Monday Musings // Weekending

What a weekend! It started off great with a Girls' Night Out at our local Party at the Point. This is a party that occurs every Friday from now until mid-June...there is always a band playing and it's just a fun time. I went with a few of my girlfriends from our neighborhood wine club.

The band that night was Departure, a Journey cover band. **Don't Stop Believin'....nananananananaaaa.."

It also happened to be wine night for our club that night, so we stopped in at the hostess's house after that and I did not get home until around 1am. 

I love those girls! We have some crazy-good wine nights together!

Saturday was a rainy day, so the kids and I stayed inside, got chores done and I may have snuck in a little nap during Farrah's nap time...I. Was. Exhausted. From the night before. We had a birthday party to go to for my friend's son at SkyZone later that afternoon. I was so glad it happened on the rainy day because the boys desperately needed to get some energy out. And that they did.

And then Sunday, I took all 3 kids to the pool solo - yep, Supermom status right there. ;-) I got Farrah into her new float...the water was cold since it had been raining the day before, so we didn't stay in too long, but the boys had fun.

Jake had been given the green light to go play some beach volleyball since I had gone out Friday night. 

We met up later at La Hacienda for dinner, but by then, I felt pretty out of it...all the weekend's antics had caught up to me. I had been up since 4am on Friday since I've started Body Beast again and staying out until 1am that night pretty much has me needing about two straight days of sleep to get my energy back. I certainly do not bounce back like I used to! I'm actually dragging at work today because I also got up at 4am today to do my Body Beast workout as well. I really want to stick with it, so I've set my alarms on my phone to go off in the following order:

That last one is just for laughs...but if I ever make it to needing that one to go off to finally get out of bed, I'm in trouble. So far, I've gotten up on the first one and not needed the others.

Anyway, I hope I can snap out of this tired fog soon...one of my Facebook friends posted this to their timeline this morning and I felt it was more than appropriate for how I'm feeling at the moment.

Happy Monday! Hope y'all had a great weekend and have a great week! xo

Linking Up With: Life Of Meg // Still Being Molly // Lipgloss & Crayons // B Loved Boston

 See where I like to Party.

Become a Fashion Designer

Idaho Recap

First of all...no, I did not bring any potatoes home, so don't ask.

Just had to get that lame-o joke out of the way as it's all I've heard since returning to work.

And while we're on the topic, I didn't spot Napoleon Dynamite either.

Anyway, as you know, we went to Idaho at the beginning of this month and returned last Wednesday. My family lives in the skyscraper-challenged state {ok, they might have a couple} and I had not been back to visit since Christmas 2007 with Tanner in tow.

The four of us spent a wonderful day of flying {the boys were really so good}. We flew into Boise, so we stayed with my mom the night we arrived. {My parents are divorced, but it's ok, I've come to terms with it...so no violins needed here.} Anyway, Jake and I managed to get out after the boys fell asleep to go visit my bestie, Kellie, her husband and kids. It was so good to see her. We've been BFF since 1996 or something crazy like that. {Kurt Cobain MIGHT have still been alive...but only for a few months if that - oh, Tupac and Biggie too.} Anyway, it's always nice to know that she and I hardly skip a beat no matter how many years go by. {Though she and I really have to steer away from 100% Facebooking to at least like an 80/20 ratio with calling. Yep, that's life as working moms with kids...we suck at phone calls.}

The next day, my mom had to take my Aunt Diane to her last chemo appointment {she battled breast cancer earlier this year and took the chemo treatments as a precaution to make sure it was definitely out of there.} She's a fighter though. An Army Veteran and an FBI agent...I've always looked up to her. While they were off doing that, we took the kids to the zoo with Kellie and her kids.

After that, we drove to Twin Falls to stay a few days of the trip with my dad and his wife Teresa. They still live in the same house I was in all through high school, so we got to sleep in my old room. {Though it looks nothing like that now!} We pretty much took it easy those few days. We spent the evenings around the fire pit {I was impressed with how much they had done with the backyard} kicking back with wine and beer and good conversation. It made me miss the Idaho weather a little bit since sitting outside in the evening right now in Charleston is muggy and buggy. It got to 103 there and it didn't feel crazy hot to me...gotta love the dry heat.

I also took Jake and the boys down to Dierke's Lake in the Snake River Canyon while my dad worked one day. I forgot my camera, but here's a pic of the lake I found on the web:

via

 Unfortunately it happened to be the breeziest day of the trip, so it was too cold to enjoy ourselves for too long. We packed up there after trying to get used to the cold water to no avail and went to go see Shoshone Falls just down the road before we headed back up the canyon road.

via

After some good quality time and Olympics spectating, we headed back to Boise to spend the rest of the trip at my mom's. She had a small family BBQ...I got to see my brother Jeff & his girlfriend, my Aunt Diane and my grandma.

