Fort Awesome

El Salvador

2012-01-26T11:23:00.001-07:00

Have I mentioned that my husband is so good to me? I have??You’ve heard it over and over again? Well, it’s a fact.

Last week, he swept me away to the beach in El Salvador. We arrived on Sunday and drove our rented car to the beach house. We were greeted with warm sun, sea air, and local cuisine (pupusas). A pupusa is a corn tortilla filled with something (in this case beans and cheese), then topped with carrot and cabbage slaw and salsa. Wonderful!

The house came with a caretaker, cook, and housekeeper (who all spoke only Spanish, by the way). I was thrilled to practice, but completely saddened by how much comprehension I’d lost over the years. Still able to say what I needed to say, I found myself having to listen extra hard to recognize words and was often completely lost without sufficient context clues. But of course they have plenty of non-Spanish speakers come and stay so the staff is great with communicating past language barriers.

You might think “won’t three more people there cut into your privacy a bit?” Yeah, I thought that too. But they have their own house and we really had plenty of privacy – it was like they only showed up when we needed them.

And as for a cook… well I’m completely spoiled now. It’s wonderful! After a long hard day of lounging by the beach or the pool, you are summoned with “todos son listos” to an already-set table laid with DELICIOUS food. Afterwards, they take the dishes away and wash them! I was in bliss! It’s only been a few days and I REALLY want Rosi to come get me from the living room for my beans, rice, and chicken tacos. Sigh.

This is the house where we stayed. Found it on VRBO.com. It’s mostly open air and you close it up at night, with air conditioners in each bedroom. The bedrooms are to the right through the doors.

The grounds are beautiful. And the pictures don’t do it justice.

We took a day trip down the Ruta del las Flores. If you’re planning a trip to El Salvador, I recommend this day trip for a weekend as the Thursday that we showed up, many things were closed.

On the weekends, I assume there are weavers at these looms.

In the town of Juayua, you can walk down to the waterfalls. I don’t actually know the correct way to get there because we drove our rental car down this very bumpy, narrow, and steep road until some cops at a road block told us we had to park there and walk. A ways down the path, we walked through the gate that read “private property” and something about a hydroelectric power plant to find the waterfalls. That might have been the correct way to do things, but since so few people were out and about on that fine Thursday, I had no cues. So… who knows? But the falls are pretty and worth the ten-minute walk!

The most frightening part was this path that you were to cross to get to the second waterfall. The picture makes it look harmless enough, but the drop-off to the left is really quite substantial. My heart was racing!

Overall, this vacation was SO relaxing! We watched the sunset every evening. I did yoga. We laid on the beach. We got massages. We drank fresh coconut water. We read our books in the hammocks. We listened to the sound of the ocean. It was just what we needed.

Garage Gift

2011-12-12T15:16:00.001-07:00

Kept secret through Rob’s deployment was my plan to finish the garage. Putting up insulation in the sunroom made me realize how easy it was and my friend’s boyfriend is a handyman with electrical and sheetrock tools… so the garage project was born!

The cleaning out was a formidable task, considering that when we moved in, all our stuff went into the garage and it still had some of that, plus regular garage accumulation stuff. Ugh.

After the wiring and lighting

With insulation (that I did mySELF!) with the pneumatic stapler that the roofing guys let me borrow!

With some taping and mudding

And primed and painted, ready for Rob’s arrival!

There’s still insulation in the ceiling to be done, but it’s a beautiful, considerably warmer workspace! Yay me!

Catching Up

2011-12-12T14:57:00.001-07:00

In case you missed it, Rob is home!!! He arrived in early November and I’ve been pretty much blissed out ever since. Rob is so dreamy, in case you didn’t know.

My amazing photographer friend came to the airport with a small group from the squadron and took some wonderful photos! Joice Ruffing Photography.

He got two weeks of R&R and we spent it mostly enjoying each other’s company. But since the weather was still pretty nice, we got out for a hike in the hills, a hockey game, a drive to the Badlands, and a visit to Mount Rushmore.

Our trip to Rushmore was quite a bit cold and it was quickly followed by the first big snow of the year – over 9 inches!

We spent Thanksgiving with another couple and our goal of having an enormous amount of food ensuring loads of leftovers was certainly exceeded. We fried a turkey and mourned the fact we hadn’t bought a turkey fryer until this year because YUM!

Oh, I also want to brag some more about my amazing husband because look what he built!

He just whipped it up! I told him I was going to get a pre-made one from Lowe’s for the downstairs bath reno and he just scoffed and made this gorgeous one instead! I love him! So rejoice potential houseguests! No longer will you have to suffer the faded linoleum, gold-flecked sink, wonky cabinet, and ugly 70s shower…. soon, very soon there will be a beautiful bathroom instead!

And one final little detail… Oh happy day! My crowbar shall longer dwell on the kitchen counter waiting to open my dishwasher! We stalked Black Friday and got a dishwasher!!!! Hooray!!! I’m completely in love. This is the first appliance to which I want to pledge devotion! It’s SO quiet! No more turning up the TV or NEVER washing when guests come over! It cleans so well and has got lots of neat settings! Plus, look how shiny!

Hope your Christmas season is wonderful! Just remember Happy Holidays… is what terrorists say. Merry Christmas from McKay and Rob!

Adventures in Crossfit

2011-10-30T16:40:00.001-06:00

My workout journey started with squadron spouse socializing. Apparently, a bunch of the ladies go to this class on base that is amazing and fun and the best workout ever. In the words of one spouse it’s “horribly awesome.” So I tried it.

As advertised.

But I kept going for the social aspect. Then, I started going three times a week when I realized how much Rob’s workouts were getting him in shape. I imagined how fun it would be if my husband and I could workout together and this class seemed to have elements that we both could do.

I learned it was crossfit.

After a month, I was hooked. The workouts have the ability to be exhausting and fun at the same time and I adore the variety. I get a challenge and a success every time; and it’s very rewarding to see oneself progress and then to see my body get more toned and to notice heavy things are not so heavy anymore.

So I kept going.

I wanted to keep up my workouts while in College Station, so I contacted one of the crossfit gyms in town. It turns out, it is owned by a high school friend of mine. He is also an ex-Marine and looks and talks like one, which made me a little intimidated… and also made me want to make fun of the fact he was SO Marine-ish.

Anyway, one of my first workouts gave me a nice dose of humility. We were doing one of the weight-lifting moves where you take the bar all the way from the ground to above your head in one big heave.

Well, I knew from my previous crossfit experience, that I am not capable of doing this lift without grace. Years of dance, yoga, and a natural tendency to move smoothly are deeply ingrained in my muscle memory. Graceful movement is completely unnecessary for lifting heavy weight… in case you didn’t know. The trainer kept looking at me practicing with the PVC pipe saying, “more thrust” or “more jump” or “really get under it.” Finally, I started to get better and we moved over to the barbells.

She passes me a barbell with tires on the ends of it… TIRES. Umm, yes, I am intimidated. I begin my lifts. This weight seems really heavy. I mention that this might be on the upper end of what I typically lift. The tiny little trainer who brought the weight over with one hand replies, “it’s 35.” Which, by the way, is the lightest weight they have…. AND yes, in fact, it is the MOST WEIGHT I HAVE EVER LIFTED. Oh. My. The lightest bar is the most I’ve ever lifted. Humility, anyone? Yes, I’ve got some right here…

The last workout I did there was on their outdoor obstacle course, which is done in the military style. You run and jump over logs, roll under some, climb over many, climb a rope, run over tires and across the finish line. The first guy who did it (an Army guy) made it look SO easy. He was amazing. I found out just how amazing when I attempted it next.

Jumping over logs – oo, kinda fun. Rolling under, climbing over – also fun. Running up the tire – like a playground. Climbing the rope – ….. climbing the rope – …. Umm, yea. I haven’t attempted climbing a rope since middle school PE and even then, I was not at all successful. The trainers gave me some good techniques, but even with those, I could not manage more than one pull up. So… I had to do burpees instead of climb the rope. Poo.

Moving on. The next series of logs was the biggest challenge. You had to go over and touch down from each of five logs, the highest at 7 feet. I was simply thrilled to find that I was capable of doing it!! Of course, my method was a little unconventional. Lacking the upper arm strength to launch my body onto the highest log, I stretched my leg over from the next highest log, almost doing the splits until I could grip the next log with my leg. Effective, but the trainers said they hadn’t seen it done that way before. I’ll just take that as a compliment…

Then, running across the tires to the finish line. Yay!! I did it!! Some perspective: the Army guy did it in 57 seconds. I did it in 2 min, 17 seconds. Yea, I’m that awesome.

The chunk of the workout had us going through the course taking the first obstacle, then running back to the beginning; first and second, beginning; first second third, beginning, and so on.

It was long. And hard. sts. But I completed it!

And that kind of sums up why I like crossfit. Whether you’re fit or not, each workout is challenging (that Army guy was still challenged). And since each person is in a different place – maybe you’re lifting different weights, maybe you started at different times, the competition is indirect – just enough to make you want to push a little harder and friendly enough that everyone is rooting for you to beat your personal best. I really like it.

If you’re thinking of starting crossfit, be prepared to be intimidated. The weights look heavy and everyone looks like they’re working really hard (as opposed to holding fabulous yoga poses with looks of tranquility in super cute outfits).

But if you look closer, you’ll probably also notice that everyone is really friendly, helpful, and encouraging. If you’re lost, ask for directions. If you notice someone is especially good at that warm-up footwork, ask them for some tips. And you won’t have to ask before people are dishing out the encouragement. Sometimes rather loudly…

So have fun and remember to stretch… and do yoga… ‘cause it’s the best.

Finding the Best Chocolate Cake in Houston

2011-10-22T21:11:00.001-06:00

I came to Texas for my brother’s wedding (last weekend – Congratulations!) and while I was here, my other brother and his wife Ashley planned a cake sampling of the great cakes of Houston. Can you say YUM?

They used the chocolate cake from Cheddar’s as a constant – because let’s face it, Cheddar’s chocolate cake is Goood.

Also sampled was the Chocolate Bar, the Palm, and Taste of Texas.

Ashley make scoring sheets and everything. As this was a worthy quest (finding the best chocolate cake in Houston is no trivial matter), we decided to take it seriously. She cut slices of each piece and we scored them on overall taste, depth of chocolate, texture, icing consistency, icing flavor, and icing to cake ratio. Yes, we are super awesome.

There was some debate about whether or not to serve said cake slices cold or at room temperature. I prefer room temperature as I like my icing soft and gooey. Someone else preferred cold, but that person is just wrong. ;-)

We’ll start with Cheddar’s: taste – 4, depth of chocolate – 3 (light but good, more like duncan hines, comfortable and happy), texture – 5 (seriously, this is one good cake and so cheap too!), icing consistency – 4, icing flavor – 5, icing to cake ratio – 5. Final score: 26.

Chocolate Bar: taste – 3, depth of chocolate – 4, texture – 2 (very very dense, too much so), icing consistency – 2 (again too dense), icing flavor – 4 (very chocolatey), icing to cake ratio – 4 (needs more icing). Final score: 19

We were all quite surprised at how poorly the Chocolate Bar cake showed against the others. It was a dry, dense, and although it was very chocolatey, Ashley summed it up best, “I was left wanting more from the cake… not more bites of cake.”

The Palm: taste – 4, depth of chocolate – 4 (very cocoa-heavy in a good way), texture – 3, icing consistency – 4, icing flavor – 4 (deeeep chocolate), icing to cake ratio – 2 (as the cake is very very tall, it is impossible to get a good icing to cake ratio unless taking some icing from the top with each bite and I just want a little more from my cake than that…). Final score: 21

Taste of Texas: taste – 4, depth of chocolate – 5 (I needed fewer bites there was so much chocolate flavor!), texture – 5, icing consistency – 4 (smoooooth!), icing flavor – 5, icing to cake ratio – 5. Seriously, I had a hard time finding anything about this cake to count off for! Quite simply, it is amazing. Final score: 28

The two standouts were definitely the Palm and Taste of Texas. If you love cocoa and more cake than icing, I would refer you to the Palm. But, if you love the perfect balance of cocoa, cake, icing, comfort, and sweet, then you definitely must try the Taste of Texas the next time you’re in Houston.

I highly suggest chocolate cake testing for your next dessert. We ate a small yet substantial meal beforehand just so our blood sugar wouldn’t jump off the charts; and even with no whole pieces of cake, we all felt a little woozy from chocolate overload. Okay, a lot woozy. But so worth it.

Season Change

2011-09-27T09:34:00.001-06:00

Background: I’m from Texas.

So, I’m FINALLY understanding four seasons! You know in elementary school where the four seasons are displayed on the school calendar in class. Well, I guess I never thought they actually looked like that. I figured it was in some era or place far gone and we were keeping history or fantasy alive by displaying fall with brilliant leaves, winter with snow and ice, spring with melting snow uncovering flowers, and summer… well, I understood that one pretty well.

But, there are four real seasons in Rapid City. And they actually fall close to the calendar season changes! How novel. September, October, November is fall here. It’s been (Texas friends don’t read this part! Or at least don’t be jealous) in the 60s and 70s and sunny. Personally, 60s is a little chilly for me, but other people seem to think it’s an ideal range of temperatures. I haven’t turned the air conditioner on since mid-August. I know!! Who does that??

Winter is not that bad here – I’m (kinda) looking forward to the times when a new blanket of snow covers the brown slushiness of previous snows melted. I also love the sun shining brightly on fresh snow when everything feels very still and quiet.

Spring leaves a little to be desired. From day to day it changes – there’s a sunny comparatively warm 50 degree day, then an overcast rainy not-quite freezing, just wicked-cold day. Snow melts, flowers bloom, rain pours, and sun shines. When it came around to May I had a growing concern that I would NEVER be able to wear any of my Texas warm weather clothes as it was still a little too chilly for flip flops. By this month in Texas, I’ve broken out the tank tops and shorts and joined my fellow Texans, boating in the sweltering heat over Memorial Day weekend.

But, then FINALLY June came! And I felt like my muscles and bones could finally relax. When I’m finally warm, it feels wonderful! Like a cozy blanket, or a warm fire, or a sauna except happily it’s all around me! I can’t NOT be warm! I LOVE IT! I joyously broke out the warm weather clothes and found myself enjoying an entirely different wardrobe. NOW I get it! I would sometimes hear of people in far off worlds who put their clothes away each season and when they brought them out it felt like all new clothes. For those of you who don’t know: in Texas one does not put away any clothes any season because you can pretty much guarantee that you will need that tank top at some point in the winter and that sweater at some point in the summer (if only for the freezing air conditioning at the office).

Summer, obviously, is my favorite season in South Dakota. It is beautiful! The weather is the kind of weather that makes you want to be outside. We have a few of those days in Texas, but not with enough consistency to spur the state on toward all the outdoor activities that Rapid City does. Really, the majority of summer events is scheduled to take place outdoors. So, in case Mount Rushmore hasn’t made the case enough for a visit to this underrated state, perhaps escaping the summer heat in Texas will draw you here.

Then, you’ll finally understand the answer to the question I asked January through April – why do people continue to live here?? Now I know.

What My Husband Misses

2011-09-26T15:35:00.001-06:00

Over the months, I’ve been accumulating a list of things Rob has mentioned that he misses and have chosen to share it with you today. For fun.

The cafeteria sounds like it tasted good the first few months, but now that he’s been there a while…

Rob misses:

pork cooked by people allowed to eat pork
real mashed potatoes
blanched vegetables
steaks cooked rare
eggs cooked easy
crispy bacon
sausage that doesn’t float in grease
beer
pizza
peanut butter and jelly that’s not made by Heinz
sandwich bread that’s not white
shrimp that’s not as hard as a rock
fish that’s baked, not slathered
turkey products that actually look tasty
real dessert (pies, cakes, cookies, brownies) that are not overly processed and will survive as long as a twinkie.
overall brilliant, rather than subdued flavors
metal utensils
eating off real dishes
Saturday mornings
good coffee
drinking from a glass

Rob misses:

walking somewhere he doesn’t have to salute at least 14 people between his room and the chow hall (he swears his left arm is getting stronger carrying all his stuff so the right can be free to salute every few seconds).

things that are soft

walking into a bathroom that doesn’t smell like poo.

showering without shoes

showering without fear – fear that the water temperature will suddenly change, fear that the shower head will explode, or fear that a hand will reach into your shower to turn off the water because you’ve gone over your 5-minute “combat shower” limit (not Rob, but definitely happened).

rational perspective with the uniform – because seriously? will the taliban win if your shirt is untucked? your socks too tall? or your reflect-y belt not properly adorned? I don’t think so.

And of course, Rob misses: ME!

Stages of Deployment

2011-09-03T22:35:00.001-06:00

I should have guessed earlier, but there’s apparently seven emotional stages a spouse goes through with a deployment. Yeah. They’ve done studies.

Stage One: Anticipation of Departure

Stage Two: Detachment and Withdrawal

Stage Three: Emotional Disorganization

Stage Four: Recovery and Stabilization

Stage Five: Anticipation of Return

Stage Six: Return Adjustment and Renegotiation

Stage Seven: Reintegration and Stabilization

Interesting, huh? And while the psychiatrists may disagree, I haven’t found my deployment emotions to follow the “typical” stages… Mine went a little more like this:

Stage One: What’s an MC-12?

Stage Two: A couple all-nighters finishing the upstairs bathroom before Rob and I left for Atlanta and his training, arriving on Christmas Day. Not much time for detachment or withdrawal, just lots and lots of tile cutting.

Stage Three: Recovery and Stabilization. I know it’s supposed to be stage four in the pattern, but I was pretty fine with the whole thing.

Stage Four: Emotional Disorganization. I’m not entirely sure what this stage is meant to encompass, but I found that as the squadron we’re still technically a part of began to deploy, my emotions about the whole thing came a lot closer to the surface. I described it to Rob like this:

Me: You know how I am capable of compartmentalization? Rob: Yes. Me: Well, I’m discovering the walls of my compartments can be a little thin – you know, maybe like Japanese rice paper walls? Rob: OH YEA! Me: Oh. You didn’t have to agree SO heartily… cute.

