Spooky!

Hello all!

As most of you know (or all of you know), Abbey is a teacher with really cool ideas. Especially when it comes to decorating her door for the holidays. Well, since I will be out of town soon, Abbey asked if I would help her get a head start on some of her ideas. "Sure," I said. Ever since then, I have been stuck in the house, elbow deep in construction paper, scissors, and tape. But I think the time paid off. First, we created a Thanksgiving table with a feast on it. We didn't take a picture of that....sorry. But the best one so far, is the October one. It is a spooky house that Abbey is going to let her kids make pumpkins to help decorate it. Now since both of those have been finished and lamenated ( I made her do it), I will be starting on the Christmas one where jolly ole Saint Nick is in a little bit of a quandry. He's stuck! Anyway, I just wanted to share the house with everyone. Also, Sid the Spider is on there, too! Enjoy!

Two Big Things in Two Very Fast Days

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to touch base real quick about two big events that happened the last two days. The first occurred when Mom and I drove up to Ohio to watch and participate in the Tommy Brown (our late uncle) Memorial Football Game between the Fitch Falcons (Whoo!) and the Chaney Cowboys (Boo!). Mom was the one who got to hand the trophy over to the winners this year, and lo and behold, Fitch won! Mom got to give the trophy to Danny (her nephew, my cousin) who was a senior this year and also a captain on the team! It was great being able to see a lot of the family in the short time we had there, and they all came out to support the game.

The next day, Mom and I drove home in time to make it to the Demolition Derby to watch Moon race his car. The night before, he had some trouble with the car when his shifter messed up and then he got hit hard enough that his hood bounced down and hit his distributor cap and broke it and the distributor along with it. (I sound like I actually know something about cars, but I have no idea about what I just wrote means except that Moon was not finishing the derby that night!) Anyway, he worked on it early the next morning and had it in running condition for the derby that night. He was in the third heat with a bunch of sturdy, older model cars but he showed them what a little car could do! He ended up being one of the heat winners and got a spot in the final! As a heat winner, he was awarded a trophy and some other goodies. He was in pretty bad shape after his heat because he had taken a pretty good beating. With that added to the damage left over from the night before, he had a few things to mend before the final started. As they were lining up for the final to begin, Moon comes flying into the arena and completes two donuts in the mud before he parks his car. Let's just say the Staff and firemen on the outside of the ring weren't thrilled to be covered in mud...twice. The crowd loved him though. His car was by far the one in the worst shape in the final, but he gave all he had until a lucky shot broke his back axle, pulled his back passenger wheel from under the car, and left him spinning his other three tires and getting nowhere. He ended as 11th overall...but he beat Hillbilly and the guys that liked to target Moon didn't get very far either. The winner of the derby was a chicken who hid more than hit, but we didn't care all that much. We were so proud of Moon and still are. He had one of the biggest grins on his face, but today, he still has the grin but he has the soreness, bruises, and tiredness that come after a personal victory! He did a great job and had a lot of people to support him. Here are a few pictures of the derby and what remains.

Catching up!

Hello Mom and Dad and everyone else who reads this!

Sorry it's been so long since we have posted anything. Well Moon, Abbey, and I went to Ohio to share the 4th of July with our family up there. The fireworks were pretty good this year like they usually are, and I got some really cool pictures of them and of the kids with the sparklers.

Moon came back that weekend so he wouldn't miss work while Abbey and I stayed in order to visit New York City a week later. New York was awesome. It was also hot, smelly, noisy, and big. We had a lot of fun! We got to see the Empire State building, Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Trump Tower, Ground Zero, Little Italy, Chinatown, Times Square, 2 Broadway shows (both excellent - Altar Boyz and Avenue Q), Rockefeller Center, and Coney Island along with a few alleyways. Our feet hurt everyday, but we got really good tans, especially on the way back to Ohio. (Pictures of the trip coming soon.)

Aunt Tish drove us back to Tennessee just so she could decorate Julie and Josh's house with tiny animals hidden in various places. They weren't as amused as we were! We found out today that Aunt Tish also hid a few of the little animals in our house, and we have only found 1 to Julie and Josh's 38. But we have a lot fewer in our house than they has in theirs. [:

Abbey is excited about school starting August 5. She will be teaching 5th grade. She has been to her room several times in order to decorate it for the kids. She has some really cute ideas for study centers.

The Wilson County Demolition Derby is August 22, and Moon is preparing for the ride. The car is almost finished. Just a few things need to be painted on it and a few things need to be tinkered on under the hood. What they are, I have no clue.

I have an interview for ETSU PT school on August 2. Wish me luck! I bought a new shirt, but I am not sure exactly what I am going to wear yet. I will have to do a fashion show for Abbey to figure out which outfit looks best.

Hope all is well with you guys. We will be talking to you soon. We love and miss you!

What a stick!

It's been a while since I have posted a blog, but at least I have something interesting to share and I am not just rambling on!

I was sitting in the computer room looking up directions to some properties Moon and I are interested in when Moon decided to go outside and put chemicals in the pool. He started to get frustrated with me for putting a stick on the side of the pool, but instead of saying anything, he was just going to move it. When he reached for the stick, it moved off the side of the pool and into the yard. The stick was a snake! After the "stick" moved by itself into the yard, Moon thought I was playing a joke on him and thought it was a fake snake. It wasn't until the head started to move toward him that he knew it was real! He called me to grab my camera and "come look what fell off the side of the pool!"

After I took a few pictures, Moon wanted to know what we should do about it, so being the clever person I am, I said "Call Mr. Coley or Coy. They'll take care of it!" Needless to say, Coy came down and took care of what I thought was about a 4-foot snake. (He was long and FAT!) Coy was our hero for the day and after he slayed the snake, I made him hold it by the tail so I could take a picture. (Look at how big the snake REALLY was! And it's missing its head!)

April Fools' Day

From E~

As school is coming to a close (only a month left), and tests and projects are piling up my roommate and I decided to play a small little April Fools' joke on a favorite professor of ours. Let's just say that our professor is a sarcastic male, is not a big fan of pink (or any bright color for that matter), and has been used by another favorite female professor as an example for not liking hugs (it's an inside joke that would be hard to explain on here, sorry). Anyway, my roommate and I recruited two other female friends and decided to "decorate" his office/hallway for AFD. We collected hot pink and pink camo wrapping paper, pink balloons and streamers, and made signs to put up everywhere. Luckily, the security guards know and trust us because they didn't seem at all bothered when they caught us decorating after hours in the science building. Actually, they just laughed and told us to have a good night. Well two hours later, after a fellow classmate came to witness the mischief taking place, we were finished with the pinkness. We had a lot of fun and took several pictures that night.

The story doesn't stop there, however. Early the next morning, I received text messages from several friends asking if I had anything to do with the professor's door. I claimed ignorance and also that I was still in bed, which placated a few but others had already known of my plans and congratulated me and my band of mischief makers for doing a wonderful job. As I came into the building that morning, I went to peruse our handiwork acting as if this was the first time I had seen it. It worked. The professor asked me a few questions about it, and I feigned ignorance again. Though I did show my amusement as had many other students, teachers, and staff members (several took pictures and one professor actually hugged the victim). The day went on without the four culprits being caught until 5pm that night.

I was preparing to go with a club I am part of to do some service work when the victim asked me to come look at one piece of the decorations. He pointed to an 'E' within an acronym JECA and told me that it was my name. (Truthfully it was, it was the first initial of all the culprits' names- just to help him out). I tried to feign ignorance again, but the coop was up. Apparently, the witness to our mischief the night before was offered extra points if he gave up the culprits. He did, and after cornered, one of our crew confirmed his answer.

Luckily, our professor wasn't angry, but actually enjoyed the attention because no other professor and a joke played on them that day. He kept the balloons to pop when he was frustrated, the heart cut-out labeled "what's missing", a sarcastic hug sign, and finally edited another sign and gave it to the female professor who nurtured our mischievious side. (Sign originally read: "Hug Department: Always Open" and was changed to "Hug Department: Closed due to bankruptcy"). Everyone got a kick out of the joke and it was a great stress reliever for those involved. I think we did a pretty good job!

I met John Rich (from Big & Rich)!!!!!

On my last day off, I went with my friend Susan on a catering job for a photo shoot. I met John Rich from the country duo Big & Rich! He is a really nice guy-- he is shorter than me and pencil thin. I made him a ham, spinach, green pepper and onion omelette with salsa and habenero sauce for breakfast and steak, chicken and shrimp fajitas for lunch. I didn't have a chance to get a picture with him but I did get my picture taken in his vintage Smokey and the Bandit TransAm!
If the vet thing doesn't work out, I told Susan that I wanted to become a member of her Enchanted Kitchen catering team. She has worked with a lot of country artists like Garth Brooks, Martina McBride, Montgomery Gentry and Brooks & Dunn. (Kix Brooks is one of our large animal clients at the clinic) It was fun-- if I meet anyone else famous, I will post some more pics.
Love you guys!

Love, Julie (the vet/caterer to the stars!)

Julie and Josh got a hot tub!

Julie and Josh were really excited about their tax return, and with the money, they wanted to buy a hot tub for their house. Well unfortunately, their return wasn't as large as they wanted, so our ever loving aunt decided to send them a starter kit. And, wow, Julie and Josh are on the box! Thank you Aunt Tish!