I have em. I really do. I admit I cried countless nights the first couple of months here. I had just gotten married, moved across the country and didn't know a soul! Oh, did I mention I don't like change? I can't pack up, ship out and have the time of my life without a plan or a friend in tow. Props to ppl out there that have the courage to do that. . .that just ain't me.
I may regret this post later, but for now - I'm letting my Asian bluntness take over!
My sister Kara and I have chuckled for the past few months as we've shared stories of the untactful ways of LDS women. I realize we are in no way perfect, so this is not a "holier-than-tho" moment by any means. I'm also aware posting something like this is def. going to offend someone but please be aware - it's not about anyone that will be reading this. (I would've made my blog private if I were worried about that!) :~)
I received an email last week for a baby shower. Ok, no big deal - an emailed invitation is acceptable in my book. Postage isn't cheap. I totally get it. But please tell me WHY it's ok for someone to use the Relief Society list that's intended for RS announcements, etc. - for an email blast for a baby shower?!?! Not only did I not know the woman they were honoring, I didn't even know the person that was throwing the shower! Am I the only person that finds this absolutely ridiculous?!
I'm fully aware that some women that have multiple showers are more often than not offered by someone in the ward and instead of declining and offending that person, (which happens way too often in the Church) they accept. I'm fine with multiple showers, especially if you're having a new gender. But if you already have 3-4 kids and the oldest if of babysitting age. . . you probably shouldn't be having/expecting someone to throw you a shower. (True Story)
Someone's offended huh? I love us Mormons. . .
THE CHURCH IS TRUE!
ARIZONA TRIP
Jeff and Non tied the knot July 24th! It was a beautiful wedding...so freakin hot though!! They are def. troopers for still looking absolutely dashing on their big day!
Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Lamont Porter
The Porter Family is very musically inclined and they put on a lil' show for us at the luncheon. Jeff sang 2 songs that he wrote just for Non and I got a little teary-eyed from his heartfelt performance - seriously adorable!
Here's my girl still lovely as ever! Love you Nonners, thank you for letting me share your special day with you as your M.O.H.!
Side note: Non's sister Amanda and I kept trying to figure out if "Maid" or "Matron" was the correct terminology. I was decidedly named the Matron and Amanda the Maid - apparently b/c I'm married and matronly? :~)
Can't get enough of this curly-haired cutie!! I spent any time I was home with this guy! I was so scared he wouldn't remember me...imagine my surprise when I walked in the door fresh off the plane and he comes right up to me and gives me a hug! AWE!
Sisters at Sekai
Ok so I realized I took hardly ANY pictures in AZ! Man that's annoying!!! Thank you to everyone I got to see, and to those of you I didn't - don't feel too bad, it won't be long! :~)
A special and GIANT THANKYOU to Square who made the most delicious dish for Non's shower! They were a HIT and I can't begin to thank you enough for doing that for me! And to mi madre for helping cut up all that fruit! Couldn't have done it without you!
So after I got back from AZ, Russ & Erin were in ATL for a visit. We had a BLAST with them! We did some shopping, went out to eat and had fun going night swimming too! First time in our complex pool! HA! (They always have parties going on and I hate sharing a pool with strangers and a bunch of eye-wandering old geezers.) Thanks again guys for comin' to see us - we miss you already!
1st Annual Ronnie & Elaine Crumpton Family Reunion
Port Aransas, Texas
The original plan was to have all the boys get together for a fishing trip, but then they realized how boring it'd be without their women and kids!!!! Ok...we all know the REAL reason we were invited but just humor me here. Rod and I spent hours finding the perfect place for 18ppl to stay and found a super sweet beach house right around the corner from the water! It was Elaine's birthday that weekend too so we surprised her with a cake, some bday gifts, went and got our nails done and had everyone write down something they loved about her and put it in a pink balloon for her to pop! (Idea credited to Rod.) The ocean water was wonderful, it was hot outside but I LOVE the beach and coulda stayed out there all day long!! The trip was wonderful and we can't wait for the next one!
Lack of pics once again - thanks Ronnie for sending these ones so I have something to show for it!
Rod and reel - BAHAHA!
He makes fishin' look good.
Ronnie Paul, Bryant, Russ, Robert, Rod and Ronnie
Thanks again Ronnie and Elaine for a FABULOUS time! We love you!