And then, I guess I did Stage Four again with Recovery and Stabilization. I LOVE all my new friends who are newly singled and very often ready to hang out, go out, or just visit!

Then, I discovered I missed testosterone a little. And guys are WAY funnier than girls. No offense. It’s just girls are not that hilarious. I miss laughing from the gut.

Now, I’m on to Stage Five: Anticipation of Return. I can totally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Not that it’s been a dark or horrific time, I’m just excited like a birthday, or a wedding, or a big graduation trip. It’s got magnitude. But, I’ve noticed I’m a little more unstable than I’ve been in any of the previous stages. I don’t say this to gain pity or to say in some sort of subtle way, “Help me.” It’s not that. It’s simply observing, almost in a scientific way – hmm, that’s interesting, I didn’t expect that.

Some of my more random unstable moments come while driving. Perhaps I’m simply not used to driving this much without Rob. I miss him in the seat next to me. I love it when he drives and I get to ride. I haven’t been in the passenger seat of my car for 9 months.

Another moment when my paper-thin compartment walls were compromised was when my very good friend had a baby and I teared up as she was describing how hard it was for her husband to watch the labor because he felt so helpless. I guess I empathize. Is that it?

I can nail this one down a lot easier: You know the pie that I love. The pie that merited its own ode and entry in the blog. The pie that gives me comfort each week throughout this deployment. Well, I’ve been without pie now for over two weeks. She wasn’t there last week and I missed her this week. I learned this because I called the store in Pierre and she said there was a rush this morning and they ran out early. I’ve been tearing up all day when I think about how I don’t have pie.

I think this one’s a little more obvious – pie = comfort. duh. Then, the very sweet yet sometimes a little “I told you so” Holy Spirit reminded me that my comfort should lie in God. Me, ever a little bit petulant, said I still would like some pie, but thanks for the reminder. If I have to live without pie for two weeks to be reminded that the Holy Spirit is my comforter, that’s okay. … But I have ordered three pies for next week.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to the next two stages of deployment emotions – the ones that occur when he comes back!! YAY!!!! Really, there’s not enough explanation points to convey the excitement (and apparently a little bit of instability… ) that comes with this stage.

A Day in the Life

2011-08-23T11:33:00.001-06:00

My days without Rob are coming to a rapid end, and now that I’m more than halfway, my thoughts have gone from “6 whole months will take a while,” to “I only have two more months left to prepare for Rob coming home!”

I have attacked my workouts with renewed vigor, shooting for the hottest bod that can be attained in the remaining time. I’m actually enjoying the crossfit class on base as well as yoga in my schedule.

The garden is much more high maintenance now as things are ripening and weeds are sprouting.

My project list is getting smaller (but still formidable) – although the basement is STILL my Everest and I would love to go through more boxes down there and unpack books and find a place for the more “random” items. And my awesome stackable storage boxes still need doors to hide their contents and not make the basement look cluttered and busy.

The days are also broken up with walks for Gus and any friends staying with us, trips to the dog park, calls to contractors for home repairs from the recent hail storm (see pic below for proof of egg-sized hail in late June), a bit of retail therapy always makes me happy (and now I have a good excuse with deployment), and throw in a couple weekly evening get-togethers among the spouses and you’ve got yourself a fairly busy lady.

Some more pics

Instead of tiling the step, I tore off the nasty vinyl tiles and simply spread some grout over it.

Before

After

Tomatoes

Peppers

Eggplants

And figs, oh my!

I’m so happy the little fig tree made it! I almost thought he was a goner at the end of the winter, but look how well he’s pulled through! Go figgy!

Three Seasons Room

2011-08-23T11:06:00.001-06:00

Before

After

I LOVE IT!

This was: wall panels, insulation, ceiling planks, granite tiles, grout (lots and lots of grout), paint, trim, threshold, doorstop, and caulk. Very gratifying.

I don’t know if anyone else who’s remodeled a house has this problem, but I really don’t like filling the room once it’s done! This happened with the bedrooms upstairs. As our clothes went in the closet and the dresser, bed, etc filled the space, I was saddened to see all my hard work covered up with furniture. That is why I have left the second bedroom upstairs mostly empty (except for stuff in the closet and a yoga mat on the floor) – I adore looking at the shiny, clean, still freshly painted, uncluttered purity of the redone room.

And this is also why I predict that the patio furniture I was thinking of getting for this room might end up waiting until next year – I love looking at the empty, open room! So clean, so pretty… anyone else experience this phenomenon?

Summer Food

2011-08-08T11:06:00.001-06:00

I LOVE cooking in the summer! I love all the… well, all the FRESH! Fresh greens, tomatoes, herbs, peppers, everything feels so clean and light on my palate. I love FRESH!

Here’s a couple fun items recently cooked that I thought were stellar enough to share with you.

A group of squadron ladies got together every week to watch the Bachelorette. Not normally my cup of tea, but the socializing was wonderful and the food was delicious! The B-1 squadrons are full of amazing cooks! One of the latest themes was “tropical” and since I wanted to use my greens from the garden, this just kind of morphed and it’s DELICIOUS!

I call it Almond Joy Salad.

Fresh greens, toasted coconut, toasted sliced almonds. The dressing is the basic olive oil and balsamic, but sub coconut oil for half the olive oil; and add a little cocoa and honey until it tastes good (maybe 2-3 tablespoons of each). I’m sorry I can’t give more specific directions on the dressing, but that’s how it happened. You want to have the ratio of coconut (from the dressing as well), almonds, and chocolate be about the ratio of an almond joy candy bar. Trust me, it’s yummy.

Smitten Kitchen is absolutely my favorite cooking website! Instead of food network when I want to find something to cook, now I navigate right to Smitten Kitchen and search her sight. I made these for a girls night recently and VERY tasty – a little pleasantly odd mix of flavors that result in goodness. I love these as an appetizer with a glass of wine on the patio. Perfect.

Flatbreads with Honey, Thyme, and Sea Salt

And this next one turned out to be a wonderful way to use venison with a fresh summery twist.

Skirt Steak with Bloody Mary Salad

The salad I would totally bring to a pot luck and it would be a big hit. Made this one for a girls night and the ladies took home tupperware.

And finally, because no meals are complete without dessert! This rice pudding (or rather arroz con leche) was a HUGE hit last night at Ladies Bible study!

Arroz Con Leche

The Pie Lady

2011-08-06T18:00:00.001-06:00

The Rapid City Farmers’ Market is only NOW beginning to pick up with the actual produce offerings. It’s AUGUST! I can’t believe the crazy short growing season! But I digress…

One thing the market excels at during all the months that it’s open is the baked and canned goods. Jams, jellies, salsas, breads, rolls, and pies. One booth in particular… the Pie Lady. Oh, I can’t even write about the pies without swooning. They give out free samples of the particular pie that day and my first sample was mixed berry (blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries). It kind of went like this: “Oh, that’s nice – free samples. Thanks so much.” Tasting that one bite, all the latent happiness inside me melted and gloriously filled up my insides while my brain lost all other consciousness and focus, time stopped, and there was only pie. Delicious, wonderful, pie. I was hooked.

Since then, whenever the Pie Lady has been at the market, I have purchased a, to some overly priced, pie, knowing that it’s totally worth it and the most amazing treasure of a treat I have ever tasted and would therefore probably pay twice that and more for its delicious goodness.

I have enjoyed mixed berry (often), strawberry rhubarb, and fruits of the forest (rhubarb, apple, strawberry, and raspberry) and they have all been the best pie in the world.

Some caveats: I love filling. I love it. I love the fruits, the sugar, and the blending of the two that miraculously results in exquisite pie filling. And even though I’m not a crust girl, this crust blows my mind. I eat it all and scrape the bowl for crumbs. It’s buttery, flaky, firm, and soft all at the same time and accentuates the filling with poise and style. Perfect synergy.

Today, I bought my pie and headed home to a breakfast of scrambled eggs and a slice of pie. Awesome. And even though I just bought it this morning, it’s sadly already over half gone. …although I did give a couple slices to a sick friend. I know. I’m a saint.

So, if you’re ever driving through Pierre, South Dakota (as that’s where their little pie restaurant is located and don’t think I haven’t considered driving almost 3 hours to Pierre just for pie, because I absolutely have) you simply must stop and have a slice at Vivian Junction Restaurant. You won’t regret it.

When Spouse is Deployed, Things Break

2011-07-17T19:09:00.001-06:00

There’s an old military spouse adage that says “when he’s away, things will break”… okay, I don’t know if there’s an official adage and if there were, I’d like to think it has a much better ring to it that what I just wrote… ANYway…

Happily, I haven’t had anything major like a basement flood (3 people I know) or windows broken from the recent egg-sized hail storm (3 more people I know).

Mine started with a flat tire.

Thanks to my dear father for teaching me how to change a flat when I first started driving (he also always has me keep jumper cables in the car – used them WAY more than once), I was back on the road in a respectable 10 minutes. The next day, I had errands to run and places to be but I heard the voice of my dear father saying, “the spare tire is ONLY to drive you from your flat to the tire place!” So I went to the tire place and an infuriating FOUR AND A HALF HOURS later, I had four new tires.

Very soon after that, the latch on my dishwasher broke. I learned this when I needed to get to the clean kitchen aid mixing bowl for about three days, and in slight desperation, I pulled out one of my top ten favorite tools… the prybar! And miraculously, it opened without harming anything! Prybar moves up the list of favorite tools!!

Perhaps I’ll find a good deal on a new dishwasher for the kitchen remodel, but for now, this is how I begin my dishwasher-emptying… very carefully.

So, if you come over and notice the prybar on the kitchen counter next to the paper towels, just politely look away. Thank you.

And while I simply love my new sunroom floor, the grouting was no small job! It’s taken its toll on my body – in particular, my poor nails. They kind of remind me of a zombie apocalypse movie… ARRGHHH!

So, at the suggestion of a friend, I sought out some dark nail polish and have found a very nice brown. However, it didn’t stand up to the furniture-building I did the day after I put it on, but at least I don’t look like I’ve been cast in Shawn of the Dead.

Speaking of furniture building… here’s the latest in my project list. I LOVE IT! It will go behind the sofa and will function as a desk for the laptop, a buffet table, or just a table for behind-the-sofa decorations. The plans are here at AnaWhite.com.

In progress

How to Act Toward a Spouse of a Deployed Military Member

2011-06-12T09:23:00.001-06:00

So, I’m learning that civilian people say odd things when they know your spouse is deployed.

I very often get the sympathetic head tilt accompanied by “So, how’re you doing?” with a facial expression that says “it’s okay to cry.”

I halfway want to reply with the “I’m okay Head Bob” but usually simply say, “Umm, I’m fine” and just change the subject. I haven’t just come from a funeral, divorce, or learning I have terminal cancer. Can we please lighten up?

My latest favorite is my neighbor’s reply (and other variations of this). Talking of his being overseas, separated from me, “Oh isn’t it just terrible?”

Okay, how am I supposed to reply to this one? “No, it’s not terrible. I love having him gone. I dance myself to sleep every night in celebration” Or “Yes, it’s terrible and I blame the evil military for taking him away from me without me knowing that it’s his job or anything.” I usually reply that it is, in fact, his job to go overseas and we expect and prepare for this. Both our “sacrifices” are part of being in the military.

Please be kind to your friends with deployed spouses. Ask them what they’re doing while he’s gone. Anything interesting? You can ask them how his or her spouse is doing over there. Maybe they’ll have a lot to say or maybe not.

The main idea is to be open. Please do not assume everyone feels as you would. Military spouses have more preparation. They know their spouse will be deployed. It’s not a surprise (usually). It comes with the job. I prefer to be proud of his service and while it may not be the most awesome thing to be separated from your favorite person in the world, I love that he is dedicated, skilled, a wicked-good pilot, and does his job well wherever he is in the world.

One of the nicest things you can do is thank the spouse of a deployed military member for serving as if you were thanking their spouse.

Latest

2011-06-09T10:38:00.001-06:00

At the end of May, I went to the beach in Mexico! Ahh, I love the beach. You may ask what I did with my time in Mexico… well, I laid on the beach, shopped, laid on the beach, ate tropical fruit on the sea-view balcony, laid on the beach, and drank fruity drinks delivered to my lounge chair… while laying on the beach. It was AWESOME!

Flying back through Dallas, I always stop at the USO (lounge for military personnel) and this adorable man was playing the banjo outside the door. It just put a smile on my face.

I stopped in College Station to visit family and attend sweet Janine’s wedding. It was SO wonderful! The ceremony was so sweet and it was a joy to catch up with some College Station friends! Her new husband a firefighter, Janine arrived in a fire truck to walk down the aisle!

This picture was too adorable not to take – father and grandfather with my niece!

When I got back to South Dakota, the plants had exploded with growth! It was very good timing because the Moores followed me back to help me plant the garden.

A lot harder work than anticipated, Ken tilled the ground, we took out the grass, added compost, planted, and arranged drip hoses. All done now, it was worth the effort! And a BIG thanks to Rob’s parents for helping me plant!

Before

During

After

THEN, as if all that manual labor wasn’t enough, these two energizer bunnies decided to go ahead and help me do the ceiling in the sunroom.

We chose to do tongue and groove pine planks and they look SO good!!! We also added insulation to the ceiling and the remaining wall (that I hadn’t yet completed) and it makes a HUGE difference! The sunroom is much more temperate now – not too hot and (hopefully) not too cold.

We also attended the air show and it was exciting to see a B-2 bomber on the ground (I’ve only ever seen them do a fly-by). Of course the B-1 showed off (you know, because it’s awesome) and the Heavy Metal Jet Aerobatics Team was the stunt show for the day.

And that’s the news from ~~Lake Woebegone~~ South Dakota.

A Few of My Favorite Tools

2011-05-16T14:26:00.001-06:00

Yes, you can start singing from the Sound of Music… :-)

First, my new favorite – the Bosch orbital sander.

This little baby makes sanding SO much easier! What was I THINKING when I hand sanded?? That was just plain crazy. Not only does it sand smoothly and effectively, but there is almost NO dust! It’s filtration system is so awesome that I sanded in my living room and one could hardly even notice there had been a project!

My first favorite – the Ridgid shopvac.

It makes cleanup so rewarding – to watch all your sawdust, leaves, and dirt be immediately erased is nothing short of bliss.

The miter saw.

While the table saw is still a bit intimidating (although we are much better friends now that we interact often), the miter saw is so easy to use. There’s no big ado when you just need to make one little cut. I used this one a lot making legs for the bedside tables.

The air compressor/nail gun.

SO fun! Putting up wood paneling, nailing trim, and nailing faces to cabinets or storage boxes is amazingly fast and easy. Plus, the ker-CHUNK sound it makes when it nails gives you that “yea, I’m using a power tool” feeling.

What are your favorite tools?

Latest Projects

2011-05-16T14:12:00.001-06:00

This chandelier was just screaming for a makeover.

Before

After

Before

After

Eventually, that wall will come down, making way for a breakfast bar in the great room. But for now, it’s a pretty green accent wall.

And the sunroom looks much sunnier now! Special thanks to the ladies who helped me cut wood paneling! We have a bunch of very talented Air Force wives!

Before

After

Eventually, we’d like full windows, but this is a nice solution for now. I’m thinking of painting this room – but what color? White? Pale grey-green? Pale blue? Pale yellow like the outside of the house? Or just leave the wood paneling…

And check out what I made yesterday!

My new entryway bench is now nicely painted (finally!) with an upholstered top. The long-wise stripes were a mistake in retrospect, but I like all the colors in the pattern.

And these boxes are assembled (minus doors) and almost ready for implementation in basement storage. Thanks to Dad for his help!!

And lots of flowers are coming up! I love all the splashes of color in the yard now!

And I have rhubarb! I didn’t even know! I love living in a house previously owned by a gardener! Pie, anyone?

View from the guestroom window – tulips, daffodils, rose bush, and lilies.

South Dakota is pretty, huh?

McKay Goes to the Circus

2011-04-30T18:04:00.001-06:00

I love the circus. I always have. It reminds me of my grandmother, we call her Honey. Not every time, but often, when we visited her there would be a circus on television. Plus, she had these wooden circus animal toys that you could pose and stack and make do circus tricks - an additional treat when visiting Honey’s house.

Anyway, I love the circus. I love to be entertained. I love to watch, mesmerized as a daredevil or acrobat performs. I love the animals, the glitter, the showmanship. I love it.

The circus came to Rapid City! And it was a GREAT one!

They had tigers jumping through flaming hoops

This pony act kicked it up a notch with CAMELS! They were amazing! One of my favorites.

Black bears doing tricks and looking adorable and dangerous at the same time

Tightrope walkers, flying trapeze artists, and this guy all made me hold my breath!

I wanted to be one of the acrobats hanging from a rope or a hoop a la cirque du soleil. *sigh*

The dog act was especially entertaining, funny, and adorable – terriers doing flips, dancing, leapfrogging, and catching loops around their necks!

The elephants are always amazing – just watching them move is captivating.

They finished the circus with the giant steel Globe of Death! You know, the one with the guy on the motorcycle doing loops inside a steel cage. Awesome, right? Well, even more awesome with THREE motorcycles! And even MORE awesome with FOUR!! WOW!!

There were other acts as well that were all very entertaining. It was a quality circus! I am so thrilled to have such quality entertainment come to little ol’ Rapid City!

Howards in South Dakota

2011-04-28T21:05:00.001-06:00

South Dakota blessed these Texans with beautiful weather! It was sunny and high 50s/low 60s most of the time. Excellent.

In addition to our touristic trips, visiting Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills, and the Badlands, Mom and Dad helped around the house in a MAJOR way! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

We had a great time and the Black Hills of South Dakota may draw them back again this summer… :-)

We saw the base

We visited Mount Rushmore.

We drove through Custer State Park

We went to the Badlands

Saw Bison

Enjoyed the patio section of Menard’s home improvement store.