My little brother, Jeff and the boys

Gramma Lisa & The Boys

Unfortunately my brother Jared couldn't be there because he and Jeff both trade off shifts working for a paraplegic. I had to see them both separately throughout the trip - so no good sibling photos. But the job they do is a noble one, I can't complain.

The next day, we went to a water park...it was a super-nice day...{and I may even have a hint of tan now because of it.}

Jeff & Tanner on the slides...Tanner was brave enough to go on every one! Thank God he's 48" tall!

On Monday, my mom took us to BSU to see her office and the famous blue turf.

The next day, we also went to visit my grandpa. Unfortunately I haven't seen him since 2006 when Tanner and I came to visit Idaho when Tanner was just a baby. At the time, I didn't know it'd be the last time.

We spent a few of those nights going out with Kellie and her husband and another night going out downtown with my brother Jared.

Kellie, her husband Anthony & Me (Love that they're married - we were all childhood friends!)

My Big Brother Jared & Me

Jake & Jared sharing a cocktail - as all BILs should!

It was a good trip overall...some other tidbits were that I got to see my Shelby...it saddened me to see her right away because she had lost a lot of color in her face and looked very old. I am pretty sure this was my last visit with her. {My Aunt Diane actually put her sister down while we were there due to a tumor spreading to her chest...it made Shelby's passing soon seem even more real.} 

But I suppose those things are inevitable...I love that dog...and I already miss her so much. Oh, yes, I miss my family too!

I know these kinds of posts are the more boring ones, but thanks for reading anyway! xoxo

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Writing Prompt: Reservations

It's been a while since I participated in Mama Kat'sweekly writing prompts...and well, I'm void of a topic to blog about, so I thought, what better time to jump back on the Mama Kat bandwagon? Out of the 5 choices she gave this week, I chose #5:
5.) I have no idea where the following message originated from, but it’s been floating around Facebook for the past week…who does it make you think about?:

"If someone wants to be a part of your life, they'll make an effort to be in it. So don't bother reserving a space in your heart for someone who doesn't make an effort to stay."

This quote struck a chord with me. I feel I do reserve places for family and friends in my heart. I always care, I'm there at the drop of a hat if necessary and I always give my all. I may come off sarcastic at times, but I never want to see my family or friends hurt, and I would bend over backwards to keep that from happening if that's what it took. However, I would say maybe about 10% of the people I do that for actually show me that same love back. Maybe I'm "too nice"...but can you ever be TOO nice? I mean, I thought being a nice person was a good thing - something people wanted in a lifelong friend...but lately I just feel like it gets me walked all over. Would it be preferable for me to be a complete selfish asshole and "me me me" in order to win over my family and friends? Maybe a lot of those people I do care for could care less that I care for them? I think someone's care and concern for you is a gift that should not be taken for granted. Not to say that I'm not guilty of it, because I'm sure I am...but I definitely don't make it a conscious effort.

Life in general is kind of like that. You make a reservation at a hotel. But without calling to cancel, you simply just don't show up. Not only have you wasted the concierge's and housekeeping's time in prepping the room for your arrival, you've made it so they can now not make money off that room for that night because they had it reserved for YOU. But do you think you care about those people that you inconvenienced? You probably don't even give it a second thought.

I find that as I get older, the true friends and good family I have, would never purposefully inconvenience me or leave me hanging. But more and more of the ones that I thought were friends, I feel are not even giving me a second thought. There are some people I call my friends that I don't know the last time we even spoke on the phone (Facebook does not count as primary means of communication, people!)...that the thought of even just calling them out of the blue feels awkward because I feel we've drifted so far apart. But would I still be there for them if they called and needed me? You betcha. I just don't know that they'd do the same for me. I know life gets busy and some people can get put on the backburner, as I said, I'm not so innocent either when it comes to that. But when it goes months, maybe even years, since you've physically spoken to a "friend", how can you even believe you're a part of their life anymore, or how long can you keep telling yourself that they are a part of yours? So when do I pull the plug and "cancel the reservation" so to speak? It's hard to say. You know it's when you finally do that and actually stop caring that they finally come back around. And God willing, the good ones will.

Disclaimer: This post is not aimed at any one individual and is not intended for the purpose of hurting anyone's feelings. I love my family and my friends. But if there is any reason that you think this message is aimed at you...pick up the phone and call me :) xoxo. Love you all.

Wordless Wednesday: A Handful

Pictures taken today at my house while I watched 5 BOYS UNDER AGE 5 by myself ☺