Dog Eared

This weekend we didn't do a whole heck of a lot. And that was kind of nice.

Ella kept herself busy by doing Lilly's hair a fair amount of the time. How can she do the hair of a short haired dog, you may ask? E is one smart cookie and knows how to make pigtails. (I almost fell over when I saw what she had done!)

Lilly earns her keep for another year.

We did do a little playing at the park Saturday morning before we went over to Vanderbilt's to cruise the little girl boot department. How do we always end up in that department?!

Faster! Faster!

I Bleed

I could rant and rave about the happenings this weekend with the red and black but I think this sums it up pretty well.

Text message sent to Angie and Scott Saturday night:

We need drinks. GA lost to KY -
the school without a football team!

Fortunately, Angie and Scott can recognize when people really need some liquid painkiller and told us to rush right over!

I still love my team and wore red today to show it (either that or because my heart is bleeding PROFUSELY). BTW: David now says he never even attended college. Yikes.

Grease Monkey

I got to don my grease monkey hat on Saturday and replace the coolant temperature sensor on the Honda. (It has been acting a bit sickly as of late and we are working down the list of possible causes.) Usually David gets the nod when it comes to tinkering under the hood but since this required the use of his newly stitched up left hand, he was out.

I have to say that I really enjoyed working on my car! I can't stand the helpless female feeling when it comes to automotive stuff. I do my best to learn what's going on and how things operate so that I can speak intelligently to the boys at the auto parts store. I think I really impressed them when I came in with the old part and grease on my hands! I'm more than just a pretty face and hot bod *cough*!

Five Things to Eat

I just love the Farmgirl Fare blog. She has such a pleasant writing style and some beautiful pictures. One recent post was about the Five Things You Should Eat Before You Die. Once I read her list, I started to compose my own.

1. Something that you grew yourself. I whole heartedly agree with Farmgirl on this. There is nothing quite like sitting down to a meal knowing that it was produced on your little piece of earth, tended by your hands and intended wholly for your nourishment.

2. BBQ from a local joint. Whatever the style, as long as it's local. Even if it's as local as your Daddy's house.

3. Food made by someone from another country. Authentic food is oh-so much better than the Americanized version.

4. That special dessert made by somebody's grandmother (or your own). The beauty of this one is that it can be repeated over and over and is never the same! Grandmothers just have a way to make desserts like no other.

5. Ice cold Coke from a glass bottle. You have never really had a Coke until you drink it from a glass bottle.

What else would you include?

Naturally, sort of

Yesterday I went and got my tired roots freshened up. I thought that back to basics was the best route, so brown it is! When I sat down in the chair Amy broke it to me that I, in fact, had a grey hair. Yikes! I didn't give her the chance to search for others. Begin color! Immediately!

Pumpkins and Cheerleaders

Last night we carved the pumpkin into a design that Ella picked out. She was not afraid of the guts of the pumpkin and was charged up to pull them all out!

Whoa! Super guts!

All in!

Final product

Since Ella is such a big football fan I thought a cheerleader outfit would be perfect for her for Halloween. There are lots of K-State cheerleader outfits but UGA it needed to be. What is a girl to do when her town is sorely lacking the red and black? She calls on her good friend Andria who just happens to know the best place to buy cheerlearder outfits!

Ella seems like such a natural. She must get it from her Aunt Sissy!

Pre Halloween

Here is Miss E getting geared up for Halloween in her Candy Corn Queen shirt from Grandmama. She's wearing it today in hopes of wearing her costume to daycare tomorrow (!).

Guess who gets to carve that pumpkin tonight?!

World's Largest Outdoor What?

Dear Dawgs,

I didn't watch your game against Florida. Frankly, I'm glad that I didn't. I did, however, check the score postings during the KSU game. Kudos to you for not getting trounced like I feared that you might. I know it wasn't a W, but I will take a 7 point loss to a ranked team and not complain.

I am a bit fearful of the Georgia Tech game, though. If they can hold their own with a knife wielding team like Miami, what might happen to you?! You'd better start to practice playing dirty. I'm afraid it might be the only way out.

If you need a knife, I know just the man who will lend you one (or three). He's the one who threatened to send him diploma back.

Hugs and Kisses,
Megs

The View from the Skybox

I have seen how the other half lives, and how sweet it is! I think that a skybox is the only way to go when it comes to a football game with a toddler. We had the best time cheering the Cats on to a great victory over the Iowa State Cyclones. The box is so neat in that you can raise the glass in front of you if the weather is nice or you want to hear the crowd, etc. You don't miss any of the "game" experience!

(I made sure to get Ella all gussied up for the big game, complete with a purple ribbon and Power Cat tattoos.)

Bring on the Cyclones!

Clapping up a storm

"Good for a Wildcat... First Down!"

"Good for a Wildcat... Touchdown!"

E being told to behave, perhaps?

The whole famdamily. Check out the view!

Go, Honda, Go!

Look what my trusty Honda did recently.

Football Mania

All 3 of us are really looking forward to Saturday and the football that it will bring.

K-State's homecoming is this weekend so the whole town is in a constant buzz. I have managed to find my way into some tickets to the game so Ella Grace is beyond thrilled. Such a football fan, that girl. It just so happens that the tickets are in a skybox... How about that?!

The K-State game is the same time as the Georgia/Florida game. Hmmmm... I hate to miss cheering on my Dawgs but I couldn't resist watching the K-State game from the luxury of a skybox. Who knows when that chance will come again?! (I did buy the ingredients for more cheese dip, though, just in case we get home before Georgia is done.)

