Whirlwind

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of events and the next couple weeks will be the same....don't you just love summer!

We started off with my stepdaughters graduation open house.  It was such a good time and worth the many weeks of prep leading up to the big day.  Although, in typical Michigan fashion, it decided to rain about an hour into the party, which caused about 30+ people to gather under 2 small canopies, our gazebo, and the garage.

The day after this party, I couldn't even get out of bed!  I prepped for about 3 weeks and put in well over 100 hours getting our backyard ready.

This past weekend my sister and I drove from Michigan to West Virginia to attend the Fiestaware Tent Sale.  It was so much fun, but exhausting all at the same time.  I awoke Friday morning about 3am and was on the road by 4:30am.  By the time we arrive back home I was whooped!  Not to mention a wee-bit sunburned :)

We normally stay in a hotel the night before, and then get in line about 6am to get our tickets.  But this year we decided to try something different.  We arrived about 10:45am and only had to wait in line about 2+ hours before entering the tent.



Patiently waiting

 

We rounded the corner and could finally see the tent

 

 If you've never had the chance to experience this.....It is an amazing site!

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Bin after bin after bin of colorful, fiestaware.  I am drooling all over again just thinking about it.



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I was hoping for a few more pieces than what I got, but that just means we will have to go back again next year!

I was able to catch up on some much needed quality time with the hubby and the pets yesterday.  It was a gorgeous summer day here in West Michigan and we enjoyed every minute of it.

Stewie

Lainey

It's so hard to get my tongue all the way into this cow hoof

Tucker

This upcoming weekend I have a bridal shower for a good friend of mine and then the following weekend is the July 4th holiday/wedding. If I can just get through the next 12 days or so, I think I will be able to relax.

Empty

This pretty much sums up my life right now.........and NO, I was not at the gas station when I took this picture.....Ugh!

Please disregard the dust.....Cleaning out my car
is about the 200th item on my list of things to do

Catch up

To say I've been busy is an understatement!  Funny how life can go from simple, effortless and quiet to complex, complicated and distracted overnight.

There is so much going on both at work and at home that there are days I can barely keep my head above water.

In a nutshell, here is what has been keeping me busy....

My stepdaughter graduated high school last Friday.  It was surreal to see her in her cap and gown.  My husband shed a few tears, but he won't admit it.  I think in my mind she will always be this awkward pre-teen.  So to see her enter this next phase of her life was mind blowing to say the least.

We are having her graduation party at our house on June 15th.  I've been working my tail off trying to get the backyard ready for such a shindig.  Short of still not having grass, it is starting to come around.

One of my favorite projects has been taking our plastic outdoor furniture and spray painting it fun colors.

As I mentioned, we have no grass in our backyard.  Well, I shouldn't say "no grass", but it is spotty.  This was going to be the year we put money into this project, but due to the expenses with the dog, it is going to have to wait another year.  This has been an issue since we bought the house.  Last year we put down stone and it made a big difference.  But, there was still a large area next to the house that was a disaster.  We haven't put much effort into this area because our end goal is to build a deck.

Spur of the moment I decided to tackle this area and it's amazing what a little topsoil and some colored pots will do.

(notice how the grass is "spotty")

These pots are currently full of flowers and the difference is amazing.  We are no longer looking at DIRT!

There is still SO MUCH more going on, but as I suspected, this post has to be cut short because I am needed by a million different people all at the same time....Ughhhh!

Is it Friday yet?

PS ~ I do not have time to proof read this...so I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors!