Time to Recap and Revamp

And I'm back! Bare with me, this is gonna be a long one.

Where did September go? Better yet, what has happened to most of October? Time is flying by! Here is a much overdue update from the Lassiter household....

In September Ben and I traveled to Florence to celebrate the birthday's of Daddy and Sissy. We actually took a minute to get a family photo before heading off on our "hike" in St. Florian (pronounced by us locals as St. Florine... it's a southern thing I guess). "Hiking" in the fall has been a tradition in my family for as long as I can remember. We have pictures of Cara, Matt, and me from when we were small, climbing trees at Davey Crocket State Park up in Tennessee. We would always go there to celebrate Dad's and Cara's birthdays and it was so much fun! Some of my favorite childhood memories are of my family playing at that park catching crawdads and salamanders in the streams, looking for deer on the trails, and playing "Billy Goat's Gruff", a game mom and dad made up where dad was the troll and we were the billy goats.

Below is Benji holding Peterson, Mom and Scooter, Sissy holding Henry, Bunky, Daddy holding Berkley, and Me looking awesome. Yes. I cropped myself out like that and yes, Ben always looks like a giant in our family photos... not sure why.

Below is a picture of Little Bunky. Little Bunky really isn't little at all. His name is actually Matt. Matt is my baby brother, six years younger than me. Cara and I nicknamed him Bunky which is a mixture of the words "Brother" and "Monkey" and we call him Little Bunky to get on his nerves. He secretly loves it. During the "hiking" day I spent much of my time trying to snap photos of Matt because he didn't want to be in any pictures. He loves me!

And in other news, Ben and I, with the help of our friends Ben B., Daniel, Katie, and Alley, broke ground on the long awaited brick patio!!! Ben and I have been planning this patio since we built the house over a year ago, and it is finally happening! We are using bricks that were left over from Auburn University's concourse renovation. (If you are an Auburn person you can appreciate that.) Ben was working on the councourse project and was able to bring home the extra bricks for us to use on the patio. I like knowing I have a little piece of Auburn right in my back yard.

As you can see from the photo below, it has been quite an undertaking. Finished product pictures and project details coming soon!

Below is a more recent picture of Berkley who is now almost 6 months old! He is pictured with Ben taking a ride on the mule. More photos on the mule ride to come as well!

In case you were curious, Ben and I are still doing The Love Dare. The flower below is a product of Love Dare Day 4, a little gift from Benji to me. So far I love this book and I highly recommend it to all of you. It is not a book that you buy and give to your spouse, it is a book that you buy for yourself. In contrast to what I expected, the book has changed me and my outlook on the way marriage should be. The Love Dare puts the focus on what I can do and should do for my spouse because I have CHOSEN to love him. It is not about how you should be treated by your mate, but how you should treat him or her out of love regardless of how they treat you. (A very Biblical concept that is not exactly taught in today's culture.)

Ben and I have really enjoyed the Dish Network so far. However, we haven't quite mastered this whole DVR thing just yet. Kind of makes me feel like a grandparent learning how to text.

The photo of Daddy below looks like it should be in a pamphlet about caring for your pets or about how pets increase longevity.... uhhh... anyway...

As I mentioned before, Daddy just celebrated a birthday and he received a long awaited gift... a t.v.! Dad has never been one to spend money on himself. He has always wanted to buy everyone else everything they wanted instead of using his hard earned money to buy himself something like clothes. I'm not exaggerating. So, we were thrilled when he finally allowed us to spend some money on him for a change! I am lucky to have such a hard working dad who has

always taken such good care of me! I am glad that he now has a t.v. that isn't 20 years old.

I don't even know how to begin to explain this next part...

Cara just turned 25 on 9/25/09 at 9:25. Therefore, she has been saying that this is her "Golden Year." I told one of my friends from work that this was my sister's golden year and his reply was "You have a sister who is 50??"

Anyway, to commemorate the "Golden Year," mom and I decided to make Cara a lovely Golden tunic to wear for the weekend. We also decorated her room with all kinds of gorgeous things like gold tulle and beads. More Golden Year photos to come. Does anyone out there still think we are normal?

The Pioneer Woman and The Love Dare

Hello Friends!

I am home once again waiting on the cable (Dish Network) guy.  "What?" you say, "I thought you were getting cable last week." No my friend, they found no signal.  So someone new is coming today and I am spending yet another morning in the house waiting.  But don't feel sorry for me because I love it!  I've got my coffee, my camera, my laptop, and my puppies and I'm good to go.  

