It's Good to be Home

So, after much encouragement (nay, nagging), I decided to risk the reputation of the blog and see if I could give this posting thing another chance.

Meghan would probably insert the boring warning (HERE). For some reason, we just don't see eye-to-eye on what we deem as interesting. But anyway...

My travels this week landed me in El Paso, Texas. I think sometimes it is really hard to appreciate, or fathom, just how large Texas is. It is actually a shorter distance to travel from El Paso to Los Angeles than it is to travel across the state of Texas.

El Paso is snugly set in the western corner of Texas. It borders New Mexico and Mexico. Until recently, I did not really know just how close El Paso was to Juarez, Mexico, nor did I really know a lot about that city. However, there was an eerie feeling to be right beside "the most dangerous place in the world, outside a war zone," as it is widely considered. Apparently, the problems associated with the drug trade have really escalated during the past few years. Just since 2008, there have been more than 4,700 murders in Juarez! Strangely, though, El Paso is considered one of the safest cities in the U.S. One source (not the El Paso Chamber of Commerce) considered it as the second safest large city in America. What a difference a river, a tall fence, and perhaps, an active government can make.

We were pretty busy from the time we got there, so there wasn't much time for exploring the city. There were some beautiful views of mountains that surrounded the city. For me, the most interesting sight was traveling down I-10 (basically, right on the outskirts of downtown El Paso), looking out the window of the car, and seeing many small Mexican dwellings across the border (very similar to what we had seen in parts of Honduras last summer). I had never witnessed such a huge discrepancy in standard of living, separated by such a short distance.

I am proud to report that Meghan and Duncan were able to survive the week alone (they may wish I would leave more often - the house looks pretty clean!). Right now, Duncan is curled up on the couch right beside me. Even after a week away, some things just do not change. -Andy

Got gum? Duncan will take a piece...

As if our lovely little pooch isn't weird enough, he also chews gum. It does not matter what flavor...he will find it, chew it, and love every minute of it. His favorite time to chew gum is when I am in the shower and my purse is within his reach. He seems to always know when I have just purchased a new pack...maybe it smells more when it is fresh? He will remove the gum from my purse, along with everything else, and begin demolishing the outer package. He then begins to remove the gum, piece by piece, and proceeds to chew the gum through the paper. Why waste time with paper? Obviously, I could catch him in the act, right? All of this to say, I had just purchased a new pack of gum at the store. Yesterday morning, this is what I found...

The evidence...

No eye contact...really Duncan? With Andy being out of town, who else could have done this???

Yes, he loves to hang his head as I yell at him to make me think he is really taking it all in. He's really sorry. Until the next time I buy a pack of gum and leave him alone with my purse...

Oh, and guess who's cap and gown came in today??? MINE!!! I might need to start wearing it each night when I am working on papers...maybe it would help with motivation? But, I think that might be weirder than a gum-chewing dog so I'll pass on that idea. :) Have a great night!

I think I've been kicked by kickboxing...

I can already feel the aches and pains coming. They are on their way. I have not been to a kickboxing class in weeks, maybe even more than a month. Needless to say, I feel that kickboxing kicked my tail tonight. I always want to go to these classes because it forces me to push myself, but when you haven't been pushing yourself much at all lately, it hurts. This really peppy girl teaches the class and she decided we should take things outside to begin. She had us do what felt like a million sets of kicks, squats, and other horrible things up a hill. AWESOME! As if kicks and squats aren't bad enough--let's try to not fall down a hill while we are at it! She kept saying, "You're going to thank me for this!" "You guys will love this when you get into your swimsuits this summer!" All I could think was, "If I only knew which car in this parking lot was yours, I'd key it." :) I really need to eat better/less so that I only have to put myself through this on rare occasions!

On a lighter note, I had a child ask me if he could call home today to have a parent bring him his recorder for music. The student, of course, had no clue what his phone number was so I looked it up. He heads to the phone with the number in hand and begins to dial. I make sure to remind him that he has to press "9" before dialing the number. I go on about my business. Several minutes go by and I notice he is still standing by the phone with the receiver pressed to his ear. I ask him if he has called yet and he replies, "Well, I'm just trying to figure out how you type the slash in the phone number. " WOW--You know the slash between digits 3 and 4? That's the one we felt that we needed to type in on the phone. My first thought..."TCAP--Here we come!"

