Deric and I have been working really hard on the house. We have it just about finished up! It only took us over a year to get it how we want it! I thought I would just post a few pictures so our family and friends back home could see our home! We look froward to any visitors that might want to come!! Our door is always open!

"Our Peeps"

So my friend Valarie wants to be really cool and be up on our blog. So I have created this whole blog just for her!

"How I met Valarie"
When I had started my new job at the salon I was pretty slow at first... didn't have to many clients. Well one day I was sitting around in the salon when these girls walked in. The one was wearing a hat... she had a good reason to. Her hair was a mess! She had colored it at home and it was really red. The girl in the hat is Valarie. So I told what I could do for her hair.... which I worked wonders on.... I think. Val had kept coming to me every time she needed her hair done. Well through time we had just gotten closer as friends. I mean I am a pretty cool person I can see why she wanted to hang out with me. :) We had such a good time when she was in my chair! Since then we have became such great friends. She just got married in September and just bought a house. We do a lot on the weekends together with our husbands.
After we got Birdie, Val and Spencer bought a house so they wanted a dog too. Valarie spent a lot of time talking Spencer into it, but he finally gave in and they got Mallie... who is super cute.(Check out her picture) Well Mallie and our dogs quickly became friends. A few weeks after Christmas Valarie heard there was a young lab looking for a great home. Spencer and Valarie had just moved and weren't all the way settled in their new home yet. Spencer was not ready for a new dog.. but Valarie got her way and they brought Gracie home. Now we have play dates with our kids! They all get along and are so happy to see each other. Grace is so good with all the small dogs, she just lets them crawl and bite her. Although when it comes to her bones... she doesn't like to share. When she growls it sounds like she is a cow! It is so funny. She is six times the size of the other three!
Every time we get together as couples we like the dogs to hang out too so they don't get bored at home. Here are some pictures of the last time we got together. These were taken at Valarie and Spencer's house a few weeks ago, Enjoy!
Oh by the way Val! LOVE YA MY BFF ARKANSAS













This is sweet Mallie May



Us trying to get a good picture!


And sweet Grace!

Christmas Time Pictures

Here are some pictures that we took when we were home. We didn't take that many pictures we took more video this year. I really need to get better at taking more pictures now that I think about it!
~ Amanda

Happy New Year!

So I am a little late on posting up a Happy New Year blog! So HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! This year we brought in the new year at home with friends. We just got back to our house on the 30th so we just had a little get together. We had about 4 other couples that came over to celebrate. We ate lots of food and played some games. It was a fun time. You can see Divot was having a wonderful time at the party too... even got him to wear the party hat!:)

We had a wonderful trip home for Christmas. While we were there we renamed CoCo.... her new name is Birdie. We wanted to keep the golf theme going. She responded to her new name quickly. It was so good to see everyone again. I got to spend a lot of time with the girlfriends, and Deric and I visited with Justin. The best time was being able to spend so much time with the kids. They are getting so big it is crazy how they grow so much in just a few months. Nikhol and Nate were so happy to see us and the dogs. They have really missed Deric. My nephews are also getting bigger and their family is getting growing too. Kimmy ( my sister-in-law) is due any day with the 4th baby.... ITS A GIRL FINALLY! I was so happy she will be having the baby around the first or second week in February. Also when we were home my sister got engaged and she will be getting married this summer. They have set the date for July 26th. So we will be making a long trip home for that. The trip home was an easy ride in the car with the dogs. It took us about 12 hours to get home back to Arkansas. We had a wonderful time home but it is always nice to get back to our place.

Happy Holidays

It has been a little while since I have written, so I thought I would take some time today to blog. First off, you are probably wondering if we got another dog. No, we did not. I just thought I would put up a picture of this little guy cause we have been dog-sitting him for the last week. Our neighbor got him a couple weeks ago, but she had to go to Orlando for surgery, so we have been watching him while they are gone. He is a Maltese puppy, about 10 weeks old now. You can't really tell by this picture, but he is tiny. He probably weighs about a pound, if that. He and Divot are best friends. They run around and play all the time. It worries me a little bit because Divot is about 15 times his weight, but so far the little guy has proven to be pretty tough. We will only have him a couple more days, then he will be able to go back home. Coco will be really happy when he leaves. He is a little bit too wild for her.
It is just one more week until we will be heading home for Christmas. We are going to leave early next Sunday morning and make the 12 hour drive home. We will be home the entire week of Christmas, then we will probably be heading back to Arkansas that next Sunday. At work I only get Christmas day off so I will have to use 4 vacation days. I will have to go back to work that next Monday, then I will get another vacation day on Tuesday. We are really looking forward to coming home for the week. It will be nice to spend time with family. It is probably going to be a little bit colder up there, but I am kinda looking forward to it. Hopefully there will be some snow. The weather here has been pretty miserable for the last week or so. For the last 5 days it has been raining almost constantly. It has stayed warm enough so it doesn't freeze. Today it has been raining all morning, but I notice that it finally turned to snow just a little while ago. The ground is actually almost covered with really wet snow, but it won't be around for very long. I am sure it will all be gone by tomorrow. Snow doen't usually stick around for very long around here. The bad weather has given me plenty of time to spend with my big Christmas present. A few weeks ago I finally broke down and bought a new TV. We were still using the one that I had in my dorm room at college. We got a Samsung 42" Plasma TV. It is awesome. We bought an HD antenna at the store so we get all the local channels in high definition. Who would have thought that an over-the-air broadcast could be clearer that what a DVD is? We also got a great deal on it. I have been shopping around for TV's for over a year now, and I just always kept waiting because they kept getting cheaper and cheaper. Last year I almost bought a 32" flat screen from Sam's Club, but I am glad I waited. We got this 42" TV for over $300 less than what I would have paid for that one a year ago. We also got a free DVD recorder with the TV. So far I am really happy with it. I did a lot of research, and read a lot of reviews online, so I pretty much knew what I was getting. I think all of that waiting and deliberating was well worth it.
A couple months ago I made another purchase that has turned into my new hobby. I got a .22 Ruger Pistol and a membership to an indoor shooting range. I have been going there almost every weekend. .22 rounds are pretty cheap so I don't have to spend a lot of money every week on ammo.
I haven't ridden my bike very much since it has gotten cold. I have had it on the trainer a few times, but that isn't very much fun. I would rather freeze outside that have to ride on the trainer.
Well, I hope everybody is having a great time getting ready for Christmas, I know we are. We wish you all a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank you to everybody who has commented on our blog, or sent me an email. It is nice to hear from you.

-Deric

Coco and Divot are all ready for Christmas. Coco is ready to help Santa this year while Divot looks a little too preoccupied to do anything!
Merry Christmas Everyone!

Our new dog!

Well we got a new puppy! Her name is Coco and she is such a good little girl. We bought her from one of the girls I work with at the salon. We dog-sat her while her old owners were out of town for Thanksgiving. A few months they wanted to sell her. When Deric and I had her for that week we just knew we had to have her. Div and Coco are getting along pretty well. They are the same breed but she is about half the size of Divot. She is a little scared when Divot comes running after her. He is huge compared to her, I would be scared too! :) It is going to be crazy with 2 dogs but for some reason it just feels right.