Colorado Wedding

Yay!!! We felt much better!! Here we are at the reception. Thanks Trish for the picture!

Not exactly what you'd call "Vacation"

This past weekend, we headed out to Colorado for Steve to be in a wedding. His middle school friend Steve Willson (he was in our wedding) got married. The wedding ceremony was in a very old church which created a beautiful setting; while the reception was a full sit-down, open bar, dancing reception. We had a great time at the wedding; however, the days leading up to their celebration were not so fun. The story of our travel starts back to Thursday. . .

Thursday morning at 2 am, I woke up feeling horrid. I went to the bathroom where I soon began throwing up. I had awoken to the wonderful flu bug (no I'm not pregnant as all my friends ask whenever I don't feel well). I let Steve sleep as I laid on the couch. I would sleep into my runnings to the bathroom, as I through up for over 6 hours. Finally, by 8, I woke Steve up and told him what had been going on. He ran to Walmart to try to find me some medicine to settle my stomach. Instead of being able to lay around and rest the the whole day, I had to get better quick because we had to leave the house at 10:45 to get to the airport to make it to Colorado!

Even though I wasn't throwing up anymore, I was exhausted, my stomach felt tight, and I just felt awful. I kept debating with myself whether or not I could even make the car ride to the airport, to make the airplane to get to Colorado. At 10:20 I made my decision to go, I took a shower and quickly got ready. I wasn't gonna miss out on Steve W's wedding!

2 hours in a car, 2 hours in the airport, 3 hours in the plane, & another 1 hour car ride later, I made it to Steve's parents house. I was okay in a laying position or walking. Unfortunately, I couldn't do either on the plane and was losing it. But all that matters is that I made it to his parents' house without getting sick again! For the next 24 hours, I felt better but had a knot in my stomach. I took it easy laying around.

Friday morning, Steve woke up around 3 am throwing up. He only threw up a couple times and was wiped out the rest of the day. We were supposed to head up to Colorado Springs around 2 to get to the rehearsal & dinner. Even though Steve wasn't throwing up by then, he was in no shape to head up (however, keep in mind he made me ride in a car & a plane when I was feeling this way). So, he took a four hour nap instead of going to the rehearsal (the groom okayed all of this!).

Saturday morning we woke up and felt able to go to the wedding. Steve had to be with the rest of the wedding party by noon in order to start taking pictures. While he was off with them, I went shopping for a wedding gift, and then headed to a book store to read for awhile. I met Steve back at the church around 2. Steve sat down in between all the pictures. The wedding was at 4 and lasted about an hour. Luckily, there was a lot of standing & sitting (Episcopalian wedding) and they let the wedding party sit a lot. I was so concerned that Steve was going to have to stand the whole time (he would have never made it, he had only ate a grapefruit & an egg in 24 hours), but God took care of him!

We hated to have gotten sick at Steve's parents house, but it was a hidden blessing. Without the flu, we would only have seen Steve's parents Thursday night & again at the wedding. Instead, we got to see them each day and spend lots of time with them. Plus, they took excellent care of us when I would have had to do it all myself back in Tennessee. God does work in mysterious ways!

Busy Bees

I know it has been way too long since my last post. We have been crazy busy -- by we, I guess I mean me since I'm the one who blogs. If only Steverino enjoyed writing as much as me... oh well, you're stuck with me.

Thanksgiving has quickly come and gone. We spent the time in Indiana visiting my family. On Thursday, I woke up early to watch the Macy's parade with my dad. It's an unspoken tradition the two of us had, so it was nice to get to spend the first thanksgiving at home in 3 years! After watching the parade, we headed to my aunt's house for some yummy food.

We didn't have "our" family Thanksgiving until Saturday. It was a tradition my Grandma started before she passed away. She always chose to have family holiday gatherings on a day around the the time of the holiday, but not on the day (her thinking was that no one would have an excuse not to show up!). It was a little hard to enjoy Thanksgiving without her this year. She used to go all out with her Thanksgiving meal by making 3 different kinds of meat (Turkey, Ham, and cubed steak), lots of side dishes, and amazing amounts of desserts. She made a famous sugar cream pie that we are trying to duplicate without any luck. We found her recipe, but like any good cook, she never followed it.

Upon returning to Tennessee, I had to jump into a full week of subbing. I subbed every day, except Tuesday -- I was supposed to sub, but wasn't needed. Since I didn't sub on Tuesday, I babysit one cute little girl (Hadleigh). Monday I subbed for the same Middle School choir class from a few weeks ago; while Wednesday-Friday I subbed for a 2nd grade class. I was not prepared for 18 7 year olds all wanting my attention at the same time. I came home each day after subbing extremely exhausted! Poor Steve had a very tired and emotional wife for most of the week. He's such a good husband and encourager. I can't even begin to put into writings how wonderful he is!

On Saturday I drove up to Indiana all by myself. My parents are out of town for the week and I went to spend some time with my sister. I've kept pretty busy since I've been here visiting with my other sister and nieces as well as catching up with great friends. Steve rode with his boss and some other coworkers up to Cincinnati on Monday for leadership training. On Wednesday, I'll be headed to meet up with him in Cincinnati so that we can drive back to Tennessee together on Friday.

This is the part where I inform you that this is just the beginning of our holiday travels. In the next month, I think we'll only be at our house for a total of a week. Stay tuned for all the crazy travel stories to come (when I find time to write about them!).

More Gatlinburg Pictures

I had some glitches on the last post while trying to add pictures, so they get their own post:

Upon arriving at the Buckberry Lodge in Gatlinburg, we were greeted by this lovely hiking bear.

This picture's for Doug -- This Moose sat pointed they way to a breakfast of pastries, cereals, and yogurt. Steve and I opted to eat outside on the balcony overlooking the woods, instead of eating inside by the moose.

Here is one of the barns at the apple orchard. The orchard consisted of several different buildings -- creamery, candy, winery, Christmas shop, Grill, Restaurant, and the Cider Mill. I imagine that the place is hopping during late summer and early fall. We really liked the Restaurant. Steve and I split a meal which included apple fritters, side salad, soup, beans, mashed potatoes, fried apples, pork loin, cobbler, and apple spice cake. It was delicious!

Steve convinced me that we should do this 2 mile hike which somehow was uphill both ways! Halfway through the hike, we were greeted by this sign (to the right) pointing that the falls were to the right. In case you missed the sign, someone created a circle of leaves surrounding an arrow made of sticks pointing to the falls (left of picture).

