September 1st

What better sign of fall is there than college football??


SEC football to be more specific and UGA football is the only way to go!

I am so excited and only wish that I could be there!
Instead I'll watch from home wearing my bulldog clothes,
scream "Go Dawgs" and remember
the old days of being on the sidelines for every game!

Owww, the good old days. I have my very own official copy of this cover!

Back in the day... picture day in ... 2006. Me & Hairy Dog!!





Again, from back in the day... Adam Meadows! Who I had grown up with, we lived in the same neighborhood when we were little. Went to school together through high school & @ UGA. I told him I should have him sign this photo and I could say "I knew him when..." he laughed at me. He's currently a Denver Bronco after a 2 year hiatus from the NFL.

It's that time again. Although our county and the surrounding ones started school the past two weeks, preschool had a few extra to enjoy the summer. Monday it's back to the grind stone. We start pre-planning on Monday, parent orientation is Thursday night and Friday morning is open house and I get to meet the kiddos officially.

I have had my class lists for a few weeks now and already can remember all 12 names. I am very excited and start wondering what they're like and what the year holds for us! God sent each of these little 12 people to me for a reason and I can't wait to get started.

With all that being said though, there also comes the end of summer. I LOVE summer. I love to be lazy and sleep late, I love reading oodles of books, I love the lake and camping, I love the beach and vacations, I love swimming pools and getting a tan, I love cooking out and getting together with friends and I generally love being home!!

This summer has been a little strange for me. With Mom & her foot surgery we didn't spend time at the lake like we usually do, I only went twice with Dad and that has to be a record of the least amount of times ever. Mom & I didn't get to do our annual girls beach trip and that makes me sad. We only got to go camping one time, Andy couldn't get away anymore. We went to St. Thomas which was fantastic, though Andy did work for most of the trip. It just didn't feel like our typical summer.

I've done some awesome visiting these last two weeks though. I finally got on the ball and made plans with friends and had a great two weeks. I was able to see an awesome friend and her two girlies last week. (that would be you Amy) I visited a college friend that I hadn't seen about 10 years, had a blast catching up and remembering old times and met her cutie pa tootie 3 girls. (that would be you Krisite) I had dinner with a great friend where we talked for hours. (Tanya that would be you) Then I was able to have a girls night last night and it was a darn hoot! (That would be Tanya, Misty & Tracey) I vow as usual to make time for the important & fun things in life. As much as I love sitting with my nose stuck in a book, times spent with all these girlies has been the best!

That brings me to fall. Man, I do have to say that I am ready to put these weeks of 3 digit temps in the past!! Fall is BY FAR my time of the year. I live for September & October. I love the beginning of school, brisk mornings and cool evenings, time to put on a sweatshirt in the evening with your shorts, the fair (I can't help it!), arts & craft shows, going to the mountains, yards filled with hay, scarecrows & pumpkins, pumpkin patch visits, apple festivals, pumpkin pie, college football, colorful leaves (Andy will kill me for saying anything about loving leaves in the fall since he's the one raking & picking them up), driving with windows down and the radio up, cinammon & pumpkin scented candles burning, antique stores with their fall displays, man... fall.... bring it on!!!!

Yeah, our great niece is about the cutest thing ever! We know~



Cookout and swimming a few weeks ago at Andy's brother's house. Good times of summer! Who needs a pool or toys when you have a bucket & rocks?

Ants: Hate 'em!

It's been the summer of ants for the Tanners! The summer started with a drought and everyone around here swears they come inside looking for water. In June they were in the kitchen around the back door & windows, after Gizmo's dog food and under the sink counter. I killed, sprayed, cleaned, killed, sprayed, cleaned, for days on end in the same places. They were in the basement by the back door, getting in "the girls" food inside & out and in the basement.


July rolls in and they are in the bathrooms! They're in the sink, on the mirror, the walls, the shower, around the closet, everywhere. It's usually a few here and there in the bathrooms though, not in little marching lines like before.


We go camping and they are everywhere in the camper! They were NOT there before we left when we did a BIG cleaning, but by the time we arrive at the campground ... sure enough there they are! Already in full swing inside, so odd!! They show up randomly on the floor, wall, etc... We had to go buy more ant spray and clean, clean, clean!!


