Friday Friday on a Saturday

( I wrote this yesterday, but Blogger wouldn't post it. So, stupid title it is!)

This week has been so uneventful. Work during the summer drains the life out of me, and it's so hot that I usually just want to go home and do nothing. Ryan and I cooked dinner a few nights, I'm always surprised at how many different ways you can cook a chicken :) We had pizza one night. EK loves pizza night so we try to do that at least every other week or so.

Monday, I finally got my eyebrows waxed. It had seriously been like 6 months. I try to pluck them, but sometimes it just doesn't feel the same. Tuesday I came in to work a little early so I could take a longer lunch at our church's new women's Bible study. They call it the "Brown Bag Bible Study" which I think is really cute. It was really fun and I was surprised at the variety of ladies there! I think I should be like 75 or something, those age ladies are just my favorites!

We booked our 5th anniversary trip this week! Ryan and I went to Isla Mujeres for our honeymoon in 2008, and we'll spend our anniversary there this year. We've talked about going back several times since then, but between a move, building a house, a pregnancy, and me teaching at the college last year our anniversaries have been booked.  The island is tiny and so relaxing. The food is amazing, and it's just beautiful. I got so excited thinking about it Thursday that I wanted Mexican food right.then.  Thankfully we had guacamole fixings at work and we made some up to tide me until October :)

Friday when I picked up EK from Grana's house, she was playing dress up. She is the silliest girl. She was wearing a scarf and beaded necklace like a little old lady. Then she decided to be a "village girl" (oh my gosh... Sofia the First rules our TV) and wore it on her head.  Ryan had bought a watermelon earlier so we all ate that before we left. Ryan, EK and I headed to Texarkana and shopped for a little while, of course at Lowes where EK looked at all the "bafrooms" set up on display. See, she's silly.  We had a quick dinner at Chik-Fil-A and rounded everything out with a stop in Target. I gave EK a $15 toy budget, and she had the hardest time deciding what she wanted. She finally ended up with Lambie and Stuffy from Doc McStuffins.

Today we are just hanging around the house. We washed both of our cars this morning and cleaned the insides. It's a chore with Ryan's truck and my SUV!  Tonight we are having dinner with Ryan's family to celebrate Grana's birthday. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Thoughts and Confessions

  I'm sure it's apparent at this point that my life is especially riveting.  My mind is equally as exciting.. "as evidenced by" (I know my nurse friends LOVE this phrase) my list.

1. I've never had to watch my weight until I had EK and went back to work. I lost my baby weight quickly, but a desk job and coworkers who love to potluck put nearly every pound on me again within a year and a half.  I've lost 20 pounds since January and got below prebaby weight. The last week or so though, I've eaten so much junk food, and I eat it all the time. I've got to get back on track before I GAIN 20 BACK. We have a river weekend and a Mexican anniversary trip coming up within the next 3 months and I want to feel comfortable in my bathing suit. Back to spinach salads for lunch.

2. I have gotten such a kick out of my blog's recent Pinterest fame. Who would think that a simple DIY for removing dead bugs from your car's grill would get so much attention?  Someone actually described it like this.. "I couldn't believe it, bugs I had been scrubbing for months!!!" How to easily get dead, splattered bugs off of your car"!  I'm dying over here, really.  I hope these people enjoy the fluff that is my blog.

3. My hair is driving me insane. I got lowlights put in it a week ago in effort to get away from bleaching my hair. It's like the lowlights never happened, they've faded so fast. I think about my hair all the time. I wish my thoughts toward it would stimulate its growth! A girl can dream, right?

New hair that looks old.

4. I've had a huge want for another little girl lately. I don't really want a baby, but I want EK to have a close sister. The crazy part is that I totally do not want a boy. If you know me, I really want a boy when I found out we were pregnant with EK. Please don't think I'm selfish, I realize we would be blessed with whatever gender God decided to give us, but I just love having a sister and I really love being a mom to a girl.  I also don't want to wait 10 years before having another kid if we even decide we want another. It's so complicated.

This girl asked for a sister after playing with an itty bitty baby at the gym last week.

5. Summer is so blah for me. My family is out for summer vacation, EK spends her time with everyone else, and it's so super hot that I just feel like I have no energy. Also, I don't like summer fashion all that much, it just seems so barely-there that I can't get on board with it. I can't wait for the fall and to get back into long sleeved clothing and boots!

Winter winter winter. Come back!

6. I'm kind of addicted to these cream sodas I found at the Country Store. They have vanilla, orange and cherry flavor.. they are SO SO good.

Work week travels

I'm writing this while sitting in a hotel room in Dallas. This week has been nuts and I haven't seen Ryan since Tuesday morning.  He spent the last two nights here in Dallas for the Rangers games, since his dad had the suite for the games. Now I'm here and he is home with EK. I have taken on the role of a clinical liaison at work ( they really want me marketing....???) and there's a meeting tomorrow early in the morning. I drove up this afternoon to spend the night and be sure I get there on time. I'm never on time.  Oh, and this meeting has a dress code. "Business casual". WHAT is that? Nothing stresses me out more than a business casual dress code. I'm a nurse. I have casual, church, and scrubs. Oh, and a random bridesmaid dress that I never wore. Let's hope I'm not too business and not too casual.

