Thankful Thursdays

Today I am thankful for:


1) My BIG brother, Joshua Garland. Yesterday was his 26th birthday. He's always encouraging, loving, and praying for others. He's also got a mind like a steel trap. If I am ever telling a story or trying to remember something, I can usually just call up "Fred" (his nickname in our family) and 9 times out of 10 he will know EXACTLY what I am trying to remember! I could go on and on, but everyone who knows me knows about my love for my big brother.

WHAT a CUTIE!

2) I am thankful for WEDDINGS! Weddings = friend time for me and my friends since we live all over the  South! It is about to get really busy around the Nicholson house! We have TWO showers this weekend, one next weekend (April 7th), a wedding after that weekend (April 14th) AND another wedding after THAT (April 21st)! Busy, busy!!! I get to see some of them this weekend actually and I cannot wait. I need me some friend time, BAD.

3) I am thankful for patience. I have really been trying to work on my patience lately. If I think of something, then I want it immediately. God has given me more opportunities to be patient lately and I am very thankful for that! :)

4) I am thankful for bubble baths! I was having a stressful day yesterday and I decided to take a bubble bath. I soaked and cleared my mind and focused on all the positive things going on in my life right now...ahhhh. 

It's funny how a bubble bath can change your perspective!

SO.MUCH.BETTER.

Have a lovely day!

Holly

Tuesday Thoughts

Have a lovely day,

Holly

Reunited & Back to Reality

Can I just say that I am SO HAPPY to be back in Fayetteville with Aaron and Marley. 


"Back to life, back to re-al-i-ty..."


Okay, I'm done. 


I never notice how much I love having a routine until I am not having one.


That kind of makes sense doesn't it?


Oh well...I do not care. 


I was so happy to get back home that.....I immediately started on laundry! (I live an exciting life, no?)


I was just so happy to be back with my two main guys that it didn't matter if I was washing smelly work clothes or trying to find lost sock mates. I was HOME and that's all that really mattered. My husband and I had goofy grins on our face and we kept telling each other how glad we were to be back together. Ahhh...young love. :)


This morning I woke up and realized that it's "back to life, back to re-al-i-ty" (okay, NOW I'm done). I had class and a pile of my vacation laundry to do. Once I got home from class, I plopped myself down on the couch and worked on my Microbiology lab book for over three hours. Then I did my laundry (PTL I am almost finished!) and am currently back on the couch awaiting the husband's arrival. I haven't been to get any new groceries since I've been home (slacking, I know) so it was either take-out or soup. It's a bit warm for soup and so Aaron offered to pick something up for us on his way home. I told him to surprise me....sooo fingers-crossed! Who knows what he'll bring home. 


I'm pretty proud of him actually. 


He worked all week without complaining while my fat butt sat on a beach AND he took great care of Marley :) He also did a load of dishes while I was gone AND yesterday he took me to go see The Hunger Games movie that I have been dying to see, even though it was packed (even though we got there a little early)!


I am thankful to have married a great man. 


(Sidenote: This post has been difficult to type seeing as I have a small fur ball LAID OUT on my right arm. Just thought you should know.)


Anyways...I am ready to tackle this week and get it over with! This weekend is one of my best friend's Bachelorette party and then she and her fiancé have a couples shower the next day! So excited for them and so excited to be reunited with some of my best friends! Which reminds me...I need to make a list for this weekend. I like making lists these days so that we don't forget what we need to bring (even though sometimes we still forget). 


My stomach is officially growling...actually it's more of a dying animal noise. If Aaron doesn't get here soon, I may demolish the bag of PB M&M's that my grandmother INSISTED on giving me -I had to take them, right?- that is sitting in my fridge (yes, fridge, I like them cold).


TTFN,
Holly

Beach Trip 2012 Continued...

Day 2 on the beach was perfect. Constant breeze, sun, ahhh....


We ate at LuLu's that night and admired our fellow rednecks around the Redneck Riveria. We also went shopping at the Tanger Outlets and got Cold Stone ice cream for dessert. I love being with my family :)


Day 3 wasn't not the best beach day BUT we tried our hardest to enjoy it because, after all, we were at the beach! Sadly, we only lasted a little over an hour on the beach before the wind was unbearable and it got cold (for the beach, that is). 


