my sweet granny

It's May 8... Lots has happened in the first week of May around here.  On April 28, my sweet sweet Granny passed away and we all miss her.  She peacefully went to sleep on Saturday night, and is now enjoying seeing her George and other family and friends.

On Thursday before she passed, I pulled up to pick her up from the beauty shop and said, "Granny, I have a surprise for you."  She was so confused as to what kind of surprise she could be getting and stood there and tried to figure it out.  I said, "come on to the car and I'll show you.  I have Leslie with me!"  Her face just lit up and she said, "Leslie!  Does that mean MOLLY is here too??"  I said, "Yes!" She just got so giddy and couldn't wait to get to the car to see them.  She peeked in to see Molly in the back seat and then asked Leslie if she could sit back there with her on the way to lunch.  Leslie rode up front with me and it was so sweet to hear her talking to little Molly in the back seat.

We enjoyed a delightful lunch at Panera, where she got to enjoy one of her favorite things to eat.  Soup in a bread bowl.  She LOVED this.  She told us she remembers the first time she had one and thought how it was the best thing she had ever eaten in her life.  :)

As we finished up lunch she just kept saying how this was just the best surprise and she was so excited to see Molly.  She looked at me and said, "now in this life I just need to see a little Dudley."  I just smiled at her and said, "I hope you do too, Granny!"

So, if you follow me on instagram you might have seen our big news...  Grizz playoff grind...

New parents grind... Baby Carter due November 16, 2013!

I didn't tell Granny that day because it was just a few days until my next appointment and she would have been so excited she would have told everyone our secret!  I thought to myself (and told Leslie after she said, you should have told her), it's just 3 days away...  

She knows now though... :)

So last week was a week of sad times, but also very happy times being with all of the Guinn family and sharing our favorite and special memories of this dear Frances Guinn; mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, and loving friend to many.  I'm blessed to have shared her name (Martha Frances), and to have been called her golden-haired grand-daughter (the others were brunettes).  

If you got to meet my Granny you know her sweet spirit and loving heart and I hope you treasure your memories with her like we are.

May desktop found here.

april showers

Boy have we had a lot of showers... and cooolddddd... It might be the coldest I can remember it ever being in April. Sheesh!  Our azaleas haven't even bloomed yet, and our new little cherry tree has JUST started blooming this week.  T is hoping for our azaleas to be in full bloom during the Masters (next weekend).

We had a lovely rest of March... celebrating T's bday, March Madness, Easter, and finally getting to spend time with T after a long busy season.  It's been so nice seeing his face around 6:30 or so!

And a few photos for your enjoyment.... plus April desktop is up!

 Happy Bday to my favorite guy!

Our rebs were in the NCAA tournament this year. Our good friends, the Turmans, do this awesome bracket and little Tuck drew Ole Miss. We supplied him with the necessary gear to cheer on the rebs.  Sadly our rebs lost, but Tuck was the cutest little fan I ever saw!

We had the traditional bunny cake on Easter and my little bunny Jules could hardly contain her excitement.

 Our little cherry tree finally blooming (on a typical gloomy, rainy day we've been having).

April desktop found here!

merry birthday

I have an awesome family and set of friends!

My birthday came and we celebrated and it was so fun.  To start off a fun weekend, my new beautiful little niece joined our family on March 8 (day before me!) and she is a bundle of sweetness.  My birthday was filled with breakfast and spending the day with my favorite guy, going to eat dinner with great friends (and my little bro who was in town from sunny LA), a grizz game with a win (and getting to sit on the floor for a quarter), and lots a fun family time and memories thinking about my last year.  It was full of blessings and growth.

 

(my little snotty face Jules is a little cutie big sis!)

I'm so thankful for this life.  Our little family is so blessed and my heart is so full every day.  I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for me!

3/1

Today is March 1.  I kind of can't believe that March is already here, and I've heard that multiple times this week from many different people.

Thankfully, work is slowing A BIT for T.  Yay for March and that time being here.  We also love March around our house as it's our birthday month.. mine at the beginning, his at the end.  A month full of celebration. And cake...

