Seasons Change

As I get older I become more and more aware of how much things change and that consistently changing is actually part of who we are and the world we live in. I'm not just talking about the weather, but about the things we do. There are times when I am incredibly organized with my coupons and cut them the second I get them. There are times that I let them pile up for weeks at a time (current season). For a while I was blogging at least once a week...and yet I sit here today blogging for the first time since January.

Seasons change. Life gets busy. I'm trying hard to just go with the flow and let some of the things that just don't matter come and go. I obviously can't choose to go through seasons of personal hygiene or cooking for my family, but there ARE things that just don't matter in the long run. I think blogging has fallen into that category, although I do miss sitting down and typing my thoughts out on my little laptop. So, I'm back for now. I guess we'll see how life goes and how long I'll keep it up this time!

Not only do seasons in our life change, but sometimes we have to unexpectedly change our plans to make things work...

I've been so excited about an upcoming trip to the beach that we've been planning. Actually, I've been BEYOND excited. So excited that if I try hard enough, I can hear the ocean already. I'm from Florida. That should say it all. I grew up at the beach and somehow it's a big part of who I am. It's a place where I can truly relax, think, and rejuvenate. Not only that, but we haven't had a real vacation since right before I got pregnant with Emma. We've moved twice since then and just haven't had the finances to take a trip...until this year, or so I thought.

Our trip to the beach isn't extravagant, but trips require money no matter how frugal you are - unless you're so frugal that you'll camp out or sleep in your car and eat out of trash cans. Needless to say, I'm not THAT frugal. Anyway, our budget is still tight, but with the extra money I've been earning from my shop and the little bit I've managed to save we were headed to the beach in May.

I just said we WERE headed to the beach in May because today I got a statement from the bank concerning our mortgage. I was expecting a letter from the bank, but I wasn't expecting to be told I owed quite so much money. Because we live in a new home we haven't been paying property taxes yet and the bank finally re-evaluated our mortgage and sent us a bill. The point is that we now owe twice as much money as I thought we would and our monthly payments are going up by several hundred dollars too. Both of these things I knew were happening, but my math (or guesswork) was off a bit.

I've been sitting at the computer going through our budget in Excel and the good news is that we can make it all work. The bad news is that we can't make it work AND take a vacation. I'm trying very hard to be an adult and accept this as fact. But I have to admit I'm still in shock and a bit sad. I know that going to the beach isn't part of my survival, but I was so very excited. I haven't been able to get myself to pick up the phone and call the woman I'm renting the condo from to ask for my deposit back just yet. I guess I still have hope that I'll come up with another solution. I should have been better prepared - it certainly isn't the bank's fault. I just have to wrap my brain around the death of such a wonderful trip :)

Dear Lord, thank you that we have a roof over our head and food to eat. Thank you that we are doing so much better than a lot of people are in this country, but can we pleeeease have a vacation in this decade? I really, really need to get away sometime soon. Amen :)

Fall Vacation Part Two - Trip to the Zoo

Gorgeous Weather + Family Day at the Zoo = Perfection!

My new favorite picture of Em! She had so much fun riding around on her daddy's shoulders most of the day! We got to the Ft. Worth Zoo around 1 (much later than we had hoped) and were contemplating whether or not we should stay since they were closing an hour earlier than we originally thought. But we decided to go on ahead since we had driven all the way there. I'm so glad we did! All of the school groups had just left and the park was perfectly peaceful. We had plenty of time to see everything (even though we had to eat lunch as we walked) and really enjoyed our time there. The zoo was so pretty and clean (my favorite part)...I can't wait to go back!

We couldn't believe Em wanted to touch the birds! This was the best part of the zoo. The birds were flying around everywhere and it made Emma laugh and squeal so loud! Seeing these special moments through her eyes is priceless.

She thinks her dad is awesome (he is, by the way)!

Thanks random stranger for taking our picture! I'm so tired of the closeups taken by us!

Perfect end to the day...movie together at the drive-in theater. It was so awesome and the weather was perfect. This was definately one of our favorite days!

Our Fall Vacation

(me and em on the playscape)

to nowhere...

We actually didn't leave Dallas. We stayed at home and did a bunch of local stuff that we haven't had time to do since we moved here. It actually was a lot of fun. I made a schedule for the week that we took with us everywhere - it had our itinerary and maps of where we needed to go.

One of the bonuses to staying at home for your vacation...you don't come home with a ton of laundry to do!

I took so many pictures...it's hard for me to choose just a few to show out of the HUNDREDS on my computer! So, I think I'm going to spread out pictures from the vaca over the next few days!

These pictures are from our day at the mall! Doesn't sound like much, but this mall was amazing! It's the Galleria Mall in Dallas, which is just beautiful, clean, has a great playscape for kids and an ice skating rink. Not only that, but we haven't been to the mall since LAST Christmas! I know, I know, that sounds ridiculous, but everything here is so far away and I just hadn't gotten up the nerve to drive through Dallas to a mall I wasn't sure how to get to. But we did it and it was totally worth it. I'll definately be going back again soon. Enjoy...

Emma BEFORE she knew what was about to happen...

Emma AFTER her ears were pierced...

These days lollipops fix everything!

We went to this kids toy store and in the back they had these strange mechanical animals that kids could ride. They were so adorable...I had never seen anything like that before. Emma rode the elephant...and then cried because she couldn't ride the zebra too...this was only the start of all the crying she did that day! Poor thing turns out she had an ear infection. Can you believe I would have her ears pierced on top of that? What a terrible mom :)

I couldn't resist taking this picture of Emma on the playscape! Somehow butt cleavage is cute when you're two!

To quote Emma "woohoo". That girl loves to play!

More pictures coming later! Happy Saturday!! ~ Andrea

Projects around the house...

This is for you LL...

I've been trying to do little projects around the house...the kind that drive you nuts until you mark them off your list. I recently cleaned out and organized my closet along with the stuff under my bathroom cabinets. The cabinets had become a war zone with all of Emma's "rearranging" she does down there while I'm blow drying my hair! Finally everything is put back to normal! We also added some flowers and a few fall decorations to the outside of the house. The landscaping is far from looking professional, but it's definately an improvement to our yard... we've never put in flowers before! We felt very Martha Stewart-ish (at least I did, I don't know how Vance felt!).

We have several projects planned for this week as well since we'll be on our "going nowhere" vacation. I'll be posting pics of our vacation adventures at the end of the week!

Enjoy...

Some great storage boxes I picked up at Marshall's.

Would love to redo our closet one day with built-in cabinetry... also a sad display of how very flew clothes I have!

Our new flowers... what makes them even more amazing is that my husband dug all of the holes with a long screwdriver because we don't own a trowel! Can you say "ghetto"... It was hillarious and I was proud of him for doing it anyway to make me happy!