Friends

While Kevin was attending seminary several years ago, we lived in a triplex with two other couples.  We all moved in within a week of each other.  Three and a half years later we moved out and eventually the others moved out also.  Over those years we established a great friendship with those neighbors that we hope to continue for many years to come.  Mike and Michelle are one of those couples.  They moved to Rhode Island when they left seminary and we haven't seen them in over a year.  They came down for graduation last weekend and we were able to spend some time with them.



When we were in seminary, the guys made a ritual out of sitting in the backyard chatting it up after school/work.  It was difficult getting them inside to eat dinner every night.  Over the years we had lots of cookouts in the backyard and ate lots of homeade ice cream.  Good memories.

Tradition

Jaalla and I have the tradition of attending The Nutcracker ballet every year at Bass Hall in downtown Fort Worth.  



First we dined on some delicious Mexican food, then we attended the show.  Here we are on the balcony at Bass Hall during intermission.

 

Afterwards, per tradition, we went to Marble Slab for ice cream.  Yum!

New Hat

I worked this up one afternoon recently.  I had been wanting a winter hat with brown tones.  

Fine Dining

On Sunday night we had an incredible dining experience.  Our friends had a gift card to The Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas.  The service, setting, and food was all excellent.  Well worth the money.  It was actually not as expensive as we thought it would be.  An average plate is around $40.  Desert it $13.  Here we are waiting to be seated:



I would have taken a picture of the beautiful presentation on our plates, but the former Mayor of Dallas, Laura Miller, was seated at the table beside us and I didn't want to cause a scene.  I had the baby Turbot, a very mild white fish, with a mustard sauce over a bed of leeks, gnocchi, and fava beans.  For desert I had the chocolate and peanut butter torte.  Both were heavenly!  I would highly recommend this place, and I do hope that we go back again sometime. 

Time for a change...

Back to brunette!  My hair was actually starting to show the wear from several years of having the color stripped from it.  It was looking unhealthy and I have been wanting a change.  Anyways, this is a great color for the fall.  



I plan on keeping it this way for quite a while.  I love it! 

Home

 One week from today, we close on our new home.


We are very excited!  It is quite a bit bigger of a house than we planned on buying, but we knew that this was "THE" house.  

My top 8 list of reasons why I love this house:

8.  A deck outside for entertaining.
7.  Fireplace - Can you say s'mores. 
6.  A double-oven in the kitchen.  I can smell a turkey, pumpkin pie, and dressing baking all at the same time.
5.  Dishwasher!!!!!  Gone are the pruney hands!
4.  A garage that will keep me and my groceries from getting wet when it rains.  
3.  Oodles and oodles of cabinet space.  I will no longer have to turn away free wafflemakers and such.
2.  Closer to work!  
1.  And finally....  more than one toilet!!!  (Three to be precise.)

On Sunday afternoon I prepaired myself for an exciting Cowboys game.  I pulled on a sweater (Kevin had it unusually cold in the house), made a cup of hot tea with honey and milk, got out my knitting, and pulled on a pair of handknit wool socks.  I was content...   Then the Cowboys lost.  I thought it couldn't get much worse until I looked down and discovered this...

The horror!  My poor, poor sock.  This was the first pair of socks that I ever made.  They are only 2 years old.  I will now attempt to darn a sock.  Their fate is not the trash can.  I could never bring myself to do something like that! 

Full Weekend

On Friday night I went out with the Gwen and Mayeli to an Egyptian restaurant for dinner.  I had never been to an Egyptian restaurant before, but quite a bit of the food was familiar to me.  This was a really kiche place in the hospital district of Fort Worth called King Tut's.  The decor was what you would expect; gold covered pharohs and hieroglyphics painted onto the walls.  The food was excellent.  We started with hummus and pita.  Yum!

I had the lamb kabobs with cucumber dip, rice, and pita.  Delicious!  Sorry for the blurry picture.


On Friday, Kevin started painting the bathroom.  I joined him after I returned from my night with the girls.  We stayed up till 1:00 a.m. to finish painting the taupe on the upper half of the bathroom walls.  We repainted white on the lower half on Saturday.  I know I never posted pictures of the before and after when we re-did the shower, so here you go:
 

Their was something off about the dark tiles and the white, white walls.  Our realtor suggested a taupe on the top half and I think it turned out great.  Yes, I did say realtor.  We are selling our house and hope to put it up on the market in a few weeks.  We have been very busy cleaning trying to get it ready.

Kevin's just not right if he hasn't had his coffee in the morning.

Everything is bigger in Texas!  (Of course this is not a coffee cup but a planter we found at Walmart.)

Armed and Dangerous

Last Tuesday was firearms night at Citizen's Police Academy.  Kevin loved it, but I was a little hesitant.  
Here I am with a shotgun:

Here I am with a Smith & Wesson semi-automatic handgun (kind of fuzzy picture):

And the most exciting of all was the H&K MP5.  It is a 9mm Lugar sub-machine gun with semi-automatic and fully-automatic features.  We shot 15 rounds on semi-automatic and we squeezed a short burst through it on the fully-automatic setting.  It felt like I was in some kind of gangster movie. 


I ended up having a really good time.  Tonight we discuss crime scene investigation.

Instant Gratification

I made this scarf about two weekends ago.  I needed some instant gratification since my bag seems to be taking me so long to complete.  This scarf only took a few hours, and now I have a new accessory for the fall.

  

The close-up of the scarf is pictured with a new plant that we purchased the other day.  We bought a nice trellis/planter the other day for the side of the house to hide the unsightly air conditioner.  I can't remember the name of the flower, but we both really liked it. 

We went to our friend's house on Friday night for dinner and games.  Casey and Yardley have a Great Dane named Boon.  He's only 9 months old.  He and Kevin were wrestling.  This picture shows his size pretty well. 

Bad Boys, Bad Boys

Kevin and I are taking Citizen's Police Academy.  We started two weeks ago.  It is one evening a week for 3 hours.  We love it!  I am a complete zombie the next day, but I figure the experience is worth it.  We toured the jail this week and they took our picture in the cell.  Under any other circumstances, I don't think we would look this happy.  I forgot to put on my scared/angry face. 

Last week we went to another Ranger's game.  Kevin received free seats again from another company they do business with.  Best seats ever!  
   
This is how close we were to the players!  There was also a sweet little old lady in front of us.  She had season tickets and wore a Rangers shirt and earings.  She also had a large bag filled with tupperware containers full of homeade cookies.  She passed them out to everybody around her.  I happily accepted a chocolate chip one.  She was on a first name basis with the camera men beside us, and even brought ziploc baggies to put the cookies in and hand out to those on the go.  Very cool.


I have to share about the place we went to dinner on Friday night.  Babe's Chicken!  It was a somewhat unusual dining experience, but fun.  The place was dark, but our eyes soon adjusted.  The music was very eclectic.  There are no menus.  You only get 6 choices of main dishes (at the Roanoke location you only get two, fried chicken and chicken fried steak).  We opted for the fried chicken.  You don't get a say on the sides you get.  You don't like 'em, you don't eat 'em.  Sides include salad, biscuits (YUM), mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, and corn.  Then you get your choice of desert.  I had the chocolate meringue pie and Kevin had the banana pudding.  It is all combined together with your drink for the low price of $9.99.  I don't think that's too bad for dinner with desert.  Not to mention, it was SOOO good!  I highly recommend it, but definitely come hungry.

A Short Story on Covetousness

Once upon a time there was a beautiful cake stand with a lid on JC Penny's website.  Jennifer saw it and determined that she had to have it.  She purchased the cake stand with lid in December, but alas, it would not be delivered until February.  Jennifer waited anxiously for 2 months in the hopes of receiving her cake stand with lid.  It arrived in February.  She brought it home, washed it, and set it on her countertop for all to see.  The very next evening, Jennifer was putting away the dishes from her drainer into her cabinets.  As she reached to place a porceline bowl in the cabinet, it slipped from her fingers and crashed onto the lip of her cake stand.  The delicate cake stand shattered into a hundred pieces all over the kitchen countertop and floor.  The lid, surprisingly, came out unscathed except for a few chips on the rim.  Jennifer was devistated by her loss.  Two months of waiting for only one day of joy.  Perhaps Jennifer coveted the cake stand with lid too much.  

This is what arrived at my door yesterday.  A birthday present from Tish!

Isn't it gorgeous!  I was very surprised!  Hmmm, I think I'll make a cake this weekend. 

This is another present I received for my birthday from my in-laws.  It is a pink cover for my iPod to protect it.  

Not a great picture, but it really is beautiful!

Yesterday was Jaalla's birthday, so I drove to see her and have dinner.  We went to Chili's and to the pet store to buy more fish for her tank.  The ansemble below is what Jaalla's grandmother thinks she would want to wear.  It is 3 sizes to big and not really something somebody her age would wear.  Every year it is the same story, so every year we anxiously wait to see what she's going to get.  

Birthday

I had a great birthday yesterday!  I now unfortunately have to say that I am in my late 20's.  I can no longer say that I am in my mid 20's.  My husband reminded me of this the other day.  He was sweet though and bought me a fun gift.  Let me start off by saying that Kevin and I do not give each other gifts for our birthdays, only cards.  We also do not give each other presents at Christmas time.  It doesn't bother me in the slightest.  Although I do enjoy a surprise every now and then.  When we were given gifts at our wedding showers, someone gave us a bowl.  It was a medium size white plastic bowl with a pour spout and a black handle.  I love this bowl.  It's great for pouring cake batter and pancakes.  Love it, love it, love it!  In fact, I think I say it out loud every time I use it.  So... Kevin found this!

A large mixing bowl with pour spout and a pink handle!  What girl could ask for more.  I really do love it!  Very creative gift!  I also had requested a birthday cake from Debbie.  Debbie works with Kevin and makes fabulous professional deserts for weddings, showers, and special occasions.  I've had her cake before and it is wonderful.  She has been wanting to take a break from cake making, but she did a favor and made one for me.  Kevin told her my interests and this is what she came up with:

Isn't that the cutest cake ever!!!  The yarn balls are pieces of domed cake with lots and lots of frosting on top.  I hated to cut into it.  It was so delicious though!  I had asked for wedding cake, and I don't think I've ever tasted a wedding cake as good as this; not even my own.  

I received lots of great gifts for my birthday: money, Starbucks gift cards, flowers, yarn, a Rockey Mountain Chocolate Factory apple, and a movie.  My friends at work had a party for me and we had cake.  It was a good day!

Knitting progress:

Here's the latest progress on my bag.  My colors aren't as bold and contrasting as the one in the book, but are more subtle.  I can't wait to finish and felt it in the washing machine.  I estimate this bag to be done in November.  It's going to take me a while. 

Circus

Jaalla and I went to the Barnum & Bailey's Circus in Fort Worth on Sunday.  

I hadn't been to the circus since I was a little girl.  I enjoyed it.  I was expecting all big animals, but they had a dog act and a cat act.  Very cute and funny!  Those animals were definitely working for the treats!  I think I enjoyed the acrobats the best.  Here's a picture of the elephants.


More knitting pictures soon.  Right now I am working on two projects, but one is Christmas present knitting, so I cannot show pictures until after Christmas. 

Tag, I'm It!

I've been tagged...

Four jobs I have had:
1. disc jockey twice, once at a Christian station, then at a classical music station
2. catalog librarian's assistant
3. data enterer at a title company
4. admin. asst. to an asst. VP/meet and assist VIP's


Favorite TV shows: (do not have cable)
1. Globe Trecker
2. Antiques Road Show
3. The Office
4. America's Next Top Model


Food:
1. Italian
2. Seafood
3. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory apples covered in just about anything
4. Texas chocolate sheetcake


Places I would rather be:
1. Europe
2. visiting with family and friends
3. sitting on the couch knitting
4. taking a roadtrip with Kevin

Favorite movies:
1. Sense and Sensibility
2. Pride and Prejudice
3. The Devil Wears Prada
4. Legally Blonde


This is my latest finished project.  They are really warm because of all the colorwork.  It was 101 degrees outside when we took this picture. 

Eesti Trail Hiking Socks from Favorite Socks done in Knitpicks merino wool.

Thanks

Thank you everyone who commented or left a kind email.  The days are getting better.  

On to a happier subject.  My friend Veronica went to visit her mom in Chicago last week.  Let me preface by saying that I am a huge hot dog fan.  Huge!  I could probably eat a hot dog everyday and not get tired of them, at least that is what my husband says.  I even like putting ketchup on them, which I know is a sin to most northerners.  Well, Veronica went by Superdawg while she was there.  I know about Superdawg from a PBS special they did on hot dogs.  (I told you I was a geek.)  The picture below is what they use on the box that you hot dog comes in.  Cute huh?!
Veronica was sweet and bought me two shirts while she was there.  A black one and a grey one.
 
Someday I hope to visit.
 

Sad News

I will give you the short version since this is very hard for me to talk about right now.  Our new dog Woodrow woke up Monday morning with seizures.  He had two before we left for the vet.  If any of you have ever seen your pet have a seizure, you know how awful it is.  The vet's office opened 10 min. after we arrived.  In that time he had three more seizures and they continued to get progressively more violent.  Kevin stayed with him in the examining room with the doctor while I waited outside.  I was getting physically ill.  He had several more seizures while in the examing room.  The doctor told Kevin he could put him on seizure meds, but that might not help him.  He told Kevin is was probably something hereditery.  He was concerned about the frequency of the seizures and how violent they had become.  He said he could put him to sleep and if it was his dog he would do the same thing to keep him from suffering.  Kevin and I agreed.  I got to say goodbye to him while he was sleeping.  It's amazing how attached you can get to a dog in less than a week.  I had literally fallen in love with him and taken him on a walk everyday.  I miss him so much and can't shake the awful memory of what I saw him go through yesterday.  I am so glad he is not suffering anymore.  He was a joy to Kevin and me while we had him and I think we made him happy too. 

New Addition

Here is the new addition to our family.  



His name is Woodrow and he is a black lab mix, around two years old.  He thinks he's a lap dog.  He ended up on the doorstep of a co-worker of Kevin's.  She took care of him for two weeks and tried to find his owner (he didn't have a tag).  She already has two large dogs and couldn't keep him.  She was pleased to know that we have been looking for a dog.  He will be Kevin's companion as he drives around all day at work.  He is an absolute sweetheart!  He seemed really lethargic at first.  I think he was sad because he missed his family.  I thought we might have to get some doggy Prozac if he didn't start to perk up.  I think he's starting to adjust now.  We took him for a little walk/jog last night.  I really enjoyed that and he seemed to also.  It will be an almost daily routine for us now. 

Bringing "The Heat"

I had a great weekend.  On Sunday evening Kevin and I went bowling.  There is a bowling alley that is about 15 minutes away from our house that only charges $1 per person per game on Sundays.  What a deal!  I just recently borrowed my mom's super nice bowling shoes (since she's layed up for the time being), so that also saved us the shoe rental fee.  I am definitely lacking practice.  We bowled 3 games and I didn't get over a 129.  Kevin on the other hand kicked my butt on all three.  This is because of his deceptive practicing.



Kevin with his ball "The Heat."





 

Weekend Fun

I left Friday morning on my way to East Texas to see Tish.  First we stopped by KVNE.  Tish and I both used to be announcers there.  In the picture with us is Mike the Station Manager and Morning Co-Host.  Mike was a great boss.  

We did something crazy that evening.  Tish suggested that we go roller skating.  She had a by one get one free coupon, so that is what we did.  Don't think it was such a great idea.  Can you imagine two late 20-somethings at a skating rink on a Friday night with 50 or more middle schoolers and high schoolers?!  The horror of it all was that they let the kids onto the skating rink with their tennis shoes on!  Yes!  Back in my day that would have never been aloud.  I personally believe that you shouldn't be out on the skating rink if you don't have skates on.  That is common sense people!  Anyway, kids were darting in and out almost knocking us over on several occasions.  Here is skating evidence.
 

I went to my mom's house the following day.  She had surgery earlier in the week and is pretty much subject to the couch for a while.  We watched movies, and I got a lot of knitting accomplished.

These are the Eesti Trail Hiking Socks from the book Favorite Socks.  The yarn is Knitpicks merino wool.  I hope the brown on brown isn't too 70's.  Oh well, I like them despite and that is all that matters.  
I also finished "Leaf" from Knitty.

I did a similiar color to the pattern.  I like it.  It is definitely not a summer piece.  I did it in Debbie Bliss merino wool.

My next project will be the French market bag from Weekend Knitting.  I have always wanted to make that bag! 

Weekend

I bought a new digital camera on Saturday!  It is the Nikon L12 and I love it!  Also on Saturday we bought this antique cedar chest.  You can tell it is old by the wooden casters on the bottom.  I love the antiqued look on the outside.

I put it at the foot of the bed in the guest room.  I love this room.  It is very girly.  The four poster bed, dresser, and night stand were mine from middle school through high school.  My parents gave the set to me when they moved last year.  I couldn't be more happy about free furniture.  

Last night I made nectarine shortcakes.  It is a Martha Stewart recipe from one of her magazines a few years back.  They have always been a hit at work.  They are not overly sweet but summery fresh tasting.

They are more golden brown on top, but the flash takes some of that away. 

Star Sighting!!!

I just saw the Keno borthers at the airport!!!  You know, Leigh and Leslie Keno from The Antiques Road Show!  They were on there way to film their next show in San Antonio tomorrow.

I know, I know.  I am a total nerd, but they are the ones who taught me about antique furniture and oxidation and dove tales. 

I bought this super cute shirt along with my work knitting buddy Veronica.  We bought our other knitting buddy a bag with the same design on it.

We thought it appropriate for our knitting group at work. 

Leapin' Lizards

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6BnxJd6-wo
Here's something funny to start out your Monday morning. Watch the lizard at the bottom left hand corner.

Shoes

Checkout the great deals!  Both of these pairs of shoes were 70% off at DSW.  I spent $30 total with tax!
 
The first are a pair of Rocketdogs for casual wear.  Love that brand!  The second are BCBG's for work.  They are SO comfortable!  I almost bought some black patent leather pumps made by Chinese Laundry, but they had a 3 1/2 inch heal.  They would have killed me after only walking around for 15 minutes!

4th of July

When I was growing up we lived out in the country.  My uncle always bought tons fireworks and set them off in the field by our house (and sometimes on our front porch while dad was napping in the living room, he he).  Once Kevin and I were shooting fireworks in our backyard (we also lived in the country during that time).  Well, I guess it may have been a little dry that year and we had a field behind our house.  It's not good when you continue to see something glowing behind the shed.  No, it is not a spacecraft.  Good thing we got the fire out before it spread any further than it did.  We didn't set off any more fireworks that night.  

Two years ago we were flying back from a mission trip in Poland on the 4th of July.  We landed at the airport after dark and were able to see all the fireworks in the DFW area from the sky.  It is very cool to watch fireworks from a plane.  I highly recommend it.

Friday

Kevin and I met our friends on Friday night for a  Texas Ranger's game.  I know, I know.  The Rangers are having a terrible season.  It was a great game though.




  
Here's Tish's parents (Shane accidentaly blocked her mom's head at the moment I took the picture), Shane, Tish, and Kevin.

I jumped in for a quick pic.  First course, hot dogs.  Next we had nachos.  I was going to take a picture of the fake cheese and jalapenos in all their glory, but I ate them too quickly.
 
Here's some yummy funnel cake.  Fortunately it was not very hot outside that evening.  I was starting to look a little shiny though towards the end.  The good news was that the Ranger's WON!  The score was Rangers 11 Astros 3.  Great game!  There was an awesome fireworks show afterwards.  We left 5 minutes before it was over to get to our car and get out of there before everyone else did.  The bad news was that we lost our car.  Yep.  The sad thing was that we had even parked REALLY close.  We wandered around the parking lots for over 30 minutes; by this time just about everyone had left.  We finally asked for some help and realized we had exited the ballpark from the opposite end than we had entered.  Oops.  We then spent another 15 minutes walking to our car.  Good news is that we had an easy time getting out.  There were only 2 other cars in the parking lot with ours and they were workers.  Good times.  

SATURDAY

I drove to Frisco on Saturday to see my friend Jaalla and her sister Jo.  Jo was in town visiting.  I have known her since she was born and I can't believe she's so grown up. 
 
Here's Jaalla and the next picture is Jo.  We went to Olive Garden first, then Jaa had to pick up another turtle for her tank.

Jaa is a school teacher and keeps turtles in her classroom.  The new one is on the left.  She now has a total of three.  They are SO cute!