Derby Hats! ... or not

Yeah, it's May... mid May at that... and yes, I realize my last post was in January. That's how crazy things have been lately! I've been traveling for work on average about three weeks a month. I've been tired, what can I say? So, at least the good news is that you haven't missed out on anything fun or exciting that's been going on in our lives... because it hasn't!

Well, except of course Oaks and Derby Day! I took two days off of work for the first time this year and had a blast at Oaks Day! Churchill donned (is that how you spell it?) it's pink and so did Matt and I!





It was really a GORGEOUS day! So much so that I got some serious sunburn! I'll save you that pic! We got there bright and early and stayed... ALL... DAY.... LONG. But had lots of fun watching those fillies run for the lilies!

Then came Derby Day. Let's just say, we almost didn't even go. We watched the Weather Channel for a couple hours that morning and eventually decided we would go, but the cute outfits didn't exactly make the cut. The little black dress (for me, not Matt) stayed in the closet and out came the jeans, tennis shoes and raincoats... But I DID have a Derby Hat - what do you think? There's even some girly rhinestone bling on the rose and the numbers.



No, but seriously... it was wet all day. As a matter of fact, at one point in the day, this is what Derby winning jockey, Calvin Borel looked like:


Told ya! Gross... did you see the mud on his face too? That's awesome, Calvin. Just leave it there. Show those boys what a real jockey should look like.

Anywho... we were basically soaking wet all day when we were not bunched up under the few areas that were actually covered. I personally preferred to stand out in the rain over being smooshed up against some smoking drunk guy under cover. It got a liiittle claustrophobic.

So we left about an hour before the Derby started. It was so nice to get out of the rain and get home just in time... to see the sun come out over Churchill Downs via the television coverage. By the way - it's kinda funny to me to see all the glamour and beauty of Derby on TV. Those cameras don't stray far from Millionaire's Row down to where the regular folks are in the Paddock area. We just make it on the aerial shots. And the folks in the infield... well, they don't exist for NBC. Which, let's face it, it's probably a good thing. I bet the Chamber of Commerce pays television crews off for the promise of not filming where the (below)average Joe enjoys Derby.

I would definitely say that this little piece of heaven was the highlight of the day...that's right. Strawberries and bananas covered in white chocolate and milk chocolate. Yumm-o!


But overall, another fun adventure to add to our life list!

Derby Excitement!

So, the whole town of Louisville is getting pumped up and ready for the Derby. To make sure everyone's excited about it, the city puts on the Kentucky Derby Festival full of about two weeks of festivities. It's a pretty fun time, and in my attempt to get us more involved, I've been dragging Matt out to several events!

Today we went to Opening Day at Churchill Downs. It was so much fun! You could feel the excitement in the air in anticipation for The Derby next Saturday! Women were already wearing hats & drinking Mint Juleps and men were.... drinkin', smokin' and bettin' away! But I just walked around with a smile on my face all day.... and sunburn on my shoulders!

I would post pictures for you, however............ I wanted to take some "GOOD" pictures, so I took my real camera with me. "Real" meaning the use of actual film and lenses. I busted out the old Canon that I probably haven't really put into good use since my photography classes back in college. The anticipation of what they will look like it killing me! (I think I'm about to go drop off the film in a few minutes.)

But last night, we went to the Balloon Glow... and I took the digital camera to that. It was pretty neat. We waited around a lot not knowing if it was even going to happen because the wind was so strong, but it did - and it was worth the wait! I think Matt and I may have been the only "family" out there without any children - there were LOTS of kids - but it was ok, because like I said, the goal is to participate in more that the city has to offer!

So, enjoy some pics from the Balloon Glow!





You know I had to get a picture of the Coca-Cola one:


Thought this one was pretty cool too. The airport was close by and planes were going by all evening. I can only imagine the surprise when people flying overhead looked out the window. I actually caught one of the planes going over in this one:

Back in March....

Brooke and I went to a cattle show! Woohoo!
Here's pictures of our step cousins doin' their thing:


Joseph came in top 5!

No, it's not a really big McDonald's

Yesterday and today Matt and I took at quick get away to Missouri.

(Random? Sorta...)

Now, let me tell you, there's not much besides trees and snow between Louisville, Kentucky and Missouri... which made for a very tiring 6 hour drive. Ok, ride for me...

Oh, wait... except for this!




So that was pretty cool to see the arch in St. Louis... and what's even cooler is that we were able to get so close becuase we accidentally took a wrong turn! Of course, as with many things, all my knowledge about the arch is from watching baseball. I knew it had to be somewhere close because I had always seen it on tv when the Cardinals were playing... so I'm looking all around while Matt's stressing trying to make sure we get to the right place... and then... I saw it... or the lights anyway... Busch Stadium.

So that was it... Cardinals, you're next on our list!

Super Bowl Sunday!!

And I'm about to get on a plane to travel for work... I'm really not happy about this.

Gotta do what's best for the client, right? Anywho...

Since I would not be able to go to the Super Bowl party with Matt, I wanted to still make something for him to send... you CAN'T go empty handed.

Look what I came up with... They're not perfect, but they're fun!!

My Birthday Presents!

So, it's my birthday.... yea! When I got up this morning, Matt and Dixie were sitting in the living room waiting for me with presents from both of them sitting on the coffee table. Matt's taking me to see my FAVORITE band, Sugarland, on Saturday! I love them so much! He's also made reservations for us at PF Chang's - yumm yumm! So Matt asked a couple weeks ago what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday, so I told him a cookie cake - with LOTS of white icing! - thinking it would be something easy he could just order from the Cookie Company (and I do love them too!). But no, he decided to bake a double doozie white chocolate macadamia nut cookie cake - with lots of white icing! And let me tell you, folks, it's delish! And how about the Republican napkins and the cute dog hats? Dixie has to be involved in any way possible, you know...

So here was my present from Dixie. I LOVE it! Matt had been spending alot of time doing random things over the past couple weeks... now I see what it was! I've recently decided I'm gonna start scrapbooking. So I've been telling Matt everything I've been learning, the places to get things in Louisville, etc. And ladies, he was LISTENING! So with all of his new found knowledge, he decided that he would create a scrapbook calendar for me from Dixie's perspective... I just HAD to share the whole thing with everyone so you can know how amazing my husband is! I laughed and cried my eyeballs out at the same time!

Here is January.... please note the pictures form three paws! The G in the middle is baseballs on the grass. And yes, we did have Dixie in some of our engagement pics - she's part of the family!

February - You may recognize the peanut butter M&Ms from my "happies". If you look closely, they are now M,H&Ds (Matt, Hope & Dixie). The green heart is from the when he had the grounds crew guys cut "M heart H" in the outfield! The towel is from our honeymoon in Jamaica and the baseballs are from our rehearsal dinner!

March - I love the one of Dixie "driving" Matt's car... and you can't see it very well, but the pic up top with Dixie's tongue hanging out is priceless! And the road signs are all the states we go through on our journeys to and from each of our homes!

April - Opening Day of baseball season! The bats are what we had people sign at the wedding! And the Dixie on the right is what she looks like after a bath! So funny...

May - The month of Derby! In case you don't know, I love Barbaro. The race when he got hurt was the first horse race I had ever seen... and I haven't gotten over it yet! Here's Dixie in her racing garb...

June - this just cracks me up. My favorite is how Dixie's teeth stick out on the left on one and the right on the other. The just don't fit in there the way they're supposed to all the time!

July - These are Dixie's "I've just been groomed, I'm exhausted, and I have stupid bows in my hair" pics. So funny....

August - Matt's favorite. Can you guess why? That's all I'm going to say...

September - Another one of Matt's faves. This is a golf ball on a tee we gave the guys when they went golfing before the wedding. Then there's all of my teams logos and then the logos of the teams Troy plays next year...

