It's summer.

Finally! It was a long couple of semesters for graduate school for me. I was overwhelmed, stressed, lacking sleep, and lost on all things fun.

My blog completely fell to the wayside when it came time to read, re-read, research, research some more and start churning papers out. Not to mention, for half of the year, I was doing the job of three people in my office, so that was taking its toll as well.

Some days I would be on campus from 7:45 AM to 11:00 PM at night often later. I never saw my babies, and I never spent time with my husband.

It was a depressing time for me and my family.

That time has passed, for now at least.

Now that the torrential rains in North Texas and that F1 tornado that tore through the street behind ours have subsided, I am now in a happier state of mind. I'm spending time pondering what book I want to read next and what home improvement projects should I work on next? AND, I am catching up on movies, TV, scrapbooking and picking up my other favorite hobby, photography.

Currently, I am gearing up for my son's third birthday party this weekend; praying it doesn't rain. Next weekend is the Great American Scrapbook Convention in Arlington. I'm staying overnight with my mom, and Harper is tagging along for her first time at convention. I hope she enjoys it. I know it will be a long walk for her and she'll get tired, but I love scrapbook stuff, and I want her to love it too. Is that so bad? Then I'll be getting stuff ready for my annual summer scrapbook retreat at Memory Lane Inn in McKinney, Texas. I love, love, love Memory Lane Inn! It has been way too long since I slept in their comfy beds and scrapbooked to my heart's content in their beautiful scrap space. We are currently planning our trip to Walt Disney World in September, and that can't come soon enough either!! We are super thrilled about it.

All in all, I have high hopes for this summer.

To start the summer off in style, GG, the kids and I attended my niece's high school graduation ceremony in Austin. After the ceremony and a delicious meal at Russo's New York Pizzeria in Pflugerville, I took her senior portraits, which turned our stunning, IMO.

Senior 2015 - Jenna

 We spent the night at Embassy Suites Arboretum. For those of you who know me, this was the highlight of my year, lol. I absolutely love the happy/snack hour, made to order breakfast, the indoor swimming pool, the rooms with a suite, and the beautiful atriums. This is seriously my favorite hotel chain, and if I am lucky we get to stay in one about once every two years or so. The kids LOVE staying in this hotel, but what kid doesn't love that? We wrapped up the weekend with a trip to the Thinkery Children's Museum at Mueller Park in Austin. They had such a fabulous time.

Austin was a lot of fun, especially Thinkery children's museum.

Also, this week I finally finished editing pictures from my sister-in-law's spring wedding. It took place at Historic Village of Buffalo Gap near Abilene, Texas. There was nothing dreary about this charming, rustic wedding, despite the overcast and rain. I just love summer. I have so much time in the evenings to actually do FUN stuff, like edit photos!

Wedding 2015 - Miller

Wedding 2015 - Miller

Thanks for reading; look for more updates from our last year in my next post.