Too much weekending.

Hi y'all. Happy Thursday. The week is almost done and since it is why not do my weekending post today? You know, right before the weekend happens again. I'm on Summer Break time, which basically means doing much of nothing, especially since all it has done is rain. Yay for summer! At least the sun is peaking out now and we're getting a break from school and homework! YAY!!

So last weekend was a busy one for us. We were on the go all weekend long and truthfully, i've been catching up on rest since then. I've finally figured out I'm not 21 anymore and staying up late, drinking, and eating all. weekend. long. isn't for me anymore so I should be a blast at my own wedding in September. Thank God we're getting married at 5:30. Just kidding. I'm sure i'll be pumped that day and not even wanting to rest. Back to last weekend.

Friday night we decided to do our grocery shopping so that we wouldn't have to fight the crowds on Saturday since it was Memorial Day weekend. We went to three different grocery stores because we're awesome like that. We like to spend our Friday nights grocery store hopping instead of bar hopping :) Welcome to your 30's friends. We thought we bought all the groceries and coffee we'd need for the week so we went home and dropped it off and headed out for round two. My Fiance had his eyes on a new grill for quiet sometime and since the bottom literally fell out of ours while he was cooking steaks the night before it was finally time to replace ours so to Academy Sports we went. By this time we were exhausted and had zero interest in cooking any of the $200 in groceries we had just bought. I was craving a Sonic's Corn Dog so Sonic's it was for dinner.

After we ate we sat on the back deck and I supervised while my fiance assembled his new grill. From about 8-12 we were out there. Finally he sent me inside because I was getting tired and grouchy, which is never good for anyone. I cleaned all the clothes off our bed and went to sleep. That was the end of everything that night.

Saturdayat the last minute we decided to have a cook out on Sunday with friends and neighbors so we headed back to the grocery store for cook out items. Hamburgers, hotdogs, all the fixin's. Our family had a mission to get what we needed and leave so i'm sure we took the store by storm. After that we headed home and well, I can't even remember.

Sundaywas cook out #1 day. We woke up, enjoyed our coffee then got busy cleaning this house. It looks like a new house now. So fresh and so clean clean. We then got all of our food prepared for the cook out and invited more friends/neighbors over. This is where the start of the 4 lb weight gain comes in. Yep! My fiance and I both gained 4 lbs back over the holiday weekend. This wouldn't be a big deal if I didn't have a wedding dress to fit into in just 4 months.

Anyway, we had a wonderful time with the Laberts and the Howes. Cooking out, sitting out on the back deck, enjoying good friends, good food, and great company. We really haven't had many cookouts with friends at the house. My parents & grandma, my best friend, and the Lamberts have been over a few times but that's it so it was nice to have our first official cook out with friends.

Did I take pictures? No but it was still a ton of fun.

Monday My Mom had planned a cook out and swimming at their house for Memorial Day. There was a good turn out of family and friends there, too so you can see where the weight gain happened. When you live in the South and everyone you know is an excellent cook then you tend to gain weight, which is what happened to me in the first place. Oh the homemade BBQ, Potato Salad, Homemade Mac & Cheese, Pasta Salad, Homemade cucumber Salsa, Cheese ball, Cakes and goodies and tons more! So yummy in my tummy, not so much on my waistline. We ate, drank, and had way too much dessert. We didn't even count calories. Monday was a ton of fun and I do have a few pics.








So that was our weekend. I've got to go run now. I hope you all had a fabulous weekend, as well.

Sixth Grade.

I remember when Dylan was only 5 years old and I sent him to elementary school for the first time. It was a hard time for both of us because he'd never been away from me. We were two peas in a pod, literally. He went pretty much everywhere I did and never had to be left in daycare or with a sitter, when he was with a sitter it was family. Through the elementary school years he grew and became a little less independent every year. He literally grew from a shy 5 year old to a very outgoing, confident 11 year old in those five years.

