Livi and Ben

We have had such a fun summer and have been so blessed to have my sister, Erin, and her kids up in Dallas for most of June and July! Erin and her family live in Kingwood where my bro-in-law is the head youth pastor at Second Baptist Church North Campus, however with the *lovely* economy, they were homeless for a month, so Erin brought the kids to play here while Brian was a nomad in Kingwood. Here are some pictures of those precious little turkeys I played with!

Livi having fun at the mall, ready to go to the Carousel!


Ben waiting anxiously too..

Prince Charming and the Princess playing at Mimi and Papa's house!

Ben checking out the planes at Airport Park!

Livi enjoying her Capri Sun with Uncle Cabo!

Roomie Reunion!

Soo.. the weekend that my school district let out for the summer, all of my roommates from college made the trek (near or far) to Dallas for a weekend of fun! It was totally different this time around, with all of our hubbies, boyfriends, "special friends", don't know what kind of "friend" you are joined us at our house for the weekend! It was an absolute blast! Brandy got here first on Thursday night, followed by Becca and Jeff and Julie and Warren on Friday night. We kept it low key on Friday, just relaxing at our house and playing Apples to Apples. Saturday, we made the trek over to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens to explore, then went to Joe T. Garcia's for dinner, YUM!! By Sunday, we all had to get back to "reality" and all the fun was over! The weekend was a short but fun one! I miss all these girls, and wish I could see all of them more than I do! Let's do it again, ladies!! Love y'all!!

The Way

At our church, Prestonwood Baptist, we are involved in what I would consider to be the most unique, most genuine and most wonderful Bible Fellowship class (that would be a "modern" Sunday School class for you Baptists out there!). We are a part of what is called the Open Division, which basically mean that our class is "open" to people of all ages, all walks and stages of life and anything else in between. We love it because it places absolutely no limits on who we can bring to church on Sundays and everyone always feels welcome. Well, a couple of weekends ago we had our Bible Fellowship class over for a humdinger of a barbeque! We had a blast! Caleb was master of the grill, and in the end, we made out like bandits. Everyone left their food for "someone else" to take, and no-one took it (I guess to be nice, or not look like a pig or something), so naturally being at our house we got all the leftovers. All in all, I think we scored 10-12 bags of chips, of which 7 or 8 are sitting half-eaten in our pantry that we are still munching on, as well as several cans of chip dip. We loved fellowshipping with all of The Way outside the walls of the church building and can't wait for many more to come! Enjoy the pictures!

Our Patio!

Here it is, for those of you who have been anxiously awaiting pictures of our latest project! We spent 2 weekends (thanks to Dallas weather and the torrential storms) and are very pleased with the results. The walkway is lined with pavestone, with a flagstone "puzzle" patio (all Carlos, he's the man at this) and it is filled with basalt rock. The patio is Pavestone, with a pattern of interlocking "I's". Can you see it??!? Please ignore the wooden posts... they are part of the "next" project, a bench. And hopefully one of the last, I'm kinda over working on the house.

Oh yea, and we are trying our hand at growing herbs... I figured that we haven't killed our plants out front yet, so I'm giving a go at this! We planted oregano, 2 rosemary bushes and lavender so far. We have plans for basil, but they were out when we went shopping.

My patio is beautiful, but not finished!!!!

I'm sorry to report that Mother Nature rolled in about 2 hours 2 soon and we did not finish the patio. I know I promised pictures, however I am just too depressed at the moment. Well, and my fingers hurt so bad just typing that I can't handle much more.

So, here's the short story. We started our patio project Friday and began with no intentions of finishing. Well after 30 minutes in to the project, we discovered we were in WAYYYY over our heads, so hired 2 laborers to come help. Then Carlos showed up, and we were FLYING! We got excited and really ambitious and realized we could finish the project in 2 days. Day 2 started a little slower because we were actually laying the pavers, but by 6 p.m. we were soo close. We were basically down to all cuts. The sky started to get dark, but the doppler and the internet (why did we trust that??!?) told us we still had several hours.. LIAR! At 7:45 the light show began in the sky and regardless of how little we had left, we had to quit. AND, as icing on the cake, I was out attempting to pick up a tool (before I was summoned home due to bad weather) when the weather came and by the time I got home the patio was covered with blue tarp. So, no pictures of my "almost finished" patio. Sorry.

BUT, the silver lining is that it is EASTER, the day of the RISEN SAVIOR AND LORD! Rejoice! Have a blessed day... pictures to follow!

Our last big project inside!

