Baby Dedication and House Hunting

This is just an update post on what's been going on with Jay and I.

Yesterday was our first house hunting experience. We got in touch with a realtor and told her which houses we are interested in and what we are looking for overall. The three of us looked at our four favorites.

Jay and I decided that two of the houses were our absolute favorites and have been discussing the pros and cons of both houses. We agreed, though, that we are going to look at a few more places and start making offers at the end of next week.

Even though our current lease is not up until the end of November we found out that the process of buying our future home through the VA takes about 45 days. So if we get a place ASAP it'll be around mid-October when we are even allowed to set foot in the door.


This weekend we will be traveling to my hometown in New Mexico to see my folks and my adopted baby sister. She is having her baby dedication this Sunday and Jay and I are to be her godparents if, (God forbid) something were to happen to my parents. We are very excited to see everyone and the chance to eat good Mexican food.

I will be posting photos of the weekend soon.

Have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

A Book Worm's Splurge

I just received the biggest paycheck this past payday! After making sure all the bills were paid and I put money aside for gas, my 10% to the Lord (and a little extra) and my Compassion child I have a small chunk of spending money left so this girl went crazy at her local Half-Priced Bookstore and Barnes and Noble.

I have California by Edan Lepucki (so far pretty good),

 The Winter Witch by Paula Brackston (you would know her from Midnight Witch and The Witch's Daughter),

French Women For All Seasons by Mireille Guiliano (it looks like it has some great seasonal recipes)

 and Barnheart, the incurable longing for a farm of one's own by Jenna Woginrich. I've been dying to get this one and I'm excited to start on it.

Sometimes I will read two books at once- one during the day and one before bed but California is like a demanding child and is keeping my attention on it (in a good way though).

I'll have to post a few excerpts from it soon.

My First

It's that time of the year when everyone is back to school. Parents and kids are shopping for school supplies, new clothes, and backpacks. It has made me nostalgic to go back to college.


Instead I have opted to replace my current agenda book for a new one.

 

I've always loved the Lilly Pulitzer agenda books when I was in college and I still do. This cute print is called Jellies Be Jammin.

 

I found a Dillards that carried the brand and I was so happy to have found the agenda book I wanted but while I was there I also found a clearance rack of the their dresses for 50% off.

 

I was stoked because tax free weekend was coming up in three days so I waited and I prayed that some of the dresses wouldn't be taken already.

 

I waited and waited until I finally got off work Friday afternoon and I rushed to Dillards and practically ran toward the dresses. I found several dresses that I loved but there was only one for me.

 

I found a matching dress to go with my agenda and I knew I had to have it. I got the dress for $35 since it was half off AND tax free. That's a steal since it was a hundred dollar dress. There was just no way I was going to pay that much for a tank dress despite the brand.

 

This dress is my first Lilly Pulitzer and I will keep it as long as I can. It wasn't until my third year in college when my sorority Big Sister introduced me to Lilly Pulitzer dresses. She had scarves and dresses from the brand and I fell in love with the prints. I even ended up buying the Chi Omega printed scarf as my Christmas present.

Now I finally have a dress and I can't wait to wear it out. I have two days off this week so I'm looking forward to it.

Peppers Everywhere!

After my amazing lunch I discovered that Central Market was having their own hatch chile festival. They have a huge stock of peppers.

At the entrance Jay and I were greeted by the pepper roaster and the all too familiar New Mexico's state flag. The smell of peppers roasting was a sign that fall is coming but it might be a while since we're still in the heat of summer (or at least that's what it feels like).

As we shopped around and collecting groceries, we would find new things with the hatch green chile peppers like cheeses, breads, dips, jams, chips, wines that pair well with the peppers, etc. We even found bacon infused with the green chiles. I almost bought it.

Jay grabbed the queso with the green chiles while I got the peppers themselves; four or five peppers cost me 45 cents! woooohooo!!!

Let's just say...mama was happy.


Tonight, I'm attempting to make chicken tortilla soup and adding some peppers. Yeah, it's a little hot for soup but it's still so good.

Tastes Like Home

On my diet cheat day, which Jay and I agreed it would be Saturdays, I decided to try Blue Mesa located at the university park village for lunch. 

I'm one of those people that look at the restaurant websites to check out their menus first before trying it out; I knew what I wanted to try. 

Soon as I was seated and given a menu I also received an extra menu for their Hatch Chile Festival.

 

 

Oh, man. I was so excited. I never thought after moving away from New Mexico that I would miss the popular local ingredient. I never ate much of it but it was prominent all over the state. You can get it in your burgers and even ice cream. Yeah, you heard me right- Ice Cream!

 

I might have mentioned it before but back in my college years in New Mexico there was a place that was my go-to whenever I had a "rough morning" after "having too much fun" or if I was just simply in the mood for good mexican food.

 

It was called Andele's and I would always get the same thing: the green chile beef enchiladas with an over easy egg on the top. Mmm. It makes me home sick thinking about it.

 

 

So seeing the side menu made me happy. I ended up ordering from the regular menu and one item from the hatch chile menu.

 

 

 

I had the blue crab and shrimp enchiladas with red sauce. Beans and rice were included and the small yellow mushy stuff was a corn cake. It was delicious.

 

The enchiladas were outstanding. I wasn't entirely thrilled about the beans since it had a sweet consistency that I didn't care for but everything else made up for it.

 



Then for the grand finale, I tried the Hatch Brownie Sundae.

Oh Lord, it made happy. You can taste the smokiness of the chile and it had a nice warm kick at the end. It mixed really well with the gooey brownie and the ice cream.

Blue Mesa did an incredible job with working with the hatch chile's flavor. I was almost in tears.

You know when you eat your mother's baked ham or your grandmother's stew and it gives you that warm feeling of comfort and, perhaps, love?  That was the feeling I was getting. It gave me a comfort feeling that I never thought I would with the chile.

If you are ever in Fort Worth or in the neighborhood, try out Blue Mesa. They have a lovely patio area too if you like to eat al fresco. But more importantly, if it's August and you are in Fort Worth, get your butt to that restaurant!

Angel

I just found out that I made Angel of the Month at work! I was given a cute tumbler as a gift and I love it. It feels so good to be recognized for all the hard work and dedication I've put in. I love the company and my co-workers which makes it so much easier for me to keep trying do better. At the beginning I never would have thought there's a lot of work that goes into the stores. I think that anyone who works in retail can agree that after working in retail it also changes the way you shop (i.e. folding things back neatly instead of just tossing it). I really hope that this is just the first step of success and I look forward to becoming a manager some day.

you can barely see it but it says Angel of the Month on the tumbler.

Training With Hubby

Lately every time I look at myself in the mirror I'll immediately noticed a baby pudge around my stomach. It bugs me to no end so I asked my husband to train me to lose 10 pounds and get rid of the belly pooch. I'm still a good size and I'm not calling myself fat by any means because I know I'm not. But the way I think of things is I might as well nip it in the butt and take care of it now before it progresses and I find myself severely overweight. The way I see it, 10 pounds is easier to get rid of than...let's say 80.

Plus Jay is working on getting his training certification so I think this will encourage him to keep trying. Oh man, he's working me hard but I told him to not hold back on me because it's me. At the gym, I'm his client but at home I am his wife. Last night we did cardio, planks, and crunches. Today he told me to do the stair master and same workouts. It's only day 3 and I'm hurting already. It's bad enough that he is keeping bacon from me. Our meals are more simple and less dairy. Lots of veggies and good proteins.

Here is what I look like after the first night.

 

Not a happy person. Wish me luck! Anyone else training to lose a bit of pudge? Or just training to stay healthy?