How it's done

Isn't this how all research is conducted? A glass of good Italian
wine, Brie and a MacBook that would much rather search in the
blogesphere than type rubbish!

--
Elizabeth Ann Cooper

How Can You Be Graduating? Your not even old enough to drive!

At least that's the way I look at him. I can't believe Troy graduated from highschool.

 We went to Mike and Karen's on Sunday for a great celebration. He is such a special guy. He has perservered through highschool at Lexington Catholic keeping his grades, faith, and head up at all times while simultaneously being a baseball stud! I'm so proud of him and can't wait to see what the future holds for him as he journey's onto the University of Kentucky next fall.

We had a great day with our wonderful family.  Mike had once again prepared some amazing grilled concoctions and there were many other delicious foods to accompany it.  The weather was perfect hot and sunny till the end.  As we left a huge downpour and thunderstorm began.  God let us have a wonderful day outside enjoying each other and celebrating T-roy.

Smoothing into the day...

For the past 2 months or so I have enjoyed a smoothie for breakfast every morning along with a hard boiled egg. I started having serious cravings for them and making them on the weekends. Then my sweet Barry took over and began making them for me through the work week. :)
We usually do frozen blueberries, mixed berries, pinapple, mango, or banana with Greek honey yogurt, milk, and extra honey.
This recipe found at This Chick Cooks looks simply divine. I love that she adds oatmeal to it. If I did that I could leave out my egg too.
I would love to buy a juicer and start substituting meals with them but that will have to wait for another day. :)

Take 5

Take 5 to breathe today.  Enjoy this beautiful day for just a second, don't sit on the couch,

quit looking at the computer, quit thinking about grad school and love life.

"Ok I think I will!"

Troy and Trey played in the district tournament against Dunbar Wednesday night.  I had been working on my final project for one of my classes and really felt overwhelmed but new this might be our first and only chance this season to watch one of their games.  We ventured out into the beautiful evening and arrived to see Troy up to bat hitting in a run.  We saw Mike and Karen cheering on their boys, and to our surprise Mom and Dad were their too! 

The highlight of the night was seeing Troy hit out a 2 hit HomeRUN! To bring in himself AND Trey, who was on the field as a pinch hitter.  What a great memory to see! 

Here is a great  article from the Lexington Herald Leader:  http://www.kentucky.com/2011/05/26/1753428/lexington-catholic-tates-creek.html

You see blog, it's not my fault...

I miss our long conversations, the way you always listen to me, the long walks through cyberspace. I am sorry for the neglect you have recieved from me lately, but you see its not my fault..... Graduate school has taken over my once lively inhabitence and replaced it with hours spent looking at research and my mac screen.
I know this is no excuse, maybe I will upload my paper to give you proof. This time next week though Ill have wrapped up the semester more classes down. Somewhere between now and then I promise I will backblog.

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Loving the Family

Friday and Saturday we had a wonderful visit with Barry's Granny in Paducah. We arrived late Friday night after driving to Louisville to eat dinner with Jodi and Lindsay. Our time with them was wonderful. Lindsay looks absolutely adorable, like the perfect pregnant woman! I can't wait to go to their shower next weekend to celebrate Baby Z!!!!
When we got to the house in Heath, we were surprised to find Annette and Don were still awake. They had a slew of old family photos covering the dining room table as they stretched to remember names and places. It was really neat to see Mallie and Barry's grandfather in their younger years. I have always thought Barry resembled his dad quite a bit, but to see pictures of Don in highschool, college, and in his thirties was utterly creepy!! They are spitting images of eachother, which is not a bad thing these Cooper boys are very handsome men! :)
Saturday morning we went over to the hostpital to see Mallie. She was quite weak, but still toted her usual cute and surprisingly feisty self. We were able to meet Brenda, the caretaker who is with her the majority of the time which made us feel loads of comfort and relief. Brenda is a very warm and caring person who has an obvious affection for Mallie. Granny got up and took two walks with assistance. She even practiced getting in and out of a car. We enjoyed sitting with her, and I know it made Barry feel good to be able to hold her hand and watch her sweet smile.

Tipping our hats to Summer Food and Ripe Mangoes!

Worked on a ton of stuff podcasts tonight for my technology course. I was finally able to hit up Barre Amped for 6:30 class tonight for the first time in over a week! It was so good to be back in action. I love having the shakes!
Barry was working on dinner for us when I headed home. I had told him the ingredients to splice together and he created it to perfection! I had been craving a BBQ quesadilla and this completely hit the spot. Fresh mangoes, avocado, bbq chicken, baby arugala, salsa and cheese. MMmmmmm Tasted like summer!
I didn't get to sew tonight but am hoping to finish up my project on Sunday.

Barry's Granny isn't doing so well right now. So we made the decision tonight to head down to Paducah for a visit tomorrow after school. It will be nice to be in the presence of her sweetness. I know Barry will feel relieved to give her a hug. He has been quite worried about our lil Mallie the past few days. We will be stopping in Louisville first to have dinner with Lindsay and Jodie, and I can't wait to see her adorable little baby bump! Almost TGIF!

