project 365: week 39

WEEK 39
Sunday, September 23rd: We decided that we needed ice-cream since it is still hotter than blue blazes here in SC. BG was okay with that decision.
Monday, September 24th: BG has been a little "off" the past few weeks. I think it's a combination of allergies and adjusting to the new routine of things. This morning, all she wanted to do was lay in my bed and watch tv. Who am I to say no to cuddles?!
Tuesday, September 25th: I feel like this is a picture she would "detag" on Facebook, but it's the only one I have from this day so..
Wednesday, September 26th: Being silly with my sweet girl.
Thursday, September 27th: Making some friends in her new town. Got to get this girl in some sort of program... She talked to this poor girl for at least ten minutes!
Friday, September 28th: It may be the end of September but it is still HOT in SC and BG is still rocking her rompers. Oh, and carrying her drink in her purse apparently. She does what she wants.
Saturday, September 29th: It's that dress again.... She would wear it everyday I tell you.

on being thirty.

So I'm thirty now. Amazingly enough, the day came and went with little to no pain. Of course I did ease the pain a little that night with my favorite wine, but whatever. Oddly enough, thirty feels no different than twenty nine. Different than eighteen, but that's to be expected.

I remember when I thought thirty was so old. Like so old. We had a teacher that was thirty when we were in high school. She was actually my youngest teacher but she had kids and a minivan and a mortgage and wow. She was old. Her life was basically over. Or at least at a big standstill. I mean what happens next? Does anything really happen after the marriage and kids??

Now, well now I know that she was just starting life. That it was just her beginning. Not her middle and most definitely not her end. My perspective has shifted. That eighteen year old kid had no clue what life had in store.

Most of the times I don't "feel" how I would've expected a thirty year old to feel. True, my body hurts a bit more after a simple run than it ever did after ninety minutes of a hardcore soccer game and I ice body parts more now than ever before. Three glasses of wine will give me a bloody hangover for days when I used to be able to party til four am and still be in class or at work by eight. That is the surest sign of my "advancing" age. But overall, I don't "feel" thirty.

Most days as I flip through my FB timeline, I still find it odd that 95% of my FB friends are posting pictures of first days of school and baby's first tailgate. My timeline is no longer flooded with shots of a party that weekend or multiple concert posts. I see more cries for sleep training help or sales of smocked dresses than anything else. Even my timeline is getting older.

Sometimes I still cannot believe that I could possibly be thirty. That I could be someone's wife, someone's mother, someone's coworker. I still feel like I'm playing house sometimes when I peruse the internet looking for a recipe (okay, that's happened once) or go looking for a good deal on a Halloween costume. I had a "is this my life?" moment when I went looking for possible dance lessons for my daughter the other day.

My daughter. I am totally thirty.

It's crazy because sometimes I let that number get to me and I'm all "holy crap I'm thirty and have done nothing with my life". But really, what was I going to do? Cure cancer? Play in a professional soccer game? Win the lottery? (that would still be okay..) In the ways that one should measure her years (happiness, love, all that gushy stuff), well in those, I've more than surpassed thirty years worth. I'm good in those departments.

Clearly thirty is still messing with my head a bit as I'm still talking about it. It's just.. I can still remember pondering thirty and now I'm here. And it's so different than I thought. But different good.

I say that today. Give me a minute. I may change my mind.

wordless wednesday

Well almost. When Nonny came to visit a few weeks ago, we had to trek out to all of our favorite parks to get in our fair share of park time before we moved. And that meant we had to head to the park with the duck pond. Duh. Because it's BG's favorite and she gets thrilled to hang with the ducks.

Weirdo.

Anyway, so we did the feeding of the duck thing. BG loved it. Mr. P did too. Possibly more than the little. She was giggling and squealing and holding full on conversations with the ducks and loving every second of it. Man, even the little things are amazing to her. Like nasty ducks. I need just an ounce of her joy in life.

Enjoy the pictures. Be glad you can't smell those ducks.

project pinterest: gallery wall 2.0

So when my pal AP announced she was holding a new Pinterest link up, I knew this was going to be one link up I wanted to participate in. I am only just now getting the whole "Pinterest" thing and am just starting to use it, but in a short time, I've been a pinning fool.

So it's time to take some of those pins and put them into real life.

We've done a few Pinterest projects over the past few months and most of them have been a success but today I'm going to show you a Pinterest spin on my beloved gallery walls.

Truth be told, I've been a fan of the "gallery wall" for years. Growing up, my dream was to always have a house with an amazing staircase that I could do pictures up the entire wall going up the staircase.

Source: houzz.com via M on Pinterest

I've done a gallery wall in every house we've ever lived in. They have always been made up of just family pictures of all of us, in mismatched frames and I have always loved them. I'll do another big gallery wall in this house just like that because I love that look, but I wanted to do something different in two of the other rooms.

So I hit up Pinterest and loved the look of the gallery wall made up of art and mementos and pictures and decided that I wanted to do something similar.

