Highlights of this last week...er, year

Yeah, yeah, it's been a while. I know. I'm guilting myself enough already, so no need to think these thoughts in your head.

Since this last week has been pretty dull and uneventful, I figured I would take a huge leap back in time and cover the few major things that have happened in the last, oh, 6 months or so. Don't worry, you can read quickly so it doesn't take you too long.

I believe this picture has been approved by all parties to post...

I turned the ripe old age of 30!! To be honest, I was kind of dreading the whole thing. But I do have to say that it's an easy number to remember when people ask now. I wish that I had been good about doing these blogs at that time, but we were in the process of making some big changes, and so it was kind of put on the side burner. I did plan out a fun Jeep trip in the Texas hill country and lunch at a little chic place in Fredericksburg, TX. It was really nice to feel the wind in your hair, and see the bluebonnets. Not much talking could be done over the music, and I chose to ignore one particular person (*cough, Carol Ann) who sat on her phone the whole ride...but I digress. Lunch was fabulous, and when we got back I went out with the fam bam to the Cheesecake Factory, and had a wonderful dinner as well. Angie came into town for the weekend to celebrate, so we had some great time to catch up and ride some horses too.

Little man and I waiting on dessert

family photo in the bluebonnets on Easter Sunday 2016

Easter happened too. We went to church early and let Matthew be a part of his very first official egg hunt. He seemed to enjoy himself with it. After church service, we drove out onto a part of the ranch that is covered in Bluebonnets. What the family picture doesn't show, is us shooing the children behind us out of our shot, the grandmother who has no idea how to take photos on an iPhone, the harsh and awful angle of the sun (which I feel had I been the one taking the photos, I would have caught) and the fact that Matthew was impossibly tired and hungry and was DONE with this nonsense. Fortunately the phone takes about a million and one photos when people who don't know what they are doing hold the button down a little too long, so I had plenty to choose from.  We then had Easter lunch at my parent's house, where Matthew decided to pout about all the food in front of him.

One of my bucket list items in a previous blog post was to run a tough mudder. I decided to quit putting off the "one day when I'm in excellent health"...and just DO IT. I wasn't as fit as I would have liked, I didn't run the whole thing, and it was "only" the half (5 miles instead of 10) But by golly I did it and that's what counts. Plus, I made some super cute shirts for our team "The Plastics". This obstacle was pretty close to the end where GIJoe met us, and was able to get some pics.

Just finished running the tough mudder and about to get our beer

David Cowan made a great realtor, look him up!

My "old" house looking very warm and inviting for the next family to move in

We SOLD. OUR. HOUSE! It sold within 24 hours of posting it on the market. And it sold for a bit more than our asking price. But when I say that, it sounds like a freakin' easy process. It was anything but. We loved that house and I have so many wonderful childhood memories there (we bought my childhood home from my parents in 2014.) But we made the decision in January to take the huge and scary step towards eliminating all debt from our lives, and selling the house was one way to take care of that. It had turned into something that needed constant care and attention, (and money) to maintain, so it was time. We worked on it from January through mid-April when it was posted. Along with the decision to sell the house, came the decision to quit my job teaching piano. It was very frightening to hand out those final letters and helping each of my students find a new teacher, but looking back on it now, it was exactly what I needed. As one of my piano students put in her goodbye letter, "I wish you could stay, but I know your heart wants to go..." Yes. My heart needs a break from this job. So there you have it...no job and no house. Is the next picture going to be a cardboard box on the side of the road? Quite possibly...

Meet our "new" and temporary house. Look at all those leaves that were there to welcome us home! We wrestled with the idea of living in an apartment, or rental house, or buying something smaller and more manageable for quite a while. So we ended up here, in a rental that belongs to family. It has been needing some TLC, and we needed a place to stay for a while that allowed us to maximize our savings account, and eliminate those pesky monthly payments. It has a very large backyard that would be great for a garden if I had any energy, (but is wonderful for Matthew and Maverick) and is less maintenance than where we came from. I felt like over the last few years, I've been craving less work time and more time with family. So this living arrangement brings that. We will see where we are in a year!

