ocean

Love, let go. Waves go in, waves go out.

Is it any wonder the ocean is such a comfort? The sound alone reminds us that everything is happening as it should, according to a force far greater than ourselves. And runners get a little taste of that salt water, a little reminder of that vast ocean, every time we work up a sweat.

Everything is happening as it should.

-Kristin Armstrong
Mile Markers



ah, the ebb & flow of life.

the year is half over. say whaaaaa? already this year has been full of ebbs and flows but we're surfing right along...

with these ups and downs, there's a balance found & life is lived to its fullest. exciting spring trips to san francisco & new orleans have been enjoyed along with lazy summer days. the pain of sad goodbyes to loved ones has been balanced out with the joyful welcoming of new babies. marathon training & 10-day bikram challenges are appreciated as well as a new realization that couch-time can be just as restorative as treadmill-time.

yep, it's ALL GOOD.

goodbye summer...

wow...september 1st?!? where did the summer go?

although it is still ridiculously hot outside and we still have pool parties & bbq's ahead, i feel like september marks the end of summer and the beginning of fall. the days are already getting shorter, classes are back in session & pumpkin spice lattes are back in starbucks. yes, fall is right around the corner.

this summer has been just as wonderful as i had anticipated. lots of laughs with family and friends & looking back, i'm reminded of how abundantly blessed we are. here is a recap of some of my favorite moments from this summer (besides the lake trip, which i already recapped :)

-movie premiers-
"hi, i'm almost 30..."

out with some of my fave girls to see Sex & the City 2

cosmos, pretty dresses & heels, oh my!


-we bought a new car! stellar gas mileage, eco friendly, sunroof, xm radio...what's not to love about penny lane the prius?-


-spending time with my 2 favorite kids-
jack

aiden


-stephanie's bachelorette party @ the lake-

"wiggin' out party"




a day @ the sandbar in tutu's...why not?

-cody's 10 year reunion-
i'll be honest. i was so not looking forward to this...for some reason, i was picturing the stereotypical hs reunion: judgemental stares, awkward run-ins with exes and overall uncomfortable-ness all weekend long. i couldn't have been more wrong. i forgot to take into account the fact that cody has an amazing group of high school friends who we hang out with all the time. so it wound up being just like any other weekend really, but with a churchill-themed party. it was such a great weekend.

friday night:
-me, erica & steph:

-cody & eric:

saturday night pre party:

saturday night dance party:



proud of his churchill roots:


-and of course, steph & eric's wedding-
rehearsal dinner:

we had so much fun getting ready for steph's big day.

abby's ipod mix, chick-fil-a, makeup, hair, mimosas & good friends. what a great day!

one of the sweetest moments...steph & eric talking before the wedding but not seeing eachother.

she is stunning!

mr. & mrs. cervenka!

just gorgeous:

and time to dance!
(our poker face dance...you're jealous you didn't think of it first, admit it!)

gettin' low to apple bottom jeans, a classic.


some amazing pics that our friend kara took.




http://www.vintageviewstudio.com/

lake trip recap

as anticipated, we had an awesome time at the lake a few weeks back. we've been super busy so i'm just now getting around to recapping. though, it was mostly just R&R the whole time so nothing super exciting to report. which is just fine with me. it was much-needed time away, spent in the sun, being lazy. we were out there for 5 days and each day looked the same, kinda like this: wake up, let jack out to go race to the lake for his morning swim, go for a run, come back and erase any good done by said run by eating a delish breakfast (pancakes, anyone?), go lay by the pool or lake ALL day, catch up on reading, drink, eat, drink, eat...


the best part was that we had NOTHING to do but lay around. no work, no chores, no obligations, no gym. i was able to just spend time with cody & his family & read a WONDERFUL book, Same Kind of Different as Me. i highly recommend it!


jack wore himself out EVERY day by running around with his new BFF's Maia & Schatzi & his old buddy, uncle tucker:





what a perfect summer vacay!

go to your "happy place"...

this weekend we went out to wimberley to celebrate my cousins' (liz, joe & erica) graduations. what a joy to go out there where i have so many great memories from my childhood. don't you just love places like that?

