Halloween 2011

Today was Eli's very first Halloween and I went ahead and stuck with my decision to not get him a costume. In true Megan nature I started hyperventilating about that decision at about 7:00 this morning but by noon my anxiety was gone was gone. I had the necessary cowboy ingredients laying around just in case I decided to dress him up last minutes but alas I stuck with his super cute Halloween shirt that I ordered from Braylabee's.

This year for Halloween our church hosted a Trunk or Treat and it was so great. We had an awesome turn out from the neighborhood kids. Each car owner had to come up with a game for their trunk. Luke took his job seriously and came up with a toss-the-fake-pumpkin-in-a-bucket-game. It was a success. He also bought in his opinion "good candy" and not that "craptastic tootsie roll crap". Those were his words.

I think he has been teaching 7th grade for too long. He is now using words like craptastic.

It was a fun night and great first Halloween together for our family at Trunk or Treat.

Eli keeping watch over our candy:

Eli had a great time. I eventually put him in our K'tan wrap and he loved it. He would just flap his arms and squeal at the kids. It was so fun watching him.
I LOVE this time of the year and I'm so excited to now kick off the holiday season. I won't decorate for Christmas until the week before thanksgiving, but I do start to get into the Christmas spirit before that point. I love all that goes into the entire season, Thanksgiving included. It is just such a magical time full of tradition. Love it.


Happy Halloween!

Outfits and TV

Outfits:

Thank you for all your kind words about our pictures!! You all are so sweet!

A couple of people asked about our clothing. My entire outfit was from Express. It's pretty much the only place I buy my clothes. I try and shop elsewhere and then I always end up going to Express. They always have amazing coupons and sales so I can get our stuff for super cheap (its about the only thing Luke wears also). And their jeans fit me the best, even on this post baby body.

Eli's outfit was from Old Navy and I was so excited to find it. Actually I didn't find it, I told twitter what I had in mind (a one piece sweater outfit) and my friend Jill was the first to send me this link to the Old Navy outfit. It is still there and is a great price. I actually got Eli's outfit first and then planned ours around it.

TV:

This summer I first saw a preview for a new TV show called Once Upon a Time.

I was immediately intrigued. I had NO idea what it was about but it looked good. It premiered this past Sunday so at 7:00 I sat down to watch it with no expectation. I realized it could easily go either way. And I have to say I LOVED it. I read in an article that ratings were the best for a TV show on ABC in nearly 3 years - but the verdict is still out from critics as to whether it will be picked up for a full season or not. I'm definitely excited to watch this show - as many episodes as it has. I'm hoping it stays just as good as the first episode was and gets picked up!

I've heard a lot about the show Revenge but I haven't checked it out yet.

I have to admit when I first saw the previews I thought it looked ridiculous but apparently I'm missing out on a great show. I can't decide if I want to catch up on episodes or wait until the end of the season and watch them all at once.

One thing that brings me great joy is finding a TV show that Luke and I both love. Clearly I'm easily "joyed" but it is so fun to find a show that we both look forward to watching. Our last show like this was Friday Night Lights, hands down the best show in the world. BEST.

I could actually sit down and watch the entire series again but Luke doesn't want to do that. So I've been trying to find a new show for us to love together. Luke is actually amused at how determined I am to find us a new show.

While Luke was on Fall Break last week we started watching Parenthood on Netflix Instant.

I so want to find a show that we both love and have maybe become a little obsessive about it. After each completed episode I would ask Luke"did you like it?" "how do you feel about it?" I never directly ask him IS THIS OUR NEW SHOW? But I desperately want to find one. Well desperate is a strong word but I would really really like to find us a show to watch. You know, in all our spare time.

Parenthood was good but doesn't have us hooked yet like Friday Night Lights did. It's hard to compete against PURE GOLD. All future shows in our lives sure have their work cut out for them.

What TV show is your favorite show right now? Did anybody else watch Once Upon a Time? I have high hopes!

Family Photo Session

Last week I mentioned that we had our first family pictures done since Eli came on the scene. Eli was Mr. Serious that day and I was a bit worried that we wouldn't have any pictures of him showing his usual smiley and cheerful self, but our photographer is amazing and captured his personality perfectly. I love these pics and will treasure them forever.

Our photographer got SO MANY good shots but here are a few of my favs:

Thursday Thoughts

This is all I've got today.......