Took a load to the city dump and were amazed at the crusher truck

The following is more for Rob to see the changes in the house since the Howards swooped.

Cleaned up the sunroom space

Fixed the handle on the sliding glass door, put felt stickies on the bathroom cabinets, weeded and trimmed the bushes and trellises, and set up the hammock stand (I have already basked in the sun today)

Cleaned the greenhouse and planted some seedlings in the earthboxes

Cut wood, made face frames, backs, and feet. And cleaned out the garage

We had a great time!!!! Thank you!!

I’ve Been Keeping Myself Busy

2011-04-18T09:01:00.001-06:00

When fellow military spouses find out I don’t have a full-time job or kids, they look a little concerned. I assure them that I find plenty to do for myself and not to worry – I’m passing that along to you as well.

For one thing, I’m teaching yoga at LEAST four times a week, but usually five or six. That keeps me pretty busy as each class has a different focus and different people. I always prepare a plan for each class, whether I follow it or not – flexibility and living in the moment are acted out daily!

I’m preparing the plants to go in the greenhouse, transplanting to larger pots and rearranging the greenhouse to accommodate my seedlings until it’s safe to plant them outside (after Memorial Day! Only three months of growing season here! Yikes.)

Of course, I’m waiting a little longer before putting the plants in the greenhouse because it’s currently snowing outside. Yup. That’s right now.

I also had a friend over to help me cut plywood to make more boxes for storage. Here’s all my cuts made.

I’m making more of these boxes. I hope to be able to stack them in whatever configuration fits best in whatever house we live. I’m also making two “double wide” ones to fit bigger items. Next time, I might try a couple “double high” ones.

They’re all in four-sided box form now. When the weather gets warmer, I will attach the feet, backs, face frames, and doors. I’m also making an upholstered top for these three to make a bench. Since I adore antique hardware, I have grand plans of finding the most interesting and cool knobs and handles and latches! (rather than cutting shapes for handles like the above boxes).

I have also finished painting the wall in the living room, and am spray painting the outdated chandelier.

I’m getting excited because my B-1 painting from TM Gand (see facebook album at link) is almost finished! Once that arrives I can hang art in the living room and have a MUCH more decorated feel in the house! By the way, she sells prints of all her paintings, if you want a B-1 too…

At least once a week, I have one or two other “spouse-less” ladies over for dinner to keep me enjoying cooking. (Cooking for one is not nearly as fun after a week or more).

For those of you just here about my husband. Yes, he’s fine. Yes, I have been able to skype with him. Yes, I’ll let you know if he needs anything. And no, we don’t know when he’s coming back.

In Mississippi

2011-03-29T13:37:00.003-06:00

Rob isn’t QUITE finished with his training in Mississippi, so we decided it would be fun to have another visit! And of course it is!

Nice scheduling, God – Rob’s flying Saturday was cancelled due to weather and then it cleared up to be a beautiful day at the air show at NAS Meridian! I love air shows with Rob! He knows all about the planes and what makes them cool and how difficult some of the maneuvers they perform are! I love having my own very sexy tour guide!

We’re discovering new restaurants in Meridian – Nick and Al’s pizza is divine! It’s New York style pizza and I must say it comes VERY close!

Dobi’s Rajun Cajun is also very good. The spices are a little mild, but the flavor is good and one can always add some Tabasco (which we did). I have plans to get Sake Sushi and the Thai place in again before I leave as well – YUM!

Today is the first day that’s he’s been in to work with the combo of weather and nonsensical scheduling. So, I’m watching HGTV and blogging, dressed for an online yoga class when I conclude. *sigh* Life is good.

I’m also praying for the slim chance that when he finishes, the rotator will be so backed up that they’ll send him back to South Dakota for a couple weeks… it COULD happen…

In Other News

2011-03-29T13:37:00.001-06:00

The seeds are growing.

Cupcakes are baking.

And I owe the completion of my new living room curtains to wonderful Christi! Horaaay! I sewed these!!

The curtain rod isn’t painted and they ran out of white curtain rings… so the whole look isn’t complete, yet, but I’m SO pleased with what they do for the living room! As the living room gets more decorated, be looking forward to more pics and more awesome incorporation of the design that’s still forming in my head.

A little frustrated that I don’t work as fast as I’m sure Rob would have (hanging that curtain rod took way longer than it should have!), but still a little proud of my do-it-yourselfyness.

Ode to the ficus

2011-03-29T13:35:00.001-06:00

Very sad news. McRob, the ficus has passed.

We are truly surprised because it seemed like it would never die. Every time we moved, went on vacation, and gave it to friends because we thought we were moving to Japan, it lived. It wilted and looked like it was on its last leg many many times, but it always came back to its original vigor. I think it must have only had nine lives because our trip to Atlanta killed it. I’ve been trying to nurse it back to health ever since we came back in January, but it looks the same. Very sad.

In honor of the ficus, I offer this ode. Dear ficus, we loved you very much. You were with us at the very beginning, as a decoration at our wedding reception. You have lived through sunny days and rotten days. You gave the room oxygen and often stood as an important decorative element in our many different dwellings. You wore twinkly lights and paper cranes with style and finesse. Thank you for your service, dear ficus. You will be missed.

Since I Last Wrote

2011-03-11T16:30:00.001-07:00

I have painted my toenails a delightful spring color (even though no one will see them under my wool socks and ugg boots) called “Guy Meets Gal-veston.” OPI did a line of Texas-inspired names and I just HAD to have one!

I planted seeds for the garden this spring! Looking forward to that fresh produce!

I have been to church without Rob (which is quite depressing, I might add!) I will try again, but it pretty much made me sad the entire rest of the day.

Later that day, I unsuccessfully prepared the main dish for our small group (I burned the venison stew – and am sticking to side dishes and desserts for a couple more weeks!)

I swooned in Mississippi over the Blue Bell ice cream section in Wal Mart and picked up a couple pints to put in Rob’s hotel min-fridge/freezer.

I got my hair cut and love the many layers and how much lighter my head feels!

I made salted caramel cupcakes and shared the sweet saltiness with friends and neighbors.

I traveled to Mississippi to visit Rob! It was divine! And he’s SO dreamy! Even though I missed out on sunny spring southern weather, the overcast skies and periodic thunderstorms kept Rob at the hotel with me! We enjoyed day after day of staying in, honeymoon style. *insert dreamy sigh here*

Alas the week was cut short as flights started to fill up. I blame the combination of spring break and Mardi Gras. Rob drove me to the airport in Jackson for me to catch the evening flight out on Wednesday, only to be turned away by weather cancellations. That meant there was no way I could fly out of that airport tomorrow. So, after an hour-and-a-half-drive back, we got up EARLY (2:45am) to drive to a further airport to catch the earliest flight to DFW. I made it back to Rapid City Wednesday afternoon and went to bed early!

Rob did take to me to eat at some really fun places! The only (the only one we could find anyway) nice restaurant where Rob is doing training served us a nice dinner of crab cakes atop the very best fried green tomatoes I have ever had! (I rescind any earlier lukewarm comments regarding fried green tomatoes – these were perfect!) They were firm, slightly tart, and perfectly fried so the outside was done, but the inside still tasted fresh. Delicious!

The lemon pie I ordered for dessert was also the very best lemon pie I have ever had! It wasn’t too tart or too sweet. It was also topped with real whipped cream, rather than meringue, and that is a sure fire way to my heart! The seal-the-deal was the slivered almonds sprinkled over the whipped cream. The resulting texture was a perfect combination of soft and crunchy.

The very next day, we returned to the nice restaurant for brunch (and ordered the lemon pie again at the end of the meal). I had eggs benedict, which I adore, and was surprised to find it the heartiest eggs benedict I’ve ever had. Instead of canadian bacon, they used a pork chop! Combined with my side of bacon (a whopping four pieces – this place doesn’t skimp!), it was more than enough meat.

In Jackson, he took me to this nice place before my flight. We enjoyed cocktails and fancy appetizers before my meal of very very fresh fried oysters (I still remember Florida’s fresh oysters well!) on a bed of mixed greens, with amazing dressing and some other little things that made it special that I can’t remember at the moment. I remember that the result was GOOOOOOD! Wow, I just made myself very hungry. This restaurant is new and they made every effort to please – the staff was knowledgeable and friendly, the food was delicious and the portion sizes just a little too big, like they were trying really hard (I had at least 8 oysters on my salad!) We would have stayed longer and possibly enjoyed dessert if we weren’t so full and needed to get to my cancelled flight. Oh well. Maybe next time I’m in Jackson, MS….

I gotta get a snack now after all that food talk!

I’ll leave you with some pics from Mississippi. This park had ducks, geese, guineas, and roosters, oh my!

I love primer in the springtime

2011-02-25T21:29:00.001-07:00

If you’re like me, the first sunshine-y semi-warm day puts me in a decorating/ cleaning mood. We had one of those recently here in South Dakota. That’s right, I said a warm day recently in South Dakota – it was 60s and sunny and delightful!

Of course, this week the temps hovered around zero – but the pretty snow on the ground was consolation.

Anyway, I have been saving up for Rob’s departure all my decorating projects and this one is the first tick on my list. I made the shelf off this simple design from Ana White’s website and modified it slightly to be a coat rack as well.

Primer

Then, my freshening up of the entry wall made it look so plain. Since I already knew what color I wanted to paint it (I tested it on the upstairs walls earlier) I went ahead and started painting the living room.

*Sigh* I do love fresh paint. It’s like cleaning with color. It makes the same old room suddenly seem polished and fresh and posh.

So, I painted the wall in the living room as I finished the new coat rack. The color is called “Sand Between Your Toes” and I love it. It wraps me in warmth and sunshine while still being a subtle touch of color. Plus, it contrasts nicely with the ultra white that we’re using for trim (and the coat rack).

I felt I needed to divide the space in the entryway. As much as I think I love a great room, one needs a little transition when one walks in the door. Opening the front door to a big one-room place is too overwhelming for me. BUT, Rob didn’t want to sacrifice his line of sight with the front door… SO…

I’ve always wanted to use old windows in my decorating and I finally can! What’s more, I checked out Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore and got these for $1 each!

Of course, I missed Rob severely! He’d have had them hung in an hour – but let’s just say it took me MUCH longer. Between joist direction, finding it, learning the spacing, realizing it wasn’t where I needed it to be, figuring out how to hang windows between the joists, and actually doing it… that was about all I accomplished that day.

Don’t my new walls look pretty??

My next step is living room curtains (we’ve been living with shears since we moved in). I’m working on other decorating (most are still in-progress as I learn the personality of this house and as we renovate), but here’s one other room.

Our bedroom. Still in progress, but mostly done.

Notice the rockin’ nightstands! I made those! Modeled out of the West Elm catalog and topped with our concrete sample pieces.

I haven’t figured out what I want in a headboard – I think a piece of architectural salvage would be really neat, but I haven’t found any in South Dakota. I’m thinking about making a headboard and bed frame… don’t know yet.

But I’m having a ton of fun decorating! I finally feel like I’m not living in a hotel. I can live in the happy green bedroom, the warm and shiny bathroom, the blue room (which is my yoga room – awesome!), and now I can live in the living room. Of course, we’re still planning on changing a whole lot in the great room (living/dining/ kitchen), but with Rob’s new deployment schedule, we won’t get to it for almost a year. Ergo… decorate then re-decorate. But such has been my military life anyway. This way, I get to try out TWO living rooms with the same floor plan.

Looking forward to more warm spring days! (but enjoying the snow outside my window for now).

I Kinda Like It Here

2011-02-25T21:19:00.001-07:00

Who knew? But South Dakota is NICE! I haven’t minded the winter much at all! Sure, it’s cold, but people know it’s cold and it’s also a matter of having the right equipment.

Christmas gift exchanges were very heavy in the warm clothing category – I think our families must have felt sorry for us – or they at least knew we would appreciate it. I came back with, among other things, a down coat. Mmmmm. Now, I face the winter days with insulation and preparedness. MUCH better.

Plus, when it snows, it’s usually very sunny the next day! That means the snow is sparkly and white and drapes the drab winter under-colors in a fluffy frosting of bright white. I can usually wait until the warmest part of the day to shovel the sidewalk (that’s right, I shovel the sidewalk!) and often become pretty warm with the activity.

Plus, my super-nice neighbor has a snow blower that he loves to use and now that Rob’s gone, he makes sure to do the sidewalks in front of my house (and sometimes more!). Did I mention South Dakota has really nice people?

It’s been snowing this week and sitting in front of my bay window is like staring at a giant snow globe that’s just been turned right-side-up. It’s kinda nice.

Rob left earlier this week for his final training. I dove right in to more home improvement projects, mainly in the vein of decorating, but more on that later.

It’s certainly not nearly as fun without Rob around. He’s only my most favorite person in the entire world, so it’s an obvious given that life will not be quite as full. But I intend to make the best of it and first on the list is a cleaning/ organizing/ decorating campaign. Tasty.

I’m still teaching yoga, and more now that the owner of the studio is going through some medical stuff. I’m picking up a lot of slack and extra classes and not minding the additions to my schedule. I’ve got regulars and I love helping them progress! My teaching is constantly evolving and I’m loving it.

Although, I have decided I need a bit more socialization. I relish nights when Rob works late, so I’ve been getting my fill of eating light meals, watching lots of comedy, taking long baths, doing pedicures, decorating, and doing yoga. But as I filed our taxes and blogged on this Friday night, I realized I probably need to go out.

I shall begin filling my social calendar.

Bathroom Before and After

2011-01-30T11:15:00.001-07:00

Before

After

Demo

Concrete countertop curing

Bathroom cabinet that my super-skilled husband MADE!

And more final pics of my new favorite room of the house!

Getting handles and pulls soon. They will match the faucet.

Yes, that box controls the heated floor. Yes, it’s programmable and is set to be warm when we wake up. Yes, it’s awesome.

And these are the cabinets that Rob built to be set into the walls maximizing storage. I just think he’s the most talented husband in the world!

TA-DAH!

Ode to The Flying Biscuit

2011-01-09T13:15:00.001-07:00

I love The Flying Biscuit. We ate here a couple years when Rob and I came to Atlanta for Valentine’s Day. I bought the recipe book. Once again, it steals my heart.

The food is a perfect blend of comforting and interesting. For example:

Biscuits and gravy. Delicious. Simple. Familiar. Yet, the biscuits are lighter and fluffier, with a little sugar sprinkled into eggwhite brushed on top, giving them a little something extra – like a biscuit/scone. The gravy is made from turkey sausage and has familiar textures and flavors, yet special – there’s something more there in the spices. Yum.

I also love the chocolate bread pudding, made from their leftover signature biscuits – it’s dense, yet fluffy… light, yet rich… chocolate-y, yet creamy… I love the balance! And that something extra that makes it special!

I make the blueberry cobbler from their recipe book often. I love it. It’s fairly straightforward, except there’s a bit of cardamom in the biscuit topping, giving it that extra something. It’s familiar, but special…

Everything on their menu has that special quality of making your brain go, “oh, I’m familiar with this food, no big deal” and the mouth go, “whoa! this is new! I like it!”

LOVE.

Adventures in Atlanta

2011-01-09T13:11:00.001-07:00

The time here has been simply wonderful! There’s no remodeling to be done, no chaos in my kitchen and living room, and nothing at all that has to be done… not even blogging. It’s divine.

I have spent my days relaxing, walking, shopping, yoga-ing, and eating! Atlanta is awesome! There’s stuff to do and places to go and everything! And stores! Real stores! And the yoga instruction is great – I’m trying to absorb as much as I physically can!

Some highlights:

Ethiopian food on New Year’s Eve. It was yummy! Eating with one’s hands is really fun! The owner was so nice and gave me extra of the side dish I adored!

Shopping at real stores, and touching the fabric, not opening internet windows!

Eating at Nava and this WOW-beyond-words dessert. That cube is filled with chocolate mousse.

Eating at the Flying Biscuit. Atlanta does breakfast REALLY well! I mean, it’s amazing! This is my favorite breakfast place, but Chicken and Waffles is pretty good too… and Thumbs Up… and every other breakfast we’ve tried!

This amazing yarn store in Virginia Highlands! Everyone who came in was showing off what they’d made, or sitting at tables knitting and talking. It was delightful! I made a return trip just because it was such a fun place!

Aerial Yoga, done from hammocks hung from the ceiling. It didn’t seem difficult at first, but my muscles were DEFINITELY sore the next day!

Here’s some photos of fun things I saw while out. Enjoy.

Yes, those dogs are all wearing sunglasses and matching sweaters. And yes, they match the dog-walker as well.

Did you know this is how brussels sprouts grow?

The very nifty yarn ball winder at the fun yarn store – Knitch.

More aerial yoga.

Christmas Renovation!

2010-12-29T07:26:00.001-07:00

We rented a texture gun for the walls and ceilings. Rob got a little adventure when he learned to hold both the top and bottom of the gun after it separated and spilled globby texture all over him and the plastic tarp.

Rob cleaned the texture gun in the shower because he just thought it’d be easier and much more pleasant than rinsing it with a hose outside in the snow and ice.

I spent my days alternating between painting cabinets, walls, and doors and sealing concrete.

We moved the cabinet Rob made into the bathroom, scraping the paint off the doorframe as it barely fit.

We woke up on the 23rd and basically had just a cabinet and tub in the bathroom. Thus begins the long day.

With icy rain the night before, the base closed so Rob was able to stay home. Yay!

We put the back on the cabinet, installed the drawers, installed the face frame, and attached the countertop.

We installed the floor heat thermostat (SO excited about heated floors!!), new switches, expanded the box to provide space for main light, fan, and fan light. We installed the light fixture, backsplashes, side cabinets, toilet cabinet, and sink and faucet.

Late that night, we began cutting and laying the pattern for the tile. I numbered them so (hopefully) it’d be easy to put them back where they fit and mostly it was. One tile was off and made it a little imperfect, but if I can get over it, visitors can too.

