Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!


We had planned to try to get to the party a little early, it's official start time is 7:00. After our rest time and supper though, we weren't very early. It was about 6:30 when we arrived and there were droves of people headed both in and out of the park. (It closes @ 7:00 if you don't have a ticket to the party.) I was beyond excited!!!

We walked down mainstreet and it brought tears to my eyes, but really...what's new with that? That always happens to me there. I'm such a sap! The Christmas music was playing, the lights were up and it was snowing!! How more perfect could it get??

We headed over to Tomorrow land and hopped into the Buzz line. It was crowded at this time and hard to tell what it was going to be like for the evening, 5 hours...what could we do with that time? You got an arm band when entering the park for the party and if you didn't have an arm band on, you weren't allowed on rides. (or anywhere else for that matter) They were checking for them as you went between sections of the park as well. It was all pretty organized and we were impressed by that. Our first line, took all of 10 minutes!
We decided we'd struck gold and were thrilled!


We don't do "Stitch" anymore, so skipped on by that. "Space Mountain" was about 25 minutes, so we decided to keep on moving for the time being.

We wondered on into Fantasyland and waited only about 10 minutes for the "Pooh" ride, not bad at all!! I could get use to this! We waited 10 more for "Peter Pan" and then decided it was time for round 1 of FREE hot chocolate & cookies. We were both expecting it to be watered down and maybe even luke warm, it was FANTASTIC stuff though!!!! It took about 10 minutes in that line as well. There were different places in the park to get it.


We skipped over to ride "Haunted Mansion" and walked straight in and on it, woooo.... Now that's fast! We hit parade traffic heading towards Frontier Land, so back tracked a little. We went back to catch "Space Mountain" where we walked again, straight through and RIGHT ON!! Wowie, that's never happened!! We came back through and caught "Snow White" & "Small World", walking right on both!! We usually skip Dumbo, Tea Cups & race cars...so that's typical for us.

The parade was over so we headed back to Frontier Land choosing to skip "Splash Mountain" for sure. (What were those people on it thinking?? I was finally warm in my jeans & sweat shirt and no stinkin' way was I getting wet) We rode "Big Thunder", yep...walked right through, moved the whole time and right into a waiting spot for the next train!! We had never ridden it at night and man that was AWESOME!! We were on it just in time for watching the fireworks while riding, I TOTALLY 100% recommend that!! Wowie!! That was our favorite ride of the night!!



We looked for a special bear friend of mine, who wasn't "on" during the particular half hour. We did catch some other bear friends though and they were hilarious! The little band was out there playing and the bears were cutting up with all the people and having a grand ole' time. I was SUPER SAD to find out that this year they aren't having a Country Bear Jamboree Christmas Show. That's one of my top 3 favorite things, the bears. What's up with that? I love the regular show, but had never seen the Christmas one and was looking forward to that!!!! We saw the regular show though and again, missed my beary friend. Ugh!



We walked on over (expecting a wait) to "Pirates" and found we could walk right into that too! Man, what a night! I LOVE the new Davy Jones feature, that's sooooo cool! I liked Captain Jack in his scenes too, especially the end scene. I wasn't thrilled with how they'd turned the song soundtrack down so much though. Obviously they want you to hear the comments about "Captain Jack" and have turned the music down for that. I think that STINKS and wasn't thrilled. All in all it's still the same ride you know & love though! Different areas had a few added things to buy just for the Very Merry Party and I took a minute to buy a reindeer!

Then we headed out for a spot to watch the late parade. We decided to have our picture made first though, the castle had snowflakes projected on it and I thought that was cool. The first picture we didn't get snowflakes, they'd gone off for a minute. So, we hopped into another line when they came back on. Waiting for pics took all of about 5 minutes at each photographer, moved pretty fast. No complaints here!! (When you get home and view your pics online with your handy card..don't forget to do it that way, no reason to wait in those dang lines there at the parks now....you get to get one 5X& from the night for 1/2 off b/c of your party ticket)


We got hot chocolate and cookies again (round 2) in the Crystal Palace were there WAS NOT A SOUL and TONS and TONS of snacks laid out for you!!!
(they also offer apple juice & apple chips for the kiddos)

We had NO TROUBLE finding a spot for the parade, though it was only 5 minutes to show time when we decided to settle down. Now, that's unusual for a parade. We had a great spot and enjoyed it for sure!! I LOVE parades and Andy enjoyed this one too.
(mainly b/c we didn't sit and wait an hour on it to come by!)


When it ended we had about 30 minutes until the park closed. We had planned to leave right after the parade, but that is what several thousand of our closest friends were doing and it looked like a mad house headed out to the gates. Instead, we went back to Fantasy Land to catch "Philharmagic", that was the perfect thing to do since we had skipped it earlier. We walked on it and waited about 3 or 4 mintues for the next show to begin. That is such a cute/fun little 4D movie, good stuff! By the time we came out, it was time to go. We walked straight out of the park and ran up to the monorail to catch the one there waiting, hopped on and were off. The bus to "Shades" was there waiting on us at the TTC and we were back to the resort & in bed before we knew it! There was not a complaint in sight for the evening!!!

We rode EVERY SINGLE thing that was open that we wanted to ride! We were amazed that there were NO lines! Perfect!! We didn't see the 2 Christmas shows, but that was totally by choice. We didn't hit Toon town either...again by choice.

I didn't no what to expect from the party, I'd heard both sides of loving & avoiding it. For us, it was a perfect evening!! It was a bargain to buy a ticket and get to do all of those things! Much cheaper & more worth it than if we'd paid for a full day and then had longer lines. We WILL do it again. I can see that it might be a waste of money if you were staying for a whole week and had park hoppers for the entire time. After all, you get extra magic hours to yourself if you are a resort guest on another night. The "Christmasy" effects might not be worth the $40 ticket if you've already spent a day there during the week. (and had extra magic hours) All of the kids we saw were of course totally in awe though and having a blast! They said the crowd was a sell out and still, there were no lines. There were people there mind you, but enough stuff going on that it was spread out. I can't figure out how people that say it's too crowded complain, not sure where they are or what they are expecting?! We are already talking about doing it again. We can go down for a long weekend and play golf during the day, go to the park & party at night. Great fun!!

(and who doesn't love snow in Florida! can you see it in the picture?)

Shades of Green

We left on Thursday, the 16th after I got off of work. Andy picked me up and we headed to Mom & Dad's. Shoulda took a picture of the luggage. You have NEVER seen so much for 4 people to travel out of town for just over a week, NUTS!! I have NO IDEA how we got it all in the back of the Pacifica, but we did. Whew~ And I thought we'd packed so light.... We made great time, even with stops and were there at the resort in just under 8 hours.
Pretty good time for gas, potty & food stops!!

We have grown to kinda LOVE the military resort @ WDW, Shades of Green. After years of waiting on it to fill up so that we could get a discount at another Disney resort, we've grown super attached to this one after the past 4 stays there. We have always had a super awesome view of the golf courses from the balcony, the rooms are HUGE and so nice, the food at the buffets is pretty good and the place has alot to offer.

We woke up on Friday morning to find the wild turkeys trying their best to
GET OUT OF THERE
before Thanksgiving arrived!!


Here we are on the balcony, great views!!
As usual, Andy almost shed tears wishing he had his clubs!!


After a visit to the breakfast buffet, we headed out resort hopping! We took a bus over to the transportation and ticket center, hopped on the monorail and headed over to the Contemporary Resort. I LOVE that place, it'll always be my favorite I think!
How lucky we were to stay there twice.
Here were are...we have several pics of this place from different trips now...



Then we got on a boat and road to Fort Wilderness where we didn't get off and then to Wilderness Lodge, where we did! We walked around there for a little while and Dad reminded us that this was his favorite place and he was ready to stay there. The tree was beautiful, but this picture doesn't do it justice. (cheapo baby camera) The decorations were great,
the lighted tee pees were too neat!



