Telegram

Anything interesting in the mail today?

Oooo, what's this?

Wha? A telegram? My sister sent me a telegram? Nah...it's gotta just be a cool envelope.

But that doesn't look like a normal letter coming out of there...

It's definitely not a normal letter...what in the world?

It is a telegram! An authentic telegram! Straight out of the early 20th century!

Let's see what was so important that Heather had to tell me via telegram. Anything interesting?

Uh, nope.

But I'm still glad she sent it. Sure made me feel special. Like I was Susan receiving a telegram in Boston from my twin sister Sharon in California...I'll be surprised if anyone besides Heather knows what I'm referring to.

Oh, and Auntie Heather? Your niecey-poo pie Penny loves the telegram too.

Note: The telegram does, as you can see, display a date of November 10...but it's seriously just out of the question that it took me two months after receiving it to blog about it. Who is that disorganized? Really.

Someone's been feeling sentimental lately...

Wedding Slideshow from Hayley Tyler on Vimeo.

I love you Brent Tyler, so much more than I dreamed could be possible on the day of our wedding. I have God and His plan of salvation to thank for that.

Memories

731 days ago at about this time Brent and I were sitting in a little corner of a Starbucks just minutes away from the apartment he would bring me home to the next day. Brent looked a little pathetic because he was struggling to fight off a wicked cold that threatened to take some of the life out of him for his wedding day. I looked raggedy with no make-up on, my hair back in a messy knot and sweatpants...not to mention I felt as if I was coming down with Brent's cold. Nonetheless, we were giddy, mushy and sentimental as we presented our wedding gifts to each other. I gave him the project I had been working on ever since our engagement: a journal full of cute text message conversations, love letters, pages from my own diary, little mementos from special dates...a complete chronology of the development of our relationship. On the inside cover of the book was an envelope that held the vows I had written and prepared to read to him in front of God and 150 friends and family the next day. Brent gave me a Bible...the very Bible I assumed I had lost over a month ago...the very one whose leather and binding was falling apart, so he confiscated it and sent it off to get rebound. His gift also included a new ESV study Bible for himself, and a leather bound version of his favorite daily devotional for us to share. His gift meant a lot to me because it was a further assurance that as my husband he was going to lead me to know and love Christ more, day by day. We spent the rest of our short time together that morning holding each others hands and giggling as we exclaimed, "It's actually happening!! Tomorrow!"

I made a stop at Macy's on my way home to go to the Christian Dior counter. I needed eye shadow for the big day. I would have purchased this key element of the wedding day make over MONTHS earlier, but up until that day I had assumed I was going to borrow the eye shadow from a friend, an arrangement that I had recently discovered wasn't going to work out, so I had to purchase the eye shadow for myself.

So I approached the woman at the Dior counter and inquired about the eye shadow I was looking for...she led me over to her selections promptly. Because I was bursting with excitement I filled her in on what was happening...I was to be married the next day! She looked at me a little oddly. I can't blame her. There I stood, alone, with no bridesmaids, purchasing make up for a wedding that was to take place in less than 24 hours, and my face looked pale and blotchy and zitty. Yes, zitty. I was suffering from a terribly painful breakout at the time...and I hadn't bothered to put on make-up before I left home that morning. After I paid for the make-up and was about to leave the counter, the woman offered this: "Make sure you wear concealer. Lots of concealer." She was just trying to be helpful. :)

I went home and spent the next few hours wrapping gifts for bridesmaids, parents, florists, everyone who put their time and energy and love into our big day. I took a long shower, shaved my legs till they were smooth as can be, and primped myself up for the rehearsal. My sister in law was the only other person at my parents' house that day, and she kept remarking at the lack of my panic. I have to admit, I felt a little panicy on the inside...I was SURE and CONFIDENT that I wanted to go through with my vows the next day, but I was a little anxious about the logistics of it all. Brent and I had decided on a morning ceremony, starting at 9 o'clock, which meant that pictures would have to start promptly at 8, which meant the bridal party would have to be at the church no later than 7:45, which meant I had to leave my hairdresser's place no later than 7, which meant that I had to be at my hairdresser's place no later than 6, which meant I had to leave my house no later than 5:30, which meant I needed to be out of bed and completely packed for my honeymoon no later than 4:30 am. 4:30 am, on my wedding day. All of that for a 9 am ceremony. Crazy. But still, in retrospect, so worth it.

