Right Now

Right now is Luke cooks for Lauren week! All the food is of course amazing and I think Luke could have a job in the food industry if he so desired. It is honestly not fair how talented he is, but I am thankful.

Right now I find myself crunched to get in all of my TV shows (sad I know).

Glee is great and super cheesy, yet awesome. Luke was in high school chorus (hard to picture right???!) If you must know Luke is very musically inclined and even watches Glee with me (big bonus)!!! Oprah is in her final season, so of course is burning up my DVR. Then Top Chef Just Desserts, Parenthood (which I thought I was the only person watching the first season, but happy to see many of you bloggers watch also), Lie to Me, and a billion other trash TV shows too. I really do not know how my sister Jenna lives her life without a DVR?

Right now I am in LOVE with a house under contract (BOO)! Is it evil that I am really hoping the contract falls apart and I can swoop in and steal the home?

Just so you know I am always house hunting online about everywhere you could think would be cool to live. With Luke and I on the road, we have no real place to call home, so I’m working on changing that. The house is in this amazing neighborhood in Savannah www.thelandings.com I DIE as Rachel Zoe would say!

Right now I am entering HGTV every day to win the Urban Oasis, and DIY every day to win the blog cabin. I mean how nice would it be to just win us a home instead of the whole buying one process.

Right now I find myself annoyed that my local news is really 4 hours away. Only in New Mexico could your local news be from an area that is 4 hours away from your home. The weather is totally different up there! 

Right now I am still in love with Sara Bareilles song King of Anything.

Right now I am also in love with Auburn’s quarterback Cam Newton, and my Auburn Tigers as a whole!

Lastly, right now I am super excited thinking this time next week Luke and I will be packing for a week long trip back home to Georgia to see our families.

This past weekend Luke and I set off on a serious road trip to Durango, CO. With this trip, I am proud to announce that I have been to every part of New Mexico! We drove all the way from the bottom Southeastern corner to the top Northwestern corner this weekend. Now I have seen all parts of the state--a mission of mine on moving here.
We didn't really hang out in NM though, but opted for Durango, CO instead. I am IN LOVE with Durango, CO. My love affair started last March when we enjoyed fresh powder at the Purgatory Ski Resort and the amazing town that is Durango. I will say this is the BEST place I have ever skied, and highly recommend it to any and everyone. When we returned home in March I went ahead and started planning our next trip back to town. I want to eventually visit Durango in every season. Durango is the perfect city for outdoor enthusiast--white water rafting in the summer; amazing hiking and biking in the fall; and the best skiing all winter.
Luke and I worked Friday and drove up to Farmington, NM Friday night as a pit stop. We woke up early Saturday to arrive in town and catch our 8:15 train to Silverton, CO. Durango offers a great experience riding on a narrow gauge railroad up through the mountains to the old mining town of Silverton. Silverton is a true old western town stuck back in time with dirt roads and western saloons. The train departed at 8:15 and took us on an amazing 3.5 hour trek. Once in town we wondered the streets and shops, had lunch, and jumped back on the train for our ride home to Durango.
Luke and I opted for the open air gondola and were blessed with the most beautiful weather. I think we jumped the true trees changing colors by a week or two, but I thought everything was breathtaking.
We did make it back in town to catch the end of the 2nd quarter of the game, and of course found Auburn family members in the local sports bar to cheer along with. I really could go on and on about how much I enjoyed everything about this trip (except the super long drive of course) but I think the pictures will say a thousand words.

The Front of our train rounding the bend! We are actually on a HUGE CLIFF  overlooking the Animas River

The cars and passengers behind us

The river was so pretty!  I am already thinking of when to return next year for rafting--ANY TAKERS?

Luke and I in Silverton about to re board the train home

The only paved street in town

The pictures are complements of Luke Dorman

So...we took a million pictures, and narrowing them down was very hard. I think Luke is going to put up an FB Album with more photos of the scenic journey.

Seriously???

I just wanted to take a quick moment to say I'M SERIOUSLY going to have a heart attack if Auburn continues to win games like the one verse Clemson. A win is a win though, so overall I'm very proud of my tiger team. Luke and I just got home from one heck of a road tripping weekend, but that's tomorrow's blog--so get excited!!

Friday Night Lights and College FOOTBALL!!

We watched football all weekend! I'm so happy this season has arrived. Luke and I attended the Carlsbad High football game Friday night and had a blast. I recognized so many of the students from my days of sub teaching, and we sat in front of my hair dresser whose son happens to be the quarterback. There is only one  high school here, so that's the place to be on a Friday night. I forgot my camera, but got some pretty pics with my phone. Go CAVEMEN!!

The Cavemen are undefeated at 2-0!

So...high school football is a pretty big deal out here, but....college football not so much! Not sure you noticed or not, but Oregon destroyed New Mexico this weekend in college football with a score of 72-0. Our neighbor thought we were pretty funny waking up, dressing in our AU gear, and tailgating at our house all day. Thankfully, Mandy and Jacob only live an hour away and come from the same thoughts on college football. This weekend marked the first ever (to my knowledge) New Mexico AU Alumni meeting and football watching party (all 4 of us had a great time too). 

My AU Bean Dip, Pasta Salad, and Tiger Trail Mix (thanks for the recipe Stacie)

Our day wasn't exactly filled with health, but football season generally isn't! 

The New Mexico AU Alumni Crowd! War Eagle! 

The tigers did not look too impressive in terms of true offense and defense for the season opener, but a win is a win, and we're thankful for that. 

We were so entertaining that Jacob passed out after the game!

Big Thursday night game coming up this week! We'll be here cheering the Tigers on from a far! 

Friends

This week has been crazy busy so far. Once a month the owner, architect, and contractor come to the job site for a meeting. With everyone in town we normally have group lunches, and group dinners. So you go to work, then lunch out, and dinner out, and before you know it...your life is consumed for a couple of days. We normally love the company and crowd, but this week we had some extra special visitors in town!!!
Jamie and Scott two of my best buds dropped into Carlsbad on their way out to L.A.
Jamie and Scott are currently driving cross country to move Jamie out West. They arrived into Carlsbad on Tuesday around 2 p.m.. We planned to grab lunch here, so everyone was starving by the time they arrived; and I had the best place in town lined up for lunch.
Here's the thing about a small town like Carlsbad. If you don't hit the lunch window of 11-1, you basically don't eat! The absolute best place to eat lunch in town is only open Monday through Thursday from 7-1. So...we missed that place. No worries I thought--I have a back up here.
Another thing about a small town is-- if a place decides they don't want to be open on a random day, they just close and put up a sign up saying sorry. So...now I'm pushing for about anything at this point. We try one more place to find it closed as well. Go FIGURE!
They finally come to New Mexico and where did I take them for lunch???? Chilies! Ha! The only chain restaurant we have here, and the only place open in this town after 1 p.m. Sorry Jamie and Scott!

The fabulous Carlsbad Chilis!!

After lunch I gave them the grand tour of Carlsbad, and headed home to relax and eat some grub. Jamie likes to make easy, easy dinners, so I had her help me with probably the easiest thing I know how to make--red beans and rice with spicy sausage. I think the lesson went well and we all enjoyed a family dinner together with a couple bottles of wine and some Firefly vodka.

Hanging out in our AU dining room

After a great night of catching up and hanging out...we woke up early to grab a bite at the place I wanted to take them for lunch (which also has the best breakfast in town). Overall is was great to see friends here in New Mexico. Jamie and Scott should be arriving into L.A. today, and Luke and I can't wait to visit them once they are all set up and running out West.

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)