The Hickles

.............. An update (in case anyone still reads this blog)

2010-10-02T21:28:00.004-05:00

Well, I found myself with some time tonight & thought, hey! Why don't I blog a bit?! Since it's only been, what...? Like a year or something!!!! :-) I really should be doing my Beth Moore study that I'm waaaaaaay behind on, but oh well. I'll get to that next.

So!! A whole lot of "much" has happened since I last blogged. Jeff graduated college! (yay) We went to Aruba to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary & his graduation. He got a job at CH2M Hill. I got a new job at Saatchi & SaatchiX. We bought a house. Can we say BIG STUFF going on in Hickleland. No babies on the way yet though (whew). Gotta get thru some of these other life changing events before we cross that path. We are just SOOOOOOO amazingly blessed! God is good.

Jeff really likes his job. He stays super busy. He is a special projects coordinator for CH2M Hill - a huge engineering firm. It's only a year contract, but we are PRAYING they hire him on full time after a year. Or if not them, then some other engineering company here in NWA. We really hope to stay in this area! (obviously, since we just bought a house).

Yesterday marked the last day of my first week on MY new job!! I'm the HR Coordinator for Saatchi & SaatchiX (pronounced sot-chi)- a global advertising company headquartered here in NWA. I think I'm going to like it once I learn the ropes, but man what an overwhelming week! I am responsible for 200+ employees (insurance, benefits, etc). The job comes with a LOT of responsibility but also a lot of perks, so I'm really excited!! For example, we get 3 days off at Thanksgiving (paid) and we close Christmas eve & remain closed thru New Years (paid). Wahoo!!! LOTS OF PAID HOLIDAY TIME! And I think I'm gonna need it...lol

Ok, moving on to the house!!!!!!! Wow, I'm so excited about it! We have it inspected Wednesday, so pray everything goes well for us!! It's an all brick home, 4 bedroom, 2 bath, wood burning fireplace, jacuzzi tub in the master bath, large open kitchen & living room, hardwood floors, great deck out back. I'M SOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!! This is definitely the nicest house I've ever lived in!!! If all goes well, we should close on Nov. 5th. And we're taking volunteers to help us move!!! ;-) hee hee

So that's our life lately.......in a nutshell...........and now I leave you w/ a pic of the new house! :)

..........................Ali's first camping trip!

2010-04-26T19:01:00.008-05:00

Jeff and I have been dying to get out and go camping! This weekend was going to be one of our only chances to go this spring, so we jumped on it. Our goal, was to camp Friday night, hike to Tea Kettle Falls Saturday, camp Saturday night and then hang around the creek for a while on Sunday before heading home. Well, the rain kind of messed up those plans, but we still managed to have a good time. Friday night was pretty terrible, I will say. We got there late so we were late in setting up camp and late in getting dinner started. Since we were racing to beat the rain, Jeff put the finishing details on the camper set up while I started dinner. I got all the potatoes peeled & went to light my dad's little camp stove (we borrowed), but it wouldn't come on. We finally figured out it was broken! And this was our only means of food for the weekend, let me add. So we made a trip 30 miles into the closest town hoping we could buy a replacement for the part that was broken. NOPE!! Well, we asked them if they could call Springdale to see if they had the part. They made the call and told us that they DID have it there. YAY! So we drove another 30 miles back to Springdale, grabbed dinner (since it's 9:00 by this time), only we find out that they did NOT have the part we needed either! So it was literally like midnight before we got back to camp and in bed for the night. BOO! Then, of course it stormed on us most of the night, so we did not get much sleep. Saturday it rained almost all day, so we just kind of drove around and did a little exploring. Saturday evening we cooked dinner on our replacement stove that we stopped by our house & grabbed. I was so glad I brought a game with us b/c this was our entertainment Sat. evening while the flood gates were opened and the rain came pouring down! We did manage a small hike on Saturday during a tiny break in the rain - just trail blazing thru the woods around camp, but nothing like what we thought we'd do. I will say it was a beautiful area tho!

Here's a few pictures of our trip. We finally made it to Tea Kettle Falls on Sunday. Such an amazing place!!

Ali is ready to go hiking w/ her adventure bandana on!

She was a wet little dog all weekend

A plant had grown thru this dead oak leaf.
Home sweet home (so glad we were not in a tent!)
Jeff's snake

Little family

Tea Kettle Falls from below. This area is just so beautiful! I love seeing God's majesty in places like this. The hike there was just gorgeous.
The look from on top
Ali was tuckered out after our hike. I think it was like 2 miles there & back and she treated the trail like an obstacle course just running all over the place like a mad woman. It's extremely entertaining to watch her on the trail...jumping over trees, and diving under branches, looping around anything & everything. Hysterical! She really wears herself out!

Sunday on our way home. She did not hardly move for the next 24 hours! LOL!

.............Hiking trip

2010-04-11T15:15:00.009-05:00

Jeff was 'studying' Saturday (he actually ended up passing out all afternoon), so Ali and I went to Spirit's creek with my dad. We had a great time...the dog absolutely loves being outside!! The forest was pretty charred from a controlled burn the previous week, so we were hiking through ash. Ali was a wet, black, muddy mess by the time we got done. She went straight into the tub as soon as we walked in the door at 10 pm! It was a long afternoon, but we had fun. Here are a few pictures:

Here you can see how black the woods were from being burnt

This was a really neat rock

She loves the water!

Beautiful!!
The more wet Ali got, the more the ash turned her black. So gross!

My dad the photographer

He took a shot of us

This is me hand feeding Ali her dinner. She gets so excited on the trail that it's the only way she will eat. Can you say spoiled???

Conked out! (before we even got there, though...lol!)

................U of A Banquet

2010-04-11T15:05:00.003-05:00

Jeff and I went to the U of A banquet at the Clarion Inn on Friday. I still can't really tell you what it was for, exactly, but it was fun! We got dressed up and ate some GREAT food! The buffet was yummy and the dessert bar even better! I didn't get many pictures, but I'll post what I have.

Us at dinner

This is Jeff accepting his "hockey puck". All the graduating seniors get a plastic paper weight that has their name engraved on it along with the Engineering department hog.

...........................Ali's first hike!

2010-03-16T21:42:00.005-05:00

I'm way behind on this post, but we took Ali hiking several weeks ago. I truly believe that this dog was BORN to HIKE!! In fact, I would love to get her a doggie T-shirt that says it...LOL! She absolutely LOVED it. It was hilarious - she was so excited that she would run way ahead of us on the trial, then circle back & run back to us. Then she'd do it again and again...she was just having so much fun. Quite entertaining!

Starting on the trail

Pretty water!

Family pic :-)
Ali loves the water. Has no problem crossing creeks or getting her feet (and body) wet. Which is good because Jeff and I spend a LOT of time in the water during the summer!

We stopped at Shores lake on our way home. It was sooo pretty!!

Crossing the dam

Tuckered out after a long day

........................New pics and The Doggie Palace

2010-02-21T21:02:00.007-06:00

Here are some recent Ali pictures! She is really GROWING! She is getting taller, heavier, and stronger every day it seems. We really enjoy having her around. I especially enjoy it when Jeff is at school late & I'm home alone!

Firs pic - sleeping on Jeff. She is very much a lap baby! Always has to be near you or on you. She gets severe separation anxiety. It's a little ridiculous.

Loving her new blanket!

Ali & Jeff runnin in the backyard. We were all so excited to have a warm sunny day on Saturday!!

She'll be too big to hold before too long! (notice my hair cut? It's short!)

Jeff worked so hard on building Ali's dog house. It is most definitely the coolest dog house in NWA! It is insulated, weather proofed, and extra large to allow plenty of room for her to grow. Here are a few pics

Ali helped supervise...

Insulated walls
The finished product...

I chose the colors and painted her name and the dog house (well, most of it, but the trim). I went with chocolate brown & hot pink... it's a little silly, I know!! But I wanted it to be fun and girlie. I never splurged on cute, fun stuff with Nikita because I wasn't sure how long she would live (which is also silly). So I'm assuming Ali will be around many many years & we're going all out! LOL!

The door actually opens wider for the warm summer days when she needs a little more air circulation.

............................SEW EXCITED!!!

2010-02-06T19:18:00.007-06:00

Well I finally got my sewing machine out of the box!!!!!! I got it two years ago for Christmas and truly had the best of intentions on learning how to sew. However, it was put into a closet never to see the light of day. TILL NOW!!! I thought what a better way to practice sewing than to make a dog blanket?! I mean, no one is really going to see it (meaning mistakes are ok!) and it gives me something simple to start out with. 'Sew'...I did it (lol)

I present to you my first sewing project!!! I am so excited about how it turned out!!

The materials:
Cotton on one side & fleece on the other

I wanted something girly & I chose something w/ chocolate brown & pink to match her dog house (those pictures coming soon)

The Process:

Once I got the hang of the machine, it was really easy. I searched for ideas online and ended up going with this pattern. I discovered that I really enjoyed sewing and I definitely hope to keep it up!

And now.......

The finished product!!!!!!!!

Again, I have to say I am so excited with how it turned out!!! I made a couple of mistakes, but thankfully, my stepmom (who is an excellent seamstress) was there to help me out!! I could not have done it without her. She taught me how to get the machine threaded & guided me thru the whole blanket. I don't know what my next project will be yet, but I definitely want to keep going before I forget everything I learned today!! HA!!

.................Old old house

2010-02-02T10:23:00.008-06:00

With all the snow we got this weekend, my dad decided to get out & take some pictures. We got about 7 inches or so & it was truly beautiful! (even for this girl who hates the cold) Well, there is an extremely old colonial home tucked way back in the brush here in Fayetteville. The homestead includes a barn, a spring house, a couple of sheds, and a smoke house out back. It is in horrible condition & on private property, so we had to get special permission to go there. Of course, I love old abandoned houses, so this was so exciting for me! It's amazing that this house is right in the middle of Fayetteville, yet I never knew about it till my dad took me there! Apparently, it was featured in the movie/mini series "The Blue and the Gray", but now is all boarded up and completely shut off from the world. We tried to get inside, but the owners have sealed it pretty good. There is no getting in, but there is 1 window we could peek in. Man, i would love to know the stories behind these walls!! Here are a couple of pictures:

................................ A funny Ali story

2010-01-27T08:49:00.002-06:00

This morning I woke up to Ali whining across the room (she sleeps in our room at night). Jeff was already up and downstairs & the bedroom door was open, so I couldn't figure out why she was whining so much or why she wasn't downstairs with him. I wanted to go back to sleep so I told her to hush several times. Well, she just continued whining & crying like crazy, so I finally told her to come over to me & I would pet her. She would not come. I kept calling her over to me & she kept whining louder and louder. Finally (since I was wide awake by now), I got out of bed & walked over to see what her problem was. Well........she had gotten her head caught thru my bra strap hanging on the laundry hamper and was stuck to it!!!!!! She tried to come to me when I got closer to her, but the strap just pulled her back down. Needless to say, it was pretty hysterical!! She is such a mess :-)

............Meet little Ali!!

2010-01-22T21:44:00.005-06:00

Big news! Jeff and I just got a new puppy! She is a 14 week old Australian Shepherd, and we love her!

Her name is Alibama Blue - we call her Ali. Alibama because she is from Alabama, and Blue because she has blue eyes and we were told she's a Blue Merle Aussie. One of my drivers got her while traveling thru Alabama, but they quickly realized that an Australian Shepherd is NOT a dog you can keep cooped up on an 18-wheeler! So after a bit of a trial run, Jeff and I decided we would keep her. We've been talking about the possibility of getting a dog for a while now - an outside dog that we can take hiking and camping and canoeing etc.

So far, she has been a great dog. She loves to run & play...like most puppies do...and she is quickly learning many new commands! But one thing I've learned with puppies though, is repetition is key. Don't just assume they have it just because they get it right a few times! You have to go over stuff again and again.

Last night she chewed up one of my favorite pairs of shoes when we left her in the house alone for about an hour. Well, you better believe that she is getting a crate on Monday!!!! I was pretty upset, but looking on the bright side I told myself at least it wasn't my furniture. :-) Jeff is working on building her a dog house this weekend. I think it's going to be pretty sharp!! I will post pictures when it's all done. She and jeff truly are best buds. She has been going to school with him almost every day. He takes her to campus & leaves her in his office while in class. She does pretty good, but of course we can't keep it up forever!

