Alyson's Wedding

Chad's sister Amy and her husband Kevin dancing.

Chad & Kathryn dancing.

Me & Chad - another opportunity to get all dressed up!

Always the librarian

Here is me beside the sign for the Blairsville library. Unfortunately we didn't get to go inside because they are only open on Saturdays for a few hours. Always the librarian - we try to get pictures of the local library when we go on vacation.

A Mule Ride

Here are me and Chad with our nieces, Kathyrn and Karissa, on a Mule at Uncle Guy's farm. Chad said that this is his tribute to Matt Roloff from the TLC TV show Little People, Big World. On that show Matt and his family use Mules to drive around their farm - Chad always says that he gets a Mule when we get our dream house on lots of land (which is still a long, long way off!). So, he got a little practice driving one while we were in GA.

Uncle Guy's Farm

Chad's uncle Guy raises cattle on his farm in GA. Here are some pictures of his cows.

Alpaca faces

Here are some closer pictures of some of the alpacas.

They are so cute, but unfortunately they don't really like to be petted.

Alpaca Time!

One of Chad's cousins got married in July in Blairsville, GA. We found an alpaca farm that was nearby where we were staying so we decided to check it out. It was really cool. The farm we went to is called Lasso the Moon (click on the name to go to their website). The farm owner not only raises the alpacas, but she also makes really cool glass bead jewelry - there's a section on the website where she sells it online too. I bought a blue/green bead shaped like an alpaca.

Greedy Kitties

If you can tell from looking at this picture - Roxy completely ripped open this bag of treats. I made the mistake of leaving them out on the coffee table and when we came home they were torn open. Both of them LOVE treats, but Roxy in particular will try to get into the bag if you don't watch her!

Parade Prizes

During the 4th of July parade this year we sat at the beginning of the parade route, so we scored better freebies than we have in the past. Chad got me the Chick-fil-A cow and I got the flag, plus we got TONS of candy. Chad also got the hat that he's wearing in the fireworks picture too.

Fireworks!

It's very hard to take a picture of fireworks, but Chad got the hang of it and took some really great pictures of the fireworks display in Harrisburg.

More 4th of July

Here are our nieces, Kathryn & Karissa, with their 4th of July ribbons.

Here's a picture of me & Chad at the Harrisburg park for the fireworks.

More pictures from the 4th of July Parade

This farm decorated their float with Sandra Boynton characters.

One of the Harrisburg fire engines.

Harrisburg 4th of July Parade

Chad loved this Carolina Tarheels Mule from the parade.

Paul Revere rides through the streets of Harrisburg.

Sandy's jewelry

If you look closely you can see that Sandy is wearing a milk cap ring like a bracelet. The milk cap rings are one of her favorite toys.

Biological clock ticking...or not...

I just read this article from Newsweek online called "Stop Setting Alarms on my Biological Clock" by Carrie Friedman. Basically the author talks about how much she does want kids, but is very frustrated and irratated with all the people she comes into contact with who want to know when she's going to get pregnant - and basically she says it's none of their business. All the harrassing doesn't really encourage her to want to join the motherhood club that so many people are hard-core recruiting for. It's like I could have written that article, except for the part about really, really wanting kids. I'm still very ambivalent about whether I want to have kids, but I'm really sick of everyone who has kids trying to recruit me into their exclusive club. My husband and I are the only couple I know that doesn't already have kids, is pregnant or actively pursuing pregnancy, adoption, etc. - but many of my friends think that when I hold their newborn I'm going to be suddenly converted to the cult. If we decide to have kids it will be on our terms and because we want to - not because we finally caved to all the pressure from other parents. I think this is a great, very relevant article - click here if you'd like to read it.

Hide and Seek

While we were on vacation in Wilmington we bought a print that we're planning to frame and hang up in our living room. But, since we haven't hung the picture yet Sandy decided it would be a nice place to hide.



Only after I took the picture of Sandy trying to hide behind the frame did I realize that Roxy was already back there hiding!

All dressed up with somewhere to go

The wedding we went to last weekend was FINALLY a reason to get all dressed up. Now that Chad & I have been married for seven years most of our friends are already married and having kids. So, recently we've been invited to more baby showers than weddings. But, Matt & Brooke's wedding was very nice and lots of fun. I even got Chad out on the dance floor briefly!

