Slacking....

Mom and Dad on Christmas Eve (above) Daniel and I opening our gift from Granddaddy and Betty (my Mom's dad and stepmom) (below)

Meme with her grandkids on Christmas Eve

Our Chef for the evening!

Christmas at the Underwoods on Christmas EveDan and I's Christmas together....the bubblegum money he gave me in my stocking :)

His weight tree....alright for organization in the garage :)

Eric and April (Dan's brother and sis-n-law)

Christmas at the Odom's on Christmas night

Dan and his sister Sonya

Me and April...my sis-n-lawDan and his dad on Christmas night

Dan and Landon...our nephew

I am sorry to have left you hanging on our life :) I know there are so many of you out there dying to know what is going on with us these days. Ok, to be honest, I quit posting b/c I didn't think anyone ever read this thing. BUT, I decided, in case there is someone, I would go ahead and post something.

Things have been great around here. I guess the last time I posted we had ice in Conway...well, the rest of the state has it now but we are fortunate enough not to have experienced that. It is definitely cold (24 right now) but not icy. Praise the Lord!

We had a great Christmas and New Years. The holidays were pretty busy with trying to see both our families but it was worth every minute of it. After New Years school got started back and I got started on my internship applications. That is another reason why I haven't been posting. I am applying to UCA, UAMS, Vanderbilt, and Lipscomb University. Apps are due February 16 so please pray I get everything done accurately (very tedious task) and that the Lord will open a spot for me if that is what I am supposed to do this next year. I will truly be disappointed if I don't get in b/c I feel like I have worked so hard this last year to make that happen but I know if I don't then the Lord has something bigger and better for me. We find out April 20th at midnight if we got a match.

I am taking 12 hours of grad school this semester. I know it sounds like a lot but 6 of those hours are associated with my LEND class at UAMS which means I just get credit hours for doing LEND and I don't have to do anything extra. YAY! I am in 6 regular hours also. I have a Wednesday night stats class...that is going to kick my butt. I am terrible at stats and we have had 2 classes already and a test next week. AHHH!! I also have another class that is half online and half in class work. We meet on Saturdays from 10-5...only 3 times throughout the semester though. This Saturday is the first meeting so we shall see how that goes. That is really all that is going on with me these days.

As for Dan, he is still in Searcy and still liking his job but hating the drive...which is understandable. He duck hunted quite a bit up until this week. Season ended this past weekend so no more alarms at 1:45 and him driving in the middle of the night. Thank goodness! I always had such a hard time going back to sleep when he would leave in the middle of the night. He did kill a lot of duck towards the end of the season so now we get to look forward to eating it! YUMMO!!

Rex and Tyson are doing good. As I sit here and type this, Rex is laying beside me in the floor and Tyson is laying on my feet under the next. They are both rotten little dogs. We have had some issues with Tyson. When we built our fence a couple of years ago, we attached to our neighbors fence. Well, it is a piece of junk, and has fallen down several times. Dan and one of our other neighbors have gone out to nail it back up over and over but something always seems to happen. Their kids knock holes in it with the baseball, a storm comes and blows it over, etc. Well, they got a pitbull also and decided to start keeping it in the back yard (it used to be an inside dog). That caused a whole mess of problems with Tyson. Now they sit back there and dig and chew on the fence so they can get to each other. We have had to start chaining Tyson to the deck. I don't know what it is about us and dogs but they always find a way out. I have to check on Tyson every couple of hours to make sure he is still on the chain. We are praying that this family will move. Rumor has it that the owner is about to kick them out. I would never wish that on anyone...I just want them to find a new home..not next to us :) They have been difficult neighbors. Needless to say, since it is so cold outside, Ty is in with us but will be going out in a couple of hours. Rex is the same old rotten dog he has always been. He has gotten to where he likes regular visits to Nana and Pops (Sharon and Robert) and Momma D and Papa Ross (Dianne and Mark). They all spoil him so much and we have to break some habits when he gets back home.

Anyways, this is too long of a post. I will put a few pics up from the holidays and random things. Hope you enjoy the update :)

God Bless!

Ice in Conway

Rex staring down another dog in the ice storm.
Picture of the house and driveway covered in ice

Me and Rex chilling by the Christmas tree
Rex loved being outside in the ice. IT was so funny to watch him try to run cuz he would start slipping. He cracks us up!
Tyson got to come inside for a bit. THat is big time b/c he has never been inside. He loved it.
Dan got to come home early on Monday and had the day off Tuesday. YAY!!!
Tyson is living it up. We think he got too hot inside though cuz he was begging to go out before the night was over. Weird, huh?
This is what Rex does every day. He is such a spoiled little baby!
Yeah, Tyson STUNK! I don't think Dan has given him a bath since he has owned him...and that has been about 3 years. Sick out!

Monday, December 15 it started sleeting about 11 that morning and did not stop until the middle of the night. The roads were covered in ice so Dan got to come home early and was off on Tuesday b/c it never got above freezing for it to freeze off. It was a great day. We laid around and watched t.v., cleaned house, Dan worked on his real estate class, played dominoes, played with the dogs, etc. It was such a fun day to relax and just be together. Then Wednesday it was back to work! Oh well, he works Monday and Tuesday of next week and then has the rest of the week off. I am so thankful for that. If he had any other job he probably wouldn't be blessed to have the time around the holidays off. We are so ready for Saturday to come b/c we are doing our Christmas together then. I will post pics of that later :) Have a good rest of the week.
God Bless!