1. Luke is on Fall Break today and tomorrow. Eli and I are loving having him home with us. Luke let me sleep in this morning and took care of Eli since he decided to wake up at 5:00. It was so nice.

2. I am LOVING this cooler weather. It makes me want to buy new boots. I can wait till Christmas though. I will put them on my list.

3. One of my best friend's from college who moved to Houston a couple of years ago is in town and is coming to hang out with us today. She hasn't seen Eli since he was 2 months old so naturally I'm so excited for her to see him. They will have so much fun together!

4. A blog/twitter friend is hosting an Online party through my Scentsy page. If you need any Scentsy this month you should order from her party. All online orders will be put in a drawing for a free plug in of your choice! Click on Amanda's Party to place an order!

5. My hair has faded so much since I got it darkened. I knew this would happen because it always does, but I thought I wouldn't care. But I do and I want to go get it colored dark again, BUT the point of getting it darkened was so I wouldn't spend money getting it colored. Ironic?

6. The other day I was going to the grocery store and I called Luke to see what he wanted, he said some kind of chips, I said what about Cheeto Puffs and he said THAT'S TOTALLY WHAT I WAS THINKING. We are clearly soul mates.

7. We are soul mates only when we aren't hanging curtains. When hanging curtains we pretty much despise each other. We hung some in our living room the other day and it was scary. Then after we hung them I stood back looked at them and admitted I wasn't sure if I liked them. Then it got really scary. I have come to love our curtains. Believe me. They are the prettiest curtains ever.

8. Well I usually try to come up with 10 random things but my friend is here now and I would rather hang out with her!

9. So this will be my last random thought

10. For today

Weekly Weekend Update

Fall is here and with it comes busy weekends! We have full weekend for the next couple of weeks and this past weekend was no exception!

Friday I spent all day cleaning. I had a Scentsy open house at my home on Sunday so I wanted to get our space as clean as possible. There were many times while scrubbing toilets and dusting base boards that I wished I had a house cleaner, but I just feel guilty spending the money on one when I can clean myself. Maybe one day I will change my mind.

That night Luke and I had our date-night-in. I never showered from my day 'o' cleaning and we spent the evening watching episodes of The Wonder Years on Netflix. Proof that a date-night-in does not necessarily mean romantic.

Saturday we woke up bright and early for our family pictures. My goal was to get a good picture for our Christmas card. I scheduled our photos to be taken at 8:30 because that is what time I did Eli's 3 month pics and it worked great. Lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice. This time it was a disaster. Eli did not want to smile AT ALL. Oh wait yes he did, IN BETWEEN PICTURES. When the camera was pointed at him he was all serious. So our Christmas card will be a very stoic picture this year.

I started to get stressed and then I realized I was getting stressed over PICTURES. So dumb. If I'm going to waste energy and brain cells getting stressed I want it to be over something better than pictures. So I chose not to get stressed. But I almost let it in for a second.

After our pictures we met up with Luke's parents who came to visit us for the day and went to a local pumpkin patch. Last year Luke and I went to this same pumpkin patch and talked about how we would have our baby with us next year! Awww.

My love on the hay ride. Also, please note his face, You will see this exact expression again on our 2011 Christmas card.

The Trees:

Our Eli cowboy:

It was such a fun and beautiful day!

Sunday I hosted an open house for Scentsy at my house. You never know how those kind of things will turn out, but this one ended up being great. Lots of people came, yay!

The setup:

So that was our weekend! I love that fall is here! Now I'm ready for it to get cold!

Eli is 7 Months!

Another month! Eli is now 7 months old!
This month has been so fun! Eli is getting more and more active and his little personality is coming out a little more everyday. What fun it is to watch his sweet self develop.

- You are a full time thumb sucker now. You don't ever want a pacifier, however if one is around you will pick it up and suck on it, but when you are wanting to go to sleep your thumb is all you need.

- You are going to be crawling pretty soon. You get on all fours and just rock and rock. You are scooting so fast and everywhere.
- Your babysitter told me you like to hang out with the big kids. You don't ever want to be separated from them and you like to stand at the train table with them.

- You are so observant and you LOVE to stare at people. It's almost a little embarrassing.

- You have always loved your daddy but this month you have started to really fall in love with him. When he gets home you are all smiles and want to be right by his side.
- You like to eat. A lot. You still have not had any aversions to any food. If it's food you will eat it.

- You are so good at playing independently. You love your toys and will sit and play and play. Then you are sure to let me know when you are done, usually by screaming.

