Bulldogs

This weekend Laura, Haley and I went down to Starkville for the Alumni Association Leadership Conference.  The Memphis Maroon Club took home an Honors Chapter award.  I was informed this weekend that we had the third largest chapter.  Ahead of us are the Central Mississippi Chapter and the Oktibbeha County Chapter.  So, all in all, we’re doing great.

While we were in Starkville, we got to hang out with Jason and Kathleen.  We stayed with Kathleen on Friday night.  I had a blast staying up late and talking with them.  It made Saturday morning come REALLY early, though.  After the conference, we had a chance to go to the game with my parents, which was a real treat.  State was down by 15 at half time and I thought we may actually be leaving the game early to go grab dinner.  But, the Dogs came back strong.  We ended up winning handily.

On the way back home, we stopped in Tupelo and got to visit with my Papaw Ben for about an hour.  But, not before we had a tire blowout.  I know we are lucky we didn’t have a wreck, but man, that tire changing is a pain.  Why in the world do all cars come with such a puny jack?  We were digging around in the car looking for books to put under the jack so we could get the car high enough to get the old shredded tire off.  We made it home fine, but tired.

Laura and Haley are in St. Louis for part of this week.  The will be coming home Wednesday, so I’m just “bachelloring” it.  Not sure what I’m going to do over the next couple of days.  I did manage to get in some yardwork this afternoon.  the weather has been beautiful the past few days.  I hope it holds out!

New Camera

Well, I got a new camera last week.  I know, I didn’t need one.  But, I got one anyway.  I purchased a Canon 40D, which was an upgrade to the XTi that I had.  I think I’m going to keep the XTi and use it as a back up.  It will also come in handy during those times when I want to use two different lenses.  I’m going to do a wedding for a dear friend in March and having the two bodies will definitely come in handy.

First impressions of the 40D are great.  The main reasons for wanting it were the size (it’s a lot heftier, which is nice with my bigger lenses) and the lower noise levels at high ISO’s.  So far it has been just what the doctor ordered.  An added bonus is that this camera does 6.5 frames per second.  That’s right.  If you hold down the shutter button, it takes 6.5 photos every second.  Pretty sweet.

So here are a couple of shots from the zoo this weekend.  They turned out pretty good.  More are in the gallery

Our Little Flapper Girl

I have been a part of a “first time Moms” group for about two years now.  I love the girls, the laughs, and the support that comes from this group!  It’s a wonderful refresher twice a month.  Another awesome benefit of getting out of the house (alone!) every once in a while is coming home after Hayden and Haley have had a fun father-daughter night.  Last night I came home to a clean kitchen, extra hugs from Haley, and these amazing pictures from their photo shoot!  I was laughing out loud they are so cute.  Thought I’d share with everyone.  Haley is really into pony tails right now, so to have TWO was a big deal.

Things are going great at the Simons’ house.  Trey is growing and moving a lot.  I’m feeling energized.  I’ve started planning Haley’s birthday party and getting both kids’ rooms planned out.  Haley and I have been trying to stay busy to avoid cabin fever.  We can’t wait for the weather to warm up.  We had a little sample this past weekend when the temperature got up to 60+ degrees and we ran to the zoo for an afternoon of hanging out with the lions, tigers, and bears.