Not Me Monday

I did NOT... sit in my car for almost an hour, in the garage, listening to my book on tape. I also did NOT ball crying over this book, even at the parts that weren't that sad. And then when speaking to Ben on the phone, in the car with the book on pause, he didn't have to ask me if the garage doors were open, so that I wouldn't get carbon monoxide poisoning. NOT ME, because that would be obsessed and ridiculous and overly emotional.

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I did NOT... go buy some things from Bed Bath & Beyond, since I had a 15% off coupon and a $15 gift card... only to forget to use the gift card, so i went back another day to buy more stuff, just so i could use the gift card... only to then forget to use my $5 off coupon i had just received in the mail... this means I absolutely WILL NOT go back, just as an excuse to use the new $5 off coupon! :) nope, NOT ME!
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I did NOT... end up scrubbing Ben's muddy dirty CROCS, mentioned last week, with my kitchen dish sponge (the kind that automatically squirts out soap while you scrub), refusing to actually touch them until most of the mud washed off in my sink... NOT ME, because that would be GROSS!

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I did NOT... remain silent when the Sunday School teacher asked our class what sweet things they would love to hear from their spouse more often, and then once we got home told Ben "I would love to hear you say that I'm perfect all the time"... NOT ME, because that would be unrealistic (and quite untrue, but still would be sweet!!!)

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I did NOT... nearly cry because Harper had to sleep outside last night (he is having a bit of an upset tummy/throwing up problem)...I did not talk to Harper for a while, giving him a big snuggle, before finally closing the door and saying goodnight, and I did not continuously peek outside my windows to see that he was OK... and then I did NOT finally convince Ben to let him inside at midnight after he woke us up by scratching the house outside our window once and wining another time... NOT ME, I'm not THAT kind of mommy already, i mean he IS a dog!

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and I did NOT... cheer for myself to lose Bunko tonight because I was doing so poorly and didn't feel like cheering to win since I knew I wouldn't... I also didn't try to lose, just so that I wouldn't have to pay.... NOT ME!!!

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don't forget to visit mckmama's blog and see what she didn't do last week, as well as pray for baby Stellan!

Triplets!

No, not human triplets....

but these pups certainly look like triplets don't they?

(i don't even know if dogs have twins, triplets, or just siblings... but that's beside the point)...

These are (from L to R): STEELE (Natalie and Stephen's 4 yr old), JACK (the Roe's 2 yr old), and HARPER (our 9 month old)... (I'm estimating their ages here)...

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They are all from the same Breeder... Steele and Harper have the same mom, and Jack's mom is Steele and Harper's Grandmother.

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Steele, Harper, Jack

Ben and I went over to Natalie and Stephen's Saturday to watch the football games, cookout, and hangout. They were babysitting Jack while the Roes were up at the Auburn game. We had a great time cheering on AUBURN to their win (WAR EAGLE), playing with Bennett (always a joy), cooking Brats for dinner, and then watching the Alabama game (until Ben and I went home at half time... at which time he was saying ROLL TIDE). Thanks for having us over N & S, and enjoy the pics below!
my buddy Ben takes Bennett flyingcutie patootie in his cute lil auburn shirt
Ben likes auburn fans too

playing with all the pups (they are so photogenic!)

Harper (left), Jack (front), Steele (back right)

with just my baby

(who has been sick the past couple of days, so please pray for him; I'll be taking him to the vet tomorrow to make sure he's OK)

daddy and son watching the game

(this is what Stephen does when u say 'smile')

"two men and a baby"

when Ben and I left, we had to double and triple check to make sure we had the right dog... they are easy to confuse.

In a Funk

I've been in a "FUNK" the past couple of days... I think I've figured out why....

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I've been listening to a new book on tape.. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks... I'm loving it, but it's very sad, and I've cried several times.... I'll be driving to a doctor's office and balling crying when I pull up, so it takes me a minute to freshen up and look normal again... Ben thinks it's silly that I listen to things when they make me sad, but they always end up happy again, so I'm just waiting it out for when I know it'll make me smile instead!! Plus I just love the sappy love and loss stories. I think I'm taking it too seriously, because I came home really sad and down the other day after something sad happened in the book... I'm on the last disc now, so hopefully I'll be happy in the end!

