4th of July Weekend

We started celebrating Independence Day at church with an awesome guest speaker, Tony Perkins. He is the president of the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. and is a phenomenal speaker. Phil & I both really enjoyed him at church. (You can check out his talk here:http://www.houstonsfirst.org/videos) After church we were happy to have some delicious American BBQ and watch the Nathan’s Hot Dog Competition. Joey Chestnut ate 54 hotdogs in 10 minutes (seems like a lot but is about 15 less than he ate last year). We love to watch this competition every year; it is both intriguing and nauseating at the same time. Pam from The Office says it best, “It’s like a car wreck that you just can’t stop watching”

We had our first hurricane of the season last week, Alex. Luckily the storm came and left without any damage (we have a few water spots that we need to repair, but that’s totally minor). We were glad that the storm left so that we could spend time at the pool and then see fireworks. We went to see the Houston fireworks for the first time this year and the show was about 25 minutes long. Unfortunately, the drive home was an hour and a half to go 5.5 miles. Needless to say, Phil and I decided we will be going back to the Boston Pops. for future 4th of July firework shows….and by that I mean in front of our HD tv with AC….This way we’ll actually get to see the fireworks well, hear the music, and be in the front row.

My favorite part about going to see fireworks is waiting for the sun to set; so beautiful!
This was my best picture of the fireworks…I guess I was a bit distracted Here is the only picture I got of us last weekend.

Surfside Beach

Phil and I went to the beach for the first time since we’ve been married a few weeks ago. We went to Surfside Beach, which is just south of Galveston and much quieter. On the drive down to the beach we had to make my favorite pit stop at Buc-ees. Our friend Morgan says “Buc-ee's beef jerky is a gift from God!” and I couldn’t agree more! On the drive we also got to see the statue of Stephen Austin, some skydivers, and were reminded of the flatness that is Texas—Big Sky Country!

Stephen Austin

It is so flat, you can see for miles!

This was our first time at a Texas beach, which is completely different from an east coast beach. I have never been on a beach where you can drive on the beach (legally) and see oil rigs from the shore. That was all new to me but ultimately it was still a beach. There is nothing better than laying on the beach with an ice cold Mountain Dew listening to old school music while reading a book about the beautiful south until falling asleep ensuring that you have a nice toasty burn before returning home. Gotta love it!

We couldn't believe that we live less than an hour from this beach and had never gone. We will be taking many more trips to this beach for sure!

About a Month

Preseason starts in a little over a month and regular season in about 2 months; I can’t wait! Phil and I have our tickets for the Steeler games this season and can barely contain ourselves. Terrible Towels are on deck and ready to get back to Heinz Feild! The countdown is on!

Short People

I never considered myself a short person until I met Phil, and now I have proof. A couple weeks ago Phil took this picture of me, and when I saw it, I thought to myself, “This must be what I look like to tall people!” When he took this picture, we were both standing up straight; I promise I wasn’t kneeling and he wasn’t standing on a chair. When I see this picture it reminds me of Randy Newman’s “Short People”. If you don’t know it, youtube it; it’s worth listening to the entire song.

Kellyn Visits Houston!

My sister came to visit us a couple weeks ago; it was so nice to see her again! I had been looking forward to her visit for 3 months! We did all the things I imagine that we would do on a weekend if we lived closer. We had a spa day, got pedicures, went shopping, and lounged by the pool. I was so sad for her to leave, but am now all the more excited for our next trip home to VA!

This is the strawberry-pineapple cake I made for Kellyn. She is known as “The Princess” in our family and every princess needs a pink cake!

Our nice new toes Before churchWe don’t look anything alike, but I can see why we are called twins so frequently. We have practically the same bathing suit and sunglasses! Thanks for visiting us Kellyn; we miss you already! xoxo

Chicken Finish-Line

So many of you have sent us chicken recipe recommendations…THANK YOU! I have been entertained & Phil has been able to enjoy tons of chicken. Below are the latest chicken recipes; you’ll notice that the further down you read, the more I began weaning us off the chicken.

