Redneck Tour of Alabama!

I woke up bright and early this morning to join Mama, Daddy, David, & Susan. We went to the redneck capital, Collinsville. We got several good deals, laughs, and some fresh produce. Then on to Catfish Cabin for lunch. Next was our bent-n-dent grocery tour. I really find these stores very interesting! You just never know what you'll find or where you'll end up! My favorite bent-n-dent was the one where we are driving through a residential area and then pull up to a single-wide trailor that has a banner hanging on the side that says, "SALVAGE GROCERY"! Do, what? Yep, only David would find a place like this! When you walk up the front porch steps there is a handwritten sign (on white copy paper) that says, "Not responsible for any accidents." I asked Mr. David what kind of place is he brining us to? The whole place just cracked me up and I found some bargains! While waiting for the C.'s, I sent Jared a text about the place I was at. He asked me to take pictures. I will try to get them off of my phone later. I loved my redneck tour! I better go. I got Jared some purple hull peas that need to be shelled!

October

Well a lot has been going on, but none of it too interesting to post about. Also, I have been a lazy blogger! I want to do better!
Oct.2- I had a good birthday. Jared and I went out to eat and to exchange the alarm clock. I needed one with bigger numbers on it. I'm practically blind, you know! :) I had two students get me a gift. One got me a candle that smells so good you could eat it and another one gave me a generous gift card to Ruby Tuesday. How thoughtful!

Oct. 3- We went out with the regular Friday night crowd at The Fish Market. Pam and Joseph gave me their gifts. Both gave me one of those sentimental, bring a tear to the eye, picture frames. I love them both! Pam's says "Sisters, There is a special friendship shared only between sisters." Joseph's says,"Some people come into your life and end up changing your world." What great siblings! My parents gave me some money, a sterling and gold bracelet, and a scarecrow.

Oct. 4- Jared and I got up early to travel to Brundidge. We got there in time to eat Crowe's chicken. Crowe's is only found in Brundidge and Troy and it is better than Guthrie's and Zaxby's! They have their own sauce that is also delicious! Then, the Davis's all came over, and Jared's Aunt Kay, to watch Alabama football. We basically ate all day and had great fellowship. Adie is a doll and just beautiful!

Oct. 5- Homecoming at Hamilton Crossroads Church of Christ- We had a super day! We were fed til we couldn't eat no more :) Jared's mom made her famous, delicious spaghetti. We got to see Jared's Uncle Joe, cousin Samantha and her husband Richard, and their three kids who are adorable! We also got to see other "family" too, Rena and Jace (I think he was born smiling and laughing), as well as, Brian, Jennifer, Adie, Reba, and Frank. We traveled back to Sylvan Springs for church only to find out that Josh and Katie were expecting! Yay! They are such good parents to Hannah and will definitely continue that with the new baby!

Oct. 10- We visited with the Courington crowd at the hospital. Mary was doing awesome so all were joyous and boisterous as we visited! way to go Mary, you are amazing!!!

Oct. 11- Jared said that this could be my day because Alabama had an off week. We went to the Mazer's tent sale, just cause we like looking, then on to Sam's (had to renew that membership- love the place!) Next, we went to target to get Lila a birthday gift and some type of furniture to hold dvds. We found both and headed over to Andy's. I had not yet seen their apartment. It is very nice! We visited with Andy for a while and then ate at The Cheesecake Factory. Honestly, the food was nothing to write home about, but the cheesecake was! That evening we came home and Jared put together the video tower/bookcase/whatever you want to call it.

Oct. 12- Lila's first birthday party! It was a nice event!


Oct. 13- We had a professional day at work, no kids, but classes for the teachers! I got another birthday gift from a student, several of those new pocket hand sanitizers from Bath and Body Works. They are so cool! I had to sit all day through a medication dispensing workshop. Boring! Like I want another thing I could be liable for??? Anyhow, now I am a Medications Assistant, for whatever that is worth!

Oct. 14- I got another birthday gift from a student, a clipboard and pen that are pink polka dotted with my initial on them. Very Cute!


