Crews'n Through the Weekend

Well this post certainly requires a little back ground. Most of you know my cousin Stephanie. She is very special to me and she and I have always been very close despite the fact that she lives in Florida and I live in Alabama. I remember being in middle school and we would write each other letters (back before email!) She is someone that I have looked up to my entire life. She is always loads of fun to be around, she is very stylish and hip, she is an amazing mom and she has the sweetest and loving heart. She has 3 boys (I am godmother to all 3) and she has one little angel girl. Steph and Toby mean the world to me as family and as friends. Steph was even my maid of honor. Living so far away we don't get together quite as often as I would like, but when we are together it is always time well spent making fun memories.

Well this weekend Toby, Steph, Landon, Baylor, Corbin and Emmi all made their way to compass lake to spend the weekend with Justin and me. It was so much fun. As you can tell from the pictures we spent a lot of time on the dock and in the water and of course the boys had a blast jumping and flipping off the dock. The boys are all into wrestling, which Uncle Justin is thrilled about. Those of you who may wonder what the Hicks family watches on Monday night....well we watch WWE Wrestling! Awesome! I survive through it every week only because Justin finds it to be entertaining - I know that he watches girly stuff that he wouldn't necessarily choose to watch to my benefit and this is just his thing (along with sports too). I believe that he and Mr. Randy watched it from a young age and for some unknown reason it actually stuck. The Crews boys watch and record every match that they can. Did you know that wrestling comes on 3 nights per week. Well I try and keep it down to just one night at our house, but it sounds like the Crews' watch it as often as possible...again its a boy thing and can I just give a shout out to Emmi right now....Thankfully God gave Steph a little girl and one day they'll be watching chicky things while the boys are watching wrestling and sports till they are blue in the face. But it is funny to watch 3 boys use pillows as people to do the wrestling move - at least they aren't doing it to the each other. Justin talked trash with them through out the weekend - which was funny considering he is 31 and he is talking wrestling smack with 8, 6 and 4 year old's!

Little Emmi G is such a sweet baby. Very easy and content, she is so good. She can sleep through anything - I guess that you don't have an option when you have 3 crazy older brothers. The boys are all so sweet with Emmi, loving on her and making sure that she has all that she needs. Emmi even got to go on her first boat ride and she did so good. She loved Ashlyn's swing and seemed to enjoy floating in the water. As long as she is with everyone she is so happy. They are all such sweet and kind hearted kids...I just love 'em!

Last week before we left for the lake Justin went and picked blueberries. He picked for an hour and got a gallon's worth of blueberries. They are so yummy and sweet! So, now I am working to use a gallon of blueberries so that they won't go bad. I did make a blueberry buckle (thanks Aunt Jackie for the recipe) over the weekend it was really yummy, although the oven at the lake cooks hot and I over cooked it just a little. But with a little vanilla ice cream all was right in the world. This week I'm going to do my best to make some blueberry bread YUMMY! I love having fresh fruit - I was so proud that Justin went and spent time to do that and it was well worth the time to have such fresh and sweet berries.

To the Crews family - I love yall and thank you so much for sharing your weekend with us. Can't wait to do it again soon. Love you so much!

Doggy Adventure

Well last week I was driving home from the grocery and came across a little beagle walking in the middle of the road. Being the dog lover that I am I stopped and he came right to me. After petting him I opened my car door and he jumped right in. Hummm, my first thought was that someone is missing a sweet little beagle puppy. He had no collar and after taking him to the vet, I realized that he was a little skinny and was covered in fleas. He must have been wondering for days. The vet was nice enough to give him a de-wormer and some flea and tick meds. I then drove around for about an hour going to different houses and neighborhoods to see if anyone recognized him. No such luck. I did find a man who said he may be interested in beagle man (that is what I called the dog) if I don't find his owner. I put up a few signs at some of the local businesses in our neighborhood. I was mostly worried that someone would be missing their family pet. I brought him home, much to Justin's dislike and he sat on our front porch and was just so happy. Well to make a very long story short...I called the guy the next day and he did want beagle man. It took us 2 days to finally connect but he did finally get to go to a new home. I've received no calls and haven't seen any 'Lost Dog' signs for a beagle. He is just so cute and was so good. He didn't like the back yard, but loved being on the front porch. So that is where he stayed for 3 days. It was a bit stressful, as I was so very worried that I was going to have to take him to the animal control shelter. Humane Society doesn't take strays - which bothers me because I thought that was what they were for. I'm sure they are totally overflowing, but still. It also infuriates me that someone may have possibly let this dog go or dropped it off. Either way why doesn't he have a collar. Who hasn't been taking care of this precious and sweet dog. People do it every day, hence the reason that the humane society is over stocked. OK - that was my small soapbox...I'm off.

