Sleepy Town Manhunt

“Four men, armed and dangerous, on the loose”… sounds like the opening credit to a Chuck Norris movie right? Right! Except it was also the headline Mr. S read to me last night. And guess where this little thriller was taking place? OUR STREET!! (Well the road our street is off of, which makes it our street’s street.)

Our Town (photo licensed by  Bob Jagendor)

First off let me set the stage, we live in a military town. You cannot go to the store without seeing someone in uniform. Someone who knows how to use serious weapons. Someone who has stared death in the face. Someone who lived to tell about it… if only military people “told about it”. (From what I can tell in my short military experience so far, they don’t do too much tellin’ of tales.) So that’s the kind of town we’re talking about. A place where you can feel pretty darn safe.

Well, four men decided to drive their red Ford Focus to an auto parts store and rob it. Now I’m not too sure why they decided to rob an auto parts store but perhaps these Ford Focus drivers know something about cars and their parts that I don’t. During the robbery they injured two employees and then drove their Ford Focus off with the police in hot pursuit. They jumped on the highway and headed south (towards MY exit). Now I have no criminal experience but these Ford Focus drivers-turned-armed-robbers did something I don’t understand: they pulled over, jumped out of their car and continued their escape on foot while firing their guns at the policemen who were chasing them. (God bless those policemen!)

The police caught one man but the other three are at large. Armed. And Dangerous. And somewhere near my street’s street.

Spring Creek, in our back yard

Now, our house backs up to a Ol’ Man Kennedy’s farm, a beautiful piece of land with a lovely creek dividing our property from his. We learned that these criminals are probably following along some kind of landmark such as our creek. Yes, the one behind our yard that also goes right under our street’s street, where the criminals are currently at large!

This is what I learned around 7 pm at night. In the south when it gets dark at 4:30…

My husband does know his way around a gun so he took some pleasure in getting our arsenal out and making sure we were locked and loaded. I even got my trusty revolver out and confirmed I was ready should those Ford Focus drivers come our way.

Proof we have weapons!

We told the dogs to be extra watchful after which they rolled on their backs for their nightly belly rub and off to bed we all went. The night was uneventful and if those Ford Focus drivers are still hanging around these parts then they are idiots. I am sure they are long gone now.

Not much can shake up your comfort in your sleepy military town like “four men, armed and dangerous, on the loose” on your street’s street heading toward the creek in your very yard... but that sure did.

Army Football Wreath

If there’s one thing my husband and I agree on, it’s college football season, but not for the same reasons.  We do have a room in our house dedicated to manly activities such as yelling at the TV, drinking beer, and letting crumbs fall on the couch.  (I am a big believer in the “man-cave” for all of these reasons!)

But I love college football season because we usually have a fire going in the fireplace, I can snuggle up with a good book uninterrupted, we have an excuse to have friends over to share snacks and dip, and it is just part of fall in the south.

In the Snowden House we support the SEC – the Georgia Bulldogs and Mississippi Bulldogs to be exact – but because my husband is a graduate of Westpoint and an officer in the US Army, we also chant GO ARMY BEAT NAVY on a pretty regular basis!

To show my support and have an opportunity to flex my tiny crafty muscle, I decided this year to create a GO ARMY Football wreath to decorate our home. I got the idea from my friend Brett who is constantly posting her creative ideas on her blog Charmed Life (check her out – she is quite inspiriational!). It was so simple and it looks so cute in our home that I have not taken it down even though College Football season is behind us. Here is the finished product:

Here is what I used (all purchased from Hobby Lobby):

• Stick Wreath
• Wooden Letters
• Ready-made Footballs
• Black Spray Paint
• Gold Acrylic Paint
• Sponge
• Hot Glue
• Gold Ribbon

Here is how I did it:

I spray painted the letters black, two times to ensure a full covering (allowing them to dry thoroughly between coats).  When they were dry, I sponge painted the gold acrylic paint over the black.

When the paint was dry I hot glued the letters and the two ready-made footballs to the wreath. Lastly I made bow for the top and then hung the wreath on a wreath hanger in our home! The wreath has moved several times but most recently it has found a home on our pantry door in the kitchen. I am pleased with how it turned out and of course, my Honey loves it as well. GO ARMY!!

Linking to "Who's Crafty" on IBlog4Me and "Hooking Up" with House of Hepworths

Finding Myself Suddenly Snowden

Have you ever woken up one morning and found yourself married with a new last name? Like the Carrie Underwood song where she doesn’t even know her last name?  Well that happened to me! Ok not like a Britney Spears-night-in-Vegas-that-got-out-of-control, but similar. Well actually not like that at all but the point is things changed fast and before I knew it I had a new last name as was living my life Suddenly Snowden…

My domino effect of sudden life changes happened the way it usually does… yup with L-O-V-E.

I met my husband in high school but our first date wasn’t until fifteen years later. While we may have taken our time getting to that first date – I mean we do have pretty spectacular single lives to show for it – we did not waste any time with the rest of it. Barely a year after that first date, I had a new last name (Snowden), had moved to a new state (Tennessee), was living with a man (My Honey), was an Army Wife (a thing all in itself), and was addicted to a type of exercise (CrossFit)…

I mean, my life was not to bad pre marriage, but I have to admit that never in a million years could I have imagined what was in store and the life that would unfold for me.

I decided in 2012 to start keeping a blog to keep track of our life and be able to share tid bits with friends and family no matter where life (or the Army) takes us. I hope you’ll follow along and enjoy sharing some of the adventures in my Suddenly Snowden life!