Have you ever been to ThePioneerWoman.com? If not, you are missing out.  Ashley, myrecipes.com extraordinaire and best friend, shared this site with me many months ago.  I had not visited in a while and one day I thought, "I'll see what Pioneer Woman is up to."  I hit the jack pot.  She started a whole section on photography.  We're talking easy to read tutorials that I can understand! I am pumped! (This may have been there all along, but I didn't notice it until now.) Anyway, I basically am terrible at manipulating this camera to do more than take pictures on full auto.  I'm trying, but I get frustrated when I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. Pioneer Woman is full of great advice so if you are interested in photography, cooking, gardening, and life in the wild west, check her out.

And, on to the second subject of the blog,.... The Love Dare.  (Couldn't think of a smooth way to transition from the Pioneer Woman to the Love Dare. Sorry.)

If you have ever seen the movie Fire Proof, you know what The Love Dare is.  If you haven't seen the movie Fire Proof, you need to watch it. Now. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Landmark (our church) just started a new Wednesday night class on the book, The Love Dare.  For those of you that may be unfamiliar, the Love Dare is a 40 day challenge for husbands and wives to understand and practice unconditional love. Sounds interesting, huh? Let me give you a little taste by sharing with you what is on the very first page: 

"Receive this as a warning.  This forty day challenge cannot be taken lightly.  It is a challenging and often difficult process, but an incredibly fulfilling one.  To take this dare requires a resolute mind and a steadfast determination. It is not meant to be sampled or briefly tested, and those who quit early will forfeit the greatest benefits.  If you will commit to a day at a time for forty days, the results could change your life and your marriage.  Consider it a dare from others who have done it before you." 

Tonight, we begin.  I am very excited about this class and this journey and I pray that it will change my life and my marriage.  I'm not saying that Ben and I don't have a great marriage, we do!  I just think that you can never do enough to make your marriage even better. Marriage doesn't just happen because you coexist in the same house.  It takes work. I'm sure I have a lot to learn and I can't wait to begin!

You can pick up a copy of The Love Dare at your local book store and definitely at your local christian book store.  If you are interested and need someone to keep you accountable, let me know and you can go through it with me! No class necessary.

Our New Addition and Berkley's New Doo

The Lassiter family would now like to welcome into their home, cable. Oh Food Network, how I have missed you! 

I may have mentioned before that Ben and I decided not to get cable after we got married.  Neither of us were big t.v. watchers and we had heard that it was better for your marriage to not have cable (the theory being that you spend time with each other instead of just sitting in front of the t.v.).  So, we opted to save the money and not do the "normal" thing.  Thus, for 1 year and 3 months, we have been without cable.  

Did we miss it? Not really. Sometimes.  It was probably missed more by our house guests than Ben and me.  You know how you have company over and you keep the t.v. on in the background? Well, we didn't have that.  No background t.v. here. I think that made some people uncomfortable.

I missed t.v. when I was home by myself and I was tired from work and just wanted to sit there. I missed t.v. when there was an Auburn game on and we couldn't have people over to our house to watch it with us.  That about sums it up. 

Now, don't be completely fooled.  Come February when it was time for the new season of LOST to start, you better believe we went out and bought an antenna.  We couldn't wait an extra day to watch the new episode on the internet.  

Anyway, Ben and I decided it's time to move up in the world.  Goodbye antenna, hello multiple clear channels! And, we are just in time for football season! 

Now, on to Berkley.  In case you missed a post or two, I have a 4 month old standard poodle. One major benefit of the poodle breed is that they do not shed.  However, dogs that don't shed must be groomed regularly, and you know that Ben Lassiter isn't going to cough up 30-50 dollars a pop for grooming the family poodle.  Therefore, I bought clippers and determined that I'd learn to do it myself. How hard can grooming a poodle be, right? So, my friend Katie called just as I had purchased said clippers and volunteered to come watch just for kicks.  Little did she know, she would be doing all the grooming.... here we go...

Berkley Lassiter, the "Before" shot

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Behold, the "Lamb Cut" (4 hours later)

Thank you Katie, for your help and your excellent grooming skills. I don't understand why I haven't heard from you since. Just kidding. Stop begging me to let you come over and give Berkley another hair cut! Enough is enough!

