Have You Assautled Your Dentist Lately?

On Friday I had to go back to the dentist because 2 of the teeth they had been "watching" for me for a year finally turned a little dark and my dentist wanted to go ahead and fill them. I was upset to say the least because I don't have alot of cavities and I take good care of my teeth. So, we go in to get started and they numb my mouth. They come back a few minutes later and he was about to start. He said let me know if you feel anything...and I said "Okay, what is the sign...." He said, just raise your hand. Okay I thought, simple enough. So, he starts in with the drill on my tooth and lucky me, my tooth wasn't numb. That is when the assault took place. Raise my hand?? Yeah, I raised my hand...to punch him in the neck. I don't know what happened, or how my body got where it did, but I jumped out of that chair like it was on fire!! He apologized profusely, but the damage was done....I thought I could have choked him to death then and there on the spot. So to avoid any other beatings from his patient, he numbed my entire mouth 3 more times....when I left there, I looked like I had a stroke, but at least I didn't feel that awful pain. I had a hard time all weekend even opening my mouth wide enough to eat...don't worry though, I pressed on and was still able to eat. :) I think from now on, if I have to have any kind of hard core dental work done, I am going to ask to be put to sleep. Oh, and the sound of that drill...just shoot me now!! That is like nails on a chalkboard time 1000! It was terrible! So, let this be a lesson to all of you...when you get older, the typical brush your teeth twice a day doesn't cut it. So, get those toothbrushes out!!

The Greatest Show on Earth!

David has been an extra great husband this week...not that he isn't always great, but this week was just even better! From my previous post you saw that I got to go to Carole Foret's Wine and Paint Night which was super fun and I totally enjoyed every second of it. Then he told me not to plan anything for Friday night and for me to be ready at 5:00 sharp to leave. I had NO IDEA where we were going, and we ended up driving to Birmingham. We got to the BJCC and on the marquee sign they have it said "Come Celebrate Black History Month at the BJCC." I thought....hmmm...well, that sounds like fun, but not what I was expecting. To my surprise though, the CIRCUS was in town! I LOVE the Circus and haven't been since I was little. So, I was super pumped when he told me what we were doing. Just a word of advice to those of you with children....if you are planning on taking them to the Circus, please bring every credit card that you have with you. It is like a money pit!! Cotton Candy....$12.00!! WHAT????? Granted it came with a weird looking hat that looked like it was 10,000 for $1.00 from Oriental Trading, but more power to them. The kids start screaming for it, and the parents fork over the money. Seriously though, be prepared...
We went in and David loaded up on arena food...which to him is like a fine meal at a 5 star restaurant. He's a simple man with simple taste...I however had to eat a smoothie due to my horrible experience at the dentist (that will be a whole other post). We got to go the pre-show where you get down on the floor and get to see the stuff up close. Be sure you check out the pictures below from us trying on all those goofy clothes. Anyway, the show started and it was amazing!!! The best part...they made an elephant disappear...yes that's right, an elephant. Now I know they didn't really make it "disappear" but we were both stunned. If anyone knows how they do that, please let me in on the secret! All in all it was a fabulous night and I am thankful to my wonderful husband who always thinks up nice things to do for me...be looking for the post about the dentist...its coming soon!

This is David trying on the circus outfits...I always get on to him about looking goofy in pictures, and his response is always the same....do you want 1000 pictures of me with the same smile on my face...BORING!! Thank you for not boring us..











Thanks for the great night!

Wine and Paint Night!

Bessie makes her debut in the world!!


The finished product!!


My classmates and our work!


My fabulous husband took the opportunity to win something fun for me to do the other day....Wine and Paint Night with Carole Foret! I have never met Carole before, but she is super and so much fun! I went to her studio last night and we painted from about 6:30-9:00. I was a little apprehensive about the whole thing because I can't paint, draw, or doodle worth a flip. And if you remember from my previous post, I am extremely competitive and I was scared everyone else's paintings would look like Monet and mine would look line Mon-crap! So, to my surprise, Bessie my cow turned out okay. I mean, my goal was for you to be able to tell it was an actual cow and I think you can. For those of you living in this area, I highly recommend going to this class. Carole has all kinds of workshops and this one is so much fun. Men come to the class as well, but there were several groups of girlfriends there that were out for a night of fun. Carole's studio is beautiful and she is very talented and has a way of explaining things to you that make you understand how to paint. Check her out at www.caroleforet.com

Family Bowling Fun!

