Jello

Plain and Simple. Jess left her phone in Austin while on our road trip. BUT we got it back, and when I got it back I thought I would play a small prank on Jess before she got home...So I bought Jello and did a famous Office prank.   

-Ryan

Balloons Balloons Balloons!

So being a good husband I start asking Jess what she wants for her birthday at least two months in advance. So the usual, "I don't want anything" it what I was expecting. But oh no was I in for it! She looks back over her shoulder and says, "I want to go to New Mexico and hang out with my parents and go to the Balloon Fiesta"....OK. So October 1st rolled around and we drove...and drove...and drove. We had a blast in New Mexico. It was great because we got to spend great time with both our parents, spend time with friends, and of course look at balloons!

Side Note: We did attend the Fiesta two separate times, but unfortunately the photos from our morning session have been lost. (Sorry Josh iPhoto crashed uploading them)

Easy with the Brakes

Just because I consider myself a tad bit childish does not mean everything comes with a child like price tag. Jess and I recently noticed an annoying squeaking noise in her car. So what does every responsible newly wed do? We went to the local mechanic. And after a brief panic attack we left the local mechanic. What did we learn that day. Brakes are not cheap! But a "starving broke college student" and genius grad student put their minds and muscles together and got it done. That's right! we got it done ourselves! Lets just say that we did NOT spend $400 dollars to fix two brakes like the mechanic said it would.

Mission Accomplished:
-Ryan

It's Been Awhile

Well if you follow either Jess or me  on twitter you can understand why we haven't made a blog in awhile. But, just because school keeps us busy does not mean crazy stuff doesn't happen. I will release a few quick stories about what has happened in the last two months. Stay Tuned!



-Ryan

Happy Birthday

Hey gang!
So I figured I would wait and hit you all with something cool for my next blog. I understand my birthday isn't for another month, but hey you don't always get to see your favorite band on that day so I had to settle for a little early. Jess and I went and saw Incubus live in Dallas. The rain postponed the show by about an hour, but because the hassle they Pavilion let us sit in reserved seating instead of the grass. Here are a few clips of the show, sorry no pictures.
The show was pretty awesome minus the lack of sleep he are having and suffering from today, but it was totally worth it.

I have to say a big thank you to my wife that bought the tickets and stood next to me and sang the words as loud as she could. Jess is the best concert buddy anyone could ever ask for. She was up late with me and we both battled rain, drunks, and lots of smoke (some cigarette), but most of all she put up with some people (and some songs) that get on her nerves and she did it for me. Thank you Dessi (Jess' new nickname)


Pardon Me (The Encore)
Talk Shows on Mute (Acoustic)
Are You In? (Jess' Favorite)


Incubus thank you for continuing the show even after some serious rain. You guys put on an amazing show that can bring people to tears, laughs, and brand memories in our hearts. Please keep up the hard work for many years to come.

It's Been A Long Time Coming

You’ll never guess where I am…

Fine. You win.

This time, I am accompanied by grande cups of Tazo peppermint tea, as Ryan so graciously keeps them coming to comfort his sniffling wife. I was honestly expecting to get sick, because I nannied for two runny-nosed, congested, and coughing little boys on Thursday. Even though I washed my hands thoroughly every time they simply looked at me, the effort was not enough to keep me well. I always get sick after such encounters (yes, this has happened multiple times at my job—usually over holiday weekends where I would love to stay sick in bed), but I was feeling generally hopeful all morning because I still felt pretty good. I called my adorable twin late this afternoon to giggle over silly stuff and catch up on her life, and as soon as I got off the phone — BAM — it hit. Suddenly, my nose was running and so stuffy at the same time that I lost all ability to say my ‘m’ and ‘n’ words I am so fond of. [Side note: I’m not exactly sure which words these are… you can use your imagination to come up with any fun words that involve either a ‘m’ or ‘n’].

Anyways, as I went to the bathroom to blow my nose for the fourth time tonight, I was struck by a desperate longing for some TLC in the form of one of my comfort foods… Gru. [Side note #2: to fully encompass the greatness of ‘Gru,’ you must pronounce it with a heavy grunt—even if you are reading this in your head… just do it.] I sincerely think it should replace chicken noodle soup as the healing remedy for the common cold.