Hope everyone is well (even if you are in El Paso)!!! :)

Time to Leave :(

One question: Where did the week go??? It feels like just yesterday we were pulling in the drive and seeing the ocean for the first time. We leave tomorrow morning!!! Well, it has definitely been what we needed...relaxing. I keep thinking how hard it is going to be to get up early for work every day. I'm on beach time!

To celebrate our last night here, we decided to go to a nice seafood dinner and drive through the local state park. My mom kept speaking of a lighthouse; however, we never seemed to find anything remotely resembling one. She said she saw it in some book...sure you did, Mom. :) But, we decided to catch some pictures just as the sun was going down at the park. It was so pretty!

The Bozemans! This one is definitely Facebook profile picture worthy. :)

I promise my brother IS this weird in real life. Imagine, if you will, what his high school scrapbook will look like. My poor mom will have no decent pictures to choose from...ALL of them look this ridiculous.

So pretty!!!

Another group shot...

Another...

We were really sad to see that Murphy and Elmo were not welcome at this beach. :( They love getting to walk on the beach! Please notice two things: 1. Connor is trying to play it cool, but you can slightly see his undies through his linen pants--HAHA! 2. Check out Andy's sad face--HAHA! I laugh every time I look at this picture.

I'm going to really miss the ocean. :( Until next time! I hope everyone's Spring Break has treated them well...it's back to the grind!

Random beach pics...

Since the boys are out playing golf and my mom and I are watching a movie, I thought it might be a nice time to post. The weather was much better today, and we definitely soaked in as much sunshine as possible before it clouded over this afternoon. Andy and I started the day with a walk on the beach with "The Beast." I was hesitant to take her purely because she ALWAYS has to "go potty" on a walk, regardless of whether she has already gone or not. And, on the beach you have to pick up her "droppings" with a plastic bag and throw them away--GROSS!!! However, Andy, feeling sorry for her, stated that he would pick up the droppings if I threw them away. The only problem with that is that the garbage cans are only placed every now and then on the beach. There was the chance that I could be carrying a bag full of you-know-what around for a while. But, I agreed. Well, lucky enough for me, Murphy chose to do her business when we were nearly back to the house and the trash can was right next to us! Andy got the sour end of that deal! I love that dog...

And for the random pictures I promised...

Andy's here! Woohoo!

I stinkin' love this picture! I caught her in the middle of blinking, but it looks like she is laughing!

In case some of you were wondering, yes, my brother tries to ruin most pictures. :)

Group shot...notice Connor's ridiculous face AGAIN.

No, he isn't dead. I checked to make sure his chest was rising and falling before I took the picture. He pretty much looks like this every moment of every day.

As you can see, Florida is still treating us well. We are off to get pizza for dinner, and will hopefully play a round of Mexican dominoes before bed. All in a day's work, right? :)

Andy MADE It!!!

As I write this post we are fat and happy watching TV together. Andy got in around lunch time today...YAY! He made really good time...I guess when you drive without two dogs you can make fewer stops along the way. :) We ate lunch and went for a walk when he got in. It feels much better with him here! Although it was a bit of yucky day (clouds and drizzle), tomorrow and Friday are looking much better. We are hoping to enjoy the sun again tomorrow!

The boys have tentative golfing plans for tomorrow...my plan is to start on my next Harry Potter book. I finally finished my fourth book today (I started it on our honeymoon in November!). It felt good to finally finish! We are hoping to take the ferry boat to the island I mentioned before, as well (sometime before we leave). So much to do, so little time. I can't believe that it is already Wednesday! Why does time seem to fly when you are on vacation???

Hope everyone is well in Tennessee!

Learning from the master...

Poor Andy has been waiting on a post from me...so here it is. :) Between the sun-bathing, shell finding, and eating, I guess I haven't done anything noteworthy. However, tonight marked a milestone in my little brother's life. Something noteworthy enough for a scrapbook, or if nothing else, our blog! You see, in my opinion, my dad makes a mean burger. He doesn't make "sissy" lean, thin burgers...he makes fatty, thick MAN burgers. Personally, I love them. I don't get them all that often anymore (seeing as though I don't live at home), so it is always a treat when he fires up the ole' grill.

So, as my dad patted out the massive hunks of burger goodness he mentioned that Connor had not yet been trained on the grill. He had not yet been given the glorious opportunity to light the grill, suffer from severe smoke inhalation, and flip burgers like a real man knows to. Connor of course rolled his eyes and tried to get out of it, but my mom and I prodded until he reluctantly agreed. To be perfectly honest, Connor would rather do NOTHING than anything lately...he is a 16 year old boy! So I did what any other obnoxious big sister would do...I grabbed my camera and got ready to document the experience. Here is what I got...

