Almost 5. Almost 4.

Today I am grateful for my kids ages.

for the most part.

I mean, the fact that tomorrow is November 1st, which officially makes it the month my son turns 5, kind of gives me a FUCKING HUGE small panic attack.

but man. this is really THE AGE.

everything is awesome when your kids are 3 going on 4 and 4 going on 5. I mean everything.

Okay.

Do I miss them being babies? at moments. I mean, they were adorable.

Look at those faces.

sure there are days when I think "how are they so grown up now? where did these days go?"

of course, I don't really remember much of these days anyway. I had two children 13 months apart. the years late 2007-late 2010 are kind of one giant sleepless blur to me. which is another reason I am grateful my kids are now a little bit older. they sleep. for the most part.

anyway.

there is one amazing thing that toddlers going into kid-dom have that babies don't.

awareness.

oh sure. a baby can recognize their mom and knows when things are going on around them, but real awareness? nope.

you think babies care about trick or treating? think again.

you know who cares about getting a ton of candy and dressing up as their favorite nerdy super heroes?

these kids.

not the two fantastically adorable babies above.

these kids live for halloween.

and they are super psyched about christmas already.

Now, I am a self-admitted grinch. but there is just something so fun about kids getting psyched about christmas for the first time. i mean, yea. they've had other christmases. and did they enjoy getting gifts? yup. but this year there is just soo much awareness. they want to ask Santa for presents. they want to "write" him a letter and tell them what they hope for underneath their christmas tree. they want to leave him milk and cookies and cannot wait to wake up and find presents under the tree.

(which also makes me incredibly grateful that this will in fact be the first year since Brey was 4 weeks old that The Marsh will actually be home and not at work on christmas morning)

I really just love everything about this age.

I'm grateful to be done with diapers. and sleepless nights. and midnight feedings. and infant car seats. and onesies. and just so many other baby things.

It feels like it took so long to get to this point, and yet I know it happened so fast. and I know that this adorable awareness phase will be passed though quickly as well. so tonight I just wanted to take a moment after taking the babes trick or treating to just be so grateful for how fun being a mom to two almost no longer toddlers can really be.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Limoncello.

Today I am grateful for Limoncello.

In case you didn't know this, Limoncello makes everything better.

including cheap liquor.

yup.

I went there.

as in I bought cheap liquor. don't judge too harshly here please. it doesn't actually happen very often. but this weekend it did.

okay. so here's what happened. When my sister and i went looking for some potential drinks to bring with us to the halloween party this weekend, we decided it might me nice to bring extra in case anyone needed more or didn't have enough. so we bought this pre-made, comes in a bad (a fucking bag), cheap ass fruity mojito blend. I know, I'm suprised someone hasn't come and taken away my WASP card yet. it seems to still be safely mine for now.

so what does any of this have to do with Limoncello?

well, I forgot during the party that we bought the yucky cheap mojito blend. so it got put in the refrigerator and forgotten about. which means after the party there was still an ENTIRE BAG LEFT. and i mean, come on, someone had to drink it right?

well yesterday The Marsh and I tried it.

it tasted just like we thought it would taste.

cheap.

BUT. my super awesome fake bartender husband thought it might work out to try adding Limoncello to the mix...because Limoncello is so sweet, he thought it might take out some of the harsh bite that came with each and every sip of the mojito. and he was absolutely right.

suddenly a gross ass cheap drink is now a smooth yummy concoction.

my husband is so smart.

and I'm grateful for Limoncello making all that liquor a little bit easier to drink.

or maybe i shouldn't be so grateful to Limoncello for now making me look like a raging achololic?

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Power House.

Today I am grateful that we still have power.

(KNOCK ON WOOD)

I'm sure that most of you have heard by now that there is a hurricane wreaking havoc on the east coast, which really isn't anything new to us east coasters.

but Sandy is suppose to be pretty powerful and my facebook is already completely lit up with people saying they don't have power.

there are few punishments in this life worse than not having power to me.

you know what no power means? no wi-fi.

it's like a mini apocolypse in my house whenever that happens. seriously.

but for now we seem to be holding strong. the lights flicked there for a few minutes about an hour ago but have been keeping steady ever since. let's hope it stays that way

of course, now that I've written this blog I am probably shooting myself in the freaking foot! oh well.

the only other reason I'm hoping we don't lose power is because I am still getting used to this whole having a well thing. the fact that the water actually stops running when the power goes out? yea, i'm not feeling that so much. especially when I have to work tomorrow.

so here's hoping that this thing blows out to sea soon. and we avoid any power outages in this area.

please.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

17 to 25.

