Summer With the Kiddos

Well, the kiddos are headed back to Colorado on Tuesday. Their flight is at 7am - and we live 2 hours from the airport... meaning my hubby has to get up at (THE CRACK OF DAWN) 2:30 in the morning to take them. OUCH! That's just painful to think about. I don't function at all, that early in the morning.

It's always sad to see them go home, but I'd by lying if I didn't say that it's always nice to settle back into our normal routine.

This summer, we did all sorts of fun things! In fact, I think I can safely say that we had a very FULL summer.

The first weekend that the kids were here (July 4th weekend), we went out on the lake tubing and cruising with our great friends Jeff & Cristi Atchley. We love you guys - and let me just thank you again for offering to take us out and bringing so many tasty snacks and cool drinks. ♥ ♥ ♥  It was a fabulous way to start the summer!

Here is a video of Tori holding on for dear life while Jeff rips her all over the lake. I should probably mention that she asked for it... no literally - she made it very clear that she wanted to be thrown off. He was just giving her what she wanted. LOL!

I should also mention that my chunky boo-tay crawled into the tube too. I'd never been on one before. Jeff was going half of the speed in the video and I was screaming like my life was in danger. Note to self: tubing = not my thing. On the other hand, I'm glad I tried it - because now I know. HA!

Later that weekend, we took the kids to the drive in movie theater. They'd never been to one! We have a really nice one about 20 minutes away- it's a nice treat and a step back in time - which I'm a sucker for.

We also took the kids to the Great Texas Balloon Glow! I had only been once before - when I was very young. They have balloon races throughout the weekend - but at night - they land them all and fire them up for the thousands in the crowd. WAY. TOO. COOL.

They had Noah's Ark, The Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe, Spider-pig (whose boo-tay is to the left in the picture above), and numerous other specialty hot air balloons. Really cool thing to see, and absolutely no way to fit them all into one picture.

Needless to say, we also spent a majority of our weekends - enjoying the pool. Ya'll, we enjoyed it early in the morning, at high noon, we grilled out with family, we swam in the rain...and for the last week - we've been swimming in the evening after work. Last night - we even headed out there at MIDNIGHT - to float in the pool and watch the stars for the meteor shower that was suppose to occur.

We also ate lots of good food this summer - pizza, hotdogs, hamburgers, cupcakes, cookie cake, ice cream cake, wedding cake, puppy chow, bruschetta, homemade salsa, fresh squeezed juice..... we pigged out this summer... and ya'll - it was so tasty!

A few weeks back, we let the kids build a fort in our living room and had a movie night under the fort. And yesterday, we stayed in our pjs all day long - and had a Lord of the Rings movie marathon! SO. MUCH. FUN.

I also showed Chandler everything there was to know about gardening - and he enjoyed cutting the okras off the plant. (SINCE THAT'S THE ONLY PLANT THAT HAS FRUITED.)

Yep - all in all - it was a fantastic summer - filled with fun, food and movies. I can honestly say that (THIS BEING THE FIRST ACTUAL HOUSE THAT I'VE EVER OWNED) - this has been the best summer I've had in -as long as I can remember...

There really is.. no place like home. ♥

Saving the World from Illiteracy... One Person At a Time!

Ya'll - I work for the best company in the world! Actually, we were voted one of the BEST companies to work for in Texas for the past 2 years straight!

Our company strongly encourages involvement in the community and volunteer work. One of the ways that we do this collectively, is that we participate in the annual Literacy Council of East Texas Spelling Bee - and every year - we go in costume.

In 2011 - we were nerds! "Nerds for Words" was our motto. LOL

In 2012 - we went as the cast from Hee-Haw - but I was on my honeymoon, so I missed it! *sad face*

This year - we went as SUPERheros! And ya'll - we didn't hold back!!

Out of all the characters to choose - I decided to be cheap. It also didn't help that I completely forgot about the event until the day before!

