Summer's Coming: Fragments de Friday Free for All

~ Whew, am I glad it's FRIDAY!  This week at work kicked my behind.

~ A friend posted this on his Facebook wall last week, and I found it SO inspiring:

"They can't kill your dreams, so they assassinate your character. Remember, those you don't love you can't hurt you. It feels good to be surrounded by loving friends and family. Everyone isn't so fortunate. #Grateful" 

My dreams will NOT be killed!

~ My girls only have three more days of school left.  I am very much looking forward to summer!  Although, I am slightly in denial that Shelbie will be a SENIOR next year.

~ Is it any wonder that I think my son, Tim,  is the coolest kid guy ever?  How many 20 year old guys do you know who have tea parties with one-year-olds?

I love their expressions.  =)

~ From the "Ya can't make this crap up" files:
I got this email the other day that I just had to share with you all.  I didn't respond at first, so she even re-sent it to follow up.  Can they possibly be serious?

"Cyndy,
We write articles for KennyMyers.com. I came across your site, and thought your readers might be interested in a new article that we wrote. It's called “10 FAMOUS LAWYERS NAMED KEN YOU MAY DEBATE”, and you can find it here:http://www.kennymyers.com/blah/10-famous-lawyers-named-ken-you-may-debate/. If it is something you find interesting and think your readers would as well, you can possibly consider mentioning it on your site. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoy the article." 


 ....They didn't even offer compensation for this weirdness.
After the follow up email, I replied very simply.

~ The other day my Mom posted a couple of pictures on Facebook from our wedding "reception" party and I wanted to share them with y'all.

Sigh....I adore him.

Such good memories.

Cake Smash!
I love him like a Fat Mama loves wedding cake.
I still love him just as much as I did on our wedding day!
Which was 2.5 months ago.
Hee hee!

~ Check these out ....

On Sunday I am making my first blackberry cobbler of the season.
We are LOADED with blackberries 'round here!  YUM!

Alrighty, my friends!   

Keep calm and Frag On, 
and have a fantastic weekend!

P.S. Those of you who have had some problems with seeing my photos,
could you please let me know if you can see these?
There are 5 photos total, not including the Frag & Free for All Buttons.
Thanks!

So.Much.Fun.

When we returned from our wedding/mini-honeymoon on Sunday, we arrived to a beautiful reception thrown by my mother-in-law.  My entire (local) family was there, along with all of our children, Byron's "second mom", and my best friend.  It was absolutely lovely.

AND my MIL had a gift waiting for us....a personalized engraved photo album full of our wedding pictures that she had already printed!


She had decorated her house, had a cake made, and she and her friend (B's second mom) cooked a delicious dinner for everyone.  It was SO sweet and made me feel so welcome.

purple and an owl.
she knows me so well.

fake smile much? 

you gotta have a little silliness.
or...a lot.

love these girls <3

and these boys.
(my new stepson, me, and my boy.)

this picture CRACKS ME UP.
I'm pretty sure Tyler is saying,
"oh sweet jesus, what the HELL has my dad gotten us into?!"

Tyler hates to be embarrassed or have attention called to himself.  

I absolutely LOVE embarrassing my kids.

Poor Tyler.

my boys.
I so love them.

this picture is freaking HILARIOUS.
I was taking a pic of the banner that my mother-in-law hung up.
It says BEST WISHES BYRON AND CYNDY.
I have NO IDEA what my niece is doing, or what Shelbie is doing,
but I laugh my ASS off every time I look at it!
Those two LOVE to pick on me
PAYBACK!!!!!

Happy Thursday Y'all!!!

Vows on Vilano Beach

My Hunter is no longer hunting - he caught me.

Reading the Introductory Prayer

Allow me to introduce my husband, whom until now I have called Hunter on the blog.  His name is Byron, and we got married on Friday.

Vilano Beach is a mixture of sand and coquina shells.
So pretty.

We've actually been engaged for a few months, and were planning a wedding at our home in May.  I planned to announce it here on the blog very soon.

But then Byron's Dad passed away, and my dad had a heart attack, and between that, wedding plans, trying to get our property in shape for a wedding, work, and life in general....we became overwhelmed.

I came home from work one morning last week and suggested we cancel all of our plans and elope on the beach.
Byron was TOTALLY on board.

Listening to the prayer.

So, that's exactly what we did!
And it's one of the best decisions either of us has ever made.

