Flying South

Excuse this brief interruption as we fly drive south for the winter FOREVER!

Greetings from a warmer climate when we return :)

The New Digs

The sod is in and the fence is going up!  Look out, Pensacola, Nigel is about to mark his territory!

A - Camping We Will Go

A few weeks ago we went camping with our Sunday School class.  Have I ever mentioned how good for my soul these people are?  Life savers, I tell ya.  So we planned this AWHILE ago just so we could get everyone there since there are probably about 10-12 families.  That's a lot of people to coordinate - especially when some families have 4 kiddos.  We chose Stone Mountain as our camping location of choice.  Have I ever mentioned how much I love that place?  So though we planned this forever ago, we didn't anticipate the FREEZING cold temperatures.  And I'm not exaggerating.  It was literally below 32 degrees.  Doesn't matter.  It was so much fun.  Want to act like you were there?  Here you are!

 The view from our campsite during the day.

Dusk.

Sunrise.  Clearly, I didn't take this picture.

Do you see the cuteness we were camping with?! I had a conversation with Matt a few weeks ago that if I were to steal a child it would be one of these two.  I mean, seriously.  Look at the cheeks.  They're even cuter in person because their voices are all cute and they chubby and they want to hold your hand.  Adorbs.  P.S. I'm not stealing any children.  

Of course we had to go to the top of the mountain!

Happy Howloween!

This is what happens when you have 3 dogs and dress them up for Halloween.  The girls who adore me and only want to please look at the camera when I call them and Nigel just looks out the window waiting for his Daddy to come up.  Momma's girls up front, Daddy's boy back there in the back.

At one point Nigel thought he heard Matt so he looked at the door for him.  But alas, no Daddy.  Still, Sugar smiles for the camera.

Then in an effort to appease me and to get this nonsense over with, I got Nigel to look at the camera.  I learned all I had to say was 'treat' and I can get them to do whatever I want.  Suckers.

During this whole charade the cheerleader needed to give the star football player some sugar.  Way to be a stereotype, Sugar.

Revelation

While raking the leaves in the backyard today, I had an epiphany.  My favorite thing about the backyard isn't the grass or the grill or the flowers.  It's the dogs running around.  They LOVE playing out there.  They'll go back there, sniff around awhile, chew on sticks or leaves and explore.  But then it's like they've choreographed this giant race and they'll take off all at once and tackle each other, run around the deck while dodging trees and me until someone gets tired.  It's awesome.  But then while I was raking today I realized my favorite part of the backyard is coming to Florida with us.  Well, 1/3 of my favorite part of the backyard is coming with us.  So I'm thinking if I'm bringing my favorite part with me - maybe the backyard of the new house won't be so bad.  

Bucket List

Matt had us create a Bucket List of things we wanted to do before we move.  Then I accidentally threw the list away in the trash can at the Kroger parking lot.  So we recreated the list to the best of our knowledge. Anyways, this was an addition of Matt's - it will be apparently in a minute.  There are is an Etowah Indian Burial ground near us and Matt wanted to see what it would be like.  It was like giant piles of dirt.  That you had to climb up.  At least there were stairs and at least I counted this as my exercise for the day.  I think Matt really liked it, I'll have it one thumbs up.

This is a replica of what the huts would have looked like back in the day.

 The mounds from a distance.

 The little mound as seen from the big mound (which I think was 9 stories tall).  It was used as the cemetery, but then also people lived on top of it.

 This is where I imagined them playing football.  Matt tells me this is in fact where the other people in the village lived.

The middle-sized mound.  

Shockingly enough, apparently the tallest Etowah Burial ground is in Illinois.  Who would've thought the tallest anything was in Illinois!

The Bellagio

I think this is going to be the last photo dump of Las Vegas pictures.  One of the highlights was seeing the fountains in front of the Bellagio.  It was pretty impressive during the day, but even better at night.  The fountains are actually choreographed to music so if you stick around for more than one performance you'll get to hear/see other versions.  Enjoy!

Guess what time it is again...