So I rushed home - grabbed a couple pieces of fancy paper from Michaels and a roll of ribbon - and this is what I came up with:

I should probably mention at this point - that the cape material and the mask were provided by the company. Yep - literally - I bought some yellow ribbon for a belt, some black velvet paper for the "Robin" logo - and some sparkly gold paper for the "R" and the belt buckle. Ha!

Now that's what I call creativity in a SNAP! BAM! POW!

There were quite a few people who decided to come as Batman - but yours truly was the one and only Robin. SPLAT! BOOM! And it's a good thing too -- with that many Bat-womans running around - I had a lot of side-kick-in' to do!

I love how creative the people I work with are. We just march to the beat of our own drum... BLESS OUR HEARTS. We don't just impersonate super-heros past.... we create our OWN super-heros! One of my friends came as "Wonder Kat".... and another was "Ms Sparkle".

Dont tell anyone - but we even had the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show up!

And our math team - created their own math superheros - one was a right angle - and she insisted that she was always right. Haha - get it? Another was congruent - and she gawked at being the same size and shape all of her life. LOL. Creative isn't it!?  WE'RE SUCH GEEKS.

Yep - I love us. It's official! I have the greatest teammates - and the best bosses on the planet. I can't wait to see what we come up with for next years Spelling Bee! Toodles!

My FIRST anniversary!

Well ya'll... one year ago today, I married the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful and caring, loving, forgiving, hardworking and generous man I've ever known. I am so incredibly blessed to wake up next to him every morning. I can't believe that it's been ONE year already!

Our wedding day was so sweet and special. We got married at my good friend Cristi Atchley's house. It was beautiful, intimate and stress free. How many people do you know have stress- free weddings?! I was very blessed. My brother gave me away.

Our cake was "strawberry cheese cake" from a local bakery - strawberry and cream cheese filling. The one bite I got was DE-lish. Yes, I only got one bite of my wedding cake: the bite that my husband fed me. We were too busy trying to get lots of pictures to even think about cake. So one year later, I'm hoping it's just as delicious when the topper thaws and we cut into it tonight after dinner.

I LOVED my wedding invitations so much - I asked the photographer to get a picture of them. I made them myself! The lace, pearls and ribbon were SO beautiful. So proud of how they turned out. They were perfect in every way - and super easy to make!! I'm such a DIY gal.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of our special day:

Jeff (Cristi's husband) carved our initials into one of the trees in their backyard! So sweet! And a perfect prop for pictures!

We even had the perfect get-away car!  My poor husband had to give up his beloved mustang when we bought the house - but you have to admit - it was a smokin' hot car!  Glad we got some pictures of it at our wedding.

Yes - lots of changes in the last year! This morning, I woke up to pancakes made by my sweet husband, made my own orange juice in my brand new juicer, washed and waxed our new vehicles together and swam in our very own pool at our new house! I am so blessed ya'll. It's amazing what a year can do.

Tonight, we're cutting our cake - and toasting Moscato in red solo cups. HA! We're turnin' redneck ya'll! (OUR TOASTING FLUTES ARE STILL PACKED.)

Here's to the next year, and hoping there are lots more successes, a completed house that we can have a party in for our second year anniversary and maybe a munchkin on the way. You never know! It could happen. ;)

P.S. Our cake was AHH-MAZING! So fresh and moist! It should be! I wrapped that bad boy in 3 layers of saran wrap and 2 layers of foil! HA! (WE ALSO FOUND A COUPLE WINE GLASSES INSTEAD OF SOLO CUPS. WE'RE MOVIN' UP IN THE WORLD!)

Heaven on earth..

My sweetheart

Umm...  who am I kidding - this is who we REALLY are.

Funny Fish Stories

Ok ya'll - there is never a dull moment in my life and I can PROVE it!

Tori found my old fish tank a couple of weeks ago. Her room is a beach theme, so I had placed the empty tank in her room in case we wanted to get her some fish this summer. So a couple weekends back, we all head to Petsmart to grab her a couple of fish. We got a silver Molly.... and a red Mickey. We figured we'd see how long they lived -and then go back for more later this summer.

