Happies and Sads

 It has been forever since I have posted. I apologize for that my devoted readers. Life has been busy, and I have been a bit lazy. What to post about???  Hmmmm...I posted about my birthday, fun times, hmmmmm....okay, let's start from happiest to sad. I always like happy first.

Happiest: Oldest son and I took a trip to Nashville this past weekend. Our goal of the trip was to see the Texans/Titans football game. Oldest son is a huge fan of the Texans so this was part of his graduation gift. 40 yard line, 6th row tickets. Super fun. We used to live in Nashville, so we stayed with some long time friends and had a brilliant time. We left early Saturday morning and stopped off at Western Kentucky University to visit a friend and do a whirlwind tour of the campus. It is a beautiful place. We may take an official tour at a later date, but we shall see.

Sad stuff: Hubby's brother's best friend's wife passed away from cancer. She had been sick for a long time and finally lost the fight. I have met the friend a few times, but never the wife. She left behind two amazing kids and a super sweet husband. She was younger than me. I cannot even imagine what challenges this family will face over the next period of their lives, but my prayers are with them every day. My sister(in law), but let's face it, she really is my sister, father in law passed away on Sunday. Again, another one from cancer. He was a very young 62. His funeral was today. It was a beautiful service and my heart is very sad right now. Her hubby is an only child and was extremely close to his father. I passed around lots of hugs and condolences, but it never seems to be enough. I absolutely adore my sister and her family. I have known her since she was 16 and through who would have thought life events, she became my sister in law. Her oldest daughter said to someone today that she loves it that I am now her Aunt and not just her mom's best friend. Awww...I feel the same way, sweetheart, thank you!

Through my sad stuff, I realize I needed to re prioritize some things in my life. Funny how a death makes one realize that. I will report on how that is progressing at a later date, but I did something that was stepping out on a limb. The initial result was promising so we shall see. Again, that whole trying something new thing.

I will attempt to get back to regular blogging because, honestly, I miss it.

Hugs!

Birthday fun

 I love birthdays, especially mine. I just think it is super fabulous that you get a day all your own to celebrate. Sunday I had a yummy birthday brunch scheduled at Trio's with my Yayas.

  

One of my yayas came and picked me up and when I walked in I saw these wonderful people:

 Minus a couple at the end of the table that did not squeeze into the photo. Yes, my amazing hubby planned a surprise birthday brunch for me. Did I mention that he was amazing? We had a great time and I realized how blessed I am to have such great friends. That evening Ellie and I had a family birthday dinner with both sets of parents and our sweet cousin, Katie. Hubby made dinner. He is a great cook.

                             How sexy is he????

  My actual birthday was Monday and hubby and I worked half a day and then met some friends for lunch. He then took me to the movies, saw Fury, great movie by the way. We then came home took Ellie and her friend to cheer and then we went Denny's for a free birthday Grand Slam. Yum! After we got Ellie home we headed downstairs for an early night. We were exhausted. All in all it was a great day!

 Hubby spoils me. The picture on the left are the opal earrings he picked out to match the opal necklace he had given me last year. The yummies on the right are from the kiddos.

 I truly am a blessed girl.  Thank you everyone for making me feel special!!

Hugs!

Cherish the moments

  Last night was Catholic High's homecoming. It was a great night and the Rockets won which topped off the evening. I took a few photos:

 The pics above are my very handsome stepson in his dress whites for JROTC.  In the above picture he is the one in the middle. Now, I was fretting last night because I could not get any closer and my pictures were blurry. But, then I put things in perspective. I was there last night with my hubby and friends and have my memories and those I cannot erase and they are not blurry. I remember how awesome JROTC looked marching out on the field. I remember seeing Rader for the first time on the field in his dress whites. I remember seeing hubby's face last night as I glanced over and saw the proud dad look on his face. I remember Rader coming up in the stands after, so excited about what he had just done and sharing those memories with his dad and I. Those things I cannot photograph. I have mentioned so many times before that I cherish getting to be a part of these experiences with the kids. I loved watching Jake interact with his friends at the game last night and saying hi and meeting some new ones. I loved watching princess and her friend hang out with the freshmen boys from Catholic and getting her first steps into high school. And I loved coming home and hashing out the night with all the kids in the kitchen while eating a late night snack. Those moments I do not want to miss. Those are the moments I cherish. 

Hugs!

Oh, I oh, I'm still alive

 The blog title? Don't understand? Read on and it will become clear.
This past weekend hubby texts me and says, "hey! wanna go see Pearl Jam in Memphis on Tuesday night with Joe and Sarah?"  Ummmm....duh, yes!!!! I love Pearl Jam and they never, and I mean, never come to Little Rock so I have given up trying to see them, so when opportunity knocked, we opened the door wide. The super fun part of this story is that hubby and never seen Pearl Jam or been to the Fed Ex Forum. Hubby is a huge music lover and has seen lots and by lots I mean LOTS of bands, so for us to get to see one in a new forum is rare. Making memories and having fabulous experiences while doing it...so awesome! We jetted out after work and headed to Memphis. Of course there was tons of traffic because well, it is Little Rock to Memphis.

