sarahg

Weekend Photobooth {Joyce Meyer Conference}

left to right: an antique/unusual toy store we visited on the way to st. louis * first glimpse of the arch * so glad i wore these shoes * a view from our hotel room * laura & i * the arena * visiting the arch * 630 up...yes i did it * the arch * old spaghetti factory for dinner * chandelier in the lobby * joyce meyer signs all over downtown *

Our Summer Catch Up | The Beach part II

Here's part II of our beach vacation. I'm a photo-hog. I admit it. However, you get to enjoy all my pictures too! Happy Friday to you!

 

Well folks, that's about it...our Ocean Isle beach vacation in a nutshell. Here's to next year!

 

Our Summer Catch Up | The Beach

 

 It almost didn't happen (read here if you want to know more), this one week vacation to the sunny beaches of Ocean Isle. But it did. We traveled down with some awesome friends (like family). Imagine eighteen of us, one house, 4 bathrooms, a pool...and yes ocean front view. We had an absolute blast and made some awesome memories. We all needed a little bit of...

We all wish the beach wasn't just a "once a year thing". And yet, because it is what it is, I look on the bright side. Because there's something really magical about visiting a place just once a year. It becomes a most wonderful measure of time, family and growth.

Remember when Sophia touched the ocean for the first time? Remember when you wanted to jump off the balcony into the pool? Remember night walks on the beach? Remember the yummy coffee drinks made to order? Remember the Purple Onion? The pool? Crabbing? The Brentwood? Nerts? (yup).

We remember. I hope this is a family tradition that continues every summer.

We come home refreshed and rejuvinated from breathing the fresh air of salty beaches, sunshine and togetherness. Family and tradition. And we all look forward to the next time. Whenever that may be.

And yes, the last picture is all of our kids. Stay tuned for part II of the beach tomorrow.

Adios...I'm off to St. Louis!

It's 11:03pm and I am just now sitting down to blog. I'm exhausted ... but I am excited! Tomorrow I will be leaving in the morning to attend Joyce Meyer's three day conference in St. Louis, MO. I will be traveling with my dear friend Laura, her mom and sister.

I am expecting it to be great.

I am expecting it to be life-changing.

I am expecting to miss Sophia like crazy (it will be the first time we have been apart this long).

I am expecting to come home renewed and refreshed.

I am expecting to have a new perspective on everyday life.

It will be great! If you want to know more, click on the love life pic below. I've set up some posts for you for the next 3 days...enjoy! Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

 

Lost Ladies in a Lincoln on a Late Night

I really don't mind traveling. So when my mom called me on Friday asking me if I wanted to go up to Indianapolis (with my sister and Hannah) for a family baby shower I said sure. I will spare you all the last minute details that took place and the 25 phone calls that happened. It was set: We were meeting at my house at 9. The baby shower started at 2. This would give us PLENTY of time to eat lunch and have several potty breaks in between. Indianapolis is about 3 hours away.

Saturday, 9:10am: Of course, JoAnna is not at my house. Mom and I decide to call. She doesn't answer...no surprise. I text her: (you better be around the corner and that's why you're not answering). No response back. What is most aggravating is that at 7:30 THE SAME MORNING JoAnna called me to make sure we were still meeting at 9! At this point I am only slightly irritated.

9:30 am: JoAnna pulls in the drive way.

9:36 am: We load up the Lincoln and leave for Indianapolis.

9:40 am: I need caffeine...we hit McDonald's.

9:50 am: Back on the road to Indy.

9:52 am: Sophia coughs. Now, Sophia woke up with a little cough. I gave her some juice and a little Benadryl earlier that morning...hoping this would help. Sophia is still coughing, so much so that my mom (being the GRANDMOTHER she is) decides that Sophia needs cough medicine.

10:01 am: We pull into the KMART parking lot in Versailles so Mom can run in and get some medicine. Mom suggests that we take the girls out of the car and let them walk around and stretch their legs. Fine. We take the girls out. What is supposed to be a "little stop" turns into a fiasco. Mom has to ask the pharmacist what to give a 2 year old for a cough. We walk up to check out and of course there is only 1 line open and 3 people in the line. Sophia will not hold my hand and throws herself on the ground. So, I take her outside to have a talk. She is crying at this point...she knows what's coming. Mom, JoAnna, and Hannah come out and of course my mother sees a little merry-go-round. Of course, the girls have to have a ride...what kind of grandmother would she be if she didn't let them ride?

10:32 am: We pull out of KMART and head towards Indy. I text Anthony to pray for me. This is going to be a long trip.

12:03 am: Potty break and lunch.

1:04 pm: Back on the road.

2:04 pm: We reach Indianapolis. Only we are on the west side of town...we need to be on the east side. Yes, we were lost.After several phone calls and re-routing ourselves via the iphone. We reach the shower at 2:45. Yes, a 3 hour trip took us 4.5 hours! Keep in mind, my daughter has not napped the entire trip up. And we haven't stopped for a potty break since lunch. My nerves were shot and all I wanted was to get out of the car.

5:30 pm: We head out after saying our goodbyes. My mom and her sisters don't see each other very often, so we have decided to have dinner together with them at Cracker Barrel.

5:42 pm: As we are pulling into the parking lot Sophia throws up. No, I'm not kidding. The mixture of cake from the shower, punch, hershey kisses, and cough medicine didn't sit right with her. (YA THINK?!?) I spend the next 15 minutes cleaning puke off of Sophia and the car seat. Thankfully I bought a change of clothes!

