Saturday, September 27, 2008

Party

Heather, my lovely sister, threw a board party for me to sell some of the boards that I have been working on. Here are some pictures of them.

Cute Family Home Evening Boards!
These are my favorite! Adorable magnet boards for the home. These were my mom's favorite too!
Cute Fall Boards! I love the Halloween ones, but there are some beautful Fall/Thankgving sayings And here is the stacker I made for Heather for throwing the party for me. This is for Mattie's room with words from her very favorite Primary song!

Friday, September 26, 2008

Worst to First

The Rays have gone from the worst to the first! They have had an amazing season. On Sept 20 (the same day we went to the Tech game in Georgia) the Rays won their way into the playoffs. Their first postseason trip in franchise history! And then tonight, Sept 26th they clinched the division title, beating out the power houses of baseball, the Red Sox and the Yankees, in the hardest division. Now, we await the playoffs! Go Rays!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Afternoon Treat? Maybe not!

So, I love indulging in a little afternoon treat at work sometimes. I try to bring little chocolate snack packs (pudding) with me, a tasty treat. But sometimes I forget or don't have one. At that point, I make my way to the cafeteria/deli at work and see what I can find. A few months ago, I tried the pudding they had. Chocolate with whipped cream and crushed oreos on top. Sounds good right? Well, as I enjoyed my chocolate snack, I took a bite and found a pasta/noodle. Ewww, something must have happened in the kitchen and a piece of pasta fell into the pudding. The pudding I was eating! Well, needless to say, I stopped buying pudding downstairs and if I didn't bring my own snack, I went without. That was months ago. Today while at lunch with my work friends, Retta and Lawree, Retta decided to buy some pudding for us to all share. The chocolate pudding with whipped cream and oreos from the cafeteria. I was nervous as she handed me a spoon. We all laughed about the noodle and I decided that there was no way that could happen to me AGAIN. So I took a bite. The very first bite I took of that chocolate pudding I found something. No, not a noodle...this time it was a BLACK OLIVE! Yes, that's right! An olive in my pudding. Of all the people and the chances it happened to me. You can imagine the combination of pudding and olives, not very tasty. Lawree, Retta, and I laughed hysterically as I spit the olive out into my napkin. Seriously, what are the chances! Never again will I attempt to consume the chocolate pudding with the whipped cream and oreos. NEVER!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Ramblin' Wreck

This weekend Greg and I were able to take our annual trip to Georgia for a Georgia Tech game. Greg's dad graduated from Georgia Tech, so needless to say, Greg has been quite the fan for a long time. I was delighted to wake up on game day to beautiful weather in the 60s. It felt like Fall, so Greg got me a Pumpkin Spice frappuccino to sip down while enjoying the cool air. Yum! Then we headed to downtown Atlanta for the noon game, me praying it wouldn't get hot. Me, not so lucky. It heated up and by the fourth quarter, it no longer felt like Fall. Sad. But that's okay, because Tech controlled the game from the start. We had great seats, although my back didn't agree, and enjoyed watching our favorite college team dominate. I do love going to the games. Perhaps my favorite part of the day is before the game even starts. They play a video on the scoreboard, showing the history of the Tech football team to get everyone excited. I love watching about the history of the school. They hold the record for the highest score, the most lopsided score, in the history of college football. Very cool. Greg is already planning on sending our kids there...I guess we will have a bunch of little engineers running around!
Greg's dad's old hang out spot, his frat house at Georgia Tech

Cooling off in the shade before going into the stadium for the game. Yeah, not in the 60s anymore!Final score! Poor Mississippi. It was a great game, domination from the moment it started! Everytime they scored they played the Ramblin' Wreck fight song, which amazingly made Lochlan dance around in my tummy! Maybe he will go to Tech!
After Tech won the game, we headed to the Varsity, also a tradition of ours. Greg LOVES the Varsity-which is the largest drive-in fast food restaurant in the world! Greg's dad used to go there while in college. When you walk up to the long counter, all you here the workers yelling out is "what'll ya have!" It is quite the experience! Greg loves the chili dogs and I love their onion rings (I usually don't eat them anywhere else, that's how tasty they are) and the yummy Frosted Orange Shake! And then, after a great day of football and food, we got in the car and headed back home. It was such a great weekend. I love the trips we get to go on!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

