I have been wanting this painting I saw in Savannah, but the $1200 is a complete no-go.  I mean seriously...who has $1200 to spend on a painting?  I am not even a big 'art' person, I choose to create my own.  That is exactly what I did today.

I call it...

Skittle Beagle Boo

I am pleased enough with how it turned out. Close enough to the $1200 version, but at a much more wallet pleasing price of $7 buckaroos.  I don't really care for the green background, but I didn't know what else to do with it.  Matt said it looks fine and he is proud of me and Duece wanted to know why he looked like a rainbow threw up on him.

I can't wait to get to AZ so I can hang it on the wall.  There is no point in hanging it here because I have to take everything off the walls in 5 days anyway (more on that later).

Even the beagle boo himself got in on the painting action.  Note the green paint above his eyebrow.  

Also note, that he was not happy with me taking this picture.

What my dryer does when I am not looking

I think it is understood that most people's dryers form a partnership with the sock black market in which they openly exchange your socks with other dryers in the neighborhood to insure that you never get the same socks out of the dryer that you put in. 

Wouldn't you know it?

Apparently my much more industrious dryer got a second job at a sock factory, because I am convinced that I always get MORE socks back than I put in.  I swear I don't know where they all come from.  Finally Mt. Socks-a-lot had grow to the point of avalanche on the top of my dryer.  I had to call in air support to get them to the couch.  I am going in, so if I am not back, send in a search party.

Update:  They all had matches but 3.  I'll say that is pretty good.  If you could please talk to your dryers and see if we can do some bargaining to get my socks back.

Better than most....Better than most

I would like for you to give a big ol' blog-land welcome to my first guest blogger!  

This person got to experience a once in a lifetime event today and together we have been debating a guest blog post, so why not today when he has a exciting exceptional story to tell.

Without further ado, my white-belt wearing, ball hitting, club swinging husband....

I don't even know where to begin.  Ever since I watched the 2000 Player's Championship I have dreamed of visiting, let alone actually playing, the Stadium Course at Sawgrass.  For those of you that don't know the TPC at Sawgrass is the host to the Player's Championship every year in May.  This tournament has the largest purse in all of golf.  All professional golfers consider this tournament the "fifth major".  Recently Chelle and I discovered that during the month of February the TPC was offering a special military rate.  Let me assure you that this rate isn't that "special", but it is bearable.  With the lovely wife blessing off on the adventure I made a tee time for this morning at 0810.  I woke up at 0345 to make the drive with my friend Chip and I think we left just a bit early.  I say this because when I got to the course, the sun still wasn't up.  Can you tell that I was just a little excited?

The Front Nine:  I haven't felt nerves like I had on the first tee since state tournaments in high school.  I didn't really have anyone to impress, but I couldn't help but to get nervous.  The first hole is about 423 yards with a narrow fairway.  I tried to clear my head and make solid contact.  Just a little right into the rough, but actually not that bad.  I had 155 left into the green and hit it long and right.  A great chip put me to about 2 feet and I walked away unscathed.  It would be one of the last times and I didn't get scuffed up.  A double on 2 cost me.  #3 is a 175 yard par 3 and I hit it in the center of the green.......and 3 putted for bogey.  Par on 4.  5,6, and 7 were disastrous.  I literally averaged a double bogey on these holes.  You could say I found the water a couple of times.  A couple bogeys on 8 and 9 and the front was over.  And it was ugly.  47.  Happiest 47 I have ever shot.

 

 The clubhouse is 77,000 square feet.  I don't even know how to describe it.  As a guest you only have access to a portion of the clubhouse.  As a "TPC" (The Player's Club) the PGA Tour owns the course and the members that are professionals have their own private area.  Players like Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, Frank Lickliter, etc.  

The Back Nine:  #10 is extremely tight off the tee.  I hit it in the fairway bunker, but did hit the green with my second shot.  Story of my life though......I 3 putted for bogey.  11 and 12 hurt, but it started to turn around at 13.  #13 is a par 3 with water and a sloping green.  Hit it to 12 feet and two putted.  Made par on 14 and 15.  Bogeyed 16 and that led me to the most famous hole in the United States.  The island green 17th.  In theory it shouldn't be that hard.  It is 137 yards.  However, today it was windy with a pin tucked on the front.  All I could think about on the tee was how I told Chelle that my only wish was to hit the 17th.  I took a deep breath and swung my 9 iron.  Couldn't have been happier!!! It land on the right side of the green.  The putt for birdie actually hit the lip and I made par.  I hit a big drive on 18 and followed that up with a 4 iron into the green.  Without a doubt my best consecutive shots of the day.  Tour Pros would kill to hit the fairway and green on 18, but once again..........3 putted for bogey.  I finished with a 42 on the back for a total of 89.  Never before has an 89 put a smile on my face this big!

I am glad that Matt got to cross this off of his bucket list.

A Special Day for Duece

I have a confession, something I always feel really guilty about it...I hate boarding Duece.  And if I am being honest we have boarded him a lot over the last month or so.  It seems like things just keep coming up and either we are going to be out for a long night or out of town for the weekend, and leaving him alone for the whole weekend would probably qualify us for dog abusers.  No thanks.

So after boarding him last weekend, I decided that today we needed to take Duece to do something special.  You might say that he doesn't really care or know the difference, but I assure you he does.  He loved today and so did Matt and I.

We started at the dog park.  Unfortunately the only dog park in the area that you don't have to be a member of (yes a member, ridiculous? I think so.) is on Tybee Island.  And we also forgot to bring a ball with us.  We stopped at the beach store thinking, surely they will have a ball.  Matt picked up on that looked about right and it rang up for...wait for it...$13.99.  He dropped that like a 17 year old at a dance club.  That is when we settled on this little green guy...

