Happy 29 -again

Just kidding. I turned 49 last week. I'm not one to go around telling my age or lying about it. I just don't always answer when I'm asked. LOL But it hit me on my birthday that my hubby didn't see 49. And that I need to see this year as a blessing and an opportunity to be thankful for and not a number to be ashamed of.
So, here's to 49!

My sweet kids took me out for Mexican food that night and then we went out for gourmet Popsicles. Andrew and I got the chocolate Elvis Popsicles and I totally forgot that Elvis had a thing for bananas!!! And I don't think Andrew ever knew that LOL so he was pretty surprised when he was sure he was tasting them because he's allergic to bananas!
Thankfully, he didn't have a enough to get sick.

My new room is done and I love it so much. It has stopped feeling big enough to be a hotel and it just feels peaceful and homey now. I used furniture I already had and painted pieces to go with my color scheme. They were getting rid of an IKEA desk at work, so I got a great deal on that. I did buy a cute chair at Ross and now, it's done. For my birthday, the kids decided my room needed an Echo!
So, Alexa is my roomie now.  And we have praise parties almost every night!  And  I found out that she doesn't work, if you accidentally mix up her name with your friend, Alexis' name. ; )

I've been painting my old room because Andrew is moving into that one and we are getting our family room back as a place for all the instruments and exercise equipment! A million hoorays!
He chose a matte dark gray which looks almost like chalkboard paint. (that would've been fun actually!) I had my doubts about it but it is coming together and he loves it. Thankfully there is a lot of white trim in there and that brightens it up. -But Heaven help me when that room needs to go back to a neutral, light color someday! LOL

One of my favorite friends gave me Joanna Gaines' new cookbook and I'm so excited to do some cooking! Fall just makes you want to bake, doesn't it?
It is still 93 degrees here so, I will have to just put up fall decor and pretend the weather has changed. I wouldn't mind it being so hot but there is red tide in some amount at almost all of our beaches, so I've had to cross that off as my happy place for now. Hoping to find one more day to go before the water gets cold. 

Nathan gets to come home for Christmas and spend 18 days with us! Merry Christmas to me!!!
I'm so excited! Our office at work will be closed for several of those days, so I can't wait for some family fun with the whole gang. It will be our first time to all be together since last Christmas.
I love seeing the family dynamics when all my adult kids are together. They feed off each other's sense of humors and we do a whole lot of laughing. And I'm proud of the way they support each other and stay connected to one another throughout the year. That is special too.

I hope you have a blessed week!

~Becky

A new season

In 2005 my hubby's best friend helped us build an addition on our house. The kids were young and we pretty much just cheered him on a cleared away debris. ; ) 

 Part of the addition included building a large room and bathroom for our three boys to share.

Hubby and I planned to make it "the honeymoon suite" when they grew up and moved away. 

After his passing, I couldn't move in there because it seemed too sad.

 Many months later, I invited Zac and Tiffany to move in because Zac was about to go back to school and I thought living here would make things easier for them. We also missed them and thought our house was WAY to quiet. Thankfully, they said 'yes' and we had a great time having them here for the last two years.

 

They just found a really cute apartment closer to their jobs and they moved last week. We are so excited for them and a little sad for us. Zac has just one more semester until graduation! Hooray! They moved in on Monday and on Tuesday he took his final exams for his summer classes and turned in a final project. His determination and diligence never cease to amaze me. 

That room actually did have its season as a "honeymoon suite" when I thought about it because they were still newlyweds when they moved in! : )

And I've decided that it is NOT TOO SAD now, for me to move in there. Bring on all that space and my very own bathroom! Yes, please!!!! Can't wait!

So, I'm looking forward to switching rooms soon. -Lots of painting and decorating and room moving to follow. Andrew is thinking about switching rooms as well.

Joy has a new job as a barista in a boutique coffee shop, which she is enjoying. She's also been dog sitting  and house sitting all over town and we barely see her. I saw her at church the other day and I took her picture because Joy sightings are rare. LOL

Andrew is ready to start his second year of college and it wasn't without the usual financial aid paperwork nightmare that college life seems to include. But he is set now and school starts next week. 

Nathan is greatly enjoying his ministry position in CA and he can't be talked out of living there even though we often try. 

