Lost Maples State Park



I couldn't think of anything to blog about today.  Mainly because I got off work, went to sleep, woke up and now it is time to do it all over again...not much to blog about.  So, I'll just post some photos of a fall trip to Lost Maples State Park.

Mr. Squared likes to play a game when I take photos.  I usually don't notice until later.  He will sneak off and hide in a spot for one photo and then we have to find him.  Look below...

Find him??  What can I say?  It's kind of his thing...

I really liked the color contrast of this photo. 

Funny what your eyes see.  We were out hiking and we spotted a bull. 

Beautiful park, Beautiful day.

Cooking While I Sleep

Dear Inventor of the Crockpot,

I love You!

I work 12 hour shifts and I like to group them together so I can be off for a week at a time.  Great idea, but man, those back to back days are a killer.  I go to work, deal with pregnant women for 12 hours, come home, go to sleep, get up and do it all over again.  This six day stretch needs quick and easy dinners.  Tonight...super easy Chinese food!

A family pack of stew meat and Lawry's teriyaki in the crockpot on warm.  7 1/2 hours later throw two bags of frozen stir fry veggies.  Make some 5 minute white rice.  There you go...your done.  Sigh of happiness.  Healthy food that looks good and off to work!

Holy Cow!

What cute babies!

That's my niece.  Funny how her photos keep finding their way on here.  It might be because she is just so darn cute!!  This was at the rodeo last year and it is getting to be that time again.  I've already ordered my Brad Paisley tickets - I could use a few Ticks in my life :)

Anyway, I just really liked this photo of her and wanted to share!

2012 Election?



President Bailey

Secretary of State Victoria

Chief of Staff, Kelly

Speaker Trevor

Senate Majority Mackenzie

I say the nation is in pretty good hands.

(Bush Library, College Station)

The Crystal Cave

I used some photos of one of our trips to Garner to practice editing with Corel.  It really is a wonderful place to go with the family.  It is pretty much a must on the Texas State Park list.  The scenery is gorgeous.  The Frio River is clear and cold in the summer.  The park boasts of great hiking trails and doesn't disappoint.  There's even a small cave to crawl down into.  Which is where the photo of me was taken.

The Crystal Cave

My daughters loved the summer night outdoor dances.  My husband hated taking my daughters to the outdoor dances.  Any potential contact with the opposite gender makes him a bit uneasy...

The dance begins at dusk and takes place on an outdoor stone landing.  The music is mostly country and some oldies.  People line the perimeter of the dance floor, which does get pretty crowded, with their camp chairs.  A Hill Country dance under the stars...pretty awesome.

This is probably my favorite state park. 

If anyone who accidentally visits my little blog, if you have any State Park favorites, let me know...

Corel

Trying to get sleepy - crazy night shift schedule...

So, I thought I would familiarize myself with the Corel paintshop photo pro that has been on my computer intimidating me.  Here's the before and after:

Before

And the after.

Not so terrific, but I think I am understanding the lighting effect a bit better.  I'll try again after some sleep!



Homemade Birthday

I believe that homemade family parties are the best!  The birthday girl (or boy for one day since my husband is the only male in our family) gets to choose what the dinner will be and what kind of cake I make.  Today was my daughter's birthday and Kenzie-Lou chose chicken parmesan for her special meal and a red velvet cake for dessert.

I didn't take any photos of the chicken parmesan.  It only turned out okay.  I was in a rush and kind of got started late because my daughter wanted a multi layered cake.  One of the layers broke.  C'est la vie.  She loved it anyway!

My teenage birthday princess with my niece!

I ran around doing birthday errands all morning and early afternoon with my oldest daughter and two young nieces.  Whew - I am so glad I had all of my children really young!  I could not do that everyday!



Chicken Fried Steak

So, tonight's dinner was chicken fried steak.  Let me let you in on a not-so-secret secret, I have never made chicken fried steak from scratch.  I've either ordered it from a restaurant or bought it frozen and tossed it in the oven.  Tonight, however, I tackled the task.  Here's the end result before it got smothered in cream gravy...

