waiting to exhale

I've hit a wall. 

There I said it. 

The last week and a half has been tough.

For lots of reasons.

It's the end of summer push.

We all need a major vacation.

It's rained nearly every day.

 Tisha, my Knoxville BFF and her family moved to Winston-Salem.

I miss her.

Every boy in my house has a attitude.

I'm bored.

I'm tired.

There's been too much time for this mom brain to dwell.

My mom reminds me that we all have times like this.

That a lull in the action,

down time,

laziness,

a moment of sadness,

it's just what happens before you pick yourself up again and start a new. 

I've taken in a big breath,

 I am gathering up the energy to end this summer with some sort of grace. 

There is a lot yet to come.

a much needed visit home

a wedding

my sisters

Becca and her kids

lots of memories yet to make. 

I'll exhale come September. 

Until then I cherish all the good.

Give myself permission to forget the bad.

{like this morning when I yelled my fool head off}

Pray for strength to face some loneliness.

Celebrate that God has His plan.

This past weekend we were fortunate enough to visit our friends Lance and Summer{and Kailey and Kara} in North Carolina.  We had a really wonderful time.  Their life, well...it doesn't suck{Lance's words exactly}.  They live on a beautiful lake and it seems as though it's a 24/7 vacation.  What fun we had!  The boys tubed and swam and slipped and slided their hearts out.  I tried surfing{behind a boat!} I almost did it, but then I swallowed half the lake and decided to wait until next summer to try again :)

So here is to making memories....

peeks

So I've been on a mad rearranging streak this summer.  You know, we've been here two years and I get itchy.  But really, it was just that we needed to use some spaces differently.  To me it is not really a challenge to live in a smaller home, but I do find that you have to take "inventory" of spaces more often.  We decided to flip the boy's bedrooms, get rid of our guest room{sorry guests} and then I stole the craft room from the kids to make it my own.  We are all able to spread out a little better, and don't worry guests, there is still a space for you but I won't lie-it's not as nice as my lovely pink guest room was. 

These are the sneak peeks.  Lots of work yet to do.  This fall I'll be able to make a little more progress on it all, but for now....

4th of july revisited

Wow, I've been away for a bit.  Lots happening, even some stuff worth blogging about, but summer is in full effect so we seem to be going at two very different speeds...lazy and busy. I'll get back to some routine, but for now here are some shots from yesterday. 

I love how close these people sit to each other.  For brothers who nearly kill one another every other minute of the day, there sure is a lot of love.  This is best friend sorta of sitting.  Makes my heart swell.

This was the first southern parade we had been to. While It was very much just like any ordinary parade, there was certainly a twist or two.  Like this one.  How many local parades have the Andy Griffith Show Reruns Fan Club in attendance.  It was pretty fun to see.

It was hot, two boys thought there wasn't enough candy thrown, Sloan thought the whole darn thing was great, but it's pretty easy to please a three year old :)

Have a great weekend and I'll be back soon with some sneak peeks of my rearranging marathon.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad is it to steal hydrangeas from the yard of the vacant house up the street?

Note to self: plant a hydrangea bush next spring!

making that again: lunch

Eating out of the cottage cheese container while I stand at the sink just isn't working for me anymore.  This summer I have decided to get better about cooking{with heat} my lunch.  I ran across this recipe in Martha's Everyday Food magazine and it reminded me of a lunch I love to eat with my dad.  Teriyaki.  Specifically vegetable teriyaki from Pie Wei{a chain associated with P.F. Changs}.  When he visits, we always go there for our lunch without kids{they don't much like chinese food yet}.  In fact, my dad will get to Pei Wei at least another time during his stay-that man loves himself some veggies. 

Vegetable Fried Rice{Martha Stewart Everday Food}

1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
4 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 small carrot, thinly sliced
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup cooked rice, cold
1 cup baby spinach

Stir together soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar until sugar is dissolved. In a large nonstick skillet, or wok, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high.  Add egg and cook until set; transfer to a cutting board.  Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to skillet.  Add carrot and cook, stirring, until soft, 3 minutes.  Add scallion, ginger, and garlic and cook until scallion is soft, 2 minutes.  Add rice and cook, tossing, until warmed through, 2 minutes.  Add spinach and cook until wilted, 2 minutes.  Add soy sauce mixture and cook, stirring, until liquid is absorbed, 1 to 2 minutes.  Coarsely chop egg and stir into rice.

ahhh...summer

 {I love these people}

Happy first day of summer!

what I wore: bringing out my southern bell

Y'all, I went to my first country music concert! I know, can you believe it? It was my favorite artist to boot, and girls...it rocked.

Hold on to your {cowboy} hats, it was Eric Church and my hubby took me all the way to Chattanooga to see it. We had an overnight babysitter, and he even took me out to dinner. I mean really, that's what I call date night!

You may know this already, but I am a closet country music listener, or at least I was before we came south. Now I let my country freak flag fly on most days, but honestly before this, never really felt the need to see it in person. That was until Friday, that was before Eric Church live and that was prior to me putting on a short dress and cowboy boots.

I'm hooked and Todd...well, he's not crazy about the music but he doesn't mind the short dress part.

So this is what I wore...

This is what I saw...

And this is what I love...

I've decided what I love about country music is also what I adore about my husband.  Both make me feel like I'm seventeen.  Country music takes me back to some old teenage loves, warm summer nights and when life was a little more simple. 

My husband, well there are certain times that the reflection I see of myself in his eyes has me not a day over fifteen.  It almost takes my breath away when I see the young girl I used to be flash across his memories.  Stops me in my tracks every time and I thank God and pray that when I'm eighty it will still be possible for both of us to remember.


{p.s. Todd and I met when we were thirteen.  THANK GOODNESS he doesn't choose to remember at that stage}