Rachels 16th Birthday, Survey, and Letter!

Rachel turned 16 back in June.. it's taken me this long to write about it! She decided on a rustic western cowgirl theme... why she chose that I have no idea, but it was cute! She originally asked me for black/crows and I said no, this isn't halloween! :D She got a cute dress, some boots and a cowgirl hat to go along with the look. We used Arnold's parents church gym. Unfortunately with the time of year, a lot of her friends were busy, vacations or family plans etc, but she still had a few show up and a lot of family. I go all out for a party, especially a themed party, so I had fun planning but man was I exhausted at the end of it!! 

Everyone always asks where we get our cakes and I tell them WALMART! Their cakes are actually really good! They taste great and to get a big tiered cake like this one is way cheaper than a bakery. I just chose to have them do a white cake and we bought the topper on amazon and added some decorative sunflowers on ourselves. I think it turned out really pretty! 

I can't believe our girl is 16! The baby of the family, so it's extra bittersweet! 

Arnold made hula hoops into wagon wheels, aren't they cute! I told you I love themes! I found mostly everything on amazon and at hobby lobby. Kinda bummed me out having BROWN balloons but it fit the theme! 

The centerpieces for the tables were easy.. we just put sunflowers in mason jars, filled little cups with peanuts, and I pulled lots of decor from my own kitchen to use (farmlife theme!) and we put everything on bandanas. 

I made chocolate lollipops using a mold I got off amazon

I saw this cute idea on Pinterest and had to use it! Recently Rachel got a pretty pink Bible, and I told her to bring it along and everyone that came to the party highlighted their favorite bible verses, and signed their names, and flagged where it was so she could go back and see it later! 

Rachel requested that big horse balloon haha. Thankful for hubby who helped me pull all of this together!

RACHEL AT AGE 16

Going into grade- junior year

Shoe size- 7 (I think she's stopped growing!) 

Height- 5'3

FAVORITES-

Food- nacho fries from taco bell

Drink- Baja blast

Dessert- Strawberry milkshake

Song- Strangers

Bands- Pierce the Veil, Korn

Show- Invincible and The Walking Dead

Movie- 10 Things I hate about you

Animal- Cats and seals

Flower- tulips

Color- purple

Restaurant- Red lobster

Store- Barnes & Noble

Book- No Longer Human

Thing to do- Listen to music, draw, play trumpet

Class- English

Thing to wear- anything black

Memory from the Year- Marching season and MPA

What do you want for Christmas? bike or money

Future career choice? Psychiatrist 

Dream Vacation- Greece 

Dear Rachel,

I can't believe my baby girl is turning the sweet 16. Feels like just yesterday we brought you home from the hospital. Ive loved watching you grow up. You have always been an independent, funny, kooky girl, who does whatever she wants and doesn't care what anyone thinks about it. I love that about you! I wish I were more like that! We have a lot of fun together, singing in the car, going to find treasures while thrifting, drawing doodles, and hanging out in my bed while you play your videos and I read. You have truly excelled in high school-- you are doing honors and AP classes and making good grades. You are about to start your third year of marching band. You are great at playing the trumpet, and you also are amazing at art. You have so many wonderful talents and I know you will go far in whatever you decide to do in life. Right now you say crazy things like you want to be a psychiatrist, travel the world, live in Colorado, and have no kids.. or MAYBE up to 2 of them. You really don't know yet, and that's ok. This is going to be a big year for you, you'll have to take your ACT test and you will start looking into college options. I hope whatever you decide you take advantage of all you've been blessed with. Dad and I are proud of you and can't wait to see what the year ahead holds. We love you!!!!! 

 

My Book-Themed Bash for my 40th!