Jeff also baked her some homemade dog treats the other day!! She LOVES them!

.....................Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-30T11:38:00.006-06:00

What's this?! Blogging???? ME?? I know I know!! Long lost Hickles - right?! SORRY YA'LL!! Jeff and I are still alive & kickin! Work has been very crazy lately - 3 people (2 part-timers) gone in the last 6 months & no has been replaced yet. And since our home computer is not good for uploading pictures, the blog has just been neglected. So enjoy this post cuz I don't know when I'll get a chance to update again!! ;)

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! Jeff and I are just so amazingly blessed I can't even thank God enough. Here are a few pictures from the day:

Hooray!!!! I got my Chrissa doll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I'm such a kid at heart)

She's so cute ... i heart her

Jeff cashed in on the Cosby show DVDs!

We had a white Christmas this year. I think the last one we had was in '02. I of course hate snow & anything else that is cold, so you won't catch this scrooge out there in it. I stayed warm indoors while Jeff loaded the car!!

Silly cuzin Joshua.

My first turkey!!!!!! It turned out sooooooo yummy!!!!!!! And beautiful!! I'm not doing one ever again tho - those things are nasty when you have to pull out the neck & stuff. EWE!!

Jeff carving our turkey.

Jagger Levi's first Christmas!!!!!! Sweet lil Santa baby...

He loves his new bumbo that he got for Christmas!!!

Family pic
Feeding Jagger booger. This boy likes to eat!

My sisser, niece Tarah & nephew Foster

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!!!!!!!!

.......................Ratatouille

2009-12-01T09:51:00.003-06:00

Several weeks ago, I made homemade Ratatouille. Well - a version of it anyway! I don't think anyone knows exactly what the original French recipe was anymore. It turned out so good, I thought I would share some pictures of it. If you would like the recipe, let me know & I will e-mail it to you. I have it in PDF format, so I can't put it on the blog. This is a great summer dish because it uses a lot of fresh veggies. It's a versatile dish...you can serve it over rice, pasta, chicken, as a side by itself, etc. I of course served it over pasta (I'm a pastaholic). It was so YUMMY!!!

.......................Happy Bday cuz!!

2009-11-11T12:33:00.002-06:00

My cousin Casey celebrated her 30th birthday on Saturday!! Since her hubby was in Texas, she threw a girls only pajama party! Everyone brought an appetizer and wore their favorite PJ's while we ate & played games and enjoyed plenty of girl talk!! It was a blast. Rebecca Townsend - we played the Scene It 80s edition and I TOTALLY needed you on my team!!!!! LOL!!

Some pictures from the party:

My beautiful cousin & her precious little Jagger

This is us playing Scene It. It was SO hard!!!

Sweet smiles

My mom holding Jagger

And me holding Jagger!

The highlight of the party, by far, was Karaoke!!!! We were mostly entertained by Casey, but several got up there & performed. NOT ME, mind you!!! Thanks for letting me post a video cuz - you're a great sport!! :-) And now for your viewing pleasure....Casey & April "Boot Scoot & Boogie"!!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

...............................War Eagle Cave

2009-11-09T09:48:00.004-06:00

A couple of Saturdays ago, Jeff and I took advantage of a BEAUTIFUL fall day and went for a little hike to War Eagle cave. It seems like lately, our weekends have been spent doing housework & homework, so we are very thankful for any small opportunity to break away & enjoy the wonderful sunshine!! Which - btw - we have had plenty of last week here in NWA!! YAY! Praise the Lord for beautiful fall weather!!!!!

I came prepared to do some all out spelunking, but the cave really did not go back very far. It was just one HUGE magnificent room with a rather large creek running through it. I've never seen a creek running through a cave...it was cool!!! And it was so neat to see all the dripping water & beautiful cave formations. I wish I could have got them all on camera, but pictures don't turn out too well in the pitch black!

Here are some pictures of our outing...

The cave entrance

The creek running thru the cave

These were kinda blurry, but I was trying to get a picture of the huge room we were in. This is at the entrance looking in.

...........................Saying Goodbye

2009-11-02T12:29:00.003-06:00

Well, the time has come for Jeff's mom to officially move to Florida :( .... Sniffle.....tear!!!!! She's been here for almost a year by herself while Jeff's step dad has been working in FL. I must say, I completely admire her ability to do it. I would have jumped ship a LOOOOOOOONG time ago!!! (and by that I mean move down there with him..not 'leave him') It's really so sad that they are moving away from Arkansas. I know a lot of people don't get along with their in-laws & this would be a dream come true for some, but I truly LOVE Jeff's parents and I utterly hate seeing them go. In fact, I can't blog too much about it or I'll probably break down into sobfest 2009!!!!

We took pizza out to their house last week to spend one more evening with them before they left. It was so weird seeing all the boxes & emptiness!!! We love you guys so much will miss you sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

Eating on camping chairs b/c all the furniture was in the moving truck!! :(

Please please pray that their house will sell quickly. I know that God has his own time frame in mind, and we can't always see the bigger picture - but they are getting to the point where they really really need this house to sell. So please say a prayer on their behalf! Thanks!!

...............................Fall Fun

2009-11-02T11:53:00.005-06:00

We've had a beautiful fall here in NWA!! The maple trees are just gorgeous...I especially LOVE the red ones!!! Perhaps the rain has made things more brightly colored this year? I don't know - but I love it!! I will admit, however, that it is hard for me to enjoy fall because I know the next season that lies ahead....WINTER - YUCK!!!

We joined my dad at War Eagle Creek last weekend for a picture taking outing. He's been hired by The Beaver Water District to photograph certain creeks & rivers that they are going to display in their new building. To get a good shot, he climbed on top of the Xterra while Jeff drove him in the middle of the creek. We were on a bridge, but the water was rushing over it quite rapidly (my Civic would not have made it). Oh the lengths a photographer will go!!! ...

I got a couple too, while sitting in the passenger seat. Too bad I didn't get any of the low-water bridge we were on!

Stuffed Peppers

2009-10-21T12:49:00.004-05:00

We had a lot of green bell peppers turn ripe all at once in our garden, so I thought I would try making "stuffed peppers". I had never had a stuffed pepper & there are a TON of recipes online, but I thought this one looked really yummy and really simple. It turned out GREAT so I wanted to share it with ya'll! Let me know if you make it & like it :0)

STUFFED BELL PEPPERS
5 bell peppers
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 pkg. stuffing mix (any flavor, bread crumb or rice)
2 c. grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut off top of peppers and clean out centers. Fill a saucepan 1/2 full of water and bring to a boil. Place pepper in boiling water. Return to boiling, reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes (I would omit this step next time and just bake them. They get too soft by boiling first).
In a skillet brown 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef and drain.
In a saucepan prepare stuffing mix as directed on package. Combine prepared stuffing with ground beef; add 1 cup cheddar cheese and mix.
Remove peppers from water and drain. Place in a deep baking dish so that peppers stand on end. Fill peppers with ground beef, stuffing and cheese mixture. Top with remaining 1 cup of cheddar cheese. Place in oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Variation: Use 1 can tomato sauce and seasons with parsley and garlic salt instead of adding the cheddar cheese.

..........................................CAMPING!

2009-10-12T12:55:00.007-05:00

Jeff and I braved the cold wet weather this weekend and went camping at the Buffalo river!! We stayed at Steel Creek and hiked to Hemmed-In Hollow on Saturday. If you have never been there, let me just warn you the trail is STEEP and extremely STRENUOUS!!! It's 2.5 miles straight down and 2.5 miles straight back up...5 miles round trip. The falls are beautiful, but my knees hurt so stinkin bad by the time we got down there, I couldn't hardly enjoy the beauty. Man, did I feel old! But I'm so glad Jeff encouraged me to keep truckin, because it really was a great hike. It was cold this weekend, but Jeff packed plenty of firewood & kept us nice & warm. Hobos for dinner on Saturday = YUMMY!!!

Me before we hit the trail...(I had no idea what I was in for!)

This is the Hemmed-In falls. So pretty!! I think the tallest in Arkansas.

There were so many pretty waterfalls on this trail. The rain really had things gushing!!

VICTORY!!!! We made it!!!! Notice my hat & scarf? It was FREEZING!!!!

The river itself

Our campsite - gotta love those bluffs!

Cute little tree frog we found on the trail. It just amazes me how God masterfully designs things. You could not see this little guy unless he moved b/c he blended in perfectly with his surroundings.

Green tree snake (surprised he was out on such a chilly day)

ELK!!! The elk were very close to the fence this time, which was awesome! I didn't get too many pictures though, because my batteries died. But if you look closely in this picture, you can see 2 huge males in the background. They went head to head in a fight over the females and we got a front row seat!!! It was pretty cool to see. We didn't stay to the end to see who won though.

A spring roaring up from the ground

A crooked old cabin we passed while exploring the area

On our way home, we ate at the Jasper cafe - always a favorite!! Then we came home & crashed! Movie + Pizza = R&R!! So thankful for a great & safe weekend!!!

Help!

2009-10-05T21:16:00.003-05:00

Does anybody know how I can get the darn "Cutest Blog on the Block" logo off my title??? I don't mind it on the side of the page or something, but I don't know how to move it. Grrr

TICKS!!

2009-09-28T11:54:00.000-05:00

Jeff and I had a very busy weekend, but we did manage to have a little bit of fun Sunday when we went on a 4 wheeler ride! Oh how I just love exploring on the 4 wheeler. You can cover so much more ground than you can on foot. The weather was beautiful, the rain had all the plants so lush and green – it was just a FABULOUS day to be outside. However, in keeping with Hickle tradition, the ride was not all bliss. Here’s how things went down…

A little over an hour in to our ride, we stopped at an old old campsite to walk around & explore a little bit. We didn’t find much – just an old rock wall that was partly collapsing so we got back on the 4 wheeler & continued down the trail. Well, another hour down the road, we came across this beautiful waterfall area! (Man, I wish I had my camera with me) At the waterfall, we stopped to take a break and walk around some more. My ankle kept itching (3 or 4 times in the same spot), so I looked to investigate. I noticed these 3 itty bitty teeny tiny dots (almost microscopic) crawling around so I hollered at Jeff to come over (I thought they must be chiggers). He looked at me and said “Those are seed ticks”. I said there’s no way – they’re too small! But sure enough they WERE seed ticks!!! I sat down & took my shoes and socks off and ya’ll, baby seed ticks were crawling over my ankles!!!!!!! Then, I started looking at my legs and they were crawling all over my legs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And all over my pants!!!!! And up to my stomach!!!!!!! I WAS COVERED IN SEED TICKS - EEEEEEWWWWWWWEEEEEEEE. I must have picked them up on one of our stops. Oh, the horror!!!! Between Jeff and I, we brushed them off as best as possible and headed for the house where I immediately jumped in the shower to clean off!!!

First the maggots, and now this?!?! Oh the drama that is my life!!!

I'm an American Girl!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-09-24T11:21:00.003-05:00

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok folks, call me crazy, but I am so excited to find out that my name has been used on an American Girl doll!!!!!!!!! It's spelled the same way & everything!!!! I'm the girl of the year for 2009!!!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!! I'm so excited I may not be able to work the rest of the day...LOL!!

I hated my name growing up because nobody else had it and I could not buy ANYTHING with my name printed on it. I've only met 1 other person in my life who has the same name as me, spelled the same way, and that was about 3 months ago. I know there's more than that, but I've only met 1! Man, I wish this doll had come out 16 years ago!!!!!!!!! LOL!!

To see "me", click here. She even has dark hair like me and a pet lama!!

I think I might purchase her. :0) Did I mention I'm so excited!!!!!!!!????

Labor Day!! (better late than never...right?)

2009-09-23T10:34:00.005-05:00

Jeff and I went to Bull Shoals lake for Labor Day weekend. Let me just tell you that Bull Shoals may be the cleanest lake in Arkansas!!!!!! If you ever get a chance to go there - DO IT! It was amazing...completely gorgeous. We stayed in my dad's little pop-up camper down below the dam on the White River. Our campsite was really nice - a huge step up from being in a tent. This was my first time to EVER go camping in a camper!!!! Can you believe that? Of course, the camper is so small, it's really just a glorified tent - but still!! :)

So Saturday & Sunday we drove up to the lake & paddled our canoe around the lake near the dam. The water was amazing. Crystal clear!! And the bluffs & rock ledges all around the lake were beautiful. It was kind of like being at a coral reef or something. I just could not get over how clear the water was...you could see rocks waaaaaaaay down & all kinds of fish swimming around the rocks. My only regret was that we did not discover this place earlier in the summer!! We would have made several trip there. Jeff was snorkeling at one point & came face to face with a HUGE catfish! He reached in his little 'cave' and touched his face before he shot off. So cool.

