....and where did the Springtime go??

Photo courtesy of lepiaf.geo

It's summer time and it is way too hot! I was born and raised in Texas and I still can't get used to the summers here. I was in Hobby Lobby the other day and walked by their seasonal items, and they already have fall and christmas stuff out! I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that anymore. Even though I think retail stores could wait just a TAD bit longer to put all the fall stuff out, not to mention CHRISTMAS stuff, it just reminded me of the season I get to look forward to. Fall is probably my favorite time of year, so looking at all the wall decor and pumpkins, etc...I could just taste it! But alas, we must get through summer first...

This summer has been great so far. First off, I got a full time position in the same department I've been working in for 5+ years, which I'm very happy and thankful for. I started that June 1. It is helping us out financially, and I'm so thankful for God's goodness and faithfulness throughout all of this. So, I've been adjusting to working full-time and re-prioritizing things at home. Things are getting better though :)

June 12 - 20 was a VERY busy time because all of my family was in town. We had a Noack (my dad's side) family reunion the 14-15 and it was a blast. We had it at Lynn Creek Park over at Joe Pool Lake. It was warm (and crazy crowded!) the first evening, but on 15th there wern't many people there, and it was crazy windy! It made the outdoors bearable but made eating a little bit of a challenge :P It was a fun day of catching up with family, launching balloons all day long with an awesome water balloon launcher my bro-in-law made, and playing games like aggravation (a family favorite!). The rest of the week was a lot of fun hanging out with all my siblings and their families. It's a blast when all 5 of us siblings are toghether and I always cherish those times because it doesn't happen often. Usually only once a year! The next that we'll all be together (hopefully!) will be next summer out in Estes Park, CO!! We're getting a huge cabin and I am very excited about that :)

The rest of June was busy in general -- working, trying to get my work outs in (eek..), and just spending time with the hubs! And here were are and it's July already! I can't believe we're half way through 2009 already. I guess it is true that time goes by faster as you get older...
This week our friends Kendra and Isaac are in town from Estes Park, CO so we're going to get together with them, and then my friend Lauryn is in town from Georgia and I'll be hanging with her this weekend! Then Tim's folks will be in town next week. In a few weeks Tim and I will be heading out on a road trip to Estes Park to visit Kendra and Isaac for a few days. I can not wait to be up there in the mountains!! It's gonna be a blast. Then less than a month after that I'll be flying up to visit my best friend April in North Dakota! She'll have just had her 4th boy and so I'll be helping her out since her husband is deployed with the Air Force. That's going to be really fun as well :)

I'm thankful that I'm having the opportunities this year to visit friends and family across the country. I love to travel and I don't usually get to do it much, and this year alone I've been able to go to Wisconsin to visit my sister, and then go to Colorado and North Dakota! I told Lauryn I need to save money to fly out to Georgia, so I'll have all my close girlfriends covered for the year :) haha...not sure if that'll happen, but one can always hope right?

I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July weekend! I'm happy to have tomorrow off and catch up on things at home. Maybe I'll even get a little card making in this weekend... :)

*love*

Under the weather

Photo courtesy of SubZeroConsciousness

Lemon-Honey Tea
(courtesy of my wonderful mom)

6-8 oz. boiling hot water
1 Tea Bag (flavor of your choice)
Lemon Juice (start with 1-2 tsp, and add more to taste)
Honey (to taste)

1. Boil water in teapot
2. Pour hot water in your favorite mug and steep your tea bag
3. Add honey and lemon juice, take tea bag out, stir
4. Relax, breathe in the steam, drink, enjoy, repeat as needed

Boy have I been sick. Tim and I have both had colds the past week or two, and it has not been fun. I was out of commission most of last week and spent a lot of time in bed or laying down on the couch watching too many movies and T.V. shows. Needless to say, my brain turned to mush. It was actually nice to be at work yesterday and I enjoyed working through some of the financial reconciliations I needed to do (amazingly enough). I think my mind needed to be stimulated.

During all of this I found out last Monday that my Aunt in New York (my mom's sister-in-law) passed away suddenly due to a heart attack. It was a total shock to us all since it happened so quickly. I was unable to fly out there, but thankfully my mom and dad were able to fly out on Tuesday, my sister, Holly, drove from Wisconsin with her 4 children and my sister, Beth, flew out as well. So at least we had a good representation there. I'm glad they were able to stay with my Uncle and keep him company as he is now adjusting to living life without his wife. I was able to speak with him on the phone and he was in good spirits and was so thankful for the hope that he has that she is in heaven with the Lord. Praise the Lord for that hope and the comfort that He is able to give us through these tough times.

