Almost done...

The end of the volleyball season is quickly approaching, so I thought I'd post some pictures of me in action. As you can see from the first picture here, the parent who gave me these pictures has an awesome sense of humor. Yup, that's me. Ol' ball head.
Giving the girls a pep talk... Inspiring them to DOMINATE and crush the opponent.
And a fun action shot. I guess I always sit like that when I'm watching. I catch myself from time to time and I sit up and look a little more, ahem, lady-like. But I get too into it! And I need to lean forward so they can hear me... Right, right? Whoops.
So our last game is tomorrow night. And then the tournament starts on Sunday. Go Falcons! Yeehaw!

Funniest. Ever.

This is an actual drawing that one of Katie's students did. If you'll notice, the left side is "Me as a Jedi," and the right side is "Me as a kid." Please discuss. And laugh on this Tuesday.

Duh duh duh DUH, dum, dum dum! (Indiana Jones theme...)

No camera cord today... my bad! Weekend pics to come soon. I didn't do too much this weekend anyway, which was very nice- I got to get a lot of stuff done! Saturday, I bought new glasses after getting an updated prescription (thank goodness!). That afternoon, Jeremy and I drove out highway 10 (and 9) and explored the national forest there. It was beautiful with all the fall colors that are suddenly appearing! Sunday-- cleaned, cleaned, cleaned and made an awesome squash casserole for dinner. Nice, productive weekend!
Are you wondering about ol' Indie here? I have officially planned my first school field trip! I am taking my G/T kids up to Parkin, Arkansas, to visit the Parkin Archaeological State Park, where we will get to see an excavated Native American village, do an artifact scavenger hunt, and learn about weapons and story-telling. I am super, super pumped. It's going to take about 2 hours to get there, and we'll spend all day there the Thursday before Thanksgiving. Hooray!! Way to go, me.

Feliz Cumpleanos!

A very happy birthday to Missa Faye today!! This is one of my favorite pictures of us... And now I would like to share two of my favorite memories of my wonderful sister in the form of an e-mail I sent to her long ago (in college, the days of yore):
Hey Mis-
Just thought I should share my lunch table conversation with you from
today.... We were talking about falling stories-- like either where we fell
or saw someone fall... and I just busted out laughing. I proceeded to tell them about that fat kid at Six Flags or Silver Dollar City who slipped on the misty-cooling-off-sprinkler-water on the pavement. I told them how he sort of remained in mid-air about to fall like in a cartoon and saying, "Whoooaaa....!" and flailing his arms. Then I told them how his legs flipped out from under him and he fell flat, causing his glasses to flyyyyy through the air. And how we laughed. We laughed so hard we had to hide around the corner because his family was so concerned about him. But we thought it was the funniest thing ever, and I still do.
Then I told them about the time my wonderful sister decided it would be a good idea to JUMP at the bottom of the stairs near the playroom, only to remember she's tall because she smacked her head on the door frame. Then her legs flew out from under her, and she had a nice smack mark on her head. It probably only hurt after you stopped laughing at yourself, and after Robin and I were done laughing.... which I still kind of am.
Ohhh man, how I love my sister.... Just wanted to let you know I'm thinking about you. Love you, sis. Talk to you soon. Hee, hee. -Elizabeth

...Weekend update below! 

Hmmm...

What happens when nature gets ahold of a pumpkin you so tenderly carved with love?
And then gasoline gets ahold of it...? What do you do then?? 

You go to the pumpkin patch and pick out new ones! Notice "ones", plural. Virginia was in town, so we hit up Ferndale and scoured the land for some beautiful gourds.
V doesn't mess around when pumpkin huntin'. She went straight for the 35-pounder. The picture just doesn't do it justice.
This one helps you get a slightly better idea. That's a small child in pumpkin form.
With their pumpkin booty...! Jeremy and I picked out the one on the left in the wagon. It's beauuuutiful. Yellow with little flecks of orange. Can't wait to carve it up! But, must wait... don't want it to meet the same fate as our last one. 

On our way out of the pumpkin patch, we saw this stroke of genius. Creepy? YES. Awesome? Most definitely.  

Fantastico.

The Arkansas State Fair is in town, folks. Click here to visit the website and see all the fun that can be had! So you know what this means:
1. Carnies are in town. Lots of them. Toothless carnies, carnies on drugs, carnies not paying attention and doing their job right. When I was little, a carnie shut my hand in one of the locks on a ride. SHUT IT on my hand. My hand was stuck. My sister had to frantically flag down said carnie to release me before the ride started and more damage was done to my hand. I stupidly signed a form that said I wouldn't sue. Dang it.
2. The rodeo... Well it's bulls and blood, it's dust and mud, it's the roar of a Sunday crowd. It's the white in his knuckles, the gold in the buckle, he'll win the next go 'round... Rodeo=drunk rednecks... something not to be missed.
3. Gross but awesome food. Guaranteed to increase your caloric intake 15-fold AND make you barf.
4. The Gravitron- I used to think this was the coolest ride ever. LOOK! I can't move my arms! Gravity is awesome (as your face is being pulled back)!
5. The Pirate Ship- my sister was at the fair with a friend and on this ride. Someone yacked... yup- barf in the face for all on board.
6. Guaranteed to see Arkansas' finest. In leather.
7. Circus freaks are people too, ya'll. PS, don't pay to see the great white sharks. They're dead and on slabs in a cooler. Another $5 wasted!
8. My dad used to load me and all my friends in his OLDSmobile and take us to the fair. All 10 of us would cram in there. Can you smell the funnelcake yet?
9. The Hall of Industry! Those ducks that jump down their little slide are the cutest! They're having so much fun!
10. You get to make fun of your friends that won't ride on the "scary" rides with you because you're cooler than they are. And the part of your brain that tells you that those rides are DANGEROUS and portable is not functioning.

