remember when i used to be consistent?

alright, so...here goes nothing.

i realize that i have been remiss in my blogging efforts-oops. i've had a few people give me the 'just do it' speech. the worst thing is that so much time has passed, and so many things have happened, so this will be a picture/comment recap for the most part for perhaps the next two rounds in order to get caught up. and i will try to keep it in chronological order as much as possible!

this was the boys' last walk in our apartment complex before they went to hang out with mom and dad in mo, so that i could get things packed and cleaned up without worrying about entertaining and working around them-it was so strange to not have them around!

one of those times i hang out with nicolette and a short trip to get a mani turns into a full day-not complaining because i got to eat my last nami food truck meal at klyde warren park, and it was a perfect day!

...and what better game to end with, than scrabble!

 then i got to hang out with this group of ladies who make me laugh-so many times we had to laugh so we didn't cry! not pictured: joanne-who had to leave early, but i am SO glad she was able to join us, as she has played such a huge role in my growth while i was at Cabell, and a dear friend after! (i'm certain the boys would go crazy if they could come to your house again!)

after the few choice goodbyes, it was time to travel. let's be real, i was a little nervous about towing the car, but dad said i could do it, so i believed him! the entire time i kept mumbling to myself 'pull through only, pull-through only' to remind myself not to get stuck, because you can't reverse that junk!

truth is, i felt pretty cool parking with the 'big-guys'...until i opened my door and smelled urine in the lot-i'm almost certain there must have been some uncivilized men who were too lazy to go inside to use the restroom and just did the back porch relief....ew. 

the boys didn't get to travel with me, as they were still with mom and dad, but i did keep bruno's moose on the dash (i strategically asked my parents to keep bruno and chaco long enough for me to settle in, so that they could drive them down and fall in love with my area!)

and i pulled 'rattle-a-gator' in from the car to be my guard-alligator. it worked. 

finally i arrived! day one!! 

 the first sunset-document everything, right? it was beautiful sitting on the piling right off bradenton beach.

luckily before shea took off, we did a good walk down coquina beach to the jetty-perfect welcome back!

and a quick visit to the pet store to visit puppies! i think we checked out like 3 or 4 to play with-kinda like a library! shea has puppy fever!

once shea took off for her two week trip to amazing places, i got out to the beach to begin my morning walks routine. i'm working on my identification skills and trying to learn the differences between the gulls and terns, the cranes and the herons, the ibis and the other white birds...yikes. and it's going to get worse in the winter, because of all the migratory birds! ayayay!

morning walk looking east over the bay at the sunrise-you have to walk back into the neighborhood (which is literally 1 or 2 blocks)

this has become my favorite place to go park my car between cortez beach and bradenton beach because you can park and still see the ocean! heart! so i bring my coffee and partake at the beach while preparing for the morning walk. walks vary, depending on my mood. 

love this little entrance to the beach with the ever-popular sea-grape vegetation lining the dunes

when i opt to walk the park, the trail runs parallel to the beach, so i get glimpses as i go, but i can go at a decent pace, as it's a paved path, and on sunday early mornings, there is a fun little booth/market place...

i LOVE our bike racks (we live in manatee county, market, market, market!)

at the south side of the park, there is a small entrance to the bay, and across the channel is the hammock beach...

also at the south side of the park-beautifully landscaped with short palms.

i'm trying to get the timing right so that i don't get caught waiting for the drawbridge! but on my walk i usually cross the drawbridge into longboat key, because the have a great sidewalk-system, for walking!

view south from the drawbridge (hammock beach)

view north from the bridge-the south end of the park

i will say that i am so glad i finally made it to florida and that it worked out to make the move and continue working with istation! my dad was telling me about one of their church friends who suggested that i probably wouldn't like it for long, because of all the bugs, the heat and humidity, etc. i laughed a little. it reminds me a bit of HONDURAS, as the vegetation is similar, we have the pichetes (tiny lizards), i'm used to bugs (although i don't love the gnats and mosquitos, they haven't been as bad as expected this year), the heat-nothing compared to sps! and humidity doesn't scare me...and it has been rainy and stormy since i've arrived-much like rainy season in sps...again, not new, in fact comfortable. i wasn't too excited that two separate storms blew down two separate palm trees that i had to cut up into 4 ft or less segments so that yard waste peeps would haul them off! i was here for about 2 weeks before mom and dad were able to come down to visit and bring the boys to their new home! i will have to share how the move-in went, as it is a 'furnished rental.' start asking yourself how it was furnished...i'll let you think on that and get back to you!

