All the single ladies

 

Last weekend, Cade and Melain were in a wedding of a friend of mine. Melain was one of the flower girls, and Cade was the ring bearer. To say they were excited is an extreme understatement.

 

 

To bribe them To get them prepared, Laura got each of the kids a wedding outfit for their Build-a-bears. Cade’s got a tux, and Melain’s got a wedding dress.

Melain’s wedding dress came complete with a garter. Laura and I were trying to explain to them what a garter was, and that Tommy would take it off Maegan’s leg and throw it. Also, we explained the throwing of the bouquet. Then Cade and I proceeded to have the following conversation:

Cade: “Who does Maegan throw the bouquet to?”

Me: “Well, all the girls who aren’t married stand behind her, and she throws it to them, and then they all try to catch it.”

Cade: “Oh, ok.”

Cade: “Ahmee?”

Me: “Yes?”

Cade: “How many girls there won’t be married?”

Me: “I’m not sure.”

Cade: “I bet it’s just you and a few others.”

 

He’s lucky he’s cute.

Unknown.

 

It’s 2am 3am. Why am I up, and more importantly: why am I blogging at this hour? Insomnia sucks, and I want to kick it in the teeth.

My heart just feels so heavy lately, maybe that’s why I can’t sleep. I have so much to say, so many feelings and emotions I want to get out, yet don’t know how. I’d like to talk about how my Goddaughters have so much of my heart and make me swell with love, but I feel like I talk about them all the time, and that gets old. I’d like to talk about the 3 possible teaching opportunities that may come my way for next year, but I don’t want to get my hopes up again.

My work schedule is changing next week. I have to go back to working nights. Well, until 9pm. I had no vote in the matter, no choice. And 9pm was the earliest ending schedule offered by the time I got to pick. It’s silly, but it hit me fast and hard and made me cry. I’ve been there long enough and have paid my dues working nights and weekends before, and now I have to do it again. I feel like I’m moving backwards, not forwards.

At the end of the day, this is the one place where I’m most comfortable.

 

Laura told me tonight that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And I do see it, but it’s very faint. All I can do is keep walking towards it.

Movin’ on up

 

About a year and a half ago, my friends decided they wanted to buy an older house down the street from them. At the time, my friend Laura was hugely pregnant with her 3rd baby, and her husband was working away from home for weeks at a time. They asked if I would be interested in renting the house after they bought it. It would keep someone nearby if Laura needed anything, and I was out there all the time anyway, so I might as well live out there.

The house had been empty for about 2-3 years. They ran into all kinds of issues trying to figure out who owned the house, who was on the deed, getting all the legal work straightened out. There was so much red tape, the whole thing fell through.

Fast forward about 9 months later. Laura had Landry, I was in back in school, Stan was working from home now. Laura’s dad, Steve, who lives behind them, had been interested in buying a piece of land that was behind the house. In the process, he decided to get back in touch with the lawyer they’d been working with on the house and see if he could get the ball rolling.

Longer story short, they got the house, everything is done, and about 2 months ago they basically gutted the whole thing! The offer for me to move into it still stood, and I agreed, so now I’m trying to pack up my apartment and get out of here this weekend!

I need to get some updated pictures since lots has happened since these were taken. The first 6 pictures were taken before any work was done.

Meet my house!

 

 

     

 

Let me know what you think!

Missing

 

I’ve been missing my grandparents a lot lately. They passed away several years ago, long before I was mature enough to really appreciate having a meaningful relationship with them. Pop passed away first, a little over 7 years ago, followed by Granny, a mere 9 months to the day later.

I always loved going to their house during the summer. Mom or dad would drop my older sister and me off for days at a time. They lived in the country, and there wasn’t a lot to do other than ride 4-wheelers, swim in the pond, or curl up with a book on the porch. It sounds cliché, and it totally was. I loved every minute of it.

Granny loved us so much. She would do anything for us. I’ll never forget how she would tell my mom, and all of my aunts, how each of her granddaughters were the “cutest little thing ever”.