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Also, I witnessed a real scary wreck on Wednesday. You know, you always pass by wrecks after they happen and wonder what happened and pray t hat everyone is OK, but rarely actually see the entire thing unfold before your eyes. I've seen a fender bender once, but that was nothing. Then, our whole family was in 2 cars coming back from a vacation in Boca Grande, FL and a car in front of my parents went out of control and did flips on the interstate in front of us. We all pulled over and my dad helped the girl who was trapped in her car that was upside down, bleeding, and very scared, until the paramedics got there. That was horrible too, but I didn't actually see the wreck from the beginning.

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So, Wednesday I was getting back into town from working and heading to the gym (to workout, yay, good for me!.. i need the encouragement)... anyway... I was approaching a red light and realized that a car was trying to turn from the center lane into Home Depot, so instead of pulling to a stop behind the car in front of me, I left enough space for her to pass in front of me and turn in. Well, at that second I checked my rear-view mirror and saw a truck coming REALLY FAST in the lane next to me, that the lady wanting to turn couldn't see... so I stuck my hand up trying to tell her "NO, DON'T GO" and she didn't see me.....it all happened so fast and she turned and got T-boned by the truck... a HUGE BOOM and CRUNCH of metal hitting together... her car twisted around and ran in to the car in front of me, then involving 3 cars... I literally sat there in my car with my hands over my mouth in complete shock and disbelief over what I had just seen happen, as everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. The cars started smoking and the lady who got hit ran out of her car holding her little boy who had been in the passenger seat (the side that got hit head on by the truck). He was crying and looked like he may have had a bloody lip.... another man stopped and helped her with her son, the lady in front of me who got hit, but wasn't hurt, called 911 and started helping, too... After sitting there in my car for a minute (or maybe 2, i don't know how long it was) feeling like I was watching something on TV or something, all the cars behind me were pulling around and going on ahead. I didn't know what to do, and it looked like others were taking care of the situation.. So finally I drove on down the road, too....

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I immediately freaked out and called Ben for comfort but he didn't answer.... I finally got ahold of my mom and just broke down balling as I tried to describe what happened... I was screaming "I TRIED TO STOP HER", "I TOLD HER NOT TO GO" and was really upset. (side note: MOMMYs are the best aren't they? mine almost drove over the bay to comfort me, but i told her i was OK, just needed to get it out because I was so upset over what I had seen...then she called me back later that evening to check on me again.. i love my mommy!)... so I drove to the gym (right down the street) and as I pulled up I heard the fire trucks heading the direction of the wreck. As I worked out for 30 minutes, very unproductively b/c i was so shaken up, I started to feel EXTREMELY guilty for not stopping to help... I just didn't know WHAT I should have done... do you get out to make sure they are OK? do you wait til the cops get there and tell them what you saw? will u just be in the way? do they really need your eyewitness account when everyone else saw it too?

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i didn't know what I should have done, but I started to wish I had stayed behind and been the good Samaritan and gotten out and talked to them, helped if i could, told the cops what I saw, since I did have a front row seat to what unfolded... After my 30 minute workout, I rushed back to the scene, hoping the police would still be there, so I could tell them my eyewitness account and ask if everyone was OK, explain why i left, but felt bad and came back to see if i could help.... well, by the time i got there, the last wrecker was pulling away and the scene was cleared, the last cop car was pulling away... So, I will never know... I have been playing the shoulda- coulda- woulda game all week and felt horrible and distraught over what happened... I'm pretty sure everyone was OK, there definitely weren't serious injuries, but i had never seen a wreck like that and didn't know what to do. OK, so now I'm once again trying to convince myself that it was OK that i left... BUT THAT is why i have been in a funk... I've prayed for everyone involved and that they are all OK and thanked god that the car didn't flip around and hit me instead of the car in front of me...

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I'm ready for the weekend at home with my hubby, relaxing, watching football, cleaning out some closets, going to our Sunday school class and church, and NOT being in a funk anymore...

Not Me Monday

Ok, I know some of you out there follow MckMama's blog too.... and even though I'm not sure I'll be too good at this thing, I thought I would participate in this first NOT ME MONDAY!!! Hopefully I'll have better ones next week! I hope the rest of you I persoanlly know with blogs will start this too. I did NOT... consider putting Ben's muddy Crocs in the washing machine with the rest of his dirty clothes. NOT ME, because that would be just plain lazy.

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I did NOT... put off studying for the new product my company is launching in two weeks until the last minute. NOT ME, because I am NOT a slacker like that; I'm ALWAYS on top of things!

