Anniversary Weekend 2010! (aka longest post ever)

Steven and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary this summer and escaped the thriving metropolis of Waco and headed north up I-35 (east) to our future home Dallas for the weekend.

The trip started e-a-r-l-y...5:00am to be exact.  Because monetary funds are not plentiful in the Murray household we decided to save on gas by having me drive up with Steven Friday morning for his internship.  Luckily my uncle adores me and agreed to meet us at the Italy truck stop so that I could spend the day with him and my aunt :) The man picked me up before 7am, thus making him saint-worthy in my book.  Steven and I stopped by the Czech stop in West first where I had the most delicious strawberry and cream cheese kolache to warm my spirits in the wee hours of the morning.

I spent the day with my aunt and uncle and their three amazing dogs, Sophie (Black), Phoebe (Grey), and Trixie (White).  One day I will make an entire blog post about these precious dogs.  They are herding dogs and thus very protective.  They are hilarious though and I might have fallen in love with Trixie while I was there...  I will have my own Bouvier des Flandres one day for the following reasons (1) they are awesome, (2) they are big (big dogs are a must for me), (3) they are low activity inside and high activity outside (4) they have amazing personalities just like me, (5) they are great with the kiddos, (6) they don't shed, (7) they will scare the living **** (mom reads this blog so it must stay PG) out of anybody who tries to break into our house...biggest bark ever and they are huge!

PS...is it sad that my phone takes better pictures than my camera? (top photo taken with camera, bottom with my phone)  So to everyone who is considering Christmas gifts for me I would be appreciative of an awesome camera :)

I also got to have lunch with this precious child

She is my cousin's litle girl and she is a-maz-ing.  I asked her to say cheese and this is what I got...love her. We bonded over lunch while her mom and my aunt talked about more grown-up things. Our topics of conversation included (1) her stuffed Big-Bird who made a guest appearance at lunch, (2) her kids cup she got at lunch and all the colors, animals, people, and activities that were happening on it (she is very smart)  (3) my hair band which she called a bracelet, (4) her mac and cheese and using the big-kid-spoon to eat it, (5) my sweet potato fries.  It was quite distinguished :)

After an amazing day and night with my Aunt and Uncle (who have been housing Steven while he has been interning up in Dallas all summer), we headed out Saturday morning to the Dallas Aquarium.  Now for anyone who hasn't been to this aquarium yet be forwarned...it is about 15% aquarium and 75% wildlife preserve.  I have been to my fare share of aquariums throughout my life and thus have high expectations.   When I think of an aquarium I picture a lot of rooms with floor to ceiling glass and a ridiculous amount of fish including whales and great white sharks....the Dallas aquarium is not up to this standard.  There are 4 floors and only the bottom one had fish.  The rest had birds, snakes, monkeys, turtles, alligators/crocodiles ( I still don't know the difference) etc.  Total bummer...but we made the most of it.  

Thanks to Pixar I walked up to the tank and said "look Steven, it's a Dora fish" and then a 3 year old girl walked up and said "look Mom...it's DORA!!!!!"  Proudest moment in my life.

Luckily by the time we walked up to this tank I had learned my lesson and said in my head "NEMO!"

Shark...not as cool as a Great White or a Whale, but it did swim over our heads...I guess that's worth something

The Murrays at the Dallas aquarium lame wildlife preserve thingy with some fish and no whales or awesome sharks or big octipi or a place you could pet the sting rays...

Big alligator/crocodile thing...that was kinda cool I guess.

Rest assured that unlike my tone in this post we actually had a good time.  Steven has never been to an aquarium before so I guess this was a good one to start with.  One day I'll take him to New Orleans and show him what a real aquarium is like :)

We had a great dinner that night at Hillstone (Formerly known as Houston's).  It was a recommendation from our Aunt and Uncle and is apparently one of my cousin's favorite places to go.  We had a great time even though the average age of the people there was about 20-30 years our senior.  Apparently this is the place all the Highland Park parents go to eat on Saturday night, but let me tell you they know where the good food is.  I had amazing crab-cakes and Steven had a huge steak and we topped it off with a yummy dessert.  We were quite shocked when our bill came and we noticed they had charged me for a refill on my ICED TEA. What?!?!  It costs like 2 cents to make Iced Tea (it wasn't even a fancy flavored kind) and they charged me for a refill?  Who does that anymore??  I average about 3-5 glasses of Iced Tea at a normal restaurant, luckily I wasn't that thirsty and only had one refill....gah!

