It's a Fab Friday!

Gosh am I happy it is finally Friday!!  This week really felt long to me.  Today is really just a kick off to another great weekend spent with family.  Here is the weekend run-down:

Tonight:  NAILS!!  I'm going to put my Mother's Day gift from my boys to use after work and get my nails done.  They're looking pretty rough! 

After my nails are beautiful again I pick up my baby boy and we make a trip to Target for some random necessities.  This is usually an every other weekend thing for us when daddy is working and can't yell at mommy for how much she spends.  ;)

Saturday:  Get up bright and early, pack up the toddler, husband and four-legger (the canine kind) and head to Indiana!!  My sister-in-law Nikki is graduating from grad school this weekend so we're all heading down to celebrate!  I can't wait to see them all again.  :)

Sunday:  Graduation Day!  Little Miss Smarty Pants there finished her grad school career strong with a 3.82 GPA!  I am SO super proud of her!!  This is a HUGE day for her and I'm so happy and excited to be there to celebrate. 

After the ceremony is dinner with the fam and then heading home to start another crazy and chaotic week...which I wouldn't trade for anything.  I have to admit I love my life, chaos and all.  :)

Happy Friday everyone!

The secret to true happiness

One of my favorite blogs I like to check in on and read once in awhile is Story of My Life. So earlier today I hopped on over to her page to get caught up on some of her posts.  The post she wrote on Tuesday really moved me so I wanted to share.  (To read the post in its entirety go here)

Jenni recently lost her step-dad to cancer.  You can feel how close of a relationship she had with him just through her writing, she writes so affectionately of him. 

Her post on Tuesday was about finding a picture of him, the last picture of him she ever took and the flood of memories it brought back to her. What moved me the most about this post was this:

It’s funny, the memories in a place. How a particular piece of space can hold such strong memories of a person that was there at one point in time. Like that old saying goes… “if only walls could talk.” If walls could talk over at my mom’s place, they would speak of so much love, you can’t even wrap you head around it.

One memory both Matthew and I have of Edd made a deep impact on both of us. We were over for dinner one night, and Edd was sitting in the kitchen at a bar stool and we were all chatting as my mom cooked dinner. I don’t remember how the conversation reached this point, but I remember this so vividly. Edd’s face was red and broken out a bit from chemo.  His body had really been ravaged, but there he was, with tears welling up in his eyes as he said, “yeah, I have cancer, but I’m really happy.”

I attribute much of that happiness to the fierce love between him and my mom—the way they gave each other strength when one thing after another was taken away from them. Sometimes maybe it’s a blessing when all you have left is the love.

This is really what life is about here, people.  It isn't about money or material things, but about the love you have within you and around you.  The happiness that comes from loving and being loved is something that even Cancer can't take away.  That is pretty powerful stuff.  The Beatles had it right all along, All You Need is Love.

Becoming a beach babe

So I have been working out since December now.  I did fall off the wagon for a little while just before the wedding but only due to a knee injury.  I have to say I am pretty proud of myself for still sticking with it.  The 4am wake up isn't always easy (and I won't lie, some mornings I just don't make it) but it is so worth it!  I can feel and see a difference in my attitude, energy and even in my body itself.

It all started with my sister-in-law Nikki, showing me this great fitness blog and online community called Tone It Up.  This website is AWESOME, I really love it!  I signed up right away and I'm so glad I did.  There are numerous workout videos, fitness tips, recipes, etc.  Did I mention it is free??  The community is so great.  Thousands of women who are all there for the same reason - To live fit and healthy.  To motivate and inspire and to be motivated and inspired.  And look at the trainers, Katrina and Karena.  How can you not be motivated by them? 

If you are looking to make some changes for your health, you definitely should check them out.  Some of my favorite workouts of theirs include Bikini Strap, Beach Bum, Beach Babe, Itty Bitty Bikini....well, I have a lot.  They also recently made a DVD with various workouts, which I am hoping to buy and add to my collection. 

Another source of motivation is Pinterest.  I love Pinterest in general but I have found so many other fitness and health tips on there.  I even created a Tone It Up Vision Board to help remind me what I am working out for.

In January one of my New Year's Goals was to be able to wear a pair of skinny jeans.  I am happy to say I am a proud owner of a pair and I LOVE them! 

So check it out, give it a try.  Tell me what you think!

Boys will be boys

I have had this "Parker Story" I have been wanting to blog for a week now.  Things are very busy in the Perkins home right now so I am a little behind on some things.