Today I am grateful that I am not 17.

and while that's not in any way shape or form suprising to me, a little part of me is amazed by it.

you see being 17 for me didn't suck.

In fact, 17 was a pretty great year. sure I was pretty much (emotionally) done with high school by my senior year, but it was still awesome (with just a few exceptions), I moved to Boston and met a wonderful group of people including my beautiful best friend, Kristy. It really was a fantastic year. and I always sort of figured it would be one of my favorite years...

but i sit here now at 25 and think you honestly couldn't pay me any amount of money in the world for me to want to go back and be 17 again. ever.

A couple times a year my mom throws a party at her house and I get to see some of the people I was friends with at 17. Such a party happened this weekend in honor of halloween. I got to see one of my best friends, Ashley, whom is the only friend from high school i even still speak to, and a couple other people that i was friends with back in the day.

I always enjoy seeing them. there are good conversations, nostalgic conversations, somewhat slightly pissed off conversations about some hard feelings that even 8 years can't erase, but it's always a good time. margaritas and my mom's hot tub make sure of that.

but when the partying stops, after I say good-bye to these friends and honestly have no idea when it is that i will actually be seeing them again and I come to my house, i get to see my babies and talk to my husband on the phone while he's a work...i know there is no way i would ever want to go back.

My sister mentioned today that sometimes it feels like it would be easier to go back in time. to a time with less responsibility and life was just a little bit simpler, but I just can't picture it. to be fair to her, her young and carefree years were spent a little bit differently than mine and I understand her wishing just a little bit for a do-over, but man...doesn't that just sound exhausting? I feel like being a mom to two toddlers is less exhausting that 17 year old female hormones anyday.

plus, I finally reached a point in my life a few years ago when I realized the purpose that all the good and bad things that happened to me between the ages 16 to 18 had in my life. they all had their part to play in making me exactly who i am today. I wouldn't go back in time for one second if there was even the smallest chance that it would change who I am today.

I've said it many times and will continue to say it everyday, I love my life. I am so grateful for my life. I am grateful for my slightly crazy, overly frugal, spontaneous lyric ruining husband. I am grateful for my little dude, Mr. Breyman. and I am grateful for arch nemesis numero uno, a.k.a. Miss G.

and I am so grateful that I am not 17.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Mums The Word.

Today I am grateful for quiet.

but not in the normal "oh my god, my house is actually freaking quiet for a few minutes" kind of way.

Tonight was The Marsh and my's very first parent teacher conference with Breyman's teacher.

and what did she have to say about him?

"he's very quiet."

score.

Now, to be fair, I'm not actually totally and completely thrilled that he is so quiet. I don't want him to be shy and not feel like he is able to communicate with others. but she said that he does talk to his peers when he wants to and that he lets her know when he does need something. he's just quiet in the classroom.

on one hand, The Marsh and I were completely aware that him not saying much was a real possiblilty.

the reason I am so happy that he is, in fact, actually quiet is because on the other hand we knew that the other possibility involved running around and screaming about darth vader. or Orcs. or some other fictional creature.

we were a little scared that we would be receiving a phone call that brey was pretending to be in Lord of the Rings and pretending to decapitate other students that he thought were "orcs".

and while being an Orc Slayer is definately awesome...you can see why The Marsh and I were happy to hear that Brey is being a little bit reserved in class.

We were also happy to hear that his teacher doesn't seem to think that Brey is having any real pronounciation issues, and she has no immediate plans to recommend speech therapy, which was something else we were a little worried about.

it went very well.

now, i'll be grateful if all future parent teacher conference could please follow suit.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Man! I Feel Like A Woman.

Today I am grateful that I am woman.

actually.

most days I am, in fact, grateful to be a woman.

I mean who really wants to be a man?

not me, that's for sure.

but today I find myself more grateful to be a woman than most days.

let me try to tell this story in a delicate way.

