Garden Update

If you remember several weeks ago I planted a patio garden and I was slightly optimistic about the ability of it to really do anything but I felt like I should give it a chance. Well I am happy to report that things are growing well and they even seem to be producing some fruit!?!? I know I was shocked when I realized what was happening.

My cherry tomato plant is doing really really well. It has lots of tomatoes on it and I am anxiously waiting for the ripening of the tomatoes. At the moment I am content to wait for them to get ready but I have lots of recipes that I am waiting to try with them.

The patio tomato plant is significantly smaller than I had anticipated but to be honest maybe that is why it is a patio plant. Who knows but even though it seems to grow super super slow it does have several tomatoes on it and they look to be about palm sized when they are finished growing. I will of course update you when one finally turns red and I can eat it.

My pansies were doing well until a few weeks ago but I think they are going to have to come out soon. They seem to be infected with some type of bug, they look kinda like mites. I am going to spray them and see if it kills the bugs but not the plants... we shall see.

My basil and parsley are both doing great. I have used the basil several different times and I am trying to be a good herb grower and not allow it to just turn into a really long stalk of crazy basil. The parsley is also doing fine and I have a pasta recipe to try with that pretty soon. I will be sure to let you know how that goes.

The green bell pepper is actually in the process of giving me the first pepper of the season. It doesn't look like much yet but it will get there eventually. To be honest if I get 4 pepper off of the plant it will have made money for me so I am just enjoying keeping it alive. I am not sure it will make the summer but I might get a good fall crop out of it, if I can keep it alive.

Last but not least the flowers: I think they are really doing well. I like that I have several different varieties and colors running around on my patio.

I am excited to see how this little garden pans out over the summer. So far I have enjoyed watching my plants get bigger every single day. I am ready to be able to eat out of my garden one of these days. Are you growing anything this summer?

Spring Bible Study: Romans

One of my goals this year was to attempt to make more friends in Dallas. I have so many great friends that live all over the country from different parts of my life and that is good but sometimes you need a girl to have a beer with. There are many different ways to meet the man of your dreams but what about a good friend, not so many. I decided to attend the women's bible study on Thursday nights at church in hopes that I would meet some really nice girls that hopefully have something in common with me.

The study this semester was on the book of Romans, apparently it was a two semester class but I still got so much out of the spring semester. At some point I hope to go back and do the first half but who knows.

This was one of the first organized bible studies that I have ever done so I will admit that I was a little horrified in the beginning... I leap whole heartedly into the worst case scenarios: singing up front, being made to talk, filled with only crazy christians, being asked to leave because I wasn't good enough, I mean you name it I was thinking it. At one point my mom, I think, said well give it a few weeks and if it is that horrible don't go back. At first I was like, what?!?!?! then I realized that she had a valid point (yes I am now old enough to admit that sometimes my mom is right :) ) so I let some of my anxiety go. I was still very nervous about going to a bible study where I knew no one and they served dinner before. As I am single eating alone isn't that big of a deal it doesn't really bother me, but I don't really love eating alone when the whole place is filled with women who know each other. God provided some of the sweetest women over the different weeks to sit with me.

This bible study was two hours the first was a speaker that spoke about the chapter that we read and then there was a small group discussion after. I admit that most weeks I filled every ounce of space in the workbook with notes that the speaker gave. It was so neat to hear someone talk about what they have learned about a passage that I had just read.

Lots of notes

A good reminder: God is the promise keeper and the promise maker

This was so good for me, I made several new friends and I now feel much more comfortable going to church every Sunday. It is nice to know other Godly women, even if they were only for a season it was still nice to know them. I am actually doing the summer study at the church and I think I might to the full year next year when they study Genesis. I would totally recommend getting into a study if you move to a new town and don't know where to start with meeting people. I don't guarantee that you won't meet some crazies but for the most part you will find women that are nice.

Single serving cupcakes

If you have been around my blog for a while you know that I am obsessed with finding recipes that make small amounts of desserts. I will literally try anything that says for one. I have however learned my lesson that nothing can be made in the microwave and not taste terrible. This recipe uses the oven so I was pretty sure that it would work.