Of course, the White river is known for it's trout fishing, so one of my ultimate goals while we were there was to catch my first Rainbow Trout! I didn't care if I caught anything else that weekend - I just wanted one rainbow trout. Jeff hooked me up with a fishing lure that has proven effective every time to catch a trout. Well, after about 15 minutes of casting - I CAUGHT ONE!!!!! I was so excited, I'm sure the entire community of Lakeview heard my screams! I worked so hard to reel him in - those things fight hard! Here's my prize catch (i had to have Jeff hold him b/c he was soooo feisty)

Funny story - not long after I caught this fish, Jeff turned around to change fishing spots when he saw our canoe FLOATING DOWN THE RIVER!!!!!!!!!!! Luckily, it stayed in shallow water which allowed Jeff to run & catch it. Apparently they had started generating water from the dam & the water level was rising quickly. Our sandbar that we had parked on was disappearing fast!!! We could have easily been in big trouble. Whew!!

A few more pics from the weekend...

The Bull Shoals Dam

I think this was on the White river

Our redneck camper set up! I was a little embarrassed b/c we were surrounded by nice fancy campers & here we are with our tiny pop-up & a beat up bright blue tarp draped over it. But we were afraid it would rain & possibly leak, so Jeff had to rig up something to guard against the rain. It was a pretty funny site, but oh well! We stayed dry.

Such a great trip!!!!

Frog

2009-09-14T15:05:00.003-05:00

This is one of the tiniest frogs (or toads) I've ever seen! I found him on our 4 wheeling trip a couple of months ago. So cute - I had to get a picture. Can you see him? Click on the picture to make it bigger if needed.

We also found bear tracks - oh my!!!

I love being able to explore out on the 4 wheeler!!

This & that

2009-09-14T14:54:00.004-05:00

Well, I know it’s been a while since I’ve really updated the blog! Goodness, I guess I have just gotten ‘blog lazy’ this summer. Jeff and I have had so much fun enjoying the outdoors these last few months, that I’m very sad to see summer coming to an end! It’s been rainy here in NWA for a while and the temp is starting to get cooler…makes me sad b/c I know that fall is in the air! Even though Jeff had summer school all summer long, we were still able to enjoy some much needed R&R.

So Jeff started his fall semester a couple of weeks ago and already, I MISS HIM, but at the same time, I can’t believe this is his senior year either! Woot Woot!! Really, it’s gone by so fast. I think that’s going to be the theme of life from here on out…FAST. Some of Jeff’s professors have been throwing around the “G” word lately. GRAD SCHOOL!!!!! EEEEEEK!!!!! Oh – I get shivers down my spine thinking about it. There is a chance Jeff will be going to grad school after he graduates, but only as a ‘last resort’ option. I’ve really been praying lately that God would open career doors for him when he graduates so he doesn’t have to face more schooling. I’ve done a lot of research online and it all just makes my head spin!! There’s just so much to read and so many possibilities and roads and worries and thoughts and desires. But I look back over the last 4 years and I know that God has just masterfully orchestrated the direction of our lives, and I keep reminding myself that He will continue to guide us as long as we allow Him and keep our hearts open to Him. So we’ll see what these next few months will bring!!! Could get interesting ;)

Changing the subject, my mom is leaving for Florida next weekend!! Her 50th birthday was in July and I threw a surprise party for her. As a gift, I got her friends and family to pitch in and send her on a much needed vacation!! She is going to go down there w/ Jeff’s mom. Jeff’s parents just bought a house down there and they will be doing some cleaning, and moving, and also sight seeing and having fun. I hope she has a blast!! She’ll be gone for about 2 weeks – I’m jealous. To be funny, I got her a Florida survival kit, which included a big straw hat, a string bikini, and a beer coolie…among other things! HA!! Here’s a picture of her after I presented her with her gift. It was pretty funny….

Well, I guess that’s about all. I am going to the shooting range with my dad tonight. He just bought me a 22 handgun so I guess I better learn how to shoot it and operate it though I pray I NEVER have to use it!

Babysitting adventures

2009-08-25T15:24:00.005-05:00

Jeff and I have had the privilege of babysitting quite a bit for many of our friends here in NWA...especially lately. I love that babysitting gives us GREAT practice for when we have kids, and I'm very thankful for the opportunity to learn so much! We have many different friends who all have different parenting styles and ideas, and I'm so glad that we can be a part of so many different perspectives and lives.

Friday night, we babysat Logan and Bentley who live right next door. It's been a while since I've posted pictures of them, so I thought I'd share! They are getting so big!!! (aren't all kids?! LOL)

Seems like this was just yesterday...

But Little Logan is 14 months old now!!! Isn't she adorable?!!!!!! I absolutely love this picture.

And Bentley is almost 2 1/2! Such a sweet boy!!

Jeff was trying to show him what was over the fence. We don't think he really liked being up high!

Look at those eyes! :)

Jeff and Bentley had a lot of fun kickin the soccer ball!

Again - not so sure about heights!

Logan loved it though!!

She also liked to ride my leg like a horsey. Sweet smiles!!

House 4 sale!!!!

2009-08-18T10:35:00.004-05:00

Do you know anyone who is looking to move to the country?? Well, have I got the house for you!!!!! My in-laws are desperately trying to sell their beautiful country estate so that they can be re-united with each other in Florida. They have been living apart for MONTHS while Jeff's stepdad works in FL and his mom stays here to take care of the property. Can you imagine how hard that has been?! Please help!!!! If you know ANYBODY who is looking for a beautiful country setting -- send them my way!! Spread the word around - tell all your realtor friends! PRAY! The house comes with 10 acres, 3 ponds, outbuildings and many extras! You can view it online here:

http://www.lindsey.com/residential/562239

MLS#562239

It's a gorgeous house on a gorgeous piece of land about 40 miles east of Fayetteville (give or take?). Please pray they will sell this house soon!

BaBy JaGgEr!!

2009-08-05T11:18:00.004-05:00

I am soo soooooo excited that my lil cuz junior is here!!!! Baby Jagger was born on July 31 and weighed in at 7lbs and 9 oz. My mom's b-day is July 30th and Casey went in to labor on the 30th...my mom was so hopeful that he would be born that day, but he decided to make his debut no too long after midnight. SORRY MOM!! The little guy is just absolutely PRECIOUS!!!!!! We haven't had a baby in our family for quite a while, so we are all over the moon crazy about him.

Introducing my new lil cuz!!!!!!!

Casey did soooooo good! She has really had a terrific pregnancy...God has truly blessed her! Labor and delivery went great and she looked FABULOUS the next day (she'll probably kill me if she sees this pic on the blog...sorry cuz)!! This was taken right after she got checked in to her room. Jagger arrived about 7 hours later :0)

I would like to ask everyone to say a prayer for Casey, her husband Josh, and baby Jagger. The day they came home from the hospital Josh got really sick and actually ended up going to the hospital himself. They determined he must have some kind of food poisoning and soon after that, Casey got sick too! Now they are both sick and just praying that little Jagger doesn't get it. Please pray this family will be strong and healthy so they can enjoy their first week with their new little addition!! It's been kinda rough so far.

Diaper Cake

2009-08-03T09:02:00.004-05:00

I made a diaper cake for my cousin Casey's baby shower a few weeks ago. This was my first attempt at a diaper cake, and I LOVE the way it turned out!! Jeff helped me put it together...I needed his arm strength to tighten the diapers and secure them in a circle. The baby's name is Jagger, so I drew a letter "J" and Jeff cut it out of wood and painted it brown to match the nursery. I was sooooooooooooooo excited with how it turned out!!! I just LOVE handmade gifts and this 'J' will look so cute in his nursery! The nursery colors are brown & kind of a sage green and they are real outdoorsy people like Jeff and I, so for the ribbon, I went with brown & this adorable camo. Baby Jagger got a lot of camo outfits too at the baby shower.

And a couple of pictures from her shower....

She got a really cute diaper bag

Mary, Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow?

2009-07-16T12:19:00.006-05:00

SO!! I am really excited about our garden this year!! We have 3 types of tomatoes, 3 types of peppers, green beans, squash, zucchini, cucumber (not sure it's gonna fruit?), basil and oregano!! Jeff and I are getting more serious about gardening lately. When he graduates & we are able to buy our own house, we will certainly be looking for property with a gardening spot in mind!! They take work, but they are a wonderful way of providing fresh, wholesome food for your family. Here are some picture of our wee little garden this year...

This is MR. Toad. He comes to visit us every once in a while & we LOVE him :0)

Our Squash & Zucchini
Green Beans

Regular tomatoes...MMMMMMM!!!

Cherry tomatoes

These are just a few pictures. I didn't get pics of all the plants, but you get the idea! Oh, how we love our veggies!!

River Rats

2009-07-02T10:42:00.005-05:00

Well, summer is in full swing AND I LOVE IT!!!! I just love the warm sunshine, the hot air, the pretty green colors, the sound of the trickling creek and even the humidity ya'll! BRING IT ON! Oh, it's my favorite time of year. Jeffrey is taking summer school classes at the U of A, but that has not stopped us from getting outside and making the most of our weekends together. We have pretty much lived at the river/creek this summer...every Saturday & Sunday we are in the water swimming, fishing, and/or boating. It has been great -- and come with some interesting stories I might add ;)

For Fathers Day, we took my dad canoeing on the White river. I didn't think he had ever been canoeing, so I thought what a perfect way to spend a sunny summer day! Well - not so much. Turns out, he HAD been canoeing before, and our warm sunny day quickly turned into a VERY HOT sunny day. Not so bad for me, but I'm not sure my dad enjoyed the heat quite like I did. SORRY DAD :) We did have a great time though!! Even despite the low water. (we drug almost the whole trip)

Ok, so we all know my husband is quite adventurous - very unique in his own way. Well, sometimes he's plane CRAZY too! He was fishing in the river when this snake dropped out of a tree and on to his pole!!! (luckily, it wasn't a cotton mouth) So he grabs the snake and brings it over to the shore to show us. It was a green tree snake - I like those, I can deal with that...............................

BUT!!! He then proceeds to let the snake start crawling up his arm! .................................

And before long - ON HIS FACE & HEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know. CRAZY. Stick to fishing Jeff!!!

OK. Now for the REAL drama story. You just thought the snake was bad!! So, I'm fishing in the white river in a deep pool & I decide to go for a little dip in the water. I'm swimming & walking along in the deeper water when I lose my flip flop. Good thing they float, right?! It floats right up to me and pops up out of the water - sole up. THAT'S WHEN MY WORLD CAME CRASHING DOWN PEOPLE!!! I saw on the bottom of my flip flop a leech the size of Texas!!!!! OH.....................MY...............GOSH............I FREAKED OUT. I started flopping around like a fish trying to scramble out of the water!!! I practically started crying as I yelled for Jeff to come rescue me! Oh, it was horrible. To think that thing was so close to being on my skin still makes me want to puke. It fell off during all my flappin about and needless to say, I did NOT get back in the water the rest of the day. Such a traumatic experience!!! I did not get a picture of my attacker, but I found one close to it on the Internet........................

It was AT LEAST 3-4 inches long & 1-2 inches wide. EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWEEEEE

I'm alive!!!

2009-06-24T13:33:00.002-05:00

OK, so I have SEVERAL blog posts I want to do, but I cannot for the life of me remember to bring my camera to upload pictures!!!! (do I sound like a broken record by now???) I promise I'm alive and back from my Internet hiatus (which didn't really go so great...so hard to stay off), but I just can't remember to bring my camera to blog. I even laid it on the table last night, but it wasn't enough to remind me to grab it this morning. Oi Vey!

So hang with me faithful followers!!! Stay tuned for these exciting updates....

Father's Day weekend & summer fun!
The Hickle Garden
Turtle Update!

