Get home from work and not thirty minutes later, I have my first little trick or treater...

Our next door neighbor's little boy, Mason.  He was an alligator and even though he wasn't feeling the greatest, he sure was cute!!

Then, my parents came over to have dinner with us and brought me another little trick or treater...

And in between my cutest little visitors, I had some very rude and rather "large" trick or treaters and the light wasn't even on.  Guess it's a good thing I did buy some candy today.  They weren't all rude, I did have some little boys and girls dressed up looking as cute as can be.  And then, some "larger" ones dressed up that scared the crap out of me.  However I'll never forget, the one that when I opened the door, after he was slapping my glass window pane in the door, said "you's got some candy up in here?" 

Oh Halloween 2011, you've come and gone and I for one couldn't be happier!!

Happy Halloween

Okay, yes I do realize it has been a week since my last blog post, but we've have A LOT going on.  I'll tell you more about that later, but today is HALLOWEEN!!  We don't dress up and this will be the first time in years that I've actually been home on Halloween night — however, our outside lights will be off.  The neighborhood will be packed with ghosts and goblins, but we are being anti social this year.  WAAAYYY too much going on to add answering the door every few seconds to our day.

I am in black today (no shock there) and I've already seen a few people dressed up as clowns and football players. (Did I mention it's not even noon?)

What are your plans for this Halloween?  Do you dress up?  Maybe next year we will get in the "Halloween" spirit and celebrate the day.

Happy Halloween, y'all!

Light show for Halloween

Now someone has a lot of money and a lot of time on their hands.  Hope you enjoy it, too!

Piper turns 4!

We made a quick trip to Bham Friday night to be able to help celebrate the Van Doren's little Piper Ann's 4th birthday at her party yesterday.  Today is her actual birthday, but we were excited to be there to help her celebrate this weekend and visit with our friends.

Happy Birthday Piper Ann!!  Thanks for letting us be a part of your special "owl" day!!

A week of Mar Belle

This week, I've had a very cute little visitor at the house and yes, she has pretty much ran this house since she got here.  Enjoy the pics of this little cutie!!

For my Granny

Since my mom reads my blog, daily, this post is for you!  =)

And Marleigh wanted her granny to know that she is having a late night snack...

Halloween Costumes

When I was growing up, I was always a dancer for halloween.  After all, those dance costumes from the recital were only worn once, and mom said we might as well get one more wear out of them...  But how cute are these costumes for kids??  And of course, you can't forget adorable costumes for the little dachshunds!!!

My week in words...

There hasn't been much going on here on my blog.  Why?  I've literally been rockin around Christmas trees since Tuesday morning.  When you work in publishing, especially magazines, you work months in advance.  And the home we are featuring in our upcoming holiday issue was actually shot last December.  So in this case, we have been working almost a year in advance.

For some reason, getting into the "holiday spirit" has been hard for me this year.  And it seems for the advertisers, too.  Last year, every where you went there were Christmas decor and trees EVERYWHERE.  This year, people are kinda hanging back and keeping their fallish decor out a little longer.  However, we still have a deadline, so I've been out this week picking out the hottest items for our holiday issue/shopping guide. 

So here is a little taste of what my week as been like...

Drive to one of the advertisers, stop in, look at all the items they offer figure out which items would be perfect for gift giving (let me go ahead and admit, all their items are perfect) take photos, get in the car, drive to the next advertiser and do it all over again! We have a lot of advertisers so you can imagine all the businesses I've been "stopping in to see" this week.  AND the weeks not over yet!  =)

Tuesday I was in Meridian, Wednesday I was in Philadelphia and today, back in Meridian. 

I stopped in Peggy's in Philadelphia on Wednesday, not to take pictures for our holiday issue, but to enjoy a home cooked lunch that I heard about from one of our advertisers.  Man, it was delicious.  You walk in and put your money in a basket (honor system) then grab a plate.  The area where you get the food is about three feet wide and the dishes are three dishes deep.  Wednesday, they had fried chicken, chicken spaghetti, beef tips and rice, fried okra, black eyed peas, mashed potatoes and salad.  You got your sweet tea right after and while you decided where to park it to eat... a sweet lady asks how many and cornbread or rolls.  THEN you get the surprise of your life — she comes back with the REAL, amazingly yummy to the tummy cornbread and HOT APPLE PIE!!  Good LORD!  Like the plate in front of me wasn't enough.  Needless to say, it will be my new place to dine when I make the drive to Philadelphia. 