On my way here I hit up happy hour at Sonic for a diet vanilla coke and some cheese sticks, then stopped in Greenville at what I thought was a small antique shop. It turned out to cover the whole downtown square, and it was two stories! I snatched up an old wagon wheel for our flowerbed and an old metal sign with hooks on it. I'll probably hang it in the laundry room or the shop by the door for our coats. We will see.

This is my happy to pull in to Sonic at 2:01pm face.

There were things EVERYWHERE! I need to go look again soon!

After I got into Dallas, I made a run into IKEA and was disappointed to get to the car and realize I bought three things, and all of them were for EK. I was hoping for new bath mats, a new shower curtain, and maybe even a comforter. I've been wanting a pretty off-white bedding set for the summer, I've gotten so tired of our current one.I went to the big nice mall and STILL didn't buy anything for myself other than a pair of sunglasses from Forever21. <--- This store nearly gave me a stroke. I couldn't wait to get out of there.

So, in summary I shopped at antique stores and I am too old for the mall. When did I turn elderly?

Melons, Doughnuts, Park and Father's Day

Friday night, we had our first watermelon of the summer. EK was a big fan, and at one point ended up with an entire half to herself, just eating out of the melon without a bowl. She's already asked for another one, hopefully we will have time to chill it when we get it home before she wants to eat it!







EK woke up super early (for her) Saturday morning. Naturally, Ryan had worked a long week as well as some extra hours Friday evening, so he was exhausted and probably wanting some rest. I got EK dressed and we headed out to the city "park" to give him some peace and quiet. We stopped at Kremy Donuts  for doughnut holes and a diet Coke for mamma before we got to the park. ;)

My little daredevil wanted to swing higher and higher.  She's usually so cautious, but swings are her thing.

I think she went down the big twisty slide at least 50 times. Her hair stood up with static every time she hit the bottom.

Saturday evening, EK and I went to Hooks to see my family and eat dinner since Ryan had to work again. My mom grilled yummy chicken and made delicious baked squash with parmesan cheese over the top.. it was really good! When we got home, EK and I had cereal for an after dinner snack. After she finished, she ran and grabbed this straw so she could drink her milk out of the bowl. I'm pretty mortified, I can't stand the taste of after-cereal milk!

This morning we went to church and Ryan got to come with us. His Pappaw snapped a quick picture of us all. Can't you tell he uses a Droid ?? :P

EK is spending the night with her Aunt Kaci and Uncle Clifton tonight, which means I'm going crazy trying to clean the house and squeeze in things I can't get done while she is home! I plan on relaxing later on to watch Miss USA and hopefully a little HGTV. Tomorrow means back to work, but I only have to be in the office for a little while between a patient to visit and an overnight trip to Dallas for a marketing retreat. I'm also pretty excited for a haircut/ color tomorrow evening. Maybe I'll do something different, but it's doubtful. I always stay somewhat of a blonde.

Happy Father's Day to my precious Daddy and my sweet husband. I have been blessed beyond measure with loving grandfathers who I lost way too early, a precious uncle, and wonderful in-laws.  They are the best men I could ever ask for, and I'm so thankful that God gave them to me.


Also, if you're the praying kind- please pray for the members of  Eagle Lake Baptist Church in Vicksburg, MS and for rebuilding.  A friend's grandmother goes to church here. Their church was struck by lightning right after their service this morning and burned to the ground.

Being a Mom.

MONTHS ago, I read these words on a friend's Facebook wall, "I just want to be a full time mommy again."  MONTHS later, they are still stinging in my head.

As a working mom, I felt really hurt by this comment. It was probably spit out in a sense of fatigue much like what I feel on the day-to-day due to being out of the home for 40 hours a week, but it hurt nonetheless.  It made me feel as if I'm not a "full time mom".  Did she really feel like moms who work and leave their kids during the day are not "full time moms"?

Every day, Monday through Friday, I have to get up. I have to wake this precious little girl at least an hour earlier than what she wake if we let her sleep in. I have to dress her sleepy, limp little body and take her to stay with someone else. Sometimes she tells me she wants to "stay home", and I have to explain that Mommy has to go to work to "buy her new toys". Someone else gets to enjoy my sweet baby, who is growing up faster than I can handle. Every day I muddle through a work-day when all I can think about is wanting to be back home with EK. I have to let someone else make decisions for her; what she eats, what she watches on TV, how much she is played with, when she lays down for a nap. She is in fantastic hands, since she stays with my mother-in-law three days a week, and my great-grandmother-in-law the other two. It is seriously .so. hard, though.

Our holidays are always rushed and hectic because there is just that day off, free of worries. Honestly, they are a chore.

