Home Gym + 2 Escape Labs = Yellow Box Commercial

Jonathan & I have been entertaining the thought of working out (again). We have a little gym right up the road from us that we’ve joined a few times (actually it’s a gym/tanning salon/video rental – go figure). They keep closing the place down, opening back up, selling the place . . . so we decided to invest in some gym equipment for the house. No more membership fees (every time they decide to close or sell) or finding equipment in this gym that actually works. We could have the convenience of working out in our home without having to leave or lock the dogs up, and we can wear our PJ’s if we want (that was Jonathan’s thinking).
We have a classifieds here at Southern Company, and you can find all kinds of things on it. It’s just like looking in the paper except it’s for So.Co. and the Southern power companies only. An Engineer on my floor had a home gym for sell that I came across on our classifieds. After looking at some photos and chatting with him about it, Jonathan & I decided to buy it, along with a treadmill that I had been debating on. Friday night we picked the treadmill up from the store and three hours later (poor Jonathan), it was ready to rock!
Sunday, we headed to 280 to pick up our gym.
(It’s important that you know I wore my brand new Yellow Box shoes while we were out.)

Not sure on the exact size of this thing, we ended up taking both vehicles. We arrived at their house and loaded this bad boy up in the back of my Expedition. It fit!!!! The guy we bought it from offered to take it apart in chunks so it would be easier to load and transport. That was really nice of him! He even labeled how and where everything went back together! I thought Jonathan was going to hug him!
On our way back home, I suggested to Jonathan that we stop at Johnny Rockets and eat lunch. This is his FAVORITE place to eat a burger, so he was all kinds of excited! A home gym and Johnny Rockets!
After eating, we head on to the house. I had to run by Walmart so Jonathan went on. As I turn on our road and pass the gate to the horse pasture, something in my rear-view mirror catches my eye. It’s a dog . . . running . . . running towards my truck. The dog gets closer. It’s a lab! It’s chocolate! IT’S DUKE!!!!!!!! WHAT THA!?!?!?!
I pull in the drive, throw my truck in park and jump out. Course he comes running right up to me.
I call Jonathan . . . “Uhhh, can you come out to the front – I have Duke!”
Jonathan – “Huh!?”
Me – “I HAVE DUKE! Bring his collar!”

Jonathan comes out the front door and says “How’d he get out here?”
Now . . . MANY things could’ve came out of my mouth along with some eye rolling, BUT I said “Honey, I don’t know.” So after getting him back in the house, we walk around to the fence to investigate. Our fence butts up against the horse fence, and as I pointed out after the fence was put up, with enough force the horse fence can be pushed and the dogs COULD work their way out . . . but I’m a woman and I was outnumbered by two men therefore I have NOOOOO idea what I’m talking about! Anyone want to guess how Duke got out? HAHAHAHA
So, my sweet-wonderful husband heads to the garage to find a board. While nailing that board to both of the fences he calls me outside to show me all the hair that Duke is probably missing from sliding his big ol’ self thru that opening. HeeHee

We decided to unload the gym at the front door since it’s going in one of the rooms there. Duke & Tyson are both in the back yard watching at the screen door as we make several trips in and out of the house. We get everything unloaded, put my seats back up and Jonathan pulls my truck in the garage. Instead of going back in the house thru the front door – that’s standing WIDE OPEN (this will be key here in a few minutes) – we go in thru the garage. Jonathan then gives me the “go-ahead” to let the dogs in; they’re standing at the screen door just waiting to take off. I told Jonathan “they must be ready to eat” because they seemed so anxious to come in . . . little did I know . . .
I open the screen door and they busted thru like the running of the bulls. Anything that involves them taking off like that always seems to happen in slow motion (for me). It was like trying to catch something breakable that’s valuable and irreplaceable, you jump from your feet like you’re at the START line of a race. I remember seeing Duke and Tyson clear the four brick steps that lead to our front door as they STARTED their leap while still in the hallway of our house! I “thought” I was seconds behind them but apparently I lost time while I was still standing at the screen door in a daze that Duke was actually out running Tyson. I yell at Jonathan “THE FRONT DOOR!!!!!!!!” and I too, clear the four brick steps. I make it half way down the driveway when Jonathan comes running out. He runs back in (to get his keys and leashes) and I can hear all these dogs barking and going crazy right down the road so I take of running towards the commotion. Remember when I said it was important for me to tell you that I was wearing my new Yellow Box shoes . . . I still have those on while the 3-Ring Circus is performing.

