The Fish Rodeo...

On Saturday I helped Garet with the "Fish Rodeo". I know what you are thinking, and I had no clue what it was either! Garet had to be there at 4 in the morning, yep 4:00 AM. I told him I would volunteer to help out, so I didn't have to be there until about 7:45. (If I haven't mentioned before, Garet is a District Executive for the Boy Scouts, so that is what this was all about.) He was working the whole time. I was put in charge of one of the stations - the boys had to label and draw a fish. It was SOO cute! There were so many little kids in their scout uniforms! It was adorable! The kids just fished and got judged on the biggest, smallest, ugliest, etc. The weather was perfect, and they grilled hot dogs for everyone for lunch. Have I mentioned how cute all of these kids were!!! They were so excited when they had a fish. It was a lot of fun, but we were exhausted by the time we got home!

Oh, and I just heard that the Panther's won!! WOO HOO! Go Carolina!

Walking...

Garet, Suzi, and I love going on walks! We have been trying to go on one everyday when we get home from work. Since it is cooling off it has been wonderful weather for a walk! Suzi knows what it means too... if you say "walk" around her she gets SO excited! Anyway, yesterday we went down the street a little ways to a nature preserve. There is a nice little trail that we went for a walk on.

This is our view the entire walk :)

Garet and Suzi - look how pretty the trees are!

Fall...

Look what I did -
I was feeling a little Martha Stewartish, and I made a fall wreath. I know it isn't "officially" fall yet (I think it starts tomorrow), but I was just in the mood to get it started this weekend. I went out and bought some fall flowers and candles to put around the house. I have been wanting to start hanging wreaths, but with the little space we have between our front door and storm door I didn't know if I would be able to. Garet had the bright idea to make our own. I thought he was out of his mind, but really it wasn't too hard. I am definitely a summer girl, but I am actually ready for the cooler weather to get here!

Weekend at the barn...

One of my kinda part-time jobs is to house/horse sit for this couple when they go out of town on the weekends. They have 3 horses, 1 pony, 1 donkey, 1 dog, cats, fish, and birds. I go out stay at their house and take care of all of them. I love it! We found out early on that their dog, Rex, doesn't like our little princess, Suzi. Because of this Garet is never able to stay out there with me because he has to take care of Suzi at home - lucky for us we are blessed with wonderful friends that babysat Suzi. Thanks Taylor and Amanda!! Suzi had a great time and from their report, was a good dog! (whew, I was a little nervous about it!)

Anyway - I took a lot of pictures while I was out there, mainly just of the horses :) you can click here if you want to see those. Garet came out and I put him to work on Saturday - he got to muck stalls, get hay, brush down the horses, fill water buckets, and many other fun barn stuff! I think he had a good time!

The weather was BEAUTIFUL on Saturday! Sunday it was pretty gross, it rained most of the day. It is really nice being out there because it is so relaxing! They have a great piece of land, there is even a creek that runs along the back edge of the property. I just love hanging out with the horses! Here is a picture of Traveler - he is the one that I normally ride when I'm out there.

Even though it is work, I really enjoy it. I can just sit and watch all the animals doing their thing for hours! But it is nice to get back home! When I got home Sunday Garet had rented a movie so we got to hang out on the couch and eat popcorn and watch a movie on the rainy Sunday night. It was great!

Sun Times...

When we lived on St. John there was a free magazine that started called "St. John Sun Times". It came out weekly and just gives updates and things to do, etc. It was neat to see what they put on the cover - it was always something clever. Well for the 2nd half of our honeymoon, Garet and I went back to St. John. The big "to do" on the island at that time was that there was a wild Puma on the loose. While we were hanging out with some friends the photographer for the Sun Times came around and asked me if I wanted to be on the cover? Duh! Yeah I did! :)

She assembled a few of us girls around one of our friends, Andy. The lady told Andy that he could do whatever he wanted to because his face was going to be covered up to look like a Puma! We had to leave island before that issue came out and I never saw it! My dear sweet husband has used his magic powers (and St. John connections) to find a picture of the cover for me! I was so surprised! Here is what it looks like:

Can you see me?? Here is a closer picture, I'm on the left...

Haha!! I just thought that was soo sweet that Garet tracked it down! I was obsessed with trying to find it after we got back to the states after our honeymoon. I tried to get my friends that were on island to mail it, and finally I gave up. Now here it is over 2 years later!

On another note - I will have to blog tomorrow about our weekend! I got to horsesit (yes I said horse) and Suzi had a puppysitter (thanks Owens!!!)

My [furry] baby...

Guess who's birthday is today???

