BIG NEWS!!

I’ve been a little MIA from blogging for the last two weeks. Lots of stuff has happened and I’ve been a little preoccupied. More on that in a minute.

Adam was out of town on business last week. I miss him terribly when he is gone, but I have to admit I sleep much better when I get the whole bed to myself. When he is gone, I actually lock the doors at night and Kaiser stays on high alert. He knows if it’s dark and Adam isn’t home that it is his duty to protect his family. I’m not kidding. I love it, but it’s also annoying, because he is constantly acting like he hears something outside and doing that quiet dog growl. It starts to freak me out and I think maybe someone is outside, but truth be told I have 100% confidence that if anyone tried to hurt me or Landon, Kaiser would die trying to stop them. I can’t imagine life without a GSD. They are so amazing.

Enough gushing about the dog, Friday night, when Adam was on a plane coming home, I attended a Starry Night event at Huber’s. Normally I would go with my Dad, but he was in Washington D.C and this event was for members AND their guest so we made it a friend’s night instead. It’s been awhile since Mary and I have had a girls day there so she was super excited and she finally got try their blackberry sangria I’ve been raving about.

My big brother also got us a bottle of my most favorite wine ever, Autumn Frost! Delicious!! It was a great night to hang out, have some BBQ, and drink some sangria. I think the strawberry (out of season now) is still my favorite, but I do really like the blackberry. We also tried their peach which was wonderful as well. We had a great time and the weather was amazing! 

Saturday, we took a little family road trip…

We headed to this city…

To have a look around and explore the area. There is an area just south of Nashville called Brentwood that we wanted to go visit, check out and get acquainted with, because Adam just accepted a position there!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not only that, but he starts August 19th!!

Which means... we are moving to Nashville, Tennessee!

It’s exciting, scary, overwhelming, surreal, you name it. We’ve known for a long time that we would eventually be moving. Louisville doesn’t offer the opportunities for Adam that bigger cities do. For us to stay in Louisville and Adam work for a larger CPA firm, he would be traveling constantly. The firm he got a position with is the largest financial auditing firm in the country and won’t require him to travel outside of the area as often. It’s an amazing offer and great opportunity for him. Not only that, but it puts him on the path that he wants to be on and sets us up to meet our long term goals. It’s also a new opportunity for me. I have no choice, but to leave my current job and finding something new. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to find a job that I enjoy. I would love to do travel and tourism and/or event planning so right now I am focusing on jobs in those areas. Most importantly though, I want to get down there and be together as a family as soon as possible so I’m willing to go just about anywhere to at least get myself down there. If I’m throwing away almost 10 years of work and the security that comes along with that, I might as well make it worthwhile. I’ve applied for a number of things so we will see what happens. I’m just hoping to get something soon.

We spent the day driving around Brentwood and the surrounding areas looking for places to live. Landon did AMAZING despite being in the car for almost 12 hours. He is such a good little boy. When we got toBrentwood we checked out Adam’s office then headed to a Chik-Fil-A so Landon could get out some energy at their playplace.

We had lunch while he played and once he decided he was hungry we got back in the car to let him eat while we drove around. Genius! Adam has a friend that lives and works in the area so we stopped by his place for some tips on surrounding areas. He showed us the affordable areas nearby and explained what traffic would be like. Brentwood is the nicest area of Nashville and where all the country stars live. You can tell! I’ve never seen more gated homes and entire subdivisions in my life. It’s really pretty with lots of trees and rolling hills and it’s expensive. We drove around looking at number of areas and homes that are currently on the market to rent. On the way home, we stopped and got Landon some little plastic dinosaurs so he would be occupied at the end of a long day in the car. It was a great idea and he didn’t ask once if he could get out (which he likes do once he’s over riding in the car). We made this little video of him playing with them and saying his new favorite word courtesy of a weekend spent with Grandma.

