Start of Summer

My husband is thoughtful and warms my heart. He sent me these peonies to celebrate then end of another successful school year. Aren't they just beautiful! The end of the school year also means we are half way through the deployment. It is all downhill from here.

I also celebrated the end of the school year by purchasing a new pair of florescent orange Tom's.

Since my summer off from work has been in swing for 2 weeks, it actually means I've been taking classes for two weeks. I am participating in the San Antonio Writing Project (SAWP) and it is amazingly fantastic. I already gave an 1 hour and 1/2 demonstration about Pre-writing. I've created a video log to document a day at SAWP.  Of course, I've also had the opportunity to write! While I've been a little distracted from my blog, I've been trying other genres of writing. I think I am going to post my first narrative in the days to come.

Yes, I talk with my hands.

Last night, Iivana discovered a scorpion! I saw her playing with something and knew it was some sort of bug. Upon further investigation, I screamed and shooed her away when I saw it was a scorpion. Unsure what to do, I of course snapped a picture. Then I decided I needed to take action. I grabbed the broom, opened the door, and swept it outside! Hopefully there aren't any more in the house. Believe me, I am definitely watching everywhere I step.

I freaked out at Iivana because I didn't need another wound to heal! Of course, she is fine. Plus, her back paw is almost healed all the way. 

When the hubby is away...

My hubby has been at training all last week and will be for most of the coming week. All of his AF gear has taken over the spare bedroom! 

Luckily, his training is here in San Antonio so he didn't have to go very far. I helped him pack all of his stuff and dropped him off last Sunday. I kept busy during the week working on a presentation for class, pretty much every night after work.

No worries while he was away, I found ways to pass the time. Friday after work, I went and got my hair trimmed. (Also seen in the picture: my newer glasses, which a couple weeks ago my hubby helped me pick out.)

I picked up some dinner to go from P.F. Chang's. I ordered the GF Singapore Street Noodles, which I wasn't overly impressed with. I don't know what it was specifically, I think the over all taste of them was not my favorite. I prefer my Pei Wei!

And who could resist the new Tom's ballet flats! 

All of these events were from Friday too! My Saturday consisted of a trip to Whole Foods and the making of my very on GF chex mix.

Quick Trip

Last weekend we were able to go to Michigan for the weekend. We were able to see tons of people; if only we could've had longer conversations with everyone. Justin set up a tacos and euchre tournament on Saturday night at his parent's house. I feel gracious for everyone who thought of me and brought GF treats! My mom made GF chocolate chip cookies, my sister Jill made GF brownies, my sister Kristen made regular GF Rice Krispie treats, Amanda made gourmet GF Rice Krispie treats, and Ashlee made GF cannolis! Not to mention Justin's parents had the house stocked with loads of GF foods from frozen waffles to bars and even marshmallows.

Unfortunately I didn't take many photos. I had told Justin that I was going to take many pictures, but I seemed to have gotten caught up too much into cards, desserts, and conversations.

Amanda's GF Rice Krispies: half are made with caramel and chocolate while the other half consisted of peanut butter and chocolate. I loved her plating of them too.

O-M-G GF cannolis!! They were so delicious that I ate two. (I would've ate more but everyone else gobbled them up too.) While I was eating my second one, I was completely distracted during cards and probably cost my partner a few points.

I was able to get one picture of actual people (not just food.) Hmm...here's wishing I had more people photos.

I was also able to spend time with my niece, Maren and my nephew, Jett. We bought Maren some Tom's for her birthday, which is this month. (You know how much I love my Tom's. I'm hoping to get some of the new ballet flats soon.)

In the summer I posted about my favorite Michigan things. Thinking about this weekend trip, I was able to repeat 4 out of my 5 favorite things! I saw family, drank Faygo courtesy of Aunt Sally, ate too many desserts, and bought more Jenna Kator purses!

I was on the hunt for the Peninsula Drive purse. Prior to our trip, I noticed it was sold out online and wasn't sure if I'd be able to find one. I had told Justin my one request of the weekend was to go to the boutique in Monroe that sells the Jenna Kator handbags. I wanted to look at them for myself because things often look slightly different in person. When we pulled up to Belle Fleur, it was closed! I was disappointed because I had checked the store hours earlier. However, there was a phone number on the sign, so I gave it a ring. The store owner said that January is a slow month and they were at shows so they decided to close for the weekend. But she was so kind to drive to the store to see if the Peninsula was in stock. Fifteen minutes later she called me and they had one more in stock! So Justin and I went back to the store and were able to look around at everything.

The Peninsula Drive

I began to fall in love with more of the purses as I browsed the store. With a little encouragement from my hubby, I decided to purchase another one! I also bought the Huntington in brown.

Like our Detroit rug that I scored an awesome deal on from a Groupon? I figured it was a fitting place to take photos of my new handbags since they are Michigan inspired and designed.

If only weekends were longer...

My Favorite Things

I often share my favorite GF recipes, products, and restaurants. I also want to share some of my current favorite things with y'all too!

1. Tom's

Just look at my collection

They are my favorite shoe to wear to work. I find them amazingly comfortable and can walk around all day in them! They offer enough support and are cute too.

You may remember around Easter I posted that I would be getting a new pair of Tom's. Well, here they are...you can wear them with or with out the pink laces!

Did I mention, for every pair you buy a child in need receives a pair of shoes!

2.James Avery charm bracelet

I know it's a little blurry, but it's the best I could get. I guess the shiny silver was too much for my old camera to capture. In the future, I hope a new camera makes my favorite things list. Slowly, but surely my Texas charm bracelet is growing, it represents my time living here. 