Here is a picture of Beskin Falls. I was convinced several times along the hike that I would never make it; however, Steve was very encouraging and I made it to the end! I sat on a rock by the falls while Steve got as close as possible.

Along the path to the falls we had to cross a creak. Steve got a kick out of my dainty rock hopping. On the way back to the car (pictured), it was raining. If you don't know me very well - I HATE rain, especially on my neck! The rain did not help in the trek (uphill somehow) back to the car. That little red Honda never looked so good!

Smokey Mountains Road Trip

Before I have a bunch of holiday stories to blog about, I better get our Gatlinburg stories up. Sorry it took so long, Steve stole the camera for work and I came back from the trip really sick -- but we'll get to that.

A couple weeks ago, Steve got off work early on Friday and we headed to Knoxville, TN. We spent 5 hours in the car, with a dinner stop at Chipotle (Steve's favorite place, which we don't have Jackson). While headed to our first of many hotels, we saw a cop car going crazy (driving SUPER fast). I thought it was pulling us over, especially since Steve pulled over, but the cop was zooming ahead of us to a car on FIRE! We drove by it and were in shock at the scene. We never found out what happened or if anyone was in the car.

The next day, we woke up early and headed into the Smokey Mountain National Park. We first did a driving tour. If you've never done a driving tour before, here is some helpful advice to not tick off others in there cars -- If you drive slow to take in the view, be kind and use the pull offs to allow faster cars to get around. If you can guess, we got stuck behind a car driving extremely slow. Steve and I got a kick out of the pile up of cars behind us. The people in the car behind us were livid. I think it just added to the whole experience.

After our little driving tour, we did a "beginner" hike to a waterfall. It was a pretty steep hike, but the pathway had been paved, which made it quite nice. I was freaking out for most of the hike. If you don't know me, I am not very adventurous because I'm terrified of heights and falling for that matter. While headed back down from the water fall, Steve rolled his ankle in a pothole. All I saw was Steve falling to the ground and I thought he was falling off the path (it was a steep edge with trees). We thought he had hurt his ankle and wouldn't be able to hike the rest of the trip, but he pulled through. Whew!

After our hike, we headed to our new hotel, or should I saw Lodge. We stayed at this wonderful little log cabin style lodge. It had a full kitchenette, fire place, and huge bathroom. We headed to dinner to Fuddruckers in Pigeon Forge. This was my first Fuddruckers and one of many for Steve. When we got back from dinner, we went on a little walk to an "open-air pavillion" on the lodge grounds. By the time we went on this walk, it was pitch black, no lights, and on a declining hill in the woods. I was again convinced we were going to be attacked by a bear and killed and no one would know what ever happened to us. But luckily, that did not happen and we can add a midnight hike onto our list of adventures.

The next day was much like the first. We got up and headed back into the Smokey's for another drive through the mountains followed by a hike. This hike took us to one of the tallest peaks in the Smokey Mountains. As we drove up towards it, the temperature dropped significantly and there was lots of snow on the ground. The actual hike was a chilly one, and very steep. I had to stop a couple times to catch my breath. I claim "high altitude" and asthma was the culprit; however, Steve thinks it is my lack of adventure. It doesn't matter what it was, I made it to the top!

We were going to do another hike, but Steve informed me it was going to be like a 4 mile hike. I was having none of it, so we headed on to our new hotel -- The Inn at Christmas Place in Pigeon Forge.

The rest of our trip consisted of lounging at our Christmas themed hotel (complete with a Santa & Mrs. Claus every morning in the breakfast area). The breakfast at the Christmas place was quite nice. They served a hot breakfast (eggs, sausage, ham, biscuits, gravy, potatoes, & create your own omelette) as well as donuts, waffles, fruit, and yogurt. We also explored around Pigeon Forge & Gatlinburg. We even had some adventures at an apple orchard. We had quite the fun trip! (Although, the ride back was pretty rough for me, I had a major headache, hurt all over, and returned home to a fever of 100.5 & an Upper Respiratory Infection. I guess I paid for all that fun travel).

Not the way I wanted to end vacation. . .

A week ago at this time, Steve and I were just beginning our long weekend vacation in Gatlinburg, TN. I have many pictures and stories from the trip that I have been meaning to blog about; however, it has taken me so long to pull a blog post together because I have been under the weather.

I started feeling bad on our ride home from Gatlinburg on Tuesday. I had a bad headache and my body hurt all over. By the time we finally got home, I took my temperature and discovered I had a fever of 100.5. All day Wednesday I battled the same headache, achiness, high fever, and a cough. I was supposed to sub on Friday so I knew I had to get better by Thursday in order to sub. So Thursday came and I still felt awful. I contacted the teacher I was to sub for and cancelled on him. I felt awful doing that, but Steve kept reminding me I had no other choice.

My mom kept asking for updates on my sickness and kept telling me to get to a doctor. Since Steve and I have just moved, we hadn't found a doctor yet. I texted my friend whose family lives in Jackson (she just moved to the area too) and asked if she could recommend a doctor. I researched the names she sent me & found out they are from the Jackson Clinic. So, I called up the clinic and got an appointment for Thursday with Dr. Garey.

I think God was working behind the scenes on this one, because I couldn't have asked for a better doctor! He went above and beyond what he needed to and was very polite. Any other doctor would have just said that I had a cold and to go home; however, he ordered a flu swab to make sure that he covered the basis. I gagged when the nurse swabbed the back of my throat with a long q-tip and then had to wait 20 minutes for the results. The doctor came back in and said that I had an Upper Respiratory Infection which is viral. (For all you non-medical savvies out there, you can't treat viral infections with antibiotics; only bacterial infections respond to antibiotics).

He went ahead a prescribed me a cough medicine that was supposed to knock me out (however, it only makes me slightly dizzy after I take it, and then nothing). He also went ahead and prescribed a Z-pack (antibiotics) and said not to get them unless I'm showing more symptoms or no improvement in 48 hours (again, other doctors would've just said "see ya!" but he didn't want me to be stuck over the weekend being miserable). He asked if there was anything else he could do for me, asked about my background, and wished me a happy thanksgiving and to call if I or Steve ever need anything.

I hate being sick & tend to get sick alot. So this whole week, I've just been miserable, sleeping, and watching lots of tv. I just have to keep reminding myself that it took me getting a URI and feeling terrible to find such a great doctor here in Jackson!

