Busy Week

It's been a busy week here. On Monday Katie and I went to Georgia to visit my sweet friend Shelley and her family. I feel bad that we went during the week and interrupted their school week. But I've been wanting to go see them for so long and decided to just DO IT! The trip was a little over 4 hours. Not bad. We stayed for 2 nights and came home on Wednesday. While we were there, we had lunch with some friends from church, went shopping and Shelley, Katie and I went to see a movie- "The Time Traveler's Wife"- not a bad movie at all. I brought my camera to GA with me but forgot my good memory card. So I only had room for about 10 pictures on this cheap little card that was in my camera case.
Here are a few.

Shelly and IShelley's little boy Ashton was SO cute. I bent down for the picture and so did he.
Here he poses with Katie. Ashton celebrates his 2nd birthday this week. Happy Birthday, Ashton!Shelley, Shay and I at lunch. Forgot to take a pic before Tori and Brittany left. Thursday was Katie's first day at USC, Sumter. She labeled the day a SUCCESS. I was kinda sad to take my baby to college. Time REALLY flies. It's hard to believe she's already old enough to go to college.
Friday evening was a date night for Kevin and I. He had planned it for a few weeks...just told me to keep my night free for him. We went to the NCO Club at the base where they The Shaw Community Theatre performed a special Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre- Murder at Rutherford House. It was the third time that Kevin and I have been to one. This one was really good too. I wish I had brought my camera! I correctly solved the crime and guessed who the murderers were. But it came down to the tie breaker questions and I got one wrong. I did receive a certificate for Runner-Up. And I had a blast.
Saturday we got tires for Katie's car. Kevin put her plates on and Katie washed it, so now the Grand Am is road ready. Hopefully Katie will be getting her driver's license this week and driving herself to school. Brian also got a car this week. Using the "Cash for Clunkers" program, he is the proud new owner of a Chevrolet Cobalt. We are looking forward to seeing him and his girlfriend Alli in October when they fly in for the weekend!
I'm looking forward to a quieter week this week. Maybe some time to stamp. Gonna go clean now!
Blessings!

What's New....

Not much.
The summer is really flying by.
Katie will soon be starting college.
We are looking for a car for her.
It's the season for animals. I've been doing my bird watching. One of our favorite thing to do on the weekend is to try and spot a bird we've never seen before. We usually do. It's fun to watch the baby birdies at the feeder. The mommy or daddy bird stuffing food in their beaks while their wings are shaking. So cute. Here is a pic of a daddy cardinal feeding his baby. The juvenile cardinals do not have the orange beak yet.

We've seen lots of hummingbirds this season. They'll come up to the picture window and look in at eye level before going up to the feeder. Funny little birds. We did have 2 feeders for them, but one morning we work up and the one in the tree was missing. A hungry raccoon I assume. Kevin found one of the plastic pieces out in the woods near our yard. I doubt we'll replace that one.

We've also had lots of deer in the backyard and even some in the middle of the day. There are even babies with lots of spots. We put a coffee can of corn out every night. They are used to Kevin now and when he goes out to smoke they usually stay out there eating the corn.
We did go visit Peggy and family a couple of weeks ago... a last minute trip since Kevin was on leave and it was Peggy's birthday. It just made sense to go see them and take advantage of living within a day's drive. We were able to go to Busch Gardens thanks to the "Salute to Heroes" program. We got in FREE and had lots of fun. However, we rode the rides, got wet and then the sun went away and it started sprinkling. Go figure.
Our living room furniture is horribly uncomfortable and Kevin has gotten to the point of not being able to stand sitting on it to watch TV at night. It hurts his back so much. So, I think we are planning on looking for furniture this weekend.
Next weekend I'll have a booth at the community yard sale downtown. I hope to sell a lot of my unwanted craft supplies and stamps. Wish me luck.
Have a fabulous weekend and enjoy what's left of your summer. I hope to get back to blogging one of these days!
Blessings!
(Pictures being added as I have time.)

A Month of Catch Up (LONG POST...LOTS OF PICS)

It's been a while. Unbelievably to me it has been over a month since my last post. I won't go into why, but I decided today would be the day that I would post on both of my blogs! AND try to update them at least weekly. So, here I am. A lot has happened since my last posts. Our sweet daughter (our BABY) graduated. We had a house full of company! And we survived. A good friend loaned me her camper and we set it up in front of the house for more sleeping space. Even though it didn't have A/C, we were able to run an extension cord out to it for lights and fans. I think it stayed cool enough for comfortable sleeping for my parents and my brother and his wife. I wish I had taken a picture.
But, here are a few of the pics from graduation.

Peggy, Zach and the twins with Katie. Brandon and Faith were not exactly cooperative.

Katie with Jake and Megan.

Katie and her Godmother, my Aunt Anna. We missed Dale.

The graduate with my mom and dad- her Grandma and Grandpa Johnson.

Kevin and I with our baby.

At the graduation, Faith wanted to walk and amazingly she even took my dad's hand.

Peggy and I at the graduation- friends since Katie was 2- the twins' age!

My brother, Rob and his wife Kylie were able to make the trip.

Kevin with his mom who flew in from Iowa. We were happy to see her.

Everyone was gone by Sunday. Even Katie who went back to Kansas with her brother and sister-in-law. I picked her up from the airport almost 2 weeks later. Surprisingly, she had changed her "look"- dyed her hair and cut it. I like it though.

As of July 1st, I am no longer on the Our Daily Bread Designs design team. I really miss it. But, I had to start focusing on finding a job. I have sent out a few resumes, but so far nothing. We are going up to Northern Virginia to visit Peg this weekend for her birthday. We are all going to Busch Gardens on the way home. Our summer vacation. LOL
When we get back I am REALLY going to get busy on finding a job.
Employment offices even. Yuck.
I have been stamping and crafting and walking and piddling around. And I am getting ready for a big sale this weekend where I will hopefully unload hundreds of unwanted stamp supplies!
That is about the extent of my summer thus far. I'll show you a couple of pics from yesterday and send you on your way. AND hopefully be back before the week is out to chat some more!

Friends (and Family)

I took my camera everywhere I went, but unfortunately forgot to use it quite often. Here are a few of the amazing people I got to see though.
I got together with some of my church friends at Abuelos. Here is that group:

(Karen, Kassie, Me, Carole and Anita)
Of course I stayed with Paula (one of my closest friends) and her family.
Here is a picture of her and I:

I had a Chai and a walk with one of my most thoughtful friends, Kristin.

I had dinner with Katie's best friend, Caitlin and her mom, my good friend, Aimee.

And then we stopped in Nashville on the way home so I could spend some time with my friend and Aunt Anna.

Jim the Wonder Dog!

Has it really been almost one month since I have blogged here? It's really been a busy time I guess.
I was in Kansas for one week of this last month and I had a wonderful trip. Unfortunately I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to see, but I did manage to squeeze in a lot of visiting! I drove the many many miles across country. Luckily I had a local friend and driving buddy who also wanted to travel to see family in Kansas this summer, so we took the venture together. Cathy was a great travel partner and we stayed awake and busy throughout the trip with travel bingo, trivia and other games she brought along.

Our first stop was in Marshall, Missouri home to Jim the Wonder Dog and most importantly the home to my sweet friend Lori! Lori showed us her lovely little town which included this adorable little park which was dedicated to what sounds like an amazing dog. You can read more about him at this site should you have the time. He really does sound like a wonder dog! It was Cinco de Mayo so of course we had a great Mexican lunch.

My visit with Lori was way too short, but she was a wonderful hostess and I hope I get back to see her again soon!

I'll try and post more of the trip and the graduation soon!
{baby steps...}