Summer Nights on the Lake

Tonight we did one of my favorite things in the summer. My whole family headed out to Larry and moms boat on Lake Lee Ann! I have always loved going to the lake. I've loved boat rides and fishing since I was about seven and spent countless hours on lake Columbia and Lake Lee Ann with my Aunt Mary and Uncle Rocky. I learned to ski at age nine and by the time I was 13, I was driving the speed boat while my uncle skied behind. I learned more about boats than cars. :) I've driven everything from speed boats to jet skis. :). I loved it and still do.

When I graduated high school, my mon was dating Larry. That summer, he purchased the pontoon that we still enjoy today. Tonight we swam in the lake with the kids. It was so hot today, the water was awesome! I got to teach Wyatt a fun new water game. Paige loved the swim with her mom. She's a fish in the water!

Then we headed out to the coves to do some fishing. Mylo is a pretty good fisherman. Grandpa Larry let the each of the boys 'drive' the boat.

I absolutely love the warm summer air cruising around the lake I the evenings. It's so peaceful and away from my every day life. It's even better with the kids. I could spend every night on the lake!

Tonight I am thankful for our family night on the pontoon!

Summer 2012

Summer has started for me!! :) Today I am thankful for the start to my summer!

A wonderful Friend

Ten years ago I was assigned to observe an excellent 6th grade teacher at Western Middle School. It's here that I met my friend Bethany DenHerder.

Bethany has become a great friend of mine throughout the years. I remember when she first got an email from her husband Shannon and how happy she was after their first date. We've gone to each others weddings, shared birthday and Christmas' together, and shared fun spring breaks on Anna Maria Island. They currently live less than 3 miles from Josh and myself.

Bethany is a great step mom to her now college 'kids'. They truly love Bethany too. Two and a half years ago, Annie changed Bethany's life taking motherhood to a whole different level. She fills Bethany and Shannon's life with joy everyday. Who my kidding, Annie is about the most adorable 2 1/2 half year old! She's a hoot! Bethany is expecting a baby brother for Annie this fall. We are all very excited.

I got to do some shopping with Beth and Annie today. It reminded me how lucky I am to have a caring wonderful friend in my life. I'm happy I get to be part of Annie's life too.

I have to thank Bethany for her loyal friendship over the years. She's one friend anyone would love to have.

Today I am thankful for my friendship with Bethany Scholten. :) And Annie!

Pool Day!!

Today I dreaded every hour of work until 2pm!!! Ugh!

But at 2pm, it was pool time! Neighbors are out town. I'm pool watching. I can't tell you how excited pool days make me! I wish I owned a pool...someday!

Tara, Paige, Jess, Brooklyn, Bethany and Annie came over for some swimming (just realized I was the only one without a child...hmm) Anyway, we had some Subway and swam and chatted. Too much fun.
Annie surprised us all with some dare devil jumps into the pool. Fearless. We loved it. Paige showed us her new trick of making more 'look at me' sounds. So cute!!

I swam alone after they left and still enjoyed myself. I love pool days!! LOVE THEM. I am thankful that our neighbors are out of town and are nice enough to allow me to swim (with friends) while they are gone. It's nice to have great neighbors. :)

A Much Needed Afternoon

Today I couldn't wait until 1:15pm so I could leave work! This afternoon I was heading to Ann Arbor to do some shopping with my dead friend Jenna!

We hit some stores around the Meridian Mall. Tore up the sales at GAP and then each of us made some expensive purchases at Von Maur! Ahhh! Too much fun!

Then we went to our favorite place for a late lunch/dinner/both our first meals of the day! :) Pick two please!

Today I am thankful that my friend Jenna and I were able to spend the afternoon together!