Suzi turns 3 today! When Garet and I got home yesterday afternoon, we discovered a gift for Suzi on our front porch. It was a present from Riley! (our neighbors dog) How cute is that?! As you can see from the pictures, she LOVES it! She even slept with it last night.

Panthers...

So even though we don't live in North Carolina anymore - we still have to represent the Carolina Panthers! Here we are on our way to watch the game...
This afternoon was the first game of the season. We had to go out to watch it, because they don't broadcast those games on cable (unless Carolina is playing Tennessee or something). It is so odd to be here where no one knows what you are talking about when you say that your team is the Panthers. Everyone here is either Alabama or Auburn - and you must be one of those. Garet and I are still undecided :) But that is seriously the first thing people ask you here, "Alabama or Auburn?" Anyway, it was great to watch the game - and they won!! GO PANTHERS!

New stuff...

Last week sometime, Garet and I got a new picture for our living room. I love it! I tried to take a picture so you could see it in our whole living room. I should have gotten it close up, but you can still see it. Eventually we want to get a recliner to go under it.
We also got this cross -

Laptops...

So... here we are one night on the couch...

I just have to say, normally I don't get on the computer much at home - but for some reason this night I did. So, Garet got his work computer and sat down beside me. I just had to get a picture! =)

Canoe Trip...

Saturday morning Garet and I went on a canoe trip down the Flint River. It is about 15 minutes from our house. There were about 5 different couples that went. We put the canoe's in at one point in the river, then about 3 1/2 hours later a guy picked us up down the river and drove us back up to where we started (where our car was). It was so much fun! Here are a few pictures of us on the ride down...

Of course, I had to do one of Garet's shots since I was in the front...

About half way down Garet and I "pulled over" and ate lunch. While we were sitting there we heard a big splash - and it was a baby deer! I tried to get my camera out to get a picture, and this was the best I got...

This was at the end, we were the first ones down.

We had a lot of fun! There were a few small rapids (which were tons of fun!), but overall it was an easy, relaxing trip. We met a couple guys and their sons that went down with us. One of the dad's and his son flipped out of their canoe! I don't think the little boy was very happy, but at least they cooled off! The weather was hot, but we were in the shade for the most part. It was great!

Cookin'...

So, I bought this book:

I heard about it on t.v. or something, a long time ago. If you haven't heard of it, I'll explain. It is a bunch of recipes that you make with pureed veggies. Sounds gross? Well, it is actually a great idea!

I know what you are thinking - this book was made especially for moms so that they could "trick" their youngsters into eating healthy.... well - it works on adults too :)

I am first to admit that I strongly dislike most veggies. Since I try to eat pretty healthy, I have to make myself cook them. Well this way, I am eating things I like AND getting veggies! Oh and I get to use my food processor! I LOVE IT!

Just as an example: I made these chicken roll up things with pureed carrots and squash, and they were great, you couldn't taste the veggies in it at all! I am excited to try out all the other recipes!

How sweet...

We are definitely getting the rain from Hurricane Fay... This past Saturday Garet cut the grass and I worked just as long getting the grass/weeds out of my flowers! The yard looks tons better now! After lunch we had a social with our Sunday school class that afternoon. We had a really good time, we got to play some volleyball! The whole day the news kept telling us "it's going to rain, take your umbrella today, 'cause it's going to rain" - it didn't.

Sunday when we woke up, it was raining, nothing big though. By Sunday afternoon it was nice again, so I figured that was all we were going to get. Boy was I wrong!! Sunday night it started raining - all day yesterday it rained - today it is raining.... YUCK! And I mean like monsoon with wind and everything!

I don't know about you, but when it is nasty and raining outside, I just feel "blah", ya know what I mean? I'm not in a bad mood or anything - I just wanna curl up inside at home on my couch with my man and my puppy- oh and a movie or a good book, in my sweatpants... Anyway, that is how I've been feeling the past couple days with this RAIN!

So back to my title - Today, I had to run some errands for work, I didn't mind, but it was that gross misty rain when I went. Ya know the kind where you don't need an umbrella because it isn't raindrops, just a light mist. YUCK. So I called Garet to complain some :) Well after I got back to the office and got back to work, my sweet husband dropped by and gave me some flowers! He knew I was feeling "blah" and just wanted to brighten my day - and ya know what?

He did! How sweet is he?! I just love him!

Oh and guess what else? The sun's out now :)

The rest of our trip...

This past Sunday was my birthday. It really crept up on me this year - I was so busy thinking about traveling to Charlotte, and going to a wedding, that it didn't even really feel like my birthday was also happening! My family really made it special for me, it was really nice to spend time with them. My mom wanted to cook dinner (which was completely fine with me!!! :) I love home cookin') We had my uncle and my brother and his girlfriend, Kailey over.

