Lovely Lee

I'm back at work this week. Some of you may know that my job allows me a month off of paid vacation time. This time was sweet, it was treasured and I enjoyed it. I took a 10 day vacation to Florida with my husband's family, celebrated a dear friend as I stood beside her as she married a God fearing- selfless man, and I spent some days in San Diego with my best friend. It was needed, but I am grateful to be back to work. However the title of this post is currently how I feel. These are desert days. Most certainly not because I am back at work, I absolutely love my job. These are desert days because people, life is hard and there are some days that I am not sure I know how to navigate it all. My story is one that even I am unsure of reading. I have had some tough days, where as my little sister would say "Kelly, you're being ugly." I struggle with anger, and some things in life have me pretty angry. I have a sweet friend who has been trying and trying to get preg...

There's a song out right now called Raise Em' Up by Keith Urban. You can listen to it here . Every time it comes on, whether I am in the car, or in my office, I turn it all the way up. It's about being an American, the freedoms we are allowed and the beauty of having chances to become everything we  could dream of being. Tears fill my eyes at these lyrics : So, you meet someone The only one You take her by the hand Make a stand Buy some land Make some love And them babies come Raise 'em up Raise 'em up Raise 'em up trophy high Raise 'em up to the sky Raise 'em up, show everybody that newborn smile Raise 'em up tall and strong Raise 'em up right from wrong Raise 'em up so damn high they can hear God singing along My Mom & Dad have an amazing story. They met before they were Christians, and life was a little more difficult for them. My Dad was a young, attractive entrepreneur with a thriving business and Mom was in her first year...

Some of you may or may not know what Crossfit is. The truth is, I am still learning exactly what it is myself. Basically in my own words: Crossfit is a sport which incorporates elements of high intensity training, olymic weightlifting, gymnsastics and many other exercises. According to my trusty friend wikipedia, there are over 10,000 affiliated gyms half of which are located in the US. There is a workout of the day, also known as {WOD} which is posted {for us the night before} allowing me to decide whether or not I want to die the next day.  Jonny and I began doing crossfit in March of 2014. We lasted about 3 months with school, new jobs and our first year of marriage. Eventually we quit. We had a super tough season of marriage, and we both packed on about 20 pounds, and in early March of this year, decided we would try again. This time we would incorporate clean eating. Now since its #vulnerablethursday, {Mom, its just a hashtag people use on social media} I will admit that I l...

If I go back as far as I can remember,  my childhood was filled with mamma & her gentle loving of me & my sisters. She pours every ounce of who she is into loving others, making them feel special and cared for. When any one of us would have a sick day, mamma would watch movies with us, make us cookies and chicken noodle soup. Granted I know most mamma's do this, but my mamma was & is the best. When any one of us had a event to get dressed up for, mamma would sit in the dressing rooms, hang up all our clothes and laugh with us through the silly outfits. She would laugh with us, cry with us, and even make those around us do the same. She would grab an outfit and always tell us to try it on to humor her. Naturally,  it would be the outfit that we walked out of the store purchasing, because well... mother knows best. Mamma raised us, she stayed at home during the day, did laundry, cleaned, cooked, and cared for her those most dear to her, her three girls and the lov...

My Nonnie turned 80 on Saturday. We celebrated with a lovely lunch at a country club with all the family on Sunday morning. It was fabulous. It has been a while since I have seen everyone in the family, probably at our wedding which was almost 2 years ago. {gasp} The birthday girl! Doesn't 80 look fabulous on her? My gorgeous sisters Mamma :) Grammy God bless him. That was probably our 30th picture together. I love us. Me & Shanney. Muh girl is moving to Arizona in two weeks. Sadness. The whole crew!  All in all, it was a fabulous day and we enjoyed every minute with the family. On a more sad note, all my RA's left today. I don't really know how to explain it, but it makes me sad. This place is empty. The laughter is gone, and they are gone. A future blog will be dedicated to them, but currently, I feel like eating a donut to take away my sadness. Yes, while I know the donut does not take away my sadness, so...

Last week it was gloomy here in So. Cal all week. In my opinion every second of the gloom was glorious. I'm a rainy weather kinda girl and crave the gloom. Saturday the rain came and Y'all I wore a beanie to dinner with my husband. In April. It was wonderful. I loved it. But low & behold Sunday.. Excuse the boobs. Naturally sometimes the cleavage gets a little out of control.   JT was not the biggest fan of my flopsy hat. He would try to change lanes while we were driving, and tell me he couldn't see the side mirrors because my hat was too big. Clearly he doesn't understand the necessity of a flopsy hat, for a day by the pool.  The Tillery Resort, a sweet Suday getaway. This photo is from some amazing photographer on tumblr that I don't even know how to pronounce her name. But I liked it, so I threw it in here. Inside this fancy red solo cup is Cream soda . I promise. The cup is primarily for the photo. Obviously. He may or may not kill ...

Yesterday I was reminded of the beauty of friendship. I spent the day laughing with my dearest friend in San Diego. She lives with her husband in the cutest apartment, that is so incredibly relaxing, I should have to pay to stay there. It's decorated perfectly,  and offers a warm welcome to all who step through the door. It's always kept perfectly clean, and I always walk out her door feeling better because I have spent time with her in her home. I met Sarah in college, when we were both RA's in the freshman dorms SIX years ago. We are different in so many ways. I am crazy, she is calm. I am weird and wild, she is gentle and sweet. She is so wise and speaks such truth into my life, Lord only knows where I would be without her. We went on a walk beside a beautiful lagoon yesterday, and each moment was so precious to me. That woman, if she only knew how deeply I love her, and how grateful I am for her. We can talk for hours, shop in a hundred stores, share dressing rooms, a...