Police Academy

Today marked my 4th day of subbing. I'm taking the next 2 days off of subbing (meaning I don't have any subs; if I get an offer, I'll turn it down) and will sub again on Friday. Today I was at a middle school subbing for the choir teacher. I got to meet with her this morning and she quickly walked me through the schedule, gave some names of students who'd help and who'd hinder, and she sent me on my way to the gym for bus duty.

Bus duty consisted of staring down the students and telling them to Hush Up. I felt like I was a detention officer. I understand the desire for order, but I felt bad for the students. You could see it how the school effects each kid. Those kids who work hard and obey look dejected, and those kids who break all the rules look forward to the days challenges. This got me thinking, which came first -- Do the staff treat the students like inmates so the students act like inmates? OR Do the students act like inmates so the staff has to treat them like that?

My job throughout the day was to walk the students to the bathroom, wait for everyone to be done & return to the classroom; take roll & grade each students' behavior; and push play on the VCR. That sounds easy; however, when you have to through in Behavior Cop, my day quickly was filled with yelling at the students. Several other teachers kept coming and checking on me and saying that the choir teacher had the roughest bunch and that I was doing a good job.

I had a couple of breaks between the different grade levels, and I reflected on the classes. I realized that all my college training meant nothing. I had been trained to become a teacher for rural schools, and here I am substituting for inner city schools. I even went through sub training for the schools, but it was the wrong training -- it should have been police training. After all, my job all day is to really threaten and punish students according to their behavior. Oh well, I just have to keep reminding myself I'm getting paid to chorale students. . .

I think that this was probably my best day, so far. I am guessing it has a lot to do with building the experience working with this kids even though i'm in different school and classes each day. I'm learning that I'm not there to be "the cool sub" or even to be nice. Every teacher keeps telling me I need to be more mean, I look too nice. I also had issues with the age thing again -- some staff questioned my age and thought I was a student teacher. So now I'm learning that I look young and am too nice. I should take those as complements, but as a substitute they are a hindrance.

Just when I thought it couldn't get worse. . .

So Friday marked my first day as a high school sub. I was going to be subbing for the Theater teacher, how hard can that be? The day was broken up into 4 classes called blocks. During block 1, I actually got to meet the teacher I was subbing for. He had to meet with some students, so he showed me around the school and explained how the basics worked. After he left, I had an hour to kill before my first class. Luckily, I brought a book (Harry Potter #3- I'm getting ready for the movie next week!) and read it until the next block began.

The students were very talkative and didn't want to do the assignment-- read the chapter for 40 minutes, then answer the questions 45 minutes. So instead, they just talked. I tried to encourage them to read by allowing them to do popcorn reading, which turned into a bigger fiasco. So I gave up on the reading and just told them the questions to do. They were supposed to work alone; however, I couldn't get them to stop talking so they ended up just helping each other out. At least they were getting the work done, right?

Another teacher came into the room and asked if I had let any boys go to the bathroom (which I had) and he asked who they were. He then took those boys out of the class and they returned shortly (I later found out that during the beginning of the class some boy had smoked marijuana in the bathroom and the teacher was trying to figure out who, luckily not the boys from my class). We made it about 3/4 of the way through class with me fighting them to keep the chatter down. This is when a REAL fight began. A boy in the front row got up and went to a boy sitting in the back row and just started wailing on him! The boy who was sitting then jumped up, pushed the attacker and they started wrestling & throwing punches! I quickly ran across to the next room which had another sub in it (but she had subbed here a few times) so she ran and got another teacher. When the other teacher (who was the same one who had come into my room earlier looking for the bathroom boys) came to my door, another student was pushing one of the fighters out of the room. The teacher grabbed the fighter, slammed him into the wall where he fell to the ground, and then picked him up by the sweatshirt and took him to the office. I returned into the classroom to try to take back control. The teacher then returned for the other kid (the attacker) involved in the fight.

I was pretty shaken up about the whole ordeal but tried to not let the other students see it. However, they thought it would be best to spend the rest of the class talking about the fight (and got a kick out of how I ran out to get help). They then turned the story on me how I was fleeing for my life (I forgot to mention that I was definitely a minority in this school). Whatever.

So Block 3 started with the teacher, who came to my rescue, asking me if I was okay. He then proceeded to tell me that breaking up fights was his favorite part of the job (good for him!). I ate lunch by myself in my classroom (which was an auditorium since I was taken over for the theater teacher). The students returned from lunch and were out of control. They wouldn't sit or stop talking, and they definitely weren't going to read. One girl decided to collect all the textbooks and stack them up in her chair. I told her to put them back and sit down or I would write an office referral. She then proceeded to backtalk and make the class laugh, so I wrote a referral. She then threw the textbooks at my desk. Excellent. The rest of the class thought this was hysterical and wouldn't do a thing I said (even though I've been told once you lay down the law with one student the rest will get the picture- NOPE). I don't even think half the students did the assignment.

Block 4 was by far the best part (besides the fight) of my day. It was a class of 15 upperclassmen who wanted to be in the class. They only had to read a short assignment because a pep session was planned for the end of the class. About 3 students actually read the assignment, another 4 looked through the pages, and the rest just talked. By that point, I didn't care, I was just watching the clock for when I got out of there! These students were the most respectful to me. They asked who I was, where I was from, and then asked how old I was. They couldn't get over how young I looked to be a sub. They kept saying I looked like a student. I'm guessing that this point right there was the reason for all the problems throughout the day. This will probably be one of the last times in my life I actually wish I look older. Oh well, I got paid $70 to watch a fight, yell at students, be made fun of, and get called names-- I got tough shoulders.

Oh the Life of a Sub

So I woke up this morning at 7:45 to a phone call. I was asked to sub for a 5th grade class & needed to be there around 8:15. I quickly got ready and arrived to the school for my first sub job. After signing in at the office, I got escorted to my room which required walking outside to an annex. The teacher I was subbing for was in her classroom as well as all the students. Even though school starts at 8:30, they were already there and working when I arrived at 8:20. The teacher quickly explained the day and left me alone with her class (she wasn't feeling well upon getting to school so that's why I subbed). She warned me that her class was talkative, but I was not prepared for what was in store.

Her class talked non-stop! I gave warnings, used her behavior chart (color-coded popsicle sticks according to the students' behavior). Once I started learning names, disciplining became a little easier. When lunch rolled around, I tried to stick to the teacher's procedures according to what the students told me; however, when you have 5 students shouting different procedures I just rolled with it. Apparently, the students are supposed to walk single file with no talking while in the hallways. I of course figured this out as all the other teachers popped their heads out of classrooms and yelled at my students (oh and the art class was in an open area situated in a high-traffic area, so the art teacher laid into my students quite often!).

