The Bees Knees

I have been in a mind funk about my blog lately. It's been almost a week and half since the virus called Antivirus 2009 attacked our computer disabling our Internet along with a slew of other important software items- one of which especially bothers me is my disability {if you will} to upload pictures through our camera's Zoom Browser. I also haven't been able to listen to audio although I can view video but not through our Media Center- {which acts as a DVR for us}. That currently won't come up at all. And we all know that watching video without sound is just not the same. I am most definitely grateful to have ears that can hear and eyes that can see! Thank goodness my inability to hear things online is just a temporary nuisance and not an everyday handicap.

I wouldn't think that these things would particularly bother me ordinarily until I lost the ability to choose for myself to listen or not to listen to a video news clip. To record or not to record a television show to watch later so that we could spend more time as a family in the evening. To post or not to post a picture that brought a smile to my face. It is frustrating to say the least.

Yesterday's post would have been about the lovely warm weather we experienced here and the surprise house warming package I got from my Uncle Bruce and Aunt Chris. Imagine if you will {sorry no pictures- this is an imagination-only kind of post} opening up a medium-ish box and smelling the delicate undertones of sunshine, flowers and honey spilling out over the corners of the box and into the afternoon breeze. Inside were softly fragranced bars of soap made from honey, candlesticks made from busy bees, and a full jar of amber liquid gold {or honey if that's what you want to call it!}.

This called for a celebration. To the grocery store I went and in the cart the fixings for a majestic feast. Rosemary bread, a vegetable mix of sweet corn, baby carrots and bright green asparagus, flat iron steaks and golden potatoes to boil and mash with roasted garlic. Also, eight large granny smith apples which begged me to be made into a pie; which I did. The steaks completed, I topped them with a red wine reduction sauce and served them up with slices of warm rosemary bread and creamy mashed and roasted garlic potatoes. The vegetables rounded out the plate nicely and at the end was the grand surprise.

As Peyton and Troy sat in the flickering light of our new candlesticks, I took from my hiding spot the beautiful pie that had emerged only hours before from the oven smelling heavenly and delicious. We paired it with vanilla bean ice cream and sat back in our chairs full from the resplendent remnants of the meal before us. I washed up with a new bar of honey soap and dreamed of toast with honey drizzled on it for my morning breakfast. It was a good day.

Today, although not equally as delectable, was just as fair. I spent the morning at the temple with one thought on my mind:

Patience.

Give me patience.

I am trying to do better but patience is not a strong point for me. I wish I could say I was one of those people that let things roll off of their shoulders but I'm not. I'm a worrier and a realist {hard to see the forest for the trees}. I'm not one for making New Years Resolutions, but if I were, my goal would be to slow down and breathe. Take it slow and enjoy the moment. Don't get overworked so easily.

I'm trying.

Eventually I'll get there!

Opening the doors after my session, I was rewarded with robin's egg blue skies and deliciously balmy weather. The ladies from my church invited me to tag along for lunch so off I went to pick up Peyton and get to know the women in my ward who smile at me on Sunday's with kindness and curiosity and who speak my name slowly as though making sure as they say it that it's correct. We returned home, spirits uplifted, tummies full and Peyton took a cat nap as little wisp's of clouds blew through the heavens.

We took a drive when he woke and lingered over books in the library and selected three to entertain us in the quiet evenings and afternoons when the television is silent. Driving home, we put the sun roof up and let the sun wash over our faces and the wind play in our hair and on a whim we stopped at the park near our house to swing on the swings and take turns tumbling down the slide. Even today was a fine day.

I hope yours was too.

Where Country Music Isn't Just An Option On Your Radio- It's A Way Of Life!

On Saturday, we headed to Fort Worth with our friends Aidan and Jeremy to the historical Stockyards. It was frrr-frrr-freezing out- the 'high' for the day was only in the mid 4o's! Our first stop was for some lunch and to duck out of the brutal cold wind that was blowing through the alleyways.

We 'hung up our hats' at Riscky's BARB-Q and sat down for some beef brisket sandwiches and all you can eat ribs {or I should say that the guys tore into the ribs while we ladies stuck to our sandwiches}.

Here's a pail-full of rib bones...enough to feed Old Yeller. Notice the glass of water on the left- see how it was not even touched? Yeah, the water here is awful. It seriously tastes like soil and metal. Troy says it's not as bad as the water up at the church in Leesville {Jeni and Aaron will know what he's talking about} but since I was warned by Jeni not to drink that water, all I can say is that this is the nastiest water I've ever had!

I loved the sign for the restrooms- '2P' with an arrow. Classy.

Of course, I couldn't resist stopping into the Candy Barrel and checking out the goods. This is seriously a sugar heaven. Aidan and I both couldn't leave without getting ourselves some Jelly Belly jelly beans. I've finally found someone else who likes the buttered popcorn jelly beans! Alas, no one else shares my love for black licorice flavored jelly beans though. I think I'm the odd person out on that one ;-)

This was a store that we stopped in that specialized in all different kinds of spices. They had every spice you could imagine in there and even some mixes for rubbing on BBQ or seafood. It smelled scrumptious in there!