OH! And our home computer crashed - if you missed that little update on my Facebook. Ya, our not even 3-year-old Mac just one day up & died. $1500 computer just up and DIED people!!!!!! Hard drive is shot - computer is TOAST. Everything gone. Files...pictures...EVERYTHING. Talk about a life lesson in material things. Oh, you gotta love it!!! So we're borrowing my dad's dinosaur lap top for now. Thanks dad!!! It works and that is all that matters. Not sure what the future will hold for a more permanent solution. We'll see :)

Voddie

2009-06-08T08:22:00.003-05:00

I just added a Voddie Bauchman sermon on the right side of my blog and I want EVERYBODY to listen to it!!! It is called "The Centrality of the Home in the Evangelism and Discipleship of the Next Generation". It's a long title, but basically it talks about how discipleship and evangelism must start at home. Even if you don't have kids yet - which we don't - I think a lot of what he says can be applied in your marriage as well. My thoughts of "church" as we know it, were very challenged. I'd love to talk about it more with anyone, but I won't take the time to blog it all out. Just listen to the sermon...it's awesome!

Thanks Clay & Jennifer for introducing us to his name!!! This is the first Voddie sermond I've heard.

Taking a break

2009-05-20T09:24:00.005-05:00

I've decided to heed conviction and take a 'fast' from the Internet. I know I spend way too much fruitless time on here filling my head with blogs, news, pop culture and crap. If I dedicated that time to my walk with God, I think the results could be incredible. So I am signing off for a while, and taking a break from all things web based (including e-mail). I don't know how long it will last - maybe a week, maybe two...maybe a month or more. I'm just excited to see what God might do. Pray for me if you think about it because it is going to take some serious will power to do this. Especially while I'm here at work and the Internet is a teeny tiny click away!!!

SO! This is Chrissa Hickle saying "Au Revoir"!!!!!!!!

FLORIDA!!!

2009-05-20T08:09:00.008-05:00

Jeff and I just got back from our much needed vacation to Florida!! It was really fabulous, but I soooooo could have used another week there! LOL Jeff's family took such great care of us while we were there, I can't thank them enough. We stayed most of the week with his mom & step dad in Clearwater, and then traveled on to Panama City where we stayed with his grandparents for a couple of nights. We hit Destin on our way home Saturday and then came back to Arkansas. It was a whirlwind of a trip!

We packed so much into our time there. We went to the beach, several state parks, biking, kayaking, light hiking, and did a little shopping. My favorite part was of course going to the beach! I could have lived there the entire week. We went to a place called Caladesi Island and it was awesome! We kayaked there one day & spent quite a bit of our time snorkeling the crystal clear shallow water. So neat :0) Throughout the whole week, we saw alllllll kind of exciting marine and wildlife... turtles (no sea turtles though), birds, dolphins, sting rays, fish, crabs (my first time to see a horse shoe crab!!), and probably the most exciting - a huge shark!!!!! It was lurking in the shallows in Destin & Jeff was in the water with it when he spotted it. He QUICKLY got out to show me, but was right back in knee deep as soon as I saw it. CRAZY GUY! Not to mention all the sting rays that were swimming around too.

Light House on St. George Island

Swimming in Destin
The only palm tree in the world w/ 4 branches like this

Jeff's Grandma & Grandpa!! WE LOOOOOOOVE them soo much. They are in their 80s and still live on their own, drive on their own, work out in the yard, go to the beach, hold hands - you name it. Such amazing people. Happy Birthday today, Grandpa!!!

Jeff's dad grilling out. We had the BEST fresh crab legs over at their house one night. Mmmmm!!!

Jeff's step sis Shannon

DOLPHINS!!!!! Can you see the little baby on the right? It's right next to it's momma...so adorable!

We were at Ft. Desoto state park and it was better than being at an aquarium! The dolphins were right below us (we were standing on a fishing pier)...I could see the scratches on their back they were so close. They are common here b/c fishing is so popular & that is an easy meal for a dolphin. They steal the bait!!

Climbing a giant strangler fig. THE coolest tree I've ever seen.

The old fort cannons

Turtles!!!

Birds!!! This is Francis. He hangs out at this restaurant in Clearwater. Apparently He loves the french fries.

The day we went kayaking

Walking the beach at Caladesi Island

Jeff's parents

Man, what a great trip!! Seeing the pictures takes me back. I miss you already Florida!!! But don't worry - I'll be back SOON!!!! :0)

Family Reunion

2009-05-06T12:16:00.006-05:00

We had our big family reunion last weekend & Jeff and I had 7 extra people staying in our wee little house!!! It was so much fun & I'm soooooooooo glad my family from California could be here. I wish I had time to blog about all our adventures, but since we are leaving for FLORIDA tomorrow!!!!! ....... I don't have time to write a big blog. So pictures will have to do! :)

MY 4th GRADE TEACHER WAS THERE!!! Apparently, she's friends of my aunt Ethel who was celebrating her 50th wedding anniversary (that's why we had the reunion), so she came to the party. It was so cool to see her!

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF MARRIAGE!!!! CONGRATULATIONS RICK & ETHEL!!

Aunt Pat & my cousins Tammy & Tonya

Notice that Jeff is M.I.A. in most of these shots. Poor guy had school stuff going on ALL weekend long so he did not get to join us for most of the fun. Such a bummer :( But school is out & we are on our way to a MUCH needed vacation!!

FLORIDA....HERE WE COME!!!!!!!!!!!!

Snakes are NOT all bad

2009-04-29T10:05:00.006-05:00

OK, I want to start this post by saying that I am by no means a "fan" of snakes!!! I don't particularly want to see a snake, touch a snake or for sure catch a snake, and please believe there will NEVER be a pet snake in my house - period! However, with that disclaimer said, I do want be a snake advocate for just a brief moment, because I feel like they really to get the short end of the stick. Snakes have developed a horrible reputation with people. So many folks absolutely hate them or fear them. I'm not quite sure why they've gotten such a bad rep, but it makes me very sad when I see or hear of people killing harmless snakes for no reason other than fear or disgust. I mean, most snakes are completely harmless and they actually serve a good purpose! They eat mice, rats, insects & other pesky rodents. And they are pretty much all more scared of you than you are of them - and will slither away as fast as possible if allowed. Seriously, snakes are not all bad!!!!

I used to hate snakes & had no problem with them being slaughtered at any time. But being married to Jeff has helped me develop a much healthier respect for these animals. If it's not poisonous and posing a danger to you or your family, then I encourage you to just leave it alone. Now, I'm not asking you to go love up on 'em, or pet one, or campaign for a "National Save the Snake Day", or anything like that. I'm just asking that if you're like me, and you do not like snakes, please at least have an open mind about letting one live in your backyard, instead of butchering the poor thing!! Chances are - it's there because you have it's favorite food source in abundance...like mice!

So.....................Let the snakes live!!!!! Ok, there's my soap box for the day :)

Here are some pictures of our encounter with a HUGE rat snake Saturday. While we were "lost" on the dirt road, we found him....

Whoa, carefull Jeff!!

OH!!! Alas, Jeff was biten!!! You may not be able to make it out, but there are 3 tiny teeth marks right above his wedding ring (middle finger). Now, let this be a lesson that snakes will defend themselves when threatened!! But if you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone.

I welcome comments & thoughts - just be nice!

Kings River Fun!

2009-04-29T09:28:00.006-05:00

Saturday was a beautiful day, so Jeff and I decided to take a "scouting" trip to the King's River. We have some family coming in from California this weekend for a huge family reunion, and we want to take them there Saturday and hike to the falls. The trip got off to a bit rough start and we ended up lost in the back backwoods of AR!! Long story short, we turned right when we should have turned left...crazy. The darn map we had completely steered us wrong, but luckily we found a hill with enough cell phone service to call my dad and got back on the right track. And thank goodness we were in the Jeep & not the 'certified' jeep-Civic! LOL! It was a great day full of great fun. Here are some pictures of the day...

Jeff did some fishin...

I did some loafin...

These CRAZY kids actually had the nerve to jump off the rocks into the FREEZING cold water below!!! Actually, the girl did it - but I'm not too sure about the 2 boys that were with her. I think they chickened out. I don't blame them!!! The sun wasn't even out much to warm them up.

While we were "lost", we came across an old church building. We went in & saw some old pews & this old piano. I'd sure love to know it's history!!!

Jeff in front of the church. It amazes me these little communities that are just out in the middle of nowhere.

The wild flowers were one of my favorite parts of the day. They were gorgeous!!!

And my favorite wildflower of all - the wild iris!! So pretty

I sure hope our family from California has as much fun as we did!!!

Indiana visit & missing grandma

2009-04-22T13:24:00.004-05:00

Our Easter weekend was spent mourning the loss of Jeff's grandmother. She passed away suddenly from a heart attack just a few days before Easter. While we are of course devastated to loose grandma, we know that she is in a much better place now, and her health complications are finally over for her. That is a blessing. I hate that because of the geographical distance, I did not get to know her as well as I would have liked. But I can tell you that she was a true joy to know. She was always so uplifting to talk to - even when she wasn't feeling well! Her voice was always precious and encouraging. She loved her family and always made it a point to send everyone of us a birthday & Christmas card. I'm telling you, she never missed a year or a child/grandchild!!! I loved that about her. She was just the sweetest woman. We loved her so much and will miss her dearly.

Unfortunately, I don't have any digital pictures of grandma that I can post, but I did take a few family pics of the trip. Though the circumstances were tragic, it was really nice to be able to visit family that we haven't seen in years!! We did enjoy our time back in Indiana - even though it was utterly exhausting!

This is me & lil cousin Hannah. Jeff and I kinda became the child care for the weekend - thus, all the kid pics! We didn't mind though - we knew the parents had so much going on with funeral/visitation arrangements. We were happy to step in & help!!

No Jeff is not on drugs. Sleepy?? Yes! Drugs? No :) This is Zach...Zach was at Jeff's side the ENTIRE trip. He loved him so much - he even asked to sleep with us!!! It was so sweet, but we had to say no because our bed was pretty small & the days were too long to loose what few hours of sleep we got each night. But maybe next time Zach!

And this is little Mikey - Jeff's cousin

And Mikey's twin sisters Haley & Sabrina - they're identical and sooooo cute!!!! But here me say now, that "I no longer want twins!!!!!!!!" Whew, what a handful.

And Mikey's mom Tiffany & myself.

One night, Jeff's mom & I had the privilage of giving the twins & little Hannah a bath all at the same time. 3 two year olds in the tub at once - now that was crazy!!! I really love Jeff's family and I'm so glad we got to spend some time with them. It may be a while before we get back up north!

Readiness

2009-04-18T09:06:00.001-05:00

"God called unto him and he said, Here am I" Exodus 3:4

When God speaks, many of us are like men in a fog, we give no answer. Moses' reply revealed that he was somewhere. Readiness means a right relationship to God and a knowledge of where we are at present. We are so busy telling God where we would like to go. The man or woman who is ready for God and His work is the one who carries off the prize when the summons comes. We wait with the idea of some great opportunity, something sensational, and when it comes we are quick to cry - "Here am I." Whenever Jesus Christ is in the ascendant, we are there, but we are not ready for an obscure duty.

Readiness for God means that we are ready to do the tiniest little thing or the great big thing, it makes no difference. We have no choice in what we want to do, whatever God's programme may be we are there, ready. When any duty presents itself we hear God's voice as Our Lord heard His Father's voice, and we are ready for it with all the alertness of our love for Him. Jesus Christ expects to do with us as His Father did with Him. He can put us where He likes, in pleasant duties or in mean duties, because the union is that of the Father and Himself. "That they may be one, even as We are one."

Be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready. Think of the time we waste trying to get ready when God has called! The burning bush is a symbol of everything that surrounds the ready soul, it is ablaze with the presence of God.

Oswald Chambers, April 18th

Welcome to Fayetteville!!!

2009-04-15T11:08:00.004-05:00

We had the Ramsey's over for dinner last night for some yummy Mexican food!! This is their first time in Fayetteville & we are so excited they're here! It brings back a small piece of Little Rock that we miss so much. We had such a good time and we look forward to having them over again! Layla & I were able to get together for lunch last week & we hope to get together again next week. And Reagan, of course, is always so funny! She kept us entertained!

Poor lil Reece was ready to eat too...she was getting a little fussy.

Reagan loved us reading to her.

Thanks for coming over guys!