White cupcakes for two (or one)

1 egg white
2 tbsp sugar (white)
2 tbsp butter melted
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c flour
1/4 heaping tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tbsp milk

1- Whisk together first two ingredients, add the next two and keep stirring.
2- Add the remaining ingredients and stir until mixed up (in my hands this was pretty runny, just so you know).
3- Divide the batter between two lined muffin tins
4- Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. In the original post she indicated 12 minutes would work but it took about twice as long for me.


A quick buttercream

1/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 tbsp butter (softened)
drop of vanilla
milk

1- Stir together the butter and powdered sugar add vanilla
2- Add milk until desired consistency
3- I added chopped strawberries to see if I could make strawberry buttercream

I wish I was lying to you when I admit that these are going to be apart of my regular dessert rotation. They were incredible, for a moment I considered no eating both of them and then realized that I didn't care I live alone so I can eat two cupcakes without sharing. They were sooo good. The buttercream was just a tad runny but still good. I will probably work on that recipe eventually but it was good. These are a little different in texture than a boxed cake mix but they did remind me a bit of the vanilla cupcake that I got in Charleston. So overall a win. I think this is the first single serving dessert that was not terrible, I think it is the fact that it is made in the oven and the ingredients have time to really work together. I have a recipe for chocolate cupcakes for two and I am looking forward to trying that one pretty soon and letting you know how it turns out!

Festival International

When I went home several weeks ago to hangout with my mom while she recovered I got a chance to spend a few hours with one of my BFFs Mimi and her family. We headed to one of my favorite events in Lafayette, Festival International. This is a French Heritage festival and you can read more about it here. I remember going when I was in high school and loving it. I haven't been able to go for at least 10 years as it typically falls during finals week, so I couldn't get away from school or it was just too far.

This was wonderful, it was so fun to hear people speaking french and just having a great time with one another. I love south Louisiana so much, the people and the food are truly something special. I think it was almost more special to get to go with some of my great friends.

Once we got there we headed toward the children's area since they had their kiddos with them. It was pretty cute, there was a mariachi band playing. Which I admit I was surprised by but they were really good.

After the kiddo tent it was time to get something to eat and as you know I love to eat. It was almost hard to figure out what to get, I walked around for a bit looking at all there was to offer. I opted for Alligator Balls. Now in lafayette this means that it is similar to boudin balls and not like mountain oysters, so this is more like alligator meat with rice and seasonings that has been fried and not the manly parts. This was probably the best thing I had put in my mouth in a long, long time. At the table, this was a pretty popular thing to taste. I really like it.

After that we went to listen to some music. I don't know about other festivals but this one tends to have lots of bands playing at the same time surrounded by food and crafts. We went to listen to some band that I have no idea what the name is now. They were pretty good, they sounded like African Tribal Music and it was really good. I happen to love some good Zydeco but that didn't happen this year, maybe next year when my mom is feeling better.

It was so much fun to get a chance to spend a little time doing things that I really loved when I was younger but did not fully appreciate until I moved away while I was home. I wish I had taken a picture of me and Mimi but in typical Hannah fashion I took pics of lots of things but none of the people I have got to get better about that. All in all it was a great Saturday afternoon and I loved every single second of it.

What happened to May?!?!

So if you are still around wondering what has happened to me, nothing really. I don't really know what happened I think I got busy after work and just plain forgot to get my laptop out to write new posts. I know this is shocking to you but it happens to the best bloggers and I don't really know what to say about it.

But to make up for it here are a few great snap shots from the month of May and yes several of them will be of my Lily.

Homemade shrimp and grits... yum

Trying out a new hairdo

Just hanging out, waiting to see if there is going to be a tornado

I got to watch my bff Kate get married

I got free champagne when I went out one night

She gets into her spot when I make my water bottle for work

I know... my life is super exciting. Oh well we will try again this month and see how it goes. Things are going well here in Dallas but for the most part I am not doing too much that is exciting. But if you are reading this it is because you want to know about me and my life so that is what I will share.

