.Little Rest.

I'm taking a little rest from the blogging world to enjoy a nice, 4 day weekend with my husband. The only thing planned thus far: IKEA!  Saying we are excited is an understatement.

Happy Weekend to you all :)

.Weekending.

I like the phrase "Weekending." 

I've been noticing quite a few bloggers are using this term and I'm joining in!

It makes me smile.

This weekend was an unusual one for our little Miller house. We had a full house. The two girls I nanny, Grace ad Joy, stayed with us! I have to admit, I rather like when their parents go out of town for the weekend. It's always a bit of a challenge but I love these girls and truly enjoy spending time with them.

My mother-in-law told me about a Garden Show the city of Lynchburg was hosting and asked if I would like to bring the girls and join her. How wonderful is my mom--always willing to help and always willing to love on some kiddos! (Can ya tell she's a grandmother?) The weather was delightful..cool breeze with the warm sun keeping our skin toasty! By the time we arrived, most of the flowers had been sold but we were able to see herbs, annuals, trees, and other shrubs. The girls had their faces painted and planted flowers! Mom and I were able to sit back and relax while watching the girls play on the playground in "Miller" Park..yes that is the actually name of the park.

Here are some pictures of our Saturday outing!

 The wild hair and messy faces mean one simple thing: FUN! 

 Also, I had to choose my battles wisely and I was OKAY with crazy hair today ;)

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Enjoy your Sunday Moms--

Happy Mother's Day! 

P.S. How cute are those old chairs turned planters?!

.Weekending.

It is Sunday night.

Another weekend has come and gone.

This was not your average weekend..it was an Emma weekend!

A little confused? 

Let me explain by showing this photo:

My brother Scott and sister-in-law Kim visited from Chesapeake, VA with their little seven month bundle named Emma. You may remember seeing this doll here. Scott finally took his Professional Engineering Exam after months of studying and can now breathe a little easier :) They decided to come for a nice, relaxing visit filled with no studying, only smiles..smiles at sweet Emma. Some of you may be familiar with my sister-in-law Kim from her blog Little Rays of Sunshine. She always includes pictures of Emma and recipes for your sweet tooth! 

We all had an amazing weekend together. The weather was just perfect with the sun shining and ranging between mid to upper 60's. Friday night was spent learning about the little girl Emma is becoming and eating some yummy food--Italian style! I made chicken parm sandwiches and pasta for everyone to enjoy and to my surprise, we actually had leftovers!! For those of you who know my husband and brother this.is.shocking. 

Saturday started off with pancakes and strawberries and of course, coffee! We spent the afternoon soaking up some rays while eating all of the tasty treats at the Chocolate Festival! Oh yes, you heard me right--Chocolate EVERYWHERE, my dream come true. The festival had booths set up of local businesses giving away free stuff as well as face painting, pudding finger painting, and firetruck tours for the kids. We all stuck to the Chocolate tasting :)

The five of us met up with Adam's mom and grandmother at the festival to show off Emma Grace. She was a hit, smiles all around!

This is the cause for all of those smiles.

We ate lunch at Subway and had plenty to choose from for dessert thanks to the festival. After the festival, Adam and I took Scott, Kim, and Emma to our new house for a tour :) It was so fun showing them around and seeing how excited they were for us, family is simply the best.

More smiles at Subway.

My mother-in-law was incredible and offered to stay with Emma while Scott and Kim treated us to a Red Lobster dinner to celebrate becoming homeowners--what a dinner it was!! I tried coconut shrimp for the first time ever and LIKED it! Another shocker since seafood is not my thing. Scott and I were the only ones to order chicken while Kim and Adam ate crab, lobster, and more shrimp. Came home to snuggle with Emma and watched SALT thanks to netflix. Awesome action movie with a great story--kept you guessing all the way through!

Somebody was not ready for bed, just look at that smile!

Sunday morning we enjoyed biscuits, scrambled eggs with cheese, and turkey sausages! --and more coffee :) We all had a lazy day just sitting on the couch talking, laughing, and sharing stories. It is so nice catching up with family, I really love my family. When Emma woke up she stole all of the attention and I didn't want to give her up. Saying goodbye is never fun but knowing we will see her again soon is always exciting.

I have a picture of me feeding her every visit :) I wish I could say please excuse the no makeup and messy hair but this is how I look most of the time!

Love my little niece so much--only wish my other nieces and nephews could visit more often..Minnesota why are you so far away?

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend like we did..I'd love to know if anyone else had specials visit from friends or family! :)

.I'm Back.

