We are moving!!!

(to a new webpage that is)

This morning, I set up a wordpress.com account and blog. I have imported all of our blogger posts, so you won't lose anything by visiting our new page. Please update our new webpage on your blog (if applicable) and on your computer (Steph's mom and Alyson) Thanks for continuing to read our blog as we continue to keep you updated on our lives. We love you!!

The new address is: http://travisandstephanie.wordpress.com/

Happy Independence Day!

 

I took the above picture tonight at the Dueling Barges fireworks show. Two barges were in the Mississippi River at the French Quarter and were shooting fireworks. I kinda lucked out with my picture though, we arrived kind of late and by the time Travis and I found a spot that I could set up my tripod, the "grand finale" was firing. I took one shot, tried to get the video camera that we borrowed from my parents out only to find that I photographed the last firework of the night. Oh well...however, when we got home I was excited to see that my one shot turned out GREAT! Therefore, the night kind of redeemed itself. Anyway, I just thought I would share my picture. Happy 4th of July!!

Ms. Edna, the world's best cook

 

The picture above was saved off of a college friend's facebook page. Obviously, the friend is the beautiful bride in the picture, Ashley. The elderly lady with her is a woman who has made an impact on untold hundreds of students' lives at the University of South Alabama. Her name is Ms. Edna and she was the cook at the Baptist Campus Ministries center on campus at USA. I learned from another college friend, that she passed away recently. She was such a godly lady. I have decided to share 6 things Ms. Edna taught me about life and love.
1. Home is wherever good cooking can be found. She made the BCM home to me with various lunches and dinners every week. That place ALWAYS smelled of Ms. Edna's good cookin'. My freshman year, my parents were 10 hours away. Ms. Edna helped keep me busy and keep "my belly full" to keep my mind off of my homesickness.

2. Friendships made in the kitchen are vital to a persons development into a mature adult. I got to know her while washing dishes, sweeping and mopping, and sometimes helping to fix a meal. She shared a lot about God and her life and the counsel she received from her mother and grandmother.

3. A true servant's heart never stops desiring to serve God. Her husband died my freshman year of college. He was the love of her life and I didn't think she would return after that. However, the next week, she was back making chicken noodle soup and sandwiches for us. She knew that just because her husband died, she was still called to minister to us college students.

4. A grandma's love is unfailing. She wasn't even my blood-relative but she loved me and countless others.

5. The man a girl is supposed to marry is the one who will stand beside them in the kitchen and help prepare meals. She told me this as a reminder that the woman isn't the one who is supposed to do all the cooking. Her husband was always at hte BCM helping her with meals. She felt that a husband and wife should share as much duties as possible. Thanks, Travis, for cooking with me.

6. A good recipe is hard to find and once acquired, difficult to try. She made 2 meals that have been the most phenomenal meals I have ever put in my mouth- chicken spaghetti and her chicken pot pie. Before I graduated, she gave me those two recipes as a "graduation gift." I have yet to try them. I look at the cards (posted on our fridge) and remember all of my fond memories of Ms. Edna and think about trying to make the meals. However, I am scared to because I KNOW what they are supposed to taste like and if they don't taste just right I will probably be close to devastated.

I love Ms. Edna and miss her but I guess God was needing the world's best cook so He called her home. I bet she and her husband are up there now cooking away together, side-by-side. (Ok, theologically, I know that is not true but it is a fun happy thought to keep me from crying.)

Grand Isle, LA Scrapbook Show

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Houmas House with the Bakers

The above slideshow is from last Thursday when Travis and I toured Houmas House (pronounced "Home" "ahs") with some good friends of ours, Shane and Astasha. Our "children" are best friends so we left them in our apartment to romp and play. Houmas House is a plantation that is located on the Mississippi River about an hour south of New Orleans. Travis and I agree that this is the best one we have gone to yet. The house is pretty cool but the gardens are gorgeous!! If the slideshow doesn't work for you, click here to go to the actual album and you can look and download pictures if you like.

