Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday Rusty and I entertained about 20 close friends for a Pre-Thanksgiving celebration. We are so lucky to have such a great group of friends. Everyone brought a dish and I cooked the ham. Everything was great and Layla was pretty well behaved meeting everyone!

Today we had family come to celebrate the holiday at our place. It is great to have a nice home to entertain in and be proud of. Rusty and I have so much to be thankful for this holiday season!

Lori's Shower

Wednesday I held a baby shower for a friend from work, Lori! She is expecting a girl around early January! We had lots of good food, like always when the girls from work get together! I can't wait to welcome the new baby Kaitlyn!

Yesterday Rusty and I went to the humane society looking for a dog. It was sad and seemed like there were many dogs that had come from abusive homes so we continued looking! We found Layla from a local no-kill, Pet Rescue by Judy. We were lucky enough to talk to the foster mom to learn a little more about her. She took great care of her. Layla is an Austrailian Shepard/Lab mix as best they can tell! She is 3-4 months old and has a great temperment and is learning simple commands so fast!

There are more pictures posted of the shower and the puppy so check them out!

Election 2008

Today, finally the elections are over. I am happy to be free from the constant commercials but more than that, I am proud to be an American. No matter who was victorious in this election, or who will be in each successive term, the fact remains that we are so blessed to live in a country were we vote and we can make a difference.

I was so touched by both canidates speeches. I felt they both spoke from the heart and that their love for this country is true and strong. I hope that we can come together across party lines, as a nation and rebuild our country, and I know we will.

"Tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama, I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president.

And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties but to believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.

Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history, we make history."

John McCain, Election Night 2008

"This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can."

Barack Obama, Election Night 2008

Blue Springs Camping Trip

This weekend Rusty and I went camping at Blue Springs. The first night was Halloween and we were joined by Paige, Rachel and Grant. The second night Tim and Zac came out! The weather was beautiful with highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s.

The best part about the trip was our encounters with the manatees. The spring stays 72 degrees year round and the manatees come to the spring for the relatively warm water in the winters. There were 8 manatee in one area and a few others scattered throughout the spring. Before leaving today we were brave enough to take a dip and swim up to the spring head. Since you aren't allowed to swim with the manatee, we waited until they swam off and made our way up. When we reached the spring there were 4 more manatees there. One of them was particularly curious and swam right up to us!

Already looking forward to our next trip in December for the Reindeer Run 5K in St. Petersburg! (Better get training!)

Pumpkin Carving

Last night Rusty and I had some friends over to celebrate Halloween early with some pumpkin carving. We searched for the perfect pumpkin (turns out Publix has the best deal....large pumpkins for $6) just in case you were wondering! Then chose our stencil or free handed our design. After carving we were so proud we took a ton of pictures. Somehow, the girls were much more interested in this part than the boys. After carving we watched football and I baked the pumpkin seeds....yumm! Friday we're headed to Blue Springs for some camping! Good thing our weather's been nice!

October update

Rusty and I have fallen into a routine of work, eat, sleep, repeat! Although, we do have some news to report.

First, Rusty has installed a turbo kit on his Focus. It makes his car much faster and he says it will save us on gas too because it is more efficient. I guess we'll see the difference driving it makes : ) In all, he is very pleased with it since he no longer has his truck or a mustang to fix up. Meanwhile, I'm still in my '98 Sentra waiting on the funds to come together for a new car. Feels like I'll be waiting awhile....

We have also purchased our first real set of furniture for the living room. Don't get us wrong, the hand-me-downs were great but we felt after 3 1/2 years of living together, both of our graduations, and purchasing a home, that we deserved it!

Also around the home, we embarked on a weekend home improvement project 2 weeks ago that is still in progress! We decided to tear out the caulk in the master bath and replace it because it was getting moldy. After tearing it out, we realized the grout would need to come out, the wall would need time to dry, and we'd get the pleasure of re-doing it in this 4 year old home. I guess that's what being a homeowner is all about! We hope to re-tile the bathrooms and kitchen and paint the exterior this "winter."

Paige has also shared her pictures from Jessica and Adam's Wedding with me. She's got a real talent and is considering making her own webpage and business cards. I think that would be a really fun thing to do though college and maybe as a career! Her pictures are posted in one of our photo albums...Check them out!

Speaking of Paige, she just attended her Senior Homecoming. It's hard to believe she is a senior this year! I feel like I was just there minutes ago! Here is one of many beautiful pictures of her...(I think the camera loves her!)

Adam and Jessica's Wedding

Bride and Groom

On September 20th we attended Rusty's cousin Jessica's wedding. Earlier that day, Paige had a 5K race, we took the 1 hr ride home, quickly got ready and headed across town!

Me with Ms. Photographer!

Paige and I went early to help Jessica get ready. Jessica and Adam hired Paige as their photographer so she was there snapping photos! Right now the prints are still be edited (all 600 photos!) but we'll be showing some of her best off soon! These shots are from Patti (so many turned out great!)

Loving this one! Bridesmaid Kandi, with her daughter (and flower girl), Taylor!