Christmas 2010

Thanksgiving night, lighting the Christmas lights at Moultrie's Courthouse on the Square

This year's Christmas festivities were fast, fun, and frenzied. Unfortunately, I had to work on Christmas Eve until 1:00. But as soon as I was home from work, we loaded up all the presents and headed for Cartersville. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera along for our Christmas weekend in Cartersville because of our rush out the door from Moultrie, but I'll gladly show pictures that others took! We drove straight to my parents' house where we dropped off Vespa so she could rest up for Santa's mid-night visit. Then, we drove straight to my grandpa's house for our traditional Christmas Eve gathering.

 My tabletop centerpiece, arranged just in time for the Teller Christmas Gift Exchange and Dinner Party

Papa's front yard was covered in his traditional white wooden reindeer, and accented by lots of lights. Papa had a tiny tabletop tree this year, topped by a countrytastic Santa Claus, speckled with bass fish ornaments and sprinkled with white lights. We had our usual spoiling of Trisha and Kristen by Leslie and Papa. Among many gifts, I opened a beautiful black pearl necklace from Leslie, and then a set of pearl earrings from Papa which match a long pearl necklace he gave me last year for Christmas. Once 10:30 or 11:00pm came around, it was definitely time for Carlton and me to head back to my parents' house for some much needed sleep. I was exhausted!

 Our Christmas tree, cut down at the tree farm by Carlton himself!

On Christmas morning, my sister and I woke up according to our usual Christmas morning ritual: at the crack of dawn. The sun wasn't even up yet! After we walked the pups, it was time to open all the presents that Santa had magically brought in the middle of the night. (Yes, Santa still comes to our house!) Carlton and I were overwhelmed by all the great gifts we were given! Some of my favorites were the new Shark steam mop, some sweater sets and cardigans, a new pair of snazzy shoes, and gift cards for buying home decor. Carlton racked up on new shirts for work as well as gift cards for games and dining out, buy his favorite gift by far was from my dad: an automatic shooting Nerf gun complete with tons of ammo and even a shield! We gave my mom a new travel cosmetics bag, and we gave my dad a 6 month subscription to Netflix to try out. By 9:30, we had inhaled our once-a-year treat of my mom's amazing coffee cake and were on our way for a second Christmas morning with Carlton's parents and Grandmama.

 Two new tree ornaments, and they're two of my most favorite!

Carlton and I both racked up again on excellent gifts from his parents. Carlton opened more collared shirts for work, a nice pair of Smith&Wesson sunglasses, and some cold, hard cash. I opened up some more beautiful, professional sweaters that got me excited about going back to work, a new set of bamboo knitting needles, a beautiful set of table linens from Grandmama, and a luscious fleece king-size heated blanket for our bed. Score!!! We gave Carlton's dad a sleep wireless mouse for his livingroom recliner netbook internet surfing, and Carlton's mom and Grandmama got matching handmade jewel earrings. Surrounded by boxes and bows and crumpled paper, Carlton and I collapsed into a Christmas morning coma... until it was time to meet my parents and drive through the Christmas white snow to Kennesaw's Imax 3D cinema to watch Tron.

That night we went back to Carlton's parents' house where we played with his little cousins Hannah and Justin, opened presents with them, and had some delicious chicken pot pie made by Vicki. Hannah loved her Ribbon Dancer, and Justin couldn't wait to play with Hannah using the new walkie-talkies we got him!

One of the two wreaths that framed our sliding doors which lead out to the back porch, fashioned with a glittery reindeer!

On Sunday morning we woke up at Carlton's house and prepared for our last hoorah of opening presents--with Katie Anne, baby SJ, Saunders, and Katie! I was sooooo excited to spend the morning with Katie Anne and play with her. She opened her gifts very slowly, making sure she got to see everyone else's facial expressions as they opened their gifts, too! My favorite gift to give her this year was a playtime grill, complete with all sorts of food to cook on it, grilling tools like a spatula and tongs, salt and pepper and bbq sauce, and even a propane tank hooked up my a hose to the grill! She cooked and cooked for us and the grill made awesome crackling and sizzling sounds. Then, surprise!!! Katie Anne opened an entire new kitchen, complete with pots and pans and dishes for Doc and VJ's house! Katie Anna racked up on homemaking tools.

