wicked.

On our 3rd anniversary this past Wednesday night, we went to see "Wicked" with my parents.

It was so good! Ty and I were both in plays and musicals throughout high school, so we always really enjoy going to shows like this. It's definitely a show I'd like to see again some day! Thanks for the tickets Mom and Dad!

I also wanted to share our anniversary gift from my parents. My mom painted this sign for us, made from an old table-top. Ever since we've been dating, our little catch-line has always been "Forever and ever, amen." We've always said it to each other, and I even had it engraved on the inside of Ty's wedding ring. It was sweet of my mom to remember, and make this awesome sign for us...now I just need to decide just where I want to hang it!

It was a great anniversary. 3 years has gone so fast! I love you Tylan!

xoxo, wife.

the yard.

Ty has been working really hard on our yard so far this year.

I'm not much of a "work outside in the yard and get all dirty" kind of girl, so he's taken the initiative to get our yard looking nicer this year...and I've taken the pictures.

 These are 4 blueberry bushes.

 These are the two raised garden beds Ty built. There's all kinds of stuff in here including kale, lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries and other stuff.

 Here's the regular garden, which doesn't look like much right now, because I don't think there's too much planted in it yet. We're planning on putting up a fence later on in the summer, and we'll put the fence in front of this garden, so it won't be as much of an eye-sore.  To get to the garden, you'll have to go through a gate at the back of the yard.

These are two baby cherry trees.

This is our anniversary gift from Ty's parents. It's a Blooming Pear tree, and we can't wait for it to grow bigger and get its awesome shape and flowers!

And, since I'm not sure if I've ever shown pictures of our patio area and shed, I thought I'd include some of those as well. 

We had the patio put in 2 summers ago, and last year Ty and his dad built the brick path you see leading up to it. And don't be alarmed by the ugly grass-less patches in front of the patio. We're trying to get some grass to grow there!

I love our shed and think it's so stinking cute! We had it built last summer and my mom painted it. 

So that's the update as of right now. We (or should I say Ty) have a lot more plans for this space of ours in the coming years including more landscaping, the fence, a pergola over the patio, a hammock, etc. It certainly won't all happen this year, but I'll keep you updated as little things get finished here and there.

xoxo, wife.

the adventures of bubba.

I got a frantic phone call from Ty after work the other day.
"Babe? Bubba's not in the house. I've looked everywhere...he's not inside."

My heart dropped.
This is NOT an outdoor cat.
He's declawed.
And if he's not in the house, that means he's been out there ALL DAY.

I dropped everything I was doing and flew home.
On my drive I was thinking of all the possible bad things that could happen to him.
This cat is my baby!

My only hope was that he hadn't gone far.
He's normally pretty skittish if we bring him outside on the deck, so I thought maybe he might still be close.
I was afraid that if he HAD gone far, we'd never see him again.

So I pulled into the driveway, jumped out of the car, and ran around the outside of the house calling for him. Under our deck in the back yard is my uncle's old four wheeler, sitting under a cover. I called for Bubba again and heard him meow.

Thank goodness! He was under the four wheeler! While I was pulling the cover up, he was hissing and growling, and I honestly thought I was going to get attacked. But I stuck my hand in, and in a few seconds, he was rubbing his head on my hand. I reached in and grabbed him, hugged his guts out, and took him inside to call Ty, who was canvassing the neighborhood.

We were so grateful he was ok.

And he was DEFINITELY ok. After about 10 minutes at the water bowl, he lounged around the rest of the night as if the whole thing had never happened.
No big deal.

I decided to test him later, by opening the back door.
I figured he wouldn't go within a mile of that door ever again.
He walked right outside.
Again, no big deal.

We don't know for sure when he slipped out. It was either in the morning before Ty left for work, or the night before, when we went to bed. Either way, he was outside for more than 10 hours.

I now watch him like a hawk.

and then we realized we were grownups.

I met this girl when I was 12. I had just moved to a new school and it was my first day of Junior High. Lauren was in a few of my classes, and invited me to sit with her at lunch. Since then, we've had lots of memories together.

Then, a few years ago, she was in my wedding.

And now, 13 years after we met, I went to her baby shower today. 

And while I was there, watching her open her gifts, I thought back to everything we've been through together.

Plays and musicals.

Football games.

Movie Nights.

Tennis matches.

Proms.

Breakups.

Bowling parties.

Swimming parties.

Road trips.

Lunch room conversations.

High school graduation.

2 weddings.

Her mother's death.

And now her baby shower.

While she was showing me her son's nursery, it just hit us. We're 25. We're both married now. We've both begun our careers, and now she's having a baby. We're officially grownups. We've been friends for 13 years. And no, we don't get together as often as we'd like. But when we do, we pick right up where we left off. We're so blessed to still be in each other's lives at this point, when so many other friendships have fallen away through the years.

 I can't wait to meet her new little bundle of joy in 7 weeks. He's gonna have an amazing Momma.

boo boo.

The scene: In the hall outside the bathroom before lunch. Little boy walks out of the bathroom and comes up to me.

Boy: Uh...Mrs. Miller? I just boo boo-ed on myself.

Me: (appalled that we're at the END of kindergarten and this kid just "boo boo-ed" on himself) You WHAT?!

Boy: I boo boo-ed on myself.

Me: But you were IN the bathroom.

Boy: I know.

Me: Well what were you doing in there?

Boy: I was peein'...and I didn't really know I had to boo boo. But I did, and so I just boo boo-ed on myself while I was peein'.

Me: (now beginning to smell the "boo boo") Do you have extra clothes in your backpack?

Boy: No.

Of course not. So then I had to write a note to the nurse explaining that my almost-first-grader POOPED his pants. Then instead of just bringing him an extra set of clothes to change into, his mom came and TOOK HIM HOME! Are you kidding?! It was only 10:30!

Note: This same boy peed his pants the very next day. Perhaps he thought he'd get another day off.
Those lucky first grade teachers have some issues coming their way in August.