Once we arrived back in N'awlins Thursday night, Travis and I drove to Montgomery, AL to spend the night. We went to NC for Travis' best friend's wedding and had to be up there in time for the rehearsal since Travis was the "preacher." I will probably upload some pictures in the near future, until then...enjoy Houmas House!

Bubble Tea

Ok, so you may be wondering what the picture of the milkshakes on the right are doing on our blog. Well, Travis and I were introduced to something called Bubble Tea by our dear friend Martha tonight. I think we are hooked- it is MUCH cheaper than Smoothie King and is made with real fruit, so it is good for you too. Plus it has a fun HUGE straw for you to drink through. The straw is so big because it allows for the tapioca balls to travel through the straw as you drink it. Yes, you read that right...tapioca balls. In the picture those dark balls in the bottom of the drink are tapioca. I, Stephanie, do NOT like tapioca pudding or anything else with tapioca in it. However, I felt like I should give this a shot. After all Martha told us it was good. It didn't taste like tapioca at all. It tasted like gummi bears! My drink was banana flavored and Travis' was strawberry kiwi. They were delicious! We will be going back for some more fruity, gummi chewy goodness again!!! If you get the opportunity to try it, you should! Just remember to chew up the tapioca- we've been told it makes your stomach hurt if you swallow them whole. We love bubble tea!!

Here is the information I found on www.bubbleteasupply.com about the origins of Bubble Tea and why it is so good:

Bubble Tea originated in Taiwan in the early 1980's at a small tea stand.

Elementary school children would look forward to buying a cup of refreshing tea after a long, hard day of work and play. Tea stands were set up in front of the schools and would compete for business with the best selling tea. One concession owner became popular with her tea when she started adding different fruit flavoring to her tea. Because of the sweet and cool taste, children loved the taste. Soon, other concessions heard about the "unique" and popular tea, so they started to add flavoring to their teas. When adding flavor, the tea and flavoring needed to be shaken well for a good all around taste. This formed bubbles in the drink, which came to be known as "Bubble Tea."

In 1983 Liu Han-Chieh introduced Taiwan to tapioca pearls. The new fad was to add tapioca pearls into a favorite drink. Most of the time tapioca pearls were served in cold infused tea. After the tea and flavor were shaken well, it topped tapioca pearls that were sitting on the bottom of a clear cup. The tapioca pearls also looked like bubbles, thus also became to known as "Bubble Tea." Bubbles floated on the top your drink and bottom of your drink.
Bubble tea is also known as boba drink, pearl tea drink, boba ice tea, boba, boba nai cha, zhen zhou nai cha, pearl milk tea, pearl ice tea, black pearl tea, tapioca ball drink, BBT, PT, pearl shake, QQ (which means chewy in Chinese) and possible many others.

Bubble drinks are usually cool, refreshing, and a sweet drink with tapioca pearls sitting on the bottom of a clear cup. Sometimes the drink is made with fresh fruits, milk, and crushed ice to create a healthy milk shake. You can also find drinks that are made of powdered flavoring, creamer, water, and crushed ice. And if you like it like the Asians do, the cool drink usually includes a healthy tea, infused by a flavoring.

Tapioca pearls are black, but can sometimes be found to be white or transparent. Depending on the ingredients of the pearl, the color varies. I've been told that the white and translucent pearls are made of caramel, starch and chamomile root extract. The black pearl includes sweet potato, cassava root and brown sugar, which add the black color.

The consistency of tapioca pearls are somewhere between jell-o and chewing gum. They are the size of a marble. They are also known as the "boba" drink in Western China because it is described as to having the same texture as the female breasts.

A clear cup with black balls on the bottom can easily identify bubble Tea drinks. Another obvious trait is a huge fat straw. The fat straw is needed so that the tapioca pearls can be sucked up with the drink and eaten. Bubble Tea's appearance definitely makes it unique.

One thing is for certain. Bubble Tea is not a fad. It's a trend. This drink is addictive. If you've had a good one before then you know what we're talking about.

