LOST

Leah and I made our way down to SawGrass Saturday night for more adventures! After a delicious dinner Papa made us (fried bass, hush puppies, french fries and carrots) we suited up for our four-wheeler ride!

It was pretty cold so we borrowed some of Clint's camo for warmth! Good thing too b/c we end up being out for a while! :) Leah and me ready to go!

Leah the pro!

me!

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Since it was especially muddy this four-wheeling adventure was even more fun! We set off toward the south end of the property (with bunny rabbits dodging us along the way) and then turned off the four-wheelers to a perfect starry night... BREATH TAKING!! I wish I had pictures of the stars! After seeing our shooting star God put in the sky just for us we were content to continue our ride... not to mention it was a little scary out there!!

(Thoughts: "So we're headed north... I think... or is that the North Star... or that one??? hum?")

- Me: "So Leah, you know we are totally lost!!"

- Leah: "That's OK I'm having fun!"

- Me: "All right, let’s just keep going... maybe we'll run into something familiar!"

Somehow we ended up going northwest and hit Cougar Lake...

- Me: "OK. This is Cougar Lake which means that way is the lodge."

- Leah: "OK."

We take off for a while and stop.

- Me (laughing): "We are back at Cougar Lake."

- Leah (laughing): "OK. You could have fooled me!"

We take off for a while and stop.

- Me (laughing really hard): "Guess what?"

- Leah: "Really!"

Leaving Cougar Lake for the THIRD time we take off AGAIN for a while and stop.

- Me (HYSTERICALLY laughing): "I can't tell which path is which!!! I need JANE!!"

- Leah (laughing with me): "I'm having fun!"

We head out again and all the while I'm thinking DON'T USE YOUR INSTINCTS JUST KEEP GOING STRAIGHT!!! We finally get back to the lodge after TWO HOURS of turning around FOUR TIMES at the SAME PLACE... which is difficult to accomplish on 2,000+ ACRES... just leave it to me!

(I tried to recreate the paths we took on a map of SawGrass but it was WAY to confusing!)

A Flurry Boy Arrives

Justin and Ashley Flurry are the proud parents of

Carter Matthew Flurry
Birthday: March 30, 2009
Time of Arrival: 1:22 p.m.
Weighing in at: 8 lbs 6 oz

Length: 1.25 inches
Hair: Brown

Welcome to the WORLD!! :)

Rolling Clouds

Trussville's clouds were gorgeous on Saturday!

Quote Me This

My Friend from work, Melody, has been a blogger since 2005 and since I met her just last year I decided to look back at her previous posts and see what she had posted in the past and found this quote...

"I think a person has to be at least a little bit egocentric to have a blog (and to expect other people to want to read it.)" -Melody's mother

This is a reaction I have gotten several times when referring to my blog in conversations but I love the way Melody's mom worded it! :)

Read More about Melody at Mountain Melody!

Elephant Befriends a Dog, And We Cry Big Elephant Tears

This is a forward that I have received twice and still tear up!! Instead of forwarding it on I decided to post it! Enjoy!:)
Elephant Befriends a Dog, And We Cry Big Elephant Tears

A Hardy Dinner Party!

Leah and I went to eat with the Hardy's last night! We has a blast laughing with Justin and Whitney and taking turns holding Hayes! He is such a cutie!

Mommy Whitney holding Hayes

Leah smiling at Hayes smiling at her! (he's really smiling!)

Daddy Justin and his other baby, Rez! (Notice Justin's hand making this picture rated PG!)

Quotes of the Night:

"I know my forward slashes from my backward slashes!"

"It doesn't really happen unless you blog about it!"

"I'll google it, how do you spell it!"

"They are laughing with me!"

"Hayes has great aim!"

"Praise God!"

Progress On Our Yard

It's coming up on mine and Jared's second summer at our fabulous house on Wisteria Trace and ask me if I've done a thing to our yard.... NO!! I got the itch to do some damage after our neighbors, the Celeste, started working on their yard.

Jared reluctantly posing as I show him destroying our hideous plastic white fence that came with the house!!

The couple that lived there before us really didn't want that fence to go anywhere... it was cemented really deep into our yard!

Emily and Leah posing at Home Depot as we gathered mulch and two potted hanging plants! Thanks ladies for joining me on my attempt to beautify my yard!

I gave our bushes a major hair cut!

Me putting the final touches before rushing to get ready for CORE group.

My potted plant!

At present this is what my front yard looks like... whew!

Yesterday when Leah and I were coming home from our walk I actually held my head up a little higher as we walked onto my clean, nice, but working progress front yard.

A Night Full of SPIRITS

My Thursday night was full of SPIRITS again!
I use to work the wine tastings at my cousin and her husband’s wine cellar, Spirits, in Tuscaloosa every Thursday night while I was in school at UA. I haven't been to one in over a year and finally got down to T-town this past Thursday night. I left right after work and met Codie at her house to change out of work-wear and into cas-wear and headed off to Spirits! My Aunt Susan and Uncle Bob Tanner, Jen's parents, were in town from Texas which was one of my main pulls to go and Codie had succeeded in talking Beau, Jen's brother, into joining us as well (driving in from Mississippi). My two favorite wines of the night were both Berger wines a smooth summer white and a rich red. After the customers left the wine tasting my parents joined us as we ordered multiple appetizers from Milagros for dinner (crab cakes, fried shrimp, mussels) ... delicious!
Pics from our night at SPIRITS!