After lunch, we were supposed to go through their vocab words & have students use them in sentences. What should have been 10 minutes was more like 25 minutes due to me continually having to refocus the class as well as yelling at students for talking. One student ended up receiving his red stick which gave him a trip to another teacher's room. With him out of the class, things went a little better. I felt like I just roamed around the room putting out fires. And to make matters worse, it was one student's birthday and his mom brought in donuts for the class which just sugared up the kids and added to the fiasco. Some 0f the students swapped classrooms for a Math class. I felt bad for those students coming into my room from next door. The kids that had been in my classroom earlier were way out of control and caused most of math class consisting of me shushing them all! Plus, during the math class, the students found the answers to the worksheet in the book. I had the teacher's book and was supposed to read through the steps and help the students figure out the problems, but with the answers the students just shouted answers without knowing how to do it. Ridiculous!

Here is when the day really went sour (for the students). Last class of the day required them walking through the annex, through gym class, outside, and into the cafeteria. I told them upon leaving the room that they were to prove themselves in the hall by not making a peep. Yeah right Mrs. Ackerman! All it took was the little trip down the hall and through the gym for the chaos to begin. One of the students apparently farted which caused all the other students to go crazy. Another teacher rounded the corner as I was coming up towards the scene of the crime. The other teacher went NUTSO on the kids! She started yelling at them for being rude & misbehaving and then wanted to know who farted. Myself as well as the whole class knew who had done it (he had been farting all through my class earlier which also happened to be birthday boy). Since he wouldn't fess up, the entire class got a detention instead of going to music class. They had to do something called "write-offs" which all I could figure out was something like writing "I will not, blah blah blah" 100 times or so.

I thought my day was almost over when I went back to pick the kids up. We returned to the classroom for the dismissal. Instead of all the students leaving at once, they had to stay in the classroom and one bus at a time would be called out. The whole process took 45 minutes. Close to the end, one of my students informed me that the teacher made them sit in their desks quietly until their bus was called. Thinking that they would leave quickly, I made them put all their seats on the desks (as told my janitor) and let them talk and roam around. This just made a chaotic ending to a chaotic day. I even had teachers come into my room to yell at the kids. The secretary kept telling me that they were really a good class. So either they're a good class and I'm an awful sub, or they're an awful class and I was an unlucky sub. I guess I'll figure it out when I sub again for that teacher on Monday!

Oh, and once I got home at 4:15, I got a call from another school asking if I would sub tomorrow. SUUuuuuure. Why not? So tomorrow, I have to be at a high school at 7am in order to sub for the theater teacher. Then, I get to bee-line it home to hang out with a cute baby all evening (and no I'm not talking about Steve, even though I think he is cute and I get to hang out with him too all evening, I'm talking about little Hadleigh).

Trip Complete!

My trip has gone as quickly as it came. The weather was way hotter than it usually is for October. So instead of wearing the jeans I had planned on wearing, I ended up wearing shorts and tees every day (good thing I threw in a couple pairs of shorts last minute!). The crowds were lower than I'm used to and had the weather been cooler, I probably would have to declare it the best time to go to Disney.

While we were there, we got to go to a Halloween party in the Magic Kingdom. We bought special tickets to the event that let us trick-or-treat around the Kingdom and collect candy. My family dressed up for the event. The three little girls were princesses (Cinderella, Ariel-in-the-wedding-dress, and Belle), Sara was Figaro, Amber was Snow White, Chris was Prince Charming, Dad was Sorceror Mickey, Mom was the Fairy Godmother, and I was Tinkerbell. We had a great time, and had several people stop us and talk to us about the costumes and even took pictures of us. There are pictures of our costumes, but I don't have them yet, so I will post them when I can!

Here is a picture of my costume. If you look closely, my hair is in fact yellow. I had a colored hair spray that I used. It turned my hair into a yellow brick! I was afraid of how it would do when I washed it, but it came right out without a problem. You can't tell by the picture, but my wings were quite large. I kept bumping in to people and things with them. Disney cast members were joking around with me about developing "Wing Awareness". When we rode on rides, I'd take them off, but other than that, they surprisingly stayed on!

I have a bazillion other stories from the trip, but can't think of any to share. All in all, I had a good time with my family. Sure there were times of drama, but I expected that going into the trip. I laughed a lot and made some great Disney memories to spur on my Disney craze.

My travel back to Tennessee was a new experience for me. Originally, I was supposed to fly from Orlando to Atlanta around 3:30, and then fly from Atlanta to Memphis at 9. My family had an earlier flight to Atlanta, so I did standby and got on the earlier flight. Steve looked up all the flights from ATlanta to Memphis for me, and I discovered an earlier flight (6:20). So when I got to Atlanta I went to talk to an Airtran representative. They sent me to a gate that was loading a flight to St. Louis. So I stood off to the side while the agents were working with all the other passengers for that flight. After they got that flight taken care of, I talked with an agent about my situation (I also forgot- I was never given my boarding pass for my connecting flight). So he said that he could get me onto the earlier flight and that he had bumped me to business (1st) class for being so polite and patient! Thanks mom & dad for teaching me good manners :).

Disney Preparations

This week has been consumed with me getting ready for Disney! Those preparations include: "storing up" television by watching a lot of it now, resting- because there'll be none of that at Disney!, shopping, cleaning, cooking meals for Steve while I'm gone and spending time with him. I've also been keeping myself busy with little Hadleigh. I watched her a few days earlier in the week.

My flight is Saturday morning at 7:30 from Memphis. So, tomorrow night, Steve and I are driving to Memphis and staying the night at his friend's apartment. So I have to be packed and ready to go for my adventure by tomorrow evening and I haven't even begun to pack yet :). Steve keeps telling me that I have turned into my mother (who usually stays up the night before a vacation in order to pack). I just keep reminding him that I don't have a whole lot going on during the day!

People keep asking me what I'm most excited about. Well, that's a really hard question to answer! I'm excited to see Disney through the eyes of my young nieces, spend precious time with my family (brother won't be there, but he doesn't really matter--- J/K Joe, you will be missed), and make new Disney memories. I think I tallied up all my trips and this is #15 for me. I know it sounds ridiculous to go back to the same place so many times, but I guess it's the memories I have made and will make that keep drawing me back. This week I did some research on Hidden Mickeys (Mickey mouse designs/paint/pictures that are hidden throughout the parks in attractions). I have found some Mickeys on previous trips and wanted to see if I could find new ones while I'm there, so I've made myself a little list and excited to see how many I can find!

