You can't do THAT on a plane!

Top 10 things we experienced on our road trip to Idaho.
Also titled: You can't do THAT on a plane!

1. Read road signs that say "Next exit - 57 Miles"
2. Buy REAL cowboy boots and hat from a Cheyenne cowboy named Logan
3. See an antelope in the median of a busy intersection
4. See Mile High Stadium in Denver, the Cardinals stadium in St. Louis, and the Royals stadium in Kansas City
5. Drive for hours with the Rocky Mountains as your backdrop
6. Look over and see Abraham Lincoln's face carved into a rock (not Mt. Rushmore)
7. Watch the sun rise over windmills in Wyoming
8. Play the lotto in Missouri, Illinois, and Tennessee and break even
9. See a dog enjoying a ride on the back of a motorcycle in a mesh pup tent wearing driving goggles
10. Check off 4 states from my "States-left-to-visit" list! Only 22 to go! It was good to see you Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas!

RUNNERS UP:
The Nebraska corn
The Kansas oil riggs (there were hundreds)
The Wyoming rock formations
The St. Louis arch

Here are a few pictures from the trip...

Next stop, Idaho!

So, we leave on Monday! I can’t believe the trip is already here. We have decided to drive to the potato state. Call me crazy, but it’s true. We will leave after work on Monday and drive about 5 hours to get a head start on our trip. Here is a map of our cross country trek. I’ll update you all once we return. I doubt I’ll have access to my computer in Idaho. What will I do?! No Blogger or MySpace for EIGHT DAYS!

A closing date and a renter!

Well, here are a few pictures of the new place. As you can see, there’s still quite a bit of construction left to do, but all in all, we have been VERY pleased with the building process. We will be closing on our new home on August 2nd. Last weekend, we spent HOURS looking for the perfect refrigerator. Thanks to our good friend Daniel, we will have a top-of-the-line GE stainless fridge delivered on August 3rd. Impeccable timing! I’ll post pretty pictures once we get settled.

Justin peering through the windows into our living room.

Our kitchen (don't you love our refrigerator)!

Looking from the kitchen into our living room.

Second note, we have a renter for our Homewood house!!! The first person who came to look at it called that night and will be here at 10:00 tomorrow morning to sign the lease agreement. We were so blessed to have more than 75 phone inquiries! The renter’s name is Ashley and she is a young nurse here in Birmingham. We are so happy to have someone professional and neat (we think) to take care of our house, which we are sad to leave. Her time frame and ours matches up perfectly! We’ll be able to take our time moving out and getting everything clean for her, and she’ll be able to take her time moving in! Thank you, God, for working everything out so nicely.

Happy Birthday America! and Random News...

So, July 4, 2006 we got up early and headed down to Lay Lake, about an hour drive from our house. Our friends from Church, the Presley’s have a house there and invited all of the youth sponsors for a play day on the water. We rode SeaDoos (which we completely turned upside down and crashed a time or two), rode three-wide in the intertube, swam, and soaked up the sun on fast and slow boats. We also ate some of the best Boston Butt I've ever had (sorry, Dad), tasted, for the first time, Uncle Red's "white sauce," which was fabulous, and had various delicious trimmings and sweets. Here are some pictures from the event.

Justin and me on the pontoon boat.

Justin and me riding the Sea Doo (this was post-crash while riding with Stephen, but pre-crash while riding with Justin).

Gangsta Whit and Andrea (this was sort of a joke, but ended up looking pretty funny).

Me, Andrea and Alicia on a rough tube ride on beautiful Lay Lake!

THANK YOU, STEPHEN and JENNIFER! WE HAD SO MUCH FUN!

And as for my random news... Averee, one of my lifelong friends is having twins! Amber, one of my good college friends is having a boy. Justin and I still need your daily prayers. I'm not off to a great start with my exercise program, but I am going walking with Ashley in the morning. Justin and I are headed to the beach this weekend. AND, I now have 45 "friends" on MySpace!

Finally, RAIN! and MySpace

So, first of all, the picture has absolutely NOTHING to do with this post except for the fact that we took it yesterday at lunch and I haven't posted since then. I really only have two things to report today. #1 It rained today at my house for the first time in a month... literally. We are experiencing semi-drought conditions here in the Ham and it's been miserably hot. Oh, and my grass is 100% dead. Thank you, God for the rain. The only drawback is that when I walk outside, I have to peel back and paddle through a curtain of humidity. I can literally breathe the thick air. Welcome to Alabama! #2 I think I'm officially addicted to MySpace! I created a page one week ago while my husband was out of town and I was bored. I really did it to reconnect with old friends and to direct them here... to my blog, which I update fairly regularly. So how was I supposed to know that after only a few short days, I would have 34 (as of today) "friends" who I can now keep in touch with at the touch of a button. I mean friends from elementary school, high school, church youth group, fun college pals, AND my new post-college buddies. It is AMAZING how many people are in the loop! If you are a blogger, I suggest also linking yourself on MySpace. You'll be overwhelmed. CAUTION: MYSPACE IS HIGHLY ADDICTIVE AND SHOULD BE USED CAUTIOSLY BY THOSE WHO ARE ALREADY ADDICTED TO BLOGSPOT.