PowerPlant St. Louis 2011!!!!

We had the largest PowerPlant in history last week and it was in ST. LOUIS...whoop whoop! I hate summing up such an incredible experience into a short blog post- it just doesn't seem right. But alas, it was so great!
Here are all the beautiful faces of our participants:
Some of the kiddos as they arrive for the week:
Yes, there was a kid with a mullet... and he was from Mississippi. Way to represent.

Here I am in front of Sam's with our purchases for just TWO of the seven block parties our project did throughout the week. Just to put it into perspective, we totally bought out their hot dog buns. We had a rapper who goes by the name of Thizzle rap at one of our block parties. Too legit to quit.
Here's an interesting tidbit... at one of the ministry sites, our participants were inviting kids to come to a Vacation Bible School, but the moms weren't letting their kids go because it was too far for them to walk to. One of the adult leaders suggested they just load all the kids in the church vans and they would bring them back home after VBS. And the mothers thought that was a fine idea. So let me sum this up..... mothers let their children get into VANS with STRANGERS.
But aren't they SO CUTE!!!! They were safely delivered back home each day.

Ahhh... St. Louis. I love this city. Maybe we'll live there someday...

Oh Dad.

He's the best.

Happy Father's Day from St. Louis, Ireland, and the Everglades!

Furniture Re-Do Take Two

If you didn't know, all the furniture in my "home office" are hand-me-downs that we are very grateful to have, but certainly do not match. Here's the second piece I painted. It was an old entertainment center, built to hold a TV and had a shelf for a VCR. Remember those?
Here it is after I painted it, and rearranged the shelves to hold my photography packaging supplies. Instead of a TV, my printer fits nicely. And then goodbye to the VCR, hello to office supplies. It's pretty handy!
A quick shot of my office corner. It still needs some work, but it does look way better than before...
And now if we could just install a conveyor belt, haha! Family sessions are ready to be mailed out today- yay!
Last but not least, a blog I recently discovered by clicking on a friend's blog, then on another blog, then on another blog... you know how it goes....

Unexpected Elegance

Check her out- she's so handy! A recent post I read had her seeing a side table she liked from Pottery Barn, then going home and making it herself. Really.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

PJ Joey and Caleb... Best Buddies.

I turned the corner to find Caleb carrying PJ Joey around the house like a sack of potatoes. And the funniest thing is that she didn't seem to mind. She weighs 80 pounds, by the way.

They are pretty much best buds.

Happy Birthday Caleb!

Caleb turned 27 yesterday and we had a wonderful day full of friends, dominos, and good food. I didn't take any pictures at his birthday party (bad wife alert!), but we're so glad our friends were able to make it and enjoy the festivities with us.

Happy Birthday to Caleb who in two weeks will be a FOURTH YEAR Medical Student! That means only one more year, people! Then you will all have to call him Dr. Butts.

Friend Wedding

Our friends Erin and Brad were married this Saturday and it was the most precious ceremony I have been to in a long time. Erin walked down the aisle to "I Surrender All" and every person in the chapel just about lost it.

They're adorable!

Great part about the reception: the candy table. Lots of receptions have candy tables, but this one had a jar with each of the wedding party's favorite candy. What a fun way to personalize an old favorite.

And then me and the Cubster at the reception:

Dying Bouquets make me sad... Fiber makes me happy!

This is my bouquet from Bailey's wedding and I really do think it is the most beautiful bridesmaid bouquet I have ever seen! I wish you all could have seen it fresh and in person. I've had it on our table all week and I just LOVE looking at it everyday.

Here's Molly and I at the Bridesmaid Luncheon held in Bailey's honor. My cute little sister in on a plane bound for Ireland as I type this post. For 52 days, I will eat Lucky Charms and think of her. Just kidding, Molly- I'll be PRAYING for you!

She set up a blog to track her journey:
www.hoppertime.blogspot.com
Go ahead and add it to your blog roll so you can keep up with her adventure!

And finally tonight, a confession. I am addicted to homeade high-fiber granola! That bag is supposed to last me a week! A person with little self-control with food should NEVER just eat high-fiber anything willy-nilly, yet that is what I'm doing!

Recipe (with my twist on it):
On a pan with sides, cover the bottom with raw, old fashioned oats. Then sprinkle ground flaxseed (took me forever to find this at the grocery store) on top of the oats, then sprinkle ground wheat germ (another eternity to locate this) on top of the flaxseed. I thought those two ingredients were scary, but nope, they're tasty. The next layer is mini-chocolate chips. The more the better, I say, but if you're making this to be healthy, just do a decent layer.

