I Have to Brag a Little.....

There are a number of reasons why I love Matthew, and one reason is how he can act like a little kid playing with the dogs. It is hilarious watching him in the floor with them rough housing. I know he will definitely be a great dad. He has JuJu wrapped around his pinky and vice-versa.We both love Sammy and JuJu so MUCH....they really are like our kids. When we go to bed, Sammy lays on his side, his head on my pillow and lays his arm on me. JuJu will be spooning with Matt under the covers with her head on his pillow. If we act this way with them, it is crazy to think how much love we will have for our own flesh and blood!

Well it is bow season and of course Matt is in his tree-stand a lot....but I let him have his time. I would go but I can't kill...lol....I don't have it in me. I have had to drag the deer out of the woods and help gut them when I lived at home but Matt let's me leave it all to him....thank's hun! Anyway, this past week he got an 8pt and the next night got a turkey. He is still hunting to get his family some deer meat as well. I know without a doubt that my husband could keeps us alive and I guess that's what I find attractive in him, his providing skills.

Another thing I am thankful for with him is that he isn't a yeller. We seldom get in arguments, we pretty much have the same personality which helps. One thing he does really well, is talk everything out if there happens to be an issue with something. He gets it out, solves it, and moves on. I used to be bad about claming up and not talking but I have gotten a lot better since we have been together. I must say that we are better together, became more cohesive since we have been married than when we were dating. It's only been a little over 3 yrs....which is hard to believe.....

I tend to read before I go to bed and now I have been reading the bible, from beginning to end. He will go to sleep and sometimes I just watch him sleep and thank God for placing him in my life. Blake Shelton's new song, God Gave Me You, is a great example of us. He couldn't have entered the picture at a better time in my life, to help pick me up and give me something good to look forward too. This is a little long, but for some reason I am feeling a little sappy, and just want to express my unconditional love for him and thankfulness that he is in my life:-)

I Can't Help But Love Her

I have been a fan of Miranda Lambert before she was famous, discovering her before Nashville Star. I can't describe why I like her sooo much, I think it's because she is very REAL and talented. Anymore, you don't have to be talented to become famous and that is what irks me. She can sing, write her own music, and play guitar and these past two years she finally started getting recognition, which is long overdue. I've seen her 4x in concert now, the last being on Friday. She just keeps evolving, growing, and getting better and better. She is such an inspiration to women and aspiring songwriters. She actually is who fueled me with my music. Although, I didn't stick it out like she did, I am forever her fan. All I can say is THANK YOU to Miranda for staying true to herself and for staying grounded. I feel like I have known her for a long time, she feels like a friend to me, and if you haven't listened to her music, I highly recommend it. She is a rock star and I love her!!!

She has started another project called Pistol Annies. Ashley Monroe and Angelina Presley make up the trio. They all wrote the songs on the CD and I recommend it a listen too. They are all talented and in a way it reminds me of Dolly, Emmylou, and Linda Ronstadt's songs together. I guess why I like her so much is because she is living my dream. I almost feel like a proud momma watching her on stage because she has overcome the obstacles and proven herself to the country music critics:-)

To Buy or Not to Buy????

I have seriously been considering trading in my car. I love my Mazda CX-7 but it is at the mileage to either trade in or drive until the wheels fall off. The pic is when I first bought it in Feb. 2009. Last year around this time I test drove some SUV's and didn't really care for any of them and so here we are again going Saturday to test drive more. After watching "Up All Night" they showed the new GMC Terrain and I like the looks of it. All I need to know is how it drives and if I can get it in black!!! Of course it will be used but that is what I am thinking as of now. I might have a different mind set after Saturday:-)

New Doors!

Today happened to be my day off....woohoooo and was really needed. This past month has been super tiring at Dillard's. I have been working a lot of open/closes and I have seen Matt awake 3 days out of this month since he goes to bed at 9 and gets up really early. I am sooo happy that my schedule next month is much better. I only close 2 nights/week and off early the rest:-)

Matt and I have been slowly updating and redoing our house. It is definitely more homier and not so much 'bachelory' since I have redecorated it. I hope we can be in a bigger/newer house in the near future but as of now it isn't our priority.

Anyway one of our todos was getting rid of our sliding patio doors and installing french doors, mainly for efficiency when it comes to the winter months. They look great and have made a huge difference in how the house looks. I really like them a lot as does Matt!!! I think it was a good investment:-) We need to stain the border to match the rest so it is not completely done.







Next on our list is a possible new truck for Matt ( Toyota Tundra) or what he calls a "baby hauler", a wood-burning furnace, a new couch since our dogs like to chew on it. It was already chewed up due to Buddy and Jake, now Sammy and JuJu have increased the holes. Also a bigger kitchen table would be nice. I guess we will see what all we get accomplished this year and next...hopefully the majority of it:-)

David Charles Monds

It has been awhile since I have posted, all for a good reason. This past month has been a nightmare. Things happening that you have to ask, "why now"? My uncle, David Charles Monds, my mom's brother passed away last week at 55. What was a snake bite announced his silent killer, cancer. He has always been considered a mountain man/ blacksmith/artist/musician, living in the mountains in Arkansas in a cabin without electricity. I remember when we used to visit, having to take baths in the creek, and have wild game for dinner. He was always messing with snakes and has been bitten several times by poisonous ones, especially rattlers. He would tell these crazy stories of his adventures and I naturally thought that he would die fighting a bear or something wild and adventurous as that.