- You have two bottom teeth and they are so cute. You didn't have any teething problems and we didn't even know you were teething until we noticed them coming in. You just had a couple of days of lots of dirty diapers but you never got fussy.
- You are sitting up on your own and you have been for almost a month now. You prefer scooting across the floor but you will sit up and play with your toys.

- You are in size 3 diapers and 6-9 or 6-12 months clothes. Although I can fit you into some 3-6 month clothes which is crazy.

- The doctor called you "long and lean".

- EVERYTHING you touch goes straight to your mouth as evidenced in these photos. I am constantly checking the floor to make sure that you can't get to anything too small.

- We put your swing in the attic this past week :-( You officially outgrew it. You love your exersaucer and bouncer.

I can't believe how fast you are growing! We love you so much!

And a short video:

Eli LOVES any sort of technology. He will play with his toys all day long but if he spots any sort of phone, computer, or remote control he will hightail it to that object as fast as he can.

Below is a short video of him trying to get to my macbook. Notice at the beginning he is on all fours trying to crawl and then he face plants it and tries to get to the computer as fast as he can before I put it up where he can't reach it.

When he reaches the computer he hits the space bar thus ending the video. He is a smart boy.

Watch and Balance

I will admit that I'm not the best at answering questions left to me through comments on my blog.

I try and respond to questions I get through comments by clicking "reply" on the comment, but if you don't have your blog set up to go to your email then I can't email you.

And if you don't have an email but you do have a blog I feel weird going to your blog and leaving a response to your question in your comments, it just seems so random. Maybe I'm weird (yes, yes I am)

My friend Lindsay did the most perfect post about how to setup your email account so that people can email you through your comment. If you haven't done this yet, DO IT!

Read it here.

That will help me with responding to questions that are left in the comments sections.

I don't get that many questions, but I do want to get better at responding to them. Here are two questions I've received recently:

Lauren asked me where the oversized watch I'm wearing in this picture is from.

That watch is a Fossil watch and is one of my new favorite accessories to wear. I love it so much.

Jill asked: How many hours do I work? And how do I balance family/work?

I work 20 hours a week. I feel like I have talked a lot recently about balancing family and work and I will probably talk about it for the rest of my life. Balancing family and work is very hard, but is doable. I honestly never thought it would be doable and never thought I would be able to leave my baby, but the fact that I do it 20 hours a week and enjoy working is a testament to the fact that I am able to do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

I probably will never feel like I have everything balanced but something that has helped me is ROUTINE ROUTINE ROUTINE.

I work till 5:00 two days a week - Monday and Tuesday. So before the week begins I make sure that I have dinner either figured out or most times I have it ready to go for those nights. Whether it is a crock pot meal, or a casserole in the freezer or fridge where it can be popped into the oven easily, dinner is ready. I don't want to spend time in the evening figuring out dinner.

Also before the week begins I make sure our house is tidied up. Very rarely do I have time to do a good deep clean, but I make sure it is picked up. When my house is crazy messy I feel like it makes my life more chaotic.

Most nights I try and lay everything out that we need for the morning (my purse, our lunches, etc) so then it is ready to go, and then in the morning we do the same exact routine (on Mon, Tues, and Wed), and that helps things also. I make sure I am about of bed by 6:15 even if Luke has to drag me out by my feet.

One thing that helps me keep everything balanced is just committing it all to the Lord. It is impossible to do all these things without His help, so I know He helps me through it all.

I have weeks where I feel on top of my game and like I'm super woman and then I have other weeks where I feel like I'm the most disorganized person ever and I am a failure to my husband and son. But I don't entertain those thoughts for too long. I just pick up and start over.

And lastly, I make sure and try everything. I don't want to miss out on something because I felt like I couldn't handle it. I set boundaries for my life but I also try everything so that I can get a feel for it in my life and figure out if it is something I can balance or something I need to say no to. I tried going to a bible study on Monday nights for a little bit but then I realized it was just too hard to be away from Eli for that night after I was away from him all day, there was another study on Sunday nights that I was able to join so now I do that.

Balancing work/family/church/scentsy/friends/blogging/household chore/etc can be hard. There are times where I feel like I have too much on my plate, but I know that this is just a season. I want to live life and not sit back and complain about how busy I am. I enjoy every single one of those aspects of my life (minus the house cleaning, I hate that and will gladly give it up) so it's just figuring out how to mash them all together in a way that honors the Lord and my family. I'm trying everyday!