So, Connor and I were asked to locate a match or lighter in the house to light the grill. This is what we found...no, we aren't joking! It reminded us of the famous Christmas Story leg lamp. So random!!!

Can you see the anticipation on his ridiculous-looking face???

Look at him go! I'm sad to say that we did not light the grill with the "leg lighter."

Dad talking Connor through the "seasoning" of the burgers. Connor still acting like he's "special."

Still seasoning...Connor a bit more serious...

The burgers turned out quite well (thanks mostly to Dad)! Don't quit your day job, Connor. :) I'll leave you with a picture of our 14 year old family dog, Elmo. This is pretty much what he does all day down here...let's just say he's not the most active dog in the bunch. :)

I also have to say that Andy has been working hard on our kitchen painting while I have been gone. Yay for Andy!!! According to a picture text, it looks as if he is close to being done. Did I marry well or what? :) Have a blessed night!

We MADE it!!!

This post will be mainly pictures so that I can adequately show how gorgeous it is down here. We are near Port St. Joe, Florida on a part of the beach called Indian Pass. We have yet to see a cloud in the sky so far. We have a big, open back deck that overlooks the water--GORGEOUS!!! It is so nice to get away from the hustle and bustle...

I had to start with this picture. My parents took out a seat in the minivan to fit all of the sports equipment and luggage (along with a family and TWO dogs). Therefore, the seat was sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor. Elmo kept eyeing the seat like he wanted to go for a ride. So, he being too told to jump in it himself, I helped him up. He sat here the whole time we packed the car! Isn't he cute???

This was the view from our back deck when we got in last night. Beautiful!!! The island you see out in the distance is a reservation. We may try to "canoe" ourselves out there this week!

Another view from the deck...

My extremely lazy brother found the hammock right off...did I mention he is still asleep???

The boardwalk to the beach...

View of the house from the beach...kind of hard to see!

This one's for you, Andy! He HATES when I take crooked pictures. I think it's artistic...sort of. :)

Murphy attempting to get in the hammock with Connor...I was REALLY encouraging her. :)

Shells! You know you are at the beach when you see these!!!

The view when I got up this morning...

So, as you can see, the beach is treating us pretty well. The only thing that would make it better would be having my other half with me. :) Have a wonderful Sunday and God bless!!!

Holding down the fort...

Well, I am currently posting from my parents' house. As of 6:oo tonight, I headed off to start my vacation. Duncan headed out around 3:15 or so this afternoon, so Andy is officially a bachelor again. I'm sure the heat has already been turned down as far as it will go, every lamp in the house is off, and ESPN is on any and every TV. I sure hope the yellow paint bucket is calling to him, though. Wouldn't it be AMAZING to come home to a nearly finished paint job in the kitchen??? Yes, that was a not-so-subtle hint. :)

As for my car ride to Tullahoma tonight, I am happy to say that I am alive and well. If any of you out there have ever ridden with my dad (he picked me up), then you completely understand what I mean. I really felt like we were going to blow the doors off of the other cars on the interstate. You know how you are supposed to keep at least a car length between the front of your car and the person's bumper in front of you? Didn't happen tonight! Nope--we gave them maybe the length of a small tricycle. As I said before, I am thankful to be in one piece. Needless to say, my mom will be driving the family van tomorrow...

Well, I'm off to watch more of the local high school talent show on Channel 6 (Tullahoma's AWESOME local news channel). It's SO much better than American Idol (haha)! Love it! Good night Andy and Duncan! I'll leave you with a family picture before I sign off. :) Can you tell that I miss my boys already???

Thanks for stopping by!

Latest home updates...

Before I begin on the updates, I just have to say this. Teachers (for the most part) are not quite as ridiculous as we are portrayed on television. Although it is one of my favorite movies, Billy Madison kills me ( it is on TV right now)! Ms. Lippy is RIDICULOUS! She wears clown-like clothing, wipes Elmer's glue on her face, and has interpretive dance time while the kids are out at recess...really? I promise we are not all that weird...some of us may be borderline, but we are not quite there. :)

For the updates...

My mom came up yesterday and delivered our new curtains for the living room. They look GREAT! We went with a red damask pattern, and we will continue that in the pillows. I also chose a yellow and white houndstooth pattern for pillows (random, I know). The painting I bought for over the mantle has a lot of red and yellow in it, so it is my inspiration at this point. Of course, Andy is not complaining about my choice of houndstooth either! I found a couple of yellow candlesticks to also bring in the yellow on the mantle. I can't wait to get the pillows on the couches to make it all come together. I think the plan is to go with a browny-green on the walls to warm up the room a bit. I think it will help the curtains to pop a bit better on the window.

