having way too much fun

it's true. i have had so many fun things going on in the last few weeks. to top it off my little family went to the beach last week! hence the blog slacking.

when you travel with a toddler you never quite know what to expect, but our experience couldn't have been better. we played in the sand, snuggled in a giant bed, explored, and laughed. we laughed like i've never laughed. so please pardon me making this into a more personal blog, but for me, if it's not personal it's not worth it.

keeping my promise

we're different now. not a bad different, i'd say a good different. life has changed dramatically since his first day of law school. we have a child, i am self employed, some of our friends are different, the places we go are different, just about everything is different.

this weekend marked finality to brandon's, and my, law school experience. i couldn't be more proud. sure it had some hard moments, but when brandon stood up to make a speech as the top graduate my heart swelled with pride.

we made a promise to each other a long time ago, after we went to a Young Life talent show and saw Devin Henderson perform. we said if we ever had something big to celebrate we would have a party and hire him to come perform. brandon has kept his card in his wallet all these years. as i was planning his graduation party i decided it was time to make good on that promise and surprised my sweet husband with Devin. Devin is not only an incredible magician, he's hilarious and can work a crowd like nobody's business.

we had an amazing time with our family and closest friends, and i haven't laughed that hard in a while. please check out Devin's website. http://www.devinhenderson.com/dhSite.html

he's doing some shows in may at the IMPROV at Zona Rosa- every saturday in May at 3pm. tickets are an incredible $5. www.improvkc.com

i'm taking the week off to spend with my family before bar prep starts, there will be a lot of posting next week, i promise.

ten years ago

i got a birthday card in the mail from a friend that said, it's so weird to be thirty- how did it happen?" that's exactly how i feel. i'm not having a mental break down about it, but it's just i can't believe i've lived this much life and i'm hoping that i haven't been wasting it.

my friend jason asked me, "ten years ago what did you think you'd be like when you were thirty?"
i've been thinking on that one for a couple of days, and the thing is, i didn't think i had very much to offer when i was 20. but i'm sitting here this morning excited about all the cool things i've gotten to experience in 30 years. and although it's probably not where i thought i'd be, it's so much better.

i'm still 7 year old meredith on the inside, i still like to twirl long dresses, climb trees, and sing at the top of my lungs. i don't take myself too seriously but expect a lot more of myself than ever before because now i know i'm capable of so much more than i ever thought.

so i'm taking the day off, going to the royals game with my family and hoping to ride the carousel if they'll let me.

thanks to you for supporting me and for all the sweet birthday wishes!

Happy Birthday Daddy Dub, there's no one else i'd rather share my birthday with, love you!
xoxo

cussing and cursing

i sent my friend jaime an email the other night/morning with this same title. i was tired, really needed to get some sleep but i couldn't! i kept going through the images of her family trying to narrow them down, each time i would eliminate 1, maybe 2. so i told her i was cussing her for having kids that make me want to print every single image and put them all over my house. picking a couple for my blog, even harder, dang it jaime.


See how the girls have grown!
http://meredithgutshall.blogspot.com/2009/02/un-gateau-un-drapeau-un-bateau-toot.html

http://meredithgutshall.blogspot.com/2008/10/older-sisters-are-funny-not-so-much.html

http://meredithgutshall.blogspot.com/2008/06/precious-pruitts.html

couldn't mess it up if he wanted to

sam stepped out of the car and onto country soil. in the final weeks of his senior year at shawnee mission east, being photographed probably didn't rank on his top things to do. on that list would include golfing at the Kansas City Country Club, where he works. but he was a good sport. he kept saying, i just don't want to mess it up. as i looked through his images i had to laugh, how could someone with such a great smile and presence mess it up? how could someone willing to do the k-state cheer and be run down by cows mess it up? how could someone that wears aviators mess it up? not possible.

sam i hope you get to play golf in high socks and shorts every monday from here on out, thanks for spending the day with me.