Extremely Blessed

Well, today is my birthday!  I am have to say that I am so thankful for all of my wonderful family and friends!  They really know how to make someone feel special!  Saturday evening my mom cooked me a great birthday dinner!  We had lots of great food and visiting!  Hayley, Tye and Ayden, along with my brother, sister-in-law, twin nieces, mom, dad, and Greg ate until we were stuffed!!!  We had my favorite "pudding desert" and everything was sooooo good.  Today, Greg grilled me a steak and tomorrow (monday) he is making  homeade ice cream (my favorite flavor - cherry!) and Hayley is making me a birthday cake.  I received lots of birthday wishes from friends and family, both on Facebook and by text and phone calls! I feel so lucky to have lots of great people in my life!  You are all very special, and I hope that you know I feel that way!    And I really have to say that I have the best husband in the whole world!  I love you, Greg!  I am so glad that we found our way to each other (almost) 9 years ago.  You have made such a difference in my life!

Now, I know you are all thinking about all the food I just mentioned eating, but I will have you know that I bought the Zumba for Wii last week (with my mother's day present, Thanks Kids!)  and I have faithfully done it every day, so maybe I cancelled all the calories out!  We hope, anyway!  I absolutely LOVE Zumba.  I know I look pretty silly doing it, but it is FUN!  and TOUGH!!!!  But it feels so good when  you are done!  I have been doing the 'easy' beginner level and I did the 'easy' intermediate level today.  They are 20 minutes routines and I do 3 of them to work out for an hour!  I am really sore, but it feels good!!!! 

Now, I have to mention the most special thing happened the other day, it brought tears to my eyes!  I was holding Ayden the other day in my lap, and we were playing pat-a-cake and I was holding onto her hands, clapping them together.  Then I let go of her hands, and kept saying "pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man" and she clapped her hands together by herself!!!!!  It was the first time she had clapped by herself!  It was so cute, and so sweet, and it was such a special moment for me, I will NEVER forget it.  Grandbabies are the best!  

Back to Reality.....

Well, my days of palm trees, fun in the sun, white sandy beaches in Florida are over and I am back to the dirt-filled, way too dry, winds of West Texas.  Sometimes I wonder why we chose to stay here.... then I remember that it would go pretty lonely away from our families and sweet grandbaby, so I guess we will just have to save 'paradise' for vacations!  We had a really good time visiting with Brandon and Corryn.  We went to a carnival at the school where Corryn teaches and it was really neat.  We got to see some of the kids from her class and her classroom.  The kids love Corryn and they think that "Mr. Massey" is 'cool'.... and I totally agree with them on both things!  Corryn is looking great, and she cooked some really tasty healthy meals for us!  Brandon, well he is eating vegetables, so "Yay! You go Corryn!"... you gotta be doing something right! :)  We had fun running around, going to the beach and the zoo, eating frozen yogurt, watching movies, but especially just hanging out and visiting... laughing about everything... and Ayden LOVES her Uncle Brandon and Aunt Corryn.  Here are a few pictures to share:



Although I loved being there, I am glad to be home.  I missed Greg, we aren't used to being apart,  so from now on our vacations are going to have to be together!!!!!  I love you, Greg! 

Time keeps on slippin'.... (slippin'.... slippin'....) into the future.....

Where has the time gone?!?!?!?!  Sometimes I still feel like I'm 18.. and then I see the mirror and it so rudely reminds me that I am NOT!  It seems like time goes by faster and faster every year.  I have caught myself still writing 2010 on stuff, and we are almost 6 months into 2011!  It seem like the the line from Ferris Bueller rings more true every day. 

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look

 around once in a while, you could miss it."



I think that most everyone gets caught up with our every day lives.  Work, home, kids, bills, families, and a lot of the time we don't take the time to slow down and enjoy our lives.  Slow down and enjoy everything around you.  Enjoy your family, friends, pets, flowers, sunsets.... take a quiet walk with someone that you care about and enjoy the LIFE that is all around you.

People will in time forget what you said,
People will even forget what you did,
But people will never forget how you made them feel.

Life is short so break the rules, forgive quickly,
Kiss slowly, love truly, laugh lively,
And never regret anything that made you smile.

When you love it is truly an act of faith,
And whoever is of little faith is also of little love,
And the love we give away is the only love we keep.

Life is short so follow the rules, forgive totally,
Kiss tenderly, love deeply, laugh often,
And never regret anything that made you happy.

And when it comes to finding love,
It is not by finding a perfect person,
But by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.

Life is worth living when you, forgive in your heart,
Kiss passionately, love with all your heart, laugh uncontrollably,
And never regret anything that made someone smile.

Remember, random acts of kindness can go a long ways!

Now, I must go finsih packing. Hayley, Ayden and I are flying to Florida tomorrow to visit with Brandon and Corryn for a few days!  We are really excited to go, but I must admit flying is not my favorite thing. (note to self: buy dramamine)  I really wish that Greg was going with us, but he is not going to get to this time. I will also admit that being away from Greg is not my favorite thing either.  In fact this is the first 'vacation' that we have not been together in 9 years.  I will miss you, Greg!  But I will take plenty of pictures so it will be just like you are there! (I know, maybe not!)

Everyone have a good day!  I added some "summer" songs to the grooveshark widget for you to enjoy!

Aruba, Jamaica, oooo I wanna take ya to Bermuda, Bahama...........