My favorite gift to give to baby SJ was something made by hand over a number of nights. I sat, studied my computer, and picked out what I thought to be the most darling (EVER!) little baby boy's sweater vest. I picked out yarn, sat on the sofa, and just knitted my little heart into that sweater vest. I would ooooh and aaaaah over it every time I'd stop and look it over. Of course, I had to take time away from knitting when I randomly decided to paint my living room and dining room, as well as when I made intricate plans for a Christmas dinner party at the house. But I got straight back to work and finished sewing the snaps on the shoulder of that vest the morning little SJ came over to open it from its gift box. He was so excited, he vowed to wear it for his upcoming professional pictures! Auntie Trisha can't wait to see the vest on that cute little Hambone!

It wasn't long after that last splurge of opening gifts (only 2:00!) that Carlton and I loaded up the car and headed back home to Moultrie where we collapsed into the bed and napped. Christmas weekend was exhausting and hectic, but it was so much fun to share the white Christmas holiday with our families!

Autumn in South Georgia

The signs of Summer have finally subsided. While there are still tides of warm air that roll in now and then, I can finally wear a sweater to work and go the entire day with out actually sweating in my sweater.

The gnats are gone...

Carlton and I have enjoyed a football game together with friends in Athens...

...as well as the legendary Georgia/Florida game in Jacksonville, Florida... STOMP THE GATORS!!!!!

 I've finished another scarf for mailing out to my "secret" swap partner in California...

We have celebrated my birthday with some of our close friends at my favorite Thomasville restaurant Marebella, just like last year but with a different group...

Pecans are being brought in from their beautiful groves all around us, ready to be baked into some delicious pies...

Cotton is being harvested from the fields...

 ...packaged for shipping in semi-trailers...

...and processed at the cotton gin for distribution throughout the USA...

Vespa has been chasing squirrels and loving her new playpen, totally free from adult supervision...

 The (apparently) world-famous Ag Expo has come and gone... "Have you eaten today? Thank a farmer!!!"

Vespa is now sporting a smart, fall-inspired houndstooth collar, complete with a coordinating leash for cool and stylish neighborhood strolls...

Calico, Moultrie's Roselawn-ish crafts fair, will be in town this weekend and I won a free ticket at work, so guess who's going to Calico...

I've come to terms with the fact that I just might become that "Kooky Auntie Trisha" because I'm currently knitting what appears to be the smallest sweatervest ever made, ever... and I can't wait to pinch his chubby widdle cheeks when I see him in it, either...

And finally, the City of Moultrie is now making preparations for the Thanksgiving Night Display of Lights that string from the top of the courthouse dome out to the rest of the storefronts around the square...

Autumn is beautiful here in Moultrie!

I'm 26!

Well, I've gotta say... being 26 has been great so far!

One major perk of marrying into the Jones family: they wholeheartedly believe that your birthday should be celebrated for a week! Hence, The Birthday Week. My thoughts on that? Sure, why not! Aside from the fact that my birthday was on November 1st, my birthday celebrations started a little early. I decided my "birthday week" would start when Saunders made it down on Friday night, October 29th. First things first! Saunders brought a gift from his and Carlton's mom-- a birthday present for me! A pretty, wavy, fluted, funky vase with gray and purple swirls all through-and-through. It is totally, 100% me and I love it! Carlton is sure he's gonna be looking at it for years to come. It's the perfect size to hold lots of knitting needles on the sofa end table, or a bundle of flowers on the dinner table! Thanks, Vicki!

Saunders came to Moultrie because we were heading to Jacksonville, Florida early-early-early the next morning to go to the Georgia/Florida football game. Once he got to Moultrie, and once I got home from work and changed, we decided to show Saunders a little bit of the "big town" Moultrie scene. We took him to Blue Sky, a favorite local hangout place for dinner, drinks, watching games, playing excellent trivia, and just hanging out.

