Fall FUN!!

From PUMPKIN PATCHES...

  

 

to PUMPKIN CARVING...

to FALL FESTIVALS...

we have had a blast over the last few weeks in this cool, "flirty" weather! 

So...happy fall y'all :)





We are Crying Over Spilled Milk - LITERALLY!!

When you walk into our kitchen be prepared to have a gas mask to make it out alive!  Ugghh....

We are in some serious trouble over spilled milk....literally

A few days ago, Adam wanted his milk REALLY cold, so what did he do?  Put it in the freezer, of course!  Then, he YANKED open the freezer door, and what do you know?  The milk spills.  No big deal.  Just wipe is up.

Day 1 = No problem we wiped it up
Day 2 = We wake up to the smell of rotten milk!!  We wipe the freezer again...and cross our fingers
Day 3 = The rotten smell now has a hint of cheesy grossness.  AHH!  We clorox this time and buy 2 boxes of baking soda to put in the fridge and freezer!
Day 4 = Rotten, cheese smell mixed with DEATH!  Everything comes out of the fridge and freezer and is washed.
Day 5 = HELP!!  We need help!  The smell of death is permeating the house! 

I think they have this idiom about NOT crying over spilled milk WRONG! 

People aren't crying because they are sad.  They are crying because the rotten/cheese/death smell has taken over their tear ducts!

Southern Bride!!!

So excited and honored to be part of Southern Bride's latest issue!!!!!!!  This is a TRUE story about our dog - Cookie Monster - running away on our wedding day....sigh.  Through the woods we went (wedding dress and ALL) looking for Cookie Man : ) 

Tuesdays with...

Tuesdays with Morrie Adam! 

I love Tuesdays.  They are first of all NOT Mondays :) which make them special, but in the Greer house:

Tuesdays = Softball Night

Every Tuesday, I find myself on the bleachers with a chicken finger basket in my lap, school work next to me (usually untouched), and a smile on my face.  Why? 

Because I love sitting on metal bleachers for 2-3 hours?  No. 

Because I dont have anything else to do?  No.

Because I love chicken fingers and fries? Well, maybe!

I love it because Adam loves it!  Every Tuesday he joins his friends to play some church league softball.  Adam enjoys going, doing, playing, moving.  It is probably safe to say that between the two of us,  am more of the "home body," but on Tuesdays there is no place that I would rather be.  I am sort of like the postman in the sense that I try to be there every game. 

"Neither rain, sleet nor snow, to the ball field I must go"

So on Tuesdays, if you cant find us.  Drive by the ball field.  Look for the bright yellow uniforms. 

Check the bleachers.  I'll be there!

Look for the hottie at 2nd base.  Adam will be there!

See you Tuesday!  I cant wait : )

Married for 500 days!!

So, your first question is probably, "Who counts the number of days they have been married?!"  Ha...valid question!  On my cell phone, I had a count down to our wedding day, then after the wedding it just started "counting up!"  I liked it, and so it has stayed on my phone.  Duh!

Weddings and marriages have been on my mind a lot lately (probably b/c my sister, Jessica, just got married!  see the previous post).  I had the privilege of being Jessica's matron of honor, and at the rehearsal dinner I gave a toast.  It was nothing too profound or original.  As I choked back tears, I said something along the lines of:

• "I love you both"
• "I am excited to have a new brother...although I feel like Ryan has been part of our family for a long time"
• "We, as their friends/family, have an obligation to support them, love them, & pray for them"
• "Marriage is hard work, but a blessing beyond what you can imagine"

I didnt think much of it, but the next night after the wedding I was talking to my stepdad, John, and he asked why I said "Marriage is hard work."  My 1st response was a resounding "Because it IS hard work."  Hello, I have a whopping 500 days under my belt; I know a little something :) 

His point was that marriage takes work, but is that really "HARD work?"  Maybe it is just semantics, but I appreciated his point.  We choose to be married.  If we go in with our eyes wide open, we know that our partner is not perfect (gasp!).  While, I think Adam is perfect for me, I know he is not perfect, and I know that I am not perfect (no laughing!).  Thus, when you have two imperfect people under one roof, it takes work in the form of compromise, patience, and compassion.  So, John, maybe marriage it isnt HARD work, but it takes work daily, right?  On day 1, 2, 3....day 500, 501...day 15,000, etc! 

