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Mary Mary Quite Contrary...

So this summer I finally decided to put in real effort to grow some flowers on my back deck.  I planted several impatients, a fuchsia hanging basket, and another small blue flower that was supposed to grow well in shade.  I don't get hardly any sun on my back porch since it is a) covered, b) faces south, c) I am not an end townhouse so the homes on both sides of me block whatever East/West sun we get.

Holy moly did I not realize what could happen with a little miracle grow, water, and the right plant.  The Impatients have almost outgrown all of my pots!  They are so tall and have tons of blooms on them, even now in late August and I planted them in May.  The fuchsia plants was beautiful for several weeks as well, but has since stopped blooming.  The poor little blue flowers I planted were pushed out/killed by the impatients, but looked really good in the pot for about 2 weeks before that happened....

I always thought I always had a black thumb, but I guess I was just trying too hard to grow the wrong flowers that wanted too much sun in my dark sunless little space....

Here's to next summer with better pots, more impatients, and I think I will plant more of the little blue flowers again if I can find them (even tho I cannot remember the name)

Friday Night Shenanigans

Why Fit In When You Were Born to Stand Out?  ~ Dr. Seuss

A couple of weeks ago I got to hang out with two of the coolest kids I know.  We always have a great time when we get together - and of course they love spoiling my cats, but most of all they give me the greatest hope.

Hope that innocence does still exist, laughter, joy, and being carefree.  I enjoy seeing their eyes light up when we find something new to do that is so simple and does nothing more than allow me to spend quality time with them.  I love hearing them talk about how they get to drink pop with dinner (sorry MOM) and eat 2 sweets for dessert (again - sorry MOM); the excitement and happiness is just so darn contagious! 

Two weeks ago we went to Pizza Street for dinner - where both kids had Mountain Dew with dinner :) and then we went to paint pottery at the Ceramic Cafe.
We had the place all to ourselves at 7pm on Friday evening and we had a great time.  Jacob and Jessica both painted cups and I painted a plate.  Jacob talked and talked and talked the entire time - told me all about his design why he chose what he chose and how much fun he was having.  The owner of the shop also had her puppy there so that added some excitement to our outing

After hanging out at the pottery place for a little over 2 hours we headed back to my house - or Club Lauren as Jessi and Jacob call it - and watched a very very silly movie on Netflix, ate popcorn, and of course snuggled with the kitties.  

Saturday morning we hopped up kind of early and hit Dunkin Donuts for an early morning treat....I apologized several times for returning them to their mother hopped up on sugar!

I do love hanging out with such good kids - I really need to do it more often!!!

Here are a few more pictures from our night!  Jake managed to get glaze on his face somehow.....

Jessica's creation:

Jacob's sports fanatic mug:

My beach inspired plate - guess I was in a Hawaiian mood that night (our before and after firing in the kiln shots):

2010-2013....Time Flys When You're Having Fun

How in the world have 3 years gone by since my last post?  What have I been doing...well let's see if I can catch up tonight and then vow to keep up slightly better than I have been (that shouldn't be too difficult, even one post a year would do that!)

2010:  I finished MBA School, I had my tonsils out, Mom & Dad moved into their new house
2011:  I started my new job at Hooper Holmes, we went to Yellow Stone National Park
2012:  Went to Puerto Rico; I changed jobs and move to KU as a Pulmonary Nurse Coordinator
2013:  Went to Italy; went to visit Kaylan in Ohio; still trucking along with a lot to go on this year!

Turning Over a New Leaf

All I ever wanted really, and continue to want out of life, is to give 100 percent to whatever I'm doing and to be committed to whatever I'm doing and then let the results speak for themselves. Also to never take myself or people for granted and always be thankful and grateful to the people who helped me.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Hello world!!

  So it's been several, I mean several months since my last post and I decided recently I was going to try really hard to write more regularly about things that are going on in my life.  Things that make me smile on a daily basis, things that make me say hmmm, or just things that I enjoy and want to remember.

  My goal is to write almost every day - every day is just unrealistic for me ha ha!  With each post I will include a quote to go with the theme for whatever the post is about, and I will try to have a picture or two as often as possible.

  So thank you for stopping by to read tonight.  Tonight, I need to celebrate something in my life that makes me smile every day.  My kitties.  While I know many people thing this is silly, but I don't know what I would do without the fur balls in my life.  Every day when I get home from work they are so happy to see me - yes probably because they just want to eat - but hey I will take the love wherever I can get it.
  I got Lily almost 8 years ago basically as a birthday present.  We'd recently bought our house in college and I wanted a cat so badly.  Dad did not want to give in for weeks, but the weekend of my birthday I found an ad for a calico kitten in the Lawrence paper.  He FINALLY said yes, and I couldn't wait to go get her even though the lady told me the "short-haired" kitten didn't have any personality and I probably didn't want her.  That just made me want her even more - and I have never felt so badly for an animal when the lady shoved her into my arms at 2.5lbs by the scruff of her neck than I did when she handed me Lily.  I chose Lily because of how green her eyes were - she is named after Harry Potter's mom, because in the books it described her as having incredible green eyes.  She shook in my arms the whole way home and immediately fell asleep when I got back to the house and she's been my 15lb. buddy ever since.
  Lily isn't the most friendly cat - she doesn't want to love on everyone that comes in the door, but she loves me.  She likes to be with me and snuggle with me and not always on my lap but that's okay.  She's still my first kitty and will always have a very special place in my heart.
 Riley has been part of our little family for a little over 2 years.  I had been talking about getting a second cat for awhile.  I had a couple of requirements though - I really wanted another calico and I really didn't want a newborn kitten because I wasn't really sure how Lily would react since she'd been an only cat in the house for 6 years.  Well fate must have been screaming at me because a friend of my mom's found this roughly 1 year old kitten on the side of the road that had been hit by a car.  She was cute as a button, tiny as could be, and perfectly okay from the accident minus a few scatches and a couple of broken teeth.  My mom's friend couldn't keep her because several of them were allergic to cats, and she was trying to give her away when my mom texted me.  I decided to give it a trial and see how Lily did and then would go from there...well I wasn't going to keep her because Lily was just not tolerating it, but when I heard she might have to go to the pound she instantly became part of our family - nameless but part of the family.  I probably had her about 6 weeks before she became something other than tiny kitty.  (She only weighed about 4lbs)  But finally because she was just a little "off" after being run over, yet she was still pretty smart - I named her Riley after the character in National Treasure who is too smart for his own good, but says some really stupid things sometimes.  And after a few ups and downs, here we are 2.5 years later.
  They entertain me on a regular basis.  I never know what crazy thing they are going to decide is a good idea for the day.  For instance last night - Riley decided that climbing in and out of an empty box was fun and she did this for over 2 hours....just like a human kid.
  Lily does tricks - she can sit on command and she says "please" for treats.  
  They are cats - yes I understand that, but for now they are my friends, my pets, my kids, and I love them.  They don't always get along, but we are working on that regularly.  We can now all 3 be on the bed, and on the same end of the bed, as long as I am in the middle without too much growling.  They always know when to crawl onto my lap to make me feel better, or rub against my legs when I am busy to remind me it's okay to take a break.  So because they are both sitting here staring at me wanting to play...

Happy 8th Birthday to Lily and Happy "3rd" Birthday to Riley (I have to guess when hers is based on the fact when I first got her in February the vet thought she was about 6 months old 2.5 years ago)