Celebrating Twelve on the 13th

Whew! This weekend was a whirlwind of activity and celebration! Not only was it Mothers Day but it was also my father-in-laws birthday and our 12th Anniversary.

I love our anniversary. I think it is so fun to go back and try to remember all the things we have done in the years past. Last year we bought a kayak. The year before we moved to NC. The year before that we think we went out to eat. And the year before that we got matching tattoos...yes, we really did.

We laughed about those early days when, living on a very tight budget we would go buy a loaf of French bread and some cheese and climb up the foot hills of the surrounding mountains and sit and chat and watch the city lights come on. That was often our standard date. It was also my favorite date.

I remember living on campus, in that first year of marriage, and every once in awhile deciding that ice cream sounded like a good dinner. So we would walk a couple miles to the Cold Stone Creamery, pick up our dinner, and slowly walk home.

This year we took the kids up the mountain and hiked. We ate a loaf of French bread and cheddar cheese and did our best to escape the desert heat, which was over 100! After 12 years of marriage (plus two years of dating!), that's still my favorite thing!

La Vida Dulce!

Here are a few more pictures of our Mother's Day and Anniversary.

Before

I am assuming that the three people who read this blog already know this, but I will say it anyway: I am not good at waiting.

But the old saying is true: Good Things Come to Those Who Wait.

And for the record, we almost missed this one.

I have been very anxious to get settled here in our new town. I think that is my womans heart. For 12 years I have been the keeper of our home, and it has been my work to provide a comfortable and peaceful place for my family and those who visit our home. Being a homemaker is what I always desired to do!

So it has been hard to not be settled into our own home. The arrangements in my parents home have been very comfortable, but since my life's work requires a home of our own, i have been chomping at the bit to find one.

Of course, it has been hard since the NC house has not sold, and I had been discouraged at the prospects here in our new city. The market is considerably different here!

But this weekend some long time friends of my Mom and Dad decided to sell an investment property they had inherited, and thus starts the story of our new home.

The Mister and I bought a new house in the desert last Saturday, and in the interest of not announcing this good news before the proper time I have waited to post it on the old blog.

We are so excited because the home is perfect for our family of four. It has plenty of room for living and entertaining. It is close to family, and it is being completely redone, inside and out!

The sellers are being unbelievably generous and as a result we are completely repainting the inside and out and are pulling out old carpet and tile and replacing it with new stuff. We are also replacing counter tops in the kitchen. My heart is beating faster as I type!

So I have been very busy this week trying to pick out colors and, for all intensive purposes, make choices (in 5 days) for getting an entire home redecorated. But Oh! it has been so much fun!
You cannot imagine how grateful I feel at this time.

One of the verses I have clung to in the last few weeks is:

Psalm 38:15:

I wait for you, O LORD; you will answer, O Lord my God.

I wish I could say that I waited patiently, without whining or complaint, but I am glad that we were protected in the last month, especially as we tried very hard to force the waiting to stop (we made offers on two other houses that fell through).

Are you waiting for something? Hang in there! I know it's hard, but often the waiting is worth it!

La Vida Dulce!

Here are some before pictures...

Looking into Family Room from Kitchen.

Master Bathroom

New House Pics

Master Bath

Looking into Formal living/dining from Master Bedroom.

A view from the Dining Room.

Master Bath

Clicking on the pictures makes them bigger!

Sunset

Y'all, I can't get over the colors in the sunsets here.
I love them.
And when a little squall (storm cloud) tries to come in and give the desert a drink,
the color is even better!

Oh, things are heating up here...by Saturday maybe 102 degrees.

And that's not the only excitement here in the desert...

Exciting news (and pictures) coming soon....

La Vida Dulce!

Reputation

Living at home has brought up many issues that have now become part of who people think I am. For instance almost two decades ago I accidentally burned 30 pounds of tamale masa. That story comes up at least once a month.

Then there is the whole "sweatshirts and socks" thing.

OK, so I admit it. I did have a love for my Dad's clean white tube socks and his big sweatshirts. It is kind of like coffee, when it someone else's it always tastes better. My Dad's socks were always more brilliantly white and seemed, somehow, better. And I will readily admit that when I moved out of my parents house into my home with my husband, I stole his stuff too.

Imagine my curiosity when I was reading the paper this morning and found this:
Serial Sock Snatcher Knee Deep In Trouble Again

Now, my small and insignificant time of sock thievery doesn't sound so bad does it?