(Note – for those of you that read about my 8 second ride – I’m now running in the opposite direction)

I’m hollering “DUKE!” “TYSON!”
I’m now sprinting (in my Y.B. shoes) and my vision is starting to be impaired from breathing so hard. I see headlights coming up from behind me . . . It’s Jonathan. He flies by me and is obviously gaining a little more ground than me, so I slow down and try to catch my breath. My legs are starting to have spasms and feel like Jell-O. I stop, lean down and put my hands on my knees. I see headlights coming towards me now. Still holding myself up on my knees, Jonathan comes driving up with the back windows down and I see two heads pop out, ears and tongues flapping in the wind. He stops beside me where I’m able to see both Duke & Tyson standing in the back seat with both of their heads hanging out the window and their tails wagging 90-to-nothing! I can’t even make words come out of my mouth I’m so exhausted, when I hear my husband say “You want a ride back to the house!?”
I slowly walk to the back of his truck, climbed up on the tailgate and gave him a thumbs-up. By 9:00 Sunday night, we had the gym put together.

I was afraid that after running in those shoes that my feet were going to be killing me, but they actually felt fine. Would’ve made an ideal commercial for Yellow Box shoes!

Love Bunches ~

Jonathan & April

Duke (Inmate No. 754236) & Tyson (Inmate No. 754237)

PUPPIES!

"Baby" gave birth to her 2nd litter of puppies last night!
5 Boys and 4 Girls
"Baby" is full blooded, white lab. "Chief" (daddy) is full blooded red (fox) lab. Chief is a big boy!
Both are very sweet and loving dogs.
They are both family pets and this will be Baby's last litter.

Out of the 9 puppies, 1 of them carried their daddy's genes; 1 female puppy is red, all the others are white.

The owners are asking $125 for each puppy. All shots will be taken care of by the owners until they are able to leave Baby and go home with new owners. They will be ready for their new homes on March 2nd.
You are welcome to pick out a puppy now or at any time. They ask that you bring a collar to leave on your puppy so that they know which puppy belongs to whom.

If you are interested in owning one of these sweet babies, please email me at x2adobbs@southernco.com and I will put you in contact with the owners.

Thanks!!
April














"Baby" before puppies (Jan 2010)

"Chief" (bottom of picture)

Lab Puppies!!!!!

This sweet baby (and also her name) belongs to my good friends Nichole & Chris.

Baby (full blooded white lab) is expecting little ones any day now! Chief (daddy) is a full blooded lab as well (red) and the last litter of puppies she had were absolutely adorable!

If anyone's looking for lab puppies, check back in a few days. As soon as Nichole lets me know they're here I will post some puppy pics!

Peace Out~

April :D

Christmas at Whitney's

My long time best friend, Whitney and her husband Ben, came home to visit her family for Christmas. As always, we have our annual Christmas gathering at her mom and dad's. This year was a little different from previous visits . . . she's pregnant! I'm so happy for her and Ben! She's in her 2nd trimester now and looks great. Luckily for her, she's not experienced much of the "pregnancy sickness" that comes along. While visiting, we worked on plans for a baby shower to be held in March, right before her cut-off date in which she can fly.

When it comes to planning, Whitney and I have a visual that we both go above and beyond to accomplish. I don't know if that's the Interior Designer (detail oriented) in us or the love we have for event planning.

Whitney had requested a "Fondue" themed shower. I'm so excited to see what all I can come up with to make this exactly what she wants!

By the way . . . after they arrived back home in Dallas, they found out they're having a BOY!

John David Dasch should be here sometime late May/early June!