 I am finally getting around to writing about my party I had for my 40th. I decided to throw it late this year (July 12) since some important people were going to be out of town closer to my actual birthday. I went with a BOOK THEME... I'm so glad I decided to look it up, they actually had some stuff on amazon! Just not book balloons.. go figure? I was able to use the family life center at mom's church. That church Is so special to me.. where I grew up, was confirmed, got married, and now where dad rests (the columbarium.) Arnold helped me out a LOT and I really am thankful to him! I always get so excited when we do big parties, but then the day of its like I forgot how much work it really is and afterwards the cleaning up takes forever and you're just exhausted. But I can say this was quite a success. I invited a lot of people, since it was a big birthday.. and a lot showed up, about half.. I think it was the perfect number though, I think many more would have been too much! My boss from work even showed up which surprised me and made me feel really special! Ive always said my love language is quality time.. I know it's technically for romantic relationships but it works for friends, too. How do I know if you truly love me? You show up!!! For my happy times, my hard times, my crazy parties ;) Id rather have your time than any gift or anything else you'd give me. Anyway, we had the party at lunch, and we had Mexican food.. with lots of help from Brooke's boyfriend's family!!! Oh my goodness they made tortillas, pulled pork, Mexican rice, and even brought some special Mexican sodas and candy and stuff. Arnold made some beef and chicken in the crockpot and we got all the sides and sauces, etc. Id say everyone loved the food! It was a great idea!!! 

Best theme ever for me, right?! All from amazon! 

I used my own books at home to hold the centerpieces. Arnold and I made the confetti ourselves using old book pages and heart shaped punchers! It kinda hurt me to rip pages out of a book but it was a very old one I didn't care about anymore, haha. 

If you're around my age you get the banner. From the song ;) A lot of the older guests were like whattttt?

I loved my childhood table! stole a bunch of pics of little Abby from my mama and brought PJ and Keroppi along, and some framed pics I had up at home. I also "borrowed" these flowers from the church kitchen because they were pretty! haha! And those butterflies are suckers I made as favors. They didn't have any book themed chocolate molds so I went with something else cute! 

I hardly ever get to see all 3 of these friends in the same day! Ive known all of them forever and they mean so much to me! And doesn't Jess look amazing?! ;) 

Katie!! My 2nd mama! She means so much to me! 

My brothers family lives in Charleston so we don't get to see them often but they came up for my party!! It meant so much! They also took my nephews to Great Wolf Lodge that weekend and had a blast. 

Joannes family and Rosie.. Rosie and I go way back to working together 

Caleb and his friend 

My mom, Nancy, and a lot of Arnold's family! 

Brooke, Rach and David and his family!

Talk about a surprise! My friend Karen who lives in Raleigh came to see me! We were roommates for a year at Western Carolina! 

Still can't get over how great the day was and how much fun I had. People were so sweet with the gifts and cards they brought me, too. I ended up with some cool stuff like a flow art set, a personalized cup, candles, gift cards, and even my first designer purse! I am a spoiled girl! haha. The cleanup afterwards was brutal, Arnold and I had used a lot of the church's dishes for food prep and serving so we tag teamed and cleaned and dried them off in their big Industrial size sinks at the back! 

My 40th Birthday Recap & 5 Things I've Learned in my 40 Years

Tuesday I celebrated my 40th birthday! I still can't believe I am that old. We were off work the 3rd and 4th anyway, and I wanted to take my birthday off too, so I just saved my vacation time and took the whole week off. I had a great time, especially since Arnold took off work too, and the kids were home. 

Tuesday on my actual birthday, Brooke did my makeup. I don't usually wear a lot, but she made it look really pretty! We went downtown to do a photoshoot. It was SO hot and my hair hardly wouldn't hold its curl, and the wind was blowing which was messing with my balloons and hair, but we made it work. By the way, it cost over $8 just to get these few balloons blown up for the photos! Robbery! Helium is expensive now!! 

We wanted to incorporate two of my childhood items in one of the pics. I took Keroppi and PJ the bear with me. Keroppi is one of the Sanrio characters. While everyone else loved Hello Kitty, I loved that silly little frog the best! My mom got him for me when I was around 8, I think. His eyes are now a dingy brown and gross, but I just had to keep him! PJ (otherwise known as Parson JR, don't ask, I don't know!) was actually made for me by my grandma Mildred when I was a baby. He is so well loved that his mouth has completely rubbed off! He used to go with me everywhere and I used to dress him up in themed sweaters for the seasons and holidays. Anyway, Brooke told. me to look fondly at them or laugh at them and I love this picture!! 

We also had to make one of those silly childhood-like signs with your stats and favorites and stuff. I almost wrote down that I was 60 in instead of 70 but Rachel corrected me. Thank goodness someone in our family is good at math! hahaha! 

Isn't this picture so me?! I love nothing more than reading. 

On the weekend before, Mom took me out to lunch at Carrabbas to get lasagna. Every year it's been a tradition for her to cook me her famous homemade lasagna for my birthday, but it's getting tougher these days for her to cook, so we just went out.

