My daddy - I love you!

I always mean to blog but life gets in the way. Another post telling someone I love goodbye. Daddy passed away January 1, 2016.

He was really doing good for most of 2015. He started to show signs of declining in October. It's amazing how I could sense things over the phone, that was the only way I could tell if something was wrong since I didn't see him every day. I went for a visit on October 30th and as soon as I got there we called the ambulance, Kim had stayed until I got there. Dad didn't want to go to the hospital but I told him he really needed to be checked out. They started running all kinds of tests, he was just kind of out of it. They initially thought he had a UTI. He was admitted, the next day when I went to sit with him at the hospital he was so out of it due to the infection he didn't know where he was but he knew me. He stayed in the hospital for five days and they transferred him to a rehab facility to build up his strength in his legs. Looking back we felt so bad about this decision, we didn't know how sick he was. He was in the rehab facility for about eight days they wanted to release him to go home, they said he shouldn't be there. I told my brother to tell them to take him back to the hospital which they did and he was in ICU for several days. When we went to see him in ICU he was better than I thought he'd be but the nurse wanted us to see about bringing Hospice in. That is such a scary word! Even though I could see his decline it's like your brain doesn't let you comprehend what's actually happening. We met with Hospice and got everything set up for his return home - that's where he wanted to be and we wanted him home too. We had to set up 24 hour care.

The day he came home he was so excited to be there, we knew we made the right decision to at least try home first instead of a nursing facility. This was around mid November and he was doing okay for several weeks. I went back and forth at first every other week then it was every weekend and I'm so glad I did and can look back on our time together with no regrets. I'm so glad I had the chance to spend quality time with him the past several years but especially since mom passed.

When my brother called me on New Year's Day at 6 am I knew before I picked the phone up he was gone. My dad was such an amazing man and I was so fortunate to have a daddy like him. My kids were so luck to have a Poppy like him. I know my mom and dad are together again and that does ease some of the pain. Daddy I miss you so much but know you are in a wonderful place you worked your whole life to achieve. I love you!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Yesterday was my mom's birthday, she would have been 74 years old. I've been dreading this day because I couldn't celebrate with her, I couldn't send her a card and gift I couldn't call her first thing to sing happy birthday all those things are gone and it makes me sad. The first thing I did when I woke up yesterday was say Happy Birthday Momma. I talk to her all the time it somehow comforts me as strange as that sounds. We were all sad and we all thought about her all day. But I was determined to make the most of the day by thinking about all the birthdays we celebrated and all the fun times we had to make it a happy day not sad. The "firsts" without her are hard but we will get through this and see each other again some day. Happy Birthday my sweet Angel!!!

I miss you Carole!