Us enjoying all done with dessert.  Why does it look like I'm pounding the table? Contrary to what you might assume by looking at our smiles in this picture we each only had one drink before dinner while waiting for our table...

May I also take this moment to shamefully plug Priceline.  Steven and I Pricelined (yes you can make it into a verb, thus further exemplifying its awesomeness) a hotel for Saturday night and got an amazing 4 star hotel by the galleria for $60! (that's more than 1/2 off!) When we got to the hotel we got upgraded to a nicer room for free!  If you need a tutorial on how to use this awesome website just let me know.  The Ferguson's don't go anywhere without pricelining first :)  

On Sunday (our actual anniversary) we went to Wilshire Baptist Church where I will be interning in the Spring to experience the worship service...loved it!  And then joined up with my other cousin Nancy to have a tour of Dallas, she is an amazing tour guide :)  We also had to stop at a 7-11 for a free slurpee since it was 7/11 and thus Free Slurpee Day!  This will become a tradition on our anniversary for sure :)  

That evening (back in Waco) we had some of our wedding cake.  We were quite skeptical (as shown by this picture), but were somewhat pleased with the results.  The icing was pretty awful but the cake part was still delicious.  

The jury is still out as to whether or not we actually enjoyed it.  

Ok...if you read all of that you are truly amazing and perhaps have too much time on your hands.

Dear Dallas

After spending all of yesterday within your city limits I have decided I love you for the following reasons.

#1.  You have 8 La Madeleine's within your city limits...that's not counting the surrounding cities in the metroplex.  I got to enjoy an amazing chicken caesar salad and tomato basil soup for lunch which I have been craving for months.

#2 Clothes.  You have a JCrew with all of its amazing cardigans, an Anthropologie with its ridiculous prices but a great sale/clearance section, a Francescas were you can find amazing accessories, an Urban Outfitters where you really have no idea what you will find when you walk inside, and a normal sized Gap (why is the one in Waco so weird?).  Now I h.a.t.e. shopping for clothes, so the fact that this excites me is pretty revolutionary.

Look at the first lady impacting the world while wearing a classic JCrew cardigan.  The ladies in the background may look like they are inspired by her speech, but really they are jealous that they aren't wearing J Crew

 

#3. Frozen Yogurt Galore.  Now Dallas, I must be honest, I have not had the best frozen yogurt experiences in Waco.  Our local do-it-yourself yogurt place (to be remained nameless) has left me disappointed many times.  The yogurt isn't always cold enough, leaving a grainy texture.  Also they constantly change their flavors and leave threatening notes on the machines that tell me I cannot taste the flavor until I have paid for it.  So I reluctantly went into Yogurtland the other day and it has completely changed my life.  It had tester cups for me to taste-test every.single.flavor.on.the.wall.  The yogurt was the perfect temperature and consistency, very very tasty and the toppings were fresh.  So thank you Dallas for introducing me to this amazing experience.  

 

That good ole summer brewski

While Steven and I were shopping at the HEB in Hewitt a few weeks ago we saw they had this promotion thingy on summer beers where you could make your own 6 pack.  I was so excited because I have always wanted to branch out from my staple ale (Shiner Bock = heaven) and try some new brews but was always hesitant to buy a 6 pack incase I hated it...so this was the perfect opportunity!

Our selection. Mine are the three on the left, Steven's are on the right.  

This was such a fun way for us to try new beers!  Although I must admit, I picked mine based on how pretty the labels were...Steven was a bit embarrassed.  In the end I only liked the one on the far left Samuel Adams Summer Ale, but it was a fun experience none the less!

Preggers

No, not me, but we did have a pregnant visitor in our house when we came back from the fourth of July in College Station.  Along with the 16 (yes that's right...16) crickets we caught on sticky traps within a little over 24 hours we also found a pregnant cockroach...oh. my. gosh...

This thing was HUGE and we can only assume it was pregnant because it had a little sack on it's backside, and after doing some research on wikipedia we discovered that cockroaches do indeed carry a little sack of eggs on their backside...ack

Our little intruder with her egg sack.  Sorry that this is the second time I have posted a picture of a dead cockroach on my blog...I really hope to not make this a habit.  Just realize I could daily post pictures of the crickets I am killing, but choose to spare you all.  Also now you will all know what the picture of a pregnant cockroach looks like.  

And yes Rachel King, I do know that right now you are saying "Katie, there is never never NEVER a good reason to post a picture of a bug on your blog", and Rachel King, I must admit, thinking of you saying that was the sole reason I decided to post it :)

A completely unrelated picture except that it was taken on the same night.  I figured I should end a post with our precious pup Dutch.  