Happy day 4 Jessica and Ryan!  Happy day 500 Adam! 

 

Ryan and Jessica SMITH!!!! 9.18.10

My best friend - who just happens to be my SISTER - got married Saturday!!! What a blessing to be part of that amazing day at the beach : ) Here is a little taste of the day! Cant wait to see the professional pictures:

She was breath taking, wasnt she?!?!

Bachelor/Bachelorette Parties – Glorious Fun or Grand Faux Pas?

Just thinking of the to-do list while planning a wedding can be exhausting…book the caterers, reserve the location, send invitations, obtain a marriage license, etc., etc.   After all that work, most brides- and grooms-to-be look forward to the fun events designed specifically to celebrate them and their upcoming nuptials – such as this now-infamous bachelor/bachelorette party.

I started thinking about this “infamous” party as I began helping to plan one for my younger sister, Jessica, who is getting married in a few weeks to a wonderful man.  In planning, I kept thinking:

1.  What is the purpose of this event? To party?  To celebrate the bride? To celebrate marriage?
2. What should be emphasized? Remembering singlehood?  Looking towards marriage?
3. How should be talk about marriage this weekend? Sad because you won’t be single? Excited?

I was probably READING way too much into this event.  Ha!  I know!  Yet, this is my sister and best friend, and I wanted her to not only have a special weekend, but I wanted to provide a solid example from what I know as a wife and a marriage researcher.  I have attended different types of bachelorette parties in the past, and it makes me a little sad when people think of parties like this as the “end of fun” or when people make comments like “RUN!” or “Don’t do it!”

I did some brief (non scholarly) research on the history of these parties and found that bachelor parties date back to the 5^th century when Spartan men held a dinner in the groom’s honor and would make toasts to the groom in a celebratory fashion, but the term bachelor party wasn’t coined until the 1920’s.  After the sexual revolution in the 1960’s, women began their own version of celebration with the bachelorette party.  In wasn’t until the 1990’s that women “pumped up the volume” and were regularly celebrating these parties with wild nights on the town and often male entertainment.  So, maybe all my party planning questions were founded as the typical stereotypes of bachelor/bachelorette parties (think The Hangover) have only been normed during the past decade or two.

Today, I would venture to say that there does not appear to be a “right” way to celebrate.  As the party-planner and/or friends of the soon-to-be-married-couple, it is important to know what the couple wants (and what they do NOT want) at their party or separate parties.  There is nothing wrong with good ole fashioned fun as friends help celebrate the transition from singlehood into marriage, but honoring the couple and their upcoming life together is also an essential element for a successful party and for a healthy relationship for the couple.

As for Jessica’s bachelorette weekend, it was a raging success filled with fun, sun, and lots of talk about the adventures of marriage!

Pictured left: Kaley Revell (bridesmaid), Jessica Lucier (BRIDE!), Mallory (Matron of honor)

Below Left: My BF's bachelorette party.  Now Mrs. Catie Walker O'Neal.

Below Right: My bachelorette party with my son, Cookie Monster!!

 

Vacation By Numbers...1, 2, 3....1,330

Gators and Porpoise and Seagulls, oh my!  Adam, Cookie Monster and I just came home from our multi-destination adventure of Florida :)   We had LOTS of fun and ate TOO much food.  Here is a summary of our trip by the numbers:

11          Days we spent on vacation!
1330.9  Miles driven.  Ok, ok!  I should say, number of miles Adam drove :)
7            Homes we visited
4            Different beds we slept in
616        Pages read catching up on the last two Janet Evonovich books!