Click here to get the monthly desktop.  Hope you're still enjoying them!

memphis soul

The Steve Guinn family moved to Memphis from Texas a year after I was born.  My mom and dad had never moved out of the state.  Grew up in Waco and Dallas and both went to the colleges in their respective cities.  If you have met any Texas people, you know they are very prideful about their state and don't really ever want to move, or if they do they find a way back later in life.

Well Memphis grabbed Steve-o by the heart and he hasn't ever wanted to leave.

Why am I telling you all this?  Well my dad loves music.  He loves horns, he plays the trumpet, and he fully enjoys good soul music.

Memphis is full of soul.  Good soulful tunes.  Have you ever been to the Stax Museum?  If you haven't, you should go and learn about the history that comes from our beloved city.

So... combining the two: dad's love of music/horns and Memphis' soul we have the music we grew up listening to, and I'm so thankful for the memories I have that revolve around my dad and this music.  One album in particular is this one..

Memphis Soul Classics.  

I could tell you every song on this album and which one is coming next because I think it was on repeat in my dad's car, and he always drove us to school.

While I was cleaning out my desk today, I found this ol' album (this is his actual copy, notice the crack in the case = loved) and popped it in and I can't tell you how nostalgic it makes me feel.  Makes me think of happy childhood memories and listing to my dad sing the words and play his air trumpet in the car.  Leslie and Scott know what I'm talking about!

If you can find this gem, I highly recommend you grab it and listen to it over and over again and I promise it'll make you feel soulful and good inside.

We love Memphis and thankful for the history of soul here, and I'm spreading it from my dad to you!

morning

Good morning, friends.

February has been good.  busy season is pretty brutal thus far, but I've had a few fun moments (other than work which is fun) to pass the time.  Luckily, some of these moments involved the busy man himself!

A post full of photos....

I've gotten to pick up my favorite little gal from school a few times and we have dance parties in the car.  I know she knows who I am (and loves me :)), but every time she sees me she excitingly says, "Teeeeee?!?!?!" This is what she calls Uncle T.Dud and it is so sweet how she loves him and asks for him.  My response lately is, "He's at work," and she'll say, "T wowk."  

A note, I didn't take this photo while driving, we were at a stoplight.

 This is Austin. T's not-so-little brother.  He was in his first musical and had a solo!  He did so awesome and it was so fun to see him looking so grown up with his beard.  People, I met not-so-little brother when he was in 4th grade (they are 10 years apart) and now he's a SENIOR about to go to college!

Leslie and I took Granny to lunch (Leslie takes her every week, I joined them this week), and then took her to Muddy's for a cupcake.  It was her first time there and she loved it.

Since I got into sewing in the past few years, I've wanted to sew up a quilt top to make into a quilt for our family.  I found this fabric and thought it was so cute, so I finally started cutting the pieces to sew it up.. I know this will be a long process, but glad to finally start!

Valentine's day 2013.

Friday evening wine and cheese.  Thanks to Aldi for these items, and my valentine for those flowers.

New thing we tried on the green egg... Lobster!  It turned out great (I love lobster) and I think T enjoyed it also (he hadn't ever had it before).  He even tried the broccoli.

Start to (another) new project.  I saw this pattern and immediately fell in love with the words and flowers and colors.  I want this to be a pillow for our bed.  So far I'm really enjoying this during our evening TV time.

 T man's 5 seconds of fame on Fox Sports South.

Sunday morning muffin date.

Sunday afternoon leaf blowing.

February 2013 has been filled with joy in my life, and I'm so thankful the busy time is passing with these moments.  Savoring every one of these moments.

feb

February.  It's usually a pretty boring month except for the Hallmark holiday that is February 14.  It's usually been busy season and is usually when it really kicks into the next gear as they're getting closer to their deadlines (I think? Right T?)  Anyway... I usually think of February and think, bleh.

This year it's already looking pretty eventful!  A few fun work meetings/events to look forward to, getting closer to the arrival of my second Jerkins niece, AND I'm going to start working on my first quilt top, AND we will start our library/living room project!

I can't wait to see what other excitement this month might bring to the Carter house (if there are already quite a few things to look forward to)!

Hope you're still enjoying these desktops (whoever you are) because I really like this one!  February 2013 here.