Make Sure You Clip Your Dog's Toenails Regularly

Ok people I cannot stress how important it is to regularly clip your dog's toenails, especially after the experience we had over the weekend with Rascal.  You see I made a mental note last week to give Rascal a bath and clip his nails.  Turns out mental notes don't work very well in your late 30's ;)  On Saturday Rascal and Bozo were running around our backyard having a BLAST!!  In a split second Rascal caught his nail on something in the yard and twisted it completely around.  He immediately started limping and it was so sad to see this.  He would not let us touch it.  We ended up taking him to the vet where they removed the nail and gave him a shot of pennicillin then bandaged up his little foot.  We were informed that this happens a lot even with house dogs because theirs can get lodged in carpet or a crack in a floor.  Rascal immediately perked up and is comfortably resting on the couch, as seen pictured above.  So please, please never forget to clip your dog's nails on a regular basis so you can avoid this type of injury for your pup. 

Count Down to Mud Bog Time!!

The hubby reminded me the other day to update my Mud Bog readers on the Struttin' In The Ruts Mud Bog in Mount Carmel TN.  As far as we know this event will resume in April 2011.  After talking to the event manager/owner last year he was seriously considering opening up a mud track as well, for mud racing, the top fuel kind, however he was searching for some guard rails a must for such an event.  I am not sure if he found any or not.  Since my blog seems to be the only information on the web for this event I figured I would update all you Mud Diggers on what we have heard. 

Struttin in the ruts mud racing is usually scheduled to open in April & runs through October...gates open at 1pm but racing doesn't start until later usually 5pm from what I recall. You can bring your vehicle or bring your lawn chairs and enjoy. Classes for every vehicle (by tire size). Last year admission was $5, kids under a certain age were free and a $20 entrance fee to run your truck.  I imagine it's still around the same price.  Take Hwy 11W from Kingsport towards Rogersville, turn Rt onto Bradley Creek Rd. (1st Rt past Church Hill Fire Dept. St. #2, just past Volunteer High School) Take Bradley Creek Rd. over to Carter's Valley Rd., turn Left and take the 1st right onto Gravely Valley Rd. The event is about 1/2 of mile on the left, just follow the signs. It's a 200' pit. the depth varies, the pit is probably 6' deep but the mud is usually around 3' deep or so at the end, there should be a sign in the median on 11w just passed volunteer high school.

 

For all of you who are searching the web for the old Hog Lot Mud Bog in Rogersville, TN...it is no longer in existence...sorry :( so come on out to Struttin' In The Ruts and support this family event.

Cousin Pat Ready For Some Four Wheelin'

Our guys know how to have fun when it comes to four wheelin' and Brian's cousin Pat is no exception.  He ran across this bad boy and swooped her up.  Now Pat is ready to join us Mud Diggers and trail crawlers with this 79 Jeep Wagoneer Golden Eagle on 44's.   Can't wait to hit the trails with Patrick and family this year :)

I Can't Wait for Days in Rodanthe this Summer

As you turn on to HWY. 12 South, at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, you are not quite sure how to take what you are seeing (I know I couldn't) and what you are not seeing. Nature is what you are privileged to look at. No buildings or billboards assault you. For about ten minutes you ride only seeing nature, and then you come upon the Bonner Bridge, which crosses over the Pamlico Sound. This is the last connection you have to the rest of the world. When you cross the bridge you are now on Hatteras Island and I remember getting chills, at this point in our trip.

After crossing the Bonner Bridge, you will continue to see huge sand dunes on your left; they are all that separate you from the ocean. You can see the ocean between the valleys of the dunes. On your right is Pamlico Sound, which is in full view on most of your ride. 

The first village you come to is Rodanthe.  There are two adjoining villages; Waves and Salvo.  No traffic lights here. And there is only one franchised business, Dairy Queen. No Starbuck’s, McDonald’s, Burger King or Domino’s. Mom and pop restaurants and businesses are what they have here. The closest grocery store is 20 minutes away. You can get necessities from the privately owned gas stations/convenience stores.

You can literally have your feet in the ocean and in less than five minutes, you can walk over to the Palmellico Sound and put your feet in over there, as well as kite, wind surf or kayak. You can also walk from the beginning of Rodanthe to the end of Salvo in about two hours, depending on whether you walk on the road or the beach. Entire families can be seen not only walking to the beach, but down the street to The Conery for ice cream or up the street to Lisa’s Pizza for dinner.

