My Worst Nightmare.....

sound asleep, dreaming peacefully, only to be woken up at 2:30am by the fire alarm going off in your house beeping so loudly saying "fire in house" is not my ideal of a perfect evening. i jumped out of bed, checked over the balcony (had to make sure there wasn't a intruder, that's another story) and raced down stairs to let the pups out. i unset the house alarm and started checking every room in the house. i couldn't smell smoke, i didn't see fire or even see smoke. the stupid alarm was so loud. my heart was racing like crazy and panic was starting to set in. what to do, do i leave, who do i call, i'm home alone and my fire alarm was going off. i couldn't get the stupid thing to stop beeping. i stepped out on my front porch to see if there was anything going on out side. mean while its 2:45am by this point and i called my neighbor but she didn't answer, so i called the other one. nothing. called the first one back again, her husband this time. he didn't answer. omg, i'm literally freaking out. i felt awful at the though of going over to wake them up, but what was i suppose to do. i went over and knocked on the door. thankfully he had just gotten up to call me back. i explained in a panic what was going on and with out hesitation he came over to check the house. again we found nothing but got the alarm turned off. he semi sorta put my mind at ease and went home. i shut and locked the front door, hung my jacket up and the freaking alarm started going off again. que, heart attack again, i opened the door yelled at E to come back but he'd already gone back inside. while trying to turn it off again i was calling him to come back over. when he did the alarm at that point started saying carbon monoxide detected. i'm literally panicking at this point, i have many fears in life, hello i'm human. but one of them is my home catching on fire and loosing everything. it terrifies me. i'm sure as it would any one. E suggested we called 911 to have them come out and take a look around the house to make sure there was no sights of it and that everything was ok. when i did the first dispatcher suggested changing the batteries first. when i explained to him A) i'm home alone and want to have my house checked out and B) i don't have any batteries here at the house, he seemed a little more understanding. trying to keep my cool and not go off on this guy because i didn't want E to see m crazy side, he then transferred me to another dispatcher whom i explain the situation to. they agreed to quickly get someone out to the house and suggested we wait outside till they got there. it had started to rain again and so E said I could wait at their house and we'd watch out the window to see when they came. i don't even know how long it took them to get to my house it seemed like forever probably because at this point i was exhausted and still panicked something was wrong. praying my home wasn't going to catch fire. finally the local volunteer fire truck came down our street, I guess when you live in the country and its 3:15am that's what you get. first he stopped about 5 house two early and almost went to the door. how awful would that have been, if he did and woken up that poor couple. i quickly walked down to him as he was getting out and asked if he was here for the alarm call. i pointed out that my house was down a few more. once he came down and i explain what was going on. him and E went in and checked over everything again. he did a carbon monoxide test on the house and nothing read over a 0 which was good. he checked and found no signs of smoke of fire through out the home. what in the world could have caused this then. i was at a loss. E checked the batteries and replaced the ones that were low. he suggested that may have been the reason it went off. i've never heard of such a thing, i've always just known them to beep a constant steady beep till you replace it. the main two in the house where the ones going off so maybe they are different he suggested. the local fire department guy left after completing his checks and E made sure i was settled and ok. i apologized a million and one times and couldn't thank him enough. i felt awful. it took me a good hour plus to fall back asleep and i didn't end up waking up till 9am. which that never happens. sleeping in for me at the most is 7-7:30am. the night really got the best of me. thank goodness i had the day off, i'm not sure i could have made it in to work if i hadn't. i didn't have a lot to do today, a couple errands but the last thing i wanted to do was work out and put myself together. i wanted comfort food and to be lazy. however i picked myself up got my work out in and headed out the door, shakeology in hand. ran my errands and got my to do list done. came home baked muffins for my ever so amazing neighbors and delivered them with replacement batteries in hand. it's been a world wind over the past several months but i'm pretty sure this tops the cake. i'm over the deployment, throwing in the towel, i need....there's no longer a want i NEED my husband home. i mean of course i want him home but you know what i mean.
frozen pipes in the winter, fire alarm's going off in the spring, summer please be nice to me i don't know that i can handle anything else. 

FAMILY!!!

Going home was bitter sweet but it was great to visit with and see my family that I miss so so much!!!! 

Bubby and I went to visit my dad the day after I got home. He had a hip-replacement 17 days prior to this picture and he's already back to driving and doing yard work and talking walks around the neighborhood. Nothing holds him back!!!! 

Bubby and I with Cali girl, his Pit!!! I absolutely love my little brother to pieces and would do anything in the world for him. He went through a really really though time a couple years back and he's been doing great here the last 7 months and I couldn't be a prouder big sis. 

We went to visit our papa, he passed away 12 years ago and this was the first time I'd been out to his grave site since we had his funeral. It was a very hard moment for me. I was so close to my papa and I hated that he was taken from us way to early. I've made a promise to myself and him that I will go visit more often when I am home. There's no reason not to, the cemetery is a mile from my other grandparents house. He loved him some DoubleMint gum and always had it around the house. When I see it, it always reminds me of him and so of course I had to take him some!!! 