It was a learning experience. I always want to stop when I see lost dogs wandering around but I have learned a valuable lesson that I became the one responsible for this pup once I took him in. It is also hard to balance a stray dog when I have two of my own and I didn't have a clue what this dog may have ...so I never let Doc or Brinkley around little Beagle man, which was a back and forth in sharing the back yard. Justin asked me to not do this again - which he knows better and so then he asked if I will ONLY save dogs with collars so that we can easily find its home. I probably won't do it again (at least not for a while), but it was so very rewarding to give him to a new owner who was so excited to have a dog. He has a little girl who has been telling him that all she wants to do is walk a dog on a leash. Well, some sweet little girl now has a precious dog to walk. So that was my doggy adventure. Saving a dog is a lot of work by the way. And I will leaving you with some words of wisdom from my sweet husband..."You can't save the world one dog at a time!"

Stay tuned for our weekend update with the crews family...

The Lake Tour

Last weekend we spend the weekend with the Nix's at smith lake. It was such a fun and relaxing weekend. Chris and Melissa are great host and the weather was great so we spent a lot of time on the water. We also got in several games of Cranium in for some night time entertainment. I love to play games and it is a guarantee that we will be game playing when we are invited to the Nix's. Thank you both for a fun and wonderful weekend. Not to mention that it is awesome to leave on Sunday and ONLY have a one hour drive home....verses 4 hours! Wow.

We boarded Doc and Brink for the weekend and it was very nice, was better than I expected and they were actually tired when they got home instead of wired like they usually are. But they stayed at a pet resort this time instead of the vet! Hooray.

Our next stop is....COMPASS LAKE.... and the victims are my cousin's Steph, Toby, Landon, Baylor, Corbin and Emerson! I am so excited about a weekend with this family. They are a fun family who hold a special piece of my heart. Looking forward to a fun and crazy weekend (what do expect with 3 boys and a sweet baby girl?)

Pix from the weekend

Compass Lake

Well this afternoon we arrived at the lake for our long weekend to celebrate July 4th. I love this weekend for many reasons. First because it is always a long weekend if not an entire week that we spend down here in our little slice of heaven. And Secondly because this was the weekend that Justin proposed to me...on our sunset cruise in 2005. Not to mention we get to spend some time with Chris, Amanda and Ashlyn.

So, this afternoon we got here and shortly after our arrival it started to thunder and lightening. The brewing of an afternoon shower. And our cabin has a tin roof. Have you ever heard rain on a tin roof? Sitting on the porch where there is no insulation or anything just tin and rain. The sound is simply therapeutic and relaxing. You hear every drop of rain that comes down. My favorite is when it rains so hard that you can not hear anything else and it did just that today. It didn't last long, just a quick welcome shower to cook off the afternoon heat. It was perfect and I wished that it had lasted longer. Tomorrow will be filled with BBQ, boating, sunning and fireworks with our family and friends. I'll post pictures when we get back because I will have a ton.

I do hope that you all have an amazing and safe July 4th weekend. As we celebrate our freedom and think and prayer for all of the military and their families for giving us our continued freedom. Thinking about the men and women on foreign soil serving and protecting our country and I have the freedom to enjoy rain on a tin roof, a weekend with family and friends on the lake, and especially the freedom of serving and praising our Lord and Savior. I will be lifting our country up to God for His protection on our country and for the guidance in where we are headed.

Happy 4th of July every one! Love to all!

