She’s Home

Sara went Home to Jesus around 11:15 last night.

Judging from the lightning storm outside right now, I’d say her and her dad are having a blast taking pictures at that reunion.

I’ll see you again, Sara.

Always and always.

Sweet Sara

If you have a moment, please pray for my friend Sara and her family. She’ll be meeting Jesus soon.

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!