Christmas Card Pictures

This year I got smart and used the video camera with a remote and picture timer to take our Christmas card pictures. Last year was an experience and we ended up with more funny pictures than anything, so last years Christmas card looked like this . . .

I believe this was the 3rd DAY of pictures!

This year took 2 hours. After getting the camera set up, Jonathan letting the dogs sniff around and play in the front yard for a little bit so they wouldn't be so excited and preoccupied with everything going on in the front of the house (neighbor's dogs), the laughs began!

I brought the antlers out for the dogs and they actually did better this year with them than last year, however once Tyson heard the bells on the antlers ringing, it became his mission to get the antlers of his head and eat them!

Here are a few pictures from this years Christmas Card Photo Shoot (haha)

Merry Christmas!

Jonathan & April

Duke & Tyson

Getting the house ready for Santa

I've been working on Christmas decorations around the house for about a month now. I was finally able to get everything up and looking nice only for Tyson to come right back behind me and steal ornaments off the tree! And lets not forget the tornado's that whipped thru the area . . . picking my outside decorations up and chunking them down the front steps! Those decorations are part of our family Christmas card "background" - I worked so hard on getting everything so-so. At least the pictures were taken before the storms came thru.

I was hoping for a real tree this year instead of the artificial, but when you have 2 male dogs . . . a real tree in the house is out of the question, for now. Gifts under the tree will probably be a last minute deal as well . . . I don't need Tyson getting a hold of any of those either!

I put the decorations back out over the weekend. We had bad weather last week and as a result, my trees and such were blown over; laying on the front steps. Little bit of a mess considering I had POURED black pepper all over everything so the dogs across the road would leave everything alone (I had caught one of them on the front porch stealing my pine cones I had put out under the trees).

After chasing Tyson throughout the house, trying to get stockings out of his mouth . . . I realized that putting them up within his reach wasn't gonna work! Have I mentioned that Jonathan has taught Tyson to STAND & BALANCE on his hind legs??
The only place I could find, that was out of his reach, was on the wooden china cabinet.
Then Jonathan found some clear glitter paint I had sitting on the kitchen table and "thought" he was going to put his name on his stocking . . . we all have names on our stockings now . . . you're welcome honey.
As for the "decorative" ornaments I have sitting on the floor under the wire Christmas tree (to the left of the cabinet), they have pepper and lemon juice on them! Hey, he hasn't bothered them since! (Tyson - not Jonathan, haha)

Merry Christmas!
The Price's

S N O W

We've had our first snow of the winter season . . . not as much as last years, but still nice. The dogs enjoyed playing it now that the back yard is fenced!

Where's Tyson?

We now know where to look for Tyson when he comes up missing in the house . . .

Keeping Your Neighborhood Safe

Duke & Tyson dressed up as their favorite super hero for Halloween.

Jonathan's 29th Birthday

Saturday was Jonathan’s 29th Birthday. We all know how Jonathan lives to aggravate the socks off of anything and everything so after referring back to his birth certificate and confirming that he wasn’t brought into this world until 7:30pm. October 17th . . . Saturday was a L O N G day for him, wha-hahahahahaha.
Jonathan had already received his big gift from me about 3 months earlier. He wanted a range finder for hunting so bad I was about to the point of calling all the hunting stores, giving them a description of Jonathan and telling them whatever they did to NOT sell him one! I’m telling ya – you gotta watch tha boy like a hawk. For my B’day he bought my gift early as well and then turned around and purchased a smaller gift for me to have on my B’day. You know what that means . . . yep, so I start wondering what I’m going to get him. About a month ago he started talking about some 2-way Radio’s for hunting. Then the talk turned into begging, haha. He kept throwing a specific name brand (Midlands) my way so I took the hint and did some research. Now, I know you’ve got $20 radios and $200 radios; radios that’ll reach 3 miles and others that’ll reach 35 miles . . . so I asked around, talked to people, read reviews and finally decided on the Midland GXT-1000 VP4 - 50-Channel 30-Mile Waterproof 2-Way GMRS Radio’s (2) with NOAA All Hazard /Weather Alert, Rechargeable Batteries, Dual Desktop charger 12 Volt Vehicle Adapter and 2 Headsets.