coming soon: summer visitors, summer trainings, summer conference, other fun stuff, and then we'll start to get back on track! thanks for coming back, i'm trying to be better!!

say a prayer and send good thoughts to those on the texas gulf, and the areas inland dealing with flooding...we'll see what the aftermath leaves tomorrow- sad face emoji.

it's good to be back! much love!
julie
jrob
jules
juan
hey you

finally january comes to an end, and we can get on with it!

i got the text early tuesday morning, and joined julie to go get our breakfast at starbucks. she needed the extra hands, as sabrina was somewhat incapacitated-so we were looking for some medicine, as well. we got everything we needed, and again saw sketchy activity in the back parking lot near starbucks-pretty sure ju was looking in the rear-view mirror, thoroughly expecting to be followed by a drug dealer in a pick-up truck. no need to worry, we were not gunned down, nor were we followed by any suspicious characters!

we set right to work when we got back to the convention hall, as we were down one. ju took sabrina the meds, and we prayed for a quick come-back! everything got started on time, and without a hitch. sabrina and julie started with the problem-solving process, and set me up to do a quick review of goal setting (settin' a sister up for success)-it went well; although with this big a crowd, the pauses were longer so that folk could get the assistance they required. thanks girls, i really do appreciate the way you set me up for positive successes! you are making me better-

of course, the girls deferred a few questions to lori through the course of the two days, as there were some particular questions best answered by the boss. day two had a smooth flow, as we tweaked it, according to the feedback.

creative cropping- ju said no as i was taking the pic, so i am honoring that request...

we're all just jokers here! (cris, good job setting up the card-collaboration! sabrina had mentioned it, so it was good to see it applied!) 

 lori and i left early, as we both had to get back to dallas (i was to be in waco the next evening). so we got a taxi to the airport, and i don't know if it struck lori as funny or not, but the taxi driver was a hispanic lady in rhinestone blue jeans and an off-the-shoulder shirt...i thought to myself:

 1. she was the wife of the actual taxi driver who was busy in the bathroom and yelled, "hon, can you take the taxi and deliver a couple o' ladies to the airport?" (don't think she lifted a finger to help with the luggage) and the other thought:

2. she reminded me of marissa tomei in my cousin vinny...no matter, we arrived regardless.

we arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, so we stopped at the restaurant while waiting. i always enjoy free time to sit and chat, and lori always provides great conversation! at one point the conversation went something like this:
lori: if you could live anywhere, where would you live?
me: well...i'd actually considered moving to florida not too long ago (even last year, before this opportunity with Istation came along). 
lori: oh, really?! (pause, think) perhaps that's something the company might be willing to offer a moving stipend for, as florida is a strategic location to have a trainer on the ground there...if you're still interested, i could have that discussion with the 'powers that be.'
me: interesting...well, yes, check into it and let me know!

FF>> (a week or two) an email arrives to the entire training team. of course i respond, but at this point i still had to talk to some people (to convince myself perhaps), and it took a minute to schedule a conversation with our 401k guy.

 anyhoo, this past monday, i knew it was time to either jump in, or not. so i emailed to let lori know that i was in. and about 30 minutes after that, the 401k guy called to set up a time to talk. funny how things work out. and then we set up a time to talk about the logistics of moving. once that was done, everything now will be going at hyper-speed.

i've begun to do some preliminary packing, and planning. hoping that by the end of the month i will have found a place to live in bradenton...and will be moved there by the end of july. i've been dreaming of this since this trip! (more here and here) ...yes. this is where my heart is, and i am ready for the next chapter!

change is the process by which the future invades our lives. -alvin toffler

so there you have it!

all that said, i've kinda' pulled you up to date, but there are still some fun feb/march stories to tell, so those will be on the way!

