Coming up for air.....

I have to just say that my husband is the coolest possible person in the world. I love him and he's just too darned awesome for words. Check out his blog post....The Shooter Chronicles.

I'm exhausted and can hardly hold up my head, but I'm at work. I can't afford to not be at work with the economy the way it is.

I'm worried about my Mom, my Dad, my job, my family and tons of other things. Good thing they make meds for that.

The Shooter Chronicles

Well, Shooter has decided to jump, errrr...rather fall, into the land of blogging. I think he's going to start doing some video blogs since our brand spanking new laptop has a webcam. I might do some guest vlogging over there every so often, myself. Anyway, head over there and say hi!

www.theshooterchronicles.blogspot.com

Later lovelies!
L.

Lordy what eye candy....

Okay...can I just say that this past weekend I was treated to some of the best eye candy on TV. Okay...so some of you may not agree, but I KNOW at least one of my readers will.

I had told someone a while back that if I had nothing to do on a Saturday but lay around on the couch and watch TV, and if there was nothing on but a marathon of Dirty Jobs and No Reservations, I'd be in heaven!!!

Well kiddos....this past weekend....there was a marathon of Dirty Jobs on!!!!! The heavens opened and angels sang. *sigh* Mike Rowe....you fill out a pair of jeans so well. I can't help it ya'll...he's manly and dirty and hunky and has fabulous arms and pecs and just is so darn masculine. *sigh*

Contrast that with my other "love", Anthony Bourdain. A skinny, New York chef who lacks any real muscular appeal....but he has this fabulous salt and pepper hair....and he can cook a mean meal. Plus he has that dry, sarcastic wit that just makes me melt. ;-)

Then there's Shooter...my love...my Romeo....he's the best of both of them all rolled into a neat little package.

Guest Post by Shooter

It's Shooter ya'll!! That sounded cheesy didn't it? Well last weekend my in-laws were in town. Some may think that having your in-laws in town and staying at your house would be torture. I my case it is not. I enjoy having Laura's parents in town.

Well as Laura as said in a previous post we went to Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, GA. It was a good opportunity for Laura to get some good pictures and for all of us to relax. To be honest, I had a good time, but the beginning of day was rainy and it was kind of a downer. However it turned out to be a good day.

On the way back from Callaway Gardens we drove to LaGrange, GA. This is where my mother grew up and my grandparents and great-grandparents are buried. I haven't been to see Pop and Grandmother's grave since 2002 when Grandmother died. It was nice to see them again. I had a good relationship with both of them and used to stay with them in the summer when I was off from school as a young child.

Pop would taught me how to shoot and probably can be credited with developing my ability to shoot like I do today. It started with an old Daisy pump BB gun then a Crossman pellet rifle. The rest of time I helped him in his garden with his fresh tomatoes, okra, green beans (yuck!), and other vegetables. Grandmother always made sure there was a fresh pound cake and plenty of lemon drops when I came, those were my favorites and still are to this day.

When Laura and I got married in 1999, my Grandmother even though very feeble, told my mom and my Uncle Frank that there was no way she was going to miss her baby grandson's wedding in Tennessee. She did make it and it really meant a lot not only to her, but to Laura and I. Her Chad Boy had gotten married and was happy. Here is a picture us at our wedding.

Pop passed away first, he broke his hip and got pneumonia. I really never got to say goodbye to him and that still haunts me today. I loved him dearly and still miss him. Here is a picture of me and him at (I think) my 3rd birthday. Side note - that's my mom behind me at the counter.

Grandmother died in 2002. I remember the weeks prior to her death well. I had gone to visit her several times the last few weeks of her life. My sister and I went together along with my parents and by ourselves also. We talked about times growing up, recipes, and life. Grandmother said one thing she said to me a couple of days before she died that has stuck in my mind. "Don't let yourself get old." Grandmother was the best and I miss her everyday I wake up.

One thing that was very special about our trip was I got to see my great grandparents grave. John Terrell Huff and Lady Rebecca Stripling Huff. I love my great grandmother's name. Lady Rebecca Stripling sounds like something straight out of old England.

Anyway, that was my weekend.

Thanks Laura for letting me post. I love you, sweets!

