Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

This weekend was very exciting!  The best part was that I got my Christmas present from Preston.  A new BIKE!  It is so cool and can't wait to go out and about town.  We took a ride around our neighborhood, but it is going to take getting used to riding on the real streets.  I would love to post pictures of the bike and me riding it, but I don't have any because I didn't have a camera with me besides my iPhone and well, that is just blah.  Then, later that night.............

WE WON A CAMERA!

We are super excited and of course I have already broken it out and taken some photos.  I wasn't really sure what to take pictures of, so I took pictures of Ashe, Trey, ribs Preston was cooking and then a leaf.  Check out my photo skillz.

by Preston

by Preston

Many more photos to come!  Looking forward to photos of my bike and bike trips. 

The Night We Won the Lottery

It was a Wednesday.  On my way home from work I took a last minute left hand turn and parked in front of what would soon be my treasure box.  It was my local 7-11.  I have been going to that place for 5 years, they know my face.  I went to the back and got my lottery card.  There was a line up front with people that were just doing the, "5 tickets please" up front.  But no...I was going to customize mine.  I rummaged in my purse and found a blue pen.  I did 2 plays with numbers that mean a lot to me and then selected quick pick on the remaining 3 plays.  As I checked out, my favorite 7-11 checker-outer smiled and said something to me that he hadn't said to anyone before me.  He said, "Good luck tonight".

I walked away and that was that.  I had the winning ticket.

Pulling into our garage I pulled out my numbers again.  Before I even shut off the car I looked at the numbers and ran my fingers over the paper.  The next movements of my night are lame.  Loaded the dishwasher, almost stabbed myself with a knife when it fell on the floor.  Order 2 Christmas presents and watched a Lifetime movie.  Preston got home and it was time for dinner.  Neither one of us felt like cooking so we picked our last meal wisely.

We ordered Tai Tai.  Both got the lemon grass chicken with medium spice.  It was followed up with some Christmas M&Ms and some DVR.  Then we waited...and watched as the news announced our numbers.  

Tis the Season

Let the fun begin!  It is HOLIDAY time.  I don't even know where to begin.  This blog post is just going to be filled with pictures and their captions.  It would take me forever to go over all the stories for each photo, but I'm sure I will somehow manage to make this a long post anyway.  These pictures are totally out of order also, but that just happens.

The start of the homemade cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving

yummy - ready to pop!

I downloaded an app that lets me take panoramic photos.  My parents backyard!

It's Reese and Aunt Sarah time.  We are so goofy.

Jeep Family Thanksgiving

It's the Reese X3 Band!!

Time for the Turkey Trot in Tulsa. Brrrrrrrrr, it was cold.

Reese reeeeeeeally liked the run.  Way to go Reese!

She practically sprinted the whole way.

All smiles while running

Surprise!!  My family surprised me with a Cricket doll.  A doll I had always wanted as a child.  Awww, it was a great surprise. 

This is my collection of dolls growing up that my grandma got for me as she traveled the world.  Parents got them out of the attic for me to bring back with me.

Cricket!!

Back in 1987 $79 is A LOT of money.

My Dad and me driving around in my new car in our pasture.

Drew!! Always a smiling baby.

Gage is helping making mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving.

Ashe checking out the dolls.

Our house after we came back from Thanksgiving.  We might have brought some stuff back with us...maybe.

Relish in the Kitchen

Sunday afternoon I got the urge to make a relish dish of sorts that my mom always made growing up.  As a child I didn't like it, but as an adult, I thought about the ingredients and it sounded really good!!  When I moved to Dallas my photo copied pages out of her recipe book that I really liked.  The dip just happened to be on the same page as something else so I knew I had it!  Please take the info below and try it out.  So Delicious   (pretty sure it's not bad for you either)

Below is a picture of everything you will need.

2-3lbs of Carrots

1 can of sliced/diced Jalapenos

2 onions

1/2 C of olive oil

1/2 C white vinegar

corn chips

Supplies: pot, bowl, ice, food processor or ice/cutting board

Step 1: bring a pot of water to boil.  

 If you have a food processor, it is fast and easy to dice the carrots.  If you don't have one, that's ok!  You can chop them by hand or use any other cooking tool you have in your kitchen.  FYI - if you are chopping by hand the water my come to a boil before you are done chopping.  If so, just turn it down until you are finished and then bring it back to a boil.

