Donkey Tales

I am always blown away by the musical productions at Grace Lutheran School and tonight was no exception as K-1st took the stage at PCC to bring us their message of the faith and love of Jesus Christ. I was very proud of our Tuga and touched by the sweet story in their musical.

Talkin' Trash

Hug your husbands/partners/roommates a little tighter. So many things are taken for granted! Number 1 would certainly be the household budget and bills. Justin has always handled this. Because I do this for a living, I simply refuse to deal with the mail, bills, and overall household finances. I just can't look at numbers at the end of the day and my husband is much more organized than I am (don't tell any of my clients :-)!

Number 2 is small but significant. Do the trash guys really expect me to separate the recyclables from the yard trash each week? Wow- taking the trash to the road before dawn is a task I never scheduled in! So after 2 missed garbage pick up days... we (i.e. Jackson) finally accomplished the important task of taking the trash to the road! We are so proud!

Dad for Dad

In my dear husband's absence we are doing our best to keep all the balls in the air. My Dad (a.k.a Daddy, father of two girls) offered to stay with his grown daughter and grandsons to help with meetings, baseball, dinner, school, housework, etc... but most of all because his baby girl gets scared at night (alarm, safe neighborhood: I know, silly right). While admittedly I was a bit hesitant (part of me was relieved to not have to answer to anyone or cook dinner at night!) what a blessing he has been! Not only does a good night's sleep do wonders for the body, having an extra set of "hands on deck" is priceless. One of the many things I get from my father, is his work ethic. Over the years extreme schedules have prohibited both him and I from spending as much time as we would like with the boys. Needless to say, God does work in mysterious ways. Example: The Brighthouse guy came to the door to install our new house phone (we caved and Justin had one installed when he left as a precaution - sorry inlaws and outlaws, the number is still on protected list!) and Dane attacked his leg with a hug, as he slightly resembled Poppa Duke. "Poppa Duke" - well, my dad's icon since I was little has been John Wayne, a.k.a "The Duke". Even before I had children he knew this is what they would call him. We love John Wayne - have ya seen True Grit - yeah - you can see why! Well, our own Duke has been a blessing to his oldest daughter, sometimes, you just need Daddy.

silk on sunday

"The Dress" is almost complete! Phew - I had no idea just how much anxiety and labor (of love) this dress would be. For such an important piece, this project was no small undertaking and I am so glad that I challenged myself and did my very best work. I must say I am not sure I am this proud of anything I have ever created. Besides my children, this is the most beautiful thing I have ever made :-)

The pictures simply do not do it justice. With a very "JCREW" feel the babydoll shape with elegant clean lines is sexy with an innocence of a new bride. The antique broach pocket detailing add the perfect touch that embodied my spunky style bride. Yet, it's classic simple design is perfect for a Savannah wedding. All that is left are the spaghetti straps, i have procrastinated a bit of these, due to the unproportioned length, in the front and back. Sunday's "almost-final" fitting was so rewarding. Meggie literally jumped up and down clapping (like the bubbly 20 something that she is!)and her mom caught her breath at the very site of it, noting that in all their shopping, Meg's face never lit up like it did when tring on her custom TL couture!
My first compensated formal! I actually have to file a tax for Tiger Lily!

Garden Club Fundraiser - and Girl Time

Because things happened with the new job a little faster than we anticipated, Justin could not attend last night's event for which we purchased tickets more than a month ago. However, I was thrilled that my second-best date could! Wendy and I enjoyed a little girl time and a fabulous event at the Planter's Club Fundraiser. After answering a million questions and practicing some rumor control to the repeated "Are you guys moving?" question, and concluding that Mexico was indeed our favorite of the international cusine at the so themed event, Wendy and I stopped by Lake Region for a night cap. When I pulled into my/our VIP reserved parking spot, I was horrified when my headlights revealed that Justin's name was no longer on the Men's Club Champ sign. Not to worry, it had only fallen in the shrubs probably during the storm. We quickly recovered it no doubt :-)

The Heimers will be summering!

