Bad Reader

Not only am I a bad blogger, but I'm also a bad reader. Just a few years ago when I had a little more time on my hands, reading was something I really enjoyed... and not just the reading of blogs, status updates or tweets.. the reading of actual books!! I love books. I love being surrounded by them in bookstores, I love having them on my nightstand, I love holding them and sometimes falling asleep with one in my hands... love them, I just have trouble finishing them lately. These days, my standard operating procedure is to start two or three books at the same time and after a few days they inevitably end up sitting next to my bed collecting dust. Of course, one or two of them get chosen to go on vacation and trips with me, and one usually ends up in my car just incase I have a few minutes while I'm waiting to pick up Trevor, but they never actually get read. So, my goal for next month is to finish at least one of the books I've started. Lofty, I know... but my goal nonetheless.

I used to read... promise! These are the last 3 books I can recall reading in somewhat of a timely fashion:
The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini
Same Kind of Different as Me- Ron Hall & Denver Moore
The Memory Keeper's Daughter- Kim Edwards

Here are the books that I've started that are currently stacked up next to my bed(okay... so it's more than 2 or 3):
So Long, Insecurity You've Been a Bad Friend to Us- Beth Moore
Eat, Pray, Love- Elizabeth Gilbert
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God- Francis Chan
Adopted For Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches- Russell D Moore
Sheperding A Child's Heart- Ted Tripp
My Sister's Keeper- Jodi Picoult (In my defense, I've had to put this one down several times.. the subject matter is hard for my mother's heart.)
Christian Beliefs- Wayne A Grudem
A Sweet & Bitter Providence- John Piper

Books I want to buy, but won't until I finish at least one from the list above:

Choosing to See- Mary Beth Chapman
Momfidence! : An Oreo Never Killed Anybody and Other Secrets of Happier Parenting- Paula Spencer
Instructing A Child's Heart- Ted Tripp

I'll keep you posted on my progress... hold me to it! :)

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who does this. Come on, you can tell me. What's in your "stack"?

Bad Blogger

I am a bad blogger. It's been almost a month since my last post, which seems impossible, but July flew by and before I knew it... it was August! Why is it that the summer goes by so fast?? I guess the old adage is true.. time flies when you're having fun. And we've been having lots of fun!

Here's a re-cap of our fun summer...

1. Brian and I celebrated our 15 year wedding anniversary in June! Yay us! :) We had a great date night with dinner at the restaurant where our rehearsal dinner was held. So greatful to the Lord for his faithfulness in our marriage and for my sweet husband.



2. Our fabulous beach vacation to the gulf coast of Florida.

3. My mom and I celebrated our birthdays in July. I celebrated what I've been calling "the one before the big one" and my mom celebrated her 60th... she won't like it that I told you. ;)

A few years ago....


and now...


We celebrated my mom with a dinner at Macaroni Grill complete with a yummy cake from Celebrity Bakery and some surprise guests! Our sweet friend Patty, her husband Omar and their daughter Bella came in town from Houston to suprise my mom. She had absolutely no idea and the look on her face was priceless. So fun!!

The next night I had a fabulous girl's night out dinner at La Duni, one of my very favortie places. Such a sweet night with friends... yummy food, delish margarinha and best of all... adult conversation!! It was long overdue and I am so thankful for the beautiful ladies who made my night so great! Love each and every one of you!




And apparently, I have the most ridiculous facial expressions ever when opening birthday presents... sigh.




4. At the end of July Avery and I flew to Ohio to visit with my family there. We had a wonderful time as always at my Aunt Jenny & Uncle Alan's. My sister Becca and her son Kaden (14 months) and my cousin Becca (yes that's right, two Beccas) and her son Matthew (19 months) were also there. It was so much fun to see those kiddos running around together. Avery loved playing with those boys! We played outside, swam in the pool, went to the park to play, fed the geese & ducks and got to experience Kaden & Matthew's first pospsicle!! It was great to spend time with my precious grandparents and watch them delight in all the great grandbabies. I loved the "mom talks" I was able to have with my sister and cousin and the "adult talks" we had after the kiddos were in bed. It's fun that we all have kids so close in age. I also had a blast taking pictures with my new lens (my fun birthday present)!! I seriously took almost 500 pictures... seriously! I love taking pictures of kids and these three together were constant inspiration. Such a fun trip!













5. Tomorrow Brian and I will celebrate his birthday early since I will be leaving town...yet again and will be gone on his actual birthday (bad wife!). This trip is to West Virginia for my cousin Michael's wedding. My mom, Avery and I are flying out next week and will be staying for a week to visit family there and attend the wedding. This will be my last time to travel this summer and when I return it will definitely be back to business mode. Trevor will start school, Avery will start preschool, then Avery's 3rd birthday, then before you know it the holidays will be here... YIKES! Sad that the summer with its carefree days and all its fun is nearly over. Hopefully I'll find some time to blog once the madness of Fall begins.