We found a surprise in our box of auction tile! Some of it is beige! We had more than enough, but will remember to look more closely at any tile we might buy at the next auction…

We installed the heated mat under the thinset for the tile and finished laying tile at 5am. Whew! When we woke up again, I traversed the bathroom without touching the floor (special yoga powers) and sealed the grout in the shower. I also installed this AMAZING shower and tub set (a SWEET auction deal!).

Rob doing attic electrical work.

We grouted the floor, hung the shower rod, installed drawer fronts, and tried to finish. We’re not quite done, but here’s a picture of the bathroom in an almost completed state!

Cold Weather “Did you knows”

2010-12-20T11:36:00.001-07:00

Did you know that after a snow, people in South Dakota still go about their daily lives? Seriously. The world is covered in white and people are grocery shopping and going to work like it’s no big deal.

I kind of wondered why everyone shoveled their driveways and sidewalks the very first morning after a snow (I thought they were just really involved in neighborhood beautification)… did you know that if you don’t, the snow forms ice? and makes it twice as difficult to shovel later?

Rob’s battery died this morning and he exchanged it for a new one at the local Wal Mart. The guy there noted the “s” at the end of the serial number… did you know they sell batteries for southern and northern climates? Rob worked at a battery store in Texas and had no idea. Now Rob’s battery has a 800 crank capability, rather than the southern’s 600.

We’re learning fast.

Juxtaposition

2010-12-20T11:35:00.001-07:00

Renovating a home means that any non-under-construction area becomes a staging area for the project. Plus, when it’s freezing in the garage, these are some of the scenes in our house this weekend. (Note: none of these were staged in any way, this is actually the chaos in which we live now).

We haven’t eaten on our dining room table for months.

The living room requires the grace of an ice dancer to navigate.

Dirty dishes sit next to the mortar stirrer and dish gloves stained with furniture stain on the kitchen counter.

Yes, that’s paint thinner. The health inspector would SO shut us down.

The drill rests next to our breakfast and further down some tile grout visits with the butter dish.

And the tile saw hangs out in the basement with the washer dryer. Wait, that looks kind of normal compared…

But, here is what we accomplished this weekend!

These all got their final coats of primer and polyurethane. The nightstands are ready for assembly and the cabinets are ready for paint.

Nightstands

It got a little sunny on Saturday, so we took the opportunity to polish the concrete countertop outside (it slings water so outside is the best option, but we have done it in the garage before).

Even though it was sunny, the water droplets quickly formed ice on our clothes and icicles dripped from the two-by-fours. Rob rushed inside after each polishing pad to thaw his hands and I changed the pads and managed the water. It was cold, but the countertop is beautiful!

And finally! We tiled the shower!!! And I LOVE it!! It will look SO good with the rest of the bathroom we have planned! I went with simple ceramic subway tiles and am so pleased! (that’s green tape around the edge to protect it from the wall mud).

Rob demonstrated greater skill with the trowel and I really enjoyed the tile saw – so we made a great team with me cutting tiles as Rob laid the mortar.

I also am a little proud of the awesome work here around the shower valve. Tiling a shower took a lot longer than we expected, but we feel very accomplished!

Today is planned to texture the ceiling and walls. Then, we can really get to work finishing the bathroom!

More Changes

2010-12-20T11:32:00.001-07:00

The military really helps me to live in the present. Enjoying each moment is a tough lesson for many to learn, but the military gives me plenty of opportunities to relish in the present.

Our plans have changed. Earlier, before we made Christmas plans, Rob’s boss told him his training dates. We made plans. Later, they found his name on some paperwork and he is to report first thing in the morning on December 27, smack dab in the middle of our planned Christmas vacation. Oh well.

Therefore, we fly to Atlanta on Christmas Day (cheapest tickets and least busy day to fly) and stay until mid-January.

Personally, I’m not very affected. I hope that doesn’t mean I’m callous. I’m of course sad to miss the opportunity to see people over Christmas, but as far as the holiday goes, I relish every time I get to see family and friends. It certainly doesn’t have to be tied to a certain time of year…

Instead, Rob and I get to celebrate Jesus’ birth together, uniting the two of us in deeper ways. And I’m overjoyed to be able to go to Atlanta and stay there while he trains! We’re renting an apartment and I plan on reading books, crocheting, cooking, shopping, and doing lots of yoga! I’m completely stoked about my vacation!

Mid-January, we come back to South Dakota (Rob only for a few days) and we’ll live in the present when it gets here.

In this busy holiday season my yoga instructor side strongly advises you to take a moment today and simply breathe, not thinking about all the things still to be done, but just 2-5 full breaths in the present.

Continuing the Renovation!

2010-12-14T11:00:00.001-07:00

We scraped the popcorn off the ceiling and realized it’s not that hard and we could have easily done it in the bedrooms. Oh well. They look fine. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not easy, but it’s not hard.

We taped plastic drop cloths up to the edge of the ceiling, wet the ceiling with a sprayer (we used the weed killer sprayer – rinsed out, of course), and scraped the popcorn off with the nifty scraper we bought at Lowe’s (it has an attachment to hold a bag so that when you scrape it falls into the bag). Cleanup was a breeze as we simply rolled up the plastic and threw the whole pile away.

We took out the tub, took down the tub surround, took out the toilet, fixed the squeaky subfloor, sanded the edges of the walls, and took all the trash to the dump.

Rob did some pretty awesome plumbing work! That’s right, he soldered and used the torch and everything! There was only one fire and it was quickly put out…

We’re both excited about the height of the new showerhead!

We laid hardie backer on the floor and got ready for the tub. It took a pretty long time to get here, but Rob was really excited about a cast iron tub for its strength and I like the heat retention.

A little praise for Northwestern Pipe Fittings in Rapid City, SD. Even though we’re not a fancy customer or big-time homebuilder, they delivered the 300-pound to our house! It took three guys to get it up the half-flight of stairs, but it was standing up in the bathroom before Rob got home!

Then, just a quick call to another B-1 guy (whose piano Rob helped move) got the tub into position!

This is the tile arrangement I’m thinking of doing – what do y’all think? Read below for my dilemma about shower tiles.

I really like subway tiles. Well, I really like glass subway tiles (not see-through or anything, but smooth and light-reflecting, with kind of a vintage feel). Subway tiles are the long rectangular ones, for those of you who don’t watch HGTV…

Option 1 – white glass subway tiles. Expensive!! But, so pretty! Do rectangles mix with the squares I have, though??

http://www.modwalls.com/3x6subway.aspx

Option 2 – white ceramic subway tiles. Much cheaper. Still cool. Rectangles with all the squares on the floor?

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/bathroom/5-bathrooms-with-subway-tile-096561

Option 3 – white ceramic square tiles. Cheapest. Nice. Plain. Would squares-with-squares appeal to a wider audience for resale potential?

http://decorating.visitacasas.com/ceramic-tiles-for-bathroom-walls/

Decisions, decisions.

Our next step is to texture the ceiling and walls, install the new bathroom fan (and vent it outside the house, rather than into the attic…), lay the heating pad, tile the floors, tile the walls, paint, add trim, and put everything back in. Get excited!!

And here’s an in-process picture of the nightstands we’re building! Straight out a a West Elm catalog… via Ana White inspiration.

Before, After, and During

2010-12-01T07:17:00.001-07:00

Before and Afters for your enjoyment

Before

After

Before

After

Before

During

I LOVE DEMO! It is so gratifying! While Rob was at work, I relished in knocking the tiles off the walls and adored the sound they made as I hit them with the chisel and they “chink chink ker CHUNK” fell onto the floor! Rob relished in placing a hole where the new shower head would be – MUCH higher than it’s current “duck-your-head-to-shower” position!

While the furnace was being replaced, the workmen marveled as I brought down the sink, shower doors, and countertop.

We moved the old cabinet out and I realized how awesome Rob’s cabinetry work is!! He is AMAZING! I can’t wait to show off the finished product and say, “my husband MADE that!”

I began to pry up the floor (after I used my buddy the shopvac and cleared out the debris). The vinyl was coming up without much problem, but the 1/4” plywood it was glued to did NOT come up without a fight.

And this pile of debris in the living room has tripled in size since this photo and I only have one more trip to the landfill until I get another water bill. (I didn’t know I only got one per bill until AFTER I took two loads of styrofoam in my car! Oops!)

AND…

Here’s the concrete countertop! We (Rob) used our new concrete polisher (he had been using an angle grinder while we were still experimenting because it’s cheaper, but now we’re into the big time!) And the polisher is SMOOOTH! Rob was just gliding across the piece – thank you Moores for the polisher!

Before grinding

During

And After

We even made a backsplash!

And this piece is truly “green” too! We used sand made from glass acquired at the recycling center, broken glass from our own house, broken granite salvaged from a countertop place, a shell from the beach in Florida, and rocks picked up while hunting here in South Dakota!

The next step is to slurry the piece, filling in any holes or uneven surfaces. Then, a week of curing. Then, a really nice polish until it SHINES!

By that time, we hope to have the ordered cast iron tub installed (crossed fingers that we can maneuver it into place!), the new cabinet installed and painted, the floor tiled, and the new walls up.

I’m really hoping we get it done before Rob has to leave! I don’t want to live 9 months with a half-finished bath!

Brrrr!!!

2010-11-23T08:27:00.001-07:00

Okay, the cold has hit. And I’m having plenty of moments that reveal me instantly as a cold virgin.

I continued to wear my Texas winter clothing (layers and a cute sweater coat with cowboy boots) on Sunday as it dipped into the teens and started snowing. That was stupid.

I woke up on Monday morning to 3 inches of snow outside and realized that my denial of actually living in a cold climate had prevented the purchase of a snow shovel. Thankfully, South Dakota neighbors are kind and one shoveled the walk of the poor Texans. Rob brought home a snow shovel last night.

I’m learning that scarves, hats and gloves hold a very essential purpose in the keeping of warmth. I kind of thought they were just cute winter accessories. Don’t laugh. I really did think that.

My brain doesn’t fathom the single digits on my kitchen window thermometer… especially in conjunction with the fact that I know it runs warm, being on the window. Can. Not. Fathom.

Along those lines, my phone tells me it’s negative four right now. NEGATIVE four. Uh. What??

Rob took my car on Monday as it was the first “on the roads” snow and we don’t know how his two-wheel drive truck will do. As a result, I didn’t leave the house all day, too scared to drive his truck. Get over it, McKay.

Rob will be getting some sandbags for the back of his truck as we’ve been told they help the back end from sliding around. I continue to be amazed by the things cold weather dwellers say as if it’s standard procedure “…if you wash your car make sure you dry the weather stripping because it can freeze together and seal you in or out…” what??

In defense of the cold, it is very pretty. It’s very dry and fluffy and kind of drapes everything in winter decorations. Like spray snow in the windows of Texas retailers. Only better.

I think there’s something to this “dry cold” too. If you’re just going from house to car to business, you don’t have to dress for the arctic – you can dress for a regular Texas winter and it actually doesn’t feel as cold as the Texas winter! Amazing to me that lower temps can feel less cold…

Apparently that style that people from Colorado wore in Texas – that whole “I just got in from hiking… wearing my North Face fleece and gore-tex hiking boots…” lame… is not just a style. And apparently, I need to wear that… because those people look warm.

I’ll keep updating you on the cold front… he he. Just in case any Texas decide to relocate to the “tropics of the north” – yea that’s Rapid City – because it’s a milder winter than most northern areas… milder…

In Non-House News

2010-11-15T15:07:00.001-07:00

We enjoyed one of the last warm Rapid City days by fishing at Canyon Lake on the other side of town.

I got some great shots of Gus while we enjoyed the serenity and sun.

In backyard news, Gus alerted us to the presence of a rather large buck right outside our fence!

Sorry, I didn’t get great pictures – you’ll just have to trust me that he was really close!

I was in love with this beautiful barn on the outskirts of town and, wonderful husband that I have, Rob noticed that they were starting to tear it down. He actually stopped and asked about the structure and got permission to take some wood. So, a couple afternoons last week, we went out and salvaged some barn wood!

And my totally amazing husband built this oh-so-awesome work table with the wood!

Plugging-in News

2010-11-15T14:50:00.001-07:00

And continuing with news, I’m teaching yoga!!!!

Roots Yoga Studio (www.blackhillsroots.com) has one of the nicest (well, no THE nicest) yoga spaces I’ve ever been in! The room is huge! Plus, they have an amazing child care room, massage rooms, locker rooms, and they’re still adding amenities! And even cooler, their prices are GREAT! It’s just $30 a month for unlimited yoga! Holy cow! And drop-in classes are just $7.50! They even have scholarships and work study if you can’t afford to pay for yoga! I’m very excited to be helping to promote such a great studio!

Plus… as a teacher, my yoga is FREE!!!! What a deal! I shall no longer pour my yoga income right back into yoga! PLUS… yoga for my SPOUSE is free too!! Yea, Rob hasn’t cashed in on any yoga yet, but maybe… someday… he’ll rock his downward facing dog…

So, if you’re ever in South Dakota I highly recommend Roots Yoga!

And… we’ve found a church! We’ve decided to plug in at Fountain Springs Community Church. Plus, they have a small group that meets on Sunday nights! Answer to prayer! Plus, it already has some people we know and like in it! Super awesome! We like the church and are looking forward to plugging in!

So, lots of news from the South Dakota front! On the weather front, it got COLD! It’s in the 30s and 40s this week. I’ve discovered, though, that when the sun is out, it’s not that bad! Yea, I know! Weird. I could actually walk to the mailbox in a long sleeve cotton tee at 40 degrees and it wasn’t shockingly cold! Maybe there’s something to this “dry cold” after all… But of course today is overcast and a little more miserable. I’m glad I don’t have to be outside.

Bedrooms done!

2010-11-15T14:13:00.001-07:00

We are finally done with the upstairs bedrooms! It took a little longer because we decided to paint the doors and trim a higher gloss. Trim should always always be HIGH gloss! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! And our doors are now semi-gloss.

Plus, we installed new fans,

put up the new blinds,

re-hung the doors,

and did final touch-ups

In all, we’re very pleased with how they came out!

Some of my favorite things:

the way Rob oohs and aahhs when he walks on the luscious carpet in the green room.

the colors of the rooms – very happy!

the airy-ness of the blue room (the color is actually called “Distant Valley” and it’s kind of a blue-green-grey)

the carpet in the blue room is perfect for yoga, using my yoga towel!

the fans are great! They provide plenty of clearance, without compromising air circulation – they’re specially designed for lower ceilings! Plus, they’re so pretty!

the white trim – thanks for helping me decide! I think if we’d kept much wood, it would have still been stuck in the 70s (not bad, but I like the fresh new look of white trim).

the doorknobs that we got at auction for a measly $10! They are beautiful and I love the lever handle! Plus, with new hinges and striker plates, they make it look like a new house!

Currently, Rob has almost all his pieces cut for building the bathroom cabinet. We might start putting some of it together today. Then, we can make the mold for the concrete countertop (which will be awesome, by the way!) and start that (it takes about 4 weeks to cure).

Today, I need to clean out the garage of the old carpet (anyone know where to recycle carpet? I hate to just take it to the land fill… such a pity). And asap I will start to move our bedroom to the green room! Yay!!!!

DIY Galore

2010-11-05T10:01:00.001-06:00

The carpet upstairs is being installed TODAY!!!! I’m SOOO excited!!! I’m sure amazing pics will be soon. But for now, this what we’ve been doing:

ripping up carpet – So fun! Rob would come home to find a big pile of carpet and padding by the front door.

prying away baseboards and door casings – I rocked this baby out! Plus, I removed ALL the staples from the floor, vacuumed (with my new best friend - mr, shopvac) and removed more staples.

removing and prepping doors – also done while Rob was at work!

spackling

sanding

caulking – I know of no one better at this than Rob! Major skills!

re-texturing – whoa! getting high now! better open a window.

priming – SO much to primer! doors, casings, closets…

choosing paint colors – this is my method – happily Lowe’s is not stingy with their paint samples!

grinding – we took a break to grind the sample pieces for the bathroom countertop and decide what the final product would have in it – glass sand recycled from Abilene’s recycle center, white quartz, black granite, and a shell accent all in white cement for our black and white bathroom! No final pic yet, as they’re still with slurry.

renting a paint sprayer (Rob’s skills as a painter have come in handy a LOT!)

painting doors – with the sprayer! So fast!

painting ceilings – again with the sprayer and wicked fast! We decided not to deal with the popcorn in the bedrooms as it wasn’t that bad and I didn’t want to wear myself out scraping popcorn before I tackled the main floor…

painting trim – paint sprayer rental is SO worth it!!

painting walls – color is BEAUTIFUL! No more dingy white for me!!!!

cutting and installing baseboards and casing (again, Rob is AMAZING!) His first time installing trim and he made it look super easy! But of course, the miter saw and nail gun helped a lot!

changing electrical switches – white is better than ugly cream/brown that was in every rental I lived in!

pulling wiring for the fan and light – attics are hot! Even in fall!

more caulking

more spackling

more painting

more vacuuming

and right now… carpet guys are here!!!! Can’t wait for the finished product!!!!

Some pics in progress:

Carpet going in! I’m in love with our paint colors! And that white trim! MMm!

Renovation: the Beginning

2010-10-25T20:44:00.001-06:00

I finally was able to rearrange the basement enough to accommodate moving more stuff down there without creating too much chaos. Determined to start demolition soon, I moved the stuff from the upstairs bedrooms into the basement. I was almost ready to rip up the carpet when Rob wanted to postpone the carpet ripping for a while.

What?? Why?? You want to stare at the 70s shag a little longer? You don’t want to walk on bare boards? Why postpone?

He had to cave as I was holding my awesome prybar at the ready: “LeeAnn is coming for a visit – it was a surprise.”

WHAT?? LEEANN!! Holy cow! That’s AWESOME! What a great surprise! And a GREAT reason to postpone demolishing the guest room!

So, my VERY good friend and rockin’ former roommate arrived the next morning with her beautiful baby daughter and we were able to spend a few days catching up face to face. *sigh* so nice!

NOW… the blue shag has become my vanquished foe! muah hah hah!

