rain or shine

i went out to the mall with a friend this past saturday. so nice to get out.

i was on the lookout for a raincoat for sweet cheeks. now that she takes a bus to afterschool, i thought she could use one just in case a gray cloud follows her overhead.

here is what i ended up getting for her from gap kids-

a long windbreaker jacket

(the word "windbreaker" seriously makes me giggle)

i also walked out with an outfit for her. i like the idea of her in colors other than the usual pinks/purples/whites -

a black cowlneck tunic
gray/black mix stripe leggings

i also walked away with this sweet and comfy striped top for myself, which i already wore yesterday with some leggings.

striped embellished tee

going to the chapel

a few weeks ago, my cousin justin got married. it was a wonderful wedding and especially fun seeing so much of my family.

sweet cheeks went to the wedding, her very first. i believe she waited 5 years for it. the excitement was coming out of all her pores when i told her she was going. she was all smiles and proclaimed immediately that she wanted to wear a fancy white dress. she was trying to pick out a flower girl dress. as much as i would have wanted her to wear one, i think she would have looked a bit out of place, seeing how she would have been the only non-flower girl in a flower girl dress. could have confused the situation. we did find her a great dress though with just the right amounts of fancy, sweet, and fun.

justin with his 3 flower girls- arian, tessah, and jennah
sweet cheek's cutie little feet in her "fancy" $3 walmart shoes. yeah, i said walmart and fancy in the same sentence. she decided the day of the wedding that she wanted heels! this was the best we could do given the time and location
all the pretty girls- sweet cheeks with her cousins kelley, britney, and cailyn
me and my girlie. she is just the cutest, fanciest thing EVAH! don't you just love her dress
sweet cheeks and cailyn before hitting the dance floor, where they would stay the rest of the night
she had all the right moves sliding and shuffling
the girls also had fun tossing rocks into a pond. the fun quickly ended when sweet cheeks came running towards me with her left foot covered in fire ants. poor girl can get hurt anywhere! she ended up with almost 20 bites. it brought our night to an end.

wordless wednesday

wordless wednesday

happy anniversary

"10 f-ing years!"-

i only say that as it is a quote from jeremy piven's character in the movie grosse pointe blank. the husband and i quote it quite a bit for emphasis!

happy 10th anniversary, husband.

i love you more today than yesterday. really. i do.

wordless wednesday

day 1 of 1800

today i am happy, excited, and proud.

today i am scared, nervous, and anxious.

today sweet cheeks begins her elementary school years.

today sweet cheeks starts kindergarten.

how adorable is she in her uniform. love IT.



sweet cheeks was so excited. she should be. she is more than ready to start kindergarten and i know she is going to do absolutely amazing things there. my girl is one smart cookie.

however, i am still a mom. which by nature means worrier, right. so i will say that i am nervous about her being out in the big world. i have to trust the system and pray that same system doesn't fail me. it is scary to realize how many more outside influences she will be exposed to. it is hard to rely on a 5 year old to take care of herself, though i know she is quite capable of doing so. i am just having a hard time adjusting to sweet cheeks not being sheltered and babied as she was before in her preschool. never mind the fact that i am trusting her with total strangers. her teacher seems like a real sweet person but at this very moment, sweet cheeks and her teacher are the only ones i know at her school. we knew everyone, literally, at her old school.

adjusting and change are hard for me.
i am so excited for my big girl though. i truly am.
together, these two will do great things. sweet cheeks and her teacher

wordless wednesday

i want to get away, i want to get away

on august 12, 2010 the husband and i will celebrate our 10th year of marriage. holy smokies that's a lot of years for such a young couple... i'm sure that is the exact thought that ran through your mind, right. seriously it is a lot of years. the great thing is that after so many years with him, i still absolutely love my husband. he is awesome. and an amazing father to boot.

so since my cousin is getting married on our anniversary weekend this year, we decide to take a mini-anniversary trip away this past weekend. my sweet sister and her husband were ever so kind to take in sweet cheeks for the weekend (who by the way loved every last moment with her cousins, aunt, and uncle).

we, the husband and i, swept ourselves away to the ever so glorious mountains of chattanooga, tn. i wasn't sure what i was expecting at first, other than a get away in two hours time. but what we ended up having was a really great time!

who knew that on friday nights in chattanooga it is bike night. you can only imagine how delighted the husband was to see all of the motorcycles. he even ran into someone he races with. small world with those bike guys i guess. funny how two wheels can bring so many people close together.

not only was it bike night, but there was also a free concert in the park. all of the band's songs sounded exactly the same, but it was still fun, free, and outside. we really enjoyed just sitting outdoors (and not sweating to death or being eaten alive by mosquitos), talking, and drinking a few cold ones. it doesn't get any better than that

of course we had to take a few shots of ourselves since we didn't have anyone else to do it
on saturday we walked to a great restaurant, blue plate, for breakfast. then we watched an imax movie on oceans. great movie but a little too preachy in the way of the environment. i just wanted to see dolphins and whales swimming in their environment, but left feeling bad for all the ocean's sardines.

in the late afternoon, we went for a guided boat tour down the tn river. it was actually quite fun. we learned that moonpies are made in chattanooga, as well as all twix bars. who knew! mmmmmm.... moonpies.

a few pretty shots of downtown chattanooga from the southern belle boat we were on

me at the restaurant we had dinner at on saturday night. sadly the food wasn't good at all. lucky for me the company was
we had our waitress take this one so we would always remember that we did in fact still love, and even like, each other after 10 yearshow lucky were we that on saturday night, chattanooga hosted a 2nd outdoors concert (just for us). you can bet your bottom we were at it. much like the night before, we were in heaven being outside in the cool mountain weather, chatting it up over a few coldies. it really was so refreshing. and what a view since it was down by the river. that is the aquarium behind all of the people.

all in all, the husband and i really had a great weekend away.

thanks melissa, brent, and cousins for entertaining sweet cheeks for the weekend.

thank you husband for marrying me 10 years ago. i am still happy with my decision in saying 'yes.'