When will we learn?

It seems that every time Steven and I plan to leave town, a natural disaster or horrible storm occurs. A few times we have gotten lucky with his crew not being called out. Though more often than not we lose that battle. This weekend was no different. We had made plans to go to the river today, just the two of us because I have to work every other weekend this month. Well of course Arkansas got pounded by a huge thunderstorm, complete with straight line winds and tornadoes. Poor Steven didn't even make it home on Friday. I was planning to go to Batesville to pick him up Friday evening, but before I could even get home he called and said they had been called out. This time he is in Russellville, Arkansas.



Maybe someday we'll learn our lesson and start leaving town without actually making plans.

Winter Blast '09

First, I'd like to say, "Thank you!" to Danna over at Ramsey Five. Her post about the past week made me feel better a lot about being a total emotional mess through all of this. I'd rather not count the number of times I have cried in the past week, nor do I wish to think about how many more times there will probably be tears before it is all said and done. Not that the whole week was awful, because some parts were honestly fun, but it sure isn't a week I wish to repeat.

It started on Sunday. Sunday night, Steven headed back to work as usual. They have been working in Floral, Arkansas and staying in Batesville lately, so he has been leaving a little later on Sundays. It wasn't a good leaving though. I was moody and sad about it, which caught me off guard actually because I've gotten to the point where his leaving is normal and doesn't usually bother me too much.

On Monday, Steven called and said they (his crew) were being sent to Mountain View because of the ice storm coming in. I didn't think too much about it because they always get everything worse up in the hills. I don't think anyone knew what we were really in for. That morning I went to class, church, and to pick up a few things at Sam's and Wal-Mart. (Things that went bad in the fridge and are now in the trash can out by my road. Urg.) As I was leaving Sam's it started to rain a bit, and I noticed it was sticking to my windshield, but it wasn't much at all. I went home, and I went about my normal Monday stuff - homework while watching The Bachelor and True Beauty. Important stuff, huh?

On Tuesday, I woke up to this...

These pictures were taken about 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. I didn't go to my classes that day because after nearly busting my rear end on my driveway and in my yard trying to take the pictures, I figured the roads in my area were about the same - ice covered. I hung out in my pjs watching Good Morning America and reading. I knew it was getting bad outside, but I was in denial. I talked to my mom, assured her I was fine, and went on enjoying my day alone. My lights flickered here and there, but they stayed on all morning. About 1:30 I was dozing off while I waited on General Hospital to come on when the lights blinked...then blinked again...and again...and finally came back on. I fell asleep but vaguely remember the lights going out for good a little before 2, and I thought, 'Dang! I'm gonna miss General Hospital!' That's sad, isn't it? Anyway, I woke up about 3:00 and the lights were still off. About 4:15 my Dad called and talked me into coming to their house. I was still in denial and figured my electricity would be back on by the next morning. I grabbed my camera as I headed out the door, and this is what it looked like at my house, about 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday.

When I got to my parents' house, my sister and brother-in-law were already there because they had no power either.

About 1:45 a.m. on Wednesday, I was awakened by the electricity going off and on. It finally went out for good about 2. I rolled over and went back to sleep. At 6, I woke up cold. I stayed inside all day with Mom that day. We played cards, and she made us mac-n-cheese and hot chocolate on the grill.

I'm not too sure of anything after that. The days and nights all run together in my mind. I remember going back out to my house for the first time and seeing all the power poles and lines on the ground. I'm a lineman's wife, and I knew it would be a while before the work around our house was finished. I had to hold back the tears when I saw what was left of the pretty trees in my front yard. I actually ran in the house to check on my cat while my parents tended to the dogs so that they wouldn't see me crying. When I saw the poles on the ground I just groaned and sighed, I'm not really sure why the damaged trees made me cry. I'm weird.

Here are some pictures I took on Thursday, and I only know the day because of the file information from my camera.

That afternoon, Steven called and mentioned needing some more clothes because he was going to be in Mountain View for a while (they are estimating a month). I jumped at the chance to get out of my parents dark house that was very cramped with 5 people, 4 dogs, and a cat. Did I mention I'm used to living alone with my dogs and cat? That many people in a dark house was a bit much for me. I was getting cranky, and I knew it.

