The calm after

All of Memorial Day, the wind and rain tag-teamed the thunder and lightning; there was a lot of roaring and booming and shaking of the dishes in the cupboards. And then sometime in the early evening the bluster blew away and we were treated to this:

And this:

And this:

It was the sort of display that makes a neighborhood congregate in the street, for sure.

The calm before

Actually, a better title would be 'the calm between.' It's been storming here off and on (mostly on) for weeks now; in fact, as I type, the next round of thunder is rolling in. We had a evening's break earlier this week from lashing wind and lightning strikes and flash flood warnings, so I skipped off down the road to chase the sunset.

The silver lining to so much rain (except for those where record-breaking flooding has been and continues to be catastrophic and devastating) is the several-years-long, state-wide drought has been eased and...I've not been able to mow the lawn in ages :)

Thirty-nine

I now have a 39 year-old husband...and he has a 39 year-old wife :) 

I took this a couple of days before his birthday, and it's one of my favorites. Laughing & laughing every day at comics helps keep you young :) 

And this is what he took to work on his big day. Sharing birthday treats no matter how old you are helps keep you young, too; it's true! 

Presents do the same thing (both giving and receiving); I've done extensive research on this particular subject, so you can trust me on this :)

And now a quick popsicle recipe; I used my birthday as an excuse to make these, but I will not wait until next year to make them again! 

3 cups coffee, 3/4 cup half & half, and 1/2 cup sugar

This makes more than 6 popsicles' worth, so I suggest drinking the leftovers. And then maybe follow it with a large mason jar full of water as a means of sugar detox :) 

Seventeen ♥

We celebrated our 17th anniversary on Saturday. Jan Michael brought me roses, waffles and donuts that morning, and for dinner I took him to Taco Bell. We spent the in between hours being lazy and together; it was lovely.

Our very formal anniversary portrait, shot on location at the top of the stairs and in our pajamas:

"What a happy and holy fashion it is that those who love one another should rest on the same pillow." 

Nathaniel Hawthorne

...and...

"The older I get, the less time I want to spend with the part of the human race that didn't marry me."

Robert Brault

Company!

Our friend Ryan was with us for a few days last week and we took him to....the arboretum. One-trick ponies around here :)

I love snapdragons; they will always remind me of my Grandma. I would have fields of them if I could, meaning I would have fields of them if my black thumb wouldn't kill them on the spot.

And if this was our backyard, I would get nothing accomplished inside the house ever:

This was not taken at the arboretum, but just outside our neighborhood and we will explore it soon. To get there, we'll have to sneak under a bridge that crosses swampy, stagnant water, which means we'll have to dodge a million mosquitoes. Worth the risk, I say! 

This wasn't take at the arboretum, either. It was shot on location at Lowe's, but it's too pretty to leave out :) And it makes me miss the hydrangeas at our WA house. 

We had quite the thunder & lightning storm while Ryan was here, and he & Jan stayed up until the wee hours taking pictures and video. I should have joined them out on the porch because sleeping was impossible with all of the booming and crashing :)