Brent picked me up for the rehearsal at about 2:30 pm, I think. It was to start at 3. When we arrived at the church we were both blown away at how our friends and family had transformed it. One of my bridesmaids was the official florist who had come up with all the plans and decorations based on my basic color preferences and favorite flowers. She performed wonderfully at delegating work to probably 10-15 other people who volunteered their time to help set up the church and reception hall. Brent and I walked through the entryway, the chapel, the reception hall, gasping at the beautiful floral transformation that had taken place. It truly seemed to me a fairytale setting for our wedding.

The rehearsal began and was completed smoothly...we had the best wedding coordinator we could have asked for. An old friend of my mom's that gave us her services for free. She ran that rehearsal with an iron fist, and I am so thankful she did. It gave everyone else a break from feeling helplessly in control of something, and it gave me a sense of calm that someone else knew how the logistics were going to work out, and how to communicate those logistics to everyone else involved. I'm still so thankful to God for her.

Then we were off to our rehearsal dinner that my soon to be in-laws so graciously hosted at the romantic Beckham Grill. A multiple course steak dinner was provided, but for some reason the dish that stands out to me was the french onion soup. Delicious. And comforting, seeing as I was coming down with Brent's cold. We did a little bit of dancing at the rehearsal dinner, because the church we were to be married at was a Baptist church and didn't allow dancing in their reception hall. So Brent and I danced our "First Dance" to "If I Ain't Got You" and my dad and I danced to "I Loved Her First."

By the end of the night Brent was struggling severely with his cold, and we were all getting anxious at how early we would have to wake up the next morning. After making sure everyone got their gifts and seeing their reactions to them, Brent and I made as early of a night as possible by saying our goodbyes and whisking out of there. He dropped me off at my home, and before I got out of the car we kissed. It would be our last kiss before we were man and wife.

I stayed up a little later than I should have that night joking around with my brother, chatting with my parents, and making sure I had everything packed for the honeymoon. When I finally laid down in bed for the night, I had those tinglies in the pit of my stomach that made sleep evasive.

It was surprisingly difficult to wake up the next morning at 4:30 am. I had thought my adrenaline and excitement was going to propel me out of bed, but in those moments of reaching out to shut off my alarm I actually had to convince myself that waking up this early for my WEDDING was an exciting thing.

I took a relaxing ten minute bath, got into some comfy sweats, and went about doing my make-up...with lots and lots of concealer. (Oh, my poor painful swollen zitty face that day.) I discovered that my voice was completely hoarse...Brent's cold had hit me hard. I brought my suitcase and my wedding dress downstairs where my dad was waiting in his suit, ready to drive me to my hairdresser's house. My brother decided to come with us at that early hour...I guess he just wanted to soak up time with his sister before she became a wife.

We got to my hairdresser's house promptly at 6 am, and I sat in her kitchen while she primped and curled and twisted and sprayed, all the while wearing jammies, slippers and a big comfy robe. She sent me off to the bathroom to get a good look in the mirror to make sure my hair was just how I wanted it...it was perfect. She hugged me good-bye and sent me with warm wishes. At the sight of me with my wedding hair, tiara and veil in place my dad became a little soft and vulnerable, but moments later he whipped himself into place.

From there we raced to the chapel. Brent called me as we were on our way and discovered my lack of voice...he laughed and said he liked it. We couldn't wait to see each other, but we had decided long before that his first glance at me that day would be as I was coming down the aisle to him.

We arrived at the church and I dashed off to the bridesmaids ready room. Such a sweet time with my girls...my older sister, my best friend, and my mentor/best friend. All three looked so beautiful in their cherry red gowns. They all chipped in to help button up my dress, and my sister helped me with the touch-ups of my make-up.

Soon we were whisked off by our photographer to go take photos of me with my bridesmaids. Her second shooter was simultaneously taking photos of the groomsmen, being careful the two groups didn't cross paths. The hour flew by as quickly as five minutes, and soon enough we rushed back to the church to gather ourselves for the beginning of the ceremony. My dad knocked at the bridesmaids ready room and came in to pray with me for this huge event.

The ceremony began. Parents were walked down the aisle and groomsmen took their place to the main theme of Forest Gump. The music faded, then the main theme of Ratatouille started. My bridesmaids made their way slowly and elegantly down the aisle to the pretty music, then my dad carried his 1 1/2 year old granddaughter to the start of the aisle, set her down, and told her to go to her mother (my matron of honor). She decided to run down the aisle with a big smile, yelling "Rah-rah-rah-rah!" the whole way down. The chapel erupted with laughter. So did I. My dad came back for me, and we journeyed out to the start of the aisle. We began our walk toward Brent as the crescendo came, and my joy at the reality of this moment made my heart swell.

