Happy Everything!

First off, Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween was always an exciting/interesting holiday around my house growing up. To say we REALLY got into dressing up is an understatement. Me and my sister would start planning months ahead for what we would dress up as and my maternal grandmother, Mama Hall would whip us up a costume on her sewing machine. Halloween parties at school were always awesome and who doesn't love all that candy? There are a couple of things about Halloween I'll always remember:

1. Getting out of school, rushing home to finish my homework and having to wait for it to turn dark to begin trick or treating. It felt like it took f-o-r-e-v-e-r for it to turn dark and when it finally did my parents couldn't move fast enough out the door. I mean come on people!!!
2. My dad sticking right by my side throughout the whole night practically cheering me on as if going from house to house getting candy was an Olympic sport. The Dan Man used to LOVE trick-or-treating when he was little and apparently decided to pass on that love to his daughters. I can honestly remember saying, "Dad, my feet are sore" and him saying, "What?! Let's just do two more streets! Come on!" What a sweet Dad.
3. Finally, my last Halloween (as a kid). Apparently in the 5th grade you're too "cool" to dress up for school in your Halloween costume. I didn't get the memo and wore my (homemade) blue M&M costume. I didn't wear a costume the next year. Sad day. 

Anyway, you get the idea. Halloween pretty much rules. Turns out, there is another person I know who equally loved Halloween. 

                                                 Kyle the pirate

Here are some quality Halloween pictures throughout the years:

Who says Halloween is just for kids? We found out in college that dressing up like complete idiots can be too much fun! I mean, who doesn't want the excuse to dress up like Tom Cruise and Katie Homes?!

The other "interesting" aspect of October 31st is that it is my parent's anniversary! Their 30th to be exact. Congrats to The Dan Man and Lila. Here's to many, many more!!!

I always get questions as to why my parents decided to get married on Halloween. No, their wedding was not Halloween themed. The date just happened to work out since my mom wanted a fall wedding and there were no major football games that Saturday. Honestly, my parents ALWAYS celebrated their anniversary taking their girls trick-or-treating when we were growing up. That's just how it went.

And lastly, "Thank you Jesus, O my Gosh, Hallelujah, Yeah Buddy" my little sister (Hayden) found out Friday that she is going to be graduating in August. Fingers crossed. We are soooo happy for her!!! She has worked so hard and waited for this moment for a long time. Let the celebration begin!!!

                                            This is my favorite picture of us.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Kyle and I discovered the art of making grilled pizza this past summer and since then have been on a grilled pizza kick. If you like thin, crispy pizza and you like your food to have a grilled taste...this is the pizza for you. I am once again going to give all the credit to Kyle. He's a really good cook. He's one of those people that likes to try new things and loves coming up with twists on classic recipes. Apparently Kyle discovered his love of cooking at a young age.

                          Is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen? I melt.

So the whole lovin' to cook thing really works out for us because I like to eat and I am willing to try just about anything he cooks (except deer spaghetti). After he mastered the art of grilling a plain Jane supreme pizza, Kyle went out on a limb and created the Chicken Alfredo Pizza and let me tell you...it is yummy. We thought we'd share the recipe with you.

First the ingredients:

• Pizza Crust
• 1/2 package of Italian Cheese or Mozzarella Cheese
• Italian seasoning
• Bell Pepper
• Onion
• Alfredo Sauce
• 1 large Chicken breast (not pictured)

Begin by lighting your grill. While you're waiting for that to heat up, you can admire your fall decor or water your ferns.

 When you're done with that, go inside and get to some prep work.

Chop up your onion and bell pepper into bite size pieces

Season your chicken with the Italian seasoning

Prep your crust with Olive Oil

During all this prep, your chicken should be grilling. I hope ya'll don't think I'm doing the grilling. Remember, this is Kyle's deal. I just follow him around with a camera. I grew up with this mentality that only boys should grill. Don't judge. I can remember my mom saying she was going to start the grill one night because my dad was running late and me and my sister freaked. Big time.We waited for the Dan.

Anyway, after the chicken is grilled, you need to chop it up into bite size pieces. Then, you will need to grill the TOP part of the crust first. I repeat. Grill the portion of the crust that you will place the toppings on later. This is key. Leave the crust on the grill until it looks nice and toasty...not burnt.

Here is the crust with the top portion slightly grilled. When this is done, you can begin prepping your pizza by first drizzling some more olive oil on top.

Next add the Alfredo sauce. A little disclaimer here. Nine times out of 10 we use Classico Sun-dried Tomato Alfredo sauce but Kyle decided to switch it up and use Newman's Own Roasted Garlic Alfredo Sauce. Big Mistake! We like the Classico A LOT better. I'm telling ya'll that sauce is good on anything; especially pasta.

 Then add the other ingredients: chicken, onions, bell peppers, cheese and a little more Italian seasoning. To make things fun act like you're on the Food Network while you put on the toppings. At least that's what Kyle did while I took pictures.

Now that the pizza is prepped, put that bad boy on the grill. I'm not exactly sure how long Kyle keeps it on there but I'm guessing 20 minutes or so. It seems like something you just have to eye ball. Cheese melts = pizza done. I do know that the key to getting the pizza cooked just right is having the coals good and hot. Grilling the chicken before helps with this process.

And there you have it! Chicken Alfredo Pizza. Slice it up with some of the fancy pizza tools your cousin Clay bought you for a wedding gift and serve.

I hope everyone has a good rest of the week and weekend. Me and Kyle are heading out of town tonight and I'll be sure to blog about it this upcoming week!!!

Dear Me

           Monday morning I happened to catch a segment of Good Morning America (while applying my make-up) that intrigued me. The segment was about a book entitled "Dear Me" and was described as a collection of letters. The writers of these letters were given the assignment of writing their former 16 year old selves a letter. Kind of like a retrospect. The authors of the letters range from regular Suzzies and Toms to famous people; all writing what I like to call a should of, could of, would of note per say. Honestly, the second I watched this segment my wheels started turning. I could not stop thinking about what I would like 16 year old Ragan to know. It also hit me that I was 16 just 10 years ago and while this doesn't feel like a long time, boy a lot can happen in just 10 years.
            Last night I couldn't even really sleep because I kept on thinking about what I would want to put in a letter so this morning I sat down and wrote it all down.

Dear 16 Year Old Me,

                      (I thought a visual might help. Lookin' good Ray-Ray!)

        It’s going to be alright. Chill out. You’re actually going to be okay 10 years from now. For the most part, your life so far has been going pretty good. There are some things you need to realize though. First and foremost, life is truly a roller coaster ride. There will be those highs where you feel on top of the world (like when you ace a test or have your first kiss) but unfortunately life comes with lows as well (like not being asked to a dance or not getting elected president of your sorority). Although you may feel like it’s the end of the world, you’re lucky. You’ve got an amazing support system of family and friends who are going to help you along the way; family and friends who will be right there with you cheering for you. The friends you have right now will be some of your biggest supporters. They have known you forever and will continue to love you even on your worst days. You will also have new friends which brings me to the second thing you need to realize: college will be some of the best years of your life. You will grow a lot in college. You will step outside your comfort zone and live far away from home; only to experience a brand new world full of new sites, scenes and people. You will be overwhelmed at first but instantly fall in love with what college has to offer. Take this advice though; you will meet a lot of new and interesting people. It will be hard at first to determine who your friends really are but eventually you will figure it out. You will make friends and these friends will “get you.” At times, it will feel as if they have even known you your whole life. They will understand that you have a crazy sense of humor and can sometimes be bossy; these are the people who aren’t embarrassed to be around you when you’re having a good time.  Friends like these are the ones to keep around. There is one last truth I’ll leave you with about college: you’ll meet a lot of bad apples but eventually find one that suites you. This pertains to the relationship department and that’s all I’m willing to divulge.

        Although this may be hard for you to realize now and unfortunately you probably won’t take this advice but the third thing you need to understand is that your parents are human. They actually have been in your shoes before. Shocking. I know. It’s going to pain you when you read this but guess what…they are actually pretty smart and know what they’re talking about. You’ll eventually get to the point where they don’t embarrass you anymore and hold on, wait for it…you’ll want to hang out with them. You’ll grow to respect them for the decisions they made that you may not have liked and you’ll forgive them for the decisions they made you still don’t understand. They’re your parents.

        Last and certainly not least, the fourth and final thing you need to realize is that life is short. Don’t take one day for granted. People will come and go from this world and at times you will not understand why. It’s always those that we least expect to leave us that hurts the most. I wish this could change but it won’t. That is why I’m telling you now…cherish every moment of your life. It’s fun, exciting and never really boring. Trust me.

Love,
26 year old Ragan

On another note, Kyle carved a pumpkin last night. The man loves to carve a pumpkin. I actually heard him say something along the lines of, "I'm awesome with my carving skills" when I complimented him. He was pretty proud of his work and would like everyone to know that he was going for the more "traditional" pumpkin look. He wanted his to be a scary jack-o-lantern.

                                                       Sooo proud.

                                                        Spoooky!!!!

Traditional Oyster Tailgate

This past weekend, we went to the Alabama vs. Tennessee game in Tuscaloosa and had our 2nd annual oyster tailgate. Oysters + Tailgating...sounds weird right?! Well, you see we Hayes' and former Hayes (me) sometimes like to step out of the box. We're crazy like that. My dad (The Dan Man) started the tradition at the last home Tennessee game so we decided to continue the tradition this year. The Dan Man didn't disappoint with the amount nor quality of the oysters and Jesus provided us with a beautiful day. Needless to say, it was close to perfect.

                                The Dan Man and Kyle doing the shucking

   

Kyle doing some shucking

Biggest oyster EVER!

                                                                YUM!!!!

                                                       Visitors to the tailgate

Kyle captured me doing what I do best..napping. Sometimes it's just nice to shut your eyes.

     Before the game, me and Kyle walked around the quad and visited with some friends. This has to be our favorite time of the year. We can actually go to a football game and NOT sweat to death. It's the little things that make us happy.

                               Million Dollar Band pre-game show

The game was fun. We won 37-6. However, what was not fun was the traffic we got stuck in coming home due to a wreck on the interstate. Let's just say we left Tuscaloosa at 10 and pulled into our driveway around 1:45 am. I still feel out of it. We did manage to get up Sunday morning for Sunday School, take a nap then make it to our SS social that night. 

Happy Friday

Me, Kyle and "The Bear" hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! We'll be heading to Tuscaloosa this weekend for the Alabama vs Tennessee game. It's hard to believe it but football season is almost over. This is kind of bittersweet for me but devastating for Kyle. The man lives for football. Lives. I'm not going to lie, I do love football season but every once in a while (usually this part of the year) I begin to wonder what life would be like if my husband wasn't obsessed with football. I mean, what do non-football people do on Saturdays?

What I like about football season mainly has to do with all the pomp and circumstance that comes with it. Which brings us to "The Bear." This lovely little (heavy) statue was given to us by my friend Caroline's dad, Mr. Steve, as a wedding gift. Long story short, Caroline's family had this statue in their playroom while we were growing up and it just bothered me that they had it because Mr. Steve was an Auburn man (gasp). The statue actually belongs to Caroline's great uncle (Quinn who happens to be a BAMA fan) but somehow ended up at their home. Almost every time I went over to their house I would ask Mr. Steve if I could have the statue so "The Bear" could have a proper home. Several years later, "The Bear" is now living with the Whitts in a home that any Bama fan would be proud of. His exact residence is in our sunroom properly named, "The Bama Baby den."

  Here's "The Bear" struttin' his stuff at one of our at home tailgate parties. This year Kyle has become the rib man when we stay at home to watch the games. They're pretty tasty! Here's to another weekend of football...

My "Mumkin"

So I'm totally, 100% addicted to Pinterest. It's kind of bad but hey, if being addicted to a website that allows you to discover completely awesome ideas is the only thing I have to be addicted to...then I think it will be alright. Kyle secretly likes Pinterest as well. Looks like that cat is out of the bag. We both share a love of the multitude of recipes you can find on there. Ya'll, it's bad. Sometimes I don't pin recipes because I don't want people to think I'm a total fatty.
In an effort to build my self-esteem, I occasionally pin craft ideas. I found this one a while back and was determined I would attempt this bad boy at some point in the fall. So two weekends ago, me and Kyle went over to the local Home Depot and bought ourselves some mums and a pumpkin. A small tiff debate was had over whether to get orangish/red mums (Kyle's choice) or yellow (my choice). Yellow won. I'll give Kyle credit though, he put the whole thing together. He's kind of obsessed with carving pumpkins. So without further adieu, here's our "mumkin"

A Mountain Wedding

     The first weekend in October, Kyle and I went to the Highlands/Cashiers area of North Carolina for a wedding for our friends Allison and Matt. I'm not going to lie, we were pretty pumped about the trip for multiple reasons. The main one of course was that Allison was getting married but other than that, we were super excited to visit the mountains and see some friends we had not seen in a while. Basically The Whitts were pumped about our first road trip!! We were both so excited we were wide awake a 6:30 a.m. (pretty much a miracle for me) and left a whole hour earlier than expected.
     One of the nice parts of the trip was that I got to travel to some parts of the North Georgia mountains that I hadn't seen in years. When we got to North Carolina we stopped at the Highlands to eat lunch and walk around the town. When The Tubbs got into town we made our way over to Cashiers to High Hampton Inn where the wedding events took place and where we stayed. Since I'm new to the blog scene I totally forgot to take pictures of the resort...need to get better about that. We did however take a lovely nature walk with the Tubbs outside our cabin.

                                        Don't we look like the nature type?

                                                          The Tubbs

                                              Nature Man

This picture pretty much sums up our friendship

                  Me and my gal pal Callie by the lake that was behind our cabin.

     Hanging out with Callie and Stu is always so much fun! Kyle and Callie go way back. As in they both lived in Montgomery and went to St. James. Me and Callie were KDs together and she is actually the one who introduced me to Kyle. Isn't she just the sweetest friend? Anyway, Friday night a group of us went to dinner together at the Game Keeper's Inn. Kyle had the antelope (go figure) but wasn't that impressed.

                                       Friday night dinner group

                                         Gals at dinner

                                       Me and Amy D.
     The day of the wedding was freezing but absolutely gorgeous! The wedding was that morning at a church in the Highlands with a reception following at High Hampton. After the reception, we settled in for a day full of football. Alabama beat Florida 38-10. Here are some shots from the wedding minus the pictures with my parents who also came to the wedding. I seem to have lost those.

     On the way back home, we stopped at The Varsity in Atlanta for lunch. I hadn't been there in forever and was pretty pumped when we decided to go there. If you've never experienced The Varsity check out the link. The grease food is amazing!!! Here's a glimpse at big girl's lunch. Chilli Dogs!