Chad's Mom's Trip

Chad's Mom has been visiting with us for the week and we were sad to send her home today.

We had a great time picking our pumkins from the pumkin patch.

Carving our pumkins

And Chad took her to his second home...the ski area

Dance, Dance, Dance

For anyone who is feeling a little too still right now; sitting at your desk or on your sofa, I urge you to DANCE!
If you remember the 80's I think you might like this little halloween number I have on my playlist...THRILLER by Michael Jackson.
So get up...you should be dancing around your room right now like you just resurrected from the grave (If I have to explain that then you have obviously never seen the Thriller video and I am sorry for that).
This video was so scary for me as a kid but I loved it at the same time. And by the way I wanted to marry Michael Jackson when I was young. I know he is a little weird now but he put out some of the best music, lets not forget!
http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start=1&q=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DAtyJbIOZjS8&usg=AFQjCNFSxUiapBEaIhCTxhV71tzlRD19fA

5 Year Anniversary

We celebrated our Anniversary by having breakfast at our favorite breakfast spot, The Stone House. It was delicious!

We went to our Alabama party and it was great to hang out with friends, eat delicious Stadium Dogs and help the Tide Roll to Victory! Oh, and they served Queso dip made from the LaPaz recipe...that was huge! Did you know that in Reno they don't server queso dip at Mexican restaurants!

Big Saturday

This Saturday is our 5 year Wedding Anniversary!
In previous years we have celebrated in awesome locations; Aspen, Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe...
However, the past 2 years we have gotten back to the roots of our wedding day...The Alabama/Tennessee game. Our friends host a football party and do it up in style with stadium dogs and football shaped rice krispy treats. I mean really, could you ask for a better place to be on your anniversary?! (with the exception of "at the game")
It was a blowout last year and I am hoping for something similar this year. In fact, I am going to ask for a little bit more...I want Bama to actually play in the 3rd quarter.

A few facts:
Wedding Day - The game was on at the reception and the guests loved it as the rivalry went into 5 overtimes (you remember, five) Tennessee won 51 to 43
1 year Anniversary - Tennessee won 17 to 13
2 year Anniversary - Alabama won 6 to 3
3 year Anniversary - Tennessee won 16 to 13
4 year Anniversary - Alabama won 41 to 17
5 year Anniversary PREDICTION - Alabama wins 37 to 17

Roll Tide!

Remember when?

Remember when gas prices were over $4/gallon?
I paid $3.11/gallon today and I would just like to stop and recognize that gas prices have gone down about $1/gallon from the height of the oil crisis.
That is what we call an answered prayer!
Now lets focus our prayers on Wall Street! Oh and the government!

Projects & Cute Pictures

This summer I purchased these great fabric pieces from a yard sale for next to nothing. Yet, I haven't gotten around to making anything out of them. So this week my goal is to make a pillow and a table runner. Hopefully my next post will be showcasing my progress.

Every year in October my mom, her sisters and mother meet in Birmingham to celebrate the sister's birthdays. Here is a picture of all of them before a day of shopping and fun!

What a cute group of girls.

In case you need another cute picture...here is a baby giraffe at the Birmingham Zoo.

New Southern Friends

I want to tell you I met a new Southern Friend today. I am thrilled that I have been meeting more girls from the South now that I am working at PB. I guess it is no surprise PB draws the belles!
When I met this new friend today...and I told her I was from Alabama she asked if we could hug! And we did! Isn't that warming to the heart.
Just wanted to share a smile:)

2 inches of SNOW

Winter Wonderland in early October!

Snow makes us Happy:)

First Snow of the Season...at our house

I knew the temperature was going to drop today to a high of 47 but I didn't expect snow at our house...what a pleasant surprise!!!
We still get excited. So of course I had to take a picture.
Note: You may need to double click on the picture to see the snow.

Deep Thoughts by Jana

Do any of you mentally talk to yourself but then realize you are actually whispering rather than just thinking?

Lately Chad has been busting me for doing this. He will ask me "What did you say?" and I have to confess that I was talking out loud to myself. Mostly when I am getting dressed I think/whisper things like "not that necklace, this one" or "flats or boots?" I have to admit that this is really funny and the more I catch myself the more it amuses me.

Recently, I have found myself doing this in public as well. At the grocery store (for sure), shopping for clothes, etc.

Just think about it this week and see if you do it yourself. Oh, and laugh if you do...it is funny!

On another funny note...

Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey (thought of the day)

Consider the Daffodil.

And while your doing that,

I'll be over here

looking through your stuff

Picture of the Day

The Nelson Crew with Gene Stallings

Weekend Update

The Alabama game wasn't pretty but we won at least! Our friends came over and brought their small rat terrier. We were already doggysitting Maya so we had 4 dogs in total. We introduced them one at a time but by the end they were all friends.

Was Chad taking a picture of Kallie and me or Sampson???

The dogs are investigating our neighbor dog on the other side of the fence...and Bentley (small dog) is telling Lucy to not stand soo close. Lucy is of course sporting her Alabama jersey.

Maya and Sampson relaxing in the sun!

Kallie, Tim and Bentley

Update on the Lincoln Brewster Concert - It was great. There were about 1500 people in attendance and they rocked out. Lincoln is the former guitar player for Journey and he did a number. The opening guy was from Canada and he played a James Taylor song too. We are glad we went. Lincoln is the most downloaded Christian musician on Itunes...check him out.

I cooked a Boston Butt in the crock pot all day yesterday then topped it with some bbq sauce and it was delicious. We have extras and I will be eating it all week, sandwiches, topped on baked potatoes, etc. Maybe next weekend it will be Chili time!
Oh and one more thing...it snowed on our mountains Friday night. We woke up Saturday with snow capped mountains. The temp at our house is about 50 now. I love it!

Mum Update & Recipes

Check out my Mums today

verses 2 weeks ago...

I love trying out new recipes from Real Simple Magazine. However this week I ended up with 2 flops.

First, I made Angel Hair with Spicy Shrimp. I purchased these beautiful shrimp that were huge but when we went to eat them they were WAY TO CHEWY. Flop:(

Second, for lunch the next day (note to self, don't make new recipes back to back) I made Polenta with Garlicky Chard topped with blue cheese. This plated beautifully. But the taste was lacking...Flop:(

So, for those of you who get Real Simple I am going to recommend that you don't try these 2 from the October issue. Don't worry, I am not discouraged about cooking...I will continue to try and eventually I will find my signature recipe.

We are going to the Lincoln Brewster concert tonight...I'll tell you about it tomorrow.