The 5 F's and BFF's

This weekend was a blast! Zach and I went home to Dothan to have a football party at his Dad's farm since his parents were going to be gone for the weekend. We got home late on Friday night and made pizzas together and started getting ready for the next day. Saturday morning we got up early to cook boston butts and ribs all day and it was beautiful outside...perfect weather. People came in spurts all day and we had so much fun watching the tide beat up on Kentucky! We also played a game that is similar to the corn hole (sp?) that i had never played before but it was sooo much fun and i was actually good at it. I made Julia Child's potato salad recipe (YUM) and buffalo chicken dip and of course a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing (crimson and white of course!) But the buffalo chicken dip, if you have never tried is amazing here is the recipe I used:

8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup ranch salad dressing

1/2 cup Hot Sauce

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 cans (9.75 oz. each) White Premium Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained

SO GOOD!

All in all the day was so fun, we stayed up late and had a bonfire until everyone left. Zach loves this so much, he feels like he is in high school again because everyone would come out to his house for bonfires in high school. It was good to catch up with old friends and see people that i dont get to see often. Food, Fun, Friends, Fellowship, and Football....what else would you ask for?

Now I am going to gush since we got to hang out this weekend...do any of you have that friend that just knows you better than yourself and even if it has been like a month since seeing each other, nothing (i mean nothing) has changed? Morgan has been my best friend since we were in diapers...so many times we have gotten in trouble together, but she has always been there for me and knows me better than anyone (except Zach). She is like the sister that I have never had and I am so happy that nothing has torn us apart...I think there has been one fight between us in the past 22 years of friendship. And i know that 20 years from now, no matter where we are, we will still be best friends. Just makes me smile and happy to know I have her as a best friend. Hope she doesn't get embarrased reading this!! Love you!

Clueless

AH!!! The beautiful fall weather is here! I love it....perfect football weather or perfect for a long run or walk. Finally when you walk outside you dont drip sweat....because if any of you knew me, I sweat. Alot. But with the cooler weather comes the really COLD weather. I am not sure which I like more the swealtering heat or the bitter cold?!

Anyways, my main reasoning for posting this is to ask for a prayer request. My papa had a mild stroke and was put in the hospital. Thankfully he is alright, but it was a scare! So now he is recovering and I am so happy we made the decision to go to Dothan to see him! He is one of most caring, compassionate, loving, honest, and the most wise person I know! So please keep him in your prayers.

And now I leave you with something that has been on my mind as I have just gotten married and out from under parental supervision...I have obviously been going to school for nutrition which mainly involves studying food and science. So, my problem is this...where along the way were we supposed to understand and figure out the process of buying a house, insurance, stocks, taking out loans, and all that other nonsense?! I told my dad about this the other day and was wondering where he had been and why he had not taught me the ins and outs of all this! Suddenly, I was thrown into doing all of this on my own. Now I know some of you are thinking I am stupid or airheaded....but I have a 4.0 GPA and I feel I have some common sense. Basically, my rift is that I wish somewhere in college or high school there was a course for how to live (haha, kidding) but at least teach us the facts and how to's of "being an adult"! Thankfully, my husband understands all this and teaches me along the way because otherwise I would be clueless! So, I leave you with a picture of my wonderful loving husband haha!

Jr Miss and Snakes

So we are back from another weekend away...I swear, we have not stayed in Birmingham for a weekend in like 3 months! Anyways, we went to Dothan so that Zach could do some business and to watch Rachel, my cousin, in the Jr Miss pageant. Friday, my dad, Zach, my brother, and I all went to my dads house to grill out steaks and have a few toddies together. What a fun and eventful night...I love hanging out with my boys!! Good conversation and good food. Saturday, we watched Bama roll over Arkansas! What a great game...Trent Richardson is my new obsession on the team. After the game we went to Rachel's jr miss where she cleaned up! She is so stinking smart, pretty, and talented....it skipped me I guess?! She placed first runner up and got a tremendous amount of scholarship and even better news she is going to Bama next year! I am so proud of my little baby cousin! But here is the real reason for the post...does anyone else get like me and for some reason just get in a funk for no reason at all and it just springs upon you from nowhere?! Let me explain, before we went to Jr Miss I could not find an outfit to wear or look right, I was having a bad hair day, and feeling well a little "fluffy". So for no reason at all I get in a funk and, as my dad calls them, I get these snakes in my head. Whatever it is, I feel this passionate dislike for myself...it will fade quickly but it bothers me. Thankfully these little bouts have been happening a lot less and Zach can tell when they happen because I get really quiet. He has learned to just leave me be and ignore it and i will snap out of it because if he keeps saying "what's wrong" or "what can i do" I get even more quiet and he thinks I am mad. Thankfully, because of him and his love for me he helps me out of it real quick. Anyways, I am sharing this because I am wondering if anyone else just randomly get those snakes in their heads like that? Why does it come on so sudden and out of nowhere? All I can do to stop it from happening is think about how blessed I am and how wonderful my life is... God has blessed me and my family in so many ways it is unimaginable.

Procrastination

AGH!! The serious of school has started back again....and I am so not prepared. I have two tests tomorrow back to back (please someone tell me why the teacher whos offices are right next to each other do not communicate when planning schedules?!) I am usually not a procrastinator for those who know me well, I like to have a schedule or a to-do list and check things off before the last minute...except when it comes to tests. For some reason it works best for me to wait until the night before and study for the entire day straight...the teachers at HA would HATE me for saying that right now! Anyways, so many prayers are needed...it is my last semester and I am feeling the senioritis....just like high school again!

Anyways for those who have not seen our house, it is a very old house that we bought for a good price and have made some repairs and remodels on, but needs some work! However, I am not very creative or a very good designer so I need help and since it is hunting season, but husband likes to come home from work and work on things like a boat for hunting or be in his tool shed playing with whatever boys play with while our bathroom tile and floor looks like this:

Yes, that is a sea foam green tile and matching floor, supposedly the retro is coming back in style, but I agree to disagree! Anyways, it has been fun redoing our house and Zach is a real handy man so I have no complaints! Last thing I wanted to say is that I am so proud of my cousin Rachel! She is so talented and amazing and beautiful and she is going to be in Jr Miss this weekend and I am hoping to get to go watch her cause I know she is going to win! Love you Rachel!

Amidst the Silence

So this is my first post. New to the blogging world but love to keep up with others. We might not have that exciting of a life yet, but married life keeps getting better everyday. I am madly in love with my best friend and he makes me a better person. Enough of the gushy stuff on to my weekend. It is official I have lost the husband to hunting season. Yes, that is right it goes straight from fishing to hunting. So I am alone in Birmingham this weekend and there is little life here...meaning all of my friends have left for Auburn or Tuscaloosa or somewhere of the sorts. For me, I had planned on going to Auburn (riding with a couple of friends) but we decided to turn around when we watched the forecast (REALLY bad weather!). So here I am, alone for the first time by myself in Birmingham. It is quiet, really quiet. So I tried doing homework, then I tried running, then I tried watching football, but all lead me back to the silence and reminded me I was alone. So then after a bout of feeling extremely alone and sad for myself I turned on a podcast from a church (for those who dont know these are sermons that can be downloaded straight to your iPod...glorious, i know!) and realized, why was I so afraid to be alone? Sometimes God wants us to be alone so we can spend some time with Him, we need to cherish those times of silence so that we can stop all the chaos around us and listen....And what is so wrong with being alone for one day? I have a wonderful family, an amazing husband, fabulous friends, and a caring God. What more could I ask? So amidst the silence, I found comfort.