Enjoy

Hope you enjoy these videos as much as I did. Sometimes you just need a little laughter...
For MJ fans:

For Wes Anderson Fans:

A fan of both, I am. (Whoever played Tilda needs a little more practice)
Also, this hamster:

PS. Does anyone else have a bazillion bugs outside their house right now?! It's kind of freaking me out.

DIY

As I mentioned in my summer summary blog, I threw a couple of parties with friends. The second party was a baby shower for my high school, after-college-roomy, and wonderful friend, Lindsey. She is due any day now (Lindsey-I promise it has to come out one day) and it's a surprise! I'll post more on that shower later, but I wanted to share a couple of projects I made for FREE with things I had in my craft box.

Storybook Garland:

Mom and dad moved into their new house and once again tried to give me boxes of my things. This time they succeded. I found lots of teddy bears, middle school cheerleading items, and some of my old books. One was especially charming, but had markings on it. I needed some garland for the basement to spice it up and it would be perfect to use for Lindsey's storybook/woodland creatures shower. I just removed the pages, cut into flags, and sewed together. Viola!

"Book shelves":

My mother-in-law has the coolest terrarium ever and she let me borrow her terrarium book to get ideas for Lindsey's shower (woods, etc.). I saw the cutest idea to use an old book into a shelf and place a tiny terrarium on top. I got these old books from McKays in the free bin, drilled holes in the four corners, and used ribbon and twine to finish it off.  I had a couple of sweet goblets, grabbed moss from my back yard, picked out the stella hairs, and stuck in little animals.

Farewell Davies

Before the Davies left in June, some of the NFG girls threw a southern soiree in their honor. We wanted it to be somewhat fancy with place settings, menu cards, and a dress code, of course. Katherine hosted it at her house and she even moved furniture for all of us to sit. We all collected our various folding tables, chairs, china, silver, mason jars, and fresh cut flowers. We strung lights and put up white lanterns. The girls wore southern sun dresses, men-bow ties. It was a magical night. Great food, meaningful friends, fancy plates, conversation under the stars, and impromptu dancing. I think we accomplished making the Davies feel loved and celebrated. They are truly missed.

"How Blessed are we to have friends who make saying goodbye so hard"

*Below are a few pictures I took and a link to Anna's pictures from the party. 

BBQ, Mint Juleps, and Beer. Can't get
more southern than that.

Serious friends for Jack to don a bow tie

Lovely Ladies

Click here to view these pictures larger

Summa summa summertime. I just sit back and unwind

Well, not always unwinding.
Can I tell you something? Sometimes I'm lazy. Not not hard working lazy, but I'm not in the details, lazy (unless it's a party or some kind of authority is over me, like school). Two reasons I'm telling you this:
One-Jack got a new email through Lipscomb which is linked to gmail so I can't go straight to blogger as normal without going through 5 steps to login. I see it happen and just shut her down. Lazy. It took me 30 seconds to get this set up.
Two-Reader is no longer. Therefore, I have not been keeping up with my friend's blogs. This has somehow pushed me out of the blogging hemisphere. Lazy. I just signed up on feedly. So far, I like it.
I hope you still love me.
SO on to my blog entry. It's been since May! I'll just post a summary of my summer. Like school!
My Summer was perfect because it was NORMAL! Normal. We've had a *somewhat* normal life. It's been amazing. Highlights:
*My parents lived in our basement for 2 months. They sold their house early and hadn't found one yet. It was really enjoyable and helpful (hello, leave the house and give them the monitor!). I'll cherish that time they were here.
*Our friends, the Davies, lived in our basement for 2 weeks about 1 week after our parents left. The Davies have lived here for 5 years for Judd's residency and were returning to Nebraska. They've been a part of our neighborhood group at church. We really miss them. Dalton really enjoyed having them here but I think Caroline and Meredith were so-so thrilled. He is still talking about how they slept downstairs. Also, Traci is hilarious and you'll enjoy reading her blog.
*Of course, I've helped throw several parties and I'll post details about those.
*My brother, niece, and nephew came to visit for about 2 weeks and I hadn't seen him for 2 years. My brother is super sweet and in my opinion, the best brother a sister could have.
*We went to my in-law's cabin in McMinnville a ton. It's heavenly.
*Pool, splash park, park and repeat.
*my blood levels have been normal all summer and I am down to every other month. I have only 2 more to go! I had my one year anniversary of being cancer free on September 18th. I can't believe it's been that long, but then again I can.
*I got my port out in August! WOO HOO. Can I get a holla?!
*Jack finished his 3 month program to get his CPA. I'm very proud of him and he worked hard. He also got a new job at a CPA firm in Maryland Farms. He takes his first test of four for the CPA this month.
Here are a lot of pictures since I have 4 months to catch you up on-