The Marsh and I were making dinner tonight (french toast mmmm...) and we started rough housing. this isn't anything new for us. he is a state certified self defense instructor. but sometimes things can go wrong. usually he squeezes my arm too rough or does something equally awful, but still kind of accidently.

tonight, however, in a complete moment of accidental horridness and pain, you could say I walked right into what i got.

literally.

right as The Marsh brought up a knee for a fake knee strike to the stomache, I walked right towards him. and got his knee where NO ONE EVER WANTS A KNEE.

and once again I repeat. I am grateful that I am not a man.

Now I may not have certain male parts, but I literally doubled over the second his knee struck bone. that's right. his knee struck bone. between my legs.

you have no idea what pain is.

but...I'm pretty sure that if I had been male, i would have hit the floor. hard. there would have been no doubling over, it would have been straight passing out. seriously.

so thank you, God, for making me female. because I believe that I may be dead from pain right now if I was in fact male.

but then again...if i was male, I most likely wouldn't be standing in a kitchen making french toast with The Marsh, so maybe if I was male I wouldn't have been in so much pain to begin with.

meh. nope.

I still wouldn't want to be man.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Breathe Again.

Today I am grateful to be home from florida.

not that I wasn't happy to be in florida, the weather was absolutely beautiful. and you know, the drinks didn't suck...

but it's always nice to come home.

even though our vacation was just under a week, somedays it felt just a little bit longer.

it was like holding your breath under water.

for a long time.

and like I previously said, I did enjoy the trip, but I wouldn't consider it to be my favorite vacation of all time. The resort we stayed at was absolutely beautiful (it was on disney property, of course it was amazing) but it was SO LARGE. like the resort had five of it's own bus stops large. like 1300 units large. like Lana wondering around getting ready to call her husband and unleash all of her anger in a very strongly worded phone call because she is already lost and it is only morning number one large.

never again.

it was just too big. and when you have two little children and a stoller and shopping bags, you really would prefer to spend the least amount of time on the bus as possible. it was also the resort that just happens to be the farthest from all the parks. so there was a lot of bus riding. people. i am not a bus rider.

on plus side, however, it was extremely close to downtown disney, which was a nice short walk whenever we headed that way.

but it's always nice to be able to come home and sleep in your own bed, isn't it? trust me. it is. I think disney has this secret plan where they actually make the beds as uncomfortable as possible, knowing that people are actually too exhausted after walking around all day to care. but not this girl. i always know how uncomfortable the beds are. no matter where we stay. so I am sooo grateful to be climbing into my own bed tonight and sleeping soundly. and I don't even think my own bed is all that awesome, so that really says something about disney beds.

anyway.

overall, good trip, but I'm so grateful to be home. with my own little family again....and no longer feeling like i'm drowning just a little bit.

now only if I didn't have to go into work tomorrow afternoon....

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Down(town) Time.

Today I am grateful for a little down time.

We have been going pretty non stop since arriving here on Tuesday. we have tried to be good and still find a couple hours of down time during the day so that the babes don't get too tired, but we still have been going pretty strong. And we have been to a different park everyday for the last three days.

It was time for a little break.

So today we headed over to downtown Disney and had some lunch before doing some quick shopping. Then we came back to the resort for a few hours and just chilled out before headed back that way for dinner. A little but more shopping and then a quick trip to the pool, and that finished off our evening.

I'm grateful we took a day to just relax. The babes are still recovering from their cold and I still have a pretty awful cough. I don't think any of us could have taken much more.

it was also pretty conveniently timed as well because tomorrow we are going to try and sneak in two parks before we head home on Monday.

I'm tried now just thinking about it, but it will be okay because tomorrow the marsh and I have a tequila tasting lunch scheduled at noon, and I have been looking forward to this for months. I'm grateful for that too.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Wireless

Today I am grateful I figured out the wireless option in our hotel room

I've been walking around the resort since yesterday bitching because I can't figure out the WI FI. Silly me. I forgot to agree to the terms and conditions. But to be fair, I had already agreed to the Disney property one..so I was thinking I had already done it. Oh well. At least it's up and working now so I have access to my blog again. Yay!

AND obviously I am grateful to be here at Disney world. We spent the day today at Epcot and enjoyed some of the food and wine festival. we also went to an amazing pizza place in the Italy pavilion and had one giant pizza.

