Good Times

I've been meaning to share about last weekend for a while - well, I guess all week, ha. We had so many fun things that it felt like it deserved a post of its own!

Friday night we went out for Rhonda's birthday. We had about 12 people at dinner and then made our way to a nearby bar where 6 of us made it into the wee hours of Saturday morning.

The birthday girl, me, Dez!

Can't miss a chance to snap all our Aggie rings

{especially since I don't wear mine often}

Our hubbies

I told Brent a few weeks before that I HAD TO BE home in bed by midnight because I had a big Saturday. Then at 12:30 AM I could be heard saying 'Get me another drink!' At 8:00 the next morning I was really regretting my life choices of the day before. {grin}

Saturday morning, Paige and her Girl Scout troop went to Build-A-Bear to make Girl Scout bears as their reward for a successful cookie season!

Loving on her Axolotl's heart 

{the Girl Scout cookie season mascot for this year}

All of their troop!

Then we rushed to get my mom and Drew to head to WICKED!!! When Drew and I went last summer, Paige was very upset to be left out of the fun, so of course I had to get us all tickets when it came to Austin! 

Only my 5th time to see it!

2 very excited Gurley girls!

And Kristen came - her first time to see it, and she LOVED it!!

When I got home Saturday night {we also went to dinner afterwards}, I was exhausted! We had a super fun weekend, but it was nice to rest on Sunday!

Currently: Spring Fever

Current Book

Blog Friend Book Club selection - can't wait to discuss!

Current Song

Taylor Swift - Gorgeous

Drew is obsessed with Taylor, 

and I'm getting to listen to a lot of songs I didn't know before.

Current TV Show

Season 2 is AMAZING!

Current Audiobook/Podcast

Meryl Streep's performance is divine

Current Drink

I've started drinking this as my afternoon pick-me-up, yum!

Current Food

We ate out at a restaurant this weekend, Whiskey Cake.

Their signature dessert is FANTASTIC.

Current Outfit

A little AmpedUp swag!

Current Celebrity Crush

I just finished this book and CANNOT WAIT to see these 2.

Current Mood

We are in our last 9 weeks of school!

There are so many fantastic things happening in the last few months.

PLUS we already have 4 vacations planned for the 2nd half of the year.

I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!

Current Anticipation

I'm really excited for our Easter celebrations this weekend.

Crazy to look at this picture from last year and not even know about Sawyer!

Current Wishlist

We still haven't picked a rug yet! 

I can't make up my mind...eek.

Current Movie

Going to take Drew to see this soon!

Current Picture

We had a fun-filled weekend, and this was the highlight!!

25 Questions (Questions 1-5)

Natasha started answering these questions and I thought they looked fun and would also be good to do while things in Gurley-land were running along smoothly.

1. What does your ideal day look like?

My ideal day would involve being on vacation with a chai and a good book! A little sight-seeing, some yummy food, and good time with our family {who this magical trip would be with}.

This wouldn't be a bad view on my perfect day!

2. What did you want to be when you were younger?

I always imagined I would be a teacher. My parents were teachers and 3 of my grandparents were teachers, and I loved playing school with my sister. We had old gradebooks of our parents and would raid the lockers at the H.S. on the last day of school and get to take home binders and notebooks and had a blast playing school. Absolutely ridiculous to think about now, I would be a terrible teacher!

3. Who are you most inspired by? Why?

My mom! Growing up, I didn't realize how hard everything she did was [and now as a working mom, I know!]. I always felt loved and cared for, and she made our life look relaxed and easy. She worked a full-time job {while my dad worked 80 hour works for a good chunk of the year as a football coach in Texas ha}, kept our house running and clean, cooked meals for us, played with us, did it all! And now she is the most amazing grandmother - the kids love being at her house and spending time with her. She is definitely my role model for the mother I strive to be and the grandmother I hope to be someday!

The best Babs!

4. Who would you love to meet? What would you ask?

This question would be very different if not for where my brain has been the last few weeks, but right now, it's Kate Middleton! Ha! I am SO curious as to what surgery she actually had {I think facelift if she actually had surgery} and what the heck is going on. Are she and William fighting? Did she have a nervous breakdown? Is his supposed mistress pregnant?!?!?! WHERE IS SHE?

My all-time favorite look of hers!

5. What habit would you most like to break? What habit would you most like to start?

BAD HABIT: If you know me at all or have read my blog for any amount of time, I would love to change my relationship with food and especially sugar! [Typing this as I drink a coke!]