We all had to laugh at the cowboy rendition of a Zoltar machine. I wonder what kind of fortunes 'Pappy' is handing out!

Only in Texas.

Don't you love the holster attached to her hip?

We saw these mechanical horses and decided to peel the kids out of their warm strollers for a photo opp.

Peyton to Shelby: All you need is a gentle touch with her and she'll go where ever you lead her. Let me show you... You take the reins like this....

Shelby to Peyton: If we head down Main Street and hang a right, we can mosey our way down to the cattle yard and pick us out a nice side of beef!

Shelby was in awe of this cow- she didn't say a word until we walked away and then she kept exclaiming "Cow!" "Cow!". I would have shown Peyton the cow too, but he was mad that we took him off of the horse ride and then buckled him back into his stroller. I knew there was no way we would get that boy back in his stroller after we had just struggled to get him back in it!

Here's where they hold live auctions for the cattle- they show the cattle being sold on television moniters and people bid on the ones they like. Nearly everyone in there had on boots and/or cowboy hats. I'm definitely not in Louisiana anymore!

We all laughed hysterically at Jeremy's ride on the mechanical bull. It was $5 for only 18 seconds of fun, but man was it worth it to watch it! :-0

This was my favorite cow of the day!

These guys were all huddled up by the fence and I couldn't blame them- it was really, really, REALLY cold outside!

At the end of the day, Shelby gave her buddy Peyton a goodbye hug. Poor Roxy is scratching at the door to get in- I think if she could dig herself a hole in the glass to get inside, she would!
After we left Aidan and Jeremy's we still needed to head out to the studio home and pick out some last minute options for the house. This was heading back to our temporary home in Richardson. What you can't really tell in this picture is that we were headed down this huge hill with a lake at the end of it. The lake is literally only 7 or 8 minutes from our house-to-be! Would you believe that matching paint color to cabinet grains to wood flooring to granite counter tops is really stressful? I think we've finally got it narrowed down though and we should have a meeting with our builder soon to verify all of our choices so they can begin building. Yippee!

Family Night Date Night In

Having small children can sometimes make it difficult to get a night out, so when we can't have one out, sometimes we have one in! There's nothing better than the smell of fresh dough and even better, the smell of fresh pizza baking in your oven- so for our Friday night I decided to make some fresh pizzas for the whole family to enjoy.

The dough looks awesome and ready to go!

My *secret* ingredients: King Arthur Flour Company's Pizza Dough Flavoring {which makes the dough extra yummy} and Pizza Seasoning which we sprinkle on top of our pizza's to add a little zest. The Pizza Seasoning actually smells like those scratch-and-sniff stickers shaped like pizza's you used to get as a kid, and believe you me, it sure makes your mouth water!

Dough balls of perfection! After giving them some warmth and room to rise, they were ready to roll out.

This dough doesn't need much flour, just a tinge to take away some of the stickiness.

Peyton approves of the preparations!

It's easy to make a crust for pizza- just 'fork' your whole 'pie' leaving just the edges for your crust.

I like to use EVOO {that's Rachel Ray for Extra Virgin Olive Oil} to make the crust golden and to add some subtle flavor.

What kind of pizza toppings do you like best? These are Troy's favorites: Sausage, pepperoni and onion. I also like to use marinara instead of 'pizza sauce' since it seems to give it a little more flavor and still retains the thickness of pizza sauce. Of course, we also like to layer it in shredded Italian cheese too. Yum!

One of two 'pizza pies'. Are you hungry yet?

I put Troy to work when the first pizza came out of the oven. Here he is cutting it into slices.

The boys enjoying their slices. Peyton ate two whole slices all by himself and then asked for a banana which he saw in the fruit bowl sitting on the kitchen counter! He sure is taking after his Dad in the eating department!


Compliments to the chef if I don't say so myself! ;-)

After Peyton went to bed, we had our 'date night' by making chocolate chip/reeses pieces cookies and watching 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'. Whoever said that you have to leave your house in order for it to be an official date night obviously never tried one in! Try it sometime- it's a lot of fun!

*As per Cathi's request, here is the recipe that came with my bread machine:

Ingredients: Makes 6 small or 2 large

Pizza Dough
1 tsp dry yeast
16 3/4 oz. (OR 3 cups 6 TBSP) bread flour
1 TBSP milk powder
1 3/4 TBSP sugar
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP butter
11 3/4 fl. oz. (OR 1 cup 7 TBSP) water

1. Select dough cycle and press start (my machine has a setting for pizza dough, but just use whatever setting yours has for dough)

2. After the cycle has ended, knead dough on a lightly floured surface until it becomes elastic and springs back when touched.

3. Divide into 6 balls or 2 large balls, and place in a warm area for 10 minutes.

4. Shape each ball into a flat circle. Place the circles on two seperate baking sheets and prick both circles with a fork.

5. Let rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.

6. Brush each circle with pizza sauce {I use marinara and also prep my crusts with olive oil first, but you can use whichever you'd like}. Sprinkle with your choice of cheese. Top with your favorite toppings {I also like to add more cheese on top of the toppings... what can I say? I'm a cheesy person!}

7. Bake in a preheated 340• oven for 15-20 minutes.

You can find King Arthur Flour Co.'s Pizza Dough Flavoring and Pizza Seasoning HERE. You don't have to use it, it just makes your pizza a little more tastier! Enjoy!

