This Dedication Goes Out To Two Fabulous Women...

they happen to also be my sisters...




I have every confidence that one day they will blow some guys' mind and those guys will realize they never knew love or a woman so amazing until he met her.

Procedures Week

Tomorrow I go in for a dental procedure in which they will extract a tooth and then immediately put in an implant. I've been given a prescription of antibiotics & Valium. And even knowing I'll be high as kite on Valium, does not bring me much comfort whatsoever. I hate dentist appointments and I have developed an intense loathing toward my old dentist who never informed me that the tooth to be removed should have been crowned in the first place. I would never be in this position had I known that. But then again, I should have gotten it crowned a year ago when I found out about it. My bad too. OH and the best part of all of this! The insurance doesn't pay for implants! Oh yes! Which MEANS, a lovely $1000 up front tomorrow and the rest needs to be paid over the next several months. Oh and did I mention we desperately need a new roof? I'd rather have a new roof than this dental appointment, but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. Which reminds me, I need to charge up my ipod cause it's going to be a long 2 1/2 hours tomorrow. arghhh...

ALSO - Friday we bring the boys into the vet for their fun, little neutering appointment. We were told once bad habits started to emerge, we would REALLY need to get that taken care of. When we started noticing the dogs mark their territory outside or get too aggressive, I would warn them, "Keep that up and you're going to get your nuts chopped off!" Good thing we don't have kids yet, we could leave some permanent damage with that one. So I scheduled the appointment and all of a sudden the dogs started behaving better....hmmmm...think they know? I have a feeling Seven (the black lab) does, he's been WAY too obedient not to have an idea. Oh and don't worry, I will be taking pictures of the collars that they both will be sporting to keep from licking themselves and each other. It should be awesome and hilarious - maybe a video would be even better!

But hey, isn't our new fall wreath pretty? (yes, trying to distract myself here!) It only cost me $10 plus a couple dollars worth of extra fillers.

This last weekend Jason and I went to the Nashville Farmer's Market and picked up some pumpkins, bales of hay and cornstalks to decorate for our Small Group Party tonight. The pumpkin carving will take place on the front porch to keep some of the mess out of the house and Jason hung some pretty white lights up as well to make it more festive. Jason's been cooking chili for the last three days and I made a big batch of molasses cookies last night. Plus they'll be cornbread, coffee punch and treats! I'll try to get some good pictures!

At the Farmer's Market, Jason became quite enamored with the swan and duck pumpkins he came across.
If you think of it, please say a little prayer for me tomorrow, I'm super nervous about it! Love ya all!

If Jason & I were otters...

I came across this video over at Busy Bee Lauren (who I think is completely adorable) and fell head over heels in love with these little otters.

Watch the WHOLE thing.

We Made It Out Alive!

We're back from camping this weekend and had a great relaxing time! It was a little too cold for my taste, but at least that cut down on the bugs. You know its cold when you no longer need your cooler for cold drinks. Nights were a little rough, with a queen size air mattress, the two of us and two 65 pound Labradors. It was so freezing and got down to 36 degrees on Sunday night. The labs would just be laying there shivering, and so were we, so we just each grabbed a dog and spooned until all our body heat kept us warm. Nice visual huh? I woke up more than once with a paw, a butt, a tail or a tongue in my face.

Jeep is still terrified of fire and kept his distance by perching himself on top of a picnic table one campsite over, and Seven kept us busy by staying obsessed with his Kong (a rubber chew toy) until we would throw it for him.

The food was wonderful, the quality time was wonderful and the campgrounds were wonderful. We stayed a beautiful KOA in Chattanooga that had gorgeous trees all around us, a huge meadow for the dogs to run around in and hot clean showers which was a big bonus! I got a lot of reading done and we just enjoyed each other's company for three whole days. It was total bliss.

When it was time to pack up and head out, the boys immediately knew we were leaving and jumped in the truck picking their spots to ride. Yeah I don't think so boys - get in the back!

On the way back home, we decided to make a quick trip into downtown Chattanooga and stopped at our favorite little coffee & pastry shop Rembrandt's. It was the perfect way to end a great weekend sitting at a little cafe table in the sun eating breakfast sandwiches and delicate pastries.

To end this post, I thought I would include a video of Jason and the boys playing out in the meadow before we left camp yesterday.

I had an amazing time and I'm so glad I got to spend a whole three and a half days with my man! I love you sweetie!

Crap.

If y'all don't hear from us on Tuesday, you'll know we froze to death in our tent.

At least there's little chance for rain and only on Saturday evening. We're packing LOTS of blankets.

Only Momma Can Wake Seven From His Slumber!