NEW HABIT: I have made big strides in being less of a clutter person, but I would love to get even better with this! It makes me feel so much better when my house is organized, so I've really been trying to put things away right away and/or taking little breaks throughout the day to clean. 

Soy Sauce

I got scolded by my mother for my lack of blogging...but life is just rolling along and there isn't much exciting happening! I think that's a good thing though - just not creating a lot of content. {grin} We did see Sawyer yesterday for a LONG time at my parents' house - they had 'Cousin Camp' for a few days this week since we are on Spring Break. We hadn't seen the Patnodes in a bit because the last time we got together...the next morning both girls were sick, and I felt so terrible that we might have exposed Sawyer to 2 different viruses! Luckily they were all ok! But now I present...an afternoon with Sawyer a.k.a. Soy Sauce.

When I got there, I immediately took my baby. And everyone laughed because this was predicted. Blair said 'Babs said they better hold him quick before Aunt Allena gets here.' Yup! He was sleepy so I got him down for a nap.

Then he woke up and I kept monopolizing his time.

Then he was tired again and I put him down again for another nap.

I don't know what Drew and Miles are doing in the yard, ha!

I let Pops hold him for a minute!

He's so fat!

And Drew needed some snuggles.

David went to run some errands, and Patty forgot all the pacifiers were in her car, so he didn't nap great and was hard to get to settle without a boob or a pacifier in his mouth. When David got back, Patty put him in a wrap with a paci and he was OUT. I told him he was really rude to make me work so hard for his naps, ha! But seriously being an aunt when all my babies are pretty self-sufficient is amazing. 

So basically no one likes him and he's super neglected. {grin}

February 2024 Book Review

It's book review day! I read 9 books this month - I said in my goals I was trying to read a little less to do more with Brent, but I'm not sure I know how to do this, ha. 

I had my usual assortment of light and fluffy and then some meatier books. So let's jump in!

Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyon Woo [audiobook] - This was so interesting! It is nonfiction story about an enslaved husband and wife where the wife could pass for white and pretended to be a man and her husband was her slave and they escaped the south! I was on the edge of my seat - this could have been fiction! I do feel like it got a little long-winded (too much detail about the minor characters and events), but it was FASCINATING!

Shark Heart by Emily Habeck - Erika picked this for Blog Friend Book Club, and I LOVED it. It's a fantasy story - people end up with genetic mutations where they turn into animals, and this follows a newlywed couple where the husband is turning into a great white shark. It was so weird and such a unique premise, but I loved it! I finished it and thought 'Well, that was beautiful.' This book was pure poetry.

Bride by Ali Hazelwood - Ali Hazelwood is a goddess! I LOVED this! I already thought Ali Hazelwood wrote the cutest STEM rom-coms {and yes, I recognize they are also very similar with the tiny female who has no clue the giant man has been pining over her, I don't care, I love them}, but this was a paranormal love story about a Vampyre who must marry the Alpha leader of a Werewolf pack to protect the peace between their species. Yes, that sounds totally ridiculous but it was AWESOME!!

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson - This book of poetry was just lovely. It was like the stories just poured from the author. So beautifully written but you could FEEL the little girl in them. Just beautiful.

Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage - A librarian I follow on Instagram wrote about this book, and I wanted to pick it up. She wrote about it being a little silly {the woman is called 'sugar' a lot ha}, but it sounded fun. And it was! It isn't going to win awards, but it's cute, and it's the start of a trilogy and I can't wait to keep reading it.

A Court This Cruel & Lovely by Stacia Stark [audiobook] - Yes, this is another fantasy series! Will I read a million of them before I do? Yep, happily! In this world, people are born with power but it is drained of them to give to the Gods and a small amount is given back to them when they come of age. However, Priska retains her power, which is illegal, and she must escape and figure out how to survive. SO GOOD!

Scat by Carl Hiaasen - Drew and I are continuing to read this animal series by Carl Hiaasen. They are so goofy, but she enjoys them, ha. Definitely for elementary readers.

The Trayvon Generation by Elizabeth Alexander [audiobook] - Well, this just broke my heart. It was a beautiful story about our broken country. I teared up multiple times. The writing was incredible {there is a poem at the beginning by Clint Smith called Your National Anthem that was both beautiful and tragic}. Just absolutely excellent.

Destroy the Day by Brigid Kemmerer - This was the conclusion to a trilogy I started last year {the 2nd trilogy I've read by this author}, and I really enjoyed the conclusion! I would say this is YA and was just great!

So that was my month in reading, it was pretty darn good - my average rating was 4, up for me, yay!