Greetings From the Gilleys: March 2015

Age doesn't scare me like it scares most of society, so when I say it feels great to be 28, I truly mean it! I like growing old with the people I love most :)

I especially liked this birthday because I got a new car! And that, my friends, is the icing on top of my birthday cake! I have been wanting a minivan FOREVER. I made a Facebook status about it the other day, so I'm just copying and pasting that in:

When you unfortunately buy a lemon of a car (from a dishonest dealership) that bleeds you dry every other month because of all of its' problems, it's time for a switcheroo. Just so happens that my birthday is also in 2 days, and my baby did good! Not sure how Shawn'll top this gift in years to come ...cause he just bought me my DREAM car! If you have kids and say you don't want a Mini-Van, it's cause you've never driven a Mini-Van! So much LOVE for this piece of heaven on wheels, it's not even funny.

A white Toyota Sienna may not be the average person's dream car, but it truly was mine. And now I own one! Well, technically the bank owns it for another 5 years, but you get the point....I am BEYOND excited. It's a 2011 with low mileage on it, and seems to be in perfect condition! The touch of a button opens and closes doors (even the trunk which is nice when my hands are really full!), my buns stay warm when I drive (heated seats), Shawn and I can each control our own temperature in the front (which used to be a battle!), I will eventually (SOMEDAY) get to open the sun roof as I drive, the girls have their own temp control and their own seats and can get in and out SO easily!, when I back up I can see what's behind me with the little camera....it's amazing. I have never had a fully loaded car until now! And don't get me started on the amount of storage that thing has......

The Hyundai we had was a piece of junk. It had so many problems NON STOP. We just paid some big bucks to get another mechanical error fixed last month because it wouldn't shift into gear (that was fun- we were out of town and it got stuck in reverse and wouldn't go into drive. Took us a week to finally get it home and fixed). We decided, while EVERYTHING was finally in working order on it and the "check engine" light was off, we needed to get rid of the thing. It was cursed!

Now my new baby drives like a dream. It's simply the best. I feel SO cool cruisin' around in it! Haha, I'm being serious! I love it! I know you shouldn't place such high value on "stuff" but it's really hard not to when you are so in love with something like this ;)

Kissing my new Baby

The rest of my birthday was pretty great too. Shawn didn't have too much work yesterday so he was able to help me out a lot with the girls. He let me sleep in til 9am! He then brought me breakfast in bed, and then later that night he made me dinner and did all the dishes! He showered the girls, brushed their teeth and got them ready for bed. All I had to do was help tuck them in. What a great gift from him- total relaxation for me! I even got a foot massage :)

I woke up to 28 kisses from my baby girls. Such a happy way to wake up on my birthday!

The dinner he made me was my annual crab dinner (with some french fries too, haha!). That's been his tradition for me since we've been married and I love it. He steams the crab to perfection in a garlicky/buttery steam and then he gives me the biggest legs and I dip them in thick, garlicky melted butter.....I wish it could be more than just a once-a-year-meal, but every March 23rd I look forward to my special dinner. Thanks SO MUCH Baby Cakes!

It was FREEZING yesterday (was in the negatives most of the day with high winds). We were stuck inside the whole entire day. But I got to snuggle with my 3 babes and rest a lot....and talked to Mom and Nana Smidt on the phone too. So that made it a really, REALLY nice day! It was good to catch up with those ladies.

In other news.....

This Friday we are getting out of the cold for 8 whole days and going to Washington D.C. and Virginia Beach! Can I get an AMEN???

Shawn's manager called him and asked him if he'd maybe like to go on an Install in Virginia since he hasn't been on one since we moved here ("installs" are what he did for 16 weeks straight when he was training last year). He told him to think about it, so Shawn came downstairs and asked me what I thought and what he should say. I looked at him, selfishly thought of myself immediately, looked on a map to see how far Virginia was from here, and said "TELL HIM YOU ARE GOING AND I'M COMING WITH YOU!" Haha, I can't take this weather anymore! It's currently -10 degrees right now. I'm 100% serious. It's the end of March and we still have SO much snow (see my car pictures?) and haven't seen sunshine or felt warmth in way too many months. It's absolutely depressing. So we are driving to D.C. this Friday and staying 'til Sunday and then driving to Virginia Beach Sunday-Saturday and will come home the night before Easter. Shawn will work during the day, but we got a hotel right on the beach! I can't wait!!!! It's a LOT of driving, but it will be worth it! Plus, I have the best form of transportation now, wink, wink!

And last but not least. I learned how to do a super cute "braid" from my friend. I tried it out on Piper and it worked! I can't wait to do it on myself when my hair is long again!

With only 4 Ice Castles in the nation, we are lucky that one is practically in our back yard! Lincoln, NH is home to one of these beautiful structures and so we took advantage of visiting. It was mesmerizing and sooooo pretty! The girls thought it was Elsa's castle and loved every minute of being there. Yes it was cold, but it was so worth it. They had beautiful lights and music timed to the lighting. There were slides to zip down and "thrones" to sit upon. I'm glad we got to go. When we pulled into the parking lot, Lucy absolutely freaked out (as I said, she thought it was Elsa's house!). I guess living in a frozen world has one perk.
Just one.