Weekend Road Trip

The oldest and dearest, here they are.  We all got together to celebrate Ashley's last week in Birmingham before being whisked away by her new husband to Durham where he is currently finishing up law school.  We met up at the Melting Pot for a fabulous dinner and, as always, interesting conversation.  It is always fun to catch up with these girls.  No matter how long we are apart, we always pick up right where we left off.   If you haven't tried the Melting Pot before, I highly recommend it! Be prepared to be there at least 2 hours. 

After leaving the girls in Birmingham, Berkley (who accompanied me on my road trip) and I headed up to Huntsville to visit Cara and check out her new apartment.  Berkley loves aunt Sissy.

Cara, in case you didn't know, is an interior designer and oh so talented.  She actually made the headboard pictured below.  She tells me that she isn't quite finished with it since it isn't "tufted" (?) the way she wants it.  Maybe I will get my hands on a final project picture when she gets around to it.  She is currently rewiring and refurbishing and old chandelier to hang up in the bedroom so maybe I will get a picture of that too.  Her whole apartment is full of fabulous finds and bargains that are all put together for a chic look.  I am jealous of her ability to find great bargains and know just how to use them.

I left Cara on Sunday around noon and headed to Florence. I was making the rounds, people. Berkley was happy to be reunited with Henry and Scooter and it was great to spend time with Mom and Dad.  I love this picture of mom even though it is a little big over exposed. I am still trying to figure out the new camera. I want to master using it's special functions, otherwise there is no point in having it. 

After spending some time at home, Mom, Dad, and I loaded up the boys (dogs) and headed off to visit Mamaw.  I think she might have been a little overwhelmed by the dogs, but they love her.

Berkley rode like this in Dad's lap the whole way to Mamaw's.  He loves his Peepaw. 

While were were at Mamaw's we went on a scavenger hunt looking for lost goodies.  Mom found some old poodle figurines that Mamaw said I could have.  They are too cute! Ben has been begging me to put them on the table next to his side of the bed.  More importantly, my dad found some old stuff that belonged to my grandfather.  Pictured above, it was his bronze star medal and a letter to my grandmother from Papaw's commanding officer. Apparently, Papaw was injured while over seas and then decided to return home.  We don't know many details because Papaw never talked about it. 

I can't neglect go mention all of the fun finds that mom hooked me up with before I headed back to Pike Road.  Mom has opened a booth at an antique mall in Florence and she has been loading up on all kinds of great furniture and accessories, most that was picked up at the world's longest yard sale.  The only problem is that she wants to give everything away to me and Cara.  I can't tell you how many times I turned down her offer to give me an antique bed.  Somehow I managed to make it out of there with a needle point bench for the piano, a retro cake plate, some bird prints, a plant stand, a flower pot, a neat basket to hang on the wall, some old prints of my grandmothers, and another print that was done by a local artist.  I feel like I'm leaving something out.... anyway, you get the point.   I was sad to leave Mom and Dad, but I will be seeing them again in a couple of weeks to celebrate Dad and Cara's birthdays!

My road trip ended on Monday night when I met Ben at Haley, Chad, and Mary Ella's house in Pelham.  Berkley made a new friend in Lucy even though he was a little bit intimidated at first.  Haley made us a delicious Paula Deen style pot roast and veggies and we fried some home grown okra for dinner. The evening was complete when Chad brought home a chocolate pie! At the end of the night I got to feed Mary Ella her bottle. She is such a sweet baby girl and I can't get over how fast she is growing! I love that Haley lives between Pike Road and Florence because I always have an excuse to drop by and visit and see Mary Ella's latest achievements. 

Welcome Cool Weather!

Good morning! I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather as much as I am.  Last night Ben and I shut off the ac and opened up the windows to let the fresh air in.  It was so nice.  I am excited about fall quickly approaching. I'm sure the weather will warm up again before it starts to really turn cool, but I am loving it now! 

This past weekend was spent celebrating with my college roomie, Shelley.  She is getting married in November so Leslie (my roomie of 7 years), Mandy, and I threw her a little shower. We had a lot of fun and it was great getting to see old friends and meet new people! More to come on Berkley's new doo, my roadtrip, and other things.  Enjoy the beautiful day!