33          Naureen's jersey number!  We got to see her and Chris play...they won!!

6           Times I spit on the ground in Gainesville, FL.  Yick, UF!  Go dawgs :)
4           Number of real gators (not the obnoxious fans) we saw at Paynes Prairie! 

             Thanks to Roxanne, our amazing tour guide!

2:30       Time of Drew and Patty's wedding on 8.7.10! 

9'8"        Length of the longboard I tried to surf on!

2            Number of sandsharks in the water...and reason I didn't learn to surf :)

$40        Amount of money we saved b/c Adam's mom gave us both great haircuts

9374      Address to Jessica and Ryan's NEW HOUSE! Glad we went to visit Tallahassee
387        Exit we ran out of gas.  Really. We even had a note to remind us to fill up. Ah!

15           Minutes it took Grant to get gas & save us...in the RAIN!  Thanks Grant!

∞               Amount of fun we had traveling to see our friends and family!!

                  Can't wait to do it again!

p.s. Thanks to the Netzer family for giving us this numerically descriptive idea! 

Vacation...Porpoise Sighting from a CANOE!!

Rivers and beaches and pools, oh my!  We are enjoying our vacation as we circle the state of Florida visiting family and friends (i.e. fun and inexpensive holiday before school gears back up).

Adam and I went on a canoe ride on the Banana River yesterday afternoon.  It was beautiful outside as we watched fish jump and the sun shine down on us.  Then Adam spotted a porpoise!!  

Check out the video as we basically paddled right next to the porpoise!  Shoot, he/she almost swam underneath the canoe (in the 2nd video)! 

The 1st one has me narrating; the 2nd one is a little windy but mr. porpoise gets CLOSE!

I was having a laughing attack...excited like a little kid.  Growing up in Georgia, you dont see this everyday unlike my surfer boy husband who is like a fish to water....better yet, a porpoise to water!  Enjoy :) 

More photos and videos of the trip to come!

Learning While Teaching!

I love my job(s)! As a little background, I have been in grad school at Auburn for the last 4 years (yet still a faithful Georgia Bulldog). During that time, I have worn many “hats!” Beyond my favorite roles (wife to Adam, sister, daughter, etc!), I also have had some rocking jobs. 4+ years as a research assistant for Alabama’s healthy marriage initiative and the last three years as a therapist at a community mental health facility.

I love therapy, but I was ready for a new adventure. In the spring of this year, I co-taught a class with my major professor...loved it! Then, this summer, I turned in my 30 day notice at mental health when I was offered a job teaching an undergrad Marriage & Family class at Auburn.

Transitioning from a one-on-one, community mental health setting to a classroom with 35 “knowledge seekers.” Oh, it has been an adventure!!!! There are some similarities between therapy and undergrads (i.e. in both settings some WANT to be there, others don’t; both are filled in interesting people who keep me on my toes!)

Here are a few things that I have learned/enjoyed about teaching this summer:

4. Everyone was learning…including ME! I had a chatty, thoughtful group of students who asked LOTS of questions and had even more “colorful” stories to highlight various topics we discussed including LOVE, costs/rewards for romantic relationships, rules for breaking up, healthy sexuality, etc.

3. I felt so funny! : ) I am not sure if they are required to laugh at my jokes and stories because I was the instructor (or maybe Adam paid them), but they did which just encouraged me to tell more jokes! Ha!

2. It is important to have clarity in communication! This is a good lesson for everyone…therapists, teachers, spouses, etc. On the first exam, I asked the students to describe the difference between individualistic values (individual/self oriented) and familistic values (family oriented). Then, I asked them to illustrate each value system expecting for them to give me an example of each. I was really confused when I was grading the tests and began seeing pages covered in STICK FIGURES! 

HAHA! I didn’t know if I should deduct points or give extra credit : ) Next time I will just ask for an example.  p.s. I asked permission from the students to use these

1. The best part about teaching: Watching the A-ha Moments! Lots of students across the University have to take this class. I had interior design students, engineers, communication disorder folks…students from a variety of back grounds. As diverse as their interests were, we all had some common ground in this class. We all have a family – whether biological or a chosen family – and we will continue to be part of a community of people.