He's received all kinds of awards for his excellence in academics, his behavior and his willingness to help others. He's been in Program Challenge since second grade, which in middle school means he's in gifted classes for his basic core (math, social studies, science, & language arts). He's an all around excellent kid and we're super proud of him this year. Sixth grade proved to be no easy fete for this kid whom has never had to study and never failed, rather exceeded at everything. Math gave him a run for his money this year though so because of it he didn't win any awards but i'm still one proud Mama and Alex is still one proud Dad because we know he gave it his all and he learned from his mistakes. Life isn't always easy, we all know that, so the struggles are part of it but I believe it's how you handle the struggles that matter most. He learned about study habits, note taking, and organization and came up with his own methods for all of that.

I'm proud and relieved all at the same time. There were moments of sixth grade when we had Come to Jesus meetings. Moments when I thought none of us would survive but when it was all said and done we did! I celebrate this year for all three of us. It was also the first official school year as a family of three, not just he and I. I think we all did well! So here's to the 2015-16 school year. 7th grade ain't got nothing on this kid but first let's enjoy our summer!

Dylan and his Grandparents on Grandparent's Day @ school in first grade.


And the first day of 6th grade.


We love you buddy. Just remember you've always got your family & God on your side.
You can do anything you believe you can!

Acceptance.

I watched the Bruce Jenner interview with Diane Sawyer and I must say it's not at all what I expected. I expected it to be a lot of denying his changes even though they're evident to our eyes. Instead it's very sad and inspiring. Sad that this man has achieved such greatness while not even being comfortable in his own skin. Kanye put it so beautifully to Kim that "I can be married to the most beautiful woman in the world & I am. I can have the most beautiful daughter in the world & I have that. But i'm nothing if I can't be true to myself. They don't mean anything" in regards to Bruce. I'm not saying I'm a fan of Kanye's but this isn't about that. This is about acceptance. It's sad that he has lived a life that was a lie because he knew he would not be accepted in our society. I know he's not the only one who can possibly feel this way.

I think it's also an inspiring story, too because this is a man who decided to hide his gender identity from his children and the rest of the world because he didn't want to make life hard on his children when they were much younger. He made the choice to hide this away to be the best father he could be and to protect his kids.

I know in Duteronomy in the Old Testament of the Bible says Women should not dress like men and men should not dress like women but let's not forget that the Bible also says Not to Judge or Condemn others.

**I wrote the first part of this post when the Diane Sawyer interview aired and it sat it my blog roll, un-published because I didn't have time to finish it up. It worked out good though because i've spent today catching up on the family special that aired last night on E! Since watching that I've realized just how sad it is to live your whole life as a lie. He did what he thought was best for everyone else around him and in his life, not even thinking about himself. I can't imagine the hurt that must have caused himself.

I think it was amazing that Scott sat down and related so well to him. He even asked Bruce if it was frustrating to be around all those women when he couldn't be a woman? His answer? Yes! Then Scott says "it's pretty wild that you get to live two life's in one lifetime. Not many people get to do it which is pretty extraordinary in some ways." To me it's going to be extraordinary if he (Bruce) uses this opportunity as a way to help people who are struggling with the same things. He's a motivational speaker so he has the platform to share openly but I think he has to work through this all first & to be accepted by his family, friends, and those who mean the most to him.
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He said "Right now i'm very optimistic about the future and I haven't felt that way in a long, long time because I think going through this I will come out on the other side a better person, a much more understanding person, and I feel like I can help people and do some good." Wouldn't life be great if we were all the best person we can be? If we were all a little more understanding and compassionate and if we all helped others. We're all capable of doing good.

I love it when Scott says "It's only a positive for my son & my daughter to know all these different things that go on in the world. You can do whatever you want as long as you become happy with yourself, that's all that really matters. You only really get one chance at this life so whatever you've got to do to be happy, you've got to do it." Then Kourtney, when talking about telling her son, Mason "its such a great lesson to teach him not to judge people. It's a great life lesson that I have to make it the most positive that I can." To me, that's the true definition of acceptance. If we all lived with those beliefs and thoughts then the world might be a little less cruel.