We plan on going back this Saturday to tour a few homes. The main problem we face right now is where I’m going to work. There is an area just South of Brentwood that we like, but if I have to work downtown then it would make for a long drive and bad traffic. Another area I’m really interested in is southeast of downtown and directly east of Brentwood. It’s surrounded by a huge reserve and the area is supposed to be nice. Hopefully, I can get the job ball rolling so we can pick a place and start the moving process.

I was honestly super excited/thrilled about the opportunity without a single bit of sadness until Friday night when I told my friend Mary that he had gotten the job and she started to cry. Then Marty shared that she already cried. It really hadn’t hit me until that moment how hard it is going to be to leave our friends and family. Everyone who knows us knew Adam had been looking all over the country and we would eventually move, but the fact that it is actually happening and so soon has come as quite a shock. I can understand. It’s even shocking for us. On the upside, I know the friendships we have will continue despite the distance and I’m trying to think of all the positives like how fun it will be to have girl’s days/nights in Nashville. It will be exciting to be in a new city full of new adventures and experiences; I just wish I could bring everyone with us. It’s great that home is just a short drive away and we will have a multitude of places to stay when we come back. We want to get at least a three bedroom to make sure we have room for guest especially the grandparents who will probably be on a constant visit rotation.

As I said, there is still a lot in the air right now and the only thing we know for sure is that Adam starts on August 19th. It’s been a little crazy since we found out especially since he got the offer hours before he left on a business trip. I was left alone for three days with tons of questions to ponder, trying not to freak out. I can honestly say this is going to be the biggest life change we’ve experienced thus far. Just to prove how crazy it’s been I don’t think I’ve been on pinterest in almost a week. Yeah, nuts!!! We know that everything will work out and we are blessed to have plenty of friends and family that can help make the transition as smooth as possible for all of us. Most of all, I’m so proud of Adam and happy that all his hard work is paying off. I would go to the moon with that man if he asked and I know that no matter where life takes us we will always have each other and that is all I need.

Our Weekend in Pictures

This weekend was packed full of sun, family, and fun. Since we took enough pictures to fill a photobook, I'll the leave the pictures to tell the story of this weekend.

Adam's cousins were visiting from Phoenix, AZ

Friday night we went to a movie at the zoo

We got there early and had enough time to walk around the zoo

Landon liked the lazy tiger

Getting ready to watch Madagascar 3

Saturday morning we took the boys to Huber's to pick fruit

Marty met up with us too

We started off picking peaches

Landon really liked picking the ones on his level

We also picked some blackberries

I showed Landon which berries were ready to pick

And he did a good job of only picking the black ones

The boys ran in the orchards while we picked black raspberries

After Huber's we went to Noni's to hang out with everyone

It was hot so we played in the pool

We tried out the GoPro underwater

Kids doing handstands

Landon after jumping off the diving board

Sunday we went to Creekside Sprayground

They had a blast

Even a little rain didn't stop them

Sisters playing in the water

They enjoyed the playground too

So that was our weekend in a nutshell. The kids had a blast and it was great to hangout with everyone. This weekend is what Summer is all about. Here's a short video I took of Landon running around at the Sprayground. Not sure why he wanted to take off his diaper, but I managed to convince him to keep it on.

My Goals - 2 Week Update

Its been two weeks since I wrote THIS post about goals. Since I want to stay committed to my goals I thought I would write a follow-up post to update my progress. In my previous post last week I said…

To become debt free this week I am going to...

  Monitor spending at least every other day.

  Pack lunch all week.

  Spend $0 other than gas this week

So over the last two weeks I’ve done great with this goal. I did pack my lunch all of last week and all of this week with the exception of getting breakfast each Sunday. On top of that, we only ate out one time both weekends which is HUGE for us. We’ve also driven into work together everyday for two weeks which has reduced our gas cost by half. Those changes alone are so big for us and our budget. Almost every morning I think about an egg white and cheese sandwich from Panera Bread, but once I pass the exit I get over it. Moving forward with the next week my goals remain very similar.

