This just in...

The Missouri flooded in June. Yes for those of you that did not know that. For those of you who live in a cave and don't watch the news or check it online, I have pictures of the flood in Kansas.

In Attichison Kansas there is this cute park by the river.

Except the park was flooding.

This is really a huge tree floating down the river.

Oh, look a bridge that goes across the river.

Here is the kicker. See the train tracks that appear to be only 6 inches above that water? I am not talking about the upper set. The low ones! Trains were still crossing on that bridge! This did freak me out a bit, but I wasn't on the trains so I just went back the my hotel.

Way back in June...

I was in my friend S F's wedding. Hence the reason I had posted prairie pictures a few months ago. I was driving across Kansas to be in her wedding. S and I have been friends since we met in eighth grade. She moved a couple of years after we met, but we have always managed to maintain our friendship. (Even after A&M beat Nebraska our freshman years, ending Nebraska's 3 year winning streak. But, hey, I barely remember that day.)

Here we are all grown up the day before.

Here is S opening all the tacky things that every bride needs that bridesmaids supply.

She got really good at bossing us bridesmaids around.

Probably because we needed bossen. If she wasn't watching us, we were running off to Sonic to enjoy cherry limeades. It was a warm day. I don't have any actual pictures of the wedding because it is generally frowned upon for bridesmaids to snap pictures during the ceremony, but it was quite lovely, I assure you.

Ah, ha, a picture of the groom! Might I add that he made the groom's cake, that beautiful chocolate thing at the bottom of the picture. What a guy!

That's my mom and me looking good in black.

More wedding fun...

but then we got cold and warmed ourselves by the hand dryer in the bathroom. See we needed more bossing around.

Ahem, I would like to thank Mrs. S for choosing black bridesmaids dresses, because I looked quite nice in this one. And S's dress rocked! (Because we all know that that's what a wedding is all about.)

Well, then again, maybe it does have something to do with true love and all that jazz. Congrats to my friend S. You make a beautiful bride and wife.

Friends

I have been lucky enough to have 2 dear friends come visit me the last 2 weeks. Rachel L came out for a few days and then Mrs. Juicebox made an appearance. It was so fun to have them here. We hiked, watched HGTV, ate deserts, ate some more, read books and had great conversation. I miss them dearly. Sigh. I managed not to cry when I put Mrs. Juicebox on the plane this afternoon, so to reward myself, I bought a kitchen aid stand mixer in Empire Red. I still might cry, maybe I will make some bread instead.

And now I am on call all weekend. Please, Lord, don't let the pager go nuts.

Very belated...

Way back in May, Mr M and I packed up our things and moved across town. We are now farther away from our jobs and no longer have a garage, but we do have 3 important things:

1) No more mold. I knew we had mold, but I had no idea how bad it was until we moved and I found it everywhere! I have not been sick since we moved.

2) No more navy blue carpet that everything shows up on. I never thought I would be so happy to live around beige in my whole life.

3) We have a dishwasher! Now when our friends come over they ask us how it is living the high life with a dishwasher, and I have to say, "Life is good!"

Here are some belated pictures of our new place:

Starting by the front door, here is our dining area that is also part of the kitchen.

Here is the kitchen, note the dishwasher!
Here is our comfy living room. I have no idea why I did not fix the pillows before taking pictures.
Don't you like our wedding pictures all up in a row? I love them. So does Mrs. Juicebox, she kept looking at them when she was here.
Our blue bathroom.
Our room.
Our garage sale dresser we spent a weekend painting. It really brightens up a room.
We now have a guest bathroom. I may have overdone the white. But if anyone visits, you don't have to share with us!
Last, but not least, is the guest bedroom for those of you who want to plan a vacation up our way. It has a Serta mattress and I am assured by several people that it is a very comfortable bed.

Driving across Kansas

I was recently in a wedding in Kansas, and I drove from Dallas across Eastern Kansas and most of the flint hills. I was reminded why I like the prairie. It feels like home.

I think I have figured out a way to describe the difference between the Rockies and the prairie. See where I live is surrounded by harsh mountains of rock and trees that are pointed with pointy leaves. The environment is strong like a man and designed for self defense.
But the prairie is like a woman, her soft grass invites you to run, and her trees invite you to climb. She doesn't restrict your view of the sky or feel the need to surround you. Though she has a temper that appears during tornado season.
She invites you to play and wander. There are few thorns or sharp plants.
And you feel that if you could run fast enough at sunset you might reach the sun. It's not blocked by a mountain.

Exop II

You didn't think I was done with all my expo education did you? I learned a lot more. I learned that logging sports is a collegiate sport. Funny, I don't remember my college having that sport. Long distance track, yes. Logging sports, no.

Anyway, there is the two man saw. Go boys, go!

The one man saw. Go Boy, go!

The ax throw.

This guy isn't bad. I want him on my side next time I have to throw axes at bad guys.

OK, this is interesting, you start below where they are standing, run around the log, run up the log, balance on the log while starting your chain saw and saw the log you are standing on. Safety glasses anyone?

Next is a demonstration, because this is too dangerous to do at the college level. First, you chop a small hole. Oh, and this guy is on ESPN for his excellence in logging sports. (I am NOT kidding).

You stick a stick in it, get up on it,
chop another one, repeat twice.
Oh, and don't forget the just saw through a log with a chain saw competition.
Last, but not least, is the chop through a log with an ax. They gave this guy a special ax head because he is graduating
Don't you feel more educated now that you too are a part of the family forestry expo?

Expo, Expo

Last month I went the the Family Forestry Expo. What?!?!?! You haven't heard of the Family Forestry EXPO?!?!?! Just to prove that I am not making this up, I took a picture of the sign:

See, it does to exist. One of the things to watch at the Family Forestry Expo is how modern day logging is done. I had no idea. First, this red machine just cuts the log and then picks it up,

and lays it gently on the ground. Really, you couldn't even hear it drop.

Then, this yellow machine comes and hauls away a group of logs.

And takes them to this machine that picks up a log at one end and strips the log of branches as it goes through to the other end.

The logs are organized by size so that all the logs in one pile will go to one place to be cut the same size .

And that is what I learned at the Family Forestry Expo.

My shoes!

When my little brother really got the walking thing down, my parents bought him his first pair of shoes. He was so excited to finally be a big boy and wear shoes. (We didn't have a lot of money and my parents weren't going to buy shoes for a non-walker.) That night as he lay in bed, my parent's heard him exclaim to himself, "My shoes! My shoes! My shoes!"



And that is what I felt like when I got my new shoes. I needed some for work and I just thought these were too cute. I got a black and brown pair, and here is one of each.

The best part is the stitching on the heel and side.
Very comfortable with good arch support.
And even the bottoms of the shoes are cute.

More 10 C's!

I know that you can all barely wait for the next instalment of creative ways to display the 10 C's, so here is another one for your viewing pleasure. Good news is that my new job requires lots of driving, so I will be finding some more specimens for you all.