My schedule at work has changed and that has been fun. I love having Fridays off  now and I work on Saturday nights., so my brain has been confused all week over what day of the week it actually is, but I'll get used to it. 

Our BFFs in CA sent their son to school in our city and he just arrived and found a place to live nearby. We are excited to have him over for laundry-doing and some home-cooked meals. (when I can catch my kids long enough to atually cook)

Becky

This and that from the week

I feel like mentioning that we actually did not have a wedding to go to this weekend. LOL
But if we keep going to so many, I may have to actually learn the electric slide -even though I have  no rhythm!

The other day at work, I leaned over my desk to pour the last bit of tea from my cup into a planter, (bad idea) and totally forgot that I had a lit candle on my desk!
And yes, the very worst thing that could happen, did!
My hair caught on fire! 
Everyone else had already left for the day, so lucky for me they didn't see me screaming and slapping my hair. Oh my stars! Does anything smell worse than burning hair?
I'm thanking the Lord for layers because it isn't noticeable at all. And I'm hereby grounding myself from all candles for the foreseeable future.

If you want something done in the heavenlies, get Joy to pray for you. Seriously!
I'm blessed to get to watch God do amazing things in answer to her prayers for the people in her life!
This week she prayed and decided to ask for a raise at work. And she was given MORE than she asked for! How amazing is that? They told her that she is now the highest paid employee, who isn't in management. Yay!  #godsfavor

This week I applied to be a volunteer Cuddler at the women's hospital. That's a real thing!
 You get to spend 3 hours at a time cuddling babies, who were born with addictions. Isn't that heartbreaking? I hope I get to be apart of the program. I'd love to spend some time cuddling and praying over newborns!

I'll leave you with this great quote from a book I am reading right now called Own Your Life:

"Stewarding your life wisely can bring great confidence, excellence of character and peace of mind
-And lead you to create a legacy, a story worth telling.
But it begins with a determination on your part to make a wise plan,
to forge resonable goals, to listen ot the prompting of the Holy Spirit
and to trust God to lead you on a path of spiritual renewal and strength.
Each day you are writing the story that your life will tell throughout eternity." ~Sally Clarkson

May we write well!

~Becky

Another beautiful wedding

It is wedding season in our community of friends and Andrew was honored to stand beside another friend who he got married this weekend.

Such a precious moment when he saw his lovely bride approaching

What a beautiful ceremony!

The groom is a very talented musician and he surprised his bride with a song he wrote for their first dance! Andrew played guitar and another friend sang it, while they  had their first dance. So sweet!

Sometimes it hits me, how blessed we are to do life with so many wonderful young adults, who love the Lord and are living for Him. Some of these 'kids' have been coming to hang out at our house since they were in middle school and are now getting married to each other. 

And I found out over Christmas, how fun it is to have these married young adults, who live in other states now, and have real jobs, (LOL) come back to visit and once again sit at our table and jump on trampoline just like no time at all has passed. Friends who become family are the best!

Proud of this handsome guy who is so special to so many! 

~Becky

He is the best

Two weeks ago, Andrew was the best man in his friend's beutiful wedding. 

Most beutiful vows ever!

I love their sheer joy!

His best man's speech was a huge hit. 

And it truly was a gorgeous wedding! These pictures don't do it a bit of justice..

And on Friday, there is another wedding to attend. 

And guess who is the best man again? 

Yes, he's the best!

~Becky

Before Irma was a thing

We had fun watching the eclipse through a cereal box and sheets of paper at work a couple weeks ago. But not as much fun as Nathan, who drove to Oregon and saw the whole thing in totality! So amazing. He has so many fun adventures!

Last week, my friend's hubby's company gave them tickets to a pre-season Bucs game. My friend's hubby and son couldn't attend so she invited Joy and I to go with her and her daughter. It was great fun! I forgot that teams don't play very hard for pre-season games though. So, there really wasn't much action on the field, which worked out just fine because we were busy chatting anyway! LOL

When my hubby was in college, there was a year that he was in at least 4 weddings!
Andrew has at this point been asked to be in 4 weddings this year! The other day, this caused him to proclaim "I'm just like Dad!"

