Thankful Thursdays

A date night with O and Jer.  Riviera Maya for dinner and Kohls for dessert ;)
Buying blue lights for my our tree outside and putting them up on Saturday!
Spending Saturday evening in, watching movies and hanging out as a family.
Not leaving the house on Sunday and letting Old Man winter do his thing!
Burning fires all day both Saturday and Sunday.
Filling out addresses for our Christmas cards
That though this was one crazy and scattered work week, I was able to get through it.
That Jer ran to Target for me and did our household shopping
Owen and Mommy read books every night this week and had so much fun!
That I finally got to the bottom of the mouth pain I'm experiencing...and though it's not what I wanted to hear (root canal) it's at least an answer and will stop the pain!
That the new dentist I'm going to made me feel so much better about my oral health. I was excited to be told what I'd been told all my life...I had great teeth.
That though the fillings I currently have are probably too large and were unecessary b/c the dentist I chose totally rooked me, I'm finally somewhere I feel like I can trust.  That's a relief!
That the root canal is Saturday and though I"m scared to death, it means this pain in almost over!
That Jer let me cry in his lap the other night b/c I'd just had had enough of my mouth hurting me.
Owen's cold seems to be on it's way out the door.
We made it safe to work in the ice this morning.
Our food day at work was delicious and as always, fun!
That I get to go see Christmas lights this weekend with my crew :)

Wordless Wednesday - the holiday edition!

I should have known...

On Friday afternoon I found this laying on my couch after a nap.  This never happens.  This...

Should have been my first tip off that a storm was coming. BECAUSE these:

And this:

Are the typical pictures I take of my son.  Full speed. Non-stop. M.A.N.I.A.C.

So when this creature rested peacefully for over an hour without getting down,

I sooo should have seen the fever/cold/whatever the heck coming on Sunday night!

Oh and I'm pretty sure this:

Is the location where we picked up said germs.

He loved this chair. So much I think if he could have, he might have asked if we could load it up and take it home! We met a cute little girl names Lily. She didn't like Owen playing in the same tunnels as her..but she was sure cute and she called Owen a baby...a lot.

 In case I wasn't exactly clear, we're suffereing fever/cold number 3 since October.  I am thankful that it's not the flu, it's not strep (at least not that we know of) and so far it's just running it's course.  So it could be worse. But I hate seeing my little boy sick.  I also hate all the worrying that I end up doing.  Take him to the doctor, don't take him to the doctor.  Has it been 72 hours for this fever?  Is his pulling on his ears?  Or is it  just b/c he slept terrible and is sleepy.  So many questions!

Anyway...this is the SS Linley. Signing off after another day with Motrin, movies and snuggles!  Oh and once he did climb down off the couch...he was up to his usual antics.  Spatula in one hand, spoon in the other, pulled from a fresh load of dish-washed dishes.  And yes...he puts the strainer on this head!

I love Dr. Suess!!!

Lately bedtime hasn't been much fun for Owen! He knows when the dreaded walk to his bedroom begins that he's doomed.  We've tried a whole lot to make it more fun...and to distract him.  A normal bedtime routine will include closing his bedroom door, turning on his reading lamp above our reading chair, letting him run around his room a little, maybe pulling a board book down for him to flip through.  Choosing a book with a real story (Where the Wild Things Are, Something Good and If You Give a Moose a Muffin are some favorites of mine!). We let him burn off the tears and frustration of going to bed and once he's calm, most nights he grabs a book and wants in our lap.  We then read a few board books and finally turn to Dr. Suess for the finale! The rhythmn usually sends him right into a slumber...and sometimes makes us sleepy too!

Monday night he was much too sleepy to wander around his room.  And he wasn't in the mood to flip the pages of his books himself.  He just wanted to cry and be upset because Momma said it was bedtime.  So rather than not read to him at all, I picked up One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue...another Dr. Suess fave...and read very softly in his ear. The crying stopped. The fidgetting stopped.  All was calm on the Western front.  He snuggled in and drifted off to sleep just as I read...

"And now

good night.

It's time to sleep.

So we will sleep

with our pet Zeep.

Today is gone.  Today was fun.
Tomorrow is another one.

Every day,

from here to there,

funny things are everywhere."



