For the past couple weeks, I've had a huge craving for Sloppy Joes. Don't ask why. We haven't eaten Sloppy Joes since we have been married and that is over 6 years now. We have looked high and low for Sloppy Joe mix and finally found it at Wal-Mart a few days ago. Tonight, we decided to have them for dinner. We had the Official Redneck Meal, as I have deemed it. Here is the menu in case you are wondering what you have to do to fix yourself such a fine feast.

Main Course: Sloppy Joes on Hamburger Buns
Side Courses: Mini-Tater Tots & Dorritos
Beverage of choice: Lemonade or Mountain Dew

As I'm biting into my Sloppy Joe, Matthew says, "Oh no, you have to take a Dorrito and eat it immediately after taking a bite of Sloppy Joe in order to get the full experience." So, he hands me a Dorrito and I do as he recommended. As I'm trying to swallow the bite I just took Matthew exclaims, "Mmmm, I can almost hear the metal screen door slamming on the trailer." I swear I thought I would choke to death I laughed so hard.

After our fancy dinner, we decided we'd better look over the sample ballot in the newspaper to see who all the candidates were and what their positions were on the issues. We've both decided who we are voting for in the Presidential election but this was more about deciding on local government positions and senate seats. Wouldn't you know it that tonight of all nights, when we had just dined on the Official Redneck Meal would we come across this guy. I swear, he is really on the ballot for our district. Go check out Jon "Trailer Park" Jackson for yourself. You'll be glad you did! He's awesome! I'll let you know if he wins on election day!

***Disclaimer: No disrespect intended for my Redneck counterparts. I too claim to be at least currently 1/2 Redneck. I have caught a large mouth bass, lived in a trailer, love Larry The Cable Guy, have ridden both a horse and a 4 wheeler, think Bass Pro Shop is cooler than Sax 5th Avenue, have had an argument with relatives about whether wrestling is "fake" or not, and I live in Nashville for goodness sake!"

Hello again! I don't know about you, but I feel like fall is already over because it has been getting so cold at night! We've already started running the heat at night. Burrr! I don't like being cold. I'm a summer time girl. Oh well, I guess since I can't control the weather, I'd better come up with something else to do. As you can probably guess from the title of this post, we're headed out again. I'm torn between wanting to stay home and get geared up for Thanksgiving and Christmas or traveling these days. I usually like to stay home between now and the New Year. But, oh well.

I guess it won't hurt me to take a couple little vacations here and there since that is why I started this blog. I am just getting lazy in my old age. I will turn 30 in November, after all. ha.ha. So, where does November take us?

Of course, we'll be heading to east TN to see my family around Thanksgiving time frame. But, we also have two work trips planned. Work meaning, work for Matthew, not me of course. ha.ha. I don't do work. ha.ha. We'll be going to Greenville, South Carolina for 4 days (I think) and then we'll drive up to the Washington, D.C. area for 4 days after that. So, it will be a lot of driving. But, Matthew and I usually find a lot to talk about on the road so it should be fun. We lived in the D.C. area for a few years and I remember it being bone chilling cold (to me anyway) by this point in the season, so I am NOT looking forward to that part. But, it is always fun to see old friends too. We hope to get together with "Uncle" Andre. He started out as a sweet guy that offered to watch Lexi for us while we were on a trip and he quickly became a great family friend. We all (Lexi included) miss Andre. I call him "Uncle" because he refers to Lexi as his "niece" as I refer to his dogs Lisa & George as my "niece and nephew". Yes, I know, we are silly. ha.ha. But, you have to have greyhounds to understand. ha.ha.

I don't think we're going anywhere for a while though (at least not till Halloween is over) so I will be sure to post pictures of this Friday's festivities for you. I'll keep a trick-or-treater count and we're hoping its pretty high. We want to "beat" last year's count which was around 150, I believe. Yes, we are prepared. I will try to get a picture up of all Matthew's candy he's purchased. It would make any dentist cringe, let me tell you!