September Birthdays

My wonderful brother, Chris, celebrated his birthday on the 4th. He is out in Utah with his wife, finishing up at BYU and hopefully, we pray, moving back to sunny Florida. My brother has to be one of the greatest guys ever, and I am not just saying that because we are related. I love my brother and hope he had the best birthday!
Another birthday to celebrate this month was my too adorable niece, Mattie "MoMo" Menzie. She had her 3 yr old birthday party on Saturday and I was able to drive over and catch the last part of the Dora the Explorer extravaganza! There were many 3 year old running around, hyped up on candy and cupcakes. It was quite the sight! I was impressed with the lengths my sister and her husband had gone to creating a Dora themed party. Complete with a "map" leading to the cake and each child left with a purple "backpack" goody bag. Very cute. I got to spend the rest of the afternoon with my family. It was such a great day, and then I headed back home to my husband.I did miss the groundbreaking for our new church building, deciding to spend the day with Mattie and family, giving all the focus on her until she is joined by a new brother and cousin at the end of the year. But Greg was able to attend the groundbreaking and he filled me in on all the details. Greg stayed behind for the groundbreaking and of course to watch college football for the rest of the afternoon. He was in heaven-just him and our dog watching football from 12 until I got home around 8. Nice day.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Katrina, Gustav, and Beignets

Three years ago Greg and I were planning a trip to visit my Grandmother in Biloxi, Mississippi-Greg had never met my wonderful Grandmother and I was going to take him to New Orleans, which he had never been to-when we heard news that our trip would have to be postponed, or rather officially cancelled. There was a monster storm heading for the gulf coast. We spoke with my Grandma on the phone and convinced her to head to her church for shelter. My Grandmother lived by herself, my Grandfather and my Uncle having passed a few years before. Thankfully some ward members picked her up and took her to church where they would all spend the next week. The last minute that horrible storm turned toward Biloxi and reeked havoc on the Mississippi coast. My Grandmother's home, where she and her family had lived for years and we had spent many Christmas', was destroyed from the 20 foot surge. She lost everything but the few things she had taken with her. As horrible as this storm was, it was truly a great blessing for our family. With no home to go back to, my "stubborn limey" grandmother was forced to make the move to Florida. A move my mother has been asking her to make since my uncle, who helped take care of her, had died. Shortly after her move down here she was diagnosed with cancer and we were able to spend the last year of her life with her. I guess I will always be thankful for that terrible storm that devastated so many other lives, because I got that last year with her.
Today another storm is slamming into the Gulf Coast-Gustav- which had me reflecting back a few years, although not directly hitting Biloxi this time. Nobody heard too much about Biloxi last time, even though landfall and the worst of the storm happened there. I did get the chance to revisit the area when we went to my Grandmother's funeral over a year after Katrina had hit. It was not the same Mississippi Coast I remembered spending so many holidays at. I pray for everyone along the Gulf Coast in the path of Gustav. For my grandmother's old ward and great friends who took care of her when no family lived close by, for the people in Louisiana. I have many fond memories of days spent in Mississippi with my family, learning to cook seafood like my Grandfather and of New Orleans-of the French Quarter and the Cafe' Du Monde and of course, the fabulous Cajun food we Tarpeins love so much.
So in honor of the Gulf Coast-Mississippi and Louisiana- I made Greg some Beignets this morning for breakfast. Beignets are served everyday, all day at the Cafe du' Monde in New Orleans. Anyone that visits has to stop by there and get these amazing french doughnuts with chocolate milk. Greg still hasn't had the chance to visit New Orleans, so I thought I would bring the breakfast to him. They were absolutely delicious!