No Pictures Update

Sorry for no pictures! My parents were here all weekend...and I carried my camera around all weekend..but I never took one picture! We had a great time with them. We went to Mary Mac's Friday night, then shopping and to MiMi's for lunch Saturday, watched the Gator game Saturday evening (which was SCARY with Tebow's concussion), and then churched on Sunday and ate at Sonny's (everyone knows Sundays aren't complete without eating at Sonny's or Cracker Barrel). And then...they went home. I'm so glad they came - it's so fun to see them, and they are always so generous and we get to eat out!! We did wedding stuff too - bought some glass shower blocks for decoration at Krista's reception....

And, Momma got a dress for the wedding. Exciting stuff.

Last night I tried to make some bread pudding. This went decently well, but not fantastic. It was pretty good. I used this recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Caramel-Bread-Pudding/Detail.aspx

I really like bread pudding, but only when it tastes like caramel or chocolate, not when the flavor tastes like alcohol (not because I don't drink, but just because I don't like how it tastes). Landon had some when he got home, and he said it was good with ice cream.

Tonight we are going to see a play, The Woman in Black, at our favorite theater. We'll eat first at the Pizza Co. right around the corner. I'm excited about it...but it's so hard to do stuff on work nights! I am tired already and it's only Tuesday!

I also must update you about the cleaning. Remember how a few months ago I was sharing about Landon cleaning stuff up and how we were different. Well, he wanted me to make a list of everything I do in each room of the house. So, I did. He took that list and did something with it - I do not know what. But, I'll tell you this. That man has been cleaning the house. He has been swiffering, vacuuming, all kinds of cleaning! I am so thankful! Just wanted to update you on how my husband is meeting some of my needs.

Maybe I will have something more fun to share as the week goes on...probably not though.

Show Us Your Life...DESSERTS!

Today is Show Us Your Life...Favorite Desserts. Isn't it funny how I was just sharing about some of my favorite desserts yesterday? I have to tell you, though, that I ate a chocolate dipped ice cream bar at Costco last night (one of my top 5 faves), and I just feel gross about it - still this morning! YUCK. It was just too much! Anyway....here are 3 of my VERY FAVORITE RECIPES. The first two I've made numerous times and they are a huge hit. The third one (strawberry cake) is a new recipe I just received from someone, and I can't wait to make it. I had this lady's strawberry cake from this recipes, and it was FABULOUS.

Grandma Hier's Carrot Cake (a Paula Deen Recipe!)

Ingredients
Butter , for pans
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 cups grated carrots
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, optional

Frosting:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese , room temperature
1 stick salted butter, room temperature
1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 3 (9-inch) round pans; Line bottom of the pans with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add eggs and vegetable oil. Using a hand mixer, blend until combined. Add carrots and pecans, if using. Pour into pans. Bake for approximately 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pans, place on waxed paper and allow to cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting:
Add all ingredients, except nuts, into a medium bowl and beat until fluffy using a hand mixer. Stir in the nuts. Spread frosting on top of each cake layer. Stack the cakes on a serving plate and serve.

I've made this carrot cake a bunch of times - it is AWESOME! I chop the carrots up really tiny though in the food processor since Landon doesn't really love carrots. And, I never put nuts in it because I don't like them - but that's a personal preference.

Ice Cream Delight

Ingredients

2 ½ cups cream-filled chocolate cookie crumbs, divided (I crushed these in the Black/Decker chopper—a few at a time)
½ cup butter or margarine, melted
½ cup sugar
½ gallon chocolate, coffee or vanilla ice cream, softened (I use vanilla)
1 ½ cups salted peanuts (I ground these in my Black/Decker chopper//I used half of this and sprinkled over only half of the dessert.)
1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed (Cool Whip J)
Chocolate Sauce:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2/3 cup semisweet choc. Chips
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
½ cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Combine 2 cups cookie crumbs with butter and sugar. Press into the bottom of a 13X9X2 in. pan. Freeze for 15 min. Spread ice cream over crumbs; freeze until firm, about 3 hours. Meanwhile, combine first four sauce ingredients in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Boil for 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla; allow to cool to room temperature. Spoon sauce over ice cream; sprinkle with nuts. Freeze until firm. Spread whipped topping over nuts and sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs. Freeze at least 3 hours before serving. Can be stored in the freezer for up to a week.
Yield: 12-16 servings.

