Vacay to Chatty

Ben and I took a vacation this summer with some friends to the Chattanooga, Tennessee area. We actually stayed in Fort Payne, Alabama, and drove up to Chatty for a day, and visited a few other towns around.

The first necessary task to the beginning of any trip is taking the dogs to the kennel. Our precious puppies are bestowed into the care of our vet, and then we don’t have to worry about them while we’re gone. The cat though, she’s just on her own. No, we did get Ben’s brother to come take care of her and the garden while we were gone. 

Colby and Jackson love riding in the car...until they realize where they're going

Next, before you leave town, you must have car snacks

Yes, these were just for me. No, I didn't share. Yes, I ate them all.

We stayed at a cabin outside of Fort Payne. It was an actual log cabin that the owners built themselves. The antique décor was very reminiscent of my grandmother’s house. We enjoyed the front porch with rocking chairs, and the back porch with a hot tub. It was a really great little cabin.

Another thing every trip needs: livestock as next door neighbors. Apparently the people that own the cabins we were staying at keep goats as their pets and lawnmowers. Lots of goats. We could see them from our porch, and had fun “baaaing” at them, and hearing them “baaa” back. Every time we came up to the fence they ran up to see what we had for them to eat, though we just disappointed. They were pretty funny to watch.

The next critical thing for any trip: get sunburnt and sore your first day of vacation. We spent one day playing around at Little River Canyon. It’s a beautiful waterfall that we hiked down to and spent the day swimming below the falls. My first time to get in the water all summer, so it was great! Though we forgot the sunscreen and were all pretty red by the end of the day, with sore muscles from swimming and climbing all over the rocks. Sadly no pictures cause of the water factor.

We went to Chattanooga the next day for some beautiful views from atop Lookout Mountain.

We went to eat lunch at a really cute café on the mountain. Ben suggested we get some calamari. He had had it before and knew he liked it, and the rest of us were up for trying it. It comes out looking like any other fried food. I tried a few bites, and it was ok but a little chewy for my taste…but when I saw the tiny little squid still whole in the middle of the pile, I couldn’t eat anymore. Kudos to Super Hubs for not being grossed out. 

Then we visited the Tennessee Aquarium, which we’ve been to a few times now, but is always a treat to see. I especially enjoy the hands-on exhibits, like where I get to pet stingrays! They gave us shrimp to feed them, and we tried, but they weren’t interested in us. I guess they’d already had enough to eat.

Lots of awesome things to see, like one of my favorites: penguins!

and jellyfish, which are super cool to look at, but I would definitely not want to see one in water I’m swimming in.

and super chilaxed alligators

One neat thing about Chattanooga is they have a lot of brick sculptures all around downtown.

We had dinner at a local brewery/restaurant, which was super neat. The fun thing about eating at a brewery is trying their beers that you can’t get anywhere else.

And your final essential: plan to do a bunch of things in one day, but make sure that all those places will be closed by the time you get to them. Saturday we had a full day planned of shopping. First we visited the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama. This is where all the lost and unclaimed luggage gets sent and you can buy it for a steal. They literally have everything: from clothes to books to kitchenware. They even have some food, though I wasn’t too keen on buying any of that. Ben and I scored some slip-covers for our wingback chairs, and our friends found some good clothing deals. 

Following that we tried to find lunch. Note for future reference: apparently NOTHING is open in small-town America on Saturdays. We drove around for about an hour and a half through several cities trying to find somewhere to eat lunch that wasn’t fast food (though there wasn’t much of that either). I enjoyed eating at the local places, so we pressed on and finally found a café that was fifteen minutes from ending their lunch hours. We made it just in time and the food was delicious!

After that we tried to go to Trade Day, which is just a GIANT flea market, but by the time we made it there, there wasn’t a single vendor left. Apparently it had started at the crack of dawn and wrapped up around lunch. Next stop was an antique store in Fort Payne, but by the time we made it there, it was closed. Then we were going to try to go to a glass-blowing shop, but by the time we would have made it there, it would’ve been closed. Finally, we had nothing else to try to do and went back to the cabin to relax.