Several students we struck by the fact that we can STUDY marriages and families! Skills such as having realistic expectations and being intentional in relationships can promote healthy relationships and stability….plus research rocks! The last part was added by me. They may not yet love research as much as I do!

What a blessing to have such a great job in which I get to talk about marriages and families!! Looking forward to learning lots more as I continue to teach this fall!

7.19.10

Yesterday was a hard day for our family. We lost my grandma, Mary Howard.

Even as I type this it doesn't seem quite real, and the word "lost" seems so incomplete and superficial. My childhood is flooded with memories of swimming at the lake, riding the boat , playing dominoes, bowling, and eating our "arthritis medicine" (a.k.a. ice cream) with my grandparents.

My parents would drop me and my sister, Jessica, off to spend the weekend with my grandparents, and we knew we were in for some fun. My grandparents liked routines (to put it mildly).

Every morning, grandma served us cereal and toast (cut diagonally) with lots of butter. We fished in the morning and went to Shoney's :) for lunch. In the afternoon, we went bowling on post, and then went home to ride the boat (which I would undoubtedly fall asleep, so my grandma would give me a blanket BEFORE I got on the boat). We finished up the day with our "arthritis medicine" and got ready to do it all again the next day.

At the end of our trip, my grandparents would slip us a few dollars and say, "Maybe this is enough to keep you away for a while!" :)

They would stand in the driveway and holler, "Thanks for having us!" as we drove away.

For years, we would spend new years eve at their house. Jessica and I talked about how we were going to stay up ALL NIGHT and "party" at midnight. Without fail, Jessica and I would fall asleep on the couch and grandma would wake us up a few minutes before midnight. We would blow our horns and wave our American flags, and then fall back asleep within minutes!

Sweet memories...

Yesterday was a rough day, but there was such comfort in knowing that she was feeling no more pain and that she was met in heaven by Jesus and my sweet grandpa that passed away 2 1/2 years ago. She has missed him so much....after 50 years of marriage, her heart ached daily for her best friend.

What a beautiful thought of them holding hands again on the streets of gold.

A Big, Wild Southern Wedding

This last weekend Adam and I traveled to Huntsville for my cousin Tony's wedding to his WONDERFUL bride Libby :)

What do you get when family travels from all over the country and descends upon one city?!?!

A mixture of laughs, old stories, some swear words, lots of hugs, a few jabs, tears of joy, and LOTS OF FUN!!

Here are some pictures :) Updates on other summer fun coming soon!

My sister, Jessica :)Mr. & Mrs. Diaz!!!!!!

1 + 1 = 8

First...no I am not pregnant with sextuplets! :)

The 1 + 1 = 8 refers to my mom and (stepdad) John's recent nuptials. As John likes to describe it, our families are united under a common "G" (they are HUGE Green Bay Packer fans represented by a green and yellow G and we are HUGE Georgia Bulldog fans, of course, represented by the most beautiful red and black G). Can I get a collective "awww" for this picture of them?!?! Too sweet
Back to the "eight" part of it! Together...our families bring together 8 people. More specifically, 7 WOMEN and John :) He has 4 daughters plus me and my sister, Jessica! As you can imagine he is a bit outnumbered by the sheer amount of estrogen present when we are together! His daughters - who are fabulous - live in Minnesota, so the first time we have all been under one roof together was THIS week! We ventured through the blazing heat and enjoyed a few days filled with roller coasters, water slides, cornhole, grilling, and chilling :) SOOO fun

You might think that being together would have many obstacle such as sharing 3 bathrooms among 8 people or cooking enough food to feed the whole group or trying to come to an agreement about what we should do next, but I would beg to differ. Surprisingly, these issues were not a problem....the biggest obstacle was the "language barrier."