Odds & Ends

I have had a bunch of little things happen this week that don't really go together, so bare with me on this post. I'm probably gonna jump from topic to topic (which is how my brain works, so this is a little inside to my thinking). Good luck!

Okay, so earlier this week, I had an idiot moment. I was making a microwave dessert during a commercial. So as soon as the microwave dinged, I quickly reached in to grab the dessert. Well, I hit the edge of the bowl and it flipped back on my hand. The hot fudge on the top landed on my thumb and burned it. I feel like an idiot when people ask what happened to my thumb and I explain that I burned it on a microwaveable dessert. Ridiculous! And then a few days later, I burned my arm on the side of a pan while making Steve a quesadilla. These are teeny-tiny burns that I keep complaining about and it takes me back to a year ago when Steve burned a good portion of his leg. He rarely complained through all the recovery and here I am complaining about a little spot on my thumb. Yet again, I will admit, I am a wimp!

In my latest post, I wrote about my babysitting job. I have officially watched little Hadleigh two times this week. I thought I would include a picture of us hanging out. If you look closely, it looks like Hadleigh was caught in a blink; however, she is actually sleeping! She sleeps with her eyes open and it freaks me out! The first time she napped, I kept thinking, "She's never gonna get to sleep, but at least she's laying still." Well, apparently she was asleep because all the other naps she's taking has me bewildered with her eyes open. Crazy Kid! She's quite entertaining when she's not sleeping. She rolls around on the floor, loves to take all the DVD's off the bottom shelf, gets into Steve's Xbox controllers, and attacks her animals with slobbery kisses. She gets really attached to me and becomes clingy at times. She doesn't like to be in a different room than I am, so I have to tote her around a lot (that's okay, I enjoy it!).

Also this week, I've added a new aspect to my "trying to get in shape" goals. I now count my calories which is really depressing! I have a goal to eat only 1600 calories a day, and when dinner consumes half of those calories, it doesn't leave much food to spread throughout the day. I've only been doing it for a few days, and I am already adjusting to eating less food. However, yesterday was quite the challenge. My good friend Megan from Indiana was going to be in Tennessee for a day (she came for a concert the night before in Nashville and said she'd come to Jackson the next day to hang out). So in my silly head, I thought she'd be in around 4ish, meaning we'd go to dinner and hangout some after. However, her and her boyfriend didn't show up until 8 o'clock! I had to go all that time without eating because I was saving up the rest of the days calories to go eat out :(. Oh well, I survived and that loaded pork baked potato had never tasted so good! Plus I got to spend a few hours with Megan and Joel. They left our house around 10:30 to drive back to Indiana. Boy did that make Steve and I feel like old fogies! Ha ha. We were headed to bed and they were just starting their adventure back home. Crazy Kids!

Another Job

So, I am officially a Substitute; however, I have not gotten my first call yet. I've only been on the list 2 days, so I don't expect any calls for a couple weeks. I'm going to go around to some of the schools so they can put my face to my name on the list and hopefully get some calls!

Over the weekend, I got a call from the daughter who used to live in the house we rent from. She has a 7 month old baby girl and needed a sitter for Monday. Her grandma was having surgery and she didn't want to take Hadleigh (the baby) along with her. She also asked if I'd be interesting in watching her a couple nights a week while she works. We haven't ironed out a schedule yet.

So yesterday was my first time watching the baby. We had quite the time. She got dropped off at my house around 7:45. she had been up since 6 so our morning started off with a nap. I laid next to her and read while she dozed off. I dozed off a little too :). I kept checking on her and had a hard time telling if she was awake or asleep because she slept with her eyes open! It was so bizarre! At first I thought something was wrong, but I kept my eye on her, and she snored away. After the nap we played some with her toys, fed her another bottle, then lunch, then a nap, then another bottle, played some more, and another nap! Ha ha, man I like her schedule -- play, eat, sleep, play, eat, sleep. In the middle of our day, my friend stopped by to meet Hadleigh and hang out for a little bit. Poor Hadleigh did not enjoy the visit. She got really fussy and kept crying while she looked at my friend. From then on, she got really clingy to me and wouldn't let me put her down. At least she didn't scream with me!

SHHHhhhhhh! It's a SECRET!!!

So, this is something I've had to be careful who to tell for like the past 3 months. I'm going to Disney World in less than 2 weeks!! The surprise is that my sister is taking her 3 daughters and they have NO IDEA that we're going!! My parents, 2 sisters, brother-in-law, 3 nieces, and I are going (sorry Steve, someone has to make the bucks for us! Okay really, he had the option to go and decided he didn't want to waste vacation days on Disney- ridiculous!)

My three nieces think that they are flying in a plane around Indy for their dad's birthday (well, the older two think that, the youngest is 15 months and has no idea what's about to hit her!). However, they will actually be flying to Florida (where I will be meeting them) and then we're headed to Disney! My oldest niece is 7 yrs old, and she has been told that she can't go back to Disney until she's 9. Sad to say, this will mark her 3rd trip! It is officially, the Disney Zealot gene is, in fact, hereditary! We leave Oct 23 and will return to reality on Nov 1. Since we will be in Disney over Halloween, we will be attending Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and are all dressing up. There of course will be a bazillion blog posts and pictures showing all the costumes and fan we will be having while at Disney. Here is a preview of my costume:

I am going as Tinkerbell. I made my costume by following a pattern (well I made the corset & the skirt, the undershirt & leggings are store bought). I also made the shoes myself. I bought simple white flats and painted them sparkly green. I then added white pom balls on the toes. I will post a picture of me in costume (I also have wings, but my mom has them) at Disney, so you will have to wait in anticipation for the whole ensemble!

Have I mentioned how crazy my family is? Especially how crazy they get about Disney?? My mom has come up with a bunch of t-shirt designs, and we have been making t-shirts to wear in Disney (Yes, we will all match on certain days!). My mom's been pretty busy with life and trying to get ready for Disney, so she sent me shirts to work on. Here was what the front look like:

I had to make 9 of these shirts and I'm only half done with them! I got all the fronts done, and have to complete the backs. I made a stencil for the back (it's just gonna have a phrase written on it) so the backs should go pretty quick.

