And the Princesses Came Out to Play

These girls.......

4 beautiful little ladies that simply love all things princess.  We are so blessed to have met this crew and Lily has made that first best friend.  We got to spend this Halloween night with this fabulous family and had a blast playing in their backyard and trick or treating in their neighborhood.

Evie wanted to be Snow White this year.  She was the cutest little Snow White with her golden hair and blue eyes.  She spent the night getting candy and eating every piece.  So cute.

Lily is all things BRAVE this year and she was dressed to the nines in her Merida attire.  I curled her hair and took one look at her.  She is truly gorgeous.  Both inside and out.  Tonight I saw a growing independent little lady, who lead the pack of trick or treaters and was on top of her Thank You's and "Happy Halloweens!"  I am just so proud of her.  She didn't like any of the spooky houses but managed to fill her bag to the brim with candy. 

Miss Makensie and her sister Hayden were both Elsa this year and simply lovely ones at that.  I have so much fun following these girls around with my camera.  Miss Hayden is the busiest with the littlest use for a smile.  I catch her every now and then and absolutely LOVE the expressions I get.  She is so fun.

These princesses were out in full force tonight and we all had a blast watching them shine and consume a year's worth of sugar in one night.

Golden Moments

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I was to get the call that Traci was coming to Arizona for a work event.  When she told me that she wanted to pop by for a few hours with Miss Audrey I didn't even mind that it was only going to be brief.  Any time spent with this dear friend and her family is time WELL spent.

Oh how I wish the 3 hours spent together would have been 20, but it was so wonderful to catch up and see her smiling face.  I am so blessed to have so many good friends. Everywhere we have lived has yielded wonderful friendships and I am grateful.

Plus, how cute is this little girl?  All of the little ladies had a blast playing outside in our gorgeous weather on our fabulous playset.

If you haven't today, tell a friend you are grateful for them.  No matter how far away you are and how much time passes between you, a few moments spent with them is a treasure more valuable than gold.

The Longmires 2015

We Longmires have had another busy year.  I know...its not quite over yet, but the next few months of our lives are going to continue being busy so I wanted to take a moment just to sit down and talk for a bit about where we are.  Life is full of so much change.  It's always happening, doors closing, windows opening, opportunities blooming, choices to be made.  Our lives could turn out a million different ways on a thousand different days.  It's fun (and overwhelming) to think about.  I have to say.  I am really happy with where we are right now.  A lot happened to get us here, but I LOVE Arizona and our little family does too.  It fits our lifestyle perfectly.  We truly are warm weather people and are really looking forward to a winter without freezing temperatures and layers of snow. I mean, how many people get their Christmas pictures done in white shorts and flip flops?  We Longmire's do and absolutely love it!

Bob loves where he is at in his career right now.  He started working with his buddy Matt and PSPC over a year ago.  When he made the decision to switch it was so big, different and was taken a little on a leap of faith.  It has been one of the greatest blessings of our lives.  Bob has incredibly flexible work hours and can work from home or go into the office.  He has even started riding his bike to work (yes...he got a new better fitting one).  He has little to no stress, is always home for dinner, and happier than I have seen him in years.  We are eternally grateful for Matt and for the decision we made to change it all up.  It's worked perfectly.  Bob loves his girls and if you haven't been around them lately, is one of the best Dad's ever.  He tickles and plays, builds forts, looks at stars and has even been known to dress up on occasion oh, and paint finger nails.  When he isn't riding his bike to work he is still running barefoot and is in fact, headed to do the Petrified Forest Marathon next weekend.  We have made many a neighbor friend due to his barefoot self.  We always hear, "You are that barefoot guy we see running!"  Too funny.  He still enjoys golfing and gets out when he can.  He LOVES having a house to work on and do projects in.  I call him the ultimate DIY guy.  If he doesn't know, he asks google and if google can't help him.......well maybe it shouldn't be done.  Amidst my own doubts he and I completely redid our floors and have a list of projects awaiting energy.  He is bold and confident.  He loves the 3 of us girls big time.  He is the calm in any storm and getting even more sexy with age (can I say that here?).

