cockadoos

They had me at BBQ omelet. The combination of my favorite egg preparation style with my favorite Memphis specialty?...SOLD! Actually, despite my initial enthusiastic interest, I was bit nervous about it. Could these two separately amazing foods meld into a delicious hybrid? The answer, my friends, is decidedly yes!

Cockadoo's is officially checked off of the-places-to-eat list (#100), but that def doesn't mean I won't go back! :]

Clockwise from top left: 1)Sweet potato hashbrown nest with marshmellow eggs- cute factor definitely outweighed taste factor. 2) mmmmmm! 3) Cheese is gross. 4) "It's my birthday weekend, whoop whoop!"

haboob!

Such a funny word. I bet it's hard for the weather reporters to say it with a straight face. If you're not from Arizona, let me explain... a haboob, "strong wind" in Arabic, is an intense dust storm that is really only common in the middle east and southwest US. The interesting thing about these storms is that you can literally see them rolling into town in sort of an apocalyptic kind of way.

Here's a time lapse video to give you a better idea:



Crazy, right?! So, as you might imagine, everything gets plastered in dust.
Lexi took this picture of our patio table.



My mom's car wasn't in the garage on this particular evening, so it was in desperate need of a wash. Since you now know about my interest in shooting car washes, I happily volunteered to get it cleaned. You wouldn't believe the lines at the Clean Freak car wash. They were making some bank!


haboob mess

poppin' caps with pops

Can you even pop a cap with a shotgun? Maybe only if you're a gangsta, haha. Anyway, another goal that I'm overdue in writing about is #92, going to the shooting hole with Dad. Unfortunately, the hole we went to as a family a few years back was no longer set up for shooting, so we went to a new place close to Taylor. It was a pretty spot with boulder clusters, a variety of brushes, and a big, bright blue sky. The clays didn't have much of a chance against the likes of Mom, Brian, Pops, and I. (Ok, they had a decent chance against us, but a 0% chance against the boulders :)

the master shows us how it's done


a natural


bang! bang!


Don't be fooled by her petite frame, this lady is a beast behind the trigger.


Like mother like daughter

cache.money & azcachemoney unite!

Still catching up on writing about goals that were achieved on my trip to Arizona over 4th of July...

One fun one was #25 geocaching with Chels! She's my only sibling who gets excited about caching like I do, so it's awesome when we can go out on the hunt and get our geek on together. We had prime opportunity for this when we were in Pinetop. We were in fresh territory with bountiful options all around, even some walking distance from the cabin! We went 4 for 4 around the lake with help from quadromom (Mom), Jennythedevil (surprise, Jenny), ucantcacheme (Brian), and Copper. Success!

azcachemoney!


signing the log


ucantcacheme looking focused


Copper pointing at a cache (or probably just a bug)


happy cachers!

flogging

Justin Timberlake, the quadruple threat- singer, dancer, actor, and....golfer. Seriously. He has a 6 handicap. You also may not know that he owns a course here just north of Memphis where he grew up. Not just any course, the first in the country to be Audubon International certified. "What's that?" you may ask. Well, renovation of the golf facilities implemented sustainable resource management principles that incorporated wildlife conservation, habitat rehabilitation and enhancement, water conservation and water quality protection. You can read more here. Cool huh, Jannell? :] Go JT!

So, not only is it super green (and not just the grass ;), it's also swanky in an international mega celebrity kind of way. It definitely fulfilled the requirements of being a "really nice golf course" for crossing off number 84 on the list. As a birthday present Brian gifted a round to me to help me achieve the goal. Nice, huh? Since it has finally cooled off a bit, we decided to go Saturday morning.

One of the first couple of holes. Brian isn't drunk, even though he looks like it, haha. He's just tired because we started early. Also, we were paired with a couple of semi-pros, so part of that look is nervousness (felt by both of us).


A beautiful, dewy morning.


GPS with digital scorecards on every cart. So helpful! I was really able to get to know my club distances better.


KA-POW!


Happier because we finally broke away from the pros, so flub shots weren't quite so embarrassing.


Yessssss! Pyramid stacked balls were gratis on the driving range. We were a little late for our tee time so we didn't hit any for warm-up, but came back for a few after our round.


Brian insisted on a tourist shot for the blog. Thanks again for the golf, boyfraaaand!

so fresh and so clean clean

I have a confession.

I go to the oil change station on the corner not because it's convenient or because I trust the guys, and surely not because it's a good deal. No, I go there because with every oil change you get a free car wash.

I'm such a sucker, I know, but that little complimentary bonus is such a satisfying treat for me. Of course, there is the convenience of not having to get out the bucket, sponges, hose, etc, but it's more than that. It's the surreal experience of being in the center of a rainbow-soap spewing, sponge-flap smacking, water-jet pelting storm that does it for me. As a friend in college put it, "It's like going back into the womb." haha

So, how does this relate to a goal? Well, #52 is to do a couple car wash shoots. This became a goal, because one time when I was redeeming a free wash I took some pictures. They turned out to be quite nice in an abstract sort of way, so I wanted to explore it further. Here are a couple shots from my trip to Colorado back in March (a bit slow, huh?):

this one I really cranked on the contrast in P-shop for even more abstraction




Another goal that I tried to do when I was in Denver was #72, see Chandra dance. Unfortunately, there were no shows going on when I was there. However, thought I'd mention that we did get to see her larger than life poster hanging downtown. Pretty cool huh?!

prepare to be embarrassed...

...well, only if you knew me circa 1998-2003. These, my friends, were my pre-digital camera years. (Do you see where this is going? Yep, you should be nervous :] So, I've had stacks and stacks of prints stored in my closet just collecting dust. It was really kind of sad, because there were a lot of fond memories there, but they just weren't readily accessible. Well, one day, a groupon deal pops up in my inbox advertising that 1,000 4x6 photos could be scanned and converted to digital images! Just the thing to unleash these awkward school day memories and check off #95! Here are a few gems from the bunch:

my golden birthday- 17 on the 17th. chaz frosted his tips for the occasion.


mom's hair = yessssss!


apparently, it was pentecost


cotillion ball


these sleeves are what legends are made of


fossil springs fam trip!


goon of the flume


forget 15, try freshman 20 :] basketball away game in texas


before words with friends


proof that calc camp does exist :]


family room before demolition


baby lexi is the cutest. golfing in pinetop.


the BURB! what I drove in high school


third eye blind & goo goo dolls(?) concert at cricket


maybe last day of senior year(?). I wish I remembered why Tor had her invisible friend with her, haha.


I was slightly confused when I saw this thinking that a new picture had snuck in with the old ones.
first time in Memphis with the volleyball team.


hilare


junior prom


papa!


chaz, you're going to want to hang onto this one now that you're going bald. ;]


historic blizzard in DC during a bball trip. interesting factoid- brian was there at the same time.


puerto rico. yes, that white spot on the rocks is me, not part of the waterfall.


habitat for humanity mullet


I hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane! :]