Roommate, Taco Casa, SawGrass and Hillary

Jared and I moved our roommate, Leah Moore, and her Jack Russell, Toby, in this past weekend. Super fun Leah works with me at WMU and needed a place to stay until June which is when her future roommate’s lease runs out. Our fabulous friend Justin Hardy helped us with the Saturday move… he’s the BEST! After some poorly given directions from me (sorry Justin!), our day started around 11ish at Leah’s apartment, we put everything we could squeeze into Justin’s covered trailer, and in the back of his and our SUV! We stopped for a quick bite at McDonalds where Leah and Justin discussed his dog’s breed, a Hungarian Vizsla. Leah lived in Hungry for a time and had always wanted one!
Justin brought his two dogs along for the day so when we got to Wisteria Trace Miami was excited to meet all 3! She and Toby became fast friends! Toby also made fast friends with our neighbor's dogs but we won’t go into detail how! :)
One thing we were unable to fit in the first load was Leah’s bed so our generous friend with a truck, Cameron Penter, let us borrow his for a few hours! Thanks Cam!
With moving day at an end Leah and I planned a fun day at SawGrass for Monday. We left the house with our two sidekicks on our laps and headed first to Tuscaloosa for a quick lunch at Taco Casa for a mild combination burrito with extra sour cream, a small messy nachos and a large Mt. Dew! Then on to SawGrass!
Papa gave us a few chores which we were happy to do while we were there. First was to pick up sweet feed for the horses at the local coop. (Leah wasn’t able to go in with me b/c she has a mild fear of taxidermy… which was EVERYWHERE!!) After unloading the feed we caught and saddled up, Leah ridding Comet and me riding Black Jack (our newest horse). Forgetting to check our time of departure, I’m not sure how long we rode but we did cover a good chunk of the West side of SawGrass.

This is from Googlemap of SawGrass Plantation; I marked the path that we took! :)

Once we made it back to the lodge we let Miami and Toby out to play! Miami is fascinated with Papa’s cat but when she got tired of him she kept following me into where the stables are… luckily she didn’t get trampled on! Toby just wanted to sniff everything he could!! After we untacked the horses and feed them we were off to start our second chore. Sweeping and mopping the lodge floors, which took about as long as the ride! While we were cleaning I spotted this Hillary doll and had to share it with you!

Sorry it's not up straight! Hee Hee!

Riding Horses and A New Roof for SawGrass

Our after Thanksgiving trip to SawGrass was a chilly one! Thank goodness the clouds held the rain in until we were super close to the lodge!

Papa rode his new favorite horse Red (he also calls him Blaze).

Jared riding Comet over Snake Pass! I love this pic... it's a framer!

Beau riding Dapple Grey. He was in front of us most of the ride so the best pics I have of him are him looking back at me.

Here is Beau's right profile shot! :)

Jared at least had a hood on for when it started to sprinkle. See his hands are covered up... I told him to wear gloves. :)

Time to feed!

Meow taunting Miami who was waiting impatiently for us to come back and let her out so she could sneak over and roll in the horse poop! She did NOT smell good for the ride home!

SawGrass's new roof Papa built recently! Nice!

Jared, Beau, and Papa after a fun ride at SawGrass plantation!

I talked Jared into stopping at Taco Casa so I could get my combination burrito, small messy nachos and a medium Mt. Dew, YUM! :)

What a Beautiful Morning (Continues)

Jared and I had a TiVo in 2002, which was before rewinding live tv, scheduling recordings, and recording one show while watching another live was considered a common home gadget necessity. This morning I thought to myself how nice it would be if I could just this one time rewind my life to the night before to SHUT MY GARAGE DOOR!!!
Rewind... After filling my University of Alabama tervis tumbler full of cran-grape juice as usual and grabbing a light and fit yogurt out of the fridge, peach again… I really need to go to the grocery store… I was relieved that Jared was still upstairs getting ready so he would take Miami outside to do her business and I could head to work, stop to get gas and time would still be on my side. The wind hit my face as I opened our back door thinking I sure do love that the weather is now cold enough for me to wear my super cute long twilled black, pink, and cream coat on this beautiful fall morning... Looking up and walking out to my car I wondered did I close the garage door last night or did Jared open it this morning??
Fast-forward… I was almost to work when Jared calls me, FUMING, telling me that his brand new iTouch that he got from work a week ago today for passing his CPA exams was not in his car. Flipping out, I apologized about a hundred times for not thinking about checking to see if the garage door was down last night, as I habitually do. Then he called again to ask if I had taken my beloved Jane, my GPS system, out of his car... he had barrowed her Monday b/c he was going on a business trip… “Nope” I said, a little teary eyed.
I sure am lost without Jane. :(
So, following my terrible Tuesday morning two weeks ago is today, knowing that Wednesday’s Wisteria Thief is still at large.

