Wolf Pack Continued

You probably know this but hubby and I have known each other/dated/been best friends since high school - so like a super really long time - already close to half our lives! So fun and wild to think about!

The longevity is the key here because every year Josh and his family go to Michigan for the 4th of July and usually stop in Indiana because it is a mere 7 hours around the corner and pick up loads of fireworks that would make a Texas Rangers home run show look kinda lame.  However in my many many years I have never been blessed enough to be privy to this extraordinary eardrum shattering event.  I am a Texas girl - give me some sparklers, black cats, roman candles and snap pops and I am a way happy camper.

Last year they didn't get the fireworks cause we flew - but Josh raced to the store at 9:00 pm on the 4th and got me a variety pack that had all the good stuff you can buy at a grocery store. 

I was raised on - it made my 4th and I had them all to myself which had never happened before in my life - ever! Everyone else sat back a bit sour because nothing I had could blow off my hand or cause a fire 10 houses down if they misfired - but I was in heaven - a little color, a little snap and a whole lotta fun!

Well this year - oh my word - they drove up as previously discussed and bought man fireworks that I wasn't allowed to be around and bought me girl fireworks that once unpacked was about 1/2 that I wasn't allowed to be around - holy moly they went crazy!

In the words of Joe Dirt we had "whistling bungholes, spleen splitters, whisker biscuits, honkey lighters, hoosker doos, hoosker don'ts, cherry bombs, nipsy daisers, with or without the scooter stick, and one single whistling kitty chaser"

And my "girly pack" was insanely full of lots of things that go boom sparkle.  I tried setting off a few things and then they fired down the beach and exploded in a very unsettling manner and then Josh helped me out. Look at all the fun stuff I got and got to help set up and off.  It was all for me!

It doesn't look super impressive sitting there on the beach but great scotts alive it made a crazy show! Josh looked like he was in a war movie!

It was all laid out on the beach in rows and rows and then in the complete dark Josh and his dad worked from the outside in lighting them all off - it was awesome heart pounding, ear drum shattering entertainment and we had the best show in the beach. Oh did I forget to mention that lots of families all up and down the beach did this so we had almost an hour of panoramic amazing fireworks to enjoy and then when it was over more stars to see than a planetarium video!

Steps to an impressive fireworks show:

1. Buy copious amounts of fireworks

 2. Set up base camp

3. Set up fireworks

4. No women allowed

5. Light in pitch dark but don't run

6. Enjoy the awesomeness

7. Once supplies are exhausted search for more

Boys Perspective

A very well known fact is that I grew up with 3 younger sisters and that I knew nothing about boys at all - they horrified me.  They ran around the pool!, threw things, yelled, played in the dirt, shot things, used a farmers Kleenex, punched, kicked and pee'd off my porch!

Then my sister got married and I got nephews.  They were horrifying boys, dirty and loud and very much not like sisters - but then a funny thing happened..... I started adapting and realized that they were boys and boys were loud and dirty and fun. A total brain shift but now I just wanna eat em' up with a spoon. 
Here are my cousin (and his sister my cousin too - but a girl, wonderful, great nurse in training and AWEsOMe even if she's a jayhawk! ) and nephew - aren't they just gobbleishous!

I had the pleasure of a family reunion recently and my nephew who is 5 got a hold of the camera with my cousin who is 6 or 7 - not only are they completely adorable but its fun to remember what it was like to have the viewpoint of a 5 year old.   I remember when I couldn't see over the glass or the counter at a buffet - same from when I was 5 to now!

The boys were losing so bad - therefore uncle josh wasn't happy

My nephew's dad Ricky - happy about losing graciously ; )

My sis Gail and Daddy - check out those guns!

yummy 5 yr old feet self portrait by Fisher ; )

Searching high and low for special pictures

The one thing that I learned during the family reunion weekend was that 5-7 year old channel some weird energy and watch too much TV or rap videos or something - cuase where else would they learn these nonsense moves?  Getting giggy with it nanana na na na na naaa - seriously will smith wasn't even rapping when they were born - but hey got his moves!!

And that ladies and gentleman is what I have learned in my short 1 year of being a aunt - and I can't imagine how much more I have to learn and grown when my turn comes to being a parent.  The heart has a unimaginable capacity to grow and I hope mine grows to the size of King Ranch!

All food all the time

I love cooking and making good food with my favorite friends and family.  I love dining in way more than dining out most of the time. Saturday night we were going to go out with my Grandma for dinner but decided to stay in a grill some steaks.  It was only girls and I was scared to man the grill without some skilled manly professional - but Josh gave me some great coaching tips over the phone and I gave it my best shot - I must say they turned out pretty dang good!

Plus I was super excited that we only had 4 people for dinner so I could use my china!! Add some candle sticks and we had a real purdy dinner with some special ladies!  My sisters thought I was ridiculous for setting such a table - but you gotta eat of some sort of plate right? and everyone looks lovely in candlelight. : )  Something tells me guys don't throw together a BBQ quite like this......

After spending some time with my mother in law over the 4th of July weekend I realized how big of a difference there is between a cook and a baker.  I say this because she is a cook - very precise, exact and makes the most awesome anything that she decides to make - when I reach a size of ungodly proportions - just know it's her wonderful breads, cakes, cookies, pies and other delicacies! Me I'm a throw it together and guesstimate kinda gal.  Working with her on a few food prep projects it struck me how precise she was and how much I must rankle her with my "it looks about right ... I think"  Then I was considering it and realized there are probably a lot of us in life that are more bakers or cooks and we get annoyed with the other person for being to exact or too loosy goosy..... but to have a well rounded meal you need cooks and bakers - hows that for deep and kinda weird?

So on a cooking tip for the day: here's an example the recipe I sent my mom - I wanted to make some basil salsa and found a recipe online for it - but I didn't have all the ingredients or the right measurements for them so this is what I came up with - exactly as I sent my mother - it is awesome by the way:

1 large tomato (about to go bad so needed to use it quick)
1 package of grape tomatoes (on sale for $1)
1/4 of small onion (could probably do half - not sure why I was so chincy)
1 inch off the top of a bunch of cilantro
1 clove garlic (last one in the kitchen....)
1 roasted polbano pepper for a little heat (out of jalapenos.....)
1 cup not packed of basil leaves (all i had left from my wonderful mother)
salt , pepper
2 Tablespoons of red wine vinegar (I have 2 bottles of this if you need one?)

It just kinda cracked me up - additional endeavors I have undertaken since being abandoned are:

Boiled peanuts - a southern specialty i tried in New Orleans and had to try making some - they are good if you like mushy peanuts.....

 

And pickled okra - I do love me some southern dishes!

 

So if you wanna enjoy some southern cooken' come on down to McNabb Cafe - I'll even whip up some shrimp and grits for ya!!

there were two of us in the wolf pack...

Well its been a million trillion years since I've posted here and the longer it goes the more I feel I must post something of deep, profound value and time passes and nothing happens.  so you can see its a big cycle.  And I'm breaking it right now! Top 10 things of no particular importance that have happened since MAY!

10.  May

Josh was in his college room mate Matties wedding - it was in Lewisville and beautiful! It was a blast getting to see all his college friends together again. Got to meet some new ladies and gentlemen and spend great time talking about the past. Makes me miss it a little but everyone's gotta grow up sometime! Here are the guys - you can see Josh as well as Nick from http://thesals.blogspot.com/ getten' giggy with it ; )  All these guys either played hockey together or lived together at Tech. Completely wild and out of control.

9. May

 I attended a conference in Dallas for 3 days and had such a huge, flustering problem finding parking the first 2 days at the Dallas Conference Center that the 3rd day I took the DART/TRE from the Bell Hurst station all the way into downtown and walked to my conference.  I felt very very cool and big city. Also intimidated and scared cause I'm a Texan and not very comfortable with public transportation, but it was pretty smooth.

8. May
My 2nd baby sister Julie got married last year and she and her hubby Ricky bought a big beautiful house in Forney and we got to help them move into it, on the muggyest, hottest day of May - it was Level Orange air quality so I almost had to cancel but she bribed us back with country doughnuts from grapevine. YUMMY. We got her all moved and pretty settled in in only a day - go sister power and man muscles!

7. June
I got to go to San Marcos for a work conference and then spend some time in New Braunfels with college friends relaxing, floating the only river in the area not flooded, and shopping at Pottery Barn outlet where I got a rug I'd been wanting and Josh got part of his desk he was looking for - and somehow we got it all in the car!!

6. June
I can't think of anything exciting that happened in between these two trips - probably a lot of reflection and contimplation on the big issues in life - like why is my hair acting so crazy and why won't my okra grow?! And while we're at it - hey lets be open to the possibility of a kiddo.

5. June
We got to go to Oklahoma for an amazing family reunion on my mom's side.  Every other year we try to get my grandparents, all their kids & spouses, and grand kids and spouses together for a weekend.  It is always a total blast, huge group with ages 5-84 staying in 2 cabins.  I treasure these times together with all my heart and pray we can continue to have them for many years to come!

We had a day on the lake, game night with pictionary and catchphrase, and lots of reading, talking and hanging out!

4. June
Josh headed out for a Michigan road trip/convoy with his dad and met up with his mom at the 12 hour marker - into a 24 hour drive!! I got to fly up there and it only took 6 hours and that is with layovers and everything!

3. July
I thought I'd take my hair problem in hand and wash it with vinegar - thinking I remember my mom doing it that way when we were kids - so I put like a cup of vinegar in a glass and some water and just used that for my hair that day - rinsed it and that was it.  No shampoo, no conditioner...... wellllll it looked kinda more stringy and greasy/wet all day.  When my sisters saw me at lunch they were like ICK what is wrong with your hair.  I explained and they said put it back in your ponytail lady - gross.  So when I got back to the office I did some google research and found out you wash your hair with 1 Tablespoon of baking soda to 1 cup of water and then you condition it with 1 Tablespoon of vinegar to 1 cup of water.  So I'd kinda done it way wrong in a big way!! So greasy and stringy!

2. July
I got to go fishing in Michigan for the first time - I'd heard about trips the family had taken in the past but in all my years never gotten to go on one myself.  Grandpa Z had warned me that I'd be sorely disappointed and that there were no fish to be had anymore in Lake Huron - not a single one. And I shouldn't be disappointed if we didn't get any - he warned me. Well 16 fish later I was far from disappointed, and now all the neighbors have miracle fish!
I thought I was going to get some great tanning in but it was stinken' cold until we got off the boat - thats why everyone is in pants and long sleeves - I had my swim suit on under my sweatshirt so thats why I look like the weirdo - even though its summer so they're really the weirdos.  ; )

1) July
The month is still in its infancy and there are more pictures and videos to come - but we'll just say I got to experience this up close and personal for the first time ever..... My very own wolf pack - I never thought I'd be so lucky!!