Some Things You Should Know

I'm still coughing. Two weeks now. 

Hello, my name is Jen and I am over it. 

Plus, I've gotten to that point where your entire body aches from all the coughing.... Like your rib cage is one giant bruise. The good news is, I have finished most of my prescription medicines so I am no longer highly medicated and acting loopy. Although I'm sure that was fun for some people to witness.

Another thing you should know is that I had an asthma attack on my 30th birthday. It wasn't all that dramatic but it happened and I couldn't find my inhaler, and then I found it and all was okay. Starting my 30s off with a bang. Hooray for upper respiratory issues!!

I've gotten a few questions about the house we stayed in for Cousin Camp. Every year my parents host Cousin Camp for the kids at their home in Cypress, and during that week we will rent a small hotel condo for about 2 nights in Galveston.  Because this year was my parents' 40th anniversary, they decided to go a little bigger this year and they rented a house for the entire week as a combined anniversary celebration/ Cousin Camp/ family vacation. It was amazing. The house was on a different part of the island than I had ever been to before and it was so, so beautiful. The beach was pretty private and there was beautiful, powdery sand. It didn't feel like Galveston, that's for sure. It was just so beautiful and definitely felt like a vacation. We loved the house and could cook most of our meals there... The kids slept in bunk beds (except for Ellie) and they loved that. It was really such a great trip and great memories were made! 

As an anniversary gift to my parents, my sisters and I hired a photographer to drive out to the beach and take some family portraits. They turned out stunning and I can't wait to share them with y'all... More on that in a later post. 

I'm typing this on my iPad mini! That was Grant's birthday present to me.  I am loving it (never had an iPad before) and am especially loving using it as an eReader. Already finished 2 books and am in the middle of another right now. I'd also love to pat myself on the back and tell you that I have been using this iPad for over a week now and ELLIE STILL HAS NOT SEEN IT OR KNOWS THAT IT EXISTS. I am sure that at some point she will see it and try to play all the games and watch all the shows, but for now I am loving having it all to myself. I just keep it out of her view and really only use it when she's asleep :)

And now, at 10:30 on a Saturday night, after writing this riveting blog post about a bunch of things you probably don't care about, I am going to hit the sack.

Goodnight, friends. 

Cousin Camp 2014 Photo Recap

Well, it's the last night of Cousin Camp. The kids are upstairs in their beds.... Probably not asleep yet, but they will be soon. They are exhausted. It's been a week of so much fun, but it is winding down and the adults are pretty darn tired. Here are some Instagram pics from the week!

The camp welcome.....

Watching a dance video with Aunt Shannon

Craft time

We watched lots of movies

Pancake breakfast!

Spaghetti dinner on the deck with Pops.

My mom and sister had a sweet little birthday celebration waiting for me when I woke up Wednesday morning... So sweet. There were Kate Spade and Anthropologie goodies. Glory. 

And I don't know what the heck I'm supposed to do with this giant dog that Grant won for Ellie at Pleasure Pier. 

This puzzle was from the devil. 

Little Miss Hollywood had the time of her life this week!

She changed so much this week. Talking more than ever, keeping up with and repeating after the big kids.... She grew up a lot and kept us cracking up. She was happy and truly had a blast. It's gonna be a nightmare getting her back on schedule when we get home tomorrow but this was so worth it. 

Grammy and Pops, thanks for loving on all our babies and giving them the time of their lives. Happy 40th Anniversary.  Thank you for choosing to celebrate your anniversary with Cousin Camp. Sweet memories we're made!

The Night Before I Enter My 30's

I'm signing in from Cousin Camp 2014. It's our annual week of getting all the littles together and playing and swimming and having a blast in general. Ellie couldn't be happier and everyone is having a great time. 

I'm forcing myself to have a great time as I have been to an Urgent Care clinic twice in less than a week. The most recent trip was incredibly beneficial as I left there with a steroid shot, an antibiotic, a mega-powerful cough syrup and another inhaler. Combine that with the other inhaler and steroid pill, as well as the Mucinex and Robitussin and you've got yourself a highly medicated girl. A sweet friend even brought me some essential oils which I am applying topically and diffusing at night. Literally doing everything I can to not get pneumonia. But I'm on the mend and getting to participate in a few more activities every day. I missed the first beach day, pool day, and Schlitterbahn since the doctor told me to stay out of the sun and heat. As you can imagine, that is problematic on a beach trip. But, due to strong drugs and some sweet prayers, I feel like I could be coming out of the fog. Which is a good thing since I TURN THIRTY TOMORROW. 

30, Y'ALL. 

30. 

My best friend, Lindsee, texted me today just to inform me that tomorrow I will be 30 and when did that happen and we are officially old. Bless her. It's true. 

THIS IS CRAZY TOWN. 

I'm not necessarily upset about it, it just feels weird. I've been in my 20's for like... well, a decade.... It is just a smidge bizarre. Bizarre... yet I'm thankful for another year of life and excited about all the amazing things this new decade can hold. 

In the immediate future, I hope that my birthday has no coughing whatsoever. 

But I hope it has lots of pasta. 

And cheese. 

May my 30's bring lots of cheese, Lord. 

Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired

I'm sick.

And I'm tired.

I'm seriously considering ending this with just those 2 sentences right there.

The thing is, we've been falling apart over here. Ellie had Hand, Foot and Mouth. She has healed, but then Grant had a sinus infection. Then, he passed on his sickness to me, on top of the fact that my doctor thought I have gallstones but now he's thinking that I have a stomach ulcer. And on top of that, I sprained my ankle about 3 weeks ago so I can't run anymore until I get clearance from a doctor - so for now I'm just gimping around until my appointment on Thursday.

So, I'm just a girl, full of stomach cramps and coughing up a lung, standing (on a swollen ankle) in front of a boy, asking him to love her. (Name that movie.)

Yesterday morning, I took some Maximum Strength Mucinex, took Ellie to Mother's Day Out, and then I went to the mall. I had dreams of walking around for a few hours and really browsing some good sales and purchasing some birthday gifts for a few people. Unfortunately, as soon as I arrived at the mall, I immediately went to Starbucks and sat in a big, comfy chair and tried really hard not to fall asleep as I sipped on my Grande Cinnamon Dolce Latte. The caffeine was not kicking in as quickly as I was hoping it would. The cold medicine was too strong - so I walked into Francesca's, bought a shirt and a necklace, and then I left. Such an adventurous life I live.

Actually, I take that back. After Francesca's, I did stop at the Great American Cookie Company and purchased a sugar cookie and a large Diet Coke. It was 10:30am.

I had the munchies. And I just really felt like I needed some caffeine in a really large-Diet-Coke kind of way.

High on Mucinex, y'all. High on Mucinex.

In all honesty, sitting quietly at Starbucks by myself was actually quite nice. Had I been on a couch, I probably would've stretched out and hung out there for a few hours. At one point, as I was mindlessly staring off into space (I probably looked like a crazy person) I looked up at the ceiling and immediately felt the need to take a picture of the ceiling.

Seriously, how weird must I have looked, sitting in that chair, taking photos of the ceiling?

I'm glad I didn't see anyone I knew. Mercy, I would've been weird.