The State Fair of Texas is coming very very soon with all the fried food you could want. If you have read my blog for very long, you know that I LOVE the State Fair.  It is my favorite time of year.  I like it better than Christmas.  I know that is crazy, my husband reminds me every year.

The State Fair has announced its list of new fried food for 2008.

Fernie’s All-American Fried Grilled Cheese Sandwich. White bread sandwich with American and cheddar cheeses dipped in egg-and-milk batter, coated with bread crumbs, and fried.

Chicken Fried Bacon. Bacon with seasoning, battered, breaded, deep-fried, served with ranch or honey mustard sauce.

Fried Banana Split. Banana and honey peanut butter rolled in balls, battered, and deep-fried, topped with powdered sugar, caramel and chocolate syrups, peanuts, whipped cream, banana split-flavored ice cream bites, and cherry.

Texas Fried Jelly Bellys. Jelly Bellys rolled in funnel cake batter and fried. Deep Fried S’mores. Marshmallow and chocolate chips sandwiched between two graham crackers, dipped in batter, fried, and dusted in powdered sugar.

Fire & Ice. Pineapple ring, battered and deep-fried, topped with banana-flavored whipped cream that’s been frozen in liquid nitrogen so it smokes.

Fried Chocolate Truffles. Dark chocolate truffle rolled in cocoa powder, battered, deep-fried, dusted in cinnamon, sugar, and cocoa powder.

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Waffle Balls. Strawberries in chocolate shell, dipped in waffle batter, deep-fried, custed with powdered sugar, served on a stick.

I think I'll give the Fire & Ice and Strawberry Waffle Balls a try this year.  I really just want a Corny Dog and a chocolate and banana crepe to make me happy. 

So, what do you think?  Would you eat any of this food?

List of food provided by Pegasusnews.com

So, have you ever wondered what Rotary is? As a member of Plano West Rotary, let me try and explain. I've only been a member for 4 years. I'm still a "newbie" in the club compared to some of our club members have been involved for 20, 30, 40 and even 50 years!! Amazing.

Rotary is the world's first service club organization with 33,000 clubs in over 200 countries. Members form a global network of service oriented leaders who volunteer their time and money to serve their local communities and worldwide. Our motto is, Service above Self.

Each club meets weekly and attendence is mandatory. If you miss a meeting, you are encouraged to make-up at another club or you can go online. As Program Chair for 2007-2008, it was my responsibility to find the speaker for each meeting. This was a challenge but a great job that allowed me to meet a variety of individuals throughout the Dallas area. The club is the cornerstone to Rotary and have 4 key responsibilites: 1) sustain or increase membership 2) participate in service projects that benefit our community and those in other countries 3) support the Rotary Foundation financially and through participation 4) develop leaders capable of serving in Rotary and beyond.

My club is very involved in the Plano Balloon Festival where we sell Funnell Cakes. It is a crowd favorite and we have lines up to 20-30 people. And all the money we raise go back into the community. The Plano Balloon Festival is next month and I can't wait. We also sell Texas Pecans each holiday season. The pecans are excellent and they pretty much sell themselves! Worldwide Rotary has been key is helping to eradicate polio. Now, Rotary has taken up the challenge of providing clean drinking water around the world. There are so many more projects and I've just begun to scratch the surface.

If Rotary sounds interesting to you, I encourage you to get involved. Our club would love to have you visit. Just contact me and I can get you started on a great journey.

Congratulations Nastia Liukin on the GOLD medal for the Women's All-Round in Gymnastics.  I loved it!!  America first and second - the first time in history that this has happened.  NBC mentioned twice tonight that Natsia's gym in is my hometown of Plano, TX.  Our city can't pay for better advertising than that!!

The 2004 All-Round Olympic Champion, Carly Patterson, also worked at the same gym in Plano.  So, I think this means if you want to win gold, you need to move to Plano, TX.

I hope everyone was able to see the Men's Olympic 4 x 100m Swimming Relay.  It was AMAZING.  The commentators were saying it was the best relay race they had ever seen.  It was incredible - I was jumping off the sofa, like an idiot.  It is amazing what the Olympics will do to you.

The French were the favorites to win the race and had been talking smack that they were going to "crush the Americans".  Well, that didn't happen.  The Americans beat the French and crushed the world record by 4 seconds with a new World record time of 3:08.24.

Superstar, Michael Phelps, lead off the relay. Garrett Weber-Gale was second and Cullen Jones swam the 3rd leg. Lezak swam the final leg in 46.06 seconds - the fastest relay split in history!  Lezak made up almost a body length to win.

They worked together well and all Americans should be proud of what they accomplished.  It was great to see them on the podium to receive those gold medals.

GO USA!!!

I wanted to share with everyone why I love Plano and think it is a great place to live. I have really enjoyed living in Plano,TX for the past 8 years and can't imagine living in any other city locally.

1. Location - Plano is close to Dallas without having to deal directly with big city Dallas problems and politics. Plano is the southernmost city in Collin County so we get to enjoy the best of both worlds. To the south, I'm 25 minutes from downtown Dallas and to the north only 20 minutes to the county seat of Collin County in McKinney.

