Engagement Pictures

Our engagement pictures are ready and they are fabulous! My photographer, Rachel Blackwell, is AMAZING and I am so glad we chose her. Below is a sneak peek from her blog. We have 132 pictures to choose from and I have been going through them over and over. I think there might be 3 or 4 I don't like which is pretty amazing for me because I usually hate every picture I am in!

Stay tuned for more pictures to come.

http://rachelblackwellphotography.com/blog/

A First For Us

Ryan and I had a first this past weekend. We had tickets to a Razorback football game and we decided NOT to go to the game. Shocking, I know.

At the beginning of the week we didn't have tickets. We decided that since there was a chance of ran and since the game was so early that we would save our money and not buy tickets this week. Friday night we found out that my family had extra tickets that they were going to give us and we still decided not to go. We both had had a really long week and I was not to keen on the idea of sitting in the rain to watch the game.

So I slept in, woke up and turned on Game Day. Ryan came over and I watched the game in my pajamas. Infact, I didn't get out of them until about 5 p.m. It was great! Turns out we made a good decision because there were 2 rain delays and the game, which started at 11 a.m., didn't end until 4:45.

We really enjoyed watching the game from home, just the 2 of us. After the game we went and had some sushi and drinks and then started our registry at Bed Bath and Beyond. That is a whole other adventure that deserves it own post. So stay turned for "The Adventures of Regsitering with Ryan and Meredith"

Football Week 7

Farmington Cardinals (3-3) vs. Gravette Lions (6-0)

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From the Coach:

"Gravette's offense is centered around junior running back Daniel Strylezcki. He has carreid the ball 30+ times in each of their last three games. The best part of their team and the secret totheir success this year is their deffensive front - they play A 3-5 look and are super aggresive blitzing and stunting all the time. Thye have three shutouts this year and have only given up 40 points in 6 games."

Arkansas Razorbacks vs. Auburn Tigers

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Luscious Layer Pumpkin Spice Cake

So I usually leave the recipe posting to my friend Kendall but this cake turned out so pretty and was so delicious I had to share it. This is a perfect fall cake that is sure to be a crowd pleaser and an easy way to impress your family and friends.

Ingredients:
1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 can of pumpkin, divided
1/2 c milk
1/3 c oil
4 eggs
1-1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice, divided
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c powdered sugar
1 tub of Cool Whip
1/4 c caramel ice cream topping
1/4 c chopped pecans

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Beat cake mix, 1 c pumpkin, milk, oil, eggs, 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice in large bowl until blended. Pour batter into 2 greased and floured round cake pans.
3. Bake for 28 - 30 minutes. Cool in pans for 10 minutes then remove and place on wire racks. Cool completely (I put the cakes in the refrigerator to cool faster).
4. Beat cream cheese in bowl until creamy. Add sugar, remaining pumpkin and spice. Mix well. Stir in Cool Whip.
5. Once the cakes are cool, cut horizontally into 2 pieces. Stack on serving plate layering cake then cream cheese mixture. There will be three layers of cream cheese mixture. Do no put cream cheese mixture on the top.
6. Drizzle with caramel and chopped pecans just before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

Let me know if you like it!

Back from the Grave

Uggghhhh....this past week has sucked! I mean it has truely been one of the most miserable weeks of my life. I have been down for the count with a stomach bacterial infection that has basically rendered me helpless. I am pretty sure I have never been sicker in my life. I missed 3.5 days of work and when I say missed, I'm talking I couldn't even look at my Blackberry to see what was going on because I was so sick. I have never missed more than 2 days of work for being sick so this was very new to me. I went to the doctor twice and couldn't eat anything for 3 days. I tried taking my pills but they would come right back up so I called my trusty doctor friend and Matron of Honor Stacia and she told me to dissolve them in water. Luckily that worked. I will spare you the rest of the details but let's just say it wasn't pretty.

Yesterday I was able to open my computer and see the hundreds of emails that were in my inbox so I started on those. While doing that it made me realize how much I had missed, not only at work but outside of work too and I started putting together a list of things that really annoy me about being sick.

• I haven't seen Ryan since Tuesday. I didn't want him getting this crap. Not seeing your fiance for a week really sucks
• I missed my dad's game on Friday night - I'm a coach's daughter, enough said
• I am so sick of watching TV but when you are sick that is basicallly all you can do
• Even though I was out SICK from work, my office still thought it was ok to call me every couple of hours to ask questions - people: let me have a few days to recover please!
• My house has become a danger zone - I am a neat freak so this clutter is driving me crazy
• I missed a going away party for one of my assistants at work
• It was amazing weather all week and all I could do is look at it from the inside

And one of the major things is I missed our engagement picture shoot. I was really stressing about this because my awesome photographer, Rachel Blackwell, moved to San Francisco because her husband got a job out there. She had already booked 4 weddings before they knew so she comes back every couple of months for us. If we didn't do our shoot this week, I wasn't sure when we were going to be able to do it. By Thursday I was still inmobile so I texted her on the off chance we could switch days and luckily she said one of her clients had canceled on Sunday night so we could do it then. Thank goodness!

It is now Saturday and I finally feel like I am coming out of it. I will let you know how things go. Hope yall all had a better week than me. I am now done with my complaining. Thanks for listening.

Arkansas vs. Georgia

I was going through my pictures and realized I didn't ever post these froma couple of weeks ago. I decided to have a watch party at my new house for the Arkansas vs. Georgia game. This was the first time that most of our friends had been out to the house. We had a great time and the Hogs won in a thriller! Woo Pig Sooie!

My "tablescape" Ryan loves stadium nachos so we went went the stadium food theme

It was great weather so we set up a TV outside. Everybody brought their dogs too. They loved all the attention.
The boys playing ladder golf during half time

Kylie and Ryan's cousin Sheri. Sheri and I have become really close because she teaches a yoga class I go to. I am excited that she is going to be in the house party for our wedding.

Mary, Wilder and Shelby

Ryan grilling up one of my favorite appetizers - bacon wrapped, cream cheese stuffed jalapenos. The jalapenos came from my own garden!

Sad, Sad Realization

I had a very sad realization this weekend. I realized my body is definitely NOT what it use to be.

This week Ryan and I are having our engagement pictures taken. Being the typical girl, I have been trying to pick out our outfits for the past few weeks. I finally decided what I was going to wear and when I tried them on, I was very disappointed. Out of nowhere, these pesky little rolls appeared on my mid section and they are quite disgusting. Now before you start rolling your eyes and yelling at me through the computer screen, no I do not think I am fat, I just think that I used to be more toned when I was a younger gal - but who doesn't right?

In a very depressed state, I drove myself to Dillards to buy the dreaded girdle type contraption that is suppose to fix all my chubby problems - I bought my first pair of Spanx. I have never been to the point that I felt I needed extra help but I gave in to the realization that my body is just not what it use to be.

I was very skeptical of this product, even thought they have gotten great reviews, I wasn't sure if they could live up to their standards. Well by gosh, I was proven wrong! Spanx might be the best purchase I have every made. These things flatten your tummy and slim down your waist like you couldn't believe. I looked like I had instantly loast 10 pounds! With one pair of spandex, boob-high, knee-length "Power Panties" my confiedence was restored and my saddness washed away.

So to you, Sara Blakely, fellow Tri Delta sister, I thank you for saving the day and inventing this glorious product. Thumbs up to you sista!

Football Week 5

Farmington Cardinals (1-3) vs. Prairie Grove Tigers (2-2)

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From the Coach:

"Prairie Grove is 2-2 this season. They are very good defensive team with a very good front seven. They play a lot of very talented sophomores from last year 10-0 championship team."