Reflections at 28

When I think about my life at 28...ouch...did I say 28?  @$#@%!  Ah hem...where was I?  Oh that's right.  Life at 28...as I think about it...I am reminded of a conversation I have with my best friend about how we never feel old enough to be where we are.  And in most ways...that's pretty true for me. How I wound up 28, married, working, a mom...aren't I still that crazy kid taking my first Driver's Ed lesson?? Somehow, simply by the passage of time I supposed, I am here. I have to say, in doing some reflection, I've been feeling very blessed.  This has not been the easiest year of our lives...and I'm sure it won't be followed by another easy one.  But life is full of surprises and twists and turns and bumps.  And I've realized that somehow, through every twist and turn, I've always had exactly what I need, and in most cases even more so.

So on this...my 28th birthday...and in honor of my tradition of posting a Thankful Thursdays post...here's a list of 28 things I'm thankful for on my 28th year of life :) In no particular order...just like my usual posts!

1. That I've grown to see my 28th birthday
2. That I currently have a nearly 21 month old amazing son who kisses me good night after story time at night (the kisses are new, unprompted and I SOOO love it)
3. That I married and a share a life with Jer.  He's my everything.
4. That both Jeremy and I have stable jobs that appreciate us and keep the paychecks coming.
5. That we get to celebrate the holidays with Jeremy's Dad
6. Target parking lot conversations with my best friend
7. That I have my best friend.  She's amazing.
8. My Canon Rebel
9. How cozy my house feels this time of year with the fireplace roaring
10. My loving, kind and supportive parents. I would be no where without them.
11. That I know my grandparents as adults and how special that makes my time with them now.
12. That I have a creative side and I enjoy the process of crafting and keeping memories as a hobby
13. That I'm going to be a Aunt in just a little over a month!  YAY!
14. That at a few points this year I couldn't wait for the year to get over..and now that the end is almost here, I'm trying to hang onto it just a little longer.  I'll never wish away a year again...life is too short.
15. That my birthday just so happens to fall during my favorite holiday season.
16. This week I had 3 nights in a row relaxing at home with Owen...and one night Jer and I went to bed early enough to get 10 hours of sleep in one night. Never happens..and it was great!
17. That I have wonderful memories of my childhood.
18. That I believe in Santa and the spirit of Christmas to my core.
19. That I still keep in touch with people I knew in grade school.
20. That my hubby starts the car for me in the morning...because he's sweet like that.
21. That my work has a Christmas break and everyone looks forward to it...every single year!  10 days off at Christmas never gets old!
22. That I've nearly successfully completely a years worth of tracking these Thankful Thursdays.  I may not have always done it every week, or on Thursdays. But it's a habit I go back to and keep using to remind myself what's good!
23. That this year has brought the Linley family closer than ever.
24. That we got to get a real tree this year!
25. That I got to see my son turn one!
26. That Mom and I get to celebrate our birthdays together!
27. That I am happy, healthy, comfortable, loved, successful (in my eyes) and blessed beyond belief.
28. That God is good to me...all the time.

Holiday Haze

I’ve noticed I have a track record of falling off my blogging band wagon when the holidays roll around! Something about my anniversary, Jer’s birthday, Steff’s birthday, Thanksigiving…then mom’s birthday, my birthday, Dad’s birthday and Jesus’ birthday all in a few months…it’s a lot! It’s silly, but it’s just part of how I operate.  I get so wrapped up in this thing and that, that by the time I have time to relax, it’s usually parked in front of the TV with a Christmas movie!  So I’m hoping to get better about it now that I’ve realized it!  What have we been up to lately?  Here’s a quick run down:

Thanksgiving was great!  We had brunch with Mom Dad and Josh.  Then headed over to have dinner with the Linley clan!  It was quite the day of eating and family time.  I actually can’t believe I forgot my camera the entire day!  GRR!

Friday Mom and I ventured into the depths of Black Friday shopping. We got a few great deals and enjoyed the morning spent together!  Jeremy and I later went out and finished up our living room shopping (photos and stories to come).

Saturday we spent the morning getting a real tree for our house.  We had so much fun!!  Owen loved the tractor ride best of all!!

Sunday we visited with our friends Chad and Missy and their daughter Miriam.  We watched the Rams game and enjoyed some great catching up time!  Chad smoked a pork butt and we had the most delicious bbq’d pork sandwiches.  Delicious food and good friends!  It was a great way to cap off our Thanksgiving weekend!!

This past week included a Friday spent shopping with my bestie.  Historic St. Charles, The Mills Mall, Target, Kohl’s and K-Mart were on our list. When we shop we do it up right!

Saturday Jer and I spent the day doing a holiday blizt around the house.  The house is now all dressed up for the holidays and I couldn’t be more pleased with how it all looks this year!! Owen is still not sure what to think of the ornaments...nor does he understand WHY he can't have them all of them to play with!

