Tuck at the Lake!

On Sunday we had a day free and the weather was decent (cloudy at first, but the sun came out eventually), so we decided to take Tucker to the lake. (There is a lake about 30 minutes north of us called Canyon Lake.) So, we loaded up the car and Tucker, and drove till we found the park. BUT, to our dismay, the park was CLOSED. It has been in the 80s-90s and the lake park is closed!

Hmmm?!

We continuted to drive around (poor Tuck got car sick) until we found a public boat dock. Then we were able to walk down the ramp and walk along the shore a ways. It wasnt beautiful sandy beaches, but there were no other people around and it was at the lake!

Tucker didn't hesitate one bit. He walked right into the water. Once we let him off the leash he just ran right in and started swimming around. Just swimming (the song 'just keep swimming' from Finding Nemo was in my head for most of the day).

We brought a ball with and a bumper, and Tucker loved swimming out after them. He swam until he couldn't anymore...and then we had a very tired and wet puppy on our hands :)

Can you tell that Tucker has us wrapped around his 'paw'? We spoil him rotten, but he is a good pup :)

Here is a video of the guy in action :)

Have a great weekend!

Dining A La Fresca

It's that time of year. The time when it is wonderful weather, usually in the 70s-80s. Not too hot, not too cold. You can start to feel the humidty coming, but it is still under control. So, that being said, the grill has been out in full motion. We grilled beer-can chicken the other night, and it turned out amazing. I have perfected shrimp, and love kabobs. And of course, hamburgers and steaks. We even got creative...instead of cheese on TOP of the burger, we tried it INSIDE! Anyways, the grill has been awesome and the weather has been even better, so why not enjoy the grilled food outside?!

So the search began for patio furniture. Do you know how expensive it is!? Even though I work at a furniture store, I was not ready to fork out thousands for a patio set. Yes, you heard me...thousands (at my cost!) So we headed to the local sports and outdoors store called Academy. It's kind of like Scheels, but cheaper. After weeks of keeping our eye out for that "perfect set" Kyle and I found one we both agreed on. It was sturdy for Kyle, and it wasn't too big or too small and looked nice for me.

So, a purchase I am sure we will get our money's worth, is all set up and sitting on our back patio. We have already put it to the test, eating our grilled pizza and watching the sun set with beer in hand. I can't wait for more evenings/days to put it to use! Hopefully your weather warms up enough for you to get the grill out as well!

Kyle assembling the table. I 'supervised' :)

(Below) Tucker wanted to help (more like chew on the boxes)

The set! Nothing fancy, something just nice and simple that we will get good use out of. So happy we didn't wait any longer than we did. :)

Tucker

I can't really say "Lil Tuck" anymore, because he is NOT little anymore. He is our miniature pony. He is our moose. He is HUGE. He is officially past the 50 pound mark...and still growing.

This past weekend Kyle and I took him on a walk to the park in our neighborhood and discovered a little creek/rock bed! It was fun to explore, and as we were leaving, a family pulled up to go "fishing." A little boy about 3 years old jumped out decked out in head-to-toe little kid fishing gear. It was ADORABLE.

After our little adventure we took him to a wide grassy area and played fetch with him. I don't think there is anything that dog likes to do more, than to play fetch.

After a few mintues of running and a dead sprint in the muggy 80 degree weather, Tucker was TIRED. And when he is tired, it is the BEST time for photos! I was snapping away. Here are some nice ones I was able to capture.

On our walk back to the house from the park, Tucker was wiped out. He was so hot we stopped for a water break, and he plopped right down on the sidewalk. Pretty sure he is going to die this summer! I think a kiddie pool might be a wise investment ;)

If all works out...this weekend should be another good one! Hope yours is too!

Play Dead

During the nights Kyle was working late as well as the weekend he was away at work, I had lots of time with Tucker. I took the time to teach him a few tricks, "playing dead" being one of them.

It's a super short video, but you get to see Tuck play "dead." Makes me laugh every time ;)

Enjoy!

San Antonio Spurs

Over the weekend my boss had a couple extra tickets to the Sprus game and asked if I would like to go. HECK YES!

Going to a Spurs game has been on Kyle's and my "Texas Bucket List" since we moved down, so we were excited to go. This was the first "date night" Kyle and I have been on in a LONG time. With him working so much, people visiting, and haveing single boys as friends we don't get too much one-on-one time together, so it was really nice.

The pictures pretty much tell the story, as there is not too much more to say about an NBA game. Take a look!

Top Left: A FULL AT&T center.

Top Right: Start of the game! They are all so tall.

