North Georgia State Fair

We went to the North Georgia State Fair with Mandy, Trev and Kennie and had so much fun!

We got Mandy to ride a scary ride with Tom! Rollercoasters and rides are a walk in the park for Tom but not for Mandy. Go Mandy!!



Kennie rode her first ride! It was a "Nemo" ride. We all spread out around the perimeter of the ride so wherever Kennie was during the ride, she could see one of us. At one point during the ride, she clapped her hand and went "ahhh." After which she secured her hands back on the sides. It was fun to watch her.


We enjoyed the festivities and carnival food. It was a good night.

FUN with cooking and baking

Recently, I have become fond of making my own bread. So far, I've been doing french bread but soon I plan on making other kinds as well. Thought it would be fun to post a picture along with this yummy Greek dish I made the other day called Spanikopita. One of my co-workers was raving about it and it sounded good. If you like spinach and feta cheese, I think you'll like it too. It definitely tastes Greek.

Here's the recipe in case you like trying new things too:

3 boxes frozen spinach, thawed and liquid squeezed out

1 bunch scallions, finely chopped, white and green parts

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1/2 cup chopped fresh dill

1 1/2 cups feta cheese, grated or crumbled

1/2 cup cottage cheese

5 eggs

1/2 cup cream of wheat

1 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper

10 leaves phyllo dough

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, add the spinach, scallions, parsley, and dill, and toss. Add the cheese and toss again. Add the eggs and then the cream of wheat. Work the eggs and cream of wheat into the mixture with your hands. After it is well incorporated, pour 1/2 cup olive oil over all and use a spoon to coat the mixture well. Season with salt and pepper.
Brush a 9 by 13 inch baking pan with olive oil. Line the bottom of the pan with a leaf of phyllo. Brush with olive oil and repeat with another 4 leaves. Evenly spread the spinach mixture over the layered and oiled phyllo. Add 5 more leaves, brushing each with oil. With sharp knife, score top phyllo into serving size portions. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the phyllo is golden brown and the mixture inside is piping hot.

ENJOY!

Friends, food, fireworks and FUN!

Every year, the city of Kennesaw does fireworks on the 3rd of July. We got together with Trev, Mandy and Kennie and had a picnic and watched the fireworks. It was so fun. Later that evening, we decided to get what a lot of people have been raving about...Rock Band! Ok, so we stayed up until 2am playing!! We named our band "The Suxx" because we were terrible at first but we have gotten so much better. When you play a show, you have to succeed as a band. You're able to save a member of the band during a song if they got kicked off for playing poorly. Each person can play at a different level of difficulty. It's pretty cool. Most of the time we didn't have a singer but just drums, bass and guitar. Trevor aka Lizard Blood (yes, that was his band name) fell asleep, so me, Tom and Mandy were a 3 piece band. We were able to unlock songs and venues as well as win a tour bus with our mad skills:) They ended up spending the night and we made breakfast later on that morning. It's great to be in the company of good friends.

On the 4th, we had a BBQ at a friends house and then went to see the 4th of July fireworks at the Marietta square. I've never gone to the square for fireworks. It was carnival style with funnel cakes, boiled peanuts, corn dogs, etc. The fireworks were good and the atmosphere was fun. We did have some drama at the end of the evening, however, where some punk kids threw a water ballooon at us from off of a parking deck that was beside where we were sitting. They also threw pizza, too (not at us). What the heck? Our guys went up to the top of the deck to check out the scene. Why do people do stupid stuff like that? If you want to do that to each other, whatever floats your boat. But at people you don't even know? We had a baby with us too. Weird... We went back to our friends and made s'mores and chilled by the fire. We were out again until 2am. Needless to say, we slept IN on Saturday!

What a holiday!! Good times, good food, good friends.

We love you Sainsbury's!!

This past Tuesday our close friends, the Sainsbury's, moved to Starkville, Mississippi. For those of you who don't know the Sainsbury's, they are the best! They are a family of 7 with 5 wild, crazy, adorable and fun boys all under the age of 8 years old. They moved to Georgia a few years ago so Bob could complete his education at Georgia State University. He just finished his doctorate degree and got a great job at Mississippi State University, which is why they moved. Ever since Bob and Amanda have been married (10 years), Bob has been in school. They are great parents and are so patient and loving with their kids. I think it is safe to say that everyone that came in contact with the Sainbury's liked them. They are genuinely kind to everyone. We became really close friends over the past couple years and will will miss them so much but our friendship will remain. They deserve the best and we are so excited for them and this job that Bob got. He will have normal hours and won't have to be in school anymore. This is what they have been waiting for and the wait has finally come to an end. We can't wait to visit them!

Tom and I with the boys: Carson, Bowen, Tyler, Easton and Robbie.
The boys LOVE playing with the race track with Tom. We had to make sure each boy got plenty of turns. Next time we play, I think Easton and Ty have dibs.
Amanda with Ty, Cars and Robbie.
Amanda and I.

We love you Sainsbury's!!

So You Think You Can Dance?

I am obsessed with this show. There are dance shows on TV right now that I think are just plain silly, but this one I LOVE. I only wish that I could have been part of it. The last two years when it came to ATL and Charleston, I was so close to going to the audition but I never did. Too scared to try, I guess and who wants to get publicly humiliated if you don't make it through...not me. It is a grueling competition but sometimes when I watch them, I get envious that they get to just dance...that's it. What a life! I love that Tom will watch it with me and even make good critques, too. I guess that's what you get when you are surrounded by dance on a daily basis. He even knows some technical terms. I think it's great:) I've already got a few favorite dancers picked out for the season. Do you?

Graduation Tribute

Two years ago this month, Tom graduated with his Bachelor's Degree from Kennesaw State University in Business Marketing. I am continually proud of Tom and his accomplishments and for the man that he is. I can't believe it has been two years! That was a hard time...going to school full time...working...trying to make finances work, etc. Those are definitely memories we will keep with us and always remember. It makes you appreciate what you have so much.

Trying to make Tom smile for the picture;)
Graduation smooch after he gave me the stole of gratitude.

It's Nationals time!!

It's that time again. NDA College Dance Team Nationals in Daytona Beach, FL!! I took my team (Kennesaw State University Rhythm Dance Team) of 11 dancers and we competed in the Dance Open Division going up against team such as UGA, Southern Methodist, Western Kentucky, Georgia Southern, etc. This is only our 3rd year being Nationally competitive and the team did well. We didn't make it to finals and although that would have been great, that's not what it was all about. We went expecting to learn a lot, soak up the experience and have a good time and we did just that. We had so much fun and I have to say although it was an incredibly exhausting season...it was rewarding to see the team grow as dancers and women and I was very proud of them.

Amanda dropped this off at my house the night before I left. She's awesome.


My girls. Our theme was "touch." Love the glove. Can't touch this...