Is that WATER I see?

As many of you may know, the weather conditions in Texas this year have been dryer than my cracked heels on a sandal-wearing day. Seriously, moisture can be found NOWHERE. What little moisture that was present in our lakes, ponds, and rivers is no longer. It has officially evaporated in the 60+ consecutive days of 100+ temperatures and we were all thinking that hell had made itself known within the Texas borders. It is HOT here. But luckily, as everyone always says..."at least it's a DRY heat!". Ha. Dry heat my butt. As soon as I walk outside, there's not much 'dry' about me. Sweat everywhere, ya'll. Gross, I know.

Luckily, God decided to answer some prayers that were probably more like beg sessions. The houses were shifting, the ground was breaking, the fish were dying, the bugs were coming indoor, the cattle were dying of thirst, & my goodness, don't get me started on the dust storms. A couple of days ago, moisture fell from the Heavens and completely renewed our land, cleansed our souls (not a stretch), and provided a much-needed relief from the heat. The ground was soaked, the air was cool, & for the first time in MONTHS, there were water puddles and that wonderful smell of rain was so breathable. You could see a huge difference in everyone's attitude & we were all so thankful for the refreshment. A total of 5 inches fell in my hometown of San Angelo (that's more in two days than in 8 months). We received a good 2+ inches here in A-town and the ground is still wet in places. Hallelujah & thank you Lord for that rain. We don't want to be greedy, but any more that you can spare, we WILL TAKE IT! :-)

After the second day of raining, we walked outside to see a gushing line of water escaping from a pipe near our water meter. We live on an acre, so our meter is far from our house and halfway between ours and the neighbor's home. My super nice neighbor tried to turn our water off and failed because what we thought was a problem with my meter turned out to be a huge leak in one of the main pipes leading to our meters. Luckily that turned out to not be our problem or else we would have been charged for all of that water. NO thanks! It was running for hours before it was noticed & things were double muddy to prove it. After about 6 calls, I got a couple of water pros to come out for service and we were without water for 4 hours that night. I have to give them credit because they were out there in the dark with a tractor digging and sealing until midnight & voila, it was all fixed. They did leave a huge mess though, so I may have to get on someone for that.

On a lighter and happier note, Chad is returning this Thursday from his AR training and we are so excited! I cannot wait to have him home again so life can return back to normal. It's been six months since we have lived in our own home together and this has been a long-awaited return. Thursday just so happens to be his birthday, so WHAT A PRESENT! Speaking of present, I have some shopping to do, though I have NO IDEA what I'm going to get him. If anyone has any good ideas for gifts, I'd love to hear them, ASAP! Ha.

Besides that, I don't have much else other than this little anecdote. The other day when I was deep cleaning our very dusty and dirty house, I came across what looked like a curled up scorpion along the baseboard in my bedroom (freaky!!). Turns out it must have been sleeping, because as soon as I touched it to throw it away with a thick wad of toilet paper, it came a'crawling toward me. NOT COOL. I quickly got a high heel (useful for killing critters, ya know) and squealed my way through stabbing it to death. I even scared Kennady with my squealing, so for that I feel bad. But for the stabbing, not so much. It was officially dead after a triple check and it quickly went swimming down my toilet forever. Problem solved with just a little bit of trauma to both mommy and baby. For the record if it's not obvious, I.Hate.Scorpions. THE END.

Bloys Campmeeting

I have a lot to catch you all up on, but I'm going to have to start with one thing at a time (to save you from having to suffer through the longest blog post EVER). I will start with what is one of my favorite experiences ever... Bloys Campmeeting.

Our trip to West Texas was so great. I was a little scared that all of the traveling recently would drive my little lady (or myself) to insanity. She was a trooper as usual though & we made it there on Wednesday and stayed until Sunday afternoon. I'll give you a quick, small back-story as to what campmeeting is and why it is so important to me. It started 122 years ago (no, that is not a typo) by Dr. W.B. Bloys (my best friend Nicole's great-great grandfather) in a mountain cove located between Ft. Davis & Valentine, Texas. Back in the horse-drawn carriage days, the cattle ranchers would have the preacher/pastor/priest travel to their ranches a couple of times a year to hear the gospel. As it was difficult to travel back then, they decided to have an annual campmeeting where all of the surrounding ranch families would gather for a week of worship, teachings, & fellowship. From the days of tents, horse-drawn carriages, & a gathering of approximately 47 people,  blossomed a tin cabin campground, an attendance of around 2000 people, & a holy experience like no other.

