Category Archives: friends

November 18, 2010 · 4:45 am

Color Spash iPhone App makes my day!

My friend George downloaded the Color Splash App on his iPhone! It basically takes your color picture, turns it black and white, then you color in the part you want to appear color. I was able to send him some of my pictures and look how they turned out:

Davis Wade Stadium-Mississippi State

Me at the Swamp in Gainesville

Group of cowbells with mine colored

All colored!

My favorite picture of MC, Liza and I!

Our tailgating group!

Sunglasses!

Didn’t he do a great job?! I wish BlackBerry had an app like this!

3 Comments

Filed under friends

November 16, 2010 · 6:01 pm

Salt Lake City/Sorry for my Absence!

I have been such an awful blogger lately! After being away for almost a week in Salt Lake City, I came back to piles and piles of work on top of the piles I had left here!

I have 2 exams to make up, homework, grading, research, another conference, an interview…so basically no sleep. This is pretty much how I feel:

I hope y’all understand I’m trying! I still try and keep up with your posts every night.

So last Sunday we left for Salt Lake City. The 4 grad students in my group (me, Zach, Erick, and Ersan) drove to Jackson together to catch our flight. Due to mechanical issues/Delta sucking as usual, we got split up. Erick and Ersan went ahead to Salt Lake City through Dallas (instead of Memphis like we were supposed to…they had presentations first thing Monday) and Zach and I got sent to Atlanta overnight. At least Delta gave us some sweet hotel rooms and upgraded us to first class! We had to get up by 5 to get back to the airport for our 7 am flight…which means we got up at 3 am SLC time…

Our view of the mountains from the airplane.

We arrived late, tired, and…

…COLD! It was only about 35 degrees in SLC! As soon as I realized how cold it was I started layering on clothes from my suitcase haha! Think Sanka from Cool Runnings when he arrives in Calgary

Monday and Tuesday were spent at the conference, listening to the presentations and also having some great lunches and suppers while we were out there.

I also got to see Caitlin all week! She and her husband moved to Oklahoma at the end of October for his next part of Air Force training so I hadn’t been able to see her in a few weeks! I missed her!

Where the conference was held.

Wednesday our advisor let us have the day to see Salt Lake City. We ate lunch at California Pizza Kitchen

Our desserts!

Saw the Temple City

The lab group in front of one of the big Temples…from left: Zach, me, Caitlin, Erick, and Ersan on the bottom

Caitlin and I in front of the Temple

Christmas decorations!

We saw an organ recital in the Tabernacle.

And did some shopping! I just loved being able to go to J Crew and Ann Taylor Loft!

Later that night we had our Wednesday night tradition of Italian food and ended the meal with Sambuca! (It’s gross but part of the tradition…)

From left: Erick, Ersan, Zach, me, Caitlin, my advisor Dr. Walters, and her advisor from Clemson Dr. Hirt

Have a great week y’all! I’ll try harder to be more consistent with posting!

3 Comments

Filed under friends, Salt Lake City, school

November 1, 2010 · 2:44 pm

Weekend Recap!

Gameday weekend and Halloween! Friday after working at school MC, George, Matt, Kevin and I set up the tailgate then went to supper at The Grill in Starkville (Liza had to work). They have the best cheese sticks! Then Matt, George and I went to my house and carved pumpkins!

Matt and George discussing the different hues of oranges of our pumpkins.

Cleaning out the guts

Poor pumpkins

The Carving Queen haha. Btw excuse my outfit. I was cold and we were getting pumpkin guts all over us.

Liza made it just in time to see the finished products!

From left: Matt’s “Beat Kentucky” pumpkin, my cowbell pumpkin, and my Bully pumpkin

Here they are again, but showing the other side of the cowbell pumpkin- MSU and paws

After Matt, Liza, and George left I baked for the tailgate and called it a night. Tailgate started bright and early at 8 am!