To become debt free next week I am going to...

  Continue to monitor my spending

  Pack my lunch all next week

  Spend $0 other than gas

  Eat out only once on the weekends This is a new goal and will be the hardest. We always eat out on the weekend which blows through money. I’m going to pick a new recipe or two to try out which will motivate   me to want to eat at home as well.

  Ride to work with Adam whenever possible-saves more money than anything else we could do

In my second goal I said…To help me lose 25 pounds this week I am going to...

  Log all food that goes into my mouth all week long. 

  No fast food this week. 

  Exercise every night this week starting the 30 day shred. 

So I haven’t done quite as well with this goal. I did log just about everything that went into my mouth and I’ve been doing better and better about adding the recipes of items I’ve cooked and not just guessing by pulling similar items out of the database. I also stuck with the no fast food with the one exception of breakfast Sunday morning at McDonalds, but at least I logged it. The exercise part is where I failed completely. I did the 30 day shred one time. Once. It’s pathetic, I know.

I’ve thought a lot about why I’ve failed this. I have a ton of excuses in my head. I need a mat, I hate workout videos, I’m busy, tired ect, but the truth is if I wanted it bad enough I would have done it. Do I have that much of a problem with delayed gratification that I cannot see the long term benefits? If I’m to be honest with myself I think the reason stems from knowing that I won’t be happy with my body even if I can lose more weight and for that reason I feel like it’s not worth the effort. Will I be happier, yes, but not really happy. Before I got pregnant I was the biggest I’ve ever been at 180 plus pounds, but I wasn’t nearly as unhappy with my body as I am today. It wasn’t just the pregnancy that added stretch marks and ended with a c-section scar, but it is everything my body incurred afterwards. It’s not easy to talk about, think about, or look at. I have significant scars all over my body. I’d say that most people that would see me on a day to day basis would never know. Some might notice the scar on my neck from my tracheotomy, but this is a small scar. When I am in a swimsuit you might get a glimpse under my swim skirt of the large scar on the back of my leg due to necrotizing fasciitis. I looked into and considered having plastic surgery (skin graft) to reduce the scar, but decided against the idea of anymore surgery at this point. Wearing a sleeveless shirt you could notice the scarring of each of my armpits from being on so many antibiotics and the skin in that area breaking down. On top of those scars, my c-section had to be re-opened and the scar is much more severe that normal c-sections. I have loose skin around the c-section that just hangs as well. It’s not a huge amount of skin, but there is no amount of exercise that will snap it back. It’s the result of being immobile for two months after having a baby. I also have multiple small scars my legs from the life support machine I was on, on my chest from a chest tube, on my arms due to all the picc lines and even on my butt from pressure ulcers. Like I said, most people will look at me and never see any of this, but I see them every single time I look at myself. I want to lose 25 pounds to be happier with my weight, but I know that won’t make me happy with my body. It’s my biggest struggle. I know logging my food, staying within my recommended daily calories (1400) and skipping the fast food will help me obtain the goal of losing weight so I’m going to keep those goals and work on them and myself. I’ve also decided to go drop the 30 day shred and go back to running since I felt much more accomplished when I did it. It’s also a bonus that it doesn’t require me to do it everyday which made me feel like I had failed for missing one day. I started back at week 2 and I’ve already completeled it. Sunday I will start week three. I’m working on telling myself that while I may not be happy with my body I know losing weight will make me happier and happiness doesn’t have to be all or nothing. So this week I’m really focusing on this goal.

To help me lose 25 pounds this week I am going to...

  Log all food that goes into my mouth all week long.

  Stay within my daily calorie count.

  No fast food this week

  Eat out only once this weekend- I always blow my calorie count eating out.

  Complete week 3 of C25K...and don't die

Lastly I said…To better myself professionally this week I am going too...