Then it was on another bus and off to Downtown Disney! We shopped and had a snack in the Marketplace and then walked over to the West side. Walked around over there, ate a fantastic chocolate covered strawberry (my #1 fave food of all time) and went back to "Shades" for some rest and dinner before our night of fun!!!!



This classic toy tree was my FAVORITE!!!!!!! Check out the scrabble letters, lite brights, tater heads, barrel of monkey monkeys and the games at the bottom...too fun!!!


I guess I should add this, it was coooolllll and brrrreeezy that day!! Andy & I decided that we were "tuff" and could handle short & short sleeves for our day in Orlando! It was warm on our balcony, but that was all a trick! We spent the day freezing and with chill bumps. The sun was out and beautiful, but the wind was like in a blizzard! It was soooo windy!
We lived to tell about it though and all was well!
We were in the "happiest place on Earth" ...
ya can't really complain about anything, now can ya??

Bon Voyage~
Talk to ya soon!!

-picture in Costa Maya, should look just like that for us when we
are in port there on Wednesday!~

Fall In Georgia .. 'nuff said~

11 Days and Counting!

You had to know it was coming, right? A blog about our upcoming trip! There she blows, the Carnival Glory. The same ship that we took in February to the Virgin Islands will again become home for a week. We LOVE this ship!!

We leave on Thursday, the 16th. Mom, Dad & Andy will pick me up after preschool and we'll be off! We are spending Thursday & Friday night in WDW @ the Shades of Green. I've told you before how great it is there, beautiful place!! Dad's looking forward to his balcony on the golf course again! Friday we will either resort hop or head to downtown Disney during the day. That evening Andy & I are headed to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and I'm sooooo excited!! Here's I picture I borrowed of someone else's trip to the party...looks like fun to me!!! A great way to begin the holiday spirit!!


Then on Saturday the 18th we are off to Port Canaveral. Mom & Dad have been packed for WEEKS already, I am getting started this weekend. We will make stops in Cozumel, Costa Maya, Belize & Nassau. It is our first cruise with 4 stops, very exciting. There will be 2 days at sea.

I went to Cozumel when I was in high school with a friend's family, it will be my parents & Andy's first time there though! (I did also go with my parents to Cancun in high school, but we flew in. Andy's first time in Mexico period) Costa Maya & Belize will be brand new to us all!! We've all been to Nassau now, but that's fine.

We haven't decided for sure what we're going to do in ports yet. We have it narrowed down to top favorites. There is a jeep/beach adventure that I'm pretty sure we are going to take where you drive a regular jeep through the jungle and then to the beach, spend a few hours on the beach and drive back. Sounds like fun to me!! I think that is in Belize.

I think I've talked Andy into snorkeling with sting rays in Nassau, I'm sure we'll be just fine! We went to the beach where they did this last time and it looked so fun, I want to go back there again! Mom & Dad are going to head to Atlantis again, on there own this time... no tour groups! Dad is also convinced he can talk a taxi into taking him to find Tiger Woods' house. So....if my parents get locked up and don't return....we're leaving without them!! Ha ha ha----

After some of our let downs with Royal Caribbean, we're excited to share "our" Carnival Glory with my parents! The rooms are so much bigger, the ship is just huge and gorgeous, there's tons to do and the people are super nice!! Andy is already looking forward to "lobster night" and eating until he pops!

We can't wait, we can't wait, we can't wait!!!!

"Flags of our Fathers"
I totally 100% recommend this movie! We saw it last night and it is fantastic! There is a great cast and it's directed by Clint Eastwood. It's a fantastic history lesson that every American should see at some point in their lives. WHEN you see it, stay until the house lights come back on! You don't want to miss the photos of Iwo Jima and the very very very end where they show it today, pretty amazing!! (and I do mean the very very very very end)

Someone note that I posted about 4 new blogs today.. Do I win an award for this??

More Cutie Pics....
because you haven't already seen enough, right?

This first one...I call ... "why me?" Why does she have to have a great aunt who grabs a camera everytime she's near....he he he..


This one is... I love my gruncle (great uncle) Andy b/c he lets me eat leaves when
no one else will!!

