Love is a choice...

I have come to the realization that love is a choice. When you realize it's there...you have to choose to foster it. If you don't it will fade away. If you do, it will grow and blossom into a wonderful thing. And let me tell ya...it ain't easy;) Love hurts like hell sometimes. It can make you cry your eyes out and it can make you have butterflies. It can make you crazy and make you angry but in the same instant it can make you smile the biggest smile and make your heart feel like it's going to fly right out of your chest.  It requires effort. It is work. But it's worth every bit of effort you put in it. To have true, honest and unconditional love is the greatest gift of all. God created us this way because that's how he loves us. Being all human and crazy we make things complicated...but if we will just look around and see what is right in front of us...we can have and be just what he intended for us to be. Loved and lovers. We have many opportunities placed in front of us but we have to choose which ones are best for us. Sometimes the ones in our lives that seem like the hardest to love are the ones that deserve your love the most. We all have crazy families, crazy friendships, crazy relationships period. But if you stop and actually look at the people in your lives I bet you'll realize that you're just as crazy as they are:) Christmas is a few days away and I challenge you to look around you and be grateful for who and what you have around you. I know when I look I see a committed husband that loves me unconditionally, a magnificent daughter who thinks I hung the moon, a family that loves me through everything and most of all a heavenly father that forgives and loves me more than anything. I feel incredibly blessed. I hope every single person who reads this feels my love and hugs. I pray every one of you has the best Christmas you've ever, ever had! Hug those babies and squeeze your peeps ;)

Random thoughts......

Turkey's have totally pissed me off this year. I bought a 21lb bird four days ago and that b...ch is still just as frozen as it was the day I bought it. I knew I should have done Cornish hens this year;) Thank GOD for Trader Joe's! I bought one of the five they had left at 2:00 today. Then I goggled how long it would take to cook a fresh one and it's still 4-5 hours which means I still have to get up at 6am :(  However, I'm still grateful. I have so very much to be thankful for. I have a magnificent little girl. Those of you that know her know how special she is....she is a trip. She makes me laugh every single day. She was super cute in her Thanksgiving program at school this week. I have a cool mama and my daddy that can be groovy when he wants;) My hubs is great and I have a brother that hung the damn moon! One of my fav peeps is my sister-in-law. She is straight up and tells me the truth whether I like it or not;) Some people may not like that but I appreciate it. If somebody really, really loves you...they will lay it out to a sista. If I'm wrong she will tell me in a skinny minute. And if I'm right she will support me like nobody else. Most importantly, if my heart hurts she will wrap her sweet arms around me and love me whether she agrees with me or not. It's unconditional. That is a rare thing these days! It doesn't matter what I say to her or tell her she is gonna love me NO MATTER WHAT. She may be mad as hell, but she still loves me for me. That is such and awesome gift! I also want to talk about my sweet baby Max the dog. I love that crazy white furry monster:) Talk about unconditional love...holy cow! I love the that he jumps in the bed every morning and snuggles up to me to get some love...I love that no matter how mad I get at him he always loves me anyway:) Y'all know he is like Marley;) I need to also tell you about an amazing night out for a show. Blackberry Smoke rocked it out at Lincoln Theater on Thursday. They were such cool peeps. Didn't drink, didn't smoke just good ole' boys hanging out. Thanks to Ryan and Lorena (that was a shout out) for an awesome night!!! If you haven't heard of them check them out! They are a lot like Black Crowes which I love. They were just on tour with Zac Brown and they are getting ready to BLOW THE HECK UP! Sweet boys :) So I guess the gist of this blog is my life is pretty damn good. I have no real complaints. I have so many friends and family that love me and that makes me so crazy thankful! Oh yeah! I  love Pandora too. Pandora on my IPhone and Pandora at Crabtree;) My mama should have named me Anna Kathryn Elizabeth Pandora! Music and Pandora jewels make a girl happy;) And I'm thankful for Johnny Cash singin Folsom Prison Blues! To love like Johnny and June;) I'm thankful for Target but not thankful that they make me spend $100 every time I go in there. I love the magic of Christmas. I love the look in my baby girls eyes when she comes around the corner and see's what Santa brought her! I love that people are a little bit nicer this time of year. However, I wonder why we all aren't a little nicer all year long??? Don't we all want the same thing? Ya'll should give me the parking space dangit!!! I'm just kidding.. I will end this entry with this thought....be with your people and love them whether they love you or not. People are crazy. Some folks don't understand my creative, spirited, black and white personallity...but I'm gonna sing VERY LOUDLY IN THEIR FACE Michel Franti"Say Hey (I love you)" and dance my butt off! I promise if you love them then you will be rewarded no matter how they act. God honors your effort so go squeeze um' anyway;) You will be glad you did. Happy Thanksgiving peeps!!!!!!!!!