Oh yeah, and I overcame my issues...I stopped wearing tube socks and The Mister hides his sweatshirts.

Monday Secret

You know, Mondays are always a little bit boring. Well, maybe boring is not quite the word. Perhaps a better word is bland. It's the hum-drum day of every week. So I thought I would share a juicy secret with you.

Living at home with my parents has it's perks. For instance, they have a beautiful pool in the back yard that my Dad has diligently been getting ready for a summer filled with grand kids who are ready to swim. But lately, this new pool guy has been spending a bit of time out there helping my Dad in his quest. And let me tell you...He Is Hot!

He prefers not to be shown on the blog, because well, he's hunky....but he's shy. Just look at the way he cleans out those leaves and bugs and things with such purpose!

When I went outside yesterday to take his picture he laughed at me and told me to put the camera away....but I told him that when I see a cute pool guy, I like to blog about it. He told me that a cute pool guy isn't all that blog worthy...but I say he's wrong. Plus, it's my blog.

Desperate Housewife? Not a chance. Who needs TV when you've got a man like this?


There's some Monday sassiness for you! ;)


La Vida Dulce!


(P.S.: For those of you who may be worried....please don't. The pool guy is just The Mister in diguise!)

Dry

So it seems I am now a once a week blogger. Which I hate. A few weeks ago I contemplated wrapping this puppy up. Because I like me blog that is updated. But I am going to keep it going, although it's been a bit dry and boring as of late.

Speaking of dry...You can't even begin to imagine how dry I am at this very moment. It's like my skin got so used to humid weather in the last 10 years and now is crying out for mercy. From my hair to my feet I am one dry mess. I can't drink enough water, nor can I put on enough lotion or sunscreen.

This reminds me of an older lady i knew as a kid. Her name was Mrs. B. and she lived in a mobile home park in the town my Dad was raised in. I loved Mrs. B. She was always very kind and she always had some sort of old-lady candy that she would give to me.

When I would go to see Mrs. B., she would give me hug and a kiss and there would be this really dry rough patch of skin on her cheek that was like sand paper. It begged for some lotion.

I used to wonder how that happened, and now I know. She lived in the desert where the moisture is literally sucked out of you.

On different note I have to go to the library and return some books today that are overdue. I have a bad history of not returning books in this state, but since I haven't had a card here in my married name they haven't picked up on it yet. I gotta run and return the books before they realize I got married 12 years ago and skipped out of town without paying my $13.00 fine.

You didn't know I was fugitive of the law did you?

Not One, But Two, Chickens

I waited as long as I possibly could to post, in hopes that I would have excited and great news.

Turns out I may have counted my chickens.

We tried over the last 10 days to buy not one, but two, houses here in our new home town. But both offers fell through. This is probably a good thing since our home in NC isn't sold (or even being looked at...but I am not bitter or anything...more like extremely impatient).

We got a little excited early this week when someone came to look at our NC house for the second time (although there wasn't any record he had been there the first time) and our hopes were dashed when we found out it was an empty lead.

It's all right though because today I had my hair cut and colored. I had my eyebrows waxed and I ate not one, but two, sushi rolls. Currently I am binging on blue and pink cotton candy leftover from the county fair. Which brings me to my next subject... (and lets you know that all emotions can be overcome with proper spa treatments... and sugar).

Yesterday my Dad and I took the kids to the County Fair. The kids had a blast and my dad and I came home ready to fall into a deep, deep nap. There is nothing like taking not one, but two, kids to a fair pumping them up with soda, junk food and cotton candy and then standing in the heat for the roller coaster ride. Honestly, it was really fun and the kids are ready to go back next year.

One of the things I love best about going somewhere that has a high volume of people is because I think people watching is enjoyable. And at this fair we were not disappointed. We found not one, but two, sweet characters that were the most fun to watch....

Holy Smokes It's Friday!

Wow, it's been a long week.

I haven't felt much like blogging, what with the happenings in the world this week.

Sometimes saying less is better.

I am glad that it is Friday.

We have some potentially exciting news going on here but I am afraid to count my chicks before they hatch. I did want to check in just in case there are people who still read my blog and let you know that I haven't been wandering about in the desert.

I hope you have a fantastic weekend and I will be blogging again soon! Perhaps with a fun announcement!

A Day at the Race

On Sunday I ran the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K. My gym sponsored a team so my sister-in-law and I signed up to run.