If you can't tell, the people on the front of the shirt are all of us going to Disney. In order from left to right-- Sara, Dad, Mom, Emily, Gabbie, Allie, Amber, Chris, and Me. Ha ha. They were really fun to paint. My dad and Amber are by far my favorite characters to paint!

P&G Family Fun Day

This past Saturday, Steve and I went to Family Fun Day sponsored by P&G Pringles. It was located at the Jackson Family Fun Center. When we arrived, we were greeted by a Police Car that only allowed P&G employees to enter the parking lot.

Once we got out of the car and walked up to the door, we had to sign in and received our all day wrist bands, coins for the arcade, and a free chair (ha ha, I haven't opened it up yet, so maybe it has the Pringles logo? It's one of those outdoor chairs that folds up and is conveniently stored in a bag).
Steve put the chair back in the car and we headed into the center where we started our day with bowling. Steve saw a few people here and there that he worked with, but in the beginning it was just he and I sharing a lane. We had to keep reminding ourselves that our day was free because the place was really lax in a lot of areas. For instance, our bowling lane was ridiculous! There was constantly pins being knocked over upon being set up, and oftentimes my ball would get stuck with the pins and wouldn't return for awhile. While into our second game, one of Steve's buddies came up and invited us to come down and bowl with them. So we finished up our game and joined some fellow P&Gers-- Josh and Aaron, who brought his girlfriend Sam. We had a blast with them the rest of the day!

After bowling, we went to the arcade area where Josh was challenging Aaron and Steve to prove their "Mach0-ness" with a punch-meter. Josh won with Aaron and Steve behind, but close in each others' numbers). After the macho match, we headed to laser tag. I opted not to play (I wore the wrong shoes, and it's not my gig) so I watched everyone's stuff while they duked it out. After laser tag, we ate some grub and then headed to the GoKarts. By far, my favorite part of the day! I was trying to convince Steve to double with me, but I'm glad he held firm in doing singles. I ended up being close to Josh, Aaron, and Sam while racing. Josh and Aaron were being ridiculous in not letting Sam or I pass. Plus, Josh got right in front of me and slammed his brake, which forced me to turn sharply. Luckily, I didn't spin out, but learned to stay away from Josh! Steve was behind all of us do to car issues. His car didn't start in the beginning and had to be restarted so he got to see us duking it out from a couple curves behind. He didn't miss out on any of the action, though. He had a couple of co-workers challenging him (they were technicians in their 50s smack-talking him before hand!).

We walked around a little more, played some more arcade games, and then picked up free product. (That's right, we now have 3 cases of unopened Pringles and about 20 boxes of Pringles Stix!). We had a really great day, and I got to meet some of the people Steve works with. It's nice to put faces to names!

Busy Week!

Over the weekend, we had the honor to host friends of our's from Purdue for an evening! Mitch surprised his wife Alice by taking her to a TN football game and staying a night at our house on their way home. We had a delightful time with them and it went by all too fast! We took them to our favorite BBQ joint and to our local tourist trap -- Casey Jones Village. We walked around the old country store and played with various chotsky.

The weather as finally cooled off some. In fact, we've turned off our air, and I just keep the windows open (plus we have a ceiling fan in each room, but I don't use them much). So on Monday, I pulled out my fall clothes. It was like Christmas came early! I always forget what clothes I have, so when it's time to pull out a new season's clothes its like I just went shopping.

Yesterday, I got a callback for substituting. I had to go into the central office, finish paper work, go take a drug test, and go get a background check/finger printing. After driving all over in order to complete my new job needs, I decided to celebrate with a trip to Target. Where is Sarah Cardinal when you need her? I had to browse the clearance racks alone. But I came out with a cheap new bathing suit for next year, and a few new shirts. New shoes at Walmart complete my needs for new clothes to teach in (okay, more like wants than needs).

Now I am awaiting a phone call stating that all the paperwork and testing went through and I will be on the official Jackson-Madison County School Substitute List. . . .

While Boys Play, Girls Go Away. . .

Before we left for St. Louis, Steve had ordered himself a new Xbox Gaming system (he figured, why waste a brand new tv on piddly little games...). So it arrived a couple days after we got back. He taught me how to play the new game (Halo Reach) that came with the system, but I am not nearly as good as he is (he has a few years experience with the game on me). So, he asked if his friend (who just moved to Memphis) could stay the weekend and play games. My response, "Sure he can come, as long as I can go visit my parents :)". So, while Steve gamed with his friend all weekend, I spent time with my family in Indiana.

I drove all day Friday and arrived into town in early evening. I got to meet up with good friends for dinner before heading to my parents' house. My mom was the only one who knew I was coming. When I got home, my sister was the first to be surprised that I was home. Shortly after I surprised her, my brother and sister-in-law were surprised to see me answer the door. They came over to show my mom an ultrasound of their baby (they just announced they're expecting in April!). My dad was supposed to arrive home early in the evening from a business trip to France; however, due to unforeseen circumstances, he wasn't going to make it into Indy until midnight. The original plan was for him to rent a car and drive home; however, he was too tired so mom and I went to pick him up. He only knew mom was coming, so I got to surprise him at the airport :).

The next day, I went with my mom to Glendale Days (a little airport in town had a fundraising event-- my dad is a non-commercial pilot and he was in charge of helping planes take off and land via radio). My sister brought her little girls there to play in the bounce houses and to watch airplanes. They were all surprised when I showed up holding their lunch instead of mom :).

After Saturday, my trip became a blur. I got to visit with some friends (some I got to introduce to the glory of Glendale, while I met up with others for ice cream). The rest of my time was packed with soaking up niece time, family time, and helping out my mom with her latest project (to be blogged about at another time). I got to be "the bestest aunt ever" for letting Gabs and Als spend the night (Em had school :(, next time!). The time went by all too quick. I had to leave on Wednesday and nearly cried most of the time. Poor Steve, he expected a jovial wife to return, and instead got a tired emotional wife who wanted more time with her family. You can never have too much of a good thing!

St. Louis

A couple weeks ago, Steve had to go to a town close to St. Louis for some business. His friend from work was in charge of the trip so we got to ride along with him and his wife (Jake & Jennifer -- whom we've been hanging out with). We left on Sunday and drove to St. Claire, MO. There were only 2 options of motels in St. Claire, and we chose to stay at "Budget Lodging". We knew going into the trip that it would be an experience... and boy was it!