Weaving through this thing called life...

Man oh man...I thought my thirties would be so much easier and less complicated than my twenties were:) Those of you who know me well just chuckled I know. I'm starting to think that life just doesn't involve long periods of normality. We all experience it I know. I think it must just vary depending on where you are in life and what you need at the moment. It does amaze me at how quickly it changes. What I wanted 15 years ago and what is important to me now are so very different. And at every point, you're sure that you know the right thing for the rest of your life. I guess we just evolve as our lives do. I can remember my mama and daddy telling me how quickly time goes by and thinking "yeah...whatever...they are just old!" Well, I'm there now. I look at my five year old and feel panicked sometimes. I was shocked at how sad I was recently looking through a toy catalog and realizing that Ella couldn't play with a lot of the things I was looking at. And the tude. Didn't expect that one this early either:) I'm starting to believe that it really does happen in an instant....before I know it she will be going to the prom. AHHHHHHHH!!!! She will have her first heartbreak, and my heart will break with hers. She will go away to college and I will go with her ;) I will have more gray hair and wrinkles :( One day my mama and daddy will be gone and as broken hearted as I'll be, life will still have to go on. I believe we are handed many different situations and circumstances to walk through and many times we learn such important lessons from them or we become a heck of a lot stronger for walking through. We all walk around trying to be the "best" we can be and frankly that's a lot of pressure sometimes. I challenge you to just be Y.O.U. The ones who really love you will love you even more for your authenticity. Life is hard enough without trying to be something you're not or something someone else wants you to be. Well, I've made a decision,  I'm going to embrace this journey and enjoy every damn second of it. I look forward to the next challenge, the next obstacle, the next whatever...and I will embrace it with open arms and be grateful that I get to enjoy each day God has so graciously given me. I started this blog off with Mick singing "You can't always get what you want"...and now I'm gonna end it by dancing around my living room to Tom Petty and maybe even a little Zac Brown and I don't care if my neighbors see me...I think you should do it too:)

Family...

