"The BEST surprise EVER!"

Scott and I have been planning to take the kids up to a small town at the base of the Appalachian mountains to go horseback riding for a few weeks and the kids knew there was a surprise, but didn't find out what it was until we pulled up to the ranch:

Gracie and Lydia are going through the "horse phase" that most little girls go through. 

They were more than ecstatic when they realized what we were doing. 

Henry loved the friendly cats. 

 Gracie led her horse out of the stable and she was just a natural. 

I was shaking like a leaf out of fear for these large, unpredictable animals I had never met and she just turned into a young horse whisperer. 

Scott and Henry rode on Rambo. 

Bless his sweet heart he is so old and slow.

But we wanted to be sure my baby was safe on a mellow horse. 

Most of my pictures while riding are blurry. 

It takes a lot of talent to not drop your iphone while riding. 

And that's Gracie up there ALL by HERSELF!! 

I had a momentary panic attack when her horse, RedWolf, decided he didn't want to climb up a rocky area that was slick from a little stream. She stayed so calm and just did what she needed to do and he eventually did his thing. 

I was so proud.

Lydia was my riding buddy. 

She spent a good amount of time pretending to shoot arrows, like Merida from BRAVE, and complaining that her bum hurt. 

Our trusty steed, who was much more interested in grazing on the grass than going for a hike, was named Cody. 

 Gracie kept saying she wanted to come back every day. 

She got one more moment to connect with the horse before we left. 

Afterward we drove into town to eat lunch and wander through the shops on main street. 

The Fudge Factory did not disappoint!

So many choices!

 I am stoked about this awesome phone I found in an antique shop. 

It's not nearly antique...a major counterfeit, but then again, I'm a wannabe too so we go together. 

When we got home this awesome guy welcomed us at our back door. 

I wouldn't get close enough to him to get a picture that shows you his size. 

Seriously 6 inches long!! The web was enormous. 

Turns out he was probably a harmless banana spider, but yikes!! Not at my house. 

I love all the small towns in the country here...but not the spiders!

# 1 Small town in America

On Saturday we ventured into Georgia country to visit a small town named Madison. 

Some facts about Madison, GA:

* Travel Magazine rated it the #1 small town in America 

* During the civil war when General Sherman ordered all of the towns in GA to be burned he made an exception for Madison because it was so beautiful. 

* The architecture for most of the Antebellum style homes in Madison have been amazingly preserved and restored. 

Here are a few of the many pictures I took:

(pictures are via Instagram)

Every street was just full of character and beauty, a photographers dream!

 

 This is my dream house:

It was about a mile walk around the main part of town to see the majority of the homes and buildings. 

Henry was just being a wimp and Lydia refused to take my advise and wear comfortable shoes. She has to learn all her lessons the hard way: 

It was SO hot and humid. I was just dripping sweat, and of course I showered and blew my hair dry that morning. I guess I have to learn my lessons the hard way too. 

This sign was hilarious, I thought:

*Historical Marker*

At this Location

On this very day

In 1862

Absolutely Nothing

Happened

 The antique shops were numerous and dreamy.

Most of the furniture had tags with the items history on it which made each piece even more sentimental and appealing. It was the thousands of dollars on each price tag that deterred me. 

Funny story here:

The house looked empty. 

There were no cars and it was quiet. So I started snooping in the 19th century windows and taking pictures and suddenly an old lady pops in m face and closes the inside shutters. It scared me to pieces! 

...and I felt bad for snooping. 

I did some shopping at a few great boutiques on main street and Scott took the kids to get ice cream and it was a wonderful day! 

House Tour (the main floor anyway)

Here it is. 

Every house looks (almost) the same.

 I hated that idea before we went house hunting, but this house is a dream come true for us! 

The Entry-way from the stairs

A view of the living room and dining room from the entry-way

The living room. 

The dining room. 

 Kitchen and hallway/buffet area. 

Family room. 

My mantel. 

I wanted to change it up from the typical clock above the fireplace. I think I really like this set up. 

 We donated our computer chair to the missionaries in Illinois when we moved because it just didn't fit in our truck. I'm still on the hunt for a cute chair I can paint and re-upholster. 

 (my mom has requested a look at our street)

 It's a very nice, quiet neighborhood. I feel very happy here!

The psychopath inside...ME!

We are all moved in and settled in our house!

Scott and I are machines and we kicked our butts and were completely done in 5 days! 

(I still have some pictures to hang in the kids' rooms)

Unfortunately, I think all that hard work affected me more than I thought it would.

We had a great day of fun in downtown Atlanta and I was commenting on how good my RA has been the last few days, then, at 3:30 in the morning it struck. 

I thought I was having a heart attack. 

I had so much pain and I couldn't breathe, I was afraid I was going to pass out so I woke Scott up just in case I did loose it and he called 911. 

Then began my worst  nightmare:

My heart actually calmed down before the EMT's arrived and when they did I told them I was fine and sorry for the inconvenience. They didn't accept my apology and started poking me and putting stickers all over my chest. My blood sugar was good. My heart rate was good for a minute and then it picked up again...163 BPM's. That was all the information they needed and they dragged me into the ambulance, put in an IV and took me to the hospital. 

 When we got to the hospital it was chaotic. There were several people in my face and they were doing all sorts of things and suddenly I felt awful. I told them I was going to pass out and I was gone. 

I had an amazing dream that I can't even describe and suddenly was shocked by bright lights and faces screaming at me. Apparently I had a seizure while I was out. 

Never done that before. 

So, I was admitted to the hospital and transferred from the ER to the Cardio whatever, whatever wing where I waited and waited to have a lot of tests done. Those took about an hour and a half and I waited several more hours for them to tell me that I'm healthy as a horse and to send me home. 

The doctor told me it was most likely an anxiety attack. The last time I had an anxiety attack was before Scott deployed. I didn't realize they could wake you from the deep of sleep but I guess it can. 

Last night when I got home the panicked heart racing and shaking came back. 

A hot bath and a Priesthood blessing from Scott helped me settle down, but it took several hours of controlled breathing before I finally fell asleep. 

My kids were good this morning and let me sleep unitl 9:00!!! 

I feel fine now that I got some good rest and even went to Costco today! 

I just feel so dumb to have gone through so much just to find out I'm just mentally unstable. 

Really, if we didn't have such amazing health insurance I probably would go into a coma thinking about all those bills I conjured up. 

A house tour will be coming soon!