Distractions

I should have had a very nice blog post for you about our fabulous weekend at the lakehouse, but what can I say, I got distracted. I have been looking at hair dryers online for the last hour. What I thought would be a rather simple fact-gathering exercise, has morphed into something much more complicated. Who knew there was such variety? Wattage, price, color, weight, ceramic or ionic? (can someone please explain what the ceramic/ionic features will do for my hair?) I exhausted all the hair dryer reviews on the internet and finally made up my mind. I chose THE one. The holy grail of hair dryers that promises to reduce dry time by 60%, but falls short of making me a latte before I leave for work. So I hit "add to cart", I fill in my information, and just before I hit the "Buy" button I show Ross my selection. Bad idea.
R: "Why don't you just make do with what you've got?"
Eh. That's a good question. The second guessing ensued. I quickly navigated away from the hairdryers. But I had been so sure just a couple minutes before!

Oh husbands. That voice of reason.

So maybe I'll just sleep on it....

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Roma's Home Improvement

We had to come home from work a bit early (to meet the roof inspector at our house) and this is what we we found in the backyard!

A sleeping puppy girl! I would like to discuss Roma's doghouse. Do you see how she is hanging halfway out of her house? There used to be a fourth wall with a doorway, but Roma did some renovations a couple years ago. Now, it's just got three walls. I think she prefers it on hot days because she can hang out the side and her snoot can catch the breeze (see above). But, Roma wishes she had that fourth wall on cold days... speaking of cold days, Miss Roma is about to have a LOT of those...

She hears us laughing at her. Love her.

On another note, Ross enjoyed Dorie's Sugar-Topped Molasses Cookies in his lunch today...

They remind me of soft ginger snap cookies. 

Look how moist and soft the inside turned out.

Here is the Ross 1-liner: "Those cookies in my lunch were a nice change. They kept their flavor really well." There you have it folks. If you want a flavor-keeper, these are your cookies! :)

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Snickery Squares

What do you get when you top a crumbly sweet crust with a layer of dulce de leche and chopped candied pecans, then top that with melted dark chocolate and more candied pecans? Dorie's Snickery Squares.

In case you didn't see the yum, here's a close up... yep, it's a triple decker.

I highly suggest warming in the microwave to melt the dulce de leche and then topping with vanilla Blue Bell ice cream. Beautiful.

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Roma's many looks

I discovered some new photoshop actions and I couldn't stop playing "photo edit." I could easily spend hours in Photoshop on my computer, but somehow I never seem to have spare hours in the day. Funny how that works.

Ross and Roma are feeling neglected. I must stop now.

Ok. But first, here's a sneak peek of a couple different Roma shots.

Yep, that's a tennis ball. She's eyeing it.

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Winter Jackets

Ross and I took a little trip to REI to start looking at the "goods" we're going to need for Alaska. We are definitely going to need some super warm winter jackets. I had a really good time trying on jackets :) Here's a couple of my favorites...

On another note, Ross made two AWESOME cajun dishes from the Brennan's cookbook: 1. jambalaya risotto with duck and sausage and 2. shrimp creole.  It was so good. I kinda felt like I was sitting at the restaurant. It's nice to know that we can still enjoy Brennan's food even when we move to Anchorage.

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Ross got me a new camera flash for my birthday. Meet the Canon Speedlite...

I haven't had much time to play with the flash yet, but from what I've seen I'm really loving it so far. My first preference is to take pictures without the flash, but indoors at night it's nice to have the flexibility that comes with the flash.  Let me explain. The flash can be tilted at different angles (0, 90, and 45 degrees) to vary the amount of light on the subject.

Group #1: Flash adjusted to 45 degrees.

 Group 2: Head on (0 degrees, like picture above)

Group 3: Flash at 90 degrees, indirect light

My favorite is the first, Group 1, with the flash at 45 deg. (These photos are straight out of the camera, no editing).  The slight angle (Group 1) is my favorite. I like the soft lighting and the more natural shadows. In my opinion, Group 2 is too artificial and cold, but Group 3 is just too dark. Again, here's another picture with the indirect, 45 deg flash. This time I turned the camera so the flash is on the left, mainly illuminated Roma's right side, but still a subtle change.

and playing with photoshop a little... gotta bring out those eyes.

And how about a color boost and a vignette?

Look how different you can make a picture! This picture originates from the same picture as the photo above.

Now we've had our first crash test on using a flash.  I think Roma has had enough pictures for one day. Afterall, we don't want her getting a big head or anything.

