The life of Mark and Katie

Photo 19: What I Ate

2012-01-07T18:29:00.000-08:00

Somedays I don't care to remember what I ate, other days I dream about what I ate. I do love food and I'm very thankful for my small, skinny genes (and jeans). About a year ago I downloaded an app, myfitnesspal, to keep track of my exercising. It also tracks your calories and weight. I haven't used it in a while, simply because I haven't been exercising since 2011 was the year of broken bones. But a friend of mine got me back on it. I haven't been exercising but I have been keeping track of my calories. I updated my profile with my weight and that I want to maintain (not really lose or gain) and the silly thing has me eating like a bird at 1400 calories/day. It is just so fascinating to see exactly the numbers in each thing that enters your mouth. Some days I blow it out others I come in right on. If you have the app, look me up, we can be friends.

Photo 18: On the Shelf

2012-01-07T18:21:00.000-08:00

As I think most of you know, I love pictures. I love taking them, looking at them and displaying them. Mark got me an awesome digital frame for Christmas. Now this isn't one of those cheap, first edition digital photo frames (which I still have one in the box). They've really come a long way. This one is the Kodak Easy Share P850 Digital Frame. It took me a few days to get it out because I thought it would take a while to get it set up with my pictures, etc. Umm no, it was SO easy. Instead of using a USB or memory card (which you could use) I emailed them to my frame. Whhhaatt? Yes, I emailed the pictures to the frame. I can also pull pictures from my Facebook page, iPhone or Kodak and I could also create and add collages. I love it, thanks honey!

So this frame is "on the shelf" for all my friends to see.

Photo 17: Purchased

2012-01-07T18:11:00.000-08:00

Last fall I bought a City Savers Coupon Book from a student selling them for Franklin Road Academy. And let me tell you, this thing has been awesome and has paid for itself many times already. I bought the 2012 edition but then saw on Facebook I could get a copy of the 2011 edition for FREE! So I did. Now that was back in October so I still had 3 months to use all the coupons in this book and they would also accept the ones from the 2012 book. So if we're eating out, I try only to go to places in which we have a coupon, which has actually been working out great . It also has some of our favorite restaurants/retail stores too; Qdoba, Blue Coast Burrito, Dicks Sporting Goods, Off Broadway Shoes, Play It Again Sports, etc.. It's great, the only thing is that it's this big honkin' thick book. But I just leave it the car which seems to work.

Now this is by far not extremem couponing but it's extreme for me - extremely awesome!

Photo 16: Something New

2012-01-07T18:05:00.000-08:00

With Christmas just passing I have a few new things but I'm going to talk about my new Dutch Oven!

I have wanted a dutch oven probably for two years now. They are sometimes very expensive so I would never buy it for myself. After seeing the movie Julie and Julia I knew I had to have one! They cooked everything in a dutch oven so I immediately thought I needed it in my kitchen. Well this was finally the year for the dutch oven. Mom got me one from the Lodge Cast Iron Factory when she went to the Cornbread Festival (which is on my festival list this year) in South Pittsburgh, TN. Thanks Mom!
Mark got me a Dutch Oven cookbook too. I haven't had a chance to look completely through it but I did make a great Chicken Tortilla Soup in it one night last week. It was mighty tasty. Now, was it better than in my Emeril cookware?? Err, probably not. But it sure does look nice sitting on my stove! :)

Photo 15: Someone I love

2012-01-07T17:57:00.000-08:00

Whew, half way there........it's only taken me 6 months to post 30 pictures.

So someone or sometwo's I love?
The two boys that stole my heart, Drew and Alex. What fun it is to be an aunt! These boys are so fun! Drew is a hoot, talking nonstop and growing up fast. Alex is finally starting to grow up and be sweet, which makes me love him more. :) I think he's been in the terrible twos every since the day he was born, well maybe not the day he was born, let's say since he was 6 months old. They have got to be the cutest things EV.ER!

I love you boys - Aunt Kate

Photo 14: Favorite Color

2012-01-07T17:47:00.000-08:00

I remember when I was younger I LOVED the color purple. I remember (just from pictures) getting a purple car for my birthday and I had on a purple outfit with a purple birthday cake. My Aunt Nelma used to keep me and she too loved purple, it was something fun we had in common.

Growing up I don't really remember liking purple as much. I really started liking turquoise and the Tiffany blue. For example, those were my wedding colors.

Now, I feel like I'm back to purple. I guess you always come back to your roots. I was so excited about my purple iPhone case, I wear a lot of purple, my kindle case is purple, I wear purple eye makeup (I hear it's good for my hazel eyes), I have lots of purple jewelry, I just love it. My eyes are always drawn to it and I'm not talking about a light lilac purple, I'm talking about a good deep purple.

What's your favorite color?

Photo 13: Animal

2011-11-23T14:46:00.001-08:00

What else would I put here besides our sweet and dear, Molly!?!!

We do love her!

Photo 12: Water

2011-11-23T14:43:00.001-08:00

Mom and I took a trip out west and visited Sedona, the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and Las Vegas. More details to come on this trip later but I'm going to use my picture from Hoover Dam for water. I just love these pictures!

Photo 11: Family

2011-11-23T14:35:00.001-08:00

Granna and Grandad have a new playset at their house. This fall the boys, and well everyone, has had a blast on this thing. Looking forward to many more nice days at Granna and Grandad's!

Photo 10: Something Fun

2011-11-23T14:31:00.001-08:00

Michael Jackson Dance for the Wii!

Photo 9: Something I made

2011-11-23T14:21:00.001-08:00

I've been Pinteresting a lot lately. So this is one of my latest projects - painted wine bottles. They didn't come out just the way I had hoped but they will work this year then I can always repaint them!

I also changed my decorations for our tree this year so I ended up making some garland to go with.

Photo 8: What I Wore

2011-11-23T14:19:00.001-08:00

I couldn't help but think of Shelly, which is what I wore for 3 months. Of course, I could have picked the outfit I wore today, my favorite outfit or accessory but I went with the thing I never want to wear again!
Man I look rough!

Photo 7: Books

2011-10-05T18:19:00.000-07:00

My book selection has decreased lately. I've let some friends borrow a few, I don't have all of them in this shelf and since I've gotten my kindle I don't even purchase books anymore. Oh well, at least I'm still reading!

Photo 6: Flowers

2011-10-05T18:17:00.001-07:00

We had a meeting at the Bilmore last week and used these sunflowers as centerpieces. They turned out so pretty!

RHS Class of 2001 10 Year Reunion

2011-09-28T18:38:00.000-07:00

Really!??! It's been 10 years since I graduated high school. How is that even possible? So that means reunion! I had mixed feelings about the this. I was excited, I was dreading it, sometimes I didn't even care, I wanted to have a good turnout, I wondered who I would see...yada, yada. As you can imagine Mark was just beside himself excited about it. :)

The festivities included the football game on Friday night, family day at the park Saturday and the reunion on Saturday night. Well, we didn't miss a one.

Friday night was fun! We started off by touring our high school. I really didn't think this was necessary considering we only had 3 halls. I could literally stand at one and see all of them. BUT it ended up being pretty impressive. They have added on a new cafeteria, wood shop and automotive shop. Although, several things still remain the same like the gross hanging blinds, dirty floors and small desks. It was also fun for Mark to see it too. He still can't get over how small our graduating class was. Thanks Missy for setting up the tour!

Then we headed to the football game which just so happened to be homecoming. It was fun to watch those little guys. When we were in school I always thought our players were big and macho, not so much anymore. They are SCRAWNY! We had fun catching up and eating blow pops, a football tradition. Then it's not a Friday night if you don't go to Ruby Tuesday's afterwards. So we did just that, just like old times.

Bradley, Casey and the boys came to mom and dad's on Saturday. We just don't get to see them enough! The reunion festivities continued with a day at the park with families. I only went for a little bit because I wanted to see all the kids. There sure were some sweet ones!

Saturday night was the big shin-dig at Rockwood Country Club better known as Ratchett's. Sounds real classy, huh? Don't let Country Club fool you. It's more like Kuntry Club. Take a look below. This will give you an idea of the location.

We had better than expected bar food and some karaoke. It was fun looking at old yearbooks, chatting, taking pictures, singing and laughing. Mish and I took it upon ourselves to play a superlative game as an ice breaker. Some of the categories included; Who Has the Most Kids, Who Traveled the Furthest, Who's Been Married the Longest, etc. It was a lot of fun to learn things about everyone.

We had a few good rounds of karaoke!

One of the most fun things was trying to recreate a picture taken 10 years ago. Can you tell a difference?

Good times! Can't wait to see you guys again soon! Maybe this time we won't wait 10 years.

Photo 5: Something Old

2011-09-28T16:26:00.000-07:00

You may recall me posting about this old church pew a few months back. Well, it still isn't exactly used like I want but the piece is at least finished. My space in which this sits just still needs a bit of work.

Ugh, see how boring this is. And that wall needs some color!

Photo 4: What I Read

2011-09-28T16:23:00.000-07:00

Could I have chosen something more interesting!?!? Anyway, I'm in the process of studying for my CMP Exam. This is the CPA Exam or Bar Exam in the Meeting and Events Industry. So I have been reading these thick, boring text books. Ok, let me take back the boring part. There really are some interesting things in these books and it's something I can use at my job. When I pass this stinkin' test it will ALL be worth it! Then I can get back to my Redemption Series.

Photo 3: After Dark

2011-09-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

My husband is OBSESSED with watching movies. And as for me....well, I'm not. As you can see we have a subscription to NetFlix. Boy as soon as we get a movie in we have to watch it that night so we can hurry and get it back in the mail. I get his reasoning that we don't need to sit on it for days on end so we can reap the benefits of our membership. But man, oh man! I have to be in a certain mood to watch movies and I actually have to have an interest in it. So, many nights after dark Mark is watching movies. Sometimes I'm with him and sometimes I'm not.

What's up?

2011-09-26T17:50:00.000-07:00

Just a few of the things we've been up to lately....

* Celebrating the marriage of our sweet friends, Adam and Betsy!

* Girls Night at the Journey Concert

* A few thirtyone parties

I hosted a Thirty One party a few weeks ago here at the house. It was so fun to just get the girls together and shop! I got some great hostess gifts! I just love my bags.

At my party Mark's sister decided to have one too. Mom and I went to that one just this past weekend. We just can't seem to have enough bags!

* Southern Fried Festival

Mom and Dad came out this weekend for a few reasons.

1. To pick up dad's trailer

2. To go to Melanie's 31 Party

3. Spend time with me and Mark

4. And the biggest reason was to go to the Southern Fried Festival in Columbia, TN.

This festival was somewhat of a let down. We got there early because we had the party at 1pm. The crowd was a bit slim but started to pick up as we were leaving. You might ask if we had anything fried. Of course we did. Kentucky Fried Chicken was a huge sponsor and had a booth (that for sure made it worth dad's time). We had fried chicken, fried oreos, fried twinkies and fried pies. They had a few cooking demonstrations and cook-offs all hosted by Shane Tallant. I'm very fond of Shane for a couple of reasons. He is on HGTV, which is a favorite channel of mine. He's married to Autumn House, daughter of Gerry House (radio personality). AND he's VERY good looking, to boot.

Check out these super cute pumpkins we got! They can sit or stand.
You can also put a tea light in the top and it will glow or even use it as a candy bowl. I just thought they were adorable.

Photo 2: Hands

2011-09-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

Some of these photo topics make me think about pictures already taken too.

This one comes from my wedding day, dancing with the best dad ever. And boy can he get down! We held hands when I was little going up the slide, crossing the street, and skipping to the car after church. We held hands and danced at my 16th birthday party. We held hands as he walked me down the aisle and as we danced to My Girl on my wedding day. Most recently we held hands when I was in the hospital with my back. You're never too old to hold Daddy's Hands.