I feel incredibly fortunate today to have had the opportunity to spend time with my extended family this weekend. It was for a My Uncle Bernie's funeral. This sounds sad to most folks but not us Sherrill's:)
See, we know that he is in the loving arms of Jesus and he hurts no more. So really, it was a celebration.
We rarely all get together since we are spread out across N.C. and all have crazy busy lives that seem to be the norm these days. But let me tell ya, it is SO worth it when we do see each other. No other time in my life can I walk into a room with 50 or so people and feel the love I do with these people. See, my memories of growing up include the precious times we all had on Sundays at Maw-maw and Paw-paws eating Sunday supper. And of course every important holiday was spent there as well. All the different personalities and interests never mattered because we were all there for one reason and one reason only...just to be together. Playing hide and seek in that big ole' house (I know y'all remember the "back bedroom"), you could have lost more than a few chaps in that room! Maw-maws front living room that we were NOT allowed in unless it was Thanksgiving or Christmas, running around in the yard playing football or picking your own switch in the back yard, watching Maw-maw and Aunt Georgia hanging laundry on the line, Georgia frying her behind on the electric fence, Peanut and Midgee, Biscuits, Earl making us laugh, pink shag carpet and air conditioning in maw-maws room,  that crazy string with the bell on it that would tell Paw-paw when to come up for something to eat if he was down  in his shop, and the smell of that shop!!! I still think of him every time I smell sawdust:) And Uncle Gary. I loved those horses and I love me some Gary. I remember snuff and grasshopper shoes.  I remember thinking Uncle Billy was a giant...but was never afraid of him because he was one of the sweetest men I knew. Two weeks in the summer every year hearing how maw-maw went and put "M's" on the watermelons she wanted and how we were to NEVER touch paw-paws coke-a-colas. I remember sitting in front of the t.v.with the fire in the hot stove watching Lawrence Welk and then of course Hee-Haw...Watching Hee-Haw now makes me realize the real reason all my uncles and Paw-paw used to want to watch it ;) I remember Maw-maw putting her arms around me and telling me she knew she wasn't remembering things like she should, and that she wanted me to know how much she loved me and Joe and how special we were to her. I loved how we always stood hand in hand (even though it meant we would be in other rooms) and said the blessing before we ate. I miss hearing Maw-maw play one of her many organs...but every time I hear "Will the circle be unbroken..." I start to cry. Not because I'm sad but because I am so grateful to have been part of a family that was/is steeped in such a strong faith. At the end of the day, that is the one thing that has and will always remain. It makes my heart smile to know deep in my bones that even though this life is so very short, I get to be with these wonderful folks on the other side. Thanks for walking down memory lane with me...what sweet memories they are.

American Girl whirlwind / the District / Ikea

Alrighty then...I am happy to report that the Bennett's are back in N.C. safe and sound. I am totally and completely exhausted...but home:) Our trip started at the American Girl store at Tyson's and what a trip it was. All 45 mins of it. Girlfriend blew through that place like a cheetah. She knows what she wants! We then proceeded to attempt to find our way to Alexandria where we were staying. Driving in D.C. is totally and completely anxiety ridden madness. I couldn't get my Pinot fast enough by the time we got there. LOVED the place we stayed though. Lorien Hotel and Spa. Fa-ha-haa-bulous! Cute shops and restaurants around and really family friendly. We cruised around the neighborhood that night and then crashed early:) Those of you who know me well know that I am very germaphobic so the next part is a bit tricky. We woke early on Thursday and by 5:30am I was lying there dreading the day ahead....THE D.C. METRO!!!!! However, I was determined to expose Ella to the experience so off we went. Buying tickets was like freakin rocket science...I felt so incredibly stupid. Thank goodness a very nice Metro dude came over and explained the whole shabang and off we went. The first part wasn't so bad since we were above ground. T.H.E.N.....the ears popped. I knew from experience (and the pitch blackness) that we were in subway hell. The heart was racing, palms were a sweatin', and breathing was fast. 7 stops later we arrived at the Woodley Park/Zoo stop and off we went to get on the longest freakin' escalator I have ever seen in my whole life. Mind you...my daughter loves every second and is doing everything but licking the windows so by now I am in desperate need of a Xanax:) I am happy to report that we made it safely to the zoo in a very non-eventful manner. We had a great time there and then of course we returned to the Metro to head to Georgetown which was a very easy thing to do. Georgetown is one of my MOST FAV places ever. In a weird way it reminds me of Winchester England which is my most favorite place in the U.K. :) We ended up at Thunder which is a SUPER cool restaurant on M Street. The decor was amazing and the owner told us it is the 3rd oldest building in Georgetown which is way cool. It had original beam ceilings and really unique artwork and character! Then of course I stopped by Zara, Lush and a few other hot spots before we headed back to the hotel....on THE WRONG LINE. We were headed for Maryland before we knew it (with LOTS of police officers because of rush hour) so I was in complete freak-out mode. Thank God the hubs if from a big city so he took control and we made it back. Luckily it was right at the beginning of happy hour at the hotel...HOLA! We rested a while and then cruised over to Del Ray in Alexandria and had a fab Mexican/Salvatorian dinner at Tio's and then Artfully Chocolate for desert:) We started the day today at IKEA which is never, ever, ever a bad thing:)  All and all it was a great trip. I guess I'm just a southern girl at heart..which isn't such a bad thing, right? Hug those babies and squeeze your peeps! xx

