Hills, The Hill, and Home

I went to Little Rock this weekend so Dad and I could go to Fayetteville for the Razorback game. Friday night Sarah and I went to dinner and on my way to her place I was yet again reminded how much I miss the hills of Little Rock. I know it's crazy, but driving up and down the curvy hills and seeing all the trees...ahhh I miss it so much!!! Memphis is so flat and urban! Although it was dreary I loved seeing all the hills again and I'll always appreciate that aspect of going home.

Sarah and I had a wonderful time at dinner. We had sushi at Samuri - which was okay. One of our rolls was a little questionable but still everything was pretty good. It was great to visit with her and have some fun. I can only imagine how Sarah feels day-to-day, it was nice to see her smile and laugh and also have a moment to talk about how she's doing. I wish so much we could go back to June and have sweet Mamie with us!!! I was so looking forward to watching my best friend with her little girl.

Dad and I made it up to The Hill around 10am Saturday morning. The weatherman was completely off. He said it was going to be 60 and sunny, well it was 50 and cloudy. Luckily I had packed a red sweater and thankfully I was comfortable during the game. We picked the perfect game to go to!!! When I was little I remember going to several games with my dad and it was so fun to have the experience again. At times we were biting our nails but mostly giving high fives and enjoying an Arkansas win!

After spending 6 hrs in the car to spend 3 hours in Fayetteville we made it home. A few sips of red wine and I was out for the count!!

sTUaRT

Sunday around 4 Stuart finally got home from deer hunting, I was so ready to see him! I have a love/hate relationship with deer hunting. I think the hate part is obvious. He leaves me alone almost every weekend from October through January to sit in a tree - alone- waiting - like me.

The love part is the hard part but basically it's cheesy. I've learned to appreciate his passion. In the the whole scheme of things what if he just sat around all the time without anything to do. I would go crazy, we would both go crazy. Every year I'm learning to respect his passion more and more. The look in his eyes when he tells me about the deer he has seen or even better have killed is seriously like the look in my eyes when I walk into Target. Ok well, I'm not that passionate about Target, but his eyes definitely have a twinkle.

We've started a tradition that I go hunting with Stuart every Thanksgiving weekend. I love sharing that time with him and I think he loves that I enjoy going. 3 or 4 years ago Stuart and I shot two doe from the same stand, and it was awesome!! We were in a winter wheat field with it's bright green leaves and the cool breeze, it was beautiful. We watched 6 doe eating, I think it's amazing to sit there and watch the serenity of nature. Two of the doe walked directly under our stand. Stuart talked me through aiming and firing, which I did. Stuart's initial thought was that I missed. He said, "Hand me the gun," and I did. Wanting me to experience what it was like to be a part of a kill, he aimed and shot at the second deer. After a few minutes we clambered down the stand and went searching for our deer. (Well really Stuart's deer since he thought I missed). Well, I didn't miss nor did Stuart and it was awesome! (Yes, I had to help clean, but we won't go there).

I guess having experienced the challenge and thrill of hunting with Stuart gave me a little more respect for his desire to sit and wait and watch in a tree. I have my moments when I'm cranky and ticked that he's gone. I'm trying to remind myself how much he loves it and there's not way I would ever take that passion away. There are benefits. We miss each other like crazy and when he gets home we have fun catching up, telling about our weekends. You know that old saying "distance makes the heart grow fonder" - I believe it during this time of year. Our time together when he's home is always more special.

I'm not going to lie though, I'll probably have to refer to this post several time during this season!

One Bedroom Apt

I live in a one bedroom apartment in the greatest community in Memphis, Harbor Town. There are many things I love about my apartment. First, it's within walking distance of many places/people I love...Stuart's house (approx. 1 mile away), Lindsey and Landon's (could throw a football to their house), the pool (a.k.a. Cancun Spring Break 2009), Miss Cordelia's, Meghan's, the list goes on and on. I love that it takes me maybe an hour to do a really through cleaning. I love that it takes 5 pieces of furniture to make my place homey. I love that I can burn one candle for 15 minutes and whole apartments smells delicious.

There are things that make me laugh about my apartment. It has a fireplace that could maybe hold one decent size log. This actually scares me too, thinking about other people lighting a log in their tiny fireplaces is not comforting. Also why do apartment planners think everything has to be mini? My fridge is mini, as well as the oven, and laundry closet. When I open the doors to put clothes in the dryer they scratch across the front of the dryer which sounds like finger nails on a chalk board. I also laugh because my closet feels bigger than the kitchen and the hall closet might hold 5 coats and barely holds my 1990 canister vacuum cleaner.

Living in a one bedroom apartment is not ideal, but I really do love it for now. I do miss my house in Joneboro with it's old feel and gigantic back yard. I miss working in the flower beds and watching my plants grow. I miss the picture window in the kitchen and the floor to ceiling shower curtain I made myself. I REALLY miss the hundred year old sycamore tree in the back yard. Even with all the sap and leaves it is so majestic and beautiful!! However I don't miss cutting the grass!!

I've lived in this one bedroom apartment for almost 5 months, I look forward to something bigger and my own. For now I'm going to enjoy this small place, call it home and appreciate this quaint little place.