The Great Outdoors

Oof, sorry guys, this one is a long one! When uploading, I realized, this is really all about being outside. The weather has been incredible (read: cool) the past few days and we've been loving it. Our meteorologist friend says that Hurricane Arthur is sucking all of the humidity towards the Outer Banks, which makes it a lot more comfortable here. While I hate the circumstances, I'm going to enjoy it!

Our garden has hit an all time high. Squash and zucchini is finally starting to produce after a rash of black mold and our tomato plants can hardly stand up there's so much hanging on it.

 Our mint and basil is also huge. I took bags of basil to work to hand out to co-workers who were looking for some herbs.

 Our yard was also a jungle after we came back from the beach. Look how high the grass was! Good thing we don't mind yard work.

 We've been taking advantage of the cool evenings on the patio. I think we've sat out there a few days in a row, which is a record, considering the bugs and the heat!

 I think the cool spell has gotten me itching to change things up in our house. When we moved in, I really just put things where they were in our house before. I'm feeling like I want things different this time, so I took all of my books from another bookcase and put them in the front room. Its nice to see our things in a different light.

 Last weekend we had a cookout at our parents house for my mom's birthday. Here's a shot we captured for a birthday present of mom's.

 Paul's mom gave us a "bag of memories" this past week, which included his letter jacket (band nerd!). Most impressive is that he's actually smaller than he was in high school!

 I've really enjoyed this holiday weekend to walk around the neighborhood. Paul and I have found some really great loops that are a mile so we don't get bored with our workouts. Paul's picked back up  with running and he's setting his sights on running the Mississippi Blues half marathon in January.

 Friday we went to Broadmeadow Neighborhood Association's annual 4th of July parade. It's always such a sweet parade and a great time to hang out with our neighbors across the street. Our old neighbor, Becky, brought Willow the miniature horse. She's always a big hit.

 I got a picture from Sital, who's in Brazil with her boyfriend, Kiger, and one of my other best friends Amanda. Here they are in Rio on the 4th!

They've been in Brazil for the World Cup. The way it works, you sign up for a lottery to get tickets. They were lucky enough to get four tickets. You don't know what games you'll actually see because of the way the brackets work out, but they were lucky to be there for the last USA game. Funny enough, Kiger became the poster child for the end of the game when they lost. Here he is on ESPN! They even showed his reaction here at home on our local station that night without knowing he's from Mississippi. Very funny!

 Friday night we went to Old House Depot for their annual Independence Day party, which is always so much fun! Our friend Nathan, who owns a restaurant in Fondren, made buns and grilled hamburgers that are out of this world.

 Southern Komfort Brass Band played the whole time. By the end, you couldn't move there was so much dancing going on in the front!

 We had a great time!

 I have to say, I wish 4th of July was always on a Friday! It was nice to have the holiday, but have the festivities out of the way so that you could have the rest of the weekend to relax. Saturday was such a nice day. We went to my parents neighborhood to the pool all morning, came home, took showers, then sat out on the patio at Sal and Mookie's. 

 The weather couldn't have been more perfect! That evening, we headed over to our friends', Chris and Rachel's, house for a fish fry. We played corn hole and had a great time!

 Someone brought over their French Bulldogs, which were hilarious. They stormed the backyards running around like pigs! Definitely the cutest dogs ever.

 The hosts, Chris and Rachel. They fried no less than okra, green beans, hushpuppies, banana peppers, catfish, tomatoes, and Oreos. I'm sure there was more!

I hope everyone else has had a great holiday weekend!