As the lady was picking us a Molly - she asked Tori if she wanted a girl fish or a boy fish... at which point my eyebrows went haywire trying to figure out how you can tell the difference! oh well.... Tori wanted a girl...  So we get the fish, get some food and head home.

As soon as we release the fish into the tank, I get a closer look at "Leda" - the silver molly. She's lookin' mighty PREGNANT ...round. So I joke with my husband that maybe she's just a "healthy eater"  *wink wink*. He jokes back that maybe that's how the petsmart lady knew she was a girl.

Ya'll... I kid you not - within hours... this fish had spit babies all over our tank. I'm talking LOTS of babies. Thankfully (and also unfortunately) we had put river rocks in the bottom of the tank instead of gravel - so the babies immediately went to hide in the river rocks. But this also kept us from getting a good count of how many there were. We found upwards of 12 dead on the bottom - and the final count of live babies - were 21!  21 NEW FISH! Holy cow! Upon further research - Mollys can have up to 40 babies at one time!!! O...M...G. Heaven help us.

So a friend of mine from work let us borrow a spare tank so that we could separate the adults, because they eat their young - and we had to get baby fish food... yes, there IS such a thing. I'd never heard of it either. CrAzInEsS, I tell you.

Here's the really scary part.... after several months, the babies will be big enough to start breeding!!!! OH GOD NO!!! We only have a 10 gallon tank! Wow... the life of me.  Us Jamesons... we never have a dull moment.

Anyone need some fish???

This was literally minutes before our tank blew up with babies. 

Whew! ...Let me say that again.... Whew!

So as most of you can tell, I really struggle with keeping up my blogs up to date. Let's be honest... I'm horrible at it - almost as horrible as dieting. Ok, I wont go there...

Lots going on at the Casa de Jameson these days! My step kiddos are here for the summer! Yay! In-laws have already visited (NO COMMENT), little brothers have come to visit.... wait - have I ever told you that I have 12 year old brothers?! They're twins! NO, THAT DOESN'T MEAN I'M STILL A TEENAGER. When I was 15 my mom remarried and decided to start a whole new family. Lucky for her, God decided to be comical and bless her with twin boys. And boy has she been paying for it ever since. LOL. JUST KIDDING MOM! OR AM I?!? muah-hahahahaha 

So anyway... we're still remodeling our house - and ya'll, can I be honest?? I'm SOOOO over it. My 'get up and go' - got up and left after the first week... and I ain't seen it since! I don't think it's ever coming back either. I'm ready for this whole process to be OVER - and you can bet your bottom dollar - I will NOT be doing this again.... ever.... never ever... no way.... I'd rather take a fork to the eye than do this again.... comprende? 

The unfortunately part - is that we still have a loooooonnnnnng way to go... *silently sobs*.... If I can live through this ordeal and keep my sanity - ya'll can just call me superwoman. HA!

Thankfully - the kids rooms were primarily finished when they got here (with the exception of building out their closets). And ya'll - we hadn't even told them that we bought the house!! It was a total surprise! The bad thing is that they remembered going to see houses when they visited at Christmas - this being the "oldest" one that we saw... so they immediately remembered it. I got a better reaction out of my DOG when she ran through it for the first time, than I did when the kids walked in. *sad face*

Oh well... can't win 'em all. 

I think their first night in their own room with their own things - and then swimming in the pool changed their minds a little bit. They've warmed up quite a bit, and we've tried to keep them entertained too. Miraculously, this has been one of the coolest summers we've had in years! Just as it was getting into the 100s - it began raining - and has rained for the last week and a half! So we're back in the 70s and 80s again!  We took advantage of the cool weather by taking the kids to the drive in movie! Yes! We have one! We had so much fun!! And can I just say - regardless of all the haters and speculation out there - I thought the Lone Ranger was a great movie!