On Saturday night, we headed off to River City Lanes for some family bowling fun. Steven was here, so it was his choice what we did...we had several options, but bowling prevailed, so off we went. To be honest, I really like to bowl and so does David....except for my pesky bad habit of being a not so graceful looser. It is stupid, I know, but I am extremely competitive and live by that whole, "Second place is the first place looser." This will probably not be good when we have children, so David has decided that he will be the one to teach them sportsmanship. The thing about being a not so graceful looser, is that most people know when they have this complex. I fully realize that I have been infected with this, and I know it is not a good way to be. However, pointing out to me immediately after I have lost something is not the time to try to correct my behavior unless you want to be limping around for a week from a fierce karate kick to the shin. I have told David time and time again that if he would just let me sulk for a little while, I would be fine. However, this never happens. But I did pretty well on Saturday night, I beat him the first game, quit badly I might add, and he won the second game. (I did however, keep up with cumulative points, and technically I won overall...but who is counting.)
Enough about that....we had a great time with the family and I am glad that Steven still thinks I am cool...I know my days are numbered, so we are enjoying them as much as possible before he turns into a teenager. Here are some shots from the evening...

Steven getting ready to bowl...


Me, Gare and Vick

Gare and Vick


David trying to "will" his ball into a strike...


Steven again...

Baby Lily Comes To Visit!

If you read my previous post, you will recall that our neighbor Scott did the majority of our electrical work when we had our issue with the power dipping and all...so, not that in any way this small deed pays him back, but we offered to keep Lily so Scott and Shawna could have a night out on the town. Lily turned 2 weeks old on Friday, and if I am not mistaken, I think we were the first people to keep her. Obviously...I was honored. So we started off the night a little scared, I mean, David and I aren't pro's on babies, especially tiny babies, but we managed to feed her, change her and keep her remotely happy. I think I have found that she prefers to sleep on your chest and not laying in her bouncy seat though, so good luck with that Scott and Shawna. We did realize on a very small scale what it was like to be parents for a little while and how even the smallest task seem to take forever. Perfect example....David was trying to make tea and I was cleaning up. We had Lily in her bouncy seat, and it seemed like every 3 seconds, her passy fell out and we would have to stop what we were doing, go over and put it back in, bounce her seat a little and then return to our task. I think it took about 20 minutes to actually get the water in the tea maker, ice and sugar put in. I can see how parents can't get anything done when they have a little one. Every time they make a noise you go over and check on them. After she got settled though, we had an easy go of it. She slept on me for about 2 1/2 hours while we watched movies. I can't remember if I posted about keeping their son Landyn for the first time. He is almost 2 and I kept him for a couple of hours one day when Shawna went to the doctor. They made fun of me when they got back because I hadn't turned on the TV, and Landyn had been asleep for an hour and a half. I was just nervous he would quit breathing or something when he was under my supervision, so I was a little precautious...which means that when we have our own children, they will be the one's out playing in traffic and running with scissors...oh well....we can try!

Nothing Beats Great Neighbors

David and I live in an older house and so far, knock on wood, we have been very fortunate with "home repairs." Well, lately, our lights have been flickering on and off to the point that it turns off the computer, so we knew we had an issue. Our neighbor Scott is an electrician, so he came over to assess the problem. From a woman's perspective, this is what we had to do....We replaced the entire breaker box, had to run a new grounding thing and put a new antena on top of the house. Little did I know that this ordeal would take about 6 hours. We started at 6:30 last night and finished in the wee hours of the morning today. What was so amazing to me though was that ALL of our neighbors came by to help...and most of them stayed until the bitter end at 3:30 a.m. when Decatur Utilities came back to turn our power on. I know there are some people that don't have the luxury of living in a place like we do and have truly good people surround you. Our street reminds me a little bit of Mayberry, with everyone helping the others, all watching each others kids, sharing meals and generally looking out for one another. We are blessed to live where we do and have such great people surround us!

The Roman Rooster

On Martin Luther King's birthday, David and I decided to go try a new restaurant in Priceville called the Roman Rooster. It was really great and the atmosphere is nice as well. This restaurant is a little different than the typical ones you think of. There are actually 2 restaurants in one. The Roman Rooster is an Italian place that has pizza, pasta and salads. The other side is a chicken, burger, catfish and salad place, which is where we ate. The Italian side doesn't open until 4:00 daily, but it is open all day on Sunday and you can order pizza anytime. We also met the owner who was so nice. He is very customer oriented and you can tell he takes pride in his restaurant. I highly recommend going!!! Its on Highway 67 in Priceville, after you pass JW's its on the left.





