{yawn}

This title seems fitting after my weekend activities....and I am yawning as I think back.

Jerra's wedding festivities were this past weekend and although I was severely dreading it, surprisingly, I had a lot of fun! We had her bachelorette at kai and then off to the Rodeo for the night!

Early Friday morning {aka 6am} I headed up to my dad's office to surprise him with a 5-0 birthday theme in his office... he was surprised to say the least! After that I found out the hard way that on National it's 35 mph. Fun times. Then, Katelyn and I treated ourselves to mani/pedi's before heading to Branson for the rehearsal. We had to make a few stops before hand, poor Katelyn. Not even 5 minutes after we made our purchase, she completely lost hers! And it was for the wedding soo it was not a good start for either of us that morning.

The rehearsal was outside where the wedding was going to take place and it was hooottttt! But we survived. Then we headed to College of the Ozarks for the rehearsal...Mike's WHOLE family was there. {That's the groom and he has a huGE family...did I mention it was HUGE?} The boys went to PBar at the Landing while the girls went off in search of ice cream for the under aged bridal party..haha. We all stayed up talking late. It was so fun!

We were woken up the next morning around 9am for our brunch with the bride's grandma on the terrace of Chateau on the Lake in Branson. Beautiful! Then it was crunch time! We had favors to make. Jerra had gotten cellophane bags with twist ties to place initialed cookies in...I intercepted with the ribbon STAXX sent her and we escaped boring favors...I forgot to take a photo, but they were cute...and delicious!

We started getting ready around 2pm. It was fun watching her get ready and helping everyone else. We girls had a good time to say the least. I'll post pictures later. The wedding was hotter than blue blazes but breath-taking. Jerra and Mike are a perfect match and I felt blessed to be a part of it.

Soo after getting maybe 8 hours of sleep this past weekend I start Marketplace this week at 7am every morning. A friend of mine {Nikki} and I are in charge of leading worship and then I do the drama outside. I love Marketplace, but it's just so early! Not to mention having to get to work right after...which reminds me, I should probably get off here.....

"Ain't That the Way it Goes?"

It's father's day and where is mine to be found but at work. Go figure. Today is very bittersweet for me. I should count my lucky stars I have a dad who is alive and well. One who provides for our family and is loved by the community. One who has the ability to be the best father in the world. But I struggle with this last one almost daily.

Unfortunately, my dad's job required most of his time when we were younger and we mostly only spent Saturday mornings with him. The four of us would wait up as long as we could during the week to give our dad a hug before bed, but most of the time our eyes were closed when he walked in the door. I'm laughing thinking about this one time. We hadn't seen him in almost a week and my younger brother, Tucker, and I made a bet to see who would stay awake and actually see him. The next thing I remember was waking up in my bed: my dad had carried my brother and I's sleepy bodies off the stairs and to our beds.

We all cherished those Saturday mornings. There was an old-style McDonalds complete with storybook detailed pictures, brick walls, and game tables. We would always go there for breakfast just dad and us kids. Our whole Saturday mornings were spent there. I will always cherish those Saturday mornings.

His job has changed slightly over the last year to where he is never on-call anymore. This allows him to go to work and when he gets off, he's really off. But, when someone chooses work over other important things in life, it's hard to get to where you should be with those important things. He is making an effort, but when he's been absent most of my 20 years, it's hard to let him back in. We're getting there. Slowly but surely.

We just finished the tent sale at Baglady Saturday. SO TIRED! We did awesome though...lots of money for AtlantaMart! I am getting soo excited for AtlantaMart.

I finally got new music today...it makes me so happy! Here are a few running through the Chelsea Lifetrack:
How Far Do You Wanna Go? {Gloriana}
Diva {Beyonce}
I'm Letting Go {Francesca Battistelli}

I'm feeling very domestic...

this summer, but I like it. Making dinners, baking for showers, and making sure my "chiltens" eat healthy. haha

Where to begin. Well, how's about some photos? Everyone enjoys story telling through photos...right?

Jerra's personal shower is Wednesday so I have been baking and creating games and poems out the wazoo!

Strawberry and Lemon Cookies:
1 pkg lemon cake mix
1 pkg lemon pudding
oil
2 eggs
350 for 10 minutes
*for strawberry switch the cake mix and pudding to strawberry and vanilla
**for strawberry lemonade cookies intertwine batter after mixing separately

Bride and Groom Balls:
1 pkg oreos
1 pkg cream cheese
chocolate bark
Mix oreos and cream cheese into small balls and then dip
*add tsp of veggie oil to thin the chocolate

My parents have been married 24 years today and this is what my dad sent my mom. He scored.

My sister came to visit me at work and she looked cute so we snapped a few :)

Back to the shower...my friend and I went in on our gift and we got her a "panty line." It's the cutest most orginal idea I have seen for these type of things...and too cute not to share. It is a personal shower, so don't be shocked as you start reading...

We two gals have a secret to share
About our little blonde bride:
She's obsessed with underwear
And that we cannot hide

So for our little panty queen
We'll make her feel just fine
By working as a friendly team
To form a panty line.

Jerra these undies are to last you
All throughout your life
And Mike will be pleased to say
He has a sexy wife!

