these days :: end of july/beginning of august 2012

still busy with lots of softball and work at marsden (which i will be done with as of august 15th now, bittersweet...) but here are some things happening in my life status quo.

one of my favorite cousins, kai, is embarking on a semester at sea with his wonderful partner, brett! they're going and stopping lots of cool places and i'm really jealous! i attended one of their many going away parties. brett might be a little bit short, so kai and i had to bend down :)

finally found and stopped at a farmer's market (my first this year; so ashamed to say that).

i got zucchini, mini cucumbers and trying out beets for the first time.

i also got flowers, coffee and a snickerdoodle. :]

 our thursday night volleyball team continually proves to be a hilarious, super fun time that leads to too many shenanigans and too late of a bed time. :) love these "fun one" girls; trina and steph.

 we love to do fake shot-skis :]

 this girl cracks me up! she didn't want to hold her drink anymore :)

i'm trying to appreciate my surroundings more and enjoy the peaceful, non-working time i have, so i took some time to hang out in mom's backyard (which i love!!) one nice morning.  

 here's skye at softball in front of meg and dave's slightly large truck :)

me and my pigtail girls after softball :)

 mom and i went to the washington county fair with meg,

her kids and rachel's 2 boys. it was fun but hot.

playing/sitting on the tractors was a favorite activity.

 meg and her always talking, littlest girl watching the mini horses

 gorgeous day + ferris wheel

 meg and i :)

aryn's wedding

my cousin, aryn lyn, got married on july 13th, 2012; friday the 13th!!

it was a beautiful wedding and beautiful reception site.

her husband, tyler's son christain was a ring bearer/flower boy along with his niece & nephew. they were so cute! and christain did great. he even put his sunglasses on for the walk back down the aisle; one stylish little dude!! :)

 her dress was beautiful!

 the back was awesome!

 tyler's dad, grandpa playing toys with gunnar at the reception :)

 cousins! sara and molly!!

 beautiful bride!!

 brother and dad!

my brother was an usher.

 husband! who apparently still can't figure out how to take a decent picture with me :)

 love me some sara!!

 my "2" "little" brothers. ben and tyler

 mob, auntie cindy and aryn; all smiles!

summer's day

for summer's 7th birthday, i got a great idea from my great friend, amanda, to give her a day of just her and me time. summer and vanessa's day of fun! she chose to go to the mall of america and we had a blast!! we rode some rides, got her face painted, shopped, ate, played at a park, and got ice cream.

she got to choose everything and really she just proved to me how great of a kid she is! she wasn't greedy and she didn't take advantage of the offers.

this was the first ride she chose to go on. i was a little leery if she'd actually enjoy it or not since i had a traumatic experience taking my brother on a ride once when he was little and he hated it and freaked out, and i did not want her to do that. luckily, her mom had just told me that summer had joined her on the zipper (my favorite!!) and had enjoyed it. so we got in line and saddled up. it was such a fun ride, albeit short, but it was very good!! that's my girl!!

we also walked around legoland and oohed and aahed over the makings (mostly the star wars ones in which her knowledge of star wars characters and our shared love of r2d2 proved even further she's a girl after my heart!).

face painting with far too much glitter :)

i loved watching her pick out what she wanted; i had told her she could have 1 outfit and 1 toy during our endeavors. she found these glasses and tried them on and her face lit up. and i thought they were super cool too, so for the $5 they cost she got them. i love that she looks like a mini hipster :)

she picked out a "rock star" outfit (a shirt and skirt), got 2 pair of "heeled" flip flops (bogo), her glasses and 2 webkins (stuffed animals). she picked out a guinea pig one and then there were little baby hampsters that were so cute so she got to have one to match her big "mama."

we left the moa after lunch, when it started getting busy and headed back to my house. we hung out there a while where she played with her new toys and untagged all her new clothes. then we found a park to play at until the sun came out and it got real hot, real quick. so logically then we had to get ice cream. :)

it was a great day!! love that girl!!

lately :: july 2012

it's been a fast-paced, softball filled, hot n humid minnesota summer.
pretty typical round these parts.
here's just a little glimpse of what i've been up to lately.

spending some quality time with some of my favorite littles, the mini greeders.
they're getting so big and so old, but they're SO. MUCH. FUN!

