A white horse fell in a mud puddle.CAUTION: This blog contains dirty pictures.
This blog is the official so long to summer blog. The first official day of fall was this past Thursday, and it is looking like the highs in the extended forecast are only going to be in the 60's (a few low 70's days), and my body is craving nutmeg and pumpkin and all of the heartiness that is fall. There is actually some pumpkin granola in the oven as we speak. But, this isn't a hello fall blog. There is no fall display to show for it. This is a blog to take a look at the accomplishments of the summer and close that chapter. While our summer was fairly busy and pretty short, we managed to pack a lot in.
Books that were read:
Kellie: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Velva Jean Learns to Drive, The Alchemist, A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Old Man and the Sea, I'm Down, Little Bee, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and The Magicians.
Sam:
Confederates in the Attic, Shavetail, One Second After, Brimstone, Let the Great World Spin, The Family Jensen, Blue Star. And these Louis L'amour novels from the Sackett Family series: Sackett Land, To the Far Blue Mountains, The Warrior's Path, Jubal Sackett.
Personal Projects:
Kellie: I tried my hand at sewing again. I found a pretty handy dandy book that has a lot of projects that just take a yard of fabric! And, what a more appropriate project to begin with than a sewing kit? While this project looks fairly small and not particularly difficult, it took me many hours. I learned how to do a lot of new things such as put on buttons and attach a trim. The part I am still having trouble with is guiding the material in a straight line. However, this is an easy fix; I just need to slow down and not be so impatient. The next sewing project I intend to start is an apron. Also, through this project, I learned that my current favorite print is anything with owls. I've also almost completed a mosaic bird bath that was supposed to be ready for my mom on Mother's Day of last year. I pushed it back to her birthday which was Sept, '09, then to Mother's Day of this year...and FINALLY I think it will be finished in the next few days.
Sam:
Well, first off, I've spent a great deal of time keeping a vigilant eye on our drug dealing neighbors. I think my visit to the Police Station paid off. On a somewhat related note: I've enjoyed shooting my new 1858 New Model Army black powder pistol. I actually have an original one (very rusted) that my granddad found in Texas. I've been doing a good bit of genealogy. It all started when I read Confederates in the Attic and I was curious about my ancestors who served in the Civil War. I'm glad to say that, so far, I've just about completed genealogical research on my granddad Summers' side, and that all four of my great great great grandfathers on that side fought for the Confederacy. One was nicknamed "Devil" Tom Summers because he was such a tenacious fighter. If Kellie doesn't throw my computer away, I'll probably start on my grandfather on the Williams side next. It's been pretty interesting, but I guess it's not interesting for everyone. Nevertheless, I think I'll attach a picture of my great great grandfather, John Berry, and his wife Permelia Wigington Berry on their farm, Royalty Farm. I include it because it's how I picture Kellie and my future.
Also, my dad and I patched up the concrete stairs in the back. I asked Kellie if I had done anything else this summer and she shook her head "no". She seemed displeased. Hmmm. Well, yesterday I had to wrangle a feral cat out from our crawl space. It had been in there for at least two days. It got in there when I was painting the door to the crawl space and the stairs. HA! There! I did something else! Tonight I cooked chili. And P.S. I still have mud in my ears. I can feel it every time I burp.Here is the shelf I made out of a pallet.
Other accomplishments this summer include training for, and completing the USMC Mud Run. Sam and I began training a little over 2 months before the event. This was a very intense feat for me because I have never been a runner and always convinced myself that I just wasn't meant to be good at it. I started off barely being able to run 1/2 mile and slowly built up to 3 miles. This was very challenging for me, mentally more so than physically. I have discovered that running is a very good exercise because it challenges my personality. I enjoy that area of discomfort that occurs slightly outside my comfort zone, and I feel deeply accomplished in end. It is much more fulfilling to do something that is extremely hard for you and be successful than it is to do something that comes fairly easy to you. So, through this training I learned self-discipline and that running is definitely not on my "never" list.
Vacations/Excursions: Idaho/Yellowstone/Teton/Salt Lake Trip, Biltmore House, PA, Navitat, Labor Day weekend Beach Vacay with the WD's minus a few. The beach trip is the only one that has occurred since we last posted. It was a great trip. Sam and I took a Friday off of work for a 4 day weekend! The weekend was totally filled with relaxing beach time, good food (Squiggles ice cream and Britz Doughnuts), and good times. Thanks to Yellow Dog Bread Co. for providing tasty bread!
Anyways, yesterday we traveled down to Columbia, South Carolina to participate in the Mud Run. It was challenging, but fun. I will go out a limb and speak for myself, Sam, Jon, and Christian and say that there is probably not a muscle that we do not feel in our bodies today. All 4.2 miles, 31 obstacles, and countless scrapes and bruises were completely worth it, though. Some obstacles would have been impossible had it not been for team work. On the second obstacle, which was basically a horizontal pole you had to swing your legs up on and pull yourself across, after getting up on the log at the end, I lost my balance. I wound up falling from 5 to 6 feet in the air, landing on my back, and jarring the breath out of me. This was not a good way to start out, but I will say things got better from there. We completed the obstacles, no one wound up going to the hospital, and we can still walk today, so I would say it was a success. I really enjoyed working for something for so long, and seeing my efforts pay off. AND witnessing my husbands manliness as he helped hoist me up over obstacles and carried me on his shoulders. Getting dirty was really fun, too. Although, I am still finding mud in random places, including my ears and nose. We definitely want to do it next year, and we are thinking of trying a 5K this fall.
Before:
After:
Goodbye white wine and ice cream. Hello fall festiveness!
