As My World Turns

Many blog ideas have come and gone over the past month. There was going to be the blog about summer's end - how great it was - and how we shouldn't cry because it's over but smile because it happened. That could have led to the blog about going back to work and the kids back to school - Clayson in 8th grade, Trey in 6th grade, Ashlyn in 3rd grade and me starting my 11th year of 5th grade. And there's always the blogs about life in general. Those "life in general" ideas/ blogs are quickly squashed when I remind myself that this is a blog and not a soap opera script. (I save the tidbits for my facebook status updates and most of the time you get the gist through those without me having to make an outline and write paragraphs about it.)

Some days my life does feel a little soap opera-ish. There's drama, but not too much and not with anyone you wouldn't expect it from. Most days I still feel like things are fiction and too good to be true. That makes me all the more thankful for my kids, Joey and his kids. It's a big circle of life - often referred to as the Brady Bunch. And since we have only one life to live, I am living my life exactly the way that I want to since I have been blessed with this second chance at happiness. Commercial breaks come when there is work out of town or trips to the deer lease. And I've heard it said that real love stories don't have endings so I am content with hoping that this soap opera life never ends.

Things are moving along at the perfect pace. We stay extremely busy between all of the kids, Matt and Clayson playing football and our jobs. Some months fly by and we wonder if we have even blinked.


I spend a lot of time in deep thought but I try not to let my young and restless mind get too carried away. I have to remember that each day is a gift from God, that's why it's called the present.

hittin' the road

*better late than never, a blog that just needed to be recorded for memory purposes...

I mentioned to Joey a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to try and go on one more "get away" trip before going back to work. I didn't have any idea when or where, I just knew I wanted to get outta town. Another beach would have been perfect but I was game for anything. One day I walked out into the backyard where he was working and asked him about his Monday/Tuesday schedule for the next week. With not much going on and jobs that could wait until Wednesday, I pursued my plans. A quick trip to San Antonio. He kind of turned his lip up at the thought because he said it was kind of far but I quickly pointed out that it is no farther than the deer lease. He said I had him there. I researched, enlisted advice from Facebook friends and found an affordable place to stay on the Riverwalk. Booked the Indigo and sealed the deal.

Monday was business as usual for Joey. I ran errands, ran to my house, filled the car up and waited for him to get home. My goal was to leave between 3:00 and 5:00, we left at 5:00 on the dot. Our first stop was dinner, Whatburger. Then it was smooth sailing. One of the many things that I love about him is that there is never a moment that we aren't talking, laughing, punching each other or singing along with the radio. We played the "ABC game", which I won, and "name that tune" where he had to guess the song and the artist from songs on my iPod. It was funny. We stopped for a fountain drink and snacks about halfway there and completed our journey 5 hours later.

We made it to our hotel about 10:00. We got to our room and decided it was a good time to walk the river and go visit the Alamo. We enjoyed the walk hand in hand. We crossed a bridge, crossed some streets and made it to the Alamo and the wax museum. He wanted to go in the Haunted House and even upgraded our tickets to the "intense" tour. Oh my goodness. I loved these as a kid but not so much as a grown up. We got "scared" and then rode a Tomb Raider ride, complete waste of money. From this we walked over to the Alamo and attempted a couple of nighttime photos. It was late so we headed back to the hotel along a pretty shady route, one where a boy was selling pizza from the back of his bicycle for just $5.00.

We got up in time for breakfast at the hotel, checked out and headed away with no plans in mind. We went back to the Alamo but did not want to pay $10 for parking just to take a clear picture. So, we decided to head back and find things to do along the way. We passed the Alamodome and remembered that the Cowboys were at training camp so we went and got cash for parking only to find out that practice wasn't for three more hours. So much for that. We drove on and stopped in New Braunfels/ Gruene. I fell in love with Gruene and can't wait to go back there. We took a foot dip in the Guadalupe River, enjoyed it's coolness for a minute and then went to do a little shopping. It was fun to just look around but too hot to want to buy anything to carry around. From Gruene we went to eat at CenterPoint Station in San Marcos, one of my favorite places to eat. It's like a fried food heaven. I drove from here and took us to the much talked about Czech Bakery. I had to find out what the hype was about - we went straight from fried food heaven to sweet stuff heaven. Because I was so overwhelmed with the choices and he was too lazy to get out of the car (haha!), we ended up with a dozen cookies. They were good for the next three days.

