First Snow

A couple weeks ago we had our first snow here in Central Arkansas.  

Here is a photo I snapped of Andie before I drove to work that morning.  Oh, how little I knew about what I was in for that day.

As you can see, the road is completely clear.  So I thought, no big deal, right? WRONG.  Apparently everyone else had this same thought, and without a second thought went flying over all the Central Arkansas bridges that had frozen over.

It took me a full two hours to make it into work that morning.  It took me an hour to get 10 miles down the freeway.  It even took my dad, who lives 10 minutes away from work, a little under an hour to get there.  It was madness all over.  

So, Kristin and I decided we're moving to Hawaii.  Any takers?

This looks MUCH better than fake-out snow to me.

Grandad's 100th Birthday Party

Earlier this month we all made the trek out to North Carolina for my great-grandad's ONE HUNDREDTH birthday party.  Yes, I said 100!  He is so sweet and still remembers EVERYTHING about EVERYONE. It's amazing.  We gave him a graduation photo of me and one of Catherine's senior pictures.  He has pictures ALL OVER his house.  Since we all live so far away, he likes to have recent photos of all of us as a constant reminder.  We also gave him a Razorback puzzle - he likes to sit and work puzzles and absolutely LOVED it.

We also have a group picture with him and all the family at his actual birthday party - I'll have to remember to scan it and post later.  He had such a great time.  My uncle put together a slide show with all of his old pictures and all of his friends from church came by to wish him a happy birthday. We were so blessed to be able to spend it with him.  He really is a special man.

Here is my family with great-grandad on his birthday morning.  Dad is still rocking the beard from the Stone Ward Movember mustache competition.

Going to the grandparents' house means playing with the horses and farm animals.  These two handsome men are Duke and Dan, my grandpa's carriage horses (yes, carriage horses.) Catherine does much better on the horses than I do - I love them but riding terrifies me - you never know when they'll run off!  All of my grandpa's horses are very well-mannered don't get me wrong, I'm just not as adventurous as she is.

Here's me with I think Dan (they look the same to me haha)

However, there were four of us riding, (me, Catherine, my dad and my uncle) so Catherine and I got stuck with these guys - the mules.  They are taller than the horses and equally well behaved, but aren't so much "pets" as the horses so their names are pretty much just "Mule 1" and "Mule 2."  We had a great time though! 

Lilly's reaction to the horses was hilarious.  She had never seen one before and I slowly walked her down to the barn so she wouldn't freak out, but she saw them in the pasture before we could even get there and FROZE IN HER TRACKS.  She looked up at me and back at the horse, and back at me and back at the horse, and started slowly backing back up the hill - it was SO hard for me to not laugh.  Later on when we were all saddling up to ride, she warmed up to them.  Still kept her distance though.

My grandma had just gotten a new friend a few months before, a Sheltie named Maisy.  She is precious!  She is only nine months old and is a HOOT.  She wanted to go everywhere we did.

Lilly was a little skeptical; she doesn't like when other dogs get attention from us!  They ended up being inseparable though, we could hardly get them to stop playing!

Here is my grandma with sweet Maisy, sleeping. 

And Catherine's favorite, the cat Willie.  He kind of shied away the whole time we were there because of the dogs, but made cameo appearances every now and then.  Isn't he pretty?

It was so great to get to go and see everyone.  We rarely get the chance to all make the 12-hour trip up there, so getting to be in the same house as my grandparents and (almost) all of my cousins was so much fun!  I hope we get the chance to see them all again soon.

Buffalo Hunt

Right after Thanksgiving, Evan and his dad went on a buffalo hunt in Nebraska.  It was a little hard for me, because he was gone for a whole week and had no cell phone service!  They had a good time though and brought back lots of yummy buffalo! If you've never had buffalo, I suggest you try it - it tastes the same to me as beef but is a whole lot leaner.

He made a nice shot and hit the first one! 

I later learned the dangers of buffalo hunting (I don't know why it didn't occur to me that a large animal wouldn't like intruders on his turf) and was thankful that I didn't know about them before he left!  

However, ground buffalo makes some killer vegetable soup - thanks babe!

Race for a Reason

Last month I ran my first 5K.  My sister's sorority, Alpha Sigma Alpha, was hosting one in early November to support their philanthropy, the Special Olympics.  I run on a pretty regular basis anyway, but had never ventured out and done a race before.  When she asked me if I wanted to do it I thought, "NO WAY." She talked me into it though and I made it through (and for a great cause too)!

