I was driving home, down our street from dropping Elek off at daycare and I saw four boys that were clearly walking to Peabody school which was about 2 blocks away. One of them was crying with his jacket pulled part way down. One was next to him comforting him by putting his arm around him. Another was close and then there was the ever-present straggler bring up the rear. I thought to myself “What in the world are they doing? Why is he crying?” Then a few seconds later I saw a woman hiding behind a car and tree watching these boys walk to school. I imagine that’s his mother making sure he got there safe.

Sometimes as children we’re not ready to be independent, but the time has come. That must be really hard for that mother to watch her son walking off slowly, crying. But she knows as do I that once her son has done it a couple times it will be like second nature to him. I suppose sometimes we all need a push out of the nest of comfort.

That Friday night, the boys are edamame among other things and drank their milk. They loved playing in the ball pit that Elek got for his birthday from Nana. Elek and Jesse watched a show or two and Elek climbed the couch. Lastly, they took turns pushing each other down a small slide. They were so funny together! Jesse stayed the next day (Sat.) until around 2PM and the McRaes came and got him to keep him for the rest of the weekend.

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Ingredients
* 2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
* 2 tablespoons Sicilian Sea Salt
* 1 tablespoon Black Pepper, Coarse Grind
* 1 tablespoon Paprika, Smoked
* 2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
* 2 teaspoons Ground Mustard
* 1 whole turkey, fresh or frozen, thawed
* 2 ribs celery
* 1 onion, quartered
* 2 Bay Leaves
* 1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation
Thaw your turkey in the refrigerator. Typically it takes 24 hours per 5 lbs.
Place oven rack on lowest position and preheat the oven to 330 degrees F. Mix first six ingredients in a small bowl.
Rinse the turkey, take out the giblets (save for turkey stock), and pat the turkey dry with paper towels. Place the turkey breast side up in the roasting pan.
Sprinkle 1 Tbsp of the mixture inside the turkey. Stuff with celery, onion, and bay leaves. Then brush turkey breast with oil. Add 1/2 cup of water to the pan and apply the rest of the mixture to the turkey. Put the lid of the roasting pan on.

Roast for about 3 hours and 20 minutes and then remove the lid of the roasting pan. Baste the turkey. Roast another 30-45 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165 degress F. Remove roasting pan from oven, put lid back on and let sit for 20-30 minutes. Transfer to carving board and slice.

Gravy

Ingredients
* Drippings from turkey
* Flour or cornstarch with water (Shake well or stir to dissolve)
* Chicken bouillon cube (Optional)

Preparation
Add flour (or cornstarch with water) to drippings. Heat under medium high heat stirring constantly. Add stock as needed. Add optional chicken bouillon cube if needed. When it cooks down to gravy consistency, you’re done.

Turkey Stock

Ingredients
* Giblets from Turkey
* Celery
* Onion
* Salt/Pepper
* 1 Bay Leaf
* Dried Parsley

Preparation
Add all ingredients to around 6 cups of water and simmer the length of time you cook the turkey.
You can use this to moisten stuffing or freeze and use later.

Let’s briefly go through most of the advantages and disadvantages of 529s, which you’ll need to know.

Now we get down to business. Let’s start with the state you’re in. I, for example, am in Tennessee which has no state income tax (offset by their massive sales tax). This means that there’s no financial reason for me to limit my choice to my state. On the other hand, if you live in a state like Ohio, there’s no reason to go outside of your state since you can deduct up to $2,000 per beneficiary, per calendar year off your state income. If you’re lucky enough to live in a state that allows deductions for contributing to a 529 plan, then that greatly narrows your choices. The choice was not so easy for me since this was not a factor in my decision.

I started my research of 529 plans with people that I knew had used a 529 or something similar. My dad used the Tennessee BEST program for me when I went to college. My wife’s boss currently uses a 529 plan from the state of Kansas. I thought that those look OK, but how do they compare with the other states’ offerings? Which one is truly the best for my son? Well to answer those questions I turned to everybody’s pal Google as usual hoping to find a list comparing the multiplicity of available plans.

I relied heavily on four of the best sites that I (or rather Google) found and I weighted them in the following order:

1. Morningstar’s “The Best and Worst 529 College-Savings Plans”
2. Consumer Report’s “Some of the best and worst 529 plans”
3. “Kiplinger Top Plans”
4. MSN’s “The 5 best college-savings plans”

Essentially I cross referenced the plans on all of these sites hoping to find one that was on all of them. I thought it was odd at the time, but not many were listed on multiple sites. In retrospect, this fact leads me to believe that there is no really “best” 529 plan, but rather each individual needs to choose a plan based on his/her needs. This can be annoying because it adds to the work on the part of the individual looking for the best 529 plan. That being said, I came up with a list of about six 529′s that the articles indicated were the best. I made sure to avoid all of the schools listed in the “worst” category of any of the listed sites. Below is a listing of the best/worst and the ones I narrowed down using my own opinion/needs.

* Number of times the plan appeared

Now that I had narrowed my candidates significantly I decided that cost of the plan would be the next deciding factor. You can find the costs per state at collegeanswer.com.

