4 Day Weekend

The weekend is coming to an end for us and it was a much needed break from 'having' to be somewhere or 'having' to do something. We enjoyed a little shopping, a party or two, yummy food, Redbox movies, friends, planting flowers, sewing and hanging curtains. Maybe one day soon I'll actually have our house put together to show y'all. For now just enjoy some photos of our weekend.

The itch.

Cony had the grand master plan to get poison ivy on his first week on the job. But I think his bigger plan was to give it to me. Although my case is not even close as severe- I've had it longer! To help us feel better we went to the Dairy Bar on campus and it's true, ice cream does help make everything better....

Last week we had the opportunity to take the Youth from our church to a Prom. (A church prom.) Doesn't that sound like fun? We drove them in a 18 passenger van and the highlight of the night was the food. Let's just say next time we're taking a smaller car so I can keep my eyes on everyone. I do not miss being a teenager in the least. I was the girl that was uncomfortable in my own skin (until thankfully I was 17 and not longer!). Then I spent a summer in Idaho that changed me for the better.

My little loves snuggling in the backseat. Cute uh?

When the sun is out, I walk around campus and get to see little treasures like this....

The weekend is coming and I'm really looking forward to having Monday off and celebrating Memorial Day, New England style (although I'm not really sure what that means yet!).

Happy Memorial Day!!

Victorian in New England

Wanted to give a little preview of our new home. For now, it's just the outside. It's true, we live in New England in a home that was built in 1901 or 1905. It's like a little dream come true.

backyard..

.

Walmart breaks my Heart.

There are so many reasons to dislike Walmart. If the closest Target wasn't 25 miles away and gas was $4.30 a gallon- we would NEVER walk inside a Walmart. But living in the "quiet side" of Connecticut that's our best/only option 95% of the time. We walked in the other day and were greeted by this older man and it simply broke my heart. Why do these senior citizen's have to work? Much less at Walmart? I hate it. If I could I would wrap them up and bring them home with me. Also, seeing young couples shopping together with a new born and carefully looking at each item before placing into their cart makes me truly grateful for what I have in my life. Baby or no baby.

Since we've moved here there has been an outpour of love from so many individuals, couples and families that it fills my eyes with tears. When we moved into our new home, a friend Afton (don't you love her name??) came on a Friday night and helped me pack our kitchen until 11:30 at night. This is a woman who drives 45 minutes one way to take her oldest son to school. She has four kids and makes that round-trip drive twice a day and I have NEVER heard her complain once. If that were me, someone would be hearing something from me, guaranteed. While we were unpacking I found little love notes from her..

And then there's Nancy who has the most beautiful gray hair in the world. She and her husband take care of our Gracie Lou the Saturdays we are in Boston. The day we moved she cooked pulled BBQ, coleslaw, and homemade pickles for everyone that came to help. When she mentioned she was going to do it, I didn't believe her because who does that?? They have been tremendously generous to us on many different occasions. In fact, not only did they give us their dining room table and chairs, and a Bernina sewing machine- they just dropped off a car to us last night. It's a 1996 Dodge Neon and it couldn't have come at a more perfect time since I was making 3-4 trips to campus everyday for both our jobs & taking Gracie out at lunch. We are blessed beyond measure.

Speaking of being blessed, the sister missionaries have been coming to our home often for dinners and what have you and we simply love them. For me, they've been an unexpected answer to a prayer.

We have lots to catch up on besides telling you all the wonderful things people have been doing for us. Easter was fantastic! We spent it with some families in our ward and ate like a King and a Queen. Crystal who is an artist in the kitchen made this beautiful cake with dried pineapple flowers on top. I have no doubt in my mind why there's more of me to love.

I've been consumed by other responsibilities that I've been neglecting my camera. However, I had to capture Gracie's reaction when we came home with some balls for her to play with. I've decided she's not like most bulldogs. She's not lazy, she fetches and she loves to play with big sports balls. I think mom is right, dad sent her to us because for one reason she LOVES basketballs.

This pink ball lasted a total of 3 minutes. No joke.

One day soon I'll take a video of her little wiggle bum. It goes 100 miles an hour when she's excited.

Priceless.

On a baby note. I'm still struggling with ignoring the problem instead of facing it head on. I had an 'ah-ha' moment last week when I realized instead of loosing weight like the doctor said, I've been gaining weight. Subconsciously, I believe on purpose. I need to remember even if I do loose the weight and we still don't get pregnant... life will continue and one way or another, we will have children. Mother's Day is usually heart wrenching. Especially when they ask the sisters at church to stand so the men can hand out a flower (I've always hated that!). This Mother's Day was much different and not because Gracie remembered (she forgot but we won't dwell on that). I walked into church and the Rich's had bought me a corsage. I never knew until that moment that I did want to be recognized on Mother's Day. To make it even better, the Bishop (leader of church congregation) got up and read a poem. Instead of flowers, they handed out a bag of trail mix with the poem AND they didn't ask the sisters to stand. Score! Maybe next year, Cony will remember my change of heart.

Don't Stop Believin'

Journey's song is my ringtone for Cony and it's fun to see people's faces when he calls. When I call him they get to hear "Turn Around Bright Eyes." by Bonnie Tyler. Anywho, There are many things to catch up on. April was a doozy in so many ways but somehow we have managed to come into the month of May happy and stronger.

Just a few highlights:

* We moved and I can't wait to share pictures. It's a true Victorian Home built in 1905 and the owners have completely redone the place. We LOVE it.

* Cony may have lost his funding at school but he has a full time job on campus for the summer working with the grounds crew. I'm jealous he'll be outside all the time.

*Gracie is adjusting to the new place. However, we keep finding her snoozing on our bed because she can't stand the wood floors. Rugs are coming!

*I was called to be the Young Women's (girls ages 12-18)President (we plan activities and Sunday lessons) in our ward (congregation). I couldn't be more excited. I'm having a hard time finding ideas that I actually like online so I might start sharing the ones I come up with (if I'm so lucky!).

*Spring has finally sprung and campus is starting to look beautiful again.

*We still can't stand Connecticut drivers. I could write a whole post on our experiences ....

*We feel totally and completely blessed to be in love and to be able to live the life we live.