…what a beautiful morning! :)

What a Beautiful Morning

I took my time getting ready this morning. I was having a terrific straight hair day and had a cute outfit picked out for my work team photo at 2pm this afternoon. Looked in the mirror for a last second do these pants fit me alright confirmation thought then headed downstairs. I let Miami out to do her business which she did in record time. I fixed myself my usual cran-grape juice in my Alabama tervis tumbler cup and grabbed a light and fit yogurt out of the fridge, peach b/c I’m out of the better flavors, said bye to Miami and was out the door. Yesterday I had forgotten to shut our garage door so after walking to my car and setting my stuff down I fished for my garage door opener which was at the bottom of my purse, shut the door to my car and cranked her up. I then proceeded to roll down my window as I often do on a beautiful morning like today, stuck my head out and guided my way out of the driveway when BAM…SPLASH, I just realized I left my Alabama tervis tumbler cup full of cran-grape juice on the roof of my car when I went digging through my purse. The cup hit and poured from the top of my head down my cute black top into the back of my stylish red BeBe pants and onto the back seat of my car. Pausing for a moment to think how on earth I had managed to have such a Terry Hatcher from Desperate Housewives moment... I got out to access the damage to the car. I then ran upstairs to see if there was any way to avoid taking a shower; nope I could feel the ice cold cran-grape juice on my scalp. So, I took the fastest shower of my life, scrunched dried my hair so I wouldn’t have to dry it all the way, threw on an outfit and got to my car with fabric cleaner and a beach towel. Ten minutes later I was backing out of the driveway yet again, now realizing I had not reapplied make-up but kept going, this is just how I’m going to have to look for my picture.
I called Joyce, my boss, and left her a message saying "I’m late this morning it involves cran-grape juice, my hair and my car, something to look forward to; I’ll see you in 20."

Bet your morning is looking much brighter! :)

My Next 25 Years

Today is my Birthday. I’ve had this Tim McGraw song stuck in my head this entire week while thinking of my 25th Birthday. I’m planning to have a list of 25 things for me to check off in my next 25 years but here are the top 5 on my list for my readers that have been so patient in waiting for my next post since my long absence from blogland. :)

1. Read the bible cover to cover: I read the Old Testaments my freshman year of college but then skipped around when I got to the New Testaments. So reading from Genesis to Revelation is going to be an important goal for me.
   



2. Sky Diving: I’ve wanted to go sky diving for a long time and always said I would go before I turn 25, now I guess it will have to move to before I have kids. My sis and cousin Codie have beat me to it so anyone out there who wants to go with me, please let me know.
   
   


3. Run: I use to love to run but then I got married, which means I got happy and lazy. I’d like to stay happy but start running again too.
   



4. Meditate: My dad has meditated every evening since he was in college and loves it; I want to learn an effective way for me to meditate.
   



5. Travel: So many places to go so little time (and money), the state I want to visit most is Alaska and the top two countries on my list are England and China.

Now I know this song is called My Next 30 Years but it’s my birthday blog and I can change it if I want to.

I wasn’t the cutest baby so here is a picture of me 20 years ago; I was usually found outside and dirty.

(L to R) me, Ashley (my cousin), and Jessie Dean (my big sis) playing in the pond behind the house we grew up in, Loganwood Drive, Northport, Alabama

Extreme White Water Rafting

Five fabulous couples went white water rafting this weekend down the Eccoe River.

It began on Friday afternoon when everyone met at our house to load up, girls in the Woodwards’ Envo and Guys in the Cosbys’ Pathfinder. Trip began with chatting and laughs and a half way stop at Arby’s for an early dinner. We got to our hotel, the River Suites, and separated into our two reserved rooms, 3 couples in one room and 2 couples in the other. We then all gathered in one room to play Mexican Train Dominos and Skipbo until midnightish… Jamie was the ultimate champion! Besides trying to block out the endless motorcycle noise outside our room, we got a decent nights sleep. We checked out of the hotel and had a late breakfast at the Cracker Barrel which was directly behind our hotel. Some had a much later breakfast then others. The Grizzles’ and our table got stuck with a waitress who must have forgotten to put in our order b/c the other table of 3 couples were finished and had their receipt in hand before we even got our food… Brett did give us some of their left over biscuits to hold us over. We then had about 45 minutes to waist rocking on the Cracker Barrel porch before heading to the OCC where we checked in, geared up, and were seated on a bus to head to our casting off spot on the Eccoe River.