Oct. 17- Jared's parents and Granny came to visit. We ate with them, as well as, the regular Friday night crowd, at Dale's. Jared's family stayed with Andy and Jenny. Jared and I both were sick and ended up coming on home. We were exhausted!

Oct. 18- We woke up early and headed to Starbucks for some fuel before going over to the church for a door knocking campaign. Jared and I were paired up with Josh, Katie, and Hannah. We worked hard and Hannah brought much entertainment. At two years old, she has knocked on doors inviting others to church, both of her years of life! Awesome! At a young age, she is learning what is important in life as well as other Biblical principles! When we were finished, we met the Sanders at Newk's for lunch. Then we went back to Andy and Jenny's to watch the Alabama play some football. My favorite part was the scrumptious brownies Jenny made! We ate supper with them all at Logan's. Jared's family stayed with us. We came home and got settled and began cooking for the fellowship meal on Sunday.

Oct. 19- We got up early to get the whole crew showered and so Jared could cook his dish. Today began our fall revival with Kerry Richardson. He did an outstanding job, all week long! It was so cute how Kerry's son, Sawyer, and Xander hit it off! It was an instant friendship! That night, we hosted the Area-Wide Youth devotional, as well as our Gospel Meeting. BUSY! We fed and hosted 178 people!

Oct. 20-22- Our very uplifting Gospel Meeting!

Oct. 24- I am posting now so I can hurry and scramble to be ready! It's time to go eat with the regular Friday night crowd!!! Have a good weekend!

Sweet Husband

Today my husband got me an early birthday present! Earlier this week my alarm clock died and I have been having a hard time picking out a new one. I'm very picky with an alarm clock. Anyhow, I got home from work today and found the Sony i pod docking station alarm clock, already set up! The best part is that he's the one who read all the firections and figured out how to work it. Now he can fill me in on what I need to know! Anyhow, we will see if it is too complictaed for my taste or not. :) I feel lucky!
Last night Jared and I went to eat at Logan's for my birthday. I've been craving the cajun shrimp. Delicious! We did a little shopping, but not much. I just wasn't in the mood to buy anything, nothing was that appealing; however, we did buy 2 Christmas gifts.
Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

We had our house painted this week. Jared has always hated the yellow house with green trim. Well, we needed some places fixed on the exterior of the house, so we had it repainted rather than try and match the old paint. We like the new look, although we wish the blue trim were a littler darker. Overall, though, we are pleased and the house looks "like new!" Enjoy the before and afters!

Before:






After:

A Relaxing Saturday

Today has been a nice day, no plans, just diddle dallying around and doing what I want. Jared has been in front of the tv all day watching football game after football game. Casey is here, too. They make me laugh listening to them cheer and holler, not for every game, just The Tide; however, they enjoy all football games, they just really get into Alabama games more.
Joseph called to see if I wanted to go to the bookstore and I said, "Sure!" He, Pam, and Xander came and got me and off we went. We had a nice time. Joseph got a book more on his age level, while I spent my time in the kids section with Xander the whole time. Pam was with us most of the time, but she did visit her age group of books and the cookbook section. We got coffee/hot chocolate/frozen cappucinos at Joe muggs before stopping at Wendys. I bought a Halloween tape of silly songs and we rocked out to that. I let Xander borrow it for the night because he was really enjoying it. It was a relaxing evening with my siblings and our man, Xander!
Looking at all of the Halloween books really got me ready for the holiday! I love Halloween! I want to play fun games at our church Trick-or-Trunk this year, especially because you can only get away with doing so much for Halloween in the public school system. I've read about several fun games and things to do. When I was little, we always had Halloween parades to go to. We also got to wear costumes to school and have a Halloween party and a costume contest. Now we have none of that and I have to get real creative to celebrate the fun with my students.
Tomorrow we have a Lads-to-Leader/Leaderette work day at the church followed by the Area Wide Youth Devotional at Hoover Church of Christ. Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Yay Alabama, Crimson Tide!