And now these are mine and Mark's hands today. We hold hands in the car, when we walk, when we watch a movie and many other times. It's just a nice touch from someone that loves you and cares about you. I hope we're still holding hands when we're 80! Team Rogers!

Photo 1: Clouds

2011-09-22T19:46:00.000-07:00

These photos comes from Sunday, September 11, 2011. We had a full day of going to church, hosting small group, eating and watching the Titan's game. About 5pm we started to hear thunder, thinking it was going to rain. We barely got a sprinkle but man what a nice job it did to the sky. On such a day like 9/11 the sky looked so peaceful.

30? Let's say 90-day photo challenge.

2011-09-22T19:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, this little photo challenge that I spoke of now 3 weeks ago was way harder than I imagined. I just couldn't remember to do it every day. Sorry, it wasn't always top of mind.

My goal is to still take 30 pictures........by December 1, will that work? Ok, thanks! So it will now be 30 photos in 90 days.

I found several 30-day photo challenge lists online so I've taken a few from each one to make my own. It has been fun to look at my list and think of the photos I can take but I've been stressed since I haven't been doing it daily.

Let's get started.

Labor Intensive

2011-09-05T14:21:00.000-07:00

Boy, this LABOR day has been labor intensive for sure. I had a goal to get caught up on blogging by September 1. Well, I'm not too far behind. The reason is I was way behind and wanted to get back to present day happenings. I also wanted to do a 30 day photo challenge. So I'm going to have to get caught up on that real quick, we're already on day 5! Stay tuned...

Family Trip to Myrtle Beach

2011-09-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the summer (before my accident) we had planned a beach trip with my family to Myrtle Beach. I always thought we would still go but man the part I was dreading the most was the 10 hour drive. I did have to be realistic and tell my family there was a possibility that we wouldn't be able to go. Dang, I hated the sound of that. I wanted to go so badly to see the boys on the beach and have some quality time with the fam. Since I was back to work we thought it would be fine. We drove to Knoxville immediately after work and spent the night, so that took some time off the drive. We made the rest of the trek early Friday morning. We stopped frequently so I made it ok but was sure ready to lay down once we got to the condo.

Wow, it had been years since I've been to Myrtle Beach. We had a 3 bedroom condo for a long weekend. We did get some rain but it worked out with the boys' nap schedule. We had so much fun playing in the sand, playing in in the room, going to dinner, riding rides at the amusement park and just being together. I even got in the lazy river for a few minutes with Drew (shhh, don't tell the dr.)

I was very please with some of the family pictures we got too. It was your typical khaki/white outfits but it looks so great on the beach. Check out my wardrobe options, pretty good, huh? You can't even see Shelly!

Healing

2011-09-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

Be prepared, this is a long one................So the two weeks of me doing absolutely nothing were horrible. It's not like me to be in the bed and down for the count for days and days. My emotions went up and down. I knew I had to be strong, positive, hard-headed, determined, and independent to get through this, which is what I was.....most of the time. Then I had my down times where I was so upset that I had to be in bed and couldn't do anything, I was depressed, I felt guilty for putting Mark through all this (he was in charge of cooking and cleaning), I wanted my mom to be here, I wanted to be out of pain, I wanted to get comfortable........I wanted to be normal. Then I would have to snap out of it and thank God that my injury was minor compared to what it could have been.

I can't tell you how many times I've ran the events of that day over in my head. I could have not come up out of the water, I could be paralyzed, I could have had to have surgery, I could be in a wheelchair, you fill in the blank. There are so many shoulda, coulda, woulda's.

After about a week and a half, I wanted so badly to get back to work and into the routine that was normal for me. It was the doctor's orders to be in bed, at home, for the first week. I took it upon myself to do the same for week 2. I could have easily pushed myself (which I've done many times) and hurt myself even more. I opted to take care of myself on the front-end, hopefully that means less on the back-end (later in my older years). On week 2. I could pretty much stay up, with my brace, for 1-2 hours at a time. I tried to check email and help Mark out with what I could during that time. I finally built my tolerance up to half days. I went back to work and just did what I could. I'm so thankful to have a job in which I can do from home and just have the flexibility while I try to get back into the swing of things. They even altered my work station in which I could stand OR sit, whichever felt most comfortable.

The time has, of course, been dragging for me. You saw the nice brace, a.k.a. Shelly, in the previous post. I am able to wear that under my clothes but man are my wardrobe options limited. Especially since it's summer, I feel like everything is low cut (or enough to show Shelly anyway), dark colored (Shelly is white), or just looks silly. During this time I also have a beach trip (swimsuit? probably not), wedding, concert and my 10 year high school reunion. Nice, great timing, Katie!

As a matter of fact, I went shopping for a dress for the wedding (thank goodness I'm not IN it), and I just came home pissed. I didn't like anything I put on. I either looked like a marshmallow, it was cut too low or I had to go up in a size for it to fit. UGH!! So, I just have to get over it and move on!

My friends and family have been awesome! I've had phone calls, text messages, emails, meals, treats and many prayers. I don't think they gave me credit for how daring I was. :) The highlight of most days was being able to FaceTime with Drew. He can light up anyone's world!

Proverbs 17:17 A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.

My friend, Stacy, recommended that I read 90 Minutes in Heaven. I have all this time now, ya know. It's a story about a preacher who was in a car accident, believed he went to heaven and lived to tell about it. He explained his emotions, the months and months of recovery, relationships with his family and friends, and how he coped. I really could relate to some of the story. The main thing that really hit home was when he was in the hospital and he had had several visitors, all wanting to help in someway. A long time friend was visiting, saw his actions and told him to get his act together, people were trying to help and all he was doing was saying no. He made a deal that he would start letting people do things for him. We too had several generous people offering to help in any way, cook dinner, clean the house, stay with me, take me to my doctor's appointments, and bring work over. Mark and I both always said "No, that's ok, we're fine." I thought we were, we were making it. I didn't like the feeling of not being able to do something for myself.
The point in the book was that he was not treating the people that loved him most very good. If they could heal him, they would. If they could change places with him, many of them would. If he asked them to do anything, they would without hesitating. As a pastor, he had spent most of his life ministering to others, to meet their needs, help them during times of difficulty and now he was doing a terrible job of letting those people do the same for him. I too was being selfish and didn't even realize it. I'm not sure how many people we said no to but if I could do it all over, I would. I'm sorry if I've offended anyone just know that it was not intentional.

So as you can see this has really been hard for me, it's been a long road. I now only have 24 days until I get this brace off. I am recovering well, back at work full time, I'm able to be up all day (even watch movies after work with Mark), I'm cooking and cleaning again, well on my way to getting back to my normal.

Oh, one funny thing I did want to mention. I'm on the board of MPI (Meeting Professionals International), a professional organization I'm involved with so everyone was fully aware of my accident. I went to a meeting last month and we always have door prizes at the end of the meetings. Well my name was called for, get this......whitewater rafting tickets! The crowd was yelling "No, don't give them to her. She can't have them." I took them anyway, I'll be ready by Spring, right?

Thank you to all of my friends and family that have been supportive, praying for me and there for me during all this.

Broken

2011-09-05T10:51:00.000-07:00

Even though our vacation was over as well as the 4th of July I thought I still had a few weeks of summer left. However, it sort of came to an end on July 9th. We had plans to rent a pontoon boat with some friends and hit Precey Priest Lake here in Nashville.

Mark really didn't want to go and mom and dad had made a last minute trip into town so he decided to stay home and entertain the in-laws. I didn't plan to being gone long so I would be back in time to eat dinner with everyone.

I met everyone at the docks with coolers packed, yummy snacks, towels and sunscreen in hand. We had a great time cruising the lake, floating in the water and sliding down the slide that was on our boat (which was a request of ours).

We decided to move locations and ended up stopping to watch everyone jump off these cliffs. There were so many boats just chillin' out. Well we were about to pull away and Captain Lance asked if anyone was going to jump before we left. My friend, Adam, said "I'll go." Well shoot, I had been thinking about it myself so I said "I'll go, if you go." And so here we go......

I had seen others take life jackets with them so they weren't worn out swimming to/from the boat, I followed suit. We had to climb up the cliff which Adam had to help. We were barefoot and the rocks were a bit slippery. We got up there behind a family (dad, son, daughter). As soon as we reached the top Adam jumped. I mean our friends from the boat didn't even get to see him. Me on the other hand had to get my act together. I tossed Adam my life jacket down below and he yelled up to me "be sure to keep you arms to your side so they don't smack the water." Ok, I thought, I've got this. I just have to keep my arms down and jump out far enough so I don't hit the rock I'm standing on. People had been doing this all day....

Ready, set......

Go!

Looks fun, right!?!? Well, it was, I guess, until I hit the water. As I was falling, I thought I would never hit the water. I think when that thought entered my mind I must have lost control and started to lean back some. I hit the water and it completely knocked the breath out of me and my back was KILLING me. I made it over to Adam and grabbed on to him and my life jacket and swam back to the boat. Oh man, I was in so much pain and could not breathe. So I somehow make it into the boat and lay down on one of the benches. I just wanted to get my breath back. My dear friends were trying everything to make me comfortable. They gave me ice, fed me aspirin, got me in the shade, talked to me, anything they could do, bless their hearts, they were trying. I tried a couple of times to sit up and whoa, that was painful.

Remember Mark was not with me and I didn't want to call him right away because I thought mom would panic. So I waited a bit and called him. I could tell he was napping so he was aggravated I was even calling to begin with.
Me: "Mark, I jumped off a cliff and I think I've hurt my back."
Mark: "WHAT ARE YOU AN IDIOT!?! DO YOU THINK YOU'RE 16?"
Ugh, what a jerk, right!?! I immediately hung up on him, not really the support I was hoping for.

I wasn't going to call him back now I was pissed, hurt and crying. We waited another few minutes and I asked my friend, Betsy, to call him. She continued to tell him that it's a bit serious and he needed to come pick me up. We headed back to the dock. I had to get off the boat and into the car somehow. I could walk so I did just that. I got my stuff and walked to my car where I waited on Mark and dad to get me. That was the longest car ride ever, all I wanted to do was lay down in my bed. Mark stopped to get me a heating pad and back brace so we put heat on it immediately (this is a no-no, we should have put ice).

I laid down for an hour, may-be and tried to get up to eat. I could not walk. I could not sit. I could not stand. I just remember crying at the table while my family sat and finished dinner. With that, I decided to get to the ER. We went to Stonecrest right by the house. They took me back fairly quickly. I think we got there at just the right time. The waiting room filled up rather quickly afterwards.

The nurses completed all the registration processes, vitals, etc. I was finally taken for an x-ray. The doctor told me a couple of things could be wrong but that she's ordered a CAT scan to get a better look. So they wheeled me in for that. The doctor came back and said I had a burst fracture on my L1 vertebrae. She continued to explain that the vertebrae pretty much exploded on impact of me hitting the water. This could be treated with surgery or by a brace. In the meantime, I had to potty. Mom asked the nurse if I could use the restroom and she comes back with a bedpan. Ummm..I.DON'T.THINK.SO. I made mom help me up and take me to the potty. I thought it was a quick trip and I made it just fine. I had walked into the ER for crying out loud. I get back in bed and my nurse had ratted me out. The doctor got on to me telling me they are keeping me overnight because the doctors aren't in right not but will be first thing in the morning. The other reason I needed to stay was so they could monitor me. They were concerned the fragments from the fracture that were just sort of floating out there could injure my spinal column doing more damage. That's part of the concern with me getting up and moving around too. They also wanted to monitor my legs and feet for numbness, make sure I was conscious, etc. So they put a catheter in and finally moved me a room.

I didn't sleep very well that night. I was on some pretty good drugs so I wasn't in too much pain but I think I was more concerned about having surgery. I did NOT want to go through that. Poor Mark was there by my side the entire time. (This was after Lisa gave him a good talking to and he realized this was way serious). The doctor came in first thing, I was NOT going to have surgery. Woohoo, PRAISE THE LORD! What a relief! So, someone would be in later to measure me for the brace that I'd have to wear for 3 month (Oct. 9th - Holy Cow)!

