I want 20 wedding dresses

We have been wedding dress shopping for the bestie's wedding dress and I have to say I am slightly jealous. Okay. I am really jealous. The dress shopping was my favorite part. I could have visited every bridal store in the south.


In fact I love my dress so much I wore it for a "southern" photo shoot and I plan to wear it in at least one more. Sorry, there is about to be a photo dump. Here are pictures from the wedding day...

I did not want to take it off. I do not understand how people have reception dresses. My plan was to stay in this dress until I absolutely had to take it off.  Which is why I put it on again for this photo shoot... 

Why can't we wear wedding dresses every day? 

The easiest mac and cheese

I know you guys cannot wait for me to spill the Thanksgiving fun that occurred at the Hermann/Castleberry households. I am going to keep it very brief, because Saturday AM I thought I had manly muscles and lifted a box that weighed a ton. That resulting in my back muscles pulling. This post is fueled by wine and maybe a 303 pill. This should go swimmingly.

Me and sissy Anna!

So Thursday we woke up and made amazing mac and cheese for my family's dinner. It was seriously the easiest and we made it in the crockpot. I forgot to take pictures but here is the recipe.
16 ounces elbow pasta
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs beaten
1 can (12oz) evaporated milk
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cheddar soup
1 cup 2% milk
1/8 teaspoon paprika (I left this out)
*Cook the macaroni and drain it. Put it in the crockpot and pour butter on top. Mix all the other ingredients in a bowl and pour them in the crockpot. Stir it all in and let cook for 4 hours, stirring occasionally. YUM.

We went to my gradmother's house and had lunch there. It was pretty low key. No drama, just people in every corner mapping out Black-Friday strategies. I passed on that fun. We then rushed home and through on rolls for his family dinner. My A.D.D kicked in and video games and youTube cause us to burn the only rolls I had prepared. Oops. I swear I can never smoothly prepare for any of his family get togethers. We ended up going to the store and getting the last brown-n-serve rolls they had. Sorry I suck Hermann family, sorry I suck.

We then went to mom's where our little show horse decided to come down with a case of lamnitis, which could potentially put him out of work forever. It can even kill him. We caught it early and took turns cold hosing his sore legs.

Sissy Sara came home to take care of him because he is her baby and it looks like she may be staying. Thank God. My mom was worrying herself to death. Let's hope she stays home where she belongs. By the end of the night she seemed more like herself. We watched movies and looked at cows ( yes, cows) for the farm up here. Two cattle farms will be interesting. I am excited though. Ranching is what hubs loves to do and dad really seems to want to add another herd. 

All in and all it was a peaceful Thanksgiving. Now to to kick it into gear for Christmas!

A weekend in crap kickers

I spent my weekend on the farm in shiz kickers. Those are cowboy boots for those of you who aren't up on the country girl lingo. I spent the weekend petting cows, loving my farmer husband, laughing with my sister, and hanging out with my farmer dad. I am still in a state of bliss and will be for a few days. 

Ya'll wanna take a mini vacay to the farm? Okay, turn on some country music, close out the world, look at these photos and pretend you are there. 

My lovely hammock that dad hung over a ledge. Once your in, you don't move.

The courthouse in town. Town is 20 minutes from us. 

One of my favorite cows. She needs to be a cow model. 

Daddy bailing hay!

Dad's tractor has AC and a stereo... farming is hard. 

No explanation needed. 

The rake looks really cool! 

My hot farmer. 

My favorite crap kickers ever. Thank you hubby!

The hay field with the hills behind it. 

Hard at work? Hardly working? You decide.

The 100+ year old barn.

That tree makes our car look tiny

Again with the view 

So that was my weekend! 

When I grow up...

When I grow old I want to be like my parents' future neighbor. This woman is a southern bell through and through. She is a tobacco heiress and comes from a great family. She is sassy as all get out and very outspoken. I haven't met her, I have just heard stories and I already love her. 

Here is the conversation that my mama had with her the second time she met her... 

Mama: "The couple that lives in the house I am buying, they are older. Correct?"

Ms. Tobacco Heiress: "Lord no honey! They are about my age." 

(Mama said the woman is like 77ish) 

I love how she still sees herself as a young woman. She still gets all dolled up and everything. How cute is that? I will never complain about getting older again, because if mid 70s isn't old, then I am a baby!

Next gem from the lovely lady....

Okay so some how they were talking about how we have a cattle farm in south Georgia. Apparently, Ms. Tobacco Heiress loves cows! Her family always had horses and cows too. 

Anyways... They were talking about our herds and the breeds and the bulls and she says at some part, "Well  honey our cows are bred better than some of the family." 

