Too much fun!

It has been such a fun week away from work! And of course the time goes much too quickly.
Tuesday night I hosted the Bunco girls for dinner so I shopped and cleaned on Monday, then cooked on Tuesday. I made a new recipe for lasagna, my famous lentil soup, bread and salad and lots of munchies and desserts. It was so fun having my "homies" here! We were a few girls short because some were sick or away but it ended up being so cozy and fun just us seven! We never played any games, but we curled up under blankets and watched Dancing with the Stars and laughed about EVERYTHING! I don't know why we found every little thing so funny but we did! And we giggled until late in the night. I was so sad when they all had to leave. 
I love my "village" and they are the sisters of my heart.

Then Wednesday morning we headed out for our little four day get away to the Hoover Dam. {we don't like to say Vegas cause it sounds so trashy, so that's what we nicknamed it } We had three free nights at the Palazzo and it was wonderful! Steve bought me a facial at the ahhhmazing spa there and it was *bliss* Lindsay got one too so we totally felt pampered and relaxed.Still cant quite get the "hang" of most of the ladies walking around naked but we wore our suits, tried to keep our eyes averted, and had a blast! I wanted to use my noodle in the jacuzzi  but thought better of it and behaved like a grown up. I used all the special showers, the aromatherapy saunas, the steam rooms, and felt like a queen! We took our books into the quiet room and lounged on big comfy chairs sipping iced tea for hours .
I think I have a new addiction..... SPAS!
We also walked to " Serendipity" and crossed off one of the items on my bucket list.
To eat a frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity!  And I didn't even have to go to New York to do it! My sweet Steve just goes along with it all, but he did ask "isn't it kinda like a ten dollar milkshake? No silly~ It is so much more!

My sweet sis and niece also delivered these to our hotel  sweet  suite !

Along with darling birthday plates and napkins. They are so darn thoughtful and I love how my birthday dragged on for over a week!   Yes those are "Sprinkles" cupcakes and they were so yummy! Thank you guys!
We had such a nice get away...we slept late, took great long walks, relaxed and had so much fun! And now today we are home sweet home

Another sweet surprise was this.....

 

It bloomed on my birthday! I woke up and saw this one perfect rose on my moms memory bush.
Thank you Mom .....I love you too!

I barely remember this girl

When I look at the photos of my wedding 28 years ago today  I can barely remember who that young girl was. I was so young and naive but so in love with the Lord and my husband to be. 
If I could talk to her today there would be so much I would want to tell her. So many truths that I have learned over the 28 years of being a wife and having a family .

~ I would tell her to not be self conscience! Wow what I would give for that darling body now. But I was so nervous about being with Steve.I remember buying four bathing suits for my honeymoon and worrying if any of them would be cute on me. If I looked like that now I would probably wear those bathing suits all day!  I would give her confidence and tell her to be darling

~ I would tell her not to worry! I remember often having a sense of worry if the kids would be all right and if we were good enough parents.I am so glad that someone told me that you cant spoil kids with too much love. So when they cried I never hesitated to jump up in the middle of the night and cuddle them. Those cuddle days go way too fast! But of course this young girl didn't know that!


~ But  mostly I would tell her to LOVE her husband with all her heart always!
When you are young your friends, family and kids sometimes have a way of taking over your time and heart. But I would make her realize that in the end it will be him that is still standing by her side. After the kids are gone , and her parents have passed away it will be him that greets her every morning and comforts her in the night when she is sick. It will be him who is the constant source of unconditional love and a daily joy in her life. He deserves her love and devotion above everyone else! 

But I guess you cant really tell someone those things. They wouldn't understand ! Those things need to be lived to be learned.  So today Steve I thank you for giving me time to grow up and always loving me even when I didn't love you back the way I should have. Its been fun these last few years making up for lost time. Just hanging out with you,traveling and being BEST friends. Having less distractions and plenty of time to put you first! I am so thankful that the  vows we spoke are still being lived out in our lives today .

In good times and in bad...in sickness and in health...for richer and for poorer.
We still promise 
God is so faithful and I am so blessed that you are too!

I feel like shouting "We did it"  The kids are grown and are practically perfect! We are still laughing every day and having tons of fun! And we will be the BEST grandparents ever!!!  It's all such joy!
I love you with all my heart! Happy Anniversary

Bed Bath and Beyond~

I'm thinkin they need to change their name to Bed,Bath and What?  I hate to shop but I'm a sucker for any kind of home store! My absolute favorite being Homegoods. But I also love a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond !  It is so fun to walk in with my 20% off coupon and look around for what I  don't  need. I love the canisters to organize my pantry, all fun new kitchen gadgets, I have a obsession for bowls, and don't even get me started on the linens!
I love them
But I have noticed that the " Beyond" is becoming more and more weird?  In this weeks ad they have  these?

