Life Lately

As I mentioned in Tuesday's post, life has been pretty busy the last few weeks. And with summer almost here, I'm hoping to be out and about more often as well!

My parents were here for about 10 days over Memorial Weekend and the following week. So I was spending as much time with them as I could while sneaking in work where I could as well. My dad and I had planned on going fishing, but it decided to downpour half the time they were here. So it was super muddy and the ponds were even muddy from the runoff, so fishing was out. Instead we took a day to work on Gladys to get her lights working properly...thanks Dad!

And my mom and I got to spend some time visiting friends and running errands together. I even put her to work a little as well...thanks Mom!

And we got to go on our Airboat Maiden Voyage on Sunday! The weather was perfect...blue skies and a light breeze. We've had so much rain that the river has been too high to boat safely, so we've been waiting for the right time. We're hoping to get out again this weekend as well...bring on the sunshine!!

What have you been up to lately?

A Day on the River

Saturday started out looking kind of cloudy with a chance of rain. But by mid-afternoon, the clouds cleared and the temperatures soared! A perfect day to be on the river!

We met Jesse's younger brother, his girlfriend and Jesse's aunt and uncle for a day of sun and fun.

I even engraved coozies for everyone so they have a coozie to match their boat :) Jesse loves this little mascot for the cam we have in our boat. And since our new boat doesn't have a name yet, I used this for our coozies. Everyone else got their boat's name engraved on one side with "I'd rather be air boating" on the other side along with an air boat graphic.

 

 I'm definitely glad we got out Saturday, because we tried to boat again on Sunday, but the river was much higher just over night! Apparently they got the rain up north that we thought we were going to get early Saturday. Good reason to enjoy life as you can :)

Maiden Voyage 2012

On Saturday, we finally got to take the air boat on her Maiden Voyage for 2012! Jesse has been rebuilding the motor all winter and was really excited to test it out!

Here she is getting ready for the water!

She ran great! We took Jesse's brother for a ride too. I think he was just as excited about the new motor as Jesse was :) (Guys just crack me up sometimes!)

This is my favorite addition to the boat! This sticker was created complements of Memories for Life :) I cut the outside Chevy emblem with my laser and the inside Budweiser wording with my Cricut. We're both excited to see how it holds up on the boat!

 

All in all it was a great day. We didn't get to take a very long ride, but we know she runs and floats :) We're ready for the water to warm up and the temps to soar so we can spend all day on the river!

Wordless Wednesday - Goofball

Wordless Wednesday - My Haven

I ♥ the River!

3-Day Weekend

I just got back from a nice 3-day weekend off work!!! I also took a little bloggy break and mostly computer break. (Had to check the shop, of course)

Wanna see what I've been up to :)

Make a picture slideshow

We spent almost the whole three days on the river! The river is one of the only places I've found where I can completely relax :) I'm not thinking about other things I should be doing. I'm not thinking about getting home. I'm not thinking about the computer. I'm just relaxing :) I can enjoy myself without 50 other things going through my head! I have a hard time doing that sometimes, but I can always relax on the river :)

What do you do to relax?

A Wonderful Weekend

I took a little bloggy break over the weekend and enjoyed time with family and friends. I hope you all had a great weekend too :) Though we didn't get to go visit my parents in Michigan like we had planned, we still had a great time here in Iowa. And what a busy weekend it was!

Friday we worked around the house in the morning then visited Jesse's mom at her new house and had dinner with her and his brother's family that night to celebrate his mom's birthday.

Saturday we headed to Des Moines for a car show and to spend time with Jesse's cousin and his wife. The highlight of the day was seeing a 1964 Rambler Wagon! I have a '63 that I inherited from my great grandma and I've never seen another wagon at any car show I've ever been to! Here is my car (old picture alert!):

Here is the one we saw at the show: And here is the color I wanted mine painted next :)(Hot pink, of course) Sunday started out rainy, but cleared off in time for us to go air boating. We have such a great time on the river! We brought golf balls, clubs, and a baseball bat and had fun making up games :) After the river we celebrated the 4th (early) with a bon fire and some fireworks at Jesse's aunt and uncle's house. Yesterday Jesse went boating again and I stayed home to relax. I had to work last night (Jesse had vacation-lucky duck!). I needed a day to recover from our busy weekend! I hope your weekend was as wonderful as ours :)

Friday Features - On the River

The weather is warming up, the sun is shining...and air boating season is officially here! Last weekend we were able to do quite a bit of boating! It's so great that Jesse's brothers have boats too so we can all meet up! This week's features are all about the river :) On River Time by GoJumpInTheLake Cotton Canvas Accent Pillow by tenahseetreasures [This one is sold, but I'll bet she'll make another one for you :)] ON THE RIVER - 1 Inch Circles by WildBlueberryInk River Rock Coffee Table by jamesrobinson

Wordless Wednesday - Maiden Voyage 2011

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL - Proud Mary

Sittin' on a sandbar...drinkin' a cold beer...listenin' to CCR...

What a great Saturday night :)

Wordless Wednesday-Ready to Ride

Harley's First Ride

We've been wanting to take Harley for a ride on the airboat all summer. Yesterday was the day it finally happened :) He had SO much fun! He rode really well and loved playing in the water and on the sandbars!

