We went to Cracker Barrel again on Sunday night. Super Bowl Sunday--the joint was empty! Ha! I wasn't really hungry and I had my heart set on the blackberry cobbler. It was good, but not at all like the one I remember having at a Cracker Barrel years ago. This one didn't even seem to have any crusty stuff on top. Sad. Oh well--it almost hit the spot. ;-)

Yesterday was maid day. That means we have to clear out of the motel in the morning. We loaded up and... hhmmm... I asked James and he can't remember either. Oh yeah! We went to the Post Office to check the mail, then stopped by a pet store to look around. We've been meaning to get a dog bed for Hershey, but haven't been able to find one cheap enough. (We're just not the kind of people to spend crazy amounts of money on a dog--we wanted a CHEAP bed!) He used to have one that he never used, but when we go over to Aunt Sue's house he spends most of his time in Joey's dog beds and even gets a little irritated if you try to move the bed or get him out! We found one yesterday that we liked and that was the right price, so we went ahead and got it. Hershey is a pretty small dog and I was just sure that this bed was the right size. It would be... if the dog didn't have stilts for legs!!! Ha! He is just soooooo long!!! If he curls up, he's fine. If he stretches any part of his body out, it can hang off the bed as much as a foot! Ha! Last night was our experimental night with it and it didn't go so well...

As you can see, Hershey rolled out of the bed and managed to flip it over on top of himself. Oh well, he'd just as soon have a blanket as a bed! HA! He's so dumb! I've been taking the bed with us every time we get in the van and making him sit in it, hoping that he'll take to it. I think he's starting to get it figured out. This is the picture I took just a few minutes ago...

:-)

Okay, yesterday... oh yeah--we decided to head up to the mall, just for something to do. I did find a terrific black dress skirt (mine has just about had it!) for $10 at C&B. :-) We used our buy one, get one free coupons at Orange Julius, Chickadees, and Hot Dog on a Stick. (Jason gave us a terrific coupon book that retails for $40--we've been using it all over the place since we're having to eat out so much anyway. It's been such a blessing!) It has been very cold here for the last several days and if finally started snowing last night. By the time we were done at the mall it was coming down hard and sooooo pretty. We stopped by Sam's Club and bought Season 2 of Wanted: Dead or Alive. :-) We finished up Season 3 a few days ago and those sets are pretty cheap, so we thought it would be a worthwhile investment for the next week while we're still motelled in. Ha! Get this--my mother said she'd never seen Wanted: Dead or Alive before (no biggie--neither had I) and she asked, "Is it a cowboy thing? Like, a western, or something?" HA! HA! HA! Let the mockery unfurl! What kind of a question is that?! With a title like Wanted: Dead or Alive?! Ha! Ha! Ha! That's so great!!! Sometimes she makes me wonder... ;-) YES, it is a western, and a truly great one at that. It stars a very young Steve McQueen and it aired back in the 50's. He plays a really great not-got-much-to-say-good-guy-bounty-hunter character and is the ultimate cool cowboy. And he reminds me a lot of my Dad. His hair color and the shape of his face remind me of pictures I've seen of Dad when he was about 20 years old and a short, skinny cowboy himself. Minus the chunky black rimmed glasses, of course. HA!

A few days ago Emilee had a post entitled "Ten Years," and it was all about her and Jon's 10 year anniversary and how they went to a swanky seafood restaurant, complete with fried oysters and a snooty waiter. The title of my post is "Eight Years," just to follow suit. Very little of my post has to do with our anniversary, however, because there's just not much to report! Ha!

Today for our anniversary, we got back into our nomal weekday morning routine: breakfast, devotions, and school. :-) After that, we loaded up and drove to Old Town so we could have lunch at La Hacienda, since it's open again now. It was good, but we were actually a little disappointed. We liked Casa de Fiesta a lot better. No matter--it was our anniversary meal and we made the best of it! They did have really good sopapillas. I thought about having the kids sit a separate table so James and I could be "alone" for our anniversary meal, but I figured it just wouldn't work out!

Afterwards we drove down to the DMV and James and I got our New Mexico drivers licenses. (Ain't that romantic?!) We did some more driving around and looking at 4-wheel drives, trying to figure out what we're going to end up buying. We're praying God will lead us to the right vehicle for the right price just like He led us to the right house and the right dining table. :-)

We got a call saying that something came up and none of our members were going to be able to make it to church tonight. So our family went on to the church building and had service by ourselves. We prayed and sang (even let the kids take turns "leading" a song from up front), took up the offering, then James gave a hands-on lesson about the Church flag (it was to be our CPMA service tonight) and the kids really seemed to enjoy it. We sang the VLB fight song and let them wave the flag, then ended it prayer. It took all of about 20 minutes, but the kids were so excited to have a service all their own! It was kind of nice. Better than cancelling service, for sure!

So that was our exciting and wildly romantic anniversary. James finally kissed me tonight. He hasn't been wanting to do that because of all the sickness (minor though it may be) shifting from one family to another--he just didn't want to spread any more germs! Ha! He's so weird. We didn't get each other anything for Christmas, agreeing that we'd make up for it on our anniversary, "when things are more normal." Well... I guess we're shooting for birthdays now! Speaking of which...

Katie and Joe have a birthday coming up next week. We'll have to have a little party for them at Aunt Sue's house, I guess. Ah, yes! Our plans!!! Here they are...

We are going to be staying in this dear, quaint little motel just 6 more nights (Wa-hooooo!), then on Monday we will head to Andrews. We'll be staying with Aunt Sue and Uncle Jerry while we're there. We'll go to Odessa on Tuesday and try to take care of a few things there, then have the kids' birthday party that night (it's the night before their birthday, but it's as close as we're going to get!). On Wednesday we'll pick up the moving truck and spend all day fighting like cats and dogs while we try to get all of our stuff out of storage and loaded onto the truck. (It may not be all that bad, but I figure it's better to expect the worst. If it happens, you're prepared for it; if it's not that bad, you're pleasantly surprised!) We'll drive back to Albuquerque on Thursday, where our dear, wonderful friends Dustin & Jamey will be waiting for us to help us unload! Can you believe they are planning on driving all the way to Albuquerque from Colorado Springs--6 or 7 hours--just to help us get moved in?! WOW!!! You have no idea how painful it is for me to say something truly kind about Dustin Hays, but in this instance I just have to admit that... well, that that fantastic wife of his is a true miracle worker to be able to make a decent guy out of him! ;-) Seriously, we are sooooooo thankful that they're willing to do this. ~sigh~ Church folks are the very bestest folks in the whole wide world!

So there you have it. What's been happening and what's about to happen. We hope. :-) I'll work on getting a better looking blog here one of these days, too, but for now I'm just glad to have one again! Makes me soooooo happy. :-)

G'night all!

~Bec~

Hey, look! It's Rexy!

And here's how Hershey is attempting to sleep at the moment. Isn't it amazing how BIG the dog bed looked in the other picture, when he was curled up?! As soon as he stretches those legs of his out he's dangling out all over the place! Weird dog.