As you may have read by now, I love to do small “happys” whenever we take trips or for other special occasions. Well we recently went to the beach and I did a happy for all of the girls. Check them out below.
All in Randomness
Summer Break 2019
This summer seriously flew by! It didn’t help we spent the first part staging our home to sell. Then the middle selling and buying a home. And at the end we spent it packing and moving. I really had big hopes for our summer, but we didn’t accomplish half of what I thought we would. However, after looking through all these pictures below, I realized we sure did have a lot of fun even during the chaos!
Brad's 36th Birthday
We celebrated Brad’s 36th birthday last week in a very unconventional way for him…we went to Disney World! His birthday was on Friday, and we decided Monday to head out Tuesday evening after he got off work.
Huntsville Botanical Gardens Spring 2019
So we visited the Gardens a few times this Spring, but definitely not as much as I would have liked. We did meet up with some preschool friends, made some new friends, and got Dada to come along with us too!
July 4th
This year we decided to keep July 4th low-key. We are in the process of selling our house, and we wanted to spend one last year celebrating in our neighborhood. It also gave us a nice break at home before the chaos of moving begins.
Disney on Ice 2019
So we went to Disney on Ice again for the fourth time. Each visit to watch has been slightly different. Our first visit Melody was like 5 months old, and we went with Brad’s family in Memphis. Our second visit was with Emily and Justin while the girls were one. Both of the husbands went, and we traveled to Birmingham. Our third visit was a birthday present from Emily right before Melody turned 2. The show was here in Huntsville and it was just us girls and my mom. This year wasn’t for any special reason except the show was in Huntsville and we were free during the week to go. It was just us girls again, and we decided to splurge and get floor seats. I thought the girls would love it enough this year to enjoy the closeness.
Teacher Gifts
So let it be known (and I am almost certain every mom agrees), May is the worst month of the year! In addition to the normal end of school year craziness, there is Melody’s birthday, our anniversary, Mother’s Day, and the list goes on. So to add to this I had to come up with end of year gifts for her two preschool teachers, her three dance teachers, and I wanted to send something to all of the teachers at her preschool (there are only 9). I didn’t go as crafty as I did for Christmas (preschool and dance), but I did make a few homemade gifts to go along with the gift cards I bought!
Father's Day 2019
Father’s Day this year was pretty low key. We have had (and continue to have) a LOT going on, so we definitely used this day as an excuse to relax as much as possible (including mommy and Melody, ha!).
Chinese Lantern Festival at Huntsville Botanical Garden
We have been members at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens for a little over a year now. We have visited every season so far, and we have no attended two paid events there. One of those was this spring, and it was unique. We visited during the day using our normal membership, and then we paid to go again at night. It is the Chinese Lantern Festival. It is a traveling festival that has numerous lanterns that are lit up at night and throughout the Garden. I believe the path is a little over a mile long. Follow along for both of my experiences.
Mother's Day 2019
Mother’s Day this year was much different than last year. The biggest difference is I got to wake up in my own bed in my own home vs. a hotel due to forced house renovations, ha!
Huntsville Botanical Garden Winter 2018/2019
So the entire winter, we went to the Botanical Gardens ONE time! It was too cold and too wet all winter. Or it just wasn’t convenient on the pretty days. We did find a decent day early March to go, so it was barely still winter, ha! Check out all the pictures below.
Spring Break 2019
So I just realized I never blogged about our Spring Break back in March. We didn’t go on a big vacation or do a whole lot of the ordinary, but we did have a lot of fun that I want to share.
2019 Huntsville Comic and Pop Culture Expo
Earlier in March we attended the Huntsville Comic and Pop Culture Expo. It is our third time to attend, but it has been going on for four years. We missed the second year because we had other things going on. Now we are always sure to mark it on our calendar so that we never miss it.
My Weight Loss Journey Part One
For as long as I can remember, I have always struggled with my weight. As most teenage girls, I was very self-conscious, and I always thought I was “fat”. Even though looking back, I was far from it. And I saw a post on instagram one day that said “I wish I weighed what I weighed when I first thought I was fat”. So much truth in that statement. I was never skinny or even super small, but I was healthy.
Huntsville Botanical Garden Fall 2018
This fall we really didn’t get to spend enough time at the Gardens. It was just too wet or cold. We did make it to see the Galaxy of Lights then we spent one morning there too. We walked around the children’s gardens, but we also went out discovering other areas on that day too. Check it out below!
Christmas 2018
Christmas is so special now that we have Melody in our lives. And now that is she getting older, she is able to understand more about everything that revolves around Christmas. And we are still as busy as every during the holidays.
Taco Mama
So I have been meaning to write this post for quite a while. I honestly kept forgetting about it. “Reviewing” restaurants hasn’t been as much of a priority to me the last year because it is hard with a two year old to have time to take pictures of food. I am lucky to eat my food before it is half cold, ha! So back when we were living at a hotel during our kitchen renovation, we were staying right across the street from Taco Mama. It is fairly new on our side of town, and I had yet to try it. I know many people who rave about it, so I really wanted to eat there. One night we finally had dinner there.
Teacher Gifts
Since this is Melody’s first year of preschool, it is also the first year I have to do teacher gifts. I went back and forth with a lot of options I found on Pinterest, but I ultimately decided to do something similar to the dance teacher gifts. Instead of mason jars, I opted for mason jar cups. Since it was a cup, I decided to do their first initial instead of something Christmas related. Lastly, I include a gift card to a local bakery.
Fall Family Pictures
A month or so ago, we finally found time to get with my aunt who is a photographer and get some family pictures made. The setting was great for fall pictures; the weather was warm however! We survived our warm sweaters and were able to get some fairly decent pictures! Hopefully we won’t wait so long to take family pictures again.