The Finleys

Jimmy Buffett

2009-07-23T20:54:00.005-04:00

Burt is a huge Jimmy Buffett fan. So for his birthday this year we, along with Mammie and Paw Paw went to Atlanta to see him. The best part of concerts and especially Buffett concerts is people watching(which happens to be one of my favorite things to do). I have never seen the spectacle that is Jimmy Buffett. In the parking lot were tents upon tents upon tents and campers turned into sharks and pirate ships. Inside the venue were about 30,000 of your best friends. Friends who fell on you but offered you liquor, come close to puking on you, offered you a hand to stand up and pot. The concert was great and now I understand what a Parrothead is..............I think!

Where to Begin?

2009-07-20T11:26:00.002-04:00

Has it really been since March?, I really didn't believe everyone that told me that, but I see it is true. Over the next couple of days I will try to update ours lives. Oh, be prepared there is a lot to blog about, so sit back with a good book and enjoy our lives on the www :)

Fall Creek Falls

2009-03-15T19:46:00.015-04:00

We were sooo excited for our camping trip to Fall Creek Falls. We had everything we needed, plenty of food, tent, air matresses, lights,heater, wood, blankets and cards. What we did not need was the RAIN,lots of rain. Burt and Daniel got to the campsite about 4:30 and set up camp. Tracy and I arrived a couple of hours later. Almost as soon as we got there the rain began. To the tent we went. We started playing cards and noticed that Tracy and Daniel's air matress was almost on the ground, yep it had a leak. A little while later I noticed rain coming in on our side of the tent.......awesome a leak. Burt put a tarp over the outside of the tent and that kept us somewhat dry.Fast forward to Saturday morning,still raining, the decision was quickly made that we would go see how much the Inn at Fall Creek Falls was per night. Yep, you guesses it to the hotel we went.

We packed up everything except the tent and left, it was still raining. Once we got to the hotel everyone's mood changed. We had showers, the rain let up a bit and it was warm in the room. So the trip that started of miserable ended up great. Daniel caught a fish, Burt got to hike and Tracy and I did not have to whine about being wet and cold.

Sunday morning the rain finally stopped and we went to the overlook of Fall Creek Falls it is beautiful and also the highest waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains. Burt hiked to the base. We then went to The Buzzards Nest overlook, Burt and I hiked to the actual Buzzards nest and there were buzzards everywhere, probably 15-20. Then to Piney Creek Falls we went, Tracy, Burt and I hiked to the overlook here and Burt then hiked to the suspension bridge of these falls. Overall we had a good time, but maybe March is not the best month to camp. We are all in agreement that we will go back, but are happy to be home.

Where we started

Tracy and Daniel on the ground

See the rain on the lens

Piney Creek Falls

Piney Creek Falls suspension bridge

Stacie on the Today Show

2009-01-06T14:09:00.002-05:00

This is my friend Stacie, we used to work together at the Children's Home. She has lost an amazing 186 lbs. I am soooo proud of her!!!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Happy Holidays

2008-11-29T22:44:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Bad, bad, blogger

2008-11-29T22:17:00.010-05:00

I know it has been a while since I have blogged. I have an excused, but who likes excuses and it was lame anyway. I will start with Halloween; this year was our 3rd annual party and was just as much fun as the first two. Good food and great family and friends. Eli was a cowboy, so ofcourse some of us had to be Indians. Nikki was Pocahontas, Josh as a cowboy, Mammie and Pawpaw as a cowboy and cowgirl and I went as Chunkahontas and Burt as Running Bull or some other Native American name (feel free to insert your own name).

The warmest spot in the yard is up by the chimenea.

See you next year!!!

Our Cruise

2008-10-19T19:07:00.006-04:00

We are back from our cruise. We had a fabulous time and will be going on another cruise as soon as possible.Everything was so easy and fun. Most of you have heard about it more than one time already, so I decided just to do the slide show. I will warn you there is 153 pictures. I highly recommend Royal Caribbean and will cruise with them the next time.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Excited

2008-10-08T14:02:00.002-04:00

So, it is now 5 days until we leave for our cruise. All of the details are finished and Burt is packed. I on the other hand am not. For the most part, I tend to wait until the last minute to pack, because I am an overpacker. I overpack my suitcase, my toieltry bags, my overnight bag, everything. We are leaving Sunday night, so maybe by Sunday afternoon I can be packed. We are very excited about our trip and hope the weather cooperates with us. Burt and I plan on doing as much as possible on and off of the boat,he even agreed to sing karaoke with me (believe that or not). We will be visiting Margaritaville in Key West and in Cozumel, Mexico (shocking, I know). I am most excited about Belize. I am not sure why, I guess because I have not been there before, so it there will be new things to do and see. Okay, okay enough rambling about our trip before we even go. More rambling to come when we return!