Hi-ho, Hi-ho, off to the American Girl store we go!!! I am so stinkin' excited about this trip! I need to consistently remind myself that it is NOT ABOUT ME! This is for sweet Ella's 5th Birthday. But I am SO EXCITED! If they had this when I was a kid I sure didn't know about it :) We have so many fun things planned for the next few days. Of course, first and foremost is Kit. Kit Kittredge to those of you who may not know about the whole American Girl Phenom ;) We have an appointment at 3pm manana to meet with a "specialist" and tour the store. In retrospect...this was most likely a bad idea...I'm a sucker. And I love my girl. What else can I say??? I am wondering if we should have possibly taken out a second mortgage on the crib to fund this trip:) THANK GOODNESS for really generous grandparents!!! (that was a shout-out) After the purchase of Kit and all of her goodies, we have plans for The National Zoo which I am super excited about because I have never had the pleasure of meeting a Panda. I was told this week by a client that they smell terrible, however I will endure the eau de par fume for a good look at them:) I kinda hate zoo's really. But how else can we see these amazing creatures??? I'm personally NOT planning any trips abroad except for the obligatory trip to the U.K. that we must take soon. On that note!!! Looks like we will be heading to the U.K. next spring. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE it there. But that is one looooooong plane ride for a 5 year old. If I was independently wealthy and could shop (and look) like Gwyneth then things would be different. I mean, come on. London is one crazy expensive place. However, it is necessary under the circumstances. I will shut the pie-hole now about that! We will hit the road early tomorrow...I am praying that the hubs will drive the first part because it is THE MOST boring drive between here and Richmond. As I write this he just "burped" a sentence to me that he was going to gas the truck up. I love men. I mean really??? What if I did that? He would dry heave for heavens sake! Anyway, hopefully the ten years he has lived in this country will serve him well and we will end up in D.C. instead of Philly. Cross your fingers people ;) Kiss your babies and hug those peeps!!! xx

Update ;)

I haven't written in a bit...so here we go! What a Labor Day weekend we had at the Bennett house!!! Sounds exciting, huh? Not so much. Unless you are Ella and then you would be super excited. She got her room painted pink this weekend:) She gives a shout out to Daddy for that one;) Mama don't paint. I do however cook frequently and LOVE throwing things away! I have been in crazy psycho organization mode for a few weeks now so watch out!!!The best part was the down time we spent together eating, playing, eating, snuggling and just being together:) The other cool part was when Ella informed me that "Daddy recorded the crocodiles eating the canteloupes!"...that would be antelopes:) I love that kid.

Otherwise things have been a bit ho-hum...which isn't always a bad thing! Getting back in the swing with school, dance, gymnastics etc. is a little tough at first but I thrive on schedules and an orderly life. That makes me feel old saying that and oh how I wish I could have figured that out earlier in life:) Ella just asked me if I thought the prince in Ella Enchanted had a nice butt...really??? From my 5 year old? I asked her where she heard that and she didn't remember. I'm sure it was from overhearing her mommy talking to her daddy;) Oh yeah!!! Her teacher told me today that she overheard a conversation about True Blood and announced that her mommy and daddy watched that show too but she wasn't allowed to...I must be doing something right!!!

I am looking SO forward to fall:) My favorite time of year. Ella's Birthday, our anniversary and Halloween! We are taking Little E to D.C. for her birthday...American Girl, here we come! And I am super excited about the hotel I found in Alexandria. It's the Lorien Hotel and Spa and it is SO cute:)  I'm really looking forward to hanging out in Alexandria:) Then on to Halloween when E will be Wonder Woman! HOLA!!! And Steve and I will once again dress as bacon and eggs. Yep, you heard it here first. We are BIG on breakfast at the Bennett's! At least Steve isn't pushing the "English breakfast" which consist of blood pudding and baked beans. UGHH!!! That would be a significantly harder costume to come up with! Anyway, I'm off to dinner and then give Ella a "medicare" as she calls it. That would be a pedicure. Should I tell her that this medicare will be the only medicare she will ever get??? Oh heck...we won't go there tonight;) Hug your babies and squeeze your peeps! xx

It's all about me...