I'm named after both my grandma's (my middle name). I love that my grandparents and great grandparents have the quote on their head stones. "Together Forever" It's crazy because the hubbs and I have a quote / saying that is almost just like theirs. I never knew this before, clearly bc I hadn't been out here in so long. Its a hard thing for me to go here. I hate not having him here with us. 

Bubby cleaning off the grass and shrub from the headstone. My Nene, our grandma (Carol Ann) is obviously still alive, thank the Good LORD!!!!!

While walking through the cemetery looking for our papa's plot I found our Great-Grand Parents head stone first. (we knew it was in the area where we were) Then right next to theirs is our Uncle Davids, our papa's twin brother who we never got to meet because he left us much much to early. But thankfully they are all right close together and we can go visit when ever we want and I plan to do so. 

Oh and then of course there's this beautiful girl!!! My sweet little cousin Shae, although she just finished 8th grade and is going in to her Freshman year of High School this year. You'd never know. The way she talks, walks, dresses and acts. She's CRAZY but I absolutely ADORE THE LIFE out of her. When she was born I was 13, her age now. (well she's 14, so pretty much) When I go home I generally spend most of my time with her and my brother!!! 

Her daddy, My Favorite Uncle. Uncle Richard, we've been close since day one. I went to him all the time when I lived at home for everything. I would go spend the night at his house on the weekends just so we could hang out and watch non-sense on TV. He takes longer than any of my girl friends to get ready. The guy seriously takes hour or longer long showers. Then another hour to get dressed and do his hair. I'm not kidding. When my mom was going into labor with me, he asked her if he was going to be a uncle or a aunt. lol. I'm so glad he turned out to be my uncle. lol. He's one of my best friends ever!!

His little mini squirt is just like him. She is so her daddies child and theirs no denying it for either of them. I know that's why I adore and love Shae so much because me and her daddy are so close. Well and not to mentions she's a freaking hoot to be around!!!

One afternoon bubby and I decided to go and have a few drinks with our God-Father. We grew up with Croysdale, he was like our 2nd dad. He's our dad's best friend, they lived together before our parents got together. They went to high school together and he has always been there for me and my brother. We spent endless weekends and summers at the river skiing and hanging out at the pool. Getting married and moving away you tend to loose touch with people but thank's to FB we are able to stay in touch. The last time I saw Croysdale was at my wedding almost 6 years ago. Bubby hadn't seem him for a good couple years before that but you would never had though a day had passed when we met up with him. He hasn't changed one bit and it was so wonderful getting to catch up and chat with him. I absolutely love him just as my dad and always will. I can't wait to go home again soon and see him again. No matter how old I get he'll always be my God-Daddy!!!

I had a great time during my short visit back in the Lone Star State, it was a bitter sweet sad trip but I did make the most of it and got in a lot of family time and at the end of the day that's all that matters!!! This trip home was spent with 100% family. As much as I wanted to see a few close friends there just wasn't enough time in the day. Also not having a rental car of my own kinda limited my getting around. I'm so blessed though that everyone was so understandings and supportive of my reasoning for coming home.  I'm so glad I was able to make it and I can't wait to go back home again soon. I miss living in Texas so much and it breaks my heart every time I have to leave. 

Until we met again TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our First Bloom

We planted SunFlowers back before the hubbs left for school in April and our first one finally bloomed the other night. I was so excited, they were getting so tall I was beginning to wonder when we'd see some pretty flower blooms. I came home Tuesday night after having dinner with the hubbs at his work to this beauty. The week before I left for my summer weekend get away in WV (post still to come) this stock fell over so I had to tie it up. I wasn't sure it would still weather the fall but it did great. I absolutely LOVE Sunflowers. Last year we planted them and they got tall but not nearly as tall as they have this year. 

 This just gives you a idea of how big the leaves are. 

 Our roof line for our lower leave has got to be about 6-7 feet I'm not a hundred percent sure on that but its gives you a idea on how tall they are. Crazy right?!?!?

 Isn't it just beautiful!!! I can't wait for the other ones to bloom, we have so many buds that look like they are going to pop just any day now. 

Family Day - Texas Style

Wednesday was family day and it involved lots of eating of course. What else do you do on vacay?!?!? Everyone wanted to get together for lunch or dinner. I was so tired of eating out after a while. 

JT & I had plans that morning to go visit someone and then after that we met up with our Nene and Dad for lunch at Cheddars. He doesn't think he looks like dad but I really think he does. It was a bit chilly and rainy today but we still had a good visit and I'm glad we were able to get together. 

Us with Dad!

Our Beautiful Nene!!!! 

That evening we had family dinner at our Mamaw's house. Generally everyone gets together at her house once a week for dinner. Since I was in town I was nominated the one to cook dinner. I didn't mind though, I enjoy cooking and it mint a home cooked meal over eating out. :) JT came over early to help me with everything. I decided to make homemade chicken pot pie, from scratch it takes a bit more work and is kinda time consuming so having two of us working on it helped out a lot. 

He's a great cook and we made a good team working together. Everyone really seemed to enjoy it because there wasn't a drop left in the pan. 

