Green Thumb

If you want to see the prettiest pansies in all of Birmingham, you must come to our house! It won't be long before we have to replace them with summer flowers, but for now they make me very happy. George knows that flowers are my favorite and has watered them every morning. What a lucky girl I am! I hope we have as much luck with the vegetable garden.

Look, it snowed

People freaked out. I took pictures.

My favorite panorama feature of our house and our neighbors

Neighbors walkway

Not exactly 4" but at least 2"

Happy Birthday Clancy

Clancy turned 3 yesterday!

So we had a birthday party...

I made him a birthday party hat and doggie ice cream, and George grilled out dinner.

Dinner & Ice cream = success, Party hat = no success.

I know, doggie ice cream sounds a little extreme. It is actually very easy to throw together and Clancy (and George) loved it. Just in case you are curious, I have added the recipe at the end of my blog post.

He brings so much happiness to our little family. I really can't imagine life without this little guy. I think that the best thing about Clancy is that no matter what kind of day I have had, I can always look forward to that "you are the best thing in the world" look that only he can give me. It is the best.

Doggie Ice Cream:

- 32 oz plain yogurt

- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I used a little bit more to make it extra tasty)

- 1 mashed up banana

- 1 tablespoon honey

Directions: Mix all ingredients together in a blender, pour in small cups or an ice cube tray, and put in the freezer for a while.

Mi nombre es Jorge

My mother and I put in a french drain at her house this weekend. It was some serious manual labor but we got it did.

Before

Before (and the reason for the drain)

Before

After

The Phoenix Ball

Brittany and I went to a charity event put on by the Phoenix Club of Birmingham. The event was a benefit for the Boys and Girls Club of Central Alabama. It was a great night with friends.

New Years 2010

We went down to Destin, FL to ring in the New Year. We stayed at our friend's, Brandon Owens, condo at the end of Holiday Isle - the first picture is a panorama from his balcony overlooking the bay. It's a very cool spot. Santa brought Brittany a new camera for Christmas so I'm hoping that the blog will be reengaged.

The girls of the trip (from left to right) - Bess, Brittany, Lacey, Katie Beth, and Landon

The newly engaged looking smug - John and Lacey (Howell)

The guys on Brandon's incredible boat (from left to right) - Ryan, Cory, Brandon, John, and me

Brittany peacing out to 2010.

We are attempting to spell out 2010.

Pumpkin Carving Party!!

I know... it has been awhile, right? We'll I have been harassed enough to start blogging again, and I couldn't help but post these incredible pictures of our Pumpkin Carving Party last Thursday night. Hillary took them and I love them. It was a super fun party with friends and family. I love carving pumpkins!

The Garden of Yorkshire

My parents have a great backyard and I've mentioned the garden in a previous blog post.  I've been taking some pictures as the veggies have progressed.  We're growing green beans, tomatoes, garlic, basil, cantaloupe, eggplant, squash (barely), and cucumbers.  The garden has really been coming on strong here in the past 2 weeks.  Below are a few pics of the progress:

The first tomato - May 22

Same tomato - May 29

Same tomato - June 19 (it's getting red)

First cucumber - June 3

Same cucumber - June 15

Thrills and Spills

One of my best friends, Trevor Cobb, had an incredible bachelor party.  We went white water rafting on the Chattooga on the Georgia-South Carolina border.  It was a wonderful weekend with our group of friends.  We stayed in a little resort town that my family and I would frequent when we were growing up - http://skyvalley.com/.  It was the first time I'd been there since Princess Diana died.  Very nostalgic surroundings for me.

The white water rafting was awesome - some very real 'paddle or die' moments. 

This is not text book

(Please note that I was not on this boat)

Repercussions for non text book route

(notice Houston still paddling while outside the raft)

Text book

(I'm leading the charge on the front right)

Houston redeems himself from his earlier fall

This is when we almost died.  We got stuck in the water churning in circles.  Very scary.