This is a sad house right now.  We're moving.  We don't want to move.  Matt's job is moving so that means we go right along with it.  I feel like a jerk complaining because I'll be 20 minutes from the beach.  But this house had so much potential and we're not giving it the time to realize it.  We planted so many bulbs in the backyard last fall and were able to see them for only one spring.  We'll never eat the blackberries and raspberries off the bushes Matt planted this spring.  The dining room and laundry rooms will be the only rooms I paint.  The basement won't be finished.  The built-in grill won't be refinished.  I think it's safe to say that everyone thought we'd be bringing home babies from the hospital in this house.  Obviously we didn't need all this room for just the two of us.  They'll come home to another home.

There isn't one thing I hate about this house.  I remember the first time we came to see it.  It was last September and the leaves were starting to change.  As soon as you pulled into the neighborhood you could see all the colors in the mountains.  Then when we pulled into the driveway there was a willow tree.  Just ask Matt, I've always wanted a willow tree.  We walked into the house and it was perfect.  Seriously.  I would've signed the papers that day.  Matt and our realtor weren't completely sold on it.  I'm not entirely sure why.  It was a foreclosure so there was plenty of yard work to do and some maintenance - I think that's how they were viewing it.  The next week I had us look at it again.  This time when we pulled into the driveway I knew this would be the house we'd be buying.  Sam and Matt came around to it.  They saw the potential - maybe the yard people came and the outside looked better - who knows?  We put the offer on, the bank rejected it and countered with only $500 less than the asking price.  It wasn't do-able.  We went ahead and made an offer on another house a couple weeks later.  The exact same day the bank came back and said they'd accept our offer.  Sold.

Our first night here was Christmas Eve.  I wanted to wake up in our new house for Christmas.  Matt made it happen.  Our stuff was everywhere.  There weren't any Christmas decorations.  Nigel jumped up on the kitchen table and ate the un-baked rolls I was rising.  It was a good Christmas.

Since then we've had friends, family, co-workers, dogs fill this house with us.  I know we'll find another house.  I know we'll be happy wherever we are.  But for now, I'm sad.  Thank you, house.  We love you.

Viva Las Vegas!, Part 1

Matt sent me to Las Vegas with Katy.  Without him.  How dumb is he?  Anyways, we had a blast!  I would recommend to anyone to take a trip out West and enjoy with Las Vegas has to offer.  Which is a lot.  Ours was a 3-day trip and the main reason for the mini-vaca was to see Celine Dion.  Yes.  We can pause for a moment in honor of her.  She was the first CD I ever owned and I think I've honed my Celine Dion station enough of Pandora throughout the years that I only get good songs.  Obsessed.  Here is a recap of the highlights!

Our hotel.  It was awesome!  We even had white robes in our hotel room.  I stripped down and put one on anytime we were in the room for more than 20 minutes.  The tag on them said you could take them home with you - for a $125 fee.  Before we left Matt reminded me what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but the bills do come home.  The robe stayed.

Us in front of the New York New York hotel and rollercoaster.  They had all the skyscrapers and Statue of Liberty.

We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and had a really good salad.  After that we made our way to the M&M store and got our picture taken with the crew.

You can actually eat dinner up there on the top of the Eiffel Tower.  If I ever get Matt to take me again - we're dining there.  He'll never have to take me to the real thing.

Katy didn't pose the way I wanted her to.  If she had, it would've been a lot more inappropriate, but a lot funnier.

This was inside The Venetian. The ceiling is painted like a sky and the store fronts are supposed to look like a little Italian village.  You can do gondola rides inside or outside.  We chose outside because the line for inside was a lot longer (no line for outside) and it was really nice outside.  

Us on our very romantic gondola ride.  They actually sing to you in opera-style Italian.  Who knows what they're saying... it's still amazing.

The Bellagio minus the fountains.  I've got pictures for nighttime, too, and the fountains are very impressive.

WELCOME TO THE MAIN EVENT!  Right before the concert.  Can you tell we're excited?  Can you tell we might be peeing our pants a little bit?  Just look at her!  Not Katy, Celine!  The concert was awesome and she sounds just like her CDs.  Which means her voice is amazing.  

High Five

It's not a secret that Matt isn't a regular part of this blog.  Here's a quick peek into his brain.  His answers are in black - mine in red.


1.  What's your favorite book?
Animal Farm.  Seriously?  I wanted to die when I read that book in 8th grade.  I don't think I understood it.  I'm not even sure I finished it.  My favorite is Love Story.  So much better than Animal Farm.

