Here are some more before & after shots.

Shelby Original: 

Shelby Boost/Lovely & Ethereal: 

Shelby Colorized:  (more…)

It’s hard to believe it but 2008 is almost over.  While there have been a couple of personal challenges this year, the year as a whole has been a very good one.

2008 was a year of traveling, or so it seemed at times.  (You can read all about my travels this year, if you’d like, by visiting my My Travels page.)  I added 5 new states - Nevada, Arizona, Ohio, Michigan, & Georgia - to my list of states I’ve visited in my lifetime.  My mom, sisters, and I took a great unforgettable trip to North Carolina in June.  It was full of sight seeing, family history, and even a bit of NASCAR.

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Tonight, my family and I went out to eat at a restaurant called Backwoods Barn for my birthday supper.  It’s a 30 minute drive from my parents’ house and is pretty much back in the woods (or at least in the middle of nowhere).  It is an all-you-can-eat buffet that serves the best fried catfish I’ve ever had.  (For those that live here in northwest Arkansas and think Catfish Hole is the best, you need to give Backwoods Barn a try.  The hush puppies can’t rival Catfish Hole’s but the catfish sure can!)  Backwoods Barn is only open 3 nights a week (well, 2 during the winter).  Each of the previous times we have gone, there was a line out the door, off the porch (which has heater things on it to keep patrons warm in the wintertime), and once even beyond the porch.  We made sure to go early enough tonight that we got seated right away.  I think we were there for a grand total of 35 minutes, according to Shelby.  As we were getting up to leave, Dad said it sure was a long way to drive for supper.  Then, we remembered last night’s supper - we drove an hour up to Lindsey’s house in Missouri.  We decided the drive over to Goshen wasn’t that long after all.

Speaking of our visit to Lindsey & Grayson’s house…I, of course, took my camera with me up there last night and took some pictures of the Christmas tree & decorations and also of the family.  Here are some of the best ones.

Thank you Lindsey & Grayson for having us up.  It was fun!  Your house looks great all decorated for Christmas!

Here is the hand.

I spent a couple of nights in Branson, Missouri this weekend.  Lindsey, Shelby, and our cousin Crysta went with me.  We stayed at the Hilton, which is located right on Branson Landing.  We had the above view of the Landing’s square from our hotel room balcony.

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