 For dessert I made one of my favorite campfire desserts, S'Mores. I love love S'Mores they are so yummy. I was curious how they'd turn out doing it in the oven but let me tell you they were fabulous!!! Nice, Hot and Gooey just how they're suppose to be. 

Meet some of our family!!!!

Little Robert, also know as Jr. 

 Uncle Richard!! 

 Papa James!!!

 Mom!!!! 

 JT also brought Callie to dinner with him, so of course I had to take full advantage of her being here and get lots of cuddles and kisses. 

She's just so sweet you can't help but love her!!!

Makes me miss my puppies when I'm away. 

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Back on the Water......

(picture over load but worth it!!!!)
Sunday night I met up with my brother, a few of his friends and we all drove down to our river house. Its about a hour away from were we live, we grew up going down there every weekend and water skiing. It's absolutely so much fun, If I could pick any sport that I LOVE it would be water skiing for sure!!!! Sadly since I've gotten married and moved away I haven't been able to do much skiing which sucks. So to say I was looking forward to the next couple days on the water would be a understatement.   After we got up to the house and everyone got settled in we all set out on the patio, had a couple drinks and had a good time hanging out listening to music way to loud. Next thing we knew it was almost 2am and we were suppose to be getting up in a few hours to go get our boat.

 Here are a few pictures from our river house that I snapped while we were there. 

That morning my brother and I went for a run down to the boat ramp while the others decided to sleep off their hang overs from the night before. Its about 3 miles from the house down to the bottom of the hill to the boat ramp and back to our house. The water was smooth as glass and surprisingly pretty warm.

After we got back showered and ready we headed up the storage to get the boat. The rest of the day was spent on the water, listening to music, water skiing, having a few drinks and a all around FABULOUS TIME!!!!

 Working up the nerve to put my ski on and get behind the boat. YIKES!!!! 

 Rebecca and Myself soaking up a little sunshine. ----------Supporting the good old USA---------

My little brother and me cruising down the river. 

I finally worked up the nerve to get in the water. It was a wee bit chilly at first and I was a bit nervous about the fact if I was even going to be able to get up on my ski or not. It had been a good 4-5 years since I've Slalomed. 

You can see me skiing & my brother driving in the above pic. :)

  But guess what!!!!!!! I DID IT!!!!! I got up on my first try and didn't even struggle one bit, its like riding a bike right?!?!?!? Well not exactly, I'd like to believe its quite a bit harder. I was so excited and couldn't stop smiling. I almost started crying I was so stoked and proud of myself. The only thing that would have made it any better was if my hubbs would have been there to see me. My dad used to give me a hard time because I'd never get my hair went when I skied and well guess what.....My hair was completely dry when I finished!!! That's called not crashing yall!!!! 

 Let me go ahead and brag a little bit on my little bubbly. He's a freaking pro when it comes to Barefooting, the kid used to compete in competitions all the time and plans on getting back into them. Kids got skills and I've got the proof to show you!!!! JT getting ready to go Footin. 

 JT from start to up on his feet going at a speed of 45mph in a matter of seconds. It still amazes me that he can do this. He did learn from the best though, our dad. 

He moved up top the boom (I can barefoot but only off the boom) to show off a bit more. 

 Toe-hole up, this is were he rest's his foot (one) in a loop on the handle and the boat pulls him up. This is seriously hard and takes skills but of course he's got them!!!! I even got the crash in action lol. 

I have a couple short videos' from JT Footin & Wakeboarding I'll try to upload them soon. 

Just a few bloopers from our day. :) 

JT on the Wake Board, I've gotten up a time or two on the Wake Board before but its just not my thing. Justin's pretty good at it though!!!! 

This was a new one for me, it's called a Wake Skate. I've never heard of such a thing but the guys seem to enjoy it  quite a bit. 

 Just a few more shots from one of my many runs of the day!! Perfect start each time and never crashed or fell!!!! 

 My true passion is water skiing and I couldn't imagine not being able to do it. 

 Our boat is almost 20 years old but she's still running just like new. She's a 1996 Outboard Master Craft. It's not often at all that Master Craft makes a Outboard. I grew up learning how to ski behind this boat. We did have a Barefoot Sanger before this one but when my dad had the opportunity to get this one he jumped on it. Miss. Hawaiian Tropic of 1996 won the boat, some how my dad found out about it. She didn't want the boat she wanted the money. So she sold it to my dad, before it was built. He got to go through and customize every little detail about it. Down to the colors, seat placement and every little thing. She's been through alot and I'm glad we've been able to keep her in the family. I can't wait to go home with hubbs and take him out on our boat. 

!!!!!!!!!!!!Isn't she a beauty!!!!!!!!!!!!

The rest of the evening once we got back to the house was spent hanging out, listening to music once again probably way to loud but when your in the country were our house is that's OK. We all pitched in a made a fabulous dinner of course with a few drinks to go along with it. It felt so great to be back down at our RiverHouse and I can't wait to go back. I loved being able to hang out with my brother and get to know his Girlfriend as well. 

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