Ok, ok, ok... I'll stop with those-

Scarecrow Day
I can't believe I am sharing these!!
These are from scarecrow day at school last week, tons of fun!!
Misty, my assistant and awesome friend, is the one with me in the above picture!

Cutie Pie

Here are (more than you want to see I bet) pictures of our cutie pie
great niece that I took this weekend. Who can get enough of that smile!

Fall is in the air~
I have nothing exciting to post about, how sad is that? It's fall....have I mentioned how much I love fall? I love cool air, jeans, sweatshirts, hot coffee & hot chocolate, football, open windows, halloween, pumpkins & scarecrows, the whole shebang!

And for some reason I like to paint on pumpkins. It is a habit that I got from an old friend, Holly Chapman...there's a tribute to you. I'm not very good at it...but I do enjoy it for some reason?!

So what else? I had strep throat last week, ugh!! Double ugh!! The thing was..I had a sniffly/stuffed up nose and coughed my head off, but not a bit of a sore throat. Very odd, I was shocked & even argued when I finally went to the doctor and they did a strep test. No way I could have it, I didn't have my typical symptoms. One shot & 2 kinds of meds later, I'm over it. Germy kiddos at school I guess, what can ya do?

What Else? Scarecrow Day is coming up at school this week. It's our alternative fall celebration, instead of Halloween at the church preschool. Tons of fun and I've worked on improving my "get up" all weekend. Should be fun. Andy & his brother are running in a 1/2 marathon this weekend, their first. More power to them! The Tanner clan is all coming over for a cookout get together that afternoon, should be a hoot! We're on day 23 of the countdown to the next cruise, now there is something to smile about! Mom is already mostly packed, what are we gonna do with her??

That's it...all I got....just hadn't updated in forever and felt the need.
Nothing new here folks, move along-

Fall is Fair Time!!

Fall is for sure fair time here in the south! It's tradition (always has been) for my family to go to the fair on my birthday. Up here, we attend the North Georgia State Fair, it's pretty close to home! Dad has always said that I'm a cheap birthday date! "Give her a corn dog, roasted corn and cotton candy..she's good to go!" It's true, I am never more happy than when I'm stuffing myself with greasy fair food!

I love the lights, the crisp night air that is just arriving with fall, the farm animals, the people yelling "Come on, win a prize", the buildings of nutty crafts and over grown veggies, the strange attractions, the concerts, the crazy shows from pig racing to dancing bears & elephants and I hang onto the fun memories of being young and actually riding on those rides without the thought of barfing! (Getting old stinks!)

The best fair, hands down, is the Georgia National Fair in Perry! It's huge, huge, huge! Mom & Dad use to take me when I was little and now Andy & I enjoy it together. (Mom & Dad go with us occasionally) It takes about 3 hours to get down there from here, south of us. It's worth the drive to Perry! Sometimes we spend the night and other times, like this year, we don't.

Where to begin?

The animals: Instead of 1 barn full of farm animals, they have about 8. Each barn/building is filled with stables or pens of one type of animal. The horse barn alone holds about 1,000 horses, mules and donkeys! The grounds are used year round for different breed horse shows. There is a huge covered arena for horse events. Each day/night of the fair, there are different shows with different breeds. We caught the evening of barrel racing. What little girl didn't dream, at least for a minute, of being a cowgirl? We had horses and I sure dreamed of it!! All of the other animals have shows & exhibits as well. There are sheep, llamas, rabbits, cows, goats and pigs. Each animal in their own building. There are several indoor arenas where 4-H kids from across the state come to show off their animals and compete for ribbons. We caught the llama costume contest one year, hilarious! There are thousands of animals and kids! There are demonstrations as well: how people sheer sheep, cow milking, etc.. (I reminded Andy that we must have land and more room for animals when God blesses us with a little one of our own, someday. We both grew up with animals and hope our children can too!)

Exhibits: There are buildings filled with commercial goods for sale, each with their own booth. (I fought the urge for yet more costume jewelry and purses) There are crafts and nature exhibits galore. Wildlife rangers are there with snakes, alligators and other reptiles to let you touch and learn about. There are aquariums filled with game fish and stuffed animals where you're taught about hunting.