The day flew by! I had several visitors, the nurses were in every 2 hours, I had appointments on Monday Mark had to cancel for me, he had to call my boss, etc. I ended up staying Sunday night too. I got the brace Sunday night so I had to get another x-ray on Monday just to make sure it was doing the trick. I slept much better that night, while Mark was curled up on that silly fold out chair.

I was ready to be home Monday but I pretty much had to lay down, flat and on my back, the entire time. The nurses/staff at the hospital were awesome! Mark was a pretty awesome nurse too, but he had to go home with me! :) I was out of work for 2 weeks laying down most of the day, getting up to eat, potty and shower. I did not have to shower or sleep in the brace but if I was up for any other reason the brace had to be on.

Hola Mexico!

2011-08-25T18:59:00.001-07:00

At the end of June we went to Mexico with a few friends and had the best time. Really, we couldn't have picked a better group! We started off with a few days of rain and I mean down pours but then ended off the week with lots of sunshine. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

We have fun on the beach, at the pools, had photo shoots, went snorkeling and even rode the spinnaker.

Music to my ears

2011-08-17T18:18:00.000-07:00

Bonnaroo Music Festival - whew, what a sight to see! I never really thought I would step foot in the field known as Bonnaroo located in Manchester, TN. BUT when a friend says I can get you FREE tickets and my husband is dying to go, I decided to tag along. However, there were some rules for my participation:

1) We will NOT spend the night.

2) We will leave when I'M ready.

3) We're taking a car so I can get the heck out of dodge, if need be.

4) I will NOT be freaked out by what I may see.

5) Even though I don't know any of the music, I WILL have a good time.

So after I laid down the law, we were going. We ended up leaving the house around noon on Saturday. That was good. I knew we weren't staying all night so the less time there the better. It was hotter than a dickens and so dry. Just from walking through the dry fields and dirt our feet were SO dirty. Yuck it was disgusting. I saw girls with rain boots on because of all the dirt which I thought was a good idea but then I think about their sweaty feet in those boots. I think I'd rather have dirt......and I did.

Right when we got there I started to feel sick. I hadn't had much to eat since breakfast (by this time that had been a while ago) and the heat did not help. So I headed to the VIP tent that had air conditioning. Aaahh, a little relief. Then it was time to get ready for Nate's show. It was in a tent that had some air conditioning too. So by the time the show was over and we got outside it was actually pretty nice. We just missed the hottest part of the day. We were starving so we head to get pizza. I felt like I was just eating dirt with all the dust still flying around.

Nate's second show was ending so we went to meet him and spent some time in the Comedian VIP trailer. Now that was nice, a few snacks, water and air! We were talking about staying for Eminem (which didn't go on until 12:30am - OMG). So I wasn't thrilled but went with the flow. We stayed in the trailer until closer to show time then we walked all back stage hoping to get to sit with Nate and Laura with their VIP badges. Well we got right up to the gate, walked closely with Nate and got DENIED. So they herd us like cattle to another gate. We thought it was going to suck and we would just be out there with all the other fans. No special treatment??!? What?!?!? But I know Nate Bargatze! Have you seen my badge!?!?

They finally let us out and we are smack dab right in the middle of the mosh pit, 10 rows from the stage. Yes, I said mosh pit. I could not have been more annoyed. Mark was having the best time dancing (or what he calls dancing) his little heart out. That's all that matters, it was his birthday after all. I think it was over around 2am, way past my 9pm bedtime.

Laura and others waited around, not me, get me out of there. So we head for the car and we get lost. We have no idea where we are. We came out a different gate than we entered. So we were lost and Mark was not helping. He has NO sense of direction. I was crying, all I wanted to do was get home. A nice "cab" golf cart picked us up for $10 and took us right to the car. Best $10 ever spent!

So Bonnaroo, an experience that I think I can only handle one time.

Country Music Assocation Music Festival - now that's more my cup of tea. Although, I could have done without Taylor Swift. We ended our fun music weekend with the CMA concert at LP Field.

Paint + Zoo

2011-08-02T18:28:00.000-07:00

We kept our niece, Rachel, for a weekend and of course it included the zoo and was full of girlie activities! Rachel (and Mark) love the zoo. Every time we keep her we HAVE to go. I'll admit I don't really get tired of it either. She loves the carousel, the birds and the giraffes.

We also went to paint pottery. Rachel painted a cupcake dish and a dinner plate with an "R" in the center. She did such a great job! It was a neat place and they had a large variety of items to paint. I think we'll have a date night there soon.

On the way home we saw the ducks at a nearby neighborhood entrance. They were very friendly and I was able to snack a few pictures.

We also painted fingernails and toenails, watched Rapunzel and Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue more than once.

Go Nashville Sounds!

2011-07-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

First of all, I apologize for the stupid spacing issues on my blog. I'm not sure what the heck is going on.

Second, we caught a Nashville Sounds baseball game with some friends before it got so dad blame hot here!

We had a great time eating ballpark food, chatting, cheering and having fun with the mascot.

Wine, Friends and Babies

2011-07-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday night of Memorial Day weekend (before I wasn't able to walk after that stinkin' race) we met some friends at Arrington Vineyards for some wine, food and good conversation. The guys even fit in some football. We did the tasting, brought some picnic type foods and just had a great time being together.

I even ran into some other friends, Ian and Amanda, as they were having one last date night before baby Paisley arrived.

And now Paisley is here, beautiful as ever.

Nashville Urban Challenge

2011-07-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend was definitely one for the books.

Saturday, I participated in the Nashville Urban Adventure Challenge with my friend, Stacy. I had done something similar to this last fall and I'm hooked on The Amazing Race so I jumped at the opportunity to tackle it again. This was a scavenger hunt type challenge through downtown Nashville. The website said for all fitness levels, you could use a bike and be on a team of up to 4 people. Well....those guidelines quickly changed. We could NOT use a bike and let's just say it was NOT for all fitness levels. There were only 2 of us on the team, as not to have other members slow us down. We get to River Front Park Saturday morning ready to W-I-N! Oh and I need to say our husbands wanted nothing to do with this. The first thing we had to do was a warm-up with a Marines Boot Camp instructor. This should have been the first sign for us to throw in the towel. But no, we were ready for the challenge. So we opened our packet of instructions and clues and hit the ground running, literally. With just a glimpse of seeing the clues we found our we were going to be running ALL over this city. There was a "smart" route to solve these clue but you didn't have to do them in any certain order. At each location there was a challenge and then we had to have our picture made to prove we hit every spot.

I've included the riddles and our pictures below. We crossed the finish line in exactly 4 hours, let's just say we had NO idea it would take that long. With every where we had to go I'm pretty sure we ran a 1/2 marathon. Running a 1/2 marathon is on my bucket list but gee whiz, I would have liked to train for it. I just was not sure at all if I was going to make it to the end but Stacy kept me going. Even though I did finish, my body has definitely paid for it. I could NOT get out of bed or walk the next day. Every single muscle in my body was sore. I've also lost 3 toe nails because of this adventure. I used to think I had pretty feet but this summer....not so much! :)

First up, the naked people. See how fresh we look!

Then it was on to Belmont where we had to answer trivia questions about Nashville.

We finally get to the Parthenon after wasting time trying to figure out another clue. This was THE worst stop. We had to do a mini-boot camp with tire stepping, army crawls, crab crawls, jumping jacks, etc. Whew, we finally made it - look at those muscles.

Then we happened to come across FIT Nashville, another location. This one was as bad but we did have to do some weights then we did some stretches.

Now what to do....go to Bicentennial Mall or Country Music Hall of Fame?? We head for the capitol. We are the Volunteer State!

Last stop, CMHOF, man I thought we would never get there. Stacy had to stack plates and cups and I had to balance rice cakes on my head. Done, on to the finish line!

Two Sweet Boys

2011-07-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to give an update on the cutest boys in the world, Drew and Alex.

Alex turned one in May and let's just say he's been through a lot in his first year on this earth. He's now walking and on.the.go.

Drew turned 3 in April and is a mess, going 100 mph every second of the day! We both are enjoying our conversations via FaceTime. Sometimes I can't even see him but he is so excited to have me just sitting on the coffee table just to be in the room with him. :) (thank you Apple) He shows me his toys and tells me about his days. It definitely puts a huge smile on Aunt Kate's face.

Here are the two sweet brothers during the professional photo shhot. Too stinkin' cute!

So Many Festivals

2011-06-24T18:50:00.000-07:00

If you know me, I'm always looking for a good festival. Some of my favorites are the Strawberry Festival, the Moon Pie Festival and Jack Daniel's BBQ Festival. Unfortunately, I have missed the first two this year, but we are planning to hit Jack Daniel's fo sho. Something about all the food, crafts, people, and unique things to do just make them so much fun. And not to mention most of the time these fun festivals are in the neatest, quaintest little towns. Earlier this year I was dying to go to the strawberry festival located in Dayton, TN and it somewhat snuck up on us. I used to go to this festival all the time when I was little because my dad and brother would always play in the big softball tournament they have at the same time. I love strawberries anyway, anyhow, any shape or form and Mark hasn't been to this either. (I'm thankful he likes to take in a good festival every once in a while too).

So on the day of the festival we already had scheduled a grooming appointment for Molly but she was scheduled to be done around 10:30am. This still would allow plenty of time to get to the festival and spend most of the day there. Well, Mark was not having it. He didn't care to go and thought we wouldn't have any time, and did not want to make the 2+ hour drive. You name an excuse, he had it. Ugh, I was so mad and so bored that day. Mark tells me sometimes I run him into the ground with my excessive planning and busy body-ness, sometimes he just likes a lazy day at home. I get that but this was THE strawberry festival. I pitched a tantrum like a 3 year old but didn't get my way. So we dang sat at the house all day long with me in a bad mood and bored.to.death.

We ended up running some errands that night and got a call from some friends we had recently met during our new church small group that wanted to meet up. So we met them to hang out and had a GREAT time. Thanks Peyton and Elizabeth, you guys really helped keep Mark out of the dog house that night. So I'm thinking someone else had a hand in us not making the trip to Dayton that day, it was a great start to making new friendships.

Now with that I wanted to list a few TN festivals that I plan on hitting up in the very near future! I thought some of you may like this list too.

Cornbread Festival, April 28-29, South Pittsburgh
Memphis in May, April 29 - May 28, Memphis
TN Strawberry Festival, May 10-15, Dayton, TN
RC Cola and Moon Pie Festival, June 18, Bell Buckle
Grainger County Tomato Festival, July 29, Rutledge
The Sweet Tea Festival, August 27, Thompson Station
The Southern Fried Festival, Sept. 23-24, Columbia
Jack Daniel's BBQ, Oct. 22, Lynchburg

Our Outdoor Living Space

2011-06-19T15:54:00.000-07:00

I knew when we bought this house that I would make our back porch more of a living area than just a boring space. We had a dining table from the old table and kept it back there through the winter. We seldom used it at the old house and hadn't used it at all during the time we had been in the new house. I had been watching Craigslist for some deals on furniture but wasn't really finding what I wanted. While looking through the Sunday paper I found what I wanted at Big Lots (of all places). We went that day to look at it and ended up buying it. Mark also wanted a swing so we got that too. He had to sand and paint it to match our other dark furniture. We are thrilled with the way everything has turned out. We have spent more nights sitting out there than I ever thought we would. Even on these hot days the evenings have been perfect. Molly likes to sit out there too.