The view of the first hole, overlooking Breton Bay Golf and Counrty Club


Fabulous? yes. Pre-meditated? only partially. My husband's family all live in Maryland, and over the years, we have always hoped to spend the summers there. We hoped to buy a little vacation home on Chesapeake Bay and let the boys enjoy the gorgeous area where my husband grew up. With a tightening economy, Justin was recently offered an opportunity that we just couldn't pass up. To turn pro and work toward his PGA credentials at Breton Bay Golf and Country Club and giving private lessons, only during the "season". Of course golf up North isn't so popular during the winter months, so the opportunity was a perfectly suited! We are excited about a relaxing and rejuvenating summer and have begun to make plans to "go North" after Jackson is out of school. The downside is that the job begins right away so we will be apart for a few weeks. :(

Peter Cottontail

hopped right down our bunny trail and hid a few eggs on Sunday. This was Dane's first official Easter where he totally enjoyed the egg hunt and we were delighted to see how excited he was to find each one!


This was also a beautiful Easter for Jackson as he knew just what Easter is all about and told us just how the stone was rolled away from the tomb to reveal that Jesus had risen!

Island Paradise - Our Caymanian Retreat

My BFF - i miss her sooo much. To the moon Weeb!

A simple low calorie margarita with no salt, extra lime, and only a splash of Patron doesn't seem that difficult right? Well the skinny margarita wasn't at all what I ordered, and the currency index exchange didn't help Justin's reaction once we got the bill. 4 Margaritas and (albiet super stacked) nachos = $80.00 USD You cannot be a lush and live on GC!!!


Margaritaville also had a kids waterslide which made this almost perfect. Until I asked if they knew how to make a skinny girl margarita- hee hee


My 1st grader continues to work toward his goal of 100 AR points, by the end of the year. He recently read a book entitled More Pies, a story about including a pie eating contest. He has been affixated about having a a similar contest which is all he wanted for his birthday (go figure, the boy has my sweet tooth). Well, for his birthday... you guessed it! Aunt Weeble thinks of everything!


My brother (IL) is such a character. Anyone that spends any amount of time with my sister and Chad become totally sucked into their hillarious antics. "Chet" as Luder calls him, is full of useless knowledge and is all about the "hows" and "whys" (they are addicted to animal palnet, if that tells you anything). On our simple shallow reef excursion Chet insisted we practice "safety first" and wouldn't let us head out without our flag. Of course, my lax sister lost the blow up fla - but not to worry, Chad found it 2 miles up the ocean shore after taking us slightly off road.


no we weren't photoshopped in - This is truly postcard perfect, Rum Point. A picnic in paradise...although in MY paradise, the mudslides wouldn't cost $18 each - i should've gotten fogone the ice-


This iguana was totally freaking me out - The pet loving owner almost saw me sling that thing across the park when he put it on my shoulder (I was trying to be a brave cool boy mom) - but I held it together so the Cayman version of PITA didn't take me to the underground prison!

What an amazing time we had at the Cayman Islands last weekend on our getaway to Paradise. My sister and I are efficient organizers and are all about making the most of each experience. Every family vacation or trip we take we research and investigate before the trip to compose the perfect itinerary that everyone gets a copy of. No time is wasting on the "what are we doing for dinner" or "what do i need to pack" issues. LuJean outdid herself this time, as I am certain that a typical tourist spends weeks on the island without experiencing all the site, sounds, and fun that we did in 3 short days!! Parasailing, water trampoline, 3 foot tall nachos (my boys LOVE nachos!), pirate caves, shopping, rum point, fresh wahoo, snorkeling the most grogeous reefs in the Carribean sea and we even played in a real live blow hole! I can't remember the last time our family had such a carefree and enjoyable vacation, it truly was paradise. Did I mention she even organized a suprise birthday party on the beach for Jackson and all her vet school friends came to suprise him.

My sister and Chad are totally Caymanians now, living on island time (somewhat. She drives like a maniac on the wrong side of the road, and Chad's beard and now very tan skin made it difficult to set him apart from the rastafarians on the beach. I just remembered, we swam with stingrays in sting ray city and colored eggs and hid them in the trees with the iguanas. Did I mention that our flight arrived at 3 on Thurs, we are talking 48 hours people, I'm still recovering and so is/are my sunburned skin!

And it comes to life

By popular demand, I am finally posting the bridal progression pics. Tonight was Meggie's second fitting appointment, and we are down to the finishing touches. I think she is really pleased with how it is coming together. I must say, I am as well. She is such a gorgeous - supermodel type, that I almost want to hate her. Yet, she is just so adorable and a Junior Leaguer to boot, I just can't (which is really frustrating! LOL)
Here are some snaps of the dress, taking on a life, of it's own. Starting then until now.
Her classic Savannah-Chapel wedding, with a touch of Meggie spunk, is well defined in this gown, that she knew, was the "one".