Troy's Mini-Me

Who knew?

That playing with Dad's tie could be one of the funnest toys ever?

At least for a moment or two... or until you find something better!

"Let me guess... you want the..."

On Saturday mornings, it was a special treat growing up to go the Colony Kitchen about three miles or so away from our house out in Palmer, Alaska. Sometimes we went for breakfast, sometimes for lunch but whatever I ordered was always the same and the server always knew what I was going to say before I could say it myself.

For breakfast, my favorite was the short stack of pancakes topped with cherry pie filling and decorated with whipped cream and served up with orange juice. Lunch was always the chicken strips with curly fries and an icy cold root beer.

We lived out in "the valley" for years- and the Colony Kitchen was a favorite for all of us. Everyone working there knew us just as we knew them. My Dad would sometimes bring in the morning newspaper and we'd eat, read and chat at our leisure then pile into the car satisfied and full knowing that the weekend had officially begun.

I miss those pancakes and chicken strips- and truth be known, they weren't what you would consider gourmet fare but that wasn't what Colony Kitchen was all about. It was comfort food, and what they were serving up was a little piece of home. Troy has made me my pancakes with cherries and whipped cream several times since we've been married because he knows how much I miss them. Somehow even though he makes the lightest, fluffiest, most wonderful pancakes ever, it's just not the same. I think I miss the tradition and the familiarity of it all; like how the 'Cheers' theme song says "A place where everybody knows your name...and they're always glad you came" {not that Troy doesn't know my name or he's not glad that I came to the dining room table to eat with him :-)...}

Troy and I haven't created any traditional Saturday morning breakfast hotspots yet- I think partly because it's such an effort to get out of the house with Peyton that early in the morning and still make it to breakfast and not brunch or lunch. Also, even though we lived in Prairieville for 1 year, Married Student housing on LSU campus for another year and New Orleans for nearly 4 years it always felt like we were a little transient and were never really home. Plus we've only been in the State of Texas here for two weeks! I hope that once we move into our permanant home, we can foster traditions like my family's Saturday morning outting with Peyton and our newest addition to the family.

So what are your family traditions? Ice cream sundaes on Sunday? Pizza night on Friday? Dinner and a movie the first Saturday of the month? If I like your traditons I might have to steal them and make them mine ;-)

Wordless Wednesday

Y'all Come Back Now, You Hear?

When we left New Orleans, we were literally up to our ceiling in boxes! Ok, maybe they weren't FILLED and STACKED up to our ceiling, but I thought it would be fun to say ;-)

It didn't take us long to get the truck unloaded on the other end. We had 11 men show up and help and they emptied the truck in under an hour! Since we're moving again in 5 months or so {once our house is completed} a lot of the things we won't be needing stayed in boxes. That helped me immensly and it wasn't long before we were all set up with our little home again.

Are you ready for the grand tour? Not pictured here is our new doormat. It needs a little help getting worn in, so if you're ever in town look us up! We'd love to see you!

Here is our very cozy living room. As you can see, it shares the same room with our dining room table so our quarters are a wee bit tight- but it works!

Here's another look from a different angle.

It was so snug in our living room that our armchair got banished to the stairwell landing and the ottoman had to be hidden away in the outdoor storage closet! Peyton's just glad that it's the armchair and not him that's sitting in a corner!

What'cha makin' me for dinner? Don't stress- if you come and visit me, I'll cook YOU dinner! This kitchen gives us more storage space for our pots and and pans and appliances but less counter space to cook up our concoctions. That hasn't stopped us though! We love to cook.

Our bedroom has more room to move around in than our old bedroom did. Before, we couldn't even get both end tables into the room. Now they fit nicely.

Here's our Grand Central Station where all of the blog magic happens. Plus it's located conveniently beside my dresser so when I freeze {which I've been doing the last few days!} I can whip out a sweatshirt in no time at all. You're impressed, aren't you? I thought you would be ;-)

Peyton also loves his room too. We especially love it since we don't share a wall with him anymore. He hasn't seemed to notice the difference and it gives us a little more time in the morning to ourselves since we don't hear him talking to himself at six in the morning. Bonus!

Of course, we can't let Peyton forget about one of his best buddies ever from New Orleans. Calyn and Peyton had a lot of fun growing up together since they were only 6 weeks apart in age. They've known each other since Calyn was only a few weeks old. We will sure miss her but even more so her parents. We've known Aaron and Jeni for YEARS- I've known them for about 6 and Troy about 8. We've got incentives for them to come and visit us though {Can you say Ikea and Pro Soccer?!}. Do you see Peyton being a spaz in the mirror? What a turkey!

I think one of the nicest features about this place is that there is a little playset literally steps away from our front door. You can see it from the balcony! Peyton's only been out twice though because it has been so frigid outside lately. Yesterday it rained and then the rain froze. All of the trees were covered in little icicles!

Are you exhausted yet? I know Peyton is! We'll update you again soon.