Show Us Your Life--Dining Rooms

I'm a day early, but still want to participate in Kelly's Show Us Your Life--Dining Room, even though we don't really have one.

I can't wait to have a formal dining room some day, with a china cabinet to display our wedding china, but until this, what we have will have to work! I do love our open floor plan, it's nice for where we are at in our lives right now. The kitchen, dining area, and living room are all one big room. Here is our table & chairs....

Kody and I always eat dinner at the table. It's something we started and have just continued. We also don't have the tv on while we eat, unless we're running behind and Biggest Loser is one. You can see below the 2 different views you may have from the table...either the kitchen or living room.

We bought our table & chairs from a friend of my family. Some day I'd love a more formal set, but for now this set is great. It seats 6. These are actually last year's pictures, this year I don't have the same centerpiece, but everything else is pretty much the same. The big window looks out onto our front deck, we usually watch the boys play outside while we eat. Dinner is important to us and important for us to have together. It's really the only time we're one-on-one all day, without other interruptions! We get in the best talking at the table.

I hope you didn't blink, because you would have missed this whole *HUGE* tour. :) Thanks for stopping in!

Short Week!

Today is like my Thursday! :) We're taking off for Jackson tomorrow afternoon early. This week has been hectic. Monday was just a crazy day at work. We are in trial at work right now for a certain matter and we've been so busy preparing for that. Yesterday we had meetings all day and then I went to get my hair done after work! It's dark with some highlights, looks good I think! Really dark, but I like it for fall.

Today the trial started and I was back and forth during the first part of the day doing things for the attorney. At lunch I ate real quick, ran by my MaMa's to see her, and then picked up some stuff at Embellish, which is a friend of mine's store. Once I made it back to work the afternoon went by quickly. I cleaned up my bulletin board that connects to my desk. I had a lot of OLD pictures on it and want to get some new ones up. Many were of Drew when he was 3-4 months old!

I got home, made dinner, and started cleaning up the house. I like to come home and at least have the dust gone and the floors clean. Kody is off tomorrow and has already said I can leave him a list....he shouldn't have said that. I watched part of an old home movie tonight that my mother-in-law left here nearly a year ago. I had good intentions of watching it when she brought it and forgot all about it. It was Kody from his 6th birthday on. What a cutie!! He had such blonde hair then to be so dark headed now! It was funny seeing his sister and brother too. And his parents, HA! You can just really tell it was the early 90s! I also finished my 3rd week of Couch to 5k! I am so proud of myself for getting this far. I promise it's because I'm blogging about it and I have to be accountable! I wouldn't normally be done already, but with us traveling I figured I better get it in early.

This weekend a friend of Kody's family is getting married. Her name is Malerie and we are so excited for her and her new husband-to-be, Brent. I know this wedding will be a really good time, they always are in Jackson. It will be a reunion for us! All of the family together and friends! So excited to see my old college roommate, Kaci!!! And I'm really excited because Friday I am having lunch with Ashley from Happily Ever Afters of the Lancasters!

I will probably post my Show Us Your Life tomorrow. It will be featuring dining rooms, I don't really have one, but I can show my lack-of dining room....Nothing to write home about or anything!

Hope everyone is having a great week! This week is the first of 3 weeks that are only 4 day weeks for me! YES! :) Gotta get to packing!

Weekend full of birthdays!

I'm still recovering from a big weekend! I'm pretty sleepy today, but tomorrow I should be good to go! My Mom's birthday was Saturday, but we celebrated Friday night. Kody, Mom, Dad, and I went to eat at Colton's. We had a really good meal and just missed Alex! He will be home in 2 weeks for fall break! Kody and I got Mom an Amazon gift card to buy some books with her new Kindle! She's really excited to get it. :-) After dinner Kody and I went to the Judd's house to hang out with them. They were kidless so it was much quieter than it normally is! Kody stayed on the couch instead of the floor playing with the kiddos!
Saturday started EARLY! I got up about 5:30 and started getting ready. I went to breakfast with Kody and then went back home to finish getting ready. I met Mom and Dad at 8 and we headed to Munford, TN, which is outside of Memphis about 25 minutes. It was a long car ride, about 3 1/2 hours. We went to celebrate my great-grandma's (Granny) 90th birthday! We went there and back in one day. It was physically and emotionally exhausting! It was great to see Granny, who got around very well for nearly 90 and we were able to see cousins we hadn't seen in a long time. There were some cousins I met for the first time.