Simple DIY Wreath

2011-06-19T15:42:00.000-07:00

I saw this wreath on another blog and thought it was so cute that I had to make one myself. I kept thinking of all the colors I could use and that I could make many for all occasions. Well, when I got to craft store I wasn't very excited with my felt choices. So I opted to go with the green Blair had used and it goes perfectly with our green decor and paint color. I made it weeks ago and just now hung it and I LOVE it! Our walls are green so that didn't look right but it looks great on our white door. It was so easy just took a bit of time for cutting felt. I think this is a great gift idea too.

My favorite thing right now

2011-06-13T19:14:00.000-07:00

is Purity's White Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream. My first love was the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory. Then I found this, it's hard to pick a true winner - both are DELICIOUS!!

Marco Island

2011-06-13T18:44:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned before, I had purchased a 2-night stay at the Marco Island Marriott Resort and Spa at an auction last year. We needed to use them before they expired so we decided to go down for a long weekend, extending our stay a few additional nights. We needed to fly Southwest because we had free flight credits so we had to fly into Ft. Lauderdale then drive 2 hours across the state, which actually wasn't that bad. We spent a few by ourselves then some friends of ours were in training all week in Miami so they drove over for a couple nights. We had a great time, lots of relaxation which is exactly what we needed. I love to travel and enjoy it so much more when I'm with Mark. We had some great food (of course, I think all of my blogs include food in some form or fashion), rode jet skis, read a couple books on my Kindle and got some sun.

My jet skiing pictures on a water camera that I have to get developed, I didn't even know they still made those anymore. :) This was a just a tease for our vacation coming up this summer.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

2011-06-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

The first half of this year has been FULL of travel, some for work and some for leisure. Here's a snapshot of my travels.

February - Orlando, FL

This was for work and I really don't have pictures that have anything to do with Orlando. But here's a picture of us in our booth. Let's just say cows had a bit to do with our promotion.

April - New York City

This one was for work too BUT I was able to spend some time with my bestie, Laura too! I've been there several times so we've definitely covered the touristy stuff. This time it pretty much felt like a food tour. I LOVE to eat so we did our fair share. Some of my favorite spots are listed below. Oh and for work, our meeting was in the New York Stock Exchange, so that was pretty cool. While I was standing outside talking on my cell phone this magazine photographer asked to take my picture because they were doing this article. Unfortunately, my picture didn't make it. Boo!

Blue Ribbon Sushi -- Went there and we got to eat with John Legend. Ok maybe we didn't eat with him but he sat two tables back from us, close enough. :)

The Burger Joint -- This place is inside the Le Parker Meridien Hotel. It was voted as one of the best burgers in the nation by Gayle and Oprah. It was a good burger but I think Mark actually makes a better burger right here in Tennessee.

Max Brenner -- Laura knows I love desserts and chocolate. So she took me here and we had a fondue sampler. Oh my! This was fantastic!

Olive Tree Cafe -- Then we rounded out the trip with one of my favorite spots in the Village for their oh so yummy wings! Man, they are cooked just right, a bit crispy and so tasty. My mouth is watering right.now.

April - Puerto Vallarta
This was work also, the incentive trip for our top sales representatives. This is always a fun trip. You get to see people you work with all year long that are here Nashville and most of the time you get to meet their spouses too. So it's always a fun trip. It's a pretty sweet office I have for a week too. :)

May - Miami, FL
Ok, I know I said some of these trips were for leisure, I'm getting there......
This one however, was still for work. We had to check out some locations for a possible meeting in Miami. We saw some great properties. I had not been to Miami since I was there for a college conference in 2005 (maybe). I think it had changed a lot. Well and I probably got to see a few more things this trip too. One highlight was our dinner at Red. Oh and one more was dinner at Scarpetta inside the Fontainebleau.

May - Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Back for work. This meeting was fun too. We got to experience some neat things in Ft. Lauderdale. I had never been there and really it's much smaller than I thought and a little dated but we did have a great time. We took a dinner cruise around the inter coastal and was able to see some FAN-tastic homes. I can't imagine how much some of them cost and then of course most have a huge yacht parked out front too - must be nice! We had dinner at Joe's Stone Crab (not to be confused with Joe's Crab Shack). We were there the last week of the stone crab season and they were oh so yummy. What an experience! One night, my friend Ashley and I went out on the town in South Beach. We had a great time hotel hopping. We met some great friends at the Delano. It was fun chatting in the poolside cabana. From my last trip to Florida I had heard about this restaurant, Le Tub. So of course, I had it on my list to check out this time around. It's a local joint with old claw foot tubs and toilets right located right on the water. Their menus are on white pieces of paper that were hand written who knows when and it even has drawings that look like they are from an 8 year old. Very cute! Remember this list? Well, Le Tub was #1! They did have one darn good burger but my favorite thing was the key.lime.pie. Man oh man, my mouth is drooling right now. It was chilled perfectly made with fresh key limes (you could even see the bits of key lime), the crust was perfect and it had just the right amount of whipped topping. I'm not even a huge fan of key lime pie and I don't think any other would compate.

May - Marco Island, FL
This is the leisure part. I purchased 2 nights at the Marco Island Marriott at an auction last year so we had to use them before they expired. Ya know what, I think this trip deserves its own blog. More to come........

Mango Chicken

2011-06-06T16:23:00.000-07:00

I have fallen in love with this recipe and I just wanted to share it with you. It's just a fresh tasting dish for the summer.

Mango Chicken

16 ounces boneless, skinless chicken

Marinade
1 can (8 oz) unsweetened crushed pineapple, juice only (reserve fruit for salsa)
1 T low-sodium soy sauce
1 T honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 t. red pepper flakes

Salsa
Pineapple from strained can
1 mango, peeled and diced
2 kiwis, peeled and diced
1/4 c. red onion, diced fine
1 lime, juiced
1 T cilantro, chopped
1 T jalapeno pepper, diced fine (optional)

Open pineapple and strain to separate juice from fruit. Place juice in a baking dish. Add soy sauce, honey, garlic and red pepper to the dish and stir. Slice chicken breasts into 4 4-ounce strips. If thick, pound out to flatten with a meat mallet or rolling pin. Place chicken in the marinade ad refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Prepare salsa by combining all ingredients. Preheat grill to medium heat or turn on broiler and place rack in the middle of the oven, about 6" away from the heat source. Grill or broil chicken for 45 minutes per side or until the meat is no longer pink. Serve with fruit salsa.

Makes 4 servings, 3 ounces cooked meat and 1/2 cup salsa.

Anniversary - Year 2

2011-06-05T18:52:00.000-07:00

Mark and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary at the end of April. We've said we'll always take some sort of trip just to get away and celebrate with just the two of us. Last year I purchased 2 nights at the Marco Island Marriott at an auction so we decided to use those for our "anniversary trip" since they are about to expire. More on our trip to come later.

I continue to grow more deeply in love with my hubs every day. I mean of course, there are some days I would like to strangle him or make him sleep outside but he makes me laugh or smile so quickly that I'm never mad for too long. As I've said before he's my BFF, companion and lover. We are TEAM ROGERS! And I must say we do make quite a team. Marriage has been one fun ride and we have a great time together! Let's get on with Year 3!

Southwest

2011-06-05T18:41:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to say that I heart Southwest Airlines. Because of their cheap flights and Rapid Rewards program, they have funded several of my flights for vacations. I love their low prices, check-in process, seating process, checked baggage fee - which is FREE, FREE in-flight beverages, and funny attendants that make jokes during the housekeeping notes before take-off.

So thanks SWA!!

Molly's Boyfriend

2011-05-31T19:07:00.000-07:00

Molly has a new best friend, aside from me and Mark, it's the neighbor's British bulldog, obviously not in the class of a Maltese. She sure does run with the big dogs. Every day she'll go over to the fence and Jack is ready to run her back and forth, although he may eat her if they ever meet outside the fence. It's so fun to watch our little social bug. :)

Back Where I Come From

2011-05-31T18:29:00.001-07:00

I have a project that I'm working on for the house. My dad got a couple of old church pews out of an old church in East Tennessee. I have a small room at the top of our stair case that just needs a little something. So I'm going to fix up the church pew and add a few throw pillows. I've also taken some pictures of downtown Rockwood and Columbia (the towns where Mark and I grew up) that I want to hang in the space. AND I'm also making my own letter art spelling our last name. I'll be sure to post a picture of the final pieces.

Here's a peek of the pictures from Rockwood and Columbia.

Party, Party

2011-05-31T17:55:00.000-07:00

In March I had the joy of celebrating my best friend's pregnancy as she prepares for her first child and also my grandmother's 80th birthday.

It's hard to believe my bestie has a baby (which I have yet to meet). I had a great time hosting one of her showers with two other very sweet girls. Jess was beautiful as always and I know she's going to be a wonderful mother. We're really growing up. :)

My Mamaw Butler turned 80 this year. She's a breast cancer survivor and hero. It's always fun to celebrate with our family.

Celebratin' My Birthday

2011-05-31T17:42:00.000-07:00

The big 2-8. There wasn't too much celebrating going on this year. I did have a yummy dinner with friends at Suzy Wong's House of Yum and Yum it was! Mark's not even a sushi eater but he tried some and actually liked it (crunchy of course). I also got to spend time with the family, which I always enjoy!

Let's face it, Mark is usually not the best gift giver or maybe it's that he's not the best at listening to ALL the ideas I throw his way in any given year (or day). But I'll tell ya, he's knocked it out of the park with these past couple of birthdays. Last year was a Kindle which I read ALL the time and this year............wait for it, wait for it..............a new lens for my SLR. OHHHH, I was so excited!! This is the big daddy that will zoom so much I don't have to change my lens all the time. Woohoo, thanks honey! Get ready for all the fun pictures I'm going to take.

But first I would like to take a class, any suggestions?

Mid-Year's Resolution

2011-05-31T17:40:00.000-07:00

So is there's a such thing as a mid-year's resolution, mine is to update my blog more regularly. I have really been slacking. I just can't seem to find the time to type it out. I have a list of things I want to talk about so.........I'm starting now. I'm going to start back in March and make my way up to present day, hopefully it won't take too long. I also plan to get a new look for my blog, keep visiting.

2 for 2

2011-02-19T16:10:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago Mark and I and 3 other couples (our date night crew) traveled to Maggie Valley to ski and snowboard. Lance and Lisa go often, while the rest of us are amateurs. Mark was so excited, all he wanted to do was learn to snowboard. So he talked me into it too. I had only been skiing one other time approximately 7 years ago and I broke my leg. Great track record so far, huh? We rented a cabin that was amazing and just enjoyed a nice weekend with friends.st

The first night we just took advantage of the great kitchen by cooking dinner and just getting settled into our humble abode. Friday was the day of adventure, we headed to the mountain with all our gear. I was very nervous, needless to say because of my track record. We hit the bunny slope with a lesson from our snowboard friends. We went a couple times and hit the green slopes. I'm not even sure there was a green slope but this was the bunny above the real practice bunny. We went several times and I actually felt like I was getting it! Mark was too, all he wanted to do was to learn and somewhat succeed (heck, didn't we all). But I just didn't want him to get frustrated and then give up. I was still having somewhat of a hard time slowing down and stopping, pretty critical, huh? We took a break in the lodge and still had an hour of snow time. We head back out and hit the in-between-bunny slope again. Then for our final run someone suggested we go up to the blue slope. It was still easy but would just give us longer time to board before hopping back on the chair lift. So.....here we go! I get off the chair lift and thought "Oh my, I have to go down THAT!!??!"
So, here we go....I'm just cruising down, going super fast and have to turn a curve.... ok, done! Whew, made that one! Then I got even faster and needed to slow down so I turn my board and as I did, just lost my balance and fell backwards. OUCH! I hit the snow/ice so hard it knocked the breath out of me. I laid there for several minutes trying to get the courage to go on down. I still had a long way to the bottom! I finally got up and tried again and boom, fell again. It hurt so bad, I thought there is no way I can continue to go down and fall on butt the whole way down. So I disconnected from my board and walked down. I was in so much pain I was cried all the way down the hill.