Post Created Jun 25, 2012 10:33:11 PM

Today I am thankful for my one hour workout tonight. Myself, two other coaches, and 16 females did a hard core Jillian workout. It was tough. I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow. I was lazy today after a not so fun front office work day. I read in the sun. I didn't run like I should have today either. So I made myself workout tonight. Glad I did!! I'm thankful for my workout tonight. )

Enjoying Life

Sometimes in life you have to just stop and really enjoy life. There are a thousand things I'm always thinking I should be doing every day. Weekends I usually try to catch up on cleaning and laundry and yard work...and this list goes on and on. We all have these lists. But this weekend even though Josh and I fit some yard work and house work in, we took advantage of our weekend 'off' and enjoyed it with our niece Paige and her mom, our friends the Scholtens, saw my parents, and my sister and her sons Eastyn and Wyatt. :) Mom and Larry had Wyatt and Eastyn over night as we had Paige. Tara needed some sleep so she got to go with us grocery shopping and to Panera for breakfast. We enjoyed our time with Paige!

The kid drop off, pick up and exchange was at our house at 12:30pm. After a little chaos, we did some swimming in the neighbors pool with Trisha's family. Bethany came over to enjoy some rays too. Can you believe Josh even swam too?!!?! :) Wyatt is quite the swimmer! I really enjoyed today.

Today I was happy to just enjoy my life. I am thankful for my fun filled weekend.

Yard Work

I love yard work! Especially when it's sunny and hot! Today before we got to babysit little Paige, I had one project to get completed.

Josh helped me get the red mulch on the trailer from Arbor Stone, then left me to my joy. I shoveled almost all the mulch around our trees out front before my sister arrived. It felt so good to work hard in the sun. Our areas needed the sprucing up desperately. Glad I got it completed so I could spend the rest of the day with Paige.

I forgot to take the after pictures so I'll had to do tomorrow...

Today I am thankful for completing my yard project!

2pm

Today I could not wait until 2pm! 2pm meant I could leave work and enjoy my weekend!

The highlight of our night was going dinner at Outback Steakhouse with our good friends the Scholten's. We hadn't seen them in a while and it was nice to sit and talk with them.  Their daughter Annie is the cutest little two year old girl ever! :)  Bethany is going to have a baby and this is what Annie would like to have... 

Tonight I am thankful for our friendship and dinner with the Scholten's!

Kettlebell

Tonight was a girls only workout night at Bean. We did a Kettlebell workout that was pretty good. I was glad for this because I didn't get a workout in this morning. My legs and arms are already sore! Love it! I'm glad I went for the workout!

Today I am thankful for our female Kettlebell workout at Bean!!

Dinner Outside

What a shitty day. Ugh! 7 more left, I hope. Just shitty. (I'm allowed to swear.)

They only highlight of my day was our dinner date to Panera. Outside sandwiches and salads and my diet Pepsi! Yum!

That's the only thing to be thankful for today. I hope tomorrow is better!

Afternoon Yard Work

Today I filled my afternoon with some yard work at grandmas and her neighbors. They had some shrubs and bushes to be trimmed. It was 99 degrees on my car thermometer, but I didn't care. I had the afternoon time and I had to get it done. :) I put on the head phones and started to work. Poor grandma was worried about me, but I kept telling her I was fine. I really was. She then said, "you're just like Grandpa. He loved working in this heat!" :) I smiled and said, "I do!"

Scratches, a nice bruise, sweat, six wheel barrel trips across the road, and three hours later, my work was complete.

I was tired, but I felt rewarded! It was nice to see the finished products all around and know that I helped the old ladies feel good about their yards.

Today, I am thankful for hard work in the sun and heat!!

Mowing

Today was a crappy day. Josh and I were still on Vegas time and only slept three hours a piece. It was awful!!!!!!!

Then today I had a crappy day. By crappy, I mean real crappy. Ugh! Don't even want to talk about.

The one thing I was thankful for was mowing. It was my think time today. It was sunny, hot, and I was sweating. It was awesome! My happy time today.

Ugh for crappy days!

Family Visit

Today I was thankful for being home. Now I love vacation and had a great time, don't get me wrong, but it was nice to be home.

We went out to Tara and Craig's to have a visit with my mom and Larry then my dad came for lunch. Tara and Craig were nice enough to grill out for us.

I was also happy to see my niece Paige. She was so cute climbing all over and showing off her toys. She showed us how she can climb the stairs and walk behind and push her toys.

Today I was thankful for a family visit.

Traveling Home

Today I realized how much transportation has evolved.