It put up a really good fight at the end. Rolling and moving carpet is surprisingly difficult! But, it’s down the stairs and ready to be moved into the garage (that is… when Rob gets home).

And let me just say, demolition is so rewarding!! I might like it better than cleaning! You get to see such a big difference in such a short amount of time. Plus, you’re getting rid of something you didn’t want to be there and making way for something you’ve been looking forward to for months… yea, it’s awesome.

We have also made the forms and poured our sample concrete pieces for the bathroom countertop. Both of us have different ideas about what will look good with our black tile we got at the auction, so we decided to make two sample pieces in the size of a bedside tabletop. Each of us designed our piece to exhibit our ideas for the countertop AND we can use them later as bedside tables!

We just poured them last night, so they’re not interesting to look at yet… Maybe next week we’ll do some grinding (so to speak) and reveal the aggregates.

We rearranged the greenhouse, taking out the bottom shelf on one side so we could fit the larger potted plants. The matsuma orange, fig, and pepper plants have been very happy now.

We also got the worms into their new (clean!) home. Plus, we added a light rope for some additional heat. It comes on at 11pm and shuts off at 6am – yea, there’s a timer in the greenhouse! We also plugged in the heater and set it. But, we don’t know if it works because it hasn’t been below 40 degrees during the day (thank you South Dakota!) But, the plants and worms all seem happy!

And check out the blueberry plants showing off their fall foliage!

And my last home brag: I lit the basement! It is no longer a dreary and, let’s face it - a little bit creepy, place! I ordered a cord with ten sockets and hung paper lanterns on the ceiling. Now, with a flip of a switch, the whole room is lit! It’s WONDERFUL!

Dark

Light

YAY!

I’m going back to finish off the blue shag room! Plunder and pillage!

Adventures in South Dakota

2010-10-25T20:14:00.001-06:00

Here’s Rob on another hunting adventure. I went this time! And took photos. Notice that Rob is wearing orange, per hunting regulations. Yeah, that’s a Hawaiian shirt…

One of the great perks – the beautiful sunset!

Officially addicted, Rob went the next chance he got and brought home this rabbit! I’m preparing to make Hossenfeffer, per the Bugs Bunny cartoon.

Last weekend, we drove through Spearfish Canyon and gazed at the beautiful scenery… the golden aspen leaves, rocky cliffs, and happily running streams.

We also went to the Old Trout Hatchery in Spearfish where we gawked at the GIANT trout through the underwater viewing area – very cool! Rob’s hand is there for comparison.

We’re thinking about getting some trout to put in the future aquaponics system in the greenhouse…

Another hunting adventure! Yes, this is all the same weekend.

Rob got a TURKEY! We were super excited!

And I cooked it per Ina Garten’s guidance by stuffing it with onions, garlic, a lime (she used a lemon, but lime was fine), butter, salt, and pepper. SO easy! And it turned out great! Rob may have to get another turkey tag… delish!

Continuing our South Dakota adventures… this weekend, Rob and I happened upon the Black Hills Kennel Club Dog Show! SO FUN! We’d never been to one before and really had a good time.

I loved walking around auditioning dogs for future family additions. Plus, the owners are more than happy to talk to you about the breed! I love the Saluki and think maybe one down the road, but the Ibizan still stands out as a pretty dog to me – plus it looks a little more substantial and I think can hold its own with a Ridgeback… However, none of their temperaments compare to the Ridgeback (so laid back, chill, and super fun!) We’re sticking with the Ridgies!

We had to take a photo of this! The Golden Retrievers all looked like CLONES! It was like being on the set of Air Bud…

Look! The Shaggy Dog from the movie!

Poodles galore!

And we think Rob’s grandmother should show the yorkies she has now… look how fun it looks! :-)

Dog Show. Fun and FREE entertainment! Highly recommended.

Another Reader Advice One

2010-10-21T17:18:00.001-06:00

Since you were SO helpful with the painting trim question – thank you so much! I’m giving you another advice solicitation.

So, after looking at more pictures and reading reviews, I’m about 55/45 for Brazilian Walnut wood floors for the living/dining room. The other choice we like is Brazilian Koa (tigerwood).

The Koa is beautiful, but I’m worried it’s too “interesting” for this house and might affect resale with its “uniqueness.” It’s also a little softer than the Walnut and I figure that’s a factor with Gus’ nails and if we rent the house in the future.

What I’m concerned about is this:

Rob likes the 5” planks and I think I do too… except…

Here’s some photos of the 5” walnut.

I worry that with the wider planks, as in the bottom two photos, the random dark piece and the random light piece will be too obvious.

If it’s in a 3 1/4” width, I think those variations will blend more into the whole. Here’s a 3 1/4” width.

And for your option to chime in, here’s the Brazilian Koa, which I think is SO pretty and so “me”, but I know that my taste doesn’t necessarily sell a house… plus, I do really like the walnut…

So… what do you think??

Need Reader Help

2010-10-15T07:58:00.001-06:00

Okay, I need your help.

We’re finishing the planning stages of the upstairs bedrooms and new blinds are part of that plan. My question is:

Should I paint the trim around the windows?

Pros:

It would give the rooms a fresh, clean look.

It would go better with the white 2” vinyl blinds that I like.

It would go better with the more contemporary style I’m going for in the remodel.

Cons:

Wood is easier to keep it looking clean.

Painting trim is more work than not painting trim.

This wood trim is ALL OVER THE HOUSE. If I paint these two rooms, where would it stop?

Would painted trim look okay with wood doors? Would I end up painting the doors?

I hope you can see my dilemma. Please help! I go in circles when I think about this and I’m getting dizzy!

Good Advice

2010-10-14T09:43:00.001-06:00

My great friend, Rebecca, gives really good advice. Having recently done a big remodel on a 70s house bought from a member of the older generation, she had loads of good advice. But this tidbit is the most profound of all.

Remember that this is not your dream house.

She is so wise. This week, I had to give up on my dream of radiant floor heating throughout the house. *sigh*. I know some of you are saying, well, duh! But, I just really thought it could happen with us replacing the flooring anyway… but we finally got some real numbers and those, combined with the extra stuff we were thinking about (moving the basement arrangement, raising the door frames, re-ducting the A/C…), it just wasn’t feasible.

I’m pretty comfortable with it now. I’m no longer worried our renovations might price us out of our market. Plus, I’m comfortable with the skill level of all the DIY projects remaining. But, one day…

As a compromise, I will be getting radiant heat in the bathrooms (with those electrical pads that don’t raise the floor and look super easy to install!).

We’re almost done with the planning stages and might start on some demo upstairs soon… !!!

In the meantime, we’ve been renovating the greenhouse. We’re cleaning it out and preparing it to hold the potted plants for the winter. Rob also is figuring out how he wants to do the aquaponics (we plan to have a fish tank! – fresh fish, anyone?)

As part of that process, yesterday we did one of the more disgusting things either of us has ever done. In an effort to rid ourselves of the gross, yet effective composters – the maggots – we took on a daunting task.

We separated the worms from the maggots. Hands covered in muck, Rob imagined that this was one of those gross medieval era jobs – picking worms from the muck. It really wasn’t that bad until we got down to the details. Worried (and rightly so) that baby maggots would be impossible to separate without washing the worms, we each took a handful of worms and slowly and methodically rinsed them, picking out the clean worms and placing them in their new home.

It took about two hours.

Later that night, when I closed my eyes, the picture etched into my eyelids was that of a writhing ball of earthworms wriggling in my hand. I guess the experience was a little traumatizing…

You should be glad we didn’t take pictures.

But here’s one of our first ideas to separate the worms:

We thought if we put a handful of worms in water, they would swim to the top and we could easily transfer them cleanly.

They did not.

But hopefully now we’ll have a much more pleasant compost bin!

Hunting and Gathering

2010-10-12T10:31:00.001-06:00

Saturday, Rob went on his first pheasant hunt! It was opening weekend for residents of South Dakota and we were both itching for him to “bring home some bacon.”

He got his three (three per day) and here they are!

He plucked them while I prepped the kitchen sink and counter to receive raw meat. It wasn’t as hard to prepare the birds as I’d thought! Great!

Gus enjoyed the process too

Last night, I cooked two birds. I cut them into pieces, seared them in a pan and placed them in the crock pot along with…

fresh carrots from the farmers market

chopped potato

fresh onion, picked that morning from a friend’s garden

garlic

one can of cream of mushroom soup

and season to taste

After being on high for about 5 hours, the meat fell off the bone!

Some modifications for next time…

I think I shall de-skin them for the crock pot. There were a few half-feathers left on the skin that neither of us enjoyed not being able to easily remove (as the meat fell apart due to its awesome tenderness).

I shall definitely add more seasoning. The pheasant flavor was good – like quality dark meat chicken, but not flavorful enough to stand as I had it with very little seasoning.

I am so glad hunting season is upon us! I love cooking food that I know where it came from!

A note on seasonal cooking:

I LOVE cooking with the seasons – I cook in the summer with lots of fresh veggies, berries, herbs. Autumn is thanksgiving-ey food with late-season veggies, green beans, squash, pumpkins, cinnamon, getting a little heavier on the meat. Winter has more meat, using canned veggies, potatoes, stews, chilis, and lots of baked desserts. And spring gives me leafy greens and the beginnings of summer.

I think the body actually needs more of what “cooking for the season” gives. For instance, in summer, we need foods that give us energy and are served fresh. And in winter, we crave stews with meat and carrots and potatoes… roughly. Plus, it makes each season’s food that much more exciting when it’s time!

Right now, South Dakota is in it’s summer produce season (weird, I know). The farmers market has lots of tomatoes, zucchini, and peppers. A little too eager for fall, I bought two pomegrantes from the grocery store to put in my “fall” dinner salad to serve with one of the pheasants.

Some of my produce haul

I also jumped a little into fall with my pumpkin I bought at the pumpkin festival downtown last weekend. I roasted the seeds, steamed the pieces, and pureed the pulp, saving most in the freezer for later. This is what I’ve made so far. Pumpkin cake per Martha Stewart. Tastes of fall!

So… the seasons here follow the actual “seasonal” calendar… the first day of summer is June 22; fall stars on September 22; winter begins December 22; and spring embarks on March 22. I know, weird.

Just a comparison for those of you who’ve never lived in the great state of Texas… these are the season I grew up with…

Spring is the beautiful months of March and April when the bluebonnets grow and the weather is perfect! Summer is May through most of October. There’s inevitably a cold front around Halloween that makes your super cute costume unwearable. There’s maybe a few days of fall mixed into October and November. Then, it jumps back and forth from cold and warm until January. Then, winter in January and February. And that’s a Texas season!

Now you can imagine my shock at the realization of what fall is! All those cute clothes in the fall catalogs that I always thought were so impractical are not! A three-quarter sleeve jacket would be totally appropriate in this weather where the shade is 50s and the sun is 70s. Who knew? Not me.

Enjoy your fall, wherever you may be!

Rearranging, the Genesis

2010-10-12T09:49:00.001-06:00

In the beginning, I unpacked the boxes and reduced the magnitude of cardboard in the garage.

And I saw the light, that it was good and I divided the recyclable materials from the household goods.

The unpacking stage complete (well, mostly), I took on the task of rearranging.

Taking more easily-defined spaces first, the first day I rearranged the shed. I took everything out and used my new shopvac (which I LOVE, by the way!) and sucked up all the spiderwebs and dirt. Then, I put everything back in the shed in a more organized fashion. And I saw that it was good.

The second day, I rearranged the garage (for the second time), moving everything out (everything I could carry, that is!), vacuuming and putting “garage stuff” back in the garage. Of course, there’s still some stuff in there that’s doesn’t “go” in the garage, but it shall find a place one day.

The third day, I attempted the basement. A less-defined space, I only completed the utility room. After emptying and vacuuming, I left laundry room items and dog items, along with sodas and paper towels.

That is where I’ve stopped. The rest of the basement is filled with chaos - without form, and void of awesomeness. Even with my totally nifty (made them MYSELF!) storage cubes (Ana White’s website is wonderful! She makes everything so accessible and simple!), I cannot overcome the chaos.

I have discovered I lack storage in the form of items of furniture. I didn’t know! Apparently, that’s where people put their random items… Anyway, I am almost certain that these cubes are my ticket to organization. I never know what kind of space I’ll be living in next year, so why buy huge wall-covering storage pieces? Well, with these, I can stack them tall, wide (for a bench), make a cube… lots of ideas! And no big wall required! I only made three to start, but if I like them as much as I think I will, I will be making more (maybe some bigger ones to store larger items…).

Anyway, here’s some pics of us using our new table saw and nail gun (SO easy to use!! LOVE it!!). (We are planning building our own kitchen cabinets, thus the woodworking purchases).

What a Weekend!

2010-10-06T13:02:00.001-06:00

Well, I’ll begin by showing off my latest DIY project. I changed our old mailbox! I ordered more interesting vinyl numbers off the internet, took a big chunk of my day unscrewing the old rusted screws, found a new base from our scrap wood, cut it to size with our new table saw, and attached the platform and new mailbox to the post! Simple, but not quick.

Old mailbox

New mailbox!

We’ve been checking out surplus building materials from places where we’ve been shopping – carpet remnants, tile rejects, etc. We got a tip about the Black Hills Homebuilders Association Auction this past weekend. I went Friday to scope it out. It looked promising.

So… Saturday we went at 9 for the beginning of the auction and found they wouldn’t be getting to the stuff we wanted for a few hours. So… we went to the Downtown Pumpkin Festival!

Now, I’m really sorry, but we forgot the camera at home so we didn’t get pictures of the Giant Pumpkin Contest (they were HUGE – huge like 1200 pounds huge!), the inspiring farmers market, the free samples of delicious sausage (bought spicy breakfast and Czech), the daschund races, the beer garden, and the many locals in t-shirts for the chilly yet sunny weather. It was great fun!

At noon-ish, we went back to the auction. And yet again, I love Rob’s many skills! He really is very very skilled at so many things! He is really skilled at auctions! We didn’t get some of the stuff we were interested in, but what we did get… man oh man! We got some GREAT deals!!!

Our first purchase was a bathroom exhaust fan and light (with a free one thrown in) for $30. Not a crazy good deal, more like “on sale at Lowe’s.”

Our next was a Moen shower faucet and bath fixture, with valves. It’s WAY nicer than the ones at Lowe’s – heavy in your hand and everything! Plus, a really nice design. Now, we checked online and it retails for $557. We got it for $80! oh YEA!

Getting excited now at the cheapness of stuff that we wanted (and apparently others weren’t interested in), I picked up a box of 7 doorknobs (the ones in our house are all different!) for $10. These retail around $40 each set.

Rob got a water pump for the aquaponics system we have planned for the greenhouse for $10. It’s meant to be a hot tub water pump and is super nice!

Then, the tile was up! Oh boy! We prioritized and made our plan. Our first two choices went for much higher than we were willing to pay. When some nice black tile went up, we decided to bid and maybe make a black and white bathroom (always classic)… we got our future upstairs bathroom floor for $40!

We plan on mixing the bigger tile with the smaller matching ones to cover the floor.

The last one is our best deal yet! There was some very pretty slate that I was just wanting to see what it went for. When no one was really interested, we got this for the future kitchen (plenty at over 100 sq.ft) for $40! I am falling more and more in love with it every time I see it. Some of the pieces remind me of a sunset. Plus, it’ll look great with the concrete countertops we have planned!

In all, it was a VERY successful weekend! And I’m happy that our remodel budget is happy too! Now, if radiant floor heat was just cheaper…

First Impressions

2010-09-27T11:40:00.001-06:00

So… Rapid City is nice! Although South Dakota greeted us much like Abilene did with a cold front our first morning; right now it’s in the 70s and sunny. I’m loving it!

People are super friendly here! I’d venture to say even more friendly than Texas (well, parts of Texas…) It’s so nice – someone will just start talking to you in line at the grocery store and our neighbors introduce themselves and everything!

The leaves change! Yeah! This is one of the plants in our front yard.

Things that make me worried

When people say, “The way your house is situated shouldn’t be too bad for the snow drifts.”

When people talk about the “heat wave” that’s come through – 80s and sunny… uh-oh

DIY projects already under our belt as new homeowners!

Changing the plug on the dryer from 4-prong to 3.

Raising the range we bought on craigslist with 2X4s so it will fit over the kitchen counter. (yea, those are brownies… yum)

Figuring out the range we bought on craigslist was configured for propane when we hooked it up to our gas (the new parts are on order).

This is as far as the new range slides in (the house didn’t come with a range), but we like this one a lot anyway.

Painting the horribly dingy downstairs bathroom a bright white – it looks SO much better!

Spray painting the salvaged table leg our concrete table top sits on – it looks SO much better too!

Overall

As you can see, I’m still living in chaos. I have emerged from the sea of cardboard and discovered my storage solutions are minimal at best – I never bought furniture – why, when you don’t know what kind of space you’ll be living in next year? So, I might be building some shelves or a cabinet or two… we’ll see.

We’ve also been shopping around for the renovations we’ve planned – wood flooring, carpet, tile, cabinets, countertops, sinks, fixtures, and more. I’m amazed at how much some things cost (carpet) and pleased at others (tile on sale). We’re still planning, making sure everything will work out and work together.

In the meantime, here’s some pictures of the house coming together.

Moving to Rapid City

2010-09-27T09:59:00.001-06:00

Actually, the word “moving” does not accurately describe our military moves. Rob asked me recently why I refer to our military moves as “PCS-s” around non-military folk so often. When I thought about it, an avid appreciator of diction and using precise language to express oneself, I had the answer…

We aren’t just “moving.” “Moving” denotes an election – a choice to change houses, jobs, cities, etc. I’ve moved plenty (especially those college years) and “moving” just doesn’t cut it when it comes to the event that is a “PCS.” Of course there’s always a choice in life… in this case it happens to be move or go to jail.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to complain about PCSing. I happen to love the adventure of new places and experiences. Plus, the fact that all my stuff is packed and moved for me makes it even nicer! I just want to be clear – I use the word PCS to describe a little more precisely the event we undertake. I love diction.

