A Lot Lately

So...I am fully aware that I have been a blog slacker recently. I know many of you won't believe this...but I actually didn't have much to say. I started working full time for Luke's company, and after work we were spending our time on the computer researching TVs. So...I'm back and promise to be better about posting. 

The garden is going great and allows me to skip the expensive produce section. We even have so much we give it away to friends and co workers on a regular basis. Okra is the most reproductive plant I've ever seen. One stalk will take care of a whole family, and we planted 8 or something like that. So...let me know if you want me to mail some your way. Luke and I plan to try our hand at pickling both okra and cucumbers(we planted the pickling type and figure we should just go ahead and try pickles); that should be an interesting experiment, so keep your fingers crossed for us. 

I am proud to report we also decided on a TV. From the TV purchase process, I've realized I'm quick to make decisions and purchases, and married someone who is the complete opposite. Luke likes to research every little detail and read every little review. So...with me pushing and Luke tugging to research every detail...I think we ended up with a great TV in a fairly quick time frame. The size is an interesting story as well. I wanted a 47in. and Luke wanted a 52in. Somehow....we ended up with a 55in. The TV is pretty huge, but I don't think it looks bad in our tiny room. I was a little worried how silly a TV of that size would look in our not so huge house, but turns out it made an easy transition into the Dorman family; and just in time for football season. 

Our New Samsung TV for football season away!

Oh...speaking of football season...it's just around the corner! I CAN'T WAIT! So Excited! Check out my new lovely phone screen saver! All the real fans have one, so I hope my Auburn people are on this ASAP.

War Eagle

This past Thursday Luke and I took a trip back East for the wedding of Michael Collier and Hayley Haughton. The wedding was in Huntsville, Al and we were excited to be back East with good friends. Getting back East however turned out to be harder than we thought. We woke up early Thursday morning to drive 3 hours to Lubbock airport. We arrive on time and enjoy a nice flight into Love Field Dallas. In Dallas we have a layover and find our plane to Birmingham has been delayed by two hours. No worries we grab a bite to eat and meet some new friends from Robins and Morton at our gate. We get to talking and talking and next thing you know...we all missed our flight!!! WHAT!! NO WAY I THOUGHT! I've never missed a flight and neither has Luke. Well apparently they change our gate last minute and were calling all of our names over the intercom. In conclusion...the intercom wasn't working properly and we all had to spend the night in Dallas. Southwest was greta though and printed us off tickets right there for the first flight out in the morning. Our new friends are both from Dallas, so no worries there and were sweet enough to offer their homes to relative strangers. Luckily, my old roomie Rhodes lives in Fort Worth and came to our rescue. What wasn't such a great situation turned into a fun night in Dallas. Please note that our luggage did however make it into Birmingham and I look a little silly out and about in posh Dallas in my travel clothes. 

Rhodes to the Rescue! Thank you!

Dallas was fun!

Luke ended up eating a pound of yogurt!

So...the next morning we are up bright and early in our same clothes with no makeup and ready to fly. We meet our airport friends from yesterday and all finally all make it into Birmingham. In Birmingham we had a ride already set up for a morning departure. Turns out we missed that ride with our new flight arriving a bit later and had to catch a ride with one of the brides good friends Terri. Terri happens to drive a bug. Oh...forgot to mention we took Luke's golf clubs for a game of golf that he never got to make. 3 people with luggage and golf clubs do not mesh well with a bug. By the grace of GOD we squeezed everything in and I rode with my knees at my chin for the two hour ride. Let's just say arriving at our hotel felt like I just touched down in Europe (technically we could have been in Europe in even less time).  What a journey right?! It was all worth it in the end to hang out with great friends and have fun. Here are some pictures from the weekend. 

Pretty views from the rehearsal dinner

Luke with the groom and friends

Me with the groom who was born on the exact same day as me! Same year and everything!

Every night we crammed so many people into one cab. I think our record was 13

Luke's parents and brother Ben all drove up too.

Awesome Auburn Cake

While Luke was performing some of his groomsman duties I went to the local mall with a friend to replace my worn out Wal-Mart purse. I guess you get what you pay for since the purse lasted not so long and was literally hanging on by a thread. This go round I wanted to get a decent purse, but still not blow the bank. Lucky for me...Belk was giving away stuff this weekend. If you know me, you know I'm not the designer girl. However, I am proud to report I got some designer shoes for like the first time EVER! I think my girls Lisa G, Anna Mo, and Jamie will be so proud. The shoes were originally $180 and I scored them for $60 which still somewhat killed me inside to throw down. I don't mind spending money as my mom can tell you; but clothes, shoes, and purses most of the time just are not worth it to me. So...I hope you are proud fashion friends of mine. 

My new fab olive green purse was on super sale!

Yes that says Kate Spade (a real designer folks)

So that lot is what's been going on lately. Next time I'll write sooner and shorter.  Peace!

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.