Cayenne Pepper = Dangerous...noted

So I've decided to finally buckle down and post some of the meals I made this past month of July.  The first will be familiar as it continues on my quest to figure out how many different Tilapia meals I can make...

Blackened Tilapia with Secret Hobo Spices  (from allrecipes.com of course)

I mean with a name like that who wouldn't try it? Little did i know that these "hobo spices" would cause Steven and I to almost die from the Cayenne Pepper swimming through the air for the next hour...any hints on how to fix this?  It was really delicious but I'm hesitant to make it again because we were coughing the entire evening...

Delicious Fillets

Our yummy meal

Gaga + Glee = pure bliss

I love Lady Gaga...so does my husband.  I kid you not.  We don't really listen to the "hippest" music all the time, opting for ESPN radio or more "mix" type of stations on our XM radio.  But Steven has started listening to "20 on 20" on the radio just so he can listen to a GaGa song every hour or so.  In fact there was one point this summer when we were driving to College Station to see his extended family that his brother called and Steven told me to keep listening to the radio and to let him know immediately if Gaga came on. To which I replied, "what are you going to do if you are still on the phone?"...he looked at me like I was crazy and said "hang up of course."  haha!  Oh Steven Murray, this is why I love you.


Now we realize that Lady Gaga does not sing the most wholesome lyrics and her outfits are a bit bizarre, but the woman writes some catchy songs!  (Although she is definitely not for everyone...perhaps an aquired taste?)  The lyrics are creative, the beat is addicting, and once you hear a song you can't get it out of your head for the rest of the day. (Be wary of her song "Disco Stick"...I made that mistake once without knowing what the song was about.  Most disturbing annoying lyrics to have stuck in your head all day...)

Now this summer I have also fallen in love with Glee...this show is beyond amazing.  When I was younger I wanted nothing more than to be a singer, and I always wanted to perform in a musical.  Thus Glee with all it's show tunes and pop tunes is just happiness for my soul.  So when Glee did a Gaga show I almost died with excitement.  Of course this was weeks and weeks after it aired on TV, b/c I didn't start watching this show until this summer on Hulu and another creepy website that always gives me a pop-up asking if I want to date a Russian girl with big breasts...

Here is the clip from Glee doing "Bad Romance" (Steven's favorite Gaga song)



I also loved the rendition of "Poker Face" they did on the show.  It's very different from Gaga's more upbeat version, but I love it!  Plus Lea Michelle and Idina Menzel are amazing, which adds to the fun.

The unwelcome roommates

dear faithful blog followers -

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  I have been faithfully taking pictures of my cooking endeavors and random bits of my life but between working almost 40 hrs a week now at my internship, finishing up summer classes, being out of town, and the cricket war of 2010, i have not had a lot of time to actually post anything.  Tonight I will brave the cricket war single handedly as my dashing side kick is living the posh life at my aunt and uncle's place outside of Dallas...how is that at all fair?

My dad told me this evening that I shouldn't freak out so much about the crickets.  I get where he is coming from, I mean seriously why should i let the little things ruin my life.   He also said they are friendly...if so they should realize I don't do well with "over the top" beginnings to relationships.  Perhaps they could come in smaller numbers and not be all jumpy once they get into the apartment.

I duck taped the vent in my bathroom tonight.  I found this to be most crucial.  You see I have now twice been attacked by a cricket falling from this vent onto the countertop while brushing my teeth.  To be honest, one should try to avoid being startled while holding a pointy piece of plastic in their mouth...so the vent got sealed today.

I took my shower before the sun went down and used the least amount of hot water possible.  I have learned these past few nights that the crickets LOVE to come into the bathroom when there is moisture and warmth.  Thus the cold shower right after my workout this evening.

I have also started sticking a towel underneath our bedroom door at night and sleeping with a can of Raid on my night stand...is it ok that the smell of this stuff no longer bothers me?

Thus is my life right now.  Yes I do realize it could be worse (aka cockroaches or mice) and that this too shall pass (although let it be noted that the worst part of cricket season hasn't even begun yet...I might be sleeping in my car come August).  But to be honest I would like to be able to go into a room in my apartment without first peering around the corner with my can of raid, to be able to use the toilet without worrying that a bug will attack me while I'm sitting there defenseless, brush my teeth in peace, and be able to sleep without believing that every noise and movement is a cricket crawling on my bed...

Thanks for listening to me vent

Last night's total was 8 crickets
Today's (daytime) total was 4
Tonight's total is still to be determined...