Birthdays

2009-04-15T10:22:00.007-05:00

I'm always a couple weeks late on posting pictures!! Sorry - I guess that's life. Cousins Adriel & Bentley celebrated their second birthday a few weeks ago. We came straight home from Little Rock & walked into the party! Boy, that was a loooooooong weekend!!

Happy Birthday Adriel & Bentley!!

Opening the Sesame Street book/magnadoodle that we got him. I hear he still loves it!! :) AD got one too.

Eating YUMMY cake!

Baby Phillip enjoyed the party too!

Playing poker after the party. We had a lot of fun - I walked out with almost $1000!!! Too bad it was only in poker chips

Soccer Man

2009-04-06T11:43:00.003-05:00

Jeff's has a new hobby! It's soccer :0) He & a huge group of other friends have started a league and they play a game each Sunday (minus a few). They haven't won a game yet, but they continue to get better & better each week. They even tied once! And yesterday, they gave the other team a serious run for their money LOL! Of course, I don't care if they win a single game - I just don't want Jeff to injure himself!! So far so good. Jeff is really having fun at it, and it has proven to be GREAT exercise for him!

Stretching b4 the game

Wow - nice knee action Jeff!!

The "wifey" fan club...always here to support our hubbys (well, almost always)!!

Connections

2009-04-01T14:56:00.004-05:00

Since moving back to NWA, we are always seeing all these "OH, What a coincidence!" type connections pop up. I guess it's like that small town "oh I know her sister!" or "Oh, I went to school with his wife!" kinda thing. Well, Jeff met an exciting 'connection' the other day! He called Garver Engineers to talk to them about engineering internship/job possibilities and spoke to a guy named Chris Buntin. WELLLLLLL - turns out, Chris Buntin is Sarah Buntin's husband, and Sarah Buntin used to have Chrissa Hickle's job at Glory Transportation!!!!!!! Say it with me - "What a coincidence"!!!! Sarah left Glory about a couple of years ago when she had a baby. She still comes in time to time, and although I've never really talked with her much, I definitely know who she is. So neat!!!!

What's really awesome is that I see God at work here. When I found Garver online several months ago, I just had a peace about it. I think it's great that they have offices all over the US, including Fayetteville and Little Rock, ARKANSAS!!!!! And I think it could be a good starting point for Jeff.

So I am asking you to pray for us. I think there is big potential for ministry if Jeff were to work there. Who knows, this may not be the place for Jeff to work the rest of his life, and that's FINE!! But I do see God at work doing something, and it makes me very excited. :-)

Twins?

2009-03-30T21:20:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I am a little obsessed with twins. Have I ever shared that on here? I have just always had a weird fascination with "multiples". Growing up, I always wished I had an identical twin sister. My next door neighbor, Amy & I, used to pretend we were twins & we had a blast! We were pretty much the same size, same age, same hair color & skin tone - not identical, but it worked for us! However, I am not a twin so I determined at a young age that I wanted twin girls someday. I would even pray for it as a little girl! I doubt that will happen though, since there are virtually NO twins in my family (which is good b/c I'm so little I don't know how in the world I could carry TWO babies at once), but there ya have it anyway...a lil insight into me :0)

Anyway, all that to say that I was so excited to read this article on Hollywood twins. I mean, who knew that Jon Heder, "Napoleon Dynamite", was a twin?! Crazy. And Alanis Morrisette!!? Wow.

Clean up continues

2009-03-26T11:19:00.005-05:00

The clean up from the ice storm is ongoing here in NWA. A few weeks ago, our "landlords" (so weird calling them that since they are our friends & the same age as us) rented a lift to take down some lingering broken branches and a dead tree in our yard. Lots of BIG equipment in our tiny little yard...it was quite a site!!

Little Bentley did his part to help pick up sticks too!! Jeff is his 'bestest bud'...it is so cute!! Today is Bentley's second birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BENTLEY!!!!

My dad also rented a lift that day so we went to help him with clean up too!

Hillbilly mailbox?? We thought this was pretty funny!! The wood landed like this, so my dad's friend cut around it. Nice yard decor!! LOL!

Eating with the Amish!!

2009-03-18T08:49:00.003-05:00

Thank you oh patient readers!!! I started to download my pictures off my camera Monday, but I couldn't find my cord - AGAIN!!! I'm always losing that darn thing. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me ;)

So when my sis was here a few weeks ago, my parents took all of us to Oklahoma to eat with the Amish. (Actually, I think they may be Mennonite, but I'm not sure?). It is a little expensive, but a really awesome experience! I highly recommend going if you are looking for something to do for a special occasion.

Our 'family style' meal consisted of slow cooked beef (like a roast), chicken breast, mashed potatoes, green beans (soooooo fresh & yummy!!), chicken & noodles, and rolls. Everything was homemade from scratch & I THINK grown & raised right there on the property. As my sister would say...YUMMICALES!!!

It was kind of hard to get good pictures, because the dining room was SO full of people & you share a table with people you don't know. But I managed a few:

A little sleepy after a long day & a wonderful meal!!

We also went to the Bass Pro shop that day, which is always fun too! I remember my very first trip to Bass Pro when I was 12. I went with my next door neighbor & her family and I thought it was the coolest place EVER because of the glass elevators. We rode those elevators over & over & over that day. Ahhhh.......memories!! LOL

DARN IT!!!!

2009-03-11T09:22:00.003-05:00

I was going to do a picture post today, but naturally OF COURSE i forgot to bring my camera with me!!!!! Darn! I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that my husband woke me up bangin, blowin, and loudly clankin around at stinkin 5 something this morning! I didn't go back to sleep till time to get up therefore I was too tired to get up & ended up late.

Ok, so maybe it is actually my fault. Still...;)

Pictures soon!!

A new hobby...er, uh, addiction?

2009-03-02T15:39:00.004-06:00

Jeff and I have gotten hooked on a new activity. COMPUTER GAMES!!!! Never thought I'd get sucked in, but I have. I tell ya, I think it may be more fun than having cable TV! We really like to play mystery/solve it type games. Our latest endeavor has been the Myst series....

We made it thru the first 3 games and just ordered #4 this weekend! It's nice being able to play these with my husband. It's something we can enjoy together during the winter months when we can't be outside. We are careful not to let it take up too much of our time though. I know these things can be all-consuming! :0)

snuff, sniffle, sneeze!

2009-02-26T13:34:00.003-06:00

Well, the flu bug is going around Northwest Arkansas!! I have been exposed to it on many levels, and I'm afraid it might be trying to creep in. I started sneezing like crazy yesterday & woke up this morning with a soar throat, stuffy head, and lots of drainage. My left nostril is completely shut off. Don't you hate that?! So annoying.

So far, Jeff is doing really good this semester - just truckin right along! He's got some seriously hard classes though. We really don't see much of each other Mon-Thurs. He's usually at school pretty late or I'm gone for whatever reason. It's getting a little better as the semester moves on, but at first it was really tough. He's such a dedicated student...he really applies himself and tries to make all A's. I applaud him. I sure couldn't go back to college - I hated school!

I started this Christian-based aerobics class on Thursday nights called Body and Soul. It is a great great program!!! It's about 30 minutes of cardio, 30 minutes of strength training, and 30 minutes of stretching/Pilates. What a workout!!!!!! I am loving it and totally getting myself in shape. My only complaint is that it only meets 1 night a week instead of 3!! I would seriously go every other day. I encourage you to see if they offer a class in your area. It's spiritually uplifting and a great workout for your body.

My sister went back to Washington today. She's been here for about 3 weeks while my step-mom recovers from her mastectomy. My stepmom is doing good - just tired a lot. We had a several good family visits while my sis was here. I have a few pictures to post later.

That's about all the updates from here!! I am sooooooooo ready for warmer weather I can tell you that!! These 60-70 degree days are such a tease! LOL!

4th folder, 4th picture

2009-02-21T22:48:00.005-06:00

I need to go to bed, but I figure if I don't start posting more often, people are going to quit reading this blog!!! So here ya go....this is a cop-out post. I've seen a lot of people doing it w/ different 'folder numbers'. I like this picture - even though I'm having some major hair issues and I look white as a ghost LOL! It was taken near Pinnacle Mt. in Little Rock. Ahhhhh Little Rock...how I miss you. Whoa! Did I say that? ;)

birthday weekend

2009-02-09T11:48:00.006-06:00

Well, my birthday was almost a month ago so I'm a little late on getting this post up. But better late than never, right?! To celebrate, Jeff and I rented a cabin 9 miles north of Jasper off of HWY 7. We had such a good weekend - other than the small hole he put in my bumper from backing into a rock! Let me tell you what, the Civic became a certified "Jeep" that weekend!!! My little car went through harsh dirt roads, big huge muddy pot holes, over rocks, low water bridges, and through the Buffalo River itself!!! Believe me when I say that next time, we'll take the Cherokee!!!

Anyway, we really did have a great time. The cabin was absolutely beautiful! So clean & well kept. If you are ever looking for a cabin rental in that area, go here. It was fabulous.

We went hiking in Erbie. Erbie is a tiny tiny "town" & it took us almost all day to find it. The roads are not hardly marked at all out there. Since we spent so much time driving around, we had to make our hike short. We did the "Goat Bluff" trail which took us down to an old farmstead. It was neat seeing all the old buildings and everything still standing.

This was the cellar under the house

The inside of the old farm house. EWE!! But you know how I love to go inside old houses!

The veiw of the river from "Goat Bluff"

Ice on the cliffs at the Little Buffalo

Another reason I wanted to stay at this cabin was because the turn off was right across the street from DogPatch USA. It's a old abandoned theme park near Harrison. I was determined to sneak into the park & do some exploring of the old buildings, but that didn't happen! For one reason, the park sits right on the Highway and they've got the entrance gated off. So you would have to park your car right on the HWY & walk. Another reason - they now have caretakers living on the property. Oh well...at least we got to see it from a distance! This was one of the old buildings sitting on the creek at Marble Falls (dogpatch).

And the veiw from our cabin porch. So pretty!!

Happy birthday to me!! My wonderful husband bought me a cookie cake from Great American Cookie Co.!!!!! YUMMY!!!!!!!!!! I LOVED EVERY BITE!

UPDATE

2009-02-04T08:11:00.002-06:00

Surgery went great! She should be coming home today! Thanks for your prayers!!

Pray

2009-02-03T07:45:00.002-06:00

I would like to ask everyone to pray for my stepmom today...she is going in for her mastectomy surgery at noon. Her mammogram a couple of week ago revealed that she looks to be cancer free!!! PTL!! She still has to have surgery to make sure they get everything. Please pray for her emotionally, physically, and that the surgery will go well.

Thanks ya'll!

Distruction Pics

2009-02-01T19:54:00.004-06:00

These are pictures of my parent's house. I didn't get any of ours because we haven't been home. Last night was our first night to sleep at our own house since Monday!! You don't realize how much you take the little things for granted until their gone! My poor mother-in-law is still without electricity and might be for another 3 weeks! (she lives out in the country) Crazy.

It took Jeff 20 minutes to get my car door open. It froze shut.

Ice Storm

2009-01-28T14:16:00.002-06:00

Well, if you haven't seen it on the news yet, NWA has been hit HARD with this ice storm. Almost everyone in town is without electricity. Trees are down everywhere. Power lines are down everywhere - poles snapped like toothpicks...lines laying across the roads, houses, and yards. IT IS A MESS!!!!!! This town practically looks like a ghost town. Businesses are closed, banks are closed, streets are closed, traffic lights don't work. It's so weird. Our house has been without electricity for about 24 hours now, and the power companies say it could days or weeks to get everyone up and running again. Man, that's a crazy thought. My work is one of the few places with power, which is where I am now. We stayed w/ my parents last night b/c they have a wood burning stove in their living room, so at least we were able to keep warm. But oh my, did their house take a beating?!! It was soooooo scary to hear the trees cracking, breaking, and falling all around. PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE THE LORD WE ARE ALL OK!!! It's crazy.

Pictures of mass destruction to follow soon...

Safe & Sound

2009-01-26T17:38:00.002-06:00

Well, I made it home from work!! Usually, that's not very blog worthy news, but considering NWA is under an ice storm warning, I'd say I'm lucky. I slid my entire way home! The roads don't "look" bad at all, but they are slick as snot in some places! They are predicting we are going to get .5 to 1.0 inch of ice tonight & tomorrow. YIKES!!! I tried to get up my driveway (it's a hill up into the garage) and I couldn't make it! My tires just spun in place so I had to reverse & get a little more momentum. Crazy. Jeff is on his way home now and we are gonna stay hunkered down the rest of the night like a couple of little icehicklets. Let's see...