We went to church and they had a backdrop up for 4th of July! They also gave out popsicles as everyone was leaving. One year they actually had fireworks! I love our church! 

Rachel is soo talented and artistic. She made me this birthday card! I love the colorful cake! 

She also drew lots of cute doodles inside and wrote me a sweet message! I wanted her to paint me a goose on a canvas which she did, but she asked me not to share it. But I love it!! 

The week before I left work everyone was so sweet... my friend Carries class made me drawings and cards, and she made this up that I hung outside my classroom. Some of the older kids made me cards, too. And they had a joint party at work for me, Lori and Jean, who are my birthday buddies! We had lots of yummy food and cake! I felt special!! 

We also did lots of other fun stuff over the week like went to the movies with Arnold to see Bride Hard.. it had Rebel Wilson in it and was a mix of comedy and action... was big time DUMB but it was entertaining enough. Weird to be at the movies on a weekday, didn't even have hardly anyone in the theater! Arnold also took me to my fave place-- Hobby Lobby! And I started buying stuff for my big party. Im having my party late this year, because some friends were out of town and I wanted them to be able to come. It is going to be book-themed (perfect!!) and we are having a big Mexican themed lunch! Thanks to Brookes boyfriend's mom and family, who so graciously offered to help with the food! They know how to party! 

Since its my birthday, I wanted to write something meaningful also... Ive done other things in the past like facts about me or things I love, etc. So this year I decided to do things I've learned in my life. 

1. No matter who the person is in your life, show them they are worth it to you. Be loyal. Be honest with them, even if it's tough. Show up for them when they need you. Celebrate the good times with them. Don't let too much time go by without checking in. My love language is quality time and how I feel loved the most is when people are there for me. just show up! I also love picking out gifts and surprises for people, even "just because" treats.

2. When it comes to marriage, love is not just a feeling, it is a VERB. You have to work hard in a marriage! Arnold and I have almost been married 20 years and there have been times we thought we wouldn't make it through, but we did. So many people think you just fall out of love but that's not true. You committ to a person, and you show up every day and put in the work. There will be days you don't even like each other, but you still respect each other and find a way to get through it. Running to another person will not fix it. No person will complete you and fill that space in your life, you have to love yourself first. 

3. Don't compare yourself to others. Ive spent so much time of my life wasted doing this! That person is prettier, or more successful or has more, or has it all together. No-- you be happy and content in what you have and learn to be thankful. Do I have the biggest house out there? No, but I own it and my husband bought it at a time where it was a steal and one day we'll have our mortgage paid off before a lot of other people. Did I have my kids too young? Probably, but I had lots more energy and time back them and we had a blast during those years. Now I'll be young enough to enjoy my grandkids. Is my job some fancy title? No but I work hard and am good at what I do. I love being around young children/babies and watching them grow and being a part of it. I love my coworkers and am thankful not to have to work on weekends.

4. LET THEM!!! I know this is based on a recent best-selling book, but it's true. Oh my goodness. I used to let every little thing upset me. And now I try my very best to say LET THEM!!! Someone was rude and cut me off on the road? Let them. Someone didn't like my Facebook post? Let them. Someone didn't point out my good job at work and compliment me? Let them. I can't control what others do and say (or don't!) but I can decide how I react to them. And half the time people are so absorbed with themselves that whatever it was didn't have anything to do with me anyway! Show people some grace!

5. Learn a little every day. I am a big nerd but I love learning! I don't care if it's reading a book article, watching a news clip, doing a devotional, or a trivia game... find a way to incorporate some learning into every day. Sometimes people ask me how I know so much random stuff or how I knew that word, and honestly it's usually because I read so much! 

Fathers Day 2023!

Arnold is such a good dad! He is always involved in the kids' lives and there for them.  

We decided to spend the day at Lake Lure beach. We thought it would be a fun thing to do with the kids, and a good place to remember dad. He took us to lake lure at least twice a year, every year since I was a baby. I love the mountains.. everything so beautiful there and it's so calm and restful. You can't beat the view! The weather was beautiful for us! It was hot, but not too bad. 

Last time we went up there Arnold had to carry in a big cooler-- we've since gotten one with wheels, which made it a whole lot easier this time! We packed stuff for a picnic lunch. 