Chad's Family

Chad's second cousin (I think?) got married last weekend. Here is me & Chad with his family at the wedding.



Here is Chad's sister Amy, her husband Kevin and their girls Kathryn and Karissa.

Our Nieces

Here's Chad with our older niece Kathryn at a wedding we all went to last weekend.



Here are both of our nieces - Kathryn and Karissa.

Father's Day 2007

For Father's Day my dad and my brother came to church with me to see Chad play in the worship band and then we went out to eat. Here are some pictures of all of us.

How does your garden grow?

When we came back from our week vacation in Wilmington, I still had another week off - which was awesome! So, during that week Chad & I planted these flowers behind our house.

The Feminine Mistake

I just finished reading a really interesting book - The Feminine Mistake by Leslie Bennetts. Basically the premise of this book is that women should not quit working when they have kids because of the financial repercussions in the future. When I first heard about this book I wasn't even going to read it because I figured it's another in the string of books either anti-working moms or anti-stay-at-home moms. But, as a feminist I decided I did need to read it to know what's going on with this current debate.

So, I read it and it was a great book! I was very impressed by how thorough Bennetts is - she covers everything from what happens to stay-at-home moms when or if their husband (and only means of income) leave or die unexpectedly to the benefits of working moms - both for themselves financially and emotionally as well as for the kids and the family as a whole.

I don't have kids and I'm not sure about whether I want to or not, but I just don't see myself not working at all. It's important to me and my husband that someone is home for the first few years before school, but unlike most men he is more than willing to be that person. One of my favorite lines from the book is when the author is talking about how a lot of her friends just think her husband is so great because he helps out with household duties such as grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc. which shouldn't be seen as "helping" but as a normal part of his life as a husband and father. She says, “The sainted Jeremy may look like Husband of the Year in comparison with a lot of other guys, but that just goes to show how low we set the bar for men in this society.” (p. 247) I have way too many friends who's husbands don't do anything around the house - kids or not - and that is not the kind of marriage I want to have.

One of the best points from this book is that society only tells women that their children will suffer if they work full-time outside of the home. Why isn't anyone telling men that? Don't kids need BOTH parents involved in their care and upbringing? I love that this book points out the myths about parenting and that women are supposed to do everything. We've made too much progress as women to go back to 1950. Thanks Leslie Bennetts for doing such a great job of pointing that out!

Sandpiper

I finally got a decent picture of a sandpiper! I love these quick little beach birds. They are so fun to watch running back and forth with the waves. Every time I try to get a picture though they will run or fly away, but I was finally able to get this fairly close picture after much creeping and using the zoom on my camera!

The Birds of Airlie

Here is a Canada goose with her goslings.

One of the swans apparently did not want the geese around. He chased them everytime they got in the water.

Some of the animals at Airlie

Here are some rabbits we saw playing with each other.

Here are some turtles sunning themselves on a log.

Chad at Airlie

Here's Chad at Airlie Gardens.

Carnivorous plants

The Wilmington area is one of the few places in the world where Venus Fly Traps and other carnivorous plants actually grow wild. These are also at Airlie Gardens.

The Airlie Oak

This live oak tree at Airlie dates back to 1545 and is huge!

Airlie Gardens

Here is some of the beautiful scenery at Airlie Gardens in Wilmington.

Me & Chad

Here are some pictures of me & Chad on vacation.

Relaxing Reading

Here's what I did for a lot of our vacation - READ!

View from the pier

The view from Johnny Mercer's Pier.

Beautiful Wrightsville Beach

This is the view from our room while we were on vacation for a week in Wrightsville Beach. The weather could not have been better - low 80's, sunny and breezy. It was perfect. The beach was great and not crowded since we went before school got out for the summer. It was one of the most relaxing vacations I've had in awhile!

Vacation Time

Roxy attempts to hide out in our suitcase so she can come on vacation with us.

Watching TV

Sandy reaches for the remote hoping to change the channel back to Animal Planet.

Lucky Number 7

On April 29th Chad & I celebrated our Seven Year wedding anniversary! I can't believe we've been married for seven years now - it has definitely gone by fast, but it just gets better and better... These are the flowers that he surprised me with by having them delivered to me at work - one rose for each year we've been married.

And here's our anniversary cookie cake.