Hehe

Joe and I have only watched one show on tv this week, and this was it: WIPEOUT. We watched the whole thing, cracking up most of the time.

One of the blogs that I follow posted this today. The show is stupid, I know, I know! But the announcers are soooo funny. Give it a few minutes, and maybe you'll be laughing, too.

Let the Weddings Begin (and house hunting)

It seems we're a little too old for the "all my friends are getting married" packed summers of weddings, but we do have one this weekend. It's my sister's best friend getting married, and my parents and the Looneys (Lauren & Kevin) are all coming down/up to attend. The latter couple is actually coming in tonight so my sister can help out all day tomorrow (if any of you are bored and would like to play Wii with Kevin, he shares pretty well).

I finally got a dress for the wedding (and probably the others I'll attend this year) on Tuesday. It's a little bit large (but the price was right and I was going to puke if I had to try one one more unflattering dress), so I probably will need to sew it up a little tonight. Hopefully that will be uneventful. :/ I'm pretty much rambling, but I felt like I needed to post something before family comes in town and I don't have time!

Oooo! Here's something I haven't written much about: house hunting! We've been looking at houses and considering buying one for a while now, but there don't seem to be any that are quite right for us on the market right now. I'm picky about the area, and there is one part of Bryan that we're very interested in. I've made a map (also below) to show the areas we're most interested in (we're not set on that, it's more of a starting place or best-case-scenario). Green zones would be first pick, blue would be second. The suns are places some of our nearby friends live. The house shape the only home we're considering at the moment. The milk and apples is Farm Patch. It also shows our workplaces (the little man and woman in the bottom right corner)... we're interesting in trying to bike to work, so closer to work would be better. If you're local, be sure to tell us about any other houses you see, especially for sale by owners we might otherwise miss!



View Larger Map

From the mouths of cookies...

Here are some fortunes from cookies Joe and I got last week. First, I'd like to dedicate Joe's to Danny and Andrew writers of the two blogs I read that have a focus on their personal health and fitness.

Today's a day to nourish yourself. Feed yourself well.

Mine sounds like it came from the Brother's Grimm generation.

Killing time murders opportunities.

P.S. Seriously - it's got to be Friday, not just Tuesday. Zzzzzzz.

Painting Project!

Saturday afternoon Joe and I painted some bamboo for our living room. We've had a big space above our futon for a while, and this project cost us about $5 (we used paint we already had). I don't like the idea of paying for art that looks like something I could have done, I'm too cheap to pay for good art, and my mom refuses to paint something for me. ;) Neither Joe nor I have painting experience and we used foam brushes, but it turned out good enough for me - and feel more meaningful since we did it together. A few of you may remember, I've been wanting to get this done for a while! Woohoo!


Mom, you need to learn how to comment - my best guess is that now you think we need some shiny red circle-shaped pillows for the couch. Everyone who has seen our living room - is the brown too much for the already colorful room? I thought it might help bring in the recliner. Actually, I'll post some pics of the rest of the room so everyone can voice an informed opinion. Oh, and if you don't like the bamboo at all, I don't care and I'll delete you comment. ;)

New Dryers

I left out a neat part from last weekend - we got two new dryers! First, we got a new hair dryer (ours died) at the huge Tuesday Morning in Dallas.

When we got back Sunday morning, Joe dropped me off at the book club and then went to help a friend move. They had an extra dryer and gave it to us! We got ours as a bonus for signing a two-year lease 5 years ago, and it never worked great, but recently has taken about three rounds to dry a medium sized load. I'd taken to hang-drying a bunch of stuff (in the heat towels dry faster outside than in our dryer), but that won't work in the winter. The new dryer works GREAT and even has some features out old one didn't. Thanks Aaron and Kay!

Last Weekend in Dallas

Brad and me!

Last weekend (June 6th - 8th) we headed up to Dallas / Frisco to celebrate my cousin (once removed), Brad, graduating from high school. I actually can remember his first birthday party (I was 8), and I still have a noise maker from it. We got to see a lot of family that we don't see all that often (including our grandmother).

left to right: Cynthia (Brad's mom / my cousin), Lily (my other cousin's daughter), Lera (my "cousin" - our grandmothers are sisters), Calyn (Lera's daughter)

Brad personalized the "congrats GRAD" poster.

Brad is very into music and Joe borrowed his hat and djembe.