 

they're kind of obsessed with phones these days,

so as a distraction, i decided to take silly photos with each of them on my phone.

here's the compilation of the best/funniest ones.

summer: age 7

skye & ty: age 3

i finally got up to one of my favorite places,

paul's cabin!

for a mini hackensack reunion

with some hauers, some dolans

and bryan!

we spent the day out on the pontoon 

(and i got to wakeboard behind it, my favorite!) 

and we figured out that these pretty girls and me have been cabin friends for 17 years. sarah and i have been friends our whole lives but i met courtney (and the rest of the hackensack crew) 17 years ago. crazy!!!

it's been a great summer and hope the rest of it can keep it up!

changes

i was recently asked a very interesting question that got me thinking.

the question was: if you could change anything about yourself,

what would you change?

at first thought, i came up with a running list; as one might expect.

but then i got to thinking...

of that list, the majority (if not all) of them i can change.

i have the ability to change.

i just don't pursue them far enough.

if i really wanted to change them, i would make it happen.

if i could really change anything about myself,

i'd like it to be something i don't have the ability to change myself.

my off-the-top-of-my-head list is:

*i'd like to be able to forgive AND forget.

i've gotten good at forgiveness, but i struggle to forget.

and this is particularly aimed at myself

(is that what regret is?)

**i'd like a better social ability.

being able to learn new things, especially from people who are passionate about something, is something i greatly enjoy. but it's hard to pull that kind of info from someone without good oral communication. sure, i talk to people and i'm not afraid of it, i just need some better skills (cue: gina?)

***I'd like to not be so fearful/afraid/worrisome.

the ability to let go, to just do/live.

to not be afraid of who i think i really am.

to push through and not worry about it.

****i'd like a higher metabolism.

here it is; the typical "girl" response about changing her body.

but it's there.

i love to eat....

that's what i came up with, without putting too much thought into it.

but really, who says i can't change these things?

can't take steps to change these about myself?

wouldn't it be great to be able to say:

i don't what to change anything about myself?

new goal found!

new job

al started is new job in april as a deputy!

it's pretty exciting and nerve wracking.

i typically like cop's uniforms

and a man in uniform :)

so i made him let me take some pictures.

it's been interesting seeing and feeling all the aspects

of his uniform, especially his belt.

it's gotta weigh a good 20+ lbs.

i can't imagine walking around with that

plus a big bulletproof vest every day.

he's liking the job

and he's ready to be done with field training

and out on his own.

hopefully that will be end of june-ish.

the schedule's been hectic and strange to deal with

and he's completely beat when he gets home,

but we're hopeful that once he (we've) gotten into a groove,

it'll be easier all around.

 i am unsure what the rules are for posting uniform pictures

(if there are any) and i don't want to jeopardize anything

or create any situations

so i left out the details of his location...

 i love the stripes on the pants :)

rumer has it, he gets a stetson (hat) too

but he doesn't have it yet.

i'm secretly hoping it's like the ones from super troopers :)

the north shore

last weekend, mom and i went up to good ol' silver bay to visit grama.

it was a short, but good trip.

here are some highlights of the trip:

-my 94 year old grama almost skunking me in cribbage

-mom's need to "relocate" some more lake superior rocks to her yard :)

-grama saying she liked my outfit and "didn't know" about moms

-visiting grandpa's grave; almost 20 years now :(

-going to the smallest sock hop but having fun anyway (at apollo)

-grama wanting to "goof off" as usual

-the beautiful scenic drive; the flowers are just coming out up there

i love silver bay!!!