My mom has made this ice cream delight a couple of times when we've been home and I've made it several times at our house - it is delicious....

Strawberry Cake

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
1 pkg. (3 oz) strawberry gelatin
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 pkg. (10 oz) frozen strawberries, thawed

Strawberry Icing, below

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans. Combine flour, salt and soda; set aside. Beat eggs in large mixing bowl. Add oil, sugar, gelatin and buttermilk; stir vigorously until well-blended. Add flour mixture and blend well. Drain 1/2 cup juice from strawberries, reserve for Strawberry Icing. Fold berries into batter. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven. Cool 5 minutes, turn out of pan onto rack and cool completely. Frost with Strawberry Icing.

STRAWBERRY ICING
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 pound confectioner's sugar
**1/3 to 1/2 cup strawberry juice
Combine butter, softened, sugar and 1/3 to 1/2 cup juice until desired spreading consistency. Beat until creamy.
** Note: Add strawberry juice gradually, too much makes the frosting too thin and too little makes it impossible to spread. Also, if you don’t have ½ cup strawberry juice you can add water to obtain the desired consistency.

This is the only one I haven't actually made yet, but I have eaten it, and it is amazing...hence...why I asked for the recipe :) Yummy!

These desserts all sound good to me...but blah, I am still so full from that Costco bar last night!

Happy Friday! Remember....my parents are coming today!!!!! Yay!

B's Favorite Ice Cream Desserts

That last post got me thinking about what my very favorite ice cream desserts are. I've been thinking about it, and I want to share my top 5....

VERY FAVORITE ICE CREAM DESSERTS
(in random order...except the first one...that one really is my very favorite)

1. Magnum Ice Cream Bars - oh my word, these are my all time favorite...ever, ever, ever. I experienced the heavenliness of these bars on our trip to Israel two and a half years ago. My favorite flavor was this flavor shown in the picture - white chocolate outside and vanilla inside. I probably ate at least one of these every single day of the trip. It's just really rich and crazy good. I don't know why they don't sell these ANYWHERE IN THE USA. But, it's a travesty. I've heard the closest to it are Dove bars, but I haven't tried those yet - mainly because I've never seen a Dove white chocolate with vanilla bar. Like I said above, although these are not in order of most favorite to least favorite...this one is definitely #1.

2. Ice Cream Delight - I love some ice cream delight. This is a recipe momma got and started making for us. It is AWESOME. The best part (which you can't even see in the picture, so it's really not an accurate ice cream delight) is the homemade chocolatey caramel sauce that goes on top of the ice cream. Whew! It is delicious! One time I made this for our work birthday celebration - enough to feed 50 people! It was crazy because it was so much work, but the people loved it.

3. Costco Ice Cream Bars - the first time I had one of these...I thought, "There is no way this is actually going to work." They hand dip this huge vanilla ice cream bar in a big crockpot looking thing of chocolate and then stick it in a big wax paper envelope for you to take. I thought there was no way that thing was going to dry and harden! But...I was wrong, oh, was I wrong. It was delicious. The chocolate is thick and quality. And, it does not melt (well, unless you take forever eating it). I heard someone say the other day that he couldn't imagine someone eating one of those by themselves. Uh, are you kidding me? I can easily take care of one of these. As you know, I love Costco, so this is a class favorite.

4. Coldstone Creamery - Okay, here's what I get at Coldstone. I get sweet cream ice cream, in a bowl, with brownie and caramel. This was the closest picture I could find to it. I used to eat waffle bowls in college when we'd go to the new Coldstone by the Disney World movie theater, but I don't like the waffle bowls as much anymore and usually just get a "Like It" size in a bowl. If Magnum bars are my #1, this is probably my #2. I could eat this every single day of my life. Seriously. And, I could also be so big I couldn't fit through a doorway. I'll choose to be able to fit through the doorway...I guess.

5. Chick-fil-A Milkshakes - Let me just be bold now to say that if you don't like Chick-fil-A, you are a communist. I LOVE CHICK-FIL-A. And, they make the best milkshakes of any place I've ever been - which is odd since they do not specialize in ice cream. I'm telling you though, the cookies and cream is my favorite, and it is awesome. I also love that they have created a size small, and I really like that. It's just enough, lower priced, and not as many calories! This is always a good choice - especially if you are on the road driving and cannot use a spoon.

The Way You Do the Things You Do

It's been kind of a rough week for us, so last night after church, while we were looking for a gift card we could not find anywhere (well, we could have found it at the actual store the gift card would have come from - but instead we were at Kroger and Publix since that store was further away and we were trying to get home!), Landon wanted to get something special to eat. We debated between McDonalds ice cream sundaes and getting a box of weight watcher's ice cream bars. We decided on the ice cream bars - then we had to choose which bars we were going to get.

Here is my favorite:

Here is Landon's favorite: (I don't know why this picture is smaller - it has nothing to do with it not being MY favorite)

So, we sort of compromise and decide to get the one with the oreo kind of stuff on the outside, but with vanilla ice cream on the inside. Okay, not my favorite, but I can live with it (especially with the vanilla ice cream choice inside). Well, Landon has this thing about not getting the first box of anything on the shelf. So, he begins digging in the freezer for a box behind this front box of bars. He cannot find another box. In his mind, he believes the boxes to the back are actually better quality - not everyone has touched the boxes in the back, they are colder if in the freezer section, etc. I believe this to be true, usually, but I will NOT explore the entire freezer section just looking for another box if the box I have seems to be decent and still sealed. We encountered this sort of thing when our Edy's ice cream started being made in a smaller container. For a while grocery stores had both sizes, and they were for the same price while they just got rid of the old bigger sizes. We would stand at the freezer, with the door open, so that Landon could dig through all the ice creams and try to find only 1/2 gallons of the ice cream, not the crazy smaller size they were now trying to cheat us with. That was an aside. Back to the weight watcher bars. So, he finds another box - ha - victory! Then, we are walking extremely fast to the self checkout so that we can hurry up so they don't melt. And, right after we walk away from the self checkout....here it comes. Landon says, "Okay, open them up so we can eat one right now." YIKES. THIS IS BAD. This shows a big difference in our personalities - and is EXACTLY the same as the whole Krispy Kreme thing.

Here's my ideal moment of eating the ice cream bar....

We get home, and I go take a shower. I put on my pajamas and come downstairs. Meanwhile, the ice cream has been in the freezer getting cold and re-frozen from its short trip home. Then, I get the ice cream bar. I eat it, sitting on the couch, while enjoying one of my favorite tv shows. I don't have to rush to eat the ice cream...I just enjoy it...I don't have to worry about crumbs dropping everywhere or it melting too fast...I just enjoy it...ah...this is so relaxing...this is a good ending to my day...

Here's Landon's ideal moment of eating the ice cream bar...

Wow! I just got an ice cream bar from the store. I am leaving the store - oh my word, it is going to melt. Oh my word, I have to start tearing it open. Hurry! Hurry and get it open! I want it to taste great. Oh shoot! I forgot I don't have any napkins in the car. Oh shoot! I forgot it's kind of hard to drive with it! But, to me, it is worth it. The immediate gratification of the ice cream is worth it. I eat it in about 5 bites...and that's the just the way I like it! This was so worth it.

Telling what I think Landon must think reminds me of my daddy when I was little. I remember (and I bet he still does this) that he likes plain m&m's. I remember that if we all had m&m's, I would be eating mine one by one so they would last as long as possible. Dad would eat a whole bunch of his at once, though, and they would be gone in like two gulps! Do you think this is a man thing?

I did persuade Landon to wait and eat the bars when we got home last night. We were in the car, and I thought they would be messy, and we wouldn't be able to enjoy them as much. He is a good husband, because he let us do it the way I wanted :) .....and bars tasted deliciously that much better because of it...

For some reason, this makes me think about all my favorite kinds of ice cream. Hmmm....I will post again later with a list for you.

The Sun is Shining and the Birds are Singing!

The current weather here is...SUNNY! NO RAIN YESTERDAY! I wanted to share a few more pictures with you of places close to our home...pictures that actually mean something to us.

This is a picture right off of Exit 8 on 575 - the exit we get off to go to our home.

I-575 looking at Exit 8

another picture at 575, Exit 8

This is the Chick-fil-A Dwarf House we eat at all the time. It was not flooded, but look at
Hwy. 92 below!

And, the water is gone now. Crazy! Do you think floods are following us? I hope not. But, no damage to our house or neighborhood. Thank goodness!

