The Thunder Rolls…and the Lightning Strikes

Last night in southwest Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Oklahoma was a violet night for Mother Nature. I knew we were supposed to get storms but around 8:30 it was thundering and lightning and then rained really hard for a little bit. I just figured that was it. Fast forward to about 2:40.

I woke up hearing the wind, rain, thunder and seeing the lightning. Our Dish is never reliable when we have storms so I didn’t even bother to find the remote and turn on the TV. I looked at the Weather Channel app on my phone and saw we were in a tornado watch and severe thunderstorm warning. I would say those warnings were right now. Evidently we also had a tornado warning and the sirens in town went off. We live out enough we can’t hear them. I asked Kody if he thought we should go to the basement and he just say naa, we’ll be ok. I was tired enough that was good enough for me.

When I woke up we had some sheet metal from the back of our shop scattered around our woods but otherwise everything was fine. No homes were damaged in town but it sounds like Branson, right on the 76 strip was hit pretty bad. Here’s a photo from White River Electric Co-op of the Branson Landing.

The other two pictures are from KY3 News. The one on top is a well-known souvenir shop on the strip and the other is the Branson Hilton Hotel on the Landing.

I hate storms and this time of year I am always on edge!! And, why do these bad things always seem to happen at night? I wish it could only storm during the day. If it has to at all…

In Harrisburg, IL, which isn’t far from Marion and Cape Girardeau where I went to college there are at least 10 dead and 100+ injured. Ahh, so scary!

How was the weather where you live last night?

Dance, Dance, Dance!

Saturday night our church had a little dinner and dance for whoever wanted to attend. I thought it sounded like fun, they hired a band that plays mainly oldies stuff (no singing, just instrumental) so we went. I was asked to take pictures of the really good dancers there…and I’m not talking about us or any of our friends! ha!

We did however go out and dance the last song and most of our table went too. It was a fun night! Obviously being Methodist there is no looking down on dancing.

The last few pictures are of the kids. They came out of the nursery at the end of the dance and the band was still playing a few tunes. They were dancing and having a good ole’ time. Kody made friends again with Drew & Luke Skeeters and right above he’s holding Drew, but had them both for awhile. Hunter was also clinging tight to him. I love the he’s so good with children.

Friday night we went to Mom and Dad’s for dinner because Alex was home. We had a good dinner and enjoyed visiting for a few hours. Kody and I worked on a paper of his on Saturday morning and then we went to lunch. We went by my PaPa’s house to see his new sports car. He got a Honda S2000 (I think) and I was dying to drive it. I don’t have a picture of it, but it’s SWEET!! I can’t wait to take the top off. We all took turns driving it and then I had to go again!

Sunday Mark preached about deeply committing yourself to the Lord. It was powerful. Lunch was crazy with lots of unhappy kiddos. We quickly grocery shopped, went home, and then went back into town. Kody played basketball with a bunch of guys from church and I went to Courtney’s to go on a walk with her, Hannah, and Hunter. It was so nice out!

I ended the evening watching the Oscars and falling asleep before the stuff I really wanted to see came on! Go figure! It was a great weekend!

5 Question Friday!

 

1. What's your favorite way to spend down time (alone or with a significant other)? Hmm, this is a good one. I would say take a LONG bath (hour & a half +), watch tv, or surf the web. With Kody we enjoy watching movies or going for rides.

2. Are you the kind of person that wants things more as soon as you know you can't have it? I wouldn’t say that I’m that way. Really, I’m ea sy to please.

3. If you were given $1000 to spend on yourself, what would you buy? Well, it would have helped out with my lens I just saved and bought, but if I had $1,000 to spend on myself it would maybe be a Macbook or something like that.

4. Do you ever go out to eat by yourself? I have before and would do it again today if I needed to. I sometimes will go to lunch by myself and anytime I’m in Springfield at the doctor I usually eat alone. I take my iPad, play, and eat. :)

5. What company would you want to do a blog review for? Corny, but true…it would be that Soda Stream thing. I want one of those, they look so cool! :)

A little bit of this & that

Today’s just a what’s been happening in our world kind of post.

