Thursday Tidbits...

...Today is the last day to sign up for my giveaway so please go here now and leave a comment if you haven't already!!! Now on to the tidbits...

*I went to the dentist on Monday and my hygienst is gone!?! Seriously, it was like she'd broken up with me. I was totally bummed. I loved my hygienst because she talked the whole time and made it go fast and I just really clicked with her. Now it's back to dreading the dentist, so so sad...

*Every dentist office I've been to has really happy receptionist, is that a job requirement?

*I'm attempting to run a marathon in 3 days!?! (see post tomorrow)

*I don't work a full week of work (including this week) until the first week of November.

*I'm reading this Jennifer Weiner book, its a collection of short stories. Matt saw it on the nightstand and asked if her last name was really "Weiner" then giggled like a little girl.

*This weekend is the double wedding weekend in which Matt and I are splitting up. He's in our BM's wedding as a groomsman and I'm the DOC for his cousin. What a long, strange trip it's been to both of these weddings...it's created a lot of excitement, headache, fights and tears between the two of us so I think we'll both be relieved when they are over.

*For those of you who don't know Matt and I personally, we are as opposite as night and day but lately, we've been on the exact same page on a lot of things which is just crazy. Our anniversary is coming up and I told him I wanted to start going to church again. You can read about the Great Debate of our church drama here. Matt told me to find a Methodist church I wanted to visit and we could alternate between that and his church. It's a starting point so I'll take it!

I think that's all for now! Hope everyone had a great September!

AAA Redeemed Themselves...

...remember my post last Friday? Matt's radiator freaked out and we needed to have it towed. I called AAA and they told me that my plan only covered up to a F-250 and not an F-350. When the tow truck came to get us, I noticed a AAA sticker on the bed of truck and asked if it was the same tow truck that he would use for a 250 and a 350. He said yes. I was LIVID because the AAA lady on the phone told me we'd have to cover a super duty special towing truck...apparently not. The tow truck driver was really nice and called his boss who informed me about the only 250 not 350. We paid $90 and went on our merry way.

Friday afternoon, I decided to call AAA and tell them how frustrated I was. Everyone was really nice as they transferred me around to the right person. When I finally spoke to someone, I explained what happened and emphasized that I had been a member for ELEVEN years (yes people that's pre-2000 and since I was driving, I've been a member from day 1 of age 16, Butchie knows how to take care of me!) and loved the company and never had a complaint with them until this night. I understood it was the policy but when an exact same truck comes out, you can understand where the frustration comes from, right?

So Monday afternoon, I'm getting ready to leave work to head to the dentist and AAA calls me. Without asking any questions, she just informs me that she's going to send me a refund form to complete and I need to send it in with a copy of the receipt. Then she started saying it was because the truck driver confused me. I was like hold up! I don't want to get the driver in trouble because all he did was answer my questions. She made note of that and thanked me for being a loyal member and that the refund was done with the intention that it wouldn't happen like that in the future...ok, got it!

I come home all excited to tell Matt. After I tell him, I'm like so give me the receipt. He gives me this look, yeah he'd just thrown it away. UGH! Men!!! Luckily, it was right on top and we were able to dig it out. So AAA redeemed themselves and we're getting the towing expense back AND Matt didn't have to pay to have the radiator fixed again so it all worked out, it was just a major pain in the butt!

A Double Mom Date...

...this past Saturday night, I had the best double mom date with my mother and Jess and her mom. We had dinner at the Fountain then headed to the Fabulous Fox Theatre to see "Shrek."Fabulous Fox! First time in forever that I'd been here at night.

Jess talked all night about getting nuts at the Fox so she got some and was very happy!

Here's Jess and I in the lobby of the Fox.