  Study at least one hour a night through the week.

  Complete all homework for my first class on July 9th.

I did great on this goal as well. I made sure to spend at least one hour a day through the weekend studying and did well in my class on Tuesday. This week’s goal is going to be the same thing with some additional exercises.

To better myself professionally this week I am going too...

  Study at least one hour a night through the week.

  Complete all homework for class on July 22nd.

  Try to find 20 questions from a previous exam about material I’ve covered and answer those questions.

It feels good to have goals for myself and even better to actually accomplishing them. I know from past experiences that with enough hard work I can accomplish anything and I hope for the patience to be OK with baby steps not perfection.

4th of July Weekend

We had plans to have a 4^th of July pool party on Thursday, but Mother Nature had other plans. Womp Womp. Guess that bucket list item will have to wait until next year. It was a bit of a bummer not to hang out with family and friends in the sun all day, but I did get to spend time with my three favorite boys so I really can’t complain. 

Wednesday I put together an extensive weekend menu with a number of new recipes to try. One thing I miss about working part time is the ability to try new recipes more often. I used this weekend and my abundance of fresh blueberries to try a number of new things. It also helped us to not eat out as much and save money. Normally, we blow through a lot of money on the weekend running around and eating out the whole time.

So once we woke up on Thursday from our rain coma I made THESE blueberry biscuits with icing. I was really worried about how they would turn out because the dough was so sticky and hard to shape, but they were wonderful! The icing on top was just the right amount of sweetness and for biscuits they were so very easy. Adam loved the biscuits, but not the blueberries. That man couldn't be any picker. Since the rain was unending I decided to finally bite the bullet and clean the house. Oh how I hate cleaning the house. Since I had the entire day I took my time and organized along the way. I’m was so glad to get it done and happy to be able to take my time without feeling like were other things I could be doing instead. I also managed to make THESE chicken enchiladas for dinner, but they were not so good. I was so disappointed too, because I LOVE chicken enchiladas. Senior Iguanas has the best ones ever (my mouth is watering just thinking of them). I was optimistic that they would be similar, but they were nothing like them. I think a big part of the problem is that it called for four chicken breast. I used four individual chicken breast, but it wasn't enough chicken. Did they mean four full breast? Eight chicken breast? I’m not sure, but that may have made the difference. I’m just not sure I will try them again at least not that recipe. You win some and lose some I guess.

Friday, came with more rain. Adam had to work part of the day so Landon and I spent the morning taking it easy. In the afternoon my Dad and I worked on cleaning his porch. We took everything off the porch, pressure washed it and re-organized everything. Just another step in getting that man organized. There are two BBQ grills on the porch and we cook out about every other night during the Summer so we spend a lot of time on the porch as well. It’s a great place to hang out while Landon plays in the yard. That evening we had to move the cows. My Dad owns about 20 cattle and they've been on a neighbor’s farm for the last month while the pastures on his farm rest. It was time to bring them back home which requires getting them out of the pasture, walking them about a mile down the road, and getting them into the other pasture. This is the about the fourth time we've done it, but this time Landon got to help (by sitting in the truck watching). 

I think he may be a little farmer one day. He loves the cows, tractors, being outside, and helping. He’s glad to have the cows back home so he can see them more. In about a month they will start giving birth and while cows aren't very cute, baby cows are so adorable!

Saturday morning I made THIS cinnamon toast. I remember eating cinnamon toast when I was a kid, but haven’t only made once as an adult. I've been seeing one cinnamon toast recipe pinned over and on pinterest so I decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did! Unlike the enchiladas, this recipe was a big success with the whole family. Easy as can be, fast, and oh so yummy. Adam wants me to make the biscuits from Thursday morning with the cinnamon from the toast and an icing. I might give it a try for him this weekend. The weather was finally clearing up a bit and so we had a cook-out. I made THIS Greek pasta salad and a blueberry cobbler. The blueberry cobbler recipe is one my in-laws use and shockingly not from pinterest, but I’ll share it in the next week or two because it’s delicious and super easy to make. The best part is you can use substitute just about any fruit for the filling. I also made a sausage, cheese and cracker plate with the sausages that Matt and Marty brought Adam back from Norway.

