Happy Halloween

I wish I had a great costume pic of me or Lily but I am actually out of town so there will be neither of those. I just wanted to take a quick moment to say that I am actually trying to get better about posting but I think I am over pressuring myself to write something fabulous. We shall see how that turns out in the month of November. I thought that since a new month is about to start I would share my goals for the month.

-Blog more frequently (hopefully 3-4 a week, not a month)
-Run 2-3 days a week
-Try 2 new recipes
-Get my new plates for my car
-Take the dog down to whiterock lake twice
-Find something fabulous to wear to the A&M/LSU game (as well as the A&M/UTEP game that is in two days!)


In other news here is a cute picture of Lily to tide you over until I come up with something a little more enticing.

DC Pics

When I finally finished the post about the Korean War Memorial I realized that I had a few other pictures that didn't really fit into any of the other sections but I thought that I would share then with you. I don't have much to say about these things but I thought I would just give you an insight into what we saw. I am sorry for the vast number of me and my dad selfies but as I looked through my pics I realized that in some ways they are a tour of DC selfies.

Front of the white house… didn't see the president from here

The back of the white house, you can't get very close on this side

I love the sunset on the capital building

This was such a great trip I wish I could share more of what I saw but in the end we were only there a few days and I am already dying to go back. There is so much to see and we just saw a small chunk of what there was but it was so fun to be there with family and learn so much about the Korean War. I am so honored to have been able to share this with my family.

The Korean War Memorial

I know it has been months since I posted about our trip to DC but this post was running around totally unfinished so I decided it was time for a little more DC (the earlier posts are here, here, and here). I did consider posting this while the government was shut down but let's get real I am sure someone would have asked me to take it down since we were not allowed to visit the memorials when it was closed. Anyway, this is not the place for a political ramble this is about honoring our Korean War Vets. 

We were ready for the bus

The morning started very early since we had to ride a bus from the hotel to the pentagon to get screened by some very cute secret service gentlemen. After that we rode another bus over to the Korean War Memorial and once we got into the fenced off area we couldn't leave. By this point I realized that something very exciting was about to happen... I was going to get to see the President!!! Sweet.

When we walked into the ceremony everyone got a bag of goodies which included some snacks, a very odd looking hat, a towel, and a wonderful book about the Korean War put together by South Korea (we might have gotten this after the ceremony but it is in the bag now). My grandfather got a medal for his service which was given to him by members of the American Military.

At this point we took our seats, maybe 50 yards from the podium, and waited for the excitement. There wasn't a whole lot going on at this point, there was a wreath laying by all of the nations that participated in the war, the president, and most of the military groups (including the POW group and the KWVA). 

Eventually the ceremony got started and several people spoke prior to the president getting up to speak. I may not be his biggest fan but it really was an honor to hear him speak to my grandfather and apologize for the governement forgetting about them. So often the Korean War is thought of as the forgotten war because so many people just never wanted to talk about it. The Pres then spoke about our military today and vowed to stand up for them and also vowed that even when our men came home from overseas that we would not be getting rid of all of our weapons like they did after WWII. This was my favorite part of the morning. 

This is zoomed in but on a regular camera... so close

I was honored to hear the president speak. After that part of the ceremony we were able to head back over to the Memorial which had been closed that morning (so that the president could lay a wreath). It was neat to see the memorial in the day and hear my grandfather talk about the different types of people that were displayed. It was so neat to hear him talk about the War and listen to his stories, so often he wouldn't talk about the memories because they were so terrible but it was fun to hear him talk with some of his friends or other men that served. 

The USMC Wreath

This memorial was the whole reason that we were in DC and it was so neat to see what the President had to say and to listen to people honoring the men that served because they were asked to by their country. I loved seeing my grandfather honored for his service to the USA. I will admit that by the end of the ceremony I was melting, this was the hottest day that we had in DC, but I would not have missed this for the world.

