You might be a Redneck if....

You like to go to the county fair for a monster truck rally and a demolition derby!! This past week has been very eventful! On Monday Troy and I went to the fair in Aiken to see the monster truck rally. I have never been to one and thought it might be fun. It was!! We had a blast watching the trucks. They were awesome! Also, Troy had his first funnel cake ever!!! I can't believe he has never had one. On Friday we went up to Greenville, SC. It is such a beautiful town. We went shopping in the cute stores downtown and went to the park right in the middle of downtown. There is a river going through, and they had a beautiful park surrounding it. There is a big suspension bridge that I tried to get a few pictures of, but it was dark and raining a little bit. Then on Saturday we headed back to the fair to see the Demolition Derby. That was also tons of fun. For some reason it is so entertaining to see cars crash into each other! After the derby we walked around the fair and Troy played a few games. He won the strongman game and got a blow up baseball bat! We stayed busy this week, but had so much fun!

Utah Part 2

We went to Salt Lake a few times to hang out. We found a new restaurant that we really liked. It was Rumbi Island Grill. They had stir fry and rice, and it was so good. Dave and Crystal took us there and I'm glad they did. We drove around to see the new temples being built there. The Draper Temple is finished on the outside, and the Oquirrh Temple still has a way to go. They are both very pretty though. We hung out at the Gateway Mall for a while and also went to Gardner Village. That is such a fun place to go. It is set up just like a little village, and each store is in a cottage. They have such cute stuff. During the holidays, they get all decked out. For halloween, they had huge witches everywhere. We also spent a few days up in Logan visiting my family and Troy's family. We drove through the Logan Canyon and discovered a little cave/spring. It is fed underground by the Logan River. I loved spending time with my nephew Will. He is such a happy little boy and loves to be the entertainer. We had such a great trip and can't wait to get back out there.

Utah

We were able to take a trip to Utah on October 1-8. We had such a good time and did not want to leave. We didn't do anything major, but still had a great time. We hung out with family a lot and went to all our favorite places out there. We also got to go to General Conference. It was such a great experience--I wish I could go for every session! The colors were changing in the mountains and it was beautiful! It looked like fruity pebbles had just been poured over everything. We went hiking and took lots of drives through the mountains. We went on a hike in one of the canyons by Tooele. It was beautiful!!! We went right along a stream with some waterfalls. Then we got back in the car and drove up to the top of the mountain. At the top, we could see Tooele, the Great Salt Lake, the entire Salt Lake Valley, and the north end of the Utah Valley. It also looked right into the big cooper mine they have. It was amazing.

Cirque de la Symphonie

On Friday Troy and I were able to go to Cirque de la Symphonie. It was fantastic!! It was a concert by the Augusta Symphony, and they had different acts to go along with the music. They had jugglers, strongmen, acrobats, contortionists, aerial flyers, and one or two more acts. Although we were sitting way in the back, we were exactly in the center so we could see everything very well. Here is a picture of us, taken by the Augusta Chronicle photographer. It's not a very good picture, but it's all I have! These are pictures from 2 of the acts. Here is a link to see a short video clip of some of the acts from Friday. http://apps.augusta.com/video/video.html?id=1367 Hopefully one day I will be able to go see Cirque de Soleil, which is the inspiration for the Cirque de la Symphonie. Speaking of shows, on November 1st, Troy and I are going to Atlanta to go see the broadway play "Wicked"! I have been wanting to see it for a long time, and I am so excited for the chance to go!

Food Storage

So on the first weekend of September, Troy and I went up to Columbia with the Lerchs to get food storage. I have never been to the cannery before but I had a lot of fun. We were able to can wheat, rice, beans, oats, and sugar. They also let us take a peek into the Bishop's storehouse and talked to us about the church welfare program. It is amazing! I think the guy even said the church has the biggest cattle ranch in the U.S. Has anyone else heard this? Afterwards we went out to eat at Chili's and did a little shopping. I am trying to get a 1-year food supply a little at a time. So far I have met the basic requirement for salt, sugar, wheat, oats, and rice. I am also working on adding extra things as they come on sale. For example, Publix always has buy 1 get 1 free's, so I have added some salsa, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, ketchup, and honey. I also canned some blueberry jam. I meant to get peaches and can those this summer, but I never had time to do that. Hopefully I can do it next summer. Also soon I want to start working on emergency supplies, such as flashlights, batteries, etc. I had posted a link to a blog that is all about food storage, and they have tips on everything!

Mom's Birthday

Mom's birthday was on Sunday, and she got stuck with only Troy and I! Poor thing! So after church we came home and cooked a little dinner for her--shrimp, potatoes, and fresh from the garden Utah corn--yum. We got out the "fancy plates" and tried to make it nice. After dinner, we got out the cake and sang. We bought her a Publix cake. I got addicted to those because thats what Troy's mom buys for birthdays. They are soooo good and soft and light and fluffy and they have the best icing. We also bought these cute twirly candles for her to blow out. I posted the video of Troy and I singing to her, but it sure doesn't sound good! I was not blessed with the talent of singing. Oh well, it's the thought that counts, right?! Happy Birthday Mom!

PBR

So last weekend Troy and I decided we would go to the rodeo over in Aiken. We love rodeos and go just about every time they come to town. So we drive all the way out there, get settled in our seats, and it begins. We then find out that this is not really a rodeo-this was the PBR- Professional Bull Riders. They were only having the event where the guys had to ride the bull for 8 seconds. I like that event, but I also like all the others events and having a variety of things to watch. After a while, watching only one event can get a little boring. We still had a good time though, and it's fun to go to the different events around town. The good news is that there is a real rodeo coming in September, and they are going to have all of the events. So Troy and I are looking forward to going to that.