I am hoping against hope that they can get something done against the Gators! Georgia, please hear my plea! Have mercy on a long distance fan who feels the searing pain each time you lose and has to endure relentless words from fans of other teams who think it's funny that you are having an off year and would like nothing more than to rub my face in yet another UGA loss! Whew! Did you get all that?!

Be Proud. Be Purple. Go State!

How 'Bout Them Dawgs!

Wedding in Paradise

This pretty well sums up what the weekend was like. St. Thomas was absolutely beautiful. It was a nice mix between being familiarly American but different enough to have a new experience. They drive on the left side of the road (and yet the driver side of the vehicle is still on the left!) which definitely threw me. The locals have an accent that seemed to be a mixture of Jamaican and Puerto Rican. It was kind of hard to understand at times but still very charming.

Now, for the onslaught of photos!

It was hard to take a bad pic of the island. Everything about it leant itself to making a fantastic photo.

We arrived Thursday afternoon to overcast skies. What to do when you can't swim and lay out? Meet for drinks, of course! Nothing brings people together like Voodoo Juice and Dirty Nutty Bananas! Everyone got to meet and greet with family members old and new.

Aunt Betty and Granny

During supper that night is when I hear Ricky (Rusty's step dad) call through the beer and rum fog "Megan, you gonna meet me at the gym in the morning?!" I know a challenge when I see one...

"You bet! What time?" I reply.

"9 o'clock" Ricky says.

"Let's make it 8" I fire back. Oh boy, aren't I brave? This doesn't sound anything like all that sleeping in that I had planned! Damn!

Mr. 8:15, Ms. Right on Time

The next day we all just hung out at the pool and got a wee bit too much sun. A very nice, relaxing day. Just what I ordered! Friday night we all met up for drinks and appetizers at a restaurant/bar on another property that the hotel owns. It embodied the island feeling with no windows, light colors, tropical music and tropical drinks. Mojitos for everybody!

The view from the bar to the hotel

Daddy, Aunt Pat and Uncle Randall enjoy the island vibe

And so we come to the big day. It was a steamy day, by St. Thomas standards so we all were glistening just a touch. Aside from that, the day was perfect and everything went without a hitch. Of course, Marisa and Rusty both looked fantastic. I don't think I could imagine a more perfect place for the two of them to get married. St. Thomas was very fitting, indeed.

Marisa and Mom getting ready

Post ceremony with a little bubbly

Marisa and Rusty with the parents

Lots of iguanas on the hotel property. This one tried to crash the ceremony.

The bouquet with such vibrant colors.

We had a reception afterwards on a small terrace with some deelish food and drinkies. Then it was off to the boat dock where we boarded a catamaran for a sunset tour of the harbor. The drink of choice on the boat was called a Painkiller and I don't think anyone was feeling much pain! The combination of the boat, beautiful scenery, wind in your hair and fabulous people to celebrate with made the boat trip the coup de gras.

Mom and Jim

Granny, Grandaddy and I wait to shed our shoes and hop on the boat.

I love this picture!

Ricky shows his best side. Painkiller, anyone?

I love this one too. It looks very natural.

Stephen and Julie

Grandaddy and Marisa

Daddy and Celeste

Ricky and Brenda in another gorgeous sunset photo

Everyone kicking up their heels

Marisa putting her shoes back on. Say it with me: "YOWZA!"

To top off the night, we all hit the pool for a little nighttime swimming.

Rusty's sister, Ashley, enjoying the pool and some Voodoo Juice

Looks like loads of fun, right?! It certainly was. I am so glad that Marisa and Rusty made all of us take a vacation to such a beautiful place.

I took over 150 pictures, many of which are worth posting. Since here isn't the best place to do that, I created another blog for just wedding pics. I hope to post all of mine and ones taken by others. That way everyone's email box won't be jammed and there will be one central place to look through photos.

The new site is

www.esteswedding.blogspot.com

There are no photos up now but I will get them posted soon!

Update: I have posted all fifty zillion of my pics!

Cast Back

I made it back (under extreme protest!) very early this morning. The whole weekend was fantastic and I have tons of pictures to prove it. Unfortunately, my eyes are having trouble staying open so a nap is in order before I create the longest picture post ever! Here's a little sneak peak, to get you through 'til then:

Ab fab!

Cast Away

Alright, kiddies, the time has come!

It's off to the USVI for me to soak up some sun, drink some umbrella drinks and attend a wedding! I have to get up super early for a 6 am flight but I'm sure I'll be able to manage, knowing what is waiting at the end of my journey! I will be offline until Monday, when I will do my best to post some pics from the fantastic trip.

Until then, I say "See you later, land lubbers! Now bring on the cold beer!"

Monk-E-Mail

This is killing me. My mom sent one of these to me and I just laughed and laughed. I made one for all of y'all to start your Monday off right. Enjoy!

Click here for a riot!

E with one of the pumpkins from the garden.

Here we go again.

Say it ain't so.

It's Vandy. Vandy! The gimmie! GEEZ.

Thank goodness the game wasn't televised here. I don't think the TV would have made it without several objects being thrown at it.

David has threatened to mail his diploma back. And I don't blame him.

I still love my Dawgs and am sure they will do something crazy like beat Florida and screw up all of the polls. I hope. Puuhleease!

(I am receiving merciless taunting over here. Make it stop!)