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I did NOT... leave a bowl of M&M's too close to the edge of my coffee table only to hear my dog downstairs eating a few. NOT ME, because that would be irresponsible since chocolate is HORRIBLE for a dog.

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I did NOT... decide to put off yard work for a while since Ben found a snake shed in our front yard. NOT ME, because that would be being paranoid and once again, lazy.

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I did NOT... make tuna fish salad for lunch today (which Ben forbid me to do), and when he got home from work and asked what the bad smell was, only admit to the smell being boiled eggs. NOT ME, because that left out the fact that the smell was tuna!

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What have you NOT done lately?

Shootin' Skeet

Friday night, Ben, Matt Glass (a great friend from AU who was home from DC for the weekend), Harper, and I went up to the Farm. Saturday morning the boys went out and drove around the property, doing "boy things," while I watched ESPN Gameday, did my work reports, and finished reading a book. 30 minutes into the Alabama vs. Arkansas game I called Ben because I was surprised he hadn't come back to the house yet to watch the game. He informed me that it was because they got his truck stuck/sunk in the mud and it took them about 2 hours to get it out. I obviously was of no help in that situation, so they didn't call. I wish I had a picture to show you, but the evidence on Ben's truck showed the extent that they were stuck.
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After they got back and we watched some of the bama game, we went into town for some lunch at this ole country restaurant called Jake's. When we got back to the farm we went and shot skeet. I had only shot skeet once before at a nice place that had machines that flung out the skeet. We did it manually with some special skeet shooter, and I have to say that I was a horrible shot. Even when Ben propped up a disk for me to do a practice shoot on the ground, I missed by a long shot. So I sat on the truck and watched the boys play. Harper got to go out and fetch his dummy in the lake, which he LOVED! My only complaint was that the love bugs were EVERYWHERE!!! I mean, I've always remembered love bug season being miserable for your car, but I've never seen them flying around in your backyard, etc SO much. I'm ready for this "season" to be over!

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Later in the afternoon, we decided to head back and to get home in time for the AUBURN Game. My parents came by on their way back from the beach and we cooked hamburgers for dinner, had some good wine, and watched the ever so exciting game together. I hated that Auburn couldn't pull it out in the end but they definitely played a good game. Harper supports the RIGHT team, much to his daddy's dismay! :)

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This morning we went to our Sunday School class again. It's really interesting to talk with so many other new couples and get different perspectives on how relationships work and WHAT makes them work, or fail for that matter. Each week, Ben and I take new tips and thoughts from the lesson and start to use them as we interact throughout the next week (last week we constantly referred to which love language was being used at the time). Right now, the discussion is this: Each of you has a LOVE TANK, and you want to keep it full. Your husband/wife has the power to fill your love tank with positive ways and words, or deplete your love tank with their negative actions or words. The goal is to work your hardest to keep your mate's love tank full at all times...this leads to a longer and happier relationship!.

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After church, we went over to Ben's parent's house for a yummy lunch. Adam was in town from school, so it was great visiting with him too, before he had to go back up to Tuscaloosa. We left their house with WAY more food than needed, leftovers from lunch, in addition to tons of yummy desserts they insisted we take (but i DON'T need to eat)! We're so lucky to have such wonderful families to visit with like this (most usually centered around meals! haha) and enjoy our summers at beach houses and falls at hunting camps/farms. We're looking forward to many more fun and relaxing weekends!