It was a REALLY fun night, probably one of the best nights out I've had in a long time! We started with dinner at the Fountain. Okay, you all know that I LOVE this place and rave about it all the time, right? Yeah...well, it was really busy when we got there. My mom and I got there about 15 minutes before we were meeting them because we figured it would be busy, so my mom and I just sat at the bar. Well, we sat there and no one asked if we wanted anything. Finally, we asked this guy, we'll call him Striped Guy (he was wearing stripes), if we could order with him. He said no, he'd find our server and they would take our order. Okay, fine...we get our drinks (a martini and an orange phosphate soda):
Then we get seated...well, isn't it a surprised when Striped Guy, who refused to serve us at the bar was our waiter! Let me just tell you now that the service was AWFUL!!! I asked for ranch and he told me they didn't have any ranch. I said I got it last time, he said I got lucky, I replied with, oh I guess I did the past TWO times I've been here. He never brought us water, hardly asked how we were doing and I'm pretty sure he rolled his eyes everytime he left our table. Our food took forever to come (they were busy when we got there but then it had cleared out) and our ice cream sat at the bar for at least 5 minutes melting and having bar people breath on it-gross! The final straw came when he brought the bill and hadn't split it (which we'd asked him to do when we first sat down and he said sure no problem). I finally asked for a manager who came over and was really sweet. I told her the food was great and we loved the place but our waiter was horrible. She split the bill for us and even gave us a discount and asked if we'd come back and see them. I still can't believe he lied to me about the ranch (which I did end up getting but I forgot to tell the manager about that part!)!!! Dinner took so long that I didn't even have time to check out the America's Best Restroom! Oh well, there's always next time and yes, there will be a next time because I still absolutely love this place...just not Striped Guy.

After dinner, I drove the four of us the few blocks down to the Fox. Jess was very impressed with my city driving (it really wasn't that hard, not much traffic was out). Then we walked like 3 blocks to the Fox. We got inside and found our seats which were A-MA-ZING! They told us no photography, I still had my camera in my hand. We sat and I went to take a picture of the stage and the Crazy No Camera Lady hunted me down from two sections over. Sorry! I thought it just meant during the performance! My bad! So I got this one picture and it's really horrible but I'm sharing it because apparently it's top secret!This little boy and his mom sat next to me and this kid was CRACKING me up! First off, he did NOT know how to whisper and secondly, we all know that Shrek has a few adult jokes in it so every time one would come up and people would laugh, he'd be begging his mom to explain. One time, everyone on stage was looking into the crowd and the kid turned around to see what they were looking at. He was really funny! I couldn't complain though because a couple times I had to ask Jess, "What'd they say?" Geez...I'm getting so old, I have to ask people to repeat things for me.

From our seats, we could ask see a TV screen with the orchestra conductor on it. It was in black and white and it totally reminded me of CSI when Nick was buried alive...creepy!!! My favorite two characters were the Gingerbread Man-he was hilarious and Lord Farquaad. The guy who played Lord Farquaad did the whole thing on his knees and it was just hilarious. Seriously though, his knees HAD to hurt! We're also pretty sure that Princess Fiona and Ogre Fiona were two different people but only Ogre Fiona came out at the end. Also, the Fox was maybe half full which I was TOTALLY shocked about. I've never been to the Fox when it hasn't been totally or almost sold out but there were tons of empty seats. I figured with a show like "Shrek" it would definitely be sold out, hmm...

It was an awesome time with great company. By the time we got home it was 11:30 and that is WAY past by bedtime...watch out, I was getting wild and crazy! I hope that we can schedule another fun outing with Jess and her mom again. Thanks for a great evening!

I Saved Three Lives!!!

...First off, don't forget about my giveaway!!! You have until September 30 to get your chance for 1 of the 3 PRIZES!!! Now a WARNING before I get to the point of this blog post: pictures contain blood but in a nice, not gory way. There's your warning so no ewww comments, got it?

This past Saturday I saved three lives by donating blood! It was my first time in my whole life to donate blood. It had always kind of freaked me out and gave me the eebie jeebies but I've had so much blood drawn lately that I was much calmer about it. Let me start off by saying that the reason I decided to donate was to find out my blood type. Lame, I know, right? But I figure if I needed to know my blood type doesn't it make more sense to have someone benefit from it rather than just having my blood drawn and it going to waste?

Anyways, the most painful part was the prick on my finger to see how my iron level was. Luckily, the donut and chocolate milk I'd had for breakfast helped because iron level was great. The nurse that did everything was super friendly and nice. She told me an interesting fact. My veins were dehydrated so I had to drink a bottle of water so that she could find a vein. Good to know for future visits including blood draws, drink lots of water but not cold water, just room temperature. Cold water makes your veins constrict. Luckily, once she inserted the needle, my blood flowed pretty freely. That's a molar stress ball thingy that I'm squeezing.
Here is the blood I donated to help three people out!
Honestly, I must say I did feel pretty great (minus the whole purple lips afterwards) about myself knowing I helped three strangers out by just giving of myself. Would I donate blood again? I'll let this picture answer the question!

