Life Goes On...Thank God for Friends

October 29, 2010

These are our friends, Mister and Missus Billy Bob (or Billy "Rob," as I called him ;) Trashy McTrasherson. They keep things classy.

Thanks for coming to see us and keeping us company. I'm so sorry we were not in costume, but I don't think you guys would have been nearly as hilarious if everyone else had been dressed up.

the body parts fruit salad the McTrasherson's brought

Hobie being held hostage

Zach Galifianakis in The Hangover and a pirate wench

My mama was a SCREAM!

So was Bobby!

Billy Rob likes the demon dog.

Hobie pouts

*~*the loveliest couple in the world*~*

We had lots of yummy food and spiced apple cider!

the fall decorations I rigged up

my sister

Pharr siblings

We also had fun with the Pharr's, my mama, Erin & Josh, Nathan, Kayley & Johnny, and Genis & Hayden.

He was tired, so I was tired with him.

My Mechelle Belle!

Cream Puff!

I wish we could have seen the rest of our friends before we left, but that's why the holidays were created, right?
[See pictures for proof.]

Arkansas State Fair

I love the fuzzy-headed chickens!

October 16, 2010

Zach's college roommate Brandon and his wife Anna invited us to the State Fair. We had a blast!

We looked at all the animals (chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese, a few pigs and horses, goats, etc.) and finally got to see some bunnies.

We went on Saturday, which was also the day of the Race for a Cure, and the fair put on a Hoppin' for the Cure rabbit parade in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month and to support the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The building housing the bunnies was decked out in pink and white ribbons and streamers. (It was much classier than the horse barn full of the rodeo queens blinged-out horseys.)

This sweet white bunny won and was honored with a sugary pink coating like a Peep! Her cage with decked out with the pink ribbons and trophy she won! (I don't know if "she" is actually female, but I think she must be to win...)

And some other cute bunnies:

This goat was sticking his head under the stall to get to some munchies...and us! We also saw chickens packaged in vegetable boxes to be moved: "That's not a carrot!"

[We also watched a cute monkey show, which also included a money-stealing bird and a scary baboon. Zach and I missed the tiger show from last year and the sugar gliders that we always visited in the Hall of Industry for the past two years, but the monkey show was a lot of fun.]

Of course no fair experience is complete without the proper food, and we partook in corn dogs, lemonade, funnel cakes, kettle corn, and fried jalapeno cheese that set our mouths on fire. There was so much from which to choose! I love fair food. :)

I'm glad to know that we're not the only ones who don't ride rides, although I did miss the Ferris Wheel. But there's always next year! Most of the rides are insane and would make me feel like I was in a car wreck. Ick.

[We also ran into Rob, Mechelle, Jamie, and Joyce. Twice. :]

It was so nice to properly meet Brandon and Anna. Hopefully we'll get to venture to their cabin soon!

Special Occasions

October 4, 2010
Happy birthday, Tasha!
Happy birth of your marriage (a.k.a. your anniversary), Mechelle and Rob!
Happy un-birthday, Aunt Tay! (Hey, it's mine, too. ;)

So...I totally sent you something in honor of your special occasions in such a hurry on Saturday that they were returned to me today. I forgot to put stamps on the envelopes. *lol*
Otherwise, they would have been on time, but now look for them two days late. ;)

I love you ladies and miss you!

[This picture was taken on our Carnival cruise in the summer of 2007 before Briley was born and when we were just learning who "Rob with a heart" was. *tehe*]

UNO H2O

[photo courtesy http://seattlesteve.wordpress.com/category/diving/]

September 9, 2010

Next summer we're totally playing UNO this way...
That way the cards won't go slipping and sliding across the table.
But just how do you shuffle them under water?
; )

Easter in August?

August 13, 2010

Friday the 13th!

We planned a game night with Rob and Mechelle, and I volunteered us to bring a dessert/snack. After going through our candy supply and realizing we have TOO many Cadbury Mini-Eggs, I decided to check into a recipe Kevin and Bree had suggested back in June: mini-egg cookies.

I found many recipes--more than I had expected--so the decision was no longer to make a mini-egg cookie, but what kind to make: shortbread, chocolate, sugar, birds' nests. (The latter are made with coconut and chopped nuts; I am sure you have seen some similar ones before.)

The recipe we used is here: http://bakewithus.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/cadburys-mini-egg-cookies-for-good-friday/
It was kind of a cross between a sugar and butter cookie.

I wanted the tops to be pretty, so I reserved some of the cracked eggs, but I don't know if it was worth the trouble. Besides the blue eggs became a lovely green beneath the dough. We had to tweak it a bit more because the oven cooked them four to five minutes, but none got burned...as did none of my appendages, thankyouverymuch. ;)


WOOHOO! Now we can buy some more Haribo!!

Weekend Update: (Board) Games are NOT Boring

July 16-18, 2010

Swimming, the Brau Haus, and board games on Friday...who could ask for anything more?

Ticket to Ride was FUN! We should play it again, ok? Or Puerto Rico. But not Galactic Truckers.

Melissa surprised the Gates' with a visit from TX, and we were happy to see her again.

Also, thanks for the cider! It was most enjoyable in the unemployment pool. ;)

Zach has been hard at work on his new Lego Amsterdam-esque town.
He built this sweet pub, The Lion, on Saturday!
All day I was running between our living room and the bedroom to give him my opinion on its construction.

If we can't move to Europe, we'll move Europe here. :)

Sunday night was game night with the Hendrixes!
Our six-month reunion with Rob and Mechelle: they joined us for a fajita dinner with pico de gallo AND twos kinds of dip: cheese and Mechelle's yummy corn dip.

I also baked up some cookies using our stash of dark chocolate raspberry creme chips--DELISH! They were sooo good! I hope we can find some more of these chips because not many cookies are left for tomorrow. :)

[*lol* Zach and I also realized this is the first sit-down dinner with friends we've had since we got married. Our old apartment was very small. ;]

Erin and Josh joined us for a game of UNO. Geez, I hate losing. But I really do love that game! I have so much playing it, especially with our UNO buddies. I'm so glad you guys got to meet Hobie the Cat. We really should this more often than every six months. Aren't we silly?


[I forgot to take pictures during this game, so this is one of Mechelle attempting Rob to take the cards back out so we can recreate the scene. I finally got him to at least hold up the game. *tehe*]