Whitney, me, and Whitney's mom Aquila

Whitney & Ben


Whitney's cousin, Brittney, and myself

Love-Love-Love~

April

Our First Christmas

Jonathan and I had a wonderful first Christmas together! We both received great gifts but most importantly we were together. CSX was open, but Jonathan decided to mark-off in order for us to spend Christmas with each other.
The Saturday before Christmas, Jonathan joined me in going to the Alabama Theatre to watch White Christmas. For me, this has a lot of meaning behind it. About four years ago, my aunt Leslie invited me with the family to go watch White Christmas at the A.T. This was my first time to go and be part of the Christmas festivities the A.T. puts on. I was married to my first husband at the time and things were starting to crumble between us. I was at home a lot by myself and didn’t have a lot of friends and with Christmas quickly approaching, I was a little depressed. I decided to take my aunt up on her offer and joined them that evening. I had no idea that something so simple to others would mean more to me than anything that Christmas, and it would be a memory and tradition that I would continue whether I went by myself or with them again. This place was amazing! It was like one big-huge family, haha. Everyone there was there with their family . . . Grandparents, parents, kids, aunts, uncles . . . all sitting together, enjoying every minute, snapping family pictures with everyone . . . When it was time for the festivities to begin, the auditorium lights dimmed a few times to queue everyone back to their seats. From the floor of the stage, a piano/organ pops up with a guy playing Christmas songs for everyone to join in for a sing-along. We were like a huge church choir! After a few songs, the movie begins. The smell of popcorn and candy fills the air, as all chatter stops and everyone settles into their chairs. Half way thru the movie I look around to see kids that have crawled up in the laps of their parents and are either mesmerized by the dancing in the movie or have fallen asleep.
That night I felt like I was with my family; that I was just as much my aunt and uncles daughter as their own were. For those of you that know how the past 8 years have been for me, then you understand where I’m coming from. Thank you aunt Leslie and uncle Robert for considering me one of your girls.
The last couple of years, attending the White Christmas show at the A.T. was put on the back burner. I wanted to go so bad, but I attended other Christmas functions instead. I promised myself that this go around . . . I was gonna be there with bells on! After mentioning to Jonathan that I wanted to go, he was a little hesitant, (for some reason he kept thinking it was a Play, I guess because it’s at the A.T.) but after much deliberation, he agreed to go with me. It was hard for him to understand why this was so special to me. On the way there & while eating dinner at Chili’s, I explained to him how “magical” this place is; when you get in there and you’re surrounded by all this family goodness . . . course that’s when he started with the jokes . . . “Magical like Disneyland?!?!?!” There was a lot of eye rolling on my part while driving that evening.
After we got inside and seated, Jonathan started to see what I was talking about. He was quite for about 10 minutes (I KNOW, RIGHT!!!) – Just watching everyone and feeling the atmosphere that I was telling him about. When the Christmas songs started, we all sang. Rudolph was first and Jonathan found it amusing when everyone added the extra tid-bits to the song, course he was all about singing then cause they were making it funny. After the singing, Jonathan grabbed my hand and looked at me and said “I understand. We’ll do this every year for as long as you want!” TISSUE! I NEED A TISSUE! I love him so much!
The movie started and Jonathan actually enjoyed it (he’d never seen White Christmas). We had a GREAT time that night and that’s something I’ll cherish just like that night with my family!

Christmas Eve we headed to Oneonta to see Jonathan’s dad and step mom. We had a great time there! Little did I know I was about to witness the Ultimate Ping-Pong/Table-Tennis Championship! You know its serious business when Jonathan’s dad changes into football shorts, a loose shirt, and puts his tennis shoes on. I just knew when I walked into the game room that they’d both be stretching. If Jonathan’s dad said “You ready?” once, he said it 20 times! Between him saying that and Joanthan killing the ball . . . this was gonna be a long visit. Surprisingly, 20 minutes after they started, and both of them about to collapse, the paddles were down and the Championship was done. Don’t ask me who won . . . Jonathan says he spanked his dad and Jonathan’s dad says he’s still undefeated. Next stop . . . Morris, to spend Christmas with my dad and step mom. My step mom can cook up a storm and it’s always SO good! We were starving and could smell the homemade mac-n-cheese from the driveway! We didn’t leave there hungry, I’ll say that! We had a great Christmas at my dad’s. Darla gave me the cutest flip-flops from Dreams Avenue! My dad gave Jonathan some tools and he’s been more thrilled about those and the thermals and wool socks that Darla gave him! He’s told everyone, haha.
After spending a few hours there, we packed up and headed back to Sumiton.

Christmas day, Jonathan was up bright and early! He’s like a kid! He was more excited about giving the boys their Christmas than he was anything. Duke & Tyson had their stockings full of treats and chew toys! They were so excited and very entertaining to watch.

