Scrapbooking class

So I was supposed to have a beginners scrapbooking class last night @ the library. And my plan was to dazzle you w/ my exceptional talent @ scrapbooking. Now, mind you, I've never scrapbooked before, but how hard can it be? I bought some scrapbooking stuff on the cruise to make a cruise scrapbook, but I just can't figure out how to get started...thus the beginner scrapbooking class. Sadly, it was cancelled. So I had a problem...what was I gonna blog about?!

Instead I thought maybe I'd tell ya how I stayed up until 1am Friday night reading the 3rd book in the "Twilight" series (after I watched the movie for the 2nd time...) And then how I got irate when I got up Sat. morning to put the 4th book on hold @ the library & I am the 6th person in line. I'll get to this in a minute, but I'm obesessed w/ Twilight. My birthday is 1 month & 11 days away & I've already asked for the movie. I'm also gonna ask for the books. (Uh, Brad---Amazon.com - $45.65 & they have FREE shipping!!!) www.amazon.com/Twilight-Saga-Collection-Stephenie-Meyer/dp/0316031844/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238501941&sr=8-2

Or maybe you'd like to hear about how one of the cats, Sparky, has something on his tail that I noticed Sunday. It looked a little worse last night so a trip to the vet may be in his future. This is NOT good for either of us. He will make God awful noises & there may be bodily fluids involved (from him, not me). He wouldn't let me look @ it this morning to see how it's doing. I'll try again today when I get home.

Or what about how I was hella excited to get home & walk on the treadmill yesterday because I downloaded some new songs to my Ipod. Er, songs from the movie Twilight. Don't judge me. I know I have problem. If there was a Twilights anonymous meeting in Palmyra, I would totally go...but there's not. Too bad! (Now I'm sticking my tongue out.)

How 'bout this? I fixed my nephews necklace last night. That's right, I'm a giver. He has had this sea shell necklace thingie for awhile & he broke it in Florida. Since his Autie Jaime is a jewelry maker, I was able to fix it & Woila! He's back in bizness!

Maybe you'd like to hear about how my car that I have the unhealthy obsession with (apparently I have obsession issues...) is sick & had to go to the dealership to be looked at. Since we don't have an extra vehicle I had to borrow my dad's truck. EVERY TIME I borrow it, I have to hear the SAME EXACT STORY of how I have to let it warm up or it won't shift right. (Yeah, I'm not kidding...every single time I drive the damn thing!)

I'm also excited because I hate to cook SO much, that I'm glad Brad has a farm meeting thingie tonight in Corydon & I don't have to cook supper! Yay for me!

Lastly, I will tell you how when I got done walking on the treadmill, listening to my new Twilight downloads, I was so inspired that I decided to watch the movie...again...for the 4th time (I watched it Saturday too...). Then I got mad when it wasn't done yet & it was 8:00 & time for "Dancing w/ the Stars"! Never mind that my DVR (which is the greatest invention since the internet...& electricity...I do love me some electricity...) is jam-packed full of other shows I need to watch. 13 hours of "The Practice", 7 hours of "The Tudors", 2 hours of "Castle", 1 1/2 hours of "Keeping Up W/ the Kardashians", 1 hour of "CSI:NY", not to mention a couple movies I've taped here & there on HBO. The DVR is mucho importante in my house! I had more than that this weekend, but I had to buckle down on Sunday & not watch Twilight again so I could get caught up.

Kickin' it old school - Part 2

In this installment, we're gonna take a look back @ Brad's childhood. He was such a cute little kid!

I don't know what year this is..maybe 78 or 79? This is Brad's dad, mom, him & Brian!

Again, the whole fam...lovin' the big satellite dish! That used to be the thing to have!!

Look @ the cheesy smile!

This is Brad in all his glory on the bball team. I asked him if his cousin, Chad, was in the pic & he said, "Oh no way, I was on the B team!" He's in the front row, 2nd from right. (Leaning forward!)

Brad & his mom w/ his cousin, Ry. Brad's on the right. When I showed him this pic, he was like, "Cool! That's my spyder suit!" Apparently, that was THE brand of ski stuff to have!

McAfee family reunion. If ya look REAL close, you can see another couple of McAfee's on the left...

