All is Well

current faves

2012-02-15T13:17:00.000-06:00

1. I am a coffee snob. Seriously. Don't offer me a cup of Starbucks plain coffee. I won't drink it. I prefer a local roaster. So it comes as a HUGE surprise that I am on the verge of addiction to Nescafe instant coffee.

Before our nephew was born, we took dinner and cupcakes to my BIL and SIL, who was on bed rest. My BIL offered to make coffee. I decided that I would drink the caffeinated coffee (followed by a melatonin), rather than a cup of the fake stuff. Husby wanted the decaf instant coffee. After it came out of the microwave, I tasted it. Oh my, it was good! The trick? Make it with milk. It's creamy and rich and yummy. I purchased both the decaf and regular variety for our house.

via

2. In December, I hosted a wedding shower for my new SIL. As a hostess gift, I received my first Voluspa candle in Santiago Huckleberry. It is fruity and rich and divine. I carry it from room to room, and I only use it when I'm at home for an extended time. I want to enjoy it. I've mostly transitioned to Scentsy products, but I feel certain that once this candle has reached it's end, I'll purchase another.

via

3. I love to order hot tea when I eat at Asian restaurants. No matter the type of food, there's a similar flavor of hot tea. It took years and a visit to Teavana, but I finally discovered the flavor the I love so much: jasmine. I purchased a cute tea tin with a couple of ounces of jasmine dragon phoenix pearls tea. I love it with just a bit of honey.

via

4. These No-Bake Energy Bites are so, so good. Husby and I are attempting to eat real food, meaning that we're cutting down on the sugar we consume. I realize that the chocolate chips have refined sugar, and so does some peanut butter, but for now, we're okay with those things. I made these yesterday, and we love them! It's something a little sweet for snacks and dessert.

a happy heart

2012-02-14T20:33:00.000-06:00

Husby brought lunch to school today. He has class until late tonight, so it was a treat to eat with him during the day. I emailed him a disclaimer this morning that eating at a school means noise. I hoped that he didn't have hopes of gazing into each others eyes. Instead of a quiet lunch, recalling the reasons why we love each other, we sat at the teacher's table during middle school lunch, sharing sushi and fruit kebabs. Then he gave me a fun necklace. Note to Husby: I love my initials. :)
I love that my job means celebrating with students who receive acceptances from colleges. It's such an exciting time in a young life, and each acceptance is thrilling. But when it's the first acceptance, it's even sweeter. I love cheering and congratulating and hugging kids who hear the news while at school. They're on cloud nine for the rest of the day. Today was a day of celebrating...with my student aide, no less.
I attended a George Washington Tea today hosted by the Daughter's of the American Revolution. The ladies in attendance had classic Southern double-names like Mary-Ruth and Ann Leigh, and there was also Eugenia and Agnes. I obviously didn't receive the memo that these ladies wear red or black or white skirt suits with beige pantyhose and pumps to match the suit.
I'm not a member of DAR. A student competed in an essay contest, and I was invited to attend as her guest. After attending the event, she thought that maybe her essay didn't win since it focused on the American Indian take on the Revolutionary War. These ladies are very pro-Revolutionary War. I'm sure they didn't quite appreciate her different thoughts on this war. Oops.
Tonight, I'm sitting by the fire, watching a little Big Bang Theory and reading. Nothing says "Happy Valentine's Day" like Sheldon and Country Living.

My mother-in-law is the cooking baking queen. Seriously. All of her cookies are fabulous. A couple of years ago, she "messed up" a recipe. Well, it's turned out to be my favorite cookie. And they just happened to be in a box of cookies that she delivered earlier this evening. Along with reading, BBT and a fire, I'm enjoying these:

Top left: fluffy chocolate cookies with fluffy chocolate icing drizzled with white chocolate and topped with a cherry; Right: chocolate ganache cookies (My faves. I totally made up the name.)

Bottom left: Sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles

celebrating: a nephew & a wedding

2012-02-13T11:58:00.004-06:00

Today is cold and drizzly. If it were just a bit cooler, I think the snow that fell on the western and northern parts of Texas would have reached us. Instead, the slow rain has made for a grey day. It's perfect, since I'll be inside all day. The administration at our school decided to implement a winter break this school year. I'm on day four of an extended weekend, which has been long enough to be somewhat productive, but mostly lazy. I've read, played a mindless game on my phone and spent time with friends and family. Heavenly and glorious are the words to describe these days.

Over the past month, we've welcomed an amazing sister-in-law, Brooke, (from my side) and a sweet nephew, Ethan, (from Husby's side). Celebrating family and life has made our hearts warm. Even though, in the Christian life, joy should shine in all circumstances, it is nice when happiness is a result of that joy.

Our nephew is the second baby born to Husby's brother and his wife. The first baby was born into the arms of Jesus. We held his little body for a bit, and whispered promises to hold him again in heaven. After nine months of anxiously awaiting the birth of this baby, Ethan made an appearance a day earlier than the doctor's had scheduled. The tiny bundle of a baby is just over a week old. He is a joy. (But he is a no-facebook baby, which I'm taking to mean that his mama and daddy don't want his picture on the blog.)

About 3 weeks ago, Paul and Brooke had the most enchanting wedding. (Read Christine's delightful post here.) The day was perfect. In Texas, winter isn't predictable. Last year, we had a week of ice. This year, in January, the weather warmed on the weekend of their wedding, for the second weekend in a row. Although there was a nip in the air, Brooke had the foresight to provide afghans and blankets to her guests. The ceremony was perfect: meaningful vows, scripture, poetry, and music of voices, guitar and a harmonica. My guess is that all was done in about 12 minutes; sadly, no one kept the time. Paul's goal was to beat the time of our 14 minute ceremony. We are slightly competitive, so I'm going to call it a tie unless someone provides the exact time. :)

Paul & Brooke

Brooke is so very creative. The vision she had for a vintage-y, quaint wedding day was carried out perfectly in the details. Brooke scoured all of First Monday to find vintage handkerchiefs with the intent of screen printing the order of ceremony on each. Only she discovered--after buying dozens--that handkerchiefs would be too thin for the screen-printing process. Back to First Monday, she spent hours bent over boxes, pulling out the more sturdy vintage napkins.

vintage napkin program

photo by Christine

Although I am proud of only using flowers for bouquets and boutonnieres, Brooke avoided this cost altogether and made each of these from antique buttons. Just perfect!

button bouquets

photo by Allen Arrick

We moved from the outdoor chapel with chandeliers hanging from the trees to a rustic wedding barn. Earlier in the day, Brooke and her sweet friends and family decorated each table with antique buttons, lace, burlap, pearls, glittered branches, rounds cut from a tree, rosemary and lavender. I was also in attendance during said decorating, but these girls were fast. I provided the mimosas, which were just as important. Right? And when not all the champagne was gone before we left? I drank it. Straight out of the bottle. It reminds me of my wedding day.

The reception was warm, comfortable and inviting. The sounds in the air were joyous: laughter, chatter, exclamation over the food and drink, convincing others to dance. It was a perfect night.

I'm proud to say that they use our photographer, Allen Arrick, who captured these fabulous images. [Here's the link to our wedding. I love my images even more. I mean, it was my wedding.]

the wagon, loaded with blankets for guests

table decor

the cake: ruffles with vintage buttons

a suitcase for cards

favors: handmade soap

I've shared with Brooke that her wedding was the vision I had, but couldn't figure out how to execute it. I loved every bit of it. She recommended that renewing our vows or throwing a party. The vows will stick for forever. But there's always an occasion to celebrate. A party it will be. With direction from a sister-in-law who has great vision.

week 1: black & white

2012-01-07T11:01:00.003-06:00

Last year, I planned to post a picture every week, based off of this list. It didn't happen. I decided to try again this year. I received a handmade calendar this year that I absolutely love. It's home is in my dining room. I heart my super creative friends!

a list for 2012

2012-01-04T09:14:00.002-06:00

I can't believe the planner in me made it to January 4 without establishing any concrete goals / resolutions for the year. It's pained me a little, but I've really tried to work on attainable goals. You know, maybe those that will stick around pasy January 4.

1. Finish all the books I've started.
This is totally doable. And necessary. When we moved last year, I packed all of my books in progress. I didn't find them until a few weeks ago. Sad, I know. I could be forgetting one or two, but I know that these are on the list: Into the Wild, Bird by Bird, The Glass Castle, Cordelia's Honor, One Thousand Gifts.

2. Find a farm that provides fresh eggs.
As much as I would love to buy everything local and organic, it's overwhelming. I've decided to start with baby steps. We use lots of eggs, and I love 'em! I don't typically have time to make them for breakfast, but I love an easy dinner of roasted vegetables with a fried egg on top. We buy free range eggs at our grocery, but I really want to buy local eggs. Although we technically live in a small city, our home is in a more rural area. I've seen a 'fresh eggs' sign down the road from us. Now, I need to work up the courage to make my way up their winding drive!

3. Have friends over for dinner.
I wish that my goal were: have more friends over for dinner. Since we married, having people over seems to have come to a halt. I'm not sure why. But this girl loves having people over for dinner! We're stepping up our game this year. I'm shooting for once a month.

4. Unpack all boxes.
If you're counting months, we moved eight months ago. We have a room of forgotten boxes. Shutting the door does wonders! Over Christmas break, I emptied 9 boxes, along with organizing lots in our house. I'm giving myself until December to unpack the rest.

5. Read the Old Testament.
Technically, this could go under goal #1. I set out to read the entire Bible last year. I only read about 25%. I decided that I'd modify my goal. This year, I'll finish reading the Old Testament.

I like my list. I've thought about these goals for several days. These are all things that I can over the course of 2012. What about you? Anything you'd like to accomplish this year?

2011 Superlatives

2011-12-31T19:47:00.000-06:00

There are just a few hours remaining in 2011. It seems like the year has flown by! Before the ball drops, ringing in the new year (and before we go to bed while celebrating midnight with the folks on the east coast), I thought I'd do a quick synopsis of a few favorites. Here we go:

Favorite Fiction: The Help, Half Broke Horses

Favorite Non-fiction: Under the Banner of Heaven, Unbroken, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Book Most Likely to Make Me Want to Leave my Job and Home for a Farm: The Dirty Life

Most Indulgent Dessert (TIE): White Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cheesecake, Peanut Butter Cup Martini. Both at Lulu's Chocolate Bar in Savannah.

Favorite Food (Summer category): Watermelon with feta cheese and honey

Favorite Food (Winter category): Farro and Roasted Butternut Squash

New Favorite Drink (Summer category): Iced Coffee. Not iced cappuccino or iced latte. Just iced coffee with cream(er).

New Favorite Drink (Winter category): Hot Chocolate with marshmallow flavored vodka

Promise that We're Most Willing to Keep: Vacation destinations in the summer cannot be in the south. For the second year in a row, we visited lovely cities (Savannah, Charleston, Atlanta) during a heat wave. Canada, anyone?

Most Likely to Love Us Forever: Persephone. The neighborhood cat we stole from our previous house. (It was actually legal-ish. We talked to someone who lived on the next street over that approved of our adopting her.)

Best Game: Dicecapades. After eyeing it for a few weeks, I decided to buy it. Let me tell you: it's fun. Like really, really fun. In fact, it replaced Cranium as my favorite game.

Most Expensive Purchase: In April, Husby and I took advantage of the buyers market and purchased our first home. So far, so good. Except when we wish we could call the landlord to replace a doorknob or dig the rogue crepe myrtle out of every single flower bed.

Best TV Shows: Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory, Castle, Top Chef All-Stars

Best DVD Series (you know, since we don't have cable): Veronica Mars, Alias, LOST

Happy New Year, y'all!

brussels sprouts & grits

2011-12-27T15:06:00.002-06:00

Today is the first day of sunshine after three days of (much needed) rain. The light spilling into our home feels so nice. Husby is off this week, so we're enjoying time with each other. Mainly, we do our own thing for a few hours, and then meet on the couch to watch 2 or 5 episodes of LOST, and then repeat. Perhaps we'll go on the walk we've craved over the past few days, but avoided because of the wet weather.

Yesterday, we braved the mist and headed to buy real food. It seems that with holiday treats and meals and busyness, fruits and vegetables and non-processed foods hadn't been in our home for some time. That ended yesterday. For some reason, even though I don't (or won't) shop at WalMart, I do go to Sam's Club. I mean, who can pass up those prices? Our only intent was to buy clementines. But as we walked through the fruits and vegetables, I couldn't stop placing things in our carts. We have two pounds of Brussels sprouts, a huge tub of organic baby spinach, cubed butternut squash, mushrooms, apples and clementines. That's a lot of fruits and veggies.

As evidenced by purchasing two pounds of Brussels sprouts, we love them. I saw a recipe on Pinterest recently for a similar recipe, but it calls for frying the sprouts. Because I didn't want to dodge the splatters of grease, I decided to try roasting them. It worked, and they were fabulous. I served them with some garlic cheese grits and a fried egg. It was a perfect supper: filling, but not too heavy.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Sriracha, Honey & Lime
Adapted from food52.com
Serves 2-4

Ingredients
1 lb Brussels sprouts, cut in half
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon sriracha (or more, to taste)
1 tablespoon lime juice

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss Brussels sprouts with olive oil and sesame oil. Spread out on jelly roll pan so that all sprouts are cut-side down. Roast until browned, about 15 minutes, turning once.

While Brussels sprouts are roasting, whisk together honey, sriracha and lime juice. Once sprouts are done, remove from oven. Pour sauce over sprouts, tossing gently to coat. Serve immediately.

Garlic Cheese Grits
Serves 2-3

Ingredients
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup quick cooking grits
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated

Directions
In a medium saucepan, bring chicken broth, salt, garlic powder and onion powder to a boil. Add grits. Cover and turn heat to low. Cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in butter and cheese.

merry christmas

2011-12-23T09:54:00.000-06:00

-ing

2011-12-21T13:59:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, Husby and I attended the annual Bailey Christmas Party. It's an occasion not to be missed. Each year is a food theme. {Yes, they are fabulous friends who develop a party around food.} This years them? Dessert. So, after our drive to the big city, we feasted on desserts and chatted the night away. During one conversation, I confessed that I am the queen of copying. I don't have many great original ideas so much as I find great ideas already had, and then copy them. It's an issue of which I'm well aware, and I don't know that I intend to change it anytime soon. So, I shall copy a blog idea from the hostess of said party, and perhaps a link or two.

{COOKING}

For me, cold weather is perfect for soups. Last night, I made Chicken & Dumplings. They warmed us up as the temperature dropped just a bit. We'll eat on the leftovers for the next few days.

Last week, I had a hankering (not a craving) for Vegetable Beef Stew. Having never made it before, I called my mom who advised me on the cut of meat and type of potatoes that are perfect for beef stew. My first attempt was super successful. I'm making it tonight to take to a family, and I plan to write the recipe this time. I'll share sometime soon.

We'll be at my parents on Christmas morning. I've requested that my mom make kolaches filled with raspberry or strawberry jam. Of course, she'll make her favorite: poppy seed kolaches. Along with these amazing sweet rolls, I'm making this Southern Brunch Casserole, which is a tradition with Husby's family. I'm pretty sure my family will love it!

{READING}

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. This is a challenging read for me. I love the premise of the book and have started by List of 1000 Things, but her writing is a tad too poetic for me.

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. My college roommate and I decided to read this together. A year later, I'm finally reading it. And it's wonderful.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. I loved her Half Broke Horses, so I'm excited to be reading this.

{WATCHING}

LOST. I've shared before that I'm 6-10 years behind on a few series. About three weeks ago, Husby and I started LOST, Season 1. Last night, we started Season 2. Oh my goodness! This show is good, y'all!

Christmas movies. I love Christmas movies that are not of the Hallmark variety. My favorites: Elf, Home Alone, Love Actually, Christmas Vacation, Four Christmases and A Christmas Story.

{CONSIDERING}

Blessed are the entitled? Just perfect in light of the goings-on in my hometown and my recent blog post about the nativity.

Santa, Strategically I like this. Santa remains in Christmas, but a minimal part.

When Christmas Gets Radical I love the idea that a family chooses gifts for those who are desperately in need. For those who would be more thankful for receiving than perhaps I ever could.

Monday Miscellany

2011-12-19T16:07:00.000-06:00

One perk of working in education is all of the breaks. Today begins two weeks off. I have a list of things to accomplish. I've spent today working in our office / library. About every 18 minutes, I get overwhelmed with all of the books we have. But then I come up with a [new] plan. I have most of the books shelved.
I inherited my grandmother's sewing machine. If you're wondering: no, I don't sew. But I want to. I figure just having it in my house brings me one step closer to actually sewing. Along with it came a small chest where she kept notions. I have the perfect place for it in the office, near the sewing machine. I've cleaned out two of the three drawers so that office materials will have a home.
It's taking all sorts of self-control not to carry it out to the garage and spray paint it. We have three dark wood bookshelves, so I don't really want a chocolate brown chest, as well. But I will wait for another day.
My mom introduced me to a new cracker. Have you had these? Fab-u-lous!

This video is great. An 82 year old grandmother eating Pop Rocks. So cute!

4 years

2011-12-14T17:31:00.002-06:00

Four years ago tonight, I went on my very first date with a cute guy from church. A guy with a dreamy beard around his jawline. A guy that complimented me, and even wanted to talk to me again after I totally blew him off. A guy that called me on his birthday to ask me on our first date. And who answered his phone after I was too nervous to pick up the call. (I mean, just his name on the caller ID made my heart race!) Someone who pursued me, while I played hard-to-get for just a bit. Someone who won me over pretty quickly. Someone who won me over for forever.

This is our first picture. I love it. The dreamy beard. A good hair day for me.

the nativity

2011-12-09T18:49:00.003-06:00

In my small hometown, a debate is brewing. Petitions are floating around. Friendships are being strained. No doubt you’ve heard this story—or one very similar: the nativity on the town square must be removed. A letter was received, written on the behalf of a citizen of the county, stating that the display isn’t constitutional. And do you know what? I agree. It isn’t. Feel free to have one in your yard (and I hope those who are fighting so hard DO have a nativity in the yard!) or have a creche at your church, but not on government property.

I know; it’s likely that I’m a believer in Christ who’s in the minority. And I know that some might call my faith into question. That’s okay. Others might not go so far, but would accuse me of allowing “them” to take Christ out of Christmas. I’m not. I love Him. That baby in the manger.

Earlier this week, my boss gave me a Christmas IQ Quiz. [Side note: I work at a Christian school.] Before he gave it to me, he predicted that I wouldn’t do better than 50 on the quiz. I was just certain he was wrong. Really wrong. I mean, I grew up going to church. I know multiple verses to dozens of Christmas carols. I’ve been an angel in church programs and stood proudly on the third level from the top of our singing Christmas tree. I was certain that I could score an 85 or better. I know Christmas!

Guess what? He was wrong. And so was I. I scored 55. The word you’re looking for is: seriously?! I mean I’ve sung the “Hallelujah Chorus” more times than I can count! I don’t even need the music in front of me, and I haven’t performed it for at least 6 years. That’s how many programs I’ve been part of! Although they bring such joy, it’s made the facts of the real story a little hazy for me. As I answered some of the questions on this Christmas IQ quiz, I sang verses to Christmas songs in my head. Christmas songs are accurate, aren’t they? It turns out that they aren’t always correct.

How much do you know about the birth of Christ? When was the last time you read the story out of the Bible, without adding details about the story? Before you look at these questions, I’d love for you to read the story of the birth of Jesus from Matthew and Luke. And I certainly hope that some of you know more than I did!

1. Baby Jesus was born in a ______________? We don’t know. We only know that he was laid in a manger. The Bible never talks about a barn. What if the trough was shoved under an eave of the inn? Maybe it was used by little goats that provided milk for the inn and took shelter by the building. We don’t know. Maybe Joseph—being the [probably scared] teenager that he was—found a few rough-hewn pieces of wood to lean together to make some sort of a shelter for his young wife-to-be who was birthing a Savior. (See Luke 2:7)

2. What animals were at the birth of Jesus? Sure, there are always an ox, donkey, camel and sheep in the nativity scene, but were they next to the manger? We don’t know. Maybe there were none. Or maybe there were noisy goats and chickens who made a huge mess!

3. “…the little Lord, Jesus no crying he makes” Did baby Jesus cry? We know that Jesus was fully man and fully God. He cried as an adult, so why wouldn’t he cry as a baby?

