Busy Life

So I have a halfway finished post about our awesome trip to Louisiana for Memorial Weekend but our internet is on the fritz and I can't upload any photos. Believe me you WANT to see the precious, gross, and crazy photos I have to share from our time down there. Hopefully I can upload those soon.

In the meantime life is definitely hit the super fast lane. Can you believe it is already June?!! (well in a few hours anyway.) NUTS. Last week I believe I shared my meltdown about finding a place to live... yeah not pretty. Anyway I decided that over the long weekend I was going to give it up and come back with a fresh attitude on Tuesday. I did and found a charming little duplex for Neeley and I to share our last months together living in. I signed the lease on Wednesday and amongst the groans of my boyfriends wanting a weekend to relax we are planning on jumping ship out of our torturous home and into a happy place this weekend. Our new place is an older house in a great location and has two rooms! I cannot wait to move in and nest over the next couple of days. The best part will be feeling free enough to walk around in our undies, watch tv in the living room and cook dinners at our own house again.

I have been busy trying to wrap up loose ends around the office, with Mom's business and with my photography to kickstart into the next couple months.

We have a very busy summer coming up amongst weddings at Starlight, getting ready for Neeley & Lane's wedding, planning a few getaway trips and me learning and planing for living on my own.

Tonight before I head home to pack pack pack I get to have dinner with the sweetest most special person in the world......

Yeah you can be unbelievably jealous! Its gonna be just her and I. It will be just what I need at the end of this day!

On the road

Today after work Mom, Drew and I took off for Dallas. Part 1 of our two part trip to spend Memorial Weekend with my brothers and family!

I watched from the cramped backseat as Drew and Mom sang to old country music songs, laughed with one another and talked about how excited they were to spend time with our family.

I thought how lucky I am to have found someone who not only accepts me with all my quirks, good and bad, but who also genuinely loves and cares for my mom with all her quirks.

My heart is very full with emotion today as I watch these two people I love interact with each other out of love for not only one another but for me.

I am saddened that my dad cannot be apart of the family reunion about to commence but so grateful to have my Mom here with us!

Ready for a fun filled weekend with my family!

Coming back from the edge

Remember how I posted ohh like two posts back about enjoying the moment of NOW.... yeah totally did not follow my own advice on that one yesterday.

Yesterday was not a good day for me, I spent my day worrying about finding what will be my new home. Since our lease in our hell hole house is up on the 15th of next month we need to find somewhere to live pronto. With Neeley only be living there a few short months we decided the best thing to do is to find a spacious one bedroom that will be afforadable for me on my own after she gets married. We can make any space feel coze and like a home so she would set up camp in the living room and we would kind of "dorm style" it up for a few months. The most important part is just living together for our last little bit. However our needs are kind of specific for this one bedroom dream. First and foremost it needs to be affordable to me when she moves out. Secondly it needs to allow pets and have a yard. Thirdly in this Texas heat central heat and air is a high priority. We found a duplex that had been well kept and had lots of character on the inside but while waiting to see it and listening to others opinions it was rented out from under us. Now there seems to be no place to go with these dogs of ours in our price range.

I was at a breaking point yesterday with NO ONE accepting dogs or having a yard. I put an add for Cooper on craigslist. NOT AT ALL WANTING TO but feeling like I had no where to turn and feeling lots of pressure to figure it out. I cried as I typed out that he was potty trained, fixed, been through obedience training, and pretty much just the sweetest. I cried when I immediately got responses asking about him and why I was getting rid of him. I cried trying to explain it to them, to myself. Drew called and I lost it, he told me to take the post down that there was no need to give him away that there was a way around it. I still cried feeling I had betrayed Cooper.

I spent the rest of the day in a depressed mood trying to figure out what do.

I went home to be alone and pack for our trip to Louisiana today to see both my brothers, sister in law and nieces. While at home I got a call from our dear friend in Houston wanting to tell us that her very young son in law David passed away that morning from food poisining. He leaves behind the most precious wife and two wonderful sons. It life was taken to quickly and immediately I started to cry for this sweet sweet family and their sudden loss.

Death is hard, horrible, and seemingly unfair. My silly stress of finding a place to live instantly left as I quickly realized there is so much more in this life than the materialistic comforts we surround ourselves with. Family, Friends, Loved Ones are far more important.

My thoughts, prayers, and love are going out to this precious family as they try to cope with the sudden loss of a husband and father.  We love you Renee, Nathan, and Evan and Linda!

Graduate

Friday was a very special day.... Neeley graduated from Cosmetology school!!!

She had been going to school for about a year now and Thursday she logged in her last hours. Friday the school had a little soiree' for her and another girl who graduated.

I have never seen someone with so much raw talent for "hairdressing" as she has. She is AMAZING what she does and has been given an incredible talent from God!

I am so very proud of her for her perserverence through school, I know she thought there were times she would never finish but she did!

You can see photos of Neeley and Lane's recent engagement session here.

Moments taken for granted

Why is that we rarely take a moment to stop, look around at the here, the now, this moment and realize that this... THIS is Life... this moment right now. We take moments and seconds and time for granted while looking to the future.Looking to what you want out of coming time and moments and completely neglecting this one.


