Goodbye Indians.

Last night the ASU "Indian Family" were officially retired. They had a ceremony at half-time during the men's basketball game.

Back in 2005, the NCAA announced a ban on ethnically or racially "hostile" or "abusive" nicknames, mascots and imagery.

Which I think doesn't make a whole lot of sense.  For me, personally, I think it would have been much better to take what they thought was "offensive" and correct that,  instead of throwing out years of  meaningful school traditions. Especially since Indians are so misunderstood. Why not take this as opportunity to teach people and grow awareness on the situation many of the American Indians find themselves in today?  Instead ASU, at no fault of their own, has to retire a symbol that has been around since the 30's! They've spent an entire year in research and development and paid a firm from outside the state who knows how much money to help with the new mascot selection.  The official introductory of the new mascot will not be for a while yet, but we know it will contain "Wolves" and there is much speculation that the name will be "Red Wolves". Which I don't completely dislike. I like actually really like the "Red" part in the name. If I remember correctly, Red Wolves were on the extinction list several years ago and have now been brought back and are a  thriving member of the wolf  species. So that's interesting. . . and makes an encouraging analogy for a smaller college like ASU.

Of course, we were at the game last night!  It is after all,  the school Jarrod graduated from. Even if he didn't go there for his entire college career, I think he feels a certain loyalty to ASU.  There was a pretty large crowd at the game. The men's basketball team hasn't been doing very well lately and the  attendance has been down. It must have been a great encouragement to see so many fans there last night, because they WON! Ending a current losing streak!

I, not being a ASU alumni, wasn't into it as much as most of the folks there. But even I got a little teary eyed when the "Indian Family" made their very last entry onto the ASU basketball court.  It's just sad! I mean it seems like this town is centered around ASU and the name "Indians". So many changes will be going on not only at the college but also to the entire city in the months ahead!

I am anxious to see what the new logos will look like!

Spring Sing 2008!

I ordered our tickets last week! We are going to the Friday night performance and we are taking Isabella this year (but she doesn't know it yet, so mums the word) and I think she's going to LOVE it!

Besides, it doesn't hurt for her to be getting "familiar" with the Harding campus. . . . wink.wink.

I have only missed one year of Spring Sing since I graduated from Harding.  It's a great show and I encourage you, if you haven't been to it in the past to go this year! It's always an entertaining show & great for all ages!

You can still get tickets, see link below. We prefer the balcony. Which are arguably better seats to see it all.  But there really are no bad seats at the Benson.

Birthday Dinner Bummer

As it turned out Jarrod had to work late last night, so my steak dinner has been postponed.  It's a bummer. But, hey, that's life!

He did get home in time to give me my presents!! For my birthday he bought me a  set of pearl earrings and a new stone for my Caerleon ring.  He bought me pearl studs several years ago and I loved them. I wore them all the time.  But, during our recent move I somehow managed to lose one (just one, so if your in need of a pearl stud give me a call!).  I thought  it was particularly thoughtful of him to to remember that I lost my old ones and buy me new ones!

 

Who knows, maybe I'll get my steak tonight. . . . ??

Happy Birthday to Me!

27 years ago today. . . .

Ha! This picture of my dad is priceless! Look how big my feet were!They look like they are the same size as my head! So, who's changed more I wonder, me or my dad?

Well, I turned 27 today! That's right just three more fleeting years until the BIG 3-0! Yikes!

For the most part today had been pretty uneventful. A regular, everyday Monday.  Until. . . . .

. . . . about 2pm, when I received a HUGE beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers!!  From my wonderful friends Amber and Andrea! Thanks girls, it made my day! They are so bright and colorful!! It's hard to see but there are daisies, carnations, lilies and some little purple flowers (I'm not sure what they are but they are pretty!). I don't know if you can see, but the water is even pink! How cute is that?!?!

Jarrod is supposed to be cooking me dinner tonight. Or grilling me dinner, I should say.  I am anxious to see what he got me, he always does a pretty good job when it comes to gift buying!

Birthday Extravaganza!

Since Jarrod and I have birthdays within a week of each other all of our celebrating is done together. There has even been a year where we received a joint gift! I guess we've been together long enough we are used to it! This weekend we spent time with our families and ate WAY too much!

Saturday night we had our birthday dinner with the Staggs. Terry, Margie, Jennifer, Daniel, Keith, Wendy, and Tori all came to Jonesboro to take us out to dinner. We ate at O'Charley's and then came back to our house for coffee and dessert which Margie had brought with them. We had a birthday cake and a layered brownie trifle, YUM-O! Let me tell ya, I was miserable Saturday night!!!  We had a fun time and it was really good to see Keith, Wendy and Tori.It was the first time they'd been able to visit us since we moved!

