MIA?

I bet a lot of you thought I was MIA-missing in action. Well, there was a lot of action and I was missing, so I guess I was MIA! I cannot believe I let 4 days go by without a blog post, but I am really glad that I did. My family and I traveled up to Destin, FL to see my brother graduate from the medical residency program at Eglin AFB. Words cannot describe how PROUD I am of my brother. He is sooo smart. He always has been. But, to see him in his dress blues getting awards left and right and to see his wife so proud of him and supportive of him...nearly chokes me up. I am realllllly glad that we were able to make the trip to take part in the celebration.

My cousin, Denise, and her family were able to come from Tennessee too which was great to spend time with them and get to know her three boys in real life! There's only so much you can gather from pictures on-line and little stories here and there. All 5 of our boys had lots of fun playing together. Denise and her husband were so sweet and offered to watch my boys so that Matt and I could go to the banquet the night before the graduation. I am really glad we didn't miss that! It was a blast to hear everyone ragging on my brother for how crazy smart he is. In reality, you could tell, even amongst the joking, that he is highly respected and everyone truly looks up to him.

Most every one of the graduating residents have been assigned to different bases around the world (including Minot, North Dakota...brrr!) but Phil was asked to stay on at Eglin AFB for the next few years and come on staff. He will be teaching at the hospital and still seeing patients about 1/3 of the time. Congratulations Philip!

I loved meeting all the people I "know" so well from my sister-in-law's Joia's blog HERE. She has been posting about Wendi and Sarah and Jodi and Andrea and so many more of her friends for years now. So, although I knew all of their first and last names, their kids' names and ages, their husband's names, I had never met them in real life. They were all just as sweet and beautiful in real life. :) Please keep Philip and Joia in your prayers as they are excited to stay at Eglin, but most all of their friends are now moving to other bases very far away. It's a tough transition.

After graduation, Phil rented a boat and we had a picnic at a park and took turns taking rides on the boat and tubing. It was so fun and everyone had tons of fun.

Oh, I also made some fun purchases from Joia's new business Sugars and Spice; Tutus & More. Check it out HERE. This stuff is adorable and I was her first customer!! She since has had at least 2 more orders and I know they will start pouring in now.

Just got home, unpacked, ran to Walgreens for a last chance at the deals this week before they change tomorrow, finished a book review post and now finishing this post up. Gotta get dinner for my kids and Matt is bringing home Chinese for us. Hopefully, I can get back to posting daily if not multiple times per day. There are too many deals out there and I don't want you to miss out on them!