I guess at this point, I should also update about my garden! It's alive and well! Everything is flowering -and I have a feeling we'll have more baby veggies in the next couple of weeks. My okra are growing like crazy! I've already picked two or three off the plant - I get about one okra a week. Not really sure what to do with one Okra - so I've just been collecting them. Only one plant is producing so far. As soon as they all start producing - I see a mess of pickled okra in my future. YIPPEE!!

Well I guess I'll stop for today - I'm pretty sure your head is already spinning. I have a couple funny stories that I'll share in my next blog. Never a dull moment at the Casa de Jameson. Thank ya'll for keeping up with me - and dont be a stranger! I love comments!!

We've got babies!

Well it's been a long time since I've written. Lots going on at the Casa de Jameson. My step kiddos are coming in 3 days for the summer, we're remodeling the house like crazy, and I've finally gotten my garden to bloom! YIPPEE!

Ok, so after 3 crops never got watered decided to go be with Jesus, I've finally gotten something to stay alive! It's not the original cast of garden vegetables that I started out with, but they've survived when everything else wanted to fail me - and we've finally got babies!

Baby Okra!!

Baby Passion Fruit!!

Ok, so technically, I didn't actually grow the passion fruit. IT WAS IN THE YARD WHEN WE BOUGHT THE HOUSE. But by jove... I'm taking credit for it's survival!

Besides okra and passion fruit, I've got tomato plants, watermelon, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumber and eggplant. None of which have bloomed, but they were all started from seed a little over a month ago. It could be the end of summer before I get any fruit... but you've got to start somewhere, right??

If this year is only a tester year for me to figure out how it all works, I think it's worth it... but wouldn't it be fabulous to have a few jars of pickled okra, some fried green tomatoes, grilled squash, eggplant Parmesan and a whole lot of cold watermelon by the pool this summer?!

Here's to hoping this is one AMAZING summer!

Gardening Mistakes: 101

So I got home two days ago and decided to water my 'garden'. I had watered it really well a couple of days prior, and we had some fantastic weather!

I probably should also mention at this point that I made my own red-neck green house. I thought I'd be clever, and take my dog kennell, put all my seedlings inside and cover it with plastic. (PRETTY GENIUS, I THOUGHT!)

The bricks were to keep the wind from ripping the plastic off.

For a couple of weeks now, this idea has worked beautifully! Everything has been snug as a bug in a rug. Unfortunately, I didn't think very far into the future. NOTE TO SELF: when the weather is warm, green houses need ventilation.

As soon as I pulled that plastic back, a rush of warm air hit me in the face and half of my weaker plants were gone! Shrivelled up to nuthin'! 

Poor Tomatoes!

My heart was broken! I was doing so well! I was so proud! ugh. Not my garden! I never thought it would get so warm that it would kill them. They were gone. *pout face* 

And here's the weird part: I had two sets of seedlings. When we first bought the house, I went and bought some cheap seeds and started sprouting them up. A few weeks ago, I bought organic seeds and did a separate round of the same veggies. The organic seeds were the ones that died! Wonder what that means?!

Oh well...

Tonight: I replanted. I'll have fresh veggies again in no time! Thankfully, it's the beginning of the season. PLUS, I know that my greenhouse works! It just works really well. I just need to install a 'ventilation system' and I'm back in business!

Dead veggies aren't gonna get me down!

First Year Gardener

Hey Ya'll!! I've officially been a home owner for 2 months now! YIPPEE! And this year, in lieu of the fact that I have a yard, I've decided to try my hand at gardening. There is something very liberating about growing your own food. I was raised by a 60 year old lady (MY GREAT GREAT AUNT), my Auntie, who kept a garden every year. As a child, I would wander through her garden and look at all the pretty tomatoes growing up the vine. They were always the prettiest shade of red. I LOVED walking the dirt rows of the garden in my bare feet. There was FOOD growing in her back yard! Who'da thunk it?!

