Family visits and touristy adventures

This weekend was simple and full. We snuck in a Friday night "date" before the hubs' dad and stepmother arrived to hang out with us the rest of the weekend.

Here is my hot husband with a cart full of groceries. How about that for a date night?

After we finished shopping for food, we window-shopped for new TOMS - also at the grocery store.

(Yes, we went to Whole Foods; no, that is not our normal grocery store.)

We took his parents to the Charleston Aquarium. It was Shark Week, so the afternoon feature at the big tank was a game show called "Sharkelogy 101".

Oddly, he didn't think an afternoon at the aquarium warranted a picture.

The view from there.

We had an early dinner at Fleet Landing, which I highly recommend for mid-priced seafood if you ever visit our lowcountry location.

A Saturday night of games.

Church on Sunday.

This is my favorite picture. The hubs and his folks headed back downtown after church on Sunday while I stayed at home feeling a bit under the weather. I asked him to "bring me something back," and he brought home this ornament. It was a perfect choice because I've been collecting ornaments from places we visit, but I didn't have one for our current hometown yet. I did tease him about that being an "old man" purchase.

Gratituous dog picture. You're welcome.

I very much enjoyed playing tourist in our own town this weekend.

The icing on the cake was when my sweet better half found out he was selected for a promotion (in miltary terms, he made rank). Woo hoo! I'm SO proud of him. 

(This post brought to you by "Sydney got a new smartphone with one of those picture apps, and she's still really excited about it." Ha!)

Friday Favorites (and a YHL comment)

This week was a bit frustrating. We met with another real estate agent, and his outlook on selling our house was - to be expected - just as bleak as every else's. Now, we're considering renting instead of selling. This is relieving in some ways, since selling was going to cost us money, but renting brings with it its own set of challenges.

However, my feelings of frustration - they are relative. I have so much to be thankful for.

My sweet husband -
who let me order the new bedding I was drooling over in this post.
who helping me completely rearrange our bedroom furniture on a my whim on Wednesday night.
who cleaned the floors for me while I went to Target on Thursday night, referring to himself as my "house husband."
who picked up dinner for us when I didn't feel like cooking.

My sister -
who dropped some skinny jeans in the mail for me to try on because they were too small for my nephew - just for fun. (Sidenote: I so wanted these jeans to fit because I thought it would be fun to say, "Oh these old new things? My sister picked them up in the men's department at TJMaxx for $7." Sadly, when I put them on and couldn't get them anywhere close to buttoned (despite the waist size being 3 inches larger than the jeans I own), I realized there was probably a good reason they were marked as irregular and still on the clearance rack.)

My house -
which regardless of whether we sell or rent is cool inside despite 100 degree days.
has a pantry and refrigerator with plenty inside.
is wireless, DVRed and all those other technological wonders I take for granted.

My dog -
who we've decided is the living epitome of Dug, from the movie Up (The Hubs cries when he watches Up.)



who is willing to go for a walk(!) or a car ride(!) or pay outside(!) or do tricks(!) anytime.

My health (I'll admit that the stress I'm self-imposing is doing a number on my scalp and skin (something I'm used to, it's been the case for many years) but -
it's good. And my husband's is good. And my parents'.
(Although, I would definitely appreciate any natural tips for combatting dry scalp, and MILD ezcema/psorasis.)

And I could go on, but I won't (and can't, because I'm technically working right now!).

I'm thankful for all these favorites today. (And linking up with Rachel at Finding Joy.)

Also, on a super "blog geek" sidenote: I definitely got my first "comment response" from Sherry at Younghouselove.com this week. Umm - I freaked out, and I also did a screen grab for posterity.

Happy Everything Day

In the recent months, we've celebrated (or anticipate celebrating) my dad's running streak anniversary, my birthday, my sister's birthday, mother's day, the hub's birthday, and the hub's upcoming graduation. After realizing that life was getting in the way (and that celebrations are especially fun when shared), we coined this Mother's Day as Happy Everything Day.

The day consisted of dessert eating (Mom insisted on making a special dessert for each of the "celebrants," resulting in a lemon pie, a dirt cake, a chocolate pound cake, and red velvet cupcakes. The deliciousness and calories were infinite. I'm eating a cupcake now.)
We did some gift exchanging. B and I gave Dad a t-shirt says "Ask me about my streaking habit. I designed it myself (but sadly, I don't see graphic designer in my future). I'm in love with the pillow that my mom and aunt picked out for me. My sister scored some jewelry, and we replaced my mom's faithful Mary Jane crocs. (I'm not a fan of regular crocs, but I would prefer not to live without my croc Mary Janes.) And the husband is pretty pumped about his new Keurig (so am I!). (Those are sailing gloves he's modeling.)

I caught this picture of Kona actually looking in the direction of the camera. He always loves when the party is outside, and he can chill just slightly outside of the action.

 

This is the whole family. Decent family photos are something to be cherished, even if they involved minor threats and bribery.

 

I highly recommend Happy Everything Day.