The petit fours were to die for!!!! I had one too many!

Granny loved seeing old friends, current friends, church family, family, all day long! After the party at her church we went back to her house for a big dinner with just family...which included probably 50 or more people. Above my mom is visiting with my cousin Lula and Granny. :)

Not long after we ate we headed back to Missouri. We got home around 9. Talk about a LONG day, especially in the car. I'm not fond of my Dad's driving....especially in the city. UGH! I was so tired I went home, showered, and went to bed.

We did wake up for church and it was consecration Sunday. We filled out commitment cards for the church. We went to class and talked about being ‘full on Jesus.’ Mainly either jumping in with both feet or nothing at all. I think everyone struggles with this. There are so many times I think I can control something, when ultimately I should leave it up to Him. I love our SS Class, it’s always so very thought provoking!

After church Kody and I had a nice lunch at El Charro’s. We had been missing it and I was craving it big time! We went for a really long drive after lunch and ended up off of a country highway where there was gorgeous hills, trees, etc. We saw pretty houses and views that were just breathtaking! We even saw these really neat acorns and I made Kody stop and gather a big freezer bag for some fall decor in the house. They were really neat, shiny, yellow, and brown!

After about an hour long drive just talking and enjoying each other and our seat warmers (it was chilly out!) we made it back home. It was cloudy, windy, and pretty cool out yesterday. I don’t think it made it above 60! And we never saw the sun. I welcomed a day of that though. I changed into sweats and we rested for about an hour. We made a trip to Wal-Mart for Kody to buy his deer tags for this year and then went out to the Judd’s (Brian’s parents) house for the guys to go bow hunt. Courtney, Nita (B’s Mom), and Lindsey (B’s sister & my good friend) just hung out with the kiddos. We had dinner there and has the best brown beans, cornbread, and fried potatoes! MMMM!! GOOD!

We finished off the weekend watching the Sister Wives on TLC….wow, really interesting. My mouth was hanging open the whole time I think. I can’t imagine living like that! Now, Monday is almost over and I’m going home for pancake night…Kody’s in charge of dinner and is going to have breakfast ready for me! :) I’ll start Week 3 of Couch to 5k…gotta get serious this week, I will have to work out Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday…we’re heading to J-town for a wedding Thursday!

Have a great week!

Show Us Your Life—Master Bedrooms

Kelly’s Korner is hosting Show Us Your Life—Master Bedrooms today. I am such a fan of any SUYL she does, but my master bedroom is probably not my most favorite room in the house. Probably because I have slacked and not ordered white, wooden blinds and don’t have our new curtains hung yet. So keep that in mind when you see our pictures. ;)

This is our room from a corner on the other side of the bed, under the tv hanging…yes, you can see the ugly shades on our windows (that were in the house when we moved in!) and NO curtains. My bedspread is from Target and the room is a soft yellow. Our trim will be painted again soon, a cream color of some sort. I got the 2 pictures from Marshall’s and our 2 lamps are from Target. Kody had this bedroom furniture new in 2003 and we moved it from Jackson to WP. Someday we’ll graduate to a king size bed!

Here is the other side of our room, over by our closet. Another bare window…ugh! You can see our THOMPSON picture that a local lady made. She can do them in sepia and brown, let me know if you are interested and I can get you her contact info. She’s very reasonable and quick too! Most of the pictures are from the Ozarks or the state of Missouri.

Above you can see our closet, my jewelry armoire, laundry basket and little black and white prints. The fabric on our laundry basket is our curtains! We HAVE to get those hung! I have the rods sitting in the corner of the room! :(

I love the wall decal above my armoire. It just sticks on, looks like we had it painted on though! :)

YES, we have a TV in the room…YES the cords are visible. I do enjoy the tv being in our room because I watch a lot of tv in there. Notice the curtain rods…

I love personalized gifts. This frame was from Jess Ladd and is so cool! It matched our bedroom perfectly. :)

And I forgot this angle above…it shows our large wedding picture. And you can see a SMALL corner of our rug. We have a black and cream rug that matches our bedding from Target. It sits under the bed and comes out in front of the bed and on each side. It’s really nice to have since we just have the hardwood in the bedroom.

Here is the material for the curtains. I hope it’s not too busy. Grandma Hilton made them! :)

And one more for good measures!

