Jason and Kimberly...

Post Christmas Follow up

2012-01-11T17:25:00.000-06:00

A little wrap up of Christmas -

I made white chocolate dipped candy canes and homemade vanilla marshmallows from for my friends at work and our home group - they turned out beautiful AND delicious!

Then I baked for 3 days straight making 6 different types of cookies & treats for gifts to family and neighbors.

Some of the neighborhood kids came to the house and baked some of their own Christmas Sugar Cookies as well.

As soon as things were packed, baked, cleaned and the pups dropped off at Grandma & Grandpa Keiths, we took a flight back to Seattle to my family.

We went to see Sherlock Holmes as a family (which was great!) and Kati snagged a picture of Jason in front of Tom Cruise in the Mission Impossible poster. He gets told he looks like him a lot.

There was a WHOLE lot of game playing and even more eating!! I enjoyed Sequence so much, I think I'm going to have to grab us one for our own home!

My parents have started a new tradition since Jason & I got married, where they buy everyone a book for Christmas. So we headed off to The Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle for browsing and coffee

Our loot. See that gigantic one Moby-Dick? Yeah, Jason picked that one up. Any bets on how long that might take him to read????

Christmas Eve we went to Candlelight Service in honor of celebrating the true meaning of Christmas...the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Then back home we had a little family photo montage.

Sisters being sassy as usual.

What better way to wrap up the holidays than with a holiday tongue-licking for the Little One?!

Crossing My Fingers

2011-12-22T16:53:00.000-06:00

Seven, Wake Up.

Hey, booger - I need you to listen to me.

There will be NO more peeing in Grandma Sherry's house!! Understand??

Uh-uh-uh! Don't give me any excuses. I mean it! 12 days - NO PEEING IN THE HOUSE!

Jeep - Don't you cover for him either. Enough with the cute puppy eyes. I mean it.

Jeep - you keep Seven in line until we get back.

Love you boys, mom.

Christmas Questionnaire

2011-12-14T17:33:00.000-06:00

I just got some fairly sad news about some friends of ours who will be moving away come Spring. Ugh. It gets so frustrating building relationships from scratch only to have them leave and start all over. This will be my 4th set of friends in 4 years. Unfortunately, Nashville is notorious for this since most folks aren't locals anyway, so it doesn't take much for folks to move on to the next place.

In trying to cheer myself up before attending our Home Group Christmas Party tonight, I thought I'd do this little Christmas Questionnaire I found floating around the blog-world.

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Both! I can't possibly decide between the two, especially after making some homemade marshmallows and white chocolate dipped peppermint sticks!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrapped! Are you kidding me?! Who just sits them out? When I was a kid, they were wrapped, numbered and opened one at a time in order around the room! haa! I might subject my own children to this torture myself someday :-)

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Growing up, our house & tree usually always had multi colors, but I do remember a time when I was very little and we had a pink-themed tree and then one year a blue-themed tree. Or did I just dream that one up? Jason and I use white lights on our tree and red & white lights on the house.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Sorta. I have a fake mistletoe ball thingy that we hang between the dinging and living room.

5. When do you put your decorations up? Tradition is to go out the day after Thanksgiving & pick out our tree. Then the following day we decorate it, while watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation & sipping Jason's homemade mint hot cocoa. That movie just never gets old.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Hmm....do I have to choose? I love my mom's turkey, it's so moist. I also love the sugar cookies I make every year.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? It would have to be spending Christmas in Montana with my cousin Tina & her family. The snow was so deep and we rode snow mobiles, horses, and sat by the fire. It was incredible. And that year I got a Nintendo, which I had been dying to have!

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? No idea. It's blocked. Along with half my childhood. Sucks.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Of course!! My family's tradition is to open stockings and one gift on Christmas Eve after the Christmas Eve service with sparkling apple cider.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Since I've lived on my own, I've collected red, white & silver ornaments and have used white lights. I guess until we have kids, that's probably how we'll keep it. I just think it's so classic and pretty looking.

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? Love it! As long as there's lots of it to prevent me from going into the office. When there's just a little, then it just gets really muddy and gets my hopes up.

12. Can you ice skate? I'm thinking so? It's been a while. Ooohhh, that's a fun idea we could do as a family when I'm home!!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? It was either the cabbage patch kid, the keyboard or the Nintendo. I was equally excited for all three growing up.

14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? It's celebrating the birth of Christ and the time I get with my family and friends.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? I kinda covered this with the frosted sugar cookies! Yum!!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? There are so many, there's no possible way I could choose.

17. What tops your tree? A pretty silver star.

18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? Giving for sure. I just get so darned stressed out about what to give people, cause I want it to be perfect. This year we drew names for the first time and its taking everything in me not to run out to the mall and go buck wild breaking the rules.

19. Candy canes: yuck or yum? I like them with other things, like crushed up in peppermint bark, sprinkled on a dessert, or soaked in a cup of hot chocolate!

20. Favorite Christmas movie? National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and While You Were Sleeping (though I only watch that one with my family).

21. Saddest Christmas song? I'm not exactly a Christmas song lover, so I can't really answer this one (I know, I know).

22. What is your favorite Christmas song? Oh geez, again with the Christmas music. I've recently discovered Pandora's Indie's Holiday Music station and I'm starting to appreciate some Christmas songs. I wouldn't say I have a favorite one yet, but they're growing on me! So that's something right?

Ahhh, that worked. I feel a little better now.

In honor of Christmas and Katrina ;-)

2011-12-07T14:42:00.000-06:00

If she can do it, so can I.

Spider Nightmares

2011-11-28T15:02:00.000-06:00

At 7:15am Jeep started moaning at the bedroom door because he was out of water. Thankfully, he woke me up because I had my alarm on silent and would have completely overslept through work this morning. Exhausted is an understatement, as Jason and I worked all day yesterday on setting up the tree, decorating, cleaning, laundry ect. But then you add the fact that I was up frequently throughout the night with nightmares of these nasty little devils....

Anyone care to tell me what this might be?

A freakin Brown Recluse Spider!!! And Jason found 4 of them inside our tree stand in the shed!

IN OUR SHED!

BEHIND OUR HOUSE!!

I begged Jason to please go buy a spider bomb from Lowes or Home Depot and set it off in the Shed ASAP. Thankfully he spotted the spiders while still outside & killed them out there. But I'm terrified of these things getting in the house now. You know they're poisonous right?

I'll be spraying all our window frames & door frames with Raid this evening.

Let's Pretend It's Still Summer Shall We?

2011-11-23T12:23:00.000-06:00

I can't believe summer has already come & gone :-(

I've actually come to love the summers here in the South,

despite the humid days and high temperatures.

In late September & early October we were still having gorgeous 80 degree weather and both my sisters came out for visits separately.

At first I thought I would be bummed not having all 3 of us together at the same time,

but then I later really appreciated that I had them all to myself with some one-on-one time.

Kati came out for a quick 4 days and we jam packed as much as we could do of both relaxation and fun.

We squeezed in breakfast at The Hermitage Cafe,

coffee at Crema,

a trip to the Nashville Flea Market,

BBQ at Pucketts in Leipers Fork,

snuggled up at an evening Brentwood softball game with hot coffee,

and later that evening, a homemade Peanut Butter/Butterfinger Cheesecake.

You'll notice that Seven is next to the oven by my feet, Jeep next to him and Jason halfway between the dining and living room. Just a regular evening chillaxin at the Keith home.

Jeep & Seven wishing Kati would just drop something for them to nibble on.

We also enjoyed some delicious Jenni's Ice Cream at Hot & Cold in Hillsboro Village,

and played fetch with the boys in the backyard,

It was all so wonderful & went by way too quickly!

A week later, Kris came out for 10 days and we spent a few days in Nashville & then headed down to Destin, Florida for 5 days on a white sandy beach with blue/green water. It was ah-maz-ing!

Really, what more can I say? Who knew this gem of paradise was a 7 hour drive away?

To help pass the time and distract Kris from getting car sick, we listened to The Confession by John Grisham which we rented from Cracker Barrel. I wasn't a huge fan, but it did the trick.

I mean seriously, how cute is the huge 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo that we stayed at?

We cooked, we slept, we laid in the sun, we read and I tapped, tapped, tapped on my iPad.

It was heaven.

And now they're gone and in just a short time I'll see them again at Christmas - can't wait!

Finished Windows!

2011-08-30T17:42:00.000-05:00

Well the windows are done!! What would have probably taken us a year or more to do ourselves took 2 weeks by hiring Cindy Lantrip & her crew to completely restore our original hardwood windows!! They painted them white and now they open without any effort ....and I have to admit they are pretty freakin GORGEOUS!

This fall we'll add some storm windows & screens, but for now the weather is so nice we don't need to really worry about it just yet.

This is the dining room window and it took the most work out of all of them! Can you believe that the crew actually found crumbled up potato chip BAGS stuffed into the window sills!! They had to completely rebuild the inside of these windows. And the window pane on the left was completely recut and replaced since it didn't match the others. So pretty!!

Since the windows have been redone, we've been completely inspired to finish painting the trim on the house! So far Jason's caulked the porch ceiling and I've primed the posts, the door frame and the beam along the ceiling. I still have so much to do though! Knowing my sisters are coming out here this fall has been HUGE motivation to get it lookin nice ;-) We still need to prime the rest of the baby poop brown gutters, the top window and the sides of the house that have trim. I also want to prime & paint the cinder block foundation a darker shade of green than the house. Then we also plan to add some moulding & trim to the posts, put in a new door and add chocolate brown accents around the windows, posts & ceiling. Then we plan to strip the porch floor & restain it and the steps chocolate brown. And finally we'll finish everything off by ripping out the bushes & planting gardenias across the front :-) SO much work, but it will be worth it!

But hey! Check out our finished brick walkway!!

I helped Jason with laying mortar on the flat part, but the steps was ALL him! Doesn't it look awesome!?!

As soon as we get more finished on the house, I'll be sure to post even more pics!

It's no secret

2011-08-22T12:36:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that Jason and I are of the age where we should be considering having a family. Most of our friends have kids or are now starting to head down that road themselves. And to be honest, being a parent intimidates me a bit. Not because I don't think Jason and I could handle it, but because of all the other opinions from parents out there telling you what they KNOW to be best. Facebook is loaded with moms posting pictures of their kids and asking for advice on what type of diaper to use, whether to go organic or not, tips on which potty training process is best and on and on. And boy do other parents have no problem dishing out that advice. It seems a large percentage of parents believe their parenting method is the best method, and therefore all other parents should see things their way. But what if the advice is unwarranted or undesired? What if my own opinion is not respected for what it is, MY OWN OPINION. I'm afraid that once Jason and I head down this path (or I should say, when God LEADS us down this path) I will be inundated with parental advice of how I should handle things, because of course, why would I know any better? I'm not a parent yet.

I think what's important to remember for myself and everyone else is that everyone parents differently. And that is their right to do so. We all have our different opinions on life based on how we were raised and what values are important for us to pass down to our own kids and what we want our children to get out of the lessons we teach them.

A lot of this has been on my mind lately because a couple women in my small group are about to become first time moms themselves in just a couple months. It's the first time we'll have actual moms in our home group, whereas we've always had singles, dating couples and young marrieds. And I want to respect these new moms decisions in how they choose to raise their own kids, always being a listening ear, sensitive to their desires and an encouraging voice. I've genuinely tried to make a point of being that type of friend to other mom friends of mine for many years now, even when I haven't always agreed with their own method of parenting. Don't get me wrong, I'm still bound to have my own opinion, but I've genuinely tried not to press my own opinion on other's method of parenting. But let's be real, who's gonna genuinely care what my opinion is as a parentless individual anyway? Until I have my own, I pretty much don't get a vote.

Last night I had the opportunity to speak to an amazing mother who has adopted 3 children and then biologically had 3 children of her own. She was a joyous, strong and faith-filled woman. Her family intrigued me and I had a lot of questions for her. And even in hearing her perspective, there were things I thought to myself - "I wouldn't do it that way, at least not for my own family." And yet there were also a lot of awesome & inspiring things she shared as well. The Internet has opened up so much information, so many stories & so many lives through blogging, Facebook and other social medial avenues. I've gleaned so much fantastic information and yet at other times I've been deeply saddened by just how much is shared for the public to see & judge. As incredible as it is to lean on other women, lean on other families & glean knowledge as women - shouldn't some family lessons or personal struggles be somewhat private? I never want to uncover my own husband or my own kids in order to bring my own self healing or gratification. Trust me, over the last several months there have been times I've wanted to "process" on this blog about some personal struggles, but I don't feel it would be fair or right when it would lead to uncovering other loved ones for my own personal satisfaction. It's a fine line and one that I want to walk gracefully.

Rather than "encourage" us about our future and whether we should or shouldn't adopt, should or shouldn't have biological children, should or shouldn't have an inter-racial family and when of course this should all take place et.. please respect that I can have my own opinions too. ;-) Opinions that I'm holding before the Lord to shape & mold as He desires & sees as best for our own family.

Finally Some Change!

2011-08-01T15:03:00.000-05:00

I've had a love-hate relationship with my house for pretty much the entire 4 years we've owned it (well technically 4 years in October). I loved it cause I knew it had the potential of being an absolutely adorable & cozy home, but I hated it because I had no idea how to get it there or where the money would come from in order to do so.

One of the mistakes of us buying this home (hey we were property virgins at the time - give us a break!), was that we bought a home that had lots of storage in the attic but no practical way of accessing it. So we decided what we really needed was a shed. Jason and his dad ordered plans from a company and set off last fall constructing what is to be a quite large & lovely shed that will store so much of what is NOW occupying our office. Excuse me, I mean Shoffice (shed + office = shoffice). The shoffice is almost at the point where it could qualify us for a spot on "Hoarders - Buried Alive".

BUT life happens and we started a new lawn care business and the half finished shed now sits under piles of tarps in the backyard serving as a lounge area for the pups. Gah. I feel like I'm forever in "waiting and being patient" mode as I anticipate the summer coming to a close and the business slowing down enough that my dear husband can finish up the shed with the help of a couple friends and I can finally see the end of power tools, ladders, boxes & camping gear occupying our tiny little office space.

(pic: notice Jeep is "lounging" on the shed foundation)

ANYWAY, the point of this post is to highlight the fact that change is happening and we have been blessed so much by this new lawncare business that we are able to get our windows restored! This is a HUGE blessing to me, one that makes me want to do a happy dance everytime I think of it!

WAAAY back before we bought our house, some lazy idiots decided that rather than properly fix the old windows, they would just paint them shut. I mean, why would anyone want to actually open them and let in a little fresh air now and then? That would be crazy talk! Painting them shut would be like adding an additional layer of home security! Duh!

So we invited a few different companies over to give us a bid on replacing the broken panes in the storm windows or even replacing the old windows all together. Surely, whoever owns the house after us would love to be able to open their windows and have peace of mind at night that in case there was ever a fire they wouldn't have to toss a coin to decide which piece of favorite furniture was going to get tossed through those windows! After receiving a couple different bids that were way beyond what we could afford, I thought I was going to have to deal with these eyesores for the rest of our duration in this home. But then I came across a recommendation on the E. Nashville listserv that saved us! Cindy Lantrip is a well known local contractor who came highly recommended for restoring old windows and came over the exact day I called her to give us a bid that we couldn't refuse!

She's removed those old nasty storm windows, scraping off all that old paint, putting in new ropes, pulleys, weights & sashes and making these babies as beautiful as the day they were built back in 1920!!!

And boy have they been holding up their end of the bargain! It's been one week and the change is undeniable! My windows glide open with a touch of a finger! The ropes are white & gleaming, the sills rebuilt & uncracked! The original cedar exposed & freed from 80 years of paint layers!

The old hardware thrown out and brushed silver pulls & latches bought & added. AND its been a completely painless process being as how Cindy & her crew mop, dust & vaccuum my entire house before I'm even back from work! You can't even tell they've been there and my house looks beautiful! Now how many contractors can you say that about?!!

I see a light at the end of this tunnel folks!!! Change is possible! Hope restored!! Yesterday at church, we were reminded about faith - being sure of what is not yet seen. I've needed more faith - I had all but given up on many things in my life, including this old house.

I'm so excited to show you all our gorgeous windows once they're finished!

holy crap

2011-07-22T17:58:00.000-05:00

Has it really been three months?

Sorry.

Not sure what to say really.