I had the homemade hamburger which was absolutely wonderful! I am not a huge hamburger fan, but this one was great. They are just like the ones you grill yourself in the summertime, but better. Oh, and they homemade potato chips....AWESOME!!



David stuck with his normal, the chicken and fries. It was very good as well and they have great house sauce. Go check them out!!!

Okay....we know we are weird

So Wilson has now decided that he is going to be an inside dog...or an inside dog for the most part. We tried to get him to come in at night a couple of months ago and sleep inside when it was cold, but he wanted no part of it. He would come in for a little bit and then a couple hours later...mind you, very late in the evening, he would start whinning to go out. So David and I took turns getting up at 3:00 in the morning or so and letting him out. This obviously got old real quick and we decided that if he would rather be outside in the cold than inside in the nice warm house, so be it. Well lately though, he has been coming in more and he sleep inside now. The other night we had a little scare with him and I think he had an allergic reaction to this new shampoo I bought for him. So, we were feeling extra sorry for him and really watching him hard. So, like any good Mom would do, I decided to let him get in the bed with us, so in case he stopped breathing, I would know. He did okay up there and then got down to get in his bed after he started feeling better. Now normally, he is not allowed up on the furniture or bed, and he knows this. So, he typically just comes and puts his head on the side of the bed for you to pet him and then goes on about his business. So a couple nights later he came over and put his head on the bed, and without gesturing or anything I asked him if he wanted to sleep up on the bed. He jumped straight up and got in the bed and I got tickled because he doesn't know what I am saying, or maybe he does, but that is not something we have ever asked him, but he knew what I was talking about. These are the shots that followed...





Oh, and I might add as a side note, that we don't let him lay on our real comforter...we put down something special when he gets up there. :)

Lily's Here!!!

Our neighbors, Scott and Shawna, welcomed baby Lily into the world last Friday. We are super pumped about her arrival! We already love their kids like they were our own and are glad they have a little girl now. Both Logan and Landyn have done great from what there Mom says with the adjustment to a little girl. Here are some shots from our first visit!







Big Brother Logan


Before we know it, she will be knocking on our door to come ride bikes!

The Office Party!!

Thursday nights have a new tradition at the Higginbotham House. We have "Office Parties" at either our house, or our friends, Micah and Justin's house. It is always a lot of fun because we all love that show, and it kind of wraps up the week almost, since it is Thursday night. If you don't watch The Office, I highly recommend it. If you work in the corporate world, it is funny because you can pick out each one of the characters in people that you work with. Its funny how in every actual office, there are people fitting these descriptions. Anyways, enjoy The Office! We will!

Back To School

So the 1 month Christmas break is over for school and I officially started back tonight with part 2 of the anatomy class I took last semester. I was pretty happy with last semester overall. I mean, I worked my rear off in that class, but I ended up with a B and was really excited. Most everyone else got a C, D, or F. So, I was proud. I have the same teacher this time which I like, but it takes a little bit of time to get use to her teaching style. Everyone's is different, but after a couple of weeks last semester, I had it down. Now, I believe in easing back into things, and everybody knows the that first day of class is syllabus day and then you go home. So tonight, we got our syllabus, and I expected to go home. Not the case though...we went through an ENTIRE chapter! I thought I was going to pass out!! AND to boot, we have a test on Wednesday!! HELLO???? Oh well, there is nothing like baptism by fire to get you back in the school spirit. I have also come to the conclusions, and this is a gross generalization, but I am going to throw it out there...that I know why SOME of the nurses I have worked with in the past are absolutely the laziest people on earth. Its because you are so exhausted from nursing school, studying, clinicals and everything else that goes along with it that by the time Mr. Smith needs his medicine brought to him, you want to tell Mr. Smith to get up himself and get it. :) I would like to reiterate that I said SOME of the nurses I have worked with, not all of them. There are some super nurses out there and then there are others who I don't think would get out of the building if it was on fire.

Way To Go David!!!

Mobile Bay Bride









So as most of you know, my husband is an AWESOME photographer....he stays really busy and works extremely hard. I am very proud of him and know he has big things in store for him. Also recently, David had a wedding of his featured on the cover of Southern Bride Magazine as well as Mobile Bay Bride. For the Mobile Bay Bride Magazine, he worked with the Mobile Bay Bears Baseball Team as well as models for the bridesmaids shoot. All of the photos are his and they are wonderful!! Congrats again to my wonderful husband and all of his success!! It is well deserved! If you are planning a wedding, need a senior session, children or commercial work, check David out at www.davidhphotography.com

First I would like to thank....