Today has been interesting to say the least. Within the first few hours of my day today I had decided that the day would pretty much suck and that I had it pretty rough at the moment. Boy oh boy did God have some stuff to show me:) It was a me, me, me kind of morning. Thinking about all I had to do today, tomorrow and next week. It all seemed to be overwhelming. School starting, work schedules, house projects, prescriptions to pick up, dinner to cook, friends to call back, bills to pay, dance schedules to rearrange, the list goes on and on. I got myself dressed...war paint and all. Let me tell ya, my attitude had seen better days:) Off to work I went. In between clients I managed to run the errands I needed to run and now I'm home in my sweats writing to you. However, in between I managed to talk to a heartbroken man with a wife slipping slowly away from Alzheimer's, a cancer survivor, overheard a political conversation that reminded me of how diabolically opposed we are as a nation, got to spend a short time with two precious girls who have watched their daddy lose two parents in the last few months, saw my sweet daddy for a few precious minutes and remembered the two cancers he has beaten, two heart attacks and one stroke he has survived, and then looked over at my precious baby girl that he had brought to my work for me and it hit me...I have absolutely NO reason to be anything but estatic about my life. I have SO much. Why is it that we always think we want more??? More stuff, more cars, more activities, more everything. We live in an incredible country and all we think about is consumption. I'm as guilty as the rest! It is easy to fall into this way of thinking. But I encourage you to look around and be grateful for what you DO have instead of always wanting more. Do you remember what all of us were like 10 years ago when the horrible attacks of 9/11 happened? Why does it take something that horrific to get our attention? I met quite a few folks in my short day that had it a whole heck of a lot worse than I do. I am grateful for that. It made me stop and realize and remember that I have SO much. I bet if you stop and look you will find you have a lot too:) Hug your people and squeeze your babies. Smooches xx

Come on Irene..or Aileen:) or whatever the heck your name is!

First of all...I promise I will not blog everyday. But how could I resist such an opportunity:) I am born and bred in this wonderful place called North Carolina. I love, love, love (Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice) this place. Our beaches are precious to me and my family. I have gone to them for 38 years and the thought of them damaged and eroded makes me really sad :(  HOWEVER........I did have to check myself during my visit to Costco today.
FYI people...we live inland. I know "Greg and Mike" (love 'em both)  have told us we will get some wind and one to three inches of rain...but that is no reason to freak out! I was seriously confused and had to take hold of my surroundings. There were people EVERYWHERE! Lining up for gas, lining up for gas for the grill, every line at the front of the store was heaving with people. I'm sure there isn't a drop of water within a 60 mile radius of me! And on my way around the store I spotted Christmas decorations....REALLY??? It is August for goodness sake. Come on cletus! How can we justify buying Christmas stuff now? Don't cha think it takes ALOT away from the true meaning of Christmas if we start it now? Between Costco being at it's maximum capacity and decorations everywhere I was startled to say the least.  Anyway....I am a firm believer in being prepared (to the best of your ability)  for whatever anyway. Ya'll should already have water, batteries, candles, tarps, gas for everything, important papers etc...Why wait until the last dang minute and have to take the day off work? What do you think my clients would say if I said..."sorry, I have to hit the Costco because if this storm is bad then Ella will starve and we will all stink to high heaven!" Alright, I'm done ranting. Irene is scary. Let's focus on praying for the precious peeps in her path and be thankful that she missed us in the large scheme of things. We have had an otherwise good week..Earthquake and all ;)
Praying for all to be safe and sound!!! Kiss kiss xx