Our arrival the FedEx Forum

 We got to the Forum around 7:30, the show started at about 8:00 and they played for 3 straight hours!

Eddie Vetter

 The show was amazing. They played a mixture of old and new and they rocked it out! The only song they did not play, which was missed greatly, was Jeremy. 

  The Forum was packed! I do not think it was sold out, but it was close. I do not know if you have ever seen a show at the Forum, but it is a great venue. So clean! We had a barbecue sandwich from Rendevous and Ghost River Golden Ale to wash it down, yum! Of course we ran into someone we knew, Jocelyn and Oscar! It was so good to see them. We did not get home until 2 am, but it was well worth the lack of sleep today. Shout out to Joe and Sarah for the tickets and the great time and hubby for driving us there and back in the wee hours of the night so I could sleep. Love you much, baby!

Hugs!!!

I did something new tonight

  So I am all about doing new things and tonight, I did something new. I ate at a restaurant by myself. Granted, it was McAllister's, but I still ate there, alone. I dropped princess off at cheer and went shopping. I had some time to kill after and was hungry. I did not want to drive all the way home, so I decided that tonight was the night. I ordered my dinner, found a nice quiet spot and settled in. You know what, it was quite pleasant. I needed some piece and quiet after my ordeal at JC Penney's, bad customer service, but that is a story for another time. I ate my four cheese grilled cheese and tomato bisque and completely enjoyed myself. Don't ask me why I have never eaten alone, I just have never had the desire to do so. Eating to me is a social event that you share with another person. Because I enjoyed it does this mean I am getting old? Uh oh. Now, do I plan to do this on a regular basis? No, but hey, I conquered that mountain. Now I need to go to a movie by myself. Again, I see this as a social event. Don't get me wrong, I do plenty of things by myself, arrive at social gatherings, shop, etc, but there are just a few things I have not done by myself. I am quite proud of myself.
  What has been your something new lately?

Hugs!!!

Happy Birthday, Princess

 So the princess turns is 14 today. Hard to comprehend. Time really does fly. Happy Birthday, sweetheart!

 So when I asked princess what she wanted to do for her birthday she said she wanted to have a party. Now, I am thinking a few close girl friends for a sleepover or pizza and movies. No, she wanted a full blown out, boy/girl party. I knew hubby was going out of town, but big brother would be here, so I figured why not? She invited everyone through Instagram. Yes, you read correctly. Instagram. I was a bit nervous with this, but thought it will be fine. Getting closer to the day of the party, which was this past Friday night, I only knew of 7 guests for sure. Awesome. Good number to handle. Well, party time was 7:00 pm, food was ready, drinks were ready and music was cued up ready to go. At about 6:45, the first guests showed up and they kept coming until about 7:30. Well, I stopped counting when the number hit 26. I did not want to know after that. Yikes! We had all sorts of kids here. I thought, it will still be fine as they were hanging outside on the carport. The music was blaring and everyone was having a great time.

Of course, at about 8:15 it started thundering and lightening and the party was brought inside. 

 Wow! Teenagers are really loud. I mean, really loud. A couple of the kids even commented on the noise level. They asked me if I minded the noise and I said everyday, yes, for one night, no. Pictured above is everyone singing happy birthday to princess. That was really awesome and I wish I had a video. Princess does not like being the center of attention, but everyone insisted she get in the middle so they could sing to her. They then had a silly string fight, in the house. I started to stop, but they were having so much fun, I figured why not? Silly string is easy to clean up by the way. Just let it dry first. The next portion of the evening was the glow light dance party. 

 I bought some glow bracelets and necklaces for everyone to wear and they thought it would be cool to turn all the lights off, clear the furniture, crank the music and start dancing.

 I took this one with the flash on so you could see what was going on in my living room! So much fun. They even let me join in! Thank goodness there are no photos of that. Thankfully about 9:45 it stopped raining so I kicked everyone out again. It was getting way too stuffy and club like in my house. It was now time for Truth or Dare. I set down a few rules, such as no Ding Dong Ditching. I have fabulous neighbors who tolerated the dance party going on at the house, so I did not want to press my luck. Believe it or not, at this point I sat down and started reading. I sorta spied on the goings on outside just to make sure everything was running smoothly, of course. 

This is one of my favorite photos of the night. The girl on the right is one of my favorite people ever as is her fabulous momma. The guy in the middle I had the pleasure of meeting that night and he is a doll.