Saturday Jared, Andy, Casey, and I went to the Alabama football game against Western Kentucky. We left early and got there around 1 PM. We found a parking spot and walked around looking at the booths and booths of Alabama stuff to buy. Jared got me a visor because it was sooo hot. Then we went to the Paul "Bear" Bryant museum where Jared read everything there was to read. The best part was it was air conditioned; however, I did enjoy reading about the history of the team. Andy walked through fast, but not Jared, like I said, he read everything and he goes about once a year! There was a CW tent outside the museum giving away free hotdogs, no catch! I'm not a hotdog lover, but I was hungry, so I partook. Then we began making our way back to the stadium trying to find Casey. He had to come later because he had to work. The game was good and we had excellent seats- 50 yard line 6th row back! Casey got his seat cushioned autographed. He was so excited! Jared asked him who signed it and grinning as big as day said, "I have no idea, but it's an autograph!" We deciphered that it was a former AL player who was visiting. The weather turned cool and breezy after the 1st quarter which was nice because I was feeling a little dehydrated. I had to give in and buy a $4 water. Money well spent! After the game, we went to eat at Chili's and then came home. Great company and good fun!

Happy Birthday!

I cannot let the day go by without saying Happy Birthday to my daddy! Today is his birthday and Kent's too! Happy Birthday Twins! Also, while I was on blogging hiatus, I missed telling my mama happy birthday; however I did tell her in person, we did celebrate it! So... Happy Birthday Mama!

This is cheesy, but I like it!



Two GREAT parents!

Ladies Day, Faulkner Football, and Hannah

Our Ladies Day was a huge success! Mrs. Fletcher did a terriffic job! Her talk was encouraging and interesting! That evening, Pam, Joseph, Jared, and I went to Samford to see the Faulkner Eagles play. They were being slaughtered! Needless to say, we left after the third quarter. Oh well! Sunday, as we were leaving church, I told Hannah bye. She looked up at me and said,"I wanna go with you." I just smiled at her and told her bye again. She, again, took her cup from her mouth and looked at me with those gorgeous blue eyes and said, "I wanna go with you." I looked over at Jared and then told Hannah to ask him. She walked over to him and said, "I wanna go with you." Jared told her to ask her mommy. She went over to her mommy and said, "I wanna go with Jared." So, we put her in the car and took her home with us! We first had to make a stop at Wal-Mart for some toilet paper or as Hannah called it, "paper." On the way there she started saying she wanted to see Barney. Since we don't have any Barney movies we told her she could get one at the store. So, she walked in to Wal-Mart calling for Barney (loudly) and then looking at us and saying, "Where is he?" We finally spotted a Barney movie, but then Clifford caught her eye and we ended up taking him home instead. We had a good afternoon with her, watching Clifford, riding the play horse, playing ball in the yard, singing "God is So Good" a dozen times on the kareoke machine, and playing her games she made up. She fell asleep on the way back to church and slept all through church. I wish I had taken pictures of her, but we were just too busy playing with her! Jared and I love our little friend Hannah!

Labor Day Fun

It would be crazy of me to recap the last two months, so I will blog as if I have been updating regularly.
This has been a very relaxing and fun weekend. Friday night we ate with our regular crowd at Logan's and it was delicious and the company was delightful! Saturday I ran some errands and then went with my parents to the Butterbean Festival. I did not eat any butterbeans, but did partake in the delicious roasted corn. It was worth the trip! Saturday night we got together at Pam's to work on the Ladies Day our church is having next Saturday- PLEASE COME: SYLVAN SPRINGS CHURCH OF CHRIST, BIRMINGPORT ROAD, SYLVAN SPRINGS, AL, 9 AM til lunch! Sunday we had 5th Sunday fellowship meal. Sunday night after worship sevices we stayed and had a game night. Lots of fun, especially to me because I love playing games! Today we got together at Pam's with my dad's family. As always, we had a great time. I love seeing my cousins! We played two games of Apples to Apples and laughed the whole time. Now we are at home just relaxing and enjoying the rest of our Labor Day. God bless the USA!

The Dog is back!

