Wall-e with the McKibbins

Rick and I took his niece and nephew to Johnny Rockets then to see Wall-e. I have to say the movie was much better that I expected. The kids had a blast, lots of sodas, candy, and popcorn, and they were WIRED! The best part of being an aunt or uncle is taking the kids on these adventures, giving them pretty much anything they want then taking them home. Rick just wanted to ring the doorbell and run. It was a fun night, and the kids LOVE their Uncle Rick.

Inland Lake w/Rick's Crew

TGIF

HAPPY FRIDAY ALL! It's been a long week, so I thought everyone could use a funny pic of me as a baby!!!! Horrible, I know! We are taking it easy tonight, and heading to the lake at 7am tomorrow. Rick and 20 of his friends, should be a BLAST. There have been a minimum of 153 emails going on with this group planning the weekend, and it has made me totally stoked. Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend, I should have interesting pics Monday!

Alex after surgery

Poor baby!

Pray for ALEX TYRONE

Bonnie's little pup Alex has a torn ACL and is having surgery today. He had to be put to sleep for this, and that is VERY unsafe for a dog that small. So say a little prayer for the guy!

*I have to note that she emailed me this morning and asked Lilly to color Alex a picture. Cracked me up, but Lilly will do it.

Lochness creature in our back yard!

OK so this is the corner of our back yard, and it is like a JUNGLE! Yesterday afternoon I went back there and Lilly was barking like crazy. So I pulled her out of the corner by her tail, and examined the scene. There seemed to be some sort of hissing, moaning, creature in there but I couldn't see it for sure. When Kelly got home, I made her go back out there with me, and do some more investigating. We could hear it but not see it, and Lilly was AFTER IT! Any clue what this might have been?
The mystery animal is gone today, but Lilly is serious about finding it! I called her name and she poked her little head out, and went back into the jungle. She will NOT give up.

SETPBROTHERS

Went to see Stepbrothers yesterday, and it was actually funnier than I expected! Great Sunday afternoon movie. Next it's BATMAN!

Birthdays @ Matthew's

The Guys are THRILLED!

James & Abnous (Congrats!)
Abnous, Lindsay, & me
Rick & Heather
We went over to Matthew's Saturday night to celebrate James & Matt Beck's birthdays (among other things!). The party was pretty low key, there was mention of a slip'n'slide so I was a little concerned, but it was a great time. Matthew was a SUPER host! Happy Birthday guys! And Congrats James & Abnous!

Thursday w/the Dunns

We met Jennifer & Burton Dunn @ Oak Hill last night. We had a great time, and made plans for the Southern Miss vs Auburn game! WOOHOO! So excited about that. They had 2 tix, place to stay, and even plans for us that Friday night. We went from having zero plans, to the entire weekend planned out. LOVE IT! THANKS Jen & B! Let me know if anyone else is going to be at the game Sept. 6.

LEMONADE STAND

I stopped at at Lemonade Stand in my neighborhood yesterday and these little boys were SO CUTE! I loved it. You never see things like this anymore. They were charging $.25 a cup, glad to see inflation hasn't hit the good ole neighborhood stand.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHIPPER

Today is my dear friend Chip Cole's 30th Birthday!!!! He and his wife Anna are in Boston this week celebrating, but they love to blog so I had to put them up. They are both friends of mine from Pascagoula, and I love them dearly. So HAPPY 3-0 Chipper, hope it is the best yet. Can't wait to see you guys Labor Day Weekend!!!

Mowing the grass....