We got home Tuesday night, which was one week from starting back to school. This trip was a great ending to the perfect summer. I am so blessed to have someone who can keep up with my randomness and my whims. I think he is who I have been waiting on all my life.

upside down & inside out

I've started this blog three times. Evidently I have a lot of ideas and can't stay on track. I should have created an outline to keep my thoughts organized. ADHD readers will have no trouble following, structured readers may be a bit bothered. Sorry about it!

It's hard to believe that we are in the final stretch of summer 2011. Time flies when you are having fun... true statement.

Now, my thoughts ...

School:
Just 10 more days before inservice, 12 days until meet the teacher, 16 days until the first day of school. I have been working in my room and attending recent trainings in order to get back into the teacher/ work mode. I'm almost ready. It's not ever that I am not looking forward to the teaching part of it - I love that. It's just hard to give up late nights, sleeping late, swimming with friends, vacationing, fun times with the kids, afternoons at the lake and lots of time with the boy. All of these combined have made for a perfect summer.

Kids:
It's been an eventful summer with the kids. We've gone camping, to the beach, to the lake, to the movies and made the most of our time together. They've grown and matured over the past two months: Clayson can drive, Trey can mow and Ashlyn can straighten her own hair. We have not spent a lot of time at my house but it didn't matter where we were as long as we were together.
(side note: sometimes I feel "guilty" writing happy things about my life when my kids are gone. Of course, I miss them and would choose to have them with me all of the time but I can't. When they aren't with me they are with their dad. I can say a lot of things about him but I will always give him credit for being a wonderful dad. He gets his time with them and I get mine. When they are with him, I live the life that I have come to know. They need their dad just as much as they need me. And it's soap boxes like this that make me realize that I worry/ care too much about what others might think or how they may judge me as a mom. On with the blog...) I have had a fun-filled summer with Clayson, Trey and Ashlyn. We have also enjoyed some great times with Matt and Kayla. If there is power in numbers, when we are all together - we've got the power.

The boy:
Joey and I have enjoyed making some new memories for the second summer in a row. We've been to Mexico, Florida, San Angelo, Lake Whitney and I still hope to squeeze in one last summer retreat before time becomes limited between work and sports. We have spent all but seven days together this summer. The best thing about this is that we have so much fun together, we are completely comfortable with each other, never get tired of each other and continue to keep it real, simple and fun. It's been our relationship "motto" for the past 15 months and has worked well. I am thankful everyday for the happiness that he has brought into my life. This happiness carries over into all areas and it shows.

Done. Maybe it wasn't as bad or as random as it could've been.

beauty and the beach

This was our second summer to enjoy three nights and four days in Mexico. Last year we went with friends and had a lot of fun in Playa Del Carmen. This year we went alone and enjoyed our vacation in Cozumel - despite the rain, lack of resort entertainment and terrible food. Thank goodness that together, we can make things fun and entertain ourselves. It's such a beautiful place and there's no place I'd rather be enjoying this hot, amazing atmosphere with than Joey. We come from an action-packed life so a slow down definitely didn't hurt us.


The first night was the only sunset that we were able to enjoy and it was still a little cloudy. I was disappointed not to get sunset pictures but we made up for it in Florida. We enjoyed our last night walking along the beach and spending time in the lounge chairs listening to the peacefulness of the ocean and talking about our past, present and future. So many things to remember, so much fun we've had and the best part of that conversation was that we have so much to look forward to and there's a lot more fun where that came from.