Little to my knowledge, I have a fan that reads my blog! And she nominated me for the Your Blog is Fabulous Award and I am super excited! Never in my wildest dreams did I think my blog would be deserving of an award!!! There are so many people I would like to thank at this time....first and foremost God, secondly, my husband for inspiring me to blog, thirdly....my 9th grade English teacher and last but not least...Wilson. Everything he does is an inspiration. (In case you haven't picked up on it yet...I am kidding...I can see the awards show rolling the credits over my face as they try to wrap me up!!) Anyways, to officially accept this award, you must list your 5 addictions...so here goes.

1. This one is probably the worst, but I am addicted to naps. I turn into a little bit of a 3 year old if I don't get my nap. Literally, my body shuts down if I don't "rest my eyes for a second." Naps have always been big in my family...my grandparents use to take a nap every day and we didn't dare call or go by during the hours of 1:00-3:00, because it was nap time. And my mother takes a nap every once in awhile when she is worn out. I started this tradition in college and it kind of stuck. There were many a day that I would sleep in my jeep on my lunch break in my favorite parking garage in Cullman...

2. Secondly, I am addicted to the river....anything about it, I love it! It is my favorite place to go and be and I can have fun just sitting out on the dock and staring at it. I think that is something that is bread in you at an early age...some people love it...others can't stand it and don't understand why anyone would want to do anything related to it....

3. Anything sweet....I know that is probably true for most women, but I have a huge sweet tooth. Some days I wonder why I get up and go to the gym everyday....if I wouldn't eat all these sweets, I could probably just sleep in....oh well. Maybe will power comes with age.

4. This one is strange to most people because unless you are an animal lover than you think its weird....I would say I am addicted to my dog Wilson. I talk about him like he is a child and love him the same way I think I will love our future children. He has brought me so much joy in his 5 years and is a constant companion and friend. He also shares my love for the river and that is a bonus as well. We both light up like kids when I turn into our subdivision on the river...he knows we are there and so do I.

5. Last and certainly not least would be my wonderful husband. How can you not be addicted to someone like David. Everything about him is wonderful and he is my best friend in the world. We can have fun just sitting around together with nothing to do, or going out on the town. His personality is infectious and he has the kindest heart of anyone I know. He always jokes with me about making him out to be a bad person and how he hopes my second husband is a bad as I make him out to be. Its kind of a running joke at our house, but it is true in some ways. I have to pick at him some because he never really does anything wrong. He can always cheer me up and I can't wait to see him each and every day.

Now...to nominate my 5 favorite blogs....
1. David Higginbotham Photography
2. My Girls
3. The Coultures
4. The Tomberlins
5. The Carrols

Birthday Part 3

So part 3 of my birthday was my party at my Mother's house. She always cooks dinner for me and has special family and friends over to celebrate. I have had the same birthday cake for my whole life and I absolutely love it! Its weird because its not like a super fancy cake or anything, but I only eat it at my birthday. All in all it was a great night and I got some wonderful gifts from family and friends. One in particular I must mention. My cousin Buzzy and his wife Theresa gave over for the celebration. When I opened up my present from them, it was a single roll of toilet paper. Little did David and I know, but we have been living like poor folks for many years...we have always bought the cheap toilet paper and never thought anything about it. Well, when we would be at Buzzy's house, there toilet paper was like the greatest thing since sliced bread...so we switched. Now, keep in mind, I have always paid like $1.00 for a pack of 4, and the cost of the new Charmin with Aloe was like triple that. So, we made the switch and never looked back. However, we ran out close to Christmas time and I thought...I'll buy the cheap stuff to get us through Christmas and then go back to the premium toilet paper. Little did I know that David and I both were going to get the stomach virus very soon. It was AWFUL! Theresa called one day to check on us and I told her my sad story about the cheap toilet paper and then stomach virus, so they brought us their very last roll of the good stuff. That is what family is for....to help you when you are down!!
Here are some shots from the evening...
Me and Evan...pretty soon after his surgery where he delivered a 6 pound spleen we named Walker, in honor of Dr. Walker who delivered our little barrel of sunshine..



My favorite birthday cake!!


Me and my Mother...and my other mother Sherryn in the background...