The hubbs & I are in a strange place in our lives. We've had a lot going on professionally and personally. So contrary to the lucky-go-happy bloggers out there who have nothing better to do than post their daily outfits or talk about what they're feeding their kids - I've stayed away from the blogosphere for a while cause a whole lot of perkiness wouldn't have been what you see here.

But today's ok. Today is Friday, which means I have 2 days off from work. And this week I found out that I will soon be relieved from my 4th attorney which will relieve a TON of stress in my life. HOPEFULLY they will make good on their promise.

And its a beautiful day. AND I had some labwork a couple days ago and I had a great appointment, I didn't even come close this time to passing out. It felt amazing to feel strong.

SO tonight...I'm planing to put on some soft music and bake a vegetarian lasagna for the hubbs when he gets home from working outside for 13 hours in 95 degree heat.

There has to be more people...I'm ready for a change.

A Whole Lotta Yumminess!

2011-04-06T16:05:00.000-05:00

Now that I have a man home EVERY evening - I am cooking WAY more!!!

I love to cook and discovering new recipes! But when it was just me home alone, I had no desire to prepare anything other than cereal or toast.

It's been a few weeks now and I feel like a real wife with getting to plan out a menu for the week and making out a grocery list. So fun! It would be even more fun if I wasn't so dog-gone tired when I got home from a long day at work. Geeez...

Anyway - had to share some of the fun recipes I've discovered!

First off - Chicken Club Pizza!! YUMMMMY!!!!

This was fairly easy to make and tasted so freakin good!!! For the recipe, go here.

Next up - Chicken Marsala with Spinach, Tangerine & Glazed Almonds Salad

I've had this recipe for a while and had just never got around to making it and I have no idea why I waited so dang long!!! The chicken was so tender and flavorful and the mushrooms delish! Next time I'm serving it over linguine though. For the recipe go here. And the salad recipe I don't actually have right now, its something Jason's grandmother passed along.

Another favorite we made - Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

I ADORE this soup. It's so hearty and so flavorful and even good for you!! I've made it a few times now and we eat leftovers for a few days after. Just the best thing for cold stormy nights :-) For the recipe go here.

For a little something quick & easy, we made - Turkey & Avocado Panini's

A fast-crunchy-melty-goodness sandwich. As a matter of fact, we're having them again tonight! For the recipe, go here.

Excited to try out new ones the rest of this week!

Walking for Mulitple Sclerosis!

2011-04-04T12:16:00.010-05:00

This Saturday, I'll be joining some friends to Walk for Multiple Sclerosis! I've never done anything like this before, and super excited at the chance to raise funds for such a great cause! AND it's not just a random fundraiser that I chose, I picked this one because my best friend Tina Frees was diagnosed 5 years ago with MS. From what I understand, thousands of people participate and join together for this amazing cause every year! I'm super pumped and already have met $125 of my $500 dollar goal!

Tina & I have been friends since the 2nd grade, no joke. And I know how blessed I am to have a friendship that's withstood years of trials, joys, tears, triumphs and adventure. And I would love nothing more to know that I'll have another 50 or so years left to experience even more with her! Please join me in supporting an amazing cause like this by making a small (or large!) donation to help with finding a cure for MS, so that friendships like mine aren't limited by time or ability ;-)

When I told Tina I wanted to do this on her behalf, she responded with this note:

"It's such an honor to have Kim doing this on my behalf. If you know me and if you don't, I was diagnosed with MS 1 month before my 30th Birthday (March 15, 2006). I feel blessed that I can still see, throw a baseball with my son, paint my daughters bedroom, laugh with my older daughter and travel with my husband. Not everybody does as well as I have done, and I know that at any point I could wake up and everything could change. But I don't worry about that.

MS is a crazy disease that has no cure and no known cause. There is a ton of great research going on right now and all the fundraising makes a huge difference. Not only does it go to helping find treatments and cures but it also helps with things like the summer camp my 2 younger kids get to attend this summer to meet other kids who watch their parents struggle like I do. They will get to play, learn, connect, and share with others what MS has meant to them. Your donations help pay for that. So thank you in advance for giving and helping Kim make her fundraising goals!"

You can donate by clicking here.

Library Smitten!

2011-03-31T11:15:00.003-05:00

I have to blog about this before my sister gets the chance to! See, I typically find something pretty cool online and then she steals my thunder by immediately blogging the heck out of it ;-)

Haa haa, love you Katydid!

I came across the website Beautiful Libraries and I have been drooling ever since! My dream is to one day have a gorgeous library of my own with overstuffed chairs, couches, a fireplace and expansive windows - maybe even 2 story!

Here are some drool-worthy pics from some gorgeous home libraries featured:

Love, love, love!!!! At the rate I'm collecting books, I'll need a bigger house in order to keep them for sure!

Jason turns 40!

2011-03-29T16:32:00.014-05:00

This cute little nugget just happened to turn 40 a couple weeks back!

And because he was born in 1971, I felt it only appropriate to throw my main squeeze a surprise 1970's birthday party!

It all started with an elaborate plan and some very awesome friends ;-) Saturday morning of March 12th, I left Jason a note that I would be heading out to get him breakfast in bed and snuck out of the house to pick up Tina & Jay from the airport.

You couldn't ask for two more selfless & amazing friends than Tina & Jay. They flew all the night before and got in around 9am. We snuck into the house where I was confident to find a snoozing husband and Jay, pretending to be me, climbed into bed with an unsuspecting Jason to give him his coffee & muffin.

It all went down like this - Surprise Part 1:

Then Jay & Jason spent the day on the golf course, while Tina & I did a little shopping for Surprise Part 2 wherein we had a dinner party planned at Jason's favorite restaurant Park Cafe. Seriously, every little detail went off without a hitch! Check out our stylin' & groovy friends!

All the ladies...

We laughed till our sides hurt...

And how could we pass up a photo montage?!

Matt & Amy Walter

Jason with Julie & Tabby

Jenni & Heath Adams

Chad & Tabby Coombs

Jay & Tina Frees

And us.

And it wouldn't have been a REAL birthday without a little candle & big ol' round of Happy Birthday sung by all :-)

For party favors, the table was decorated with mixed tapes of 1970 classic hits and homemade salted caramels for everyone.

Surprise Part 3 - a getaway for 3 days to Chattanooga, TN with Tina & Jay and rooms booked on The Delta Queen Riverboat!

We stayed up till the wee hours of the morning playing Skipbo and eating more junkfood than your average teenager.

We toured the city and had some serious BBQ at Sticky Fingers - yummy!

And to top the weekend off, we took a little detour through Cleveland, TN to pick up the newest member of the Frees family, Miss Ruby Mae. Here is she checking out the same rest step we first brought our own boys too when we picked them up!

It was an awesome 4 days spent with the best of friends and making the best of memories together.

You only turn 40 once, better make it count ;-)

What a weekend!

2011-03-07T12:37:00.004-06:00

This last weekend was a heck of a ride for us! Saturday morning I woke up at 7:30am to Jason walking into the bedroom. I thought maybe he had just let the dogs out or something, and then he came over to the bed and said that he had food poisoning and had been throwing up since 3:30am! Yuk! I don't know how I slept through that! For those of you that know me well, you know that I don't deal with puke at all. AND in the course of our 5 years of marriage, we've never had to cross that bridge together, cause neither one of us has ever gotten that sick. He's quite the trooper though and other than a trip to the store to pick him up some chicken noodle soup and 7-up, all I could do was stay by him and keep him company (but not in the bathroom - nope, that's where I draw the line). Hey at least I stayed in the same room with him - that's improvement for me!

Later Saturday night, I had plans to meet up with my girl Julie for a fundraiser event featuring authors Ron Hall & Denver Moore, from the book Same Kind of Different As Me which we read in book club last year. It was an awesome experience and we even got our picture taken with them and some other friends of ours Jill & Denise who also came! The place was packed out, probably somewhere between 600-800 people showed up! Julie knew the coordinators of the event, so we had seats reserved at their table and I ended up sitting next to some guy that I didn't know. I'm so bad in these situations and usually feel extremely overwhelmed with crowds and a bunch of strangers surrounding me. After Julie & I talked for a while, this man next to me turns to me and asks a little about ourselves and if our spouses are involved in the music industry. We in turn answer and I go on and on about how the music business has been quite the roller coaster experience for Jason and I, with having so many close calls. We must have talked about music for 20 minutes before I asked him if he also was in the business. He responded he was and yes, in fact he's a country music songwriter. Here I am blabbering away for 20 minutes as if I know anything about the industry, when I finally ask him his last name and find out that he is one of the biggest songwriters in town!!!! Holy crap people! All this time I had no idea who he was and in fact, was the only other person at the table who didn't know who this guy was! I of course in true Kimberly fashion, proceeded to turn a deep shade of crimson and began sweating like a stuck pig. I mentally started coaching myself to calm the crap down! So we go back to talking and bantering about small things like someone trying to take his cake, the gentlemen hired to do the readings, ect...and I really enjoyed getting to know him. He asked how long Jason has been trying to break into the business here in Nashville, his style, who he knows ect... and then he said that he doesn't normally do this, but if an opportunity presents itself where he can help another writer out, he tries to take it and asked if I thought Jason might want to write or meet with him? WHATTT????? Are you kidding me?! I got his personal email address and then we went back to listening to the evening speakers. Ron Hall & Denver Moore were so inspiring and Ron said something that really stuck with me. When they were trying to get their book published and they were continually getting rejected by publishing companies, Denver told Ron that they needed to bless all those that rejected them right then and there. I felt convicted myself of all the frustration & anger I've held toward those that have given Jason the brush off over the years or who have not held up their end of the bargain. So later that night, I prayed in the shower and blessed those that have let us down.

When I got home that evening from the dinner, you know I just had to play it up and get Jason going. I told him that I had made a friend and that he was also a songwriter and that I got his contact info for him to write with. Like I knew he would, Jason took a deep breath like, "oh boy, here we go." Haa haa, then I told him, "His name was something like ....(pause).. _____" Jason looked at me with huge, shocked eyes and said, "Are you kidding me?!" And then again, "Are you kidding me?!" I had myself my own little dance party in the living room - "that's right baby! whohooo!"

The next day when Jason was feeling more himself, after a horribly long day of being sick, he got on the computer and emailed this songwriter. It was brief and sweet, with a link to his MySpace music page. Hours later, the songwriter emailed him back, said that he really liked Jason's music and that he had the talent, he just needed a break. He said that chance meetings like him and I meeting at the fundraiser, are what he likes to call, "meant-to-bes" and that hopefully something will come out of it. He asked for Jason to meet him at his office on March 22nd ;-) Y'all I know I'm once again on a high on this music business roller coaster, but this man seemed very genuine and he could be an open door for Jason's music to be really heard! So be praying! And when I say this man is a huge songwriter, I'm talking 21 #1 singles, and over 50 top ten hits! He's gotten cuts with the likes of Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood, George Strait, Billy Currington, Randy Travis, Keith Urban, Lonestar, Neil Diamond, Brooks & Dunn, Sara Evans and Jason Aldean among many others. So please be praying for an awesome meeting and for us to continue to trust God in His timing.

Well if they can keep their Christmas lights up...

2011-02-15T12:55:00.008-06:00

As I drove home from work last night and saw the strands of Christmas lights STILL lining some trees on our block, I couldn't help but think - "Hey I can post about Christmas on my blog, if they can still keep their Christmas lights up!" I know, I know, I'm ridiculously behind on updates. But the thing is, I've been pretty tied up with some other personal matters and blogging has not been one of my top priorities right now.

AND what with Facebook, I figured everyone has already been inundated with Christmas photos ;-0

Anyway - let's begin.

You know that tender Tennessee Christmas I was hoping for? Well we woke up to snow Christmas morning and it couldn't have been more magical!

We must have gotten close to 6-7 inches maybe? It was breathtaking all around us.

The icicles hung so far off the house, that we could break them off and give them as treats to the boys.

The property did not have a fence, so the boys enjoyed some rare roaming privileges wandering through the forest.

And Seven loved the snow so much that he would literally roll around in it like it was grass.

A few different times Jason would take the boys down to a nearby kids camp that was closed up for the season and get some of their energy out.

And then later that afternoon he would soothe his muscles by sitting for hours in the hot tub out back with his brother-in-law Scott.

The guys surprised us with a little tree, which Grandma set right away to decorating and the rest of us filled up with presents!

The house was so cozy! It was better than we could ever imagine and had every amenity we could ever ask for! You can see Grandma and Sherry working the puzzle in the living room below.

And while the women puzzled, the men played a few rounds of golf (cards that is).

For most of the family, it was their first white Christmas ever! I believe this is Jason's self-portrait snowman he made.

Jason made this little guy on the front porch railing outside our bedroom. I woke up every morning to this tiny snowman and he held steady until we departed our final day. How cute is that carrot nose?

Kelley's Boston snowman.

Christmas morning snuggles with Jeep. He was pretty distraught most of the vacation since we had a fire continuously going. He is terribly afraid of fire and had to stay behind the couch where he couldn't see it.

I married a nut.

Jeep & Seven conked out from a long day playing in the snow.

Jason said he would build me my own cabin someday - so he got started right away on the prototype.

Seriously, how cute are my boys? They are inseparable and the best ever!

It was a wonderful time and I hope that we can spend another Christmas there in the future!

A Tender Tennessee Christmas

2010-12-14T10:27:00.005-06:00

My first Christmas album (and only Christmas album) was Amy Grant's first Christmas CD when it came out in 1993.

On that CD, track # 1 is the song Tennessee Christmas. I would listen to that song over and over again and see that picture of the album cover and dream that one day I could experience something similar to "a tender Tennessee Christmas".

Here I am 17 years later and experiencing my 2nd Tennessee Christmas in a cabin out in the Smokey Mountains. Isn't it funny how God puts dreams in your heart so early and then years later are realized? Amazing.

This Christmas Jason's family will be joining us at a cabin in Coker Creek, Tennessee out in the Smokey Mountains for 5 glorious days! And with the way our winter's been going so far, we might even have a chance to see some snow!

Back in early August, we booked a beautiful cabin called the Phoenix in Newport, Tennessee.

Two months later on November 18th we got a phone call from the owner of the Phoenix that their cabin had burned down!! The ironic thing is, the cabin was named the Phoenix because it had been built on the foundation of another cabin that had burned down years earlier. Coincidence? Hmm....

So that left us in a huge rush to find another cabin to accommodate all 7 of us, was available over Christmas with the late notice, needed to be pet friendly and yet not be overly expensive in their rates.

Then we stumbled across Windy Ridge in Coker Creek, Tennessee. A beautiful 3 bedroom, 3 bath cabin with a cozy living area, gorgeous kitchen, a hot tub and wood burning fireplace. I AM PUMPED. I envision a lot of puzzle making, book reading, lazy mornings with hot biscuits and jam, hot apple crisp baking in the oven and watching fun holiday movies while sipping hot peppermint cocoa cuddled up with loved ones.

10 days and counting!

House for Sale....no not mine!

2010-12-13T14:24:00.006-06:00

LeeAnn Rimes is selling her house in Franklin, TN if anyone's interested.

Walnut plank hardwood floors.

Private dance studio

Guest House

Home Theatre

Infinity Pool

Only listed for a measly $6,250,000.

13,310 square feet, 7 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and situated on 5 acres.

Wowzas. Any takers?

Do you Advent?

2010-12-03T17:28:00.009-06:00

I think there is just something so fun about an Advent Calendar. I grew up with the candy ones that had the little molded chocolates inside and thought they were so fun to open through out the month of December.

Jason and I have a cute little painted wood one that I picked up from Old Time Pottery and I like to fill it with peppermint & chocolate candy. But lately, I've seen some Advent Calendars that I am just drooling over and would love to make myself for my own family someday.

How fun are these?!! This one is homemade by Scrapbook Dimensions.

And I love these two from Pottery Barn:
And there's even a whole group on Flickr with some seriously cute homemade Advent Calendars that you should check out here.

Ode to Christmas Shopping...

2010-12-03T17:07:00.004-06:00

I'm a bit of a Scrooge when it comes to Christmas shopping. Quite frankly, I hate it.

First of all, there's the crowds. Lord have mercy its enough to send me into a full blown anxiety attack weaving through the pushy & grabby shoppers.

Secondly, the plethora of options. For example. I've been looking for a few different things on my sister's Christmas lists and even though they're somewhat specific I can't seem to make up my mind for the life of me on what to purchase. So then when I finally buy something, I then proceed to question what I bought, then end up hating what I bought, then return what I bought and then stress all over about what I should buy instead.

Are you with me so far?

