DFW

I got Friday off from work so I decided to head to the DFW area and see some on my college friends. 

Oh how happy my heart is! It was a wonderful weekend. And guess what? I did NOT get lost in Dallas driving by myself! (Big accomplishment for me and I am quite proud of myself!)

I left Friday morning and headed to Dallas to see my old college roommate, Kelsey Sue. 

In college, I did pot luck for a roommate and was so blessed that I got Kelsey. We became best friends and did everything together! I love all the memories we share from college. It was wonderful to catch up with her and meet all her friends! We went to a rodeo and concert. Very fun!

On Saturday, I headed to the Fort Worth area to see Chad's and I best friends, the Shuman Family. We went to the Food Truck Park to eat lunch- very neat experience. A bunch of food trucks all together and you just order what sounds good. I had a hot dog...that was delicious!  Some man did offer us his grilled cheese...after he had taken a bite. Yeah, we declined on that one.

Amanda and me! Can't believe she lost her two front teeth! I remember playing with her in Haiti when she was just a baby in diapers! Man I'm getting old :)

The girls and Baby Radyn! I loved playing with Baby Radyn. Babies are just wonderful! And I love their smell too. They should make a candle that smells like a baby- I would so buy that :)

We went to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens in the afternoon which so beautiful and green. We also got Braum's ice cream afterwards which a course I loved. (Really Braum's why can't you come to Galveston? I would keep you in business!)

I loved seeing my best friends. We just picked up right where we left off.  It was so much fun visiting, eating good food, reminiscing, and dreaming about the future! Only sad part was not having Chad there. (PA school will you ever be over?!) I am so thankful for these friends that God has given me!

I now have one happy heart overflowing with the blessings of my friends :) 

Birthday Boy

This Friday was Chad's 23rd Birthday!

On Sunday we went to Houston to see my Uncle and Helen.

They got Chad a pecan pie from Goode Seafood company!

The pie was so good! Chad definitely took advantage of being the birthday boy- making sure he got a HUGE piece of pie!

On Friday we went to a sushi place to celebrate. It was so yummy! Chad's favorite was a roll called John Wayne! I just loved it all :)

All his presents and his favorite cake...yellow cake with marshmallow creme icing. (I tried to write "Happy Birthday" with blue icing...yeah didn't work. It was still tasty though!)

Love my man!

The favorite gift he got-signed picture of Brett Hull:)

He was so happy!

Happy Birthday Chad!

Thankful Thursday

So I am starting a new thing. I can be very pessimistic when I want to and it's just stupid. There are so many things in my life that contain so much joy and happiness. I just need to recognize them more, appreciating the good life that God has given me. So, every day I am writing down something that I am thankful for or something positive that happened. There is one rule and that is I can't use the same thing twice. I am going to blog about it to keep me accountable. (And sense I am a teacher a course I had to use alliteration for the title hence "Thankful Thursday.")

Here goes...

Sunday- We went to church and got there on time. Hurray- this is a first since moving to Southeast CoC that this has happened. And I got to eat a huge piece of Goode Seafood Company pecan pie...heaven!

Monday- It rained! I love the rain, the sounds of rain, and the smell. I got off work early so I got to take a nap. Naps while it's raining=best afternoon

Tuesday- Got to mow our lawn. I love looking at a lawn that has been well manicured and to get to think "I did that!"

Wednesday- SO happy that Chad's Grandad made it through surgery. They put a heart stent in. Health scares are always a good reminder of how our time is limited and to make the most of the time we have with our love ones. And I just need more time with Grandad!

Thursday- Getting to bake a cake for the hubby's b-day tomorrow. I love baking and licking the spoon and bowl while jamming out to some tunes :) I am also thankful for Chad and getting to celebrate another year of his life.

That was my positives for this week so far!

I thought I would leave you with some pics of Georgy-porgy. She got groomed today. I think it is funny how all females hate new haircuts at first...

Before-

After- "I hate the groomer. Don't take my picture!"

Happy Thursday! :)

Amarillo By Mornin'

This past week I went to Amarillo. It was wonderful and I gained 10 lbs from eating at all my favorite Amarillo places. I got to see some extended family and then spend some quality time with my family.

When I got there, Mom had my Easter basket filled with goodies! I even got Reeses- which I ate before coming back a course! (No anaphylactic shock for Chad!)

I have this new obsession with straws. I have found I'll drink more water if I am drinking with a straw...weird I know! So Mom got me lots of straws! I will be very hydrated!

Dad has bought an X-box with Kinect! So much fun! We played a lot. We also got in the hot tub- which now I am having withdraws from.