At our cast off spot we meet Jody, he looked about 21 years old and came to the Eccoe in April from Georgia, after a 6 week training period he qualified to be a river rafting guide, and did a great job! The Hovaters were our fearless leaders and took their positions at the front of the raft. Jamie and I were protected in the middle section and the strong back seaters were Ben and Jared.

Around the 3rd rapid was where Ben flew off the back… Jody tried to grab him as soon as he hit the water but was unsuccessful. Ben had to bounce off a few rocks before we were able to bring him back in the raft. Wow, that was intense!

Jody was very entertaining as he told us the names of all the rapids and the stories behind them… I still think he made every one of them up. He also told us of the ravels between all the rafting companies around there and would make comments about how bad they are and how they always get stuck;) WE even purposely shoved one raft, from another rafting company, hard onto rocks so their guide had to get out of the raft to get his group back on course. Jody was a trip!

Half way through the rafting adventure we were able to “park” and jump off a big rock called “Jump Rock.” It was a fun breather. Jared and I jumped off three times and had to swim against the current to get back to the rock. :)

We had so much fun and I can’t wait until next year when we go for the all day rafting trip, camp in a tent and go on the five mile hike our guide was telling us about :)

A Family Beach Trip

The beach trip planning began when the Odom family invited the Bradfords to their condos in Gulf Shores. Jared wasn’t able to drive with us on Saturday so he left Saturday morning to head home to study, he had to work Monday and Tuesday. :(

Saturday morning we loaded up the cars and headed to the beach, I drove Nonnie in her car following my parents and 2 youngest brothers. We got to the Odom’s condo and found it super nice and in a great location. After unloaded the cars, Mom and I set out to stock up for a week supply of food, it took a good three hours and we still forgot stuff.

Our days at the beach were full of sun bathing and fun in the ocean, and each night I played a lot of cards (mostly STOP) with Mom, Nonnie, Colton, Clint, Jordan (Alex’s brother) and Emily (Alex’s sister). The cooking was superb; Papa and Nonnie made breakfast every morning and a mixture of all the adults would make dinner.

On an eventful Monday a baby shark swam between Clint and my legs as we awaited a wave to ride into shore. I thought it looked like a shark but didn’t want to say it out load then an older man who was standing near us saw it too… he said “did you see that shark.” Later on that day someone spotted a much larger shark and even later that day we heard of a shark attack that happened right down the beach from us, scary! -but I love the ocean so it's worth the risk:)
Jared arrived on Tuesday night, I was so happy to see him!! Wednesday Jared and I set out to the beach early, he road waves in with me and then we relaxed and just enjoyed being together. Poor Papa was laid up all week with a hurt knee so he came out to the beach and sat with us for a couple of hours but it was the only day he saw the ocean. :(

Thursday Jared went golfing with Alex while I took Colton and Clint to Waterville, a water park about 15 minutes away from our condo. The boys and I had a lot of fun. While I was checking our stuff in at the Waterville entrance Colton and Clint went ahead to the slides. When they got back I was ready to join them. I asked if they went down the blue one which of course was the one that shot straight down like a bullet. Clint avoided eye contact and an aggravated Colton said, “NO, Clint wouldn’t let me, we went down the pink one.” Defensively, Clint proceeded to tell me that Mom would not let him go down the bullet the last time they went to a water park and he didn’t know if they were “allowed to”. So we went back up the line, Clint went down the pink one again and Colton and I went down the blue one… it was SO FUN! Our next time up the stairs to get to the slides we met a nice man and his five year old son. I asked the little boy which slide he was going down and he confidently said the blue one. Colton and I looked at Clint who had turned a dark pink shade and we giggled a little, I said, “no pressure Clint you can keep going down the pink one.” At the top he gathered up the courage and went down the blue one and had a BLAST! :) He got me back on the ride home for laughing at him- Being 15 years old Clint is now an “expert” driver and purposefully got on my ever lovin’ nerves by warning me about red lights coming up half a mile away, told me what the speed limit was over and over, and acted like he was going to die the entire trip back to the condo whenever a car would change lanes in front of us… I should have made him WALK… I’m getting a little red faced just thinking about that awful drive.

Jared and I went out to eat that night to celebrate our anniversary then Friday morning we headed home to Trussville, AL. What a fun relaxing trip!

Jessica and Alex

Quick pose from the boys after playing tennis

(L to R) Jared, Jordan, Colton and Clint

Me and Jared taking a time out from the sun, it was beautiful but HOT!

Papa sitting with Clint, Papa's one look at the ocean

Emily, Jess, Jerry and Nonnie

Jess watching Jerry as she plays in the sand.

The boys and me riding the waves although it looks calm in this pic there was an undertow:)

Jared's all smiles:)