Mama's 90th Birthday Scrapbook

Above is a slideshow of the scrapbook pages I completed last night of my grandmother's 90th Birthday party. They are pretty simplistic because I am trying to learn the ins and outs of Adobe Photoshop. This is the first whole album I have completed. I had done random pages before but never sat down and finished an album. I am only missing on page in the slideshow- I forgot to copy the Family section header page. I have found a highly affordable place online (www.sbtoshare.com) and will be sending off the files to have them printed out for me. If the slideshow doesn't work for you, click on the picture below to go to my album.

Mama'a 90th Bday Scrapbook

Peeper needs YOUR help!

Help! My mom has entered me in a photo contest to be in a PetCo calendar in 2008. I have to get a lot of votes in order to make the "top 12." The calendar theme is about pets who have made an impact with their lives. Everyone who knows me knows how much I helped my mommy and daddy deal with Hurricane Katrina and all the aftermath. Therefore, I am VERY deserving to be a calendar pup! Who knows, maybe they will put me in November- my birthday month! Please click on the link below and vote for me. Thanks for your help!!!!

Click here to vote for Peeper!

Memorial Day Weekend

Mama's 90th Birthday

Memorial Day Weekend

The above pictures take you to our newest photo albums. This past weekend, I went to South Carolina with my parents for my grandmother's 90th birthday. It was a whirlwind weekend but it was worth it. I was able to see family that I haven't seen since Travis and I got married over 4 years ago and I met some family I didn't know I had. It was kind of a mini family reunion I guess you could say. I wish it could've been longer but alas, the seminary doesn't close for Memorial Day. How crazy is that? We get Fat Tuesday off but we don't get the day that has been set aside as a national holiday to honor soldiers who have died for our freedom...a bit backwards if you ask me. But then again, the administration didn't ask me when they decided upon the schedule. Oh well...

Zephyr Game

Saturday night, Travis and I went to the New Orleans Zephyr's baseball game. They are a AAA farm team for the NY Mets (Boo...GO YANKEES!) and we thought it would be a nice break from all the paper writing and reading Travis has had to do lately. Plus, I am always looking for opportunities to take pictures! They played a team from Omaha. It was Beatles night so there was tons of Beatles music playing (part of the reason I chose this game- Travis Loves the Beatles) and we had awesome seats! We were on the first row behind home plate! We've decided if we can't be up close and personal with the players again, we won't go to the game! HA! Probably won't work because it is hard to keep me away from a baseball game. The only player whose name I recognized was Sandy Alomar, Jr. He plays for the Zephyrs. He is Roberto Alomar's brother. They both played Major League ball for the Orioles (I think.) Sandy is one of the catchers for the Zephyrs. He is probably the oldest guy on the team too! He was number 25 (you will see several pictures of him.) He didn't start the game- the starting catcher was ejected in the 2nd inning (there are pictures of that as well.) All in all, we learned that the Zephyrs are a horrible baseball team with ferocious tempers (2 players and almost a coach were ejected.) It was quite interesting. Enjoy the pictures! If the slideshow at the top doesn't work, click on the picture below and it will take you to the online album.

Zephyr Game

New Camera Lens!

I ordered an attachment for my lens last week on Ebay. I really want a dedicated macro lens and a dedicated wide-angle lens. However, they are both VERY expensive. Therefore, I ordered an extender that screws onto the end of my existing lens and makes it wide-angle or macro. The pictures aren't as high-quality as they would be if I had dedicated lenses, but that is OK- this extender saves me at least $700 right now. Hopefully, one day we can afford the "real" lens, but until then...I plan to have fun with what I have. Below are some pictures I took with the macro attachment. I hope to go out and use the wide-angle portion somewhere on campus this week and I will post that too. FYI- the Tabasco bottles are itty-bitty sample sizes that are 1/8 of an ounce, hopefully that will give you some perspective.

Houston, we have a tomato...

