I have a new brother in law!!! And I LIKE him!

Hello, fellow bloggers!!

It's been a while since I have blogged. I've been a busy girl!

Quick update:

I quit my second time job, have to take blood pressure medication (ridiculous) AND still, of course, have my Xanax on hand. But I'm doing better!

Zac moved in with his dad at the end of the school year. I miss him daily. I get him every other weekend and one night a week.

I can tell a difference in all of our lives, though....mine, Gage's, and Zac's.

Zac isn't as clingy as he used to be. I think having his dad full time was definitely a good idea. But sometimes I get sad and still second guess myself.

But my anxiety, blood pressure, patience, and sanity were on the line. I really felt like I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

That feeling is just...so not cool.

Anyways, that's an update with my life.

But you know I'm really back to tell you all about my little sister's wedding!
On June 30th, my little sister officially became Mrs. Catlin.

Words cannot describe how so very happy I am for my little sister, my nephew, and Chris.
But I'll get into that in a minute.
Here are a few pictures of the perfect wedding, perfect day.

Lacey tying Gavin's tie. He stood up at the alter with with Best Man.

Two very handsome men, my step dad, Mike, and my son, Gage.
Gage was an usher. I could not get over how good looking that boy was all dressed up.
I was a proud mama. :)

Me, the bride, and Leah. The sistas. Unfortunately you can't see, but the entire wedding party wore Converse. Cutest thing ever!! I had no problem with that. It's what I wear daily. And so much more comfortable than fancy high heels. You know, I'm all about comfort!!
The bridesmaids/maid of honor wore white converse. Lacey wore the blue color of our dresses. All the boys wore black Converse.

Two seconds into the wedding, I was tearing up. I knew it would happen. It happened the night before at the rehearsal.
But seeing Lacey's dad AND my step dad, walk her down the aisle....man.
Sweetest thing EVER! Mike has been a father figure to us all, since Lacey was 7 years old.

Me and my handsome boys after the wedding.


Marianne (my constant, reliable, and favorite date to every event I attend) and Gage.

Me and my bff. I loved her dress, she was beautiful....as always. That's like....a given, right? :)

Chris, Lacey, and Gavin coming out.....finally married. I loved that Chris carried Gavin out and they put him in the car with them, when they drove away. (or around the block and hide to take pics while everyone else headed to the reception.)
Do they not all look so happy? I love it.

Their first "self portrait" together as husband and wife.

Chris and Lacey's first dance.

Lacey's dance with her dad, Steven.

And her dance with her second dad, Mike.

I was pretty much crying the entire night. From the wedding to the reception, to the way home, then just THIS past weekend, when I texted my sis to see how their honeymoon went and to tell her how so happy I am for them. Yeah. I cried typing a freaking text message.

Wanna know what made me totally and completely lose it?
Chris, serenading his wife. He sang Jack Johnson's "Better Together" to her. I cried.
But then, he called his groomsmen up to sing a couple more songs.
He sang "Grow Old With You" from the movie "The Wedding Singer".

I lost it. Do you know me? The way to my heart is movies. My family LOVES movies, we're constantly quoting them. We'll say a line out of a movie and be like....,"What movie is THAT from??" Or hear a song and ask,"What movie is this from??"
It's fun.

So. For Chris to sing this sweet song to my little sister, was the sweetest thing ever.

Lacey's best friend, her maid of honor, also gave a speech that made me cry. She told Chris that Gavin has been going around telling everyone that his mama is a princess, and that Gavin learned that from Chris.
He treats her like a princess. He's amazing with Gavin. I could not hand pick, in this world, a better man for my little sister.
She deserves this wonderful man. So does Gavin.
I'm so happy for my sister.

And yes.....my eyes MAY be watering a little at this moment.

You're killing me, Smalls!!

So, not only did my child have a wreck the other morning, but he got shot that same night!!!
What the hell is going on???
He decided to stay the night with his friend Cory, so I took him over there. The next morning, I got up to get ready for work. To wake myself up, I take a look at Facebook, to see what I've missed while sleeping.
Yeah, that's how I found out about it. Cory posted that Gage got shot.
Apparently they decided to go hang out at the park. When they decided to leave, and were walking off, someone...somewhere, shot him with either a pellet gun or a bb gun.
What is wrong with people?
They didn't see anyone around, so this person was just hiding out....what? Waiting to shoot someone??
Ridiculous.
So, I texted him later in the day, when I knew he'd be awake, and told him to call me at work.
I asked WHY he didn't call me immediately and let me know. He said because I would freak out, and it was nothing.
I asked him if the bullet was still in him and he said no.
I called to make sure he was up to date on his tetanus and he was.
When he finally came home, he then decided to tell me that the bullet WAS still in there.
He showed me a picture on his phone....no doubt he was proud of it.



Disgusting.
So, the little hole is where the bullet went in and the X is where it was lodged. Cory's mom sterilized some stuff, cleaned it up, cut an X, and removed the bullet.

And people wonder why I'm so stressed all the time.
My boys are no doubt, going to be the death of me. I always thought it'd just be Zac, but apparently Gage wants to help him out. haha.

Once again, I'm glad my son is ok.
My mom said his guardian angel is working overtime lately.

No doubt.

I almost had a heart attack today.

I knew it would eventually happen. Everyone has a car accident at some point in their life. So, I knew at some point, it would happen to Gage.
What I did not know, was that it would be just a few weeks after getting his license.