The ceremony was short and sweet. Our good friend and my bridesmaid's husband officiated for us, and my dad gave a short message on marriage and what it has to do with salvation. My brother played a guitar solo, "Here, There, and Everywhere," and my sister-in-law sang a duet with a good friend of ours, "Come What May." It was magical. We became man and wife, and we walked back down the aisle to Ratatouille's "Le Festin" in ecstasy.

Family photos came next, then we were whisked off by our photographers for bride and groom shots. We were away from the reception hall much longer than we had intended, but our photographers were unrelenting and would not set us free to go enjoy the rest of our celebration until they were content with their shots. It felt like they walked us around the entire city of Pasadena finding the most artistic places to take romantic photos. I am so thankful for the photos and the talent of our photographers, but I still cringe every time I remember how long our guests were waiting for us to arrive at the reception.

Thankfully my brother and sister-in-law kept everyone entertained by their emceeing. While we were away they passed around the guests two baby outfits, one for a baby boy and one for a baby girl. They said that when the outfits got back to the microphones, the outfit with the most money inside represented the gender of Brent and Hayley's first child. When we arrived at the reception hall we were greeted with the news that our first baby was to be a girl, as the girl's outfit was about $100 heavier. Oh, and Brent and I picked up some cash for the honeymoon.

The rest of the reception was full of laughter and games, feasting and cake. It was the best wedding either of us had ever been to. It featured the best looking and tasting cake in my memory...handcrafted by my mother-in-law. My voice was nothing but a croak that made people cringe and tell me to stop talking. It was wonderful.

As Brent and I pulled out of the church parking lot as man and wife, our car was pelted with wet, soggy carnation flower balls that no longer had any better use.

Our first stop was our apartment. We parked and Brent walked me to the gate. I thought how odd we must look to anyone peering out of there window at that moment...all gussied up in wedding attire, when everyone else in our complex had probably had a lazy and uneventful Saturday morning thus far. Brent picked me up and carried me over our threshold...we were home.

We got ready to head down to Anaheim where we were staying at the California Grand Hotel at Disneyland that night. I was feeling rotten and exhausted with my cold at that point, and anything above a whisper brought searing pain to my throat. I removed my make-up, took out my contacts and washed my hair, put on comfortable clothes and then we were off to the start of our honeymoon.

When we checked in at the hotel, Brent proudly proclaimed that the woman to his right was his new bride. The lady behind the counter practically did a double take at me...could this woman have been a bride only hours ago? Pale, blotchy and zitty face, wet and unbrushed hair, glasses on her face, looking as exhausted as if she had run a marathon that day? She congratulated us nonetheless and gave us "Just Married" pins and a signed photo of Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

We ordered room service that night and took a break from eating to go out on the balcony where we had a perfect view of Disneyland's fireworks show. So perfect. The place where we met was where we ended our magical wedding day.

Oh, sweet memories.

A Bit of Everything

As always I've had lots to blog about but I haven't been blogging. I'm just about bursting at the seams. This post will be a smorgasbord of different pictures, stories and alerts that I need to get off my chest.

Nerds

If a word were to describe my relationship with my best girlfriend, Holly, I think "spontaneity" would do it. We've known each other for most of our lives and you would be surprised to find out how many of our thousands of adventures together were planned only hours or minutes before they transpired.

The adventure I'm featuring here today is the "'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1' Opening Night Event." We had just so happened to schedule a pumpkin mousse date together the day before the opening of HP7. As we lingered over our afternoon dessert, we animatedly discussed various topics, including the upcoming release of the movie. We came up with the idea of searching for tickets for that night's midnight showing of the film and going to see it together. It took us about a half hour to find three tickets together on opening morning (one for Holly, one for Brent, and one for me), but when we finally did, we were ecstatic. Somewhere along the lines Holly came up with the idea of dressing up as Hogwarts pupils, and even though I made the disclaimer that Brent would not only NOT dress up with us, but that he would also be embarrassed to be seen with us, I readily agreed to the proposition. We spent about five minutes in each of our closets coming up with our outfits. I even had some wooden chopsticks from China that worked as our wands!

Quite a night to remember.

I don't think Holly or I should ever try out for acting...neither of our faces look very convincing here. I mean, do YOU sense that we're about to cast a spell on you?

I look more like a teacher reprimanding a student here than anything else.

Holls, I love you...but what kind of spell-casting form is that?

