Top Ten: Things I Have Loved About Summer 2011

We are half-way through the summer, peeps. Well maybe not technically, but let's be honest, summer will be over the minute everyone goes back to school and fall wardrobes hit the stores. Just the thought of a turtleneck sweater makes me want to gag. And the thought that we are now closer to Labor Day than we are to Memorial Day may cause me to cry. Yes, that's right, cry.

Truly, I love summer and this one has already been a winner. So here are the things I have LOVED about the first half:

1. My WIDE, OPEN schedule. Sometimes I find myself in awe of my own lack of a social calendar. It makes me happy because I am then able to fill it up with spur-of-the-moment activities. This never happens to me.

2. The unbelievably fun and fabulous family golf tournament in which my team BEAT THE HECK out of all the other teams. I try not to gloat.

3. My recent trip to Boulder with my friend Lizz to watch The First Grader. It is an amazing movie about a Kenyan man who went to first grade at the age of 84. It is a limited release (hence why we had to go to Boulder) but I highly recommend finding it.

4. Taking naps after work and waking up to find that it is still daylight outside.

5. Frozen yogurt. Self-serve. Pineapple and coconut. Massive quantities. Bliss.

6. A late-night dinner with my friend Mandy at the Melting Pot. We were the last ones to leave because we had so much catching up to do. And besides, it would have been a crying shame to leave any chocolate behind.

7. The EPIC family talent show in which I sang "Proud Mary" with nine gorgeous back-up dancers and my cousin Kalen pretended he was a horse. We also saw the musical duo of Sam and Noah (with Noah on the drums) a rousing rendition of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" by a few pre-teen cuties and various other musical acts that should make their way to YouTube immediately.

8. My mom's birthday breakfast garden party. I loved the scones, the flowers, the dresses, the sunshine, the coffee, the fruit and the birthday girl. Oh, and Thor. I loved the appearance of Thor. It was perfect in every way.

9. This past Thursday night with my girls. I love them all. And Rachel, who most of you know and love, is really, really awesome. (I'm sorry for the late shout-out, Rach!)

10. Watching a certain couple, who I love and adore, fall in love. More on this in the future, but let's just say that I may be looking for a new roommate soon!


I hope your summer continues to be stupendous! What are some of your faves so far?

Thursday Night Girls

Last night was Women's Group. You know, those crazy, funny, fabulous girls with whom I have spent every other Thursday night with for the last eight years?

Yep, those girls.

After yesterday's monsoon, we drove to Jenn's place where we sat around her table eating three of the four main food groups: pizza, chips and salsa. It was casual and relaxed and fun and wonderful. All we were missing was Abby who had a work meeting.

Stinking work. So overrated.

We talked about all the important stuff: babies and potential boyfriends and in-laws and husbands and renting vs. buying and The Bachelorette. And we all agreed that the current bachelorette is an absolute train wreck.

We also decided that we must make chocolate chip cookies and buy some ice cream because HELLO, dairy! And because conversation just goes better when you are able to stick your head into a bowl of cookie dough.

Truly. The Lord is so good to me by giving me friends like these.

Where's Noah When You Need Him?

We are now into day 8 of monsoon season here in Colorado and I have never seen rain like this before in my life. Ever. Everything is soggy and wet and mucky and very, very green. The air is heavy and soupy which makes my hair half-way curly and half-way ridiculous.

This is the view outside of my office window. There are supposed to be mountains in this picture. Big, rocky, continental divide-type mountains. Maybe they were washed away. I wouldn't doubt it at all.

However, if I see a pair of penguins float by I'll know we're in trouble.

Friday Night Sadness

Over the past year, I have fallen in love with Friday Night Lights. I think it very well may be the best TV show ever. It is full of football and cowboy boots and Tim Riggins. What is not to love I ask you? If you have never seen an episode, I implore you to start watching. Immediately. It is just that good.

So since this Friday is the series finale and because I want to preserve the memory of this show forever, here is my list of things that make this show so great.

