Honeymoon Recap Day 1

You knew it was coming....the honeymoon recap.  I just can't tell you what an amazing time we had in Canada.  We could not have picked a better honeymoon location for us.  It was laid back, absolutely beautiful, there was plenty to do, but we were not overwhelmed and rushing around.  I cannot recommend a trip to Alberta highly enough.

Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada

Additionally, for anyone planning a trip to Alberta, here is some info about where we stayed, ate, etc.

Hotels

*  Four Points by Sheraton. We just needed a hotel by the airport and I have a friend who could get us a deal at Sheraton.  Nothing special about this one.
*  Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. It was expensive, we didn't love the restaurants, but man, there are just no words to describe this view.  Spring for the lake view room.  Worth every penny.
* Banff International Hotel. This hotel was affordable and on the main street.  The wireless was sub-par and the rooms were kind of dated.  But we didn't spend much time in the room, so it was fine.  I'd probably try to find somewhere nicer if we went back.
* Mader Ranches. This one isn't open to the public...it's the Crazy Canadian's parents!  They hosted us for a night and it was a great time.

Restaurants

* Mountain Restaurant. We were starving by the time we got to Lake Louise.  This as a normal diner type restaurant--the chicken stir fry was decent.  Not great, not terrible.
*  Glacier Saloon.  This was the only half way affordable restaurant at Chateau Lake Louise.  It wasn't great either....average food, a lot of strange options, very expensive.  But that view?  Can't beat it.
*  Truffle Pigs.  This is a little joint in the village of Field, British Columbia.  The food was excellent--we both had a bbq sandwich and it was the first meal we really enjoyed in Canada!
* Melissa's Missteak.  Brunch.  Do it.  We did it twice.  Seriously, amazing food.  The Boy from Texas had steak and eggs one day and huevos rancheros the next.  I had french toast one day and nutella and banana crepes the next.  I'd go back right now if I could.
*  The Grizzly House.  This is a must-do fondue restaurant.  Was it the best food we had while we were there?  No.  But the atmosphere was awesome!  Definitely put this one on your list.
*  Saltlik Steakhouse.  Here it was.  Best food we had in Canada.  Absolutely amazing steaks are found here.  We didn't try it until our last night in Banff, but had we found it earlier, we would have been repeat customers.

Activities/destinations (You'll read more and see pictures in the coming posts)

* Hiking around Lake Louise.  Must do!
*  The Natural Bridge.  Definitely worth the drive to BC.
*  Emerald Lake.  It was neat, but you could leave this out.
*  Bow Valley Parkway.  We drove this two days--it's where we saw the wildlife you'll see later--it was amazing!
* Massages at Mountain Spa.  I'm not a huge massage person, but The Boy from Texas says it was really good.
* Browsing the shops on Main Street Banff.  Pretty cool to see the different shops.
* Tour the grounds at the Fairmont Banff Springs. Beautiful and free to walk around!
* Banff Gondola It's expensive, but the view from the top is just spectacular.  Leave it on your list.
* Drive to Longview.  We wanted to head to this area because Lonesome Dove was filmed here.  Leave this off your list--there are much prettier areas and more fun things to do.
* Tour of Mader Ranches.  Either meet the Crazy Canadian and invite yourself to visit her family's ranch, or find some other rancher to show you around.  It was really fun!

One sidenote....we were there during their "off season" between the summer folks and the skiing folks.  Because of that, a lot of things we wanted to do were actually closed.  The up side, however, was that there were no lines, no crowds, and we got upgraded rooms.  Here are the things we wanted to do, but were unable to.

* Ice Walk
* Glacier sky walk
* Lake Moraine
* Skiing at Lake Louise
* Banff Radium hot springs.


Each day, I posted a daily summary on Facebook to keep our friends and family abreast of our adventures.  I figure I'll start off each post with those and then go into more detail and share lots of photos! With that....here was Day 1.

Report Day 1: Made it to Calgary. Bags overweight. Probably all my boots. Saw Brooke Shields in the airport. Very tall. She wore a hat. She said hi. Got quizzed on Ebola at customs. "You know why I am asking these questions, you are from Texas." We passed. Had a nice cabbie but he smelled like curry. No one has said "eh" yet. Kinda disappointed about that. Off to Lake Louise now.

