I have several friends who have recently announced their pregnancies. Others who are right in the middle of the pregnant happiness -- gender reveal parties and baby showers. I have other friends who have recently had precious, beautiful babies. This post is for them. A Letter to My Pregnant Friend ... After My Miscarriage Do you know how happy it makes me to see your belly grow? Do you know how much I love your little baby? Even in the midst of my own pain, I love to see your joy. I love seeing you happy and healthy and full of life. I know it's hard for you. You don't know what to Continue Reading
Florida Vacation 2015
Every year, Travis' family heads to Panama City Beach for a vacation full of sunshine, sunscreen, and sand. I am so grateful that I get to be a part of this tradition. Even this year, when Travis couldn't come, they still welcomed me into their family vacation. I spent two weeks in Florida. Getting a tan. Building sandcastles. Helping kids swim. Eating way too much food. Playing games. Beating records in paddle ball. Laughing. Going for walks. Playing video games. Crab hunting in the sand. Painting little toenails. Watching sunsets. Wearing sunscreen. Making memories. This is a Continue Reading
Christmas 2014 Recap Part 1
We had SO many Christmas get-togethers this year. And it was fantastic! We loved getting to spend quality time with family. It was my goal this year to get a great family photo with each of our families. And now that we know Travis will be gone for a year, it was even more important to me. I would really like to make this a tradition to do every year. It all began in Georgia when Travis and I had our own Christmas. We opened our Christmas presents to each other, ate Christmas cookies, and watched Charlie Brown Christmas. We headed to Indiana for our first family Christmas Continue Reading
A Book of Letters and Family
(This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for supporting my blog!) Need a gift idea for a little someone? Perhaps a son or daughter or niece or nephew? Maybe a grandchild or godson? Every year, my two nephews get loads and loads of toys from family at Christmas. I don't know how their parents get all their gifts back to their houses. And the boys already have so many toys at home. So this year, I wanted to do something different. Both boys are 4 years old. They are learning their letters, and before we know it they will be able to start spelling and reading. This year, we decided to Continue Reading
Stroud Vacation 2014
A week filled with some of my favorite things: Sand. Sea. Sun. And another of my favorite things: Family. After our anniversary, Travis and I headed to Panama City Beach to spend the week with his family enjoying all things summer. Here's a photo recap of our vacation. On our first night in PCB, we all went out to Boondocks. Here are all the ladies! Pretty gorgeous family, huh? Travis and I loved getting to spend some quality time with our niece and nephew. One day, some of us worked on building a huge sandcastle. It was fun! And afterward, we decided to bury Continue Reading
10 Things to Do Before Starting a Family
Travis and I have been married for almost 9 months now. We enjoy talking about the future. Having a forever home, future careers, and starting a family... As fun as it is to think about getting pregnant or having our first baby, we are not ready for that stage in our lives. Not ready at all. There are so many things we want to do before we change our lives forever. And a baby will definitely change things! For those of you out there wondering if it's time for you to start expanding your family, here's a list of things you should do before you consider starting a family. 10 Things to Do Continue Reading
October Visitors
We have had visitors almost every month we've lived here so far. July, September and now October have all brought my family to Georgia. It's been great! First, I love hosting guests. I like the cleaning and preparing and I enjoy showing them around our area. But most of all, I love it because I get to see my family! I love living here in Georgia, but I miss my family a lot. Having different folks come visit is a special treat that eases my homesickness and helps them see how great it is here. This month, my grandparents and mom came to visit. They stayed at our apartment for a few days and Continue Reading
Holiday Update — 2012
If you don't want to hear about my holidays, ya better just exit out of this tab now because all this blog is is an update on my holidays. Hence the name of the post... I figured I better catch you all up since I was MIA for more than a month. Christmastime equals busy time. I think it's that way for everyone, so maybe you didn't even have time to read my blogs if I had wrote some. Yeah, let's go with that. I didn't write in order to give you a break during your busy busy schedule. You're welcome. :) Here's my Christmas tree with all the presents to give underneath. All my Christmas tree Continue Reading
Sunshine Part 3
My sunshine series is a way for me to share my joys with you and make myself see sunshine no matter how dreary the week has been. Here are the ways I've seen sunshine lately: Going to my college homecoming. I saw lots of old friends, got to walk around campus reminiscing, took lots of silly/fun photos with my best friend, ate lunch at a delicious breakfast place we always loved, and enjoyed conversations with close friends. I love my alma mater and cherish all the memories from those four years. I love this picture, except for my red eye :( Spending time with my brother -- shopping and Continue Reading