...i am me...: Life: It's a Crazy Thing Sometimes!

Nearly 3 months have passed since I wrote my last post, with every intention of being a much more frequent poster...ha, who was I kidding?! :)

Let’s play catch-up again on everything since April 25 - apologies in advance, this is going to be a very long post, haha:

Erika got married!

In typical Houston fashion, there were torrential rains the entire weekend & of course, flooding too - the groom's brother didn't even make it at all because of the rain! But Erika looked gorgeous & even though her plans of "cocktail hour" between ceremony & reception had to be relocated indoors, she never seemed to have a care in the world, other than enjoying her wedding day!

I got to see my sweet Miss Alecia too! I'm so excited to see her & Zac finally tie the knot in January in good ol' Seguin! My soccer buddy's growing up so fast, haha!

I got to be home from the wedding trip for all of about 2 days before my mom, sister & Marley the Gremlin came to visit me in Dallas...that was fun! Mom & sister had a conference at a church about 5 minutes from my apartment, so they brought their air mattresses & Marley & piled into my 2nd bedroom. Let me tell ya, 3 ladies + 2 dogs + 1 bathroom + 850sqft apartment for 5 straight days = CRAMPED! Although we spent most of the time away from the apartment out exploring Dallas while they were in town, I think we were all a little relieved when Sunday came around & it was time for them to head home! They did get to meet Alex though - he passed with flying colors :)

Let's see, what else...oh ya! My upstairs neighbors flooded my apartment for the second time in just the few short weeks after they moved in. That was incredibly fun to have water pouring out of your ceiling at midnight on a Tuesday night. At least this time, they flooded the area right above my bathtub so all the water fell into my shower instead of the floors (or onto my clean laundry, like the first time they flooded my apartment). I will say one thing: I am very, very thankful for 24-hour maintenance in my complex! I called the poor guy on call at 1:30am & he was there within 20min to stop the leak & then had everything completely fixed the next day. I'm pretty sure management talked to those neighbors because I haven't had any issues with them since & that's a wonderful thing after two floods in the span of them moving in mid-April & immediately flooding my laundry room the first weekend they were there & the 2nd flood in the beginning of May. Other than my AC going out a few weeks later, I really do like my apartment complex, I promise, haha!

This happened.

And this.

Tig loves to be outside & tries to bolt out the front door as soon as someone opens it...so we bought him a leash! He was pretty brave until we passed some one's apartment & their dog started barking from inside...

I turned 27 in May. My amazing man got us up early for a couple's massage - which we both desperately needed, especially after his back went out the week before, so it was a win-win situation all around. I won't lie: spending the morning of my birthday getting a massage with Alex & the afternoon with the god-girlies? Wouldn't have had it any other way!

Those girls love Alex so much! As exciting as it is for Josh - the girlies' Daddy - to be returning from a year-long deployment in Afghanistan in less than a month, I know Alex is going to have a hard time not being able to see them as often as he has been, not because he doesn't want to, but more because he wants the girls to be able to spend tons of time with their Daddy & so Leighton (who wasn't even a year old when Josh left for deployment) can "get to know him" now.

There have been a few more races since April:

The Must-Dash 5K - which we walked thanks to the giant bruise on my shin/calf that just wouldn't go away

And the Peace, Love, Run 5K - which happened to be "dog friendly" so Stella & Lanny joined us for their very first race...Michelle & Lanny left Stella & I in the dust...my little black boat anchor got too hot & I had to drag her across the finish line, haha!

This weekend, Michelle & I are registered for the Too Hot to Handle 5K, but neither one of us realized that the race is Sunday morning. At 7:30am. The morning after our friend, Mishy's birthday party. As in, her first "outing" since her birthday party last year, because, you know, she got pregnant & became a Mama since then :) I say it all the time - it's amazing what a year can do & how much can change! Mishy's such a great Mama & Miss Skyla's growing up too fast! She's already 3 months old as of July 4!

Needless to say, we may or may not actually run this weekend, especially having 2 soccer games AFTER the race. We shall see!

The thing I love the most about these races is the fact that they're essentially "benefit races". A group called The Run Project puts together these races & a huge portion of the registration fees go to help a different charity. The Must-Dash was to benefit children whose parents didn't come back from tours of duty overseas - something that is definitely close to my heart - through Folds of Honor. I have always had a soft spot for soldiers & their families because of my family's history (Grandpa Jack - big, bad Marine; Grandpa Jerry - USAF) as well as countless friends who have volunteered to leave their friends & family to fight for our country.

Last weekend was the 4th of July holiday weekend, which was spent WITHOUT fireworks this year for me. Kaboomtown - which I love - happened to be the same night as my 9:00pm game, so there was just no way I wanted to fight Addison traffic to catch a glimpse of fireworks after my game. It was one thing when I lived in Addison & had to go that way to go home. Now? I don't think I'll be braving that Kaboomtown traffic again for a while. Instead, we went to the lake!