Happy Birthday Papa!!!

Double click the arrow below to watch the video...

Aloha Tami!

This past Saturday, my friend Sydney and I had a shower for our good friend and Bride-to-Be Tami. She is getting married next month in Hawaii. The shower was fun. We had a great turnout and Tami got some fantastic gifts. Sydney decorated the house like a hula hut and made a fantastic egg strata. I made Paula Deen's puff pastry pinwheels and French (AKA Tejas) toast casserole.

Down in the ATX

Hi y'all! I was in Austin again this week. It was a pretty good trip. I met up with Gunnar and his fiance Candice and they showed me around town. I got to eat some Tex-Mex and learned what rajas and Tejas Toast are. Turns out, Tejas Toast is durn similar to French Toast. I tried to get pics of the beautiful Bluebonnets that are blooming along the highway, but they didn't turn out. Candice said it's illegal to pick them because they're the state flower. I had a great time, but my flight to KC was cancelled. Oy! But I'm back now and all is well. Here are some neato pics from the trip. Thanks again to Gunnar and Candice! See you guys in September!

TX State Capitol

Tower at UT. Gunnar says when UT wins a big game, they light up the windows into a #1 or paint the top orange. Hmmm. Must still be reeling from those KU defeats (plural)

This wacky dude was singing at the airport. Local music is everywhere in Austin.

Neato graffiti. Keep Austin weird!

Dell HQ

Mark's Tornado Sighting

May 22, 1981 - Binger, Oklahoma (Home of Johnny Bench)

For years Mark has told me about a tornado in Oklahoma that chased him and his Mom in their Maverick. They went to visit friends 2 hours away and on their way back to OKC, they were alerted to a tornado warning in the area. Mark was 10 at the time and turned around and saw THIS out the back window. Due to the wonder of the internet, he was able to find a picture of the funnel!

Fainting Goats

Today, my friend Griesheimer was telling me a story about "Lost," which I don't watch, but I was humoring him and he compared some scene in last night's episode to the "fainting goats." So, I snapped out of my "pretending like I'm listening daze" to say "wha'chu talkin' about, Willis - fainting goats?" So, he proceeded to tell me all about this breed of goat with a neurological disorder.....And being the great internet researcher I am, I found a video of them. You're gonna get a real kick out of this....TGIF. Press the arrow below to watch.

I like the lady in the video who is recalling all their nicknames. "People call them myotonic goats, fainting goats, wooden-leg goats, stiff-leg goats, nervous goats, Tennessee goats...." Reminds me of Bubba from Forrest Gump - "well, there's boiled shrimp, pan fried, deep fried, stir fried shrimp, There's lemon shrimp, pepper shrimp, coconut shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp sandwiches..." Awesome. Have a great weekend guys! KK and MS
Go hawks!

Rock Chalk!

It's easy to rally around the Jayhawks after a landslide like Friday night's against Niagra. Hopefully, the Jayhawks can keep up the pace! Check out the video to get pumped up for Sunday's game against Kentucky. Watch closely in the beginning for a photo of one of the infamous chickens - thrown onto the court by our purple friends to the west, during one of the 3 games we won against them this year. Go Jayhawks - all the way baby! March Madness!

Bane of my Existence

Behold - The Guinness Cake............

So....I had a St. Patrick's Day Potluck on Friday at work. Being the devoted Irish Lass that I am, I decided to find a really TASTY dish to bring and I came across a recipe for Chocolate Guinness Cake. Beer AND chocolate? My two favorite things. Bingo.
The recipe had 3 parts: the cake, the sauce that soaks into the cake to make it moist, and the ganache coating.
Thursday evening, I started the task - made the cake, no problemo! Then, the sauce, easy-peasy! At 9:00, I started the ganache to the precise specifications of the recipe.....Uh. I ended up with a glob of chocolate in the saucepan with an inch of oil on top. Not good. What to do, what to do, uh...
Kristen: MARK! HELP!
Mark: Jesus, what did you do? You got it too hot and the chocolate separated.
Kristen: How can we fix it?
Mark: You can't. It's ruined.
So I go BACK to the store at 9:45 Thurs night to get more chocolate chips and more cream. Come home, Mark set up a double boiler for me to control the heat better. So I start the arduous task of making the ganache. After 45 minutes, I'm zonked. So, I poured the mixture on the cake. Bad news, chocolate isn't melted completely - visible lumps.
Kristen: MARK! HELP!
Mark: Jesus, what a disaster. You are not taking that to work. That's embarrassing.
Kristen: Get out.
So, in an attempt to prove my Thursday night not a total loss, I pulled out a bar of white chocolate and made curls to hide the chocolate lumps. Beautiful!
Next morning...
Kristen: What do you think of the cake?
Mark: You'd better give me credit for that. I helped!
Ha-ha! Success! The husband is pleased!
The best part is that I told my co-workers that the white curls on top represented the foam on a pint of Guinness. They were duped! Suckers! And it was the tastiest cake that I will NEVER make again.