On Saturday afternoon, it didn't seem the rain was going away and Joey's scuba diving trip was cancelled so we rented a jeep to tour the island and headed into downtown Cozumel. It was the one thing I promised my mom we would not do, leave the resort. But, we did and we made it back alive. We had a late lunch at Senor Frogs and were graciously given (for a tip) balloon hats.

This was our resort, which was a very nice resort but very uneventful and the food was awful. You live and learn. We learned that we won't be going back here and kind of decided that we were done with Cozumel. It'll be fun to find somewhere new to go next summer.

Another rainy day, another trip downtown. My side of the jeep had leaks and a flooded floor board. Ha! I held my feet up and used a swim towel to catch the drips. There was never a dull moment in this ride. We laughed a lot. Back in the market of shops we found a few that were open on Sunday - the goal was to find shirts. At Pirana Joe's, Joey bought me a wooden ring. I was a happy girl. We ate lunch at a mexican place, where there was barely enough overhead to keep us from getting wet when the rain started pouring down. And all I could think about was how far off we parked. We got a bit of exercise in as we "trotted" back to the jeep. We left the shopping and went back to the resort with enough time to rest, get dressed up and make our dinner reservations.

I just can't say it enough how much this boy means to me. I never knew that I could be so happy, enjoy life so much and that my heart could continue to grow with love every day. We've been together for 14 months and I can honestly say that I have never been happier or more in love. We learn from our mistakes and sometimes it's not until we have what we have never had that we realize what we were missing. He's filled my life with complete joy and I am so thankful for where we are and that I have him in my life. He's good for me and he's good for my kids.

I count my blessings every single day...

sunset on the beach

There's nothing prettier than a sunset on the beach.

PC Beach 2011

Day 1: We left Crandall at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 5th - a day sooner than planned. At the last minute I had to go and get a rental van due to issues with my SUV. This was the best thing that could've happened for four kids, two grown-ups and a 14 hour drive. There was plenty of room for the kids and space for the luggage, snacks and beach toys. We loaded up with four of the five kids (Matt rode with the other group). I started out driving and drove for six hours; trust me, there was plenty of entertainment and when Joey went to sleep, I enjoyed the think time - thankful for how far we've come and all there is to look forward to. Our plan was to drive until midnight and then we would just stop, wherever we were and stay for the night. At midnight we ended up in a remote area with no hotels in sight for over an hour. And then the Best Western and Super 8 that we did find only had two queen beds and that wasn't enough bed space for the five of us. We drove on to Mobile, Alabama where we found a Comfort Suites that had two queen beds and a sofa bed - perfect. We grabbed our carefully-planned-out overnight bag for the five of us and crawled right into bed for the chance to stretch out and sleep.

Day2 (Wednesday): After a night of rest, we had to get up and get moving on Wednesday morning. We slept through breakfast and had an hour and twenty minutes for six showers until checkout. We made it with 18 minutes to spare. After a quick stop at McDonald's, we were faced with about five hours until reaching our final destination. We made a stop at Pensacola Beach to get our toes in the sand. The plan was for no one to get wet and/or sandy but five of us (including me) broke the rule. It was too hot not to just dip a foot or two in the water. We grabbed our towels, dusted off the sand and loaded back up. (In the meantime, I realized that I left my special ring at Comfort Suites, I was so sad and calling them every 30 minutes to see if they found it, no such luck. I was heartbroken. I thought about not telling Joey but I did.) We left Pensacola and continued heading east, via the scenic route along the coast (until it got too time consuming). We finally made our way into Panama City about 3:00, perfect timing for check-in. We found our condos, found a luggage cart and headed straight up to the 7th floor to settle in and unpack before heading to the beach. The condo was perfect: 2 master bedrooms, a room with two full beds and a bathroom and then a sofa queen bed in the living room. Kayla and Ashlyn were not too happy about not having their own room but they got over it. We shared our dressers, closets (which is where they always closed the sliding doors and changed) and bathroom with them. While unpacking, I FOUND MY RING - oh happy day!!