Ugh - so I finally get to the bottom (thanks for waiting on me Mark)! I could barely stand the ride back to the cabin. I couldn't sit the rest of night, had to play games standing and had the worst time sleeping. I wasn't sure if I had just bruised my tailbone or actually broke it. I figured the doctor couldn't do anything either way so I just rode it out. Saturday I woke up in so much pain I just couldn't go to the slopes. Everyone went without me and I had a nice relaxing day reading at the cabin.

The ride back home on Sunday was MISERABLE! There is now way to get comfortable while sitting or lying down. I just have to switch between hips, which is why I'll probably have bed sores. :) We stopped at Brad and Casey's on the way back through for lunch. I tried sitting on a donut and the boppy and they just plain don't work. I'm not sure how it's even supposed to work, my butt just fell through and put pressure EVERYWHERE! So back to the hips.

I spent the week sitting some with my pillow and standing. By Thursday I had had enough. I went to the Orthopaedic and sure enough it's broken! Great, how long do I have to suffer? Doc says I have 6 weeks to 3 months to actually feel almost 100%. UGH!!! I was sick of being in pain and uncomfortable. I would not wish this on anyway - it was awful! Oh and for pain, he said just take Aleve regularly; 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening for 2 weeks. Really? Does he not not how painful this is!?!?!

Today is Saturday, February 19th and I can say I do feel somewhat better. I can actually sleep more comfortably but still have pain. I'm traveling tomorrow so the thing I dread the most is the stupid plane ride. At least it's a relatively short ride. We'll see how it goes.

So my track record for winter sports is now 2 for 2! Trying to decide if I'll try it again! All Mark talks about is going to Vail. It may be a trip for me to just sit in the lodge and read.

Game Time

Happy Couples

Day 1 (Obviously b/c I'm there)

Stuck Like Glue

2011-02-14T15:10:00.000-08:00

I've come to realize I have been stuck on a few things lately and thought I would jot them down.

1. Lipton Raspberry Tea - Ohhh, I just love this stuff. I used to make my own now Lipton is my life saver.

2. Friday Night Lights - My friend, Katie, told me I should watch it and well here we are, HOOKED. This is just like we were with 24, hopefully the entire cast won't be killed off after the first season.

3. iPad -- It's my bible at church, it's my Solitaire when I"m bored, it's my Netflix que, it's my recipe book, it's my everything.

4. Pillow - Since my bum is broken, I can't really sit semi-comfortably anywhere without a small pillow. More to come on this in the next post.

5. Flats -- The sign I'm getting old, my feet hurt in heels. I'm limited to one day a week wearing my favorite pumps. :( I'm glad flats are hip or else I would look like a grandma.

2010 Year in Review

2011-01-01T18:58:00.000-08:00

1. Checked off spending New Year's Eve in Times Square
2. Welcomed a new great niece, Emma, and new nephew, Alex, into family
3. Visited Boston with the hubs and attended a Red Sox game
4. Celebrated an incredible one year anniversary with my Be Fri (ya know, if we had friendship necklaces, I would totally have Be Fri over st ends)
5. We bought a new house that we LOVE
6. Checked another one off the bucket list - attended CMA Awards
7. Met some awesome new friends and established date night where we gather AT LEAST once a month
8. Attended the Moon Pie Festival for the first time
9. Won the Amazing Race, Watercolor style
10. Went on the first weekend vacation with the family
11. Enjoyed reading on my Kindle
12. Mark and I both received promotions at work
13. Continuing to celebrate my grandmother overcoming breast cancer

Christmas: Rogers Round

2010-12-29T18:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning we headed to Mark's sister's house to see what Santa brought! We also have a big Cracker Barrel style breakfast - yumm!

The kids all got riding toys from Santa and David got a new CD player for his truck!

I thought this was cute of Rachel in her new pj's and demonstrating

how to wrap your wet hair in a towel.

Christmas: Stooksbury Style

2010-12-29T18:06:00.000-08:00

Each year we alternate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my family and Mark's family. This year we headed to Rockwood for Christmas Eve. We started with lunch and presents then had a day or relaxation and munching on the holiday goodies! We had fun just spending time with each other and playing with the kids. Drew really enjoyed the presents this year, he was so sweet! As for Alex, well, he mostly liked the ribbon!

What sweet boys

Alex content with his ribbon!

Drew rockin' out with his guitar

Granna and Grandad gave Drew this Buzz Lightyear space ship. He would get in and put EVERYTHING in with him. Here he also has on his bicycle helmet.

Aunt Kate had to chase drew around the house acting as Buzz.

Grandad and his boys

Givin some love

Christmas: Your Family and My Family

2010-12-29T17:54:00.000-08:00

OUR family! We had both of our immediate families over for a Christmas gathering. It's very rare that both families are together. It hasn't happened since our wedding but would like for it to happen occasionally. So everyone was here! We had a nice dinner, nice fellowship, enjoyed the Christmas lights from the neighbors and again, another game of dirty Santa. I'm not sure they all get the idea that dirty can mean re-gifting or gag gift. I think every gift was a "nice" one.

Christmas: Gingerbread Houses

2010-12-29T17:41:00.000-08:00

As a team outing at work we went to the Viking Cooking School and made gingerbread houses. We had the best time and there were so awesome looking houses!

Christmas: Fun with Friends

2010-12-29T17:29:00.000-08:00

The first week of December we had several friends over for some food, fun and dirty santa. We had a great turnout and some awesome dirty santa gifts! :)

Mark had to steal the lottery tickets form Jonathan! What a great idea, Adam!

Jonathan going for his second gift - which he didn't keep very long.

Part of the crew waiting to see the next gift

And the group photo (minus a few that left early)

Some of the gifts included were lottery tickets (as previously mentioned), a doormat, Walgreens gift card (which was picked by the guy that worked there and had been purchased by his wife, which was hilarious), a Chinese puzzle, Christmas salt and pepper shakers, the Perfect Fit Button, and the list goes on. What a fun night!

Christmas: Home Decorating

2010-12-27T11:39:00.001-08:00

This year it was super fun to decorate for Christmas in our new house! I was so excited I did it the second week of November - which is way early for me! Because of the new house I had to get several new things (Mark just didn't understand)! We really enjoyed our decorations this year and I have several new ideas for next year too!

The place settings in our dining room! I finally got to use my Christmas dishes.

Can't forget the cinnamon scented pine cones - mmmm.

Santa is always watching.

A Visit From a Bug

2010-12-22T07:28:00.000-08:00

Drew Bug that is! As always I'm way behind but better late than never I guess. In November we got a little visit from Drew, we had such a fun weekend! Friday night was short, by the time I picked him up and we got to our house we had a short play time, bath time and then bed time. I was a bit nervous about bed time because he was fresh off his pacie. But he did great, all his "babies" kept his safe. I ended up sleeping with him just in case he woke up wondering where he was.

Saturday we had a big day. We took him to the Adventure Science Center where they had a train exhibit. He is very into trains right now so it was perfect. They had ALL kinds of model trains and Drew was amazed. There are so many things for kids to do there he wasn't really sure what he was supposed to be doing. He would just run from one thing to another. He loves to climb and slide so it was perfect! Later that afternoon after nap we hit the park - which he LOVES being outside.

We took him back to mom and dad on Sunday afternoon. And boy the week after that we sure miss having him around. Can't wait for the next time! I've heard we're getting him every couple of months - I think Casey enjoyed the visit just as much as Drew did. :)

Eye See You

2010-11-09T18:57:00.000-08:00

I was in Chicago for business a few weeks ago and one of the things on my to-do list was to see the eye ball "art" on display in the city. So here it is!

Unfortunately the eye ball is now gone but you can read more about it here.

And well I thought I would mention the other things on my list too.

1. Portillo's for a Chicago style hot dog................and my new love their famous chocolate cake!

2. Hit H&M

3. Enjoy a bag Garrett's Popcorn

I'm happy to say I checked all items off my list!

Lucky Ladd Farms

2010-11-07T19:23:00.000-08:00

Bradley, Casey and the boys came for a visit and boy were we so glad they did. Casey and I had the same thought about going to a pumpkin patch when they were here. So Saturday night we headed to Lucky Ladd Farms. Drew had the best time, they had SO much to do! First, we enjoyed feeding the animals then we saw tractors, played in the sand, rode the train, slid on the slide and looked at the pumpkins! It was a little chilly that night so it was perfect for fall festivities. We enjoyed the visit and can't wait for Drew to come back for the weekend.

Stooksbury's in the Smokies - Part II

2010-11-07T19:09:00.000-08:00

After our day at Dollywood we checked in to our home away from home for the weekend at Wilderness at the Smokies. Some of Saturday and Sunday was spent at their indoor water park. It was a blast...for all ages. Drew LOVED it! He loves the water anyway but they had so many things for kids to play with, play on and play in. They even had the wave pool and slides for the "big kids", including dad! The convenience of the water park to our room was so nice. I highly recommend it!

Stooksbury's in the Smokies

2010-10-26T19:11:00.000-07:00

The first of October we hit the road for to the Smokies for a Stooksbury vacation. Mark and I stayed at Brad and Casey's on Thursday night then hit the road early, with a slight detour by Chick-fil-a, on Friday morning heading to Dollywood. We had the BEST time! Drew loved the train but we didn't love the soot that came with it - yuck!

He wasn't so sure about the rides the first go around..................

but boy he learned to love those piggies!

The adults had a great time too!

And we didn't forget about Alex.

He was just as happy as can be!

Dolly had all her fall decorations out too!

Everything was so pretty!

To be continued..........

Go Titans!

2010-10-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post a few pictures from our Titans party with our date night crew back in September. It was so fun to have them over to see the house and watch the game!

The whole gang and Molly! But she's camera shy!

Maureen made this awesome cheese ball.

I love how she made it a football - so festive!

Because it was soo good, I wanted to share the recipe too.

(2) 8 oz cream cheese, softened

(1) red and green bell pepper, chopped

(1) can crushed pineapple, drained

Lawry's Seasoning Salt, as much as you want to taste

Combine all ingredients and form into the shape you want. Roll in pecans and chill.

Nashville Challenge

2010-09-26T13:16:00.001-07:00

In honor of the Amazing Race starting tonight I thought I would blog about the Nashville Challenge that I participated in a few weeks ago. This scavenger hunt/amazing race type challenge was great fun! A friend of mine, Lindsay Johnson, posted the groupon for the challenge on her facebook status and asked who would be interested. Well since I love this type of challenge I immediately told her I would participate! We were a team, Team Awesome, of 4 girls that were up for the challenge and there to WIN! There were approximately 80 teams taking part in the challenge and it was trivia on downtown Nashville. We received our clues and headed out. Our phones were helpful but many answers were just from the knowledge we had on our city. We covered the downtown from end to the other, approximately 6 miles. We ran probably half the time and walked the other. We finished in 4th, our time was one hour, 8 minutes and 44 seconds, only 10 minutes shy of first place. Darn. For every clue we had to take pictures of our team at the particular location with the requested props/positions. Here are just a few.

Our commute WAS cut in half but...

2010-09-26T13:08:00.000-07:00

now the drive is going to be longer. Boo! Gerry House, my favorite radio personality, has announced his show will end on December 15th. I listen to the Gerry House Foundation on the Big 98 every morning. They are full of fun, jokes, news, sports, gossip, contests, and music. I will certainly miss them but wish them all the best. They are always a great start to the morning!

A few of my favorite things

2010-09-20T14:26:00.000-07:00

about the new house.

Moving days

2010-09-20T13:42:00.000-07:00

We went to the closing with both cars loaded full of boxes. We started moving things that night - why wait, that's what we had been doing for 2 weeks! We had all our boxes there by Thursday when mom and dad came out. When they arrived, first thing on the list was to get the U-haul in Murfreesboro and pack up all the furniture then we would meet Mark's buddies at the new house to help unload. Man, that U-haul was packed to the brim, we're thankful for dad's packing abilities. After only a couple of hours all the furniture was in - now it was time to organize. We had big plans for the weekend, we wanted to landscape and paint while mom and dad were here. Mark and I could unpack our personal items later. We went non-stop the entire weekend - man we were all completely worn out! Thanks mom and dad for ALL your help!