Our room reminded me of a room you would stay in while visiting your Great Aunt Millie (I don't have a Great Aunt Millie... but you get the idea. . . ). The furniture had probably been around for 50+ years, the bed frame was broken, and the room was cramped. The blanket on the bed was "sandwiched" between two sheets (one can only assume that the reason for the sandwiching is that they don't wash the blanket... ewww) and the bath tub hadn't been cleaned in who knows how long (plus the bathtub had jets... why on earth would a hotel with the name "Budget Lodging" have jets in their tubs to begin with?). Oh well, I can do anything once (and no I'm not talking about using the tub, I just mean staying at the motel!). On the positive side, they did have a nice complementary breakfast and allowed us to have a late check out so that Jennifer and I could hang around until the boys were doing checking out some salt machinery. They ended up getting done around noon, so we packed into the car and headed off to St. Louis.

There was some traveling drama that occured. Once Jake checked in with his boss upon leaving the plant they were visiting, the boss decided Jake and Steve needed to come back; however, they had already been told Tuesday was their travel day back and Steve had made arrangements to stay at a nice Hotel in St. Louis. So we continued on to St. Louis despite the boss's pleas (the boys just ended up doing some work from the hotel and we left early on Tuesday morning so that they could pop into work in the afternoon -- all was well).

If you ever need to stay the night in ST. Louis, go to the Moon Rise Hotel (pictures to the left were taken from inside our room!). Steve got an amazing deal on the rooms from Hotwire. We got to stay in this 5 star hotel for only $75 (which was the same price for our experience at the 2 star Budget Lodging the previous night). The hotel was very modern and space themed which made the stay very memorable! The hotel is also conveniently located along a touristy street so we were able to walk around, eat at an affordable unique root beer brewery, and take in the sites of downtown St. Louis. All in all, this was an enjoyable ending to our travels.

While on our trip, Steve and I got to know each other a whole lot more! This was our first experience traveling with others (besides family). Steve got exposed to different traveling styles (Steve likes to get from point A to point B quickly, whereas the other couple enjoyed taking the trip at a leisurely pace). Another thing we learned on the trip is that we prefer to have it planned out and know what to expect, whereas the other couple enjoyed being spontaneous. Even with the differences in traveling styles, we had a really great time hanging out with our friends!

You can't put a leash on this!

Ha ha, so the title of this blog is a joke between Steve and I. We joke that his working and my staying at home allowed him to "control" my comings and goings. But now that I have my very own car in Jackson, he can't stop me! Okay okay, I guess he could stop me by cutting me off the credit card, but of course I don't really spend that much (and when I do, it's groceries for him).

Well, now that I'm mobile and able to get out whenever I want, I have been able to get some things done in town. For instance, on Thursday I went to the license branch and got my TN driver's license. Steve hasn't done his yet, but I can't control him either! When I went to get my license, I had to prove residency. You had to bring 2 forms stating your name and address on it (like a bill or bank statement). Luckily, I had a bill that I could use and then thought the lease for our house would work. When I got there, I had some issues with the lease. Apparently the lease is only in Steve's name (even though I signed it at the bottom). The license branch could use the lease as long as I proved I was married to Steve. Good thing I brought my marriage license with me! So what could have been a disaster turned out very easy (especially since I didn't have to take a test).

On Friday, I went to the Jackson-Madison County School central office and applied to be a substitute teacher. I have to wait for them to contact me with information on the next substitute workshop. So, it's still just a waiting game. Now, Steve and I are just wasting away our Saturday in preparation for our trip to St. Louis tomorrow. Steve has to do some business in St. Louis on Monday, so we're headed their tomorrow with another couple (our friends we've been hanging out with). So we'll spend Sunday night in St. Claire (outside of St. Louis) because that's where the place Steve and Jake have business. Once they're done running their tests and looking at equipment, we'll all drive to St. Louis and stay in the city on Monday night and return to Jackson on Tuesday.

Where'd the time go?

I can't believe it is already Saturday again, let alone the fact that we're into the 2nd week in September! Ridiculous! I haven't been able to blog much this week because we have been going non-stop! Steve's friend stayed with us a few days last week (and surprisingly he did find an apartment in Memphis and got to move into it the next day!). The day his friend left, Steve's parents arrived. We had a delightful time with them filled with a nature park walk, tours of Jackson, and tv shopping.

That is correct, we bought a new tv! Steve kept telling me we wouldn't get one until Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving) so he could get a great deal. However, our little 19" tv was not going to do Doug's football games justice, so he convinced Steve to get a new tv during their visit. Thanks Doug!!!! I think his convincing also helped with the fact that Dough & Trish went in halvsies on the tv. I can't thank them enough (not just for the tv) but for everything they've done for Steve and I. They drove almost 20 hours to bring me a car, helped buy the tv, and continually pour love and encouragement on Steve and I. What a blessing they are to us!

They left Tuesday morning, bright and early. They were supposed to have a short flight from the Jackson airport (it's a regional airport that just offers a couple of flights to St. Louis and Nashville) to Nashville. However, they discovered that they're lay-over time was not enough to get them off the little plane, through security, and to their gate in Nashville. So instead, I rode with them to Nashville (I slept since we had to leave at 4:30 in the morning, thanks again Doug!), dropped them off, and then I drove back to Jackson (about 2 hours). Since they could drive nearly 20 hours to bring me the car, it was no problem to wake up early to take them to the airport.

Their time with us flew by all too fast. But luckily, the holidays are right around the corner and we'll be able to see them again soon!

Daily Struggles

I don't know if it's still me recovering from being sick or the boredom of having nothing to do, but I it's a struggle for me to get out of bed lately. I haven't been sleeping the best at night and finally fall into a good sleep in the morning -- just in time to get out of bed! I know if I don't make myself get up, I'll totally screw up my sleep schedule. Once I'm out of bed, it's a struggle to get motivated to do something. Again, I don't know if this is because i don't really have anything to do or still recovering. Maybe it's a mix of both, because once I get up and start doing stuff, I have to sit down for awhile before I can do something else. My issue is feeling light-headed as if I'm going to pass out (but as Steve points out -- I used to feel like this a lot and have never passed out).

This got me thinking -- when I was back in high school, I had mono. How I feel now (as well as the cough I had) remind me of that whole experience. After doing some research, I guess once you have mono, you never really get rid of it. It can flare up from time to time, so maybe that's what happened last week? I just think it's weird that it happened all of a sudden (especially since I had mono almost 7 years ago!).