julie

beginning of the end of january

alright, so i got a little ahead of myself- my birthday actually happened the day before ginger and i went to kilgore, and i celebrated it with nicolette and nafia with a simple dinner (reminiscent of last year-simple, small, private.not a big deal) we were going to do cheesecake factory, but it was so packed, we opted for blue mesa next door. it's always good to catch up with the girls and laugh a little! they were very thoughtful with their gifts-those who know me, know i am a sucker for stationery! so stationery, a sweet journal and the  i received some sweet cards over week leading up to my birthday, and silly/humorous affirmation cards! time i get to spend with these two has become so limited, but when we do get together, it truly is enjoyable!

i also received several cards leading up to my birthday-a few from colleagues (thanks leadership team, alyshia, and joyce-so thoughtful!) not to mention, the following weekend i received a gorgeous bead necklace, which is totally me, (for which i have the perfect matching earrings) and another stationery set from sabrina, none-too-soon, i might add...as i only have about 4 cards left from the punny set, and maybe for from the inspire set. yes, i may have substituted letter-writing for blog-posting over the past couple months. oops.

that last weekend of january, we were off to abq, new mexico. i found out about a month too late that one of my old kampers, and dear friend, kelly v lives there! if only i'd known sooner! anyhoo. i was pleasantly surprised that my flight was hooking up with sabrina's, so she saved me a spot on plane while i was boarding from dallas. i was excited that we were going to get an opportunity to fly together-a little hangout time long overdue. we did some work on the plane (as much as we could, as the wifi was sketch). we arrived in the afternoon, had some copies to run and things to do to get ready, then we grabbed a late-lunch/early dinner and went to settle into the hotels.

 notice i said hotels plural? well, as it so happens, the two hotels are basically connected by a courtyard, divided by a gate. so i checked into my room, then made my way across the courtyard to hang out with ju and sabrina in the other hotel. it was like playing marco polo trying to figure out where they were, but eventually, i heard my name ring out through the air, "JUAN!" and then my phone rang out and we talked my way through the mine-field...as i tried to use my sense of direction and looking at where the sun was setting, as the constellations hadn't come out yet (and even if they had, i'd left my astrolabe at home)...reunited and it feels so good... 

when i first arrived to my room, i was a little worried, and i ransacked the place, trying to locate the hair-dryer. i was getting worried. i looked under the sink (the usual place) under the OTHER sink, not there either, in the closet, in each of the drawers,

BIBLE: beauty is fleeting, why you need a hairdryer?
DEX PHONE GUIDE: baby, i got yo' number... (closed that drawer right back up)

behind cupboards...but finally! really? hanging on the back of the door? who'd-a-thunk?

oh! there you are!

it didn't take too long before it was time to go to bed, and wake up again! of course when you wake up with these two, you know it's going to involve a little starbucks, as well-and so we were off, and i tried the sous vide eggs for the first time-gruyere and bacon...ah, delectable! somewhat heavenly bites-if you can handle the consistency. as we slowly drove through the parking lot, past the carl jr's, i'm pretty sure there was a homeless man in the back corner who was making drug deals or something. i mean, there was something going down back there- both mornings a truck drove by and then the next morning a car was back there-and they weren't dropping off blankets and toiletries. just sayin'.

we got back to the convention center and had some setting up to do-it took pretty much 30-40 min. creating the posters, setting up the tables, passing out the papers-but it got done, and people started showing up, many of whom the girls had worked with before (several of them seemed so excited to be back-which has been a welcome progression!). cris appeared out of nowhere and we got her stuff set up as well, and it wasn't long before we saw lori come in as well. it was good to see her out of her boot, although it may have been a little premature, she did pretty well. this was the first chance i got to meet kelly and she introduced us all to heather, her partner in crime.

the session began with a little review from the previous round, because there were lots of positive comments about it, in fact, believe it or not, there were a couple of teachers in monday's group, and tuesday's group that actually brought their lap-folders with them-so excited about all the foldables! so there was a bit of review on portfolio/profile/display ideas, goal-setting, problem-solving, and then a bit on PLCs, followed by a survival -type team-work-collaboration. and that was followed by more end of year reports/work-time.