Easy & Tasty Dinner!

It probably seems as if I have fallen off the planet on the recipes! Well, I am still cooking dinner every night, just not always uploading pictures to the blog. I had a mini taco recipe that called for woton wrappers, but I couldn't find those in Wal-Mart, so we did our own thing with it.


I took small tortillas and rounded them like a cone and stuck them in muffin pan holes. I put a spoonful of refried beans in the bottom, taco seasoned ground beef on top of that, a little sour cream, and a little shredded cheese. I baked them at 350 for about 15 minutes.


They turned out like this.... You could just pick them up and eat them! Kody put a little lettuce on his and I put a little light ranch dressing. They were super easy! It helped us out since Kody mowed the yard until time for Biggest Loser and I did my workout and then showered. How bad is it that we ate while we watched BL? Ahh, oh well!

It's finally here!

What am I talking about? FALL TV! I'm so happy it's here! I know, I don't have much of a night life...oh well that's how I like it.

Kody and I excitedly waited for the Biggest Loser to start tonight. It was neat how they did it going to the different cities. We definitely scoped out some of the ones we will probably be rooting on...Frado! ha! Now I'm watching Teen Mom....don't judge, please! ;)

Today has been a great day! I booked our anniversary trip to Hermann, MO...wine country in Missouri! We are staying at Hermann Hill Bed & Breakfast.... In one of these cottages... We are so excited! We are just ready to get out of town for a couple of days. We've heard Hermann is like a whole different country! Wine country! We plan to go to a few wineries, shop in the little shops, eat, and hang out in our sweet room! We'll have a kitchen, living room, bedroom, huge jacuzzi tub, big shower, and private hot tub on a deck with a grill looking out at the Missouri River....YES! Should be gorgeous there in the fall! I will let you all know how it is, if you live in Missouri, you should go! We are only 3 hours away.

I completed 1 week of Couch to 5K and started week 2 today! It was a different pace and I enjoyed it. :) Tomorrow I'm off to Licking (yes, I said Licking) for a meeting with Missouri Alcohol Tobacco Control. Dixie and I are excited, we'll hopefully learn some new things. Plus, meeting with my clerk friends is always a good time.

Hope everyone is having a great week so far, tomorrow we're half way there!

Weekend Recap & Dave Ramsey

I'm sad to say that it's Sunday night and tomorrow I'll be going back to work. Of course Kody is off on Mondays, but has to work most of the day on Saturdays, so it evens out for him. We have been out of town the last 2 weekends and it was SO nice to be home and not have any plans.

Friday night we opted out of the Zizzer game, they lost 42-0....SAD! They aren't really good at all this year and we have a new coach. Not sure if it's the kids or the coach, I doubt he has a winning team until his youngest class is his oldest....hopefully he improves before then or it will be a long 4 years for the Zizzer football program. I feel bad for those seniors, not fun to have it all change for you on your 'big year.'

We went by my grandpa's house, Debbie and Tara were out of town and we just sat outside and visited for awhile. They came home while we were there and we stayed and talked to them. It was nice outside and a great night for a football game...if you were winning. We had dinner at the hot dog place....the dogs are SO good there! I had the Memphis Dog, which is pulled pork, coleslaw, bbq sauce, and your hot dog. MMMM!!!

I worked yesterday at At Home and was tired when the day was over. We wrapped more gifts and standing all day when you aren't used to it tires me out! I came home and rested for awhile and then my parents came over for dinner. We had a good dinner and visit and they left and we just laid around. We didn't go to bed early like we should have, but it was nice to be doing nothing. We talked about some things we want to do to our basement, like paint and new light fixtures. The light fixtures are from the 1970s I think! EWW! It's just not been our main focus, we've been spending time on the upstairs and we feel like it's all done up here. Now to move on to the basement! We've gotta spruce up the 'man cave.'

This morning church was AWESOME! We watched a Dave Ramsey video on tithing. Really interesting. He said that only 2% of people actually give 10%. I cannot say we do give that much, but we try to give what we can each month. Kody and I enjoy listening to Dave on XM during the day when we can. He has us really thinking about $$ and how to spend it. I am naturally a tight wad, but have been more of spender since I've had my job. We're going to enroll into our church's next Financial Peace University class and I hope it ROCKS OUR WORLD. From what I have heard from other people who have taken it and the ones who call in about it, it literally changes their life. I feel that we are young enough to start now saving for our future and our children's future. We are both very excited about this opportunity. And each Sunday it is so great to see our relationships grow with those in our Sunday School class. We're going to do monthly get-togethers and we are hosting the first one in November...a bonfire and hayride! It's just like a family in our class, well with most of them!