Happy 30th to.....

....the Pinky to my Brain, my other half, best running buddy, skating partner, favorite roommate, matron of honor, and best friend.

You break my canister lids, burn the popcorn, color code your closet, read for hours, are not a lake person, sit in silence, threaten to sneak out of our house when I send you to bed, eat strange items on your pizza, encourage me to run faster to get pictures of the naked people, suck at ice skating, let me eat the leftover food from your dates, want to pick up hitchhikers who don't know the words, and puke in the bathtub (because it's cleaner than the toilet).....and I wouldn't trade a minute of it for anything.

I am sure glad you were born 30 years ago today, and that somehow the quiet bookworm ended up sharing a basement dorm room with the loud mouth football fan.  Couldn't have worked out much better.

What a ride.....our husbands should probably be worried about what we'll pull in the next 30 years!

Newlywed in the Kitchen Recipe #7: "Homemade" Chicken Noodle Soup

Disclaimer:  I suppose because I didn't actually hand-make the noodles or boil bones in order to create my own chicken broth, this is not technically "homemade" but it's close enough for this girl.

Last month, The Boy from Texas wasn't feeling very well, so we nixed the plan to cook fajitas and decided that I'd whip up some chicken noodle soup instead.  This is something that is quick, easy, healthy, and cures the sick (in my non-medical opinion).  I served it with equally "homemade" Jiffy cornbread, which The Boy from Texas claims is the best thing I cook.

The Boy from Texas Rating:  4.

The Boy from Texas Comments:  What?  A 4 is pretty good for chicken.

"Homemade" Chicken Noodle Soup

2 boxes of reduced sodium Swanson chicken broth

Carrots (I buy the ones already cut in "chips" and use half of the small bag)

6 stalks of celery

Parsley

Minced garlic (just a smidge....like maybe 8 of the little pieces)

Pepper

Season salt

Bay leaf

Rotisserie chicken

Egg noodles

Bring chicken broth, carrots and celery to a boil.  Add in all of the spices to taste.  Let boil for about 20 minutes.  Remove all of the meat from the chicken and dump that in the pot.  Allow to boil for another 15 minutes or so.  Add in egg noodles and allow to boil for about 10 minutes.  Viola.



15 in '15

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something.  So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make new mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.Whatever it is you're scared of doing, do it.  Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”  ~Neil Gaiman

Happy New Year!  Is it just me, or does everyone else equally love January 1?  The start of a new year, clean slate, the world is an oyster....all that jazz!

Flashback to when we were fun....now we're old and tired.

Y'all know how much I love lists.  I decided that in order to keep myself motivated this year,  I would come up with 15 things to do in 2015.  Here they are in no particular order.

1.  Visit 2 new states.  I would really like to (eventually) see all 50 states.  I figure I can pull that off if I keep adding a couple a year.  This one should be okay thanks to my job, which should be taking me a few new places this year.

2.  Print Instagram photos in Chatbooks.  Super Mom mentioned these books you can have printed of your Instagram photos.  I really want to get this done with my 365 photo challenge!  Lucky for me....College Roomie gave me gift certificates for Christmas to do just this!

3.  Read 12 more books.  I've sort of fallen off of the reading train and need to get back in gear here.  I've got a ton of books sitting on my shelf just waiting for me to get rolling!  I've got a mile long list of books to read.....I'm going to start with Max Lucado, Shauna Neiquist, and Unbroken (which I just learned about over the weekend and need to read so I can see the movie).

4.  Run another half marathon.  Every one I do makes me want to feel that way again!  I'm keeping my options open, but I'm leaning towards going back to my roots and running San Francisco in July!

5.  Take a fun trip for The Boy From Texas' 30th.  Yep....he's still 29.  Such a young 'en. I am so, so excited about this birthday trip.  We've got a few options, some big, some smaller, but regardless of where we go, I think a trip to celebrate him is in order.

6.  Plant flowers in our yard and the fun pots we got.  We got some amazingly beautiful outdoor flower pots for our wedding, so I'm really excited to do some landscaping and get those babies full of flowers!