Since Mom and I celebrate our birthdays so close together we have started the tradition of having dinner together sometime between or around the two.  This Sunday Jeremy and I hosted a get together with Mom, Dad, Josh and Grandma and Pap. I made homemade lasagna and a Mrs. Ledbetter’s pie for Mom.  It was a definite success and we had a great time!!

This week brings a little quiet time, my 28^th Brithday, and I’m hoping the finishing up of our Christmas list!  It should be a great week!!

We have so much to look forward to this holiday season and so much to be thankful for!!  God is good!

Now that you know what we’ve been up to, I’m gearing up to get caught up with my photos/stories/posts…I still need to blog finished photos from the wedding, pics of April’s shower, our Christmas tree adventure, some videos of our son and his silliness, our finished living room…and a bunch more!  Stay tuned everyone!

Miracles??

I recently watched an episode of Oprah that really struck me.  If you have a moment, take about 4 minutes and watch this. 

The whole episode was very, very interesting.  This man, John of God, has a home where he sees people 3 days a week.  Nearly 1000 people each day.  He does not charge money and he has a second grade education with no medical background.  If you go to You Tube, you can find lots more information on him. (Warning some of the footage is graphic b/c he does surgeries on peoples' bodies so there is blood and some more disturbing shots of procedures he does so don't let little ones watch) But what he is doing in his small Brazillian town is nothing short of amazing.  Surgeries without anesthetics.  Spiritual surgeries that cure cancer without even touching someone.  Spiritual re-uniting with lost loved ones. 

My favorite guest was a doctor who had studied medicine at Harvard.  His words and experience, to this day, he cannot fully explain.  But he believes after this experience that people's minds are far more powerful that we think.  He also believes that people's spirits are so much more important than our bodies and our human lives. We are so much bigger than that. I'm still trying to wrap my head around just his testimony alone!  All of the guests (4 in total) spoke to the amazing power of positive thinking and hopefulness that eminates from everyone visiting there.  So we can heal each other just by banning together and thinking about being healed?  Kind of amazing when you think about it.

So what did I conclude?  I'm not sure at this point just yet, but the thoughts stuck with me as I sat in church this morning and thought about faith.  A blind faith in something bigger than myself.  I have always considered myself a faithful person.  I believe that people can be healed. I believe in miracles.  I have never been one who believes the power to create the unexplainable ones anyway, lies within human hands.  But this episode certainly did change the way I see the world a little.  Check him out!  I bet you won't be disappointed!

Fall Fun!

For Jer’s birthday I decided I wanted to make the day special for him. He loves fall and Halloween and the festive feeling that surrounds his birthday. So I researched some fun ideas and came up with two. A Hot Spiced Cider and I wanted to try my hand at Carmel Apples! The cider in all honesty was too tart. Maybe more brown sugar…but anyway…it wasn’t as festive as I hoped. The caramel apples though…they were great!

Here’s the recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart:
6 craft sticks
1 - 2 package(s)** individually wrapped Caramels (14oz)
1 to 2 tablespoons of milk
6 Apples

**I used large Gayla Apples and so I bought two bags of caramels**

Some tips that helped us:
**The instructions suggested microwaving the caramels. D.O.N.’T. My apples with the micro-waved caramel were too heavy and the caramel was too thick. So we put the milk and caramels on the stove top.
**I also eyeballed the milk amount and probably ended up with about 5 tablespoons. Much better ease when rolling the apples and a better result!

A new house project

Why yes...you read that right!  Another house project!  If there is one thing I've learned about me and home ownership, it's that changing things help me to feel at home in my home! And I just flat out enjoy the process and the creativity!

On our recent Lake Retreat we had some discussion over what was so relaxing about that particular place.  Besides a few obvious things (amazing view, total peace and quiet, removed from all hussle and bussle), we noted that our favorite spot in the condo happened to be the living room with it’s fireplace and flat screen TV and big ottoman and comfy blankets.  The condo's living room felt like home. It was peaceful and most importantly COMFY!! So we started a list of what we thought made it so awesome and vowed to bring it to our living room once again!  We've got the fireplace and the nice TV and even some cozy blankets.  But over the past few years, our couch has gotten very destroyed by our dog. We need to purchase new pillows and throw some color, photos and US into our space!!  We have also longed for an ottoman that would give us a space to throw up our feet and give us some much needed storage and organization.