Kody and I napped after church and then went on a long motorcycle ride. We rode out one of the country highways that lead to another one and just rode around like that for the afternoon. We came back to town and got a soda and went to the park and ended it with dinner at my mom and dad's. We had REALLY good pork roast, potatoes, and corn. Mom made cupcakes too. Alex will be home in a couple of weeks for his fall break so we'll have him that weekend!

Now Kody is watching some weird movie on HBO (another reason I will cancel the movie channels soon....he doesn't watch the good ones, just the weird ones nobody has ever heard of & he said to cancel them so I don't feel bad) and I'm thinking about getting in bed and watching a movie or TV.

Did anyone see 102 Minutes that Changed America? It was on September 11th on the History Channel I think. It was 102 minutes of raw footage that just was shot by different people during the attack of the World Trade Center of 9/11....I dvr'ed it and have been watching it here and there. WOW. Kody doesn't like to watch 9/11 stuff...makes him mad/sad. Which it does me too, but it's part of history that I remember so I like to watch it. I can't imagine living in NYC or visiting when it happened. WOW.

I'm off to the shower...if you have never heard of Dave Ramsey, google him. You will learn something. This guy is a genius. He definitely tells you how to live WITHIN your means and not BEYOND them. We all need help with that, some of us more than others! I hope we can have a successful story after going through FPU!

Have a great week!

Show Us Your Life—Living Rooms!

Kelly at Kelly's Korner is back at it again! She took a break this summer and is back with Show Us Your Life Fridays. She has done the home tour before and is going to do it again because of so many requests! I'm glad because I wasn't in on the first round!

This week is living rooms! My living room is probably my favorite place in my whole house. I love it, it definitely is full of my taste, trendy yet classy things! I like color, but nothing over the top. And my fall decor is out in these pictures....

This is kind of the room at a glance. Our kitchen, living rooms, and dining area are all one room. I like how open it all is, but can only wish for a much larger kitchen some day! Someday!

This shot is from our bedroom door. Our bedroom is right off of the living room. I love our rug! It was a shower gift from my in-laws from Lowe's. I do wish we had more seating, but I really like how it is set up now. My mom got us our couch and it's SO comfortable! I love my chair too, that was something my mother-in-law got us. :) Kody made our cornice boards and Grandma Hilton made the drapes. We are saving money for wooden blinds. Can’t wait!

This is my little corner. I sit in the chair most of the time and have the laptop or read while Kody watches TV.

Here is our comfy couch! It’s brown corduroy and like I said, really nice to lay on! My end tables, coffee table, and sofa a table are some of my favorite pieces too…because I bought them!

We bought our Broyhill armoire at Huston's in Cape Girardeau before we moved. It was like the first piece of furniture we bought together. At time time we didn't know what our future house would be like and I liked the black. I think the mixed wood looks fine. We are limited to TV size though, we got as big as we could when we bought a flat screen....notice the Halloween/fall decor. I need some ideas for the right side of it, it's plain there.

I just bought these wheat planters at TJ Maxx this week. I saw them and had to have them. We had wheat decor in our wedding last fall. In fact, brown ribbon was tied around the vase that held it. :) This table has a few of my favorite wedding pictures, one in a "T" frame where we are holding signs that say Jax, Bo, for our two dogs...then one where the frame says, "My most brilliant achievement...was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me. -Winston Churchill" and then a picture of us praying during the wedding ceremony and then a husband/wife Willow tree Angle...I think it's the Promise one. Below are two lanterns from our wedding and then some of my favorite books with cross bookends.

You can see a little better the wheat and my favorite picture. :)

And finally, this is the wall that our bedroom door is on. It’s a long wall and I chose this print and candle holders that went along great with it. In this picture it looks like a small bunch of stuff on a really big wall, but I promise, it looks good and isn’t so ‘large’ looking. Notice Jax’s little ear sticking in at the lower right corner. I'm sorry this is late, I've been really busy with council prep and I worked today!

PS--Day 3 of Couch to 5k was completed this morning! 1 week down! :) I'm really proud of myself!