I was a little nervous at first, but he sat on my lap the whole time and watched everything go by. I wasn't brave enough to let him off his leash, but he was still able to explore :)

He was muddy, sandy and wet by the time we were done, but mostly...He was just Happy :)

A Great Weekend

Things started off a little crazy this weekend, but that didn't stop me from having a great weekend :)

Things started off GREAT with me not having to work Saturday! I even got to go in early to work so I could get off early :) I got a good nap in and started my weekend Friday morning!!! (The benefits of working night shift!)

I had lunch with a good friend that I hadn't seen in way too long. The fact that we sat in the restaurant for over 3 hours tells you how much we had to talk about! It was great catching up with her and I hope we don't wait so long to do it again next time :)

When I got home from lunch (at 4:30pm!), Jesse and I got the airboat out. We met his brother, sister-in-law and their kids and rode around and watched the kids play on the sandbars :)

Saturday was a pretty quiet day...and a much needed one! I got to take a nice, relaxing bath to start off my day! Then scrapbooked pretty much ALL DAY :) Jesse and I got the boat out again late in the afternoon and met up with a group of friends. It was fun chatting and relaxing the night away :)

Today is another day to relax :) Of course we're not just lazing around...we don't quite know how to do that...LOL! But relaxing to me is doing some light cleaning, scrapbooking and watching a movie before having to go to bed early to start the work week again Sunday night. (The downfall of night shift!)

And don't forget our EtsyBloggers Anniversary SALE!!! You still have time to get your shopping done! This Flip Flop Album would be great for your summer photos! And at 20% off...how could you go wrong!

See all the other sales HERE!

Maiden Voyage 2010

Jesse has been dying to get the airboat out for the last few weeks. On Saturday he finally got his wish :) The sun was out and the wind wasn't blowing 100 mph! It was still a little chilly, but nothing a couple of sweatshirts couldn't fix :)

When we got on the river, Jesse wanted to make sure and call his brother and a few friends to let them know we were the first ones to get on the river this year :) They weren't about to let us be the only ones on, so they hooked on to their boats and joined us :)

The river is always so peaceful! The water may not be pretty and blue, but the trees and sun make up for it :)

Hope you had a great weekend too :)

Catch of the Day

We had a great time air boating yesterday with Jesse's brother and his family :) The kids are always so much fun to watch!!!

Jesse caught a really nice catfish too! His brother and I were both getting good bites, but Jesse was the lucky one that got the catch of the day! I must admit that I'm a tad jealous because I still have yet to catch a cat! I guess that means we have to go out again, right :)

Here's the fight:

And now trying to get the hook out:

Look at this guy:

And I know you can't tell it from Jesse's face in this photo...but he really was excited to catch this fish...LOL :)

Happy Birthday Jesse :)

Today is my boyfriend Jesse's birthday...the big 3-3! Okay, so that's not very old, but I can still give him a hard time :) He'll always be older than me...hahaha!

I have to admit that I didn't really get him anything for his birthday! I know...bad girlfriend! But he's been living it up regardless. His air boat was sort of his birthday present. Plus we went to the fair and the lake...what more could a guy ask for. Plus he's got me...lol :)

He wants to send out a special thanks to my parents for the $ for the prop job! (For those of you who don't know...that's to get the prop reconditioned on the air boat...a little inside joke!)

Just the Two of Us...You and I

Was it an overly eventful weekend? No. One filled with parties and lots of friends? No. But it was one great weekend...just the two of us :) Jesse took Friday off work, so we had a great 3 day weekend! During the days we pretty much did our own things around the house and ran some errands. But at night we would meet back up and enjoy some much needed relaxation. We drank a few beers in the shed or out by a bon fire and watched movies til we fell asleep :) Friday Jesse even took me out for supper at one of my favorite local restaurants :) They have the best beer cheese soup! Yesterday was the best day! We took the air boat out on the river...just the two of us :) It was so nice to be out in the sun, enjoying the day with the one I love :) We got to talk, I got to fish (but didn't catch anything). And we got to just be together! We have a pretty busy month of August ahead of us, so this weekend was the perfect way to start out the month! I woke up this morning so refreshed and ready to take on the week! Thanks for the great weekend Jesse :)

Maiden Voyage

When I got home from visiting my parents about a month ago, there was a new toy in our shed. One that Jesse had been wanting for a very long time. I came home to find...an Airboat :) In case you didn't know...Jesse is a complete motorhead, so this was a dream for him!

The boat ran, but needed some work. He did some tuning up to the motor and replaced a few parts. He did a lot of work to the hull including sanding it down to bare fiber glass, refiberglassing some cracks, painted it, and painted the floor so it wouldn't be slick. There are still a few things we would like to do to it, but for yesterday, we just wanted to see if it would float and make it up and down the river.

Here we are putting it in the water...hold your breath that it floats!

WooHoo...Success! It made it all the way to this sandbar where Jesse's brother, nephew, and some friends were. This is Jesse's super cute nephew posing on our boat :)

And check out our cool horn...lol!

It could use some more power...which I'm sure it will be getting. Remember the part about Jesse being a motorhead...he also loves power! Maybe a different motor, maybe a different prop...who knows! We were just thrilled it made it all day with no problems :)

Here we are leaving the sand bar headed back to the truck.

What a great day!