Road Trippin' in the Fall

Nothing soothes me more than a road trip.  When I'm stressed and busy, there is nothing quite like a road trip to help me unwind.  Last month, it was almost as if God just placed the perfect opportunity for me to enjoy a road trip.  In the midst of an incredibly busy schedule in multiple areas of life, plus additional stressors flying at me, we had a missions meeting scheduled in St. Louis.  My hubby was at a Mercy Chefs site in Mississippi the full week prior to the event and was going to have to drive to St. Louis directly from his feeding site.  I considered flying to St. Louis and meeting him there, but in the end, decided a road trip was truly what I needed-alone time with God on the road.

I stopped many times along the way; the first stop was in Hulbert, Oklahoma at Sequoyah State Park.  I just enjoyed the beauty of the area for a little while...the changing color of the leaves, the view of the lake, pine straw (we don't have pine trees in our area of Texas), the sound of the leaves crunching under my feet, even the smell of the forest.  As I was leaving town, I saw a tin man that I just had to stop and take a picture of. 

Spavinaw State Park was my next stop.  This was a gorgeous little park...a dam was on the far end of the park, and a huge cliff ran the full length of the campgrounds, with a creek running below the cliff.  The foliage here had lots of colors spread throughout.  Most Oklahoma State Parks are free to visit (camping does have a charge), so it was nice that I was able to stop at several of them without paying an entrance fee.

Once I left the state park, I crossed the bridge, and drove up a small incline on the other side of the lake to this gorgeous view.

Later I stopped in Bernice at Grand Lakes State Park.  It had a nice cement trail along the lake there.  I was very impressed with the parks in Oklahoma.  As you can see, it was starting to get dark, so it was my last stop of the night.

I spent the night in Miami, Oklahoma, one of the stops along Historic Route 66.  I did a quick check on TripAdvisor and Yelp to figure out what unique restaurants were in the area, and came across multiple great reviews for Waylan's Ku-Ku Burger.  I wasn't incredibly hungry, so I ordered the Ku-Ku fries (essentially chili cheese fries) and a drink.  I'm not sure why I forgot tot take a picture of dinner, but this was a great choice that I would love to go to again with my hubby or kids.

The next morning, I decided to drive along Historic Route 66 for a little while.

I stopped briefly in Riverton, Kansas at the Rainbow Bridge.  It is the last surviving Marsh arch bridge along the whole road.  It is only open to one direction of traffic, and a new bridge is just east of it, which most traffic now takes.

After that I stopped in downtown Galena, Kansas just a block or two off Route 66 to catch a glimpse of Tow Mater.

It was at this point that I realized my slow trip was about over, as I had to get on the road to our conference.  I had a wonderful time decompressing, and my road trip with detours was just what I needed to relieve stress.  I got back on the interstate in Missouri to be greeted at the welcome center by this guy.  I thought this might mean I would be experiencing a great deal of road construction, but thankfully the slow-downs were minimal.  

It was great to be reunited with my hubby after about a week.  We had a wonderful conference, and enjoyed a little bit of St. Louis before having to head back home.

A Visit From My Mom

This summer I promised my mom we would come for a visit....and then my boys' schedules got in the way.  Since we couldn't go there, we flew her down here for a few days.  We had an enjoyable time!

Saturday we stopped at Barbec's, a local breakfast joint that boasts the best biscuits in Dallas.  I ordered the SOS since the biscuits were my whole reason for visiting.  They did not disappoint.  What did disappoint was my photography skills.  The pic I took was so blurry I am not sure you could identify what was on the plate.  We all loved the food-and the great prices!  

After that we stopped just down the road at the Dallas Arboretum.  I have been wanting to visit the arboretum for a long time, and I am really glad that when I finally got around to going, they were celebrating Autumn at the Arboretum.  Such a pretty time of year!

Aside from the pumpkins and gourds, the views of White Rock Lake were gorgeous as well!  The weather was ideal.  I am glad I finally got around to visiting this Dallas gem! 

We also ate a whole lot this weekend!  My hubby fired up the smoker, and he smoked pork ribs, pulled pork butt (and made some Carolina bbq sauce to go with it), and chicken leg quarters.  The boys wanted to take my mom to El Pollo Regio as well while she was here (she loves Mexican and always requests it when she comes to Texas); she ended up treating us for our birthdays this year there.  We went by the Dallas Farmer's Market, and she picked up a first for her...fresh (not dried) pintos.

Sunday after church we were having a special buckle series for kids (mini rodeo), and it was the first week of that.  Mom enjoyed getting to see the little kids participate.  My hubby got some great shots of the action!

We had a great visit, and she is already planning her next trip down.

The Second Week of Christmas

Last week I mentioned that our pastor refers to the month of December as the month of Christmas.  I like that-so much we do during the month of December corresponds with Christmas in so many ways!

At the end of the first week, we were enjoying an ice storm-very unusual in North Texas. Since our state rarely has these, we just wait it out until it all melts-there aren't very many snow plows/salt&sand trucks, and those that we do have are usually limited to their use on the highways.  So we began the second week of Christmas just waiting for everything to melt, since we had multiple days in a row where the temperature never got above freezing.  While we were out and about over the weekend, I got a few pictures of the ice.  Isn't the first picture neat?  No, it's not real snow.  My camera has some feature that added it automatically.

On the way to Arlington, the highways were at a near stop, so we took a back way past Dallas Baptist University.  I have always loved the DBU campus-it is just beautiful, so I was excited about the chance to see it covered in what looks like snow.

Here is the bridge by DBU when we first started over it.  It got worse the further we went.  I was surprised it was still open, but thankfully we did not see any wrecks while there.

On Wednesday my husband and I helped Bethel Temple in Fort Worth by cooking for their church Christmas Party.  Some of these pictures are my own, and some came from facebook from the pastors wife's page.

For our date this week, my hubby took me out to Buttons, an upscale soul food restaurant in Fort Worth.  My hubby had heard of Buttons before, but neither of us had ever visited.  Here is my silly hubby.

I had a hard time deciding what to order because it all sounded so good.  I changed my mind about a dozen times before the waiter took our order.  How do you decide between ribs, pot roast, chicken and waffles, and chicken fried steak?  Ultimately I ended up ordering the chicken fried steak-which proved to be a great choice-so good!  And the corn chowder side dish is not to be missed!  Somehow I got distracted and never took a picture of my food-which, by the way, would have been enough for me to share with someone.  I did, however, get a picture of my hubby's choice (and I am pretty sure his favorite food), (cat)fish, shrimp, and grits.  He also ordered a side of greens, which he said was the best he had ever tasted.  I asked for a to go box so I would have room for dessert.  We decided on the white chocolate/raspberry bread pudding.  Yum!  That was some of the best bread pudding I have ever tasted.

Another thing I loved about the restaurant was the live band.  That night, we were entertained by the Legacy 4 Band.  A very talented bunch, they sang jazz, r&b, motown, and even a little Christmas music thrown in.  We have definitely found a great restaurant to throw into our rotation!  One tip if you plan to visit-call ahead to reserve a table.

By the end of the week, almost all the ice was melted, and I have enjoyed the weather being a bit warmer.  I am looking forward to the week ahead-more Christmas parties, and our Christmas vacation will begin.

Thanksgiving Festivities

What a great Thanksgiving weekend so far!

I started celebrating on Wednesday with a special brunch at work.

 

But I ducked out of work early to head to the airport to pick up my hubby from his trip to the Philippines.  He was there with Mercy Chefs helping with the need for fresh water water after the disasters that country has been through.  Here is a picture of him building a shed for the water purification unit.

It is so good to have him home!  That night we went to church for our annual Pie Social-we always have a good time there!

We enjoyed a nice fire that evening.

For Thanksgiving this year, we had planned to stay home-not being sure just how tired and jet-lagged the hubby would be.  We woke up to no running water, but after a call to the water company, we were able to start cooking a couple hours later.  Ahhh, memories!  It helped us to be very thankful for running water when it came back on!

I ended the day by running into town for an hour to buy a few Christmas gifts with the boys.  It was a nice, quiet day and we are all looking forward to the rest of the weekend together.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall of 2013

Has it really been four months since I posted a blog?  I think I had blogged so much for so long, that when I decided to start blogging sporadically, it just never really crossed my mind to write anything, plus I needed a break!

I don't think I will ever blog nearly as often as I have previously (40 blogs in a month!  What was I thinking?)  But recently someone asked about Christmas decorations, and I was able to pull up the page on my blog where I posted pictures and see them all over again.  And I enjoyed knowing I had a "record" so to speak, of different things I had done.  So, I do plan to start blogging semi-regularly again.