4. How many Wise Men / Kings / Magi were there? We always had three in our Christmas programs, but we have no idea how many came—only that three gifts were brought. This one got me! And they arrived much later than the birth night—they had a long way to travel. (See Matthew 2:11)

Honestly, after I took this quiz, I was a little embarrassed. I wanted to know more about THE story. The REAL story of the birth of Christ. So I read it, in both Matthew and Luke. And I read it again. Then, I wanted to know who came up with the idea of a nativity scene. The designer of the first nativity is a favorite for me: St. Francis of Assisi. It seems he took a creative license in 1223 and strayed a little from the story that’s in the Bible, adding kings and animals galore. Can you guess what his goal was in 1223? To switch the focus at Christmastime from secular materialism to Christ. Can you believe it? I think we live in a lavish time, but he was concerned 800 years ago!

Why is the nativity scene still so popular? Is it to nudge us away from the material aspects of Christmas? Because, really, it doesn’t do that for me. I know; I’m just being honest. The scene with Mary, Joseph, Jesus and a throng of animals, shepherds, angels and kings is expected. In fact, I’ve been on the hunt for years for the “perfect” nativity for our house. For me, it’s a tradition. First, put up the tree; then set up the nativity.

So why the fight to keep this scene on a courthouse square? For me, if it comes down, Christ doesn’t come out of my Christmas because Christ is Christmas.

Christ is Christmas.

Is the energy given to fighting this worth it? Or could it be better spent? What if we loved people who haven’t felt worthy of love in some time? What if our families took an extra angel off of an angel tree and forfeited a bit of our excessive Christmas? What if a group of friends gathered all of the “fixings” for Christmas dinner for a family in need? Or co-workers bought a Christmas tree with dozens of ornaments and twinkle lights to anonymously leave for a family that doesn’t have that joy this year? What if we, as Christians, did Christ-like things for the hurting and poor? Do we really need an inaccurate nativity scene to make Christ’s love more real? I don’t think so.

Be careful, brothers- and sisters-in-Christ, when you respond to others about this. Don't be mean-spirited. Yesterday, I saw hateful comments posted on websites that have reported this story, replying awfully to those who don't believe in Jesus. Today, I saw a picture of a banner suggesting that those who don't believe in Christ leave our country. The baby in the manger—the one you're fighting for—wouldn't have responded this way. Our Living Savior loves "them." Those people who hate Him. He loves those who don't know Him. We're commanded to love these people, and He loves us when we don't love others. Let others see Christ through you. Let them want to know about this baby who became our Savior and King. Love "them" like Christ loves us.

Christ is love. Christ is Christmas.

{Please know that it took several days for me to process this. I have prayed over this, wanting this post to be more than words. I want this ultimatum given to remove the nativity to spur Christians to love more and more. Let's take it down and SHOW our neighbors the love of Christ. It means more than a plastic baby Jesus in a manger. I know that not everyone—or perhaps anyone—will agree. Also, I love comments! If you choose to leave one, and if that comment it hateful or snarky or calls my faith into question, I will remove it.}

salted caramel pecan pie

2011-11-29T15:12:00.004-06:00

Thanksgiving rocked. Spending time with both sets of family and family friends was wonderful. Lots of fun, and even more food. For some reason--my family especially--cooks enough for everyone to eat on for the remainder of the year. And while fresh veggies get soggy when reheated, veggies in casseroles don't have the same fate. So the 5 casseroles will be nice over the next few weeks. Normally, I eat one bite of turkey as an ode to Thanksgiving, but the turkey this year was really good. I even brought leftovers from my parents. Unlike Husby's family who cooked one turkey for about 30 people, mine went for two turkeys for 15 people. Clearly, we're not the best at math. But give us some canned veggies and cream of mushroom soup, and we'll whip it up into a creamy something that doesn't taste like a vegetable.

The results are tallied, and the Salted Caramel Pecan Pie was a hit. Simply amazing. Fabulous. I made it twice. Husby and I don't even like pecan pie. But we both converted to the salted caramel variety. So, we're not unequally yoked in the pecan pie department.

I merged three different recipes (here, here and here). You should know that although I know how to make real pie crust, I don't like to make it. If I can find a press-in crust recipe, I'll do it. My apple pie has a similar, non-shortbread crust, and even non-crust lovers eat it. So, I thought that rather than rolling out the crust given in the original recipe that a brown sugar shortbread crust would be great. And it was!

Salted Caramel Pecan Pie

Makes one 9-inch pie

Ingredients

For the caramel filling:

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon flaky sea salt

2 cups chopped toasted pecans

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup half and half

For the pie crust:

2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 large egg yolk

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon coarse salt

Directions

To make caramel filling: in a medium sauce pan add corn syrup, butter, half and half, sugar, and sea salt. Bring to a boil then remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. While cooling, add vanilla. Once cooled, whisk in beaten eggs.

While caramel filling is cooling, prepare the pie crust. Spray pie plate with non-stick cooking spray. Cream butter and brown sugar about 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add in egg yolk and salt, mix well. Stir in flour 1/2c at a time. The mixture will seem very crumbly; this is normal. Press dough into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie dish. Freeze until firm, about 20 minutes. While pie is in the freezer, preheat oven to 375 degrees (350 if using a glass pie plate).

Remove pie crust from freezer and place pecans in the crust. Pour caramel filling into pie pan and bake in the 375 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Thankfulness: Days 22-24

2011-11-25T10:41:00.000-06:00

A spirit of thankfulness, not just for 24 or 30 days, but always.

It's a condition of the heart. But I often get busy and my heart doesn't dwell on thankfulness.

In Psalms, David cries out to the Lord over and over, lamenting.

But he continues to give thanks again and again.

As Thanksgiving Day is gone for another year, I want to remain thankful.

I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness

And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

Psalm 7:17

Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,

Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

Psalm 95:2

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting.Psalm 107:1

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks through Him to God the Father.Colossians 3:17

...in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.1 Thessalonians 5:18

Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might,

be to our God forever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 7:12

Thankful: Day 22

2011-11-22T19:53:00.000-06:00

I am so thankful for a lazy day. Currently, I'm in my pajamas; I never changed this morning. We even had a friend come over to help work on the sprinklers and hang a light fixture. I brushed my hair before he arrived. Then I made us all a huge pot of coffee because fall seems to have made a comeback in east Texas. At least for the next 72 hours. Which means my plan of leggings, boots and a sweater dress will happen on Thanksgiving Day. Praise the Lord.

We celebrate with Husby's family on Thursday and with my family on Saturday. It works so well that way. For celebration #1, I was asked to prepare a green veggie. Last year, I decided on Brussels sprouts, and oh, the lamenting...FROM OUR PARENTS. I suppose there's a reason that I'd never had a Brussels sprout. 40+ years ago, in school cafeterias, the only preparation was boiling them. Guh-ross. My mom certainly didn't have those in our rotation growing up. I'm glad I didn't have to eat those. I'm happy to report that our parents and all other adults in attendance with an aversion to Brussels sprouts were happily surprised to figure out that THEY'RE NOT SO BAD. In fact, THEY'RE KIND OF GOOD. I use Alton Brown's recipe for Brussels Sprouts with Pecans and Cranberries.

Speaking of pecans. I enjoy pecans in savory dishes, but I don't like them in any sort of dessert. Which makes perfect sense that I'm making the pecan pie. My aversion to pecan pie runs deep. I remember eating it when I was about 4 years old, after a trip to Red Lobster, and then suffering food poisoning--probably from the scallops. I don't like pecan pie. Or scallops.

(Other aversions because of illness include: Cherry Sours and oranges.)

(Side note: I love anything orange flavored and [no pulp] orange juice. Just not a big fan of oranges.)

(After 12 years of not eating oranges, I tried one in high school. They're okay.)

(I don't think I'll ever eat Cherry Sours ever again.)

Anyway...I can make pies. At my mom's restaurant, Thanksgiving is a big deal. This year, the count for pies is 60. It's been like that since I can remember. So, growing up in a crazy pie-making place, I learned to make just about any pie. And just a few years ago, I learned to make pie crust. However, I decided to do something a little different than the typical pecan pie. I've decided to merge three different recipes: Salted Caramel Pecan Pie, Press-In Shortbread Crust and Brown Sugar Shortbread Crust. Because it's always good to prepare something brand new for a gathering. And it's even better to attempt to merge three recipes. Right?

On the docket for tomorrow: Christmas tree goes up, grocery shopping, pie made, and Brussels sprouts prepped. Plus a movie with Husby. For our anniversary, I gave him an IOU for the first showing of The Muppets. Tomorrow will be a good day. For that, I am thankful.

Thankful: Days 15 - 21

2011-11-21T18:18:00.002-06:00

Wow. The past week is such a blur! I was one of three chaperones that took 45 high school juniors on a three day trip through Texas and into Oklahoma. Needless to say, I was a little pre-occupied and blogging just wasn't an option. The students were awesome. Of the 45, 34 were boys. (There really are only 9 girls in the junior class.) If you haven't been around 16 year old boys recently, let me tell you that they are 234,892 times more annoying and gross than girls of the same age. At one point, I had to yell, "QUIT FARTING ON THE BUS!" Classy, I tell you.

We made it safely home after traveling almost 800 miles, and for that, I am thankful. There were no injuries. (See: boys jumping over anything they can find.) And I've already received an email from a parent detailing how her son talked for an HOUR about the trip, and all that he learned. For that, I am thankful. Boys aren't exactly known for sharing. Plus he (and hopefully others) really LISTENED on the trip. It made the hours of planning so worth it.

After returning home in a semi-sleep-deprived state, Husby was fine with a nice dinner from the Taco Bell drive through. Super thankful for an easy-to-please husband. After a chili cheese burrito (my Taco Bell favorite) and the final two episodes of Wonderfalls, I absolutely had to go to bed. After three morning of super early alarms, the earliest a 4am, I was able to rest. Normally on days off, I'm unable to sleep late. But my body knew I needed rest. I slept 9 hours! For that I am oh-so-very thankful!

Mid-morning on Saturday, we were out the door to a very important first birthday party. This little guy is the sweet son of my BFF of southeast Texas:

Photo by Charissa Foux

Isn't that the cutest picture ever?! I was able to deliver Hayden's cake, and the boy seemed to love Cherry Laurel Butterum cake. He made his mom proud. :) I am so thankful to be able to celebrate the oh-so-important events with friends like these.

Yesterday, we were able to have lunch with my sister-in-laws family visiting from Spain. Although there was a language barrier (my 8 semesters of Spanish in high school and college didn't really "stick"), we had an enjoyable time with them. I look forward to celebrating our tradition of Thanksgiving with them. It makes me happy to see my sister-in-law loving on her mom and niece. For that I am thankful.

And then there was today. I decided that the best time to have two root canals done was during my week off. (Note to self: breaks aren't enjoyable when you're in pain. Use sick days next time.) I am thankful that SO FAR it hasn't reached the pain level of Wisdom Teeth Extraction 2010 or Temporary Crown Loss 2009, but it's not super fun. Probably the least fun was the shot in the hard palate. And that happened twice since I had one root canal on each side. BUT my dentist saw it fit to prescribe Valium prior to the procedure. And my 12 year hiatus from laughing gas is over. I didn't see a spinning clown the entire time. Super great! Already I've noticed a difference: I DIDN'T DOUBLE OVER IN PAIN when I drank coffee this afternoon. For that, I am thankful.

The remainder of the week involves two Thanksgiving celebrations, an authentic Mexican dinner with family, decorating for Christmas and spending time with some sweet friends. My wonderful college roommate will visit; we haven't seen each other in forever and busyness has prevented us from connecting in weeks (maybe 2 months!). But we'll enjoy sitting and talking and reading and napping and drinking hot apple cider with twinkle lights glowing in the background. It's going to be a good week. For that, I am thankful.

Thankful: Day 14

2011-11-14T14:36:00.000-06:00

I am thankful that the church we attend cares about orphans.

Thankful: Day 13

2011-11-13T14:20:00.001-06:00

I am thankful for the command to observe the Sabbath.

To rest. To reflect. To be restored.

Unfortunately, I don't always do it.

I have things to accomplish.

Things that seem more important than renewal.

Currently, I have a list to complete:

straighten the house, wash the last two loads of clothes,

change the sheets on our bed, partially pack for a work trip, vacuum...

the list goes on. And so could I.

But I've decided to sit and rest. To reflect. To write and remember.

To connect with friends with notes actually mailed to them. To pray for these friends.

To drink a cup of vanilla caramel tea while rosemary apple butter simmers on the stove.

This afternoon, I'm observing the Sabbath.

In this light the Sabbath prescription is a loving reminder to take full advantage of a condition that already exists. At rest, our souls are restored. This is the only commandment that begins with the word “remember,” as if it refers to something we already know, but have forgotten. It is good. It is whole. It is beautiful. In our hurry and worry and acquiring and working, we forget. Rest, take delight in the goodness of creation, and remember how good it is.

~Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives by Wayne Muller

Thankful: Day 12

2011-11-12T13:29:00.001-06:00

I am so thankful for songs that bring me closer to the throne of Christ.

This is one of my favorites.

Captivate Us

Your face is beautiful
And Your eyes are like the stars
Your gentle hands have healing
There inside the scars
Your loving arms they draw me near
And Your smile it brings me peace
Draw me closer, oh my Lord
Draw me closer Lord to Thee

Captivate us, Lord Jesus
Set our eyes on You
Devastate us with Your presence, falling down
And rushing river, draw us nearer
Holy fountain consume us with You
Captivate us Lord Jesus, with You

Your voice is powerful
And Your words are radiant bright
In Your breath and shadow
I will come close and abide
You whisper love and life divine
And Your fellowship is free
Draw me closer, O my Lord
Draw me closer Lord to Thee

Let everything be lost in the shadows
Of the light of Your face
Let every chain be broken from me
As I’m bound in Your grace
For Your yoke is easy, Your burden is light
You’re full of wisdom, power and might
And every eye will see You

Thankful: Day 11

2011-11-11T22:32:00.000-06:00

I am thankful we can do this:

For smiles like these:

Thankful: Day 10

2011-11-10T16:02:00.000-06:00

I go back and forth with my thankfulness.

Am I really thankful?

Honestly, I feel superficial in my thanksgiving.

I've been keeping up with the Compassion Bloggers who are in Ecuador.

I'm consumed and convicted by the stories they tell and the pictures on their blogs.

The faces in these pictures, they're powerful.

The conditions in which they live are heart-breaking to me.

But not to them.

They're thankful for what they have.

Thankful for a roof to cover their heads,

even though shreds of glass litter the low lying roofs to keep thieves away.

Thankful for the potatoes and pigs they're able to sell to provide for the family.

Thankful for a job, even though a single mom is away from her children for 14 hours a day.

Thankful for $200 a month income.

And ever so thankful when a child receives a Compassion sponsor.

I can't even fathom it.

And yet these sweet people are thankful.

Through this month of figuring out how to give thanks,

my heart is being molded by the Father.

I'm learning what thankfulness is.

And what it isn't.

I'm thankful that we have resources to give to Compassion kids.

Thankful that we have two of our very own--who live in Thailand.

Regretful that I am not a more active Compassion sponsor.

Thankful that my heartstrings are being pulled to pray for and encourage "our kids."

Do you have a little extra money to give each month?

Do you sponsor a child through Compassion?

If not, here's how.

Thankful: Day 9

2011-11-09T19:21:00.000-06:00

Even though it's felt like a sauna for a week,

I've refused to dress appropriately.

For the past week, I've dressed as though it's fall.

Because, you know, it IS. Except for the temperatures in east Texas.

And I've been overly warm everyday.

I love sweater dresses and tights and boots and scarves.

Basically, I love feeling like I'm in my pajamas all day.

So, today I am thankful that another cool front came through!

After yesterday's storms and tornado warnings,we have fall-ish temperatures.

And I didn't sweat on my way up the stairs to my office.

Hallelu!

Now, tonight I am thankful for a toasty fire and my wool boots.
And Husby is bringing home dinner a yummy Vietnamese dinner.
Pho and spring rolls? Yes, please.
My plan is for dinner in front of the television, watching Alias.
Because, you know, I'm 6-10 years behind on a few different series.
I'm not sure why I didn't jump on the boat then,
but now I like to talk about HOW GREAT Alias is,
even though everyone already knows what happens. Shhh...don't tell me.
I'm thankful for all of you who have put up with listening about the amazing Sydney Bristow.
Maybe one day, I'll get to talk about Lost.

Thankful: Day 8

2011-11-08T08:29:00.000-06:00

Today, I don't feel super thankful.

Is that bad to say? Probably.

I just can't think of a "great" thing.

Don't get me wrong, I have so much to be thankful for,

but I don't want my month of thankfulness to feel like a month of things I like best, forgetting the rest.

I don't want to brag about what I have, lest I covet what I don't have.

I don't want to only acknowledge the things that make my life more comfortable.

Or the situations that I adore and are easy.

I feel like I shouldn't be thankful only for the things that are going right;

actually, I know that I shouldn't be thankful only for the good and right and fair.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 it says:

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Thankfulness obviously isn't supposed to be observed only for a month--or a day.

But in a society where thankfulness often is equated with possessions,

it's nice to shine light on what makes us thankful.

I know that I don't live like this regularly. I should, but I don't.

This is my confession.

I am thankful for a God who loves me, even when I don't thank Him enough.

And when I don't thank him for what he's supplied? He still loves me.

For that, I am thankful.

Thankful: Day 7

2011-11-07T19:54:00.000-06:00

You know that time change?

I'm thankful for it.

I'm probably the only one in the U.S.

I always love this time of year, when it gets dark earlier.

(I realize this might change when we have children.)

Although I wish I were home every night before dark,

it's almost impossible.

Tonight was one of those nights.

I had errands to run.

But as a began home, in the dark, I smiled.

There's something magical to me about headlights shining in the newly darkened sky.

I like to think that everyone is heading home, to be with family.

Though I'm sure that's not always the case.

Now, if only another cold front would blow through, it might feel like a real November.

Not like a muggy, summer morning in June.

I want to wear tights and boots and sweater dresses.

Without feeling like I'm having a heat stroke!

In time, it will come.

The season will change.

The temperatures will match the darkened skies.

The season of coziness will have made it's way to Texas.

And I will be thankful.

Thankful: Day 6

2011-11-06T15:23:00.000-06:00

I am thankful for my job.

Although I {halfway} joke about wanting to be a stay-at-home dog mom,

I'm glad that I'm able to work.

I enjoy what I do. It's the perfect job for me.

Previously, when I worked in the foster care field, teenagers scared me.

But now, I have no idea what I'd do with a room full of 8 year olds!

I love being a college advisor.

I love being able to shape dreams.

I love interacting with kids every day.

In the summers, it's so quiet!

I am thankful that I get more time off than I would ever have with any other job.

Thanksgiving Break, Christmas Break, Winter Break, Spring Break, Easter Break,

and 3 weeks in the summer!

It's delightful, and I know that it is a luxury.

I love the field of education for this luxury.

And I try not to rub it in. Especially to Husby.

I am thankful for my bosses.

My immediate boss is probably the best college guidance counselor in Texas.

I've learned so much from her in three years.

And I'm super grateful that she's back this year, after an extended maternity leave last year.

Although it was a good year, I love my smaller desk.

We rearranged the office at the end of last year, and I like to think that my desk hugs me. Ha!

During the week, I spend more time with her in the waking hours than I do my husband.

We get along really well and laugh a lot.

I'm so happy to do something that I love.

Something impactful.

Something fun.

Thankful: Day 5

2011-11-05T17:31:00.000-05:00

Although simple, I'm thankful for wonderful smells.

I love that God created us with a sense of smell.

Currently, we're brewing a second pot of coffee, and it smells delightful.

On a not-so-early-morning walk, the smell of hay filled the west Texas skies.

Other smells I love include:

freshly baked rolls from my mom's restaurant (which pales in comparison to eating them, with the tops brushed with butter as they're pulled from the oven),
the dentist office (I'm not sure why, but I've always loved it, even though I don't love the dentist),
vanilla caramel tea
Husby's cologne
libraries and used bookstores
pork bacon while it's frying (I typically don't eat pork bacon)
fresh laundry
grapefruit
rosemary, dill and mint

Thankful: Day 4

2011-11-04T09:58:00.001-05:00

I am thankful for all of my friends.

But today, I am especially thankful for couple friends.

Who knew when getting married that finding a couple to hang out with would be so challenging?

The girls both have to like each other; the boys both have to like each other.

Then, the opposite sexes at least have to get along.

So far, we've been pretty lucky in this department.

We have a few sets of couple friends.

Today, though, I'm thankful for a specific set.

They've invited us to their house for the weekend.

With the promise of pumpkin pecan rolls.

And coffee.

And a drive-in movie.

I'd be more than happy to visit them even if they didn't promise any of these things.

I've known Patti for over 10 years.

We went to Romania together.

We're soul-friends. BFFs.

I rode with her from Dallas to Denver a couple of times while she and Brent dated.

I only drove about 2 hours, total.

I'm not the best roadtripper.

I automatically fall asleep when I get in a car.

It's a Pavlovian response since I get carsick and can't do anything, but sleep, in a car.

I lurve her.

Brent and Husby get along so well.

They talk about things like Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.

They're both quite intelligent and discuss deep subjects.

At which point, Patti and I talk about the latest coffee creamer flavors.

Brent and Patti are on our hometeam.

(This term is from Bittersweet. It's meant for those people that can see you at your very worst without feeling guilt or any judgement being passed: no-makeup, in pajamas, uncleaned house, in a crisis.)

Oh, the fun we have with them!

We love them, so.

Patti & Brent

Me & Husby

Thankful: Day 3

2011-11-03T08:57:00.000-05:00

I am thankful for a God who loves me, who is my King.

Even when I fail to treat him as such.

I am thankful for a God who hears my prayers.

I am thankful when my prayers are answered to my liking.

I am thankful when they are not, even though my heart might hurt.

I am thankful for a God who is always present.

In the good and in the great.

And in the bad.

Especially when we feel like we don't deserve something in life.

Who deserves it, really? Non-Christians who have no hope?

And do we want what we really deserve?

Even when his children are hurting, he is there.

His heart breaks with ours.

I am thankful that he is my Comforter.

I am thankful that he is my joy.

He is Redeemer.

He is sovereign.

He is loving.

He is just.

He is wise.

And, since the Bible is truth and we're created in the image of God,

then I think he is a fun God who enjoys laughter.

For all of these, I am thankful.

{This morning I read Ann Voskamp's blog.

"When You Desperately Want God to Hear Your Prayers" is so very powerful.}

Thankful: Day 2

2011-11-02T08:58:00.001-05:00

I am thankful for my family.

My parents are fantastic.

They are giving.

They are fun.

They are friends (now that I'm all grown up).

They are thoughtful.

They embarass me, sometimes.

My dad no longer wears socks with his sandals.

My mom never did wear socks with sandals. Thank goodness.

They are forgiving.

They're both amazing cooks.

They work extremely hard.

They love each other.

They love their children well.

Dad & Mom

My middle brother is getting married.

I couldn't have picked a better wife-to-be.

I'm super excited to get my very own sister-in-law.

(For the record, Husby's brother is married, but it's different that it's MY brother.

She's MY sister-in-law. Does that make sense?)

I am thankful for them both.

Paul often annoys me to no end.

Then he laughs.

Sometimes he tries to chase me with things dead or alive.

He loves getting a reaction out of me.

For years, my mom has told me to "just ignore him."

I've never done it.

He looks just like me.

I like to say he looks like a girl.

I'm not sure why he chases me with things dead or alive.

Brooke is hilarious. And funny.

She puts up with my brother.

And she loves him a lot.

Even when he comes after her with things dead or alive.

Brooke & Paul {They're using the same fabulous wedding photographer that we did.}

My Little Baby Brother (that's his preferred name) is Chad.

He's super cute.

And outdoorsy.

Just like his sister. Except I'm not outdoorsy.

Unless it means sitting outside in rocking chairs at Cracker Barrel.

He doesn't annoy me as much as Paul.

Except when he tries to act like a grown-up.

Then I remember that he's 25.

So he can have adult opinions.

He finally found a profession that he loves.

I'm super happy for him.

And super proud of him.

He has red hair.

I just got red highlights put in my hair.

I like them.

And I love him.

Little Baby Brother :)

Thankful: Day 1

2011-11-01T08:36:00.001-05:00

I'm thankful for my husband.

He loves the Lord.

He loves me.

He puts up with me.

He is patient with me.

He is encouraging.

He makes me laugh.

He knows all the best {sometimes quirky} television shows, including:

Pushing Daisies, Veronica Mars, Alias, Wonderfalls.

He makes really good lasagna.

He likes dessert as much as me.

He lets me have free reign over decorating our house.

He works really hard.

He is dedicated, fiercely loyal and wise.

He still chooses me.

730 days

2011-10-17T16:05:00.000-05:00

730 days ago, I made a covenant to do life with this man.

These days have been wonderful.

I wanted to type a 10 point list about the things I've learned in marriage.

But I've only been married 2 years.

I know that I'll learn so much more in the coming years.

And it's likely that I don't even know 10 things about marriage.

(Though I'm certain I had a 10 point list about marriage before getting married!)

So for now, I'll share two things I know about our marriage.

Laughing together is necessary.

Not just a chuckle, but a good, long, hard laugh.

Like laughing till tears come is a great thing for us.

Smelling his cologne.

Sometimes life just gets in the way.

We kiss quickly in the mornings before I jet out the door, and then return home just as crazed.

When we sit still with each other, I like to be close enough to smell his cologne.

Then, I know that we can connect.

These are my things. Laughter and cologne.

Maybe next year, I'll come up with something more profound.

Or maybe something else just as simple that makes our marriage work.

Either way, I know that I'll love my husband more and more.

Pasta with Avocado, Basil and Parmesan

2011-10-11T08:51:00.000-05:00

By nature, I'm a planner and a list maker. So it's no surprise that my meals are planned each week with corresponding grocery lists and recipes printed. I know what we're having on the days that I cook, which are: Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday. I shop on the weekend for all of our groceries and rarely have to back to the store during the week.

One day last week, I was all set to grill pork tenderloin and roast acorn squash and Brussels sprouts. I reached for the squash and found that it was rotten to the touch. Gross. If you don't cook winter squash often, you should know that it can last for weeks before cooking it, so the fact that I'd bought it two days prior--and it was already bad--was a bummer. After a quick trip to the store and chat with the produce manager, I returned home set to switch meals since time was at a premium. We'd have quiche (prepared by my mother-in-law) and sauteed mushrooms. It'd be a quick dinner. Only the quiche had gone bad.

At this point, I should have called it a night and ordered something for Husby to pick up on his way home. For some reason, I didn't. I looked through the fridge, hoping that something would present itself. I had an avocado. I had pasta. I remembered pinning a pasta recipe with avocado cream sauce. I knew that I could make dinner. The only deterrent for following the recipe was that it uses a food processor. Now, I received a beautiful food processor as a wedding gift, and I'm so thankful to have it when needed. BUT...it's such a pain to use. I don't like cleaning it. So I used the recipe as inspiration for a wonderful Pasta with Avocado, Basil and Parmesan. I sauteed the mushrooms, and we ate them and some olives as a side.

Pasta with Avocado, Basil and Parmesan

Inspired by Creamy Avocado Pasta from Oh She Glows

Ingredients

2 cups dried pasta (I used fusilli)

1 avocado

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Bring 6 cups water to a boil. Add pasta, reduce heat to medium high. Cook 10 minutes.

While pasta is cooking, mash one avocado in a medium bowl. Add lemon juice, salt, basil. Stir together.

When pasta has finished cooking, drain, but do not rinse. (The starch left on the pasta will make the ingredients "stick" to the pasta.)

Add pasta to bowl with avocado. Before mixing, drizzle olive oil on top of pasta. Stir pasta into avocado mixture. Add Parmesan cheese and stir until all is incorporated.

Makes 2 servings.

savannah: the food

2011-10-06T13:07:00.002-05:00

I like to think of us as novice foodies. We like good food, wine, enjoy eating out, and love to cook. We're learning the foodie ropes. That being said, our vacations tend to have an element of food to them. I decided to keep track of our meals. We like to reminisce. About food. Our time in Savannah was no exception. I grilled the valet parking attendant at our hotel as he gave a recommendation. I wanted to know where he would go eat; not where his boss tells him to tell customers to go.

He didn't steer us wrong, even though I almost did when I asked him to give us directions. He couldn't find the location on the map, and then I discovered it was the map of Charleston. Smooth move. We walked to a pizza place called Vinnie Van Go Go's, where they make the pizza dough everyday. Although they have a multitude of toppings, we had a simple pepperoni pizza that was wonderful.

Our Ghost Tour was scheduled for that evening, but my choice of footwear wasn't appropriate for walking the streets of Savannah. We made our way back to the hotel, but along the way found Lulu's Chocolate Bar. We were both uber-satisfied with our choices. Husby ordered the White Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cheesecake; I went with a Peanut Butter Cup Martini.

The next morning, I was desperate to find a non-Starbucks coffee shop. {My name is Kristina, and I'm a coffee snob.} I don't like Starbucks. I'll drink it, if necessary, but I prefer good coffee. I used a nifty app on my phone, and we breakfasted at Gallery Espresso. It was quaint and artsy. I discovered that iced coffee is big in the South. Not iced cappucinos or mochas, just plain coffee with a little cream. It was nice, since the heat wave of 2011 hit when we arrived in Savannah. We (or maybe I) loved this little shop so much that we returned for iced coffee and muffins the next day.

After our bike tour of the city, our tour guide recommended Soho South Cafe for lunch. Although the wait put us dangerously close to the reservation we made for dinner, we stayed. Husby had a rice salad, which was refreshing. I chose a panini with ham, brie and granny smith apples. It was so good, that I've recreated it at home.

Then there was dinner. We were torn at whether or not to eat at The Lady & Sons--Paula Deen's restaurant. We heard from many locals that it isn't good. BUT how could we be in SAVANNAH and NOT eat at PAULA DEEN'S? We decided to do it. Normally, there is a wait to make a reservation, but while on our bike tour, NO ONE was in line. Husby hopped off his bike and made our dinner reservation.

Oh, dear. I really wanted to like it. I mean, it's Paula Deen. Although I'd been warned to stay away from the buffet, I wanted to know what the hype was about, so I went with the buffet. Husby ordered the chicken pot pie.

Husby's chicken pot pie was beautiful, but all of the puff pastry was a little much.

He also said that mine is better. I married such a good man!

My buffet plate (clockwise from the chicken): fried chicken, mac & cheese, collard greens,

one boiled Brussels sprout, okras & tomatoes, black-eyed peas, lima beans.

The verdict? Meh. They had very few pieces of dark meat, and the white meat was dry,

my mom makes better everything, and why in the world do you serve boiled Brussels sprouts?

No wonder people don't like them. Dessert was about the same: not worth eating.

I'm glad we ate there, but any return trips to Savannah will exclude The Lady & Sons. Although disappointed, we still had a whole day of meals to eat. After breakfast at Gallery Espresso, we toured a house, visited the old cemetery and then had lunch at Caraway Cafe. I can't remember what we ordered, but I do remember that Husby had a sandwich with basil mayonnaise. I loved it so much that I ordered a side to go with my sandwich.

After lunch, we just couldn't pass up Leopold's Ice Cream next door. Oh mercy. It was good! I had a scoop of coffee chocolate chip; Husby had the coconut. Both were amazing. The best in the South. But not the best in Texas. That's reserved for Blue Bell.

That evening, we had dinner at The River House on the Savannah River. I really wanted to try Shrimp & Grits, so that's what I ordered. It was quite good. Husby was super satisfied with his steak.

I would love to return to Savannah for a long weekend. I think it's the perfect sized town for a three day getaway: not overwhelming, but plenty to offer, especially in terms of food.

savannah: the tours

2011-10-05T15:22:00.006-05:00

This summer, Husby and I vacayed (that's the past tense of vacay, right?) in the South.

(Just to clarify: Southerners are quite adamant that Texas is not considered as part of the South. To further clarify: east Texas--and the town where we live--is more Southern than some cities in the South. But that's fine, we don't have to be included. It hurts, but Texans are resilient.)

(Speaking of Texas, did you know that we can fly our flag at the same height as the United States flag since we were once a nation? It's true! [We also love to brag about things like that, even as others roll their eyes.])

Back to vacaying...we had a fabulous week in the South. We decided to fly into Atlanta and drive to Savannah, and then onto Charleston and back to Atlanta. That wasn't the smartest plan since it's a five hour drive from Atlanta to Savannah--it looked so much closer on Google maps! We were so tired by the time we arrived. But it paid off in the end when we were able to spend time with dear friends.

Savannah is beautiful. The architecture is stunning and the history is amazing. Although I love the great State of Texas, we just don't have as much history.

Our first night in Savannah, we took a Ghost Tour. Although I hate scary movies, I like hearing spooky stories--unless I'm going to be home alone or walking alone at night (which doesn't happen very often or ever, by the way). I didn't think I'd need my camera; I forgot about capturing spirit orbs. Dang it. Savannah is considered the most haunted city in the United States. And I'd just like to say that there should be no complaining about this: THEY MOVE GRAVES AND BUILD ROADS OVER CEMETERIES AND FORGET WHERE PEOPLE ARE BURIED. Yeah, you're gonna have a ghost or two or forty six.

We learned that a couple of terms used today come from Savannah in the 1800s. They had three bouts of yellow fever. (Again, no complaining, you brought slaves over. You deserve it.) A symptom of yellow fever is extremely low pulse. There was an occasion where non-dead yellow fever victims were buried alive. The following morning they were found outside of their graves. Dead. So they started tying string to a finger of the "dead" with a bell attached on the outside of the grave. If they heard the bell in the night, they called it a "dead ringer." This shift late at night listening for dead ringers in the cemetery was called the "graveyard shift." Cool, huh?

When we go to a new city, we also love doing some type of a walking or biking tour. Luckily, there's a bike tour offered in Savannah. It was so much fun, even though I thought our tour guide was going to melt off of his bike. Evidently, some people can't handle the heat.

There is a large Catholic population in Savannah. The Irish came to Savannah and worked as cheap labor; Savannah had a huge Irish population, and has the second largest St. Patrick's Day festival after New York City.

Savannah is laid out in a grid system and very well organized...except for the names of squares and monuments. Oglethorpe Square does not include the monument to Oglethorpe. You'd need to visit Chippewa Square to see that.

Spanish Moss [which is neither Spanish nor moss] grows along the Live Oaks and Crepe Myrtles. Supposedly Spanish Moss doesn't grow where unsettled spirits still roam.

After our bike tour.

Our final tour in Savannah was a Dolphin Tour. I was super excited about this. Until we started speeding out into the middle of the ocean as water splashed in the boat. I was convinced it'd sink. Luckily, it didn't. Our guide told us all about the dolphins he'd seen on the three previous tours that day. Including..wait for it...baby dolphins that were two feet long and swim beside their mamas. Precious! I just knew my heart would melt. Which is probably why it was a good thing we only saw ONE dolphin in an hour. It was so sad; she should have been with an entire pod. I worried that she was being bullied. She gave us a few jumps out of the water.

We had a lovely time in Savannah, even though we arrived with a heat wave. (If you're keep track, this is our second vacation in a row with record temperatures. Next year, we're headed north.) The city is laid out for walking, which we love. We had way too much amazing food. And even more sweet tea. I'll share all about that tomorrow!

Farro and Roasted Butternut Squash Recipe

2011-10-04T15:52:00.002-05:00

Husby's mom is from the Midwest. Actually, Wisconsin, to be exact: the land of (amazing) cheese and winter squash. Actually, I'm not sure that it's the land of winter squash, but I'd never had butternut squash (or acorn or buttercup) until I started dating Husby. I remember well the first time I had it. My future mother-in-law made Ina Garten's Caramelized Butternut Squash. I scooped it onto my plate; the first bite I took melted in my mouth. I'm pretty sure I had two helpings that night, and then I ate all of the leftovers that we took home. My reason? He's had it his entire life; I have some years to make up for missing out on winter squash. For all that Texas has to offer, winter squash isn't one of them.

We try to eat one vegetarian meal a week. And we're attempting to expand the whole grains that we eat. I bought a cookbook a few years ago called Super Natural Cooking. We read all about real, natural foods. Farro was one of those. I bought a bag of it, and it sat in our pantry, silently intimidating me for about a year. Finally, I decided to use it. I googled "farro recipes", and happened upon a recipe on 101 Cookbooks Blog, which is the author of Super Natural Cooking. My inaugural farro dish was Farro and Roasted Butternut Squash. And? It was fabulous; even Husby loved it. I'd consider all of the ingredients to be favorites, so it really worked for me. I often cook a bunch of whole grains like farro and barley (a good farro substitute), and then divide them into quart sized bags and stick them in the freezer. Another shortcut I take is using frozen diced butternut squash. I prefer fresh, but this--along with thawed grains--works for my busy days.

(Also, I have a weird scar on the knuckle of my right pointer finger. The pressure put on it by cutting winter squash [and other things] can become painful. Strange, right?)

Farro and Roasted Butternut Squash
from http://www.101cookbooks.com/

If you are pressed for time, opt for a lightly or semi-pearled farro (actually easier to find in some places), which will cut the cooking time for the grains down to about 20 minutes. Barley, both hulled and pearled, would make a nice substitution if you are having trouble finding farro. Also, I found the beautiful red spring onions at the farmers' market but regular red onions will work well, and will be much easier to find.

Ingredients
2 cups farro, rinsed and drained
2 teaspoons fine-grain sea salt
5 cups water (or stock)
3 cups butternut squash, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 large red onion cut into 1/8ths
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup walnuts, deeply toasted
3 tablespoons toasted walnut oil (or more olive oil)
1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled

Directions
Preheat oven to 375.

Combine the farro, salt, and water in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the farro is tender, 45 minutes to an hour, or about half the time if you are using semi-pearled farro. Taste often as it is cooking, you want it to be toothsome and retain structure. Remove from heat, drain any excess water, and set aside.

While the farro is cooking toss the squash, onion, and thyme with the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a couple big pinches of salt on a rimmed baking sheet. Arrange in a single layer and place in the oven for about 20 minutes. Toss the squash and onions every 5-7 minutes to get browning on multiple sides. Remove from the oven, let cool a bit, and mince just 1/2 of the red onions.

In a large bowl gently toss everything (except the goat cheese) with the toasted walnut oil (or olive oil). Taste and add a bit of salt if necessary. Serve family-style in a simple bowl or on a platter garnished with the goat cheese.

Serves 6 - 8 as a side, less as a main.

We ate this as the main course. It would be wonderful with an arugula salad. I used a large red onion and used additional olive oil in place of the walnut oil, since I didn't have it on hand.

I just stocked up on frozen diced butternut squash and bought a ton of farro in the bulk section of our grocery. I cannot wait to make this again. It's so fall-like and cozy.

a sick day (with the gilmore girls)

2011-10-03T19:02:00.000-05:00

Today I stayed home sick. I'm pretty sure it's just allergies based on the fact that I can't breathe through my nose and water is pouring out of my right eye, but just allergies has got me down. With symptoms that worsened over the weekend, sleeping at least 10 hours a day, and my husband telling me last night that I sound horrible, I decided a little couch time might do me good. Plus, I had a round o' antibiotics about for my first illness about a month ago. When I reported that illness to my school nurse, she said that by getting ill that early in the year means it will happen again. And possibly again. Yea, germy kids!

When I stay home sick, I have absolutes. I set up camp on the couch, surrounded by necessities: laptop, phone, remote control, a drink, tissues, Crickett, and most importantly:

Although I didn't follow Gilmore Girls religiously, I did see the occasional episode or a re-run and loved it. When Husby and I dated, he brought an entire series to me when I was sick, along with orange Gatorade and saltine crackers, which are absolutes when I have a stomach virus. I must equate being sick with watching Gilmore Girls, although I do watch GG at other times. Here are a few reasons that I love GG:

1. Stars Hollow is the quintessential small town (much like Mitford in the Mitford Series). I wish it were real; we'd move there. Each season seems perfect. But the thing I love most is the interaction of the people. They talk to each other, have community-wide events, and the expected gossip that comes from living in a small town.

2. The quick, witty banter can't be matched on any other show. (Veronica Mars could come close, though.) I also love the humor; it's so cute. Can humor be cute? I think it can be. Again, jokes are quick and often point to pop culture and [then] current events.

3. Every time I watch it, I feel okay with my coffee addiction. In fact, I often make a pot of coffee at some point during a Gilmore Girls marathon.

4. I love that Lorelai is independent and energetic.

5. Reading is portrayed as an intellectual activity that should be part of every day. Rory is an avid reader, and I like that. I'm a reader, and I feel like reading has been dumbed down in recent years. I cringe when I hear, "I'm just not a reader." I think that it's fine to have a fun book to read for pleasure, but I hate it when Twilight is considered literature. Just for fun, here's Rory's reading list from the show.

6. The theme song lyrics are good for the soul:

If you're out on the road

Feeling lonely, and so cold
All you have to do is call my name
And I'll be there on the next train

Where you lead, I will follow
Anywhere that you tell me to
If you need, you need me to be with you
I will follow where you lead

7. Since I'm a college advisor at a private school, Rory isn't far from some of my students. I live in a world of PSATs, college exploration, debate results and the like. In most episodes, the portrayal of these topics is quite accurate. Good job, writers.

8. The writing is fantastic. More than getting components of Rory's education correct, the writers really pull the audience into the story. We know the characters. We know: that Emily, Lorelai's mom, is condescending and opinionated; that Kirk is difficult and quirky; Sookie is a little ditsy; Luke is gruff. And there are so many more characters that we know well.

9. Lorelai and Rory's relationship is unconventional, but it works for them. I'm a big believer of not being friends with your child, but Lorelai is able to successfully play the "mom card" whenever needed.

10. They love food. From take out to Sookie's amazing creations to Luke's Diner, there are tons of references to food. They appreciate a great pizza or ice cream with extra toppings.

I think my day of no activity will serve it's purpose. Although I'm still a little sniffly and stuffy, I hope to return to work tomorrow.

some thoughts about some things

2011-09-24T16:47:00.000-05:00

Our move this year puts us in a high traffic area for Halloweeners seeking candy. This is exciting because I've never given out Halloween candy. Growing up, we lived way too far out for anyone to visit, and until now, I've lived in an apartment or moderately unsafe part of town. But this year is our year! I was advised by a few people to purchase candy NOW. Waiting until the week of Halloween limits the candy options.I firmly feel that cheap candy is no way to treat small children--or adults, for that matter. As a trick-or-treater, I resented the houses that gave out pieces of bubble gum or fake chocolate candy. Although I prefer most (real) chocolate candy to non-chocolate candy, I decided that it's unwise to keep 250 bite sized Snickers and 3 Musketeers in our house for over a month. Instead, we have a basket full of Nerds, Laffy Taffy, Sweet Tarts and Pixy Sticks. For years, I thought I only liked banana Laffy Taffy. Well, it turns out that I was wrong. I also like cherry Laffy Taffy. I have a feeling that the option for cherry Laffy Taffy will greatly diminish through the month of October.
Glory be! After almost two years, I found the cable that connects my camera to my computer. It was in a place that I checked approximately five times because it made sense that I would have put it there. At one point, I pulled everything out of the drawer. Somehow I missed it. My memory card doesn't fit into my computer, so it's just a hassle to download pictures. I hope this makes me better at downloading!
Husby and I don't have cable. We decided that we could watch our shows via internet connection on the network web sites. So far, we've watched the premier of The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family. We loved Big Bang (if you don't watch it, you should), and Modern Family was hilarious, BUT I don't love the new Lilly. She's a brat! And my brain doesn't get that she went from younger than two and not talking to a talking, mean little girl. I also think the first girl who played Lilly was much cuter.
I'm really curious to make this pie. I'll let you know how it turns out.
The East Texas State Fair is in town. We're planning to go this week. Of course, we go for the food. My typical meal includes a corny dog, homemade root beer, and coconut cream pie (made by the Lutheran church). I'm also up for sharing pretty much anything else that's battered and fried, including: pickles, jalapenos, funnel cakes, and Oreos. I draw the line at fried butter and chicken fried bacon, though.

Chicken & Dumplings

2011-09-13T18:40:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago when it cooled off to 94 degrees, I decided it was time for a nice, fall meal. You know... something cozy to celebrate the donning of sweaters and boots. Since I was somewhat sickly that day, I decided that chicken and dumplings would make me feel better. Last week, Boo Mama posted her recipe and also shared the correct pronunciation for said dish. Although our recipes differ, we agree that it is pronounced CHICKEN AND DUMPLINS. The G is silent. Trust me. It is.

I think that my grandmother made the best chicken and dumplings. I also think I make the second best chicken and dumplings. (Mom, don't worry, yours are good, too! You win third place!) Here are qualities that I like in my chicken and dumplings:

Creamy, not brothy. This adds to the cozy factor.
Slick dumplings, not fluffy dumplings. I guess these technically aren't dumplings, but more like thick, wide noodles.
A high ratio of dumplings to chicken. I actually use chicken for the flavor, but I just love the dumplings part of this dish.
Lots of fresh black pepper.
The option to use frozen dumplings. There are some good ones, y'all. Don't be ashamed. I make them from scratch less than half the time. Here's what I buy in the frozen bread section:

Chicken & Dumplings

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (I usually boil an entire bag at once, shred it, and then freeze the meat.)
5 quarts chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 packages Mary B's Open Kettle Dumplings or homemade dumplings*
1 can evaporated milk
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
Salt and pepper, to taste (I use about 1 teaspoon of each, I think)

Directions
Bring chicken broth to a boil with thyme, salt and pepper. Break frozen dumplings into fourths and cook according to package directions. (The important part is to keep stirring so that they don't stick!) Once dumplings are tender, add chicken. Add evaporated milk and soup. Add additional salt and pepper. Let simmer for about 10 minutes. Enjoy!

*Homemade Dumplings (I double the recipe. These cook for about 15 minutes before adding chicken.)
Mix 2 cups of flour with 1 teaspoon salt in a mixing bowl. Begin pouring ice-cold water and mixing with your fingers. (You'll use a little over 3/4 cup water.) Knead the dough into a ball. Sprinkle flour over you work area and roll the dough to about 1/8 inch. Cut dough into 1" x 2" pieces.

Considering that I usually pick the chicken out of my bowl and give it to Husby, my carbohydrates for the day are usually met in one serving of Chicken and Dumplings. But I love making Red Lobster cheddar biscuits to go with them. I don't particularly like Red Lobster. In fact, I got food poisoning from scallops at RL when I was 4, so I have a general aversion to the restaurant and scallops. But the two times I've been since, I've eaten as many cheddar biscuits as possible. Lucky for me, someone figured out the recipe, and it's super easy. I usually get them in the oven while stirring the pot o' dumplings. Also, I love garlic, so I add it to the biscuits, not just the butter to brush on top. I also dislike parsley, so I leave it out.

Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits

Ingredients
2 C Bisquick
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese
2/3 C milk
1/4 C butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix Bisquick with garlic powder. Mix in cheese. Pour in milk and mix until well incorporated, for 30 seconds. Using an ice cream scoop, place onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Mix butter and garlic powder; brush over biscuits before removing from cookie sheet. Serve warm.

A Little Hope

2011-09-02T17:50:00.000-05:00

For you, this picture might mean nothing. Except that it's the beginning of September, and I'm one of those crazies who is ready to decorate for fall on September 1.

(I actually have an unwritten rule that I can decorate that early. And I have new fall decor, so I'm aching to put it out. This weekend friends, this weekend. I have to decorate that early so that I can fully enjoy it since Christmas goes up the Monday before Thanksgiving.)

I digress. For me, this picture is hope. Hope that it will eventually stop soaring into triple digit temperatures. And although it's forecast to cool over the next week, I have my doubts. After all, the meteorologists in our area have predicted rain almost every week since June. That hasn't really happened, except on the days when they claim that there is ZERO CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION.

Since I love summer (and I love summer in Texas), I've tried not to complain at length about the heat, but it's been rough! Even worse is the lack of rain. As I'm sure you know, we're in extreme drought conditions. Now that we live outside of the city limits, we have private water. Our water company sent a notice a couple of weeks ago that we can only water our lawns twice a week. Honestly, that was difficult. Although new to home ownership, we want to be proud of our lawn. A certain amount of vanity comes with wanting a green lawn, and when a water shortage prevents that, it sort of stinks.

Even more than wanting a green lawn is wanting a non-dry, non-crispy yard for safety reasons. Because everything is so dry, fires pop up quickly. A few nights we've walked outside to smell acreage burning. Where our house is located is pretty wooded. To be honest, there've been times that I've had to come to terms with the fact that we have a house, filled with stuff. As long as we're okay (and our pets are okay), then we can make it if something happens. That's a tough reality for me. Of course, we've gathered all of our legal documents; if only we could remember to buy a fireproof safe to store them!

Even though this weekend won't show signs of fall, other than the acorns dotting the front yard, I expect that it will be wonderful, restful and productive.

the most important meal

2011-08-22T07:41:00.002-05:00

Lately, I've been on an oatmeal kick. I've eaten it almost everyday for the past four weeks. Twice, I've had it for dinner. Just for the record, I'm not preggo. I tend to find something I love, eat it daily, and then never want to eat it again once I'm burned out. Moderation? Not for me. A couple of summers ago, all I wanted for breakfast was Cascadian Farms Granola with Dannon Fat Free Vanilla Yogurt. I ate it all summer. And I don't eat it anymore. But I'm thinking the oatmeal thing might have better luck.

When I was younger, I thought oatmeal only came in little packets warmed in the microwave, in flavors like Peaches-n-Creme or Apple Cinnamon. I enjoyed it enough, but never attempted real oatmeal until recent years. I have a friend who eats it daily. Since she's much more healthy than me, I decided to give it a go. I bought me a canister of quick cooking oats, followed the directions, and then ate it just as it was cooked: water, oats, a pinch of salt. Ummm...it was awful and pasty. I decided that my Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Instant Oats would be the only oatmeal for me.

But then I ran across a blog or website (I cannot for the life of me remember which one) that heralded peanut butter oatmeal. You should know that my other obsession for the summer is peanut butter. So I decided to give it a go. I put some steel cut oats, water, cinnamon and salt in my tiny slow cooker, and cooked it overnight. The next morning, I added peanut butter and honey. Guess what? LOVE AT FIRST BITE! I was hooked on oatmeal, especially because it sustained me until lunchtime! I expanded the options (from just steel cut oats) to include old fashioned oats and quick cooking oats.

I have three toppings that rotate. In addition to peanut butter with a bit of honey, I also love steel cut oats with blueberries, walnuts and honey. I eat either of these every morning for breakfast. But on the weekends, I have a sugary-cereal version of oatmeal. I stir a spoonful of Nutella into my oats. Oh my goodness! It is heavenly and such a good treat. And hazelnuts and chocolate are healthy, right?

As soon as the weather begins to cool off, I plan to add pumpkin and spices. It sounds like the perfect fall breakfast! Until then, I'm sure I'll be content with my peanut butter oatmeal.

so it begins

2011-08-20T21:23:00.000-05:00

Oh, how I would like to say that summer is over! But that isn't the case (for a few more weeks, at least). However, summer break came to a close on Thursday as students flooded the hallway of our school, and a few brave ones--or maybe just those desiring a schedule change--made their way into our office.

This is always an exciting time for my job. Soon, seniors will spend an hour a day camped out on the computers next to my desk, typing away on college applications and essays. They'll wonder how-in-the-world-should-I-answer-this-question-to-get-into-the-college-of-my-dreams and ask me questions, such as, "What's your favorite (fill in the blank)?" or "Would you rather be raised by robots, aliens or dinosaurs? And why?" I'll try to escape dozens of questions, hoping they'll answer creatively--and well. And really hoping that they'll spell correctly and avoid using UR for "your." But ultimately I'll answer a multitude of questions every hour.

I love the season of college applications. Call me crazy (seriously, you can), but it's such an exciting time for seniors. Last year, I ran the show while my boss was on maternity leave. This year, I'm able to step back and let her take the reins. Although it was a good--and successful--year, I'm happy to be back at my desk, the smaller desk. I'm happy for less stress and not working 11 hour days. I'm excited that I can cook dinner and have people over on school nights (as long as they leave by 9ish, of course!). Technically, my days run from 7:30a-4p. In previous years, when I wasn't in charge, I would stay until 5:30. This year, I've made the commitment to leave no later than 4:30. Of course there will be exceptions, but I really want to do this.

Husby's school year starts next week. That's right, he's going back. He works as a financial analyst and decided to get his CPA. (I really don't know how to reference that. Is it: become a CPA / get a CPA / be an accountant? Whichever, he's doing it.) He took one class over the summer. We hope that he'll have everything wrapped up by the end of next summer! Since he'll have one class each week until 9ish, that gives me a free night to spend with girlfriends, and I already have several activities lined up!

Although the lazy days of summer will be missed, I'm glad to be back to the routine I thrive. Here's to a fabulous school year!

The Mockingbirds

2011-07-31T13:50:00.001-05:00

One of my top five books is To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus Finch is one of my favorite characters of all time. He warns Scout never to kill a mockingbird, and I love the line spoken by Miss Maudie, agreeing with Atticus:

Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.

Based on this, I thought mockingbirds were sweet little songbirds. After all, the lullaby offers to buy a child a mockingbird before a diamond ring. They must be little songsters. Right? Well, if you haven't encountered a mockingbird as an adult, I have a harsh truth. It's all a lie. Mockingbirds don't tweet beautiful songs. They're territorial and loud and mean. Which is probably how they keep birds of prey away.

While we were away for a week, it seems that two (or possibly more) mockingbirds decided that they like our house and trees. They don't, however, like our cat, Persephone. Within an hour of returning home, we witnessed Persephone being chased and pecked by a mean ol' mockingbird. All the while, he was screeching something terrible. The cat wasn't phased. We've been home for several days, and every day has been a repeat. Now, the cat runs from the birds. I'm pretty sure this is why Crickett has been so anxious, as well. They have tried to get her a couple of times. And I'm scared to death that they're going to get me! I take a stick with me every time I go outside.

I do not advocate killing animals, especially for sport. And I don't think I could ever kill an animal. Honestly, I could easily become vegetarian over the thought of killing animals. And I reason with the cat not to kill birds, which are generally her prey of choice. But now? I've approved her taking out these birds. I know, it's bad, but they're terrorizing us. They've also chosen to use our back deck as, seemingly, their bathroom of choice. Guh-ross!

As the state bird of Texas, I'm sure it's illegal to shoot them. Since I wouldn't kill them, anyway, I want options. Unfortunately, options don't seem to exist for these birds of terror. I've researched how to deter them, but there's little that works for these birds. I was set to buy an owl decoy on Amazon that moves with the wind to simulate a real owl. Guess what? Those don't work on them. Neither do rubber snakes. I'm thinking that I'm going to get the water hose ready, and the next time they dive bomb me or the pets, I'll spray water at them. A little water never hurts, right?

Until then, I'll be running from the birds, shooing them with a stick. And cleaning off my back deck.

Friday Miscellany

2011-07-29T18:41:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe how fast the summer has gone. It seems like just a week ago that I switched to summer hours at work, my alarm sounding 1.5 hours later than normal. It's been nice and restful. A good summer. Last summer was tough. We lost our nephew just weeks before his arrival, and Husby's dad took a two-story fall off a ladder that left him in the ICU/hospital/rehab facility for six weeks. I'm happy to share that we have another niece or nephew on the way, and our summer has been relatively uneventful. For that, we are grateful.
I'm working through pictures of our vacation to Savannah, Charleston and Atlanta. I can't wait to post those, along with a comprehensive list of wonderful restaurants in each city. Just a little teaser: we ate at one well-known restaurant in Savannah owned by a certain celebrity chef with a pronounced Southern drawl. And...we weren't impressed. We both decided that our mom's are better cooks, and Husby said he likes my chicken pot pie much more than the one he ordered.
Our house is coming together. The living room is mostly done, except for hanging an antique mirror--that weights approximately 3423 pound--over the fireplace. I'm on the hunt for two other dining room chairs, or possibly an upholstered bench. Light fixtures are waiting to be hung in the breakfast nook and dining room. A headboard is on it's way in the next 2-4 weeks. And I have a super fun plan for unstained nightstands that I bought. (Said plan will not be completed by me; my brother's girlfriend is much more confident in her abilities to draw straight lines.)
I'm ready to beat my dog. (FYI...I threaten to beat her every other day. It's never happened. Most often, she gets tummy kisses.) Ever since her return from a week at my parents, she's been on super-high alert. Like we brought a ghost back from the South. She's driving me crazy. I'm contemplating give her a little Benadryl to relax her. Or I guess I could take the Benadryl. That might be nice. :)
While we were away on vacay, we had a neighbor and my brother-in-law let the cat in at night and out in the morning. From the looks of it, she slept on the kitchen counters. She isn't allowed on those, but I guess she showed us! (I also threaten to beat her regularly, but instead give her tummy kisses. She'd probably rather take the beating. Ha!)
I ordered several holiday items and got those yesterday. I cannot wait to decorate for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
We've had over 30 days of weather over 100 degrees. It's hot. Thankfully, we go from air conditioned building to air conditioned car to air conditioning building. That makes the heat bearable. Spending a week in "walking" cities, we discovered that 100 degrees is awful when cars aren't an option. Mercy, the east coast was hot!

Y'all have a great weekend!

what i'm reading & watching

2011-06-17T13:05:00.002-05:00

Since we moved, we don't have cable. This is a huge change for us. We're really TV junkies. Husby works for the cable company that services 99% of our area. Unfortunately, we moved to this little bitty area that isn't serviced. This stinks for two reasons:

1. The littlebittycablecompany is reportedly awful.
2. As an employee of BIG CABLE COMPANY, Husby got a major discount. Like almost free. Like we got every single channel for free. We only had to pay $15 a month for DVR.

Mourn with us, please. I have a plan for BIG CABLE COMPANY to take over littlebittycablecompany. I just need to pitch it to someone other than Husby. Evidently, he doesn't think it'll work. What does he know? He's only worked there 14 years.

(If you're counting, that's before I graduated high school. He's my sugar daddy. And he's super sweet!)

We haven't signed up for cable, since most of our shows won't start until the fall. Even then, we're not sold on paying for cable. We'll probably Netflix and watch shows on the websites. To satisfy our TV addiction, Husby suggested watching Veronica Mars. I agreed. Typically, we enjoy the same type of shows.

(Exceptions: Bethenny Ever After and Game of Thrones.)

Let me tell you, Veronica Mars has NOT disappointed. I love it so much that we usually watch more than one episode at a time. We're 16 episodes through the first season, and I can't wait to finish it. I didn't know how much I liked Kristen Bell. Sure, she's been in a couple of chick flicks (ugh...I hate that term as much as chick lit), but she's a really good actress in VM.

As if it weren't obvious, when one cannot watch TV, one has more time to read. I just finished:

I really liked this book. Krakauer (who wrote Into Thin Air) gives a raw look into the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints. (You might remember a fairly recent raid on their Texas compound.) I was hooked after the first sentence. The underlying story is about the Lafferty brothers who murder their sister-in-law and her baby--because they believed it was a revelation from God. Of course the FLDS polygamy belief is intriguing to me. I am WAY to jealous a girl to be okay with this, and I don't think it's what the Bible describes as marriage, even though some in the Old Testament practiced it. (But did it ever really work out? Usually it was a mess.) After reading this book, I can sympathize with the FLDS followers who are hurt that the Mormon church turned away from polygamy. Although I doubt Joseph Smith's revelation, it was an accepted practice in the church that was abandoned because of pressure from the United States government. They conceded and abandoned this belief because of a government. I think I'd be a little upset, too. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that their beliefs are sound--and I certainly respect government, but I can understand why they feel as they do. Under the Banner of Heaven also gives lots of information about the Mormon tenets of faith. I really recommend this book.

I have another book that I started last night. Since I'm already a quarter of the way through, I except to be able to share my thoughts soon. And it's rocking my thinking about food.

my summer so far...

2011-06-16T16:56:00.002-05:00

I enjoy the summer. I know I'll probably complain in September when it's still 100 degrees, but for now, I still like it. I like the feeling of getting into a super hot car, and then blasting the air conditioner. And I typically don't mind being outside. It's like I was made for summers in Texas. :) Last weekend, I threw an outdoor party for Husby. This December, he'll be 40. (Yes, he did rob the cradle. I officially have a sugar daddy, although I have to work. Something about a new car and new house.) I wanted to give him a birthday fiesta, but with holiday parties and cold weather, I didn't want to do it in December. So we did a 39 1/2 birthday party. It was so much fun! I'll post pictures soon.

Speaking of cars. I'm sad to report that Genevieve (my 5 month old Kia Sportage) has already been to the body shop. A few weeks ago, Husby and I traded cars for the day. On his way home from work, it was drizzling; he was stopped at a light and was rear-ended. $5000 in damage and 10 days later (paid for by their insurance company, thankfully), Genevieve is back home. The upside is they vacuumed the inside really well and washed her. She looks brand new. Again.

Our new house is in a more rural area. I like to call it the country, even though we're in a neighborhood. The country seems to come with wildlife that I didn't see much in the city. Yesterday, I put Crickett and Persephone outside. Before I could shut the door, I heard something land behind me. Evidently a lizard mistook the inside of our house for where he should be. I panicked. I'm not particularly afraid of lizards, but I couldn't figure out my method of getting him outside. I didn't want to kill him, since he kills more bugs than the dog and cat combined. (The cat likes to WATCH bugs crawl across the floor.) I couldn't pick him up quickly and throw him out the back; I had a cat and dog who would have loved a little snack. My only option was going out the front, but I couldn't determine how I would pick him up, carry him, unlock and open the door, and then deposit him accordingly. And I didn't want him making an escape. Again, the cat and dog would have fought over who got him.

In my decision, the little lizard decided to climb the fireplace. I stood guard, watching him while I called Husby. Thankfully, he was less than ten minutes away. I stayed on the phone with him the whole time repeating things like:

"Please don't fall. Please don't fall. Please don't fall."
"Oh, my goodness."
"If he jumps at me..."
"Where are you?"
"Where are you now?"
"He's on the CEILING..."
"Come in through the front door as soon as you get here!"

And my knight in khaki pants and a Polo shirt came to my rescue. Only after the lizard jumped at me after an attempted capture. Which caused me to scream, then the lizard ran like a little thing you'd see in the desert, afraid for his life. Then I screamed and shook a plastic grocery bag, chasing him down the hall, hoping he wouldn't climb into the pile of empty boxes and paper. Husby was laughing the whole time, trying to catch him, but supposedly distracted by my screaming.

Once captured, we both ran outside to deposit him next to our bathroom window. (We have a family of geckos that climbs on the outside of the window at night, so we thought it was appropriate.) It being the country, I went barefoot. This is where I mention that we've been plagued by nasty brown spiders (no brown recluse, thankfully). As we were walking back inside, I saw one in the grass and told Husby to step on it. He did. Then we saw another and another and another. ALL CRAWLING TOWARD OUR HOUSE. Confident they were coming for me and my bare feet, I ran.

Next week the exterminator will be here. And summer will be even better.

a challenge

2011-06-02T05:59:00.003-05:00

This week, I've read a handful of blog posts about spending quality time with the Lord. Or for me, more accurately, NOT spending quality time with the Lord. I grew up going to church quite often. Twice on Sundays and Wednesday nights. As a college student and adult, I stayed in church, for the most part. But I'm afraid that often--for me--church replaces relationship. This isn't good.

Most often, spending time with the Lord daily isn't a priority. I want it to be, but I just struggle with it remaining a priority. You know, things get in the way. Things like facebook, blogging, reading, watching TV, hanging out with friends. These all seem to get pushed to the top of the list. If you looked at a log of how I spend my day, you'd think that I cared more about these things than cultivating a relationship with Christ.

This is a quote from Nancy Leigh DeMoss (found through Jess' page) that just resonates with me:

(Speaking of Nancy Leigh DeMoss, if you haven't read Brokenness, you should. It's amazing. I probably need to re-read it.)

I want it to be priority. So for the next 30 days, I'm joining a challenge to spend quality time with the Lord. Since I have summer hours at work (I don't go in until 9), I plan to do this in the mornings.

If you're up for it, you should join the challenge.

One last quote that is really powerful for me (and feels like a sock to the gut each time I read it), from John Piper:

a (monthly) meal plan

2011-06-01T11:39:00.006-05:00

If you've read my blog for a while, you might remember that last January I made a meal plan for an entire month. It was ambitious, and it worked. I love to cook, and I love recipes. I've had several people remark about my reliance on recipes, as opposed to just whipping something up. Honestly, I love recipes. I love a plan. Thus my return to a month of meals planned, inserted onto a calendar with recipes printed and in order of use.

Perhaps we don't know how to do it, but during our packing-moving-painting-unpacking time, we ate out a lot. Too much. Like when you don't ever want to step foot in a restaurant again, especially of the fast food variety. And it's expensive! We spent way too much money eating out in the last month. My declaration last night was we can eat out and stray from the meal plan, but we have to use a gift card. And there could be an occasion when we don't want to turn down an offer with friends, which will be fine. But we have to reign in the spending on food!

From now until June 30, I know what we'll have for dinner. I gathered recipes from Tasty Kitchen, The Pioneer Woman, a high school friend Lori (who's doing 30 days of cooking on the George Foreman, and has posted some great recipes) and SkinnyTaste. It includes tons of fresh fruits and veggies. I've also decided to have fish once a week, and a vegetarian meal thrown in most weeks. Husby and I usually eat dinner with his family once a week, so that's a plus. (And we're often sent home with leftovers. Score! Since we live too far away to drive home from work, I have to make sure Husby is well fed at lunch, so this is perfect.)

This weeks menu includes:

Monday: Okay, we ate out. Last time until July 1. Unless we use a gift card.

Tuesday: Chicken & Veggie Kebabs

Wednesday: Homemade Fish Sticks, Red Corn on the Cob (yes, it really is red), Applesauce (it's yummy with fish!)

Thursday: Eat at Husby's parents

Friday: Farro Salad with Cherry Tomatoes and Fresh Mozzarella

Saturday: Graduation Party (I'll be at the sushi station.)

When I come across a recipe that we love, I'll be sure to share it. And I'm in the market for good summer lunch ideas, so if you have any, send them my way!

i'll take it

2011-05-31T11:14:00.000-05:00

I always have such good intentions of taking vitamins. In fact, I have an entire shelf full of them. I guess it's just never been a habit. Although, I don't love swallowing pills. This is a recent-ish development. And doesn't apply to ibuprofen or melatonin. I actually think it started when two pills stuck together in the back of my throat, and I thought it was the end of it. Then it happened again. I'm not sure what my deal is, but I've come to hate swallowing pills. (And if I have to take more than one with a gel coating, they go down in separate gulps).

At Target last week, I happened upon gummy vitamins. (I don't doubt that I'm way behind the curve on this one.) I decided to give them a try. Let me tell you...these are yummy! I take two every morning. No, I'm not with child. The fountain of all knowledge, Kelly Rippa, once remarked that women should take prenatal vitamins all the time. And who doesn't listen to the advice of Kelly Rippa?!

My only problem is that these don't have calcium. Although I'm a milk-drinker, I don't think it hurts to boost the calcium intake. In the spirit of taking supplements that don't require swallowing a horse pill, I decided to go with Viactiv. A little chocolate treat that delivers calcium? I'll take it! I plan to pack two of these in my lunch everyday to eat as dessert.

Another great intention is drinking water. I'm not really a fan of water. Coffee with cream, tea sweetened with stevia, and Diet Coke? Yes, please. Plain old water. I'll pass. But I know it's good for the body, so I've resolved to drink 24 ounces before I have a cup of coffee. It's great motivation to get to the coffee!

If only a workout came in a handy, tasty treat form!

about owning a home

2011-05-29T22:25:00.002-05:00

Ten days ago, we moved into our new house. As much as we love our home, the ownership part is exhausting. I confess that I would have been fine renting forever. Garbage disposal won't work? Call the landlord. Air conditioner goes out? Call the landlord. Lawn needs to be mowed? The mowing company the landlord hired will be by once a week. But now? It's just us. Working hard to figure out how to fix the disposal, refrain from jumping all over the air conditioner repairman (sent by our home warranty company) after he insults us, and weed flower beds.

Here are a few things I've learned over the past ten days:

1. I am overly ambitious when it comes to projects. Rewind to a month before we moved. (We owned the home for 30 days before moving.) In those thirty days, we painted 9 of 12 rooms. Although it's much easier to paint without furniture in the room, I think just painting the common areas would have been enough.

2. I tend to underestimate how long a project will take. Surely weeding all of the flower beds (that surround our entire house) and a bit of the yard will only take a couple of hours with both of us working! Fail. It took five hours. All we did was weed.

3. The greatest joy has been sprinkling fire ant killer. I'd sprinkle, and then watch those suckers take the bits of poison off for a meal. Little do they know! I HATE fire ants. It might sound a tad harsh, but I do hope it's a painful death.

4. I'm not sure which is worse: packing or unpacking. At least we have an extra bedroom that houses dozens of boxes.

5. Cereal makes for a great dinner after hours in the yard. It's pretty much all we have the energy to eat!

6. We have the best neighbors! One set (who is moving soon) brought us homemade brownies the day after we moved in. Which was slightly dangerous for me since I tend to consume large and unhealthy amounts of chocolate when I'm stressed. The others are just precious. They offer advice for the yard. (You should see theirs!) Yesterday, they dropped off a housewarming gift of landscaping lights with an offer to help us install them. So, so sweet!

7. The house we moved from (where I lived for four years) didn't have a bathtub. Now that I have one, I can't get enough! And it's so big that I can almost stretch out completely in it. Ha!

Husby and I are both off tomorrow. I plan to organize our bathroom and my closet. (Yes, we have seperate sinks and closets. And I couldn't be more excited.) We're also going to a movie. Hopefully we'll get some rest beforehand. We're both so exhausted, it's possible that we could dose off!

50 Things...

2011-05-09T19:52:00.001-05:00

A few years ago, I posted some of this on facebook. Now, I've expanded the list. Fun times!

1. I'm glad I was never offered drugs as a teenager. I give into peer pressure pretty easily.

2. I was the first girl in 50 years born to my dad's side of the family.

3. I used to think it is rather unfortunate that my birthstone is a diamond. That's just crazy.

4. Although I am very fond of diamonds, I love pearls. They're so feminine. I have so many pearl earrings, and I have to talk myself out of buying more.

5. I don't mind that it took 5 1/2 years to complete my bachelor's degree. Not only did I spend 1 1/2 years taking only music courses and then change my major, I spent every summer in college with babies in a Romanian orphanage. My life is forever changed by those summers. I learned what summer sessions could never teach.

6. The friends I made in Romania 2001 are some of the most important people in my life. I love, love, love them. God knew what he was doing when he put 12 Type-A personalities together. It worked beautifully.

7. I love to plan parties. Big parties. Dinner parties. Birthday parties for two. Surprise parties. Wedding showers. Baby showers. I love them all!

8. I wish I were more confident about my artistic abilities. One day, I hope to have an income from things I create.

9. I love to decorate cakes. (Mom, this is not an offer to work on the weekends.)

10. I have knack for arranging books & stuff on bookshelves. Ask me to hang a picture, and it's sure to be off-centered and crooked with 14 nail holes behind it.

11. I love living in an old house. It's has the charm & character I knew it would. It also has cold floors in the winter and stuffy rooms in the summer. Maybe one day, I'll have a new house that looks old. For now, we're happy with our new house that is relatively new!

12. My favorite color is either red or green, depending on the day. Sometimes, it's both.

13. I love cities. San Francisco and Chicago are probably my favorites. In that order.

14. I finally figured out how my dog, Crickett, got her name. In the movie Little Women (the Winona Ryder version), Marmi refers to Beth as "Cricket." I added the second "t" on the end. I like it that way.

15. I love to make lists! It gives me such a feeling of accomplishment to check something off.

16. I hate the process of doing things to achieve a result, which is probably something I should work out with a therapist. Ha! I love a clean house, but hate cleaning house. I despise the getting ready process--both in the morning and at night. Showers? Ugh. Brushing my teeth? Do I have to? (Yes. Yes, I do.)

17. I work hard not to have an East Texan accent. Most of the time, I'm successful at it.

18. My mom owns a bakery, but I do not enjoying baking. I don't have the patience for it. It requires precision and attention that I'm not willing to give.

19. I judge books by their cover. Yep, if I like the cover, I read it. I've only been let down a couple of times.
20. I spray painted my dresser black because the paint the sales guy told me to buy wouldn't "stick." Four cans of spray paint later, I had a black dresser. Six months later, feeling returned to the tip of my pointer finger. (Seriously, I thought that I damaged the nerves so badly that I'd never be able to feel the top of my finger again.)

21. I still get carsick. My brothers don't believe me, but I do. They think it's a 31 year plot to always get the front seat. Silly boys, I'm the oldest, the only girl and the favorite child, I'd totally get the front based on those things alone.

22. I love magazines! I'm perfectly content reading magazines for hours at Barnes & Noble. I only have subscriptions to two, Real Simple & Country Living, but I read them repeatedly each month. I just donated about 250 magazines to two different charities. Hoarding much?

23. I love Hobby Lobby & Target more than the ordinary person. Hobby Lobby is like a worship experience. Seriously. The one in Tyler is huge, and they play instrumental worship music. I can be in the worst mode when I go in, but one trip around the store, looking at all of the 50% off merchandise can brighten my day. I don't even have to buy anything.

24. When I'm cooking at home with no one else in the house, I sometimes pretend to have my own cooking show. I look at the "camera" and explain step-by-step how to make something. I even have commercial breaks. :)

25. When I was 8 years old, my brother was fishing. I needed to walk behind him to the other side of the pier. I said, "Paul, don't cast. Let me walk behind you." Of course, he decided it was the perfect time to cast. The nasty fishhook caught my eyelid. I don't really remember what happened next. It didn't require stitches, though.

26. Both of our pets have middle names: Crickett Marie and Persephone Jane.

27. Sometimes I like a tuna fish sandwich for breakfast. And I'm not prego.

28. I like for the covers on my bed to be a certain weight. I like to feel that the bed is hugging me.

29. Many perfume/candle/spray scents make me nauseous. When I was in high school, I got sick almost every morning after taking a shower. We finally determined it was the Honeysuckle scented products from Bath and Body Works. I stopped using them, and I stopped getting sick. To make certain I avoid this, I stick to food flavored scents and powder scents. The perfumes I wear are Burberry Brit and Donna Karen Cashmere Mist.

30. I also cannot stand the smell of shoe stores. I get sick if I'm in them too long. Sometimes clothing stores have the same effect.

31. I'm a coffee snob. I do not like Starbucks; they over-roast (burn) their beans. Yuck. I'm a huge fan of Distant Lands Coffee, which is roasted locally and also supplies beans to McDonald's. If you haven't had McDonald's coffee, you should try it.

32. I love to snuggle in a blanket, even in the middle of summer.

33. I love ice cream in the winter. I probably crave it more then than I do during the summer.

34. I had my tonsils out when I was 18 and had no problems. Seriously, I didn't take a single pain pill and was talking as soon as I was out of anesthesia. Not so with my wisdom teeth removal last October. Worst pain I've ever had. (And I had a friends mom tell me her experience was worse than childbirth. Here's hoping!)

35. I super love Bethenny Ever After. I like to pretend that we'd be friends in real life. Maybe eventually BFF.

36. We also huge Top Chef junkies. On our honeymoon, we ate at two restaurants owned by the top three finalists of Top Chef Masters. While en route to Fleur de Lis in San Francisco, I commented that if I met any chef of those three, I'd want to meet Huber Keller. As we were waiting to be seated, Chef Keller walked through the front door of his restaurant. I was speechless. He was so kind and gracious.

37. I have a goal to attend the Aspen Food and Wine Festival.

38. I laugh at my own jokes. Sometimes before I finish telling them. That means I'm funny, right?

39. I don't like Chick Lit. The phrase or the genre of books.

40. While we were in Czech Republic, I really enjoyed the beer.

41. While we were in Austria, I really enjoyed the homemade sausages. Amazing.

42. We're love TV...too much. Regularly recorded on our DVR: Bethenny Ever After, Top Chef, Castle, Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Cougar Town, Body of Proof, White Collar, Burn Notice, Psych and a couple of other shows that Husby enjoys.

43. I love to wear black.

44. I cook using recipes. Sometimes this stresses me out if I can't find a recipe for something I'd like to make. Although I can create food without a recipe, I prefer to use it as a guide.

45. I'm a planner. I like to have a plan in advance for meals, trips, weekends, going to buy groceries. You name it. I'll plan it.

46. I listen to NPR.

47. I sometimes have to act quickly when a decision must be made. I mull things over way too long, in hopes that I won't regret the decision. This could be healthy for some things, but not all. When I decided on paint colors for our new house, I was at the store getting them mixed before I could change my mind. Now, I love them!

48. I think about Christmas pretty much all year. Already, I've begun a list in my head of gift possibilities.

49. Where I used to love warm colors in a house, I've turned the corner and love cool colors. Strange.

50. I love working at a school. My brain has always thought in semesters: August-December, January-May, summer.

Senses in the Spring

2011-05-07T09:28:00.000-05:00

My favorite sound of spring: baseball.

I love baseball, especially the sound of the ball hitting a bat.

I also love the sound of a crowd at a baseball game--either little league or professional.

My favorite taste of spring: in-season asparagus.

I love pencil-thin asparagus, roasted with a little lemon, salt and pepper.

I also love this Roasted Asparagus Salad.

My favorite smell of spring: wisteria.

Our neighborhood is full of spring flowers, including wisteria.

To me, walking beneath wisteria smells like grapes.

Perhaps it's psychological, but even Husby agreed after smelling it before seeing it.

My favorite feel of spring: warm sun on my skin.

I love being outside in the spring; the sun is perfect.

My favorite sight: flowering trees.

I love Redbud trees, Dogwood trees and Bradford pear trees.

All of which are in our new backyard.

Etsy Love

2011-05-03T09:42:00.000-05:00

I've ordered several things from Etsy. I love handmade, non-commercial art. I love having things that few others have. Here are a few of my favorites on Etsy now. There's no time like needing to decorate a new house to buy a few prints, right?!

from the wheatfield:

from Spread the Love:

from retrostilleto:

Weekend Update

2011-05-02T17:33:00.001-05:00

I wish I had an exciting story to tell about our weekend adventures, but I don't. On Friday, Husby and I drove to Northwest Arkansas to visit for his grandfather's 90th birthday. One of us visited; the other stayed in the hotel room in an attempt not to infect others with a sore throat-fever-achy illness. Instead of visiting with his aunt, uncle and cousin that had flown in from AUSTRALIA and his nonagenarian grandfather, I slept, watched movies and read. It sounds like a great way to spend a weekend, and it probably would have been if not for the retaliation of my body.

Illness always seems to strike at my busiest times. Remember in October when I had my wisdom teeth removed, then had four dry sockets AND a stomach virus? Yeah, that was at my busiest time in the fall. Now, I can barely speak, and I woke up with a migraine that turned into an ocular migraine with a fun blind spot in the center of my vision for about 45 minutes this morning. Fun times! It happens to be in the middle of my busiest time during the spring. From April 20-May 15, I prepared for less sleep and more stress. I guess that my body doesn't like that combo, thus the revenge. Perhaps I should file this away: get rest, eat well and have balance or my body will come up with it's own way for doing this.

During my time at the hotel, I read some of Cutting for Stone.

It's been on the best seller lists for a while, but I just can't get into it. I'm hopeful that it will pick up, by I'm about 1/3 through the book, and I'm not loving it.

I also watched plenty of television, including Extreme Couponing. I'm not sure I totally understand the concept of buying 67 bottles of mustard just because it's 30 cents, especially when no one in the family really loves mustard. And don't 200 bags of chips go stale before eating them? I'm all for a bargain, and I'm known to love a good deal, but I can't see the benefit in buying in this much excess. I clip coupons periodically and love knowing when I save $7, but spending 6 hours to prep for a grocery trip isn't a good use of my time.

I was also able to watch a one hour review of the royal wedding. I loved every minute of it and tonight I'm watching the whole thing. (Husby doesn't know this, but I think I can play the sick card and win!) I'm just a tad obsessed with this royalty! I loved her dress (of course), her simple bouquet, her smile and the love she shows her husband. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the wedding.

Seriously, these Middleton girls have great figures. I haven't seen a bad picture of Pippa in that dress!

I love that Harry turned to look at Kate before William was able to see her.

I loved their vows.

This picture makes them seem very normal. I love the smile on her face and the smirk on his.

Such poise and grace. What a beautiful princess!

Of course, the pictures of the kiss are fun, but I love that she

took the time out of her first day as a princess to talk to this sweet little girl!

The Best Laid Plans

2011-04-29T08:45:00.000-05:00

I was a tad late jumping on the Royal wedding bandwagon. But I finally made it. I asked to Husby earlier this week to DVR the festivities on NBC. (I do love the Today show and NBC correspondents.) He set it to record from 3am-9am. I figured that I'd see everything I wanted to see and some that I didn't care about seeing, but since it would be DVRed, I could fast forward through all the not so fabulous parts.

My plan was to get up at 5am and make coffee and muffins. You know, the American version to tea and crumpets. Mainly because I have no idea where to buy crumpets. And I'd need the extra caffeine afforded by coffee. I was excited to see Kate's dress, mostly.