Step 2: once you have the carrots chopped and water is boiled, turn OFF the heat and move pot on another burner.  Add carrots.  You want them to sit in the boiling water for 30-40, but you aren't cooking them so don't boil them!!

Step 3: drain the carrots of the hot water

Step 4: Immediately blanch them!  This means put them in a bowl of ice and water.  You are basically shocking the carrots.  This gives them a good soft crunch.  Let me sit for 10 mins.

 After 10 mins, drain the carrots and put in a bowl that you are planning on serving the dip.  At this point you will want to add the ingredients below.

Step 5: mix in chopped onion and jalapenos. stir and then add in vinegar and olive oil, stir again.

You are done!  Serve with a bowl of chips and you are set.  Now this is one of those dips that the more it sits the better it gets.  The flavors marry and it is great!

Productive Saturday

This weekend, or should I say, this Saturday was very busy and productive.  It all started at 4am.  Ashe jumped on Preston's nightstand to wake him up for his 5 mile race.  Apparently he though his alarm set for 6am was too late.  I for one was able to go back sleep, Preston however could not.  Poor guy.  He was the one who had to run in a couple of hours.  By 7am we were in downtown Dallas in the cold waiting for the start of the race.  I say "we", but it was Preston at the start line and me on the sideline.  Off they went and then it was 15 more mins until the half marathon race started.  My friend Tim was running that race and I actually found him prior to the race at the starting line!  That was fun for me.  Both guys did great and got the times they wanted.  I got a video of Preston crossing the finish line, kind of wish I would have gotten a picture instead, but that's ok.  Here is one right afterwards when he saw me.  Way to go Preston!!

After a nice breakfast at one of our new favorite spots Cafe Brazil, it was back to the house for showers and change of clothes.  By this time it was almost 10am.  The car dealership had been open for an hour now so we could go.  You read that right....car dealership.  I was ready to take the leap.  The day before I took my Jeep in to get it complete detailed and washed.  I wanted it to look good for trade in value (don't really think it makes a difference) and I wanted to send it off knowing I cared about it.  Yes, cars have feelings.  I don't care what anyone says.  To me they have feelings.  So do dolls/toys, they know things that no one else knows so don't say they don't care about you back.  Anyway, back to Saturday.  I was pretty specific about a couple of things on my wish list for my next car.  The top 4 items:

1. 4 Door Jeep Wrangler
2. Dark Green aka Army Green
3. Power Windows
4. Power Locks

Surprisingly, my biggest challenge was finding item number 2 in the metroplex!  I was looking for used so it was practically impossible to find a used Jeep Wrangler that was dark green with 4 doors.  All the ones I could find were out of state and I wasn't shipping any cars.  My husband though is amazing and found one.  Yeah!!  So, we had to hurry to go look at it as we knew it would disappear quickly.  As soon as I sat in the drivers seat I knew it was mine.  It was perfect.  2 hours later and a lot of time sitting and listen to Preston and the gentlemen of the dealership talk, it was time.  Time for me to say goodbye to my 2000 Jeep Wrangler and hello to my 2011 Jeep Wrangler.  I didn't care who was watching, I gave her a hug goodbye and took a picture one last time.  My hope is that she will go to a high school kid that will run her to the ground.  Memories will be made for that teenager with their friends and they will talk about stories of, "Remember when I had that Wrangler in high school and took it out to.....".  That is my hope and I will tell myself that it is true.  Here is my last hug goodbye!

 And here is my new ride.  Still can't believe it is mine, seems so strange.  I told Preston I wanted to name him but then he asked me what my last car's name was and I had to reply that I never named her.  Felt bad about that.  So my new car is named The Nothing.

After the purchasing party we went home for a quick breather before it was time to get dressed and ready to go to our next outing.  The League, a show on FX, was here in Dallas for a stand-up comedy show.  If you aren't familiar with the show I highly recommend watching it.  It is about a group of friends and their fantasy football league.  Laughed a lot.  They had the typical rules of no outside photography or video and I always follow those rules so no pictures of that event.  Just the memories in my head.