Stone Mountain
The Peacocks have a family pass and told us they were going, so we decided to invite ourselves! :~) As we are walking up to purchase our tickets, a lady offers us an admission that they said was an extra one that they didn't need. SWEET! We tell the lady in the booth we need one more adult pass...she looks at the ticket and noticed it was for a 2-day entry so she just gave us the other ticket for FREE! We saved ourselves an easy $50 - not including the parking fee we would've had to pay, and the lunch that Kristin made for everyone too! Wow...what do we contribute to this friendship!?
Top of the mountain with downtown ATL in the background.
Rod and one the goats at the petting zoo.
Hard to tell but that's a giant crevice I managed to squeeze myself into.
MUAH!
Thank you Peacocks for helping us cross this one off the list! We had a blast and also loved going to Outback where the entertainment continued! HA! :~)
For the past few weeks I had seen some weird black things on the garage stairs but didn't really pay much attention to them. I pointed them out to Rod one day and he noticed there was a hole in the side of the top stair and figured they were mouse droppings. Ok...just a few mice - no biggie. WRONG! I really wish I had taken pics of our repeated attempts to catch them! DO NOT use the white sticky pads - they are completely ineffective! Every morning they were moved, chewed, or were covered with hair b/c the mouse had gotten stuck but always managed to get away! I swear we had mighty mouse living under our stairs!
Anyways, I wasn't too bothered b/c I knew they were in the garage and atleast they weren't in my apartment! That is ofcourse until one Sunday I was cleaning up after dinner and turned around and saw something scurry across the floor and underneath the kickboard of one of our cupboards. OH HECK NO! Rod immediately set up snap traps loaded with peanut butter...one inside and one in the garage. Next morning we woke up and found the mice had helped themselves to our PB and the snap traps didn't' SNAP!!!! UGH!!
That's when we decided we had to bust out the big guns...The Catchmaster 48R's. Complete with peanut butter and just for fun...a half-bitten mini Snickers bar. (Rod's idea)
Finally - SUCCESS!!! Yes, they are babies and I felt bad ok?
We have set these 4 times...and have caught a total of 7 mice!!!!! Usually in pairs which we thought was weird?! Rod did make a good point...he said, "You'd think they'd be able to communicate with eachother a little better or atleast give eachother some warning to stay away!!" HAHA!
We think we've caught all of them - who knows. Unfortunately we have some pretty unkempt neighbors downstairs that I'm blaming for the problem so we'll see!
So today was a FIRST for the Mondays!!! That's right...a snake decided to pay it's favorite pest control office a lil' visit. The office complex we are in has some wooded areas so it's not surprising but I've never seen a snake in this type of setting before!
Sorry Carrie - I'm about to one-up your snake story...
This bad boy was atleast 4.5 feet long - CREEPY lookin' huh?!
Rod decided to be brave and touch it...no one was expecting that thing whip around as fast as it did! So after he almost got his hand bitten off, I decided to Google it and found out it's a Black Rat Snake - not poisonous (good thing I checked that first right?) and emits a foul smelling odor when threatened. Lovely.
If you can't stomach watching some real life road kill - do not play the video below. Infact, after videoing this I had to go inside and sit down b/c I really thought I was gonna lose it. DISGUSTING! Please excuse the ANNOYING commentary - I was needless to say a little anxious to get this thing taken care of...
FYI - Bulwark DOES NOT condone this type of "treatment". We don't even treat for snakes so this was strictly...experimental!?!!?
VIDEO HAS BEEN REMOVED FOR THE TIME BEING -SORRY!
What? Did you think I married a Bug Boy for his money?!?!?! :~)
Just a line from one of my favorite musicals - has nothing to with this post. Wow - June has come and gone, can't believe it! A LOT has happened...here's the not so condensed version of my month.
Girls Camp - went up for the last day/night and had the luxury of sleeping in a pop up camper. If you wanna know my REAL feelings on camping, my sis. Kara posted on the matter and it pretty much sums up my thoughts perfectly. Check it out HERE. This picture was captured while we sought shelter from a freak thunderstorm that rolled in after it had been sunny and HOT all day! Gotta love that GA weather! Enjoyed the car rides there and back with the Sonic stops in between. We had lots of fun in the short amount of time. The girls are fabulous and have such sweet testimonies!
Oh... our ward was split last week and Rod and I are in a brand new ward. I absolutely LOVED the girls and the women I worked with. I can't talk about it too much b/c it makes me sad but I know it had to happen - needless to say I will miss them terribly!!
Dad came to ATL for business and it was fun having him here. We drove up to Greenville, SC one day and had dinner at Saskatoon (a restaurant franchise we usta rep). Edmund (the owner) was so good to us! We ate all kinds of wild game - it was tasty! Def. not a place for a vegetarian tho!
