wordless wednesday: this is where i live.

"i might not need to do this today...it is going to rain."

we went to gainesville today. this is how the trip went: target, lowes, chic-fil-a, payless shoe source, shoe carnival, mall, thrift store.

only $1 from target. awesome. 

payless: 1 pair of sandals & 1 pair of boots.

 thrift store: dress for e, 3 shirts for c, 1 top for me.

sound like a normal trip to g'ville? ha! well i thought it might be too until we got to the mall. no worries, nothing horrible happened. no one busted in as a robber and took  my money but.......

emily decided she would do this.

she is so happy, now that all the tears are gone. there are no pictures of the actual deed. she literally asked me if she could get her ears pierced, as we entered the mall. and she was a total trooper! she did decide once seated, marked, and  the gun loaded, "i might not need to do this today...it is going to rain." but after a lollipop, a cookie brib, and a black teddy bear to hold, she is now the proud owner of [2] 14k white gold ball earrings.

by the way, a very cute boy tagged along. he was very good. and he didn't cry once.



my name is santana. clap. clap.

well let's see. i am santana. i love jesus. i am married to steven. emily and coleman are my minis. i stay home with them. we live in a small town where people know you and your business. my friends live close but family closer. we used to live on a dirt road. they recently paved it. i like to clean. i like to organize. i like to think one day my house will be more than beautiful from my mad decorating skills. i am frugal. ok. i'm very frugal. i drink sweet tea. i hate yard work. i scrapbook for each of my  children until the age of 3. i love to take pictures.  i drive a suburban. i say bad words sometimes. i'm afraid of the dark. i'm a sunday school teacher. i can cook. really good. i like to vacation. i like antiques. i am way less than perfect. jesus loves me.

that's about all anyone probably cares to know about me. i started this blog to keep up with the shenanigans that goes on around our house. this probably should have posted this as my first post but. oh well.

sand.free condo.food and a birthday.

                          

 we made it there and we made it back, and we done all the things i promised and more. we used everything we packed, except the cabbage. and we only forgot a few things. and we visited the "mall" [dollar general] 5 times. we celebrated my papa mac's 69th birthday.

we arrived at 2 am and we were locked out of our condo. after a few phone calls, we ended up at my grandparents house where we were happy to sleep on the concrete floor. needless to say we stayed the second night at the condo free. saturday morning after a nice phone call from the condo owner, a key, and a much needed shower we went back to my g'parents & hugged a lot, emily rode her bike on the same sand road my mom did as a child, we made lots of yummy food, laughed, coleman napped, and we all listened to stories. my aunt and i went to 2 consignment stores...$10 and 3 pairs of shoes for coleman later, we headed back for dinner. we ate. and we ate. and we ate. ribs. chicken. gizzards. shrimp. beans. rolls. potato salad. vegatable casserole. and 'nana' pudding. we left the mess and raced as fast as the law allowed to keaton beach for a few pictures. emily got an ice-cream for not acting a fool. then, we headed back for cake and milk. my mom makes the best cake you have. ever. put. in. your. mouth. my aunt wrote a 'biography' of my papa's life. we cried. we laughed. we learned more about our family listening to it. we ate cake and headed to our free condo for the night. i slept much better on the bed,

we all did. sunday morning after a quick shower and loading the car, we headed back to the g'parents. we ate again, hugged, took pictures, hugged again, and headed home. we are here. tired. but i wouldn't have changed too much about the weekend. [except magically turned our 1 day in fl.into 4 or 5] but then again there is no. place. like. home.

this weekend

we are going to steinhatchee florida.

we will pack too much.

we will forget things.

we will take lots. of. pictures.

we will spend time with family.

we will go to the beach.

we will celebrate birthdays.

we will eat cake.

we will eat too much.

we will stay up too late.

we will laugh too hard.

we will eat in the car.

we will eat outside.

we will ride bikes.

we will push cars.

we will be sweaty.

we will get dirty.

we will go to dollar general. the only store in the town.

we will hear family stories.

we will wish time could slow down.

we will make memories with our kids.

i. can't. wait.....be back monday.

take a breathe

remember when you were little? remember going swimming? remember climbing onto something that was really too high for you to jump from? remember conviencing yourself that you could do it? remember that feeling in your stomach? remember taking a really deep breathe? remember how it felt when you jumped? well take a deep breathe! my momma always said "life will give you lemons it's what you do with them that makes you: you!" well take a deep breathe, jump, and turn those lemons into something good.....