Haha... okay for those of you who aren't southern bred, your family name is everything in the old South. . That is how connections are made. If your family is wild and steals and gets in trouble with the police, you aren't going to get far in some social circles.

I have just never heard it quite like this little southern bell says it. I will have to remember that when one of my rowdy cousins decides to ask why I tend to avoid them. (Not to sound snotty, but some of my cousins have very questionable morals.)

I am lazy.

Photo by: Captured Moments- Anna
My Wreck the Dress photos in the hay field at the farm. 

So I am not really lazy but after a weekend at the farm I am so bad! My first thought this morning was " why cant I be the farmer's wife today too?" Seriously, not to brag... okay I am bragging... My weekend was amazing! What does a girl do at the farm all day, you ask? Here's what ya do when playing the hobby farmer's wife. Well,  technically since dad owns it and is there too I am also playing the farmer's daughter. anyways here's the schedule....

8:00- Wake up, make my way to the front porch and watch the fish and turtles play in the river. 

8:30- Shower- throw on my most comfy jeans and tank top, those almost unacceptable for public wear.

8:45- Make the hubby yummy breakfast or just let him pick up yummy biscuits from the lady in town who makes the biscuits that I am convinced will be served in Heaven. 

9:00- Eat breakfast while watching my favorite scenery. I usually choose the river but the cows aren't bad to watch either. 

10-1ish - Drive around on the gator or 4 wheeler and check fence lines and cows. If I find any issues I tell the hubby and dad because fixing fences is hard and I am sure I would just mess things up.  

1-2ish- Attempt to pet and love on all the cows that will let me touch them. Run from the ones that look angry. 

2-3ish- NAP- I like choose the back of a four wheeler under the huge oak or pecan trees but in the hammock over the river is not bad. Getting into the hammock is a challenge though. It hangs over a cliff so you basically have to jump and pray you don't land in the river below.  

3-5ish- Find the men and watch them work while discussing all the stuff  I've accomplished today. 

6-10ish make dinner find a movie, book or campfire

Then I sleep and do it all again the next day!!! I love the farm!!! That is why on Monday I am pretty much worthless and every customer who comes in contact me must think they have stumbled into the DMV. I can feel myself shooting daggers for asking me to work. I am not mean to them, just a little slow checking them out. Oh well, people around here need to slow the heck down anyways! Maybe they all need a farm weekend, just not at our farm... that's my haven. 

The house that built me

One of our sweet cows

So two weeks ago we ventured to the farm. It had been a year. I always claim I am to busy, but the truth is I hate leaving. Every time Sunday rolls around and it is time to head this way I get sad. Then Monday rolls around and I am angry. It's just easier to skip the emotional roller coaster.
After this trip I had decided it's going to have to be a bi-monthly trip for my sanity. This trip we went to cut hay. The second we pulled onto the property childhood memories came flooding back. My cellphone lost service. I started to decompress. Peace moved in and I was exhausted. I sat around talking to mama and daddy about our tasks for the weekend and then we hit the beds.

The tree looks tiny here, but it is huge!

We woke up, OK Nerd  (the hubs)  woke up, before dawn and got on the tractor. He is sexy in farmer mode. Something about a man, doing man things.  Off track... so,  later that morning mama went to town and got biscuits. This woman in town makes the best biscuits you will ever put in your mouth. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. By the way the closest "town" is a gas station, an antique store, and a propane company. Quaint, huh? After breakfast we spent the day shopping in the closest "big" town, where you can get some killer deals. I got 4 shirts and a dress for 40 bucks! The people down here are so friendly so when you go shopping its everyone shopping together, helping one another. Town is 30 minutes from our place and that's how it is for a lot of people, so Saturdays are typically shopping days and you can pick up on all the local gossip. It's entertaining to say the least.

View from the back of the cabin

When we got back we checked on the boys and my amazing sissy banana took my wreck the dress photos and we played with the cows and hay and atv in my wedding dress. I loved my photos. To be fourteen she already has such a talent already. After photos we made dinner. Spaghetti and garlic bread. Yum.  Food and sleep are better down there. I swear. We target practiced with my new gun and then hit the hay! Farm play is exhausting.

The next day we woke up and the boys hit the fields again. Anna and I lounged at the river and she swam. There are too many snakes for me but
to each their own. I ended the day by sleeping under the biggest oak tree I have ever seen on the back of a four wheeler and waking occasionally when a cow bumped me, to read Gone With the Wind. Perfect weekend? I think so. This folks is why I never want to leave once I get there. I hope you all have a piece of Heaven on Earth, I just hope you guys are as stupid as I am. Don't ignore those things that make you happy like I tend to do. Embrace them.