1.Tim Riggins. Yes, I know that his hair is always greasy. And yes, I know that he has indeed done some jail time and seems to have a perpetual chip on his shoulder. But there is just something about a bad boy who is actually a good boy down deep inside, who knows how to wear a pair jeans with boots, loves football and wants nothing more in life than to own a piece of land where he can park his silver mobile home that makes this girl weak in the knees. WEAK. IN. THE. KNEES. Good gravy. I just can't handle it.

2. Three words: Tami Taylor's hair. It is now my goal in life to achieve hair perfection such as hers. It has perfect volume and shine. And somehow the humid Texas air does nothing but make it look even better. HOW IS THAT HUMANLY POSSIBLE?? Oh, some mysteries we may never solve.

3. Football. I love football. It is by far and away my most favorite sport. Football is life in Texas (and Oklahoma for that matter) and I love to watch how the entire town comes together to watch their team play. If they were holding auditions for 31 year-old cheerleaders I would totally show up.

4. Small Town, USA. I am definitely a small-town girl. Well, a small-town girl that needs an international airport close by. Most TV shows based in the South portray their characters as ignorant, small-minded trailer park dwellers that survive on pork rinds and Chees Whiz. But what this show does so beautifully is depict its citizens as intelligent, funny, football-crazed people who are devoted to one another and their town. I am thinking we need more of this. Pronto.

And for the record, there is nothing wrong with canned cheese.

5. No sugar-coating involved. This show is for real. There is heartache and heartbreak and lost games and lost jobs and not everyone gets along. But it also shows the compassion people have for one another. It is so well acted that I almost feel like I could drive to Dillon, Texas and just hang out with everyone. Is that weird?

6. Tim Riggins. Again.

The End.

A Heritage of Pound Cake

Last night my aunt Dedra and Uncle Dale came through town. Dedra is my dad's younger sister and she and her hubby live in West Virginia. Dale had meetings in Colorado and they had just enough time to drop in my parent's house for dessert. 

Some may call that luck but I would call that perfect timing.

I whipped up another Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble and I admit that I ate two bowls of it with ice cream. No judging people. It was my dinner and dessert. Totally justified.

Anywho, I love my relatives. My aunt Dedra is funny and fun and gives great hugs and has a laugh that is known and infectious. However, what I really want to tell you is that she introduced me to something that so completely rocked my world that I have never been the same since. And neither have my thighs.

She introduced me to my grandma's pound cake.

I need to take a moment to let that sweet memory sink in.

...

Okay, I'm back. This pound cake is famous because it is so absolutely divine and fluffy and pound-cakey. It is amazing! My grandma made it every time we were all together and I remember racing into the kitchen to get a slice of it. (I only run when food is involved.) I also remember my aunt Dedra and I eating our slices together, sitting in the dark air-conditioned kitchen in sweltering Texas, wondering just how many more slices we could eat before others wanted a piece.

I love bonding with people over food. It is one of my greatest pleasures in life. So as I sat on the couch chatting with Dedra last night, I thought of our pound cake escapades and how much a simple recipe can bring a family together. I firmly believe that most arguments can be settled with a big slice of cake.

Food builds bridges, people. Big, delicious bridges.

Corkers, Pips and Dandies

My grandpa had an amazing vocabulary. Much of my vernacular comes from him. He was Irish through and through, and therefore some of his sayings and quips sounded very much like he could have been sitting in a pub somewhere in Ireland.

When my cousin Nathan planned our family golf tournament, he decided to call each team of 8 after some of my grandpa's most commonly used endearments: Corkers, Pips and Dandies. He would call those he loved most, enjoyed most, thought of most or cared for most by these names. Thankfully, I heard them often.

I was a Corker. And we rocked it.

Our tee time was at 7:30 which is extremely early for a crowd that is known to stay up very very late when we are all together. Somehow we all stumbled out of bed and onto the golf course on time just as all the carts were being pulled up for spin around the course.

My cousin Amy, who surprised us from California, showed up with a box of clubs. A box. With duct tape.

We like to keep it classy.

These were our fans. Technically they were every team's fans but I like to think they were rooting for us the most.

This was our course. It has been here for 400 years. Or something like that. It is literally located in the middle of the prairie.