All that being said, one of my goals this past weekend was to begin to work on some updates to our living room. We did some couch shopping and are hoping to score a good deal on Black Friday...so we're waiting it out! We also began looking for a new entertainment center.  We would like to give our TV a new (lowe)home!  Our son spends a lot of time staring UP like this:

To remedy that we bought this:

We also purchased this table to help remedy the problem we're having of no end tables. 

We're not going in the most practical order, but we decided to cut some costs and to get creative. So we're pulling our own style together! I'm excited!! Wish us luck as we hunt for a couch on Friday and hopefully get a chance to do some living room re-arranging over the long weekend!!



Our Lake Retreat

I mentioned last week that Jer and I were taking a few days off to get out of town and get away from the world for awhile. I can say with definite certainty that the trip was the perfect little retreat for us. It was just exactly what we needed in so many ways. We played Yahtzee on the deck of our condo. Watched more movies in 3 days then we’ve watched in the past couple of months and ate until we were stuffed for nearly every meal. The weather was perfect. The condo was perfect. The trip itself could not have been more perfect. I was so glad that for just a few days, we were able to put it away and be just Jess and Jer for awhile. Two people who didn’t have the worries of life to distract us! We truly relaxed and unwound in a big way.


The first day of our trip we rented movies, cooked frozen pizza and made margaritas. The second day we slept in, drank fresh-brewed coffee and watched the lake sparkle until lunch time. We chowed on some Half-Sauced BBQ for lunch, took a spin around the mall, found Owen some PJ’s, bought me new boots and a vest and replaced Jer’s lost wallet. That night we got gussied up and went to dinner at our favorite Italian place on the lake and called it a night. The next day we woke up to rain but decided to trek to the woods anyway. Ha Ha Tonka did not disappoint and we enjoyed a homemade picnic lunch of chicken salad and veggies and dip I brought along for us. The rain even managed to hold off most of the hike but ended up running us off to the car for shelter at the very end of the afternoon. That afternoon we did some more relaxing, enjoyed a steak dinner, did a little more mall browsing (to walk off our steak!!) and movie watching. I caught over 12 hours of sleep our last night there. It was oh so wonderful! Saturday morning we got up and moving, soaked up some more of our lake view, packed up our bags, had breakfast at our favorite breakfast hot spot and returned home to our little boy. I was so excited to see his chubby little cheeks I cried!

We took a ton of pictures while hiking...so many so I plan to do a seperate post!  Coming soon :)

 

Making it from Scratch – Chicken Noodle/Dumplings

Jeremy and I have tried our hand at a few different ways to make chicken noodle soup/chicken and dumplings…and I think we finally settled on a version that suits us! Here is what you need to make the most delicious bowl of chicken noodle soup!!

The following makes enough to share:

14 to 16 cups of water

14 to 16 chicken bouillon cubes

4 to 6 chicken breast (cubed, I usually plan for one per person)

One small onion diced

4 stalks of celery

At least 1lb of carrots chopped or sliced

2 cans of cream of chicken soup

2 bay leaves

Garlic Salt

Pepper

Homemade noodles:

2 ½ cups of flour

¼ cup ice water

Pinch of salt

Black pepper

Saute onions with a little oil. Once they are translucent, throw in cubed chicken breast. Season to taste with Garlic salt and cracked pepper. Cook until chicken is cooked through and slightly browned.

Meanwhile, bring water to a boil and add bouillion. Dice celery and carrots and let boil.

Once chicken is cooked, add to boiling water. Add your cans of cream of chicken soup. Let everything cook together on medium heat.

Begin preparing noodles.

For noodles:
These are by no means hard, but they are a part of the soup that we play around with nearly every time. So use your best judgment on amounts of flour and water.

Put flour in a small bowl and slowly incorporate water. You may need more or less. This is a part that we eyeball and sometimes it’s more, sometimes it’s less. As you kneed the dough will become sticky. Make sure to work the dough until all flour is incorporated. Sprinkle some flour on a flat surface (we use the counter). Kneed dough and continue to work until it is springy. Once the dough is pliable and not sticky, begin rolling with a rolling pin. We roll dough into a thin layer (about 1/8 an inch or a little thicker). Then use a pizza cutter to cut long strips. We cut strips in half or quarters then slowly drop noodles into soup.

Once all noodles are in the pot, gently rotate the pot to get the noodles to settle in. I missed getting pictures because my hands were covered in flour.  Next time maybe I'll have Jer snap some photos of the noodle/dumpling process.  I made these ones HUGE.

