5 Stages of Using a Port-a-Potty

Saturday, Tommy and I betray our university and drove up to Auburn, Alabama to go all-out redneck with our friends at the Alpha Psi Rodeo. We had a BLAST!

There was incredibly beautiful weather here in Alabama, sunny with a high of 78 and no humidity, a rare combination. We played games, watched bulls buck cowboys, hung out with some old friends and met a bunch of fun new people, and got to see Alan Jackson perform! His music is the soundtrack of my childhood and I had forgotten just how many great songs he has. Exhibit A:

There was one tiny hitch in the day, though. It's the problem with most outdoor events. Can you guess? Yes, I am talking about outdoor lavatories.

Is there anyone who actually enjoys using these plastic outhouses? I really doubt it but, hey, if they exist there will probably be a show for them on MTV soon. As for the rest of us, Port-a-Johns become a necessary evil, like paying for gas or eating salad. You have to do it but, Lord, how you don't want to.

I've put together this list of the 5 Stages of Using a Port-a-Potty so that you know that you'll know that you aren't facing this alone.

1. Denial
It's pretty early in the day and you've only started to feel a little tingle deep in your lower abdomen. "I don't really have to go." you think, "I'll just hold it and the feeling will go away."

2. Anger
At this point you have come to the realization that what you're feeling is definitely your body's desire to release fluids and you're mad about it. "Why did I drink so fast?! I know better than that! Why do I have this thimble-sized bladder? WHY, GOD? WHY??"

3. Bargaining 
The normal reaction to feelings of helplessness and vulnerability is often a need to regain control. 

• I'll slow down and maybe I can put it off for a little while.
• The line is so long... I'll just wait until it dies down.
• GOD, IF YOU TAKE IT AWAY I WON'T MAKE FUN OF THE CLEARLY WASTED GIRL EVER AGAIN! 

But, try as you may, none of this will help. Plus, we both know that you're going to laugh at the girl when she walks into the truck's side mirror for the third time.

4. Depression
This is the longest stage and occurs from the moment you start walking towards the bank of Porta Loos and will continue throughout the first use. Issues in this stage range from "It smells like a used diaper filled with Indian food!" to "Don't people aim????" and "There's no toilet paper... Twerk dry?" and in the worst case scenarios, "IT'S OVERFLOWING!!!!"

No matter how clean these toilet huts may be, they're still pretty gross. Especially when competing with 20,000 other people for a seat.

5. Acceptance 
Well, you've broken the barrier and there's no stopping you now. Feeling a little defiled, you've now come to terms with the fact that this is part of the experience when attending a 15-hour outdoor event. You realize that when it comes down to it, the smelly trips to the Port-a-Potty are worth all the fun you'll have and memories you're making. You also realize that the chances of getting your hands on some actual toilet paper are slim so you make sure that all future trips include a pocket full of napkins.

So don't worry if you're main concern is what you're going to do when it all hits the fan, you're in good company. Just try to put aside your apprehension and enjoy the day.

A little Alan Jackson to sing you out:

Best Friend Date

I love my best friend! 

Today we went on a pretty scenic hike at Lake Nichol

We talked, climbed on the rocks, tossed pebbles, and dreamed of summer (thoughts fueled by the muggy 78 degrees) as we hiked all the trails that ran near the lake. It was so nice to spend a day with my BFF without any distractions.

We've got crazy eyes!

Afterwards we celebrated by eating lots of cheese and salsa at Lupe's, where gift cards are "abailible"

Thanks for inviting me out, Syd! It was sooooo fuuuuun! Love you!

Warrior Dash

Saturday, Tommy, Sydney, Kacie, and I geared up and ran Warrior Dash!

Mud, obstacles, and crazy hats galore! Made for a pretty exciting Saturday and very sore Sunday. It also proved what we all knew: Kacie is in great shape and I should run more often. Overall it was a successful run and the obstacles were pretty easy. Except for one.

There was one obstacle about halfway through that I was not stupid enough not be afraid of. Its basically a large arch made out of 2X4s. I got to the top and while I was waiting on the girl in front of me to climb down, realized exactly how easily I could slip and die. Suddenly, I lost it. I'm not one to be afraid of things like this but I started freaking out. The boards are about two feet apart, slick with mud, and too narrow to stand on but too wide for my smallish hands to grasp. I was 12 feet above ground with nothing between but crisp November air. At this point I was frozen and started yelling, "I DON'T LIKE THIS! I DON'T LIKE THIS!" over and over. Strangers started to try and comfort this crazy girl saying things like, "You can do it, sweetie!" and "Breathe, honey. You're almost there." [Ever notice how generous people are with the pet names when they're trying to be empathetic?] Eventually I did make it down and went through the other obstacles with ease, but I think I embarrassed Tommy! HA!