Well folks, these last few weeks have been busy ones! For Caleb, he has had 2 huge mid-terms this last week that has kept him full-o-Starbucks and MIA at home! For me, it's just life... teaching, TAKS tests, cleaning house, laundry, cooking during the hours my husband is home, etc. On top of all that, we decided it was finally time to tackle the last big inside project to make this renovation complete! Here's the project in pictures...

The "Before" Shot of the Kitchen

The Supplies

The Trusty Assistant

The Tile Saw Extrodanaire!

The Grout Queen

The "After" Shot... Kinda!

Well there ya have it folks! We spent a year deliberating over what material to use on our backsplash. We contemplated all travertine (the stuff on top), and all glass (the stuff on bottom) and in the end decided to use both! We love the look and I think it is a perfect complement to the kitchen and the rest of the decor!

Portuguese Chicken

Well, if you know me, you know how much I LOOOOVE to cook. Cooking is an outlet for me, and is often a ministry. I know that may sound silly, but through the CARES apartment ministry and now through our involvement in our Bible Fellowship Group (glorified way to say "Sunday School") I have been able to cook and bless the lives of the people we "do life with" every day. With that said, I am never shy to share a recipe and feel like everyone else should eat and enjoy the food that I cook. And must I say that a lot of what I make is a knock-off/redo/fixup/my own spin of some recipe I learned from either Food Network or friends. All that to say that I want to share with you a new favorite recipe of all my friends. Really, no lie, this might possibly be the most wonderful tasting chicken to cross my lips. And I've had lots of chicken, people. AND it's super duper easy.

This chicken has a story too. I got this recipe from a co-worker of mine, Sue, who is from New Mexico. She got the recipe from a cookbook put together by a bunch of Portuguese women who migrated to NM (and no I don't know why....) with their families. These Portuguese women would have an annual dinner for the community where they would showcase their food, and from this was born the book where I got this delicious recipe! Please cook, eat, enjoy and share this recipe. I like it plain, in fajitas, in a salad, in tacos, quesadillas and just about any way you can eat chicken. Just please, don't over cook and dry out the meat. It will still be delicious, but you'll have to eat it all right then and there because it will be too dry to save and reheat later. Well, without further ado... the recipe.

Portuguese Chicken
-2 T paprika (I use Hungarian, but they all work)
-1 T salt
-1 tsp pepper
-1/2 to 1 tsp crushed red pepper (optional, makes it spicy)
-2-3 crushed dried bay leaves
-2-3 minced fresh garlic cloves (not the jarred stuff, it doesn't taste the same)
-1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil
-4 chicken breasts

Mix all the spices and olive oil together to form a paste. Brush the paste liberally on both sides of the chicken, let it marinade for at least 30 minutes and no more than 4 hours. Grill until done and enjoy! **You can also pan sear it or bake it in the oven, but it just isn't the same. It is still delicious, but it doesn't have that wonderful grill flavor.**

And if you love it please leave a comment not so I can toot my horn but so that people will really believe me when I say its one of the best, easy and delicious chicken recipes.

It's been too long, friend.

Indeed it has been too long! I have just fallen off the map here in blog world. I have been so busy at home trying to keep up with life in general and just haven't placed this at the top of my list. I miss blogging, really. I know it sounds silly, but this is really an outlet for me. I have been told many times that I write a lot, and it's probably because I really enjoy it. I enjoy recapturing the memories we have made as a small and extended family, and reliving all of the fun times with friends. Well, I'm going to not do the last few months justice, but here are some pictures to capture what's been going on with the Morris family...

My family (Katie) doing the Turkey Trot, sans my mom, who had knee surgery and opted to tend to the turkey at home while we trotted.

At a Dallas Stars Game, something we love doing together... I think Grant and Abby came with us to this one!

Our First Christmas in our First Home!

We went to Northpark to see the Trains... Olivia and Papa are enjoying all the fun trains, and Olivia made Papa wear the hat she was supposed to wear.

Erin and Ben, he's more interested in the trains!

Once again, more interested in the trains. What a boy!

"Big D NYE"... it really stunk this year as compared to last. There must have been some sort of burn limit because the fireworks lasted about 2 minutes. But we had fun with friends!

Laura and me on NYE, freezing and trying to entertain the boys. We played 20 questions for about an hour and a half!

Valentines 2009- We decided to keep last years tradition, but rotate. Last year, Trog and Caleb sent Mendi and me on a Scavenger hunt. Well, with Mendi being preggo and on bed rest, she obviously couldn't scavenge. We added Shane and Laura to the equation and sent all the boys out for a "day-o-fun!" The girls stayed home and made Mendi's baby shower invitations and a delicious dinner for us to enjoy that night when we reunited!