My Southern ears had a hard time adjusting to "yankee talk." Although they cited some study that reported that Minnesota accents were the easiest to understand (I'd like to see the reference on that study!), I had to use lots of active listening skills and context clues to understand some of our conversations HAHA. I could have done a whole blog on "Language Interpretation 101: The North Meets the South"

Even so, it makes my heart smile to know that we are all united under a common "G" (more pics to come with all of us in our jerseys) to parents who have found something VERY special, and I look forward to LOTS of opportunities to hone my skills in deciphering "yankee talk" in the years to come :)

Cookie Monster in Hot Pursuit

The Cookie Monster (our 2 year old Chihuahua....and yes :) that is his real name) is VERY picky about which toy he wants to play with at any given time. He will dig through his basket until he finds exactly which toy he wants. He has:

• a frog,
• a chicken (which is actually now two separate toys - chicken head and chicken body!),
• his own cookie monster,
• chick-fil-a cow,
• old slippers, etc., etc.

Anyway, yesterday I washed all those toys, and this morning he was not happy about it! He dug through his basket for 5+ minutes pulling out toys, putting them aside, and digging some more. HAHAHA guess he didnt like the "snuggle fresh" smell of his toys! Check it out:

I've heard that you shouldn't pray for patience...

I've heard that if you pray for patience, then God will give you plenty of opportunities to "exercise" patience! Well, I have been praying that I would have a good attitude during this season of transistions and adjustment....ahhh!!! I guess that I prayed for MANY opportunities to practice having a good attitude, because it has been a WET and WILD week for the Greer family.

1. Bubbly Toilets - The city has been working on our water lines/pipes recently. Last weekend next to NOTHING would flush. I'll try not to be too graphic, but imagine this: a #1 would hardly flush. Know what I'm saying? Our neighbors confirmed that it was happening in their homes, so we werent too worried. Just needed to be patient until they were done. Now, the toilets flush, but all week our toilets have been singing to us. They bubble; they drain. Once our bathtub was even filled with water and dirt and it did not come from the facet....up from below! Seriously.

2. Spewing Sink - Monday (start of the work week) Adam reaches under the counter to get the mouth wash to find our sink pipe (not sure if that is the technical name) spitting water. He had already fixed this once before. Something about a washer gone or the putty had disintegrated. I am not sure. We have known about this little "project," but thought it was fixed. So, we have had to shower in our bathroom, but brush our teeth and such in the front bathroom. Nothing a huge deal. Just a little annoying.

3. Walking in the Rain - Now this was TOTALLY MY FAULT! HAHA. Adam and I have been riding to campus together and if you know anything about Auburn University, you know that students have to walk and walk and walk to get from their car to their class. Well, Wednesday we were leaving campus. We were about 2/3 of the way to the car (about 5 minutes) and it starts raining. I reach in my bag to get my keys only to find...NO KEYS! I had left them on my desk. Adam turns to go get them (I wait under a tree) and it begins to POUR!! He comes back soaking wet and didnt talk to me for a while after that. My bad!

4. Fountain in the Front Bathroom - I woke up this morning to a shout of "OH CRAP!" from Adam. I leap out of bed only to find a fountain of water flying up from the floor (where the sink pipes connect) and an inch of water already on the floor in the bathroom!!! No one was even in the bathroom when it started! So I grab every towel we own while Adam runs to turn off the water. We are thankful that we were home when this happened and didnt come home to an inch of water in the whole house, because the water was coming out fast and it wouldnt have taken long to be very bad!

So, now we are waiting for the plumber and the City of Opelika to "open" so that we can get everything figured out. I also will not drink anything because I dont want to have to walk to the neighbor's house multiple times to borrow their facilities. :)

Lord...I am trying to have a good attitude. Please bless us with helpful hands this afternoon and some solutions to all the wet and wild situations we are facing. Thank you for the blessings we have received in spite of all this (a few good laughs) and for your sense of humor in providing so many "opportunities" to practice patience & having a good attitude. :)

Transitions

What do we really know about CHANGE and TRANSITIONS that happen in our lives? Adam and I have experienced LOTS of changes recently, so I keep looking & listening to how people talk about change.