ANYWAY, this PCS began like any other… packers packing, movers moving, etc. We rented a U-Haul to move some of our more special items and the stuff we’d need when we got to the house (cleaning supplies, etc.) The trailer looked a little something like this (you’ve got to be crazy to think I’m leaving my potted plants!)

We took the route through Albuquerque, NM so as to have the privilege of visiting our super cool friends. Everything was going smoothly until this happened.

Yea, the transmission on the truck decided it had had enough. I guess climbing a vertical mile from Abilene pulling a fairly heavy trailer is no day at the spa.

This event occurred at approximately 5:47pm on a Friday afternoon. Our Droid phones paid for themselves with our being able to google information about mechanics and tow trucks and where in the world we were! God blessed us with a truly amazing mechanic who happened to be working on a Friday after 5pm! Really, this guy is awesome! If you ever are broken down near Albuquerque, I HIGHLY recommend Don at East Mountain Auto and RV Repair! Seriously. We love him.

Don checked our transmission on Saturday morning and found parts of the transmission in the pan when he took it off. Uh oh. So… how to keep to the original plan of closing on the house MONDAY and all our stuff getting delivered MONDAY or else being sent to storage (ugh). Don actually suggested it (he’d had lots of experience with travelers breaking down climbing the New Mexican mountains) – renting a car! Of course!

So, after getting a bonus day hanging out with our friends, we rented a VERY fuel efficient Chevy Cobalt (seriously, we put 1,816 miles on it and filled up 5 times!) and drove the whole way to Rapid City.

We arrived Sunday night at midnight and woke up early to close on the house. Then, we immediately met the movers so they could unload. Then, we immediately began unpacking.

THEN, we drove BACK to Albuquerque on Tuesday (about 14 hours) and stayed some more bonus days with our friends until the transmission was repaired. Rob got a whole new one from the factory with a warranty and everything. Don’s prices are really good too! But even with good prices, all the money that we would have made moving our own stuff doesn’t pay for the total repair cost. wah-wah.

Thursday, we picked up the truck and trailer and began our trip BACK to Rapid City. We stopped the night in Denver and continued Friday the rest of the way. Saturday, we returned the U-Haul (a full 5 days late) and praise the Lord! the guy didn’t charge any extra days! Whew! PLUS, USAA will reimburse us the cost of the tow (because that kind of thing is included in our insurance and we didn’t know). Horaay!

Anyway, I’m currently drowning in a sea of cardboard trying to unpack and with each box having a conversation in my head that goes something like this:

Me: Where should I put this? I want everything to be organized…

Me: Seriously?? Just put it somewhere! You have to unpack everything anyway. You can rearrange later!

Me: But wouldn’t it be so nice if I didn’t have to rearrange later? If only I could find the perfect place for it now…

Rob: How come the mixer is still in the middle of the floor?

Me: Are you still wasting our time with this! Just put it somewhere! Anywhere! Do it. Do it now!

Me: Okay! Fine. Here. Are you happy now?

And it continues with the next box. I shall be rearranging for years.

And here’s some pics of our epic road trip…

New Mexico back roads

Colorado

And Wyoming at sunset

And South Dakota on the way BACK to New Mexico at sunrise

Where We’re Gonna Live

2010-08-27T11:00:00.001-06:00

So, I don’t wanna sound like a traitor to Texas or anything, but Rapid City area is PRETTY!

It’s sandwiched between the Badlands (which aren’t that bad) and the Black Hills. Mount Rushmore is about 20 minutes away, the little towns around are really cute, and there’s different rallies all summer – we were there for Sturgis Bike Week, there’s also Corvettes, and many others. Very fun!

The Badlands

We stayed at our friend’s empty house before they moved in and saw LOTS of these bucks just walking around in the yards.

We drove out to Sturgis to check out Bike Week! There were 800,000 bikers in the areas around Sturgis. That actually doubled the population of the STATE!

We drove through the Black Hills with the bikers

We even saw Mount Rushmore! It faces east, so if you come to see it, you should go in the morning…

We drove my car up and flew back so that we could ride in one car when we moved. I love flying standby! The ticket printer at the counter was broken in Rapid City so when we were assigned seats on the plane, the counter guy came over and gave us these hand-written seat numbers! Hilarious!!

With Bike Week, there were lots of celebrities in town! And we saw Axel Rose at the airport!! We don’t have a photo though.

But we were really happy to get our hand-written standby seats!

House Hunting

2010-08-27T10:33:00.001-06:00

Hi ho the merry oh, a House Hunting we go!

Our future home

So last week, er was it three weeks ago? Yikes, I don’t even know! I’m in turbo PCS mode, and it’s seriously cramping my style. But we drove up to Rapid City, SD to do some house hunting for the house that we will plan to live in for the next three years!! Three years!! That is the LONGEST we will have lived in ONE place since we got married! Yea, the loan application part where you have to write your addresses for the last three years was a little ridiculous – we had FIVE. Five.

ANYway, we looked for just two days before we decided to make an offer on TWO homes actually. Our first choice was a dramatic chalet style house on the side of a tall hill with views to swoon over… with a TON of work to be done to it. We had a beautiful vision of it all fixed up, but if you were an unimaginative buyer you would literally run from the three different shag carpets cut together to make a design on the floor in the bathroom, the gold painted shiny wallpaper, the magenta carpet that matched a magenta wall going up two stories… It was going to be GORGEOUS in my head! So we offered way lower than the asking price hoping for a miracle.

Our second choice was where God worked a little subtly. We thought it was fine and good. The backyard is huge (half acre) and there’s already a greenhouse (which is the first thing I wanted to put into our SD home) AND they accepted our first offer! Our reaction should have been to recognize our miracle, but we said, “okay, what about the house on the hill??” …God always has great stuff in mind for us!

The house we’re getting doesn’t REQUIRE work like the other one, and is so much better for us in lots of little ways – while it doesn’t have the wow factor, it has very good bones and the projects we want to do are much more manageable and less necessary.

Thus, we’ve been excitedly researching how to install….

radiant floor heating (since it will need a new furnace and water heater soon and the exhaust goes up through the wall I want to knock down),

wood floors in the living room (because it’s pretty and the floors will already be up anyway),

tile in the kitchen (same reason, plus think about warm toes in the winter… sigh),

new cabinets (while I want to knock down the wall to open the kitchen and built a prep area/breakfast bar, why not?),

concrete countertops (we’ve been practicing!),

and a large master bath (can anyone say steam room?)…

Don’t worry, we’re prepared to get into this life of chaos and do-it-yourself-ing and pretty excited about it, actually. Get ready for some hilarious (and hopefully not too depressing) blog posts about our do-it-yourself adventures. In the meantime, here’s some pics of our future home!

It’s a split level home. You enter onto the main level with living, dining and kitchen. Stairs go up one half floor to two bedrooms and bathroom. Stairs go down one half level to one bedroom, one bath, and a mudroom from the garage (we’ll turn it into a big bathroom). Stairs go down again to the basement with a fireplace, laundry, and space for a guest room. It’s like the basement is under the main floor and the two floors with bedrooms are on top of one another.

The wall is coming down and a breakfast bar is going up!

When you come to visit us (Mt Rushmore anyone?) you can stay on our rockin’ shag carpet!

Your choice of colors! There’s another one that’s brown beyond these two…

Fireplace in the basement – it can also warm the basement through those vents.

Lower level bath that we want to enlarge (a little further down the to-do list)

Greenhouse!!!

Our backyard is LOVELY!

We’re very excited and looking forward to actually being able to make changes in a place we live.

Summer Goodness

2010-07-20T10:37:00.001-06:00

Best summer drink EVER! ever.

Ball or cube a watermelon into the blender (about 2-3 cups worth). Blend. Strain.

Make a simple syrup (1/4 Cup of sugar, 1/4 Cup water – heat on low/medium in pot on stove until liquid is clear).

Add simple syrup to watermelon juice to taste (some watermelons are sweeter than others).

Take fresh basil leaves and pound with ice in a glass (like you would start a mojito).

Pour sweetened watermelon juice over basil and ice. Enjoy.

MORE Summer Goodness! Longview visit!

This is what 30 pounds of blueberries looks like. Fresh picked near Longview, TX! Oh, I have plans, baby! Like my very favorite blueberry cobbler! Recipe to be posted later.

And this is what Gus looks like exhausted from his Longview visit, resting his head on the ice chest filled with 30 pounds of blueberries.

I love summer goodness!

Renegade Yoga II

2010-07-20T10:24:00.001-06:00

The second Renegade Yoga was very different from the first, but I think just as fun! We held the class in the old train yard in the run-down part of Abilene.

The cars had beautiful graffiti and the view was pretty – looking across a green field towards a silver warehouse with a lovely shape as the sun set slowly, literally dimming the light.

Silence was golden as the sounds around us included evening insect noises and a train every so often, reminding us how our life journey is transient and always moving. Although simple, it was wonderfully profound and we might just have to go back!

Rob patrolled the perimeter, making us feel quite a bit safer (just in case, you know) and got some great photos!

Lonesome Dove

2010-07-20T10:12:00.001-06:00

This month marks the 25th anniversary of the Lonesome Dove miniseries. In honor, I read the novel, finally available on the kindle! and really enjoyed it.

McMurty’s strength in writing is his characters – you read on because you become so invested with the characters that you must know what happens to them. It’s really beautiful.

I was so invested, in fact, that when the novel ended, I was SO sad! I wanted more! I wanted to know how the rest of them lived out their lives!

I also had such mixed feelings about the book because lots of horrible things happened to the characters and, like a Wes Anderson movie, each character was brought to his or her basest form. Honestly, half of me wanted to pick the book right back up and re-read it in the hopes that things turned out a little differently.

Some of the things I noticed (and if I were in an English lit class would write an essay about them):

The female characters were very dominant. Most of them bossed their men around and often emasculated them completely. I felt the representation of my sex was very homogenous and a little mean… but maybe the women in the old west were just like that… They married for convenience, free labor, and safety, never love. They used their feminine mystique as power over men. And they made completely illogical decisions! (although I’m aware women do that).

There was very little true love in the novel. A few characters loved the idea of a person or respected one another. There was even very little familiar love - the offspring produced among the characters is for free labor, a burden, unwanted, or rejected.

Most of the men lack intelligence, are scared of women, have irrational fears, and make you wonder how they’ve survived in the frontier this long.

While all these character flaws gave me mixed feelings as a reader, it was still a wonderful novel! These are flaws that exist throughout mankind are a real part of people’s existence.

The overarching theme throughout the novel comes from the Latin motto Augustus McCrae carved on the livery sign in Lonesome Dove: “Uva uvam vivenda varia fit.”

It’s actually mis-written and in its altered form roughly means, “We are changed by the lives around us.” VERY true theme in the novel! In its good and bad. Throughout each character’s journey, he or she is changed by the other lives.

Lonesome Dove is an epic novel and a truly beautiful work of literary art!

Bolla

2010-07-13T12:32:00.001-06:00

We began our experience at Bolla by discovering that valet parking was the only option. As any classy man in Dallas knows, Rob carried a wad of cash for just such occasions… He’s so smart.

We walked through the eye-candy of a hotel lobby and into the restaurant. Booth seating lined the walls and curtains separated the sections from one another . Our section was private for most of our dinner.

Rob looked at the wine list and noted that the domestic reds were all from California. I meant to have a word with the sommelier about that… but he recommended a red from Siciliy citing it’s complex volcanic soil for making it full and well-rounded. Indeed, it was earthy, lighty spicy, and certainly complex – a great compliment to a multi-course dinner.

In Budapest, we had ordered the tasting menu with complimenting wine selections and decided that, while tasty, we enjoyed having one wine we really enjoyed throughout the meal.

I ordered the Bolla-tini and was oh-so-pleased to enjoy a smooth, cold, and tasty quality vodka martini with two olives. Yum.

Rob knows that I don’t need sparkly jewelry or even expensive flowers, but prefer a multi-course menu served over an entire evening prepared by a chef who takes exquisite pride in his/her work.

He had already decided to order me the seven-course tasting menu which consisted of the chef’s choices for the evening and himself the three-course menu. We would, of course, share. Tasting as many dishes as possible is one of the joys of eating an amazing chef’s work!

I had written on our reservation that we were fans of David Bull and celebrating our anniversary. The wonderful chef he is, he came out to our table to greet us and answer any questions we had over the menu. We explained what we were thinking of doing because we wanted to get different dishes. He sent his server out later to tell us he could give us both the seven-course menu with different courses for each of us! While that was super duper nice, we still went with seven and three.

And this is how our meal went:

Both – Amuse Bouche – melon ball with goat cheese other sauces and bite-sized yumminess. I LOVE when I’m at a nice enough foodie place that the chef sends out an amuse bouche!

Rob – Beef Tartare with fried oysters, pickled chantrelle mushrooms, and pommery grain mustard. Delicious! The texture was superb as the beef melted in our mouths hit with the dashes of flavor from the pickled mushrooms and mustard. I don’t think I really noticed the oysters as they blended in nicely with the melty-tender beef. One of our favorites.

McKay – Heirloom Tomato Salad. This one was so good I almost cried! The heirloom tomatoes were picked at the height of freshness and wore their flavor proudly like a tomato should. It was a mix of wedges of yellow and red plus cherry tomatoes of varying shades with a fresh and amazing mozzarella prepared in-house and a concentrated version of balsamic vinegar that all together made something so much more than a regular caprese-style salad! I mean WOW!

McKay – Watermelon-Melon Salad with Crabcake. Such wonderful flavors! David Bull’s food has a wonderful talent of hitting all the parts of a diner’s tongue! That, combined with the wonderful textures he daringly blends, creates a taste experience that leaves one at a loss for words. It’s divine.

Rob – Risotto Cabanara – a Saffron Poached Egg, Applewood Smoked Bacon, and Spring Vegetables. This one was amazing! Who knew simple egg and bacon could be so incredible! The bacon was thick and meaty, the best cut of bacon I’ve ever imagined. The egg, perfectly poached. And a bite with each element combined with whatever amazing sauce was there was heaven in a bite!

McKay – Potato Gnocchi with Artichoke-Tomato Confit, Parsley and Parmesan. In all honesty, I don’t remember much about this dish, except the wonderful pillow-like texture of the gnocchi. It’s like your tongue is bouncing a cloud. I know it was good, because I remember ooh-ing and aah-ing, but the specifics are very fuzzy now. :-)

Both of us! – Roasted Duck Breast with Buttered Spaetzle, Dandelion Greens, and Orange Quark. The chef was so NICE! He brought this out to us himself saying that he really wanted both of us to be able to enjoy this dish! I would write that I love David Bull, but think it may be inappropriate on my anniversary dinner blog. … but I do.

The duck was certainly warranted of the chef’s pride. It’s breast was tender and juicy with a crisp skin (which I think had more to it than just skin). And the sides were perfectly paired to show off the duck while providing complimentary texture, smoothness, and delight. Definitely a winner.

McKay – Quail. Unfortunately, Bolla’s current online menu does not include all the courses we were served and therefore was unable to jog my memory about this course. I’m sure it was amazing, but it’s paled compared to my memories of the other courses. I do still remember his quail dish from Austin’s Driskill Restaurant and know it was mind-blowing and succulent. I have no reason to believe his quail here is anything but.

Rob – Mint Crusted Rack of Lamb with New Potato Pie and Tarragon Peas, Lamb Bacon, and Jus. I think Rob hogged this dish to himself for most of the course. I remember the bacon once again being amazing, yet not imposing its flavor in an overpowering way to the other elements of the dish.

Dessert.

This is where my senses were stumped once again! Included with my tasting menu was the Coffee & Cream Semifreddo – Chocolate Pound Cake, Vanilla Cream, and Espresso Syrup.

My eye had been caught by another item on the dessert menu: the Chocolate Silk Tart – Blood Orange Confit, Salted Caramel, and Chantilly Cream. I asked if I could have that for my seventh course instead and I received both desserts!!! I KNOW! It’s like they know me! More dessert = better!

The Semifreddo was very very good, but the Chocolate Silk Tart simply blew me away! It was PERFECT! Smooth, luscious, rich, the complex flavors emerging at the perfect time – sweet, rich, salty, creamy, gooooood! I would go all the way back for just this one item! Okay, maybe that plus the heirloom tomato salad… Really I love this place!

Oh yea! Rob got the Cheesecake Cannoli for dessert with Berry Confit and Graham Cracker. It wins second prize in our dessert course. Wonderful and creamy, it simply could not compare to the wonder that was the Chocolate Silk Tart.

So, our meal was in a word AMAZING! I loved every second of our dining experience and left with David Bull’s food at Bolla Restaurant as another pinnacle of the foodie search for the amazing meal! Rob loves me so well.

Amarillo Street

2010-07-09T09:22:00.001-06:00

We live on the coolest street ever! Not only is it (I think) the most beautiful street in the city, but our street had its own July 4th parade! We drove back from Dallas in time for the event of the season!

Kids rode bikes

They blocked traffic (not that there’s much anyway) and everyone came out to wave and cheer! Some of our neighbors even play the bagpipes! And they were beautiful!

And all this in the pouring rain!!! Talk about dedication! The rain actually made it a little more fun – huddling under the umbrella waving American flags!

We took the opportunity to visit some more with our neighbors beyond the simple wave and hello. I’m sure that was part of the purpose as well – bringing neighborhoods together! We shared cookies and ate Sharon’s BBQ welcomed to the table by strangers newly turned friends!

What a great way to celebrate Independence Day!

July 4th Weekend/ Anniversary Weekend

2010-07-08T11:09:00.001-06:00

Even though our official anniversary is July 22, we took the four-day weekend opportunity for a little getaway. I had a shopping bug that was really itching badly and a palette anxious for some mind-blowing gourmet dishes… so Dallas we went!

Las Colinas scene – love the juxtaposition!

We left Friday morning and went to the mall first (first things first, you know!) I was searching for the perfect pair of summer sandals (a little gladiator, yet flattering to my feet) and was happy and surprised to find them at Steve Madden: Cute, huh? They come in lots of colors, if you’re interested…

I picked up a candle at anthropologie and LOVE that my house smells like an anthropologie store! *sigh* happiness in a smell.