We spent most of the day in the condo/on the deck after that. I wore a hoodie most of the time. (#coldnaturedprobz) We went shopping at a place called The Wharf and then to dinner at Wintzel's. My dad likes this place because he ate at the original Wintzel's when he was growing up as a kid. 

Wintzel's "theme"

I tried my first fried pickle (where have those been all my life?!?!), we almost lost Joshua, and my dad told my mom that she had a lazy eye.


Let me elaborate....


We were just enjoying our meal and talking about the day, the trip, and what we were doing next when Joshua announced that he had to go to the restroom*. 


*Sorry...if you think that is TMI, you don't know the Garland's.


Anyways, he takes off because he says he knows where the restrooms are. We watch him and he stops and talks to our waiter who was walking towards another of his tables in the same direction Joshua was walking. My mom tells my other brother Clark to go after Joshua to make sure he finds his way. Clark mumbles that he will, spends about about one extra minute stalling at the table because he was glued to his phone, and then gets up to go find Joshua. Not ten seconds later we see Clark look at us, hold his hands up as in "I don't know where he is", shrug, and walk towards the restrooms to find him. Then a few minutes pass...then a few more...THEN we see the hostess/waitress that greeted us when we arrived, walking around the corner with Joshua. Clark wasn't far behind. She tells us she found Joshua OUTSIDE walking down the sidewalk. 


OUT.SIDE. 


Did I mention that there is a pond outside of the restaurant and it is 8:00 at night so it's dark out and that said pond has a sign that says not to get too close because there may be ALLIGATORS in it? 


She tells us that she found him outside walking down the sidewalk (BY THE ALLIGATOR-INFESTED POND) trying to get back to the entrance of the restaurant. Apparently even after the waiter told Joshua where to go, he still got confused and turned around, and ended up going through a door that leads to the patio outside....long story short, he found his way to the sidewalk and was going to come back into the front door. My parents are mortified because they think they must look like awful parents letting their Downsy son roam around without their knowledge. 


LAWD.....


So once we all have a big laugh because it really IS funny after you get over the whole he-could-have-fallen-in-the-pond-and-been-eaten-by-alligators part and I decide to take some pictures because it was a memorable time.


Not to mention that Joshua later says, and I quote, that "If I had fallen in the pond, I would have fought off the alligators because I know how to fight, like Dad."


 Whaaat?


#1) my dad doesn't fight
#2) back to the story...


I take my dad & Joshua's picture (1 and done) and then ask him to take one of Clark, my mom and myself. The first one he takes, he looks at the screen and says "Okay, here you go." and hands my camera back. I look at it and I don't know WHAT happened to my mom but her face and eyes are doing something hilarious. I start cracking up, zoom in and show Clark, my parents, and Joshua. This is when my dad makes the "lazy eye" comment about my mom. Obviously she doesn't have a lazy eye, she just wasn't ready for the picture. Then he makes a comment, all in good fun, about her looking like she had been drinking (my parents do NOT drink ever) which for some reason is even funnier to me in the heat of the moment and I crack up. 

My dad (halfway smiling) & Joshua

The "after" picture. Teary eyes and huge smiles. Hilarious.

Tears-in-my-eyes laughing so hard. 


So the (above) picture looks like I have been crying...which, I guess technically I have been. 


Everyone gets a good laugh except Joshua...he gets all offended because he thinks that we are laughing at my mom in a mean way (which we totally weren't) but it was funny that he got mad about it! 


Today we got up and around, loaded up the car, and headed back to Arkansas! Just in time too, because there have been bad storms and tornado warnings in the gulf area since we left! The trip didn't feel as long because my dad and I found a fun new GPS app (how nerdy are we?) to play with the whole way home!


All in all, I had a great week with my family. I am so blessed by them.


However, I am BEYOND ready to see my husband. 5 days is TOO long! Can't wait to see him tomorrow and our little Marley-pup!


Here comes a storm, time for sleep!
-Holly