Etowah Indian Mounds

Things around here have changed. Chris having every weekend off means a lot of time that we aren't used to. At first we were like "oh we will have plenty of activities to fill our schedule." Now, we are like "we have got to find things to do before we strangle each other go crazy."

This past weekend we got in the car and just drove northwest. We literally picked a random direction and drove. We ended up in Cartersville, GA at the Etowah Indian Mounds.

They were breathtaking. I had driven past some other Indian mounds here in Georgia before and always thought they were cool but I had never visited them. We walked through the museum and watched a quick demo on Native American tools and games. It was all really cool. Then we headed over to the mounds.

The mounds look like a pyramid minus the top. It is huge when you are standing next to it. It was a climb up those mounds but the view was amazing. You could see forever and there were butterflies playing in the field below every where! I felt like we were in a movie.  After our trip to the top we walked down to the river to relax and watch the geese. I cannot explain the feeling there. I don't know if it was because I was baptized in that river ( a little farther down) or if it was because of history there but I felt so at peace and so close to God. It was amazing.

We finished it up the trip with a walk along the nature trail. I have decided my butt needs to get in shape. Chris didn't even break a sweat... the same cannot be said for me. Haha.

So this was adventure #1. You can find more information about the mounds and the village that was in this area here. We have so much planned in the upcoming weeks so stay tuned!

- Mal

I'm so fancy

Yesterday it was a Monday. So much so that I woke up this AM and went I never finished my weekend Re-Cap. Oops.

This weekend we decided to be anti-social. Sometimes we really just need a weekend with just the two of us. To reconnect and enjoy each other without interruptions from the rest of the World. So we told the friends and fam sorry catch you next week!

Saturday we decided we both needed new church clothes. I LOVE dress shopping. I rarely get to dress girly. I work in the automotive field with 20 guys so it is usually jeans and a cute shirt or yoga pants and tank tops or t shirts. Then on the weekends I am in riding attire.

Seriously, this is typical attire.

We went to his manly store first. I will not name names because it was a horrible experience. We told the consultant we needed nice but casual. CASUAL. The man comes out with sports jackets and blazers and ties. Nope. He finally brought out  some nice choices that fit our needs and Chris looked pretty snazzy. He never told us prices though. He just kept saying they are all buy one get one. This is my fault I probably should have demanded he be more upfront but I thought " BOGO... It can't be that bad."

Wrong. Four pants and four shirts later we are at $700.00. That is after the BOGO. Keep in mind, we are not buying tuxedos or even suits. This is khakis and polos and button ups. WTH? Then the guy gives us all the wrong sizes to take home. Needless, to say Chris didn't get church clothes from there.

My shopping experience was much better. Marshall's 4 dresses... $75.00. That is how it's done folks! I would post pictures but I think you guys will have to wait for some OOTD posts.

After that we went to hit the antique stores. If you know us you know my husband is a hardcore nerd/history buff. If it happened before 1930 he can tell you all about it. He has also always dreamed of a library full of old books. One of the antique stores we went into he zigged left and I zagged right. Right into his version of heaven.  There were floor to ceiling shelves with the oldest books I have EVER seen.


I quickly grabbed Chris and sat back and smiled as he poured over all the books. He is so cute in his element.

Bottom Left: 1695! It was gorgeous. 

I admit I was amazed by some of them. Some of them were dated 1695... 1770 (complete with a Preface letter to the KING!) and 1640. Some of them were medical books from the 1800's. There were first editions from pretty much everyone including Twain and a few others. They all had prices like $375...$700...$5000. Yes, for the amount I could buy a new horse my hubby can buy a book. But I admit,  I felt fancy in that old book collection. I just needed brandy and pearls. Maybe I will let him convert the basement into his dream library and when I want to feel fancy I will grab brandy and pearls and retire to a fainting sofa to read.

Breaking point...

As of Friday I had reached the breaking point. Admit it ... We all have one. Don't pretend you don't.
Mine just happens to be really ugly. REALLY, REALLY ugly.

Chris asked me why I dispatched a customer request the way I did and I came unglued. I am talking screaming, cursing, psychotic.

A coworker told me to smile. I told him to make me. (I swear I am 5).

Anyways, this weekend was much needed.

Saturday, I went to a women's church group meeting and then had dinner with the hubs and his grandparents. He treated me to chinese food even though I was a crazy lady.

Sunday, We went to Mass and then a church potluck dinner. After the potluck we went to a birthday party for our Godson. They had zoo animal cupcakes! I should have taken pictures, but I made myself not think about this week, which meant not thinking about work, the blog, working out... so no pictures.

After the birthday party Chris spoiled me and bought me new running shoes. I love that man. He just ordered take out so I don't have to cook. Sorry ladies, he does not have a brother.

A beautiful weekend...

Ahhh, the weekend. 

I did absolutely nothing and I am not sorry. 

I got the award for being lazy this weekend. 

Seriously. 

Okay, lets start at Saturday. 

I slept until .... let's just say really late. 

I woke up and got dressed in my lazy girl jeans and headed to the barn. 

I didn't even muster up the energy to ride, y'all. How sad is that?

I spent the day watching training horses, snuggling with Soul and helping the kids bathe their horses after their rides. I was content with the coldest bottle of water, the breeze blowing and sun and sand. I pretended I was tanning at the beach. 

I came home from the barn and soaked in the tub and then decided to take a nap. 

See how productive this weekend is turning out to be so far? 

I get lazier if you can believe it. 

Sunday, I slept late again. 

I worked on making a new "It Works" binder for all of my client sheets. 

(shameless plug: newyouwithmallory.myitworks.com) 

I napped again. 

And finally decided to drag myself to the grocery store to buy wine and cookies. 

It was the perfect weekend. Perfect. I hope to do it again in 5 days! 

Ps- If you want to tighten tone and firm, check out my It Works website. If you are interested in becoming a distributor email me! 

I am back!

Hey guys, I am back. Sorry, but last week was insane.

I had a board meeting for a horse show that I volunteer for. It was bad news all the way around. We are down in volunteers and donations. This show supports the local Special Olympics so it is heart breaking. I guess it means I just need to work harder. If you would like to make a donation please email me.

Then my great-aunt passed away suddenly. I had to work and her funeral was out of town so I didn't get to attend. I just sent up prayers for her family.

Then a police officer we know was shot twice. He is okay, but can you say stressful week?!

The weekend was a little better. Hubs went on a church retreat and while he was gone, I played.

Saturday I taught a riding lesson or two. Then I groomed one of older western horses. He got clipped (when we shave their whiskers) and bathed and then we went for a walk through the grass so he could graze and dry in the sun.

Around 2 pm board members for the horse club began showing up and it was show time. I threw on a western saddle (I typically ride English) and we did a quick demo on a new equestrian sport known as Western Dressage. It felt good to go back to my western riding roots. Toby was excellent and loved showing off. It was tons of fun and I really hope this sport takes off.

After that I rushed off to mom's and we went to a "It works" party.  The party was a blast, we wrapped our bodies grabbed some  water and chatted and looked at the different products while we waited. Then we got our results. I lost 1/2 an inch and can't wait to see how much more I lose in the next 72 hours. Mom lost an inch! She is blessed with a hot bod anyways.

Sunday, I had went to mom's to visit the horses and hangout on the sun porch with the fam. It was cold so we stayed huddled under quilts but it was cozy. Mom and dad adopted a beagle/bassett mix that was severely abused and for the first time in 3 months he let me touch him without being afraid of me. He even let me hold him. That was a huge breakthrough for the little guy.

 

It was a perfect weekend of horses, puppies and family.

Weekend, horses, diet, me

Dear weekend, Last weekend was spent working super late hours, so this weekend I plan on staying in bed, blogging and playing with my puppies. It is supposed to be super cold, so this plan is sounding better and better.

- Lazy as hell

Dear horses, I have had blast this week. Re-training you little ones, working with the more experienced ones and snuggling with my retired one. This week has reminded me why I put in the hours in the cold weather and rain. 

- Horse crazy

Dear diet, three pounds from our goal and we are stalling. And the weight loss coach gets mean when we are at a standstill. Seriously, can we just lose the 3 pounds so I can stabilize and finish the program? 

- Frustrated

Dear me, I am proud of you. You have kept up with the diet, 2 bible studies, financial boot camp and a solid riding program. Where did this new driven you come from? 

- Focused lady

 

Friday Letters

Dear Friday Letters,
It has been awhile and I have kinda missed you. Your a great way to re-cap my week and my feelings.

Dear Cold Weather,
Brrr.... You do not make riding very fun. I hate feeling like an ice cube when I get done training. Not cool. There is a reason I live in the south and that reason is not the cold.

Dear Soul,
Ow. I understand you were frustrated because we were learning something new, but you didn't need to pull my arms out of socket. Seriously, my arms are on fire today.

Don't let that sweet face fool you. He was rotten last night, but it was still a blast. 

Dear weekend,

I am going to party like I'm 80. Comfort food and nap times galore. Do not throw any wrenches into that plan, okay?

Dear readers, 

Thank you for being here and while you are here join the giveaway! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Weekend re-cap

I did it! This is the first layout I did all by my lonesome. I am actually finally happy with it. I hope you guys like it too.

Moving on... Today has been crazy stressful. Work is insane because we only are taking Thursday off. Chris wasn't scheduled to be off but dad said it would be okay since we will be so slow. Thank God. Thanksgiving is usually hurried because we are technically on call. I think this will be a nice treat.

Speaking of nice treats... If you follow me on Instagram you might have seen this little beauty.