Jonathan and Trent hunted all Friday morning until Trent had to get back to his house and do some things there. Jonathan went back to the woods around 2:00 and killed his first deer of the season around 5:30 that evening. Trent & Richann were going to be at our house by 7:00 that night to go out to eat with us for Jonathan’s birthday. I get a phone call at 6:00 from Jonathan and all I can hear is “I killed a doe”, gotta love Cingular, right? Then Trent calls and I tell him that he may want to bring some extra clothes just in case. Anyways, Jonathan shows up at the house around 6:15, with the deer, another reason I love the fact that we can hunt only 3 miles from the house! We were ready and walking out the door at 7:05! How bout that!
We went to Jasper to eat. Mexican was Jonathan’s choice. It was so good! We had so much fun and laughed so hard our sides hurt. There were several other birthdays in the restaurant that night so every time they started to sing Jonathan’s eyes would get huge! It was so funny.
We headed to our spot Saturday morning to set my blind up. At this point I was STILL waiting on his 2-way Radio’s to be delivered! Argh! I was really regretting not paying the extra $20 for 2 day shipping by now. After we got back home, I hung around outside waiting for the package. I fed the horses, cleaned and organized the garage; luckily Trent suggested eating the deer meat that night so he was in the kitchen getting it ready. Finally the mail lady pulls up with a package in hand! It’s here-it’s here!!!!! Now to sneak it in! I went thru the front door, into the bedroom where Tyson sleeps and put it in the closet. About 3:00, Jonathan decided we needed to head back into the woods. We stayed out there till dark, headed back to the house, changed clothes and headed to Trent & Richann’s. I’m usually the one that does the cooking (Richann’s not a cooker), so I brought all my cooking essentials for country fried deer meet & rice w/gravy, corn, and scalloped potatoes. I also hid the b’day package in with the rest of all that. When we got over to Trent & Richann’s, the boys immediately started looking at deer pictures, so while they did that, I whispered to Richann that I needed to hide the package somewhere. She opened up one of the cabinet’s and we stuck them there for the time being. After getting the majority of dinner cooked, I told Richann to take one of the radio’s and walk over by Jonathan, and I would take the other one and stand in front of them and we would pretend to talk back & forth to each other on them (they had to charge for 24 hours before using them). We took our places and began to talk to each other. Jonathan was so surprised. Trent was to for that matter, hahaha. Jonathan crosses his arms and says “Now that’s a mean trick to play on your husband! You’ve had them this whole time!!!!!” They were like two little kids, both of them checking out the buttons and reading what this button did and what that button did.

I’m glad you like them honey!

I love you!

Happy Birthday!

My First Hunting Trip - October 17th

Hunting.
In the South – Hunting is a sport. It’s right there with SEC Football. Matter of fact if the game is on while it’s prime time to be hunting then most have their earpieces in listening to the game.
My husband LOVES hunting. This year, he was offered the opportunity to hunt on some land that’s only 3 miles from our house. We both said “He’ll take it!”
I have a fear of guns but knew at one point in time I could maneuver a bow. So one day Jonathan & I headed to Cullman to see our good friend Ricky at Van’s Sporting Goods. Ricky had just received a (PSE Chaos) bow with a draw on it that would be just right for me to pull back. So the three of us went to the back of the store and gave it some test shots. I surprisingly, didn’t do to bad! They were both very impressed. 4 hours later, we left with the bow. (I think Ricky had it set-up all along!)

I had to personalize it with the hot pink, heehee
Ricky shook his head the whole time he was putting it on there.

About two months later I entered my first target shoot in Cullman at Heritage (July 4th Tournament). I placed 5th in the Women’s Division! Yea me!
http://alabamabowhunter.com/news/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=5641

So, after purchasing the bow, arrows, and all that goes with it . . . one can only assume that I’ll be joining my husband in the woods.
Did I mention I love the beach!
Me and cold weather have never seen eye-to-eye, and my sweet husband knows this, so he recommends that we purchase a blind for me to sit in. It’ll keep me warm, dry and most importantly (cause those two aren’t!) camouflaged.

Can I just say that this “blind” idea was one of the greatest my husband has had! We went this past Saturday and the wind was blowing like crazy! It was around 45 degrees – that’s COLD to me; yet even though I looked like a version of the marshmallow man in camo – I was warm and comfy!

Nature is so pretty! I’ve never seen as many red birds as I did that day. Playing and stirring around in the leaves. Jonathan was sitting in a tree stand in another green field. We both had cell phone service so we could text each other and keep in touch if we needed the other. About 4:00pm he sends me one, and no faster than I could lean over to pick my phone up, I had a doe and 3 babies standing about 40 yards in front of me. My heart started pounding! Like one of those rushes where your heart is beating so fast and loud that you think everyone else can hear it too. She looked right at me, all I could think was “She’s looking at me cause she can hear my heart beating! Calm down!” I just sat there. My bow with an arrow already in place, sitting in my lap, and all I could do was just sit there.

I couldn’t shoot a momma deer with her babies! What kind of person you think I am?!?!?!

It was the most amazing thing! Those little ones were so cute! I told Jonathan that two of them still had their spots and one looked to be from earlier this year. He said that it could’ve been a little spike - that sometimes they follow behind like that. They played for a minute and smelled around the brush and went on their way. Momma didn’t care too much for my blind though. Jonathan said that it probably spooked her. She’s not been used to seeing it there and that’s why they didn’t hang around very long.
Anyhow, it was a cool experience and I’m excited about going back for the rest of the season. Jonathan did take a doe late Friday evening (an early B’day gift to himself). He was so excited!

