Fall into Fall

I love Fall...cool weather, leave changes, and say goodbye to swimsuits b/c sweaters and jackets are back to hide all my in perfections. It's still 90 here in Augusta but hopefully we will get some cool weather soon. What are the odds that we leave Texas and their have been no hurricanes , a cool first football game and already two cold fronts. To get in the Fall mood I put out the pumpkin decorations today while Mark was on call. I even found orange Christmas lights for him to decorate the trellis going up our front door. I'm so excited to have our first trick or treaters next month and Mark is already starting to think of his Halloween costume.

Boiled Penus

I wish I had my camera today because I was driving down the road and saw a sign that said "Boiled Penus" for sale. A few yards down was a road stand similar to the pic below that sold boiled peanuts.
Boiled peanuts are a traditional snack in SC, NC, GA, FL, Alabama, and Mississippi. All over Georgia you will see them in grocery stores or roadside stands - ranging from woodsheds to shiny trailers - offering fresh boiled peanuts with a beer, sweet tea, or a soft drink. I finally broke down in the grocery store and asked someone what the 411 was on them. An elderly lady heard me asking and told me that boiled peanuts start with the Civil War when a Union General led his troops on their march through Georgia. As a result of the march, the Confederacy was split in two and deprived of much needed supplies. When troops of the Confederacy were without food, peanuts were an important nutritional source. Since cooking facilities were scarce, soldiers roasted the peanuts over campfires or boiled them, by boiling them the bacteria was removed and the salt helped preserve them to keep in their kits for up to seven day.

A Motley Crew

A few pics from the week off in August.

Casa del Trevino Open for Business

The hacienda is still a work in progress, but this weekend we had our first guest: RaRa and Paublo (as baby T and Elle know them.) Yes, Mark and I were lucky to have my mom and dad come in on Friday. Luckily my dad has a conference in Atlanta this week so they rented a car and made the trip to come see us. It completely made our weekend and I am so blessed to have such thoughtful loving parents who traveled 9 hours to see us just for the weekend.

To entertain our guest we went to the Arts of Heart Art Festival in downtown Augusta. The festival was really neat: not quite that big and not as much art as I thought but definitely a lot of food! In fact they had food booths from all over the world (Philippians, Korean, Germany, Greek, Mexican, Caribbean, Africa-yum!) Of course we did find some art to add to the collection too. We found these great fish rubbings (aka Gyotaku) where they catch fish and cover them with paint and press them onto a cloth to capture the unique mirror image of the fish or in our case shrimp. Since we both love fishing and have such great memories fishing with my fam and friends they were a must! That night we went to the French Market for dinner. The food is Louisiana creole and the spicy martini in a mason jar is exactly what it says hot hot hot! They marinate their vodka and gin with peppers that will make even spicy eaters head sweat. My dad loves spicy food and he even thought it was hot so we can't wait for Leisha to get here and try it, it sounds right up her alley! We finished the night with the Tech v. Texas game which was a bit frustrating but a win is win.

While my parents swear the full bed is comfortable, we should be getting the queen mattress for our other guest room on Tuesday so let us know if you want to make a reservation this spring and thanks again to our favorite guests!

Working hard for the money

Finally got a day off from the grind that is the VA hospital. Most of the patients (Actually, about 95%) are old white men with COPD and heart disease. Most families are nice and thankful, some are not. The good thing is I'm learning more than I thought I would during my long work week. I went over my hours in the first week (90), but now that I have learned the system somewhat, I came in under last week. I think by far the best experience I've had so far was an old guy who landed in Normandy on D-Day, fought through France, got friendly fire during Operation Cobra, and then did 2 years of occupation duty in Germany. I spent a good hour listening to his stories last Sunday after I was finished with my work. It won't be long before everyone who was in The Duece will be dead so I thought it was important to hear it from someone who was there rather than read about it. Anyway, had a day off today and of course relaxed with some yardwork. Back to the grind tomorrow, but I have Saturday off for the in-laws to come in. Looking foward to some revenge against Tech for last year. Hook 'Em

Border Bash

Hairy v. Cocky-Hairy has sharp teeth but Cocky's got that bill

I think everyone in Georgia owns a bulldog now! I don't think UGA made an appearance, but since the bulldogs all looked alike I'm going to pretend he was there.

Marky Mark is officially living the intern life: 90 hour work weeks and only one day off a week. That leaves a lot of spare time for me and baby T, so what do you do on a Friday after work when your stud muffin is on call: Border Bash (Georgia v. South Carolina pep rally in downtown Augusta). Where else can you see 1200 peeps in red and maroon cheering on Uga, Hairy and Cocky. They had a band, cheerleaders, beer, hooters girls, funnel cakes and fresh lemonade. I even sported the Georgia's colors (not so much to pick a side but more because wearing maroon is a huge no no with that being OU & A&M's thread of choice.) It was pretty neat and the only thing that would have made it better was if Mark, family and friends were there and of course bevo kicking Hairy and Cocky's behind.

All Grown Up

The Ehlert fam at the Rehearsal Dinner
Matt and Mallory in front of Matt's awesome cake.

My favorite pic of the night.

Uncky John with the bubbly

Mark and I luckily got to go back to Texas for my little cousin's wedding the last weekend of August. We had so much fun and Matt and Mallory's wedding was beautiful. Mallory made such a beautiful bride and we had a blast getting to see the Ehlert fam!

Were Not In Texas Anymore Toto

On Thursday night we went to watch football with some of my new coworkers. We've been counting down the days till football season starts and Mark and I were pumped to watch the Oregon v. Boise State game. Once we got there we realized that this is not Texas: the game of choice was the South Carolina gamecocks v. North Carolina State. In fact the Boise game wasn't coming on till 10 PT, which is to late for us on East Coast time. Luckily we had prepared for our geographical location by ordering two sports packages through our cable company. Since Mark is on call all day and night I figured Baby T and I would get our college football on. I was wrong, with all our sports channels we don't even get the Texas game. Looks like today I'll be watching Georgia v. OSU; Virginia Tech v. Bama; Navy v. Ohio State; BYU v. Oklahoma; LSU v. Washington and Minnesota v. Syracuse. I was out and about this morning and everyone has their Bulldog flags waving and I even heard someone say "Don't Mess with Georgia!" Trevinos: Welcome to Bulldog Country and the Southeast!

I've Waited All Year for You

Hello College Football! I have missed you...I tried to fill your void with baseball, basketball, golf... anything else I could find, but it just wasn't the same. I'm so glad you are back and I plan to spend a lot of time with you. In your honor I've found the perfect recipe to kickoff the season opening night:

Buffalo Chicken and Bleu Cheese Dip
4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts6 oz (shredded)

Hot Chicken Wing Sauce16 oz.

Cream Cheese

Blue Cheese Dressing

8 ounces of shredded cheese
Directions:Spread shredded chicken in a rectangular cake pan or casserole dish.Spread the hot sauce on the chicken, then mix it in evenly.Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, melt the cream cheese over medium-low heat until it is saucy and stir in the bleu cheese dressing. Pour mixture evenly over the chicken and place in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle the cheese on top. Put back in oven until the cheese is melted and gooey.