Friday...Finally!

I am pretty sure I feel a cold comin' on. I am still recovering from the RockStar Weekend. Bae had a great party ~ she ended up with a real stage, a sound board (good 'ol dad, the sound man) a stage, a guitar, $70 and a hand full of gift cards! She is elated!

I will have to post some pics of the stage after we get it painted. Of course, the paint is purple and pink!

Jenny starts Chemo on Tuesday. Please keep her lifted in prayer.

Lisa is doing extremely well. She is up and around and starting to drive...even though she's not supposed to!

Steph is coming up for a visit on Saturday and we are going to make some Wall Words with my Cri-cut machine.

Wendy Lou is starting her new job as a 1st grade teacher on Sept. 1. I am excited for her and envious all at the same time ~ I've always wanted to teach primary age.

Mackenize Mae made it off to college in Pennsylvania. I am so crazy proud of that kid! She is amazingly beautiful, smart, talented, all those awesome things. I can't wait to hear all of her stories when she comes back at Thanksgiving time.

I will get to see Amber next weekend as we travel to Mary Miller's wedding in Lynchburg, Va. Bae is the flower girl. Amber sent me a text this morning ~ she is excited about having company in her new apartment! I think she is past the point of getting homesick.

I am silly crazy insanely busy at work. The boss just flipped me a crisp $20 for "doing a great job". They are awesome here. I love this place!

I am off to lunch with Jenny ~ we are doing Panera today. I'm jones'n a chai latte!

Other than that, I have no further comments at this time.

Love,
Natalie

Ching ching ching ching ching ching ching ching ching

I love the sound of a slot machine...especially when I'm hitting the jackpot! Woo hoo! I was a vacation crasher last week. Jenny's family has been going to Michigan ever since she was a child. The whole fam damily goes and all I've heard about my entire life of knowing her is how great wonderful and fun it is up North. Well...she wasn't lying!


I got invited along this year and Bae and I had a BLAST! Jenny's parents have a home up there now, so besides us, Ty and Madi and Gage was her sister Julie and her husband Bryon, their daughter Brittany and her bf Sam, and then her brother Mike and his wife Kara, stayed at a different resort close by, with their two kids Jillian and Max. Six miles away, Jenny's mom, Patty, took us on a field trip to the Casino on an Indian Reservation. CASINOS ROCK!!!

We made sure to support the Kawedian community by visiting every day for at least two hours...sometimes three! The fun thing about it was...I hit a jackpot! Well, several, but only one that is worth mentioning. It was a quarter slot for Triple Diamonds. I hit a seven and two triple diamonds, for a total of 1800 quarters! Thank you Lord that I placed a max bet or I would have only gotton half that! It totaled up to $450.00! I was stoked! All together I won around $1,000.00 but only brought home $400.00. I started with $20 so that's not bad! But I kept winning and giving Gigi money and she kept losing! My favorite slot was Wheel of Fortune. I ran $50 through and got nothing. I told Gigi to hang tough, that I was going to put in another $20 and whatever I won, she would get half. Well, she got nervous and said "I'm going back to my nickel machine!" So she left me. And I hit a bar jackpot of $130.00! She shoulda stuck around!!! Other highlights of the week were the guys catching huge-gigantic pike. Gage was the PIKE SLAYER! His fish was about 32 inches. It was the ugliest fish I've ever seen! And when they cut the head off the mouth kept moving! DISGUSTING!! Bae loved playing on the beach. Our favorite thing to do was sit on the dock and listen to my ipod and watch the sail boats go by. It was amazingly beautiful. Every night we had a campfire, thanks to Bryon. Well, I actually got it going one night...but! We were up late laughing and hoopin' it up and enjoying our Yellow Tail Reisling. Jenny and Julie and I talked and until our faces hurt. It's hard to be home when mentally, I am still on vacation. I learned a few things and I am going to hold to these things until I get to detox next year (I am totally going again next year and I already have a cabin booked!)


1. A week without internet did me good. I am going to not get it at home. I can survive.

2. A week with bad cell service did me good as well ~ I called home a few times to check-in; called Steph and that was it! and it was nice not to have drama and problems and issues and all the stuff that comes with phones and texting.

3. Breathing good air: I am going to make it a point to be outside more. I live in forest for Lord's sake, I don't have any excuses whatsoever!

4. My favorite times were when Geege and I were lying on the beach, with our bed head hair and glasses of wine. I want to spend more time with my friends and not waste time on people and things that don't matter.

5. My daugther was so much fun ~ she is growing up incredibily fast. I am going to make a point to spend time with just her and me. She told me that I was her best friend ~ those days are numbered!

6. I realized that I have the best friends in the world ~ remembering all the good times in my life throughout the years made me realize that I need to make important people a priority. And loser, non-important people ~ I need to steer clear of them completely in my life.

On the weighloss subject ~ I only gained a coupla pounds on vacation. So I am back on the healthy eating plan as of noon o'clock today.

Until next time ~ drink your Reisling ~ it's good for the heart, mind and soul.

xxx
N.