Day 2--Successful, Meeting, a little confrontation...

It's been a day I tell ya, a real day! Monday is our Council meeting and I normally work hard for 5 solid days, this week since I was gone...I only had 2 1/2 days...ugh! I haven't had the best motivation, which is not good....but it will all get done, it always does.

Today I was busy and had a planning and zoning meeting tonight at 7. I came home quickly and did my day 2 workout, which was the same as last night. It was great, I am loving this so far. I know, I know...it's only been 2 days, but I can do this! :) I am loving the support and encouragement from you all. Lauren, you've been great!

After my workout, Kody and I had dinner. Luckily I had planned for a roast in the crockpot, so dinner was ready. We had leftover cheese spaghetti with it, it was a really good meal. Normally I don't like roast how I make it, but I simplified it and it was really good. I left Kody to re-caulk the shower in our bathroom and headed back to town for my meeting and to work ahead on some things before it started.

Meeting went well, but we had one of our citizens ask a question that nobody really knew the answer for and he got a little ugly. Oh this is when I love my job. I've been at home googling trying to figure out what the answer should be! Tomorrow I will stay really busy, but will get off early...so that's good and it will be worth it.

We don't have big weekend plans, THANK GOODNESS. We're going to do some things around the house and make it to church Sunday!! We've been out of town the last 2 weekends and have missed. :( Sunday we will listen to a video of Dave Ramsey talk about religious giving. I'm ready to hear what Dave's got to say!

Hope everyone has a great Friday....we're almost to the weekend!

I was Tagged, now You're Tagged!

Sara tagged me in this and I'm so happy she did! I needed a break!

Here goes:

1. If you could travel to anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Some tropical island far away....and maybe Europe!

2. Which do you like better, cooking or baking?

I think I will agree with Sara and say cooking. Baking is fun and I do enjoy it, but there are always SO many ingredients and SO many instructions that I'm not always reading, and cooking is just easier! :)

3. What type of music do you listen to?

Mostly country and Christian

4. What's your favorite holiday?

Thanksgiving! I just love how it's all about family and food. I love Christmas too, it's just such a crazy time of year it exhausts me thinking about it.

5. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

This question makes me laugh....I'm definitely an extrovert.

6. Are you excited for fall? If so, what do you love most about the season?

I love fall! I wouldn't have gotten married in October if it wasn't for fall. I love Zizzer football, although this year we SUCK, I love the smells of fall, pretty leaves, apples from Pioneer Orchard in Jackson, bonfires, warm clothes, etc!

7. What websites do you frequent most often?

I stalk Facebook, Blogger, and hotmail!

8. What is your favorite childhood memory?

I love all my memories from the babysitter's. Lyndall was our sitter and was an older woman that loved us like we were her own! I had friends there that I am still friends with and we just had the best times. Always an adventure. The world seemed SO BIG when we were SO SMALL!

Now I tag...
Annie at http://dumptrucks-babies-and-everything-else.blogspot.com/
Lauren at http://laurenastewart.blogspot.com/
Ashley at http://ourhappilyeverafters.com
Kendra at http://kendradiaries.blogspot.com/
Ashley at http://perfectlypollock.blogspot.com/

And ANYONE else who wants to join in on the fun!

First Day: Check!

I was super tired today, I think traveling finally caught up with me. I could barely keep my eyes open! I did have a great workout at lunch today at Curves with my new Ryka's; I loved them! I really wanted to start Couch to 5k tonight, but wasn't sure I would have the energy.

I made cheesy chicken spaghetti, so while it was in the oven I started Couch to 5k on the treadmill. It was perfect, I had just enough time before the spaghetti had to come out. It started today walking briskly for 5 minutes and then jogging for 60 seconds and walking for 90 seconds, I did this for 20 minutes and was done. I'll do that same routine 2 more times this week. It was easy, but it said not to push yourself further, just wait and build up.

I'm pumped about this! Hopefully I can get to where I enjoy jogging! I felt awesome afterwards! I enjoyed the dinner by myself...Kody was working late! He got home about 7 and I had just finished. I read on the deck for awhile and then took a shower. I plan to go to bed early tonight!