But then my body decided to turn against me. I have some sort of cold-sinus infection what-have-you, and my only option to rid my body of aches was a healthy dose of NyQuil. As soon as I conceded to this being necessary, I knew that I'd miss the Royal wedding as the rest of the world watched. The good news is that the NyQuil has a lasting effect, so I have absolutely no emotion for having missed it. And since it's DVRed, I'll have plenty of time to catch-up this weekend.

I was able to watch TLC yesterday afternoon and decided that I would LOVE to rock the hats like Kate Middleton does. Seriously, I love hats. And I love her hats and fascinators. I think she's just gorgeous!

This weekend, I cannot wait to see details of the wedding. I know it will be fabulous. Even as I watched TLC yesterday, I loved seeing the interaction between Kate and William!

And as a side note: I was most disappointed when I discovered Prince William is just a bit younger than me. Oh how I hoped that he would find a girl worth marrying in east Texas. But I just knew that I couldn't marry younger. I'm so glad he found someone.

Learning During Lent

2011-04-28T10:53:00.002-05:00

This year, for Lent, I gave up facebook. For the first two weeks, all I wanted to do was write on this blog about HOW HARD IT WAS. But I was convited that complaining about sacrifice is not the purpose of sacrifice. So I refrained. And writer's block set in. Thus my lag in blogging (if you were wondering).

Overall, signing off of facebook for 50 plus days was the best thing I've done in a long time. It was a hard decision. I'm always tempted to give up something that won't be challening. (Like not eating English peas or cooked carrots. No problem there since I don't care for either!) But I KNEW that the Lord was urging me to change my focus drastically. I think that you could call my obsession with facebook an addiction. I had a discussion with my advisory group at school that it's automatic to sign into facebook whenever a computer is near--and sometimes we don't remember getting there. Yikes!

So on March 9, I signed out of facebook and Husby changed my password. Although temptation was abundant, there was NO WAY I could sign on. Initially, I had an issue with asking for help from him since it removed an element of self-control from the sacrifice, but later decided that it's okay to have help from others when a change needs to be made.

During my time away, we bought a house (which we found in the first few days away). I feel like the Lord blessed this sacrifice. Does he always bless when we sacrifice? Probably not. Would we have found the house if I'd been on facebook? Maybe so. Will I only sacrifice in order to receive a blessing? No way. But I do feel that this is a gift from Him for obedience.

And OH IT WAS HARD when we hit snags in being approved for our mortgage! I came up with clever status updates that I could have posted IF I'D ONLY BEEN ABLE, but I wasn't. I wanted so badly to type a snide comment, but I couldn't. Each time I felt frustrated, my option was to pray about it. I've felt REALLY convicted about this. How often do I turn to facebook or a friend or my husband about a problem before I turn to my God?

Some gave me a hard time--in love, I'm sure--about not being on facebook. I laughed it off. After a couple of weeks of not accessing it approxmiately 3843 times a day, I was out of the loop. Honesly, it was nice. Since Lent ends on Easter--in celebration--I could have signed on as soon as I woke up. Again, I was convicted that the celebration isn't about what we get back that day--in terms of our sacrifice. We celebrate because Jesus rose from the grave; we get our lives back in return for his sacrifice. I decided that I'd sign on that evening, after we'd spent time at church and with friends and family. When I did, I was bored. Since Sunday, I've signed on probably once a day.

For now, it's lost its luster. And I hope that it doesn't become the focus that it was before the sacrifice. I fear that I substitute my "friendships" on facebook for relationships in real life. And relationships are so important to me. I want to talk to people and to write letters and notes of encouragement and not comment on a funny status. I know that taking a [hopefully permanent] step back might mean that I don't know about the fun, daily things in the life of my [actual] friends, but that'll have to be okay. I want to invest in lives and not facebook.

I remember several years ago--before facebook--when my friend, Allison and me would send each other funny cards. I loved choosing the cards and writing a special note, and I loved receiving a special piece of mail addressed to me and not a bill or a piece addressed to "Current Resident." But life has gotten busy, and I've forgotten how sweet a card can be.

My goal is to send handwritten notes to my friends. Hopefully one each week. I have stamps and cute cards. Now, I have time to write without the ever-present facebook.

The Details

2011-04-27T10:26:00.003-05:00

Last week, Husby and I bought a house. The process of finding the house we like was easy. One day we decided to look; less than a week later we made an offer on the first house we saw. It was love at first sight. Our offer was accepted and the mortgage approval began. The house-buying was rather frustrating and difficult. I think I cried every day over something. At one point, I wanted to lose the earnest money. Or poke my eyeballs out. Either seemed better than all we had to go through for a mortgage. I think we did everything but a blood sample to get our mortgage approved.

(A few years ago my brother called me dramatic. I didn't understand why.)

(Now, I think I do.)

Originally, I thought we'd get a house where we would make a few adjustments. But then we found this home. That's when we determined that we're not really the people who make adjustments to homes. It really is move-in ready.

(Don't be completely fooled, I have a 5-year to do list.)

(It involves new kitchen cabinets, new floors and moving the living room wall out about 5 feet.)

(But for now, it's absolutely fine.)

Here are a few pictures of our new abode:

Our backyard looks out over a green belt owned by our school district. The fence has a gate that opens so that a child can walk to school. Because we're nerdy and have favorite trees, I'd like to share that this house has almost all of our favorite trees. These include: Dogwood, Bradford pear, Redbud and Japanese maple. I'd like to add a Magnolia tree in the front yard at some point.

The only downside is that this area has a problem with copperhead snakes. On a scale of 1 to 10, my hatred of snakes is 287. In fact, last week on the news we heard a story about 70 snakes that were saved from the hands of a snake smuggler. I sarcastically commented that I was SO GLAD THE SNAKES DIDN'T DIE. I realize that they are God's creatures, but I don't cry when there's one (or 70) less snakes in the world.

(The word you're looking for is ANYWAY...)

We've been advised to sprinkle moth balls around our yard and house. Snakes don't like the smell of them. Neither do I, really, but I like moth balls more than snakes. So if you live within a 30 mile radius and are in the need of moth balls, you'll need to order them online.

Here are before pictures of the inside (taken for the real estate add by the former owners, so it's all of their stuff). All of the common areas were a buttery yellow. Not bad, but not me. Then there was a nursery painted light blue with white enamel clouds sponge-painted on. Again, not me. Not even for a babe. (Nothing's in the oven. No need to ask.) One of my favorite things in a house are white, plantation shutters. I'm not a big fan of curtains since my style changes every 2.7 years. This house has them on every window. Love it!

Before moving in, we decided that the colors must change. I'm a big believer in Sherwin Williams paint, so that's what we bought. It can be more expensive, but it covers so much better.

I realize that it's a bold move to go with a color like Refuge in the living room, but all of our furniture is neutral--a chocolate brown couch, khaki chairs. I'm really excited to see it with our furniture moved in. My inspiration was the entry way on Modern Family. I fell in love with the color the moment I saw it. This isn't a great picture, but you can see a small patch each time they narrate from the couch.

Painters were at our house last Friday and Saturday; their names are: Kristina, Dad, Brother and Husby. Today my mother-in-law and her sister are painting the kitchen. Without me there. Bless them. I offered for them to wait until I got off work, but they assured me that they didn't mind working without me. We are so thankful to all who have helped us. The good news for them is that we believe in hiring movers!

We cannot wait to be in our new house. Instead of packing logically, I've been tempted to dump everything into boxes and sort it out at our new home. However, my OCD has prevented me from doing this.

In other news, this is the next busiest time at work. Graduation is May 14, and I'm helping to host a rather large going-away party for our chaplain the next day. After that, things will be so much better. I'm looking forward to slowing down just a bit--at least in one area of my life.

What I'm Loving

2011-04-18T18:19:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow at this time, Husby and I will be proud owners of this:

More info (and non-grainy pictures) to come...

A Wish List

2011-04-05T11:52:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend, Husby and I talked about plans for my birthday week. See if you can detect the theme:

"My mom is coming over on Tuesday night. We're going for sushi. Do you want to go?"

"Oooh...we still have that voucher for Marble Slab. Let's go on Wednesday."

"I can't decide what I should request for your mom to cook for my birthday dinner at their house on Thursday."

"Where should we go to dinner on Friday?"

"You know, Brent and Patti will be here on Saturday. I think I'll cook dinner, even though it's for my birthday."

Then he said that we needed to go shopping for my birthday. Bless him! Of course I have a few things in mind, but then he said that he's usually able to find a wish list on my blog. Since I haven't done a wish list since Christmas, I thought I'd help out my sweet husband. (Also if other people--like my brothers--need an idea, just choose one.)

1. I'm not sure whether I'd use this Anthropologie egg crate in the fridge or to store my rings and earrings. But I've had my eye on it for a while!

2. I l.o.v.e. serving ware. I have a ton, but I don't have all of the sizes I'd like. This serving bowl--also from Anthropologie--sure is cute:

3. I adore big earrings. Everyday, I wear pearls or big earrings. Here's a pair that caught my eye:

Etsy: Iris Jewelry Design

4. I'd be totally fine with a massage or pedicure Belladona:

5. I watched the Les Miserables 25th anniversary concert that I recorded on PBS. I loved it. It made me realize that I love it just as much as Wicked, which I thought was my new favorite musical. I was wrong. I can't decide between the DVD and CD of the concert, so I'd choose both.

6. One of my teacher friends came into my office today to show me her jazzed up Toms wedges. They were SO CUTE! She even bedazzled them. Now, I'd like a pair for summer. (Side note: I've recently begun wearing heals again. Almost every day. It's amazing.) I'd like these gray tie dye wedges. (Husby, if you read this: Racquet & Jog has Toms.)

Summer Plans

2011-03-27T22:23:00.001-05:00

For vacation this summer Husby and I are going to west Texas. Yee haw! Our vacation last year to Europe was a definitely a splurge. Being the planner that I am, tonight I decided to research a few destinations to hit. Our trip is inspired by a class trip I took in middle school.

When I was in eighth grade our science teacher took three dozen students to west Texas for a week. Can you EVEN IMAGINE taking that many middle schoolers that far away?! We traveled by Amtrak train from Dallas to Alpine, Texas, and then ventured to places including: Carlsbad Caverns, the Marfa lights, Big Bend, El Paso, and rafting down the Rio Grande for a picnic on the Mexico side (something not advised these days). We stayed at Prude Ranch--a dude ranch where they warned us not to venture from our cabins after bedtime for fear of javelinas. Amazingly, it worked, even though we were pretty sure it was a fictional animal. Turns out--they're real. (And now a HUGE problem in Texas.) They also told us ghost stories about the ranch. I realize now that was probably in an attempt to scare us into not leaving our cabins at night. Smart people.

As a side note of very little importance, I came to loathe pimiento cheese after this trip and didn't eat it for at least 15 years after. For three lunches we had a very simple pimiento cheese--grated cheese mixed with mayonnaise--on white bread. But then I somehow convinced myself to take a tiny bite of pimiento cheese from Central Market, and I liked it. They use fine grated cheese, mayonnaise, pimientos, garlic powder and dill. It's yummy on crackers. Plus it hasn't been sitting in the bottom of a chartered bus for five hours. It really makes a difference.

Now back to our trip. We've talked about visiting each of the places I did on our trip, including McDonald Observatory and Fort Davis. As well as a couple of other sites like Monahans Sandhills and Balmorhea Springs. Although it will be a lot of driving, I think it'll be fun. Plus, we can listen to some books on tape. Like every other cool couple I know. Right?

We thought it'd be super fun, as well, to camp at Big Bend National Park. So I pulled up that information to read about reservations and such. I thought it'd be wise to read about safety at Big Bend. Of course, I realize it's in the desert, so water is essential. I also realize that snakes are in the wild. And we're going into the wild. I wasn't prepared for the sentence that read: inspect your shoes and sleeping bag before use. At which point I announced to Husby that we would not be camping in a tent at Big Bend. This girl does not do rattlesnakes. (Or any other kind of snake, really.) Instead, I'll find a cute little cabin that will keep us from lions and snakes and bears. They're all out there in the wild of west Texas.

Over the past 14 days...

2011-03-24T18:36:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Pi Day by ordering our favorite pizza from a local Italian restaurant. My grandparents always called it "pizza pie" so I think it's totally appropriate. Plus I didn't have to cook it. This celebration pales in comparison to previous celebrations that included: chicken pot pie, coconut cream pie, quiche and Husby's introduction to the Moon Pie. But we love pizza and Bruno's, so we'll survive. I was close to making a dessert pie, but I had zero desire to cook.
I've had little desire to cook until this week. The reason? The week following spring break included TIME CHANGE. To the people in Tyler who chose that week as spring break: EPIC FAIL. (All schools in Tyler [public, private and colleges] take spring break them same week.) Not only was is cold and dark outside when I left the first day after break, but all of my friends had a different spring break. It's just not fair. Well, except for the fact that I got a week off in the middle of the year.
I'm participating in an NCAA bracket at school. Faculty and students are able to play. I wasn't going to, but then I remembered how well I did at the Oscar party without knowing anything about the movies. I decided to choose the team either by which school I like best or which team colors I like best. Turns out that was the way to go! Out of 46, I'm in 8th place right now. And I'm leading all other faculty. I offered my boss to help him pick his bracket for next year. He asked if my final four were are still in the bracket, and I just laughed. I have NO CLUE who I put in the final four. Although I'm pretty sure I picked Ohio State to win it all.
We have some other really exciting stuff happening [not in the form of babies], and I hope to share it in the next few weeks.

Glorious

2011-03-10T22:54:00.000-06:00

I often have fun stories after a trip to WalMart. Things just happen to me. I recently decided that I would become a WalMart shopper. I wanted to save a little cash. However, a couple of weeks later, I realized my ways and swore off WalMart once again. Mainly because of the consumerism aspect of WM and how badly they treat their employees. I've returned to the land of Target (perhaps not much better with consumerism, but they do treat employees well) and our locally owned grocery store. Even though I visit two stores for my weekly shopping, I don't have as much stress when I'm done. Mainly because the buggies don't sound like a snare drum with marbles inside being shaken.

But today, I have a great story from our grocery store. It was rather desolate because a NEW and IMPROVED store by the same company opened today. I had a cashier and bag boy immediately. As I walked out of the store, in front of my bag boy wearing a trapper hat in 68 degree weather, this was our convo:

Him (VERY excited): Have you seen Burlesque?!
Me: No, no I haven't.
Him: YOU HAVE TO SEE BURLESQUE! IT'S SO GOOD!
Me: Oh, okay, I'll put it on my list of movies to wa---
Him: Some people say it's a chick flick, but I don't think so. IT'S JUST GOOD!
Me (smiling): Well, okay. I'll have to see i---
Him: It has Cher! CHER!
Me (smiling bigger): She is talented, isn't she?
Him: CHER IS SO TALENTED! YOU HAVE TO WATCH IT! BURLESQUE IS SO GOOD!
Me: Thank you for the recommendation.

I love moments like these. Sometimes I think that there's a video camera catching my reaction when these things happen to me. And in real life, I'm a great story teller, so trust that this was absolutely hilarious!

Lent & Shopping

2011-03-09T22:08:00.001-06:00

Growing up in a Baptist church, we didn't acknowledge Lent. It just isn't practiced. I think the first time I heard about it was in college. I worked for my mom, and her Hispanic employees asked me what I planned to give up for Lent. I was challenged. Although I still didn't know exactly what Lent was, I did understand the premise of sacrifice. I knew that if it was important to these girls that I needed to do it. I'm pretty sure I gave up chocolate. H.A.R.D., also known as sacrifice.

It's been about ten years since I first started practicing Lent. And I've learned so much more about it. Now, I work at an Episcopal school where we have weekly chapel. Truth be told, I didn't enjoy chapel the first few months. It was so different than my "normal." But now, I really like it; I even look forward to it. I love certain prayers. I love the Apostles' Creed (and get a little giddy each time it's said). I love Eucharist. I love the thought that each person participating in that service on Thursdays is saying the exact same prayer. And now it's time for Lent.

A month ago, I thought I'd give up Diet Coke for Lent. I seriously had a problem. That was resolved ahead of time. I thought I might do it anyway; it'd be easy. But since Lent involves preparation for Easter, including through self-denial, I figured I should do something that will benefit me. Guess what I picked? The thing that takes up WAY to much time in my life:

That's right. I won't be on facebook for 46 days. I even deleted the app from my iPhone to avoid temptation. Day one hasn't been super-challenging in the disconnection aspect (although I have been shopping all day). But when I get onto my computer, it's automatic for me to type "fa", hit the down arrow once and arrive at facebook. (I had a conversation with some of my students about this. We all seemed to think it's a little strange to sit down at a computer and stare at facebook without any recollection of going to the site.)

So, if you need me, you can email me or call me or text me or comment here.

(Oh, I have one caveat. I plan to go onto my account and disable my wall on my upcoming birthday. It's a whole other issue, but I don't care for 200 "friends" to wish me a good day. With that many posts, the important wishes get lost. If you are my friend and want to offer birthday wishes, text me or call me. Or send a great gift.)

Today I went shopping with my mom and mother-in-law. We shopped until we dropped. Almost literally for me. I don't always wear appropriate footwear, so my little feet were tired. My mother-in-law is able to shop at Dallas Market Center--where retailers buy their merchandise. Guess what I picked out? Christmas stuff! I have absolutely NO MORE ROOM for Christmas decorations, but I'll worry about that in a few months when it's shipped.

After Market, we lunched (very late) at Taverna. Oh, it was so YUMMY. We each ordered something different and shared. I had little pasta "pillows" filled with Gorgonzola cheese and pears topped with a cream sauce, arugula and walnuts. The two other dishes were penne with tomatoes and basil and butternut squash tortellini with fried sage. They were all amazing. We splurged with dessert and coffee, and then headed for a little more shopping at Sur la Table and Pottery Barn. In order to balance the Christmas decorations bought earlier in the day, I practiced self-control and purchased only one thing. We've been talking about it for almost 1.5 years of marriage, every time we have a watery salad, so I finally bought a salad spinner. But not just any salad spinner, I found a collaspible salad spinner.

I'm thinking functional and easy to store. Husby will love this combo. Unlike our new Christmas decorations. He just doesn't understand cute, non-functional items. Luckily he has me, both cute and functional. Now, I can make even better salads. And have an even cuter house at Christmas.

Weekend Update

2011-03-07T09:20:00.001-06:00

This weekend was so nice. I've had such a busy two weeks, especially in the evenings. Truth be told, I love staying home at night. We don't go out to dinner much, or at least we do take out. Especially on Friday nights. It's like we're retired folk. This weekend revolved around television and movies. We decided that we must see a movie or two since we didn't see any of those nominated for Academy awards. We hit up Blockbuster Express on Friday night before a quick trip to grab a burger. While we ate, we watched Top Chef All-Stars.

We're HUGE fans of Top Chef, and self-proclaimed foodies who love a drive-thru burger. After being extremely satisfied with the outcome of the episode, we popped in:

Oh, it's so good! Not like I have to announce that to my blog readers--or anyone else in the world--since we're a good year behind the curve. I admit that I cried a little, mostly at the end when Andy is playing with his toys again.

On Saturday, our plan was to see two movies, but the theater changed the times, so we were only able to see one:

It's definitely worth every award it won. I loved it. It doesn't hurt that I'd watch Colin Firth in anything; I think he's an amazing actor. I haven't seen The Fighter, but Christian Bale must have been more than fabulous to win the Academy award since Geoffrey Rush did an outstanding job in The King's Speech.

On our way home, we stopped by Blockbuster Express to return Toy Story 3, and I had a coupon code for Buy 2, Get 1 Free. So we rented three more movies. After dinner with my parents (my mom's first time for sushi, chopsticks and martinis), Husby and I watched:

First of all, a couple of years ago I deleted Mark Zuckerburg as my facebook friend for unknown reasons except that I didn't know why he needed to be my friend. After watching this movie, I feel good about this decision. It was a good movie, but not nearly as good as The King's Speech. Oh, and this was the first time that I wanted to hit Justin Timberlake.

We watched Inception last night. Truth be told, I thought more in that 2.5 hours than I planned to think during Spring Break. Half the time, I didn't know if we were watching a dream OR a dream within a dream OR a dream within a dream within a dream without really thinking about it. Again, great movie, but I'm still glad The King's Speech won the Academy Award for Best Movie.

Confession: I love Will Ferrell. And Marky Mark. And funny movies. I can't wait to watch this.

Also, I was able to watch the premier of:

It's my guilty pleasure. I loved Bethenny Getting Married, so I'm super excited that she's on for another season.

Husby and I also watched this weeks:

If you don't watch this, you should. It is laugh out loud HILARIOUS. Every week. We laugh at it, and then look at each other and smile because the things that happen in this show are things that could (and have) happened to us.

