It's A Girl!!!!!!

My newest niece Ryleigh Belle Stevens was born on November 7th!!! I was able to be in the delivery room, what an experience. Lots of tears and smiles. It's crazy to see your baby sister having a baby.

She is the sweetest baby, we all love her so much already. She definitely has all of us wrapped around her finger. It's truly been a joy watching my sister and her husband become amazing parents. Ryleigh Belle is already growing so fast and we're all enjoying every moment of it!!!!!

I'm looking forward to the years ahead, birthday parties, school plays, holidays, etc. I look forward to being there for the important events and everyday life!!!!

Discovering a New Kind of Fall

We traveled to New England in October. It was our first time in the area, absolutely beautiful. We landed in Boston, rented a car, drove to New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and back to Boston. We saw amazing sights on our adventure.

A few of my favorite things:

Salem in October

Bed and Breakfast in Vermont

Autumn Foilage

Bar Harbor Maine

Lobster and Calm Chowder (yummy)

The trip was a nice break and very relaxing. We did a bunch of stuff and spending time as a couple was so nice. We would like to make this an annual trip!

Enjoying: Journey

It has been a while since a post, this has been a busy year! So I'm catching up now. We went to see Journey in concert in September. WOW!!!! It was fantastic. We definitely enjoyed one of our favorite songs and sining along: "Don't Stop Believing".... The crowd was energized and it was truly a great time.

We enjoyed spending some time in Memphis while there. We discovered neighborhoods that we seemed to miss on past visits. There are some great architectural structures in the city. We enjoyed a stay in a beautiful hotel and terrific food.

It's so nice to be able to escape from the ordinary routine and enjoy couple time!

Oh...Baby....

My sister-in-law Amber and I hosted a baby shower for my little sis Jessica. Jessica's due in November with my newest little niece Ryleigh Belle Stevens. I am so excited!!!!!! As are my parents and Mark's family.

The shower was a lot of fun!!! Amber provided a beautiful cake from Nana's Bakery in Benton. We provided breakfast quiches, pita chips/spinach dip, and a fruit tray, coffee, juice, and bottled water.

Several ladies attended the shower and gave beautiful gifts for the new baby. She received baby clothes, a stroller/carrier, baby bath, and many other baby items. We played the "Don't Say Baby Game". It's always fun and difficult at a baby shower. We also decorated onesies for Ryleigh. It was so fun and everyone was really creative.

I can't believe my little sis is having a baby. She is still the baby to me. I look forward to experiencing this journey with my sister!!!!

I Love NY!!!!!

We recently took a trip to Manhattan. It's been a while since we've been there, so it was great to be back. I love our hometown (small town life), but I also love spending time in NY.

Our last visit consisted of all the tourist stuff, Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, Coney Island, etc... It was a blast seeing all that the Big Apple had to offer. It seems like you need many trips to take everything in (shopping, theaters, museums).

This trip we didn't make any definite plans before arrival. We booked our hotel (Stay Hotel---Amazing!!!!) and that was about it. We decided to take one day at a time. We spent most of our time taking in the city atmosphere. We spent time in Central Park, walking and watching the row boats. We went to the American Museum of Natural History, again, I love it!!!! We took in some great shows on and off Broadway (Arcadia, H4, Any Night, and Fuerza Bruta). The shows were all very different, but we truly enjoyed each of them!!!!

Every time we go to New York, I want to find a way to spend several weeks every year there. There is really no other place like it in the world. It's definitely enough to impress this small town girl!!!!

The Broad Strokes

So it's been almost two months since my last post. A time of changes, joy, and heartaches. I'm learning as I get older, you really must take one day at a time. One has to truly appreciate the simple joys of life.

I titled this blog the broad strokes, in relation to how some artists paint abstractly. The detail in a painting is important, but sometimes it's nice to relax and let the paint brush do the work. I find sometimes in life, I can get so bogged down with the details. It may be constant cleaning or excessive concern for thing that in the grand scheme of things really aren't that important.

So this summer I'm trying to take a broader view of the world around me. It may be sunsets, family dinners, weekend getaways with my sweetie, or cuddling with one of my cats for an afternoon nap. Sometimes these things get lost in the shuffle of paying bills, running errands, and the busy era we currently live in.

This has been nice. As mentioned in a previous post, I'm some what of a control freak. So it's a constant effort to truly make myself relax. I keep reminding myself "today" is part of my journey. I'm learning to appreciate the fact, I don't have it all figured out and to accept the place on the path I currently find myself experiencing!

A Royal Tea Party

My mom, my sister, and I chose to celebrate The Royal Wedding (William and Kate) with a little tea party of our own! We had so much fun! I know some would probably laugh, but I think most of us ladies, like the opportunity to dress up and celebrate in a more formal way.

We met at my house, the Saturday after the wedding. Thank goodness for DVR's (4am Friday morning was just too early). We all dressed up in our dresses and don't forget the "hats". We had hot English tea, pastries, and fruit.

The wedding was very beautiful. I loved the traditional elements along with some modern touches. I was too young to remember the Charles and Diana wedding in the early 1980's, but they definitely shared the recaps leading up to the big day.

We enjoyed our time, just hanging out and have a "very girly day". I look forward to more opportunities to step out of our normal routine and celebrate!