October - You can't see it, but the pic on the left is one of my favorites. One day I was packing up the car to leave for a work trip and Dixie was sad. She used her paw to push down the blinds so she could see me. I cried....

November - our anniversary. This is one of my favorite pages!! Dixie couldn't come to the wedding, but Matt managed to get her in the middle of things! She's walking up the road with us, looking at the cake and driving off to go to our honeymoon! Love it!

December - Dixie even got her hand in our ring picture from the wedding! Not to mention her talent of giving Matt "the rock".... that one is real.

So there you have it! The coolest birthday present ever....

A Good Day

So, it was a good day.

• Dixie got a bath - see pics below
• We met Rick Pitino
• We went to the flea market
• We got our pumpkins for Halloween
• I read alot - I'm addicted to the Twilight series like all the teenagers
• I did some baking.
• Matt made his delicious kabobs - yummo!
• Now I'm having a glass of wine...

So, this is how Dixie dries herself off after she's had a bath. She looks like a rabid dog, sprinting from one end of the room to the other, then going in circles until everyone is dizzy.

Funny, huh?

I thought this was cute. Matt took this picture of Dixie giving him "The Rock."

Happy Birthday, my Husband!

Actually, Matt's birthday was October 1st! But I'm slacking on the blog updates...

I tried to stretch his bday out as much as possible. We started the morning by opening his present... a Wii!! I don't think he was expecting it, but I don't know for sure. He loved it. He immediately wanted to go buy some more games, but I suggested maybe he should just rent and try them out before buying anything. Thank goodness, because as soon as he left, the mail man came by with the Tiger Woods Golf game from Brooke and Mama! So needless to say, he has played that non-stop. He's even created a Wii version of himself on that game.. it's pretty funny. Complete with "soul patch" and everything. I'll try to get a picture of that to put on here too!

He requested a red, white and blue yellow and carrot cake... yeah... so that's what he got! It was a little complicated for me to figure out how to accomplish that at first, but this was the end result. And even though it may look funky, it was delicious! So that's how we celebrated mid-day birthday.

Later that evening, we went and hung out with some of his Louisville Bats work buddies and then we went to his favorite restaurant, Outback, for dinner.


And then came home for more Wii!

It was a good day...

Windows Falling Open

One of my favorite things about Fall is being able to open the windows! There's something about sitting here on my couch with the windows open, the cool breeze coming in and football on the tv. It takes me home - to that comfy, life is good, I think I'll just take a nap feeling.

So yesterday was a big day for Matt and me. It was big for Matt because, well, it's Saturday in the Fall. They're all pretty big to him. I don't really get it, but he can watch any football game, no matter who it is... ALL day... ANY day... It was big for me because Auburn AND Alabama were on tv on the same day! That's not so easily come by up here in Louisville, you know.

So we decided to make a day of it. We went to the grocery store to get our goods for the day. However, I got a little sidetracked at the "Fall station" There were pumpkins and any type of funky looking squash you could think of! So, of course, I was like, these would be awesome in a little setup. So I rummaged through all the different squashes, trying to find the coolest, oddest looking ones... I had to concentrate on this... it took me a minute! So Matt left me and went on to continue with the grocery shopping.

Anywho... I enjoyed making my little decorative addition to the house... The fruit votive candle cutter thingy I got in my stocking at Christmas finally came in handy as well! Here's what I did:

So sometimes, Matt and I decide that we're in the mood to get cookin'! And yesterday was one of those days. We (well mostly Matt) created a feast! He made some of his grandmother's famous meatballs and tomato sauce from scratch for the world's most delicious meatball subs!

But the best had to be his stuffed mushrooms... holy.... moly.... Several months ago, Matt found a recipe for stuffed shrimp that is out of this world! It's become one of our favorite "special menus". And then the other day, a light bulb went off and we thought, "Let's take the shrimp stuffing, but put shrimp pieces in it and then use all of that to make stuffed mushrooms!" As Matt would say.... "Phenomenal."