Rides: You want to get your kicks?! There are 2 entire midways set up out there! There were 3 ferris wheels, 3 roller coasters and too many rides to begin to mention! One midway is still traveling with their own 12 act "freak show", you know the one I am talking about?!

Shows: You name it, they have it. Dancing bears, elephants, camels to ride, racing pigs, music of any style, Krystal burger eating challenge, motorcycle stunts, tight rope walkers, acrobats, dancers, magicians, puppet shows and everything in between. It's there!!

Concerts: Each weekend in the huge enclosed auditorium. Gretchen Wilson & Big/Rich were upcoming events for this weekend.

Food: Oh my!! Enough food to feed the hungry of the world! BBQ ribs, chicken, pork, beef, you name it.. Hotdogs, hamburgers, corndog, sausages, pizza, cotton candy, caramel or candy apples and on and on and on..... There were stations to mix & make your own icee (I did that). Places to pour rootbeer out of a barrel and into your mug. Fried? Want to talk fried in the south?? You name it: mushrooms, veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, zuchini,etc..), onion rings, oreos, cheese cake, Snickers bars and don't forget the Twinkies! **I, for one, ate healthy! I had a hamburger (not too bad huh?). I ate some strawberries, ok..so they were dipped in choclate, so what?! I ate an apple .. and it had a "little" caramel on it. I "needed" just a few bites of a corndog, so Andy shared one with me. (Along with all he hate himself)

Cars, lawnmowers, tractors, boats & campers: There are demos from every company in South Georgia. You name it and they were there with a whole load of them! We picked our favorite top 10 cars/trucks/SUVs of course. Andy drooled over tractors of every shape, size and brand. Lawnmowers too! Playgrounds to play on and outdoor playhouses to wish for. They had them with bedrooms, porches, porch swings, window flower boxes and a chimney...every little girls dream! You want to make an impulse buy on a boat, camper or hot tub (what's up with those at the fair?) Well, go right ahead!!

Agri lift: What is an agrilift you ask? It's just like the chair lift in the mountains, but much much longer. It goes across the entire fair grounds and is a nice ride! We took the round trip ticket and had a ball as always. Since this is a big agriculture event, the name agrilift seemed to fit I guess.. Andy is a dork for my picture as usual!

Paddle boats or kayaking: And who doesn't think of those 2 things when going to the fair? NOT! Ok..but since they have a little lake/pond, feel free to rent a boat and go for a ride! Tons of people were doing it!

Characters: There are tons of those and I don't just mean the "carnies". They have "Fair Bear" and a few others. A favorite is this "Rockin' Robot" that walks around. He's super huge! He talks to people, poses for photos and sings & dances! He's a hoot for sure!!

To learn more (and who wouldn't want too?) go to www.georgianationalfair.com and check out the fun! We had a blast and it was well worth the drive down there & $5 admission. (You don't even have to pay to park!) We wont mention the money one can fork out on food and fun, but that's up to you.

Until next time.....

My Top 10 Favorite Scary Movies:
(title stolen from Amber!)
Mine are in no order though and many that are listed are now corny, but still classic in my book!!


10. Jaws (who doesn't think of this when they're at the beach?)
9. Candyman (DON'T say that 3 times! Owwwww)
8. Friday the 13th (My Mom wouldn't let me see those so I'd go to my Aunt's house and she'd rent them all for me!!)
7. Nightmare on Elm Street (same reason as above, we'd rent them all)
6. Pet Cemetary (man I loved that when it came out)
5. Child's Play (who doesn't love a demented doll?!)
4. Psycho (The classic factor is HUGE)
3. Blair Witch (yep, it creeped us out!)
2. Poltergeist (gotta love the little girl!)

Tied for 1st!
1. The Exorcist (creeeepppy to me for some reason)
1. Silence of the Lambs (THE MOST creepy movie that I have ever seen. Ick- )

Fall Trip to the Mountains!