Exhibit A. Kris asks for a scarf for Christmas. I proceed to visit 4 stores looking for the perfect scarf. And yet, they're all crap as far as I can tell and I even have to ask Jason to pose as my model so I can get a better idea of how one might look on. He's quite the sport isn't he?

(Sweetie, I only promised not to post this picture to Facebook, I said nothing about the blog. Love you, mean it.)

Don't get me wrong, I do love Christmas. LOVE IT. It's just the shopping that stresses me out.... well and I'm not a fan of Christmas music...or grabby little children. Ho ho ho.

Ok so this isn't the blog post of warm fuzzy Christmas cheer. I'm almost done with my shopping, so I'm getting there, be patient.

Excuse Me.

2010-12-03T14:18:00.003-06:00

Alright, so I've been getting quite a few complaints lately that I haven't posted to the blog in a while. And my excuse is that its not that fun doing posts without pictures and my camera went kaput on me and therefore, I have lost all inspiration to blog for the time being.

But if you're really dying to know what's going on in my world, here's the dilemma of the day (rather weeks I should say).

I am so full of air its out of control.

See, now aren't you excited that you get to know this about me? On average, I'm belching between 25-30 times a day, I kid you not. The pressure in my back from all this air, builds up the point where I'm in ridiculous pain and the only way to relieve it is by either leaning against my stress ball or having Jason burp me.

I even mentioned it during my yearly physical yesterday with my doctor. He said that sometimes anxious people involuntarily swallow air and it builds up. Otherwise he's not sure what's causing it and didn't see it as cause for concern.

Even I think its getting disgusting and I feel for my poor cube neighbor, Angela who laughs every time I have to let one out.

Now how's that for a blog post?

So terribly wrong

2010-10-07T17:51:00.003-05:00

So if you hadn't seen my post from Facebook already, Tuesday morning Jason and I woke up to a very unpleasant surprise. To be honest it was probably the rudest awakening I've ever had in my life...well almost.

Around 6am I'm aroused from my sleep to the smell of something so foul it made my stomach turn. And to be honest, the first thought I had was, "Oh geez Jason, what on earth was that?" Thinking of course that he had some terrible gas. But then as I come to my senses, I realize, no this is WAY worse. I tiptoe through the living room praying I'll avoid whatever foul thing I'm smelling and turn on the lights & turn off the alarm. The sun isn't quite up yet, so it was still quite dark in the house. That's when Jason wakes up and thinks the same thing of me, like I had let some serious fart go. Yuck. He gets up and asks me, "What are you doing up?" And I look at him and respond, "Do you NOT SMELL THAT?!" He responds, "Yeah it smells like poop." So I say, "I know and I'm trying to see where its at."

And Lord did I find it. Around the corner of the dining room table, on our brown rug and all over the hardwood floors and splattered up on the wall & curtains was some seriously disgusting doggy diarrhea. Oh yes people, diarrhea from a 90 pound Labrador! Are you following me here? It was DISGUSTING. We followed the trail to a huge mound of nastiness in our kitchen on the tile floor. All I can say is, thank God for tile & hardwoods. I will NEVER have carpet with dogs & kids. Blech..... I think in total Jason and I gagged 5-6 times between us and used up almost 2 rolls of paper towels and half a liter of pet cleaner over the next 45 minutes. Even at that hour of the morning we both thought of the story Heather Armstrong shared on her blog Dooce of how her own dog Chuck did the same thing throughout their brand new home. And we remember thinking to ourselves, "Oh my word, how horrible would that be? Poor them." Ha. Lesson learned and now we've managed to join that club ourselves.

If I had my wits about me, I would have taken some pictures for y'all to share in the misery with us. It was SO NOT cool. As Jason and I would take turns gagging while cleaning up the mess, I kept saying, "Cleaning up puke on top of this is going to make this whole experience 10 TIMES WORSE. DON'T PUKE." Thankfully we weren't hosting small group at our house that night, because it would not have gone over well with the stench that remained in our house over the next couple days. It's almost getting back to normal.

Aren't y'all glad I shared :-)

Humor Me

2010-10-01T17:44:00.007-05:00

So every now and then I like to dream a little and peruse the real estate listings in Franklin for a big gorgeous home on a big ol' piece of land.

And then I stumbled across this insanely cool home on 12 wooded acres out in Leipers Fork, an area where Jason and I dream of living someday if we can ever afford it.

How amazing is this house?
Walkway out to the garage? Not sure if that's the garage or a workshop.

Huge wrap around porches. I'm drooling over those plantation shutters.

A modest but beautiful stairway with gorgeous molding and trim.

I'm dying over the clawfoot tub & his & her vanities in the master bath!

Um hello dream kitchen. I could make all kinds of amazing food there while looking out that incredible window!

I mean seriously, do you see that window over the farm sink? Geeeezzzzz... And that's the family room just beyond with french doors to the back porch.

Another view of the family room with the kitchen of paradise beyond.

A cute bedroom with his & her closets and a fireplace between. LOVE. Someday I dream of having his & her closets, don't ask me why because I can't answer you.

I see built-in bookcases and is that a window seat in the background? Sigh........

More built-in bookcases!! This house was meant for us. Darn that pending contract.

From the entry, a view into the formal living room and hallway down to the family room & kitchen.

Another view of the formal sitting/living room. The hardwoods throught out the house are drool-worthy.

And this looks to be a playhouse, but I would make it a guest cottage, for all of our wonderful friends and family to visit us. :-)

I mean is it just not the cutest on the inside with the arched ceilings?

4 Bedrooms, 4 Full Baths, 3 Half Baths, 4 Fireplaces, A Playhouse/Studio ect... all for $800,000. Which is A DEAL for all this house on all that land. Wow. Someday...someday.

Grief

2010-09-24T16:57:00.007-05:00

The last couple weeks have been emotional ones. 2 weeks ago I found myself invited over to the youth pastor's house, along with some other friends, to support him as he was grieving the sudden loss of his father. Then this week one of my best friends miscarried at 10 weeks of pregnancy.

I've brought food, prayed, texted, facebooked and called to support the loved ones in my life during this difficult time. Grieving is such a process and the best thing one can do is just listen and love. Well that and maybe feed them. :-)

I love cooking for people. Just last week I baked an entire lemon bar/tart to satiate my friend's pregnancy cravings.....

and then just days later I found myself bringing her homemade mac & cheese as comfort food.

This weekend I'm hanging out with some friends and have been asked to bring my molasses cookies (obviously I've developed a bit of a reputation and honestly I don't mind one bit!)

Part of our journey in life is dealing with the extreme ups and downs of joy and sorrow. I've been fortunate thus far to not have to grieve in such a personal way through the loss of a close family member or friend. And when I think of possibly experiencing that myself one day, it truly scares me. But then I look at my brave & strong friends and realize that God is always there through those valleys and His supernatural peace will bring comfort no matter the trial.

These last two weeks have been a time of remembering what's most important in life - the relationships we've been blessed with and the love of our Father. I'm grateful that we serve a God who comforts, heals and loves. And that the time we have on this earth is not where life ends, but where it only begins.

Dream the Dream

2010-09-13T17:21:00.003-05:00

Some close friends of mine were talking about how they saw Wicked on Broadway in New York a couple weeks back and how they had caught the Broadway bug. It immediately brought to memory all those wonderful times my parents have taken me to the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle (thanks mom & dad!).

Jason has yet to see a Broadway show, and I thought what better show to see first then Les Miserables! I have seen it several times myself and hands down believe its the most amazing Broadway experience out there. So this last week I was perusing around the TPAC website (our local Nashville theatre) and saw that the Broadway tour of Les Miserables is coming to Nashville in May of 2011!! AND not only that, but its the 25th Anniversary Edition, Dream the Dream tour which has been getting rave reviews where its opened in London. Last Friday tickets went on sale and I bought Jason and I tickets!!!!!!

I'm bummed our friends Dana & Julie won't be able to join us now that they are expecting a little one in April, but they are by no means getting the short end of the deal. I'm looking forward to being an auntie once again :-)

5 Years

2010-08-04T10:35:00.011-05:00

In August of 2005 I headed out to Nashville, TN with my sister Kati to see Jason for a week. I had a hunch something might happen that week, since Jason and I had been talking about him moving out to Seattle once we were engaged. I just didn't know exactly when and where he might propose.

Earlier in the week before my sister Kati had left town, we got some great pictures of the two of us out at Steeplechase, dancing outside the Grand Ole Opry, smooching outside The Loveless Cafe and snuggling over the Harpeth River. I'm SO glad we got these taken because it is a week that I will cherish forever.

5 years ago today (has it already been 5 years?!!), Jason asked me to marry him on top of the Shelby Street Bridgein downtown Nashville over the Cumberland River after a romantic dinner at Mortons Steakhouse. He proposed with his grandmother's wedding ring and the evening was perfect in every way. Wellll....except for maybe the horrible putrid smell that we had to avoid by crossing over the bridge the first time and then coming back when it had passed :-) Now we get a good laugh of how I made him cross over to the other side of the bridge just when he was about to propose because I was about to gag from the stench! But we got some great pictures out of that little diversion and this one of Jason with the flowers, is really one of my favorites!

I love you baby! And I am beyond blessed to be married to the hardest working man I've ever known. You continue to sacrifice and work unbelievably hard to make our dreams come true and I love you for the husband you've been to me. Thank you for 5 wonderful years since asking me to be yours :-) You will always be my dreaming buddy, best friend and love of my life.

Freakin Loved It!

2010-08-03T16:29:00.003-05:00

SO I'll admit it, I'm a shameless fan of The Bachelorette and The Bachelor! And last night I was beyond thrilled to watch the season finale to see if Ali would choose either Roberto or Chris, both class-A guys.

And seriously, it was the most perfect season finale EVER. Loved every minute of it!!

Roberto is so dreamy and in the After the Final Rose show, he mentioned how he & Ali would watch movies together over the phone and I got all warm & fuzzy remembering that that is what Jason and I did when we were dating long distance ;-)

And when Ali broke it off with Chris N, yup, I admit it - total tears. What an awesome guy too - I hope they make him the next Bachelor!!

In other news - we have a bit of a mouse problem in our back yard. Yeah, awesomeness. And last night when I was calling the boys in from outside I saw something dangling from Jeep's mouth. It was pretty dark by this time so I couldn't see what it was quite clearly and he put it down for a minute. When he looked back to pick it back up, it was no longer there. UH YIKES. That's when I decided it would be a good time to get back in the house. NASTY. So I get the boys in the house and notice that Jeep has blood on his front legs, and that's about the moment that I almost gagged. Fun times oh yes. We have some traps we'll be putting out tonight....duh, dun dun dun...to be continued.

Round The World in 365 Days

2010-07-29T10:18:00.006-05:00

A year ago, Jason and I said goodbye to some dear friends of ours who did what only few people get the opportunity to do, by following their dreams and taking an entire year to travel the world. I know, you're drooling aren't you? Matt & Amy Walter packed up their backpacks, a laptop and a camera and off they went on the adventure of a lifetime. This last year took them to Africa, Thailand, India, Laos, Cambodia, Israel, New Zealand, Ireland, Egypt and Vietnam (just to name a few). From staying in tiny hostels, to huts on the beach and even a brief stay in a Thailand hospital when Amy came down with Dengue Fever.

They are an amazing couple, with a huge heart for others to serve, so even while they were gone they planned some missions work along the way. Matt has an insane gift in photography and took some pictures that are beyond breathtaking. I hope at some point he turns his photos into a coffee-table book, because I definitely think people would love them! Shoot, I'd buy some of his photos just to frame in my house!

Here's just a sample of some of the pics from their year! (copyright of Matt Walter of course!)

Vietnam

Uganda

Thailand

Laos

Israel

Ireland

India

Hong Kong

Egypt

Cambodia

To see LOTS more photos and read up on Matt & Amy's adventures, visit their blog RTW 365!

Cicada Snack

2010-07-26T10:31:00.003-05:00

The other night as we were letting the dogs in the house, a cicada fell onto the porch from a nearby tree. And without any hesitation, Jeep scooped this big nasty bug up into his mouth and casually walked into the living room and laid down. He had no intention of eating it, he just wanted to sit there holding it in his mouth with the vibrations of this insect on his tongue.

It was seriously disgusting and I thought at any moment he would release this winged beast into my house, but no - he just held it in his mouth for several minutes while it buzzed away quite LOUDLY. Jason and I were ROLLING on the floor laughing as Jeep looked at us like, "What? It ain't no thang." Seven was sitting right next to Jeep with bated breath waiting for Jeep to release his prisoner and give him a turn. After a few minutes, he did release this little sicknast critter & Seven held it with his paw briefly before scooping it up into his own mouth to also hold it while it buzzed away.

Finally, after Jason caught his breath from laughing so hard, he started telling Seven, "Eat it Seven! Eat it!" To which, Seven obediently started chomping away like he was chewing on a walnut. I almost gagged.

I couldn't find a video on youtube where another dog would actually hold a cicada in his mouth without immediately eating it, but I did find one where you can hear how loud the buzzing is when its being squeezed. Cicadas are no joke the size of a cockroach, but with wings. I freakin hate these things and they are everywhere in the trees here in the South. Yuck!

Life Before, During and After Vegas

2010-07-02T12:58:00.009-05:00

A couple weeks back, I took a trip home to Seattle for a few days to see both my sisters graduate from The University of Washington. To say I was proud, is an understatement. It was one heck of a rough ride to even get to Seattle in the first place with horribly turbulent flights through Denver and delays from a nasty storm. I didn't get in to Seattle till almost 2am. Dad was the only one still awake to pick me up from the airport & take me home - I of course in no way expected my family to still be awake that late at night. Kati groggily said "Welcome Home" as I crawled into bed with her and proceeded to pass out.

Then Saturday & Sunday was pretty much a blur! Two days of graduation at the U and back to back hours of sitting through speeches...but you know what? It was completely worth it! Every minute of sitting, flying & spending :-) My mom has some great photos on her camera from the graduations that I hope to get copies of soon, so I can post them here (hint, hint, Kati!).

The 3 days of running from place to place was a complete blur and then finally Kris, Kati & I boarded an early morning flight on Tuesday for Vegas!~ We were quite worn out and slept for 16 hours with an hour break sometime during the middle of the night. But seriously, that was the expectation all along - sleep, relax, sit by the pool and read. And we even squeezed in a Cirque Soliel Elvis show and some great meals! It was truly a lot of fun and very restful - and our room was as amazing as I had hoped it to be.

We did see a few nearby hotels, but seriously it took SO long just to walk to one hotel it would have taken the entire week to see all of it and it was EXHAUSTING and HOT going from hotel to hotel. The ones we did see were all very cool, but I would highly recommend people be allowed to rent golf carts to get from hotel to hotel and they should also install those moving sidewalks like they have in airports - boy would that ever help! My favorite hotel by far was probably the Wynn ~ ah-mazing. If Jason and I ever go to Vegas together, I would definitely want to stay there with him. This atrium was in the lobby and from those trees are giant multi-colored flowered balls. It was so breathtaking.Then we found this cute little pizzeria and decided to sit outside on its patio which was surrounded by water & waterfalls. Incredible!

Here's another part of the Wynn hotel where these giant umbrellas hung over a seated lobby.

This was probably my favorite meal from the 5 days we were there. I was dying for some good Chinese food since we have hardly any here in Nashville and we found this restaurant called FIN inside the Mirage. The service was impeccable and the food was INSANELY amazing. The prices weren't too bad either (surprisingly) :-) And it was so worth every bit of indigestion afterwards!

And of course it wouldn't be Vegas without trying the slot machines. Our hotel gave us a $25 credit on the slots and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I. So. Don't. Get. It. People sat there for HOURS playing slots and for what? No way would I spend my hard-earned cash pulling a level and throwing it down the drain! As you can see, I was quite the slot-virgin, so Kris had so show me how it's done.

Two days after returning from Vegas, I was still having nightmares that I was trapped inside a casino and couldn't get out. The bells from the slots were "cha-chinging" through my mind for days - I likened to what it must be like stepping off a cruise-ship and still feeling the tilt from the waves.

I'm so glad we did this as sisters, though next time we all agree that a beach vacation with little to no distractions would be a much better option! :-) I love you sisters - congrats on your hard earned & well deserved degrees!

Good Deed Gone Awry

2010-06-08T13:18:00.003-05:00

This little dude (let's call him Romeo) showed up on our porch Saturday night as I was reading by the front window. Always secretly hoping for an opportunity to reunite someone with their beloved pet, I took him in and tried to find his owners.

