family time with my "in-laws"

the hubby + i played "host" to his mom, dad, and two younger sisters who packed up + headed our way for a little getaway + to attend a few family functions that were planned here in atlanta. while they were here, they also took a trip to knoxville to check out the university of tennessee because his sister is looking at enrolling there in the near future. sorry, i'm a GEORGIA BULLDOG so it was hard enough for me to even type those three words, LOL ;)

i was talking to my hubby's mother about how people were asking me if i was nervous about them coming...you know, since they are my "in-laws" + all. i honestly didn't think anything of it until people started asking me about it. you see, i have a really great relationship with my "in-laws"...so much so that i refer to them as mom + dad {my parents are momma + daddy} + feel that i can just be myself around them. even after i type this blog post, i'm still a little sad that they aren't here anymore...they left early this morning...and now our house is eeerily quiet! right before they left dad said..."yep, yall need to fill this house up with some kids!!!" that's definitely the plan....in a few years :)

ironically enough, i spent more time with the fam than my hubby did. timing worked out perfectly for me as i was working from home the whole time they were here, but hubby still had to go to work during the day :( so, in between conference calls, i could run downstairs to grab a bite to eat + chit chat for a few minutes before heading back upstairs to keep working.

although we did a lot of fun things ranging from going to the movies, to the coca cola museum, to cooking my "first meal" for them...there are two things that really stood out to me. i was again reminded of how blessed i am to be surrounded by so much love.

• while dad was teaching me how to cook his infamous shrimp pasta, i got a call from my momma who hadn't been feeling well for a while. i stepped out of the kitchen to finish our convo + then when i came back, dad asked me how far of a drive it was from atlanta to where she currently lives. "about 3.5- 4 hours", i replied. he then says, "maybe we can all take a ride out there to see her...do you think she would enjoy that?" at that point, i was brought to tears...it really touched me that he offered to go + see her. so, a few days later, we all hopped in the car {sans the hubby} + made the drive. she was over the hill ecstatic to see all of us!!! i was equally excited to be able to see her + my older brother as well...it had been about a month since i had last seen them. we had a really great time...we ate red beans + rice, chicken + banana pudding. perfect.company.perfect.meal.perfect.day.

• the second thing that stood out was while us ladies were out one day, my car decided to go "kaput". like, had to find a place to pull over because i could not longer control the wheel - "kaput". oh, not to mention, some part also decided to just fly off from the bottom of the car...well, we ended up calling rae + his dad + we had the car towed back to our house. from the time the car was delivered to the house, rae + his dad were in the garage working on it. they ended up taking the car apart - like parts all out on the floor, apart - to determine what all was wrong with it...then, from auto part store to salvage yard to you name it...they were there getting parts to fix it. the next day, after a little sweat + elbow grease from the stampley men, lil' mama {the car} was back on the road! 

indeed, we are so blessed to be surrounded by so much love! in fact, we're apparently having a "family tour" of sorts...we are leaving this weekend to go to my hometown for my high school reunion!!! it'll be great to see my daddy + my brother + my sister who will be coming in town with her family! we're supposed to be taking some family pics, so i'll be sure to post!!!

ciao!