Still Yankees Fans!

I don't follow baseball that much but Jared and his whole family are huge Yankees fans. So I do tend to think of them as my team. Let's just say after last night I am glad to not be a Braves fan. Some of us office girls got free tickets to the Braves vs. Colorado Rockies game. Baseball games are so fun to be a part of when you're there in the stadium! But it's too bad the Braves got whooped 0-8 (sorry Jake;). There definitely wasn't much tomahawk chopping going on. We still had a blast though! Jared wanted me to add this- the Yanks have won their last 9 games.

Celebration time!

We celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary on May 4th. I can't believe its been two years! Jared has been such a blessing in my life! We are looking forward to another year:)
To celebrate we went out to eat at Ray's On the River. Its a seafood/steak place right on the Chattahoochee river near downtown Atlanta. The food was very tasty and the atmosphere was fun with the live Jazz band. Pretty view too.

Angel Food Ice Cream Cake

This is the cake I made for Jared's Bday. It's a simple and yummy recipe:

1 16 ounce pakage angel food cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
4 cups (2 pints) strawberry ice cream, softened
2 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup small, whole strawberries

1. Prepare cake mix according to package directions using the 1 1/4 cups water. Pour batter into an ungreased 10 in tube pan. Gently cut through batter to remove any large air pockets.

2. Bake angel food cake according to the package directions. immediately invert cake; cool thoroughly in inverted pan. Loosen sides of cake from pan; remove cake.

3. Carefully split cake horizontally into thirds. place the bottom layer and middle layer on freezer safe platters; spread each layer with 2 cups of softened ice cream. Freeze layers for 30-60 minutes or until ice cream is firm. Place the middle layer, ice cream side up, on top of the bottom layer. Top with remaining layer. Cover with plastic wrap; freeze 6-24 hours.

4. To serve, beat whipping cream, sugar and vanilla on medium speed until soft peaks form. (Or use Cool Whip-which is not as yummy)

5. Remove cake from freezer. Spread top and sides of frozen cake with whipped cream. Garnish with strawberries. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Tribute to Mom

This is my wonderful mom and dad with some of their grandchildren. Mom- here are some things I appreciate about you:

Your dedication and sacrifices. You work hard Mom- around the house; helping Dad; at your job, taking care of your kids, grandkids, neighbors and many others- and it pays off.

Your positive attitude-I can hardly remember a time you were negative about anything, especially when it had to do with any of my struggles. Right now I can hear you saying, "PMA Brooke...positive mental attitude," and "Attitude determines altitude." Wow I hated hearing that growing up, but it definitely helps =).

Sharing your testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm so thankful for yours and Dad's diligence in teaching us kids this. It was worth every effort to have FHE weekly, family prayer, family scripture study, attending church together, and countless other ways you shared your love of Jesus Christ.

You make tasty meals and taught me your skills- I think Jared appreciates this one the most =)

And most of all I appreciate your never-ending love and support! I enjoy your phone calls, emails, visits etc. they keep me going! You always give attention to the details in Jared's and my life that matter most.

Happy Mothers' Day!!

Happy Birthday Jared!

Yesterday the most amazing man in the world turned 26! Just look at him, isn't he such a cutie? I asked Jared what he wanted to do for his birthday and he said he wanted to work. I really appreciate how hard he works and how much he loves me. He is such a fun loving guy and celebrating his birthday was a blast. I surprised him with cake and singing during his daily meeting with his sales team. Then in the evening he opened up presents and I made him one of his favorite dinners and then we ate more cake. Jared had requested an ice cream cake so I made him and angel food strawberry ice cream cake. I am quite proud of this cake-it turned out beautiful and was scrumptious! I will post a picture of it later. Happy Birthday babe!


We arrived in Atlanta safely and are enjoying it so far. Here is our first view of Atlanta as we were driving in.
Our apartments are located in North Atlanta. They are really upscale and have lots of available services. For example, complimentary trash disposal. All I have to do is set the garbage outside my apartment and they whisk it away to the trash compacter. Very nice. Here is our kitchen, living room and the view outside our patio. We are on the ground level and we can walk right out into the courtyard. Lenny has been loving this feature.



Last week we did some sight seeing and headed to the Georgia Aquarium. They claim to be the largest aquarium in the world and I believe it. I had never been to an aquarium before and it was really exciting to be so close to the mysterious creatures of the water. Our favorite creatures were the whale sharks, jelly fish, and beluga whales. THere was also an exhibit where you could touch bonnet-sharks and some type of sting rays as they swam by you. Neat but extremely slimy.:)

This little girl was so fun to watch. She just sat right next to the glass and stared for who knows how long:)
There is a whale shark in the corner of the above picture.

Beluga whale

And the journey begins...

We're off to Atlanta bright and early in the morning! I survived my finals and packing and Jared has everything ready for the office! Woohoo!

Interning

Yes!! I got my internship lined up for the summer. I decided to work with the Dekalb County Board of Health (click on it to see their website =)) in their children's health and safety department. I'm excited, as it sounds like they have a lot of fun and interesting things for me to do. One of the main projects I get to work on will be organizing the upcoming Safe Kids Walk This Way event. This event promotes children leading active lifestyles by walking to school while being safe at the same time. And just a fact from Safe Kids USA: Unintentional injuries are the number one killer of children and youth ages 0-17.