Also, please note the autographed picture in the background of Brian Baker - AKA the Sprint Commercials Trenchcoat Guy. Bet you're jealous.

St. Paddy's Day Ode to Scott C.

You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em,

Know when to walk away and know when to run.

You never count your money when youre sittin at the table.

There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.

Spring Forward!

We had such a busy, exciting weekend! As Mark would say, it was "off the chains!" Friday, we made it an early night after a fun Sprint Happy Hour in OP. Then, Saturday morning, we got up early to get out to Topeka to see the Jayhawks beat the K-State Wildcats...again. Snore.

Of course, upon arriving in Topeka, my defiant canine bolted to our neighbor's property to take a dip in the pond. And here he is in time-out. Standing on the doghouse, still trying to assert his independence. BAD DOG!

Here's Dad working on his world famous brisket. This was hours before his near-death experience, almost choking to death laughing during the "hotel scene" in the movie Borat. Our family members, it seems, have strange reactions to extreme laughter. Molly pukes, Dad chokes.

This is Mom and Dad's pet opossum. He's cuter than I thought he'd be, but is very camera-shy.

Ah - a yummy cookie to celebrate St. Paddy's Day!

This is "Howard's Favorite" - fudge cake with cream cheese icing (although the one we made was devil's food with buttercream icing because we're a bunch of cheaters).

Marg, Randy, and Papa

Kyle, Mimi, Koffee, and Marg (she's in a lot of pics)

Emily and Kiki - these two were VERY reluctant to have their photo taken, but I think it worked out quite nicely.

Thanks for a great day, family! Happy Birthday Papa, Laurie, and Lola!!! Have fun in Tahoe, spring breakers!!! Nancy and Tom, we missed you, but we'll catch you on the flip-flop!

And congrats to our Kansas Jayhawks, Big 12 Champs! All the way, Final Four, baby! Rock Chalk! Number one seed INDEED!

When Animals Attack!

Here is a grainy video I made with my cell phone of Blue freaking out when threatened with a spray bottle. I was lucky to get out of the room with my life! Video is not for the faint-hearted...

He's all hopped up because he gets to visit his best friend Chili tonight.

Austin City Limits

Here are a couple pics from my trip to Austin. I managed to make it downtown for an hour before my flight. I bet Dad's sweating the thought of me moving here. As you can see from the first photo - tattoo parlors on every corner! Very risky. Don't worry, Dad. I'm sure they sterlize their needles.

***FOR AGES 18 AND OLDER***
This is the best. I didn't even notice it until I downloaded the photo below. Put on your glasses, squint, and read the T-shirt in the window. Ha! Now THAT ain't Southern Hospitality!!! Scandalous! And it's on Neches street too. Colin would be so proud.

Agriculture is better than no culture at all

For years, K-State students have smuggled live chickens into basketball games against KU, then thrown them onto the court - intending for the chickens to mock their rival's Jayhawk mascot.
PETA responded to the latest incident during a game Feb. 19 by sending a letter to the KSU president - describing chickens as "very intelligent and inquisitive animals" that appeared to have been subjected to "deafening noise, bright lights, terror, abusive handling and likely death for the sake of amusement"- similar to their fate under gripping, gnashing teeth of Bubba Dog, may he rest in peace.
K-State has said it would not comment on the complaint, but the athletic department issued a statement Tuesday saying it considers live, non-service animals "contraband." Any fans caught with animals or caught throwing any object onto a playing surface will be ejected from the game and could face prosecution.
"These actions severely tarnish the image of our University, its athletics teams and the majority of our outstanding fans and supporters and while viewed by many as harmless pranks, these acts are likely illegal," the letter said.

This class act hasn't done much to will the Wildcats to victory. The Jayhawks beat Kansas State 71-62. So my question for you Wildcat fans is this:

What is the Colonel's secret recipe?