Last week on Monday (April 30th, 2012 for record purposes) I get this phone call from Mark in the afternoon saying "So I completely forgot to tell you about what happened this morning with Parker while he was getting ready for school...."  Oh boy....usually when stories start out this way I need to brace myself. 

Mark continues....

Parker was in his room getting ready for school.  I noticed he was being very quiet and thought it was odd because normally he's in there messing with his legos or something.  So I poke my head in there and ask if he is ok and he said yes.  I told him to grab his backpack and bring it out to the kitchen so he could finish getting ready for school.

A few minutes later he comes out with his backpack.  He goes into the refrigerator and says "I am just going to take an applesauce for snack today."  Well, a flag really went up for me this time because in the 3 years I have been taking him to school he has never once volunteered to pack his own snack.  So I said "Parker....what do you have in your backpack?"  {Parker is notorious for sneaking toys and such to school}  Parker looks for a minute and says "Well..............it's a toad.  I got it from Jimmy's house and I wanted to take it to school to show my friends!"

At this point I gasp.....loud.  And suddenly things that happened over the weekend fell into place and started making sense.  Allow me to back up for a minute.

Going back to Saturday, after Parker had been playing over at his friend Jimmy's he came home and asked me what toads eat.  I told him insects, like flies and stuff.  I asked him why and all he said was "I was just wondering.  Jimmy has toads in his backyard."  I really didn't think anything of this.

On Sunday I had sent Parker to his room to get dressed for this birthday party we had to go to.  After several minutes I realized I hadn't heard anything from him so I poked my head in to check on him.  He was sitting on the edge of his bed holding something (I couldn't see what) and when I asked him if he was ok he jumped up, shoved this thing into his bottom dresser drawer (a drawer he keeps his 'special' things in he doesn't want Camden to destroy), shoves the drawer shut and sits back down.  I said "What are you doing?"  and he said nothing.  I asked why he was acting guilty and he said "Well Mom...you startled me!"  For a half a second I thought about going in and looking in his drawer but then thought 'We are running late.  I know everything he has in his room anyways.'  So I told him to get his shoes on so we could go.  It never crossed my mind again.  Until Monday anyways...As Mark is telling me this story I realized it was a TOAD he was holding and shoved in his bottom drawer and he most likely has been hiding this thing in his dresser since Saturday!  ACK!!!

I have all these scenarios playing through my head.  I told Mark about what happened on Sunday and OMG what if I had opened the drawer and this toad jumps out at me???  ACK!!!!  Or what if it had figured out how to jump out of the drawer while it was closed, get trapped in the dresser and then squished as the drawer was opened or closed???  ACK!!!!!  Or walking down the hall and this thing goes hopping across my feet!  Or finding Camden with this thing, little toad legs hanging from his mouth because Lord knows this child puts EVERYTHING in his mouth!  DOUBLE ACK!!!!!

Then I tell him about Parker asking me about what the eat on Saturday and OMG, was he going to try and feed it applesauce???  Apparently he had this thing in the front pocket of his backpack where we always put his snacks.  He just didn't want Mark putting his snack in there and risk the toad being discovered.  The kid is smart.

Needless to say the toad was released outside, Parker was taken to school and we are left with yet another "Parker story" for the archives to dig out one day when he is older and say "do you remember........"

Married life

I've had people ask me lately how married life is.  Even though there really isn't anything different other than we have that legal piece of paper now and I have a new last name, I actually have something to say about it.  I love answering this question.

I LOVE married life!  I knew I would, but what amazes me is how much MORE I love it than I already knew I would.  It amazes me how much more in love with him I am than I was before.  The song Then by Brad Paisley says it perfectly. 

Even though nothing physically changed between us, I feel like everything changed within me.  More than ever I find myself thinking of different little ways to make Mark smile, or to show him I love him and I'm thinking about him.  I love bringing him his coffee in the mornings.  I love holding his hand even if we are just sitting on the couch watching tv.  I love making him dinner.  Or finding cards with meaningful messages 'just because'.  Or bringing home his favorite ice cream from Dairy Queen.

We also started to compete with each other over who will make the other's lunch.  We have also started leaving notes in the other's lunch.  I also started doing this with Parker, he has really come to love it (and expect it lol). 

I have told people before I have known for a long time we were meant to be together.  Our relationship hasn't always been easy.  But through each trial and tribulation we have always come through it stronger together as a couple and as individuals.

It literally makes me happy to make him happy, I love loving my husband.  None of these things takes alot of money or time, but the overall value is priceless.  I have felt our bond and relationship together strengthen and our love grow since we have been married.  I look forward to being the couple people admire.  But most of all I look forward to the rest of my life with my soulmate.  This is my Happily Ever After.