We return home to the rain of summer. For the rest of July it rains, rains, rains! Guess what? No ants!! Praise the Lord!!


Then August comes bounding in without a drop of rain and temperatures in the 100's!! You better believe it, the ants are back! They're in the laundry room downstairs, in the kitchen in the cabinet over the stove and one day in the dishwasher! They're back randomly in the bathrooms.


Today, I find TONS of them already dead around the kitchen windows and floor. I am sure Andy has sprayed them in the morning, but no. Turns out they must have come in and found residue from previous sprayings and it killed them on the spot. Then I found a few in the microwave, are you kidding me???? (and no, it was clean, not a crumb was in there) They were also in my potholder drawer today, ugh!!!


At least I have the cleanest kitchen & bathrooms in town from the constant cleaning! I will, for the first time ever, welcome cooler weather and the end of ant season!

Ok, you have been waiting anxiously for long enough- LOL~ Or you didn't read my previous top 5 favorite books of July blog and are wondering what the heck I am talking about. I left you wondering what my #1 pick was, remember?

Last summer, I found Mary Kay Andrews and had a new favorite author! I read my favorite "Hissy Fit" three times! She only has a handful of books and they are HILARIOUS. She also has a line of mysteries, by another name. She's a "southern humor" author and I couldn't love her anymore. Her new blog "The Kudzu Telegraph" makes me laugh out loud!

So this summer, I found Denise Hildreth and "Savannah"!! I was wondering around the Christian section of Barnes & Noble and a book titled "Savannah by the Sea" got my attention. I took a chance although it was #3 in a series.I bought it and let it sit for a few weeks. When we headed to St. Thomas I decided it was the perfect time to read a book about a family going to the beach, plus it was paperback and you can't imagine the damage I do to books while at the pool & beach-

The books is dad gum hilarious!!! I laughed out loud more times than I have reading a book in a L O N G time!!!!! (and I laugh alot) It couldn't be any more "southern" either. It's about a 24 year old girl/lady named, of course, Savannah. She is headed on a beach trip with her parents, brother, her Mom's new fried and her own best friend. The family pets Duke & Magnolia are along for the ride as well. The craziness that happens in their adventure is awesome, the characters you fall in love with from the first chapter!

P. 47 "she doesn't just believe in corporal punishment, amber. She believes spanking should be administered with a fly swatter" (Oh my gosh, did she come to my house? My Mom use to do this!!!!!)

P. 69 "when dinner arrived, I placed the first bite of grits in my mouth. 'Hallelujah' I shouted, a little louder than I had intended."

P. 88 "It was Sunday, It was the South. And I was Jake's child therefore, I went to church."

P.99 " 'I heard she writes books about crazy people from the south' Paige threw the towel over her head, her voice muffled through the cotton. 'Well don't let her see us. She'd have enough stories to tell for years.'"

P.103 "I was ready to swim. However, the gnawing fear that I would drown if I didn't wait 30 minutes after eating had remained with me these 24 years."

P. 221 "If I didn't fear my mother building an alter there in the middle of the restaurant and anointing me with olive oil, I'd have downed a bottle of wine all by myself. It was lost on her that Catholics, Presbyterians and who knows maybe even Methodists actually had wine for communion. She thinks Jesus turned water into Welches."

P.239 "Mother's hand flew up to her face. 'Oh my Lord, have mercy, my daughter is a hoochie mamma."

P. 295 " 'Adventure I can handle, but this is certifiable.' 'I tried to tell you - I come from crazy people' "

Summer Reading
Part 2 - July

Time to ramble on and on about all the books I've been reading. I read 17 books in July, which brings me to a total of 39 for the summer! Wowie!! That's alot of time with my nose stuck in a book. What can I say? I LOVE to read!!


