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Hanging out in the home theater room. I'm not sure why we always end up playing in here, but it sure is fun!

Having a drink while sitting under the kitchen table...just one of the many advantages to being small.

I can tell you 'What's wrong little Pookie' in my sleep. And also 'Moo, Baa, La La La'

Madeline's first sewing project! One of the Magnolia's gave Madeline a beginners sewing kit! She really did help BeBe sew the edges, place the eyes, stuff the body, etc.

Splashing is such fun!

Fishing in the pool. We also did 'dive for the princesses' for quite a while... fun times!

awesome quotes

The two awesome quotes below were stolen from Ben Brower's facebook page. The fact that I find them absolutely hilarious probably tells you more about my personality then anything I could actually tell you on my own. I really hope you enjoy them. Thanks Ben and good luck on the BAR!

"Han Solo was the coolest guy ever. He had a broken-down truck and a talking dog, and when the truck wouldn't run, the talking dog would FIX it. He was like 'hey, Chewie, you fix the truck, I'm going to go talk to the princess.'" --Josh Strickler Any Star Wars reference gets high points automatically. This one really does make me LMAO though.

"Every Southern home needs [a bottle tree] to capture the haints and spirits, but I've never had one... colored glass adds class so I have some green and brown beer bottles on it..."--Ben's mom, in her most recent letter to her son, explaining why there are beer bottles hanging from a dead ficus at our house. A similar tree almost made an appearance in our yard...

Mobile Pics

We had a great trip down to Mobile this past weekend. It was too short by far, but we squeezed in lots of visiting, good food, and fun in the sun. As always, I didn't take enough pictures, but hopefully Mom, Sherri, and Anna will share theirs with me. This was our last 'all the girls' weekend before Anna moves to Seattle! We are sure going to miss her, but at least we have a fabulous place to come visit her!


Avery has a small obsession with sunglasses, shoes, and books. I like to think she gets the last from me...the first two, obviously Aunt Anna's influence!


When you take two small children out to dinner on a Friday night, eventually, you'll do just about anything to keep them occupied! Silly Daniel is always up for a funny face competition.



On a totally unrelated note, one of my new favorite things about my neighborhood are the visits from the geese. Every morning they take a stroll up from the lake at the bottom of the hill. I've caught them several times in my yard and driveway and lining the road in front of our house.


I love it when they break off into little family groups with the parents at either end of the babies. How sweet are they?

My 'special' kitty, Gracie, actually tried to stalk them...I wish I had the video of her lunging after a goose then jumping 3 feet into the air and high tailing it back to the garage when the goose opened it's wings and honked at her. Below is 'special' kitty Gracie. Do not be fooled by her beauty! Sophie got all the brains and personality!




Here she is trying to convince Sophie to go stalking with her. (I'm not making this up, I swear)

Sophie seems to have more sense in this regard. She'll actually come down with me as I feed them bread.


The main drawback of geese coming to visit (besides Bailey freaking out to get outside to them), is the POOP! You can see all the lovely little gifts they left for us on our driveway.

Alas, as evidence below, my mailbox gets consistently pooped on by everything but geese, so I suppose it isn't fair to single the geese out.

I apologize for the delay in posting! My 30th birthday weekend was tons of fun! I'm still recovering to some degree! Where to start? I guess with the moments shortly after my previous office decoration post. Leah made me a wonderful birthday cake that my department and I thoroughly enjoyed! I worked through lunch, so I could leave work early. Daniel, Anna, Lisa and I ventured to City Grocery for Happy 'Hour'...more like happy 4 hours! We picked up a Square Pizza and a movie and headed home.

Saturday morning we went to Lulu's birthday party (our godchild). Thankfully, Kent and Corinne provided Mimosa's for the adults! After one of these, I was ready for the 'jumpy thing'. It took about 5 minutes for that thing to wear me slap out! It was great fun to jump around in it with Lulu and Grace though!

Saturday afternoon we spent at the Harris' pool then napping briefly.

Saturday evening Daniel surprised me by having our closest friends meet us for dinner at Yocona! YUMMO! As if excellent steak weren't enough, my generous friends gifted me with an adorable clutch, a pedicure gift cert, shower gel, nightshirt, french press, new travel coffee mug, gourmet coffee, and gourmet hot chocolate. Do I have the best friends ever or what?



I get to drink real coffee at home everyday now. I LOVE my french press and my coffee!


Oh yeah...Daniel got me a little something too. I do love small packages, but I was a little shocked when I opened my box and saw this...