The new curtains! YAY!

Close up...

This is the painting I was talking about. Please ignore the sticker on the candle--haven't gotten around to taking that off yet! This isn't how I'll display them either (just so you know!).

I also finished up the painting in the first half of the kitchen last night. Getting behind the refrigerator was DISGUSTING to say the least. But, it's done! These pictures are only showing the top portion of the walls because we didn't paint past the bottom of the cabinets (the backsplash will cover it anyway). It looks like a VERY unfinished paint job at this point, but the backsplash is coming soon (hopefully)!

Behind the sink...

The yellow has brightened up the kitchen so much!

Thanks for checking in with us! Have a great last few hours of the weekend!

A week until the beach!!!

After submitting a four page paper only moments ago, I felt that it was necessary to think happy thoughts. I have become a hermit of sorts--practically chained to my laptop lately. Sadly enough, I've brought Andy down with me. We have no social life right now...there isn't enough time! I have officially killed off any of the "cool points" we may have ever had. Who writes papers on a Friday night? I never even did that when I went to college full time!!!

Therefore, I am choosing to think happy thoughts about the beach, the sand, the sun, and my long-lost Harry Potter book that I have neglected lately. Spring Break is nearly here! I am going to bust my tail this week to get ahead in my work so that I don't even look at my laptop all week. No school books, no papers. Just sunburns and seafood. Have I mentioned how ghostly pale we are? Andy and I are going to have to wear a sunscreen that is equivalent to wearing a t-shirt. Andy keeps saying it is going to be cold down there and we won't be able to swim or anything, but I'm thinking happier thoughts. Hey, if nothing else, it's Florida, right???

So, my parents have rented a house in Port St. Joe (I think that's the name!) for the week. They are also bringing their MASSIVE Boxer named Murphy. Murphy went with us several Spring Breaks ago and it was a crazy adventure. Here are some pics of that trip...

This is "The Beast" (as I like to call her) chewing on my applesauce cup on the back deck. You would have thought that it was the greatest chew toy in the world...

This was our house for the week in St. George. It was called "Boardwalk," and the whole house was decorated with a Monopoly theme. It was actually pretty neat!

The Fitz Kids (before Andy's time)--Fun Fact: This was the Spring Break just before I met Andy. I met him the next weekend at church...weird, huh??? I had no idea he was headed my way!

Well, we are definitely looking forward to the week. Duncan is too...he is staying with his Grammy in Huntingdon. He'll be spoiled rotten by the time we get back!!! Enjoy the warmer weekend--it might finally feel like spring!

Mullets ROCK...Right, Duncan???

Well, it's been a few days since I last posted. Needless to say, things have been a bit busy. I keep secretly hoping Andy will take over when I get swamped, but I hate to say it, I think Andy may be a one-hit-wonder. Can you see what I'm doing? It is too obvious? YES, I am trying to use my not-so-subtle reverse psychology on him so that he'll blog again. :)

Well, we have started the painting process in the kitchen...that's really all I can say for us. We have started! Andy did work on it a couple of nights ago, but I just really haven't had the time. My laptop and I have been very close friends lately (to say the least)...I'm writing papers like my life depends on it. However, I do have a couple of pics from the day we started. These are of Andy with his "toy" that he just had to have. It's an edger...and I'm pretty sure he loves it! Once the kitchen is closer to finished I'll post better pictures--I do love the color!

Andy in action...the paint color is "Golden Fleece" by Sherwin Williams. It is a muted gold/yellow. It's really working with the granite!!!

HAHA--The famous edger...I think he should help advertise for them. Can't you see him on a billboard? And yes, Andy is wearing an Alabama shirt...shocker, huh? :)

Now for the title of the blog...Truth be told, I love mullets. I think they are hilarious. I have racked up numerous "mullet points" in my lifetime by spotting them quickly in public. What is better than a hair-do that says "business in the front...party in the back?" All that to say, our dog officially has a mullet. It's AWESOME!

Don't you love it? Yes, the place that grooms him puts bows in his hair...he hates them. Usually he tears them out himself! But, he loves getting groomed there so we forgive them!

He looks much smaller now, doesn't he? All that fuzzy hair is officially gone...and in its place is a fabulous mullet cut. Too cute!!!

Thanks for checking in with us! Have a blessed night!