travelocity

Denver to Dallas to New Orleans. By planes, trains and automobiles. Okay, so I didn't ride a train. But I saw a trolley car. Does that count?

After a wonderful visit with my mom, sister and her kids, I flew to Dallas where I met Kelly & the kids. The heat & humidity washed over me as I stepped out into the night air. My hair, which had been cute for 5 whole days went back to being it's old self and I swam to meet my family. We spent a whirlwind day at Hurricane Harbor and saw more belly button rings, bad tattoos and moms in bikinis than I need to see in a lifetime. We had a blast!

That night took us to The Ballpark at Arlington where Kelly watched his favorite players add another mark in the W column. We had great seats and cheered our hearts out for our beloved Texas Rangers. It was more fun than we can handle in one day, I tell ya. So much so, that we hopped in the car and drove home, arriving at 3:15am, so I could hop in another car and join friends in a quick trip to New Orleans.  Another fabulous time. But you know what they say... What happens in NOLA, stays in NOLA!

I think I'm pretty much recuperated, as I'm trying to enjoy my last week of summer vacation. We celebrated Kelly's 36th, bought a new (to us) truck, ordered some new furniture, plan to paint the study, oh, and relax with movies and video games galore. Come on, school starts in 3 weeks!

mile high

I come to you today from Denver, Colorado! I have enjoyed several days with my mom, sister, neice & nephew. Not having seen them for 18 months, it's been a treat for me to have a solo visit. Hopefully we can make it a family thang at Christmastime.

Today I fly to Dallas where the rest of the Spann Fam will pick me up. We've haven't told the kids yet, but we're spending tomorrow at Hurricane Harbor (Six Flags waterpark)! Kelly is buying the attractive water shoes today. Tomorrow night takes us to a Texas Rangers baseball game - Happy Birthday, Love! (Apparently Cliff Lee is pitching, and if you didn't know, it's a pretty big deal. We got him before the wretched Yankees could get their greedy little paws on him).

Friday is another trip - to New Orleans! We've got the 3 ,
'F's: Friends, Fun and a Free hotel. All squeezed into a little over 24 hours. It's gonna be a blast.

Hey, I can sleep later, right??

not your typical florida vacation

As I was telling people that we were headed to Florida  last week, friends wished us an oil-free beach vacation. Little did they know that the Spann Fam travels to another kind of Florida. The kind that is in the piney woods of the panhandle, where life moves a little slower. The Spann Family Reunion beckons each July and we come calling, for 3 years in a row now.

We visited with relatives, swam in the creek with cousins, ate (and ate some more) with family, and had a new experience: life on the farm. We slept in a barn (a renovated one, with air conditioning, a full kitchen & a pool table but felt like we were roughing it none the less!). The kids experienced some farm living, catching our supper and enjoying hearty, homemade southern breakfasts and homemade ice cream. Here are some of the highlights:

hand-cranking strawberry ice cream

enjoying the spoils of (claire's) labor

{and down 2 teeth!}

a little barn decor

sleepy head

livin the barn life

our view every morning (but not quite this close!)

picking potatoes for our homemade chips

claire had the first catch of the day

my mighty fisherman

supper!

Okay, so we did make it to our beach one day... I say "our" beach since that is what it was!

Blue Mtn Beach is our little slice of white sand and green-blue ocean. This is what we saw when we got there, though:

But this is what we found:

oil-free & beautiful!

It was a wonderful morning on the sand, but the barn was calling...

I think these city kids have a little country in em after all!

summer camp

All her bags are packed...

She's ready to go...

She's standing here, inside the door...

I can't believe she's really off to camp for 5 days!

The Great Room

I believe I have missed my calling.

I was born to be a wrestler. No, wait, that's Kelly. I was born to be a design blogger. Seriously, have you seen some of the blogs out there? Some are truly great. They share funny stories, but mostly give decorating/interior design inspiration and advice. The very best ones are designers/decorators by trade. It is their job. Some do "virtual" design jobs - give advice based on pictures. People pay them to do this. The most popular ones have advertisers on their blogs and are read by thousands of readers every. single. day.