My sweet hubby...



My "Other Parents"


Me, Mother and the Moo

Birthday Part 2

For my birthday night, David took me to Olive Garden, which I love, and then to see Marley and Me, which I loved, but cried my eyes out in. The strangest thing happened to me at the Olive Garden....I use to go there all the time in college. My friends and I ate there on a regular basis. But after college, I kind of dwindled off of eating there. Not really for any particular reason besides the fact that its not up the street from my house anymore. When we went on my birthday, it was like it was the best food I had ever put in my mouth. Sure, it probably tasted the way that it always does, but for some reason I just couldn't get enough of it. It was just awesome. So here are some shots from dinner...



The singing waiters....they HATED doing this, but I love it!!


Making a wish! Hope it comes true!


All in all it was a wonderful evening. David gave me a gift certificate to get a hot stone massage which I am super pumped about...a little tray thing for my bathtub so I can read my anatomy book in there, and 2 tickets to the Built Ford Tough Professional Bull Riding Event in April. I am sooooo excited about that! I love some bull riding!!! :) I will have to find the pictures from last year when we went to Atlanta to the PBR...it was so much fun!

Also, for any of you that have not seen Marley and Me, you must go see it. Especially if you are a dog person. It is such a good movie but so sad too! It shows the true bond between humans and animals and it is just perfect!

Birthday Part 1 of who knows how many..

I have the most AWESOME friends in the entire world! I probably don't say that enough to them, but for us to be spread out as much as we are, I think we are just about as close as you can get. Ann Taylor is in New York, Caroline is in Atlanta (soon to be California I think) Lindsey is in Texas, Lawren is in Mobile, Ginger and Kelli are in Birmingham and I am in good ol' Decatur. We may go several months without seeing each other, but as soon as we get together, its like we have never been apart. We can all finish each others sentences and always have tons of laughs when we are together. So this year, my fabulous friends decided to throw me a "Happy Birthday Jesus/Anna" celebration which was kind of an improper joke, but we went with it anyway. The weekend started off with me meeting up with Kelli in Birmingham and then us driving down to Mobile. We went to Bellingrath Gardens and looked at all the beautiful lights there and then had a great dinner at this little Italian place. On Saturday, we all got up and went to Foley to do a little damage at the outlet malls, then came home and got ready for our cocktail attire dinner that Lawren and Bret Bret prepared for us. I must say that this was better than anything you could get at a 5 star restaurant...not to mention the table was decorated to the nines!! After that, we went downtown for a little music and then back to the house for a lively game of Tabu which was totally hilarious. On Sunday, we all casually got up and then headed back. All in all, it was an awesome weekend! I love my friends so much and really appreciate them making the effort to come celebrate with me all the way in Mobile. Here are some shots from the weekend...

This is us at Bellingrath Gardens....it is beautiful there...




Kelli and Lawren blowing out the candle...


Kelli pushing down the Washington monument..






Breakfast the next morning...we were a little late, they had already started serving lunch, but they found us some bagels...


Outlet shopping...with the loudest child I have ever heard screaming...it would have woken up the dead...


Oh, one thing I forgot to mention in the photo above is the lady in the background drinking a beer...and quite a tall beer....her entire table was drinking at the outlet malls at 11:00 a.m....hello, go to an "AA" meeting. :)



Bret Bret, our fearless chef, that stayed behind and cooked all day for us while we were out shopping...he probably was glad to have a little peace while 6 girls were out of his house!!


Kelli had been doing makeup on the trip for everyone else, so I had her do mine for this night...this is a shot with all of us but Lawren and Ginger...


My delicious cake with FUDGE icing!!!


The lovely table..


Our host and hostess...they were wonderful!!


We had these little party favor things that would pop when you pulled them apart and they had little surprises in them and you had to put on whatever was in your part...all of us got hats, but Kelli had an eyepatch as well. HILARIOUS!!


I do not have a picture of this, but I would like to make a statement....when we went downtown to this dueling piano place, we sat next to this older couple who seemed okay when we first sat down (besides the fact that she was blowing cigarette smoke in our face), before we know it, this lady is sitting on top of the table and dancing in a not nice way on her date/baby daddy, we were not really sure. Just a note to everyone out there reading this....there is absolutely NO circumstance or age where it is appropriate for you to get up on the table in a public place for any reason and try to seduce your man....I don't care how cute you think you are...everyone looking at you thinks you are in idiot. :)

Thanks again girls for a WONDERFUL birthday!!