Lily is 5 in 3 weeks!  I can believe it, but only a little bit.  She is becoming such a lovely, smart, bold, confident, joyful little girl.  The move was hard on she and I, but she has settled in well and is loving her space. Lily started all week preschool this year in an awesome program out here called Young Learners.  She is THRIVING!  Lily loves to learn and enjoys the camaraderie of new friends.  Speaking of friends, Lily makes them easily.  She is so easy to love and play with and enjoys everyone.  She has a kind heart and takes pain and the loneliness of others seriously.  She wears her heart openly and wants to be a helper.  Lily competed in her first ever swim meet this year.  Being that she was the youngest in the class by over 6 months she did an amazing job and is well on her way to swim team if she decides to.  Lily is driven, passionate and persistent.  Like me.  We butt heads a lot, but I am overwhelmed with joy watching her because I KNOW her life will be great.  She is strong and does not bow to the whims of others.  She is daring and true.  Lily is also a wonderful big sister.  Sure we have a lot of sister volume in our house, but Lily loves Evie, there is no doubt.  When Lily isn't swimming or going to school, she loves dress up, the park, movies, zoo time and 1 on 1 time with Mom and Dad.  She talks about doing IRONMAN with me one day.....with her tenacity I have no doubt she will.

I am happy, so very happy right now.  I wouldn't have said that 4 months ago, but I am.  The Lord has given me such a peace about life and renewed my hope in our future.  My photography business is beginning to pick up with makes my heart so very happy.  As hard as it has been to leave all of my friends in CO, I am finding my community out here.  We have some amazing women/mothers in our neighborhood and I have spent many an afternoon at the park getting to know them.  The Lord brought our wonderful neighbors, the Kocaks, to us and I am overwhelmed with His goodness.  My girls go to Kim and Lucas' house all the time.  They love it there and I am so ultimately grateful to have neighbors willing to pour into my girls.  The AZ Tri Club has been a blast to get involved with and the people that I have met are simply awesome in every way.  I am going to be IRONMAN next year and it is fun knowing I won't do it alone.  I have found a MOPS group to be a part of.  It is small and intimate, but I relish the time to get to know more women.  Such a blessing.  We have settled into a church out here and I finally feel at home walking through its doors.  People know my name.  It's funny how important it is to "be known."  I am so relational.  As stressful as it has been to be under construction in our home, it has also been exciting to put our own touches on our living space.  I love decorating....I am such a homemaker and it is wonderful to get to do it.  I'll say it again.  I have found my happy.

Evie Bee has found her voice in every way (not that she ever lost it).  Evie is my tender snuggle partner, but rivals her sister in strength, boldness and persistence.  Evie will not be trifled with and has determination to challenge the strongest of wills.  HEHE, somehow I got two little girls with as much tenacity, drive and confidence as me.  I love it (even on the days when I don't).  Evie and I have been spending a lot of one on one time together since Lily went back to school.  She is a wonderful conversationalist and has an opinion on most anything.  Evie LOVES popsicles.  Like REALLY loves them.  The other day she wandered down toward's Kim's house and when I yelled at her to come back she turned back briefly to tell me, "Im getting a popsicle at Kim's house," before preceding full speed towards Kim's.  You see we were out of popsicles so off to the neighbors she went.  Evie is not afraid to say NO, but she is also not afraid to say YES.  She loves to help and takes such joy in being a part of the solution to a problem.  She has a tender heart and she is funny.  Her little faces, her attitude, her endless giggles.  Last night she was doing flips on the couch and giggling herself silly.  You can't help but start laughing.  Evie loves the zoo and the museum.  She makes friends easy but is only too happy to be by herself doing her thing.  She desperately wants to go to school with Lily, but I keep telling her she has plenty of time to grow up.  Right now she and I get some time together.   Evie is a special little lady, and getting more beautiful by the day.

I have given up trying to predict where we will be in a year and instead am going to relish where we are right now, right here.  I love our life.  Every move, every state, every job, every place and face has made us who we are and brought us to this moment in time.  Our story has many different chapters and will have many more. Instead of trying to read ahead I kind of wanna hang out on this page for a while.

This chapter is a good one.

The Longmire Remodel: The Floors are IN!