Honorable mention goes to "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold that I have been meaning to read forever. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't a favorite. There were a handful of trashy romances as always. "Joshua's Family" by Joseph F. Girzone was pretty good, the prequel to the series I'd read years and years and years ago. I think I enjoyed the rest of the series more than this one though. "Porch Tales" by Phillip Gulley was fantastic! I really enjoy this new author I found (more about him in a few minutes) and this is just a book of random short true stories. They are funny, sweet, heart warming and most have a "moral to the story". He has several others like this and I'll read those for sure too!! "Dreamboat" by Judith Gould was a good find on the bargain table at Barnes & Noble. I took a chance and it was a great book, very very very trashy mind you, but good. Mystery, romance and on a cruise! (100% trash) I read "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom again just because I didn't remember it very much. I also finally come to terms with the fact that I just don't enjoy Danielle Steel. I've tried and tried, from now on I think I'll pass on her books. Strange, but true. Now for the top 5:

5) "Into the Storm" by Suzanne Brockman - This is #12 in her Trouble Shooters series. Of course you'd need to start at the beginning. They are super great a tad romance, lots of action books about a group of SEALS navy guys and gals. Good characters that I've come to "know & love" over the years.



4) "Daisy Fay & The Miracle Man" by Fannie Flagg - I love Fannie Flagg and had read all of her other books previously. Turns out I had missed 2 and I found this one at the local used book store. It was a HOOT! I laughed out loud and read parts of it out loud to Andy. (he wasn't thrilled) It's from the view point of a little girl and all the crazy things that happen to her through out her entire life.




3) Brings me to a new favorite author! "Just Shy of Harmony" by Philip Gulley - I didn't realize until I started that this was #2 in a series. The books GREATLY follow the path that Jan Karon's Mitford books do, if you've read those. They are from the view of a Quaker pastor in a small town. It's filled with fun and lovable characters and tons of laugh out loud moments!! It's also sweet and full of moments of faith! I have now read 3 out of the series and this was my favorite of them. The more I read though, the more I am reminded of the Mitford books and the fact they are so much alike.I recommend this one even if you don't read the entire series. It's easy to follow although it's #2!

Just a handful of my favorite quotes:

P. 35 "Although it was true no one should preach without being led - it was also true that God had been in the habit of speaking to Sam every Friday in his office between the hours of 8:30 & noon."

P. 254 "apparently God uses Bozos too"

P. 125 (talking about road signs a nutty church member had made and put up in town) "Go to church and learn to pray or when you die, there's hell to pay." "If you cheat and drink and lie, turn to God before you die."

P. 178 "you're not sick and you're not staying home. You're going to church and suffering with the rest of us."





2) "6th Target" by James Patterson - Wowie! Ya just have to love James Patterson! I think I am beginning to love the Women's Murder Club series as much (or maybe even more) than the Alex Cross novels. This is #6 for the women's club and it was awesome!! Full of suspense and ALOT going on in this one!! I was surprised from beginning to end about where it went and I LOVE when that happens. (The series has inspired a TV showing coming in the fall on Friday nights, I can NOT wait!)



**I am going to hold my #1 until another blog. I am way excited about it and have tons to say and share about it. So.... until next time..... read a book!**

St. Thomas



(View from our room)

We left our house on Monday morning at 6:00 and were at the airport and in line by 7:30. When we saw the security line for the first time, we were sure that we'd never make our 10:00 flight! The line was like something I've never seen before. It moved pretty quickly though and we were through security in just over an hour. Strangely enough I saw a friend at the airport that I work with, what a hoot! (Shout out to Pam who was headed with her hubby for a Vegas Birthday trip!) We met up with Andy's friends from work and boarded our plane. Then.... nothing happened.

(Gotta love the take it yourself photos!)

We waited....and waited.....and waited. The pilot came on to tell us that when they had landed in Atlanta, they found an oil leak. They were working on finding out if they needed to fix it or just get us another plane. (another plane please) He came back to say "we don't know where the leak is coming from, but when they opened the door down there ... oil poured out" Sound comforting? After about 10 more minutes we were feeling better when the pilot told us that we were getting another plane! So, we get off and wait again. It takes about 20 minutes for us to find another plane and then another 15-20 before everyone is back on board.


(The top of the hotel where people had weddings and stuff. Great views of St. John and the other small islands!)

Finally, we're off! I had a rather icky flight (too much craziness) and even though I watched a "Ray Ramano" comedy special, played trivia with everyone else on board and enjoyed my own little tv to play with ... I was glad to arrive in St. Thomas 3 hours and 50 minutes later! What a strange morning!