Trying New Recipes

Last night I tried two new recipes. You know, if I had more time, I think I'd really like to cook more. I tried Mississippi Mud Cake and Chicken Cheese Biscuits. The cake I got from a new Southern Living at Home cookbook I ordered a while back called Incredible Chocolate Recipes. I love stuff with marshmallows, so I was really looking forward to trying this! As you can see below...it looks VERY yummy!

Evaluation: Well...it's okay. It's really good - good to eat with milk. BUT, it's CRAZY SWEET. I mean, crazy! So, it might send you into sugar shock. Landon's not a lover of marshmallows, so I figured he wouldn't love it. He did eat a piece last night, and so did I, but I am planning to take it to work with me tomorrow to let everyone eat - because, trust me, they don't have a problem at work eating free food! I probably won't make it again, but it was neat to try. I also learned, in the process, what a jelly roll pan was. I had no idea, and I don't have one, but now I don't need one since I won't be making this again probably :)

Then, here are my Chicken Cheese Biscuits.

Evaluation: Now, this was pretty good. I did it with baked chicken that I cubed, but I think it would be even better with boiled chicken that is shredded. We enjoyed it for dinner last night. Only problem was that it was hard for me to tell when the crescent rolls were done. As you can see above, that one is pretty brown, so I went ahead and got the whole thing out of the oven...yet...they were a little doughy. We ate our little chicken cheese rolls with baby lima's and creamed corn. Pretty yummy. I will definitely make this again. I got this recipe from the Kelly's Korner blog I love when everyone posted their favorite recipes last Friday.

Let me give you a link to Kelly's blog post so you can check out some great dinner recipes. I copied all the ones I wanted out of people's blogs and put them all in a word document and printed them out. I have some exciting new stuff to try!

http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/2009/09/show-us-your-life-dinner-recipes.html

So...I think this Friday on our Show Us Your Life tour will be yummy dessert recipes. Watch out - because I have some good ones! (and they don't really include the Mississippi Mud Cake - it wasn't gross - just too sweet!).

Leave a comment if you'd like the recipes for these two dishes and I'll be happy to post them. Did I mention I'm excited about my parents coming this weekend??? I have to decide what special dessert I'm going to make for them...hard decisions!

My Mountain Man is Home

I wanted to put this first picture up last week before Landon left on his trip, but then he reminded me that I need to be careful what I put up here on the blog...and I didn't really want who knows who (not that a bunch of people read my little blog...) to know Landon is out of town and come and get me in the night! So...Landon left for his trip last Thursday and got home late on Saturday night. He had a really good trip - they had 26 people accept Jesus as their Savior. He went on a mission trip with a hunting theme - ministering to the men of West Virginia. So...I cracked up when I saw the shirt he had to wear for the trip - it was crazy camouflage. So, when I wanted to take his picture with the mission trip shirt on, he wanted me to take it down in the basement with his gun and beside the deer. It cracked me up so much - I think this picture is crazy, but I also think it's pretty funny. So...this one is at home before he left...he is a mountain man ready to go...or...a killer on the loose (he looks pretty crazy in this picture :) )

And then, I was trying to pick out a couple pictures from his trip...but I just wasn't sure. So...maybe he'll edit this post and help me out...here's a picture of just the scenery. Oh, and they were in Welch and Iaeger. They were about 6 miles from Gary.

Here's a picture of First Baptist Church of...I can't remember, but probably of either Welch or Iaeger.

He had a good time, but I was glad for him to be home! There was not good cell phone reception up there, so our phone calls were mostly like this:

B: Hello?

L: Hello? Can you hear me?

B: Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?

L: Can you year me?

B: OOOH...I can hear you! How are you?

L: Hello?

B: Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?

(then multiply these first 7 lines about 5 times)

Finally, even though we missed each other, we were just about mad at each other from all the frustration of just trying to talk.

My mom's family is from West Virginia - I think close to Gary - and they go up every year to stay for a few weeks and go to a reunion. Landon said he'd really like to go see that area and to go again with family when he wasn't like "on a mission". I did learn from his trip what in the world a "holler" is.

Also, did you know that Mothman Prophecies (you know, the movie) was filmed in West Virginia and is supposedly a true story? Landon says when we go up there again he is dead set on going to that Mothman place. That movie is the first movie we saw together - while we were actually with other friends - it was our very first "set up" "get to know you" not really "date". The point to all this is that Landon went on a mission trip to West Virginia, he had a good time, and now he's home - and I'm glad...and we're glad the Gators WON!

