Say Goodbye to "The Girls"

Keep my mom in your prayers today as she undergoes the following surgeries: a bilateral mastectomy, lymph node dissection, hysterectomy, and reconstruction. Please pray that the surgeries go well, the recovery is quick, and that the doctors find and remove all the cancer.

Girl's Night

Whether you are married, single, or dating, every once in a while a night out with the girls is desperately needed and very much deserved. My friend, Andrea, is so good about planning dinners to make sure we all find time to hang out with each other. This was her latest project. She came to town to meet Beth, Julie and me at Addison's. I hadn't been there in such a long time, I had forgotten how incredibly good their food is. And of course it is good, it is owned by the same people who own Sophia's. YUM!

Beth and I ordered chicken nachos and Julie and Andrea ordered salads. Hahaha- I am, of course, NOT one of the healthy eaters. ;) And we all shared a bottle of wine.

After Addison's, we headed to Quinton's to drink and be merry. We talked about everything from boyfriends and husbands to babies and careers. I love these girls.

Towards the end of the night, things got messy when Andrea spilled her beer. Andrea and Julie tried to create a dam, but it didn't work. Well...it might have worked, and it did work for a little while, but the waitress took her sweet time getting the towel so they gave up trying not to make a mess. I guess that's what a slow waitress gets: a sticky floor.

I can't wait until next time!

PEO Social

My friend Andrea and her mom and my mom and I are involved in a women's organization called PEO. Andrea and I joined because our moms wanted us to be involved in something with them, but we are rarely able to make it to the meetings. When we are able to attend, we always have a really great time! After several years of being members, our moms signed us up to serve on the social committee. Since, once again, we are not able to attend, we decided to provide the decorations. Since we're both young and on very tight budgets, we had to be creative about our centerpieces. I went out and bought 10 pumpkins and tied a decorative bow on the stems. I also wrote out P.E.O on three of the pumpkins as a centerpiece for the dining room table. Andrea found some cute table cloths for the card tables and helped deliver our creations to the hostess. What do you think?? I think everything turned out quite nicely!

Mizzou Homecoming

On Saturday my parents came to town to celebrate my 24th birthday (I turned 24 on the 24th) and Mizzou's Homecoming!

We started out a Lucy's Corner Cafe, our favorite breakfast place in all of Columbia. We've known the owner, Lucy, since she was a waitress when Lucy's Corner Cafe was known as Ron's Country Boy. Lucy once told me that my dad watched her grow up and she's watched me grow up. It is always so much fun to eat there.

After breakfast we went to the Homecoming Parade. We stayed for about an hour and a half before we got bored and decided to head to our tailgate. The parade was fun, though, for that hour and a half. My favorite parts being....

The very large helmet:

The drum line:
The golden girls:
and the cheerleaders:
Once we got to our tailgate, we exchanged gifts in celebration of my birthday. It has been a very difficult birthday to celebrate because it is the first birthday I've had to celebrate without my grandpa. My grandpa was born on the same day as me- he always said I was the best birthday present ever. So since I'd been such a basket case, I thought my parents deserved gifts too. I got my mom Mizzou nutcrackers and my dad Mizzou golf balls. I think my mom's face says everything...
My dad got matching necklaces for my mom and me. They are from Poppy's and they say "Mizzou rah" on one side and "MU" on the other. They also have a cute little charm hanging from the bottom. I love them!

It is a tradition for my dad and Eric to smoke a cigar on game day. Yum.... hahaha.

Julie came during the tailgate and shared a couple of her jello shots. THANKS JULIE!!! I'm so happy I got to see you!

Stephanie drove all the way from Springfield just to see me on my birthday! Okay, maybe not JUST to see me- but that was certainly one of the reasons. She gave me the cutest PJ bottoms, but only after making fun of the fact that my PJs always match. I love you guys! Thank you so much for coming!


The tailgate wrapped up and we headed to the game. We always get there early to find good seats, but we were determined to get there SUPER early for this sold out game! I'm not sure why we bothered...Texas creamed us.


Overall, it was a fabulous Homecoming/birthday celebration. I managed to avoid crying in public and missing my grandpa too much. My grandpa always loved celebrating, no matter what the celebration was for. So I made sure to celebrate this birthday knowing he was celebrating in Heaven. Thank you to everyone who celebrated with me. You all mean the world to me.

It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to

Twenty four years ago I was born on my Grandpa's birthday. He told me I was the best birthday present he ever got. This is the first year we won't celebrate together. I miss you, Grandpa. I hope they're partying with you in Heaven.

Chili Cook-off

Hello everyone, it's Eric again. I'll be discussing something I enjoy. A lot.

Food.

Not just any food, either. Our subject is nothing less than the quintessential Fall and Winter food - chili.

Last week I was a proud competitor in the annual Landmark Bank chili cook-off. The event is held to benefit Children's Miracle Network. It usually produces a big turnout and stiff cooking competition. A neutral panel selects winners in three categories: (1) hottest, (2) most creative, and (3) best overall.

I wasn't even sure I would be competing this year, to be honest. I didn't even know what category to shoot for. That all changed when I tried some chili prepared by my uncle, Greg. Greg possesses considerable culinary prowess and his chili did not dissapoint. It was much more complex than typical chili; sweet, spicy, flavorful, and well balanced. In short, it is a great departure from normal chili but still exhibits characteristics typical of chili. Greg was kind enough to email me his recipe.

Flash forward a week. October twenty second. Five thirty in the morning. I'm busy preparing the "epic chili" (Yep. Epic.), convinced it is a lock to win the "best overall" category. I upped the spice level and added some cocoa, and the results were fantastic. Time for battle.

Okay, okay. "Battle" may have been an embelishment. Its not like I was on Iron Chef or anything. Lets not discount the magnitude of the Landmark Bank chili cook-off, though. As the picture below shows, the "epic chili" was tasked with vanquishing many foes.


The judges began their work at 10:15 AM. After what was certainly a difficult deliberation (I'm thinking it must have been a scene from Twelve Angry Men in there.), the results were published via a wide-distribution email.

The "epic chili" had been defeated.

To my surprise, I found that it had been considered a runner up in not only the "best overall" category, but also the "most creative" category. A couple of people even told me that my chili should have taken "best overall!" Wouldn't it have been neat if it had taken the prize in both?

I really can't complain, though. Ashley and I were able to try all sorts of chili, and all of the proceeds went to a great cause. It made for a fun day at work. I plan to enter the same chili next year, and hopefully the judges agree with my tastes!

Bonsai

I bought Eric a bonsai tree, not for any special occasion, just because I love him. According to Wikipedia (the ever-so-reliable online source), a bonsai is the art of aesthetic miniaturization of trees (doesn't that sound like us?!) or of developing woody or semi-woody plants shaped as trees, by growing them in containers. Cultivation includes techniques for shaping, watering, and repotting in various styles of containers (which sounds way more like Eric than me). We are pretty excited about our tree, we can't wait to see it three inches taller in 15 years! hahaha

Eric's looks like this:

But with a little TLC and many, many years it will look like this:

Shopping with the Girls

On Saturday I went shopping with my mom, my mother-in-law, and my sister-in-law. We went to the Lake of the Ozark Premium Outlet Mall to start our Christmas shopping. My mom and I started at Coach, where we each got a new purse! I got a small creamy leather purse that I love and my mom got a medium sized black canvas purse with snake skin printed leather. Then we went to the Naturalizer store to meet up with my in-laws- my sorority sister, Ashley Dost, was working there so I got to catch up with her. I was so excited to see her, I wish we had more time to talk! We hit Banana Republic, Gap, Bath and Body Works, and Marshalls. Renee found lots of gifts for us for Christmas and a few things for me for my birthday. I was really happy my mom was ablet to go with us. I hope we'll find another weekend to go shopping before Christmas!

Wine Tasting @ Tiger Hotel

My dad took Eric and me to a Wine Tasting at Tiger Hotel on Friday. There were 26 wines available for tasting and a variety of hors d'oeuvres to compliment the wines. We saw many people we knew from both Columbia and Jefferson City. It was definitely the place to see and be seen this weekend. I loved all the wines I tried, even the reds!

Campus in the Fall

The trees are so colorful on campus this year!

Mizzou vs. Nebraska

Greetings dedicated readers! This is Eric, making my web log debut. I'll be telling you about my experience at Mizzou's recent bout with Nebraska, as Ashley was unable to attend. Allow me to set the stage:

The date: Thursday, October 8.
The time: 8:00 PM.
The rankings: Mizzou, 24. Nebraska, 21.
The stakes: A chance at the Big 12 North title.
The weather: Inclement. How inclement, you ask?

Not inclement enough to keep dedicated fans away! Bob and I braved the wet, cold evening to take in the game.

We started at the dry, warm, indoor tailgate at the University Club. The food was incredible. While walking from the University Club to Faurot Field we smoked cigars for good luck. The stogies lit and smoked well despite the rain, but eventually became waterlogged.

We got a call from David Steffes who was visiting from Tennessee. He was attending a damp, cold, outdoor tailgate in a parking lot immediatly outside of the stadium. We paid his tailgate a visit. It was great to see that everyone was having a good time, although Jeanne desperatly needed a hat to keep the rain from her face. Everyone was surprised when power failed all over campus - apparently a transformer blew somewhere. Fortunately it was partially restored before kickoff so events could continue.

It was a challenge to sit down while keeping a dry posterior. Most people remained standing for the duration of the game, myself included. The game started slowly because it was difficult for either offense to hold on to the ball, literally. Mizzou forced a safety and scored a touchdown, making the halftime score Mizzou 9, Nebraska 0.

Rain fell, temperatures dropped, and Mizzou scored a field goal in the third quarter. Weather got progressively worse, and we decided to throw in the towel. At this point Mizzou held a 12-0 lead with one quarter remaining. "Surely," we thought as we left, "Mizzou will hold the lead for one more quarter!"

Not so. In just over three minutes of clock time, Nebraska grabbed a 20-12 lead. Mizzou couldn't manage to put points on the board. Final score: Mizzou 12, Nebraska 27. A dissapointing ending to a promising game. Although Mizzou didn't come away victorious, it was a very entertaining evening because of problems created by weather. Power outages, driving rain, and lots of turnovers made for a memorable game!

Fashion

Check out the earrings!!!