Technical Difficulties--Please Stand By

I'm having some technical difficulties on this here blog, so you'll just have to please hold yer britches until I figure out what's going on. Luckily this evening I was able to log in and get onto my blog, but for the past several days I haven't...so, I'm hoping tonight is a sign that things are back on track. I did get a little worried because apparently my email account sent out spam emails to everyone I've ever sent an email to. Sorry if you got one...I DO NOT endorse Canadian pharmacies or 2nd hand drug dealers.

I've got some new things (maybe I should say new thing) in store, so you will want to stay tuned.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Our Trip to the U.S. Open/Monterey

As I said in my last post, WM and I recently went to California to go to the U.S. Open (won by an Irishman, thankyouverymuch!) and I told you I'd do a post on it. So to keep you from being bored to tears, I'll just give you a few pics from our trip. First off, please note there are no photos from Pebble Beach, that's because cell phones and cameras aren't allowed on the golf course during the tournament, so I can't show the the breathtaking views from Pebble or how close I got to A LOT of the golfers--including (barf) Tiger Woods--whom I wanted to flick his ear as he walked by and mumble "jerk" under my breath, but I used my manners and smiled and did a polite nod. WM and I found a great spot to stand and were about 1' from the players as they made their way to the #3 tee box. Seriously, we were close enough I could have given each one a swat on the bottom as they passed by. But I didn't.

Anyway, Pebble was beautiful...here's a stock photo of #7...

The view from our hotel room of Monterey Bay (we stayed in Monterey).
Sunset at Carmel-by-the-Sea. Beautiful (my photo doesn't give it justice).
Half Moon Bay.
Lighthouse at Half Moon Bay.
Jeff Clark's Surf Shop (if you don't know who Jeff Clark is, Google him, I won't explain here).
Mavericks (a famous surf spot--dang it, that would be coooooold water to surf in).
These cool dinosaur sculptures we saw along the roadside.
WM fighting a spinosaurus. My Patrick flipped his lid when he saw this pic (remember, he's a preschool paleontologist).
Entrance to Stanford University. Beautiful, go there if you're in Palo Alto, Ca.
I don't know. This was on my camera when I downloaded the photos from our trip. She's wack!
We had a wonderful time. My only complain was that it was really quite chilly out there. The warmest it got was our first day there...a whopping 65°, most of the time it was in the mid to upper 50's. It was beautiful though. If you haven't been to the Monterey Bay area, you should go (though I hear the best weather is in Sept/Oct).

What Would You Rather Do? Wednesday-Ocean View

This is going to be super quick...as you know we (that being WM and I) just got back from a long weekend away. (It was great...a post is coming soon on it). But for now I've got piles of laundry to continue doing, a house that needs my attention, a book to finish before my book club get together and three kids to take to the pool for a couple hours. So, here's a quickie one for ya....

What Would You Rather Do?

Visit the west coast (Pacific ocean)

or

Visit the east coast (Atlantic ocean).

Those are your only two choices, don't tell me you'd rather go to Fiji or Bora Bora or Thailand--that's not what I asked. You have two choices...the Pacific coast of the U.S. or the Atlantic coast of the U.S.

Let's hear it!

FORE!

I love my husband.

I love him very, very much.

My husband loves golf.

I don't really mind him golfing year round, that's not what bothers me.

This does.

Am I the only one who thinks this is a little excessive? That would be 7 (seven/siete/sept) woods--though they don't really make 'wood' woods anymore, those are metal/titanium/graphite, you know what I'm talking about. (There's one you can't really see behind that Jayhawk head cover thing).

Oh, look...there's another one in our coat closet!

**Ahem** the garage.

Have a mentioned that I love my husband! I really do!

But from now on, I will not put up with comments about how many shoes I have.

That would be pot calling the kettle black.

(Oh, I think I'm going to get him a new driver for Father's Day. NOT)!!!

Awards Season?

My sister-in-law, Korinne, gave me the above award, so now I have to be all responsible and do a post TWO DAYS IN A ROW!

Anyone out there?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Buehler?

Oh good grief...so I'm supposed to tell you 10 things about me that you probably don't know. Hmmm, I'm full of all sorts of secrets, so this shouldn't be hard. Not really. There's probably not much you don't know. But here's my best shot at it...