Love that turquoise bandage I picked out!!! So next time you see a sign for a blood drive, don't be scared...go donate because I did!!!

Side note: Happy 13th wedding anniversary to my sister and BIL!

If It's Not One Thing...

...seriously, then it's another! Really? I don't think Matt is ever going to be allowed to buy a truck again. We bought this new, well new to him, 2008 Ford F-350 back in March after the other truck rolled down a hill and hit a tree, remember all that drama? The new truck is fine other than the fact that I can't haul my big butt in it sometimes without working up a sweat. Then we found out that when it rains it sometimes leaks in the front window on the passenger side AKA on me. Then the radiators in that model got recalled so we just spent $1600 on a new radiator Wednesday-sweet! Because we have all sorts of money to be spending right now-not!

Last night, Matt goes to lock up the parks and calls me because he pours in radiator fluid and it just comes right out. Awesome...$1600 for nothing! So I call AAA to have it towed and head to get him around 8pm, as I'm driving and on the phone with them, the lady tells me that my plan doesn't cover a 350 because they'd have to get a super duty hauling truck. Really?! Are you kidding me? I mean I guess I never asked but seriously? I head back home then some random number calls me...its Matt from the guy's phone at Autozone because his phone won't turn on. He tells me he's going to call the super duty hauling truck and have it towed to the garage and then I'll have to come get him.

As I'm sitting at home waiting for him, his dad calls saying he saw that Matthew called. Well, yes, because this weekend is the men's retreat for church. They've all been super pumped about it for WEEKS! His dad is on the phone with me trying to work out details which I have no idea, I'm trying not to cry thinking of all the money we're about to spend and just waiting...

UGH! Finally about 10pm, I go to get him. When I get there I see the AAA sticker on the tow truck's bed. I get out and ask him if this is the same truck they'd use for his 350 and any other car. He said yes, grrr!!! We then start discussing AAA, turns out my plan only covers up to a 250 even though it's the same freakin' truck that pulls a 250 or 350!?! I'm going to call AAA tomorrow, not only because of this but because last year when I mailed in my credit card number to renew, it got stolen. I sent it to a FL address and it was stolen and used in FL...Anyways, we're hoping that the garage will reimburse us for the tow since it was less than 24 hours since it had been "fixed" and Matt had only driven the truck to work and home and to work again. We'll see, knowing our lucky...probably not.

I have to work Friday night and the one nice thing about nights is sleeping in...um, not so much for me since I have to take him to work at 6:30 am. I'm debating letting him drive my car to his work then running there to get it before breakfast with Angie and Aimee. It's only 5 miles which is exactly the run I need and this'll make me do it or else, I'll be walking to breakfast and then to work!!!

Seriously though, if its not one thing then it's another, let's not mention that I missed all of Grey's! I also apologize if there are any Fs missing in my post, my F button randomly decides when to work. Have a good weekend...I hope mine is better than my Thursday night!

Thoughtless Thursday...

...this post is thoughtless because at 9 o'clock last night, I realized I didn't have a post scheduled for today and I was too tired to think of anything. So here's an old school pic of when my family used to be just me and Emma Dilemma and yes, my hair was really that blonde and yes, my hair was really that short!

Love ya Emma! You've seen me through so many good times and bad times and never left my side. You're the best pupper doggie in the world!!! (next to Shadow and everyone else's pupper dogs whose are the absolute best too! We'll call it a multi-way tie!). Happy Thursday!

Fall is Coming and I've Got a Giveway For You!!!

...hey there blog friends near and far!!! Fall is quickly approaching and I just love this time of year...the cool down from summer, the long evenings, kids back in school, the gorgeous colors of fall...I just love it all! So to help YOU all love it too (and I think many of you already do), I'm going to do a giveaway for THREE lucky winners!

The first is a small (maybe 10 x 10 inch) wall hanging that my momma made, perfect for a not-to-scary Halloween decoration.The next is this scarecrow material bag, again made by my momma. This would be perfect for storing your Halloween treats to hand out.

And last but not least is this cream colored (sorry the lighting is awful and please don't look at the ugly wood paneling in our kitchen) metal pumpkin bag. Also good for treats but probably better on the front porch with a tea light in it.

