Addendum to the below post

The only song Bandit will sing along to is "Happy Birthday." He won't sing to anything else, not even Happy Birthday in Spanish. Until this morning. At 5:41 am, I hear the Mississippi State fight song being played as loud as our little computer speakers will allow. And then I hear Bandit singing along with it!! From my cozy spot in bed, I can also hear Luke laughing hysterically, and then stating, "Now THAT is a proud parental moment!!" (Trace, I will make SURE he sings it for you next time we see you, knowing it's your FAVORITE song and all!!)

Hail Dear Old State

I just made Luke climb up into the attic to find my cowbell for the opening game tomorrow night. It was music to my ears the second I heard it ring. We can't wait to be in Starkville tomorrow night. See yall there.

Housewife Extraordanaire

Luke's days as a housewife are officially over. He started work today for the Town of Collierville as a town engineer ( I think). He works approximately 3 miles from our house in Town Hall. He was really excited about starting, and I was so happy for him. He was a good housewife, but his priorities and mine were evidently different. As most of you know, I stayed home the first three months of our marriage. I was in the process of getting my nursing license, but I enjoyed every minute of being at home. It gave me a chance to get organized, are apartment was as clean as it could get, and we had supper everyday whenever Luke arrived home. I look forward to being a housewife again one day. Not Luke. I would call at lunch to see what he had been doing all day, and his response was either A.) building something, B.) Playing fantasy baseball, or C.) planning our ski trip for March (get excited, Heather...he took his job really seriously). I didn't mind him doing any of these three things, but I know he was ready to get out of the house, and out from under my Honey Do list.

I hope he found someone to sit with at lunch!

Happy Sneak a Zucchini onto your Neighbor's Porch Day!

I knew Tricia and I were meant to be friends when I discovered our love for this holiday! Ways to successfully get rid of excess zucchini: -Carefully place a dozen or more zucchini in a large, sturdy black plastic trash bag, then add a couple layers of unwanted clothing. Drive to nearest Goodwill or Salvation Army, hand over bag to nearest volunteer. Politely refuse any offered receipt. Leave quickly. -Look for out-of-the-way places which have signs posted, "Clean Fill Wanted." -Under light of full moon, either stark naked or wearing full army camouflage, carrying a machete or any garden implement, run amuck in your zucchini patch, cutting and slashing. Be sure to thank Mother Nature for her bounty before and after this cathartic experience. -Buy a large roll of freezer paper--the kind that sub shops use. Then proceed to wrap each zucchini that has managed to grow to a foot or more in length. Next time your child has a fundraiser, send him or her out supplied with these phony subs. Tell child to drop them off with neighbors or relatives and leave quickly. It's advisable that a responsible adult hover nearby in a get-away car. -Gather all available plastic containers and freezer bags. Drink a vat of your favorite caffeinated beverage, in preparation for staying up 'round the clock to purée large quantities of zucchini. This can then be packaged neatly and artistically labeled: "For Zucchini Nut Bread Recipe." These packages can be freely given, along with copies of recipe, to anyone on your Christmas list.

Any other suggestions on how to celebrate?

I truly love the fair...

An acquaintance might know you like to eat...
A good friend loves you even when you have a Happy Plate...
A great friend encourages your consumption of fair food!

Thanks, Tracy, for our very own funnel cake maker! We love it!

True Love

Some girls like for their husbands to send flowers to show their love,
Some like a release of a hundred white doves.
Others prefer dinner and a night on the town.
And others like to dance and be spun all around.
No, not me, when I want to know,
I look out the window and there is a glow.
Luke is slaying my biggest enemy,
The one with the warning: Leaves of Three; Let it Be.

I have been struck with the worst case of poison Ivy I have experienced to date. I occasionally have been pestered by this annoying interference, but this time it is bad! It is on every extremity, my eyelids, my neck, and several unmentionables. I think Bandit brought it in on his fur, and then I touched him, and then I took a bath, and it spread life a wildfire in Orlando. I have been so miserable, I let Luke srub my arms tonight with a dish scrubby pad and then srub it with this medicine called TecNu while running it under scalding hot water. I was relieved to find I had followed all the steps recommended, but it does not help the miserable itching! The only positive is that I am in Nursing Orientation this week so I am sitting in a classroom, because could you imagine an oozing nurse bringing you your baby. I look like the guy from Scary Movie. My Germs!

On a side note, the first time I can remember having poison ivy, I was at Kamp Kiwani (girl scout camp). I had teeteed in the woods, and picked the wrong spot to squat. Lauren Parsons was recruited to put calamine lotion on my tush, and as I lay on the bed of our cabin nekkid, our counselor walked in. I bet she thought we were freaks...I decided if she would do that then she would be a good freshman roommate in college, and that didnt even run her off because she was a bridesmaid! Good thing she didnt hold any of that against me!

A Weekend of Friends

I know I am way behind, but the weekend of July 20-21, I got my friend fix that I had been needing. Minus the wedding festivities of Brad & Sara and Darrow & Sissy, I had not seen any of my friends since December 9. I had met some really neat people in Tyler, but there is something about an old friend that knows everything about you that cannot be imitated.

When I was in high school, I was on the pom squad my freshman and sophomore year. Only two people from my squad tried out the next year, but we all wanted to stay friends and our moms liked to hang out too. So The Supper Club was born one February night at Benihana's, and we still meet monthly 8 years later. Every summer, we all go to Oxford for a slumber party at my friend, Whitney's, house. (Her grandparents and family are huge Ole Miss fans, bless their hearts, and the grandparents built a huge house for the grandkids to live in while they were in college, and for the whole family to stay in when the Rebels are losing...oh, I mean playing.) This year, our group consisted of the following:

Whitney, Courtney, Laura, and MeMrs. Queena (Tracy's mom),Mrs. N (Laura's mom), Mrs. Hathaway(Dori's mom), Mrs Cyndi (Whits mom), and Kath.