as a kid i remember going up there every chance we got (long weekends, holidays, summers, etc.) to go visit grandpa al, grandma anna & the rest of the family. it was always so exciting to pull up that long driveway after the 4 hour trip from corpus and look in the big front window to see who was there. with 20-something cousins there was ALWAYS somebody there! we had so much fun growing up on that river - running down to the rapids, building forts, swimming in the river, playing green ghost...it makes me smile just thinking about it!

and then there were all the holidays - firecrackers down at the river for new year's & 4th of july, easter egg hunts in the front yard, and one of my favorites -
HUGE thanksgiving dinners and then watching the UT/A&M game, followed by a football game of our own out on the flocke's lawn....



wimberley surely is a little slice of heaven that God has shared with us. sparkling river, cypress trees, rolling hills...the texas hill country at it's finest. and the memories of all the fun things we did there fill my heart with joy. but it's not the surroundings or the activities that i love as much as the people i share this place with. anybody who knows me knows how important my family is to me - obviously my immediate family but it also extends to my aunts, uncles and cousins because they are more like "extra" moms, dads, brothers and sisters to me...their presence in my life is truly one of my greatest blessings.




(these pictures are from galveston, not wimberley...but they're my favorite "cousin pictures" of all time!)

so this weekend, it was wonderful to revisit that place & the people who make it so special to me, even if just for a few hours. it's bittersweet to think about how my cousins and i have all grown up and established our own versions of "adult" lives...moving away, starting our careers, getting married & having children of our own. now we only see eachother a couple times a year (if we're lucky). but i love them just the same and i'm grateful for the short visits we do have here and there. really, just a small portion of the "cousins" were there...



but add in the spouses and the babies and the group doubles!...



...& don't worry, the family is contninuing to grow! here, we were pointing to the pregnant bellies in attendance - erica, hanna and molly are all adding to our family this year! :)

speaking of children....two of my favorite kiddos were there. my sweet nephew, aiden and i got to hang out for a bit:



and we brought jack for his first out of town field trip. i was really nervous about this...so many things to go wrong when you throw a long car ride, plates of bbq, new people, and large bodies of water into the mix. but he did pretty well and he had a BLAST in the water!






it was a wonderful day, filled with people i adore, fantastic bbq,and gorgeous river views. and to top it all off, i had a great pre-mother's day visit with my two favorite moms :)

sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

i.love.summer.

i'd like to officially declare tomorrow (may 1st) as the first day of summer. now, i know the technical "first day of summer" is june 20th but that date simply will not work because it is already taken by cody's birthday. not to mention, in texas, summer weather comes freakishly early. like march.

the beautiful wildflowers are already on their way out as the delicious combo of warm sun/cool breeze is being rapidly replaced by a still, muggy heat. the spring semester is over @ the university. my skin is a lovely caramel color. it's still light out at 815 pm...what more proof do ya need? yep. summer is here!

growing up on the coast, i was made for the sun - made to have sand between my toes, saltwater on my skin, and a blue sky above me.

here's what i love about summer: the sunshine (duh), long days, margairtas on a patio, bbqs, pool play dates with friends, annual lake trip, half days on fridays, flip flops, sundresses, tan legs, runs that result in a sweat session more intense than bikram, weddings, ice cream, sand between my toes, reading in the shade, "defrosting" in my car after leaving a cold office, pink sunsets, pedicures, fireflies & white accessories. i could go on but you get the point.








so what's on tap for this summer @ the stanton household (besides the summer brews)?
-graduation parties for joe, cam, liz & erica (what a smart family i have!)
-the LAKE. late-june awesomeness. 'nuff said.
-sex and the city II premier. yes it gets it's own bullet.
-twilight eclipse premier. yes it also gets it's own bullet. go team edward <3
-steph & eric's wedding and all the festivities leading up to (showers, bach parties, dress fittings...)
-cody's ten year reunion
-john & brittan's wedding
-lots of lazy days spent laying out with friends, drinking cold drinks in the hot sun, reading chick lit & eating bbq

that's all we have planned that i can think of. ahhhhh, i can smell the coconut lotion now....