A Playground for the Boys

Well, as I left off from my "8 Second Ride" post . . . we now have a fenced in back yard!

Duke & Tyson LOVE it! They run and play as much as they want to; I can let them out to potty when they need to go - rain or shine! Great investment! We still need grass in the back yard (that'll be another project for another day), but until then Jonathan said he'll just have to fight Tyson's "rolling in the mud" fun.

Love ~
April & tha Boys!

Chelsie Deanna McGuirk

Congrats to Tim & Lisa (Foster) McGuirk on daughter #3!

Chelsie's stats - 7lbs 5 oz 20" long

She was born Monday morning, August 17th.

My 8 Second Ride . . .

Ya know those movies that have that funny scene where this person is walking a dog or a group of dogs and something catches the dogs eye and they take off with the handler still holding on? They’re running and yelling “STOOOOOP” and it appears that the handler is flying in mid air while still attached to the dog leashes . . .

It doesn’t quite happen that way!

So yesterday morning, Jonathan was called in to work about 3am, which means he goes on duty at 5am. My alarm “starts” going off at 5:15 and by 5:30, I’m up. After Jonathan left at 4:15, Tyson, for some reason, went crazy! Barking and jumping around in his kennel; made it hard for me to go back to sleep, apparently I managed because at 5:45, I woke back up. I started my morning routine, already had my clothes picked out for work that morning . . . a black skirt and nice top. Duke continued to lay on the bed while I got ready and Tyson was still sleeping so why bother em, right?
After getting ready BUT before I put my work clothes on, I took them outside to potty. Tyson is 16months and well, he’s discovering new scents in the yard and in the air . . . scents like the horses next door, someone BBQ’in, the honeysuckles on the fence, a-n-d female dogs.
I understand that with the economy the way it is, people are having a hard time taking care of their animals, BUT that’s no reason to dump them on our road! A week ago a pack of dogs showed up on our road. They made their way down to our house for a brief visit until Jonathan ran them off. We hadn’t seen them since.
So I take Duke & Tyson out to potty and everything’s good. The yard is wet from the dew and Jonathan had just cut the grass so I wear my waterproof boots out so the feet don’t get wet and covered in grass clippings. Tyson sniffs around for the first 5 minutes, as usual, and then he’ll go. Duke – gets right down to business. Back inside, they start playing, jumping around and whatnot while I get dressed and gather some things to put in my bag for work. I turn the air up, TV on, open one of the blinds in the den and that’s when they know I’m leaving for work and it’s time for Tyson to go back in his kennel and Duke to lounge around the house.
However, this time was going to be a little different. After all that playing and jumping they did, the potty dance hit them both at the same time. I thought to myself, “Okay, I know I have my work clothes on – my nice skirt and top – Uhhhh, I’ll just put my water boots on and take em out real quick. They’ve gotta go bad so it shouldn’t take long and Tyson won’t sniff around - it’s 6:20 – as long as I leave here at 6:30, I’m good!” So the strappy summer sandals come off and the black waterproof boots go on! I leash them up and to the yard we go. Everything’s good . . . we head down a slope towards the edge of the yard and all of a sudden, Tyson & Duke start barking and jumping . . . ???????? WHAT’S GOING ON????? They’re going crazy! I QUICKLY realize I have NO control. I’m frantically looking around, trying to find what it is they see . . . and there it is . . . one of those cotton-pickin’ dogs that was dumped on our road! I had no time left to do anything, and I knew it! All I could do was hang on and pray that God wasn’t in need of a laugh, that he would send my next door neighbor Andy out of his garage and help me! I held on tight and tried my best to stay with them, still attempting to plant my feet when possible. The dew on the grass and me wearing the waterboots – it was like ice skating instead. Remember as a kid when you played tug-of-war and the opposing team would tug – jerking your end of the rope - you would take several “quick-steps” in their direction? Well, that’s what I was doing . . . several quick-steps until I gave planting my feet one last try. They planted alright, but the rest of my body kept going. I looked like a tree that had just been cut at the base AND was being hauled off. I saw the gravel road quickly approaching – I had two choices . . . road rash or let go! It was a good ride, but my 8 seconds were up . . . I let go.
As I lay there in the wet grass near the road and watch my two dogs run with everything they had after this other mut, I realize that I can feel the cool air on my bottom. While enjoying the ride of my life thru our front yard, my nice black skirt had flown up and was now lying on my back. I laid there long enough to remember that only a few short minutes ago – or what seemed like an eternity – my neighbor Andy was standing in his garage, and my back side was now facing his house! “Oh my gosh, Oh my Gosh, Oh my gosh!” Is all I could think as I quickly jump to my feet, a little disoriented, and try to figure out what just happened? I look down at my clothes and there’s no hope to even try and dust myself off! I take off running down the road, over a small hill, when I spot em! Tyson is “checking out” the other dog and Duke, well he just wanted to mark his territory everywhere. Luckily Duke is 135lbs and running just ain’t for him! I yell for Andy but never see or hear the first sign of him. I turn back around and jog down the hill after them. The other dog takes off and Tyson goes with it. Duke, still marking his territory, hangs around and I’m able to grab a hold of his leash. Duke and I top the hill back to the house and I see Andy backing out of his driveway. What timing! Unfortunately he never checked up. I run Duke back in the house, grab my keys and phone and hop in my truck. I call Jonathan, in a panic and tell him over and over again that Tyson is gone. After explaining to him what had just happened – in bits and pieces, I head down the road towards the direction in which Tyson and the other dog took off. About a quarter of a mile from our house is a hay field, where I see Tyson’s head pop up and then I see the other dog running towards him.
I pull over, put the truck in park and haul butt through the hay field . . . in my skirt and waterboots, covered in grass clippings and mud, with Jonathan on the phone and me crying!
I holler at Tyson . . . he stops . . . he looks at me . . . he eases my way until he hears the other dog behind him.
In between hollering at Tyson, I beg Jonathan – I plead to Jonathan “PLEASE-PLEASE-PLEASE Can we get the back yard fenced? PLEASE!?!?! Please call Shane (our friend and builder of our home) and ask him, please!!!”
I holler at Tyson again . . . he stops . . . he looks, and this time I squat down and start talking puppy talk to him, “Come here Tyson, come here baby - come on, lets get a treat - ya want a treat, come on!?!?!?!”
FINALLY! Here he comes! I still have Jonathan on the phone and I keep whispering over and over “Come on Tyson, please don’t take off, please come on, please!!” He walks close enough to me that I was able to grab his leash! THANK YOU GOD! We walk out of the hay field – me shaking and holding his leash as tight as I can – still on the phone with Jonathan! I open the back hatch and put the seats down so he can get in. I pull in the garage, shut the garage door, let Jonathan go and let Tyson out. He knows he’s in trouble! He walks right in the house, goes thru the kitchen, to the den, bypasses Duke on the couch, down the hall and into his kennel. I shut his kennel door and walk into our bathroom and just look at myself in the mirror. I fight back the tears but only for a few seconds. I’m covered from my neck down to the waterboots I still have on, in grass clippings, mud and dog hair. My shirt and skirt are soaking wet from the dew on the grass and the front part of my pretty black skirt is now green, my knees are scuffed up and I have raccoon eyes! I can’t go to work looking like this, so I start the shower up. I had grass coming out of places that grass shouldn’t have been!!
Jeans aren’t part of the company attire usually, but today there was gonna have to be an exception!
I never heard a peep out of either one of them the rest of the morning. I finally left the house around 7:45 and arrived to work an hour later.
Shane starts on our fence in two weeks!


Love Bunches~
Duke, Tyson, and April!

30 Was Knocking - I Finally Had To Answer . . .

My 30th Birthday was Tuesday, July 14th. I've been dreading this for a while and it really didn't help with Jonathan constantly reminding me that he'll be 29 on his B'day.
So much has happened over the last ten years, I can only imagine what's in store for the next ten. I've had seven jobs over the last ten years. I've had five life-changing experiences take place in the last ten years. I've made friends, I've lost friends, and I've reunited with friends. 2002 & 2006 was the hardest. February 2008 my fiance, Jonathan, and I bought our first new house; May 2009, we married! I'm so happy to be able to celebrate my 30th B'day with my husband, Jonathan. Jonathan's been a part of my life for the past seven years. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us!

While we were at the beach for our wedding, Jonathan purchased my Birthday gift, a white Coach purse! He did a great job with picking it out! He also bought me a new camouflage hat with the Bone Collector emblem on the front in Hot Pink. Michael Waddell is a big deer hunter, has the Bone Collector show on the Hunting Channel (602, lol), anyways Jonathan LOVES him! So he ordered a new hat for me and pulled some strings with an old friend from his hometown who now works for Michael and was able to get a picture of Michael signed with a "Happy Birthday" message on it for me. He was soooooooooooo proud of that! He's so sweet. I love him so much!
I had a beautiful bouquet of flowers sent to work from Sheri, Lee, and Devin.
My step-mom, Darla, bought some items off our register that she knew I really wanted, and my dad gave me money. Jonathan's mom, Connie, gave me a black suede photo album to put wedding pictures in. That'll come in handy considering I only have one and all it has is 20 pages for pictures. Sheri took waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than that! HaHa
Heard from several people who called to wish me a Happy Birthday as well.

Thank You for a wonderful 30th Birthday!