5 YEARS!!!

2008-09-12T16:36:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow Burt and I will celebrate our 5th anniversary. I do not deserve Burt. He is kind, gentle, smart, funny etc, etc. Most of all he takes care of me, through good times and bad. As I look forward to many more years I could not be more excited for what the future holds. To my fantastic husband, I am more in love with you today, than the day we married, but less than tomorrow!!! Happy 5 years, I Love You.

LOVE

2008-07-28T09:35:00.004-04:00

You never know who much someone means to you until you have seen them at their worst, taken care of them and controlled yourself enough not to puke right along with them, because they cannot help it. So heres to you and I am super glad you are feeling better!! I will be your nurse anytime you need me. ;)

Nikki and Michael

2008-07-21T18:51:00.004-04:00

This past Saturday we attended the wedding of my friend Nikki and her husband Michael. It has been a long time coming as they have been dating about 8 years. It was beautiful, her colors were green and green. Her reception was at the Chattanooga Trade and Convention Center and let me tell you there was a lot of dancing going on. Anyway,they are on their honeymoon in Hawaii. Congrats to the happy couple!!

P.S. Mammie all of the hankies were used often. Thank you!! they loved them.

Icis-Michael's niece

Galen-Michael's nephew

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-04T19:09:00.006-04:00

Every year at Coolidge Park, the Chattanooga Symphony puts on the annual Pops on the River, with fireworks afterward. In the past we have gone to the park around noon and made a day and night of it. For the past couple of years we have not gone, and I kind of missed it. Burt is not a fan of crowds or traffic, needless to say he does not love it. 150,000 people is not his cup of tea, but he goes because he knows that fireworks are one of my favorite things. Anyway this year we decided to stay on the Aquarium side of the river and it was fantastic. Eventhough there were people there were, it was not like being at Coolidge Park. Daniel, Tracy and Owen went with us. Enjoy!

Today we went to my Aunt Faye's house in Harriman, TN. Most of my mom's family comes. We eat dinner, swim, and have watermelon of course. Most of the time the men stay up in the barn, I can't even tell you what goes on up there, as far as I know it's a lot of lying and trading.

This is my great grandmother-Granny Dunlap

Reagan

Jimbob, Shannon, Steve, Wally

Jill Aunt Faye, Aunt Marie, Uncle Tommy, Uncle Dick, Uncle Johnny and Granny

Passports

2008-07-03T14:49:00.007-04:00

Yesterday, Burt and I went to the post office to fill out our application for our passports. I do not know why, but somehow I feel more American. We had to have a passport to get off the boat in Belize. We should have them in 4 weeks or less. Our pictures are funny, because you cannot smile, which is very hard to do with a camera in your face. I will post pics when we get them.

Myrtle Beach 2008

2008-06-16T21:32:00.009-04:00

We had a fantastic time in Myrtle Beach. The weather was great, company was great, food was great etc.. etc.. etc.. I will add my pictures,but Nikki has all the details.Thanks Mammie and Pawpaw for making it happen!!!

Mammie and Pawpaw waiting to go parasailing

Eli and Uncle Burt on the USS North Carolina

Mammie and Papwpaw

Burt and Josh

Thanks Nikki for the new header!!

Fun with Eli

2008-06-03T15:11:00.007-04:00

Memorial Day weekend we got to spent one on two time with Eli. After we picked him up from daycare we headed to the playground. All Eli wanted to do was swing and play in the sand. He was not really interested in anything else. After we finished at the park we went to Target and Eli picked out an alligator which he named June. We had a fantastic time, we cannot wait until vacation in 4 days!!!!