Check out my racing gear! It was sort of chilly that day, so I ended up wearing an earwarmer and some gloves too. Unfortunately I'm a dweeb that forgot to take a picture the day of. I'll remember that next time!

The first mile was cake - my sister was at the first mile marker and when I saw her I thought, "this isn't so bad." By the time I got to the second mile marker I was hurting, but by the time I saw the finish line I knew the pain would be worth it!  

I crossed the finish line at 29:20 - not too shabby for having not prepared hardly at all!! When it starts warming up I plan to run another, and do it in less time! Maybe I can talk Evan into going this time :)

Boo: The World's Cutest Dog

Okay so, those who know me know that I LOVE dogs. Love is an understatement.  And I am especially obsessed with this one, Boo.  My friend Caroline introduced me to his Facebook page a few months back, and it makes my day when he posts a pic.

Needless to say I was ECSTATIC with his appearance on GMA this morning.  You can check it out here.

And, the cute little pup even has a book.  Here is the book cover.  I bought it on Amazon yesterday and should get it next week.  Yep, that obsessed.

(via Goggle Images)

Go watch and TRY to tell me that his sweet little face doesn't just make your day better!!

WPS

This weekend Evan and I took a trip to Fayetteville with Matt and Kristin for some Razorback football!  We ate good food, saw friends, cheered on the Hogs and hit some shops...very successful weekend!

We started the morning (afternoon I should say) off right with a trip to Powerhouse for lunch...it was delicious!

Next stop was the Sigma Nu house for some reminiscing and more photo opps!

After walking around looking for Kristin's sweetheart composite (which we never found) and checking out the current tenants of Evan and Matt's old rooms, we headed down to the pit for some tailgating fun!

It was hotter than you-know-what outside...needless to say our first consumed drinks were bottles and more bottles of WATER.

Here's me and Kristin - SWEATING.

And me and my sweetie - convinced him to still wear his PI PHI button...success!! Looks great on him, huh?

He's such a ladies' man.

After some yummy U.S. Pizza, Evan and I headed out to Dickson and visited one of our old faves, Shotz! They have the cutest patio in the back and they had an outdoor bar. 

What I'm ashamed to say is that afterward we also hit up the hot dog stand...NOT on the diet, but it was AWESOME!

We had a great time just chatting...and he made me laugh along the way...such a jokester!

Can't wait for this weekend so we can cheer on the Hogs in the big LR - WPS!!

Family Trip to Destin (+Evan and Jonny)

After many months of careful planning, the family decided (finally) to visit the great state of Florida for some much needed vacation time.

Ready for our first day on the beach! 

All lathered up and ready for some tanning! Evan was a little more determined than I to get some sun...he kept applying more lotion because he claimed it "smelled good." Uh huh.

After sunning, we headed out to dinner a few times - there is nothing like great food cooked by someone else!  First stop was Crab Trap...but I unfortunately forgot to take a picture on my camera like a dweeb - an updated post will follow with Evan's photos

Round two was the Back Porch, and man did we love taking some pictures in the big white chair!

Told ya we liked the white chair pics.

One of my favorite things was the deep sea fishing trip...man what an adventure!

Dad was kind enough to rent out a charter boat for the morning...we caught some really impressive fish!

First stop was to catch some amberjack...which Evan proceeded to cook that night and it was Ah-mazing!! (I helped but can't take much of the credit - Evan is an excellent cook!)

Here's the amberjack...

They were HEAVY!!! I couldn't pick two of them up for my photo opp...

And here's the day's catch - pretty good! Unfortunately it all remains frozen in our freezer...amberjack and white snapper for every meal folks!

This guy was NOT kidding around.  This photo isn't zoomed in...he was not afraid of me or anyone else around.  He picked at all the tables in front of the boats for scraps...walked right up to us.

Evan and I went on a date night one evening to Harry T's - YUMMY!

I got an AWESOME drink with light up ice cubes...too bad the picture didn't capture that

And we concluded the week with some classic sunset beach pics...Evan and I matched with pink shirts and khaki shorts - too cute!  Here are some of my faves

The whole gang!

And the rents :)

We had a great time!!! Ready for the next family vacay next year! Right dad??