The weather was perfect.  We couldn't have chosen a better weekend.
Warm, breezy, and not a cloud in the sky.

I rounded up an officiant, rearranged my work schedule, booked a room, asked my best friend Danielle to join us, and we bought our outfits.
Once we got here to Vilano Beach, I grabbed a bouquet of fresh tulips (purple, of course), and we were on our way to our wedding!

Saying our Vows.

There were a few more details than that, but truly, not many.  We kept it as uncomplicated as possible.

Our Song was playing here -
 God Gave Me You by Blake Shelton

It was absolutely perfect.  Incredible, amazing, and beautiful.  I was able to hand-select every word that the officiant said.  We had two friends join us for the ceremony.  One videotaped the service, the other took pictures.

Pure happiness.

I mostly cried. LOL  It was just so beautiful, moving and romantic and perfect and did I mention BEAUTIFUL??

Danielle cried maybe even more than I did.  Byron and I are just so in love, and the sweet simplicity of it all was so emotional and moving.

I won't bore you with the entire ceremony but I am going to print the poem here, and bombard you with pictures.

I am a happy, happy girl!

From this day forward

I make a promise:

Whatever happens, 

You shall not walk alone.

I’ll stand by your side, 

And sleep in your arms.

I’ll be the joy in your heart,

And the food for your soul,

May you feel deeply loved,

For indeed you are.


Through our brightest days

And our darkest nights,

I take you into my heart. 

May God bless us

With a great light, 

Around our hearts

And around our home.

I see your beauty, 

Your innocence and light.

May it shine.


May the world see how beautiful you are

As I see how beautiful you are.

But may there be a special light

That only I can see.

I give you my heart.

May we feel this joy forever.




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Hug Your Mama

I mentioned a few weeks ago that my best friend Danielle was getting married for the fourth time.

A little background - Danielle has been my best friend since I was about 15 years old.

November 2012

 For her whole life, she was passed around from relative to relative.  Her "mother" could never be bothered to take care of her.

She's the only child that Jeanette had (thank God) and apparently the woman possesses no maternal instinct. Danielle was raised by, at various times, both grandparents, an aunt, her father, and probably a few others.
Jeanette (I can't even call her "mother" except for explanation purposes) has always been in and out of Danielle's life.  I don't think she ever lived with her except as a baby.  At times Danielle has tried to walk away and cut her out of her life, but she can never bring herself to tell Jeanette no when she comes crawling back and begging Danielle to have a relationship with her.

The last falling-out was probably the worst.  Jeanette literally told Danielle that she hated her.  And I am not just being biased when I say that Danielle is truly one of the most wonderful people I know.  There are many others who would say the same thing, and I am proud to call her my best friend and someone who ALWAYS has my back.

But after a few months, maybe even a year, Jeanette came crawling back once again and Danielle gave her YET ANOTHER chance to be in her life.  They have spent time together and have been working on rebuilding their relationship.

For Danielle's wedding last Saturday, Jeanette was to light Danielle's side of the unity candle and bring devilled eggs for the reception.
The wedding was supposed to start at 3pm.  Danielle's hair and makeup took longer than expected so we were running behind.

Right around 3pm, someone came in and very gently informed Danielle that Jeanette was not there yet.  She was supposed to be there early for a quick run-through 'rehearsal'.  Not only did she not make it early, obviously, but she wasn't even there when the wedding was supposed to start.

that's me in the corner

Between hair, makeup, and trying to keep Danielle from having a meltdown...the wedding didn't start until 4pm.
Jeanette still wasn't there.

She never showed up.  Turns out the night before, she'd went on a drinking and drug binge.  Her boyfriend didn't even know where she was.  Clearly that was more important to her than showing up for her one and only child's wedding.

It frustrates me that Danielle keeps letting Jeanette into her life, and giving her the power to hurt her.  BUT at the same time - I can't IMAGINE how much it hurts for your own Mother not to truly care about you.  My mom and I have had a few issues here and there, but I know that she loves me unconditionally and would NEVER be a no-show at any important event in my life.

Throughout the ceremony, as happy as I know Danielle was, I could see the pain in her eyes, and I just hurt for her.  I don't care if its a fourteenth wedding - it's her DAUGHTER.  If she says she's going to be there, she should be there - PERIOD.  If she didn't want to come for whatever reason, she should have told her that in advance - not ruined her wedding by causing her pain just before the ceremony began.

