Maggie Mae

We spent last Friday night with some friends.  

They have a dog who I love.  Her name is Maggie Mae and she is an English Bulldog.

Here she is the first time we met her in November.

Precious, right?  Well, we took a lot of pictures of Mags that night.  Here is some of the adorable-ness that is in my camera right now.

Of course, I got this one with my phone, and it was my favorite.  Such is life.  If only it focused a little better!!  

And a self portrait, Go Flyers!

Papa is 80!

Yesterday my Papa turned 80!

On our way home from work, my husband and I tried to track him down so that we could see him, and ended up finding out he was at the VFW, where he spends a lot of time.

My Papa is an Army Vet and a retired Fireman. True to his generation, he never stops working.  He is always busy and slow to accept help.  He is proud yet humble, kind, loving, hard-working, and (if you really tune your ears to hear his soft comments) hilarious.

He is deeply in love with my grandmother.  They will have taken care of each other for 60 years in June.  He is a true family man, and we all love him.

Happy 80th Birthday to the best Grandfather a girl could ask for! I love my Papa.

He serves as a bartender at the VFW, among other things.  So, he pumped my husband, Justin, with free beer, and cheered him up after a hard day at work!  Then, they convinced Justin to join the VFW.  haha, he's probably the youngest member by at least 20 years.  Here is Justin wearing the hat they give with new membership!  So proud! :-).

Tuesdays finds

Happy Tuesday!   These are some things that I found that I want!!

the colors of this dress are my newest obsession.

a gorgeous top

drooling over this dress currently

pretty earrings

precious open back beach cover-up

a straw beach bag to die for

Can you tell I'm just dying to plan a vacation? 

What are your summer plans?

TED Tuesday

Whenever I need to be awoken, or reminded that I have feelings, or break up the monotony of life, I visit the TED website

The other day I found a talk by the creator of Post Secret, Frank Warren, and I was reminded of when I discovered Post Secret.

I have long loved Post Secret.  But I didn't find it through this awesome blog, instead, I was really lonely one night in college while on summer break. I went somewhere that I loved, the book store.  Here, I discovered one of Post Secret's books.  And I was reminded that I wasn't alone. 

Frank Warren is the man behind Post Secret.  I love his TED talk. Here it is, watch it, it's a good one!

Sweet Frog and Prom Dates

So, I get this cryptic message yesterday from my husband's little brother, Greg:

"Can I come over real quick?  I need to ask you a favor"

And before I could reply that he could certainly come over, but I didn't know how many favors I could do with my migraine, I got a call.  It was Greg.

He needed some advice on asking this girl that was "just a friend" to prom.  Greg didn't go to prom the year before and I've been a big push on him to go, just so he doesn't wonder what it was like.

After much deliberation, we decided that he should go to Sweet Frog, where his date-hopeful works, take her flowers, and ask her to their Senior Prom. 

 He didn't want to go alone, and I was kind of excited for him, so I tagged along.

We decided to get the flowers from Trader Joe's because I love their selection.  And we spent forever trying to figure out which flowers would say friends and not dating, because, apparently most people are interested in dating seriously the people they take to prom.  Who knew?

When I was in high school, we didn't do all of this flowers and thinking, and everyone went as friends, unless you had a boyfriend.  

Anyway, we figured he had a 70 percent chance of walking away with a prom date, so we snapped this picture:

She said yes!  And she even asked him what color to wear!  He told her she could wear whatever color she liked.  I had meant to snap a few pictures of him with his date after he asked, but it was so awkward, that I opted not to.

More to come on Senior Prom 2012.

After Sweet Frog, I went home and disappeared from the world.   My husband eventually lulled me out of migraine-land with a surprise sick supper in bed, some medicine, and my addiction to Game of Thrones.

What was your prom experience like? 

Did anyone else watch GOT last night?  What did you think?  OH MY GOODNESS, I think this season is so good!

Tuesday's finds

So, I was inspired by a few other blog's that I read's lists.

...and Today is Tuesday.  And these are some things that I want:

These precious Sunglasses

These adorable Jeans

This printed shift

These bright and pretty napkins and placemats

and this return address stamp

I would also really like to get back the precious cowboy hat that my husband picked out and bought me while he was in Texas this weekend.  But my dogs decided they'd rather chew it up.  GRR.

i am enough.

This morning, I needed this reminder.

Give yourself 20 minutes today and watch this.  You'll be glad you did.

Empty Pool

Our pool was empty for maintenance, so we took the dogs and took some pictures.  These are my first few edits in photoshop and I would love to get some feedback.  I have no clue what I'm doing!!

Also, please excuse our bed heads and scruffy outfits, we work at a very casual office and get up at 4:30.

Christ is Risen!

He is risen indeed!

Christ is risen, all the sadness of our Lenten fast is o'er.

Some of my favorite Easter words.

This year I gave up my favorite food, French Fries.  I should begin by saying, I'm not Catholic and I don't practice all of the Lent traditions.  I'm not even sure I know the meaning behind all of the Lenten traditions.  However, I love giving something up for Lent.

French fries are my go-to food.  I love them so much.  I could eat them 3 times a day and never get tired of them.  I know it is gross, but it's my truth.  So, when I decided I wanted to give them up for Lent, I knew it was going to be a long 40 days.

The first week, my Husband and I went to see The Lion King with our families and our friend hosted a buffet at Chili's that included fries and Justin teased me that they were so delicious.  I gently reminded him that this was what Satan did to Jesus in the desert and he knocked it off.  But this was a good thought process.

Whenever I would be tempted to have my beloved fries, I prayed.   I thanked God for giving his life for my sins and how hard that was to imagine, when I couldn't even give up stupid fries.

I spent a lot of time this Lent in conversation with God.  And feel more deeply grateful for His sacrifice.

On Sunday, the Easter Bunny made me fresh cut, deep fried french fries with McDonald's Fancy Ketchup. And on our way to my Grandmother's for Easter dinner, we stopped at McDonald's and I got a small fry.  And yesterday we went to Glory Days and got their yummy cheese fries with onions and homemade Ranch.

And I, again, had to thank God for the simple pleasures.

Hello, World.

I've always wanted to, so I did.  This is my blog.

Hi!  I'm claire.

This is my awesome Husband, Justin.

And these are our wonderful dogs:

Spunky, sassy Lilly

And the ever handsome, chilled out J. 

I want to share my life because I feel I have a lot I can share.  My extremely unique and crazy family, awesome friends, my crafting and do-it-yourselfing, dance, dogs, adventures with my camera, books, hair and more. But mostly, I just wanted to create a blog.  I love reading other peoples and figured I should try it.

So, here goes, internet world.