I will wear a tutu

I finally made my personal fundraising page for the Master the Met 2010 Stairclimb. I know I have been busy selling a house, taking care of kids, working, etc., but it took me a total of 2 minutes to do. And as I promised Suzannah, I will wear a tutu during the climb alongside her if I surpass my fundraising goal. Please help me out and aid a very important cause! And I will of course post pictures of me in the tutu. :)

House for Sale

It has been one week since our house went on the market. A crazy, stressful time but totally worth it. I'll spare you from all of the details of why we are moving, but 50% is for a fresh start for us and 50% is for the girls' schools and mixed into the two is less driving time for work.

I want to share with you one of my favorite bloggers and a post of hers from last week. Sarah from Clover Lane posted about a Lesson Learned. I've been taught this many times in my life already, but I had a refresher last May. I thought that friends of ours had the perfect life - but that facade came crashing down at the same time that mine did. I am thankful that God scooped me up (once again) and helped me start to heal from my wounds. And it was nice of Him to surround me with real, true friends whose hearts are full. So read Sarah's post and enjoy - she reminds me of many of my dear friends. And hold those you love tight and be thankful for all the blessings you've been given.

No Woman No Cry

That was the song that we stood to at Leigh's funeral. I said goodbye to her 10 years ago and it feels like yesterday. I wish that I could go back in time and do things differently. Instead of being too involved and too busy in college, I wish I would have spent more time with friends. Instead of pushing people away when life got uncomfortable and messy, I wish I would have called Leigh and talked to her about things. I wish I would have trusted friends more back then. There was a lot of junk in my life that no one else saw. Leigh was the kind of person who would have loved me through my mess and helped me to see the hope that was ahead of me instead of the things I was afraid of. She taught me a lot while she was alive and she taught me even more after she was gone. I really miss her. I wish I could have been a better friend to her. I wish she could see my little girls. I hope she knew how much she meant to me and how much I loved her. How much I still love her.

I am thankful that I have all of my sorority sisters and my husband to celebrate her life with. People who knew her know how I feel. I am glad that we will always keep her alive in our beautiful memories of her.

Leigh-Leigh, I am laughing as I remember our "Coffee Talk" skit that we did for Serenades, and dancing in the hallway of our dorm to our "routines", or making prank phone calls to our friends . I'm smiling when I think of how we tried to cheer up Jaimie when she was so sick, when we went shopping to buy matching outfits, and everything else we did together. I'm crying when I think of the times that I missed an opportunity to strengthen our friendship because I was too scared. You were such an amazing person - I will never forget you.

Happy New Year

This was our card this year. I think I am going to make it a new tradition that we do this instead of Christmas cards. The Christmas season is the busiest time at my work, and my precious time at home is spent with my family, baking, watching movies, playing, and most importantly focusing on what Christmas is all about.

I hope that your year is off to a good start!

Erin's Photo of the Year

I hadn't read my friend Erin's blog in the last week because of snow days and being busy at work so imagine my surprise when I check it last night and she has chosen her Photo of the Year and I am in it! Honestly, I think it is definitely an amazing picture because of the talent of the photographer, but it is in an honor to be in it. Seriously Erin, if you ever need me for another photo shoot - I will dress up like a clown if you need me to. I wish modeling were my job because it was so fun.
Oh, to be Heidi Klum. *Sigh*

On a random note: What is the deal with people saving National Geographic magazines? Is it so you can refer to it if you are doing a report on pygmies? My parents saved theirs and I don't ever remember using them for a book report or project, or anything. Are you going to, in the middle of a conversation about something obscure, say "I'm not sure who started the ancient civilization of the Mayans. Hold on just a minute, let me reference Volume 23 of my N.G. for more information..." NO! They would just google it now. Actually, there is an online version for about $45 that looks pretty good. So free up your booksheves!

Hope you're all having a good weekend!

The Seven Spot is BACK!

My BFF Sarah has resumed blogging after a LONG break. She is such a talented, funny, amazing person and I know you will love her blog (and HER)! Check it out!

And thanks to Heidi (Mrs. Fabulous), for helping me figure out the blog link. Hey, I'm still kind of new to this blog thing and I am rarely on the computer to figure it out and/or blog.

And I would post a picture of our beautiful new finished basement, but I can't find our camera battery charger anywhere.

Happy New Year!

A list

Things I did when I was a stay-at-home mom again for a few days:

1. Painted the girls nails.
2. Went to a fun Disney movie.
3. Ate at "Old MacDonald's" (what the girls call it).
4. Puzzles
5. Pretending
6. Made breakfast, lunch, and cooked dinner.
7. Cleaned the kitchen
8. Laundry
9. Cuddled on the couch with M & J
10. Read books
11. Played Hungry Hungry Hippo (but the old one is better - I wish I had saved mine)
12. Threw stuff away
13. Played kitchen with M & J
14. Baked
15. Really enjoyed time with my family

I'm getting ready to go back to work this afternoon, but before I do, I wanted to give a big shout out to my friend Greta who is welcoming Charlie into the Coalier family today. Congratulations Sam, Greta, Sadie, Ruby, and Poppi!