Busy Weekend...

What a hectic weekend! Saturday morning we kicked off the weekend with a 20 mile bike ride around Gulf Breeze with the Focused Youth kids for their Bike-A-Thon fundraiser to support our upcoming missions trip to Mexico. It was definitely a hot morning, but the kids did great! We had minor issues with the bikes and didn't have any wipe outs - I'd say it was a success! Here's a pic one of the parents took of the group before the ride.

Sunday was filled with church and youth events and then a goodbye party for our dear friend Graham. He's in the military and is moving this Thursday to Arizona. We'll definitely miss him around here. He's become a great friend of Brenton's. Unfortunately we had to leave the party early last night cause some stomach bug hit me out of the blue. :-\ But no worries, I have the sweetest boys in my life; Brenton and Blakely took great care of me as they spent the evening watching the Lakers vs. Celtics game and caring for me. Blakely sure is the cuddler around here. He snuggles up with us every time he gets the chance. He's fitting into our little family so well!

I'm happy to say the tummy bug has passed and I'm facing a new week. It's going to be a short week here at home - we're leaving Thursday morning for St. Petersburg with a bus full of youth students for a weekend youth conference. While we're looking forward to it, we're definitely going to miss our little Blakely! Sadly, we have to leave him behind. With that said, I better get on with my house cleaning and my afternoon appointments, lots to do in a short amount of time. Hope you're having a lovely Monday!

Love and Blessings to all,

♥ d

Meet Blakely

After three years of wanting a cuddly yorkie puppy of my own - my dreams have come true! Brenton and I picked up our new puppy yesterday afternoon and boy is he full of personality! He's 2 months old, has ears far too big for his little body and hair that's outta control - just my kind of companion. ;) I'm pretty sure he thinks he's a grate dane or something, cause he carries himself in the way a big dog would - he's fearless. Anyways, I had to take a minute to introduce my Blakely.

Crafty Wednesday

While I had planned to spend yesterday helping my parents paint their new house, I discovered they didn't need the help. So instead of painting, I spent the afternoon making a fun little wreath from the pages of a paperback book. I had found the idea in a blog and decided to give it a try - to my surprise, it was inexpensive, fun and fairly simple. :) Here's what the process looked like:












The whole project probably cost me $3 (I already had craft paint for the edges of the book, so that wasn't included), and it only took 2 hours or so (a great craft to do with a friend or while watching tv). You can find detailed instructions on how to make one for yourself here. :) Don't forget to show me your results - I love seeing what other people come up with!

I'm off to teach music lessons for the afternoon. Hope you're having a beautiful day!

♥

d

Summerfied! :)

So, summer is totally upon is (if you're living in the south, that is). I know, I know - it's still officially spring, but here in hot, sunny Florida, the heat and humidity has settled in. To "celebrate" (or should I say, "entertain myself" as I'm stuck indoors on this humid Sunday afternoon), I've decided to Summerfy my blog and give it a little life. It's been neglected (as usual) and I, once again, am on a mission to keep it alive. We'll see how this attempt goes. ;)

In the mean time, married life is treating us well. Every season is new and exciting, as we're living it together for the first time! The only complaint I have is we never seem to have enough time together, but I suppose things could be worse. Lots has happened since I last updated, don't worry - I won't bore you with it, but I will share some highlights of our most recent vacay to Rosemary Beach (seriously the cutest beach destination EVER). B & I accompanied my family on a little week-long trip to Rosemary and spent the week riding bikes, playing games & basking under the Florida sun. My tan is glowing, my hair is golden and my heart is full as I had some much needed r&r, & enjoyed some good ol' family time. My sister (who is home for the summer! I'm so excited about this!) and I stumbled upon one of the cutest little boutique called Pish Posh Patchouli's. I'm in love. It's a hand-made soap and fragrance wonderland. They even have a cute little corner where you can mix your own perfume and/or bath products - I couldn't resist. I made up a bottle of almond body oil with two delectable scents I found utterly irresistible. All that to say, our trip to Rosemary was fabulous. Here are some fun pics I took with my phone to document the trip:











Oh and did I mention, I found my dream house?? I'm totally going to live in a house just like this someday! :)




As if a beachy summer vacay isn't enough - I've finally planted my very own little ORGANIC GARDEN! I've talked (and dreamt) about doing this for quite some time now, and it has finally happened! We started a little late in the season for a summer garden, so we couldn't plant seeds, but we were able to find some neat veggies and herbs to plant that had already sprouted. I have to admit, Brenton did most of the hard work (what are husbands for?) but I'm so excited to see what comes of it. It looks small, I know, but we're planning on adding on. I want to double it by next month. We'll see how the first batch goes. Check it out!





We've planted eggplant, summer squash, cucumber, sweet bell peppers, sweet 100's (tomatoes), cantaloupe, strawberries, sweet basil, dill & cilantro. I can't wait to see what it produces!! :)

I think I've given you enough for now. I've discovered blogspot's new "pages" feature, and I've added a few summer pages to keep my summer cooking and project adventures up-to-date. Feel free to check them out soon! Hope you're staying cool, wherever you are!

Lots of love and blessings,

d