It was FREEZING at 8 am when we got out there. Pretty chilly fall day in Northeast MS!

Here are the pumpkins at the tailgate! Bully is dressed up like a ghost!

As y’all know, my fabulous Florida Gators had a big game Saturday vs. Georgia. Here I am cheering on the Gators from Starkville!

Girls at the tailgate

Matt and Liza

We were able to hang out, watch some football on the TV, and grill before we headed into the stadium! When I went into the stadium, the FL-GA game was 21-7. I had to rely on my phone to keep me up to date with the score! I about had a heart attack when it was 31-31 with 0:37 left on the clock! God must have known the Gators needed a win really bad! 34-31 GATORS!!! So proud for my orange and blue!!

Here’s a video of our stadium at MS State before the game! You might be able to hear me talking! I hope my voice isn’t as annoying as it sounds on the video!…but then again, no one sounds like themselves on video!

Pictures from inside the stadium!

3 Girls

Matt and Liza

George!

After an intense game with some horrible play calling, MS State got a 24-17 win over Kentucky. Go DAWGS!!! 7-2 so far this season!! I’m so proud that MS State is finally having a great season!

After the game we headed back out to the tailgate to make smores and watch some more football before heading home. It was so cold out! Hope y’all had a great Halloween weekend!

Also as a comment from my post about cowbells and respecting traditions: I am in no way comparing the noise from a cowbell to a vocal cheer like Roll Tide or Pig Sooie. I know how loud cowbells can get, especially when you’re not used to them (I had to get used to them too-remember I was a Gator first). It was just a post about respecting traditions. I was not comparing the noise factors.

3 Comments

Filed under Florida Gators, friends, Holiday, Mississippi State Bulldogs, tailgating, weekend

October 22, 2010 · 1:58 pm

Forever 21 Score

I’m not typically a fan of Forever 21. Lots of girls look adorable in their clothes and seem to have great finds. I am not one of those girls! Haha….but I was so excited to find this gem:

The Jacquard Floral dress from the Love 21 section of clothes. I love how feminine it is, I love the pink and gray together, the cut is also really classic and not too short or low cut. The price was also great. I can’t wait till it arrives in the mail!

I have a friend visiting this weekend for our Homecoming game! I will have good pictures for y’all next week of this weekend and I’m also carving pumpkins next week so pictures of those too!

Go Mississippi State Bulldawgs!! (Thank the Lord the Gators have a bye week haha! They need a break to improve before the big Georgia game next week

Have a great weekend!

5 Comments

Filed under Florida Gators, Football, friends, Mississippi State Bulldogs, shopping, weekend

September 27, 2010 · 2:18 pm

It’s FINALLY Fall Y’all! Recipes, weather and football!

I was absolutely delighted to wear a sweatshirt on my drive to campus this morning. This was the weather we had in Mississippi this morning:

I could not be more thrilled!!! I am really glad it looks like it will be cooling off some this week. It doesn’t feel right making pumpkin baked goods and drinking cider when its 85 degrees out!

Speaking of pumpkin…since we are having an 11:00 game this weekend, I am making muffins for the tailgate before the game. I wanted to share this recipe with y’all early this week in case you want to make some too! Starbucks makes some pretty amazing pumpkin cream cheese muffins, and now you can make them at home!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

1 cup of canned pumpkin

1 cup plus 2 tbsp of sugar

1/2 cup of packed brown sugar

4 egg whites (3 in one cup, 1 in the other)

1/2 cup milk

1 cup of canola oil (I’ve used vegetable-works fine too)

2 cups of flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp salt

1 pkg cream cheese, softened

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin pans (or use paper cups with Pam) and set aside.

Mix pumpkin, brown sugar, 3 egg whites, milk, and oil. Next stir in flour, pie spice, and salt. Set aside.

In second bowl, mix cream cheese, last egg white and 2 tbsp of sugar. Use a beater.