Every fall for as long as I can remember, I have taken a trip to the mountains. I have been visiting Gatlinburg & Pigeon Forge, TN with my parents since I was a baby. The tradition continued with Andy & I. We have taken oodles of trips up there! We've gone alone, with my parents, with my parents & grandparents and with Andy's brother. We've gone fall when we look at leaves, admire the pumpkin displays and enjoy the crisp mountain air. We've gone in the summer when we camp all week, swim at the pool and wade in the creek. We've gone in the spring to see the flowers in bloom and enjoy the moutain sunshine. We've gone in the winter to play in the snow, celebrate Valentine's day and look at Christmas lights. We've stayed in cheap hotels, expensive hotels downtown, beautiful cabins and several awesome campgrounds. It takes us about 3 & 1/2 -4 hours to get there and we couldn't love it anymore than we do!!

We have our favorite places to eat, favorite places to shop and some things we "must do" while there. One thing is our traditional ride up to the peak on the chair lift. Sometimes we ride the one from downtown Gatlinburg and other times we ride the one up at the ski lodge. This time we chose the one from downtown!

This trip was a spur of the moment trip. I had been bugging Andy about going for weeks and with our big cruise coming up...he kept putting me off. Last Friday night while we were eating supper and he asked me what we were doing on Saturday...I told him we were getting up and heading to the mountains for one night. I was floored when he said "Ok, what time are we leaving?" We packed a few things and were ready to go Saturday morning!!

My first nutty act of the day was that I had set the alarm clock the night before..messing up the time part...and my alarm ended up going of @ 5:30 instead of 6:30..YIKES!!!! It rained on us most of the way up there, making traffic around Chattanooga & Knoxville tricky. We were still there by lunch time though! The rain seemed to be holding back the crowds and we were able to walk right into the "Apple Barn Restaraunt" and get a table.

There is usually a super duper wait there and we hadn't been able to get in for years. They bring homemade, hot out of the oven apple fritters with apple butter & apple jelly and an apple julip to drink!! Yummo~ We then rode around checking out a few new dinner theaters and making plans for the evening. We decided on "Fiddler's Feast" and bought our tickets.



We made our next traditional stop at one of my FAVORITE places...."Boyds Bear"!! It is a HUGE 4 level store that is shaped and decorated to look like a giant barn. The building itself is something to behold! Each level has sections of themed areas and bears to match. I LOVE this place!! I was shocked and saddened when nutty thing #2 of my day arrived....I realized that everything was on sale and the shelves were becoming bare...they are closing. Seems that October 29th will be there last day, what a shame!!!

We headed over to Gatlinburg then, where nutty act #3 came into play. The rain had stopped and it had turned into a beautiful late afternoon. Andy had his window down and I rolled mine down too, loosing my "UGA" flag out the window. Of course my screaming did nothing to get the flag back...Andy watched as the car behind us ran right over it...OOPS!!

We walked around Gatlinburg, wondered into a few stores...had some of the best baked pretzels in the WORLD and rode the chair lift. After a few hours it was time to find our hotel and get ready for our evening adventure. Here we go with nutty act #4. I had made reservations the night before online. When we arrived to the super nice hotel and checked in, things were fine. We opened the door to be KNOCKED over by the smoke smell, I had booked a SMOKING room! UGH!!! Neither of us could handle that all night, so I had to go and beg to be moved. There was ONE non smoking room left and luckily...she switched us right over.

We got ready for the Fiddler's Feast and were off. I've been to most of the shows up there: past & present...with either my parents or Andy. (Past, now gone: Lee Greenwood - twice / TG Shepherd / Louise Mandrell - 4 times / Archie Cambell - twice) (Present: Country Tonite - twice / Dixie Stampeded - 6 or 7 times / Black Bear Jamboree - twice / Smoky Mountain Jubilee - once / Comedy Barn - twice /Memories (impersonations)sp?-once) Black Bear & Dixie Stampede are the only two that had dinner included up until this past year.

