7, our lucky number!!!!

7 years ago I married my best friend! June 28, 2003, I thought I was SOOOO in love with Philip David Surgala!!!! Little did I know how amazing my life was about to become, better and better by the minute. Not only is he cute, sweet, loving, understanding, patient and smart......he is funny, the best father ever and a constant provider for our family. We started this adventure with plan for a family and a nice little life together. I never knew how great life could be! We have two beautiful children we thank God for every day and plans for many, many, many more happy anniversaries.

Cheers to OUR lucky number.....7. I have no doubt year 7 will top all the others. I love you babe, "What a Wonderful World" it is!!!!!

FPU Graduates!!!!

15 weeks ago Phil and I began FPU, Financial Peace University. This meant every Sunday (except Easter and Mother's Day) for 13 weeks we would attend a 2 hour class and learn about strengthening our financial future through lessons taught (via dvd) by Dave Ramsey. It started, we faced our reality, stuck to it even when we were too tired to go and have made it to the finish line.

FPU may not be for everyone but it WAS for us! We have paid off $13,640.69 in debt and are WELL on our way to being DEBT FREE! It feels good to know where your hard-earned money is going and to see success after those long days in the office! By late Fall 2010 we plan to have both cars paid off so we can actively save for retirement, college and a new home! The best part of the13 week adventure is that Phil and I have VERY healthy and loving money discussions free from stress, blame and fear. We have a plan and work together to stick to it.

FYI: DEBT = mortgage, credit cards, medical bills, car payments, school loans, etc. Any scenerio where YOU owe someone else. We used to be soooo proud of ourselves for not having large balances on credit cards yet we both drove very nice cars with hefty monthly payments! We did not consider those car payments as "debt" because they were simply a part of society, most of the people we knew had car payments too! Silly us! ;)

Samantha turns 4!

We went to the pediatrician last week for Samantha's 4 year old well-check appointment. She did fantastic. She did not do very well on the eye exam but that was to be expected from our appointments with the opthomoligist. In a few years, we will probably get glasses....or maybe her eyes will improve. She is 38 1/4 inches, TALL ENOUGH for Splash Mountain. Being tall enough for certain Disney rides is a major thing in our family!!!! Cooper was measured too and after a scary appointment in December where we were told he did NOT grow from 4 yrs old to 5 yrs old, he has shot up 2 inches in 5 months! (This means he is 1/2 inch away from Space Mountain and a few other awesome rides!) Samantha measured 40th percentile for height and 80th for weight. The appointment went like this:

Dr: Samantha, what do you want to be when you grow up?

Samantha: A veteranarian!

Dr: Wow!

Dr: Mom, does she know her address?

Me: Well, not really because we have moved a few times, etc.

Samantha: Ummmm, 920 "blank" Avenue! (She said the right thing, just do not want it in cyberworld)

Me: Ok, well.....

Dr: Mom, can she count to 20?

Me: yes

Samantha: Well actually I can count to 29.

Dr: Does she eat a healthy diet? Samantha, what are your favorite foods?

Samantha: Carrots, hummus, peppers and frozen peas.

Dr: Well Mom, I think Samantha is doing FABULOUS!

Overall, she is a healthy, growing, happy and smart 4 year old princess! I was a proud mama!

What a week!

On Samantha's 4th birthday, she got to open the gift she had been wishing for.....Lanie! Lanie is an American Girl doll and during a lunch at the American Girl Cafe with Dede and I, Samantha chose Lanie and the treehouse as the two things she was going to wish for when she turned 4. She asked over and over if we were getting her Lanie. When she had her birthday party the week before, she was thankful but wondering where Lanie was. It was so cute to see her open her new friend and take her everywhere she went for DAYS!


Dede and Papa came over for Samantha's birthday dinner, pizza and fruit....by request. They brought the coveted "tree house", a gift from Dede/Papa/Granny and Pappy. Samantha and Cooper LOVE their new toy and it is a great place to keep dolls.

Happy as can be!

Two days later, Grandma and Grandpa arrived in Atlanta, just in time for Cooper's pre-k graduation. Everyone was SO excited to have them as visitors.

The proud graduate!!!

Graduation was followed by pizza, ice cream and water day!

Cooper, worn out and resting with Grandpa!

We headed to Blue Ridge for the weekend to relax at the cabin. First activity, smores!

Second activity, tubing on the river at 9:30 am in ICE COLD water!!!! It was so fun though! We tied our tubes together, after losing Grandma a time or two and floated in the sun. The kids had a great time but were also excited to see the orange boey, signaling time to get out!

Cooper on the side of the river. He said "hey mom, take a picture and I can pretend I am fishing!!!"

After a wonderful trip down the Toccoa River, we enjoyed a picnic in the park then headed to Merciers. Merciers is the apple orchard in Blue Ridge, and quite amazing. Every so often, they have something called "U-Pick" where you can pick their in season fruit. This trip, the "U-Pick" was cherries. After a nice tractor ride through the orchard, we ended up at the cherries and had a blast eating while picking!

On the tractor!

The gorgeous landscape!

Cooper picking, Samantha tasting....

Samantha and Daddy proudly showing off the most delicious cherries in Blue Ridge.

Trying to fill the bag....took quite a while!

After a wonderful week, we were ALL worn out! Thanks to all four grandparents for a very special week!