7.  Cook 52 more recipes in the Newlywed in the Kitchen series.  My goal is one new recipe a week.  So far, I've managed to stay ahead of that, so hopefully I can continue on!

8.  Finish Uncle Black Belt's book.  This one is a major priority for  me.  We've got 7 months down, have 5 more to go.  We will have a draft by the end of the year if it kills me.

9.  Complete one Bible.com study a month.  I'm not much of a techie, but when I finally listened to my friend who suggested the bible studies on the Bible.com app, I loved it.  My goal is to do at least one study every month this year.

10.  Complete 5 Pinterest projects (other than recipes).  I pin stuff all the time that looks so cool and really doable....and then I don't ever follow through!  This year, I'm going to get my rear in gear and complete at least 5 projects!

11.  Knock off three more bucket list checkmarks.  Again, I just need some motivation to keep some checkmarks moving.  I'm hoping to knock out some good ones this year!

12.  Order books/prints/canvases of our wedding photos.  We have so many absolutely amazing photos to choose from, but I want decisions made and photos ordered!  I've got lots of friends who put this off so long that they skip right over the wedding pictures and have to put up baby photos.  I want to enjoy the wedding photos for a while!

13.  Listen to the New Testament.  A couple years ago, my church did a series called "Truth comes by hearing."  I never finished listening to the New Testament, but I will be doing that this year!  I figure that driving 45 minutes to work each day gives me the perfect time to do my listening and get this one checked off the list.

14.  Pray Novenas for 12 friends and send them notes to tell them about it.  I'm so excited about this one.....I'll be seeking intercession from different saints for different friends over the next year.

15.  Organize my pictures.  I have multiple computers with multiple folders full of multiple pictures.  It's sheer freakin' chaos.  I swear, I am going to get organized on this front if it kills me!

Word for 2014: Love

 "I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." - Arthur Rubinstein

When I sat down to write this blog, there was really only one word that I could select.  Never in my life have I felt as loved as I did this year.

Obviously, marrying this fella played a big part in that.  There's nothing like seeing a boy down on his knee to make a girl feel loved.

He has already taught me so much about love and life and I am so glad to be spending the rest of my days with him.

Then with the 400 of you who showed up to celebrate with us, and the numerous well wishes and prayers from afar...how could I not have chosen love as my word?

During the sheer misery of taking the Texas Bar Exam, I felt love from all of you who sent up prayers (and those of you who sent over cookies!)  Fortunately, the prayers and cookies worked and I was able to  be sworn in at a ceremony with my parents and the Boy from Texas.

I continued to absolutely love my job.  This year, I gave 60 presentations across the country and enjoyed every minute.  I spoke everywhere from a sale barn in Central Texas to a ballroom at Tufts University in Boston.  The fact that I was also able to see so many great friends and watch a game at Fenway was all just gravy.  I feel so fortunate to be able to have a career that allows me to work on something I truly enjoy.

I celebrated the day of love (Valentine's Day) by surprising The Boy from Texas by showing up to spend the weekend with him.  As much as I am glad the long distance thing is over, I did love surprising him and seeing his face!

God's love was, of course, ever present, but I so enjoyed the opportunity to tangibly feel that during the hours I spent at adoration and in the perfectly timed red flower surely sent by St. Therese.

Celebrations of love were celebrated throughout the year.  My cousin's wedding shower, ND Friend's Ranch Party and wedding in Chicago, and Blonde Oklahoma Girl's beautiful wedding day.

 

 

We loved winning guns at the NRA banquet as we celebrated the anniversary of our first date.

 I was surrounded by love at four--count them, FOUR--amazing wedding showers and an epic bachelorette party full of non-lake people who trecked out for a day on the water just for me.

 

People I love had great achievements that we had to celebrate.  Aunt and Uncle Evil Kineval's new lake house.  Baby Hepburn's high school graduation.  Running with ABJ's Mama in her first half marathon.

 And, of course, there was the week celebrating marriage during which we fell in love with our neighbor to the north, Canada!

It was the best year.  Sure, there were struggles, losses, stressful times.....but throughout, there was love.  From God and from the people who he has seen fit to put in my path.  I am so grateful for both!  Here's to showing this love to others in 2015.

