The last goodbye

Lambuth to thee belongs our loyalty

And thus in song, we lift our voices

Unto thee, my alma mater ever be

As we come with dreams of youth

Let us leave with purest truth

Raise the lamp, the white and blue

For whatsoever things are true

Whatsoever things are true

You may not know him, but you should

I don't know how many of my 12 readers watch Parks and Recreation, but you really should be. It is hilarious. HIL-larious I tell you. It does take a minute to get into it, and I do recommend using hulu, netflix, or on demand of your choice to go back and watch from the beginning. Not because of a deep mysterious plot like LOST, just to get the nuances of the characters. Since TV is about to be on summer break, it would be a great time to add it to your weekly TV time.

In the meantime, here is a website for one of the characters named Tom Haverford. Hey likes to make up nicknames for things, especially food for some reason, and it is awesome. Just keep clicking for new names. Enjoy!

"Tom Haverfoods"

It's so hard, to say goodbye

So I have these shoes. The are not expensive or glamorous. No, just some black, beaded ballet flats I randomly bought at Target one day on clearance. In fact when I bought them I thought to myself, "I don't think I have anything these will go with?!?" But I liked them. They were whimsical and they were $5, so they were mine.

Jump down the road seven years.....I love these shoes. I wear them to work at least once a week and many times up to 3 or 4. They go with EVERYTHING and they are broken in just right. It's like I don't even have shoes on at all, which is just the way I like it. I have gone through several inserts as I wore the insides out years ago. But I just keep wearing them.

Jump to Sunday.....I slip on  my favorite sparkly black ballet flats and head to church. After church I'm in the car thinking "What in the world is that smell, did Wesley spill milk?" No my friends, it is my shoes. They have just literally been worn to death. They died and our now decomposing. Notice the strings from wear the sequins and beads have fallen off.

But, but, but, but.....what am I going to throw on without thinking? What will mold to my feet and sparkle when I walk down the halls? I could not give up on them. I'll buy new inserts I thought. Yeah good new inserts. So instead of letting them go, I wore them again today to school. I just didn't want to admit they were done for. But during my 2nd grade class today, a child sitting on the floor near to me literally put her shirt up over her nose. She didn't say anything, but I knew. Oh, I knew.

Alas, I had to grow up and face facts. The shoes had to go. I went to the shoe store today and bought a new pair of black ballet flats. They are modern and sleek and smell like new leather, and not, well, feet.

They don't have sparkles, but they do have complete soles and backs, unlike my target shoes...

So that's the end of my bejewled, random purchase, favorite shoes ever. They are officially in the trash. I had to grow up sometime.

Chattanooga: The final Chapter

After dinner on day one we went in search of a Target to get Matt some shorts because it was much warmer than we thought it would be in Chattanooga. He used his handy dandy GPS app which took us up Signal Mt. It was gorgeous. Only problem, there was a Quick Check instead of a Target at the top. So back down to the lowly valley Wal-Mart we went. Somehow going to a Wal-Mart when you are out of town is like the biggest best gift shop ever. It's as if none of us had ever seen mass merchandise for discount prices before. We quickly loaded up our buggy with DVDs, shorts, shirts, and most importantly SNACKS. I love a random packet of powdered donuts at 10pm on a Friday.

After our contribution to the economy of Chattanooga, we headed to bed, which took awhile again. At about 12:30 am I literally told my 2 1/2 yr old if she did not stop talking she was going to time out so Mommy could sleep. Michael was dead asleep and pummeling Matt in the other bed. So neither adult got much sleep again, but that's vacation!

Day 2

Lookout Mt.

Day two started much like day 1, rarin to go and LOTS of coffee. But this is the day I was so excited about. I love nature, I love hiking and climbing and being active outside so Rock City was my wheelhouse. Matt had been before but I haven't so I was definitely the most excited. Michael was relatively enthused and Wesley was just happy about her "princess" pig tails. Since my child is not afraid of heights and loves outside like her mommy I figured this would be an easy morning. I was 1/2 right. Half of Rick City was on top of the mountain, but half was a cave....duh duh duh: Yeah, that went over real well....

But all and all we had a great morning, I even went to the top of the Mt. and looked over with out crying!

