6th anniversary trip

Ok, so I am totally going out of order, but thought I'd post about our anniversary weekend: Here is the review I wrote on the place and it pretty much sums up the trip! :)

I'd been looking at staying at Travaasa Austin for our anniversary for MONTHS and luckily travelzoo ran a promotion that we could not pass up. :) From the moment you pull up to the gate, you feel like you have entered an oasis. You drive up this huge winding hill to the welcome center and are greeted by a very warm staff. We were shown to our room that was situated all the way at the back of the property. It was so peaceful. We had a canyon view room, and I believe it is smaller than the trail view, but we didn't really mind. The view from the balcony was breathtaking. We arrived late in the afternoon so most of the activities were over for the day but we decided to head out to the hiking trail. It's 2.5 miles if you do the whole thing, and not only a great workout, but very pretty as well. Such a peaceful way to start the trip! We opted to eat dinner on the property that evening and were amazed at how incredible it was! I loved how the nutrition information was listed on the menu as well. We had been told to make a reservation so we did, and there were only maybe 3 other tables in use. The next morning we had another incredible meal, this time out on the terrace. I took a Pilates class with Heather. What a workout!!! I think often times people think of Pilates as just a lot of stretching, but it really challenged me. It was great. Lunch was again fabulous and so fresh. I also spent some time at the spa, and opted to get the honey massage treatment with Amalie (sp?). It was beyond relaxing, and a great combo for someone looking for a massage and not necessarily a full facial, but something that incorporates it. The mask left my skin so clean and healthy feeling. She even sent me with the leftover and told me how to use it! Another great thing about this resort is that yes, it is 4 stars, but you see people mainly dressed in workout clothes and even spa robes. There is no expectation of needing to be dressed up. This part was especially appealing to my husband. Ladies, especially those with a "Texas boy" type like mine, will appreciate this. :) The second night, they once again recommended reservations, but we didn't take them too seriously, as the night before there were so few people. Well, we should have listened that night! There was a farm to table dinner with several chefs fom the area coming to prepare meals. We really wish we would have listened as I'm sure it would have been incredible! We wound up going into downtown Austin that evening, as it was not too far (maybe 30 minutes). The next morning we had to leave and we were so sad to go. We both agree we can't wait to return! The ONLY negative was that the first night the wind was so bad that because of my husband's allergies we were forced to use the AC and it was beyond loud (like something I'd expect in a 2-3 star hotel) that we woke up every time it kicked on. Luckily the 2nd night we were able to open the windows and get some sleep. If you go during the summer, bring earplugs. In the winter, hopefully you will be fine. All in all, can't wait to return. We left feeling sore from the workouts (love this!) relaxed, and like we'd had a true vacation! You won't regret going!

 

                                                             View from our room

                                       Adam with his "why are you taking my picture" face

                                                                       Hiking trail

                                                             A rare photo of me!

                                                                  Sunset on the trail

                                                                       Our building

 

Path to the main area of the resort, felt like camp!

AZ Trip May 2012

Yep, I am that far behind on blogging! Sadie and I got to go to Arizona for a week in May to visit family there. She did sooo great on the plane. I was very proud of her. Both ways people commented how good she was. She did not make a peep the whole way, just sat quietly with her headphones on watching her movie. We got to Phoenix mid-afternoon and my parents were there waiting for us. We went straight from the airport up to Anthem to check on our house there. We met our renters, who were very nice. It was weird seeing someone else living in "our house." Then we headed over to my dear friend Genea's house. She was a wonderful hostess, as always, and we enjoyed some hors d'oeuvres while the kids played in the backyard and had ice cream. They had a blast! We then headed up the mountain to my mom and dad's. 
My parents graciously offered up their home to allow some of my friends to come up for a visit. They put together a great BBQ. To all who came, thank you!! My sister happened to be in for a work related visit, and was able to drive up to spend the night also. That was a lot of fun to see her. My friend Genea brought her kids up and they stayed the night as well. The next day we spent time at the park and the pool in the afternoon. Just love where they live-so many awesome amenities! The next night we went to my grandparent's for dinner and had a great time. Sadie especially enjoyed getting to watch a movie in the theater room. :) Lucky kid! 
I also got to do a little photo shoot of my parents and Sadie while there. So much fun!
The last night we stayed in Scottsdale and had a fabulous boat ride. Love Arizona sunsets!
Of course, as is usual for Sadie, she came down with a sinus infection while we were there and I had to take her to urgent care, but at least she got started on meds a couple days before we had to fly back. We can't wait to be back in December for Christmas!
Enjoy these photos!

