National Night Out/One Great Week

Have you ever heard of National Night Out? Here in Carlsbad all of these signs went up over town talking about an upcoming National Night Out, and left me very puzzled. Just so happens our neighbors showed up at our doorstep to explain and invite us to participate in what I think EVERY TOWN EVERY WHERE should do.
Basically, on one night every year all of the blocks in Carlsbad get together and have their own block party. The basis is to support and encourage neighborhood watch and safety, but I thought is was just a great way to get to know your neighbors. Someone on the block offers to host the party in their front yard and then everyone brings a dish and their own drinks. Luke and I showed up with my Vidalia onion casserole (had to go GA on em) which went over well. We have the fire department on one end of the street, so the firemen that attended especially loved my dish. We have the town's funeral home on the other end of our block, so those residents didn't participate, but everyone else on our block showed up.
Great food and great time getting to know everyone. We got labelled the new kids on the block and were by far the youngest people on our block. Most people have been living in their house for over 10 years. We also invited Luke's boss who was in town and really enjoyed when everyone stood up to introduce themselves and point to their house and he stated, "I'm Dave and I live in West Virginia" everyone got a good laugh and surprise to find him crashing out block party.
We had such a great time that our block is planning another party for the winter time! I forgot to bring my camera and take pictures of all the food (I guess I could have walked 20 steps back to my house and gotten it) but I decided to just take a few pics of my neighbors with my phone.
Oh...and I must explain the other half of the title as well. This week has just been wonderful for a lot of reasons, but the BIG reason is Luke got a promotion and raise!! CONGRATS LUKE!!! YOU'RE AMAZING, and AWESOME, and WONDERFUL!

Some of my neighbors--you can see our house--the tan one in the distance

More Neighbors hanging out!

Luke and his boss Dave (the block party crasher)

Why Fry?...Because it's AMAZING

So...I do realize how contradictory my blog is. One minute I'm telling you to sign up for Livestrong and count every calorie, and the next minute I'm telling you to fry something. I've always had a love for fried food, but just this week my frying dreams really came true. I mentioned in my last blog an obsession with the fry bread we had at the Taos Pueblo. So...of course I had to come home and try to make some. First however....I wanted to finally get a legit fryer. I'm always dumped the oil in a skillet, and simply dreamed of an amazing fryer; now I am happy to report I own that amazing fryer! (I'll showcase all pics at the bottom)

Also, I haven't mentioned the garden in a long while. The garden is going great and I'm proud to report we have okra every day, cucumbers finally, still tons of tomatoes, awesome zucchini, great green onions, too many garden beans, finally brussel sprouts, and sad corn(don't think it's getting enough sunlight due to our pecan tree). So...we've been eating it up, and I just HAD to fry it up! The other night for dinner I planned on having grilled chicken with fried okra, but....as the frying went on....the chicken never happened, and we ended up just eating fried veggies from the garden for dinner. I'm not complaining though...fried okra might be one of my favorite all time foods. 

So...here's my pics documenting my frying Friday and weekend!

My New Fryer

So NICE

Active Yeast is just weird to buy

Luke helping out

Turned out right! Woohoo!

You can't eat fry bread without honey and cinnamon sugar!

All these tomatoes ready on one day!

I LOVE FRIED OKRA!

Fried green tomatoes, fried okra, and fried zucchini! A yummy dinner! All fresh from OUR garden too!

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!