I Fear We Are in for a Wild Hurricane

...sort of. The words titling this post are from one of my very favorite books as a child, Ms Twiggly's Tree. They're having a wild hurricane in the book and she invites bears and all kinds of animals to "batten down the hatches" with her and ride out the storm. It's been some excitement around here. It's been raining for days...but so what? It's nice to get some rain once in a while. BUT...yesterday, after lunch, Landon emailed me and asked what we were doing at my work - because they were sending their people home. Creeks and rivers everywhere were flooding. At first it seemed like no one at my work was concerned - well, except for me, that is, since I am really triggered by any words like "voluntary evacuation" or "rivers cresting" or "roads are impassable"...for some silly reason...like...once upon a time we...LOST OUR HOME IN A FLOOD! So, whether or not I was overreacting yesterday, I'm not sure. I just know I needed to get home, to my house, to Landon, and be there. They did let us go, and after going through some crazy water at some points on the road, 2 accidents, and a very short detour, we made it home. But, I knew when I dropped off Mariana (carpool) that the water under the bridges looked CRAZY high. Isn't it bizarre that we were in a total drought last year and this year we're having a flood? So...this morning, I waited until 7am to leave for work - so that I could leave in the light. Well...all my ways were blocked. So...I turned around and came on back home. I think the water will start receding this morning because most everything crested last night and this morning. It really does look like some people's homes are flooded. Some of the interstates have been shut down - it's crazy! And, all I have to say is this. More rain is supposedly coming - but not as bad as they anticipated at first....but...here it is...MY PARENTS ARE COMING THIS WEEKEND, AND THEY BETTER BE ABLE TO GET HERE BECAUSE I AM EXCITED!!!!! I was planning a trip to Stone Mt....but I don't know...all this water....probably not! Here are some pictures I found on the AJC website.

Go To Dinner Recipes

Alright...so...today I'm sharing Go To Dinner Recipes! The three I want to share are not necessarily "go to's" for me, but they are recipes I really, really love and wanted to share! First, is:

Chicken Stuffed with Broccoli, Cream Cheese, and Cheddar

I found out about this recipe from a good friend who actually cooked it for Landon and me when we came to their house for dinner one night. The recipe's a little hodge podge because Joy just told me what she did...and I tried to follow. It turned out great! This is not actually my picture, above, so...I think it looks a little gross up there - but it is really good!!!! I promise! Here's what to do:

1 package of chicken cutlets

2/3 cup (maybe) of shredded cheddar (sharp is my favorite)

half a block of cream cheese a cup of steamed broccoli (maybe - I just did enough to cover the bottom of the steamer)

2 eggs, beaten Italian bread crumbs

Parmesan cheese

First, I beat the chicken cutlets so they'd be even thinner. Then, I mixed together the shredded cheddar, cream cheese, and steamed broccoli. I spread this on the chicken and rolled it up. Rather than using the long cutlet, I cut it in half so that basically I was making a much smaller roll. Then, I stuck a toothpick through it. After getting all the rolls ready, I dipped them in egg, and then in a mixture of the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. I baked them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, pulled them out and checked them, and then stuck them back in for 3 more minutes. I LOVED THESE!!!

Swiss Chicken

My friend, Mariana, at work gave me this recipe, and I don't think it's one of Landon's favorites (but that's because I cook the chicken too long because I'm afraid it's not done...but I won't be doing that anymore because I got a thermometer that tells you when it's at 170 degrees!). I love to make this, and I love to eat it for leftovers...it's really easy too...and I like to have rice with it. Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

6 slices Swiss cheese

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup milk

1 (8 ounce) package dry bread stuffing mix

1/2 cup melted butter

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.Arrange chicken breasts in the baking dish. Place one slice of Swiss cheese on top of each chicken breast. Combine cream of chicken soup and milk in a medium bowl, and pour over chicken breasts. Sprinkle with stuffing mix. Pour melted butter over top, and cover with foil.Bake 50 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Smack Yo Momma Mac & Cheese

And, here's my last one! This takes a little while, but to me, it's so worth it. This recipe for macaroni and cheese won a Good Morning America award for being one of the 5 best mac and cheese recipes!! I've made it a few times...it is AWESOME!
Ingredients