Love~
April

4th of July

Jonathan and I got up early July 4th to shoot in our first ever bow tournament in Cullman! It was so much fun! I shot a 165, which apparently is pretty good for a first-timer!
Later that day, we picked up Trent & Richann and headed to the Smith Lake to watch the fireworks! Last year was our first year to watch them there and there was the best I've ever seen! I'm ALL about some fireworks (if I could've afforded them for our wedding - I would've), so there was no doubt that we would be back up there this year. I think they were even better than last year! It was packed. It took us about an hour to get in the park and situated. We had stopped at McDonald's (read the post below - we've been eating BBQ for a week!) and made us a picnic in the back of Jonathan's truck when we got in the park. We had a great time and enjoyed the show! Good job Smith Lake!!!

Palisades Park Reception - June 27, 2009

Jonathan and I had decided that since we were having a small close family & friends wedding at the beach that we'd have a large Reception/Party for everyone to attend after we came home from the honeymoon. Vic Springfield with Firehouse Grills provided the BBQ feast! It was soooo good! We had Ribs, BBQ stuffed baked potatoes, BBQ Chicken, BBQ sandwiches, cheese biscuits from Jim-N-Nicks, fresh watermelon, and homemade banana pudding made by my step-mom! Vic and his step-daughter Megan, were awesome! Vic and Megan both work with me at Southern Company. I had planned on taking care of everything myself (putting food out and making sure it never ran low, getting drinks ready, things like that), Jonathan and I had so much help while at the beach, I wasn't about to ask anyone for additional help with this too.

Everyone arrived at the same time and EARLY! You know how I am, I ain't gonna stop decorating and getting ready until the place looks like I want it to. So I kept on going. I finally got everything finished and I was able to meet family on Jonathan's side that I had not met before and Jonathan was able to do the same with mine. Vic and Megan never checked up! They handled everything! I was so grateful for them! I would've missed out on meeting people and hearing some funny stories about Jonathan. So a HUGE Thank You to Vic and Megan!

Around 70 people showed up, and out of 60 baked potatoes, 3 were left! However (and I've yet to figure this one out), I had 9 slabs of ribs left over! Sooooo, I started giving them away as people left, haha . . . "Thank you for coming to our reception, here take a slab of ribs!" I think I even chased Chris Carr down to give him a slab but he locked himself up in their car! HAHA Just kidding. Nichole did sell a few Woodsy Girl items while she was at our reception! We're all for that!

We were more than blessed with gifts from everyone! We chose to open gifts at our home so that we could take the time to enjoy them, read cards that came with them and if we wanted to open them right then, we could - without having to cut time short with guests.

Jonathan's mom, Connie, painted a beautiful portrait of Jonathan and I walking on the beach after the wedding ceremony. She's so talented!

Our house is now supplied with lots of kitchen goodies, some in which Jonathan is still learning how to operate!

My adopted mom, Shamra, also gave us a special gift. She had a menu from LuLu's framed for us! It turned out to be pretty cool.

We also received several gift cards to Walmart, Target, and Lowe's. You know which ones Jonathan claimed, haha

Our house is still a mess from everything we unloaded from the reception. I tackle a small bit every day it seems.

I've found some Thank You cards on Snapfish that I'm placing an order for. You can create a collage on the front of them, so I'm incorporating wedding pictures, LuLu's, and Palisades Park.

I want to thank Sheri Peak for coming to Palisades Park and shooting those pictures as well. Sheri has been doing pictures for the past 10 years for me. She always does a great job and I trust her judgement. Her husband Lee also shoots as well, but majority of the time he's always there to help Sheri with anything she needs. Their son, Devin, doesn't fall far from the "talent" tree either! A lot of the LuLu's pictures were taken by him!

Thank you again to everyone who came to our wedding, our reception, for all the gifts we've been blessed with and for everyone's help!

Love~

Jonathan & April

Headed to the Sunshine State

Yesterday, my brother graduated from MCT - School of Infantry - Camp Lejeune, NC.

He's now headed to Florida to start his "Specialties Training".

He's doing great, has a lot of much needed discipline, and loves every minute of being a Marine!

I don't know how long he'll be in Florida. I do know that he wants to make a career out of this so by all means I support him 100%. I think its awesome that he's found something that he believes in and most importantly believes in himself enough to know he can do it if he wants it. It's improved his self-esteem, his way of thinking, and his way of life and I'm so thankful for that. Chris and I are a lot alike, when we find something-an interest we love, we do it to the best of our ability. I understand his passion for this. I wish him the best of luck!

I love you Chris!

"So . . . how's married life?"

The question Jonathan and I have been hit with the most! It's great! Is it any different than it was 2 weeks ago before we were married? Not really. We both have wedding bands on our fingers and my last name changed, but other than that . . . our love for one another is still as strong! We both know that we've been married to one another for a while now. Everything with us just makes sense. I don't know exactly how to explain it, except we just belong together. I know that no matter what, Jonathan will always be by my side. He supports me in everything I do; that's something I'm not accustomed to, so I'm a little hesitant on recognizing it sometimes. Jonathan and I have grown so much over the two years that we've been dating. We've done a lot of growing within ourselves and we've learned so much about one another. He's helped me overcome a lot of issues that I've had in my past; some I still fight with but I know it takes time, prayer, and faith.

