So...

They finally told Luke that we are moving to Augusta, Ga come Feb. or March. That's my home town for those of you that are not informed! So...we are pretty excited about it. I won't count my chicken's before they hatch though. With Luke's company you never know until you're packing boxes. 

Also, I must give a couple shout outs tonight!! 

One of my best friends Jamie Monk got engaged to another one of my friends and old roomie Scott Pixler! Congrats you too!

My second shout out is for my whole family who is meeting up in Tulsa, OK with our extended family for Thanksgiving! Luke and I were just going to Tulsa to hang out with extended family due to our location this year, but...my whole family is coming out West to meet up! 

Another shout out is due to my sister Jenna and her husband Prem who are flying out here (again) the second weekend in December to hit up the slopes in Taos with Luke and I. 

I do love the holidays!! 
I'm pretty excited my AU tigers pulled out a big win this weekend against those dawgs, and secured a trip to Atlanta. I've read all the reports, etc.... I'm not going to get all fired up and rant like most people, but I do think this is a pretty funny little concoction I've posted below. I don't think I'll post again until after Thanksgiving, so...I hope EVERYONE has a wonderful holiday!

Invite

Ski/Snowboarding season is almost here!!
Luke and I just discovered that we will definitely be in Carlsbad until February 1st and maybe until mid-February. With our new found knowledge...we went ahead and bought each other our early Christmas presents. What did we get each other?? Snowboards of course!!
Even if we only make it three times this season, we will have paid for the boards, so...it only made sense to go ahead and purchase.
I wanted to extend an invite out to all of you blog readers and friends. Luke and I plan on hitting the slopes a lot this season, and would LOVE to have people join us. Please let me know if you have the slightest interest and we'll work something out. The more the merrier!

A picture of my new board and bindings! Luke has yet to purchase his board, but will sometime this week.

The Rossignol Diva Mag 2010

I do realize we have yet to hit Thanksgiving, but we wanted to take advantage of the boards before Christmas, so we did jump the gun a bit.
Seriously call and come ski!!

Halloween

Happy Halloween Everyone!
Luke and I went over to Hobbs this Friday for the Carlsbad vs. Hobbs football game with our friends Jacob and Mandy. It was nice to get out of Carlsbad for the night to have dinner and fun with friends. The temperature during the day has been in the high 80s, but dropped drastically at night.

All bundled up at the football game

Luke and I stayed in on Saturday to hand out candy and watch football. Here is our little neighbor Jack all dressed up as a tiger. Luke and I wanted to pin an AU on him!! So happy my Auburn Tigers pulled out another win. Luke and I already said IF we make it to the National Championship game this year in Arizona, we are driving over for sure! 

Guess what other season it is??? PECANS!! We have 5 trees that are going crazy. I already mailed my Gran two huge bags, and they continue to take over our yard. I love to decorate with pecans. Our neighbor also told us a place to sell them for great cash, so....I think I'll be selling some this year.

2 full bags I mailed off to Gran

They really are pretty!

I have them all around my candles in hurricane glasses

I like them filling up about anything!

 Hope you all have had a Happy Halloween! I've worked hard on our New Mexico scrap book all day. This blog has been a great help in terms of pictures and dates. All of you blog readers and not writers should consider starting a blog of our own!

The Not So Wild West

Our life out West is pretty tame, and far from wild these days. The garden is wrapping up because we didn't think to plant pumpkin (I can't believe we forgot to plant that). Here is a picture of some of our chilies that of course did rather well out here. Luke and I are still working on mastering the best technique in terms of cooking them. The locals all say to grill them, then immediately stick them in the freezer. Once cold the skin peels right off and they are ready for use. We have successfully mastered this once so far. It took a while for us to get it right! I have really embraced the green chilies and love the extra flavor. I like to eat them on everything--- which is good since they put them on everything out here. I made pigs in a blanket this Saturday for the game and added green chili for a New Mexican twist. They turned out awesome! So...if you can get fresh green chilies where you live...try it out in your next batch of pigs in a blanket; you won't be disappointed.

