And then I became a pilot

Well not yet. Or maybe not ever. But I did take an introductory flying lesson yesterday, and I didn't cry, scream, panic or otherwise freak out. 

Chris gave me the flying lesson for Christmas because I have been questioning whether I could stand to fly in one of the small planes that we frequently see flying over our house. 

For some reason, I just kept wondering if I would like it, so the lesson was the perfect gift. 

I had been holding on to it since Christmas, and the feeling finally struck me. Late yesterday afternoon, I went to the little airport by our house and flew!

This is me at my house before I left for the airport. See the excitement?

I was a little early so I decided I would use their ladies room. Apparently, lady pilots like to be well groomed. 

Then we went outside, and I met my plane. And, my very nice instructor. He was super tall, and I couldn't imagine him fitting into that small plane.

This is where I sat.

A few of the other planes.

I don't have any photos from the air because I was really flying the plane. I made all the turns, took us higher or lower, and I even took some steep banks (that means turns in pilot lingo) where we were almost completely sideways. 

The best part was that I wasn't scared. I was amazed how much control you have, and it's completely different than how it looks from the ground. From the ground, it looks like this little bitty airplane totally out of control in the air, but when you're in the airplane, that's not how it feels at all. 

We even hit two pockets of turbulence and that wasn't bad because I just corrected for it with my steering. Being in control of the airplane, even though it was tiny, was a lot less stressful than sitting in the back of a big airliner and wondering what that bump was and worrying that things are shaking around. 

I'm not sure if I'm the next Top Gun, but I'm truly happy that I had the experience. 

Mother's Day Our Way

Instead of traveling to LR on Mother's Day, my grandmother and mom decided they would come and stay with me one night when Chris was out of town, and we would have a Mother's Day celebration then. 

We got the chance last week, and we had a great time. 

Here are my mothers. 

It's one of the only photos I got because we spent all our time in our softies talking, eating pizza and as many chocolate chip cookies as we wanted. 

It's what we do. 

Like grandmother, like mom, like me!

Happy Mother's Day!

Making the bed is difficult

Sometimes I have a very difficult time making the beds in this house.

Happy Birthday The Muddy Truth

Yesterday was my blog's official one-year birthday. That's kind of amazing, especially since this blog began when Chris and I moved away from home. 

So let's recap some highlights for nostalgia's sake. 

Click here for our first night in Memphis.

On our second day, we went to the BBQ Festival. Click here.

Then Porter came, and I did his nails. Click here.

And I was unemployed.

So we rode bikes a lot and ate fried chicken.

Then I got a job.

Next we bought a house!

And I was a criminal.

And I got older.

It snowed a lot.

And I got a new job!

Chris got older and we hung out with Norah Jones.

And we lived happily ever after!

Happy Birthday The Muddy Truth!!

He's 4-foot 1 & I'm 5-foot 1. We're friends.

Last weekend, we had the opportunity to keep our nephew Bryce. 

Chris has been very busy at work, and so Bryce and I had some good time together. 

Our big outing was going to the Memphis Zoo. It was my first trip, and man it was big. We didn't actually see the entire park because heat and exhaustion set in, but we still had a great time. 

Here are some of the highlights. 

This was the first thing we saw when we got there. Look how close that lion is! I'd never seen one that close before. 

Before we even got to this area, Bryce already knew exactly what they were. Meerkats!

Then he explained to me how they have lookouts who stand up to watch for danger. 

And there he was!

This was a fun exhibit, and we spent quite a bit of time watching these little guys. 

I even got a fun video of them swimming around. 

We decided an ICEE was in order, and we continued on. What a good-looking guy!

The aquarium was very cool. There were some of the largest and smallest aquatic animals I had ever seen. 

 Check out that turtle! Sorry my settings were wrong, and it didn't get Bryce very well.

We had a great time, and next time he visits, we'll see what we missed. 

We own a home...and things break

When we got up Wednesday, our kitchen sink faucet had only a little drip to it. Uh, oo.

After work, my hubby got us a new faucet and went to work. 

And he did it!

It's definitely an upgrade from our other one, and I'm really excited about some of its features.

Look at that cute soap dispenser. 

Look how it has the pull-out sprayer. 

And, I love the big arch because all my pots and pans fit easily under it. 

Sometimes things break, but sometimes you get nicer things to replace it with. 

Good installation job, Chris!