And just so I have my record...here is what happened in the fall this year (and late summer and early winter!)

July-Girls Camp for work-the theme "GEEK Girls" (Girls Equipped to Enlarge the Kingdom)

 July-Youth Camp with our students at church

 July-another GEEK Girl's Camp for work

July-A 2 day trip to Jackson, Tennessee (read: 2 days of driving, a night in a hotel, and about 2 hours of free time) to drop off my youngest for a vacation to Grandma's.  We met halfway.

Found a letterbox at a rest stop along the way

 Looked for a letterbox in Jackson before returning home that morning here (Casey Jones Village), but was unsuccessful. 

 In Texas I don't find too many indoor letterboxes, but this was a cool one!

 Stopped in Memphis to see the ghost of Elvis-just off Beale Street...name that tune.

Later that month my hubby and I took a long weekend trip to Port Aransas to celebrate our anniversary.  We did something we have never done before-we camped on the beach in a tent!  This was my view upon waking in the morning!

 Waiting for the ferry ride to the island

 Camp fire in the sand

 We spent our last night in a hotel in San Antonio-we had too much sand all over the place, and wanted real showers; we did a little sightseeing while there-including the Alamo.

August-Another quick overnight trip to Jackson, Tennessee to pick up my son.  This time I didn't have to work the morning of my trip, so I got an earlier start which meant-more time for sightseeing!  I even got to see the sunrise over Lake Ray Hubbard just east of Dallas.

 

 Crossing the Mississippi River in Memphis.  See the pyramid on the left? 

 Jackson is home to Rusty's TV and Movie Car Museum (with only a $5 entry fee!).  I highly recommend this stop!

Here is my son with Ricky Bobby's NASCAR suit from Talladega Nights.

 My favorite movie of all times-the Blues Brothers!

 Wayne's World

 In honor of Herbie, I planted a letterbox at this museum.

 We did a little letterboxing with my mom while we were there, too.  This park had a tribute to September 11, 2001.

 I really enjoy flipping through logbooks to see signature stamps of other letterboxers. 

 There was a letterbox at Pringles Park.

  Jackson is home to their own Statue of Liberty.

 And then the long drive home...passing the pyramid in Memphis again.

 We stopped in Little Rock at Ottenheimer Plaza on the Arkansas River; it has a pedestrian bridge that crosses the river.  We didn't cross it in entirety for times sake.  You can see the park below the city.  There was a neat letterbox here as well. 

 My son brought me back some great food from Ohio-Trail Bologna and yummy cheese!  I just love this stuff!

 August-while cleaning out our storage unit, I dropped a tow hitch on my foot (I was wearing flip flops).  OUCH!  I ended up with a fracture-not cool!

August work event-Celebration.  Every August, we honor girl's accomplishments for their hard work in a formal ceremony.  It is the one event of the year that I get to get dressed up for.

August-Random fun.  We saw a pink piano on the side of the road, so we had to stop and take a picture with it.

 Rangers Baseball!  And my hubby found some great seats!

 He and I also went out on a date to a neat little German Restaurant (Edelweiss) in Ft Worth.  An accordian player even came around to each of the tables playing music for us.

September-Back to school and routine...well, sort of!  Picture along our driveway when the hay was baled. 

 September-a conference for work

My oldest turned 16.  He doesn't like cake, so he got apple pie and ice cream with a sparkler.

With major flooding in Colorado, we had to get the Mercy Chefs truck ready for a long trip, so we pulled everything out, cleaned, and put it all back in. My hubby left a few days after this for Colorado for a couple weeks.

September-We went to the Twisted Root Burger.  We have been many times before, and I have never been too adventurous with my food choices.  (They always have a wild game option.)  This time I decided to try to camel burger.  Well, I can always say I tried it, but I won't be trying it again.  Yuck!  Very gamey tasting.

I made Zuppa Toscana in September-an Olive Garden soup recipe that I found on pinterest.  It was really good!

I also must have pumpkin pie soda every fall.  My hubby drove me about an hour and a half away to get me some!

 My youngest son and I did some letterboxing in September as well, while the weather was nice.