I feel like I always have thoughts and future posts stirring around in my head about this topic so I'm sure I will have more to say about it soon.

If you have any other questions for me feel free to ask!

A Journal of Faith

Tonight I've spent some time reading old posts on my blog.

Yes, I'm the same girl who complains that there isn't enough time in the day to do everything that needs to be done, but then I will take a precious hour and sit in front of the computer and read stories of nonsense from the last four years of my life.

Sometimes I can't believe that I'm still occupying this teeny tiny corner of the internet writing random stories about nothing.

But it's my nothing and I love every single bit of it. From the story of Luke dropping his keys down the gutter prior to us even being married all the way to adjusting to life with a newborn and learning our new normal, I love going back and reading them all.

I also love going back through my blog because I think it helps puts life into focus. It is so funny for me to go back and read stories about wedding planning chaos, or my desire to be out of our apartment and into a home or even stories as recent as breastfeeding stories and being so sick of it even though I had only done it for a short amount of time.

Going back and reading these stories I see just how short seasons of life are. I wanted out of our apartment so badly and I now look back on those two extremely short years with fondness. What fun we had in that apartment. We had hardly any responsibility, a lot of extra money, and a small quaint space to grow together as a couple and learn what marriage was all about.

I remember a few short months ago being so worried that I was the only person in the world who still had a three month old sleeping in their room and how "embarrassing" that was and I couldn't tell anybody because WHAT WOULD THEY THINK? I remember thinking I needed to get Eli in his own room ASAP because if I didn't he would be 20 years old and still sleeping in our room and then THAT would be really embarrassing

Now, three months later that baby is sleeping all night in his own room. I worried and fretted about absolutely nothing. Imagine that.

This time last year we were faced with an unexpected situation, and I wrote this post. Now a year later I see how God took that situation and not only made good from it but he made it WONDERFUL. Beauty from ashes. I see how He was protecting us and leading us.

And that is one reason that I am so glad that I kept this blog. I have story after story on here of God's faithfulness. God's provision. God's timing.

It's almost comical to go back through and read stories of details that I was anxious about and see how God worked it out.

This is an area of my life I have always struggled with; worry, fear, anxiety. So many times they consume me. Right now I have areas of my life where worry is trying to consume me. But I've started to think maybe that is one reason why I created this blog, I not only have a record of my life and funny memories that I would have otherwise forgotten, but I also have evidence of God's hand in my life - should I ever doubt it.

Things don't always go how I think they should, or even how I plan it, but I want to continue to put my trust in the One who does know how they should go. All the while continuing to journal the ways he is working in my life. Sometimes I cringe when I think of how I open my life and emotions for others to read but I also think that God is using those emotions, even if it's for nothing more than to teach my future self! :-)

A well known verse but one that has been on my heart and mind so much lately:

"For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength" Phillippians 4:13

Random Musing

I usually save my list of random musings for later in the week when my brain is mush and I have nothing to really talk about - but sadly it's all I've got today. I've been looking for my brain lately and I haven't been able to find it. I lost it during pregnancy.

Random thoughts floating around in my head:

1. This Saturday we have our first set of professional pictures as a family of three. These pictures will then be used for our Christmas card. Eli's outfit is set and planned (of course) but I have NO idea what Luke and I are wearing. I have bought approximately 150 outfits for myself trying to narrow it down. I will take back the outfits that I don't wear which will be a pain driving these outfits all over town, but right now it seems worth it. My goal is to figure out what I'm going to wear tomorrow so I can then focus on Luke. We better cherish these pictures FOREVER.

2. I really need a new pair of jeans but jeans shopping since having a baby is NOT fun. I never had a problem with jean shopping pre-baby. Now I hate it. Today a store employee made me try on a pair of jeans I promised her wouldn't fit (it was the only size the store had) she swore they would. I KNEW they wouldn't - these hips don't lie sister. Once it was obvious that the jeans weren't going to fit I wanted to throw them at her. But I didn't. WWJD. Also, what kind of store only carries ONE JEAN SIZE? Jeans are not ONE SIZE FITS ALL. Sorry, I'm done now.

3. Our poor little Eli is sick. He has a runny nose and a pitiful cough. It is either a cold or allergies but I am hoping it goes away quick. It is so sad to hear his little cough. And trying to clean his nose is equivalent to trying to catch a running squirrel. HARD and IMPOSSIBLE.