O.k., I know, 2 posts in 1 day is unusual around here. But, Matthew said that I must give equal screen time to James Rollins, since I just wrote about Vince Flynn today. In case you missed the last blog post, these are my 2 favorite authors. Their books are very fast, action packed reads. I would highly recommend each and every book they have written and yes, I've read them all. James Rollins and Vince Flynn write 2 very different types of books. Flynn's books are all about counter terrorism agent Mitch Rapp and his quest to rid the world of bad guys. Rollins' books started out as scientific based adventures, with books set in the desert, jungle, and even the Arctic. Then, he left those story lines when he wrote Map of Bones and then he started his Sigma Force novels. Sigma Force is a covert part of the Defense Department (fiction of course, but cool none the less). Commander Gray Pierce is the head of this group and he is almost as cool a hero as Flynn's Mitch Rapp. That isn't to say that I like Flynn better than Rollins. I don't, they are both equally awesome.

While I do enjoy Rollins' Sigma Force novels, my favorites are his earlier works and all his character's wild adventures. It all starts with Amazonia (which is of course set in the Amazon Rain Forest). The scary creatures and scenarios encountered in Rollins' first 6 books are fantastic! Like I mentioned in an earlier post, these creatures you encounter in his books are so spooky but they almost seem real---like they really could exist. They aren't your typical horror books, far from it. They are fast paced adventure novels and you really feel like you are part of the action as you get wrapped up in the lives of the scientists and explorers in his stories.

I mentioned before that I sent a fan e-mail to Rollins and got a response back from him. I think it is cool when authors will write to their fans themselves instead of having someone else do it. It makes me appreciate his work even more that he finds time to connect with his fans. To him I say, keep up the good work and I can't wait till your next book!

Here is a list of James Rollins' books in case you are interested. While the first 6 books don't have to be read in order since neither builds on the last, I'd still recommend reading them in the order that they were written. Starting with Map of Bones, I'd read them exactly in that order since some build on previous works of his. Rollins has been compared to Dan Brown (author of The DaVinci Code) but I think Rollins is much more exciting and cool! I hope you find his books as great as I do! I would HIGHLY recommend either Flynn or Rollins for long plane rides. Both authors will have you back on the ground before you know it. There have been many flights that I've had the pleasure of having one of their books with me and the time passes so quickly.

1. Amazonia
2. Deep Fathom
3. Excavation
4. Subterranean
5. Ice Hunt
6. Sandstorm
7. Map of Bones
8. Black Order
9. The Judas Strain
10. The Last Oracle

Happy Saturday guys! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend so far. I'm super excited for 2 reasons. Reason 1: We have box seats for the Predators game tonight! Yeah! Reason 2: My very favorite author Vince Flynn (o.k. 1 of 2 favorite authors, the other is James Rollins) just put out a new book!

Matthew and I LOVE to read. It is probably one of our very favorite activities. Matthew also loves Flynn and Rollins and we have a little contest going. We always try to be the first person to spot either author's new books in the stores. I always win. Mainly because I cheat and check out their websites to find out when their books are coming out and conveniently forget to share the news with Matthew. :) But, last night, the queen was dethroned. We went to Kroger at 1 a.m. (so technically I guess that was this morning) but we weren't there looking for books. We went for allergy medicine and Kleenex (actually I prefer Puffs, but that doesn't matter for this story). As luck would have it, there was a rack of books directly beside the isle with the allergy meds. All of a sudden, I hear Matthew gasp and he takes off practically at running speed through the Kroger and snatches a book off the shelf. I quickly follow to see what he's spied. And, DANG IT! It is the new Vince Flynn book Extreme Measures! Whoever finds the book usually gets to read it first, since we are too cheap to buy two copies, especially since we are too impatient to wait for paperbacks. So, Mr. Matthew is extremely proud of himself and has been gloating about it since then. That's o.k., I reminded him that he has to work and that I'll read it while he's working and if he isn't nice to me, I'll tell him the plot and spoil it. ha.ha. Nah, I'm not that mean. Well, maybe... :)

If you haven't heard of Vince Flynn, I suggest you check out his website here. His books are action packed adventures. The main character Mitch Rapp is a counter terrorism specialist and he is always after the bad guys in the novels. Each book builds on the last, so I would recommend reading them in order. If you don't have anything else to do this weekend, go pick up a copy of his first book, Term Limits. You'll be glad you did. Here is a list of his books, in order if once you pick up Term Limits, you just have to have the others! Happy reading folks!