Except for my episode, Warrior Dash was a good time. However, I think I'll stick to Spartan Races. Personally, I find their obstacles more physically challenging without making me fear for my life.

the happiest 5K on the planet!

COLOR RUN!!!!!!! It was awesome, you guys!!!!!

Tommy, Brandon, Sydney, Mary Ann, Chandler, and I (collectively we call ourselves the Rainbow Ninjas) headed to Birmingham at 6am this morning to run our first 5K in the pouring rain that Hurricane Isaac is so sweetly dumping on us. On the way there I was being a bit of a Debbie Downer because of the general ickiness of the day, but in the end it made our color stick better and kept us cool! God knows what He's doing! Yay for rain!

Color Zones were loads of fun and we went through a couple of them twice, just to make sure we got what we came for. A Color Thrower gave me a face-full of blue so I came out looking like a scary female Braveheart/Avatar monster!

When we crossed the finish line it was time for the Color Celebration, which is exactly as much fun as the name implies! On the count of three everyone throws their paint powder into the air and creates a giant rainbow cloud! It was the most awesome and most terrible thing all at once. When everyone throws and is dancing and singing to Call Me Maybe, it a blast! But when you suck down a pound of dust because you're singing to Call Me Maybe, it's an awful coughing mess! All I could think was, "I'm going to die. At Color Run. How lame is that?!"

As you can see, none of us died due to extreme color exposure. Though we may have lost our sanity! HA!

Even in the rain, Color Run was super fun! It's coming to Tuscaloosa October 6 so get your tickets and try it out! I'm thinking of volunteering to be a Color Thrower.
How was your Labor Day?

*click here to see more of our goofy pictures

Oh, hello there!

Wow, blog friends! It's been quite a while since we've run into each other and I'm so glad to be back!

I kind of gave up on blogging after the midterm because of a terrifying drop in my grades, particularly stupid Western Civ, but now I can proudly tell you that after finals they are much better and my scholarship is safe. WAH HOO!

Other than being buried in our books, not a lot has been going on at the Snow house.
Let's see... we had a wonderful Valentines weekend! We made dinner at home and I surprised Tommy with a weekend get-away to the cutest little B&B in Birmingham. Highly recommend it if you need a cozy, romantic mini-vacation!

I was finally able to see Wicked! It was awesome!! My sweet mommy-in-law bought tickets for Mom and I as my Christmas present so we made a girls trip out of it. Love girls trips!

Tommy and I went to Panama City Beach for spring break. We purposely avoided the crowds (Wrong place for that, am I right? HA!) but I still saw Luke Bryan! He was chillin on St. Andrews beach with his camera crew not ten feet from me! I didn't ask to get a picture because I didn't want to be "that girl" and let me tell you, totally not worth it! Why, oh why, didn't I just take a stinkin picture?

We've seen Avengers twice and it was amazing both times! Thor.. Oh, Thor, how I love you.

I had a secret stray pet for a while whom I dubbed Poor Kitty. Tommy is allergic to cats so I just fed and pet her/him on the front steps every day. Then it rained really hard for a few days and I haven't seen Poor Kitty since. I hope he/she is okay and found a family without allergies.

And we've just gotten back from the beach again. I love having a father-in-law who owns a grocery store because Tom and I get to tag along on these awesome food show trips! Free food and great family beach time! Also, the place we stay has the BEST fish tacos. Not that I've eaten fish tacos anywhere else, but I'm assuming that they can't be as good as these.

Tommy has come down with some pretty icky sick this week, but other than that all has been well in our little corner of the universe. We have succumbed to the sweet laziness of summer and are loving every minute of it!

Now enough about me, how have you been?

married christmas to us!

As you all know, this was our very first married Christmas! It was fantastic!
Of course I'm not going to lie to you, I seriously missed waking up at my parents house. It's just because it's different and the first year I was away. Tommy missed his old traditions too. But we still participated in everything we normally do and had fun figuring out new, grown-up-ish traditions!

Dec. 23rd we woke up early and went to my parents' house for gifts and breakfast before we left to visit my family in Ft. Payne!
Ps. I took all these with my phone, so they're pretty crummy. Bear with me!

Dad was really excited about his gift!

We spent Christmas eve at my aunt and uncle's house...

 ...having Tacky Christmas! I won.

 I didn't realize how long an actual game of Monopoly took! It eventually dwindled down to just Tom and I. Then he clobbered me and the bank took all my property.

 After a hard night of stealing my cash, Tommy used it to get his hair done at Salon Abby! He wasn't took happy about the pink and purple clips.

Abby and Sara found out that they are going to Disney World! They're sooooooo excited!

Christmas morning Tom and I packed our stuff up and met up with his family for our annual trip to Gatlinburg!

Tommy won this snowman/penguin man for me at a gas station on the way. He's the champion of crane games! Ha!