Here are some before and after pictures.

Landscaping

Dining Room

Living Room

Trying to be patient

2010-09-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

As many of you know we bought a new home but let me tell you, the process sure did test our patience. We submitted an offer on a house in the middle of June. It was a short-sale and we knew it could be a longer process than normal which we thought was ok since we were still trying to sell our home in Murfreesboro and we really weren't in any hurry. We gave the sellers a week to either accept or decline our offer. As we sat on pins and needles we finally received a call from the realtor telling us they had another offer. So we went all-in and offered the full asking price, I was adamant about not going any higher. If we didn't get it, it wasn't meant to be. Sure enough we lost that house (which looking back was the best thing that could have happened). Oh, we were so devastated! We were pretty much set on this neighborhood and this particular part of town. We had looked at every house available and knew that was it.

Well God had another plan for us. We continued to look, again, at all the houses in the neighborhood, even the ones we really weren't interested in. We came along a brand new home that had been sitting there vacant for over 2 years and was a bit out of our price range. So after viewing the house 3 times we decided to go for it. We low-balled and thought if they go for it, great...... if not, fine. We had already been disappointed once. We submitted the offer on July 3rd and gave the sellers another week to accept or decline. The builder (father) and realtor (son) were on vacation but quickly returned the call to our realtor and verbally accepted our offer. Wow - that was easy! Since that happened so quickly, it really took us a minute to realize they had accepted.

We finally got all the paperwork going that next week, setting our closing date to August 11th. Well the packing began. Mark was so motivated, I occasionally had to slow him down so he wouldn't completely pack our house the first week. I was insistent on being organized and cleaning out the unnecessary items as we went - he was completely on board with that! Thank goodness.

July and August were already getting pretty busy so we continued to pack every spare chance we had. We were ready to go the first week of August but had not heard the final word from the lender that August 11th was still the plan. Well, we continued to harass our loan manager, poor Ashley (who was AWESOME)!! I know she was the middle man but golly we were SO00000 frustrated. We were trying to be patient but there we sat with all our stuff in boxes besides my makeup and hair products. The kitchen was packed, we were eating out, we were still showing our house with only the bare bones, we couldn't even walk through the garage, had the U-haul scheduled, Comcast scheduled, furniture deliveries scheduled, buddies to help unload were booked, time off from work scheduled, etc. Well we rescheduled all that a total of 4 times - UGH!!!

You can only imagine how this girl with a plan was so disturbed!! God definitely tested us and of course it ended up working out perfectly. Mark was definitely my calm in this storm. He was always so patient and calm and there were many days I just wanted him to be mad and yell with me!!! Thank you honey for keeping me in check.

So August 25th came, our official closing date!! We were FINALLY new home owners - bout freakin' time!

We certainly were tested and learned a lot about being patient and relying on God to make it work out perfectly.

Row, row, row your boat...

2010-09-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

Of course, I'm behind again! Anyway, in July our "Date Night" friends and Mark and I canoed down the Harpeth River. It was the perfect, warm, sunny day! We packed our coolers and canoes and were on our way. We had a great time but were worn out!!

And we're off.........

We weren't the only ones with this good idea.

Took a break for the rope swing.
I was shakin in my boots, but I did it!

My handsome tour guide and paddler

Group Shots

Girl Talk

2010-08-23T17:49:00.000-07:00

Do you hate having to reapply lipstick after a meal? Well, thanks to a few friends I was introduced to the greatest thing - L'Oreal Infallible Lip Color. I swear it's like paint for your lips but I'm telling you the stuff stays on! I can put it on in the morning and I still have it until I wash my face. The hardest part was finding the right color to have on your lips all day. It took my four colors to get the right one but it is oh so worth it.

Molly Maltese

2010-08-23T17:42:00.000-07:00

Here's an update on our baby. We've had her a year and she is a hyper little thing! She loves to play but she loves to sleep too. She's the perfect dog.

Molly enjoyed packing too.

RC Cola and a ................

2010-07-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

Moon Pie Festival! Mom and Dad were here last month and we decided to hit the big city of Bell Buckle and the Moon Pie Festival. We arrived just in time for the parade. I think we caught over a dozen moon pies.

We (we meaning me and mom, Mark and dad were just along for the ride) had so much fun watching the parade, cruising the craft fair, and shopping in the antique shops. Of course they had moon pies but they had them in every flavor; vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, banana, peanut butter and mint!

We finished the day with lunch at Miller's Grocery. MMMmmmm.

Arrington Date Night

2010-07-21T18:43:00.000-07:00

For our second date night, with our great new best friends, we decided to go to Arrington Vineyards for a picnic, music and fellowship. The forecast called for rain but we decided to go for it anyway. We all brought some fun food, and we learned we have some really good cooks in the group! Yea! We were there early so Betsy and Adam got us a great picnic table close to the band. Within 45 minutes down came the rain. We toughed it out for a bit then finally went to seek shelter. The rain continued for only for a short time and before we knew we were back at our campsite. We had a great time but they shut the place down at 9pm and that came way too quick. We ended up going to Dolen's - which was an experience. We played darts while the boys entered a poker contest, none of which won. Boo. :(

Wine Angels

2010-07-16T19:13:00.000-07:00

I was blessed with ANOTHER trip to Vegas this year. Woohoo (sarcasm)! This time for a conference. We stayed at Caesars Palace and had the former Globetrotters in our booth as we did in Atlanta. Of course they were a huge hit and a big draw to our booth. I'm sure we had the best concept there except for maybe during one 30 minute break when someone had Joe Montana in their booth. I was able to sneak a picture of him.

We had some great meals while there. One night we attended a reception then headed to Mandalay Bay to find some dinner. The whole reason we chose Mandalay Bay was because the night before at dinner the conversation about the Wine Angels came up. Two of us had seen them on Oprah's episode of the most glamorous dream jobs and decided to look them up. We walk in and sure enough there is this huge tower of wine and two cords in which the "angels" shimmy up to get your wine. It was very neat! I can get so star struck over the simplest things. I was so excited and so giddy that the guy asked for my ID and looked it over, front and back. He then came back and apologized. :) Shoot, I didn't mind, sure you can see my ID. :o Well we split a bottle of wine and it was on to dinner. I have you know it was 9pm and we could not find ONE restaurant that was open. Not one, remember, we're in Vegas. I didn't know things shut down in Vegas. We finally found a "diner" type restaurant which did have the best shakes! But sheesh, we couldn't believe that's what we had to settle for in Vegas.

Home of the Wine Angels

Me and Kristi in front of the wine tower

Wine Angels - Kristi, Eboni and me

There she goes to get our wine

Date Night at Puckett's

2010-07-09T16:56:00.000-07:00

My friend, Maureen, and I have been trying to get us and our husbands out for a date night for some time now. Well, we finally made it happen, with a few other couples too! We went to Puckett's Grocery in downtown Franklin. We had the best time, the meal was fantastic and the entertainment, oh my! Sherrie Austin was there, she was AWESOME! Her songs are fun, her voice is amazing and she looks like an entertainer. Some of us were stalker fans and waited until the end of the night to talk with her, buy her CD, get an autograph AND have a group picture taken. I just loved it. We all hit it off really well- I'm so fortunate to have met such a good group of friends! We've decided to have these little rendezvous monthly, no telling what we'll get into next.

Weekend With Kids

2010-07-09T16:49:00.000-07:00

After being in Knoxville for the arrival of Alex, I headed back home to Mark as we had planned to keep our niece, Rachel, and nephew, David. The kids were dropped off early Friday morning and with the weather forecast we decided to start the weekend off with a bang and hit the zoo! Rachel always has fun at the zoo, I think the carousel is her favorite part. We had a very busy weekend. We baked cupcakes, put on makeup, watched movies, sang Taylor Swift (you have got to watch the video), colored, painted fingernails, played Wii, and went to the park. We had a great time! They were a ball of fun but I think me, Mark AND Molly are glad to have our quiet house back. :)

New Addition

2010-07-09T16:41:00.000-07:00

In mid-May we welcomed a new addition to our family, Alex Jacob Stooksbury. This eight pounder is just the perfect baby boy. Although, he does have dark hair and dark skin, I'm not sure he really belongs to us at all. The delivery all worked out, just as it had with Drew. Casey called around lunchtime and said she was having contractions to be on stand-by (my bags had been packed for over 2 weeks just waiting). I had some off-site meetings that morning so I rushed back to the office and wrapped up some things before I got the call to hit the road. I did and made it with only 30 minutes to spare. Whew! Alex arrived with no problems whatsoever. Gee, Casey makes it look so easy - 2 pushes, I'll have kids all day long if that's all it takes! I was able to take the rest of the week off and spend some time with Drew AND Alex. Drew is such a punkin and so much fun at this age. I just wish I could spend more time with him. It will fun to see how different, or the same, Alex will be.

Way Behind!

2010-07-09T15:46:00.000-07:00

Well sheesh, it has been way too long! And so much has happened. I'm going to try to get caught up. I have a list....a long list of the blogs I need to complete. So instead of putting it off, I'm going to just get at it.

Since I wrote last Mark and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary - awwwh! We've decided that we will always try to take some sort of trip, big or small, to celebrate just me and Mark. In mid-April we went to the beach so we wanted to go somewhere different, we chose Boston. We ended up getting a great deal on our hotel from priceline.com and we both had flight vouchers. So...with that we were able to splurge on FOOD! I love food and sometimes it's a big challenge living with my soo picky spouse. But let me give you the run down of our trip.

When we arrived we were starving, airplane peanuts just didn't do the trick. Wait, wait, let me back up. Gee, it's been so long I almost forgot. We take a cab to our hotel and Mark went to get his wallet and realized he didn't have it. He had left it on the plane - good job honey! UGH, I was so mad!! What a way to start the weekend. Who puts the most important thing in the back seat pocket of an airplane. So first things first, we cancel all of Mark's credit cards then we're on the hunt for food. We asked the concierge for something close just to grab something quick to tie us over until dinner. So we start walking, walking, walking some more and down comes the rain. Good thing I suggested we put on our rain jackets. We couldn't find anything to eat, I mean nothing. It was cold and wet so we decided to go back and just get a snack from the gift shop and have an early dinner. So we did just that. We're suckers for some Italian food so that was our first cuisine of choice. We ate at Limoncello, oh it was so good!

Day two we slept in after getting up at the butt crack of dawn the day before. Let me say this was the first trip we went on in which I did not have an itinerary for us. We were flying by the seat of our pants, which I think worried Mark a bit. We decided to do the Duck Boat Tours, it's such a great way to see a city. We wanted to get our tickets and pick out our tour time first. We got our tickets for a 2pm tour so we needed lunch. We walked across town (which was not far) to Cheers (where everybody knows your name!). I just love little places like this. We had a great burger, took some pics and headed back to our boat tour. We got to see a lot of the city and pick out some places we definitely wanted to visit again on foot. By the time we got back it was time get ready for the baseball game! It was great to see Fenway, the park everyone talks about. It was a great night for a ballgame and a great experience. I wish we had a baseball team here.

Day three was walk the Freedom Trail day! And boy it took the whole day. This 2.5 mile trail leads you to all the historic sights in Boston. We found out everything is the "oldest" in Boston. I am not a museum kind of girl so I was happy that Mark already mentioned he didn't want to visit museums and aquariums on this trip. Thank goodness! We began our day touring the U.S.S. Constitution (oldest commissioned warship afloat). I must say this was really neat. I can't imagine living on something like that. We visited the oldest church, Paul Revere's house and dined at Regina Pizzeria. MMmm, the best pizza! We continued to stroll by the oldest restaurant, ye olde Union Oyster House, shopped and watched street performers in Quincy Market. We rounded out the day with steak and seafood at Skipjacks.