1. Term Limits
2. Transfer of Power
3. The Third Option
4. Separation of Power
5. Executive Power
6. Memorial Day
7. Consent to Kill
8. Act of Treason
9. Protect and Defend
10. Extreme Measures (just came out Oct. 21st)

I'll talk about James Rollins in another post as he is right up there with Flynn. He's super nice and has even personally responded to an e-mail I sent him. His books are fabulous and are all about scary monsters lurking in unsuspecting places. But, they aren't your typical horror books. The scary thing is that his monsters sound like plausible creatures that you just hope you don't ever meet up with! Then, he dives into the historical fiction type novels (Middle Ages type stuff-kind of hard to explain without giving anything away) and those are just as good as his previous works.

Sounds like an easy question, right? Not in this house. Neither Matthew nor I are really cooks, so we eat out a lot. Problem is, we get tired of all the places to eat out around here. So, sometimes we really just want to eat at home. Last night, we had chili and it was really good. But, we were looking for something we don't normally eat for tonight. We've tried to do better about getting some exercise, so we've started walking a minimum of 30 minutes, 3 times a week. I think we'll beat that goal this week as we've already walked 2 days this week at 45 minutes each time. Anyway, the conversation that follows was our topic of choice while walking.

Matthew: So, what do you want for dinner tonight?
Me: I don't know, what about you?
Matthew: I don't know.
(this continues for 10 minutes or so, back and forth with the "I Don't Knows.")
Matthew: What about tacos?
Me: Nah.
Matthew: What about fettuccini alfredo and garlic bread?
Me: Nah.
(My "nahs" continue for at least 20 or 30 things Matthew suggests.)
Me: What about sloppy joes and tater tots?
Matthew: What? Are you serious?
(we haven't eaten sloppy joes a single time in the 6 years we've been married.)
Matthew: Well, why not, let's do it if you are serious about it.

So, after our walk, we head to Kroger. Now notice I said we walked for 45 minutes. We hashed out the pros and cons of pretty much every entree we've ever eaten and I finally talked Matthew into sloppy joes. Guess what Kroger doesn't have? Sloppy joe seasoning and Matthew had already said absolutely not to "canned" sloppy joe mix. So, we enlist the help of 2 of our friendly Kroger associates who have no such luck finding it either. So, we try going to Target to see if they have it. Nope, nothing. So, there we stand in the middle of Target starving to death because from the time we first talked about dinner at least 2 hours has passed. We are starting to get a bit snippy with each other because we are so hungry. I say, "Let's just go" because we can't agree on anything to eat. Matthew is pretty snippy too and says, "Whatever you want to eat, wherever you want to go eat out at, we'll go, just name it. I'm so hungry, I don't even care." So, I say Mikados and he says fine.

Now Mikados is probably 1 of 2 of our most favorite restaurants of all time, so he was pretty happy with the suggestion anyway. For those of you who don't know what Mikados is, it is a Japanese hibachi restaurant here in Nashville and it is SOOOOOO good. The best part is we had the entire place all to ourselves. Seriously! There were 20 or so people in there when we first got there but they all left before we even finished our salads. Then, it was total silence. We were at a hibachi table all by ourselves, just us and our chef. We got to enjoy our dinner and listen to the peaceful Japanese music playing in the background over the speakers. It was just delightful! We even got orange sherbert for dessert (and a fortune cookie of course). I joked with Matthew that I felt like a mob boss, at a big table all by ourselves. ha.ha.

I guess you are wondering what our fortunes were. Mine said, "You shouldn't worry about the stock market. Your investment will be fine." Well, now that is a relief isn't it? Matthew's said, "Your respect of other people will bring you much success." Matthew is a good guy, so I'd say that is true.

