Day 181

A sneak peek for my sweet friend, Bridgette!

Combo???

What about a combo of the two?

Day 180. Business Cards.

Which do you like better?... or should I go back to the drawing board and start completely over?

Day 178 & 179. Session.

Thought I'd post some from my session yesterday... of some favorite people of mine, if I do say so myself.  :)

Day 177. Napping.

I'm stealing this one from yesterday. My brother in law fell asleep while putting my niece to sleep for her nap. How precious is this moment? Love it.

Day 176. More Birthday Fun.

This is the birthday card my sis, Holly, gave me. Um... should I be offended? :)

 

Day 175. 34th.

This is me and my wonderful husband. He surprised me with a date night out for my birthday. I am now 34 years old. Whew. How did THAT happen???

Days 172, 173, and 174.

I'm not feeling very inspired these days. So, here's what you get:

First, a picture of a pair of shoes that I was VERY hopeful I would love. Not sure yet. I think they may hurt my feet. :(

Second, I'm working on a portrait wall in my hallway, and I painted all of these frames. Spray paint is a wonderful way to recycle old frames that otherwise you'd never use again! Buy a can today!

Third, my most recent running companion... my JVC Marshmallow Earbuds. Love them. Just sayin'.

Day 170. Justin.

This is my brother-in-law.
My husband's brother.
My kids' uncle.
Justin. :)

Justin has been a constant in my life almost as long as my husband has. :) He accepted me as family from the start, and has always treated me as such.

He ALWAYS notices when I change my hair! 

He calls me, "Sis." :)

He works hard,
plays hard,
loves his wife and kids...

and he often makes me smile.

Silly guy.

Day 169. Homemade Milkshakes.

Yum. Enough said.

Day 168. Toad.

The "ew" factor on this guy is high! BUT, he was a very willing subject. I found him on the back porch steps leading out to my back yard. I was letting my dog out one last time before bed, and there was Mr. Toad... hanging out on the steps... looking all gross, but VERY still. This was my favorite shot.

Day 167. Thirteen.

Oh my goodness. Time goes by so quickly. I remember, thirteen years ago, driving to a little country church in Perryville, Missouri, to attend a dedication service for this precious baby girl. Look at the beautiful, young lady she has grown to become. Happy birthday, sweet friend of mine! Love you SO much!

Day 166. Decoration.

This is what hangs from my rearview mirror.  :)

Day 165. Breakfast with the Hubby.

This pretty much says it all, I imagine. The sandwich was Bread Co.'s "power sandwich." Well, it was NOT my favorite, but it filled me up, and that will certainly do. :) The yummy caramel latte was worth the trip... and a few extra morning minute with my husband is certainly worth it!

Day 164. Sunflowers.

I've decided to affectionately refer to my children as KS1, KS2, and KS3. for those of you who know us, you'll get it, and that's all that counts. :)

So, KS2 brought home this sweet little styrofoam cup with a seed planted inside in the spring. Many have seem something similar, I'm certain. I don't recall if he brought it home from school or church, because we get SO many of these things. I never complain, mind you. I love to see what they'll grow into. Sometimes, the little seed actually turns into what the child SAYS it's supposed to be from the beginning!

This was such a case. KS2 said it was a sunflower plant, and so it has become! This thing is HUGE. It's probably as tall as he is. :) He has loved to watch it grow and blossom. I just love to see the looks on their faces when they see God at work. :)

Day 163. Pancakes.

I made pancakes from scratch, for the first time ever, this morning. They were pretty tastey! Might try a different recipe next time, to exeriment a little, but for a first try, I think they were a hit. (The boys had chocolate chips in theirs, so WHO could possibly complain???) :)

Day 162. Alaska Marie.

