two years ago today...

I married a handsome and wonderful man.

Thank you Dale for spending your time the last two years being my best friend, date, therapist, comedian, comforter, and feet warmer.

I love you more than I thought I ever could.

a week of camp

I just got back from a week of camp counseling at our church's summer camp. so. much. fun. Every year, I wonder if this should be my last year of counseling (this was my eighth year). I wonder if I am getting too old to connect with the kids, but every year, I become a little bit more addicted.

I love everything about camp. The kids. The memories. The constant smell of bug spray and campfire. The new counselors I get to meet each year. The time I get to spend praising my God.

Every year, it is just what I need to get back on track.

missing my boys

I am leaving my boys this Friday for a long time. Over a week (okay, so it's not thaaat long, but kind of long for this gal). I am heading off to Minnesota to counsel at the church camp I have been volunteering at for the last 8 years. I am getting that I-am-so-excited-because-I-love-camp-and-fires-and-pals-and-even-mosquitoes feeling...but I am going to miss these guys. Quintin is growing so fast and Handsome...well, how can you leave a guy who wears socks with his sandals? (I promise he doesn't go out like that in public. Really.)

Hummm...

We tried to do a quick photo shoot to document Quintin's size. He's growing so fast, the vet won't even let us feed him puppy food any more. Only the grown up stuff for this big guy. He posed so well with Handsome, but as you can see...not so well for me. Someday I will get a picture with this little black lug. And it will be great.

a little bit of frill goes a long way...

I miss sewing. A lot. Unfortunately, since I went back to school again last winter, my hobby has been on the back burner (as you can see from my sad, lonely, and all-together-empty Etsy shop). If the little time elves allowed, these are the beautiful pieces I would be trying to emulate with my sewing machine this summer. Hmmmm....(insert longing sigh here). I have found myself madly in love with white ruffles.

Check out these talented seamstresses at their Etsy shops and drool with me.

1. Roses and Creme Ruffle Dress by amandaarcher

2. Tea for Two Dress by sarahseven

3. Flora Tee by elizandaxel

memorial day memories

(Josh, me, Handsome, and Luke)

I can not explain how gorgeous my Memorial Day weekend truly was. Perfect weather. Perfect company. Perfect everything.

My brother-in-law from Texas was in town for the day and my sister had to work, so I got her husband to hang out with too. Lucky me got to spend the day with three fabulous fellows running around the great outdoors. We went hiking, waterfall-seeking, lake wading, and tried playing some football on the beach (they succeeded...my coordination needs a bit of work).

Heavenly. Absolutely heavenly.

a treasure chest

This week, I got my very own treasure chest from my mom. My great-grandmother's sewing chest...a whole expandable box full of all her thread, needles, and knick knacks! It meant so much to me - my great grandmother gave this to my grandma years ago. I never really knew either of them - I had never met my great grandmother and my grandma passed away when I was very young. This made me feel so close to them - knowing that we all share the same passion. And it makes me feel close to my own mother who passed this down to me - she was the one who helped me make my first dress...and trust me, that was not a pleasant experience!

I just love looking through the contents - you can just see the resourcefulness of their generations...all of the little hooks and snaps are held in my great grandmother's old prescription boxes. Small buttons are held in an old cigarette tin. Needles are kept tightly in place by part of an old card. I could definitely learn a thing or too about the waste-not-want-not mentality from these ladies.

Thank you mom and grandma and great grandma for this amazing gift...I promise to treasure it until I have someone to pass it down to!

we lost one

Handsome left today for his cousin's wedding back in Wisconsin. I stayed home with the pup...too much homework to do...bah.

I wore his shoes out to the garden a few minutes ago because I was too lazy to untie mine (please don't judge me). They were really big.

I miss him.