Totally off subject, but I wish you guys could see Lexi right now. She has been having to wear her muzzle around the clock because she is STILL picking at her foot. She hates the muzzle and rubs it on her kennel, the wall, the baby gate that blocks off her room from the rest of the house, on us, pretty much anywhere she can rub. I've tried to reason with her that if she'd just leave her foot alone that I'd take it off. But, as soon as it is off, she goes to town licking her foot. The thing is, it is a different toe this time that is raw and sore, but on the same foot as before. I've been soaking her foot in Epsom salts and yes, she hates that too. But, after 2 days in muzzle doggie jail, it already looks some better. I'll try to get a photo of her in her muzzle. She looks hilarious.

Hello guys, I hope you've had a splendid weekend so far. Me, I'm in a pretty foul mood. I was super pumped about last night's Nashville Predators vs. Columbus Blue Jackets game. Last week, Matthew and I spent a boat load on tickets to go see the Preds vs. Dallas, so we decided it would be best if we just stayed home and watched the Preds vs. Columbus on t.v. Well, that would have been fine and dandy if the game WERE on t.v.! Usually, we get the games on our local cable sports channel. But, if we would have bothered to check the schedule, we would have seen that last night's home game wasn't being broadcast.

When did we think to check the schedule? Well, we had just sat down with a nice Papa John's pizza, a Diet Dr. Pepper for Matthew, and a Caffeine Free Mountain Dew for me. The time was 6:58 p.m. and I began frantically flipping through channels while yelling to Matthew who was getting our t.v. tray tables from the other room, "What channel is it?" He answers and when I get there, there is some obscure football game on. I share my concern and he says, "Nah, the game will be on in a second." Oh no, it wasn't. I said, "Are you sure the game is even on tonight?" Then, I go look at the schedule. I was sooooo mad. Matthew was pretty upset too. We both agreed had we known that the game wasn't being televised, we would have bucked up and bought some tickets. Oh well, what can you do? I was so upset that I burst into tears over pizza (hey, I'm a big fan) so I said the only thing that would make me feel better was a trip to Target. So, off we went. With my brand new Strawberry Chapstick in hand, I was feeling a touch better.

Since I don't have any photos from the game that we missed....dang it....I figured I'd share some of the Predators home game rules with you. The only rule we will cover today is Rule #1.

Rule #1 (I made these up of course, but they ARE true): If the word "sucks" bothers you (or you don't want your kid to hear it) you'd better stay home.

I tried to keep a "sucks" count one time at a game but lost count in the hundreds. ha.ha. Why would you hear this word? Well, I'll give you examples that way if you want to attend one of our games, you'll be all set to "suck" it up with us!

1) When calling out the starting line up for an opposing team. For example, Paul (he's our announcer) will say, "First up, the starting line up for the Detroit Red Wings, No. 23, John Doe."
Proper crowd response: SUCKS!
*This is repeated after the name of every player for the opposing team is said.

2) When calling out the head coach for an opposing team. For example, Paul will say,
"And the head coach for the Dallas Stars is John Doe."
Proper crowd response: And he sucks too!

3) When the ref makes a bad call.
Proper crowd response: Ref you suck! Ref you suck!
(This is repeated until you feel better about the call, which is usually at least 1/2 dozen times).

4) When the opposing team goalie lets in a shot by the Predators.
Proper crowd response: (said in a taunting voice to the other team's goalie)
John, John, John, he shoots, he scores, YOU SUCK!
It's all your fault! It's all your fault! It's all your fault!

5) When the opposing team is on a power play, the announcer will say, "The Columbus Blue Jackets are on the power play."
Proper crowd response: And they STILL suck!

I hope you have all enjoyed Predators Hockey 101. We'll follow up with another lesson soon, this one called "Fang Fingers." What in the world is that, do you ask? You'll just have to wait and see. Yes, I know, that sucks. :)

But, I'll show you something that doesn't suck, a photo of yummy Jordin Tootoo and I from last year. He's mine (and yes, even Matthew's) favorite player. But, I don't think Matthew would call him "yummy." ha.ha.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the country's most visited national park. This park lies within the mountains of TN and NC. Luckily, we got to drive through the North Carolina part of the park on our drive to Greenville, SC. We were very fortunate to get to snap some photos of why the Smokies are called Smoky. There is a natural haze (that looks like smoke) that hangs over the mountains and these photos capture it very well. I've been through these mountains many times, but usually in the summer, so there isn't as much "smoke" as there is in other parts of the year. This time, we lucked out! I hope you enjoy the photos and check out the park website if you'd like to visit.

