July 4th: Buffalo River/Memphis

No matter how much wishing and hoping I did, our big Eagle Lake July 4th Celebration just wasn't really happening this year. So, since this is one of my favorite weekends of the whole year, I refused to let us sit at home desperately searching for something fun to do. We decided to hit the road to Memphis for the long weekend and have some fun with our friends Dave and Rachel.

We left Jackson mid-morning Friday and then hit Beale Street for the afternoon with Dave. We just walked around, had a few cold drinks to celebrate the fact that it was Friday AND a long holiday weekend, and listened to some good blues on the patio of Silky's.

Once we left downtown it was back out to Dave's house in East Memphis, then we picked up Rachel and headed to dinner at The Germantown Commissary for some classic Memphis BBQ. SO GOOD!!

We woke up bright and early Saturday and packed up the car (we looked like the Beverly Hillbillies) and hit the road to Buffalo River in Flatwoods, Tenn., outside of Nashville. About two and a half hours later, we were ready to set up our campsite (yes, I camped in a tent - stop laughing) and put our canoes in the water.


Derek and I had never canoed together before. He's never been at all, and while I've been canoeing, it was many many years ago, and I'm pretty sure I sat in the middle and didn't do any paddling. This was much different. Ha! We tipped over in the first 90 seconds. It was a cold wake-up call, but that's all it took to get our butts in gear and get a paddling system going. We were river rock stars after the first two minutes! Ha!

The trip was about eight miles total, and we stopped a lot to swim or walk up to a waterfall or for the guys to do some cliff-jumping. Here's Derek mid-jump. And this wasn't even the highest one - my waterproof camera ran out of film before we got to the big jump. Crazy.

We made it back to the campsite in about seven hours, only flipping over once more towards the very end. We did fine until the last mile or so when it was still water and you couldn't stop paddling. We were exhausted. I don't think I've used some of these muscles in my whole life. Ouch. All in all, I give us an A for our first time canoeing! It was so much fun, and we made a pretty good team. I only have a few pretty bruises to keep as souvenirs. :)

Camping was a blast, too. It was a cool 67 degrees outside, which made sleeping in a tent actually enjoyable. Bugs weren't an issue, the fire burned all night, our cheddar brats we made over the fire were delicious, as were the s'mores. A total success and a great way to celebrate the beauty of this great country!!

We woke up with the sunshine Sunday morning and packed up. Sunday afternoon we relaxed our super sore muscles in Rachel's apartment pool for a while before going downtown for a quick bite to eat and to watch the fireworks.

We got a special treat after the fireworks when Dave and his music buddies decided to fit in a little practice jam session. They are SO GOOD! We love hearing Dave play the guitar, usually "Dave Unplugged" on our back deck or at the lake. This was "Dave Plugged In" with his electric guitar, another electric guitar AND some drums. Amazing. Not to mention their practice area is in a super cool warehouse downtown. I felt very "urban." Ha!

So if you're itching for some good live music, go check out Double Daves next time they play around Memphis. You can thank me later. Or you could just check out this snip-it of them playing my favorite song, Wagon Wheel by Old Crow. :)

We had such a great weekend! It was the perfect little road trip. And if I couldn't be at Eagle Lake enjoying America's birthday, this was the best way to spend it. Happy Birthday, America!

I'm goin' to Jackson...

Thank you, Johnny Cash, for inspiring my blog post today. What a coincidence... Four years ago today we officially moved to Jackson. It was a hot, steamy June day and we packed up redneck-style with trucks and trailers and hit the road. Stuff was flying out of the truckbeds all along I-20, and people were staring at us as we stopped on the shoulder to re-secure everything. It was chaos. I can promise you it was the last time we will ever ever ever move like that again.

We had been married a little less than a year when I got a job here (I actually started the day after our first anniversary), so I did the 45-minute commute from Vicksburg for three months before we moved. Then Derek did it for three months after we moved until he found a job over here. We needed a change, and to us, Jackson was a good plan.

It was much bigger, offered more options, had an airport (as small as it is, it's still "international" - Ha!), had more things to do, etc. If we wanted to stay in Mississippi, this would be it for us. It's a good mid-point location between our two families, too. Don't get me wrong, we caught plenty of slack from family and friends about moving to the "big city" with all its crime, but we did it anyways. And we felt like if we were going to move here, we wanted to live inside the city, not in the suburbs. It was a risk we were willing to take. We've had a few scuffles with crime, but we've dealt with it. And we're still here.

We've made lots of new friends, met the best neighbors anyone could hope to have, found jobs we love, become "regulars" at great new places to hang out right down the road, tried lots of new restaurants, and just enjoyed ourselves overall.

This was a really smart move for us. I realize it's not right for everyone, but different strokes for different folks. I can't believe it's been four years, and we still love it (most days, anyway). Of course there are things I would change about it, but overall the pros definitely outweigh the cons. I love being in a bigger city; I love all the history; I love the old, tree-lined neighborhoods; I love the character of this city, even with all its flaws.

No place is perfect, but Jackson is perfect for us.

What A Weekend!

I know it's Tuesday, but I am just now recovering from our crazy busy weekend. I don't know how in the world we manage to have weekends in a row with no plans at all and then a weekend when we need to almost clone ourselves to do everything that needs to be done. Oh, well...

