Wordless Wednesday (Almost..)

Caught red handed sleeping in the laundry..

Shelby Nicole

My great-niece, Shelby Nicole.

Proud Daddy!

New Kitten Gets a Name!

After spending almost 2 weeks wondering if our new little kitten was a boy or girl, we found out he is definitely a boy! His name is Rocky.

Ford is getting along better with the little guy now. They play together, nap together, eat together..

Aren't they cute!

Rocky is a feisty little guy and has no fear. He will climb anything and attack anyone. I guess after getting chucked out of a moving vehicle, he has nothing left to fear... I'm just glad to see Rocky and Ford get along!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

It's about time!

Yes I know. I've been gone for well over a week. Probably close to two, but who's counting..


I made lots of promises the last time I posted.. Promises I can't keep. I promised to share pictures from the house tour we went on, but I was not able to take any pictures on the inside of the homes.. I will share a few of my favorite house's outsides..

The above were some of my favorites from the tour. The first one was absolutely gorgeous! It looks small from the outside, but it has wonderful high ceilings and wide open space!

Also while I have been away, My mom and brother came to visit. Sadly I do not have any pictures of them from the visit.. It did not occur to me to take pictures of them.. I do have a few snapshots from when we went to the zoo though..

I had a wonderful visit with the fam. We spent 3 days in Austin. I didn't get to see much Austin though. We mostly hung out at my brothers Grandmas house. The second day we were ther I got sick, but was better by the third day. I feel like the week they were here went by much to fast, and yet went by way to slow also. I love my fam, but I can only take so much of them at one time...

My zoo has a ton of wonderful water features. This is one of the many waterfalls in the park.

And last but not least, I, at the ripe old age of 26, became a great aunt today! My nephew had a baby girl (well, his baby momma had the baby..). Her name is Shelby Nicole and she weighed in at 5lbs 13oz. As soon as I get some pictures I will post them!!

P.s. I will be spending much of this weekend catching up on all the blogs I follow, and posting many more cute pictures of the new kitten.. I will also reveal its name.. So stay tuned!

New Family Member

I was on my way home from work yesterday when the urge to stop at the pet store struck me. We had been talking about getting Ford a companion for sometime now, but have never followed through on it. I stopped at Pet smart yesterday afternoon in hopes of finding a name tag for Ford, and couldn't resist looking at the adoption center. That's where I was approached by a lady holding 2 teeny tiny kittens. She asked if I was looking for a cat. In which I replied, kinda. Yes we have talked about getting another kitty, but it was never said that we would. My husband loves animals as much as I do, but having a cat was new to him. I wasn't sure how he would take having 2 cats.. And if it were left up to me I would have come home with both the kittens the lady had plus all the cats in the adoption center.

So I called the hubs and asked what he thought (he said yes!). The lady had told me that she had watched someone in a truck toss these poor babies out onto the side of the road. She picked them up but is not able to keep them due to her dog, trying to eat them. She placed the kittens at 6 weeks old. I think they are a little bit younger than that. It seems like our new baby still has trouble focusing his eyesight and he tried to nurse on the hubby's shirt.

Ford is not too pleased with me right now. He did not like the little intruder at first. He is still a little wary of the baby, but he's accepted that its not going away. We had not realized how big Ford was getting untill we saw the itty bitty kitten next to him!

The new kitten does not have a name yet, I was told by the lady I got it from that its a boy, but I'm not so sure. It's still quite young and its hard to tell.. So we are just calling it baby or tiny for now..

Looks like a comfy place to sleep..

All tuckered out after a day of exploring the new house..

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend and Happy Mothers Day to all you wonderful mothers out there!

Upcoming Events

Do you ever try and peer into an open window when you walk or drive past a home? Just for a chance glimpse into someone else's home and life? I do.. I love looking into other people's homes. Especially older homes..

I mentioned in a previous post that we are attending a Historic homes tour this Sunday. I can't wait! I love looking into other people's homes and I love historic homes as well! I promise to take tons of pictures!!

Below is just a taste of whats to come..

I also mentioned an upcoming trip to Austin, and my mother coming to visit. My mom and brother are coming down from Oregon on Monday. They will only be here for a week, and I've got our time well spent! There will be a trip to Austin, a Mothers Day dinner and of course a day spent at my Zoo!

My mom and I on my wedding day.

I can't wait for them to get here, but am dreading all the house cleaning I need to get done this weekend.. I have gotten so far behind on all the housework its not even funny, and with the home tour Sunday I only have Friday and Saturday to clean! Its a shame the little house cleaning fairies aren't real.. I could really use their help!! My mom has not been to Texas since we moved, so this will be her first time seeing our new house. I hope this time when she visits she will refrain from setting our stove on fire!

Funny story:

Last year, in October, I guess that was October of '07 (I wasn't married yet..). My mom came to visit me in Arkansas and meet my then boyfriend, now husband, for the first time. I was living with him at the time, and my mom wanted to cook us dinner. No big deal right? Mom's been cooking for ages. Yeah, cooking for ages, but not on our stove..

She was making fried chicken and our stove burners didn't sit level. So as you can imagine, an unlevel cook top, and a pan full of grease will lead to... Any guesses? Yup that's right, a fire! She will never live down setting our stove on fire.. Then there were the 2 times she cut her fingers (all in the same night no less). So after the fire, we banned her from the kitchen.

So moving on, lets all cross our fingers and hope that she 1) keeps from cutting herself and 2) can't set fire to a glass cook top!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Thursday and will come back Sunday (or Monday) for pictures of some beautiful historic homes!

Wordless Wednesday

Tagged, Oh Dear!

I got tagged by DiPaola Momma over at Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom.

