The Makeover

Sometimes you find yourself in a rut and in desperate need of a change in order to get yourself out of said rut.  That is how I've felt with our blog.  I can't keep up.  I can't even catch up.  I didn't care for our "look".  I didn't care for our set up in our posts.  I didn't care for the time it was/is taking me to accomplish my goals that seemlingly keep not getting accomplished because of the inefficiency of the way I've been doing things.

Well, folks, it's time I put a stop to it all.  I AM GETTING CAUGHT UP AND I'M STAYING CAUGHT UP ONCE AND FOR ALL!  (I've convinced myself if I write it in all caps and send it out in the bloggerific world it'll actually happen.)

I've got the following months to catch up on:

October 2015
November 2015
December 2015
June 2016
July 2016
August 2016
September 2016

And I'll be getting them all done in some sort of fashion - I'm hoping sooner rather than later but time will only tell.  (I may have had these same hopes before...)

I've updated our "look" by finding a neat background, throwing it in photoshop, fiddling for a few minutes and calling it ours.  While I'm not 100% happy with the look yet, I'm light years beyond how I felt it was so I'm calling that a win. 

I'm also going back to posting my albums as one photo in my post with a link to all the other photos.  The only exception I can think of to this will be videos or quickie posts that don't warrant an entire album.  The reason I went to posting photos in posts instead of albums is because a.) I didn't think people were seeing the full albums, and b.) I thought it would be easier.  Turns out, the people that will want to see the full album will, and it's not easier...so back to albums it is.  The other plus with the albums is I get to keep my photos organized by album, can share with other friends and family if I just want to send them the album, and my photos aren't itsy bitsy teensy weeny.  I've kept this blog for OVER SEVEN YEARS mainly as our family record keeper, but also to keep my fam and friends in the loop.  WE DESERVE REAL PHOTOS!  Not postage stamp size images.  That completely defeats the purpose of record keeping to me.

SO, in lieu of all of this, as I complete a month that I am behind on, I will link it to the respecting month above.  I will attempt to keep future months up to date but have not yet decided if I will post them yet or not.  That's how I end up with these gaps of months that I am behind on.

It's time to get caught up and enjoy this lovely space that we call ours.

This is OUR blog.  It is a priority.  This is our life.  And it's the little moments like these that make it all worth living.

#doglife  #shelovespups
#butihopeshedoesntreallythinksheisadog
#carefreelivin  #mayabear

Amen.

Trip to Maryland: Days 11-13

Our last leg of our Maryland trip was filled with fun!  More milestones, more family time, more photos:

SATURDAY, JUNE 4th

We were lucky enough to stay through the weekend to attend my niece, Fiona's, first birthday party and to put together a little first birthday video!  It was so fun to be there for this!

The birthday girl and her parents!

Shanel, Fiona, and Kate!

These two lovebirds attended my Mom's high
school reunion.

SUNDAY, JUNE 5th

 

While I went out with my best friend, Tamara, for lunch, a storm
rolled in.  I caught the tail end of it and definitely enjoyed watching
Kate run through the big puddle formed from the rain all while belting
a rendition of Phil Collins' "Strangers Like Me".

More cousin time!  Maya, Kate, and Fiona.

More Uncle T being funny time:

MONDAY, JUNE 6th

 

We kept it very easy on Monday since we were flying out and enjoyed lunch at home with my Mom.  Then we headed to the airport.

Peeking through the seats at the people behind us.

Kate and Maya were phenomenal on both flights - on our way to Maryland and on our way back to Ohio.  It was amazing to spend so much time in my home state.  I miss it.  Being there for an extended amount of time made me miss it even more, but I am forever grateful for the opportunity to go and the time that I did have with all of these incredibly special people.

I am so looking forward to our next Maryland stop.

Trip to Maryland: Days 6-10

This is continued from yesterday's post. Here are days 6-10 from our delightful trip to Maryland:

MONDAY, MAY 30th

Maya and Crystal - The girls and I stopped by my college friend,
Brandi's, on Monday morning for breakfast with her family.

She has a little girl, Crystal, and a little boy, Brandon, and Kate
and Maya loved hanging with them!

TUESDAY, MAY 31st

Mom, Scott, Kate, Maya and I headed
to the Enchanted Forest for a little play.

Maya and Gramma.

Maya, Gramma, and me.

These rolling hills enthralled me.  After being in flat Ohio for
so long, I had forgotten how beautiful Maryland is.

My darling girl on the hay ride.

My darling girl inside a whale's mouth.

My darling girl with Pop Pop.

We found some adorable goats to pet!

I mean, they were so tiny but so cute!

Kate made a friend, Evie, who fed the goats with her.

Kate and Evie...

Getting up close and personal with this guy!

Gramma gets to hold a baby goat!

Maya wants to hold baby goat too!  That girl has no fear.

