Summer Fun

This summer has been filled with tons of fun places Drew and I have been together. Drew and I were realizing this in the car today and I figured this would be the perfect time to go back through my pictures and post about those experiences that I may have forgotten to blog about at the time (please forgive me!).

We went to the new Cowboys Stadium with Drew's family.

I was excited in the locker room to see Martellus Bennett and Stephen Magee's lockers! WHOOP!!!!!!

Drew was a sport and put on the gear for us to see what a real Cowboy looks like!

Drew took me to a Michael Buble concert.
Drew has a man-crush on Michael Buble!

We went with our small group to a Rangers baseball game at the Ballpark at Arlington.

Today, Drew and I went to the Omni Theater in the Fort Worth Museum District to watch a 3D film on Sharks! Here Drew is pictured with a crazy dinosaur that had water coming from it in front of the museum.

I got my picture taken in front of the museum with a giant turtle made out of metal!

Then we borrowed Ken and Diane's bikes and loaded them into the Honda Element, because you can do that in a Honda Element...just put them in and hook them to the sides of the car, and went to Trinity Park in downtown Fort Worth to ride the bikes on the Trinity Trails. It was beautiful and so much fun with my sweet husband!

The view along the trails=downtown Fort Worth and the Trinity River!

This is how it's done, folks!

My dad used to always call me his "go go girl" because I always wanted to be going somewhere...didn't necessarily matter where...just wanted to go! I don't think I have really changed except for the fact that I am now Drew's go go girl and now he has to put up with my outrageous ideas to get out of the house. Thank you Drew!!! I've had a blast this summer and I don't want it to end.

Jefferson Davis Pie

For some odd reason, Jefferson Davis pie is my husband's favorite. A long time ago, when we were still dating, I asked him what his favorite kind of cake was. He thought for a long time and then smiled and said, "I think it's called Jefferson Davis pie!" I had never heard of it before and really thought he was just making it up because who names a pie Jefferson Davis?! Weird. I researched it and...it should have been named SUGAR pie! Haha! No wonder he likes it so much. I decided to surprise him with it when he got home from work today. Needless to say, I have a happy husband in my midst.

First, I mixed together the dry ingredients: 1 3/4 cups sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice and a pinch of ground nutmeg.

Next, I mixed into the dry mixture the stick of softened butter and 4 eggs. Lastly, I mixed in the cup of milk and tablespoon of vanilla extract before pouring the mixture into a 9in pie shell.

Bake at 400*F for 10-15 minutes to set and then turn oven down to 350*F to cook for 30-40 minutes.

Drew seemed pretty happy with the results!

So...I was on a baking kick...and made ANOTHER dessert! I made the classic Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe but spread it on a greased baking sheet to make a cookie cake/cookie bars instead of the normal cookies. YUM!

What I haven't told you yet is that all of these pictures are taken by ME! I read some photography tutorials by the Pioneer Woman this morning and asked Drew lots of questions and decided to give his manual fancy camera a try. All of these are taken without ANY automatic features! I learned how to adjust the apperature and shutter speed!! So fun! Included below are a few more pictures that I used to practice my skillz.

This is an AWESOME new "skin" I got in the mail today for my laptop! Does it look familiar? I made it look like my blog!! Haha! I'm a loser.

Flowers from Drew! He came home last week with them for me and a cute little glass (I'm collecting random drinking glasses so that each one in my cabinet is unique!). Isn't he sweet??Here's one of those glasses that I got recently at Home Goods! I am even drinking more water during the day because it is so cute!!

I think I am going to keep working on this photography thing. I smell a new hobby!!

Building Things and Dreams

**Unbeknownst to many, my lifelong dream has always been to write a blog, and so my sweet wife has stepped aside to let me provide the binary ink for a short session. In a manner of words: I'm a guest blogger. How sweet.
Unfortunately for Tara's regular projected demographics, my references and jokes may slide right over your head, so I'll help out when possible.
All premises aside: here's Tara's Husband's Guest Blogwork, titled: Building the Magic.





You can't start a fire without gasoline, and you can't build a hutch without wood. Wood is typically sold in 6' or 8' pieces; I like 8' pieces, but without a truck, transportation can be a beating. Fortunately the Honda Element, with a slight degree of tinkering, is aptly able to load 8' pieces of lumber. If you ever played Dungeons and Dragons, my car is kind've like a bag of holding. In the photograph; we've got a bunch of 1"x4" furring strips for finish work, and 2"x2" furring strips for the frame.

This saw is awesome for two reasons: number one, the triforce imprint; and number two, it cuts the heck out of wood. If there's one thing a man cannot live without, it's his dad's miter saw.

Through the miracle of hard work and patience, all my wood has been cut. No awesome reference can be made, the wood was simply cut. There's an old saying: "I cut the board twice and it was still too short." I don't like that saying and neither should you. Why? Well, primarily because it challenges our intelligence. Who in their right mind would cut a board, realize that it's too short, and then cut it again? I understand the jist[sp?] of what is trying to be conveyed; but in all honesty, a better saying would be: "I cut the board once and settled for 'close enough'." That's right, unless someone is paying you for building something (or you're Bob Vila) don't sweat perfection.

Boom! The frame is built and at this point in the blog, I'm a bit self-conscious of blog etiquette, and am wondering if the text pertaining to a photograph is supposed to be beneath the picture or above the picture. Do you think that in high school these days they are teaching kids blog etiquette instead of the rules to writing a business letter? I don't know. As far as the picture above is concerned, the key to screwing wood together is drilling a pilot hole and then praying that the wood doesn't split as you drill in your screw.

At this point, the frame has been built and the first pieces of 1"x4" have been nailed in for shelving. Why are there weights on the bench and what is that clamp? Good questions: the weights are there for two reasons: number one, when cheap boards are bought for building furniture, they are often afflicted with severe crowning (a type of warping), and thus need some glue to help persuade them to lie flatter than the earth was pre-Columbus. Secondly, the weights are in the photo because I want to convey the idea that I lift weights. In reality I don't, yet it would be nice if I did; but is just as well if you believe that I do.

Hurray, everything has been put together! The 1x4's have been used for shelving as well as a finish piece to hide the exposed ends of the 2x2's. How did all of this get accomplished so quickly? Easy, I worked under the musical guidance of some great bands. You may like them too! Brave Saint Saturn is a Christian band with the best vocals and lyrics I have ever heard, The Vandals kept my blood pumping, and mae reduced my blood pressure when it began quaking so hard that it was actually gushing out of my ears.

That's me painting. The key? Well, wearing your socks like an old man of course!

Completion! I may throw on one more coat of stain, but at this point I've already washed my hands with gasoline and don't want to kill many more brain cells (i've got none-too-many left). For dedication purposes, I cannot consider my wife because she would not meet my request to allow me to build the hutch in the comfort of our air conditioned living room (something about sawdust getting in the carpet). So, I would like to dedicate the building of this hutch to Katsunori Kikuno. Who is that you ask? Well, he is a mixed martial artist who kicks people in the liver.

Thanks for your time and patience; and thank you for allowing me to live out my dream of writing a blog. I can now die happily.

Lima, Peru

What a trip! Recently, Drew and I spent 8 days in Lima, Peru. We visited our friends Alison and Justin Thompson and their precious kiddos Cailyn (3 years old) and Corban (10 months old). They are missionaries there and we wanted to get some time in with them as well as join them in what they do day-to-day. What a blessing! While it is overwhelming to try to figure out a way to tell every wonderful detail about our trip, there are so many highlights that should not go unshared. Here are some of those highlights:

Alison had a welcome basket waiting for us on our bed at their house when we arrived including all sorts of local treats. Our favorites were definitely the Zoologico animal crackers (we became addicted!) and the Inca Cola! The first day we walked to a beautiful park to let the kids play and have lots of time to catch up.

We visited a poor area called Paraiso which ironically means paradise in English. Justin and some of the other missionary guys built a couple of houses (shacks) for families that really needed a good roof over their heads. We spent the day at a place called Senegia. It was a great relaxing day spent with the Thompson family and the Yoakum family (another missionary family on their team). The place had stone tables and a wonderful wooden playground for the kids as well as soccer fields to play on and traditional dancers and live music for entertainment. The food was traditional as well and Drew and I shared a meal that was cooked in a clay pot underground!

One afternoon, we enjoyed throwing stones into the ocean. Later that evening we went on a double date with Alison and Justin to a fancy restaurant called La Rosa Nautica that took up an entire pier. It was so much fun with all the fanciness and eating over the ocean!

Another treat was getting to go back to Paraiso to teach English to some 5th grade students. The public schools in Peru are very lacking and many do not get a very good education there. It was a blessing to meet these kids and to join with Justin and Alison in teaching them the words in English for various emotions. I have to say, Alison has such a gift for teaching!!

Several nights included movie night with Alison and Justin after the kids were put to bed. One even included a game of Bocce Ball before our movie! Drew and I put forth a good effort but we were not match for Team Thompson!
We enjoyed teaching English to college aged students at the Fletchers house, having youth night with Christians that go to their church, attending their church service at the Fletchers house, eating tradtional meals (Drew's fave was Pollo Saltado)

...spending time with the other missionaries on their team, Drew attended a men's Bible study with some other Peruvian men at the Davidson's house, OH! and how can I forget the AWESOME step-aerobics classes with Alison at her gym (think major salsa moves, combined with step, combined with mortal combat noises embedded in the music for kick-boxing moves!). I even got to go to a yoga class at the Fletchers house that was taught by one of the Fletcher's visitors. Yoga with Peruvian women...can't beat it! I had a blast on "girls' night" with Alison, Stephanie, and Stacy--I will never forget the HUGEST calzone that came out for Stacy (think bigger than the size of your head!) haha! Getting to witness precious Corban's first steps, watching Cailyn fall asleep on Alison's lap in the car coming back from Senegia with an animal cracker halfway in her mouth, watching Alison kick BUTT being a mom, and falling more and more in love with my sweet husband...all blessings!

Thank you Alison and Justin for letting us invade your space for 8 wonderful days and for the work that you do daily there in Lima. God is using you in ways you don't even see or comprehend. We are so proud of you, honored to call you our friends, and better for the time we spent with you. We love y'all!