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Back in the big D :) We had an interesting time in my hometown. We enjoyed fresh from the Gulf seafood and relaxed on the beach, and we spend Saturday evening at The Great Mosquito Festival. Yeah...that's where I come from. The Husband was in BBQ heaven. I'm lucky enough to know some good people who were competing in the BBQ cook off. They won 2nd place! It was good times. And YEAH we got eaten by mosquitos the whole time! The Mosquito Festival is an interesting event. They have the Mosquito Leg contest AND the Mosquito Calling contest. That should give you an idea of the vibe (wacky). Today The Husband had to go back to work...4 WHOLE WEEKS before school starts! Yikes! I still have 3 glorious weeks until I am required to behave like a working wife. I'm not ready yet, I still have so much to do! And SO much to cook! TWENTY-SEVEN recipes to be exact. Holy guacamole! My 50 recipe challenge has been hovering around the halfway mark for TOO long. I have got some groceries to buy and food to cook! Today for #23 I burned some okra. That was pleasant. My apartment smells weird now. The recipe said to oven fry the okra at 475! I knew that was too hot. It has to be a typo. I nearly burned my eyeball skin off with steam and set my smoke alarm off. It was eventful. But, now I know. I did get something done today, however. I made some awesome TPT purchases. I love that website. I'm constantly impressed by the teachers that make such adorable things on there :)

Texas Travels

Well, here we are in my hometown. It's a different world down here. Things move slower, people are friendlier, and there is...well...not a lot to do. It takes 5 hours to get here from Dallas. During the 4th hour of our journey, the A/C quit blowing air. This is Texas people...OMG! It was hot, and then it got hotter. Then I remembered that my car is still under warranty! Ding ding ding! YESSSSS. My little civic is spending a few days with the also-friendly people at Honda. Please, oh please don't cost me any money. They also warned me that a tire is nearing a possible blow-out. Oh fun. This little trip back home is turning out to be a little tricky. And as if I don't already feel like a kid every time I come here...I feel it even more now. Why? Because I'm driving my mom's car. Oh, it's getting weird down here. My mom is out of town (very strange). So the hubby and I are getting to play house all day (Dad works a lot). Being urban apartment dwellers, we don't have a yard. But today I got to see my husband mow, edge, and do other lawn things. It was amazing, I just watched him. It was quite a sight...let me tell you. I liked what I saw. I even brought him a cold beer. Domesticated-small town-suburbia does something to you...er...to me. Anyyyyywayzzz, tomorrow we are going to the BEACH! Very excited. The Texas coast-line can only be loved by Texans. Of course there are prettier beaches out there. But, I grew up here. I love it. Brownish-tanish sand and all. The seaweed is everywhere, but you get used to it. Hopefully it won't be so crowded. Haha and hopefully I don't get my moms Maxima stuck in the sand. ***I was going to attach a sexy picture of my husband mowing the grass, but for some reason facebook is not working...therefore I can't get to the picture. Boo : ( Sad day for you!

Get it all Done!

Teacher training today was boring awesome! The only thing that really bothers me is that most of what we learn does NOT include kindergarten. Every time they would announce something great like, "We will provide every student with their own notebook...well except kindergarten". Thanks...Why am I here? Oh right, for all the vital information. Enough venting! Tomorrow the hubby, Jackson {the Schnoodle}, and I are driving to visit my family. It's a 5 hour drive...and we are staying for 6 days. This will be our final trip this summer before (AHHHH) school. I was exhausted after training. Or so I thought. I have gotten an extreme amount of chores done! I did 3 loads of laundry, cooked yummy grilled chicken sandwiches, and gave my fur-child a much needed haircut. Let me explain a little further: He is only 20 pounds and it takes me about an hour and a half to cut his hair. Jackson is...well...a wimp. Which is why I cut his hair and not a stranger at the groomer. Every time I would bring him there he poops all over the floor in the waiting area...he gets nervous diarrhea. At least that's what I've diagnosed him with. I'm a protective momma so I took on the task for myself. I just couldn't stand seeing him so scared...and nauseous. Of course after the hair massacre I had to vaccuum...which my husband took over. Thanks babe! Now back to that chicken sandwich. I've been whittling my way through a 50 recipe summer challenge (more on that another day) and I just wasn't prepared to make any of those today. And I was trying to clean out the fridge before our trip.

Ok so I had 2 chicken breasts...and yes lots of other goodies. I marinated the chicken with a super simple mixture: onion powder, S&P, light zesty italian dressing. I let that chill in the fridge while I chopped up some fixin's. I sliced tomato, avocado, and red onion. Then I got out my sprouts (new addiction), laughing cow chipotle cheese, diced jalapanos, and mustard. oh and buttery buns! I grilled the chicken on my nifty grill-pan. Love that thing. put it all together adding the toppings to your liking...and voila! Delicious! Oh and we also had tater tots :-)

Nocturnal Teacher

It's Sunday. I have to go to work tomorrow for the first time in about a month and a half. Teacher training...JOY. This will be my 3rd year teaching kindergarten. Maybe they will provide us with some kind of super power or some super-secret-magical 5-6 year old insight. Or probably they will just remind us that we, aside from all the fun/craft time, we actually have to teach curriculum. FINE...I guess I can handle that. Really the only problem with having training tomorrow is that in the summer {or any break longer than 2 days} my husband and I become night owls. At first, it was just staying up a little late to watch a movie. But it has officially gotten out of hand and we got to bed around 3 and sleep in until noon. I know! I feel like a teenager. So of course with such a need to be in bed trying to go to sleep. I decided to start a blog instead of sleep. This summer I felt like I could somewhat relax having 2 full years of teaching behind me. Last summer I was a little busy planning and having our wedding. BUT, now school starts in about a month and I feel so lost and behind. Having to go to training tomorrow is probably a very good thing. Whoop me back into teacher-shape. So, aside from avoiding all teacher duties and not sleeping normal hours, I started cooking. Cooking a lot. I challenged myself to making 50 new recipes before school starts. I made #22 tonight! All the recipes came from Pinterest.com. I'm ridiculously addicted to Pinterest, I think most teachers and cooks are. Right??! I think so too.