I oohed and aahed over handbags, but didn’t find one to my liking and we finished our purchasing with some sale items for both of us at Banana Republic.

After a pretty successful day of shopping, we checked into our hotel in Las Colinas. It’s a cute little boutique hotel called NYLO. After I found out it’s name on hotwire (the best hotel rates, by the way!) I read reviews and lots said it was way too loud – so I called and asked for a quiet room and how stringent were they on the 50 pound pet limit… It turns out they’re not that stringent, but when I called Gus’ Abilene vet to update his bordatella shot, it turns out they had space here in Abilene… and I made his reservation. I was a little sad not to take him to Dallas because there’s a number of pet-friendly places there, but we had planned enough times when he wasn’t welcome that I thought it best to leave him here.

ANYway, here’s our hotel – I’d recommend it in Dallas, just ask for a quiet room.

Neat decor in the lobby

We went to dinner at Bolla Restaurant at the Stoneleigh Hotel. My family has been following Chef David Bull since we found him in Austin. Every meal I’d had before our trip to Budapest I’d compared to David Bull’s “It’s good, but not as good as David Bull…” Since the Gundel in Budapest, that’s been my comparison. But NOW, since the dinner we had at Bolla… I don’t know! It’s a tough call! It was AMAZING! I promise to devote a post to our dinner because it is that deserving.

Saturday, I went to the yoga class at Lululemon in the mall and had a lovely time enjoying yoga while Rob jogged around the neighborhood. We had planned on lounging by the hotel pool, but the rain pushed us inside and we went to the movies instead.

We love the cartoon series that inspired the Last Airbender, but were slightly disappointed in the movie. I just thought ol’ M. Night could have done better… I wonder how it would be for someone not familiar with the characters?

We also caught The A-Team and I loved it! They captured the characters very well and it was just wonderful mindless action with a little light-hearted comedy. I love it when a plan comes together!

Saturday, we watched the fireworks from our hotel room which just happened to be facing the right direction and it was lovely!

We visited the Mustangs of Las Colinas and got some great photos…

Sunday, we HAD to eat breakfast at Ozona! We love eating their tasty brunch on the fabulous patio outdoors. We went many times when we were dating in College Station and the only other location is in Dallas. It’s great!

After breakfast, we drove around the nice parts of Dallas just looking around. And we saw this sight which had to be documented…

Yes, that’s a Cadillac on bricks.

Our Dallas weekend was wonderful! And recommended for future travelers!

Coleman Rodeo

2010-06-22T08:37:00.001-06:00

This past weekend, Rob and I went to the rodeo in Coleman, TX – check out the link for more awesome rodeo pictures. Coleman is a little town about 45 minutes outside of Abilene with a population of around 5,000. Rob knows that sometimes smaller towns have better rodeos (not proven wrong by our visit to Coleman!). A very nice lady near the gate gave us some extra tickets she had – so we got to go for free! Even better! We went early so we could see the muttin’ bustin’… What’s muttin’ bustin’? Don’t worry, I had to ask too. Basically, young kids (we’re talking 3-5 years old here!) ride on the back of a sheep for as long as possible. It is hilarious! And I love that a Texas rodeo is one of those places where no one bats an eyelash at letting ones’ tiny child get face planted into the dirt as he or she falls off a sprinting sheep. Yea! (really, I do love that; I’m not being sarcastic).

Rob got some nachos before the bull-riding started (his essential rodeo food) and we settled in to a beautiful night. Coleman’s rodeo had attracted the #3 bull rider in the world, which I thought was pretty cool. No one rode the full 8 seconds, but we did get to see a pretty feisty bull charge the rodeo clown!

I think rodeo clowns must be a little crazy. Or maybe you’re just supposed to think that. But, while the angry bull was staring at him from the other side of the barrel, the clown would stick his hand around one side and then the other side of the barrel to wave at and taunt the bull. “Hey, big sissy! Over here! Now I’m over here! ha ha, what’re gonna do?” The clowns have a mic also for the purpose of joking with the announcer and the audience. Think of it like a little Blue Collar Comedy Tour.

There was even bronc ridin’!

And sumo wrestlin’

More bronc ridin’

And a goat scramble for the kids… Every kid 10 and under climbs over the fence into the arena and lines up (the was a BUNCH of kids!). They release about 10 goats with ribbons tied to them. The kids chase the goats, grab the ribbon, and take it to the announcer for a prize. I wished I was 10.

It was a great rodeo and Rob and I had a wonderful Texas date!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2010-06-15T10:05:00.001-06:00

Ours is getting bigger! Above you can see the orange tree (with two oranges ripening slowly!), the fig tree (scheduled to produce next year), and my beloved blueberries! Vexingly, the birds ate my first tiny harvest!! They waited patiently until the berries were perfectly ripe and *snatch!* I got some bird netting to avoid aviary harvesting on my mid and late season varieties (slowly getting bluer!)

Matsuma Orange

These are our continually growing tomatoes – Beefsteak and Brandywine varieties. A few have tiny green tomatoes…. And the tri-color cherry tomatoes are still monochromatic and green, but looking promising.

This mystery bulb finally flowered and I’m in love! I’m taking some with me to South Dakota – aren’t the cannas pretty?

And our amazing worms have turned table scraps and weeds into beautiful dirt over just two months!! They are AMAZING! We’re putting our scraps into another bin and plan on transferring the worms soon.

And here’s some colorful and tasty fruit of our garden – the first harvest was golden zucchini YUM! We sauteed it with garlic, onions, jalapeno, mushrooms, and green pepper and served it with cheese or hummus in a crepe. Highly recommended. And the more colorful your dinner, the more variety of nutrients and goodness for your body – it’s not just about gorgeous food…

Food

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

So, in case you weren’t aware, Rob and I love food. We search out the most wonderful places to eat and the most wonderful ingredients with which to cook. Here’s some of our most recent foodie adventures.

Mary’s Cafe in Strawn, TX

We read about this one in Texas Monthly’s Bucket List issue (and you should too – there’s places all over Texas to visit, maybe an undiscovered (to you) gem right down the road!) We went with our small group on the way to Lake Granbury, taking a short detour off I-20. Mary’s is known for their chicken fried steaks… quality AND quantity… and that’s what we got!

I do not advise this place when you’re on a diet. Rob and I split some chili cheese fries as an appetizer before this GIANT chicken fried steak. So, did Mary’s deliver? Yes! Expect comfortingly delicious deep fried goodness with every item on the menu. C’mon, you only live once.

The Dixie Pig in Abilene, TX

We drive by the Dixie Pig on our way to and from the farmer’s market on Saturdays and have always wondered (the parking lot is always packed, unlike in this photo). Recently, we visited for a late breakfast after our farmer’s market trip. Decorated with an eclectic pig collection (antique ceramics, clocks, carvings, toys and more) the Dixie Pig serves up classic diner fare – eggs, bacon or sausage, biscuits and gravy, etc. The people-watching was one of the highlights as the customer mix includes older couples on a breakfast date, families with young kids, the table of huge blue-collar guys (I imagined they were “honey, I’m going out with the guys”-ing it), and adorable little couples (like us!) out for a lazy Saturday breakfast.

Riverhouse Grill in Glen Rose, TX

Rob and I joined the Howard clan (minus Martin) for a family reunion in Glen Rose, TX this weekend. We stayed in a very pretty bed and breakfast with a fantastic view and grey foxes that came to visit the grounds each morning and evening (the owner feeds them).

Friday night, we ate at Riverhouse Grill, a historic Victorian home repurposed to a restaurant. We got the “red room” upstairs and enjoyed our own private dining room where Matt (bro) won at food this time with his very scrumptious cut of beef – a great cut of meat, but we decided they could have done a little more with it in terms of seasoning, but very good nonetheless. I competed and failed with my salmon and Ashley came in a very respectable second with the maple-glazed seared pork loin. Overall, a nice dining experience – especially for a small town!

And finally! Doc’s Soda Shop in Dublin, TX

Celebrating it’s 119th year, the Dublin Dr. Pepper bottling plant is one of the Meccas of Texas. Only here, can you get a Dublin Dr. Pepper frosty (seriously probably the second best thing I have EVER tasted – first is certainly in Budapest here – and I have tasted a lot of wonderful things!) You can also get fountain Dublin Dr. Pepper (even better than from the can or bottle) and of course purchase Dublin Dr. Pepper by the case.

We picked up two cases of cans (one for the Kings as thanks for taking care of Gus for the weekend) and a case of bottles. If you come to visit us, please help yourself to our plethora of amazing soda!

And of course, we got frosties! And they were heavenly! And gone way too soon!

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears, Oh My!

2010-06-15T07:15:00.001-06:00

Abilene is a surprisingly cool town! At first glance it seems like it will be boring and flat, but when you actually look for fun things to do, there’s coolness galore!

Abilene has a pretty decent zoo and over Memorial Day weekend, Rob and I decided to make a visit.

And there really were lions, tigers, and bears! oh my. BUT, in the heat of the Abilene mid-day, they were visible but not very photogenic lying in the shade…

I fell in love with the flamingoes and decided I wanted to keep some on my future farm… we’ll see, but they are delightful to watch!

Feeding the giraffes is one of the highlights of the Abilene zoo. Yes, giraffe tongues are THAT long.

Later that weekend, we went to Lake Granbury with our small group from church. Kayla’s parents took really good care of us and we all left happy and stuffed!

Renegade Yoga

2010-06-11T09:23:00.001-06:00

So, I had this great idea to hold yoga classes every month or so in an empty warehouse or rooftop in downtown Abilene. Yesterday’s was the first one scheduled, to be held on the rooftop of The Grace Museum – it was during ArtWalk, the monthly downtown festival where all the museums are free and local artists and vendors set up along the street. As it was fairly warm that day (mid-90s) I decided we didn’t need a hot yoga class and we took it inside to the loggia (like a lobby).

It was great! The setting was BEAUTIFUL and everyone had a good time. There weren’t as many in attendance as I’d hoped, but that meant I could tailor the practice to the students a little more, rather than a general practice. Rob was a very loving husband and took some photos and said we looked like a “living art” exhibit in the museum.

He was also a great roadie and packed me up while I visited with students in order to get us home in time for So You Think You Can Dance. *sigh* I know he loves me!

Check out everybody up in crow pose!!

I’m toying with some locations for the next Renegade Yoga and may trespass, er, scout out some locations soon. Please bail me out if I get arrested…

String of Bad Movies

2010-06-01T10:33:00.001-06:00

We have had a slew of bad movies delivered to us by those nice people over at netflix. I know, we put said movies in our queue, but surely netflix would have identified that we had a terrible lineup and adjusted accordingly. Sadly, they did not.

It began with The Last Unicorn. Curious why our parents put it on the list of “no-see” movies when we were kids after we’d already seen it, I decided to rent it. We almost didn’t make it through! While the story itself wasn’t bad, what ruined it for us were the songs by America…. UGH! Boring boring boring. Sounds assailing my ears make my brain numb. Little did we know this was only the beginning.

Our next netflix was Happy Feet. Never having seen it when it came out (we were enamored by the “other” penguin movie at the time – Surf’s Up – so awesome!), we figured it would be good. I know people who liked it… or thought I did. This one also had songs. Mmm, this isn’t a good sign. Also, I think I never could buy into the story. The main character penguin kept his baby fur through the whole movie! What?? While I did thoroughly enjoy the latino penguins for comedic relief I found the environmental undertone a little too “in your face” and annoying. So, ugh for Happy Feet. Or maybe The Last Unicorn put us in a bad mood.

But then, we watched Doogal. The voice talent is the reason we watched it. So. This movie made very little sense. I think the animators picked their individual characters completely separately from each other – there was a dog named Doogal (sure, okay, normal), a surfer-accented bunny named Dylan (an archetypal character they seem to be throwing in a lot these days to kids movies – do older brothers smoke so much pot that this is a normal character for a child?), a sassy diva COW named ERMINTRUDE (okay, now it’s getting a little weird) played by Whoopi Goldberg, and a rather large-for-the-scale-size SNAIL who is in love with the COW…. his name is Brian.

There’s also a good wizard (who looks like a bobble-head on a large spring – he bounces up and down from the clouds where he watches over everyone) named Zebedee. The characters summon him by shouting his name three times. His antithesis is an evil imprisoned wizard who escapes named Zeebad. Don’t you totally want to see this movie??

It makes about as much sense as a video game-turned movie. I actually wonder if it’s a children’s video game. One of the main things we didn’t like was the lack of a lesson to the story. The main character (Doogal) was flawed with selfishness and yet became the hero of the story while not growing as a character. So, kids are supposed to think that you can be kind of a jerk, but as long as everything turns out in the end, nothing has to change? Sad.

Monday in Abilene

2010-05-17T09:42:00.001-06:00

Ugh. I do not enjoy waking up early. Early being defined as before 6am. There are other earlies, of course, but today was 5:15. So, after a few hours of email checking, facebook stalking, and online shopping (no purchases – I did our monthly budget and savings before I shopped), I am updating the blog!

Our blueberry plant has berries! Waiting impatiently for them to turn blue.

We replaced the dead blackberry plant (so sad!) with a matsuma orange tree (on sale at Lowe’s!)

Rob built a frame for our tomatoes to climb, and I painted it pretty. We strung twine between the frames to support the tomatoes.

So, there’s much to love about Abilene! Last Sunday afternoon, our milk and eggs supplier hosted a “customer appreciation day” at their farm about an hour outside of Abilene, complete with a homegrown lunch! I fell in love with the baby goats, beautiful pigs, hilarious turkeys, and chicken awesomeness!

Take a good look at the chicken coop! It’s an old cotton wagon and they drag it around the pasture giving the chickens new places to eat and fertilize the ground! The sides open from the outside so Joy can harvest eggs without having to go inside the coop and they just close up the ramp at night! Rob and I want one! (but you know, smaller)

Yoga classes are forming their own identities. The 5:30 class is my most difficult class to teach as the students vary greatly – some are energized and ready to try anything, while others get frustrated with the sun salutations. I remind people to listen to their bodies, but it’s hard to make everyone happy.

The Wednesday morning class is more moms who enjoy the challenge and we go to a lot more challenging places.

The Dyess AFB classes are always fun because everyone is capable of most things and willing to try! Although, I often need to remind them that yoga isn’t about doing the “hardest” every time…

I’m going to start more marketing to get more people to my classes – it would be nice to make a profit so I could buy blocks for student use and cover the cost of the upcoming yoga workshop I’m going to in Dallas. …and of course buy some stuff for myself.

More Abilene stuff, Thursday, Rob and I took Gus downtown to the monthly ArtWalk event – this month was DogWalk! A lot of the vendors and stuff were raising money to go towards the in-process Dog Park in Abilene – maybe they’ll get the money and finish it before we leave town.

See us behind the guy in the quilt? We’re marching in the dog parade!

Friday, Rob’s B-1 class had their squadron night. Basically, they all find out which squadrons they’re going to after Dyess. Rob got the 34th Bomb Squadron (Thunderbirds) in Ellsworth, SD. We’re pleased – although the anticipation wasn’t anything like assignment night – we already knew South Dakota and the B-1… hopefully the new squadron will be cool. I do really really really miss the awesomeness of the 95th Fighter Squadron at Tyndall – everyone was proud and enthusiastic to be a Bonehead!

It’s kind of like attending a school with amazing school spirit (Texas A&M) – you love it, it’s fun, you’re proud to be a part! On the other hand, a school with no spirit is lame, boring, and no fun. I like it when it’s fun.

Rob and I had a great weekend! We went to the movies and enjoyed Iron Man 2 and Robin Hood. Although I think the editing room floor got a few key pieces of characterization in Robin Hood that would have made it make more sense, there was plenty of action.

We went to the Beehive Restaurant for dinner (finally!). It’s a lot of people’s favorite place to eat in Abilene. While it was good, it threw me for a loop a few times – escargot was on the appetizer menu and they served drinks in mason jars; nice linen tablecloths on tables with paper menus that looked like old-time newspapers; and a classic cocktail served on a wanted-poster-style cocktail napkin… just some unusual choices, you know?

I like Abilene, but it does make me a little pouty when I think about my family and friends in Houston, Austin, or even College Station and all the wonderful restaurant choices they have. Not fair.

But, we don’t eat out as much, or when we do it’s often not too expensive – ie, amazing burritos and tacos, military Monday at Chick-fil-A, etc. AND, we eat at home more, which is healthier anyway. Can you tell I really miss restaurant selections? :-(

Anyway, I have made some great meals recently! We got some amazing spinach at the Farmer’s Market and I got excited and bought a watermelon at the commissary – top your spinach with chopped watermelon, add a few fresh basil leaves from your garden, sprinkle with fresh grated parmesan cheese (not from the green can), add walnuts, and drizzle balsamic vinegar and oil and voila! beautiful tasty summer salad.

Sunday, I made sticky pecan caramel rolls from my “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” cookbook and YUM! Totally worth it! Rob and I feasted outdoors on our rolls and farm fresh eggs!

We’re having a great time living here and hanging out together! I enjoy teaching yoga but still get a little nervous every once in a while. Rob is flying today! So, if you see a big B-1 over Big Bend this morning, that might be him!

Abilene Preservation League

2010-05-06T13:53:00.001-06:00

Tuesday, I was so privileged to attend the luncheon for the Abilene Preservation League – the house we live in was redone by the owners (another B-1 family) and won the Beautiful House Award last October (a month before we rented it). At the luncheon, they were to announce the grand winners out of all the 11 monthly winners. As the husband was working, Kristen asked me to attend with her – so nice!

Just to clarify, this is the house we live in. I posted a photo of another house in the neighborhood earlier, but that was because of the astounding rose bushes it had.

I should have guessed, but the Abilene Preservation League is a big deal! We sat at a table with the mayor and many of the Abilene big-wigs were there. I realized further what a small town Abilene still is as I know the APL staffer from my yoga at the Elks Arts Center (they house the APL offices). Another couple at our table lives on our street, along with the VP of the League and a very prominent Abilene Police Officer who was recently killed in the line of duty.