Day 4 I had to work some. We had a conference going on in Boston so I had to get some things set up for them. Mark was a great sport and went with me. We decided to get up early and get all that out of the way as to not interrupt our entire day. Afterwards, we grabbed lunch and headed to Harvard. What a neat campus, we just strolled around campus, thanking God we were not still in school. We decided to round the trip out with one more Italian dish from Ristorante Fiore.

Since our Anniversary fell on Sunday and we were out of town we were able to enjoy our wedding cake on Monday. And I must say it was as delicious as on our wedding day. It was yummy, yummy!

Happy Anniversary, Honey! We had a great trip and to top it off Southwest called and found his wallet - EVERYTHING was still in it!! Thank you Lord! They mailed it back and all is hunky-dory.

Vegas Baby!

2010-05-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

We got back from Florida on Sunday afternoon then I headed to the airport early Monday morning headed to Las Vegas. We had a customer meeting there and did some amazing events. The first day they did the helicopter tour over the Grand Canyon, which I heard was amazing.

Monday night we had the opportunity to see a show. We ended up seeing Cirque du Soliel The Beatles Love. I recommend it, it was great and I'm not a HUGE Beatles fan.

Tuesday night we went to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and drove exotic cars. It was such a fun experience. First, with our partner we each had to drive this mini-coup around this cone track, switch drivers and be buckled up in the least amount of time. We couldn't hit or knock over any cones without points being deducted. Me and Gene did it in 1 min. 14 sec. We were in the lead for the most part but were then bypassed some super fast teams. I think overall we came in maybe 6th out of 25 teams. So not so bad.

Then we had the chance to drive either an Audi, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, or Ferrari. I drove the bright orange Lamborghini. It was AWESOME! I wasn't sure of shifting gears so I asked my trainer, Tim, to change it to automatic. Well he told me automatic was for a getting groceries and I left the groceries at home. Ok, fine, guess that settles that. I was a bit nervous because I wasn't familiar with the track and it was really dark. Tim told me exactly what to do and when to do it. The gears were on the steering wheel so it wasn't hard at all. I had the best time and Tim was the best trainer! I'm not sure how fast we went but I burnt some rubber.

Getting ready to drive with our hair nets on.

Here I go!

I survived with Trainer Tim!

I was also awarded BEST FEMALE DRIVER! Yes, I was awesome!

Very Wisteria

2010-05-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned before Mark was awarded a trip to Watercolor, FL this year. We went a couple of weeks ago and it was very Wisteria. I honestly thought I was on the set of Desperate Housewives. The place just looked fake. The place is located between Panama City and Destin, near Seaside. It is just the cutest little community. We had bikes all week that we would ride into Seaside to eat and shop, we rented a kayak, sat poolside and just enjoyed the relaxation and sound of the ocean. I highly recommend this place to everyone. The houses are beautiful and there is just so much to do.

We made the drive down in about 7 hours which was not bad at all. Onsite they also had a BMW representative and we could rent a car for 2-4 hours at a time each day. So we took advantage of that by just driving around in the convertable one morning then we drove another car to PC Beach for dinner. It was fun to have a convertable, the weather was perfect!

There were also some organized events during our stay. We had signed up to participate in the Amazing Race. Mark and I love the show and I have actually looked at the application process, I believe we could win the real deal! So I had to beg Mark to participate. I told him this could be our dress rehearsal for the TV show. So I was pumped and I had my game face on. We had to ride our bikes all over the property to find clues and make our way back to the hotel lobby. I was excited and was determined to win. And we did!! We completed the race in 26 minutes when the counselor said it would take over an hour. What a team we make! We won a Kindle reading device and were so excited. Sometimes I'm too competitive for my own good.

The other event we participated in was the Gilligan's Island challenge. We had to build a raft our of cardboard and duct tape. Then we had to get it across the length of the pool with someone in it. We weren't really sure about our design but by golly we ended up winning this task too. We by no means had the best boat but we did get across the fastest. This time we won (2) $100 Southwest Gift Cards! WOOT! Again, what a great husband/wife team.

Mule Day 2010

2010-05-02T12:12:00.000-07:00

Since Mark is from Columbia we are VERY familiar with the famous annual Mule Day celebration. Well, like me, my family loves a festival so mom and dad decided to come up for the event. We saw mules, mules, buggies, mules and more mules. The parade was very long but I think dad enjoyed it the most. We also went to the park where they have the Mule Pulls and vendors selling crafts. They of course had all the carnival food too. The fried corn was de-licious! The twisted fries and chocolate dipped cheesecake weren't so bad either. :) We then went to Mark's parent's house and played corn hole the entire afternoon and we had another great meal too. It was so nice to have everyone together (with the exception of Bradley, Casey and Drew). It had been since the wedding that the families had seen each other. We had a great time and now mom and dad can say they have been to Mule Day.

Ready for the parade

Grand Marshall, Naomi Judd

Columbia - the home of Sun Drop

Welcome to Columbia

These are the hates everyone was wearing - real nice.

Drew turns 2

2010-05-02T11:39:00.000-07:00

We had the best time with Drew celebrating his birthday. He is just talking up a storm and calls me Tate. It IS the cutest thing. He has been blaming me for things too. Everytime Casey would ask who did something wrong he would say Tate (and I'm not even there) - that little stinker! He also pretends to play hide-and-seek with me. I just love to hear the stories from Casey. Gosh, we need to live closer! We celebrated Drew's second birthday with the family at their house. He got lots of fun toys - he is going to be so busy this summer.

Elmo by Casey - she is just so talented!

It was dad's birthday too. The birthday boys! (and Drew has to say "cheese" for every picture)

Drew got a leaf blower and a lawn mower - he's going to busy with the yardwork.

He also got a new playset for outside.

We got him this sand and water table. He is all set to play outside this summer.

Pura Vida

2010-04-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago I "HAD" to go to Costa Rica for work. I know, gosh, there are worse places to work, right? This was an incentive trip for our sales force. We stayed at the JW Marriott Guanacaste and it was AMAZING! The staff was wonderful and the resort was awesome! I hope to definitely go back here some day.

For the awards banquet the entire ballroom was covered in plants to give it a rain forest feel. It was unreal! Many believed these props were permanent but no siree, these were transported in just for us!

A lot of the week was sitting at a hospitality desk in a dark and cold conference room catering to our attendees except for a few hours the last couple of days. Friday we went jet skiing in the ocean. Oh my, what a great time! It was a full 3 hour excursion and worth every minute. We would hit the waves just right and at times we could see nothing but water all around us. It was such an adventure. On the last day we had 5 hours of sun/pool time and boy did we eat that up!?!? I had sunscreen on and of course still got blistered. I am still peeling like a mad man! We were so glad to see the sun, we asked for it! :)

Look at the fishies!

2010-04-06T17:53:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we met Bradley, Casey and Drew in Chattanooga to go to the Aquarium. It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed it! Drew of course loved playing in the water the most. :) We went to lunch and ended the day with ice cream at Ben & Jerry's. This trip was also right after Drew started saying my name. He calls me Aunt Tate because he can't quite say his "K" yet. :) It just melts my heart!

I love this kid!

Loving on the penguin.

Family shots!

Whew, lots of catching up to do.

2010-04-06T17:27:00.000-07:00

I'm going to back up to the first of March. We had our largest trade show in Atlanta so that's where I celebrated my birthday too. In our booth we had two former Globetrotters. They were a huge hit interacting with the attendees and demonstrating teamwork. These were two of the nicest guys I've ever met.

We at Happy Sumo, a Japanese Steak and Sushi Bar, for my birthday. There were several of us that went and we had a great time.

This is Ashley and me in my sumo head. Ashley called it a Geisha Mullet!

Mark did great with my b-day present this year!! He got me a Kindle which I absolutely LOVE! He has such a hard time with gifts for me but he was perfect this year. Now if my case would just not be back ordered. I also got some money with which I intend to buy a dutch oven but I still need to do my research. They are way too expensive!

What we've been up to

2010-02-10T18:34:00.000-08:00

1. We hopped on the trendy wagon getting new iPhones. They are only the coolest thing E-VER, what haven't they thought of?? I have yet to find something it can't do. (That Blackberry was the dumbest phone ever! So glad to get rid of it)

2. I have planned and executed one of our largest meetings at work - our National Sales Meeting.

3. Mark was awarded an incentive trip to WaterColor in Santa Rosa Beach, FL. I'm so proud of him!

4. We've put our house on the market. We plan to build but aren't in any rush. When it sells, we'll be ready!

5. I tried a new recipe that was de-licious!

Pecan-Crusted Chicken

1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 1/2 t. paprika
1 t. salt
1 1/2 t. pepper
8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
2 T. canola oil

Place milk in shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, combine flou, pecans, sesame seeds, paprika, pepper and salt. Dip chicken in milk, then coat in flour mixture. In large nonstick skillet, brown chicken in oil on both sides. Transfer to a greased casserole dish. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or unil juices run clear.

6. I've started growing my bangs back out and they are driving me nuts.

Twenty Ten

2010-01-10T16:20:00.000-08:00

We rang in the new year in the craziness of Times Square, New York City. I have wanted to do this at least once in my lifetime, it was an item on my bucket list. Mark had no desire whatsoever to do this but somehow I talked him into to. We traveled to NYC on New Year's Eve and met our friends at their apartment. We then bundled up and made our way into the city from Queens. It was cold and rainy, not ideal for standing outside. We were fortunate enough to have an inside hookup from our comedian friend, Nate Bargatze, for Caroline's Comedy Club located on Broadway just down from the ball dropping. We go there around 6pm and the streets were already packed. We had dinner and chatted with the bar tenders at Caroline's until about 10pm. We then ventured out to find our spot. We met this cop who so nicely offered to take us up about 5 blocks closer than we were. So we followed his footsteps. We ended up being in front of Olive Garden (if you're familiar with the area). People had been there since 4pm - WHOA!! There are no restrooms and if you leave your spot you are not guaranteed that you will get back in. Each block had strict security. We nestled up with the group and enjoyed the music and sights of Times Square on New Year's Eve. If you were watching on TV we were very close to the stage where J. Lo performed as well as where CNN (Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin) were staged. It rained practically the entire time but we did have our umbrella. It was all that cold, or not that I remember, there was plenty of body heat. :) It was a great experience, I definitely recommend doing it at least once. It was not a crazy mess it was very organized chaos. And Mark had a GREAT time! I knew he would.

The infamous ball

Anderson and Kathy

We made it!

My view...because I'm short. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

For those of you that know me know that I am NOT a night person. I am in bed at 9pm or earlier on school nights and could very well have that bedtime on weekends as well. But on New Year's Eve I was a different person. Laura had gone to Times Square with us while Nate had a show to do elsewhere. After the ball dropped, we rode the subway to meet Nate. We spent some time at the Comedy Cellar and it was there that Laura and I decided we might as well just stay up and catch the Today's Show. So we ended up taking the boys home and by that time it was about 3:30am. We had to get materials for our signs, get back to the city and find parking. We also wanted a good spot so we thought we better get there around 6:30am. So we freshened up and made our way to buy poster board. We drove around for about 30 minutes trying to find parking. We ended up parking in this garage for like $14 even though we probably only be there for about 2, at the most. We made our signs in the car and walked to Rockefeller Center. We get there and there aren't many people at all but that was OK. So we took some pictures of the Christmas Tree and finally went over to talk to a couple of cops. They immediately asked if were there for the Today's Show because they weren't having a show, it was pre-recorded. UGH! Are you kidding me!?!?!? I stayed up for NOTHING! So we laughed and took pictures anyway. We got to bed about 7:30am and obviously slept all day! HAPPY NEW YEAR! This was definitely an experience I will never forget! Thank you Mark for agreeing to go with me. Thank you Nate and Laura for the Caroline's tickets, a warm bed, your hospitality and good cookin'.

Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center, so much more beautiful in person vs. on TV.

So sad, ever heard of the Internet? I bet it would have said there was not taping!

They thought my sign was funny - thanks Nate!

Roll Tide! Blah!

We were pooped

It's the most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2010-01-04T18:28:00.000-08:00

Christmas was again keeping the Tennessee roads hot. We traveled southwest to visit Mark's family on Christmas Eve. We spent the day eating and playing games, just good ole family time. We then opened presents, we were completely shocked to get a Nintendo Wii. Our nephews opened their's and surprised that we had opened one too. Now Mark is all about games. He has asked to get one for some time now but I never gave in. I just feel that we wouldn't play it and it would be a waste of money. He is so excited about this and some of his friends are giving him games. He is a happy camper. Mark also got some tools and I got some kitchen things and a new iPod docking station (other one died). The boys had to hook up the Wii IMMEDIATELY so we were entertained by them trying to figure out the games.

Waiting for Santa

Being silly

The boys and their Wii (that doens't sound right) Our little princess - she changed clothes about 20 times.Molly got new toys and sweater

Christmas day we went to my Mamaw and Papaw's for lunch. I hadn't been there for Christmas dinner in 4 years so it was great to see the whole family. We had a great lunch with all the fixins and then went to mom and dad's for some relaxing, eating, and present opening. Drew was all over the place in rare form. He finally got the hang of opening presents and really helped Mark open his presents. Drew got his first remote control car, a big wheel and some clothes. Mom asked all of us to spend the night on Christmas night, otherwise we all would have probably driven back home. So she got her wish, me, Mark, Molly, Bradley, Casey, Drew, Comet and Scooter. She definitely had a house full. But it was none or all! :) We had a great time ending Christmas night with some games (me = WINNER). We woke up to mom cooking a huge breakfast on Saturday that was oh so good!

Thanks everyone for a great and memorable Christmas. We are so fortunate to be able to spend the holidays we both sets of families.

Drew got some new Car slippers

Daddy helping open presents

New remote control car that does flips

Drew crawled in and out of this tent a hundred times. Helping Uncle Mark open presents
Casey and I got new Coke pjs
We all got new jackets!

Drew trying on his new duds.

Going Private

2010-01-04T18:27:00.001-08:00

We're going private to get away from all your creeps out there. Send me your email addresses to katie.stooksbury@gmail.com and I'll be sure to add your to the viewers list.

Thanks!

Ride to work will never be the same

2010-01-04T18:14:00.000-08:00

Since I have such a commute to work I have actually enjoyed it because I get to share my time not only with my husband on most days but with the Gerry House Foundation on WSIX. I am one of the 8 listeners. In mid December I was so shocked to hear that the group is splitting up, something about "doing what's best for the listener." Ha! Clear Channel announced that Al Voeks and Duncan Stewart would leave the show on December 23rd. Since Gerry and Mike have been on vacay since Christmas Eve, it really hadn't hit me that they were gone. But sheesh, I sure noticed it on the ride in this morning. They were such a good group making fun of each other and bouncing jokes off of one another. It's a great show and I will continue to listen but I sure do miss Al and Duncan.

If you visit the website they have a clip of the news with Noels (No L's) that they did on the 23rd. It's pretty hilarious!

Costa Rica

2009-12-23T12:31:00.000-08:00

Aside from the parties, cooking, eating, shopping, wrapping and singing I also traveled to Costa Rica for business. We are gearing up for our sales incentive trip in March so we HAD to go down and take a look at the place and all the surroundings to make sure it was the best fit for our group. And it was. :) It was of course just beautiful. We enjoyed all the food we could absolutely eat, we did the zipline tour and toured the town of Tamarindo. The property is just beautiful! I can't wait to be back in March.

Oh and there are monkeys just chillin on the side of the road - very weird!

Parties, Parties, Parties

2009-12-23T12:18:00.000-08:00

As probably most of you, we've been busy this holiday season. We've had several parties for work and with friends. It's always fun to get together with everyone and most importantly it's always fun to eat!

Company Christmas Party, Downtown Nashville

Department Cookie Exchange and Dirty Santa

Welcome Home, Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas Get Together at the Stephens' House

Cause I'm a Pothole

2009-12-03T18:11:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjMUfIKktWU#watch-main-area

I am loving this commercial! I have seen it a hundred times but I am crying over this right now.

K - bye!

Gobble, gobble, mooo

2009-12-02T17:44:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Thanksgiving has come and gone. I started the Thanksgiving holiday on Wednesday with a breakfast of champions with Pat Summit and Rick Insell. The Lady Vols and Lady Raiders matched up on Wednesday evening but started out with a breakfast celebrating women's basketball. I was invited by some of my great friends at the new Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro. I had a great time, thanks for the invite. I did go into work afterwards but it was pretty much a wash-out day. Then we traveled east to celebrate Thanksgiving with my side of the family this year. We had a delicious meal and of course probably too much but it sure didn't compare to the 10 or so 6 ft. tables of food we had at Mark's family last year. :) It was a nice low key day eating, napping, playing with Drew, conversing and watching football.

Mom and dad actually came back with us on Thursday night because mom and I like to shop here on Black Friday. So we all looked at the paper to plan our day. This year was a bit different as we didn't really have a purpose or mission. But nonetheless we still got up and started about 6am. It was, as usual, an all day event, getting us home about 4pm. We had a great time and did find some deals even though we really weren't looking for anything in particular. We've had our tree up for several weeks and the shopping is pretty much complete so we're definitely ready to celebrate this Christmas season.

When mom and dad came to our house Santa paid us a visit too bringing us a new deep freezer for our cow. Mom works with a guy that raises cows. Mom and dad have bought a cow for several years and I just love the meat so we thought we would give it a try. We split a half with my uncle so we purchased a fourth of a cow. We have enough steak, ground beef and roasts to last us for probably well over a year. We knew we were going to have to buy a freezer but we were fortunate enough to have Santa bring us one. Yea! Thanks Santa!

Love Someone Tonight

2009-10-11T14:59:00.000-07:00

Saturday I participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Brentwood. Our office has been raising funds for months now for Race for the Cure. We have had several activities such as "Real Men Wear Pink" day, buy a pink bracelet and wear jeans all week, we had a cookout with executives in the dunk tank and raised money for employees to dunk them and on Friday we had a chili cook off. As a company I believe we raised over $70,000. We had a team also participate in the 5K walk/run on Saturday. It was an early and cold Saturday morning but well worth it. I can't even tell you how many people were there - there was just a sea of people everywhere you looked. It was a great event for a great cause. One thing I was looking forward to most was meeting Delilah and I did that first thing! I was so surprised that the Mix 92.9 tent was right next to ours so it was very convenient. The line wasn't long and I got to meet her right before she took a break - whew, good thing. Here are some pictures from the event. I was also glad to see at the Y today that for every mile that's ran or walked on the new pink treadmills they will donate 10 cents. So I will definitely be doing my part on the pink treadmills.

Me and Delilah!!

Only part of our team

Me and Becky

Becky and her hula hoop team -
they hooped the entire race!

Visiting the Mouse

2009-10-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

Since I was attending the conference in Orlando Mark decided to join me afterwards for a few days of fun in the world of Disney. We enjoyed Epcot, Magic Kingdom and Universal Studios. Neither one of us had ever been to Disney World so we decided to experience this together. (I did visit Magic Kingdom for one day about 7 years ago, but I don't count that. :)) We started off at Epcot and had so much fun. Since there were no lines and only the two of us we whizzed through those parks so fast. We were usually finished by 5pm or 6pm every day, we did what we wanted and got out. :) We did go back to Epcot to see their fireworks show which I will say was GREAT! I was very impressed, it was definitely more than just fireworks. They also had a food and wine festival going on so it was interesting to see the foods and wines from all the different countries. It was an experience.

We went to Universal the second day. The best thing was the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit Roller Coaster. It was awesome! We both love roller coasters and it was probably the best one we've ever riden. It was also very neat to see all the movie sets at Universal.

Magic Kingdom was the last day. This is surely a very magical place and the more kid friendly park. Next time we will definitely have kids in tow. To be honest we were a little disappointed in the parks. We thought we had made the decision to visit the more "adult" parks but they were still very much geared toward the kids, which I understand is the point But we left wanting to visit Six Flags or Kings Island for some roller coasters. :) We did have a fun time and highly recommend going when kids are in school!!!

We did play putt-putt one night too. Mark beat me by 1 point - I was ready for a re-match!

2 days with a gator!

2009-10-01T18:57:00.000-07:00

My company exhibited at a conference last week in Orlando. As part of our booth promotion we decided to have a live gator in our booth in conjunction with the customer event we were holding at Gatorland. We were the best booth in the exhibit hall. We had over 375 guests come have their picture made with our gators, Izzy and Pearl. We had the best time and it was definitely a creative concept. Holding the gators was a little scary but I was brave.

Congratulations to the Lemley's

2009-09-14T17:14:00.001-07:00

Whew I am so behind, I can't believe it's already October.
September 12th we got to celebrate the marriage of Laurie and Greg Lemley. We enjoyed a beautiful wedding and a beautiful reception at the home of a family friend in Murfreesboro. The weather was great, the lighting and scenery were wonderful. We wish you guys a life full of happiness, friendship, love and fun.

Mr. and Mrs. Lemley

Surprise Date Night

2009-09-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

Labor Day weekend got off to a great start. Friday night Mark had planned date night for us. I knew we were going out but didn't have a clue of what the night included. We had reservations to stay at Union Station in downtown Nashville so we got checked in and changed for our night on the town. He surprised me with a delicious dinner at The Palm and then enjoyed a night at the theater watching Wicked. I cannot express how GREAT this play was. The talent was AMAZING! I definitely recommend it to everyone. This was definitely rare occasion. It almost felt like a night in New York City. :) Thanks honey!

Spring Break '09

2009-09-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

No wait, I was in PCB but it wasn't Spring Break. Me and girls took a trip to Panama City Beach a few weeks ago and stayed in my friend Katie's grandparent's condo. It was a very nice way to say goodbye to summer. We had three full days of fun in the sun. It was so relaxing to spend the days by the pool and the ocean reading and chatting with the girls. We definitely got our seafood fix at dinner and also enjoyed music by the very talented Mike Van Elsen. We also had a photo shoot on the beach, that we thoroughly enjoyed. :-)

Thanks for such a fun trip girls!

On the drive down, Laura and I made a stop at Peach Park.

The first night we ended up at Tootsies. They had a

screen where we could see what was happening at the

real Tootsies in Nashville.

Meet Mike

Dragon Boat Races

2009-08-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

Saturday me and a few friends from work participated in the dragon boat races down the Cumberland at Riverfront Park in downtown Nashville. We heard that one boat still had a few empty seats so we decided instead of making our own boat we would team up with Team Green. This is a boat of 20 paddlers, one drummer and one person to steer. We only had one practice in the water and so we were by no means professionals but we did have a great time. It's definitely much harder than it looks. We raced 3 times and finished 34th out of 40 teams (I'm not certain it was 34th, close enough - but like it matters) - as you can tell we did pretty good! :-) During our particular heat we did come in third twice and second once. So really we don't think we did too bad. We had a fun team and it was great getting to know new people. Mom and dad came to cheer us on and enjoy the festival. We couldn't have asked for better weather, it was superb!
Mark was out of town at a bachelor party and of course made fun of me. He kept saying, gee , your husband's out of town and you decide to row a freakin boat! :0 The things I get myself into. But I actually enjoyed it!

Keely, our drummer, what a great sport!

Two of our cheerleaders.

Part of our team.

Darren, our team captain

They even had the dragon entertainment during the opening ceremonies.