(The view from my chair on the beach one day)

We got a van (taxi) with Andy's friends and were on our way. We learned all sorts of things about the island as we headed to the resort. The island is just as beautiful as we remembered! HOLY MOLY it has TONS of mountains!! We were going straight up, up, up and it felt like we were headed to a cabin in the mountains rather than a resort on the beach. Crazy! We arrived, checked in and headed for the beach!

(Here is part of the pool area. There were 3 pools that were all connected with little water falls. One pool had a volleyball net, one had a pool basketball goal and the other had the big water fall in it. Fun! There were ALWAYS activities going on everywhere at the resort)

Our first day Andy was in his conference from 7:30-4:30 other than for the hour when he came to eat lunch with me. I spent the ENTIRE day at the pool and beach after breakfast! It was 100% heavenly! I am pretty sure heaven will look like the beaches in St. Thomas! I read, swam, laughed at iguanas and baked myself! Andy joined me when he was finished with his junk! We had a fantastic dinner where my steak & 'taters were perfect! Then we ordered "flour less chocolate cake" WOWIE ZOWIE!! It was pretty much FUDGE with cool whip, unreal~ (Did I mention the resort is all inclusive, our first experience with that .. other than cruising)

(The view from our hall. There wasn't a place that didn't offer perfect views)

Day two was more of the same. Andy went to work and I headed to the beach. He was finished for good by lunch and we were l-a-z-y! We talked about heading downtown for shopping and the gondola ride up to Paradise Point (where we went last trip), but ended up spending the entire afternoon at the beach! How can you resist? For dinner I had the exact same meal, including flour less chocolate cake, yummo!

(Andy hard at work)

We spent Thursday morning at the beach until about 12:00 where we had to start out for the airport. We got everyone together and were off. We had the sweetest little O L D man for a driver and he was so proud of his island! He told us all about the old military bases on the island and stopped at the islands American Legion just to show us. (We were afraid we were headed for an entire walking tour too) We arrived at the airport and had to laugh at how different it works there from in Atlanta! The same lady that checked us in was outside directing us to the plane later on, funny! I love that you walk out onto the run way and just kinda "pick a plane"! Hilarious~ Andy said it was a grass hut and a run way, well .. pretty much! When you see just how short the runway is .. you try not to think about it!

(Andy hard at work again)

Our flight home was uneventful compared to the hoopla we'd had in coming. It was about 30 minutes shorter, I think it's neat how that works. We didn't have our own tv and I watched "Blades of Glory" with everyone else, ugh! (Where's a smilie rolling it's eyes when I need it?)

It was the shortest trip we've ever taken! The only place we go for long weekends is the mountains or camping, so this was different for us. We kept reminding ourselves that it was a total surprise in the first place and we were lucky and blessed to even be going! So we think back that at 11 we were on the beach with our feet in the Caribbean Sea and by 7:30 we were sitting in Johnny's Pizza in Hiram, life is wild! We were soooo blessed to be able to take a trip like this for "work", the military is good to us!


(Iguanas were everywhere! This guy was coming for me!! People were feeding him fruit from the bar and he thought I was going to join in the feeding I guess. I was sitting there minding my own business in my chair and there he was! There was an area where they hung out and Andy counted 34 there one afternoon!)

and we're off....

Camping

We spent most of last week camping at the lake. We're pretty lucky to live only about 35 minutes to get to some very nice areas of Lake Allatoona. We arrived on Sunday afternoon to pick out a "first come, first serve" spot at our favorite campground, McKinney. Thankfully there were still some nice spots on the water left. Andy, Gizmo & I were ready for 4 nights in the "woods". Ok, we have a camper ... Still, we were camping! After 8 weeks of no rain, brown grass, dead flowers, low lake level and local ponds drying up ... the drought ended starting on the day of our yard sale and the rain continued on and off through our week of camping. We couldn't believe the luck, but we still had a good time. It rained for awhile every day and every night! We did get to go swimming a few days. Andy went fishing every morning and evening right by our camp site. There were TONS of brim that hung out around a fallen tree right by the waters edge. I fished with him one night and we were catching a fish with every cast, funny! He even had the fish JUMPING OUT OF THE WATER when he'd hold the worm just above water level, nuts!! We cooked out every night, yummy! I read several books and cross stitched, Andy went for bike rides. We played TONS of HOURS worth of UNO, Monopoly, Scattergories, Mancala and I can't even remember what other games. We watched a handful of DVDs worth of "Raymond" episodes. Despite the icky weather, we had a great time! We had some visitors as well! Mr. Squirrel returned several nights before we'd get the trash to the dumpster, Momma duck and her babies were regulars at the water edge and the duck gang decided to make themselves at home after a rain storm one afternoon.

