AU vs. ARK....War Eagle- Win or Lose!!

only pic of the trip....sorry battery camera went dead

The only two SEC stadiums I had not been to were Arkansas and South Carolina. We don't play SC that often and Arkansas is just soooo far away. This year, Jason and I decided to make the trip to Fayetteville and I marked off another stadium. Although we are a little closer than when we lived in Montgomery, it is still about an 8 hour trip....wow!! My parents usually fly to that game, but we all decided to make a road trip of it.

We headed out of Kosciusko around 1:30 on Friday and made the 5 hour drive to Little Rock. Although we didn't have time to see much, it looks like a really nice city. We had great steaks at The Butcher Shop and called it an early night to prepare for Saturday. The game wasn't until 6, so we headed out of Little Rock around 11:00 on Saturday to make the 3 hour trek to Fayetteville. The drive was gorgeous...reminded me a lot of NE Alabama/TN...even prettier.

We arrived eager to see an Auburn win, but by the 1/2 our QB problems were evident and our hopes were dwindling. It was hard to see a loss like that having not experienced one in quite some time (this was way worse than the Clemson loss to me). Most of the Arkansas fans were very nice (you always have a few- but every school does). The stadium was great place to watch a game despite the annoying hog calls. Despite the loss, we still had a great time and were happy to support our Tigers on the road!

I'm glad to be back home this evening and hope AU can pull a win over FL next week. I guess it will be the match up of teams w/ QB problems...so it may actually be an even match up...we will see!! War Eagle!!!!

Baby Shower Fun!!!

Speaking of babies.... I recently helped host a shower for my sweet friend, Whitney Pettit. She is due with her 2nd, a little girl to be named Emory Hart in November. I think baby Emory Hart is giong to be the best dressed girl in Kosciusko!! Hopefully little baby Pope and Emory Hart will have many playdates in the future :)

me, JJ, Whitney, Rachel and Lauren

The spread :)

Exciting news!!

Most of you that read my blog already know this news, but we thought we'd make it official on our blog and announce that we are expecting!!! Little baby Pope is due April 11th :) We are beyond thrilled, excited, overjoyed, etc. This is something that Jason and I both prayed about for quite some time and we feel so blessed that God answered our prayers!!


I'm into the 2nd trimester now and my energy has kicked back in. I hope to update the blog more frequently. I found out I was pregnant shortly after our beach trip and bike race (my last blog post) and have felt like doing much of nothing since then. Falling asleep at 7:30 every night doesn't allow much time for blogging (haha).


Below are the shirts Radley and Harper wore to deliver the news to both sets of grandparents. We will see how happy the dogs are when the baby arrives.

Radley and Harper better enjoy the next few months of being our # 1 babies :)

BIKES, BLUES & BAYOUS

As most of you know who read our blog, biking has become quite the big thing in the Pope household in recent months. Jason is pretty much obsessed with it and me—not so much!! I really do enjoy it, but really have no desire to take it to the “next level”. I guess that is the difference in mine and Jason’s personality. Yes, I wish I could say I was a go getter like Jason, but I’ll admit, I’m not. I would be perfectly content with my 15 mile ride that we often do on the Trace. I have gone as far as 40 miles, but I definitely prefer less. Jason, however, has gone as far as 80 miles on the Natchez Trace- WOW!! He is even doing 100 mile race in September.

We recently put our biking skills to the test and participated in our first ever bike ride, BIKES, BLUES & BAYOUS in Greenwood, MS. I wasn’t looking very forward to getting up at 5:00 on Sat. morning and driving to Greenwood, but it was well worth it. We had a great time and many of our Kosy biker friends participated as well. I only did the 20 mile ride, but Jason…..or as I call him now, Lance Armstrong……did the 58 mile ride!! I was so proud of him; he did awesome!!! To finish 58 miles in the HOT HOT MS Delta in August is something to be proud of. Lucky for us, VIKING is based in Greenwood and helped with the race. So after a long hot ride, we were treated to BBQ from VIKING and all sorts of freebies. It was great time and we are looking forward to next year.

**I’m afraid our running days are over…..we’ve realized and read that you burn more calories in biking and it doesn’t take such a toll on your body. So don’t expect any 5K post anytime soon –ha!!

SANDESTIN

We just arrived back from a wonderfuly 5 day vacation to SanDestin. We loved making weekends trip to SanDestin when we lived in Montgomery (and were 3.5 hrs. closer). Now that we have a furthur drive, we thought we'd make the 6 hr. drive worth our while and stay longer.

We stayed at Lasata at The Grand, which did not disappoint. We've stayed in this same unit before and it has a great view of the bay. We were also a short walk to Baytowne, which is so convenient.

Majority of the trip was spent by the pool with a few trips to the beach (yes, I'm more of a pool person). We ate lots of great seafood, shopped at the outlets, rode our bikes from SanDestin to Seaside and enjoyed hanging out in Baytowne. Jason rode all the way from SanDestin to end of 30-A and back (52 miles)...I was sooo proud of him. Obviously the rest of us skipped out on that ride.

