Autumn Scents

I must say, it's smelling awfully fallish around our house:)

And The Bathroom is DONE!

Painted cabinets, new mirrors and lights, and an paintable wallpaper accent wall:

Baseboards, new towels, and matching barn star:

And Crown Molding:

Coming Soon...

Yes, I am getting ready to decorate for fall.  I do not care that it is August 19th.  I am evoking a cooler spirit in my house in hopes that the outdoor temps will soon follow.  I'm excited:)  Pictures to come!

Blessed

So many times, I hear people complain about how much they hate Jacksonville, and while I can relate when it comes to talking about the main drag in town where every other building is a "buy-here, pay-here" car lot, a tattoo parlor, a strip club, or a pool hall, the rest of this area of NC is absolutely beautiful!  Not many people can drive 10-20 mins. and be at the beach, eating at a restaurant overlooking the ocean.  So I choose to see the blessings in living in a not-so-desirable military town.

Our view at dinner a few weeks ago:

Our First Watermelon

We are really enjoying the fruit (literally) of our labor in the garden this year!  It has saved us so much money at the grocery store.  My favorites have been the squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, watermelon, and TOMATOES!  But I thought I would show you a picture of our very first ever home grown watermelon.  It was so sweet!  I hate seeds, but this one was worth it!

Isn't it beautiful?!

MmmMmm!

I finally convinced Jason that aviator sunglasses were HOT!  I think all I had to say was that the volleyball Top Gun scene USED to be (not since I met and married the most handsome man anywhere) my favorite movie scene of ALL time, and that he kind of reminds me of Ice Man (Val Kilmer) in his beautiful days (have you seen him lately..not so much now).  He then told me that they were Navy, NOT marines, and so it would have been better if they were marines.  But anyways, the next day we found a pair at a surf shop and I assured him it was just as good as I had anticipated;o)  Of course he bought them.  I was a happy girl. 

Sessy man...

What is that!?!

That's what we said when driving home one night after passing this house not too far from home.  It appears to be an outdoor fish tank, and it has lights in it...right in their front yard!  I have never in my life seen something like this before!  Jason was so baffled, and I did not see it when we first went by, so we turned around and went back, then stopped in the road to check it out, lol.  It's not a great picture because it was dark and I was using my phone, but you can still see the fish swimming around in there.  I would love to know what their thought process was on this one!

Sleepy Boys

A long week at work, and a hard week of being a dog.  I think it's funny they passed out laying the same way, right next to each other.  A boy and his dog, so cute!

**A prayer request please!  After 2 whirlwind days, we are back at the house. We made the quick trip home to see Jason's grandma, we found out Tuesday that she was given 1-2 weeks to live as she is overtaken with cancer.  It was extremely hard to see her like this, especially for Jason.  Grandma "Jo" had a huge hand in raising him, even more so after his mother became more and more absent.  Please keep her and the family in your prayers as she is in a lot of pain, and as many of you know, it is so hard to see a loved one hurt like that.  Thank you in advance for your prayers!**

A Sleepover at Eesie's!

The last few days of the second week that my family was here in June, Austin and Alaina got to spend a few days here by themselves before the four of us headed back home that weekend.  On the Friday night before we left, Jason had duty, so Austin, Alaina, and I had a sleepover/movie night in the living room.  It was so much fun.  We watched movies on Netflix (The Jetson's Movie, Happily N'Ever After 2, Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes, Garfield's Pet Force, and The Backyardigans!) and Alaina and I slept on the couch, while Austin got the royal throne that transformed into a bed once it was bedtime.  He was pretty thrilled with my creation:)  He got the front and center seat for the movies...

And for dinner...hot dogs and mac n' cheese, of course!  Two of Austin's faves (well after pancakes!).  Then for dessert, Austin got a "snack bowl" with popcorn, cookies, fruit, etc.  His eyes got as big as the bowl when I put it in front of him.  That's what aunts are for, right!?  Alaina and I had ice cream:)

It was a fun night, one that I don't get with the two of them often, so I enjoyed every second of it and I'm looking forward to the next time!

Busy Days

I'm ready for a vacation!  Life has been too fast-paced lately and I just need it to slow down.  A little relaxation and family time is just what the doctor ordered.  Too bad it's not in the cards for a few more months.