The whale and reindeer were not bad. Adam has decided that whale is the cow of the sea and he’s right. However, the same cannot be said about Moose (pictures in the middle). After cutting it up and watching Adam try it, I just couldn't bring myself to put it in my mouth.

Sunday I had to work. This week will be my first full work week since Memorial Day. I’m not sure I’m going to make it. Not only that, but I have exactly 37 work days until I get another day off!!! It seems so far away. But, I made it through my Monday and when I got off the sun was shining and the pool was calling. I had to go fulfill my lifeguard duties and get the pool sparkling clean for this weekend’s guest. Adam and Landon met me there, we all swam for a bit and Landon jumped off the diving board 1,000 times. Adam’s Mom was there as well and although she still can’t swim, she's getting around and doing great. You would never know she just had her hip replaced. After a little swimming, we went to dinner and then home to relax and get ready for the work week.

I had made a lot of plans that actually fell through, but it was still a very enjoyable weekend. It was a nice change of pace to spend time at home, cook and just relax. We like to fit in as much as we can on the weekends and this weekend was suppose to be really busy, but every once in awhile it’s good to just take a breather. I can thank the rain for a little rest, relaxation, a clean house, clean porch and some yummy new recipes. It’s all about making the best of it!

Dennis Prager Review

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted a review of Dennis Prager. I’ve fallen out of the weekly habit because my schedule has been crazy lately and it hasn’t left me much time to listen to each hour thoroughly and give my thoughts. I may continue to miss a week from time to time, but I enjoy writing this post each week. I re-listen to each hour and really take some time to think about the subject. Writing about it allows me to organize my thoughts on it and really let the subject sink in. I’ve found that by writing about the designated hours I’ve been able to get a lot more from them.

The Ultimate Issues hour had a guest author, Robert George, whose new book is titled “Conscious and its Enemies- Confronting the Dogma’s of Liberal Secularism”. The book talks about how liberal secularism in itself is a dogma and doesn’t allow for an open field for other dogmas, such as religion, as it claims to. Basically, it’s one or the other. Prager mentions that he has dubbed this age in which we live 'the age of feelings' and how feelings are truly the enemy of the conscious because it is the heart versus the conscious. Robert George adds that so many people with a liberal word view mistake conscious for feelings or they assume the conscious is a matter of feeling and/or sorting out ones feelings. So one can decide for themselves if they feel badly enough about doing something as to not do it or not. But, traditionally and historically, conscious has had nothing to do with feelings, instead it has been regarded as ones last, best judgment informed by reflective faith and critical reason about what one is obligated to do or refrain from doing. As one historical figure put it, the conscious is a stern monitor not a writer of permission slips. Many times liberal secularism writes a permission slip that permits one to do something traditional morality would have condemned.

I’ve touched on similar issues to this from time to time. I agree 110% that we live in an age of feelings. I also agree that people mistake their conscious for their feelings. We should never be lead by our feelings, because they are self centered and flawed. I can think of examples where feelings- based people have allowed themselves to engage in activities that are morally wrong. They are able to justify these actions based on how they felt, but it is usually to the disregard of others (selfish). Within religion, there is a black and white set of morals. Whether you follow them or not is up to you, but there is no mistaking what is right or wrong. When I first started to listen to this hour I thought it was completely over my head, but as the author and Prager discussed the issue further I became more and more interested. I would like to read this book at some point as I find this a very interesting topic.

