A Day Like This Was Needed

I needed this day.  It was a day filled with joy.  With fun. A bit of pride and relieve and forgiveness.  It gives me hope that valleys aren't always as deep as I make them seem.

Lately, my sweet little world has been a mix of frustration and worry.  It was just about to turn from frusturating into overwhelming but then this day happened.  It started out a bit rough.  And didn't seem to be on the track to get better...but it did!  And I'm grateful!  John and I met up with my sister and spent the day at Disneyland.  Yesterday was by-far the best day I've ever had at Disneyland!  I was sad that Matthew couldn't be there to see John enjoy DLand in a way he never had before, but he was busy killing it at work!  I am so proud of him (more on that in a minute)!

We did so much.  Enjoyed all the musical shows in Disney California and met lots of characters.  All of which John seemed to love...especially Mickey. We also got to enjoy Disney's Halloween Carnival where John got to spend some special one on one time with Mickey.  Seriously.  Mickey walked right up to John and they hugged, kissed and John spent a lot of time honking Mickeys nose.  It was precious and I have no pictures to show...but that moment is one I won't soon forget!

Anyway, my day at Disney in photos:

So, obviously, my day was amazing.  But it gets better!  We came home and John officially started saying "mama" and even though he's been walking for awhile he has finally learned to stand up without any help from me or the furniture!  So proud of my boy!  I put the baby down to bed, ordered a pizza for dinner, it arrived before Matthew did from work so I dug in and ate while I watched Parks and Rec.  Aaahhh, sweet relaxation.  Matthew finally comes homes (with surprise! A slurpee for me!) and tells me he is killing it in his recent promotion to lead and is the only lead being trained for supervisor.  I love that man and how awesome he is at his job.  So proud of my main squeeze.

Yep.  A day like this was so needed.

Just Love Giveaway!

Ya'll...I've been slacking on this post for awhile.  Everytime I sit down to write to you I blank.  I almost never find myself at a loss for words, rambling is what I'm good at.  But I've written and deleted this post a few times and I never feel like I have explained just how awesome Lisa and her family truly are and I'm afraid I won't do them justice.  So I've finally sat down...and just wrote!!!


This is my friend Lisa and her beautiful family.

 Yep, they're pretty much the cutest.  You can read about her at her blog Just Love:127.  But in a nutshell...that's her husband and those are their two beautiful children.  Both of them are adopted, just in case you're wondering.  But, their is one member of their family who is not pictured here.  His name is Myles and he is currently living in Ethiopia while he waits for his forever family to come and bring him home forever.  Yep!  Myles has already met his new mommy and daddy and the Maxfield family is waiting only to travel to Ethiopia and bring home their newest addition!  So, with all that said, they are busy waiting and busy raising the last of the funds needed to bring Myles home & I am asking you to be a part of their story!!!  You can do that a number of ways.  Obviously, PRAY.  God can move mountains, do the impossible & plant money trees in their backyard to help pay for this adoption.  If God does in fact, plant a money tree, I will make sure to not let you know since I will be busy flying myself to Lisa's house to steal said money tree.  Secondly, you can do some shopping at her Etsy shop!  There is nothing more fun than buying yourself (or a friend!) a little something special all the while knowing you are changing the world!  Not to mention, she is having a sale!  So, shop, save money, change the world.  Amazing, right?  If you use the code GETHOME at checkout you will save 25%!!! 

And lastly, you can donate!  Lisa and I have teamed up and are giving you the chance to win two awesome items!  You can win this necklace straight from Lisa's shop

and you can win this breezy Ikat scarf from the Noonday collection!

 

Enter below!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Summer Bucketlist!

I guess it's been awhile, ya?  I pretty much got way too busy to blog.  I all of a sudden got "end of summer guilt" and spent most of my time trying to keep John and I outdoors, in pools and enjoying all that Southern California has to offer.  It was amazing.  Up until this stupid heat wave hit and our home became more like a torture chamber and we all fought over fans (since we don't have air conditioning) and who got to sit next to the living room windows.  Now, I say, I hate you summer.  Go away.

Anywho, with all that said, I thought with fall just around the corner it would be a good time to check over my Summer Bucketlist and see what I accomplished!  You can check out the original post here, but a quick review:

The Rules

-95% of the items on my Bucketlist must be extremely inexpensive or free 

-everything we do must be located in Orange County, California.

 

...and here is my list

 

The More Adventurous To-Do

-Go to the Orange County Fair  (done!)

-See a concert in a park

-Visit the Marine Mammal Rehabilitation Center( done!)

-Make a traditional Ugandan dinner

-Sea Saturdays at the Ocean Institute 

-Go to an Angels game

-Visit the Balboa Fun Zone

-Play at the Santa Ana Zoo (done!)

-Splash around at the Splash Pad @ Irvine Spectrum

-Have a tasty treat at Farrell's ice cream

-Play at Atlantis Park

-Watch "World of Color" at Disneyland's CA Adventure

-Do some grocery shopping at the Farmer's Market

Personal To-Do

-Make grown up Popsicles (must be 21+ to enjoy!)

-Re-read Love and Respect

-Plan a date night (done!)

-Spend an entire day by myself at the beach/pool

 

 Basically...I totally failed at my summer bucketlist.  A lot of these I didn't even try to do...well, basically, I didn't try to do any of these after awhile, but I made some other awesome memories instead so I can't say that I'm too upset (or surprised) by myself at all.  Anyway, I am ready for fall & all the things that come along with it so maybe I'll just change the summer bucketlist to the "fall bucketlist" subtract the splash pad and add in a pumpkin patch and I'll just keep on goin!!!