Kody and I are counting down the days to a wedding for a family friend, Malerie Goodman. Her wedding is October 2nd and we are anxious to be back in Jackson celebrating with everyone! I've gotta figure out what I'm going to wear....pretty sure I am wearing a navy dress, but what color shoes? Would black work? I need expert fashion advice. I know something metallic would look good, but just don't want to buy anything. SO HELP ME!

Next weekend is my great grandmother's 90th birthday party! Incredible! My mom, dad, and I are going for the day to her party and will come home.

Well...just wanted to say that day 1 of C25k was successful! Let me know if any of you did this!

M.I.A

I'm still here! I hate that I have been so hit and miss lately, but life hasn't slowed down! I haven't really blogged since Friday, but have been on the go. I'm in St. Charles right now for meetings for the Missouri Municipal League, which is an organization that works for municipalities in Missouri. They are like our go-to organization for how to's for City Government. There are like 900 people here right now. It's neat.

Saturday night Kody and I came to St. Louis and stayed with his sister & brother-in-law at their new house. They bought their house back in the spring and we hadn't seen it yet. It's SO cute. Kaci has a real knack for making a house a home and it's just super cute. It's a brick ranch on a cul-de-sac in St. Louis. Neat street and houses! My brother came over for dinner and Kody's best bud from high school, Aaron. We all went to Granite City for dinner and then came back to their house. The guys sat outside and played poker and Kaci and I went to FroYo...Oh my goodness, amazing!! There were stations where you could pick different flavors of frozen yogurt and then a little buffet of toppings! I had red velvet & strawberry banana. I separated it in the bowl ;)....and lots of toppings! Then they weigh it and you pay for that. Such a neat concept that is semi good for you!


We slept in Sunday and had brunch at First Watch, which was good. Afterwards Kody and I went to see Alex's apartment and it's really nice! It's in the Central West End and is really neat. I took pictures that I will try to post when I have more time. Kody left not long after that and Kaci and I went to St. Charles for her to drop me off at my hotel. We had a reception last night with appetizers and vendors and then as a council we all went to dinner at Trailhead Brewing Company. A company that recently designed a water tower for us picked up our bill! Nice surprise!


Today we sat through meetings and then went shopping in St. Peters. My good friend Jess Ladd picked me up at the mall after she got off work and we went to Target and then back to Main Street in St. Charles and ate awesome Chicago style pizza at Talayna's. YUM!! It was so good!! We sat and talked for a long time and now here I am back at the hotel. I miss Jess already and wish we lived closer. I want to try to come back for a visit near Christmas. She is the best and has a great family!


Tomorrow we will head home after lunch. I didn't buy much at all today, but got some cool Ryka tennis shoes....

The last pair of Ryka's I got when we went to NYC, they are great. I'm hoping these will light the fire to start the Couch to 5K. I am really excited to start that, hopefully next week. I have a meeting Thursday night and won't get home until tomorrow night, so I doubt I have much time this week.

Well, I will upload some pictures maybe Wednesday. Just wanted to check in, miss you all. I have caught up on your blogs though! I'm loving what I read and see!

Always, Sometimes, Never

I always enjoy reading Annie’s blog, she has the cutest little girl and always has something going on! She posted this Always, Sometimes, Never and I thought I would follow along!

I ALWAYS…..

-brush my teeth before bed.

-shower before I go to sleep.

-love a clean house, just doesn’t always stay that way.

-check my email/facebook/blogs MULTIPLE times a day.

-have my water cup with me.

-take a lot of pictures.

-love riding in my car.

-drive til the gas light comes on.

-eat most foods with ketchup.

-love eating out.

-put my makeup on and fix my hair. You may catch me out and about without it all done, but it gets done at some point unless I am sick.

-am thinking about the future, I’m a planner!

-set 2 alarm clocks…can we say OCD?

-have to go to the bathroom before I lay down at night, usually twice! UGH!

-take my jewelry off the minute I walk inside at night!

-love a good getaway, especially if I get to stay in a hotel!

-wear my seatbelt and lecture those who don’t!

-shop the sale racks! I don’t own many full price items!

-look forward to Fridays!

-turn the music down when I backup.

-shave every night!

I SOMETIMES…

-enjoy time by myself.

-am early when I go places.

-put things off til the last minute!

-have to remind myself I am really not in control…

-want a bigger house!

-can stay awake during movies, usually I fall asleep…at home that is.

-dread car trips, but love going…

-wash my car.

I NEVER…

-regret marrying KT!

-wish it was Monday.