I have been going with Nicole & her family since I was 5. Because of a family reunion in Washington, D.C. and mine and Chad's honeymoon, I have had to miss 2 since then. This year marked my 20th year of attendance & it was just as special as ever. Some of the most wonderful things about campmeeting are getting to see the same families every year. The children have grown a year older and inches to boot. There is no tv or Internet which allows for some amazing naps, book reading, or anything else that soothes you. Sitting on the balcony in a Papasan chair while the rain clinks down onto the tin roof carrying a cool breeze might be one of my favorite things to do, ever. At campmeeting, the conversation is always sincere and sometimes deep. Laying underneath the west Texas sky is unreal. In one evening, we laid back and saw at least 30 shooting stars. The Milky Way is so bright and beautiful you feel like you are in it (which technically, we are). But still, the quietest moments, the darkest nights, & the cleanest air are just a few of the things that I appreciate so much out there. Even the smell of dirt and mustiness get me giddy there. It is impossible not to see the beauty of our God and his works when you are surrounded by a nature that speaks & sunsets that light up the mountain skies. You can feel God's presence & the worship is some of the best & most intimate I've ever experienced. To say it in a few short words, I.Love.Campmeeting.

Nicole & I used to cry in the car as we drove away because back then, a year felt like an eternity and there were so many special things we didn't want to leave out there. I had my first real kiss there (At church camp, yes. Don't judge me. Ha.) with someone who is still one of my best friends (pic below, hehe). I climbed my first mountain & went through my first bat cave there. I had my first major water balloon fights out there & some of those were epic. Every year, I come closer to Jesus while being out there & it is so refreshing.

I am so thankful and excited for Kennady and that I get to share the experience with her. She got to mingle with other kids, play in the dirt, blow bubbles, swing her little heart out, & enjoy all things that make being there special. It was so fun & I think if we continue to attend, it will become one of her favorite experiences too.

This link shows a picture taken from the bat cave down to about a quarter of the campgrounds. The rest are a couple of pictures from this year. It brings warm and fuzzies to my heart to see these pictures and to remember the memories. I am so thankful that my best friend and her family were so thoughtful so many years ago, to include me on an experience so special & to continue to invite me every year. It's truly something I could never repay them for.

Just a swingin'.

One of my new favorite pictures.

Silly little princess.

Besties...that's Nicole on the right of course.

   

Precious little cowgirl in the making.

So sweet. That's all for now. I'll be back soon to continue playing catch-up!

Tequila turned Classy...

All of the craft blogs I've been following have really helped me to look at objects, furniture pieces, and scraps of all things wooden, paper, or fabric in a different light these days. My mind will go nuts with ideas when I see stuff that resembles any of the great and creative works I've found on websites and Pinterest. It's exciting and fun to know that there are no boundaries to creativity. So, I am proud to say that I actually came up with something creative to upcycle ALL.BY.MYSELF. Yes, it's true. I'm a fan of it, but feel free to let me know what YOU think!

My family has a huge reunion at the lake every summer where we all pile into one house, sleep almost on top of each other (not in an incest-y way, but in a 'we can't seem to find a reasonably priced/large home big enough to sleep 26 people' kind of way), jam out with guitars & sing terribly at the tops of our lungs, all while drinking a little drink.  One of my brothers is a big fan of Patron Tequila. He brings a handle of it every year and it's always a hit. When the bottle finally ran dry (ok, it really didn't take THAT long...there were 16 of-age people present after all...), I decided it was a really cool bottle. With a little sticker-picking and glue-removal, I thought 'this could be super cute'. Almost like something that could be seen at Pottery Barn...minus the Patron inscription of course. :)

Here is my new flower vase in all of its glory. By the way, did I mention it was free to me? Even more AWESOME.