The rules for this one are pretty simple. First mention the person who tagged you. Next post your list of 8's. Follow that up by tagging 8 bloggers, and tell them you tagged them.

8 things I'm looking forward to:

1. My mom and brother coming to visit next week.

2. Having a baby someday..

3. My husband selling his first bunk bed

4. Finishing my stack of books

5. Going to Austin next week

6. Going on a historic homes tour next Sunday

7. Starting College

8. Showing off my new house and town to my mom

8 things I did yesterday:

1. Went on a date with the hubby

2. Went to the bookstore

3. Made Egg rolls

4. Made Brownies

5. Went to Lowe's

6. Read my book (I'm almost done with it..)

7. Watched T.V. with the hubs

8. Played with the cat

8 things I wish I could do:

1. Travel

2. Have a baby

3. Lose weight super fast

4. Write

5. Knit. I have a knitting machine that my MIL gave me, but I have no clue how to use it!

6. Play my flute like a professional

7. Play the clarinet

8. Play the trumpet

8 shows I watch:

1. Supernatural

2. Dollhouse

3. The F Word

4. Hell's Kitchen

5. Kitchen Nightmares

6. Bones

7. Yard Crashers

8. Desperate Landscapes

8 favorite fruits:

(Are we talking gay men or actual fruit?)

1. My best friend David (If we're going the gay man route..)

2. Strawberries

3. Peaches

4. Apples

5. Plums

6. Watermelon

7. Honeydew

8. Bananas

8 places I would like to travel :

1. Ireland

2. England

3. All 50 States

4. Austria

5. Spain

6. Australia

7. Scotland

8. Italy and many many more places!

8 people I am tagging:

Michelle at Fluttering Butterflies

Lori at Time of Your Life

Andrea at My Chihuahah Bites!

Lisa at Cranberry Flats

Shauna at Trying to Stay Calm!

Gayla at Oatmeal and Whimsy

Pat at Back Porch Musings

And anyone wlse who wants to do this!

Weekend Baking

I have been so far behind on posting my weekend baking.. You'll just have to pretend you read this post last Sunday!

My husband and I have been obsessed with everything British right now. My husband is considering going back to school to be a chef, so he is all about watching Food Network, and anything and everything with Gordon Ramsay in it (which is where the British obsession is coming from..)! I mean, we are totally obsessed! We have even looked into what it would take to move across the pond. My husbands family is from England originally. His mother and her parents moved to the States when she was 13. I don't think my husband is too serious about moving, but I wouldn't mind if he were..

Anyways, on to my weekend baking (British inspired..). This past week My husband did all the cooking for the main course. I made the desert.

We had a main course of Beef Wellington, Green Beans, and Mashed potatoes. With Mini Strawberry Napoleons for desert.

Below I have copied and pasted the recipe from Gordon Ramsay's website along with a video of him preparing the Beef Wellington. As for the desert, I got the recipe off of a puff pastry box.

Beef Wellington:


.88 lbs Beef fillet
.88 lbs Flat mushrooms (we don't like mushrooms and left them out. It is still just as good..)
4 slices Parma ham (can substitute with Prosciutto)
English mustard for brushing meat (we couldn't find English Mustard so we just used Dijon, even though Gordon Ramsay says not too..)
.44 lbs puff pastry
2 Egg yolks
1 Clove garlic, crushed
1 Sprig thyme (fresh)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Mustard

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Heat oil in a large pan and sear the meat on all sides. Don’t cook the meat, just brown each side. Let it cool and then brush it with the mustard.
3. Chop the mushrooms in a food processor to make a puree. Throw the puree in a hot pan with no oil and sweat out all of the liquid. Let the water evaporate and then set it aside to cool.
4. Lay four slices of parma ham down on a large piece of cling film, slightly overlapping, then brush with mushroom mixture.
5. Put the beef in the middle of the ham and roll the ham around the beef using the cling film. Twist the ends of the cling film to tighten the roll, then refrigerate it for 15 minutes to let it set.
6. Roll your puff pastry and then brush the edges with Egg wash. Roll the pastry over the beef completely covering it. Cut off any excess pieces. Egg wash the top. Put your roll back in the fridge for 5 minutes. Egg wash again and bake for 35-40 minutes. Let it cool for 10 minutes before slicing.
7. Par boil the potatoes in salted water. Quarter them and leave the skin on. Sauté in olive oil and butter with the garlic and thyme, until browned and cooked through. Season. Remove the thyme and garlic before serving.
8. Serve the Wellington in hearty slice's.

Mini Strawberry Napoleons:

Ingredients

1/2 package Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet)

1 package (about 3 1/2 oz.) vanilla chocolate instant pudding and pie filling mix

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups sweetened whipped cream * OR non-dairy whipped topping

1 1/4 cups sliced strawberries

Confectioners' sugar

Directions

THAW pastry sheet at room temperature 40 min. Preheat oven to 400°F.

UNFOLD pastry on lightly floured surface. Cut into 3 strips along fold marks. Cut each strip into 4 rectangles. Place on baking sheet. Bake 15 min. or until golden. Let cool.

PREPARE pudding mix according to pkg. directions except use 1 cup milk. Fold in whipped cream.

SPLIT each pastry into 2 layers, making 24 layers in all. Set aside 8 top layers. Spread 8 bottom layers with 2 tbsp. pudding mixture each. Top each with 1 tbsp. strawberries and another layer. Spread with remaining pudding. Top with remaining strawberries and top layers. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate up to 4 hr.TIP: *For 1 1/2 cups sweetened whipped cream, beat 3/4 cup heavy cream, 2 tbsp. sugar and 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract in chilled bowl until stiff peaks form.

This made for a very wonderful Sunday Lunch (dinner). I look forward to my husband making this dish again! It was very yummy and I encourage everyone to try it!

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!♥