Saturday morning we headed over to Vicksburg for our dear friends Lauchlin and Olivia's baby shower. We can't wait to meet Baby Grady next month!

After the shower we stopped by Katie and Neil's to visit with Sweet Baby Frances on the day of her first birthday party. I can't believe tomorrow she will be ONE! Where has the time gone? She was not in the best of moods on Saturday, but she managed to smile for a little while during our visit. Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

Unfortunately we had to miss the actual birthday party because we had to head back to Jackson to get ready for Claire and Jeremy's wedding shower that night. We made some tomato sandwiches and Apache dip and then hit the road to Brandon for the shower.

We had fun, and Claire and Jeremy had fun, so I'd say it was a success!

Sunday morning we woke up bright and early to get Derek packed up and off to the airport for a quick business trip to Chicago while I hit the road again, this time to Hattiesburg for Father's Day. I ate lunch with my parents and grandparents at Bianchi's Pizzeria downtown and had a fabulous visit. Happy Father's Day!

I can tell you that weekends like that don't happen for us too often, which is a good thing. And so far the only thing on this weekend's agenda is a big fat MASSAGE for me. So all in all, it was a super busy but F-U-N weekend, and every now and then it's not bad to need a weekend to recover from your weekend. :)

Water Hobo

With Eagle Lake still out of commission for a few more weeks, I have been a total water hobo bouncing from pool to pool this summer.

I have never had anxiety about not being in or near the water EVER until this summer, but it has really been tough. It's a total itch that needs to be scratched, hence my desperation the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend when I just couldn't make it work.

I have enjoyed some nice quality time with friends in their beloved pools just about every weekend in June. I've been to Flowood, Birmingham, Ridgeland... I'm on a tour of pools, technically.

And I think Derek and I agree that a pool is pretty high on the wish list for the next house several years down the road. I know some people argue that it's too much maintenance and can be too dangerous for small kids, but I think the pros would definitely outweigh the cons for us. But that's beside the point...

Fingers crossed our dear lake will reopen for recreational use in time for my favorite weekend of the year, July 4th. If not, we'll be in desperate need for an impromptu trip to some other lake. You can't exactly have a boat parade in a pool or shoot fireworks from a pier in the middle of a pool. And THAT, to me, is what July 4th is all about. (Besides being proud to be an American, of course.)

In the meantime, I'll just continue my tour of pools. You gotta beat the dog days of summer somehow. And of course spending an afternoon with friends never hurts either. :)

"To All the Girls I've Loved Before..."

Last night I went to see Willie Nelson at the Jackson Convention Complex with my mom and my grandmother... talk about an EPIC girls' night out!

Granny is the most dedicated, loyal Willie fan I've ever met. I clearly remember dancing around in our nightgowns to "On the Road Again" in her living room. And of course we always listen to Willie's Christmas albums (and Elvis, too) when it's time to open presents at Granny's house on Christmas Eve.

She first saw Willie in Jackson in the mid-1970s. And last night was her FIFTH time to see him (that's actually one more time than I've seen both Dave Matthews and Widespread Panic, my only two repeat performance bands). My mom saw him once years ago, and I saw him two summers ago at The Wharf in Orange Beach as part of Derek's birthday weekend.

Our tickets were on the 16th row, which was pretty close to begin with, but my mom sweet-talked a JPD officer into letting us move up to empty seats in the third row so Granny could see Willie in all his braided, bandana-wearing glory.

It was awesome. She had the time of her life and got a little emotional here and there, too. I think his music brings back so many memories for her from throughout the years. I'm sure he heard every "Woo Hoo!" she yelled and even when she kept yelling, "Come on, Willie! Play my song!" She was in rare form and my mom and I enjoyed every single minute of it.

It was just an incredible memory for the three of us and a once in a lifetime opportunity, for sure.

So, Willie, all the girls you've loved before ain't got nothin on my Granny... thanks for a great night.

Girls' Weekend in Birmingham

I took Friday off and headed out of town for a much needed, relaxing girls' weekend with some friends from college.

I haven't really visited much with my friend Brooke since she moved to Birmingham in December, and my friend Wendy has lived there for years and I've never visited her either, so I was way overdue for a weekend in their city! We spent the majority of the weekend in the pool just laughing and talking.

On Saturday morning I drove over to Decatur (a little over an hour away) to meet my parents for a visit with Grandma. We went to lunch and looked at my photo album from Italy. She's doing great, and it was wonderful to see her. The only downside was that I left my camera on the charger at Brooke's, so I have no pics.

I actually only got one pic the whole weekend. Well, technically this one, too, but Wendy will hate me for it. She was trying to dodge the camera the whole time... :)

It was a fabulous weekend and a MUCH needed one! Thanks for the laughs, girls, and Wendy, congrats on Baby BOY Farmer due this fall! Love him already.

Two very, very long years...

It's been two long years since we said goodbye. It's hard to believe two years have already passed, but then again it feels like 20. We think about you every single day and miss you so very much.

We spotted our first fireflies of the season in our backyard this week and took comfort in knowing that little sparkle was you smiling down on us. It doesn't really get easier, it's just that more time passes. You're always in our thoughts. With much love.