after weeks of freezing,

59 degree weather 

called for a day at the park

there was lunch on a blanket,

and

swinging

for

all.

but the best part 

was lovin on

my baby girl while

she fell in love with her first oreo.

like mother, like daughter.

remembering

most people knew my brother as this guy:

tough

valiant

fighter

fearless

soldier

and he was.

but i knew my brother as this guy too:

hilarious

sarcastic

grinning

funny

jokester

how lucky i am to know this side,

and

oh, how i remember that grin!

adaptation

i think i like the snow.

i like the way it drapes my neighborhood in white.

i like what it brings out of nature.

i like how cozy it is.

but mostly, i like that i can wear these beauties in it.

yes, mr. claus brought them late.

now THAT's old school

i was obsessed with photo booths in high school.

so much so, that i would sacrifice

shopping money for a picture.

these are what i dug up.

best friends

&

sisters

doesn't get better than this.

what was once lost is now found

there once was a young girl who desired to travel.

to fulfill her dreams, she worked hard to save her money.

she then traveled all over western europe with only 

 a backpack and 3 good friends.

          

         

and loved it.

a year later she began to plan her next trip; for she desperately wanted to travel to africa to work with darling little orphans.

and so the process of saving money began again.

hard work with greasy food and gym equipment

 

began to pay off.

cash was piling up and

 plans were laying

 out...

until she met a boy.

girl meets boy.

girl crushes on boy.

boy is quiet.

boy dates girl.

boy falls in love with girl.

girl freaks out.

girl dumps boy.

girl misses boy.

girl gets boy back.

girls falls in love with boy.

boy asks girl to be wife.

in a nutshell, this girl lost the dream trip to africa and instead spent her hard-saved cash on a ring for the boy.

a nice ring.

the husband took great care of this ring and cherished as he should. 

the wife lost it once before while they were at a lake at dusk.

the husband was her hero when he found it the next morning 

with a metal detector!

but this time the ring was lost for what they thought was for good.

but behold, after weeks of patience it was found in a toy box in texas and was dearly sent home to its beloved owner in a care package.

it is found.

and so is the new dream that it represents.

My internet is down and so are my blogging spirits

she's back

i can't hardly wait for nie's post today. i will be checking her blog every five minutes or so throughout the day. i love this woman!

solid

who: the pruett family

what: frozen pipes

where: lake winnebago MO

when: 6:30 am-thursday, jan 15

how: negative 4 degree weather

please feel sorry for this californian/texan girl

who now has to wake up at 6am.

and so it begins.....

my trek to become a labor and delivery nurse has started

and it weighs 37.5 lbs!

the end of an era

i can do this!

polka what?

  

didn't realize until after church, that we are all dressed in polka dots and stripes.

          

if i could, i think my whole house might be stripes, polka dots, and paisleys.

the boy who calls himself chipmunk

my boy is quite quirky.

 

photo #1 & 2:

on our way home from austin, we stopped at a Denny's for lunch. the boy had seen the 

gumball machine on the way to the bathroom and desperately wanted one. since he had 

been such a good boy in the car, i promised him one after our meal. it wasn't until after i had charged our bill that i realized i had no quarters or cash. 

so i looked in the car. no spare change anywhere.

instead of begging our sweet waitress for her change, we decided the $2.00 ATM charge 

was worth a promise kept. i got change for my twenty from the cashier and

i FINALLY had quarters. the boy got his "ball." in the 

mouth it went and straight into his cheek. he then wanted another one. i obliged. 

the next one went straight into his other cheek.

and with a full smile he looked up at his parents and mumbled, "i chipmunk."

i think i teared up laughing so hard. david and i were so proud to be the parents of this grimy, dirty, pajama wearing at noon boy. when all the laughing was done and before my mind could move on to other things, i reminded myself to give in a little more to receive these happy memories in return.

the  $2.00 was way worth it. even if we are in debt.

photo #2 & 3

after not seeing the boy for some time while i was getting stuff done, this is 

what i found when i went to check on him. he pulled out his sippy cups and 

kid utensils just to order them on the floor in the hall.

random!? i love his thinking.

    

photo #5

this kids is always taking things apart or building something else. he stays so busy 

playing with toys in different ways than they were meant to be. his latest creation:

"mommy looks at these stairs."

i wonder where he gets it from?

the mom or the dad?

we are ready

 we are home. home at last. 

after a long vacation, we are well-rested, rejuvenated, and full of happy 

memories of our friends and family.

such highlights include:

seeing perry & mason blessed by their new father at church

taking family pictures with the pruetts

eating thai over and over and over again

 

&

catching up with our favorite couple:

justin, beth, and their sweet girl maelynn.

after such a fulfilling 3 weeks, 

and lots of time to think,

i have a plan.

SIMPLICITY.

when things get too crazy around here (which they tend to do)

i will simplify my time, energy, & obligations to 3 thing and 3 things only:

family

church

school

so if my phone is off and i am not blogging, creating, reading, 

exercising, or watching TV,

these are the things i am busy with.

SO...

bring on the new year with new semesters, new church callings, and older birthdays.

we are ready.

a handmade christmas

with aprons for all!

for molly

for noel

for kelly

for cora & perry

i hope you all enjoyed!

*not pictured- one for jen..oops.

grandpa's magic

i think this is heaven for all three of them:

grandpa gets to cuddle and kiddies get to dream.

my noel

happy birthday to my sweet sweet sister

noel

i love you

 for everything you are to me, 

and to my children.

a letter to arizona

dearest tara,

since i'm visiting our old home of austin, i decided to drive by my past places of residence. 

this included our old apartment complex where we met. 

david and i had just gotten married and you had just had emma.

 these were fun days and i'm thankful i had a 

kind neighbor like you and

 your cute family to borrow sugar from and hang out when we were bored housewives.

to reminisce even more, i took some pictures 

of our old places:

as we have both moved on to different states, i wonder to myself who occupies these apartments now?

are they friends?

do they have cute families like you did?

are they newly married like i was?

has anyone thrown up in my toilet as many times as i did with morning sickness?

they surely haven't decorated their apartment 

as cute as we did!?

whom ever they may be,

i hope they make as many enjoyable memories there as we did.

i do miss those days!

with love,

your old friend:

shalynn

visit tara here