In my attempt to be "hippie-ish" I am growing my own veggies and herbs in a container garden. It has been quite interesting. I tried last year to grow tomatoes and failed. This past March, a church member told me a type of tomato that is "nearly impossible" to kill- Sweet 100s. These are a type of grape tomatoes that grow in little clusters. I also learned from a ProDoc student that you need to have 2 tomato plants if you want tomatoes. Apparently, if you have 1 it never gets pollinated and so if you have 2 they will pollinate each other. I asked some people if they had heard of this phenomenon and was told that it was indeed true. That was probably part of my problem last year- I only had 1 tomato plant. After searching for Sweet 100s, I picked up 2 plants, matching pots, and two different herbs. Since I have really gotten into cooking (and have been having quite a blast doing it) I really wanted to try my hand at growing herbs again. I tried in TN but managed to get ONE chive to grow. It looked quite silly. I picked the 2 herbs that I use the dry version of the most, basil and oregano, and added that to my cart as well. I also picked up some dirt. Not just any dirt though (I have NOT been blessed with a green thumb and thus need all the help I can get,) I got moisture control miracle-gro dirt! It prevents me from overwatering or underwatering. I am always scared that my plants are going to scorch in the New Orleans heat so I water them daily. Travis thinks I overwater and thus drown my plants. This dirt helps me not do that! I also picked up a mister bottle to mist the leaves. Now I have 2 pots outside of our apartment, a tomato and basil pot and a tomato and oregano pot. I have enough basil to start using it. I am hoping to chop some tonight. I don't think I have enough oregano yet.

I checked my plant at lunch and discovered my first baby tomato! I had to take a picture because I am very excited about the lil' guy. You can't really tell from the picture, since it is a close-up, but my little tomato is about the size of green pea. I am hoping for a tomato explosion soon so I can stop buying grape tomatoes and start picking my own for my roasted tomato pasta! YAY!

Quick update...

The above picture is showcasing two items- my new "sophisticated" glasses (HA!) and the pillar candle holder I made this afternoon. Travis and I went over to Dr. England's house today to do some "wood working." Travis is making steps for Peeper to use to get into our bed. We are donating our big floral chair to a church fundraising yard sale and after it gets picked up, Peeper won't have a way to get into our TALL bed. Thus the need for the steps. Anyway, while he was working on those steps, Dr. England taught me how to use a wood laith (I have NO IDEA if I spelled that correctly.) I LOVE IT! I had so much fun using it. I used a reciprocating saw and cut me a piece of wood for my candle holder. Then I shaped it using various wood turning tools. It was so much! I don't know what I like more- the making of the cool designs or the wood chips flying through the air! HA! Anyway, I want to make some more things. I have now learned that my dad, Travis' dad, and another relative all have laithes. Therefore, I have plenty of locations for making other cool wooden objects. Perhaps making my own basket bases is in my future- I now know how it is done!!

In other news, Travis hurt his shoulder last week. Actually, I hurt Travis' shoulder and I feel horrible about it. We were asleep Wednesday night when a bag with breakables fell and the contents broke. It was a loud noise and scared me. I screamed, jumped and flipped in the bed and landed hard on Travis' shoulder. His arm was under my pillow when I started my mid-air somersault. All of this happened in a nano-second, so there wasn't anything I could do to avoid it. I have a tomahawk hanging from the bed to protect me from burglars (don't ask- LONG STORY and I am sure I can't use the tomahawk effectively anyway!) so I don't know why I didn't just grab it. Instead, I apparently felt the need to hurt my husband's shoulder. We went to the doctor this past Friday and he said that nothing was broke or dislocated. PRAISE THE LORD! However, he did sprain his AC joint. Travis is supposed to keep it iced and rest it and keep pain killers in his system. I am supposed to stop landing on his shoulder. He goes back to the doc next Thursday to see how he is doing and to find out if he needs to come back for any more visits. Needles to say, it is never dull in the Wright house.

Roasted Tomato Pasta

Ok, most of you know how "unskilled" I am in the kitchen. I have been diligently working on that problem and have been improving significantly. I have been making almost any recipe I can get my hands on and have been loving it. Today, I repeated a recipe that has quickly become a favorite in the Wright household- roasted tomato pasta. I saw Rachel Ray make it on her show and it looked "stupid-proof" so I thought I would give it a try.