You never know what someone is going through, be it, a friend, a neighbor, a relative, or a random stranger at Target or on the Subway. Always try to keep an open mind and sprinkle a little happiness as you go about your day. Hold the door open for the person behind you, smile at a stranger, send loves ones a card or a little gift in the mail-just because and always remember that everyone is going through something. Let's all try to judge each other less and accept each other whole heartedly because we all want to be accepted.

Weekending.

Hello Y'all! Happy Monday! Grumbles all around, I'm sure, since it is Monday. If you're anything like me you are running on empty. For the last two weeks I've been completely exhausted for some reason. This morning is no different. When my alarm clock went off I wanted nothing to do with getting out of bed but, since it's the last week of school, I had to. I'm so counting down the days until Summer Break starts! Give me sleeping in, wedding planning, laying in the sun, and relaxing please. I need it something fierce.

Anyway, after the weekend always comes Monday but with Monday comes a weekending post. This weekend was kinda boring with the exception of Engagement pics on Saturday. Friday my honey worked late so we had a mellow evening at home then he worked all day yesterday, too so nothing exciting there, either but Saturday was so special. I had my family take our engagement pics and my sweet Great Aunt & Great Uncle opened up their home to us. They have the most incredible home and a lot of different settings for pics. They were more than happy to let us take pictures there, too. Between everyone we took well over 200 pictures. I'm not about to up-load all of those here (or Facebook or Instagram) but I thought i'd share a sneak peak with y'all.









Like I said, there are many many more and I'm sure I'll be using them in up-coming posts so keep an eye out.
I can't give away all the goodness at once.

Happy Monday, y'all. I hope it's a great day for all of you.

Fri-Yay!

Hi Y'all! We've finally made it! It's the best day of the week. Okay, one of three best days of the week.


I'm sure you are just as ready for this day as I am. More importantly, the weekend! YAY! After today I need this weekend desperately. I have had the hardest time getting out of bed in the mornings this week. I just need more sleep. Today was an eventful end to the week, to top it off. I went to lunch with my mom, her friend Marie & Marie's granddaughter. We went to Olive Garden and I had the most delicious Shrimp Scampi Fritta. Fried shrimp=Heaven. I honestly want more now. After we left I went out to crank my car & saw my fiance had called. My car wouldn't crank so I called my Mom. I was just going to ditch my car until my finace could look at it after work but my mom was able to get it cranked which was a good thing because my fiance had to work late tonight. I followed my Mom back to her house so I could use her car to get my buddy from school in a couple hours. On the way over he called saying he was sick @ school so I got to my parent's house and took my mom's car to pick buddy up. After that we went back to my parent's house so my Dad could look at my car after work because it still wasn't cranking. He cleaned the battery terminal and all was good again. So that's been my day in a nutshell. At least all is well now and we're just relaxing at home, waiting on my love to get home.

Since it's Friday I decided to do something that i've never done before. I love September Farm Blog! She's real and hilarious and every Friday she does a Five on Friday link up. You simply tell us any five things you want. As crazy, sappy, sweet, or ridiculous as they may be. Since i'm just sitting here waiting on my love to get home I have time on my hands to participate :) YAY!

If you want to play along simply list five things and go to Karli's blog https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/september-f-a-r-m-orby-karli-b-e-l-l-3264152, snag the button and add your link to her list on the bottom of the post.



Here are my Fri-Yay Five.

1. I found my dream wedding dress last Friday! It was the very first one I ever tried on and it was one I never would have picked for myself but the lady helping me couldn't wait to see it on someone because it's a new designer and a dress no one had even tried on before me. The dress will now be known as the "Leslie Dress" at this boutique. Honored and in love and I already want it in my closet.


2. After so many attempts and a few bumps in the road, we're finally getting engagement pictures made tomorrow and i'm soooo excited that I may not be able to sleep tonight.

3. There's only 5 days of school left until summer break. Technically the last two days are 1/2 days but they still totally count because I have to get up to take someone to school. This mama is ready for sleeping in. I don't really even know or care what the rest of the summer entails. Sleep. All. The. Sleep.

4. This picture of me and my buddy from Mother's Day is still cracking me up.


5. I've been enjoying my sweet friend, Kristen's, Facebook challenges this week in her 5-Day Clean Eating Challenge. I'm so sad that it's over now because I need that inspiration to be #sweatingforthewedding. Here are a couple challenges from this week. Sorry for the crappy grainy Ipad pics.

