Rainy Thursday

With rain in the forecast the last couple of days, I had decided that I would stay in and do some things around the house.

one of my flowerbeds enjoying the rain in July:

I had brought home some photo albums from my mom's house on Monday, so I've spent the last couple of days looking through memories from when I was younger and even before I was born. I want to make copies of some them to eventually have framed and put up on a photo wall in my house.

stack of photo albums:

I would love to have a hallway or staircase wall like in these two pictures:

I have been job searching for the last couple of months and have not had much luck. I'm looking for something that will be flexible since I'm starting back to school in August. I've sent out a ton of resumes and have filled out many applications these last two days, so hopefully I will get a callback for an interview in the next week. Finger's crossed!

Good News/ Bad News

I drove Mike to the diagnostic clinic for his 10am appointment today. His doctor decided that the best plan would be to put a camera down his esophagus and into his stomach to see what is causing him so much trouble. The nurse let me know that the procedure would take about an hour and half so I opted to take a pager and have them page me when he was in the recovery room. I ran some errands and then spent the rest of the time at Pro Image visiting with Abbe. As soon as I got the page I went to the clinic and back to the recovery room. Mike had just woke up and was still very groggy. He was saying the silliest things. The doctor came in with the pictures that they took with the camera and.....everything looked fine! This is good news and bad news. We had done a lot of research on the Internet and was worried about many things that could be wrong. It was definitely good news not to have to worry about esophageal cancer or esophagus damage. The bad news is that they still are not sure what is wrong. The doctor seems to think that it's a acid reflux/panic attack combination that is making him sick. So the plan is to change his diet and also take the medication that has been prescribed to him for both the acid reflux and panic attacks. I hope that this will make a difference because he is absolutely miserable. It breaks my heart to see him in so much pain.

and what's a blog without at least one picture....

my love taking a nap this afternoon:

Home Sweet Home and a Birthday!

Saturday afternoon I cooked my mom's birthday dinner. She had decided that she wanted a chicken casserole and my grandma's jello salad. I had never made either one so I was a little worried but both ended up turning out great. Mike wasn't feeling well on Sunday so he stayed home and I went down to my mom's house for a couple of days. It's always so nice to be with my momma! She is my whole world and the most amazing woman!

When I got there we visited for a little while and then went in to town to rent some movies and also to stop by the nursery since I hadn't been there since early June. She has moved everything out of the greenhouse and into the shade house because of the heat. It's also so much easier and faster to water everything when it's all together. I helped out most Saturday's in the Spring and I can't believe how empty it looks compared to then. She has made the nursery into such a wonderful place and I know she has many more ideas that will be amazing.

Brookhaven the Garden:

these are her HUGE tomato plants:

empty greenhouse:

side flowerbed:

Afterwards we headed back to mom's house to make a birthday peach pie. YUM-MY!

Mike really likes peaches so mom sent home a jar of her canned peaches for him!

Last night we watched Keeping the Faith (I would not recommend it) and Changeling (SO GOOD), ate a wonderful dinner, and then went to bed. This morning we woke up and had coffee on the porch and then headed back to the nursery to water. Mom needed so help with her laptop so we played with that and then it was time to head back to Fayetteville. Time always seems to fly by while I'm down there. Probably because I'm having so much fun! :) I hope you had a wonderful birthday Momma!


Mike has finally been able to get an appointment to have a camera put down his esophagus so that they can try and figure out what's causing him to feel so bad. We go in at 10am tomorrow. He is so miserable and ready to start the path of feeling better. Hope all goes well!

Softball and Friends

I slept in till 11am this morning! I couldn't believe it. That hasn't happened in a long time. I was a tired girl from all the running around I've done in the last couple of weeks.


Mike's softball team had a couple of makeup games yesterday after being rained out on Tuesday. They were undefeated but ended up losing both games last night. I sat with a group of wives/girlfriends and we used the time to visit instead of watching the horrible games! Hopefully the Cobras can bounce back and win on Tuesday. Just one more week and a tournament and then it's a break before Fall ball starts. It's seems like just yesterday that they were getting ready for Spring! This year is flying by!

