Visiting the Kegleys

Oh my goodness. I got to go see my sweet friend Kelli Kegley and her sweet, sweet baby boy Connor not too long ago. Carrie, Lindsey and I made the trek over to Nashville. It TRULY wasn't a bad drive at all. AND, we stopped at a gas station on the way that sold Coconut M&M's. I bought 5 bags and gave some away to friends. WHERE ARE THESE IN ARKANSAS? Anyhoo. We arrived late Friday night and slept in Saturday. Saturday morning, we got to go see them!

Isn't he precious! Look at that sweet little perfect nose! Doesn't Kelli look beautiful! It was AMAZING to see her be a mommy. It comes to her so naturally. He has her undivided attention and she is great at taking care of him. Connor was such a sweet baby. He just slept and cooed and made cute little faces all day long.

This picture shows him doing what he does best. Being handsome.

Here are our friends! Rachael and KJ and Layla came to hang out with us! It was so great to see Rach. Layla was a hoot and entertained us all at dinner. I was so thankful to be able to make the weekend trip. I am so proud of Kelli and Matt! Connor Kegley is one sweet dude!

Sydney Bristow

I would like to share with you my obsession that lasted approximately 2 months. Alias- The Complete Series. I love Sydney Bristow! She is one of the coolest characters I've ever watched. It started when Jessica Dasher mentioned to me that I "might like it". So, I added all the seasons to my Netflix cue. I would watch 1 disc each night. (Each disc contains 4 episodes.) Hey- what's a girl to do during tax season? I quickly realized that Netflix could not satisfy my addiction fast enough so I added the 2 disc package to our Netflix. That still wasn't fast enough. Luckily, I talked about it one night at LOST club and our little friend Griffin Templeton mentioned that he had all 5 seasons at home. I got them the next day and my love affair quickly progressed season by season.

Sydney Bristow believes she is working for a black ops division of the CIA called SD-6. When her fiance is killed, she realizes that she does not in fact work for the CIA. She betrays SD-6 and goes to work undercover for the CIA where she meets her handler Michael Vaughn and they fall in love. Her dad also works for the CIA and her mom- who she thought died when she was 6 is a traitor to the US and a "bad guy". It's awesome. I loved it. And I'm sad it's over. I think next tax season, I will do the same thing with Felicity. Also J.J. Abrams, also recommended by Jessica.

Little Rock Marathon

So here we are! After months of training, Lauren and I finally got to run our half marathon! We bought these shirts the day before and they say, "This seemed like a good idea 3 months ago". We had all kinds of comments and we even had one dude take a picture with us! Ha ha

Name tag! People would yell your name as you went by. It was so encouraging.

Here we are towards the beginning; I think this was mile 2 or 3 I can't remember.

This next picture was taken after we had just come up a hill on a bridge. We beasted that bridge!

Here we are finishing. I did not see Matt and Zac but I guess Lauren did!


And here we are with our medals! (It makes it seem like the race went by pretty quickly but it certainly didn't! It was so fun! I can't wait to do another one! I would like to do several during the year. I just have to figure out where they are being held.


And here's my buddy. He was so sweet to come out and watch me all morning. LOVE HIM!


And our 2 cheerleaders together. I was so glad that Zac was able to come over and watch- and I know Matt was too!

I guess I can officially call myself "A Runner".

Cooked Toots

Matt is working late because of tax season (I can hear my 3 readers now saying blah, blah, blah we know) but he is. I go to bed around 9:30. I just can't stay up later than that. Incredibly sad, I know. I do this because I wake up everyday at 5:30, except on Saturdays when I can make myself sleep until 7:30 and it's just glorious! Anyhoo, back to the story.

I have a little electric heater that I carry around the house with me. Matt and I have different opinions concerning the temperature of our home and this portable electric heater is my best friend (and it solves our problem in a very inexpensive way). Another thing you should know is that Midas is gassy. He just is and he can't help it. So Matt came home from work at 10:30 at which point I had been in bed asleep for an hour. Evidently, Midas had been tooting and I had no idea due to my unconscious state. I also was painting the crown molding in our bedroom prior to bedtime that the owners before us totally screwed up (pictures to follow) and that smell was festering in our room. I wake up when Matt walks in and hear him saying, "UGH!! It smells awful in here! Your heater has been COOKING his toots! And that paint smell! Is it even safe to sleep in here? LANA! Should we go sleep in the guest room?!"

Haha. Cooked toots.

Sarah Palin is the Bomb... and here's why

Ok. So I am driving along listening to Dave Elswick (Arkansas' leading Conservative Talk Show Host) on KARN as I do everyday. And I KNEW Sarah Palin was coming in to town last night, but I didn't want to pay $35 to go hear her. (Listen, Matt and I are trying to pay down some debt so don't think me cheap, even though I am cheap.) I hear the announcer say, "Dave has worked out a special deal with the Verizon Box Office. Go to the Box Office before 6:00pm tonight and tell them, 'Dave Elswick sent me' and receive your ticket for just $20!" Now, $20 I can do. There were a few problems though.

1. I had a dentist appointment at 4:00 on the far side in West Little Rock at the END of Chenal Parkway.
2. I LOVE my dental hygenist, but she talks more than anyone I know. Really, it's true. Appointments can run long.
3. It's tax season. So, you know I was going to have to go alone.
4. I have no idea where the Box Office was.
5. Traffic heading downtown on 630 is an absolute disaster. Not to mention the jerks who drive down the left lane and cut you off (which I NEVER let anyone do).
6. I have to go home and feed my dogs.
7. I have to buy dog food to feed my dogs.
8. I have no cash to pay for parking when I do in fact make it to the event.

So, I finish working by 3 and rush to the dentist. I'm in the chair at 3:50. After Jenae and I discuss my impending cavity I tell her, "Jenae, Sarah Palin is in town tonight and I need you to get me out of this chair as fast as possible so that I can get downtown and buy a ticket for just $20. She worked her magic, because she is the best dental hygenist after all and got me out of there by 4:30. Love her.

So, I rush downtown and I pray and pray and pray and traffic is really not that bad. Thank you, Jesus. I exit the Broadway exit and make a couple of illegal U-turns and ask a couple of security guards and they tell me where the Box Office (B.O.) is. I go there, they tell me they moved the B.O. I run up a hill, they tell me they moved the B.O. back down. Run back down the hill. They tell me it is indeed up the hill. I run back up the hill to another location. Find the B.O. Tell the B.O. that "Dave Elswick sent me". Pay $20 and sign a form that says the RPA (Republican Party of AR) will be contacting me asking me for $. Sure, ok, fine. Whatever to see Sarah Palin for $20. Run down the hill past all of the old people to my truck. Make it to Maumelle, run in to Kroger to buy dog food and cokes, push the cash back button and I'm golden. Run home, feed the sweet puppies. I let them outside to play and change clothes and make a sandwich to take in the truck with me. I let the puppies back in and they are covered in mud. LOVELY! Especially since they were bathed Monday. I grab my copy of GOING ROGUE and run out the door. I would be lying if I didn't tell you that I grabbed Kleenex expecting to get a little emotional seeing my hero.

So, I make it down town. Now, I am by myself in downtown NLR and wanted to bring in my mace but knew they would check my purse. So, I decide to park as close as possible. For $10, I parked in the First Security Lot which was lit and had a police officer there. I felt safe. Matt was worried, but felt better when I told him that.

I go in Verizon, find my seat and begin to read my copy of her book waiting for her arrival. Mind you, I have arrived an hour early. I sat next to the sweetest couple from Arkadelphia and they even held my seat so I could potty before she started.

Ok, the speech. She is magnificient. The excitement surrounding presence was palpable and the crowd loved her. Here are the reasons I love her.

1. She's consistent. She said the exact same things she said during the 2008 campaign. You know she means what she says.
2. She believes in a common sense approach to the government. She believes in limited government and that the national government is to step back and let small businesses and local government take care of things. We don't need Big Government or Big Business to run the show. When that's the case, only the insiders win- and they win with big pay days.
3. She wants taxes cut. She would do it too. She did it in Alaska. She walks her talk.
4. She was a small business owner. She and her husband Todd ran a commercial fishing company and she knows what it means to run an organization. I think that is so important experience wise.
5. She believe in strong national defense. She thinks we should stop apologizing for our actions to foreign nations and get back to building up our country.

I have about a billion reasons I like her, but I figured I would spare the 3 people that read my blog (who have probably stopped reading this tremendously long post already) and only list 5 things.

Sarah Palin, I love you. All of that running around was worth it and I am thrilled all of the cards fell in to place. The end.

Valentimes with My Valentine

Hello Blogger it's been a while! My life is exciting and fun to me, but I find it hard to believe the 3 people who follow me on here find it that fascinating. Lately, I have been training for the half marathon March 6 here in Little Rock and watching Alias. Can you say OBSESSED? But more about Sydney Bristow in her own post. I think she deserves it.

I had such a great Valentines weekend! I left last Thursday and went to Collierville to see my family! Mom, Lauren and I did a little shopping. I finally purchased a pair of "skinny" jeans from Banana Republic thanks to a tip I got from the Pioneer Woman whom I follow on Twitter. Well, they are actually "straight leg" jeans. When you have big ole' muscular cheerleader legs like I do, "skinny" jeans are not an option. But, I am so thankful for my strong legs that God has given me!!! :) Anyhoo, I also got a super cute purse at Franchesca's that I am thrilled to tote around town. We went out Saturday and trained all 8 dogs at Shelby Farms! It took 2 trucks and a dog trailer to haul us out there, but we made it. We had a blast. Lunch was at Cracker Barrel. Ken Gilbert and I just LOVE Cracker Barrel. SO silly. Worship at Grace Crossing was amazing as always. If you are ever in Memphis on a Sunday morning, that is where you have to worship. I can say it is without question the only place I have ever felt "safe" to worship.

