Baby Oliver! (Rachel Skirvin)

January 30, 2014

Aspen, Hazel and I took a field trip to the south side to go meet our newest cousin, Oliver. He is such a little sweetie:) 

Oliver is the first baby born to Luke's cousin, Rachel. Rachel and I became Facebook friends through Luke and I getting married but I really knew of her long before I ever knew Luke....

When I used to work as a case manager at The Villages. I grew very fond of Rachel's father, Skirv aka Richard Skirvin or Uncle Dick. Even though he wasnt my supervisor and didnt work on my floor he was a fellow social worker and he had a wealth of knowledge so I was always picking his brain. I remember one day he said why do you always come to me for answers and I replied with because you are old and you just know things. He got a great kick out of that. I can guarantee that you have never met anyone like him. He is just one of those people that will always make you laugh. Because he has no filter and he is straight forward with judging everyone!(and I am the same way maybe thats why we get along so well) I remember one time when I was probably in my third trimester with Aspen I walked in and he said well you are looking mighty fat today. And I said well at least Ill get skinny again, you wont ever get taller! (hes only about 5'4). He also has so many stories that will make you think REALLY, are you telling me the truth?  I know that Ive had a lot of weird and crazy things happen in my life but Skirv could seriously top every story I can tell. I definitely miss working with him. He would tell me stories about his crazy partying days but he would also tell me about his kids Rachel and Aaron. He would tell me about Rachel and her love for animals, horses in particular. She has a few that she keeps on his property and she also does horse riding lessons. He would tell me about how she went to school overseas for an equestrian degree and show me baby pictures of her.

After about 3 years of working with Skirv and hearing about his family he told me about his nephew Luke. He called him while I was in his office and we ended up exchanging phone numbers. I remember talking to Luke and telling my friend Sarah during a staff meeting. I think her direct comment was NO you can not marry Skirv's nephew HAHA. I wasnt really thinking I was going to marry a person I hadnt met yet but low and behold we met and the rest is history. 

Rachel Im sorry you are getting kind of a short stick of a blog post since my relationship with you more revolves around your dad but I do want to thank you for letting us visit! Congrats on the beautiful baby boy. Aspen was in love at first sight and is still talking about him. Welcome to Motherhood! Enjoy every minute of the sweet newborn stage.

Birthday Night (Shawn Matney, Terri Dowell, Laura Titara)

January 25th, 2014 

First, got to start off by saying that Shawn and I are together all the time and we talk mostly every day. She's the one of the only stay at home moms that I know and her daily phone conversations make me sane. She has two boys that are 4 and 1 so when we are together its nonstop excitement with 2 boys, 2 girls lots of fairy costumes and batman figurines. We both volunteer together frequently at a clothing pantry at a nearby church. We both also share a love of coupons, yard sales, cleaning, organizing and decorating. I'm currently working on introducing her to Harry Potter so that she can enjoy it and I don't have to be a nerd by myself. 

Currently, Shawn' s a busy lady. Shes running her household and taking care of two small boys while also pursuing her degree. She cleans houses and also volunteers at her church. It was a rarity that we got out together without children so that is why I chose this occasion as an event to blog about. :)

Four of us gals went out on a night on the town to celebrate my dear friend and BFF Shawn's 28th birthday! 

Shawn and myself

Terri (Shawn's Mom) and Laura (Shawn's other bff)

It was a fun night. We met at Terri's house and rode together to Mass Ave. I've never been there so I was all about trying something new. We had dinner at a pub called Ralston's. They had the coolest door. Ever since Ive seen it I keep seeing mosaic projects made from bottle caps. Im seriously inspired by this and want to create a masterpiece but Im still unsure what I would glue a bunch of caps to. I also think I need to start drinking some capped beverages in the meantime until I figure it out.

After dinner we went to see live theatre at a place called "Theatre on the Square". If you havent been there I strongly recommend it.

 http://tots.org/

The play that we saw was called "The Love List". It wasn't the greatest play but I loved the lay out of the place. It was vintagey and a tad bit creepy but definitely my style. Haha. The way that it is layed out you go in to watch the play but the seating makes it so that you are almost part of the actual stage. Definitely up close and personal with the actors/set. Since Im in love with live theatre i would go back given the chance.

I thought that we were going home after dinner and a "movie" because well Im a mom and old and thats usually where a night would end. Well no, I forgot how much of a go getter Terri is and Laura is right there with her. Shawn and I were in for a treat because our dinner and a movie turned into shots at a karokee bar.

I remember taking this picture but since I was in the backseat I have no idea where we were. I can tell you that we were the only ones there because it was the middle of a snowstorm! Ill spare everyone the video footage of Terri and I singing En Vogue's "Never Gonna Get It". Seriously, I honestly do sound much better in the shower. 

So fast forward and we finally leave the bar, its almost 2 am and I am telling these people that I need to get home. Id been up for what seemed like days and since it was 2 am it really was. So we get back to Terri's and Im brushing all the snow off my car and they start talking about going to Denny's. Umm...Im not about to miss out on Denny's! So ....

So we are all being loud and obnoxious and laughing hysterically because we ended up with the weirdest waitress because who else would work at Denny's at 3am? I dont even remember at this point what she was talking about because I was sleep deprived and had been drinking but  Laura and I go to the bathroom and see this guy.....

Just sleeping in the corner. We asked the waitress who then proceeds to tell us that its her boyfriend and he had came to pick her up but she picked up another shift so he fell asleep because he didnt want to go home to talk to her mom. It was the longest drawn out story but long story short Shawn got a free Grand Slam and ice cream! We took some other pics with the guy that were on Laura's phone and I think she got his phone number and texted them to him. This girl is a trip!

So that sums up the evening!

 Shawn thank you for being such a great friend for the past 9 years! 

We need to get out more!