And this is my team. My mom, my aunt Patricia, Anthony and Char, cousins Jenny and Charley, my uncle Mike, cousin Becky and yours truly.

Char didn't play...she just enjoyed the spectacle that was our family's tournament.

Jenny, Charley and Mike are assessing the green.

Mike as the lone ranger. Even though I know I carried our team, I do like to give him credit for a few good shots.

I mean, I like to give him credit for basically winning the tournament for us.

I get those confused sometimes.

Here is Mike teeing up to hit.

And here is yours truly trying not to miss and get a face full of prairie dirt.

Jenny and Charley with my mom and Patricia in the background.

Sometimes you run into obstacles on the course...like tractors. Wild tractors are native to this part of Oklahoma.

Sisters: Jenny and Becky. I grew up with these two and served as a bridesmaid in both of their weddings. I like them a lot.

Once again, it was time to assess the green.

Twisted sisters.

Punk kid.

Cart buddies. Beck can really drive a mean cart.

After all of the teams played nine holes (we played 12 just to show off), we headed to the club house for hamburgers and air conditioning. We were also eager to hear who won. Can't you tell that Grey is anxious to hear too?

And there you have it: victory for the Corkers! I accepted our trophy and thanked the Academy. We were 5 under par which is the lowest number I will ever have. EVER.

It was a fabulous morning in so many ways. My grandpa would have loved every minute of it. I even wore one of his golf polos, hoping some of his skill would rub off. Unfortunately it didn't. But his memory was everywhere we looked. We only wish we would have done this with him instead of for him. 



Vacation Hangover

Peeps, I am experiencing a severe case of vacation hangover. Seriously. I feel like I was hit by a truck then it backed up and ran over me again. And don't get me started on my alarm clock. It's stupid. I hate it with every fiber of my being. However, the amount of fatigue I feel directly corresponds with the amount of fun that I had at our EPIC FAMILY REUNION OF ALL THINGS WONDERFUL AND DELICIOUS!

Last week my family and I trekked the 8 hours (or 10 hours if you are riding with a six year-old) to Oklahoma and experienced 112 degree temperatures and pina colada snow cones that could have actually been made in heaven. However, from the look of the lady's face who made my snow cone, I deduced that it was not heaven at all, rather a small shack in the middle of the prairie on the hottest day ever.

This reunion had been in the planning stages for months. My cuz Nathan (what up, cuz?) planned an amazing golf tournament with hamburgers and trophies. We also had a talent show that should have been its own reality TV episode and a few late-night card games that made all of my aunts cry with hysteria. I love hysterical aunts. They are the best.

We also spent four consecutive days at the Gage Beach. What? You didn't know there was a beach in northwest Oklahoma? Well there is. And it is glorious. And it is where I spent every afternoon trying my best to get as tan as possible while not eating every frozen Snickers available. It was really hard.

For those of you who love a history lesson, I have one for you. In 1918, during an attempt to find oil, an artesian lake was found just below the surface of the ground. So the people of Gage came up with a brilliant idea to help beat the heat in the long summer days: build a ginormous swimming pool. The sides are made of cement that are covered with moss and the bottom is full of sand. Everyday fresh artesian water is pumped into the pool and filtered out into surrounding ponds. It is ice cold but when the sidewalk feels like you are walking on the sun, it is perfect and refreshing.

Until the hypothermia sets in.

I have swum in this pool every year since I was born. I even see people there that I went to kindergarten with years ago. And you also see people there who wear basketball shorts, cut-off camouflage t-shirts with cowboy boots too. But that is besides the point. It is an amazing representation of humanity, cut-offs and all. And when all 32,892 cousins of mine show up, they make enough revenue to last them all year. It's just our little contribution to the economy.

The only bummer from the entire weekend was that fireworks were banned this year because of drought. I don't even know what to say about other than I found comfort in a bowl(s) of homemade strawberry ice cream. With fudge.

And maybe a brownie or nine.

Tomorrow I will highlight the golf tournament for you because it very well could have been the MOST FUN I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE EVER. Partially because I was with my family who I love and adore and partially because my team won. Take that, suckas.