Also, the additional photos you see here are of the sunset on the way home to Nashville. We always have the most beautiful sunsets here and every day they look different. Sometimes we get purple, pink, or orange. The day these photos were taken we were treated to shades of white and gray. You just never know what you are going to get, but it is always perfect. Enjoy and I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!


First up: The Smoky pictures.
Next up: Please excuse the nasty bug gut splatters on the windshield. It had been a long drive. :)
But, I thought the beauty of this sunset definitely outweighed the grossness factor of the bug guts and deserved to be posted.

Happy Thursday! I'm back after spending 2 glorious days shopping with my mom. We practically bought out every store we went in. I'm tired but my closet is full. So, that brings us back to Greenville, South Carolina and today I'll post about our hotel. I already mentioned The Westin Poinsett in previous blog posts, but saved the majority of the photos of our actual room for today. I didn't get any of the outside of the building (it was either dark or raining) so the ones of the room will have to do.

Remember when I said not to worry, because we were going back to Greenville and I'd be able to take even more photos for the delight of my readers? Well, we are going back in November! We'll be headed there on the 5th and will stay all week. So, you should get to see more of Greenville after that trip than you did on this one. I'm not sure we'll be doing any more travel between now and then. Matthew really hasn't had a business need to travel here lately and since we do so much traveling as is, we're pretty tired and are really enjoying just being at home for now. So, for the next few weeks, you'll just have to deal with my ramblings from the home front. I still have a few more photos of our trip through the North Carolina mountains on the way home from Greenville that I will share with you soon. So, stay tuned!


Our bedroom and comfy bed. The one tiny problem with this bed is that the feather pillows don't have enough feathers in them. There were other pillows, but we both prefer the feather ones and there were only 2 of them so we couldn't double up on them. If you are traveling alone, you should be alright with the feather pillows since you could use both for yourself.
Our nice, modern looking bathroom. The towels were really nice and fluffy and clean looking. We were on The Starwood Preferred Guest Floor. If you travel to Westin, Sheraton, Four Points, W, St. Regis, Aloft, or Element Hotels be sure to sign up for their guest reward program before your stay. Using points for future stays is no-hassle with Starwood (one of the many reasons we love them!)
Our sitting area. The window behind the brown chair is where the photos from the previous post were taken.
Another view of our sitting area. If you hear a humming (electrical) sound at night and are trying to figure out what it is, it is the tv. We unplugged ours because we could hear it when we were trying to sleep. I have no idea why it makes this sound, but unplugging it solved it. Other than the humming of the tv, there was absolutely no sound from other guests or street noise. It was perfectly quite. On a side note, we also had a nice sized closet with plenty of hangers and 2 luggage bag stands which Matthew says is one of the earmarks of a nice hotel. A lot of the places we've stayed only provide 1 but since many people travel as a couple, it is nice when they give you 2.
Bonus Shot: A cool pic I took before driving through a tunnel in the North Carolina mountains. There are 2 such tunnels on the drive. I have a video of us going through the other tunnel and I'll try to get that up soon. The spots on the window are a combo of drizzly rain and dead bug guts.

Hello! I hope you enjoyed the fall foliage pics from North Carolina. Now, I have a few of Greenville, SC to share. We LOVE visiting Greenville. The people there are so nice and you won't find a better downtown area for shopping, restaurants, and just walking around. Sadly, it was dark by the time we arrived, so I didn't get to take nearly as many photos as I would have liked. As luck would have it, it also rained the next day, so again, no photos. We plan on going back again soon and then I promise to take a lot of photos to make up for this trip. You can tell by just walking around in Greenville's downtown that they work very hard to keep it nice. It is so clean and in the early morning, we saw evidence of cleaning crews doing everything from pruning plants to cleaning the streets. Greenville is a very historic town and the architecture is like a step back in time. It is a city with the best of both worlds in my opinion, as it still retains its old timer charm while having classy hotels and fancy restaurants. There is something for everyone in Greenville.