Uhoh.

Stews and Hungry Brothers

Last Friday night I made Boeuf Bourguignon Soup and Horseradish Chive Bread courtesy of the December 2010 issue of Martha Stewart Living. The soup was tasty as stews go, but not good enough that I will ever make it again. Brent and I have discovered that we are simply not beef stew people.

The bread was different, as you can imagine, with horseradish as the main ingredient. It was not unpleasant, and in fact, it was very good, but all three people who ate it that night decided they much prefer good ol' buttery garlic french bread.

My brother was the third taster that evening. Half of the french bread I prepared with butter, and the other half of it I prepared with a dairyless spread that was safe for my brother to eat. Before we served up, I announced to him that the right half of the loaf was safe for him, thinking he might want to take some home.

Nope, that is not how my brother thinks.

When he hears that a certain amount of food was set aside and intended just for him, he sees no reason to not eat it all in one sitting. It was such a surprise to turn around and see an entire half loaf of french bread on his plate! It made me laugh out loud.

Oh, and he finished every bite. In one sitting. In case you were wondering.

And I'm pretty sure he actually woke up with a tinier tush the next morning. How I despise track stars.

Miss Georgie Eloise

As many of you know, my niece is living with my mom and dad this month, allowing my sister, Heather, to get an extended time of rest while battling Lyme disease. Even though it's heart-breaking that Georgie must be separated from her parents for these weeks, we are loving having her down here with us!

I want to share a story that I think Heather will get a kick out of, and perhaps a few of you might giggle through as well. It's one of those stories that MIGHT be a "you have to be there" tale, so please bear with me as I try to relate the hilarious events.

Further disclaimer...the situation I'm about to relate was experienced through turkey goggles by everyone involved; it occured on the evening of Thanksgiving, after consuming large amounts of turkey, and I don't believe I was the only slap-happy person in the room. Therefore, the story may not be as funny as I remember it to be.

But here goes.

I was sitting on the couch with a Georgie on my lap, playing and talking with me. All of the sudden, she very seriously asked me to open my mouth. I obliged. After looking deeply into my mouth, she further asked me to stick out my tongue. Again, I obliged. This produced a frown in the 3 1/2 year old face and these announcements: "Ewwww, your tongue is kind of dirty. Let me go get a wipe to clean it."

I laughed as she hopped off my lap and secretly hoped something would distract her along the way to getting a wipe. But nothing did. Less than a minute later she reappeared on my lap with a wipe.

"Would you please open your mouth?"

Laughter, then, "No, you can't clean my tongue with a wipe!"

"Please! It's really dirty!" (Starts prying my mouth open)

I'm giggling so hard that I'm having a hard time resisting the little hands that want to get inside my mouth. Eventually my mouth submits and falls open, but the thought of a wipe on my tongue is so revolting that my head instinctively backs away.

"Please! Hold still! I need to clean your tongue!"

More laughter. And more attention from around the room has started to point toward our corner.

Finally Georgie wins the battle and starts scrubbing my tongue. I'm having a hard time doing anything but laughing and making a sour face.

Georgie then backs off the tongue, and takes a comprehensive glance at the rest of my face. She sees my eyeshadow and decides it's dirty and needs to be washed off. She proceeds about her business in a manner that suggests she has never heard the word "gentle," much less knows the meaning of it, and occasionally pauses to get a better grip of my head and to exasperatingly command, "Please! Stop laughing! I need to clean your face! Stop laughing!"

By this time the tears have started flowing (I always cry when I laugh). Also, by this time the entire room is focused on the little girl and her intense obsession with my face's cleanliness.

My unhelpful family started suggesting other parts of my head that might be really dirty...my ears, my nose.

Oh, my nose. The little girl, with a serious face, had to crouch on my lap to peer up my nostrils, then took her wiped and scrubbed them out.

The whole room was roaring, and I was defenseless as a result of my giggling.

Georgie leaned back and took another comprehensive glance at my face, then declared, "You need to flow some water out of your eyes to wash away the tears."

I fell over into Brent laughing. When I sat back up, Georgie was trying to hide a smile. When the room's laughter had died down, she finished with, "Maybe not!" ???

I don't know. After writing all of this out, I'm realizing it's SO not a blogworthy story. But at least I'll have it forever recorded for my own sweet memory's sake.

Penny

We have officially named the kitten: Penny. Thank you for all of your suggestions...they were all super cute. Brent was determined that her name be short and easy to say, and when he thought of Penny, the name just stuck. We went through a few other options before discovering the winner.