-read long forward emails, never!

-get tired of listening to Dave Ramsey!

-stop rooting for the Zizzer football team.

-eat Brussel sprouts or sauerkraut. GROSS!

-can get the whole house completely clean.

-regret having 2 German Shepherds in the house, we love our dogs. They make us better people.

-get tired of Mexican food, just have to switch up the places!

-thank my parents and in-laws enough for what they do for us.

-want to spend $$.

Whirlwind Weekend & Week!

I can’t believe it’s Thursday! Yesterday was my first day back to work after the long weekend. Since Kody normally is off on Mondays, his holiday fell on Tuesday, so I took an extra day and we stayed in Jackson a little bit longer. We had a great trip!

We were able to leave town earlier than expected on Saturday thanks to Kody’s boss and we surprised Teresa in the driveway about 5:30! We headed to Heritage Farms almost right away because they were having a Fall Festival and Erica and Drew were there with their friends, Lindsey, Adrian, and Ashlyn. Kyle and John were at the MIZZOU game…they won by the way! When we got there they were all on a hayride, so it was awhile before we saw them. Drew immediate picked out Ko-Ko and ran to him.

He was full of energy and ran around for awhile with Ashy as he calls her. It’s neat, him and Ashlyn are 2 months apart…Lindsey (Ashlyn’s Mom) and Kyle (Drew’s Dad/Kody’s bro) are like 3 months apart and were best friends growing up. They live 2 houses apart and are now expecting their 2nd babies together….literally 2 weeks apart. We joke these guys can’t go to the bathroom without the others knowing!

Kody and his STAG beer, oh a Southeast Missouri thing!

People were out eating on the patio, kids running around chasing chickens, a live band, wine tastings, etc!

Afterwards John and Kyle made it back and we met them at our favorite Jackson restaurant, Stooges. I had a BBQ salad and LOVE it there! We spent the rest of the evening sitting outside near the pool that we didn’t even TOUCH over the weekend. I had on a big hoodie and jeans and still froze to death! I’m sure the pool water was VERY CHILLY!

Sunday we got up early and went to breakfast with Kyle, Erica, and Drew at Cracker Barrel. Afterwards Kody and I took Drew to have pictures made in Cape. We went downtown and took some neat shots of the little guy. I’m still learning to use the camera, so slowly but surely they will get better…I hope! Here are some of my favorites…

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On our way back to Jackson Drew fell asleep in the back of the car. He took a quick nap at home and in no time was ready to go again. At this point, Kaci got to town and joined us. It was good to see her, we missed Luke who had to work! We had a big family bbq that evening and Drew showed us his tractor skills!

It was good to see so much of Kody’s large family. We were only missing a few! My in-laws house, such a pretty place!

A Whole Lotta Thompsons!

Bo is tuckered out!

3 Brothers shootin’ the breeze….

After dinner Kaci and I went up to Kyle & Erica’s and made caramel apples. They were scrumptious and I’m mad I left mine in Jackson! :( I will have to make more. Aren’t they pretty?!

We ate our apples while Kyle & Kody stalked on facebook, Kody doesn’t have FB and probably never will…but he enjoyed seeing people…

Monday I shopped! Had lunch with Teresa, Erica, Drew, and Aunt Robin at Panera’s and then shopped a little more. I got such great deals on shoes at Macy’s! A pair of Jessica Simpson flats for $8.75! Another pair of cute wedges for $9! And a pair of Steve Madden gold flats for $5.75!! YESSSS! I saw my favorite make-up lady, Sally at Estee and got in on the fall gift! If you don’t wear Estee Lauder, please do yourself a favor and go buy some TODAY!

Monday evening we went as a family and Grandma to Imo’s and sat outside and enjoyed some pizza! Kody and I miss the days when I was in college at SEMO and we got to sit outside at Imo’s and eat tons of food and do nothing! AHHH, the good ole’ days.

We had lunch with Teresa & Grandma at Estes’s and headed home on Tuesday. Yesterday going back to work must have worn Kody and I out. We were in bed and asleep by 9 p.m.! Nothing out of the blue for me, but that’s crazy early for KT!

Tonight I hope I can be more productive. I have to get ready for 2 days worth of meetings in St. Charles and need to get my clothes washed and ironed! Hope you enjoyed our pictures from the weekend and our adorable, wild, nephew, Drew!