This is how we roll out in the country

So there are always negatives & positives of living anywhere. For example: You have no one "right next door" that can look in your windows. This is also a negative because you have no one that lives "right next door" that can look in your windows to see if someone is breaking into your house. (I'm not bitter - can't ya tell?!)

Some other positives: 1. peeing outside (uh, that's Brad, not me...) 2. It's quiet & peaceful. 3. You can see stars. 4. You can park however many vehicles, trailers, etc. in your driveway or yard without anyone on any "board" telling you that you can't (sometimes this can be a negative as well...). 5. You can make your driveway whatever you want it to be (right now ours is a lovely mix of a little gravel & a lot of mud.) 6. Oh! Perhaps one of the best? - we have a well so we don't have a water bill. Nanny nanny boo boo!

Some of the negatives: 1. No high speed internet. 2. No cable tv company so you only have a choice of local tv (oh the humanity!) or satellite dish. 3. Since we have a well & no city or county sewage department, we have a septic tank buried in our back yard that collects - well, crap & we have to have it emptied every so often. 4. It takes forever & a day to get anywhere. (Just "running to get a gallon of milk" is a half an hour ordeal.)

But perhaps one of the funnest (is that a word?!) things to do in the country without getting in trouble is a FIRE! We country bumpkins refer to this as "burnin' stuff!" And since we're so far out, no one really cares that we are burning out in the open & they don't even bother to try to stop us. Mwah ha ha!

So every so often we get enough burnable items together to start a nice little fire. We'll get cardboard boxes & I also have what I refer to as "the burn box" - (I swear - I wouldn't lie to you!) & in it I toss those pesky credit card promos & other various papers that have important personal info on them that I don't want anyone else to see. You may be asking yourself, "Uh, have ya ever heard of a shredder?!" Why, yes I have - but burnin's free people! Tsk, tsk...

B-rad had everything stacked up & ready to be devoured by the fire. Then I noticed this hole just sitting there in the yard. Farming lesson #45 - this is what we like to call a "sink hole". It starts fairly small & over time, it will become larger & larger. It's a real pain in the ass when they're trying to plant or combine or whatever around them.

And I got a little concerned about how close it was to the house. I don't want it to swallow up our house!

But, I digress - back to the fire!

And this freakin' thing was hot!

And we got to pollute the air a little too with black smoke & small particles that rose above the flames.

These pics don't show it, but we are responsible fire starters. The ground was still really wet from the snow. What do you think we are, animals?! Geesh!

Dear Mr. Insurance Agent - we kept the fire a good distance from our home. Please don't cancel our policy. Thank you.

P.S. We did a pretty good job at keeping the fire under control, too. It just caught a couple of stalks on fire, that's all. And the ground was still pretty wet & B-rad stomped it out before it got out of control.

P.S.S. I'm also sure that sinkhole will not swallow our house. I was just kidding. And if it does, we will all probably be dead by then. Our check for the premium is in the mail...

B-rad says, "it's time for a change..."

So Brad has been scolding me on the picture at the top of the blog. "You need to change that picture. It's of harvest & we are D-O-N-E with harvest. There's no corn in the field anymore." You get the drift.

So as much as I hate to admit it - he's uh, um, ahem - right. But here's the problem - while the view is great & I know ya'll are jealous, it is Ugly with a capital U when it's just a barren field.

And how can I subject my loyal stalkers with pictures of death? Pictures of grass that is not the color God meant grass to be?!

So I decided to go WAY back in the archives & found a lovely picture from the snowstorm back in 2004. Technically we only own to the first tree line in this pic - this is to the side of the house. I won't tell if you won't...And speaking of snow - have we been ripped of this year or what?! I love snow! It's SO pretty! Don't judge me & do NOT leave comments about how you hate snow. 'Cuz I will just delete them & they will never ever see the light of day - mmm'kay?!

West Baden Springs Resort & French Lick Hotel

During our stay at the Big Splash Adventure, I also wanted to go see the West Baden Springs Resort & the French Lick Hotel. I've never been there but had heard about them.

French Lick Hotel

Brian & Lora
There's a section in the hotel where you actually walk underground. That was kinda freaky. They dug the tunnel so that workers could work & go in & out without being seen by guests.