Friday morning I gathered up some clothes for me and headed to our house to get stuff for Steven. I packed up clothes, fed the animals, and loaded the car. Then the car wouldn't start. I called my mom to come help me, figuring it was the battery. Then I sat in the car and cried. It was getting late, I didn't know where I was going, my car wouldn't start, and it was warmer in my car than in the house. I ended up just trading cars with Mom, so her and Dad could have the battery changed on mine.

I did finally make it to Mountain View, about 4:30 that afternoon. The drive up there was nice. I didn't get lost at all!! (That's a big deal for me.) The alone time did me some good. I was in a much better mood when I got there. I didn't get to see Steven a lot. He works until 5:45ish, eats dinners, goes to bed about 8:30, and is up at 5:15 the next morning to do it all over again. I felt like I had important stuff to do (work & homework) and needed to come home on Saturday, but I just couldn't convince myself to do it. I stayed another night, and it was all I could do to force myself to come home today.

I came home today and found out it wasn't the battery on my car. We took it to the shop and will hopefully get more information tomorrow. Our other vehicle is parked at Steven's boss' house in Batesville. I'm not sure when I'll have electricity back at my house, but I don't expect it to be soon. As of now, I'm at about 5 days and 6 hours without power there. I'm a lineman's wife, and I'll probably be one of the last in the county to get electricity back. I'm living with my parents. My husband is out of town indefintely. This has not been a fun adventure for me.

I say all of this not to whine, but to let everyone know that if I'm grumpy, it's not you. I'm just stressed out and cranky. Please forgive me.

Tomorrow I am planning to go volunteer at Craighead Electric. The least I can do is go feed someone's husband and hope that someone else is doing the same for mine. I'm hoping this will give me something to do this week to keep my mind off all the other stuff.

Little Luxuries

Today I took a lovely drive up to Mountain View, Arkansas. I haven't seen my husband yet, but I have gotten to chat with a few of the nice locals and buy this oh-so-yummy 1/2 pound of Homemade Cookies-n-Cream Fudge!

Snowball, Arkansas (Part 3)

On Sunday, we headed home. :-( We have agreed that we'd like to go back though. Next time I think we'll rent one of the cabins though. They seemed pretty neat, too!

We were definitely glad that we got out and did our hiking on Saturday, as it was freezing cold on Sunday! I insisted on taking the time to take a few photos in front of the house on our way out, and by the time we got the car loaded, the tripod set up, two pictures taken, the tripod hurriedly put away, and ourselves in the car...my hands were so cold that they hurt terribly. I got a cute picture though!

We also stopped for a second in Snowball to take a picture of something that we had laughed about all weekend every time we saw it. Do you notice something a bit odd about this picture?

That new Pepsi machine really stuck out in this little building, surrounded by other dilapidated buildings and houses. We aren't really sure why it is there or if it was even filled. However, at night we could see the lit up, blue machine a ways off as we were approaching Snowball.

Overall, it was our favorite kind of trip...nothing planned except our lodging! We had a great time, just driving around exploring the backroads of the area. I'd really like to go back in October/November when all the leaves are changing. I'm sure there are lots of beautiful colors then. I'd also like to see it in the Spring. Hmmm....I'm getting an idea of what I might want for my birthday. :-)

Snowball (part 2)

Saturday morning we decided to take a walk to see the other buildings on the property. Across the road from our house, was a barn and two restored log cabins from the 1870's. They also rent the cabins.

Steven, on the porch of the first cabin

hanging out in the old barn...


the barn Mr. Scarecrow


a sign that hangs on the outside of the barn

After our short walk, we decided to take a drive to do a bit more exploring. We discovered the dead ends of a couple of gravel roads, at which people were actually living...and people think WE live in the boondocks? I'm pretty sure our house is nothing compared to the end of a gravel road, on a mountain, outside of Snowball, Arkansas!

After enjoying the scenery for a while, we headed into Marshall to grab some groceries for dinner that night. We also stopped for lunch...at a Mexican restaurant. Imagine that? :o)

That afternoon, we went for another walk. This one was quite a bit longer than the first! We decided to go up the trail, past the first cabin and the barn. We found a hiking trail off to the side and followed it up into the woods. There, we came across this cool old house!

We also saw an elk track! I think that was Steven's favorite part of the entire trip!