We were excited about Fiddlers Feast. The building itself is a Beautiful log cabin looking building from the outside. We were shocked & amazed to get inside to realize once in the theater, it had a "wharehouse" sort of feel. The stage was decorated, but the rest of the building was oddly bare. The tables were super long picnic tables: chairs on the back side/benches on the front side. Thankfully, we were there in time to choose chairs. If you sit on the other side of the table on the bench, you have to turn around for the show part and lean against the table. Ugh!



They came out to explain to us how it would all work and it seemed we were rather "on our own". We had to walk literally in part of the kitchen to get a plate and have it filled in an assembly line fashion. I felt like I was in youth camp as a kid!! Not that I am above walking in line mind you...but for $40 a person, I thought they could bring my food to me?! You had to carry a plate, dessert bowl and filled drink glass all back to the table. ((I am thinking this is going to be a huge problem for the tens of thousands of senior citizen groups that tour up there and do these shows, it was trouble enough for me!!)) The food was good, not fabulous...but good. We know that these dinner shows are not 4 star dinning, they're cooking for thousands. We had a small steak, grilled chicken, roasted potatoes, baked beans, coleslaw, corn bread and strawberry shortcake. Then you had to carry your plate back to the kitchen for drop off. The show didn't start until after dinner, which is again a little different from most dinner/shows that we've seen. When the show started, we realized the performers were some of the people who had filled our plates, refilled drinks and were now onstange. Again, odd-

The music was great. It was just the mix we've come to expect at shows in the Smoky Moutains. It's a combination show of country, bluegrass, gospel, comedy and good ole' mountain music. (Most of them have a rock n roll segment, this one doesn't) All in all we enjoyed it. It was just alot different than what we have come to expect from those and what we had in mind. We wouldn't recommend this one to anyone going up there, too many far better dinner shows to check out!!

We returned to our freezing cold room (we'd turned the air down) and were able to turn our gas fireplace on. We're such dorks!! We just wanted to try out the fireplace!!

Sunday morning the rain had returned, in buckets!! We decided to check out the complimentary breakfast instead of venturing out just yet in the rain. The variety was great and the food awesome! (Yep and free) It was strange to be up there and not at a pancake house for breakfast, but there is always next time!

Ready for my next nutty issue.... I was so ready for some serious scrapbook shopping. The BEST scrapbook store in the world is up there. "Your Scrapbook SuperStore" and their Clearance Center next door. IT'S CLOSED ON SUNDAYS~~ Ugh!! Duh, I think I remember that from a trip in the past, nothing I could do about it. We went on down to check out some of our favorite antique stores instead. We stopped at one of the two jewelry/purse outlets where I spent way too much money...but had to make up for the scrapbook store being closed! Then we made our final stops @ Cracker Barrel for lunch & the Bass Pro Shop! The bass pro up there is much bigger than the one in Atlanta, hard to imagine. It's also even more "themed" with waterfalls and more animals than the others. Great store, even for me!!

That's it...way too many details of our most recent out of town adventure.
Until next time~

Powder Springs Day:
Andy & I grew up in Powder Springs. Although we are now proud residents of Dallas, just next door, we still love Powder Springs and it will always be home. Today was Powder Springs Day. What in the world is that you might ask.... (ok, or you might not even care)

It all starts with a 1 mile fun run & 5K, starting & ending at First Baptist Church of Powder Springs, our home church. Andy and Steve, his oldest brother, have been running in this race for years and years!! Andy has won first place in his age group for several years now, but this year...he won 3rd place over all!! It was very exciting! Here's a picture of him running through the finish line @ the time clock. Not a good picture I know, super blurry. I was in a hurry to catch him and didn't hold still, my fault!! (I'd missed a picture at the halfway point because I was busy running a stroller with my great niece over into the shrubs! OOPS!!! Hang on Layla!)

After the race there is a pancake breakfast and award ceremony. Here is Andy getting his award from another sponsor in the community, our state farm insurance agent...Katie Harris! (I know, why didn't I get in front of them while someone else took their picture, duh!)