I grew up eating corn on the cob, fried okra, squash, onions, watermelon, cherry pie, peach preserves, blackberry cobbler - and sometimes, if she was feeling especially perky, she made the BEST fried green tomatoes. In the hot summer, we would go out and pick peas, put em in paper grocery sacks and sit in the living room after lunch, in front of the a/c window unit, watching soap operas and shellin' peas. It was one of my favorite things to do. I'd shell peas until my hands hurt and I LOVED every minute of it. If there were no peas to shell, sometimes we'd share watermelon out on the front porch. Sometimes, it was even a YELLOW watermelon. I had never seen anything like it. I'd also never seen anyone put salt on their watermelon! yuck! I prefer mine as sweet as they come... but I still loved her anyway.

Her brother and his wife (UNCLE JOE & AUNT CEIL (SHORT FOR LUCILLE MAYBE?)) lived next door to her. He raised chickens, had a couple cherry trees, and when I was really little, he also grew sugar cane. As a small child, I would wander through his sugar cane field and pretend it was a jungle. I remember that he'd pull his pocket knife out from the pocket in his overalls and cut me off a piece to suck on. It was a little gritty, so you didn't want to really chew it... but it was wet and sweet, like sugar water. I would suck it till it was dry as a bone. I loved it.

It's those simple, but oh so precious memories that have inspired a desire in me to have a garden of my own.  There is something so 'home' about the idea of a garden. Something so self-sufficient and 'old school' about living off the land and taking care of yourself. It also makes me feel connected, in a small way, to my Auntie.

My garden is a little different from hers though. She was from the old school country garden era (JUST THE BASICS). I added a few extras to her 'tried-and-true' foundation.

Sweet Basil

 Is it sad to think that food can be cute?! This is the most adorable basil I've ever seen! I was re-potting into a bigger container so that it has room to grow.

Eggplant

Ya'll, there is NUTHIN' like eggplant parmesan. I LUV me some eggplant!

Yellow Squash

The only thing better than fried green tomatoes in summer.... is fried squash, or sauteed squash, or steamed squash - heck, ANY kind of squash will do! That's why it is a necessity in my garden.

Watermelon

A summer just wouldn't be a summer if you didn't have watermelon! I plan on having LOTS of watermelon this year! I hear that they're an alkaline food! Oo.... cold watermelon on a hot summer day lounging by the pool. MM Mmm.

Okra

...or as my Auntie used to call it.... OKRIE! Good ol' okrie! I love fried okra... but what I love MORE than fried okra is pickled okra!! And what better time to practice my pickling and canning skills this fall... than with a big ol' bag of okrie!

Lettuce

Gotta have lettuce. I have spinach growing too, but they weren't very photogenic yet. Spinach is really my favorite over lettuce, but a garden wouldn't really be a garden without it. You'd basically just be growin' all the side dishes without the main course. haha.

Tomatoes

And last... but definitely not least.... the queen of the garden... tomatoes. Fried green tomatoes... pasta sauce... salsa... YUM.

I'm also growing parsley and cilantro, but those were just starting to peak. The previous owners of our home must have been garden freaks as well... they were growing mint, onions and rosemary... PLUS the yard has a pear tree, 2 olive trees, and a passion fruit plant. It also used to have a cherry tree, but we cut it down before we realized what it was. (IT HADN'T BLOOMED YET! I FEEL SO BAD.) But the reason we cut it down was because the whole back porch area was grown up with trees and it was one of the ones blocking our view of the pool. What good is a pool if you can't see it?! Eh?

So that's my garden in a nutshell. Hopefully later this summer I will be posting recipes for fried green tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, salsa, pickled okra, eggplant parmesan - and any other recipes I can think of to use up all these veggies. Maybe even some canning ideas.

Until next time!

Just Call Me.... Annie Oakley

Yesterday, the hubs and I suffered through took a 10 hour course to get our CHL. For those of you that aren't familiar with the lingo - that's a concealed handgun license. It's not that I feel like our Saturday was completely wasted, but quite frankly, 10 hours was a bit excessive. We started at 7:30am and could've easily had that bad-boy wrapped up by noon, having learned all that we needed to know in 4 hours. The rest was just story-telling. Unfortunately, the law requires the course to be 10 hours long, so we just made the best of it.