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Ribs'n'Football

I like it when Ross decides it's time to fire up the smoker. It means good things. Yum. Robbie and Steph came over for ribs off the smoker and some Sunday football.  This rib recipe is amazing. Ross is ready for a Bobby Flay Throw Down. Bring it Bobby.

Two peas in a pod.

We are really really really going to miss our dinner dates with R&S when we move away :( We will have to find a house near them when we move back to Houston in a couple years!

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Breakfast Bliss

There are breakfast eaters and non breakfast eaters. I definitely fall in the latter category. Breakfast is mandatory. Hungry Liz is a grumpy Liz. I think back on breakfasts as a kid and a couple distinct ones come to mind.
* First and foremost, belgian waffles. I'm really not sure when this tradition kicked off, but Dad would make us belgian waffles on saturdays. It got to the point where Jeffrey and I each got a turn picking the color of the waffles. I would usually go with something simple like "green", but Jeffrey had a habit of using a drop of every food coloring. No bueno. His waffles would always turn out an ugly brown color. I guess Jeff's art teacher never gave him the color wheel talk.
* The always dependable pop tart was my breakfast of choice, until I learned what calories were. I also learned that just because there are 2 of something in a package, it doesn't mean you have to eat them both.
* Strudel's. Remember Pillsbury toaster strudel's? Each one came with a little packet of icing for decorating. I loved strudel decorating. The most frustrating thing was when you went to separate 1 icing packet from all the others and it ripped a hole in the side of another. *Le Sigh*. "I GUESS I can eat 2 icing packet's today." :)
* Peanut Butter Captain Crunch. Best-Cereal-EVER. Enough Said.
* I went through a bagel phase in high school, but once I had an Einstein Bagel, I couldn't go back to Sara Lee. Einstein's cinnamon raison bagel smothered with strawberry cream cheese spoiled me forever.
* There was a time, in the not-so-distant past, that I started every morning with 2 Eggo waffles topped with almond butter or jelly (or both). This ritual lasted until the toaster ovens were taken away from the kitchen at the office. Apparently they weren't on building managements list of approved electrical devices. I tried to improvise, but I just couldn't handle the soggy Eggos that the microwave produced. Unacceptable.

So you might be wondering what I eat for breakfast NOW? During the week it's always Greek yogurt, blueberries, Splenda, chia seeds, and walnuts. Portable and delicious every time. However, on the weekends I like to get a little more adventurous. I also like to make things that Ross enjoys eating too.  For example Dorie's Oatmeal Breakfast Bread and Great Grains Muffins.

Oatmeal Breakfast Bread. Topped with a crusty layer of brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans.

Ross Quote: "This might be my favorite breakfast bread you've ever made". He has spoken.

Great Grains Muffins made with dried cranberries. Good, but couldn't stand up to the Oatmeal bread.

I'm thinking about breakfast already.

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Emily's Baby Shower aka Asher is A'coming!

Last month Mom Huebel and a couple of her friends threw Miss Emily (Ray) Hardin a beautiful baby shower. The decor, the food, and the fellowship was top notch, but my trip to South America delayed my pictures. Emily and Van will be welcoming a baby boy, named Asher, in December!

These are the ORIGINAL cake balls, all the way from Alvin TX. Fun to look at and oh so good.

Mom Huebel made these pinwheels: pastry puff, sundried tomato, goat cheese, pine nuts, and pesto.

Hydrangea's are some of my favorite flowers :)

Emily and her Momma.

Ohh Miss Suzie. 

Momma Bear.

Pretty Ladies.

Besties.

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For Sale

We put the "FOR SALE" sign out it front of our house!

The move is becoming much more real now the house is for sale AND my car is gone. Did I mention that I sold my car... to my MOM?!!

Ross and I are now proud owners of two 4-wheel drive vehicles. Yes, we are Texans and now finally own a giant truck. I thought this day would never come. And then it did. See, there are stranger things than moving to Alaska!!

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Moving is...

Moving is HARD WORK!! Ever since we returned from vacation we have been running around frantically trying to do home repair and fix-up the house in preparation for the FOR SALE sign next week. Paint, spackle, steam clean carpet, de-clutter, organize organize organize. Mom is here visiting and helping. What a Godsend. She helped us find some stuff to put in the sunroom. At last!

and look at this kitchen...

Why didn't we keep the kitchen like this the last 3 years?? :)

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