Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Catch Up Time

I feel like I can safely say that these past 3 weeks or so have been some of the busiest, most exhausting days since we have been married. Between graduations, graduation parties, cookouts, youth events, birthdays, work, church.... it has been a whirlwind. I mean, I can't say most of it hasn't been fun, but there is something to be said when I haven't cooked a homemade meal in over 3 weeks and the laundry that was washed two weeks ago is still sitting nicely in the dryer. I leave the house in the morning and usually don't come home until 10:30 or 11. Can anybody else relate to this???? Does it ever get better??? Maybe the more important question is-- How can we start saying no to things? (Any tips would be appreciated:-)) But enough whining....
We did have the opportunity to go home to Cleveland Memorial Day weekend for Scott's graduation and also for Katie's shower. I was so looking forward to this weekend because it was full of friends and family. Here are some of my highlights of the trip:


Watching my baby brother graduate from high school! I realize that it's expected this day and age to graduate, but I still think it's a neat way to end one chapter in your life and start the next. He is going to go to Lee next year for anyone who's wondering:-)


Watching Scott and Brandon's face as they opened their personalized Taylor Swift photographs. They message reads, "I love Scott" & "I love Brandon" Thank you Emily Evans!


Finding out that my very best friend is pregnant!! Courtney surprised all of her family and some of mine with their big announcement. It was so fun to watch everyone's faces! Congratulations John and Courtney!!




Getting to spend an entire weekend with alllll of my extended family (on my dad's side at least). I absolutely love the Douglas family and had a blast catching up with everyone







Getting to throw Katie's lingerie shower! I had some really great pictures from the day but I decided my friends would hate me if I posted them:-) Let's just say we got to use our imaginations that day:-)







Spending time with Katie before she moves to the far off land of New Jersey!! She won't be there anymore when I come home to visit but thank goodness for weddings and TN10 vacations!




Other highlights without pictures:
-Breakfast with the quad pod at the Cracker Barrel. We've had some crazy discussions at that place but it always reminds me of these girls.
-Getting to see Abby's NEW house and helping her pick out paint colors. I hope I wasn't too overbearing in my decision-making..:-)
-The best quote by Abby: "Your family is so great. They are just like mine except they cuss and drink beer!" :-)
- Getting a 4 day weekend from work!! Nothing could be better!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Aw sounds like so much fun. I'm heading to TN 2 times this summer and I can't wait to reconnect with everyone.

Ben and I have learned that our summers are BUSY and full of lots of little commitments that add up fast. We now say no to a lot in the summer.

One thing we had to learn is that even though we work at the church, we aren't the church itself. For graduation parties, cookouts, birthdays, etc., we try and see if there is anyone else from the youth program (volunteers) going. If so, we let them represent and we use that time for something else, like sleep or a coffee date. Both are very important.

We have had to say no to 2 different family gatherings this summer just because it would be too much. Both happened to be on one side of the family, so we just referred to the plans we have for meeting up later in the summer. For example "sorry we can't make the Father's Day breakfast due to a youth fundraiser, but we really look forward to the family get together in August!"

Saying no is tough, but for your laundry's sake (and your emotional sanity) it's a good word. I am very passionate about the subject, hence the mini blog post in your comments.

Abigail said...

1-Your paint decisions were fabulous (although I actually changed the bathroom to a brighter red, but eh... that's not the point)
2-haha... I watched Taken with Katie and Michael and thought of watching it with your fun family. =)

Erica said...

Hey girl! I need to get your email address to send you a blog invite...long story...will explain later!

Shawn Virginia said...

If you happen to check this Erica, it's shawn.reuss@gmail.com :-)