2. Great Schools - I don't have children but I appreciate an area that has good schools because it keeps my property values up. And when I do have children then I want to be in an area that I'm comfortable sending my kids to public school.

3. Superb City Services - This might sound silly but I love the services that Plano provides to its citizens. Plano picks up my recycling waste bi-weekly and we have big trash containers to hold all my paper and plastics. It makes it so easy to be "GREEN". I've been recycling for the last 8 years before being "green" was the thing to do. And they pick up yard clipping and landscape materials weekly to be recycled. When I call the city with questions about a bill or another issue, the phone is answered quickly by a live person and my problem is handled professionally.

4. Transportation - It is so easy to get around Plano. Most major interior roads running north/south and west/east in Plano are 6 lanes divided roads. No 2 lane FM roads like our neighbors to the north. And 4 major highways, George Bush Turnpike, Dallas Tollway, Central(75) and SH 121, all have access into Plano. Also, we are the only city in Collin County that is serviced by the DART bus lines and DART Light Rail.

5. Shopping - Grocery stores are on almost every corner. I'm spoiled to live less than 2 miles from Central Market! All the retail, restaurant and fast food you can think of is in Plano. We have 2 major malls to serve its residents. I don't have to leave the city to get everything I need. And with current gas prices this is a major plus!

6. Mature Trees - Because Plano started to be developed in the 70's, several neighborhoods have large mature trees. I love a neighborhood that has good shade trees.

7. Downtown Plano - The city of Plano has been trying to revitalize our downtown for a long time but I think in the last 2 years there has been real progress. The establishment of the DART rail stop in Plano has been invaluable. And more retail and restaurants are opening and staying open.

8. Great Parks & Recreation - You can enjoy 3,600 acres of park land in Plano with 30 miles of recreation trails including six recreation centers, three golf courses, 81 public tennis courts, 5 public swimming pools, 93 soccer/football fields and 61 baseball/softball fields.

9. Great House Market - Price values are very stable because of all the reasons I've listed above. It is a great city to be a real estate agent!

If you are interested in learning more about Plano as your next city, give me a call today at 214-532-3823.

As an agent, I can only become your buyer's agent by entering into a written agreement to represent you. It is important to work with one person that you feel comfortable with and you believe is working in your best interests.

As your buyer's agent, I will pledge to provide with the following services:

1. Property Previews - Based on your own search criteria and needs, I will run an MLS report and preview properties to help in the evaluation process. I will review property online and in person to help you make a decision in the quickest way possible.

2. Automatic Search - I’ll set-up an automatic MLS search that notifies me immediately when new properties are listed that match your criteria. This way you won’t miss any new properties on that come on the market.

3. Home Showings - I belong to the multiple listing service (MLS) which means that I can show you almost any house with a real estate sign in front.

4. Timely Response - Return your calls and emails within 2 hours and provide you with weekly updates on your property search.

5. Home Evaluation - Discuss positive and negative features of a property that may affect its value.

6. Scientific Market Analysis – Once you find a home that you are serious about making an offer on, I will run a scientific market analysis for that property. This report will show comparable homes that have sold in the neighborhood within the last 6 months so we can make a competitive offer.

7. Contract Guidance - Including review of written seller's disclosures and explanation of all contracts and addendums to be used on your purchase.

8. Transaction Assistance - I will help you with your negotiation strategy, offer presentation, home inspection remedies and monitor your sale to closing.

It is my goal to help you find the right home for you to purchase and to make the home buying process as smooth as possible. Call me today at 214-532-3823 to start looking for your new home today!

I'm a little late posting this but I just got the picture. The Collin County Association of Realtors in Plano, TX had a Freedom Breakfast at their office on July 1 for all their members. The idea was to celebrate our country and recognize our members who have or are currently serving our great country.

The guest speaker was U.S. Congressman and former POW, Sam Johnson. Scott O'Grady was also in attendence and gave the invocation. You should remember this national story in 1995 when air force pilot, Scott O'Grady was was shot down behind enemy lines in Bosnia and survived for six days until the US could rescue him. His story was the inspiration for the movie, Behind Enemy Lines. Since I'm the Gov't Affairs Chair for the Association, I was lucky enought to sit next to Scott during the breakfast and he is a quiet and gentle man.  

Sam Johnson shared some of his story regarding the 7 years in captivity he spent during the Vietnam War. Sam Johnson was  an air force pilot shot down in 1966 in North Vietnam. He shared with us some of the inhumane and cruel treatment that the prisoners received which no individual should have to endure. He thought he was going to die several times during his inprisionment. He said that he survived because of his faith in God, his fellow POW comrades and his hope to return home. He was in the same POW camp as current presidential hopeful, John McCain. The prisoners had nothing to do to keep their minds busy so to pass the time they became "experts" at killing flies. He spoke for 20 minutes and he just scratched the surface on his story but he has written a book, called Captive Warrior, which I intend to read now.

At the end of the meeting, Scott and Sam brought their autographed books to sell as a TREPAC fundraiser.  The books were gone in 60 seconds.  We had to take orders for an additional 50 books!  It was a wonderful morning and I felt so proud to be an American. I was honored that our association was able to get these two great individuals to attend our meeting.