Let's go.

Why, oh why??

It has come to my attention that my life (i.e. repsonsibilities, i.e. volleyball) has started to interfere with my TV watchin'/obsession. "What About Brian?"... had to tape it. "Survivor" and "Grey's"... always must tape. It's starting to be sad. That means that I'm always behind on "my stories" and I have to either a.)stay up late and watch said taped shows, or b.)wait until Wednesday (when I don't have games) or the weekend to marathon-catch-up. Sigh..... poooooor me.

On a good note, my teams have been doing pretty well. Both 7th and 8th grade won their games last night. Makes it pretty fun. Thanks to Jeremy, Melissa, and Greg for coming out and watching! That was nice of you! :) Kat has also come to a game... what a pal! Of course, Kristen's always there- so give her a shoutout for being an awesome coach. Love you guys, and maybe I'll see you soon. Once vball is over. :)

Doing very fall-like things

This weekend was well-spent taking full advantage of this awesome new weather and upcoming holiday! Friday we sat out on Jeremy's deck around his new fire pit, which was lovely. It was good to see those of you who stopped by (quite a few of you!). Saturday we went to Oktoberfest at the high school (pretty impressive), then we carved a jack-o-lantern.
He's a skeleton.... ohhhhh... spooky!! I also made a candy corn/peanut mix (try it, it's delish), aaaaaaaaand...
... a pie! I cooked! Well, kind of. Here's the recipe. It's fantastic.

Pumpkin Chocolate Mousse Pie:
1 c canned pumpkin
1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c milk chocolate chips
2 c mini marshmallows
1 tub Cool Whip (thawed)
graham cracker crust

*Put the pumpkin, chocolate, and marshmallows (mixed up) in the microwave for a minute and a half, stir it up, then microwave another 30-45 secs until it's all melty. Let it cool to room temperature, then fold in the Cool Whip. Dump it all into the crust, then put it in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

It's VERY rich and fantastic. A good Fall treat! :)

Belated, yet still very sincere

My apologies to my Boo, who celebrated his birthday on Monday!! Happy birthday, Cody! Here's a man whose love of all things sweet rivals my own love of cheese dip. In fact, the first thing he does is walk straight to my kitchen and see if I have any cake or Coke. Unfortunately, I never do. It's been tragic how our ridiculously busy schedules have prevented us from hanging out more... soon, Boo, soon. Once vball and cross-country cease to run our lives. Miss ya, Cody, and happy birthday! Don't become old. 

Wedding pics!

Before we get started with the wedding pics, here's a picture out our back porch at Willow Beach. I highly recommend it- very cute and cheap. And RIGHT on the water. Pretty fun!
Here is the outside of the Hamilton House, where the wedding took place. It was a gorgeous facility!

Getting ready.... no nerves, just excitement! The wedding was a BLAST... and here come all the pictures!

Here is Greg escorting mi mama down the aisle

We were right on Lake Hamilton on a deck. The Duck Tours drove by once, and the Belle of Hot Springs. Lots and lots of ski boats checking out the action. Melissa said one boat honked at them. Nice.
... and my dad walking Melissa down the aisle. She looked absolutely beautiful!

The view at the ceremony was awesome as the sun set! Carleigh and Cameron did such a good job standing up there!
They had a female minister- very cool, guys. Way to go on that one. :)
Lighting the unity candle
Presenting the Wood family... what a good lookin' group!

Mmmmm... cake. :)
One of my favorite pics of the night. Jeremy and Carleigh danced a lot at the reception. Too cute.

After eating a fantastic dinner, Greg and Melissa could finally relax!

Every time my dad wanted us to do something for him (get him some water or something...), he would always tell us he'd dance at our wedding for doing it. I bet Melissa never knew it would be to a Neil Diamond song! Here they are, breakin' it down to "Cracklin' Rosie." You're funny, Dad. :)
We had an awesome time, guys! We ate and DANCED a ton. Congrats to you both! Much, much love! 

Lookin' back... on the memories of... the Halloween we shared (sung to the tune of "The Dance")

1. October starts this weekend. Translation: get your act together and plan your costume. That means you, Brooke and Paul. I'm disappointed you don't dress up. I thought I knew you!
2. I will post pics of the wedding. That is... assuming I find my camera! Crap. No idea where it is. Anyone... anyone??
3. We won our vball game again last night. That's right-- one of our teams had three wins this week! Dang straight.
4. The weather is so nice. I saw my breath this morning.
5. Send happy vibes toward Leah, who is studying like never before. Her brain hurts.
6. Katie moves in to her new house... soon!
7. I'm a happy girl.

Have a great weekend! Help me find my camera.