Warmer Days

What a busy Spring it's been so far! I can't believe May is practically half over. I'm so thankful that the weather is finally warming up and I don't have to freeze while working outside. :)

At the end of March Chris and I spent 6 nights & 7 days in one of our favorite places - Pigeon Forge, Tennessee! We had such a nice, relaxing time and it was bittersweet to come home. We visited Cades Cove for the first time and that was such a beautiful drive. Definitely recommend that one to anyone visiting the area. As always, we returned home with new memories very much looking forward to returning there again hopefully sooner rather than later. :) We just never get tired of that place! If you've never been, don't judge us but rather go experience it for yourself. It's funny how you just can't accurately describe that vacation spot to anyone that hasn't ever been there. Anyone who's been there knows what I'm talking about though!!  

April was a whirlwind for me. Garden work and yard clean up have had me in high gear. I also started scheming up ways to surprise my husband for his 30th birthday which was May 3rd. Neither Chris or I are big party people but I decided to do some special things to help Chris ring in his 30's in several memorable, fun ways! All in all I'd say the weekend was a success and I'm so thankful for everyone who helped me carry out some crazy ideas. Since his birthday was a Friday, I contacted my cousin & brother-in-law Chad (weird, I know) who happens to ALSO be Chris' boss and he helped me work it out that we could SURPRISE Chris with a day off work! It was pretty hilarious because Chris does payroll among many other things which he used to do every Friday. Well, if he didn't know he was going to be gone that Friday, no one would get paychecks! So -- Chad being the genius that he is, came up with an excuse two weeks prior that would make Chris start doing payroll on Thursdays instead just so that he wouldn't get suspicious and paychecks would still go out that week. It worked like a charm! Needless to say when I surprised Chris Thursday evening with Iron Man 3 movie tickets for the following afternoon (his birthday) and informed him that he wouldn't be going to work he was very surprised! :) We had a fun day together. I was also able to surprise him with cards from his friends and family that were filled with well wishes and memories of years gone by to help usher him into his 30's. So thankful to everyone who participated and sent cards back! The day after his birthday I escorted him to his parent's farm for a surprise party filled with both our immediate families. I'm pretty sure he was on overload by that point. Poor Chris -- such a good sport!!

It's golf season again! Chris and his Dad play in a golf league every Tuesday evening so I use that opportunity to hang out with my dear mother-in-law and sister-in-law (Tanya) some of the weeks! Tonight we were able to add Elana to our fun as Chad was out with some guy friends so that was a nice treat! Especially since it involved Mikie's ice cream!!!! Yum! Thanks for the lovely dinner ladies. So thankful for my second family.

Next weekend is Memorial Day weekend already and I am so excited for that! My family was able to work it out to all go camping together just like we used to before our lives got crazy. :) Last year we were able to go too but it was really hot and the weekend got cut short because of some crazy thunderstorms and torrential downpours of rain. :( Hoping for much better weather this year!

I'm ready.

Woohoo! Chilly weather is around the corner! I'm so excited! Fall is probably my favorite time of year. I love being able to drink hot tea, wear comfy clothes and snuggle up with a blanket on the couch. Last night Chris and I looked at the 10 day forecast and decided we could take the window AC units out. Last year we had a few days in the 90's at the very end of September but we're hoping heat waves like that stay away this year. So far the stink bug quotient has been pretty mild compared to previous years but I imagine in the next week or two we'll start seeing more. I'm just glad we could get the window AC out before they started using them as a super highway into our bedroom like last year.


The garden just has a few things left in it...carrots, pumpkins, some tomatoes, and the hot peppers. I'm done all the canning I'm going to do so that's a good feeling! I want to freeze the pumpkin after I'm done using them for decorations and freeze some applesauce in October. By the time cold weather hits, I'll appreciate the break from yard/garden work and anything related to canning or freezing!


Chris and I have been working at the basement remodel as we've had time but it's been a wild and crazy summer. All this time I've been thinking that we can just wait until the weather starts to get colder and hopefully we'll have time to focus on the basement since we won't have as much outdoor work to do, etc. Last week I had a startling revelation. We will need to start burning the wood stove in less than 1.5 months. Chris plans to hang stone over the brick area (under and surrounding the wood stove) but in order to do that process the wood stove has to be moved. And in order to do the stone process, allllllllllll the walls have to be patched/sanded so that the drywall dust doesn't mess up the new stone! Oh boy do we have a lot of work to do in 1.5 months. I'm not sure what I've been thinking but apparently my brain has been out to lunch! I just finished painting the basement bathroom door this morning so hopefully we can get that put up tonight and seal off the bathroom from getting so much drywall dust in there. Since that door is finished, I only have 5 more to paint! lol......how depressing. :-P


Labor Day weekend we were blessed to make the annual trip to Fredericksburg, Ohio for Coblentz Camping! Most of Chris's Dad's family lives in the Ohio area and we look forward to the get together each year. It's always so hard to leave and come home as we don't get to see all of them very often. The Coblentz families are amazing and I'm thankful to have married into such a great heritage. I have been richly blessed with an awesome birth family and an awesome in-law family.