Danielle and her very lucky husband

So if you have a mom who would never do such a hurtful thing to you - be thankful.
Not everyone is so lucky.

Sweet Memories

You may remember that last month, my niece got married.

She got married in my little city, at the historic Women's Club, and it was so pretty.

I really would love to share ALL of the wedding pictures with you. They are just so beautiful.

But instead I just chose a few of my favorites.

This is my whole family, except for my dad who had wandered off somewhere.

Front Row: Tim, Shelbie, Elayna, Andrew, my sister Angie, the bride Heather, groom DJ, my brother, his wife, and their son. Back Row: John, Me, my Mama.

The byooooteeful cake.

Just pronounced husband & wife.

I love this picture. The girls are all watching Heather walk down the aisle, and their happiness and love just shines in their eyes. <3

(that's my daughters, and Heather's two best friends.

The one on the far right, Crystal, is also the groom's sister.)

My oldest son Tim and youngest daughter, Elayna

.

The beautiful bride. LOVE this shot.

Heather & my baby girl, Elayna.

Elayna helping Heather with her shoes.

Elayna right after getting her hair done.

Shelbie getting her hair done.

Shelbie & Heather

another shot of my oldest & youngest walking together. Love it!

(I'm willing to bet he's aggravating her in this picture! It's one of his favorite activities.)

Every time I look at the pictures I tear up. I never cried at weddings before, she ruined me! It was just so beautiful, and I was there when Heather was born. I was fourteen years old, so we grew up together. We've always been very close. Then, seeing my beautiful babies all dressed up too....it was emotional over load!! It was such a special day. I look forward to my children's wedding days although I hope they are a loooooong ways away!!

Tying the Knot in my City

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Ice Cream & Fragments

Lots going on around here! Tomorrow is the big day - my niece, Heather, is getting married! Tim & the girls are in the wedding. Last night was the Bachelorette Party; it was low key and family friendly. It was held at a bowling alley and the theme was 80's Rock. Check out the fuzzy cell phone pic of me & Layna:

(those are classic 80's fingerless gloves on Elayna's hand!)

It was a lot of fun! All of us girls are getting our nails done today. Tonight is the rehearsal dinner, and the wedding is at 2:00 pm Saturday. It's going to be beautiful! Her theme is cherry blossoms, hence the pretty dividers.....



The A/C in our car wasn't working. In Florida, that's just intolerable. Also, the passenger window was stuck in the 'up' position (thankfully) and wouldn't work. So, we had them fixed.
When we got it back, the power locks and the sideview mirror controls wouldn't work.
WhatTheWhat??



OhMyGosh, I nearly forgot to tell you. I had a life-changing experience this week. Ever since my weight loss surgery 3 years ago, I haven't been able to eat ice cream without getting extremely ill. Needless to say, I learned my lesson pretty quickly and chalked it up to a sacrifice to getting my health back. I only cried and mourned in private. (kidding) (sort of) But this week, I decided to try taking LactAid before eating ice cream, to see if that would help.
And then the heavens parted and I received a beautiful, miraculous blessing. I ate a bowl of ice cream and did not get even the tiniest bit sick. And later that night, I did it again.
It was amazing. I may have nearly shed tears of joy. Also, Publix Peach Cobbler Ice Cream is absolutely incredible.
For real, had I never been able to eat ice cream again, I would have accepted that. Many people have difficulty with a lot of different foods after WLS, so I considered myself lucky. But I really did miss ice cream, so this makes me a happy girl!





Last weekend, I worked my first-ever 24 hour shift.
I went to work on Saturday for my usual 8pm - 8am shift, and then when the Sunday caregiver came in to relieve me, she asked if I could work her shift. She has kidney stones and was in a lot of pain. The kids were at their dad's, we had no plans, so I said, sure. It actually went by pretty fast and I enjoyed it. I really lucked out with my first caregiving job; my client is super sweet, and at 88 year old is still totally on the ball mentally and knows exactly what medications she's supposed to take at what time, when her BP needs to be taken, etc. Which makes it really easy for me. All of us caregivers record her BP, weight, vitals, etc. daily but she keeps her own record of her BP because she worries about it. I can only hope I am that sharp at 88! She is great. There is a bed for the caregivers in the client's room, so we can sleep when she sleeps, although so far I can't sleep well while I'm there. So usually while she sleeps, I play on the internet. Tough job!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and check out Half Past Kissin' Time for more Friday Fragments!

Today's Friday Song Share is one of Heather's wedding songs!