As soon as we walked in, Saunders was satisfied: "This is what I wanted, this is something only Moultrie has." And that's exactly right! Saunders treated himself to the gigantic ribeye while Carlton had a burger and I overindulged in the Boom-Boom Shrimp (it's fried shrimp covered in a crazy-good sauce-- kinda a creamy sauce like they serve you at a Japanese steakhouse, only completely hot and spicy at the same time... totally delectable!). We stayed there for a couple hours, just talking and catching up over drinks and desserts.

We didn't stay up too late once we got back home, though, because our plans were to leave the house by about 6:00am the next morning. Goooooo Dawgs! It was a struggle to be awake and out the door, but we somehow managed to do it. The drive was nice, the tailgating with friends was excellent, and it didn't seem like it was long before we were making the trek to the stadium to see an incredibly exciting football game.

Our seats couldn't have been better!  We were sitting just 3 rows from the field... that's right, you read that correctly... 3 rows back!!! We were on about the 15 yard line, so we were right there in the middle of all the action when exciting end zone plays made the crowd go wild. Unfortunately, The Dawgs lost in overtime, but I couldn't complain one bit. It was my first Georgia/Florida game experience and it was so exciting and fun and incredible!!!

The drive back was pretty rough. Not because of traffic, because there was none at all. It was rough because we were all so exhausted and ready for sleep. The stop at the Waffle House was a good call at first, because it gave us a chance to get moving again, to perk back up, and to get some food on our stomachs (I hadn't eaten since my breakfast McGriddle on the way down to Florida because the tailgate cooks only brought sausages and hotdogs... sadly, not my cup of tea). But once that Waffle House started digesting, we only got sleepier and warmer and cozier and more tired. Saunders toughed it out for most of the drive home, and I did my best to talk and keep the conversation going. I didn't want anyone falling asleep at the wheel! We made it home safely in the end, but man-o-man was that a struggle. Thanks for pulling through, Saunders!

Our Sunday consisted of seeing Saunders off, napping, having lunch, napping, tv watching, and seeing friends for dinner. You've gotta love a lazy Sunday!

Monday marked November 1st, my true birthday. I carried my new Dooney&Bourke eggplant-purple patent leather purse to work. Yeah, that's right. You can be jealous, I totally understand why you would be. It's because I have a new eggplant-purple patent leather Dooney& Bourke handbag and you don't. It's completely natural. (Actually, the truth is this: a fellow teller at the bank carries D&Bs on a regular basis. She's got two little girls under the age of four and needs both of her hands open at all times to keep up with her girls. This particular purse is more of a forearm bag, if you will--the strap is too short to classify it as a shoulderbag. So, she had this incredible purse at home and could never use it.)

I sent Carlton a text picture of it and he gave the thumbs up with a return comment of: "I'm so glad I found the perfect birthday present for you, Babe! I was getting worried that I wouldn't find you anything, but this purse is just perfect for you. Happy Birthday!" And so, I got a beautiful, brand new (okay, so it's last season), never-been-used Dooney&Bourke for $75. Can't beat that!)

Monday night I carried my new Dooney&Bourke eggplant-purple patent leather forearm bag to dinner in Thomasville. Carlton took me to one of my favorite places to eat, Jonah's, where I ordered the Surf-n-Turf filet and crabcake with their famous creamy white cheddar grits and coleslaw. Carlton got the fried shrimp and fries. We shared the sinful deep fried hushpuppies... we just couldn't not eat them!

And now for today. My yarn arrived today! Remember, the yarn I purchased to knit this sweater? It was waiting for me, all dry and cozy in its USPS Mailing Box  in the carport when I got home. I'm ready to knit myself a sweater. I really complicated, pretty, retro-style sweater.

As for my birthday week, I think it's gone well so far. Speckled in with a few white chocolate macadamia nut cookies for a nighttime snack here and there, I'm pretty satisfied! We're looking forward to a group dinner in Thomasville on Friday or Saturday night with our Moultrie crew. Since spunky little Stella will be turning 29 on the 9th, this dinner outing should be a fun one!