I assumed he had just used a HSM box and put something good inside. Boy, was I wrong.



I have to say, I wasn't exactly gracious! I think my response was...Ummm...Ok? Thankfully, Daniel pulled out another box immediately after.

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My camera battery is dying, so the picture is fuzzy. Below is a better pic.


This is exactly what I would have picked for myself! I really do have the best husband in the world!

After Yocona, we headed to the square in search of some dancing.

We didn't find much dancing, but we did hit up the Library sports bar for some drinking and watching ufc fights. Some people felt the need to have tequila shots...I, being so wise in my old age, refrained from the ta- kill-ya. Lisa, tell me again how much you love tequila? :)



Now since 12 am is way too early to call it a night on your 30th birthday, we invaded the Harris' pool once again! Is there anything more fun than a beautifully lit pool under a fool moon? I think not! We stayed in their pool until 4 am! We pulled out some old school games like Silent Shark/Categories and of course...Chicken Fighting!



Anna's crouching tiger, drunk dragon style didn't help her much...Daniel and I dominated! Anna did have to contend with a wobbly base though (Daniel's brother, Jonathan).




At one point Daniel and I started laughing hysterically...which came first, Daniel's crazy laugh or both of us deliriously laughing?


Wow, just reading about what we did makes me tired! I will have to store up my energy for my next milestone birthday if it's anything like this one (doubtful!). I'm not sure what happened to my 'low-key birthday' request, but I'm hella glad it didn't work out that way! FUN times!

P.S. Yes, I did have several wardrobe changes throughout the evening...it's my birthday and I'll change clothes if i want to! A big thank you to everyone who made my birthday so wonderful! I love you all!

Goodbye Twenties

Today is the last day of my twenties, and this is what was waiting for me when I got to work. Looks like I'm going out with a bang!










I was definitely surprised! My department is the best! Thanks guys!

I'm not sure what all my birthday will hold tomorrow, but I will be attending my god daughter's 3rd birthday in the morning, then some work on the habitat house, then...who knows! There might be some Night Town involved...a girl's gotta dance! Don't worry, there will be photos!

And now a few veggies...

I must begin this blog with an apology to my tomatoes, bell peppers, random corn, and herbs. I don't know why I didn't take your picture this morning. Please don't take it personally...my coffee hadn't made it to my brain by that point. You will be the highlight of my next veggie post.

Let's Begin:
This is my first every Pimento Pepper to grow. I use canned pimento in several recipes, so I was curious about how it is fresh from the garden. I'll get back to you on my findings, but I sure am excited!


This short, fat cucumber will get longer in the next day or two and then I will eat him! I've eaten so many cucs from my garden, I may turn into one. I actually plan to use this guy for tzatziki sauce. Who's craving a chicken gyro? Can you tell I'm hungry?


Serrano scare hasn't affected us! I use these serrano chilies in shrimp with soba, guacamole, anything that needs a bit of heat! YUMM!


I have way too many cayenne peppers, so please send suggestions on how to use them!


This weekend I shall have fried bass (from our lakes), fried green tomatoes (from our garden) and this one lovely okra!


Note: I realize this is not a vegetable, but I had to share it with you.
I believe this is a Narcissus. I have lots of them in my garden and I just love them! They look like wizard faces to me sort of...don't ask for an explanation please.

Flowers by phone

For anyone who has been having a week like me...here are some flowers to perk you up. Last week, while I was locked out of my house, I decided to kill some time by taking pictures of some of my flowers with my cell phone. I'll have to say, the quality of the photos always surprises me. Some are less clear than others, but none have been altered.


Tropicana Rose (I need to learn how to focus on my subject)


Red Hibiscus Tree (these are much more red in person...they look coral-ish here)


Peach Hibiscus plant (I also watered while locked out of the house...it was a long wait)


Stargazer lilies (I wish you could smell these...heaven)




Sunflowers (ignore the lack of grass behind the flowers :))



The rest of these photos have been on my phone for quite some time, so I thought I'd share them with you. Enjoy!


This was taken early one morning in our neighborhood. Don't ask me what I was doing up before the sun!


This lovely lamp sits in the window of an apartment in one of the alleys off the Square in Oxford. I love the movie The Christmas Story, so I HAD to take a picture!

I've had alot I've wanted to blog about recently, but I either haven't found the time or the motivation. Maybe tomorrow I will have something of substance to share with you. In the mean time, check out Kent's blog to read some interesting stuff. His blog has substance...mine...it's all fluff. Is it Friday yet?