One man's trash
is another man's treasure

Before we moved out of our last house, we had a yard sale. It was almost 6 years ago now. We made some extra money and got rid of some junk. Andy laughed at me because I put a plastic fish bowl out there full of marbles, it was $1 or $2. The very first person that pulled up, an older woman .. rushed straight down the driveway to grab the fish bowl of marbles like it was just what she was looking for. She was so excited with her little find and I told Andy "HA!"

We had another yard sale when we actually got moved in and all settled here, about 5 & 1/2 years ago. No marbles that time though.

We've been putting stuff in the basement for years saying we'd have another yard sale, we keep putting it off. We have donated truck loads of stuff twice, just to skip the yard sale work. I've worked for two weeks cleaning the house inside out & upside down looking for stuff to get rid of. Today was the day! It just happens to be the first day all summer it's rained at our house on and off all day, but I digress.

Somehow I ended up with a gallon Ziploc bag of, you guessed it, marbles! "Here we go again" Andy says while rolling his eyes. At 7:50AM our first shopper arrives. An older gentleman by himself. He walks around and wants the set of crutches (that I almost tossed) and then he goes for .... wanta guess? .... Yep, the marbles. First customer, my $2.00 bag of marbles sold again!!

Happy 4th of July

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

God Bless America!!

I want one of these aka:
favorite item of the day!
I think they made this with me in mind!!" Perfect for any snooze-button addict, this sneaky alarm clock runs and hides when you don’t wake up
He’ll give you 0–9 min. of snooze time, then jump up to 3’ off a nightstand and roll in circles while alarming
Loud 80 dB alarm beeps in a random pattern while the screen flashes for a total sensory awakening
Requires 4 AAA batteries (not included) and features an early low-battery warning—average battery life is 6–8 mos.
Remove the wheels if you want Clocky to stay put; compact design measure"

Clocky Mobile Alarm Clock - Almond

$49.99

Target.com

How adorable is this movie? Ratatouille!! Disney & Pixar did good with this one. I wasn't so sure about the characters being rats. (I did NOT like Valiant, didn't think the birds made good characters) These were hilarious, fun and lovable rats though. I loved the characters, the plot, the setting, everything! I think this one has the potential to become a Disney hit for sure! Guess we'll see how the rest of the world takes to it. I loved it !!!

Summer Reading
Part 1

I am going to start this as saying it's part 1. Since June isn't even over yet, I am sure there will be more parts to follow! If you know me, you know I spend my summers reading like crazy!! Although this summer has been BUSY so far, I have had tons of down time to read. I just finished book #21 of the summer tonight. (Yep, I said TWENTY-ONE) Needless to say, I also read VERY fast!! That's close to a book a day. So here ya go. My book list of best reads so far this summer, here goes! Top 5 with explanations, then "the others".


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#5 - "Maximum Ride 3: Saving the World & Other Extreme Sports" - James Patterson
Of course any book by James Patterson rocks my world. He has one (of my top two) favorite writing styles with his super short chapters. You can not put the book down, because each chapter is only 3-5 pages long, keeps you soooo into the story. This is the 3rd in the series about the "winged kids" that is written for the teeny bopper clan. I love the stories though and think they are a super read! He is by far my favorite mystery writer EVER!!!! Several of his books are movies and there will be a TV series about his "women's murder club" books this fall!!! If you've never read his books, try one!!!!