• The Bible says that there is a time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)
• Leading self-help books make analogies to moving of cheese and not gobbling marshmallows to help readers adapt to the change process in as little as a week or even an hour :)
• Various therapy approaches (I have been studying because I am taking my therapy licensing exam soon!!) encourage the change process with techniques that include shaping & modeling appropriate behavior, charting progress, increasing self-focus, decreasing anxiety, creating boundaries, challenging assumptions, reframing the situation, etc., etc.!!!!!!

Changes at the Greer home:

• Adam is going back to school FULL time as an Auburn Univ. student!!!
• Mallory "retired" from her therapy job at mental health that she has had for 3 years to teach classes at Auburn Univ!
• Adam was hired as a research assistant on campus (which is very different from the Home Depot)!

For us, change can be seen in the practical sense (i.e. bank account, the amount of time we see each other, health benefits, etc), but it is hard to put change into words. The best word we can think of is BITTERSWEET! Excited about what is to come; humbled to be offered new experiences; sad and nervous about leaving places where we feel comfortable....

Just thankful to be taking this exciting, humbling, & nerve-racking journey with a loving & supportive spouse. Will keep you updated on how we manage all this change.

PRAYERS AND ADVICE welcome :)

p.s. Picture taken today at the Valley Day on the River (super fun festival is Valley, AL). Next blog will give you the 411 on the Watermelon eating contest from the reigning Valley watermelon eating CHAMPION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Happy Anniversary to us!

5-9-09 to 5-9-10! What does that mean?! We have been married a WHOLE YEAR!! Happy Anniversary to the Greer family. Only 588 more months until our 50th wedding anniversary :) Until then, may we always remember and fulfill our vows to each other. (We wrote our own vows!). Here they are:

Adam to Mallory:

First, I vow to love you forever.
To protect you...
To pray for you...and with you...
To remind you how much I love you...(and why you love me so much!)
To do my best to provide for you...
To encourage you...
To always be honest with you.

Lastly, Did I say to love you FOREVER!
You are my sunshine

Mallory to Adam:

Adam, I make a covenant with my eyes, my heart, and my actions to be fully committed to you (Job 31:1)
I promise to bring you good and not harm (Proverbs 31:12)
I promise to practice patience and kindness even through the storms (1 Cor. 13:4)
I will dance when you dance; I will mourn when you mourn (Romans 12:15)
I will be there all the days of your life.

From this day forward, I pledge:
(1) To seek Christ first in our relationship (Matt. 6:33)
(2) To honor you in all my actions, and
(3) To love you forever

Here's to many, many, many more : )

Thankful...to be married to you 9x

In 9 days on May 9th, we will be celebrating our 1st anniversary! :) I could go on and on about what an amazing husband I have (because i do!!!)...he loves Jesus, he is HA-larious, by his actions I know he loves me, etc., etc. Instead, I wanted to list 9 "little" things he does that I sometimes overlook but I am quite thankful for. In no particular order:

1. He uses the closet in the front bedroom, so I can have the WHOLE closet in our bedroom! Our house was built in the 30's and closets were NOT a priority then, so every morning sweet Adam walks up front to pick out this clothes and start the day without a grumble.

2. He opens my car door. Without fail, for almost two years he has opened my car door as we get in the car. I am all about equal rights for women and I CAN open my own door, but it is sure nice to be treated like a lady. (Currently, my door handle is broken from the inside on the passenger side, so now he opens it when we get out too...haha!)

3. In the morning, he takes the first shower so I can sleep in a little more! I DO NOT LIKE the morning time. Although it takes me longer to get ready, he gets up and starts stirring around the house so that I can ease out of the bed. Now, that I think about it, he may be getting up 1st so that he doesnt hear me complain : )

4. He snuggles with the Cookie Monster. He says that he wants a "big dog," but I know CM has a special place in his heart. I catch them taking naps together frequently!
5. He doesn't mind helping...around the house...his friends...anybody. Did you know that he planned 80% of our wedding? I was so slammed with work and school, I was barely above water. He picked out the cake, the flowers, the location....and did an AMAZING JOB!

