Time For An Update

Yikes - it's been a hot minute since I've blogged. I haven't written a post since August and now it is October. 

Bri's senior year has been flying by at an incredible pace and I'm trying to catch my breath. School for B has been going well, but there has been A LOT to do. Not just for her, but for me. I've had paperwork to sign, forms to fill out, items to buy and money to pay - senior pictures, ads, cap and gown, the final SAT. Above is a sneak peek of Briana's outdoor senior photo session from last weekend (which went amazingly well - waiting for the proofs from the photographer to come soon). Not to mention all the college stuff happening now too. It's seriously crazy.

I did order prints of Bri's senior photo and her picture turned out so well. I am really happy about it. I can't believe my kid's high school senior portrait is displayed in my house now...

Briana has really been enjoying her culinary class this semester. The class started off making soups and then moved onto pasta. Now they are making some desserts.

She has brought home all her soups and pasta so Doug and I could taste them (and they made pizza one day too). Everything has been really tasty...

Briana decided to make the chicken soup recipe for us one evening (she did buy prepared egg noodles instead of making from scratch like at school to save on time) - but still so very good...

Besides Bri's classes keeping her busy, she has been busy with her clubs (Beta, NHS, NAHS).

For Beta, her and her bestie Meredith worked on decorating a door again for school spirit...

Since the door they were assigned led to the health classroom, Briana decided to draw a human heart to put on the door. LOL!

She and Mere went to eat some ice cream afterward...

Also for Beta Club, Briana and Meredith once again worked on the Haunted Halls (they worked on the "scary hall" this year). As a fun homage to her bestie Mary, B made a tombstone with her name on it. Bieber is not Mary's true last name but Bri thought using Bieber was quite amusing...

Speaking of college, there was an Open House night offered in September by the KSU art department that allowed potential students to have their art portfolios looked at by professors to get feedback. It was a great experience...

Bri luckily was able to speak with the illustration professor and he gave her great feedback and tips on how to improve her portfolio. He also gave her praise and said if she submitted her portfolio right now, she would be just fine getting into their program. Great confidence booster!

Speaking of a big confidence booster...Briana got into SCAD! She received her acceptance e-mail last week. She is still going to apply to a couple more schools, but I think you all know her heart is with SCAD. We shall see what happens...

After she got her acceptance e-mail and completed her third and final SAT, we took her to a well-deserved fancy dinner...

 

Lobster bisque, fried lobster tails, filet, baked potatoes, amazing desserts - so delish!

For Briana's fall break, we went to Vermont for the quintessential fall vacation. It was beautiful, picturesque, breathtaking...

And we got to apple pick in Vermont!

Toward the end of our trip, I hurt my heel/foot - which is a long story for a different post. But it was absolutely beautiful. (I will do Vermont posting soon.)

Mei Mei missed us like crazy, but Meredith checked in on her daily while we were gone. She was very happy when we got back home...

We also celebrated Autumn Moon Festival when we returned from our trip (and made our traditional moon cookies)...

I plan to blog all about our Vermont trip, Halloween prep and Bri's senior outdoor photo session very soon.

With all the good that has happened in our lives the last few months, there have been bumps and hiccups we've had to deal with as well. Health issues, life in general, tragic world events - things like that. Life often feels quite overwhelming for me sometimes. I share a lot with you on this blog, but I can't share everything because our family does deserve a private life and sometimes things are just not my place to share. But things I can share - I think I will address in my next blog post. Overall we are good, but life isn't perfect. Often on FB and social media, I see other people posting just the good things in their life. Painting a picture that might not be the "total" picture. That's not me. I share as much of the good and the bad as I can. Because life is messy and kicks you around sometimes. I want to share that life isn't perfect. I prefer people who are real over people who aren't.

Anyway, I'm beginning to ramble. I will blog again soon.

For now, here is Briana in her adorable "Totoro" outfit (courtesy of Hot Topic)...