Fun Fun Fun

Recently I've been having to learn a hard hard lesson about patience. We have a chocolate lab puppy. She's 9 months old and pushing 75 pounds. She chews everything in sight. Seriously ya'll. It could be my workout weights (yes, she drug them to the couch and started chewing them), socks (I have several loner socks now due to her love of the left foot only), or even the wall!  We're still learning to deal with her crazy antics. She's getting better, slowly but surely. 

Look how cute she is! 

Brandon's birthday was last week. I'm glad we got to spend some time with friends to celebrate a few weeks early at JumpJam, because we were SO busy during his actual birthday weekend!  My father-in-law and I did manage to make him this really neat cooler for the deck. We tend to have lots of cookouts, so I thought this might come in handy!

Doug drawing up the plans. He's very on top of these things, ya know. I'm glad I have him around, because all I knew was that I needed to purchase a cooler!

The finished product. Brandon thought we were building a doghouse, so he was DEFINITELY surprised for once!  

I also got to have some girl time a few weeks ago. Look how fun we are!

Julie and Amia posing for the camera. 

If you look closely, Lee made it to girls' night via FaceTime!!  Love these beauties. (Oh, and we like Lee too). 

Jess the porte-manteau (aka coat and purse rack). 

Em and I got to see our fun French teacher from high school!  Mme Corum was always our fav!  She owns a few booths at Nostalgia in Knoxville and had some very cute items!  

Jess, myself, Julie, and Em. Love them!

Tonight I went to something at the Big Brother office with Haley. We got to make jewelry with some staff members from Lily's Bead Box. So fun!!!

Selfie!

Haley was lots of different people tonight. 

THIS is how they were all night. Haha. They needed somewhere to run around. Absolute craziness!!  One thing's for sure, Haley, her sisters, and her cousins all love each other very much. It was a blast. 

Aaaaand now we shall discuss the weather. Y'all. In the last three weeks it's been spring, almost summer, and frigid winter. I can't deal. If coco doesn't get warm weather soon, she may freeze. 

Last time it snowed.  She's clearly over it. She told me yesterday that she's ready for it to be warm enough to sunbathe. She does that, ya know. 

She loves firecracker pops. One of her all-time favs for our sunbathing sessions. 

Until the warmer temps arrive, she'll continue hibernating, and I just might join her. Or fly down to Florida like Grandma Jean used to do. I need some warmth. It will officially be spring in 17 days. Hallelujah.  Bring on the warmth. 

 

Words of encouragement. (And a little Sochi, of course!)

Words. Comments. Remarks. They can be nice, funny, compassionate and encouraging. Or they can be spiteful, rude, mean, and hurtful. I've just come to realize how much emphasis is put on what comes out of our mouths. It could be gossip, mean-spirited remarks, or just downright hurtful things. Y'all. Let's encourage one another!  These verses have really been running through my mind often lately. 

"Iron sharpens iron and one man sharpens another."  Proverbs 27:17

"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."  Ephesians 4:29

I want to be an encourager. A friend. Someone that friends come to when they are in need of prayer and a kind word.  Women are the worst about it. We over-analyze.  We chat it up with our girlfriends instead of coming before God and asking Him to help us through our trials.  Bad thoughts harbor bitterness. I don't know about y'all, but I'd prefer to be happy than be in an ugly mood.  Being angry is a CHOICE.  Drop your pride, and choose to listen to God.  Choose to smile and think positively even through your frustrations. Pray to God in the moment-I know I can't do it all on my own on a daily basis!  I'm only here through His grace and unfailing love.  I think everyone will agree when I say this. Anger, ain't nobody got time for that! Be compassionate and love others.  Be happy.  It's just a better choice all around.  Enough about that. 

Next up, the "surprise" birthday party that Lindsey and I planned for Josh and Brandon last weekend. I say "surprise" because they both guessed what we were doing almost immediately. Come on, guys!  Even if you know, just play along with us!  Regardless, a fun time was had by all. We went to JumpJam. It was HILARIOUS!  Just imagine:  boys in their mid-twenties gallivanting around on trampolines, foam pits, and a faux ninja warrior course. It was SO FUN!  It also reminded us all of how old we actually are. As Brandon put it awhile back, "I'm just not a spring chick anymore!"  Ohhhh learning to embrace our old creaking bodies is such a blow to our egos. Good thing I'm just choosing to think positive and laugh about it all!

Look at these birthday boys!  Yes, Josh's mustache is real. 

And lastly, we shall discuss the Olympics. Sochi 2014. Now I know there's some controversy about watching them this year. Well, we are red-blooded Americans at my house that drink milk and eat hamburgers once a week, so we are watching the Olympics.  Shaun White. Bode Miller. Gracie Gold.  Jamaican bobsled team.  (They're not American, but this is the first year in awhile that they could attend, so we cheer for them too.). Speed skating. Ice skating. Ski jumping. Slopestyle.  Ice hockey. I'm hooked. It could be curling for all I care, and yet I still stay glued to the tv, screaming and yelling for USA athletes to, "Go for the gold!"  I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!  I would love to attend them sometime if I were given the opportunity.

I've read the athletes' stories. The death of Bode Miller's brother unexpectedly last year to a seizure. The Canadian that ran to the sidelines to hug his brother with cerebral palsy. Shaun White's attempt to win a triple gold in the same event, only to not even medal at all. (THAT was hard for me to swallow. I found out at work, and I'm a sore loser.  I'll continue to choose to blame the poor terrain on the halfpipe at Sochi for his loss.). They are athletes, but they're also people with real lives just like you and me. So, as this is the final week, I encourage you to all watch and support our country. Be patriotic!  Let's get our medal count up so we are back in first place!  USA, ALL THE WAY!