• Monday I went to Springfield with Tara, Ericka, and Courtney. We had a fun shopping day and then I had a doctor’s appointment. I only bought 1 things and had a gift card so I was in good shape…oh wait, maybe I did buy 2 things…

• See the above little jewels? Target had their Valentine goodies 70% off, that made these like $0.77. I could not refuse that offer. What’s that mean though? I have been eating them non-stop. I need an intervention.
• Monday night when I got home I got a nice little surprise. Kody had the stomach flu. I stayed away from him and slept in another room and made him strip the sheets the next day (after he was feeling better of course). I’m praying I don’t get it.
• Kody is feeling better (praise the Lord!) but he has not been up to working out in the mornings…very unlike him. Therefore I have not felt like going in the mornings. We’ve attempted going 2 days in a row now and end up back in bed. Motivation???? It’s lacking. We are both back on the bandwagon next week.
• Kody got me an iPod Nano when I was in college. Eventually it just quit charging one day and I was upset. I loved that thing. I put it aside in a drawer (thankfully) and surprisingly got an email from Apple in December saying it had been recalled and I could send it in and they would send me a new one. I was skeptical, but did it. And yesterday this little guy arrived…SCORE! A brand new iPod!! I have to get some music on it, but I’m pumped! This will make my morning run so much more enjoyable.

 

• Today I’ve spent most of the day doing and looking like this…

my allergies have gotten the best of me already. I did clean my office last night and it was really dusty up on top of my shelving, but the 70+ weather probably isn’t helping it either. It’s a struggle getting through today.

• My brother is coming home this weekend so we’re going to have a little family night at Mom & Dad’s tomorrow night. I’m excited to see him, it’s been awhile!
• Saturday night our church is having a dinner and dance and we’re going. Not sure how much dancing we will do but we will definitely get our badge for fellowship! HA! And I’m taking pictures of the dancers…fun fun!
• Speaking of pictures, I’m SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited because last night I finally ordered my new lens! Say hello to my little friend…
• It should arrive around Monday and next weekend I will break it in with maternity pictures for my sister-in-law, which I am very excited about.
• Next weekend is the same SIL’s baby shower. I.am.pumped. Literally I cannot quit thinking about the shower and pinning things for it. We finally finalized the menu today….can’t wait! Want to check out Lily’s board??? Follow me on Pinterest! http://pinterest.com/trulythompson/lily-s-shower/ 

What’s going on in your world? :)

Happy 4th Birthday, Bo!

Bo’s birthday was a little overshadowed by the loss of our sweet dog, Dudley, on that day, but I’m here to post all about his special day.

Bo turned 4 years old on February 8th! I can tell he is finally starting to live a more calm life. Puppy days are over?! Over Christmas break when we were in Jackson he made friends with one of the dog toys there and we had to get him his own. To keep them from fighting we got Jax one too. Bo loves his little fox!

Bo really had a tough year. He got bit by a dog earlier in the year and had to be sewn up, ouch! He also had strep throat twice! Yes, I had no clue dogs could get strep throat! He seems to be doing better though, thank goodness!

He’s big into playing outside, he always wants to be outside. He loves to play chase with Jax. He will go hide and then “stalk” up to him and it makes me laugh so hard. Jax looks at him like he’s crazy. (He is our crazy dog)

Jax likes to bark at the cows in the field behind our house and Bo jumps the fence and chases them for Jax….so nice of him. GRR!

He’s big into eating too. He thinks you need to feed him at all times. They still DO NOT get table food and dinner time is much more pleasant without beggars at our feet! ;)

Bo, you make our life exciting and I know your brother is glad to have you around to play with! Happy (late) Birthday! We love you!

Chamber Banquet

Back in January our Chamber of Commerce had their annual banquet. Kody and I went with a group from the City. The theme was wild about our members and I was so lucky to find a dress with a leopard top! I loved it and it was CHEAP! I love a good clearance sale! Dinner was good and so was the  company….it was fun to sit there and hear the people win Humanitarian of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, etc. and think that SOMEDAY will be people our age winning it. I felt like a young duck there, but someday it will be people like us (maybe not us, but our age group). Courtney got a picture of us at the banquet and I attempted with my big camera when we got home.

 

Even though I was super tired that night, it was fun to get dressed up and go out with KT!

Old Friends, Nephews, Dinner, and Dancing…

Last weekend we spent a couple of days in Jackson. We had the best time! Friday night by the time we got there we just ate soup at the house and went to bed early. We both had had colds earlier in the week so we wanted to rest.

We got up Saturday morning and went to a running store. I’ll post more on that later. Afterwards I met my friend from college, Jess Ladd. I love Jess and had missed her SO much!! It had been too long!! We met at the mall and shopped around for a bit then went to lunch at Cup ‘n Cork downtown Cape. It was fun to drive around and see things from our glory days. ha! We could have talked for two days straight!! We went to Hobby Lobby, Target, and TJ Maxx and then she headed back to St. Louis. I was so glad she came down! She even brought me 4 LARGE bags of her Mom’s famous popcorn!!!!!!!! Thanks Jess, love ya!

