2 yr. Pictures

Memorial Day is how we gauge Jamba's birthday, because it was on Memorial Day 2008 that we "rescued" Jamba and brought her home.  To see her "baby" photos click here!  Here are her 2 year pictures:

The cutest ever!

Blue Steel

High Fashion

Jamba was pooped from the photo shoot.

The light's weird but I like the picture - she was trying to bat at the camera strap.

And a movie for your entertainment: click here! Jamba hates dents in the carpet and she attacks them to smooth them out whenever we move a chair or the coffee table.  I was washing the sheets and chaning the mattress cover when she discovered some dents she couldn't smooth out.  She spent a good 10-20 minutes trying though.  This is the first time I noticed her doing it and grabbed my camera.

At the ripe age of 2 Jamba has become more cuddly and less of a menace.  She still enjoys fetch, tag, and her version of hide and go seek (more like I see you hiding around the corner and I will hunt you down and attack!).  She loves bottle caps and small round items like skittles that slide around easily to chase.  She loves being outside: rolling on the concrete and biting the grass, chasing insects and jumping at low flying birds.  When she can't be otuside she sits in front of windows and just stares for long periods of time.

In Memory

pictures from "Today" Women in Uniform (click for link)

Memorial Day is a time to reflect and honor those men and women who served in wars past to gain freedom and give equality.  It's also time to thank the men and women who serve today to protect the freedoms of our country.

My own grandpa was a Seabee in the Pacific Islands.  I know one thing he did was underwater welding in one of these:

 

"During the Second World War, the Seabees performed now legendary deeds in both the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters of Operation...Seabees in the Pacific Theater of Operations earned the gratitude of all Allied fighting men who served with them or followed in their wake. Their deeds were unparalleled in the history of wartime construction. With eighty percent of the Naval Construction Force concentrated on the three Pacific roads, they literally built and fought their way to victory.

"In construction and fighting operations, the Pacific Seabees suffered more than 200 combat deaths and earned more than 2,000 Purple Hearts. They served on four continents and on more than 300 islands."

(Info pulled from the Department of the Navy -- Naval Historical Center )

I bet Arlington Cemetary would be really cool on a holiday like this.

Motor Mount, Motor Mount - goes so FAST!

This is Bryce's newest "improvement" to his Speed3.  This is a motor mount.  This one is specifically designed to be stiffer so the engine doesn't move as much in the engine bay at full throttle - during acceleration. Basically it makes the engine hold still so he can shift smoother. :)

This is the stock motor mount.

This a comparison between the old one (left) and the new one (right).  Bryce would like you to take notice of the gaps on the old one and how solid the new one is.  You can push the old one in with your hands and the new one is noticeably stiffer.

Beauty shot!  The new motor mount is in place and ready for a test drive.

We never posted pictures of the previous additions to his car so here they are!

New bypass valve, K&N air filter, short ram intake and goes down to the turbo inlet pipe (not pictured).

Vent pod boost gauge inside the cock pit.

Talkin' Trash

Georgia has dumps in most of the communities so you can take you plastics and glass and household waste, large boxes, scrap metal and even your car oil here and dispose of it properly.  We've been to ours probably as many times as you can count on one hand but this last time Bryce made a great discovery.  Check out the signage on the bin.  See if you can catch it.

Still looking?

Ok, so look one more time and at the last word.  It's supposed to be Waste, but the original spelling was Waiste - which is not a correct spelling for either homonym. :) Nice!

How to get to Cleveland, GA

Since the parentals live in the mountains of northern Georgia we on occasion have driven up there and have figured out a pretty good set of directions. We decided on the last trip up there (winter of 2009) that we should take pictures and document the trip.  Things that we have become accustomed to may be entertaining to those who don't see the wonderful sights.  (Or you may wish I never made this post which coincidentally made you waste time reading it.  If this is your feeling, I sincerely apologize.)

This is how you know you're getting close:

Pass the giant rocking chair sitting right by the road in an open field on a country backroad. (this has to be listed somewhere on the list of the largest in the US right - even if it's not #1?!)

As you drive into 'downtown' or the 10 square feet of Cleveland's square you'll see the Dairy Queen which usually has birthday wishes up for someone (who probably bought one of their ice cream cakes).  I guess this time it's Jesus' turn.

Another few feet down the road you'll see the Babyland billboard - where the cabbage patch babies are birthed.  Yes, there's a birthing room there.  You have to look closely at the picture but the stork is there. Babyland just recently moved to a bigger and better place - still in Cleveland.

See the courthouse right in the middle of the road.  Drive around it.


And then on the other side of the square you'll see this beauty-Bryce loves to quote it to me or very nicely tell me some reason why he does or doesn't buy me flowers....

And last of all you know you're close when you see on your right Yonah Bowl and Skate.  Bryce and I find it quite humorous and this is where are country bumpkin accents kick in (if they haven't already) and we like to see how 'hick' we can get in our speech and conversation for the next 5-10 minutes until we arrive.  "Yonah bowl?"  Yonah is pronounced Yo-nah, like Jonah but with a Y startin' it off.  We were not educated about it the first time we saw and thought it was yawna like a southern "you wanna" but it still works either way you pronounce it.  Besides, no one really pronounces anything correctly around here anyhoo.  Salmon with the 'l' pronounced is most definitely accepted and widely used.


So what Yonah do now?