Sitting in the quiet house, eating Doritos, drinking a Captain and Coke, and just chillin'.

Brad is in Arkansas for the weekend. He called me and was sitting in one of the bars on the riverfront. I am so jealous. I want to go to
Arkansas and play too!

He has a business meeting tomorrow with some folks in NLR and then he is going hunting with his buddies. They are going to get up at the butt crack of dawn, wade through some cold ass water up to their armpits and shoot at ducks.

I don't mind him going and hanging out with his friends. Everyone needs a weekend away with their friends now and then...and if he gets a duck...MMMMmmmm Mmmmm yummy! Speaking of ducks.. you know I can't post without putting up some new pictures. Soo...here are some pics from Christmas. All were taken in Stuttgart, Arkansas: The Rice and Duck Capital of the World. Also the town in which I grew up.

Hooray for the Red, White and Blue!

and the men and women who fight for her!

Some of you may know that my brother is in the Arkansas National Guard. In 2003-04 he was called to active duty and was stationed in Iraq. He was just outside of Bagdad and saw much combat. It was not easy on him, his wife, his children, or his family. By family I mean my parents, my brother, me, my grandparents, his aunts and uncles...etc.

I am lucky (although some would say unlucky) that my extended family is very close. Cousins, aunts, uncles, greats: we all call each other and keep up with each other. As children we grew up having HUGE family get togethers. Think BIG typical southern family gatherings with much food, games, water sports, etc.

So...we all worried about my brother a lot and prayed for him and missed him. I was pregnant with my first daughter during the time he was gone. He missed my whole pregnancy. I had a dog tag with a soldier's prayer on it, I wore it everyday til he came home. I even have it on in the pictures of me in the hospital with my baby. Knowing where he was and what he was going through gave me strength to face the challenges here at home. I knew if he could handle the death and destruction and fear surrounding him every day, that there wasn't anything I couldn't deal with here at home. His bravery gave me bravery.

I am so proud to call him my brother. Sure he will always be "doofus", my younger brother, but he is also one of my biggest heroes.

There is someone else that I am proud to call my friend. He and I were very close in high school and continued our friendship into college. We haven't stayed in touch as much as we should since we have gotten older. But we still occasionally talk on the phone and he has been to visit my parents a few times.

The year after our sophmore year of college he and I both sat out a semester. He decided to join the Air Force. I had gone to the recruiter with him, had taken my entrance test and was getting ready to take the physical when I found out I had been accepted into nursing school. I opted out of joining up with him, but he went ahead and joined.

Just recently he won the Military's Visual Information Award for his creative work in the field. He won Videographer of the Year. It is a huge honor and I believe it is important to make known the work that he does.

So...here is my shout out to my friend Technical Sergeant Gary Burdett. Please take some time to go and read the article and watch the video. These men are amazing and their work is so important. They show us a side of the military that most people don't get to see.

"I'm Proud to be a Jamerican"

Flashback Friday: 1989

What to talk about today? It is Friday, so I should be doing something Flashbacky for ya'll. I've had some ideas but haven't knuckled down and decided on any one thing. Ohhhh, hey I have an idea... one of my friends from college posted a pic of us from those days. Hee hee...

This is me and my friend Tracy circa 1989. I'm on the right in the vest. This was taken in front of my door in my dorm room. Tracy is a vera cool person and extremely fun to hang out with.

One of our other friends just wanted to take some black and white photos of all of us. There are about 4 more of these type of pics of several of my friends and I.

I believe my hair was dyed black and this cute looking bob got shorter in the back and my head was actually sorta shaved in the back....


You gotta love our 80's look. We were so stylin', I wish I had the rest of the pics that go with this one to show you.



Whew, I wish I was still that skinny....

So....today I haven't done my exercise. Wondering if you can count sex instead of cardio workout....
Got out of the house for church today. Was interesting..pastor has the flu so we had a lay reader for the sermon. Kids were really well behaved. It's nice to be able to go somewhere again and not have to worry so much about them freaking out on us.
I am sticking to my diet though! Been trying out new recipes and maybe changing up one or two things, but for the most part staying with what is suggested.
One of my girl friends is going to babysit for us Friday night!!!! We are going to be able to go to a movie or out to dinner. YAY!!!! A couple of hours without children...what will I do with myself.

Been watching the football games. I've always liked Seattle....but Pitt is so close. It's like who do I cheer for during the Superbowl. Oh well, when it all comes done to it, who really cares? right?

Not too much else going on right now. I haven't weighed myself yet......I hope I have lost some weight..if I haven't, well, I'm going to be kind of upset. I feel like I'm working out hard and dieting..and I'm hungry ALOT!!!

We saw this woman in the grocery store that we met when we first moved up here. Her kid was on the soccer team we were coaching. We had her and her husband and two children over for dinner one night, trying to make some new friends in town. After that we pretty much never heard from them again. Imagine how surprised she was to see TWO babies with us. She never got to meet the first. Hee hee. She is really really nice, but we couldn't ever figure out why they never called us again...oh well. I gave her my number again we'll see what happens this time.