2.  What's the next project you want to do on the house?
I think this winter we're going to do the retaining wall and refinish the grill.  I agree with this.  It won't be as hot to do things in the winter so I'd rather crank those out this fall instead of doing them in the heat of July.  I would also like to organize the garage.

3.  What trick would you like to teach the dogs?
Stop barking at imaginary things.  A couple months ago I bought a Hula-Hoop to teach them to jump through.  I haven't really don't much teaching so maybe I can work on that.  I think it'd be cute.

4.  Where do you want to go on vacation next?
I don't know.  Wherever you want to go.  Some place with brown signs.  Somewhere with a beach and somewhere alone.  Matt and I haven't been on vacation without another dog or person since our honeymoon.  Yes. Please.

5.  How did you like being a single parent while I was gone?
They were actually surprised by how good the girls were.  Nigel's always good so I was surprised by how easy it was.  Matt had the 3 dogs for a couple days while Katy and I went to Las Vegas.  I was pleasantly surprised how well he did being Mr. Mom.

Bests

I was going through some pictures and found some of my favorite things:

Best Place to Spend Christmas:

Stone Mountain, GA

Best Birthday Present:

50 yard line at the Broncos game

Best Foster Dogs:

 Ms. Fat Neck

Ms. Happy

Best Way to Dirty Up a White Shirt:

Color Run

Best Baby Boy:

Best Referee Impersonator:

Best Way to Celebrate 3 Years of Holy Matrimony:

Ruth's Chris Steak - Yum!

Hot Dog!

Happy National Hot Dog Day from our little Wiener!

Happy Father's Day!

We still have the girls!  Actually, a good foster parent would say 'We still have the girls :(' because they would want them to find their forever home.  I do want them to find their forever home.  But I love them.  With every ounce of my being.  And so does Nigel.  When we got back from a recent Tennessee trip they went crazy when they were reunited.  And the other day when I was on the treadmill Nigel came into the room because he thought they were in there, but they weren't, and so he panicked until he found them!  Awwwww!  Big brother Nigel - who ever saw this coming?  I certainly didn't.

So the puppy dogs had to do something for Matt to show his love.  Too bad his horrible wife completely forgot about Father's Day and celebrated it about a week late.  Side note: I also haven't mailed our gifts to our dad's, either.  I blame getting behind on EVERYTHING while Matt was in the hospital, family coming to visit and having VBS.  If you fathered either Matt or I - your present will be mailed soon.  I promise.  Anyways, so to make it up to Matt the dogs put together this awesome banner and bought him some Tootsie Rolls.  They know their Daddy so well :)

NIGEL*SUGAR*AND*HONEY <3 YOU

Welcome Distraction

So Matt was in the hospital for a week.  Due to having an anal personality and not knowing when the doctors would be dropping by and not wanting to miss them I chose to stay at the hospital the entire time.  That's right... no fresh air for us. However, the night before we got out, Matt forced me to go to a long-standing girls night date.  He thought I needed to get away awhile.  I did.  It was so good doing something normal and having conversation that didn't revolve around pericardiums, medication, blood and vital signs.  While I did have my phone right on my easel the entire time just in case, it was nice to know that our friend Jason was hanging out with him so I could semi-relax.

So girls night was a painting class we'd set up about a month ago.  The place where we did it lets you pick a painting and then they teach step-by-step how to do it.  You can also paint whatever you want, but if you're not confident with your artistic abilities it's nice to be shown what to do.  Here are all of our creations!

 

I don't know what I would have done without these girls over the past week.  Amanda, the one on the far left, watched our sweet girls for us the entire week.  Heather (directly to the right of me) and Andrea (far right), came to sit with me at the hospital Saturday when we thought Matt would be having his surgery that day.  They also bought me lunch, brought me clothes from my house and let me borrow their pj's because I forgot to pack pajama pants.  Abbey, the girl in the middle, sat with me during surgery on Sunday and stayed until 4 that evening.  Abby, the awesome artist that did her own painting that night, came to visit us Saturday and brought me hair ties.  Sounds little, but I so desperately needed one.  And last, but not least Rebekah - she stopped at our house after work one day to bring me more clothes, underwear, shaving cream and brought us snacks when her sweet family came to visit.  It has to be a true friend who'll go through your underwear drawer and bring you some new ones :) Thank you girls.