My current charms include my "special teacher" apple charm that Justin bought me after my first year of teaching along with the "K" charm for Karen to start my bracelet. For my birthday, he bought me the deep in the heart of Texas charm. The dog bone with "Iivana" was a Christmas present. For valentine's day, I received the "te amo" charm.

I want to buy this awareness charm some time this month since May is Celiac Awareness month. I was diagnosed with celiac disease down here, so it deserves to be a part of my bracelet as well.

3. Netflix Instant Stream through Wii

We successfully spent most of our weekend streaming movies, documentaries, and TV shows. For only $7.99 a month, it saves trips to the Red Box and is available instantly, no mailing required. While the streaming version doesn't have all the latest movies, it has enough to keep our interest.

4. Shark Professional Steam Pocket Mop

All of my favorite things can't be fun and games. My sister, Jill, shared her love for her Shark mop with me during our Surprise Attack trip. I hate cleaning, especially the floors...but this steam mop makes it a breeze. I used to use the Swiffer Wet Jet but it left a residue and always felt dirty. This baby only needs distilled water and steams the floor sparkly clean. It doesn't require much hard scrubbing motions either. If there is something stuck, you simply hold it over the spot a little longer, and it will come off!

Now I must do one of my least favorite things...grading papers. Only two more weeks of school left.

Happy Easter!

This Easter was very different for several reasons.

1. Breakfast

Last Year: Monkey Bread full of gluten!

This Year: A Sugar Dumplin' sans gluten!

These were fairly simple, and included one of my favorite GF products, Bisquick. The dough was a little crumbly so I rolled them in balls. In hind sight, I should have just scooped the dough into the pan tins because I think I compacted it too much.

The original recipe calls for pecans, which I decided not to use because well...I'm not a huge fan of nuts in my food. Justin said he thought they would be delicious with the pecans. Next time, I'll make some that way for him. I will definitely make these again, thanks Marlow!

2. Easter Baskets

Last Year: We did Easter baskets and Justin hid eggs for me around the house.

This year: I'm going to get a new pair of Tom's instead of a candy basket!

 (We are each getting a new pair, but we still need to order them. As you can see, I love Tom's!) You'll have to wait to see which pair I'm getting. Here are some I already own.

I got red ones for Xmas.

Remember how dirty my navy Tom's got?

And of course, when I rocked the MJ look!

3. Church

This year we were unable to go to church. We stayed home with our sleeping beauty!

Tomorrow I'll post about dinner.

Strawberry Festival

Look what I bought at the Poteet Strawberry Festival: one flat of locally grown ripe strawberries!

Justin discovered his retirement plan with his friends where they will perform a gun fighting show at local events and county fairs.

Everything was pretty reasonably priced at the festival. I enjoyed many snacks from strawberry wine, a strawberry margarita, chocolate covered strawberries...

And...strawberry ice cream where I'm squinting on this hot, sunny day. They had the ingredients listed on the outside of the cooler, so I knew the ice cream was GF and safe for me to eat.

So many strawberry themed things to see.

We spun the wheel and both won some La Costena products which we used for dinner tonight.

How could we not buy strawberries...they were everywhere!

Tan from the sun or dirty feet from the dirt at the fair grounds? (Sorry my feet are gross)

When we arrived home we were exhausted from being out in the sun for 5 hours. Justin made us some beef fajitas for dinner. They were delicious and fresh. He used some fajita spice, green pepper, red pepper, red onion, mexican cheese, and corn tortillas for the base.

I won this salsa at the Poteet Strawberry Festival, and it complimented the fajitas perfectly. It has a little kick, but is so good. There aren't that many ingredients in it, and they are safe for me.

Ever since the mango guacamole, I've been obsessed with guacamole in general. I make it anytime we eat Mexican food now.

I tried the guac with these GF tortilla chips. They were alright, but could've used a little more salt.

For dessert, we enjoyed strawberries halved in a cup. No sugar or chocolate needed!

Surprise Attack

Ah, so I'm completely exhausted but it was worth it! For those of you who weren't aware, Justin and I made a last minute surprise visit to Michigan. We arrived home shortly after midnight last night, leaving only a few hours for sleep before work today. Justin is the godfather of Maren, so we decided to go to her Baptism. It worked out pretty well...I was on Spring Break, Julie had visited but was on her way to Austin, and Justin had already asked for two days off to enjoy SB with me.

Of course a 5 day trip is going to include daily GF adventures in finding and eating food safe for me! I won't be able to talk about them all tonight, but will hopefully be able to blog regularly again.

Here's a few highlights from our trip:

Justin and I took separate flights, with varying layovers due to the fact that we literally bought the tickets 5 days before. This is my Michael Jackson look at the airport. No, it's not a style statement...I still wear compression socks on planes because pre-celiac diagnosis my feet would often swell after flying. I just need to invest in a pair of skin tone socks so I can wear one of my many pairs of Tom's. Oh yes, you can see my stylish pedometer as well.

We surprised friends in Ann Arbor for St. Patrick's Day. Of course, I had to post a traditional picture with Justin from St. Pat's. Justin sported MSU gear in U of M land, while I showed my Texan side with a cowboy hat. I enjoyed Sangria flavored drinks from Dominick's...and we'll leave it at that.

There's the little ball of beauty herself, Maren Jean with her aunt Karen Jean.

At the baptism.

Looking through my photos, I realize I take more pictures of food than I do with people. My goal is to continue photographing my food, but also take photos with all the amazing people we visited. I hope everyone enjoyed our visit as much as we did. It was awesome to see so many friends and family, I love you all! We'll be back in June, where I'll be sure to have more people pics.

I need to get some stuff ready for class and get to bed! The coming days will tell of my food adventures.