The topic of the male/female hour was masculinity. What is it and does it still matter? Prager mentions that John Wayne personified masculinity, but who in today’s cultural would personify it? In the old days every male movie start was masculine, but that isn’t the case today. Prager thinks even the most feminized woman of today are still attracted to masculine men, but we may be living in a post masculine age. Callers said masculine men are men that are protective, take charge, strong, and aggressive. Prager countered that what while on a first date you can tell if someone is masculine, even though you don’t know if they provide, are strong, ect. So how do you know on a first date when you know nothing to little about the person?

I think it has a lot to do with the way that a man carries himself. To me it’s confidence, assertiveness, speaking up for himself or others without hesitation. A masculine man is not afraid to be himself. You can either take it or leave it, but he is who he is and there is some pride in that. I also agree with the callers that he is a protector. I think he is also not afraid to do what is right despite what other people think, say, or do. Prager said he was going to follow-up on another hour with what is feminine. It will be interesting to see what callers say. I think femininity comes from looks where masculinity comes from actions.

Last week’s happiness hour was focused around the topic that the more you are able to say “I was wrong” the happier you will be. It is as simple as that. Prager says if you are wrong and you take responsibility when you are wrong, then you will be happier. Prager goes on to explain that there are a number of reasons why admitting you are wrong will make you happier a person. The first one is that it means you have high self esteem. It means you have such a good vision/assessment of yourself and you can admit fault. Secondly, it means that you believe that you are the master of your life. You control your behavior. It wasn’t done to you, you did it. Thirdly, people will respect you more and ultimately like you more. If you are not able to admit when you are wrong, friends and others will learn over time that they are not really capable of saying the truth to you and, over time, people won’t relate to you on a real level. Instead they will start to have a superficial relationship with you. A woman called in that had been married over 30 years called and said the most important words in a marriage are “You were right”. I would add another reason that admitting you were wrong makes you happier is because you know you are doing the right thing. I’ve found over the last few years that the single best thing I’ve done for myself professionally is to always admit my mistakes. I work with a very difficult customer who is always looking to point out mistakes in my work. When I do make a mistake I acknowledge it, apologize, and let them know how we can move forward and not make it again. The customer responds very well to this approach and respects me when I am honest. On the other hand, this is much harder to do in my personal life. In personal situations, I tend to be a little more stubborn and get defensive when I’ve done something wrong. While this isn’t a big problem in my personal relationships, thinking on the issue does make me see that I handle my customers very differently than I handle my family. I think this stems from wanting to be perceived well in the eyes of people you care about. Truthfully, I don’t care what my customers think of me personally, I just want to do my job as best I can so admitting wrong doing is much easier. I can’t think of an exact situation, but there have been a few times when I have lied to Adam over something small, felt badly, and later admitted to the truth. I agree with Prager that admitting fault in the beginning would have made me happier in the long run. I come from a family of very stubborn people and admitting fault isn’t always the easiest thing, but as it works so well in my professional life, I am going to make an effort to apply it more to my personal relationships as well.

Case of the Monday's

Every single week I have a case of the Monday's which is funny because Sunday is actually my Monday and Monday is actually my Tuesday. It must be because despite getting up ridiculously early on Sundays (5:30am), I treat it like the rest of my weekend trying to do a lot and staying up WAY TOO LATE. So on Monday I'm always tried, wishing my weekend wasn't over and feeling like the next weekend is a little far away to get me through. Thank God that by Tuesday I'm starting to feel a little better; like I can conquer the week after all.

Friday, Landon and I headed to Noni's pool to swim and play around for a bit. My friend Mary got off work at 11am and came over to swim with us pass out on a raft. At 1pm Adam and Marty got off work and met up with us. It was a girls shopping day so Adam, being the best Daddy ever, took Landon home so that us girls could go do what we do best. Since we are trying to pay off debt and I'm having to purchase some books for my brokerage exam class, I stuck to a strict budget...for the first time ever. GO ME! I was on the look out for some cute summer dresses and/or shorts. I found a B-E-A-U-TIFUL long silk pink-to-grey ombre dress at The Limited. On sale from $99 to $25 so I had to get it. Adam made fun of me saying he understood I had to buy it because I was getting "such a great deal, even if all it does is sit in my closet". I'm going to make a point to wear it soon and make him eat his words. I also got an adorable blue striped dress from the Gap.