I've been putting off writing this post for several months. Six weeks after my mom passed away we lost my mother in law. Carole started feeling bad in January 2014 but didn't know what was wrong she just knew something wasn't right with her body. She went to the doctor they dismissed her, she went back they sent her to several specialist but no one seemed to know what was wrong. Finally in May she went back to her cardiologist. She had an artificial heart valve in October 2012 and had felt pretty good until this point. The doctor wanted to do bypass surgery and scheduled it for June. The surgery went well but she had problems with her heart rate. As a matter of fact she was in the hospital the same time as my mom and felt so bad she wasn't able to be at my mom's funeral because she was in the hospital. Once they regulated her heart rate and things seemed to be back to normal they released her. She felt okay for a couple of weeks then the ER visits started up again. The Saturday before she passed away she called to see if I could take her to the ER (my sister in law was out of town and Billy was playing golf) of course I didn't mind taking her. I'm so glad we had that time together now. My husband eventually came to the ER and they admitted her to try to find out what was causing her shortness of breath. We had planned to have my Billy's birthday cake and lunch on Sunday and Carole asked if we could bring cake to the hospital and we did. We were all together for his birthday. On Tuesday they drained the fluid from her heart and released her on Wednesday morning. She actually felt relieved and felt good. She called several people Wednesday night including us, she told me thank you again for bringing cake to hospital. Thursday she got up feeling great, baked a cake and had a sudden cardiac arrest. My sister in law called me at work hysterical saying her mom fell and couldn't breath (the neighbor who was a nurse was at the house). I tried to calm her down and said I would get in touch with Billy and meet her at the hospital. Again as with my mom your brain doesn't fully comprehend what's happening. I tried calling Billy on his cell and at work without any luck. I didn't know any of his co-workers phone number so I started dialing different extensions and a wonderful person answered her phone. I told her the situation that I needed to find my husband and have him call me immediately. About 15 minutes long later he called I had not gotten to the hospital yet but told him to come immediately (husband commutes 1 1/2 hours to work each way). I stopped by Shane's work and we went to the hospital together. I knew something was wrong when the person at the front desk walked us back to the room. I think part of me knew what was happening and the other part couldn't accept this. She was fine I just talked to her, that's what I kept telling myself. When I walked in the room and saw my sister and father in law I knew. Fortunately for Carole it was instant, no pain, no suffering. Now how was I going to tell my husband over the phone. His dad and sister told me not to tell him anything over the phone just don't answer the phone. When Billy got on the interstate there was a terrible accident and the interstate was actually shut down, he was trapped and didn't know what was going on with his mother. I have never felt more helpless in my entire life. I wanted to talk to him but I wouldn't lie about the situation. He eventually turned around in the median and back tracked through back highways. I knew I couldn't wait any longer to not talk to him so I called him and told him over the phone. I still think about that time and how he must have felt all alone in traffic. It took him three hours to get to the hospital. It was terrible just terrible watching my husband go through what I just went through and knowing the pain he was going to feel.

We had the memorial service two days later. We had planted a tree when my mom passed away so we planted one for his mom. It was such a long process when you loose someone you are so close to. We know we have live because that's what our moms would want us to do sometimes it still doesn't feel real. I love you Carole and thank you for raising such an amazing and caring son.

I love you momma!!!

I’ve been thinking about writing this post for a couple of months; even though I don’t write in my blog very often it is still a journal of my life and feelings at that particular time. On January 24^th my mom’s cancer returned in a big way. She had her routine scans with follow up appointment scheduled just like all the other times before. My mom had been doing pretty good up until November, she had starting saying she wasn’t feeling good and was actually in the hospital in November for pneumonia. But all the scans were good, the hospital tests were good. I would also take her or meet her for the “results” appointment but because everything was going well I thought maybe I’ll listen in to the appointment via facetime but something told me to go with her. Billy also would go with me for these type of appointments. I’m so glad I was there for my mom and Billy was there for me. When the doctor came in and said the cancer was back and it was everywhere, in her lungs, pelvic bone, liver and brain. I think devastation and shock was an understatement, we were not prepared for that kind of news. Yet it eventually sinks in then we say okay what do we do now, how do we fight this. The doctor was going to put her back on the same kind of chemo she had 2.5 years ago. He had warned us at the beginning the cancer would return it was just a matter of when.

In February she started chemo, this time they put a pic line in to alleviate the need to start an IV every time. She had a successful first treatment, she didn’t get sick although she would get really tired. She would wait three weeks before she got the next treatment. From the very beginning of this treatment she had problems keeping her platelets high enough to continue with the chemo. She got delayed from the beginning, she would have to wait the following week before they would test her platelet levels if they were high enough she could get chemo. This was so frustrating because there is nothing they can give you to increase your red blood count, your body has to produce this on it’s on. She eventually finished the course of treatment although she wasn’t feeling well. We were told in April the chemo was working and the doctor was going to continue with the same treatment plan. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to consistently get the treatments because her platelets were too low. In May the doctor decided to change the type of chemo and lower the dose to see if that would help as far as the platelet levels. I think she ended up getting only one round of the new chemo. The first of June she was given oxygen although she only used it when she really needed about two weeks later she was using oxygen all the time. I hated seeing my mother struggle so much to do anything. My mom was a doer! She was constantly doing something, helping my dad do everything or helping someone else. When I went to see them which was about every other week I tried to do everything I could to help my mom not have to do anything.

