Hot, Hot, Hot!

This was a HOT weekend! The temperature has been in the mid to high 90s everyday lately.

I left work a little early on Friday, as this was supposed to be my weekend to spend with Madelyn while Becky and Marcus moved into their new house. So I loaded up my stuff and headed out!

I got to Thomson a little early so I spent time with my cousin, Harli. We visited my aunt and uncle and then went out to eat. I love getting a chance to hang out with her- she's 15 so I guess I need to take advantage of it while I can.



Then I met Madelyn and Becky at Walmart, where they were purchasing a helmet and knee/elbow pads. Marcus wanted a bike and tag-a-long trailer for Father's Day, so Madelyn needed a helmet. She spent the rest of the night putting the helmet/pads on..and taking them off..putting them on..taking them off. She LOVED them!


The next morning I helped load the truck and pack the boxes, while Becky kept Madelyn busy. Turns out, Becky thinks 'work' is a man's job so she didn't want to do any heavy lifting. By the end of the day, I was a big stinkin' sweaty mess!

In return for my help, I got to open my X-Mas present from last year (still wrapped in Santa paper). It was a glass jar for dog treats, with Rupert and Tonka's name on it! NOW maybe I'll be allowed to buy them treats, so I'll have something to put in there!Sunday was a relaxing day spent with Brandon. We slept in and then went to view some new condos that were having an open house. Afterwards, we went out to dinner and had a few drinks. We stopped on the way home to get groceries and then just relaxed until bedtime.

Now it's back to work...luckily a short week since we have July 3rd off! We dont have any plans for July 4th as of now; since Brandon is on call, we cant stray far from home.

Flowers

A lady in my office received flowers for her wedding anniversary yesterday. Usually I despise roses, and always have, but these are gorgeous! They are variegated roses which I had never heard of so I started looking at pictures online. In doing so, I ran across several other flowers that I think are beautiful. I was not born with a green thumb, but if I ever get rich and can afford a huge house with a large yard, I will hire a gardener to plant some of these:

(click on the image for a larger view and name of flowers)

More Before & Afters

I wrote about our backyard once before...when we moved in, there was dirt and rocks. So we invested in some sod and put it down ourselves. Now, over two years later, we have a yard full of grass!

My hydrangea is finally in full bloom and is a very vibrant purple/blue color!

Tugaloo State Park: June 5-8, 2009

Before and After

After much frustration in not being able to find a book I was looking for in my house, I decided to clean our garage last night. Granted, it is still filled with junk, but at least now we can walk around in there without stepping on top of stuff. In our defense, we had planned a yard sale and had put all of the items in the garage..but then we didn't have the yard sale. One of these days I am going to give up and just take it all to Goodwill but in the meantime it's just taking up space in my garage.

Only two days after turning 25, I experienced the dreaded "age bracket" situation. I am now out of the 19-24 age group.

Half Way to 50

Everyone groaned when I said I wasn't excited about turning 25...they all told me I was lucky to be so young. Granted, most of my peers and coworkers are older than me but it doesn't discount the way I feel about myself getting older. I used to feel like I was "ahead of my age"..I was working a fulltime job, making more money than everyone I knew (actually..more than I'm making in my current job today), and was living alone when I was 18. I was in a committed relationship and did not rely on my parents financially at all. By the time I was 23, I owned my own house and instead of going out to party, I was paying bills and taking week long vacations. Now however, I feel like I have caught up to, or even fallen behind, others my age. People I went to high school with have graduated college, gotten married, and had children. It's no longer 'unique' for me to own my own house, have a good job, etc... I feel like that's expected at age 25. This is why turning 25 hit me so hard; I feel unaccomplished in life. I haven't graduated college, I'm not married (common law doesn't count), and I dont have a large circle of friends. When I express these feelings to the people in my life, they remind me that I dont have thousands of dollars in student loans, I'm not over my head in debt, I have a stable job, a close family and a great relationship. It doesn't change things in my mind.

Nonetheless, May 31st came and I turned a year older. I tried to be a good sport about it even though I was pretty depressed inside. I did ask that no one buy any presents; I didn't want cake or a party or anything. Some quiet time with Brandon and my family was really all I wanted. Since Brandon gave me some of my birthday $$ last weekend for my "Girls Day Out" and we will be taking a four day vacation next weekend, we decided to keep it simple this weekend.

We joined my parents at Hart State Park, threw our tent together, and headed out on the boat. The weather was excellent! There was a slight breeze and lots of sunshine. I did indeed wear SPF 60+ which was the thickest, grossest stuff I have ever used. I dont think I have ever smeared on anything above SPF 10..guess there's a first time for everything. Everyone caught a fish but me; I gave up after a while and just read a book while enjoying the fresh air.

That night we drove into town and tried a new restaurant. By the time we got back to the site we were all exhausted! Brandon and I fished from the back of the boat for a little while while Bob built a campfire and then fell asleep in the chair. Mom sat around the fire and read a book..and listened to Bob snore. Once it got dark, Brandon and I played a few card games and then it was bedtime! Someone across the lake was shooting off fireworks around 11pm so we layed in the tent and watched the show.

Sunday morning, Brandon and I took the boat out for a while without Mom and Bob. It was nice to do a little fishing and relaxing together. Brandon caught a little baby fish and I caught a leaf. Since the wind was picking up, we didn't get to spend much time out on the lake that day. We packed all of our stuff, loaded the boat, and headed home. Brandon and I stopped and looked at some houses in a neighborhood we passed and then went home to check on Rupert and Tonka. After dinner at Fatz and then a movie rental, we went home and took a nap. After nap time it was movie time and then back to bed!

The weekend was very relaxing and much needed. We wanted to take it easy since we have a long weekend coming up- a family trip to the lake! My family and Brandon's family will be staying in cabins at the lake Friday thru Monday..should be tons of fun!