Thank you...

In my entire life I have been fortunate enough to not have to be the recipient of any true mega, massive prayers. We have been lucky. I had all 4 grandparents living until I was almost 30. Our immediate family has not had to deal directly with cancer or any long term illness or disability. We have jobs; we have our health; we have two beautiful children.

Life was perfect.

Last Tuesday, March 18, our perfect life- our perfect record- was shattered.

Chad's dad took an accidental fall on Friday the 14th and broke his back. He stayed in the hospital over the weekend and had back surgery Monday morning.

Tuesday morning, he woke up, sat up on the edge of the bed, and immediately suffered a bilateral embolism (blood clot) to the lungs and stopped breathing. We tried everything we could throughout the day, but there was nothing we, nor the doctors, could do.

We said goodbye to one of the most beloved men I have ever known in my entire life- A man who loved me unconditionally as his own from the moment I walked into his house as "Chad's girlfriend" nearly 20 years ago.

My mother-in-law lost "her person;" My husband and his brother lost their father; My children and niece lost their Pops; My parents lost one of their best friends; We all lost one of the greatest men who ever lived.

It wasn't until shortly after I posted the news of Larry's death on Facebook on behalf of the family that we started to realize just how many lives our Larry touched.

Facebook notifications started immediately posting, messages were sent and received, people came to the hospital, and the prayers started pouring over us.

The support has been tremendous. The food, the friends, the hugs, the cards...it's all been amazing, and we appreciate every single thing anyone has done for us the last 10 days.

But, above all else, the thoughts and prayers from you all are what keeps us going.

Your thoughts and prayers are what help my kids sleep at night. They are what keeps them focused on (and excited about) school each day. They helped us make hard decisions. They keep us sane when the world around is spinning out of control and we just want to get off. They allow us to carry on "normal" conversations. They allow us to genuinely celebrate life's joys that have come to our family and friends in the days after. They give me strength to answer the kids' questions. They allow us to smile and laugh and tell stories. They sustain us during this time of immense grief.

And we are truly grateful.

We've looked at every "like" on Facebook, every picture comment, every message, every post. We've read the guest book from the service and noted every name. We've read your cards. We've enjoyed your meals. And we've undoubtedly felt your prayers and thoughts.

Thank you.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Know that in this time, I am also praying for each of you as so many of you are mourning with us.

And I am thanking God for each one of you that He has placed in our lives during this time of need.

Keep praying. Keep sending good thoughts. And keep loving and laughing and serving one another.

Because that's what Larry was all about. We are all family.

And love will hold us together.

Brooklyn's Birthday Party

Catching up here...

On Friday February 21, Brooklyn had a birthday party with several friends at a local pottery place. They all had a great time and it was such a perfect party experience. I would totally use them again.


They were so great to give us a private room to paint and eat.





Goofing off with friends.


Baby Claire loved the party...and the celery.








About a week later I went back to pick up the finished pieces. As part of the party they make this plate for the birthday kid. It turned out so cute!





Thank you, Mad Platter, for a great 9 year old party!!

Don't Confuse "Active" With Fit....a guest post

I receive a weekly newsletter from my trainer at Heart in Sol every Monday. It always has great articles (where he keeps it real), helpful fitness hints (always learning something new), and even recipes (that, let's be honest, I probably won't make but they sound fabulous).

Last Monday, I read this article that I absolutely loved, so with Patrick's permission, I am re-posting it here for you. (Note: If you want to receive these weekly newsletters or get more information about programs at Heart in Sol, email info@heartinsol.com.)

Don't confuse "Active" with Fit

When it comes to excuses for not exercising, I’ve heard them all.

Sometimes the excuse is self-inflicted: I don’t have the time.

Other times the excuse is pure procrastination: I’m going to start as soon as tax season ends.

And then there are excuses that are downright funny: I don’t like to sweat.

As delicately as possible, I point out to these well meaning excuse-makers that, even though they don’t want to do it, exercise is an important part of cultivating a strong, healthy and attractive body.

I tell them that if they would just exercise 2 to 4 times each week they would feel a dramatic improvement in their daily life, starting with renewed energy and strength.

Then I bring up the health benefits and explain how many of their health problems would improve or even disappear. I talk about how great they will feel, and look, dropping those extra pounds and rediscovering a slender figure.

Even with all this experience in excuse squashing, there used to be an excuse that would leave me stumped.

The sneaky excuse of ‘I’m active’: Oh, I don’t need to exercise with a personal trainer—I’m very active. I play golf and tennis and Wii.

Well, that is a good excuse, right? Golf, tennis and Wii are all active sports that burn calories. Maybe you can be fit without doing any other exercise…

And then I started noticing a trend.

The ‘golf’ people couldn’t touch their toes in a simple flexibility test. The ‘tennis players’ couldn’t jump rope for 60 seconds. The ‘Wii players’ needed a week to recover from a one mile jog. The so-called ‘active’ people encountered injury after injury.

And then it hit me.

You can’t become fit simply by being active.

Only by being fit can you become more active.

To be lean and to maintain a level of fitness there is no substitute for a consistent, challenging exercise program. It’s the only way, folks.

To truly be fit is when your body is able to do whatever you ask of it. This comes from a combination of flexibility, strength and endurance.

So, do you exercise?

Or are you fooling yourself with the idea of ‘being active’?

How do you feel about your current level of fitness? Are you able to do each and everything you want? Or do you end up opting out of activities that you know would be too challenging?

If you’ve used the excuse of ‘being active’ in the past, take a minute to reconsider your position.

Don’t bank on your ‘active’ lifestyle with the hope of true results.

Call or email me today to get started on an exercise program that will make you truly fit.

And if you’re furthest from active but simply want to lose those extra inches and pounds, make the decision to contact me today.

As they say…there’s no trial run in the game of life

Brooklyn is 9!

Brooklyn is 9.
And has an iPod touch thanks to Santa.

I do review her iPod regularly to make sure all is well, I know all her contacts, and her text conversations are staying Girl Scout- and Christian-like. (3rd grade girls can be mean, y'all.)

In my latest review, I found these awesome selfies, so I thought I would share as Brooklyn and I write this post together.

For our commeration purposes, here is Brooklyn at 9 years old.

Favorite Food: pasta
Favorite Drink: orange crush

Favorite TV show: the suite life on deck
Favorite Movie: frozen

Favorite vacation: beach
Favorite sport: well i dont have really have a favorite sport

What annoys her: my brother
What excites her: going on vaca

Favorite restaurant: golden corral
Favorite activity: coloring

Best Friends: avery,sophie,leah,ashley,zoe,allie k,allie h,callie
Favorite school subject: math

Favorite color: blue
Favorite clothes: dress

Favorite song: love is an open door from frozen
Favorite holiday: christmas
So, there's your snapshot of B at 9.
More birthday posts coming soon....this no power thing kinda puts a crimp on the weekend.

Way Back When-esday!

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Today's Way Back picture is in honor of the fact that the teeniest one in the picture below just celebrated her Confirmation at church Sunday AND turns SIXTEEN on Monday. Whoa!


Love these two girls so much. They were mine and Chad's first "kids." Their parents entrusted them to us often, and we had quite a few fun dinners out with them when they were small.

So proud of them both and the young women they have become.