Here are the ingredients you will need: 2 pints of small tomatoes (cherry or grape, preferably), 1 lb. of thick pasta (think- spirals, shells, pinwheels, etc.), 2 teaspoons of minced garlic, extra virgin olive oil, basil (fresh or dry), salt n' pepa. :)

Start your oven preheating to 425 degrees. Then start your pot of water boiling for the pasta. While you are waiting on the water to boil and the oven to heat up, wash off your tomatoes and lay them on a baking pan (you will want one with a lip to keep them from rolling off.) Sprinkle the garlic over the tomatoes and then drizzle the extra virgin olive oil all over the tomatoes too. Next sprinkle some salt (I use Kosher) and pepper on them. If you are as slow as me doing all of this, your water is probably boiling now. Put in your pasta and some salt to keep them from sticking. Once your oven heats up, pop in the tomatoes for 10-15 minutes. I seem to time it so that the tomatoes are done approximately the same time the pasta is. Once your pasta is cooked and your tomatoes have burst, you are almost done. Scoop out 1/2 cup of water from your pasta and then drain that pot. Pour your tomatoes into a large bowl and add the pasta-water into that bowl. Take your potato masher and mash up the tomatoes. Once you get them mashed up well, add the pasta and stir to mix it all up. Add your basil until your heart is content (we use a lot, but we like basil) and stir to mix. Your supper is complete! Dish it out and top with some parmesan cheese, if you would like- it is good regardless. This recipe supposedly makes 4 servings but I think that would be 4 "Jolly Green Giant" servings and not "normal human size" servings. Below is a picture of the finished product. If yours doesn't look like this, that is OK. I love whole wheat pasta and so that is what I cook when we have pasta. If you make it, click on the word "comment" under the below picture and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Our "new" living room

Travis and I were the recipients of a free entertainment center. A couple in our church moved to Birmingham and, for some reason, couldn't take their entertainment center. Long story short- we ended up with it. We love it! I also FINALLY installed the software that came with my camera. It has the capability of "stitching" photos together. I can take multiple pictures and it will make it look like one picture. Therefore, I experimented and took pictures of our newly rearranged living room. I took a total of 7 pictures and then stitched them into 2 pictures. I tried to do a 360 degree picture but it never looked right. Hope ya like!

Campus Crawfish Boil

To those not allergic...it was a sight for sore eyes. A pirogue (PEE-ROW) full of spiced corn, red potatoes, and CRAWFISH! Tonight was our campus crawfish boil and the crawfish were everywhere! Travis enjoyed his little critters tremendously. They were spiced just right for him, a rarity in these parts. I, on the other hand, enjoyed my supper too- a 6 pc. chicken mcnugget kid's meal from the neighborhood McD's. Argh...annoying iodine allergy. Maybe I will grow out of it one day. If I do, I will eat double my weight in those delectable "baby lobsters" on that day. Enjoy the pic...eat a crawfish for me.

We are getting a new steeple!!

NOBTS Steeple

The seminary is finally getting its new steeple installed. The workers have been here all of last week and this week working on it. Last week, they had to take the old rusted frame off and put the new frame up. This week, the actual steeple has been delivered and is being installed by the "Steeple People" out of Campbellsville, KY. Click on the picture above to watch ongoing photos of the process. It isn't over with yet, but I upload the pictures I take daily, so there will be progress. Our new office is located right at the chapel so I have the best view on campus! We actually have a list of people to call each time we see them starting to do something. It is funny! If for some reason you can't click on the picture above and go to the web album, click here and that link will take you there.

National WWII Museum

DDay Museum

I never realized how busy Travis and I have been until today when I uploaded yet ANOTHER album to our online photo album. Yesterday, we toured the National WWII Museum (formerly known as the DDay Museum) and thus I have posted pictures. It was very interesting. They have had a special Anne Frank exhibit and today is the last day for that exhibit. Therefore, we toured yesterday so we could accomplish two tasks- tour the museum AND see the Anne Frank exhibit. I really enjoyed the Anne Frank exhibit. Her diary is a great book to read if you haven't already done so. Like the other posts, click on the picture above and you will go to that album. Also, if you have missed any albums, on the left you will see a heading "Our Photo Albums" which has the last 5 albums that I have posted listed. Click on any of those and you can see those albums as well. When you go to a photo album and you want to see other albums that perhaps aren't listed anywhere, click on "Travis and Stephanie's Public Gallery" in the upper left corner and it will take you to the main page where you can see all the photo albums I have created. Just click on the album you want to look at and it will take you there. Enjoy!