The Best Mocha I've Ever Had

I could barely hear Ben yelling my name over the sound of my hair dryer.  It was Monday morning and I was late for work already.  Finally, I realized there was another sound coming from the living room. I turned around to find Ben standing on one foot in the middle of the wool rug. The other foot was lifted in the air just so I could see that the bottom of it was covered in poop.  That's right. My precious Berkley had struck again.  

Since Berkley is more "my dog," I am ultimately responsible for cleaning up the messes.  Plus, I want Ben to like him. So, I dropped the hair dryer while simultaneously grabbing the wet wipes and make it from my bathroom to the living room in a single bound and in the same motion begin to wipe the poo from Ben's foot. This event paired with cleaning the smashed in poo out of the rug makes me even later for work.  Did I mention I am supposed to open the pharmacy?

Anyway, in my lateness I had not been able to make my morning coffee.  

I have coffee EVERY morning.  So, in order to make myself feel better about the rough morning, (did I mention that I was also sick?) I vow that I can push myself to allow enough time to swing by Star Bucks (there is one right infront of this particular Wally World) before going into work.  I deserved a treat, right? So, treat myself I did.  I ordered my favorite, a mocha.  I sometimes get them hot, I sometimes get them cold, but this particular morning I went with hot.  

I took the first sip.  Best. Mocha. Ever.  I was so excited. I couldn't believe it.  I mean, it was the perfect balance of chocolate and espresso.  It wasn't too hot.  It wasn't too strong. It was amazing. So, I called Star Bucks. Really. I called them a couple of hours later.  The conversation was awkward but it went something like this: 

"Hey, um.. I got a mocha there this morning, a little before 8:00. And, well, it was the best mocha I ever had. It made my day and I really appreciate it.  I just wanted to let yall know."

I think at first the Star Bucks girl thought I was calling to complain.  Then she seemed pleasantly surprised when I had something good to say.  She said she'd pass the word on to the person who made it.  She probably thought I was a weirdo. I don't care. I was having a rough morning and it was really nice to have something go right to turn it all around.  

Do you feel special and appreciated when someone complements you and lets you know that you are good at what you do? I know I do.  

Lately

One day after work I came home to this: a candlelight spaghetti dinner prepared by Ben.  I've been having to work in Clanton and Prattville lately and work isn't going exactly as planned. So, after a particularly long day in Clanton, Ben made dinner for me and set it up in our dining room.  We really only eat in the dining room on special occasions and when we have lots of company.  I'm really glad that we were able to get a table for the room since it has come in handy many times and we enjoy having it for those special occasions.  I just had to brag on Ben for what a good job he did with the dinner. It was so nice to come home and not have to worry about finding something to eat!   

Mom and Dad, along with Scooter and Henry, came down to visit us for a few days last week.  It was great getting to spend some time with them! On Tuesday we went to Hampstead to the new Farmhouse Kitchen restaurant and it was wonderful!  Every Tuesday night at Hampstead they have a little farmers market set up until 7:00.  We were fortunate enough to catch the last ten minutes of it and Mom and Dad bought us this jar of local honey.  I was particularly thrilled by this since I have been eyeing local honey for years.  I would see it for sale at farmers markets and contemplate buying some, but it was always expensive and I didn't know if I'd even like it.  Well, this bee man (not sure what you call them) was handing out samples of his honey, which I think all bee men should probably do when selling their honey to first time buyers.  After we each received a sample, Dad and Mom bought 2 jars: one for them and one for us. So, I've been making homemade biscuits each morning (read: Pillsbury) and topping them off with this delectable treat. I highly recommend it! 

The last couple of weekends have been really nice around here.  Since Ben and I had no prior obligations, we were able to just hang out, relax, and take care of things around the house.  One Saturday we took the boys (dogs) out to Mimi and Pop's (Ben's parents) house so they could have a little fun in the pond.  Pete loves the water! 

Berkley likes the water when it involves dumping out his water dish and splashing in it.  He doesn't mind swimming either, but he isn't as fearless as Pete when it comes to big ponds and swimming pools.  

Oh yeah, remember when Ben and I got married LAST YEAR? Well, for our honeymoon souvenir we bought a hammock. We decided to hang it up last weekend. Yeah, a year later. After a few seconds in this hammock I regretted not hanging it up a year earlier! It is so comfy and relaxing! Last night after work I headed strait out to the hammock... work clothes and all. I know this is going to be my favorite place in the fall when the weather is lovely and the misquitos are DEAD.  

So, that's the latest in the Lassiter household. Bye Friends!