TSA incident-in my own words

I feel the need to tell this story in my own words. As many of you already know, Sadie and I had an incident with the TSA here in Tyler on Tuesday when we returned from our labor day vacation. We had flown in and out of Tyler, which we don't normally do. We normally just fly out of Dallas as it is significantly cheaper. This time, however, we used air miles for the tickets and it was the same amount of miles whether we flew out of Tyler or Dallas so we figured we might as well. On the way out they were somewhat rude, and made us empty Sadie's drink-not something I have had to do at any other airport (they typically will run a test strip over the liquid to make sure it is safe). I protested and said asked, "Can't you just do the test to it?" The man rudely said, "We don't do that here." Ok, fine, whatever. We get through security and have an uneventful trip to California.
We had a great time at Catalina but were both exhausted to say the least. Sadie did not sleep on the flight from SNA to DFW but fell asleep on the short 15 minute flight from DFW to TYR. She was seriously SOUND asleep, and did not want to wake up. I finally managed to get her to wake up enough to walk off the plane up the jetway. We are holding hands and walk through the gate area. When we got to the hallway to get past the security check point she decided she just did not want to walk anymore and stopped and sat down. For those of you that have traveled through Tyler, you know it is a very short hallway. I initially said it might be 20 feet but feel like that is an exaggeration. I feel like it is probably closer to 10 feet. Anyways, she is IN the hallway with me. I see my husband through the glass so decide the best thing for me to do is open the door just enough to get rid of the bags I was carrying so that I could then pick Sadie up since she did not want to walk. I proceed to open it but not step out. I yelled to Adam that Sadie was having a hard time and could he come grab the bags. If I had stepped out and closed the door behind me I could understand what happens next, but that is not the case. I turned back around, with the clear door still open slightly, and start to go grab Sadie. All of a sudden I have this TSA agent come out of nowhere and get right in my face and start yelling at me that if I take another step I would be breeching security. I told him I needed to grab my two year old. He offered NO solution on how I was going to get her. He just kept yelling that I was not to move and that if I did it would be a security breech and "thank you for understanding." No, sir, I don't understand why I can't get my child when I NEVER EXITED THE SECURE AREA!
Sadie just sat there crying and screaming for me, getting more upset by the second. At this point the rest of the passengers had de-planed and a women saw our distress and offered to bring Sadie to me. I said, "Yes, please." Had she not offered I am still not sure how the agent expected me to get her, as she was not interested in walking. We grabbed our checked bags and got out of there as fast as we could and I immediately started posting about it on Facebook. He messed with the wrong mom! The moment I got home I started emailing every local and national news station because I wanted people to hear about the ridiculous actions of this agent. The next morning I had offers from the local NBC and CBS stations asking if I would go on camera. I said, absolutely. I wanted everyone to hear how awful the experience was! I knew that there would be a handful of rude comments by strangers once the story was posted on the internet, but I was willing to accept that.
Naturally today, I read some hurtful comments and that is what made me decide to post this blog and sort of "answer" those comments. I had a couple people act like I "left" Sadie. I did not LEAVE her at all. As I said before, she was in the hallway with me and we had been holding hands. I could not hold the bags AND her so I had to set the bags down somewhere so that I would be able to pick her up. In hindsight I should have set the bags down right where she was crying and made the JERK TSA agent go back and carry them out for me. Others commented on that I should have had a stroller-I am not an idiot. I have traveled with Sadie before and have always taken a stroller, but did not see a reason to this trip as it is such a small space between where we would need to walk. It seemed like it would be more trouble than it would be worth.
The comments were definetly more hurtful than I thought they would be. They attacked my parenting and that is not ok with me. I know I am an amazing mom that will do anything for my child. I really shouldn't even give those comments the time of day to read them, but felt like I should set the record straight. NONE of this would have even happened if that agent would have just offered to escort me to Sadie or even offered to let me go back through the security screening process if he truly felt like I had stepped out too far of the secure area. Neither of those things were offered to me. My goal in all this is that he gets investigated and in trouble. HE is the reason I was "separated" from Sadie and deserves to be reprimanded.
One final note: because of his actions, I will not be flying out of Tyler again. If he is representative of how TSA agents are there, I don't want any part in that. DFW has always been very polite and accommodating when I fly out of there, so to the agents there, thank you, you will continue to get our business.

Peking Duck Pizza

For years I have been bummed that CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) stopped making their Peking Duck Pizza. I figured it must be a pretty easy recipe and decided to google it. I came across a recipe and decided to try it, but with my own spin. Here is the link to the one I found: http://www.kikkomanusa.com/foodservice/onthemenu/recipedetail.php?rd=1321
In case anyone doesn't already know, my husband LIVES to hunt. He is super passionate about that as well as deep sea fishing. Well, he "caught" as I like to say, a couple of ducks awhile back and they were sitting in our freezer waiting to be cooked. It was the perfect use and the pizza turned out exactly how I remembered.

It was super easy to make:

Adam cut up the duck breasts into little tiny tiny strips and we barely seared them in a pan with a little coating of hoisan sauce. I always buy the Pillsbury pizza dough in the can (thin crust)  and I cook it a few minutes on each side before doing cheese and sauce because I like a crispier crust. You don't have to do it that way if you like a softer crust. Anyways, after the crust was golden brown I took it out and put hoisan sauce, mozzarella cheese, the duck, wontons (which you find in the salad aisle, not the Asian food aisle, I learned) as well as some green onion. Pop it in the oven until the cheese is all melty and the crust the way you like it and you are done! It was amazing!! Need to make it again!

*I am guessing this could easily be just as good if made with chicken if you don't like duck. I may try this as an experiment to see how it tastes.*

More garden and Sadie's clothes

Thought I'd post some updated shots of the grapes. Sadie is really enjoying watching the grapes grow. In fact, she made up a song called, "The Grapes are growing." It's really cute.
She also really enjoys picking out her own clothes. I don't care if she matches- I prefer to let her exude her independence and choose what she wants to wear. Tonight she came out of her room and said, "I want to wear my cowboys shirt." She still refuses to wear shorts or pants. It is really funny. She chose a Christmas plaid skirt to wear with her Cowboys shirt. :)

Enjoy these photos!

Grapes and the garden

Last summer we planted grapes in our courtyard. It yielded one tiny bunch of maybe 6-7 grapes. We decided against trimming them back over the winter season and are glad we let them be. They came back with a vengeance this season! It has been really cool to watch the progression. We started seeing little bunches pop up everywhere at the end of March and early April. About 3 weeks ago they started looking a little bigger and are now even bigger than that! I haven't taken any photos of them this week but here are some from April 1st and then about 2 weeks ago.

 Sadie likes sitting in this bucket that I use for photo shoots. You can see how tiny the grapes were then. Look closely and you will see the little bunches right by her head!

 Checking out the grapes

 Lately she has been pretending to be a baby and does that silly thing with her tounge-it drives me crazy!

The shots below were taken the 1st or 2nd week of May

 These bunches are just everywhere! It's so cool!

Can't believe how massive they are!

Dinner for 8

As many of you know, I love to entertain. Adam thinks that I think I am Emeril or something to that effect. Not really, but I do enjoy cooking and socializing so I do my best. At a recent church get together I brought a salad that everyone liked and they all said that I needed to have a dinner party. Twist my arm! So, I looked at the calendar and realized that with my shooting schedule it would be about 5 weeks out, which was fine. Sent invites to a great group of friends and started planning. The menu was: Roasted garlic with french bread, Spinach artichoke dip (made my my friend Taylor) Fried calamari with a tomato avocado cream sauce, spring mix salad with sun dried tomato, Parmesan cheese, slivered almonds, and a vinaigrette dressing. For the main menu we had individual beef wellingtons, roasted red potatoes, and cauliflower polonaise. My friend Melisa brought an amazing white chocolate raspberry cheesecake for dessert. It was a very fun evening! We have decided we need to do it every couple months and it will be called the "fancy feast." :)