Do You Remember When We First Met?

I sure do...
It was some time in early September...
(Jack Johnson) And it was in September of my sophomore year in gym class. A few years of causal flirting...
and bad hair;)...

Led us to September 11th, 1999. One my favorite days forever. I have never had so much fun in my entire life as I did on our wedding day. We were so young and clueless. But we knew love and we knew fun!(still do! Still a bit clueless, just not so young)

Like Mustard and Ketchup(lol!)Better Together.
I have mentioned how difficult Christmas time can be for me. When ever I see this pic of Xmas 03 I see how I am clinging to Jason(I am not a clingy wife by any means) and I see instantly how much I can (and did) rely on him for support. I had miscarried a few days earlier. And of course hated the world for not having my Mom in it. But with him with me, I was able to feel joy.
Like they say, through the good times and the bad, thick and thin... And here is the thick! Me, 8 months preggers for Teagen. More joy!

9 years of marriage, Almost 13 years together. We had a rough start, but got that junk out of the way before we got married.(not that there isn't still tough moments, but now we know how to deal with it). And the kids really make it even more of a challenge to remain connected. We always seem to push through it. The 2 most stubborn people on the planet end up together and make sacrifice for each other and will do just about anything to make the other happy. That's love in my book.

We love to be together, but don't HAVE to be. We have lives outside of this house. We are both very independant people. When we are alone,we would rather be sitting on the pier with a beer than in front of a movie. We NEVER run out of things to talk about. We are always laughing. We are dreamers, lovers, and spenders! It gets us in trouble from time to time, but we come out the other side OK.

NO marriage is perfect. The ones that look perfect are probably falling apart(it keeps happening to people we know and love) Life is real. It is busy. Sometimes what is good and going well gets forgotten and I get all caught up in what sucks. Or sometimes I get angry at something so trivial, its pathetic. I want to always be grateful.

Love is the answer at least for most of the questions in my heart

Why are we here? Where do we go? And how come its so hard?

Its not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving

I'll tell you one thing,it's always better when we're together

Jack Johnson

"Better Together

Jason,

I choose you,

Thanks for picking me.

Love you...

Happy Anniversary

Jenn

Another One Bites The Dust...

My favorite Wheatland ever. I think I say that every year. But this was so good. Drama-free. Perfect temps (a bit cold at night)The best music I have ever caught here(can ya hear my latest Ragbird downloads? Well, its 100 times better live!)
So here is the abbreviated version...but its still pretty long:) Friday morning in line. A traditional feet pic. I'm on the bottom. Notice I have my pant legs rolled and I had to scrap the mud off my feet. I had just returned from a adventure in the woods looking for a safe place to pee. Yikes! I was the 1st, but not the last;)
Leslie hanging on our window.

Lovely wildflowers on the side of the dirt road we wait on.
Mya and Les jammin' to...

Yeah, once we got to the dirt road, we had the luxury of corn fields for bathroom breaks. Less chance of encountering Poison Ivy. I busted Mya on her way out.

Kel and Mya

The only pic I got of the line. We are talking cars for MILES. Lined up 2 different directions. This is the longest we have ever waited. We got there about 10:30am(I think) and didn't roll into camp until 3:30. I felt so bad for the people in front of us and behind us who all had a bunch of little kids. But they all seemed to do OK. We were fine, full coolers and over 70 pudding shots.
This is Paul. Paul camped in the sheep farm overnight with the guys, but needed to get a ticket from Leslie in order to get in. Poor Paul waited on the side of the road near the gate for the whole time! We told him to walk to us and get his ticket, but he just waited. He was pretty happy to see us!
One of many jam sessions...
my baby plays the ukulele-surprisingly sexy...
Dale on top of his "vintage" motor home. "the Green Bean" as we all call it. Dale is removing his shirt for the camera. I am sparing blogland that shot. Melissa, you'll get it in an email soon.

An attempt at the peace sign. I'm on the left, in the back with the wristband and the big ring. We had Paul and Jawall (short for Jason Wall, btw) directing and taking the pictures. You guys would not believe the number of armpit and boob shots Paul took with my camera! Again, I am sparing Blogland...
Down at main stage. This was just a random group musicians playing in front of the food vendors. All food vendors are for good causes, not just typical carnies. Jason did his share and ate 3 pasties. He wanted more, but I had to cut him off.
An artist booth most of us girls look forward to every year. Christine Dobbler creates some of the cutest dresses and accessories ever. Very expensive. Teagen has 2 dresses that came from Mya's little girl. I have bought purses in the past, and this year I got me and each of the girls super-cute headbands.
Another fav of mine and Jason. This guy makes all kinds of art out of trash. If you have been to our house you may have seen our aluminum can fish hanging in the kitchen. We got him last year. I fell in love with this owl. He is made from canning jar lids and his feet are forks. Maybe next year...(If I could fine a place to put such a thing!)

We also bought some hand made soap and candles and a dress for Summer made by a 14 year old girl. So much great art.

Saturday we always have chili night. We had 4 kinds this year. So So good.

We also try to take a lot of pictures because its the only time we have everyone in one place. That's Connie and Randy.

This is my chili plate...

Dale and Melissa. They have 3 little girls but this weekend, the uke was their only baby;)
I am a lover of self portraits. Me and Kel.
Mya and Jason.
Not a couple but both lovers of the floppy hat, Mary and Paul.

Most of our group! I so adore these people. Where is Scott and Amy?
The silliness begins. Paul doing a "keg stand" Not really a keg(its Mya's drink)
Jaywall's got a little Captain in him.
Jason and Paul. You wouldn't believe what Jason went through in order to make that tiny hat fit his head.
The Irish theme is in honor of AK(on the left) her birthday is next week and she was supposed to be in Ireland, so we brought it to her instead(ya know, tacky style) That's her kids, Tara and Jeremiah, with her. Tara lives in Cali, but always comes home for Wheatland.

Mel, Kel, Les, Mya and me...
Still love the self portrait...
This is the "Pines". Tent only camping that we walk through to get to everywhere else. There is always something interesting going on in the Pines. There is even a tiny church. Our friends Mike and Jackie got married there 8 years ago.
Main stage at night.
The Refugees. They were awesome, funny, good. But we were frozen and tired by the end of their show. Went back to camp. Kel went to bed. hung out and jammed a bit and then decided to wander with Dale and Melissa for a while to Cajun Dance. I had already done my annual one-time-around at Cajun dancing and they were packed. Not my favorite thing. Think a giant, rotating mosh pit. Less violent, but still not a comfortable situation. It must have been like 12:30am. Dale and Mel jumped in, but Jason and I went looking for people at 2nd stage. Found the whole group and danced to the Ragbirds until they finished! We all went back to camp and played more music until 2am(?) This was the largest group we have ever had make it that late!

This is "Ma and Pa Wheatland" Actually its Mike and Jackie, but they are the ones who introduced most of us to the festival. They have been coming FOREVER. They are the ones who got married here the 1st year Jason and I attended. Jackie is Kelly's mom.
Melissa brought these sunflowers.
Rows and rows of cars and campers. At least 15,000 people come to this festival.

So another year gone by. Our true end of summer. I'm sad, for sure. But there is lots good to come for the Fall and yes, even the Winter. And I say that its never too early to start planning for next year. We are always looking for a few "Wheaties"(1st time attenders) so if your interested in a good time......:)

Got Tye-Dye?

We do!!
Oh yes its that time of year again. We hate rushing summer along but we just cant wait for WHEATLAND! This is our Summer Jaye at her 1st Wheatland ( her 1st one outside of my womb, anyway) in 2003.
We are not bringing any kids this year, no one in our group is! Yahoo! But then we all just talk about our kids a lot anyway...

So Jason already left with the camper today to basically get in line. Gates open at 9am Friday. He camps with some friends at a sheep farm overnight so that they can get right in . I am going up with "My Girls" Friday am and we will spend the 1st part of the day in line. It is one of my favorite parts of Wheatland. Its so fun. We get a little crazy with the pudding shots and kinda wander around a bit. Also, Wheatland is the friendliest place on EARTH! 15,000 really nice people. I have no clue where they come from, but I have never seen a fight or even heard a rude comment. I think we have gone 8 times. Everywhere you go people just say,"Happy Wheatland!". And its Hippy Heaven. Even for people like me who are not really hippies(but kinda always wished I was, minus the body hair and lack of showering) it is just so fun. We camp with a pretty big group and it is the most eclectic group ever. LOVE IT.

Dropped my kids off with my MIL tonight. So kinda lonely around here. Had to sneak out of her house when Grady wasn't looking so he wouldn't throw a fit. I hate not saying good-bye.

Ughh. Kels gonna be here at 7:40am gotta go to bed... Hope it stops raining soon!

OK, so I'll be back Monday!
Happy Wheatland!

OMG

Last night, Teagen was jabbering away and Jason and I were not really listening, when I heard her say something about "one-eyed Rocket" Instantly my mind is in the gutter and I get Jason's attention and repeat what his daughter said. We are trying to get info out of her about where she heard such a thing and we decided it was totally a coincidence.
Well, this afternoon she comes out of her room showing me who One-Eyed Rocket really is...

Apparently he was just "Rocket" before the accident.

Back to School Blues

She seems to have gotten older overnight.

1st day of 2nd grade. I can barely wrap my brain around it.
Summer's own little welcome wagon going to meet her at the bus stop. They were lost without her today.
Leighton and Teagen. Best little Friends.