A Day At The Market

Every Saturday Pittsburgh has the market on the strip in the warehouse district.

This past Saturday I took Mom down to the market and to the Pittsburgh Zoo.

You can find almost anything at the Market, from Steelers and Penguin stuff to all kinds of food and people.

Here at the Pennsylvania Macaroni Co. they have the widest variety of

Nuts, Spices, Oils, Cheese, and Meats

Here is the Cheese Menu, they had things we have never even heard of
This was the outdoor courtyard, you could pick your cheese and olives along with a glass of wine and go sit and enjoy.

Mom was trying to see if she could be a Penguin's fan

Street folk music...and they were good too!

We had lunch at Roland's Seafood Grill & Iron

They had every kind of nuts you could think of in big barrels, you just scoop up as much as you want and purchase them by the pound.

The Honey Roasted Almonds were our favorite!

OLIVES, OLIVES, and MORE OLIVES

The Sunrise Bakery had awesome breads

They smelled Wonderful!

We also had some Greek food, we had to be a little adventurous at first, but this ended up being our favorite place. They had some of the best food. We got some to go as well!

Pastries Galore!

The Fudge Shop....Fudgy Wudgies

Hot Old Fashion Roasted Peanuts

Kids really do say the darndest things

I was at the mall the other day shopping for some summer clothes and when I was in the fitting room there was a mother and her little girl in the next room that I would guess to be around the age of 5? and the little girl was very chatty and I could not help but to over hear her and all of her 5 year old chattiness and questions, but I found it quite humerous when the little girl asked her mother..."why do you never wear a bra mommy?" The mother simply replied...Wow aren't you observant today...and loud!

Good Times With The Girls

While I was home in Texas I got to take a day and head to Dallas

for some fun time with my girls

Courtney & Sarah

We went to Shops at Legacy and spent the day in and out of the different boutiques.

We had Fajitas and Mambo Taxi's at the great Mi Cocina and then headed to Schokolade.

I love Schokolade, what a Divine place.

As you can see in the picture below we got one of everything!

Chocolate, Chocolate and more Chocolate.

On the way home Sarah and I noticed Courtney in the back seat "organizing" all the Chocolate or at least that's what she said she was doing!

Sarah and I always find ourselves in the sunglasses trying on all the silly ones, it is very fun for some reason?!?

For all of us that are afraid to get a tattoo, they now make cloths that are "tattooed"

Regrets are a lot more manageable now, it's easier to regret wearing a particular out fit verses getting your body permanently inked, everyone wins!

Memphis, Tennessee

Blues, Boos and BBQ

Memphis has them all.

Cody and I went to Memphis for a wedding of some of our best friends, although we have been to Tennessee before, this was our first time to Memphis.

We went down on Beale Street Friday night and got a good taste of what Memphis is all about.

Although my Mother has always discouraged "roaming the streets" especially at night, I think this was a good exception!

We liked it so much we went back for more then next afternoon.

The wedding and all of the weekend events were held at the Peabody hotel.

The Peabody has been the South's grand hotel for over 135 years. Originally built in 1869, it was rebuilt its present location in 1925.

This national historic landmark and epitome of Southern hospitality continues to captivate its guest with unqualified luxury and elegance.

The social and business hub of Memphis, The Peabody's Grand Lobby is the "living room" of Memphis. The most sought-after hotel in the region, a stay at The Peabody is imperative with the influential and famous of the world.

Every day since 1933, The Peabody ducks have made the lobby marble fountain their home. In what began as a joke between two hunters, the twice-daily marches of the ducks are now world-famous.

The legend of the ducks.

How did the tradition of the ducks in The Peabody fountain begin?

Back in 1933 Frank Schutt, General Manager of The Peabody, and a friend, Chip Barwick, returned from a weekend hunting trip to Arkansas. The med had a little too much Tennessee sippin' whiskey, and thought it would be funny to place some of their duck decoys (it was legal then for hunters to use live decoys) in the beautiful Peabody fountain.

Three small English call ducks were selected as "guinea pigs" and the reaction was nothing short of enthusiastic. Thus began a Peabody tradition which was to become internationally famous.

The original ducks have long since gone, but after more then 75 years, the marble fountain in the hotel lobby is still graced with ducks. Today, the Mallards are raised by local farmer and friend of the hotel. The ducks live in the fountain until they are full grown and, on retirement from their Peabody duties, are returned to the wild.

The Peabody ducks march at 11:00am and 5:00pm daily.

We very much enjoyed our stay and if you ever find yourself in Memphis this would be a great place to stay and or visit.

This is the rooftop where the ducks stay when they are not in the fountain

There was a Corvette show going on, they blocked off all of

Beale Street and it was lined with corvettes.

We had BBQ at BB Kings

This was a great Blues band that was playing at BB Kings, they were very good!

3 Years and counting...

April 23rd make three years!

We have taken a nice vacation every year so far for our anniversary, this year we had planned our tropical get away, but as time got closer we decided that the thought of going HOME to Texas was more exciting!

In the words of Ty Pennington on Extreme Home Makeover...

Welcome Home Swope Family, Welcome Home!

A whole week at home, this is the most time that we have stayed at our house since we bought it 1 1/2 years ago, so the time at home was even more enjoyable then you can imagine.

We saw lots of friends and spent some good well needed time with family.

Thursday was our Anniversary day and Cody of course had my favorite florist in town (Brosang's) bring me Beautiful flowers first thing that morning, his card as

always on our anniversary read...

Thank you for saying yes!

We spent the day visiting some of our favorite local places in Tyler, we got ice cream and went to the Bergfield park were Cody proposed.

We went to Jake's restaurant for a wonderful dinner and then had rooftop cocktails and listed to a great blues band at our other favorite place Rick's On The Square.

We had a Wonderful Anniversary!

Justin, Karla and Xander came and spent the whole weekend with us. This was also the most time that we have got to spend with Xander and it was SO much fun.

Cody talked about how cool Xander was for the rest of the week!

Mom, Dad, Daniel and Evelyn came on Saturday and spent the day with us, we had lots of good food and had a family washer tournament.

Where's Xander?.....

Peek a Boo doesn't ever get old

Family Picnic in the Park

Oh how I love my family. today was such a fun sweet day. After church we all met up at the Bergfield park and had a picnic. We played with Xander and had ice cream, it was a beautiful day and we stayed at the park for hours just laying on the blanket relaxing and visiting with each other Mom and Dad were there, but somehow I did not come away with a picture of them.
This was the best way to spend the day with my lovely family!

Tyler Rose Garden

We had a perfect day at the Rose Garden. The weather was great and the roses were beautiful!

Mom, Karla, Evelyn, Mrs. Hayes and Karla's grandmother from Florida and myself.

We had a wonderful time together!