Like seriously ginormous pizza.

I'm grateful for every slice. the only thing i'm not grateful for is that I happen to have this horrible cold. And no sense of smell. I'm missing out on all the awesome smells of the food festival, and the tastes are seriously muted as well. So that whole thing sucks. but other than that things seem pretty good right now. And i'm grateful to be on this vacation with my family.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Galaxy.

Today I am grateful that I finally got a new phone.

YAY!!!!!!!

it's only been over a year in the making. somedays i thought nothing short of my phone actually dying would be reason enough for The Marsh to consider upgrading to a smart phone, but today i succeeded.

mission accomplished!

and while yes, technicall nothing was actually wrong with my old phone, it was causing me more mental grief than could possibly be good for a person when it comes to a phone. you see i live...IN A DEAD ZONE! (cue creepy music) and while i normally enjoy living a little bit removed from society, the lack of cell service seriously pisses me off. like really pisses me off. like i'm suprised my phone hasn't actually dies yet from me throwing it across the room when i don't have any service pisses me off. i'm sure you're getting the point here. but it's frustrating.

and it's also a little scary to be here alone with my children and not have any service in the case of an emergency.

I actually had a dream (nightmare) thart two men with chainsaws were trying to get into my house. and what was i doing? getting pissed at my cell phone because i had no service to call 911. or my husband who just happens to work at the Sheriff's dept.

it was the last straw.

I needed a smart phone that had the wi-fi calling option so that I can just use my home wireless router as a tower. and i needed it now.

and The Marsh did very well. He got me the beautiful Samsung Galaxy S II, AND I love it.

so totally and completely stoked. and grateful!

and I've already downloaded the Blogger app for it so hopefully i'll still be able to blog a bit while in Florida.

which I'm leaving for in the morning.

I'm grateful for that as well!

Thanks for reading!
Lana

The Doctor is IN.

Today I am grateful for having such an awesome doctor.

seriously.

My doctor is awesome. not only has she been my primary care physician since i was 16, she was my doctor through both of my pregnancies, delivered both of my children, and she is now currently their primary care physician as well. I love having just one doctor for myself and the babes. and I completely trust her because no other doctor would know the babes better than her, she has literally been with both of them since the minute they were born.

So why am I so grateful for her incredibleness today? well, remember how I mentioned both Breyman and Miss Georgie have recently had some fever issues? well Breyman's came back. and last night B's fever came back and he was pretty well miserable. he came into bed with The Marsh and I about four o'clock this morning and he just tossed and turned and moaned about. and then he said his ear hurt.

I think i may have had a panic attack in that moment. Brey has NEVER complained about his ear hurting before. and now here it is, A SUNDAY, and he's coming down with an ear infection. and we're FLYING to florida the day after tomorrow. I started panicing thinking we were going to have to take him the emergency room. all i could think was at the office i work at, we tell people it takes about 24-48 hours before an antibiotic starts kicking in. we are flying in less time than that. i did not want the poor little guy to have to fly while in pain from an ear infection. yuk!

I took a chance and called my doctors office hoping to reach some kind of on call nurse to see if there was anything at all they could do for me. hallelujah someone was there to answer. after explaining to situation to the nurse she told me that she was going to call my doctor and then call me right back. and she did, i don't even think 2 minutes passed before my phone was ringing again. she told me to meet my doctor at the office this morning at 11:30 because she was going to drive in to see him.

on a SUNDAY. have I mentioned yet how amazingly awesome my doctor is? she really is the best.

and turns out Brey Bear does have an infection in his left ear, so it was a good thing I called to see if anyone could see him. She also put him on an antibiotic and said that he should be feeling better in 24 hours an all set to fly on tuesday. i feel like she was just able to save me so much worry on this trip, not to mention make it actually enjoyable for the baby bear. I'm just so grateful to have a doctor that cares about her patients and is just willing to go above and beyond when her patients need her. it's truely amazing.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Biden.

Today I am grateful for Joe Biden.

because he just totally spanked Paul Ryan in the Vice Presidential debate.

and yes I have heard all the Republicans already going on about how rude Biden was for laughing...and interrupting. excuse me while I remind them that Mitt Romney did the same thing last week. short term memory loss must be a thing going around. and I don't blame Biden for laughing at Ryan. It was laughable. Obama should have laughed at Romney last week. Joe was taking no prisoners tonight and it was definately a more enjoyable debate to watch than last thursdays presidential debate.

