Sunday, March 5, 2017

And just like that...

The height of tax season is ovah. Thankfully.  

I'll still have a couple of days here and there, but the daily "I have to put on real pants" thing is done. 😁

Maybe now I can manage to act like a mostly-decent mom again. Maaaaybe. If not, there's always this to make me feel better:
 


Not a lot going on lately. Boys are doing great. Bailey is enjoying his job, and he and Braeden just wrapped up a really good 4H weekend. It was DPA (District Project Achievement) weekend, and we are so proud of both boys. Braeden won for the very first time in his category! Bailey didn't place, but was very proud of himself for changing things up and giving it his best. ❤️




The hubs and I had a lovely day together Saturday, doing nothing but being together. Capped it off by hiking around Rock Eagle together before the boys' ceremonies. 





Getting ready for homeschool convention season. Last year, I drove to Greenville and attended (as an employee for Time4Learning) a convention for the first time. I even did a workshop/speaking engagement. This year (fingers crossed), I'll be flying to Cincinnati to again attend as a T4L rep! Looking forward to manning the booth and speaking again. 

That's about it, for now. Happy March, everyone. Until next time...

Sunday, February 5, 2017

Tax Time...

Tracy sent me this. Hilariously accurate for some... 😂
It rolls around every year, just like everything else I suppose. This tax season will be my shortest yet, thankfully.

Not a lot going on so far this year. Preparing for the tax season and trying not to get behind on everything that I get behind on when I'm working out of the home. The weather, outside of a freak cold/snow snap at the very beginning of January, has been unusually warm. The boys (and myself if I'm being honest) have been having a lot of trouble focusing. We'd rather be outside, lol. Usually it's not until spring that we're experiencing and trying to prevent homeschool burnout. Not in the midst of what is supposed to be winter. Ah well. I imagine we'll have another cold snap, right about the time we're expecting spring, so maybe that will help us stay focused later. :)

Braeden and I, along with friends, ran in our first Hot Chocolate 5K/15K in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. That was SO much fun. Thanks to Lisa, we got a great hotel room right at the finish line of the race. We had a nice dinner in the ATL the night before and enjoyed the run the next morning. Lisa, Tracy, Hank and Braeden ran the 5K and I ran the 15K. The chocolate was amazing, and Braeden and I are already planning on participating next year!

Mmm. Ribs! PSA: if you're ever in Atlanta and craving some good BBQ, check out Twin Smokers downtown. 
Love this picture of my boy crossing the finish line! :) 
Braeden and I with our finisher mugs (and my blingy 15K medal, lol). They were filled with some super yummy sweet goodies. 
That same evening, after the run, Bailey participated in his second Wake 'N Bake Off (a cooking competition sponsored by Terrapin Beer and MyAthens, where both amateur and professional chefs compete with foods that have to contain a Terrapin beer). Last year they had separate days for the "sweet" cook off and the "savory" cook off. In those, Bailey took 3rd in amateur sweet and 1st in amateur savory. It was such as awesome experience for him. This year, they combined the sweet and savory in the same day, and participants chose one or the other. Bailey wanted to challenge himself and chose to try again for 1st in the amateur sweet category. He made mini mocha cheesecakes. Guess what?

HE WON! He had to compete against the reigning amateur sweet champ, so you can imagine how excited he was...how excited we all were for him...when they announced him as the winner! Big weekend for both of my boys.  ❤️



That's about it for now. Hopefully everyone enjoys their Super Bowl Sunday. Not a sports person, but looking forward to the commercials and will be cheering for our hometown Falcons. Until next time!


Sunday, January 1, 2017

And that's a wrap.

2016 has come and gone.

Mind. Blown.

The older I get, the shorter the years seem to get.

Not a lot has happened since you last visited. I had mentioned before that the eldest started his first job (outside of his own food business, which he started last year). Imagine our surprise when we realized a few weeks into his job, that our mostly-work-from-home and school-from-home family needed our 3rd car. As much as I'm on the road, the hubs discovered that he hated being home without a ride. Worked out well though. We put over 30k miles a year on the jeep and it only gets about 19-20 mpg. Our new car gets 35-37 mpg, so while we're paying an additional car payment, we're actually noticing a substantial savings in gas. The hubs still has the Jeep, but I'm driving the Civic all over the planet. :)

My new-to-me 2013 Honda Civic.
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I started AND finished my first ever half marathon.

Waiting to get to the start line.
The hubs snapped this pic of me crossing the finishing line. I was sobbing, lol. Happy tears, though. So freaking proud of myself. 
With my bling. My half marathon medal, and the Triple Peach medal...the Triple Peach was a 3 run series -- a 10k (6.2 miles) in July, a 10 miler in October and the Half (13.1 miles) on Thanksgiving Day. 
I won't go on and on about it, but it was absolutely amazing for me, and I can't wait to reach the next run goal I'm setting or myself -- a full marathon in 2017! Imma do it. I'm sure of it. ;)

The day after my half (yeah, full on crazy moment, lol), my boys did their first 5k with me! I loved having them there, and we've already signed up to do another 5k together next week.

Before the start of the Buddy Christian Memorial 5k. 
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This time of year is usually our extra long winter break. With all of the holiday excitement and family stuff planning, it's hard to keep our focus. For all of us, not just the boys. They continued with their foreign language classes, and we worked through resources from a December Unit Study, but that was about it. Something is better than nothing though, yeah?
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Had a lovely Christmas, even if it was warmer than normal and seemed to come out of nowhere.

Our tree decorating, complete with a body-less Santa, White Christmas in the background and my super special ornament in memory of my sister-in-law.
I didn't think they would be, but both boys were genuinely surprised when they opened their "big" gift from us this year - a new Xbox One S and several games. :)
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Oh! I also made a trip down to Fort Lauderdale after Thanksgiving, to hang with some of my most favorite peoples. I did work from the office some while I was there, and managed to hit the beach one afternoon. But the first thing I did after driving 12 hours? Watched the Gilmore Girls revival. Don't judge. ;)
I need that bag. NEED it. 
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Ultimately, 2016 didn't suck for me. I had 366 days to love and be loved. I did and I was. Wholeheartedly. Hope 2017 is even better.

Happy New Year, errbody! :)