Pitkanen Shower

Below are some pictures of the baby shower that Crystal Vitullo, Courtney Black, LeeAnna Hungerford, Leslie Poole, Ashley Watson, Mandy Payne, Jill Bell, and I hosted.  It was at my house this past Sunday.  Cecile Gray, her mom (Cecile) and her grandmother (Big Mom) all came.  It was just snacks and presents.  That's how we do it in our group of friends.  No games - just talking!

Merri Ryan is due January 7th, 2010!  Benton and Cecile Gray Pitkanen are dear friends of ours the live on the other side of our street (Philwood Avenue) in High Point Terrace.  Luke and I have really enjoyed them since we have moved to Memphis.  They will always be dear friends of ours wherever they move.  Benton graduates medical school in May and will find out where he will do his residency in March.  I know they will not be in Memphis, but hopefully not too far away!  At least I will have a few months to hug on Merri Ryan :)

In other news: Luke finished recovering the chairs for the party...whoopee!!  Bench next :)

Nashville visit ~ Hil & Bons

I love my Hil and Bons! I went to Nashville a few weekends ago to spend some time with Hilary (long time school friend - I'm talking 13 years) and Bonnie (not even sure I can describe all the connections we have, but I know Civitan softball was factor). Bonnie was in town from Birmingham, Alabama to try on wedding dresses/plan the wedding and Hilary was in to support her (and visit me - tehe) like a good bridesmaid should! And she found one! Too bad I cannot post the wedding dress pictures. She looked beautiful!! Here is a sneak peak (bad quality - dang phone camera).
Saturday I got to see Bonnie's dress, peaked at Anthropology, thoroughly enjoyed conversation with Hilary over dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and then desert with both of them at Cheesecake Factory. And who knew we were going to run into a high school friend. Oh, Nashvilletown, how I miss you.

I also got to spend some quality time with my Mom (shopping of course ~ she bought me a new shower curtain!) and ate lunch with my aunt Gayle and cousin Liz. It was a cute and yummy eatery - forgot the name! Sunday I grilled kabobs with Daddy and Susan. I was a big girl and drove myself to and fro Memphis. Luke stayed home to work on "projects." This weekend was so much fun!

Bye, Bye Watsons!

We will miss the Watsons!!
Geoff and Ashley have been a big part of our life in Memphis. Many of nights we have spent with them watching movies, eating BBQ or High Point pizza, and the dog park or DP. It is surreal that I cannot just drop by their house when I take Pippet for a walk (they lived in High Point Terrace with us). Pippet sadly still pulls on the leash when we pass their house. Side note: Maybe I should warn the renter just in case Pip show up on her door step on day.

Above is the going away ice cream sandwich cake I took to the going away potlock party. It was simple and delish (thanks Bethany!). However, with this Memphis heat it melted quickly!!
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
Ice Cream Sandwiches (the more you use the bigger the cake)
1 larger box of Jello brand chocolate instant pudding ... Read More
1 package of regular oreos
1 large container of cool whip

Make pudding by the directions on the box and let it set in the fridge for a few minutes. Add a big scoop of cool whip to the pudding to thicken it. Crush approximately 10 oreos in a zip lock back and then pour into the pudding mixture. Mix all three ingredients well and be sure it's a thick texture. It acts as the "mortar" to hold the "bricks" (sandwiches) in place.

Quickly unwrap and place 5 or more ice cream sandwiches in a row right next to each other. (In the pic above i had a row of 9) On top of that row place a very thick layer of the pudding mixture ("mortar"). It's ok if it runs over the side. Then take the same number of sandwiches and place another row on top. Then cover the entire thing with cool whip.

Decorate the top with leftover oreos, sprinkles, chocolate shavings, whatever you want. Put it in the freezer immediately. You don't have to cover it.

bored dog, sad dog, bad dog!

Hey everyone!!
No exciting news at the Coplin Commune. We've really enjoyed kicking back in this nice summer weather and I've been sticking with my P90X workout, which has been quite a time commitment. However, I must admit that week 4 was spread over 2 weeks because of Memorial Day and I wanted to add some running sessions to the mix. I started Phase 2 this week and haven't seen a huge difference yet, but Luke says he can. I'm just trying to have a healthy lifestyle. To add to all of that, Luke and I have flown through the first 2 seasons of LOST - pretty dang addicting.

Anyway, back to the title. Pippet has enjoyed not living the day in the kennel. We began leaving her in the front room of our house to watch out the window for over a month now. She was doing great until about 3 weeks in. I She began chewing on her bed's outter piping as well as the old pillow on the love seat. She also liked to knock the cushions off the love seat. She is a strange dog. I believe it is because she needs more off-leash exercise time and they have closed down the Forgey off leash dog park in Germantown where we used to take her weekly.
This is a pic of her and her dad, Dash, at that dog park:

This was the last day it was open to the public before they closed it down to instal electric gates among other maintenance. It will be until late June/early July until we can go back and with that we will have to start paying. Seems worth it because this is what she looks like after visiting the park. She looks kinda scary, but she was smiling in her sleep...pretty funny.


For now, Luke and I are trying to enjoy Memphis. We love Shelby Farms. There are great places to hike, run, and ride bikes. There is an off-leash dog park area there, but I'm not so sure I trust Pippet or other dogs off leash in such a huge, not compeletely fenced in area. So, we will stick to hiking on leash for now ;)



In other news,

Justin & Mandy Payne welcomed JAMES WILLIAM PAYNE!!!

Born 5/28/2009 at 12:57pm

7 pounds, 5 ounces / 20.5 inches

Mom and baby are doing great!

April in a nutshell

It's been a while...April was a busy month!!

1) The Payne Baby Shower went great!!

2) My nomadic girlfriend, and bridesmaid, Vanessa O'Neal was speeding through town and stayed with us one night!

3) I had a GREAT time at the 2PC (my church's) Women's Retreat! What a refreshing time in the presence of the Holy Spirit and around ladies of wisdom!

4)Luke and I got to visit family in Nashville this past weekend! My cousin, Jeff, married a beautiful and sweet girl named Sarah.

5) My hair color is constantly changing...I call it a recovery program (see picture) More change TBD tomorrow ;)
This....
To this...
6) May is a new leaf turned over. I have begun to start P90X again - a revolutionary system of 12 sweat-inducing, muscle-pumping workouts, designed to transform your body from regular to ripped in just 90 days. It's going well. I'm on day 12. I'm not following their strict diet, but I have been keeping up with my calories on www.my-calorie-counter.com and have created a 2 week healthy meal plan (went grocery shopping last Monday). I will post some of the recipes I've tried so far!

7) Mother's Day is this weekend, but I celebrated with mom this past weekend sans the sis :( However, I did go ahead and give her a gift - a digital picture keychain! Here is a pic I put on there...miss you sissy (note my beloved missed tan from Jamaica and long blonde hair)!

...I'll be back with recipes :)

Payne Baby Shower

This Sunday @ 2:00 PM I am having a baby shower for Mandy Payne. One of my decorations and gift to the parents-to-be is a collage of their baby pictures. I thought I would share the collages I created. I love Picasa and love cherishing memories through photography!

Justin and Mandy have been sweet friends to me and Luke ever since we started going to 2PC. They are both in our girls' and boys' bible studies. Mandy will stop teaching at ECS, but Justin will continue to teach and coach once baby Payne comes.

We love their company. We went to Jamaica with them for our 2 year anniversary and their "babymoon" in December 2008. Along with that fun experience we regularly go to their house to watch "The Office." They are also "24" addicts just like us. Kramer, their chocolate lab, was once a good play mate with Pippet, but he has outgrown her and they get rough with each other, but hopefully they will calm down and be best friends again soon.

Mandy is due May 25th and is going to have a baby boy, but that is all they've revealed! We await for the baby's name...but we can guess his possible weight and length according to the parent's. We shall see!