We also learned some really neat trivia about Abilene!

Before Abilene was a town, it was identified as milepost 407.

Abilene came to be when the T&P Railroad moved to town.

Abilene was named after Abilene, KS as the founder hoped it would become a cattle shipping town.

The first building the Abilene Preservation League saved from destruction was the Paramount Theater (where I was so pleased to watch Red River last month!)

The Elks Building was used to house the Elks Lodge and later for USO functions in WWII… and also for yoga in 2010! :-)

And Lawrence Welk played at the Windsor Hotel (then the Hilton) for room and board in the 1930’s.

Bet you didn’t know Abilene was so interesting, huh?

So, now you’re probably asking, “aren’t you going to tell us who won the Beautiful House Award?” Well, our house didn’t win, but every home was really gorgeous and the winner was especially so, plus the owner was so poetic and beautiful in how she described older homes, that it made you want to cry!

In other news:

Mom gave me a sewing machine!!

I’m so excited! I think I’ll make some napkins first… I looked when I was registering for wedding gifts, but all the napkins I saw were so boring! Not for my decor at all! But, now!!!! I can make my own awesome napkins! YES! Plus, I think napkins are good place to start and practice making straight lines with the sewing machine. :-)

Yoga classes have been going well. The one at the Center for Contemporary Arts is my biggest challenge because there’s such a wide diversity of ability. There’s some young people who are up for a challenge every time and want more. And there’s some seniors that have trouble with the flows when we go faster. It’s really hard for me to lead a class that I feel makes both extremes happy.

The Wednesday morning class at the Elks Center is my more advanced class – they’re mainly working moms who have done yoga before and some pretty advanced ones who don’t want to loose their advanced practice. It’s a fun class! Yesterday, we worked hips and Karen was so happy that she could touch her head to the floor in seated wide angle pose (upavistha konasana) that she wanted a little more… we had to take a photo! :-)

Dyess Air Show Weekend

2010-05-06T13:22:00.001-06:00

My parents came into town and we did all kinds of great Abilene things! They even got to piggy back on some of the 25th Anniversary B-1 celebration, which was nice. The weeks before, Rob and the other B-1 students had been preparing for all the distinguished visitors. In briefing the students, the commander showed them photos of all the distinguished visitors and it went something like this “this is the commander of this squadron, this two star general did this, this 3 star general, this is the first guy to fly the B-1… Okay… if you see an old guy, better call him ‘sir!’”

Rob painted the bar… again… I think he’s used his painting skills in every squadron bar he’s been a part of!

Friday, we went out to Perini’s for dinner and checked it off our Texas Monthly Bucket List (63 Things you must do while you live in Texas). Mom and Dad also checked off another one by stopping at Dublin for a Dublin Dr. Pepper. Mmmm.

Here’s some pics from the Air Show where we spent almost all Saturday:

The sky looked beautiful, like a Van Gogh painting!

The B-1 taking off

C-17

The Thunderbirds are so fun to watch!

But Rob is the most funnest!

Abilene in April

2010-04-27T14:41:00.001-06:00

… is lovely. We haven’t had our air conditioner on for over two months now. It’s sunny and warm during the day (love it!) and the lesser humidity makes it chilly as the sky grows dark (not thrilled, but helps make the house not need A/C).

Our neighborhood is beautiful! (see above neighborhood house). Not only do the older homes offer pleasing architecture, but the bulbs that have come up are GORGEOUS! Some people have huge areas covered in irises!

And now… the roses are blooming! Gus and I love walking the neighborhood!

We’re seeing growth in the garden. Check out the beans! Now, I understand the phrase “growing like a beanstalk.” These things grow fast! Each day it’s taller and has more leaves.

So, I want to share one of my very favorite things to eat ever (it ranks slightly lower than a Dublin Dr. Pepper frosty – which I don’t have a photo of because it’s just so good that it makes my brain loose track of everything and focus only on the tremendous happiness it’s getting from the amazing tastes entering it’s mouth… mmmm…. but that’s a post for another day.)

Anyway, I love potato and chorizo burritos! I’m not sure what it is – but the combination of homemade tortilla (a little smoky and doughy and chewy) wrapped around spicy chorizo sausage laced between grilled potatoes (it’s like they absorb chorizo flavor and diffuse and magnify it). Mmmmmm! I may have to figure out how to make this when the best burrito hole-in-the-walls are no longer two blocks away! This one is from Alfonso’s and I believe La Popular is equally good. (and both are maybe a mile from our house!)

PLUS – you can order in Spanish, if you wish! Which I think is awesome! It goes something like this: un papas y chorizo burrito y un carne guisada burrito para llevar, por favor = one potato and chorizo burrito and one beef in sauce burrito to go, please. Pay your totally worth it $3.50 and enjoy!

On another note, Rob and I played Monopoly recently… actually, it was Lord of the Rings Monopoly. A little history: I never win Monopoly. Never. Either I get tired of playing (c’mon people, the game can last FOREVER!) or I simply lose. And Rob never looses Monopoly. Ever. Although I haven’t known him in childhood to verify this claim, he’s not a boaster so I believe him. Therefore, when Rob and I play Monopoly it is just for the fun of it because I know I won’t win.

Well, this time… I WON!!!! That’s right, people! McKay has won Monopoly! It was so exciting!! Even though Rob got the free parking space (three times, by the way! – two with huge piles of cash) my slow and steady empire expansion prevailed over his purchasing fortresses and strongholds (that’s what they’re called in LOTR Monopoly) whenever he got money. With the help of some very kind dice (that didn’t let me land on the scary-fortified spaces), I actually won! Horaay!

Here’s me winning LOTR Monopoly.

Free Time

2010-04-14T13:11:00.001-06:00

So, I don’t think enough people take advantage of the free stuff to do in towns. There’s always something!

Today, I went to Abilene Public Library after teaching my morning yoga class in the ballroom of the Elks Arts Center (sigh of beauty appreciation). I LOVE the library! It’s been a while since I browsed a library (a favorite past-time at Tyndall) and I remembered today how much I love it! After I sauntered through the art and art history section, happy that art exists in the world and local Abilenes can enjoy the collections of the Musee d’Orsay and the works of Michaelangelo, I arrived at my very favorite section of any public library – the “how to” section!

Oh, I do love it! I’m like a kid in a magical candy store gazing with awe and glee over multi-colored gumdrops of home decorating, endless candy cane flavors of furniture-building books, and the artful chocolates and eye-widening baked goods of the cooking section.

So, today I came home with only eight books: Bazaar Style (decorating), The Find (decorating), Domino’s Book of Home Decorating, Main Dish Salads (healthy and tasty!), Chili Nation (cookbook of chili), Total Body Massage (because yea!), Java (webpage code), and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creating a Web Page (just in case I missed something I should know).

I also decided my ficus (McRob, the ficus – yea, it has a name!) needed a little something extra, so I folded some origami cranes and decorated it. I think it’s kinda whimsical and fun – just the way I like my decor!

Our shutter still makes a great weekly menu board – this week is Hawaiian pizza and Polish meatballs – international!

And for fun – here’s some pictures of what’s going on in the garden!

The Tifblues are starting to fruit!

And the Bluecrop is flowering!

The Austin Dewberry is still doing nothing… I don’t know!

And the worms are in!! And totally making dirt! After just a week, we had dirt! Not all dirt, of course, but more than we put in there! So, we added some more compost and are letting them have at it! These worms are so cool!

And Rob replaced my daisies (see compost bin) with these pretty flowers! He’s so wonderful!

Weekend Highlights

2010-04-12T08:37:00.001-06:00

Rob’s Red Carpet Day was this Friday – it’s the day where he “graduates” to the next stage of the B-1 training – flying! He meets his new instructors and visiting family and friends have the opportunity to tour the jet and play in the simulator. It’s really neat!

I got to fly the simulator and only crashed the jet once! The B-1 can fly really low to the ground and maybe I wasn’t watching that I was still descending when I got close to the ground…

We also got to tour the jet and even sit in the cockpit! It’s really cool to see where Rob “works”!

Artsy B-1 photo

I like nose art!

We also discovered more of downtown Abilene’s coolness! We went to Art Walk on Thursday night and toured some of the museums for free. The Grace has a really neat children’s area and a James Audubon exhibit right now! I also handed out a few more yoga flyers!

One of MY big highlights, though, was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! A huge deal! A childhood dream come true!

…. I got to see Red River on the big screen! Not just any big screen – the refurbished old-time movie theater in downtown Abilene. And not just any old western – Red River! The movie I first watched with my grandma and have loved ever since! I felt all warm and fuzzy as the curtains parted and the black and white intro began with its timeless musical score. I was thrilled! Grandma, you would have loved it!!

Downtown Yoga!

2010-04-12T07:42:00.001-06:00

The first week of downtown yoga classes went great!!! I had five people at each class (10 different people!) which is just the way I wanted it. I was a little scared of having 10-20 people my first class… I had a wide variety of ages – 20-something to 70! And everyone could do everything in the practice. Very cool! I’ll have to challenge them a little more…

Also wonderful – my downtown classes are mostly experienced yogis, so they have no problem modifying when I offer it or even doing something a little different. I’m educating the Dyess classes to go that way, but their fitness class background makes them think that they’re supposed to “go for it!” and do the “hardest level” when clearly they’re uncomfortable. I am making headway though – they are listening to their bodies more! We do some sun salutations “with your own breath” and they have actually started doing them at their own speed, rather than trying to simply mirror me at all times! It’s a small, but significant victory.

Here’s the Center for Contemporary Arts location (Tuesdays at 5:30) – beautiful, huh? I’m thrilled to involve the very active art scene in Abilene!

And here’s the one I use on Wednesdays at 9:45am! SOOO pretty!

I am learning so much from teaching yoga! I love teaching people to listen to their bodies! I love that they feel great after yoga! It’s a little bit like gardening – you study the plant and get to know “your” garden until you recognize “Oh, this one needs water. Yep, this one loves the sun” etc. It’s awesome!

Progress

2010-04-01T13:22:00.001-06:00

We’ve had progress in the garden and in my yoga!

First, the garden! My other trees came in the mail! I got a black mission fig tree (in the front in the clay-colored pot, isn’t it pretty and kind of exotic-looking?), an Austin Dewberry plant (in the back clay-colored pot, it kind of looks like a twig, but I read that’s what it’s supposed to look like for now), and two tifblue blueberry plants (those are what I adored in Florida!)

I also transplanted by seedlings from their greenhouse into these plant pots and set them out on the table outside so they can gradually get sun. I think the ones we put in the ground earlier needed more water. We’ve started watering them more (the zinnias acted as great gauges for “happiness”) and they’re perking up. I planted quite a bit more zucchini than I would need (13 plants) and then read that one family will have PLENTY of zucchini from 2 or 3 plants… oops. Well, maybe God knew because I think only a few of our zucchini are going to make it. We planted them a little too early. But, we’re learning.

The red wigglers are on order and will maybe come before this weekend.

I have WONDERFUL spaces in downtown Abilene for yoga!!!! Through my volunteering at the Arts Council (I will always volunteer wherever we move – I make the best contacts!) I get to use the Center for Contemporary Arts for free! Upstairs, they have a great gallery with black wood floors and art all around – it’ll be awesome!

The other place I’m holding classes is the Elks Arts Center. In the ballroom on the third floor, there are these beautiful arched windows and gorgeous soft light streaming in! They use it now a lot for wedding receptions and it used to be used for USO events to entertain the soldiers in WWII! She is renting the space to me for a great rate because she said she’d been waiting for someone to want to do yoga there! How neat is that? I love God’s good timing!

I promise pictures soon! I’m really excited about these spaces! Pray the classes go well and people like them and tell their friends! OH, I almost forgot! Check out my website and let me know what you think! www.yogawithmckay.homestead.com

Adventures in Gardening

2010-03-29T13:02:00.001-06:00

Three of my blueberry plants arrived!!!

They arrived like this in their box from Waters Blueberry Farm in Smithville, MO.

Also, my husband is a genius! He found a great alternative to the overpriced 20-gallon plant containers at Lowe’s (although these may not last as long, they were one-eighth the price)! He drilled holes in the bottom and covered them with screen. Then, we filled them with rocks, more screen, peat moss (blueberries like peat moss) and added water. This is me stirring the peat moss to evenly distribute the water.

Rob also geniusly made us a worm farm for our yet-to-be-ordered worms – for composting, you see. He attached this faucet to the lower container to drain the liquid fertilizer and he drilled holes in the upper one and glued screen and is making it a very happy place for worms to live. I know he loves me when he puts his genius problem-solving skills to use in things that I want to do – gardening and vermiculture… *sigh* He’s so awesome!

I am getting SO excited about the food coming this season! I was thumbing through my recipes and can’t wait to make things with my fresh tomatoes, mountains of zucchini, and lemon blueberry cobbler with a little cardamom in the topping… I can not wait! Gone will be the boring meat dishes, soups, and whatever was trucked up from Mexico! Garden to table, here I come!

Okay, the dishes we had this winter were not all that boring, but the prospect of fresh produce makes everything else seem lame.

Here’s an amazing breakfast we had this weekend!

It’s venison sausage (yes, hunted is free range), classic french toast (unsweetened – just eggs, milk, flour, salt, and pepper). We topped it with roasted cinnamon/sugar apples, chopped pecans (native to Abilene), and fresh whipped cream (yes, I whipped it – it’s soooo worth the five minutes!)

I love food!

Since I've Been Back

2010-03-23T07:35:00.006-06:00

Channel Kelly Clarkson's "Since You've Been Gone" when you read the title of this post. That way, you'll get the full effect. You may also use your pen as an air microphone.... like I was NOT just doing... er... anyway...

As life is just now settling back to normal and I'm lamenting that it takes two whole weeks for life to settle back to normal, here's an update of what I've done since I've been baaaaack... Yea, yea!

Rob is a wonderful husband and he bought me this little greenhouse to start my seeds! And I made cute labels. I know, they're awesome.

And here's the seeds now!!!! The tri-color zucchini are the tall ones. I'm planting them in the ground today.

And since I really really missed cooking in Costa Rica, I made cupcakes, baked bread, and relished the chopping vegetables and prepping dinner. It's like meditation - so peaceful, just me, my cutting board, knife, and food.

I also attended Rebecca's beautiful baby shower! A very classy affair at Messina Hof, the choclate mousse cake was so smooth and rich that I couldn't finish it! And believe me, I tried!

I also got to hang out with the Howard Family clan and visit Martin's new abode. I am in love with his bricked stove! What a fun idea!

When we got back to Abilene, Rob (what a man!) tilled the space we're using for a garden. With a freeze looming, we waited to plant. I'm so excited! I hope everything grows and produces a lot! I'm very excited about great-tasting fresh veggies!

PLUS, my BLUEBERRY plants are arriving this week!!! I can't wait! I'll be keeping them in pots so I can take them with us when and where we move. I'm also getting a fig tree because it seemed cool. The blueberries should be fruiting this year, but the fig won't until next. Fresh blueberries!!! Divine!

I'm also excited because I'll be taking over the yoga class at Dyess AFB (Mondays and Wednesdays at 5:30!). I really like it when people enjoy yoga and hopefully, I'll get them to have a "click" moment where they understand a pose they might have problems with and actually start to enjoy it! Right now, we're starting on enjoying downward facing dog.

So, downdog is one of my very favorite poses. I could hang out there forever and be happy. But, I see lots of people do it wrong and have that look on their face that says, "when are we moving into the next pose??!" And people complain of wrist pain. Well, hopefully I can get them to where they do it right - easing the wrist pain and illiminating it when the wrists get stronger... and making it a happy place, rather than an uncomfortable transition pose. This is my first goal.

I'm also working on some super fun playlists for yoga class and loving Ben Harper's cover of "Steal My Kisses." Plus, I'm determined to throw in "La Grange" and Aerosmith's "Cryin'" for fun in sun salutations.

En Route

2010-03-10T06:49:00.001-07:00

Now, I’m sitting in the San Jose airport, happy American Airlines gives me a boarding pass so I can go through security when I arrive. This is the line for security. Keep in mind, it is long INSIDE the airport. When I followed it and it led outside I was surprised; when I saw it continued outside for 3 blocks, I was astonished!

Me being astonished.

Now at the gate, check out my view as I type! Nice, huh? I also purchased some chocolate with my last Costa Rican money. Mmm, chocolate and this view. Love it.

Bus Adventure

2010-03-10T06:47:00.001-07:00

Our ride to San Jose went smoothly at first. The weather was nice – we were a little bitter that the sun came out as we were driving away… oh well.

We were aware that our trip MIGHT be impeded by a bridge that is closed during rainy weather. Well, it was! Instead of 3 hours, our trip suddenly jumped to over 5. Alright, girls, get settled!

We enjoyed the mountain scenery and the misty mysteriousness that shrouded each turn and view. It was an ear-popping visual delight as it got dark and the smell of brakes became stronger. Eventually, we thought it might be the clutch. Regardless, our bus could only manage 10mph once out of the mountains and just outside of San Jose. I think he was in denial for about 45 minutes as cars passed us at increasing speeds. Finally, he stopped the bus on the side of the road on the outskirts of San Jose.

Haley and Liz embracing the delay.

The other bus picked up as many as could fit and the rest of us (who didn’t mind a little bus adventure) got out to get something to eat. We were SO hungry and decided to stop at the first place we saw… which turned out to be this go kart sports bar place! (no, no one go-karted, but we watched and cheered). We all agreed it was a little ironic that the first place we saw served American food. They accommodated us nicely and everyone was happy being full.

We brought the bus driver back a sandwich and were really glad we all ate, because the other bus was longer to return than planned and then, since ours wasn’t fixed, they had to unload our bags from the roof and transfer them to the other bus! They were smart about it, though and pulled up close, simply passing the bags to the next bus. After another hour just hanging out on our broken bus, we were loaded and ready to continue!

About 10:15, we rolled up to the hotel weary from our bus adventure!