Monday, January 30, 2023

22nd Anniversary Celebration!


We are married for 22 years!!!!  I love this man with all my being!  Mike and I said, "I do!" to each other way back when we were young and felt like kids!  We made house payments, had our first baby and adjusted to living together that very first year!  Fast forward to today, we have four beautiful children and a wonderful son - in -law!  We still live on the same piece of land we bought a long time ago with a remodeled home and an extra acre!  We've grown!  When we go on outings and anniversaries it makes us feel young again and every time to go, we want to just go again!!!!  I love doing life with this man!!!!

Well, we boarded the plane and hoped to be in the sunny south before too long.  The weather had other plans and we sat for 2 1/2 hours on the runway waiting for the snow to calm down so we could take off!  We got to Florida later but we weren't in much of a rush!  It was just the two of us and we were hungry for some warm tacos!


 



There's this little Mexican place we found a few years back in Sarasota and we love their tacos!  We arrived at the Airbnb Cottage and smiled to be in the Sunshine State once again!

Thursday was a chilly, cloudy day.  We wished for warm and balmy but we drove out to Anna Marie Island for a breakfast and coffee!  We love this island and hope to spend some more time there on vacation in the future!  We drove to Siesta Beach to get our white toes sandy and sat in the sun for an hour.


While it was cloudy, I made a quick stop at my favorite place in Sarasota!  Yoders has the best fruit!  I picked up a few things at Mom Lapps house (I keep shampoo and a sun hat at her house for when we pop in for a few days)!  It was good to see her again!


Of course, I stopped in to see Mommy D.!!!!  I asked her if we could take a photo together and she was saying, "I look like an old person on here!"  ðŸ˜‚. I love her so much and it was wonderful to see her enjoy the warm sunshine state for a few weeks!


Mike and I drove out to Lido to watch the sunset and we waited in the car until it got really pretty because it was chilly!  Why is it always cold on our anniversary trip???  Maybe next time we will have to fly just a bit farther and visit Jamaica or Mexico!?!?


We ate at Dry Doc and loved it!!!!  Very delicious and beautiful view!








Friday, the sun came out bright and sunny and we were going to make the most of the day and weather!  We grabbed a coffee at Perq and drove out to Anna Marie Island again for some breakfast!  We swung by St. Armands Key too because we love that circle!




We went straight to the beach!!!!  It was only in the upper 60's but we knew exactly where we could sit to get the warmest spot on the beach!  We didn't have beach chairs but we spread out our towels and enjoyed a few hours of sunshine!  It did feel amazing!  We touched the cold ocean water and walked down the beach!  Just him and I!!!!  What a dream!




As much as we wished for hot weather, we both got sun kissed cheeks and pink noses!!!!

Happy Anniversary, Babe!!!!




Here a glimpse of our cottage we stayed at.


Our Anniversary meal was at Flemingtons!  We said goodbye to the beach and ate seafood one more time before it was time to head back home!  We watched the Warriors online defeat High Point and we cheered from the south!


Saturday, we boarded that plane again and flew north.  Trips like this are too short but always worth every moment!  We were ready to see the children again!




Here we are now, the very end of January 2023!  This month flew by and I'm glad because I can't wait for Spring and warmer weather at home!!!

God has been so good to us and has blessed our marriage!  Mike and I pray every day together.  We read the Word together.  We make decisions based on each others interest.  When we fail, we grow.  When we mess up, we try to fix it and move on.  It's called life together and loving each other no matter what.  Getaways with just the two of us are always times that draw us even closer!  Thank you if you spoke into our lives!  Thank you to all the youth leaders from long ago, to our parents that taught and teach us so much, to church leaders and our many friends that spoke life and love into our marriage!  We are thriving!

I love you, Babe!!!!  Happy Anniversary and cheers to many, many more together!!!!!


Friday, January 20, 2023

Mild January. Basketball. Senior Night.

 So far our January weather has been on the mild side.  I've blown out the garage a few times and even doing a little work outside is not bad!  I mean, what's there really to do outside in the middle of January other than burn a few boxes with the Christmas tree and pick up some branches!?!  It's been the best kind of weather for my morning walks!!!  I am really loving how walking with a friend is the best kind of accountability I will even have!!!!  I love it!

I don't buy many books but when I saw this one, I bought it and decided to go through it in January!  Sometimes the winter months can get my mind thinking negative and dwell on the bleak and cold of winter.  This will add some defense on those thoughts!




The kitchen is smelling so good after gingerbread biscottis are baked!  And these Irish Potatoes are a new favorite!


You know it's January if we are busy attending all of the basketball games at Linville!!!!  Matthew is having a good season and even though his knee was hurting, he wears a brace now and it's much better!
Plus, many have been praying for his knee and that it will be healed!






And then we go to Austin's games!!!!  It was picture day and another fun win!



There are the cutest cheer leaders at his games!!!!  :)





They scheme, they plan and they pass to each other!  It's the cutest thing!  They play so well together!




And the moments that you do find us at home, it looks like this.  We moved the ottoman out of the living room just to open things up and what do you know, the spike ball game takes it's place.






At the near end of each game, coach pulls out the starters and puts in the bench team players.  I love to watch the starters cheer on the younger guys!!!!


I will miss seeing this!  Tim and Matthew are such good team players!




More cute cheerleaders!  Austin gets tired of all the games but he liked watching from above here!


Senior Night was last night!  The girls cheered their hearts out for the guys!  So fun!!!!



Such a wonderful group of Seniors!!!!!



My favorite Senior!!!!


We are so proud of how these boys have grown, played so well together for years now and I'm holding back all the emotions knowing that this season in life is coming to end soon.



More cute cheerleaders!!!!!


Honoring Matthew and he gave me a rose and Mike a signed basketball from the team!


What a fun, fun night!  We left winners again!



Today is another mild winter day.  In the 40's.  I keep hearing of snow in the future forecast and I'm ready for it!  I think that would be fun!  I'm loving my Fashion Cents mug!  You know I love seasonal things and this is perfect with Valentines Day coming up!!!


I've been decluttering this week at home and this room is a storage area and it just needed a clean up!  I clean spaces and wipe out drawers is such a good feeling to me!


Have a great weekend friends!