We stayed with my parents, though we didn't get down until late Friday night (we first stopped by Art Step where some people we know were singing / playing) and then left very early Sunday morning (so I could make it back for a book club). Even though it was a quick trip, by next weekend I think we've spent more concentrated time with my parents recently than I have in 6 years! They came down for a bridal shower three weeks ago, we went up for graduation last weekend, and next weekend they'll be here for a wedding (and so will Lauren & Kevin).

While we were up there they used my dad's smoker to smoke some of our home-grown peppers. We haven't tried them yet, but my dad took a small bite of one of the jalapenos (turned chipotle) and a glass of milk and cup of yogurt later, still had a burning mouth.

Summer Movies

I've seen waaaay more movies lately than I usually do, so I figured I'd write a little about them. I'll give spoiler alerts if I need to. I'm putting them in the order I saw them.

Made of Honor. This movie with a plot similar to My Best Friend's Wedding wasn't all bad (as I had half expected). It's mostly the predictable stuff that makes up a chick flick, but I was pleasantly surprised with the beautiful shots of Scotland towards the end.

Prince Caspian. I reread this book not long ago, and I'm going to warn any Narnia fans that this movie changes quite a bit. Of course we'd like our beloved books to be portrayed exactly the same in the movies, but that can't happen. Some of the changes were reasonable, and I think actually made it more smooth. Other changes made altered the characters themselves and really made me want to puke. I'm about to do a spoiler thing, but if you've read the book, then it's not like it actually spoils anything. //(SPOILER: Susan has a whole love-interest thing thrown in there that gagged me several times - especially in an overly-predictable way at the end. To me, that whole addition is like putting toilet humor in a Jane Austin-based movie to broaden the impact. Oh, and how Caspian plays into that, excuse me... *barf* Other than that, the biggest change I hated was how Peter stormed the castle... why do we need to invent more character flaws? Now, things I liked: The scene where that dwarf, hag, and werewolf are wanting to bring back the White Witch was mostly well done. In the book it all takes place in the dark, and the impact of Peter and Edward coming plays a huge part. Since the children arrive much earlier (a change of which I approve), they had to compensate for that impact. While I do not like that Peter struggled with considering bringing the witch back (seriously, he remembered her, no way would he want that for his beloved Narnians), I do like the way they visually displayed what was happening.)\\

Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Like most people my age, I grew up admiring Indiana Jones and kept wishing for a fourth movie. The hints at what was coming should have been more subtle. I would also prefer action scenes with SOME semblance of reality. //(SPOILER: The whole kid-swinging through the trees with the monkeys thing was way past my limit. Are you kidding me? And why did they have to use the SAME SCENE as the end of The Last Crusade - with the greedy guy dying and Indy trying to save him? What a waste.)\\

Iron Man. MUCH better than I expected, but for these comic-based movies, it seems like low expectations are in order. I could do without some of the displays of womanizing. I actually laughed a lot, which was a nice surprise. It seemed to go pretty fast, and I was surprised to find out it was actually a long movie. Borderline spoiler... the final fight scene was disappointing. After all that build-up, I'd personally like to see a few more things explode.

Irritating

You'll all be relieved to know that this isn't a blog about some disgusting rash I have.

I've seen a commercial several times over the last couple of months and it really irritates me. Now, I'm not naturally environmentally-minded, but I am trying to become more that way. I do sometimes use paper plates, but do not think using disposable plates daily is being responsible behavior. The message of this commercial is basically "if you're a good mother, you will use paper plates - Dixie brand paper plates." Here it is if you haven't seen it:



Here are a few of the problems I have with this:

(1) A mother who cares about her children cares about their future. Not only does using paper plates contribute to a number of environmental problems your children will have to deal with, but also using them trains your children to carry on the same bad habits.
(2) For the socioeconomic class that the commercial is geared toward, washing plates is the easiest part of cleaning up after making a meal. You can stick the plate in the dishwasher as easily as throwing something in the trash can.
Sorry this isn't well written... I just felt like ranting a bit. :) Feel free to join in my rant by commenting!

Americans and Money

Joe pointed out an interesting article about money in American culture. I'm probably not in the right circles, but I really haven't heard people talk about this outside our church - and even then it was more a push for change in our viewpoint/actions as individuals and families (or at least that's what I got from it, which could be different from the intent). This article is calling for change on higher up levels (i.e. government or companies) in society. I especially liked the point that - you should read it, it's only a short page and I only had to look up one word ;) (usury = practice of lending money at exorbitant interest).

May Days

Here's a rundown of some things that happened the last part of May (with pictures!)...

May 16-18th we fed / played with Holly (the Sewell's dog) while they were out of town. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of her, but you can just imagine a cute little dog. We had a pet rabbit a few years ago, but don't really want a pet now. They can be really neat, but it's also a lot of work (and a pain to Joe's allergies). So it was fun to have a pet for the weekend!

These are some cute baby birds outside the front door of where I work. They are less cute when they nearly run into you.Joe had to dress nice for work several days one week. I hardly ever get to see him in a tie, and really enjoy him dressing up (though I could do without the ironing).
May 23rd - 25th my family (mom, dad, sister Lauren and brother-in-law Kevin) came down from Dallas / up from San Antonio and stayed with us. It was fun! Here's the basic summary: (1) they all got in Friday night, (2) Saturday morning my parents went with Joe and I to look at some houses we were interested in while my sister and brother-in-law visited friends, (3)Saturday afternoon the ladies went to a bridal shower in Livingston while Joe helped Krista move and my dad and Kevin chilled, (4) Saturday night we saw the new Indiana Jones movie, (5) Sunday morning Lauren & Kevin left and my parents continued looking at houses with us (6) Sunday afternoon my parents left. Here are us ladies as we left for the shower (making looking-into-the-sun faces).
A neat story - when we just started driving around Sunday morning with my parents, we went by a house that had a disc golf basket beside the road. If you know Joe at all, you know saying he likes disc golf is an understatement. It looked like it was set out on the curb for trash, but it was hard to tell. So Joe went up to the door of the house and asked them if they meant to throw it out. They said yes, so it became ours! It does have some rust on it, but the metal is not at all rusted through, so we'll be able to fix it up really nice. It also has a very heavy base on it so you don't have to put cement in the ground to get it to stay. Here is it's new home in our backyard (you can also see a homemade one from my parents).

an evening in the park

Two Wednesdays ago our ComGroup (Community Group = our church's small groups) met at Wolf Pen Creek Park and cooked out. Across the playground some people inflated a huge hot air balloon! It was cool, but then disappointing because they just deflated it without taking off.

Format Changes -------->

I'd just like to draw a little attention to the fact that I changed some format-related things on my blog. Now this long-winded section is wider (an attempt to make posts look shorter). I've also added some things to the side bar - mostly some of the other blogs I read. What do you think?

random yummy food post #1

I tend to take pictures of yummy food we make if I get a chance, so I'm going to post about them (I've done this once or twice before).

We like to have a warm breakfast Saturday mornings, and here's something we invented recently. I used a tart pan (thanks, Grammy!) and lined it with croissant dough (refrigerated Pillsbury off-brand). I baked it for a few minutes, mixing some eggs in the mean time with a touch of Mexican vanilla. I put the eggs in the crust, sprinkled cheese and pieces of sausage on top, and popped it in the oven. For Joe, any good breakfast is served with gravy and this was no exception.


We're growing Roma tomatoes in the garden this summer, so I've been trying to find creative ways of using them. One night we had a frozen lasagna and this bread, which Joe has named faux-caccia. I let regular white bread dough rise in the fridge overnight (in little balls so it pulls apart easily), covered it with olive oil, and baked it for a while. Then I added sliced-up Roma tomatoes and rosemary (both from our garden), and popped it in back in the oven for a few minutes. It was yummy!

We're number 1!

In case you're like me, feeling a little sad that summer is here but you don't have any fun travel in store, check out #1 of the "31 Places to Go This Summer" special in the New York Times.

"Who needs Europe? The Texas Hill Country, west of Austin and north of San Antonio, might be the next best thing to crossing the Atlantic. The region is lush, colorful and, unlike much of the pancake-flat state, dotted with beautiful green hills that are evocative of Tuscany or the south of France. Moreover, the region is speckled with 22 wineries (www.texaswinetrail.com) that buzz with food and music festivals year round. And towns like Fredericksburg offer a taste of the Old World, with German-style biergartens and schnitzelhäuser."

I'll be kind and ignore the "pancake-flat state" comment. For now. Otherwise, it's not too far from here, and I can attest to the fun that can be had in Texas Hill Country. I do have to wonder how many New Yorkers will make the trip only to be surprised by the extreme heat.

(We'll actually be at Lake Buchanan for our 4th of July annual family reunion, so we do have a little trip in store!)