For me . . . mine & Jonathan's relationship can sometimes be an eye-opener. My first marriage was a nightmare. There were so many red flags. This whole experience with Jonathan . . . planning the wedding, him WANTING to be involved, his help, his shoulder when I needed it . . . I've tried my hardest to cherish every little thing about him because that's the person that I am and I was afraid that my first marriage stole that from me. There was one specific part of mine and Jonathan's wedding that I will forever hold close to my heart . . . the preacher told Jonathan to stand with his back towards everyone - for him to look out into the ocean and to just take that moment to clear his head and take a deep breath and when I was ready to walk down to him he would queue Jonathan to turn around and face me. Jonathan said he was completely fine up until this point; wasn't nervous throughout the day, was just pumped and excited about us getting married, but then he felt his knees lock up and butterflies in his stomach. As my dad and I walked down the stairs from the beach house and topped the "mountain of sand", my dad started talking to me while Whitney's mom was fixing the back of my dress. I saw that Jonathan was facing the ocean and at that moment I had a couple of seconds to glance around and see everyone. My dad nodded his head to the preacher and that's when Joanthan was asked to turn around. We locked eyes with one another and he started to cry. I've never felt so important and special to someone as I did then. The love, joy, happiness, overwhelming emotion that I felt was written all over my face (so I was told). As my dad and I walked thru the sand, I couldn't tell you who was there, who was talking to me as I walked by them, what Josh was playing on the guitar . . . Jonathan was the only person there that I saw.

I thought with us leaving a few days before the wedding to head to the beach, I would get some R&R in . . . HA HA HA, not hardly!
The day before we departed for the beach was a 'tension filled-hollering at each other - chunking things in garbage bags - slammin doors' kind of day . . . heehee, I laugh now. This was mine and Jonathan's first time to go on a trip together AND first time packing with the other being involved.
**Advice** All couples should do this at least ONCE before getting married
I'm a little on the OCD side of being organized . . . okay, a lot.
I had boxes and Rubbermaid tubs set aside to pack everything in that was going to the beach. I "was" planning on packing everything according to set-up and then labeling the boxes/tubs so that I wouldn't be running around like a crazy person looking for this-that-and the other when it was time to decorate!
I had "planned" to work half a day (10am) that Wednesday before leaving and then as I headed out from 280, stop and pick up my flowers. At 12 noon, I'm still at work! Already 2 hours behind! Figures!
I leave work at 12:30, make my stops and get home around 4:00. Jonathan has busted his tail on cleaning his truck ONLY for the bottom to fall out of the sky. We were able to get the flowers unloaded from my truck and into the spare bathroom to keep cool, and then pull his truck into the garage before it got bad outside. As soon as we got in the house and out of the rain, Jonathan suddenly became my shadow . . . I started out being "nice", but that didn't seem to be working to well. I guess he felt like he needed to be as busy as I was; he kept asking "what can be packed?" "can this go?" "what about this" "why do we need this?" "what's that for?" I was about to explode. If I ignored him -that made it worse, if I snapped at him - he turned around and gave it right back, if I threatened him . . . I'm Just Kidding! But it WAS close!
It had finally stopped raining and he started loading the truck and trailer. He was outside all of 30 minutes and there he was, right back behind me . . . I think I would've been fine had the NEXT statement not been made.
**Side Note** We are taking an enclosed trailer with us that will have his bike in it and extra room for boxes and tubs. He's already told me that most of everything will go in this trailer. His bike was at the shop waiting to be picked up, which he decided to wait and get on our way out. Now to me - this means that most of the stuff will need to be "re-packed" in order to get the bike in the trailer.
So, he's standing in the doorway of one of the guest bedrooms (where all the wedding stuff is being stored), looks at me and says "What's all this?" I respond . . . "This is all the stuff that's going to the beach . . . " He looks at me and says "We ain't got room for all that, it ain't all going!"
HA! DO WHAT!?!?! OH YES SIR IT IS! I KNOW HE JUST DIDN'T TELL ME THAT IT WASN'T ALL GOING!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
So back and forth we went, hollering, slamming the doors, ya know . . . THEN he thinks he's gonna mumble stuff under his breath . . . WRONG! I may be deaf in one ear, but I can still understand the sounds that letters make!!! I stomp into the kitchen, pulled the whole box of garbage bags out from under the sink and stomp back into the bedroom (hahaha), Jonathan following close behind. "What are you doin???" he says. I snap back with "What's it look like, I'm packing so you can start LOADIN IT ALL UP!" (yeah). Everything and I mean everything was going in a garbage bag. I'd stuff it full, tie it up and toss it to him. After it got to the point of me going outside and chunking garbage bags into the bed of his truck so he'd get off my back, I finally got a grip, took a deep breath and said "Okay, something has GOT to give!" Funny, Jonathan met me at the front door ready to apologize as well. We both agreed that we were tired, stressed, nervous, tired, anxious, freaking out, tired again, and HUNGRY! HaHaHa