Kara and Q stopped in for a few days on their way to Key West. We had to go to Hard Rock b/c Kara is a VIP member and I thought they'd shut the place down for us but apparently she hasn't reached that status just yet... :~)
Kara and I got pedicures & did a little shopping while the boys played XBOX (lame). We also got together with our friends to have Father's Day dinner and played Settler's...always a treat!
Traditional pilsner glass complete with a chocolate shake
Love him
JAX came to visit!!! I had to take her to a GA Sonic or it just wouldn't be right! There's just one face missing here...we missed u Jenna!
Braves Game!!! FINALLY!! Lived here for 1.5 years and just now going to a game...pretty pathetic I must say. Ofcourse we had to get our Chipper Jones jersey's to make it official! Had good seats, ate the stadium served cuisine, cheered for the home team (Jax is a retired cheerleader so she really knows what she's doin) and had a BLAST!
Jones is the man
I had Jackie teach me to make her famous cinnamon rolls and how to use my Bosch that I got from my mom! I'm pretty sure it's a sin to have one and not use it on a regular basis. I'm quite embarrassed about it myself! It was tricky finding enough space to roll out that dough but she's a pro so we got it done. Ofcourse we had to wear out matching aprons!!! Jax and her mom made them - aren't they adorable?!
The aftermath...YUM! Totally worth the pile of dirty pans...
We played Settler's at night, Jax caught on real quick and did so good! There were some words exchanged but we're all still friends.
Thanks for the great company we've had thus far!!! Russ & Erin - we can't wait to have you guys out here in a few weeks!
At work today I took a quick run to Sonic b/c I was in desperate need of "a fix". My coworker Dana and I will usually trade off making Sonic runs and as I've expressed in previous posts, it pains me that everytime I pull in, I'm nothing but a stranger to them. As much as it hurts - I have come to terms with it and try not to expect any form of recognition from the staff.
And then today...it happened
I pull into the drive thru and before I even begin to speak - I hear this magical question thru the speaker:
"Just a Vanilla Dr. Pepper today?"
My mouth dropped open..."Did I hear that right?" It took everything in me not to scream out in sheer joy!!!!!
I get to the window and the girl that hands me my drink said she recognized my car so she knew what I ordered - as if she was defending herself b/c she thought it may be weird...she was soon to find out that I was def. the weirdo! At this point, this girl was my new best friend and I couldn't hold it in anymore! I told her all about my "good ol' Sonic Days" and when I heard her say my drink order over the speaker it TOTALLY made my day!
It was the best tasting Vanilla Dr. Pepper I've had since living in Georgia.
(No need to post a comment about what a loser I am that I'm actually blogging about THIS...I'm well aware ppl...WELL aware.)
I wanted my sisters to come and visit Rod and I for a few reasons, but when I found a really good deal on flights I decided - WHY NOT!?
They had to see how we roll in the dirty souf right?! :~) Just kiddin guys...just kiddin.
Highlights w/o pics include but are not limited to:
*Volunteering Celine to sing in church - she did AMAZING!! Except now ppl think I can sing like that! Whoops!
*Getting pulled over by a cop on the way back from Sonic - got off with a warning! PHEW!
*Watching "She's the Man"
*Playing games at night
*Going shopping
*Beautification Day - haircuts, manis and pedis.
*Having ppl to yell at/with....lovingly of course! :~) (If you've been to the Durney residence, you know we communicate rather LOUDLY!)
These are in no particular order obviously and I'm too lazy to copy and paste chronologically
Chateau Elan...right after Danna inhaled a blue coconut slush from Sonic
Took the girls to World of Coca Cola - Rod loves getting the bottle of Coke at the end so it was worth it!
On our way to Tallulah Gorge - picture pit stop
Rod and I forced to sit on a bench - this time by Anais
Wearing her slammin' new shades indoors
Danna's faces are priceless
The woven basket walkway at Six Flags
Didn't hike it - but we took pictures to prove we were there!
Mellow Mushroom in downtown Atlanta
Danna informed us after about 15 mins of being there that this statue was "starting to really freak her out". None of us had seen it b/c we all had our backs to it except for her. HA!
(Credit and thanks to Jenna for introducing me to MM when I visited you in NC - memories.)
In memory of Kara and Anais' 1996 white Toyota corolla wagon - R.I.P.
First night in ATL - had to hit up the Varsity!