And now, tomorrow is Friday.  Honestly, I couldn't be happier to see the weekend come.  It's truly been one busy, hectic week and I could use a nice LONG weekend. 

How has your week been??

Papaw's 82nd Birthday

This weekend, we celebrated my papaw's 82nd birthday.  All of his grandchildren were present, along with his sons and their wives.

There was food, lots of food, and good ole conversations.  It's always fun when we all get together.

Now, the following photo is a quiz for you.  Which one do you think is correct?  

Of course, he could pass for a 28 year old any day!

These are the "younger" grandchildren singing Happy Birthday to him.

Game Day... Female Version

How a female views it... by me. 

It’s Game Day, and I've already been thinking about/planning for this for a few days.  The menu was decided, the groceries have been purchased, now what in the world do I start to cook first?  How many coolers should we bring?  One for hot food and one for cold?  How many people are tailgating with us?  Honey, do you think the Smith's will make it to the tailgate?  I don't want his wife seeing me copy her tailgate menu from last week.  Oh no, did I remember to buy white napkins?  No, honey, we can't use the "Happy Birthday" napkins from your 40th birthday party. Why in the world am I still in this bed? I've got to get a move on it or nothing will be done with this hair.
 
Two hours before we leave and I can't believe he is still glued to that TV.  If only the announcer on ESPN could call out my measurements for salt and pepper. Wait a minute how much paprika did I just pour in?
 
The food is in the oven and I've got to get in the shower. Honey, when the timer goes off will you pull the dip out of the oven? No answer, just the game announcer shouting TOUCHDOWN and then I hear, "WHAT? Y'all better review that play!" Is it humid outside? What will the temperature be when the game begins?  Wait, 57 degrees by halftime — I don't own a white long sleeve shirt and it's a white out game!  With rollers in my hair, I run to see if he pulled out the dip. Thankfully the game was on a commercial break and my dip didn't over bake!
 
I turn the TV off, otherwise the car will never be loaded.  I'm sure we will be the last ones at our tailgate. Now why did I volunteer to bring all this food?  An hour and a half on the highway with SEC football on XM, not a word is spoken except, "Slow down there's a speed trap ahead." As we pull onto campus the excitement of Game Day is in the air. We're finally at our tailgate only to find we forgot our chairs — thankfully our friends brought more. The kids throw the football around as the ladies take pictures. I love seeing all our friends drop by for a visit.
 
It’s sad to pack it all up but the time has come to march our way in to the stadium zone. The team is pumped and the fans are all cheering. Why in the world did our stadium neighbors give their seats to our game day enemies?  The band is playing, the cowbells are ringing and yes, I could have gotten away wearing my maroon sweater.  Ready for the game clock to start, it's here at last.  This is what we live for, it's game day at last.

To read the male version, click here!!  And a huge thanks to a wonderfully, amazing friend, Leilani Salter for taking the photo above at the MSU/LSU game a few weeks ago.

GAME DAY... Male Version

How a male views it... by my co-worker and childhood friend, Fredie Carmichael.

College football in the Deep South is something to behold. The anticipation. The excitement. The energy. The passion.
  
The season doesn’t simply begin in late August and end after Christmas. For most diehard guys the bowl game is followed closely by the recruiting season, spring practice, and the summer schedule breakdown period.
  
There is no lull; college football is not confined to a season here. But when the regular season does roll around, it’s not simply Game Day for us — it’s Game Week.
  
Almost as soon as the final horn sounds on Saturday we immediately begin breaking down our opponent for the following week.
  
By Monday afternoon, we’ve dissected every column, blog posting, tweet or video with analysis from the Sunday press conference. The week is full of obsessive message board reading, water-cooler chat, trash-talking text messages about our rivals and, eventually, predictions for the next game.
  
We’re pumped by the time Friday arrives. We wear golf shirts with our team’s logo emblazoned on our chest and we try to get through the day with as much productivity as possible. Some of us even put in extra hours early in the week so we can break away early on Friday to prepare. And once Friday night rolls around we try to temper our anticipation with a high school football game. But typically it just makes us all the more anxious about the next day’s game.
  
