The Blessing of the Fleet

I just love the month of October. It has so much to offer Bubba and I. For example, the first weekend of October, every year, is The Blessing of the Fleet. This is an event that takes place literally 3 doors down from our house, at the St. Clements Island Museum. It is put on by the 7th District Optimist Club and it never disappoints. Since we've lived in Colton's Point, going on 6 years now, we've thrown a party or get-together of sorts to coincide with the event. Though we didn't party it up like we have in the past, we did have a great time! Thank goodness for the nice weather. It allowed us to stay outside the majority of the day. Which was nice since we've already started packing up our house for the upcoming renovation.

You know it's been a good day when you're two brothers-in-law have had a couple drinks and make their way to the kitchen to have a good old fashioned cook off. And their competition item? Crab balls! I think we all reaped the benefits of that one! #delicious #drunkcrabballs

A beautiful day for the Blessing of the Fleet!

Taking a ferry ride to the island with my mom and sister.

One of Bubba's little cousins enjoying the boat ride back from St. Clements Island.

Bubba's homemade low country boil. #spicy #numnum

P.S. - How cute is my nephew, Zack, rocking out to The Sam Grow Band?! Oh I just love this sweet baby boy!

Post by Mindy Hill.

Post by Mindy Hill.

Sneak Peek! Interior Shutters

We finally finished putting up our interior shutters and new shades in the living room last night after a few small set backs. [I need to have a few words with FedEx...throwing my packages over my fence and into my yard, in the rain, when I have a perfectly good and protected front porch is pretty frustrating] Anyway, after returning our broken shades to Lowes and getting replacements, which they thankfully had in stock, we were able to get rolling.

But first, I wanted to share a couple of "Life Lately" pictures with you. Sometimes life takes the reigns and my poor little blog ends up on the back burner...so I figured I could at least show you what has been taking up my time!

We spent the weekend with these four adorable chaps! Our 3 nephews and niece:

TWINS!

Owning the runway...I mean beach...

So so so cute!

And here are a couple of "pretties" from around the cottage:

Sunrise over the Potomac River

Evening sky - looking towards Virginia

More beauties from the wildflower garden!

Ok - don't judge my photography skills based on this sneak peek of the Interior Shutters and Shades...I took it on my cell phone at 6:15am this morning on the way out the doors. I was just too excited about them to wait. This is just to give you a quick peek at how our living room is coming along. :) I am finally seeing it all come together! Now, we need to find a rug, coffee table and a little more "decor"...

Please ignore the throw pillows that don't match the new couch or room AT ALL.
They will be removed once I find proper replacements!

Life Lately

As a child, there isn't much better than "summer vacation". Three long months, warm weather, no alarm clock...a child's slice of heaven. And then time passes you by and you're suddenly an adult. Working through every single season, five days a week. PAINFUL. Summer somehow loses it's magical appeal when you're an adult, but if you work it just right, you can still make your summer a fun filled one, even if you have to go to work the next day.

With that said, I thought I'd share with you all some of the things I've been keeping busy with this summer!

We kicked things off with a family trip to Jacksonville, Florida to watch my not-so-little brother graduate from the University of North Florida. You can see more photos and read more about our week HERE.

Watched the Orioles beat the Nationals during the battle of the beltway at Nationals Park on Memorial Day! More about that one, HERE.

Celebrated with this handsome little fella, who turned the big 5 in June!

Took a totally awesome trip back in time and went to see 98*, Boyz II Men and the New Kids on the Block in Philadelphia. Please note: we are dressed in full 90's attire, this is NOT our normal style.

We had a small get together for the 4th of July at our house with Bubba's family.

We welcomed our new nephews and Godsons, Zack and Eli, into the Church through their Baptism at the end of July. Seriously, how cute are all of these Smith children?!

Finally, this past weekend I had a BLAST with my sister at the VH1 Mixtape Festival in Hershey Park, PA. Oh, did I mention I got to meet Taylor Hanson?! More on this encounter later... :)

What do you like to do during the summer months for fun? 

Concerts? Vacations? Parties? Leave a comment and share some of your summer fun!

A Thankful November

Even though we should be thankful for our blessings all 365 days of the year, November is typically the time of year where we voice our said thanks. And it's no different at PBC! My friends and family on both Facebook and Instagram all seem to be doing a daily post of what they are thankful for, and it inspired me to do the same.

Working for a Government Contractor, I have a compressed work schedule (CWS) where I work 9 hours a day and have off every other Friday. As I sit here, on my Friday off, blogging away with my 8 month old beagle puppy curled up next to me, head in my lap, I'm realizing how thankful I am for her.

Say hello to Harper Hill, my sweet baby girl! I am so thankful for Harper; She came into my life exactly when I needed her. Struggling through anxiety and panic attacks in the middle of February 2012, I was unsure of everything around me. Then, on February 27th, my in-laws called to say that one of their hunting dogs gave birth to a litter of puppies. Never having actually seen a new born puppy, I agreed to go visit with the new mom and her babies.

I couldn't believe how tiny they were! We went to visit and play with the pups a couple times a week and I became awfully attached to the runt of the litter, who was all black with a itsy-bitsy white triangle on her neck. The older they got, and the more my father-in-law talked about finding homes for them, the more I thought...maybe we should take her home?

It's nearly impossible for me to make a decision, but with the encouragement of my husband, Bubba, we decided to make her a part of our family. We named her Harper, picked her up at 7 weeks, and the rest is history.

She is hyper. She is small. And she is Love. She was exactly what I needed to get through my hard times, and truly believe she was and is the best therapy of all. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures of little Miss Harper, who I am forever thankful for!