Flashlights - check!

Candles - Check!

Non-perishable food - Check!

Blankets - Check!

Work for tomorrow - Check!

I think we're good to go!

Enjoying the warmth

2009-01-23T12:31:00.004-06:00

We had a warm Saturday 2 or 3 weeks ago so Jeff and I decided to go hiking (and asked my dad along for the ride). We went to Devil's Den - I have never been there much, only once or twice. It is such a pretty place, but it's so popular that we have tended to stay away from it. But we had a great day and it made me long for spring!!

The sun was in our eyes!

Do you see the face?

The rock formations were beautiful

An old house we drove by.

The fireplace on the inside. I wanted to go inside, but the floors were caving in pretty bad, so we just looked through the windows. I looooooove going in old houses.

The well

What a GREAT day!!!

Adventures with Niki

2009-01-21T09:22:00.004-06:00

It's ironic that her name is Niki. I'm sure you all remember my little Niki who passed away a couple of years ago. On New Years Eve, I came home to find this little thing wondering around our neighborhood:

I had seen her wondering around the night before too, and didn't know who she belonged to or how long she had been lost. She had no collar, and appeared pretty skittish and skinny. Well, you know I'm a sucker for animals in need! I joined with the neighborhood kids (who were also sensing her distress) and coaxed her into my house. Jeff wasn't home yet...hee hee. She eventually warmed up to me and became quite the lap dog! It was a pain trying to keep her off our furniture. We both agreed she would have to have a bath if she was going to stay with us till we could find her owners...

She took it like a pro!! She turned out to be a very well mannered dog, but it was so inconvenient having her in the house. Jeff and I realized that we don't have the lifestyle that can take care of an indoor dog. I wanted to keep her for a week or so to try and fatten her up a little, but we ended up finding her owners pretty quickly. When I found out who her owners were - I was not happy. I have actually called animal control on them in the past for what appeared to be animal neglect. They had another dog who would always wonder around our neighborhood and you could see her bones she was so skinny. Really sad. Needless to say, it was very hard to give her back. It really made me question if I should or not - knowing they don't take very good care of their animals. :( But I did and haven't seen her since so at least I know she's staying nice and warm inside with her owners. She was a Christmas present for their kids...they got her from the shelter b/c she had been neglected. So, I'm hoping she's on her way to a good recovery!

I guess her previous owner was a male who looked just like Jeff because she absolutely LOVED Jeff!! It was hilarious to see her interact with him. She was at his feet all the time - followed him everywhere and go so excited when he walked in the door. It was really sweet.

Christmas

2009-01-21T09:02:00.005-06:00

I only got a few pictures of Christmas this year. Jeff and I had a wonderful holiday season. We are truly blessed with such gracious families and I love them to peices. It was hard having 4 Christmases to go to though - we might have to cut back next year as we were wiped out by the end of it! Here are a few pics:

Can you believe I did not have any chip clips in my house?!

My sis

Jeff's family. That's Jeff, his brother Patrick, his mom and his stepdad Kelly.

My crazy uncle napping with the dogs in the sunshine! LOL!

Life = crazy??

2009-01-08T19:45:00.002-06:00

I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to be that way, but lately is for me!!! A quick update before I "crash" for the evening - life has been good lately, but just SUPER busy. Ever since before Christmas I have been going nonstop. The holidays always bring about a lot of "to do's", but this holiday season seemed worse for some reason. So in a nutshell...Christmas - good! New Years - boring, but good!! Jeff's school break - good! He starts back Monday though, bummer.

I usually update on my lunch break at work, b/c that's the best time for me to upload pics, but I haven't had a chance to do that lately. Work has been crazy w/ all the holidays and now it's tax season which is the WORST time of the year to be the HR person (and accountants). So you may not hear from me till the end of January. :0) (on a personal note, please tell you HR people how much you appreciate them. They need it this time of year.)

My head is pounding so that's all for now. Hang with me my faithful blogging buddies!

Mmmmmmm

2009-01-05T18:40:00.003-06:00

This is what we had for dinner tonight, and I thought I would share it. It's not very healthy, but it is really good and really easy!!

Chicken Dorito Casserole

1 chicken, cooked, boned and chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 carton sour cream
1 (8 oz.) pkg. Nacho-cheese flavored Doritos (crushed)
Grated Cheddar cheese
1 onion, chopped
1/2 c. milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1 can green chilies

Combine all ingredients, pour into casserole dish. Top with grated cheese. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

I have tons of pictures to upload, but it may have to wait mid week. I have to do pics at work b/c our Mac won't upload to Blogger for some reason. :)

2008-12-24T19:00:00.003-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!

Jeff and I wish you a wonderful holiday and a joyous celebration of our Lord's birth. I wish we could get around to visiting all of you, but know that you are in our hearts. I also want to say thank you to everyone who sent us a Christmas card this year - I LOVED them all!! I wish I had been as thoughtful.

Love to all and again...Merry Christmas!

Catchin up

2008-12-17T11:36:00.007-06:00

Like many others, I am WAY behind on blogging!! Tis the season for busyness! (and really RUDE people, but I won't get into that)?

I'm very happy to announce that Jeff Hickle is officially done with the semester!! Can I get a woot woot?! I think his grades are all going to be really good. I'm so proud of him...what a smarty :)

So - on to some pictures. Last Saturday, Jeff and I were asked to facilitate games at one of our friends' company Christmas party. We had about 40 kids there - between the ages of 3 and 15!! Does that sound crazy or what?! Well, it wasn't too bad actually. The older kids went out on a scavenger hunt and most of the little kids stayed with their families. And they were really all well behaved kids - praise the Lord!!! Here are some pictures from the event:

The party was downstairs & the games for the kids were upstairs.

Sometimes video games are a necessary evil!!

Jeff getting our cake-walk #s together

The cake-walk circle

Me setting up the cake walk circle

And on a different note, I had to share pics of little Tucker. Tucker is our neighbor's toy poodle and he is the tiniest full-grown dog I've ever seen in my life!!! We got to doggie-sit Tucker a couple of weeks ago and thought this was sooooooo funny....

Wheeeeeeeere's Tucker??

THERE HE IS!!!

Wheeeeeeeere's Tucker?

THERE HE IS!!!

He completely buried himself in his blanket! We couldn't find him for quite a while - it was hysterical!

News!!!

2008-12-17T08:34:00.005-06:00

I have to send out two huge CONGRATULATIONS of excitement!!! My beautiful cuz Casey is going to have a baby!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY! She is due in August with little baby Brown! Congratulations Casey!!! I love you so much and I'm sooo sooo excited for you and Joshua!!

Secondly, I have to send out a huge CONGRATULATIONS to my little neicy poo - Alicia. She just got engaged!!!!!!!!!!! Alicia is really one of the most Christ-focused 19-year-olds I've ever met. She loves the Lord and is very determined to follow Him no matter where He takes her and her fiancee. We love you Alicia and Chris!!!!

Work Christmas party

2008-12-09T14:29:00.005-06:00

Jeff and I went to my company Christmas party on Saturday. I was asked to help organize the event this year and actually had a lot of fun doing it. We had it catered by Whole Hog Cafe (we now have one here in Fayetteville!!!) and met out at my boss' lake house. They had a game room set up with a pool table, air hockey, and the Nintendo Wii!! I had never played one before, but it was so much fun!! I totally killed at boxing - took Jeff out twice! I did not do so great at bowling though. I think if I were to ever get my kids a game console, it would be a Wii. Those things are a GREAT workout! We were sweating like pigs!! Anyway, here's a picture of the Glory team (not counting our drivers)

Don't let that sunshine fool you! It was freezing cold that day & I think this was shot #4 or something. I'm trying not to completely shiver my way off the steps!!!!! LOL! My bosses, Tom & Karen, are on the far left in the red (behind the front row lady in black). I am still loving my job and all the people I work with. It is such a blessing to be at a company where you feel comfortable and eager to go to work (most days hee hee).

Congrats

2008-11-26T12:17:00.003-06:00

Last Saturday, Jeff and I joined in celebration with Brian and Rachelle as they got married! I've known Brian almost my whole life as we grew up in the same church. It was a beautiful wedding & so wonderful to see so many old friends! Here's a pic of us & the happy couple - Brian is very tall compared to me! LOL!

It's hard to tell in this picture, but I recently got my hair cut! It was a nightmare at first, but it turned out ok. The girl who usually cuts my hair has cut back her hours so I went to someone different who has not been cutting hair for very long (i found that out later). At first, she cut it very uneven & chunky, but after lots of effort (and many inches of hair), she finally got it all straightened out. I really like it!! But I won't be going back to her ;)

Another Product Review!!

2008-11-26T12:07:00.005-06:00

I don't plan on doing these reviews all the time, but on this one, I just feel like it is my absolute duty to tell everyone I know NOT to buy this stuff!! Here's the background...I'm always looking for a quick meal for lunch because I'm always running late in the mornings. Can of soup, frozen entree, leftovers from dinner the night before, etc. So last time I was out shopping (same day I bought the mascara coincidentally) I bought one of these:

It's hard to see in the small picture, but these are "HORMEL Compleats". A complete meal in 90 seconds! I got the Swedish Meatballs. YUMMMMM! Right? Well, today for lunch, I grabbed my quick microwavable meal & jetted off to work. As soon as I heated it and took a bite, I knew exactly what it tasted like. DOG FOOD!! OH MY WORD, this tastes like dog food!! Yes people, it was disgusting...save your money. I couldn't even eat it. Straight into the trash goes the Hormel.

What was I thinking buying a complete meal that did not need to be refrigerated, frozen, or prepared in any way?!

Product Review

2008-11-19T12:20:00.004-06:00

I am in the process of trying some new cosmetics...Mary Kay, Maybelline, etc. Well, I saw a commercial the other day for this:

Maybelline XXL - eye lash extension mascara! I got very excited because I love to play around w/ my eye makeup. So the next time I was at Wal-Mart, I bought some. Well, let me tell ya ladies...don't wast your money! Not only is it expensive, but it is also very time consuming and does not extend your lashes as well as the commercial would make you think. It is a 2 step process and who has time for 4 coats (2 on each eye) of mascara every morning?! I was rather disappointed, mainly because I paid like $6 for 1 teeny tiny tube. (sincethere are 2 steps, the liquid amount is smaller in each side than a normal tube of mascara) And, it really didn't work. I don't know, you may like it, but I didn't.

So there you have it. Beauty lesson 1-on-1 with Chrissa! :0)

Recently in Hickleland

2008-11-14T11:42:00.003-06:00

I bought batteries for my camera (finally). I hope to post pictures again one of these days :0)

We are going to stay at Jeff's parent's house this weekend while they are in Florida. I love staying at their place! It's like a vacation. Jacuzzi tub, cable TV, acreage, 4-wheelers, ponds, creek, etc. So much fun.

Speaking of Florida, Jeff's parents are moving there!!!!!!!!!! I'm so sad. I hate that they are leaving...we have loved living closer to them the past year, and I can't even tell you how much we will miss them. But I'm excited for them. His stepdad is starting work for a new company & I am praying this will be a wonderful new chapter in their life. Plus they're going to be living right by the ocean. Who can't get excited over that?!

We got a 4-wheeler! His parent's gave it to us, along with the trailer. Very exciting stuff.

My mom may be going on a mission trip to France with her church. BIG MOVE for her. She's never been anywhere or done anything like this. I am so excited for her I get tears in my eyes when I think about it. Pray for her. And pray she can raise financial support.

My step-mom is doing ok w/ her chemo. It is getting harder the more treatments she has, but she is a trooper. Very strong woman.

Work is good. School is good, but tough. Jeff has a lot of really hard tests next week. ugh. I'm proud of him though. He works so hard! His math homework the other day was 31 pages!! 31 pages of working out problems & graphs. Can you believe that?! It's MATH class!!! My gosh that's insane!!