I was most excited about seeing the West Baden Springs Resort.

The original brick road from when it was built in the late 1800's is still there.

This is the garden. Of course there's nothing there right now. But the angels are around a fountain.

This dome is unreal. It's 700' across. From floor to ceiling is 100'. You literally have to lean your head all the way back to see the tippy top.

There are like 700 rooms around the dome for guests. There are some rooms that have balconies that look out into the dome.

Inside the dome area there were lots of sitting areas. It felt like you stepped back in time when you look around.There was a band playing music & a singer in front of this area. As we were walking through looking at the pictures - we saw this exact area in a picture from the 1920's. It's really neat how they've tried to be true to all the historic aspects of the restoration. Even the lights on the walls look exactly like the lights did back then.This is from inside looking at the entrance. The trees lining the drive were decorated with lights.

We walked around the whole thing. We found a room with some original artifacts from the resort.

I didn't know the story of the resort. I just knew that it was run down & a few years ago it got fixed up. It was built in the late 1800's/early 1900's. After the stock market crash in the 1920's - the owner gave it to some priests & they made it into a seminary. They capped off all the hot springs & now they don't run anymore. They let it run all to hell & after they vacated it - it just sat & dilapidated. Finally someone else purchased it & they fixed it all up to what it is today.

Overlooking the garden.

We walked around the garden. There were a couple of buildings out there too. This one had etched into the building that it was the "Billiard Bowling Pavilion". There was a sign at the door that said, "no visitors past this point". So we didn't go in - we just stuck our heads in. They must be working on fixing it up too. The ceiling has holes in it & it smelled SO musty & old.

From the back of the garden looking at the resort.

Big Splash Adventure

We are in French Lick at the Big Splash Adventure park. Please don't break into our house nor tell anyone we are gone so they go & break in our house. Thank you....

So we are here with Brad's fam for the weekend. They have Wi-fi & I.am.in.heaven. Last year we went to Great Wolf Lodge in Cincinnati & this year they decided to change it up a little.

Brad's uncle & aunt came down too to see us for Christmas. We had lunch today at Denny's. Uh-yeah, um-French Lick doesn't have like ANYPLACE to eat. It's quite strange... My hair is not lookin' too hot. I didn't bring my special potion & boy, does it show. Dear Hair Affair: I am sold on the super skinny serum...
Cole is normally a very talkative & excitable little boy. Today at lunch he was very quiet & reserved. So since I'm a giver & all - I had to try to cheer him up. So I took his picture. See the dead look in his eyes?!

Then he perked up just a bit & wanted to take my picture drinking my drink. Check out those eyes...

When we got back to the hotel, we exchanged gifts with Brad's Uncle Jeff & Aunt Janet.

And this is what Brad did most of the day - have his face in his new Ipod touch (Wi-Fi remember?!)

Here's some pics of the waterpark. This is the little kid part. It was a couple of slides for little ones & then it has all the water thingies where you can spray each other.

Here's the big people slides. Brad says they are WAY faster than Great Wolf. However, the waterpark as a whole is smaller.

After we opened presents, Cole was begging everyone to take him to the waterpark & no one would. Well, hello? - Ms. Giver (that's me in case you were wondering...) took him down there to let him play until everyone else decided to join us.

It's completely enclosed in glass. The ceiling retracts in the summer. Of course is was 30 degrees today so they had that bad boy closed.

Lazy River

I tried to get Brad coming out of the slide. But either he was too fast or I was too dang slow with the camera.

I did not participate in the water festivities. I'm not a big "I gotta be in the water every single minute of every single day" kinda gal. So I sat on the sidelines & took pics & listened to my Ipod.

While I was sitting around, I noticed a group of boys playing basketball. I noticed they all followed one certain little boy. He'd tell them "time out" & they'd all stop. See how they all are looking the same direction? Yea-he's standing just outta my shot & they are watching him intently.

And he was their leader. Their alpha dog, if you will.

He was bossy & loud & he got on my nerves. Sorry - but he did...

My people played a mean game of b-ball themselves.

Ahhh - floating down the lazy river...