On June 25 at 3:15 my brother called me and told me to come home immediately, I have no idea how he knew but am so thankful he did. I left work went home and threw stuff in a bag and me and Shane headed to Montgomery. I told Billy I would call him when I got there to see what was going on. When we got there my mom was sleeping, my sister in law was sitting with her until I got there. I think your brain has a way of protecting you to some extent of what’s really going on. My mom had decided to call hospice in for the next day. I had gotten in the habit of sleeping with my mom (my dad slept in another room because he hated their new mattress). I’m so glad I was there for my mom when she woke up during the night. The following morning when hospice arrived the nurse said she needed to be in the hospital because she didn’t have much time. I was so confused because she was at the doctor’s office two days prior and no one said anything. We called Billy and Cole (he lives in Tampa) and told them to get here quick. Mom was taken to the hospital by ambulance and we followed. It was so unbelievable to me what was happening I felt like I was walking through a fog, disbelief that this was happening. They put mom in a regular room so we could all be with her without worry about visiting hours. I have to say I have the best husband, we slept on a hospital cot when we were able to fall asleep. My kids slept in chairs and on the hospital floor not wanting to leave my mom’s side. For whatever reason Billy went up to my mom and said her name kind of loud and she opened her eyes, I ran to her to tell her I loved her and she mouthed she loved me and did the same to the grandkids. I think about that moment so often, I’m so glad she knew she was surrounded by family and friends and so much love.

My mom lost her battle Saturday, June 28. I know she is no longer in pain and is reaping the rewards of her wonderful Christian life on earth but I still miss her like crazy. I love you momma!

Shane's 21st birthday

March 1st was Shane's 21 birthday and also the weekend before Mardi Gras. We decided to go over to celebrate both and had such a good time. I really like New Orleans especially before it gets too hot to enjoy walking around. We had perfect weather - sunny mild temps during the day and a little cooler at night. I love to eat beignets at Café Du Monde so that was our first stop. I took a pic but can't find it anyway trust me they were wonderful.

We celebrated Shane's birthday in the hotel room. We got a baby cake! We also had a king cake.

Pics of the parades and us.

 

not a very good selfie

I don't watch The Walking Dead but this is the main actor from the show.

 The floats were so elaborate.

Billy wanted to see how many beads he could catch - he caught a ton!





In between the floats they had bands from all over the country and people riding horses with masks.

 



Ice Storm of 2014

My second post in the same day! We actually had a couple of snow well really ice days in January. The city basically shut down for two days. Shane got three snow days, me and Billy got two days although I went in on the second day for a couple of hours. It was fun hanging around the house watching movies all day thankfully we did not lose power. Billy took this pic.

 so funny to see ice and snow on a palm tree

 our back deck thick with ice

It was nice to get back to normal, I can only take a day or two of being stuck inside. I really feel for those up north that keep getting storm after storm and loosing power. So thankful to live in the south.

Christmas 2013

We had a wonderful Christmas, of course the best part was being able to spend time with my family all in one place. My office usually closes for two weeks during the holidays which is wonderful, Billy took off almost the same amount time off as well. For some reason during Christmas I think I turn into Betty Crocker!! It really is the only time of year I bake like a mad women and really enjoy it.
 
I was thrilled my parents were able to come down only for the day but I'll take it. Cole's off days are Tuesday and Wednesday so thankfully Christmas fell on Wednesday and Cole was able to come home. Since this was his first Christmas at his job he knew he wouldn't get any extra time off so it was a quick trip but so thankful he was able to make it. He left right after work Monday afternoon and got here around midnight. My parents came down Tuesday morning (Christmas Eve) and spent the day with us. Billy had made a big pot of chili - my dad could eat his chili every day. We had such a good day visiting with each other. My mom and dad opening presents.

 

Our mantle, I changed it up a bit this year.



Christmas morning

 

 The past few years Cole and Shane have gotten each other the same movie without the other knowing, too funny.

We have a ton more pics just not on my camera! For Christmas Day Billy's parents came over for lunch. Cole left early afternoon going back to Tampa. It all went so fast but I cherish all the times we spend together.

The rest of our vacation went good we didn't go anywhere just hung around the house. Billy did a few projects I cleaned out some closets but it was nice to have relaxing time.