The Bottle BEFORE

The Bottle AFTER

So bright & fun!

Tequila turned classy! 

Well, that's all I have for now. Thanks for stopping by!

I've linked up to Tatertots & Jello, a place that steals the majority of my weekend as I thumb through fun and creative projects!

Mini-Adirondack

I came across this precious little Adirondack chair at Lowe's for right under $10 & just had to get it. I initially was focused on using it as a prop for my 18-month old's summer photo shoot. I chose coral because it's girly & so 'in' right now (haha) AND it complimented her lime-green swimsuit which is also oh.so.cute. She LOVES this chair & our pictures turned out

beyond precious, thanks to our friends at Cozart Photography.

She looks like such a big girl!

I decided to add a little more pizazz to the chair by adding on some simply cute glitter stickers by Stickabilities from the scrapbook department of Hobby Lobby. Kennady loved having her name on the chair so much (sarcasm intended) that she decided to peel them off one by one while mommy wasn't looking one afternoon...so, to prevent such a disaster from happening again, on the second round I plan to seal it somehow. I'm looking for suggestions from you fellow crafters for a product that would seal stickers to plastic really well. In the meantime, it's still so.stinkin.cute. This is what it looked like after a little love & before little monkey fingers went to work on messing it up.

For a very reasonable $13, you too could have this sweet little chair

personalized & lookin' chic for your little one. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy 4 Years to my Hubby...

I can't believe that myself and the Captain (I've never called him that, so I just giggled while typing that, ha) are already at the 4, yes FOUR year anniversary mark. It is unreal how time flies when you're having fun. And yes, even after four years of marriage, I can still say that we are having TONS of fun. We've had our ups and downs over these years, with most of the downs stemming from physical separation from each other due to the very nature of being in the Air Force. When we actually get time together, we try our best to take in every minute & spend it doing stuff that enrich or fulfill us.

This anniversary will be the 2nd that we have spent together because of 3 consecutive summer deployments. Luckily, I visited him while he was deployed to Germany & we were blessed enough to spend our special date in Paris.

We LOVE to travel, so over the past 4 years, we have traveled the U.S. from New York stretching the entire east coast, covered the complete southeast, & stretched all the way west to Las Vegas, Nevada...mostly done by driving. Time spent in Germany, France, & Switzerland gave us some of the best memories we've ever created and the cruises to the caribbean make me all warm and cozy to think back to. We've visited family & friends, settled into a new home, brought a beautiful baby girl into the world, & can't be more thankful for every bit of it.

I married the most handsome, thoughtful, intelligent, loving man I have ever known. I am so lucky that he allows me to be a stay-at-home mom to our sweet Kennady & honestly wouldn't have it any other way. We have dreams for our future, to grow our family, & to continue to nag each other to no end, because that's what we do. That's how we like it & neither one of us would change a thing (well, he probably would but I'm gonna act like I'm really not

that bad of a nagger, ha).

You two are my favorite...

Thank you, Chad, for being the best husband, father, and provider for our little family. You are what every girl dreams about having someday...and I was lucky that my someday came on July 28, 2007. Happy Anniversary babe! I love you more with every day that passes.

Sweet Daddy Realization...

So sorry again for my lack of posting. How boring am I...seriously. I haven't forgotten about you, I've just been crazy busy driving through 7 of our lovely 50 states. I am happy to say I am finally taking a moment to sit down and take a breath. In a quick couple of sentences, this is what we have been up to.

Kennady & I traveled by car to GA for Chad's cousin's wonderful wedding. It was beautiful and Kennady had a blast tearing up the dance floor and coloring with the girls. We got back to AR and 2 days later we headed by airplane down to Texas to visit my aunt from Alaska. She comes down to visit every summer and we had a laid-back blast with her by going swimming, eating, making desserts, shopping, & playing games. We then made our way to another wedding, this time in Addison, TX near Dallas. It was my best friend's little brother's wedding and it was beautiful. The chapel was gorgeous & the reception was a great time of catching up with friends we haven't seen for months and some good eats. Chad & I made it a 3 day weekend and spent our extra time by getting a pedicure (I did, anyways :)), shopping at the Frisco mall, & chillin' with some of our besties from A-town. I got to top things off with a wonderful stroll through Ikea which is such a fun store to walk through. If you've never been to one and enjoy anything related to home decor & organization, you will be in heaven. Although you must allow at least a 2 hour window to be able to really see the place in it's entirety. It's amazing. I didn't get much, but I did find some super-cute fabrics for really cheap and that makes me happy. We drove home yesterday and it is really good to be settled again.