Today we traveled all day. As I hopped into our rental car, then to an elevator, then the airport tram to security, then the walking people mover, then flew 3 1/2 hours on an air plane, back to the people walker, to the escalator, to the bus to our van, then to car the realization of how the world as revolved hit me. We traveled 1900 miles in less than a day!!! Crazy.

This evaluation was made more aware to me today while reading the book Redeeming Love. It's a book set in the 1850's where this family only means of transportation was a horse and covered wagon. A trip to town took them all day and here I was flying across the US in 3 1/2 hours!! It made me thankful for all our modern travel conveniences.

Day 6 - Last Day!

Sadly, today was our last full day in Vegas! Sadly.

We got a little extra sleep this morning since we stayed up until 1am Vegas time (4am) our time gambling and checking out casinos. Today being Friday, it was nuts. Nuts everywhere we went. People were coming into our hotel and others to check in and tonight it seemed liked a million people were downstairs gambling. We actually had to wait to play a few of our favorite machines. Of course, I people watched. Wow! Who takes a baby to Vegas and heads out of the hotel at 11pm Vegas time? Scary!

Our last day, we actually checked out a hotel that Larry and Patty had not been too. The Cosmopolitan. Voted best casino 2011! It was very nice. New and didn't spell like smoke. Nice place.

We ended our evening watching the Tigers on our own TV in our booth at a sports bar/pub. Josh and I even won some money!!

Tonight I am thankful for one more full day in Vegas. It was nice to relax and check out the casinos and not be so rushed. It was a good day! Walked: 8.6 miles. Up: $5.00. :)

Day 5 - Cirque Du Soleil

Among all the other sites we saw today, Cirque Du Soleil was the highlight. 10.0 on the scale!! This was the one event I really wanted to see during my trip to Vegas and we were fortunate enough to get the tickets. Expensive show because it's one of the best! Totally worth it. You won't see shows like this in Spring Arbor!

The stage changed from solid to water over and over. The acrobatics were phenomenal! There was never a dull moment on the stage. The entire 1 1/2 was non-stop thrills. I think the lady next to me said "ohhh, ahh!" 45 times!

My favorite part was the three swings set apart around the stage where the actors and actresses did stunts, flips, dives, etc into the water. Some were synchronized and others were solos. My favorite part!

Tonight I am thankful for our 'O' experience at the Bellagio!!

Oh and for those of you waiting for pictures of the show, no camera allowed... Boo!

Day 4 in Vegas!

Today we experienced numerous Vegas attractions. The 'WOW' factor hit a 9 today! Below you will see. Note: Not all PG pictures. Sorry, but it's my blog.

We started our day shopping at M&M world. It reminded me of my sophomore year in high school when I was fortunate to take a trip Orlando's Disney! We purchased some souvenirs. :)

Next we hit the Venetian Hotel for the wax museum. Now talk about a jaw dropping scene. The ceilings were beautiful. Inside was a river with tour guided gondola's. Even though we were inside, the ceiling gave the appearance that we were outdoors. Absolutely beautiful!

We visited with the stars as well. They were all so willing to take pictures with us.

The evening was filled with slots on downtown Freeman Street. The Mermaid casino was 'old school'! You got to put actual pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters into the machines. You winnings cashed out with the clanking sound of coins hitting the metal tray! Our fingers were covered with the real dirt and grime unlike the updated slot machines where your ticket is dispensed below. The Mermaid was totally retro and a little exciting. Josh even enjoyed it too as he won 32 dollars in nickels! Patty had her system down. She had her quarters in one bucket and her silver dollars in the other! She won 60 bucks!

Today I was very thankful to be in Vegas! Good times! Total mileage: 9.41 miles. Gambling: down 56 bucks!

Vegas Day 3! 104 degrees

Today was a hot, hot day in Nevada!

We started our morning out with a trip to the Hoover Dam! The $11 tour was worth the money to see what the men went through to build such a monument all for $4.00 an hour! They put their lives in danger each day to build one of the United States' biggest water energy source. Amazing.

Mom and I spent some time at the pool this afternoon! Then I returned after lunch to read my book and relax.

Tonight we went to see Criss Angel's 'magic shows'. It was really quite the experience to see. Very impressive.

Tonight, I am thankful for our third night in Vegas.