. I'm glad for that. She hasn't had a lot of 'off' time since the baby was born last month so I'm happy that she jumped at the chance to come. I told her we were going out but didn't even think to ask her to go with us because of the baby. But she was like," That sounds awesome. What time is everyone meeting up? Is it okay I just invited myself." hahaha! Her and the hubby are doing a fantastic job with parenthood. (as I knew they would)

Alright, I must stop delaying cleaning....

Saturday Snapshot

Taken about 12:15am on Saturday.

Nothing beats a cheesesteak in downtown Philadelphia in the middle of the night.

I'm Trying to Get Blog-o-vated

So Lelly yells to me from her office the other day that I need to update my blog....and she is so right. It's been TOO long. What can I say? I've been busy, unmotivated to blog, and just overwhelmed with life lately.

I've welcomed two new babies into my life in the past few weeks. I've already posted about Cullen, my best friends new baby.

Well my oldest sister just recently had my newest niece, Asia Grace.

She is absolutely beautiful and I cannot wait to meet her.

My oldest brother and his family have decided to uproot and move from Kansas City to the coast of Florida. I was a bit taken back by this because he is so attached to our parents. However, they will be loading up the moving truck tomorrow. I wish them the best of luck and hope to drive down and meet up with them sometime. It will be nice to have family only 8 or so hours away.

I was also in the musical "THE MUSIC MAN" over this summer. It just wrapped up over this past weekend. It was a great experience and I got to meet a lot of new people.





I had a few family members and some friends fly out to visit. We all had amazing times. However, I was wishing that Joe were home to enjoy them also






It's been a hectic 3 weeks in my life. Very hectic. Luckily for me I've had some wonderful support from my family and friends. I've really got to know a few of my friends a lot more and it's been awesome. Although, it does make me sad that we'll probably be moving around the first of the year and I'll have to once again wave goodbye to all of the wonderful people in my life.

There was a brief moment in the past few weeks where I questioned myself. I had someone bring up the fact that I'm always going out of my way for people. Always doing stuff for other people. They made me feel as if this was a bad thing. It made me think of this Bible verse.

Philippians 2:3-4 (New International Version)
3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

So it just reassured me that I've got the right idea.

Alright, that about does it for now. I've got to get off the computer so that I can finish making peanut butter balls and oreo truffles for the guys up here at USCG Station Philadelphia. I've missed being able to make treats for my hubby and the station back home. So I figured it would be a great way to occupy my day today while he's at work.