In late September, my husband and I had an appointment in Springfield, Missouri to meet with the Assemblies of God about partnering with them so that we can do Mercy Chefs trips more frequently.  Since my hubby was coming directly from Colorado in the Mercy Chefs truck, I drove to meet him there.  Along the way, he had a flat tire, so I used my time to do a little letterboxing while I waited.  I stopped in Diamond, Missouri in what appeared to be just a normal Country and Western Store.  But in the back was a museum of toasters, old and new, along with other small kitchen appliances.

 After being reunited, my husband and I had dinner at Lambert's-home of "throwed rolls".  I have heard about this place for years, and finally got to try it.  It was great food, and if we ever go back to Springfield, we will definitely go again!

 We also had to meet someone in Branson, so we drove that way and enjoyed the views.

 I also fell in love with Culver's.  Apparently there are some Culver's in the metroplex, but none I had ever been to.

 More views in Springfield-Pythian Castle

 Part of a unique bicycle fence.

October was another busy month.  I did a work event-Campout-where girls get to go camping in primitive campsites.

 October-Our first fire of the season.

 My hubby and I did a catering.

 October-the government even shut down.  No pictures needed for that one, but I still thought it was worth mentioning.
The State Fair of Texas!  Our first stop is always to get a Fletcher's corndog.  

 We enjoyed some bands,

 the new Big Tex,

 and the rides.

 I attended a Women's Retreat with a friend.  The speaker was Sam Evans, the pastor's wife of Planet Shakers in Melbourne, Australia.  It was a really great event!

October is Pastor's Appreciation Month.  (Here is a picture of our pastor.)  Our church honored us, and took us out to eat as well.  We are so blessed at our church, and I just love it there so much!

Boss's Day is also in October, so I bought breakfast for my boss.

 We made a quick trip to Waco to see my adorable niece.

There was also a horse obstacle training this month.  It taught horses to not get spooked so easily.

My husband and I tried a new (to us) restaurant called Cowboy Chicken.  It serves rotisserie chicken-and it was very tasty!  Since then, we have heard there are some moving closer to our area, so I am looking forward to that!

 Foodie find:  Reginald's Applesin Peanut Butter!  YUM!  Go to Central Market and TRY THIS!

Also in October, Fossil Creek Community Church held a fundraising gala, and the special guests of the evening were Mercy Chefs!  We enjoyed a nice meal, and then one of the board members of Mercy Chefs spoke and then did a demonstration.  Here are several Mercy Chefs (including my hubby) preparing for the demonstration.

Random October highlight-working on the sound system at our church's second campus.  After watching, I got to go up in the lift as well.  It was a long ways up!

Rodeo Fest-Each year our church hosts Redeofest-essentially our cowboy church alternative to a Halloween party.  Here is one little girl getting ready to go mutton busting, and then some photos of the other fun events.

The Sherman Mountain Boys even came out for our Family Fun Night later in the week.

Then on Halloween, Mercy Chefs, along with an enormous group of volunteers from our church, served hot meals to those attending Christ Church-Ft Worth's Halloween event, which helped Ft Worth Metro raise money for a new trailer.

November-here is my oldest son working hard at the drive-thru at work.

  Cute kiddos one day when I got to help in Kids Church.

 November-we are starting have to defrost the car many mornings now.

I got to tag along with my hubby one day at work while he recorded the video announcements.

Another day, the church got a new sound system, so we stuck around to help while they dug a trench in the sanctuary "floor".

We also attended Minister's Retreat in Dallas.  Our way was paid, which was a huge blessing!  Since the earthquake and typhoon had just happened in the Philippines, we were able to meet with Sheree Moon, missionary to the Philippines, while we were there.  This helped my husband in planning for his Mercy Chefs trip there.

 We walked around the mall while there.  I have never seen one of the big trees at the mall being constructed before.  This was a neat thing to see-I counted over 30 people working on this project.

November-Mercy Chefs helped with another event in Keller, and we drove through downtown Ft Worth on the way home.  So pretty!

Erik Estrada also visited our church this month, to promo a movie he is in called "Finding Faith".  The movie had a wonderful theme about safety online.  Click this link to read more.  

One day this month I also took my youngest son to the CR Smith Museum, which a museum about flight, specifically through the eyes of American Airlines.  Here he is aboard the DC-3.

And here he is on a flight simulator.  He promptly told me he wants to get his pilot's license after trying this out.

Afterwards, we went to locate a couple of letterboxes.  We were very close to the airport, as you can see from this picture.

Wow!  What a busy past few months!  I will do a better job of keeping up with blogging from here on out!