And then we came home. Overall a wonderful vacation, and much-needed break from work and life. But is so nice to be home. 

A little bit of cute

So I have two nephews and one brand new two month old niece. Finally, a little girl! Girl clothes are just so dadgum adorable, I just can't help fawning over them in the stores. And now I finally have a reason to make baby girl clothes. Oh yay!

So I had a design that popped in my head after I bought that adorable green cheap fabric the other day. And I ended up with this

It turned out exactly how I wanted...except way too big for a two month old! Oh well, at least babies grow a lot and grow fast. So at some point it will fit her, I just hope that it's not December. It's just a jumper dress with the white lining with ruffle at the bottom of the lining, buttons on the straps to get on and off.

So I would claim this one as a success because it turned out like the picture in my head, and it will fit (eventually).

I was reading some old posts about sewing projects, and recalling the struggles and frustrations I've experienced. And compared to my recent projects, I can really tell I've learned a lot and I am slowly but surely getting better. It's so encouraging, and just makes me want to keep sewing! So on to the next project - a dress for me with that other fabric I just bought. But that will have to wait til after vacation with friends in Chattanooga later this week. Pictures to come!

Wiiiii!

I would agree with most people that being active is good, especially when I have a weakness for cake and ice cream. But besides thinking about it, doing it is a whole other story. It is so difficult to get up the motivation to go to the gym, and it's way too Mississippi-hot to do anything outside.

So what is a better idea than a fitness workout video game? I want that! I stole borrowed Wii Fit from my brother...last December. Today, in July, I finally decided to try it out.

First perks, I get to play my Wii and I get to workout in the air conditioning of my own home. I also get to try out workouts, like yoga, that I would be too intimidated to do in front of other people. And trust me, you do look ridiculous doing the yoga, the step aerobics, and balance exercises. But you get to play a video game!

So today was my first day to try it out. And I go on vacation in two days, so we'll see if my early hiatus will disrupt plans to make this a regular workout. But I am a fan of video games that keep me in shape!

Social Crafting

My church has a women’s ministry that is growing increasingly more active. We’ve been trying to do lots to get the ladies together often, including a spring retreat, a Saturday brunch, and last night a craft night. I was so excited for this event!

So several of us toted our sewing machines, others brought their knitting needles, some brought cross-stitch, and everybody else just came to hang out at the church for an evening of fellowship. It was so much fun to see what other people were working on, and to have some company while I sew.

I discovered though, that while I enjoy the company, I get distracted too easily, and end up sewing the wrong stitches, and things backwards. Oops! So perhaps it’s better for me to sew holed up in our little office at home if I actually want to be productive. Nevertheless, we had a great time.


A few ladies sewing on several projects



The back circle was the knitting, etc group, and the front
circle were just hanging out and writing note to our missionaries



Pulling a Fast One

My office offers the wonderful option of a flex-time schedule. This means that I have to work 8 hours (plus 30 minute lunch) everyday, but I can come in whenever I want between the hours of 6 and 9 am. Though this was originally put into practice by the union to accommodate working mothers, I take full advantage of it.

The idea of going in at 6 and getting off at 2:30 is stupendous! Actually doing it is a little rough though. I have never been able to do it. I started trying last winter. But I found that I just can’t get out of bed when it’s still dark outside. My body refuses. Quite frankly, it’s just unnatural. There’s no reason we should be up before the sun. Unless, of course, I want to be home sooner in the afternoons. But how can I make the sun rise earlier?

Ben has been reading this book called Flanagan’s Smart Home: The 98 Essentials for Starting Out, Starting Over, Scaling Back. Basically it narrows down your entire house full of crap to 98 necessary things, as well as provides suggestions on increasing the quality of life. One thing Ben has read about is how to wake up in the morning. Instead of jumping out of bed to a blaring alarm clock that’s sets your adrenaline running, the book suggests using a lamp timer that turns the lamp on about 30 minutes prior to when you want to get up. Your body naturally wakes up to the light – and you’re able to avoid the jarring discord of that god-awful alarm.