4. We went to the fair with my family this past weekend and I didn't take one picture. I didn't take my camera because I didn't want to carry it around and planned to use Luke's phone for pictures, but then I just never thought about it again. We had a lot of fun though. I love my family's fair trip every year.

5. A couple of people asked me if they could order Scentsy from me even if they don't live in the same state as me. The answer is yes! The order will be shipped directly to you. I have customers (and people on my team) who live all over the US, so shop away!

6. I've always had a freakishly small head. Beneath that head of hair Luke also has a small head. Now it seems that Eli has a small noggin. His head is in the 10th percentile. We are a small headed family. Small heads = big brains.

7. I am seriously so excited about taking Eli to the pumpkin patch this year.

8. I'm trying to decide what to give up in my life so that I can put that money towards a house cleaner to come and clean our house. And yes I know I sound RIDICULOUS and PATHETIC with that statement. I mean I only have one child and I only work part-time surely I could find time to clean? Probably but it would be so nice to have somebody come every couple of weeks and deep clean and then I could take care of everything else. I'm sure I could go without food for a day or so if it meant I could pay somebody to clean my house. Or makeup, I can give up makeup. I hear the natural look is in right now.

9. I think I have the oldest iPhone in existence. I might donate it to a museum. But I'm saving money for a house cleaner so I can't donate it just yet.

10. In college one of my best friends and I decided to form a bunco group. Yes it is usually a game reserved for "older" (I use that term loosely) women, but we loved the game and wanted to play so form a group we did. We had an amazing time until everybody graduated and moved away. So rude. Since the day that group dissolved my heart has longed for a Bunco team. But my heart has found happiness because my friend Katie and I decided to form a group of our own. Be watching for a super fun post about our awesome bunco group soon.

11. Last week I bought Eli an inflatable bath tub. When it was time to give him a bath I simply blew up the bath tub. That day when Luke got home from work he asked if I wanted him to blow up the bath tub, I told him I had already blown it up. To which he replied "Wow, I can't believe you blew it up with your one little lung". Hm.. I actually have two lungs. So, that's kinda weird that my husband thinks I only have one lung? I did have a lung collapse, but I assure you I still have two normal working lungs. A collapse does not mean it disappeared. However I'm now seeing I can use this to my advantage. Please imagine this scenario with me:

Luke: Babe, can you help me mow the lawn? (he has never asked me to mow the lawn but it could happen one day)

Me: Aw, I totally would but my one lung is giving me the fits today so I can't, sorry!

Noted and tucked away for future use.

Happy Monday! (now Tuesday)

Moments like these

Most days my house is a mess.

My floors need to be vacuumed and the tile needs mopping.

There are days when Luke and I have our silly fights over "nothing" Days when we are just "off".

My toenails are in a scary need of a pedicure but it's not in the budget this month.

Sometimes clothes sit on our bedroom floor for days before they are hung up and today while walking through my house I noticed a cobweb on a mirror.

I constantly feel behind and wonder if I will ever be on top of my emails, returned phone calls, lunch dates and everything else life entails.

Our yard will never win "yard of the month" in our neighborhood.

I don't have designer clothes or fancy shoes.

Sometimes our trash is overflowing and we play the balancing act of how much trash can we stack before it tumbles?

My car needs to be washed in the worst way.

Last week I accidentally left a load of towels in our washer for three days. THREE.

I don't eat as many vegetables as I should and we always have a packet of Oreos in our pantry.

I usually go entirely too long between hair colorings and it is evident through my hair "regrowth".

Our lives aren't perfect. They aren't even close to perfect.

But they are full of perfect moments

Like these

And that is all I need.

Scentsy and Me!

I've mentioned brifly before on the ole blog that I am a consutlant for Scentsy Wickless Candles.

This is a journey I began May of last year and feel very fortunate that I am able to be apart of such an awesome company. I have been apart of it for a short time but it has honestly been such a blessing during that time. I could go on and on about the great things that have come out of me being apart of Scentsy but today I want to talk about the products. That might be another post for another time. :-)

Recently I had a blog reader who is now a Scentsy customer suggest that I do a blog post all about Scentsy and what my favorite scents are, because she was needing help choosing one.

I thought this was a great idea. There is no way I could possibly talk about all the great products that Scentsy offers in one blog post, so today I will just touch on a couple of my favorite scents and warmers.