Rosette Cake Love

New blog love at I am Baker where I found the most adorable tutorial for decorating a cake. I love to bake but for some reason have never gotten into decorating too much. However, this cake is right up my alley (rose obsession), and it actually doesn't look difficult. I'd like to try it out for Katie's shower if she doesn't have a cake made by their yummy baker. It would also be super cute on cupcake toppers!

sew much fun

Keightley isn't the only one who has enjoyed my Mommy's stay! Its so nice just to have her here in our home! She has taught me a lot of sewing tricks, including how to make my first buttonhole! There's so much more to know too!
I'm feeling super blessed as I lay down my head. A clean bill of health, loving family, amazing friends, and the summer ahead, oh and did I mention a Savior who loves me? AMEN!

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Mommy time!!!!

We are blessed to have a visitor in our house.......My Mama Duck! She came up last night and is staying here tonight and tomorrow while she has business meetings. What a fun treat for us! Last night she and I had the time to sew together! Wow how I need her help! This morning I was awaken with coffee and Mommy kisses! Not to shabby! I love this!

Awesome Aiden

Sunday we went to Danville to show our support for Awesome little Aiden. He is such a fighter and so are his Mommy and Daddy Tara and Travis. It was the first time I was able to see him, and he's so sweet it hurts! His little smile is infectious and we were so happy to be able to be there to see him be the ambassador for the March of Dimes in that area.

Jigsaw Awesomeness!

I'll know I have arrived into the real world of handiness when I can create a mirror like this. Seriously just created a design on her (AllthingsThrifty) computer and jigsaw to MDF here we have a beautiful mirror!!!! I'm in love with the possibilities here.

Hanging around.....everywhere

I've been lacking in the jewelry storage department for quite sometime. Long necklaces in one rooms closet, regularly worn necklaces and earrings in a jewelry box in our room, and earrings, rings, bracelets in my silver box.
Now that we have our new closet doors I'm trying to think of a way to utilize that space for necklaces as well. I have been thinking of hooks on the door but don't like the thought of them clanging around all the time. I have found this tutorial at Cat on a Limb

that is inspired by Pottery Barn. Again we'd have the clanging but I think if I backed the frames with cute fabric it would be less annoying. :)
I really like the bright color she chose too. I'd probably keep with a shade of orange in our room though.

I'm on the lookout for cheap yet large, lightweight frames now.

Back to Normal

Ah yes! The Cooper house is back to normal! Barry got home on Friday around 5:00, and boy were we happy to see him!
After school I went to Don and Karen's where Karen was keeping Kman. She is so sweet to help out with him whenever we need her to. I know he enjoys being at their house any day, but especially when it saves him from a long day in the crate! I had to head back to school at 5:00 to help out with our Family Picnic night. Our PTA did a great job putting on a wonderful event for the community with blow up bouncy houses, a d.j. and snowcones! It was great to see the kids out and just having fun!

Our beautiful KnockOutRoses are in full swing! I had to cut them back to make a path up to the front porch! Our climbing rose bush is blooming too. We forgot to trim it back in the fall so it has about a million thorny blooms on it. Each light pink flower smells delicious! It's so nice to have vases full of blooms grown in our yard.

Saturday was spotted with rain and Barry spent the morning mowing grass and edging the yard. I woke up and made us waffles with fruit. It was so nice to have Barry back home! I spent the rest of the afternoon working on papers for grad school. YUCK!
We went to the Legends game Saturday night for their Bark in the Park event. We had a blast! Keightley and Jackson were so well behaved! They made some new doggie friends and Jackson was introduced to a new treat....KettleCorn! MMmmm! :) We had a great time and stayed till the 8th inning when it started to rain. We were so glad Toni had told us about it, and I definetely want to bring Kman out for the next one!

Braided Tee

Adorable braided shirt. Sarah @ Welcome to the Good Life always comes up with the cutest clothing readorablefying tutorials.

First Thursday Night Live

Lexington weather feels like summer, a girls Thursday Night Live was in order. I brought Keightley and it. Was his first and last outing there. I have never seen it so packed with people, dogs, and babies! Poor kman feared being stepped on constantly. Paige, Laura, and Kate were there for the fun. I can't wait for summer fun with the gals! Keightley did really well at the event despite the crowd. Kman and I spent the remainder of the night on the couch typing up papers and research for grad school.

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dinner sister style

Barry left for Sandusky this morning for work and wont be back till Friday. After school Sarah and I met up and headed to Granny and Pepaws for a visit. They were both outside working in the ky heat that felt as muggy as a summer day. We left there together and headed to our house. We shared dinner together and chatted till she had to go to work. It was a nice way to spend the day!

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More flowers..but this time NoSEW!

Yes even more flower tutorials. I like the ease of these found at Ruffles and Stuff.

Just Planting Around

I couldn't have Ben more happy when I stepped outside yesterday, at almost 80 degrees I felt summer saying hello.

