Happy Halloween and other stuff

Okay it is Halloween night and I meant to do this earlier today but I had an online test that I studied all day for today and time got away. So Happy Halloween. We didn't have a single trick or treater but I am not surprised since we live out in the country.
A few going on's in my neck of the woods.
1. I am going to the Auburn game this weekend. Woot Woot. It's me and my old college roomie going, so girls road trip yeah!
2. We had to file a report with the Limestone County Sheriff's Department today. Apparently the finishing crews on these houses that are being completed are using our electricity. Our neighbor across the street caught them and called the Sheriff's dept. He caught them using our's, the lady down the streets, and his outside sockets to get electricity for their generators. That is a misdemeanor and explains why my electric bill was higher this month. So we will see what happens with that. I caught them using my water earlier in the summer when we had no rain and water was outrageous...what's next???
3. I meant to tell you ladies that last Friday night my brother's football team he coaches (Buckhorn) played Austin at Ogle. What a weird feeling that was being back at that field and sitting on the visitors side. It was Austin's homecoming too. Buckhorn won though. Mr. Sloan has changed in his looks A LOT. He lost some weight and he is pretty much completely baled now. The band isn't as big as we were. Remember how we lined up on both sidelines and we'd stretch past the 50? They still sounded pretty good though. We didn't see the halftime show though because of it being homecoming. They still have the same pregame show exactly. And do ya'll remember when we would do popcorn up in the stands? Now the entire band jumps on the bleachers back and forth during it. I was waiting for someone to take a headlong plunge down the bleachers. Friday night if anyone is in Decatur is the Austin vs. Decatur game. My dad said he is going to go to it. I'm not sure how the outcome will be...haven't heard how Decatur is this year. Austin is actually pretty good but they just couldn't stand up to Buckhorn's defense (I am proud of that because my bro is the defensive ends coach :) ). But I am still true to my alma mater in the city rivalry. Go Black Bears!
Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

This is 1 reason why I love Auburn football!

Ok yes I am a happily married woman. But you know sometimes you just have those objects of lust :) Well here is 1 reason why I love Auburn football and I am sad it is his last year. BRANDON COX! This hunny is yummy :) Man whatever girl snags him up will have some pretty babies :) Enjoy :)


That'll give you a reason to say War Eagle!
Okay I am off to cool down now LOL :)

My Black Eyed Kitty

So Saturday evening I am getting the kitties into the garage. I noticed something different about Savannah. She had a black eye! It looks like she got into a fight and got punched :) I was joking around and said that she ticked off Peaches and Peaches socked it to her. However we figured out that she had just somehow gotten into something black and it perfectly made her look like she had a black eye. Now how she did that I don't know. But here is a picture of my black eyed kitty!

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

New Trees and a New TV!

Hey all! Happy Tuesday!
We got us some new trees! 4 to be exact...two in the front and two in the back. We put a pink dogwood and a white dogwood in the front and two maples in the back. We will probably get us some more trees for the backyard in time because we have a extremely large backyard, but we are building a deck and putting up a fence this spring so we'll have to see how the space thing goes then. But I am excited that we have trees! It's raining today so I can't get out and take pics but as soon as we have a purty day I will :) They are cute little baby trees :)
Last night we went browsing trying to get ideas for Christmas. We have been saving for a new tv for a while. Every time we go out to stores we look at the tv's. Currently we have a 27' tv that my big bro used to have lol. Hey it works :) But anyway Wes has been salivating over the LCD tv's. We had a 40' Sony LCD picked out but then Wes' parents got a Samsung. It has a great picture! Well when Colleen posted about her Sony customer service problems we really started to do some serious research. Best Buy has a 46' Samsung and a 46' Sony side by side displayed and after much consideration last night we decided we liked the Samsung. We are getting it from Best Buy because some of our savings for the tv includes gift cards from there that people have given us over the last year. So we are waiting till a little closer to Christmas to get it but I am super excited about it. Now our tv won't look so lost in our big entertainment center. :)
Speaking of Christmas I am loving how easy my hubby is to buy for. :) His birthday is two weeks before Christmas so I have a double whammy but he makes it so easy because there is so many things he wants :) He was telling me last night he wished I was as easy. There are things I want but they are all for the house and he wants to buy me something for me...and I am clueless! Although there is two things I want....I want Dance Dance Revolution for the PS2 and I want a Wii because Wes' brother has one and we played it when we went to Auburn and man do you get some excercise with that! That is one video game system I can support :) So has anyone else started thinking about Christmas yet? Halloween is a week from tomorrow and I know that Christmas looms near!
Hope everyone has a fantastic Tuesday!

