Goodbye, Old Friend!

I said 'goodbye' to an old friend today. You probably knew her as Olive, but she went by many names: The Green Car, The Beano Mobile, Green Machine, and most recently Turtle Tank.

Grandpa Kern liked to hang out at the car lot with one of his old friends, so he was happy to take me car shopping. I was 22 years old and I had my first real job at the casino. I was ready to upgrade from the Dodge Dynasty that had been handed down through the family from Grandma Patty. I didn't really know what I was looking for. I just wanted a car with a CD player, a sunroof and a payment of $250 per month.

I guess it was love at first sight. She was the only car I even test drove. And she was the perfect color of funky green. She really stood out in a crowd. She was small town famous. You could always see Olive coming. I usually got a honk and a wave from somebody when driving around Council Bluffs. When we lived in Fallon, NV the gate guards stopped checking my ID. They'd see Olive coming around the corner and they'd just wave me through the gate and say "Have a nice day Mrs. Price!"

When I bought her in 2005 I had no idea I'd be sitting here crying about having to watch her drive away with a new family. We've been through so much together. My friend Gina pointed out that having Olive is one of the longest relationships I've ever had!

I used to drive her to Kansas City so often, she could probably drive herself there. She got me home safely from the bar a few times when I probably should have walked (I was young and stupid and I'm just being honest). She kept my cigarettes hidden in that secret compartment under the passenger seat (yup, young and stupid).  She was my work truck when I fixed up my house. I floated her around the corner on Avenue G with Josh's Grandma during the flood the weekend we got married. She brought both kids home from the hospital. She's been to California, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Louisiana, and Tennessee.

I've shed way too many tears this week. I might be crying because I just miss my Grandpa Kern so much and Olive was our greatest souvenir. Maybe I'm crying because I just can't figure out where the time went.

We spent 14 years and 157,700 miles together. When she drove away today Silas burst into tears too. I was trying to make him feel better so I lied and I said, "It's ok. It's just a car."

Happy Birthday

I'm not good at birthdays. It's a long running joke that on my birthday there are only blizzards, the Super Bowl and the flu.

In life, I'm a pretty jolly gal. I find plenty of things to laugh about and can usually see the bright side of any situation. But when it comes to my birthday, there's always this little ray of sadness that creeps up on me and before you know it, out of almost nowhere, comes the annual birthday cry.  I've never been able to put my finger on it. I think maybe it's because time just goes by so fast and I'm sad that another year has passed by so quickly. Sometimes I get down on myself because I didn't accomplish some life changing feat like running a marathon (hahaha) or losing 100 pounds (bahahahahah).

Then I remember that I'm awesome. My life is pretty awesome. I have some really awesome friends. My kids love my birthday just as much as they love their own. A birthday is a perfect excuse to have Oreos and take a nap. Josh always tries to make the day special in hopes of preventing the inevitable.

I think this year I'm going to try really hard to skip the birthday cry. There's really nothing to cry about. Not even a little mouse poop in the birthday donuts.

2018

01 - Believe it or not, we had two Sneaux Days all the way down here! The amount of snow we got was laughable and so was everyone's panic. The base was closed and there was no school. We also had one really good fishing day despite the kids claiming to be frozen solid.

02 - I have just one word...DISNEY!! We skipped town for Mardi Gras and went to Disney with Gramma and Grampa instead. It was the best!! We had the best time and made some great memories. Watching the kids enjoy the fireworks is something I'll never forget.

03 - Jackson turned six years old and Grampa came to visit. Jackson took treats to school for his birthday and Grampa came to Sector 6, a trampoline park, and Barataria Preserve to look for alligators. 

04 - We happened upon a "pick your own" blueberry farm. I was shocked to discover how many blueberries four people could eat in a week. We visited three times and picked about two gallons in total. Josh caught up with some highschool friends, Ashley and Seetal, when they came to New Orleans for a girls weekend. 

05 - Jackson lost his first tooth! Silas helped by pulling it out for him. We went to Ohio to see our friends Brian, Ashlee and Bailey Shields. My first concert was Alabama when I was in kindergarten. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do the same for the boys. We saw Alabama in Kentucky with our friends. 

06 - June was a busy month! Tball was in full swing. Josh was the coach of the Royals. Silas turned five and Gramma joined us on a road trip to the beach in Pensacola, Florida and Lambert's Cafe in Foley, Alabama to celebrate. Josh and I celebrated our 7th anniversary just after he got back from a fishing and bear hunting trip in Canada with my dad.

07 - My cousin Sara and her family came back down for the 2nd annual Manzer family vacation. The kids had a great time on the swamp tour and even got to hold a baby alligator. I snuck away for a girls weekend with my friend Ashley Nuss. We spent the day floating the lazy river at L'Auberge Casino in Lake Charles. 

08 - Back to school! Silas is in Ms. Chenevert's class for kindergarten and Jackson is in Ms. Vodopija's class for 1st grade at Belle Chasse Primary. Other than getting back to school, the biggest event in August was when a drunk driver drove through our favorite donut shop. The boys were so upset! Thankfully, nobody was hurt and dad was able to bring donuts home the next day.

09 - Another busy month! We took Josh out bow fishing for his 35th birthday. We didn't get any keepers, but we saw plenty of fish. Hurricane Gordon was scheduled to arrive but took a turn and left us high and dry (phew)! I made a trip back home for my dad's surprise 60th birthday party. Then, for Labor Day we took a road trip to West Monroe, Louisiana with Ashley Nuss and her family to see the Duck Dynasty warehouse, meet some duck men and enjoy their Faith, Family & Fireworks event. 

10 - Josh headed back to Iowa for a week of deer hunting. Surprisingly, he didn't shoot anything! Unsurprisingly, I ended up with pneumonia while he was away (something always happens when dad leaves town). Gramma came for her usual October visit but she wasn't here for Halloween this year. Jackson was Black Panther and SIlas was the blue Power Ranger. 

11 - The Price family came to visit for Thanksgiving. Over two weeks we managed to get everybody together. It was nice for Grandpa Mike to have all the grandkids together for the first time in a few years. Dan and Amanda were nice enough to take some family pictures for us too. 

12 - Whoa! I didn't know we could cram so much into one month. Our elf, Fredrick, came back the first of December. He took a field trip with us to Lafayette, Louisiana to see The Grinch with Ashley Nuss and her son Caden. I took off for a family girls trip to New York with my mom, Aunt Vicky, my cousin Amy, and Aunt Marilyn. I've always wanted to see New York at Christmas. The highlight of the trip was video chatting with the boys from the tree at Rockefeller Center. We wore matching shirts to the Rockettes and I drug everybody over to Grey's Papaya for a hotdog! I also got the chance to catch up with an old friend from high school, Mike Engstrom. My parents, brother Lucas and his wife Katey came for Christmas. My favorite part of their visit was visiting Global Wildlife Safari in Folsom, Louisiana. I laughed so hard watching the cows try to lick everybody! 

2018 - It's been a pretty great year! It's hard to believe we only have about six months left down here in New Orleans. We'll be headed to Josh's next duty station in Millington, Tennessee after school gets out in June. We're certainly looking forward to some new adventures and whatever comes next. It's crazy how fast the kids are growing and how quickly time flies. I have to say, it was a pretty great year.