Dumpster Diving and Pinterest

I think Pinterest has become a problem in my life. 

Apparently, it's turned me into a weirdo/creeper who dumpster dives for used shipping pallets, so I can get crafty and make those awesome pallet shelves that everyone keeps pinning.

(Except I won't make them.  I'll totally make John do it, because I have a slight measuring aversion, and am not sure my preferred method of "eyeballing it" will work).

(Plus, I also may not know how to work a saw.  That's what boys are for, right?)

Anyway, so I'm driving home from physical therapy, minding my own business, when I notice that a new store moving into our neighborhood has some sweet shipping pallets propped up against the dumpster.

(My teenage self just rolled her eyes at my mom-tastic usage of the word sweet). 

(Also, I techncally didn't have to dumpster dive.  I'm still a dumpster creeper though.)

I pulled up, and pondered just grabbing them and stuffing them in the car.  Ultimately, I decided it looks (a little) less shady if I actually ask for them first.

I go inside, nicely introduce myself to the store owner as a neighbor, and then kindly ask if I can have the pallets out back.

He's all, "You mean the ones in the dumpster?!"  And I'm like, "well, yes, but technically they're not IN the dumpster, they're just kind of leaning....I'm sure they're clean.....ish."

And he's all "o-KAY, whatever floats your boat, weirdo."

Okay, maybe I made up the weirdo part.  But he totally said it with his eyes.

AG's First Haircut

Looking back, I realized that I forgot to blog about a super momentous occasion in AG's life. 

What's that, you ask?  Oh, just her first haircut.  Where she got LAYERS.  And some hair product to "bring out her curls."  She may as well have gotten highlights, and a makeover.  Since she's practically a teenager and all.

Personally, I suffer from "haircut anxiety."  If you ever had a bad, mushroom head-ish haircut in your youth, you totally get what I'm talking about.  You know.  The kind that may or may not have made you call your parents crying, causing them to drive down to Athens, take you to dinner, and reassure you that "it really doesn't look that bad," and "of course you look just like Rachel from Friends." 

And then, "Wait, we thought you didn't watch that kind of smut?" 

Oops.

So, anyway, we arrived at Pigtails and Crewcuts, at about 11am on a Saturday morning.

Mistake number one. 

It was like a playgroup on steroids, with kids you don't know, and toys that have been touched by half the free world.  I fought the urge to grab some Purell and just squirt it willy-nilly all over the room.

(Okay, no I didn't.  I'm not a germ-freak.  At all.  Which totally could be why we've been to the doctor about 97 times in the past year.)

Anyway......We finally get called, and Ally Grace gets to take her turn in the chair. 

Which was shaped like an airplane.  And was right next to the police car. 

(Which sadly doesn't fit an adult, in case you were wondering.)

The stylist was fabulous, and I have literally never seen someone move so fast.  Cutting toddler hair should probably be an olympic sport, honestly.  And AG was just entranced by some cartoon they had on, barely even noticing that her sweet baby mullet was getting chopped. 

That's some serious "party in the back," my friends.

Oh, baby mullet  We will miss you. 

(NO.)

A little curious George is all it takes.



The finished product.  Mullet-free and proud of it.



They gave us an actual "first haircut" certificate, along with a tiny bag of baby hair.  Which is probably a super sweet and memorable keepsake, that most moms keep forever.  I scanned it so you could see:

(I'm not gonna lie, the bag of hair kinda makes me want to barf.)

(In a sweet, memorable way, of course.)

Lately I've Been.....

.....trying to keep up with my almost 2-year old, who, sadly runs faster than me at the moment.

.....hearing the word "mine."  A lot. 

(John's obviously gotten really possessive with his toys.)

(And seriously, all you experienced parents out there.....how are you not supposed to laugh when your toddler yells "dat's MINE puzzle!")

(It's pretty effective actually.  I've started yelling, "that's MINE brownie!!" when John tries to grab it from me. Works like a charm.)

