That Bru

I realized the other day that besides mentioning we have a dog I haven't put up any new pictures of him lately. He is no longer the adorable little puppy he was when we got him, but now he's an adorable big puppy and has so much personality. He keeps us entertained constantly. We have lots of nicknames for him, here are a few that come to mind - That Bru, Brudy, Bruha, Bruce Bruce, Brucey, Joosey Bruce, Bru pup, snags, double snags (see pictures below) and others that I'm forgetting at the moment. Here are some of my favorite pictures of him.

Bruce getting a ride from dad

Just like a baby... but you can leave this baby in a kennel :)

I'm pretty sure he thinks the couch belongs to him, and it kinda does

the first night we got him he slept in this basket, now he barely fits

Hanging out with dad on the front porch!

"Snags"

"Double Snags"

This is what he does while I get ready in the morning, talk about a life of leisure!

it's not just ravioli...

Veggie Ravioli:

I've made this dish twice and it's really good, and easy! There isn't an exact recipe so i'll just explain the steps and it can be varied to your liking. The first time I made it I didn't add the zucchini or squash but I had some I needed to use up so I added it this time. You can really add or take away any of the veggies.

1/4 of an onion, chopped

1-2 garlic cloves chopped

handful of baby carrots sliced (or 1 large carrot sliced)

1-2 celery stalks sliced

1 medium zucchini sliced then quartered

1 medium yellow squash sliced then quartered

sliced mushrooms

1 can pasta sauce or 1 can diced tomatoes and 1 and 1 can tomato paste

1 package Buitoni Whole Wheat Four Cheese Ravioli

freshly grated parmesan cheese

Cut up all veggies. Heat pan to medium, saute onion and garlic in coconut oil* (or olive oil). As onion and garlic starts to cook down a little add carrots and celery, saute a few minutes, add zucchini, squash and mushrooms. Saute until veggies are mostly cooked through. If they start to stick to the pan go ahead and add tomatoe sauce(s). Season with italian seasoning or whatever herbs you have (basil, oregano, parsley, etc) Add salt and pepper to taste. Add a dash of sugar to the sauce, this gives it a nice sweet flavor. While sauce continues to heat, in a separate pan bring water to a boil. Cook ravioli according to directions. Add cooked ravioli to sauce and serve with freshly grated parmesan on top. Enjoy!

Graduation weekend and a new recipe!

Well last weekend we flew to Lubbock for Andy's graduation! It was a great weekend. Friday evening Bart and Becki treated everyone to dinner at Cagle's Steakhouse where Andy works. Dinner was amazing and we had a really great time visiting. We had a private room which made a huge difference in being able to carry on a conversation without yelling. After dinner we went back to the hotel and hung out in the lobby for a little while before heading to bed for an early morning the next day. Saturday we met at 8am to head to the graduation ceremony. For a summer graduation it was surprisingly long but so worth it to see Andy graduate! Congrats Andy, we're so proud of you. We had a nice picnic lunch at Andy's house before getting on the road back to Austin. My mom watched Bruce for the weekend and I think he was a little more out of control for Nana than he is for us. We found out he pee'd on the floor and when he pees in the house, he doesn't just stand there in pee's he walks around thus leaving a trail, for quite a ways Lauren said. He also wanted to play with Duke instead of sleep and he ran off chasing a dog down the street, those were just the stories they told us, I'm sure there were others. Anyways, we really appreciated them watching our little fur baby. He was exhausted once he got home on Sunday.

Andy with the delicious cake Becki made.

Andy, Grandmother and Alan

Andy and Grandmother

Andy at his graduation

NEW RECIPE:

Last night I made a pizza recipe that I make often and I thought I'd share it. I got this recipe from my old roommate Jessica, it's a recipe her mom makes and it is delicious!

Artichoke Pizza with Feta and Thyme:

1 tsp Olive Oil or Coconut Oil

1 sm. red bell pepper chopped

1/2 sm. yellow, orange or green bell pepper chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 cup mayo

1/4 tsp. crushed pepper

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1 - 9oz. can artichoke hearts (quartered)

1 pkg. whole wheat naan bread (2 pieces in package)

Mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup crumbled Feta

dried thyme

Saute peppers and garlic in oil, set aside

Combine next 4 ingredients in food processor or just chop and mix

Top pizza with artichoke mix, then peppers, cover with mozzarella cheese, sprinkle feta and thyme.

Bake at 450 for 15 minutes, or broil until cheese is melted and pizza is heated.

Enjoy!

Am I a good steward?

I've been thinking a lot about how great God is! I mean really amazing... I was listening to a sermon by pastor Mark Driscoll this week about stewardship and how everything we have belongs to God we are just stewards of what he has given us. He started talking about "rich" people and pretty much if you're American, you're rich! We have more at our disposal than any other country, yet we're so wasteful with what we have. How often do I find myself wanting this or that and how rediculous it is when I have already been blessed with more than I deserve. I'm learning to count my blessings instead of worrying about what I "need" or don't have, and when I say need it's probably just a want, there is definitely a big difference. When you look at where your money goes it shows you where your heart is. I think a good question to ask is, would Jesus want you to spend his money this way? Just some food for thought...

Anniversary numero uno!

It doesn't seem like just one year ago we were walking down the aisle and saying our vows... yet here we are now celebrating our one year anniversary! It is amazing how fast time can really go by, it makes me wonder how much quicker each year will go by. Before you know it we'll be celebrating 5 years, then ten and so on. Hopefully we'll have kids by that point, haha. We had a great weekend celebrating. Since we were making a weekend of celebrating I planned our day of activities on Saturday and Alan planned Sunday.

Here's a little recap of the weekend. Saturday morning I drug Alan out of bed at 7am to get ready for a long run. We went down to Town lake and had a nice 9 mile run. We saw Darren Brown and his girlfriend Megan running. There were so many people out running when we got there, I almost couldn't believe how many there were. It did make for a much more interesting run than just around our neighborhood. It's fun to see the different types of people out there and the many types of dogs, so fun. After our run we went home to get ready for the rest of our day. I made breakfast for Alan then we took Bruce to doggy day care, aka Susan and Barry's house! He loves to go play with Mack, their 2 year old chocolate lab. We didn't buy each other gifts but decided to go shopping for some various things we had been wanting, well I ended up getting 3 pairs of shoes, not the typical first anniversary gift but I was excited. I know your'e probably thinking I got some girly shoes, but quite contraire I got some sperry's which I had been wanting for a while and 2 pairs of running shoes! they're more practical for my marathon training than some heels would be, ha. Alan got a pair of running shoes as well and some clothes he's been needing. After our shopping extravaganza we checked into our hotel, the Mansion on Judges Hill, and took a much needed nap. The combo of the shopping and the run took it out of us, so it was nice to take an afternoon break. We did have lunch at Whole foods during the shopping part of the day so that was fun. After our nap we went to one more store then decided to get some drinks at Vivo since our dinner reservations weren't until 8:30. Vivo was great, I think they might have the best chips in town. We had dinner at Fonda San Miguel and it was DELISH! We had a great salad and appetizer called Angels on Horseback, it's bacon wrapped shrimp with these marinated veggies that are so yummy! Alan had fish for dinner and I had a chile relleno, the food was excellent and we had a nice red wine with our dinner. We had planned to go play darts at Crown and Anchor after dinner since that was one of the first places we hung out but we were too full and tired after dinner so we just went back to the hotel. Here is a picture from dinner:

"Dinner at Fonda San Miguel"

Sunday was our actual Anniversary day and we started by going to Church! Matt preached a great recap sermon of 1 Corinthians chapters 1-6. After church we went home to grab a quick lunch and change clothes to go to Barton Springs but we had some cards and one of them had a check from my mom so we decided to go spend it! We took a quick trip up to IKEA to get a mirror i've been wanting for our room and we also got a lamp to go next to the chair Bart & Becki got us for our anniverary!!! We are so blessed to have such amazing family! Alan had never been to IKEA and he was a little overwhelmed to say the least. I could have spent a lot of time looking at stuff but he managed to get me out of there before I did too much damage. Good job babe! We finally made it to Barton Springs and was it crowded! The parking lot was a mess, but fortunately it wasn't too bad once we got in. Barton springs is another great place for people watching, so many interesting things to see! We had a great time reminiscing over our first year of marriage and setting goals for this next year :) Alan ended a great day with going to dinner at North, which I have to say might be our new favorite restaurant. We have found this dish that we love to get there and we now get the same thing every time and it's always amazing! I almost made the mistake of considering dessert after dinner when Alan reminded me that we had one year old wedding cake at home! We ate some cake when we got home and much to my surprise it was good, I mean really good, especially for being one year old. I thought we would take a bite and throw it away but I haven't thrown it away yet because I keep thinking I might eat a little more. I probably shouldn't but you never know. We had an amazing weekend and the most amazing part was just spending time with my husband! I'm already looking forward to what this next year will bring our way. Here are a few more pictures from the weekend.

"North"

Our Cake!!!!

It's been a while... to say the least

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy but minus that excuse just a little unmotivated to blog and not sure why. I'll try to get better at this. Since the last time I blogged, I've gone to Chicago with my mom, sister and Aunt Susan. Alan and I went to Canadian for the 4th of July to see Bart & Becki. We also got to see Charles and Gayle in Miami and Andy came to Canadian too! It was a lot of fun. I'll post a few pictures from those events. This past weekend I went to Dallas with my family to attend Susan and John's annual pool party. We had a really great time except Lauren started feeling sick so we ended up coming home that evening, it was a quick trip but I felt bad for poor Lauren. The highlights were getting to see Britney, Megan and Chloe!!! Chloe is super cute :) Susan asked when we were going to have one of those and I informed her it will be a while, I think she understood. I am in the process of planning our 1 year anniversary! I can't believe we have already been married one year! God has truly blessed us during our first year of marriage and I am looking forward to the many blessings, memories and exciting adventures we'll experience this next year! Highlights of our first year of marriage - spending all holidays together, being table leaders in the Newly Nearly Wed Class at church (a class we took when we were engaged and was truly beneficial to our marriage), getting a puppy, moving into a 2 bedroom apartment and having more room to grow, house hunting and deciding against a house, and I think mostly just learning more about each other has been the best part of this first year! I think between Alan's spontaneity and my predictability we complement each other and make a good pair! I love my husband!!!!

Delicious pizza at Pizzano's!!! Yum.

"The Bean"

Grant Park

"Navy Pier"

My beautiful sister Lauren!

Sisters - Mom and Aunt Susan

Lauren with the delish pizza from Giordano's

at Wrigley Field

The whole Bean family!

handsome Bean men!

Bart & Becki

What I love about Austin

There are so many great things to do in this city.  Alan and I decided we needed a relaxing weekend with no plans except the one's that were a game time decision.  We ended up doing some really fun "Austin" things.  Friday I stopped by Central Market on my way home and got some really great fresh whole wheat linguini and pesto for dinner.  I bought some veggies and just threw it all together and it was great! We rented a movie after dinner and called it a night. Saturday we got up and drove down to town lake for a nice 4 mile run.  It was nice but a little on the hot side.  After our run we went home and relaxed for a while then changed into our bathing suits and headed back downtown.  On our way we dropped Bruce off at the doggy day care, aka Susan and Barry's backyard to play with Mack their 1 1/2 year old chocolate lab.  From there we headed to Whole Foods, if you've never been to the Whole Foods downtown you're missing out on a great experience! It's the perfect place to go when you want something healthy but aren't sure what.  They have everything you can think of, so it's great for us indecisive people.  We settled on sushi, salad with a hodgepodge of goodness and some fruit.  We found a table out front and enjoyed people watching and reading some Austin magazines while we ate.  After lunch we went to another Austin favorite, Barton Springs.  Since the weather was so great it was a bit crowded but that didn't deter us.  We found a sunny spot that was nice until we couldn't take the heat any longer. So we sat on the side of the pool with our feet in the chilly but refreshing water.  We ran into Todd and Olivia Engstrom, friends from church, who were there enjoying their 5th anniversary along with a day without their toddler, Micah.  Olivia is due to have their second little boy in 2 weeks and you would have never thought she was eight and a half months pregnant, she looked great! After visiting with them for a while we decided we had gotten enough sun and headed home.  That evening we enjoyed a relaxing dinner at Z-Tejas.  We waited a little while to get a good table on the balcony and it was well worth it.  We had just sat down when I told Alan I thought I had seen lightning, he told me I was crazy.  Turns out there was a lightning storm out west that we got to watch during dinner and it was amazing!  Sunday we went to the early service at church and enjoyed a great sermon from Ronnie.  The afternoon was relaxing and now I'm looking forward to another great week.  We get to see little Ainsley this evening so that will definitely be the highlight of my day!