Homemade Mac and Cheese

One of the ways that I save money and calories every week is to bring my lunch to work. I will admit that I don't really love sandwiches, in fact I kinda struggle to eat them for more than a week at a time. This forces me to be pretty creative in what I eat for lunch, sometimes I have salad, pizza, soup, or really just about anything. I saw a recipe on Pinterest for a Mac and Cheese that only had three ingredients so I figured that I could try this one and see if it worked. The original post for the recipe can be found here.

I was intrigued by this because it was easy, boil pasta in milk, add cheese. I have found that adding cheddar cheese to hot items causes the cheese to break down into a grainy cheese sauce so I opted to purchase cheddar-jack instead.

This was super easy to make, I made sure to watch the boiling milk because it takes just a few minutes to scald the milk and burnt milk is probably the worst thing in the world, actually that is an exaggeration but it would have been gross. Since the post wasn't really descriptive on this part I put both the milk and the pasta in the pot at the same time and boiled it, it took about 15 minutes (maybe a tad longer) until the noodles were done. After that I slowly added the cheese (the recipe calls for 2 cups of cheese) since I didn't want to over cheese it. I think I added about a cup, feel free to add more but I didn't want grainy cheese and this was about borderline for me. In addition, I don't think my heart could have handled more cheese than what I put in there. Now I missed the note about adding some salt and pepper so I didn't do that and I totally should have.

Lily thinks I should just give it to her

I ate it for dinner and it was good right out of the pot, I then split the leftovers for lunches. I only got two lunches out of the rest. It was still pretty good, the cheese actually melted back down and was just as yummy as the first time. I think I will have to make this again for lunches and keep working on what type of cheese I think works best. If I come up with something amazing I will be sure to let you know.

Cowboys Red River

It has been a while since I have actually been out on a Friday night. It is hard to go out expecially on Friday night because I am just ready for my dog and hanging out, but the other night my friend Laura sent me a text and wanted to know if I wanted to go out. After a few moments of looking at the yoga pants I was wearing I told her I was in. I knew that I wouldn't be able to do much with my hair but it looked OK. I got off the couch and went to the closet to see what was hanging in there, not much. In the end I chose this new blue top and some cute jeans, after all we were headed to a country western bar. 

To be honest I didn't really know what I was in for but I realized that it would be fun no matter what, I had a wonderful time. To tell the trust I am hoping that she invites me the next time she goes it was that great. We got there after 10:30, I think and it wasn't too crowded but it definitely got more packed as the night wore on. We spent most of the night chatting with each other and dancing with the guys that asked us. I will admit that one of the best dancers for me was a guy that I would have never danced with otherwise. Who knew right.

A glittered saddle for decor

I don't have a whole lot to say about this club but it has definitely made it onto the list of places that I will be taking people that are interested in seeing something a little bit more country when they come to Dallas and don't feel like making the hour drive to Fort Worth. This reminded me of some of of the bars we used to hit up in College Station. I think the only thing that I need to do in order to return is to buy a pair of cowboy boots, how have I lived here a year without them? No idea, but they are on my list of things to get soon. 

On a side note, I looked at some apartments right next to this bar, I am so glad that I didn't move in there, I would be way to tempted to go there all of the time. I look forward to taking my friends here when they come into town again. 

Recycling an end table

Many years ago, when I was getting ready to head to grad school with no furniture and no money my mom and I hit up garage sales to find what I needed on the cheap. One of the best finds that we found was an end table for $5. I will admit that I wasn't in love with it but it held a lamp in a the living room and it was good for holding my drinks while I studied or watched TV. Since I was not totally in love with it I knew that it needed a new home here in Dallas.

In the beginning it actually held the cable box since it doesn't fit on the TV stand, oops. I eventually found a different, cuter table so I knew that I was ready to figure out something to do with the old end table. I decided that I would repaint it and leave it outside for an end table when I sit outside and enjoy the weather.

The first thing I did was sand the table down so that the paint would adhere to the table. I used a pretty rough sand paper since the table was so dark and I wanted to see if the stain would come off... yeah that didn't happen.

See how uneven it is

Once the table was sanded and wiped off I spray painted on a primer. This did not go as well as I planned. To be honest, I think I should have just bought a regular primer because it wasn't very even on the actual top of the table. Truthfully, I didn't think this would be a problem until later.

Lily is trying to tell me that I should add more primer

Once I sprayed the primer on the table I went ahead and started painting the pink on. From the very first moment that I put paint on the table I knew that this was exactly what I wanted. I chose Feverish Pink from Sherwin Williams. I got my paint from there because when I went to Home Depot I couldn't find the right color and they were having their 40% off everything sale. It is always a bonus when you get what you want on the cheap.

It is amazing

Once I finished the first coat I started to realize that the unevenness of the primer was going to be a problem. In the end I put three coats of paint on the table. I think with a really even primer coat I might have been able to get away with just two but I wanted the table to be pink and not pink with brown underneath. It might not have been the primer it might have been the fact that the table was so dark. This paint dried pretty quickly so that was nice.

I am loving the table, I can see it from the path when I walk Lily. Most mornings I walk out and look at the table and realize that I am in love with it. It has been a while since a craft did exactly what I thought it would do. This was a great recycle of this table, it needed some updating. And yes I do know that this is not just pink it is hot pink! I love it. Now that it is starting to cool off I am looking forward to sitting out there and having some hot chocolate.

October Garden Update

As you know I started a patio garden in April or May, I can't really remember which month but needless to say it has been pretty slow going for the last several months. It has been super hot here in the Big D so for the most part my plants have gotten bigger but no veggies. I will admit that my herbs are doing great but I often forget to use them. I still have hope for making a pesto with the Basil that I have, since it is out of control.

It is finally starting to cool off around here, that is right gang the highs are only in the 90s not the 100s. Occasionally, the high is in the mid 80s and I almost think that I need a jacket. It seems like fall (or what we call fall here in Texas) is just around the corner! Woo Hoo I am super excited about that. But I tell you that so that you know that it is finally time for the garden to give up the fall crop of yummys.

Tomato plants

The Cherry tomato plant (far left) is doing really great and you can see some small tomatoes coming around. Every time I look to see how they are growing there are more tomatoes! Sweet. Maybe I will have enough at one time to actually make something and not just snack on the one or two that I get at a time.

Cherry tomatoes are coming

The middle plant (unknown tomato variety) looks like a weed. I have high hopes for it to get its act together but who knows. I got this from my Aunt and mostly it just has some stalks but there is still time for it to come around. My patio tomato (far right) seems to be doing OK, it grows slower than the rest so we will have to see if it gets it's act together before the first frost. It looks like it is about to go through another growth spurt.

This is my bell pepper plant (in the center of the green planter). It is actually looking really good right now. I have high hopes to get several more bell peppers and maybe just maybe I will actually remember to use them before they rot. Oops. There are lots of little flowers on the plant so I think that there are several peppers in my future. I am not totally sure when I am supposed to pick them off of the plant but I think this time when they look almost right I am just going to pick them and see what happens!

Bell Peppers are coming!!

Next to Lily you can see the basil that is out of control. I will admit that I use this most of the time but I had to give it a hair cut the other day because it was insane. Who knows, I use basil just enough for it to cover the cost of the plant so all in all I think I win. I will admit that there isn't a close up of this plant because something is eating it and although I have sprayed (yes, I know I am a terrible person but I want my plants to live) it doesn't seem to be leaving. I will have to keep working on that one.

All in all this garden is coming along pretty well I am hopeful for the fall crop of veggies. I think I should get some tomatoes. Last year my Aunt had so many that she was just giving them away. I hope that happens to me or that I have so many I can use them to make a sauce and pop it in the freezer or try my hand at canning. So many fun things for the future. I will keep you updated so you can see the progress!