2 cups of shredded mild cheddar

2 cups of shredded Colby jack blend

1 cup of medium cheddar

2 cups of shredded Velveeta or small box (uh, did you know you can buy Velveeta shredded?? I didn't and it was crazy hard to shred)

1 box of elbow macaroni or noodle of choice

4 eggs

3 cups of whole milk

1 cup of heavy cream

1/2 a stick of butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F, spray a 13 x 9 pan at least 3 to 4 inches deep with non stick spray.Boil noodles as per directions on box until just undercooked. Quick rinse, shake, drain and put to the side.Mix eggs, milk, cream and salt and pepper, whisk until well blended. Pour 1/2 of milk mixture in bottom of the pan. Add a layer of noodles, then add salt and pepper. Take shredded cheese and combine in a bowl, give a quick toss. Top noodles with cheese, mix cheese up a little with noodles and repeat layers. If using box Velveeta, slice pieces over shredded mixture. (Don't forget salt and pepper on each layer.)When you get to top, the last of cheese heavy on top. Take the rest of milk mixture and pour the remaining over the noodles and cheese. Poke holes so milk mixture can get all the way through. Melt butter and pour over mixture. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.Cover tightly with foil. Bake in oven for 45 minutes. Remove foil and cook 5-10 minutes more until golden. Let stand for at least 10-15 minutes before serving.

I HOPE YOU ENJOY THESE RECIPES AS MUCH AS I HAVE!!

Another Great "GATOR" Day!

Wow! We just can't seem to get enough of the Gators this week (OH YEAH, after we were offered tickets to the game this weekend and CAN'T GO!!!)!! A few weeks ago we signed up to go to this special lunch program, sponsored by Sure Connexions, at the Fox Sports Grill where Danny Wuerffel would be speaking. I, of course, watched him while he played for our team back in the 90's, but have never seen or met him in person. Landon happened to be off today, so we bought tickets and went! Landon picked me up at work (along with co-worker/friend Malissa), and we headed down to Atlantic Station for the event. It was great! We were able to meet Danny - who was so kind to us! We have several things in common with him:
1. He grew up in Ft. Walton Beach, and we are from that area
2. He went to the University of Florida just like we (Landon and I) did...he played football there - obviously, we did not, but we love football there :)
3. He lived in New Orleans and lost his home in Katrina, just like us.
4. He moved to the Atlanta area and lives here now, just like us.
See, we're just like family or something!!

So, before the lunch started, we were able to go up and meet him. We talked with him about the things we have in common, and then Landon brought his big Gator head that hangs on the wall to talk to have him sign...

He was great! See how he signed it below! It says, "To Bethany and Landon - God Bless and Go Gators! Danny Wuerffel #7" He was so funny talking about Steve Spurrier - and doing his voice. And, telling such great stories.
We had a great long lunch today getting to hear him speak!
IN ALL KINDS OF WEATHER WE ALL STICK TOGETHER!

We Survived!

The Gators really showed up on Saturday! We left our house at 4:30am to get to G'ville for the game. Although I went to school at UF and went to all the home games while I was there, I had never been at a game where it rained before. It started raining ONE time, and I left! So...it was pretty obvious that rain was in store for Saturday afternoon. We made it through the first few minutes of the game just fine with a few sprinkles, but then, it began to rain harder. We had ponchos and put them on. I am not a huge fan of ponchos. I had to wear the gray one because the orange one clashes with my hair - Landon wore the orange. First of all, why is the head hole so small? And, I think a really good poncho would incorporate a visor into it. Because once I had it on, I could not move my head at all so that the rain wouldn't hit me in the face. You know how I don't like for my face to get wet. Finally, at half time, it started getting better, and we took off our ponchos. Landon's dad happened to be at the game with a family friend of theirs, so we went to eat at Sonny's afterward. Sonny's is good food. We used to have one in my hometown, until they shut it down and made it a Great China Buffet with huge dragon columns as you drive into the parking lot. Sad. Great China Buffet should NEVER trump Sonny's...in fact, I can't think of a place that would (except maybe Cracker Barrel). ANYWAY, back to the trip...we left Lake City after eating at Sonny's and got home about 11:30pm. We did stop once on the way home at a DQ. I had been thinking about DQ for a while because they keep showing these dip cones on commercials. So...Landon, who doesn't even like DQ, stopped there for me. Well, it was a big disappointment. They do not even compare in the least to a Costco ice cream bar. Ridiculous. I was sorry we wasted the time, money, and especially, calories. We were EXHAUSTED when we got home - well, Landon more so than me. Here are some pictures from the day:

People always ask if there are actual alligators, you know, real ones, on campus. Well, yes, my friends, yes, there are. Take a look here and see for yourself.

