My Finished Office

I think I'm 99% finished with everything in my office. I'd done the bulk of the painting & furniture assembly in July, but I was still needing to decorate, hang things & get organized.

I love my new desk & the Elfa shelves from Ikea at working out great. I'm not sure I'm going to put much on the top shelf, but it is currently holding my stack of high school year books. I've added a few more things since I took this picture- mostly a photo of my dad & I at the wedding, and a picture of our wedding party. The pink & blue bins hold some of my favorite books I couldn't part with, and the lonely blue bin contains all my camera & photography accessories.

I kept one bookshelf, and I managed to give away and trade away many of my other books. One of my other favorite things about the room is my Zoe collage. I've got a few close ups and full body shots, some lazy shots & action shots, toys & swimming.

Each photo is 10"x10" from Mpix.com and printed on single weight mat board. I simply affixed them to the wall with some Velcro. Seriously- I just can't get enough of my dog. :)

I also ordered a 16"x20" canvas from our Day-After photos of the wedding. Other than our wedding photo collage & mini-shrine in the living room, I didn't have any other large printed photos from our wedding. All the folders on the left hold all of our information for our upcoming trips- Colorado, Cancun, Banff & South Africa.

Finally, the lounge couch that just about killed me to assemble. You'd think as an engineer, with my license even, I'd be able to make it work. It was an epic struggle, but I finally made it happen, mostly thanks to a hammer and some extra drilled holes. H told me I should keep my pink heart rug (which I LOVE), and it took me a while to find some throw pillows in the right color. I also am thrilled with how my Wall Words turned out.

I'm so excited to be done, and I'm amazed at what a difference it makes & how much I really do enjoy my office now.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I still occasionally get a stunning sunset in the backyard.

Garden Week 19

I haven't been tending to my garden nearly as much as I should, but it's still thriving. Above is a common sight, a baby cucumber just about to start growing.

Although still taking quite a hit from the worms, the tomato plants do have a few flowers. No fruit yet though. :(

Since we'd lost our shade a few weeks back, the sun & heat are just too much for all the leaves & plants that have direct exposure. We did cover it back up again this past weekend, so hopefully no permanent damage.

More watermelon or cantaloupe?

YUCK! More little black bugs. I wish they would just die already!

And Zoe checking it out. I gave her a cucumber that wasn't ripe & it was funny. Cute pictures coming soon.

And just cause I love using my macro & love all the fuzz on the fruit.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Getting a much needed haircut tonight.

Mykonos, Greece

This edition of Travel Tuesday is another flashback, and it's to the other Greek Island we visited- Mykonos. I'm not sure what possessed us to pick Santorini & Mykonos, but I really wish I had done more research before going to Mykonos. Bottom line, it was a gorgeous place, but just not our vibe. The last stop before Athens on our 17 day trip, I think we were both just exhausted and couldn't fully appreciate the party atmosphere of the island or it's beauty after coming from Santorini.

The big thing is Mykonos are the beaches. There is Paradise Beach & Super Paradise Beach. Both are semi-nude and fully nude in some places, and I think the party can get rather rowdy as the evening progresses. It's by far the most touristy of the islands, and we had a much more difficult time with the taxis and bus system, and the beaches were far away from our hotel.

Our hotel wasn't close enough to the main town to walk, but the waterfront area known as "Little Venice" was filled with neat restaurants and tons of shops. I'm really only remembering shopping and beach lounging as the two main activities on the island.

One afternoon we did manage to take a snorkel trip. I think this was the first time I'd been in the water with H, and he was quite amused by my lack of snorkel skills. I remember the water being pretty cold, even in July, and that there really wasn't much to see. Perhaps if we'd gone SCUBA diving, we might have gone to a better location with clearer water & more wildlife.

Also, transportation between the islands was some work. We'd planned on buying our ferry tickets from Santorini to Mykonos the day we arrived on the island, but as it was the summer busy season, all the flight were sold out the day we needed to leave. So, we ended up having to pay a little extra and fly, which itself is quite an experience on a Greek airline. It was a beautiful way to see some of the area, but still more expensive. We did manage to snag some non-smoking seats on the hydro-foil ferry between Mykonos and Athens. I watched a 6 hour show on how to make feta cheese in Greek, and watched several other passengers get seasick. We stopped at a few other ports along the way, and there are some other beautiful islands I'd love to go back and visit.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: The US Dollar to Euro rate wasn't nearly as bad in 2005 was it is now.

Pirates & Poets Concert

Saturday afternoon we headed up to Reliant Stadium for a marathon afternoon-evening of concerts on the Pirates and Poets Tour, featuring Gary Allan, Leann Rimes, Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney.

The concert was scheduled to start at 4, with another opening act and go on until 11pm. We showed up around 5:45 and just caught the very end of Gary Allan. I'm so sorry Rhonda! I heard a few good songs as I was making my way to the suite, but I caught this picture just as as he was leaving the stage.

The place was packed, and it filled up even more as the night went on. I'm normally not a fan of the acoustics when the Rodeo concerts are played here, but it sounded much better Saturday night.

Next up was Leann Rimes. She was just getting over laryngitis, but she still sounded incredible. It's amazing to see how much she's grown up since her big hit "Blue" at 13 years old. Her albums over the last 10 years have been successful, and she treated us to some of her most popular songs in the hour long set.

Continuing to be cute as a button, she donned a Texan's jersey, kicked off her high heels and threw her hair up in a pony tail for the second half of the concert.