(Yes, you are, but for SO many more reasons than this!) LOL
It is a crazy thing when your youngest son's friends start getting married!
Last weekend was wedding #1 and it was beautiful. (even though I didn't get the best pictures of it)

My cute guy and a couple others didn't have their complete outfits until the day before the wedding, which was stressing me out! LOL But it everything came together and it was perfect.

Then I spent the rest of the weekend with a touch of the stomach flu.  And on Labor Day, we went to Zac's in-laws for dinner and had a great time.
And then on Tuesday, life became all about Hurricane Irma and getting prepared. It wasn't even a topic of discussion on Monday, which later amazed us.

~Becky

Nathan's stay

I don't think my boys look that much a like but people mix up Nathan and Zac all the time when Nate is here. And they think that because he lives in CA he must be the oldest. LOL

He was able to stay here for a couple weeks after our trip and it was so fun! (expect for the part where he had oral surgery, I mean)
He needed his wisdom teeth out. Bless his heart. He'd been in pain for weeks!
For the first time ever in my life I have dental insurance! Whoo-hoo! Big fan! So, it was pretty thrilling to save over $2000 on this procedure!
He couldn't feel anything but he could HEAR it all. And he heard when the drill stopped working and he heard when the oral surgeon got mad and left the room!
(Yikes!) And then he felt them give him lots more laughing gas. It was all a bit disconcerting!
He came out telling me he was 'high as a kite.' LOL

Then I got to take care of him!!! Yay!!!
I made mashed potatoes and mashed sweet potatoes and lots of smoothies and bought blueberries and every soft flavored blueberry thing I could think of.
It was so much fun to care of my grown up kid, who has lived on his own for the last 4 years. And he was THE most grateful patient. : )
He was sure he wouldn't have survived on his own. Aww!

When he felt better he threw a little beach BBQ to watch the sunset. Then he and I had a date night to eat crab from a crab shack. (that was an adventure!) Next time I want a crab-opener-thingy! LOL

 We went to the movies and caught up on our superhero  with our dear friends a couple times.

So, including this fun and the 19 hours we were driving together on the trip chatting and listening to each of our favorite books on CD, I feel like I had a lot of quality time with my sweet boy that I hadn't seen in 8 months! Yay!
And now the countdown to Christmas begins!

A dear friend bought me this mug after he left, which I LOVE!

I'm so proud of who he is and what he does.
He leads a youth ministry, goes to school and he wants to use his future marketing degree to support himself as a missionary to Iceland someday.
(but I'm totally OK if that Iceland thing doesn't actually work out -LOL!)

~Becky

Andy in Aspen

Andrew has been on a family vacation with some dear friends in Colorado.
So, I've been getting these gorgeous pictures on my phone for the last 2 and half weeks from Mrs. P.
They've given him a once in a lifetime vacation and I'm so grateful and slightly jealous. LOL
My hubby grew up in Boulder so we have been to CO many times but never to Aspen.

He's been gone for 16 days, so needless to say, I can't wait to pick him up at the airport tomorrow night!

 And neither canhis best friend from CA who flew in last night to spend the next two weeks with our family.  

~Becky

The blurr

The day after graduation/the party, I slept until an embarrassing hour. And life has been an absolute blurr every since.

The blur included:

 ~Some fun time off  of work with my sweet, best friend, who was in town for Andrew's graduation.

~A funeral for a friend who impacted so many and who was such a good example to me when I was a newlywed. Watching her taught me how to honor my husband and then later how to parent patiently. Not that I learned that lesson right off the bat, because I sure didn't. : ) And she taught me how to balance my checkbook way back when we didn't have two nickels to rub together. LOL I'm so grateful for her life.

~A date with my oldest son. He only likes the beach on cloudy days, so we went to watch a storm roll in, which is always so dramatic on the beach in Florida. Then we ate a cute place across the street and watched the rain.

~Getting Andrew ready to fly off on vacation. His friend's family blessed him with a plane ticket for graduation and invited him on their family vacation to Colorado where they are having a blast at the foot of the mountains.
Bless his heart, he will actually be in CO on Father's Day which is so ironic! My hubby was from CO and we spent many vacations there ourselves, in the Rockies, while singing John Denver songs! : )

~Starting to facilitate our women's Bible study. This is way out of my comfort zone but our fearless leader is moving. We are reading and watching Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts. Love her! Love being reminded that counting our blessing is really counting all the ways He loves us.

