Happy 70th Birthday

Andy and I went to see his parents in California for his dad's 70th birthday on October 3rd. The party was a great success. Donnie's family and friends turned out to celebrate his big day. There was lots of good food and beverages. We love spending time with Andy's family in California.

Football Our Style

We have had a great time this football season traveling around visiting friends and going to different games. It has been exciting pulling for the different schools each weekend. Football is loved all over the USA!

First Stop: Western Carolina at Georgia Southern



Second Stop: Arkansas at Alabama



Third Stop: Florida at LSU




Fourth Stop: Baylor at Iowa State



Next Stop: Tennessee at Ole Miss

Boggity, Boggity, Boogity

Andy took me to my first Nascar race this weekend in Bristol, Tennessee. I have always watched the races on TV but being there gave me a whole new respect for the sport. The race didn't start until 7:30, but we got there at 2:00 so we could take it all in.We were lucky to have passes to the pit area before the race. It was neat watching all the pit crews get the cars ready for inspection and the race. We saw a few drivers throughout the day. We saw Greg Biffle, Dale Jr, Denny Hamlin, Michael Waltrip, and Reed Sorenson. We are big fans of "Deadliest Catch" on the Discovery Channel. I was so excited to meet Captain Jonathan Hillstrand from the Time Bandit. He was in Tony Stewart's pit. We spent a few hours in the pits before heading to our seats.

"Gentlemen Start Your Engines" is all they had to say. The pace car turned off its lights, and the green flag flew!

My heart was beating so fast watching the cars go around the track at 120+ mph on a
1/2 mile track. I now understand the excitement of Nascar. I am ready for another race!!

Fruity Weekend

It is that time of year to start canning fruit. Andy and I went to my dad's house this morning to pick figs. I like figs, but Andy loves them. I think he ate more than he put in our bags. Andy saw a recipe from Giada on the Food Network for a fig tart. Since Tesha loves figs as much as Andy, we took a bag to her house so she could make his fig tart. I am curious to see how it turns out. We will not have enough figs this picking to make fig preserves, because Andy and Tesha are going to eat all of them. I will have to go back and pick more for the preserves. The trees are still full. Hopefully, the birds will not eat them.





We took Tesha's boys to pick apples at our farm a few weeks ago. I cooked the apples down and got 1 1/2 gallons of apple juice. Mom and I made 10 jars of apple jelly Tuesday night, but we still had apple juice left. Andy helped me this morning make 10 more jars. It is so good. I could eat a whole jar by myself. It was the first time Andy made jelly. He did a great job!




My dad has a grape vine and scuppernong vine. The scuppernongs will be ready to pick in a few weeks. Scuppernong jelly is one of my favorite jellies. I can't wait until they are ripe. The grapes are ripe enough to pick. I am not sure the type of grapes that are growing. Some of them are sweet and some are really sour. I am sure my father-in-law would know if he could see and taste them.




So for now, apple jelly is the only fruit that has been canned this year. It will not be long until all the pears are ready. Then it will be pear jelly and pear preserves.

Happy Birthday to Me

I officially turned "34" yesterday, and it was fabulous! My day started off great. As soon as I got to my office, I received the most beautiful flowers from Andy. It was so nice to walk in my office this morning and smell fresh cut flowers.



My sweet friends, Dave and Sharon Ketchen, brought me a dozen donuts from the new donut shop in Auburn. It is called D2 Donuts. Krispy Kreme you have competition.



These donuts will melt in your mouth. I had one with blueberry filling. YUMMY TO MY TUMMY!!!

I had lunch with Andy, mom, dad, Tesha, and some of the nephews and niece at Durengo's. It wouldn't be a birthday at a mexican restaurant without the sombrero and fried ice cream.



I had vacation bible school at church last night. All the kids sang me Happy Birthday when I first got there. They are so sweet. Some say that birthdays when you get older are just another day. I have to say they are all wrong. My birthday was not just another day. IT WAS AN AWESOME DAY!!

Wedding vs Streaker

I realized I had forgotten to tell everyone about our little "wedding crasher". I can't believe I forgot! Here's the story:

As most of you know, Andy and I got married on the beach. I knew that planning a wedding outside and on the beach there could be little issues. But you know me, I didn't worry about anything. For Andy and I, the cermemoy went just as planned. Our guest on the other hand had the opportunity to see a beautiful wedding and a not so beautiful streaker. HAHA!!

The guy, our streaker, decided it would be funny to take his pants down and run in between our cemermony and the beach. Andy and I must have been looking at each other when this happened, because we didn't see him. A lot of the people at the wedding said it was really funny but inappropriate. They said Tesha's boys were pointing and laughing. Can you imagine the look on their little faces to see an adult run on the beach with his pants around his ankles.

We went to the pool bar after the wedding to have a "wedding cocktail". That was the first time Andy and I knew what happened. And guess what? Our streaker was sitting in the hot tub across from the bar. I can't imagine how he felt knowing the wedding party he streaked by was all looking at him. To make a long story short, one of Andy's best friends walked over to him and had a "little man to man" talk.

Dona Dunn, Don's wife, writes a column for The Auburn Villager each week. Her article this week is about our streaker. Hope you enjoy her article as much as we did!

The link to the website is http://www.auburnvillager.com/story.html?1247760727032522.

Thanks Dona!!!

