50 years on earth

Yes I just had my 49th birthday but it sank in that I had lived 50 years....sure doesn't feel like it. 

I will try to eat better and exercise a little more this year, because I would love nothing more than to see Wade fall in love and become a Daddy someday. If he waits as long as Mike did I will have to hit 100+ years. 

Marshall's Graduated

We didn't attend the actually ceremony in Atlanta but met the rest of the crew in Blueridge, GA for a few days of fun to celebrate.  Wade loved being with him, and being in the mountains. It doesn't seem like 19 years ago when I first held his little sub 5 lb self. He has certainly grown since then and is a 6 foot, blonde hunk of a nephew.

We all took a hike on Friday and Mike, Fad and I enjoyed the Adirondack chairs at a local winery under a big maple later that afternoon. 

From there we went down to Dads as Teen was finally home three weeks after her back surgery. Mike did some mowing and I did some cooking (to stock the freezer) and Wade got to make an eating tour...first peach ice cream in Barney, then catfish in Ray City. 

Teen will kill me is she sees this photo but here they are looking at pictures from the weekend. We pray she continues to heal and get stronger. 

I had my blog printed

I started this blog as a fun way to update friends and family but realized now what I have is the closest thing to a scrapbook or journal that I will ever create. 

When I saw a good coupon I rushed to get my blog printed. I didn't take any time to edit these books and they could be better from that aspect but just having the memories and photos in book form has been great. Wade loves to look at them with us too. 

I didn't opt to have all the comments printed but I may go back and manually print those for special times like our trip to China so Wase can read them someday. They ran from $35 to about $50 each but was so easy. You literally type in your blog address and password and it makes a book for you!  You can preview it bedore purchasing. 

So I need to do better about writing updates. I like so many have fallen into the quick and easy Facebook for sharing photos. (And yes you ca n print that too) but there is too much fringe subject matter there. 

So when I started this blog in 2007 Alden would have been about Wade's age and now he is headed off to High School!

High Rider Reunion

So when I pledged High Riders my freshman year at Texas Tech the group was 10 years old. This year they celebrated 40 years. How can that be right?  30 years since I was a freshman??

Wade and Mike had not been to Texas and I really wanted them to meet the Arterburns so we decided to all make the trip. Once my roommates all saw I was willing to come from NC they decided to make the trip too. Isn't it great when you are with old friends and you don't miss a beat?  God blessed me no doubt with life long friends who did and continue to enrich my life. 

Mr and Mrs Arterburn were surrogate parents to so many of us over the years. They met at Tech (Mr Art was a quarterback and Mrs Art a cheerleader I think) They both taught/worked at Tech so I made a long overdue gift of a quilt. They are now both in their 80's but still just as warm and welcoming as ever.  I am glad I got the chance to tell them again how much influence they had on me and that I loved them!

 Lubbock had changed a lot, this new bed and breakfast was just a block from where we lived...complete with a caboose in the back yard (Wade had fun staying in the train)

But the view of the engineering key from the bell tower still looked the same 

Katy Leanne is finishing up her freshman year at Tech but has decided to be a mountaineer next year. We got that school covered here too! Wade now can say Go Apps AND Get your guns up!

College for me was so much more than a degree....now granted that was the first goal and thankful for my parents financing....but it was the lessons I learned from High Riders that gave me the better planning/managing skills for both career and life. And I can't imagine having been there without Carissa, Cara, Tami and Amy. LoveY'all!!  (Oh and my real sister Kim for the last year 😍)

Going Green!

Krispy Kreme decided to turn all the doughnuts green today for St Patrick's Day. Wade said they still tasted yummy!

This has been a busy month, we are back in swimming lessons and will go visit Dad over Easter, then to Texas for a college reunion.  The warmer temps and daylight savings are helping us get a little more done. Alden and Landon helped with some yard clean up too. 

Circus

This was the last year Ringling brothers is traveling with elephants so we decided to get tickets. What a great show...Wade and his parents loved it!!

Cousin Time

We got to spend time with Landon on his birthday this year and with Marshall on his!!!  Wade loves his cousins....

Landon got a quilt made from the tshirt we brought him back from China almost three years ago. 

And we all went skiing on Marshall's birthday which fell on Presidents' Day this year.