#23

Guess who had a birthday and decided she could grow up?

Our Lolo turned 23 on 7/13. I still remember my OB/GYN telling me she'd have to induce labor because of my hypertension and asked if I was superstititous.....she wanted to induce on the 13th and knew that eventually this child might have a b'day on Friday the 13th.  
Thank goodness I'm not THAT superstitious. (if you break a mirror in front of me, we're done though)
She's never been anything but good luck for me.

My sweet child who made me a Mama is really going out and living her life; more life than I'm comfortable with.

She graduated from college and was accepted into her first choice grad school.
A minute later she decided to NOT go to grad school.
A minute later she decided to join the Army.
About 20 minutes later she decided to go to the Police Academy.

So about 3 months ago my heart fell into my lower abdomen.

*sigh*

She's walking her own path.

Happy 23 to my favorite first born child. I love you to the moon and back and then about 10 million times.....and yah, I can't afford all that gas. But you know what I mean.


Lolo is such a deep thinker, a science seeker, a lover of facts and a kind soul to those who need one.
We couldn't be prouder.

I'm slacking on photos lately; this is a family capture from last month in NC for a family reunion.

XOXO
Happy Thursday.
Suz

Part Deux of our {surprise} Vow Renewal.

I've been postponing on posting this because I was waiting for the real photographers photos....apparently I'm gonna have to drive to Key West and put some pressure on her.


So, the Coach surprised me for our 25th wedding anniversary....with a bit of help from a wedding planner, our friends Don &Kelly and our super special girls.
A surprise wedding. 
Ok, a surprise VOW renewal. Not to be confused with a Vowel renewal....those only happen on The Wheel Of Fortune.

Be.Still.MY.heart.

I'm so glad I was wearing a cute dress and NOT yoga pants. Can you imagine? I would never have forgiven him. HAHA!

Our lovely officiant corralled us after all the 'surprise' excitement. She said we were going to renew our vows....me: "I've GOT nothing prepared!" Everyone laughed.....and she said she had them for us.

I honestly don't remember too much of what we'd said, but it was lovely; that I know for sure. And heartfelt.

I knew that the girls were seated behind us and they were both tearing up....even Lolo who NEVER cries. (how is she my offspring?)

It was perfect. (aside from the darn wind in my HAIR!)

Kelly brought a few bottle of champagne and we toasted to our blessed life. I had no idea my girls even enjoyed champagne...

See Lolo in the background here. Ok, that MIGHT have been posed. We're a funny family!

We proceeded to dinner down the street....well, it was quick for the girls. They had to head back right away as they had tickets/plans to attend a music festival in TAMPA starting the next day.

Our cake. I think this might have been better than our actual wedding cake. *snicker snicker*

Who knew that after all these (31+) years together that we'd still be making fireworks?

It was absolutely so perfect and wonderful. The Coach has always been so good at surprising me, but this one took the cake.

{Surprise} The one where we got married. Again.

On May 25th the Coach and I had our 25th wedding anniversary; we planned to celebrate with a weekend trip to Key West.

Would you believe that, I, a Florida native had never visited Key West? It's a shame I tell ya.

We'd booked a sweet little B & B for the weekend and had no major plans other than R & R. Our good friends Don and Kelly rented a house for the month about 20 minutes from where we were staying, so we'd planned on meeting up for a few meals while we were there; nothing definitive....we were playing it slow & loose.

Kelly and Don had this waiting for us in our hotel room. My wedding flowers consisted of Stargazer lilies......oh, and wayyyyy back in 1991 Kelly actually did the flowers for our wedding; she's not only very thoughtful, she remembers details that make everything special.

Our first night we met up with Don, Kelly and some other friends at Mallory Square to watch the sunset followed by dinner at a Cuban restaurant.

 

The next morning the Coach and I visited Hemingway House; surely it's mandatory. We both loved the rich history of this house and of course those 6 toed cats. Meow.

Friday evening we were meeting Don and Kelly for dinner. Kelly told me to wear a dress, which is weird because she doesn't usually mandate my wardrobe, but I listened. They texted us just prior to leaving for dinner and said to meet them at the beach to see the sunset and have a glass of wine first.
The Coach and I follow directions....we parked on the almost deserted Smathers beach and started walking to find our friends. I thought it was so sweet when we passed two small parties of people who were getting married right there on the beach.

As we were waking and looking for our friends, the Coach stopped me in front of this lovely little scene and said something like: "I lied....we're going to renew our vows right here."
Me: "what?"

He then proceeded to drop to one knee, reach into a conch shell in the sand and pull out a diamond ring. This is where it all went blurry....He asked if I'd give him 25 more years...or something sweet like that. My head was spinning. And I do believe I said yes....

The next thing I knew, out from behind me running onto the beach is Don, Kelly, Lolo and Lindsay!
WAIT. WHAT? 
Our girls were supposed to in Fort Myers and getting ready to drive to Tampa to a music festival for the weekend!
What the heck is happening here?
To say I was shocked is an understatement!

I'll share the rest of this lovely evening next time....'tis getting lengthy.

BTW: I'm still on cloud nine because of that man of mine.

XOXO

Life with the big dog and our birds view

In the planning stages of the remodel, we had an 'extra' area that needed to be used. My very first instinct was: Sitting area. 

It was open, smallish and to the side of the front doors and the side of the kitchen. 

And hey, one of my favorite hobbies is sitting.

Not really, but it sounds good.

I knew I wanted swivel chairs. Because I'm 5 going on 11. And it afforded the sitting area to fully take in the kitchen and family room via the swivel.

Plus, I'm 5 going on 11. 

This lovely little sitting area was just right, but it had a LARGE blank wall.

And we can't have that. 

It needed something big. 

Something colorful.

Something with a wet nose. 

It needed Cocoa  X 250%.

While perusing pinterest months ago I spotted a tutorial on making a piece of art with a shower curtain; I was intrigued.

And the Coach was on board...that's most of the battle.

While I loved the Octopus art work, our good friends Don and Kelly who'd just remodeled their home had a lovely Octopus paining in their family room and I couldn't do the same thing. Or near the same thing.

So, I searched for a boxer shower curtain and BAM. I found one. 

We're thrilled with our 'expensive' art piece.

(it's simply a plywood frame that you staple the curtain onto)

The best part is, if we grow tired of seeing this colorful Cocoa in a few years, it's easy to change it up. 

But really, who would get tired of looking at THAT FACE? 

I added a new feeder to this front window and it's busy with cardinals, blue jays and wood peckers. All.day.long. 

We couldn't be happier with how it came together.