Fox Creek Ranch

So this post is LONG overdue! A few weeks ago, my sweet friends from Memphis came in for a weekend trip to the ranch.  I talked about going there a lot in college and I was so excited I finally got the chance to take them!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the weekend! You can see some others on Brooke's Blog.

Valentines and Birthdays

February is a big month for me and Austin.  We have Valentines Day and Austins birthday within a week of each other.

For Valentines, we started the tradition of making heart shaped red pancakes for dinner. Growing up, my mom would make those for us Valentines morning.  When I went to college, I brought the tradition there and now Austin and I have taken it on as our own. Its easy and something different.  We typically don't do gifts, but this year I decided to make Austin a little something.  Yes, I found it on Pinterest, but I just couldn't resist.

First task was to come up with my 52 reasons why I love Austin. Of coarse I have many reasons why I love him, so I just began making a list of reasons as I came up with them.  Once I came up with my 52, I typed them on Word and printed them on Address labels. Next task was to punch holes into all 52 cards.

 Once I punched all the holes, I stuck the 52 reasons on each card.

 I bought some scrapbook paper and printed out the title.  I glued this on the front.

 And this on the back.... so we could remember the date.

 Here are a couple pages of the book.

 Here is the final wrapped product! I think it was a hit... perfect gift for him!

 Finally, it was Austin's birthday! We had a big family dinner/celebration on his actual birthday, but we celebrated together with a Saturday Birthday Extravaganza.  I went to pick him up at noon and headed to Fuel City Tacos.  When we have been taking road trips, we started coming up with a list of things we want to do.  This place has been on our list for a long time.

 We then headed downtown to the JFK museum.  We felt like such tourists, but it was something we hadn't done in forever and it is a big thing to do in Dallas!

 Finally, we decided to drive around downtown and Deep Elem and came across The Farmers Market.  Austin had never been, but we used to go all the time when we were little.  We tried a bunch of different foods and purchased some delicious tamales.

All in all, our celebrations were a blast! I love holidays and birthdays! Can't wait for the next celebration!

Homemade Sushi

So about a year ago, Austin and I went to a Central Market Sushi class.  We learned how to make many different kinds of sushi.  It was a blast!

We hadn't tried to make it on our own until a week ago.  For Christmas, my sister got Austin a sushi set, with chopsticks, sushi press, etc.  We planned a double date at their house and all cooked sushi together!

It was so much fun!  We all made at least one roll each and were very creative about what we put in each....made our own recipes! It was a lot easier than I had thought and can't wait to do it again soon.

Christmas Craft

Thanks to Pinterest, I got the idea to make a wedding ornament for both of my sisters.  I cut up their wedding invitations and curled each piece.  I put them in the clear ball I found at Hobby Lobby and tied a ribbon.  Simple as that, but they both loved it and I loved making it for them.  It will remind them of their special day every Christmas!

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

The Best Time of the Year

Christmas time is my favorite time of year.  It has been a tradition for the last couple of years to all gather at Austin's parents house the weekend after Thanksgiving to decorate the Christmas tree and eat a delicious dinner.  This year was a little different because we had 3 little boys "helping" us decorate.  They LOVED all of the ornaments, which led to the bottom of the tree being completely covered and the top being a little bare.  We tried to take a picture of all 3 of them, but it was a bit more of a challenge then we had hoped.  :)
Here are my little buddies in their new pajamas!

Another reason I love this time of year is because it is my birthday month!  I am a huge fan of birthdays and definitely talk about my birthday for a whole month (sorry to all of those that had to listen to me for so long!).  My sweet sister and boyfriend surprised me with a Happy Hour the night before my birthday! All of my favorite people were there, which just made my birthday extra special. 

On my actual birthday, I used my "Gift of Time" at school and left at 2:00. Austin came over and we tried to fish in the lake behind my new townhouse.  We didn't catch anything, but it was fun to just hang out with him during the day!  That night, we headed to my sisters for a fun family dinner which included steak, fingerling potatoes, green beans, and Caesar salad.  It was delicious!

Finally, Austin and I traveled to Fort Worth on Friday night to eat at our favorite restaurant. Nona Tatta is the best Italian food I have ever had, besides in actual Italy.  We met Will and Katie at The Usual (bar in FW) and ate a delicious meal.  As an early Christmas gift, I surprised Austin with a night at the Omni in downtown FW.  When we don't spend the night, we have to worry about leaving too late and this way we could enjoy the whole night and day.  We headed to the hotel and Austin got us upgraded to a suite!!  We had a HUGE room with the most amazing shower.... 5 spickets where water sprayed out! We slept in and headed to Old Neighborhood Grill, TCU bookstore, and drove by Austins old house! I LOVE Fort Worth!!

Great birthday! Cant wait for next year!

Thanksgiving Pies and a Great Surprise

I love Thanksgiving! The food, the family, and especially the pie making.  Austin and I have been in charge of making pies the last couple of years and this year we made 3...2 apple pies and 1 fudge pie.  I took a couple of pictures while we cooked, but I forgot to take the pictures of the final product... Whoops!

Apple pies (too bad I didn't take final pictures... they looked so pretty)

 Fudge Pie!

And my surprise....
That Sunday, I wanted to give Austin a little treat!  I decided he needed a little holiday cheer in his apartment, so I went shopping!  To Target I went and purchased a tree, lights, ornaments, and holiday kitchen towels.  The best part was I found a pickle ornament, which has been a Winans family tradition for years (apparently its  a German tradition! ).  He was very excited to come home from work and see this!

I love the holidays! Makes me happy!

I'm Back!!!

Hello blog world! It has been way too long! Life has gotten in the way and I have not found time to sit down and write.  Today is the day! I will not bore you with all the details of my life since August 1st, but I will give a quick highlight.

So far, I have have changed grades (now I teach 3rd).... not my favorite year of teaching, but staying positive it will get better. 

I have gone to my first Ole Miss football game since I graduated! Although we are not a great team this year, we had a blast visiting and going to The Grove.  This time, Austin was able to come with me.  We drove ALL the way to Memphis on Friday (I am not much for driving... Austins idea) and had a great night in Memphis.  We were able to see Brooke and Daniels new house and Emily and Lukes new Memphis apartment.  Saturday morning, we all got ready for The Grove and began our drive to Oxford.  We had a blast catching up with friends, eating delicious Grove food, and even had fun in watching the Rebels play, until the 3rd quarter.  We had a late dinner at Rib Cage and made our way back to Dallas on Sunday morning.  We had a blast!!

Next stop... my amazing trip to L.A. to see Tracy and Kirby!

Lauren and I decided to make a trip to visit them in August!  We finally booked our flights for October 29th and we headed out.

Our 1st stop was Santa Monica

Next stop.... Tracy and Lauren ran a half marathon, while I walked 1/2 of the half marathon cheering them on and looking for celebraties.  I was so incredibly proud of them!

Third was our private, VIP tour of Warner Bros. studios given by Tracy herself.  We were unable to take pictures on the Ellen set, but I was able to take pictures outside of the Friends studio and on the set of Gilmore Girls, Hart of Dixie, and Pretty Little Liars.

 Finally and most importantly, we went to The Ellen show! It was a blast! It was hard work screaming and dancing the whole time, but totally worth every minute of it! We felt so special to be able to have that opportunity!

So that is basically the highlights of my life in a nutshell!  I promise to be better about blogging!