Ladies, let me tell you... if you haven't ever gone to KraftFoods.com, you need to... right now. I love the recipes on there.. so simple and rarely have I ever had something bad! I've even subscribed to receive the Kraft Foods Magazine with recipes with all sorts of goodies. You should too - it's FREE! As a matter of fact, here's the link - http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/registration/contextualsignuplogin.aspx?registrationactivityid=1237

This is where I got the recipe for the Triple Layer Peanut Butter Brownies... yummo!!

Floats, Fire, and Flea Fun!

I just wanted to put this pic up cause I like it! Matt and I were finally able to have a weekend to ourselves last weekend where he did not have any games and I didn't have any work to do... it was a miracle! We had so much fun just enjoying being together! We went to the water park, the Louisville Fire arena league football game (which was just straight comedy as Matt would say). And of course, we can't forget Matt's favorite even of the weekend - the Flea Market! He has so much fun walking up and down aisle after aisle after aisle with me... he's such a good husband!

I saw the future...

Sitting at the Bats game, I saw this little old lady behind me keeping score and realized... This is me in 50 years. I can't wait!

Horses and Mint Juleps

Ok... so maybe I didn't have a mint julep, but we did see lots of horses!

We've had several visitors since living here in horse country, USA - Louisville, KY. And the one place everyone has to go of course (other than Louisville Slugger Field) is Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. It's crazy... Matt got me into horse racing while we were still dating when my heart was stolen and then broken by my love, Barbaro. I'm sure you've heard of him, if not, we need to talk...

Anyway, so Daddy and Marie came for a little visit back at the end of June - yeah, yeah, I'm behind in my blogging - and we had a blast watching the horses and placing our well educated bets!

Daddy and Matt were all kinds of serious placing their bets. The looked and number of wins, history on dirt tracks, history on turf, jockey wins and losses, etc. Marie and I? Wow... that one sure is pretty! I would like $2 on him, please...


And, let me just sidetrack here a minute and say, doesn't my husband look handsome in his "Churchill Downs" outfit? Matt was very proud of himself for putting this together. And I was proud of him as well... he was coordinated from the white scally (hat) I bought him in Savannah, to the plaid shorts, to the Ralph Lauren shoes! Niiice... :-)


Anyway, I can definitely see how this can become an addition to people! It's so much fun - especially when you win! We went in agreeing to place $2 bets only. But I can tell you, we did see a few people who were pretty darn upset over some loses. I think they probably put more then $2 down on their bets. We heard some pretty interesting words...






Anywho... like I mentioned before, I picked the pretty horses.... and sometimes it actually worked out for me! Here is a picture of my first win ever at Churchill Downs.... and then getting my $4.80 win money! Too bad she didn't have change and I had to pay her 20 cents so she could give me a 5?!


So we definitely had a fun, hot day at the race track. Next step is to actually learn what the odds mean!!


Oh - and here's a fun little pic from our first visit to Churchill Down a couple months ago... just thought you might find it interesting. We took a little tour of Churchill Downs when Matt's family came down. When we were down by the track, I was on the lookout to let Matt know when the tour guide's back was turned... I emptied out an Aleve bottle I had in my purse and Matt took just a small little sample of dirt from the track. So we have Derby Dirt! Kinda cool now that there's talk of changing to synthetic since Eight Belles had to be put down after the Derby this year... but let's not talk about that... too emotional.

So if you're interested in a fun day at the track, give me and Matt a shout... we'll go with you!

The Secret's In the Sauce

So, on the way home from Savannah, Mama, Brooke and I decided we should just take a little detour and go all out making this a tour of the South. Brooke did a little reasearch and found out the place where they filmed the movie Fried Green Tomatoes was just a few hours away from Savannah in Juliette, Ga. It was really cute.... not to mention some really good Fried Green Tomatoes!

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