There were alot of things tonight that Biden said that I agreed with. or that certainly made more sense to me than others, but I had one moment tonight when I just wanted to stand up and give that man a high five.

Obviously, I am a democrat.

I'm also a mom. I have been pregnant twice and have chosen to keep both of my babies. but i am also extremely Pro-Choice. It's such an important topic to me and the fact that the government is still trying to take away a woman's right to choose even though Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973 completely boggles my mind. You would think in the last 30 years our country would have progressed a little bit in the women's rights arena, but alas, those religious conservatives are out to get them everytime.

and Joe. God Bless him, Joe. I was so proud of him for sitting up there and saying "Yes, I am a Catholic. and Yes, I believe as my Church believes that life starts at conception. but I am not going to force my beliefs on other Christians, Muslims, Jews, etc. It's a decision that should be made between a woman and her doctor."

Thank you, Mr. Vice President.

I am grateful that there is still apparently someone in the government who remembers what the seperation of church and state actually means.

Oh and I'm also grateful for youtube...because I am seriously considering rewatching this debate and turning it into a drinking game. whenever Ryan takes a sip of his water, I'll take one too. because that was seriously the most annoying part of this whole debate for me. apparently dude has a wicked case of dry mouth.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Wednesday Night Fever.

Today I am grateful that Miss Georgiana has a fever.

WHAT?!?

I know, I know. I'm like the worst mom EVER.

and actually, I'm not really grateful that Miss G has a fever at all. but since she does have one, I'm grateful it's happening today. Just like I was grateful that when Mr. Breyman had his fever, it took place last week.

by the way? this whole having a child that goes to school and brings home other children's germs and shares them with his sibling thing we've now got going on in this house? not my idea of fun. at all. NOT GRATEFUL.

Anyway.

Why am i grateful for the timimg? well, in case I haven't already mentioned it about 516 times, we're going to Disney World. in less than a week. and you know what I will never ever be grateful for? flying with a sick child. or having to deal with a sick child on a family vacation. You can ask my mom to personally vouch for the suckiness of that..because growing up I had the tendency to never get sick unless, of course, we were actually going somewhere fun for vacation.

I'm grateful that The Marsh and I won't have to deal with any cranky toddlers yelling at Mickey Mouse to go away. I'm grateful that we'll hopefully get through the flight relatively unscathed, which will be nice, because i really really really hate to fly. but more importantly i'm grateful that the babes will hopefully be feeling better by next week and will get to completely enjoy themselves on their trip. while it certainly won't be the last time they go to Disney World, I want each vacation to be special. and memerable. and not because they were miserable.

So I'm grateful that she has a fever today. and not next tuesday. and that she's being about as great as she can possibly be considering the circumstances.

Thanks for reading!

Lana

Dog Shaming.

Today I am grateful for the Ultimate Dog Shaming Video.

Okay.

So I have been grateful for some pretty silly stuff in the past, but this one may actually claim the top prize.

I couldn't help it though. I can't rememeber the last time I laughed this hard.

Have you heard of dog shaming yet?

yea, okay. so overall it's pretty dumb, but can sometimes be funny.

and then something comes along and steals all the awards.

this video man. i don't care who you are or what kind of day you are having, this video will make you laugh. or at least smile. if you don't crack a smile during this video, I am convinced you don't have a soul. or you may possibly be Satan.

Now, the thing with the video is..most of it is just kind of adorable. and maybe a little bit funny. BUT THEN THE END. you have to watch the video all the way to the end. i think i may have actually wheezed I was laughing so hard.

SERIOUSLY. GO WATCH IT RIGHT NOW!.

Did you laugh?

please tell me you did?

Anyway, I'm grateful for this video because I believe laughter really is the best medicine. and even though nothing is currently ailing me, I think it's a video i'll keep in my back pocket for a day I really need a pick me up. or maybe to show a friend who may need one too.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Chalazion Take 2.

Today I am grateful that The Marsh made it through another eye surgery relatively unscathed.

and he didn't even feel faint or pass out.

