Stuck in the mud!

It is almost deer hunting season, and my husband, his brother-in-law, and a good friend of their's have all been going down to the deer lease to setup and get the land ready for hunting. A few weeks ago they went to setup deer stands that they had built, but they were not able to completely finished - for some reason they are NEVER finished, there is ALWAYS something else to do! Nonetheless, they went up to the land again last weekend. With the high and steady rainfall, they were forced to work in the barn and carry everything out to set it up. On Saturday, TJ called me and informed me that they were coming home - this was about 12 hours earlier than we were expecting. However, our truck was stuck in the mud. He drove on the land to the furthest point to setup one of the deer stands. This just so happened to be next to a pond on the land, and on the day of record breaking rainfall for the month of September in the state of Texas! Great plan!! lol

The next day, they all went out to get the truck and bring it home. Six hours later, the truck was out of the mud, but was stuck in 4 wheel drive low - as I have learned, you can not drive faster than 10 MPH. They waited 2 hours to let it cool down, hoping that it would still not release from 4 wheel drive. They left the truck over night, again, and got home at 3 am that morning - this was Monday. Knowing how upset that I was about the truck having been driven on the land, in the first place, and then, getting stuck in the mud, TJ arranged for me to drive the car all day. Since he drives so much, he takes the car to work, and I take the truck on a normal basis - NOT THIS WEEK! Monday night, they were all supposed to go out there again; however, at this point, TJ and has brother-in-law, have been riding on 4 hours of sleep a night for the last 4 days, and my father-in-law, likewise, for the last two nights. We all decided that them getting rest would be more beneficial than going back out to get the truck. This meant that I and my sister-in-law would finally get some sleep, now, too. Neither one of us can sleep without the guys there!

Wednesday night came around, and the all went back out to get the truck and BRING IT HOME! We were praying really hard about it, because we were afraid of it remaining in 4 wheel drive low, and that we were going to have to put it in the shop. At about 10 pm that night, TJ called me and said, that they were on there way back and he figured out what went wrong. It was operator error, he did not realize that he had to manually disengage the 4 wheel drive. A lot of trucks will have the 4 wheel drive that you have to engage, but once the truck feels like the 4 wheel drive is no longer needed, it takes it back of; similar to the drifting feature on vehicles. So, I asked him, "What did we learn here?" And he said, "I learned that I don't have the 4 wheel drive that I thought I did!"

I was so tired, that I just let that one go.

My new shotgun!

For a few months before we were married, TJ had been introducing me to skeet shooting. He would take me out to the Grand Prairie Gun Club (where we are members) and I would pull the clay pigeons for him while he would shoot with his dad and brother-in-law. A few months ago, after a bit of coercion, I decided to finally get behind the gun and give it a try. I really enjoyed it! About a month ago, TJ's dad gave him an extra incentive with work. He told him that if he met his goal he would buy him a hand gun that he has really been wanting. Well, TJ met his goal, and when the time came to purchase his gun, he decided that he would rather surprise me with a shotgun. He came home with it about six weeks ago, and I was floored. I was very touched by the fact that he could have had the gun that he really wanted, and DESERVED, but instead picked something out for me. I have wonderful husband! Surprisingly enough, I was just as excited about this as I was my Coach purse that he bought me a month before...which makes me think - do you think Coach makes bags for shotguns? jk!
In the past month, we have been so busy that I have only shot the gun twice. We were finally able to take pictures today:

Gettaway to San Antonio

We are back from our weekend gettaway to San Antonio and we had a great time!
TJ and I left on Friday morning, and arrived in the great city a little after noon. After stopping in San Marcos to do a little pre-vaca shopping, of course! In case you do not know, TJ and I, both, LOVE to shop. Neither of us stop each other while we are spending money - this is why when we are at home, we avoid going to malls, stores, and outlets all-together!

The first thing that we did once we arrived, was enjoy the great taste of the city. TJ and I stayed in Market Square - our hotel was across the street from some of the greatest restaurants and the shops on the street. After eating lunch, TJ and I visited the Alamo. We still love walking through there, even though we have seen it countless times; you always seem to learn something new. It is just a wonderful part of our State's history that never fails to remain interesting. After that, TJ and I walked down to the River Walk and we went through the entire area; the new addition is beautiful!

That evening we at dinner with my second aunt, and second cousin. I hadn't seen them in three years, so it was really good to catch up.

The next day, we woke up early. I had arranged for us to go on a trail ride at Double B Ranch in Kerr County. The ranch was about 650+ acres, and there were a lot of wild life: white tail and black tail deer, hogs, mule deer, big horn sheep, bison. The trail ride only covered a small portion of the land, but we loved it! After the ride, the foreman asked my husband if we were scared of buffalo. Next thing I know, we are in a truck driving out to feed 1700 lb "cows." I did not move when the herd came up, hoping that if they didn't see me, and make me a target. Of course, when we were leaving, they kept following the vehicle for more food. The guy stopped to let us out, but they had caught up with us again, so we opted to stay in the bed of the truck through the terrain, until they were out of sight. Great fun! (that is sarcasm, in case you are not sure)


After the trail ride, I had talked TJ into going to a couple's massage with me. When we arrived, I was a bit disappointed. I am used to the Terrace Retreat Spa in Southlake anytime I go pamper myself, but this did not quite meet those expectations. When we walked in, my nerves were put to rest after seeing that the ladies there were nice, and the atmosphere was decent.
TJ was very unsure about the massage - this was his first, so he insisted on wearing his basketball shorts the entire time. Since they placed us in the same room, I was able to hear the uncertainty in his voice when the masseuse was talking to him. At one point, she tapped his shoulder and told him to relax!
When it was over, and they left the room, he told me that he didn't mind the rubbing, but the use of the elbows, forearms and the pressure were just too much - he hated all of the good stuff!