If you're looking for brown velvet trim, I bought it all

Alternative titles for this post could be: 

Get Off My Back Hubs, I Got Lamps!

T.J. Maxx, You Saved My Marriage

I Channeled Martha Stewart...briefly 

So if you've ever read my blog, you probably came across a post or two, or 12, on my problem finding bedside lamps. I take my time when making purchases. I want to be sure I love it, and that I get a good deal...all the time. 

I've been on the hunt for bedside lamps for quite some time, and poor Hubs had just about had it. I agreed with him that our current lamp situation, or really lack there of, was not ideal. The only lamp in the room was on his side, and I would usually be up later than him, and so inevitably I'd nudge him awake to turn off the lamp. Or, I'd want to read, but have to go to bed when he got tired. Not to  mention, the little lamp we had was not esthetically pleasing to me.

Several weeks ago, I visited T.J. Maxx and saw this lamp. 

Oh how I loved it. I love the shape, the shade, the material, and even the color. However, I didn't think that blue would look right next to the fabric on our headboard. But man, I loved that lamp. So I slept on it. I asked my crafty friend if I could paint it. Thought about it and thought about it. And I decided to buy them and paint them. 

I called the store to make sure they were still there since the store was quite a drive for me. The lady who answered the phone told me there was just one. Just one of my now favorite lamps. And I was sad. And, I started the lamp search all over again....to no avail. We were destined to have no light, no lamp and no interior design style. Woe as me. 

This week I had truly given up hope, and assumed I would have to settle for some run-of-the-mill lamps. But, I was going to be out in the area of the T.J. Maxx, and I decided to drop in anyway. 

There were not only TWO blue lamps but TWO of these beauties!

Well hello lovely! 

I really considered buying all four right then and there, but I refrained and only purchased the two white ones. I was so excited, but also a little nervous. My beautiful lamps were white. Really white. And our bedding is white, really white, and I got afraid that I couldn't sleep with all the shiny white. 

That's when I channeled Martha Stewart. 

"Go to the craft store, Allison," she said. "Go and buy brown trim. Buy brown trim that matches your bedding, and trim the shades. Go and make custom lamp shades!"

And since Martha commanded, I obeyed. 

I found the perfect, the most ideal, brown velvet trim, and I bought every spool I could find. I even bought all the spools at a second Hobby Lobby location just in case. I had to have all the trim I could find. 

And so I trimmed. 

Before

After

After with the light on.

The room complete (with slightly off-center bed making)

The view from the door

We have lamps!

We have custom lamps!

Did I mention they were from T.J. Maxx, and the small price I paid for them would make you pass out? 

So thanks T.J. Maxx, Hobby Lobby, crafty friend, Hubs and Martha. 

It takes a village.

A Traveling Mother's Day

"Hey Mom, Happy Mother's Day! Where are we going today? Let's go somewhere. I love to ride in the car." 

"That's a good idea Grace. Let's go see the Cooks in Mississippi for Mother's Day"

We loaded up Sunday morning and drove to see Chris' folks for Mother's Day.

It was a little rainy, but overall a nice trip. When we got there, the weather was great, and we decided to sit outside after a yummy brunch Carol fixed. 

Like father, like son?

 Like mother, like son?

The Cooks have Keesha, who is a Keeshond dog. She is afraid of all cameras, but I was able to grab a picture of her poking her head out.

She loves her daddy!

The trip took it out of Grace, and she had to sleep it off under the table.

"Glad we came Mom. Good day. Whenever you want to go home and see that cat, I'm ready."

Chris' Birthday in May

So Chris' birthday was actually in March, and for his birthday, he received this video.

Last Saturday, we were finally able to enjoy his birthday present. Notice I said "we." I'm no fool!

We got dressed up, and had dinner at Sole. We sat outside since it was so nice. These pictures aren't great because we were in the sun, but we were there!

Dinner was really good, and I used a GroupOn coupon so it was a good deal too!

The concert was great, and I think Chris really enjoyed it. It was actually at the Orpheum, not the FedExForum as our photo was lead you to believe. I really liked the Orpheum better, especially since the show was all about her music. It felt much more like an intimate jazz club. 

Happy Birthday, Chris, Again!

Get In Line for My Autograph

Last week I was featured in the Memphis Business Journal in the Pacesetters section. It's where they list new additions to companies. Pretty fun to see my name in print again!