I was first, and only, introduced to Gru by my father-in-law Paul. Apparently, as the stories go, Gru began its remarkable heritage as a simple ‘Campfire Stew’. Paul has a very strong opinion about what belongs in this dish, and rightly so because it is incredibly addictive. All I know is that green chile, potatoes, browned pork, green chile, some kind of broth, possibly diced tomatoes, and more green chile go into this stew. There are, of course, other ingredients… but I fail to remember them as my focus is primarily on the green chile involved. My poor Papa Paul naturally gets teased about the inordinate amounts of hatch chile he includes while cooking, but I am convinced that this is the secret ingredient to his success. I love it!

With time, and possibly assorted beverages, ‘Campfire Stew’ changed to ‘Campfire Gruel’ (possibly to accentuate the hearty and filling nature of the stew), and eventually was just shortened to ‘Gruel’ when we decided to cook it over coals in the side garden instead of an actual campfire (yes, you guessed correctly… this intoxicating concoction reaches its full potential in a dutch-oven). For some reason unbeknownst to me, ‘Gruel’ was suddenly dropped like a burning piece of pork fat and the shorter, more enticing name ‘Gru’ was adopted. So was the grunt.

That leads us to the present, where I sit in a Starbucks comfy chair… my head filled with snot and Gru Grunts. I have had this delectable dish twice in the past while sick and it has cleared my sinuses remarkably well. Maybe because of all the hot chile? Maybe because it is, indeed, a stew? Maybe because all the care that goes into making it cannot but help come out? For whatever reason, it is the only food I am craving right now and I am hoping someone who reads this will possibly get me the recipe. While I do not have a dutch oven, hopefully the green chile in my freezer will help the Gru make its debut in Texas. 

Second try

Its been about 1.5 months since my (Jess') last writing. And first writing. I am pleased to announce that I am in fact, still sitting at Starbucks—though I'm now in the Arlington one—and I also still have no idea what to write about. I thought improvement was inevitable with age. Maybe I should wait longer?

Another thing that has remained constant in my life: roaches. I called my mom to complain about this very thing the other day, to which she reminded me that roaches are a fact of life in Texas. In fact, I should be grateful that they are only the size of small beetles and not huge, mice-sized cretins. Although true, I still don't like them. When my sisters, Nick, and my mom came to visit in July, I furiously cleaned the house before and during their stay, desperate to keep the little buggers at bay. I woke up before anyone else to make coffee and squish the retreating roaches before anyone else saw. This was effective until Nick discovered one in the bathroom... and then I sent Ryan in to kill it. Now that he's proven his agility and fearlessness against them, I graciously let him slay roaches by calling for him every time I see one.

It's not that I don't keep the house clean—I'm constantly taking out the trash, wiping down the counters, rinsing dishes to put in the dishwasher, mopping the kitchen floor, and spraying pink grapefruit cleaning solution on every hard surface I find. In fact, if you were to walk in our apartment right now, it would be spotless... except for the occasional roach scurrying back to it's hiding place. Until today, I had no idea what I was doing wrong.

This afternoon, I came to the conclusion that the roaches were not taking me seriously. After all, how could they if I was allowing their little nests to survive? So I went to Target, bought 24 little poison boxes to hide around Latte Love, and waged all-out war. Apparently, the poison smells just like food (I'll admit, it does smell like garlic butter... but a sick, twisted garlic butter), which the roach eats and then carries back to the nest to share with the others. I guess there's tons of this poison too, because I only have to replace the traps every six months. After I placed the first eight little boxes I just stood there and stared at one—hoping a roach would hurry out, eat the poison and then flip over dead in front of me. No such luck. Maybe they knew I was watching? Or maybe it's just too morbid to want to watch something die (even if it is just a roach). Anyways, I gave up after about 65 seconds and moved on to bigger and better things... like putting away the rest of the groceries.

*Side note* Ryan just passed by on his way to show something to a customer and asked what I was writing about. I told him "Roaches" and involuntarily shuddered. His response was "Really?" as his smile turned into more of a concerned grimace. This has given me new insight—maybe I shouldn't write about things that disgust me, as it might disgust you too. Hmmmmm.

Ok, happier things. I am going home to make cake-pops for church tomorrow. The sugar content might be the only happy thing about it though... I'm making them because our executive Pastor and his wife are leaving to Oklahoma. We'll miss them, but at least we'll bid them adieu with delicious balls of cakey goodness. I've never made cake-pops before, but I've heard there's a first time for everything. Except for diets... they never work long enough to constitute a "time".

I hope there's a dead roach when I get home.

-Jess