Happy Birthday, America!

As with probably everyone else's weekend, ours was fully focused around 4th of July celebrations. We did get some bad news as we learned that Hubby's granny headed home to be with Jesus on Saturday morning. It was certainly bittersweet as everyone is certainly said she's gone, but she lived a great life & is in such a better place! Praise God that we have the assurance of heaven & eternal life with our Heavenly Father.

Back to the 4th of July celebrations...Friday night we started off with some preparation for our family's annual 4th of July gathering. My dad has always been in charge of buying the fireworks & it seems every year we buy more & more. We met up with my parents, & my brother & sil for dinner on Friday night and then finished up the evening by filling the back of my dad's suburban with tons of fireworks.

Saturday I headed to work for the morning while Hubby ran some errands. We grabbed some lunch & then I spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen fixing up some great sweets for Sunday. I made Fudge Revel Bars & Lemon Raspberry bars--I'll share those recipes sometime soon, they were both delicious. Saturday night we went to one of our favorite local pizza joints for dinner & took care of a little bit of shopping. It was a fairly early night for us, but we had a big day ahead on Sunday.

Sunday brought a GREAT patriotic service at church. We sang patriotic songs & our pastor reminded us how important it is for Christians to be active & involved in our governmental process. What a blessing it is to live in America!

Then it was time to party! We loaded up Bogey, the desserts, & some extra fireworks & headed down to my parents' house. The afternoon was spent getting all the details in order & just spending some quality time with my mom & dad. Everyone started arriving about 5 & we filled our plates full of all sorts of yummy food! It seems everyone in our family loves dogs & this year it couldn't have been more evident. We had about 18-20 people there & 9 dogs. Yup...9 DOGS!!! Almost a 2-1 ratio of people to dogs. It was quite entertaining watching them all interact!

I only managed to get 6 in a photo at once. This one includes Bailey, Josie, Romo, Bogey, Yadi & Jack...Dallas, Reba, & Jazz were missing.

After dinner we had some extra time before it was dark enough to start blowing stuff up so we had some great fellowship & also a pretty intense Cornhole tournament. I think Hubby & my Grandpa Smart came out as the winning team!


My grandma's enjoyed the entertainment for sure!

We finally got everything loaded up & headed down to the launch site...

With all those fireworks we better get started!

My cousin Brian took charge of mosquito control!

One of the highlights of the evening was a new item called the Sky Lantern..it acted as a hot air balloon & actually looked really neat up in the sky!

Up, up, & away...

Can you see it? Who knows how far it went!

All of those involved in setting everything off...it's quite the production every year!

Lined up & ready to go!

We involved the gallery with some sparklers...can't have 4th of July without Morning Glory sparklers!

Ooooohhhhhh....Aaaaaahhhhhhh!!!! We had such a fabulous show!

Bogey wasn't bothered at all by the noise...he was much more interested in his bone!

Cleaning up...there's always so much trash, but we have such a great time!

We finally made it home about midnight...I was exhausted!!! Hubby & I were both off work today and I have to admit that we didn't even get up until 9. I made crescent roll cinnamon rolls for breakfast & then we actually got back in bed and laid around for most of the morning. We did finally head to lunch & watching an afternoon movie..."Grown Ups"...it wasn't the funniest movie I've ever seen but it also wasn't terrible. Just a nice way to spend an afternoon. We're spending the rest of the evening at home, enjoying the rest of our day off! It's back to work tomorrow!

Tortoise or the Hare?...Tortoise.

So I hate to even post this for fear of embarrassment, feelings of failure, & most of all a public declaration of my laziness. However, in the hopes of having full disclosure & also trying to be "real" I feel it necessary to post on the progress of one of my summertime goals.

Some of you may remember this post , you know, the post where I came forward on this public blog & stated that I, Lauren, cannot run a mile without stopping. My goal for the summer was to run 2 full laps around our neighborhood which comes out to a grand total of 1.2 miles.

Hubby was incredibly supportive in this very attainable goal & was certainly encouraging as we ran side by side in the dark at around 9:30 pm, with Bogey pulling Hubby along and thus, forcing us to keep going at a fairly quick pace. Our neighborhood is virtually a rectangle & my initial training simply consisted of running the short sides & walking the long. After only a few nights of running, I began to force myself to run just a little further each night & currently my best finish is running 7/8 of 2 laps. I'd say 7/8 of a mile, but again in full honesty the one side I didn't run is the LONG one.

