The Mo-Hell

Freddy and I had just made our way in to the small, West Texas town of Munday. Never heard of it? Neither had I until Freddy was asked to be a groomsman in his friend Finch Matt's wedding that would take place in Rhineland, a smaller, t-tiny community 10 minutes outside of Munday. It's somewhere near Haskell and Seymour. A little over an hour north of Abilene.

Anyway...we had just driven in to Munday when our friend Andrew, who was also in the wedding, called. His voice came across the speakers in Freddy's truck. There was no hello. No what's up buddy. Just "Your wife is going to *insert expletive here* when she sees this place". He was referring to the Motel, or as I came to call it...the Mo-hell.

I consider myself middle-maintenance. Not too high, not too low. I like nice things, but I don't demand the latest and greatest.

I've stayed in shady hotels before. There was the motel in Nacogdoches that -I kid you not- was the location of a drug bust or prostitution sting in the wee hours of the morning. Then there was the motel in Davis, California. I can't recall specifics (am I choosing to block them out?), but I remember it being shady and cheap. VERY CHEAP. Tarleton grads - As a point of reference, this was also the motel of choice for traveling Plowboys.

Yes, I have stayed in establishments with a no-star rating. But none gave me the physical reaction that I experienced when first I saw the Mo-hell, and every time I was in it. All weekend long. For two nights. I literally felt my stomach turn and it took several hours and a few adult beverages before it finally settled down. I'm not lying. I'm not exaggerating.

Let me give you a guided tour. Here are some pics from the outside.

When we arrived Andrew was installing his own smoke detector. Apparently, there was no maintenance man and Larry the Cable Guy's toothless cousin (again - not kidding) could not be torn away from the busy check-in desk to take care of this.

The inside of the room doesn't look as bad as you thought it would, does it? Wait until I show you some close-ups and some of the details. I will spare you the pictures of the hairs- plural - on the bathroom towels (of both the long and short nature - again, not kidding). I forgot to take pictures of the random signs in the room - like the one that asked that you not remove makeup, wash your boots or your truck with any of the towels or washcloths.

See those blue sheets and tan blanket? I purchased those at the Dollar General along with flip flops to wear in the shower- the shower that never dried, was always wet. Ew.

Can you see the many layers of wall paper under the poorly-textured and peeling walls?

We didn't spend much time in our rooms. Can you blame us?! The first day we braved the hornets and mosquitoes and sat on coolers next to the cotton field. We would be on lawn chairs, but there were none to be purchased. On Saturday the girls headed to Abilene. Our mission: Avoid spending time in the mo-hell rooms.

The hornets made their way in to our room. When Freddy opened the blinds to kill them, they all came crashing down.

And now for the details...Hold on to your stomachs...

- the flyswatter wall art

- the picture framed that was most likely hung BEHIND the door to cover the patched hole in the wall, but it didn't actually cover it.

- the gorgeous bird art work framed with - you guessed it - a TOILET SEAT!

And finally, the holes in the ceiling plugged with toilet paper.

FYI - The shower head also had toilet paper stuffed behind it.

Why didn't I run from there screaming? The only other lodging option was 30 miles away. You're right. We should have made the drive.

There. I blogged about it. I got it out of my system. And now I will never think of this place again.

Disclaimer: This hotel is not a reflection of the wedding we attended. The ceremony was beautiful and the entire evening was FULL of nice, personal touches. I would add a picture of the bride and groom, but I am sure that they rather I didn't.

I love holiday-themed pajamas. I especially love Carly's Halloween pajamas for this year.

Getting a good picture of her in the pj's was a bit difficult,

but she ended up giving me these gems:

Scary pajamas, no?

Carly found a roll of toilet paper, so daddy wrapped her up like a mummy.

Carly thought the mummy get-up was a yummy get-up.

Get it? She's licking it. Ha!

She didn't have as much fun tearing it off as she does tearing up the tissue in our Kleenex box. Must have been because I was actually watching her this time.

Carly and Lola. Besties.

Best twenty dollars I ever spent

Twenty dollars for an over-sized stuffed yellow lab?

Ridiculous?!

Carly doesn't seem to think so.

And neither do I.

P.S. We I named him Biggie.

Wreath fun

One of my October Must-Dos was to make a wreath.
The idea was to make a FALL wreath. Remember that.

I started with the typical twiggy wreath.

and spray painted it black

the gold and champagne colored twigs of berries I bought for it were a bit too shiny

so I sprayed them with a fine black mist

Then I took my prepped wreath and berries and headed to Melanie's house so that she, Lauren and I could make our fall wreaths together.

Theirs turned out PERFECT!

Mine turned out a little to "wintery", so it is going to hang out in the closet for a month or so.

When we were getting ready to leave for a "girls dinner", Claire wanted to go with us. I told her, "Well, Claire. We let your mommy pick the restaurant and she picked a place that only serves vegetables. So if you go you will have to eat broccoli, carrots and peas. That's all they have."She looked at me like I was crazy and stated that she still wanted to go with her mommy.

Another one of my October Must-Do's was to try a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks. I've had two this month. They are definitely "pumpkiny", but it's not overbearing. Not bad, but I don't see what the marketing hype is about.

Pumpkin Painting

We're still a little young for pumpkin carving, so we opted for pumpkin painting this year.

I had three different colors of paint ready to go,

but one paint brush to the mouth and I wimped out.

It still turned out beautifully, though. Way to go, Carly!

Painting with a Twist

My friend Shelby and I wanted to do Painting with a Twist (www.paintingwithatwist.com)together, but before she could register for the class (or rather the painting) that we wanted, it was full.

So I decided to host a private party. I selected a date and a painting and forwarded the information to my friends.I told them to invite their friends,too and twenty ladies showed up.

The cost was $35 and the instructor walked us step-by step through a painting. She worked fast, but that was probably best because it gave me less time to think about what I was doing.

Here are some pictures of my painting throughout the two-hour process.

We took wine breaks (byoW) and socialized the entire time. I had a BLAST!

Isn't cool how everyone's paintings turned out differently?

I will definitely do this again!

Wine and Cheese Party

Thank you, Sara, for throwing such a FUN wine and cheese party.

Everyone was well fed

and well...wined?...

I enjoyed meeting new friends

and clowning around with some old ones

And you know I can't post about you and not add a "Sara Face" picture.

A penny saved, is a penny she can play with

Grandma and Grandpa have a cute purple piggy bank just for Carly at their house.

She LOVES to sit in her high chair and pick the coins up and put them in her piggy bank.

Will she prove to be more of a saver or a spender?

She loves to go shopping, so my money (ha ha) is on her being a spender. Don't tell Freddy!

How stinkin' cute...?

How stinkin' cute is our little Colts fan?!

Cambree and Carly

Carly and I met Chelsea and Cambree for dinner a few weeks ago. We do this from time to time when our schedules allow, but I always forget to take pictures of the girls together. Not this time!

Carly and Cambree are about two months apart - Carly being the younger one. Click here to see pictures of them together almost a year ago. Holy Cow have they changed since then! At least Carly didn't throw up all over me this time!

At first they weren't too sure of each other.

But then they warmed up.

And Carly tried to poke Cambree in the eye. Of course! Why wouldn't she?

But then she did try to hug Cambree. She loves to give her friend hugs!

See you again soon, Cambree and Chelsea!