Yes, I mow the grass at my house, and it is a challenge! The main problem is that we don't have a mower, so I have to borrow one of the neighbors (get in touch with them, schedule it, etc). We are also without a weed eater, so I have to just mow as much as possible and hand pull the random weeds I can't get with the mower by hand (unless I can talk Rick into coming over with his, and doing it for me). Another problem, it is 342 degrees outside! Next problem, is part of our grass is up hill, which is not fun with a push mower. The back yard itself is a problem, there are rocks everywhere, it is uneven, and used to be a garage, so you never know what you will find under the weeds! So the back yard usually doesn't get cut, which is Lilly's playground (when she walks in the weeds you can hardly see her!). So with all those problems, I started mowing, got about half way done, and mower stops cold. GREAT! So I call the neighbor, ask him and he says it does that after 45 min. I go inside, cool down, give Lilly a bath, and have to go back out and finish that stupid yard. It was an awesome afternoon. Here is the finished product, beautiful I know!!!!

Eastern Promises

Watched this movie last night......HATED IT! Very depressing, violent, and somewhat predictable. I do not suggest this movie. Rick really liked it, me not so much. Anyone seen it?

Sunday @ the RACE!

We went to Barbers Motorsports for the Porsche 250 Sunday afternoon. We (well I) had so much fun, but pretty sure it was the hottest day of the year so far. Fun times.

Poker @ Matthew's

Saturday after the demo work, Rick, Stephen, Matthew, & I went to eat Mexican and drink margaritas, then to Matthew's for poker. This Nativity Scene was set up in his living room, and it cracked me up. He said it stays up year round and I was welcome to arrange it however I would like. You know I had to take a picture. I played poker with 4 guys and out of the 5 of us I came in 3rd. Not to bad for a "girl". Fun night.

Rick's Kitchen Phase 1

Rick is remodeling his kitchen, so Saturday he took down the wall between his kitchen and dinning room. This is "MAN" work as he calls it.

Before
During
After

I watched, and helped with clean up (and hit myself really hard with the wooden broom handle in the process). It was pretty entertaining. This has TOTALLY opened up the room, and made it look twice the size. He is leaving half the left side of the wall for a bar. Can't wait to see the finished product. Updates to come.

McKenzie

I just had to post this precious picture my brother just sent me of my niece. She is going to be TROUBLE when she gets older.

Tuesday @ Jackson's

DeeDee & Duffy
Stephen & Matthew
Rick & me
Lindsay & Courtney

Ash & Evan Wedding pics

Taylor is BLOGGING!!!

For those of you that know my dear friend Taylor Mitchell Clayton, she started a BLOG! I am pretty excited about it, so everyone check it out.
http://allaboutmcc.blogspot.com/

(also added it to my friends blogs on the right, so you can see when she updates.)

Monday Morning

So Ashley & Evan are married! The wedding went off with out a hitch. It was beautiful, and I am exhausted. Really excited that was my last weekend to travel until labor day.
Rick made it back to Bham safe and sound from Alaska about 4pm Sunday afternoon, only to find that his air conditioner at home was broken. Nice to come home to after 10 days camping on a river. More about the wedding and Rick's trip to come (pics as well). Happy Monday!

Hbg for AJ's Wedding

I'm on the road again today to Hattiesburg, MS for Ashley Johnson's wedding. Busy weekend full of wedding festivities, and Sunday when I get back Rick will be back from Alaska! I am REALLY EXCITED about both! So if you are in Hbg this weekend give me a call. I can't wait to see all my peeps at the wedding, get ready Boogie & Fancy, we are going to have a BLAST! Have a GREAT weekend all!

WDW

Wine Down Wednesday with Shay......always a good time! We talked for hours, I love that! I've been missing Hot Dog Click. Oh, and I found someone to keep Baby Lilly. Thanks HD!

P.S. I Love You

I watched this last night, and cried pretty much the entire time. Why I do this to myself I have no clue, but I knew Rick wouldn't watch it, so I thought what the hell. This was probably not a good idea with him gone all week, Kelly gone for the night, and just Lilly to make me feel better. The movie was so sweet! If all guys were like this guy, the world would be a better place. (Sorry guys!) Good movie, let me know if you've seen it.

Congrats Libba & Sean

My sweet friend Libba got engaged! I am so excited for her!!! She and Sean have been dating for yrs, and I could not pick a better match for either of them. Looks like another Mississippi Gulf Coast wedding. So CONGRATS!!!

