Test Anxiety

The reason for my sleepless nights...an upcoming $555 test. Good for my job, good for my career...bad for my stress levels. I had a dream in which a former (retired) boss had us lined up, telling us whether we passed or failed. Of course, in this dream, I failed. Sigh.

Wish me luck...I take this test on March 7th.

Cold. Colder. Warmer. Warmer. Frozen.

If you look closely, you can see the icicles. We've been having some interesting weather here in Arkansas...one day it will be mid-50's; the next, mid-60's (we even hit lower 70's earlier this week); and then the bottom falls out...upper 20's.

This is the only place I know where I have had the heat on in the AM, the air conditioning at lunch, and then heat back on in the late PM. Sigh.

What's Playing??

Our nights this past week have been spent watching this series. It was like movie-crack for us. We loved it, every minute of it. There are reports that a similar HBO series, (The Pacific) featuring the Pacific theater during WWII, will premier in 2009. And yes, we will watch that one too.

Mitchell has requested we also watch "Saving Private Ryan". That was a (good) surprise request.

A Redneck New Year's Christmas...

As promised, here's some shots from this year's 'Redneck New Year's Christmas'. For those that aren't familiar with this shin-dig...for the past 3 years, a group of us have gotten together to ring in the new year Arkansas Redneck style in the backwoods of Arkansas. The location changes every year and you have to know the secret headlock to find out where we are going each time. Much fun was had by all and no casualties...well, except for Ken's brother not being allowed to leave camp for a day (but that's another story)...were reported. Thanks to Amy for providing the wonderful pictures of our 4 wheeler riding adventure!

Happy (Belated) New Year! It's 2008!

2007 is long a memory and now we welcome 2008...I chose this picture because it shows a path, but you can't yet see what's around the corner...just like what lies ahead this year.

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's celebration...we were once again spending time out in the great Arkansas outdoors, celebrating with family and friends. (Pictures to follow, hopefully!).

The New Obsession (and a belated Merry Christmas!)

Can anyone guess what our household received this Christmas? If you like playing the guitar and absolutely love all rock songs...then I bet you will have no problems guessing. My husband is getting quite good at it. BECAUSE HE PLAYS EVERY WAKING MOMENT. :)

Weekend Adventures

It was time to get out in the Arkansas backwoods. We have not been able to enjoy the peace and quiet for some time now. It was a good time, not to cold (even though we were all dressed for the arctic!).

Now it's time to finish up getting ready for Christmas! Only 13 more days...

Happy Birthday to My Honey!!

He is one HANDSOME Birthday boy!!

A Double-Digit Birthday

See if you can count the candles to find out what age we celebrated! Happy Birthday!

Words You Never Want to Hear While Flying in an Airplane.

Pilot on intercom: "Uh, folks, I'm going to have the flight crew instruct you guys on how prepare for an emergency landing. This is just an extreme precaution. It seems we hit a coyote during our take off from Denver...All of our systems are indicating everything is fine, but we just want to be cautious. So, please cooperate with the crew and we'll make it to Portland just fine."

This happened on my recent trip to Portland. I thought he was joking. Not so.

We made it to Portland, bells and whistles ringing. The remainder of the trip was quiet; the return flight experienced no problems at all.

The mighty hunters

Blu's son, Mitchell, shot his first buck on Sunday. Muzzle loading. Our nephew, John, shot an elk in Colorado over the weekend.

Another reason to love fall...

This was taken by a co-worker who had the opportunity to travel to Kalispell, Montana for training. Lucky dog.

Fall is my FAVORITE season

It's beginning to FINALLY cool down here in the Natural State. Of course, now I say that and we'll go through yet another heat wave. Sigh.

I love this time of year. When there's just that hint of crisp in the early morning air and folks are just starting to put up their Halloween decorations (have I said that some retail stores--names not mentioned, but you know who I'm talking about--have already put out their Christmas decorations). Really Big Sigh.


I've realized that along with Christmas, Halloween ranks right up there as a favorite holiday. I'm really excited about being in our neighborhood for Halloween this year. Now, ask me the day after and I may be singing a different tune.