Let all ingredients simmer together for at least an hour. And I think it’s even better the next day! I hope you enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

Head over heels!!

I am one of those girls with what some might call high maintenance hair. While it can be a lot of work, I enjoy knowing that depending on my mood I can do whatever I would like. I can let it go tousled and messy if I’m tired. I can curl it into big bouncy curls if I’m feeling girly, or I can glam it up with my flat iron if I’m in the mood for a straight, sleek hair-do. So that being said I also am one of those girls who own a couple different styling tools. I have a flat iron and a curling iron. I also own hot rollers AND I have tousle spray for the messy days. And I can’t have just your average $30 flat iron. My hair likes the heat offered by the likes of a BioSilk or CHI flat iron.

Well as of the last month or more my previous flat iron left me high and dry. I battled with it and its faulty switch for about 6 months. When I say faulty switch, I mean the kind that you might need to bang on the bathroom sink to bring to life. Or if you left it on too long…it just might stop all together until it cooled off enough to hit the test button on the plug and then toggle the on/off switch 7 more times…then it MIGHT come to life. So in all honesty when it finally…finally quit and none of my tricks would work…I gave my hair a flat iron break and stuck to the messy look…or the curling iron barrel-curled look. Both were fine…but after awhile I missed my flat iron something terrible. So this past weekend I broke down and made the purchase. I decided to hit Beauty Brands knowing they carried several top-of-the-line brands. 

I can officially say I am head over heels for this beautiful piece of styling equipment!

It even came with its hot bag for when I need to iron and dash or take it with me on vacation! You could say it was love at first iron. It works so well I will be able to cut down on the iron spray I need to use as well which is always a bonus!! Thank you CHI for making a fabulously amazing flat iron that is helping me spend less time getting ready and more time with smooth straight hair!

Owen Remember Always

How you fell asleep when I read you the Cat in the Hat

That the next night you handed it to Dadda and did the exact same thing

That you are ok with allowing Dadda and I to take turns getting you up and putting you to bed. Both times are precious times with you and we enjoy getting to do both!

Our trip to Children’s hospital and how awesome you were the whole day…even though you had no idea what was going on and had every right to be a total crab.

How cute you look in your dark blue jeans and your striped fleece sweatshirt.

That you stack the rings on your shape barn over and over again. Did I mention over and over? It’s crazy how much you love to stack and have us count with you and clap when you’re all done!

The night that you curled up with me in our bed and really snuggled up and we watched Princess and the Frog together till bedtime.

That you started saying bye bye to everyone. And you know when you are ready to go somewhere…you start saying it…even if we aren’t leaving yet.

The morning you grabbed my finger and said, Bye? With question in your eye. You were ready to go to work with me. It melted my heart so much!

Your glow in the dark PJ’s

That you spin in circles when you are dancing and open your eyes really wide after each turn. It cracks me up!!

The powdered sugar on your face when you eat a donut in the morning.

Finding your blocks and toys in strange places because you left them there

Playing with your bathtub letters and numbers. You would stick them to the side of the tub, we’d count to 5 or so and then you would get all excited and pull them off and splash in the water.

How much you HATE getting your haircut, but how adorable you look with it freshly trimmed.

That you held a pumpkin all the way home from Golden Eagle Ferry and talked to it and played the entire rest of the ride!!

That you laugh through all of Bolt. Every time he’s on the screen you find it necessary to giggle non-stop.

That you are now saying Me Me Me. And Beebee. Beebee. Beebee, also known as Me and Baby. I also like Beebee Baba. Baby Bye Bye.

How much you love to stack things

That you get frustrated when stacking doesn’t go quite as well as you would like it to!

That one morning when I went in to say good morning and I still had my towel on my head, you cried until I took it off. In fact you tried to pull it off and sat back down in your crib and looked at me with this look of fear. Once I took it off you stood up and wanted out! You little turkey! It’s just me under that towel I promise!

That you are pulling one cushion off the couch and sitting on the couch without the cushion.  One day I assume you'll get that it isn't as comfy and leave the cushion on!

That you love peanut butter and ritz sandwiches

That you know when it's bed time and you have started crying real tears before we even get to your room...it's so hard to make you go sometimes!

Thankful Thursday

I realize I just posted a thankful post on Saturday of this past week, but I wanted to try and keep on track with my thankfulness b/c it's always nice to have the good stuff to hang onto!!  So here goes nothin'!