Memphis Weekend

Ben and I getting ready for the race. It was freezing cold!
Dan let me borrow his coat to get warmed up before we started.
Dan and I in front of AutoZone Park. We finished inside the pakr and ran part of the way around the field. It was pretty cool.
Laura and I post race. I hate this pic but it was the only one of us and I had to show her there supporting me.
Valerie and I probably dominating at shuffleboard!
Dan and I won the first game of pool. Go us!
Waiting to eat some BBQ at The Rendezvous. IT really turned out to not be that great.
Cute pic of Ben and Val waiting.
Before dinner on Saturday we went to the zoo to see Christmas lights. It was fun.
The four of us post race.

December 5-7 we went to Memphis for the St. Judes Marathon/Half Marathon Race. Ben (my cousin Valerie's husband---they live in Nashville and met us there) and I ran the half marathon and both finished in good times. He finished right at his goal time (1 hour 34 minutes) and I finished 1 1/2 minutes under my goal time (1 hour and 48.5 minutes). We had a lot of fun, despite the freezing cold weather. After the race I got so cold I couldn't stop shaking so we had to make it back to the hotel pretty quick and didn't hang around. We were all starving so we ate lunch at the hotel restaurant and then took naps. We were pooped! After our naps we got ready and went to the zoo to see the Christmas light display, which was cool. We had dinner at the Rendezvous, who is supposedly super famous for their great ribs and to be honest, they weren't that good. But that's just my opinion. After dinner, we went out on Beale Street for a while then made our way back to the hotel and hung out at the Fox and Hound across the street. It was a late night with tons of laughs. I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long long time. We got up and headed home the next morning. It was such a fun weekend. I hope we get to do it again soon. Everytime we hang out with Ben and Val we laugh and laugh and just have so much fun. Wish we were closer so we could spend more time together. And we will NEVER forget our experience at the Waffle House Sunday morning...haha! Good times!

Thanksgiving 2008

Razorback game pics....

Gingerbread House making pics.....

Post-Meal Pics....

Pre-meal/during lunch pics....

Pinnacle pics....

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am so blessed to have such a fun, amazing family. We spent the whole week in Little Rock. Dan only had to work on Monday and Tuesday. He went hunting with his brother on Wednesday morning, then headed to Little Rock to spend the rest of the week there.

Tuesday: Lauren and I went to eat sushi...our favorite....and then watched Brian's team play Conway. They won and apparently that was a huge win. Conway was supposed to beat them pretty bad. So, it was a good night for Brian and for me b/c I got to hang out with Lauren and I hadn't done that in forever. I went back to Little Rock that night with my family so Dan and I wouldn't have 2 cars in LR.

Wednesday: Mom and I went shopping for a couple hours that morning and came back to the house and got started cooking for Thanksgiving. Most of the stuff we were having could be made the day before and that was a huge help. Brian and Dan finally arrived and we went to Pinnacle Mountain with Sydney, Austin, and 2 of Austin's friends---Cole and Luke. We played frisbee and football and climbed a little ways up the mountain. It was a beautiful day and so fun to hang out. We just hung out at Mom and Dad's that night and went to bed early. Dan had been up since 2:15 hunting so he was worn out!

Thursday: Brian and I started the day off running together. I really enjoyed that b/c I don't normally have a running buddy. When he comes into town we always try to get a short run in together. Meme, Ed, Mom, Dad, Brian, Sydney, and Dan were all there for lunch. It was so yummy! We spent the afternoon relaxing and then we drove to Conway to feed Tyson since we left him there alone. Poor boy! After feeding Tyson, we went back to LR and worked on the gingerbread house. It took some work and lots of hands but we got it done. It turned out so much better than mine last year. Dan and Mom had to hold the roof on until the icing dried b/c it kept slipping off. It was fun and I think we will make it a tradition from now on. My Aunt Linda got me started on it last year. That night we were going to go see "Four Christmases" but it was sold out so we came home and watched "Ironman" at Mom and Dad's theatre and got in the hot tub. What a great way to end Thanksgiving day?! It was such a fun, low-key, relaxing day.

Friday: GO HOGS!!!! We went to the Razorback game with Mom, Dad, Brian, Sydney, Lauren, and Justin. We were very unprepared for the weather. It was so pretty all week and then on Friday it just turned cold and yucky. We tailgated for a short while before the game and it was just cold. Once we got into the game it started sprinkling and my jeans were wet which made me even colder. The game started off great! The first quarter was so much fun. Then it was downhill from there. The 2nd quarter was so-so...then we sat through halftime...when it rained the hardest! Then came the 3rd quarter...they scored immediately and we turned it over on our first drive. We all looked at each other and thought...lets go home, it's just gonna get uglier as the game goes on. We got to the car and turned on the radio and the fun began! The Hogs started coming back. It was much more pleasurable listening to it in the warm car, although it would have been so much fun to be there. We made a pitstop at Starbucks then went back to the parentals. We finished watching the game and were all jumping around screaming so excited cuz the Hogs won by 1 point! Dad grilled some burgers for dinner and we finished off the night with a fun game of Catch Phrase...and we won't talk about who won. What a great day?!

Saturday: I got up and did my final long run before the big race this weekend. I ran 6.5 miles on an extremely hilly route. It was probably the best run I have ever had. I was so excited. It made me feel good about the race this upcoming weekend. After running, me, Dad, Mom, and Dan loaded up and went shopping. Little did we know we would be shopping for 6 hours that day! It was very productive, but a very long day. We got all our Christmas shopping done except what we are getting each other and Mom and Dad's gifts. I was proud of us. And we stayed within our budget...which is hard for me to do when it comes to Christmas presents :) We ate at Cantina Laredo for dinner and then headed back to Conway. It was sad for the week to come to an end but I can't complain. We had the best Thanksgiving.

Sunday: We were lazy! :)