I'm hoping for some good fall colors too. You know...the ones that just make you stop and appreciate that moment in time. Taking a long drive out in the country somewhere, on a beautiful sun-filled, cloud-less sky day.


I hope everyone out there is having a wonderful fall season filled with many happy fall memories!

What it feels like to be 30

Today, I celebrate the first anniversary of my 29th birthday.

Weddings

Weddings are so beautiful. This one was held outside, on Saturday...and it couldn't have been more perfect. It was absolutely lovely. Congratulations to the happy couple!

And, of course it wouldn't be a wedding in Arkansas without a HOG groom's cake!

Passing the TEST

I passed the test that comes at the end of Hunter's Education class. I can now legally obtain a hunter's license in the state of Arkansas. We'll see...

Thursday Nite Lights

Mitchell had his first football game last night. Unfortunately, we lost, but he did well. YAY #52!!! Now all we need (for the future) is some RAZORBACK RED in the picture!!

Labor Day Festivities

We had a pretty full Labor Day weekend...including opening day for dove season, a family BBQ, the HOG game (on the radio), a visit with friends (including a new baby boy!), and a family get together (with homemade lasagna!).

Blu and Mitchell shot their limit on dove early Saturday morning; we had grilled dove marinated in Italian dressing, wrapped in bacon (yum!). I cooked ribs for the first time in a slow cooker...it turned out really well. The recipe is here: http://www.bettycrocker.com/Recipes/Recipe.aspx?recipeId=6324 I had a little more than 3 and 1/2 lbs of ribs (more like 5 lbs of ribs)...Instead of liquid smoke, I used an entire bottle of Dale's (http://www.dalesseasoning.com/); And I used an entire can of coke, plus about 3 cups of water (to make sure everything was covered for cooking). I must say, these ribs turned out really well. They cooked for about 7 hours (not the full 9 as the recipe calls for), and were falling off the bone. We did not even grill them or add any BBQ sauce.

The HOGS game opener was Saturday night...against Troy (I think they are from Alabama somewhere) and we won (46-26).

Sunday we traveled to Russellville and visited with Brent and Michelle and baby Garrett. He sure is a cutie! And a good sleeper too!

And finally on Monday, we went to another family get together complete with homemade lasagna! It was delicious all-around.

I think I need another holiday to recupe from this one!

Do you have a 'frenemy'?

I thought this was an interesting story. You can see the full version here:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/personal/08/24/frenemies/index.html


"Frenemy"..."The term has most often been used to describe females who tangle with their female friends."

Every friendship -- no matter how solid or tentative -- has mixed feelings of support and antagonism. Apter says that "among female friends there is also something else: a wish to offer support and see a friend thrive, on the one hand, and a fear of being left behind or out-shone, on the other." In essence, the "hate" part of a love-hate relationship isn't really hate -- it's envy or insecurity.

How to salvage a love-hate relationship:

1. Don't make things worse. If your friend's nastiness only surfaces at certain times (for example, when she is stressed), try to avoid her at those times; you don't always have to make yourself available. When she antagonizes you, consider defending yourself, but tactfully so as to avoid adding fuel to the fire.

2. Keep a support system. "Make sure you have, or that you cultivate, other friends who are consistently positive and loving so you can remind yourself that a friendship doesn't have to be a love-hate relationship," advises Yager.

3. Focus on the good. "If you really want to keep the love-hate friendship going, make sure you remind yourself of the traits about your friend that are loving and why you want to keep the friendship going, dwelling on the positive rather than the negative," says Yager.

4. It's your friend's problem. Even when confronting your friend, don't follow in her negative footsteps. Don't consider this situation to be your fault or let it lower your self esteem.

5. Don't let her get to you. Above all, don't let your friend drag you down. Instead, "maintain the positive, loving personality that you have despite her temporary or longstanding love-hate behavior," says Yager.

Update...Baby Garrett pictures

Pictures of the newborn!

He's very handsome! :)