Our new kitchen

We finally took the plunge and updated our kitchen with countertops, backsplash and appliances. At first we were going to do it ourselves then we came to our senses! We chose travertine tiles for the backsplash and quartz countertops. At first I was afraid to put anything on the countertops but I've gotten use to it now and love it so much. We went with stainless appliances because we had replaced our refrigerator about a year and half ago with a stainless one. I love my double oven as well, the smaller oven is used the most. We kept the cabinets the same, I'm not a big fan of oak cabinets but they are solid wood and I knew the countertop and backsplash would change the looks of them and of course cabinets are a big expense.

So the before pictures, the new appliances were in when I took the pics so just imagine white appliances trust me the stainless looks much better.

And the new kitchen.

We extended the island a few inches, I didn't think it would make that much difference but it did.

love the oven

Summer Vacation

This year (well last year) we decided to stay in town and rent a condo on the beach for our vacation. Some friends of ours (we were stationed together in Vegas) decided to join us at the beach, we had such a good time. We rented the condo the end of August when the rates dropped a little bit - and the kids were back in school and the tourist were back home. Billy loves to fish so he was in heaven early in the mornings, one of my favorite times was sitting on the balcony drinking coffee (and watching Billy running back and forth with his fishing poles). It was so peaceful watching the sun come up each day and watching it set each night. I always think I would love to live on the beach, in reality I wouldn't really want to deal with the sand and dampness of the beach and of course the hurricanes. We were on the 15th floor so the views were beautiful, we had sound and gulf views. My favorite past time is sitting on the beach reading and I was able to do plenty of that. This was our view looking out on the gulf.

 A shot of the condo, loved this place.

 from the balcony

the sound view

 the sunrise when Billy went deep sea fishing

 his catch

I would love to stay at the beach again this year. The best part 30 minutes from home.

50th Birthday

What to say, where to start...I seriously want to start blogging on a regular basis. I love Facebook but hate that it stopped all the blogging. Blogging really is better I just have to get back in the groove. So onto to my post. So my year recap. My favorite time has to be my 50th birthday. Billy and I went to Key West for a long weekend and he surprised me with sky diving seriously the most awesome thing I've ever done. I don't think he will ever top that birthday. This was the instructor with me Billy also had an instructor. Everyone should try this at least once, it's scary, exciting, thrilling, heart stopping, the most fun ever.

Every night at sunset the whole town makes there way to Mallory Square to watch the sunset, eat and watch the street vendors come to life. We loved the food.

 

Lots of good food.

 

 

 

 

 

my baby cake

 

my big cake when we got back home

It was such a special weekend. I'm sure we will be going back to Key West.

Hello blog

Not much going on in my world. Thankfully my parents are doing good. My mom is getting stronger every day, my dad is about the same. 

We had some exciting news in December, Cole moved to Tampa. He took a job with Fox - continuing as a photojournalist. I was so excited for him to get this opportunity to move to a new, exciting, and big city. He's finally settling into his new place. The only bad thing is it takes 6-7 hours to see him instead of the 2-3 hours I've been use to. Shane is still doing really well in school. I know he will be glad to be finished.

I'm still loving Thirty One and so excited to be able to go to the National Conference in Atlanta in July. I'm trying to earn points (parties, recruiting) to help fund my trip. I really enjoy being part of a group and hope one day I can have my own group of women!

Until next time...

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, hopefully enjoying the company of family and friends and maybe a little bit of shopping.

Shane and I went to my parents for the holiday. My cousin now hosts Thanksgiving and Christmas. We had lots of good food and more importantly a good time visiting with each other. Seems like the stories always go back to when we were much younger but I enjoy talking about the good ole days. I have so much to be thankful for this year. The most important is having my parents here. We have had a roller coaster of a year with both of my parents being diagnosed with cancer. I'm thankful my mom is in remission and doing much better from the fractured vertebra and the fractured sternum. She is still not able to do too much but her pain level has gotten better. My dad is also stable, unfortunately he is in pain most of the time with the carcinoid tumor on his liver, at the same time so thankful it is a very slow growing type of tumor.

