day 60: when i grow up

there was an emergency at my storage place yesterday...someone behind me left their door open and my storage unit was flooded. luckily, i don't get stressed easily. so when the storage unit guy called me i rounded up the brother in law and we headed over to get as much stuff out of the water as possible. this required a truck...

a really big truck. jordan and i worked unbelievably fast and were able to get the truck loaded and unloaded in 2 hours. you would not believe how much stuff you can fit into a 26 food uhaul. and when it's empty you can easily do a tumbling pass down it...
that is, if you still have energy left over and if you can haul yourself off the ground. unfortunately, gravity is working against me. which is really a bummer because i have the ankles of a gymnast.

but since my gymnastics career won't be bringing in many endorsements, i will have to settle for another dream job...

a truck driver.

day 52: taking a break

we are days deep into taking off wallpaper, knocking out cabinets, texturing walls, repairing ceilings, and painting...and we are tired. not to mention the fact that i am sore. the insides of my fingers are screaming for mercy, and if i didn't have two more rooms with wallpaper in them i would listen to their cries.

while we were waiting on the paint to dry we broke out into some spontaneous dancing. we had backward moonwalk races and spinning contests before everyone started doing their own thing. carly brought a bunch of cds for us to listen to while we were working. she is very proud of her ability to make a mixed cd. she loves it. she dreams about it at night, and if it wasn't illegal she would sell mixed cd's on the corner for extra money.

but that doesn't change the fact that dancing is not one of our genetic gifts. for that matter, neither is singing...

day 44: pocket t tuesday

we started a new tradition today...

pocket t tuesday!!!

pocket t tuesday is conveniently sandwiched between (but not to be confused with) matching monday and woven wednesday.


i love a pocket t. you'd be hard pressed to find a day that i'm not wearing one. it's more or less my uniform. they're so versatile. i, for one, feel like it's an upgrade from the assorted goodwill t-shirts i have loved in the past.

to celebrate kristen, allison, and i donned our pocket tees and headed to rosa's to have tortillas...

and take 80's pictures with the camera timer...

loved it.

day 40: "udderly" delightful.

what a crazy day! we started the morning at the crack of dawn with a garage sale. 7:30 is very hard for me in the summer. i can barley function. but, alas, some people were excited...

some were very ready to help...

and some, well, some showed their true morning colors...


we had record highs in lubbock today. at 12:30 it was 105 so we decided to call it a day. we were dying. it took us most of the afternoon and lots of air conditioning to get our core temperatures back to normal.

as soon as we did carly remembered that today was cow appreciation day at chick-fil-a. chick-fil-a was offering free combo meals for anyone who came into the store dressed as a cow. some were hesitant in the beginning, but things are less embarrassing when you are in a large group, so calli, carly, jordan, connar, haley, and i decided to go together.

we made our "cowfits"...

then we loaded up and took the herd over to the chick-fil-a. when we were headed inside people were giving us crazy looks. one lady offered to snap our picture outside the door...

calli, jordan, and i stated our love for cows with a kojie pop through...

connar and haley were farmers with cow ears...

and carly was a very proud dairy cow. the whole kitchen staff came out to gawk at us, and we drew all kinds of other stares...

i laughed harder than i have laughed in a long time...
it was so fun...

we can't wait until next year. we already have our outfits planned, and all i can tell you is that they are going to be FANTASTIC...

i think haley said it best..."it's always better when it's free!"

day 38: great minds think alike...

i went on a mini solo vacation today to slaton.

slaton is only twelve miles from lubbock and honestly, it doesn't have much going for it. it's a town founded and "supported" by the railroad. the santa fe railroad to be exact.

which explains why a train engine sits in the town square...

i love that there is a fence around it like it's a shrine. i imagine it's there to keep people out, but that would mean there would have to be people to begin with. unfortunately, slaton is a ghost town. but while we're at it, couldn't anyone over 3 feet easily hop the fence?

a really weird thing about the slaton town square is that the majority of the buildings are triangular. maybe the town planners were excited by geometry...


anyway, they were glad that i was there...which i appreciated. however, i assume they love any in town activity.

while i was there i stopped at the one open shop on the square. one half of the building is an antique store. the other half is the slaton museum.

i found a fantastic vintage sunbeam mixer while i was there. it's in a great robin egg blue. it needed some love so it was excited to come home with me. i couldn't wait to get home and show it to momma lou.

the sunflower fields were starting to bloom on my way home. soon the fields will be covered in yellow.

sunflowers are some of my favorite flowers. i feel a real compulsion to pick them and skip around while wearing a gingham skirt and mary janes.

but since i've outgrown my mary janes, i thought that frolicking in the flowers would be the next best thing.

yes, i did set the timer on my camera and run into the field. judge it if you will, but it doesn't scare me one bit. in fact, i took more than one picture.

when i got home i was so excited to show momma lou my fantastic "new to me" mixer. turns out she had picked me up a little gift while she was out today, too. what are the chances....

they are the exact same. but, seriously, could they be any cuter?

day 34: happy birthday america

fourth of july is a favorite holiday in the turner house. we're patriotic and proud.


we have a specific routine that we do every year. we always start with the fourth on broadway parade.



in the last few years the parade has really suffered. it was just a long line of fire trucks and decorated street sweepers. i was expecting much of the same this year, but was super excited to see that the parade planners went above and beyond for a change.

there were the usuals like the wells fargo wagon..
the lawn mower brigade (which is fabulous)...


and this sweet guy who carries the flag every year with pride...

but this year they added the masked rider...

precious veterans...


and the walking subway sandwich who was full of one liners..

most of lubbock comes out to the parade. you've got to be prepared for anything. you'll see all kinds. even knowing that i wasn't expecting to see zacchaeus there so full of american pride...


and i definitely wasn't expecting this lady. she entered herself into the parade. no float, no friends, just her and her personal ad...

can't say i blame her for trying. it's definitely original. i have a sneaking suspicion that it's not going to work though.

day 33: pre-party

tonight we attended a pre party for independence...

for a few years running, a local dentist puts on a dewsey of a fireworks show at his house. it's one of the best fourth of july celebrations i've ever witnessed. there is live music, dancing, food, and fireworks. seriously...the show is so good i'm considering changing dentists. this particular dentist lives right outside of town so all the neighbors have cook outs at their houses and invite swarms of people.


it's such a great show. there is a video interspersed between fireworks to patriotic numbers. it's emotional enough to make the shyest person start the slow u - s - a chant.

while we were waiting for it to get dark enough to do fireworks my family decided to do an experiment. we thought it would be fun to wave at complete strangers as they were walking by. not just a polite wave, but a "hey, it's sooo good to see you" wave...just to throw them off.

it worked, but everyone was really nice. you could see them thinking through everyone they have ever met as they waved back. that soon got old and we had to resort to rocking out...

those are vintage moves. she loves the hand nod, and is desperately trying to bring it back. it is much more appropriate than, lets say, a pelvic thrust...always.

the fireworks show that followed was just spectacular...

i just love the fourth...