6. He helps me decorate the house for Christmas...in November!! I love, love, love Christmas and Christmas decorations especially ones that say JOY. I don't know what it is, but around Halloween I start getting an itch to decorate for Christmas. He does make me wait a little longer, but he totally helps me put up the tree in November!

7. He leaves me notes around the house. I find a sticky note around the house or in my lunch box all the time with an I <3 U and XOXO on them. I get a daily call at lunch time. The best days are when we get to meet at Moe's for lunch, but second best is that I get a call everyday to see how I am doing during his lunch : ) It is nice break in the day and it reminds me what a sweet guy I have.

9. He is now a GEORGIA FAN!!Love you!

Gardening...A Family Affair

There is a special place in my heart for the smell of cut grass. It reminds me of springtime and the sun and MY DAD!

My dad has owned a lawn service for longer than I have been alive. He works hard and is good at what he does, but man-oh-man he is a tough boss! When I was in middle school and high school, my dad wanted me to have an appreciation for hard work, so he made me go to work with him during the summer!! No, seriously. Summer break, 100 (million) degrees, and me reporting for duty at 7am with the crew to "bust some yards."

Top memories from working with dad:

1. Learning how to operate the lawn mover. If you have met me, you may know that I am a little hardheaded and like to figure things out myself. Well, I figured out how to turn the mover on. Check. I emptied the grass clippings. Check. What I didnt know was how to PUSH the mover. Instead of gripping the gas lever (thingy...see below) over the top with my hands like you are supposed to, I was holding it underneath with my THUMBS all day. At the end of my 1st day, my thumbs were bleeding, and I asked my dad if his hands had just become calloused over the years. He busted out laughing and said that NO employee in the history of the company had cut grass with their thumbs. I didnt know!! Now I do : )

2. When we would get to a yard, my dad would give out a list of tasks to the crew. It often went something like this especially in the afternoon, "So-and-so, pick up sticks, then cut the grass. I will do the hedges. Mallory, get some water and sit down so you dont pass out."

3. Often when working, I would make up rhymes to make the time go by faster. Things like: "Hot as hell; hear dad yell." "It's so hot, I'm going to die; when is lunch, I'd sure like some pie."

It was quite a learning experience, but I wouldnt trade it for the world (even if my little sister NEVER had to cut grass, but I'm not bitter). I got to see how hard my dad works. We got to spend time together. I even think he was a little impressed that I kept trying although I think my main purpose was to serve as the comic relief!

All of these memories came flooding back this weekend as my dad so generously dedicated his time and cool lawn equipment to help me and Adam whip our yard into shape. We cut, fertilized, killed stuff, edged, planted, potted, watered, and had a GREAT time! So grateful for the wonderful weather today, all the quality time we got to spend with the "Yard Boss," and our BEAUTIFUL yard!!! THANKS DAD!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Jessie!

Today is the birthday of my _____ sister! There are sooo many words I could use to describe her. The _____ depends on the day : )

It could be filled with BRILLIANT....this year she graduated (and was speaker of her class!) and is now gainfully employed at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital as a radiologic technician!!

It could be filled with SWEET...she has a sweet spirit and is the BEST person to talk to on a bad day.

It could be filled with CrAzY....you try living with her for 16 years. She farts; she will jump in your bed during a thunderstorm (or if she just feels like cuddling); she can make you laugh even if you are VERY mad and do NOT want to be laughing; she has a mean right hook (the best advice I can give is to just go into the fetal position during a fight! she will stop hitting! haha); she will not get out of the bed and for 12 years of school I always had to take the 1st shower; she will steal your clothes; she will stain your clothes. I could go on and on!

Today I will fill the ______ with BEAUTIFUL! So, happy birthday to my beautiful sister! You have blessed my life during this wild journey called sisterhood! May the Lord bless us with MANY, MANY more adventures together. Here are just a few: