Catching Up

I'm sticking my toe back into the "blogosphere" and posting something short and sweet to get my blogger groove back....

As my Gran so subtly pointed out, "YOUR BLOG MUST BE SLEEPING!" Yes Gran, it's been asleep. I'm busted. It has been a crazy summer, my first summer in Jersey (and a raging hot one at that).

Here are a few highlights of what's hot and what's not in the recent life of a Texas turned Jersey girl:

• My sister turned 25, which coincidentally made me feel OLD
• My sister, Mom, Gran, Grandy, Kailee and David came to visit (and not all at the same time), it has been a fabulous summer filled with family - SO thankful
• We had a visitor named Winnie for a few weeks - we sent her home with a huge vet bill, a shaved tail and a swollen ear (so sorry Winnie!) but we miss her and welcome her back anytime (Jackson is still checking for her every time we walk into the house)
• I hiked through the forest (YES, HEIDI HIKED, stop laughing) with a sweet little girl named Grace and we learned that "girl scouts should be good sports and not complain about the heat and the bug bites"
• I learned that it is HOT in NJ - just as hot as Florida, and sometimes just as humid (I thought I was moving north??)
• We had 3 incidents within 2 weeks involving the police and ambulance being called to the next door neighbors' house (I suspect members of the Jersey Shore may reside there, along with their pitbull)
• I discovered a new type of critter on my land - at first I thought it was a beaver, then a hedgehog - turns out it's a super fat groundhog (and actually there are about 6 of them) - it waddles around and it's the most hilarious thing I've ever seen (and yes, Keith teases me on and on about calling it a hedgehog)
• The cottontail bunnies are the cutest little animals I've ever seen - I want to capture them and play with them - Keith says that isn't allowed
• I went to a few committee meetings at my new Junior League - and was SO glad I went! It wasn't scary and they have welcomed me with open arms
• I bought a memory foam mattress topper, it changed my life, in fact I am dreaming about crawling into my giant marshmallow bed RIGHT NOW

On that note, good night - I promise more blogs to come soon!

xo

Heidi

The personal trainer

Well today was a landmark day. I had my first personal training session (courtesy of my fabulous employers, thank you!!) and have now joined the land of the crazy.... oh oh sorry I mean land of the FABULOUS AND HEALTHY.

Anyone that knows me is laughing right now at the thought of me doing any kind of strenuous exercise. I do not enjoy sweat, I regard perky skinny people with great suspicion and workout pants are not my best "look".

But it's true, I did it. And I did it WELL I might add. The trainer said do 20 crunches, I did 40 just to "show her" that I could, even though by number 28 it hurt so bad I wanted to cry. haha! These crunches came after an hour of some scary thing called 'cardio blast' (picture Heidi lifting weights in sets of 3 and then RUNNING over to a cardio machine for 2 minutes then RUNNING back to weights. Repeat 9x). The trainer says some people call her B**** during their sessions and if I need to do that she understands. I don't feel the need for that YET. Ask me in the morning when I can't walk... ;)

Mother's Day

I know everyone thinks their mom is the "best", the "most fabulous" and really that is how it should be! But when I think about my mom I get a knot in my stomach, a good knot, the kind of knot you get combined with butterflies when you think about something/someone that is so special to you that it grabs you in the gut.

In honor of my mom today, here are some of the best things she taught me:

• Smile and be polite, even when you are faced with RUDENESS (this is also a result of being raised in the south)
• The best things are worth waiting for, and patience is a DEFINITE virtue (and yes I know I haven't mastered this yet)
• The truth will find you out (or in my mom's words "your sin will find you out"), so best to just be truthful even when that is a hard choice
• Pretend you feel confident, even when you don't. In fact, ESPECIALLY when you don't, that is when this lesson is most effective
• It's ok to cry
• Funny dancing is the best medicine for anything that ails you (and mom you should know exactly what funny dancing I'm talking about, haha!)
• NOTHING is more important than your faith and your family

My sister and I often talk about how lucky we feel to be a part of a family that values each other so much. We really crave time together and as we get older, that time becomes more and more precious. It's become rare thing in this world. We also know that we feel this way BECAUSE of our mom and the incredible job she did raising us. Mom was a tough cookie and managed to keep it together through some crazy ups and downs. Her strength is something I am still a little awed by. That woman is a ROCK! I pray I have 1/2 the strength she does.

So mom, this is for you. I love you and I wish I was with you today. I thought about you and your "pieces of wisdom" all day.

xoxoxo
Heidi

Spring!

So I know it's been FOREVER since I've blogged. Apologies to all. It's been a busy crazy winter. Still super busy with work but I'll try to be better about posting.

I have been DYING to plant flowers. Everybody up here said to wait until after Mother's Day. Well I didn't listen, I got antsy. I really love beautiful fresh flowers and we have some planters outside on our property. They're tire planters. That's right, TIRE planters. How classy. haha! So I made my way to the nursery. Called my mom a few times, got nervous because I didnt' reach her and I had NO idea what I was supposed to be buying. Came home with Begonias and Celosia. Celosia is really really pretty, they look like little crystal castle flowers.

Any one that knows me is probably laughing at the idea of me with my hands dirty planting flowers. But yes friends, I did it! I had to dig out the yucky old weeds that were growing in the first planter, it was harder than I thought. Fun though, I seriously took out some agression and stress on those weeds. ;)

Keith drove in from work just as I was putting in the last flowers. I was COVERED in soil and weeds. Once he got over the shock of me playing in the dirt, like actually SITTING in the dirt with barefeet and mud all over my face, he started laughing hysterical. He confessed that he didn't imagine me actually planting myself, he envisioned me buying flowers then forcing him to do it. HA!

I kept talking about how the Celosia look like crystals that we used to grow in our house when I was little. Finally he goes "what crystals do you keep talking about?" I'm like "yea didn't you grow crystals? it was a fun project when we were little, I don't really remember how we did it, but we grew crystals." He just shook his head, kinda laughed and said "no babe, I think that's another weird homeschool story. you should probably keep that to yourself." ;)

They look super pretty, here's a photo. I finally talked to my mom, she said they look pretty, but they are too close together. Damn! I kinda suspected that but I wanted it to look full and pretty. Not be FUNCTIONAL. So I guess I'll move 1/2 of them over to the other planter when it's ready. Considering this took 4 hours, I think I'll be waiting until next weekend to tackle the other planter.

Jackson 1, Snow 1, Heidi 0

We were outside playing with Jackson in the snow, and it got a little crazy...

Snow Ice Cream

When I was little, growing up in Dallas, when it snowed (and that was not very often), our mom made snow ice cream for us. Well yesterday in the office, I heard Deb say she heard about something called snow ice cream, but up here they call it "snow cream".

In anticipation of the snow storm for today, I bought all the ingredients to make snow cream. Here's Keith gathering the snow for me... (notice how happy he looks to be in the cold and how cute he looks in the ski pants he now wears every day). And here's a pic of the finished product! You just have no IDEA how yummy it is... it's like homemade ice cream but BETTER...

Snow Day

It's a blizzard here! Here are a few pics from the first wave of snow we had this morning. More coming tonight so I'll post more pics later. I'm working from home, it's GORGEOUS to see the snowfall in the window...