One more thing before I sign off: I'm not the only one getting great presents around here. Look in the background of this picture I took today after work. You'll see Vespa's new present: a backyard fence! She's been chasing squirrels and birds and lying in the warm sun, all while we're inside not supervising! We are also getting Vespa used to her new "playpen" by running and playing as much as we can, and everybody's having a great time in this cool fall weather!

Thanks to everybody for sending so much love to me for my birthday! More "Adventures of the Moultrie Joneses" updates to come. Muah!

Beatnik

Well, it's looking like I've got a new knitting project on my list of 2010 wanna-do's. I know, I know. But I just found it, and I've been wanting to knit another sweater since I finished my first one. But I haven't found one that I loved enough to commit to the yarn, the color, the pattern, and all the work involved. I thought I had found one I wanted to do last year, but could never allow myself to commit to the pricey yarn that the pattern called for even though I loved everything about it. Well guys, I've finally found it: the yarn, the color, the price, the pattern... and I'm ready to do the work.

It's in the latest issue (Deep Fall 2010) of Knitty, an online magazine that I love to follow regularly. It's a pattern called Beatnik and--while the model was staring at me in a kinda creepy way and frumped over the sweater and covered most of it with a prop for the sake of a "model-y" photo, it still caught my eye right away--it was right on the front page of the site when I checked in just tonight. Since about 8:30, let's just say that I've already logged on to CreativeYarns.net(which is the yarn shop in Macon that I'm wacky-crazy about) and set aside the yarn I'll need to finish the project. Although I am completely obsessed with clementines as a fruit (I've been known to tote them around in my purse just in case the mood strikes me to endulge in another), I'm not the kind of girl to knit an entire cabled sweater in the color. What do you think about a soft, light, heathered beige-gray? (Chelsea, doesn't this color look like my Revere Pewter that I'm still so obsessed with?!?!?) Okay, yeah, that's what I thought. I'm definitely excited now. Should I go ahead and order the yarn?

The neck of the sweater is so unexpected, yet it completely finishes the entire look. Any sweater with 3/4 sleeves is a hit with me. I've recently learned how to make cables in knitting and so I've recently discovered how much I love making cables in knitting. Looks like this one may turn into a labor of love, but what precious homemade useable--nay, wearable--craft isn't??? It looks like Carlton just officially bugged out of having to shop for anything for my birthday present. Yarn, it is! Happy birthday to me... in 9 days, that is.  ;)   

Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

10-02-2010

That's the day my little sister got married.  That's an easy anniversary date to remember!

I came up to Cartersville that Thursday afternoon and the weekend's final preliminary projects soon ensued.  We picked up dozens and dozens and dozens! of glazed sugar cookies from Agan's Bakery and packaged them all in groups very cutely inside their little miniature Mason Jar wedding favor containers (which was very cute, lemme tell ya).  Then we went to Town Center Mall to pick up Scott (the groom) and Carlton's suits.  Scott made Kristen leave the store while he tried on his suit.  Because, in his words, "if I can't see her dress before the wedding, why should she be able to see my suit?"  I maintained my Matron of Honor status quite well by staying with Scott to give the thumbs-up on Scott's total ensemble which included a real-deal bow tie and Toms shoes to finish the custom look.  He was a big hit with all the store associates in his get-up. 

After the suits were picked up, we had dinner and then worked on printing lots of names and stories and all sorts of stuff for the reception tables. 

On Friday, we woke up, got things packed up as quickly as we could, and got on the road to Helen, Georgia.  And my-oh-my let me tell you, it was so pretty up there!  We all quickly changed into "rehearsal clothes" and made our way from the hotel to the wedding site for the rehearsal.  Once the rehearsal finished, everyone enjoyed a delicious meal hosted by the mother of the groom at the Eidelweiss Inn before numerous cheers and toasts were made in honor of the soon-to-be-married couple.  We all collapsed into our beds back at the hotel and slept well until the next morning.