Brad & his dad & Ry.

Brad & his mom maybe @ a car show? That's Mark Martin's car. I would say this is probably 1995-97? I remember that jacket he's wearing...

Brad w/ his Grandpa McAfee & dad @ Doe Run Inn.

I'm working on getting pics from my mom to do mine.

Thanks to my father-in-law& mother-in-law for getting me some of these pictures!

A weekend of birthdays!

My bro-in-law, Brian, had a birthday on Saturday. I went over the barn to give him his present. On the agenda today was working on re-doing the interior of one of the tractors & installing the new planter monitor in the other tractor.

Brian was sanding the glue off of the ceiling of the 4840 so the new upholstery we got will "stick".

I interrupted him to make him open his gift! (& if ya know Brian, you know THAT went over well!) I wouldn't let him get it out of the box because he was hella dirty, but we got him an ITunes card & a U of L Big East Championship t-shirt. (BTW-this is the kind of "Michael Jackson mask" I'm gonna wear when I'm working on the landscape!)

Brad's job was to install the new fancy schmancy planter monitor in the Case.

When I took Brian's present to the barn, I didn't know we were gonna go out to eat for his bday. We all got together & went to Tumbleweed. The kids had just gotten back from Florida for spring break & they were really excited to see their mom & dad!

Lora brought cake to Tumbleweed & let Cole help her pass it out. I thought it was cute how grown up he looked handing it out. I went to take his pic & he dropped the caked! LOL! No worries, he just scooped it back up onto the plate. 5 second rule people!!

The servers came out & sang Happy Birthday to Brian!

Brady took a group shot for me!

After dinner, we went to our BFF's, Matt & Carrie, because Carrie's bday is Monday. We were looking through pictures reminiscing at how long we've been friends. Brad & Matt used to work together & they got along so well, Brad said we should all get together. Matt gripes @ Brad about that decision to this day. He says, "Yeah, Brad. Good idea...let's get our wives together!" We figured out that we've been buds since 2004. It doesn't seem like that long! The weird thing is Carrie & I are a lot alike (opinionated, control freaks, etc.) but we get along really well. I tell her if she's being nutty & she does the same to me!

I wanted Brad to take pics of us, but Carrie was freakin' out becaused she was in her pj's & kept putting the book in front of her face. I was making faces @ Brad so he would take pics when she wouldn't notice. Nice huh?!

We decided to play aggravation. Matt made tea & like any good host, he poured Brad & I a glass & set them on the table. Mine is the one closest to the bottom of the pic. See how much tea is in it?! Brad's is full...this is how Matt shows he loves me!

I'm only a beginner...& I'm ok w/ that...

Lora & I had another line dancin' class last night. Our buddy, Nancy, thought we were ready for the big time & should stay for the intermediate class. I won't speak for Lora, but while I appreciate Nancy's faith in me, I was not ready for that kind of responsibility!

I was confused, dizzy (from all the turns...lots & lots of turns!) & frustrated w/ myself most of the time! I had to laugh so I didn't cry! I just could NOT get the new steps (remember, I'm used to heel & heel & step together, step together) & then the steps I COULD get, there were SO many to put together that I couldn't remember what came next! And obviously she moved @ a much accelerated rate because this WAS the intermediate class & it was just too fast for me.

I will say I worked up quite a sweat so it was good exercise. I am extremely tired this morning & my legs hurt. Nancy tried to make me feel better this morning (she's so sweet that way. She would never tell me I sucked!) & said that part of the problem was that I don't know the advanced steps & I was trying to learn the steps PLUS how to put them together. And she said that the other older ladies in the class were impressed by how good we were doing. I told her they must not have been watching me! (but again, I'm sure they're sweet older ladies, they would never say how horrid it was!)

Needless to say, the intermediate class will be missing at least one McAfee chick next week. I think I'll stick to my beginners class. But Lora, if you feel froggy & want to try again...I'll stay & watch...from a safe distance across the room! :-)

Kickin' it old school - Part 1-A

I've gotten such a response from my last old picture post! So I thought I'd give my peeps what they want!

Now I can't be certain of some of the dates, so bear w/ me.

