15 years...

i was 25 and he was 27... and here's a little tidbit you may not know... we got married in las vegas... {for the record... not drive through style or by an elvis officiant... but in the outdoor gardens of the flamingo hilton with our closest family and friends}

 

i always thought that i might regret that decision... getting married away from home, not in the church that i attended my whole life...  to not have a full reception, a wedding cake or a first dance...

 

but as it turns out... i've never regretted the destination of where we were married... {yes... going to get our marriage license felt a little sketchy... and there were some people dear to me who were unable to attend...} but all in all... it was perfect for us... a lot less stress than a traditional wedding and really a lot of fun...

we exchanged vows on august 25th, 1999... 

 

i remember that day so well...

 

watching them set up the white chairs on the lawn from my hotel suite... laughing hysterically with my maid of honor after she had her hair done and it slightly resembled flo's hair from the tv show alice... my mom holding back tears... taking the elevator down and walking through the lobby of the hotel in my gown... my dad partaking in a margarita {or 2} prior to walking me down the aisle because he was SO nervous... having a wonderful dinner with everyone afterwards at the embers... taking pictures at the bellagio... walking along the strip... strangers congratulating us along the way and touching my dress for good luck...

 & being able to have that first dance the day after we were married at an outdoor concert... {we were announced because my dad was sneaky and told the band that we were just married the day before...}

 

you start off marriage naïve... it's blissful... not really realizing what lies ahead...

 

 i remember that first year in our cute apartment... going out, special dinners, decorating like nobody's business... the following year we bought our home and then real life kicked in... house issues, car problems, bills, miscarriages, lost jobs, losing loved ones to sickness... it's been quite a journey since that day... we've been through a lot... ups and downs... good times and bad... marriage is hard work and not always easy... 

but journeying through this life of ours together, with our two beautiful daughters, is so worth it...



sunday to sunday...

it was a busy week...

on sunday... a friend of mine invited me to try yoga... it was my first time... where the temp was kicked up a bit... it was an intermediate class that went for an hour and fifteen minutes... phew... who knew that yoga was so intense... not this girl...

i can safely say that i am not at an intermediate level... some basic yoga may be more my speed... i liked it enough to know that i'll give it another try... 

{sorry... no photos from this experience... it wasn't pretty...}

monday was back to school for me... 3 classes this semester... a special education class, a tech for teaching class and an art class... so far so good...

and maizie informed me that she no longer wants to take jazz... she'd like to go back to ballet... now i just have to see if that's still possible... i hope that it is... if so, it will be her 6th year of ballet...

tuesday... marina takes jazz and that girl loves it... they are doing their routine to "it's a hard knock life" from annie... i love that song... it takes me back to my childhood and doing plays in the front yard with my friends... singing the songs at the tops of our lungs... i know i'll cry when i see her perform on stage... i always do...

wednesday and thursday were spent doing some more organizing of that third floor space... it's coming along... very slowly... lots of fabric folding... i still have so much more to do...

friday was the father daughter dance at marina's school... the theme was winter wonderland... marina loves to be dressed up... we hot rolled the hair and did a little manicure/pedicure with pink sparkles...

 john got all spiffed up and wore a tie to coordinate with his girl...

 nothing sweeter than a daughter with their daddy... {love}

saturday was maizie's birthday party with her friends from school... i tried to make the rainbow cake that i made several years back...  it's supposed to looks like this...

well... i was in the kitchen for a couple of hours... things were going along just fine... lots of pretty colors... and it baked up perfect...

i had it all stacked up nicely and then the whole cake decided to start splitting down the center... i was pretty upset... and a bit in panic mode because the party was set to start in an hour... so i did the only thing i could do at that point...

scooped it into a large glass bowl... in rainbow colored pieces... added some sprinkles and had to let go and embrace that it wasn't going to be what i set out for it to be... instead we had this...

the "rainbowl" cake.... 

it ended up being a hit... and i was thankful that the candles stood up in it long enough for us to sing happy birthday :)...

the girls did some just dancing... lots of running around and lots of laughing... and they made some polka dottie heart art... super cute!... it was a good party...

and here we are... back to sunday... 

we went to visit my gram this morning...  she's got some spunk... and wanted to give chipotle a try... i went and picked it up and we all had a nice lunch together... she liked it a lot... i'm so thankful to still have her in my life and in the girls lives... blessed!

have a happy day~
angie

hugs and i love yous

i always hug my girls... i constantly say i love you... always receiving hugs and i love yous is what i have grown to expect in return...

from my 7 year old... arms wrapped tight around my neck... her saying "hold me mama" and the words i love you flow freely...

i've noticed a slight switch in my almost 11 year old this year... the hugs are more me hugging her with her standing there... i say i love you and i get an "uh-huh" in return... it wasn't always this way... and it's been breaking my heart... usually i just repeat the i love you and  

that's how it's left...

 

this morning before she left for school, i gave her a hug, which was a little duddy on her end so i squeezed her a little tighter and said "love you, maizie"... i got the "uh-huh" response in return... so i asked her if she thought she was getting too old to tell me that... she said "yes"... i told her that you're never too old to say those words and she smiled...  i asked her if i'm supposed to just know that she does and she said "yes" and smiled again... i said "ok"... then she walked down the driveway and got on the bus...

i shut the door and i cried... she's growing up... {i'm excited for her to grow and experience new things but i'm a bit sad for me... i miss little maizie... the one who always hugged and said i love you no matter what}... i'm not quite ready for the changes that middle school and beyond will bring...

that's all i have for this morning...

now i think i need to go drown my sorrows in a frappuccino...

have a happy day~

angie