Your Year in Statues pt1

A friend on facebook recently did, Your Year in Statuses, and so did I. As I looked through all of the comings and goings of our life I was reminded of some really sad memories, and quite a few happy ones. This brings me to my favorite movie quote which I recite to myself time and again during this time of change. 

"That's what momma always says. She says that beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it's the middle that counts the most. Try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning. Just give hope a chance to float up. And it will..." Hope Floats

So here my friends is our year in review, not in statuses, but in pictures - which are worth a thousand words.

January:

 We didn't take any pictures, shocking I know considering us. I believe this is mainly because of the trauma we were experiencing with my Grandad. On his birthday, we learned that his cancer was imminently terminal... those sad memories I was talking about.

February:

 Our first family trip to an Aggie Basketball game!

For my birthday, we spent a precious weekend with my Grandad and Granny in Abilene. We didn't know it would be our good-bye visit, but it was... and filled with happy moments.

March:

March 1st my Grandad passed away. The stab in my heart...

EDEN - Willis "Bill" Warren Deichmann, 77, of Abilene, died Monday, March 1, 2010. Service is at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Grace Lutheran Church in Abilene. Graveside service is at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in Eden Cemetery. Arrangements are by Eden Funeral Home.

Happy Memories from March:

Aggie Baseball game vs. Texas Tech!

a visit to the Bryan Children's Museum

and ice cream with Nonna!

April:

Easter @ Mimi and Poppa's House!

and an egg hunt and games at their church

May:

a weekend in Fort Worth taking pictures in the wildflowers

and a fun day at MayFest in Fort Worth

June:

George's residency graduation ceremony. Although he is an off-cycle resident and didn't officially complete his residency until December, the program thought it was appropriate for him to "graduate" with his friends! Such awesome doctors, all of them!

The second have off 2010 to come shortly. We hope you have enjoyed our year so far!

Notes About Mashed Potatoes

If you ask my brother and sister I make the best mashed potatoes in the world. And I like that title. But really the style of mashed potatoes you like is really a personal thing. Some like them whipped and fluffy, some like them with chunks of potato in them, some people like them cheezy and some people like them savory. I like them all ways, some of the time. Today I made them for lunch with our steaks we had grilled out for watching the Cowboy game and I thought about a lot of things while I was making them. The way I make my mashed potatoes depends on who I am cooking for and what I am serving with it... kind of like choosing a wine pairing :) With Kim and Ryan I know that they like cheesy, buttery potatoes that are smooth and creamy. George likes his potatoes with garlic, and lots of it.

The secret to mashed potatoes is dairy... not potatoes (cause that's not a secret).
You can use a few forms. For today's mashed potatoes I used sour cream and plain yogurt with roasted garlic. They seemed a little dry so I added some milk to smooth them out.

I always: use a hand mixer... no matter how creamy you are going to get them use a hand mixer and they will come out so much better.
I usually: use sour cream as my diary...in a pinch I will use milk, and at times I will use whipping cream.
I always: use some form of garlic - garlic powder, garlic salt, or roasted garlic like I did for George today. I do the amount based on the crowd (George = a ton)
I never: make powdered mashed potatoes... okay I lied.. I did when I was a wee little homemaker, but times have changed!

Good luck in your quest of making wonderful mashed potatoes and may they never be lumpy or dry!

Vacation Wrap Up!

George and I had not taken vacation since spring break so we took Aaron's wedding as a great week to do so.

Last weekend we started Saturday off watching Trinity cheer her team to V-I-C-T-O-R-Y against Lobos Blue... she cheers for Lobos White. After the game we stopped at the girls favorite place, 7-11, to get Slurpees and head to Aggieland! We then cheered the Aggies to a 27-20 win over FIU! After the game we headed to the truck to finish our tailgating food and wait for the traffic to clear out of the parking lot. While we were hanging out we got to meet #33 Christine Michael, running back for Texas A&M and his dad! They are both very nice.

Sunday, before heading back to DFW we went to go eat at the Kettle (you never see those anymore) followed by a walk around the President George Bush Library in College Station.



Sunday night George and I went to Aunt Jeanna and Uncle Ricks house that they just sold :( to chat and they sold us their dining room set... if only we had a house to put it in. For now it will stay at Mimi and Poppas.

Monday we came back to Baytown so that I could go to class that night. Tuesday we got to sleep in and then headed to George's parents ranch in Junction.

Along the way we picked up George's friends from medical school at UTMB Tyson and Brian as well as Tyson's wife Kayla and their adorable son Rylan.

The boys made a fire.... and fired up the grill and George made yummy fajitas. After Rylan got tucked into bed the grown ups played 42 and we really enjoyed catching up with our friends.


Wenesday morning Brian thought it would be a great idea to start another fire (?) after we had kolaches from the Kountry Bakery in Schulenburg. After Rylans mid-morning nap we said bye to Tyson, Kayla, Rylan and Brian and George and I took a nap before heading to Fredricksburg for the evening. We did a little shopping and had a wonderful dinner at the Fredricksburg Brewery. So delicious!

Thursday... George and I did nothing... we ate dinner... but yeah... we didn't do anything alllllllll day. Wonderful!

Friday we were up before the crack of dawn to head into San Antonio.... time to get the pre-wedding festivities underway. The boys went to play golf....

and I got in a little pampering... mani/pedi, jewlery, oh yeah... and I cut a little more than 3 inches off my hair. After golf we checked into our hotel and headed to rehearse Aaron and Amys' wedding. From the church we took a river cab to dinner.

 After dinner we had a good time meeting new friends and catching up with old ones too.

Saturday the guys got together for some yummy mexican food,

 before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding. 

Aaron and Amy's ceremony was at the beautiful historic San Fernando Cathedral in the heart of downtown San Antonio. As we excited the wedding we were greeting by an awesome mariachi band and singers who lead the way to the reception. There we had a wonderful time with more food, dancing and talking to our friends from all over the state, nation and the continent... George and Aarons friend from medical school even came in from Mexico! 

As you can see we had a wonderful vacation and we were again reminded of all the love we have from family and friends!   

And we're blogging!

So Kayla put this thought into my head with one statement. "Do you have a blog? If you do I'll subscribe to it." That was Tuesday and here we are Sunday night and I am writing our first blog post. Welcome y'all. I have no clue how often I will update but thanks for reading!