That walk/hike ended with me being exhausted! Steven took a picture of me resting on a big rock before we headed back, but I'll spare you! It's kind of scary! haha
I'm not sure exactly how far we hiked, but it was at least 3 or 4 miles, most of it up hill. Oh, and did I mention my husband isn't one of these always-stay-on-the-path hikers? Well, he's not. This resulted in me getting whacked in the face/arm/leg with a branch or two, almost stepping in horse poo, almost slipping on my rear while climbing over rocks, etc. It was definitely an interesting "walk"! When we got back to the house, my sweet husband suggested we go for another drive, so that we could enjoy some scenery and I could sit down for a while. :-)

This time we discovered the end of another gravel road...and a SCHOOL BUS tow truck! Oh yeah, now that's custom!

When we returned to the house from our second drive, I set to work in the kitchen to bake Steven a belated birthday cake. (Note to self: next year call Courtney!) While the cake tasted fine, it certainly wasn't our beloved Courtney Cake.

Steven enjoyed a massive piece of the cake...


After our mini birthday celebration, we headed into Marshall to see a movie...



at the drive-in! We saw Four Christmases, which was cute. Marshall has the only drive-in movie in Arkansas that is open all year.

Snowball, Arkansas

Last Friday, Steven and I headed out for a relaxing weekend away to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. When we planned our honeymoon we were torn between renting a cabin in the Ozark Mountains and going to Nashville. In the end, we decided on Nashville because...well, because I got 2nd row seats to see Andy Griggs! haha We had a ton of fun though! We did something different and fun every single day we were there. However, we weren't anxious to rush back into a big city this year. Actually, Jonesboro is getting too big for us day-by-day. So, we decided for our first anniversary we would go with our second choice for our honeymoon.

After doing some research on the Internet, I came across a huge listing of getaway rentals in Arkansas. We finally agreed on a beautiful old farm house in Snowball, Arkansas.

Where is Snowball?
Right here...

It is far enough out that we got zero phone service at the house we rented. Imagine that! A weekend without a cell phone ringing? Oh, it was marvelous!

(Ok, ok...I admit it. I did check my e-mail/facebook/texts when we drove into Marshall on Saturday. )

Anyway, this is what we saw when we arrived on Friday night.

And the outside during the day

Here are some photos of the inside of the house.

This is the living room, where you enter from the front door.


We spent a lot of the weekend reading here, next to the fireplace in the living room.

Above is the second bedroom. This room is just off the left of living room. It has two full beds, a door that opens to the screened-in back porch, and a door that opens to the front porch (the solid green door seen in the picture of the outside of the house).

This is the kitchen. The door in the back of the first photo goes to the bathroom.


The main bedroom. This one was hard to get a picture of because of the shape of the room. It isn't as small of a room as it looks in the picture though. There was a queen size bed with plenty of room to walk around, with room to store shoes, suitcases, etc. on the sides. It is off the left side of the kitchen.


The pretty back porch

Ok, it's really late so I will post more about our trip later.

Back to square one...

After enjoying a few months of actually being married, we are pretty much back to where we started. Steven's crew, being one of the best at this company, has gotten moved to another job. Apparently this is going to be a more difficult job, and the people in charge didn't want just anyone to be doing it. I guess it is a compliment to the guys, but it's a pain to me. Now Steven will be leaving on Sunday or Monday mornings and returning on Thursday nights again. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. On the bright side, he's going to be staying in Batesville, so he won't be too far away...just too far to drive everyday because he'll have to drive another 30 minutes or so each morning to the other side of Batesville to the job site.

It's official!

We're a true married couple now! For the first time in our 10.5 months of marriage, we live together! Woohoo!

When I got home from work on Thursday, Steven was already there. That's certainly not what I am used to. We took a picture to mark the occasion. :o)

Steven has changed companies once again, but this time it is bringing him closer to home. He is going to be working in Searcy and driving back and forth everyday. It still hasn't really sunken in with me though. Right now it just feels like a long weekend. He is off this week, except Wednesday, and he will be gone hunting on Thursday and Friday, so this week will still kind of be the same.

It's going to be very odd with him coming home every night. The last time we spent a whole week together? Oh, that would be our honeymoon. Two weeks from now, we will either be settling into a routine or in jail for trying to kill each other. Wish us luck. :0)