October 2, 2010
WEDDING DAY IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rushing, rushing, running, rushing, madness, craziness, run! Run! Run!

We got to Kellum Valley Farm just in time to get the bride ready for her beautiful day.  I fixed her hair while she did her own make-up.  Each bridesmaid took care of her own primping.  Everyone was in such a fun rush to make sure everything was picture-perfect, it was hard to notice Daniel, the incredibly amazing photographer who floated around all day.  He captured so many special moments. 

In the end, all of the careful planning and attention to special details paid off tenfold.  The wedding, reception, and overall Kellum Valley Farm Mason wedding scene were unbelievably gorgeous. (P.S. I don't know what it is about us Lamberth girls and the need to have our wedding reception in/near a barn, but it totally makes for a picture perfect scene... if I do say so myself.)

I wish all the congratulations in the world to my little sister Kristen and my new brother-in-law Scott.  Your day was almost as special as the two of you are!  I couldn't have pictured a more fitting wedding day for my sister.  Keep that evil eye near for peace and prosperity!

The best way to look at the photos that Daniel Stancil took at the wedding is linked below.  He made a blog page especially for the Masons, but the "Our Slideshow" link on the top right is the best way to see everything.  Enjoy!  (You know you wish you had some of those monogrammed Agan's glazed sugar cookies.)

http://mason.danielstancil.com/#/slideshow/




*I've gotta say, the photographer for these kids was absolutely great. He was funny and cheesy (in that he still says the term "cool beans" kinda way) and he made my nervous-excited sister relax a little better.  And yet he totally fell into the background where he wasn't really noticed.  But somehow he still seemed to capture everything that should have been captured!  Great job, Daniel Stancil!  If you want to get more information on him for wedding, family, or special occasion photos, I linked each one of the pictures in this post to his site.  Well, since I jacked them without his expressed permissions, I suppose that's the least I could do.  ;) 

Things to come...

It's obviously been another while since I've come around.  I've recently been pressured by my from-a-still-too-far-distance best friend to come back, and with enthusiasm.  Actually, the "and with enthusiasm" part I added, mostly because I'm feeling enthusiastic.

I'll fill you in very soon on the goings-on of the Moultrie Joneses. I've got months of photos on my camera to download and tweak in Picasa and share with whosoever decides to click on in. (Apparently, while my mind may think I'm enthusiastic, I'm not in the mood to be overly enthusiastic about getting started back up.)  I wouldn't bother with filling in the blanks on the recent months' activities, except for the fact that they're pretty important activities.



Here's a little taste of things that have happened.  And, for this blog, of things to come:

- Our friend Cam's birthday and trivia night and cupcakes and $1 beer Dixie cups stacked high atop a table
- Finished knitting projects... I know!!!
- Recipes I've made up and/or tried out on our friends that have been really successful (thank goodness)
- My baby sister got married. That's MORE than a really big deal. That's an incredibly, especially, enormously huge deal!
- Vacation plans. Two separate vacation plans, to be exact. And both of them require PASSPORTS!!!
- A new job for me, praise the Lord God Almighty!
- ...and more.


I hope I don't disappoint this time around.  I hope I stick to my "enthusiastic" guns and get things moving again here on my little bloggy blog. And I hope you read and enjoy. Cheers.

Happy 3rd Anniversary to my Hubster and me!

From the lyrics of our first-dance song, "I love you more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow."

Knitting chunky cables

I've been absent from this blog for a long time. Let's just get that past us and marvel at what I'm teaching myself right now! This is by far accomplishing one of my New Year's resolutions in knitting: learning to knit cables!!! You know what cables are. They look like 3-D twisting vines or braids. They're in a lot of chunky, warm sweaters in the winter time. They're also seen a lot in a small-scale form in men's dress socks.

A few months ago I visited a yarn shop for my first-ever time! I went with Chelsea in Macon and purchased three balls of this Spud & Chloe yarn in the color you see below called flannel as well as one that's a sort of heathered reddish color called sequoia. It's so chunky that it would be nearly impossible to knit a flattering sweater with it. Plus, I'd need tons more of the yarn than I have right now. And at $13.40 a ball, that's not very likely to happen.