Well, there's the latest. TTFN

Freedom of Choice Act

2008-11-12T17:32:00.002-06:00

Have you heard of it?! I really try not to go political on this blog, but oh my gosh, I about threw up when I found out about it today! Thank you for bringing it to my attention Brannon...apparently I have been living under a rock or something. If you want to know more about it, just google it, but the basic gist of it is this:

"The Freedom of Choice Act is a bill in the United States Congress which, if enacted, would abolish all restrictions and limitations on the right of women in the United States to have an abortion, whether at the State or Federal level."

Abolish ALL restrictions & limitations!! Are you kidding me?? Seriously. Are you kidding me?

I signed the petition to fight against it today. You can sign too. Maybe it will help, maybe it won't. Maybe I'll get more junk mail - maybe I won't. I don't really care, I just don't know any other way to stop it. This is just absurd legislature.

Are you for real?!

2008-11-05T18:02:00.002-06:00

As the HR associate here at work, it is part of my job to listen to salesmen when they come in & try to sell us insurance plans, supplemental coverage, & other employee benefit programs. (this is one of the things I dislike most about my job BTW) Today we had a guy come into our office – well dressed, clean cut – and present us with some “pre-paid legal service” plan. I politely took his information & brochure and gave him my card and told him I would pass the info along to my boss. He asked me when he could check back & I told him not until Monday. I laid his stuff on my desk & thought little of it and continued with my work. A couple of hours later I picked up the brochure to read some of the “services” and for some reason his business card caught my eye. I studied it & just got the strangest feeling about him – why?? I don’t know. But I just felt uneasy about him. So I decided to Google his name. WELL!! The first thing that popped up was a lawsuit that he was involved in from 2007. And the whole document was available online! I read it & discovered he had been in trouble for basically insurance fraud!! His insurance sales license had been revoked over a year ago and there were several complaints against him for dishonest business practices. WOW!!! I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Well, then I thought – if his insurance licensed was revoked, I can’t imagine he is still licensed to sell legal services…my word isn’t that like an Oxymoron or something? Dishonest Fraud sells Legal Services? LOL! Anywho, I called the state insurance commissioner's office in Little Rock & discovered that he was in fact NOT licensed to sell stuff at ALL!! The lady couldn’t believe what he was trying to do & gave me his revoked license # and put me straight through to her boss. I just got his VM & left him a message. I hope this guy gets caught…I mean can you believe that?! Lesson learned? There are a lot of crooks out there so be careful what you buy in to!!

And by the way, can I just say that you can find almost ANYTHING on Google. :)

Go dad!!!!!

2008-10-30T12:46:00.002-05:00

One of my dad's photographs was selected to be on the COVER of the new "Capture Arkansas" coffee table book!!!!!!!!! I'm so proud of him!!!!

You can see the book here:

http://www.capturearkansas.com/

We are traveling to Little Rock with him Saturday to attend the unveiling of the book. I'm really excited for him - it's a huge honor!

Camping

2008-10-28T19:13:00.002-05:00

Well, our camping trip went great last weekend!! Jeff, I and my dad left Friday around 4:30 & didn't get home until Sunday night around 8:30. Talk about exhausted!!! But it was well worth it. We ate great food, saw gorgeous scenery, and shared plenty of laughs. Friday night was pretty cold, but Jeff built us a fire & we just sat around & talked. Saturday & Sunday were both spent hiking along Richland Creek (about an hour east of Jasper). On our way back to camp Saturday, we met Tom Kennon (a local celebrity of sorts). He has written a couple of canoeing guide books to the Ozarks. In fact, we have one of them sitting in our collection & it's one of Jeff's favorites! It was pretty cool to meet this guy. He was very down to earth (he & my dad could have talked photography for hours) & seemed reluctant to even tell us his full name. It was a very cool encounter - in the middle of the woods of all things!! Such a small world.

Sunday, on our way home our trailer began to fish tail out of control (thankfully on a dirt road so we were traveling slowly). We got out to look at it & the trailer tongue had come apart (it was an Uncle James "homemade special" LOL). SO - we had to make-shift it back together enough to pull it to someone's house & leave it until my dad & uncle could get back the next day to repair it. It took us so long to get it fixed enough to pull to someone's house that we just headed to Jasper after that for dinner at...? You guessed it - The Ozark Cafe!!!! HA! 2 Saturdays in a row!!! I love it!

It was a really great trip - too many stories to tell them all. My camera batteries were dead so I didn't get any pictures though. Hopefully my dad will e-mail me some & I can add them later :0)

Hiking

2008-10-21T12:23:00.006-05:00

Jeff and I had the wonderful privilege of going hiking together last Saturday!! I say 'privilege' because we do not get to do that often anymore. We went to the Buffalo river & started our hike up Indian Creek at Kyle's Landing. It was BEAUTIFUL!! We were trying to make it to the Eye of the Needle, but ran out of time (we got a late start in the day). But we still had so much fun & it was awesome to go just the two of us!! I loved it & can't wait to go back. On our way home, we stopped in Jasper & ate at the famous Ozark Cafe. Boy was is yummy as ever!! And the perfect way for two hungry Hickles to end the day :-) Here are some pics:

Mr. Frog

Can you see me?

This tree was really huge!! The picture doesn't do it justice. So cool.

The cutest little tree frog! Sorry it's blurry...he didn't want to 'pose'

And this weekend? CAMPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAHOO!

Family Fall Party!!!!

2008-10-21T11:59:00.004-05:00

Well, we had an awesome time at our family fall party!! The hayride was a BLAST! The food was awesome! The bonfire was so warm & cozy! And of course the smores...need I say more?

This is my cousin Jamie's Great Pyrenees puppy - his name is Max. I absolutely fell in love with this dog!!! I wish so bad that Jeff & I had a yard so we could get a dog. I know these dogs get huge, but they are soooooo incredibly sweet! And soft!! I could have taken him home in a minute!

He doesn't look like he's having fun...but trust me, he IS!!
My mom & auntie
Cuz

Crazy Uncle K
Gathering out by the bonfire!

Fall Fun!

2008-10-21T11:51:00.004-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, we went out to Jeff's parent's house for a fall bonfire. We had a great time taking lots of fall pictures!

Me & my momma

Below: Me & my momma-in-law. I really have to brag that I have THE BEST mother-in-law in the world! She always takes such good care of us & she is the easiest person to talk to & relate with. I just love her to pieces & it makes me so sad when I hear people talking about their "horrible in-laws". I'm very thankful for my fabulous extended family!

Edit

2008-10-17T14:50:00.001-05:00

Forgive me for my remarks on Obama in the previous post. I'm not a fan, but that doesn't mean I have to be tacky towards him.

Conviction.......

bla

2008-10-16T19:12:00.002-05:00

That's how I feel right now. Jeff & I have been really busy lately, and I haven't really felt like blogging. Actually, I should say Jeff has been really busy lately & I've been trying to keep myself the same way to keep from going crazy w/ loneliness. This school thing is proving itself to be quite the test of a marriage! He is never home anymore & THAT is hard. (Hence my Facebook status) I know it's getting to him too - he is just strung thin. But, as they say...this too shall pass!

Is anyone keeping up with this election stuff? I'm not very political, but man it's CRAZY!!! I will be so glad when it's over. I was watching the news the other night & Obama was on there - man is he cocky?!!! He acted like he has this election in the bag. He was talking about how good the chances were that he was going to be the next US President. Ugh, I hope his pride goes before his fall. Good grief. Enough about that. >:-(

Tomorrow we are going to a family fall party!! I am so stinkin excited I could do a jig LOL! Hayride, chili, bonfire, smores, YAHOO!!!! Bring it on! And Saturday? No definite plans yet, but hopefully getting out w/ my hubby to do some fall exploration! I'm looking forward to a good, restful, fun weekend! It does a body good.

I found MY camera!!!

2008-10-01T12:14:00.004-05:00

I'm not trying to hide 'anything'!! ;) Just haven't been able to find my camera lately. BUT I found it so here comes a picture post!

Last weekend, we went to a birthday party for my little cousin McKenly. Happy birthday Mac!

I didn't get very many pictures. Here's cuz Casey & her goofy Joshie Poo...he's not on drugs, I promise ;)

And Jeff & I

We love going out to my cousin Jamie's house - they have so many animals! It's like going to a petty zoo. They recently hatched some baby chicks & they were so cute I had to get a couple of pics

It's been really great living close to family again. In 2 weeks, we are having a family fall party complete with a hayride, bonfire, smores, and a big '0l pot 'o chili!!! I CAN'T WAIT!

And, in other news - I have to tell ya'll, my dog drama continues!! Only now, there are 3 of them - at 3 different houses!!!!! They all take turns driving me insane. I had to get up & close the window last night at 12:30 because something got them all riled up! So frustrating. I just know I'm going to be this crazy 90 year old woman who tells her grandkids the same story over & over about how she lost her mind that year the dogs wouldn't shut up!

Babysitting

2008-10-01T11:59:00.006-05:00

Jeff and I got to babysit little Logan for the first time Monday night! Thanks for leaving her w/ us Lindsey! We only watched her for a couple of hours, but we had a great time. I realized something - babies are a lot of work!! LOL! But it was worth it. I fed her, burped her, AND changed her diaper. Jeff was so hands on - he held her & showed her the fish tank & other stuff. What great practice for us!! I can't believe how big she's getting...and SOOO stinkin cute!

She's now big enough to sit in her bumbo. Look adem cheeks!! :)

It was nearly impossible to get a good picture - she wouldn't look at the camera OR hold still!

There's a smile!!!

Come stay with us again soon Logan!!!!!

Saturday

2008-09-28T17:28:00.002-05:00

Admission to the Tulsa zoo = $8.00

Dinner for two at Emperor's Buffet = $18.00

1 slice of strawberry cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory = $7.00

An entire, uninterrupted Saturday with my husband?! = PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!!

It was the best! And boy was it needed!! :0) Unfortunately, I can't find my camera right now, so I did not get a single picture of the day. Oh well...we'll cherish the memories in our hearts!!!

Time to exercise!!

2008-09-25T20:57:00.003-05:00

I just finished a hard 20 minute workout (working up to 30). I HAVE GOT to get back in shape and it starts NOW. Since I graduated college nearly 4 years ago, I have become a desk junkie. I've put on a good 15 pounds (NOT that I'm overweight) and have become so out of shape. It's ridiculous. When I was in school, I probably walked 5 miles a day just going to and from class!! And when we were dating, Jeff and I used to be SOOO active. But, I need to face the fact that my life is just different now. My schedule is different, my lifestyle is different, my eating habits are different. Everything is different. So I need a new program!! And, I figure if I blog about it, maybe it will make me more accountable to stick to my new program! Ya'll - hold me accountable, will ya? 30 minutes everyday...at least 5 days a week. And None of this pansy stuff either...I'm talking I wanna sweat! I wanna hurt! I wanna feel my face get red! I wanna taste the salt dripping into my mouth! I wanna burn!!!!!

Ok, maybe not that dramatic - but you get the idea!!! ;)

Updates

2008-09-23T11:35:00.002-05:00

Well, I ended up calling the police Friday night at 11:30 PM. I could not take it anymore. The last 2 weeks have been too long & too tiring. So far, I haven't heard the dog anymore! PTL. I heard about 4 barks out of him last night, but then he quit. Strange. But I'll take it!! Of course, at the same time, it's been too hot to open our windows at night, so that may contribute to it as well...we'll see!

Jeff & I did go on that date a couple Fridays ago, but it certainly did NOT go as planned! He ended up getting locked in at work - someone shut the gate & locked it so no one could drive out. AND - in a strange twist of bad luck, the AT&T network went down at the same time so they could not call for help. He finally made it home about 7:30 pm & we finally made it to dinner around 8. Just buffet - we were starved. :)

My stepmom started chemo the past Friday. She did good Friday & Saturday & fairly well Sunday. Monday she felt pretty lousy though & I'm not sure about today. My sis is here from Seattle to stay with her for a month which is GREAT!! She's a huge help.

Jeff's stepdad was admitted to the hospital last night with a blood clot in his lungs. He's in a lot of pain & they are running lots of test on him. Please pray for him.

I have pictures to share as soon as I can find some time to upload them. Can I buy a few more hours each day please? Seriously, I'll pay good money for it!!!! ;)

Thou shalt not shoot thy neighbor’s dog…?