I'm now a Thirty One consultant. I'm loving this company and of course the products. I don't really have a big support system where we live, we don't do a lot of socializing like in the past so I really wanted to be part of something and be able to meet people and of course have fun doing it.

I really wish I would blog more often than every few months, I enjoy going back through the years and reading what was going on at that particular time in my life, maybe I will stick to it a little better than in the past, here's to hoping!

Finally back

I've been trying to figure out how to upload a photo from my iPad to my blog and finally gave up, if anyone knows please tell me.

We've had a pretty good summer. We enjoyed the beach more this year than last year. I've been going to my parents house at least once a month which is so nice to be able to do that.

I'm going up this weekend for a visit although this one will be stressful. My daddy has his doctors appointment on Monday we will find out his test results and treatment plan options. We know he has adrenal gland cancer and there are spots in his liver. We are praying and hoping it hasn't spread elsewhere.

My mom is doing much better, she had two fractures in her back due to the cancer treatment she had earlier in the year. She had a procedure done on Tuesday that has finally gotten her out of pain. The doctor made an incision in her back and put cement in the fractured places. It will take about six weeks for her to get back to normal.

Billy and I went to Nasville a couple of weeks ago to see Mötley Crüe and Kiss. They were both good, I like Mötley Crüe better. Nasville was really nice and of course we had to go to Trader Joe's to stock up on our usual stuff.

I'm so ready to decorate for fall, I'm going shopping for pumpkins tomorrow. Pictures to follow, even if it means gasp using laptop!! 

Happy Mother's Day!

I spent the weekend with my mom. We had such a good time getting pedicures on Saturday. I'll post a pic later. I'm so blessed to have a mom like my momma. She is the most generous, caring, supportive, loving person I know. We talk every morning on my way to work, we can talk for hours and still have more to say to each other. I'm so glad I'm only 3 hours away and I can visit both my patents often. I try to appreciate every day with my mom and not take her or the time we have together for granted. I love you mom.

Flowers and deck

I love gerber daisies = low maintenance

 We are putting down mulch this weekend so ignore that part.

These plants have done so well this year, they really like the plant food! 

 I painted the tricycle red, it really needed it because is was very rusty.

Billy and Shane rebuilt our deck making it twice the size as it was before. I was really impressed he knew how to do this. The little black spot is Jazz taking a nap. 

Catching up, a lot of catching up!

So much has happened since my last post in December. I'll start with my mama. She was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer the week before Christmas. I can't imagine what she was feeling because I was so stunned and terrified. This can't be happening to my mom, my best friend. We were so fortunate that they found the cancer so early, in most cases when diagnosed it is very advanced. The reason they found it early was because she had Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 2008 and had been getting PET scans since. Her option was chemo and radiation. She started chemo the very next week and had to have four rounds and 32 radiation treatments. She did really good through everything except on the last round, she ended up getting shingles and radiation pneumonia. She is much better today. After we received the wonderful news that she is in remission I felt like I could breathe again, I can only imagine how she must have felt. Because of the type of cancer she has the risk of it returning is great and it usually comes back in the brain. So she will be having 17 low dose radiation treatments soon probably starting within the next two weeks. By having the low dose radiation it reduces the risk by 60% so it is a must that she has it. All I can say is the power of prayer works!

Cole had knee surgery back in September and ended up being out of work for six months, thank goodness he has a good employer that worked with him during that time and he is back at work now. He also went back to school during his time off and finished a program he had worked on for some time, so proud of him for completing it.

Shane has just finished is first year of college. I don't know where the time goes, seems like he was just graduating high school. He is going to continue going to school through the summer, hopefully he doesn't get burnt out.

Everything else seems to be going normal. Billy doubled the size of our back deck and it is wonderful, I'm going to post some pics of the deck and my flowers tomorrow.

I want to get back in the groove of posting on my blog. I feel like I'm repeating myself because of facebook and twitter but I do enjoy the blog post better than status updates. I also have to remember even if no one reads my blog it's a way for me to keep track of my life.

