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Walk to End Alzheimer's

I am excited about participating in the Walk to End Alzheimer's with my mom and aunt this year!  If anyone would like to donate, here is the link to my donation page.  Thank you so much!

Thank You For Being A Friend!

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art.... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival."  - C.S. Lewis


Here's a few of the most precious ones in my life.  I am so thankful for them!

My MOH - Mandy

Jamie & I at her wedding

with Erin & Sara Buff

April & I

Jossline & I

A Merry Christmas & Happy 2011

We actually got a little bit of a white Christmas this year!  It was just enough snow to look beautiful, but not so much that it kept our family from being able to celebrate with us. 

My entire side of the family (Mom, Dad, Aunt Linda, Uncle Ray, and Mamaw) and Dustin's mom and stepdad shared in the holidays with us this year.  We were even blessed with a visit from my cousin, Jason, who lives in California.  This made the grand total of guests ten.  We have a small family... small, but close.  Somehow we managed not to take a single picture, so I am throwing in this "after" shot.  Hubby was exhausted!

We welcomed the New Year at Headroom with some good friends, good music, and a good cab ride home.  I hope everyone had a fun, safe New Year's and wish you all happiness in the year to come!

The Conquering of the Everglades

Mom asked me to go on a trip with her in early November to the lovely Florida Keys.  We flew into Fort Lauderdale, drove into Key West, and then slowly made our way back up.  If you know me at all, you know I live for putting together an itinerary and am well-known for my enforcement of the timeline I make up.  You can imagine my excitement when Mom asked me to take the reigns.

Lots of sightseeing and shopping were done between Key West and Fort Lauderdale.  Every meal was eaten outside overlooking the beach and not a single one was in a chain or fast food restaurant.  We enjoyed the beach at Islamorada and drove across the famous Seven Mile Bridge.  We even walked two miles of the old bridge down to Pigeon Key, which is where the workers lived while building the bridge.

I thought an amazing excursion idea would be a few tours of the Everglades.  First, Mom and I did the airboat tour at Gator Park.  The next day was our kayak tour through the mangroves as well as a swamp walk tour.  The mangrove tunnels were so interesting.  I was amazed at how many types of birds we saw while we were there and, of course, we saw plenty of alligators while paddling.  Mom enjoyed kayaking although she seemed to have only two speeds, passing me and going 95 mph or at a dead stop crashed into the mangroves.  Oh how I wish I had video of that to post.

Following our guide

She is ready to paddle... super fast.

That afternoon was the swamp walk.  When they asked us if we wanted the wet or dry tour, we said we wanted the wet tour.  We didn't care to get muddy at all.  What we didn't realize was the the wet tour was actually wet.  Our guide started out the tour by telling us not to panic if we see a water moccassin or alligator in the water.  Ok sure.  I wish I could better describe the look on Mom's face for the first 45 minutes of the tour, but only one word comes to mind - terror.  She was scared to death and I heard several curse words being muttered behind me.  Our guide (a former marine) was fabulous.  We actually did feel safe with him, we're just not used to walking in waist deep water in swamps.  

Mom and I with our guide, Jason.  You can see how deep the
water got in places by where my jeans are wet.

This was a more shallow part of the walk. 

I will have to say that after it was all said and done, even Mom said she would do it again.  It was fun and I felt like we could conquer anything after we got out.  If you are interested, the tour company is called Everglades Area Tours.  They have many different types of tours and I wish we could have done them all.  I love that they concentrate more on the conservation of the Everglades and leaving no footprint as opposed to some of the other tours companies that we considered.  I highly recommend them.

One more thing, did I mention I fell?  Typical Brittany style and grace, I fell in the swamp.  Oh well, at least I got in, right?  Now, for the next adventure... any ideas?

OoooOOOoo... Halloween!

We love, love, love Halloween around here and, because of this, our house is looking pretty spooky...

The "blood" was added by melting a red candle
 and letting it drip over the white ones.  Cheap and easy!

My one Halloween concern is that we will have no candy for the neighborhood kids.  You see, my husband has a problem.  He's a chocoholic.  I admit that I will eat a piece from time to time, but I'm more of a bubble gum girl.  Here's hoping I can keep my husband out of the candy cauldron - at least for one day.

Console/Entertainment Center Thing

On my last post, I showed an old dresser that I found on craiglist.  I finished fixing it up and am so excited to finally put it on here.

Without the TV on top, it frees up space for Halloween decorations!

The side doesn't look like it's falling apart anymore.
I sanded it, of course, letting some of the wood show through.

Didn't realize the dogs' balls were underneath it.
Oh well, that's how it looks every day.

I am so happy to see fall here.  I love the cool weather.  It is such a nice change from the 100+ degrees we had there for a while.  I'm pulling out all of my hoodies, the Halloween decorations, and getting ready to do some yard work.  I hear this is perfect grass seeding weather?  We'll see I guess.  It's hard to grow grass in the Sahara!

Here's a photo that has nothing to do with anything at all... except that I love these dogs more than you can imagine.

True Love