~And speaking of out of my comfort zone, being in a photo shoot to advertise an upcoming women's conference at our church! Thankfully, no speaking parts were involved! They just made video clips of a few of us ladies walking around  in a cute part of town eating gourmet Popsicles and chatting and pretending to shop. (and pretending to drink coffee in my case)  LOL We chatted and laughed and at one point ditched our little camera crew to pop in Anthropologie.

That's about it. Work keeps me busy and I love what I get to do. It's the cleaning and the cooking that are hard now. : )

This sporadic and often absentee blogger hopes to be back here a little more often in the future. : )

~Becky

Catching up

I'm not very good at finding the time to blog these days. I wish all the posts that I write in my head, actually made it here. : )

We had a family game night the other night with Tiffany's parents because we don't get to see them often enough. We had a great time even though games were never actually attempted. I also forgot to take pictures of us not playing games. LOL

The love seat mentioned in a previous post, was finally delivered. Glory, glory and it came in a BOX. A very big box! And so we were the first ones to actually sit on it. And the bait and switch was made right! Or the switch and bait -if you are very mad. ; )

Andrew is enjoying his new job as a cashier at the grocery store near where I work. Joy and I came in the other night to say hi and cheer him on.

I made it to my happy place last weekend, but the water is still ice cold.

I found out that I am terrible at choosing paint colors.

But miracle of miracles, Home Depot let me EXCHANGE the paint I bought and for a better color. How nice is that? This is the one I didn't like.

Bree has always been allowed on the furniture until now. But she has a new doggie bed and she actually likes it. -Although she looks less than thrilled in this photo. LOL 

These birds make things interesting at work. They like to guard the doors and rip the flowers out of the flower beds. We were replanting the flowers several times a day. Ugh! Today a hedge was planted in the flower beds. Yahoo! Let's hope they don't care for hedge-ripping!

One day last week, this one decided that pecking on the door all morning would be fun. Too funny!

Joy has a new job delivering food for Panera. When she delivers to the college campus nearby, she does it on a long board. How cool is that? I definitely need a picture of that! I couldn't deliver anything in tact, on a long board -to save my life.

That's about it for what's been happening here.
Hope you are having a nice weekend!

~Becky

Jobs and things

Have I whined here about how exhausting a full-time job outside the home is lately? : )
For many years I had an exhausting full-time job INSIDE the home. LOL
(yes and amen!)
At this job, I get to do a gazillion things that my Type A personality actually finds to be fun.  I love it and the people, all to pieces.

Every day is different and I'm always learning something new and feeling stretched. But it is all very rewarding and how fun are paychecks? And weekends?
I'm a big fan of the weekend now!
(which totally makes me think of Lady Violet from Downton Abbey asking "What is a weekend?")

I keep thinking I should get a Fit Bit, because I bet I would totally have those steps by lunch!
I have a question. Are there cute, dressy, COMFORTABLE shoes in the world? Ones that you can run in, if you don't happen to be near the phone when it rings?! Because I have yet to find them.-It is Friday and my feet hate me.
But tomorrow is Saturday and that means leggings, a sweatshirt, tennis shoes and no make up! Yahoo! I'm determined to make sure my weekends include something fun because grocery shopping and house cleaning totally don't count!

And speaking of jobs, today is Andrew's first day on his new job! Yay! It is his second job, that is. And tomorrow is his final day at his temporary job. Proud of that guy!


Hope you all have a lovely and restful weekend!

~Becky

California again!

Last week Joy and Andrew went to California to visit friends and family.

They really, really, really wanted to drive there.

-But this mom can only handle so much, so that idea was eventually ruled out. ; )
(especially after Nathan got a flat tire and was pick-pocketed in TX on his drive out here for my birthday!)