On Sunday morning, TJ and I woke up early so that we could back in town without feeling like we lost much time in the day. If you reflect back at the beginning of each day, do you see a common occurrence? "WE WOKE UP EARLY!" Nonetheless, we had a wonderful trip, and fit a lot of activities in. This was one of the best birthdays, to date!

Talk to you soon!

The Dryer

After two years, our lovely and reliable dryer went out. This was part of the front-loader set that I kept from my old apartment and we put them in our new house. A few days ago, it started making a humming noise when we would turn it on, and it would not turn over. TJ thought it may be the motor going out or just the belt off track, so he tried to fix it. He took it apart, and half way through called me and said, "You need to schedule an appointment to come out and look at this." Right away I thought we had a bigger issue than what we started with; those worries were put to rest when I came home and saw that the dryer was still in one piece.
I took off of work, and scheduled an appointment for Monday with the Sears Blue Team. I was kind of worried, because I knew that this could get expensive. Around 10:00 am on Monday, the Sears tech arrived. He walked into our laundry room and turned on the dryer - it worked perfectly!!! My husband had fixed the dryer when he took it apart, but did not know it. After a $65 service fee, the repair man was on his merry way. And I began to chip away at the 5 loads of laundry that had been stacking up.
The good news - had something been wrong, it would have cost us $425 for a new motor and installation. I'll take the service fee!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The thank you notes are finally finished and mailed out! After the showers, and wedding gifts, I think the final count was 83. We are truly blessed!!! I was able to get a lot of them completed during TJ's wisdom teeth surgery on Friday. :) He is doing well, by the way. He's a little sore, but is not letting that get to him.

Honeymoon

TJ and I are back from our cruise to the Bahamas. I had hoped that we would be able to blog each day while we were gone, but we did not have internet access. Here is a summary of each day's events:

Day 1 (Monday) - Miami, FL. We set sail at 4:00 pm EST. We took this time to tour the boat, relax and unpack.

Day 2 (Tuesday) - we arrived in Key West. Our first shore excursion was the glass bottom boat. We traveled out 40 min from shore to the corals. Once we arrived, the boat stopped for about 15 min, so that we could view the fish that were in the area. On the way back to shore, we saw 5 or 6 dolphins porpoising in the ocean. This was too fast for us to catch on film, but was very cool!!!

Once we arrived back at shore, we were scheduled to go parasailing. Of course, this was the time that a down pour came over Key West. Luckily when we did our pre-trip shopping, we purchased two ponchos; myself, TJ and every other elderly person in sight were sporting one, but hey, we were dry!! The parasailing guides advised that the rain would not last much longer and we were 'a go' for the excursion. When we got out to the flight location, the rain began to get stronger. They called us back to the dock. With the boat traveling 35mph and the rain as strong as it was, the drops felt like pellets against the skin. However, with our stylish blue ponchos, we did not feel a thing!! Do not feel sorry for us, as soon as we got back to the dock, the rain cleared, and we were headed back out to parasail. We had a blast!

When we arrived back at the ship, we began getting ready for the Captain's Ball. After the Ball, there was a Vegas-like Chorus Line Show. It was wonderful. I will never understand how kicks can go that high!

Day 3 (Wednesday) - Our Day at Sea (on the way to Nassau, Bahamas). This day TJ and I planned on ordering room service for breakfast, and laying out to tan all day. This plan was diverted when we woke up to a rocky ship due to us being under a rain storm. The rain did not disappear until 8 pm that evening. Our day at sea was filled with us relaxing, enjoying the endless amount of food, and taking dramamine. We did have fun just being together. We caught that evening's show (The Illusionist) and stand-up comedian.

Day 4 (Thursday) - Nassau, Bahamas. We docked in Nassau at 7:30 am. At 9 am we were scheduled to go kayaking and snorkeling. This was cancelled due to...you guessed it! RAIN!!! TJ and I made the best of it, though. We got dressed so that we could tour the town. We had a lot of fun observing the locals, sight seeing, and getting lost (well, that part wasn't too much fun, lol). That evening we went back on the ship and got dressed for the last night's events. The variety show was a tribute to Rock 'n' Roll (Motown, 50's and 60's Rock, etc.) - it was wonderful! The comedian that evening reminded me of the missing link to the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. TJ loved it!!! LOL

Day 5 (Friday) - Miami, FL. Our final day of our Honeymoon. We arrived in Miami at 7:30 am, and after having our final meal on the ship [breakfast], we shuttled out to the airport, and flew out at 12 pm to DFW. Our Honeymoon was over. Though there was a bit of rain, this did not ruin our vacation. This was a GREATLY NEEDED and LONG-AWAITED vacation for the both of us. Just spending time with each other was wonderful!!! This was the best trip to date!

Mr. & Mrs. TJ Owens!!!

We are finally married, and getting ready to go on our honeymoon. After a busy day, we now have time to pack. We are scheduled to leave at 6 am in the morning, so we need to get busy and get some sleep!!! Granted that we have internet access, we will be sure and keep you posted. We love you all, and thank you for everything!!

7 days and counting...

Here we are 7 days away from the BIG DAY, and we are extremely excited!!! Yesterday, we went to the County Clerk's Office and got our marriage lisence. :) We also heard on Thursday that our Mexican cruise has been re-routed to the BAHAMAS! When we initially started planning, we had wanted to go to the Bahamas, however, there were not any cruises available for the respective dates...and now, we got it!! The only down side to this is that on Monday, I was diagnosed with a sinus infection. yesterday was my last day of the Z-Pak, and I am still congested and have a pretty heavy cough. This needs to go away! Tonight, I am going to begin packing, just to make sure that Melzie can get all of the stuff in ONE suitcase - which is something that I have never done. We shall see...