February 22, 2016

just an update!

After (how long has it been?) since a blog post, I've decided there's no real cure for writer's block. No matter how badly I want to write, no matter how hard I search for inspiration, the fact is I've got 3 articles started, none finished. Maybe soon!

For now, here's a quick picture post so you know what's been going on around here! With my best friend getting married and moving away soon, my sister graduating college in May, and so many other things looming ahead, I thought it'd be best to get an update on here before I get bogged down in life changes. Here we go!



Lena Rae turned 2 on January 21st. Have I mentioned how precious this little girl is to our family? I was sixteen when Jace was born, and for the past 7 years these kids have been my life. I love being an aunt more than I've ever loved anything, and Lena Rae has made it even sweeter with all her girly-ness. 


I also just so happen to have the world's best grandparents! For my Grandma's 80th birthday everyone got together at our house to celebrate. All 17 grandkids were able to make it as well as the 7 great grandkids. All of my grandparent's children were there with their spouses, and it was a really special night.


WE GOT SNOW! About 6 inches of it! It was so much fun, regardless of the fact that we were pretty much shut in for the weekend (which wouldn't have been a bad thing, but it was wedding shower weekend). This picture is of some of our church members/neighbors. I love living in this small town with these people and their off road vehicles!


I got to help with the bridal shower for the third one of my friends to get married. Faith will marry Vance in less than two weeks!


Kaitlyn, Faith, and I took a short girl's weekend to spend some time together before the wedding, and we couldn't have asked for it to turn out better. We were able to stay at Opryland Hotel by using my Sunday School teacher's employee discount, and because of a pizza mishap got free frozen yogurt, which caused us to be delayed long enough to see the the fountain light show at eye (balcony) level while we ate! We waited in line for about 20 minutes just to get inside the Pancake Pantry (the line was backed up to the street!) the next morning and it was so worth it! I'm so glad to have these memories for when our lives all take different paths.


I celebrated Valentine's Day with my parents, my sister, and all five of my sweethearts. We made lasagna together, had doughnuts for dessert, and watched a new movie after bath time and pajamas. They got to spend the night, and once again, being an aunt is my favorite thing!


Christine and I went shopping a few days ago and took Lena Rae with us for some fun girl time. She definitely had fun, but didn't make it five minutes at the last stop before falling asleep in the buggy! By the time we made it back to my car, she was snoring on my shoulder.


This is our "Sibling Octet". We've all been friends since birth, sang together for years, and decided to actually form a group and learn songs together last summer... but life happens and we learned two  songs and now one of our members is moving. This picture was taken after our last practice Sunday morning before we sang for the last time before the wedding. We are four sets of siblings - Amie and I (blondes on the ends), Faith and Grace (brunettes in the middle), James and Paul (orange shirt and gray shirt/black tie) and Connor and Collin (blue tie and red tie). Anyway, now you know who we are, but I love this picture and I love this group.

...and that's all for now! I can't believe February is at an end, but Spring usually begins in March around here, and I am so ready for some warm, sunshiny days. I hope you've all had a wonderful couple of months, hopefully I'll be more frequent on here from now on!