Not fun...

It has been a while since I have done a post and I actually have some fun things to post from last weekend when I went to Dallas for a friend's Bachelorette Party. But, I have had a slight interruption in my life since Sunday. Before I left for Dallas, I came down with a viral infection that I thought was just going to include a sore throat, ear ache, just general not feeling good. I went to the doctor and got a shot on my way out of town and thought that would do the trick. By the time I got home on Sunday, I was feeling worse and and started having extreme pain in my back and rib area on my left side. Then I had a nasty looking rash everywhere I was in pain. I went back to the doctor to find out that I have shingles!!! I am one of the fortunate people that carries the dormant chicken pox virus and whatever caused my sore throat triggered the dormant virus. Let me just say that it is the most miserable and painful thing I have ever been through!!! I have had to take a couple of days off of work because I can't hardly stand to have anything touching me and am having to take lots of pain medicine. A sweet lady from my church emailed me today because she has had them before. She said that it was 10 days before the pain went away for her. My dad has had them before and it was about that long before he wasn't in pain and it took months for the rash to go away. While that is encouraging that this will come to an end eventually, I am in a time crunch that stresses me out! I am supposed to be in a wedding in about 2 weeks. I would appreciate your prayers that the pain will quickly go away and that the rash will at least not be as visible by the time of the wedding. This is also a really busy time for me at work and I have to go back tomorrow. I'm praying that I wake up tomorrow feeling a lot better! If not tomorrow, I have to be better by Saturday! I will be soooo mad if I end up missing the Hogs vs. Rebels!!!!!!!

Wooooo Pig Sooie!!!!!

I still cannot believe that the Hogs pulled off the upset over Auburn!!! Don't get me wrong, I am THRILLED that we won but still shocked. Every time the score scrolls across the bottom of the screen, I am scared that it is going to say that Auburn won and that I have been dreaming! Ha! This was definitely the best game we have played all year. I think our young guys are finally getting used to playing in the SEC and the older guys are settling into the new coach's system. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come! Go Hogs Go!!!

And the winner is...

Friday night, the University of Arkansas hosted "Friday Night Live - Latin Soul." This was event held on campus as part of Hispanic Heritage Month. Bizys was asked to participate in a queso and salsa competition with other local restaraunts.

When we were setting up our booth, we noticed a large stage to the left of us and a band was setting up too. I was hoping that they were going to be good because my dad is really picky about music. I was afraid I would be left to man the station by myself if they were bad!

They were so good! The band is called Havana NRG and they are an eight piece Cuban Salsa band from Dallas. Even though I didn't understand a word they were saying, it was so much fun to listen too and there were a lot of students out there dancing! It made me wish I could get out there and join them, and that my hips moved like some of those girls' did!!! For about 2 hours we handed out samples of our salsa and queso. The students were given a ballot so that they could vote on their favorites. At the end of the night, the band announced the winner and the one word I understood was "Bizys"!

We have always thought we had the best queso, but it's really nice to have the proof! They said that they wanted us to come back next year. At least I have some time to brush up on my Spanish!

Celebrate!

On Tuesday, I had two reasons to celebrate. The first reason was that the October edition of the "Celebrate Arkansas" magazine came out and Bizys was the featured restaurant! The pictures don't really do it justice, but it is a great article and we are really excited about how good it turned out!
I love this picture of my dad! He works so hard to make sure people get great food and great service, so he definitely deserves this recognition. Speaking of my dad...this leads me to my second reason for celebrating. Tuesday was also my dad's 56th birthday!His favorite dessert in the whole world is homemade banana pudding, so I made one and surprised him with it that night. My step-mom usually makes it, but she is still recovering from surgery so I made it for her this time. Thank goodness his favorite dessert is sooooo easy to make!

A New Blog and a New Baby!!!

Mandy and I are best friends from college. The funny thing is that we went to Hardin-Simmons in Abilene, not the U of A, but I didn't have any digital pictures of us from our college days. This picture is from 2 years ago when the Hogs played Vanderbilt in Nashville, where Mandy and her husband live. She was a great sport and went with me to the game and she made an excellent Hog fan! I got the best news this weekend that she is going to have a baby in April and she has a blog to keep track of all the baby news! I could not be any more excited about either of these things! Mandy and David will be the best parents and I cannot wait to meet Baby P!!!

Wedding Bells!

Last Wednesday, I loaded up to head to Mt. Magazine with Hillary for her wedding! We had to make a very important stop before we left town.

Every bride deserves a little pampering before the big day! Once we were looking good from the manicures/pedicures we hit the road. As soon as we got to Mt. Magazine, we went into the lodge to see how things were coming.
Things were looking good! The rest of the night we hung out in the cabin with Hillary's parents and started getting organized for the next day. Thursday morning, I woke up to this glorious view!
I took a minute to thank God for this amazing setting for such an amazing occasion! Then, it was off to work! We stuffed these cute bags with goodies for the overnight wedding guests.

After we delivered the bags to the lodge and ate breakfast, we had some time before Josh arrived so Hillary and I took a walk. We walked up a trail to the highest point in Arkansas.Hillary and her family were so organized that we sped through the things that needed to get done and had a lot of time Thursday afternoon to relax while we waited for the rehearsal and dinner.

The setting for the wedding was so beautiful! Hillary had asked me to sing "How Great Thou Art" at the wedding and there could not have been a more fitting song! Here's the happy couple at the rehearsal dinner. So cute!!!Speaking of cute! No lingerie shower is complete without petit fours! Hillary got beautiful lingerie gifts and we all had a great time at the shower. We started the morning of the big day off with a bridesmaids breakfast. We all came in our pj's and NO makeup which was a lot of fun, but not so good for pictures!

Hillary's "Bride" pj's were so cute! After a fabulous breakfast, we headed off to get ready for the wedding! I was so nervous before the wedding that I didn't take hardly any pictures, but trust me, everyone looked GREAT and the wedding was PERFECT!!!! Audra, me, Hillary, and Sarah at the reception. We had a blast!Brooke and Mike Gray are one of the funnest couples I know! Mike did a great job performing the ceremony too.
My dad and my step-mom always call Hillary their adopted daughter. They were so happy to be at the wedding! Finally, after a long day (and this really long post!) the newly-wed Mr. and Mrs. Bazyk loaded up and headed off to their new life together!I could not be more blessed to know Hillary and Josh and share in this weekend with them. I am confident that the Lord has great things planned for their marriage and can't wait to see Him use them for His glory!!!

Hog Wild Weeked

This past weekend I had a great time kicking time of the Razorback football season! The celebrations began on Friday night with my friend Joe's birthday. We had the cutest cake for him!On gamedays, I tailgate with my parents and friends who come by to join in on the fun. It is an all day event and we come prepared for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

These football shaped doughnuts actually ended up being desserts instead of breakfast, but they were still delicious!
My dad is so proud of his new grill! It is really funny how many people will come by to look at it.

Hillary, Josh, Holly, Justin, and Ashley came by and hung out with us for a while. It was so much fun but not the ideal weather for taking photos. It was sooooooo hot and humid! I'm pretty sure that by the time we took this picture I had no makeup left!

I was so anxious to get inside the stadium to see all the new changes that have been made. I am so happy with the new Hog on the field!!! I was pretty happy with all the other changes too. I wish that the game hadn't been quite so close. But, it's always good to start with a win!