This is finally how I arrived at my final answer, which was Ohio (Ohio Tuition Trust Authority). Another benefit to this particular plan is that you can get a $25 referral for both you and the person referring you when you sign up and enter their referral code (mine is 2524394). I believe this only goes on until Dec. 15th, 2009 at which point they may cancel the referral program or they may extend it. There’s also another benefit to this plan where you can earn $25 for just setting up recurring monthly electronic fund transfers or payroll deductions for at least 90 days. You can read more about both of these programs at collegeadvantage.com. I’m sure other states’ plans have similar referral programs, though I haven’t seen them.

Those interested in receiving the $25 referral for signing up for this 529 account, follow the steps below:

1. Enroll online
2. During the enrollment process it will ask you for a referral code. Enter 2524394.
3. After you complete your account enrollment, 7-10 business days later you will receive a $25 credit in your 529 account. (I will get a $25 credit as well.)
4. Also don’t forget to set up your recurring monthly electronic fund transfers or payroll deductions to receive another $25 after 90 days.

Yield
4 servings

Ingredients
* 1 and 1/2 cups water
* 1 cup long-grain rice, uncooked
* 1/2 cup chopped onion
* 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
* 1 and 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
* 1/2 teaspoon salt-free garlic-and-herb spice blend (Mrs. Dash)
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper (we always use fresh ground pepper)
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 (14 and 1/2oz.) can no-salt-added whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped (we used diced tomatoes with garlic and Italian seasoning)
* Vegetable cooking spray
* 4 (4 oz.) skinned, boned chicken breast halves
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 1 and 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning (there is a reason this is on here twice, pay attention to the directions below)
* 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil
* 1/2 cup white wine

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Brown chicken breasts in olive oil over medium high heat. About half way through, poor the wine in and mix.
While you are browning the chicken, combine first 9 ingredients in a 2 qt. casserole coated with the vegetable cooking spray and stir well.
Arrange chicken breasts over rice mixture and sprinkle with garlic powder.
Sprinkle with the grated Parmesan cheese and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning.
Cover and bake at 375F for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed.

Notes
This past time it was amazing! However we didn’t have any Mrs. Dash so we used Adobo. We also added a little bit more Italian seasoning and some basil as well. We went heavy on all the cheese which obviously made it taste better. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did. It’s a simple recipe that you can throw together relatively quickly, then just wait on it to bake. It’s great for when you’re having company so you can prep beforehand then entertain. * I obtained this recipe from my mom and she added some steps to the original recipe to make it really good.

You can see the rest of the photos she took on her blog moonpies and cherry slurpies: A little bit of Memphis and my favorite Memphibians.

There’s a few things I’d like to change about Halloween next year which include the following:

1. Carve more pumpkins
2. Decorate more with fake spiderwebs, lights, and maybe even fog
3. Have an even better game plan about when we’re going to start trick-or-treating and where
4. Maybe even have time to hand out more candy

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The first night we got ready and wandered around looking for a place to eat. We got some general directions for cajun food from a local shop keeper. Ralph and Kacoo’s was where we ended up eating. It looked just as good as any other place. It turned out to be sub par and I’m really upset we didn’t get a chance to try out Mr. B’s! After the disappointing meal, we walked to the party which was in a luxurious suite with a large balcony and an open bar. As you can see everyone there had a great time. We met some new people and celebrated Jared and Ezgi’s marriage.

After waking up and walking to Cafe du Monde (which we did make it back to), we decided we didn’t want to wait in a line that long. On the other side of Jackson Square there was another recommended restaurant called Stanley’s. Despite the almost equally as long wait, the food was amazing!

After that meal we HAD to walk off the food. With no real agenda, we walked up to the trolley station and hopped on. When the trolley came to the end of the line there was the aquarium, right in front of us. I’ve been before, but it had been a very long time. We decided to go in and luckily both Mike and I had our triple A cards with us for the discount. The aquarium is a must see if you’re ever in New Orleans.

Afterward, we got a transfer on another trolley and went back to Cafe du Monde where we ate some wonderful beignets and drank coffee (hot chocolate for me).

After a fun filled, touristy morning most of us took a nap with the exception of Diana who walked about 4 miles to get a sweater. What a great nap! We were all recharged and ready for the reception that night at a beautiful inside courtyard. The food was exactly what I love about New Orleans. Everything was perfect. The guests, the food, the dessert, the location. Later that night we went out on Bourbon Street again, but unfortunately that was the night that Diana woke up shivering. She had gotten the flu from Elek. I was sent out at 5AM in the French Quarter to find some place with Sprite and crackers. Luckily I didn’t come back empty handed. It took Diana about 6 days to recover from the flu thanks to Tamiflu. We drove back after breakfast at a 24 hour diner across the street from our hotel.

It was a wonderful weekend in New Orleans and I wish Jared and Ezgi the best! You can see more pictures from the festivities below.

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He took wonderful pictures at our wedding and since then we’ve become friends. While we don’t see each other as much as I’d like, the Dills are next on our “people to have over” list. Brandon is an intellectually stimulating, talented, and funny guy who is a pleasure to hang out with. He also managed to make an appearance on the blog Cute Boys Make me Nervous. We have seen the Dills at a couple of themed potlucks which were a lot of fun. You can see some of the recipes that were made at thehornofplenty.blogspot.com.

We love our wedding pictures. Brandon was exactly what we were looking for and we didn’t even know it. I just want to say Thank you, Brandon Dill, for taking our wedding photos and hopefully we’ll be seeing you soon!

You can see most of our wedding pictures that he took here and here. Also here’s a gallery of some of our favorites, though it was really hard to pick.

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