This is obv @ Universal Studios. We used to go to Florida A LOT because Brad's grandparents live there & we have a free place to stay! :-)

Please check out 2 things in the pic: my sweet cut off jeans rolled up (w/ my Guess t-shirt) & Brad's Nike sandals (w/ socks) AND his face. Doesn't he looked thrilled?!

This is in Mar 1999 (I only know because the date's on the freakin' pic!). I do remember it though. We went to the truck show & to a free Reba McEntire concert afterwards.

This is @ O'Charley's for Brad's bday. I don't know how many years ago, but maybe 4-5?!

Stay tuned 'cuz I got house building pics, Christmas pics (that also feature some of my peeps that read this blog! Oh how you laugh now...just wait!!!!) and wedding pics will be the grand finale! And if you have any funny pics of us, email them to me & I'll try to use them!!

Signs of spring...

This post is a day late since we're having such crappy weather here today, but the last few days have been very nice & my Bradford Pear & Weeping Cherry trees have been blooming!

My sister-in-law got me this tree from the Arbor foundation maybe 8-9 years ago. It started out as a STICK! Its grown SO good & last year it had a few little blooms on it. This year it as really filled up! It's SO pretty! I love it!!

This is the weeping cherry tree in the front of the house w/ the landscaping. This will be the 3rd year for it & it's really coming along too!

I also got spring fever this weekend & hung out some of my deck bling. Lora also got me this wind catcher. It's a flower AND it's purple. My 2 favorite things!!!

I had to get a purple wind chime to match! ;-)

I'm dreading getting out in the landscaping because I have a gazillion wild onions in it & they are impossible to pull out w/ your hand! Plus, I am allergic to EVERYTHING (except food!) & last year when I put down mulch (all by myself, thank you very much!) I got really sick. I guess there was mold in it & I was down for a few days. I told Brad he was gonna have to help me this year & I'm gonna pull a Michael Jackson & wear a very stylish white mask over my mouth & nose so hopefully I don't get sick.

Who wants to bet that I end up doing it by myself? Anyone? Anyone? Buehler?!

Kickin' it old school - Part 1

Oh boy, are YOU guys in for a treat! I got to thinkin' about this whole 10 year annivesary thing & since we've actually been together for 15 years I thought it would be funny/embarassing to share some pics of us over the years.

By my calculations, there are 12 weeks until our actual anniversary. I've decided to do one post a week leading up to the blessed event. It's gonna be like the Queen's birthday, or the Olympics, or an election year...it's gonna go on & on & on & on!

We started dating in July 1994 right after I graduated high school. We actually broke up like 3 times during the 5 years we dated before we got engaged, but let's not focus on that!

Our senior pictures:

Brad graduated in 1995.

For his graduation, his parents took us on a cruise on the Star of Louisville.

We were just babies I tell ya, babies! (19 & 18 year old babies!!!)

The things I do for my hubby & his brother...

Part of being a farmer's wife is being "on-call". Kinda like a doctor. Only obv not as important. You never know when they will call & say "Bring me this, Come get me & take me here...". I do not like this part of the job.

Yesterday I rented the movie Twilight on pay-per-view & before Brad left I told him, "Don't call me, don't text me - I'm not coming to the barn & I'm not takin' ya anything while the movie is on!" (The movie is excellent, btw...) So, I guess I had it coming. That's what I get for being mean! :-(

He calls about 5:00 & says he forgot to get the GPS for the sprayer. Oh yeah, we're fancy farmers! It really is a good investment because it tells them exactly where they need to drive so they don't "double spray" or "double plant" where they've already been. In the past, you just kinda have to use your eye balls & look @ the marks in the field. This helps save us money in chemicals & seed. It costs quite a bit up front, but we have def earned our money back.

So he says I need you to bring me the gps so Brian can use it to spray. I pouted & pushed out my bottom lip & stomped around the house & then I said ok. I'm thinking, "ok, it won't be TOO bad, they're probably right down the road..." So I ask what field they're in... Georgetown. That's right, I said Georgetown. It's the field the farthest away from us. It's like 1/2 hour one way when the others are like 10-15 minutes away. I got up & got dressed & grabbed the gps & was on my way.

