Wishing.

Twenty-eight years ago today, this super-cute boy...

... Jeremy was born. Actually, he was a very funny-looking baby (well... he was, and if I had photos of him as a baby, I'd show them!), but it's okay... he got MUCH cuter as he got older. ;-) He's five in the above photo. Too cute, right?!

Nine hours after *that* cutie was born, *this* cutie (umm... me, Reyanna. I can say I was cute, right?!) was born...


And she grew up a little bit, and was the cutest little beach-baby-toe-head out there...


And then when they got older, they met, and she fell in love. Then they parted ways. Then they met again, and he fell in love. And then after some convincing, she fell in love again. Then they got hitched.

And now... six and a half years later, we turn 28 together.

A bit about Jeremy at 28...

Jeremy is a man of simple pleasures. Silliness. Fun. Reading. Learning. Food. His dog (Amber). Sleeping. Me. More sleeping. And... some sleeping. And perhaps more of me... :D

In Jeremy's spare time, he likes to take photos of himself making funny faces:

I LOVE that he makes me laugh... every single day. I'll just be sitting at my computer, and I just *know* that right behind me he's doing a silly dance... waiting for me to turn around, so he can see me laugh with him. Awww... I love that. :)

Jeremy used to play golf *a lot*, but he hasn't since we moved to Texas. This next photo was taken on a work trip before he became obsessed with golfing. I remember him complaining about being forced on this work golf-outing... because he *hated* golf. Umm... yeah... I don't know about you, but when I *hate* something, I don't make faces like this...


And after a long day of golfing... or working... or... umm... sitting around the house doing a bunch of nothing, he likes to sleep...

His new phrase? Said in a VERY slow and drawn out, drunken with exhaustion voice, "I'm unusually tired..." It's not so unusual anymore, but now it's just funny. :) Whenever my dad calls, and I tell him Jeremy is sleeping, my dad asks, "Oh! Is he unusually tired?!" Gah. Too funny.

Anyway, when he wakes up, he likes to eat. He's really not a picky eater *at all*. I got so lucky. I get smiles and funny faces no matter what I make...


Another favorite of Jeremy's is cuddling with *his* dog, Amber. Six years ago, we only planned on Ruby. But after a few weeks, Jeremy begged me for his *own* dog to "love and cuddle." Funny how Amber (he chose her name) really did become *his*, and Ruby became *mine*. :-)



I love watching them together. She adores him.

You know who else adores him?


Me!!!

We have so much fun together. I think we hug and kiss more in one day (every day) than I could possibly count. He kisses me goodbye (while I'm still in bed...) every morning. The first thing he does when he walks in the door (you know, *after* hugging Amber, who has a panic attack if he doesn't get to her first...) is give me a big hug. And then he says, "Mmmm... you are so good to hug and love and kiss and squeeze!"

Well, Jeremy, *you* are so good to hug and love and kiss and squeeze! Thank you so much for being you. I love you so much! Happy Birthday, My Mister! :D

Aging.

Today, I am the exact age my mom was when she had me. I was born five days before her 28th birthday. And on July 30th, I'll be 28. This photo of her and my grandfather was taken the night before she had me. :)

For some reason, knowing this made me very emotional this week. I really did think I'd have children by now, and the fact that I don't... it's just... I don't know... makes me feel down sometimes.

My mom says she wanted a baby more than anything in the whole world. She always knew she wanted to be a mom. They named me on their wedding day, and her due date was nine months... to the day... from their wedding day. Of course, I was born eleven days late, but still... they planned.

She says she knew before she was pregnant that I would be a girl. They had no boys name picked out. They knew I would be Reyanna Joy.

I love looking at photos of my mom and me when I was a baby. The look on her face... it's pure joy.

And I love that. She really has been the best mom. The best mom EVER. I couldn't ask for better. I really hope I can be as good of a mom as she has been.

It's strange... even though I'll be 28, I don't *feel* that old. I look at my mom's face in this photo, and it's *really* hard to comprehend that she's *my* age. I still feel 18. I see wisdom and knowledge and maturity in her face. I don't see those things when I look in the mirror.

Perhaps after I have children, I'll feel differently. I keep saying, "When I'm 24, I'll feel like an adult." "When I'm 25, I'll feel like an adult." And now... I can say I'm "almost thirty," and I still don't feel like a "grown-up." What *is* that?!?!

Age is relative though, so I suppose it makes sense. People older than I am... they always say to me, "You're so young!" or "You're still young!" And now I say to them, "Hey! This is the oldest I've ever been!"

Well, it's true. ;-)

So maybe next year around this time... I can say that I'll be becoming a mom soon. And then 30 years from now, my daughter will write something similar in her blog...

Antiquing.

So... I'm taking Jenni Bowlin's class: Re-Purpose, Re-Think, Re-Invent over at Big Picture Scrapbooking. I chose this class because I wanted to be inspired. I didn't really have any expectations though. I didn't have ANY idea that I'd learn what gets me inspired... and then have tools to get inspired in the future.

I've never been so inspired! I couldn't sleep last night because I was so excited to create! I couldn't wait for this morning to get here, so I could see what was in store for the 4th week. This last week, Jenni encouraged us to go to a flea market. Fun!

Went to an awesome little vintage/antique store yesterday. I LOVE this place. She has WAY too much stuff for her space, and it's just literally in piles and on shelves and drawers. It's CRAZY! I feel like I'm in someone's garage! LOL. It's super fun to look through though. I was there for about an hour and a half yesterday. Phew.

