Leaving on a Jet Plane

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Yes Ma'am!! My mom and I are leaving tonight.  Mom's bags have been packed since Saturday and I've been talking about it none stop.  Can you tell that we are both so excited?

SOOOO EXCITED!!!

Why you ask?  Well, we are flying out at 5:00 in the morning to see...

DECLAN!!!!!

The last time I saw this precious face in person was when he was three days old. 

He has grown so much in the two months since he was born.

Mom (Grammie) and I (Auntie Sydney) cant wait to snuggle, spoil, and kiss this little guy.  



Babies, Birthdays, and The Godfather

This past weekend was jammed packed for myself and the husband.  We were so blessed to be able to spend the entire weekend with family and friends.

Friday, Luke and I picked up dinner for ourselves and the Jones family.  The Jones are a great couple.  They are a blast to be around and we have really enjoyed their friendship.

The Jones and Edwards

 The Jones family has received one of God's greatest blessings.  Their son baby F was born about 2 weeks ago and was 4 weeks early.  Their little man had a little bit of a rough start but is now healthy and happy.  Not to mention, a very laid back baby.

Sweet Little Monkey

Saturday, it was off to Grammie's house to celebrate Luke's Uncle Clough's birthday.  I always enjoy the time that I spend with the Campbell family.

Lara Lou got a hold of my phone. 



Lisa, Lara and Clough

I also got to meet the newest addition to the Campbell family.  Meet Ellie, daughter of Carrie and Dan

Sweet Cheeks



Sunday was a restful afternoon.  We were able to relax around the farm and enjoy the nice weather we've been having.  Sunday night we went to the Hall's home to have dinner and celebrate Luke's best friend Owen's birthday.

Pardon the picture layout.  It would not let me turn it.

It wouldn't be a party without a game of PIG.  Grammie would play this game with all of her Grands when they were growing up.  I have just learned this game and let me tell you...it gets intense!

PIG is a fast playing game

PIG!

For many people, hearing the word “godfather” brings up images of Italian mob bosses calling in hits on rival mob families or snitches within their own ranks.  However, over the weekend, my husband got one of the greatest honors.  He was asked to be Little F's Godfather.  Luke was so shocked but so appreciative when the Jones family asked.  I know Luke will be a great mentor and be a good example for his godchild.

Sweet baby F



This Guy...

 

This guy has been on my mind a lot lately.

This is the guy I call Daddy.  He will never be Dad...always Daddy.  Today, was hopefully the last time he would have to go to his radiation appointments.  My Daddy has renal cell carcinoma of the lung. 

About a year and a half ago, he had a wedge removed from his lung where the larger tumors were.  After recovering surgery he started chemo.  Chemo wasnt doing the job, so 3 weeks ago he started radiation therapy.  Hopefully, no more after today.

I was so blessed with the childhood that I had.  My dad was able to be with us everyday after my brother and I got home from school.  He took us to all of our after school activities. Which were a bunch.    When I was out in public with my Dad, people would always think that he was my Grandfather.  I would always quickly let them know that he was NOT!  He is the best Daddy anyone could ask for.







My family and I styling in our German Lederhosen

Such a Daddy's girl

"Flying" over mountains in Alaska







Did I mention he is adventurous...

Yep, thats him...skydiving

and Strong!!

This is Daddy on my wedding day.  I think he was ready to woop up on someone and leave nothing left than a greasy spot.




I love this man... ( and of course my other family members)

Did You Know?? {Making Life Easier}

Whether you are single with no children or married with children life in general can be busy.  Recently through PINTEREST (you can follow me here) I have found that there are helpful hints out there to assist us in everyday life.  I love finding random information that can come in handy.  I decided to share these little secrets that will hopefully benefit some of you out there in bloggy world.

Did You Know...

Stuffing a dryer sheet in your pocket will keep the mosquitoes away.

Need to cut some corn off the cob??  Use your bundt pan to collect all the kernerls!

Place a wooden spoon over a pot of boiling water and it won't boil over.

The bread tab on the loafs indicates when the bread was baked.

Broken blender jar?  You can replace it with any mason jar.

 

Want to send something creative in the mail?  You can mail anything that weighs less than 13 oz without a box.

Use Lemonade Kool-Aid to get rid of lime deposits in your dishwasher.

Use Mayo to get rid of water rings off wood.

 If you write a letter to a character at Disney (Walt Disney World Communications PO Box 10040 Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0040), they will send you an autographed photo back

Here are a few more hints that I found online.

1. Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster... I didn't know that!
2. Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!
3. Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.
4. Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking. 
5. To make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up. 
6. Easy Deviled Eggs: Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up.  Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, and cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg.  Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
7. Newspaper weeds away: Plant your plants in the ground; work the nutrients in your soil. Then wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go, cover with mulch, and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.
8. To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.
9. Flexible vacuum: To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
10. Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip to eliminate static cling. It works; you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... Ta DA! ... Static is gone.
11. Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
12. De-fog your windshield: Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
13. Goodbye Fruit Flies: To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and d gone forever!
14. Get Rid of Ants: Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed! 
15. Wash your dryer filter: Did you know that cleaning your lint trap with a dryer sheet can ruin it? Dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free, and smell good. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box? Apparently that stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! You can test it by running the lint trap under water. If the water goes through you are good. If not then you need to clean it. The best way to keep your dryer working for a long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. 
16. Drop a small object on the carpet and can't find it.  Place panty hose over the end of the vacuum hose and start vacuuming. The panty hose will trap anything too large to fit through the tiny hose and keep it from getting sucked into the vacuum. 