A Show of Hands....

Who has heard of a Christmas Cookie Swap/Exchange? I have been doing lots of research on this lately. I want to do one! Now the question I have for you my dear ladies as being that I know you all....would ya'll be interested in coming to one? I love throwing parties and I have been especially interested in doing a Christmas one. Also I want a chance for us old AHS girls to have a mini reunion...plus if you want you can bring a friend. So this is a post of interest. I think it would be a lot of fun. I have a website you can check out and she gives all kinds of tips, hints, and pictures. That way you can look at it and see what they are like. It will be December obviously and probably in the earlier part due to other Christmas obligations we all have. This can be a chance for us to see each other again and bring someone new for us all to meet :) Let me know what you think! Here is the website!

http://www.robinsweb.com/cookies/index.html

You'll have to copy and paste I forgot to link!

Happy Thursday all!

10 on Tuesday

LOL I believe I should do Monica's Pay Per Post...I might actually make something at it :)

1. Last night me and Wes took a walk after dinner. It felt like a good old fall evening. We have both decided to exercise more because over the first year and almost half of this marriage we have put on a few pounds. You know how you can go back and look at pics of yourself before and then now and sometimes it's like WHOA! That's us. So we are upping our healthy kick to prepare for the future of trying to have a baby :)
2. I have made out a list of books I am going to read. I love reading and haven't really did too much of it lately. However when I begin to pull out my old Mary Higgin's Clark books (which I love but have read upteen times) I know it's time to head to the library and broaden my horizons.
3. I have been making menus and sticking to them lately. I'm pretty proud of myself for that. I am seriously considering doing a food blog because of all the new recipes I have been trying.
4. I dyed my hair black. Yeah my natural color is pretty close to black but my hair is straight black now. I like it :)
5. I am thinking of hosting a Christmas Cookie Swap this year. I have been reading up on these and it sounds like a fun way to get together with friends.
6. I found out this weekend that yet another of my old sorority sisters is preggers....i believe that makes like 14 people I know who are expecting little bundles of joy.
7. Christmas season is coming. Wes asked me what I wanted for Christmas this year and he told me that he wanted to buy something for me not the house. Is it bad that I can't think of anything that I want for myself? I am sure I could if I got out there and really thought about it. Hmmm...guess I'll have to start shopping around :)
8. Countdown to new car is officially on. I'm super excited!
9. I want a really good homemade hot cocoa recipe...the kind that you can make in a crockpot. I am all about hot cocoa and even though the instant stuff works I want to make it homemade. Any suggestions?
10. Wes and I decided that when he finishes his 18 month half of the apprenticeship at the Ferry and I graduate from grad school...January and May of 2009 respectively...we are going to take a week long vacation to Walt Disney World. Wes has never ever been. He wants to experience it without children one time before we take our future kids when they are ready. I'm perfectly fine with that because I heart Disney :)
Happy Tuesday all!

Weekend Wrap Up

Hey ladies, it's Monday and I can tell! Weekend was good. We had a wedding to go to and then in the same day visited Wes' parents for his dad's b'day.
My friend Lauren's wedding was very pretty. Elegantly done. :) I'm glad her day went off well.
We had a great barbeque dinner for his dad's bday. His mom doesn't cook much but when she does she does it right. His parents have what I call a practice grandchild. His name is Zachariah and for sake of confusion from Wes' brother Zach we call Zachariah "little Zach" Anyway they had little Zach for the weekend and boy is he a ham...he knows what that camera is :) He is 91/2 months old and a cutie. He is the son of a friend of ours Stephen and Stephen has always been like a third son to Kay and Keith. Anyway I took a few pics of little Zach as well. We watched the Auburn game while there and I promise you they almost gave me a heart attack at the end. Big Zach was home for the weekend and he was saying that this was the first game he has watched on TV this year and the only game. He has been at all of them and will be at the remaining for the rest of the regular season. He is getting to go to the Bayou for the big AU vs LSU game this weekend. I'm am so holding my breath over that game. Good news is that Auburn is ranked 17 this week! And Alabama isn't ranked at all HA :) Sorry had to put that in there, although I don't think I have any major Roll Tide fans that read this.
Okay enough randomness. Here are a few pics.

Me and Lauren at her wedding.

Me and Wes at the wedding.

Mr. and Mrs. Dennis and Lauren Hyde

Me and little Zach

Ain't he cute :)

Zach and his PaPa...that's my FIL Keith...I tell you when his hair is down he looks like Tommy Chong. And oh yeah that is a Auburn shirt under his bib...We are teaching him right :)

Wes and little Zach.
I hope you ladies have a great start to your week! Happy Monday!