My Beautiful Bride! in the making



The fit is perfect! The top... yeah, a little reconstructive surgery is necessary - on the silk that is


pinning up the train. A nip and tuck and we will have the perfect length!


Putting it all together for the next fitting. I was a little worried about the plunging neckline. While this was part of our design, I anticipated a small reconstructive cosmetic surgery on "her" chest. (at this stage in the design, I began to refer to the dress as it's own soul - Justin assures me that I do this with all of the fabrics I train, create, shape and love)



The bottom peice is a slight A-line/bubble-skirt, with pockets!... which I think is just sooo clever! Who couldn't use an extra pocket on your wedding day!? Extra storage for lipgloss, the fat check from Daddy Warbucks, the hankie from great grandma B, or at least that little black book for a some late night torching!! ... opps did I say that out loud? ...yeah the pockets are cool!


My creative space ... I'll be here a while!



The top was a challenge, the petal-like triangles must be "JUST SO" so my Bride doesn't "JUST SHOW" too much!

START*********

"Dane William Heimer!"

I spent the weekend sewing my fingers to the bone on my very first couture bridal gown. Of course, I get the majority of my work done while my 2 year old is taking his nap. However, during a pivitol point in my couture creation my sleepy little angel woke up (persistent and grouchy) and demanded a snack
(pronounced "NAAK"). I ever so pleasently anounced that mommy would accomodate him momentarily. After an impatient launch of his "cup-cup", he proceeded to the kitchen. Apparently he would handle the task himself... I arrived moments later to find the following full balanced, yet magically delicious, "NAAK"

at least he did have the manners to get himself a plate...

Welcoming a new wife

While I do love the HBO hit, Big Love, this is a little refers to a little different relationship. This weekend we celebrated Tuga's (a.k.a Jackson's) Dad and Allison's elegant wedding, on Clearwater Beach. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful new wife-in-law.
Because I recognize that a wedding gift from the former wife isn't listed in Hallmark's gift guide, I dug deep and took a homemade, sincere approach. A photo alblum of Jackson's birth (only Eric cutting the cord and a little swaddling - nothing crazy or too National Geographic) and his first years. My note read "Here is the early years that every mom must recall, I look forward to the future, raising our Tuga together." She is truly the exact (other) mom I would pick out for Jackson. We've had a strict rule in our home(s) for years, not to use that odd word, with a bad stigma - a.k.a "step"-mother/father/brother/etc. Jackson knows that he is all the more loved with four parents, that adore him so. Dual parenting or blended families are not easy - but the last time I checked no type of parenting was. Congrats Eric and Alley Galley!!!! LOL

What's your Super Power?

Americans everywhere feel the crunch of the economy. I've often written on my mortgage blog) about how UNrewarding my job is lately. Always having enjoyed my career, it seems my days now consist of difficult and frustrating phone calls to borrower's that can't qualify due to job layoffs or homes that don't make the appraisal cut. I have always had (what some would call) a problem getting emotionally attached to my clients. This is true of all my team who've also recently experienced diminishing job satisfaction. We have lost sleep, shed tears, and felt helpless as loan applicants' financial or living circumstances, we cannot improve. That said, I do feel so fortunate, to have such a great team and work family- they truly are the reason for Premier's success over all these years.
Of course my family too is feeling the crunch of a struggling mortgage business and difficult economy. But in the wise words of the legendary iconic George, George Michael that is, "you gotta have FAITH..."
Faith in God. If not for this, I too would pull the covers over my head somedays or utilize other crutches and coping mechanisms (ok, I may be guilty of an occaisional coping mechanism- a different kind of spirit), there is nothing like the security of knowing that there is someone else in control. "My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Jesus Christ" PHILLIPPIANS 4:19

This book has been so enlightening for me and is an easy read. With currently relevant chapters, I have re-read each one. Addressing those real-life challenges such as finances, temptation, trials and fears, it's like a guide book for commiting your mental focus to your partner's well being. Praying for your spouse is truly the most selfless and empowering gift you can give to your family.
And yes, (Justin may kill me for writing this on my blog) I have often caught him reading (the book I so generously bought for him :-) in his "special reading nook" where he admits to doing his best thinking (ladies, I'm sure you know where this place is).


"Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved." PSALM 55:22