Spring Cleaning (& a shout out to my folks)

Let me first start off by saying my mom and dad ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! More on my dad later but my mom surprised me yesterday by kidnapping Alizea for what was supposed to be a couple hours which turned into an overnight vacation for both child and parents! It was oddly quiet last night but oh so nice to recharge and regroup! Not to mention some extra quality time with the hubbs. It is such an indescribable blessing to live 8 miles away and to have my parents support & involvement in our family's life. Whether it's bringing me groceries on minutes notice (bc my mom insists that it is much easier for her to drive 15 minutes to bring me 3 items then for me to walk 100 yards with 2 kids), give me a spiritual boost or heck, build a play room for my kids, I can NOT get over how unselfish and incredible these two individuals are!

Ok, so back to my topic: Spring Cleaning is in the air! Since I would've been plain foolish not to take advantage of the extra time today, I found myself in the "cesspool of hate & discontent" (according to Dean), otherwise known as, the garage! Yes, dear, that cob-web, dead cricket-filled, nasty place is where I get to spend a lot of my time doing your laundry (said with the most loving affection, cough, cough). I have been putting it off far too long and I'm lucky I haven't seriously injured myself in there. There was no method to my madness, just picking up things here and there, filling bags to give away, throw away and then...then...there was light! I opened a tub of treasures. Clothes! Lots of clothes! Clothes that I completely forgot I owned because I haven't worn them or seen them in over a year! I practically hugged and kissed them, I was so excited! 

And then I took an unexpected trip down memory lane... 1st lost love I came across was this cropped sweater that I wore for our engagement video shoot! It totally made me reminisce about our courtship stage and I was amazed I still had this thing from 5 years ago! I slipped it on and... it fit! WAHOOO!!!!

Next, I found this adorable swim cover-up skirt. The 1st image that popped in my mind was the amazing cruise we went on with our dear friends, the McCray's, shortly before I became pregnant with Alizea. That might have been the last time I wore it. Again, I was filled with happy emotions of the beginning stage of our marriage as newlyweds & the anticipation of starting our family. I slipped it on over my shorts and to my amazement, it hugged my thighs quite nicely! Cha-ching! 

Some more digging and I found this shirt that Dean bought and mailed to me during his year in Kuwait. And yet again, I was flooded with memories of another chapter of our life and marriage. One filled with tremendous challenges yet growth. This one is brand new since well, shortly after I received it, I got pregnant with numero dos. It's kinda cute in a gaudy, random kind of way! ;) I can't seem to make sense of it. Maybe Dean was trying to tell me how much he missed me!?!?! See for yourself:

So yesterday I was semi-bragging about returning to my normal size & after the first 2 discoveries I was feeling pretty good about myself. Well, with the next find I got a major reality check to the fact that 9 pounds is quite. a. bit. and probably the hardest 9 to lose. You can imagine how excited I was to find my two most favorite pair of jeans that I spent hard earned paychecks for (we're talking like several, high salary-paying paychecks).  I held my breath and sucked in as hard as I could praying, wishing, hoping that maybe, just maybe I could be reunited with my 2nd 4th, (forgot about the kiddos) love but.... not. even. close. waaaaaaah! You stupid  @#*!*#!*@  jeans! (excuse me. we have sort of a love-hate relationship going on at the moment)

Ah well, they're back in the closet for motivation! On a happier note, I pulled out some summer wear for little G which brought a smile to my face:

So, all this to say that what I anticipated to be a dreadfully horrible experience turned out to be a fun shopping spree while driving down memory lane! And in order to make room for my new wardrobe, I forced myself to get rid of some clothes in my closet and clear out the rest of the maternity wear! (of course saving it for next go-around) ;)

Now, as I mentioned earlier, my dad is UH-mazing!!!! I think about him every time I am in this room which is several times a day, every day, no joke. It's impossible not to. Every space in that room that my eye glances upon has his labor of love etched within it (not to mention so much of his time spent with us). I had a special moment tonight. The girls were occupying themselves, I was folding laundry and Dean was relaxing after a long week of work. I said to him: "I love this! This makes me SO happy!" I had to clarify because I could tell from the look on his face he had no idea what I was talking about. Playing. Watching the girls play. Eating. Relaxing. Folding laundry. Praying. Being together. Enjoying our living space. All in one room.  Which of course, would not have been possible without my dad. (not to mention all the other favorite things in our house which I loooooooove: fireplace, wall unit in A's room, bead board in G's room, custom, built-in office area/desk/crafting/sewing area) So these next photos are especially for you, pops! Thank you.

And a perfect Family Friday night would not be complete without...

  
Homemade cookies of course!!!

Have a great weekend!