Thursday Thoughts and a lot of I hopes!

Every time I see her cute little self whether its in person or in a picture I can't help but feel better :) I hope that my future children are as precious as she :)
Anyways it's Thursday and I am feeling somewhat better but not tip top. I gotta get that way though because I gots a busy weekend ahead.
I have spent the majority of my day doing laundry, and looking up recipes online. I was on Dr.'s orders to stay at home from school...so I missed both days of school this week. Even though I have a doc's excuse I still feel guilty.
But back to the recipes. I have decided that I need to do better on my cooking and cleaning. I need to get motivated and work out a system. So I am devising one. I am thinking of creating a food blog. Right now it is just in consideration. Right now I tend to do my cleaning in one day. That seems kinda silly for me since I am not working and I only have classes two days a week. So like I said I am coming up with a plan. I hope I can stick to it. I hope I find some motivation. I hope I don't procrastinate. I hope I can do this. There are a lot of hopes :)
Well I got to run to the library. Returning two books and on the list of books to get is The Devil Wears Prada (loved the movie!) and The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. I haven't read anything by him yet but I hear how everyone raves about him so I am going to give him a shot.
Happy Thursday!

Ten on Tuesday

1. I hate being sick! I thought I had the beginnings of a cold starting last Thursday...I don't go to a doc for a cold because of over the counter meds...well the full blown cold never happened. It has all stayed in my chest...so now I am thinking it is bronchitis and today I am feeling so horrible I skipped my classes! Of course I let my professors know but now I am trying to talk myself into going to the doc...I just hate doing that. But bronchitis just doesn't go away if indeed that is what I have...so I guess I'll be going :(

2. We had my dad's 60th surprise b'day Saturday evening. He was definitely surprised. I am glad we were able to pull it off!

3. My friend Lauren Parker is joining the ranks of marriage this Saturday. I am serving so that's another reason I need to get better. But here is my personal congrats to my good buddy :)

4. Why is it that mother in laws can never remember what you tell them and they ask you 100 times repeatedly the same ol stuff? We have Lauren's wedding on Saturday in Russellville. MIL has been bugging us about coming to visit. We tell her we will be coming over there AFTER Lauren's wedding. FIL's birthday is next week and my bro in law will be home from Auburn this weekend so MIL is having b'day dinner for him. Fine...no problem...we tell MIL that we aren't sure what time we will be there but we will be there as soon as the wedding is over. Now Russellville is about 40 minutes from Greenhill, and the wedding starts at 2, and I am serving in the reception, so I don't figure we'll be free till 5pm or maybe later. But she has asked Wes like 20 times what time we'll be there and if we can make it by 4...it's like she doesn't even listen!!! Okay maybe I am just grumpy cause I am sick :( But still come on!!

5. I officially do not have a green thumb! I killed two of my mums I bought :(

6. Auburn is ranked in the AP polls this week! #22 baby! War Eagle!

7. I am desperately in need of some motivation! I have zip!

8. I have decided I hate talking on the phone. I just do...

9. I need some happy pills...after rereading this I realize how negative and grumpy I sound. So #10 will be something positive :)

10. A really cute picture of my lovely 2 year old niece and her Nana :)

(Colleen I am still working on the watermark thing. Wes is having to give me a tutorial because I am sooo not computer literate. I understood your directions I am just having to play around with it. So hence no watermark yet. I just couldn't resist posting this pic. Hopefully soon my pics will be watermark protected. Thanks for the help :) )
Happy Tuesday all!

Some Fall Decor and a really good recipe

Hey guys I'm posting a couple of pics of my fall decor. I have more that I will post after my dad's party this weekend. But for now here are a few.

I made this wreath using a grapevine wreath with assorted fall foilage on it. It was easy and fairly cheap to do.





I really like the color of these mums.
And now I have a fantastic recipe for you all if you would like to try it.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
Here is what you need:
Pork tenderloin (I used 1.5 lbs)
1 onion sliced
root beer (enough to cover at least half way- I used a can and a half)
your fave BBQ sauce (I mixed Kraft original and Kraft honey BBQ sauces)
What you do:
Cook tenderloin, root beer and onion on low in crock pot for 6 hours
Remove meat and onions, drain juices, and rinse crock pot
shred the meat with a fork (trust me it'll be so tender it'll fall apart)
Put meat and onion back in crock pot and pour in BBQ sauce (I just put enough in there to really coat the meat good and have some left over..so I guess about 1/3 of the bottle each...you just have to eyeball it.)
Stir and cook on low another hour.
I served it on hamburger buns and with onion rings. It was yum-o and it made enough or about 8 sandwiches.