That night we exchanged our gifts to each other and to his parents.

I love how Tommy wraps my presents! Layers and layers of whatever paper he has on hand. He never cuts off the excess so he just folds and crumples it until he can tape the wad down! He also writes the recipient's name across the front in big, sloppy Sharpie! I get cracked up whenever I see his finished product! He's gotten a little better over the years, but I refuse to show him how its really done because I like knowing exactly which box from him. Underneath the double wrapping, packing tape, hand towels, old tshirts, and a broken hairdryer sat a Canon Powershot! I couldn't believe it! I've been so sad about my Cybershot breaking at Disney and I'm thrilled to be snapping away now! It was way too big a gift and made the Polo sweater I got him pale in comparison, but I'm extremely grateful for it! Now are better pictures!!!! Woot Woot!

 We had tons for fun in Dollywood!

 And the Ripley's aquarium! I swear, in Gatlinburg if Dolly doesn't own it, Ripley's does!

We had a wonderful first married Christmas!

the most magical place on earth!

That's right! We went to Disney World!

Tommy's parents had to go to a food show in Orlando and we were lucky enough to escape from school and revert back to our childhood for a few days. IT WAS SOOOOO FFFUUUNNNNN!!!

Thursday we went to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios with Dave and Melodi

Friday we ate Moroccan and chased down characters in Epcot with Holli and Matt

We spent all Saturday in Magic Kingdom! It was Christmas there!

Sadly, my camera broke before we did anything so I don't really have any pictures, but Tommy took a bunch with his phone so hopefully I can put them on Facebook soon! For now, check out these!

i love festivals!

Last weekend Tommy and I went to the Kentuck Arts Festival with Syd and Lynda!
I love going to Kentuck every year and seeing all the cool art, but Tom had never been so I had to take him!

Let me say, I have always been a volunteer at the festival and got in free so I had no idea what everything cost. It was $10 a ticket to get in (not so bad), but they wanted $15 for a 3-piece chicken finger basket! What?!? And because there were no prices listed, we ordered two! We thought they would be about $5. Nope! Now we know to eat before we come!

Despite unintentionally spending a huge chunk of our money right off the bat, we had a really great day browsing through all the booths and checking out each artists unique style with good friends. I bought a cute little ring made from an old silver teaspoon! We got another cool something I can't tell you about because it's my dad's Christmas present! He is going to love it! Before we left we even got to see Kara's baby sister Anabelle at Justin's tent! I love his mixed media paintings! I'm determined to have them in my grown-up house.

See that stick in Tom's bag? Well he and Lynda decided that some of the "art" looked like something that could be done by a child or picked out of the backyard yet it was priced extreamly high. So they got a stick and Lynda bet Tom $10 that couldn't get someone to ask him where he'd bought such a beautiful "gnarled branch" before we left. We caught several people admiring it but no one said anything! But as were getting off the shuttle at our car I heard a woman whisper to her husband, "He bought himself a little tree! How nice! I wish I'd seen that!"
Score!

camping with my famjam!

Hey there long-lost blog friends! I've missed you!
School has been comsuming my life so I had to leave the blogsphere for a little while. But now I don't have anything due until Tuesday! Yay! Time to catch you up on everything going on in The Land of Snow! I have pictures!

Two weeks ago-- October 7-10-- we went on our annual Boatwright family camping trip! This time was extra special because Tom and I got to bring Puppy Jack annnnd the three of us got our own tiny tent!

so pretty!

 homework stops for nothing. thank goodness I didn't need wifi!

"studying" but I don't know what. maybe the inside of his eyelids!

Jack loved playing outside all day with everyone! He also enjoyed eating countless acorns, rocks, and what was left of a dead squirrel. Ewe!

And of course no camping trip is complete without banjo music!

Kind of felt like we were in Deliverence..I kept checking behind me for crazy backwoods people creeping up.

Sydney, Tom's family, and the Calhouns all came to visit and cook out! It was so much fun that I forgot to get any pictures!

Ps. Oct. 7th was Sydney's 19th birthday! We went to Bento's for birthday lunch and it was delish! I love my bff!

our first adventure

Hello friend! Welcome back! 

Tommy and I have been home from our wonderful honeymoon for a while now. It's taken me a while to post this because we've been super busy and my pictures are in all different places and I never can remember where I put anything! Luckily, my mommy got me organized today.

For those of you who don't know, we went on a cruise and had a fantastic time! It was a seven day Western Caribbean cruise. Beautiful, beautiful places. The water was bluer than I would ever have imagined! Anyway, here are some of my favorite pics! I'll be making an album on Facebook of all of them sometime, but don't hold your breath because, based on precedent, it will probably be a while!

Montego Bay, Jamaica- Horseback Riding

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands- Turtle Farm & Dolphin Swim

Cozumel, Mexico- Zipline