......having dance parties in our living room every day.  Which, I'm not gonna lie, is totally fun.  And conveniently, a genius way to wear out the little one. 

(Coincidentally, it's yet another way we've convinced our next-door neighbors that we're crazy.)

......contemplating bangs.  Again.  Seriously, why do I do this?  Every fall, I start thinking, hmmmm.....maybe I need some bangs.  And then I obsess over it for a few days, and then I chicken out.  Do any of you have bangs?  Do you love them, or do they make you crazy? 

.......reading my love my kindle.  If you're looking for a good book to read, go read One Day (the movie's coming out with Anne Hathaway.  SO. GOOD.) 

.......staring jealously at the runners on the treadmills at the gym. 

Which may have caused a couple of them to think I'm a total creeper.

Yelling, "THAT'S MINE TREADMILL!" probably didn't help.

It's Been Fun, 30

Dear 30,

We had a great year, didn't we?  I have to admit, I wasn't sure about you at first.  From the new wrinkles, to the potentially slowing metabolism, and the extra puffiness under my eyes, I had some serious doubts.

(Not to mention, the getting called "ma'am" by teenagers.  Was that even really necessary?!)

But, you ended up completely winning me over.  After getting carded a few times, ("What's that?  You need to see my ID?  I'm so not at all upset about this!") I figured we were straight.

But I really ended up loving you, because you gave me moments like these with this guy:

What?  Of course we always dress this way. 
We do live in the South.



What? Of course we always dress this way. 
We do live near a Krispy Kreme.

(And if you don't, I am sad for you.)



Yep.  We're nerds.  And by "we," clearly I mean, "me."



And then, dear 30, I loved you even more for giving me moments like these with this girl:

We obviously have a love of strange hats in our family...

...and first birthday parties (not to mention, Georgia football)

...and moments of sheer happiness, like this one, which need no explanation.

I'll take a thousand more, please.

All-in-all, thank you for an amazing year, 30. 

I think you were my best one yet.

Love,

Your friend Sherri, who is turning 31 today, and might just have to slap anyone who calls her ma'am in the next 24 hours. 

Or ever again.

You have been warned.

P.S.  31, just so you know, mama's not down with any more wrinkles, cellulite, or eye bags.

You know you wanna stay on my good side. 

I'm watching you.

This Month.....

....has been really bad, y'all.  And I'm not gonna lie, I've had a really awful attitude about it.  Without going into too much boring detail, I hurt my back pretty badly.  And the really funny part is that I'm not even sure how I did it.

(Although constantly carrying around a 26 pound toddler probably didn't help.)

So, in light of my current situation, here's a short list for you.

Reasons it Stinks to Lay Flat on Your Back All Day:

1.  When your little presh comes running up to you, wanting to be held, you can't do it.  Or you can try, and look like an 80-year old hunchback in the process. 

She is totally worth every moment of hunched-over-ness. 
Also, please note that the baby mullet finally grew into some sweet pigtails!

2.  You will inevitably cry during tivoed episodes of Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition. And the Bachelorette.  And maybe, possibly, ONLY HYPOTHETICALLY, Bachelor Pad 2.

(Why, yes.  They were tears of embarrassment.  For everyone on that show.)

3.  I'm one of those weirdos who actually likes to workout.  And I'm fairly positive that it replaces my probable need for a therapist when it comes to stress relief.  So guess what you can't do when your back is hurt? 

Anything involving a workout. 

(Which means Crazy Sherri may have just made an appearance.  John, get excited.)

Disclaimer:  I know that I'm being overly dramatic.  (If you've read this for any amount of time, you probably shouldn't be too surprised.)  And I KNOW that there are SO many worse things that people are going through.  So, I'm going to take my cortisone shot, my prescription for physical therapy, and I'm going to SUCK. IT. UP. 

While watching episodes of Bachelor Pad, of course.

Welcome to Our Summer....