I got to help Abby get ready for her senior pictures! I am in shock that she is a senior. I remember dressing her up and tricking her when she didn't understand time ("I'll play with you in 15 hours."- Me "Ok!!" - happy Abby ) We would play with beanie babies and in our tree house for hours. Life is just way too fast! Abby is all grown up now and beautiful! I'm so proud of her and can't wait to see how the pictures turned out.

Pedicures- Oh How I love You!

My sweet Momma who spoiled me all week:)

After a wonderful week it was all topped off with coming back home to Chad! He had the weekend off- which was amazing! We went to the movies to see the Hunger Games (Let's just say the books are always better). On Sunday we drove up to Houston to see my uncle. I'm sad to announce that the boys beat Helen and I at Spades :( But it was still entertaining! I didn't want Monday to come because that meant Chad went back to school:(

But Monday came...

And with it feelings of thankfulness and joy for the blessing of my family and husband!

Something Sweet...Something Not So Sweet

Something Sweet...

I made a Chocolate Chess Pie from Pinterest. It was very good and oh so rich! Next time I would just buy a gram cracker crust instead of making it. The homemade one was a little thick and made it even more rich.

Here is the recipe if you would like some rich chocolate goodness:

http://www.crunchyrock.com/2011/03/314159-chocolate-chess-pie.html

I forgot how fun it is to dye Easter eggs. Here are some I made at a party and some from when the little guy and I dyed them.

I remember as a kid- you just bought the dye packets and some stickers. Now they have monster dying packs, glitter eggs, and special paints! It was fun letting the artistic Easter side of me come out :)

Now the Something Not So Sweet:

Chad was out studying in the hammock the other night and walked in with a funny look on his face. I waited for an explantation.

"A bird just pooped on my computer!"

Haha! I couldn't stop laughing!

It still puts a smile on my face when I think about it.

After he cleaned it off, he thought is was funny too just not as much as me :)

(He hasn't laid in the hammock since.)

On Sunday I fly to Amarillo for the week! Yeah! I'm so excited. I can't wait to see family and friends. I am sad to leave Chad but the freezer is packed with easy meals for him to "cook" while I'm gone. (I often wonder what he ate before we were married.) And when I come back Chad and I are going on a date to see the Hunger Games. I have been dying to go and almost have gone off to see if by myself. I love the books and can't wait to see the movie!

I hope you have a blessed Easter spent with family and full of love!

April Already?

Wow, April already?! Time is flying by...

This month will bring one of my favorite holidays- Easter :), Chad's 23 birthday, and a week vacation for me- woop woop. I will be flying home. I haven't been to Amarillo since October.

The weather here is getting warm- 70's and 80's. It has been wonderful! My little guy and I play outside all day! I am getting a nice flipflop tan on my feet. The plan this week is an Easter egg hunt, going to pick strawberries at a farm, and a trip for a free ice cream cone at Ben's & Jerry's.

Chad is gearing up for finals the 2nd week of April. The next 2 months he will only have 1 class per month. These classes are so hard that you can't have them with any other class. Chad is nervous! Then...boom rotations start in July! We would love prayers as Chad is finishing his classes and starting new ones. We are both dreading his rotations. I hate change and starting in July we are both in for a big change. Chad is mainly just scared of rotations, especially since his first one is in Houston's ER. I am mainly dreading being without Chad. I am trying to look at all this as an opportunity to grow and find my inner strength/independence but most days I feel like retreating back into my shell. But I know God is in control and He will take care of us both. Ok enough of that!

This past week, with Andrea Bocelli by my side, I have cooked several Pinterest recipes.

The first was fire roaster tomato lime salsa. Very yummy and I got to use some things from my tiny garden- score! We love salsa! I always feel weird at Wal-mart buying the huge 4 lb container of salsa for the 2 of us but we always eat it all!

Here is the recipe if you love salsa like we do.

http://fabtasticeats.com/2012/03/08/fire-roasted-tomato-lime-salsa/

Next thing I tried was Crispy Parmesan Zucchini Fries. I didn't like them as much as I thought I would, although they were good. You know when the picture makes your mouth water and your thinking I am going to go cook that right now- well they didn't live up to the picture but were still good. As I was cooking them, Chad had the idea to do pickles instead of zucchini so I made him some fried pickles using the same recipe and they were actually really good!

http://www.theleangreenbean.com/crispy-parmesan-zucchini-fries/

Last was avocado chicken salad. Everyone was repinning this recipe so I tried it and it does live up to the mouth watering picture! Chad even ate it and he despises chicken.

http://becomingbetty.blogspot.com/2011/09/avocado-chicken-salad.html

I just had to share this kitchen victory. I have been experimenting with guacamole recipes for some time and never found one that I loved until now. :) It's simple and you can really taste the avocado- just add a tomato, lots of lime juice, and salt.

And finally...

Happy Easter!!!

(Yes, I have WAY too much time on my hands.)

Have a EGGcellent week :)