Our final stop on the tour was the Tennessee Aquarium. Another shining jewel in downtown Chattanooga's crown. They have done a phenomenal job with this museum. Very well laid out, flows well with the large crowds of people and really great exhibits. My favorite was the otters. Here is Wesley giving the baby otter a high five.

 

I think Michael's favorite was the sharks, Wesley was just fascinated by the divers in the tank feeding them.

 

After we left the aquarium we grabbed some Ben and Jerry's (conveniently located directly across the street) and everyone piled in the car and got comfortable for the car trip home. Wesley needed to catch up with facebook after being "off the grid" all morning.

 

So that's the rap up. I have over 300 pictures from just 2 days! We had the best time and all of us really needed the getaway. I just love that Wesley is getting older and starting to enjoy these types of things. I love watching her see the wonders of nature and the world for the first time. It makes me take another look and appreciate the glory around us. If you are looking for a family vacation I highly recommend Chattanooga. We loved our road trip!

Chattanooga Part Deux

So I promised a post finishing the story of the road trip. And now it seems so overdue it's silly to even do it...... but the reason I haven't done it, is because I have had really really long (and at some moments, horribly awful) three weeks. So I have decided I want to do this post so I can remember how amazingly awesome my life is and how much I love it and my family.

So here we go, when you last read about the trip we were headed out on St. Patricks Day. Here is a shot from the dinner stop. Chick-Fil-a was having a celebration and Wesley jumped right in!

 

You can kinda see the shamrock shirt I made for her as she is loving on the cow.

We made awesome time to the hotel in Chattanooga, well kinda good time since we lost an hour when we crossed time zones. The plan was to have both kids fall asleep and just tuck them in when we got there. What really happened: Wesley feel asleep outside of Nashville after I crawled into the backseat and rubbed her head and hands for an hour, then fitfully woke up 10 minutes outside of Chattanooga, and proceeded to meltdown for the entire 10 minutes. When we got to the hotel Matt and I literally bolted out of the car, he went to check in, I got her out of her seat to stop the crying. It is a horrible feeling to listen to your baby scream and know there is nothing to be done, you just have to keep driving to your destination. When we finally got a room (bad story, but ultimately resolved) we went upstairs and by that time Wesley and Michael were fully wired and rarin' to go, it was 11:30 PM. Not good. By midnight I was dishing out ultimatums and threats like they were working. And by 1 we were all asleep. 

Day 1 in Chattanooga

Ruby Falls

We woke up a bit groggy Friday morning, but we were so excited to be on vacation we quickly got over it. We got ready, ate some breakfast, drank LARGE coffees and headed up the mountain. Wesley and Michael were so excited. One of them stayed that way....use these pictures to guess who:

So, turns out Wesley is TERRIFIED of caves. The second we got out of the elevator, till the moment we got back on she was upset. Not crying the entire time, thank goodness, but alert and ready to cry the whole time. And when we finally got to the Falls she was a puddle. We felt awful for her, but there was nothing to be done. Once your on the tour you are there for about 2 hrs, you can't exit. We thought it would be a good experience to teach her to press on and overcome, it just taught us don't force a 2 yr old to be scared for 2 hrs, she will make you pay. When the tour was done and we could see the elevators that would take us to sweet freedom, then Wesley started to like the cave. She was playing with Michael, talking to people around us and posing for the camera. Just the picture of a precious angel:

We had lunch on top of the mountain, Wesley and Michael played and got out some energy. PS Wesley had no fear whatsoever of being on top of a mountain looking out across seven states. She was running and jumping at the edges and now I was the one on the verge of tears for fear of falling. I'm telling you it was calculated payback.

After lunch we headed into to downtown Chattanooga for the Children's Discovery Museum. It was FABULOUS. I love our children's museum, but Matt said it best, it's like comparing AAA to Major leagues. It was very well organized, clean, many many many hands on exhibits. Just cannot say enough. Here is a couple shots, I have almost 100 to choose from, that's how great it was

After the museum, everyone was way overdue for a nap. So we went back to our hotel, moved to our real room, and settled in. Wesley and I actually slept. Matt and Michael watched basketball. Eh, to each his own.

