Her 15th Birthday

To  be honest... I have no idea how it happened. 15 years ago I had a baby. Today, I have a beautiful, funny, charming, and silly young lady. There are not enough words to express my emotion as of late. Raising this girl has not been easy. It has been downright hard at times. I've failed more times than I can count. She has too. But I am confident we will be just fine.

When I said that Isabel is funny and silly... I mean it. She has my personality times 3. She makes me laugh at least several times a day. For example, this really happened the other night at dinner:

She cracks me up.

We will celebrate Isabel's birthday this coming Saturday with a few of her closest friends.The day will consist of food, fun, photoshoots, and maybe some mini-golf. 

Happy Birthday, beautiful girl!

Seattle: Flora & Fauna

The husband and I had the chance to run away for a few days, we choose to visit Seattle. It was our first time, and it did not disappoint! I took hundreds of pictures, so I will be sharing them in batches. This first one is of all the pretties I found along the way. The colors were AMAZING.

 

 

His Prom

This past Saturday was Alex's Senior Prom. I have been waiting for that day to arrive for 18 years. :) And it was pretty darn perfect, at least from my end. This first picture is of Alex and his lovely girlfriend, Brianna. They were absolutely adorable. The pictures below are of their friends. After a night of dinner, mingling, dancing, and picture taking, they headed to iHop for some early morning breakfast. I am so glad they had a great time!

I am out $25... temporarily.

This morning, as I was scrolling through my Instagram feed, I saw a picture from one of the ladies I follow. It was really just a screen shot of a new blog post she wanted to share.

And that's how I am out $25.00.

Do you read SkinnyMeg? I think she is adorable. She just had her second baby, a boy - Aiden. And like her online moniker suggests, she is really into fitness. And also home decor. And her sweet, sweet baby girl, Twilight Sparkle.

Anyway, Meg has decided to start a DietBet. It's open to everyone who has a debit/credit card and $25.00 to spare. As of a minute ago...

...we have 61 players and $1525 in the pot.

Have you ever participated in a DietBet? I haven't... Until now. Based on the 4% goal, I think I have about 11 pounds to lose in 28 days. I think I can do it. :) Especially, since I have such a large booty at stake. Twenty-five whole dollars! The cool thing about DietBet is that so long as I meet my goal, I should get the $25, plus... a share in the larger pot! Assuming there are people who don't meet their goal, the pot is split amongst the 'winners'.

So, I have three days to get prepped and ready for a 28 day adventure.
More to come over at Pretty Yellow Dress.

Since before she was born

Yesterday, I had the privilege of spending a few precious moments with my sweet, sweet friend, Stacey, and her darling daughter, Brook. I've known Brook since she was born... Heck, I've known Stacey for 14 years.

 

Brook has something special going on and her momma asked me if I would take a few pictures in preparation for it.  Of course I would!!

Isn't she just the sweetest thing, that Brook? I think so. Even more? I think her momma is pretty darn precious, too!

Oso Fabuloso - 6 months later

I cannot believe how fast dogs grow. Amazing.

 Then & Now

Happy 6th month birthday, fella!!

Everything is Awesome

Don't throw tomatoes at me; I simply have that song stuck in my head. If you haven't seen the Lego movie, then you probably aren't quite as annoyed with me.

But in reality... everything *is* awesome. Besides someone slicing and dicing our family car in a parking lot (big truck with a trailer, smash!), and besides my eldest being involved in a minor accident that has left us with not so fun insurance claim issues (he was not at fault) and zero second vehicle, and besides my husband dropping his iPhone for the very last time....

Besides ALL of that. Everything is awesome.
The weather in Arizona is to LIVE for. High 80s & sunny. Be still my thawing heart.

And because the weather is great... we have to get to work on our backyard. I've posted about it here and just so you know, twin A is the tree that made it. It's the only one left from when we tried to do things before.

During the past two years, we added two mesquite trees and two mulberry (fruitless). All 4 trees came out. The mesquite loves it some Arizona soil... and the roots were deep! In their place, we added 4 Queen Palms, a lemon and a lime tree... and 2 bougainvilleas. We have some more shrubs and plants going in this week... It's never ending. But... in the end, it will be AWESOME.

Look at the view behind my house... it's the subdivision's pool. Free palms, and a beautiful Arizona flag. That is facing West... the sunsets are amazing.

We've decided to go tropical in the backyard. The Tipu that we put in 3 years back is of that family, so we rounded it off with hibiscus, red oleander, the bougainvilleas, and small palms here and there.

We are having a concrete company come in and lay some slabs. 3 in total: one for our shed, one for our outdoor kitchen, and the final one for our pergola.

Here's a quick sketch of what the end result SHOULD look like.

So, lots of work to do! :)We've spent the last two weekends DIYing... and I foresee a few more!

Awesome!