Jen and Beau

Aunt Susu and me

Aunt Susu and Beau

Codie and Beau

Me, Beau sticking his finger in Elliot's nose (Elliot is Jen's dog and Miami's biological brother)

This is Sophie (Aunt Susan's dog and Miami's biological sister)

Beau, Uncle Bob Tanner, Aunt Susan, Matt and Jen

Codie, me and Beau

Beau, Uncle Bob Tanner and Papa

Aunt Susan and Uncle Bob Tanner

When I asked Beau what he was doing tomorrow he answered with this motion which means fishing at SawGrass. :)

Me and Codie

Mom and Susu

Beau's new ride!

We didn't order enough Milagros to fill me up so on our way back to Codie's house we stopped by Taco Casa for a late night snack! A large messy nachos and a large Mt. Dew, YUM! :)

Crafton Stephens Wedding

My childhood friend and now coworker Ashley Crafton became Ashley Stephens this past weekend. The wedding was held at Mathews Manner in Springville, Ala. It was such a sweet ceremony and I loved seeing all my friends from the University Church of Christ there!

This was displayed for the happy couple in the entrance to the reception hall.

Her flowers were gorgeous!

I know pronounce you man and wife! :)

Me and Jared

Me and the beautiful bride, Ashley.

This was the best strawberry wedding cake I've ever had!

Mother of the Bride (Shela) and Father of the Bride (Scott)

Ashley and Jeff cutting the cake.

Jared and me taking a photo of ourselves outside the reception hall... it was a fabulous spring day!

Jeff and Ashley

Shela, Emily and Mom

Congrats to Jeff and Ashley, have fun in Mexico!!

Introduction to the SawGrass Horses

I have put a halt on labeling which horse is which in the pictures I have posted b/c it's tiresome! So let me introduce you to the SawGrass horses for future reference... I'll let you know all their names too... it can get confusing! :)

Whiskey is fairly new to SawGrass so he only has one name. His owner, Allen, is good friends with my family and boards his 2 horses (Full Throttle is his other horse) at SawGrass and lets us ride them! :) Whiskey is one of the oldest horses, I feel comfortable putting just about anybody on him.

Dapple Grey (aka Sundance or just Grey) is for a more confident rider. He use to be the most dominant horse at SawGrass and I didn't ride him much b/c he's a PILL to catch but the last few times we have ridden him he's been excellent!! He has a fabulous gait!

Comet (aka V6) is the only horse that survived the colic of 2007, when we lost 3 of our horses (Pretty Boy, Blaze and Seminole). :( I am so happy he is better b/c anyone can ride him as long as Full Throttle isn't with us (you'll meet him shortly)!

Buddy is my horse from back in the day! He turned 22 this past February. :) I have so many memories with Buddy riding in the woods behind our old house in Loganwood along with my other horse Buttermilk who died in 2003. :( I think only Papa and I can get him in his saddle gait now-a-days but anyone can ride him!

Full Throttle (aka Tyler's Horse) only knows one speed! I have only ridden him when all the horses were being ridden and he is a WORKOUT!! Basically you have to hold him back the entire time you are riding him. I let him go full speed one time and while it was a fun rush, I saw my life flash before my eyes!! :) He does love to be ridden, is easy to catch and loves on you when you step into the pasture.

Full Throttle sticking his tongue out at me! :P

Cisco (aka Palomino and Heidi) had a badly infected cut on his leg and foundered (which means REALLY sick, should have died) a few months ago and is still in recovery! Papa is going to give him another month to recuperate and then we can start riding him again. Cisco is everyones favorite horse! He's on the same level as Comet, anyone can ride him. He is easy to get in a saddle gait but is ADD and trips A LOT! :)
He is really affectionate and was a total camera hog so here are his glam shots! :)

Red (aka Blaze Jr.) has taken the role of most dominant horse! He is Papa's favorite horse and Papa doesn't like me to talk bad about Red but he can be so nasty! For example he took a big chunk out of Black Jack's neck while we were talking during our ride, poor Black Jack was bleeding. MEAN! (I forgot to take a picture of Red on Saturday so here is a pic of him with Leah a few months ago)

I also forgot to take a pic of Black Jack so here is a profile shot while I was riding him. Black Jack is young and still doesn't know much. He was a pasture horse and had not been ridden until we bought him (he kinda came with Red). The first time I rode him I had to start with the basics! He is still a little "stupid" and jumps at any little thing that makes a noise in the woods but is really sweet and has a fair gait. I really enjoy the challenge he brings!

Read all the adventures of Whiskey, Grey, Comet, Buddy, Full Throttle, Cisco, Red and Black Jack in future and past posts! :)