Happy Labor Day!

Hello! Football and hurricane seasons are in full swing! We made it through Tropical Storm Fay (no biggie at all) and now Hurricane Gustav is in the Gulf, and we're starting to feel some effects because we're on the outer edge of it. John has family near New Orleans, where Gustav is heading, and they already evacuated yesterday. They headed to Panama City to stay with John's parents. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers, along with all the others in the Gulf Coast region.
We've had a fun-filled weekend already. John's parents came to stay with us Wednesday and stayed until yesterday. Although John had to work two nights, I enjoyed their company...and his Mom's cooking :) Saturday morning we left the house early to head for Gainesville, home of John's family's favorite football team, The UF Gators. We got there early enough to see the Gator Walk, where the players and coaches walk through the crowd towards the stadium (The Swamp). It was pretty cool I must say (even though I'm a Nole fan) to see Tim Tebow just a couple of feet away, shaking hands and giving high-fives to fans. U.F. played Hawaii, and won 56-10! It was also neat to see the Hawaiian team do their little "Warrior" dance before kickoff. It was extremely hot the first quarter, until God answered our prayers, and it poured for about 1/2 hour! We were drenched head to toe, and I think my camera is broken now...but luckily it cooled things off. We all really enjoyed the game.
After the game, John's parents drove back to Panama City, and we drove back to Tampa. We stopped by the house, then headed to the Ford Amphitheater to see John Mayer in concert. It was my second time seeing him, first time was after the 1st 2 albums. This time was cool cause he had alot more songs, and played alot from his most recent albums (more blues-y stuff), made jokes in between sets, and played for 2 hours. Even with all the screaming (screeching) teenage girls there (now we know what it was like for the Beatles, goodness, they must have been deaf after awhile!), we and the rest of the older crowd thoroughly enjoyed ourselves by just sitting back and listening, and singing along, and John made fun of the girls by screaming like one, haha!
Tomorrow we'll be hanging with my sis and brother-in-law. Not going to labor at all ;)

Cupcakes

Forgot to tell ya'll: I made cupcakes this morning. And I cooked dinner last night: baked BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes, broccoli and cheese. WHAT??? Andrea cooking and baking?? What's going on in the world??? Well, it was a full moon last night and a hurricane is coming...I guess.
No, really, I looove cupcakes, never have them unless I go to a kid's birthday party or a wedding shower, etc. I knew Monday was coming up, and my supervisor, a very sweet lady, was returning from leave after her mother passed away... SO... I decide to bake chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese vanilla frosting and sprinkles on top. I've had two already today :P You're jealous I know. Maybe picture to come. All those new cupcake shops (found in Hyde Park, etc.) are brilliant. Hmm, small business idea? Anyone wanna go in with me, haha!
I know, total domestication is under way. haha!! Martha Stewart, Rachel Ray, Oprah, here I come!
Oh goodness total boredom on Monday at work...hopefully the President of U.S.F. will call off work tomorrow or Wednesday because of T.S. Fay.
later, peace out. A.

Dog Days of Summer

Hot hot hot! August is already almost over... and we're gearing up for our first big tropical storm (or hurricane, we'll see) of the season for the Bay area. We're psyched! Can't wait to see how our huge, old, beautiful oak trees hold up. Gonna have to get a new roof soon anyway, haha!
We've been keeping things on the down-low lately, hanging around the house, catching up on little projects, and saving money. About two weeks ago, my Grandma McCarthy (my Dad's mom) had a short stay in the hospital. She's now in a nursing facility, and is pretty stable. They found legions on her pancreas (cancer), but she's too frail to go through surgery or chemo. I think they've tried their best to alleviate the pain. Jennifer and I visited her and I think she was glad to have visitors. Since she has Alzheimer's, you have to introduce yourself and she doesn't remember things from 5 minutes ago. However, she talks alot about her childhood, going to the local library and reading about far away places like Egypt in the National Geographics. She's a brilliant artist, has a kind soul, is humorous, pretty, a wonderful Mother (raised 1 boy and 3 girls) and Grandmother, and was a great wife to Grandpa (who passed about 4 years ago). She's a pretty tough cookie, and dear to my heart. Thank you everyone for all your prayers, and please keep praying that she's not in any pain.
This past weekend I went to a scrapbooking get together at my friend Brooke's. Working on a nice photo album for our wedding pictures (OMG we look so young!!) Saturday John and I hung out around the house and watched the Olympics (those Chinese gymnasts are definitely not above the age limit!; go Phelps...so I guess 8 is a lucky number this year?; GO U.S.A.!! or as John puts it: Go A-meeer-re-cah! real Southern/G.W. Bush-like) Sat. night we went with our friends Dave & Susan and Eric and his new gal pal to the Cheesecake Factory (Bang-Bang Chicken and Shrimp and Snickers Cheesecake: yummy, and I like saying Bang-Bang, it's funny), then went to the late showing of "The Dark Knight" the new Batman flick. Great movie! Sunday we just did chores around the house and watched more Olympics.
Gearing up for end of the summer, and beginning of football season. Go Noles!! ;)

P.C. Weekend

Hey guys and gals!
We headed up to Panama City this past weekend, and had a fun-filled, action-packed weekend! We were able to see day-old Antonio Avila and mom Charlene in the hospital. Baby and mom are fine, baby was wide-awake, healthy, and so cute! (Char is John's middle sister BTW). Also that week was John's Dad, sister Kathy, and nephew Josh's birthdays...so lots to celebrate in the Rochefort family! We got to hang with them Friday night and eat hamburgers and hot dogs.
Saturday, Mom McCarthy went with John and I to my friend's wedding. Leah was a childhood friend of mine, and her mom is friends with my mom still. It was a very pretty church wedding.
That night John and I went to Betsy and Chris's "Stock the Bar" party. Betsy is a very good friend of mine (met during high school), and will be getting married in September on P.C. Beach. They're both Gator fans, so of course, John's instantly hooked. The party was hosted by Betsy's parents' friends at a house on Betsy's street, and it was out on their driveway, so it was more like a block party. There was great people, food, drink, music (there was a guy singing and playing guitar), dancing, and even keg stands! Even better was that I got to hang with my other best friends, Kelly and Carly. If this is a shower, can't wait for the wedding and reception! ;)