Alabama Politics

Que?

(From Fergus. He found this sign off Montclair Rd. in Bham. classic.)

Early Summer Macros

Im loving the roses that I inherited from the lady who lived here before us. This antique climbing rose smells delicious and is my favorite.

Then i added to the mix with some pink knock outs. Mac already really likes to sit on these, so im a bit worried about their immediate future.

Day lilies everywhere. These are the yellows in the back yard, in the front they are gorgeous and red.

I dont really know what this is, any ideas? It's pretty cool though.

I guess this is kind of a "mac" ro. This pup is growing like a weed. I dont think we are going to be able to pick him up in two weeks. He's started having "crazy time" between like 6-8, but other than that he's a pretty chilled dog.

Introducing Mac

Our little man finally has a name, say hello to Mac. This took a while to agree on, but I think it's a good fit. the name comes from several different "likes" of ours. First, Greg McElroy. The name had to have some Alabama reference, and I wasnt calling my dog Julio. Also, there's Mac from "It's always Sunny in Philadelphia". For that reference, Jordan liked Dennis better, but that just didnt fit. My dad also still wants to call him Julio, so we will have to work on that. Thanks to dad, mac has an awesome kennel underneath our porch.

It's been so hot the past few days, so he has been inside with us, but if we ever need to have him outside while he's little, he can be in his own area. Once he's bigger (and im confident he wont dig up my roses) he can graduate to the whole yard. Thanks pop pop (haha)

He might be a lab mutt, but he has webbed feet like a full blooded one, and loves the water

I also hit up walmart to get him a baby pool during this insane heat. While I was there, I asked a lady where I could find the baby pools, and this is how that convo went:

Me: "Where can I find a baby pool?"

Lady: "One ring or two?"

 Me: "Umm, just a plastic pool." 

Her: "Well you can blow up one ring or two."

Me: "It's for my dog, he'll pop it if I blow it up, I just need a plastic one."

Lady: "You mean those ones I played in when I was a kid?"

Me: "Probably"

Lady: "Oh, we dont have those, just the blow up kind."

Me: "Alright, thanks..."

I found them later in the garden area.

Honda 5K

pre-race

Somehow I managed to run last night. It was 95 degrees, humid, and gross. I tried to bail on this race around 3pm yesterday, but Fergus wouldnt let me. So, off to Lincoln, AL we went. Im actually glad I did, bc we have a really good time. The race was put on by the welding division of Honda, but all of the different areas of the plant had tailgates with a bbq cookout, homemade ice cream, fried chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, and funnel cakes! This was all after the race of course. First we had to make it through 3.1 miles in the miserable Alabama summer weather.

Even though the race kicked off at 7pm, the humidity was still insane. The course was actually really fun (for about 2 miles) because it felt like an old school cross country course, weaving through the woods on Honda's off road trail. After the second mile, it started getting way too hot. I  try not to walk during races, especially when its just a 5k, but yesterday my body said no. And, as I was contemplating letting my race goo come back up, a 90 pound lady pushing a double stroller zooms past me. uuggh, so i didnt walk for long. I finished in 35 mins and some change. About 5 mins away from a PR, but that wasnt in the cards for this race, I just wanted to finish.

After, I was not so pretty:

my face stayed red for a good 3 hours.

Fergus really wanted to see where he placed. This is the scoring van, and he was stalking it.

Honda's Alabama leadership team. The CEO is on the back row, second from the left. Apparently, the Japanese love to give prizes, so not only did the top 3 overall males and females get medals, so did the top 3 in each age group for each gender. Fergus got second in his age group, so we stayed around for him to be called up

It took a while, by this time it was dark and my camera didnt want to flash.

Overall, fun race despite the heat. I will def do this one again. 

The new addition!

Well, we just couldn't help ourselves. After meeting Riley and falling in love, we decided it was about time to get one of our own. Originally the idea was to go back to the GBHS and get Biz, Riley's sister. However, after seeing the other pups up for adoption, we went with little man here who also happens to be Riley's brother! (we think, but come on, they look almost identical)

He is awesome. I was very hesitant about getting a dog bc its a big resposibility, but it's day 3 and we are loving it. 

in love.

Currently the only dilemma is his name. We simply cannot come up with (or agree on) anything that seems to fit. Jordan really wants to name him Julio (Jones), however, im not down with that so much. Suggestions are welcomed. 

What I was really worried about was how the kitties were going to handle this major change. Well, so far so good. We have had a few battings and hissing fits, but on the whole, both Ellie and Spence are really intrigued by this new creature. This picture sums up Ellie's thoughts on day 1.

By day three, she is becoming a little more open to the idea. However, this encounter didnt end in cuddling. 

Maybe the cats would be cooler if little man wouldnt steal their toys

thats a toy mouse in his mouth

a rare photo of all my furry children in one area. Spencer is behind the lantana.

Its hard to get a good pic of a black dog, but take my word for it, he's precious. The doc said he'll be at least 80 pounds, so right now im enjoying carrying around this little bundle. 

Introducing my new niece

Riley "honey bear" Burns!

Yesterday the whole fam headed down to the Bham Humane Society to find Taylor her long awaited special pup. There were three pups in the running, but little riley here won the race. She is the most laid back, awesome puppy I have ever met. Not to mention absolutely precious. And, she seems to have the outline of an angel on her chest (tay's gift from above). At one point yesterday afternoon, we had all the neighboring children over to playing with her, as well as max the local pug dog and my sister's pup Lucy. It was a puppy, youngster extravaganza. It was really hard to leave her and head to my house, i want one :)

More crawfish...

Yesterday was our third crawfish boil of the year. I haven't eaten this much crawfish in my life, but Im ok with that because its soooo delicious! This party was at Kevin and Ashley's, which is impressive in itself because she is due with their first child in 3 weeks! She is not only brave, she looks amazing!

I spent most of the time, when i wasnt stuffing crawfish down my throat, taking pictures of Bob the Bulldog and Sam the Golden Retriever.

This boy needs a dog

Ashley and Kevin are Oklahoma fans, so the dogs are nemd after Bob Stoops, and Sam Bradford.

They played alll day, so near the end of the boil, they crashed.

Kev, the master chef

Guess who made this? Jordan! Could he be the male martha stewart?

Enjoying Kevin's cookin

post crawfish relaxing

 a final bob pic, this dog rocks.