Seems like my summer has been filled with goodbyes.  That's the way life goes, though.  This is Alaska.  I took this photo about a year ago.  That's my brother in the background, holding her.  He loves to baby his dogs.  :)  Alaska has been part of my family for a little over fifteen years.  A couple of weeks ago, it was finally time to tell her goodbye... poor thing has been a trooper!  She has lived through the torment of five kids, and later five grandkids!  She has been our companion, and even our protector.  My goofy sister, probably around twelve years old at the time, affectionately gave her the middle name of Marie.  Who knows.  You'd have to know my sister!

I didn't live at home for very long during the time Alaska was part of the family.  I was already eighteen years old, and getting ready to start my own life.  But I hardly remember our family without her.  It just seems like she has always been around!

When my husband and I were first married, I worked at a place near my parents' home and would often come home for lunch.  Sweet Alaska would sit on the kitchen floor, next to my chair and just soak up the attention while I chatted with my mom.

I remember wondering how she would be when I first brought home our firstborn son.  She had never been around babies before (my youngest brother was probably around 4 years old, or so, when she joined the family).  I had no idea how she might react.  It didn't take her long at all to warm up to him.  In fact, she loved to lie down next to him, almost as if she were mothering him, making sure no harm would come to him.

Those are a couple of my own memories of Alaska.  And I know each of my siblings have their own as well.  She has also been next to my mom's side, as she has let everyone one of us, out from under her wing.  I would even imagine my dad could conjure up some good memories, if he really tried.  :)  (He's not much of a dog person!  :)

This weekend was the first time I'd been to visit my parents without that silly dog, under foot and in everyone's way.  I'm sure, like me, everyone notices the absence of her presence.  My boys certainly do.  But isn't a blessing, the joy that a pet can bring?  I'm thankful for the memories I have of her, and I'm glad to have had her as a part of our family.

Day 161. BFF. :)

Today is my best friend's 35th birthday.  She got to celebrate it in the States this year, with her family.  We both have July birthdays, which we thought was pretty cool when we were kids.  We'd have a little celebration, like Christmas in the middle of summer, and exchange gifts.  It brought back to memory this ring I have, that she bought me the same year I gave her a "best friend" necklace.  I think these were Christmas gifts as I recall.  And, no, it wasn't planned.  We just think a lot alike.  :)

We still enjoy exchanging gifts, although not as consistently as when we were young.  This visit, she brought me this pretty necklace and earrings set from Romania.  Polka dots... and RED... can't go wrong with either of those in my book!  :)

Day 160. Lunch!

A lovely, unhealthy treat on a Saturday afternoon. I REALLY should start carrying my point-n-shoot in my purse. The camera on my phone is practically worthless. Yikes!

Day 159. Anderson Session.

I really liked a lot of these in black and white. I thought it made the water in the background look just beautiful!  An adorable family... I see my future in families with all boys (older than my own).  Heaven help me when my own grow to this size!  The grocery bill will be outstanding!  Ha!  :)  Oh, goodness!  These are a few of my favorites.

Day 158. School Supplies.

Yep, that time of year again. WalMart has everything on sale. Might as well stock up!

Day 157. New Running Shoes.

Here they are... MY PURPLE ASICS... for anyone who cares.  Yes, I CARE that they're purple.  But I'm WAY excited that they don't hurt when I run.  Yay!  My husband is flingin'-flangin' AWESOME (well, and so is Fleet Feet, but whatever).  Haha!

Photography by Susanna.

Thought I'd post a little collection I made of the pics Susanna took. I thought this was fun. :)

Day 156. More Pordeas.

Still editing, so I thought I'd share a few more.   :)

Day 155. Hubby Gifts.

Have I mentioned what a wonderful husband I have? He always does his best to make a bad situation better. He knew I would be down, in regards to my friend leaving. So, he brought home some surprises for me. This is my new ipod skin... :) Yes, so my itouch currently matches that of a 12 year old girl's, but it makes me smile. My husband knew that it would, so there you have it.

This was the coolest part of my surprise, though- a gift card to Fleet Feet, so I can get new running shoes!!!!  Yay!