In addition to the kitchen, my parents decided to take an existing outdoor porch we had and convert it to be part of the house and living room. It really opens up the space and I think it flows a little better now.

This picture was a little dark but you still get the idea.

This room is what used to be the porch, and what is nice is that it now connects directly to the garage so you don’t have to walk outside to get inside anymore. My mom also had the house decorated for Halloween and it all looked so festive!

Saturday night we headed out to have dinner at a new seafood place that my parents have recently discovered. It was out near the beach and right on the pier with really pretty views. While we were there we learned that it is a popular place for fishermen because they can dock their boats and bring in the fish they caught that day and the restaurant will cook it for them. Sounds like a good deal to me! So as you can imagine we ate our weight in fried fish, but it tasted so good since it had been a while.

Overall, we had a great time being with my family and spending some quality time at home.

I hope you all have a great week ahead!

Also, this weekend the weather has been really beautiful so when Chris took Coco yesterday he said there were tons of pugs at the park. This one, whose name is Barbara Streisand, is there a lot, and is good friends with Coco.

I am so thankful that Chris and Coco have been so understanding about me being super busy these days. That is why I love them!

Speaking of the weather, just this weekend it has cooled off enough to actually feel like fall, but up to last Thursday it was still so hot here in Dallas it was ridiculous. The heat last week made me remember that I totally forgot to tell y’all about a great new product that my sister-in-law Emily and good friend Megan have come up with. Both Emily and Megan were sorority sisters with me and were best friends with my older sister Claire. Emily became my sister-in-law when my sister married her older brother, so it is fun that we are now family. Anyways living in Texas, Emily and Megan understand how hot the Texas heat can be so they invented a T-shirt called the IceTee:

“The IceTee is a moisture wicking t-shirt, fitted with reusable, cooling gel packs at the primary cool-down points – the neck, spine, and armpits. The shirt is light, durable and acts as an impregnable barrier to nature’s heat rays. The IceTee’s gel packs cool critical points of the body before, during and after working out or for any activity in the heat. As a result, your body stays cool and dry and you no longer have to wait for your core temperature to lower. The IceTee is the perfect solution for any recreational activity – ranging from mowing the lawn, to walking the dog, to cooling you down after a long run.”

Isn’t that cool (no pun intended)?! If you want to learn more about the IceTee and see about getting one, feel free to visit www.theicetee.com

I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend. Enjoy this beautiful weather while it lasts!

Here are some random pictures from our summer that I never had a chance to post. A few are of me at my practicum in the libraries I worked in and then the rest are of a fun family trip we got to take to Breckenridge, Colorado. It was our one trip of the summer and it was great!

Me on my first day at the high school library I worked in. It was a huge library and really beautiful!

Lots of windows and natural light.

Their mascot was a bobcat.

Sadly, I never got a picture of my mentor librarian at the high school.

After I was done at the high school I started at an elementary library.

This is me and my mentor librarian, Mary. She was so sweet and helpful. I learned a lot from her.

This was my last day where we held a party for the kids who read the most books over the summer.

Mary hired a clown and the kids loved her! I have always kind of had a fear of clowns, but this one was not scary at all! Ha!

Then onto our fun trip to Breckenridge. Here are just a few of our pictures from there.

This was the view of the mountains from the house we rented.

Our street view along with some pretty flowers.

More breathtaking mountain views. The weather was just as great as the views.

Me and my sister Claire.

Chris and I

Me and my parents. Our main reason for this trip was to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary!

Claire and I about to ride the Alpine Slide. It was like a sled with wheels and so much fun!

Another beautiful view from a hike we went on.

Our family picture on our front porch of our house.

Overall we had a great time, and a wonderful summer!

On Sunday my parents headed back home and that evening we went over to Chris’ Aunt Kathy and Uncle Tom’s house for dinner. They had prepared another wonderful meal for us all, and it was fun seeing Kathy and Tom, Chris and Kelly’s cousins, Molly and Jackson, and his grandma Shirley. This time we managed to get a full family picture that turned out cute!

We really enjoyed seeing everyone even though it is always too quick of a trip.

One of the other highlights of the weekend was that we got to show off our redone bathroom to our families and my parents even got to be the first to use it! We literally put the finishing touches on it the day before they all arrived!  Here are some before and after pics.

BEFORE

BEFORE

BEFORE………..

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER!

So overall we are pleased with the end result, because our old bathroom was looking pretty dated as you can see.

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend and I hope you did as well! 

To celebrate the end of the year we had some of the teachers over from our schools on the last day. I was having too much fun because the only pictures I managed to get were of our backyard before the party started. Chris and I have been working really hard to plant grass, flowers, and re-stain our concrete, so I think it is looking pretty good!

Before the party

Sadly, as soon as the weekend was over, my classes started for my masters, and boy is it going to be a tough summer! I am taking cataloging which is basically like reading legal code or Greek, and then I am also completing my practicum. I will be going to high school, middle school, and elementary school summer schools to get some hands-on experience in the library. I am excited about this, but feeling sad that I don’t get much of a break. I have been throwing myself a real pity party this week about the fact that this is my 3rd summer to not really get to travel much or just be lazy, but I just have to keep reminding myself of how great this career will be once I am done! So I am trying to snap out of it. I am so thankful that I have the summer off to double up on some of these tough classes and not have to work at the same time like I do during the school year. And I shouldn’t say that I am not getting to go anywhere because I have my annual mother/daughter trip coming up, and we have a really fun family trip planned at the end of summer so I am looking forward to those.

At the same time, we are completing some summer projects around the house that I am excited about. One of those projects is remodeling our guest bathroom. We have been working on it a little bit overtime, so I can’t wait to show the before and after pictures when it is all finished. I really think it is going to make a huge difference.

Until then, happy summer to all!

-Carrie

I also want to wish my very own mom a very happy Mother’s Day. She is the BEST mom in the world! She made me into the person I am today, and she is always there for me no matter what. Sadly I couldn’t be with my mom or Claire today to celebrate as I am wrapping up my masters class, but I was with them in spirit!

My mom also recently sent me some old pictures of her back in the day so I thought I would share.  I love seeing old pictures and seeing all of the old hairstyles, clothing, and in this particular picture the furniture. Ha!

Does she look anything like me? I can’t tell..

My cute mom!

This is a picture of me and my sister Claire with my mom at my cousin’s wedding this past summer.

As you can see my mom is just as beautiful today as she was then.

Happy Mother’s day mom and Claire! We love you so much!