Spoon some pumpkin batter into each muffin tin, then add some cream cheese mixture, and spoon a little more pumpkin mixture on top.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until toothpick in center comes out clean.

Enjoy as they are or add something extra to them! I like to put some chai frosting on top, which I make by adding some chai concentrate (I use Tazo brand, other brands would work also I’m sure) to cream cheese frosting and sprinkle some candied pecans or pumpkin seeds on top. So good!

I had a pretty dang good weekend! Friday night Mary Catherine, Kevin, and I went up to Tupelo for the Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean concert. We ate a great (but very quick!) supper at The Grill in Tupelo and walked over to the arena. We had so much fun! Both of them were really great live!

Here we are at the Bankcorp South Arena waiting for the show to start!

Saturday started bright and early for tailgating for the Mississippi State vs. Georgia game.

Kevin and Andrew playing corn hole. Hadn’t seen Andrew in forever! Glad to see him!

Matt with a bulldog!

Casey, Jesse, and Kevin cooking ribs!

Jesse had spent hours making these ribs for the tailgate. They were so so good!

Caitlin and Dan finally made it to a game! Caitlin has been busy writing/defending her thesis and Dan just came back from deployment so we were really glad to have them join us for a game before the head to Oklahoma. Definitely going to miss them a ton!

Caitlin and I in the stadium!

The East side of the stadium wore white and the West side of the stadium wore maroon. Go State!

The group waiting on the game to start. Liza had to work so she wasn’t there

It wasn’t the same without her!

The game was an incredible game to watch. The score was 7-6 State for most of the game. Finally the game picked up and the MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS BEAT GEORGIA 24-12!!!

Hey GEORGIA! We just beat the HELL OUTTA YOU! Maroon! White! Fight Fight Fight! Mississippi State!!! Damn right!!

We all celebrated out at the tailgate for hours after the game. Caitlin and I took a picture with the huge cowbell!!

And of course, my FLORIDA GATORS also won vs. Kentucky this weekend. Go Gators!!

1 Comment

Filed under Florida Gators, Football, friends, Mississippi State Bulldogs, recipe, tailgating, weekend

September 6, 2010 · 3:11 pm

Maroon! White! Fight Fight Fight! Mississippi State! Damn Right!

As promised, I have tons of pictures from this weekend for y’all! We had such a great time tailgating! Friday was spent getting ready for the tailgate. I had planned on working half a day, but I woke up at 9:30 (wanted to be on campus by 8 haha)…but tailgating prep won haha. Matt, Liza, George (who came up from Mobile), and I ate lunch at Grumpy’s (love getting catfish on Fridays!) and then made last minute Walmart and liquor store trips. Then I came back to the house and baked lots of cookies and red velvet cupcakes for the tailgate! About 4 we all headed over to the Junction to wait for 5 when we can set the tents up!

Sunset on the stadium! State is so pretty!

After we set the tents up Kevin and Matt broke out the grill and cooked up some burgers Mary Catherine made. They were SO GOOD! (MC make these again! Haha!

). We all sat around the tailgate and ate and played corn hole. We packed up pretty early so we could all be rested up for Saturday’s festivities!

Saturday started at 7:15 am when I got up to get ready! We headed to Shipley’s donuts then to Matt’s apartment to meet up with Liza and headed to the Junction!

Here’s Bully with all our cowbells. I love this picture because the stadium is in the background!

Here I am with Bully in front of the stadium. We took pictures with him early before it got too crowded.

State girls love Bully

All our cowbells lined up for action and periodic ringing throughout the day!

Action shot of the day of Matt and Kevin playing corn hole. Kevin made the corn hole boards and bags! He did such a great job and we all had a ton of fun playing!

Matt and Liza getting ready to grill!

Ladies at our tailgating spot with the stadium! What great weather we had and a great tailgating spot!

Here’s the group! Left to right Kevin, MC, Matt, Liza, me, and George. It was the white out game!