Finally our garden gave us some big juicy red tomatoes

The latest garden crop

Luke and I do love our neighbors out here. They are such sweet people. Bob and Mak live two doors down and are such a fun couple. Luke and Bob talk all things man together, and Mak is the sweetest lady who is willing enough to teach me all sorts of wonderful authentic New Mexican dishes (she even tones down the hot factor for my wuss self). Luke and Bob grilled brisket for an entire day a couple of weeks ago--it was amazing! I will say one of my favorite parts of being a New Mexican resident is the food. It's so unique, interesting, and delicious. Enough talk--enjoy the pics!

Luke and Bob grilling hard!

Luke with the brisket!

Shannon our other neighbor has given us so many wonderful things for helping with her house--here is an great chips and salsa bowl she got us. It's very heavy and way to nice for me to ever put food in. The card is a picture of where Luke and I have been hiking several times. 

Back Home

So…a lot has been going on lately, and it’s all in Georgia! Luke and I just returned home from a little over a week trip back to our home state. The week started off with my dear friend Callie’s wedding in Athens, GA on October 8th. She was a beautiful bride, with wonderful weather, and a great afternoon wedding. Here are some pictures of her wedding with all of the cute details and signage. I especially loved the fact I could wear my cowboy boots and sip on two of my favorite drinks (mimosas and Bellini’s).

The Chapel

Callie and Corey

So Pretty

The KISS

The Reception

The weather was perfect!

Callie's Flowers

After the wedding I headed back to Atlanta and joined up with my family to watch another heart-attack AU game. War Eagle by the way!!!

Sunday I headed down to meet up with Luke who went straight to his family farm on Friday after flying in. This is his first time back in Georgia since we moved, so he was very anxious to hang out with his family and get to the farm. The barn just recently received the certificate of occupancy and looks great. It’s not 100% yet, but Luke and I got to chip in and get the barn a step closer. Luke built work benches, hunted, fished, and enjoyed himself to the fullest. I painted this barn door all week (yes it really took me that long—it required 4 coats of paint and was super tricky), painted cabinets, fished, and 4-wheeled to my hearts content. Friday was really a high-light! My whole family (except my brother Pat-who is in MBA classes) showed up to hang out and have fun at the Dorman farm with all of Luke’s family. The little girls got to feed the horses (a little scary experience for a second when I realized we only had two carrots for four horses), ride the 4-wheelers where they surprised me by yelling at me to go faster, and even went fishing for the first time. The Dorman’s hired a professional square dance caller, and we had a blast dancing the night away. I really do LOVE square dancing!!! Here are some pictures of the 1^st official (probably going to become an annual event) Dorman Family Barn Dance and Dinner.

Stacie and my cute nieces 

My Parents all decked out for the dance--they did have some awesome hats that I didn't capture here!

I can’t believe the week flew by like it did. Before I knew it we were packed up and heading back to Athens, GA for our second wedding in back to back weekends in Athens. This wedding was for Erin Dunn (now Erin Morris) a childhood friend. Jenna and I were best friends growing up with Erin and her sister Allyson who were the same ages as us, and lived roughly three doors down. She was a beautiful bride (she has been breath-taking her whole life), and the wedding was so perfect. Jenna and I were saying that the Dunn girls are the people in our life --that even if we haven’t seen them in a while, we can always pick up talking about all of crazy childhood memories we have.

My Hot Date

Did you notice the common barn/farm theme I had going on this trip?!

The four of us back together again! Team Disney/Perry Camp/Jessica Mona traps, etc...

Sadly, our trip did come to an end and we flew out of Atlanta Sunday afternoon. I really don’t think people realize that in order for us to get to and from basically anywhere…it takes the same amount of time…sometimes longer….than flying to Europe!!!!!!!!! That’s crazy right!! We left at 11:45 AM ATL time and didn’t arrive at our house until 9PM ATL time. So…today we are both dragging a bit (I think Luke is sick) and playing the catch up game at work (is it sad that I am completely caught up after this one day)?? Thank you everyone who was a part of our busy week and helped get us to all of these various places without us having to rent a car. We are truly blessed with great families and friends!

Right Now

Right now is Luke cooks for Lauren week! All the food is of course amazing and I think Luke could have a job in the food industry if he so desired. It is honestly not fair how talented he is, but I am thankful.

Right now I find myself crunched to get in all of my TV shows (sad I know).

Glee is great and super cheesy, yet awesome. Luke was in high school chorus (hard to picture right???!) If you must know Luke is very musically inclined and even watches Glee with me (big bonus)!!! Oprah is in her final season, so of course is burning up my DVR. Then Top Chef Just Desserts, Parenthood (which I thought I was the only person watching the first season, but happy to see many of you bloggers watch also), Lie to Me, and a billion other trash TV shows too. I really do not know how my sister Jenna lives her life without a DVR?

Right now I am in LOVE with a house under contract (BOO)! Is it evil that I am really hoping the contract falls apart and I can swoop in and steal the home?

Just so you know I am always house hunting online about everywhere you could think would be cool to live. With Luke and I on the road, we have no real place to call home, so I’m working on changing that. The house is in this amazing neighborhood in Savannah www.thelandings.com I DIE as Rachel Zoe would say!

Right now I am entering HGTV every day to win the Urban Oasis, and DIY every day to win the blog cabin. I mean how nice would it be to just win us a home instead of the whole buying one process.

Right now I find myself annoyed that my local news is really 4 hours away. Only in New Mexico could your local news be from an area that is 4 hours away from your home. The weather is totally different up there! 

Right now I am still in love with Sara Bareilles song King of Anything.

Right now I am also in love with Auburn’s quarterback Cam Newton, and my Auburn Tigers as a whole!

Lastly, right now I am super excited thinking this time next week Luke and I will be packing for a week long trip back home to Georgia to see our families.

This past weekend Luke and I set off on a serious road trip to Durango, CO. With this trip, I am proud to announce that I have been to every part of New Mexico! We drove all the way from the bottom Southeastern corner to the top Northwestern corner this weekend. Now I have seen all parts of the state--a mission of mine on moving here.
We didn't really hang out in NM though, but opted for Durango, CO instead. I am IN LOVE with Durango, CO. My love affair started last March when we enjoyed fresh powder at the Purgatory Ski Resort and the amazing town that is Durango. I will say this is the BEST place I have ever skied, and highly recommend it to any and everyone. When we returned home in March I went ahead and started planning our next trip back to town. I want to eventually visit Durango in every season. Durango is the perfect city for outdoor enthusiast--white water rafting in the summer; amazing hiking and biking in the fall; and the best skiing all winter.
Luke and I worked Friday and drove up to Farmington, NM Friday night as a pit stop. We woke up early Saturday to arrive in town and catch our 8:15 train to Silverton, CO. Durango offers a great experience riding on a narrow gauge railroad up through the mountains to the old mining town of Silverton. Silverton is a true old western town stuck back in time with dirt roads and western saloons. The train departed at 8:15 and took us on an amazing 3.5 hour trek. Once in town we wondered the streets and shops, had lunch, and jumped back on the train for our ride home to Durango.
Luke and I opted for the open air gondola and were blessed with the most beautiful weather. I think we jumped the true trees changing colors by a week or two, but I thought everything was breathtaking.
We did make it back in town to catch the end of the 2nd quarter of the game, and of course found Auburn family members in the local sports bar to cheer along with. I really could go on and on about how much I enjoyed everything about this trip (except the super long drive of course) but I think the pictures will say a thousand words.

The Front of our train rounding the bend! We are actually on a HUGE CLIFF  overlooking the Animas River

The cars and passengers behind us

The river was so pretty!  I am already thinking of when to return next year for rafting--ANY TAKERS?

Luke and I in Silverton about to re board the train home

The only paved street in town

The pictures are complements of Luke Dorman

So...we took a million pictures, and narrowing them down was very hard. I think Luke is going to put up an FB Album with more photos of the scenic journey.