Love Languages

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This past Sunday Ben and I started our first ever Adult Sunday School class. It's for "Newly and Nearly Married Couples" and the focus is around the book The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. So far, with one class under our belts, we really enjoyed it and have already gotten a lot out of the basics we learned. There are a few other couples in the class that we know and we look forward to the upcoming meetings and sharing and learning how to become better couples, following God.
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The Five Love Languages are:
1. Words of Affirmation (compliments and statements of feelings)
2. Giving & Receiving of Gifts (whether a holiday or any day, expensive or free)
3. Quality Time Together (not just in the same room, but sharing meaningful time and just being together)
4. Acts of Service (helping each other out: taking out the trash, doing a load of laundry, just helping)
5. Physical Touch (whether kissing, a hug, holding hands, etc.)
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So far we have just gone over the 5 languages and how, even though you may not both speak the same languages, in order to have a successful relationship, you MUST learn what your partner's love languages are, and relate to them in that way (even though it's not how YOU speak). I have found it to be very true so far. I know that we will go into more depth in the upcoming sessions, but so fr we have just gone over the basics.
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Our assignment this week was to figure out which languages you go by, and what your partner's are. And this is what Ben and I discovered (just by knowing what means the most to each of us already, AND by taking a quick 25 question quiz that tells you what you probably are).
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Mine are:
Primarily: WORDS OF AFFIRMATION
Secondarily: QUALITY TIME TOGETHER.
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Ben's are:
Primarily: QUALITY TIME TOGETHER
Secondarily: PHYSICAL TOUCH
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Throughout this past week we have actually, I feel, had better conversations, more quality time together, more satisfaction in our times together, and felt more fulfilled in our relationship, simply by being aware of what is important to each other in the ways we interact. You also need to pray together, and have meaningful conversations about your faith and trust in god (which Ben and I do quite often).
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I am very excited about this class, and even when it is over, hope to continue taking Adult Sunday School Classes. I always "crave" more worship time, more learning about Christ and his word, and more growth in Ben's and my Faith as a couple. I recommend for couples, even if not to get the book or join a class on it, but be aware of the importance of learning your husband/wife's love languages so that you can relate and understand each other and always be moving up and getting better in your relationship.

3-2

...you know what that is... Yeah, the score of Saturday's AUBURN vs. MISSISSIPPI STATE game. My parent's both went to MSU, and all 3 of their girls, and all 3 of our significant others, ALL went to AU, so we all 9 (gotta count Bennett) got together at Momma and Daddy's house to primarily visit, but also watch the game and have dinner!!! Dinner was wonderful, as usual!!! I have to admit, the game wasn't quite as exciting as we had hoped, more frustrating, but atleast Auburn pulled out that win (hah). And we definitely had a great time all getting together (Rachel and Hollis should come home more!)
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Bennett's reaction when he saw Harper out the window.. SO CUTE!

Big'Un and Bennett go for a walk!
Bennett's playpin (the sink) while we all watched the game and drank wine :)
our extremely goofy boys who refused to seriously smile for a picture......
Father & Son sitting at the bar watching the game
and Ben got to give Bennett a bath!!

Ben and I ended up spending the night in my old bedroom (which was weird) so that we didn't have to ride back over the bay at the end of the night. Then we got up Sunday morning and went to church (post about that to come)!!! Fun weekend spent at home with no long distance traveling, finally!

New Hobby

I have a new hobby of making Blog Headers!! I absolutely love it, and learn new tricks every time I make one. That is why I change mine so much! I miss art, photography, creative classes like I used to get to do in school, and I always wanted to go into graphic design, but life never took me down that career path. So, for now, I am enjoying this new online scrapbooking thing. I haven't really made it a "business", but if anyone wants me to make a new header for them, then let me know. Depending on the work load, I can do them for free! :) Here are my creations so far:

Farm & Football

Friday night Ben, Harper, and I headed up to Ben's Farm in Chatom, AL. Saturday Ben worked with Harper to get him ready for bird hunting season. He was afraid Harper would be "gun shy" because he freaked out at home when Ben clanged some pots and pans together. But luckily he wasn't afraid of gunshot at all, and did a fabulous job fetching dummies in the pond and in the woods. We held a little photo shoot for Harper after his training. We watched the Auburn game on TV (WAR EAGLE!) and then drove up to Tuscaloosa for the Alabama vs. Tulane game. We left Harper at my family's hunting camp in Linden, AL, because it's only a little over an hour from Tuscaloosa. After the game, we headed back south, picking up Harper, and then continuing on home, arriving at nearly 2AM. Long drive, even though we had several places to stay that night, but it sure was nice to sleep in our own bed and already be at home when we woke up this morning!
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Our Sunday was pretty typical: yard work, laundry, TV, me doing work reports, Ben napping, and me having a migraine (grrr). Have a wonderful week everyone!

Let the games begin...

FOOTBALL SEASON

is finally here!!!

After getting home from Vegas late Wednesday night, working Thursday and half day Friday, Ben and I headed up to Atlanta midday Friday for the Chick-fil-A bowl between Alabama and Clemson. Now, I've said this many times before... I FULLY support AUBURN and wear my orange and blue and scream WAR EAGLE with the best of them! Auburn comes first and foremost to me, especially when playing alabama... BUT when playing auburn isnt involved, I also support my man... not his team. I don't mind going to Alabama games with Ben, ALL football games are fun to watch! I just don't jump up and down and get all worked up and excited for bama, or as been the case in recent years, all depressed and sad when they lose. But I enjoy football, college football, SEC football, etc etc. Anyway, being that we pretty much have season tickets to Alabama games, and NO tickets to Auburn games, that kinda determines where we are most football weekends. But I cheer on my AUBURN TIGERS from the TV screen and we SHOULD be going to at least one home game, maybe two, at auburn this year!!!