He looked to be a mixed beagle with beautiful tan spots & speckled coloring and had a leather collar on with a chewed through lead. He wasn't hungry or dirty, so I thought maybe he had recently escaped. Seven was in the house, where we've kept him most of the time to keep an eye on his stitches and away from Jeep so they don't wrestle. Jeep was in the backyard and is our more social dog so I thought the two would get along fabulously. Not so. Apparently this little 15 pound beagle was intruding on Jeep's territory and Jeep pushed the guy off the side of the porch and growled at him!! I've never seen that side of Jeep before! He just wasn't having it. So I brought Jeep in the house to join Seven and left Romeo in the backyard.

Then I proceeded to post Found listings on a couple different sites anticipating my moment of being some little kid's hero at saving his little puppy and reuniting them once again. Well at 2am that all began to change. He tried to dig out of the yard and started barking incessantly, which made my very large and very loud dogs start barking from within the house. Not exactly your ideal sleeping environment. So Jason gets up and puts Romeo in the bathroom. Now our boys are really started to get peeved, cause this intruder is in our house. Then we hear more barking and the scratching of our bathroom door. At this point, I'm feeling horribly guilty for taking away much needed & precious sleep for the both of us and so I offer to take Romeo into the guest room so Jason can get some sleep. Jason heads to the couch with the boys in the living room, in order to calm them. This "adorable little beagle" was quickly wearing on my last nerve as the clock started nearing closer to 3am. He kept jumping up on me trying to have his passionate way with my arm. Sick! There was just no way around it, until this un-neutered friend of ours found a female, he was not going to be deterred & was going to make this one heck of a long night!

At that point, I figured this dog is safer on the streets than he is near me, cause I'm going to end up smothering this canine with a pillow! So out he went back on the streets at 3 o'clock in the morning. Then I just PRAYED that no one would respond to my listings online. I felt HORRIBLY guilty all Sunday until I started to receive a couple emails from fellow neighbors who had the same experience with the same dog. Apparently he knows his way around and was on a mission, so who was I stop him?

I just might have learned my lesson on trying to rescue a pup, but who knows if the next little guy is even cuter it might be harder for me to resist.

2010-05-24T16:15:00.006-05:00

This weekend was so looooveely. My hard-working man was able to take Saturday night off and so we headed out to the drive-in with the boys!

It was perfect weather with not a cloud in the sky and the drive-in was packed with families eager to see Shrek Forever After and Iron Man 2! We loaded up the truck with blankets, pillows, lawn chairs and labradors and were off for a relaxing evening to stuff our faces with hamburgers & corndogs :-)

Jeep & Seven do awesome at the drive-in, and never bother a soul. One family came by when we first pulled up to see the boys and thought they might be noisy through the movies. But after both films were over, the mom came by and said she didn't hear one peep from either of them and was so impressed! We couldn't be more proud parents! Discipline pays off people.

Here's Seven a little too eager to get ready for the movies. He didn't want to wait to get out of the truck through the door, so he just pulled his 70 pound self through the back window. And of course, our even bigger labrador Jeep had to follow suit. After the movies were over, he entered the truck the exact same way he crawled out. Goober.

And THAT my friends below, is a real life thumbnail. MY thumbnail to be precise. I all of a sudden overcame my nail biting habit that I've had my entire life and have grown my own long & healthy nails! Weird, I know! But seriously, if you know me, you know this is HUGE :-)

I attribute the healthy strong nails to the new vitamin/herbal supplement regime I've been on. I said I would update everyone what vitamins I decided on after being diagnosed with PCOS. And this new plan is working out fabulously I might add :-)

I take 800 mg of Vitex/Chasteberry (this one is key and is working awesome!)

10,000 IU of Vitamin A

5,000 IU of Vitamin D

100 mg of Vitamin B6

1,200 mg of Fish Oil/Omega 3 (HUGE vitamin - yuck!)

And a little prenatal to give me all the other nutrients I might need.

So far so good!

Women of Faith

2010-05-05T12:33:00.005-05:00

Last Friday I turned 32 years old - and like many women I reflected on my life and where I'm at and the milestones I have and have not accomplished thus far. It's easy for me to get discouraged and down over the things I have yet to overcome or attain to in my own life. It's easy for me to get frustrated.

But then I think of these women. Women of faith. Heroes to many.

Women like Karen King - an amazing woman and mother who for many years was a large part of my life and to whom I affectionately call Mama King. I grew up with her kids and our families have always been close. Four years ago this month Karen was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Every day she enters the boxing ring of cancer & rings the bell enduring weeks and weeks of chemotherapy and treatments. Her faith, strength and joy blows me entirely away. She's a hero to her own family, to others and to me.

Women like Stephanie Neilsen, who back in 2008 survived a plane crash with her husband and has been on a long journey of recovery, but who's gentle and strong spirit encourages me and inspires so many.

I often think of these modern day women of faith, heros to many and in light of their situations and trials they continually choose joy & demonstrate love, trust in the Father and yet also take on their individual battles with grace and beauty.

They inspire me, I hope they've inspired you too.

2010-04-28T11:01:00.003-05:00

Something I will always remember about my childhood is waking up on a Spring morning and seeing the beautiful pink blossoms from our cherry tree dancing outside my bedroom window. I absolutely loved that tree through all the seasons of the year, but Springtime was truly the most magical.

When we eventually settle into the home we will raise our family in, I want to plant one by the house so my kids will have the same memories I do.

Isn't it beautiful?

Total Honesty, So Brace Yourself

2010-04-22T17:58:00.003-05:00

I haven't been much for blogging lately because the things that consume my mind were not really issues I was ready to talk about. I've been struggling so much emotionally and mentally with my body image and overall mood. A year or so ago I was on a low dose of Lexapro which made me feel so much better and much less moody and anxious, but as a result I put on 15 pounds. Jason and I always said that we would want to have a good 5 years together before we started trying to have a family and so last fall I made it my goal to wean myself off of the different medications I was taking like the Lexapro and birth control so I would be in a healthier place. But not long after came this rush of emotional heaviness once again combined with the extra weight and some horrible acne (like 13 year old puberty acne). After a rough few months and a blood test I was finally diagnosed this week with PCOS, which also explains some of the weight gain, the acne and depression I've been dealing with. Of course my doctors immediate response is to put me back on more types of medication to control it, which is the last thing I really want to do. So in my spare time I've been trying to research vitamins, supplements and herbs to rebalance my hormones and get me back on track.

Through all of this I have not been the most fun person to be around. And I feel horrible about it too. My poor husband works so hard pulling double duty by working two full time jobs and I feel like whenever he's around me I'm always stressed, grumpy or irritable. He tries so hard to lift my spirits or make me laugh, and sometimes it really helps and for a moment I forget the mountain looming right in front of me. Sometimes I can't help but think that he got the short end of the deal by choosing me, that I'll never be able to be the wife that he deserves. It doesn't help that now that I've caught the baby bug that I'm so much more aware of how my friends continue to easily get pregnant and have child after child moving on with growing their families. And I for some reason can't help but feel like I'm just struggling to feel normal and have my body for once work right for me.

So there's my honesty in all its glory - I don't have some fluffy and fun blog to post about how life is grand and I'm daydreaming about flowers, puppies, drive-ins and long summer days. Moment by moment my cry is that God would meet me, help me to focus on the positive, love my husband deeply, trust fully, be grateful for everything and keep trying.

Vegas Baby!

2010-04-12T13:11:00.004-05:00

I've been super pumped thinking about my trip back to Seattle in June for my sister's graduations! I'm so proud of them both for sticking with it and finishing strong! After being in Seattle for a few days, the three of us girls are taking off to celebrate in Vegas for 5 days!! Whohoo!! I've never been and am so excited for it! What better way to celebrate than to stay in luxurious hotels, feast from amazing buffets, sit by a dreamlike pool and sip fruity non-alcoholic drinks with a good book? I honestly could care less about the gambling, I just thought it would be a fun getaway for just us girls! It's been FOR-EV-ER since the three of us have had any sister time.

I booked us the Bella Suite at the Palazzo, which is an all-suite hotel built alongside the Venetian.

The room is breathtaking and has a sunken living room, desk, 40 in. flatscreen tv, and sectional sofa.

The bathroom sounds insanely indulgent with a sunken tub, separate glass shower, a flatscreen(!), double sinks and a little seated vanity for getting ready! (Note to self, bring some LUSH bath bombs with us!)

You can see from the map, we're smack dead in the middle of the action on the strip. (We're located where you see the green dot for the Venetian).

A whole week away in the sun with two of my favorite people!!! Now I have even more motivation to lose some weight!

Drama, Drama, Drama

2010-04-07T17:40:00.002-05:00

You ever feel like you have one of those days when it's all you can do to keep it together & stay sane? That's my day. From grouchy bosses to rude receptionists to relationship struggles - holy smokes more than once today I was ready to throw my hands up and wave the white flag. Seriously, when it rains - it pours.

On a happier note - my inlaws were here this last week and I enjoyed every moment with them. Our weather jumped into gorgeous springtime with it being in the 80's and the trees beginning to bud and flowers blossom. We spent time hanging out in downtown Franklin, having yummy dinners out, cooking at home, baking a big ol carrot cake (which turned out divine!), vegging in front of the TV, putting together a puzzle and hanging out with friends! It was a blast and I will miss them - but hopefully seem them again soon!

But until then - tonight I'm looking forward to the comfy couch, my pj's, getting some laundry done, maybe a little tivo and some leftover ham from Easter - yummmm..

Thank God, His mercies are new every morning.

Serenity now

2010-04-01T15:15:00.008-05:00

I came across this picture and fell absolutely in love with this kitchen.

Photo by Ashlee Raubach Photography

Isn't it divine? I know there's no way I could have something like this with 2 dogs and hopefully kids someday, but a girl can dream right? How gorgeous are those light blue pendant lights and glass tiled backsplash?

Or how about this kitchen & living room remodel from The Lettered Cottage?

Amazing...and you can see the before pictures from the blog here. You seriously won't believe the talent of this woman, it's insane.

Spring has sprouted

2010-03-25T15:13:00.019-05:00

I've changed my blog header to show two people lying in the grass because that has become my all consuming fantasy right now. I'm truly not being sarcastic, so let me explain. Since the beginning of winter/late fall we have been waiting for our "winter rye" grass to grow. We had planted it with the intention that it would make the backyard a lot nicer through the winter & rainy seasons and to also help cut down on the mud & dirt.

Well it never grew.

And as a result I've been doing my best not to sink into a deep depression from the amount of mud and dust that is daily tracked into my house from our two Labradors and even ourselves.

It's a battle that I've often lost.

This isn't a picture of our yard or our dogs, but I swear it could be since they look like our boys and that looks JUST like our yard. Blech!

But this last week...we spotted a little of this action....

And every day I peek out the windows and the back door to see if my fantasy is really coming true. One day this summer, we will put a blanket out on the grass and get to enjoy it!

But until then, these are the things I'm looking forward to...

Mom & Dad Keith will be coming out for a week long visit over Easter and I'm so excited to have the company! Plus, it gives me an excuse to cook, bake & entertain.

No doubt there will be plenty of this...

a little of that...

definitely a whole lot of this...

and a tad bit of that...

just a few of these...

and I'm going to try my hand at making some of those... (photo & recipe by Joy the Baker)

AND it wouldn't be Easter without some of this...

(photo and recipe by Southern Living)

Don't you wish you were having Easter at our house?

I am ready for spring.

2010-02-22T17:24:00.004-06:00

Yesterday we were teased with a gorgeous 67 degrees & bright sunshine. It felt like I had been holding my breath for three months and didn't realize it until I was able to exhale & breathe in the warm fresh air. It was so refreshing and then just as suddenly it all went away and I went back to work in cold 45 degree drizzily rain. Ugh. I need the sun to come back, no like I really NEED it to come back.

Because it was a gorgeous weekend, Jason and I were able to spend an entire day together walking around and touring homes for sale in East Nashville (NOT because we're looking for a new home, just for fun). It was the first day we'd had together in two weeks since last weekend he had to work so much with it being Valentine's. Call me selfish, but this weekend went by too fast & I want another day with my man.

This is a house down the street from us that is for sale - it is SO beautiful and I love what they've done to update it and yet keep the old floors, original built-ins and fireplace sconces. It's a 4 bed/2 bath and is listed for $325K

Look at all these gorgeous windows! And unlike ours, they actually open & are not painted shut.

Check out the original builtins - and a huge dining room.

The kitchen was a bit small, but had a lot of counter space & very open to the rest of the house. And beyond the kitchen a mud room. WE NEED A MUD ROOM. That's going to be a huge selling point for our next house someday. Muddy dogs + muddy husband = necessary mud room.

One of the bedrooms downstairs - and it has a huge original built in window seat. LOVE.

Original pedetal sink in the downstairs bath. Adorable claw foot tub.

And check out this amazing master suite upstairs. Freakin amazing. I would actually turn it into a bonus room/office.

And HUGE master bath. love love love.

I love looking at the old homes & how people restore them, its so amazing. We've learned a lot with the house we now have and its been a great starter home, but I do look forward to the day when we have a home that better suits our needs. ie - more closet space, more storage space, a mud room, more countertop space in the kitchen & a bigger bathrooms.

Someday...

January Baker's Challenge - Nanaimo Bars

2010-02-03T09:52:00.005-06:00

Well I got back on the horse & decided to participate in January's Daring Bakers Challenge. Not that we needed the extra calories around, but it looked fairly easy & not as time consuming as the other challenges often are, so I thought I would give it a shot and make them for Small Group.

And oh. my. word. They were insanely good. It's almost a bad thing that they were so easy to make, because now I want to make these OFTEN. Especially since I know you can make them in peanut butter or mint versions as well. The Small Group seemed to enjoy them as well being as how the plate was empty before the last person left last night.

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca. I however, did not make the homemade gluten free graham crackers, because I simply just did not have the time. But this one is definately going in the recpie box!

The bars consist of three layers, the bottom being a mixture of coconut, cocoa powder, almonds and crushed graham crackers. Then, you make a vanilla buttercream layer for the middle and then finish off with a chocolate ganache layer on top. My top layer was a bit more crunchy since I just melted chocolate chips and poured them on top. But still amazingly delicious and super rich. Pairing them with a rich cup of coffee was pure heaven.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of mine before they were gone, so I grabbed a couple pics online that looked very similar to how mine turned out.

Thank you to Lauren of Celiac Teen for a choosing a great challenge! It was a fantastic way to kick off the company weight loss competition I'll be participating in starting this next Monday!

Waiting

2010-01-21T10:41:00.003-06:00

I've been getting impatient & restless with waiting on the Lord with a number of different situations. My heart has pulled back from trusting in His timing and His faithfulness and I wasn't even aware of it till a friend of mine encouraged me to check out the song While I'm Waiting by John Waller.

What a beautiful song and may it be the cry of my own heart. I give all my desires & all our hopes back into the hands of God and will go back to trusting Him and in His perfect timing.

I hope this song brings you as much encouragement & peace, as it has done for me.

4 years down, eternity to go.

2010-01-20T11:50:00.006-06:00

Soooo...I'm way behind on catching everyone up on life with the Keiths.

Let's jump real quick back to December. Jason & I flew back to Seattle for Christmas, but sadly our flight on Christmas Eve was cancelled due to the snow in Dallas where we needed to change planes. So they re-booked our tickets for Christmas Day and we picked up our bags, turned around and headed back home. Our pups were already at the boarding place, so we had a quiet night at home alone on Christmas Eve. But I was sad. And I cried.

Christmas Day arrives and we finally make our way to Seattle. It truly was an awesome Christmas vacation with family and friends and went entirely way too fast. Did I take any pictures, of course not silly! Until I lose 25 pounds, the camera and I are not exactly friends.

We were spoiled with waking up to coffee in bed and delicious meals prepared by mom. We did a puzzle, watched movies, saw Avatar, Sherlock and Nine, shared presents & drank more coffee. I was also seriously blessed to spend an entire afternoon & evening with one of my best friends Jessica, who currently lives with her husband in Germany. It had been close to 4 years since I had seen her! Dinner with the Rowlands & Frees' family was also a treat and flew by way too fast. We packed in as much as we could in the week we had there, but it was long overdue and what I desperately needed to feel like it was finally Christmas.

Flash Forward a few weeks................