First of all if you don't know what Scentsy is you are really missing out! Scentsy Wickless Candles are ceramic warmers that are a safe alternative to a candle. With the warmers there is no flame, there is no smoke and no lead - so that means no worries for you! They are safe around kids, pets and safe to use in your home, classroom, office or anywhere!

I have one in every room in our house and Luke uses one in his classroom at school. We also have them in my office at work and the daycare that Eli goes to uses them also! They are seriously great for EVERYWHERE.

One thing I love to do is help people figure out what their favorite scent is. I love when a customer receives a scent bar and texts me or emails me to tell me just how much they love it.

Three of my favorite scents right now are

Coconut Lemongrass - a very clean scent. I keep this in my laundry room and bathrooms.

Source: megantree.scentsy.us via Megan on Pinterest

My Dear Watson is a nice, strong scent. Luke uses this in his classroom. It is listed as a "man" scent but it is definitely a favorite among both genders.

Source: megantree.scentsy.us via Megan on Pinterest

Christmas Cottage - this has a bit of a cinnamon vibe and is PERFECT for the holidays. I left this warming all December last year because I loved it so much and didn't want to change it out

Source: megantree.scentsy.us via Megan on Pinterest

Now that you are familiar with a couple of scents, you might be wondering how it works? Well you break off a couple of cubes of wax from each bar (those things pictured above) and put it in a Scentsy warmer. Then a low-watt light bulb melts the wax to produce the smell.

Some warmers I love:

My very favorite one right now is Jane. It is GORGEOUS all lit up.

Source: megantree.scentsy.us via Megan on Pinterest

And this will go perfect with my Santa decorations for Christmas

Source: megantree.scentsy.us via Megan on Pinterest

Is that not adorable or what?

And if you are a person who loves your counter and dresser space you might want a warmer that plugs directly into the wall:

Source: megantree.scentsy.us via Megan on Pinterest

As you can see Scentsy has something for everyone. You might want to add Scentsy to your list of things to get people for Christmas, o even add it to your own list for Christmas!

So if you ever have any questions about Scentsy, whether it be needing help choosing a scent, picking the perfect warmer for your desired location or looking into it as a business opportunity please let me know!!

And if you already love Scentsy tell me what your favorite scent is! I always like to hear what everybody loves.

I hope my Scentsy post wasn't too boring. I can't talk about tomato soup everyday. I'm sorry it's just not possible.

The Perfect Tomato Soup

The summer after my freshman year of college I was living back at home with my family and had big plans to spend my time lounging in my pajamas, while watching reruns of Dawson's Creek, and hanging with friends. My plans didn't have to occur in that order, just as long as I used as little of of my brain as humanly possible.

It seemed like the best plan I could imagine, but sadly, my plans of doing absolutely nothing never came into fruition.

You see, I had to get a job that summer. I'm not sure how it came about that I needed to get a job. It might have been a conversation with my parents that went like this:

Me: I need some money for clothes, please.

Dad: Get a job.

Me: *tears*

If I wanted clothes and other necessities that a 19 year old required it was time that I found myself a little ole job.

So I did what any smart 19 year old does. I went to the place where my best friend worked and applied for a job there. Because she was so sweet and charming it was only obvious that any friend of hers would be sweet and charming also so I was hired on the spot. Easiest interview ever.

I wish I had stories from that summer of working side by side with my best friend but sadly she quit the day after I got hired. And moved to Florida. I'm really not bitter about it anymore. Only if I think about it or talk about it does bitterness rise up in me. But that's another story for another day.

So here I was, working in a ritzy glitzy country club all by my lonesome self. I had never been in a country club before, and now I was working in one. Which let's be honest if I HAD been in a country club I wouldn't need to work in one so that previous sentence makes no sense. Country club attendees do not become country club employees. Life just don't work like that.

I used incorrect grammar on purpose. I feel like it gives more ground to the whole country club attendee vs. employee stance.

Anyways, I spent my summer serving country club patrons in many different forms. I was a waitress, I worked the pool window, I would drive a beverage and snack cart around the golf course while men whistled me down so they could have their chocolate and beer fix and I also worked in a little hut in the middle of the golf course known as the Half Way House. Worst name for a hut on a country club golf course EVER.

Basically it was a plush life. Every once in awhile somebody would hold their wedding reception at the country club and the waitresses would fight over who got to cut the cake because in case you didn't know the cake cutter equals the knife licker. True and gross story. We would fight over who got to lick the icing off the knife. Don't you wish I would have been your cake cutter?

