4-Diamond Grilled Cheese!

Mmmmm.... When I walked in the office this afternoon, Josh Quick said he'd been looking everywhere for me. That's extremely odd. Normally I'm not needed that bad. HOWEVER, he pointed to my desk to tell me why. He had made me a 4-Diamond Grilled Cheese! I can't begin to describe that deliciousness! He home-made the bread this morning. He didn't just pop some bread dough in a bread maker either. He rolled it out and baked it in the oven. And no, that's not Kraft American Singles in between the bread. It's some type of fancy cheese I'm sure. I didn't even ask. I offered Chef a bite, but after he said "Enjoy", I devoured the entire thing. It was FANTASTIC!! That has been the highlight to this entire week. :0)

We are Family!!

Chris Brown has my camera tonight, so I wasn't able to get a pic. Cynthia and Becky came to town and we had a fabulous night. We went out and ate and went shopping. It's Handy Week so it was a bit crowded, but fun all the same. I attempted to find an old pic of them, but didn't have one, and I ran across this one. This is the last time I went to the beach. Probably 3-4 years ago. That's the last vaca I had, but it was so much fun. We all got stick-on tattoos (even Grandma), Dad and Uncle Dennis went parasailing, and the aunts and I floated out in the ocean. THIS is my favorite pic EVER. Aunt Jodie was needed all sorts of help getting in and out of the ocean. Skip was having trouble getting in and out. Aunt Brenda's so little the waves kept knocking her around, so I was about the only one able to stand on my own two feet. I guess Sister saw us and thought this would be a hilarious pic... and it was. The other funny part of the day was when Skip kept telling the waves to stop because they were washing her sea shells away. Like they were actually going to listen. Good Memories! :0)

Oh that Lover...

Even though Chef and Bowz left me all alone today to go to Budgets, I still got to spend the day with one of my very favorite guys... LOVER!! We found this paver downstairs left over from our yardsale and he got the bright idea to write, Dear Susan, YOU ROCK on it. Get it You Rock.. it's a rock. Funny. SO, I took a very ugly paver and made it pretty and my very pretty sidekick posed for the pic of the day. Then we took it to Susan. She's always badgering us about POs and Invoices so we told her that could be her paperweight. She was later telling Audra about it and said you know, my name's Stone... it's a stone. Not even close, but it made us laugh. Fun times!! :0)

Happy Birthday, Andrew!!!

Happy 18th Birthday to my fabulous cousin, Andrew (the one on the left). I thought this pic was only fitting because he is known as "the guy with no shirt" at work. All of my pics from his b'day were after he'd been at the pool so he never had a shirt on. When Bowz was looking through my camera, he just had to ask if this guy ever wore a shirt. Hys-terical! Most of the time, he is clothed, but in looking through my pics and his, there are many where he didn't. That made me laugh and thus, the search ensued for the cutest one of him half-clothed. Happy Birthday, Andrew!!! Love You!! :0)

Save a Life!!

This is my very good buddy Jason who recently took the job of Front Office Manager at Ross Bridge in Birmingham. We miss him up here, but he has done quite a job since going down there. I got an email from the dear Katie Boggus just before I left work this afternoon that said a man had had a heart attack at the hotel and JASON performed CPR... saving the guy's life. How awesome is that?! I called him up and told him that when you save a person's life, that warrants a phonecall to your pals. He brushed it off like it was no big deal, but that's HUGE! If it'd been up to me and Jennifer McFall, that poor dude would've been dead because Scott Bole nearly kicked us out of CPR class for laughing so hard. The only reason he let us stay was because he liked us. Good thing Jason wasn't in class with us and that he actually paid attention. Congrats, Buddy! Love you! :0)

Happy Birthday, Jake! Part 2

Here is my little cousin Jake and another rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday"- Tittle style. They were definitely ON this weekend with their in unision clapping abilities. Nick is sitting to the right of Jake and I love the look on his face when they all clap during the song. He is too cute. Even thought I think birthday cake is disgusting because the b'day person blows all over it (little kids are bad to take a deep breath and I'm confident spit ends up on the cake ~ yeah, yeah, call me a germiphobe) the homemade red velvet with cream cheese icing that Skip made was phenomenal!! Oh and just in case you were wondering, the Hotwheels BIG TRUCK I got him was a hit. Fun time with the Fam!! :0)

Jake's Birthday!!

With so many Tittles, there's always a birthday to celebrate! My little cousin Jake, just turned 5. So today, I finally found him a birthday gift. Of all the days for Adam and Andy not to be wandering around in Wal-Mart, I really could've used them today. I needed someone to channel their inner 5 year old boy. Carson was very easy and very specific for his birthday. He wanted a blue sword and a whistle. Jake, I had NO CLUE. So, after scoping out every toy in Target and Wal-Mart, I finally decided on a Hot Wheels big truck. Seems pretty indesdructable to me and with his brothers, he's going to need it. Happy B'day, Jake! :0)

Here we go again...

Well, the flowers haven't exactly worked out. God watered them every day for 5 days straight, but to no avail, I haven't seen a single thing growing out there. SO, I have decided to try again... this time, with Strawberries. Chef is always bringing in fresh berries from his garden. I as going to get a Topsy Turvy but I don't like tomatoes and I have no where to hang one. Then I ran across this little beauty. So tomorrow, I'll be working on me some strawberries. Keep your fingers crossed. :0)

It's Buzz Lightyear!

How incredibly funny is this?! We went shopping in search of a present for my little cousin, Jake, for his birthday. Well, after looking at practically every item of clothing for Sister and myself in all of our usual stores, we stumbled upon Buzz Lightyear. He cracks me up. This is an AWESOME toy! I stood there and pushed the button until I'd heard all of his standard phrases, but I think it said you can program him to say other things as well. He even dances and blinks his eyes. Carson had told me about one some flying Buzz that he wanted, but I had no idea toys were this cool these days. If I was a little kid, this would definitely be on my Christmas list. OH, and we never did find Jake a present, but I'll try that one again on Saturday. :0)

Brian and Whiskey

How cute is this? Whiskey the dog anyway. Brian's a bit of a dork, but that dog is just precious! I had no pic for today, but I did just get off the phone with my dear cousin, so I thought I'd steal one of his. This was the cutest. I had to fill him in on all the family news. He was telling me about a job opportunity. We're keeping our fingers crossed that he gets a job that he is REALLY wanting in Carbon Hill. I'm sure he'll get it... even though I would've much preferred he get the one up here. He's been my partner-in-crime on the Tittle side my entire life. He's only 18 months older than me, so we grew up together. Oh the stories... fun times! :0)

My Buddy Steve (and Connie)!

Made a trip to our favorite farm today... Jack-O-Lantern Farm to see my good buddy Steve Carpenter and his wife, Connie. I had to check on my bees and get a watermelon. As you can see from our hives, they've grown quite a bit. We'll be harvesting in about a week or so. He's already had many many gallons of honey... I don't remember exactly how many, but a whole lot. Francis has been the stand-out bee. She's blowing the rest of them away. Radine is in second and Lenore is in third. Ellie and Lucy are about to get squished and replaced by Lulabelle and and unknown fifth bee. I found my watermelon and a cantaloupe and Steve taught me the best way to pick out both. He told me I wasn't getting the first one I'd picked up becasue it had a spot on it and I told him I didn't know how to pick produce, thus the lesson on how to pick the best one when out shopping. YEs, there is a scratch and sniff method to that madness. I also got 1 onion. We're big fajita fans, so and onion, a pepper, a little sour cream and a tortilla are all we need. Good stuff. :0)

i hate the public

OK, hate is a strong word. BUT to start off not only my day but my week with yet another complaining customer, makes me seriously consider hating the public. This guys complaint was actually legit, so I guess I can't complain that much, but going on 3 years of dealing with customer service, I think I've heard just about everything I've never wanted to hear. For example, there was one man who complained that there were ants OUTSIDE in the parking lot. Seriously, where did he expect ants to be? There was also crazy to-go box lady and obnoxious trinket salesman who really doesn't like our Chocolate Explosion. There was the jerk that had his even more hateful secretary call and yell because he'd been charged $74 from the restaurant and she wanted a broken down receipt of those charges becasue he KNEW he didn't eat. Yeah... looked that one up and the moron had gotten drunk in the bar and forgot that his $74 was all alcohol. There are those idiots who continue to tell me the outdoor pool is too cold. I assure them I'll tell God next time I talk to Him to please move the sun a little closer to the water. The extremely irritating platinum members who constantly remind me how the world would absolutely stop spinning without them around. And my all time nemisis, crazy bag lady who checked her own bag into the bell closet, then forgot, then yelled at me at the top of her lungs for 2 weeks because UPS lost her bag in the mail (Never calling with so much as a thank you when it arrived). SO YES. When you ask, "Do I really need this shirt?" YES. I DO. I have had 3 gray hairs in my life and they've all come within the past 3 years. Thank the Lord for s'mores. :0)

Uncle Earl's BIG NIGHT!!

Tonight was FUN! MY Uncle Earl was inducted into the Winston County Sports Hall of Fame and with any big Tittle family event, we all turned out in true, Tittle-crazy fashion. It was a blast. Sound familiar? The voice, booming in the backgroud is none other than Tony Giles, voice of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Grandma was of course there to see her baby. She informed us that she cut her own hair today because she was working on it and a few pieces were sticking up, so everytime she saw one sticking up, she'd cut it off. Hys-terical. The picture line-up includes Uncle Earl, Mason, Meredith, Melanie and Vickie. The other pic is my Grandma, proudly displaying Uncle Earl's placque as if it were her own. It was a good night. :0)

Quoting my Sista

Had to pull out an old pic to go with my story today. I called my dear sista, Jenn, to catch up on everything and fill her in on my day. Chef and I had our radio cranked up and the Spice Girls came on. He was still chattering away and I wasn't paying a bit of attention. I told him we had to stop and listen to the Spice Girls. Then we had to sing along. Come on, it's THE Spice Girls! Hilarious, I know... but Jenn and I once won a dance off at one of her famous slumber parties because we danced to the Spice Girls. Anyway, the longer we chatted, we ended up talking about some other things and people we know and then, my favorite quote of the day came from Jenn. She said and I quote, "I miss you. I have no one to be mean with." That's my Jenn. One of the best partners-in-crime I have ever had and up until we became best friends, one of the meanest chicks I 'd ever met. :0)

This line-up includes: Back Row - (left to right) Me, Jenn, Mal, Hollie Jane, Paige. Front Row: Whit, Emily, and Jessica.

My other favorite quote came from Lover. This conversation alone will tell you how the day at the Marriott started:

Lover: "Word of the Day, Xanex."

Me: "Number of the Day, Two."

Lover: "As in 2 Xanex."

Me: "Unless it's possible to have more without killing over..."

Here's Lizzie!

Didn't get a pic today, so I'm breaking out another from the Birthday Party! Here's my sweet dog, Lizzie aka Lulu. She's always up to pose for a pic. She's absolutely a mess in this one... she's obviously been for a swim in the pond. How cute is that face?! We're hoping she is going to have some pups in August... that's still TBD. :0)

BlAnK CaNvAs PaRtY!!!

Sister and I have been having some fun... We went to a Blank Canvas party. It's like Sips and Strokes, only without the sips. It was SO MUCH FUn! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. We were all supposed to paint the same thing with some "professional" teaching us how to do it. These are crosses. Again, Blogspot has flipped them sideways, so turn your head to the left and you can see our masterpieces. I don't think we'll be overtaking Michaelangelo or DaVinci anytime soon. Of course, Sister's is the purple and mine is the blue. She did better than me. Mine's a bit fat. There were a ton of people there from all different ages. Our age all the way up to pretty old. I was sitting by two of the coolest ladies from my church. They were telling me how they take ceramics classes on Thursday nights. I think I might just have to take that up. We had so much fun doing this ~ and they said it was much easier. Fun times. :0)

Happy Happy Birthday!!

How cute is this?! Happy 18th to my cat!! We celebrated in the normal crazy Tittle fashion.. she even had a few friends over. Lizzie sat perfectly for her pic to be taken..
then ended up stealing the rest of the tuna after the party was over. You can see her nose in the close-up pic. Too funny. JJ and Fred were also there, but they didn't really go for the whole photo op thing. Fun times!! :0)

Happy 18... You'll Never Guess Who!!

I missed her b'day because we had a bit of a wedding to attend, so tomorrow, I will be throwing my annual BIG BIRTHDAY BASH for my.... cat! My dear Ko-Ko, best friend I ever had, just turned the big 18!!! We took to calling her "Nubbs" after Mom decided to have her declawed, thus the name on her crown. Every year she has a can of Tuna and we have a sign, balloons, and every once in a while, she'll humor me and wear a crown... at least long enough for a pic. This is what I had to create tonight. I think it's her prettiest yet. :0)

Rolling Stones!!!

Well, I've tried 3 different ways to make this pic stand right-side-up. Obviously, something is a bit off, so just lean your head to the left and you'll see my new t-shirt. I found this wonderful find at my favorite little consignment shop in town, conveniently located next to the Rice Box. I also got a gorgeous, strapless, Banana Republic dress for $6.00. I found a Brown and white, polka-dotted retro dress for $6.50. Very sophisticated. However, I could not leave the joint without this FABULOUS Rolling Stones t-shirt. It's the greatest, most wonderful shirt I've ever had. I'm in love. And to make it even cooler, look closely and you and you can see that it has red rhinestones!!! Best. Shirt. Ever. :0)

Update ~ Happy Birthday, Chuckie!

2 Things...
First, the Peanut Butter and Oreos were EXACTLY what we needed. They were a hit. I have given them the name, "Trailer Park Hors D'Ouerves". Chef makes bruschetta, I make Oreos with Peanut Butter on top. IT was hysterical. Everyone was asking me how you make them. Seriously. Peanut Butter on top of an Oreo. I'm not quite the cultured culinarian, but that I can handle. The other part of our day invovled a Happy Birthday for my buddy Chuckie. He's the chief Engineer guru around the hotel. Lover called to tell me it was Chuckie's birthday so I wanted to make him a toilet cake. Chef decided I should probably go with a plunger as that would be easier. So, Chuckles got a plunger cake. I did hit the gas a little too hard on the way to work so the plunger ended up looking like roadkill, but he loved it all the same. Fun day! :0)

Peanut Butter and Oreos

I have another great story from the office today. Chef and I have been a little stressed this week - about as stressed as 2 of the most mellow people at the hotel get - SO I told him that I would bring something to cheer him up. Peanut Butter and Oreos. He thought the peanut butter was inside the Oreos. Oh was he wrong. You dip the Oreo into the peanut butter. Scrumptious. Best afternoon snack EVER beside a Kit Kat. This will be our lunch tomorrow. Anyway, as I was telling him the correct way to have Oreos, he told me of his terrible past experience with peanut butter. I didn't know there was such a thing. He said that when he came over as an exchanged student he had English and American History. I don't know why the American History was part of the story other than he either had the same teacher for both classes or he didn't like both teachers... Maybe it was because both of them rattled on and on and he never had a clue what they were saying because he wasn't quite the master of the English language that he is now. Either way, his English teacher told all of the students to write an essay on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He had no idea what peanut butter was. SAY WHAT?! They didn't have peanut butter in Iceland? "Nope," He said. "I'd never seen it before." I'm confident he beemed down from Mars or Siberia. How could they not have peanut butter? So, he went up after class and told her he didn't know how to make said sandwich. The teacher just thought he was being a jerk and she was mean to him the rest of the year. Thus his bitterness over peanut butter. Poor guy. Tomorrow, I hope to change his views on that. I can relate though... I was always the weird kid that NEVER ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I still think they are gross. :0)

My Flowers

I was inspired this weekend after seeing Uncle Fuzzy's bountiful flower garden. Like a ton of bricks it hit me, I need flowers. Can I grow flowers? Nope. Do I have the slightest clue where to begin? Nope. Do I even like digging in the dirt? That's a big heck-to-the-no. However, I want flowers and I'm not going to get them without putting forth some effort. SO, I went to Wal Mart, got me a water hose, shovel and was in search of flower seeds but after 2 unsuccessful stops and a very hateful chick telling me that seed season has passed, I happened pon all of these boxes at Dollar General. I first needed to consult with Chef on how to grow flowers. He can grow just about anything, but he wasn't all that convinced I could grow them as well. He kinda laughed, then asked what possessed me to do it. I replied I wanted flowers. I think his hesitation was the fact that we haven't been able to keep alive his lucky bamboo or my plant Pris gave me when she left. I forget to water them just about every day. I think we should invest in a cactus. However, seeing that I was determined, he told me everything I needed to do to make this happen. I have been out all afternoon in the sunshine, tilling my front yard with a shovel. I have a blister on my hand. Obviously I was not meant for the farm life - or for digging ditches. Entertaining, Air Conditioning, Internet... I'm good with these things. Sweat, blisters, toiling the earth's soil... not so much. I am determined though. I will have flowers at some point. :0)

A Little Bit of Music...

Here's Cuz, a few hours before the wedding. When there are that many musicians in one place at one time, a song will inevitably break out. This is a BEAUTIFUL piece that Ben and Cuz decided to entertain us with. Absolutley beautiful. I can't even read music and she can bust up and play this with no problem. She is truly a musical genius. My claim to fame is that I can spit my gum in the air and catch it in my mouth. Somehow I don't think those two things even register on the same scale... :0) Enjoy!

Happy 4th of July!

One more reason to LOVE Grace Life Church... We throw really cool parties. An awesome fireworks show is also one of those common graces Bro. Jeff talks about. Food, fun, fellowship, and a grand finale. Bro. Tom, Mrs. Pam, and Julie Thompson sang "Let Freedom Ring" and then we counted down to the BEST fireworks show in the Tennessee Valley. I love me some fireworks! Just incase you didn't get to see any tonight, enjoy the show! (And thank a soldier.) :0)

Cuz's Day!!!

How BEAUTIFUL is my Cuz??!! We celebrated her wedding yesterday and welcomed our dear Joe into the fam at the Cabin in China Grove. I can't even begin to tell you how gorgeous that place is! I was ready to move in within the first 5 minutes. The weather was perfect. The flowers were beautiful. The food was OUT OF THIS WORLD GOOD! The mac and cheese alone makes me want to get married this afternoon just to have that at my reception! It was awesome. Such a good day. Here we have a couple of shots. Cuz, of course in her wedding dress and then one with her and the bridesmaids. Tasha is in her lap, me in back, Sister beside me and Mary Catherine beside Sista.

More pics to follow. :0)

Cuz is getting Married in the Morning...

Well, actually she's getting married today, but this post is going to count as yesterday's post. I was planning on getting off work early and travelling down to Montgomery. Oh was I wrong. While everyone else is chilling for the summer the 4th of July is our BUSIEST weekend at the Hotel. Yeah, busiest of the year. Not to mention this time it just happened to coincide with month end and ALL of our inventory and whatnot was due yesterday. Needless to say my plan to leave early turned into a 12 hour workday, I left Muscle Shoals at 9pm and arrived here in MOntgomery shortly after 12:3o am. Long story follows but the jist is, I get to sleep around 2am and am awoken at 3:3oam by some MAJOR snoring going on. So now I am up. Enjoying the sounds of SNORING and the freeway outside. However, as Matt has said on many occasions, it's not about me. Today is Cuz's wedding day! WE are going to party... if I can stay awake.

OH, and the pic... I coulnd't find one of Cuz, so I went with the next best thing. Her dog Lily is perched on top of a microwave on the streets of Memphis. Why is that weird?

Boys Night!!

Monday Nights are Girls Night ~ this Thursday night was Boys Night!!! Not really, it was Justin's going away party, however, it was my night out with the boys. I don't know how I ended up being the only girl to represent, but it was a heck of a lot of fun. Here, we have from left to right, Ryan Matthews, my Chef, Chris Brown, Bowz, Josh Quick, Justin Herring, and Jonathan McKinney. Favorite quote of the night, when Chef said, "I was so broke I almost considered selling drugs." Yeah, tall, white, Icelandic guy attempting to sell drugs on the side of the street in Charleston... I think not. He'd have a better chance of making money teaching tap dancing. WE MISSED YOU KATIE BOGGUS!!! Fun Night! :0)