Our road is gravel and has a lot of potholes.
Add a new driver, with an ADHD brother in the back trying to hand him a cell phone....with me on the other end, not knowing my son was already driving, and you get a truck flipped and landing in a ditch (luckily) right side up.
Can you only imagine how I felt, hearing Gage yelling at Zac to calm down, then muffled noise, then Zac saying,"I'm scared, I'm scared" and then Gage picking up the phone and saying,"Mom, I just flipped my truck."
My heart is racing just thinking about it. I was a work. I left and rushed home, crying all the way.
I am so thankful to our wonderful, loving Lord for keeping my boys safe.
I pray that this makes my son be more aware. Also that it makes Zac more aware of his behavior and realize that his actions have consequences.
I feel horrible knowing, that I asked Gage to take Zac to the youth center this morning, that I was on the person on the phone when it happened, and just that it happened, period.

His truck is still drivable. But we do need to get something fixed on in the front....don't ask me, I don't know cars (or trucks).

All I know is I'm thankful my boys are ok. And that Gage's truck will be ok, as well.
I was a mess this morning, but now that everything is said and done, I'm good....and exhausted.

A his name is.....TOM HARDY!

I have a new crush.
And his name is Tom Hardy.
Have you ever seen "Warrior"?


No???
Then you must!
.best.movie.ever.


.hottest.guy.ever.


Yes, I WILL wash your back for you!


.w.o.w.


I have a thing for hot guys with tattoos.


Seriously. I do.

Look at that hot stomach!!


Awwww, he's even sexy when he doesn't look all tough.


yes, please.

yum.


Oh, you look so handsome! Unbutton that shirt and let me see those tats!


Usually I'd call a guy who takes pictures of himself a douche.
But if he looks like that....can you blame him?!?


Oh.wow. Niiiiice.


Yep. This is my new crush. I must go look up every movie he's in and watch them now. :p

February 27, 1996

Sixteen years ago, my life changed.....for the better.
I remember being a scared 17 year old, pregnant, not knowing what the hell I was doing.
Of course, many people had talks to me about my options, being a young teen. Abortion? No way in hell. Adoption? How could I go on living a child of mine was with someone else? I would go mad. My dad offered to raise him as his own.
That would be even worse than adoption. Seeing my son all the time, but him not knowing who I really am to him. No way.
It wasn't that I was a stupid 17 year old pregnant girl, who didn't think about how life was going to be. I knew it was going to be hard. I prayed every night that I would find a way to figure this out. I remember being 8 months pregnant, one month away from my 18th birthday and the birth of my first child, crying on the phone with my friend, Brian. I was asking him how I was going to raise a boy on my own?? What about when he gets in junior high and clothes are important to kids?? What about when he's 16 and ready to drive....how will I be able to afford a car? He told me to take a deep breath, relax. He said to just take it one day at a time. Not to worry about things that will not happen until many years from now.

This is the first best decision of my life:


It was many years away, and I took it one day at a time, but it seems like a blink of an eye.
My son is 16 years old today.

We had a surprise party for him this weekend, and it was a success!


Me and Jack, decorating a banner to hang up.


Our decorations. The first one is a picture of the special "16" birthday napkins. The next one is the birthday cake table. Then the birthday cake that says,"Clear the road, Gage is 16!" Then a sign Leah made. Me and Lucia hung up pictures Gage, when he was wittle all around :)
The next one was a table set up when you first walk in. I made a memory box and had papers around for people to write messages to him. Some were funny, some were just words of advice, and some made me want to cry. Then the "Party up in hurrrrr" is the sign I made, so people would know what door to go into. A close up of one side of the memory box I made. And the last one, as if you couldn't guess by the letter "a" is a sign Marianne made. haha. What a dork!

Lucia, Zac, Jack, and Gavin, playing pool.....kinda. ;)


Gavin and Jack cheezin' for the camera. I love those sweet boys. I wish I had a video of Gavin dancing! Too funny!!


Marianne and Zackary. Marianne helped me out sooooo much! I would've been so behind if she hadn't helped me out!!
And finally, Gage got there. He was so surprised. His face turned bright red and he just looked around and walked over to me. He said he scared him to death.
score.
This is how Gage described this picture:
"That awkward moment when you walk into your surprise party, don't know what to do, so you just go stand by your mom."
hahaha.

Me and my boys. And Gage's friend Gunner, who screamed "Photo Bomb"! as the pictures were being taken.
dorks.



Me and the birthday boy. When did he get so much taller than me???
Oh yeah...like 2 years ago.
Ridiculous.


And finally, the crazy family. Lacey, Leah, mom, me, my step dad Mike, and Gage.
I just took the disposable cameras to get developed.
Can't wait to see what comes out with those!!

So, today we went to get Gage's license. He passed :/
No, really, I'm happy for him. We did some running around after, he did all the driving. In his new truck, my mom and step dad bought for him. (Not new, new....but new to him, I'll get a pic of him in it up soon!)
We ate at Whataburger, went to Academy, so he could by a camoflauge steering wheel cover, haha.....get his oil changed, and then he took me home and dropped me off :(
School was out by that time and he was ready to go to Cory's house.
I've made him text me everytime he leaves and returns to where ever he goes.
And I hear his truck pulling up now!!! Right on time! :)
Later, bloggers.

pray for me to make it through this time
and for him to be safe, always.