Old Friends, Broken Wheels, Ikea Meatballs

Last Thursday the girls and I went to Austin to see my sweet friend Nona who is having a baby in just a few days. I have been looking forward to seeing her for so long! We went to school together in Yoakum and haven't seen in other in years! On the way I ran over a piece of wood on the highway. No biggie...I thought. Within a few minutes the "Low Tire Pressure" light came on. I pulled over at the first exit I came to, had no idea what it was. There was a Shell station. I pulled over to look at the tire...this is what I saw....

Just one block down was a Discount Tire. I drove there and they were closed. But... the manager was kind enough to let me in and put the spare on for me...at NO CHARGE!!! I truly believe God was watching over us three girls!

Nona and I had a nice visit. We picked up like we had never been apart. She was so beautiful and her daughter was so precious. I didn't ask for any photos because I know if I was only days away from giving birth I certainly wouldn't want any pictures taken!

I didn't go to school today, just wasn't feeling well. I also wanted to make an easy, quick dinner....so I made Ikea meatballs!

They were so, so good. They are definitely a new favorite here!

I put a bag of cooked meatballs in the slowcooker with a can of cream of celery, french onion mix and 16 oz. of sour cream. Cooked it on high for about 4-5 hours.

Last time I kept the noodles separate. Tonight I mixed them all together. It was MUCH better this way!

Saturday night Mom kept the girls. Emil and I had such a fun, relaxing evening. We went to Starbucks then just drove around for a while and talked and talked and talked. It was so nice and so needed!! After driving around we came home then realized we were hungry. So, we found the closest Burger King and drove there to pick up some Whoppers. It was such a carefree evening and we enjoyed every single minute of it!

Sunday I met up with Mom and the girls at the meeting. It was a wonderful talk!

I snapped this picture of me and Lena Sunday evening. She is getting so big so fast. It makes me sad!

Then we made some silly faces.....

And I'm not sure what's going on with this picture or what I was doing...still making stupid faces??? .... oh well....

I have to study for a major exam I'm having on Wednesday.

I thought last semester was bad...it's nothing compared to this one. But I am so not complaining.... I love studying and learning....

~~

On another note...we're back in triple digit days. It doesn't seem like we are ever going to get out of this heat!! And the really sad thing is there is no rain in sight! The news today said we haven't had a real rain since September 4....of last year!!!

Another Fire....

I have been studying like crazy for an Anatomy and Physiology quiz today...it definitely paid off because I made a 100!! It felt so good to walk in there confident that I had done as much studying as I could. I wasn't even that nervous!

After school I stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few things. When I was coming out and driving home I noticed thick, heavy, white smoke at Camp Bullis across the street from our back yard. I called Emil and asked him if there was another fire....

They put TV on and sure enough, the NW side of Camp Bullis had a fire.

Camp Bullis is a military training area. The news reported today that there is no irrigation system there and perfect conditions for a big, big fire.

They said it was no longer considered a grass fire, but a forest fire!

It was very, very scary!

I took these photos with my cell phone.

These pictures came from the Kens5 website.....

This fire was about 20 minutes from my house. The fire we had Monday was only about 5 minutes away!! I really, really just want some rain!!!

Beautiful Day & Brush Fire

Today was the first day in a long time that we had nice temperatures. The news said today we have had 53 straight days of temps over 100!! So, this morning I woke the girls up and Luigi, loaded us all up, called Mom and headed to the park.
Luigi was so busy playing this was the best picture I got of him in the dog park.

I think everyone was happy to have such nice, cool weather because the park was busy! It was hard to find parking! Mom said she has been looking forward to this day for a long, long time!
I loved these cactus there, and the red buds on them.

This big old tree is one of my favorites as well.

Mom's car alarm went off in the middle of our walk, so we had to turn around to cut it off. When we made it back to the girls, they were sitting in a little rest area. Luigi was pooped!

Mom and Lena got ahead of CC and me. I snapped this pic. I love it! I think it needs to be framed.

At the end of the walk Luigi decided he had had enough. Right before I snapped this picture he laid down and for a minute we didn't think we would be able to get him back up!

