Riding Shotgun

"Riding shotgun refers to the practice of sitting alongside the driver of a moving vehicle."

Life has been moving full speed ahead lately.
Here' s a whole lot of what's been riding in the "passenger seat" lately~
 

Dinner with the family who generously invited me to live with them when I was 18, and who I've not seen for almost 20 years- the Springstons! 

Bill, Nancy, daughter Julie, and granddaughter Ellie, who all reside out of state, were in my corner of the world for an evening. Stealing a bit of time with my beloved Springston's was a treat!  Pop over and say "Hi" to Julie at her new craft blog. 

Fancy Valentine's dinner

 Shout out to Alan and Kyra Lohuis, who went all out to gift a community with a lovely Valentine's Dinner- complete with hors d' oeuvres,  gifts, an incredible catered meal, and topped off with encouraging words on marraige from pastor, Pj Lewis with wife Sheiri. 

Alan and Kyra cause me to think of Matthew 5:16 from The Message,"Keep open house; be generous with  your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."

 8th grade girl slumber party

 Junk food, Just Dance, "I Never,"  sharpie-marker- hair- coloring, and a projected-on-the-wall-movie was just a bit of what induced giggling among this fantastic bunch of girls. 

And I must exclaim that  "Emilie is the best big sister EVER!" She was happy to have the little sister hang out with her gal pals. 

 

(I was informed  that coloring hair with sharpie markers is "no big deal," and that "the color only lasts 3-4 days."  Thinking I might try it to cover my grays "crown of splendor.")

Three rounds and counting of Zycam, cough syrup, cough drops, vapor rub, humidifiers, and tissue.

We'd all like to kick this bug out of the "passenger seat," and to the curb! 

Putting finishing good-enough-for-now touches 
on our new family room

As you can see we've been busy getting walls up, primed and painted. The ceiling now has canned lights and a new ceiling fan.  The concrete  floors are painted with Home Depot's  Wet Cement floor paint.   The color on the walls- which we LOVE- is BEHR'S Agave.  We have lots of things planned: wood floors, baseboards, window treatments, cheery pillows, art for the walls, covering the wall (bottom right) from floor to ceiling with framed photos.  BUT mostly what we have planned is to ENJOY this cozy FAMILY room together.

A birthday celebration for Josie

 our game lover wanted a gamingpalooza day, and was beyond thrilled to have the hours of her special day filled playing Farkle, Clue, Scatergories, and Apples to Apples.

Josie requested to make her own birthday dessert, Nerd cupcakes. She baked, I cleaned- the perfect arrangement. 

Her final request was to watch home videos from the projector.  Life sized memories of the day she was born, while snuggling my 11 yr old was hands-down the BEST way to cherish the journey of being her mommy. 

And finally, watching Downton Abbey, season 3.  

Last night's season finale... sad.

If you watched it, and are in need of a Downton Abbey pick-me-up, the following video will do just that. 

 

  What's riding shotgun in your life these days?

   

Live in Peace!