Just a quick blurb for The Dog: Dog the Bounty Hunter is back! His new season premiere is Wednesday night, July 16, 2008, at 8:00 PM! I'm not sure what channel,but I think it is back on A&E.

Father's Day, Trip to Ohio, and Xan Man

Well, I am a month behind in blogging, so here are the updates. June 15 was Father's Day, as you know, but we were coming home from Memphis so we celebrated it on Monday, June 16. Pam, Joseph, and Jared cooke while I took a nap! Joseph grilled steaks and veggie kabobs, Pam made potatoes, bread, & peach cobbler, and Jared grilled shrimp kabobs! I ate til I was full! We all chipped in and got dad the new Garmin. He loves it, especially with his job because he no longer has to take the time to do Mapquest, he can just go straight to his patient's homes. Happy Father's Day, Daddy!
We also got to be with my father-in-law on Father's Day! After evening worship services Mama, Daddy, Mr. Harry, Mrs. Becky, Granny Flowers, Aunt Beulah Mae, Jared, and I all went to eat at Cracker Barrel. It was nice to get to be together!
Our trip to Ohio was SO much fun! We got up at 3 AM to be at mom and dad's by 4 AM so John Brown could take us to the airport by 4:30 AM. We go to the airport to find out we had an hour delay which would make us miss our connecting flight in Memphis. They then tell us we could all split up and get on different planes arriving at different times in Columbus, Ohio, or we could all wait for the 2:30 PM flight. At this point, I began to whine, a little more than a 28 year old should, admittedly! I had to walk away, lack of sleep affects me! Mama began trying to see if there were any other options and Jared worked on charming the lady. Before we knew it, we were all being put on a different airline that would arrive in Ohio at the same time as the original flight! Yay! But it departs earlier than our original flight which means we are not crunched for time! We rush to check our luggage in. Then, because we had a last minute flight change, we get the patted down, wanded over, wand through the luggage security treatment which takes a lot longer than walking through a security booth. We made it! Barely! Now we when we landed in Chicago at O'Hare, we barely had enough time to make our connecting flight! Luckily there was a 20 minute delay. So, I had time to go to the restroom and get a Starbucks! We realized we were missing lunch and breakfast was abnormally early, so Joseph and I split a personal pan pizza for $7.00! Well, we made it to Columbus where my Uncle David picked us up and drove us an hour and 45 minutes to his home in Athens, Ohio. 39 of us stayed at Aunt Deb and Uncle David's! It was a blast! Friday we celebrated Joseph's 25th birthday with 2 cakes, 2 pies, and some specially made just for Joseph monkey bread, made with love by cousin Derek. He is such a sweetie, my Derek! He was a ring bearer in my wedding and now he is 16 years old! Saturday we celebrated Aunt Nay's 50th birthday with an orange (Harley Davidson orange) and pumpkin theme. She is my biker chick aunt so I made her a tote bag with Harley emblems on it. She only wears Harley and orange stuff! Sunday we all went to church and then a big group of family left. Monday most everyone else left. Everyone who left had driven except for Aunt Joyce so Aunt Deb, Grandma, Mama, Pam, and I all took her to the airport and then spent the day shopping and having lunch. It was very nostalgic. We spent many days shopping from morning to night with Aunt Debbie. She's a shop-a-holic! Tuesday we got up, played cards one last time and then were off for the airport. (We played cards the whole week!) No problems this trip. We arrived safely in B'Ham where Mr. David was waiting to take us home! Many memories were made and I can't wait til 2010 when we have our next family reunion at Grandma and Grandad's house in Connellsville, PA! For more photos check out my sister's blog!

Joseph blowing out the candles!


Aunt Renay opening her gifts!


Playing cards


Playing cards


Grandma acting silly!


Me and Dillion


Jared and Erica


Alyson, Aunt Jo, Pam, Donna, & Uncle David





I will post more pictures later.

Sunday, Xander came to our house after church. We had a fun time with the little guy! He wanted to play Wii with Jared. Xander is a true "super hero" lover. He knows his Marvel comic book characters, just like Jojo! They played Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Xander wanted to be Spiderman. He knew who most of the characters were. Here is a picture of Xander playing Wii with Jared.