Plush life.

Now, you may be wondering why in the world I'm telling this story? Well it's because my time at the country club was one that really was fun. I made friends, I learned how to waitress and I learned how to make a pretty mean grey goose tonic. Important things in life. Everybody remembers where they were when they made their first mix drink.

But it wasn't my bartending skills that changed me forever.

No, it was the tomato soup that I ate while working at this country club that forever changed who I am.

The chef of this country club would make the most divine tomato soup. It was like MANNA in the form of tomato soup. It was the perfect consistency of tomatoes and basil with a touch of cheese and other herbs. Actually I have no clue what was in this soup but all I know is that it was PERFECT. Pure tomato perfectness.

I would long for the days when I would come to work and the special of the day was: Chef's Secret Tomato Soup and then I would spend my time in the back sneaking sips of this glorious soup.

For the record I'm pretty sure it was against the rules to eat while on duty. And if the fact that I gained 10 pounds that summer doesn't show you that I broke this rule a lot, then maybe the fact that I only worked there that one summer will be proof that I broke the "no eating while on work hours" rule a lot.

But when it came to this soup I couldn't help myself. RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN. I needed that soup.

Also, I have no idea what we called the soup but the above title of Chef's Secret Tomato Soup sounds more dramatic so that is forever how it will be known in my head.

Like any true summer romance does, my time at the country club came to an end and it was time to pack up and head back to school.

Although there was no romance and my love interest in this tale is a tomato soup.

Plush life I tell you.

I think about that soup often and wonder if that chef still makes it. I have NEVER found another tomato soup that even comes close to touching the realm of how good this soup was.

I have made it my goal to find the perfect tomato soup. I have searched high and low and sadly I'm still searching.

That fateful summer I didn't lounge in my pajamas and I never watched Dawson's Creek reruns but I did experience the best tomato soup ever. And that was worth it.

Halloween Party Pooper

I have expressed my love for Fall and Halloween on my blog many times.

Every year Luke and I think up these grand plans to have a Halloween party and then every year October comes and goes and we are left with nothing but unfulfilled plans.

We will watch old reruns of shows like Home Improvement or the ultra classy Roseanne and stare with jealous at our TV's as they play out these elaborate Halloween parties complete with full costumes, spooky decorations and themed food.

They make it look so easy - like putting together a stellar party just comes together with ease. But I know this is not the case, and when I begin to put together ideas for a party I'm overwhelmed with all the details. Not to mention the fact that I have terrible party anxiety and I'm worried that nobody would show up.

I have missed out on many parties for the fear of nobody showing up. It is sad.

All of that to say that we love Halloween, we have nothing against it and we look forward to setting up Halloween traditions in our family in the future.

HOWEVER,

I have no plans to dress Eli up in costume this year, his first Halloween. I was perfectly content with this decision until some people acted like I was a fool for my lack of costume plans for Eli.

Is it completely lame/boring that I don't plan on dressing Eli up in a Halloween costume?

Here is my reasoning:

The child goes to sleep at 7:00. Is it even dark at 7:00? He won't even remember it so it's not like I am going to cause my him all these years of pain and sorrow because he didn't dress up his first year.

Instead of spending money on a costume (which isn't cheap) to dress him up for some pictures I would rather spend money on a cute outfit that he will wear more than once.

Does that make sense?

I have yet to hear a story about a child that was scarred for life because they didn't dress up their first year. But there is a first time for everything.

I am the worlds most indecisive person so there is a strong chance I could change my mind between now and October 31st but as of right now Eli will not be dressing up this year.

I might just go buy a cute outfit for him from Gap or Gymboree and dress him up in that and take pictures of him and call him "the cute kid with a cheap mom". It would be appropriate.

Sunday Life

A couple of weeks ago I did a post about a day in our life. It was an accurate portrayal of our days on Monday and Tuesdays but our lives are very different on the other days of the week.

So now I wanted to do a day in our life post about what our Sundays are like. Our Sundays are always the same and pretty much the most predictable day of our week.

Sunday morning Luke wakes up bright and early and heads out the door for church before Eli and I are usually even awake.

Eli wakes up around his usual time of 7:00 and then we start our normal morning routine. I feed him breakfast and work on my bible study. Double tasking at it's finest.
Then we play a little and then I get ready for church while Eli takes his morning nap.