it was comical when one of the gentelmen that was in the session shared that he disagreed with the order of some of the survival game entries...and he was a survivalist. HA! (keep your opinions to yourself, mista!) it was still fun!

we had a great lunch (when it comes to sushi, i trust julie k, she never does me wrong!) i forget the name of the place, but we did it for lunch both days, and i was a happy girl! yummers!

monday night after the training, we headed out to dinner with kelly and heather, and it was loud. partly because it was like 8 girls in a small room, surrounded by small parties and some business men. add a little wine, and the girls get louder. the food was really good-we had quite the variety-a bit of everything! lovely evening. while my reach wasn't bad, the gentleman from the next table offered to take our picture, and it came out much better! (i'm sure he was probably thinking, 'just let me take this and get it over with so ya'all can get out of here and we can have a peaceful conversation, bringing the decibel count down a notch). ha!

my lovely friends/colleagues. 

i do enjoy working with these ladies! abq day tuesday-ish next up.

julie

some meeting, some training, some..duck?

dooo-tee-doooo...so...then came january.

fresh out 'o the gates, we had a tx success meeting of the minds, to go over what this next round would look like. i warned them in advance that i was there as comic relief, so i hope they weren't expecting too, too much on that day. in all seriousness, jane had pretty much laid out a plan, as the changes were not super significant due to course descriptions. that said, we looked over the power point, mixed-it -up, brought in some additional resources, tweaked it a bit, cocked our heads sideways to look at it, then to the other side (kinda' like bruno does when we're conversing and he's trying to understand)...squinted, gave our two cents worth....i mumbled to megan that i was going to the bathroom (not that she cared, or that it was protocol to let her know where i was headed), but she must have heard me wrong... "what? you're going to get a beer?" (funny girl-i think she was projecting what she wished she wanted to do!). so much going on in one little room, and for the first half of the day, there seemed little method to the madness, which tends to drive a kid nuts, but in the afternoon we were able to tie it all up and felt good about what we had and that was that.

FF mid jan-off to abilene, tx with jane s, for my first training of the new year. i drove, as it took about as much time as messing with flights would've taken, and it was a nice drive-glad i did it, as i don't believe i have taken that route before. some nice scenery. we arrived at pretty much the same time, and found a great little chinese/japanese place where she had been before with, i believe she said, nettie. it was delicious.

very good-i would venture to this establishment again

? idk, it's kinda' like a mixture between an asian wait-staff who wants to remain anonymous, and the mysterious marfa lights...?

and it seems no sooner did i return from that training, than i was off to kilgore with ginger. we talked on the phone at length and then met up at HQ to ride together. it was a good trip-always enlightening. she told me about her up-coming vacation trip with her girls (which, i might add, she is currently on-that's how long this has taken me!! and it looks and sounds like she is having a blast and making wonderful memories! so happy for her!) kilgore was a treat-it's all about the restaurants, if you notice. the evening we arrived, we were in search of something, and there really wasn't anything right there in our neck of the woods, so we ended up in longview at a 'cafe' which served hotdogs and hamburgers. don't knock it, the hamburgers were great! and you go up to get your own fixin's...while you wait, you can grab a bowl 'o' beans. and so we did. but the best part was on the way out, choosing a dessert that would seal the deal. i always gravitate toward the caramel/pecan/truffle type. and while i do not recall exactly what ginger ended up with, i do remember coveting it...

we got together in my room and went through the power point to determine how we were going to present the next day and came up with a plan. fail-proof right? right...the day went smoothly and our little group seemed highly engaged...but (say it with me, now) 'there's always that ONE'...at least she was a sweet one. she really had questions about the math, which we weren't addressing, as it is not part of TX Success, but ginger did converse with her separately toward the end.