This is what happens when the Coca Cola lady asks who's been to the Factory before...and you raise your hand.
Whatta bunch of "Posers" - (the way Kristin would say it) :~)
We arm wrestled...repeatedly. It was embarrassing.
What they thought of being in Georgia with me!!!!
My house...isn't it lovely? :~)
We love our roller coasters...well, all of us but Danna.
Coca Cola Couch
Best sushi this side of the Mississippi - literally!
Aren't you jealous that Rod got to spend ALL week with US!?!?!
Anais' idea and by far the greatest picture of the entire trip!!! Man those kids were heavy!
Love you guys! Hope you had as much fun as we did! :~) We missed you Kara!
Rod says it's so quiet now - he's right - COME BACK!!!!!
I will start this post off with the fact that I'm a very hard person to surprise. I don't even like surprises all that much b/c it means I wasn't "in" on something - yes I'm fully aware how ridiculous that sounds. I am way too observant and I ask too many questions which makes it impossible. I'm not being puffed up about it...it's just the truth. Well, off to work I went a few Saturdays ago and I come home to this!!!!
I felt like I was being asked to a school dance again! Right after I left Rod got up and washed our brand new sheets and made our bed with our new comforter set, blew up 72 balloons and filled each of them with a slip of paper with something that he loved about me. MELTED MY HEART! I was sad I had to pop all of them b/c I totally woulda left my room like this for the day! :~)
Thank you so much sweetie - I love you!!!
I wasn't supposed to know about the Savannah trip Rod was planning but he hadn't said anything about our Valentine weekend plans! So...I took it upon myself to plan something for us! I was looking up hotel rates and Rod happened to glance at the computer, I tried to hide it but he caught me and asked what I was doing. He wasn't too thrilled to see I ruined his surprise - (SEE! Sometimes I don't even mean to!!) His best buddy Jon hooked us up with a sweet deal at the Marriott on the Riverfront and it was AMAZING!!! That is def. one thing I don't mind spending a lil' more money on - a nice, clean hotel!!
Our friends suggested we eat at a place called the Crab Shack while we were there so we decided it would be our V-day dinner. This place was literally...a shack! It was so awesome! We got the seafood platter and I couldn't believe how much food their was!! Crab legs, crawdads, shrimp, oysters, sausage, potatoes, and corn. I LOVE seafood but I have never actually had to crack, peel and shuck my own before so it was quite an experience! I admit, I couldn't do the crawdads myself b/c they still have their beady little eyes on them and I felt so bad! It was sooo good and def. a place we will be going again someday!
We went downtown a few times and Rod had a goal to find the Forrest Gump bench and get a picture of him eating a box of chocolates while sitting on it waiting for the bus. Ok maybe not the bus. That dream was killed when we found out the actual bench is in a museum! I made him sit on several benches to take pictures anyways! :~)
Rod's mom told us about the Paula Deen restaurant that was in Savannah so we thought we could just roll up and score ourselves a seat at this downtown eatery. WRONG! They have a waiting list and they take reservations at the door starting at 8 or 9 every morning! Couldn't believe it! This is a line of ppl waiting to make their reservations.
Rod decided we'd try anyways so he dropped me off and I walked up to the hostess outside and asked her how long it would be to get 2 ppl seated for lunch. It didn't look promising either but she asked for my name and after I told her she said, "Hey - I'm Jasmine too!" Pretty sure that's what sealed the deal b/c we were up on the 3rd floor in 20 mins!
After enjoying our Lady and Sons southern cookin'! Yum!
Forsyth Park - once again wearing sandals and yes it was cold! We are such tourists...
Rod dawg LOVED these trees!!
Another forced bench picture...
There are TONS of old houses in Savannah and I decided this is the one I want. It's sad to think I will have to tell the ppl that live there that they will have to move out b/c I will be residing there when I retire. Atleast I'm giving them some notice!
Had to go and check out the historic Confederate Army fort - Ft. Pulaski!
Afterwards, we drove to check out the beach but it was soo cold and windy and I was NOT feeling well! We went back to the hotel for me to take a nap. A few hours later I felt well enough to head downtown for our last night to have dinner at this scrumptious New York style pizza place!!
Before we left, we walked down River Street and took a pic outside of the hotel to try to get a shot of the sweet view! I was pretty annoyed that I was still feeling sick b/c there's nothing worse than being sick on a vacation!
All in all - beautiful lil' city with lots of fun memories! Thank you babe for everything! Can't wait to go again!
