Talking electronics? Timer Project ideas

I'd like to start a side project between this semester and next and need some help.

I want to make a timer that counts down from 2m:00s to 0m:00s then repeats. I want to have an input button for power on/off and a button that cycles between count enable/disable and a button that resets / starts the counting. Finally (and the hard part) I would like it to say things such as "10 seconds remaining" when it gets to 0m:00s.

I have a hardware idea and VHDL implementation for the counting circuit as well as in the input buttons and state machine. BUT I have never done anything that reads or writes voice to memory so I'm not sure where to begin.

My basic plan is [sram] -read--> [amplifier] --> [speaker].

How is sound stored in hardware?
How can I tell sram to send data to amplifier in VHDL?
What chip should I look into when I want to actually make the circuit?
Am I overlooking something? Is there an easier method?

Thanks for any ideas. I'm not doing this for class so I'm in no hurry. I wouldn't mind if I simply get pointed to a book or website that has information on this.