So with this tip we have figured out how to trick my body into getting up earlier. I wake up to the light, and it’s not until I walk out of our bedroom that I realize how dark it still is. But then it’s too late! I’m off to the shower, into work early, and back home early! Then it’s like I still have a whole half of the day left to be at home with Ben.

*Ok, so I still haven’t actually made it in by 6 yet. But I’ve gotten in as early as 6:30, and I’m slowly working my way up to 6. Come on, give me a break, it’s 6 AM!

Now you see it...

...now you don't

Tada!

Bursts of Inspiration

I've had a dress design mulling around in my head for a while. I finally had a little money, and Hancock Fabrics was having a great sale, so I went over there to browse for a while. I saw so much I wanted and it was such a good sale, but I restrained myself and only bought a what I needed. Then I found some more on sale at Wal-Mart. I saw some fabric that was just so cute, I bought it on a whim and plan to make a dress with it as well.

The patterned fabric for two dresses, and accent fabrics for lining, ties, and straps

So now I've got two projects to keep me occupied for a while. Oh and I still haven't finished those curtains. But they're slowly coming along...

And Super Hubby has been busy on his own project. Our puppies needed a raised enclosed house, so Ben decided to build them a dog mansion - complete with a porch! It'll be perfect for them when it rains and when it's cold. And hopefully they'll use it other times too. Now we get to paint it! We're thinking bright orange...

With immense concentration of brain power alone, he put this together! (The drill is just a prop)

Jackson enjoying his new mansion

Ok, so he did use some power tools. And I got to help! Well, I was a deadweight to hold wood still while he was cutting. Ben said I'm just as good as any tool in a woodshop. 

Go Team Ratliff!

To Do List

 See all that junk? Yep, instead of cleaning it all up, we're just going to cover it up with a curtain made out of this

That's my next project.

And I'm wanting very much to make a dress...so hopefully soon I'll get started on that.

A Summer Crop

Update on the garden: Our watermelons are dying. Sad

In other news, my hair was super long. I mean loooooong.

This is me with my long hair and my Dad

I probably hadn't cut it in a year or so. I'm rather low-key when it comes to hair, the less I have to do, the better, and I hate paying someone to cut it. I even cut my own bangs cause I'm just that cheap.

But it was time to do something with my unruly mane. The cheapest deal I could find was the cosmetology school around the corner from our house. I realize that schools are cheap because students are cutting your hair, but I figured they can't mess it up that bad. Since I don't care too much about my hair to begin with, I could probably deal with however it turned out.

So I went after work on Thursday afternoon. Because my hair was so long, several of the students asked if I was sure, and why I was cutting it. They couldn't really understand the why, but it didn't matter.

When my stylist asked me what I wanted, I just said I want it short and I want to be able to wear it curly. Besides that, do whatever you like. He got very excited.

3 HOURS LATER I have a new do. Now in that absurdly long amount of time for a hair cut, I did get it washed, cut, blown dry, and straightened. And there were many people ogling at me as well. The stylist kept assuring me that it was cute, though I didn't see it until the end. This didn't actually reassure me at all, but made me rather nervous that he felt like he needed to reassure me.

But after much rough combing over my ears, a sore scalp, and one minor flat iron burn, I was happy with the outcome.

Of course, since I have curly hair, it will never look like this again cause I'm too lazy to straighten my hair. So it will generally look like this

It works. And it's perfect for the summer. Yay!

Trying Out My Green Thumb

We (meaning me, and I roped Ben into it) decided to have a weekend project.

We stopped by Lowe's.

Got some cucumbers, watermelon, cilantro, sweet basil, and Roma tomatoes.

And we made a garden

Keeping our fingers crossed for some successfully homegrown herbs and veggies.

And because that was more physical work than I've done in...I don't remember when, in the 1000 degree Mississippi heat, I'm going to go pass out on my bed now.