Middle Left: Line-up to announce starters. Duncan was not playing that night, sadly. He is pictured though, in a sports coat.

Middle Right: National Anthem

Bottom Left: Spurs in Action!

Bottom Right: Jack Ingram performed at half time!

Go Sprus Go!

Spring is in the Air

It is that time of year! For about a month now, the temps have been steadily in te 70s, 80s some days. Even though that sounds like summer to some up North, here it is a perfect, sunny day. I would love to be outside, taking Tucker on walks, reading books in the sun, learning how to golf, etc. However, I am at work during the day so when I get home I enjoy as much of it as I can.

Within the last week or so, our one tree in our backyard has really started to bud and get leaves. It is such a pretty green, too! I also found out I have a cherry blossom in my backyard! It is my favorite to look at, and I love seeing it come to life.

The golf course has started watering the course like crazy, so it's like a mini niagra falls in my backyard as well. We have ran our sprinklers pretty much every night as well, waiting for that green grass to grow.

So, for those of you still under piles of snow, thought I would share some pictures of Spring, even if it is to give you some hope :)

Have a great weekend!

Man vs. Food

Have you heard of the show Man vs. Food? Its featured on the Travel Channel, and this crazy guy goes across country searching for insane food challenges and does them. There are 3 here in San Antonio, and last week we did 2 of them.

Last week Kyle's little brother, Tyler, and 4 of his college friends road-tripped it down to TX. They visited a brother at an army base, spent a few days on the beach at South Padre, and spent a few days in San Antonio with us. What did they want to do or see in San Antonio? Man vs. Food Challenges.

The first one is called the 4 Horseman Burger. It is at a little run-down place on the West Side of town called Chunky's Burgers. The 4 Horseman is a regular old 1/2 pound hamburger; not only does it have the regular lettuce, tomotoe, etc; it has grilled jalepenos, serrano peppers, ghost chilli peppers, and habeneros. (Not familiar with those peppers? All of them are hotter than a jalepeno.)

About 500 people have finished the burger out of roughly 5,000 people that have tried.

So we got to Chunky's and one of Tyler's friends tries the burger. I sit the farthest away possible and make Kyle take the pictures because I know nothing good can come of this. I can just think of what those peppers would do to the inside of you, and I was NOT looking forward to finding out. Anyway. He ate about 4-5 bites and had to stop because his face was on fire, his lips were numb, and well, it was HOT. They proceeded to give him a glass of milk to cool off his mouth, which didn't help much. Let's just say he needed the bucket they brought out after that. (I was still on the other end of the table, in my own world, trying not to pay attention to what was happening.)

The other boys that were with couldn't be out-done by their friends, so they all tried a pepper that was left on the burger (I think I said the word 'idiot' about 8 times during supper). They were all hurting, even after just a lick of a pepper. I refused, as did Kyle (he had a softball game).

So, here they are. The boys, and the one behind the sign is the one that tried the burger.

The next night we did a different Man vs. Food challenge. This one I liked better. It was featured at Big Lou's Pizza. They make and serve a 42" pizza. You read right...a 42". This one isn't as "rare," Big Lou's makes multiple a night, especially on Friday nights (when we went). It took about 45 minutes for it to make, but it was a fun atmosphere, with the biggest tables I have ever seen in a pizza place. In total, we had 12 people attack the pizza and we ate it all. That is right. All 42" gone. I couldn't even finish one slice. It helped that we had 6 college-age growing boys at the table to help us out. Some rolled the slice like a burrito. Some folded it in half like NY style...I tried to cut it, and failed. Anyway you ate it, it was a delicious pizza!

It was fun having the boys down, and even better have them find these places and us being able to take them. Most of the San Antonio residents have never even heard of these things, so I am glad I got to do them!

My suggestion: skip the burger, head for the pizza and the other food challenge we didn't do - the 3 pound cinamon roll (and live at the gym after that) ;)

Next Visitor

Ok, I am a little behind. Steve and Jill brought down Simon and Allan a couple weeks ago and spent some time with us down here in San Antonio. As always, we had a blast.

We went to some places that Kyle and I have not been to yet, such as the Natural Bridge Caverns (caves!) and the Enchanted Springs Ranch. The ranch was a place where they constructed buildings to look like the old "wild west." The entire thing was no more than 7 years old, but you would never guess it. They also had Pistol Packin' Paula there, she entertained us with a gun-twirling show and a bull whip show. It was very entertaining to watch!

