Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Knee deep in August

Anniversary flowers























Hi there,
August has been bigger than I could have imagined, and it is only getting started!
I celebrate the whole month of August for a lot of reasons, but the main three are:

1) it's my BIRTH MONTH!!!
I've always loved celebrating my birthday. As a kid in Wyoming, my birthday usually landed smack dab in the middle of the Goshen County Fair and Rodeo week. On the best years, it would be on the day of the big parade down Main Street. Everyone in our family got dressed in their new fair and rodeo clothes, new cowboy boots, cowboy hats, the works! There was a carnival in town, 4-H booths, and the Elks and Moose Clubs stands that served corn-on-the-cob, most of it donated by my dad straight from his cornfields. I have the best memories of that small-town life, and I'll always miss it.













Donna, my fav cousin, sent us these travel coffee mugs this week. LOVE them!

2) it's our Wedding Anniversary!!!
at rehearsal dinner the evening before
our wedding, August 1981











Steve & me, 8-8-15
34 years!




















Steve and I have known each other since 4th grade and started dating in 9th grade! Our marriage is another wonderful product of that small town. We celebrated our anniversary with our family and best friends at a new-to-us restaurant in the Historic South End area of Charlotte, Nan and Byron's. We were escorted in style, and the destination was a surprise.

The week leading up to that we finally had our beach vacation at Isle of Palms, SC, which is near Charleston. I'll throw in some photos below. It was perfect, we sat on the beach, ate great seafood, and just relaxed. Steve took much better photos than me, so please take a look at shoofography.com.






















3) it's my Work Anniversary!!!
Cheers to 34 years in higher education administration! I've had the privilege to work at three very different institutions with 8 presidents and reporting to 13 distinct vice presidents. My job is not glamorous, but I'm very proud of those years of service.

I'm celebrating all of the above by having taken the first two weeks of August O.F.F.!  The week at the beach, and now a week at home just doing what I please and being my own boss.

Tonight, we've been invited to our daughter's home for dinner. She is an amazing cook, and she has a way of finding a recipe on Pinterest and bringing it to life in the most exquisite way. I always bring the dessert, so I'm making a peach-blueberry crisp with vanilla bean ice cream. I'm also going to try a new appetizer using basil from Steve's garden, Tortellini, Pesto & Mozzarella Skewers. While you go and look at the recipe, stop and take some time to look around Alissa's blog, 33 Shades of Green. I would recommend you block out a bunch of time, pour yourself a beverage, and start in her archives from the very first post. She has an amazing site full of incredible home decor, recipes, crafts, etc. Find her on Instagram (@33shadesofgreen) where she posts breathtaking photos from around Lake Michigan. I'm a big fan of hers!

There will be more to report. I'm about an inch in on the ZickZack Scarf, after numerous restarts. I have my groove now, but not enough yet to share a photo. The colors are going to be beautiful! It takes me awhile to get the feel for a new yarn and pattern.

Some years August comes in like a lion, but fizzles out towards the end. I am not going to allow that to happen this year, lol!

xoxo Tammy

5 comments:

  1. I wish I had known you were at the Isle of Palms, I am only 45 minutes away and would have love to have seen you.
    Happy birthday month and anniversary month! It's my anniversary month too, on the 21 Mike and I will celebrate 33 years of marriage. We started dating in our 10th grade year of high school, although we went to different schools and then I moved out of state my senior year.
    I hope you continue to enjoy the month.

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  2. Hi Tammy - I hope you enjoyed the tortellini skewers! Thanks for your very sweet words about my blog - you are the sweetest! Congrats on your wedding and work anniversaries. Two things to be very proud of!!! I hope you've enjoyed your two weeks off and have a wonderful birthday too!
    Alissa
    xoxoxo

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  3. happy birthday happy anniversary and happy work anniversary! August is your magical month I do believe. May you be blessed with happiness and contentment!!

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  4. Happy August with all its special family celebrations. Enjoy every one of them!

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