The beaches are not crowded with people but full of wildlife. Pelicans, seagulls, sand pipers, porpoises, whales and horseshoe crabs are common sights here. Little sand crabs can be seen nervously scurrying in and out of their holes and large sand crabs come out and stare at you trying to figure out what you’re doing sitting right outside of their hole.

Rodanthe is still a pretty secluded place and certainly captivating. Some of nature’s finest works are all around you all day and all night. I am making my reservations now and cannot wait to make it back to the OBX this summer for fabulous Days and Nights in Rodanthe!!!

Super Bowl Weekend!!!

I love love love Super Bowl Weekend and look forward to throwing out the food and beverages for my friends and family every year!  Young and old gathered at my place this year to watch the game and laugh at the commercials.  WE had an absolute BLAST this year!  My neighbor and I even put on our own show at half time ;)  I ended up winning $50 in the football pool at work too...can't beat that.  Too bad my Steeler's couldn't pull it off but there's always next year. 

The ROTC Military Banquet and Ball

This past Saturday we attended my Neice Taylor's Military Banquet and Ball where we enjoyed a fabulous dinner and awards ceremony.  Taylor is the commanding officer of her ROTC High School group and she made her whole family extremely proud.  She was also nominated to be on the Royal Court so we were all hoping that she would be crowned Queen which she was!!  Taylor's name was called over and over again for every award or commondation that was given on this special night and at the end of the award ceremony she was promoted to Lieutenant Commander the highest rank that they have.  I am so proud of this exceptional young woman and look forward to seeing her continue to prosper in college this fall.  Way to go Taylor!!!

Great weekend with friends and Mother Nature!!

This past weekend we finally got to break out of the house.  The weather here in Tennessee turned warmer, the snow started melting and the skies were a beautiful color of blue. Work and life have been busy for all of us so our WONDERFUL friends Stephanie & Smiley suggested we hit the town Friday night and get something good to eat.  We had a wonderful evening...great food, & lots of laughs...we love hanging out with these two fabulously happy newlyweds.  Saturday we spent the day enjoying the weather and relaxing.  It felt so good to get out and not have to wear three layers of clothes.  Sunday Brian and I enjoyed a picnic by the Watauga River and then visted my sis.  Thank you Mother Nature for a much needed weekend enjoying your beauty.

Happy Anniversary & Musical New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve this year was fabulously entertaining.  Brian & I started out our special day celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary.  I am so lucky to have married my true soul mate and I didn't think it was possible to love him more than I did the day I married him but I swear I grow more in love with this man everyday.

Later that night I decided it would be awesome to call up all of my neighbors who play instruments and have a musical New Year's Eve.  Two text messages later I had 4 guitar players, 2 mandolin players, a harmonica player and singer/songwriters.  We all headed down to Ryan's area in the basement, fired up the PA System and the amps and had an absolute BLAST!!! We sang, danced, and welcomed in the New Year.  It was awesome and I can't wait to do it again.  I am constantly amazed by all of the local talent around here and so many who share my love for music.

A Fabulous Christmas

This Christmas was so much fun and the Lord truly blessed us with a wonderful celebration of his birth.  Brian and I really enjoyed our families and friends this year and our house was just filled with so much love and happiness which is what it is all about.  Our favorite gifts were my new thumpin' Kenwood car stereo with Ipod connection, an Apple Ipad, Wii games, clothes, jewelry and Ryan got a really nice PA System so now we can sing and be heard around here :)  We are all just big kids.  We wrapped up the festivities by taking Brian's parents to see the movie True Grit which was a GREAT movie and then Saturday night we had a house full of our closest friends from near and far we had a blast!!!  Sunday we woke to more snow!!!  I love it and can't believe for once we are having a white Christmas in Tennessee.  It's the first I can remember in years.  I know people say they are glad to see Christmas be over but I'm not.  I believe that if you are celebrating it in the right way, that is giving all of the glory to God and rejoicing for his birth, that you will experience the true meaning of Christmas and therefore enjoy all that this very special holiday has to offer.  I can see this in all of the smiles from everyone in the pictures posted here.  Look how happy all of us are.  Thank you Jesus!