2008-09-19T10:23:00.001-05:00

Those of you who know me, know that I am true animal lover. Most of the time I have more compassion for animals than I do for people (as terrible as that sounds). I especially love dogs. Just 2 days ago we had a beautiful Siberian husky wondering up & down our street – she was lost. I gained her trust, coaxed her to me & fed her some lunch meat. She was so skinny. I would have kept her in a heart beat had she stayed. But, she was on a grave mission to find home so on her way she went. SEE…I really do like animals!

SO, two weeks ago it began. The barking. ALL night barking. Not just a woof woof here & a woof woof there. Hours and hours and hours of barking…3 houses down, on the street that runs behind our house. I don’t know if new renters moved in, or if they just bought a new family pet, but the barking will not stop. Literally, it is the LAST thing I hear before I finally fall asleep at night, and the FIRST thing I hear when I get up in the morning. Oh, the insanity. To make matters worse, Jeff and I are pretty frugal. With the cooler nights here, we’d love to open our windows & let the house cool naturally. But we can’t. WHY? BECAUSE OF THE BARKING. The all night, constant, unending, everlasting barking. I think it may be starting to drive me over the edge just a little bit. I’m not sure I have ever wanted to physically hurt a dog like I do this one. That scares me a tad. What should we do? My coworker suggested shooting it with an air gun. I must confess that the ‘sinner’ in me really liked that thought for a moment. But I won’t do that. I’ve thought about calling the police, but I don’t want to and think that should be a last resort. As it is now, we can’t open our widows & we have to turn our fan on high to drown out the noise just enough to sleep. And dang it, I feel like I should be able to open my windows in peace at night, right?? Oi Vey.

Has anyone else had to deal w/ this problem??

Friday!!!!

2008-09-12T09:26:00.004-05:00

Poor Jeff has been home so late every night this week. I mean, 9:00, 10:00, 1:30 am - it is crazy!!!! And he's up before the sun each morning to do it all again. He has actually MAXED out his hours (not by choice) that the U of A will allow him to work! The poor guy has worked like a dog this week & I feel for him. I think I'm going to enforce mandatory "down time" this weekend ;) But - the good news is that he has assured me he will be home early tonight and we are going on a date!!!! A date??! Yes, a date!!!! I'm so excited, I just might do a cartwheel!

Happy Friday!!

Family fun

2008-09-09T12:43:00.004-05:00

We got together at Jeff's parent's house this weekend to celebrate his birthday! We had a great time & some great food!! A big thank you to Jeff's parents for all their hard work! :)

Jeff & I

My mom & I

My dad & stepmom.

Please continue to pray for Louise. She is going to have 4 months of chemo, followed by a mastectomy, followed by 6 more months of chemo.

And of course, what's a party for Jeff without a couple of good critter finds!!? He caught 2 snakes while we were there. This first one was teeny tiny! About the size of an earthworm.

Back 2 School!!

2008-09-09T12:36:00.004-05:00

Jeff started back to school a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunatley, the summer had to end sometime :( We really enjoyed our summer together - it was probably the funnest one we've had since we've been married simply because we got to spend our weekends together! To soften the blow of going back to school, I put together a little survival kit for Jeff. It was filled with goodies such as Snickers, fruit snacks, trail mix, M&Ms, a movie, etc. I thought it turned out cute:

Last week, Jeff went on a field trip with the Bio Eng dept to Memphis/Stuttgart/Little Rock to tour some environmental companies. He learned a lot about bio fuels, bio-technology & hopefully got some possible job leads!!

Poor fella

2008-09-03T11:43:00.009-05:00

So, the other day I noticed a dark shadow at the base of our stairs as I started to go up. Thought little of it & continued with my day. Well that night it caught my eye again so I looked down & what do I find............?

A DEAD CRAWDAD!!!!!!

Yes, Mr. Crawdad succumbed to his death when he managed to pry the fish tank lid open & crawl across the living room! He made quite a long journey - notice the tank on the left. If you look closely, you can see the small shadow at the bottom of the staircase...that's him. I have to give him props for trying the brutal escape.

R.I.P. Mr. Crawdad!

(Only in the Hickle house, right? LOL)

Happy Birthday Jeff!!

2008-08-29T11:26:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Jeeeeeeeeeeff ...... HAPPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!

Jeff's birthday is tomorrow!!! Everyone wish him a GREAT day!!!

(jphickle@gmail.com)

Awesome dinner dish!

2008-08-27T12:05:00.004-05:00

Jeff and I have a small garden this year, and we are LOVING it!! We have Roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and green pepper plants. We also have a small oregano garden, but next year we are going to try to expand it all. Lately, we've been getting all kinds of garden fresh veggies from co-workers, parents, etc, so I decided to make the Pampered Chef Garden Pizza for dinner. Have you had it? If not, you MUST!!! (even if you use store bought ingredients, it's still D-lish) I will gladly share the recipe.

THE GARDEN:

THE VEGGIES:

THE HERBS (from my mother-in-law's garden):

THE PIZZA!!!!

This one is going on my favorite's list! I love summer time!!

Hard times & God's blessings

2008-08-19T11:34:00.004-05:00

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul...

Words from one of my favorite hymns. For some reason, our family seems to be surrounded with difficulty right now. It started when my mom got the news about her kidneys & it has continued to snowball. She wrecked her car last week & is now facing a lot of financial strain on top of her health burden. My heart also aches for my step-mom who just found out she likely has breast cancer. For those of you who don't know my step-mom, she is a remarkable woman and I know she is understandably very anxious right now. She means the world to me, and I can't imagine life without her. Please pray for her - her name is Louise. To add to it, yesterday I got a call from my dad that my uncle (who we are very close to) while in surgery for his shoulder went into cardiac arrest on the table. They had to bring him back twice. Unbeknownst to him, he has a heart condition and we're not sure yet how serious it is. Also yesterday, my dad witnessed an absolutely horrific automobile accident scene in the early morning hours before work. A young man was on his way to work when his truck missed a curve, went over a bridge & landed on top of him. He was 21, had a wife and a baby. He did not survive. I can't imagine what his wife is going through right now, but I am praying for her & that little baby. And lastly, today I got word that my dear Sunday school teacher, Mrs. Emma, who I've known practically all my life went to be with Jesus this morning. My heart grieves for her and her family.

I write all this to say - mainly for my own benefit - that even in difficult times, I know that God is faithful. His hand is over time...money...health...sorrow and grief. He knows the good & the bad. He is our source of comfort and strength. I praise Him for who he is. I don't tell people enough about His goodness - for that I ask forgiveness. Jeff and I have been incredibly blessed in so many ways that it would take pages to tell them all. So I just want to say what an awesome God we serve.

Lil Logan

2008-08-11T12:19:00.007-05:00

What a doll baby lil Logan is!! She is 2 months old now & I'm so glad she's right next door - I could just sit & hold her and squeeze her all the time! :0) Saturday, Jeff and I went over for a game of Fast Scrabble with some other couples. Since the Olympics were on, and there was a sweet lil puddin to be held...I opted out of the Scrabble game. After her bath, Logan & I watch the Olympics. Go Phelps!!!!

Bath time baby!!

Hangin Out - look at dem cheeks!

I guess Phelps' victory was too much for her. She's zonked out!

Turtle time!!

2008-08-04T16:06:00.005-05:00

I keep forgetting to take my camera with us on the weekends when we do something fun, so I'm posting some turtle pictures since that's all I got! Jeff and I are slowly trying to conform the world into becoming "turtle rescuers" just like us! LOL! Well, we have finally won over my dad. He was on the way to church yesterday when he found a turtle crossing the street & pulled over to the rescue!!! This wasn't just any turtle - my dad found the BIGGEST box turtle any of us have ever seen!! We took some pictures, but it doesn't do it justice really. This guy is a monster! I doubt we'll keep him. Who knows how old he is, but he must be very old.

We put him next to another turtle for comparison

Finally! I got the video

2008-07-30T19:17:00.003-05:00

This is a video from my cousin's wedding back in May. I've been trying to upload it for forever & finally figured it out!! She took the song from the Wedding Singer & rewrote it for her hubby. It was sooooooo sweet! This is thier first dance together. Awwwww...

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Meet Adriel!!!

2008-07-23T19:38:00.005-05:00

We got to babysit for our friends Jason & Shannon (see "the Dunk family" on the right) last night while they went to see The Dark Knight. Thier daughter Adriel is 14 months old & is one of the COOLEST kids we know!!! She is just the sweetest thing - and so smart! We had such a great time with her...playing, talking, reading books, eating. Totally cracked us up the whole night. Man, she makes me want a kid! :0)

These pics were taken a few weeks ago...

Isn't she precious!!!!!

fishin w/ cuz cuz

2008-07-22T17:12:00.005-05:00

Fortunately, Jeff and I have had a chance to go to the creek nearly every weekend this summer!! When he worked at ARVEST, we hardly ever got to do stuff on Saturdays because he worked so many. Now, for the first time in our marriage, we have been able to take full advantage of our weekends!! We have been 4-wheeler riding, canoeing, and fishin like crazy!! (well, he mainly fishes while I lay out lol) 2 weeks ago, we went fishin w/ Casey & Ethan. Thanks for hangin w/ us Cuz! :)

My mom

2008-07-16T07:40:00.002-05:00

I wanted to let everyone know that my mom got a fairly good report from the Dr yesterday! Her kidneys HAVE begun to shut down, but they caught it in the very early stages which is good. The damage that has been done cannot be repaired, but if she chooses, she can prevent any more damage from being done! Right now they are functioning at about 65%. 35% is when it gets bad. So that was somewhat encouraging. The issues are strictly due to diabetes & high blood pressure, so she has to get that under control & start exercising!! Pray that she will do it. I don't know if this has really motivated her or not. Thanks for all your prayers & thoughts. I praise God that it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

On another note, Jeff has water-logged his cell phone! He forgot it in his pocket when we went to the creek the other day & it got soaked. It kind of works, but he can't hear anybody on it. It's very strange having a one way conversation :) Hopefully he will get his new phone today...it's amazing how dependent you become on those things!

Kitty!!!

2008-07-11T12:10:00.004-05:00

My mom came over Monday night & we all went walking. We were walkin along & came to this house with all these ADORABLE kittens in the driveway - I just had to pet one!! They were all so skittish except this one. He came right up to me & just rubbed all over me. I petted him for a while & then got up to leave. He followed. I reached down patted his head, walked away again, and he followed. We all stopped again & he then proceeded to JUMP clear up onto my mom's SHOULDERS!!!! This is where he happily sat purring! It was sooooo funny! I said either you're taking this cat home, or I am!! Needless to say - my mom now has a new pet :) Meet Rascal Hoch -

Mom liked the name Rascal because he's such a spoiled stinker! Hoch is a German word for jump/hop (he's good at that - I have plenty of holes in my shirt to prove it). Really, he is the most lovable cat I have ever seen in my life!!!!!! He LOVES to be held. Constantly. He's not interested in playing like most kittens - he is just a lover!!!! LOL!

If you think about it, please pray for my mom! She recently found out her kidneys are shutting down due to diabetes. She goes in next week to get all her test results.

(And btw, we didn't steel Rascal ;) The owners told us to take him. They just had another litter of 8 more the previous day!!! )

Shout out to my hubby!!

2008-07-09T13:47:00.004-05:00

This is where Jeff works!!!!!!!!! The company, BlueInGreen, was on the news last night. It's amazing technology - if you can see the video, Jeff is the one who prepared the water & ozone system for the news conference yesterday. And I helped :)

http://www.4029tv.com/news/16824544/detail.html

What's funny, is that they are trying this technology at the Springdale Waste Water plant where my dad is the plant manager. So he & Jeff have been working together A LOT lately!

Baby Logan

2008-07-09T09:17:00.005-05:00

Tis the season for babies!!! It seems nearly everyone we know now has a baby or is pregnant with one. Will there be a little Hicklet coming soon?? The Lord willing, we are still going to wait until Jeff finishes school, but in the meantime we are having oodles of fun playing with all the little ones around us! Recently, our next door neighbors & really good friends Clay & Lindsey just had a preciouse little baby girl! They named her Logan Elyse. Since Lindsey had to have a C-section, she has needed lot of help recovering as she also has a 14 month old baby boy as well! I have been over after work several evenings to help Lindsey do whatever she needs done - even changing the dirty diapers!! :) It has been GREAT exposure for me, being around two infants. Thanks for letting me help you Lindsey!! Here's baby Logan:

Jeff took to her very naturally! He is going to be such a GREAT father!!! :)