I usually have a hard time shopping at the local Gap because the Gap outlet has such great deals, but this dress was on sale and once I tried it on I had to get it. This dress is much more casual and will get plenty of wear. I have a cute pair of yellow platforms and a yellow necklace that will go perfectly with the bright blue for dressing it up a bit.

We found some time to break away from the shopping for a little sushi. It was SO GOOD! I'm not one to branch out and try a lot of crazy types of sushi, but what I do eat, I love. I'm already dreaming of the next time. After dinner we moved to the Summit for more shopping and, of course, we closed down the stores. How can seven hours pass so quickly? Right at 9pm I was trying to decide whether or not to get a pair of shorts from Ann Taylor Loft. I couldn't decide on the color so I passed. I've since ordered them online for a little less than they were in the store...$18! Looking for a good nice pair of shorts in a variety of colors that don't show your butt cheeks? Try the loft. They are great. Mary had to work early so we took her to her car while Marty and I went to the Homemade Pie Kitchen for some late night sherbet and deep conversation. Marty is my best friend turned sister-in-law and I feel so lucky to have her as both. I swear we could talk for hours, if not days, about everything under the sun and never have a pause in the conversation. We always joke that Adam and my brother, Matt (her husband) are really the related ones, but the truth is, Marty and I are the most similar. We are like sisters except we get along even better. Good thing they had seating outside, because the place closed at 10pm and we ended up staying much later. At 11:30pm everyone else was gone and all the lights were out so we decided to call it a night, which was good because she decided to get up early with me and some co-workers to go pick blueberries.

Two of my co-workers had been planning their yearly blueberry picking and let me tag along. It's a farm right outside of Corydon, Indiana called Bryant's Blueberries. We arrived at 8am to beat the crowds, but I think everyone else had the same idea. I'm so happy that Lenka told me about this place and invited me to go along. Marty and I both really enjoyed picking and sampling the different blueberries.

We picked some sweet blueberries to eat and some tart ones to bake with. They had a ton of different varieties and after a while you could really start to pick out distinctive flavors. I don't know if my blueberry bush will be producing any fruit next year, but I plan to go back.

Once I got home we decided to go to Otter Creek for a little hiking and family fun. Adam packed up the camera and I packed us a lunch and we headed out to enjoy the gorgeous day.

This is pretty much sums these two up. One's always taking pictures and one is always throwing rocks. 

Landon enjoyed getting in the creek and playing. The water was pretty cold, but he didn't seem to mind at all. That boy loves water!

Daddy even took for him a walk to the middle of the creek. Thank God for waterproof boots. I hadn't been to Otter Creek in a long time. It's a nice place for us to take Landon and get him used to being outdoors and hiking. We definitely want him to always enjoy the outdoors and being active. Right now he loves it and always wants to be outside so we hope we can keep it that way. It must have seemed like a cruel trick to him though because we said we were going to the park and once we were there he kept saying "Ok. Go to the park?" To him, the park means 'playground' and this park had no playground.

 

Sunday was a work day which came way too early. After work, I had to take care of my pool duties and then I came home. We grilled out and Adam installed some ceiling fans for the porch while Landon played outside. Late Sunday night, I made THIS amazing Buttermilk Blueberry Cake with my freshly picked blueberries. I wanted to eat it all, but alas, I cut it into 16 pieces and I'm giving at least half of it away. It's too good to keep the whole thing. I'm hoping to make a cobbler this week for the 4th of July. I'm on a blueberry kick now. No need to stop a good thing once it starts. Can't wait for the holiday weekend and so happy to have kicked Monday's butt. Bring it on Tuesday!