 

Today we went to church in Hickory Ridge. After church we had dinner at my Mom & Dad's house with the Wilson's. Mom made Jarrod a cheesecake and me a brownie cake! Whew! Can you imagine how much I've gained this weekend??  Birthday's are still pretty fun for us. We get to see our families and eat lots of good food and receive some nice presents! I don't dwell on the getting older part I like to concentrate on the dessert part!

Happy Birthday Jarrod!

A little embarrassment on your b-day is expected, right?

He's gonna kill me for this.  .  .  .

Jarrod turns 26 today!

And still as cute as ever!

Happy Birthday Honey!

I love you!

xoxoxox

Valentine's Day continued. . .

. . . about 2:30 a beautiful bouquet of Gerber daisies were delivered to my office. Aren't daisies the happiest flowers, you can't help but smile when you see them!

This picture really doesn't do the flowers justice. There  are hot pink, yellow and white ones  in the bouquet. They are so big and pretty.  And they smell great!

Every year Jarrod sends me flowers. Most of the time he sends me a dozen roses. There have been a few exceptions, like the year before last he got me a huge bouquet that had Star Gazer Lilies in it, I just adore those!. I love daisies, too and Jarrod has twice attempted to send them to me, once they brought me roses instead, and another time they forgot to bring me anything! That was the only year I didn't get flowers on V-day. It was really funny, but I remember it made Jarrod furious!  Ah, the memories!

Last night we decided to eat at O'Charley's (we had a coupon, haha!). They, not unlike every restaurant in Jonesboro, were packed. Luckily, we only had to wait about 30 minutes! 

We snapped a quick picture before ending the evening. Oh, and  if your wondering what I got my wonderful, thoughtful husband in return . . .  well, I made him a card of course, and then when we got home last night I made him sugar cookies from scratch!! I got my sparkling Pink Kitchen Aid stand mixer out and even broke in my fabulous lime green ceramic rolling pin!! Those of you who know me well, know this is a pretty big deal! I love to cook, but don't like baking as much! You have to be so exact and follow a recipe, which annoys me because I like to make things up as I go! Well, Jarrod LOVES sugar cookies, so I have been searching for the perfect sugar cookie recipe for years. And I think I have almost got it!  I  I should have taken a picture of my cookies. I think they turned out really great. I didn't get a chance to ice them last night since they were still warm when we went to bed, but Jarrod still loved them. He said they ranked right up there with his Mema's. Which is a huge compliment!

We had a great day and hope you did too!!

Valentine's Day!!

Happy Valentine's day! I just love V-day, and not just because it's the one day of the year that I usually get flowers!  Ha! I like the idea of so many couples taking the time to acknowledge their love and appreciation for each other. In today's busy world there are so many things vying for our attention that I think sometimes we may simply forget to take the time to share with our spouse how much we appreciate all the things they do. Today is an entire day devoted to just that! I think we need more days like today!

Jarrod and I usually don't exchange gifts/cards until V-day night, but there was a sweet card beside my freshly made pot of coffee when I got up this morning. It was such a nice surprise. I have to admit that he's a pretty thoughtful guy sometimes! 

To all my friends and family, since it's V-day, the day of love, I just want to say that "I Love You! " You mean so much to me and bless my life everyday! I hope you get a nice, unexpected surprise today and if no one else tells you that they love you today, at least I will have!! Have a wonderful Valentine's day!

I got tagged. . .

I got tagged by Kristen with these instructions: Pick up the nearest book with at least 123 pages. Find page 123. Find the first five sentences. Post the next three sentences. Tag five people.

Haha.  .  .  just my luck, my excerpt would have to be about something completely ridiculous! Honestly, you can't make this stuff up .  .  .

"In an effort to increase its international presence, Anheuser-Busch Companies are targeting the fast-growing markets of Argentina, Brazil and Chile.  But breaking with its promotion strategy at home, the brewer is positioning Bud as a trendy drink for affluent youth, peppering the hottest night clubs and bars with giant banners, neon signs and other promotions. The result: Some rivals jokingly refer to Bud as a North-of-the-Border Corona. "

Since I am at work, my selection of books is basically a few old college text books that I use for reference and some graphic design books that contain mostly pictures.  So, I didn't have much too choose from, as I am sure you can tell! It's not exactly recreational reading material!  This  particular selection of text came from "Marketing 5, by Charles W. Lamb, Jr., Joseph F. Hair, Jr., and Carl McDaniel, 2000" .

