Christmas Eve & Christmas Morning 2010

I guess I'll just skip Thanksgiving and all our parties and go straight to Christmas Eve:) I'll back track later.

Tubbs Family Christmas Extravaganza in Birmingham. Missing Bob & JoAnne this year:( They had to go see Philip's grandmother in Ohio at the last minute.

Quick stop in Opelika to get Charlie & Presents

Charlie on Christmas morning with his one present

Outdoor speakers!! Wahoo!!!

We hooked mom up with some important entertaining items (like a cheese board & knives) for all the parties they have in Eufaula.

Whatch out! New sweater!

Auburn v. Georgia 2010

Amidst much controversy, Auburn and Georgia managed to play a really great game! (Sans the fight at the end!) And we had a great day!!! I can't believe we didn't take a pic with our weekend warriors, Andrea & Cayce. We've had such a blast with them this year!

Don't ask what's on dad's head. He was so proud of it...

Me and Phil with the Turners

Cousins, and two dates

The Naperville Posse

One of our last weekends of freedom before marathon training begins.

Waaaar Eagle! Hey!

Bo knows Auburn football! And how to sport orange cowboy boots!

Go Dawgs!!! War Eagle!!!

Strikin' up the band!!!

No one wanted to leave after the game!! :)

Mr. Hake Goes to Athens

A few weeks ago we went to Athens for the weekend. Here's a recap in pictures!


What I was told is "good beer"

Where "good beer" is made

Manhattan Cafe. Where Philip met Wilco one night after a show.


After dinner at Depalma's Friday night. It was so good I needed a toothpick!

Saturday morning run through campus.



Fun times.

125 Brittain Ave. Oh the memories!!

Ready for some Georgia football!!

The Hake Boys

Me and my Hubbie

Ladies and Gentlemen, theeeee Redcoats are coming!!!

Go Dawgs!!!

Philip walking under the Arch. Only UGA grad allowed!


What every man needs while his wife shops, a cigar and "coffee"

Ramblings- Deee Lite

Oh my gosh. Are these the shoes that Deee Lite wore in the "Groove is in the Heart" video back in 1990???? I think I am having a flashback. Dare I ask why I found these today on Lulus???? Has someone bought these????

Ramblings- Food

Me and Lyndsay- Said Vegetarian- cooking soup mentioned below in Halloween aprons.


So I think I am going to change the blog up a bit. Not so much a journal of everything going on, but just ramblings about whatever is in my head at the moment. I'm going to try to get Philip do do some posts too. We will see how well that works out:)

I think a lot of my ramblings might revolve around food. For a number of reasons, but mainly because 1) I LOVE food and 2) Because I love to cook and 3) I have a husband that also loves to cook and 4) We cook with our neighbors 2-3 times a week and most of them are foodies like us!

Here's a little bit about me and my love of food. I love it! Like really, really love it! I don't necessarily love all foods (mushrooms- yuk! grapefruit- hell no!) but don't consider myself to be a picky eater. Philip, being male, will pretty much eat anything you put in front of him. Except Brussels sprouts. He hates those. What a weirdo.

We consider ourselves to be Flexitarians. It's legitimate, I swear. Basically, we eat meat. Just not a lot of it. I would say 75% of our meals have no meat in them. I'm not willing to go full blown veggie. Way too much trouble for me. However, when I am cooking at home and can control the ingredients, I will probably leave out the meat products. One of our best friends, and someone we cook with a lot, is a vegetarian. Sometimes a pain in the arse. Most of the time, better for my waist line (I'm not always the best with portion control). You'd be surprised how easy it is to make a "meat" meal into a vegetarian meal. For example, I saw this soup recipe on tv last week that I was dying to make it. Sunday nights we usually cook with Said Vegetarian, therefore this recipe needed some changing up. So easy!!! I'll let this be a little test. I'm sure you can figure out the changes that had to be made. Sometimes I think it's fun to try to take a recipe and make it healthier- i.e., vegetarian, less sugar, gluten free.

Sweet n "Saur" Cabbage Soup

Ingredients
•2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
•1/2 pound ham steak, chopped
•1 savoy cabbage, quartered, cored and shredded
•1 onion, quartered and thinly sliced
•1 cup shredded carrots
•2 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
•Salt and pepper
•1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
•2 cups cider
•1/4 cup honey
•1 (14 ounce) can white beans, drained
•1 pound sack sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
•1 quart chicken stock
•1/4 cup chopped dill
•1 cup sour cream, to pass at table
Directions
Heat a soup pot over medium high heat with extra-virgin olive oil. Add ham and lightly brown 2 to 3 minutes. Add shredded cabbage and stir in the onions and carrots as you finish chopping and grating them. Stir in the frozen hash browns and season the vegetables liberally with salt and pepper. Add in a bay leaf, cider, honey, beans, sauerkraut and chicken stock. Place a lid on the pot and bring soup to a boil. Uncover and simmer 10 minutes until vegetables are tender. Stir in dill and adjust seasoning of soup. Serve the soup in shallow bowls and top with sour cream.

We had these sandwiches with it. Holy cow, good!!!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/grilled-cheese-on-pump-recipe/index.html

We are also "those people". I never thought it would happen but then Earth Fare opened and we became "those people" and I am forever changed. When we lived in Birmingham, we couldn't take full advantage of a store like Whole Foods due to the whole one-income-while-the-hubs-is-in-grad-school issue. I also don't think I completely understood the advantages to the products stores like Earth Fare sells. No products with artificial colorings, flavorings, sweeteners or preservatives, no trans-fat, no bleached flour, no animal by-products, etc, etc. Since Earth Fare opened in June, I have only been back to Kroger twice! Nothing against Kroger, but Earth Fare is so clean and pretty. All the hype may be hog-wash but I certainly feel better about myself and what I feed my body. As runners and fairly active peeps, we can both tell a difference in how we feel on runs, bikes, and so on. And I don't feel so bad on those nights we go to Mellow Mushroom or Durangos:) Now one disadvantage I suppose is the price tag. Shopping at these stores is definitely more expensive than your Kroger or Publix. But at this point in my life (only 2.5 mouths to feed), I'm willing to take the hit.

So that's my rambling on food. I have a lot more to say, but this is starting to get long and I feel like I'm loosing all three people that might be reading this.

**** The statements reflected above are strictly my opinion or legitimately random thoughts that pop into my head. I absolutely do not claim to be any sort of expert on food or nutrition.

Bad Girl

I am not very good with the blogging lately:( I looked at my archives and in 2008 and 2009 I had about 75 total posts for each year. This year I'm at about 20 so far. OOOPS! I have been thinking about ways I can change my blog. Different topics to cover, etc. Since I don't got no kiddos, I feel like the Adventures of Mer & Phil are not terribly exciting all the time.

I do need to post about my trip to NYC and Phil's fishing adventures! Stay tuned...

Ohhh snap! Tomorrow I will be in New York City! Living it up with my counsin, Sarah, in Midtown.

I CAN'T WAIT!!!

PS- I have asked for 6 years when we can go to NYC and Philip never wants to. So I bought myself a little ticket and I'm going without him! But don't worry about him, he's fishing with his buddies in Jackson Hole, WY this weekend.

Lake Guntersville

Two weekends ago, Philip participated in a TRI up on Lake Guntersville. Since lodging is limited in Guntersville, we decided to borrow friend Jerry's camper and stay at the state park. We had a blast!!! Trying to set everything up Friday night in the dark was pretty comical! But we eventually figured it all out and it ended up being perfect! To make things better, Philip had a great race Saturday morning!!! Here's a few pics of our adventures. Did I mention we were also dog sitting as well...

Leaving Opelika

Heading back to the campsite after the race. I had three tired pups on my hands!!!
At the campsite after with Bob & JoAnne. Bob did the race too so they came back to the campsite to relax with us for the afternoon.
Charlie and Victor played and played and played all day long!!!
We grilled some burgers for a late lunch!

Saturday evening, Philip and I took some chairs and a beverage down to the edge of the lake. It was beautiful!!!

Then I tought Philip how to play Rummy and totally kicked his fanny! Grandma Tubbs would have been sooooooo proud of me :)

Where has the time gone...

I always feel like I just updated, then I look and see it's been a while. A LOT has gone on since my last post. I'll try to recap in pictures.

June- Cabo San Lucas! Our first experience at an all-inclusive and I'm officially hooked!

Spent 5 days at Dreams Los Cabos

For Susan's wedding!- Nicole, Jamie, Susan, Me & Kinsey

July- Spent 4th of July in Eufuala with the Fukai's. Dad rented a boat and we spent a day on Lake Eufaula. Sunday we had the 2nd Annual Redneck 4th of July Party. Complete with a wedding this year!

Got to meet my cousins little girl Dylan!!! Possibly one of the sweetest babies ever!

Signed up for the Big Sur Marathon on May 1, 2011!!!

Said goodbye to some great friends that moved to Lubbock:( Tubbie stole him from us! They are in this pic somewhere. We miss you tons Brett & Audra!!! None of us can figure out why we are all laughing. We thing James (picture taker) said something along the lines of "Everyone say bleep Texas Tech!!"

August- Celebrated our 4th anniversary on August 5! Our anniversary cocktails!

Then went to Atlanta for the weekend. Stayed at the W in Midtown and it was fabulous!!!! I highly recommend it! We ran in Piedmont Park, went to the Bodies Exhibit, Sweetwater Brewery (see Happy Hubbie above), dinner at Floataway Cafe, brunch at Craft. We had a blast!!!
This weekend we are borrowing a friends camper and heading up to Lake Guntersville. Philip is doing a Tri on Saturday so we figured we'd just stay all weekend. We went last night to stock up on groceries. It should be interesting:)