Next, in a microwave-safe container, mix a good wollop of peanut butter with 1/4 cup canola oil and a healthy dumping of cinnamon together and microwave until you can mix it all together and pour over the pan of other stuff. (the original recipe also called for 1/4 honey but I forgot to buy that) Mix it ALL together and bake for about 20 minutes at 325 degrees.

A note about my peanut butter- it is "white chocolate peanut butter" and it is made in Heaven. It has no high fructose corn syrup, though, so lay off. You can find it at Wal-Mart.

Enjoy the high-fiber granola and reading Molly's blog!

Furniture Re-Do and Cheese of the Month!

We were given this old dry sink when we got married and I've always sworn I was going to "antique" it one day. Well this is the time to do it, people! I don't know how to antique furniture, but while some pictures were exporting, I found old paint in the shed and a brush we have in the kitchen for rubbing sauces and butter on raw meat and got to work!

I didn't really "antique" it, I just painted it two coats, but it does look a lot better! My little office room has all the hodge-podge furniture in it, so my goal this summer is to do a very cheap re-do of the room. Painting this piece cost zero dollars and just an hour and a half of my time. It looks better in person, but you get the idea:) Caleb suggested getting some artsy hardware for it, and I know that would look really great, but I also really like the idea of it all being completely free.
All in all, I can say I did at least ONE item on my summer To-Do List so it is worth it just for that! Now on to more delicious subjects.... CHEESE! Caleb has been begging to pick a cheese for two months now, so June is all his. His cheese pick?

SMOKED CHEDDAR

And let me tell you something- it is GOOD.

For those of you who like gouda (Boo Boo), then you will really like this one too. I've just been eating it in slices and not cooking with it, because it is that good! I have a dream of making mac and cheese with it though. It would be the best mac and cheese EVER.

Happy Smoked Cheddar Month!

Meeting new little friends and finding hidden beaches

Weddings are not all we've been up to these days. When Caleb and I were heading home from the wedding in Bowling Green, we made a pit stop in Nashville to visit with Laurette and meet Little Travis. That is not his name, but HELLO, look at the kid.
He was the sweetest thing, and didn't mind at all his mama's sanitation practices in the restaurant. Hehehehe. Here's me with one of my best buds. Laurette looks beautiful and I am definitely showing how tired I am!

And recently we discovered Dolphin Island! Caleb calls it the Redneck Riviera, but whatever! It's only about 30 minutes from our house!
I see the disappointment and frustration in people's faces when they ask us how often we go to the beach, and we respond with, "well, not that much really." Gulf Shores is only about an hour and 15 minutes away, but we only go about 4 times a year. When we moved to Mobile I thought we'd go like twice a month. It's tricky with our schedules, but discovering DI does make it easier to just pack a sandwich and go.
So for this summer, come visit the Butts! We'll take you to Dolphin Island and you'll also be able to taste an array of delicious cheeses while in our home! :)

Summer Days, and the living is easy.....

Why is living so easy, you may ponder? Because school's out for summer people. So much has happened in the past month- it has just gone by in a huge whirlwind! We had 4 family weddings, the end of the school year (which was particularly ripe with drama this year... I'll just say it ended in ARSON), the ending and beginning of rotations for Caleb, and just a bunch of other fun stuff. I'll hit the high notes, beginning with....

Family Wedding #1: Kimlee and Josh

Ummm..... seriously- how gorgeous is she. We were not able to make it to this beautiful California wedding, but it's been really fun getting to know Kimlee.

Then there was Jess and Dan's wedding, which was Family Wedding #2 of this month. Here is a pic of me and the gals.

Amanda and Jessica at Navarre, FL

Then there was Family Wedding #3 in Bowling Green, KY:
Erica and Scott

They had the wedding and reception at their home and Caleb was in charge of setting up the pool decorations. The flowers are the decorations- not Caleb.

And then there was Family Wedding #4: Baily and John
Here are the two hottest bridesmaids in the wedding party:

Family Picture- don't we all look so good!

And this is what happens when you give a friendly reminder to look at the camera:

And now for my most favorite picture in the entire world:

This is my grandmother, Nana, and Bailey's friend Clint. Nana most definitely shook her tailfeather on the dance floor. Not sure where Clint acquired the sparkly headband.

Now that wedding season 2011 is complete and everyone is good and hitched, I will begin what I like to call "Tricia's Summer of Television" which is what I do best.