 

That is right, no more raking for me! I was so excited, then we put it together. After about eh.... 15 30 minutes my arms were killing me. I thought this was supposed to make it easier! It cut the time in half but my arms are aching today. I need to get to the gym or something... yeah, right. Anyways, I did tell hubby this is the one time I will be just excited as he is about power tools. Is a leaf blower a power tool?

Another adventure of the weekend... I tried to paint. By myself. With no painters tape. Let's all take a moment to absorb that.... as you can guess it was a disaster. We started like this:

 

All nice and neat and ready to go! Shortly after that, I had paint in my hair, on my hands, on the floor (it wiped up!), on the trim (also wipe-able) and even on my feet. I had rags with paint on them every where. I still painted one whole wall before giving up though. My final straw? One of the paint brushes fell into the paint tray and I proceeded to roll it with paint. At that moment, I decided painting just isn't my gig. I will stick to bossing around tow trucks and riding horses thank you very much. 

Another dog? Am I crazy?

Dear Starbucks fatass Venti peppermint mocha frap, 
You have no idea how loved and needed. I am hyper beyond words. This is the first peppermint mocha of the day. This has made my Friday.

Dear office, 
I am going to attempt to paint you by myself this weekend. BY MYSELF. I just hope your pretty hardwoods don't end up "Rushing Stream Blue". Heck, I hope I don't end up "Rushing Stream Blue."

Dear Riley and Lacey-Lou, 
So, mommy has that itch. You know that "another dog needs me" itch. I have looked at a few, and I am thinking pit. They need so much help. There are two in particular that I feel drawn too, but it's completely up too you guys. Do you want a brother or sister?

 

 

 Dear weekend, 
I plan on being productive. Don't ruin it. Don't tempt me with your lazy lull, shopping ect. It's not going to happen. I need to paint and clean and blog.

Dear OCD, 
You have been slacking. Normally, I go crazy when things are misplaced or dirty. This week the place has gotten out of hand and you haven't kicked in at all. Is it my new meds or am I just that lazy this week?

Dear menu, 
You rocked this week. Flavor-wise not calorie-wise. chicken philly with ranch bacon fries? Yes please. Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes? Yum... Let's keep up the creativity.

Dear bloggy lovelies, 
So I am thinking about changing it up again. Is it too soon since my last switch up? What do ya'll think? Any pointers or tips? 

PS the blog is a mess. Sorry I am switching it up 

Something smells like a wet dog

This weekend I started out cranky. I hate Eve. Once a month I wonder what the hell that woman was thinking. My poor husband probably hates her too, because this weekend there were a few times I caught myself stepping into psycho. Fo' Realz. 

Chris spent the morning cutting grass while I pouted over nothing got dressed and stomped around started the laundry. When he finished he managed to get my cranky rump in the car and we headed to Dock Dogs. At this point I was so pissy over nothing that the man was taking his life in his own hands just dealing with me. I love him for this. 

If you love dogs and never have gone to a Dock Dog event, go. Actually take a moment to look up it up. You back? Okay.  The dogs are so into what they are doing. You can see them twitching with excitement. The handlers praise the dogs no matter how poorly they do and every one has a genuine good time. Plus, there is the added fun of friendly competition. 

One focused pup!

Leaving the dock!

Any dog can compete, and we saw it all. My favorites included: 

Bully breed mutt!

The Awesome Little dog!

A pitt/pointer 2 pit mix's that are representing the breed beautifully. I am a sucker for anyone promoting the breed in a positive way and these two do it successfully. 

There was a lab puppy that was 6 months old. Her handler was a boy that was about 12. They made cutest pair. She kinda belly flopped in, until she didn't. She did so well in practice and then froze on stage. She just sat there like, "how 'bout I just sit up here and look pretty? Good for you?" I think she will get it eventually. If anything she looked adorable doing it.

There was a cairn terrier, yes you read that right, Toto himself. That little dog flew farther than some of the big dogs! He had some major little dog swag that comes with being awesome.


Then there was a veteran lab, teaching a child how to be a handler. It was so sweet. Even when the kid wasn't focused the dog behaved perfectly. If that doesn't make you tear up your heartless. Just kidding. Maybe.

Then there was a mutt that was a family dog. After her jump she ran to her family to greet them. The dad of the group was in a wheelchair and thinking about him telling her she was perfect and loving her while the wife(handler) looked on, giving them there moment still makes me cry. I am such a softy.

On Sunday, we took we took the dogs watch. They behaved wonderfully and I tried to convince Riley that this was totally his sport. I am not sure he is on board, but I am gonna try. After we were done there, we headed to the hubby's family dinner. They are all from Chicago and it is a bit of culture shock even after 8 years for this southern girl. They are arguing about stuff just to argue, it is so loud and there family is huge! I actually like being apart of a big family now. It took awhile to get used to, but now I am part of the chaos! They are not bad for in-laws. 

Now I need to rest up to get ready for next week!