So here's how to entire the giveaway:

1. Become a follower and leave a comment letting me know that you follow.

2. Post about it on your blog and leave me a link so I can check it out (and others can go visit your blog if they haven't already!).

3. Let me know which giveway you would prefer (wall hanging/scarecrow bag/metal bag) and why and/or let me know what you love about fall!

I will keep this giveway open until Thursday, September 30 and announce winners either that following Friday or Monday.

Remember three winners and three chances to win!!! Thanks for playing!!!

Tuesday Tidbits...

...some tidbits...

*Used a new hairdresser on Saturday and I LOVE HER!!! She was fast, personable and I loved my hair when I left. My only complaint is that I left with a bloodshot eye because she got shampoo in my hair-holy crap that hurt!

*Sunday I was supposed to run with Ang, bike with Aimee then run again with my friend Matt B. but the crazy rain, thunder, lightning cancelled all that!

*Matt and I went to dinner last night with Amy and Chris at Trailhead. It was great to get together with them and I have to email her to set up dinner for next month sometime! She's such a sweetheart because she brought me a "happy bag" filled with all sorts of goodies. She's trying to get my hooked on Lush Lip Scrub and from just the smell of it, I think it's going to work! It's great to have good friends like these two.

*I have a lot of people coming to our house for the first time in the next couple weeks which totally stresses me out! I am always comparing our house to other people's and in my mind, ours never measures up...our house is old, not decorated enough, small and I think sometimes it smells funny. It's seriously all I can think about though!!! So if you're one that's coming over, don't be hurt if I make the tour a quick one, ok?

*My mom is coming up this weekend and we're going to see Shrek with Jess and her mom. Best part? Well aside from great company and going to the Fox...we're having dinner at the Fountain!!!

*I finally got Google Analytics connected. It's actually quite funny some of the info it brings up and scary some of the other stuff. Anyways, its been nice because I've gone back through and edited posts to take out my email and stuff like and our last name but it's still coming up in Google search even after I delete it...any idea how to change that?

*Another shout out for help! We have a point and shoot Pentax camera with 8 megapixels. The thing took great pics until Labor Day weekend then all my pics after that have been really grainy. Think I changed a setting or something? If so, what should I check? We got it in December 2007 and it's been through A LOT so it might just be on it's last leg. Some of the other functions on the camera aren't working that great. It'll be interesting to see how they print out. Any help/advice/feedback would be greatly appreciated!

*This week is just crazy busy in general. Period. The End. I love it!

Wedding 2/7...

...in two months, Matt and I have been invited to SEVEN weddings!!! We only declined two (one because I'll be in Florida for a wedding and the other because we both have to work) and we're splitting up to cover two in the next couple weeks. So this wedding was #2 of the 7 we were invited to (might I also add, I think I'm going to go broke buying all these gifts!!!).

Saturday's wedding was for Trish and Keegan...OMG! They had the BEST deacon marry them, he was hilarious, personal and kept everyone's attention. They got married at a small Catholic church in Marthasville. I'm not Catholic so please answer this question, why do all Catholic churches have giant poles placed throughout the pews so you can't see the service? I was practicially in the guy's lap beside me trying to take pics of Dani doing her reading. Oh well, at least the deacon was entertaining so I was able to pay attention without seeing anything.

One of the best parts about the wedding is that Dusty is home!!! Remember, he's our friend that was in Iraq? Well, he finished his tour and came home knowing his contract with the Army was up and ready to come home. They kept pushing his date back further and further and he kept missing all sorts of fun stuff like the fair, his welcome home party (which we postponed), weddings, etc...He finally got home Thursday for good and we're all so excited!!! Here he is with his momma, wow-this boy has really grown up since he's been away! Here's Mattie and I after the wedding. I love this outfit, feel very ANTM in it but I always look so pale when I wear it...note to self, get some tanning lotion and put on before wearing this! Here are the shoes I wore, I know I've shown them on the blog before, but I was excited because they matched my running shoes! Don't mind Matt in the background who was putting on his shoes and making fun of me. After the wedding, we went over to Monica and Colby's to pass the 2 hour gap between the ceremony and reception. They have such a cute house, cute dog and awesome dip recipes! We weren't even hungry by the time we got to the reception! We even got moved to the family reserved table (hey-we're basically adopted into this family!) and got to eat first but none of us got very big plates. Monica and I chatted the whole night, wondered why we didn't hang out more (the whole living an hour away from each other played into it), made sure the boys had each other's phone numbers and agreed to FB friend each other!