The Marine Corps doesn't care when you have a longing for down time and QT with the fam.  They have Jason stretched pretty thin these days.  Last week was rifle range, and as I've shown in previous posts, Jason is always beat during range week.  Getting up at 3:30, and then to make it worse, he would have to have it the week the heat wave settled in on us.  Thankfully that's over, so now he's back to having duty every 3rd day until September.  We will get a small window in the middle of August to go home and be with our family, however.  Very small.  We get to go home on a Saturday and come back on Monday, and that's just because he got somebody to cover his duty an extra day so we can go home to see Alaina sing for her first Sunday morning church service!  She's going to blow everybody away:)  Plus, he's in college every other weekend all day for both days.  At least this class is business management so it's one I can help with.  I've already been "voluntold" that I will be writing a 5 page paper.

Illness has rocked Jason's world this week as well.  We found out that his grandmother, the one he is very close to, and who had a big hand in raising him, was diagnosed with lung cancer.  We don't know how bad or if it's spread yet, so we're hoping and praying it will be in the early stages and that she will fight it, and that this will convince his dad to stop smoking.

Last Monday was a scare for me.  A pain like I've never felt before hit in the middle of the day in my lower left back.  Growing up with diabetes, it is pounded in your head, that back pain in the lower portion on the sides is more than likely kidney issues.  So of course I went into panic mode, and couldn't make rational decisions, so my wonderful mom walked me through what I needed to do via phone.  I couldn't reach Jason on the range, so I called my neighbor who drove me to the ER and stayed with me until sweet hubby could get there (which was about 45 minutes later).  8 hours later, my diagnosis was "renal colic".  A painful spasming of the kidney(s) b/c of kidney stones.  After a rough week, I'm pretty sure I passed the stone late Friday/early Saturday.  Not something I wish on anyone!

We are still having smoke problems from the wildfires here, but they have it somewhat contained now.  It's still pretty stinky here though, especially with the really hot temps.

We are finally starting on some indoor house projects!  First one was the guest bath, we are right in the middle of it, and are learning a lot!  Pictures to come soon!

We met some possible new neighbors on Sunday.  Quite the different couple, but I think they would be good neighbors.  He's 25, and she's 45.  He's a marine, and I think he and Jason would get along well.  She is from Guam.  After meeting them, Jason informed me that she must be "Guamanese".  I burst out laughing and said "no, I'm pretty sure that's not right!"  So his next guess was "ok, well she must be a Guamian."  When the laughing subsided, I had to look it up, they are actually called "Chamorro".  Who woulda known!?

As much as I hate giving Kojak haircuts, he is miserable in this heat, and I'm finding fuzz balls the size of chihuahuas all over my carpet!

I can't believe it's almost August! 

I think my new catch phrase for my stories on Jason will be "Hunny Funnies".  Here's another Hunny Funny...last night I was laying in bed, not sleeping, yet Jason was sacked out.  All of the sudden he pushes up on his elbows, looks at me, giggles (yes, GIGGLES), and says "lincoln logs".  Lays back down and closes his eyes.  If I could only see inside his dreams!

Alaina taught Kojak to play dead when you point your finger gun at him and yell "BANG!".  It's hilarious.  He lays down and rolls over on his side.  Here recently for whatever reason, he has started (on his own) putting his paw over his face.  It cracks me  up!  When Alaina tried to teach this trick to Lola, she ran away and got in her bed.  She is smarter than we give her credit for, she runs from the gun, Kojak just lets you kill him!

Ok, well, the bathroom isn't painting itself unfortunately.  So, I'm dragging myself off the computer now.  59 days until FALL!!!

My 27th (for the 3rd time) Birthday

I was very blessed this year to have my family come to our house to celebrate with me! Jason was even able to work it out with work to be off and he skipped class that day, so I had everyone with me! My birthday was on Saturday, but Ash, Matt, and Austin came in the Monday before and spent the entire week with us, then Daddy, Momma, and Laina came in on Friday. Saturday, we all swam and hung out, enjoying each other's company, relaxing, talking, watching movies, and of course, there was a Walmart run at some point for Matt and Jason. Then we had my birthday dinner. The food...exceptional, as always! Can't beat southern cooks! 

My Daddy, the grill master!

 Fried squash, zucchini, and green tomatoes from the garden.

Ash's to-die-for homemade mac 'n cheese.



Plus, we had all the fixins, and my birthday cake, well, I'm sure you can all guess...Momma's homemade chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and assorted Breyer's ice creams:)  It was a meal for a princess!