Chicken Roll-Ups- I added spinach & mushrooms. Thank you Morgan!
Coq au Vin- I used whole-wheat noodles & added some of the parsley I have been growingChicken Kabobs with Andouille & Black-Eyed Pea Salad & Lamb and Feta- I made 2 separate recipes on the same night since kabobs are pretty easy. I have never heard of andouille and never cooked lamb so this was a great learning experience for me. Thanks Martha!
Chicken Supreme- I used wheat noodles. Thanks Beth! Caribbean Chicken- This was not as spicy as I thought it would be.
Chicken Tacos- I saw shrimp tacos in a magazine and made a few substitutions
Mac & Cheese- I added spinach, zucchini, cayenne pepper, gruyere, whole-wheat noodles, & served it with hamburgers (no chicken this night!) Tortellini with Chicken (& prosciutto)- I will take every opportunity to add prosciutto to a meal! Fried Chicken- This is not a new recipe, but I decided to add it to the list anyways.
Of course I have not been neglecting my sweet tooth. I made some brownies by Martha Stewart and was less than impressed. I’m not even going to post a picture of them. I must be a really picky brownie eater. (I’m open to brownies recipe suggestions). I made a Hummingbird cake last night and it was delicious. Phil, not being from the true south (clearly, since he had no idea what kind of cake this was), asked me the reason for the name. My response was “some say it’s called hummingbird cake for its nectar-like sweetness; others says it’s so good, it makes you hum” This is the new cookbook that the cookbook club has decided to start this summer. Everyone wanted something “lighter on the arteries.” I have to agree!

Storm Station

As the electronic billboards have warned Houstonians, hurricane season began June 1st. The 4th Pacific ocean hurricane this year will be named Darby—that will only be neat if it’s a small hurricane…I don’t want to share a name with a huge destructive hurricane. Like people named Katrina or Ike? Yea, that would not be cool.

Ike & his aftermath in Houston

When Phil & I were in our first year of undergrad, we experienced our first large hurricane, Isabel. That fall we missed 2 weeks of school due to all of the damage. So in 2008 when Ike was upon us, we knew what to expect & how to prepare. But no matter how much we prepare, we still have to remember the power of these mighty storms and take warnings seriously. Ike was an extremely aggressive storm that left more than 4.5 million people without power for weeks & many people lost their homes. So as a reminder, make sure that your home is prepared for this hurricane season and that your emergency hurricane kit is stocked. Preparation Reminders:
• Bottled water and fill your (cleaned) tub with water as a back-up
• Non-perishable foods with a manual can opener
• Flashlights with extra batteries
• Prescription medications & a first aid kit
• Blankets & a tarp
• Essentials for infants, the elderly, & pets
• Important documents and insurance information (consider wind insurance)
• Roofing tacks & hammer
• Know your evacuation number & routes; have a map
• Keep your gas tank filled & your cell phone charged
• Board games (waiting can get boring!)
• Cash- ATMs could be down
• Toilet paper
• Keep everything in a plastic container so that it doesn’t get wet
• Visit the Texas Emergency website for other suggestions: http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/dem/pages/weather_aware_hurricane.htm
• We recommend this Storm Station: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-StormStation-Rechargeable-SS925/dp/B000B8GBCC/ref=pd_sim_hi_1It has everything! We were extremely blessed during the last big storm with minimal damage and we hope to have another uneventful hurricane season!

Oasis

Memorial day weekend Phil surprised me with a vacation. We were ready to get away for a few days & Austin was the perfect destination! We got a chance to tour the capital (something I have always wanted to do), see SITC2 (yes Phil sat through this at his own suggestion & didn’t complain once- that’s an awesome husband if you ask me!), go to a music festival, & visit the Sunset Capital of Texas- the Oasis. (http://www.oasis-austin.com/) I loved the view at the Oasis; it felt like I was back in the Mediterranean. We had such a great vacation, neither of us wanted to come back to reality in Houston.

The Capital and a self-portrait of ourselves in the dome of the capital.

The view at the Oasis.

Despite my resistance, the calendar kept turning & summer school started for me last week. I have never taken a summer school class, let alone taught one & I can already see how fast the semester is going to go. Phil starts back this evening. Please pray for energy for both of us this month! Here is a picture of me at work from a couple weeks ago.