Can't you just see it? Me, sitting in a stylish office, surrounded by color wheels and design magazines (currently being referred to as "shelter mags") typing, blogging, inspiring?! I would paint and re-paint my house, constantly re-arrange my furniture and make really crafty projects that YOU would want to copy. Again, people would pay me, just to be part of my blog.

Major companies would GIVE me things to try out and share on my blog. Then they would give me more free things to give away to my readers. I might even get to re-do my kitchen on someone else's dime, if I just write about the experience.

THIS IS FOR REAL, PEOPLE! How did I miss this? I guess while I was busy having babies, decorating my own house (dreaming of having my own consulting biz), and going back to work, I missed the whole pay-me-to-blog train. Oh, I caught the blog-about-whatever-you-want-and-maybe-a-friend-or-family-member-will-read-it-but-no-one-will-PAY-you train. Yeah, I'm in First Class. Oh, well.

As long as I'm on the topic, let me share some of my very favorites. There are waaay too many design blogs out there that well, aren't so good. Here are a few of the best:

designmom.com

thepaintedhouse.com

designspongeonline.com

thenester.com

theletteredcottage.net

Oh - and if you were wondering, mine would be called thegreatroom.com and it would be FABULOUS!! (Get it - The Great Room? A great room is a large family room/dining area... and it's Great! Am i amazing or what?!)

self-improvement

For the past several months, I've been concerned with working on our house, our yard, our pool. I think about improving Claire's pitching and Nolan's swing. Even as I'm on summer vacation, I've spent time in my office making improvements as we prepare for new paint & furniture, sprucing it up with new decor. In all my concern for the things around me, I've forgotten about someone else who needs a lot of work, but has kind of been neglected.

Me.

As far as the outside goes, let's just say that it's an on-going project. One that has taken near-permanent residence on the back burner (waaay back - you know, the little one that you never use, because it never gets quite hot enough? Yeah, that one.) Well, I'm scooting it up front a bit.

Starting tomorrow morning (at 6am, I might add - I am on summer vacation, remember?), I will begin walk/running. It's an interval thing. Anyhoo, a friend asked me to start and I was thrilled to accept. I could say that I'm doing this to lose weight or be healthy, both of which are good things. But... can I tell you a secret? I'm doing it to be selfish. That's right. I want pure, unadulterated grown-up time. Outside. When it's not 100 degrees. With a friend who makes me laugh. And I may just improve the outside of me, just a bit.

To cover the inside (and I mean the deeeep inside - you know, soul, inside) I am hosting a study group with a group of gals beginning next week. I cannot tell you, dearest, just how badly I need this. I'm feeling all dried up, full of malcontent and complacency, with the full realization of just why I feel that way. I am not spending time with my God. And - Oh, how I miss Him. The only comfort in this thought is knowing that He misses me a million times more.

Will I improve? Only time (and my husband!) will tell. But in the midst of the busy-ness of this life, don't forget to take care of you. xo

enduring

[Ed Note: I realized that I haven't blogged in awhile. My goal is to return to my former blogging "style" (ie more thoughtful posts). I have a lot to catch up on, but bear with me as i get my creative juices flowing again.]

Kelly's younger brother, Scott, nephew and father left for Texas just minutes ago. We enjoyed a visit with them while Scott was on leave from Ft. Collins, his current Army assignment in Colorado Springs. Scott has been in the Army for just under 2 years now, and his station is about to change. On July 6th he will leave for Afghanistan. He left a copy of his orders for us, and as I looked them over, the first thing I noticed were the words Operation Enduring Freedom.

It's been a long time since I've heard those words. The actions that began this war took place when Claire was 3 months old. Claire will turn 9 next week.

To be perfectly honest, I am not as educated or as knowledgeable about this war as I should be. It's not something I've really thought too much about lately. Nearly the past decade (and all of my children's lives) this war has continued on, and it has filtered into the background of our lives. Until now.

Now it's OUR brother, OUR uncle, OUR son who will be driving, fueling, fighting. It's personal. Close to home. And now I remember that it is enduring. For OUR freedom.