6 Years of Wedded Bliss

In about 8 hours,  Vince and I will have been married for 6 years :)  To celebrate, we are doing yard work this morning while it is still cool out, and then Bella is spending the night with her grandparents <3  We are going to have dinner at either Dish or Zada Jane's... It's still a toss up right now.

It's a beautiful day today, time to get back out there and enjoy it!

Recital 2011

Just a quick one before I call it a night... Tonight was Bella's 2nd Ballet/Tap Recital and it was AWESOME!  She really has learned a lot, and it showed in both her numbers.  She was part of the rainbow in her ballet piece, and a rain drop in her tap piece.  It was so cute I almost wanted to rip my eyeballs out, yep it was that adorable.  Post recital, we went to Hawthorne's pizza for some celebratory dessert.  Kudos to Bella for a job well done, and a little celebration in honor of Jamma's birthday today.  She is the ripe young age of 67, and I can only hope to be in as good of shape as she is.  The lady still plays tennis 3 to 4 times a week on a country club team. wow.  By the end of dessert, Bella had fallen asleep in Jamma's lap... Priceless.  Now Vince and I are going to watch Hot Tub Time Machine.

xoxo

Prepared but not ready.

I had a talk with my Mom last night that I have been dreading for a couple of months or so.  Papa is really not doing well.  He has walking pneumonia and a hernia right now, but my Mom and Great Aunt Doris think something else is going on, possibly lung cancer...

So let's just look at a few facts.  Papa is hands down my absolute favorite family member and I have been blessed so far to have him for over 34 years of my life.  He is going to be 90 in October, and if cancer is found, let's face it, we are not putting him through chemotherapy or any kind of nonsense.  He has been progressively getting weaker, and he does not recover quickly from anything.  The inevitable it seems, is upon us.

I hope he is able to attend Andrew and Sarah's wedding June 25th.  He is supposed to walk Sarah down the aisle...

My heart is sad.

I am happy that he has met and knows little B-bo so well.  She loves her Great Papa <3

So Pretty

Just one more before I call it a day... It was Noodle Night tonight, and as a nice surprise Diane made homemade lasagna.  It was delicious!  Before dinner though, she drug me out into the front yard to cut some of the most beautiful deep purple irises I have ever seen.  With 5 daisies added in for a little pop, I had myself a gorgeous little arrangement.  On the way home, Bella began to fall asleep right as we were turning into the neighborhood.  So we took a few extra loops in order to seal the deal :)  I carried her right to bed without so much as a peep <3  Good.Day.

Just Plain Nice.

Vince is off from today through the weekend.  He decided last week that he was going to take these days off, and I'm so glad he did because he really needed a break.  After he took Bella to school this morning, we did some major work on our side yard next to the garage.  We're no where near done, but we made some progress :)  After taking a shower, I went to Hobby Lobby and then hit up Salvation Army since it was half price day.  I scored a designer Helen Wang silk dress for $3.50!  I also found an original piece of pottery for our garden, and a green glass for Keri because she collects them <3  Enjoy the pictures of my scores, and I'm going to enjoy a glass of wine while I wait for V & B to get home.  Happy Wednesday <3

10 years!

10 years ago today, I met a boy on my friend Keri's sofa.  We ate lunch, watched a Tom & Jerry cartoon, and mostly just laughed.  It was an easy conversation, and it didn't hurt that he had piercing blue eyes.  I found out later that he tried to call me at work the same day, but my co-worker, Dave, answered the phone and wouldn't let him talk to me.  Dave knew that Vince was getting ready to go through a yucky divorce and that he was on a destructive path, and really he was just trying to protect me.  Well, Vince found my number anyway, called me, and we went on our first date on April 28th, 2001.  It lasted for a full 24 hours, and was the best first date ever!

Here's a simplified version of it... I had to assist my Aunt shooting a wedding that night so we didn't meet up until almost midnight.  He was beginning to think I stood him up... silly boy.  Anyway, we went to a party, but had to leave quickly because it turns out that his soon to be ex-wife was there too.  I only knew her as an ex, not ex-wife.  So we went to Huey's and had beignets and coffee.  It was about 3 a.m. at this point.  From there we went to a local park to swing.  We talked throughout the whole night about anything and everything.  After the park, we swung by my aunt and uncle's house to grab some pillows/blankets/change of clothes, and then we headed up to Cloudland Canyon to watch the sunrise.  On the way there, Vince told me he loved my taste in music.... Read this as telling me he loved me on our 1st date :) Quick note, I was on my period, so there was no home run so to speak, but there was A LOT of making out.  We stayed awake all night, and the sunrise was really beautiful.   We took a short walk to the canyon edge, and laid on a blanket under a tree for most of the day.  Somehow, that day, I knew.  But I certainly never guessed I would be where I am today.

I couldn't be happier <3  Does life get pretty stressful at times?  Hell yes it does, but I wouldn't change a thing.  I have a wonderful husband that makes me laugh, and a beautiful little girl that certainly keeps me on my toes.  Who knew that 10 years ago was the start of something this special.

I will end this with a picture of our Rhododendron that bloomed for the very first time since we moved in 5.5 years ago.  Vince and I both have worked really hard to nurture this plant so seeing a bloom this year felt fantastic <3

Relief.

Saturday night around midnight, my Grandmother went to be with Jesus... as they say down in south Georgia.  The most prevalent emotion right now is relief.  She is no longer a burden on my Mom, and she is no longer suffering.  Win/win if you ask me.  The funeral will be on Saturday, but I will not be going.  Bella's ballet recital is Friday night, and it's my 6th Anniversary on Saturday.  My Mom told me that I needed to be home with my family.  Since I was there helping her with everything leading up to my Grandmother's death, she gave me a hall pass and told me that she and Andrew could finish it up.

One silver lining out of all this is that Andrew and I will be splitting the money my Grandmother had left right down the middle.  These were her last wishes in her will.  It couldn't be coming at a better time because not only will I be able to settle all of my credit card mess, but we will be able to pay Vince's parents back, pay off Vince's 2 credit cards, pay off the rest of my student loan, and have a significant savings after it is all said and done.  What my Grandmother didn't do in life, she is certainly making up for in death.

Now a little about Sunday before I go.  Church went well in the morning and we had lunch at home.  Bella got 3 new nail polishes from the Easter bunny and after she gave me a glittery pedicure, I let her paint her own fingers and toes.  While I watched of course :)  When she was done, she had glittery toes like me, one pink hand and one purple hand.  She needed to try out all the colors <3  While Vince and Bella had a dance party/room cleaning session, I put away laundry and did some light picking up.  We had dinner with Vince's parents outside on their deck, and it was very lovely.  Once home, I put Bella to bed, and then Vince and I watched "Easy A" before calling it a night ourselves.  Very cute movie by the way :)

It's Monday, traffic was horrible on my way to take Bella to school this morning, and now I'm contemplating a nap.  Last week was a long week, and I'm still catching up it feels like.

xoxox