He moved back to Texas to be with my grandparents and about two months ago he was bitten by a copperhead, saving kittens from the snake. He thought he had killed it with a pitch fork and went to take the snake off the teeth and it bit his finger. My grandparents rushed him to the doctor and apparently they did 4 blood tests on him and found he had stage 4 lung cancer. He didn't tell anyone, his plan was to die in his bed. He never went to the doctor and had always been healthy. Week before last, my parents got a call that they life flighted him to Houston, his organs had shut down and was placed on life support. Apparently he couldn't breathe and was stomping the ground and my grandparents went to check on him and called the ambulance. He said he wasn't going to go he wanted to stay in his bed. The venom from the snake spread the cancer like wildfire all over his body. My parents went down to be with him, and my mom and aunt never left his side. I couldn't go nor did I want to because I knew that was not what I wanted to see and have burned in my mind. My mom can't get the image out.

While he was in the hospital he had a heart attack and then a stroke that paralyzed the right side of his body. He had blood clots in his legs and on his ear. My parents would describe what was going on. They had him medicated but he was still alert and trying to write and talk to my mom. There was a team of doctors working on him and one who had been practicing for 30 years never saw anyone be as alert and strong as near to death as he was. After about 3 days, they had him in an induced coma and my mom decided to take him off life support as his body was turning black. My mom said that as she talked to him he had the most peaceful look on his face as he died.

It has been an emotional roller coaster these past few weeks. Everything happened so quickly, it has been hard to digest. One thing that has helped me cope with not only his death but the past couple of deaths that have happened within the past year is a book called, Heaven is for Real. My uncle was very religious and I am happy that he has been reunited with my grandpa and great grandparents. That was my biggest worry but this book has inspired and uplifted me reading about what is to come. I am thankful that I was able to have his banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, my grandpa's guitar, and harmonicas as well as the songs he had written. Matt got his muzzleloaders, knives, and pistols, that he had made. He really was a unique person and I am looking forward to the day we will reunite. Until then, I will cherish his memories and gifts he passed along:-)

Let's Talk About Theft

I have had the worst possible week in a long time. It started off fine, we went to church and the sermon was about how God will come as a thief in the night when it is the end of time. Little did I know, that would somewhat be how Tuesday would play out. I was at work and I usually work in the back sorting clothes and pricing. We all keep our purses in or around the management office since we don't have lockers. I had just checked my phone around 3:30 that afternoon and a guy came in the back around 4. He was walking around and the manager saw him and asked him what he was doing....looking for the bathroom? Well, I literally rounded the corner and ran right into him, hands on his chest, so needless to say I got a good look at what looked like a rich, preppy college kid....harmless..... He was in the bathroom maybe 2 seconds, came out and went back out the way we told him not too. I didn't check my purse again until 6 when I closed the store. When I opened it, talk about a feeling of vulnerability or even the feeling of possible rape, my wallet, phone, and checkbook were gone. Thank goodness he left my keys!!! When I got home, I checked my bank accounts and he had already used my debit card for $2000 and my credit card for $1600. $500-600 purchases at 5 different Walgreens within the span of 1 hour. I was able to get the swipe times and as much information as I could to the cops. I have been playing detective this past week because apparently the police haven't assigned a detective yet.

Here's my question....why as an employee would you not check ID for that big of purchases???? The manager at one of the Walgreen's gave me the run around and said that there weren't any purchases at her location for the amount my bank account showed.....and she said they don't feel a need to ID....Really???? So what could he have possibly been buying for that large amount and she said Visa gift cards. The kid is slick, obviously done this many times before and to have stolen my stuff right by the management office with the manager in there.

My whole "being" was in my wallet. I had just put my Social card in it for employment purposes and that was gone as well as an SD card with wedding pics. Probably the most priceless item of all was the sweet note I got from Matt last Valentines that I kept in my wallet to look at time to time. Luckily I am getting refunded all the money and had insurance on my phone.

When I was in banking, I had dealt with people who had their purses stolen and I knew how devastating it would be but I really didn't know exactly what they were going through until now. Surely the cops will catch him, I don't see how they can't. Here's the funny thing as well, there were 3 other purses by mine and mine was the only one stolen from. I guess cause it was bigger and brighter than the rest and had jewels all on it, he thought I had a lot of money. Hopefully this week will be much better, I am praying for that!

Tee Time

Matt has become an avid golfer, more so now since we are married than when we were dating...lol...I guess you can say we are members of a country club. He, his dad or mine go every weekend, sometimes both Saturday and Sunday. I golfed some when I was at Drury, but hadn't been yet with Matt due to my work schedule. Well a few weekends ago we decided to go and have Christie, Cassie, and Rick along for scramblers. I was already exhausted from working a 48 hr. week and being out in the heat did it for me. Matt is really good, he can sometimes drive 300+ yards. Christie and I were playing about the same, Cassie had some good hits as well as Rick. The last whole is when we all shined and I think since we knew it was over is why. 18 holes lasting 5 hrs is a lot in 100 degree temp for someone who isn't acclimated to the heat, so give me the driving range any day!

Rain delay and then came the heat

Cassie is ready to go!

He doesn't cooperate with pictures, it was sooo hot that day...ugh!