Recovering

Surgery went well, had more damage than MRI showed. I'm adjusting to using one hand which has been frustrating. I went back to work on Monday for a few hours and Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday it was time to rest! I'll try again next week. The office will be closed the week before and after Christmas which will force me to rest, I'm not a very good patient and don't have much patience. I got my (12 very tightly sewn) stitches out yesterday and drove myself, I felt so free to be able to drive again. I go back to the doctor in two weeks and hope to start physical therapy then. I have to wear an arm brace with my arm bent at all times except for taking a shower.

Some of my one arm accomplishments: changing the sheets on the bed (I still can't believe I did it), mopping, sweeping, putting on mascara (no eye liner though), folding clothes, washing dishes although I have Shane do this chore most of the time, hooking my own bra-I was very proud of this, and wrapping Christmas presents.

Surgery date

I'm having surgery on my elbow on November 23 (my choice). I'd rather be miserable on Thanksgiving than Christmas! The surgeon couldn't believe I didn't injure my elbow in a fall or something. I have thought that maybe while walking Laila and there have been many times she would see a rabbit and try to take off after it that my arm was jerked but who knows. Since the last steroid injection I got on this elbow felt different he said that could have been part of the problem but not to the extent my elbow is in, the bone is even chipped. So strange but makes sense why I have so much pain.

He's not sure how he will treat it until he opens it up to see the extent of the damage. I'll go in for outpatient surgery and be in a splint or cast for two weeks. After that time I will be in a brace which I got yesterday and have been wearing it to help stabilize my elbow. I will have to be in the brace for another 4 weeks, I won't be able to use my arm at all which is going to suck so bad. I had thought I'd be able to go back to work after the two weeks but since I can't use my fingers to type not sure what I'd do, our office usually closes the week before and after Christmas so it would only be 3 weeks of work time I'd miss. After that time I will start intensive physical therapy. I'm trying to get my mind set for this long process but it's hard to do when I can still use my arm. The doctor said the complete healing process will take 6 months.

On the positve side I'll get a really long vacation and it will be during the holidays. I'm trying to get a jump on my holiday shopping so I can actually wrap the gifts.

My poor elbow...

I've been dealing with elbow pain for about a year and a half, actually both elbows. I was told I had tennis elbow and golfer's elbow and started a series of steroid injections over the past year. My left elbow seems to be doing ok but my right one has gotten progressively worse. The last injections was in May and the pain didn't go away in my right one. So I gave it time, did the stretching exercises I was told to do and the pain actually started getting worse. I finally had had enough of the pain so I made an appointment with my regular doctor. After looking at my elbow he ordered an MRI he said I could have torn something because of the swelling and inside pain. I'm thinking how did I tear something, I haven't done anything and wouldn't I know if I tore something immediately. So many questions. I had the MRI last week and my doctor called for me to come in for the results. I thought well something really is wrong if I have to go in for results. When he walked in the door he said you have a really sick elbow, I have three torn ligaments! I'm sure I'm looking at him with the deer in the headlights look, huh??? How did that happen? So now I'm waiting to see the surgeon who after my doctor talked to him is so excited to do surgery on me! So glad I made the surgeon's day.

So according to the MRI report I have a significant high signal at the bony attachment of the common extensor tendon, consistent with a high grade tear, a tear of the radial collateral ligament and a tear of the lateral ulnar collateral ligament. When I googled all of these they all relate to athletes mainly baseball players. I really can't figure how this happened.

I'll feel better when I talk to the surgeon to find out how all this gets done, what the recoup time is, rehab, etc. I hope I can get the surgery done sooner rather than later. Husband's going to have to learn to do a lot of stuff!

Bloggy Meet Up 2011 - part 1

I'm finally getting around to blogging about our blog meet up two weeks ago. We had such a good time hanging out in a beautiful home in the mountains (thanks Kristie). The views were stunning and we lucked out being there at the peak time to see the leaves changing colors. We laughed, crafted (yes I crafted with help), talked, had the best "original" smores, had some great food and wine, and saw some amazing things. First up is this cute little guy at Grandfather Mountain, he didn't seem to mind having his picture made, I think there were 4 or 5 bears.
beautiful view

This was looking out on top of Grandfather Mountain.

This was looking out from the balcony of the house.

I'll be back with more pictures.

Remembering 9-11-01

World Trade Center Memorial - I will never forget!