Meanwhile, while Andy was busy running.... I was playing with our cutie pie great niece, Layla~ She's soooo funny, though in this picture she just looks like she thinks I'm nuts with my camera!


Here is Andy with his brother, who came in 2nd in his age group! (Should I mention here that he got beat ..again.. by someone pushing a running stroller. With TWO kids in it? He HATES that...it makes him SO angry that they can pass him pushing one of those things. He was in the top 15 overall too!! He'd die if he knew I was posting that for the world to read!)After the race there is a parade, a very small parade...but parade just the same. We didn't stay for it this year. The high school band plays and all the boys & girls in every organization and sport you can imagine walk in it, cute..just not for us today. There is also a small arts & crafts show down at the park, but alas...we skipped that too-

We headed home to change & then over to the fair grounds for the "Blue Ribbon Affair", it's a little bigger arts & crafts festival. I have to say though that sadly, it's shrinking each year. Just not the same- The kettle corn alone is worth the trip over there though! Of course I made it home with a pair of bulldog earrings and another bulldog bracelet though. One can never have enough UGA stuff!! After a lemonade, walking around for awhile and a brief stop to watch the cloggers (yep, welcome to the south yall) we decided to head on home.

There you have it, life in a small town. It was followed by much more excitement...a nap & supper @ Steak & Shake!! LOL~ Thanks for coming by for a glimpse of Tanner Life! Until next time....

Labor Day Weekend: What did you do? We weren't very exciting. I haven't had a major topic to ramble about in awhile, so I thought I'd go with a boring old summary of our holiday weekend!

I started mine off on Friday of course with errand day, what is more exciting than running errands and grocery shopping! Ugh-

Saturday we spent the afternoon with Andy's brother & sister in law eating lunch and at a health fair. It was there first time to Ted's Montana Grill and we LOVE that place! Andy had to pick up his race packet at the health fair, so off we went. There were all sorts of booths set up from sponsors, free stuff and sign ups. It was pretty big and a nice afternoon. We followed that with a trip to the movies to see "Invincible"! I totally recommend that movie to anyone!!! Who doesn't love a good & heart warming sport story? Markie Mark has come a long way since his singing days! It's a great story!! Plus I LOVE football and it's that season again! (And I missed watching the Dawgs lead the way to the first victory of the season! Though I did listen to my favorite radio voice, I LOVE Larry Munson!)

Sunday we skipped church (I know, I know, I know) in order to play golf. It was a nice morning and good to be out there. I hadn't played in about 5 months and taking off does NOTHING for your golf game! Yikes!! I didn't loose a single ball though and that's a good thing. I did knock the dickens out of a couple of trees though. I seriously need to get back into playing more again! We went to lunch, Mexican tends to be our Sunday regular. Then for some reason......Andy suggested we see "Snakes on a Plane". I'd wanted to see it, but he hates scary movies. (and hates snakes even more) I admit to keeping my eyes closed through half!! Wowie- Ick- But, it was good. Tons of suspense for sure! Samuel L. Jackson rocks! If you're not into creepy snakes and gory scenes....steer clear! Followed up with dinner at Longhorns, yummy!

Monday I was still in bed by the time Andy had ran the 10K Classic, shame on me! What support am I? He finished with the first 1,000 though out of 12,000. Not too bad, we don't know what number he was. He said it was fun and he's ready to run the half marathon next month on the Silver Comet Trail around here. We kept a low profile the rest of the day and were really pretty boring! We went for a late dinner at our new Steak and Shake, talk about excitement. ha-

Other reports: Our little friend, Emmy, who I talked about in a previous blog is doing well. She went for her first chemo treatment this week, in working to get rid of the rest of the tumor. She's going back to school as much as possible and being super strong! So far she isn't having side effects from the treatments. Continued prayers are appreciated!!

We've now wrapped up our 2nd week of school and I'm tired! It's fun to be back, but not easy to get into the routine after a lazy sumer! The kids are sweeties, though younger than any group I've ever had before. It's taking some adjustment on my part. I love them dearly though and there is never a dull moment for sure!

That's about it, all I've got- I'll try to do better next time!