After Jess left I headed to Jackson to see Drew & Drake. Drew continues to get taller and maybe even skinnier and Drake is his same ole chubby self and I LOVE IT!!!! He was in a good mood and I got several pictures of him. Drew is the hard one to capture on film. I have two really cute nephews!! This picture is dark!

Saturday night we went to the 3rd Annual Red & Black Affair, which was a fundraiser for the Jackson School Foundation. It was a lot of fun, just a little loud when trying to talk to people. They had one of the local bands playing, Mid Life Crisis, and they are so good. Kody and I love to hear them. They even did a couple of Adele songs and they were SOOO good! I saw lots of old family friends and got to visit with a lot of people and family. Kody enjoyed seeing people from high school. It was a good night! Poor guy lost his voice though half way into the night so it was nearly impossible to hear him with the band playing. We got home a little after midnight and were both off to bed!

Sunday we got home and hung around the house for awhile and then went to lunch with John, Teresa, Grandma and Marion. We stopped by to tell Drew & Drake bye and then headed home.

We got home about 5 and headed to the Skeeters’ house about 6:30 to help Jay with some trim in their kitchen. As soon as we walked in the doors both boys started running towards us doing their best to say our names! Precious! I played with Jen , Paige, Drew and Luke while the guys worked. Fun ending to the weekend!

Pinterest Inspired Craft Night

I’m really embarrassed to just now blog on this, but I was going through pictures tonight and came across these two fun projects I did one night while Kody did homework.

I love Pinterest, it’s just FULL of good ideas. Whoever came up with it is GENIUS!! Kody and I had collected wine corks in Hermann on our annual anniversary trip. We just asked every winery if they gave away their corks, sure enough all of them gave us a TON. I had seen this “T” on Pinterest not long after I joined.

I simply bought a “T” at Hobby Lobby for like $3. Then I just hot glued the corks onto it switching back between red and white wine corks. I love the way it turned out. It’s going to hang in our kitchenette in the basement.

I also made a Christmas card holder from Pinterest. It was fun and easy enough I wanted to make another so I made one for my MIL.

I just bought a pack of clothes pins, green spray paint, and then pinned each pin on a big box and took it outside to spray paint.

And as you can see it held up pretty well! I was so pleased, this was definitely a fun project that I will pull out next year too!

What’s your favorite Pinterest project you’ve completed? Follow me if you want! http://pinterest.com/trulythompson/ 

Sweet Dudley

I’ve dropped off the planet, but had some good reasoning.

A week ago Wednesday we lost our sweet, loving Golden Retriever, Dudley. Dudley was our pet at my Mom and Dad’s house for the last 12 years. He was such a sweet, loving boy! We were not expecting him to pass away so soon so I think that may have been why it was so hard for me. I also knew that my brother wouldn’t get to tell him bye and it was his dog so that hurt me too.

Dudley had a seizure Tuesday afternoon when my Mom got home from school. She had noticed the last week or so he was slower getting around and seemed kind of out of it, but he is old, likes to lay around, and we just thought that was maybe his new normal. We were afraid he was having joint problems but it was something else. During his seizure he was throwing up :( and went to the bathroom and she finally got him outside and down our deck stairs where he just laid there. My Dad came home and they took him to the vet to find out that his heart, lungs, and stomach were filled with fluids. The vet said that most the time by the time the fluid gets to the stomach there just isn’t much they can do. It was like congested heart failure. They brought him back home for one more night and then Kody and I went to say bye Tuesday at lunch. Lord, I haven’t cried that much in a long time and it’s still hard for me to type this post.

It’s funny how pets become so much like your family. It’s weird going to their house and him not being there, just barky Boj! He loved Kody and when we went to see him at lunch he was laying on a pallet in the living room under covers and when Kody walked in he raised his head and started wagging his tail. :( We’ll miss him for sure, I hope he’s running around Doggy Heaven with all his friends and family.

Here he is with Jax when Jax was younger and my friend Courtney’s dog Ranger. This night he was like the referee between these two pups.

Christmas time 2006, he looks like he’s smiling here.

Brothers, just different sizes!

We always had him shaved in the summer time. He would act embarrassed right after he came home, but loved being cooler.

He loved being outside, chewing on that bowl. If he was inside he would find towels and chew on them. In his later years he loved playing with those ‘stuffless’ squirrels.

