Florida Fun

On Saturday, July 25th, Leslie and I set out to Florida to see Molly. With no navigation system on our dash and no printed off directions we hit the road. I posted earlier the atlas picture that we were following. Bill, Leslie's husband had given us super detailed directions from an Atlas. Who needs Rand McNally? We didn't we had Bill Hilliard and our directions got us there with ease. Using my iphone I was able to pinpoint our location with GPS and so it was our backup tool. We had a blast! Once we got there on Saturday we headed to the mall to see Molly. Molly is now managing the Gainesville Coach store so Leslie and I left with new Coach purchases. Les got new shades, I got a new handbag and we both walked away with some great new purfume! Thanks Molly and Barrett for being great hostesses.

Once in Lake City, a few miles from Gainesville, Leslie noticed she was missing a hubcap...this was absolutely devastating to Leslie as anyone that knows her can imagine. She was so worried people would think she was trashy for not having all four hubcaps. We probably lost it when we went off roading to dodge a car.

We surprised Molly at work. I think we were ready to be out of the car.

What a great sight to see after 10 hours in the car. Molly's house!

Besides the beach St. Augustine was probably my favorite place we went. I thought it had lots of charm. Please excuse us we were sweltering in the Florida heat, still sandy from the beach, and on a search for yard flags, and fudge.

Bells Will Be Ringing

Do you guys know that Christmas song? Well I happen to love it. But I realize that more quickly that silver Christmas bells, school bells will be ringing. I am excited and nervous just like the night before Christmas. I went to the school yesterday for the first time to work in my room. It is funny how when you leave school for the summer you just want to put stuff anywhere so you can be checked off and can leave. Well, yesterday I laughed a little to myself because I guess in May I didn't think about all the work I would need to do when I came back. I was able to set my desks up and started labeling items with the students' names. Once my room is ready I will try to put some pictures up to show how it is going. Today marks one week until school is back in session and so just know it won't be too long before bells will be ringing.

Talladega at a Distance

So we passed the track! I now want to go and see what it is all
about! Hopefully we can redneck it up one weekend and go watch a
race! Anyone want to go with us? Call me, text me, or facebook me and
we will plan it! :)

California Milk "Cow Sings At Audition" 2009 TV Commercial

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ_laP0aSUQ

This video cracks me up! Itshowed when we were getting ready one
morning and of course I had to sing it the rest of the day! Hope u
enjoy!

Sent from my iPhone

This Is Frank

And my mother in law, Ms Debi, just got tickeled when she saw this- I
just know it! She loves dogs and she would love Frank- which I
pronounce Fwank. Cutest dog ever!

Put Me in Coach

This is les rocking the coach glasses she slightly wants... We will
see if it comes to fruition. Is that spelled right?

Don't Worry we Know where to Go

Bill, Leslie's husband, wanted to make sure we were well navigated on
our trip to Florida ... So he highlighted, cross refrenced, numbered
pages and gave us mile markers! Who needs a garmin? We got Bill!

Coming to a Close

So my birthday week is coming to a close and here are some memories for the blog.

Birthday dinner with friends Tuesday night at Boondocks.

Birthday dinner with our family Wednesday night at the house.

Birthday brunch with Roxie Thursday at Harvey's.

Birthday dinner with my methodist friends at 208 Thursday night.

Thanks to all my friends and family. My birthday was a BLAST!

Party Pics

Does anyone remember party pics from college? Anyway these won't be picks taken from above while dancing or of sweat drenched folks pausing for a smile these are just the pics from my family party last night, I might even throw in some from when my highschool friends went out on Tuesday. If they don't make the cut this time look for a post tomorrow.

My favorite cousin, Jason, can't you just see how much we love each other.

The couple with the cake.

Ms. Debi & Mr. Jimmy

Aunt B & Uncle Wayne

note the cow painting in the background. i love this painting, but when dieting i find it a bit unnerving to be stared at by a cow while eating. hmmm

Pausing for a Minute

I want to pause for a minute and ask my loyal readers- the two of you- to go to my links on the side and read the McMillen blog. Abigail and I went to church together when I was little. We were in the same kindergarten class and managed to reunite in highschool during our time with Leadership Pontotoc. Her husband is having some major heart issues but reading her blog is a blessing. She is a role model even in blogging. Please add them to your prayer list.

The Downhill Slide

To 30 that is...yuck...only getting older and closer to dirty thirty. Today has been a great day. I woke up about 5:30 and cooked breakfast. By 7:15 Cullen had given me my first gift of the day and was out the door. Prepare to be impressed: he picked it out all by himself.

By 7:30 Meagan Henry was at the house baring gifts. She had to be at church by 8 so she stopped by to make a delivery. Two hours into my day and I've already gotten gifts...from two of my FAVORITE people....I'm a happy girl. Next, I was off to Wal-Mart, the Pontotoc Progress had a photo op at my house today for an upoming Habitat for Humanity Tea Party, so I had to get some last minute items.

On my way home from WalMart I was able to get my cake from my mom's house. She has been watching Ace of Cakes and The Cake Boss, and decided to try her hand using fondant. Hmm.mm.mmmm well, what was she going to make a sewing machine cake of course. She did and AWESOME job. I also posted her first fondant attempt from last week for my cousin Jason.

Cullen held down the fort in the kitchen while I was at handbells. When I got home his parents and my family were all at the house ready for dinner.

Pop's Petting Zoo

I have mentioned before that my dad has been sick. Part of his illness is that his stomach fills with fluid periodically and he has to go and be drained. It isn't a pleasant process, but it is just part of his illness. Pops decided that today, my birthday, would be the day that he would set his appointment. I realize that it most likely never crossed his mind of what today was, but needless to say I had a lot going on and had to call in backups. My sister, Tonya, was planning on coming to town to see him so I asked her to take him and I would pick him up.