Jason and I celebrated our 4th anniversary :-)

Has it really been 4 years already? I got off work early and we headed out to see It's Complicated (which we HIGHLY recommend, it was hilarious!) and then to dinner at Allium in East Nashville. It was perfect and lovely and Jason bought me a tart pan, a quiche pan and a Madeline cookie pan all from Williams Sonoma (LOVE that place). (Uh-hum, his gift is still in the mail...grrr...but he's going to LOVE it.)

I love you sweetie - these have been the best 4 years of my life and I'm honored and blessed to share them with you. I count each day a blessing and hope to never take one for granted. God is so good for all He continues to work in us as a couple and in our marriage, may His work never be done. Oh and you are still as yummy as the day I married you ;-)

A few days later.........

Jeep & Seven turned 1!
Boy does time fly.

2010-01-11T15:01:00.003-06:00

I was able to enjoy a relaxing & laid back weekend with my man, which NEVER happens, since he typically gets scheduled to work either Saturday or Sunday. But as it turned out we had two whole days of togetherness and it was blissful. We did a little shopping and found ourselves an ottoman for the living room that was marked down in clearance at American Signature, we ran some errands, read, napped, watched some football, and had some serious grubbin BBQ at a local East Nashville spot.

As the weekend was winding down and we had just finished storing all the Christmas & Thanksgiving boxes up in the attic, I was in the mood for a yummy drink and decided to whip up some up Virgin Strawberry Daiquiris. YUM.

What should have been a fairly foolproof process, turned into a bit of a fiasco.

See our lovely little Cuisinart Blender? Well apparently I loaded too much ice in to begin with and it wasn't blending well. I quickly got frustrated that the ice wasn't being crushed and had to jab the stuff around with my wooden spoon to get some cooperation. Then disaster struck.

Oops. Strawberry Daiquiri splattered all over me, the cabinets, the dogs, the counter tops and yes, even my ceiling. I may or may not have said a bad word. Oh well, there was still enough in the blender for Jason to have a glass, plenty on the floor for the dogs to enjoy and I still had enough to start a new batch for myself.

Yummy huh honey?

What that? Oh nothing, just a few wood chips blended into the drink - just think of it as more organic and you probably won't even notice it.

Oops. Or maybe not. We had to pour his drink into the strainer and there was quite a bit of shredded wooden spoon in there. My bad. Love you mean it!

I'm in a funk.

2009-12-15T13:00:00.004-06:00

Christmas is probably one of my favorite holidays. I love to bake lots of cookies and treats, shop for gifts to bless family & friends with, watch holiday movies and sit in front of the fire. But this year...I'm struggling to get in the spirit. Right now the holiday season feels like no other season to me, just that there's a tree in my living room and stockings hanging from the mantle. I'm not in the mood to bake, because my clothes are too tight as it is. I'm not in the mood to shop because my account is too dry. I'm not in the mood to watch holiday movies, because I don't want to watch them alone. I know this would be a little easier if Jason was able to be home more in the evenings, but he's been working really hard so that we could afford to spend Christmas together out in Seattle. I'm blessed by a man who loves me that much that he's working all through the day and the evening so we could have Christmas together, so I truly am thankful for that. It just doesn't make it any less lonely at the moment either.

I know at the 11th hour when we finally arrive into Seattle, it will finally feel like its Christmas. It's been far too long since I've seen my family over the holidays. I miss them and I miss showering them with love, goodies & gifts and cozying up together to watch While You Were Sleeping. It's not the same without family. I want to drink hot cocoa, sit in front of a real fire, play a game, do a puzzle, read a book cuddled up next to my sisters, watch a movie with the family while dad nods off, eat mom's home cooked turkey & stuffing. I'm a traditions girl, I need them. I've tried my best to make some of our own, but its not the same. I want a little boy and a little girl of my own to share these traditions with, to buy gifts for, to snuggle on Christmas Eve with, to sew stockings for, to bake goodies with. It shouldn't be any shocker to hear me say that - I am 31 after all. I know, all in God's timing.

We're going to a Christmas party tonight and I'm not even looking forward to it. Friends are great, but I want my family. I wish we were leaving tomorrow, I'm homesick.

Truflle Balls

2009-12-11T10:41:00.006-06:00

Last night was our book club's Christmas Party and we were asked to bring a yummy dessert. I know it comes as no to surprise to many of you that I sat there and mulled and stressed over this decision for a few days. I absolutely love to bake and the look on people's faces when they eat one of my treats makes me so happy.

Finally a friend at work suggested I try to make these Oreo truffle balls that she had at a party the night before. So I looked up the recipe and with a few modifications of my own, made what is some seriously heavenly pieces of goodness.

They also present beautifully at a party and are easy as pie to make! I made two different kinds - the milk chocolate ones have a peanut butter/Butterfinger filling and the white chocolate ones have a mint Oreo filling with some flaked coconut on top.

Rach - this recipe is for you darling!

Milk Chocolate/Peanut Butter Truffle Balls

Ingredients: 1 pkg. Nutter Butter cookies; 2 boxes Butterfinger Minis; 1 pkg. Cream Cheese, softened; 1 pkg Milk or Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips.

Directions: In food processor, grind up a entire package of Nutter Butter cookies until powder-like consistency and pour into a bowl. Then grind up two packages of bite-sized Butterfinger bars (found in the candy aisle), also until a powder-like consistency. Add one whole package of cream cheese into the food processor and process with the Butterfinger until smooth. Remove that mixture from the food processor and add to the bowl with the Nutter Butter powder. With wooden spoon, blend well until fully incorporated. Using a tablespoon or melonballer, spoon onto a cookie sheet covered in wax paper or parchment paper then roll into balls. Chill in refrigerator for 1 1/2 hours. Once chilled, melt entire bag of chocolate in either the microwave, stirring every 20 seconds until smooth or using a double broiler. Roll the balls into the chocolate on a spoon and place onto wax paper. Place back in the fridge to set and chill. Serve at room temperature.

White Chocolate Mint Oreo Truffle Balls

Ingredients: 1 pkg. Mint Oreos; 1 pkg. Cream Cheese, softened; 1 pkg. White Chocolate Chips; Shredded Coconut.

Directions: Same as cookies above, just swapping out the Nutter Butters for the Oreos. Also I found it easier to pour the melted white chocolate on the Oreo balls, since the rolling them in the chocolate left Oreo residue in the chocolate. Then sprinkle a tad of coconut while the chocolate is still soft & refrigerate to set.

Best served at room temperature! Enjoy!

What's YOUR Opinion On The Matter?

2009-12-09T14:13:00.002-06:00

First of all, before I get started on this heated topic - Jason and I are not pregnant. So don't ask.

Moving on, here's my question.

Many of you are either working moms OR stay-at-home-moms (SAHM's). And I've heard from different women, even single women without kids, what they think the best route for raising their kids should be. I haven't had to cross that bridge yet, but I'm curious. Personally, I've had a job working full time since I was 14 years old. I've never really been without a job for more than a couple months, which was when I moved out to Tennessee with my husband. In the office where I work I've asked a couple ladies, and it seems that they're preference is to definitely work and put their kids in daycare, because "kids need to be socialized" and these women are career-driven. Of course, I'm not going to get the SAHM opinion here in the office, cause well, you're not going to find one in the workplace.

Ideally, if my husband and I could afford it, I would love to be able to raise my kids at home until they're old enough to go to school. And ONLY if financially strapped, then pick up a part-time job. I fully realize that some moms don't have the option and have to work. My best friend was a single mom for many years and had no choice but to work to provide for her daughter.

But here's where I'm curious. Is it more enjoyable to be a Stay At Home Mom OR is it more enjoyable to be a Career Mom? I would think, it would be more enjoyable to be a Stay At Home Mom (Not saying they're working any less) but that it would be much more rewarding to be pouring into your kids lives rather than sitting in a cube answering a phone and to the whims of a boss or two....or three. Though I do appreciate being able to bring home a paycheck, I just think I would get way more satisfaction out of raising my kids and knowing that I'm the one raising them.

What stirred all this thinking was when I caught a few mothers talking on TV. The three moms, who were all friends, were sitting together at the zoo with their kids and one of them said, "This sure beats working a 9-5 job!" And her friend turns to her and says, "No, its definitely harder." And I just kinda sat there thinking - "Really? Is it harder? You're at the zoo with your friends, and your cute kiddos petting the animals and I sit in a cube answering to two men every 5 seconds and being at their beckon call, punching a time clock." I don't know and I'm curious as to what y'all think?

So please, what are your thoughts on this?

So good.

2009-12-04T16:46:00.004-06:00

Kristin Bell was on Craig Ferguson the other night and mentioned the Surprise Kitty video from YouTube. I of course, had to look it up to see for myself.

Oh.

My.

Word.

Reeaaaallly makes me want one of these. After all, what's one more animal in the house?

Then I was watching an Oprah episode I had tivo'd and saw this performance of Mary J. Blige & Andrea Bocelli singing What Child Is This. A-maz-ing. It gave me chill bumps.

Girls Weekend on The Farm

2009-11-13T11:05:00.006-06:00

Last weekend, I was blessed with the opportunity to join a few girlfriends for a weekend away at a beautiful cabin on some acreage just outside of Nashville. It was an open invitation to all the girls in our book club, but due to many scheduling conflicts, it ended up only being 4 of us in a gigantic 5 bedroom, 4 bath cabin/barn for 2 1/2 days. Complete and total bliss.

I'd had a rough couple weeks with all the pain from the dental surgery, roof leaking issues, HVAC quitting on us ect... I was stressed and was grateful to have a few days to recharge my batteries and do nothing but stay in my pajamas and read. And the best part about it, it was completely free. The cabin/barn belongs to a friend of one of the girls and they had offered it to her for the weekend.

I did take some pictures of The Farm (as it's referred to) so you can get an idea of this piece of heaven I was able to enjoy!
It was constructed as a barn and the right side is used for events, while the left side is the actual home.
This is what it looks like from inside the barn, you can see the stables on the right.

Here are some shots of the surrounding acreage and ponds.

We would take walks in the afternoon around the property to look at the creek, ponds, cows and this lovely little duck. It took me a couple days before I realized it was plastic. Awesome I know.
Here is the entrance to the cabin side of the barn. Aren't those rocking chairs just precious?

Once inside you see the great room that includes the dining table, living room, kitchen and pool table.

But my favorite aspect of the house was the breathtaking 20 ft fireplace surrounded by comfy leather chairs.

And can you believe I had this room all to myself? It was almost too quiet to sleep, but I'm not complaining! Gorgeous!

A huge thank you to my dear friend Julie for hooking us up that weekend and to the family that was so generous by sharing The Farm with us!

Cleaning House

2009-11-04T18:26:00.003-06:00

Last night our church Small Group got together to discuss chapter 7 of Crazy Love by Francis Chan. If you haven't heard of it, its a great and challenging book to read. By challenging I mean, that it's pushing me to do things that aren't quite comfortable.

For example.

Do I really need all the things that I possess? I have a hard time giving up things. I wouldn't say I'm a pack rat, but I do hold onto things from the past for sentimental reasons. Doesn't everyone. I have a sucky memory, and sometimes cards or clothes helps me remember special events or moments of my life.

But then there's the fact that I despise clutter and a messy house. We don't have a huge house to begin with, and hardly any storage and the piles are starting to take over certain rooms. Ick!!! Quite frankly it freaks me out. I can easily go into a full blown panic attack when I see the mess, dust, dog-hair, boxes and crap getting out of control. I feel some simplifying coming on. I need to downsize on "stuff" and start taking it to the thrift store or just simply throwing it away. I'm not kidding y'all - getting rid of things, especially clothes, is soooo hard for me.

Maybe for further motivation, I'll show you some before & after pictures :-) Or maybe not, I get so embarrassed by the mess! We'll see.

This Dedication Goes Out To Two Fabulous Women...

2009-10-31T22:11:00.003-05:00

they happen to also be my sisters...

I have every confidence that one day they will blow some guys' mind and those guys will realize they never knew love or a woman so amazing until he met her.

Procedures Week

2009-10-27T13:44:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow I go in for a dental procedure in which they will extract a tooth and then immediately put in an implant. I've been given a prescription of antibiotics & Valium. And even knowing I'll be high as kite on Valium, does not bring me much comfort whatsoever. I hate dentist appointments and I have developed an intense loathing toward my old dentist who never informed me that the tooth to be removed should have been crowned in the first place. I would never be in this position had I known that. But then again, I should have gotten it crowned a year ago when I found out about it. My bad too. OH and the best part of all of this! The insurance doesn't pay for implants! Oh yes! Which MEANS, a lovely $1000 up front tomorrow and the rest needs to be paid over the next several months. Oh and did I mention we desperately need a new roof? I'd rather have a new roof than this dental appointment, but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. Which reminds me, I need to charge up my ipod cause it's going to be a long 2 1/2 hours tomorrow. arghhh...

ALSO - Friday we bring the boys into the vet for their fun, little neutering appointment. We were told once bad habits started to emerge, we would REALLY need to get that taken care of. When we started noticing the dogs mark their territory outside or get too aggressive, I would warn them, "Keep that up and you're going to get your nuts chopped off!" Good thing we don't have kids yet, we could leave some permanent damage with that one. So I scheduled the appointment and all of a sudden the dogs started behaving better....hmmmm...think they know? I have a feeling Seven (the black lab) does, he's been WAY too obedient not to have an idea. Oh and don't worry, I will be taking pictures of the collars that they both will be sporting to keep from licking themselves and each other. It should be awesome and hilarious - maybe a video would be even better!

But hey, isn't our new fall wreath pretty? (yes, trying to distract myself here!) It only cost me $10 plus a couple dollars worth of extra fillers.

This last weekend Jason and I went to the Nashville Farmer's Market and picked up some pumpkins, bales of hay and cornstalks to decorate for our Small Group Party tonight. The pumpkin carving will take place on the front porch to keep some of the mess out of the house and Jason hung some pretty white lights up as well to make it more festive. Jason's been cooking chili for the last three days and I made a big batch of molasses cookies last night. Plus they'll be cornbread, coffee punch and treats! I'll try to get some good pictures!

At the Farmer's Market, Jason became quite enamored with the swan and duck pumpkins he came across.
If you think of it, please say a little prayer for me tomorrow, I'm super nervous about it! Love ya all!

If Jason & I were otters...

2009-10-26T17:12:00.002-05:00

I came across this video over at Busy Bee Lauren (who I think is completely adorable) and fell head over heels in love with these little otters.

Watch the WHOLE thing.

We Made It Out Alive!

2009-10-20T16:37:00.010-05:00

We're back from camping this weekend and had a great relaxing time! It was a little too cold for my taste, but at least that cut down on the bugs. You know its cold when you no longer need your cooler for cold drinks. Nights were a little rough, with a queen size air mattress, the two of us and two 65 pound Labradors. It was so freezing and got down to 36 degrees on Sunday night. The labs would just be laying there shivering, and so were we, so we just each grabbed a dog and spooned until all our body heat kept us warm. Nice visual huh? I woke up more than once with a paw, a butt, a tail or a tongue in my face.

Jeep is still terrified of fire and kept his distance by perching himself on top of a picnic table one campsite over, and Seven kept us busy by staying obsessed with his Kong (a rubber chew toy) until we would throw it for him.

The food was wonderful, the quality time was wonderful and the campgrounds were wonderful. We stayed a beautiful KOA in Chattanooga that had gorgeous trees all around us, a huge meadow for the dogs to run around in and hot clean showers which was a big bonus! I got a lot of reading done and we just enjoyed each other's company for three whole days. It was total bliss.

When it was time to pack up and head out, the boys immediately knew we were leaving and jumped in the truck picking their spots to ride. Yeah I don't think so boys - get in the back!

On the way back home, we decided to make a quick trip into downtown Chattanooga and stopped at our favorite little coffee & pastry shop Rembrandt's. It was the perfect way to end a great weekend sitting at a little cafe table in the sun eating breakfast sandwiches and delicate pastries.

To end this post, I thought I would include a video of Jason and the boys playing out in the meadow before we left camp yesterday.

I had an amazing time and I'm so glad I got to spend a whole three and a half days with my man! I love you sweetie!

Crap.

2009-10-16T11:43:00.004-05:00

If y'all don't hear from us on Tuesday, you'll know we froze to death in our tent.

At least there's little chance for rain and only on Saturday evening. We're packing LOTS of blankets.

Only Momma Can Wake Seven From His Slumber!

2009-10-13T17:16:00.003-05:00

Last night Jason and I were laughing about how soundly our dogs sleep. That is unless they hear a certain trigger - like a noise outside, a faraway dog barking or the name of our cat, Banks.

