Taking Stock

Today, on the 42nd anniversary of my entrance to this world, I am "taking stock" of life.


Making:  I have many projects going (per the norm) right now. A couple of them: I am still working on a couple of scrapbooks; knitting a sock
Cooking: As little as possible - I'm not a good cook and I HATE our kitchen!
Drinking: Water and coffee

Reading: Sister Dear by Laura McNeill and hoping to dig into my stack of books on my nightstand
Wanting: Spring-like weather
Playing:  Photographer ;)

Listening: Podcasts - I'm really liking Thrilling Adventure Hour; Satellite Sisters and Serial
Wishing:  For another healthy year (and maybe a million dollars...)

Enjoying:  My kids making me laugh - even when they are hassling me
Liking:  Walks with my Mister, baseball starts in a few more days and the phone calls/emails I am getting for photography inquiries
Hoping:  We can find a new car this year



Needing:  I have what I need - love; family; friends; shelter; food
Thinking:  I wonder what my 42nd year will bring...

Feeling:  Content with life 

 

What about you? I'd love to hear what you are "taking stock" of.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Hump Day!

I have decided to keep the WILW tradition going...

This week, I am loving:

*My Mr. and our kids - even when they pick on me, they still keep me smiling (most of the time)

*MLB regular season starts in 4 days!

*Blogs! There are SO many fantastic blogs out there [check out my 'Other Blogs You Should be Reading' tab - pick a few and go read them. (Don't forget to leave a comment...)

*My chats with Little Miss on the way to Grandma's house this week - she's on spring break

*I know what a macaroon is. This has been the running joke in our house this week

*Reading a good book!

*Introducing Little Miss to the movie, Uncle Buck and her cracking up, leading to her quoting it for weeks on end.

*10K step a day challenge we have at work right now - it has really made me get up and move around a lot more.

What are YOU loving this week?!

Travel Tuesday, Days 3 & 4

Onward with our Universal Studios adventure

Day 3-We started our day with riding the Mummy roller coaster (after we had eaten a GIANT doughnut [as in it could feed 3-4 people giant]). I ended up almost getting sick so we cooled it for a while and wandered around.  Then off to Simpsons Land...

Waiting to ride The Simpsons Ride

 She got pulled out of the crowd to join in the Minions/Despicable Me parade. She had a blast!

The Mr. decided he wanted to go back to the room and lay down for a while. I stayed with the kids at the park and checked out the Curious George area of the park

When the Mr. returned, we had lunch at the Leaky Cauldron - yum!

We headed to Seuss Landing after lunch. They made an announcement over the PA while we were waiting in line to wish Sara a happy birthday - the entire station yelled it. She was pretty embarrassed - it was fantastic!

We got some snacks, rode a few more rides then went back to the hotel. The movie that night was Despicable Me, so we found chairs and relaxed.

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Day 4-We went to the park at opening and got in line to ride Minions. We waited an hour (a ride not worth our wait). Grabbed a late breakfast then decided since the park was packed, we would walk over to check out the Hard Rock Hotel.

We played a round of mini golf and had a great time doing that.

Mr. and Young Mr. went to see Deadpool while Little Miss and I went back to the hotel to play in the pool and relax.

We went back to the park for the evening (no one was at Islands of Adventure) so we watched the Harry Potter little stage shows - the Frog Chorus and Triwizard Spirit Rally. Little Miss was in heaven having her picture taken with both groups.

 We wrapped our evening with a ride on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and a leisurely walk back to the hotel.

Stay tuned for further recap and photos...

Weekend

This past weekend flew by - again! I took zero photos of ANYTHING! Sorry....


Saturday, I woke up with a killer headache. I popped a couple of Aleve and made it through my day at the library. It was in the mid-50s most of the day. My Mr. & I took a long walk after work, it seemed to help clear my head a little.  Then it was pizza for dinner.


Yesterday was a HAPPY EASTER day! It started out cloudy but relatively warm. We had brunch with my in-laws at a local restaurant. Then we watched the last Hunger Games movie with Little Miss (meh...). Then I edited some photos, read a book, napped and did as little as possible the rest of the day.


Oh, and I had a mini-freak out about starting my PPA (Professional Photographers Association) certification process.... There is SO much to learn and know! Not sure if this "old dog" can learn "new tricks" for this venture.


How was your weekend?


Linking up with B Loved Boston today

I've got the itch....

The baseball itch!!!!!!!!

I am dying for the regular season to start (less than a week!).

I haven't seen any spring training games. It is killing me!!!! I catch little snippets of Cubs news here & there.

In our house, baseball is still in the background because hockey is still on. BUT - sorry boys, Sunday afternoon the TV is mine!

Do you follow baseball?

Who is "your" team?

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Thanks for stopping by! It's another edition of Wednesday love.


*Walks with my husband
*The weather being nice enough for parking lot lunches
*My family making me laugh
*Email updates from my siblings
*Less time on Facebook
*Great advance reads on my nightstand & some I have finished (reviews to come...)
*Photo shoots
*The flowers coming up
*More counter space when a small appliance dies
*Blog reading - make sure you check out my list of blogs you should be reading (above)


What are YOU loving this week?

Universal Studios, Days 1 & 2

We went to Universal in mid-February to FINALLY make it to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.


Day 1 - We left Chicago at 10 degrees and landed in Orlando to a sunny, windy mid-50s day. It was jacket weather but nice!


Our hotel - Cabana Bay. We stayed in a suite. The hotel was about a 15 minute meandering walk to the park entrance, so we did a lot of walking back and forth.

We did some shopping and snooped around in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade.

Entering Diagon Alley:

Sara cried when she saw it for the first time. She was SO excited!!!!

We pooped out early that evening because we'd been up since about 3 a.m.

Day 2 - We headed to the parks about mid-morning, rode some rides; ate; rode some more rides; took an afternoon nap; went back to the parks for the evening

And this little piece of "flare" was magical...we got bumped to the front of a few lines; lots of people wished her happy birthday. She had a pretty great day!

 We had lunch at Breadbox Sandwich Company. Good food!!!!

Adventure recap to continue...

Happy March!

WOW - February flew right by!


How was your weekend? Mine was super quick. I worked at the library on Saturday. Sunday we ran some errands and watched the Oscars (lots of surprises, in my opinion!). I found a cute spring/summer dress at Goodwill. Tis the season for skirt and dress shopping - yea!


Today would have been my Grandpa's 92nd birthday. Happy birthday, Grandpa!


How was your weekend?