7:13 pm: After saying our goodbyes and Mom getting some directions on how to get back to the interstate...we head back home. 

7:24 pm: We get a call from my cousin, Pam saying we should have turned with them onto the highway...are we lost? We need to turn back around. Of course not, Mom said she will just take Interstate 70 to Cincinnati and go home that way.

7:28 pm: We get another call from my Aunt Helen saying are we going the right way...we should have followed them. SERIOUSLY?! I tell her that we are fine and we are going home through Cincinnati. After this I am a little concerned. But Mom assured us that we were heading the right way.

7:53 pm: I begin to see signs for Dayton, OH. WHAT THE... I pull out my trusty iphone. And yes, we were definitely heading the wrong way. I mentioned something to mom and she said she thought we were heading the right way. I made her look at the iphone. She freaked out! All this time she thought Interstate 70 was 74. We took the next exit off the Interstate and decided it would take less time just to get back to 74 than to turn around. Mom felt so bad.

8:18 pm: What happened next was a bunch of right and lefts down county roads with soy beans fields on one side and corn on the other and this video.

 

9:03 pm: Mom decides to stop at a Dairy Queen (of all places) for a potty break. She buys ice cream...for everyone! Seriously, it's 9:03. All I want is for Sophia to sleep and my mom comes out with a vanilla cone for Sophia. Sometimes I think she's forgotten what it's like to be a mom. (HA!) I offer to drive so mom can have a break. And yes, the cones were good. And yes, Sophia took 2 licks and she was finished.

10:28 pm: We make a bathroom break and switch drivers in Dry Ridge. The girls are all asleep by this time.

11:30 pm: We arrive home 4.5 hours later.

This was my Saturday (in a nutshell): Lost ladies in a Lincoln on a late night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the Zoo

Last weekend Anthony took the weekend off for some family time. The weather was nice. The Cincinnati Zoo was calling our names. So we went. It was the first time I had been to the zoo since I was a kid. It was SO much fun. Sophia loves animals and to be able to watch her see and recognize animals in person for the first time was so cool! Of course I took my camera...so here are some pictures from that day. Enjoy.

Hottie hubby purchasing our tickets for the day. We found out later, that the day we went was the last day of the winter season. Meaning: no train ride and some animals weren't available for viewing.

First stop: the white tigers. They were gorgeous. We couldn't get Soph to say tiger...she kept saying cat.

Lunch break and boy was she a little feisty. (ha!)

    
  The Children's Zoo was really neat. Sophia was able to go inside and pet some animals. Seen here is my husband (who accidentally took food pellets in to feed the animals). Sophia got a little overwhelmed...but the animals LOVED them! Apparently, one of the zoo workers told Anthony that you aren't allowed to bring the pellets in the petting area just feed them over the fence. Who knew!?

 
They also let some of the animals (peacocks, turkeys, roosters) run around. Soph loved pointing them out to us.
 

Sarah's Artsy Shot of the Day.

Sophia's grandma recently read her The Tale of the Three Little Pigs. She loves saying the word "wolf" and was so excited to see real wolves. And, this sign...well I thought it was funny...for obvious reasons. Of course we went into a souvenir store and let Soph pick out something...we walked around half of the store when she spotted the white tigers. She was sold.

  The giraffes were out. I found the place where they bathed them to be extremely fascinating. And the funny moment of the day came when we went to look at the gorillas. Anth had the camera and he said this gorilla kept looking straight at him. I now have over 30 pictures of said gorilla.

Sophia did really well all day...considering she had no nap. Towards the end of the day, I let her walk around for a bit (without holding my hand). I took her over to this fence and tried to show her some animals. Well...if you know anything about Anthony...he got a little concerned (hehe!) and Sophia's independent walking was put to a halt.

 

 

Hermiting

Thinking about pressing pause on life and hermiting up here for a month or so, nestled in the Andes Mountains 2,990 meters above sea level. 


{Images via DigsDigs by Max Núñez and Felipe Camu for dRN Architects}

go away, get away, take me away...please

today has been one of those days. you know...the kind of day you want to crawl into a hole and never come out. as for me i don't want to crawl into a hole. afterall...they are dirty, black and probably smell. i would prefer more of a retreat...someplace far away where i can't see the laundry piling up or the looming fact that i need to start dinner in 30 minutes. so for that i leave you with these pictures. take me away!

 

 

 

cuba, ny

it had been too long since we had last seen our good friends, the rush's. so last weekend we took a trip to cuba, ny to visit the rush family. we spent 5 days there having a blast!  the weather was great and yep, it even snowed! so many memories and hilarious moments. good conversations and 20 minute drives in beautiful country just to get a malt. yes, i did see some amish people...made me so happy. we went to letchworth park was was absolutely breathtaking. unfortunately we arrived and got some pictures in and it started to rain.  but nonetheless, the "rockies of the north", did not disappoint. i would have to say one of the highlights for me was watching doralyn hold our daughter...it was so special for me. doralyn and i scrapped and i dare say that i completed 5 layouts...which was a record for me.  we tasted some of the best pizza ever and got to eat brandon's homemade burgers and fries.  all in all it was a great visit and can't wait to go back.

  while traveling home we stopped at lake erie. neither anth nor i had seen a great lake before. it was windy and it was cold...but the view was breathtaking. sophia loved the wind and she loved sticking her tongue out! it was so cute. when we got back to the car, we both looked at each other and said that it reminded us of the ocean.  blue as far as the eye could see.