It's pretty hilarious actually and if you didn't know there were dogs in the house and you heard snoring, you would think it was an old man (not pointing any fingers here).

As we're saying goodnight (yes to the dogs, get over it already), Jason is snuggled up next to Seven and saying his name to try and get a response out of him - and yet nothing. Not a flinch, eye flicker or grunt. We thought it was hilarious and decided to make a small movie out of it and it turned out pretty funny.

4 Days of Camping Bliss...

2009-10-12T16:53:00.007-05:00

I am beyond excited for our upcoming camping trip. The best way to enjoy a vacation, is to be - in my opinion anyway - well prepared :-) I have a bit of a reputation for my packing lists and how thorough they can be. What can I say, I don't want to worry that I've forgotten something and being well prepared keeps me relaxed going into a vacation. To me there's nothing worse than driving all over a strange city and trying to locate a Walmart looking for the salt & pepper or dog food you forgot to pack. Ugh. (Can you tell we've been there?!)

It's just us and the boys and guaranteed to be a relaxing time with reading, horseshoes, playing with the boys in the dog park and lots of sleeping in. Jason and I haven't had a weekend away or a vacation for just the two of us since....hold on I'm checking the calendar....whoa, over a year actually. It was September of 2008 when we went to Indianapolis for a concert - yikes, that sucks. We've had plenty of trips to visit family, or family out visiting us, along with two Small Group camping trips, but not a single weekend away just us for over a year! Yeesh! No wonder I'm so excited!!!

We also have a great menu all planned out so we'll be eating some serious grub while we're there. Let me give you just a sampling of our menu - marinated chicken & vegetable skewers bbq'd, grilled corn on the cob, baked potatoes with stuffed cheeseburgers and baked beans, cowboy omelets and pancakes with scrambled eggs and bacon. Oh you're drooling now aren't you? And of course, I'm bringing some pumpkin bread in honor of the fall season and some homemade cookies.

I love to camp and I know that surprises some of you - but if done properly with an air mattress, flannel sheets and a soft duvet, it is pure heaven sleeping in the fresh air and cooking over a fire. Just make sure to bring a doormat to keep the mud out of the tent and a broom nearby to swat at insects or spiders. And there you have it! A perfect camping trip :-)

Haa ha - check out these doggy sleeping bags!
Check out this trailer - now this is camping in style!
Now I'm not this bad, but maybe kinda close (well ok, I was this bad before I got married)I won't guarantee any pictures, because right now I have acne like a 14 year old boy and I'm not planning to wear makeup every day out in the woods. But maybe you'll get a couple of Jason and the boys. And let's pray for great weather shall we? The first time we went camping, we slept on the side of a hill and had to keep inching our way up our bed throughout the night and the second time we went camping it rained half the time leaving mud EVERYWHERE - it was sick. So Lord, please give us some great weather and a level campsite!

Hang on we're diving deep here...

2009-10-05T12:44:00.003-05:00

A few days ago I watched this nasty video a friend of mine posted on her Facebook of what looked like the biggest zit you've ever seen, being drained and cleaned out. I couldn't even get halfway through watching the video without wanting to gag. It was seriously one of the most disgusting things I have EVER seen. I would repost it here, but I'm afraid I'd lose your attention right then and there.

Then last night I woke up at 1am and felt compelled to pray with a heavy burden on my heart. I was praying for God to move in a specific situation. I asked that God would use my words as weapons to defeat the enemy's lies and deceptions. It was then when I was praying that I thought back to the video again. And he showed me that this situation on my heart was like that infection. That even though you couldn't see it from the outside, it ran deep, was wide-spread and yes utterly disgusting. Something or someone needs to go in and expose the infection, bring it out in the open so that the wound could be cleaned and fully healed. Sorry for all those of you who have weak stomachs, but sin is disgusting, its ugly and its hard to look at. But when left to itself, it spreads through the body and kills off the healthy cells. As much as we wish it to, as much as it doesn't appear to be all that bad, this infection will not go away on its own and yes, it only gets worse. The infection has to be exposed, for true healing to take place.

Then the verse came to mind from 1 John 1:5-7: "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light,... as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."

My heart is so heavy this morning and I pray that God would show me how to pray specifically for this situation or even how I must act. Don't think that just because we don't want to face it or deal with it, that the infection isn't there. God's Word is like a cat-scan or an MRI, used to find those tumors or infections and then once discovered, it MUST be removed. Or just like a cancer, a tumor or infection it will ultimately kill the body.

I know there is power in prayer and I pray that my words might be used as a scalpel to lance open the infection, however ugly it might look or be - because God is bigger than all of this and His desire is for his children, that they may have life, healing and hope.

My Hairy Home.

2009-09-25T10:32:00.007-05:00

So who would've thought that two short-haired Labradors would SHED SO MUCH! Holy crap there's a mess of hair around our home! I swear I'm sweeping up MOUNDS of hair every couple of days. Apparently labs shed their undercoat every Spring and Fall and frankly its quite disgusting. We could superglue their hair onto a stuffed animal and we'd have another Labrador.

I'm so not kidding.

Then you factor in a shedding cat and its just outright nasty around our house right now. So our plan of defense is this - I introduce you to the FUR-MI-NA-TOR! These bad boys are $45 and apparently comb out all the undercoat decreasing the shedding by 90%. Oh but of course I wasn't willing to pay that much, so I found a brand new one on Ebay for $13.50 - holla! So as soon as it arrives in the mail, we'll be having ourselves a Furminator party in the backyard. And I do hope to take pictures of the removed hair in all its glory. I'm REALLY hoping this does the trick!

These are the images of how much hair this little miracle worker can remove: (see the black lab in the center picture?)
And speaking of labs - thankfully both Jeep & Seven are doing much better with the infections they both had. Seven's eyes are back to normal and looking beautiful and Jeep's bacterial infection on his face is starting to clear up. Even with all the vet bills, they are the best dogs in the world. And I know I sound crazy, but as soon as we get more land and a bigger house, I would love to get one or two more! After all, we don't have our Chocolate Lab and I would love a Silver one too!

Have you ever seen a silver lab? GORGEOUS! I think if we get one, we should name him Sterling.

I know what you're all thinking - I'm crazy for wanting so many pets. But they are so fun and they bring so much joy to our lives. And ultimately I want a house full of kids, dogs, and my cat Banks!~

Not an ounce of inspiration.

2009-09-18T12:53:00.009-05:00

So yeah, I've been asked lately why I haven't updated the blog. *big sigh* I just haven't been inspired to do so. It might have something to do with the fact that I spend 40 hours a week typing my butt off as my job. So anything extra in front of the computer is oftentimes just more work. And these last two weeks have been A TON of work.

Ok so enough whining about it. Here's some random thoughts Jason and I have been throwing out there lately.

First of all - Jason was offered his friend's landscaping business. Jason has been working for his friend Moke over the last summer as a way to earn some extra cash when work at the restaurant is slow. But just recently Moke and his wife Tracy decided they were going to put their house on the market come spring and head to California. We've been praying about this a lot trying to hear the Lord's direction on whether we should do it. Jason's done some number crunching and I've even discussed it with one of my attorneys. It's looking like an awesome opportunity for us because 1. it will provide us with some serious cash next spring, summer & fall to pay off our car & hopefully get our roof replaced and 2. it will allow Jason to cut back nights at the restaurant to spend more time at home!!!! (I love this one most!) AND 3. he can be his own boss determining when he works, for how long and how much. We're thinking the plan will be to give this business a couple years and see where it goes and where we're at with things.

(Jeep likes to wear Jason's protective goggles.)

Hmmm...second. We're trying very hard to find some good flights out to Seattle to see family and friends over Christmas. The difficulty this year is the added financial burden of boarding the puppies while we're gone. We found a great place for a great price, but it still adds to the cost of flights and gifts. Holidays don't come cheap for us. :-) This year, we may just have to wrap a big bow around ourselves and show up. Merry Christmas - we're your gifts! That, or I'll be making handmade ornaments again like I did back in the MC days. Ha! (So all you crafty people out there, feel free to send some clever homemade ideas my way!) Oh and baking always works wonders with my family, so at least there's that.

What else...I'm trying desperately this afternoon to focus on the fun things coming up in the next couple months so I don't start getting anxious over my 3 hour dental appointment tomorrow afternoon. I broke part of a tooth off and it needs a crown, along with the tooth behind it also needing a crown. They're hoping they can save the broken tooth, otherwise they're going to have to pull it and put in a graft for an implant. Yuck, yuck, yuck. I should start charging my iPod as soon as I get home, I'm going to need lots of music to listen to.

And so what are these fun things I'm choosing to think on instead??? WELL LET ME TELL YOU!

Next month Jason and I are taking a few days and heading down to Chattanooga for some good 'ol fashioned camping. Just us and the dogs. I'm so pumped to just relax, snuggle with my man, sleep in, read and walk with the pups. And of course we have to stop at Rembrandt's Coffee Company to stock up on their delicious roasted coffee and grab a quick bite to eat!

(This is where I plan to spend most of the weekend while camping!)

Then in November, I'll be joining my friend Julie and some other girls for a Fall Reading Weekend at a farm/lodge near town. It'll be two nights & three days of hearty soups, cozy blankets, fuzzy jammies, dear friends and good books. I can hardly wait!!!

And finally December, where I hope to spend a good amount of time with family and friends over Christmas and maybe even the New Year. My dear friend Jess will be in town and I can hardly contain myself at being able to spend some time with her!

Lots of awesome things to day dream about other than this nasty dentist appointment tomorrow.

I'm ready for fall....

2009-09-10T16:32:00.006-05:00

I guess we've "unofficially" had our last day of summer, but you wouldn't know it here in Nashville. It's still been a gorgeous 75-85 degrees on average and no signs of the leaves turning or cooler weather. But I am looking forward to putting the dresses and skirts away (yes you heard me right, I wear those now) and get out the cords, jeans and sweaters.

I'm ready for simmering soups, warm pies and soft blankets. In October, Jason and I are taking the dogs camping for a long weekend in Chattanooga. Just us, nature, a campfire, some books and lots of relaxation - I'm already excited about it and trying to resist writing out a packing list.

Thankfully the weekend is here and I'm looking forward to chillaxin a while. This week was a tad busy with the Memorial Day BBQ at our friends house with the small group, then cleaning my house and making caramel popcorn all Wednesday night for Book Club at our house last night. Nothing on the calendar this weekend and its just the way I like it!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

August Daring Bakers - Dobos Torta

2009-08-31T13:13:00.003-05:00

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonfulof Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular DobosTorte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: ExquisiteDesserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

I headed over to my friend Jill's house to spend a Saturday baking our challenge together, and really it was WAY more fun doing it with someone rather than alone. We were able to bounce ideas off each other and ask questions - AND laugh together at our creation in the making.

Seriously, I was totally thinking this was going to be a total flop, but in the end, I was so pleasantly surprised!! I will definitely try it again, but with different caramel because ours tasted like lemon. Who puts lemon juice in their caramel? It was kinda messy and the frosting was nothing like a buttercream to me, but then after two hours in the fridge - HOLLA!! Oh sweet Lord was it ever divine.

Yum-my!!

Jill took some pics, cause her camera is WAAAYY better than mine, but I don't have the pics quite ready to post yet.

For the recipe, you can click here. (But just skip over all her drool-worthy pictures, cause then you won't be able to compare ours to her magnificent cake!)

Looking forward to another challenge!

Cleaning With Dogs

2009-08-15T15:49:00.002-05:00

We had ourselves a bit of a busy afternoon taking the dogs to the vet and then getting the oil changed as the puppies were still with us. They were so exhausted when we got home, that they passed out cold on the floor. It's not rare that they will tear up tons of cardboard and envelopes that we give them to chew on in the living room and Jason was helping by sweeping it up this afternoon. Very cute video of Jason sweeping up around Jeep :-) Unfortunately I recorded it holding the camera in a portrait position, but can't flip the view around so it looks a bit sideways.
(**Please ignore the snorting, I have no idea who that was.)

2009-08-14T14:57:00.003-05:00

Okay Krissy-Poo, I got on it and uploaded what few pics I took in California last week :-) This Jason and I at some tower landmark in San Francisco. There was a great view of the Bay from up on that hill.Here's the tower. I guess it was built to make the city more beautiful. Nope, not seeing it.Here's about as close to Alcatraz as we got. Unfortunately the tours were sold out for weeks in advance and there was no way we were going to be able to get a ticket - shoot! Sorry honey!
We walked halfway across the Golden Gate bridge with Scott & Kelley, my bro & sis in law's. It was so fun to spend a few days with them exploring the city.
Awww....here we are. And the white sweatshirt I wore every day because IT WAS FREEZING! Note to self - pack sweaters when visiting San Francisco, it is nothing like Clovis.And here we have Clovis. :-) Just kidding. We drove by these adorable cows and ducks feeding on the grass on our way back from the reunion and we had to pull over a get a couple of pics!

Moo. Quack.
Who's that dashing young couple??!! They can't possibly be going to a 20 year high school reunion??!! They look far too young ;-)

I know, I know.

2009-08-12T11:47:00.003-05:00

So yes, it has been painfully long since I last posted. Things have been crazy for what seems like forever and I just haven't slowed down enough to try and update on life for Jason and I.

Last Monday night we got back from a 10 day trip to California. We flew into San Francisco (because it was cheaper) and spent the weekend downtown with Scott & Kelley. Do I have pictures? A few. Did I upload them yet? No. We rode the trolley, walked along the pier, bought 5 pounds of taffy (yes 5!!!!), saw my first H&M (of which I did not spend a dime in! Tragic, I know!), ate Ghiradelli's ice cream, saw the seals, drove down the crooked street, saw an old lady's tower (can't remember the name) and watched naked man across the street. You think I'm kidding about naked man? Oh no my friends, we had our own "naked guy" like in the show Friends who provided the four of us in our hotel room with MUCH entertainment. Don't worry, the window was frosted. But still - HILARIOUS!

After a few days in San Francisco, Scott & Kelley drove us back up to Clovis where Jerry & Sherry, my in-laws live. Thankfully, we had a nice reprieve from all the California summer heat and it remained in the upper 80's and low 90's. It was absolutely perfect. I brought some books, bought some books and read some books while I was there :-) We saw Julie & Julia, which was fabulous (note to self: must buy that cookbook!), gorged ourselves on taffy, stayed up late with games, walked downtown Clovis for coffee and slept in late. Everything a vacation should be!

The main reason for our trip to California, other than to see our family of course, was also to attend Jason's 20th high school reunion! 20!!! I however, will never have the opportunity to actually attend my own since I was home-schooled. Boo. But attending Jason's reunion was a lot of fun and I heard some great stories I had never heard before. I admit I was a bit overwhelmed with being surrounded by 200 strangers in a party setting, cause that is totally not my thing, but I surprised even myself by mingling and making lots of small talk. It went kinda something like this: "Hi, I'm Kimberly. And you are?" "Nice to meet you ____, so how many kids do YOU have?" "Oh wow, and how old are they?" Pause for stunned silence and then smile politely. I suck at small talk and I always feel so awkward, but asking if they had kids and how old they were, was a sure-fire question because I didn't meet any other couple without kids!!! It was a nice little reality check for the two of us ;-) Some couples had been married for like 17 years and had kids in high school - uh hum. I felt a teensy bit out of place. Definatley the highlight for me was when the slideshow showed a home video of Jason performing in a boy band lip synching to The Right Stuff by New Kids on the Block! It was awesome and I wish I could get my hands on a copy! But for now, here's a copy of a picture I snagged off of facebook with unfortunately the other four guys doing the dance, but not Jason :-( He was on the far right and cut off - but at least you get an idea of what he was wearing!
I would say the highlight of the reunion for Jason was reconnecting with his old friends Drew and Canise from high school. They started dating in the 8th grade and have been together ever since!! Of course, I had to include a little before & after picture of the two of them I found!

Drew & Jason were able to hit the golf course the morning of the reunion and catch up. I really enjoyed getting to know them and hopefully they'll be able to make it out here on Thanksgiving for a visit!

We're back in Nashville now and trying to get back into the swing of things. Our friend Ida saved our butts and was able to housesit and take care of our animals :-) Thank you Ida!!! We missed our boys and Banks so much! So much in fact (wait for it) that we slept with them in the living room Monday night after we got home. Don't say it, we already know. I hope you're all well and enjoying what's left of the summer! Schools have just started this week in Tennessee, but we still have a good month and a half left of hot weather - sheesh! I'm hoping we can get in a few more drive-ins before the season's over and Jason and I have talked about maybe going camping with the dogs for a weekend or two when the weather cools off.