That ended a little after 10pm and it was off to our Annual Halloween party.  This year it was held at our friend Derek's house and hosted along side his girlfriend Kacie.  It was pretty much 11pm by the time we got there, but we were ready to go and so were our friends.  Everyone's costumes were awesome.  I love how much my friends get into their costumes.  It really makes it more fun if you just don't care what others think.  My personal favorite was Lola.  Tim & Steph's new puppy.  Pretty sure you can spot her in the photos below.

Heather as a tourist with Lola in her fanny pack.  

Kacie as Jeanie from I Dream of Jeanie!  She is pretty authentic.  Myself as Katniss from The Hunger Games.

Stephanie as Angus Young and her little Bat Lola.  I'm not calling her a  bat, that was her costume.  You just can't see it in this picture.  :)

  So now it is Sunday and we are chilling at home.  We spent the night at Derek's last night.  There was no way we were driving home that late, in a new car, when we did have alcohol.  This morning we went to Dodie's for lunch and then did major grocery shopping.  Stocked up for a couple of weeks.  Preston made his famous meatloaf for dinner, I can smell it cooking now...mmmmm.  It will be perfect in about an hour.  We are watching the Cowboys give the Giants a run for their money and...AND..it looks like I might beat Preston in our fantasy football league.  He is in 1st place and I'm in 3rd so if I beat him, I have a chance of moving up to 2nd.  Fingers Crossed!

Happy Sunday Friends

Santa Fe 5k

Tonight I ran a 5k! It is on a new trail by our house called Santa Fe.  I'm not sure the "start/end", but it will take us from our house all the way to White Rock Lake which is pretty cool.  The starting line for the race was several miles from our house so we drove over to the park and got ready to run our best.  Within 10 minutes of us being there, we were off!  The first 1/2 mile I swear was 100% uphill.  It was probably only 1/4 of a mile, but my lungs thought it was 1/2 mile. The fun thing about this run that I didn't realize is part of it was my old running path from when I lived in Lakewood!  It was awesome to run on the streets that I did when I was doing 5+ miles a day.

I had borrowed Preston's iPhone running arm band so I could listen to music.  It worked out great except that I couldn't change the songs so I just had to listen to what came on it.  Apparently my shuffle setting decided to play every slow deep song on my play list.  That made it hard, but there was a highlight of my run!! The course took you down half way and then back like a hairpin so you passed people that were in front of you going in the opposite direction.  I moved my running over to the side facing the other side as I knew Preston was up ahead of me somewhere.  I was little over a mile when I spotted him up ahead.  It was so fun.  I could see that he could see me too and he put his hands up to wave.  It gave me a burst of energy which was what I needed.  We past each other with smiles and I was on my way to mile 2.

I would be lying to say I ran the whole way.  That is my goal though.  I would like to get back to being able to run a whole 5k without stopping.  When we got home we checked our time.  Preston got his personal best which was AWESOME.  For myself, I just am happy I finished!  The after party was pretty cool.  They had food trucks, music, and drinks from the Deep Ellum Brewery.  Below are some photos of our adventure!  Our next one starts tomorrow...off to go camping!

 

Kitchen Project

After living in my house for 5 years, I finally have done some work on the kitchen.  Of course it helps that for the past year and half I now have a husband living with me to get these projects started and completed.  Our kitchen needed backsplash in the worst way.  When I would take photos, I would shy away from the wall.  We never had dinner parties or barely even people over...I just don't like our kitchen.  But after 2 weekends, it's getting better.  My father-in-law came over on a Saturday and started the project with Preston.  The side behind the stove was phase 1.  Then this past weekend Preston and finished up the side behind the sink.  Here are the before pictures.

View from inside the kitchen, sink behind you.

View from dining area, looking in over the bar top.

With everything off the counter, sink is behind you.

Just looking at these photos while I posted them is embarrassing.  How did I live like that?  It looks so...dull! It looks lame, just flat out embarrassing.  I'm so happy it is finished now.  Here are the during photos.

Everything is taped off!

Putting the pieces on...gotta get them spaced just right.

Time to grout!

Ta Da!

BTW - cutting the tile to fit around the sockets was...fun.

Time for the other side.

This side was a lot faster, we knew what we were doing at this point.

Here are the finished FINISHED pictures with the stuff all around. I'm pleased, it was worth the time and effort.  

Picture with light off, but oven light on.

Picture with light on.

Behind the sink complete