Halloween

Happy Halloween Everyone!
Luke and I went over to Hobbs this Friday for the Carlsbad vs. Hobbs football game with our friends Jacob and Mandy. It was nice to get out of Carlsbad for the night to have dinner and fun with friends. The temperature during the day has been in the high 80s, but dropped drastically at night.

All bundled up at the football game

Luke and I stayed in on Saturday to hand out candy and watch football. Here is our little neighbor Jack all dressed up as a tiger. Luke and I wanted to pin an AU on him!! So happy my Auburn Tigers pulled out another win. Luke and I already said IF we make it to the National Championship game this year in Arizona, we are driving over for sure! 

Guess what other season it is??? PECANS!! We have 5 trees that are going crazy. I already mailed my Gran two huge bags, and they continue to take over our yard. I love to decorate with pecans. Our neighbor also told us a place to sell them for great cash, so....I think I'll be selling some this year.

2 full bags I mailed off to Gran

They really are pretty!

I have them all around my candles in hurricane glasses

I like them filling up about anything!

 Hope you all have had a Happy Halloween! I've worked hard on our New Mexico scrap book all day. This blog has been a great help in terms of pictures and dates. All of you blog readers and not writers should consider starting a blog of our own!

The Not So Wild West

Our life out West is pretty tame, and far from wild these days. The garden is wrapping up because we didn't think to plant pumpkin (I can't believe we forgot to plant that). Here is a picture of some of our chilies that of course did rather well out here. Luke and I are still working on mastering the best technique in terms of cooking them. The locals all say to grill them, then immediately stick them in the freezer. Once cold the skin peels right off and they are ready for use. We have successfully mastered this once so far. It took a while for us to get it right! I have really embraced the green chilies and love the extra flavor. I like to eat them on everything--- which is good since they put them on everything out here. I made pigs in a blanket this Saturday for the game and added green chili for a New Mexican twist. They turned out awesome! So...if you can get fresh green chilies where you live...try it out in your next batch of pigs in a blanket; you won't be disappointed.

Finally our garden gave us some big juicy red tomatoes

The latest garden crop

Luke and I do love our neighbors out here. They are such sweet people. Bob and Mak live two doors down and are such a fun couple. Luke and Bob talk all things man together, and Mak is the sweetest lady who is willing enough to teach me all sorts of wonderful authentic New Mexican dishes (she even tones down the hot factor for my wuss self). Luke and Bob grilled brisket for an entire day a couple of weeks ago--it was amazing! I will say one of my favorite parts of being a New Mexican resident is the food. It's so unique, interesting, and delicious. Enough talk--enjoy the pics!

Luke and Bob grilling hard!

Luke with the brisket!

Shannon our other neighbor has given us so many wonderful things for helping with her house--here is an great chips and salsa bowl she got us. It's very heavy and way to nice for me to ever put food in. The card is a picture of where Luke and I have been hiking several times. 

Back Home

So…a lot has been going on lately, and it’s all in Georgia! Luke and I just returned home from a little over a week trip back to our home state. The week started off with my dear friend Callie’s wedding in Athens, GA on October 8th. She was a beautiful bride, with wonderful weather, and a great afternoon wedding. Here are some pictures of her wedding with all of the cute details and signage. I especially loved the fact I could wear my cowboy boots and sip on two of my favorite drinks (mimosas and Bellini’s).

The Chapel

Callie and Corey

So Pretty

The KISS

The Reception

The weather was perfect!

Callie's Flowers

After the wedding I headed back to Atlanta and joined up with my family to watch another heart-attack AU game. War Eagle by the way!!!

Sunday I headed down to meet up with Luke who went straight to his family farm on Friday after flying in. This is his first time back in Georgia since we moved, so he was very anxious to hang out with his family and get to the farm. The barn just recently received the certificate of occupancy and looks great. It’s not 100% yet, but Luke and I got to chip in and get the barn a step closer. Luke built work benches, hunted, fished, and enjoyed himself to the fullest. I painted this barn door all week (yes it really took me that long—it required 4 coats of paint and was super tricky), painted cabinets, fished, and 4-wheeled to my hearts content. Friday was really a high-light! My whole family (except my brother Pat-who is in MBA classes) showed up to hang out and have fun at the Dorman farm with all of Luke’s family. The little girls got to feed the horses (a little scary experience for a second when I realized we only had two carrots for four horses), ride the 4-wheelers where they surprised me by yelling at me to go faster, and even went fishing for the first time. The Dorman’s hired a professional square dance caller, and we had a blast dancing the night away. I really do LOVE square dancing!!! Here are some pictures of the 1^st official (probably going to become an annual event) Dorman Family Barn Dance and Dinner.

Stacie and my cute nieces 

My Parents all decked out for the dance--they did have some awesome hats that I didn't capture here!

I can’t believe the week flew by like it did. Before I knew it we were packed up and heading back to Athens, GA for our second wedding in back to back weekends in Athens. This wedding was for Erin Dunn (now Erin Morris) a childhood friend. Jenna and I were best friends growing up with Erin and her sister Allyson who were the same ages as us, and lived roughly three doors down. She was a beautiful bride (she has been breath-taking her whole life), and the wedding was so perfect. Jenna and I were saying that the Dunn girls are the people in our life --that even if we haven’t seen them in a while, we can always pick up talking about all of crazy childhood memories we have.

My Hot Date

Did you notice the common barn/farm theme I had going on this trip?!

The four of us back together again! Team Disney/Perry Camp/Jessica Mona traps, etc...

Sadly, our trip did come to an end and we flew out of Atlanta Sunday afternoon. I really don’t think people realize that in order for us to get to and from basically anywhere…it takes the same amount of time…sometimes longer….than flying to Europe!!!!!!!!! That’s crazy right!! We left at 11:45 AM ATL time and didn’t arrive at our house until 9PM ATL time. So…today we are both dragging a bit (I think Luke is sick) and playing the catch up game at work (is it sad that I am completely caught up after this one day)?? Thank you everyone who was a part of our busy week and helped get us to all of these various places without us having to rent a car. We are truly blessed with great families and friends!