So I'm grateful for the tip I recieved about him drinking orange juice before having any kind of local anesthetic. apparently it helps with low blood sugar. and since we have the sneaking suspicion that low blood sugar, as opposed to him being a big wuss, is actually what is causing The Marsh to feel that faint feeling, we decided to try out the orange juice theory today. score for a successful outcome.

anyway.

As you may remember, The Marsh had surgery on his eye a few months back to remove a couple chalazions that were growing under his upper and lower eyelids. The surgery completely removed his upper one, but a few weeks ago he noticed more growth under his lower lid and it was really beginning to bother him, so he called up his doctor and got a follow up visit. She told him that basically his body went into super healing mode and just never stopped healing, causing the growth to form over the previous incision. solution? more surgery to remove the growth.

Right before his surgery today, The Marsh did have one heart stopping moment because his doctor told him that she was going to send a piece of the growth to pathology. because continuous growth could be a sign of cancer.

CANCER.

my husband's doctor just looked right at him today and told him that he may have cancer.

i'm glad i wasn't in the room. i probably would have flipped my shit.

BUT as soon as she cut into the growth it erupted. i know, i know. this is completely disgusting. but i have never been so grateful for something so disgusting in my life. she said that because the growth was "goop" (her words, not mine) it was more likely that it was just a hyperactive healing response...and not cancer.

phew.

so yea.

I'm grateful The Marsh can hopefully stop complaining about his eye bothering him. I'm grateful that he didn't faint. or even feel like he was going to faint. and i'm grateful that he doesn't have cancer in his eye. cause we would put that at the top of the list of Things That Suck The Most In Life.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Pumpkinland.

Today I am grateful for Pumpkinland.

actually yesterday i was grateful for Pumpkinland.

but since i woke up this morning and was like "fuck me, i didn't write my blog last night...", i get to be grateful for Pumpkinland again today.

This weekend I wanted to do something fun and fallish with the babes, but a little bit more fun for them than apple picking. Last week when my momma drove me to the casino we drove past this place called Pumpkinland. I had heard of it before, but wasn't really sure what is was or where it was. Well, after driving by I at least had the location part of it down, but I still wasn't exactly sure what the whole thing was all about so I looked it up online when I got home.

It was sort of like this itty bitty amusement park for kids on a farm and the whole thing is halloween/fall themed. there seemed to be quite a few things to do that were included in the cost of admission, and a few extra fun things that you could pay to do. It was only a 45 minute drive or so and the weather ended up being beautiful yesterday so we took our chances and met up with Mickey (my biological father's ex-wife whom I have recently reconnected with) and checked the place out.

It was really so much fun. It was the first time the babes were meeting Mickey and it was really a fun way for them to be introduced. the pace wasn't crazy or action packed like it might be at a fair or amusement park, but there was still plenty of things to do for the babes to have fun. right off all Miss Georgie wanted to do was go see the llamas. There was an animal petting area that we went into with llamas, goats, donkeys, and lambs. The kids both had fun looking at all the animals, Breyman isn't really as adventurous as Miss G, so he didn't pet any of them, but he still seemed amused by the llamas funny noises. There were also several bouncy houses and slides that were included in the admission so they had alot of fun jumping and sliding around on them.

The biggest attration (and the most fun it seemed) was what was called The Giant Pillow. It cost like 8 bucks for the kids to jump on it, but the thing was indeed friggen cool. it was like one giant trampoline, but it was the same material as a bouncy house, and it sort of rounded up out of the ground like a giant pillow. So cool. a bunch of kids could jump on it at once and i seriously wished for a minute that i could have hopped on as well. the babes actually ended up on it a second time and we totally got our money's worth because they were hardly any kids left so the staff didn't time them, just let them jump as long as they wanted to.

They rode some horses and saw pig races. Every child also got one free pumpkin with admission too, so we all took a little hayride out to a pumpkin patch and B & G picked some pumpkins to take home.

I'm so grateful that i discovered this little place and took the kids to it. there really aren't all that many fun family things to do around here, so it was wonderful to be able to take the kids some place fun to enjoy the season. and it was also nice to catch up with Mickey again and have her meet my babes. my only regret is that The Marsh couldn't be there to share in the fun..

but with our disney trip in only 9 days, I'm sure we'll have lots of fun to make up for it!