Bucket List Year in Review

“If there's one thing I learned, it's that nobody is here forever. You have to live for the moment, each and every day . . . the here, the now.” ~Simone Elkeles, Perfect Chemistry

Each year I like to look back and remember the bucket list checkmarks I was able to obtain in the past 365 days.  Here are the recaps for prior years..... 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.

This year, although fewer in number, I am pretty excited about the list items that have been achieved!

1.  Get married.  The biggest item on the list has fallen.  WOO HOO!

2.  Visit friends in Canada.  Ever since I met my first Canadian friend (The Crazy Canadian) in college, I knew that I wanted to visit one day.  As you will read about in a recap series coming soon, our honeymoon offered us the perfect chance to see the beautiful country, have fondue with our sweet friend Miss Canada, and to visit The Crazy Canadian's parents' ranch.

3.  Complete a 365 day photo challenge.  I've tried this a couple of times with no success.  I am so excited to report that I successfully completed the Fat Mum Slim 365 day challenge!  And I didn't do it alone!  College Roomie, Miss Arizona, and High School Friend all completed it as well.  I could not have done it without them!  Coming up soon, I will be sharing my favorite photos from that challenge.

4.  Grow my own tulips.  I love tulips.  Hands down my favorite flower.  So growing my own had always been on my list.  Last fall, I planted bulbs.  This spring, up came beautiful tulips.  They didn't last too long before I killed them, but it was enough for me to check it off the list!

5. Watch a game at Fenway or Wrigley.  I'm not a huge baseball person, so it may seem strange for this to be on my list.  But being a major sports fan (and a good American), I felt like seeing our national past time played in one of the most iconic venues in the country had to be on there.  When I work trip took me to Boston this past summer, Fenway was calling my name!  Read the full blog here.

6.  Become a famous blogger.  This is a checkmark that I honestly didn't think would actually ever come.  But when I started blogging back in 2009, I put it on the list.  And although "famous" is pretty arguable, I'm going to go ahead and count the fact that my Texas Agricultural Law Blog was named one of the top 100 legal blogs in the country by the American Bar Association count as famous enough!

Best Blogs of 2014

The tradition of selecting my favorite blogs of the year continues!  If you're new (or just want a refresher), here are my best blogs from 2010, 2011, and 2013.  Now, for 2014...

Every year, I think that I'll narrow this list down to the Top 10 blogs.  Every year, I fail.  Whatever, it's my blog and I'll have 20 if I want to!

1-4.  Wedding Related. You know that I have to start off with wedding related blogs.  Obviously.  The he said/she said recap of our first date was a huge hit.  Followed up by the he said/she said description of The Boy from Texas proposing to me.  Then there was my realization that The Boy from Texas was even better than the Letters to Mr. Right I had written over the years.  Finally, there was my thoughts on wedding planning and remembering exactly what is supposed to last forever.

5.  Being Single.  Having been single throughout nearly all of my 20's, I hope that some of my posts can be encouraging to the other single ladies out there.  The series jointly written by Blonde Oklahoma Girl and me (both of whom got married at 30!) offering advice to single ladies was a huge hit.

6-7.  Diversity of Friends.  Twice this year I have been compelled to blog about the diversity of the friends that God has so graciously placed in my life.  First, I wrote "What I Would Have Missed" and I followed that up with "One of Everything."

8.  Respecting Different Paths.  Next up came a soapbox about how even though people may be on different paths than we are, they still matter and deserve respect.

9-11. Ag Related Posts.  You knew there would be some of these in here!  First off, two Family Farm Friday blogs make the list.  The first was titled "I'll Take the Stock Show" where I explained that in my mind, the benefits of a stock show outweigh Disney World every time.  Along those lines, I wrote "State Fair Did That" where I reflect on all of the impacts that the New Mexico State Fair had on my life.  Finally, we celebrated the glorious rains that finally came after years of absolutely horrific drought.

 12-14.  Current Events.  There were a few times I felt compelled to comment on events in the world.  I celebrated my favorite Pope becoming my favorite Saint. I have zero doubts that he has interceded for me each time I have asked.  Then we discussed America's Most Eligible Bachelor getting married in my post encouraging girls to wait for their George Clooney.  Lastly, I felt compelled to weigh in on the Brittany Maynard assisted suicide controversy and remind folks that there is another way to die with dignity.