He is smiling because he cost an arm and a leg.  A little cheaper than his fancy ball brother, this smiling smart-ass rang up for a much more manageable $4.50. 

The funny part?  Duece didn't even want to play with it, go figure. 

Duece was on the loose and ready to rock n roll.  

It was a busy day at the dog park, there were a total of eleven dogs there.

The welcome wagon had to meet and greet every dog that came through the gate.

Bailey, the baby golden retriever did not like being left out. 

After an hour or so playing at the dog park, everyone started to leave, and being at the dog park alone isn't near as much fun as being there with eleven other dogs.  We left too, and started on the next part of our journey....

Duece's Coming Out in Savannah.

We weren't sure if Savannah was ready for him, but I would say overall it was quite the afternoon.

The weather was perfect today and downtown was the place to be.  Tons of dogs were out walking their owners around.  Duece did not have any problems making friends as he strutted through the squares.

He even ran into another beagle.  I am pretty sure that he recognized they had more in common than just being dogs.

That brings us to the horses...Duece's nemesis.

Downtown Savannah isn't the best place to be if you are a dog and aren't a fan of horses.  Carriage tours are everywhere and these "big looking dogs" freaked him the freak out.  I don't know if it was anything in particular, but more so the combination of their size, smell, and sound of their hooves on the cobblestone roads.  Whatever it was...Duece LOUDLY let everyone around him know that he was not pleased.

At one point, he had to be restrained.

Next stop...The Grateful Hound.

Just a cute little pet store with homemade dog treats made from local ingredients

It is always fun to go into a dog friendly store.

Going in curious...

Leaving a satisfied customer

Duece got a treat so it was only fair that Matt and I got a treat too...

Cupcakes! My Favorite!

I must have jostled the box a little too much, because when we finally stopped for lunch/dessert the frosting on Matt's cupcake had slid off the top of it.  He had to eat it with a fork out of the box.  

By the time we stopped for lunch, he was done. I was very impressed with his behavior while we sat and ate lunch.  One passerby even said, "Cute dog, he is so well behaved." We just smiled...if he only knew that we had just forced him to play for an hour straight, and then walk for a combined total of about 3 hours, he was dead tired, not well behaved. 

Of course I had a great time with Duece today and doing something different that our normal weekend routine, but I really had a good time with Matt.  It was bittersweet spending what is probably one of our last weekends in this wonderful, beautiful city. 

"Can we go home yet?" 

Hope you are having a great weekend, we sure are!

Sunbury Crab Co: Where they may not know your name, but the food tastes good!

As our time in Georgia is drawing to an end, Matt and I are finding ourselves scurrying to visit places and eat at our favorite restaurants before we have to hit the dusty trail.  One of our most beloved local favorites is Sunbury Crab Co.  It didn't take much convincing when Matt suggested we go there for dinner.

I love the laid back decor here, it really makes me feel like I could be on a hammock in the Florida Keys' just relaxing. 

You can walk right out from the parking lot onto the dock/marina.  The food they use is caught right out of the river here.  When I asked, "Is the blue crab fresh?"  I was told "yes m'am, caught it out of the river this week."  You can beat fresh seafood! 

Matt always gets the Landshark when we come here, like I said it def has a distinct Jimmy Buffet vibe, so why not drink the Jimmy beer? 

Matt gets his beer and I get my crab crackers.  I like to get the bucket of blue crab, because you see that bucket right there...yes, it will be filled to the brim with warm seasoned blue crab. 

My favorite time to go is right before sunset, you can watch out to the river, eat, and just enjoy the view.  In the summer time, the restaurant is open air, and you can normally find live local bands serenading you as you dig in to your oysters, crab, shrimp, or whatever the fresh catch of the day is. 

Tonight though they had the plastic over the windows cause it was kind of nippy and the sand gnats can be annoying.

One word=Crunchy

In my vernacular crunch fries are to. die. for. 

 Love eating seafood from the river, on the river.

Gonna miss this place.

Why my husband is quitting the Army and becoming a chef

I am joking, but I definitely think that he could pull it off.  We all know that yesterday was Valentine's Day and for weeks Matt has insisted that he make me dinner.  He planned it all out himself, cooked it himself, and we then cleaned up the kitchen together.  That is what he was busy doing yesterday when I went to get my haircut.  I was instructed to stay out of the house until around 6.  Matt knew he had to keep me out of the house completely or he wouldn't be able to keep me out of the kitchen.  I may or may not have control issues when it comes to let Matt cook.  

When I came home sporting my new do, he immediately told me he liked it, but then had to run back to the kitchen to complete his masterpiece.

Matt's Four Course Valentine's Day Dinner:

Salt and Pepper Cheese Puffs

 Look how the center was hollow, all puffed up just like they should be.

They were so good, I was impressed that he made these from scratch.

A Salad

He even added the Klaussen Pickle spears because I LOVE them and it was a holiday about love after all.

Steak Remoulade Sandwich with Broccoli 

He made the remoulade sauce, grilled the steak, and dressed the sandwich with yellow bell pepper and spinach.

And for dessert

Chocolate Chip Cookies....can't beat em'.

I have absolutely no problem admitting and professing that he did a great job with dinner. He might have actually made a mistake because now that I know he can cook so well, he might have that responsibility more often.  I also will reluctantly admit that knowing he was in the kitchen while I wasn't home wasn't as stressful as I thought.  I really appreciate he hard work and effort!