This one is #wackywednesday. The challenge was to do 10 squats every time you ate. Day one was easy peasy. Day two I hurt. Day three i'm determined to keep going.


And today was #showusyourguns which was a joke. I have pebbles, not guns and clearly I wasn't working out when I snapped this pic. I had just gotten home from that delicious Olive Garden lunch.
I did do my squats as I was eating a cupcake #sorrynotsorry. My son promptly told me to stop. I guess I was embarrassing him. LOL.


And just because, I have a bonus.

6. My cousin Paula posted this on Facebook saying she was going to make her husband some.

My Dad piped in saying he would take a pair of them and he's a size medium. She told him he could be her first model. My response? "Dad would wear those proudly. Dad, you just can't wear them to the wedding." He responded with "watch me." I'm scared. Very scared now. LOL. When we showed him what my fiance is wearing to the wedding, he said "okay, so a white button up with my shorts." Since we're getting married on the beach I'm okay with him wearing shorts, just not THOSE shorts. I said "okay" then it clicked that he meant THOSE shorts. I quickly said "Um, no!" and assigned my mom with the job of making sure my Dad does not wear THOSE shorts. Do I think it'll happen? No. Am I still worried? A little.

As you can see my family is a few rings shy of a full blown tent or as my fiance says "we're nuttier than peanut butter." We are but we have a good time together :)

Happy Fri-Yay y'all! Have a great weekend! I'll be back next week with engagement pics!

Weekending.

Hey Y'all! Welcome back. I'm still here. I've been in the midst of wedding planning and Mother's Day and life in general lately. Which brings me to the weekend re-cap. Last week was particularly hard on my fiance and his family because a long time friend of theirs passed away. It was a neighbor of theirs for years, one of my fiance's best friend's Dad. Honestly now I don't remember what last week entailed other than some Mother's Day shopping.

Friday our buddy had plans to spend the night with his Mimi & Pa because Saturday morning my Fiance and I had his friend's dad's funeral to go to. Our buddy & I went to my parent's house after school where my Mom & I worked on some crafts while Alex took Dylan Mother's Day shopping for me. When they got home we hung around for a while longer then we headed home somewhere around 9. We were hungry then and I wanted a burger so we decided to stop by Sonic's and grab dinner. For some reason those tater tots and that burger were the most delicious thing ever. I think, since we've started eating healthier, when I do get something like that it is a real treat. After that we went home, got funeral clothes ready & crashed.

Saturday We got up and got to the funeral early, which was definitely bittersweet but the bright side is that I finally got to meet my fiance's other best friend and his wife. I've been hearing about Matt & Becca for so long so it was nice to finally be able to meet them. They are seriously some of the sweetest people ever. These two guys have literally grown up together. They met when they were one and two and they act so much like brothers despite not really seeing each other much in the last few years. That's proof that best friends are hard to find and even harder to forget. Us girls hit it off like we've been besties our whole lives, too so I think we'll be seeing more of each other in the near future. Us girls have already made it our mission to make sure these guys (and us) get together more often.

The funeral was sad, as they usually are, and Matt gave an amazing eulogy. One part he was speaking about the kind of man his Dad was and how he taught him to look beyond race and it gave me chills because he was specifically talking about his friendship with my fiance. He's Puerto Rican, Matt's white, i'm white but it never dawned on me that we are different races. Obviously I know he's Puerto Rican, I didn't just think he gets really tan in the summer and stays tan all year & speaks fluent Spanish for nothing. It dawned on me then that everything Matt was saying about the way his Dad raised him was true for me, too. I don't see us as anything but a family & I couldn't imagine not being together based solely on the fact that we're not both white, much less not even being friends because of it. Sadly though, that's still very much a reality in the world we live in but I took great pride in what Matt was saying, knowing it was also applying to me and my life and the way I'm raising my son now and our future children.

After the funeral was over we went back to my parent's house to check on our buddy. He was content to stay where he was and swim so we went to Matt's Mom's house to visit with the family. It was such a nice time, under not so nice circumstances. His family is a lot like mine, big and welcoming, so I felt completely comfortable with them & of course, since they are my fiance's second family, he was at home.

Me & my love, Matt & Becca, and Matt's Mom.


We stayed with them for quiet a while then left and came home, changed clothes and headed out the door for grocery shopping & the rest of Mother's Day shopping (which I actually protested a bit. I didn't want to shop! but I knew if we didn't do it then we'd be stuck doing it on Mother's Day & ummm, no!) It was probably my quickest trip ever to the mall. We ran into two stores that we needed and we were done! We went back to my parent's and kicked off our shoes and relaxed by the pool for the rest of the evening. My Dad had us some steaks, mac & cheese & beans ready for dinner. I'm not even sure what happened Saturday night. It may have involved a nap on the couch though. It probably did.

Sunday Mother's Day!! Started glorious. My honey came and woke me up at 9. I probably would've slept until noon if I could've but we had other things to do, like celebrate the women who gave birth to us, too. I guess that the guys couldn't wait to give me my gifts. One was something Dylan picked out for me all on his own. Anyway, after Alex woke me up he brought me coffee in bed. Once I made my way downstairs they gave me my first gift; a set of Georgia Peach lotion, spray, & body wash from B&BW that I had been wanting along with a Georgia Peach candle. Then they told me they had one more present but I had to go outside for it. This is the one Dylan picked out on his own. It was a 15 ft Cherry Blossom tree. I love Cherry Blossoms, they're one of my favorite flowers, definitely one of my favorite trees. I am really proud of my dude for picking this out on his own. It means a lot to me and I've already told Alex that when we move in a couple years, the tree comes with us. Dylan had another brilliant idea, propagate it if it's too big. That kid is a genius, I tell ya.

After all that we got dressed and went to see my soon to be Mother in Law. I'm kinda partial to this woman since she gave birth to and raised the man of my dreams. She doesn't speak much English but has a heart of gold and is such a sunshine to everyone around her. She's like me in that she likes to laugh, a lot. I love that about her. We had a great time with them for a while but left after an hour or so because we had a cook out with my mom and the rest of the family.

We left there and went to see my side of the family. We cooked out with my Mom, Grandma, Brother, Sister-in-Law, Uncle & Cousin. My Dad and Aunt Melody were working so we missed them but we had a great time. All us ladies got showered with lots of love and gifts. I got a sea shell wind chime, an owl wind chime, a vineralla (an umbrella in a bottle), a new Ginger Snap, & an adorable owl bag. The best part of it all was spending time with all my loves. It's great to be with everyone and know how loved you truly are.

I got the bright idea to take some family pics. I tried not to make my honey or our kid pose for too many because engagement pics are this weekend. Here are the results of that!


Because we can't act right. LOL.

I hope you all had an amazing weekend and that your week is going amazing, as well.

Seasons of Love

Some of the greatest relationship advice I ever got was from my sister in law. It's something her mom told her, actually. She said before you decide to marry someone you need to go through all the seasons with them to see how they handle things. At first it seemed simple enough. One year together and you'll know if that's the person for you, right? Since I've found my forever love I've realized exactly what she meant by going through all the seasons together. It's more than Spring, Summer, Fall, & Winter. It's the holidays, the sicknesses, the weddings & funerals, vacations, day trips, & the ordinary every day moments. It's the moments that make or break you. All the good and all the bad.

My Fiancee and I have been friends for 15 years, together for 3, engaged for 2 so it's safe to say that we've been with each other through all of life's ups and downs. A baby, a wedding, a couple relationships, friend drama, divorce but it seems like the last two years have been our most trying times. We've had so much cancer and several deaths strike among our small circle of family and friends. We've had a lot more happy times than we've had sad times but it's during those sad times that i've learned that he's my rock and he's my support and i'm his. And it is because of those times that I know there's no one else i'd rather do life with. Together we can make it through anything and we will. We're going through the Seasons of Love and Life together, for now & for always.

I hope everyone else finds that kind of love, too.