we came home and the next day i drove out to ft. worth to work with jane s and de An again. it was good times. de an brought starbucks, which is the perfect way to start any day! the one thing i had noticed the night before was that for some reason, the beginner 101 was set for the p.m. and the beyond the basics was set for the a.m. it's hard to go beyond the basics before getting to know the basics...so we did the prelim-who is just here for the beyond, who is here all day? and split them up, as there were only about 4-5 who felt they were not in need of basics, and just wanted to jump into the beyond. jane found a spot to work with them, as de an and i worked with the 101 group. several had been to the fall training, but when it came down to nuts and bolts, the learned new things, as always because there's just a lot of information that usually one time around the block doesn't allow you to take everything in and absorb it! so it was a good crowd, albeit rough, as we were dealing with people unable to install on their chrome-books (the whole update-thing and admin rights to push it from their bldg), so we made do with our ipads! pretty sure i was sweating that day (did you see it, de an? did ya feel the heat?!) 

i'm thinking we did wendy's for lunch because it was close, and subconsciously because they have frosty's...and we may have turned prematurely and puttered around in a parking lot looking for where the maze would connect with our lot. it did not...so back to the main drag to try it again. uf.

and we thought we were good to go in the afternoon, with only one new individual...but after about 15 minutes, it was visible that she was NOT having a good time. de an came over and mentioned it, so i took the lady out in the same area jane had been to go over the 101 (which she had come for-completely unfamiliar with Istation, except that some of her teachers loved it. she was district level, and wanted more information). so we had a little 1-on-1 session, and she left with a whole lot of information, and was able to see what all the hype was about and why her teacher was championing it.

and then we went our separate ways.

but there is another story of january. it's the story of my duck. i'd taken the dogs out walking, and in our pond out back, there was a handsome group of ducks, and then there was one. the one seemed to be a long time with its head under water...i guessed it was catching fish, or just looking at them...whatever.  when we came back around about 15 minutes later, it was with its head underwater once again.

first time

again-hard to see...

FF 1 week. i see the same duck (smaller than the rest), leaning on its side. i think, 'hmm. it must be dead or very sick) but i really couldn't tell because of the shadows.

FF 2 weeks. i see the same duck still leaning on its side, and i'm pretty certain it's dead. at this point, it really was disturbing, and i was wondering why no one else had mentioned it, or done anything about it. so i mention it to the gal up front at our office. i asked her, "are there fake ducks in the pond? because either there is a dead duck, or one of the fake-ys is malfunctioning."  "I don't think so," she replied, "but i'll ask maintenance and have them check on it." FF my walk back i notice that one of the bigger, prettier ducks has come to the wall. and none of them are paddling as a normal duck would, they are merely bobbing...so, yeah. my fake malfunctioning duck.

for the kid walking by, no worries, he's just sleepin.

FF MARCH malfunctioning sideways duck still struggles.

next up, i did have a birthday, and then i went to abq-tell ya' more about that real soon! it's about to get interesting! have a great weekend, and for those of you who are starting spring break, enjoy and be safe!! come back relaxed!

julie

great end to a year

i tried. i tried to get started again, but i just didn't get enough posts under my belt to start the ball rolling again, so here i go again (on my own...goin' down the only road...go ahead, thank me for putting those lyrics in your head, and now, shake it off...back to ME!)

yes, so as i was saying. lots to catch up on, so i may have to take the cheap way out and just provide some brief details on some events. and no worries, i will not give you a novel in a day, but rather i will do my darndest to section it out in such a way that will keep stories straight!

so let's start with where we left off, shall we? that was back just before the new year. jo anne was once again kind enough to let the boys chill with her for a few days, while i went to san antonio to visit with julie k, her husband, and guest of honor: randi robarts-former colleague! it was great to see and hang out with all of them, but especially great to catch up with randi, as her departure happened so quickly. i love it that things are going so well for her and she is so happy on her current path.

joy to my heart! (missing a partner in crime)

we greeted and had a fun quick little gift exchange...i'm in love with the thoughtfulness!

i've explained this before, but the short answer is julie 1(julie juan...very meaningful)

it's chaaaarrrrlieee and he goes to candy mountain!

this shortbread and the spread were delicious! (a labor of love)

i know kevin had my best interests in mind, but i tried to grow this boyfriend, and apparently this is 6X normal size...and he wasn't a good communicator.