We spent some time at the beach, left the kids with Joey and Billy while Lisa, Ashlyn and I went to the grocery store to get spaghetti, garlic bread and salad stuff for dinner. We cooked dinner, everyone ate good and Joey and Billy cleaned the kitchen. After cleaning and stuff, the girls headed to the hot tub and the boys went crabbing. It was a perfect ending to a long couple of days in the car and made the ride worthwhile.

Day 3 (Thursday): After Billy cooked us a big breakfast, we spent the rest of the morning on the beach - the boys could not get enough snorkeling. They were face down in the water all morning long. Around lunch time, we decided to go to St. Andrew's park, which was right next door, to go to a place called "Shell Island". We headed into town to eat pizza but somehow ended up in the McDonald's drive-thru AGAIN. This is when Joey and I decided to ban it for the rest of the trip. We ate in the car made it to the park but not in enough time to catch a ferry and spend time at the island, so we decided to wait until the next day. We drove through the park, stopping at one trail, which led to an alligator. I was scared to death - the alligator could have just come out of the water and had us for lunch. Joey taunted it of course, thankfully it just went under water. We left the park and went back to the condo. The kids went to the beach and the pool, I watched and worked on pictures from the balcony and Joey napped. When he got up he joined me on the balcony, enjoying the view. A little bit later he asked me if I wanted to go take sunset pictures with him. Of course! I threw on some clothes, we talked Lisa into being the photographer and into the sunset we went. It kind of made up for the ones we didn't get (due to all the rain) in Cozumel. Everyone has certain things that they hope to get to do on vacation, for me it's getting some good pictures to capture the memories. I am so thankful that he takes a genuine interest in the things that he knows makes me happy.

A bit later, Joey and Billy went to buy groceries for dinner and we ended up with frozen pizzas :)We cooked the pizzas, fed the hungry kids and then sent them back on their way for another night of crabbing. (Joey took the girls to teach them how and he quickly realized that girls are not his "cup of tea" -they ask too many questions and don't have any common sense - stepping into the light and talking nonstop. haha!)

Day4 (Friday): Happy 13th birthday to Dawson! The plan was to get up early and go to Shell Island but the rain allowed for a little more sleep and unfortunately, a lot more seaweed. We went back to the state park, bought tickets to go to the island, waited in line for the shuttle bus, the shuttle bus took us to the ferry and the ferry unloaded us on the island. It was a long walk in the sand to where Billy and Lisa had already set up camp. It was cloudy so the heat wasn't unbearable but it was still hot. I wasn't willing to get in the water - it was covered in seaweed. I put my feet in to cool off but it wasn't in good enough condition for me to swim. The boys took off in their snorkel gear because there was supposed to be a bigger variety of fish here. Most of them were ready to go when Lisa and I were, a couple hours later. Joey, Clayson and Billy stayed and we left. Back at the condo we rinsed off in the pool, warmed up pizza and ate salad. The kids were in and out - between the beach, the pool and the bed. Joey, Billy and Clayson got back a few hours later. We made plans to go ride go carts and have a crab dinner for Dawson's birthday. The kids (except Ashlyn) rode on the big, three story, wooden track. After that they got in "bubbles" and played in the water. From there, Joey and I took all of our gang, except Trey, to the souvenir store across the street while the rest rode go carts one more time. From here, we went to a place called "Billy's" for dinner. On the five minute trip here, the kids were outta control - arguing, whining, picking, etc. so Joey told them to meet them behind the van for a talk. The "bumper talk" consisted of him telling them to straighten up, how we expected them to act and this all led to assigned seats for the remainder of our trip.

We sat down for dinner, ordered drinks and appetizers and then find out that they don't have crab. I am chosen to speak to the manager, which landed us free drinks and the opportunity to go somewhere else. Since it was so late, we ended up at an IHOP way across town (ten miles is a long way when you are hungry). They were frazzled when I told them that there were 13 in our group. We ended up with three tables - a girl's table, a boy's table and a grown-up's table. I had to turn teacher on them - as they were loud and proud. There were given three rules: don't talk across tables, $10 food limit, inside voices. It was calm for the most part, a stern warning here and there reminded them that they needed to straighten up. It took forever to get our food. A waitress enjoyed flirting with Dawson, which riled Lisa up. One of our waitresses was brand new - we broke her in. And, the manager was a part of our service. The night finally ended and we headed back to the condo for some rest. It was a long (but good) day.