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-12T10:44:00.004-04:00

We had a fantastic Mother's Day this year!! On Saturday we spent the day with my mom we ate lunch at Panera Bread, my mom loves the broccoli cheddar soup(me too!). Afterwards we went to Steve and Barry's my mom tried on a pair of bitten jeans (ha, ha) she did not like them because they were too low. I know everybody has the best mom in the world, but I really do, even though I kid her about loving her baby(Burt) more than me, I know I still have her heart. I truly do not know what I would do without her!!

On Sunday, we spent the day with Burt's mom, we ate at Red Lobster and only had to wait about 45 minutes. After we ate we went to see Mammaw, she was very excited to see us all, but talked a lot about that boy (Eli)!!!! After this we went to Glenda's house to see Gaga. I also could not ask for a better mother-in-law, she makes me feel like I have been a part of their family forever and I love the time that we get to spent together.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

WE LOVE YOU BOTH!!

Happy Birthday Buck!!

2008-05-04T10:49:00.003-04:00

Back in March, was my step-dad Buck's birthday, so mom wanted us to suprise him by coming to Troy's. Troy's is where Mom and Buck go daintcin, every Friday night, I am so glad that they have this to do , they have a great time and have made tons of new friends, young and older.

Friday Night Fun

2008-05-04T10:40:00.003-04:00

Over the past couple of weekends we have gotten 2 new wii games, the first game we got was Guitar Hero 3, which I stink at, and this weekend we got Mario Cart.Mario Kart has a steering wheel that you use and it is way more fun than I ever thought it would be. As you can see Nikki and Burt are very serious about their video games.Here are the pics.

Happy Birthday Nikki!!!!

2008-04-04T09:28:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow April 5th is my sister-in-laws birthday. I must say that I could not have asked for a better sister. She is smart, beautiful, creative and a fantastic mother to my nephew, but the thing I love about her the most is that I can be completley honest and myself with her, that is the biggest blessing I could ask for so heres to you Nikki, I hope you have a great day and I Love You very much.

Coach Finley

2008-03-30T17:35:00.009-04:00

Burt is coaching baseball again this year, so that takes up alot of his time. He is the most easygoing coach I have ever been around in my life, even when the lose 19-2. I am so proud of the way that he interacts with these kids. It is good to know that kids do have great role models to look up to.

Of course we had to have a picture of Sahadut pitching. I think this kid eats, sleeps and breathes baseball.

Triple Play

2008-03-12T18:02:00.002-04:00

So, today we signed up for the comcast triple play, which is cable, internet(yea!!!)and phone for one low price. So far I love it. I am most excited for the DVR that we replaced our old box with. I finished my crocheting project, but it turned our to be nothing. It is not even wide enough for a scarf, but hey it was great practice. Burt has started baseball, so that is taking up most of his time these days. That is really not much, but better than nothing

Something New

2008-02-05T10:19:00.000-05:00

I have decided that since I do not have a real hobby, that I would try to crochet. I have tried this before,but only had the patience to make the beginning chain. Since my mother-in-law and sister-in-law are so freaking crafty and creative I am sure they will get a kick out of this. A friend at work started teaching me, well now I am stuck(she went on maternity leave). So for me the very independent, I can do it myself type I will soon have to ask my mom-in-law for help. This is what I have done so far.

This happens all the time....

2008-01-16T13:08:00.000-05:00

So, yesterday Burt came to pick me up at work, and said "I have some bad news." Not really in the mood to hear bad news,I said "what is it?" While the furniture delivery truck was delivering next door they ran over OUR mailbox. Let me clarify, they destroyed OUR mailbox. The driver tells Burt, that they will call it in, get us a new one blah, blah, blah. And then tells him "This happens all the time", really cause I think they need new drivers. Anyway enough with the complaining..here are the pictures.

Happy New Year!!

2008-01-04T15:13:00.001-05:00

Picture is a little blurry, but cute anyhow!!!!