Since we were set up next to the MAFES store I had to get some ice cream

Here is me and my roommate Randall!

Cheering on the team at the Dawg Walk! (my camera or phone or something is in my pocket haha).

Before I move on I have to mention the spread we had going on. Kevin made steak skewers which were delicious, I made marinated chicken, Matt and Liza made burgers, Matt made a Death Roll (cheese stuffed sausage covered in bacon seasoned with Shag Nasty), and we had tons of chips and desserts.

Game time was at 6 so we headed into the game around 5.

One of my favorite pictures of us!

Go State!

Kevin and MC!

My cowbell with the stadium!

Me and George!

White out!

Saturday was a great day! State beat Memphis and my Florida Gators beat Miami of Ohio (despite their issues with snapping the ball but we won’t talk about that haha). Thursday night State plays Auburn in Starkville so more pictures of that game for sure! Go Dawgs!

6 Comments

Filed under Florida Gators, Football, friends, Mississippi State Bulldogs, weekend

August 24, 2010 · 8:59 pm

Weekend at the Coast!

This past weekend, I headed down to the Gulf Coast with Mary Catherine. Liza’s momma was visiting her this weekend so she couldn’t come with us. We missed her and will definitely have to plan another trip she can come on! Friday night we just drove down to Mobile where my friend George lives (we stayed with him). We all went out to supper at Friday’s then just called in an early night since we were all exhausted and MC was getting over strep throat. Saturday we woke up and headed to the Foley outlets and went shopping!

We thought this jacket was odd…it was like $300 and kinda looked like a hobo coat.

After lunch we were finishing up shopping when it started pouring. So we decided to head to the Gulfport, MS outlets and go to Target and Michaels. After 12 hours of shopping we met George for supper at a really good sushi restaurant in Mobile and got Krispy Kreme after!

Sunday we woke up and the forecast was looking pretty rainy for Gulf Shores again, so we headed to Pensacola! Y’all know how much I love my Florida!

Beautiful beach!

Love topsiders much?

There were 2 swans IN the water at the beach! They were swimming all around the people! I had never seen anything like it!

The water was amazing!

MC floating! The water was really relaxing

After the beach we had lunch at Hemingway’s and it was really good!

Since I was in Florida I had to get me some Key Lime Pie!

We stopped off at Bass Pro on the way back to Alabama. George was playing with guns so we goofed off and tried on camo.

MC and I headed back to Starkville after we packed up our stuff at George’s. Great weekend! And I didn’t do too much damage at the outlets! I mostly got stuff I needed.

I did find this adorable kitchen towel at a store in Foley. Go State!

Monday was ticket day at Mississippi State! We woke up early to go get in line to get our student tickets!

I got my student tickets for all the home games as well as away tickets for my fall road trips! LSU, Alabama, Florida, and Ole Miss! I’ll also be heading to Knoxville at some point to see Jim!

Look who was handing out donuts to the students in line! Coach Mullen! Go Dawgs (and GATORS!!)

This week and next we will be preparing for our first home game and tailgating! Liza and I are going to make maroon and white dresses and cups for the game! I’m glad she can sew well because I can’t! I’m very excited for football season!

6 Comments

Filed under Beach, Florida, Florida Gators, Football, friends, Mississippi State Bulldogs, weekend

August 20, 2010 · 6:30 pm

Incommunicado

I’ve been a terrible blogger this week I know! School started this week at Mississippi State and I have just been so busy! I have spent way too much time here:

…my building at school (Swalm, for those of you who follow me on Twitter and see my tweets about Swalm). It’s a lovely building, home to my delightful office and perfectly great labs but…it still feels like summer outside and I am not ready to go back to school! I only have one class this semester thankfully but I have TONS of lab work to do, a thesis to start, and I’m TA-ing a class of 73 students! In Chem E! Dang that’s a lot of papers to grade.

