Life Laid Bear

saying goodbye to June

June... you were a good month. A really good month. One full of changes and lots of time spent laughing. I got a lot done, but a lot was left undone as well. I will add that our laundry was one of those things I thought was unimportant. This month we experienced a burst of summer showers, a huge change at work, some good opportunities for the mister, and some major decisions were made. Life is good. Life is fresh. Life is changing.

Some of my highlights were getting to spend some time with both sides of the family all together. That is always a treat, and we had a great time at the beach. I very much so dislike all things salt, sand, and sea creatures that touch you on the feet.....but I had an awesome time. 

July, we are ready for you. Can you believe the year is half way over? I sure can't.

If you noticed ^^^ my banner has gotten a new do for this half of the year. I think it is pretty neat. 

fostering (hankbear)

We were so excited for a chance to foster, but we couldn't find the right fit. Our main priority was to make or current dogs feel comfortable with the new pup. So we decided if a bigger dog, with a mild personality came along we would jump on it. Lucas needs someone to run and play with.

One of our friends is very involved with a rescue organization and asked if we wanted to foster a black lab by the name of Hank. We immediately said yes! He came to the house on a Tuesday, and it was a little rocky at first. But dogs surprise you and now two weeks later, Lucas and Hank are the best of friends. You might even say they are inseparable. This picture is a little blurry, but this little guy does not sit still. 

He is so sweet, and surprisingly well behaved for a five month old puppy. This little guy cannot stay out of our pool. At first, he was just clumsy and feel in but now he just jumps right in for a morning or evening swim. It is definitely in the top ten funniest memories we have with our dogs. We are thrilled to be in a place where we could help take this little guy in until he finds his "forever home". 

Hank, you are a sweetie.

thankful

I am thankful for ice cream dates. McDonald's, we love your 49 cent cones. 

I am thankful for my heater at work! (On here every week) 
I am thankful for all of the many animals that we have.
I am thankful for an abundance of support from our families.

I am thankful that my brother has 500,000 views on YouTube

I am thankful that Lucas has a new friend

I am thankful my husband will be 24 next week. Happy Early Birthday

I am thankful that my hair is now long enough for sock buns!

I am thankful that I am alive today.

I am thankful that I have today, tomorrow, and a future. 

riding in cars with dogs

Or in my case, riding in cars with Tilly. She is such a tiny, silly, and wonderful pup. She is my heart. I don't think I would be complete without her. And she constantly keeps us laughing when she gets in the car. It is always an eventful time. She will jump right up to the window and pretty much ask you to roll down the window for her. She will stick her tiny little head right out of the window. And she looks like a wind blown rat. She then starts bobbing her head like she is trying to catch bugs. I can't stand it, it's just so stinking cute. Tilly I love you and all of your fur filled four pounds. 

This point

This point in my life is happy. This point in my life is full. Full of love, full of life, full of hope. It is just good, and I want to save this very chapter in a jar to bring out on a rainy day.

Don't get me wrong. It's not all flowers over here. For the past few months I have been a bit of a walking zombie. If you would have asked my husband if he wanted to live with me, he just might have said no. I was stressed, hopeless, and frustrated by all of the things going wrong in life. I mean everything was going wrong. I couldn't escape it, some were little things that I could brush off and some made me break down in tears.

But Kyle asked me one day why i was being so negative. He said that isnt like you. so i thought why is it that I wake up every morning thinking the worst. "i don't want to do this" or " i cant do this". I am the person who decides what my mood will be. I decide if i am in a good mood or a bad one. So I decided to change my attitude, and these are some of the things that helped me become me again

- Dance parties with my hubby and pups. Mostly in the living room with silly music
- Smile until you can't anymore. Another one I like is fake it until you make it real.
- Go to bed earlier. We are still working on this one. 
- Spend more energy on what I can control
- Breathe through it. Decide if whatever is getting you down is really worth it. If not, breathe it out.
- Have more me time

 I call it my quarter life crisis and I hope it won't come around again for a good long while. I'm sure Kyle is glad it's over too.

Finally

Today seemed the same as most Saturdays. We woke up slowly, and had our breakfast and coffee. The perfect start to Saturdays in our house. Kyle walked out to grab the mail and walks Back in looking very guilty. He had something behind his back.... He handed me a large envelope, and I asked what it was. I looked at the return address and knew exactly what is was. I jumped up and down for a good five minutes before I had the nerve to open it.

I got my diploma! I have waited since December and it finally arrived. It feels so good to see the proof, even though of course I knew it was final months and months ago.

first day of summer

Happy first day of summer from Florida. It is guaranteed to be a toasty one! I hope your weekend is filled with sun, sand, and laughter. And of course, always remember it is always 5 o'clock somewhere. 

Stir Friday

My husband is an pretty great cook, thank goodness, because the extent of my cooking stops at cereal. I am a great helper in  the kitchen but I tend to over cook everything else. So the mister asked for my help one night recently as he made what he calls Yakisoba. Don't ask me what it is, I don't know. This dish is pretty easy to make and is very tasty. You can add mostly anything you like but we made it with chicken, carrots, zucchini, and broccoli. Mostly because that is what we had on hand. 

• 10 baby carrots
• 1 small crown broccoli
• 1 large zucchini
• 2 Inches fresh ginger
• 1 lb Chicken
• 2 packages ramen noodles (seasoning packets discarded or saved for a rainy day)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp ketchup 
• 1 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce

We chopped the vegtables, ginger and also some garlic. Everything is better with garlic! Then we added our vegtables to the wok and let them fry up with the garlic. Kyle started the noodles and chicken while the vegtables were going. We used ramen noodles, there is no secret that I eat like a college kid. Ramen noodles are amazing at any age. We made the noodles the same way that the package instructions tell you. Boil for 3 minutes. 

The sauce is what makes this dish! For the sauce mix the ketchup, Sriracha, soy sauce, and worcestershire sauce. Add your noodles to your wok and then mix your noodles, vegtables, and sauce together. Heat up for a couples minutes and enjoy! 

St. Augustine Beach

This past weekend we decided to go on a last minute weekend trip to St. Augustine Beach with the family. Our families are about two and a half hours away from eachother so we try to get both sides together as much as possible. It is SO GOOD, and too much fun. We also had three father's and one puppy papa to celebrate for Father's Day! 

There were so many good times and memories made that we can't wait to go back again soon. Here are some of the great memories that I was able to catch. 

The first night we got there a little late, so we decided to check out the pool and beach. The pool was sadly closed, but we got down to the beach and explored in the dark. Saturday morning we had coffee and breakfast and hurried down to the beach. Al day was spent in the sun and sand with some of the silliest people I know. 

 
I spent the majority of the time reading (as always) but I did make some time to take some fun pictures of the family being crazy... and maybe a little tipsy. 

lately

...in iPhone photos.

  

 

 

1. Great new pastry shop in town, I can't wait to go again. 2. Elevator pictures are kind of corny. 3. Packed and ready for a weekend getaway with the family. 4. Baby Chase made a visit at work, he is absolutely adorable. 5. My co-worker is turning 30! Getting ready to decorate her office. 6. Tilly loves her carrots. She also eats them in strange positions. 7. DIY photo strip for Heather's 30th birthday. 8. Black and green are my new favorite colors together.