BTW, even though she has an official name, she gets called "this little one" or "the kitten" more often than anything else. And she gets called "sweetness" a lot by me.

Penny and PDub are now officially friends...best friends at that. It took two days of PDub absolutely detesting the ground she walked on and three consequent days of PDub being pretty sure we got her as his girlfriend (thank goodness both cats are fixed) before they discovered that they are perfect pals to play and cuddle with. Penny absolutely adores PDub and loves to interact with him, standing up on her hind legs to hug him around the neck and bite his cheek many times a day. PDub seeks out the little one many times a day for a good wrestle, and often I will find them playing with the same toy.

Penny does have a few faults.

1) She's smelly. If you dig your nose into her fur, it's actually quite appalling. We plan on giving her a bath, but we want her to heal up completely from her surgery first. Her breath is putrid, and her farts are deadly. She graces everyone with a little S.B.D. just about every time they hold her.

But we love her anyway.

2) She loves walking on our faces at night, trying to wake us up to be interactive in our cuddling with her. We've had to banish her to the living room at night lately so that we can get good rest.

3) Any time she sees a plate with human food on it, she charges onto the lap of whoever is eating it, puts her little paws on it, and starts snacking. That is, if you let her. If you don't let her, then it's a constant exhausting battle during the entire meal to keep her away from your plate. Brent and I suspect that her foster mom allowed her to eat human food off the plate...this cat just does not get it. We're working on this characteristic. In the meantime, enjoy these videos.

Thanks for your time, folks!

A New Addition to Our Family

Meet the kitten. Brent's new favorite baby.

He's been hinting of his desire for his very own kitten for a while now, ever since he determined that my cat, P-Dub, will simply never have the kind of relationship with him that P-Dub has with me. Unless I'm not home, Brent's will never be P-Dub's first choice of lap to sit on, and even when I'm away it's iffy. P-Dub will never act happy when Brent picks him up and strokes him (even though his purring gives him away).

Brent wants a kitten, a GIRL kitten, that will fall in love with him and choose him FIRST as a snuggly bed. So I got one for him, for Christmas.

I know it's early for Christmas presents, even early Christmas presents, but the first day I did research on available kittens I found one that I thought might just be perfect. A visit to meet her the next day confirmed my suspicion, so I snatched her up as quickly as I could. The Burbank Animal Shelter and it's pet adoption program made everything so easy (and extremely easy on the wallet)!

Coming home from work last night to a new baby kitten was a bit of a surprise for Brent. Although he knew that I was getting him a kitten for Christmas, I had led him to believe that I was going to be a stickler to the old-fashioned notion of giving Christmas presents to their receivers on Christmas DAY (I usually am). But when God made this kitten available to me so early, I just couldn't wait. So after I picked her up from the animal shelter I took her home and sat with her in the bathroom until Brent got home about an hour and a half later.

The doll baby spent about ten minutes exploring every nook and cranny of our little bathroom before she climbed up onto my lap and got all cozy to fall asleep. Eventually I had to get up to prepare for Brent's arrival, and when I was finished I discovered P-Dub and the kitten having a very awkward moment of introduction from opposite sides of the bathroom door.

Then Brent came home.

Brent fell in love with her right away, and over the course of the evening melted away into nothingness. We spent the remainder of the evening crooning over our new baby girl and loving her easy going nature and her uninhibited habit of crawling into comfy looking and available laps.

P-Dub and the kitten did eventually meet face to face. We let P-Dub into the bathroom while the kitten was curled contentedly on Brent's lap. P-Dub charged right past Brent and the baby and spent about ten minutes "looking" for the kitten, even though we all knew HE knew exactly where she was. He played dumb, though, searching empty corners, mirrors and perfume bottles for her, and then finally ended up again next to Brent and the kitten. (Brent and I think he didn't WANT to find the kitten...he was SO in total denial.) When P-Dub finally allowed himself to lock eyes on our girlie, you could see the severe hatred in his eyes. He hissed gallons of tuna breath with all of the might of his body toward her, leaving Brent quite faint and kitty extremely dazed and confused. (Our kitty has spent all of her young life in the home of a nice woman who had two full-grown cats, a medium-sized dog and another foster kitten her age...all animals that loved our girl to pieces and probably never hissed at her once.) Not quite the introduction I was hoping for.

After that introduction, and a whack to the face from a livid P-Dub that sent her flying, our kitty didn't want to be anywhere in our house except for on one of our bodies or hidden away in some dark alcove. At least she feels safe in our arms. :) Nothing worse than a cat who stays away from people at all costs.