I’m so glad back in the fall he got to come spend the night at our house. He loved our HUGE yard and ran all over it playing. That night he got to sleep on the couch. First big dog to ever be allowed on our couch, but I broke the rules for him. Here's one last more right after we got him 12 years ago on Halloween with Alex!

Love you Dudley, we won’t ever forget you!

You Had Me at Hello…

What a corny title, but it is true. When I think about our story it is corny, but it’s my favorite story to tell. I’ve told it on here before but Becky at From Mrs to Mama is having a V-day link up and I thought why not???

Link up your love story today! She’s got a set of questions to ask that will tell it all!

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

We met in September of 2003! That’s almost 8 1/2 years ago. Woa. We’ve pretty much been together since, but married a little over 2 years. It will be 3 years October 24, 2012.

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

Bare with me, this may get long. My friend Jessica and I were cruising town one night just having fun, listening to music, and laughing, because that’s what I did when I was with her….we noticed a silver Extera and immediately said those are COLLEGE boys. HAHA! We were juniors in high school, just turned 17. We pulled the Extera over to notice that one of the so-called-college-boys was a guy named Aaron that was from West Plains. We talked for a minute at Wendy’s and he had 2 other friends with him…Kody and some Richie kid. We drove off and I really never thought much more about them…until the next night.

On Saturday night my friend Courtney and I were driving around with her boyfriend and a set up for me. HA, I was dying to get out of the car. He was a freak! :) We stopped at Auto Zone (one of the cool spots to hang out) and we noticed Aaron, Kody, and Richie were hanging out with some guys that were seniors that we knew. We went next door to Hardee’s and I got in the truck with them. That’s big y’all, I didn’t normally do things like that. Kody was quite dreamy…buff football player with sweet hair and a light yellow Polo shirt. We talked driving around about anything and everything…family, religion, sports, friends, etc. We went to Wal-Mart (with this group) and on our way there he said he would be marrying me someday. HAHA! We were running around Wal-Mart and he stopped and bought one of those fake, gaudy “diamond” rings and proposed right there in Wal-Mart!

I, of course thought that was cute, but wasn’t sure where our engagement would take us. We exchanged numbers and I really never thought he would call me…but he did. Later that night and every night since. We went 2 months before we saw each other again and then at least every month for 2 years. We really became best friends first, but by the time we met up again it was love!

Here’s one of the first pictures of us together…and then some others from the first couple of years including my Senior Homecoming, my Senior Prom (w/ a broken arm), 2 weddings, concert, and my graduation!       

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}

We’ve been married a little over 2 years. This is the guy I hoped to married! He was made for me.

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding? If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small?

We got married at our church, First United Methodist Church and our reception was at the Opera House here in town. It was the best day ever! It was as big as we could have it, around 300 people.

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

Not really…I call him “Code” most of the time, except I always put a K on the front of that…Kode short for Kody. He may call me Mal from time to time. Not many people do….

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

1. Hilarious

2. Understanding and helpful

3. Loves me for me.

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

We went on a little trip to Branson. We were eating dinner at Landry’s and afterwards he slid the box over and asked. Then told me not to make a big deal out of it! HAHA! Typical Kody.

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

Can I say neither? Really, he would buy me the moon if I wanted it. We just don’t spend money on little stuff like that. We prefer to go on a little trip, go to a nice dinner, or just hang out. I don’t need gifts to make me happy.

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

I choose all of the above. Depending on where we are at…I love to watch the sunset on the beach, take walks on the beach, etc…but we are 10 hours from the beach. We also enjoy meeting right after work for dinner and then heading home to watch a movie.

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

He really wants to go to Scotland and Ireland someday. Hope we can do that. I also would enjoy spending about a month or more in Jamaica at our favorite resort. We love to go and do, but there’s something to be said about being home too. Someday I hope we can build 1 house together. I don’t really want to build more than 1, so it’d be our dream house.

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

Well don’t you know it will be a happening night being a Tuesday and all…ha. This weekend we’re going to visit the in-laws and attend the Red & Black Affair. So we’ll get all dressed up, eat and drink good, and dance. Sounds good to me. Probably the next weekend we will go to dinner or something. I REALLY want him to take me to see The Vow.

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

Just to see The Vow.

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Do things together and enjoy it. Life is short, you always think you need to do this, have to be here, need to go there, participate in this. Really, when we leave this earth we won’t remember what club we were part of or all of those basketball games we were at. We’ll remember who loved us the most.

14.  Show us a picture of what love means to you.