DIY: T-Shirt to tank

As summer is rapidly approaching, or should be, I am trying to figure out what I will wear when I walk the dog or go running or just do something outdoors. I realized that I needed more tank tops but I really hate to spend money on ones that I am just going to sweat in, I don't know why I feel that way but I do. After looking for things at several stores I remembered the T-shirt to tank pins I had seen on pinterest and thought I have some old shirts I could do this. I wasn't too sure it would work but if they weren't that cute I could just sleep in them and no one would ever see them, so win-win right.

An old shirt that was destined for the rag bag

I chose to use this pin but for the most part they are all the same. I looked through my t-shirt drawer and chose three shirts that I could live without and would not be super depressed if they died in this adventure. These were shirts from college that had holes in the pits or were just super nasty from years of wearing them. I chose shirts that were worn in so they are super soft and comfy.

For the most part I followed the directions, but since my shirts weren't super long I opted not to cut the bottom off or make it a mullet shirt (short in the front and long in the back). I am working on getting fit so in my humble opinion no one should see my slightly flabby tummy flopping around while I run so I left mine long... of course you may make your own choices.

A couple of hints:

-Don't go crazy on the front, I opted to leave mine kinda high and then adjust once I tried it on

-I found that for the tie on the back if you hold one end in place and wrap the other end up the joined parts it looks better and works just a tad better.

-The shirt doesn't get any bigger so it should fit when you start.

-As for the arm holes, don't go too low or your boobs will hang out, now if you don't have huge knockers this might not be a problem for you.

Three new workout tops: aka motivation!

I think mine turned out really well and I am pretty excited about going for a run in one of them later today! Yay for a sucessful project. I will keep you updated on if they fall apart in the wash or something crazy. 

Hello Mr. President

A few weeks ago the Bush Library was dedicated and all of the living presidents came to town for it. This is W's library, Bush the second for non-texans or democrats, and I am very excited to see it. No matter what you thought of the man, his Library will give an insight into how things were for those eight years.

His father's library is at A&M and if you ask me W should have put his library there but that is OK at least I will get a chance to see it since it is here in Dallas. I did tour the Bush Sr. library several times while I was in school. It was so neat to see some of the things that he collected and of course some of Barbra's pearls. I also saw Bush Sr. around campus several times and once at the rec center. It is really an honor to be a part of one of these libraries.

Since all of the living president's were gathering in Dallas and it is well known that they fly into Love Field, the airport right by my office I spent most of the day looking for Air Force One. I will admit that I thought I saw it several times until I really gave up. As I was waiting for the elevator there it was and I grabbed my phone and took a pic. Now it was huge in the sky but not so much when I took a picture. Yes I know this looks photoshopped but give me a little credit if I was going to photoshop this I would have done a better job. Oh well, it was still fun to see him.

The worst picture ever of air force one, you should just trust me

As I walked out to my car I decided to take the back road home so that I wouldn't get stuck in traffic due to his arrival. As I am driving I come up to the light and there are cops everywhere and we can't go anywhere. I am mildly annoyed as I assume that this is due to an accident.. a moment later I realize that this is because the president was going to drive by... so I get off the phone with my dad and out of the car. Since all traffic is stopped I walked down the street much closer so that I could see the limo and the crazy entourage go by. As I talk to some of the other people waiting for him to arrive we are all pretty excited to get to see this.

Then the first motorcycle cop goes past and we all put our phone up... I tried to snap a few pics and realized that I would have another crappy photo like Air Force One so I just took a video. It was really neat to see the POTUS drive past. I couldn't see anything but the limo but it was still cool.

As I continued down the back road home I passed protestors... I was a little confused by their location but who knows what they are thinking. Originally I thought it might have been some sort of gun control protest, this is Texas and we love our guns so that would make sense. It turns out it was some sort of environmental protest, I was a little weirded out as I sat at the front of the light trying to take pictures of this so you could see it while some creepy girl that looked like Wednesday looked on. So random.

Protesting something about oil

More protestors... 

I will readily admit that I am a republican (yes shocking I know) but I was thrilled to get a chance to see the president. It was like the Olympics and how everyone loves their country, I was so pumped up to be an American that day. I am still pretty jazzed about it. So much fun and what a random trip home from work after a failed experiment. I hope you enjoyed seeing the POTUS from my vantage point.