passion.

I bleed green. Not literally, but I am a lifetime member of Girl Scouts and have always proudly and loudly declared that I'm a Girl Scout. GSUSA (Girl Scouts of the USA) is going through some major changes and I'm glad to be the go-to person at our council with this information.

Tonight I was presenting the new material to some of our volunteers and I started crying.
YES.
Crying in the middle of my presentation.

Why? Well, I'm not pregnant... I'm passionate. I want every girl involved in Girl Scouts to experience some of the things I did and to be PROUD to be a Girl Scout. I was trying to get our volunteers to realize that if a mom holds her daughters hand through Girl Scouts, then the girl isn't getting the true Girl Scout experience. A girl is supposed to gain courage, confidence and character through her Girl Scouting experience. I could give a laundry list of things that I have been a part of due to my Girl Scouting experiences, but what I really want to do is help girls gain the skills they need to be independent, graceful, and self aware of their abilities.

So, tonight I cried. Not a blubbery cry, but a teary eyed "What in the world is going on with me!!"

And I got in the car to come home and I felt GREAT about my job. I am where I need to be. I feel like I am at "home" and helping make a difference.

this is our life right now.

Tuesday night.

Pretty Little Liars and White Collar.

Lots of puppy time.

Oh yeah... I'm painting my toes. The dog is not a fan. Why? I'm not playing with her.

Ignore the messy house. Company is coming Friday night... I'll clean Friday.

1 year later.

Steven and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary at the beach! We had a great time and really enjoyed looking back at our wedding photos and video... 

and we had a wonderful cupcake from the Cupcake Collection.

And one year later...

This was one of the best cupcakes yet. Can't wait for many more :)

long time, no see.

The past 7 months have been a whirl wind of activities. 

In January, we celebrated the new year and stayed home just the two of us. I also painted the laundry room and moved the cabinets all round.

In February, I made one of the hardest decisions I've had to make. I decided to leave my job and start something new. I just didn't know what that something was. I realized that I was putting Steven and myself in a finincally tough spot, but it was a decision I needed to make. So, three weeks later I began a new career path at Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts is in my blood. I'm a lifetime member, so this was an easy decision to make. 

I'm the second from the top left. This was the weekend at Fall Creek Falls that we spent with our tent tied to the trees because of tornadoes. Best trip ever.

March was another hard month. I said goodbye to my sweet Grand. She had taken a turn for the worse, so my family had about week to prepare for her funeral. My dad and I (with lots of help from my mom) put together a slideshow for the funeral. As my dad said, "I hate those things that have the waterfall pictures and crap. Grand deserves better."

Grand is on the far right, she was always the tallest. Grand loved strolling in downtown Franklin.

April was full of more surprises. Steven and I came home with our puppy, Mia. Needless to say, shes full of energy and LOVES to play. 

She's a black lab mix. And she's already outgrown this collar and harness.

May began the house repairs. Let me be specific. We replaced all of the siding and windows on the house. 

Before. 

During.

Before the actual siding went up.

June was full of painting. In the hot, hot weather.

 Umm.. do you like our redneck scaffolding?

Did I mention it was hot? We ending up painting at night. Almost every night.

And now, we are in July. We had a great 4th of July weekend and FINALLY finished paiting the house. Painting finale photos to come!

Resolutions.

I always seem to have the traditional yearly resolutions.... work out more, eat better and lose weight.

I've thought hard about what I want to do in 2011 and here are my resolutions for this year...

1. Workout 5 days a week for at least 20 minutes each time. This one started today with my hubby. We each have a goal of losing 30 pounds... we both have clothes that no longer fit.
2. Keep my bathroom clean. This one starts on Monday, after I give it a thorough scrub down.
3. Home Repairs. First on the list is to replace the siding on the back of our house and the windows and then paint the trim.
4. Be paitent. I want so badly to jump right in and work on all kinds of projects, but I need to be patient and realize that I have all kinds of time to work on stuff.
5. Start using coupons. I do use them... occassionallly. I need to start using them more frequently and really watch what I spend money on.