Before we go to sleep Friday night, we look over our plans for the tailgate and make sure everything is in order — tickets, tent, game day attire, grill, cooler and a football. We’re set.
  
Saturday mornings are usually hectic. We’re in a race to make sure we get to the stadium, set up our tailgate and have plenty of time — at least two hours — to sit with our friends and prepare for the game.
  
By the time we head to the stadium to settle in for the game, a nervous energy takes over. Seven days worth of hopes are now pinned on a group of 18, 19 and 20-something year olds. As the stadium roars for the opening kick off, we scream for our team and realize — this is what it’s all about.

Stay tuned... the Female Version is coming next!!  And a huge thanks to a wonderfully, amazing friend, Leilani Salter for taking the photo above at the MSU/LSU game a few weeks ago.

What can you do?

Have you ever wanted to do something nice for someone, but you didn't know who or what to do?  I'm pretty sure I can solve your problem, especially if you love dogs. 

Lucky Dog Rescue is in need.  Yes, an adoption or a donation would be nice and would bring a HUGE smile a lot of faces — yours, the dog and Mama Ashley, but what can you do if you can't give money or adopt one of those babies??  I have the answer and it will bring a smile to yours and the other faces, too.

You can foster one of those babies for a weekend, week or even a month.  And the best part, it's ALL EXPENSES PAID!!!  You read that correct, all you need is the use of your home and your love. 

I'm sure you've seen those commercials on TV where they show the heart breaking animals in cages and ask you for a monthly donation.  Well, I'm sure those places get a lot of those donations, even adoptions, but what is being done here??  Think about all those sweet babies on TV and how sad they look.  I can tell you that you won't see that look on the Lucky Dog Rescue dog's faces.  Why?  Because when you walk in — you look like their new best friend and they have smiles on their faces.  Do they get hyper and bark when you walk in, yes!  Why?  Because they are sooo excited to see you!  They want your attention and your love.  Now, could you offer up your love for one of them at least for one weekend, week or month?  Still not sure?  Read this...  Foster Back-Outs   And now, look at these cuties that need your attention...

And there are MANY others you can choose from.  So, do me a favor please... think about doing something special for one of the Lucky Dog Rescue pups — not only will you be getting the best reward, but you'll also be doing something amazing for someone, Ashley.  Again, I'm not saying go adopt one right now, even though that would be amazing — however, fostering is the next best thing!!

So, you can't foster and you can't adopt.  Do you get a lunch break?  Do you ever have one of those days where you want to have lunch with someone, but no one is around to have lunch with you?  Why don't you go have lunch with one of the Lucky Dogs?  They LOVE visitors to take them for a walk around the kennel and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't mind a pinch of your sandwich.  You have no idea what just a few minutes of special time with one of them does for their hearts.  It gives them hope that maybe, just maybe one day someone will come and adopt them and they can share walks and maybe even lunch with their new family daily. 

I answered the question, "what can you do?"  Now, what WILL you do?   

I LOVE Toe Socks

Yes, I will admit it — I LOVE TOE SOCKS!!  I just wish more people sold them!  Here are some of the ones that I love!!

Lamar Reunion 1991 & 1992

Last Saturday morning was just like any normal Saturday except while I was making pancakes in the kitchen, Terry was in the recliner saying "wow, I remember that..." and "I can't believe that was the style then."  Why was he saying all of this?  Because he was looking back at his high school yearbooks to get ready for the high school reunion that night at Weidmann's.

Terry is on the far right on the middle row.

Terry and Dee Dee Price

After getting ready and changing clothes a couple of times to figured out the right outfit, we were off to the reunion.  We met up with the Van Doren's a few minutes early to spend a little more time with them before it started.

The "Terry's" ladies...

Our near and dear friends, The Van Doren's

Then it was time for the reunion to begin.

As soon as we walked in I'll admit, I got a little nervous.  After all, I knew some of these people, but others I had no clue.  I remember being introduced to a lot of people right off the bat and then it was like they were back in high school again, as if twenty years had never passed.  The only changes were they were all successful, married with or without children and better dressed!  ha

Dinner at Weidmann's is never disappointing.  And, of course, I had the chicken plate.  =)

 After dinner it was back to visiting... enjoy the pictures!

The Class of 1991...

The Class of 1992...

Sunday morning, we were still talking about the reunion... good times were had by all!