I took him home and once there was surprised to find three raccoons on his patio. When I was little we had raccoons as pets, along with some other wild animals, but I had to get my camera and get the little guys' pictures.

Then while I was taking their pictures I was able to snap a few more.

The animals have changed since I was little. At one time we had deer, a pond full of catfish, a porcupine, goats, chickens, ducks, too many dogs to name, and lots of other stray animals. All that was left at the petting zoo today was Duke, Pop's Great Dane, some random chickens and roosters, and a cockateel.

Mourn the Loss

I think I lost this one. I can be for sure it had two green sprouts on it, but I am pretty sure she is a goner. Hmm...if I can't keep a plant alive I am gonna say it is pretty safe to say Cullen and I need to keep on with our five year plan, maybe extend it even. I feel sure a child is much more dependant than a plant...YIKES...Maybe next year I can keep my plants alive longer than 10 weeks.

To Do- To Done

So this morning I reported on a lot of things I needed to get finished this morning. I was SUPER PRODUCTIVE!

I loaded and unloaded the dishwasher about 5 times

I cleaned out the fridge.

I rearranged my McCarty. (yes this was needed)

Cloroxed the whites.

Cleaned out our storage shed.

Cleaned out upstairs closet.

and my accomplishment I am most proud of...I weeded the flower beds. Yes you would think this would be an easy task, but not for me...you see I'm not outdoorsy. I hate yard work...to the point that I don't do it. I don't like sitting outside, eating outside, or anything that requires me to sweat. It just isn't pretty y'all. Oh but today I did it! Why you ask...because it hadn't been done since we had it landscaped last summer. It really had gotten quite embarrasing.

This was before

These were my recruits. Yeah it has to be bad when your weeds have a HUGE or as Con Con would say HURGE root structure. Meagan and Logan made the second flower bed go by in half the time ok a third of the time.

This was after see the lack of weeds...for the most part :)

Where does the time go?

Can you believe it is the end of July? I can't! I told Cullen at the beginning of summer I had a list of to dos around the house I was gonna do as soon as school was out....and guess what? I haven't gotten any of them finished. I have set today as the day! Everybody say a prayer. It is seven and I am up dressed and ready to start checking somethings off. If I don't get it completed this week the sad truth is it might be the next major holiday before it gets accomplished. My birthday is Wednesday and that is the day I have come to set as my day to get into my classroom and work, because the start of school is just around the corner. Also, Leslie and I have a little trip planned so that will put me out of commission for a few days. Check back for an update of my progress.

Bunko Blogging

Today I have had a busy day. This morning I woke to Cullen making breakfast. Yes, that is right JCP cooks-he made eggs, biscuits, and bacon. Next we watched television and then Cullen headed to mow the yard, and I went up stairs to sew some items I had been working on. Cullen calls me from downstairs and I think something is wrong outside. No, he decided it was time for a golf lesson. Mind you our lot is .25 acres. So I practiced chipping?? I think. I don't know I was instructed to keep my head down, arms straight, don't bend my wrists, don't hit the ball so hard, and a whole bunch of other things, but Cullen is taking me to golf on a real course tomorrow... Can somebody say a PRAYER for me?
After my golf lesson and lunch with the hubby I headed to Tupelo with my mom and Cullen headed to the golf course with Cole. After a few purchases I headed to Oxford for bunko. I have managed to keep the same bunko group for the last couple of years. I love love love these girls. Today was a different kind of bunko- we didn't play and I was too late to get the cash payouts, but it was fun catching up.
At this time I get to give a shoutout to my friend Angela. It was at Angela's house that I was inducted into Bunko. I am the youngest girl in the group and I have loved every minute of getting to know these girls. Angela is a fellow blogger. Her blog is precious. Check it out in my side bar, The Robinsons. Her boys are super cute and she does and absolutely great job of capturing their lives with her blog. So as we chatted about our "friends" which are people we have never met we caught up on all the happenings in life that don't get blogged about. Sweet blog readers get excited today is the eve of my birthday week. It is not uncommon in my family to celebrate birthdays for a week. Tomorrow is the beginning of my birthday week so get ready. I will be celebrating my last days as a girl in my mid twenties, and a couple of my first days marching toward thirty. I apologize for the extremely long post with no pictures.

Jason getting Older

Well, today is a day that is very important. It is my favorite cousin's birthday. Jason turned 36 today. Here are some pics from his family party.

Getting Sm"art"er

So I will go ahead and say that the smarter title I got from my super creative friend Connie Buse.

Here are some pictures from the last two days at the Whole Schools Intiative.

Yesterday Leslie, Maggie, and I ran into Karen Johnson, a great teacher from Pontotoc who teaches in Tupelo.

Today they asked for volunteers to sing, nobody stood up. They said they would give away prizes...I was up and ready to grab a marker microphone...I also distributed them to friends and walked away with two art prints and a pack of multicultural crayons. YAY!

I took a weaving class today and I can not wait to do this with my students next year. It was pretty easy and can be used so many different ways. I titled my piece "An Ocean of Ideas"

Can you see how happy we were weaving our pieces. Maybe the smiles were from knowin we were going to eat at the Union or the URNION---as Leslie calls it.

As we went to leave for dinner I realized that yarn was everywhere. This is where I found the last piece of yarn...yep I look like I am stealing supplies...I wasn't just went a little wild with the weaving... :)

Cullen Hard at Work

You decide