Day 7: Sign

I debated on which way to interpret today's topic.  There weren't really any physical 'signs' with words that I wanted to take a picture of and write about.  So once again, I was perusing through recent pics on my iPhone and memories came back to me.

Back in July, for Jordan's birthday, we ventured outside of our usual box and decided to try our hand at indoor rock climbing. I had bought a Living Social deal for a place a few months back and thought this may be a great day to try something new.  I had envisioned a regular indoor rock climbing place, like I had experienced once when I was a teenager. Instead, we found ourselves at an actual indoor training facility for rock climbing outdoors. These people were serious about rock climbing and took all sorts of adventurous field trips all the time.  After taking a look around, it was a clear sign that we were in a bit over our heads. But we powered through it. After going through some demonstrations and practicing on some easy walls, we were set loose to wander around to the 90ft silos to basically a straight up vertical climb.  Gulp!!  I'm not that big of a fan of heights. Call me crazy, but falling 15-20ft onto concrete when I was 6 and fracturing my skull will make you think twice before climbing something so high. But hey, we were attached to these ropes, and I knew I could count on the hubby to follow the safety procedures to make sure I didn't plummet to my death.  It was scary, exhausting, and yet exhilarating.  I think Jordan panicked a few times when it was time for him to descend back down the wall, and when he let go, my feet were lifted off the ground leaving me dangling (good thing I was tethered to the floor!) holding his ropes. :) It didn't take long before we were both drenched in sweat and called it a day.  After a day at this place, it was clearly a sign that we were out of shape and needed to work on some things before we came back for more.  But it was a great experience, and it was actually pretty fun!

After getting cleaned up and grabbing some hibachi dinner, we ventured up to a local patio to sit outside and enjoy some ice cold beers.  It was clearly a sign that we belonged there! :)

  

Day 6: Scoop

Obviously, when I think about 'Scoop', I think about ice cream.  These boys love ice cream, and we try to partake in some whenever we can, especially since it's scorching outside.  The other night, Daddy stopped on his way home from work to grab Wendy's for dinner. (Yes, I know I'm currently in an 8-week weight loss challenge, but give me a break!)  It never fails, every time we go there, Jordan insists on getting a frosty.  After we ate, Jordan sat on the couch, ready to enjoy his sweet treat, only to be bombarded by two little boys.  Needless to say, with the three of them scooping up the frosty, it was gone in no time. (And I want the record to reflect that I only had two bites!)

Day 5: Guilty Pleasure

I have quite a few guilty pleasures these days. Just to list a few:

• My favorite $8 bottle of wine, Pink Polka Dot
• Peanut butter M&M's, or anything peanut butter for that matter
• Sleeping in, especially when I have kids that also love to sleep til 9:30 or so on the weekends
• Reality tv, such as Bachelor Pad currently 

The list can go on and on.  But there's one that has been keeping me pretty busy lately....my new-found passion for reading.  Let's just say that the family iPad has unofficially become mine.  While I also use it to write blogs, browse Facebook or Pinterest, play games like Words with Friends, my favorite is the Kindle app.  Who knew one little app could spark a love for reading again.  I used to read all the time (and not just my weekly People magazine!), but then I got busy with work, raising two kids, and trying to keep my husband happy.  Well, sometime in the past six months, I decided to start being a little selfish and make time for me to read again. And boy, have I!  (Don't worry, I still have a job, the kids are alive, and the hubby has a constant smile on his face.)  These days, I would much rather curl up with the iPad on the couch to read, rather than watching tv.  It's relaxing, I enjoy it. In fact, I think I read every night before drifting off to sleep. This has also resulted in me having purchased waaaaay too many books on Amazon.  Needless to say, I feel like I'm paying someone's salary over at Amazon.  

With my love for reading, I've also somehow created to JHo Book Club, with a few followers wanting to constantly know what they should read next. I like to think that I find some fantastic reads, and can't wait to share my unofficial book review with them.  The members and I are constantly sharing texts about little what we're currently reading, having inappropriate conversations about books over lunch, and even reading hilarious excerpts aloud while in the car on the way to Canton! This past week I even put all of my books in fancy little spreadsheet with ratings and everything.  After putting the list together (in Excel, of course!) I noticed how extensive it was, and I couldn't believe how many I had read! Anyways, I have the list, in case you want any recommendations; I currently have a few open spot's for Book Club members. :) I'd say that almost every single one of them has some sort of romance element to them; hey, I'm a girl!  Some of them have more conflict and angst than others, but I definitely have read some awesome ones.  And I won't lie and try to say that some of them aren't a little......ahem, risque.  But I'll leave those off my blog; well, except for Fifty Shades because that's a given!  I'll list my top 10 here for you, and not necessarily in order. :)

• Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, by EL James (book #2 was my fav!)
• Thoughtless Series, by S.C. Stephens (Oooh, Kellan Kyle gets me excited! And patiently awaiting the final book Reckless in the Spring!)
• The Breathing Series, by Rebecca Donovan (this one was so intense! anxiously awaiting the 3rd book!)
• Avoiding Commitment, by K.A. Linde (I was literally yelling at this book, and can't wait for Avoiding Responsibility!)
• Beautiful Disaster, by Jamie McGuire (incredible, and it's being made into a movie, too!)
• The Mighty Storm, by Samantha Towle (who doesn't love a hot rock star?!)
• Love Unscripted, by Tina Reber (it was a long one, but worth every bit of the 659 pages!; ready for Love Unrehearsed due out next week!)
• Broken Fairytales & Buried Castles, both by Monica Alexander
• Crash/Clash, by Nicole Williams (who wouldn't love a badboy named Jude Ryder?!)
• While It Lasts, by Abbi Glines (I think I cried in the first 5 pages!)

Geez, it's hard to put together a top 10, and even at that, I combined some into trilogies. :) Sneaky, I know. And as you can see by my notes, I get lost in the books and can't wait til the next one.  It has definitely been my guilty pleasure!

Day 4: Summer Loving

Oh, summertime! It's my favorite time of year! Maybe it's a sign that my birthday happens to fall on the first official day of summer. :)  We try to spend as much time as possibly outside, but that can get difficult with the blazing Texas heat. But we did manage to skip off to the pool this past weekend to cool off, and spend some time hanging out in the driveway. And there's no doubt, these boys love to play outside as much as they can!

Day 3: Labor

I know today's Labor Day, and that's what inspired today's topic. But when I think of 'Labor', I think of having a baby.  Well, we all know that I didn't have to endure the traditional labor, including having my water break, hours of painful contractions, or having to push a baby out of my hooh-ha.  I guess that's the luxury of having your stomach sliced open with scheduled c-sections........twice.  And I don't feel like I got cheated at all by not having a traditional birthing experience.  The first one with Austin, I was definitely pretty out of it and looked like poo, and definitely was not ready for photo ops afterwards. I'll attribute that to the extreme nausea and vomiting that occurred as soon as they gave me the spinal and laid me down on the operating table.  Yeah, good times.  When it came time for Chase's big day, we already knew how I would react to the spinal, so I was given some anti-nausea drugs in my IV ahead of time.  Amaaaaaazing. Notice how happy I look in the picture. :)  And, maybe the fact that I knew I would never be tormented by months and months of constant sickness being pregnant ever again.  Ahhhh, bittersweet, I guess.

Austin's arrival

Chase's arrival

Day 2: Fear

Fear.  Well, I have alot of them.  But as I scrolled through pictures on my iPhone today to conjure up some idea on what to blog today, I giggled at couple of them.  Because my boys apparently have NO FEAR! They are definitely rough-and-tumble adventurous boys.  Austin is a complete maniac while driving his Jeep around everywhere, but we've even allowed him to drive Chase around in it while in the high gear. It's scary as hell to watch them on it, but they have a blast.   While it's cute, I fear the day that these boys will be behind the wheel of an actual car!  Will they really give Austin a license in twelve years?!  That just doesn't seem possible.

And Chase is like a little monkey.  He will use any piece of furniture or toy as a step stool to get to where he wants to go. I am constantly finding him sitting or standing on chairs or the table in the playroom!  These boys are definitely keeping me on my toes!

Day 1: Before

I've been debating the past few days about what I wanted to blog about for this topic. Finally, I decided that I needed to do something about the big wedding, since I haven't yet.  We're still holding out for pictures from the photographer (hopefully very soon), but Katrina did manage to finagle one picture out of him last week to put in her classroom. So, this is all I got. :)

Before this day (7/7/12), my sister was a single woman. Before this day, we were up all night drinking way too much alcohol. Before we loaded up into the party bus, I helped my sister into the most beautiful wedding gown and placed a veil on her head.  Before we walked into the chapel, we tried to forget about the rain pouring outside and gusty winds that took us all by surprise.  Before I walked down the aisle, I tried to console my little ring bearers who were having a complete meltdown.  Before Katrina walked down the aisle, I took one look at Logan across the altar and saw that look in his eyes.  I've never doubted his love for her, and I know that he will make her the happiest girl alive for the rest of her life.  Before this day, she was a Harvey girl, but now she's Mrs. Harrington! :)

                                             Photo courtesy of David Cheney Photography