Monica and Scott brought an air horn to the reception (an inside joke of sorts) and beeped it at just the right time. When Trish and Keegan were making their rounds and found out our table was responsible for it, she absolutely LOVED it! I love Trish, her personality came out throughout the whole reception and she's got really great friends.

The wedding was about an hour from home, so Matt and I left about 9 because we were both getting up early (as in before 6AM). Well, it took us almost an hour and a half to get home because of the massive storms going on. When we finally made it to 70, everyone had on their flashers and seriously, we were going 20 mph!!! Once the rain cleared up, I'm pretty sure I took a little siesta for about 10 minutes and no, I wasn't the one driving! Here is a view from inside the truck, Matt was like, "Holy crap! I can't see anything. This is insane!" So for him to say it, you know it was bad!

So congrats Trish and Keegan. We wish you many, many years of happiness and laughter. Thanks for letting us be a part of your wonderful day!!!

Sunny Day Sunflowers...

...back to Labor Day again, at the farm there was a huge sunflower patch and it just totally blew my mind!?! Here's a picture of me, at all of 5'4, in front of the flowers. They are about 8 feet tall. I'm also holding the head of the flower in my hand...yeah, it's definitely bigger than my head!Later in the afternoon, I took the sunflower and decided to try out some different angles and setting on my camera. I think this is my favorite one with the chair in the background.

So what do you think? How'd I do? Have I mentioned how much I LUST for a DSLR? One day...maybe...one day...

Oh How I LUST...

...yes, my friends I LUST after a DSLR camera. At Beth's Bridal Shower, Ash let me play with her DSLR. Here are just a few pics that I got that I liked.

This one is my fave!

So thank you Ash for letting me play! What do you guys think? Not too bad for not owning one, having never read a manual or knowing what I was doing, huh? Tell me what you love about your DSLR and where's the best place to get one. One day, not any time soon, but one day, I'll have one too!

Puppy Post...

...all these pics were taken at the farm on Labor Day. Just some fun pics of my pups. I love this one because Shad looks like he's smiling!Me petting Shad telling him he's a good dog...

This is where Emma spent most of her day, behind the wood stove hiding from anything loud.

My all-time favorite farm and Shadow picture ever. This could be the cover of a dog magazine!!!

The pups chillin' lakeside...

Oh thing for sure about when we take them to the farm is that they get TIRED!!! Hope you all enjoy my puppy pics!

A "Come to Jesus" Run...

Well people, I survived the "furtherest" run I've ever done...19.6 miles! I ran from St. Charles all the way to Defiance on Saturday morning. Yes, the day before the CHAD's Coalition race. I'm not going to lie...it was hard, it sucked, I wanted to quit but I amazed myself because I had a smile on my face pretty much the entire time.

I started off with Angie and Matt D. (a DM friend) breaking the rules of the Katy Trail and starting at 6am before daylight hours-oops! I hung with Ang and Matt for about the first 1.5 going at an 11:30 pace. As you can tell (it took me 5 hours and 33 minutes to finish), I obviously didn't keep at that pace too long. My foot/leg went numb for just a little bit then it finally went away. I had this issue when I ran last weekend. It might have been numb more during the rest of the run but my whole body was numb so I didn't care.

At the Page Road, I tried out my organic fruit snacks (Honey Stingers) and offered them to Matt and Angie. Matt denied because he wasn't into organic. I quickly informed him that neither was I, I mean I'm the first to grab the Ding Dong out of the box, I was just looking for gels and snacks without caffeine. I then told them both that the fruit snacks weren't what I was expecting, I was thinking it would be more like the fruit snacks in my lunch...you know dinosaur shaped. Matt said that being healthy should be fun so I might write them a letter informing them that fruit snacks should be made in the shape of running shoes. Side note here: I also tried Hammer Gel and I think that this stuff without caffeine doesn't do much for me. Yeah, it's got sugar but I think my sugar intake is high enough that a couple fruit snacks aren't going to do much for me.

The next running partner that met me was Trent AKA the secondary husband. Poor Trent, when Matt's not available, I am always asking him for rides home, to run races with me or to bring me water. So he was stuck running the next 6.2 with me. Unfortunately, him being at well over 6 ft and me at 5'4, well...my run was more his walk. So he walked with me while I ran and then he'd run ahead and double back to me. We saw Matt D. when he looped back and, of course, he caught us on a walking/snack break...never fails!