One Fine Day

I am sitting here drinking my coffee and looking at the beautiful ocean thinking about our wonderful wedding. Sunday morning I got up and went to my sister's condo to have breakfast with her, my mom, my dad, and the kids. Andy stayed at our condo. He said he was in "game day mode" for those of you who understand that phrase. My brother and his family came over after breakfast. We spent the morning on the beach so the kids could play. We really missed Lauren and Terry (Tesha's daughter and husband). Lauren made All Stars for softball. She worked so hard this year during the season. I wanted her to stay home and play in the tournament. We stayed on the beach for a few hours. Andy's family met us at the pool. While we were having lunch at the pool bar, the rain started coming down. It really looked like it was going to rain the rest of the day. We were so lucky it only rained 45 minutes. The rest of the day was beautiful.

The wedding turned out exactly as we had planned. It was short and sweet. The weather couln't have been more perfect. It was sunny with a nice breeze. It was perfect!

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Wedding Eve

Andy and I had a wonderful day spending time with our family and friends. We spent the day on the beach and at the pool. It was great having so many special people around us the day before our wedding. The weather was beautiful. It was really hot, but there was a nice breeze on the beach. There were two weddings tonight at the resort. I watched them set everything up knowing that they would be doing the same for us tomorrow. I still can't believe tomorrow is the big day. I am so blessed to have Andy in my life. This time tomorrow I will be Mrs. Lutz. I can't wait!!!

Wedding Week

It is finally wedding week. I have two more days of work, one day of travel, one day on the beach, and then the wedding. WOW! It seems like only yesterday Andy was proposing. All the arrangements are taken care of. All we have to do is be on the beach at 6:00 Sunday night. We are both so excited!!

Fishing With The Boys

Andy and I took my nephew's fishing at the cabin Saturday morning. The fish were biting so fast we couldn't keep the hooks baited fast enough. We didn't keep them. We let the boys throw them back in the water. I am not sure if Spencer really wanted to touch the fish.
Blake was the "man" of the day. He caught the biggest one!

Seth was just happy Andy was helping him hold his fish up.

Pleasant Surprise

I have the most wonderful "future" in-laws anyone could ask for. I came home from work today and found a box sitting on my front porch. To my surprise, it was a box full of fresh Bing cherries picked in Lodi, California. My "future" in-laws live in Lodi. The cherries are so delicious. Thanks Donnie and Marilyn!!

Andy's Cabin

Andy decided it was time to get the outside of the cabin cleaned and restained. All I can say is "WOW". It looks so good. I wish he would have taken pictures before they started so you could really see how much better it looks. Thanks Tony and Frank!

It looks funny without all of Andy's "stuff" on the porch.

Long Weekend

It was so nice to have a three day weekend. We were not able to do a lot outside Saturday or Sunday because of all the rain. We went to Lake Martin on Saturday for a friend's birthday party. It rained the whole time we were there, but the food was delicious. Mom and I went to Columbus shopping on Sunday. I finally found my dress for the wedding. Andy and I went to an oyster and shrimp cookout Sunday night. The weather today has been much better. It has rained on and off but for the most part it has been nice. We took a trip to Home Depot to buy some tomato plants. I bought some of the Topsy Turvey tomato hangers. Yes, I will buy anything I see on TV. Andy and I planted two plants in those and two more plants in one of my planters. There is nothing better than home grown tomatoes. I will keep everyone posted on the progress of our little tomato garden. Maybe I will plant more veggies soon!!

Wedding Destination

Andy and I are getting married at Casa Ybel Resort. I was playing around on YouTube this morning and found this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWwxKb3UOv4. It is a video of the resort.

It is a beautiful resort. I can't wait!!

Much Needed Vacation

Andy and I left for Santa Rosa Beach, Florida on Thursday. We went down to stay with some of Andy's friends from North Carolina. We got up at 5:00 Friday morning and went charter fishing with a company out of Destin. We were out there for 5 hours. We ended up catching seven speckled trout and two salt water catfish. We kept the trout and threw the catfish back. I never knew the seagulls would actually take our bait fish out of the water and fly away with our lines. Most of the time they would end up dropping the fish and line, but one of them didn't let go. The captain of the boat reeled him into the boat before he let go. The seagulls were really hungry. After we finished fishing, we went to get our Florida marriage license. YIPEE!! I know the people in the courthouse thought we were crazy because we smelled like fish. The beach was so nice. The water was crystal clear. It was nice to get away, but always great to get back home. Thanks Jim and Andi for a wonderful weekend.

Following Blogs

I have been following several blogs, but I have found one that is so fun to follow. It is called "Three Boys and a Dog". The web address is www.momof3boys3702.blogspot.com. Kelli is the host for this blog. She always post reviews of different items on her page. Today she has a new brand of purse from Jumeau. There website is www.jumeaubags.com. They have cute purses and belts at very reasonable prices. Everyone should go to these sites and check them out. It is amazing what you can find on blog sites.

Getting Started

I have finally decided it was time for me to get on the "blogging boat". I have several friends that have been blogging for a long time. I have always wanted to blog, but I wasn't sure if I could keep up with it. So, here it goes!!

I guess the title of my blog should have been "The Future Mr. and Mrs. Lutz", but we only have 48 more days until the wedding. I didn't want to change it once it was set up. Wow, did I say only 48 days til the wedding. Our engagement has gone by so fast.

I hope everyone enjoys my (our) blog!!