#4 - "Summer Sisters" - Judy Blume
I just found out in the last month that Judy Blume has four novels written for adults, who knew? Her older children's books are fantastic. This was a SUPER book about two friends and their summer adventures from when they are young until they are 20something. It kept me guessing and I could NOT put it down when we were on vacation!! Kinda... "racy" if you will, may shock you a little, but worth it!!




#3 - "The Last Summer of You & Me" - Ann Brashares
I love Ann Brashares who wrote the "Sisterhoood of the Traveling Pants" books!! Those are big time favorites. They are written for a teeny bopper, young adult age group - I LOVE them though!! Cheesy, but cute and sweet! This is her first 'written for adults' novel and it was fantastic. It's the story of two sisters and their best friend, who is a guy, and their adventures during the summer at the summer homes on Fire Island. How the friendships grow and change over the years and what happens when they become young adults. It's a GREAT book!! WOWIE~




#2 - "Lean Mean Thirteen" - Janet Evanovich
The only reason that this book is #2 and not #1 is because it's the 13th in a series. It's awesome, made me laugh out loud more than once. The language is horrible, but you have to adore Stephanie Plum, Morelli, Ranger, Bob the dog and what about Grandma?!!?! I wish they'd make these into movies, what a HOOT that would be! Janet Evanovich is amazing and I count down days until her new books come out. I tried to save the #1 spot for a newer book that I didn't know what the story was going to be about and I found one.



#1 - "Baby Proof" - Emily Giffin
Thanks Misty for introducing me to this author through "Something Borrowed" and "Something Blue". Emily Giffin is my favorite "new" author of the year. (Much like Mary Kay Andrews last year) I LOVED this story, the characters are a hoot (think "Sex in the City"), keeps you guessing what will happen (and wishing), several great plots going on and I love her writing style. I am totally in love with this book! I think I'll read it again this summer!

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Here are 'the others'.

Judith Bowen - "Men of Glory" - These were Harlequin romance books. there were 8 in the series and I read them all.
Lynnette Kent - "The Scrapbook" - Another Harlequin. She's one of my favorite 'trashy romance' authors and this one was awesome!!! It's about a Navy family and it's a flash back kind of story.
Catherine Coulter - "Born to be Wild" one of Mom's authors.
Sandra Brown - "Ricochet" one of Mom's authors, ok mystery.
Richard Paul Evans - "The Christmas Box" for about the 5th time.
Richard Paul Evans - "The Christmas Box Miracle"
Danielle Stee - "H.R.H" one of Mom's authors.
..and 2 more Harlequins that I can't remember..

June 12, 2007
8 Fantastic Years

On Tuesday Andy & I celebrated 8 fantastic years together! Crazy how fast time flies. On one hand, it seems like just the other day that I was in high school or college. On the other hand though, it seems more like 28 years of marriage rather than 8 and it's hard to remember life before we were married!

I am blessed to be married to my favorite person in the world and my best friend! I'm 100% positive that we were made for each other and God knows what he's doing!

Andy also did GOOD and bought me the Peacock Vera Backpack, how sweet is he?
See my previous blog tribute to my Vera obsession,
this makes 8! And yep, this was a picture from Disney.
We didn't take one last night when we went to dinner
or came home to watch "Everybody Loves Raymond"
DVDs. He he he.... Old, boring, married people ..
that's us!!
We are going to St. Thomas next month though!

44 Days & Counting!

Guess who is returning to St. Thomas in July? You guessed it, the Tanners! We couldn't have been more shocked to learn that Andy is 1 of 5 people from the Georgia National Guard invited to attend a conference in the Virgin Islands. How amazing is that? I want even begin to tell you the deal that we're getting, you wouldn't believe it. We're going for pretty much nothing! (However most of you know because I've went on and on and on about it!!) We're staying at the Sugar Bay all inclusive Resort! It's only for 3 nights and Andy is going to be in the conference most of the two full days that we're there...NOT ME!! We fly down at 10:00AM on Monday, July 23rd and will be soaking up island sun by 2:00 that afternoon! We've been talking about it being the most gorgeous place we'd ever been and wondering when we'd be able to get back!! Here are some pictures from our last visit as we get excited about the next~ (The first picture is where we will be staying this time!)