Sarah was the next running partner to meet; however, she went to the wrong location. So she ran to me and I was by myself for about 1.5 miles in which I walked the whole time. Once Sarah caught up, she refreshed me with water and we chatted until we met up with Holly.

Holly and Sarah both ran part of the last 3.1 with me. Holly was a good coach, telling me I could only walk for a minute and half and then we had to get back to running. By this point though, my run was really more of a shuffle which was maybe a half second faster than my walk. She also informed me when I was complaining about my body aching, not tired, just that achey feeling that won't go away, that pain is weakness leaving the body. I responded with, "Well I have a LOT of weakness then!"

Once we reached Defiance, we stopped in the bike shop for an Orange Gatorade (always my drink of choice!) and then started the trek back to Weldon Springs where the car was. Seriously, I didn't know if my body had it in me to make it but we eventually got back.

I got home, iced and hydrated and wondered how I'm going to get through the rest of this weekend including the 5k the next day. I wouldn't say that this went fast but it never was slow (except for the 3.1 mile walk back) and I was never bored. I think meeting different people along the way helped out...a lot!

I feel very awesome that I made it, definitely disappointed in the time but I think this was a "Come to Jesus" run. At this point, I HAVE to do the full...for me, there's no turning back. This run told me that it's going to suck and be hard and I'm not going to be able to move but as long as I finish then that's all that matters. OH and I've already made up my mind, I will NEVER do a marathon after this one! And for Sherrie (my awesome running partner whose going to be by my side during the full marathon), my toenails are painted pink right now so I can't tell yet if any have turned black! FYI-Sherrie ran in the Patriot's Run on Saturday and ran 47.75 MILES in 9 hours and 11 minutes, she's a machine people and she's my hero!

So to finish up this note, here's my run in numbers:
0 trash cans along the Katy Trail
0 dead bodies but there was a lot of water along the trail so I might have missed one or two
1 time we thought we saw someone dumping a body
1 turtle that scared the bejeezus of out of me
2 snails...that passed me
1 time I thought Trent was going to jump out of the woods and scare me
2 crop circles I pointed out to Trent
2 times that Trent danced and sang for me (we were together for a LONG TIME)
4 bathrooms on the trail, a port-a-potty on a job site, two trail bathrooms and a fire hydrant
4 times that I squated to pee on the side of the trail
1 time I almost got caught peeing
2 times I wanted to quit
3 times I wanted to cry
5 awesome running partners
AND...
19.6 freakin' miles people!!!

CHADS Coalition 5k with Runners 4 Luke...

...Sunday morning, I woke up bright and early ready to take my Poppa to his first ever 5k race. I had just run 20 miles the day before (see post tomorrow) so I was a bit sore, tired and generally worn out but I was excited to see our great team and help my Butchie get through his race. Cecilia was the first blog friend I saw. Her hub had woke up sick and didn't make it but she showed up and kicked some major 5k butt! Unforunately, she had to get home after the race to tend to her sick hubby.

Aimee and her husband, Shine, decided to walk the 5k with us. The girls took the lead while my dad and Shine hung back and discussed taxes or something like that. I could tell by the way he was limping that his leg was bothering him so I kept asking him, "Daddy, are you okay?" He'd grimace and say I'm walking, aren't I? I'd say, "Good because we're too far away from the finish to quit!"

Aimee and I kept walking then we'd stop and wait for the boys. Probably around the 2.5 mile mark, there was a volunteer blaring "Eye of the Tiger" so I turned around and yelled, "Poppa-you're a champ! Come on!" Then I start dancing around like Rocky-not a GREAT idea as I'm still very, very sore from my 20 miler yesterday (so glad I decided to stick with my dad instead of running the 10k like I'd originally signed up for). I'm glad I got out and walked today to stay loose. We finally got to mile 3 and I asked my dad if he wanted to run the last tenth, I could tell he was still limping and he said I should be happy he made it this far! So I let him, Aimee and Shine go ahead of me and I snapped a picture of them crossing the finish line then I hopped across the finish line myself. He was very proud of himself and I was even prouder. He even mentioned that he might do another one with me sometime! Runners 4 Luke won for the biggest team there with 56 teammates so we were treated to pie and ice cream-definitely my kind of recovery snack!

