Indian Shores Florida

I just returned from a 5-day long weekend in Florida with these ladies...my besties from high school...

We rented a really nice condo in Indian Shores which is just south of Clearwater Beach. We had a gorgeous view of the bay...

and the ocean...but honestly it was so hot and humid I really couldn't sit out there for more than 10 minutes at a time...

So that weather made for great beach days!!  We spent every day relaxing there.  It was so nice! The water may have been a tad too warm believe it or not!  We'd swim around trying to find cool pockets of water.

On two different days we saw random rainbows in the sky...so pretty...

We hung out at this place twice as it was only about a half a mile from our condo and it was right on the bay.  They had fun drinks and good food...

We went kayaking one morning.  Anyone who knows me well would know that was a HUGE challenge for me with my crazy anxiety...but I did it!

Here I am thinking I'm going to get run over by a boat, capsize and get eaten by an alligator...

We watched sunsets at our beach...

and watched one in Clearwater one night...

Just amazing...

Clearwater was a blast. I wouldn't mind spending a weekend there too someday...

Such a fun weekend with lots of long meaningful conversations...and lots and lots of silliness and laughter too...

I'm so blessed to have these lifelong friends of mine!

Cheers to Best Friends...

Sick girl

Julia has been so sick with mono.  The first couple weeks of June she was complaining of headaches and low grade fevers.  But I'd give her some Ibuprofen and she'd bounce back.  Then the day before the recital she was completely exhausted and feeling awful.  Unfortunately I wasn't home most of that day and wasn't able to get her to urgent care.  The next day was dance recital day and the poor girl had to dance in 3 recitals and perform 19 routines total!  Ugh.  I had no idea what was wrong with her but one look at her throat confirmed something was going on.  The next morning she woke up and looked like hell.  Her throat was a mess.  I took her to the doctor and almost immediately they suspected mono.  A blood test confirmed that.  Thankfully they put her on Prednisone right away which really helped her throat. She wasn't able to finish school or take any of her finals...but her grades were so good that all her teachers agreed that she didn't have to take them.  That was a huge relief!  She missed a few end of the year school parties and also had to cancel a trip to Maine with friends.  I'm so sad for her.

So now she rests while she still battles exhaustion and low grade fevers.  But I know...this too shall pass.

On a positive note, she did fantastic in school this year. She received Highest Honors this term!!

We are always so proud of the effort she puts into her schoolwork.  Get well soon Julia!!

Gianna's 8th grade graduation

This is what I wrote back on June 25, 2013...

Today was the very last day with all three of my babies in the same school for quite some time.  The next time they will all be together will be high school (12th, 11th and 9th grades)!  I don't even want to think about that!!  Yikes!

Well...that day has come.  Wow.  Gianna graduated from 8th grade so now we officially have three in high school.  Time certainly flies by.

We are so proud of our baby girl...

She was acknowledged for being a student council representative and participating in Best Pals.  She also received awards in History, Science and Spanish for achieving A's all year.

After the ceremony, we went out to our favorite burger place...KC Burgers...and Gianna ran into two good friends who also just graduated...

So it's off to high school in the fall!  Can you even believe it?!

Recital #13

It was recital #13 for Julia and #10 for Gianna.  Here Gianna is getting ready for her first recital back in June 2010...so little but she actually looks exactly the same...

A few things were different about the recital this year.  For starters it was held at a different venue for the first time in our thirteen years. It has always been at the PPAC but this year it was at the Vets. The buildings are quite similar.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I really am not a fan of recital day.  Let's start with the positive shall we? I actually wasn't as tired from having to run up and down the stairs and out to the auditorium to watch and then run all the way back down to the dressing room.  This time I just walked up a flight of stairs and watched discretely from the wings.  It was actually fun watching the girls from backstage cheering each other on.

And the negative...oh where do I start.  Maybe with the fact that there were THREE recitals all on one day instead of two.  The first recital was about an hour and a half and the other two were each three hours long.  Ya.  Crazy long day.  And then Julia was so sick (found out later that it was mono!) but she was a trooper and danced 19...yes NINETEEN...routines.  I think that is way too much to ask of anyone even if they're not sick.  I'm sure there were girls who danced even more routines than her.  And last but not least...it was Father's Day to top it all off.  Ugh.

Julia with her friend Bridget who is graduating this year.  She's really going to miss her...

And that my friends is all the pictures I took the entire day.  C'est la vie. 

8th grade Grad Dance

Gianna had her 8th grade Grad Dance tonight...

Tim Conway

Tim Conway passed away a month ago...and that day I literally cried.  I grew up watching him on the Carol Burnett show.  Whenever these icons pass away...I feel a piece of my childhood goes with them.  I've been watching his skits on YouTube over the past month and found this gem.

If you want a good laugh...watch this...

Live Happy

High School Dance Team

Julia's high school just started a new dance team. They've only been working on this routine for a few weeks and performed it today at an assembly. They did awesome!! Next year they'll do all the rally's and a few other performances too. I'm so happy Julia can finally participate in a school activity like this!  Hopefully Gianna can join the team next year when she's a freshman.

Closer up of Julia...

Perspective

Life doesn't always have to be perfect to be wonderful. 

Nantasket Beach Day

Sweet 16

Another Sweet 16...this time for Julia's friend Kailey who she's been good friends with since elementary school.  It was a USA theme which I thought was really cute and a nice change from the semi formal dresses.

Julia has the sweetest friends....here she is with Ally...

Emily...

and Sophie...

Field Trip to Boston

It's that time of year...

Lots of fun field trips and events in store for Gianna to help celebrate the end of 8th grade!

Jessica Willis Fisher's debut solo recording project

UPDATE:  She made her goal!! Yay!!

Consider supporting this beautiful talented musician Jessica Willis.  I love her music!!  If you follow my blog you know how much I loved the Willis Clan.  Jessica is the oldest sister of the family.  She has started a Kickstarter campaign to raise enough funds for her debut solo recording project.  I'm so excited for her and super happy to be a Backer!!

You can support her here.  She only has until June 21st to reach her goal of $30,000 and as of today she's at $20,000.  It's an all or nothing campaign so I hope she can do it!!  I believe in her!

She has a board with all the names of her Backers and there I am!!!

Funny

Saw this at Nicholas' hockey game yesterday and it gave me a really good laugh...

Dead to Me - Netflix

Loved it!!!

Hang on

It's officially...

and that means a crazy busy month with A LOT happening.

Repeat after me..."I can do it"..."I can do it"..."I can do it"...