With vacations, nights where I/we just didn't feel like it, ridiculously hot/humid temperatures, Hubby studying like crazy for the CPA exam, and other summer activities, it's been incredibly hard to work up any kind of routine. I'm definitely not a morning runner & with temperatures in the upper 80s to low 90s to even upper 90s during the day, the temperatures in the evening don't hardly come close to a comfortable running temperature. On the nights we do run it's after 9:30, we're both dripping in sweat and it's at least an hour after we finish running before we cool down enough to sleep. Not a fun time for anyone, even Bogey.

This is certainly not a surrender post, just an honest update. One in which I say that YES I STILL HATE RUNNING!!!! but also one in which I say, I'll keep going until I meet my goal. Even if I am running in the snow!

I'm definitely getting there, we're still walking on the nights we don't run & when we do run I'm running most of 3 laps...just not 2 complete laps quite yet! We'll get there, it may be fall but I'll get there. Besides...slow & steady wins the race, right?

Moment of Blogging Silence

Gathered 'Round the Table

With Hubby's Granny not in very good health, Hubby's mom has been here for going on 2 weeks. Obviously, my in-laws haven't been able to see each other in quite some time. So...yesterday, my father-in-law was able to work in a work trip with a short little extension to come and see his wife mainly, but also to see all of us.

We had originally made plans to have a nice dinner out but at the last minute we decided to simply gather around my sister-in-law's kitchen table for a family dinner. It was definitely the right decision! They have recently moved into a new, much bigger, house and it was a great opportunity for us to finally get to see their new home. Hubby & I; my sister-in-law, her husband, & my two adorable nephews Hunter & Jackson; my in-laws; & Hubby's aunt & uncle all joined together for a lovely dinner & great fellowship. Soon after dinner, Nick's aunt & uncle headed back home but we spent the rest of the evening just enjoying family time. I spent time chatting it up with my SIL & MIL and Hubby spent time with the little guys & also got to catch up with his dad & BIL. It was such a comfortable, relaxing evening.

There's just something about gathering together & having a meal with those people who you love the most. I've said it before, but God blessed me with such an amazing family & then he poured out his blessings again by giving me a fabulous set of in-laws. I realize that not everyone has a great relationship with their in-laws but that couldn't be farther from the truth for us. My parents have fully embraced Nick as their own & vice versa for his parents with me. Oh how blessed we are to now have 2 sets of parents in our lives for unconditional love & support.

House Hunters

In all reality there hasn't been much excitement going on in the Layman house as very evident by my lack of blogging. I've been busy at work and we've spent our evenings at home trying our best to stay cool in the crazy heat we've been experiencing.

Hubby & I did have a great weekend full of pipe dreams about our future homes. This weekend was the the local HBA Parade of Homes. There were about 15 homes that were open to the public for viewing. We love doing this together & we had such a great time. We both took off work on Friday at noon so we could tour the homes while avoiding some of the crowds. The weather was still ridiculously hot, so what better to do than tour beautiful, air-conditioned homes.

We saw homes on Friday priced everywhere from $225,900-$750,000. Honestly, the highest priced house was our least favorite. We did manage to find a home that will now constantly be in the back of our minds as a floor plan for our next house. Unfortunately the air conditioner wasn't working well in the horrible heat wave so we weren't able to look at every little detail. However, we fell in love with everything about the house & if we could have simply picked it up and moved it to a piece of land we would have done so in a hearbeat! Ok, well the finances might have to increase slightly as well...but it's still definitely doable! Friday we also grabbed a nice dinner before heading home. For all you Sonic lovers, they are currently having a BOGO shake promotion so we capped off the evening with dessert from Sonic and our town's local fireworks show. We parked on a church lot & had a great time seeing the fireworks without all the crowds.

Saturday Hubby had class--his last one for this section...YEAH!!!! I went to a bridal shower for a distant cousin. It was a great time with fabulous brunchy food & lots of my family members that I don't get to see very often. I spent the rest of the afternoon laying around the house & I might have worked in a nice little nap.

Saturday evening we put on our House Hunter shoes again, picked up Hubby's mom & headed out to look at some nice subdivisions. They'll be retiring back here very soon and are currently on the search for a great place to live. We drove all over one of the nicer subdivisions in the area and found some great houses for sale and also some nice empty lots. We also grabbed a very gourmet dinner of Chic-fil-A...YUMM!! and then headed out to look at some other subdivisions. One of the homes on tour was still open as it is being given away very soon with all the proceeds going to the St. Jude Dream Home. We had a blast looking at the home & dreaming about what might be possible one day.