Flying is just great! Not as adventurous, but still great! lol

They have been having a blast, of course.
They have a great bunch of friends out there that they've been hanging out with and they got to be there to celebrate Andrew's best friend's birthday. Joy and Nathan went to a concert together. They all spent time with the lovely P Family and played in the snow in Big Bear!
Before coming home on Sunday, they will get to be in San Diego to celebrate my dad's birthday with him! Yay! Then they get to visit more dear family in Carlsbad and then go back to Orange county to celebrate Nathan's birthday with him!
-So much fun packed into one trip! What a blessing!

~Becky

The week and the weekend

Wednesday, our church held their annual Fall Fest and I was given the choice of which carnival game to man and I quickly took an inventory of all the games and chose the one where I would clearly have to bend down the LEAST. LOL

Because this was not, by any means, my first Fall Fest, I have learned not to work a game that includes rings or basketballs that you will have to chase and bend down to retrieve at least 100 times or more in 3 hours. ; ) 

And this was by far the coolest game out there! Giant rubber frogs!

 And what little kid does not want the chance to smash something wth a mallet?!

 They hit the edge of the yellow board and that made the frog jump up and if it landed on the lily pad DOUBLE PRIZES! Fun stuff! -There were a few times the frogs got out and a couple when my fingers almost got the mallet but overall, great fun!

Zac and Tiffany moved in last month, to make it easier for Zac to finish school and we suceeded in combining two households in our little house. It has been fun to see them more, although we don't all get to see each other very often because we have different schedules.

But this Friday night, was actually one of the rare times this month when we found an evening when everyone was free so we met up at a restaurant and had a family dinner! Yay!

~Speaking of dinner, since I work full time, I think it is the most amazing accomplishment ever if I come home and actually cook.  And bless my heart, the only one left I really have left to cook for is SO picky. Let's just say there is a mighty big difference between what this one thinks of my cooking and what my hubby thought of it. ; )

Last night was the big EP release for the worship album that our church produced and that Andrew played the bass on. Such an exciting night! 

the band

And tonight my kids look like this:

And here's the grand-dog! LOL

Have a great week! 

~Becky

Happy happenings this week

I have to make this quick...

First of all, my sister texted that she is coming for Thanksgiving! And I am beyond excited about that! We can never get enough of Aunt Jenny!
Not only will we eat lots of yummy food, but we will binge watch the new episodes of Gilmore Girls together when they come out the very next day. Yay! How fun is that?!

Andrew's best friend is here from CA. We love J all to pieces!

One evening he and the kids had a meeting of The Whine and Cheese Club. LOL

They really did take turns whining. And there was sparkling cider, cheese plate

and cheese balls in a vase, to look fancy!!! They crack me up!

They took J to two concerts this weekend, LANY and Houndmouth. I don't know if Houndmouth is one word or two, but I have finally learned that it isn't Houndsmouth. ; ) 

 They also made sure to visit all the places he loves that were on his list.

It feels a tiny bit like fall here in Florida now. 

 This is my happy, little corner of the world, where I am enjoying my job.

Last year, our church recorded a live worship CD with 5 original songs! So exciting!

 It was during the crazy week that Hubby was in the hospital and we found out that the cancer had returned and we immediately had to send his brother back to CA because I couldn't care of them both. That Sunday, Andrew had the opportunity to play the bass for the recording! Which I completely forgot about, until recently when the tech guys at church played the title track for me so that I could hear him play! So fun! 

Well, all that to say that it comes out next week  and it is awesome! Can't wait!

 It will be on iTunes on October 30th and it is called Come As You Are. 

If you want a CD, because you are related to us,

 let me know. LOL ; )

(even if you aren't!) 

Blessings, 

Becky

Great fun with great friends

Andrew spent most of the summer of 2015 in CA with his brother and his best friend. When he went to a nerf gun war party he met S.
She and her family have become great friends of ours and this week, she and her mom came to visit us!
And we had THE best time.

There was segway riding

and lots of rain!  -Californians get really excited about rain since they don't get much! ; )

A beach night

Alligators sightings

A double date

Comfort food

Games

Church

Golf

Boba tea
(and a contest to see who could keep their legs elevated the longest)  😂

And the highlight of the trip was a surprise date in which Andrew asked S to be his girlfriend.

(with the permission and blessing of all of us, parents)♥️

It was a really fun week!
Super thankful for all our BEAUTIFUL friends! Near and far!

~Becky