Life is too short and wasted spent on yearning to be in the next moments, the next phase. To feel more accomplished. To feel more put together. To feel more worthy.


That is not what life is about... it's about the moments you laugh out loud.


The moments you spend an extra minute or two to show you care.


When you goof around in the living room because you can.


Jumping on a bike for a quick ride around the block or two.


Eating pasta because you love it.


Taking time to say I Love you. To make a phone call instead of texting. To write a card and put in the mail.


To get excited about the little things and knowing it's okay to have a big real reaction.


It's about the late night champagne visits followed by tears and laughter on the floor.


It's about looking past the little frustrations and looking at the big picture.


Taking a trip to see family when it may not be the best time but that is what's important.


Buying a pair of shoes because you can.


Realizing that staying up till 2 AM happens sometimes and you will get through the haze of the next day with the memories of the night before.


Going blackout bowling just to be with friends and not worrying about the shower you have to take to wash out the smoke smell.


Realizing that this phase, this moment is just right for right now and it is enough.


Life is such a beautiful gift.  I wish I didn't take so much of it for granted!

A Mother's Day to remember

For Mother's Day this year Patrick and I teamed up and decided to give my mom a toy for her Mother's Day gift...

Mom had said several times before that she would like a bike. After a botched Easter basket we decided that Mother's Day would be the perfect time to give her a bike that she could enjoy during the nice summer weather. Drew and I went to pick it out and he brought it over to her house early Sunday morning to set up for her. I was planning on giving it to her later in the day with a big bow on it but at his request I gave it to her that morning (He wanted to be there to see her reaction!) I had feard that she may not be able to actually ride a bike any longer, since her diesease there are several things that would prove easy to a person with a healthy brain to accomplish that she struggles with. I was ecstatically suprised when she jumped right on the bike and took off down the street, she even managed to race Drew in his car as he drove away. Such a wonderful moment to share with her. I am so proud to have her as my Mother, So thankful for all she has done for me throughout the years and so blessed by her strong independent spirit!

(Pleas notice her cute pj's and bare feet, she had just woken up from her slumber)

Now lets back up to Friday night shall we.... after work I went to Mom and Nana's house to check on them. They were both in great spirits and good health so I left them for dinner with Drew, Neeley and Lane. While at dinner I noticed I had missed 3 calls from my mom, my first thought was to call her back later when we had left the restaurant but I went ahead and called from the table. Thank the Lord I called! Mom and Nana had been out walking the dogs down the sidewalk when Nana tripped on a raised part of concrete and fallen hitting her head, mouth, chin, hip, leg, arm hand on the right side of her body on the cement. She was bleeding alot since her blood is so thin. Not being able to reach me immediately Aunt Charlotte and Das came to take Nana to be seen. We immediately left the restaurant and chased them all over town until finally meeting at the ER. 5 hours later we had news that in addition to the two chipped front teeth, split chin that had been glued back together, bruises down her ride side and bleeding lip she had broken her neck. It was a fracture at her C4 that would only require a neck brace but broken nonetheless. We finally got Nana into bed at 2:30 am with her pain medicine and neck brace. The rest of the weekend followed with nauseas for Nana and continued pain down her side, a little bit stir crazy Mom who was the helpful assitant to me trying to finagle my way through the weekend keeping everyone in good calm spirits.

Yesterday Nana was moving around more and with Aunt Tammy and Kelsey returning from their trip over the weekend to Midland, Neeley and I were able to celebrate our Mom's and Amazing Nana a little bit. Ditching our plans to cook dinner with unexpected guests arriving in the evening we heated up one of Nana's lasagna casseroles and took in the madness that is our family. Nana had a wonderful suprise gift of her own.... Aunt Cindy flew in to celebrate her mother and play nurse for a few days.

(Beautiful Roses Nana recieved on Mother's Day)

I am so thankful that Nana's fall was not more serious and praising God for this time to take care of the caregiver in our family who takes care of all of us!

A mother's day remembered

Last year Mother's Day was a little bit of a different one. I spent Mother's Day 2011 having lunch with my Dad.

Drew and I had gone down that weekend to go watch the Yankees play the Rangers in Arlington. We took in about 2 hours of Six Flags and decided that was more than enough time spent in the heat and waiting in line before the game on Saturday.

Sunday we met my Dad and Christie for lunch at one of my most favorite places, The Cheescake Factory. It was the first time that Drew and my Dad got to meet. I hadn't seen my Dad in a loonnng while before that day and I was very anxious about seeing him and more so about what he and Christie would think of Drew and Drew of them. It was a Wonderful lunch full of my Dad's sarcastic humor and amazing food. It was a lunch cut too short by a long drive back to Amarillo.

I remember thinking as we left Ft. Worth how strange it was to of all days to see my Dad it was on Mother's Day. It was a day that was completely blessed. Looking back I am so thrilled with the time we got to share on that Mother's Day. Those moments with my Dad, the laughter we shared, the hugs I felt from him can never be taken away from me.

As I spend this Mother's wrapping my arms around the women in my life who have raised and love me, I think back on how quickly things can change in a year and cherish every moment here on Earth with those I love.