More to come - stay tuned!

July Daring Bakers - Milan Cookies

2009-07-28T09:12:00.003-05:00

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

Now THESE I can get down with! We had the option to choose making either the Mallow Cookies or the Milan Cookies or both. I'm not a huge fan of marshmallows, so I went with the Milans. Annnnddd....they're not exactly finished. I know, I suck on deadlines. I stayed up till midnight last night baking batches of Milans in between catching up on The Bachelorette which I had TIVO'd.

Milans are so easy to make and taste divine (beware this is a deadly combination!). And they're super light in texture and taste, so they're easy to gobble up a few at a time. I believe my husband can testify to this one.

But one little caution note that I wish I would have known ahead of time - do NOT stack these once they've been baked. Mine were still too moist and soft and they stuck together overnight. Boo. :-(

I managed to salvage quite a few that I plan to coat in chocolate glaze tonight before heading over to my friend Jill's house to swap my Milans with her Mallows. I'm sure it will be nothing less than divine. I'm crossing my fingers that her son John Mark will give me a better score than last month's Bakewell Tart. I can't blame him either, it just wasn't all that good.

It must have been pure torture on Jeep & Seven cause they stuck by me the entire time I was baking last night. And Seven just layed down in front of the oven hoping to catch a crumb or two.

June Daring Bakers - Bakewell Tart

2009-06-27T22:20:00.004-05:00

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

Bakewell tarts…er…puddings combine a number of dessert elements but still let you show off your area’s seasonal fruits.

Like many regional dishes there’s no “one way” to make a Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding, but most of today’s versions fall within one of two types. The first is the “pudding” where a layer of jam is covered by an almondy pastry cream and baked in puff pastry. The second is the “tart” where a rich shortcrust pastry holds jam and an almondy sponge cake-like filling.

The version we’re daring you to make is a combination of the two: a sweet almond-flavoured shortcrust pastry, frangipane and jam.

This month I was super excited to participate in the Daring Baker Challenge, because I was going to be joining up with my friend Jill to share our results together. Plus my sister Kati is in town and she's been wanting to try out one of my "experiments". Sadly, I wasn't all that thrilled with how it turned out. It tasted bland to me, even with the lemon curd filling I had chosen to use rather than a jam. Jill had chosen to use a strawberry-rhubarb filling and hers was much more moist than mine and I absolutely loved her tart tin!~ (*note to self, must buy tart tin from Target*) Mine also fell in the middle (pictures to come later). Not really sure what was going on there with that. Sigh.... But if you want the recipe and feel up to the challenge, you can visit Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar for the full recipe and directions.

OH well, it wasn't a complete disaster. I was able to hang out with friends and share some fun stories and good laughs. PLUS, I stored the leftovers in the fridge, so maybe once its chilled a bit I'll enjoy it more. AND I had a ton of lemon curd leftover that I was able to use with some fresh homemade scones and whipped cream, which was a total bonus. Yum-my.

I'm very excited to see what's next and meet up again with my new friend Jill for another taste-testing event! :-)

Recap of the weekend

2009-06-15T16:49:00.002-05:00

This weekend was so awesome and so relaxing. I FINALLY caught up on some of my favorite shows, finished a book and cleaned up the house on Friday night. Then on Saturday Jason and I were able to hang out around the house and picked up a pool at KMart for Jeep & Seven. And to say they love it is a complete understatement...
And around and around they went....

The best part about this little pool - it wears them completely out! They were asleep at 8pm and didn't wake up for 12 hours. (*Sigh*)....best dog toy ever!
Look at cute little Jeep all curled up for the night. That's my boy!

Then yesterday we spent an awesome afternoon & evening with our friends Dana & Julie before they headed out on their 2 month tour/trip. Ben & Alicia came over and we BBQ'd out and just enjoyed each other's company. I'm going to miss Julie so much this summer!!

Hope you all had an awesome weekend as well!

An Opportunity For Praise!

2009-06-08T16:12:00.004-05:00

This last week was an opportunity to trust God. A couple of our dearest friends, Dana & Julie had quite the scare this last week. Over the camping trip a few weeks back Dana had Julie show us a suspicious mole on her arm. Jason, being familiar now a couple times with what irregular moles look like, mentioned to her she really should get it looked at. So she tried for a couple of weeks to get in touch with a dermatologist from our church who practices at Vanderbilt. For whatever reason, the nurse just wasn't calling her back and finally Julie just had to corner the guy at church and ask him to please look at it and let her know if she should come in. He wanted to see her the very next day.

Last Tuesday they did the biopsy and said they would have the results within a couple days. On Thursday she got the call from the doctor, it was malignant melanoma. His prognosis wasn't good and he said he needed to measure it to find out how deep the cancer cells went. If it was .75-1.0 mm dense, he was going to ask Julie to undergo lymph node mapping to see where else the cancer might have spread to. And then they would discuss treatment options. She called me Thursday evening barely able to communicate the news through her tears, and said she was hoping some of us from the small group could come over that night and pray over her. Within a few hours, everyone had dropped what they were doing and headed over to be with her and Dana. We all surrounded her, anointed her with oil and prayed faith and healing over her body. It was awesome to see everyone come together so quickly as a family and be there in a time of need. And yet as scary as it was, I didn't feel fear. I knew God would move on her behalf.

Friday afternoon I get a call from her that the cancer was only .71 mm thick. Wow. God moved and answered our prayers down to the specifics. It was incredible and Julie was ecstatic. As we all were. She headed back to Vanderbilt that afternoon and they removed more tissue just to be safe, in all its probably a 4-5 inch gash in her arm and then they stitched her up. She was so brave and I am beyond grateful. I love this girl dearly. She has been a gift that God has added to my life and to our small group since last fall. We have quickly become the closest of friends. That's what friends are for. To be family when family is not close by. To pray at a moment's notice when needed. To hold and comfort when there is fear and uncertainty. And to stand beside in battle when the trumpet sounds. I am so grateful, so blessed beyond words with the friends God has brought into my life here in Nashville and even more grateful He answers prayers.

The Calm After The Storm

2009-05-29T16:28:00.014-05:00

To say I've been slammed these last few weeks is an understatement for sure. I was able to pick up a transcription job for the same folks I did last time, and ended up transcribing 15, 40 minute sermons over a period of three weeks. WHILE still meeting with our small group, WHILE planning out a small group camping trip over Memorial Day Weekend, WHILE meeting with my high school girls D group, WHILE going to a friend's baby shower, WHILE watching out-of-control and ridiculously adorable 4 month old puppies. It was insane and I think my arms are going to fall off now. Or maybe just my fingers. Either way, I really could do without being around a computer for a while.

But the good thing is - the transcriptions are done! I've made some extra moolah! Our small group ended for the summer with a bang! The camping trip went off without a hitch (for the most part anyway). The shower was a blast! And the puppies are still out-of-control and ridiculously adorable 4 month old puppies, only now a few pounds bigger.

For fun, let's just do a little comparison right now, shall we? Yes, I think we shall.
Aww....so cute. Just 8 weeks old. Jason's hands held their little chests close to him.

And now.

Holy Crap! ONLY 11 WEEKS LATER!!! And they're not even half way grown yet!!! We are now accepting donations for dog food to keep them from eating us out of our home. Just kidding. Sorta.

And really that's about it for news around these parts. Well EXCEPT for the fact that Jason and I bought our plane tickets to California in August! We decided to spend the first couple days in San Francisco with Scott & Kelley, enjoying the city for a couple days and then driving up to Clovis to stay with Jason's family and attend his 20th high school reunion. I know right? 20 years!!! At least he gets a reunion. I just get to live vicariously through him and see what the hoopla is all about.

So I leave you with these photos from our camping trip. Yes, I know, more dog pictures. But what can I say, we love them and they're a big part of our lives. And I'm sorry, but if you don't love looking at adorable Labrador puppies, then seriously you must have no heart.

I know, your wondering if Tim McGraw joined up on our little camping excursion, but alas, its just my redneck-trucker-wannabe husband that decided to surprise me with this fun little look when I met him up at the campgrounds. No, no, no, it's not Earl from My Name is Earl. Ah yes, that would be a nice close shot of the hotness I like to call my man. Though that day, I was more referring to him as a convict from America's Most Wanted. Scary.If you notice, we camped on the side of a hill. Thankfully the place where our tents were are nice and level, but everywhere else was like camping in a Dr. Seuss book, all topsy-turvy.

Look at Jason's truck and you get an idea how steep it was. My calves STILL hurt from walking around.

Probably the highlights for us was taking the pups for their first swims in the lake. It was awesome, they loved it and we loved how much it wore them out! I got some great shots of them on the rocks and learning how to swim.

Seven is a born natural at fetching sticks out of the water. And I know the water looks nasty. It was really muddy by the beach, but a lot nicer further out. Regardless, please believe there was no way I was getting in that nastiness.

Though Seven had no problem bringing the nastiness over to me. He was sopping wet and decided he'd like to snuggle. My new shirt is still stained and I'm tried to get the mud out. But he's too cute to stay mad at for long.

This close up of Seven is why I need an SLR. Our friend Chad took this shot and I'm in love with it. What a beautiful boy.

Seven learning to swim with Jason.

Jeep also learning to swim. He wasn't a big fan of it at first and had no intentions of fetching a stick. But as soon as he got his paws on a water bottle, he was all about the fetching. That's my boy, nothing but the best :-)

Typical fetch with Seven & Jeep. Seven fetches and Jeep waits to take it from him.

A whole lotta wet dog. The dark brown puppy is our friends Chad & Tabby's dog Beasley.

Resting and drying in the sun.

They're cleaning each other here - I love the tiny bit of Jeep's tongue you can see. So cute.

I'm proud to say I took this pic. It was pure luck it turned out the way it did, but I love it.

Home sweet home. Jeep is not our cuddler, but he's learning :-) They are too adorable. I look at this and know someday Jason is going to be an amazing dad.

And finally here's Seven sleeping behind the couch and up against the wall. What a goober, my monkey.

If you're still reading this, I hope you have a great weekend - I know I will! Nothing but catching up on shows, coffee, reading, sleeping in and a hair appointment - ahhh, perfection!

Grow faster! No wait, slow down!

2009-05-14T13:51:00.004-05:00

Alright, so once upon a time (4 months ago), Jason and I became parents to a little black lab we named Seven and his bigger brother, a yellow lab we named Jeep. And they came to us as furry, tiny bundles of love weighing only 9 and 11 pounds. I mean look at them! They were so small that their first set of collars were too big and we had to fasten them around their bellies!
And now, they're huge. You know how everyone says babies grow so fast? Try having a Labrador puppy. You don't get 12 months of chubby little cuteness to squish - oh no, try like 3 weeks or a month! This is Jeep now at 4 months of age and weighing in at 30 pounds. He might actually be even more than that. He's gigantic and he's got a heck of a lot of growing left to do. I can barely lift him now.We love to snuggle them late at night on the living room floor on pillows and blankets, since they're not allowed in our bedroom - I know, we're such awful parents. But seriously, there's barely enough room for Jason, myself and Banks in the bed as it is. Speaking of Banks, the poor girl is not getting nearly the attention she used to get. She tries hard to be around them but in the end growls, hisses and scratches out at them. We're hoping as they get older and more mellow, she'll be more brave. To make up for the lack of attention, she's now taken a liking to curling up under the blankets next to me under my left arm when I sleep. I think its adorable and am glad she's becoming a snuggler. The pups go down for 2 naps a day, one at 10:30 and then another around 2:00 or 3:00. They play hard and they sleep hard. This picture of them on the porch is right before their next nap.

You can always tell how tired Jeep is by how red his eyes get.

They're really adorable when they team up and carry a big stick together around the yard.

Aw, my boys I love them so much. They drive me crazy sometimes and house training at times has been a bear so I wish they would grow faster so they have a bit better control. But then other times I want them to slow down from growing, so I can enjoy their puppiness. I can't imagine how much bigger they'll be in another month or two!

Paint & Feathers

2009-05-11T10:57:00.003-05:00

As the heat turns up here in the South, the weirdness of my dreams increases. This weekend I dreamt that I was in a play, a play I didn't know I was in. And the night of the performance, I was freaking out because I had never seen the script and the show had already begun! The next thing I know, people backstage are grabbing me and shoving me in a massive white suit with huge go-go white boots and a headpiece. They take me into the basement and start spray painting me bright yellow and rolling me in feathers. My roll apparently in this play is to dress as Big Bird from Sesame Street and perform some interpretive dance.

What the?

Yeah, thankfully Jason woke me up out of that one, cause believe it or not, I was completely stressed out about my role. I did not watch sesame street, see feathers or wear yellow the day before.

Please, explain this to me.

Yup, big bird.

Friday Fill-In

2009-05-01T17:21:00.002-05:00

And...here we go!

1. The first rule of working in an office and getting along is not gossiping!.

2. I've never had clams.

3. When I think of carnivals I think of cotton candy.

4. Gerber Daisy's are my favorite spring flower.

5. Things on my desk include tons of folders & files, pens, Kleenex, lotion, water bottles and all the cards my husband has given me.

6. Friday's makes me wanna jump for joy!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to picking up my friend Julie to head to Jill's house, tomorrow my plans include hanging out with the girls and celebrating my birthday with lunch and a movie and Sunday, I want to relax, read and hang out with my man!

April Daring Bakers - Cheesecake

2009-04-27T12:04:00.008-05:00

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

I've only attempted cheesecake once and that was for my sister Kris' birthday when she came to visit us in Nashville. And in my opinion it was a bit of a disaster because the water leaked through the foil and made the crust soggy and the center of the cake was undercooked - yuck.

This time I was excited to attempt it again and see if I could conquer the cheese!

But sadly, the cheese conquered me......

After a ton of frustration and a LOT of cleaning, I waited another day and my husband convinced me to try it again...

And luckily, I was quite victorious!

Our assignment was to make a basic cheesecake from the recipe given by Jenny and then make whatever modifications we desired on the crust, flavors and toppings. My favorite cheesecake to order at the Cheesecake Factory is the Adams Peanut Butter Cheesecake, its ridiculous.

So I tried putting my own spin on it and made an Oreo cookie crust, then sprinkled the crust with a crunchy filling of Peanut Butter Cups and Butterfinger. Then I made the cheese filling and added some Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter and poured it over the crushed candies. I baked it for 50 minutes and let it cool in the oven. Then refrigerated it for a day and finished the decor with more crumbled candy filling and a peanut butter based frosting.

This cheesecake ROCKED MY WORLD and was well worth the second effort. I'll be adding this one to the recipe box for sure!

Cause That's How We Roll

2009-04-20T17:02:00.006-05:00

The 24-hr-read-a-thon was somewhat of a success. I say somewhat because a bunch of girls got together over at our friend Julie's home with books in tow and ready to enjoy a full long day of catching up on some much needed reading and relaxation...

Aww...can't you feel the heat of the sunshine just by looking at this picture? That would be myself, Amy and Julie out on the lawn reading and Tabby up on the porch. It was so lovely and so serene. And I even have the sunburned back to prove the hours of enjoyment!
Books, bare feet and blankets.

This is not a posed picture, we truly were sitting in our chairs, enjoying each other's presence and reading our books with either a glass of wine or in my case a bottle of G2 :-) Divine isn't it?

....

But then.....
We started to get a little distracted...

Maybe the heat was getting to us....

Or maybe we were taking an afternoon break to celebrate Melanie's birthday ghetto style. (click on picture for larger view)

Ain't nothing but a G-thing, right Rachel?

Here's Master-C blowing out her candle and receiving her dirt cake. (which is basically a cake made to look like a potted flower)

Cause that's how we roll yo.

It was such an awesome weekend. I almost finished one book, but I had puppy-duty from 5pm on and they took up a lot of time to watch. We are definitely going to do this again! And next time, collectively we'll track how many pages read.

A Blessed Easter!

2009-04-16T17:35:00.006-05:00

Last year during Easter, Jason and I made a bunch of food with the hopes of inviting our new neighbors over a hot meal and to get to know them better. Unfortunately no one turned out being home, so we celebrated alone that year. It's not exactly easy celebrating the holidays without family around, so this year I wanted to invite those in our small group without any family in town, over to celebrate with us! AND we also happened to have our dear friends Kate & Tom and their son Rocco in town visiting with us that day.

