Insta-Friday

I'm linking up for my first Insta-Friday.  Kind of exciting! 

We've spent the week recovering from from our vacation to Texas last week.  We ate entirely too much while there and lots of fried food so it was good to come home and eat some home grown veggies.

My husband works really hard on a garden each spring and it pays off.   This year we've had tons of squash and zucchini, potatoes, onions, jalapenos, bell peppers, banana peppers (not sure if that's the right name), & corn.  Yummy:-)

I got a nice surprise in the mail this week.  I ordered some jewelry from Laura @ Bits of Splendor and it came in.  Super cute.  Love it!  You should check our her shop it you haven't already.

It was time for a manicure when we got back.  I have my manicures done with the OPI gel polish.  It is great and lasts for around 2-2 1/2 weeks.  I had stopped getting my nails done when I switched jobs, but I just love it and decided to start again.  Just makes me feel more polished (no pun intended) and together.

We've been in desperate need of rain where I live and last night we had a pretty good thunderstorm.  So good in fact, that our power was out for an hour and a half.  Small price to pay so that the famers could get some much needed relief.  The boys and I were here alone and we decided to head to town to get something to eat since the lights were out.  On the way to town we saw the biggest and most beautiful rainbow I've ever seen.  It was possibly the only complete rainbow I've seen.  Some people in town actually got pictures of a double rainbow.  I didn't, but here's what I did get.

This was the sunset after the storm.  It was beautiful.

I went to my favorite flea market today and found so much stuff I wanted.  I came across this cute (already painted) magazine rack that perfectly matches the curtains in my 2-year-old's room.  I'm working on his transition to "big boy" room and I've decided to go with lots of bright colors.  I've ordered some prints from naptime diaries and I can't wait to get them in and get the room all together.  Here's my find.

I've been trying to decide what type of comforter to buy and honestly, all the ones I find that I like are ridiculously priced.  I was reading through some old posts @ The Vanilla Tulip the other night and was inspired by her philosophy to re-invent with items you already have.  I realized that my aunt just gave me an afghan my Granny made over 30 years ago and I had never even taken it out of the plastic.  I got it out and decided it will be perfect.  Lots of bright colors and made with tons of love.  It has much more value than anything store bought could ever have. 

And so I sit here on Friday night going back through my week in pictures while my little man sleeps beside me.  He had a long day.  He got up early to head out with Daddy and had no nap.  He crashed about an hour ago.  I'm hoping he sleeps through the night and doesn't decide that 11 pm is time to rise and shine.  They are just so precious when they sleep, aren't they?  He has my heart.

Here's to Our 13th Year

While on vacation, Randy and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary.  We've seen a lot of life change in those years, made lots of memories, and grown together in love.  We've been blessed with three beautiful boys and careers that allow us to be family oriented.  We've been blessed with health and provision.  We've seen our share of valleys and walked through them all.  We've climbed to the top of many mountains and enjoyed the beautiful view.  I'm thankful for a husband who is a super daddy, a big help around the house, and who makes me laugh every.single.day. 





1998- Our dating days:-)

Our wedding day, 7-10-99






2006

Mother's Day 2011

There's No Place Like Home

We rolled into town last night after a week in Texas visiting family and having some fun.  It was good to go, but it's always better to come back.  At least it is to me.  My aunt lives in the country in East Texas and I must say, I had little to no sleep between the spider I saw in the middle of the night (that got away) and the strange bugs that worked their way into the bathroom.  Added to that was the fact that I was alternating between a love seat and a twin blow up mattress, which at one point slept me, my 12 year old son, and my 2 year old.  Don't ask me how or why were sleeping this way.  I just had to laugh out loud at the whole thing.  It was certainly memorable!

We did some fun things while we were there.  We toured the new Cowboys Stadium, which was AWESOME!!  I'm a life-long Cowboys fan and nothing could have made the trip better short of Troy Aikman himself.  It's an amazing facility I must say and it certainly should be considering the building cost. 

The boys touching the "lucky star" that all the players touch on the way out of the locker room

We also went to Six Flags over Texas, which I hadn't been to in years. We were there almost 12 hours and had a blast.  The only roller coaster I couldn't bring myself to ride was the Titan.  I'm afraid of heights and that one just looked too high.  The next day we went to Hurricane Harbor and took the little one.  He had a great time with him.  He didn't want to leave. 

Buzz in his souvenir shades from Six Flags:-)

Gavin riding a horse for the first time.  He loved it!

The boys went to tour Texas Rangers Stadium and Texas Motor Speedway, but momma sat that one out.  I opted to go antique shopping and to lunch with my mom & aunt. 

We stayed with my mom's sister most of the trip, but we stopped to see my dad's cousin on the way home.  We had a nice visit with her and she handed down some of my Granny's cookbooks that she had been holding on to all these years.  She felt like she was meant to give them to me.  My Granny died when I was 6, but we had a very special bond.  It was so neat to flip through those old cookbooks and see recipes my Granny used that I've come to love.  Especially her Christmas cookies.  I will treasure those cookbooks always.

I must also mention the embarrasing number of times we visit Whataburger when we are in Texas.  My husband was raised in Houston and he grew up eating there and loving it and he got me hooked last summer.  I believe this time we ate there 5 or 6 times. Between that and my aunt's home cookin', I gained about 10 lbs I swear:-(

We are home for another couple of weeks.  We have VBS coming up next week and the boys have basketball camp.  The week after we are heading out again, in the opposite direction:-) 

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for:

- Salvation.  Without it, I would be helpless and hopeless

- Health and well being

- Family- blessed beyond measure with 3 healthy boys

- Random trips through the countryside.  Looking at land and houses you've never seen before.

- Ice cream

- A/C

- Summer vacation

- Resiliency

- Inspiration

- Freedom

What are you thankful for this Thursday??

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Monday, Monday.....Random Thoughts

Don't ya just love The Mamas & The Papas?  I know I sure do.  That song comes to my mind almost every Monday.  Just love it.  Another summer weekend has come and gone.  Someone at church reminded me that we only have 7 weeks left!!  7 weeks!  Say it ain't so! 


We are enjoying our summer and our time at home just doing whatever we feel like doing.  It's been wonderful down time for us.  I have watched 752 episodes of Caillou and 543 episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but hey....who's counting??


Next week we're heading out to see some family in God's country.  That's Texas, of course.  Can't wait.  As a little girl, I always said the air smelled different in Texas and I swear that it does.  I just love it there. 


It's been so hot here this last week.  Like 105 degrees hot (and that's late afternoon).  Missed a couple of days of running, but hopped back on the treadmill last night.  It felt great.  As hard as it is to get started sometimes, I'm always glad I did it afterward. 


We had revival services at our church last week and they were wonderful.  We had a different speaker each night, but in typical God fashion all the messages tied together.  We were truly blessed and challenged by God's Word. 


If you are looking for a Bible Study this summer, I recently ran across SheReadsTruth.  It's an online group of women from all over the world who are coming together to study God's Word through an app called You Version.  Right now we are studying "Living the Surrended Life" and it is a great study.  I encourage you to join in.  You'll be amazed at how the insights of other women encourage and inspire you. 


Well, those are my random thoughts on this Monday morning.....afternoon.  I'm still sitting here in my pajamas and I must say, it feels awesome:-)  Have a Marvelous Monday everyone!!