You wanna know how I did??  I passed the written exam with a 98, and as far as the shooting goes - I was the best woman shooter on the course. We shot 50 rounds of ammo. 20 rounds from 11 feet, 20 rounds from 21 feet and 10 rounds from 45 feet away from the target.  Some of the spiratic shots were all from 45 feet away, the rest were pretty close to dead center.

So, why, you may ask, am I interested in having a concealed handgun license? FOR PROTECTION... DUH. Our back yard sits on a busy road here in our city, next to a beautiful city park. There are constantly people walking, jogging and biking down the sidewalk that sits on the other side of our back fence. We live in a very nice and safe neighborhood, however I'm not so naive to think that a break-in cannot occur. I want to feel safe in my own home. There is nothing worse than hearing an unfamiliar noise at night and laying there listening soo hard that your heartbeat starts playing in surround sound and it's all you hear. NOT THAT IT HAPPENS OFTEN, BUT IT DOES OCCUR ON OCCASION. 

Also, let's be honest: our world is getting a little bit crazier with every passing day. You can't turn on the news without hearing of shootings in movie theaters, shootings in schools, shootings in churches.... the fact of the matter is that those places have been relatively safe up until recently. Only a whack-job would think of shooting into a crowd of innocent bystanders who are captivated by a big screen, or innocent children being educated, or a sacred house of God. And let me tell you - there are more and more whack-jobs roaming the streets than we probably realize.

I was raised to respect life. The men in my family were hunters. My dad instilled in me as a child that a person was only suppose to kill something to eat it. And even then, he talked about praying over some of his "kills" after he had shot them, because he felt pity. He had taken a life and it was a serious thing, not to be taken lightly. Kids now-a-days aren't raised in this same respect. They are engulfed with video games full of shooting and killing: zombies, enemy combatants, and Lord knows what else. There is no emotion involved, because it's GAME. There are no consequences, and half of the time, there are no father figures in thier life either to correct this mentality. My personal opinion is that our society is growing more and more callous to life because the old ways have stopped being passed down. There is no emotion left in killing, and these kids who are so comfortable with emotionlessly killing in video games are the same ones who are emotionlessly killing innocent people crowded into movie theaters, schools, restaurants, and churches.

I believe in legally protecting myself. It is currently legal for you to protect your home and property without a CHL. You can even carry a gun (concealed) in your vehicle in most counties of Texas. But what happens if I'm at the movie theater, or a restaurant, or in church? Our instructor advised over and over again (LITERALLY THE SAME STORY FOR ALMOST 2 HOURS) that we have the right to protect ourself, our family and our property, but anyone else - we were sticking our neck out. I do not have the right to patrol my neighborhood for burglars. I do not have the right to interfere in others business (using my gun), even if they are in harms way. This is what 9-1-1 and the police are for. I DO have the right to protect myself if I am the one being attacked, if my immediate family (my husband or children) are being attacked, or if my property is being burglarized.

Let me talk specifically to the ladies now: you do not need a CHL to carry a gun within the confines of your home, or even to carry a gun in your car (as long as it's hidden)... but you need to know how to use it in order to protect yourself. If your husband is away, if you are a single lady, if you live in an unsafe neighborhood, if you live way out in the country....if you are handicapped, or elderly... you need protection. I spent many years as a single lady with no one looking out for me, but ME. There was no one there to protect me in the middle of the night, or even at high noon when some stranger showed up at my doorstep trying to sell something. You never know who you are dealing with in the world today. We always want to believe that people have good intentions, and most do... but predators are out there, and they come in all shapes and sizes - and most are unexpected.