Fresh Vegi's for Dinner

I have to quickly share what we had for dinner tonight. It is so much fun having yummy fresh vegetables to cook and eat. Our neighbor was nice enough to share some of his home grown corn and zucchini with us (Thanks Brendan). I steamed the Zucchini, then dried it really well with paper towels and then I sprinkled with salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese...YUMMY. I also made yummy feta burgers which includes, deer meat, sausage, red onion, bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, garlic, red wine and feta. Justin grilled them to perfection and it was a perfectly delicious meal. We boiled the corn and of course it was yummy. Oh and we ate our FIRST big tomato on our burgers. I didn't realize how quickly the tomatoes turn read. I have lots on my tomato plant and finally I saw on Friday that it was starting to turn red, well this morning it was bright and calling our name. It is so rewarding and fun to have fresh vegetables.

While I am giving a vegi report. I had my very first banana pepper starting to grow. I am so excited. I love it. next year I have big plans to do more than just tomatoes and peppers! Hope that you all have a wonderful week. Lots of love!

Home Sweet Home

A weekend at home. I have already enjoyed my time here at home for the weekend. Last night my sweet husband took me to J.Alexanders for dinner (just the two of us!) It was a perfect dinner and I really enjoyed our time together. Then after dinner he decided we should rent a movie (Charlie Wilson's War) and I sadly disappointed him and fell asleep before the movie was over. I am not a good Friday nighter...I am always too tired to stay up for anything. This morning I got up and ran and then came home and trimmed the ginormous bushes on the front of the house. It was so hot out there, Justin was nice enough to cook me breakfast. It hit the spot and I was able to cook down before cleaning up the mess I made with all the limbs I clipped. It was burning up and I was sore and tired...so I decided to finish the movie I tried to start last night. It was an awesome movie. I then was able to nap and watch another two movies. Justin has gone to golf and I an in total relax and do nothing mode which really rocks!

Last weekend we went to the lake with some friends Jeff and Crystal - well Crystal and I started talking about running and that we wanted to set some goals to run a 10K by the end of the year! So we started this week. Tuesday and Thursday morning I got up and met her at 5am (do you know how early that is? well I had to get up at 4:30 so that I could meet her at her house at 5am - wow that is major early) but both mornings I felt really good and full of energy. On Wednesday afternoon we went and ran with a running group that runs weekly and we ran 3miles...well we walked some of the way but not much. For our first week we were so proud of ourselves and really feel good about our start. So, this morning we met at 6:15 and run/walked 5 miles. I am so excited to have a running partner who wants to run with me and is so dedicated. Crystal is really motivated and focused so we've set a few dates to do a few 5K's and a 10K. I'm so exited and wow, I feel great and it has only been a week. Crystal is out of town all of next week and I am going to do all that I can to continue running - it will be much harder not having her here. But I know that I can do it. We're headed to the lake on Thursday so I'll certainly be taking my tennis shoes so that I can get my runs in down there too. It is so helpful to have a friend that motivates and encourages - an accountability partner.

Well, I'm off to start another nap - I have some sleep to catch up on from those early mornings this week!

Catch up

I have seemed to complain a bit about being on the go every weekend. It just occur ed to me that I am quite blessed to have friends and family who want us to spend time with them and vise-versa. Since we've been back from Napa we have been out of town every weekend. The first weekend we went to Mexico Beach with Mrs. Pam and Charles(Justin's Mom and Step Dad), along with Ryan and Eve (Brother and Sister-in-law). The guys fished both days and we gals got in some beach time. It was awesome to spend the weekend with all of them! Thanks to my dear friend Robyn the dogs stayed here. Robyn was truly a life saver and stayed at the house to keep the dogs, it was so perfect and I know that they had a blast playing with Sadie.

The following weekend we headed to Eufaula to spend the weekend with Mr. Randy (Justin's dad) for Father's day. It was so nice to get to sleep in both mornings and to get to spend the afternoon on the boat was great - Brink and Doc enjoyed it too!

Somehow I don't have any pictures from either weekend, I'll try and do better this weekend with taking some pix.

This weekend we are headed to Compass lake with some friends(Jeff and Crystal Wiggins). I'm looking forward to it being a relaxing weekend again and I do hope that the weather will be nice so that we can chill on the dock for the weekend. I know that Brinkley and Doc will be in heaven to play and swim for the weekend. Justin and Jeff are traveling this week and will meet us at the lake on Friday. Crystal, Caroline, Madeline (Jeff and Crystal's girls), Doc, Brinkley and me will all cram into my car to head down on Friday - it should be an interesting drive down.