Day 5 (Saturday): We were all moving a little slow - it had been action packed until today. We slept late, no one was in a hurry to get to the beach or in the water, we didn't really know whether we wanted to eat a big lunch or a big dinner (to make up for the crabless night last night). We decided to head into Destin and go to Fudpucker's. This was an hour ride - boys in one car, girls in the other. At Fudpucker's we got pictures with an alligator, strolled through the souvenir shop and finally got seated. This meal got expensive quick - Clayson and Matt ordered alligator tail, the girls and Trey ordered off the kid's menu, I ordered fried pickles and Joey ordered a platter. When it was all said and done, we didn't have much food left. It was a good late lunch. From the table, we went out and let the kids feed the alligators before heading back. It was hot!! The drive back was awful, we ended up on the scenic route - full of red lights, all the way back.

Three kids said their stomachs were hurting so Lisa and Billy went into town to get medicine and we rested. As soon as the sun started to set, we made them all mad and took them down to the beach for group sunset pictures. No one was in the mood, not even me. But, I wasn't willing to waste the opportunity and regret it forever. (this collage wouldn't load - grrrr) So, we suffered through 15 miuntes of pictures and came back to the room, where Billy and Lisa bought crab and fixens for dinner.

Billy agreed to cook and keep the kids while Joey, Lisa and I ran to the souvenir shop and to get some mustard. Upon finding out that the shops were open until midnight and knowing this would be a fun part of their trip, we decided to just bring the kids back to let them do their own shopping after dinner. They were happy about this.

We ate, cleaned up the stinky kitchen and then headed to some stores. They just don't get the concept that a souvenir should say Panama City - a turtle, a knife, junk were not an option. At 11:30 - an hour of "shopping", we realized how thankful we were that they closed at midnight - just 30 more minutes...

The kids went to bed, Joey and I went out on the balcony to enjoy the moonlight and the sound of the ocean. It was a peaceful ending to a somewhat crazy day.

Day 6 (Sunday): Homeward bound! I don't think there was anything that I regretted more about this trip than the ride there and the ride back. We left at 8:00 sharp, right on schedule. It was Krispy Kreme for breakfast, Arby's for lunch and McDonald's for dinner. We made it home in 14 hours and I came to the conclusion that the thirty minute trips around town were much more trecherous than the long hours in the car. The kids were SO good on the way there and on the way home - there wasn't even a need for another bumper talk ...

We had a fantastic week at the beach. I hope that this becomes a summer tradition. I love Joey, I love his kids, I love my kids and there's no better way to spend a summer vacation than with those you love most...Memories are a way of holding onto things you love and the things that you never want to lose.

We made memories to last a lifetime.

happy summer

Memorial Day weekend comes just in time to get a nice, fresh taste of summer. Back in the day, it was the first official weekend of summer vacation. Times have changed but my love for the two month break has not.

Last year, Joey, my kids and the Posey's spent the day at Tyler State Park. That was such a great day, full of new memories. This year we had baseball games Friday night, pool parties Saturday and Sunday night and Monday, Memorial Day, was filled with random events. (The most exciting event, a trip to Walmart for pool filters and cokes. And, an elaborate dinner at Whataburger - and this doesn't mean we went through the drive-thru...we had a sit down dinner.)

The kids swam their hearts out two nights in a row. If my pool wasn't recovering from "going green", I think they would've spent even more time getting water logged.

The air was hot, the tornado watches and warnings were a few days past and the clouds were not heavy with rain. It was the perfect weather for some fun in the sun. And now, we anxiously go to school for just two more days until the events of this Memorial Day weekend become the norm for two and a half months.

Happy summer to all, and to all, a good tan.