Shane and Caleb playing the gee-tar at Guitar Center.

Trog on the drums, the hair makes him look legit.

Lunch at Chammps.

Rock climbing. They look whipped.

My Spiderman... apparently Caleb is pretty good at this!

The Spread we prepared for them. It was delicious!

So there ya have it. I will try to be better. Next post will probably be on the latest updates we've made to our house. It is one project after the next... but I love it! Stay tuned....

HELP!

Ok people.. I'm trying to add a "scrapblog" (i.e. embed a html code) to the header of the blog, since it would be much cuter than the current state of the blog, however I am LOST! Any advice?!!??

P.S... Our wonderful Valentine's Day extravaganza to come!

25 Random Things About Me!

Alright folks, I thought to myself that I didn't want to be one of "those" who wasted their time to write 25 things about myself and here I am (smile). I thought maybe I was too boring to think of 25 things or that I was too busy... haha, yea right. Well, currently I am ignoring the laundry so that I can entertain the few who are interested in knowing 25 random things about good little ol' me. Here goes:
1. I LOVE to grocery shop, especially at a fun place like Central Market. It is therapy for me and I have been caught before by my husband (on the phone people, Caleb doesn't do grocery stores!) aimlessly walking the aisles of that blessed stores when I have had a markedly long day at work.
2. When I grocery shop, I always go to at least two place to get everything I need. Bargains are TOP for me, so I keep the ads and divide my list into two categories, stuff that's cheaper at Sprouts and stuff that's cheaper at Kroger. Is that weird?!?
3. I have never had real stitches. I got stitches from getting my wisdom teeth out, but those don't count because they are a given.
4. I have to write with proper grammar when texting. And I use punctuation.
5. My husband and I love to travel. We've been married a little over 3 years and have been to Banff, Disneyworld, California and Mexico, London and Paris, Gulf Shores, New York City, Washington DC, Cruise to 6 islands in the S. Caribbean and soon to be the Mediterranean in August.
6. I think I've been the primary cook in every home I've ever lived in...
7. I might could never go to the movie theater again and be okay with it (but my husband would kill me).
8. I've had a colonoscopy before and I'm only 25.
9. I've also had melanomic (is that a word??) moles removed... and I'm only 25.
10. I always wonder if I should put 1 space or 2 between sentences when on FB and the blog.
11. I had the greatest college roommates anyone could imagine, and I love them as much now as I did when we lived together! And Becca's having a baby... YAY!!!
12. I love to read. Currently I am reading The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks.
13. I have a problem with always needing the TP roll to be paper-side up... Any top-rollers with me??
14. I think people who eat tomatoes like apples are disgusto. Why??
15. My husband and I gut-remodeled our first home in 5 1/2 months and love each other more than we did before. And never had a knock-down, drag-out fight in the process. Don't ask me about shopping for furniture though... it brings chills to my spine. Love you hun!
16. I have checked the spacing between every number and the wording for each of the first 15 random facts, it must be equal.
17. I'm now wondering if I'm a little OCD.
18. I work with special ed. elementary kiddos and love them! Now, it does make me a little obsessive and crazy about every detail to me have my own children, but I continue to cling to the fact that my God knows every detail about each of my future Morris babies before they have ever been formed.
19. I would love to cook or bake for a living one day. My sisters and I have always talked about it: Megan would own it because she would be rich, I would cook and Erin would let us boss her around. I love my sisters!!!
20. I think I got the best deal when I married Caleb. He is incredible, adventurous, God-fearing, and an amazing leader to my bossy butt. God knew I needed a man who would cause me to desire to submit because of his wisdom in leading our home.
21. I hate mail.. currently I have at least 3 various piles throughout my home that need to be addressed. Halleluiah that I don't have to do bills, I just need to file and trash all this annoying paper. I really would love to go paperless.
22. Owning a home really does mean endless projects. It is true people, don't think for a second that yours will be "different" and perfect just like you borrowed it from the bank for the next 30 years.
23. Once upon a time I wanted to be a lobbyist in Washington DC and go to law school and wear suits. I think I was crazy, because I sure do love my corduroy, tees and jean jackets!
24. I love to entertain and have people over.. and really I love it when people love my cooking. Is that selfish or just really hospitible (haha..)??
25. I would be lost and eternally miserable if it weren't for the saving grace of my Lord Jesus Christ. I think logically there is no other way to describe creation other than the miracle of a Creator, my Creator.

....and one more to show really that I might be OCD:
26. I went back and checked all the spacing on each number and corresponding sentences. 2 spaces people, 2 spaces.