15-17.  Remembering The Lost.  There are so many amazing people who made an impact on my life that are no longer here.  You frequently read about them on my blog, and this year was no exception.  On the tenth anniversary of her death, we remembered Gran and her Reward.  Five years after losing Mr. Franklin, I vowed to remember the good, rather than dwell on the sad.  And while mourning the loss of an elementary school classmate and friend, I spoke of the scars that people leave behind when they take their own lives.

18.  Anniversary.  On my parents' anniversary, we discussed why they are a bad example of marriage.

19.  The Point. After losing my cool in an airport, I realized that I was in danger of missing much more than the flight, but the whole point of this life.

20.  Closing a Chapter.  As I packed up my life into a Budget truck and bid farewell to College Station, I  deemed this chapter one of answered prayers.

Wedding Recap Post #13: Photographers and My Final Thoughts

Over the last 13 posts, you have seen absolutely amazing pictures taken by absolutely amazing women.  We didn't have the budget for a fancy wedding photographer.  Luckily, we didn't have the need for one either, because we have three of the most talented friends you can imagine.  Super Mom, High School Friend, and Ag Teacher went above and beyond what I ever imagined when I asked if they would be willing to shoot our wedding.  They were absolutely the perfect photographers for us---they were laid back, flexible, quick (thank the Lord because my Dad's patience was about .25 seconds), and fun.  Plus, it was fun getting to spend the day with three of my friends rather than some stranger with a camera. There is no way to thank them for what they did.

Super Mom, Me, High School Friend

The Boy from Texas and Ag Teacher

 Now, with that, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite shots they each got that we haven't seen yet.

Super Mom

She took the lead on the photos and I am so glad she was there to be sure we got everything we wanted!  She's started up her own photography business, so if anyone needs her info you just let me know.

All the boys put a ring on it. :)

  High School Friend

She took the lead on the "detail" shots and on helping get people lined up and posed.  All of this because she claims not to be a people photographer.  Some of these beg to differ.

 Ag Teacher

 She was given the most difficult assignment of the day...shooting the boys.  After a rocky start to the engagement photo shoot, I wouldn't have blamed her for quitting.  But when I asked The Boy from Texas who he wanted to come to the lake and shoot him getting ready, "Ag Teacher, she's my favorite photographer" was his response.  God bless her.  She also got great shots from the balcony during the ceremony and managed to get pictures of all of the guests at the reception!

 

 Final Thoughts

I have to admit that even I, the bride, am sick of wedding posts.  I'm ready to be talking about something else!  (Honeymoon updates are up next...)  But I wanted to take the time to write down and share the details of our wedding day, and I think that some day we will be very glad I did that.

It was the absolute perfect day for us.  Everything else aside, we made a covenant with God and with each other to love each other for the rest of our lives.  That, alone, was enough to deem it the perfect day.  Pile on top of that doing so surrounded by 400 members of our family and best friends?  Well that put it over the top.  Then add in all of the beautiful ceremony music, fun dancing, great food, amazing pictures, white flowers with pearl stems, adorable flower girl and ring bearer, a seven year old usher reading Psalms 23, and a pretty white dress?  Well.....there are really no words.  

One comment that was made multiple times to me (that was frankly sort of hurtful) was, "I thought this day would never come!"  I waited just shy of 31 years for this day....you're telling me!  But, fortunately, God's timing was more perfect than mine.  He brought The Boy from Texas and I together at just the right time---not too late, not too early---and He opened the right doors at the right time for us to become husband and wife that Saturday in October.  For those of you still waiting....trust that His timing is perfect timing.  And ignore those who try to make you feel that you are doing something wrong or that you are not enough.  They are wrong.  It's as simple as that.

Thank you so much to all of you who celebrated with us--both near and far.  Please continue to pray for us as we enjoy this adventure together!

"You will reciprocally promise love, loyalty and matrimonial honesty. We only want for you this day that these words constitute the principle of your entire life and that with the help of divine grace you will observe these solemn vows that today, before God, you formulate."  ~ St. John Paul II