Now, on to Keith Urban. I was blown away by the wonderful show he put on. Not only is he musically talented, but he did a great job of entertaining throughout his long set. His adorable Australian accent and his constant interaction with the crowd made it a very fun to watch. He's got quite a few hits on his play list, and he had the audience rocking out with him.

Finally, after 9 o'clock, Kenny Chesney took the stage as the headliner & was jamming out to some of his popular songs. I'm not sure it was just the late hour or some other drama that had gone on earlier in the evening, but I really wasn't in the mood. For some reason, he didn't sound that great- it was difficult to hear him singing over all the music in the background.

The crowd loved him though, and I normally enjoy lots of his songs. We stayed for about half of his set, and decided to head home and beat the massive (drunk) crowds out of the parking lot. It was a great concert line up, but I think we would have had more fun with friends instead of being with customer's & H's boss.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Office is officially finished. Photos coming soon.

Zoe vs. the Hair Clip

Zoe can easily be harassed and riled up by just about any ordinary object- a cell phone or paper towel roll or a hair clip. I wear these clips in my hair often, so they are always around. I love to chase her around and snap them at her, occasionally putting on her tail (just for an instant).
We have lots'o fun playing.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: H's brother joined us for church this morning.

More Leisure Time

The Great Debaters

This was a really fabulous movie, based on a true story, about an African-American college in the 1930's. Besides the historical and cultural backgrounds, it was neat to watch this team challenge stereotypes and break down barriers as they became national debate champions. Denzel Washington is such a great actor, and the movie was pretty close to historically accurate.

Unforgiven

I'd added this movie to our Blockbuster list because I'd seen it described as one of the best western movies ever. I thought it would fit the requirement of our 101 List of watching classic movies. I HATED this movie for so many reasons. First, I'm NOT a Clint Eastwood fan. Second, I think I was too disturbed about how the initial confrontation escalated to the women making bad decisions and then all these people basically trying to track down and hill these men. Urgh...I think I will have to let H screen my movies on the list.

Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian and Jew- 3 Women Search for Understanding

I really enjoyed this candid & frank discussion between these women as they explored stereotypes and many of their own insecurities with each other. It was very interesting to read about how they were each struggling with elements of their own faith, but in the end, were re-affirmed by learning about other people's faith. I'd highly recommend it to anybody wanting to learn how the three major world religions are similar and how they are different.

Hancock

I really, really don't care for going to the movies, but it's my husband's favorite thing in the world to do. I try to compromise sometimes & he's so excited if we go to see something at the movies. A few weeks back we went to see Hancock, and I surprisingly enjoyed it. It started out a bit hokey, but I typically like watching Will Smith. It was a neat twist on the super-hero concept, except all the flying scenes made me a bit motion sick.

I've actually read a few other books since these, but I think they were so good that they deserve their own special posts coming up shortly. And we've been so engaged in watching the Olympics every night that we've seen very few movies either.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Zoe & I are off to the dog park again this morning to play with Ms. Ruby.

Meat & Potatoes

When I saw this recipe on The Good Wife's blog, I knew it was simple enough that even I could make it. Meat and potatoes around here usually means beef & a baked potato, so I decided this would spice things up a bit. Plus I wanted to sound all special saying I made some delicious Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Bacon & Roasted Potatoes. Start out with some small red potatoes, clean & chop into cubes.

I mixed them up with some seasoning & olive oil.

Then I used my Pampered Chef Stoneware to toss these babies in the oven.

I started out with 2 pork steaks. I have no idea if these are tenderloins or not, but they worked. :) I cut these up into ~1" cubes & added some seasoning.

The whole reason I attempted this recipe was for the chance to have some hickory maple bacon. I took about half of a piece of bacon, wrapped it around the pork cube and then stuck a toothpick into hold it in place. Tip: don't use colored toothpicks!

I heated up some oil in the pan and seared both sides of the pork before putting it in the over.

This meal turned out delicious & it was super easy. (See where my blue toothpick was?)

Directions (Pork)

4 pork tenderloin medallions, about 1 inch thick

4 pieces of bacon

~Heat the oven to 425 degrees F.

~Wrap the tenderloins with the bacon and secure with a toothpick. Sprinkle one side of the medallions with salt, pepper and the all purpose seasoning.

~Heat a 10 inch skillet on medium high heat until hot and it starts to smoke lightly.

~Add one tablespoon of oil (I use canola) to the pan and add the medallions, seasoned side down. Once the medallions are in the pan, take the time to season the other side. Sear each side of the medallions for 1 to 2 minutes.

~Transfer the skillet to the oven and finish cooking for 20 minutes or until the juices run clear or a meat thermometer registers 140.

~Let the meat rest for 5 minutes before serving.Roasted Potatoes



Directions (Potatoes)

4 medium red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed

Olive and canola oil

1 tablespoon all purpose seasoning

1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

Salt

Pepper



~Heat the oven to 425 degrees F.

~ Wash and scrub the potatoes, removing any eyes. Cube.

~In a medium mixing bowl, combine canola oil (a little over 1/4 cup) with a splash of olive oil. Add the seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Toss to coat.

~Spread the potatoes out on to a cookie sheet and bake for 35 minutes, turning once about halfway through cooking.

If you enjoyed this, check out The Good Wife's Blog for many more simple & scrumptious dishes.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: We're going to enjoy a fabu meal at a swank restaurant at a steep discount tonight thanks to Houston Restaurant Week.