P.S. Yes, I know I'm dressed for winter and everyone else looks like they're ready for the beach.  You try sitting in a hospital for days and we'll see how quickly you warm up.

Rest and Recovery

Due to Matt being in the hospital, I have not prioritized this little blog.  I've had too much to fill the time and days and not enough time to justify taking away from what needs to be done to update here.  Things are getting back to normal now that he's home so hopefully soon I'll have a new post :)

Here Comes Honey Boo Boo Child

This is my crew these days.  No, we didn't adopt - we're just fostering these sweet beauties.  Of course you know Nigel there in the middle.  And then there's Honey Boo Boo on the left and Sugar Bear on the right.  Obviously, it's embarrassing to yell, "Come here Honey Boo Boo" when we're outside so we just call them Sugar and Honey.  They are sweet loves.  Want to cuddle all the time and super cute.  Nigel is doing really well with his sisters, too.  A very patient older brother.  It's a shock to us all.  Here is what goes on in my life on an hourly basis.

Someone's already contacted us about wanting to meet them.  It's a bit sad because I'll miss these girls, but I hope they find themselves a great forever home!

C'mon Ride the Train

Last weekend?  Two weekends ago?  We traveled up to Tunnel Hill, GA for a surprise trip for Matt.  I like telling Matt we're going to have a surprise trip and not give him any details or hints and see where he thinks we're going.  He's always WAY off.  In fact, we have always gone the opposite direction he thinks we'll be going.

So what's special about Tunnel Hill?  They have a railroad that goes through a mountain (not used anymore) that dates back to the Civil War.  Matt likes all things Civil War and we pass it when we go to visit family, but never can stop so we did this particular weekend.

Like I said, it's a railroad track that goes through a mountain so you can imagine it's pretty dark when you go through the tunnel.  You go through the tunnel with a guide on a golf cart and he talks about the history of the track and who came through there.  But because it's dark I couldn't take many pictures, but here's what I got!

The path leading up to the tunnel and then the tunnel itself

Color Run!

The first weekend of April I participated in the Color Run with my friends Rebekah and Amanda.  If you haven't heard of the Color Run before here's the run down (pun intended).  You run a 5K and at each color station (every 1K) you get covered in a powder of different colors.  The first one is blue, then orange, pink and then yellow.  Before the race begins everyone is given a color packet and you save it for the very end.  Once you cross the finish line you immediately head over to this on-going dance party and throw your color packet up into the air - kinda like your hat at graduation.  Now the race isn't timed and there's so many people there that you can't REALLY get an awesome time - it's more about getting off your butt and having a good time.  We were able to jog the whole time, but had to dodge people and slow down a big until we could maneuver around them.  Also, you have to slow down at the color stations, too, if you want to get a good coating on you.  It's kinda funny because as you're coming up to each color station you see a cloud of powder looming around it.  Super fun and I recommend it - even if you're not a seasoned runner.

Rub it for Good Luck?

Is it just me or is this...

starting to look like this...

which reminds you of this?

Easter Weekend

Yup, I haven't posted in over a month.  I blame it on a few things.  1) We haven't done anything exciting lately.  2) We have had several people visiting.  3) I've been lazy.  4) It's my blog I can do whatever I want with it.

Moving right along...

Easter weekend proved to be a very productive weekend.  Josh came to visit the week leading up to it and Matt's parents came the weekend of.  Two big projects were accomplished: mulching and chainsaw massacre-ing the backyard and redoing the laundry room.  This post will cover the backyard.  The laundry room isn't completely done yet so that'll come later.  I wish I had more before/after shots, but sometimes I just want to get the project done I don't take the time to document the horrible-ness that we're starting with.  Such is life... here is what I have in terms of before and afters.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Basically the moral of those pictures is this:  overgrown and under mulched.  The house was left 2 years untouched before we bought it so we are playing catch up.  So we needed to cut things WAY back and/or get rid of them completely and mulch in the back to make it look more landscaped.  Done and done.  The after pictures are so much better than the before pictures (thank goodness!)  The mulching actually didn't take as long as I expected - less than a day - and it makes such a big impact.  Cutting everything back really helps, too.  Not only does it look better, but it's better for the plants, too.  Plus, look at those tulips.  They're huge and in full bloom right now.

Oh, and this is what I found when I came inside from taking these pictures: