Wednesday, July 7, 2010

My Incredible Mom is 50!

Two weekends ago, we had a wonderful party to celebrate my mom's beautiful age of 50! It was a "fish fry" in honor of her love for fishing, and it was a great gathering of family and old friends to celebrate. My mother is hands-down the most selfless person I know, who will do anything for just about anyone with no questions asked. She has been a strong, loving, supporting wife to my father for over 30 years, and I could never ask for a better person to help me out when I need it, whether it be for important, potentially life-changing decisions, or just what I need to add to a certain recipe to make it just right. Thank you, mom, for being who you are - I'm so thankful for you and I'm blessed to have you as my mom!! I hope you had a wonderful time at the party! :)

Here are a few pictures from that day:

Welcome! The frame in front has pictures of just a few (definitely not all) of my mom's catches over the years :)

So glad Barbara could make it, if only for a short while. We've known her and her family for almost 20 years I believe - a wonderful old friend!

Blake and our sweet nephew Hayden :)

Our cousin Brad and his wife Elaine, with our Aunt Pat

Our fish fryers for the day - thank you so much!

Yes, it is always like this when Blake is around small kids.

My mom got a weekend trip & stay in Port Mansfield - one of her favorite fishing spots :)

Centerpieces - the marg cup adds a nice touch.

It comes with the "50th Birthday" territory.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Southern Exposure


Congratulations to my old friend Celeste and her new husband Justin Walker! This past weekend, Blake and I traveled south to Orange Grove, Texas (my old stompin' grounds) for their wedding. This was an interesting trip for both of us. The wedding was short & sweet, with a touch of country and a church filled with close family and friends. The reception was held at the Rifle Club, a quaint old dance hall that some people might say of, as one man that we struck up a conversation in the local convenience store with properly put it, "I've been there so many times but I still can never remember how to get there..." Of course that obviously applies to out of towners only, since most people that live in Orange Grove are probably walking distance to it or know/are related to someone who is. Anyway, it is probably the main attraction in Orange Grove, and whether that's where you start your night, or like the man in the convenience store,  it's where you end your night, you more than likely have done two things: drank a LOT of beer and had a good time. The decorations around the hall were really cute (country-themed, with antiques, photos, flowers, and some of the couples' personal items adding a nice touch) - a surprisingly refreshing change of pace from the majority of weddings that we've been to.  

Of course the bride looked beautiful, and I got to see some of my old friends who I have not seen in probably close to 8 years! I also got to see and hang out with one of my best friends (and maid of honor) Tracy Myers, who I have obviously seen in the past 8 years, but it had been a while and I always love to see her! Our stay at the reception ended up being pretty short-lived, however, because Blake was not (and has not for the past week or so) feeling well. Looking back at some other people's pictures from the wedding, I realized that I missed quite a few people that I would have liked to say hi to, but my husband's comfort and health takes top priority! Here are a few pictures from the evening:

An example of some of the decor - rustic and charming.


So cute! I am so happy for you, Celeste! :)


After leaving the reception, we took a short trip to Alice, Texas, about 15 minutes away. Alice is where my family and I lived from the time I was 5 until age 11, when we moved to Orange Grove (until I was 17 and we moved again to New Braunfels, where I graduated from Canyon HS). I drove around and showed Blake my old schools, a couple of the places we lived while we were there, and a couple of our old favorite spots, then we headed to Corpus to spend the night with Blake's friend Kyle Bruno. Kyle lives only a few blocks from the beach in downtown Corpus and I am excited to go visit him again when we can stay longer. He is one of Blake's best friends, and our visit with him was short but sweet. We are happy that he is enjoying living there and really liking his job - that's all we could ask for when praying for the happiness of our friends! 

We headed back north Sunday morning to meet up with some family in New Braunfels for Father's Day. We got to visit with my grandpa (my dad's dad) for a while and catch up with some family, then were headed north again to finally be home after a long weekend of driving. We hope all the dads out there had a wonderful day!! :)

My Grandpa Balser sporting one of his Father's Day gifts (not from us, ha)!

Me and my dad

Blake and his dad

Happy Father's Day!!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Our new litte runt!!


We've gone & done it! Here is the first picture of our new little runt, who still needs a name. We will be able to pick her up in a little over a week, so that gives us some time. It also gives us some time to buy tons of stuff for her so we can start spoiling her rotten!

In other news, we are moving next month! Blake and I are incredibly excited to be moving downtown - right in the middle of all the excitement! :) The moving decision happened kind of the same way getting the new pup did - quickly and unexpectantly! We headed downtown for a nice little Saturday trip to the Dallas World Aquarium a couple weekends ago. After parking, we pointed out some apartments nearby and joked about moving into one of them (we were both under the assumption that there was no way we could afford it). Well, we ended up walking into the leasing office of one of them, and after we discovered that they didn't have anything available according to what we were looking for, they directed us to their "sister" property across the street, who apparently had some good specials going on. We took note of it and went on our merry way into the aquarium. Here are some pictures:


This was, to me, one of the coolest things in the Aquarium - a Leafy Sea Dragon. I just wish we could get a better picture!

Does this scream "cover of a biology book" to anyone else?...Anyone??

I can only imagine how many grapes this poor thing gets shoved in its face every day. It immediately dropped the one it took from me, of course. The grape joined the many others on the ground.

This was actually really cool - we watched as the birds (whatever they were...) worked together to build their nest.

Of course, a random shot of some type of monkey. Blake's other contribution to the photos included a plant arrangement on the top of a trash can.



After leaving the aquarium, we decided to go by the leasing office of the other "sister" apartment complex across the street. A sign in the window said the leasing agent was out showing the property, so we went to a little pub across the street and had a drink and a snack. We tried again about a half-hour later with success, and took a look at the property. Of course, we loved it, and surprisingly, we'd be paying pretty much the same thing as we are now! Woohoo! We went in the next day (after talking it over for the night) and signed the lease! Hello, West End! :)

Also, a few weeks ago (Memorial Day weekend), we traveled to New Braunfels for the wedding of Tim Hair & Kari Cooper. Tim and Kari were in Blake's landscape architecture studio for 5 years, and also traveled parts of Italy with us a couple years ago. The wedding was beautiful and a lot of fun, and Blake got to see a bunch of people he hadn't seen in a while. And, earlier that weekend, I got to see some really good friends of mine, so it was a fun weekend.



Studio friends.

Monday, April 19, 2010

CHALLAH

So, this weekend was a special one because for once in what seems like a really long time, we were able to stay home and be as productive as we wished. The first thing I want to say that I LOVE about weekends staying home is Saturday morning breakfast. I'm not usually a big breakfast person, but when I get the chance to try something new for a delicious meal after sleeping in (until 8:15 - woohoo!), I take it. Earlier last week, I went grocery shopping. This was one of those serious trips that take about an hour to complete...when you REALLY need groceries. And, since we'd actually be here for the weekend, we were going to need a little more food than usual. While passing the deli/bakery section of our friendly neighborhood Kroger (no...unfortunately not HEB (sad face)), I spotted a loaf of Challah bread. As soon as I saw it, I had a flashback to an episode I saw on the Food Network where the lady used a loaf of Challah for her french toast. I grabbed it immediately, knowing then what we'd have for breakfast on Saturday. Here is a picture of a loaf of Challah bread, in case you've never heard of it and are interested...


To make a long and pretty boring story short, the Challah bread worked amazingly for french toast, and I don't think I'll ever make it again without this type of bread! I'm even going to be awesome and share this delicious recipe with you so you can try it! :)

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- 1 loaf Challah bread, cut into 8-10 slices (~3/4" - 1" thick)
- 4 eggs
- 1 C half & half (or milk if you don't have any half & half) (OR, you can use 1/2C milk and 1/2C whipping cream)
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice or 1/8 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, & 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
- 1 or 2 tsp sugar (if desired...I forgot the sugar this time and it still turned out good, but if you love sweet, then go for it)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 3 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- syrup & powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Whisk together eggs, half & half, spices, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt until blended. Place the slices of bread into a large baking pan (only 4 or so will fit at a time). Pour the whisked mixture over and around the bread slices to soak them. Don't forget to save about half of the mixture for the next batch. Turn the slices over after about 3 minutes.

While the bread is soaking, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons  of the butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet or griddle over moderately high heat until foamy. Transfer however many soaked bread slices will fit into the skillet with either a fork or slotted spatula, and cook until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes on each side. Cook remaining bread in batches, adding more butter as needed. I soaked up any remaining butter in the pan with a paper towel and used fresh butter each time, but that's just me, and it's not necessary by any means. Transfer slices to another baking pan (lined with foil for easy clean-up) and keep warm in the oven while cooking the remaining batches. When ready, serve with butter, syrup, and a sprinkle of sifted powdered sugar. Deelish! :)

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Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Happy Hump Day!

First of all...happy belated birthday, Blake! He turned the big 2-4 last Monday. We celebrated by having dinner at Steve Fields. "OMG". After hearing about this place from a couple of friends of ours and reading the online reviews, I decided this would be a good surprise (since it's apparently one of the top places in DFW for a great steak). It definitely lived up to its reputation! Blake had the 22 oz. Porterhouse and I had the Mixed Grill with tenderloin medallions, chicken breast, & 4-5 jumbo shrimp. Yummm! Both were amazing. They also appeared to have a swanky bar area with live piano and music...so maybe that would be worth checking out sometime.

Moving on, I have never considered myself a crazy Sex and the City fan, but after seeing the trailer for the new movie coming out on May 27th, I realized that I guess I am. I watched the TV show every night before going to bed for the entire year I lived by myself, and loved the first movie even though sometimes I hate admitting it.

On another note, I'm 50/50 on whether or not I like the new season of South Park. I think Blake is enjoying it more than I am. I've loved South Park since its very beginning, and I don't expect to be disappointed this season. There's a new episode on tonight and it looks like it'll be pretty good - we'll see how it goes!

A couple other things I'm looking forward to in the near future (TV/movie-wise):

I have some catching up to do for both of these shows. Luckily, I can do that as soon as last year's seasons come out on DVD. Thank yoouuuu, Netflix! Blake and I are both huge fans of Entourage, and successfully rented all previous seasons through Netflix to get caught up. True Blood, on the other hand, might be a one-sided interest. I think Blake might try to watch it with me, but will more than likely end up hating it.

Also, AVATAR is coming out in a couple weeks. Isn't this crazy? It was released in mid-December, so I guess it's been a reasonable amount of time for the DVD to come out, but it just seems a lot shorter than that. Proof that 2010 is just flying by I suppose! Although it will likely be much different than our AVATAR IMAX 3D experience, I'm sure we'll rent it and watch it again...possibly buy it. It is, after all, the #1 movie...of ALL TIME.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

One of the best emails I've ever received...

Enjoy! :)

Random Thoughts of the Day: 

- I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
- More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.
- Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.   
- I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?   
- Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.   
- That's enough, Nickelback.   
- I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.   
- The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.   
- Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.  
- There is a great need for sarcasm font.   
- Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the f*ck was going on when I first saw it.   
- I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.   
- The other night I hit a new low at an open bar. I had already hopped on highway blackout when, inevitably I had to find a bathroom. Eventually I decided it was probably on the other side of the bar so I tried to walk over there, but ran into a guy coming the other way. We played that, Both go left, Both go right game to no avail, so I finally put out my hand to guide myself past and that's when I realized, yup, that's a mirror I just tried to walk through. And the guy on the other side is me. Even cats can recognize their own image.   
- How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?   
- I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.   
- I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.   
- The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.   
- A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.  
- Was learning cursive really necessary?   
- Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".   
- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.   
- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.   
- My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us." Classy, bro.   
- Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".   
- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?   
- I love the sense of camaraderie when a n entire line of cars teams up to prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!   
- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"   
- What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other? 
- While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.   
- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.   
- Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.   
- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.   
- Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.   
- I would like to officially coin the phrase 'catching the swine flu' to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an overweight woman. Example: "Dave caught the swine flu last night."   
- I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.   
- Bad decisions make good stories.   
- Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!   
- Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?   
- If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.   
- Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....   
- You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.   
- Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.   
- There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.   
- I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.   
- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.   
- I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'   
- While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China and USA . No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that when Chinese athletes don't win, they are executed.   
- I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damnit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?   
- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.   
- When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.   
- I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.   
- Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...   
- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.   
- Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.   
- It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.   
- I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.   
- I think that if, years down the road when I'm trying to have a kid, I find out that I'm sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from the fact that I was not aware of my condition in college.   
- Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.   
- Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...   
- My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?   
- It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.   
- I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.   
- I think the freezer deserves a light as well.   
- I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.   
- The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Recap of big things lately...

Since this is the first post of our new blogging adventure, I figured it would be appropriate to start things off with a recap of things happening in our lives lately. And, since it was only 8 months ago today that we got married, I figured that would be a good place to start.
We had our ceremony & reception in Austin, Texas on August 8, 2009. It was HOT, but a lot of fun. Most of our good friends and family were there to celebrate with us and show their support, and it was amazing! All the planning and leading up to the wedding flew by, and so did the night - I didn't want it to be over! The following week, we headed back to Irving for a few days. I turned the big 2-5, and that evening we headed on down to College Station for Blake's graduation the next day. Family reunited once again, this time obviously in a much smaller dose, and watched on as Blake crossed the stage! It was another happy day; we were both glad to be finished with school and were looking forward to whatever else came next.

For us, what came next (the following week) was our honeymoon! After much debate and changing our minds about 20 times about where we wanted to go, we decided on ARUBA, and we're glad we did! Although we arrived a day late because we were sleepy-heads and missed our flight on the first day, we had a great time the first night hanging out in downtown Charlotte, NC, and made sure to get our butts to the airport at least 3 hours early to get those seats! (We were, after all, on standby). Once we landed in Aruba though, relaxation began. The beaches were beautiful, our hotel was wonderful - nice, quiet, and romantic - and there was just the right amount of activity on the island to keep us entertained when we didn't feel like being lazy beach bums. We had fun parasailing, riding jet skis, walking around the town, enjoying wonderful meals and drinks, and just lounging around enjoying the beautiful views & sunsets.

After we got back from the honeymoon, I went straight back to work and Blake started his ruthless pursuit of employment. He was able to find work here and there, working on some designs, but the plain and simple fact remained that no matter how good the contacts, nobody seemed to be hiring. As he'll say, it was almost a joke to people he met and talked with, about how bad things were and how nobody was looking to hire. Booo!

Anyway, summer ended and fall moved right along. Blake finally got to experience Wurstfest (which I'm sure was at least a little disappointing after being in Germany for 4 months!) and we had a great time. October also meant one of my best friends' wedding! My dear friend Sarah married Sean Sears on October 24th, 2009. It was a good time! Sarah was one of my very best friends in high school, and I've gotten to know her parents and some of her family pretty well - this family can party! Sarah's brother, Kevin, is getting married in May, and I expect the same showing there. :)


We spent Thanksgiving in College Station with Blake's parents before attending the A&M vs. UT game. What an awesome game! Even though we didn't come out on top, we definitely showed up and made them work for the win.


Then came Christmas and we traveled to New Braunfels to hang out with the group down there. It's always a pretty big showing at the family get-togethers in New Braunfels, and it's usually a lot of fun. Blake, however, contracted some sort of 24-hour bug on Christmas Eve, therefore was unable to partake in any Christmas activities. :(


Then came the new year...Hello 2010!! We spent New Year's Eve in Denton with a close group of friends at a very budget-friendly bar - we made out only spending $14! And yes, we DRANK. Having a hook up is great, isn't it? We all had a really good time together celebrating under the Blue Moon, and it really was just a very HAPPY New Year's!
January meant the beginning of yet another year, except this year will be the first full year of being married! Woohoo! It's exciting to start a new year knowing that it will be different than any other year of your life :) Number of resolutions: ZERO. Why bother? We have things in mind that we'd like to focus on throughout the year, individually and together, and it will just be up to us to stay on top of it...but hit the gym on January 1st despite being hungover to get a good start on losing weight? Nope. Not for us! January did, however, bring the new year's first big blessing - a job for Blake! We were so excited for Blake to go in and interview with Southern Botanical, a company he knew of to be a great one to work for, and much more excited to find out they wanted to hire him! It was just what he was hoping for, and it has been working out very well for him so far.

January also meant the one-year anniversary of the marriage between two of our dear friends, Matt & Jamie Fletcher, who now live in Pembroke, Georgia. Happy Anniversary to you two lovebirds! :)
February brought a couple more blessings to two of our wonderful friends, with Eric Bitner and Calli Boyer's wedding and the birth of my wonderful friend Sarah's baby boy, Rylan! Also, we recently found out that Calli & Eric are now expecting a baby too!


March brought two more weddings. The first was the wedding of Garrett Latham & Elizabeth Russell. Garrett is one of Blake's closest friends, and Blake stood by him as a groomsman at their wedding in College Station. It was a beautiful wedding and a wonderful reception, and we wish them the very best that married life has to offer!
The second was the wedding of Jill Pence and David Kientzy. We attended their wedding and reception in Fort Worth and had a blast! Again, best wishes to them as they begin their wonderful journey! :)

It also brought another baby! A co-worker of mine, Kristine Williams, and her husband Kristian welcomed baby Samantha into the world on March 17th.
Oh, and before I forget...just to set the record straight...there are no current plans in the near future for the Gores to add to the family!
:)