What's One More Thing On Your List?

Last week when I still had a full to-do list taunting me from the refrigerator I decided it would be a good idea to throw a baby shower. One of my new friends out here is expecting her second baby in December and there weren't any plans for a shower set yet. So a few of us pulled together to surprise her. It was so much fun and everything came together smoothly esp considering how little time we had had to pull it off. I decorated, bought a cake, made a diaper cake, prepared a couple of games & got the house ready for guests. Another friend brought sandwiches, drinks, chips & some supplies for games. The mommy to be left with lots of diapers and other baby goodies and we all had a great time.

To be honest I was nervous and a little overwhelmed for about a day. Not sure if we'd be able to pull it off, would guests come with such short notice, was I completely insane to take on such a task when my list was already so full? For all I knew it could have been a disaster. But you know what? I am SO glad that I didn't let any of those worries stop me from taking time out of my busy-ness to do something for a friend. Esp a friend who is always so willing to help others and be a support. Hosting the shower actually made me feel more like I was at home. Back home I'd have jumped on the opportunity to help plan an event - any event, I just love party planning. I didn't think that I would be doing that sort of thing out here. But in less than a year I've made friends, some who I really hope to keep in touch with no matter where the Army or life may take us, and have started to find my niche. I really am thankful for this time out of my comfort zone, it's stretching me and I'm learning a lot about myself. Of course I miss my family & friends but have learned to appreciate this time for growth and enjoy my new friends.

Are there any 'comfort zone' areas in your life that you have or want to step out of? If so I encourage you to give it a shot, you just may be surprised at the results. Thanks for visiting!

♥

Back to Cali {part 2}

This is my third post today {w00t!} and progress is being made on the house as well. I even gave both kids a bath, cleaned their ears & clipped their nails - that alone felt like a huge accomplishment since neither of them get too excited about any of that. Like I said I'll be doing multiple posts so I can share my vacation without giving you a novel to read or risk leaving fun stuff out. In case you didn't know I also use this as reference for scrapbooking later. It's a great way to job my memory quickly for journaling. So over the next few days scroll down if you don't want to miss anything. And I'm pretty sure each of my posts will have photos to go along with them. I <3>

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Happy Antique Birthday to Me!

Let me take a moment to explain that subtitle. I turned 25 on June 13 - w00t! When my dad was a kid, about 7 years old, he asked my grandma {his mom} what an antique was. She explained that it was something generally 25 years or older. After taking a moment to think about this he exclaimed, "Hey mom, that means you're an antique!" It's been a running joke in the family since my dad became an antique.

I wasn't sure what I'd be doing for my birthday because it was the day after I arrived pretty late in California and my sister was working that day and had other things on her schedule as well {no, I'm not bitter - promise} and the rest of the family wouldn't be out for a few days so my grandma was planning a father's day/birthday/graduation celebration combo the following Sunday. That day my best friend Chriss called me up to tell me that she was going to pick me & the kids up, we'd stay at their house that night and celebrate because her and her dh thought it was just wrong to not do anything. Wasn't that sweet? I sure thought it was, esp since she had to drive about an hour and a half to pick me up. When we got to her house we dined on our usual hanging out meal - pizza, which hit the spot for me. Two of her daughters made me sweet birthday cards and she had baked a cake that morning - her dh did the icing. Sweet huh? *disclaimer: she thought she had a #2 candle but didn't so I turned 5! w00t!* It was a surprise and a lot of fun. That night we talked about scrapping but were too tired and wound up making shower plans instead.

The Next Day...we done lost our minds! We got all three kids into the backseat of her car - all in car seats - and drove out to see Rockwell Manor, well the model for it and the progress on the manor itself. After drooling over everything in the house, plotting out the furniture & of course discussing where I'd be staying during visits we ventured out with the kids again and decided to feed their cranky butts. They ate but were still pretty cranky. Though I couldn't really blame them since we were driving around on a hot day and they couldn't play or watch their cartoons. Lunch was a fun stop. Lydia had her first french fries & I took a ton of photos {only displaying one}. Michael of course loved his cheeseburger & fries and I shared my frosty with him {don't you just love the value menu?} and he in turn was kind enough to share with Mad. I had asked him to share but he didn't put up a fight & even spoon fed her. Now wouldn't that be the cutest photo to put in a slide show at their wedding someday? {So long as it's understood that they and any grandchildren would be living in the same state as me - K Chriss?} So we were some pretty daring chicks and took the kids to a nearby mall to shop for new summer dresses. I left with two cute ones in hand, there were so many that I liked & all on sale. Unfortunately Chriss didn't find any she liked but a few days later she found some cute stuff at another store - yay!

Later that night we left the sleeping children at home with her dh and hit the stores to prepare for the bridal shower {post & photos on that later}. Before shopping we met her mom whose birthday was that day {one day after mine} for drinks. Well, a drink - a mangotini to be exact. It was very yummy but interestingly enough - not made with mangos, go figure. It was a great start to my visit back home. Thanks again Chriss!

*We forgot to take pics of the mangotini, bummer*

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