But why not make a killer bag? I could use a handmade purse. And a big one. There's enough of this stuff to go very far and make a beautiful bag! So, I set out to find a pattern and found the perfect one for free. I know, big plus there. The pattern for the bag shows cables all over, which is very pretty, but I found someone's version of the same bag posted online and loved it even more than the original.

 Original:                                                                  Modified:

It's only one round of cables at the top opening to frame off the rest of the bag which is simple and pretty. It seemed like the perfect beginner's project that wouldn't fatigue me too much on this attempt at a new-to-me knitting technique.

Excuse the lazy Sunday afternoon nightgown and un-manicured hand with a weird amount of wrinkles on my thumb. Here's what I've done so far today since I started the project:

So far this week

I've been...

...knitting a pretty project for a swap:
 

...snagging some blooms from our next-door neighbor's gardenia bush (What! The house is vacant and for sale, and nobody else is appreciating these pretty and fragrant blooms!):

(Oooooooooooooh, you don't even know. These two blooms are in a little ceramic cup I spun in college, and let's just say, they're making my little perch in the corner of the sofa a whole lot better.)


...enjoying a number of thunderstorms that have rumbled their way through Moultrie and totally made my front porch ferns - and their recovering-from-bird-baby-poop leaves - really, really happy.

...and lovin' my little Puppa who naps so sweet and cute.  After the thunderstorm calms itself down a bit, that is.

(Everybody now, "Aaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!")


More of your Moultrie Jones goings on to be shared later this week!

Love that musk

A few weeks after Carlton and I had bought our house and moved in, I was at the grocery store after work to buy a few things for dinner one night.  I happened to bump into the guy who sold the house to us, Ted, and we chatted for a few minutes while I helped him find a specialty ingredient listed on his wife's "Honey Do" shopping list. As we talked, he invited Carlton and me to hang out with his wife and himself along with a group of their friends who get together once or twice a week.  Of course, I totally jumped on the opportunity to get to know some people who were our age in Moultrie!  Ted and his wife were recent UGA grads, and their group of friends were all newlyweds... the perfect group for Carlton and me to get in with!

So, a few weeks passed and plans were made for Ted and his wife Erin to pick Carlton and me up from the house and drive over to Tifton for dinner at a Japanese Steakhouse.  Ted, 28 was (and is!) a loud, sarcastic, animated character-of-a-guy who's easy to get along with right off the bat, and his wife Erin, 23, was so easy-going and sweet that we knew we'd stick around with this group.  We met the other couples: Cam & Erin (yep, a second Erin) were a freshly newlywed couple of two (or was it 6?) weeks, and Eric & Stella were also newlyweds of a few months.

After dinner that night, it became a regular weekly ordeal for each couple to host a dinner night and swap out cooking/entertaining responsibilities.  I soaked up the friendship and garage-door-style friends we had made... no knocking, no front door doorbell business... just bust through the carport door right into the kitchen, throw the beers in the fridge, and get to talkin' and laughin'!

The first time we had dinner at Eric and Stella's house was a big surprise to me.  I had heard tall tales, rumors, and other stories of a dog named Magnus, but other than that, Carlton and I knew nothing about him.  Honestly, I was expecting something like a Miniature Schnauzer or a Chocolate Lab or a Jack Russel Terrier.  But Eric and Stella had actually aptly named their dog.  Magnus's name fit him perfectly... he was a gigantic American Boxer and before I was even in the house he was running towards ME!!!  "Stand still and don't make eye contact! Don't run away, he'll chase you down and eat your guts! Hide your fingers, they're merely sweet morsels for this monster!" I told myself in instant stereotypical panic and fear of the beastly animal who was now fearlessly... sniffing my crotch and "wagging" his little inch-long nub of a tail???

