Kristen (great name by the way) is such a great girl! Seriously, she is not only beautiful, but smart and funny!  I mean, what else could you ask for! ?  I have known Kristen for years! She grew up in the Chicago area and her 8th grade year, her family moved to Central Illinois (where I lived).  Our friendship didn’t come until 9th grade.  We met in church.  We both could not find the High School  Sunday school class.  Kristen, you know, the one where our Sunday school teacher brought donuts in every morning but we would never eat because their were way too many calories (or maybe that was just me..haha). Our friendship started in church, and of course grew outside of Church. Even though our lives have taken us in completely different directions (her city, me country), we still have this friendship that is amazingly comfortable and non judgemental.  

Chris and I decided yesterday afternoon that we wanted a good, home cooked meal…on the fire. Yes, it was like 90 degrees yesterday and we were cooking on the fire with sweat dripping down our faces and all. But let me tell you, there is nothing like burning wood that you cut (okay, it was Chris that cut it all) and watching the heat cook your food! Little Bobby hung out with us as well and ran around playing with sticks (mulch) and watched the fire from the bench. What was on the menu? Fresh mushrooms, baked potatoes, and deer tenderloins.  Of course we were so hot from cooking that we went into the house to eat it! :) 

We had a Hog Roast this past weekend with some great friends and family for Chris’s Birthday! It was so nice to get everyone together!  Chris got up around 4am to meet his friend, Scott, in our field to get the Hog cooking! While Scott and Chris hung out in the field all day, “men” came in and out to “see how the hog was doing” aka…man time! :) 

 You all may remember Melissa and Shawn from their wedding last month! They, along with her parents, came from over 4 hours away just to wish Chris a happy birthday! To think that we didn’t even know them 6 months ago…..Oh, and you can see the crowd of friends that came!  We are blessed!

All of the yummy sides everyone brought!  There were still 2 more tables covered in food!  Oh, and the HOG…..yummy!!

Autumn Olive Photography was Business of the week at Mountain 1st Bank and Trust last week! PS. I have nothing but praise to say for the staff at the Marion Branch! Not only are they very friendly, but you can also leave with an ice cream sandwich and slurpee (no joke)!!  

A lot had happened last week and when the weekend came, all we wanted to do was hang out around the house, in the comfort of our home, with each other (this is my perspective of course..haha).  It seems that sometimes we are so busy that we don’t get time to get caught up around the place.  And even though we might be working around the land/house separately, just knowing we are close by and working toward the same goal is such a great feeling in my heart. Our weekend in a nutshell…slept at the lake in our sleeping bags,mowed, mulched, planted new trees, washed decks, drove around to see the farms,I learned stick shift, hiked, ice cream (I mean we had to fill our bellies after the hike ) and finally late Sunday afternoon nap time!  Yes, it was a great time even though it was busy. Now off to pack for IL! 

Some images from the weekend with our little point and shoot camera!