Then came gift time!  My family spoils me, I tell ya!  A few of my treasures...Austin gave me a recordable book, where he reads to me, called "All The Ways I Love You".  I cried, it was so very precious!  My parents got me the most comfy sleep shirt I've ever had, with, of course, Tinkerbell on the front and some wired American flags that I wove through the grapevine on my mantel.  Alaina got me this cute metal cow with a flower pot that I plan on putting some rosemary in. Ash and Matt got me the bird's nest photography prop a few months back so I could start using it for photoshoots, and it has proven to be a super cute prop!  And Jason got me a whole array of things, a bag full of goodies from nail polish to Tinkerbell bandaids to shimmering suntan lotion, and a Jeep hoodie and license plate, a shirt from AE..just to name a few!  So, needless to say, I was a happy girl:)



And to end a wonderful day, once it got dark, we built a campfire and roasted marshmallows and made smores.  I'll share a few pictures from the campfire, everyone was there, but there were a few camera shyers. 

The beautiful blaze.



My little sunburnt sis.



I think it's hilarious that Matt has marshmallow in his goatee, he looks full and happy!

Poor Jason was worn out, he had duty the night before in order to be home on my birthday.

The best parents in the whole universe!

The weekend visits are always too short, but I enjoy every second of them and look forward to the next one!  The rest of the week, Alaina and Austin stayed down with us, as did Ash and Matt (until Thursday), and on Saturday, the rest of us hit the road to go back to the cabin.  We could only stay until Sunday night, but we crammed everything we could fit into that day and a half.  Saturday night, we went downtown to a classic car show and street festival.  Super fun, but my husband is now determined to own a classic car now.  (Rolling eyes)  As if his Jeep doesn't keep him busy enough!  Sunday morning, Jason was in the 4th of July program at the church I grew up in.  He wore his blues, and represented the Marines proudly.  After church, we finally got to eat at the oh-so-talked-about Dairi-O, and I must say, it definately lives up to the hype!  Delish!  And to finish off the afternoon, I squeezed in a photoshoot of sweet baby Clara, who was an absolute doll (except when she got hungry of course!).  Once all was said and done, we hit the road at about 7:00 pm.  What a weekend!  Jason's schedule will be better come September, as he will go back to not having duty every 3rd day and we can actually take leave again, so until then, I guess we have to get used to this busy way of life!  That's the military for ya!



Happy 4th

Happy 4th of July everyone!  Please take time to enjoy your freedoms today, and thank those who make that possible!  I love you and am so proud of you, sweetie.  Thank you for your sacrifices!



**Pictures from church and the 4th of July program yesterday.  Jason was the respresentative for the Marines.  He was so handsome!  This girl was full of pride for her husband yesterday (and everyday;o))!

My College Man

Jason started back his college courses last weekend, he's only about 3 semesters away from having his bachelor's in Electronic Engineering.  SIU (Southern Illinois University) comes down here every other weekend to teach, so his degree will actually be from there, which is pretty cool considering he has done all the work here in good ole NC!  I am so proud of you, babe!  Keep up the good work, you are so much smarter than you give yourself credit for!!!

I Think We're Covered!

New swim trunks - ü
Kite for flying at the beach - ü
Water Cannons for the water war that will surely ensue once in the pool - ü
Splash Football - ü
Beach Ball - ü
Blow Up Pool Baseball - ü
All the ingredients to make a certain boy's fave chocolate chip cookies (with his help of course!) - ü
An Aunt and Uncle ready for their nephew to visit next week - üü

Our sweet nephew (along with his Mommy and Daddy) is coming to visit next week, to be followed by the rest of the family on Friday for my birthday:)  I have the best family ever!  I love y'all and can't wait to see each one of you next week!

Holding Him In Our Hearts Until We Can One Day Hold Him In Our Arms

I've been reflecting a lot lately.  I've been at a loss for words, but the time seemed right tonight.  The past month has been a blur, it's been one of the most emotional months of my entire life.  I went through the most horrendous loss with my sweet little sister.  Her second baby, another baby boy, named Landon James, went to be with Jesus before he got his time on earth.  They say he was sick, too small.  So, these past few weeks, I've been clinging to the fact that my precious nephew is in the arms of our Savior, and that He is holding him for us until we will meet him one day in Heaven, and that he is not sick now, but perfectly healthy and happy, and that he is up there playing with our grandfathers, along with all our loved ones that have gone before.  I still have moments where the emotions are overwhelming, and I miss little Landon so extremely much.  I didn't ever get to meet him here on earth, but the connection had already formed, and the fact that we all wanted him so much made us all fall in love immediately.  My darling Ashley is one of the strongest women I know, she is a wonderful mother, and I have no doubt that her Landon knew his mommy and how much both of his parents loved him (along with his big brother, grandparents, aunts and uncle!)  But he will be waiting on us all in Heaven, and I think he will be one of the first ones to greet us when we get there!  I love you, my beautiful nephew, and will miss you everyday.  Until we meet in heaven...