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We were go glad to be headed south, going home, on Sunday, rather than having to evacuate the gulf coast with Gustav coming...

VIVA LAS VEGAS

Ben and I decided we were craving another fun vacation, being so many months after our wonderful honeymoon, so we wanted to go somewhere the end of this summer... anywhere... We had Delta credit because we had planned a trip to Washington DC for New Years, but Mr. Bennett Roe was born when we were supposed to leave, so we cancelled that trip (for obvious reasons!), and needed to use our credit by the end of this year. We decided on Vegas because neither of us had been and the hotels/flights,etc weren't near as expensive as we had anticipated (that's cause they expect you to spend most of your money GAMBLING). Anyway, so we booked the trip from Friday August 22 until Wednesday August 27, and invited Ben's parents to come too. They joined us Friday and left early Monday morning.

To avoid talking to much, I'm going to overview what we did everyday, along with pictures of most things (of course, I took TONS of pictures). If anyone is planning a trip to Vegas, ask me about all these places... everything was incredible! There are an endless number of places to go and things to see!

Friday

• 5:00 PM Flew out of Pensacola (just barely missing the rains from Hurricane Fay)
• 10:30 PM arrived in Vegas
• checked into VENETIAN hotel
• drinks w/ Mr. Don in VENETIAN casino

Saturday

• Breakfast @ Grand Luxe Cafe @ VENETIAN
• Grand Canal Shops @ VENETIAN
• Picked up Jersey Boys tickets @ PALAZZO
• Picked up Le Reve tickets @ THE WYNN
• Forum Shops @ CAESARS PALACE
• Lunch @ Eiffel Tower Cafe @ PARIS
  
• Looked around & Water Show @ BELLAGIO
  
• Looked around @ MIRAGE
• Dinner @ Joe's Seafood @ CAESARS PALACE
• 10:00 PM JERSEY BOYS Show

Sunday

• Breakfast @ Grand Luxe Cafe @ VENETIAN
• Looked around @ MANDALAY BAY
• Looked around @ LUXOR

• Rode roller coaster @ NEW YORK NEW YORK

• Saw Lions & picked up KA tickets @ MGM GRAND
• Lunch @ ESPN Zone @ NEW YORK NEW YORK
• Picked up Penn & Teller Tickets @ RIO
• Shopped @ CAESARS FORUM SHOPS
• Dinner @ Palm @ CAESARS PALACE
• 9:30 PENN & TELLER Show
• Played @ Venetian CASINO & Ms. LeJean won $2,500!!!!

Monday

• Slept in! (Kennemers went home)
• Room Service Breakfast
• Laid out & swam @ VENETIAN POOL
• Lunch @ Riva @ VENETIAN POOL
• it rained, which they say it NEVER does in Vegas
• Went to Madame Tussuad's Wax Museum @ VENETIAN
• Shopped & visited famous TAO Nightclub @ VENETIAN
• 7:00 PM LE REVE Show
• Dinner @ Taquiera Canonito @ Grand Canal Shops
• Took a Gondola Ride @ Grand Canal Shops
• Played @ Venetian CASINO

Tuesday

• Breakfast @ Hotel Bakery
• Saw view & rides at top of STRATOSPHERE
• Shopped @ PLANET HOLLYWOOD
• Lunch @ Mon Ami Gabi @ PARIS & watched BELLAGIO Water Show
• Shopped @ VENETIAN Grand Canal Shops
• Dinner @ Shibuya @ MGM Grand
• 10:00 PM KA Cirque du Soleil Show
• Watched Water Shows @ BELLAGIO

Wednesday

• 10:40 AM Flight back HOME!

What a FUN trip! ALL of the 4-500 pictures I took are in my Picasa Album here. I said, no less than a hundred times, "I HATE this camera!" because mine is HORRIBLE, and Ben keeps offering to get me a "good one" but i won't let him until an actually holiday or occasion can be the excuse for spending the money... but BOY did I wish I had one on this trip!! Oh well!