The Loflands

Saturday, September 27, 2008

OPA!

Friday night Will and I went to the annual Greek Food Festival in Dallas. It was our third year to go and this year my parents came with us for their first time. I look forward to it every year...the live entertainment is great, the food is to diiie for and the overall atmosphere is just so fun! They have an outside area where all the hot food is and there are two stages...one for the greek dancers and another for a greek band. I love watching the dancers, it is my goal in life to learn Greek dancing AND to jump in one of the line dances at the festival! They also have an indoor area with different things to buy....jewelry, clothes, Greek art, etc. and toooons of packaged/frozen food. It's located at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church which is open for tours all weekend too. The inside of the church is GORGEOUS with colorful frescoes and mosaics everywhere! We all pretty much ate our weight in Greek food and sat around watching the dancers and listening to great Greek music all night! OPA!

Bouzouki musician

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church

foooood L to R

Dolmas (grape leaves stuffed with meat and rice), Pastichio (Greek lasagna), Gyro (pork, pita bread, tzatziki) YUM! not pictured: dessert....Baklava and Kourambiethes!

Mom and Dad and more food L to R

Souvlaki (chicken on a stick wrapped in pita), Greek fries (french fries with the BEST seasoning and tzatziki to dip), Loukaniko (Greek sausage)...oh, and Aris! (Greek beer)

Greek artist in action!

Greek dancers performing

Greek dancing to the live band, Enosis

Mom and Dad! Thanks for coming!

xo, Lynds

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Don't Cha Wish Your Grandma Was Hot Like Mine!

Hahaha so on Friday I subbed at one of Highland Park's elementay schools and it happened to be GrandParents day. The kids put on a music performance for their guests and one of the songs was a remake of the Pussycat Dolls' "Don't Cha Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me." HILARIOUS!

I was able to sub four days this past week and it has been awesome! This kids are so great and the more I sub the more I think I might want to become a real teacher! We'll see, we'll see...

Other than that our week was pretty norm. On Tuesday we drove out to Rockwall for Corvette Dinner. Will's dad is part of the Rockall Corvette Club and they meet every Tuesday for dinner at various restaurants. Free dinner for us AND I finally got to ride in the 'vette! It was sooo fast and he burnt out just for kicks! Will's dad is pretty much obsessed with his car, it's like his third child....seriously. He only drives it if the weather is perfect and spends months waxing and polishing it up for various car shows. It pays off though because he wins everytime!

pretty, huh?

Friday Will and I had our "date night." We started out at Top Golf which is like a golf range on steroids. They have a golf range, putt-putt, and batting cages. They also have a full bar and menu. But the best part is the golf balls. Each golf ball has a micro-chip in it and the range has these circle pits all over it that you try and aim the balls at. If they land in the pit, the computer screen will register how far you hit the ball and how close you got it to the center of the pit. You get certain points based on how close you get so you can play against each other! Will obviously smokes me but it's still fun to have a little friendly competition! Afterwards we went home, showered, then headed out to Primo's which is one of our fave Mexican Restaurants! I love Mexican food, I swear I could eat it everyday! And their margaritas aren't so bad either :) After dinner we were SO excited to go see Burn After Reading...and we very dissapointed. It was funny, but not as funny as we anticipated and it was mixed with a ridiculous "plot" (if you can call it that) and just a bizarre combination of events. I do not recommend it, especially if you like Brad Pitt and George Clooney. Clooney's character sucked and Brad Pitt was adorable...but you will not like how his character ends up to say the least. However, we did see Jerry Jones and his wife come out of the theater right before we went in! Celebrity Siting!!! Overall, it was a good date-night with my hubs! Here are some pics of us playing golf and you can see the green with all the pits...

Saturday was a really fun day. We woke up really early for some reason, like 7:15?!? So we sat around and then took Toula to the dog park which was PACKED! They were having a Yorkie owners party or something so there were Yorkies everywhere! Also, these two guys brought their Italian Greyhounds which are totally creepy looking. They were sooo skinny with freakishly long legs. They looked like a cross between a spider and a praying mantis me and Will determined. Sweet as can be but creeeepy!

related? I think yes!

Later we picked up my friend Nat and went to this bar, Ginger Man, that was having an Oktoberfest celebration because Saturday was the first day of Oktoberfest in Germany! Will went to Okoberfest in Munich a few years ago when he spent a semester abroad so he was excited to get to celebrate again. Although, it was not nearly as crazy as the party was in Germany I'm sure! But we did get free Liter Mugs! Well, mine and Nat's were half-liters but it was the perfect size for us! We spent a couple hours sitting outside talking, drinking German beer, and listening to live music. It was a fun, relaxing afternoon. That night we just stayed home and watched the UT game (Will's choice) and then Moulin Rouge (my choice) until bed.

