This summer is flying by far too fast

This blog is going to be completely random, but hey, that's kinda how life has been lately.  I have been going with the flow, trying to enjoy summer, get a lot of projects done, and also find time to chill and rest.  The latter is the hardest. 

My mom came to town about a week ago and we painted the laundry room and then I hung the shelves after she left (we didn't have time and Paul went to bed super early the last night she was here).  To say I LOVE my new laundry room is an understatement.  We got it done in less than two days and I was oh so happy it was a fast project because I was making quite the mess with all the tools and everything in the spare room.  If you girls ever want to hang shelves, Ikea is the way to go for cost and convenience.  These shelves just hang on a rail that is screwed into studs.  So awesome. 

My cat's have decided that my succulent tastes good...these lovely bite marks definitely weren't there when I picked out the plant! 

I finally cleaned out under the deck! The old nasty plastic is gone, the wood is moved to the back wall to make it easy to repaint the deck, and the dirt is raked.  Love it. 

Paul and I have been making an effort to do things other than just watch tv in the evenings these days.  The weather has been perfect for evening walks and the mountain looks so beautiful as the sun sets! 

One night we went to the park.  As you see we still have troubles breaking away from technology as Paul is fiddling on his phone and I am taking pictures with mine, hey, at least we made it outside. 

I haven't been seeing much of my hubby lately as he has been working quite a few 12-15 hour night shifts and been sleeping during the day.  One day we went to Jason's coffee shop again just to chill together. 

I have said it multiple times, but I love my work and my coworkers.  We have these things called candy bar awards and we can write each other up for doing nice things.  It is so nice to feel appreciated at work sometimes after crappy shifts.  I have been having a ton of amazing shifts lately but the crappy ones kind of put me in a bummer mood for a few days.  Being appreciated helps! :)

My cats have been soooo cuddly lately.  I love it when they are sweet, cute and cuddly.  Last night they decided it would be a good idea to knock a vase full of water and a rose over at 4:40am, and after I cleaned that up and went back to bed they were back on the kitchen counter knocking more things over.  I wanted to shove them in a closet.  Needless to say I didn't fall back asleep till 7am (I had only had 2.5 hours of sleep by this point) and ended up waking up at 11:30.  

These pictures are seriously out of order because it has been two weeks tomorrow since finishing the deck.  I tore out the whole deck by myself and Steve helped me put it back in.  We did all the pieces where the edges had to be cut at an angle and Paul and I finished the rest a few days later. 

 We went to an awesome lumber yard where my father in law picked out all the wood and I just paid for it.  So much easier than having to make all the decisions and ask all the questions myself!

My friend Carmen came over to visit and we had a wonderful day.  She just moved 10 minutes away from me with her husband Nolan.  So glad to have my twin back in town! 

Steve and Kathy got a new house a few blocks from Amber and Joe and just under 2 miles away from me and Paul.  I am so jealous of their garage and all the storage!!! The guy who used to live there made cabinets for the Street of Dreams and the cabinets throughout the house are amazing and beautiful! 

The house was a foreclosure but the people were able to live in it for the 9 months it took to get bank approval for Steve and Kathy to get the house.  They definitely didn't do any yard work during that time...or for the last couple of years. 

The [almost] finished deck!  We need Steve to help us put in one more board and then I need to paint it.  I love how the natural wood looks but the whole deck is painted so it would look weird to leave this part natural. 

The sounders game was AMAZING even though they lost!  This picture doesn't do it justice because all the stands that you see were packed, this was just during warm ups. I really didn't take any pictures during the game because everyone was standing and they wouldn't have turned out. 

Paul and I ended up kinda having our anniversary off together.  Paul had worked from 10pm to 11am.  We went out to lunch at a fabulous Thai place in Tacoma and then went to Ruston. 

Ruston was awesome as always.  The water was this weird creamy teal color, I have never seen it that way. This picture doesn't do it justice! 

Paul was too tired to fight me taking pictures. :)

I LOVE these pictures of us and I am pretty sure Paul doesn't even know they exist, haha.  He was busy sleeping on the grass basking in the sunshine and I was laying there taking pictures and loving every second of our quick afternoon cuddle. After Ruston we went home, watched some tv, and then around 4:30 headed out to frozen yogurt for desert.  Paul went to bed around 6:30 and I stayed up and read my book.  Pretty dang good 2nd anniversary in my books. 

My cats at 1:30 in the morning being all cute and stuff. 

My friend from nursing school, Ciara, is getting married in September and I have been helping her with wedding planning and making rsvp cards, save the date cards, and every card you can think of through email.  She also just finished school for becoming a Nurse Practitioner (she is only 25) and I helped her format her final paper.  As a little thank you she bought me this awesome starbucks cup and I LOVE IT.  She also got me a starbucks gift card and a few other things.  She is too sweet, I definitely wasn't expecting any gifts when she came up for a craft day where we spent 8 hours working on wedding stuff.  We wrapped twine and raffia around hundreds of mason jars.  It was a perfect day.  

Tired after a long day of work.  I love that the ceiling of the elevators is basically a mirror.  Lets just say sometimes I look up and go, holy cow I look exhausted! 

I had the sweetest patient the other day.  Her husband bought a ton of roses and put a sign on the bucket that said Thank you Dr. Ahmed and all the nurses, please take a rose!  (this would be the rose in the vase my dumb cats knocked over). 

And that ladies is the end.  26 pictures. 2 weeks. Lots of randomness. :)