I wanted to show you my shoes because they're super cute. These are the switch flops I got from my parents for Christmas last year. I put my Gator ones on and was good to go. Sorry you have to look at my feet to see them - I didn't think about just taking a picture of my shoes.

And, here's the usual picture of Landon and me at the game! You couldn't see, but I had on a really great sparkle gator bracelet!

Oh yes, and finally, this doesn't have anything to do with the game, but I think it's funny. We brought numerous things to do for the car ride like study our Intimate Encounters lesson and read. We brought Harry Potter along for the ride so I could read it aloud to us. I guess because it was rainy, it just got dark so much earlier than we expected. I wanted to read it so badly though! We tried turning the reading lights on in the car...but those jokers were WAY too bright! It was crazy!! We have got to remember to put a book light in the car for trips! So...I got the bright idea to try to use the GPS like a book light. Here's what it looked like below:

You can barely make out the book, itself. It was crazy and did not work. I read like 4 pages with it like this and then had to say - forget it!

And, finally, I really wanted to post this video we took of the beginning of the game. So...I decided to create a Shutterfly share site so that maybe somehow I could link the video to the blog. I'm still not sure if I can do that, but here's the link to our new share site:

http://thefrymires.shutterfly.com/

Oh my word! I am so excited - look I made the video work...ooohhh...this is opening up a whole new door for me. The sad thing is that I realized that I could have been posting videos the whole time - posting the videos have nothing to do with our share site. And, this is my FAVORITE part of the game...two bits and ONLY GATORS GET OUT ALIVE!!!! I'll be posting more videos soon since I've learned how now!

Only Gators Get Out Alive

So...at the last minute, someone offered us tickets to the Gator Game tomorrow, and we are going! The game is at noon, so we will probably have to leave at like 4am...yikes!! And, after the game, we will drive straight back to Atlanta so we can be here for Intimate Encounters Sunday morning. It's going to be a not so restful weekend...BUT WORTH IT. It's great to be a Florida Gator! There is nothing like that video they play at the beginning of the game where the gator is going in the water....and they say....ONLY GATORS GET OUT ALIVE...and then our team runs on the field. Whew! Gives me a shiver right now!

Here's our picture last year at Vanderbilt! It was COLD! I know it won't be cold tomorrow! And, this picture would be better if I had the camera on the right setting...

And, here's my picture with Alberta! I LOVE ALBERT AND ALBERTA - THEY ARE MY FAVORITE!! And, get this. This was at Vanderbilt, and we were waiting to go into the stadium, and all of a sudden (right after this picture happened), the police started telling people to get off the sidewalk. So, we're like, huh, what is happening? And then, here comes our BUS. And ALL OUR PLAYERS...AND COACH MEYER!!! I got to high five the Pouncey twins and Spikes (I think), and then TIM TEBOW!!!!! He had on a suit with a vest...and it didn't look like he was going to high five anyone, but don't you worry...I stuck my hand out into the very middle of the sidewalk and he high fived me! It was SO EXCITING! Vandy is a great place to go for our game (when it's away, obviously) because it's so small. It's kind of like being in an upgraded high school stadium. We are able to stand at the bottom of the stadium and yell at our players as they come out to practice and warm up. And, obviously we just happened to be standing on the sidewalk where random nobody's were all standing...not lined up 10 people deep waiting for the players to come into the stadium like it is at home. BRRR!!!!
We took this picture last year at the South Carolina game (I think it was the SC game because I remember us watching Steve Spurrier). My dad always gets 4 tickets to any UF game because of the radio station Wise Equipment advertises with. They are great seats because they are under an overhang - so if it rains, you don't get wet. We had a great time...and we ate at Sonny's before the game, so how could that not be a perfect time?

So, we're off in the early hours of dawn tomorrow. I know we're going to have a GREAT TIME!!

