Shenandoah Pizza and Good Girl Time

Here in the Shenandoah Valley, I truly believe that some of the best kept food secrets live. Tonight, I am so excited to go eat at one of my favorite restuarants in downtown Staunton.... Shenandoah Pizza ~ so delicious!

Moving back to the valley has been a difficult transition for me at times. I have always been a 'social butterfly' so to speak. I thrive on the company of others, and one ascept of my life I miss the most is entertaining my friends in my home.... something I used to do on a weekly basis.

Making friends here has been a long transition as well. The truth is, I didn't live here long enough in my younger years to make the lasting friendships that most people have here in the valley.... and that makes me sad often. Don't get me wrong, I have some really fantastic friends here, but only enough to count on one hand... and with their lives being so busy it can sometimes be difficult to get together.....

Tonight, I am fortunate enough to be able to go to dinner with some lovely ladies. And I will relish every minute of the juicy, funny, lovable gossip we will share. Bring on the pizza and girl time... it is much needed tonight!

Thinking on a Tuesday, Should that be Allowed?

More and more these days I am discovering that life is never what you expect, and possibly always what you expect. Sometimes our plate is full, other times we bite off more than we can chew, and there are those occasions when our plate becomes empty... it's filling it back up that brings the challenge.

My plate right now, you ask, what does it look like? I have always had the "bite off more than you can chew" mentality. Leave it to me to put enough busy work on myself that I am forced to NOT think about the contents of my plate, or lack there of. Several years ago, I had an eye-opening experience, showing me that being a busy bee is not the road to filling up my plate. Unfortunately, sometimes I slip.

I have slipped a little recently. Trying to have enough busy work so that I don't have to think about the contents of my plate. This blog often makes me think about the contents of my plate... and sadly if you are reading my blog, you can very plainly depict when I have the feeling that my plate is full and when I am feeling like my plate is bare.

So when I'm not updating my blog... it's because I am being my busy bee self so that I don't have to think about my plate. So I leave you with this feeling of what I am so very hard trying to do:


Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend, till you break
Cause it's all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad you get strong
Wipe your hands shake it off
Then you stand.

On blog is a way to show the world my journey to stand.

My Journey to Fashion...

It maybe has never been a secret that I have not an ounce of fashion sense inside of my body... Yes, I am a woman and I am suppose to have fashion sense but I was not blessed with it. I have prayed for years that someone would be kind enough to just nominate me for What Not To Wear... okay, don't do that. I think I would die from humiliation.

With the recent events that have occurred in my life, my entire view of myself has changed. I have truly begun to love myself. In years past, I have very infrequently (to never) had a shopping day just for me. I never bought myself clothes or shoes, quite frankly my mind set was that I shouldn't do for myself when I have a child and a husband to do for.

Lesson #565 on the road to redefining Beth: You must first love yourself, and provide for yourself before anyone else can feel your love.

My solution to Lesson number #565... begin to love myself, and to provide for myself as well. This in no way means that I have slacked off on what I am providing for AGB.. she will never do without, that is a given. But I have started to do little things for myself. I do make sure that what I purchase for me is always on sale... it makes me feel a little better, and I don't make it a daily habit for the benefit of my bank account.

My first purchase for me was a pair of Sperry's Top-Siders... Oh, how wonderful they are, and how I have always wanted a pair. THEN:

TA-DA!!!!!

I am SO excited about this dress. It is in the mail as we speak... along with these Merrills I found on sale.... AAAHHHHH... I may be getting a sense for fashion after all.

My favorite online sites to shop these days you ask? Check them out for yourself... I have not been disappointed yet. Let's hope it stays that way :D

www.6pm.com
www.modcloth.com

Spring Break!

Today I returned to work from a much needed week off. A week off where my daily tasks were to determine what it was that I wanted to do. I had no schedule and only made the plans that I wanted. That was bizarre....... Since when do I do things for myself?

So what did a week in The Life of What Beth Wanted To Do consist of?

Monday :
Painting a martini glass in preparation to celebrate Saint Patricks Day.

Tuesday :
I cleaned, and cleaned, and washed clothes... only because I wanted to.

Wednesday :
A bubble bath... with a glass of wine... on a rainy day = Total Bliss!

Thursday :
Shopping Therapy at Kohl's.... AAHHH, lunch with a dear friend and a night out. Much needed and very fun :D

Friday :
A house to myself = Watching movies all day

Saturday :
Visiting my sister and family in NOVA... A day at Harpers Ferry and homemade ice cream at a local dairy... Delicious!

Sunday :
Driving home.. Riding the pony with AGB and a late night movie... the movie was awful.. but it made for a good laugh!

Of course during my days of spring break I was able to emerge myself in what it is that I really wanted to do. It's interesting because I sometimes feel guilty doing these things. I feel like I should make every moment of my life about AGB sometimes... and I shouldn't feel that way, which makes me feel even more guilty.... Oh what a double edge sword!

I am slowly beginning to learn Lesson #454 :
You have to love and like yourself first, which means sometimes it's okay to do things for you.

I have grown so much in the last years of my life. This may be one of the hardest lessons I have had to learn.

In a blink of an eye....

Today I have been thinking a lot about time... how time doesn't exist in anything and how time exist in everything. How has it moved so quickly, without me even realizing that it is moving. I don't "feel" like I have aged, I don't "feel" like time has passed... but the pictures below are the evidence that time is moving.

AGB's 2nd Birthday Party

The summer of she was 2...

Just turned 3.....

The summer she was 3....

And she's 4....

We live in years.... the years of our lives when we are young seem to crawl... but then we become adults and have children. We begin to live in years of their growth and their mildstones.... We live for learning to crawl, then walk and talk, then read and write, then good grades and playing sports, then graduations and pursuing happiness. I know, I know.. she's four.... but I will blink my eyes and she will have grown up right in front of me. My baby has now lost her baby face and knows how to write her name... and mine.

Bittersweet... blinking your eyes.

Naturally....

Any time that I am feeling under the beaten path, and not traveling on it... I look to this beauty. Wednesdays are difficult, as I don't get done with lessons until 6:00 p.m.... meaning I can't pick AGB up from school and I get limited time with her.

Every week I try to do something with AGB that is special for the two of us. Sometimes it involves just going to dinner, or ice cream. Sometimes we do art projects, or it may be that we read five books before we go to bed.

This evening, AGB came running through the house with her Stepping Stones box... Yep, one of those make it yourself out of pour and mix with gems and glitter and every color paint you could imagine. I would have avoided this so involved project at the peak of bed time this evening.. but her baby blue eyes and golden smile and excitement that only a child can obtain got the best of me. And the best part was that when asked to get in the bath and dry her hair and put on her pajama's all previous to her finding her Stepping Stone box, she did it ALL with no fuss and the first time I had asked. There was no denying this project tonight.

Currently, the stone is setting up. And I am sure that I will not hear the end of it until we paint the stone every color of the rainbow, however, it was just the extra minute of time that I needed tonight with my angel here on earth. It was worth the ten minutes late to bed time.

So naturally, she is what brings a smile to my face every day.