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Cake or Death?

Today I am grateful for cake.

The cake my momma made me for my birthday dinner tonight.

yes. i am aware my birthday was over a week ago.

yes, i am still riding this birthday train all around birthday city.

cause i'm awesome like that.

and the cake my momma made tonight wasn't just any cake, it was Death By Chocolate.



What is Death By Chocolate you ask?

It's crumbled chocolate cake. Chocolate pudding, Cool Whip. Whipped cream. Reeses peanut butter cups. Rolos. Milk Dud. AND  M & Ms. all layed in one giant punch bowl.

yes it is that amazing.

it's so delicious and sinful. and after you eat a giant bowl of it you kind of feel like you are going to die, but in the best sort of "I just ate my weight in chocolate and regret nothing" kind of way.

I'm grateful that my mom took the time to make it for me. and i'm grateful that she sent me home with a big bowl of it for my house. and i won't regret eating that either. you know why? birthday calories don't count. (I'm grateful for that too!)

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Remission

Today I am grateful for Remission.

I started this blog back on January 31st because life didn't seem to start off so hot this year.

My sister had questionable health concerns.

My brother had some not so fun stuff going on in his life.

and my father-in-law was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.

It made for a pretty shitty beginning to 2012. and nobody was happier to say goodbye to january than myself and my family.

Now it's October.

My sister has been given a clean bill of health.

Everything has worked out for the best with my brother.

and last week on my birthday my father-in-law called me to tell me the doctor said his cancer was in remission.

now, remission by definition is the state of absence of disease activity in patients with a chronic illness, with the possibility of return of disease activity, so this isn't to say that the cancer is gone. but after months of chemo and watching him get sicker and sicker, remission isn't a word any of us even really dared to breathe out loud. and yet, here he is.

It's miraculous, really. and I am so grateful.

I'm grateful that my husband gets to keep his father around for even longer. I'm grateful that my children don't have to go through the pain of losing a beloved grandparent yet. I'm grateful that in a world where eveything can just seem so shitty sometimes, good things still do happen to good people. I'm so grateful.

Now, certainly things seem to be going better than they were in January, but that doesn't mean everything is going perfect. but that's life, right? It never goes perfect. but it's getting there. so for now I'll keep finding things to be grateful for, and hope that it gets as close to perfect as it can.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

Assemble.

Today I am grateful for my sister-in-law.

again.

because I forgot to mention last night that she also gave us The Avengers Movie on blu-ray last night.

HOLLA!

and i think it's nice when someone is thinking of you.

Kristin went to target to buy The Avengers for herself and noticed the blu-ray combo pack was $20. Kristin doesn't have a blu-ray player, but she bought the combo pack anyway because she knows that we do.

and while I am obviously super happy to now own the movie, BECAUSE I LOVE IT, I'm grateful to have such an awesome sis-in-law who thinks about us and does amazing stuff (like buy us movies!) for no other reason than the fact that she is just genuinely a nice person.

so yea.. I'm grateful for people like that in my life.

Thanks for reading!
Lana

A Six Pack.

Today I am grateful for my in-laws.

because they just were wonderful enough to have a birthday dinner for me at their house.

My mother in law made a pot roast, and she also baked me a red velvet cake with chocolate frosting.

it was delicious.

and yes, i did bring the rest of it home with me.

it is my birthday cake after all.

and at this point it's been four days since my birthday and today was the first time i had cake. crazy, right? it's definately crazy. i need to keep eating it to make up for lost time.

They were also amazing and gifted me with an itunes gift card, a panera gift card, a target gift card, and a barnes and noble gift card. PLUS two bottles of wine. I'm telling you people, that combination is like heaven in a gift bag. perfect!

I'm always happy for wine, obviously. but the two bottles i received from them today just rounded off my birthday collection to 6 bottles. that's one perfect part of having a birthday. suddenly your empty wine rack is full again. it's like the best six pack imaginable. we're leaving for florida in two weeks from tomorrow for The Epcot Food and Wine Festival. I think now I have just enough wine to get me by until then. This is what you might call "my happy place." So tonight i'm grateful to my in-laws for being so generous and awesome. and for helping to make my birthday even better :0)

Thanks for reading!
Lana