And Pop. When he could hear us (heh), he listened to every word we had to say. He took us fishing, helped us practice shooting guns, and showed us how to work in the garden. 

After they passed away, my dad and his brothers decided to keep their house. It was paid for, was smack in the middle of their hunting lease, and it was a great commonplace for the whole family to gather. We go there several times a year, usually for family reunions and right after holidays for bonfires and fireworks. 

Honestly, I don’t think my dad and uncles could bear to part with the house and the memories quite yet.

   

 

And that’s okay with me.

Wall art

So a while back my friends Lori and Leanna were talking about how they got a free canvas to put on their wall. I’m all about free stuff, so I asked where/when/why/how. Turns out, some companies offer free products for reviews. Score!

I emailed ZaZa to see if they would be interested, and low and behold, they were! After just a few emails, I sent a high resolution picture to them in exchange for a review when I received the product.

Since I had absolutely no idea what picture to get printed, I decided I’d use the canvas as a gift. My friends had family pictures taken at the beach back in October, so I thought that would be the perfect shot.

When it came in the mail, I was surprised how big it was. You don’t really think about how big a 16x24 canvas really is. I was really impressed!

I asked if the canvas could be gallery wrapped, and they kindly obliged. I like this finish better than some of the other options. Gives it a cleaner look.

 

All in all it is a great canvas! The quality looks great, and my friend is very happy with it! Check out ZaZa for any future canvas purchases!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

 

I’ve been at my apartment for almost 2 years. Last year was my first Christmas here. I didn’t decorate the outside because, well, I’m lazy. I got a fake, pre-lit tree, and decided I might need to put it up around December 20th. In the interest of full disclosure, when I boxed the tree up after Christmas, it didn’t go far. The box is still in the corner of my living room. Don’t judge. There’s not a lot of storage in this place.

Anyway.

My sister came in town last Sunday night. We made tentative plans to go to the movies after I got off work on Monday, but I ended up having to cancel because I had more schoolwork than I thought due 2 days later. I was getting ready to leave work on Monday and was closing down my Facebook page (I was working hard, trust me) when it refreshed and showed that my sister had posted a picture with the caption “Mom and I did a drive by decorate!! Guess who the victim...I mean lucky person was?”, and then a picture of the outside of my apartment all decorated:

 

(I’ve since taken down the hideous stocking on the door and replaced it with my ornament wreath)

Now, I’m not a fan of colored Christmas lights. I’ve never liked them, except in very small doses. I’ve just always liked the clean look of white lights. My family knows this.

Here’s the kicker though. They were trying SO hard to make it gaudy looking so that it would embarrass me and I’d take them down. But I realized after I got home that they used some old lights that were my grandmother’s. You know the ones, they’re all pokey and inflict horrid pain when you step on them. Especially if you’re barefoot. And carrying a plate of food.

 

So now, instead of embarrassing me, they just remind me of Granny’s house. Her tree, decorated to the nines, with all of our ornaments from every year adorning each limb weighing it down so they’re all dangerously low, in her living room full of family.

And that’s not gaudy at all.

Christmas Cards

My family and I use Shutterfly for all sorts of things. Almost every time we go on a vacation or any type of trip, we use Shutterfly to upload and share most of our pictures. It’s the easiest thing to do! I’ve also made several photobooks through them, and the quality is great! I keep the books out in my living room, and they’re always good conversation starters.

They have the best selection of Christmas cards this year! We’ve never sent one out as a family before (my parents, sister and I), but now that my parents don’t have any children living at home anymore, mom said she might want to send one out, just so extended family would be able to keep tabs on all 4 of us, since my sister and I don’t have our own families yet.

Whether you want only 1 picture on the card, or 3 or more, they have something to suit every whim. They have flat cards, and folded cards, and I’ve heard of people sending out folded cards with a 4x6 print inside—that you can get printed through Shutterfly! Here are a few of my favorite layouts!

And great news for bloggers! Go here to sign up, and you get 50 free cards! How great is that?!