I couldn't have asked for a better day. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful 75 degrees outside, my friends all came together for a meal that turned out great and fed everyone, there were no puppy accidents in the house and we closed the evening with the guys taking turns playing some tunes. And did I take pictures of any of this?...no I did not. I know, slap my hand, I deserve it.

But I will post some pictures here that Tom & Kate took while visiting us and then also some that our close friend Ben DeRienzo took that Sunday morning at Easter service.

How adorable is that little guy? I swear Rocco took a piece of my heart with him when he left Tennessee. I luurve that boy!
He was the hit of the church service, flirting with the ladies sitting behind him and dressed in his Easter best!

Here's my very beautiful and very pregnant friend Alicia. I know right, I look more like the one that should be pregnant! Note to self - get a freakin tan!
I can only dream that I'll look this hot when I'm 6 months pregnant someday!
Some of my wonderful friends that I'm blessed to have, Ida, Tabby & Melanie. Ida and Tabby were part of the group that came over later for Easter dinner.

The Hallstroms hanging out at our house Sunday afternoon.
On Monday, we had the entire day to spend with Kate, Tom & Rocco. I really wanted to give them a taste of Nashville, but unfortunately there wasn't a whole lot happening in the city that day. So they didn't get to really see any live music, but we did take them through Broadway to see the honkey-tonks and then stopped for ice cream while we waited out an afternoon storm.
Rocco could care less about his new toy at the moment, he's eye-balling some vanilla fudge ice cream. Atta boy!After hitting downtown, we headed out to Opry Mills so Tom could check out Gibson and Kate and I could do a little shopping. Check out how pint-sized this guitar is for Rocco!
To finish the day off, we took Tom & Kate out to The Hermitage Cafe downtown for some real southern dinin'. This place is about as authentic as it gets. That's Linda, our waiter. We asked where we could sit and she said just as long as it wasn't in her "reserved tables". I asked "Who are your reserved tables for", she replied, "My drunks!" Haa - well, we thought it was funny. The diner opens at 10pm and stays open till 1.30pm the next afternoon and they have the best home-cooked food. Delish! Rocco was a total champ hanging out till the wee hours of the night!

Miss you Hallstrom fam - come back and see us soon!!

I'm getting my frugal on!

2009-03-31T15:15:00.005-05:00

The last 5 weeks our church has been going through a financial series based on a book by Barry Cameron, called "The ABC's of Financial Freedom". I REALLY don't enjoy talking about money, especially when it comes to our budget. As a matter of fact, I confessed quite freely to my small group, that I get a real nice buzz when I drop a load of cash while shopping. Don't judge me.

Now don't get the idea that I dwindle away our electric bill on a cute sweater from Charlotte Russe - instead Jason and I agreed on an allotted allowance for each of us, apart from our expenses, that is play money. Each paycheck, I get a chunk to set aside and do with as I please, whether it be going out to a movie and dinner with the girls, or saving it all up for one big spending spree at the outlets. I do think ahead to what I need to save for in the upcoming weeks and do try to save a little left over to roll into the months ahead.

This last Sunday, Barry Cameron came and spoke at our church and shared a very intriguing message on how he and his family became completely debt free in a matter of three years. Whoa. Is that even possible? Most everyone I know, whether its from my parents generation or my generation, honestly don't define "getting out of debt" as paying off their mortgage.

Well I've been thinking about what Barry had to say A LOT since his message on Sunday. And I was so inspired to think that this could actually be something attainable and to what lengths would I be willing to go to, to see Jason and I in a place of financial freedom from debt? Let me just give you an idea of some of the practical things that Barry Cameron did with his family during that 3 year period of time!

1. No eating out (pack lunches to work & school)

2. No buying of new clothes (FOR THREE WHOLE YEARS! - yeah I freaked at this one)

3. No watering the grass (They're lawn turned to dirt!)

4. Turning the light off as you leave the room

5. Turning the water off as you brush your teeth

6. No going to the theater

7. No TV or cable - got it disconnected.

There were TONS more, that I can't remember off the top of my head, but they were pretty intense decisions. Barry said his family hated him, but after those three years and paying off three cars and their mortgage, they have lived debt free ever since and they celebrated by enjoying a cash-paid trip as a family to Disney World.

So I've been thinking. While Jason and I have the time and resources, could we work our butts off now, saving as much as we can and pay off the car and house as much as we can before we get to the point of having a family and adding more expenses? And to what degree would I be willing to live without for this cause? How extreme could we get? These are things our small group are all discussing together. I'm making some mental notes for sure. I'm considering canceling my Netflix subscription, stop going to Starbucks and only make coffee at home, limiting mine & Jason's meals out to once a month, having a garage sale with my small group friends - where the cash goes towards a payment! Hmmm....what would you do? How far would you go?

9 Week Puppy Roundup

2009-03-27T15:34:00.008-05:00

The puppies will be 10 weeks old tomorrow and throughout this week Jason and I were able to catch some cute pictures of them around the house and in the yard. Some of you might find this completely boring, but how can you not just melt when you see these cute squishy faces??Jeep's the alpha-male, but Seven likes to pretend he is.
Grrr....Seven, show me what you got!

Play time is the chance for us to wear them out as much as possible so they're more mellow when we bring them back in the house. During the day, it's Jason's time with the boys.

Jeep is so sweet, look at those adorable droopy eyes.

I'm sure you can guess who's idea this was. You know they didn't climb up there on their own.

Boy do they love the dirt and grass.

One afternoon Seven climbed underneath the shed and found these rabbit legs. He drug those nasty things around the yard with his head held so high!

This is how it typically works with Jeep & Seven's play time. Jeep will be sitting there, minding his own business and happen to find a cool stick.

Seven will think that his stick is way cooler than the three million other sticks in the backyard and try to take it from him.
And this is how it will usually end....

And that would be Jason's leftover banana peel they're munching on.

So after they've played, eaten and pottied - its nap time y'all!

Here's Jeep already falling asleep on the back porch. He's ready for his afternoon nap.

And Seven is ready for his nap too. Come on dad, take me back inside already.

Kati - these pictures are for you! Recognize the collars you got Jason for Christmas?!! I think they're just a tad too big still :-)
I could kiss on these boys all day - well as long as they're not covered in mud and grime.Do you think Banks and the boys will ever be friends? I don't know. Last night they cornered her under the desk begging for her to play with them and she made a growl I've never heard her make before. It was like the rumble of a car engine! Jeep found the bed I bought for Banks that she never used and I dragged it out for him to check out. I'm guessing they like the bed quite a bit :-) I did not position them this way, they crawled in like that not even 5 minutes after I set it on the floor.

Looks like we'll be investing in some dog beds in the near future. We put the pet bed in the kitchen as Jason and I were making dinner last night and they were both passed out cold. Looks like I need to get a bigger bed for them soon.

Too stinkin cute.

It's been two days since we've had any accidents in the house, thank the Lord! They're learning so fast and have gotten down the commands of "get in your crate", "sit", "down", "go outside", "go potty" and "go to your bowl". They're such smart dogs and they're growing on us more every day.

As only a sister can...

2009-03-23T11:37:00.007-05:00

I didn't get a chance to fill everyone in on my trip out to Seattle a couple weeks back. It was quick, but really fun and I'm glad I got to see some friends, kiss some new babies and have lots of time with the family. My dad and I attended a full day of basketball games out at the Tacoma Dome to see the 4A State High School Basketball Tournament, just like old times.

Then that Saturday, my parents had planned for us girls to take some pictures together outside. I haven't seen the final results yet, but the candid shots that my mom and cousins took are great, and I had to share those with y'all.
We got all dressed up and headed down to Swamp Creek not too far from my parents house. The weather was typical Seattle weather, grey and drizzly. So why fight it right? That's the theme we went with and I know in some of the professional pics it was actually hailing!

Trying to find the perfect spot amongst all the mud and dog poo.

Of course it wouldn't be us, if we weren't cracking jokes and messing around the entire time.I wish I could remember what we thought was so funny. It might have had something to do with Kris commenting to "make love to the camera!"

These two are out of control when they're together.

Now it was time to get serious and our photographer started making weird noises to make us smile. Sorry dude, not working.

I love this shot of us.

Ahhhh...to be together again as sisters. There truly is nothing like it. I miss them so much.

Kris commented that this is how we look when the paparazzi just won't leave us alone. Yup, true dat. It's rough being famous.

Back at the parents house, and just some more messin around. My sisters are more than just a pretty face, they're very intelligent as well. Their future husbands have no idea how lucky they will be!They're just so stinkin cute and so smart!

This is Kris', I'm-in-trouble look.

I love you and miss you both!!!!

A dose of what's to come...

2009-03-18T13:38:00.011-05:00

So we picked up the boys on Sunday and drove them the 2 1/2 hours from Chattanooga back to Nashville and oh my word was it quite the adventure! Here's Jason holding them for the first time as their owner. He was so excited and so proud! I sat in the back of the 4Runner with them for the first part of the drive, and then we found a small rest stop for a place to take the puppies potty.
Here's Jason giving them their first walk! You'll notice that the collars we bought them were too big for their necks, so we had to fasten them around their bellies! They're just too stinkin cute. After the rest stop, we headed to Petco to grab a few doggie snacks and Jason rode in the back with them for the rest of the way home. Here's where it gets exciting. Jeep crawls behind Jason's back and he turns to see what he's up to and sees Jeep starting to poop! Jason's yelling "Jeep's pooping - pull over!" As soon as the smell hits the air, Jason turns around to catch Seven peeing on the blanket in the crate! Then I hear, "Pull over, Seven's peeing!!" I'm laughing so hard until the smell of both hits my nose and then we're both rolling down all the windows to keep from gagging!! I pull over on the shoulder of the highway, throw open the backdoor, and take napkins to clean up the poop. Jason leans over to grab Seven and as he does so, I start hysterically laughing cause Jason somehow managed to sit in Jeep's poop and has a huge poop stain on his butt. Jason's all "what?" I can barely tell him what he did. So then we get Jeep & Seven outside and finishing their business on the side of the highway, as I'm trying to clean off Jason's butt. Hilarious. As soon as we got everything cleaned up and all back in the car, Jeep and Seven passed out.When we got back in town, we headed over to our friends Dana & Julie's house so that our small group friends could see the puppies. Here's Seven below passed out cold as Ida is holding him.

Seriously, I had no idea just how much work these two little furballs of joy would be!

Thank God, they're so stinkin cute, because I swear what's only been a few days feels like weeks. All these boys do is pee, eat, pee again, poop, play and sleep, and all in that order - three times a day. I think I have spent more time in our backyard the last three days than the whole last year combined.

The first entire day we had them was on Monday, and boy was that an adventure. Jason called me at work, completely frazzled and said it was all he could do to keep up and he swears he must have cleaned up 15 accidents in the house that day (*go ahead, its ok to cringe*) I got home and Jason had already left for work and the house smelled of Febreeze and Folex. The dining room furniture was moved aside, the living room rug rolled up and in the kitchen, the dining room rug with wet spots drying, treats, leashes, rags and toys around the house and muddy footprints down the hallway. At this point, I don't even care that my house is a disaster, because I take one look at these adorable faces and I melt.

We really do feel like new parents. We sit there and watch them sleep, we're constantly cleaning up after them, feeding them all the time, playing and entertaining them, listening to them cry in the morning and taking them outside in the middle of the night. I told Jason, at least when we have kids, we don't have to get completely dressed and head outside to change a baby's diaper. I'd much rather stick a diaper on the puppies!

But they are learning and we're having fewer and fewer accidents in the house. We've got them on a feeding schedule of 9:30, 2pm and 7pm. Jason has them during the days, and myself during the evenings. I wouldn't be so worn out if I wasn't also fighting a horrible cold right now. Yesterday, it was all I could do to climb out of bed to feed them and take them outside to go potty.

Little Seven gave us a run for our money yesterday afternoon. I was outside with him and Jason was getting ready to head to small group when in the blink of an eye Seven slipped under our fence into the neighbors yard! I freaked out! I screamed for Jason to come out and help me and we frantically searched everywhere for him. It doesn't help that he's so little and solid black. As we ran next door in the neighbors yard, Seven slipped back under the fence into our yard looking for me as I was calling for him. He came running to me in the driveway and about gave us both a heart attack. I seriously don't think I've EVER seen Jason that panicked.

We study them constantly and love discovering their little personalities. Jeep is like the awkward kid in class. He falls over constantly and rolls down the stairs out back. He tries to be tough, but Seven can take him every time.

Seven is our little rascal and sharp as a tack. He's the one that's really going to give us a run for our money. He's sneaky, quick and a total cuddler. He loves to crawl into our laps and fall asleep, whereas Jeep likes to go off alone and sleep. Jeep is definitely the big brother to Seven. They both are picking up on the potty training and are even learning the command to sit.

They had their first vet appointment today and fell asleep on the examination table waiting for the vet to come in. The vet said he'd never seen puppies asleep during a visit. He said they were absolutely perfect and we did an awesome job picking them out. Jason was beaming like the proud papa he is!

And as for Banks, well she is trying to adjust as much as she can. Yesterday, she sat about 5 feet from their crate and watched them intently as they wrestled. She's completely fascinated with them, but not yet brave enough to get near them. She'll sit in the window of the guest room and watch them play. Seven tries so hard to get her to like him and play with him. She doesn't like change a whole lot, so this has been very challenging for her, but she's acclimating slowly.

So there ya go, a little update on our life the last couple days. They completely consume all our time and energy, so really they're all we think about :-)

Jason's anniversary of the day he was born!

2009-03-13T17:55:00.005-05:00

Yesterday Jason celebrated the anniversary of the day he was born - or what most people call their birthdays. But he's not a huge fan of anyone making a fuss and calling attention to it, so I waited till the day after to share how we celebrated & a couple of the fun gifts he received!

First of all - if it isn't God's timing that Jason is getting his puppies just a few days after his birthday, I don't know what is! He has waited forever for these little guys, so its really special that we're getting them now.

As for celebrating, Jason took the day off from work and we were able to spend the first quiet evening at home together in 11 days. We ordered pizza, got in our comfy sweats and pj's and cozied up to open gifts and catch up on American Idol.

One of his gifts really touched him, and that was a video that his sister Kelley, her husband Scott and Kelley's third grade class made for him. You'll just have to take my word for it, cause I wasn't able to download it to the blog.

He also got a really cool set of DVD's called American History from his parents that he's really excited to watch.

And my gift to him was two tickets to see his favorite comedian, Brian Regan at the Ryman. He got pretty excited over that too :-)

For turning 38, it wasn't too bad of a birthday, huh baby?!

Love you - Mean It!

A dream fulfilled...

2009-03-10T23:59:00.011-05:00

My sweet husband Jason has had a dream for many, many years of one day having a couple labs of his own. As a matter of fact, he's had these future labs named since his days in college. And today, his dream started to become a reality.

After many hours spent online researching various shelters, breeders and ads, he was finally able to get in touch with a woman in Chickamauga, Georgia this afternoon to check out a litter of black & yellow labs.

Meanwhile, as he's driving South-East of Nashville, I'm back at work waiting to hear where this next venture outside of Nashville will take him. Whether it's been a 2 1/2 hours drive out to Savannah, Tennessee to only find out that the dam appeared mixed or hours spent on the phone to only be told by one pretentious breeder that "we wouldn't get anything out of our dogs, if we kept them in the backyard", we were hopeful that this may be the chance it works out in our favor.

So anyway....around 3pm this afternoon, I get a phonecall from Jason at my desk in what can only be described as pure giddiness and dreaminess of love at first sight. He was holding his puppies and asking me, "What should I do?!" His emotions were taking over and he could think of nothing but how adorable they are and how much he wanted them. I so wish I was there when he saw them for the first time, to see him so ecstatic.

But thankfully, he brought the camera with him!

Everyone, we'd like you to meet our new puppies, Jeep (yellow) and Seven (black)

Here's Jeep with a look that says, "Was I bad?"

This one's getting blown up and framed for our office. I love that their feet are crossed over each other.Seven is definitely a bit smaller than Jeep. But their parents are 90 lbs and 110 lbs respectively, so we know they'll get plenty big soon enough!

Seven is winking at Jason and saying to Jeep, "Brother, we so have this guy."

And finally, here is Jeep & Seven's mom Peaches, with their other siblings. Look how tiny they are! They are probably no more than a week old at this time.

One final awesome thing that I have to point out, is that Jeep & Seven were born January 17, 2009, which also happens to be the anniversary of the day Jason and I first met. Just something kinda cool we realized :-)