I found some great things though, and I got some great prices. :D

The little tiered stand, I've already painted an antique white. I'll be hanging ribbon from it. :) Those two frames... I can't wait to alter. That bird cage will be painted black or antique white. Can't decide right now. The journal/book will be re-purposed (I've already removed the innards... ;) ). And that vintage *large* spool of string is just so cool. :)

I really enjoyed going through all the fabric and linens. Found the *cutest* blue gingham apron. Can't wait to wear it! :) Here are all the linens/fabric I got (inside a black silverware chest I got as well...)
The table runner (right above the apron) I would like to make into an apron. We'll see how that goes... LOL. Some of the prints are inspiration for my husband, who is making some digi kits.

In this lot is also a German Army hat. I can't believe how cheap it was. I was expecting to pay about $30. I think it was only $2 or $3 though. She didn't really tell me how much *everything* individually was (just a few things I asked about). She just gave me one price for the lot. A "packaged deal" she calls it. ;-)

Next I found lots of paper ephemera. Postcards, greeting cards, report cards (SO cool! Hubby will probably scan those and use those as digi elements too). A couple photos in here, which I LOVE. A goat kissing a dog, while another dog looks on. I'll have to make something with it soon, so you can see! ;-)

Also in this lot is a first aid wheel. Has anyone seen one of those? This wheel turns, and in one window you can see the diagnosis, and in another window, you can see the symptoms and treatment. For some reason, I find it really funny. Things like drowning, electric shock and internal bleeding. For things this serious, wouldn't you just call a doctor?! Or take one to the ER?! Hmm... maybe it was different back then... ;-) I'd never seen anything like it, so I had to get it.

Hopefully, I'll have projects using these items soon... ;-)

Re-doing.

Okay, so... I may be a *little* obsessed with organization. A little.

I re-did my scrap room. Again.

But this time, I'm pretty sure it will stay. I LOVE it. The one before was nice and all, but it wasn't colorful enough, and I wasn't as inspired as I am now. And that's what's important.

I posted a bunch of photos on Flickr, and I have descriptions of every photo. I really tried to be as descriptive as possible. And that was fun. :) Photos are actually not that great. I REALLY need to learn how to use my hubby's Rebel. Sheesh. Or maybe I'll just have him take some better photos when he gets home! LOL.

Re-capping.

Warning: This post is picture HEAVY DUTY. Not just heavy. No ma'am. No sir.

So I spent my 4th of July weekend here (well, the view from my parents' front yard in Pagosa Springs, Colorado):

... visiting my parents at their bakery:

And we visited Jeremy's mom and step-dad in Albuquerque:

And *of course*, I had to take a handstand photo at Camel Rock on the way back to Austin...

Can you believe I lived in Colorado for lots of years and even in New Mexico for a few months, and I didn't have a handstand photo in NM?! WEIRD! I thought this one was pretty cool. My toe really is pointed too... these are just weird shoes. :-p

Our trip was eight days long. Not nearly long enough, considering almost four of those we spent driving. Ah well. At least we got to go! We also were able to attend our 10 year high school reunion...

Not a great photo, but how do you get 100 people in a photo without it looking crazy?! LOL. This was the photo of our class WITH significant others. :) We're about 3rd/4th from the right. It was pretty fun. Well, *I* had fun. Jeremy is not a fan of large social gatherings. He amuses himself in other ways...

At the time, I didn't even *notice* his size 11 shoe next to my head. This is the first time I'm seeing this photo. I'm sure I was telling a story in this photo. Not sure what story. It looks like I'm talking about guns. Or the sky. It looks as if I might be scrunching up my nose, so I could be telling a story about how I don't like olives and mushrooms. But I don't remember telling a story like that. Or guns or the sky, for that matter...

We were able to attend the parade in Pagosa, but I didn't take photos. Not sure why. Hmm. I did take photos of my friends and I *during* the parade though! HA! That counts!

I didn't crop the top of this photo because seeing photos of downtown Pagosa makes me happy. :) So in this photo? Happiness abounds. :D Julia (on the left) was one of my best friends in high school... and still one of my best friends to this day. She was on my gymnastics team in high school too.

And Jen (on the right) was our coach (and boss when I worked there). She started coaching there in 1996, and she is THE BEST. She taught me pretty much everything I know about gymnastics (and handstands... though I could always whip her behind at those ;-) )! We became *so* close, and I love that whenever we talk, it's like we haven't been apart. To spend this day with them was awesome. They are two of my very favorite people in the whole world.

Which is why... it made this even sadder...

*sigh* Jen retired. After 25 years of coaching gymnastics (yeah, that woman is FORTY! Can you believe that?! Yeah, she's HOT! Tee hee), she closed the gym and is taking up animal communication. I'm happy for her, but sad at the same time. Very bittersweet.

So after we cried over the gym and took home some trophies (much to Jeremy's chagrin...), we set off fireworks in my dad's front yard. And when I say "we," I mean my dad... because I cowered inside on the couch... afraid we were going to get caught. Tee hee.

The dogs (my dad's dog Bailey, and our pup Ruby [we left Amber at home with friends]) did NOT like the fireworks. Bailey went to hide...


... in the bathtub. LOL. She knocked over all kinds of stuff on her way in there! And Ruby doesn't like the bathtub, so she just shivered closeby...

They were in there the WHOLE night! And that was fine. We put a water bowl in there and a bed. They seemed happy as they could be as they shivered uncontrollably.

Then we went to our friends' house, and I took photos of Libby writing her name with sparklers...


I can't believe I caught this "L"!! SO COOl. :D My Canon has a fireworks setting, and that's what I used. How crazy is that?! I just found out on this trip. LOL. Perfect timing.

And that's it. Hope you enjoyed the re-cap. Now to start scrapping the photos...