Kate rode a pony for the very first time!

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1st

I got to enjoy a manicure with Amy on a special night out.
Oddly enough, we have no photos of the two of us, but I do have
a photo of my polish because I loved the color - Panda-monium Pink
by OPI.



THURSDAY, JUNE 2nd

Aunt Amy and her girlfriends were off to the beach.

I know Kate was bummed that Aunt Amy was
leaving but hopefully we'll see her again soon!
Perhaps in Ohio where we'll have her all to ourselves!

My brother, James.  SO handsome.

Officially graduating.

Officially done.

The brothers again.

And again.  I just can't get enough of these handsome faces.

Of course Kate wants in on the action.

So we throw Maya in for good measure too.

The parents with the graduate.

Spinning with Uncle T!

James' Graduation from Atholton HS at Merriweather Post Pavilion.

Uncle T makes riding in a stroller like a roller coaster!
But Kate has mentioned she did NOT want to take the dark, unlit
path through the woods that Uncle T suggested...

FRIDAY, JUNE 3rd

Kate, Maya, and I stopped by my Uncle Richard's and Aunt Layla's
for dinner.  We got to hang with my cousin, Mackenzie, who we
haven't seen in years.  Literally. 

Kate LOVED the dog crate. It's the little things, people.

Stay tuned!  Our last leg of our Maryland trip is tomorrow - days 11-13!

Trip to Maryland: Days 1-5

On May 25th, Kate, Maya and I flew to Maryland where we spent nearly two glorious weeks with family and friends, hitting a lot of milestone moments!  Brian was able to fly in for a long weekend on May 26th and got to enjoy one of the milestones we were in town for!

We were able to go to my cousin, Brooke's, graduation to become an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) from Anne Arundel Community College on Thursday, May 26th.  On Saturday, May 28th, we attended my brother, James', graduation party!  On Thursday, June 2nd, we went to James' official graduation from Atholton High School.  And on Saturday, June 4th, we attended my niece, Fiona's, 1st birthday party.  Mix in all the get togethers with family and friends in between and it was a nice visit to Maryland.  But it flew by.  It felt like we had all the time in the world when we arrived.  After all, this is the longest we've stayed in Maryland at once since I moved to Ohio in 2009.

But in the blink of an eye, we were already nearing the end of our visit and it still felt like we had more people to see and needed more time to spend together.  Nonetheless, we were so happy to be able to be a part of so many momentous occasions.  I usually miss these types of things with my family because they are mostly impromptu and/or on weekdays, so I was extremely grateful for the time we had together.

And, Maryland, we will be back for another extended stay.  I'm loving this sort of flexibility!!!

Without further ado, a bombardment of photos from our trip to Maryland:

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25th

This series cracks me up.
Just smiling away!

Watching the planes!

Opposites!

THURSDAY, MAY 26th

Fancy pants having a little snack in bed.

This girl, with a flower in her hair.  Love.

Amazing sunset I saw while driving alone and blasting the music
on the way to the airport to pick Brian up on Thursday night.

FRIDAY, MAY 27th

The Hendricks Four made a Friday sight seeing day in DC.
We coincidentally parked right near Chop't, one of our favorite
DC food joints, and decided to play it by ear of how we were
feeling.  First stop after Chop't was the White House.

It was a warm day.  And we were ready to embrace that...

All of us but one.  Kate was hot.  Really hot.
And the stroller just didn't provide enough shade.
I can just picture her in this photo saying, "FOR
THE LOVE OF GOD, PEOPLE, LET'S GO COOL
DOWN!"

Maya was all about the sights and sounds and heat,
but we basically walked around the entire White
House and then headed back to Columbia for
several reasons.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
So pretty.

Grandpa Marley is so patient.

These two love them some doggies.

SATURDAY, MAY 28th

Aunt Amy's cat, Charlie, was another popular pet.

We did Aunt Amy's hair for the party.

We love us some Aunt Amy!

She and I made a little impromptu collage for James!

Love how it turned out!

Party time!

The 2016 Atholton High School graduate.
So proud of him.

Kate, William, and Aurora - swinging!

Maya - just climbing up on chairs and testing the waters.

Leslie and Kate.

The brothers - James and Travis.

Kate attempted to start another human train.  It was semi-successful
this go round.

Cousins, Fiona and Maya, playing!

Just playing with some ice on this wonderfully warm day.

These cousins are about 7 weeks apart!

SUNDAY, MAY 29th

Just relaxing at Gramma's house.

Mini-Gramma!  Kate loves wearing Gramma's glasses!

Meanwhile, Jungle Cat was just playing in the
planter pots.

I actually believe she was putting leaves in from off the deck.

That was days 1-5.  We'll continue with 5-10 tomorrow!  I think I'm slowing blogger down with the amount of photos I'm adding...