we watched some sketchy documentaries about the white's of w. virginia...ouch. it was almost painful! but then to ease the pain, some fun youtube vids, which had us crying. and dinner was phenomenal-BOTH nights! kevin's artisan bread was melt-in-your-mouth!  both nights we played a card game that had us in stitches-any outside observer may have had some questions. how do we know i was exhausted? i may or may not have almost fallen asleep standing (leaning) in the kitchen...

ah, these scallops! the bread...the everything!!!

but after a good night's sleep, we were able to do a little damage at bath and body and old navy. when we stopped at a local thai place for lunch, it was hoppin', which usually is a good sign. so we went in, and received terrible service. asked for water and tea refills multiple times, and then when ju's tempura came out, it was more of a breadcrumb panko than the traditional light tempura. we tried to get a cohesive answer about this, but i'm not sure the lady really understood what we were trying to get to. while there, we were hoping for an awkward moment from this gentleman who walked into the restaurant with his ukulele, waiting for a girl. but by the time we finally left (without the water refill), he had yet to pick up the instrument in serenade-mode. oh well.

ukulele man

and of course, randi with her obsession, was able to stock up when we found her japanese nuts, and she didn't go overboard or anything...

we played our card game again that evening, and truly we all won because night elf, level 90 when everyone laughs, everyone wins. #puddinbane

our trip ended with brunch at max's wine dive. and i will say, the mac and cheese was a hit, and we stretched it out as long as we could, grabbing starbucks and chatting for a couple minutes before it was time to part ways so they could get randi to the airport and i could hit the road to be home before late afternoon to pick up the boys. i loved going on this trip, because there's something very special about seeing friends and hanging out outside of work-it just makes it more 'friend-y' instead of 'work-y.' as always, the best part was the conversation-always rich.

the drive home was great after austin, and it was a quiet night for new year's eve. but we rung in the new year (ok, we fell asleep early, and merely accepted that when we went to bed, the new year had started somewhere!)

i'm going to miss being close enough to just drive down every once in awhile! next up: several trainings to include abilene, kilgore, ft worth, abq, waco, lubbock, disd, orlando and amarillo...it'll take a minute, but we'll get caught up, hang with me!

julie

a few more festivities, a few more friends and a new favorite hobbie

what else happened during this holiday season?!

well, i failed to mention that when i returned from viewing the lights at the motor speedway with the gals, i came home to find a marker in the middle of the living room, without the top. i know that i didn't leave it that way-my markers are treasure to me! so that left bruno or chaco-i looked everywhere to try to locate the cap, and didn't see it anywhere. but there was a tiny shred of green plastic in chaco's facial hair...grr...could he have really?? i mean he did do some damage to the red papermate not too long ago... although i wasn't too worried, i went to bed, and then at about 3am, i couldn't sleep, and i ended up looking on animal web md...found something to make chaco throw up, in case he had eaten the thing. so i actually got up, got dressed and went in search of canned pumpkin to make this concoction...i finally ended up at walmart, where i should've just gone in the first place (although, in my defense the 7-11 has had it in the past..about 5 years ago, but still)...got home, made this stuff, fed him (so i had to give bruno some pumpkin, because if chaco eats, bruno has to). and then in about half hour, i was up cleaning after chaco-looking for green bits of marker cap. this happened about 7-9 times, no marker. i'm an idiot. we went all day with no problems, then he was doing it again the following evening, so we went in to the vet-xrays for both of the boys-nothing, (bruno's was just to check his leg for lameness) but they did discover that although there was no marker top, chaco did have a slight case of pancreatitis, and we got some prescription food for him. they love the canned stuff, and it seemed to help calm his tummy (he's had issues with the vomiting before-but i never really thought anything of it, because it would pass...don't want everyone thinking it's bc i gave him some pumpkin crap!). 

i hated going out to get this!!!

and so he rested with me the following day, while i was doing work-ish stuffs!

well, then, my friend bmayes came down to do some Christmas-y-dallas-y stuff one weekend. she was going to an early dinner with one of her small-group gals, and she actually ended up going to walk another girl's dog-which, all said and done, i think she was back around 10:30-11-ish, and we still drove around to look at lights near park and midway. they were beautiful, and the estates are enormous!

this HUGE lit tree was so beautiful!

and of course, chaco, waiting to see if there was going to be any more fun that evening!

