Off to the Fair

About a week and a half ago now the Johnson County Fair in Gardner, KS. Neal and I headed down there with some friends (Nick and Lauren and their boys) to wander around and see what all that is going on. While there they were they were having dirt bike races, so we could hear the motors revving up and smell the racing gas, oh how that brings back some awesome childhood memories going to the races and watching my dad race! Then we headed to see the ducks and the the rabbits.
 

A little while later we went over to the show arena where 4H was showing their sheep. They are sure into the showing. They keep them warm with snazzy t-shirts and nicely styled with black spray paint on their legs and some air spray so their newly styled hair would not move.



Then we saw a guy wielding a chain saw carving a log into the shape of an eagle. Next to that there were some of his other creations.


Before we left Neal had to go over to where they were selling homemade root beer and get some. But instead of getting root beer (Which I absolute do not like) he got cream soda. Yum home made soda!


And what do you need to wrap up an fair filed evening? Ice cream of course so we headed over to Sonic.

Some Good Ol' Antiquing

This weekend I decided to continue (well really start: I have had the idea in my head for some time I just needed to start executing) a decorating project that I have been working on. So I decided to go and look for antique picture frames and drag Neal along with me.

He was extremely thrilled to join me as you can tell.

Once at the antiques mall we walked up and down all the aisles. I was looking for picture frames. Neal was just playing with everything. The first thing that caught his eye was Star Wars memorabilia.

There were a ton of fun signs with witty sayings, lots of furniture and in general just a ton of random crap.
 
After several hours I found 2 frames that I really liked. One that I will put one of our wedding pictures in and the other I put a picture of Neal's Grandpa Abbott giving Neal his first hair cut.

I do have to say that my first real antiquing venture was a success. Now I just have to continue to keep my eyes open for some more antique frames so I can keep adding to my project.

My mid- mid-life crisis...

This last Wednesday I decided to make a huge change. I got a hair cut.







Not just any normal hair cut. This hair cut included an over 11 inch decrease in the length! First it was sectioned off into 4 pieces, rubber banded and then chopped off. Then off to get my newly chopped off hair shampooed. And once I had clean hair then it got its final cut. Then I head home... Once home Neal has his eyes closed and would not open them until I told him to. Once he opens them he has this huge grin on his face and the first words out of his mouth are 'Its weird' and then he just giggles! It was too funny. He was not the only one to have a great reaction. Ne-J did not even recognize me. When she first saw me the look on her face was like 'Who is this stranger in my house?'. Then after she smells me  and makes sure that it was me then she was really excited to see me. I do have to say that it is really nice to have such a drastic change with my hair.
And no worries I did not throw all that hair away, I am donating it all to Locks of Love where they make wigs for kids with cancer.

Its been a Hot one....

So over the last 3 or 4 weeks we have had temperatures everyday that were pushing 100 and higher with heat index temperatures of at least 4-6 degrees higher. This last week it finally hit its peak of 110 degrees, oh man it was hot. Then finally it dropped over 30 degrees and we had a high of 85. Hate to say this but its been nice when the temperature is in the low 90's.

My Little Brother Gets Married!

This past weekend my brother Thomas got married. Our weekend started on Thursday where we drove down to Oklahoma and helped finish setting up for the wedding on Saturday. That evening everyone went down to Bricktown in Oklahoma City to dinner at Toby Keith's Bar and Grill,
which I do have to say was super yummy. Then we headed over to a piano bar where we got to listen to some fun music and Thomas and Lindsey got to get up on stage and get embarrassed. It was pretty funny.


After sleeping in on Friday myself, my mom, Lindsey and her mom went and got pedicures and manicures. It is always so nice getting pampered. Later that night was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. After a quick walk through of the ceremony we all headed over to Linsdey's parents for dinner.
For dinner the had a roasted pig with a top hat and a giant ring. It as so delicious.

And then there was karaoke. I do have to say Lindsey's family rock the karaoke.

I did get up and do a song with my mom, grandma, aunts and cousin and we 'sang' Going to the Chapel. After late night number 2 we headed back to our bed and breakfast.

Wedding Day! It was definitely a lazy morning. (well at lest for me) We got all ready at were at the Route 66 Interpretative Center by 4. There the Bride and Groom did not see each other before the ceremony so they took pictures with the wedding party then waited for the ceremony to start. At 6 the wedding started. It was such a great ceremony and the looks on Thomas and Lindsey's faces when they saw each other was priceless.

Thomas seeing is bride for the first time

Proud parents

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Myers!

Oh, Cake

Now time for the reception where there was lots of food, dancing and a ton of fun. And about 1130 or so everyone said their good byes and the newly weds were off. And then on Monday they were wished away on their Costa Rican honeymoon which was a surprise to Lindsey until they were at their layover for their flight to Costa Rica.

See ya later

Harry Potter!

What can make a Monday better? Going to see the new Harry Potter movie of course! After surviving a week of temperatures of over 100 degrees (yikes) and not being able to wait another week to see it we decided to treat ourselves and have a date night and see Harry Potter. Neal whet over to the theater early and got tickets so we could make sure that we got tickets.

We ran by Chic-fil-A and got some chicken sandwiches, yummy then we headed over to the theater about 45 minutes early since we were not sure how packed it would be and we wanted good seats. So after much anticipation and the movie previews the movie starts! Through out the movie I laughed and  I got teary eyed but was happy with how the last movie was done. It makes me sad to have the conclusion done and not being able to look forward to another Harry Potter movie come out. Now all I have to do is to wait for it to come out on dvd!

Apple Crisp Yumminess

Neal had a great hankering for some apple crisp. So he when and found a ton of recipes from All Recipes for it and chose his favorites then showed them to me and asked if I would make him one. So I gathered a bunch of Granny Smith apple and peeled and sliced them to perfection.
Once all sliced I sprinkled them with cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar, then topped them with an amazing oatmeal, cinnamon, brown sugar concoction (I do have to say that the topping is my favorite part).
 
 
After about 45 minutes in the oven the crisp was nicely browned and ready to be devoured. But at last it had to cool. About 10 grueling minutes later we dive in! So Yummy!

This recipe makes a ton so I halved it.

Ingredients

• 10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup water
•  
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degree C).
2. Place the sliced apples in a 9x13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.
3. Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes.