Summer in Texas. HOT HOT HOT

In my thirty-five years of life, I have lived in six states: MN, WA, NC, CO, HI and TX. I have experienced several different weather elements.  MN has unbearable winters because of the cold and unbearable summers because of the humidity.  WA has mild winters and even milder summers but lots of rain.  NC has a mild winters with little snow and somewhat cooler temperatures and summers that bring heat, humidity and bugs that together are moderately annoying but manageable.  I spent only late summer/early fall in CO and have no complaints about the weather in any way.  HI is a near perfect 80 degrees in every season and the only changes you really notice is the rain that comes more often during the rainy season which is October-April. TX winters have vastly different temperatures from day to day and while it doesn't snow, it certainly gets cold enough to and the summers have had the warmest temperatures that I have ever encountered, reaching the triple digits.

It's safe to say that summer in Texas is HOT HOT HOT.  There isn't a problem with humidity which I am thankful for but the heat does get unbearable.  Yesterday it was a high of 97 and I've got the AC set to 75 during the day but it felt like the AC was running all day.  I'm trying to save some money on the heating and cooling bill but I don't think that the AC running all day is helping the cause at all. Not only is hot, there aquifer level is low so this means very little relief from running through a sprinkler.  Some of my fondest childhood memories involve running through the sprinkler.  I'd love it if my children could experience the same happy memories.

Summertime is grilling season.  Unfortunately, we left our grill behind in the last PCS.  We didn't think that it would make the trip across the ocean because of the condition that it was in.  While we were living in HI, we used the grill almost daily.  I miss it.  There is something wonderful about the taste of charred chicken.  I don't enjoy standing over the stove in the summertime because it feels much hotter. That being said, I've found my kitchen mojo again and started to get creative with the meals again.  It feels good.  I love that I have had more successes with new recipes than not lately.  I feel a sense of direction again.  It's pulling me out of the funk.  I just wish that it wasn't so hot!

The point of this rambling post is that we may be put in circumstances or places that we don't necessarily want to be.  How you handle them is up to you.  If you want to be miserable about the situation, be miserable.  But, in the end all you will be is miserable.  Is it worth it? Maybe.  Maybe not.  I know that I was (and still am, at times) madder than heck about being "stuck" in Texas.  I didn't want to enjoy myself.  I didn't want to have FUN.  I was unhappy about leaving my "framily" in HI.  I was angry about orders changing at the last minute.  I was angry about all the crap that transpired as a result of us moving here.  So, I wallowed in my misery.  And, I still do form time to time.  Then I realized that just because nothing can change for a few years, I can absolutely change my outlook on it.  That's what I'm doing.  Slowly but surely I am finding my motivation, inspiration and mojo.  I don't have to like it here but I do have to live here.

I'll be sharing some of the recent recipes on the blog in the upcoming days.  Thank you to those that are reading this blog.  It means a lot to me.  It's not much, but, it's a spot where I can release a lot of what I'm feeling.  Life is messy and I'm no exception.

Foto Friday.

Let's re-cap the past week in pictures.

Fourth of July snuggles with my littlest lovebug.

Sauce for the "fireworks" sausage!

Week five summer read!

Manicure Monday! OPI: Pussy Galore + NYC Starry Silver Glitter

Dinner and beer! Paulaner Munchen Hefe-weizen and baked chicken taquitos.

Summer is in full swing!

Life has been crazy busy this week with the arrival of C.  We enjoyed some time with T-rav before he had to head back to work.  I'm prepping for school in the upcoming weeks and I've been consumed by psychology lectures.  Lola has been playing hard!

We went to the Bussey Flea Market off of I-35 on Saturday.  It was HUGE.  I think that I liked it more than I like Trader's Village.  I feel like Trader's Village is TOO big and there is a lot of "commercialized" items that didn't necessarily interest me.  At the Bussey Flea Market, I found more vintage items and personal stuff and I didn't feel forced to buy anything.  We found a Belle dress, Cinderella dress and tea set for Lola.  After the flea market, we headed downtown so our friend could find some souvenirs.

After walking around for an hour or so, we decided that we were hungry.  The Riverwalk is not lacking restaurants but sometimes it is difficult to come to a decision that everyone agrees with.  We ended up walking to Mi Tierra.  It felt like it was a long walk to get there, but I think that's because we were all hungry, hot and tired.  Mi Tierra has THE BEST homemade flour tortillas that I have ever tasted.  I mean, they were delicious clouds of tortilla. I wanted to take some home with me. After dinner we had to make the walk back to the parking garage to get the car and it went much quicker.  We dropped off our buddy and headed home and went straight to bed.  Pretty much. It was a good time.

Now it's just been go, go, go with random summer things to keep us busy.  I'm exhausted and we aren't even out of the month of June, yet!

Mini road trip to Austin

On Tuesday we had to drive up to Austin to pick up C lovebug who will be spending six weeks of her summer with us.  Traffic on I-35 can be a bear and the rain was in the distance so we decided to leave early to allow us plenty of time to get up there to find the airport and relax before her flight came in.

The traffic was fairly light; we hit the bulk of traffic around the airport and on the I-35 S headed home.  We arrived with plenty of time so I googled "things to do in Austin." On the first page were a lot of trails, the University of Texas-Austin (hook 'em horns!) and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.  We opted for the LBJWC.  I plugged the directions into Apple Maps and we were led in the most roundabout way to get there.  It's no surprise that I have a love/hate relationship with my phone and its gpsing capabilities, or lack thereof. When we arrived, Lo was fast asleep and hadn't been asleep for very long.  We thought that she'd be cranky but she was rather happy to be outside and walking around!

We went to the entrance to pay the admission fee and found out that it was free for us because Mr. Lovebug is active duty Air Force and LBJWC was participating in the Blue Star Museums program running from May 27 through September 2, offering free admission to military members and their families.  Lo couldn't wait to get started on the "tour." It's a self-guided tour and there are lots of flowers and trees to see.  There is also a building, The Children's Little House in which the little ones can play and learn.  Lo found a pot with sand and a shovel in it; she immediately picked up the shovel to start digging.  I think that was her favorite part.  We had two hours to spare but to fully enjoy the LBJWC, I'd give it a full day.  There is so much to see and do.  Another favorite spot for Lo was the insectary; she loved seeing the caterpillars!

After double-checking the itinerary, we found that C's flight was coming in an hour earlier than we thought so we cut the visit to LBJWC short and trekked over to the airport. Parking was a mess and it was quite a walk to the terminal.  Just as we entered the terminal, she called us to let us know that her plane had landed.  Whew! Made it just in time! We picked up her bag and headed home with a stop to Sonic for happy hour.

It was a wonderful trip to Austin and we are excited to plan another visit!

Summer shuffle

The last few weeks of May were busy with end of school year/summer shuffle prep.  Testing, recognition ceremony, field trips, and school programs. OH MY! It was a whirlwind and there was a lot going on.  I mean, there was hardly a moment to breathe.  STAAR results came out and A. lovebug scored as well as were anticipating.  I find that she has so much test anxiety that I'm not as concerned with her test scores as I am about her daily work scores. Her daily work scores tell me so much more.  She ended the school year on the A Honor Roll and I am so proud of her!  She has had a rough year and she continued to thrive in spite of everything. She is an amazing girl. AND she promoted to fifth grade which she worked really hard for.  I'm glad that the school year is over and the summer vacation has begun.

Summertime brings the "summer shuffle" where we send one child off to the other parent and the other children come in to spend the summer down here.  We had to drove A to Dallas so she could fly out from there. We stayed at a hotel for the night and enjoyed breakfast at The Original Pancake House.  We arrived at the airport four hours early and A started her anxious pacing and worrying that she wasn't going to make it to the gate on time but it all worked out okay in the end! We met up with friends of Mr. Lovebug and had dinner and drinks at the Meddlesome Moth.  It was a bit fancier than we were expecting and not really kid friendly but it was nice to get together and chat.  It was the first time that I had met this particular friend.

The drive back to San Antonio was much quicker than the drive up to Dallas.  We arrived home just before 1 AM.  We were all tired and spent the day resting.  Now it's just hanging out and doing our thing until we go up to Austin to pick the other child.  Ahhhh, bless the summer shuffle and the opportunity to spend time together.

The summer will be busy but we'll have plenty of time for R & R.  I'm really looking forward to it.

Anticipation

The promotion to Msgt list comes out this week.  This is Mr. Lovebug's first year testing for it so he is skeptical that he made the list.  I'd like to think positively.  This promotion would be a good step in his career and he could ride that out until retirement.  If he doesn't make it, he could test again next year but he risks hitting high year tenure.

All of these things are important when making decisions about retirement, the future and financial planning.  I'll be on pins and needles until the list comes out.  I am proud of him, no matter what.  He is diligent, loyal and focused.

Picnic with my lovebugs

Yesterday we took a day trip to the Guadalupe River; we had a picnic lunch.  It was a lovely day of exploring.  I snapped a few pictures but as many as I usually do.  It was nice to get out and about!