We stayed at The Westin Poinsett Hotel. We really like this hotel. It was built in 1920 and they have done a really good job of renovating the hotel, while still staying true to its original design. I'll post pictures of it on another day. I especially like that the bathroom is just like any other Westin we've stayed in (nice, bright, and modern) while the bedroom and sitting area stay with the historic feel of the place.

We ate at a really good Mexican restaurant downtown. It was called Cantinflas and along with The Westin is located right on Main Street. Cantinflas had THE BEST beans (they came with both our meals) that I have ever eaten. I got the cheese quesadilla and beef burrito combo with rice and beans and Matthew got fajitas. Both of us ate until we were stuffed and still had food left over. It was great! We will definitely be back there. The best part about the restaurants in downtown is that the majority of them are smoke-free indoors! How cool is that?! A lot of the places are more restaurant than bar though and those allowed smoking. So, you just have to look around if you are interested in a smoke-free place. Cantinflas does allow smoking on their outdoor patio, if you are a smoker and still want to eat there. I think that is a nice compromise.

The crown jewel of Greenville has to be Falls Park. This place was sooooo beautiful! The Reedy River runs right through the middle of downtown Greenville. It was an easy walk from The Westin. There are water falls right in downtown! A beautiful park complete with grassy areas, walking paths, doggie pick up stations, and porch swings awaits visitors. It was dark when we went there so we didn't take the camera, but night time at Falls Park was especially romantic. We had planned on going the next morning to take photos before we headed for home but it was raining. So, you'll have to check back with us after our next Greenville trip to see pictures of Falls Park. If you just can't wait, check out their website at http://www.fallspark.com.

Greenville is very proud of its city and it really shows. They are very welcoming to visitors and there is something there for everyone. I would definitely recommend it for a long weekend getaway with your significant other. If you'd like to take the kids, Greenville also has a zoo! We didn't have time to check that out, but I'm sure it is a nice place, just like the rest of the city!


Pictures of the South Carolina state line. One without the flash.....
And one with.
The view from our hotel room at The Westin of downtown. Don't you just LOVE the brick lined streets?
Greenville has a lot of user friendly outdoor space, complete with park benches and tables.
Another view of downtown. I just love it here! See the fountain on the far right of the photo? Greenville also has a lot of fountains that add to the feel of the place.
More outdoor seating areas with nice trees.
The headquarters for Greenville's newspaper (white building in center). See that tall white pole in the top right of the photo? That is part of the span for the bridge that goes through Falls Park. So this sort of gives you an idea of how close the park is to The Westin since this photo was taken from our hotel room window.

Hey guys! Yes, I know, I said I'd be back on Thurs. to report in on our recent adventure. But, alas, I had good intentions, but didn't follow through. Better late than never, I say, so here I am! We didn't take into account that our drive to Greenville, SC from Nashville, TN would include a stop-over at my parent's house to drop of Lexi, so that added an hour to our trip. We didn't get to hang out with them on the way, which was a bummer (they were at work) but no harm done. My mom will be coming down for a couple days during her fall break for some much needed retail therapy. But, I digress.

We had a great time on this little overnight trip. It was a lot of driving for poor Matthew, but I did enjoy being along for the ride and taking pictures of the beautiful fall foliage. We covered 3 states in 1 day (parts of TN, NC, & SC) and the most beautiful photos I got were of NC. I was a little sad that we didn't get as good of photos of SC as I would have liked but it was dark when we finally arrived. Plus, it was raining on the 2nd day, when we had planned to spend an hour or so photographing the awesome downtown area of Greenville, SC. Don't worry though, I have heard from Matthew that we will be going back to Greenville some time in the very near future, so I will be sure to take more photos then. For the time being, I have attached some of our drive through the NC mountains, for your viewing pleasure.


Matthew and I at a North Carolina Welcome Center.
Beautiful red tree at the welcome center.
Me with some pretty trees in the background.
The State Line Sign (you know I HAVE to take pics of every one of these we go by!)
One of my favorite foliage pics of the day. I love the way the sun is shining on this tree.
Another pretty red tree.
Me at the Welcome Center.
Another State Line Sign shot.
Some more fall leaf shots. I did try to take a ton of photos as we were driving, but they all came out too blurry to use. So, we stopped at the Welcome Center to make sure we captured at least a little of North Carolina's beauty.