So, I made the long trek home in the rain Sunday after lunch- after helping my sweet brother-in-law pick out a beautiful diamond neck less for my sister! Of course, I didn't pick it out. He has her nailed down and knew exactly what she would like. He picked it out and I watched! Matt was not able to go with me due to his tax schedule! I am so proud of how hard he works for us. I like to make an annual trip with out him and visit my family alone. He is so sweet to tell me do this too! Absence makes the heart grow fonder. We (meaning me and the doggies) got home and he said, "Ok, we can either eat somewhere quick and go see Percy Jackson (we both read the book) or we could go eat somewhere nice! You pick, sweet thang!" Ok he didn't say the last part, but he did let me pick. We went to Wendy's and saw Percy Jackson and just had the BEST TIME! Isn't that silly? But we did! I love spending time with him so much! We are not hard to please and he is always so silly and entertaining to me. He also bought me more of my perfume- VERA WANG and a sweet, sweet card. Matt Summitt is my best friend in the world and the best Valentine a girl could want!

Christmas times 2 and New Years

Happy New Year! I am so excited for 2010 to be here. Being in an even year just feels so much better than an odd year to me. I don't know why. More orderly I guess.

We had two fabulous Christmas celebrations this year! I have been on call the last 2 years and We have not been able to travel. So, this year, just like we did Thanksgiving, we went both places. We loaded up the dogs (in one kennel and Bear ALMOST killed Midas) and all of our presents for both families and made our way to Paragould the 23rd. We had a great time there. Of course, the rain was not very fun with the dogs and their one kennel and we got to dry off their feet each time they came in the house. Also, to make matters worse, we put their leashes on to go outside and potty when we get there and Midas chewed through his. That is the second time he has done that! The little stinker. We got some flannel sheets that we have loved using because our bedroom is the coldest bedroom on the planet. However, it is helpful that our dogs sleep with us and keep us warm. I think if it was warmer, we may be hot so it all balances out. I also got a Hobby Lobby gift card to get some things framed that I have been putting off because I didn't want to spend any money on it. I am taking one picture as soon as I finish this blog! They are drawings that my great grandmother did in chalk pastels. We also both got several devotional books. We had a TON of food of course and we both felt sick when we left. I DID GET this awesome cook book from Karan! It's called The Pioneer Woman Cooks by Ree Drummond. Her story is so cool. She was a city girl and was about to take a corporate job in Chicago. She was home visiting her friends and went out one night and met this cowboy. They fell in love and got married and she moved to his cattle ranch in Oklahoma. The cookbook contains all of her recipes that she cooks for her 4 kids and the cowboys who work on the ranch with her husband. She calls herself an accidental country girl. The recipes are SOOOO yummy!

It rained so much that we came to a baracade on the way to Collierville. We thought we might be stuck for a minute, but when the Mustang that was in front of us drove through the water, we knew we would make it in my Yukon. Christmas with the Gilberts was fun! That was the first time we had all been together since 2006. It was really nice. It was the 6 of us and our doggies! I got some Muck Boots for dog training! I LOVE them. They are so warm and easy to clean when I get dirty. I also got several gift cards to JCrew, Starbucks, Panera Bread- delicious and several things to carry cakes and cupcakes in to travel and a HUGE over night bag that I love. Matt got a waffle maker from Lauren. We've made them twice and they are so yummy. It is a batter from The Fresh Market. Our dogs loved being there and being able to play with all of their puppy cousins and brothers and sisters. Mom also took me shopping the day after Christmas at JCrew- they had an extra 30% off sale prices and it was fabulous! I got some super cute stuff. She's the best.

We came home and last week I slowly took down all of the Christmas decorations and cleaned the house up. It feels so empty now, which is strange because it felt so cluttered with all of the extra Christmas stuff hanging around everywhere! Lauren came for New Years Eve! We went out to Brave New Restaurant. It was allright. I wasn't super impressed. We came home early and got our favorite pie from Chips Barbeque. They are so delicious. We like the chocolate. We went to bed before midnight- my kind of New Year's Eve! We are also training for the Little Rock Marathon (we are doing the half) so we ran Saturday on the River Trail. I made a pot of beans and some cornbread, from my new cook book, and we just relaxed! It's been a great few weeks. I am going to have to adjust to a regular work week again!