Prost!

me and will with our (free!) mugs and (not free) German beer

me and Nat with our mugs and bottle-opener necklaces haha

Hope everyone else had a great week/end too!

xo, Lynds

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Pray for Rod!!!

My mom told me and Will last night that my cousin-in-law Rodney...has leukemia. He just found out and is starting intense treatment asap so hopefully they can get it into remission soon. I just pray the medicine will help him because he has way too much to live for. He has to be in a hospital for five weeks that is two hours away from their home so it's going to be hard for the family to adjust. His wife, Shannon, will stay by his side, but they have three small children, two of which are in elementary school and one is just a baby. The kids are staying with my aunt and uncle and as of right now, they don't know it's happenning. Anyone who might read this, please pray for my cousin and their family during this difficult time!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

We're in the System!

This week was big for both me and Will. Will was officially put into the system at Merrill Lynch as a financial advisor, and I was put into the aesop system for substitute teaching! Will is finally finished training and can now take on his own clients --> commission!! And I am beginning to sub during the day and finally able to contribute my own, albeit small, income.

Monday night we went out to Rockwall to have dinner with Will's parents and some friends of ours. Our friends, Mario and Dino and their families, are all from Kosovo and we were celebrating Dino's wife's American citizenship she just recently received! It was a very blessed time for their family because Ajeta and their children had been in Kosovo while the paperwork was being processed and Dino, who already has his citizenship and runs a restaurant here, hadn't seen his family in almost a year! We grilled steaks and they brought over some amazing Albanian food -- very similar to Greek food, mmm baklava!

Wednesday I was put into the system for subbing and surprisingly I got a call that night for a sub job the next day! So Thursday I spent the morning subbing 5th and 6th grade P.E. It was a great place for me to start since there were other coaches with me, and it was only a half-day job so I was able to ease into it. I really enjoyed the kids and the staff so I'm looking forward to having my own classroom. I already have jobs lined up for Monday (Art!) and Tuesday; we'll see how I do on my own!

Friday I spent the day shopping for "work" clothes with my mom :) and then Will and I headed out to Greenville to visit with his grandparents that evening. They took us to this delicious Mexican restaurant that they have been going to every Friday night for over 30 years. Don't mess with tradition. Afterwards we visited and Will's grandmother showed us some great scrapbooks she's made of past vacations....it made us want to go to Alaska sooo bad! Hopefully someday...

Saturday our good friends Jon and Joanna came to stay with us. We had planned to go golfing but Ike had a different idea, so instead we went out for dinner/drinks and had a game night at our apartment. Will and Jon have been best friends since Freshman year and it is always hilarious watching the two of them reconnect after being apart for a while. We had a great time with the two of them and are already planning our next adventure -- New Years Eve, here we come!

Here's some funny pics I took of Toula this week...

Toula loves to tag along on my trips to Southlake to utilize my parents big backyard. She always falls asleep in the most awkward positions!

She was so excited to visit Camp Lofland and eat all the potted plants! Look at that smile!

We had a great, full week!

xo, lynds

Thursday, September 11, 2008

3 Months and Counting

I can't believe it has already been three months, they have flown by! Mainly Will and I have just been getting used to living with each other and settling into a routine. We have already made some great memories including lots of birthdays. Will's immediate family all celebrate their birthdays within 31 days of each other and his younger sister, Jennifer, and I share the same birthday so there has been a lot of partying in the Lofland fam! However, poor Will was sick as a dog on his birthday! He actually had to miss work -- and not to play hooky and do something fun but to lay in bed and be miserable! :( Although, he was well enough to eat his favorite cupcakes I made him and we had a proper celebration the next week with his family. Here are pics of some of the fun times we've had together so far!

the aftermath

Will and I returned home from our honeymoon at 1am to an apt full of gifts. We were only going to open one...which of course turned into all of them!

Will's birthday

Will's birthday dinner at Trader Vics'...a week later

Fourth of July/Will's bday with my fam

Will just loooooves that Hannah Montana!

Attending our first wedding as Mr. and Mrs!

Congrats Lacey and Braden!!

Birthday Girls!

Birthday dinner with the Loflands at PF Changs...yum!

birthday with my fam...and the amazing italian cream cake
22 candles + 1 to grow on = birthday cake or bonfire??

Box seats at the Ranger's Game with some of my favorite people!

Margarita Salsa Festival 2008

A charity concert benefiting the Arthritis Foundation...this year Kevin Fowler, Joe Nichols, and Pat Green performed! It's become a Lofland family tradition.

xo, lynds