For the last 3 weeks as my house was literally being torn apart and I was living on concrete, wood splinters and tile shards, this day seemed so impossibly far away.  I truly thought that it would be first part of November before I was able to write this post.

Hats off to my amazing husband who saw the finished product while I was whining about living on concrete and it "never getting done."  What a whiner I am.  He and our buddy Matt (thanks again a million times over!) poured the coal to it and in 4 days it was DONE!  Amazing.

Here is Bob gleefully putting in the final piece of flooring.  The mix of relief and utter exhaustion written over his handsome face.  So much work!  But look at how beautiful it is!

Don't mind all the nonsense.....we do still live here :)

I am so blessed and humbled by this experience.  Our home is truly becoming ours and I am just loving it.  Our area rug came in today and I laid it out with a smile.  Amazing what can happen in 3 weeks!

Tough Decisions

It's taken me a few weeks to want to write this blog.  I even debated not writing anything about it at all.  My whole life doesn't need to be completely aired out here.  Alas, I have felt the tug to write this blog about a decision, a really tough decision that I had to make a couple of weeks ago.

10 years ago I drove out to a farm house out here in the valley and gleefully adopted 2 little kittens.  Bryce and Maddie became part of our family very quickly and have literally gone across the country multiple times with us.  They have been great companions and fun little furry creatures.  When I got the cats I made 1 simple promise to myself.  I would never have or keep a cat that didn't use its litter box.  That was my hard line with cat ownership.  From day 1 we had no trouble.

Then we had a kid, and then moved, and then moved again, and then moved again, and then had another kid and then moved and then moved again and my big Bryce cat slowly has become less and less happy.  Well 2 months ago he started having "accidents" in the house.  I am a gracious woman so I tried a few things to see if they truly were accidents.  We bought new litter, a new cat box, took him to the vet.  Unfortunately he was still having those "accidents."

Two weeks ago I finally had to make the hard decision to take him down to the animal shelter.  When I made my die on a hill stance that I would never have a cat that used my house as a litter box I kind of thought that significant age or some physical ailment would play into the issue and make my decision so easy.  It didn't.  He wasn't that old, he wasn't mean or vicious, he wasn't horribly ill.  He just wasn't happy.

I have always had a tender heart towards animals.  I balled my eyes out when we lost our big dog Rocky.  I take my role as caretaker of animals seriously, but as I drove down to the animal shelter I had kind of hardened my heart.  I simply was done and could no longer deal with the problem.  The grace I had extended my kitty was at its max.  I pulled up, signed the paper work, and without much emotion left him at the shelter.

I drove home and haven't looked back too much.  So why did I have such a hard time writing this or wanting to talk about it?  Guilt, wrestling with my decision, wishing things would have been different or I had had more grace.  Then wrestling with the reality that he was a cat, yes one of God's creatures, but not something I was willing to stress our family or marriage over.

I had to adult that day and frankly it was harder than I wanted it to be.  Life is all about decisions.  Some are easy, some are tough.  Some don't really have a right or wrong answer which makes them even tougher.

Which is why I am grateful to have a foundation in Jesus.  To be able to wrestle with these things, make decisions and know that His grace is sufficient for all of my shortcomings.  I am thankful for the opportunity to remember this.

And for the opportunity to say goodbye....

The Longmire Remodel: Demo is DONE!

DEMOLITION is COMPLETE!  HOORAY!  I cannot tell you how excited I am to be writing this!  The last piece of wood flooring came out last week and it felt oh so good.  Following our wood floor removal was the entertainment center.  We took that monstrosity out last Friday.  The last baseboards bit the dust on Saturday morning and Voila!  We have wrecked our house!

I'd like to say its been loads of fun, but I would be lying.  I am all about the home making not the home wrecking.  I have learned A LOT about myself in this demo process.  There is a reason I am not in construction.  Its hard to see the forest through the trees. We have a plan.....I just gotta trust the process!

Now that Demo is done we were finally able to begin to think about the home making steps.  Paint was first on the list, cleaning the second.  Last Saturday I poured the coal to it and got it pretty much done.  Our house is slowly transforming into something that is ours and I am so excited to be headed into the rebuilding phase.