An extremely productive Friday
New towels for the bathroom
Killer sales at Kohls to buy said bath towels
My new flat iron
A date night with Jer and Owen to Edwardsville
Homemade lasagna
A Saturday morning with the O man
Making Steff chicken and dumplings for her birthday and her loving them!
Spending a Saturday night as Linoski's...there was a bonfire, smores and lots of fun!
Owen spending time with Grandma Linda
A busy but wonderful Sunday
Hosting friends at our home and learning about Finanical Peace (more on this in another post...this is a class we've been taking)
Meeting Adele Donoho for the first time...she's beautiful.
Linley family dinner at Roma's on Sunday night...it was so good to be together!
Owen telling everyone bye bye and giving hugs and kisses
That Mike is in good hands at Barnes right now
That Mike is going to be ok and will hopefully be back home very soon.
Text messages, emails and encouragement from Steff (she always knows just what I need to hear)
That Jer and I are still getting a chance to regroup this weekend and leave the world behind for awhile
Lots of busy-ness at work to keep my mind occupied
Driving in on Tuesday to beautiful weather, jam-free traffic and Kelly Clarkson blaring from the radio!
Owen's spinning circles.  He will now do this when prompted and I can't help but crack up laughing!!!
The comfort I've been feeling since I read this post and the sense of calm saying these words outloud helped me to feel. Everything is going to be ok.  And I feel it in my core.

Thank you God. For everything.

Mom and Dad are breakin’ loose!

For the second time since becoming Owen’s Momma and Dadda…Jer and I are leaving town and going somewhere overnight without him. Since having Owen this will be the longest time Jer and I have spent together just us. I will admit that I am feeling the pang of separation from Owen already. It’s such a bittersweet feeling!! I miss him already and we’re not even gone. BUT…I know the time will be just what we need. A few days to focus on ourselves. Leave work, stress, dishes, and responsibilities behind us.

What do we have planned? In all honesty, nothing too much. We rented a condo. We’re taking frozen pizza and movies. We have dinner/date night plans and a little shopping to do. And we hope to snag a hike at the State Park. Our condo has “sweeping views” of the lake according to the rental agreement. So my biggest goal is to sit and stare out the window…or if the weather is ok…off the porch and watch the water sparkle and enjoy some alone time with my hubby.

See you next week!

There are no better words...

Thank you April for this post.  I wanted to join you in this prayer, so I'm copying the words and posting them here as well. Strength in numbers right? 

My best friend also told me to keep my head up and to rally together.

I think we will be ok, if we hang onto God and each other.

I was sure by now
God You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

[Chorus:]
And I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to you
And you raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

But as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

[Chorus
I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

A Wedding Teaser

So I sat down to do some editing and downloading of photos from the wedding…I had a ton. And realized it’s going to take me awhile. So…in the meantime I wanted to load a couple teasers.

The only photo I have from the rehearsal is this.  And this was at dinner after the rehearsal.  This pretty much sums up Owen's rehearsal experience.  He did NOT understand why it was necessary to do any of the business we were doing at the church that night!  The end!

 This cutie patootie was just adorable with her hair all curled ;)

And Miss Jackie after her do was all finished up!  So pretty!

More to come!

Thankful Thursdays...a few days late!

This week I am thankful for:


Hanging with Owen on Thursday…even though he was sick there is nowhere else I’d rather be!

Shopping on Friday. Just me and my grocery list. I made 3 stops, loaded up on household needs and groceries. It was great!

Making caramel apples with Jer on Friday night

Seeing this little man dressed up on Saturday!

Celebrating Jer’s 28th birthday and talking with Steff and Bryan until 12am.

Take Care Clinic for the ear infection I got from catching Owen’s cold! The clinic had me set up with
antibiotics and on the mend within a few hours

A lazy Sunday in sweats, watching movies, snacking and relaxing at home.

Time to snuggle with Jer on the couch and watch a movie

An open Monday afternoon and evening!

Watching How to Tame Your Dragon…so so cute!!

Finding a new nickname for Purcey after watching “How to tame your Dragon.” There will be a post about this coming soon!

The motivation that being sick twice in one month has given me to take my vitamins, add some vitamin C to my diet and eat better!!

Linoski pizza night and the finale to our garland crafting!

Seester conversations…they truly are the best!

Planning a mini-get away with Jer, our first since Owen that is just the two of us…we cannot wait!

A Boy at Play

And my personal FAVORITE!

It's a Jungle Out there!

Last year during Halloween we had a monkey among us...

This year we had a lion in our midst...

I LOVE Halloween!!!