Everyone at the dinner table

Eric, Kailey, Me, and Garet

After everyone left, we were TIRED! I felt like we had been going non-stop for a couple days and it was all just catching up to us. We just layed down to watch some t.v... My mom snapped this picture.

On Monday, Garet and I were coming back here and my parents were leaving for vacation for a week. So we were all running around getting packed and making sure we didn't forget anything. They were traveling the same direction we were, so we just met up for lunch a couple hours down the road. Here we are before we left:

Mom and Me

Dad and Me

The Beane's

We had a wonderful time and it was so great to hang out with the family! And I had a great birthday! I feel so old ;) Garet and I both had Monday off, so this has been a short work-week which is fine by me!! I am sooo glad tomorrow is Friday!

Trip to Charlotte...

Garet and I made the trip to Charlotte over the weekend. Friday Garet had a meeting in Birmingham, so we didn't leave until he got back home from that. We ended up getting everything in the car, ate dinner, had showers and were in the car driving by around 8:30 Friday night. We had already decided we would stop at a hotel to cut the trip in half. On Saturday we were up and back on the road by 6:30, so we arrived at my parents house by 11:30 on Saturday afternoon. When we got there we both got showers and started to get ready for Justin and Jessica's wedding that night. Garet had to be there by 4:00 so we had time to relax for a bit. My cousin Christine stopped by to see us, I don't think I've seen her since Thanksgiving!!! Garet and I were all ready to go by 3:30 - and we were off to the wedding.

Here is Garet's famous photography move, at least he got everyone :)

Garet and I about to go to the wedding

Justin and Jessica

The Moore's

Me and Justine! This was my college roommate - I love her!

The next day, Garet decided he wanted to drive my dad's car [bus/van/truck?? I don't know what to call it] I should explain: My dad bought a Volkswagen Bus a while back - like maybe 10 years ago. He fell in love with them, and has since bought more, I think he has 4 of them now... anyway, they are all stick shift, so Garet wanted to see if he remembered how to drive stick - I HAD to snap some pictures of him!

Getting in the VW Bus

Peace Dude

We had fun! I will have to post the rest of the pictures tomorrow. It was great to see some of our old friends at the wedding - some of them I hadn't seen since college! And it was hilarious to see Garet driving around my dads car/bus! He had a good time once he got the hang of it.

More later...

See ya...

We are headed to Charlotte! Garet has a meeting today and I am at work, so after we get finished we are off!!! We have our bags packed, the dog has been on a walk, we just have to get everything into the car. It is going to be a fast and BUSY trip - but I am really excited to see my family! And my birthday is Sunday, so it will be extra nice to be able to hang out with the family for that =)

Have a good weekend!!

The Storm Door...

I can't believe I haven't talked about our weekend on here yet! We had a great, productive weekend! Garet was here the WHOLE weekend, which I loved! We had his dinner for work on Friday night, which was lovely.


Saturday morning, after breakfast, we started on the storm door.... boy - that is a job! It took us at least 4 -5 hours to finish the whole thing! NOTHING was done when we took it out of the box. I would think at least there would be a door hinge or something done, but no, we did it all (go us!!) I am sooo happy with it!

before

This is me doing all the work ;)

And here is the finished product!

That took up ALL of our Saturday morning, and after lunch we mowed the lawn, weedwacked, went grocery shopping, and chilled for a little bit. Then we headed out to meet some friends for dinner. THEN we went to see The Dark Knight. Good movie. Heath Ledger was great. I agree with everyone else =)

On Sunday, after church, our neighbor invited us along with our new neighbors over for a cookout. It was really nice to chat and get to know each other. So we had a very busy weekend - which lead to a busy week. I am going to enjoy this afternoon with having NOTHING to do!! Yay! Then this weekend we are headed to Charlotte for a wedding! I'll leave you with our sweet little puppy in the window...

How cute is she looking through the storm door???

Dinner...

Well last night Garet and I got to go to dinner with Homer Hickam and his wife Linda. If you don't know him, he wrote the book Rocket Boys which led to the movie October Sky. (An awesome movie if you haven't seen it!) It is actually a true story about his life. Crazy how we met up with Homer....

When we were back on St. John for our anniversary 2 months ago, we ran across our good friend Debbie. We were literally on our way to return our rental car and jump on the ferry to leave the island and head home. Debbie had been off island while we were there, so it was just a crazy chance that we saw her walking into town our last day there. We stopped to chat for a bit, and she mentioned that she had met Homer Hickam and his wife a few weeks earlier. Turns out Homer owns a house on St. John and he lives here in Huntsville! She told us that we must meet up with him.