After the game we all went to Buster's. Here's some pictures from the night:

Angie and I:

Mike and I:

Kara and Kate:
Mike and Destiny:

Mike and Mike:

Destiny, Brett and Howard:

Kate and Destiny:

Kara and Kirk:

Mike and Kirk:

Today is going to be a lazy day. My mom's birthday is Monday. I told her that I wanted to cook her a birthday dinner so Mike and I are going to go down tomorrow and visit and take her some good food! I'm going to do most of the cooking today so that we can just take it down, throw it in the oven, and enjoy! I can't wait to see her!

Social Butterfly

The last couple of days have been so wonderful! I'm so mad though that I didn't remember to take any pictures this week.

Tuesday was rainy and gloomy but that wasn't going to keep my best friend, Abbe, and I from getting together for dinner. Ever since she moved out and we no longer work together I never get to see her anymore. It's weird to have to work on meeting up, when before it was just a given that if one of us was doing something the other was invited and would be there. It seems like are lives are taking us in different directions and even though it makes me sad I know that we are both trying out new things and it's exciting. That being said I know that we will always be best friends! She's stuck with me! Sorry Abbe! :)

We met up at a new Mexican restaurant in town called Patron. Although I was a little disappointed with the chips and salsa the main dish was yum-my! We sat and visited for over two hours- we had lots of catching up to do! We have made plans to spend a day out at beaver lake and I am so looking forward to it!!


Wednesday was a day of house cleaning, laundry, and running errands. I even did a little Christmas shopping at Pro Image. I got most of it done early in the day so I spent Wednesday afternoon watching movies in my pj's! Last week I got a letter from Cox saying that if I signed up for their high speed Internet they would give me all the HBO and Cinemax channels free for 12 months. I have watched so many movies in the last week! I love it!

Today Mike and I met Kirk and Kara (friends of mike's from east arkansas) at Fast lanes for some bowling. I'm so horrible! The boys didn't even give us a chance. Kara and I ended up sitting at a table and visited while they played all the games. Afterwards we all went to Applebee's and had dinner. It was so good to see them. Hopefully we'll be able to visit one more time before they head back home.

That's all with me! Tomorrow's Friday and the start of the weekend! Yippee!

Terra Studios- Bluebird of Happiness

Last week my mom came to Fayetteville (she lives in my hometown- Ozark) to purchase a laptop for her new business, Brookhaven the Garden Nursery. I had commented many times that I needed to get one before I started back to school in August. Well my sweet mom bought me one when she bought hers. Thanks momma! They needed to install some programs so we left both laptops overnight. Unfortunately mom had to go back that night so I picked up both the next day.

We decided to meet up today so that I could deliver her laptop. We met at Terra Studios on Hwy 16 south of Elkins since it's close to half way in between us. Plus neither one of us had been there in long time. Terra Studios is home of the Bluebirds of Happiness. It also has a pottery studio, blown glass gallery, and many gardens. They love gnomes and they are everywhere!

I warn you there are a TON of pictures:

the entrance:

bluebird of happiness house:

flower ladies:

waterfall in the sculpture garden:

glass used to make bluebirds:

gnomes around the campfire:

me and my friend:

mom and the "trash troll"

stoneware mural:

frog in a bikini:

trail:

bluebird of happiness gallery:

making bluebirds:

Bluebirds of Happiness:

Inside the Muse Gallery:

lunch in -of course- the gnome booth:

our table top- sand and gnome village: after lunch:

tea and cookies:

shhh ballet lessons in progress:

fairy wings:

sitting on the throne:

opening up her laptop:

this picture cracks me up- she was so excited:

bridge leading to the gazebo:

mom really liked the pattern on this picnic table:

Gazebo:
The Muse Gallery and coffee house where we had lunch:

Storms getting closer:

These two had to come home with me:

We had such a wonderful time this afternoon!

Hope your Monday was as good as mine!