Ice Storm '09

Wow! What a wild week of weather! Northwest Arkansas was hit with a devastating ice storm on Monday afternoon. To be honest, I was actually excited about it on Monday because I wanted a couple days off of work, but I had no idea how bad it would be. We lost power on Tuesday morning and got it back on Wednesday night. Luckily, our friends Aaron and Kari Beth kept us company. They live right around the corner from us and lost power too. We played Yahtzee, drove around, and ate dinner at Applebees (I know it's nasty, but it was the only place open). They even let us borrow about 10 candles because we didn't hardly have any to light our dark house. I thought I was going to go nuts without power for those couple days!!! I shouldn't even be complaining because there are a lot of other people who went all week without it and some are still without power!







These are some trees in our back yard after/during the ice storm. We are so lucky nothing hit the house. The rest of the town is a huge mess. My sweet husband was out all day today with his friend cutting up fallen trees (for a small price). HAHA! His work ethic is one of the many things I admire about him. I definitely wouldn't want to work all weekend after working all week, but he doesn't mind. It must be a man thing.

Brad & Dierks!

This post is waaaay late, but I felt that I really had to post it because it was such a great night. We went to Tulsa last weekend with some friends to see Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley. We had a blast!

Hob Lob & Surgery....odd combo.

Okay, so I know the title of this post is very odd, but it's what's going on in my life. First and foremost, my Dad is having surgery in the morning on his foot. When his tree stand broke, he fell about 15 feet and crushed his heel into several pieces. He also messed up his back, but luckily doesn't have to have surgery on that. I know he's just having surgery on his foot, but I still worry. I just know he's nervous, and who wouldn't be?!? This whole situation just made me think about what it will be like when my parents get older and have health problems. I try not to think about that stuff, but for some reason, I'm being such a Debbie Downer tonight! Please keep us in your prayers, and thanks to those who already are praying for us! I know God will take care of us and everything will be fine. On to more upbeat news. I know this isn't really news, but I'm so excited about these super cute candle sticks that I found at Hobby Lobby. I could literally walk around Hobby Lobby for hours. I tend to lose all sense of time when I'm in that place. I've been desperately searching for cute AND affordable home decor. I feel like our house is so empty since we've taken down Christmas decorations. Here they are! Feel free to give me any opinions! I don't have the best sense of decorating, so I'll take any feedback I can get!

NYE '08

Here are some late NYE pics. Better late than never! We went to the UARK Ballroom. This is the same place where we had our wedding reception, so it was really cool to go back there one year later. Boom Kinetic played on NYE and we all danced our little hearts out. It was a blast!

Christmas, Tree Stands, and an Anniversary.......

Well, it's been an eventful week, to say the least. We spent Christmas in St. Louis with Gary's family and had so much fun. We left on Tuesday around noon and got to St. Louis at 5:00. We made really good time, even though we had to drive through some ice and snow. I got caught up on a lot of reading on the way there, which was surprising because I've never been able to read in the car. I finished Eclipse and now am about a third way through Breaking Dawn. If I haven't mentioned this yet in my blog, I'm obsessed with the Twilight series. Edward Cullen is sooooo dreamy! Anywho, we went to Gary's parents' church on Christmas Eve and it was so neat. I always seem to get a lot out of the services there. Their pastor seems very down to earth. To top it all off, they had cookies, hot chocolate, and apple cider!
Okay, so now to the bad news. On the way home on Sunday I called my parents to make sure they were home so we could pick up Tina. She then informed me that my dad had just called her from the woods where he was hunting and his tree stand had broken. He had fallen about 15 feet. He's now in the hospital and his heel is crushed and he has a compressed fracture in his back. Please pray for a speedy recovery. We feel really lucky because it definitely could have been much worse, but he is in a lot of pain.
Today was our one year anniversary. I spent most of the day running errands and going back and forth to the hospital to check on my dad. Tonight, Gary took me to dinner at Noodles and it was nice to finally relax. I can't believe we've been married for a year. I feel so blessed to have a wonderful husband and a great family. God is good!

100 Days to Jamaica!!!

Can you believe it? It's actually less than 100 days now. I think it's like 95 or 96. Either way, it's getting closer and closer. I can't wait to be soaking up the sun and laying on the beach, especially considering that it's 18 degrees outside! YIKES! We decided to celebrate the over halfway mark to our trip with a little trip to the square and dinner. Here's a few pics from the night!
Here's Max and Aaron with Mr. Fulbright.....

We found some mistletoe!

The whole Jamaica clan!

These would have been great pictures, except for the stupid white car!


Okay, I'm going to get off here and try to stay warm.

The First Annual Merry Shindig!

We kicked off the Christmas season with our first ever Merry Shindig! It was so much fun! It got off to a rocky start though, because something was burning in the bottom of the oven and filled the entire house with smoke right as everyone was arriving!!!! Yeah, I almost had a heart attack..... Luckily, the smoke quickly cleared out and we had a great time. There was so much good food. I'm so thankful for my bestest friends, Kari Beth and Leslie, who helped me decorate and cook for the party. I really couldn't have done it without them! Here are some pics from this fun-filled evening!

All the girlies!


Here's Gary and Max in their fashionable Salvation Army attire......

Our party favors!!! I painted the polka dots, Kari wrote on them, and Leslie tied the super cute bows! Great teamwork!

Supposedly, it's going to sleet/snow tonight and I'm praying that school gets canceled tomorrow, but it's not looking too promising. I keep looking out the window, and NOTHING is falling! It's so frustrating!!! Local weather stations stink! :( I guess I'll just continue to sit here by the fire with Tina and keep up the wishful thinking.