We we all woke up. We freshened up and headed to a local pizza place for dinner. It was called Lupi and it was awesome. I had been dieting that whole week before and this was so worth the every calorie! See how happy we are!

 

That ended our first vacation day! I'll post again soon, promise, about day 2!

Happy 5th Birthday Pup!

Ollie,you may be only a dog, but we certainly couldn't imagine our lives without you! You bark at leaves that brush by the window, you whine when you get dirty, you give lots of kisses even when asked to stop, you eat 17 times a day and you sleep under the covers with your head on the pillow. In other words, your perfect.

April Fool's Shower

My very best buddy Kendra is getting married in July here in Memphis. And I am quite honored to be, not only a part of her glorious day, but her Matron of Honor no less!! And although I cannot wait for the big day to be here, I have secretly been over-planning for her bridal shower since she asked me to be in the wedding!

I love to throw a good shower. And let me tell you I have thrown a few. Actually I have thrown 6 baby showers, 10 wedding showers in the past 5 years to be exact. I mean my friends and I have this down to a science.

To throw a nice shower you need the following (in order of importance):

1. A theme, for this shower I went with April Fools because it was set for April 2nd
2. A color palette, for invites and decorations to coordinate with your theme, for this I used Kendra's wedding colors: chocolate brown and jade green, with accents of cream
3. A menu, this is my least favorite part. I like to cook but I am not a gourmet so the food WAY stresses me out. I happily pass this part off to other hostesses every time.
4. An invite, that follows the theme and color palette of course. I luckily have a resident graphic designer who always creates the most perfect design for every shower I throw.
5. Decoration and Design plan, again that follows your theme and color palette (are you getting my drift here? It's ALL about a theme) this also includes flowers, which need to be present and fresh (read:real) at every shower I throw.
6. Games or activities, I like this to keep the party moving but I do not like using traditional or cheesy games if you can help it
7. Favors, just a little token to send away with your guests to show how much you appreciate them coming

Now ideally no hostess is ever responsible for all of this on her own. And luckily for the many showers I have thrown this is true. I have always had a group of capable ladies working together. This shower was no different. Although I didn't know any of Kendra's bridesmaids before, they are wonderful just like her and we all worked together to throw a great shower.

My jobs were the invites, because I have the secret weapon graphic designer, and to have my house ready to host. No problem. Step one was mucho easy because I just told Matt my design concept and he immediately made it happen. He's awesome like that. The second part I got a little obsessive over. I mean it's my house. And 40 ladies were coming to scrutinize see it. And it was the first nice weekend of Spring, so not only would people want to see the inside, they would be outside. I had to get everything ready! Every flower bed needed to be redone, all baseboards scrubbed and so on. I have to take this moment to publically say I could never do any of this without Matt, he sweeps and scrubs right along with me every time I have a shower and he is amazing, because he does it happily and he never asked to host a shower! Love you Matt!!!

So after the house was sparkly clean I needed a Hobby Lobby(for decs) and Home depot (for yard) run! I bought fabric that coordinated with our theme and invites. And made two matching table runners for the main tables, here is the dinning table runner

 

Then I created a sign for the bride to be with coordinating ribbon and scrapbook paper:

 

I had some leftover fabric so I made up an "card keeper" for Kendra to put her bridal shower cards in for keepsake, you can also see the framed invite for the bride which is a must at all of my showers, the tulips are the brides favorite and were sent the day of the shower by the groom, he's a good one!

The day of the shower another bridesmaid, Jennifer, who is AWESOME, brought and arranged all of the fresh flowers. We had 6 bouqets total throughout the house and back deck. You can also see the AMAZING food that was made from scratch by Maggie and Mandy. It was so so so good!! I accented the tables with green and brown candles on top of upside down wine glasses, with a fresh flower under the bowl and a ribbon around the stem.

And here are our precious favors, by Rachel and Amy!

 

As you can see, we had a great afternoon. Everyone worked together to honor our wonderful friend on her upcoming wedding. And we had perfect weather on top of it all, so we were able to play Alicia's games and open gifts outside on the back deck!

Here is a picture of the beautiful bride and her bridesmaids.

 

Congratulations Kendra! I hope you enjoyed your shower as much as we enjoyed throwing it for you.