It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Because you lost...

Dear Baylor Football,

It's me again.  Well, apparently my request meant nothing to you...it's ok I'm over it.  Lucky for me I have very sweet in-laws who did not rub the victory into my pitiful Baylor face, but still, I would have preferred to be the one extending grace to their pitiful Aggie faces.  Oh well, I live to see another day.  Fortunately I've been a Baylor fan for a while now (4 generations...remember?) and I'm used to the gut-wrenching feeling of losing a game we could have won, but for some reason I still get all worked up about it.  Lucky for you I am too busy with school to really make a big deal about it so this post will be all you get from me this time.

Still forever at your service bleeding green and gold thru and thru,
Katie Ferguson Murray

Because I can't handle losing...

Dear Baylor Football,

I really need you to beat the Aggies today.  You see my in-laws are coming in for the game and most of them will be wearing maroon.  This is a problem for me because I grew up learning to make fun of Aggies and now I am having to go against my upbringing to love them.  I've had 5 years of practice so I'm pretty much there, except when Baylor plays them in football.  You see guys I am a fourth generation Baylor Bear, I cannot take the emotional toll of you all losing and then having to hang out with my Aggie in-laws afterwards, it's just simply asking too much of me.  So if you win today I'll be eternally grateful.  I even promise not to rub it in after the game...at least not out loud where they can hear :)

Forever at your service,
Katie Ferguson Murray

apparently we share genes?

This is my youngest sister Mary

gah isn't she beyond gorgeous?????

One of her friends posted this pic on facebook from her homecoming dance and my jaw dropped.  What happened to my little sister??? She had just turned 9 when I left for college in 2004 and now she's 15!

She always gets frustrated that I still treat her like she's a little girl but this is what she looked like when I left for college!  I'm still trying to come to grips with the fact that she is a sophomore in High School and playing in the band (it feels like only yesterday I was in her same shoes)

Even with our 9 year age difference Mary Jane and I have always connected and I love seeing the beautiful woman she is turning in to, even if I can't come to grips with it on most days. So in honor of my beautiful sister I decided to make up the list below.  enjoy!

My top 10 favorite things about Mary Jane

1. she's easily one of the funniest people I know

2. the girl is beyond witty.  her quick comebacks even give my dad a run for his money

3. she's humble and doesn't realize how gorgeous she is 

4. she is friends with everyone

5. she's the sweetest person you will ever meet (thus number 4)

6. she loves to lend a helping hand 

(Lizzie James and I take credit for this because we always used to make her do things for us when she was little...perks of being the youngest :)

7.  Because we are 9 years apart I got to use her as my excuse for watching the Disney Channel all through High School.

8.  She laughs at my dorky jokes

9. She will talk to me on the phone for as long as I want

10.  She's slightly OCD and has organized my apartment ever since grad-school (the first time I lived on my own)

I can hardly contain my excitement...

I had every intention of blogging about our two most recent vegan recipes (both a huge success btw) but to be honest I had to share my excitement about who I get to see tomorrow!!

HUDSON!

and his precious parents AMBER and RYAN!

I first met Amber and Ryan almost 5 years ago now (wow!) after I had been dating Steven for several months.  They both went to high school with Steven in Oklahoma (Ryan is Steven's best friend) and then both went to Oklahoma State University together.  

Now those of you who know Steven well are familiar with how incredibly goofy he can be.  When he is around Ryan it's like 100x worse better ;)  They both start acting like 15 year old boys and thus Amber and I have learned that it's best to just let them do their thing and back off which has allowed us to become really good friends as well!  I so treasure our friendship with them and wish we could all live in the same city.  We keep trying to convince them to move to Texas and they keep trying to convince us to move to Oklahoma.  Perhaps we should call a truce and move to another state together...ha!

And we are so so so excited about seeing Hudson again!  The last time we saw him he was just a little bitty 6 week old baby and now he's 10 months old! (or almost...He was born in mid January)  To be honest Steven was a little disappointed that Hudson wasn't more interesting at 6 weeks old, he kept saying to all of us "he doesn't do anything" (another reason we aren't quite ready for children yet...) but Amber has assured Steven that Hudson will keep him plenty busy this time around.  

The five of us back in March at Ted's Escondido, our favorite Mexican Restaurant we visit every time we go to Oklahoma.  We were honored to be there at Hudson's first Ted's trip :)

So needless to say I am beyond excited!  I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures to share once we get back (Amber always takes pictures which is great because I always forget! ha!)

Vegan Dinner #1

Well our first purposefully vegan dinner was less than ideal...in fact I must be honest here and admit that after eating some forced bites Steven and I decided to go to Wendy's and get 99 cent frosty's...not exactly the most vegan treat : \

I tried to make a vegan "pot-pie" recipe that ended up tasting really bland even with all the amazing veggies inside.  I think the liquid filling is to blame...it was basically soymilk, cornstarch to add thickness and salt/pepper...probably should have added something to it but I'm still not sure what would have done the trick.

Steven was really sweet and said he liked it while forcing down spoonfuls.  I on the other hand took three bites and called it quits with Steven following suit about a minute later (ha!)

No worries though, we are still determined to find amazing Vegan recipes and I have very high hopes for tonight's endeavor!  Hopefully my next Vegan post will leave you drooling :)

Going vegan for dinner in november

Friends It's VEGANovember at the Murray's!

For the past few months Steven and I have been trying to do something "out of the ordinary" each month in an attempt to either save money, be healthier, or both.  

September: no eating out.  We weren't perfect at this, but we certainly gave it a go.

October: no coffee unless it is made at home.  aka: the birth of our own pumpkin spiced latte :)  we only broke this 2 times all month!

November: we are trying to go vegan for each dinner meal we make at home.  This does not include thanksgiving (duh) or eating out at restaurants.  No worries Amber and Ryan!  (our dear friends we get to see in Dallas this weekend!!!!!!)

Why this particular challenge?  Well Steven and I are trying to loose some weight/be healthier and all semester i've been reading up on healthy eating habits.  I'm not interested in going on a diet, but instead I want to make changes within my eating that will last further than when I finally decide I'm back to a desired/healthy weight.  I've been learning a lot about vegan eating and have heard great statistics on how it is a much healthier way to eat.  (for more info try out these links here, here, and here)

Basically the average American eats way more animal products than he/she needs to which can have harmful effects on their health.  Now don't get me wrong, I love my burger and steak, but Steven and I thought this would be a great way to try out some new recipes and limit the number of animal products we consume each week.  (Thanks Aurelia and Lyle for really introducing us to this idea!) 

So get ready for some new veggie-filled recipes coming to the blog!  I'm about to leave for the grocery store now...watch out produce aisle, and will attempt to find tofu for one of my recipes.  I'm not even sure if HEB has tofu, where I would find it if it does carry it, or if Steven and I will even like it...oh well, this month is all about experimenting!