My favorite season..fall!

Bilko growing up!

I LOVE hoody weather and it's that time of year again! Wohoo!
I already have my Christmas tree up...BUT before you think ill thoughts towards me for skipping Thanksgiving. hear me out. I use my moms tree that she bought a couple of years ago and never uses. My parents brought it down last weekend and I don't have anywhere to store it so I went ahead and set it up. I don't have any lights on it yet. Thats the fun part but I am waiting until after Thanksgiving.

I started playing soccer again. Tonight is the 3rd game for "Team Shankapotamus". Having lots of fun and its great exercise.

I bought a new stove this week..my first appliance purchase since I bought the house. Can't wait to get it and start baking and cooking lots of yummy food! (Guess I better keep playing soccer:)

I don't have any pictures of the stuff I just talked about but a post is MUCH more interesting when there are pictures so I found a couple from the last couple of weeks of my life.

A star I got from Flower Factory (I didnt' have a ladder so I had to hang out the window to drive in the nail:)

I am going to be an AUNT....and no Brent isn't pregnant!!!

A strawberry cake I made one evening when I got off work early (love when that happens!)

Off to SOCCER!

Cheesecake Factory

Out to eat at Cheesecake Factory
The name of this dish is escaping me at the moment but it was SOO good. I might have to get it again. It was sweet corn cakes with guacamole and sour cream and a bunch of other stuff..yum!
I have been working a whole bunch lately. I have also been painting some on my house. I still have the downstairs bathroom, hallway and guest room to finish. I love picking out paint colors but can't decide what I want to do the guest room in yet.

Mom had a horse in her barn for a couple of weeks. Her name was Ella.

Lunging Ella

Off to work!!!

Message From Bilko

This is me in my new coat with my suitcase. Dani is leaving me this week on a business trip. But its OK...I'm going to spend the whole week at Grandpa and Grandma's...I even get to go to the Vets to get tutored!! My cousins Dudley and Bullwinkle will also be there!

Even in the valley....

High upon the mountain the sun is shining bright
My heart is filled with gladness
Here above the cares of life
But I've just come through the valley of trouble fear and pain
It was there i came to know my God
Enough to stand and say...

Even in the valley God is good
Even in the valley he is faithful and true
He carries his children through like he said he would
Even in the valley God is good

This road of life has lead you to a valley of defeat
You wonder if the father
Has heard your desperate plea
There is hope in that rugged place where tears of sorrow dwell
Cant you hear him gently whispering
I'm here and all is well

Even in the valley God is good
Even in the valley he is faithful and true
He carries his children through like he said he would
Even in the valley God is good

Even in the valley God is good
Even in the valley he is faithful and true
He carries his children through like he said he would
Even in the valley God is so good

God is so good
He carries his children through like he said he would
Even in the valley God is good

So instead of trying to catch up on everything that I have been doing since my last post, I am just jumping right into the present. Whenever I am not at work, I am home working on my house.
My most recent project has been the bathroom off of my room. Its fairly small and has low ceilings so the painting didnt take long at all. I have a cabinet/mirror that still has to be put up on the empty wall and then I will be mostly finished with this bathroom (finally!) I may add another decoration or 2 if I find a good deal.

I am headed home tomorrow to go to a race with my family. Then on to camp on Sunday. Then back to the grind on Monday.

I am blessed!

Moved in

I am finally moved in...or at least for the most part. I still have boxes in the 2nd bedroom and I can barely walk through there. As I have been finishing rooms I have been putting all the clutter into the 2nd bedroom. I don't see me getting to that room for awhile. I have had a ton of help painting and moving in. My family and Holley R have been the biggest helpers. I couldn't have gotten nearly this much done in 2 months without their help.

Big purchase

So, I took the big plunge....decided to do something crazy!

Meet Bilko

Getting his first bath

He has been staying at mom and dad's but Dad is bringing him to me this week.

Dudley and Bilko have become good friends and I think Dudley is going to miss him when he leaves. Bilko came from the same place as Dudley.

Love that face!

Oh yeah.....I bought a house today too.

Beach Bums

Friday night we went to a cook out nearby on campus and had hot dogs and hamburgers. Then we went to the campus intramurals. Ally and Luke's teams played each other. One team killed the other team..I won't say which one was which. It was fun watching them anyways. Then we went to Starbucks and Walmart. This Walmart has palm trees growing the parking lot :)I took a jog this morning and went to the beach. I think it took me about 45 minutes to walk/run there and back. "We" sent the alarm for 8:45 and at 9:30 Ally was still snoozing away so I decided to take off on my own for a bit. The parking lot for the part of the beach I went to was already packed when I got there. It was quite a pretty morning with lots of joggers. I saw someone pulling in a fish from their boat while I was going across a bridge on the way to the ocean. When I got back Ally was FINALLY dragging herself out of bed. We packed up some snacks and books and headed back to enjoy some more sun with a couple of other girls. Now we are back at the dorm and getting ready to go get some lunch and do some shopping.

Mini-vacation

Mom and dad bought me a plane ticket for my birthday. I woke up at 4:20 a.m. on Thursday so I could be at the Dayton Airport by 6:00. My flight from Dayton to Atlanta left at 7:00. I don't remember my last ride on an airplane being quite so "bumpy". I guess it was just a windy day up high because we hit a couple of spots where I was grabbing the armrest.

The temperature in Dayton when we arrived at the airport was probably in the mid 40s. By the time my plane landed in West Palm Beach, FL at noon it was a beautiful 75 deg. Ally and her friends picked me up at the airport about 1:30. We hit up Chick Fil A and then headed back to Hobe Sound. We took a walk around campus and ate supper in the cafeteria. We stopped by to look at the van that Ally and her friends had a wreck in. It was pretty banged up.

Ally had a class in the evening so I took a nap while Fred, the fish, swam wildly in his tank.When she got back we stopped by the beach real quick and then went to a local grocery store to pick up some snacks. Two of Ally's girlfriends joined us in her room last night and those snacks came in handy (Mom, both boxes of those cookies you sent are ALMOST gone!)

I slept until about 8:30 while Ally was in class this morning. Then I joined her for chapel at 9:30. After chapel, I smiled the whole way back to the dorm. The weather is JUST wonderful this morning! Beautiful blue sky, warm sun and beautiful breeze through the palm trees just does something to your mood. More later!

Where I will be in 72 hrs....

Finding the positives

Things I like about living alone:
1) I get the WHOLE pizza to myself! (Not that I eat it in one meal but the fact that I can if I want is the difference)

2) I never have to make my bed (who else is there to see it??)
3) I always know what food I have in the pantry
4) If the dishes sit in the sink for a day (or 3), who cares?
5) I always know when I am about out of TP
6) I can take a 15 minute shower and not feel guilty
7) I can put on my PJs when I walk in the door from work and not get any strange looks
8) No keeping track of who is supposed to be home when, etc.
9) I can buy a new couch without checking to make sure it passes someone else's inspection (see new couch below)
10) Leftovers!!! (which I happen to really like)
I would do a post of things I don't like but that would take too long :)

Mom and Dad came down for the weekend. Dad had to go to a conference nearby so mom and I went shopping all day...it was a lot of fun. They brought Dudley along...he was a good shopping buddy.