Enjoy!
Happy Thursday ya'll!

Why I H-A-T-E Wal-Mart!

I am reminded today of why I H-A-T-E Walmart! Now I don't use the term hate too much because I know it is a strong word...but I have to say hate it here! We are having a 60th surprise b'day party for my dad on Saturday and since it is a surprise I have to get the stuff for it and store it at my house. Well after looking at my list I groaned inwardly and admitted to myself that Walmart would be the better place to go to expand my money. So off to the Madison Walmart I go.
1. The greeter was too busy talking to her buddy (whom evidently works there as well thanks to the blue shirt and tan pants) to say hello or help me untangle a basket.
2. They never have everything you need. One week they have it and you think I'll come back and get it and voila next week they don't. Or they move it around so you have to scour out the entire store to find it.
3. A great invention that became a lifesaver for me at Walmart was the self checkout lane. Those cashiering days in college helped me out here. However today for some reason the self checkout lane was being a poopy head. After attempting 3 times to do my groceries, with each time telling me I wasn't bagging (I was), I gave up and put my groceries back in the cart and went on search of a real person to check me out.
4. Why does Walmart have like 40 lanes but there is only 3 open? Why? Think of what they could have done with that space! Okay they really have 5 open but of course two of those are express 20 items or less which is a catergory I did not fall into.
5. Let me tell you I had the most *friendliest* cashier ever. You could tell she loved her job! (Notice my dripping sarcasm) She didn't greet me at all. (I got my little revenge on that though. On the debit card scanners it asks if they greet you or not and I put a big fat NO.) Then she was taking her sweet time while her line just got bigger and bigger. She threw my groceries around. She put bread in with raw meat (Yuck!) I rebagged it right there. Then she put my 2 liter drinks on top of the cookies, smashing them. ( I didn't discover this until I got home :( ) I had two seperate orders and she didn't have a post thing to seperate them and I told her twice but she still rang it up together and had to call a supervisor to come fix it. She acted like I was being difficult but I was trying to keep my personal stuff seperate from the party stuff because I was using the money mom gave me for the party for the party, not my personal use. Besides I only had 4 items that were personal...how hard is it to remember that especially when I put them way away from the other order? She gave me back my change by shoving it and the receipt at me causing me to drop the coin change part down the side of her little register set up thing. And of course no thank you. I thanked her though because it's a natural habit of mine.
Now I know what it is like to be a cashier. I worked at Sam's through college. I know you get some dill hole customers. I don't think I was being a dill hole. If this was the first time something like this had happened at Walmart I wouldn't think much of it. But overall the quality of Walmart has gone to pots. They may be somewhat cheaper but I believe I would rather pay for groceries at Publix or Target. Not as much stress. Okay end of rant :) Happy Wednesday!

Tate Farm's Pumpkin Patch

Happy Monday to all! This weekend we went to Tate's Pumpkin Farm with our friends Doug and Kara and there 6 week old baby boy Ryland. I have uploaded my pictures to shutterfly and I am going to link them for you to see. That way this post won't be ginormous!
Tate Farms is a great place to spend a fall afternoon. It would be a blast with small children. Chris and Susan take Macy there every year. Ryland was a little to little to know what the heck but we tried taking some cute pics of him :) Colleen, Dash would love it!
They had hay rides, corn mazes, corn cribs (those were cool! Corn feels so cool when it is placed in this huge crib you can jump into), cotton bales that you can play in, you can jump into bales of hay, a country store, pumpkins galore, mums, and other kinds of gourds. It was lots of fun and so pretty out there. Afterwards we went back to their house and carved pumpkins.Enjoy the pics!
http://www.shutterfly.com/view/pictures.jsp
** If this link doesn't work let me know....I'll do something different. ** ** You'll have to sign in to see it so email is star21gazer@aol.com and password is concord**
Other weekend happenings consisited of us also visiting on Friday night another set of friends of ours with a child....LOL most of our friends do have children now :) We went to eat with them and then back to their house to play Wii! I want a Wii now because they are soooo much fun! We had a lot of fun with them :)
Then of course there was Auburn's devouring of gator stew. That had to be the best game I have seen in a long time. I am so glad that Auburn got their stuff together and showed them gators that they aren't a team that can be beat. There was some Auburn pride out there! My little bro in law went to the Swamp to witness the beating. He says he'll never go again. From the time they exited car to when they left they were harassed. Apparently the Swamp is not friendly! But all is well that ends well....Auburn kicked butt :)
I also finished my fall decorations this weekend but I will post those later as to not overwhelm this post :) Happy Monday all!