Roots Market

Every Tuesday there's a huge farmer's market and flea market in a nearby town. It's AWESOME, to say the least. Today I went with my friend, Carrie, and she helped me pick out these treasures.

I've been searching for a cute candy dish or small serving bowl for olives, nuts, anything that doesn't require a huge dish. This was only $1! It's perfect and even came with a lid.

I'm not sure what to do with this bottle yet, but I thought it was neat and it only cost me 50 cents. And it's actually a lot taller than it looks in the picture.





You've inspired me, Laura Montgomery!

Atlanta Supercross (Best Race EVA)

We got to go to the Atlanta Supercross last weekend and it kicked butt! So I flew to Chattanooga where Derek is working each week and Lori, my dear friend and college roommate, drove over and met us from Nashville. Then we all drove down to Atlanta together.

Blake Wharton is my favorite rider so I had some artsy people help me make a poster for him. When we got to the pits, which were insane, we went right to his trailer and waited for him to show up. When he saw my sign he got a big grin on his face and gave me the head nod, acknowledging that he'd seen me. Then he came over and signed my poster and we all chatted for a bit and got pictures. He was so nice to talk to us. Derek said Blake was probably super pumped to have big fans there because he's on the same team with more popular riders and not many of the fans come to see him.



When we went back after practice Blake gave me some autographed race goggles that still had the tear offs on them. It was awesome! And Derek totally predicted that he would give me something because of my sign.



Blake did really well during his main. He got the holeshot, led the first 10 laps, and then crashed. He got right back up and took 4th. Not bad, I was proud of him. This is him leading with his teammate, Justin Barcia, right behind him.



The 450 main was incredible. Reed and Stewart were battling for first through the whole race and then they crashed into each other during the last lap. Villopoto got by so then they went at it for 2nd. In the very last turn before the finish jump reed cuts to the inside and blocks Stewart all the while dungey comes out of nowhere and passes them both for second and Stewart doesn't even podium. The whole crowd was on their feet. It was incredible. Stewart was so ticked that he went right to his trailer and wouldn't come out for his hole-shot check.


Me and Lori at the track.




Our other favorite rider, Kevin Windham.



Enjoying our free Monster drinks at the Monster Energy tent.



Great race! Great night!

Mars Factory Tour

Derek has been working each week in Cleveland, TN and it's been kinda rough on us. We don't like being apart so last week I flew down to spend a long weekend with Derek. It was so nice to be together and it was fun to see where he lives and works all the time. Yesterday, Derek took me on a tour of the factory and it was awesome.



We started out at the Twix line. It was just so neat to see it go from cookie dough all the way to wrapped and boxed. My favorite thing to see was how they put the caramel on the cookie. There was a huge cooled rotating drum with caramel on it. Then the caramel was scraped off with a blade and went in to a funnel looking thing that heated the caramel to just the right amount and then that split into little teat looking things that laid the caramel perfectly on the passing cookies. Derek took one of the Twix bars off the line for me to try without the chocolate coating put on yet and it was delicious. Then we tried a Twix with the chocolate on it. Soooo good.

The most fascinating thing to see was the M&Ms. We tasted M&Ms from each stage of the process from the roasted peanut all the way to the finished product. We loved the freshly roasted peanuts. The huge tumblers that coat and polish the peanuts were mesmerizing to watch; tens of thousands of M&Ms just rolling around in a slow washing machine type barrel.



The packaging is also incredible to watch. Conveyor belts running all over the factory and sorting bins and huge rolls of wrappers that package faster than I can watch. Pure Awesomeness!

And then Derek showed me the project he's working on and that was really neat to see. After seeing all the wires and the huge, complex control panels I completely understand why he feels overwhelmed. Derek's background in in mechanical and manufacturing engineering and he was just thrown into this electrical position. I'm so proud of the work he's doing and how perserverant he is. Derek never gives up and always gives 110%. I couldn't be a prouder wife!