Ten years!

No, I don't mean that I have been married for 10 years. That isn't until September.

I am talking about my 10 years of Cooking Light!

More like 10 and a half years ago, my very good friend Craig got me a subscription to Cooking Light. I enjoyed reading the magazine and by reading it, I found out that this magazine had a WEBSITE, and on that website they had a message board. This was in the year 2000 and the internet had just been invented. I was at my job, which is where everyone had to do their websurfing those days, and I discovered the Cooking Light message board. In June of 2000, I became a member.

In those days, there was little thought about identity theft. My username is....my name in real life....I really wish I could change it, but then I would lose my 10 year status. Anyways, this was a brand new experiment in a community and I found a wonderful place to be a part of. Back in the early days, we mainly talked about food. We reviewed recipes that we had made, and asked other food related questions. There was a big uproar a few years later, where they actually broke the board up into three separate boards: Good Food, Healthy Living, and Other Stuff. It turned out to be a good thing. Good Food focused on food. In the early days, we did "cook light" and were probably very annoying about it. These days many are full fat bakers, but most members follow the local eating/no processed food phase. Under the Healthy Living board, I was a frequent poster of a running thread. Also there were threads to join when I was trying to get pregnant, trying to get pregnant and couldn't, and then when I did get pregnant, when I had a baby, a toddler, until now. The Other Stuff board covers everything else. We have had book discussions, I have asked restaurant questions, and of course, political debates. I really do try to avoid those.

In 10 years, I have only acquired between 1,000-2,000 posts. There are people who have posted between 10,000-15,000 times. I guess I am more of a lurker. These people are really smart and great writers. I just don't seem to have the time to formulate intelligent responses. I have met a few people on this message board, some on purpose, some not ;).

I have learned so much from this message board. A lot of it is about cooking, but much of it is not. I always wish I could give back as much as I have received. I try, but I know it is not enough.

Things have slowed down on the message board. It is blocked by many workplaces, and a lot of the members joined a facebook group, but I hope this board never goes away!

It's only been two years?

Andy's birthday was this past week! He is now two. I think most people say "wow, it seems like just yesterday that he was one." Not me. It has been a long year! At any rate, we keep things small this year. It is really hard to determine what Andy likes as opposed to what James likes. (It is NOT hard, however, to determine what Andy does NOT like) We met a few people for dinner at the chickfila then went back to our house for some cupcakes. Andy was really into the presents this year!



So were the rest of the kids:






Isn't this little cart the cutest?





James also got a present from Gramma and Papa.



In some ways it was hard to figure out who was more excited about Andy's birthday: Andy or James. Wait, no, it wasn't really. James was way more excited!

First Boat Ride

Ok, that is not quite correct. It was not the first boat ride of the season...it was just the first one that I had a camera on. Here is everyone as we were getting ready to go:



(ie Papa had to try to start the engine 20 times before it finally caught) We brought John and gang. It is always fun for James when his best buddy is around:



Last year, Andy was not into the boat ride. He didn't like the life jackets. I think there is something about them having to build up the muscle tone to wear one. He still wasn't all that into it this year. But of course, everything is better as long as he had something to eat!



Here are Mr. Tony and Baby Christopher. It is really cute how Tony dotes on this baby.



So, then James drove us to an island. He hates waiting to leave the cover before he can go FAST!



Once we got to an island, James jumped right in and swam out in the lake.



Andy stayed on the beach:



John ended up in the middle:



That is the end of the pictures. I was actually trying to get my camera from the boat when Andy followed me and then went under water. Maybe next time!

Redneck Baby 2010

This past weekend, we went to my parents house for some lake time and some BBQ. Andy loved the ribs. This kid is all about the meat! He is not big on the water, but likes playing in the sand.



James had a great time jumping off the dock! He must have jumped off like 20 times.



Andy wanted to jump off also, but not...you know how that goes...




Don't you wish you were here? Also, my mom wanted me to take pictures of her Hygrangas. I don't even know how to spell that apparently.