We ended up getting everything packed and the next day was out of the driveway at 7:30am - right on time (according to Jonathan - he was happy, that's all that mattered).
Jonathan's brother, Josh and his girlfriend, Stephanie, were following us down to the beach. They were staying with us until Joanthan and Josh's mom (Connie) arrived Friday to check in to their beach house. We met them in Pelham at Victory to pick Jonathan's motorcycle up. An hour later, we headed up 2 more exits and decided to eat at Cracker Barrel. Little did we know that stop would be with the four of us for the rest of our lives! I'll just say our waitress meant well - but was HILARIOUS! Finally by 10:30am we were headed to the beach! We looked like the "Clampetts" (thank you Chris at Victory), but ya know what, everything that "wasn't going", went! HaHa
We finally made it to the beach by 4:30ish. We unloaded everything and tried to get situated in the house. Jonathan and Josh unloaded their bikes and we all rode to get something to eat. At 11:00pm we headed to bed. Whitney and her sister arrived at midnight to stay with us as well until they could check in the next day.
Friday was a beautiful day! Sheri (my photographer), her husband (Lee) and their little boy (Devin) arrived at 10am and we started on the canopy then. Jonathan had already quickcrete the four main poles into small pots the day before. Lee is awesome! He knew exactly what had to be done in order for it to be secure! Now, getting the top of the canopy up and tied off to the other four poles was interesting! Our friends Trent and (his wife) Richann walked over with her parents to see what we had accomplished, and to offer any help. It took six of us all together to get it where Lee could secure it to the four poles.




Rehearsal went great! We LOVED Pastor Glenn - he's awesome!
We worked on the material for the canopy Friday night after everyone left. We had to insert grommets so the material could be tied to the poles as well. By Saturday, all that was left was putting the flowers together for the girls, laying the sheets and pillows out for the guests, chairs out for family, and the guest sign-in table needed to be arranged.
Jonathan and all the guys went to Kiva Dunes Golf Resort Saturday morning to play golf before the wedding. They had so much fun! Jonathan came back with the outline of his sunglasses sunburned on his face . . . but hey - they had a ball!
I left out to get my hair and makeup done and all that was left was putting the sheets out. Whitney told me she would take care of that, so off to the Aveda Spa I went. I get 3 miles down the road, just long enough for her to get the sheets out and it starts pouring down rain! Whitney was able to gather the sheets up and throw them in the dryer, heehee.
Everything turned out great! The shower only lasted for 10 minutes and passed on by, sheets were dry and ready for guests to sit on, and the rest fell into place! The ceremony was perfect. The sound of the ocean, the wind blowing and the sun setting . . . Perfect!
Pictures were quick. Sheri only had about 15 minutes of sunset to work with. They still turned out beautiful though, all 600 of them! HaHa
We had 50 guests attend the ceremony and 35 that went to LuLu's with us for a small Reception. Everyone had a great time there.
Jonathan and I made it back to the beach house around 11:00 that night. We finished cleaning up and decided to break the canopy down too.
We ended up not going to P.C. for Thunder On The Beach that next morning. We were both tired, and just wanted to enjoy not having to run around like crazy! A lot of family and friends were staying at the beach until Tuesday, so we spent a lot of time with them . . . yes, while on our honeymoon.
We had Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday before check-out alllllllll to ourselves, hahaha.
We stopped in Gardendale on our way home to pick the boys up from aunt Miranda's (the vet). Before we got out the door good, Duke rips two of his toenails smooth off. They have to wrap both feet so the bleeding would stop then give me a topical powder to put on the cuticle. We pull up at home, Tyson gets off his leash, went running around like a crazy dog, we unpacked, we ate and then went to bed! Thursday morning we got up, Tyson is coughing his head off . . . Yep - its kennel cough! He even had a booster shot! Of course this means Duke also runs the risk of getting it as well! Four prescriptions and a vet visit later . . .

Welcome back home!
~The Prices

Congratulations . . .

To my cousin Meagan McDuffie Nichols and her husband Jacob on the birth of their little girl, Jakeley Faith. Meagan was induced on Wednesday and had her Thursday 4/23/09 at 5:23am.

Miss Jakeley's Stats - 6lbs. 15oz. 21" long

The first blog I posted on my website mentions Meagan and her battle with Cervical Cancer. After fighting thru it, her doctors told her that the possibility of a child was very slim.

Never underestimate the power of our Lord!