Around 9:30 or 10:00 we leave for church.

Luke and I have gone to the same church and he has been employed there during our entire relationship. It's crazy to think that we have been there for 8 years! The church family has changed quite a bit since we first started going there but it is like our family. I don't know what life would be like without our church family. We have been around these people as a young dating couple, newly married couple and now a growing family.

Every other Sunday I work in the nursery. Today I was in service. Here is Luke doing his thang during church. This is totally grainy because I snuck it during church from Luke's phone. All in the name of the blog!Usually after church we will go eat with friends or lately to save money we've just gone home. Today we had a meeting after church so we ate lunch at the meeting.

Our Sunday afternoons are usually very low-key. Luke and Eli take a nap at some point and I work on Scentsy stuff, meal plan, play with Eli, clean, and do general stuff around the house.

Today Luke graded papers in the floor while Eli scooted around and I worked on stuff at the kitchen table. Around 6:00 I kiss my boys bye and head back up to the church for my bible study. I've been doing a Kay Arthur Precept bible study and I love it so much. I'm digging dipper into scripture than I ever have before. I think so many times we want to try and make the scripture "fluffy" and fit it to our lifestyle, but that's not what God's word is about and I'm really growing so much through this study.

After bible study I go to the grocery store to get our groceries for the week. I try to get in and out as fast (and as cheap) as possible.When I get home from bible study Eli is asleep in bed and Luke is usually watching some football game while working on school or music stuff. I then get everything around the house ready for the week, watch a little bit of TV, get everything ready for an easy grab in the morning (lunch, Eli's food, purse, etc) and then get dinner ready (usually in the crock pot). Monday and Tuesday are my only days that I work till 5:00 so I try and have those two dinner's prepared ahead of time so I don't have to spend precious time in the evening cooking.

Tomorrow's meal ready to go:
Then we get in bed around 11:00 and try and wind down and get ready for the rat race of the week to begin!

Weekend Fun!

We have had such a fun weekend! I love each season in its own time but I especially love Fall. There is something so magical about the feeling of crisp, cool air, enjoying a coffee in the morning, going to the pumpkin patch, baking warm goodies all with the expectation that the Christmas season is just around the corner. I just love it!

I was excited Friday afternoon because it started to feel like it was getting a little cooler outside, and I am very ready for cooler weather! And I was also excited because we had family plans to go to a football game. I've said it before I'm not a huge football fan but I do enjoy the occasional game once in a while, especially if it involves my two cute boys.

Because the temperature was around 72 degrees I bundled up Eli and I in extra warm clothes and along with Luke who was in a short sleeve shirt we headed out to a football game.

We thought it was homecoming for the school district that Luke teaches for so we thought it would be fun to go to their homecoming football game. When we got there we discovered that it was just your regular ole run of the mill game. Which was just fine and dandy, but not near as special as a homecoming game would have been. Ahem Mr. Tree.

We enjoyed the first half of the non-homecoming game but by halftime we decided it was time to head home. Eli was getting harder and harder to wrestle in my lap.

Eli at the football game being held by me, not a 90 year old woman as you might think judging from those hands. Geez someone get the woman some lotion quick.

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to head to Luke and I's alma mater for homecoming! I seriously love homecoming - it goes back to loving fall and all that jazz.

Eli and I were in the homecoming parade so we had to be up at the school early in the morning. Here we are gearing up for our part in the parade. We took our role seriously

I wasn't thinking and forgot Eli's stroller in my car which was far, far away. My plan was to sit on a bus and hold him during the parade but then he started pulling his wild crocodile rolling moves so I knew sitting was not going to work, so I decided to get out and walk the parade while holding him. Which was working but then a spot opened up in a wagon so I basically threw Eli in as fast as I could.

It was perfect and he seemed very content during the parade. Usually this boy is all smiles but today he was VERY serious. I think he didn't really know what to think about it all. He wasn't upset or mad just very, very serious. I made sure to stay right by his side the whole time.

Luke stayed on the sidewalk and watched us in the parade. I wanted him to take pictures but during the middle of the parade I realized that I was holding the camera while walking in the parade. So we have some nice action shots.

After the parade we ventured over to the tailgate party and had fun visiting with friends, eating grilled foods and playing games.

It was such a fun day and I'm so glad that Luke and I are still apart of the traditions of the University where we met and fell in love. It holds such special memories.