memories

This evening I attended a viewing for a beautiful, 25 year old woman I went to school with who left us way too soon. Brandy passed away last week & how everything happened just makes me sick. I wasn't close with her but I knew her and cheered with her as a child. I was best friends with her cousin so I always saw her here and there.

And every time I saw her she was always smiling and laughing.

Brandy was a mother to a beautiful four year old girl. Knowing that this sweet girl will be without her mother for the rest of her life is so hard for me to think about. At the viewing they asked for us to write memories we had of Brandy so that they could put into a book for her daughter so she can know who her mother was and how much of an impact she had on everyone's life. They also played a slideshow of pictures of her and almost all of them were pictures of Brandy and her daughter. 

I was holding back tears as I watched people write in this book and see all the pictures. Just thinking of her daughter and her family made me realize how precious life really is and also how ANYTHING can happen to anyone.

I also thought about memories. How seeing everyone I went to school with all together tonight brought back so many memories. I loved being in high school and being able to see all these faces every day.

Some of the people I ran into I hadn't seen since high school. We go off to college, meet new friends, start jobs, start our own families and just get so caught up in our new lives. And I really do hate that. 

Don't get me wrong, I love my new life now but it wouldn't hurt to bring back some of my old life as well. I miss everyone.

So tonight, I'm sad .. but so thankful at the same time. As I lay here thinking about Brandy and her family and all of my high school memories, I am thankful .. thankful that I have these memories to smile about and that everyone was a part of my life. 

I am also so thankful for everything and everyone I have now. 

RIP Brandy.

Let's try this again

I am really going to try my hardest to keep up updating the blog. I have so much that I want to share on here but I just never have the time anymore.  I know I blamed it all on summer and the warm weather but it's starting to get chilly out now, let's see if I'm able to keep up. 

& speaking of chilly weather... it's def. Fall here. I'm actually laying in bed freezing right now. Soph has been wearing her long sleeves and boots.. and looks SO cute.

I just ordered a lot of Fall/Winter clothes online that should be arriving soon. I love shopping for Sophia, maybe a little too much. I still haven't put her Summer clothes away. I'm still hoping for some warm weather here and there so that she can wear some outfits just a few more times.

It's just been me and Soph this week at home. Gary left for NY and New Hampshire for work. So Soph and I have been eating at my parents restaurant every evening after work. Today we had tomato soup and grilled cheese. It was perfect for how cold it was and Sophia actually LOVED it. She ate so much of it. I was so happy bc I know as a kid I hated it.

Soph also loves the rainbow colored ice cream that my parents have at their place.

We've been coming home from the restaurant and just hanging out .. just the two of us. We miss Gary but I think we are enjoying our time together.

Soph still sleeps with me at night and this morning as I was getting up to get ready for work Soph says, "No Mommy, Night Night" as she pats on the bed beside her. 

I said, "Sophia, mommy has to get ready to work. Do you want me to just lay with you." 

And she says, "Yup". 

I then say, "You don't want me to go to work?"

She said, "Nope".

And then I laid back down for a few more minutes. Getting up and dropping her off at daycare are the worst for me. I tear up some morning after I leave daycare, it's so sad. I wish more than anything I could spend all my days with her. BUT whose going to pay the bills? I know I need to be lucky for Gary and I to both have full time jobs and be able to buy the things we need and want, but it would be nice. So all you stay at home moms, I am super jealous of you. But I also have lots of respect for you. Some weekends are rough for me when I'm home alone all day with Soph, so I could imagine all day and all week. 

I can not believe how fast Summer went and how we are already into Fall. I am enjoying it all but just can't believe it. Now that it's Fall it means I'm going to have a two year old in just one month!!!

AH! I need to hurry up and start planning her second birthday. I'm going to make it pretty simple this year. I'm hoping to get out and take some pictures with my actual camera for it.

Well, that felt good to update even though it was very random. Let's hope this continues. 

Now it's time to cuddle up to this silly girl.

what we do after it rains

Good morning everyone!

{the pic above is a little blurry, but I still love it}

It's Sunday morning, we just got done eating breakfast, we're listening to country music 

& it's already looking like a beautiful day outside!!

Yesterday, it poured until about 3 and then the sun came out. 

Even though the sun came out it was still a little chilly outside. Felt just like fall. 

We were stuck inside most of the day and we HAD to get outside once it stopped raining. 

Sophia was going a little crazy and so was this momma. 

We waited for Gary to wake up {he's still working nights} & headed over to my
parents restaurant to get some food & then headed to the grocery store to stock up. 

Soph was a little bad at the store. She wanted everything. 

So when we got home, I let her do whatever she wanted outside.

And that meant playing in wet gravel and rain puddles.

{now for a photo dump from yesterday}

Her hand would get so dirty that I would tell her to just wash em in the puddles.

She looked so much older yesterday for some reason.
She even acted like she was one walking up and down the neighborhood all by herself.

I'm just glad we got to get out of the house and play a little, even if we got dirty.
I felt so exhausted and stressed out for some reason and I felt like I was getting
real close to losing my patience over anything yesterday & I did not want to be like this
... especially around Sophia. But as soon as I saw how happy she was, I was too.
& all that craziness I felt, went away.

After we played inside we cuddled up on the couch, ate snacks and watched A Bugs Life.
I felt so relaxed and SO much better than I did earlier in the day.
Crazy how just getting out of the house for a few hrs can help.

Now time to get ready for the day.
Our day will be full of lots of playing outside
and going to Lacey's 2nd Birthday party!!

Have a beautiful Sunday everyone! 

shop in our closet!

Happy Saturday everyone!

I've been cleaning out our closets & have found lots of clothes 

that have only been worn once or twice or are brand new. 

I've been seeing a lot of ladies on instagram selling their clothes so I decided to make one for us.

Follow -- sophscloset on instagram to look at what we have. 

I'll be adding items throughout the next couple of days. 

And also each time I find anything in my closet that I no longer want.

A lot of people have asked about Soph's clothes but I only have smaller clothes for Sophia because I have given away a lot of her stuff and most of her 12-18 months still fit her and I'm still holding onto her summer stuff from this year. Maybe during the winter months I'll sell her summer clothes.

But if you know anyone who has a newborn or baby send them over. The price of the items have the shipping cost included!

And if you have a shop online or follow anyone who does let me know! 

I have enjoyed looking at other people's "closets" on instagram.

Have a great day everyone!

wordless{ish} wednesday: bye bye summer

{All the pictures above were taken from my phone and are on my instagram. I didn't take any pictures with my real camera while we were here. My iPhone makes it so much easter. }

>> Follow us on instagram -- josephineking. <<

Right now we are in VA Beach visiting family. We've been here since last Friday and will be leaving tonight. I am kind of sad because this is our last time doing summer activities like going to the beach and pool for the year. This is our goodbye to summer. I know the weather will still be warm but most pools close back home on Labor Day weekend.

It's been a good trip of relaxing and enjoying time with family. We went to the beach only twice but it was enough for us. Sophia was scared of the water this time and only played in the sand. She was very needy while we were there too. 

We spent the rest of the time hanging out at Gary's grandmas house. Oh and eating lots of food. I guess I'll be going on a diet when we get back. 

I also got some good shopping deal on Labor Day. We have most of our fall clothes now. Which even though I'm sad about saying bye to summer, I'm kind of excited for fall weather too.

I hope everyone had a good Labor Day Weekend! I'm going to be spending the rest of our time with family and not looking forward to heading home and back to work tomorrow.

Linking up with:  Baby Baby Lemon, The Paper Mama, Jenni From the Blog, Live and Love Out Loud, and Project Alicia.