Meagan

Miss Jakeley getting her hair washed

Proud Grandparents

My uncle Robert and aunt Leslie

10 Days to go!

If you know me well enough, then you know that I've already completed my checklist for everything that should be going to the beach for the wedding. WOW! Destination weddings require a lot! However, when I decorate for something I become a perfectionist! I would rather do it all by myself than have help. I have a visual in my head and I do my best to make that visual become reality (I have 5 years of design school to thank for that). I have a friend of mine with the same mindset as I do (she also has design school to thank) and therefore I will have her assistance in setting up everything for the wedding (thank you Whitney!)

Jonathan's brother bought a new Rhino.
Needless to say we've been riding a lot here lately

We went last Saturday to Jonathan's papaws house to cut bamboo for our canopy. Papaw has about 2 acres of bamboo, however the area may possibly have a few or 30 snakes, so we stayed toward the front of the 2 acres and cut what we could get to. The canopy will be used for the preacher, Jonathan & myself to stand under during the ceremony.

Papaw, Josh & Stephanie helped also

All finished!

They helped too!

My brother, Chris graduates this Friday morning from the Marine's. It's held on base at Parris Island, S.C.

He should be home for a couple of weeks after that, then he heads to N.C. for more training.

30 Days till our Wedding!

Well . . . we've finally reached the 1 month mark! I've waited a long time for this and even though the next 30 days are about to fly - it's still gonna seem like forever!
What started as 15 guests coming to the wedding (this was including Jonathan & myself, and parents), has now turned into 52, which is a good bit for a destination wedding! A friend of mine from high school, April Peavey Brewer, is making a sign to hang in front of the beach house. I can't wait to see the finished product! Going by her sketches it's gonna look really good! For the most part, I have everything done . . . well all the big things, that is. The only "last minute" thing I'll have to deal with is getting the flowers the day before we leave and (Jonathan) dropping Duke and Tyson off at Aunt Miranda's (Mercy's Animal Hospital and Vet). We still have bamboo to cut down at Jonathan's papaw's house, but we're planning to do that 2 weeks before. We didn't want it drying out to much because it'll change the color of the bamboo, but apparently it has to dry out some to kill any bugs that may be in the poles.
Jonathan's mom has planned a "pre-wedding" meeting this weekend. We've all got so much to take down - we've got to figure out who is taking what in what vehicle . . .

Hopefully we'll have internet service at the beach house and I'll be able to post pictures on here after the wedding!

1 Month & 23 Days . . .

So . . . we had 4" of snow last week, and it's 70 degrees this week! Did I mention the flu is going around as well?

Last Sunday we played outside in the snow with Duke & Tyson. Duke wasn't that excited, Tyson on the other hand . . . eating the snow, rolling in the snow, planting his nose in the snow. He had us rolling we were laughing so hard!

After playing, we put Tyson up and hit the roads. It was so pretty. As we drove thru neighborhoods, it was really nice watching everyone come together and play. Ya just don't see that much anymore; everyone stays busy with their own families.

We decided to get some breakfast at Cracker Barrel in Gardendale, so we took the back way from the house - thru Mt.Olive. We came up on a wreck by the Mt.Olive Firestation, so we turned around and took the senic route. There were Rhinos and Gators everywhere. That's when Jonathan wanted to go back home and get his out so we could ride around on that. We finally ended up at Cracker Barrel and it was so nice and warm in there. They had a big fire going in the fireplace and everyone was in a great mood! Really made you enjoy your time that you had.

Afterwards, we ventured on to Target to start a wedding register.

Little did I know what I was in for . . .

Once the scanner was placed in Jonathan's hands . . . he suddenly developed "trigger finger" and the only cure for this is to PRY the scanner out of ones hand! Good luck with this!

I had to access our register online and "clean it up" because we had everything on there from baby items (and we DON'T need those right now) to bellpeppers!

My dad received his first letter the other day from my brother. He's doing well. They're giving him the butt kicken that he's long deserved (I know that sounds harsh but if you know my brother then you understand where I'm coming from). In all honesty, I pray that this helps Chris and shows him that he CAN overcome battles and be a strong person - despite what he's made himself believe.

This Friday will be the "50 days" mark until the wedding. I can't believe it's almost here, it just seemed like a few weeks ago it was in the triple digits, haha.

I went Saturday to a fabric store in Oneonta and found some material for our bamboo canopy. It's 100% linen, a dark khaki color, and sooooooooooo pretty! I went a little over budget on it, but that was okay considering I've been under budget on everything else. I've also found out that a friend of mine owns a wedding venue so I'm hoping to get my foot in the door with that (fingers crossed). We've started a list of things to pack for the wedding, it's already at 2 pages, hahahaha. Luckily Jonathan is "trailering" his bike to the beach so we'll have extra room in that for some things.

We're going to P.C. that Sunday for the end of Thunder On The Beach. That should be reeeeeeeeeeeal interesting! Neither one of us have ever been, but his brother, uncle, stepdad, and couple of friends are riding down with us that day. Should be fun!