Our Anniversary

Anniversary 2007

Yesterday was our 4th anniversary. What did we do? We took a day trip to "Acadiana." That is the lower part of Louisiana in "real, bayou, cajun country." Most everything down there was written in English AND French since most TRUE cajuns are bilingual in those two languages. We had so much fun! We toured the Tabasco factory and saw Tabasco hot sauce being made, toured the Jungle Gardens and saw LOTS of alligators, toured the Conriko Rice Mill (oldest operating rice mill in the US), toured Rip Van Winkle gardens and saw 2 peacocks, and ate at a "real Cajun restaurant." It was a blast! Click on the photo box at the top of this post to go to our web album and view more pictures. I labelled the first picture of each group, so you will know when we changed locations. Enjoy!

My first wedding

Tom and Nita's Wedding

This past Saturday, I was the official photographer for my first wedding! We had a couple in our church get married and Nita (the bride) asked me if I would take the pictures. I have a new found respect for wedding photography. I LOVE taking pictures but shooting a wedding is HARD WORK! I was exhausted when I got home. Click on the picture above and you will go to my online album with a small sampling of some of the pictures. If you view it as a slideshow, you will probably want to set the time to display each picture to 1 second to keep it from going on and on and on...Let me know what you think by posting a comment below (to do that, simply click on the word "comment" immediately below and it will open a new window where you can leave a message.)

Our Elliptical

Well, I decided to use the money I was paid for a wedding to buy some form of exercise equipment. Our campus is DARK at night and therefore, I stopped walking consistently because I didn't want to walk in the dark. Also, "rainy season" will be upon us soon down here and I don't want to have the excuse of rain to keep me from exercising. I did "boo-ku" amounts of research and decided to purchase a treadmill that Prevention.com recommended. I took Travis to Wal-Mart and showed it to him but he was more drawn to the elliptical machines. After talking about the pros and cons of each, I decided to further my research and look into ellipticals. The pros are tremendous- virtually no impact (which helps me knees and ankles), cheaper than a treadmill (which helps the bank), smaller than the treadmill (which helps the space in our apartment), and it is has more resistance than the treadmill we looked at. Then, we went to Academy to "try out" some ellipticals. The one at Wal-Mart that we liked was up on a display so we couldn't really test it first. We tried all sorts of ellipticals- cheap ones and expensive ones, ones with smaller stridelengths and longer stridelengths, ones with flexible foot pads and ones with fixed foot pads. We determined the features we really liked and didn't want to compromise on (stride length, resistance, ability to change incline, and the presence of a fan.) We went back to Wal-Mart and looked at the one we liked there and double-checked to be sure it had all the features we decided we "had to have." Needless to say, it did and now we are the proud owners of an elliptical! We love it! I use it 30 minutes a day (it has personal trainer settings that will automatically change the resistance throughout the workout) and get a much better workout than if I had walked for 1 hour. It is great!! Travis likes it too. However, as you will see in the pictures below, we need to work on getting him some workout clothes! HA!

New Photos

I know I promised to post pictures of the Mardi Gras parade and Hall of Fame Game we went to last week. I am a bit behind in the picture posting. Travis' parents gave me Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 for Christmas and I have been setting it up. One of the web-based photo publishing services it works with is called SmugMug. I have joined SmugMug and am posting pictures via that service. Click on the links on the left and you will go to the 2 galleries posted.

It's Mardi Gras Time!!!!

Yay! That annual time of celebration is upon us down here in Nawlins! That's right folks...it's Mardi Gras! Officially, Mardi Gras (aka Fat Tuesday) isn't until Feb. 20th (I know this because the seminary is closed for Fat Tuesda) but the parades have officially started!! Travis and I will be going with some other NOBTS friends to a couple of parades in uptown tonight. We are so excited!! (Ok, so maybe I am excited and Travis is just humoring me! Ha!)