Now I will be the first to admit I've been  tempted to get out the ole duct tape and give  myself a nice lift for a certain outfit.  Sometimes a girls underwire can use a bit more reinforcement.But can you really see yourself "taping  up" on a daily basis? Well if the answer is yes they are on sale!  $ 9.99 for ten lifts.  A buck a lift isn't too bad and with that coupon you get another two dollars off. Heck maybe I will look into it! With menopause hitting me full force I can probably freeze them first and keep myself cool at the same time?

Then there was these...

You just slip these onto your existing button and you can have another inch! So instead of buying pants that fit you can wear the tight ones and  add a button. And they come in all colors! Never mind the huge gaping flap by the top of the  zipper . No thanks, I think I will keep cutting out the waistbands of my size 8 pants and use the maternity spandex. Then I can still say in all honesty that I wear a  size 8 ! But I  hope to God no one ever sees whats going on under my  shirt. 

My other favorite is the Booty Pop!

I can hardly wait to get my hands on these. But the thing is once you wear them do you need to wear them everyday? Do you save the big butt for special occasions? Or do you wear it out to the post office and library? We all have skinny / fat days but do we all have big butt days too? I can just hear the neighbors " Karen looks good today , nope never mind that butt is back, wow that girl can sure fluctuate a few pounds in one day"   Maybe I will wait on that one!

So wish me luck...I am off with my coupon and who knows what I will come back with.
A potato peeler? eyebrow plucker?  Or maybe some new junk in my trunk..... Literally

I am happy about....

*The coolness of the mornings and the chill in the air at night! I LOVE Fall and can feel it inching closer and closer every day! 

*All the fun birthdays and anniversaries this month! So many fun celebrations and reasons to be thankful.
Our precious Lindsay turned 50! We love her sooo much and had such fun being together to celebrate her birthday! She is always doing so much for everyone so its nice to have a chance to spoil her for a change.

*We had the best day at dog beach with Brody and the family last weekend. Travis brought Bentley and they played for hours ! I could sit down there all day watching the pups run in and out of the water having so much fun! Steve was so happy just spending the day with his kids! We all went out to dinner to celebrate Pops birthday and it was perfect!  At the beach we ran into the cutest lifeguard ever ! He even drove me to the "good bathrooms" in his rescue truck. So cute  and I was such a proud momma !

*I am planning a anniversary get away with the hubby! Just knowing I have a weeks vacation on the books makes me sooo happy! We will go away for a few days and the rest will be spent putzing around the house and enjoying being home!  It will be our 28th anniversary! Wow time goes so fast! But lucky me to share my life with my bestest friend !


*This weekend is  the other " Mr and Mr's Carter"  2nd anniversary! We are still so incredibly grateful that the Lord brought Ashlyn into our lives! And we have loved watching these two precious people become one! They are so darn cute to be around and their love is such a joy to see! We love you kids with our whole hearts and wish you the Happiest Anniversary!

*Lastly on a totally random note,  another thing I Love is....These

I have always been a fan of the regular magic erasers and the bathroom ones are MAGIC!  They clean so good ! I just love finding new things to adore! Thank you Linds  for telling me about these.  Get some you wont be disappointed!

I wish you all a great day, filled with love and joy! 
Maybe we wont find 14,000 things to be happy about. But we can certainly always find a few! And for that, I give Thanks
 

Memory Lane~

I was browsing through old photos to do a "Memory Lane"  post and came across these pictures. I started laughing remembering this day! The kids were living in Point Loma in a house everyone just called "Piedmont" There was 6 boys including Travis and Chad.They all surfed and the bathroom had a 1/2 inch of sand in the showers. Travis was finishing up college and he and Chad were back sharing a room. It was such a cool old house in a neighborhood with lots of older homes and original owners. So most of them were seniors and surprisingly loved having the boys on the block. One neighbor told Chad she loved hearing the fun, and sounds of life coming from the house. Chad would go over and take out her barrels on trash day and the boys always had homemade treats around the house that the ladies would send over. So the kids decided to host a BBQ for them and invited us to come too. They put flyers on everyone's doors telling them for come on by for a block party.  I was a bit puzzled " You invited all the neighbors? " Yep...and most were coming. So Steve and I went and helped put out the food and straighten up a bit. The boys had gone shopping and bought all the stuff and before long they all came! Pushing their walkers, carrying dishes to share. Chads 90 year old friend called and asked if he could come get her brownies for her and help her across the street. He went running over!  It was simply precious to watch. I felt so proud of the boys to reach out to their neighbors and most of them stayed for the whole afternoon. They sat on couches on the back porch? {ran out of lawn chairs so they just lifted the couch outside} watched the kids play ping pong, sat around and chatted. It was a really fun day and they all said "thanks for the great time"  when they went home ! Made me realize that it doesn't matter  if everything is perfect for a party. They just bought some burgers, put the open chip bags on the counter and had people over. And I am sure it will be a memory they will have for a very long time. 
I know I will.......