Yesterday we headed to church, where we had a great service about spiritual warfare & not being an armadillo. I may have to expand on that little illustration later. After church we had a quick lunch & headed back to our favorite house on the parade of homes. We were able to spend a lot more time since the air conditioning was now fully functioning & I think we fell even more in love! We'll definitely have to wait a few years, but we're already excited about the possibilities.

The next item on our list for yesterday afternoon was to visit Hubby's grandma who's been relocated to a nursing home about 20 minutes from our house. I've learned a lot of things in my 27 years of life, but I still have SOOO much to learn & there are still many things that I don't fully understand & I don't think are fair at all. Granny has lived a long, good life & it's so hard to see her in the state she's in now. Thank you God that I can have faith in you & know that even when my little human brain cannot comprehend your ways, that you always have a purpose for everything and it's in you that we can find peace.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing around the house & doing some yardwork before the rains came. We barely got the lawnmower pushed in the garage before big drops started falling. It was such a pleasant sight as the heat & humidity have been so oppressive in the past week. Thankfully this week has temperatures forecast in the upper 80s with much lower humidity--which makes everything much more pleasant.

Hopefully I'll be back to blogging this week...or maybe I'll just become a professional House Hunter!

Weekend Rewind

Ughhh...it is HOTTTT outside. With temperatures forecast in the 90s all week & high humidity I'm planning on spending most of my time indoors to keep from melting!

The weekend wasn't much different in regards to the weather. Friday night was pretty relaxed as Hubby & I spent time working in the yard & visiting with our neighbors. We are so blessed to have such a great neighborhood full of friendly people!

Saturday I had to work & Hubby had class so I dropped Bogey off at my parents' so we could enjoy some pool time after work. It's definitely hot enough outside that if you're not in the water being outside at all isn't even an option. I had invited my good friend Andrea & her kiddos to join us at the pool & we had a fabulous afternoon. I just love watching little kids in the pool...they both definitely got much more brave as the afternoon wore on.

Hubby & I had plans to meet up with another couple for dinner at a new place in town called HuHot. Most everyone I've talked to has loved it & I was really excited...too bad a bad summer storm came through and knocked out their power for the night. Bummer! So on to Plan B which was Five Spice China Grille...a local variation of PF Chang's with crab rangoon that are to die for! We spent the rest of the evening just chatting it up with our good friends!

Yesterday was obviously Father's Day & another hot one. Hubby's dad is in Michigan so we only had official Father's Day plans with my family which weren't until later in the day. My precious mother-in-law is in town to visit her mom (Hubby's grandma) & we were able to work in a nice lunch with her after church. The rest of the afternoon consisted of picking up Bogey & heading back down to my parents' for some pool time. My brother & his wife joined us for a dinner of steak, potatoes & homemade ice cream with brownies. It was a great evening in celebration of my wonderful dad!

Today has been crazy, a typical Monday that also included 3 hours of computer setup for one of the new systems in our office. We aren't big enough to need an official IT person and as the youngest employee in the office I am the default computer repair woman. I'm definitely not very tech savvy and basically only know enough to get myself into trouble. Oh how I love that part of my job!

Father's Day 2010

As today is the day to celebrate the daddy's in our lives, I can't let it go by without mentioning what an incredible father God blessed me with. I've always been & always will be daddy's little girl & I am so honored to be able to work beside him each day.

Thanks for singing "Hush Little Baby" to me as a bedtime song long after I was old enough to fall asleep on my own. And thanks for telling me the story of the rainbow bunnies, oh what a joy your bedtime stories were.

For giving us experiences in our young lives that even know we won't forget. For playing outside with us, and taking us on priceless adventures to show us the wonders of the world.

Thanks for being a daddy to Nick & I. A dad who was always there, for breakfast, lunch, dinner & late night milkshakes.

Thanks for supporting us in our crazy schedules. For never missing a sporting event, music performance, or honors' night...unless Nick & I had a conflict of timing.

Thanks for catching me when I fell, literally or figuratively. Even when it meant meeting me below a staircase & holding me tight.

Thanks for walking me down the aisle...on the happiest day of my life so far. Thanks for giving me an incredible example of what kind of man I deserve to have in my life & teaching me to never settle for less than the best.


And thanks for giving me away, to the man who leads my home now & the man who God sent for me; but also the man who in so many ways is just like you.


Thank for teaching me that Jesus loves me & died for me. Thank you for answering all the questions my curious mind wanted to know.

Thanks Dad, for loving Mom with your whole heart so that Nick & I can know what a marriage full of love looks like & that we can always have faith that marriages can have honeymoon periods even after almost 35 years of marriage.

I love you dad, and look forward with joy at with the future will hold for you & me together.