He did it!

the hubs has been in school his entire life. seriously. as long as I've known him he as been in college. he got his undergrad the year we met, and then did some certificate classes and then his masters. this weekend he graduated. and we celebrated.

I could not be more proud of him. all the hard work, countless hours of studying and homework, determination, discipline, and time spent stuck in the office doing projects and papers when all he wanted to do was hang out with me and durham. my heart could just burst for this guy.

we traveled to Raleigh on Friday so we could watch him walk. he really went back and forth about even participating. I told him about when my dad graduated from UNLV. I was in 3rd grade. we went and watched him. I don't remember it but I have a picture and it makes me so happy to know that I was there for that very special moment. we both wanted that for durham. all of our parents came and supported him. we seriously celebrated all weekend. best.mothers.day.ever.

* big thanks to all my girls at the store who worked extra hard so I could go be with my family on the busiest weekend in the spring season. Your compassion and generosity overwhelm me. I am so thankful for you.

 

Lent and catching up

So, it's been a while.

I'll just get this part out of the way... because I know you just want pictures. :)

yes. I did go off social media for lent. yes. I do realize that is no huge sacrifice. yes. I saw this before Lent started and I texted it to BFF and said "still doing it but errrmygahhh so funny!" and yes, I'm glad I did it.

Social media was like woah there for a while. I'd even say I was adicted to it. Not to the content, but to the ritual of checking the apps. seeing that red notification number hovering and having to go look so it would be gone. the ritual of checking everything in the morning before my feet even hit the floor, and every night Chris and I both in bed watching TV playing on our phones.

My original thought was that if I didn't have facebook, instagram, pinterest, timehop, voxer and the mommy board on my phone that I just would have SO MUCH MORE TIME to do my devotional in the morning before work. something that I really wanted to make top priority. and I did. I wasn't perfect and some mornings I did two devotions because I hit snooze too many times the morning before... but I have loved this change.

I guess in my mind, it looked like I would be swimming in time! time time everywhere just waiting for me to look up from my phone and grab it. yeah. that didn't happen. mostly I was playing on my phone while I watched TV, not like while I was washing dishes or cooking dinner or whatever. but the mornings and at night when I probably spent a good bulk of my time wasting was swapped with consistent quiet time, conversations, being present. it just felt better. like what I should be spending my time doing.

don't get me wrong. I missed it. ohhhhhhh I missed it. timehop the most, then voxer, then instagram, COT, and facebook. I actually did still get on pinterest occasionally on my computer but I don't have the app on my phone anymore. my plan is to get back on everything, but control the time I'm on it so I can continue how things are right now. One of my friends for lent did a no phone time unless I'm alone activity and I love that idea. so like if her and her husband are together watching tv she wont be on her phone but if shes alone on the toilet she will. haha.

so that is that. I have genuinely missed people that I only connect with on social sites. but this was something that I really needed. I really hope I stay committed and don't fall back to my old behaviors. I don't want to have to do this again next year. haha.

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bestie asked if I was just gonna bomb ig with a #sorrynotsorry and post all my pics from the past 6 weeks. nahhhhh but I will post some of my favorites here.

mommy turned 32. my brother and his wife had a sweet baby girl. durham is smitten and wants to 'hold her hand' all the time. my parents are thrilled to have more grandkids to hoard. we took the side off d's crib almost 2 months ago and have loved it. he usually stays in there (naps are different but not harder) he loves his 'circle sheets' and big boy bed. our first (of many I'm sure) family camping trips under our belt. so.much.fun. and we dyed our easter eggs with koolaid. awesome.

feeling so blessed to look over these pictures.
I swear almost 2.5 is the BEST age.

 

Hello 2014.

I love New Years more than Christmas. (not really, but almost). 

I love the newness of January, the possibilities, the cleaning and organizing of all.the.things. I love the purging that I've been putting off since last year, and how it just feels like there is a never ending supply of energy and willpower! New calendars and new found clarity about what I want my life to be about. my purpose.

We stopped doing new years resolutions a few years ago. we tried calling them goals one year, then one year we picked a word to focus on. everything gets forgotten. everything gets pushed aside for the regular responsibilities of life. I'm not sure how to keep the things that feel like THE MOST IMPORTANT GOAL EVER in January - still alive in June.