Wait. I'm still alive?  I still have a face?  He's not eating me?  I still have my ears... my stud earrings didn't sparkle in the light and attract any quick-snapping jowly jaws of death?  And my ponytail is still intact... he hasn't yanked my hair off my scalp?  He's "wagging" that little nub and not snarling at me? These dogs aren't savage killing beasts?  I let him sniff the back of my hand.  He pushed his forehead into me and practically forced me to pet him.  Magnus was... kind?  Loving?  Sweet?  Craving love and affection from everyone around him?  Okay, I can live with a happy-go-lucky snub-nose dog!  And ever since then, Magnus and I have been the best of friends when Carlton and I visit.  (I ganked these pictures of Magnus from Stella's Facebook photo albums, so they may be a little distorted.  But ain't he cuuuuuuute?!??)

I even speak for him when Eric and Stella aren't paying attention.  For some reason he sounds a bit like Disney's character Goofy, only with a little more of a congested-sinuses undertone, and no "hyuk, hyuk, hyuk" after every sentence spoken.  He's actually quite the pouty whiner.

Well, nights with friends are always good ones.  But nights at Eric and Stella's are especially great for one of us... and it's not a person... it's a dog.  Of course, Magnus loves all the extra attention with all the extra willing-to-scratch fingers around.  But the truly happy dog in this situation is Vespa.

Vespa and Magnus have never met.  But, oh, would Vespa love to get to know Magnus!  I've tried and tried describing to Stella and Eric Vespa's elation, her exhilaration, her extreme-to-the-max love of Magnus's... musk.  When we come home from their house, it's usually around 11:00 or so on a Sunday evening and Carlton will quickly jump into the shower and get ready for bed.  And Vespa takes that opportunity to sniff and sniff and sniffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff until she just can't even breathe anymore!  Vespa is head-over-heals crazy about Magnus's musk.  She just can't get enough!  She'll actually sniff in for so long that she doesn't breathe out until she's almost choking or something!  But the whole time, Vespa's tail is just a-waggin'.

Below is a video of Vespa sniffing away at Carlton's crocks and athletic shorts that he wore to Eric and Stella's house on this particular Sunday night.  She can't even take the time to acknowledge me calling her name over and over again.  Please ignore all of her hanger chew toys and my overly-countrified accent... sometimes it's hard to hold on to that Hillbilly Georgia accent when you're around a bunch of Redneck twang!

Happiness

I'm back. Well, at least I think I am. For now, at least! I was away from blogworld for more than just a little while. But even though I wasn't physically typing anything, I was taking pictures. Pictures of happy things like the coming of Spring time...

...and a perfectly perfect trip to see my very best friend along with some other very old and very wonderful friends. And by very old, I mean the friends-of-13-years kind of friends. It was a really great evening.

Ooo! And while I was there, I had my very first Yarn Shop shopping experience. I'll write about that in detail later.

Then Carlton and I spent Easter weekend with our families. Vespa is always happy to see her Sissy and rassle a whole bunch.

We celebrated the hatching of two whole separate families of bird babies (and mourned the sickness of two very undeserving ferns as well as the tragic loss of little Crouton, R.I.P.).

I went as Sisterly Supporter and photographer to see the Bride's wedding dress (squeeeee!) and to see the wedding/reception venue.

So, while I was loading these happy pictures off my camera and into my Picasa album tonight, I was also browsing through the blogs posted today by bloggers I follow.

In keeping with the theme of happy pictures, Pioneer Woman is currently hosting her next Photography Assignment. This round's theme? Happiness. I've participated in her assignments before and must boast that I have felt quite adequate with my submitted photos. Either way, it's always fun whether you participate and win (totally not me), participate and not win (totally me), or simply click over to her Flickr page to see what everyone else is looking at through a camera lens (obsessively me). If you like cooking and trying out new recipes, reading funny stories about calf nuts and bassett hounds, taking pictures and getting great/free photography advice and tutorials, wearing cute-and-comfy clothes and getting great/free fashion advise, and if you really like the over-all breezy personality of her current Photography Assignment, I can promise you that you'll fall in love with the Pioneer Woman. Quite frankly, in her own words, she'll "make your skirt fly up!"