Men should be men....

Sunday, our pastor preached a sermon on what real men should be like. In true Pastor Ritchie style, it was not exactly what you might have thought it would be.

Pastor Ritchie is irreverent and sarcastic and one amazing preacher. And Sunday he called for the men in our church to stand up as men, not some kind of castrated version of a man that a lot of churches are asking men to be. A lot of men clapped and whooped it up for him. They were very into what he was saying.


I have to say, I was too.


One thing that struck me was his comment about how he'd rather his wife tell him she respects him than that she loves him. I asked Shooter over lunch if this was true of him. He said that he actually needs to hear both things but knowing I respect him ranks higher.


Shooter and I have had our rough patches in our almost 9 years of marriage. What's awesome is that we've grown through it and become a better husband and wife to each other. I realized that during one of the roughest patches, the respect issue is where things started to come apart for us. I didn't trust that he had the ability to lead our household and therefore didn't respect him very much either. All I wanted was for someone to provide for me and to protect me. He wasn't living up to his end of the bargain. Granted, I wasn't living up to my end of the bargain either, I was nagging and fussing and whining and complaining and not really doing much to lift him up. That was a period where poor Shooter was getting griped at from every possible direction. Honestly, he came out of that a much, much stronger man.


I look at Shooter now and I recognize part of him, and then there are parts I don't recognize well. He's grown, matured and discovered who he is. He's a stronger man, husband and hopfully will soon be the father I always knew he could be. Better yet, I have discovered that nagging and griping don't get me anywhere. Now....I'm not saying that I don't ever nag...cause I do...it's just part of my DNA. I have just seen him grown into my protector, my rock, my provider, my husband, my friend.

I just hope that as women we realize that having men who are so in touch with their feelings and all sensitive and soft means we have men who are fulfilling what they were called to be. Once we accept that our men were created to be warriors and providers - then I think we're well on our way to really having the kind of relationship we crave.

Wordless Wednesday

He can't help it...he's got balls....big ones too....

I mean, look at that perfectly executed triangle of cannon balls...geesh, you people have your minds in the gutter....

P.S. I can't believe I haven't posted in nearly a week. Maybe I'll get out of my funk soon enough to update the world on the craziness that has been going on.

Who loves ya baby?!?!?

My funny valentine...

Sweet comic valentine...

Yea, he's a nut. This pic above is when he was in such need of caffeine I thought he'd collapse on the table. Ha!

Well, here we are...Valentine's Day. I spent years hating this day. I was single then. I also spent years hating it as a married woman. Why you might ask? Valentine's Day has so much hype around it. We ladies get all sappy and stuff cause we're watching all those infernal Jared jewelry commercials or Hallmark commercials or the marathon showing romantic movies on the WE network. We expect so much of our men...it's a bit unreasonable I think.


I have a low bar when it comes to Shooter. No really....I don't subject him to a desire I have for a certain type of behavior. He's not the guy on the Jared commercials...and honestly I'm glad he's not. I love him for who he is and how he loves me and for the simple fact that he's just awesome. He's a goofball and he keeps me laughing.


I loves ya baby....here's to hoping this Valentine's is our best ever!!

Just call me a fish out of water...

I will start by stating this....I am truly a girlie girl. I love pink. If it's pink, I want it. See, here are the shoes I wore today.

So, today Shooter finally got me to agree to going to one of his steel matches. It's about as non-girlie as you can get. It's reeks of so much testosterone it's highly unnerving. So, if you're not as well versed in pistol shooting competitions as me, then I will explain. See, a bunches of folks convene at a specified time.

They then walk all over creation with their guns, and coolers, and carts.

They stop every so often at stations where they try to shoot these little metal plates as fast as they can.

Personally, I chose to focus on the object of all my affection. Shooter.

*sigh* Isn't he handsome.

What a grin he has.

He's so sexy when he's engrossed in something he loves to do.

Oh...and he made the mistake of letting me shoot his gun at the last station....I did pretty well. So next time I'm going with him - provided it's not raining or freezing cold. My plan is to beat him, not that I'm competitive or anything. I'm a girlie girl, so I need to go and get me some pink muffs and shooting glasses.