We had a wonderful time, as we always do when we get together, and even got the Mom's to go to a bar to see a girl we know sing! It was hysterical seeing our mom's in their capris in a bar. And I will admit I was feeling my age when several of my YoungLife girls ran up to me. I felt ancient! We usually sing karoake when we get back to the Cole's, but this year my wonderful friends humored me and watched my wedding video. I don't think they minded too much, though, because they were all over it! (hope not anyway!)

Move on to Saturday, and I traveled to God's country, Starkville, MS. My college friends were meeting for a reunion at Tricia's adorable apt! I got there in time for lunch at The Deli, and had my usual Beef and Peppers! We went to Dandy Doodlez and each painted some pottery. I amde a Christmas ornament! We drove around that afternoon, made them watch my wedding video, and then hung out that night at Tricia's (after eating cheese sticks from The Grille, of course). Tricia and I ended up staying up till 3 talking! Two nights in a row...just like college all over again. I had so much fun catching up on everyone's lives, and absolutely did not want the weekend to end! I cant wait for football season so I can see everyone more frequently. Once every 7 months just doenst quench my thirst!

I love yall!

Home Sweet Home

Here are a few pics of our new abode. Here Luke throwing me out the front door because I hadn't cooked supper. Haha...It was really us trying to set up the self timer so we could get him carrying me over the threshold.

One more time.

Here is the view from our front porch looking in:

Dinig room: please dont mind the aquarium on the floor and the mismatched chairs...the chairs are going back to the attic!)

(and I realize I wrote Dinig...my dad had to draw houseplans in college for an architecture class, and on his final project he accidentally misspelled DINING and wrote DINIG. So now if you are ever at my house and someone says eat in the Dinig room, we are not being disrespectful, we are making fun of my dad. My dad also boxed in college, but that is a whole 'nother blog.)

Kitchen: (and my cute husband making fried rice)The man room: (This room was Lecile's bedroom. He is the famous rodeo clown. Seriously.) The I Love Lucy Pink bathroom. Luke loves it. Yea it's sidewise. Yea I am tired:

And the back yard: Our room...and we finally got a bed...no bedroom furniture yet, but we have a BED!!:


Right now the walls are MSU Maroon. I think we are going to pain them the blue of that throw on the end of the bed...

Note: The guest room was not ready the day of the photoshoot...I'll have pics soon!

We are getting settled in and loving having space to move around...and I love the hardwood floors because I can tapdance nightly! We have also already had two overnight houseguests. Jake spent last Thursday with us and ate ice cream all night. Luke's mom, Ms. Amy, came last weekend. We had a wonderful time! Friday night, Gone with the Wind was showing at The Orpheum-So fun! It was actually Blake's idea...he was taking his girlfriend because it is her favorite movie, and then Meg and I heard about it and jumped on the bandwagon. Blake would've never known I was there, except that they sat two rows in front on us! I know Natalie loves us! haha! Then Saturday, we shopped on the Square in Collierville, ate at the Silver Caboose (yummy), and then I cooked for everyone that night. Sunday we went to church (Luke and I love where we have been visiting), and then to my grandparents for a fish fry. Very fun weekend with our families.

We would love to have some more house guests. Please come visit!

Our Moving Adventure

We've moved!! Sorry for the blogging absence; I am sure yall have missed my life. Our move back to Collierville was an adventure in itself. I went and picked up a U-haul to attach to the back of Luke's new car on a Thursday. That night, Luke and I loaded all of our "big" furniture into the front of the U-haul. The "big" furniture included our china cabinet (which had previously resided in our bedroom), a dresser, an oversized chair, and a big screen tv. By the time we were pulling the tv from the second story, a guy that lives underneath us came out to help. As he was offering, I heard these words coming out of my otherwise-precious husband's mouth, "Oh, no. We got it!" I immediately replied, "Of course we would love some help. He thinks I am a boy!" Needless to say, I let our nice neighbor come to my rescue much to the amusement of my husband. The next day, I spent from 9-5 loading the rest of our apt into the back of the U-haul. It was full from top to bottom. When Luke got home from work, we were going to load his work truck and 4-wheeler trailer with our washer and dryer, and then all of the rubbermaids with my winter clothes. As we hitched up the trailer, the bottom fell out of the sky! We had to make a quick decision to load up the Vue (aka the TicTac, the space shuttle, Sally), and head out.

Bandit usually is a baby and refuses to step a paw out in the rain, but somehow he escaped out of our apartment door and sprinted to my car. We found him perched in the front seat ready to leave. We still had a few things to load, and then we both had to shower, but Bandit refused to get out of the car. He was so afraid we were going to leave him, he found his seat early, and didn't even bark when we went back inside!
We finally left Tyler about 6:30, and things were fine (minus the twister that was blowing in) until we hit the interstate and started to pick up speed. As soon as Luke hit 65 mph in the Red Rover + Uhaul, the stupid thing started swerving from one lane to the other. And when I say swerve, I am not talking about a little movement, I was behind him and thought it was going to throw him off the road, or into the 18-wheelers headed our way. We had to once again regroup and make the decision to not go home via interstate. This meant that we would be driving from Texas, to southern Arkansas, to northern Louisiana, to Mississippi, and then north to Memphis. This meant that our usual 6.5 hour drive was going to take 11+ hours. This meant I would not get into bed until 4:30 am. But, this also meant we were home!