I will be the first to say that I hope I never have to use my gun. I even joked with a couple of the guys in my class, as they were commenting on my target, that I was there for protection and not for pleasure. I don't really enjoy being around guns. They make me nervous. I didn't enjoy sitting on the front row of class while the instructor waived an EMPTY gun all over the place. They can be very dangerous and frightening if you don't know much about them or how to use them. I encourage all of you ladies, to go and take a class, maybe not a concealed handgun class, but at least a gun safety class. Guns come in all shapes and sizes - even little bitty ones that are perfect for ladies to use for protection. Do it for yourself, for your children, for your peace of mind.

You should never be afraid of something that could protect you in the event of an emergency. You may never have to use it (AND I PRAY YOU DONT!), but at least know HOW... just in case.

The Color Run 2013 Tulsa Oklahoma

WOW! This last weekend was FILLED with excitement. The Hubs and I headed to Tulsa so that I could participate in The Color Run! For those of you not familiar with The Color Run, here is the promo:

SO! Have you ever heard that saying, "Friend of a friend of a friend?" Well... that explained my running team! HAHA! My friend, Cristi, was there to meet a blogger friend of hers, and then we met friends of that friend and even a friend of that friend too! We were all on the same running team and got lots of good pictures together. It's so nice to meet new people. Makes the world seem a little bit smaller.

Did I mention that there were over 13,000 people there?! They had to send us running in groups of 1000. Thankfully, we were one of the first groups! And I should mention at this point, that I walked the race instead of running. The only time you'd see me running is if someone was chasing me with a knife. I'm NOT a runner.

So off we went! Roaming the streets of Tulsa in tutu's and covered in colored chalk. They actually had color "zones" along the trail where there were workers prepared to chase you down the street and coat you with color. Heck, the orange zone got so excited, I got slapped in the face with the orange chalk bottle. It bounced off my face and flew into the crowd so she had to chase it down. I got chalk all in my ear, and not to be gross... but suffice it to say, blowing my nose was a colorful experience for a couple of days. LOL.

I know that walking a 5k should be a serious feat... but life is too short not to stop for every photo opportunity possible! They had so many adorable props along the way, it was hard not to pass them up! Oompa Loompa Doopadee Doo....

Not to mention all the people who came dressed up in tutu's and costumes. Shout out to the guy with the spikey blue mohawk... and the person who walked the whole race with a laundry basket on their head with white balloons tubes sticking thru it. Looked like a large white coral that you could see from a mile away. Props for creativity!

When it was all said and done... we literally jumped for JOY. And believe me... that was all the energy we had left. Immediately after this picture was taken, we all stole wheelchairs and had our husbands wheel us back to the car. HA! Just kidding. (DARN! I SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT!) The truth is that our husbands made us walk another mile to the car. UPHILL. (ARE THEY TRYING TO TELL US SOMETHING??!)

It took me a good 45 minutes just to get all the color washed out of my hair and off my skin. Somehow, it got past my top shirt and undershirt and colored my skin! Yall, it was even between my toes! Somehow it got thru my shoes and socks and stained my toes! (HOW COULD THAT HAPPEN?!) YUCK! Seriously, I looked like a smurf. My husband had to keep "inspecting" me for places that I missed. I used almost an entire bar of hotel soap and shampoo to get clean. (YES I WAS THAT DIRTY.) I felt like the little kid who keeps having to go back in the bathroom to re-wash their hands because they aren't clean enough.

So after feeling like we were dying resting up all afternoon, we decided to venture out and grab some dinner. It was so fun to get all gussied up and go out with our friends!

We went to the Melting Pot. Have you had it??! It was my first time. There are no words! I can't begin to describe how wonderful it was. Cheese Fondue with fruit, veggies and bread.... then meats that you cook in your own broth along with WONDERFUL dips... and the final course blew the rest away....

...incredibly smooth chocolate with melted peanut butter added and a plate full of goodies to coat. Cheesecake, red velvet, strawberries, rice crispies, marshmallows, bananas, brownies... OH MY! 

A perfect ending to a perfect day, and an experience that I will remember for life! (I'M TALKING ABOUT THE DINNER) Just kidding! The race too! (BUT MAINLY THE DINNER) Kidding again! (OR AM I?)