Missing the Great Outdoors

I love being outside...and yes, I even like to sweat.  Something I really miss about Tennessee (and Georgia for that matter) is the landscape.  I loved being able to drive 10 minutes and be able to do some really great hiking in the woods.  Those tall trees provide some great shade, making your hike much cooler than just walking in the sun.  I haven't been able to find a place to hike, quite like the hills of Tennessee.  Last fall I was able to go on a really long, great hike with my family and it was so perfect!  Here are some pictures from that hike that just remind me of the amazing hills that I still consider home.

View of those tall trees.

At the start of the hike..man my hair was short!

Dried up creek crossing.

Trickling water from another dried up creek.

View of the lake we were hiking around, some of the leaves had started to change.

Sunlight hitting those pretty green leaves

Top of the climb, looking across the lake.

I'm headed home this week for my good friend Sonya's wedding.  I'm thinking I may have to hit the trails one morning and soak in all that beauty.

New 2010 penny

I was in my car this morning and noticed this different looking piece of change in my change holder.  It was the back side of a penny, but it was different the the 2 backsides I knew of.  The first, original penny back has the Lincoln Memorial on it.  The second has Lincoln sitting on a log with an ax. But this third...it is much more simplified.  It has a large shield on it.  I was curious as to the origins of this new design and after little research found a page with a full description.  Turns out, this penny was released just before ole' Abe's 201st birthday.  So, here is what this new penny looks like, and a little bit about it:

New 2010 penny

So, this is the Union Shield, meant to resemble the unity of the United States and a celebration of Lincoln's ability to keep all 13 original states unified.  There are 13 stripes on the shield..to represent the original 13 states.  The top of the shield is one large band, representing the federal government.  This large top band has the verbage "E Pluribus Unum" inscribed, which means "Out of many, one."

This penny, to me, is very simplified.  I have always loved the old, Lincoln Memorial reverse..and the fact that you could see a TINY little Lincoln sitting in it.  Anyways, interesting history is always found on our coins.

Sseko Designs

While browsing another blog (Wide Open Spaces), I ran across this awesome company working in Uganda called Sseko Designs.  Sseko Designs employs Ugandan women who are transitioning between secondary school and the university.  The company is designed to help these women pay their tuition for school...something that would be virtually impossible otherwise.  The women work for about 9 months making these really cute sandals and then continue on with their education...and then a professional career.  What an empowering message this company has!

One of the women who works for Sseko.  Read her story.

One of the sandal designs.

I love companies that have a good purpose behind their product.  Women's education is definitely a wonderful thing!

Weekend Cleansing

It has been one heck of a weekend!  Saturday started off amazingly..with banana pancakes, some Zac Brown Band, and a nice long walk.  I spent the afternoon running errands, cleaning the house and doing some laundry.  I feel the need to clean more often these days with Mr. Pierre around.  I grew up allergic to cats...and I think keeping the house super clean (and thanks to our awesome wood floors) really helps keep the allergies to a minimum.  

Today was spent organizing the garage with Joshua.  We bought 2 new shelves to house parts and tools for his project bike.  We also bought a couple of organizational tubs.  We'll definitely need to go back to get some more of those.  It was a workout just being in the garage and cleaning!!  We sweated a good bit, which was nice (yes..I like to sweat).  THEN...to wrap up our day Joshua's alternator blew on our way back from a movie in Arlington.   Goodbye power steering, hello over-heated car!  We stopped for the engine to cool down and found that there was a belt missing!  Just when we thought things were wrapping up nicely for the weekend..we get another project.

We did find time to have a little fun this weekend too..it wasn't ALL work!  Friday we went to see The Expendables and today we went to see The Other Guys.  Both were pretty good...very much guy movies and The Other Guys was pretty crass..but overall pretty good.

I potentially feel more exhausted at the end of the weekend than I did at the beginning...here's hoping next weekend will be a little more peaceful.

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

Last week Joshua and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary.  In two years we've been through a lot..and learned a lot..and grown together...and magically grown to love each other more.  That's one thing that will continue to amaze us..you can never imagine loving someone more than you do at the exact moment you are in..but then time passes and you love them more for the little things and the big things.

We celebrated our anniversary by going to the zoo!  We hadn't been to the Dallas Zoo yet..and we both love the zoo...so we were off!  We had a lot of fun exploring and just being together.  There were some great animals, lions, tigers, giraffes, leopards, etc.  There weren't very many people...so it was nice to be able to explore..virtually un-bothered.  We had a long morning out in the sun..so after the zoo we headed home to relax and nap before heading to a delicious celebratory dinner at Hillstone (formerly known as Houston's).  The food was phenomenal and the conversation..as always was wonderful.  Again..it was just so great to be together, just the 2 of us (something that we cherish...but don't get to much of all the time).

Here is a gimpse of the past 2 years of our marriage:

On our wedding day!

Moving to Texas to start our new life together.

Our first apartment...a place to call home for a year.

haha...lovely!  Joshua's 24th birthday at Medieval Times.

Joshua helped me out by calling Bingo at the Y.

Catching a minor league baseball game..the Frisco Rough Riders.

Moved into our 2nd home..celebrating our 1st year together.

Experienced the Texas State Fair.

Celebrated Jason and Deidre's marriage.

Picked out and carved our pumpkins.

I helped cook Thankgiving dinner with Josh's mom.

Celebrated Christmas with my family in Michigan.

Experienced Dallas' biggest snow storm..potentially in history...and had one heck of a time!

Got our first pet..Pierre!

Traveled to Memphis to celebrate Aaron and Becca's wedding.

and finally...us as the zoo!  It was rather hot and humid!

There are a ton of things we've experienced that I didn't include...like countless weddings, many nights out, and lots of other memories.  It's been a heck of a ride so far and we are looking to several more years of happiness and fun!