I dipped the cube steak in egg and then the flour mixture and then, double dipped it.  I made green bean casserole for a side, yum...

I used 2 cups flour, 1 tsp pepper, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 cup ground up french fried onions.  The onions gave it a nice flavor.  The double dipping gave it a great coating.  Absolutely delicious!

The green bean casserole was the basic throw in some green beans, add a can of cream of mushroom soup and top with french fried onion type recipe, but I added 2/3 of a bag of velveeta cheese shreds and some salt and pepper for seasoning.  The cheese gave it a little extra oompf.

Add some white rice and the cream gravy and dinner is done! 

What's For Dinner

I love, love, love my first night off from work.  I work hard so I can pamper myself with a week off.  It's a crazy schedule, but I couldn't imagine any other way. 

Because I was in a 'I'm off from work' mood I made Navajo tacos for dinner.  Super easy, but way messy!

Yummy, delicious!

The bread doesn't have a whole lot of ingredients, very minimalistic.

2 cups all purpose flour

1 Tbs baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 Tbs vegetable oil

3/4 cup warm water

and

vegetable oil for frying

(I never said it was healthy.  I mean, it is happy food.)

Mix up the ingredients.  Divide into 8 equal pieces.  Take a dough ball and shape it like a donut.  (you need the hole for even cooking and it makes a good vent)  Roll it out until it is tortilla thin.  Place it in the hot vegetable oil.  Flip.  It will make puffy bumps.  When it is brown and crispy take it out and place on paper towel lined plate.

Now top it with whatever you want.  Refried beans, fajita chicken, lettuce, salsa, cheese, sour cream.  Pile it on.

Happiness in my tummy!

Chase it down with a dessert like peach cake mix cobbler.

2 cans of peaches in heavy syrup

1 yellow cake mix

1 stick of butter

pecan pieces

Pour the peaches in a 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle cake mix on top, evenly.  Place pats of butter all over.  Sprinkle pecans on top.  Pop in oven that was preheated to 350 and bake for 45 minutes.

Insert groan here because my tummy is so full!



Pre Spring Cleaning

A place for everything and everything in its place...

Today we tackled the laundry room, the catch all room for just about everything in the house.  List of items found:

rabies tag for one of the dogs

doll clothes

grocery store bag full of scrubs to return to my hospital

tons of golf balls

tons of socks

craft glue

ankle weights

my daughters JA charm bracelet

spray texture

my husbands motorcycle battery...

But now everything is either out in the garage, where it should go, or organized neatly.  Tennis rackets and softball helmets on the wall, clothes folded and put away, craft stuffs in the craft cabinet.  Now a 30 minute nap and off to a 12 hour night shift at the baby factory!  Whew...

Dollar Store Decor

Man, oh, Man - I love my dollar store!  They always have so much stuff, especially for the holidays...like Valentine's Day!  I picked up tons of stuff to do some thrifty decorating. 

Like...

Medium vases with hearts on them that I stuffed with Valentine printed tissue paper and pink glitter heart picks.  Small, slender vases that had love and other love-like words printed on them in pink, red and purple.  I popped red tea lights in those.  They had these bags of glitter hearts to scatter on the table, which I did.  I threw on a red tablecloth and photos of some couples in our family (I need to gather some more) and voila!

The entry table is really just a cute runner from Ross that I picked up for a few dollars and a decorative plate for even less.

More heart vases from the dollar store and another plate from Ross.  The fabric is really a tablecloth and the cherubs were just a household discovery.

Cute dollar store heart doilies and trinket boxes coupled with a red bowl and platter (another household find) finish off the coffee table.

Nothing fancy, just a bit to make me feel a bit more festive.

Now to carry all the Christmas totes upstairs and get them put away...the cycle never ends!

Sunset at the Lake

Revamping the Blog

Whew!  Spent the day doing a makeover.  I look the same, but my blog looks much better.  Hats off to the professional blogging women like The Pioneer Woman.  Making a blog look nice makes for a really sore backside!