 Finally, about 10:30, everyone started to leave, but not before we got the obligatory group photo.

 Some people had already gone home at this point, but you get the idea. It was a fabulous party. Everyone was well behaved and super sweet. 

 So, Happy Birthday again, Princess!  Love you

Hugs

Meet Wally

  Happy Tuesday!  Let me introduce Wally:

  Wally is the newest member of the Francis/Bosch household. The Little Rock Humane Society posted a photo of this handsome guy on their facebook page 2 weeks ago. Hubby and I went straight from work, fell in love and took him home. He was, according to the shelter, abandoned in the parking lot of the shelter. They call them drive bys at the shelter. Poor guy. He turned one in June so he is still technically a puppy. He is part basset hound and part corgi. As you can see in the pics, he is a cuddler. He loves all of us, sometimes a bit too much, but that is not me complaining. He loves to go on walks and is almost fully house trained. We have not taken him to the dog park, but that will come soon. Anyway, meet our awesome boy, Wally. He is the best!

Hugs!!!!

Hugs

  I love hugs.  Getting and receiving.  I read an article that we need at least 8 hugs in one day. Hugs can help to heal sickness, depression, loneliness, anxiety, and stress. Now you need a proper hug, not one of those side to side hug. You need one of those hugs that press heart to heart. The article listed 10 reasons why we need hugs. I am going to paraphrase.
1.   Sense of safety
2.   Hugs instantly boost oxytocin levels which heals feelings of isolation, anger, and stress. Next time you get upset, go hug someone. Not necessarily the person you are upset with, but hey, you never know what may happen.
3.   Holding a hug for longer releases serotonin levels which creates happiness.
4.   It strengthens the immune system.
5.   It boosts self esteem. We associate hugs with self worth and hugging stimulates our tactile sensations.
6.   It relaxes muscles and tension in the body.
7.   It balances out the nervous system.
8.   It teaches you how to give and receive
9.   It teaches us to let go and live in the moment.
10. It encourages empathy and understanding.

  "So four hugs a day for survival, eight hugs a day for maintenance and 12 hugs a day for growth".  I am definitely going for the 12 how about you?

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-5756/10-Reasons-Why-We-Need-at-Least-8-Hugs-a-Day.html

Hugs!!!!

It's only Wednesday

  Oh my!  It is only Wednesday.  This has been a long, but fun week.  Our company's annual user conference was this week and it has been fun, yet exhausting.  I have met some fabulous people from all over the United States and have experienced cool stuff that Little Rock has to offer.  Sunday night started our welcome reception at Dizzy's.  Hubby and I have been there before, but it was a wonderful cocktail reception with yummy food.  Monday kicked off the conference and luckily I got to attend and not plan or put it on.  That is awesome hubby's job.  He is on the marketing team and does a fantastic job.  For the last 3 days I have heard from our clients how wonderful my hubby is.  And I'm like, I know, right?  He is wonderful.  Monday night we headed out on the Mark Twain for a lovely and relaxing riverboat cruise with our clients.  Go do this.  It really is relaxing and the Arkansas river offers beautiful views.  Last night we headed out to Prost.  The food was decent, but the staff was super friendly so that makes up for the decent food.  To clarify, I want food to be outstanding.  We ended the night with some karaoke and fun dancing.  Yes, there was wobbling.  What is wobbling?  Google it. So, tonight, I am at home and ready for bed at 7:30 pm. Sad, huh?  I guess I am not in my 20's anymore.

  Saturday we are headed to tour the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville with Jake.  Our original plan was to be in Raleigh to watch my niece play soccer, but unfortunately we had a super expensive car repair come up and had to cancel.  I thought we had told everyone our trip was cancelled, but I guess we forgot the youngest stepson.  Although I swear we talked about it at dinner.  I do hate when we forget to tell the kid's things. Princess says I do it all the time and the sad thing is, she is probably right. Oh well.  We are not perfect. Anyway, back to trip. This tour is for Senior students only and we are touring the actual school that he is interested in, the College of Health Sciences. We are going to be served lunch so I am guessing it is an all day affair. It starts at 8:30 am so we are going up the night before. Jake is going to stay with his dad in Bella Vista and they are going to meet hubby and I at the school. I know I have said this before, but I am so glad that we all get along. Hubby and ex-hubby get along well. It really does make things easier. But, men are so much less drama, usually and hubby is so easy going that it does not surprise me. I am looking forward to this tour as the U of A is in our top choices. I still can't believe my baby is off to college soon. Sniff sniff.

  I am signing off now. I am about to turn into a pumpkin. Hey, wait! Are you on myfitnesspal? Friend me. Hubby and I have been taking daily walks and I would love to connect with you.

Hugs!