Fair Filled Fun

Friday morning I woke up and said to myself, "We don't really have much going on this weekend." Little did I know how quickly that was about to change. We ended up having a busy weekend with many hours logged at the ole Kentucky State Fair. Dan had to help man the UL HealthCare Mammography Van at the fair, while I spent time indulging in fair food and carnival rides with my cousins, the Buckinghams. Sunday night we were given tickets to see Rascal Flatts in concert at the fairgrounds, courtesy of Dan's boss. It was a fun weekend which is better described in all the following pictures I took to document all the fun activities!

Isabella won 3rd place in the state 4-H Speech competition and was invited to perform her speech at the KSF. I went to watch her give her speech, which was all about chickens!

You can't visit the fair without having some good eats! Love me some funnel cake!

We walked around and saw lots of animals! Uncle Barry got a kick out of the baby chicks, while I was amused by the mini horse (any Rob & Big fans out there?).

Can't go to the fair without riding a ferris wheel!

Isabella and I rode the ferris wheel and had a great view from the top. We also rode a much much faster ride, which you can ask about next time you see me. (Let's just say I almost got off half-way through, but she convinced me otherwise.) Just like any state fair, there are vendors everywhere! As much as I wanted to try a deep-fried oreo or twinkie, I resisted.

I think Isabella and Gabriella had lots of fun exploring all the fair had to offer. Unfortunately none of us explored the famous Donut Burger. This is a hamburger placed between two Krispy Kreme donuts instead of buns. Yum!

Sunday night we were on our way to see Rascal Flatts. We parked and rode the shuttle (aka a tractor pulling a trailor) around to the front entrance.

We walked around for a bit before the concert. Here is a picture of some of the entries in the baked goods category. Maybe next year one of my breads can make a KSF appearance! I was amazed at all of the entry categories: baked goods, antiques, textiles, floral arrangements, art and photography, woodworking, and even homemade brew! There is also an area where different counties in KY are represented. Unfortunately, Fulton Co was not represented. Cash clan, maybe we should work on that! Grant Co, however, was!

I had seen Rascal Flatts in concert before; they were great then and were great now too!

Lately

Just sitting and thinking about how I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks and thought this would be the perfect time. I'm sitting at home with my computer in my lap which can only mean one thing: I'm looking for sub jobs. Now that schools are back in session, I am back to spending hours on the online substitute management system searching for jobs, for this is the only way to secure a job subbing in Louisville. Dan will quickly say that if I'm at home, my browser is open to this website.

Most of you know that I have spent the past few semesters working towards acceptance to UofL's MAT (Masters of Arts in Teaching) program. I was officially accepted and finished my first two graduate classes this summer. I have also spent the summer searching for full-time teaching jobs and going to interviews. It has been a very stressful process, to say the least. And here it is almost September and I'm still jobless. I've gotten good feedback from my interviews and my professors, but haven't landed the job yet. So now my plan is to continue looking for a job until the end of this year, sub as much as I can, and take one class, math methods. If January comes and I still don't have a full-time teaching job, I will then attend grad school full-time and complete the MAT program as quickly as possible.

The last couple of weeks have been somewhat normal for us. Dan has been traveling a lot lately, either for work or visiting friends and family. I have been doing anything I can to keep myself busy, especially on the hot days we've been having. Some family birthdays are coming up so I decided to fill my time with some craft projects to give as gifts, pics to come later.

Micah is now officially back in Lexington, so we look foward to seeing her more often, like meeting in Shelbyville for dinner at Cracker Barrel. Mom, Milton, and Morgan visited and stayed a night in Louisville when moving Micah back to Lex. The highlight of their visit was definitely driving to Graeter's in the Celica; I still can't believe we all fit in there. Unfortunately I didn't document the event with any pictures.

To end the post, I am including a picture of Dan and his dad from Dan's visit home last Sunday. He went to visit after hearing that their family's dog, Lucy, had to be put to sleep. :-( They had Lucy for 11 years and she was a special member of their family. One of the first emails Dan ever sent to me before we started dating included a picture of Lucy.

Dan and his dad, Marc. Dan likes the country life.

Dan's family's dog, Lucy. She'll be missed!

Fun-filled Weekend

Well it's been yet another fun-filled, exciting weekend in the Tepe household. We had another wedding to attend and Mal came to visit from Lex. Oh, and did I mention we had to take our car to the shop yet again?

Friday morning we took the Mazda to a repair shop to get checked out. Dan hit a large bump in the road on Thursday and it began making a terrible noise. We think it was a problem that was initially caused when the car was hit back in January during a snowy period. Turns out we need rear brakes replaced and a new exhaust = $$$. But thank goodness we had the trusty Celica, and Mal, to get us around in the meantime.

So I dropped Dan off at work and began preparing for our special guest. I picked up the apartment and made some cookies. Have you ever tried crinkle cookies? They ended up tasting really good but they are a PAIN to make! Hands down the messiest baking endeavor I've attempted.

Just into the oven.

I used the recipe from the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook, except substituted cocoa powder for the melted bar chocolate. Turned out very well.

Again, very tasty cookies but very messy process. Do you have any tips to make it better?

Since Mal wasn't coming until Saturday afternoon, Friday night Dan and I just took it easy. Saturday morning I got up for a qick run, or what I thought would be a quick run. Unbeknownst to me, the first Saturday in August in Old Louisville (our neighborhood) is neighborhood yard sale day. I felt like every 5 seconds I was stopping to check out a piece of furniture or antique set of dishes. And it was such a pleasant morning for walking the sidewalks, so needless to say, I didn't do much running.

Just a few hours later, and after a major cleaning spree, Mal arrived and she and I headed out to get lunch. We ended up going to Whole Foods, which is really a grocery store but you can get prepared food there as well. We perused the aisles for a little bit, just admiring the fresh food items and experiencing the "organic-ness" of it all. We finally settled on our lunch selections: sushi for Mal, salad for me, and fruit to share. We also both got organic teas; I think we agreed that while it was much healthier, it was not near as tasty as Karen's.

After lunch we made quick mall run, then headed back to the apt so Dan and I could get ready for the wedding. One of the girls in my discipleship group through UofL was getting married! This was my 6th wedding this summer, and one that I was "dragging" Dan to also.

Yes, that is Dan wearing a pink tie!

Myself, Abbi, Alisha, Angela, and Tiffany. All of these girls are in my d-group. Don't you love the teal necklaces and pink chucks?

Dan and I left the wedding early (sort of...Dan would disagree) because we left Mal at the apt to just hang out while we were gone. Soon after we returned we got busy on a new adventure: dyeing Mal's hair. Now I am no expert in this area because I've never had color of any kind put into my hair. I guess this is why Micah had her doubts of my abilities to do a sufficient job. However, I was confident. I had colored my cousin Lauren's hair once and my mom's too (wait...I mean...um....not my mom's...). So Mal mixed the color and we got to work.

Right before this I said, "Dan, can you come take a picture of us?" Mal added, "For the blog!" We had to capture this moment of course! And by the way, Mal is sitting on the green milk can that sat in Grandma Cash's house by the phone.

Unfortunately we didn't take an "after" picture, but her hair did turn out well if I do say so myself. We spent the rest of the evening just watching TV and of course Mal and I both ended up falling asleep on the couch.

This morning Mal and I went to eat breakfast at Toast on Market downtown. It's a quaint little restaurant with really good food, especially breakfast food. This must be true; why else would we wait over an hour for a table? The hour went by quickly with coffee and conversation. I had raspberry lemonade, bacon, and a lemon souffle pancake (sooo good). Mal had fruit, a scrambled egg, and a blueberry-pecan pancake.

After breakfast (or was it lunch? We left at 1:00.) we shopped for a little bit at a few of our favorite spots: Marshall's, Dick's Sporting Goods, and TJ Maxx. And no afternoon of shopping and driving around town would be complete without a snack, a snack of the frozen kind. Graeter's never disappoints.

Mal went back to Lex later this afternoon, and Dan and I are presently enjoying a very delicious and healthy dinner of pepperoni pizza. It was a really fun weekend and now we get to enjoy a quiet night at home. Although this is no ordinary Sunday night. Why do you ask? Two words: WHO DEY. The Bengals are on TV and Dan is very excited about watching them. I am excited as well; football season is my favorite and knowing that it starts soon is making me very happy. But one of my faves comes on tonight too, HGTV Design Star.

Having two TVs is nice sometimes. :-)