We came home and Emil was sitting in the back yard enjoying the cool temperature and the breeze. We finally got to hear our wind chime that we brought back from Galveston chime. Charlie wanted to be outside with us. I think he enjoyed the cooler weather too!

I laid down on Emil's chair and just relaxed. It was soooo nice!

The girls and I went to the grocery store to buy a few things we needed for lunch. On the way out I received an alert that there was a large brush fire in my area. My sister called and said she too had heard it and wanted to check on us. When we left H-E-B we saw the thick smoke billowing not far from our subdivision. We got home and put the news on.

I took some of these photos from my friends facebook and some from the KSAT website.

Apparently a city truck was in this park and it ignited somehow causing this fire that raged for over three hours. Two apartment complexes had to be evacuated.

We were glued to the TV watching it's progress.. For a while there it started getting closer to our area and it was a little scary. For the most part it was about 3.5 miles away. The high winds kept igniting hot spots making it hard to completely put out.

Emil made us such a great lunch... in fact we are still so full it doesn't look like we will be wanting dinner!

Grilled patties, waffle fries and fried pickles!

It was delicious!!

After our late lunch we laid down and took a little nap. I went back outside with Lena to relax and enjoy the coolness. I heard some banging in the kitchen and saw CC making cookies. I snapped a quick picture through the window... I think it's time to clean the windows again.

Aside from the fire, this has been a wonderful day!!

Yesterday we went to Ikea.... I found this desk/table that I completely fell in love with. It is exactly what I have been wanting. Lena wants the chair...the chair costs more than the table!

And I found this entertainment center that is EXACTLY what I have envisioned for our living room.....

Tomorrow it's back to school. I have spent this whole weekend studying and that is exactly what I am going to do now....study some more!

Fried Pickles & What a Week....

What a week this has been....let me just say, I am so, so glad it's over! It started off so hot and stayed hot and will keep being hot through this weekend. Oh come on, I am so, so over this heat! Yesterday when I came home from school I was wiped out, just exhausted. I laid down on my bed and passed out for at least an hour. When I woke up I told Emil for some reason I wanted fried pickles.... My sweet Papa Bear got up, went in the kitchen, CC found him a recipe online and he made me some fried pickles! This recipe is too good not to share!

Fried Dill Pickles

1 1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 tsp. baking powder

1 egg

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup ice water

2 tbsp dill pickle juice

8 medium-large pickles, sliced 1/4 inch

or 4 cups drained dill pickles

oil for frying

Stir flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

Make a well in the center and add water, egg yolk and dill pickle juice at the same time.

Stir until smooth, cover bowl and refrigerate 30 minutes.

Heat at least 2 inches of oil in the deep fryer (or pan).

Dip pickles in batter to coat evenly and fry.

After refrigerating the pickles he was good to go....

We did add about 1/4 cup more flour because the consistency was just off a bit. It worked much, much better with the extra flour.

They were so, so good!!! The crust was amazing, light and delicious!

We dipped them in ranch dressing... I can't wait for him to make more!

I guess my nap yesterday messed up my night. I went to bed late, woke up late and had a hard time getting started. I also left late to school this morning...very, very late. I was rushing down the road and saw a cop on a motorcycle but it was too late.......

He said he saw me coming up fast behind him and he was hoping I would slow down but I didn't and his radar clocked me at 57 in a 45 so he had to pull me over. He kept apologizing and told me, "Maim, I know we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of things, but you have to be careful. Just please, please be careful...." This was my first speeding ticket in over 6 years.... ugh!And I ended up being late to class!! Double Ugh!!

Mom came over for a little while and we went to Homestead Handcrafts. I found lots of cuties, even bought a lavender shirt that says, "Love, Love, Love" on it. I just couldn't shake this funk I've been in since that stupid ticket. It's no one's fault but my own. Guess I really need to take it slow and try to slow down a bit.... but on the up side, the speed limit on TX highways increased to 75 today!! I'm just going to have to keep it on cruise control I guess!

I'm just glad this week is FINALLY over....I've got nothing planned but I don't think I have ever been so ready for the weekend!

Generator


The winner for my Lysol No-Touch Soap System is LV from Thoughts from Meme's Corner...
Min: 1
Max: 8
Result:
1