Last night Jason and I were laughing about how soundly our dogs sleep. That is unless they hear a certain trigger - like a noise outside, a faraway dog barking or the name of our cat, Banks.

It's pretty hilarious actually and if you didn't know there were dogs in the house and you heard snoring, you would think it was an old man (not pointing any fingers here).

As we're saying goodnight (yes to the dogs, get over it already), Jason is snuggled up next to Seven and saying his name to try and get a response out of him - and yet nothing. Not a flinch, eye flicker or grunt. We thought it was hilarious and decided to make a small movie out of it and it turned out pretty funny.

4 Days of Camping Bliss...

I am beyond excited for our upcoming camping trip. The best way to enjoy a vacation, is to be - in my opinion anyway - well prepared :-) I have a bit of a reputation for my packing lists and how thorough they can be. What can I say, I don't want to worry that I've forgotten something and being well prepared keeps me relaxed going into a vacation. To me there's nothing worse than driving all over a strange city and trying to locate a Walmart looking for the salt & pepper or dog food you forgot to pack. Ugh. (Can you tell we've been there?!)

It's just us and the boys and guaranteed to be a relaxing time with reading, horseshoes, playing with the boys in the dog park and lots of sleeping in. Jason and I haven't had a weekend away or a vacation for just the two of us since....hold on I'm checking the calendar....whoa, over a year actually. It was September of 2008 when we went to Indianapolis for a concert - yikes, that sucks. We've had plenty of trips to visit family, or family out visiting us, along with two Small Group camping trips, but not a single weekend away just us for over a year! Yeesh! No wonder I'm so excited!!!

We also have a great menu all planned out so we'll be eating some serious grub while we're there. Let me give you just a sampling of our menu - marinated chicken & vegetable skewers bbq'd, grilled corn on the cob, baked potatoes with stuffed cheeseburgers and baked beans, cowboy omelets and pancakes with scrambled eggs and bacon. Oh you're drooling now aren't you? And of course, I'm bringing some pumpkin bread in honor of the fall season and some homemade cookies.

I love to camp and I know that surprises some of you - but if done properly with an air mattress, flannel sheets and a soft duvet, it is pure heaven sleeping in the fresh air and cooking over a fire. Just make sure to bring a doormat to keep the mud out of the tent and a broom nearby to swat at insects or spiders. And there you have it! A perfect camping trip :-)

Haa ha - check out these doggy sleeping bags!
Check out this trailer - now this is camping in style!
Now I'm not this bad, but maybe kinda close (well ok, I was this bad before I got married)I won't guarantee any pictures, because right now I have acne like a 14 year old boy and I'm not planning to wear makeup every day out in the woods. But maybe you'll get a couple of Jason and the boys. And let's pray for great weather shall we? The first time we went camping, we slept on the side of a hill and had to keep inching our way up our bed throughout the night and the second time we went camping it rained half the time leaving mud EVERYWHERE - it was sick. So Lord, please give us some great weather and a level campsite!

Hang on we're diving deep here...

A few days ago I watched this nasty video a friend of mine posted on her Facebook of what looked like the biggest zit you've ever seen, being drained and cleaned out. I couldn't even get halfway through watching the video without wanting to gag. It was seriously one of the most disgusting things I have EVER seen. I would repost it here, but I'm afraid I'd lose your attention right then and there.

Then last night I woke up at 1am and felt compelled to pray with a heavy burden on my heart. I was praying for God to move in a specific situation. I asked that God would use my words as weapons to defeat the enemy's lies and deceptions. It was then when I was praying that I thought back to the video again. And he showed me that this situation on my heart was like that infection. That even though you couldn't see it from the outside, it ran deep, was wide-spread and yes utterly disgusting. Something or someone needs to go in and expose the infection, bring it out in the open so that the wound could be cleaned and fully healed. Sorry for all those of you who have weak stomachs, but sin is disgusting, its ugly and its hard to look at. But when left to itself, it spreads through the body and kills off the healthy cells. As much as we wish it to, as much as it doesn't appear to be all that bad, this infection will not go away on its own and yes, it only gets worse. The infection has to be exposed, for true healing to take place.

Then the verse came to mind from 1 John 1:5-7: "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light,... as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."

My heart is so heavy this morning and I pray that God would show me how to pray specifically for this situation or even how I must act. Don't think that just because we don't want to face it or deal with it, that the infection isn't there. God's Word is like a cat-scan or an MRI, used to find those tumors or infections and then once discovered, it MUST be removed. Or just like a cancer, a tumor or infection it will ultimately kill the body.

I know there is power in prayer and I pray that my words might be used as a scalpel to lance open the infection, however ugly it might look or be - because God is bigger than all of this and His desire is for his children, that they may have life, healing and hope.