Jonathan wanted me to open my gifts first. He gave me a white Columbia jacket that he told me he had gone back to The Bass Pro Shop to get and it was gone (Ha-Ha), a black Columbia runner’s zip-up, and a black Columbia yoga jumper.

Last but not least, the gift he worked the hardest on – well him and Trent that is – this box was huge and HEAVY! He slid it to me and after opening it and seeing a concrete center block in it . . . there was my little remote. FINALLY . . . Keyless entry to my truck! WHA-HOO! My truck has one way and one way only to unlock the doors. Why? Because it’s supposed to come with a little remote and a code for the key pad on the door HOWEVER, when I purchased my truck from the dealership (S.S.) they “lost” the remote and had “no idea” what the code was for the door panel. When it’s pouring down rain or whatever, I have to unlock the door from the drivers side with my key, hit the unlock button, then open the back hatch to put groceries in. It never fails, it’ll rain at its hardest when I come out of Walmart with a buggy full of groceries!
Jonathan did a great job on Christmas gifts. However, what he didn’t know was that his wife had picked up some of his traits and was about to out-sneak him . . . heeheehee!

Jonathan had already received one of his gifts a couple of weeks earlier. He wanted surround sound for the new TV and after I debated back and forth on that and the Tony Hawk game, I finally just asked him which one he would like to have . . . now it sounds like the guns from his Call Of Duty game are actually going off in our den.

Anyhow, he also found out that he was getting the new C.O.D. Modern Warfare II game . . . he was bored one day and thought he would be funny and drive me up the wall about this game and whether or not he was getting it for Christmas, so he started guessing what I had already bought him. I told him if he didn’t leave me alone about it and stop aggravating me then I was gonna tell him if he got it or not . . . that’s how he found out that he did indeed have it, and that now he wouldn’t be surprised when he opened it AND that he was now gonna have to wait till Christmas to get it! I believe I stated earlier . . . He’s like a kid!
After a friend of ours (Lee & Sheri Peak) heard this story, Lee suggests to me that I should do the same thing he did to his son last Christmas when he found his C.O.D. game. He took clear duct tape and wrapped the whole game in it. Lee said his son spent an hour trying to figure out HOW to get in the “packaging” HAHAHA. I decided after hearing that I needed to purchase some duct tape. Then another friend of mine, Daniel – who actually put me on a “reserved” list for the game and picked it up for me, suggested that I put the game in several boxes and load the boxes down so he’d think it was something else. Why not combine BOTH ideas, heeheehee. Soooooooo, I wrapped his game in 3 layers of clear duct tape, and put it in a box, then I put that box in another box with some rocks, and put that box in another box with more rocks. By the time it was said and done the whole gift weighed 10lbs! HAHAHA He had NO idea what it was and it was absolutely eating him up! I had a DVD to take to my aunt Leslie’s for Dirty Santa, in a Media Box so he “thought” that was his video game.
When he finally opened all the boxes, he was so proud of me, hahaha. He said “I’ve taught you well!”

The last gift I had disguised was a box that styrofoam coffee cups come in, so it was a pretty good size box also. I had a “To:” label on it that read “Whitney & Ben”. They are expecting their first child so when he asked what it was I told him it was a fold up stroller. Never said another word about it, heeheehee. When he opened the box and saw 2 of our blankets and some pillows in it, he looked at me and just grinned. It was a roll down windshield for his Rhino. Overall, I did a pretty good job at surprising him. I was very proud of myself!

He played his new game all morning until it was time to leave for his mom’s (or should I say until he got to a “certain level” on the game and then he could turn it off and leave – we were 30 minutes late to his mom’s). We had a lot of fun at his mom’s. We decided to hang around and try out the new Wii Fit Plus that his mom got. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time! KC, Clint, Jonathan and I played rounds of “Flying Chicken”, Skiing, Super Hula-Hoop, Soccer and Kung Foo. Jonathan’s mom and step dad pulled up a seat and got their kicks while watching us. Jonathan’s Wii Fit Age – 33, mine . . . 50 (geez)

Great workout though! I’ll be purchasing one of those shortly!
Later that day we drove to Pinson for “Dirty Santa” at my aunt Leslie’s house. We had a great time there! I haven’t seen some of the family in a while so it was nice to catch up and visit.
Lots of great memories were made over the holidays!

~The Price's