We laughed b/c I've NEVER been one to exercise on vacation. I'm the one making morning trips to the Donut Hole or Krispy Kreme. Jason and I even discussed how last summer we saw some people riding bikes and made the comment...who exercises on vacation.?? Well, we are now those dorks riding their bikes :) I must admit, after my ride to Seaside and back I didn't feel so bad eating the fried seafood platter at AJ's.

Since majority of the trip I was either in a swimsuit or on a bike (all w/ no makeup)...the pics are pretty minimal. Here a few...

The Grand @ SanDestin....one of our favorite places to stay!

Spent most of my time in this pool

Ready for dinner!!

Enjoyed spending time w/ my Mom & Dad

On the beach in Seaside after dinner.

sidenote...the TN Titans cheerleaders were having a photo shoot right beside this pic. I think Jason was more concerned w/ their shoot than ours....just kidding!!

Good month for Harper--- new home and first visit to the beach!!

Radley had to come too!!

Worn out from his beach photo shoot :)

Radley doesn't want to go home :( Nor did I.........back to reality now!!

Back to Blogging and New Dog!!

I apologize for neglecting the blog for quite sometime. Although we were home most of July (which is a rarity) we stayed pretty busy. We enjoyed weekend visits from both of our parents, enjoyed getting together w/ our supper club group, biked a lot and tried to stay cool. We did finish off the month w/ a trip to SanDestin, which was much needed. Jason had one of his busiest months at work and I also started a new job in mid-July (same bank--just new position). A trip to the beach came at the perfect time and provided a great way for us to wind down.

One of the primary reasons I haven't blogged is b/c of our new dog, Harper. Yes, we now have 2 dogs!! And yes, they are named after a character and the author from To Kill a Mockingbird. We have promised my mom we won't name our son, Atticus or a daughter, Scout...haha. Little Harper (a rescue Malti-Poo) from New Orleans entered our lives on July 5th :) He is high maintenance like most Maltese/Poodles (reminds me so much of my childhood dog, Cricket, which was a Maltese. However, he loves to cuddle, sit in your lap and gives kisses!! He is about 1 yr. old and thankfully he is not a chewer. He is doing suprisingly well and has adjusted well to his new home. Although he is considered a rescue dog, he actually did have a family. From what I know, he wasn't mistreated, just not given much attention....guess this is why he is so needy.

Here are a few pics below of Harper. Most of my recent nights have been spent playing w/ this precious puppy!!! As a type this he is sitting in my lap....he is a true lap dog :)

"Harper" Lee Pope surrounded by his favorite toys

He has already found the nicest couch in the house!


Loves to play/harass Radley.....Radley could care less about playing and prefers lots of naps!

They've taken over the couch in our bedroom and hopefully sleep peacefully here during the day. However, one day, I'm just waiting to come home to everything on our bookshelves in the floor....so far....so good!!

Radley still considers himself king of the house :)

4th weekend

Our 4th weekend was FUN FILLED & BUSY!!. We decided to use the long weekend to visit our Montgomery friends & family and check on our house. Bad news is our house is STILL for sale (its only been 4 mos, but I'm really ready to be DONE w/ it!!). I guess the good news is it gives us a reason to see friends and family there.

We kicked off the 4th weekend on Friday w/ dinner w/ some sweet Kosy friends & then loaded up and headed out on Saturday morning. Our highlights of the weekend were eating at our favorite sushi place, swimming at the house (really miss that pool), trying the new Nancy's Italian Ice--yummy, church & lunch w/ family, visiting some of our favorite friends and finishing off the weekend on Monday at my uncle's lake house.

As busy as it was, I managed to get a few pics at the lake on Saturday and one at the pool. Of course "the twins" (Jacob and Jonathan) were the biggest hit of the 4th!! They belong to my mom's brother and his wife, Terri. They are 2 yrs. old and absolute dolls!! I can only imagine that they will be "Double Trouble" on the lake in a few years.

As much as we enjoyed seeing family and old friends, it is great to be home. We're really enjoying our weekend at home.....getting some much needed R&R!!

Enjoy a few pics....

Jennifer and I enjoying the pool on Sunday. I prefer my body to be in the water for all swimsuit pics...haha!

We hired someone to keep up the pool so it won't look like a swamp when people look at the house. Makes me sad that no one is using it :( Someone please buy our house!!!

Getting the 4th started w/ some watermelon.



Jonathan loves blowing bubbles!!

Of course Radley takes part in the festivities

Family pic :)

My mom attempting to get a pic of the twins...it is quite a task.

Alex definitely has no fear of water.

Relaxing :)

Dad teaching Radley to swim-ha!

He still needs a few lessons :)

Ken and Terri w/ the boys...they love boat rides and water.

The lake was too much for Radley to handle!!

Now back to reality....work and responsibilites!! My next post I'll introduce you to my new responsibility....our new dog, Harper!! He is precious and a big BABY.