I have had a few inquiries for a chicken-kick update. Many of you have sent me chicken recipes to help entertain me, and for that, I thank you! I will be blogging about your recipes later this week. Last week, though, I made chicken stir-fry and Phil made a HUGE pot of chicken vegetable soup (and when I say “huge”, I promise I’m not exaggerating; 15-quarts of chicken soup for one person to eat is a lot! I’m so glad that he likes leftovers!) I also attempted a lemon-oregano chicken recipe by Martha Stewart with an avocado salad by Southern Living. Since we have been growing our own herbs, I have been trying to pick recipes that include those ingredients, but the lemon-oregano recipe was a 1-time recipe. We were not fans.
And last but certainly not least, Phil’s sister had her baby on Sunday! We’re so happy to welcome Elijah Anthony into our family! Congratulations Joni and Anthony!

Chicken Planning

I am a creature of habit who is easily bored (is that an oxymoron?). Being obsessively organized, every Friday morning I decide what we will eat for every meal the following week & add the ingredients to my weekly-running grocery list (I have a list for everything). Every Saturday morning, I take this trusty list and hit-up Kroger. I know my routine is a bit over the top, and maybe old fashioned, but in my defense, if I don’t do this weekly ritual when it comes around to 4pm (after an exhausting day of dealing with students) and I need to make dinner but don’t have something already planned, I walk around aimlessly for a while “thinking” until I inevitably decide on a recipe that calls for ingredients I don’t have, ensuring that dinner doesn’t hit the table until 8pm—not good. Thus I am overly structure with planning meals. Though I love structure, planning, lists, & routine…I am easily bored and things like leftovers don’t go over well with me. I would rather eat my boring Special K cereal than have leftovers (with the exception of leftover spaghetti, which everyone knows is always better the next day). So I send all leftovers with Phil for his lunch at work since he loves them.

Ok so where was I going with this post?! A few weeks ago when I asked Phil what he wanted the following week for dinner (ok see how silly that questions is? Normal wives say, “Honey, what would you like for dinner tonight?” but wives like me require a weeks notice; I am so weird sometimes! Thank goodness Phil is so laid-back!), all he said was chicken. My thought: chicken every night?! So I have been trying out various chicken recipes to satisfy Phil’s chicken-kick while entertaining my own tastebuds.

I seriously thought that the first few Sundays without my steak and baked potato I would cry. There is just something about Phil standing by the grill monitoring the steaks that just makes me fall in love with him all over again. The first sans-steak Sunday, I still got those same butterflies when I saw Phil behind the grill, even though it was BBQ Chicken and not a delicious ribeye. Clearly it is the company (the chef) that I love, and not the menu so I will be able to make it through this steak dry-spell. Please help me out by posting your favorite chicken recipes in the comments. It’s possible (and probable) that we will test and blog about your recipe suggestions. Recent chicken recipes that I have tested so far:

Cranberry Chicken (from my best friend Katie!)

Buttermilk & Herb Chicken (from my great friend Martha Stewart)

Chicken Scallopine (from my new friend PW)

Trinidad Chicken Curry (another PW recipe)

White Chicken Enchiladas (P-dub)

Haircast

There are main 2 reasons why I check the forecast in the morning: so I can know what shoes I should wear and how to style my hair. (I think that statement solidifies me as a “girlie-girl”). Growing up in Virginia, I was all too familiar with the negative effects of humidity on my hair, and moving to Houston only enhanced those effects. On Friday my sister and I laughed about a website that predicts your Haircast- instead of the forecast. You put in your zip code and the date, and it tells you what kind of hair day you will have. Below the prediction there are videos of a stylist telling you how to manage your hair based on the haircast. We thought it was hilarious and had to share it with you, so you can have the perfect “hair-do” everyday or have a good laugh: http://houston.justweather.com/haircast/USTX0617/1/

TCA

Phil attended Tri-State Christian Academy (TCA) for grades k-12th: http://www.4tca.org/ It is a fabulous Christian school that Phil’s older sister and husband also attended and now teach at, our nieces and nephews attend, and Phil’s father is the Principal of TCA. Because the school is smaller, fund-raisers are extremely important. Today (Monday) through Saturday, Pastor Hawley- Phil’s dad- and a friend of the school are biking the 400 miles from Weirton, WV to Washington, D.C. to raise money for the school. We ask that you pray for the safety of these 2 men, and prayerfully consider a donation per mile. The Weirton Daily Times was at the starting point this morning to see them off: http://www.weirtondailytimes.com/page/content.detail/id/539785.html?nav=5006 and you can monitor their progress: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=115671028472072

Scentsy

My awesome sister-in-law gave me a Scentsy, a flameless candle, for Christmas last year and I l-o-v-e it! I just have to tell you all about it. You purchase the jar and the light bulb in the bottom melts the wax on top…pretty simple, right? The jars come in various sizes and designs, and there are tons of scents to choose from for the wax. Since the scent in the wax lasts such a long time (more than 60 hours), Scentsys are a cheaper alternative to candles. For families who love candles but live with little people who have curious minds and wandering fingers, this is a much safer option. Obviously we don’t have little people, but we love ours and use it all the time. I keep mine in the kitchen and turn it on right before I start cooking, especially if I’m frying something because I can’t stand that fried smell. This is a picture I have posted before, but if you can get past the poppers (which is hard for even me) you can see mine on in the background. Anyhow, you just have to check out the Scentsy website and order one for yourself! http://www.scentsy.net/en-us/index.aspx

Summer Soup

“Potato soup is an unsung hero of the soup world; there is just nothing more belly-pleasing” ~Paula Deen

I know you must be thinking, what is the connection between the hearty & famous winter potato soup and the title of this post?! My good friend Paula (though, she doesn’t know we’re friends yet) has a tip for making this yummy soup in the summer…just add shrimp! I think that practically every dish can have a summer-time version when you add seafood. You can try this too, beginning with your own recipe of potato soup. Starting with a pound of fresh shrimp: cook ‘em, shell ‘em, cut ‘em & throw 'em in the potato soup about 10 minutes before serving. If the shrimp are in the soup longer than 10 minutes they will overcook. Also add to your soup: seasoned salt and a few shakes of tobasco (bring the bottle out to the table though, because some people might like to heat their bowls up a little bit more). When I served the soup, I topped it with the usual cheddar and bacon, but also a sprinkle of Old Bay. And wah-la, a summer-time version of potato soup!

What is the traffic like?

Family & friends from back home ask us this all the time: “What is the traffic like?” In an extremely overpopulated city it isn’t always fun but you adapt to the several hour long morning (5am-10am) and evening (3pm-7:30pm) traffic and learn to "pack your patience". For example, we live less than 4 miles from my office and on a normal day (without any accidents, stalled vehicles, overturned tractor-trailers, etc.) the commute only takes me about 30-45 minutes one-way. However, I will say that the road system here is built specifically to accommodate an overpopulated and extremely large city: road signs are different, we have feeders and 14-lane highways, everyone drives on bridges that go over the city all the time, etc. Recently there was even a special on the History channel about our road system; if you see the repeat, it can do a much better job of explaining the Houston road system.Yesterday I was stuck in a traffic jam for about 20 minutes so I had the opportunity to take this shot for you. Thank goodness for the traffic jam, so that I could get you this visual of a normal day, right?

Final Week: Repeat Offenders

Last week was our last week of Doulos (the singles bible study that Phil and I led this semester). We not only learned more about spiritual disciplines, but also about working as a team to develop disciples. It was such a rewarding experience and I’m so glad that we responded to God’s calling to serve together in this way.

An added bonus to the class was that I had 5 extra (hungry) food critics to feed every week. This gave me the chance to really plow through some new recipes that would be silly for me to make for just Phil and me. For the last week I made the top 3 favorites from the semester: BBQ Jalapeno Poppers, Patsy’s Blackberry Cobbler, & Monkey bread (All by the PW). The monkey bread was devoured before I could get a picture, so that must have been the favorite. Last time I made the Poppers, I only put BBQ sauce on ½ of the poppers, but this time I put it on all of them and I like them much better with. Last time I made the cobbler I used blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a great combination for cobbler, but this time I just used raspberries…and yum-o! If you couldn’t tell, there was a lot of gorging going on at our last session to celebrate! Now that the semester is over, let the dieting begin!