Good Times

Our Memorial Day Housewarming Party was a smashing success. It was a fantastic day and so much fun. My pulled pork turned out well and everyone brought something to share. My island was covered with food, as you can see, so no one went hungry.


I was a bit concerned that everyone would have a good time because we had a mix of people here: old friends, local friends and work friends. But, as I should have known, everyone got along fabulously, introducing themselves when I wasn't available to do so and mingling effortlessly. The kids raced around outside, inventing various games (usually Star Wars themed) and generally having a great time. It made my heart happy to see them all out there, laughing and playing. And wearing themselves out.

We started up a bonfire in the evening and, like moths to a flame, we all gravitated to it. When the sun started to go down, things cooled off and the warmth of the fire felt good. Even the smallest party attendee seemed to enjoy it.

My sweet chub of a nephew, Kieran.

It was a really nice day, one that Josh and I had been dreaming of when we were building this place. We imagined all our friends over, everyone talking and eating and laughing, kids racing around in the grass, and everyone gathering around a bonfire toasting marshmallows.

Turns out dreams do come true.

Party!

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Today we're having a BBQ and get-together with friends who have yet to see The Big Red House. Should be a good time. We've got a keg of beer coming, 12 lbs of pork butt smoking on the grill, a ton of other food and beverages, and some of our favorite people coming. I get to love on my ever-growing nephew, Kieran, who is now 6 months old (my favorite age) and the sun is shining brightly. Woo-hoo!

It's gonna be an awesome day.

Hope you're enjoying your's too!

Lost & Found

I seem to have lost my blogging mojo. Anyone seen it?

Seriously, I still think like a blogger...."Man, I totally should be taking pictures of this to blog!" or "This would make great blog fodder!". But somehow when I sit down at the computer, the words just aren't flying out of my fingers the way they used to.

I'll be honest, life has just conspired against me and has been demanding my attention elsewheres. I've been making a conscious effort to be more involved with Sam in an effort to improve his attitude towards school, which has totally worked to such an extent that his teacher emailed me asking if I'd noticed that he was way more positive about school. He's even told me several times "I love school, Mom!". And with the weather getting nicer, we're not stuck indoors all the live long day which then translates to less time on the computer.

Anyway, today I was cleaning out my email inbox and ended up going back to read some previous posts and it's kind of inspired me to write again. I was feeling a little frustrated because it felt like no one was reading what I was writing, and as we all know, as bloggers we LIVE for comments, which are the only way we know anyone is reading. It's nice to have that validation that Hey! I'm not talking to myself again! A tip for those of you who don't have blogs of your own: you can comment anonymously by clicking on "Anonymous" below the comment box. Then just sign your comment with your name and I'll know who you are!

******************************
In an effort to get you up to speed on my life, here are some bulleted highlights of what I've been up to:

• Hubby & I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary yesterday. We went for drinks and appys down at the marina, then to dinner at a little mexican joint, which had tasty sangria which may or may not have contributed to the tiny headache I had when I woke up.


• I have been trying to do as much walking as possible in preparation for the half marathon I signed up to do the end of June with my friend Heather. Our longest walk so far has been 7.5 miles, which we've done twice. Time to up the distance. Unfortunately the weather and life have been thwarting our walking efforts but we're determined to get more miles in.


• Sam is still in swimming lessons and doing good. We had signed Zoë up for another session but the new class had a very cute boy teacher, and she wouldn't even get in the water. So I got my money back and we'll hope for a girl teacher next time.


• I went swimsuit shopping and was successful. Seriously, I got the cutest suit and it is so flattering. I might actually wear it in public.


• Only 16 more school days left!! I can't tell you how excited I am about that. I love summer.


• We're working to turn our yard into an actual yard with grass and flowerbeds instead of the mudpit it currently is. We had a load of topsoil brought in and spread and then it rained, which led to this:

In addition to the half marathon the end of June, I've also signed up to do a 7 mile race in July. Unfortunately, my walking partner found out she had a prior commitment after I'd already signed up so I guess I'll be walking alone. But whatever. (Totally kidding! Love you Heather!) Anyone want to walk with me?? Oh! And there's a 15k in September we I want to do. Hopefully not alone. (wink, wink..)

I have been picking up extra shifts at work while I wait to find a position with more hours. While I am still stressed about money, so far we're doing okay. I have faith it'll all work out.

Life is just really good. I am so incredibly blessed and I appreciate that fact every single day. I have my health as does my family, a gorgeous home that I love more every day, the sweetest husband who I am so proud of, two awesome kids, the best friends, a good paying job, and so much on the horizon to be excited about.