Show and Tell Tuesday: Reverse Bucket List

Two blog posts in a day! I just really enjoyed reading Andrea's post this morning I thought I needed to participate myself. Today's topic is : Reverse Bucket List with things that we have accomplished in our lives and not just things we hope to accomplish.

I have to start with the big ones.

~Married my best friend~

~Became a mom to my beautiful daughter, Emma~

~Graduated with my degree in Education from the University of Georgia~

~Bought my first house~

~Became an Aunt~

~Took Tommy to see South Africa~

~Got my Masters in Education which opened doors for me to move into administration (and am in my second administrative position)~

~Traveled along the Pacific Northwest with Tommy~

~Traveled to Italy~

~Studied abroad in London~

~Traveled to Paris (without my parents guiding me)~

~Riding mules and hiking the Grand Canyon~

~Working at a sleepaway Summer camp~

~Being part of a philanthropy in college~

~joining a church~

~creating a monthly supper club with some of my best girlfriends~

~mentoring a student from my school~

~helping on a habitat build~

~go on a mission trip~

~run a half marathon~

This was a fun way to think back over the years. I am sure I'm missing important things on my list but I think this is a good start on things I've accomplished and times I'm grateful for through the years. Thanks for the link up Andrea!

Life Lately

So Summer break is over and I'm back at work. I started last Thursday and teachers all come back tomorrow. Here's a little snapshot at what we did the last little bit of the break and the past two weekends! 

We checked off going to Piedmont Park and walking/picnicing with Cooper. It was a really nice morning and the park wasn't crowded at all. We walked a good long loop around the perimeter and then found a little garden area to sit for a picnic. Cooper, Emma and I really enjoyed the fresh air! 




The day before I went back to work my mom and I took Collier and Emma to the aquarium. It's so HOT in Atlanta right now that we wanted to do something indoors. We got there just after they opened (around 9:15am) and were able to really see a lot of the exhibits before it got too crowded. we left just before noon to get the kiddos back for naps. We had a great time! Thanks for joining me mom!







This past weekend we met the Willis at the splash pad when they first opened. I wish we had gone sooner because Emma loved this! It was nice for us because she's not submerged in any water and can just wander as she pleases. She doesn't care at all when a fountain splashes on her face. This was a great little activity to get outside but it didn't take the whole morning. We will be going back for sure. 






Two weekends ago we took some friends of ours to my parents beach house and left Emma back in Atlanta to spend time with both sets of grandparents. We went one night early and got to have a day on the beach just the two of us and out on a datenight. We really needed the alone time. The three other couples came on Thursday night. The three guys all lived with Tommy in Buckhead before we got married. We hadn't done a trip with just the 8 of us before and it was wonderful. These are our people who we are so grateful to share so many memories with. Thanks to my parents for letting us stay at their house!




Thomas Hoffman turned one and I went to celebrate him last weekend. Laura did such a cute job decorating for the "par-tee". 








For Bonnie's birthday on the 24th we had a family pool/pizza night at our neighborhood pool. Such a fun night celebrating and we were so glad the rain/storms moved on. We were the only ones at the pool until just before we left. 




Emma is adjusting to the toddler room at school. She is SO tired when she gets home because naps on a mat aren't quite as long as naps at home. 2/4 days so far she has needed a cat nap when she got home because she was just completely exhausted. I hope she learns to nap longer soon. I love the snuggles and naps on me (she hasn't done this in MONTHS) but I also want her to be happy when we get home. I'd love to still enjoy the pool in the afternoons after work while we still can. Other than naps she is doing great in the toddler room. I am moved into my new office at work and excited to start this year in my new position as math coach. I have a really strong feeling about the successes we will see this year with our students. Can't believe it's already the start of another school year. 

Just some playtime photos from recently. Emma is at such a fun age. I love watching her explore and learn something new every day. She is such a bright light in our lives. 

Update on Summer Bucket List

I posted this list at the beginning of summer and wanted to update on some of the things we've been up to lately now that Summer is unfortunately coming to a very quickly approaching halt. 

Georgia Aquarium (we went today actually)

Her smile just melt me!

We were gonna go to the pool with friends this morning but they weren't able to make it so I decided why not just head downtown for a few hours. We had a great morning!

Catch Air (so this was today too actually. Once we got home from the aquarium Emma woke up from her nap after ONE hour because she pooped 🤦🏻‍♀️ and there was no going back to sleep. Figured why not get out again!)

She had a ball!

She went right up after some bigger kids and did the slide without even hesitating. The girl has no fear!

Music Class: I don't take my phone into class but Emma just loves it. She loves to dance and just moves around the room the whole time. We go once a week. This week her teacher referred to her as a bull in a china shop. Sounds about right! I have a wild child on my hands here. 

Parks: we have ventured out from just our neighborhood and have tried Ashford Park and PDK park. Both were a good time!

Pool days: we have a fish on our hands. Emma loves to be in the pool! I tried the puddle jumper this week and she did so well with it! Next summer I'd like to get her in some swim lessons. 

Our usual set up to walk to the pool. 

Ready to go!

Beach: we have been twice this summer and she loves the sand and waves. She just walks right into the ocean and doesn't care if a wave comes crashing at her. Quite terrifying. Needless to say we are right there with her all the time on the beach. We sure do love the beach!

We have some more things to check off the list and I go back to work two weeks from today 😩 so we better get busy! This summer has FLOWN by I can't believe it. I'm sure going to miss my days spent with Emma exploring new things and just enjoying each other's company.