Our goal of watching movies and TV this weekend was more than met. I think I wound up watching 11 hours total. Impressive, right? I have plans for Spring cleaning over my one week break, and maybe a couple of other movies.

Have a great Monday!

It's March...

2011-03-03T19:28:00.001-06:00

I cannot believe that it's March! And praise the Lord that I only have one more day until Spring Break! I think this has been the longest week ever. It just won't end. Normally, I'm not one that lives for the weekend, but for some reason I haven't been able to wait for a break.

I know that I'm about 5 days late for an Oscar post, but let's pretend that you're still interested. I went to a party hosted by someone in our Sunday school class. It was just the girls, so we were able to critique dresses, jewelry and hairstyles to our hearts' desire. Included with our invites were ballots for Oscar predictions. We were supposed to complete them in time for the party. I waited until the day of the party before completing mine. I did a little Googling as research, looking at a few people who are known to be spot on with their predictions. Turns out, I'm good at choosing those that others predicted. One of the prizes given at our party was for Best Predictor, and I won. Here's my cute trophy:

I guessed 20 out of 23 categories. Not too shabby! Especially since I haven't seen ANY of the Best Picture nominees. That's right, none. In fact, off of the whole ballot, I've only seen three: How to Train Your Dragon, Alice in Wonderland and Iron Man 2. I'm not sure where me and Husby have been over the past year, but it's not been at the theatre. We decided that we'll see two movies this weekend: The King's Speech and Gnomeo & Juliet. Over Spring Break, I plan to rent Toy Story 3 and maybe one other.

On Tuesday night, I went with a group of girls, including my mom and college roommate to see Mamma Mia on stage. I'll admit that I really wasn't impressed with the movie. In fact, I hated wasting two hours of my life seeing it. But the musical is better. It's not Wicked or Les Mis, but it's cute and entertaining. And the music is good. I've been humming several tunes over the past couple of days.

Adriane & me

Front Row: Mom, Velda, Bonnie (my 2nd mom)

Back Row: Me, Adriane, Allison (like a sister)

You wouldn't know it from the pictures, but during the musical, Allison and I both got sick. I got a migraine, and let me tell you, that's tons of fun while in a musical! Especially one with a dance scene at the end with lights going everywhere. We headed back to our house for a quick supper when it was over. Except that I couldn't really eat more than ice cream. (Don't ask why, but when I have a migraine, I often want ice cream.) When Adriane and I were in college, we found the best Blue Bell ice cream EVER. And for some reason, they no longer make Good Heavens: chocolate and vanilla ice cream with sugar cookie dough and chocolate chip cookie dough. It was so good. Last week I found this at the store:

It's cake batter ice cream with sugar cookie dough pieces. Umm...yes, please! It didn't disappoint.

(As a side note: in college, we'd also go to the nearby gas station for pints of vanilla ice cream and a candy bar. We made our own marble slab creations. Except that it was on formica at our apartment. Oh, the memories.)

(Also, we both LOVE Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies. Although we both prefer the Little Debbie Valentine's Brownies. There may have been a box of these for decoration purposes at dinner this week.)

(One more thing...I could eat my weight in Little Debbie Fudge Rounds. I know they're not classy, but they're yummy!)

Adriane and I were able to finally exchange Christmas gifts! We gave each other books. When we went to hear Shauna Niequist speak a few months ago, she recommended a cookbook that's a fun read. I'd forgotten all about it, so I was super excited to open:

I plan to read it over Spring Break. For Adriane, I found a 60 year old book about composers. (Adriane is getting her Master's in ethnomusicology, so I know she'd appreciate it.) On the inside page was a note written from one friend to another wishing her a Merry Christmas. I was able to replicate it on the facing cover. I was so excited to give her this gift. And I found it way before Christmas, so I've told her all along about her super great present. It's a good thing she liked it! I have no shame in being proud of gifts. Ha!

I'm off to a birthday dinner. A sweet girl I used to babysit is turning TWENTY. I can't believe it. She used to get so excited making a craft from empty toilet paper rolls. Now she's in college. And I'm going to have two servings of her birthday cake to make myself feel better. :)

Valentine's Getaway

2011-02-20T11:54:00.022-06:00

Two weeks between posts seems a tad ridiculous, right? Do you ever have seasons of feeling overwhelmed? I certainly do, and hopefully, I'm coming out of that season. Thankfully, this has also been a season sprinkled with quality time with friends and making new friends. I love that part. I do. I just looked through my camera and wouldn't you know that I pictures from September that I haven't shared?! Maybe this week, we'll take a visit to the past and look at a few fun things. I think I'll start with the most recent. That makes sense, right?

For Valentine's Day, Husby and I take turns planning. He does one year; I do the next. It makes it easier, and it's TONS less pressure. This year we headed to Fredericksburg, Texas.

We live southeast of Dallas, so it was a 5+ hour drive. But totally worth it. See, we spent New Years with our super good friends, Patti and Brent. Patti mentioned that she was planning a secret trip to Fredericksburg for Valentine's Day. What started as a trip for those two turned into a super secret mission for us to meet them in F-burg for the weekend. Husby didn't know where we were going until the night before, and then didn't know we'd meet up with them until breakfast on Saturday. The reaction we got was fabulous! We had the best weekend with our dear friends. Our husbands said that the next surprise trip could be out of the country since we did so well with this one. Ha!

I arranged for us to stay at a private bed and breakfast, Carriage House on the Creek. It was more like a mother-in-law suite with vouchers for breakfast at area restaurants. Perfect! It was so warm and cozy, and our inn keepers (whose house is just in front of the garage/carriage house) were so helpful and kind. We'll definitely stay here again.

We arrived on Friday, both of us having taken the day off work. After we checked into to our B&B, we headed to dinner at Cabernet Grill--a recommendation from our inn keeper, Mitch. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint! I had a fabulous meal that was half an eggplant, scooped out just a bit, breaded and fried; then it was filled with blue crab and shrimp in an asiago cheese sauce. Yum! Husby had the best pork tenderloin we've ever tasted, along with three cheese grits.

On Saturday once we met up with Patti and Brent, we used our vouchers for breakfast at Rather Sweet Bakery. I had a breakfast sandwich, and it was so yummy! When I ordered, I was amazed by all of the baked goods. I was so close to buying a macaroon, but thought that might be excessive for breakfast. Imagine my delight when Brent decided to buy one for an afternoon snack. It was the best macaroon I've EVER tasted.

After breakfast, we headed to Enchanted Rock, which is a huge pink granite boulder. Patti and I climbed just a bit, and then decided that we weren't properly dressed, so we sat and talked and soaked up the first non-winter weekend we've had in a couple of months. Our husbands climbed and jumped from boulder to boulder, across caverns. Let me just say that wearing a denim skirt with tights and cute little tennis shoes doesn't lend itself to jumping and climbing. I thought that a huge granite boulder meant that it would be like a super smooth hill. I was wrong.

After Enchanted Rock, we headed to the Texas Wine Trail. We visited a few wineries, but they were SO busy that we didn't taste at all of them. Our favorite was Grape Creek Winery. We came home with a Merlot and Riesling from Grape Creek. We also visited a fabulous chocolate shop, Chocolat. They have liqueur filled chocolates. Not a creamy center, but actual liqueur. My free taste was on an Amaretto filled chocolate. I could have eaten a dozen!

Food was obviously a theme for the weekend, as it often is while on vacation. (And by vacation, I mean anytime we're out of town or off work for more than the weekend. Ha!) After Enchanted Rocks and wineries, we took a little break before heading to dinner at Hilltop Cafe. It was an abandoned gas station that was converted to a restaurant. Again, we had great food. Here are a few pics of us at dinner:

Then for breakfast the next morning, we used our vouchers at Sunset Grill, which was amazing! They have a separate Sunday brunch menu, and it did not disappoint. I had a wonderful black forest ham and brie panini. I'll eat pretty much anything with brie on it! After a little shopping in downtown Fredericksburg, we headed home. Although the weekend wasn't super relaxing, it was super fun. I loved the quality time I spent with my sweet husband and friends.

Post Number 200: On a Snow Day

2011-02-04T12:44:00.002-06:00

My goodness. This is my 200th post. I know to some bloggers, this number is hit every year, but not for me. I've only been blogging consistently-ish for about 1.5 years. Happy 200th post to me! And thanks to those of you who read my fantastic posts about things like super hot weather, crazy cold weather, wisdom tooth removal and our first anniversary celebration. Where else would you find such intriguing topics?

This week, I was a quite bitter about working. It seemed like most schools within 30 miles of us were either off or had late starts because of the snow/ice. Then word came that another snow storm would approach us from the south. (I don't quite understand how that happens since we're pretty far south in this area of Texas, but whatever.) The original predictions was that it wouldn't reach us. I mean, come on. How can Texas get two snowstorms in one week, and they both miss our little city?! But I held out hope since Texas weather is unpredictable, at best.

For some unknown reason, I woke up at 5am. I tossed and turned, trying to go back to sleep, but only wanted to know if I'd need to be up in an hour, or if I'd be able to sleep in. I decided to look out the window to see if there were any flakes coming down. Well, turns out the meteorologists were wrong. It SNOWED! I ran back to bed and woke Husby to let him know. I'm not sure he shared my enthusiasm. I turned to my trusty phone to look for cancellations. None. I listened to the road below for cars, indicating whether or not people thought it was safe to drive. I wrestled with sleep until 6am when my sweet mom called to tell me that she saw we were out for the day. Hallelu!

Husby was able to stay home, as well. We've had a nice, relaxing day so far. Yummy pancakes and lots of coffee for breakfast, a little The Big Bang Theory from last night, and now I'm snuggled down with Crickett in my makeshift sectional. (I pulled an arm chair up to the sofa. Think fort-making days in our younger days. It may not be classy, but it works!) I do hear cars driving up and down the brick streets below, so I feel that we would have been safe driving, but I'm so thankful for an extra day to rest! I plan to stay in my fleece pants, fleece pullover and wool boots for the majority of the day.

One of my goals for the first 6 weeks of the year is to cook one new recipe a week (or just a total of six new recipes). And I think I'll meet that goal! Right now, I really have a thing for Asian food. Usually, I can't go without Mexican food (Tex-Mex or authentic) for more than four days, so this is a change. I've made Asian Turkey Meatballs, Chicken Lettuce Wraps, and Beef and Green Bean Noodle Bowls. I've also done Spinach Meatballs (super yummy) and a blackberry cobbler. I'll post most of these recipes over the next week.

We have two Super Bowl parties on Sunday. I'm taking desserts to both of them. On the menu: Lemon Bars and Chocolate Scotcharoos. Along with our menu for the week, a trip to the grocery store is in order. I just hope they've recovered from the people who decided they must buy enough food to last for an ENTIRE SNOW DAY. The weather is forecast to warm up tomorrow. So I should be just fine changed out of my fleece attire and wool boots for a grocery shopping excursion.

Hope you have a great weekend! Stay warm!

My Turn to Complain About the Weather

2011-02-02T14:07:00.002-06:00

Sweet mercy, it is COLD! I wish I had a picture of pretty snow to post, but we didn't get snow or ice or anything needed to cancel school/work. Dang it. Even the rolling black-outs don't count. I'm not exactly sure how electricity works, but I guess we don't have enough of it in the cold. Someone should really figure that out. Because it's a little hard to give a PowerPoint presentation without electricity, and I had to give three. I did pretty well considering I only had electricity for about 5 slides. If you need tips on writing a college admission essay, just let me know. We'll review expanding sentences, avoiding cliches and the reason you shouldn't write an essay about how football changed your life. Then I'll throw in an example about Seinfeld vs. Friends, and we'll wrap things up. Sounds fun, huh? Oh, and then you'll stress over what in the world you'll write about for your college admission essays. But I'll offer for you to come into my office to brainstorm ideas.

But if you'd rather not receive tips on said college admission essay, then I'd like for you to know HOW COLD IT IS. Let me tell you, this lady is not built for cold weather. Last night, the wind chill was 10 degrees; today the high is 27. This is a stark contrast from the 77 degree weather we had last weekend--weather that brought tears of JOY to my eyes. We let the cat-who-thinks-she's-ours, Persephone, stay inside last night. When I went to put her out this morning, she hesitated and tried running back in. I booted her out because I didn't have time to waste--I had to layer up. I tried to recall proper skiing attire, but in an office-acceptable fashion. Tricky! Especially since all I wanted to wear was my fleece outfit. I didn't, not just because it isn't appropriate, but also that it needs to be washed after wearing it the past four days when I'm at home.

Also tricky in this weather is working out. Not because I run or do any sort of thing outside. I just don't like changing into clothes that won't give me a heat stroke only to change back into my fleece outfit when I'm done. That's too much transition in our house that isn't super warm. I've voided a workout for three days, but MUST do it today.

I'm so glad Punxsutawney Phil predicts that spring is on its way. I can't wait. I want to sweat a little and wear a dress without leggings or tights. Until then, I'll continue wearing my fleece outfit and wondering why it's so cold in this Artctic circle we call Texas.

Picture Project

2011-01-25T06:02:00.003-06:00

In keeping with the theme of January and resolutions and all, I need to add another. (You can read about my initial resolutions here.) Y'all, I am horrible at taking pictures! I realize that we're 24 days into January so I'm a tad behind on the list of 52. I'll catch up this week/weekend. Basically, I take a picture once a week all year long with the help of the prompts below (thanks to a list found here). My goal is:

a) Take more pictures.
b) Get used to having my camera with me and using it.
c) Downloading said pictures to my computer. (I tend to go months before downloading pictures!)

Week 1 - Black and White
Week 2 - Food
Week 3 - Self Portrait
Week 4 - Reflection
Week 5 - Ennui
Week 6 - Red
Week 7 - Time
Week 8 - Pink
Week 9 - Patterns
Week 10 - Morning
Week 11 - Round
Week 12 - Hands
Week 13 - Shine
Week 14 - Envy
Week 15 - Soft
Week 16 - Perspective
Week 17 - Love
Week 18 - Start
Week 19 - Free
Week 20 - Texture
Week 21 - Toys
Week 22 - Downtown
Week 23 - Summer
Week 24 - Heat
Week 25 - Fantasy
Week 26 - Water
Week 27 - Shadows
Week 28 - Light
Week 29 - Night
Week 30 - Macro
Week 31 - Nature
Week 32 - Clothes
Week 33 - Green
Week 34 - Map
Week 35 - Laughter
Week 36 - Child(ren)
Week 37 - Yellow
Week 38 - Candy
Week 39 - Pets
Week 40 - Never Ending
Week 41 - Sports
Week 42 - Books
Week 43 - Blue
Week 44 - Letter of the Alphabet
Week 45 - Innocence
Week 46 - Most Important Thing in Life
Week 47 - Heaps
Week 48 - Family
Week 49 - Favorite Spot
Week 50 - Metal
Week 51 - Three
Week 52 - Fun

Weekend Update & a Recipe

2011-01-24T08:53:00.003-06:00

This weekend was productive for me! I did laundry, organized, took a load to Goodwill, did laundry, started another donation pile, cooked, did laundry, framed artwork we bought in Europe this summer, cooked, framed our wedding invite, and did laundry. I've decided that ever after my 100 thing purge, we still have too much stuff. This week, I'm taking about 125 magazines to a women's ministry. I sure hope they like Real Simple, Country Living, and Southern Living!

Yesterday was our turn to take breakfast to Sunday School, so I made Sausage Cheese Muffins that are TO DIE FOR! Think sausage ball, but not dry and hard to swallow. They're so super tasty. I got the recipe from Gina--one of my favorite people in the whole world. (Whose daughter's I babysat in high school and are now old enough to drive and go to college.) Anyway, Gina is a fabulous cook, and I like to invite myself to her house for dinner. She even takes requests. Her gift is service, for sure! (Gina, if you're reading this, can I come over the next time Danielle is in town?)

Back to those Sausage Cheese Muffins. You'll have to make these the next time you have a crowd, otherwise you'll eat four at a time. And I'm thinking that sausage plus cheese means a lot of calories! Although, they freeze really well and make for an easy breakfast. Simply wrap one in a paper towel and microwave for 30-40 seconds. But be careful, the cheese gets about as hot as the sun!

They were a hit in our class. I really thought I'd have a least one left to take a picture, but that didn't work out as planned. Here's a picture from Southern Living:

Sausage Cheese Muffins

From the kitchen of Gina, and adapted from Southern Living

Ingredients

1 lb. ground pork sausage

3 C Bisquick

1 1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese

1 can Campbell's Cheddar Cheese Soup

3/4 C water

1/2 t garlic powder

Directions

Cook sausage in a skillet over medium-high heat, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain and cool. (I did this the day before and refrigerated it.) Combine sausage, Bisquick, and shredded cheese in a large bowl. In another bowl, stir together soup, 3/4 cup water, and garlic powder; add to sausage mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon into lightly greased muffin pans, filling to top of cups. Bake at 375° for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Makes 18 muffins.

A First: Making Chili

2011-01-23T16:50:00.000-06:00

You'd think that being from Texas, I'd have a chili recipe that I've cooked since I was three. Chili is kind of a big deal in Texas. BUT I don't always love it. Sometimes it's super greasy or really meaty. Both of these are turn-offs for me. I do realize that a card-carrying Texas wouldn't admit this, but I like beans in my chili. It kind of breaks up the monotony of eating bite after bite of meat. I finally found a recipe that I like and made chili for my very first time.

Every month at work, parents bring lunch to the faculty. It is so thoughtful that they do this. This week, they served the Upper School baked potatoes and chili. I think the intention was to eat them separately, but I topped my potato with the chili. Yum! I was blown away by how much I actually liked the chili. I mean, it smelled great, but tasted even better! That afternoon, I emailed the parent who made it and asked for the recipe (and hoping it wasn't some family secret!). Turns out, she just threw it together. Luckily, she remembered what she did for this batch.

I made it for dinner last night, and then we had it again today atop some Fritos for a nice Fritos Chili Pie. I think next time, I'll add a little more cayenne pepper to the mix, but overall it was really nice.

Chili

Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
1 bunch green onion, chopped
Handful of cilantro, chopped
1 T butter
2 lbs. lean ground beef or turkey
Chili seasoning mix (ex: Wick Fowler's False Alarm)
16 oz. tomato sauce
1 C water
2 cans Ranch Style Beans
1 can petite diced tomatoes

Directions
In a large pot, saute onion, green onion, and cilantro with butter over medium-high heat; set aside when onion is translucent. Brown meat; drain. Add meat and onion mixture back to pot. Stir in chili seasoning, tomato sauce and water. Allow to come to a boil, and then reduce heat to low. Add beans and tomatoes. Let simmer over low heat for several hours, stirring occasionally.

An Update

2011-01-22T22:24:00.002-06:00

Just so you know, I'm still here. I just have writer's block combined with a semi-boring life. I wish I had fun or interesting stories, but I don't. I even went to WalMart today, and other than it being a reminder of why I really don't like WalMart, nothing outstanding happened. (I usually have a great story after a trip to WalMart. Like the time when I was in the dairy section, and a kid walked up to the dairy case, opened a container of French onion dip, scooped some out with his finger, ate it, put the lid back on and walked away. I was dumbfounded. Especially when he later almost ran me over while driving a motorized cart. While his mom was walking beside him. Seriously?)

I've tried really hard this week to work on balance--bible time, working out, cooking, cleaning, laundry. I have such a hard time maintaining all of those things, and maybe I can't do it all, but I've tried really hard this week. Which is why I haven't blogged. See, something has to give.

I've also been reading quite a bit. Last year, I only read 12 books. That's a really sad number. I blame it on the fact that my first book of the year was not enjoyable. We had an All School Read, and I was forced to read Three Cups of Tea. I did not like it. One bit. Before you skip to the comment section and hate on me for knocking this book, let me give a disclaimer that I like the story of building schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan; it's a great mission. But the book was about 150 pages too long and VERY poorly written. I wish the editor had been better. I think starting the year off with a book that I didn't like set the tone for the rest of the year.

So I knew that I had to do better this year. I had to read a book that was one my MUST READ list. I just finished my first book, read in five days because it was that good.

If you haven't read this book, you should. I couldn't put it down. Set in the 1960s, it tells the stories of black maids who work for white families. Every two chapters is in the voice of a different character, telling her story. Some good. Some bad. Some heart-wrenching. I'll probably think about it for a while.

Now I'm reading another book on my To Read list. So far, really good. I'm about 25% done.