the following day, we ended up getting in one event-the george w bush presidential library at smu, as they had a Christmas display. we almost didn't find parking because our outing just so happened to coincide with the smu graduation. oops. it was pretty cool, and i've been meaning to get over there for quite some time now! anyhoo, b had to get out of town shortly after that (wanted in several states, trying to keep in front of the law..oh, wait not her, that's someone else i know)...she had to get home before the weather in norman got bad! this was the day that it was 70 at about 11am, and by 7pm it was down in the 30s. half-day of spring to winter...it was great.

because it's all business in the oval office!

and the following evening after the cowboys played a stellar game, kristi, an old friend from HONDURAS happened to be passing through, and got to stay with me and we stayed up late catching up, and the following morning got to do more catching up before she took off around noon. truly i do love catching up with old friends! not much has changed apart from new experiences! seems like just yesterday that we were playing water-war games in the empty lots around the neighborhood, climbing up the water-tower and playing beach volleyball! #timestandsstill....

good times with this kid!! (i must have been about to say something, i look silly)

i got a text from nicolette asking what was going on tuesday p.m. and she text back that we were going to medieval times! she was the lucky winner of 4 tickets on instagram! so tickets had to be used! we met up and got the greatest paper crowns in the kingdom- red and gold! the food-always phenomenal, and while i didn't get much of a chance to catch up with olivia-all the way on the other end, it was fun just to be there! our knight was handsome in his own way, until i began imagining him with a man-bun.. he did not win the princess' hand though. he did throw a flower my way, but it was just a little short, and i didn't jump for it...the little girl in front of me picked it up to give it to me, but i told her to give it to her sister, the birthday girl. and afterward, nicolette and i ran some errands because she had some gifts that needed to be rounded up. unfortunately we weren't able to find all the necessities, so i was able to find some gift boxes from lush that made the cut..crisis averted, the team was getting more than last-minute gas-station sunglasses and a diet coke! we met later that evening, as i was leaving the next day.

yum! eating with no utensils always makes the food more delicious!

fun times! which one of these girls has no toilet paper at their place? hint: i do!

our handsome knight! quite adept with his tools of the trade!

throughout the week, i received fun stuff from our boss-team and hr! it was like Christmas all week long!! very fun, very unexpected and very appreciated!

so very thoughtful!

thursday i was taking off for missouri, so after packing everything, i made a stop at the vet on the way out, to pick up pain meds for bruno's leg, and they seem to be working great...and she called to tell me that his blood tests were normal, so we have the green light to schedule his surgery!

love going to mom and dad's! while i was there, i got to make a detour down to branson to see trish (so often, she's not there), so it was great to sit with her and enjoy conversation! one of my mentors, and a dear friend-only wish she didn't live so far away..it only means that the occasional random times that we do get the opportunity to hang out is that much more precious!

fortunately the weather was nice enough to do some target practice that afternoon! i haven't gotten much of a chance to go target shooting around here, so i love it that dad has set up a great spot.

we did Christmas, gift exchange and such, then we had a shortened morning service at church. after that we picked up a young man who used to go to our church up in iowa, and is now living near mom and dad. he did lunch with us, and then dad dropped him back off at his place, and mom and i continued picking up pecans! yes, they have a pecan tree, and there were so many pecans on the ground-it was like looking for easter eggs!! then we watched some football! go chiefs!!

and we will most likely be using one of these photos for next year's Christmas card!

and my new favorite pass-time over the break became 'pecan-shelling'! i've become quite good at extracting full halves. it's like a game now...so soothing, so calming, such a great meditation-al device! apart from the blister-inducing devices. so now i have a great little nut-cracking-callous on my pinky finger. nice.

i didn't mention it, but as i stopped at the tx rest area on the way home, i was stretching the boys' legs, and we saw some people gathering something from under the tree, so i went to ask if them was pecans they were gathering, and i think the man was very hesitant, as he thought i might be encroaching on his territory and a perceived threat (we encounter that when searching for shark teeth quite often)...no worries, mr! i got two bagfuls in my cah--get over it!

and that takes us to the uneventful drive home, the day after Christmas. uneventful.
finishing out EOY vacations next,

julie