My Sweet Family Life

So i'm again participating in the new " Sweet Life " meme brought to you by the gorgeous Melissa over at Suger Coat It. Basically Melissa wants us to celebrate the good things in life, the stuff that makes our lives worth living, and loving. This week, she wants to know about our sweet families...

 Those are my beautiful boys, who make me laugh, smile and burst with love everyday. Sometimes they make me cry  and want to tear at my hair, but isnt that part of being a family? And i've always been a believer that the bad/sad/frusturating times are there to help us appreciate all the good stuff even more. But its not just my fiance and my son that make my life sweet. No, i have to count my extended family in that aswell, with a special mention to my mum and dad... or Grandma and Poppy as they are now more frequently called.

Thats Flynn and my mum at Mayfield Gardens a few weeks ago. I think having grandkids keeps my mum young, because she spends so much time playing chasies in the garden or building block towers that she doesnt have time to ponder any " ah, i'm getting older! " thoughts. And she's always willing to help me out - whether its coming round for a visit, or taking Flynn for the afternoon so i can do something on my own, or whatever. She is one sweet Grandma. But the real sweet star in the family?

Pop. Flynn is in love with Pop, Mick admits to having a man crush on him, and i've always been a Daddys girl. My dad is the most giving person i know, whether it be time, or money, or advice... the man does it all. All the help he gives us - we, a young family, just trying to find its feet - is what helps make my life sweet. I think, without my dad especially, my life would be vastly, vastly different....

eggs-cellent

bad easter pun, I know. 

before heading to the husband's parent's house for family dinner on Sunday, we stopped in at my dad's house to see my little brother. we got there right in time as they were getting ready to sit down and dye eggs. 

I made myself right at home and devoured 4 hard boiled eggs before anyone noticed they were gone. :)

here are some snippets from our morning!

of course, I didn't take any pictures at the in-law's house... but to be fair, there weren't any cute kids there either, haha. 

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in other news, I am way behind in my school work. like, I have yet to turn in (or even complete, for that matter) a paper that was due two weeks ago on the theme of love & marriage in A Midsummer Night's Dream. ugh. 

I emailed my professor and she'll accept my work late, but the problem is that I have no idea on where to even start on such a vague topic. obviously there are a billion examples of love in the play. I'm skipping the gym tonight to get it completed, along with a discussion post that I missed last week. I really suck at life lately.

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it's currently 85 degrees in my office. needless to say, I am sweating like a pig. I wanted the warm weather, but not before my cheapo boss (aka my dad) thinks it's an acceptable idea to turn on the AC.

Happy Monday!

from A to Z

I promptly stole this from my friend Erinn. I had every intention of finishing it on Friday, but I got caught up in work stuff, and I spent the entire day yesterday running errands and doing a little shopping... I'll show you my goods in another post. I love surveys... play along if you'd like!

A. Age: twenty-five, as of last week.

B. Bed size: it's a king. I could never go back to a queen.

C. Chore you dislike: uh... all of them, which is obvious if you've ever seen my house. for real though, washing dishes really blows, especially since we don't have a dishwasher.

D. Dogs: none. I'd like to have one eventually, but we don't have the space right now.

E. Essential start to your day: coffee, which coincidentally, I did not have this morning.

F. Favorite color: green, grey, and mustard. I can't pick just one and you can't make me. 

G. Gold or Silver: white gold.

H. Height: I'm almost 5'-9" tall.

I. Instruments you play(ed): I learned how to play the flute when I was in 5th grade. but that was something everyone had to do. no talents here.

J. Jelly bean flavor: I will seriously eat the shit out of some Jelly Bellies, as long as it's not the licorice or popcorn flavored ones.

K. Kids: not yet, but we're workin' on it. ;)

L. Lucky Number(s): 12.

M. Month: I'm gunna have to go with May on this one.

N. Nicknames: Mandeefofandee, Mandee Ree, Stank Ass (affectionate, no?), Quinn. 

O. Overnight hospital stays: when I was born, and then again when I was 17 - I had an abscess of fluid in my tonsils (it was an infection, pervs), and had to be hospitalized for a few days.

P. Pet peeves: negative Nancy minded folk, when people don't pick up their feet when they walk, the saying "could care less"... it's "COULDN'T care less" you fucking idiots. "could" implies that you actually could care less. what else? normal stuff like bad hygiene, crazy drivers, traffic, etc. also, close talkers. gimme my space, man.

Q. Quote from a movie: "It's not a purse, it's called a satchel. Indiana Jones wears one." - The Hangover

R. Righty or Lefty: Righty.

S. Siblings: Two real brothers and two half brothers... so mathematically... three brothers. :)

T. Time You Wake Up: anytime between 8 and 8:30.

U. Underwear: I wear them, yes. in fact, I just went on a little mini shopping spree at VS this weekend.

V. Vegetables you don't like?: hmm, any kind of beans really... except green beans. I love those. I'm not big on beets or mushrooms. and I only like onions if they're cooked... no raw onions here.

W. What makes you run late?: shit... what DOESN'T make me late is more like it. unfortunately, I'm one of those people who is chronically late... not to the point where I'm like 20 minutes late, but I'm always late by a few minutes. I'm just really really bad at time management, but luckily, Sean helps with that.

X. X-rays you've had?: oh man, tons... my teeth/mouth, nose when it was broken, ankle, both wrists.

Y. Yummy food you make?: homemade mac & cheese.

Z. Zoo animal favorites?: HIPPOS. and alligators, zebras, tigers, polar bears, monkeys... pretty much all of them, but hippos are always number one.