So back here at home, I missed out on our typical Valentine's day festivities. I was at my worst on Saturday, so I was laying on the couch all day long. Tim was very busy delivering fruit bouquets, so it was just me and the kitties all day. Tim came home and surprised me with a pretty bouquet of flowers, some dayquil, and went out and got chick-fil-a for dinner :) We're going to have our Valentine's Day date sometime this week yet, which actually will be better since we won't have to wait in line at the resturaunt and deal with crowds of people. I am a little bummed that we couldn't go out on the day of because it is me and Tim's first date anniversary. 7 years ago, we went on a double date with my best friend, April and her (now) husband, Adam. We went to P.F. Chang's and I can still remember our conversation (mostly) and the excitement of getting to know this guy. Oh and I was nervous...I think we both were...but I knew there was something special about him. After dinner we went to Cafe Brazil in Deep Ellum for coffee and stayed there for awhile, then we dropped off Adam and April and he took me home. We sat in his car and talked and talked and talked until about 2am. To this day, Tim and I can still sit and talk for hours about anything and everything. OH, I love this man :)

Well, I could could go on and on, but I must stop here for now. I'm embarrased to say that it is 11:50 am and I am still in my pajamas. That's the dangerous thing about not going to work till 1:00! So, I am off to get ready for the day, grab some lunch, feed the kitties, and then off to work.

*love*

Thanksgiving

We had a really good Thanksgiving this year. Lots of fun with family, devouring way too much turkey and stuffing, and loving every minute of it. On Thanksgiving day, we had dinner up in McKinney at Tim's sister's (Amy) house. Tim's folks came into town from Kansas City, so it was great to see them and catch up on life. I love it when they are able to come down :) Amy has a wheat intolerance just like I do, so it's nice eating over there because she always has things prepared so that we can eat them! Except for the fact that she forgot to tell me the gravy had flour in it...oops! And within about 10 minutes of eating it, I knew I had been 'glutened'. That part wasn't so fun, but I didn't let it ruin my evening. All of us girls had fun chatting away all evening while the guys did their guy things and the kids played. My sister in law, Robin, went with her sister at midnight to head over to outlet mall to start Black Friday shopping, and Amy and my mother in law were going to get up at 4 to head out! Tim and I decided not to do that this year, which was good because we were so unbelievably tired, especially since Garbanzo has been waking us up every few hours to eat! She's nursing 4 kittens, so she's hungry all the time. We decided after that night that when we got home from Friday thanksgiving at my parents house, we were going to move them into the office so we could shut our bedroom door!

So back to Thanksgiving! Friday morning, I woke up and started preparing the gluten free apple tart I was so excited to make! I ran into a few issues...as in the dough kind of fell apart on me (the hazards of baking gluten free sometimes...), but I ended up piecing it back together, and it turned out AMAZINGLY good. Oh my word, I am in love with this dessert.

We went to my folks house around 1:00, and played a game of ladder golf, or whatever it's called. I forgot what it's called! But it's a fun game, even though my brother Mike beat me...oh well. And here's Peter giving a demonstration, and the lovely Beth showing her stuff.

We had a wonderful dinner that my mom and dad put together, and I ate way too much as usual. We got to video chat with my sister and brother and their families who couldn't be with us. At least they got to all be together up in Wisconsin for Thanksgiving :) We also celebrated Tim's birthday as a family (even though his birthday was on November 2) I still can't believe he's 30!!

It was a very relaxing, low-key Thanksgiving, both days. I am so thankful it has worked out the past few years to have thanksgiving with one family on Thanksgiving, and one family the next day. We don't have to rush through lunch with the first family, only to be so full and not be able to eat much at the second!

So we went home Friday evening, and had to get the kitties moved into the office. That was the best idea, ever. Mama took to the move quite well, even though she looked quite concerned at first, and so did the kittens. They love their new dwelling place -- more room to play! So they're happy, and we're happy that we can finally have a full nights sleep again.

Aren't they sweet?

*love*