I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend at home next week and then July will begin another month of visits and travel with more friends and family. Again, we are truely blessed and excited that we have had the time to spend with our friends and family - it isn't often that we get to spend quality time and really catch up with one another. Our family and friends make us who we are and Justin and I are both blessed to have such caring, loving and wonderful friends and family. Thankfully we both work for fabulous companies who give us flexibility and resources (company car) that make all of this travel much easier.

Ok, I think that will catch you all up with what we have been doing. Work and play and life is great. Love yall.

My Dad

In honor of Father's Day this weekend I wanted to give a very special thanks to my amazing Dad. I realized that I have fabulous parents and my dad is simply the best dad around. Dad's really do have a special bond with their little girls - not that they love their son's any less BUT it is just different. Here are a few things that I love about my Dad....AGAIN, let me reiterate that this is only a small list - the list could go on for days!

1. I love that my Dad is such a good and compassionate Dad. He genuinely cares about us and will do anything for any of us at any time.
2. I love that my he will ask 1000 questions and it is all because of how much he really cares
3. I love that as a baby he spanked me which resulted in my crying and he never spanked me again - not that I ever did anything to need a spank'n!
4. Dad is a strong and amazing example of a Christian and God Fearing Man!
5. After Justin and I were married, Dad missed seeing me (since I did live with them and saw them every day) and asked if we could have dinner with them once a week. We did for a while and still have dinner at least a few times each month together. Thankfully we only live 3 miles away!
6. Dad can fix anything!
7. He always tells me to call if I need anything and he really does mean it. He has rescued me when my power went out and Justin was out of town!
8. Dad's two saying's when we were young: 1)'Be a leader not a follower' 2) regarding driving 'keep your head on a swivel, know what is going on around you' . Both are great pieces of advise and have stayed with me to this day.
9. I love that my Dad loves Justin as if he was is own. He love Amanda (Chris' wife) as if she was his as well.

Dad, I love you and thank you for all that you do for me. I couldn't have a better Dad. Thanks for your friendship and your guidance. Love you Lots!

Home Grown

Nothing is better than fresh vegetables. I love them and I wish that we lived closer to the Farmers Market so that I could get all of my veggies fresh. When Justin and Chris lived together they had a full garden and that was actually when I started liking tomatoes. You can not beat the taste of home grown fresh tomatoes. Grocery store tomatoes are just not the same. I have two different types of tomatoes and 4 different peppers that I have planted in pots this year. It has been quite an experience, all of my peppers almost died. I actually think that I almost killed them by spraying a concoction of garlic, pepper and soap that is supposed to kill beetles. The beetles had flown in and invaded my pepper plants - well the spray resulted in all of the leaves falling off. So, I went and bought new peppers(am I determined or what) to plant again and when I was re-potting I realized that the original plants were actually trying to grow back. So, I ended up with a few extra pepper plants.
I would like to have a green thumb - my mom certainly does - but I am in my early learning stages so lots of trial and error is involved. I would say my thumb is more gray than green right now. I also like instant results i.e. I want my flowering flowers to bloom right away and I wanted to see quick results with my veggies. I had a sad realization, but was thankful to my cherry tomatoes that they were quickest to produce. And they are absolutely delicious, we've had about 6 that have ripened and they really do make your mouth water for more they are so good. My big tomato plant was slower to produce, which Justin later explain that the plant had to grow strong enough to support the large size of the tomatoes - the lack of green thumb is again obvious. In my sheer excitement about my tomatoes and how many are on my plants, I realized that the bottom of some of the big tomatoes are black - I freaked out because I thought that a bug had gotten into them YUCK! But after doing a little research discovered that my soil has a calcium deficiency (BER). I've added lime to the soil and will also add egg shell and that should help. Since I pulled the bad ones off I haven't seen any more turn black. I was very very glad to discover my first sign of jalapeno peppers this week. Yippie! (The picture is sort of fuzzy - my camera is not willing to focus on the veggie but instead it focuses on the fence behind the plant - brilliant)

I hope that they will all continue to do good and produce. If they do really good, we'll be glad to share fresh veggies!