Barry played in a golf scramble with Mac, Tyler, and Omar for the UK Law alumni. They ended up playing 36 holes and enjoyed catching up with eachother!
I decided to get my dig on and put the shovel to the ground. I planted the hydrangea bush and white lily that I got for Easter. We had a huge purple Spiderwart (it's a flower I promise) coming up in our white bed so I dug up the big elephant and split it, making a new home for it by our garage and at the front left corner of our house. I planted two Shasta Daises that Barry's Mom gave me from her yard as well but I think I might move their positioning depending on how tall they get.
In our garden I planted more lettuce, thinned the carrots and planted two tomato plants I'd purchased from Whole Foods recently. Our neighbor behind us gave me two more tomato plants called Brandywine's that he starts from seed every year. They are Heirloom's and he says their some of the sweetest to eat. 8:30 came quickly and I was completely worn out but satisfied. :)
Keightley and I both needed baths after being covered from head to toe in dirt.

Big Weekend in the Bluegrass

We spent Derby at Elizabeth and Rob's. They through a great party and grilled out some wonderful burgers! We were also celebrating Meredith's 30th birthday, and we met Townes for the first time. Alison and John brought 3 week old Woods and he looks even more like John now than before! So sweet! We all through in on a Derby pool. Barry got #6 Comma to the Top and I drew the #8 Dialed in (which was my favorite). Neither one came in, Animal Kingdom one by a few links.

Today was a beautiful Mother's Day. We woke up and headed down to Somerset and spent a few hours catching up on Mom and Dad's latest trip down to Florida. It was great to see them and be around my beautiful Mother on this day to celebrate her. Sarah came down to visit as well and we all had a nice lunch out on the deck. Unfortunately we missed seeing Katie, Lucas and Elise but I know they had a great time with Mom and Dad too.

We then headed back up to Lexington to spend the rest of the afternoon with Karen and Don. Don grilled out and of course Karen had prepped a couple sides and appetizers. We enjoyed a nice dinner on the deck with Don, Karen, Chris and Kman. After dinner we all relaxed and tried to make room for yummy dessert. Vanilla yogurt with fresh strawberries, blueberries, homemade chocolate chips topped with chocolate syrup. MMMmmmmmmmm
What a wonderful day we were given today.
Barry and I are so blessed to have the mother's that we have. I'm so thankful that we have them here with us as we go through this life.

Lilies!

Happy Oaks day continues!   I came home from BarreAmpd class to this!   A Lilly, the official drink of the Oaks.  They are super tasty and Barry did a great job concocting this drink!  Cheers!

I'll never forget being at the Kentucky Oaks and being a witness to the Survivors Parade. The Pink Out on Oaks is near and dear to my heart. My mom is one of those amazing women, the breast cancer survivors. May God find a cure, and let it be known to man.

Feliz Cinco de Cumpleanos!

Yesterday was my cousing Wes's birthday, which also happens to be Cinco de Mayo. Double the celebration happens every year.

Melissa hosted a festive get together at their house. The food was better than what we would have had at any restaraunt! I brought the Margaritaville machine over and churned out some addicting frozen concotions. It was great to see them and most especially the girls! Lexie is a total toddler now walking around playing and laughing. Lil' Emma is so calm and observant, and I had the pleasure of holding the little snuggle bug quite a bit.
It was a great evening spent with family. We realized it had not seen them since Christmas! We can't let such long amounts of time go between our visits! Hopefully with warmer days approaching we will all be out enjoying the weather and water together!

Itty Bitty Ruffle Dress

No, I'm not a master sewer yet, (though I'm hoping my Mom and MawMaw's genes make it superbly easy for me to learn). Right now I'm too scared to do much with my sewing machine (which was a gift for my birthday last year)besides make curtains, aka. sew straight lines. :)
So for now I'm just collecting all these cutey ideas, and someday I'll take that ruffle footing, button whole making plunge!
Today's idea comes from Craftiness is Not Optional. She made this adorable dress for her daughter's "ice cream social" themed bday partay!
Do they come in my size?

Happy Oaks Day!

Today is the running of the Oaks in Louisville. With tomorrow being Derby Day I had been trying to think of a simple yet festive dessert to take to our Derby party, hosted by Elizabeth & Rob.
Thanks to ThisChickCooks I believe I found the perfect batch of deliciousness to munch on while watching the ponies race!

My favorite pie meets a cookie.....sounds like heaven.

I'm dreaming of a White Spring

And No, I'm not referring to snow or frost. (though I did have to cover all my roses last night from that frosty freeze) We have a rule in our backyard, if you don't bloom white you don't get planted. When we started making flower beds I envisioned a white moon garden, and we are well on our way. Each year I have planted or inherited plants. If they have color they go in the front or side beds, if it's white it goes in the back.
Last year our spring white's were sparse, with summer being the real blooming time. This year we have more to look at. :)
I love how our old dogwood dusts our lawn with white petals. The tulips stand up straight and shout their brightness. The white irises are going crazy! We planted them last year after being given the starts from my granparents Iris bed. They are blooming wonderfully! I plan on extending the bed this year to give them more room to grow next spring.
The lovely little white's in pots were gifts at Easter. Sarah brought me the beautiful lilies which are my favorite fragant flower. Karen brought the lovely hydrangea. It's young but looks healthier than the two I've had in the ground for 2 years! I can't wait to find the perfect spot to plant them in their new home.