I tag Christina G., Amber S., Jennifer S., Brandy G. and Shea C.  Some choices I think will return interesting results.  .  .

A Scary Super Tuesday

February 5, 2008

Election day tornadoes kill 13 in Arkansas

In Arkansas, tornadoes that touched down on Primary Election Day took the lives of at least 13 people and disrupted voting.

The twisters, which also slammed Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Alabama were part of a line of storms that raged across the nation’s midsection at the end of the Super Tuesday primaries.

As the extent of the damage quickly became clear, candidates including Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee paused in their victory speeches to remember the victims. "While we hope tonight is a time for us to celebrate election results, we are reminded that nothing is as important as the lives of these fellow Arkansans, and our hearts go out to their families," Huckabee said.

Authorities went door-to-door early Wednesday searching for more victims of deadly tornadoes that ripped the roof off a shopping mall and blew apart warehouses as they tore across four states. The Associated Press reported at least 50 fatalities throughout the South.

It was quite a night for us! Our first big storm in our house in Jonesboro. After hearing sirens and news that there was rotation in a storm headed for Valley View, we barricaded ourselves in a hallway with a mattress and couch cushions. Luckily we received no damage. It was scary for me, since I am terrified of tornadoes! Jarrod was as cool as a cucumber throughout the whole thing.

 

After the storms were all over Taki perched herself on the mattress we had been using earlier in the hallway.

 

Jarrod is getting filled in on the recent damage, he is talking on his cell phone via bluetooth, listening his work radio and watching TV all at the same time!

The Wedding Singer is coming to Memphis!

I got us tickets today for the 2 pm show on Saturday, Feb. 16th at the Orpheum.  The Wedding Singer is my favorite movie, partly because I love Adam Sandler and partly because I love 80's music! I can't wait to see it on stage with the music and choreography!! I just hope Jarrod doesn't think this gets him out of getting me something for Valentine's Day. . .

Baby Gift for "Macie Grace"

My friend from High School, Angela Wright is having her second baby, another little girl!! Amber hosted a shower for Angela at her house today. We had such a good time! Amber and her mom made the cutest cake.  Isn't it adorable?!?

About a month or so ago, I found a really neat  diaper & wipes case that folds out into a changing pad at Pink Taffy Designs.  I don't know much about baby stuff, but this seems like it would be very functional and it is SO CUTE! The inside is vinyl so it wipes clean and has a pocket for diapers and wipes and the outside is really trendy fabric so you could carry it and it doesn't even look like a baby bag! Anyway,  I thought Angela would  like it, since it's so girly and fun!!

 

I also made her some custom note cards, mommy cards, address labels and gift tags.

Let it snow. . .let it snow!!

These pictures were taken about 12 noon yesterday.  I left work at 11am after hearing that the schools in Jonesboro and Weiner were all closing around 11:30.  It was a slow drive home, the snow, sleet, rain mix that was coming down was not fun to drive in! But, it was the prettiest snow I have ever seen! The snowflakes were huge!! I am glad I took these pictures as soon as I got home because by 3pm it was all melted! It would have been nice to have enough snow to build a  snowman, but maybe the groundhog will see it's shadow tomorrow and we'll get a chance for some more snow! I am not ready for spring! I'll pass on allergies and tornadoes, thank you very much!

  

Jarrod has had a rough week this week. First dealing with the damage of the high winds on Tuesday. He was called out at 2 am early Wednesday morning and  got back in about 6 am. Then he worked Wednesday from 9 am to 6 pm, then went out again at 8 pm and worked until about 3 am!! I don't have to tell you how tired he was!! Thursday, he was on his way to his office in Blytheville when the weather started getting bad. His boss called and told him to turn around and go home for the time being. It turned out that he didn't have to go in at all yesterday! So, we got to enjoy an afternoon of napping and laying around. . . and I don't know it it was the lack of sleep or what but something must have made Jarrod a bit goofy. . . what is he doing??  He cracks me up!!

Yesterday afternoon Taki wanted outside so I let her out and she jumped right off the front porch into the snow. . . YIKES! Too cold for her little paws! She was back on the porch before I could blink!

I guess she was cold . . . she burrowed up in a blanket on the couch.

Unfortunately, it was back to work today. We didn't get much snow last night and the temperature was high enough that the water on the roads didn't freeze, so the roads were clear enough to drive on. Oh well, a half a snow day is better than none at all!