So listen up to hear about
Your lifelong panty plan
These underwear, we have no doubt
Will last your whole life span

The first are for your wedding day
Of course they are pure white
We know Mike will shout, "Hooray!"
When he sees you on that night

The next are for your honeymoon
They're sexy and all lace
We hope you'll leave your hotel room
'Cause Jamaica's a gorgeous place!

On Valentine's you'll wear this pair
Before you hit the bed
Cuz Cupid's arrow that's in the air
Shoots tushies that are red

After a year has passed you'll face
Anniversary number one
With these you'll surely have a blast
'Cuz leopard's so much fun!

Then when the time is right for you
And don't be saying, "Maybe"
You'll wear your little pink or blue
In honor of your baby

And when your years of wedding bliss
Become the big 2-5
Don't worry - you'll just slip this on
To keep the sparks alive

When finally you're old and gray
With these you can't go wrong
'Cuz sorry Jerra but at that age
You just can't wear a thong

We took out the baby part because, well, if you knew them you would too!

Our tent sale is this week....I am sooo ready to get rid of all this CRAP we store in the back! And we'll be making money to spend at AtlantaMart in July. So really, our customers are helping us buy new stuff for the store...isn't that "green" one way or the other?

Check out "These Walls" by Teddy Geiger. You will like.

"My Boyfriend's Back and You're Gonna Be in Trouble."

I went back to work yesterday. It was SO nice having a whole 5 days off! Well, I may have babysat a bit in there somewhere, but regardless it was still a nice break. Pool days, went to the lake, and wedding festivities! The results: a tanned and well-rested me!

The lake was so much fun. It makes me miss our old lake house a lot. I still go to our dock from time to time. It's so peaceful. Carrie and I drove down Saturday morning and skied (Ok, I attempted but failed), extreme tubed, and layed out. It was amazing and beautiful and the weather was perfect! They cooked on the campfire that night (my favorite smell) and we played only the best games ever: Truth or Dare: The Book and Name the Song. Lots of laughs :) It rained Sunday morning, but turned out to be another nice day. I spent most of it in the shade...I was too burnt from the day before ha! I read a lot of The Shack. I didn't agree with it at first but then I went back and re-read it and it's turning out to be a pretty good book. I am learning something which surprised me, but then again we're talking about me here.

Monday I went to get my bridesmaid dress altered with the other girls...I have 3 things working against me for this wedding:
1. long dress - outside summer wedding
2. hair down - outside summer wedding
3. short - we are wearing flats
haha, it makes me laugh, but doing a bunch of wedding stuff that day made me excited for the actual wedding weekend. It will be fun!

Katelyn (My new roomie who I LOVE!!) helped me plan the personal shower for next Wednesday. I will be baking my life away all Sunday afternoon.

Tuesday I released my inner soccer mom and now am the owner of a child's car seat. The little boy I am watching this summer, Avery, is 5 and is a hoot and a half. We had a lot of fun on our first official day together. He started to tell me his mom was pregnant and had her baby last night (being Monday night). I knew his mom reallly well. She would kill him if she knew he said that. Avery reassured me it was just a "joke." Over the course of the afternoon he told several more "jokes." Little boys and their over-active imaginations.

Wednesday night=Vine night. I actually went to post-game this week with a few friends and SHOCkEr: didn't drive! That made me very happy and more willing to go! We played putt-putt. Needless to say that I was in the running for highest putter. Carrie and I tried to get Daniel (Vine Pastor) to think that I beat him by one point...and he did until Carrie started laughing!

Not really sure why I just gave a run-down of my last few days, but there it is.

I am playing golf for the 3rd time tomorrow morning and hope it does not get rained out! I have a feeling I'm going to need as much practice as I can get.

"Listen to the beat of your heart. Once you find the beat you will always walk in tune."

Summer Sun, Somthing's Begun...

I hope my "followers" are satisfied that I have a new post now...

You know what I absolutely love? Coming home, lighting some candles, propping my feet up, and settling into a good book. My favorite way to end the day most definitely. I'm reading The Shack right now and I like it so far. I don't want to get my hopes up because of all the hype everyone has put on it, but I'm hopeful it's gonna be a good one.

I have been working hard on many new projects with PSE. I have created a blog layout, edited baglady's site, made an invitation, created t-shirts, and much more! It's soo fun and I learn something new everytime I start working on a creation. My latest and greatest is an invite for my friend's personal shower...check it out:

Ok, this is what I started with in PSE as my original document:

This is what I ended up with as my final project:

annd then I dabbled a bit in creating a blog background and came up with this:

But I canNOT for the life of me figure it out! I have the instructions right in front of me but nothin, I will get it eventually.

I read my first book of the summer! Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber. LOVED it! I am currently working on my own 20 wishes. A few on the list are...
1.) Go to Nashville, TN (Country Music Central...hello!)
2.) See a Broadway musical
3.) Audition for Idol...again
4.) Open Rings&Rattles
It's not much, but they are my wishes so I get to do as I please.

I am going camping at the lake this weekend and I am soo excited! I am going with my friend and her family plus another family plus their foster child. We are staying in her camper...not gonna lie; I was kinda excited about the tent, oh well, that's for another weekend this summer!