where have i been?

oh, thanksgivinging, birthdaying, and getting ready for 1/2 marathoning....
wanna hear about it? i thought you'd never ask.

we spent a majority of our time during the thanksgiving break in good ole SEARK (southeast arkansas) and it was wonderful. there were no plans, no deadlines, no demands - just lots of fun, hunting, fellowshipping, and eating - and eating - and eating. i swore i'd never eat again.

we hunted everyday over the break - on thanksgiving day, the first morning, jwood killed this 10 point!! he sat on the stand with my step brother, the deer guide, and i hunted with my dad on a separate stand. when dad and showed up empty handed - j had this bad boy hanging out waiting on us!!!

i'm pretty sure there's nothing more sexy.... :D

i was such a proud little hunter wife!

i'm pretty sure my papa was proud too!

being a deer guide is hard work, but somebody's gotta do it.

as you can see - we spent LOTS of time in camo. haha

meg and i did some target shooting - watch out! it had been years since i shot a rifle - i still got it :)

down home :)

on this day - it was my day to kill a doe. i'd hunted and hunted and no one let me shoot. i was going to get my very first deer and do my part in adding to the deer meat in the freezer. welp. along came a danged coyote and dylan said we had to kill it. what? before i could turn around - jwood had the gun up and the coyote was dead as a doornail. apparently, coyotes and deer don't get along. less coyotes = more deer. well, that day - all we go was a coyote and i got no deer. boo. but, we sure had a good time with it!

so, as you can see - we had a down home roots kinda thanksgiving. for the first time in a long time, i didn't want to leave dear old dumas. we are truly thankful for loving family and good, fun, relaxing breaks.

but, i had to come back, you see - it was my birthday on monday!!! the big 27......... ouch. my fabulous friends helped me to celebrate at one of my favorite little restaurants in nashville, rosepepper! mmmmmm mmmmm good. not only am i thankful for an awesome family, i'm super thankful for my groovy friends too! thanks to all of you who helped me celebrate - even though i was the oldest there. d'oh!


i can't believe how quickly time passes. i have celebrated 5 birthdays with jess and 4 with kelly! love you, girls, with all my heart! i honestly don't know what i'd do without you. you have both been around through some of the best and worst times. i treasure you.

this little lady forgot my birthday! hilarious story. i mean - she's my only sister. how can she forget me? we talk every morning on the way to work - like clockwork. monday - we had our usual 15 minute chat griping about traffic, dreading going back to work, chatting about the great weekend - but no mention of my birthday. i kept waiting and waiting.

have a good day! love you! *click* i knew that when she got to work - she'd remember. sure enough - i got an email about 1 hour after we got to work saying, "ok, i'm an a$$, i so didn't wish you happy birthday!" hahaa i forgave her..... after a few hours. :) i've never had another sister, but i'm pretty sure she's the best sister in the entire world! she completes my little world and i wouldn't trade her for anything!

my girl, leah, got to experience rosepepper for the first time! she is r. kelly's biggest fan - seriously. she tried to get him for me for my birthday but she already used him up on hers. so glad you came, leah! :)

let me introduce you to jill! she's a doll! she was on the awesome wolf pack kickball team this fall - lemme tell ya... she's far better than me. ha! but, we like to hate on folks when we're in the dugout together. she's running the memphis 1/2 too!


these two ladies rock my socks off. who knew that by crashing patty's birthday in may, that i'd discover 2 new very, very good friends and they'd help me celebrate my birthday?! nope. not me. i have loved every outing with these two girls and cannot wait for many, many more!

jwood surprised me and sent my birthday gift - which i thought i'd already gotten - with patty, since we're neighbors and all. boy was i surprised!!! i got some lovely diamond studs! i've been talking about them for oh.... years now. he totally surprised me with them. i have the most thoughtful giftgiver as a husband :)

another year down! we pretty much celebrated. we pretty much ate. we pretty much had some awesome margaritas. i'm pretty much one blessed little lady.