This is the most CUDDLY girl you have ever seen. She has a playful side, I know because it was the only side I saw of her the day that I visited her in her foster parent's home. But I think because of the trauma of yesterday, all she wants to do is stay safe and close to one of our warm bodies. As I write, she lies inside my zip-up sweatshirt in a deep sleep, making suckling noises; she's pooped after having a playful session of poking her head out of my sweatshirt at my neck and trying with all her might to snatch the string of my hoodie. Aw. :)

Can't wait for my love to get home from work tonight so that we can get back to enjoying her TOGETHER.

And in case you were wondering, a name is in the works.

I haven't been blogging about food lately.

You can blame Starbucks for that. Since I've been working I just haven't been cooking as much, and when I do get the chance to make a home cooked meal for Brent, we're not always eager to try a new recipe. I have been doing some experimenting, though, so here are some recipes that we've tried in the last several months.

Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta

This is a Pioneer Woman recipe. Looks delicious, huh? It could have been extremely delicious, had my husband not bought me a juicer only a couple of days before I made this. The recipe calls for three whole lemons, juiced, and because of the novelty of my new toy I went a little juicer-happy and sent three whole lemons, rind, peel and all, through the juicing machine. The result was, I think, not what our dear friend Pioneer Woman had in mind when she asked for "3 whole lemons, juiced." I may as well have added a quarter cup of dishwashing detergent to my pasta sauce...it wasn't pleasant.

The chicken was good though!

So good in fact, that when Brent and I had managed as much of the sour pasta down our throats as we could, I dug around through the rest and salvaged the chicken to use in a later meal.

We will definitely be trying this dish again, with "3 whole lemons, juiced" with our hands...throwing away the rind, peel and seeds.

Pasta with Pancetta and Leeks

This was an extremely easy meal to prepare. It was satisfying but not too rich, and had that unique flavor of leeks sauteed in butter. I really like leeks. Unfortunately my Brent does not. So although I would recommend this recipe to those who like leeks, I will not be making this again.

Hmmm...except maybe I should try it with green onion. Oh my. Yes. That would be tasty.

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos with Cilantro-Lime Dressing

This is a recipe that my sis introduced to me when I was up helping her out earlier this Fall. She and Matt had already tried it and knew it was good, so she requested that I make it while I was up there. I did, fell in love, and made it for Brent soon after I returned home. He fell in love at first morsel as I did.

I love this recipe because not only is it incredibly easy (ESPECIALLY if you use a rotisserie chicken), but it also accommodates various food intolerance diets. It is, of course, gluten free, as the tortillas are made out of corn. The taquitos are also delicious when you omit the pepperjack and the cream cheese...I know, I made them for my brother who avoids dairy like the plague and he ate 12 in one sitting, plus or minus a couple.

The cilantro lime dressing is tricky if you're dairy free...I almost got away with dairy-less products until I double checked the ingredients list of the Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing packet and saw that it has buttermilk derivatives or something like that. My brother ended up eating the taquitos dry, dipping them in *gulp* Italian dressing when he wanted to (that sounds disgusting), guacamole or pico de gallo. And he loved 'em that way.

Avacado Tomato Salad

This is a recipe my grandparents stumbled upon in their town's newspaper. They tried it and instantly became addicted, making it two or three times a week. Eventually they decided to share their treasure with friends and family and emailed the recipe to us. I was wary of it at first because one of the main ingredients is cottage cheese...I'm pretty hit or miss with cottage cheese and I know plenty of people who gag at the thought of it.

But my intrigue won over my fright and we tried it. I LOVE it, I could eat it every day for the rest of my life and grow deeper every moment in my affections for it. Ok, so that's an overstatement. A huge one. But the point is, this is WAY better than you think it's going to be and is actually quite delicious! I'm serving it up again tonight!

Brent is one of those people who is not merely "hit or miss" with cottage cheese, he just plain doesn't like it. So, his judgement on whether or not he likes the salad is an undecided one...but it's not NO.

Try it..you never know. This may be your new afternoon snack.

The recipe: 4 large ripe avocados, cut into 1-inch cubes ,4 large tomatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces, 1-cup cottage cheese, 2-3 teaspoons of garlic salt. Combine all the ingredients, serve after refrigerating one hour.

Since you asked...

...here are the duds.

These are duds because the frosting isn't smooth enough, there's a smudge on the bat, and the spider web is discolored in some places. But this is basically what the cookies looked like.