Sorry for the 5 day delay in posting. I usually do better than that. I've just been preoccupied with other stuff. But, here I am, so all is well. We are leaving in the morning to go on another trip. This time our travels take us to Greenville, SC. We'll be driving and the trip should take us around 6 hours. We will basically head east to Knoxville, TN and go through NC before heading into SC. We've done this trip once before and it is a beautiful drive. It should be really nice this time of year, with the leaves starting to change. So, I should have some good pictures for you when we get back. We're only staying one night before driving back. But, we may get back late, so it could be sometime on Thurs. before you hear from me again. If you've never been to Greenville before, I'd recommend giving it a try. It is a charming little town and we really enjoy just walking up and down Main Street. It is very quaint and historical. We love it! We're staying at The Westin Poinsett and it is the nicest hotel around, in my opinion. I look forward to sharing with you when we return!

Hi there everyone! Can you believe it is October? I wanted to share some photos with you today that Matthew and I took of our flower bed. Since we are finally down into the 70's and 80's instead of 90's and 100's, our flowers are happy and blooming like crazy. No more wilting, pathetic blooms. They are out in full force! Too bad the cold is going to come along soon and kill them all off. But, we'll enjoy them while we can. We have done a lot of one of my favorite activities (front porch sitting) lately. The weather is just about perfect. I have to admit that I used to dread fall coming. I think it has something to do with the fact that my mom despises fall and I think it rubbed off on me growing up. She thinks it is depressing with everything "dying". I think I've come around to my sister-in-law Leann's way of thinking though. It is still sunny outside, but at least now we can play outside with our dogs without sweating to death!

Being October, this also means that it is time for Halloween and soon to follow Thanksgiving and Christmas. Matthew is king of the holidays and doesn't like to be outdone. Last year for instance, we won the best house in the neighborhood contest for Christmas lights and got a gift card to a home improvement store from our HOA. Matthew did the vast majority of the work on that one, climbing up on the roof to put up a gawdy display of lights. There wasn't a section of house that wasn't covered by lights. Think Clark Griswold on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. It is almost that bad. ha.ha. It looked great though! As Matthew says, "It is all about volume!" His other claim to fame is the best candy in the neighborhood last year for trick-or-treaters. There was no official prize on this one, but he did hear from several neighborhood kids that his was by far the best candy. I'd hope so with all the king-sized candy bars he handed out. He is strictly against the "fun size" bars. He calls that "the crappy candy." He is so funny. Of course last night in Target they had put out all their Halloween candy and we went ahead and stocked up on some (I'm talking half a buggy load). I had to hide it though, so he won't be into it before Halloween. ha.ha. Last year, I think we had 120 trick-or-treaters. We're expecting more this year as the neighborhood has really grown. Plus, with so many houses in such a close area, people from all over bring their kids and drop them off here because it is very walkable and safe.

Enjoy the pictures and I hope you are all having the fabulous weather that we're having!
Below: See the ornamental grass in this photo? I just love it and we bought it this spring. When we first planted it, it looked sort of sickly. My mom has a lot of it and we asked her what we could do to make it look better. Her response was "burn it." Are you serious? Yep, she was serious. Matthew was absolutely delighted to torch it and it went up in smoke in 2.2 seconds. ha.ha. Believe it or not, it came back with a vengeance in a few weeks. You are supposed to burn it in the fall too and every...single...day...Matthew asks if he can burn it yet. No, Matthew. Have patience my dear. ha.ha. He wants to set every ornamental grass he sees on fire.
Below: See my mums peeking through the other flowers. I thought the mums would bloom later in the year, after the annuals had already died off. But, the annuals are still there and last years mums made an grand entrance on their own time schedule.
Below: I've saved the best for last. I LOVE this set of mums. They are in the side bed near our front door and are just amazing. I had no idea it would come back this pretty. When we planted it last year, it was such a small bush. I guess it is happy in its new home. I can't wait to see what it looks like next year if it is this nice this year!