Immediately after signing the papers to become house free, we headed up to Dallas to visit some fellow mommy friends of mine, and spent the weekend there relaxing and...drinking. obvs.
It was a wonderful time getting some real, honest conversation with some girl friends. Seriously, go out and make some friends by being your own goofy self and see what happens. Or maybe we are all goofy because we have kids and limited sleep now....never really thought of that.
GIJoe and I also celebrated our 9 year anniversary by going to a float tank (thing sensory deprivation tank) where you float around in warm salt water for a while with no sound or lights. Overall, it was ok. I spent most of my time floating back and forth between sides of the tub and counting how long it would take me to touch the other side. Not sure that is quite the experience everyone has, but I will say it was extremely stressful getting there through Dallas traffic, and we were 30 minutes late, so I was stressed going in. I left a little less stressed, so I guess it did what it was supposed to.

Matthew sliding down a slide in Dallas during a calm afternoon out

Our good friends (really like family) the Wellmans came down to visit at the end of May and we got to spend some fun time acting the tourists downtown. Fortunately they used to live here and didn't want to remember the Alamo. But we got our picture in front of it just 'cause. Guys, if you've not been San Antonio, I know that you feel the Alamo is something you HAVE to see, but I will tell you it is a building. Apparently they are now charging $30 to get your picture taken in front of it now. Ludicrous. It has deep history around it yes, but besides lots of reading plaques and hot, sticky weather, there isn't much to experience. Anyway...that was a rabbit trail and I apologize. Back on topic...I promised a short read.

We went to the wax museum and Ripley's museum downtown and learned a few new things. I was able to take some selfies with famous...wax people. We saw some shrunken heads, people with three legs, and possibly the most entertaining moment was when Gary lost the screw in his glasses and had to walk around downtown holding the glass in the frame so he could still see. 

yes, I realize the wording is backwards. I fixed it for Facebook because I care more about them than you.

Most importantly, (ok, probably least) I discovered Snapchat. The photo filters make take selfies almost a normal thing. It's embarrassing how much space now is taken up on both my phone and computer with pictures of myself now. It used to just be Matthew. It's kind of fun to follow actresses and just see how goofy everyone really is in life. I put off joining Snapchat for so long because like Facebook, I just didn't understand how on earth it could be cooler than MySpace. I'm showing my age now....I'm still holding strong to avoiding Twitter though, so go me.

We discovered a drive in movie theater, thanks to a church family night located in New Braunfels, TX. Bonus points that you get to pass Bucee's on the way out there and grab some beef jerky and candy. We watched Xmen with Matthew in our car and it didn't matter if he moved around or made noise. Plus we could turn on the ac and be comfortable. It's the way to do movies with toddlers. Plus, they were doing a double feature...but we were tired and went home after one.

Ahhhh, I still remember the cool breeze and sound of water at the glass bottomed boats in San Marcos, TX. We spent the day looking at the aquarium and learning about the natural springs. They used to have a park there that I went to as a child, to watch the swimming pig and mermaids swim through the crystal clear water. Then when I got my scuba certification, we were able to actually swim through the river and sit on the old, seaweed covered shells they used to sit on. It was closed up because someone found an endangered salamander, so the only thing they have now are the boats and an occasional scuba scientist.
Matthew enjoyed the "big boat" for about a grand total of 5 minutes. Everyone thought he was cute when he went on the boat wearing his pirate hat and talking about the fish. That quickly faded when he was restless and then wanting to throw said hat over the side into the water. We survived the 30 minute ride however, and quickly drove home for nap time.

Matthew has apparently learned this goofy smile and refuses to make a normal smile now.

So there you go. My busy, crazy life for the last few months. Selling the house has allowed us to plan some fun things in the future, and so I definitely plan on keeping the blogs going (hopefully a little more frequently) and share all those things in less amount of virtual space!