From the look on my face above you'd think I was about to embark in the Boston Marathon (which also took place this weekend) but the reality is that running in a Race for the Cure 5K does more for the heart than a cardiovascular workout.

It was more than emotional to see survivors walking, and some being pushed in their wheelchairs because the treatment that heals is more debilitating than the cancer itself.

And to see runners with hot pink signs on their back that read
"in Memory of:"
or
"In Celebration of",

many wore more than one.

I love participating in races because it is always a bit of a celebratory event, but none more than the Race for the Cure.

I am often motivated to make a better time than my last race. Driven to do better than the race before. But at this race I was smiling at the finish line.
Glad to be healthy.
Glad to run.
Happy to be part of something that is more than a workout.
More than a number of time...

It's about being alive and running for hope.

~La Vida Dulce

The kids and I get our picture with Wilbur and Wilma.

Jen and I before the race.

At the finish line!!

After the race.

Chewbacca and the kids.

Posing with the only Rattlesnake my kids will be allowed to be next to!

Random Poll - April

About a week ago I crashed my mother's book club. After they discussed their book they sat down for some dessert. The conversation turned to grammar and mis-spelled words. The consensus was that broccoli and zucchini are words that give trouble when one is trying to spell.

Forget about vegetables! i have bigger issues! I just realized today that the word, alot, is not spelled together. It is spelled, a lot. Two words.

I have been spelling that sucker wrong forever (or is it, for ever?). I also thought, may be, was spelled in two words. But alas, it is in fact one. Maybe.

The random poll for this month is this:

What words do you continually have trouble spelling?

La Vida Dulce!

Easter Hike

Since we haven't found a church home yet, and we were about to experience our first holiday shared between two families, we decided to spend our Easter morning in the desert as a family.

The air was cool as the sun tried to warm up the day. The birds were happy (including two roadrunners we saw looking for breakfast), and the blooms of spring made the smell fragrant and fresh.

The desert is so incredibly beautiful with those Saguaro cacti standing so proud! We were relaxing and enjoying a beautiful Resurrection Sunday.

Imagine our surprise when, about a mile into the canyon we ran into this sign.

Our family of four would probably make the perfect Easter dinner for a Mountain lion or two. Perhaps skipping church wasn't too wise?

Thankfully we did not run into a mountain lion! And we enjoyed visiting with our families this year and being a part of all the festivities.

La Vida Dulce!

The Girl and The Mister at the end almost of almost every family hike.

I have taken this exact picture in Texas, Montana, Colorado, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arizona!

Tipped

Last Saturday my mom and I took The Girl to a local nursery to buy some seeds and flowers for The Girl to plant. It just happened to be Rose Week at the nursery and the rose bushes were so incredible that I had to buy one.

When we left we both had roses and various other flowers to put in the patio.

This nursery was amazingly busy! Everybody and their mother's were there shopping. When it was time to check out there were two very old ladies in line ahead of us. They had bought three little flats of pansies and vincas and the checkout lady had put them in a small box. The ladies whom I found out where named Dottie and Helen had asked for assistance to their car but because the nursery was so swamped with customers there was no one to help them. I handed my mom the cash for my roses and told her I would help these sweet ladies by carrying their small purchase to the car.

As we were walking I learned that Dottie and Helen lived at an assisted living community a couple of miles away. I am familiar with this place because it's where my Grandma lived for a few years before she needed more full time care. I asked if they knew her and it became apparent that asking them to remember someone who lived there was probably moot because at this very moment we were walking up and down the parking lot while Dottie and Helen tried to remember where they had parked their car. Helen told me that she usually has her walker with her which helps when she buys packages because then she can balance her packages on it and get them to her car. But she didn't use it today cause it "slows her down". Dottie then was telling me that she has a grey car and that she usually always parks in the same place.

Dottie and Helen were quite a pair and after about 3 or 4 minutes of walking through the parking lot we finally found their car.

Dottie opened the back door and I placed the box of flowers on the seat. I wished them a good day and started to walk in the other direction when Helen grabbed my arm and nudged in real close, like she was going to tell me a secret. She said "I always tip the boy who helps me, so here you go." and she slipped a rolled up dollar bill into my hand. I was so taken back that I didn't have time to say thank you before she and Helen were taking off quickly through the parking lot. Way too fast for two 80 year old women who could barely see over the steering wheel.