Enjoying Living on the Farm

Saturday was such a beautiful day!  We had great weather for February.  Since it was such a nice day, we invited my parents to bring their dogs over to enjoy a walk around the farm. 


Ahhh the farm.... I love living on the farm.  A little bit of history before I go on.  The Farm is Luke's Grammies old home place.  We actually live in his parents first home.  Luke was able to remodel “The Blue” house this past summer so this is our starter home as newlyweds.
We are fortunate to live on about 170 acres along with his Uncle’s family.  They are great neighbors to have.

Okay, since being married my parents have been over a lot, but have not really seen the farm like Luke and I see it.  We thought it would be a great day to walk a little bit through the pine trees, then hop onto the golf cart to show them the rest of the farm.

My Daddy already enjoy his walk

Luke had to carry a gun because we have some wild dogs that have been coming on the property

Tank and Tax telling us to hurry up

Mom and the Hubby

This is Tax.  He is a champion during Dog Shows and is supposed to be an excellent hunter.....fyi Tax hates feathers.

Tank is the son of Tax.  Tank is the real hunter in the family.

The men decided to take a pit stop and enjoy the pond with the dogs.

Okay, the golf cart broke down on us.  I may or may not have been driving it at the time.  It is still up for discussion.

We all had a great afternoon at the farm. Mom and I were able to get A LOT of exercise in since we had to hike back to the house to get Luke's truck to pull the golf cart back home.  I think my Dad enjoyed it the most.

The Story of Us: From Ms. to Mrs.

WARNING!! This post will contain lovey-dovey content.  I love LOVE!!

Ok, so since February is the month of love, red, and pink, I decided to link up with I Love You More Than Carrots and do a post about the Mr. and I. So, here we go!

The story of us. 

1.How long have you and your significant other been together?

Luke and I started dating back on April 20, 2010. It was love at first sight....for him! <3 From that day, we have honestly seen each other everyday.  How wonderful that was!

2.How did you meet? (What’s your love story)

Our love story begins just like every other love story.  L came riding up on a horse and was a knight in shining armor. Okay okay. No armor or horse was involved, but he was CHARMING.  Luke owns his own Real Estate Company and came into my place of employment to inquire about some property in our area.  Of course I noticed his arms personality first.  He seemed to be very outgoing and talkative, which was attractive since I can be a little on the shy side.  Later on I looked him up on Facebook.  He says I stalked him, but little did I know he was looking for me and just couldnt find me. Through Facebook, we exchanged numbers and began texting/talking.  Our first date was a double date to the movies. We watched Death at a Funeral which was a pretty funny movie and I soon found out that his laughter is so contagious.  After the movie, we went back to his place and he took me on a ride through his family's land. I had such an amazing time. 

**When he took me back home, the first thing I told my Mom was that it was the best first date I've ever been on.  I think L fell in love that night!

3. If married, how long have you been married?

Luke and I married on August 27, 2011.  At the end of this month, we will be married 6 WONDERFUL months.  The saying "Time flies when your having fun" is so so true.  These last 6 months have flown by.  Im so greatful for the time that I have with L.  

Mr. and Mrs. E

4. If you are married, where did you get married at Big or small wedding?

We got married in L's home town and at his home church.  We were both members of a Methodist Church prior to us getting engaged.  L's church held more people, so we chose to have the ceremony there.  We had a little less than 300 people at our wedding.  With us both growing up in fairly small towns, we got to know a lot of people.  We were so blessed to have the people that love and care about L and I to share in such a special day for us.

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another?  Do Share!!

I have a few nick-names for L.  A few are hun, babe, sweetcheeks (dont ask me where that came from) and love. I also refer to him as "daddy" when our Poodle, Ellie is involved.  Oh how we love Ellie.

L has a few names for me as well.  Mostly I get called sweetheart, hun, and Syd. 

This is our Sweet little Ellie. Cant you tell she loves fashion?!

6.Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

The number one thing I love about L is his heart.  He has the one of the best hearts of anyone I know.  He is so caring and loving.  He is also very family oriented. 

7. Tell us how he proposed?

L proposed where we had our first dance.  On our first date, I mentioned we rode around on the family farm.  After riding around for a few, L stopped the car..turned on some music...rolled down the windows...and asked me if I wanted to dance.  So, we danced in front of the car...yes it was magical. ;-)  So, the day he proposed he took me on a ride again, and we got out of the car...and proposed.  I wish I had a picture of that very special moment.

This was our Anniversary picnic.  Yes, we had PB&J and Grapes

This picture was taken on our One Year Anniversary picnic.  We were engaged a day later.

8. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

Honestly, as a couple we are a pop a movie in and relax with each other on the couch.  If we were on vaca somewhere nice and special, a sunset dinner would be wonderful.

9. Show us a picture of what love means to you.



Yep...thats love! <3



Hello Blog World!!

The day has come where I can say, " I am now a blogger!!"

 Ive been stalking previewing blogs daily and I love how they share their lives.  Now, its my turn!! Please be patient as I learn more about the blogging world.  Did I say IM SOOO EXCITING ABOUT BEING A BLOGGER!!?? I cant wait to share my life as a newlywed and of course the newest addition to our family, my precious nephew Declan!!
Until later, Ill share a picture of my sweet little man!!

P.S.  I hope I get some stalkers  previewers soon!!