Last night while we were watching tv, Kennady thought it to be a good idea to climb on top of the hotel coffee table to get attention. Chad & I always think it's kind of funny when she pulls stunts like that, but we're always scared someday she's going to hurt herself. It was kind of a sweet moment when she started to jump off into her daddy's arms. On about the 6th very trusting fall, Chad heard himself say, "I guess it's my job to catch you." This statement hit him, as he realized that that really is how a great father-daughter relationship can and should be. Daddy's are special people. They love unconditionally, they provide all things necessary for happy living, they kiss boo-boos & protect their little lady from all things evil, & are always there to catch their little girls under all circumstances. It was a good moment of realization that brought just a little bit of magic to a really silly sequence of events.

I promise more posts will come soon...pinky promise. :)

Over to GA...

Well, in the past week or so, we have found a lot to be a part of. My friend Cassandra celebrated her birthday on the 4th, so on Saturday night, we had a cookout, dessert, & awesome hangout time with friends. All of us 'oldies' with babies stayed up talking until midnight (that's late to still be out and about) after we all got our kiddos to sleep in pack'n plays. It was a night of great conversation & stuffing our faces; can't be mad about that. :)

Sunday rolled around & we slept in until 10:15...AWESOME Kennady, good work! :) It was a much-needed night of rest. We relaxed during the day and found ourselves at a friend of a friend's house for an early 4th of July celebration. They had briskets, burgers, hot dogs, & FIREWORKS GALORE. $1200 worth of firework fun, to be exact. It was quite the show, though we were ready to hang ourselves while the roll of 1000 firecrackers took 5 non-stop CRACKING minutes to pop off. Sounded like the machine guns from The Godfather. It was great hanging out & surviving the heat with the crew again though. What a great firework show too!

Yesterday, the real July 4th, was a completely lazy day for us. We didn't get out of our pajamas until 6pm when we decided to go swimming downstairs. Ha. Don't judge us. Ridiculous, I know, but we had a busy weekend. ;) They also offered us ice cream & warm M&M cookies downstairs in celebration, so we had ourselves some yummy dessert after swimming. Kennady was a huge fan.

The other day I learned how to shir using material and my sewing machine. I made Kennady a high-waisted skirt & accidentally made myself a shirt as I (too late) realized that I had mis-cut my material. I have never really thought about making myself clothes, but maybe that would be fun someday. It's way easier and more fun to make them in small sizes for Kennady, but the occasional piece might be nice. Or sometimes I could just rely on my occasional stupidity to give myself something new to wear. That seemed to work this time. Ha.

Tomorrow, Kennady & I are hopping in the car and pointing our vehicle towards Georgia. Chad's cousin Travis is getting married Friday night, so we are going to join in on the festivities. Unfortunately, Chad is stuck staying here as they scheduled him for something on Friday & left us going without him. I considered not going at all, but we have promised his family for months that they would get to see Kennady at the wedding, & because a couple of them haven't seen her since Christmas, I deemed it a necessity that they see her NOW. So much happens between months 12 & 19. She is a little human now that speaks words, makes small sentences, dances, runs, talks non-stop, giggles, sings, throws tantrums & all kinds of fun things. They need to see this & get to love on her too, so we're headed that way until probably Saturday. It should be a lot of fun seeing as how we will get to be a part of the rehearsal dinner, bachelorette party, & wedding. I am sure to have pictures galore when we return. I will try my best to keep you updated while I am there, too.

Well, that's all for now. Hope your 4th of July was spent with friends & family & that we all remember that freedom doesn't come free. Thank you to all of the military members & people who have given all that they could give for our rights to be had and may God continue to bless the U.S.A.!