My friend Kari.

This is one of my saved drafts that was never published. After reading it, I have no clue why it wasn't.

Today I am thankful for one of my dearest friends. She is a "Professional Super Hero" in my eyes. She is a single mom to one of the smartest kiddos I know. My husband does not understand how we can just go to each others houses and sit and talk all night long. He is not a woman so he does not understand how the female mind works but one of the main reasons I can be around her so much is Kari always makes me laugh.

Here are a few examples. BTW- she is not intentionally doing things to make me laugh, she just has a different way of doing things that I happen to think are crazy :)

Kari's fly catcher

Kari's Iron

Kari driving

Her part time job---Dinosaur wrangler

Did I forget to mention that she is also a Captain?

Just looking at these pictures makes me literally laugh out loud!!!

Long lost friends

Just recently my family has been blessed to reconnect with some of our old friends the Dorts. Aaron and I used to be inseparable from Craig and Mandy. We used to have game nights, go bowling, go to the races, late night swims, movies, etc. I have looked back through some of our old pics and we all noticed one thing... we always had a drink in our hands. But, this was all before we had kids. This was before we had someone else in our lives that we had to put first. It was the carefree days of just doing something because you wanted to and you didn't need to think about bed times, getting a little one to take a shower, nap time (oh how I miss nap time), and going to a kid friendly restaurant.

Anyways back to what I was talking about... we were inseparable until they had to move away because of Craig's job. Then it happened, Mandy got pregnant and about 6 months later I got pregnant. Our lives would be changed forever (and for the better).

Fast forward about 6 years (add a trip to Andy's Frozen Custard) and  tada- we are best friends again. The girls act like they have know each their entire lives and Caitlin just adores their son Sam. I am so glad Aaron finally has a boy-friend to hang out with again.

Now if I could just figure out how to be a SAHM like Mandy I would be in heaven.

Relaxing is SOOO overated.

I have been avoiding writing a post. Actually I have 11 drafts saved on my blog but never posted any of them. For some reason I told myself that those didn't fit into the "theme of my blog" but then I realized... my theme is all about MY life. So, all those drafts technically do go with my theme.

I have been in a rut and feeling out of sorts for the last few months.  I thought summer was the time of the year for relaxing but I have never had a child in grade school until this year. We have had so many school events to attend and then Caitlin has gymnastics every Monday night so by the time we do everything--- our entire week is over. It is true what everyone always says... Time flys by and before you know it your kids are all grown up. ***I know Caitlin is only 6 but I can't believe how fast these last few years have literally flown by.

Over the last few months I have come to realize that my mom and grandma (Mama) are not crazy they are just moms/wives/sisters/friends. I have grown up trying to tell them to just relax every once in awhile but they never seem to slow down. They are always worried about everyone else's needs. Both my Mom and Mama are natural caretakers. They take care of everyone in their lives and do it without hesitating. I must have been born with that gene because I have found that I do the same thing. I know my husband hates that part of me but I hope he secretly loves it too. The thing is... I know it stresses me out worrying about every ones needs and feelings but I don't think I will change, I don't even realize that I am doing it until afterwards. I believe I inherited one of the best things a person could ask for from my Mom and Mama. The ability to put other peoples needs first (Don't think I am perfect and always do this, but I often do it)

Besides if I always relaxed and didn't try to help out my friends and family I would have missed out on several of my Girls Nights Out/In with my Kari. A few months ago we go to enjoy an entire night at the ER due to her food allergy and we laughed all night long. (Even if some of our laughter was due to lack of sleep).

So, this post is dedicated to my Kari... may we continue to have more nights like this (minus the ER visit of course)


I had posted this picture on my facebook page and this is the caption we came up with around 3am

GIRL'S NIGHT OUT:
Hospital room complete with rolling bed... $2000
Kari's drug cocktail... $300
Getting to spend the WHOLE night with hot male nurses... PRICELESS