Source: thesavvyphotographer.blogspot.com via M on Pinterest

Now my gallery walls are just beginning but they are both in smaller rooms with a much smaller area to cover than that wall. I would love to do something similar one day, but for now, these will do.

In our guest room (and I cannot get that one picture to hang straight for the life of me so we'll just pretend k?) up above the bed you will find this:
*Also ignore the cell phone pictures. The battery charger has temporarily disappeared in the big move.*

...and in Baby Girl's room..

It's a start, but I love them. And they add a lot to the rooms.

Now go link up with AP and show us what you've been "pinning"!

a big 'ol catch up

So I sort of fell off the project 365 bandwagon. Kind of.

I've still been taking my pictures just not posting them. So here goes a big 'ol P365 catch up. I realize no one reads these but I LOVE looking back at there so we are doing it anyway.

K.

WEEK 34
Sunday, August 19th: We took a walk down to feed the ducks at our favorite park while Nonny was here for a visit.
Monday, August 20th: Yogurt date.
Tuesday, August 21st: I guess she was trying to cool off?!
Wednesday, August 22nd: Daddy's idea of getting ready for bed and Mommy's idea are clearly very different. I prefer not getting her riled up but apparently that's just me. ;)
Thursday, August 23rd: A little treat for after school.
Friday, August 24th: It was "yellow day" at school and this one was pretty excited.
Saturday, August 25th: How we do breakfast around here..
WEEK 35
Sunday, August 26th: She may not be wearing any pants, but at least her accessories are cool.
Monday, August 27th: At the park with her bff.
Tuesday, August 28th: Doing a little bathroom reading. No lie, she asks to read Field & Stream while "going". Odd kid she is.
Wednesday, August 29th: Playing with her buddy.
Thursday, August 30th: Saying goodbye to the squirrel before sending it to wildlife rehab.
Friday, August 31st: After the Midnight Flight. So glad we finished!
Saturday, September 1st: "Watching" the Clemson game with friends.

WEEK 36
Sunday, September 2nd: Lunch after church.
Monday, September 3rd: Gah. These two..
Tuesday, September 4th: We were supposed to be packing. This is what we were doing.
Wednesday, September 5th: We got to go meet BG's former teachers' little baby. BG was smitten, of course.
Thursday, September 6th: At the park with her bff again.
Friday, September 7th: My favorite coworker and I on my last day :(
Saturday, September 8th: ...and we're in the country now.
WEEK 37
Sunday, September 9th: On the way home from our first day at the new church.
Monday, September 10th: My Georgia girl at her new home in South Carolina.
Tuesday, September 11th: Happy 30th to me!
Wednesday, September 12th: My sweet, sweet baby. I love watching her sleep (cue creepy Mom alert).
Thursday, September 13th: We were in town for four days before we had car trouble. Good thing we found a decent car shop pretty quickly. BG was making sure they didn't jack our car.
Friday, September 14th: We ran out of ideas for fun things to do so we made our own rainshower in the shower. This entertained her for 20 minutes. TWENTY MINUTES people. That's huge.
Saturday, September 15th: Riding the school bus while Mommy shopped.

WEEK 38
Sunday, September 16th: Modeling her new jammies. Pretty sure they are "boy" jammies but she loved that they had "Blue" on them.
Monday, September 17th: Oh look, "Blue" again.
Tuesday, September 18th: It was a rainy day outside, so we built our first fort inside. Win.
Wednesday, September 19th: A very early morning "Princess" play date.
Thursday, September 20th: Scariest looking cookie ever but she loved it.
Friday, September 21st: A little bit of "school" time.
Saturday, September 22nd: Helping watching Daddy clean out the garage.

Done.

a visit with Nonny.

Before we packed up and left Anderson, my Mom was actually able to come down for a few days and spend some time with us. It was sort of an odd visit because we were in very odd limbo land (we had zero idea what our next step was at that point) and so we were in a lockdown of sorts; not going out much, no eating out, no spending money. You know, nothing fun.

So we had to make our own fun. With lots of park time and long walks and lots of play time with BG. And even a trip out to the Jockey Lot. Now that's cheap entertainment.
That dress isn't exactly park wear is it?

Also, umm.. loudest dress ever. My bff and I have very different styles (to say the least) and she thinks it's hilarious to buy these types of outfits for my child. I don't find it as funny. Also? every time she does it, it becomes BG's favorite outfit. She will pick this dress out every single day if you let her. I don't.

She had to take her bracelets off to get serious about play time.
Good gracious I heart my child.
My child adores her grandparents and visits with them are always so fun. I truly wish they lived closer so that BG could be around them more. Although the fact that they aren't makes us make the visits that much more special.

There aren't many words in this post, but there isn't much to say. It was such a low key visit. Nights were spent on the couch with a good tv show and cheap wine. Dinners were had at home. Baths were given by Nonny. It was a good, easy visit. The best kind.

We three girls did pack up one day and headed about thirty minutes away to the state park. Mr. P, BG, and I have been out there multiple times so I knew one more trip was for sure needed before we left.

The next time she comes to visit, we'll have a whole new town to show her around and make new memories in!