Working full time as a mom seems so isolating, especially since I have not lived in our community for a long time and don't have a ton of social time to spend on meeting new people. We miss out on play groups, reading groups, even VBS, since it all happens in the day time. It seems like everyone we are around is able to take the time to do these things. Have I just not found the right crowd of families to commiserate with?? I worry that she is doomed for a life of being "that kid" that other parents have to take places and cart around all summer, because her mom has to work all the time. Will she end up a hermit who stays home all the time because her mom can't hang out with her? I end up feeling so sad that I'm not able to take her to these fun  things and spend more time with her.

Now, don't get me wrong. I have a fantastic job that I actually enjoy. I have a great boss who understands as a mom that you just have to go be with your kid sometimes. I never worry about missing an event once she starts school, and it's never a big deal to sneak out early for an appointment. It's just that nagging feeling of having to be there.

I hope that, one day, I'm able to decrease my work hours or days and get a little more time with my girl. Until then, I just have to remind myself that I'm her Momma, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 100%, all the time. Working or not.

Building Monster Scarers and a Family Get Together

I've complained a lot since March that I haven't had a Saturday to myself (or EK) in what feels like forever. I'm in the throws of my twenties and it seems like everyone just wants to have a kid or get married. Come on ladies. Let's get this over with, already ;)

I kid. Anyway, all the festivities of weddings, showers, and birthday parties left me tired and feeling like I haven't spent much quality time with EK. Friday night, a few of my mommy friends mentioned that they were taking their kids to Lowes Saturday morning to make Monsters University "Monster Scarers" at the Build & Grow Clinic.  It sounded fun, and it was free. I couldn't lose, plus I could run through the garden center and find something new for my porch.
  I signed her up, and off we went. We got a little kit on arrival, and EK got her very own Lowes apron.

I'm not going to lie, the kit looked super difficult. We eventually figured it out, and EK even got to use the hammer to nail her scarer together. It was the cutest thing ever. She got so comfy that she laid down on the floor and just kept hitting. She earned her very first patch for her apron, and we plan to go back for the next clinic!

After Lowes, we met Granny Skeet for lunch at Chick-Fil-A. EK loves her Granny so much, and she always wants to know what's in Granny's purse. As usual, there were a few prizes. We decided to go by the mall and Granny bought me two new dresses for church and my upcoming trip to Chicago.  We stopped at Chick-Fil-A AGAIN, this time the one inside the mall for a little ice cream.

Once we got home, it was time to get ready for our friends and Ryan's side of the family to come over for burgers and games. EK was so excited for her friends to come over that she couldn't fall asleep for nap.
We love having these precious kids and their parents come over, everyone gets along so well and the kids wear each other out! We had such a good time hanging out with everyone at once.

EK and her sweet friend.

Five minutes after the party.

This morning we went to church  .When we got home, Ryan made biscuits and fried eggs for lunch.  We've got a busy week ahead of us, but we're looking forward to an upcoming canoe trip the weekend of the Fourth of July!

The Road (Seems like it) Goes on Forever..

.. and the party really does end after about age 22. We're getting old. We have a kid. We are not spontaneous. Far from carefree. Roadtrips, however, are still something that I absolutely taking. I love to see new places and things.

  Back in March or April, we got an invitation to one of Ryan's sweet friend's wedding. He and the groom went to DPS academy together, and I'm pretty sure he got the award for "Furthest Distance Travelled to Get There".  He's from a little town in the panhandle, so I pretty much told Ryan before I opened the invitation that I wanted to go to the wedding. I wanted to drive, and no, I didn't want to take EK (oh, can you just imagine 9ish hours one-way with a 2.5 year old?!). 

  Fast forward to the weekend, we loaded up the car and headed out Friday around lunch. We spent the night in Gainesville, and hung out by the pool all evening, then walked around downtown for a little while. We ran into a free Junior Brown concert, which was incredibly unexpected in the small town.

 Saturday, we got up early and took off again for the wedding. We took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up pretty much in the middle of nowhere. I though we lived in a rural area. I was wrong, this was maybe not even rural. More like remote.  We finally found the right trail again and made up some time. We crossed the Red River, which was totally dry and left me really wondering how it has so much water here in East TX. Looking back, we should have stopped and walked out into the dry river bed to take a picture. It was seriously so cool. We also got stuck behind storm chasers for a good 30 miles on the two lane highway. OH, and I think every town we passed through had a Dairy Queen. It's a Texas thing ;)

  The wedding was absolutely gorgeous, and I know Ryan had a good time reuniting with a few of his friends from the academy.  His job is really unique, it seems like everywhere we go, he is able to find someone he either knows or kind-of knows through DPS. It made it nice for the simple fact that we were outsiders in this tiny town, but we knew people.
  Sunday, we got up early again and drove the entire way home. I'm now convinced that Atlanta needs a Braum's, their burgers are seriously so delicious... and the ice cream, oh my gosh.