Oh, and I have a confession. I'm now the owner of a:

That's right. I own a Kindle. I swore when they first came out that I'd NEVER be able to hold something like that in the place of a book. Well, let me tell you, Husby and I have five bookcases in our house. And they're full. All of them. Some are doubled up. We had to do something, so we converted to Kindle's (thanks to a handy Best Buy gift card Christmas present!). I hate to admit that I like it, but I do. I know that I'll probably always prefer an actual book, but this isn't so bad. (Although the process of buying it was awful. Best Buy has terrible customer service.)

There's also one more change for us. (I'm not prego.) After ten years, I own a new car. Her name is Genevieve. She's a Kia Sportage and looks like this:

Yes, she's red. Yes, my car is female. Yes, she has a name. It's more fun that way. She and Knox, Husby's black Prius, look so cute together!

I'm off to read another chapter before bed. Hope you've had a relaxing and/or productive weekend!

A Rough Day

2011-01-11T19:28:00.000-06:00

Mercy. I am so glad the work day is over! It was an unplanned crazy day, and I feel like I've been beaten. This week I have multiple presentations, three different days, over PSAT score interpretation. Remember those days? I do not miss them. Although I would have rather taken a standardized test than have the scenario play out the way it did today.

See, I'm a planner. A pretty detailed planner. I typically have things ready several days--maybe even a week--in advance for presentations: copies, PowerPoint's, reminders sent via email, etc. I knew that I was a several days behind my norm, but I felt that I could get everything done. Yesterday, I stayed late to get my presentations for the freshmen. Easy enough. I reviewed the PowerPoint, developed a script, made my copies and came home before dark (which was my goal since Husby was out of town for the night, and I don't like being home alone or walking in the house when it's dark).

Anyway...

This morning, I was working on my presentation for tomorrow. I had about an hour I had before my first presentation of the day. I was good. Until my colleague came into my office and asked if I was still working with the juniors today. What? Let's just say I wanted desperately to panic, but I didn't have time. In under a minute, I grabbed a presentation and flew to the library while she made copies for me. I had to give Thursday's presentation today. I hadn't prepared. I had only looked at the slides once. But I had to do it, and I did. Whew. Only two more to go. Thank goodness I had about an hour before the second presentation. I updated my PowerPoint, developed a script and begged someone to make copies for me. All went well, including my presentation to parents, which is always so nervewracking. As soon as walked into my office at the end of the day, I felt all of the tension in my shoulders that had been stored there all day. No fun. The good news is that I'm ahead for the rest of the week.

Husby just got home. I'm making hamburgers for dinner, and we plan to cozy up on the couch in the winter weather event of 2011. It's getting into the teens tonight. That's so cold for us sweet southerners!

I'm off to flip some burgers...

The Weekend

2011-01-09T12:15:00.000-06:00

Today is a yucky day outside. The forecast calls for sleet and snow, but so far it's just miserable, cold rain. Which means we're hunkered down inside. Since icy roads were expected around noon, we decided to skip the drive to church. Our morning at home has been nice; last night we threw a party for my in-laws 40th anniversary. It was quite fun, but we stayed up WAY past our bedtime. I'm such a terrible picture taker, so it's no surprise that I don't have pictures to share. We had approximately 60 people in their house (the location was a condition of the low-key party). We miscalculated the amount of food people would eat, so my mom--a guest at the party--had to make a run for olives, cheese, fruit and such once what we'd made was cleared out. (Thanks, Mom!)

One of the favorites at the party were Little Piggies that I made. I actually got the recipe from Shauna Niequist's blog. Instead of using hot dog wieners, I used Lil' Smokies. (Like the ones you use for pig-in-a-blanket's.) These are super easy and super yummy. I actually did some ahead of time and froze them, and it worked wonderfully. I'll definitely make these again.

Little Piggies

Adapted from shaunaniequist.com

Ingredients

1 package Lil' Smokies (I used Hilshire Farms)

1 lb. bacon, cut into thirds

1 C brown sugar

Directions

Wrap each Lil' Smokie with a piece of bacon. Place seam side down in a pan. Once all are in the pan, sprinkle with brown sugar.

Cook at 250 degrees for 4 hours.

Seriously. You need to try these. They're yummy. And I don't really like bacon. (I know. I know.)

Okay, I need to get back to HGTV and to an annual upload of pictures to facebook. Here's hoping for some more interesting winter weather.

To Do List Update

2011-01-07T11:19:00.001-06:00

I made a list to do over Christmas break. Here's the status of everything. I completed over half of the items, and I feel good about that.

~~Purge our home of 100 items (donate to Goodwill, sell on Craigslist, throw in the trash)~~
To expedite this process, I donated anything that wasn't trashed. My intention was to write a list of everything, but I was too excited to get rid of things! There were shoes and clothes and shoes and clothes and a few other things. Ummm...because confession is good for the soul, I have100 magazines boxed and ready to deliver, PLUS the other 100 items already finding new homes. Yes, I have an issue with keeping magazines. But I've embraced it and am taking control!

~~Take my wedding dress to be preserved--finally~~
Yes, I took it. And it came home with me on the hanger. I can't bear spending so much on this. I think I might actually sell my dress. Don't get me wrong: I LOVED IT. I'm just not super attached to it. And it's beautiful. Someone else could enjoy it.

Print wedding portraits finally and have framed
We decided which prints we want, I just didn't make it to the printer. Dang it.

Organize closets (Husby's, mine, and ~~one other~~)
I actually organized two other closets, but didn't make it to ours. It'll happen. It could be when we move out someday, but it will happen.

~~Clean, clean, clean (also read: vacuum, dust, mop~~)
Some things were cleaned, but not the whole house. Lots of dusting happened, though. I just HATE vacuuming! And I don't think the house will ever be clean at one time. I need to learn to be okay with that.

Organize the cabinets off of the kitchen
Didn't happen.

Complete recipe binder reorganization
Just need to write a few more recipes and purge any loose papers. A couple of hours, and it'll be done!

~~Research making a king-sized upholstered headboard~~
Layer foam, batting and fabric over wood frame.

~~Send dimensions for headboard~~ ~~(76" wide x 58" tall x 4" deep) to carpenter for simple frame from 2x4s and plywood.~~

~~Find navy velvet fabric for headboard~~
Fabric at Hobby Lobby; doesn't go on sale--take 40% off coupon. Need 6 yards.

~~Search for end tables to silver leaf~~
Found at The Wood Shed (unfinished furniture)

~~Research how to silver leaf~~
Found here. Actually, I'll aluminum leaf, since it's cheaper.

Order aluminum leaf, Quick Set Gilding Size
To do this month.

Decide on new bedding (but wait until January White Sales to buy)
Can't find any simple, white bedding that I love, but I'm looking!

~~Organize my iTunes account~~

~~Hang the huge clock we received for a wedding present~~
It looks great!

~~Undecorate after Christmas~~
I always dread this, and I promise that I'll never decorate as elaborately, but that won't happen. As much as I love the decorations, I really am fine when they come down. Now our house seems more open again and not as cluttered.

I hope that over the next few weeks, our bedroom will start to take shape and that a few more of these things will be knocked off the list. I just love the feeling of accomplishment when a list is complete!

After 2.5 Weeks...

2011-01-05T16:58:00.001-06:00

Hello, friends (or those of you who didn't get too annoyed with my lack of blogging that you removed me from your Google reader). I'm hoping that readership hasn't fallen below ten, but I understand if it has. Two and a half weeks between posts is just a tad ridiculous.

I feel that it's a little late to write about our fabulous Christmas with family. And that Husby surprised me with the rug I've obsessed over for the past 8 months. It looks terrific in our living room. And then, in an attempt to make Christmas dinner easier than homemade enchiladas (that I normally make), my brother and his girlfriend, Brooke, made us a superb Christmas dinner involving way too much homemade pasta. Evidently I'm back to making enchiladas next year because, although tasty, homemade pasta is a pain.

We spent New Years' Eve with our fun friends, Brent and Patti. It was wild and crazy. (Said in a very low, monotone voice.) By 8pm, I was certain I could stay up until midnight. By 10:45pm, I asked if we could move the clock forward an hour. I couldn't get an unanimous vote, so I spent the next hour and fifteen minutes eating pretzels dipped into the chocolate fountain and drinking coffee. Which made going to sleep at 12:03am just fabulous! The following morning, they cooked us a breakfast that involved many a breakfast items, including biscuits and cherry butter. Yum! I just love seeing these two friends. They make our lives happy.

I spent Christmas vacation doing stuff, and I was quite regretful that I never had a day just to rest. Husby was off the second week, and although he had some downtime, I pulled him along to run errands and do stuff. I've decided that if he takes any days off at Spring Break, we're not doing stuff. We're just going to enjoy each other, either at home or on a trip. I did make a dent in my Christmas To Do list, but I think I'd be more proud of having rested. I am proud of the relationships that got some TLC over the break. Since my job was so crazy last semester, my friendships suffered. I expected it and had understanding friends, but it was still difficult. I was able to touch base with several friends, but unfortunately, I didn't get through my list. It'll happen, though.

In the spirit of making resolutions, I've decided to make a few manageable, short-term goals and a long-term goal. Short term goals include: work out 24 times in the next 6 weeks (that's 4x per week) and cook one new recipe each week for the next 6 weeks. Long term goal: read through the Bible this year. My mom did this last year, and it inspired me to do it. So far, so good. :)

I pray that this year is off to a great start for you!

Miscellany

2010-12-18T13:25:00.000-06:00

For some reason, I'm often the lone witness to glorious happenings. Like the time in WalMart that I returned a lamp because the knob was broken, and the clerk did the return successfully, but when it came time to record the problem, she wrote: Broken Pfknobe. I guess if the K is silent, then the P, H and E are, too. I felt sure that my response was being recorded on Candid Camera. (Assuming that show still exists.)

Then one day I was in the laundromat cleaning my feather bed in an industrial washer and dryer. When I threw it in the dryer, I tossed in some tennis balls. A lady questioned me, and I explained that throwing in tennis balls or tennis shoes help redistribute the feathers. To which she replies, "Hmm...must be the tena!" Again, I looked for the hidden cameras, trying desperately not to crack.

Fast forward to today. I was able to leave early for Christmas break. I decided to stop by Tuesday Morning because sometimes you can find a good deal. Not that I ever have, but I hear that deals are to be found. As I walked in, a customer was disputing a price with a clerk. Once the customer left, the clerks decided to call another store for confirmation of the discount. The conversation is, as follows:

Clerk A: Why don't you call the store in Paris? I bet they can tell us.

Clerk B: Okay. [Retrieves directory.] Do you spell Paris with a P?

Clerk A: [Sweetly replies.] Yes.

Me: [Thinking to self.] Where in the WORLD are the hidden cameras? And why can't I have a friend with me to hear this? And what other letter sounds like P? [Run through alphabet in my head and discover that no other letter sounds like the phonetic sound P.] [Smiles and attempts not to laugh.]

I'm telling you, I'm the witness to greatness. Aren't you jealous?

************************************************************

If you don't watch The Big Bang Theory, then you are missing out on one of the funniest shows ever. This weeks episode made me scream-laugh harder than any other episode of any other show this year. This YEAR! I just don't know if there's a funnier show on, and I'm all about funny shows. Modern Family, Cougar Town, and How I Met Your Mother are all on our DVR. But this...this is hilarious. (And I'm pretty sure you can watch it on the CBS website.)

(Don't tell my husband that I recommended that. He works for the cable company. They want your money.)

(Actually, scratch that. I want your money, too. Buy the cable so that he might get a raise.)

(Thank you.)

Here's a picture from this week's episode. Even if you don't like superhero's, you'll think it's funny. And if you're have even a smidgen of nerdiness in you, you'll think it's funnier than funny!

(And for those of you who hate the words Big Bang Theory and/or evolution...it's just the name of the show. No need to be offended. You'll still think it's a funny show.)

(If you don't, it's a money back guarantee. Or a box of Milk Duds. [A reference to this episode.])

(From me. Not the cable company. Husby nor the cable company is liable.)

That is all. Have a good weekend!

Merry & Bright

2010-12-17T17:18:00.002-06:00

Christmas decorations at our home went up the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I know it's early, but I do love Christmas. And really, the thing I'm most thankful for is my Savior. So I have no issues with ushering Christmas in a little early, especially if it reminds to be thankful of His great love. Does anyone else feel like Christmas decorations make their home cozier? I've always thought that! Maybe it's the rearranging to fit a tree inside the living room. Whatever it is, I like it. Here are a few of the cozies that make our home fun at Christmas (you'll notice that I'm a lover of bright colors at Christmas--no neutrals for this gal!)...

I feel like I finally got a decent picture of our Christmas tree. I played around with some buttons that I'd never used on my [6 year old] camera. It's amazing what can happen! You can see the ornaments and lights (although there are colored and clear lights), and the super cute red and white ball garland. That's this year's new addition, and I love it!

Our mantle. I should have taken a side view of the mantle. It's about 7 inches wide and slopes down to the front, which causes all sorts of anxiety for me. See the red glittery stuff hanging off the front? I feel like it's only a matter of time before it all falls down. I've collected all types of Christmas trees over the years (mostly on clearance at Pier 1 and Target). I like the look of random trees. This year's addition to the mantle are the fun little stockings all over. Cute, huh?

I found this frame a Target a couple of years ago. I had to have it, but wouldn't spend $7 on it. I just knew it'd go on clearance. The next time I was in, I couldn't resist; I spent the $7. The silver tree is from my great-grandmother's Christmas decorations. I love that I have it!

This wreath hangs on the door between the kitchen and living room. It's courtesy of my mother-in-law, who happens to supply many of my Christmas decorations.

Here's the kitchen. We have windows along the wall of the kitchen, which doesn't allow for much storage space, but I like that it's so open. I decorated each set of windows with various wreaths and serving platters, many of which I've had since college. The little angel in this picture was made by my great-grandmother; it's around 50 years old. Again, love it!

This platter is one of my favorites. Isn't the reindeer so cute?! I also love the gumdrop tree.

A Christmas Break To Do List

2010-12-16T07:40:00.001-06:00

Oh, y'all. I just love being lazy. Unfortunately, sometimes a good thing crosses the line into sit-on-the-couch-for-eight-hours-and-do-absolutely-nothing-and-hope-that-Husby-doesn't-notice-that-there-are-still-4-loads-of-laundry-to-be-done. In order to avoid the above scenario, I decided that I need a list to tackle during my Christmas break. Two weeks off at Christmas is an excellent time for rest, family and just getting things done.

I wasn't successful at purging 100 items before Thanksgiving. I gathered about twenty and had others in mind for removal from our home, but wasn't able to complete the project. So that will stay on my to do list, along with several other things I ~~hope to~~ will accomplish during the break, which begins this coming Monday:

Purge our home of 100 items (donate to Goodwill, sell on Craigslist, throw in the trash)
Take my wedding dress to be preserved finally
Print wedding portraits finally and have framed
Organize closets (Husby's, mine, and one other)
Clean, clean, clean (also read: vacuum, dust, mop)
Organize the cabinets off of the kitchen
Complete recipe binder reorganization
Research making a king-sized upholstered headboard (find navy velvet fabric)
Search for end tables to silver leaf
Research how to silver leaf
Decide on new bedding (but wait until January White Sales to buy)
Organize my iTunes account
Hang the huge clock we received for a wedding present
Undecorate after Christmas :(

I'll keep you posted on my progress--mainly because I need to know that others will know what I've done and haven't.

Wide Wide World of Web

2010-12-15T08:41:00.001-06:00

Catalog Living is a HILARIOUS website! You know the Sonic commercials with the husband and wife in the car? Well, this website was started by the wife character. Each of these pictures is from a catalog (Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, etc). The captions are between the husband and wife of the house, Elaine and Gary (who are not the husband and wife of the Sonic commercials). Again, HILARIOUS!
I love Anthropologie. I can spend hours in that store, especially in the home section--mostly because it's a tad more affordable than the clothes. After perusing their website, I found these adorable clothbound books for children, and then these clothbound classics for adults. Oh, how I'd love to have all of these, but I'd settle for Anne of Green Gables and Sense and Sensibility.

I found an inspiration room for our master bedroom. I really enjoy ideas from Little Green Notebook (see the link to the right). I've found that I love white/neutral bedding, but don't want to sacrifice color in a bedroom. This allows for both. What do you think? (Yes, I plan to do the silver leaf nightstands. But no couches. Our room isn't quite that big.) Click the link above for more pictures.

via Little Green Notebook

I found these Brownie-Covered Oreos last week at Picky Palate, and totally plan on making them for Christmas Eve at the in-laws. Aren't they SO cute?!

Top 2: Favorite Games

2010-12-14T11:14:00.000-06:00

First, of all: I LOVE GAMES. Seriously love them. I love having friends over for dinner and games. I can't think of a better time. [And, yes, I have crossed over to boring adulthood. If the dinner/game nights are wrapped up by 9:30 so that I can scoot to bed, it's just fabulous for me. Although I never mind staying up till 11:00 with good friends; maybe even midnight on special occasions.]

My top two games are:

I grew up playing LIFE quite often; it was a favorite. It doesn't require just a whole lot of strategy, and it's just fun! This will forever hold a dear place in my heart since Husby proposed to me while we played LIFE. It's a really great story. You can read about it here.

I also love card games: Spades, Canasta, Pinochle, Hearts, Speed, War. I'll play just about anything. I even act like I know how to play poker, but I mainly bluff. It makes those who actually TRY so mad when I win. And it makes me so happy that it gets under their skin that much. I've recommended that they play by bluffing.

Because I love games so much, I can't limit it to two. Here are a few others that I enjoy:

What about you? Do you like to play games (board, video, Wii)? What are your favorites?

Weekend Update: Birthday Edition

2010-12-13T11:03:00.001-06:00

It's Monday, and it's so cold! When we woke up, the weatherman informed us that it was 26 degrees. That's chilly for Texas folk! I do enjoy the cold weather because I love wearing dresses and tights and boots. I just feel so cozy in this winter "uniform." Ha! I'll feel even cozier next week when I don't have to get up before dawn. Oh, the joys of the education field.

We had a semi-relaxing weekend. Saturday was Husby's birthday; we'd planned to do absolutely nothing, but he surprised me last week with tickets to a Willie Nelson concert for that night. He's just so sweet. Husby loathes country music, but still bought tickets for me to do something that I've always wanted to do. And that he went on his birthday--well, that's just even sweeter. We were successful in doing nothing during the day.

We took Crickett on a walk late in the afternoon and happened upon an estate sale. I'd like to preface this by saying that I love a deal. I scour Cragslist. I try to visit garage sales and estate sales, but only find junk or over-priced items. I never find anything fun or cute or cheap. But it all changed on Saturday. Even if I never find another good piece via Craiglist or garage/estate sales, I hit the jackpot with this purchase. (And I don't have a picture now, but I'll post one soon.)

I've always loved this home in the Azalea district:

I mainly went into the estate sale to see the inside of the home. (When else would I have the chance to peek inside? Without being a creeper?) I left Husby and Crickett outside while I made my rounds through both stories of the house. When I walked into the house, the homeowner shared that everything was 1/2 off. I saw pieces that I would love to have, but Husby doesn't share the feeling that 1/2 off of $1800 is a good deal. Ha! It was everything I dreamed of. I even went into the closets, which rival the size of our dining room. That's when I found our new chest of drawers. This piece was almost 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide. And it was 1/2 off $250. What?! I ran downstairs and grabbed Husby; the owners told us that Crickett could go inside the house. I showed him this piece of furniture, and he agreed that we should buy it. We don't need it now, but as our family grows (not prego), we will. And you can't find a piece that cheap! When we hauled it downstairs--with the help of Jeremy's brother and SIL, we discovered it is SOLID wood. I can't wait to refinish or paint it! It'll be perfect in some room, someday.

On Sunday, we went to church, and then right back home. We lounged, did a bit of Christmas shopping in the afternoon, and then I made dinner for my sweet husband. His choice of dinner: filet mignon with blackberries, roasted asparagus and baked potatoes. It was so yummy! I'll post the recipe for those steaks this week. I also made a chocolate cake that was SO rich I couldn't finish the last two bites. And I don't typically give in while eating chocolate. It super easy, so I'll post that recipe, too.

I hope you had a great weekend, too! Be a blessing this week.

Happy Birthday, Husby

2010-12-11T09:14:00.002-06:00

P.S. It's also the three year anniversary of him first calling me to ask me on our first date. Eek! I was so excited that I didn't answer his call. Ha! I immediately called him back and made up some excuse. :)

P.P.S. (or P.S.S., whatever) I have the best husband ever!

P.P.S.S. He's also the cutest.