Hope everyone is having a fun weekend! 

my mother-in-law got her first tattoo

I took my MIL to get her very first tattoo over the weekend. she knows how much I love tattoos, and how much I trust and respect my tattooer, so it was only natural for her to want him to tattoo her for the first time. she was specific about her design - she wanted a trinity knot with her husband, son, and daughter's initials inside. she also wanted to incorporate a Q into the design - she wanted it to be strong, yet feminine.

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of course, I took plenty of pictures to share with you all. my tattoo artist (Keelhauled Mike) specializes in Coleman Style tattooing, which I love, so it's always a pleasure to search through the wall to wall flash designs they have up. I love the bold outlines, the deep shading, and the vibrant color of traditional tattoos.

 

I love going to visit my tattoo artist, if only for the visit to the quaint town of Denton, which is only about 20 minutes outside of Delaware. it's such a cute little old town, and I really enjoy being in the quiet. Hanging out in the tattoo shop with Mike and Ken is always a fun time - lots of laughs and bullshitting.

took this for all my fellow Irishmen (and women!)

I wish I could have gotten tattooed as well, but unfortunately, we are super duper broke right now, and it's not really a possibility. I'm hoping to accumulate enough birthday money that I'll be able to get my sleeve worked on sometime in the near future.

Happy Wednesday!

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oh, and PS - my birthday is in exactly one week. thumbs up!

Fissures Erupt Hawaii - Pu'u O'o and Napau Crater - March 5 2011

Fissure on Kilauea continues to erupt with lava spatter up to 80 feet high.The fissure between Pu‘u ‘O‘o and Napau Crater on Kilauea’s east rift zone erupts lava spatter up to 25 m (80 ft) high. Photo courtesy of Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

MEDIA RELEASE FROM HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY



HAWAI‘I ISLAND, Hawaii — A fissure that opened on Kilauea’s east rift zone after yesterday’s collapse of the Pu‘u ‘O‘o crater floor continues to erupt lava. Activity along the fissure was sporadic overnight and throughout today, with periods of quiet punctuated by episodes of lava spattering up to 25 m (80 ft) high.
One of Hawaii’s hot spots just got a whole lot hotter, literally. Over the weekend the Kilauea volcano on the Big Island spewed volcanic lava a stunning 65-feet into the air.The volcano is located in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and has been a popular tourist destination for adventurers and families for years.

Hand-me-down Evidence

Just a quick post - so you now how i mentioned that in my Hand-me-down post that my mother had dressed me in my cousins hand-me-downs, even though i am, in fact, a girl and he was a boy? And that i couldnt find the photo of me in red " Sherriff " overalls? Well, my mother found it and here it is for your viewing pleasure...

Oh yea, thats me - a bit over 2 yrs old i think - in my fash-tastic hand-me-down overalls with my chubbster brother. Aren't we vintage gorgeous?

8 years.

today, January 18th, 2011, is the day. eight years ago, my mother died of lung cancer. I was clutching her hand as she took her last breath on this Earth and that moment will forever be engraved in my mind. it was the most traumatic day of my life. I will never, ever forget the feeling of instant and extreme loneliness that I felt that day eight years ago.

I've had a hard time with being mother-less this year. I think it's because we've decided to try for children a little earlier than we thought we would. it makes me nervous. it makes me scared. I always imagined being pregnant with my mom by my side, giving me the advice and tips she learned while she was pregnant with me. I always imagined she'd be in the delivery room with me welcoming her grandchild into the world. she'd be there to babysit when I needed a date night, and she'd spoil my children like no other. 

it honestly makes me scared to have children. how will I explain her to them? how could I possibly convey to them what a wonderful person she was? they'll never understand how amazing she was, and that makes me sad.

eh, I'm feeling very "woe is me" today and I shouldn't. I am incredibly lucky to have awesome folks in my life, and they keep me about as sane as I can possibly be, so that counts for something. 

I'm at home today, just lounging around. I might venture out and get my nails done today. other than that, I'll be reading The Help all day, and then cooking Sean chicken parmesan this evening. I've never made it before, so I'll let you know how it goes.

show & tell: new

Inspiration: New

Show:

Tell:

little brother, Wyatt, showing me his 

new favorite face to make for the camera... 

no more cheesing for this boy!

twas the day before Christmas (photo heavy!)

here's my recap of Christmas Eve (in photos)...

we started off the day laying in bed and relaxing, and then made our way over to my dad's house around 11:30. I was immediately thrown into the kitchen to cook, but I managed to get lots of pictures around the house. it was my first time really doing any cooking for Christmas dinner, and I was a little stressed for a minute, but it all came out wonderfully and it was absolutely delicious! I'm actually pretty proud of myself for jumping in and cooking, even though I hadn't really prepared for it.

after we were through with dinner & the kids opened their gifts, we headed over to my aunt's house (on my mom's side) to spend time with that side of the family. we play a secret santa/white elephant/steal a gift game annually, and it was a blast this year. Sean & I brought a Shake Weight (see South Park's Shake Weight episode here), which was easily the biggest hit of the night. it was a great time as usual, and it was so nice to see family members that I really only get to see around this time of year.

when we arrived home from my aunt's house, Sean and I opened our gifts. it's a tradition for us to open our gifts on Christmas Eve. we've decided that since we're adults, we can do whatever the hell we want, and we're usually way too excited about gifts to wait to give them... so, Christmas Eve it is! the first thing I opened was the new baby, which I immediately attached to my base and started playing with. love, love, LOVE.

promise I'll have my Christmas Day pictures tomorrow, including 

LOTS of experimental pictures with the new lens!

Happy Tuesday!