Lordy Lordy, Brad is 40!!

Dearest Brad,
Wow! I can't believe how time has flown by so fast. It seems like just yesterday when you took me to see Beetlejuice and your dad was running through the house in his underwear. I have known you half your life and it seems like it only gets better each and every day I am with you. We have had our ups and downs, trials and tribulations, but you and I have always been "You and I". You are my best friend and I am so proud of the wonderful Christian man you have grown to become. You have been such a kind and loving husband to me all these years. I pray with all my heart that your next 40 are filled with happiness, love and so many blessings that you cannot hold. I love you babe. Happy Birthday sweetheart.
This video is a montage of all the years I have known you except for the first one. You just look so darn cute in that one. I had to put it in. I love you babe!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

CAMPING 101

Yep, that's right folks. Tammy was roughin it. She is going camping. Why she finally gave in and said yes, nobody knows! She is not a roughin' it kind of person. She doesn't like bugs and she doesn't care too much for public restrooms. It's the whole gonna get stung by something somewhere on the private body parts and gonna catch some rare germ in the shower thing. Tammy is more of a Gaylord Texan kind of gal. What does she even bring on a camping trip? makeup/shampoo/towels/snake traps? Nevertheless, Tammy and Brad bite the bullet and go with their friends to Arkansas for a few days to experience what the outdoorsman connoiseur calls, "Going Camping". Their friends had all necessary gear and a little extra to make the experience more enjoyable. They even told Brad and Tammy they had an extra tent for them. When Brad and Tammy saw the finished work of both tents, they were less than happy. How would they even get in to that cocoon they call a tent? Oh...this is not a good way to start.....

But as we were getting prepared for the evening, A beautious smell came wafting through the air. That was the smell of grilled hot dogs and corn on the cob. Wait a minute...this camping thing might not be so bad after all! So after grilled to perfection with just a little bit of crunch hot dogs, corn on the cob that was browned just enough to give it a smoky flavor, the Avants' and friends moved on to 'smores and roasted marshmallows. We say roasted but really everyone burns the marshamllow. We all went to bed with lots of laughs and full tummies. One day down...two to go. BTW, no shower on this night. We talked ourselves out of it.

-----On a side note, Brad forgot his contacts case so he threw them away and had to wear his glasses. He was looking for his glasses case in the pup tent and could not find them. He started getting frustrated. It is like 12:00 at night mind you, and I am not about to get out of the tent for anyone to go looking for their glasses case. So instead, I curl up into a ball in the coner of the tent and let Brad begin his search. He found them a few minutes later. He then realizes he still has his jeans on and needs to change into his sweat pants. Well, he is not about to go outside and hike the 100 feet to the bathroom and have all kinds of critters chasing after him. Brad decides that he can take them off laying down. I am still in the corner curled into a ball. I start giggling...Brad is trying to shimmy off his jeans in that tiny tent. I am giggling more. He now cannot find the sweatpants. More giggling. He finds them, puts them on and we get in our sleeping bags.

Tammy, something is wrong. my zipper is stuck

What?

My zipper. I can't zip it up.

giggle.

Tammy! Help me!

Laughing

Stop laughing and help me!

Laughing

Laughing

Laughing

The next morning was again, a load of surprises with smoky cooked over a fire bacon, scrambled eggs and biscuits. Now these are things you can make at home, but there is something about the outdoors that makes it so delish! WHO KNEW??After tummies were full, the clan headed out to do some walking in the woods. Well, the walking lasted about five minutes. All around was flooded. So, the clan thinks lets get lunch together and go ride a pontoon boat. No luck there either. Bass boats were the only ones for rent. Oh, they had pontoons, just not willing to rent them to the city folks I guess. A bird watching deck was all that could be found but still it was fun and a beautiful view. The clan goes back to the camping area to take a nap in their prospective tents. Here is what the inside looked like ...

The girls took a walk around the campsite talkin about all kinds of stuff while the guys hung out. Later on for dinner- Steaks, coal-baked potatoes and cake. Mmm.Mmm. Good times. Good times. This would be the last night and Tammy is dreading going home (did not see that coming) BTW, the girls take showers while dinner is cooking. The bathrooms were ultra clean and smelled like cleanser. It was very nice although the hot water kept cutting out alternating cold and heat and had an automatic shutoff after 2 minutes. Needless to say, the shower was quick!

Around 4:00 in the morning, a pinging is heard on the tent. Ping, Ping, Ping. Is that bugs? What was that? Something just splashed my face! Is that dew? Oh my goodness, it's raining!The last day and raining. Bummer. The camping gear was packed up quickly the next morning and the clan headed to IHOP for breakfast which really was good but pales in comparison to the camp food. The clan heads back home with a successful camping trip in ther vacation portfolio. A few bugs, cold weather, a roaring fire, excellent food and some rain. It was the perfect camping experience!

---We had a great time and want to go again in the fall. We are no longer camping virgins!

MUSIC ANYONE?

I am in a mood to do some music changes to my ipod. Do you get that what where every song you hear seems like its been on your ipod for years? I want to do some 'housecleaning'. I am kind of in a mellow mood right now. Since watching the Grammy's I have a new love for Adele. I also am beginning to reallly like Jason Mraz, but Brad warns me that alot of his music is skat which I don't think I would like. I think it would annoy me after a while, you know? Anyways, I am sending this out to get your opinions of any good, rainy day mellow music that you think I should look into. Request away!

Sweet Van

This past week, a good friend of ours passed away from a year long battle with stomach cancer. We have never met anyone quite like him...always smiling...a friend to all..a hard worker...a wonderful husband. The funeral was so full that the partition that separates the sanctuary from the foyer had to be pushed back. Many people were standing in the back. That is a testament to the wonderful, sweet man Van was. After the funeral service, people began to tell stories of all the wonderful times they had with Van. Mostly, the guys that worked with Van (He and Brad worked together) talked about the several ski trips they all went on. It was so warming to hear how Van had touched so many lives with laughter and good times. We will miss you so much Van, but we know that you are smiling and laughing in heaven with our Lord God. We will see you again someday. We love you.

Our Last Day in NYC

We ate breakfast at Red Flame, Went to Gray's Papaya and had the best hot dogs ever. We walked over Dylan's Candy Bar which is Ralph Lauren's daughter's candy store. It's three levels and every candy imaginable is there! Sugar overload. Bought some candy and took a pic of a scene from You've Got Mail. We got home okay and everything is fine. I'm exhausted and going to bed. Here are some pics. We are definitely going back next year. I just hope it's not as cold!!

New York-Day 3- Celebrity Sightings and Sights

Today started out with a cold, cold, cold morning. Let me just say that every day has been very cold and windy. It has made it quite fun though and we catch ourselves laughing at how comical we must look especially when we take our hats off.

We headed to Rockefeller Center to do some ice skating. The Today Show was doing some future tapings and we saw Kathy Lee Gifford. We though, Eh, at least we saw a celebrity. Not the best one, but we can say we saw one. We got to the rink and waited about 30 minutes. I was sincerely concerend about my toes. They were actually hurting and going numb. We got in, got our skates on, and started skating around. I didn't think about my toes after that. It was so much fun and both Brad and I say it was the highlight of our trip so far. We laughed and acted so silly.

We skated around for only about 30 minutes. It was just so darn cold. We would come to the entrance and I would say, "You ready to go in?"

Brad would say, "one more time around" and then we would start giggling.

This went on several times and then we decided it was time to go in 'cause our feet began to freeze. As we were coming in, I noticed a cameraman videotaping people skating. I mentioned it to Brad and wondered if something was going on but didn't think anything of it.

We went in and went to the room to take our skates off. I notced some guy getting makeup put on his face. That's weird. I also noticed a guy with a black envelope that said "CONFIDENTIAL: Deliver to Bobby Flay" Now if you are a Food Network conneiseur like I am then you know that is the beginning of the show called Throwdown with Bobby Flay. I whisper to Brad "I think they are taping something for Throwdown." A girl sitting next to me says, "I'm gonna stay here with Bobby's shoes." Sure enough, they were taping the show on the ice rink. And I mean seconds after we went in. We did get a pic though after we went to the top. So cool! We laughed 'cause he sucks at ice skating. And his producer, I guess, told him he had to skate around one more time and he got frustrated and gave that shoulder hunch thing. It was pretty funny.

We then walked over to NBC studios and took the tour. We saw the set for Dateline and Saturday Night Live. SNL is a very small stage and the page (we thought of Kenneth from 30 Rock the whole time) told us that many singers have tried to bring cheerleaders, choirs, big bands etc.. and it just isn't possible. Neat. Also, the seats that people sit in are actually from the old Yankee stadium and if a chair breaks down it can never be used and is painted red. A superstition with that. We then walked into a sound stage and me and this guy pretended that we were reporters. I gave the news and then this other guy gave the weather. We later saw the video. I was going to buy it, but the lighting was terrible and you could hardly hear what I was saying. Not worth it for $35. When we got in the elevator to leave, the page said to me, "You know, you were really good in front ofthe camera. A natural". Acting a bit smug I must admit I said, "Well, I do community theatre back home." If ever I wanted to take any words back, it was then. That had to be the single most stupidest thing I have ever said. I felt like a moron. The page just kinda looked at me and smiled. So funny!

Later on in the evening, we walked around and looked at shop windows. The Cartier building was my favorite (although Saks had a cool one too).

Rockefeller Center at night was just beautiful and just gave you a sense of awe at the grandeur of it all and where you were and everyone around you in awe. You just want to cry or something. It's very emotive. We were very sad after Rockefeller Center realizing that our trip was over and we were leaving the next day. Brad and I really do think we could make this a yearly thing. There is just so much to do! We loved our trip.

Day 2 in New York

Day 2 started out super. We got up, hung around the hotel a little bit and headed to Chelsea Market for lunch. Yesterday I told you it was cold. Yesterday was the tropics compared to today. The highs were in the low 30's with wind gusts of up to 35 miles per hour. It is biting cold and really my hands and face were the only parts that were cold but I couldn't do anything about it. We tried to stay indoors all day.

We had soup and sandwiches at Chelsea. Nice and warm. We then went to Eleni's and had cupcakes. The coconut I had (those of you that know me well are not surprised I got a coconut one) was awesome and the icing tasted like twinkies filling. Brad got an Oreo Madness cupcake. He liked it but said his heart still belongs to Sprinkles.

We then headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This museum is incredible and so massive. We were there 3 hours and didn't even make a dent in the whole place. The Egyptian exhibit was our favorite.

Nice jugs!

We ended the evening at John's Pizza which was really excellent and had a great, loud atmosphere. We had pizza and it was awesome. Of course it is. It's New York! This restaurant used to be a church and was converted. Thanks to my friend Debbie for the recommendation. We only had a 30 minute wait which was not that bad considering last night was a 1 hour wait. It does seem that the crowds have died down. We are hoping that crowds on Monday will be light. Tomorrow we will start the day at the Red Flame cafe for breakfast which looks like something out of Seinfeld. We then will be heading to Rockefeller Center and do some ice skating and maybe a little shopping. The temps will be much warmer tomorrow. highs in the upper 30's...wow, that's unseasonably warm!