Garet and I have a hard time remembering names (as I know most people do!) so we were trying to remember "Homer Hickam" on the drive back home after our trip. I was trying to find a good radio station, and as I was flipping channels we heard it, "Homer Hickam..." turns out he was doing a radio interview! How crazy! So long story short - Garet got their email address and we set up to have dinner and talk ISLANDS MON!

We had a really great time. The food and conversation was great. They are amazing people that really have very interesting stories to share! Again, if you haven't read the book or seen the movie, I highly recommend them!!

5 on Friday...

1. I mentioned that August if full of birthdays... well today is Garet's mom's birthday! She is celebrating in D.C.

This was when she was in town visiting us

Also... tomorrow is my best friend, Marsha's birthday! I have known Marsha since kindergarden - that's over 20 years!!!!!!!! Whoa! We became instant friends from the minute that I tied her shoe for her =) She is now in her last year of vet school, and I am soo proud of her! Happy Birthday Girl!!! LOVE YOU!

In Charlotte, the last time we saw each other

2. First let me mention that all week the temperature has been right around 100 degrees outside - At the beginning of the week my air condition went out on my car!!! I was turning, and all the sudden I heard a noise and water started dripping from under the dashboard onto my passanger side floor! I, of course, freaked out. My dad said just don't use the a/c and you should be fine until you can get it fixed- HA So, here I am driving around Alabama, in 100+ degree heat with no a/c! Luckly, once Garet got home he had time to get it fixed.

3. I posted on how Garet got home early and suprised me - well on Wednesday he was able to get off work early and surprised me with dinner! How sweet is that?! He grilled kabobs, corn, and made pasta salad, and muffins! I must admit, I was impressed! It was so sweet, and it was soo good. Even he couldn't stop talking about how good it was! I told him, since he was such a good cook, I'll let him cook more often =)


4. Tonight Garet has a dinner for work that I am invited to. So I am in a dress right now because I can't go home before we go to dinner. I feel so fancy! haha It should be nice, we are going to Bridgestreet, which is a really pretty area. It is always a good thing when you go to a nice resturant and you aren't paying!


5. I am sooooo happy it is Friday. I always am [duh] but this week, I really am - I just feel like it has been a long week! The weather is perfect!!! It is right above 80 degrees with a breeze -- I just want to go sit outside! And it is supposed to be this way alllllll weekend! Yay! We don't really have plans for the weekend. The only thing that is a must, is the stormdoor! Other than that, we may hang out with some friends Saturday night. So, I am excited to enjoy a relaxing weekend!

Surprised...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Garet has been out of town again. He was in Nashville for a big national meeting, and he wasn't supposed to get home until this afternoon - BUT he surprised me and came home last night =) sounds sweet right? Well let me set up the scene for you:

Garet's phone died like Monday afternoon and he didn't take his charger... so Monday evening and Tuesday all day he was using other people's phones to call me. Well last night (Tuesday) I was almost asleep, it was like 10:30 and Garet called from a friends phone. I barely remember our conversation... but we got off the phone saying "Good night, love you, see you tomorrow..." At about 12:30 p.m. I heard some banging (which ended up being Suzi's tail hitting the refrigerator - she gets really excited and her tail just starts flying around) I sat up and saw that a light had been turned on in the kitchen??? "How the heck did Suzi cut on the light??" I thought - So I jumped out of bed looked in the kitchen and saw a man!!! I screamed and fell down, giving my knee a scrape on the carpet in the process! Oh yeah, it was my sweet, wonderful, husband coming home early to surprise me. He couldn't call cause his phone was dead - boy was I awake after that!!!

Seriously, I am really glad to have him back =)

Overly Optimistic...

Garet and I bought a stormdoor months ago (really!) it has been sitting in our garage. I really want to put it up! So.... I thought, how hard could this be? I'm fairly handy. I can do it myself! I was so excited to think of the finished product! I got Garet's "How-To" books (we have 2 of them!) and I got all the tools that the box said I would need... screwdriver, nails, drill, hacksaw, tape measure... Cut open the stormdoor box and pulled out their directions. First thing it said, "Two people needed to install stormdoor." Whatever, I thought - I'll just take the glass out of the frame, that will make it much lighter - I am going to do this! Step 1: measure, Woo hoo, I can do that! Step 2: Place stormdoor on sawhorse (?? what tha??) Did I mention it was about 100 degrees outside? So, I kept trying... Step 2a: Get the "Z" looking thing (so I don't remember the technical name...) and align with the top of the door. At this point, I was soaked with sweat. The door is HEAVY and there was no way I was able to pick it up and "align" anything.... so.... I put everything back in the box, and taped it up really good, and propped it back up against our garage wall, and went inside. =( I told Garet this was a priority when he gets home!!

Hey, I tried right...