1st Year Anniversary

Can't believe our first year of marriage has already come and gone! I will warn you this post is going to be a LONG one. We took so many pictures, and had such a great time. Luke worked a half day Thursday before we hit the road for Taos. Taos is mostly known for amazing skiing, however summer months are also grand due to the PERFECT weather. We arrived in town just in time to check out our lovely casita and catch dinner. 

The whole house is one open room! 

The kitchen of course!

Our view was awesome and very private

One whole wall is covered with windows

We had dinner at the Old Blinking Light, also known as OBL. Great live music and great food! I will say they should warn you about the margaritas though. I've NEVER in all my life had a margarita so strong and powerful.

Fresh Guacamole is always amazing

Luke's slow cooked enchiladas covered with egg ='s GOOD

After an easy morning with a great view of hot air balloons, we packed our towels and hit the local swim spot along the Rio Grande River. Of course we are in the most random remote area and just happen to run into an AUBURN ALUM! It really is amazing!

Fellow Auburn Alum

Luke skipping rocks along the Rio Grande

John Dunn Bridge and local swimming spot (Luke's crazy camera work)

Friday evening we toured the Taos Pueblo. This is a United Nations World Heritage Site and very interesting. I'd say go if for no other reason than FRY BREAD! This stuff is SO GOOD and I think taste best with honey, cinnamon, and powdered sugar sprinkled on top!

FRY BREAD!

 

                                                         

Saturday we walked around town taking in all of the many exciting festivities: An art festival with great hand crafted American Indian jewelry, the Taos Fiesta celebrating the patron saints of the town, the local farmers market, and popping into amazing shops scattered about town. 

This town is SO PRETTY!

The mountains of Taos are breathtaking and stunning from every angle.

Saturday night Luke and I grilled out and enjoyed our hot tub and lovely home.

Buffalo Filet, Beef Filet, Corn and Asparagus

Enjoying our New Mexico wine purchased at the wine festival

Driving on the outskirts of Taos you almost get the feel of Italian countryside. People walking about and cute shops to pop into.

We also drove up the mountain to check out the ski area. Looks like a great place to hit the slopes come winter.

It really has been an amazing first year of marriage. I love Luke more today than I did the day I married him. It feels good to know I picked the right one, and that he picked me too! Luke's mom was great and shipped out our top layer of wedding cake. We of course were cheesy and fed each other a piece (must say it wasn't bad). We also drank champagne to celebrate and enjoy each others company.

Luke enjoying our cake a year later!

Finally, we stopped at the Rio Grande Gorge on the way out of town to take in the expansive views. 

Working Girl

It's official! I started a new job this week. I am the newest employee for BE&K Building Group! I joined up with Luke's company to help finish up the job here in Carlsbad. The current project assistant is the wife of the superintendent who they are moving to another job, so I stepped in and took over the job.  I think I am going to work hand in hand with Luke's boss to help close out the job when we get to that point. Already in my first week I have been OSHA 10 Hr. certified (a nice resume item that never expires). I'm excited to have a steady income here for the next sixth months. Depending on where we move next; I will now be in the system for KBR, so...if we end up in a tiny town then I can hopefully work for them again until we move to a town of logistical dreams. KBR is the owner company with a HUGE supply chain sector that I might even be able to squeeze my way into now with my employee status at BE&K.

Livestrong

If you haven't visited Lance Armstrong's site Livestrong... you should! My dad informed me of this site after my brother first informed him. This site has any and everything to do with living a healthy lifestyle. My favorite part of the site is My Plate. I logged in and set up my current weight and then choose how many pounds I would like to lose a week. From all of my input data, the site tells me how many calories I can consume per day to reach my weight goals. Needless to say...it's pretty depressing how many calories I'm aloud to consume. Throughout the day I update my plate with everything I eat. The site already has almost every food pre loaded into the system. As I fill in calories it graphs out on a bar graph my daily caloric intake, and even a pie graph for my protein vs. fat vs. carbs. I think you get the point! It's an amazing site that is extremely helpful to us heavy eaters. It makes me really think if eating that whole box of whoppers candy is really worth it (which I did this morning and now have to eat soup and salad the rest of the day). I really can't imagine what those tiny Hollywood stars eat. With such a small weight and height number, they must be taking in around 700 calories a day. When writing down everything you eat and recording calories you really begin to realize that eating vegetables is key. As much as I hate to say it...you were right mom! Eating veggies is really what's best for me! So...please check out this site: www.livestrong.com

DIY for a Neighbor

Luke and I have been busy spending every bit of extra time helping out our neighbor Shannon demo, prep, and tile 650 square feet of her home. I think we signed up for a bit more than we expected, but we are going to stick it out until finished.

The project started with demo work that I failed to capture on camera. The demo was by far the most labor intensive and grueling part of the whole experience. The house is pretty old and had layer upon layer of flooring that seemed impossible to pull up. After some hard, sore, exhausting days we did successfully move into the next phase of the project.

We spent a whole day driving an hour to Hobbs and shopping between Home Depot and Lowes,buying all of the necessary supplies. Thin set, grout floats, sponges, a whole pallet of Wonderboard, screws, and everything else you could think to need. I really must convey this is no small project! Contractors wanted upwards of 7,000 big ones not including any supply cost.