1. I had braces--twice. Yes, my teeth were THAT jacked up. (Round 1 was in Jr. High, Round 2 was in high school/early college. Thank you parents for ruining my photos for about 9 years).

2. I turned **ahem** forty twenty nine this year and I don't wear glasses or contacts or reading glasses or any of the such. I just pretty much have bionic eyes.

3. My lifelong dream was to be a Rockette. I think I could've done it. I mean, have you seen how long my legs are? (I'm 5'10" for those of you who haven't met me IRL). Seriously, I should've given it a go. I settled with being a cheerleader/pom in high school/college.

4. I love to fly like nobody's business. I got it from my dad (a retired pilot). One day I will have my pilot's license.

5. On that note...I want to sky dive. I don't know...just sounds fun.

6. Here's one with TMI...I'm a baby-havin' machine. My labors were super easy, super short and all three were born with 1 push (except Katie--I had to push 3 times with her). My ob/gyn said my labors were "textbook."

7. I think some of you know this, but I'm freakishly, deathly afraid of going to the dentist. As in, need drugs for a simple cleaning. It's a true phobia. (Freaks me out just talking about it).

8. There is nothing I love more than ironed sheets. I don't have the time to do it anymore, but when the little Lams get older, I'll be back to it. Especially pillowcases. Crisp sheets--oh yeah.

9. When I was in 6th grade I wore jeans and a red turtleneck to school almost everyday. I don't remember it, but mom says it's true.

10. I'm Irish.

Maybe you already knew some of those.

Now I'm supposed to award this to some other bloggers out there. So, here are a few that I think you should visit.

Howell-ings of a Wanna Be Housewife...she's a new bloggie friend that I love reading about her life. She's funny and relateable.

The Manning Memo...okay, this my dear, sweet friend (who is like a little sister to me) who just had her 2nd baby, like, a week ago, so she totally won't do this, but I'm hoping it prompts her to post pics of her precious little Ellie on her blog. And I need some Jackie Jack love, too!

Dawn's Diversions...this is a bloggie friend who I met IRL once, but she was suddenly called away during our party because of an unfortunate accident with her daughter (it involved teeth and going to the dentist, so to spare myself the heebie jeebies, let's leave it at that). But Dawn has funny, crazy stories and is just as sweet as a bug! You'll love her! I do!!!

The Potter Family...this is a teacher at Katie's school who is so super sweet that you just want to scoop her up and put her in your pocket. You've got to go visit her site to see her precious kids and read her amazing adoption story. It is heart warming and heart breaking at the same time, but God was at work in her life and now she has two absolutely precious children who you'll fall in love with when you see them. Go visit her...tell her I sent ya!

And, of course, Yogi...the only guy blogger I follow. What fun to read a male's viewpoint on things. He's witty, serious, funny, sarcastic...all at the same time. He's great!

So, now you 5 recipients are supposed to do a little getting to know the unknown thing...so go forth my fine bloggie friends...reveal yourselves.

Thankful Thursday

I normally don't do a Thursday Thankful Five, or Five Thursday Thanks, or Thankful Five Thursday, or, or, or, you know what I mean. But I've been reading Kristin's and Dawn's lately and I decided that it's time I give it a try. I'm so very, very thankful for the things in my life, so why not put it on paper the screen.

So here are the Five Things that make me

Happy

Joyful

Blessed

Cheerful

Thankful

1. My precious, wonderful family...my husband, WM, who provides for us and gives us a stable, loving home. My three little kiddos, who by all means are not perfect, but they are perfect to me (wrestling matches, screaming feuds, dirty diapers and all). Love them.

2. That I get to stay home with my kiddos. I'm thankful to get to spend my days looking at them instead of a computer screen and office supplies.

3. My daughter's school and our church (which go together). Besides the top notch education she (and eventually Patrick and Josie) receives at school, I'm thankful that our faith and God is interwoven into everything they do. I'm especially thankful for the new friends that I have gained this year through my daughter's class. I'm so blessed to have these women in my life and I know that we will be lifelong friends (you know how you just know, something just feels right about the friendship? That's what's going on with this group of friends).