I LOVE PARADES! I love everything about parades. I love the craziness and the crowds, the expensive food and the free throws, the colorful floats and costumes, the atmosphere of Laissez Le Bon Temps Rouler (aka "Let the good times roll") and the attitude of the people during Mardi Gras. Seriously folks, New Orleans morphs during Mardi Gras. Now, I understand there are parts of Mardi Gras that are B-A-D. However, there are parts that are good too. For this post-Katrina New Orleans, and the entire central Gulf Coast (parades from Baton Rouge to Pensacola, although New Orleans and Mobile are the biggest), it is a time of optimistic cheer. For 2 weeks, people stop dwelling on the misery and headache that is their flooded out and damaged home. For 2 weeks, people forget all the lies and poor decision making that is the state government and FEMA. For 2 weeks, people just hang out together with friends and enjoy themselves. For 2 weeks, free activities abound for families and everyone else. For 2 weeks, as long as you know where it is safe to go, a person can always find entertainment. For 2 weeks, you will find me at random parades (starting TONIGHT!) celebrating and shouting "Throw me somethin' Mista!" (and, obviously, not doing the gestures that sometimes accompany that statement!) I have my camera packed, battery charged, and my CF card empty. You know what that means, too, right? PICTURE TAKING GALORE! I will definitely post pictures on here later this weekend. So keep checking back.

Also, on Saturday, Travis, myself, my dad, and mom, and possibly some other friends will be headed to Mobile for the Hall of Fame baseball game. That is the game where former Jag (aka University of South Alabama) baseball players that have gone "pro" (MLB) come back to play the current team. A few such players include, Juan Pierre (graduated with me), Louis Gonzalez, and some others that are well-known (I just drew a blank.) That will also be a time of shutterbuggin' and I am excited about that too. We MIGHT go to a parade tomorrow night as well, it just depends on what time we get back from Mobile. Anyway, until I update again...go listen to some good Zydeco and wear your purple, green, and gold and CELEBRATE (appropriately, please) because it's Mardi Gras Time!!

What is your real age?

Ok, I discovered a really cool website today. It is www.realage.com and you can take a TOTALLY FREE questionnaire to figure how the relationship between your biological age and your chronological age. Here is what I mean: my chronological age is 28 but my biological age is 26.9. Once you finish the questionnaire, you will receive these "plans" to show you were you should improve to lower your biological age even more. They also have EXCELLENT fitness plans and the exercises look cheesy and easy, but they work (trust me- I've done them in an aerobics circuit SEVERAL times!) To make it easier to access, and to encourage my faithful blog readers to get in shape, I created a link on the left side of the screen so that it is permanently visible for you to access. This is NOT some shady, fly by night fitness website, it is reputable! If you try it, let me know what you think!!

An Update from Denny's!

Well, we've had an busy holiday season thus far. Since I posted what we were planning on doing while on the holidays, I will just discuss "new information" and share a picture or two (or three or four...) We went to Tennessee this past Saturday. It was GREAT! It was the first time Peeper had been to TN (not that he really had an opinion about the state since he is a puppy, but anyway...) and were able to see most of our friends. We ate lunch with our friend Alyson and her son Jordan (sorry Anthony and Lorren- maybe next time) and then hung out with the Marcus' for awhile (I think we caught their sons by surprise judging by Stephen's facial expression when they opened the door.) Once we left their house, we went to the Overton's to visit. Ashtyn and Tessa are growing up SO FAST! Tessa was cracking me up with all her laughing and talking about "yum yum" (food.) Ashtyn tired Peeper out for us by running him around in the front yard on the leash- thanks, Ashtyn! I wish I had taken pictures while in TN but I didn't (shock of the day!) Anyway, we have been searching for a high-speed Internet connection here in Rutherford County, NC and finally located it at Denny's! YAY! Now we can update the blog, check email, update our online budget and all that good stuff. We are excited! Here are a few pictures. I think most of them will be self explanatory. One thing to note though, Peeper has slept most of this holiday season- he is such a sleepy-head! Happy 2007!

edit: Pictures are having problems uploading- I will try again later!