What I know is... 2013 was an awesome year. we had our fair share of hard times (like Chris traveling with work for weeks on end, and my dad being gone on the trail and my drivers license getting suspended) but many many many more amazing times. times with family and friends that sting tears in my eyes while I sit here and type this. an amazing year of blessings: watching my best friends daughter be born, praying over our boy before he went under anesthesia to get his tongue clipped, visiting my dad on the trail, trips to the beach and the mountains with our little family of three. and all of the days in between that make your heart swell. what I know is... that I would be blessed to have another year like 2013. that all I really need to focus on is God and my relationship with Him and that everything else will be what it will be. according to His plans and not mine (unfortunately. haha.) and that is all I know.

so there will be no 'loose 20 pounds' or 'stop drinking coke' or  'blog 4 times a week' or 'get more organized' or 'read the bible in a year' resolutions from me this year. we'll see how it goes. bring on 2014.

Happy New Year!

Durham turns two

I have been neglecting this place. Life is busy and I just haven't been making it a priority. it bums me out when I realized that it has been months since I've put down memories...

Durham turns two today. two. two. I need to keep saying it to make it real because it just does not seem possible that two years has gone by. we were forever changed when our little bundle came into the world and we can hardly remember life before him. I feel so incredibly blessed to be his momma and humbled that God chose this amazing kid for us to raise. he is such a joy!

Dear Durham,

Happy Birthday sweet boy. We love you so much and we can not wait to celebrate your special day at the aquarium today. I know you are going to squeeee over the 'popins' (penguins) and the 'sharhhh' (sharks) the most. This has been such an amazing year with you and we really really enjoyed you being 'one'... I know that TWO will be even better. kinda. haha.

We have lots of favorite memories with you this year... some of the big ones are swim lessons, when we went to visit grampy on the Appalachian trail, going to play on the school buses, our week at the beach, watching cole become one of your best buddies, halloween, and our trip to the mountains where you and dada played in the creek all weekend. You are SO FUN and we love doing things with you.

Some of our favorite things you do: hands down mommas favorite is when you ask for 'a song' at night. I know you are just stalling bedtime but I melt into a puddle. I usually sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow because that is what my momma sang to me, but sometimes church hymns and recently we are into Christmas songs. We love the way you talk. no really, you have the cutest accent, cutest phrases, cutest mannerisms, and a way of repeating your self that almost never gets annoying. My favorite things you say are 'yeah mam', 'a kisshh', 'i love you tooo'. We love how you love our people. your grandparents (meme, pawpaw & grangran, peepee), your babies (lena and baby eveee), your best buddy Jackson. You ask about them all the time and get SO EXCITED when you see them. It really warms my heart to watch you love so big. We love the way you pray. ok, not really pray, but when we pray you fold your hands and at the end you say AMEN like you totally got what we were saying the whole time. We love how innocent you are... you do naughty things sometimes but YOUR FACE!! How can we ever get mad at your face. and usually we have to hold back our laughs because you tell us you did it 'purpose'. (ie: did you just pee your pants? yah-mam. was it an accident? purpose.)


we love you so much buddy! We hope you have an amazing birthday and we are so excited to see what TWO has in store for you. xoxoxoxo, dada and momma.


stats and favorites:

weight: 29 lbs
height: 35'
teeth: 20

favorite foods: green beans, banana, apple sauce, chicken, cheese, almonds, and raisins.
favorite books: ABCs of me, and the opposites book.
favorite toys: TRAINS, balls and basketball hoop.
favorite shows: bubble guppies and veggie tails.
nicknames: we call you dbo, d, buddy, mommas baby, dur-dum (that's what you call yourself)

Four Years

four awesome years I should say. 

this weekend we celebrated four years of marriage, and 7 years of love. I am so thankful for this man and I can't wait to spend 60 more anniversary's with him. Our parents each babysat d one night over the past 2 weeks and we've been out TWICE to celebrate. we are so lucky! (thanks to grandma and grampy and meme and pawpaw for that!!) also, kinda funny that we pretty much bought each other the same card. (and I'm wearing the same mustard cardi as last year, whateves).