The Theatre

I feel like I'm holding a cup of tea in my hand with my pinky finger out while saying...."The Theatre." Tonight we are going to a play at the Marietta Square Theatre. This is one of our favorite places to see plays here, because it's a small theatre in such a cute downtown square. Usually we try to go to stuff like this on the weekend, but the prices are so much lower during the week that we decided to go for it tonight! I'm processing payroll today...and it's stressful...so I'm trying to think about sitting outside of the Marietta Pizza Company tonight eating my pizza under an umbrella and feeling the breeze...with some of my favorite friends, Eric and Kelli...and Landon will be there of course (my serious favorite). This is getting me through the day today. We love to see the Sander's Family plays there (we've seen all 3 now!), we've seen a Sherlock Holmes play there, and I feel like something else...but maybe not. Tonight we are seeing The Savannah Disputation. Here's what it's about:

The Savannah Disputation

Disputes involving saintly matters can be wickedly funny, as this new work by Savannah playwright Smith proves. A perky evangelical encounters a priest and two Catholic sisters. Her attempts to convert them to her style of Christianity have hilarious results.

Looks great to me! My friend, Bonnie, went to see it and said it was really funny. I will be TIRED tomorrow, but hey, it'll be Friday, and I'll make it! One more thing before I go...so...Landon was running yesterday afternoon, and guess what?? He had a dog situation. HA - sort of like mine, remember? Remember when the dog would not leave me and was running beside me and I was trying to yell at the cars driving by, "THIS IS NOT EVEN MY DOG!" And the dog was running out into the traffic. Well, I can't give details for Landon's encounter yesterday since it didn't happen to me (and I don't remember enough about it), but I can tell you this. The encounter was with a pit bull-looking puppy and the dog sounded really sweet. Landon finally lost him by going around to the other side of a fence and then climbing over the barbed wire fence where the dog was stuck on the other side. It also involved sticks and pine cones and moments of yelling, "Get on outta heya!" (Steph, that one's for you, your granddaddy, and Ruby...oh wait...that's "Ruby, Get over there in yo bed!")...anyway, back to reality....if, and that's a big "if" I get through the day with no nervous breakdowns...I'll let you know how the play goes! And, I just started the 4th Harry Potter book!

Favorite Book Friday

Well, today is Friday. At my work, they decided to make it a fake emergency day, so they let us all work from home. Yay! I was all ready to post my usual Friday "Show Us Your Life" post, which was about Go To Favorite Dinner recipes...well...I accidentally got the dates confused. Actually, I think she added some topics and changed some dates since the time I wrote all the different topics and dates in my calendar. So...next week is actually Go To Dinner...so I'll have that post ready. Instead, I was trying to think of something interesting I could post. I love to read. I have always loved to read as long as I can remember - I mean, did I have a choice? My momma is an English teacher! :) I am currently reading the Harry Potter series, and am almost finished with the 3rd book! I love them! Recently, at work, a lot of the ladies started talking about the author, Charles Martin. They were raving about him and about his book, When Crickets Cry. I don't know whether or not you love to read like I do...but after reading this book, and thinking it was AMAZING, I wanted to tell you about it! So...welcome to...

FAVORITE BOOK FRIDAY!

Title: When Crickets Cry
Author: Charles Martin
Synopsis:
A man with a painful past.
A child with a doubtful future.
And a shared journey toward healing for both their hearts.
It begins on the shaded town square in a sleepy Southern town. A spirited seven-year-old has a brisk business at her lemonade stand. Her latest customer, a bearded stranger, drains his cup and heads to his car, his mind on a boat he's restoring at a nearby lake. But the little girl's pretty yellow dress can't quite hide the ugly scar on her chest. The stranger understands more about it than he wants to admit. And the beat-up bread truck careening around the corner with its radio blaring is about to change the trajectory of both their lives.
Before it's over, they'll both know there are painful reasons why crickets cry...and that miracles lurk around unexpected corners.

Buy this book!! But, if you are in my family, I might get it for you this Christmas...so if you buy it, let me know! Do you have any books to recommend to me? I'd love to hear your favorites!

The Day Came.

Well, the day finally arrived. A tomato was ready. Right before heading off to church we decided to take some pictures and pick our tomato. This is very exciting - our first seriously successful tomato. See pictures below...

Well, there it is! It's still a tad green on top, so we're going to let it sit for a couple days longer! I thought we should go ahead and get it or it might start rotting or something...it's a proud day!