A picture of our neighbor Shannon buying up supplies in Home Depot

There were a couple of patches where Luke had to basically redo the sub flooring. That was a bit of a mess, but he conquered it like a pro.

After what felt like an eternity...we finally had all of the prep work complete. By prep work I mean mixing thin set, applying thin set to the ground with a trowel, placing and cutting Wonderboard in location, screwing in all 64 screws per board, taping edges with special tape, and then applying thin set over tape lines. Yikes! Prep work is definitely the bulk of this project.

One more step in the kitchen required applying Primer to help waterproof and keep mold away!

Shannon is a single mother with a cute little boy Jack. Jack is wearing a busted ball of his as a new cap and fashion statement. He's ready to have his house back, but loves hanging out with Luke.

It's fuzzy, but above Luke is laying tile.

One room below complete except for the boarder tiles we need to cut.

An up close view of the tile with spacers still in place.

It's been a long road, but I do see the light at the end of the tunnel and can't wait for the big housewarming party to show off the wonderful new floors. I think one more big weekend and we'll be finally finished. Wish us luck on the last leg! I know she will be happy for years to come and that Luke and I have left our little mark in Carlsbad.

Dinner Tonight and One Random Item

Luke is having his co-workers over for dinner tonight. I have debated about what to make, but know one dish that is a guaranteed crowd pleaser; unless of course you don't like chicken, beef, or bacon! I feel almost guilty giving away this recipe like it's some sort of family secret or something. We LOVE this in my family and have named it Pat's Chicken after my brother who has always asked for this on his birthday.

Pat's Chicken:

1 can cream of mushroom

1 and 1/2 cup sour cream

however many boneless, skinless chicken breast you wish

1 package of corned beef--found next to the hot dogs normally

1 package of bacon

Take the cream of mushroom and mix with the sour cream at the bottom of your crock pot or baking dish.

Trim chicken of fat and place a slice or two of the corned beef in the center. Then roll up the chicken and wrap with a slice of bacon.

Place the chicken in the cream of mushroom and sour cream mix

Cook in the crock pot for 6 and 1/2 hours on low or in the oven on for 6 and 1/2 on 225.

When serving make sure you dump the remaining cream mixture over your chicken like a gravy.

It's SOOO Easy and SOOO yummy, but not so pretty! I mix mine up in the crock pot, so the sauce is really all you can see here.

I'm pairing this tonight with sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, yellow peppers, and green peppers all tossed and covered lightly in balsamic vinegar and Italian dressing; as well as sautéed yellow squash and zucchini. I suggest keeping the sides light since the chicken is pretty heavy.

Hope you try this one out.

On a completely different but wonderful note**Check out who is supporting AU!! Oh Leonardo how I love you! WAR EAGLE PEOPLE!

Happy 4th

I am proud to report the cake turned out GREAT! I think Luke was pretty impressed even.

I will say it's not a very pretty cake though. All brown and brown!

The cake before the icing

Oozing caramel!

For the 4th: Luke and I had originally planned a camping trip and visit to the Grand Canyon. With all of the recent wildfires in Flagstaff (our camping ground) we vetoed that idea. We've been working the past couple of weeks on helping out our neighbor demo and re-floor 600 sqft. of her home. This is a major project that has been keeping us pretty busy, so we decided to stay in Carlsbad and help work instead (crazy I know). I'll post a whole blog on that later.

Shannon (our neighbor) did invite us to join her and her parents to a wonderful 4th party in Carlsbad. Luke and I jumped at the opportunity to meet more people in town. Turns out this wasn't just any party. We ended up at the state representatives home with an amazing spread of food and people. After mingling and eating for a couple of hours, a two story boat covered in red, white, and blue, and aptly named The George, pulled up and took us all on a ride down the river to see the fireworks. I was very impressed with the fireworks display, so props to the Carlsbad Fire Department for a wonderful show. Overall, we had a wonderful 4th! Here are some pics of the night!

Our neighbor Shannon, her cute little boy Jack, and Luke

A view of the backyard from the top story of the boat

Luke and I ready for the boat ride and fireworks

A picture on the Pecos

Birthday Prep

Luke turns the big 27 tomorrow. So...being the wonderful wife I am :) I asked him what cake he would like me to bake for his birthday. He suggest caramel cake! I've never made caramel cake before, so...let's hope this works out. His mother sent over her recipe for a delicious, super unhealthy pound cake: and the recipe for the caramel topping. So...I sure hope I can pull this off. I have the cake currently cooking and should know the outcome soon. I don't plan on making the icing until tomorrow right before we eat it. Leave it to Luke to ask for something that requires me to go buy a kitchen gadget I have yet to own. What gadget you ask?? A candy thermometer! I went to Wal-Mart in hopes of finding the gadget and came up short due to a stock out. Since I live in a town seriously lacking stores I became worried that a 1 hour trip to Roswell or Hobbs might be necessary. Luckily, I checked our local grocery store and came up successful. So...here are the lovely recipes (let me know if you can't read them and would like for me to stop being lazy and actually type them out). Tomorrow I will post pics of the hopefully lovely cake and let you guys know how it taste!