My summer...

I can't believe the "official summer" is almost over, it's really no where near over in Florida. Thought I'd catch up with what's been going on around here the past couple of months. No pictures today, I have to get them off my phone and I'm too lazy to do it today!

June - not too much went on after Shane graduated - that was enough excitement for one month.

July - We went on vacation to Key West during the 4th week - it was so hot and humid, I thought our weather was humid but they have us beat. We drove down (we will NEVER do that again) no idea what I was thinking, this vacation was my idea. Husband says he picking the next vacation! We had a good time once we got their. Going down we had great weather and no traffic, we stopped right before we hit the keys, total time 13 hours. I have to say I was a bit disappointed in the Keys. I guess when you live in a place like we do with beautiful white sand beaches and beautiful water it's hard to compare to anywhere else. Although the reason we go on vacation it see something different. I would really compare the atmosphere to a small New Orleans, all the shops along Duval Street and the nightlife and the fact you walk everywhere. The sunsets were truly the most beautiful I've ever seen. We went on a snorkeling adventure on a party sailboat. We went out 7 miles and snorkeled for about an hour. I have never done anything like this, husband dives so he knew what to expect. I was really proud of myself because I can be somewhat of a chicken even though I love the water I can usually see the shore when I'm out in it. As we were swimming around I looked down and a shark was swimming right underneath me. I don't think I have ever swam so fast as I did and immediately got back on the boat. My husband coaxed me back into the water but I didn't really enjoy it as much knowing Mr. Shark was close by. On the way back the boat turned into a party boat with drinks flowing. All in all it was fun and I'm glad I did it. The next few days we went to the lighthouse which I loved and walked around. The water was beautiful the beaches not so much, too many rocks. We really liked the Cuban sandwiches, the bread was wonderful. I tried the chocolate dipped key lime pie, it was okay but I enjoyed the giant chocolate chip cookies the bakeries had, almost the size of a small pizza. The local pizza places where also very good. We decided to drive all the home in one day because the next day we were driving over to Biloxi to Poison and Motley Crue - drive to Biloxi is 1.5 hours. The drive home was not as fun, lots of traffic and tons of rain and wrecks on the interstate, it took about 15 hours to get home. We were so tired and so ready for our own bed that night.

Three weeks later we went to a friends military retirement in Augusta, GA (7 hours). It was a lot of fun seeing our friends. On the way we stopped in Atlanta to stock up at Trader Joe's. I didn't realize how big Augusta was, lots of good shopping. When we lived in Boston I would go to The Christmas Tree Shop and I was so excited to find one in Augusta. On the way home we stopped again at Trader Joe's just to be sure we got everything. You should have seen our car - we were loaded down but it was a lot of fun.

August - We went over to New Orleans last weekend to watch a Saints game. This is the first professional game other than the Pro Bowl I've ever been to. We had great seats almost on the field, next time I'm sure we will be in the nosebleed section with the price of tickets. Shane also went with us this trip, he had never been to N.O. so he enjoyed taking lots of pictures of everything. On the way home we stopped by an outlet mall, I'm so glad my husband likes to shop as much as I do.

I guess we've had a busy summer and we had a lot fun. Tomorrow Shane starts college. He also has gotten a part time job, he started last week and is getting use to working - now he knows how we feel.

I think I've found a crafting hobby I can do and actually enjoy working on. I've been making cards, they are still very simple but I've been checking out websites for ideas and have been using scrap booking material I already had. I did buy a few stamps at hobby lobby the other day, I'm trying not to spend too much because I know how I am with hobbies. I'll post some pictures of what I've done so far, again too lazy to do it today!

Shane Graduates!

Random pictures of Shane's graduation (you can't move photos around as easily as you use to could so I gave up). Shane graduated last week so proud of my baby that's not my baby anymore! The cake, his first grade picture and of course his senior picture - so cute.
Accepting his diploma. The family with the exception of Cole who was enroute to the graduation. Husbands mom and dad on the left, my mom next to Shane and my dad on the far right, sister in next to my dad. My brother and his family weren't able to make it because the graduation was on Tuesday night.

Shane at graduation.

Proud parents.
Shane.