Wedding

June 14, 2008

Today was a long day, but a good one! Everything went off without a hitch and Andy and Jenny are now married! The reception was held at the Memphis Zoo in the Northwest Passage at the polar bear exhibit! It was all so wonderful! My favorite part was the coffee/frappucino stands! I immediately snagged me a peppermint mocha frap! Below is the only picture I took. It's a picture of me and Jared on the tram at the zoo at the end of the night!

Rehearsal Dinner

June 13, 2008

This morning Jared's mom, granny, and I attended the bridesmaids luncheon. It was so thoughtful for Jenny to invite us. The hostesses were all so nice and the whole luncheon was so beautiful! While we were at the luncheon, Jared and some of his family went back down to the Peabody to see the Duck Walk. Jared forgot to take pictures. We're kind of alike in that way! Next they went to Rendezvous, a popular rib place in Memphis. Jared loved it and they ship it to you, so I feel come fall, Jared and Casey may be having Rendezvous while watching Alabama Football!
Later this evening, we went to the Midtown Church of Christ to practice for the wedding. It was good to see everyone! Then, we headed to The Spaghetti Warehouse for the dinner. Everything turned out beautifully!

Jared and I



Jared



Jared, Mr. Harry, Caleb, Brian, & Robbie



Jenny and Andy



Jared, Robbie, & Caleb

Leaving for Memphis for Andy & Jenny's Wedding

June 12, 2008


The city of Memphis! The view from the top of the Peabody Hotel. You can see the FedEx Forum (a domed sports arena for those who are like me and have no idea what it is) and the Mississippi River.


Jared and I got up, ran a couple of errands, and then set off for Memphis. We arrived around 3/3:30 pm and checked in to our hotel suite! It was a nice hotel and room (FYI: just me and Jared in a room for those who know what I'm talking about:). Jenny was so thoughtful and had gift bags for all the guests when they checked in. The bags were from the Memphis Zoo (site for the wedding reception) and contained 2 bottles of OJ, 2 bottles of water, 2 bags of microwave popcorn(we had microwaves and refrigerators in our rooms), Animal Crackers, Almonds, Cashews, Trail Mix, A Taste of Memphis candy bar, & some Elvis playing cards. oh, and directions to all the places we needed to go to for the wedding celebration, and some homemade chocolate chip oatmeal cookies (made by Jenny's mom), oh, and a nice note from Andy and Jenny, and I think that is all. I thought it was very thoughtful! We tried to get downtown to the Peabody Hotel to see the Duck Walk; however, we got there late and didn't get to see it at all. We did go to the 12th floor and walked out onto the roof to see the Duck Palace and the city. In doing this, we crashed a medical conference party, couldn't get a good look at the Duck Palace because there was a band set up and playing. Everyone was dressed in nice clothes and wearing name tags that said where they were from while us rednecks had on travel clothes! We had a good time making jokes about ourselves at any rate!


Me on the roof of the Peabody!

Then we went to the Edward's (Jenny's parents) for dinner. They served Corky's BBQ and it was delicious! Memphis's Corky's is the original; however there a few others. We have eatten at the one in Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge last summer at Andy's request. They also served us the regulars that go with BBQ, potato salad and baked beans. Besides the BBQ my other favorite was the cookies made by Jenny and Mrs. Edwards and a friend. Scrumptious! After that, Jared, his parents, Beulah Mae (Jared's 89 year old great aunt), and Granny went and picked up the flowers for the rehearsal dinner and I rode with Uncle Lewis (very funny man, Aunt Elaine (pronounced E-Layne), and Jessie. We went back to the hotel to visit with Tony, Ryann, Cade , Aunt Ann, Uncle Robert, and Aunt Kay. We had many good laughs, and then went to bed!

Happy Birthday Joseph!

June 9, 2008


We celebrated Joseph's birthday early since we will be in Ohio for his actual birthday. He wanted to go to the California Pizza Kitchen and boy was it good! Happy birthday, Hobo, I love you!

