And the winner is...

Today, Ryan and Blake (his brother) entered a fishing tournament at the "lake" in our neighborhood (it seems more like a big pond to me, but they claim it's at least a 60-acre lake). This was their first tournament ever and a grand total of 5 boats entered...and Ryan and Blake won! The jackpot was a cool $100 and, of course, a freezer full of fish.



Here are the happy winners with their wad of cash:

...and the fish soon to be in my freezer...

In other news, Ryan has developed a staph infection over the past few days. So, this gives me an opportunity to document his condition and use it as a teaching moment. Before you go asking, "Where/How did he get it??" here's the answer in a nutshell: We all have the staph bacteria on our skin. Yes, even you. All it needs is an opportunity to get into the skin to cause a nasty infection. In Ryan's case, he has atopic dermatitis (eczema) which often leads to dry, itchy skin with teeny tiny cracks that allow bugs to get in. Plus he had a horrible reaction to some pine straw that he was spreading (doing a landscaping job) a week or so ago, which caused a type of contact dermatitis (very itchy, bumpy rash). This created double the opportunity for the bugs to get in. Here is what his arm (right forearm) looks like today:

I'll keep you posted on his treatment/recovery.

-Melissa

Rainy Days...and the job hunt continues

We have had more than our share of rainy days lately. Memorial Weekend was a wet one. It turned out I had to work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so at least we didn't have any exciting outdoor plans, so it wasn't as disappointing as it could have been.

Ryan has been helping out an old customer with landscaping jobs here and there, but is otherwise still out of work. All the rain has put a hold on most of the landscaping opportunities as well. At least he has been able to get a few days of work each week and is getting geared up to try to start school again this fall. Once he finishes the application process and gets set up with an advisor, hopefully we'll find out how long it will take to finish his degree. Hopefully, he hasn't been out of school long enough to start losing credit for the classes he has already taken.

I am still job searching as well. I have an interview in Mtn. Home, AR (my hometown) on June 4th. I am excited about the possibility of being near my family again and living in Mtn. Home, but with Ryan possibly staying here for school, we will have some big decisions to make if I am offered the job. I am still searching for jobs in the Birmingham area as well. There aren't many opportunities, but I do have a couple potentials.

Melissa

Anniversary Trip

As promised, here is a summary of the events from our anniversary trip to Gulf Shores. It was so great to finally get to go after not being there since our wedding! I just got my computer back last night, it is working great, and I didn't have to lose any of my files...thank you Justin (he saved my computer)!

First of all, anyone who knows Shakes Frozen Custard will know how excited I was to find a brand new location within WALKING DISTANCE from the condo!! Okay, so it's about a mile away, but we did walk there and it almost makes you not feel as bad for treating yourself to the famous Bopper (caramel, hot fudge, pecans, and a cherry on top)...thankfully there is a mini- sized version of this sunday, so I didn't go too overboard ;).

On Saturday (May 2nd...the night before our anniversary), we went to check out the house where we got married, and sure enough, there was a wedding in process! So we tried to take some pictures at the entrance to the subdivision, and we were attacked by flies...the biting kind! So this is all we got...

Back at the condo...much better:

I have to say, the cake was just as good as it was a year ago! Delicious! Here is a picture of us with the groom cake top. We ate some of it in Gulf Shores, but we didn't eat the other one until we were back at home on the night of our actual anniversary.

We did some fishing on the peer. The little fish were biting like crazy. Soon enough we noticed someone was on to us...This bird came right up to us wanting our fish!! We finally surrendered one out of fear of being attacked! You can kind of see it in his mouth here as he is turning to fly away.

Ahh..relaxing in the sunset...



What would a trip to Gulf Shores be without a night at LuLu's. Here we are after dinner.

Ryan and Bobby took the Kayaks out to the beach. Here they are crossing over to the lagoon to head back to the condo.

We had a great time and wish we could have stayed longer. Hopefully we'll make it back before another year passes!

-Melissa