M.I.A.

Well, well, well. Look who's back in the land of the living. Or at least the land of Internet and cable TV! That's right folks, take away my TV and Internet and I am lost. I've spent the last week wondering if they found little Caylee, where Ike will make landfall, what Brit Brit's comeback at the VMA's would be like and a host of other things that only today's technology can tell us in a nano-second.

As for where I've been (because I'm sure you've missed me)...we've been moving. That's right, into our home sweet home! But in order to do so, we had to move out from the THIRD FLOOR. Third floor=misery while moving. I spent what would be equivalent to 3 full days on the StairMaster. Miserable. And, I'm not sure what we were thinking when we decided to move in August....in Texas! Can you say H-O-T! Really I guess it was the first week of September, but August just sounds hotter and I wanted you to feel our pain.

In all, the move went well with no major bumps in the road. Mom and dad helped a ton (and it was dad's week off of work! How nice to spend it with us!) and for that, I'm grateful. I can't wait until you all pop in! Our door is always open.

In the midst of moving, we took Thursday night to play in our church softball game. Remember the pics from week one? Remember how I said we lost, but according to my fortune cookie "Once we learned to lose we would win"? Well, apparently we still haven't learned to lose because we still haven't won.....but, this week we did hold our opponent to under 20 runs!! Way to go defense! Unfortunately, this week my leg played a little bit of defense and I was PEGGED with a line drive while playing 3rd base. Let me tell you, I cried. There may be no crying in baseball, but there sure was crying in Austin Rec League softball! I am not sure I have ever felt physical pain like that before. I will show you a picture, but, it does my battle wound no justice! I think Taylor enjoyed watching me wretch in pain as he "rubbed out" the knot on my calf with a baseball.


"Hi, Austin Rec League? It's me, Tiffany. Could you please tell homeboy that plays in the competitive league not to come 'take a few practice cuts' against the poor souls in the novice league! Thanks!"

Special thanks to mom (playing 1st base) for letting him know it was inappropriate to hit girls. :) Thanks ma!

XOXO,
T-Rog

Fabulous Find Friday!

TGIF sisters! Keep reading and you'll know just how much I mean that! This Friday's fabulous find comes straight (as an arrow) to our hearts from one of my sisters. One of my Pi Phi sisters that is. And it's an ode to the wine and silver blue. Awwww....

But really, Victoria's Secret has come out with a new super cute line of panties in what other colors but the wine and silver blue!! They come in tons of cute styles, patterns and materials. Might I add that this is just in time for rush, so all the big sis' can fill their little sis' goody baskets with new unmentionables. How appropriate, right? They're totally pros 1-8!

Let's get 'em!! ;)

*Might I also throw this in just to make you smile... I love you Old Navy!

My Buddies

I want to introduce you to some of my greatest blessings. These women make me laugh and sit with me when I need to cry....most of the time we cry because we have been laughing so hard! I thank God that he has given me such amazing friends to share my life with.

Thank you for being my sister, my friend, my personal shopper, my encourager and my most trusted inner circle. I have shared my best days and my worst days with you and for that, I am forever grateful! I love you for the amazing women you are and for always bringing out the best in me. Each of you is truly a reflection of Christ's love for me.

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised." ~ Proverbs 31:30

* turn up your volume so you can hear the music!



"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy."~ Philippians 1:3-4

Yummy Goodness

With a bit of time left in strawberry season I thought I would share with you a recipe that is one of our household favorites....strawberry shortcake. Dave asked for this as his birthday cake, it's one of the first "fancy" items I tried to bake, and it's just plain GOOD.

My recipe is adapted from Kraft.com, and it's a winner.

You will need:

1-1/4 cups milk, divided
1/4 cup of Sour Cream
3 Tbsp. sugar
2-1/4 cups Bisquick
1 pkg. (4-serving size) vanilla pudding (I use JELL-O Vanilla Instant)
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
4 cups sliced strawberries
1/3 cup sugar

Preheat your oven to 425°F. Beat 1/2 cup of the milk, the sour cream and 3 Tbsp. sugar in a large bowl with wire whisk until well blended. Stir in Bisquick until just moistened. Spread evenly into greased 9-inch round cake pan (This is not terribly easy since the batter is sticky. I put a little PAM on my spatula). Bake 12 to 15 min. or until top is golden brown. Remove from pan to wire rack; cool completely. Once it has cooled, cut the cake in half horizontally to make 2 layers.

Add the remaining 3/4 cup milk to dry pudding mix in medium bowl. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Gently stir in half of the whipped topping. Toss strawberries with 1/3 cup sugar; set aside. I don't always use a full 1/3 cup of sugar. It depends on how sweet you want your strawberries.

Put the bottom cake layer on serving plate; Spread with pudding mixture; top with 1/2 the strawberry mixture; cover with top cake layer. Spread with remaining whipped topping; top with remaining strawberry mixture. It can be eaten plain or with a lovely scoop of Blue Bell Vanilla Ice Cream.....yummy! (Store any leftover shortcake in refrigerator.)

Enjoy!

Fabulous Find Friday!

There is always a reason for gift giving. It could be Christmas, a birthday, a "thank you" gift or even "just because". The latter is often my favorite reason. :) Today, I'm going to help you find that perfect gift, totally within the budget, and for a guy or girl, young or old!

When Dave and I were thinking of things to get our bridesmaids and groomsmen we knew we wanted it to be special and something they could use. After all, we're talking about our VIP's! These are some of my favorite gift items and a couple of the gifts we gave our friends to thank them for being a part of our special day.

Men are sometimes hard to buy for. Although a 42" flat panel is a great go-to gift, it might not always be in the budget. Good thing J Crew saves the day with their Short-sleeve repp piqué polo. Dave really likes these shirts because they are good quality, and comfortable, and I love them because they can be monogrammed! The website doesn't show the shirts with a monogram, and I forgot to take a picture of Dave's, so you will have to use your imagination. But they look great.

The second one is the monogram we have used. And now for the good news....when I went to their website to get the photos I noticed they have these shirts on sale 2 for $50. What a deal! (The monogramming is additional, but well worth it)

Now for the LADIES! Girls, we all need a good bag. Something that is durable, big enough for all of our junk, and looks good while getting the job done! This bag is from Ballard designs and comes in many different colors, shapes and sizes. The best part is, the monogramming is free and they have a very quick turnaround time.

*Note: I have to thank Courtney for introducing me to these precious bags several years ago. She gave me one for my birthday and I was sold! I think my mom has one in every color. And no, I'm not exaggerating.

I thought you might enjoy a couple of pictures of these gifts in action...enjoy! And TGIF!

My mother in law and sister in law

Me and my Hubs

Home Sweet Home...

I know, I know....2 posts in one day, but we have wonderful news to share!

David and I have been married for a little over a year and a half, and it has been the most wonderful time of our lives. We have been blessed in many ways in such a short period of time and we just stand in awe at what has transpired over the past 19 months. We were married in January of 2007 and came home from our honeymoon to the news that David got the job he had interviewed for (the day before our wedding) in Austin. We were ecstatic to move and be near family and friends. Over the next 6 months we both started new jobs and settled into life as newlyweds.

In the past 6 weeks, we have been blessed beyond measure and are excited to share that we have purchased our first home!! We are so excited to plants roots in this community and have our very own home!

We have searched high and low for the house that we loved and really felt was "ours" and we have found the one. We both come from amazing families and we have grown up in homes centered around Christ. We grew up knowing and feeling that home is a place of love, refuge, strength, laughter, hope and comfort. It may only be 4 walls, but they are walls that hold memories of praise and laughter. David and I are looking forward to beginning our own story inside our 4 walls. We pray that our story always tells of our love for our Lord, our love for each other, our thankfulness for our many blessings, our appreciation for our past and our hope for the future.

By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. ~ Proverbs 24:3-4

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ~ Deuteronomy 6:5-7

Our New Home!

Come on over, we can't wait!

Love,

Tiffany and David

Can't we all just get along?

I watched the season premier of the Hills with some precious friends and a fabulous plate of chocolate chip cookies. It was all fun and games until Lo and Audrina faced off...dang girls. Notable mentions of the night:

- Lauren's hair at the "kickoff party". It was a beach scene and her hair was a perfect fit. The dress....I kind of liked the dress, but the neckline (or lack there of) was a major miss-fire. Her "girls" looked really weird.
- Audrina looked super cute
- Lauren and Doug's date made ME uncomfortable with their lack of conversation, but I hate to judge since I can only imagine how goofy I would sound if I was followed on first dates with a camera
- LOVED Lo calling Doug "Dougy" at the pool party
- Audrina and Lo do not like each other. This is a problem for Lauren since she is BFF with both, but a forced friendship just isn't going to work. Oil and water don't mix sista!
- Audrina straight up saying, "We'll never be friends!" to Lo....keep the gloves up girlfriend!
- Did anyone else catch the holes in that guy's ears that I could have thrown a softball through??? Oh my word....I just can't imagine that....
- SPENCER.....he is AWFUL!! Heidi's sister came and he was just miserable to her. What does she see in him?
- Heidi's sister straight up telling Heidi she thinks Spencer is bad for her
- The extensions???? WHY?
- Heidi and Spencer walking her sister out and the random timing to start talking about her moving to Hollywood. Great segue MTV intern.

I was really disappointed that the premier was only 30 minutes. MTV left us hanging a little. I'm looking forward to this season...do we think Heidi and LC will become friends again?? The previews show Lauren having lunch with Heidi's sister and then talking about missing her "best friend". Could it be possible?

Talk amongst yourselves =)

The Hills are alive!

If you know me well...ok, if you know me at all, you know I love the Hills. I know, I know, I'm 27, but it is my guilty pleasure. I was hooked from the days of Laguna Beach when LC, Lo, Stephen, Jason and the villain, Kristen, took us back to the days and drama of high school (Not sure why anyone would want to do that, but we watched nonetheless). The romances, the bro-mances, the fashion and the girl drama gave us just enough to keep us coming back each week.

Since the days of Laguna, a fan favorite was born. Miss LC. Everyone was in her corner. She was the girl next door with the right connections (MTV). Millions tuned in to watch her take on life, college, a "real" job, and L.A. in her spinoff show "The Hills". Insert me and all of my friends (except the Loj....I still don't think she is hooked). We watch, we speculate, we analyze, we e-mail predictions, and we virtually think we are BFF with LC, Audrina, Whitney and Brody. It's kind of like the days of Dawson's Creek when we really were friends with Joey, Dawson, Pacey and the gang. They really did call us at home and we were in on all of the secrets, proms and cry-fests! I promise!

I digress....

Today is the day. Today marks the season premier of season 4 of the Hills. I am hyped to say the least! After LC and Heidi parted ways I was definitely on team LC. I mean, Spencer is wretched and he has pulled Heidi away from all of her friends. But now, it looks like LC and Audrina are going to have some issues. Is this season going to turn me off of LC? Is she really a total diva after all? I'll keep you posted. Until then...happy watching. :)

Phelps = WONDERBOY!!!

WOO-HOO!! I love the Olympics! Go USA.

Fabulous Find Friday!

* First, let me say woo-hoo for our gold and silver medals in women's all-around gymnastics! I didn't get much sleep, but it was worth it! Go USA!

Moving on...today, I share one of my favorite finds; The stamps and embossers from Three Designing Women. I am in the process of picking out my very favorite address stamp for myself! This website offers stamps, embossers, stampable stationary, etc. It is all so cute!

The only issue I have is that you can't order from the website directly. You will need to find a store on their website in your area that carries their products.

I can't wait to get Christmas cards from you with your new return address stamp!! Happy shopping!

Obsessed Much?

So, the Summer Olympics are here....and I LOVE it! I'm all for country, patriotism, gold medals and Michael Phelps' abs. I get a thrill watching our men and women kick other countries' butts. It makes me dream of the days when I was a little girl watching Mary Lou Retton win gold while I flipped and did headstands thinking that one day, that would be me! I just knew I would be an Olympic gymnast, but alas, I didn't have the grit.

Now Michael Phelps....that's grit! It has been so much fun watching him swim his way to world records and Olympic glory. Let's not fail to mention our men and women's sand volleyball teams! If you had asked me a week ago if I would watch the Olympics I would have said, "Probably a little". If you had asked me, "Will you watch sand volleyball and cycling?" I would have laughed in your face. But what did I watch last night? OH....sand volleyball and cycling. I digress...

Here are a few incredible photos from the opening ceremony. You can find more pictures at this website.

With all of the Olympic hype it made me say to myself: "Self, what are the top 5 moments in Olympic history?" So after thought and a little googling, here is what I have come up with:

5. Derek Redmond (Barcelona 1992)- We've all seen the highlight reel...he tore his right hamstring in the semi-final of the 400m and fell to the ground. When he saw the medics with the stretcher running towards him he began to hobble on one leg to finish himself, at which point his dad rush to the track and helped him to the finishing line.

4. Mark Spitz (Munich 1972)- Seven events, seven gold medals, seven world records, and a killer moustache. You had me at hello. (Now Phelps is trying to beat him with 8!)

3. U.S. Men's 400 meter Freestyle Relay (Beijing 2008)- Jason Lezak pulls off the unbelievable, making up a half-body deficit to win by a few tenths of a second.

2. Nadia Comaneci (Montreal 1976)- Scored a perfect 10 on the uneven bars. No one had EVER done this. The scoreboard couldn't even go to 10, so it read 1.0- Amazing!

1. Kerri Strug (Atlanta 1996)- girlfriend broke her ankle (actually a severe sprain and tendon damage) on her first vault and went back to the runway to do her second! It is so amazing to me that she did that for her team....and her country. Here I go getting all sappy! She landed her vault, Team USA (The "Magnificent Seven") won the gold, and Bela Karolyi carried her (crying in pain) off the mat and onto the medal podium.

Good luck Team USA. Bring home the Gold(s)!

The Griswolds go to Vegas!

Well, we made it back to the great state of Texas! We had a fabulous time in Vegas, but we were glad to hit Texas soil at 12:30am. This week was the Rogers' version of Vegas vacation. A sum of events include, but are not limited to: Winning on slot machines, losing on slot machines, Jersey Boys, Wayne Brady Improv, Laying out by the pool, spa day, touring hotels, great dinners, setting up the tripod and camera in the middle of the Venetian, Kristen being hit on by Alfie (our waiter), Kristen being called and texted by Alfie, playing Catchphrase with the family and getting enough funny material for the entire trip.

Example: Dad's clue (His word was JFK Jr.)
"OKAY....Shot in the back of the head."
Kristen: "Lincoln??"
Tiffany: "JKF?"
Dad: "His son!"
Family in unison: "JKF Jr.??" WOW!!

Needless to say, we had an amazing time! A little explanation... Alfred, lovingly known as Alfie, was our waiter (me, mom and Kristen) on Friday when we left the pool to hit up Gonzales Y Gonzales for some chips, hot sauce and a rita. He proceeded to give mom her Diet Pepsi on the house because "Our mom's H-O-T!" We should have known right there! We had a 2 hour lunch where he ended up professing his love (in a very comical way) to Kristen. Let me give you one exchange:

Dad had come and joined us for our last few minutes of lunch and Alfie walked up and started talking....again.

Alfie: Yeah, I'm having solar panels put on my house.
Dad: Really? My company makes the micro-chips for that. Are a lot of people putting them on their homes here?
Alfie: Yes, but it is pretty expensive. But don't worry!! I'll still have enough money to get her a proper ring!

He ended up asking for Kristen's number and we weren't sure how to get around that, so she actually gave it to him. Not 2 hours later, he makes the first call. Are you kidding me? She doesn't answer, we go see Jersey Boys, and we think that is the end of it....oh no! He called and texted 2 more times over the course of our trip, then texted to make sure she made it back to NY. WOW.

In all, we had a great time together and shared a ton of good laughs. Mostly at each other's expense, but hey, that's what family is for. :) Here are a few of our fun vacay pics.

Kristen and I having a drink while Alfie fell in love :)

Dave and I outside of the Wynn on our hotel tour day

The "kids"

Um...my heart was beating SO fast when that bell was ringing! I was so hyped. I can't even imagine what I would do if I actually won a lot of money! It was fun!

Jersey Boys! It was AMAZING!

Kristen took our picture while the tri-pod was being set up in the middle of the Venetian for the "family photo"

It really needs no explanation

Dave and I at the water show at the Bellagio (I almost forgot....I cut all my hair off during spa day. The back is the "Victoria Beckham" cut...short!)

Our fun family!

Taylor, Dave and I at dinner

Woo hoo... Big bet for a BIG man... Sure you don't want to save a few bucks for the buffet? ~ National Lampoons Vegas Vacation

All my bags are packed I'm ready to go...

It is vacation day 2008! I am so excited because today, we are leaving for Vegas baby! We are going to celebrate my very big "little" brother turning 21...WOW that makes me feel old. At least we get to celebrate in style. :) While we packed, Pouty Pants (Rookie) thought he was being so mistreated because we were clearly getting ready to go somewhere. What he didn't realize is that he gets to go to "camp" while we are gone. That would be my parent's house. And he will get to play with Maggie and Jake to his hearts content. He was just dying to be a part of everything!

As I was packing, I was thinking about what we would be doing so I could figure out what clothes to take, and for some reason a scene from Desperate Housewives popped into my head. I am not a big DH watcher, but it just so happens that one night, I saw 5 minutes of an episode and I heard the best line EVER written for TV. I have no idea where they were going, but Carlos tells Gabby to pack only the essentials. He looks over into her bag:

Carlos: "Is that a BOA?"
Gabrielle: "Carlos! If you're taking me somewhere where I don't need a boa then I don't want to go!"

You go girl! It's all about how you accessorize. :)

Hi, I'm Tiffany, and I'm an addict.

I love chapstick. Let me rephrase....I cannot LIVE without chapstick. This is a problem. I have 2 things of chapstick in my purse, one in my desk drawer, one in my kitchen drawer, one behind the picture frame on my nightstand, one in my car, one in my bathroom drawer....it is my lifeline. I'm not sure where it all started, but I think it was around the time of junior year of high school. Next thing I know, I'm buying a new tube every time I'm at the grocery store. Milk, check, bread, check, chapstick, CHECK! I single handedly keep Burt and his Bees in business! I should be a shareholder!

Notice the "inferior" chapstick in the drawer also. That is backup in case of emergency.

A pen and chapstick...only the essentials!

Fabulous Find Friday!

Hi friends! I have decided that Fridays need to be devoted to fabulous finds! This could be great sales, new products, cute shoes, or as today's topic promotes....a good night's sleep!

As you know, I have been traveling a lot for work. I have stayed in Marriotts, Hiltons, Hyatts, etc. While all have been great hotels and offered equally fab service, my head never felt so nice as it did when falling asleep on one of the Marriott pillows.

Alas, I have done some research and I have good news....We can buy these pillows online and have a great night sleep every night! I have found a website that offers these pillows at a discount rate and with amazing standard shipping of $4 flat rate. Happy shopping and sweet dreams!!