Another charming thing about this field is that it's hella far off the road. It's basically a driveway that was added into a forest of trees & a creek.

I had to drive my car through the water. I wasn't real happy about it, but what else was I gonna do? Plus, it really wasn't THAT deep!

Brad was rinsing out jugs of chemicals & Brian came over & got the gps. Then he told me that he didn't care what he'd said about me in the past... I was "ok" & thanks for bringing it to him. So like any good sis-in-law, I flipped him off & told him you're welcome!

Then Brad decided that maybe I should wait because he wasn't sure if Brian would need his help anymore & that maybe I should take him back to the barn so he could spread fertiziler.

So, I waited...

And then Brad thought maybe we should drive over to where Brian was to see if he was ok because we hadn't seen him for a few minutes. THIS is the creek we would've had to drive my car over.

I put my foot down & said NO WAY! (He called him on his cell phone...)

P.S. Remember how I told ya stuff would break & drama would ensue?! Well, it's happened already! A guy we have help us changed the oil & filters in our Case tractor (the one in the pic on the top of the blog...). He didn't use the right wrench thingie or somethin' & he broke a stud inside the tractor. Now, I don't know what all that means, but Brad was pretty upset about it because he thought they were gonna have to tear the tractor apart to fix it. But we found out which parts they were & it's not gonna be TOO bad to fix. Now all that's left is to stop what they were doing & then fix it. (See how sometimes it seems nothing gets done?!)

Happy 10th anniversary to me!

I'm a couple months early, but in June, Brad & I will have been married 10 whole years! I'm not the sentimental or mooshy-gooshy type, so I will just say that it doesn't seem like its been that long. We were 23 & 22 (yeah, I'm 9 months older...) & now I look back & realize how YOUNG we were. So, I decided about a year or so ago that for my 10th anniversay I wanted to upgrade my wedding ring. It was gold (gold was ALL the rage back 11 years ago! LOL!) & I'm more into silver now & have mostly silver jewerly so I wanted white gold & of course bigger diamonds. I started saving my money to be able to pay for it. A little background-Brad & I have what I like to call "funny money". We each get to save a certain amount of money from each paycheck to spend on what we want. Brad spends his on whatever hobby he's into at the time & I like to stock pile mine so we have extra funds if the unexpected comes up. (or if I decide to buy a new ring!)

Now, I KNOW it was irresponsible to spend an un-Godly amount of money on a gorgeous diamond ring I didn't need. President Obama should be proud of me, I'm trying to single-handidly re-start the economy! But I saw the "S-A-L-E" sign & the "12 months same as cash" sign & they called to me. I'm ALL about 0% financing, so I came home w/ this! It's a 3-stone ring w/ a diamond anniversay band. Oh yeah, I went all out! The pictures aren't that good, but I HAD to blog about it!

This is the pic I took @ the store to email to my hubby to make sure it was ok w/ him! See, I was thinking of him too! He tried to put a guilt trip on me about trading in my 1st ring. First of all, we BOTH picked that one out AND I helped pay for it! (I'm kinda an independent chickie that way!) I told him that the bigger my ring was meant the bigger I loved him!

Fun at the farm

So maybe the title is a little misleading. The boys weren't REALLY having fun today. They were workin' their booties off on the sprayer. Brian bought $800 (gasp!) worth of hoses for it last week. I hope you, my faithful followers, don't mind farm pictures & banter. I promise it will get more interesting when they're running the machines. Stuff will break, tempers will flare & hopefully I'll be able to catch all the action!! That's pretty much our life for the next 3-4 months. Unless I throw myself on the floor & whine & cry...sometimes I can get Brad to do something with me!

Their parents have another load of engine stands from Brad's work to take to Jacksonville, FL. They are for the Navy. They are also taking my 3 nephews w/ them in the semi for spring break. Crazy? Sure. I told them to have fun & it was better them than me! :-)

Their dad, Stanley, was there today working on his truck. The wheel bearing went out...

So I'm not real sure why that requires him to have his whole body laying under the hood. It was funny, so I told him I was takin' his picture!

The kids showed up on their dirtbikes. So that's where the "fun" part comes in.

Brady (btw-the car to the right is the one I have my un-healthy obsession with!)

Cole

Derik