Well, since the last time I blogged was approximately 1993, hopefully some of y'all are still around to read this.  Summer has been crazy, crazy....full of work, keeping up with the Bachelorette, and being the last person on earth to discover Pinterest.

(Seriously, how did I not know about this for so long?  Tragic.)

I really can't remember what we've been doing.  Which is just sad.  And probably says something about my memory skills.  So I'm just going to try and cover the last month or so...picture-blog style. 

Get excited, y'all.

We've been going on dates....



Interesting story about this restaurant.  And yes, you may notice that we are sitting on the floor.  Not because we were raised in a barn or anything; they actually TELL you to sit on the floor.  While bellydancers awkwardly dance around your table.  And everyone else is whipping out dollar bills to put in the dancers' waistbands.  Which I couldn't bring myself to do, because I just knew I'd end up accidentally pulling her skirt down or something.  And sweet John wasn't about to risk the wrath of Sherri do that in front of me.

Aw. He's a good one, ladies.





It seems that I enjoy showing my tongue in pictures.  I'm not sure why.
I'm sure there's a name for this condition. 

I'm sure I also deserved John's weirded out look.

Thanks for that, honey.



We've been playing with friends......



AG is nothing if not ladylike and reserved.

We've been trying to get a decent shot of our family without AG making faces taking family pictures.....


It's a shame she's not more expressive.....

Why, I do believe that was an actual eye roll. 
She's not even two yet. 

#teenageyearsshouldbefun

(sorry, just couldn't help myself.  You twitter junkies know what I'm talking about.)

We've been celebrating daddies......

....And going to the aquarium....

Now, I'm not gonna lie.  I would've freaked OUT if some man in a weird mask just floated up to me and started gesturing through the window. 

If I was two, I mean. 

Or maybe now.

We've been going the lake with friends....





Couch pictures are always a good time. 
Love how AG's all "Baby Rhodes, you'd better get up off me. For realz."

(Because that's obviously exactly how she normally talks.)




Our annual 4th of July trip looked just a little different this year......

....but taking this little presh to the lake was well worth it, even if I didn't get to sleep in, or drink my coffee and read magazines, or even get a tan.

Well, mostly anyway.





Book Recommendation

I just found out that one of my very favorite college friends, Russ Masterson, recently published his first book!  It was released from Tyndale House Publishers as an e-book on July 1st.

All I have to say is this......Fists in the air, Bruce!

(Inside joke, sorry to all of you who now think I'm a huge dork.)

(But, if you've been reading this blog, then you should probably already know that.)

(Also, we called Russ "Bruce" in college, which was hysterically funny at the time, for reasons I don't remember anymore.)

Anyway, I'm super excited to read his book, and not just because having a friend who's a published author makes me feel famous.  (Although it does.)  Mostly, I'm excited because I know Russ to be an awesome man of God, and I can't wait to see how God speaks to me through his book.

SO....if you have an e-reader (check), have already finished the Hunger Games trilogy (check-and just kidding, you should totally read this before you read the Hunger Games), and want a really great book to get into next, take a look at the summary below, and GO BUY THIS BOOK!

40 Days without Food: Divine Goodness to a Starving Soul
By Russ Masterson

“I had a college degree, and soon a seminary degree to accompany it, yet I didn’t know where to go or what to do.” Russ Masterson had read and heard about purpose, but didn’t have a clue what his own purpose was. And there was emptiness where there should have been value. As he puts it, “I kept hoping a step would arrive when it was time to lift my foot.”


Disillusioned with his life, as well as with God, he heard this advice: fast from food for 40 days. Faithless and frazzled, Russ accepted the challenge, hoping for direction, reflecting on the past, and wrestling with issues like purpose, faith, and love.


In this book, readers will find a fresh literary voice — an insightful thinker who meets people in their humanity while helping them to see they can be rescued from it. The journey of these forty days without food will help you explore what really matters in life
 
Available on the Kindle, Nook, and iPad (via the free Kindle app for iPad). 
http://www.russmasterson.com/