We sold the jeep. It was sad for both Jack and Dalton

Yay for weddings to bring in out of town guests! Mary's sister, Jordan, got married. Mary
sang, it was gorgeous.

Um, this picture kills me. I love how they are smiling at dalton. This is my nephew and his friends.
Of course, Dalton adores him.

Sprinklers!

Jack's birthday

We hit up Chattanooga for the day for Jack's birthday.

Dalton and Lee Lee (jack's mom)

Oh, rainforest cafe. 

My crazy family minus the husbands/wife.

More cousin fun time with Rowan, Tavin, and Cooper.

My beautiful nieces. Rowan and Grace

Bff Amelia

Dalton started mothers day out! It's magical.

Lots of fishing

Our church group's babies (in order of age) on the beautiful quilts my friend, Anna, made for everyone.
Of course, we had to make her one for her sweet baby and Kate did an amazing job, too!
From left to right: Hayes, Jane, Lilian, Caroline, Dalton, Emmett, George, Meredith, Evie, Ellen, and Ouisey

Strawberry Patch

We hit up the Bottom View Farm a couple of days before Jack started school. It was spring festival time and it was a blast! Check it out in the fall and next Spring-they have farm animals, a tractor/train, strawberry picking, tractor bikes, a huge jumping pillow, gold mine, playground, and more! The farmer even pointed out the pigs they would slaughter in the winter and quizzed us on what meat comes from what part. "This part's to educate the parents" he said. Boy, did he!
Worth the 40 minute drive and $6. Hardly anyone was there, highly recommend!

Merry-go-round

Baby chicks that were terribly frightened of Dalton

These are big enough for Jack and I to ride. Yes, we had a race. 2 to 1, Jack won.
I didn't want to admit it, but it's true.

There's gold in them there hills!

The best slide EVER! I took full advantage.

Little Man no likey the eggy

Dalton continues to become fun and exciting. He cracks me up everyday and has proven to have some of my quirkiness. He definitely has Jack's social spark, following the crowds or any kids he sees. He's quite a ham. I could brag about how smart he is, but why bore you, right?! Ha. He is still so sweet and cuddly. I just love it. God has blessed me beyond my imagination. I'm am so thankful to be his mother.
I decided to try egg since he's turned 2, suggested by his doctor. It was a complete epic Fail. An hour later, he was sneezing, coughing, wheezing, and throwing up. After two bites. Not surprised! Good thing I didn't have a lot riding on it. The bad part was all the wheezing because something besides the egg continued to spur it on for days. Lets hope our next attempt will go more smoothly. We are thankful it's not an anaphylactic response and now we are stocked up on albuterol! The good thing is he is used to taking medicine and taking breathing treatments. He actually started asking for "smoke" since he gets to watch the computer when he's getting one. We'll try a different allergen in about a month. I pray it goes smoother, but I'm thankful that God continues to give me new ideas. I'm thankful Dalton loves rice, quinoa, and couscous. I'm thankful it's not worse and I will continue to pray God heals his ouchies and allergens.
I have become creative lately... the latest hit were "pizzas" made out of corn tortillas, sauce, pepperoni, and daiya cheese. I was so excited and he liked them! Sometimes I get really excited and then he won't even try it, like this chocolate pudding (which you must try! Vegan, gluten free). Our latest excitement is rice english muffins, he was quite excited to be getting bread! He loves carbs and being allergic to wheat is quite an inconvenience. I'm so much better than when I first started trying to find him food, but continue to try and experiment.
His skin is continuing to do better, but proving to get worse in summer. Heat is aggravating to eczema. I find Aquaphor works best now and Cerave moisturizing lotion works best in winter. Lather lather lather and repeat! I bore you with these details incase you or a friend need eczema suggestions. If God is going to give us certain things to battle and overcome, my greatest wish to help others in the same predicament. It's a blessing to be a blessing.
Jack has been taking drum lessons for the past three months and Dalton loves to bang on them. He's a natural:

Somehow I will get this cereal through this hole.

Half Marathon

Carb loading before the big day

Such a cheater

I ran my fourth half marathon, but my first after being cancer free. It was magical.
It rained the whole race, not a pause from the rain, but I didn't mind. This was my best time yet and I felt fantastic. The rain just added to the whole symbolism of this race.

Signing a message to Boston survivors at the Expo

My friend, Audra, stayed with us for the weekend and ran the race, too. She's super fast! She is a good friend from Auburn. We headed to the Expo on Friday to pick our packets and get pumped. If you've never done a race, this is when you get super nervous and excited! I love it! We had a wonderful dinner at Athen's Greek Restaurant before we settled in early.

We knew the rain was coming and we were both nervous about it. We bought ponchos, had old socks for our hands if they got cold, and a long sleeve shirt we would feel okay about loosing on the way. The temperature wasn't bad, mid 50's, and that was our saving grace. I was dry before starting thanks to my trusty junior poncho (all the rest were sold out at Target but it worked great!). After I started, there was no going back, I was just going to be drenched. It was great, I never got tired or over heated. The only bad part was after the race. We were shivering, especially Audra who had to wait for slow Cindi. Jack picked us up and we took a hot shower as soon as we walked in.

I cried throughout the race. God kept reminding me of his goodness and the strength he provides his children if we trust Him. I was reminded of all the pain and heartache of this last year and how He pulled me through, just as He was doing in this race. It was a total spiritual experience for me.

The starting line is on Broadway towards the river and they open up all the lanes just for us. Something about all of those runners surrounding me, the crowds cheering on the side, and a open road made me weep. The perfect song came on my running mix right at that time, Land of the Living, by Matthew Perryman Jones. This song tears me up every time and especially at that moment.

I wore a shirt that said 6 months cancer free and that lead to lots of cheers. Some of my favorites:

"Go cancer free girl"

"Woohoo, cancer free. F, yeah!" (except this girl used the actual F bomb)
"Ma'am, congratulations" (a police officer blocking one of the side streets)
I also got lots of comments on the quote on the back of my shirt. I wanted something uplifting and encouraging, but I did like Jack's suggestion of "Cancer Sucks".
Special shout out to my occasional running partner, Katherine Echerd! It was fun having a partner and you were helpful to keep me pushing ahead. Thank you!

Kim, Mike, and Carson came out to cheer me on in the pouring rain!
It made me feel so special and loved.

My main cheerleader and helper during all those long runs!

Soaked!

Lyrics to "Land in the Living". If you haven't heard it, go listen now. You're life will be better because of it. Honestly.

Into the land of the living

Black bleeds orange into blueI am coming to life,Light is breaking through
I can hear the bells in the cityAcross the ancient shoreI am ready to fightLet down the scarlet cord
It's time to shed this masquerade
You cannot love in moderationDancing with a dead man's bonesLay your soulOn the threshing floor
Between the walls of the river,Shoulders bare the sacred stonesWe made it aliveWe are not alone
Kiss the groundAnd change your name
You cannot love in moderationYou're dancing with a dead man's bonesLay your soulOn the threshing floor
I heard the distant battle drumThe mockingbird spoke in tonguesLonging for the day to comeI set my face, forsook my fearsI saw the city through my tearsThe darkness soon will disappearAnd be swallowed by the sun
I am coming homeI am coming homeI am coming homeI am coming home