I actually wore my bathing suit and went swimming in the lake! Most of you know that Im not a big swimmer ( I CAN, I just don't like to) and Im self conscious about wearing bathing suits, so it was a big deal for me. But lately I'm trying to do more, in honor of dad who used to give me the hardest time about never going swimming! And ill admit I did had FUN as soon as I got over the shockingly cold water, and the nastiness of the lake.. I did shower as soon as I walked in the door that evening, haha! 

Love my hubby! Glad we were able to pull off a fun day for him! 

Sisters!

The night before we went to the store and Rachel and I picked out floats to take with us. They even had a sale so we were lucky! She got one with flowers and I got one with pineapples. I took a sparkly pink float to the beach last year and loved it so I thought Id try it again. My arms were sore that night though after holding myself up in it all day!! I am not used to using those muscles and swimming, haha! 

I guess poor Arnold had to do some work on Fathers day! He blew up our floats for us! We are spoiled! :)

Brooke in her backwards cap and coke bottle.. haha

Caleb laid down and fell fast asleep... he took a nice nap... the girls were mean and took pictures of him asleep with his mouth wide open, but I didn't! 

Arnold put his hat over his face and decided to rest in the sun as well!

Brooke had bought a new outfit the past week and wanted to wear it.. and me to take a picture. She said the linen pants just felt "beachy" to her. That Girl loves to shop! 

I wore my dad bracelet which I've worn every day since my BFF Joanne got it for me! I'll admit the day was pretty tough now that dad is gone. I used to love spending the day with him and eating yummy food and letting him know how much we cared about him. Being in the mountains made me feel close to him, though. That was one of his favorite places to be, too. Rachel even remembered the funny jokes he used to pull on them, like telling them to watch out for the alligator in every body of water they were in.. even just regular swimming pools! We saw a few ducks that day also... dad had wooden ducks sitting on his shelves in his office at home. Little things here and there kept reminding me of him! I miss him so much, but I know he's having a blast in heaven! 

Rachel's 14-yr Interview & Birthday!

Shoe size- 7

Going into Grade: 9th (highschool!!)

Party theme this year: sharks
Gifts this year: clothes and makeup 

Favorite Color: red

Favorite Animal: cats/orcas

Favorite Food: shrimp

Favorite Drink: sweet tea

Favorite Snack- hot Cheetos

Favorite candy: twizzlers

Favorite Season: summer/fall

Favorite Holiday: Christmas

Favorite Restaurant: Shuckin Shack (too bad they closed!)

Favorite Fast Food- Chick Fila

Favorite Tv Show- The walking dead

Favorite Movie: The new Spiderman

Favorite Book- none (Breaks her mamas heart!)

Favorite Flower: lavender 

Favorite Thing to do: sleep.

 

Favorite Store: Ross

Favorite part of school: Science

Favorite Thing to Wear: Jackets 

Best Friend: Destiny, Shinbi, Hope, Maya, Cheyenne, Mackenzie, Kailey

What are you afraid of? bugs

What do you want to be when you grow up? A psychiatrist 

What do you want for Christmas this year? Money

Where do you want to go to college? Lenoir Rhyne 

Most excited about for high school? Football hames/marching band 

Rachel had a birthday dinner this year with some friends, her parents, grandparents, and sister. Unfortunately Caleb couldn't be there because he was at ROTC camp! We went to dinner at Red Lobster because her fave food in the whole world is shrimp!! 

She told me she liked sharks.. no idea why? LOL but she said she wanted something scary and I said um no! They only had kid looking stuff that I could find so we went with what we had! Haha.. the plates and balloon and table cloth all came from target. The cake was actually pretty cute with an ocean theme-- they had baby shark and we were going to switch it out with a "cooler" shark but didn't get around to it, so it was fine! The little sharks ended up being bath squirties and the waitress had mentioned her little daughter loved baby shark, so at the end of the evening I have her the toys for her daughter! Im glad someone could enjoy them! 

When we were standing outside after the party the string came loose from Rachel's arm and the balloon went floating away! :( Her friend got this picture.. and its called Samuel because in our family we always name stuff... don't ask why... lol.. but his name was Samuel the Shark! 

Sweet sisters!

So glad Grandma could make it, even if she hasn't been feeling the best!

We love our girl! Cannot believe she is 14!!

Rachel and some of her close friends that came to celebrate with her!