Six Sensational Years!

June 1, 2008



This is a picture of us on our wedding day, June 1, 2002.

Jared and I have been married for six years today! We didn't get a chance to celebrate because VBS starts today (we ended up celebrating the following Saturday with dinner at Macaroni Grill. It was delicious!) I must say that I am happily married to the most wonderful man who just so happens to be my very best friend! I love my husband and can't imagine my life without him! I love you, Jared!

Today we also celebrated 30 years of service for David and Susan C. and their work at the Maytown/Sylvan Springs Church of Christ! It was a very nice service! It is a rare thing for a preacher to stay at a church for that long. I hope everyone takes the time to be appreciative for the C.'s dedication to work at S.S. C. of C.! I know I am very thankful for them! They are like family to me and I love them very much! Thanks C.'s for all your work!

VBS started today as well. I am teaching the 2's & 3's, Pam is teaching the Cradle Roll, and Jared and Joseph are teaching the 3rd-5th graders. It was a great week, but very exhausting! Rachel G. and I had 8 children who were wild, but precious! I love them all, but they can wear you out! Over the course of the week we had several misshaps, for instance, Hannah C. ate plaster the first night!!!, Ryan G. tried to escape twice, Hannah C. tried to escape once, Levi K. tried to explore the church on the way to the bathroom (but I out-smarted him and sent Rachel after him, she found him in the foyer and set him back in the direction of the bathroom- see, Levi is newly potty trained and hadn't been to the restroom much on his own until now or at least not during church/class), our sun decoration fell down from the wall while I was teaching, we studied Moses and the burning bush and when I used my "God" voice and told Moses to take off his shoes, the class thought it was funny and took their shoes off, too!, one who will remain nameless was not a happy camper and when Rachel asked him if he wanted a snack and handed it to him, he responded by throwing it (we took that as a no :)), another who will remain nameless sneakily would pull chairs out from under the other kids when they would get out of their seats and then try to sit back down, and last, but certainly not least, most every night started out with AT LEAST half the class crying at the TOp of their lungs!!! Needles to say, without these instances, VBS would have been a lot more boring, easier, but boring1 :) I toted my camera every night, but typical me, did not take any pictures. Oh well, I have the memories!

Bayley's 1st Birthday!

May 31, 2008

Our sweet Bayley turned 1! I call Bayley "ours" because she is one of several of our church babies. We love her and continue to pray that God will continue to bless her and her family! We love you, Bay!

Happy Birthday, Pam

May 27, 2008

We celebrated Pam's birthday with dinner at Red Robin, Pam's choice! The food was delicious, but the company was better! They brought her a sundae with a balloon tied to it! We love you, Pam!

Memorial Day

Today we met the Glenns at Oak Mountain State Park. We had a nice covered pavillion next to the beach area. We ate, rode on paddle boats, swam (the kids), and hiked a nature trail to the bird exhibit and museum. We had a ton of fun and it was great to see everyone as always!



This is what stepped out of the car when we arrived at Oak Mountain- Batman!




The cousins



The cousins and Xander

Proud!

I couldn't let the day pass without bragging on my daddy! Today he began his duty as an elder in the Church! How proud we all were! He already does all he can for the Lord's church, but now will have more responsibility. Afterwards Xander went up to dad and said, "Congratulations on becoming an alligator!" He meant to say elder, but we knew what he meant! He's a mess!
Yesterday, Jared made a "low country" dish, one we tried when we were in Charleston, SC a couple of years ago. It was shrimp and grits! Personally, I eat them separate, but your supposed to eat them together. Jared has become quite the chef lately! My favorite dishes he makes are breakfast foods. Delicious! I am so lucky to have a husband who will cook and likes it, especially since I hate to!
This afternoon our friend, Randy, called to tell us something funny. He was at Six Flags in LA. This morning he attended worship services at Hollywood Church of Christ and guess who served him the Lord's Supper? Weird Al Yancovich!!! I guess he is a christian!
Tomorrow we are going to Oak Mountain with the Glenns! I can't wait!
Happy Memorial Day to everyone!