Here is a pic of the gang that rode with us to the race: Trent, Amber, her puppy Carmella, Jenny and me

My Butchie and me-I love him so much and yes, we look exactly alike! We may have come in dead last but we won a pie!!! Pear cobbler with cranberry streusel. Matt was so happy when we brought it home for him!

Bekah (Luke's sister), Angie (Luke's mom) and me after the raceThanks to everyone who came out to celebrate Luke's 17th birthday with us and for supporting CHADS Coalition. Put it on your calendars for next September!!!

Labor Day at the Farm...

...this past Monday, we spent Labor Day at the farm. Any time that I normally go to the farm, I take a book but never have time to read it. Of course, this time I forgot my book and it was perfect weather and I had PLENTY of time to read...oh well! It was still a good time.

Splitting wood is a family affair and Shadow makes a great supervisor!Watermelon and pumpkin from the farm garden. I really wanted Matt to hold the watermelon so I could make the caption, "I carried a watermelon." Move quote...anyone know it? It's an easy one!

Shadow got some lovin' from his grandma Star:

After splitting wood, picking the garden and eating lunch, we did a little bit of fishing. Gummy worms did not help me out this time but Matt got one! His sister and dad did good too.

Then they ended the afternoon with some clay bird shooting. I have more pictures to post because I entertained myself trying to take some cool, different photos. And yes, Emma went with us but she was being a major brat! She spent most of her time inside the farm house hiding behind the wood stove because of the noise from the guns, log splitter and anything else that made a loud noise. I still love her but what a baby!!!

PS-Happy birthday Butchie!

Newest G Card...

...well, it's a new season and you know what that means, right? New G Cards at Michael's!!! You can read here if you have no idea what I'm talking about. This past week, I had to go watch Haley for about an hour for my sister so we went shopping. My sweet, little Hay Hay bought me the newest G Cards with her debit card (long story, I'll save it for another time). Not in love with these new ones but they have been added to the collection and I actually already used one!She was also really excited about her Michael's coupon too-can you tell?

Dog Beds!!!

...whenever I go to visit my mom, we always have some sort of craft project to do. She amazes me because she can always whip out a project in no time. This time, I brought down some old jeans that had holes in them or were fringed at the bottom (AKA-no good for Goodwill) and we made this (front):

Back:
What is it? DUH! A dog bed!!! Shadie likes it. This one is for the living room/bedroom. She also made one for each of them to go in their cages that is stuffed with old fabric. She saves all her bits and pieces of fabric and when she has enough, she makes dog and cat beds for the animals at the Humane Society. When they get adopted, they get to take one home with them.

One bad, well I guess it depends on how you look at it, thing about going to mom is that I always come back with a full car. Good thing Matt wasn't with me this time because I barely had room for Emma! Here she's sticking her up up from behind the new dog pillow for me to see her:

Since she was kind of crowded, I rolled the window down while we were on the back roads to the interstate. She loves the feel of the wind in her hair:

What's something you always come home from your parents with? Happy Hump Day ya'll!

Beth's Bridal Shower...

...this past Saturday, my good high school friend Beth had her bridal shower at Twin Oaks Winery. Why does that place sound so familiar? Because that's where I got married!!! I love this place, if you ever go please have a glass of the Two Brothers for me. Check out this bright, and oh-so-yummy, cake: After visiting, we started the games. The first game was to see who could make the most words of of Beth's full name. Of course, she won-she's been practicing this for 28 years!?! Here's my mom's list...check out #13...

The next game was "How Well Do You Know Beth and Casey?" Thank goodness I went to Casey's softball game the other weekend because I beat Ash by one point because I knew the name of his softball team. Woohoo!!! I know Beth best and I'm excited about it!

Then Beth opened gifts. My mom and I got Beth the rice cooker she wanted and duh-rice to go with it!!! Here she is with her gift and her neices helping her dispaly all the rice: A group shot of the gang from high school, some of them weren't able to make it but here's who was there: Beth, Ash, Jess and me:

Always a good time when I get together with these girls and this time was no different. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make her bachelorette party but I did just find out the other day that I'm going to be able to make her wedding in Florida!!! Watch out Florida, you've got some crazy girls headed your way. Congrats Beth and Casey! Can't wait to see you as a bride!