It's Monday and I'M BACK!

The weekend is officially over and I am excited to share what Adam and I were up to :) We took a trip--a getaway--a mini vacation with dear friends! I am back to myself and feeling GREAT this week!

We all headed to Williamsburg, VA and enjoyed a certain park..a park called BUSCH GARDENS! It had been so long for most since we were last at an amusement park and we felt like kids again!! The rain held off and we had the perfect day at the park. Good food--good entertainment--good company equals a GOOD DAY!

Here is the only group shot we managed to take--there are some smiles, some in between grins, and a few concerned looks because we were holding up traffic, a lot of traffic, on the bridge as we attempted a self timer shot. 

Enjoy the awkwardness :)

Left to right: Ben and Hannah Manley, James and Lynette Banks, Adam and (me), Courtney, Joel and Joy Guelzo

Last week was a little hard on me and I was grateful when my weekend started on Thursday night. My sweet husband knew I was feeling down and bought us tickets to see Phantom of the Opera at Liberty University. We had a nice dinner date before the play and had a great time together..I love talking with Adam and am blessed to be married to my best friend. 

Friday was a day of cleaning and packing for our trip! I love cleaning the house before leaving because it makes coming home so much sweeter. Adam and I met up with our friends later in the afternoon and we all headed for Williamsburg! Three hours later and we arrived..at a hotel! Hotels are special to me--Growing up, hotels always meant a fun, family vacation and the excitement I felt as a girl always comes rushing back whenever I step foot inside a hotel. Adam feels the same way which makes the whole experience more fun! :)

Adam and I in our hotel room! It's a bit bright but I like it :)

Saturday was an early morning but worth it!! We all met in the hotel lobby at 830am to leave for breakfast at a local pancake house. For those of you who have visited Williamsburg, you know how hard it is to choose a "pancake house" because they are everywhere! There had to be at least 5 different breakfast restaurants on every road! When every single person in your group is "go with the flow" it makes it difficult to actually choose a place but we finally all got the hang of it and took turns making decisions. After breakfast we drove to Busch Gardens. Besides allergies being terrible for everyone, everything was perfect! It was cloudy and cool with a few sprinkles here and there and everyone was feeling good and in great moods! We were all thankful the rain held off and we could enjoy ourselves and the park without sweating! Being cooler is always better than sweating in my book! The flowers were gorgeous, the European theme of the park was fabulous, and the rides were just awesome. Everyone realized after riding 3 roller coasters in a row that we were all getting older..our bodies did not respond as they used to when we were back in high school and we had to have a "buffer time" between rides. The last time I did a big coaster was at the age of 18. Now at 24, um yeah, I definitely needed that buffer time because I lost my head in the clouds!! Thankfully amusement parks have other rides and lots of FOOD! I ate a caramel apple with nuts for the first time and loved it--messy but amazing! After the park, everyone met at a Mexican restaurant to celebrate Joy's birthday. I do not recall the name of the place, Plaza something, but it was hands down the best Mexican food and trust me, Adam and I eat a lot of Mexican! When we all made it back to the hotel, some people (me) went straight to bed while the others (Adam) stayed up until the wee hours of the morning playing poker. 

Sunday morning I was refreshed and ready to go, I cannot say the same about Adam ;) The group headed to breakfast at you guessed it--another pancake house, this time at The Astronomical Pancake House. Food was delicious and I cannot wait to go back on our next visit. When everyone was ready to burst from all of the yummy food, we decided walking around the outlet mall would be the perfect activity. We all split up and headed to some stores. Adam and I are not shoppers BUT we love finding some good kitchen stores and looking at all of the cool new gadgets there are and did we mention these stores usually have demonstrations which offer free samples of some tasty treats? :) After walking around a bit, Adam and I said goodbye to our friends and headed home to pick up our pup who we miss a little too much while we are away. Sunday night was spent in bed cuddling and catching up on some shows, thank you Hulu. 

The weekend was perfect and though there are some headaches and tiredness today, it was worth it! Thanks to our friends for all of the laughs and good times together, looking forward to our next trip!

.Last Night vs.This Morning.

Last Night: 


Friends + Pizza + Soda + Cookies + Coffee + Lights + Blankets + FIRE = 


Bliss.

This Morning:


Cold + Dreary + Sleeting + SNOWING + Wool Socks + Hubs + Warm House =


Pajama Day.

Virgina's weather can be described in one word: 


FICKLE. 


I must say, I rather like it..it keeps me on my toes :)


Overall it's been a fabulous weekend. 


New Week here we come!