Another struggle that I have is working out, but probably not for what you think. Most people just struggle with fitting it into their schedule or just getting motivated to exercise. I have recently been more serious about losing weight (more-so getting "fit"). I have lost a few pounds which has encouraged me, as well as motivated me, to keep it up. Here's the problem -- Before getting sick, I could work out for an hour a day (I aim for 5-6 days a week). However, now I am only able to do about 15 minutes and then I'm done. I just feel wiped out and weak. Very odd! I'm guessing that this is just due to sickness last week and that I'm probably pushing myself too hard. Oh well, maybe tomorrow I'll last for 20 minutes and build back up to the hour a day I was doing.

Now I'm side tracked in my blog-- instead of talking about more struggles I'm going to explain my "getting fit" strategy. I actually started back in January with a new eating practice. I would not eat past 8 pm (shout out to Alice for this inspiration!). I was really surprised how hard this was! I discovered that I really eat a lot at night (probably because at night I'm just lazy watching tv). By cutting out those late night snacks, I think I lost a few pounds. In the summer, I extended the allowance of food until 9 pm ( I stay up later now that I don't have early morning class or student teaching). In July, I added on daily (intentional!) exercise. With the daily exercise, I find it easier to make wiser snacking choices (like eating 1 cookie and yogurt as opposed to 5 cookies). So hopefully, I will bounce back from my ridiculous lack of energy and get back into full workouts. I find myself happier when I feel healthier (Steve is a fan of this plan !).

Oh and Steve has a weight plan too -- He has to eat MORE food. He is one to forget to eat as well as not eat a lot at each meal. So I'm trying to fatten him up a little bit by making more cookies and brownies (for him, not me :(, sad day). He has also found a new love for fruit snacks and eats several packs a day. All that food, along with his daily pringles, I'm hoping he'll gain a few pounds (let's face it... Steve's a bean pole!). But-- he's my bean pole, and I love him :).

Visitors

I still have a cough and haven't gotten all my energy back, but I am a lot better compared to how I felt last week! I don't think I've been sick like that in a long time. My only symptoms were that ridiculous cough and being extremely fatigued. I'm getting better in perfect time to ready our house for some very welcome visitors :).

Our first visitor arrives tomorrow. Steve has a friend from Purdue who just accepted a job in Memphis. He will be moving down here (about 45 minutes away from us) sometime this weekend, but before he moves into his new place, he has to find it! So he's coming to visit us for a few days this week so he can find his own place.

Our next visitors will arrive on Saturday. Steve's awesome parents are driving here from Colorado. They are driving all the way here so that I can borrow one of their cars (it belongs to Steve's brother who's away at college). What a blessing they are to me! Now I will be able to get out and about (not dependent on Steve's work schedule) as well as sign up to be a substitute!

Until all our visitors arrive, I will be doing chores (like dusting, vacuuming, laundry) and completing last minute house projects. Steve has been working on a little unexpected house project. I dropped my contact in the sink (oops) and he had to cut out the pipe in order to find it. He now has a new piece to replace on the pipe, and is working on putting the pipe back together. It should be fixed in the next day or so (fingers crossed).

Good thing I don't have a job. . .

. . . .because I'm sick! I woke up Sunday morning feeling pretty weak and had a deep dry cough. By the evening, I had a low-grade fever. All day Monday was spent on the couch. My only real symptom is this ridiculous cough. It feels like I have an elephant sitting on my chest (try coughing while feeling like an elephant is on your chest! It's hard work!). Luckily, this morning the elephant decided to move on so now I just have a hacking cough. I've been drinking plenty of fluids, getting tons of rest (I slept 13 hours last night!), and have an awesome husband who is taking care of me when he's not at work.

There's really never a great time to be sick; however, it's good that I'm sick now while I can afford it. Steve and I took Emergen-C cocktails this morning (ha ha, it's just this vitamin mix you put in water that helps boost your immune system). Hopefully, Steve won't get this (even though he's dying to play hooky from work!). Usually, I get sick and he stays immune. He likes to brag that his immune system is invincible. I'm not sold on that idea, but am glad he doesn't get sick easily!

This cough pretty much came out of nowhere! On Saturday, I went to the farmer's market in the morning with Katie (she went to the same church back at Purdue, but we never met, and she lives here now). I bought a watermelon (which turned out to be delicious) and peaches (which i made a cobbler with). Saturday afternoon was spent cleaning and planting a little herb garden tray while Steve planted strawberry plants for his Topsy Turvy. In the evening, we cooked out hot dogs and hamburgers. Apparently we bought bad hamburgers because they kept falling apart in the grill and caused big flames -- oops! Our friends (that we ate lunch with earlier in the week) came over and spent the evening with us. We ate, talked, laughed a lot, and taught them how to play bang. God has blessed us with Steve's job, a great house, and now wonderful friends! God is good :).

New Life, New Friends

Well, I've been getting a lot of questions again about the job search -- It's at a standstill. I have been in contact with a guy who is somehow affiliated to P&G and the school system in Jackson. I've sent him my resume, licenses, and such and am awaiting to hear from him. Most likely, I will end up becoming a substitute and working when needed. Steve's parents are coming out over labor day and bringing Steve's brother's car for me to use while Ian is away at college. Once I have the car, I will be more active in substitute sign-ups. (Also, Steve is still doing 2nd shift, so I don't want to sub all day when he's home, and come home to him at work -- another reason for the delay).

This week, I have been able to meet a girl that lives in Jackson but used to go to Kossuth (the church Steve and I went to at Purdue). Apparently, we went to the church with her, but were involved in different areas and never met at Purdue! She and I went out for coffee in downtown Jackson and had a great little chat. We are probably going to go out to eat sometime soon (sooo exciting!).

Also this week, Steve and I went to lunch again with a couple we've met through P&G. Steve works with Jake, so we met up for lunch with him and his wife Jennifer. We met them a few weeks ago for lunch, and this was our second outting. Now that the nervousness of meeting someone new is gone, we had another great time with them! It was easier to be myself, and Jennifer must have felt so too. She and I are a lot alike! At times, I felt like I was watching myself when I was watching her. Hopefully, they will be coming to our house tomorrow evening for a cookout/chill out.

In other weird news at the Ackerman's : I found a snake in our bushes! Today, I was trimming up the bushes and weeding and this little 8 in snake was staring up at me! He slithered away before I could get a picture and I didn't know where he went. About 5 minutes later, I found him hiding under one of the bushes. I didn't know if he was as afraid of me as I was of it, so I didn't weed under that bush!