Bachelorette Finale

OK, so I am so upset about DeAnna's decision to pick Jesse! Is anyone else upset about this? His hair is HORRIBLE! I am so over this show! I watched for 3 hrs last night, and that was pissed at the ending. Thoughts?

CAMERAS

Anyone have any suggestions on point and shoot cameras? My ole Casio finally died after a 2.5 yr life of hard work in extreme conditions. I was all set to buy the Canon SD750, and when I got to Best Buy, I was back to square one. I looked at the updated version of the Casio Elxim I had, and I CAN'T DECIDE! HELP! Anyone have thoughts on either or another suggestion?

Back to Bham

Made it back to Bham about 6pm yesterday, after a wonderful weekend with my fabulous friends and family. I soaked up the sun, went to my uncle's wedding, spent time with friends and family from near and far, played with my pup, got a bridesmaid dress altered, consumed a few adult beverages, and LAUGHED until my stomach hurt. It was a perfect weekend. Now I get a few days home then Friday it is back on the road to Hattiesburg, MS for bridesmaid duties @ Ash Johnson's wedding. After that, no weekend plans until Labor Day! WOOHOO!!

Lake Hamilton Nights

July 4th we decided to venture out in Hot Springs. We went to Smyly's on the lake. THIS PLACE WAS A MAD HOUSE! It took literally 1 hr to get a drink, and there were so many people you could not move! After all my trips to HS, this was my first time checking out the night life, and the 4th of July was probably not the perfect night for this. We had a great time once the crowd died down a little. So here are a few pics......

The crew waiting to get in.
Traci, Sam, & Me
Joe, Anna, & Sam Serpente
This is my favorite pic of Joe! Explains the whole night.
My sweet best friend Joe! I love him, and this is the most normal picture we have ever taken.

Lake Hamilton Days

What a weekend! Joe & Sam Serpente played with us all weekend, and it was entertaining to say the least! Here are a few pics......

Joe seemed to want to wear the life jacket that was just a little too small for him all weekend.
Catching some snacks with the guys @ the Tiki Bar.
Sam decided to wash his hair in the lake and this is what happened.
Lilly HATED the geese! She barked at them non-stop, and they hissed back at her. This went on for hours.

Arkansas or BUST!

I am heading to Hot Springs, AR today for the July 4th holiday weekend! Lizzy is here from Atl, and riding with me, Traci is coming from Nashville, Joe Serpente is meeting us there from San Fran, and the entire Serpente family will be there too! Not to mention my mom and the rest of my family that lives there. This should get interesting. I am so excited, Joe and I have been planning this for months.
Rick left at 6am this morning for his wild adventure in Alaska! They are king salmon fishing, and rafting for 10 days. It's his dad, sister, 2 brothers, uncle, and some cousins. This trip does not sound fun to me, but he says it is the trip of a lifetime. So I am really excited for him. I prefer laying on the beach with a cocktail, but that's just my thing. Lets just hope Rick makes it back safe and sound on the 13th, and doesn't have to wrestle any bears.
EVERYONE TRAVEL SAFE THIS HOLIDAY WEEKEND!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELLY

Today is my roommate Kelly's birthday! Had to use this pic with my little baby Lilly. Happy Birthday KEL! Enjoy your day!

Elias is home

Elias is out of the hospital and home in Mobile. He goes to the hospital daily for wound care, and they say the burns are healing fast. YEAH! I have his home address if anyone needs it. Thanks for your prayers. Elias told me he feels very lucky, and that he didn't realize how many people cared about him. So just a reminder, let the people you care about know.

Bachelorette Party # 427

I went to Ashley Johnson's Bachelorette party this past weekend in Orange Beach, AL. We had a blast! 14 girls, 1 condo, WOW! There were girls everywhere, and surprisingly no drama! 2 weeks until the wedding, and bridesmaid dress #9. Sad to say but I love every minute, and I am so lucky to have so many good friends.