4. The little vacation that WM and I have coming up to Pebble Beach, CA. Without kids! Yikes! I'm thankful to be able to just get to hang out with my hubs without the constant interruptions. (and I will be especially thankful if our Florida family vacation doesn't have to be cancelled later this summer).

5. And mostly, I'm thankful for my faith in God and what He has provided me. He will never leave me and even when I'm feeling alone and at my wits end, I know that God is there with me.

I'll try to do some more of these Thankful Thursday things because I think it's important to remember to be thankful, even if for the small things, in our lives.

Go HERE to see more!

The Good Mother

A nice mommy would not take photos....

...of her VERY ticked off 2 year old...

...and think it's funny.

No...a nice mommy wouldn't do that.

McLinky Monday--Who was I from 1984-1988?

Who Were You in High School?

Ok, this is a totally embarrassing photo (what's with the teeth? I had braces, but had the front ones taken off for photos...so they are...um...uck. Nice backlighting, so 1988). I told Dawn that if I could come up with a high school photo of me, I'd do a McLinky Monday. Well, everything is available on the web...even old high school photos. I know it seems weird that I don't have any high school photos of me here at my home...but all that stuff is in a big trunk at my mom's house in my old room.

Anyway, here's the abbreviated version of who I was. In high school, who I was should be answered by those who I went to school with, but here's the best with I've got about...me. I had lots of girlfriends that I "cruised" around with (keep in mind that my hometown has a population of about 4,000--small--not much to do). My senior year, I had a boyfriend, but he was from another near-by small town and was involved in sports and what not at his school, so there were many weekends that we didn't get to see each other and just talked on the phone. Remember when we used to do that...talk on the phone, that was connected by a wire, to a wall in our homes, so that if someone else tried to call they got a busy signal? Remember those old days...when high school boyfriends/girlfriends had relationships not via texting??

Anyway, I had lots of friends. I would say I was popular. Like I said, my hometown was small, so everyone was pretty much friends with everyone. Everyone's parents knew each other...there was definitely a higher level of accountability in my hometown beyond just your parents. Which was a good thing and a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. Looking back...I say it's a good thing...kept us out of trouble.

I was a cheerleader all 4 years. I was on the golf team, in various clubs, student council, etc., etc.

So, that's who I was in high school wrapped up in a nutshell. I liked high school, but I certainly didn't loooooove it and don't look back at high school as the 'best times of my life.' But it was fun and I have life long friends from high school (though most of my friends from my hometown are friends that were from when I was an itty bitty girl). I went to my 10 year HS reunion, it was ok. I didn't go to my 20 year reunion, it seemed a little unorganized and didn't give me enough time to re-schedule our summer plans.

Oh, the details...almost forgot. I went to Kingman High School (Kingman, Ks.) and graduated in 1988.

Now....McLinky, if you want some good pics, ask about college...I've got all sorts of sorority party pics! ;)

Perfect Pairings--Matthew 18:20

Haven't done a Perfect Pairing in awhile. I realize that everyone has used this verse, but I love it and it's completely appropriate for this photo. This photo was taken last weekend when my sister and I drove up to Kansas to go to my uncle's memorial service (I'll blog about my uncle another time so you can get a glimpse of his amazing life). God was most definitely there with us on this day.

For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them. --Matthew 18:20

Who are these people?

L to R: Korinne (my sister-in-law), Nick (my brother), me (me), Bonnie (my step-mom), my dad (his name is Mike, but I call him dad, so I wrote "dad"), Laura (my cousin), Amy (my sister), Michael (my brother), Jenny (my sister-in-law).

Amy and I drove up and back to Hutchinson, Ks together in one day to go to the memorial service, to spare our children A LOT of driving, we left them at home with our husbands, that's why they aren't in the pic.

What Would You Rather Do? Wednesday-Ouch!

In honor of my recent injury, I'll pose this question for you for What Would You Rather Do? Wednesday.

Would you rather have:

A broken leg

or

A broken nose (with that big bandage thing wrapped all around your face/nose for weeks)

Just to clarify...I did not break anything, but thought maybe I had.

Happy Wednesday!