But this weekend I will be here:

Gulf Shores, Alabama

Drinking many of these:

And these:
And doing a little damage here:
so I can relax for a weekend before the crazy fun of fall semester and football season starts up here in Starkville! Only 15 days…..:)

Happy weekend y’all!

7 Comments

Filed under Beach, friends, shopping, weekend

August 10, 2010 · 5:53 pm

Random musings

I have been MIA lately! I’m sorry y’all! I’ve just been busy in the lab and trying to enjoy the last 2 weeks of vacation before class starts up again (a week from tomorrow!)

I have a very busy fall semester ahead but I am so excited for it!

1. I can’t wait for football season. Only 25 more days till I’m out in the Junction cheering on the Dawgs and of course, cheering on my Gators (even if it’s from Starkville).

Go State!

Go Gators!

I can’t wait till they play each other in the Swamp…October 16. Chomp chomp

2. I’m really excited to head to Gulf Shores in 2 weekends for a relaxing beach and shopping weekend with these ladies!

Mary Catherine and Liza!

3. I’m excited to see this fella in Knoxville the second weekend in September for a little UT football!

Jim!

Once my research project finally starts working the way I want it to (which should be any day now) I’ll post a few recipes and ideas I have for y’all! And my trips and activities this fall will have tons of pictures up on here!

8 Comments

Filed under Beach, Florida Gators, Football, friends, Mississippi State Bulldogs

July 28, 2010 · 4:10 pm

Catch up of the 30 Day Blog Challenge

Day 15: A person you admire

This is my friend Caitlin. She is originally from New York but ended up in Mississippi because her husband is in the Air Force. He is currently deployed for 6 months. Caitlin and I work together, go to the gym together, hang out together, and she is always positive and upbeat. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to be so far away from my family and have my husband overseas. She is also one of the hardest working people I’ve ever met. And thank God she gets my butt to the gym!

Day 16: A Song that makes you cry

The song that always gets me is “I Feel Home” by OAR. I’m not even a huge OAR fan but I love this song:

There are few things pure in this world anymore,
and home is one of the few.
We’d have a drink outside,
maybe run and hide if we saw a couple men in blue.
To me it’s so damn easy to see
that true people are the people at home.
Well, I’ve been away but now I’m back today,
and there ain’t a place I’d rather go.
I feel home,
when I see the faces that remember my own.
I feel home,
when I’m chilling outside with the people I know.
I feel home,
and that’s just what I feel.
Home to me is reality,
and all I need is something real.

Feeling alright, heading out tonight,
maybe out to a dark driveway.
I say now some feel bored,
and some are looking for more.
Well, we all just decide to stay.
We got nothing to do,
and I look at you
I see something that I know and love.
and with the crack of a smile we all stay a while
we know from home there ain’t nothing above.

Well in the end we can all call a friend
well that’s something I know as true.
And then a thousand years and a thousand tears
I’ll come finding my original crew

cause to me throughout eternity
there’s somewhere where you’re welcome to go
I said it’s something free that means a lot to me
when I’m with my friends I feel home.

I feel home,
when I see the faces that remember my own
I feel home,
when I’m chilling outside with the people I know.
I feel home,
and that’s just what I feel.
Home to me is reality,
and all I need something real
Home to me is reality,
and all I need something real

I feel home.

Day 17: An art piece

I love this picture. It represents the spirit of State.

Day 18: A time when you felt passionate and alive

Running on Jacksonville Beach

Days 18/19: A talent/hobby

Everyone always says they love my cowbells, so I think it’s a talent of mine. Haha! I also think it’s fun to decorate cowbells, so I would consider it a hobby too.

Go State!!

Day 21: Something you know you do differently than most people

I know this is weird, but my food can’t touch. I will eat all of one thing, then all of another, and so on until I’m done eating. I can’t combine food/flavors. I accept that this is weird.

Happy Wednesday!

2 Comments

Filed under 30 Day Blog Challenge, Florida, friends, Mississippi State Bulldogs