spiders.

(CAUTION: EMILY...Do not read while riding in a car...)

On Saturday Connel was cleaning out the garage and said, "Hey honey come here..." Well, this is what he wanted to show me...



I shrieked and almost started crying! It was SOOOOO HUGE!!! AAck! I have never seen a bigger spider! It was probably about 3 inches in diameter! Eww! We think it was a wolf spider, but it was black...maybe it was a baby tarantula?!? Sick either way. We just know that we killed it. I was skittish for the rest of the day.

Then, today I was walking to the mailbox (as you know, my mailbox adventures are quite interesting...) and I saw this...



(much larger in real life)

and this...




outside of my front door! Luckily the bug was dead, however it was still gross and weird looking. I told my self I would kill the spider when I got back and walked down the sidewalk just to see another little spider, on my sidewalk, so I stepped on it. (How I miss that little Boris, he could have eaten all those spiders and it would have just been part of the circle of life...now, I must kill to protect my territory.)


When I got back from the mailbox, I attempted to go kill the spider with a rolled up newsletter, but I was not courageous enough to get it with my hand so close to it. So, I went and grabbed the broom, and smashed it! Then I wrecked it's web.

I thought that my spider adventures would be over but I was once again thwarted by an evil little 1/2 incher. I pulled out a chair to check my to do list and almost sat on it! Nasty little thing, so I grabbed the RAID and sprayed it. But, I guess the RAID was just for flies and flying insects, because it was still alive and the little bugger stood up on it's back legs and raised it's front legs in the air to get me...luckily I still had my rolled up newspaper from before...



I am now sitting on my couch jumping at every little itch I get.

Question...Why would anyone ever want to have a SPIDER as a Halloween Decoration?!?!?

branch buddies.

Here in Missouri we are in a branch. We love it so far! We have made a few friends and already done some fun things with them.

Last Thursday I went to the St. Louis Zoo (which was FREE!) with Kim and Keitra and their kids. We also invited a girl that we met at the gym named Becky and her little boy. It was fun for me to watch their kids get excited over the animals...and other various things around the zoo!

Baby Tigers!

Here is an interesting fact: The Hippos tail is there to "swish" it's DUNG out of the way and break it apart for fish to eat...then we eat those fish!!!
Blech!

I guess the giraffe doesn't like the ostrich...

The Zoo Gang!

A Black Giraffe!

Cute!

Then on Columbus day/Canadian Thanksgiving, we were invited to Eric and Keitra's for a Canadian Thanksgiving Feast! It was sooo good! It just made me realize that Thanksgiving is just around the corner!!

Right to left: Connel, Kim, Brian, Eric, Kietra

Eric goes bow hunting (which really interested Connel) and so they had a chance to shoot it! Looks like the next thing my husband is going to be "researching" is bow hunting...

Brian

Go Kim!

High tech Robin Hood...



Thanks for the fun times guys!!

fun times in the st louis area.

A couple of weekends ago we went to the "Taste of St. Louis". It was pretty much one of those affairs that they block off a couple of city streets and vendors put out booths and you go around trying not to bump into all of the drunk people. :) We went to see all the restaurants that are in the area so that we could try out all the good ones...I think we chose the wrong ones however because they weren't very good. I tried a curry chicken wrap and Connel tried something from the Bamboo Bistro. Technically the name Bamboo(chinese) and bistro(italian) don't really go together anyway, so we should have known it wouldn't be all that wonderful!


They were showcasing a few of the chefs from the area restaurants and they were actually really yummy. We tried some bread salad and ravioli. Yum!


There was a little art area where people were showcasing their photography and art, here is a showcase of my art... :)


They had several bands, and Everclear was supposed to play, but we were tired of walking around and decided to head home. We ran into this guy who was wheeling around letting people try this thing... It was really hard to drive, you have to control it with your feet. I wasn't driving it very well and some lady asked if I was drunk and I said, "No. I don't drink..." then she said, "great, then I don't stand a chance on that thing!" ...Humph.



Later that weekend we went to see our friends the Reeds. They moved to the St. Louis area from Ohio about a month or two before we did! We went to celebrate little Jacob's 1st birthday! What a cutie! Their 3 girls are in LOVE with Connel and giggle like crazy whenever they see him and climb on him like a jungle gym! Not to worry, it doesn't even phase him. We had fun going to see them and hope to get to see them again soon!

tag {picture}.

I have 2 tags to take care of and so here is the first:
The Rules: Go to your 4th photo file and post the 4th picture.


This is one of us at the Lonestar Concert at the Blackfoot Fair Grounds...2005, Dang I was skinny... :(

crime scene.

When we first moved into our cute little home, here in Eastern Missouri, we were greeted by a slimy but friendly little creature. He soon came to be known as Boris the Bullfrog (Connel insisted on Tooter the Toad, but alas, Boris ruled out). Boris lived in a small hole under the front sidewalk. He could frequently be found basking in the moonlight during our evening walks.

My husband's vendetta against Boris was suspected from the beginning...In their first moments of meeting, Connel attempted (he claimed it was accidental) to STEP on poor Boris! But, with his agile froggy legs... he escaped death...

UNTIL YESTERDAY!

NOTICE: THIS IS A CRIME SCENE, SOME IMAGES MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN! (or adults for that matter)

It all started, when I decided to get some fresh air on Sunday night after a long weekend in the house...while I was outside I decided to see if Boris was up to his usual routine. But, he was not to be found. I had a small inkling that something was wrong, but, I dismissed it as quickly as it came.

Then, when Connel came home from work yesterday, we took a little jaunt to the mailboxes to pick up our bills, bills, bills. On the way TO the mailboxes I *almost* stepped in a little peice of doggie poopie, but Connel warned me just in time. It was obviously supposed to be a distraction from the scene I layed eyes on on the way back FROM the mailbox. At first I thought it was the doggie poo, but then...

...Poor little BORIS! He was smashed to death! Just inches away from the poopie...



And the evidence...4 runner tracks...(well I guess you could say that Boris WAS the 4 runner track...) but, no... I had not driven in the past week, so it had to be none other than...


He confessed that it happened sometime early in the weekend, he again suggested that it was an "accident", that he didn't even know that it happened. However, given his previous vendetta and Connel's own "history", he was a prime suspect...

But why? why, you ask... Why would sweet, loving, wonderful husband Connel do something so...so gruesome? Only pure "green" jealousy could bring on something so horrible...


Slimy, wart covered...no matter how unsightly a little Bullfrog may seem, they all turn into Handsome princes in the end.

Hey, how else did you think I found My Handsome Prince?

creepyworld!

This past friday we went to a Haunted House and I really got in the mood for Halloween! I got so scared! There were five parts to:The first was a Haunted Mansion, where a really "creepy" and I mean CREEPY guy that reminded me of the Joker on Batman followed me around and in a scary voice just kept laughing and saying scary things! Yikes!!

The Haunted Mansion than moved to the Graveyard, which was pretty much just a path to the Corn field, which was also pretty boring, UNTIL THE END. Then, my fear of all fears at Haunted houses, the CHAINSAW MAN!!! Ew, he was so nasty!


We went on the Hayride, wherer "dead people" were trying to just on the ride and get in our bubble. Then we went to the Finale SILO-X. Which was pretty much just disgusting, but the crazy as we went through really think fog and kept running into walls, then of course, they brought out the chainsaw men again, who I avoided by hiding behind my husband (there is always an advantage of having a husband who is taller than you!)

By the end, my vocal cords were shot and I was exhausted from running away from nasty monsters and aliens.

Waiting in line

In SILO-X

My protector