We had a fabulous, but busy Christmas and I would not have it any other way(Eventhough I complain about it a little). The best part of the holidays is spending time with family.I was off of work for the 2 weeks around Christmas and New Year's as was Burt of course. On Thursday before Christmas we went to Buford to pick up our precious Eli. He is such a joy to be around!! We finally got Eli to Mammie and Pawpaw's house to see the cows. Nikki and Josh came on Saturday we have lots of fun playing games until the wee hours of the morning. Sunday we made our way to Coolidge Park and rode the carousel and make a couple pictures, again we stayed up to the wee hours playing games. On Christmas Eve we had brunch with the Finley family, we also played Scene It! This is not a game to be played with Josh or Nikki, they apparently have too much time on their hands. Christmas Eve night we made the trek to Gaga's house for dinner with the Crabtree family. I do not have the proper word to describe the experience. I will not complain about it,since it is family I that is what I said was the best part of the holidays.Burt and I decided to exchange gifts on Christmas Eve. Christmas morning we went to Mammie and Pawpaw house. There is nothing like seeing a child on Christmas morning. Eli had the best time,and of course we did just watching him. I miss that little guy soooo much!! (Nikki and Josh too). We will see them soon.

Cheese!!!

Eli helping Mammie

We left there at about noon, so we could go to my mom's house. We ate lunch there with Mom, Buck, Brian, my Uncle Johnnny and Uncle Tommy.I have the best time with my family because they are so honest. We gave my mom a picture of the two of us, and she said "well, it's not the best picture y'all have taken."Gotta love the honesty(eventhough I feel the same way).We left there for home to sleep a lot. Usually my Dad would come over the day after Christmas and i would cook for him, obviously that did not happen this year. It was really weird and sad not to see him at the door, or the table or on the couch watching football with Burt. I am sure that he is much better off,but sometimes that doesn't make me feel much better.Anyway, on with the longest post ever(don't get used to it). New Year's Eve we spent at the bowling alley with the Bryant's and Sahadut. We had a great time.!!! I hope that everyone has a fantastic year!!!

Buck's new coffee pot Mom and her stocking

Brian loved his South pole shoes

Tracy and Daniel

Me,Burt,Sahadut

Winter

2007-12-04T15:26:00.000-05:00

As we get ready for the winter, some things must be done. These are not jobs for me, these are Burt jobs, with a little help from Sahadut.

The job of course is cleaning the gutters, they got the back done fine.It is closer to the ground so the ladder could reach to the top. The front on the other hand is a bit different. Needless to say they did not get the front cleaned out because they were both scared of falling off the roof.

This is the decent from the back of the roof, Sahadut's face is priceless.

Cassie

2007-12-04T15:20:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the world Cassie LeeAnn Ridley. November 9th, 2007. 5lbs 2 oz. 18 inches long. This is my friend Kelly's little girl.

Halloween Party 2007

2007-10-29T12:16:00.000-04:00

A great time was had at the 2nd Annual Finley Halloween Party.We dined on hotdogs with all the trimmings and homemade chili courtesy of my stepdad Buck. Many sweets were eaten and drinks drinken.The temperature outside was in the 40s, but we still had a great time anyway.

Burt was a baseball player, I was a witch. I was not very happy with my costume this year, but I already have next years in mind.
Eli and his Uncle Burt!
Owen was a scarecrow.

Thanks to all who came and made our 2nd Annual party a success, we are blessed to have such wonderful family and friends!!!

Fall

2007-09-17T12:01:00.001-04:00

This weekend we are going on a family vacation(The Finleys) to Gatlinburg. I am pretty excited to see all the family. This is what I hope to see, but I am sure that it is way too early for it. We had a wonderful anniversary weekend and PF Chang's was fabulous. I had the Kung Pao Shrimp and Burt has Wok Charred Beef, for our appetizer we hand Shanghai Cucumbers!!!! My $25.00 gift was a Wood Wick candle, these things are great, the wick crackles like a fire when it is lit. Burt got a new Georgia polo for his gift!!

Anniversary

2007-09-13T11:11:00.000-04:00

Today is our 4th anniversary,yeah us, we are going to P.F. Chang's tomorrow(We finally have one in Chattanooga!!!).I guess the bed will be our big gift to each other,but we set a $25.00 limit on gifts for this year. So here are the pictures of the bed, of course not made up,who has time for that at 5:45 am.

First

2007-09-10T11:14:00.001-04:00

There is really not much going on at the Finley house, Burt is busy with softball and school and that takes up a lot of his time. I am starting to prepare for the second annual Finley Halloween Party. Oh, we did buy a new bed that we love!!!!! See Amy, after all the pressure this is what you get, a whole lot of nothing.