When Kyle and I were at work, they also checked out the Riverwalk, Alamo, and went to the coast for a day. Jill and I sampled our share of margaritas, and we all played our share of Farkle! (Thanks again, Ann!)

It was a great trip and we all had so much fun!

Above: How is it a trip to TX without some TX BBQ? Rudys is a bbq joint located at the entrance to our neighborhood. It's delicious! Picture of us in the caverns. Picture at the old went ranch, and me with a longhorn! It may look goofy, but that is how I was instructed to take the picture. I didn't want a longhorn angry with me!

Next set of visitors coming soon :)

Right Brain or Left Brain?

I saw this on one of my other blogs I read, and I LOVE it. Thought I needed to share it!

It is an advertisement for Mercedes.

My love of advertising and right-left brained things have always intrigued me,

so I LOVE this ad!

I am 100% FOR SURE not left-brained. I HATE math with passion, and would literally be lost without my calculator. Love familiar? I love change! I get bored when things are the same for too long. Linear...what does that mean again? Stategic- PAH! I have no strategy whatsoever. I am more of a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of girl. Although I do know a second language, I do not play around with equations for fun, or numbers of any kind for fun.

Right brain. This sounds better. Creativity? I make ads for a living! I started scrapbooking at age 13 and LOVE photography. Free spirit? Even though I am married I did move clear across the country, studied in a foreign language country and love to travel. Does that count as being "free"? I love to laugh. I laugh at the silliest things, even at myself sometimes! Kyle thinks there is something wrong with me at times. Color. LOVE color. If I could, my whole house would be vibrant, bright colors. Kyle would never go for that, though! Imagination- I am always thinking crazy ideas, plans, and dreams. That never hurt anyone though, right?

So, what are you? Left brained or right brained?

Backyard Renovation

When we bought this house we knew we were going to have to put some work into the backyard. I was prepared...it's not like I've never done yard work before! Little did I know that Kyle had much bigger plans than I did.

This last weekend was gorgeous outside, and oddly enough, Kyle didn't have to work the weekend (first time since Christmas!). So what did he want to do on his gloreous weekend off? Yard work! haha. It was a sunny 70 degree weekend, with a slight breeze. We couldn't have asked for better weather.

We started out by taking out 2 bushes along the fence line overlooking the golf course. It was blocking our gate and we just watned it to open up a bit. There were also some "bushes" on the side of the fence, boarding our neighbors. They were large and unmanaged for a year or so, and neither Kyle nor I had any idea how to treat these "texas bushes." So what was Kyle's solution? Take them out. And he did. All 6 bushes. He got done with that side and looked at the other side and continued to take out the 4 bushes boarding our other neighbors. (He also took out the vines, too).

To top it off, he went and a got a hedger so he could trim up the current tree/bush things in our backyard. They look so nice now! I can't wait to start putting our own things back there...I already have some ideas!

(L) Some of the roots and stumps of the 'bushes' that Kyle pulled. (R) Tucker was outside helping, too. He would take a branch or vine we cut off and run away with it or chew on it until the next one came down

Here is our brush pile. It started with a few braches and is now full of bushes, branches, and vines. Thankfully the city we live in offers a "chipper service" so we need to make a call. ASAP!

p.s. Kyle finally put the Hide-a-Key up and somewhere smart. I think he learned his lesson ;)

Life Lesson

Growing up Kyle was always getting a "life lesson" from his dad. Last night, he got a life lesson, with no dad around, and without wanting one.

The first softball game of the season was last night, so Kyle and I left a little early to head out and meet some friends for some pre-game socializing. I followed Kyle out the door, and as I was closing the door he turns around with this blank stare on his face as he said "wait a minute." Instantly I knew he forgot his keys.

Randomly I will grab my keys if Kyle is driving, for no particular reason, but of course I did not do that this time. Then Kyle mentioned the spare key we had for the house. I was like, Great! But, as luck would have it, Kyle had the key at home, INSIDE the house. He hadn't gotten aroudn to putting it outside since the key was made. Weeks ago.

So after I took Kyle and Jason to the softball field (I had a spare set of keys for my car in my purse) I drove back to the house to meet the locksmith.

Let's just say after the door was open, I put the spare key OUTSIDE and grabbed BOTH sets of keys before heading back to the softball feild. I was gratefull it was a nice 60º night - perfect for watching softball.

Life Lesson: Always make a spare key and put it somewhere other than inside the house -- right away :)

Have a great weekend!

Roll Over

This is a trick I taught Tucker during the nights that Kyle worked late. Tucker now has it down to a T, so I have moved onto the next trick. (Still in the early stages of that one - more to come later).

Check it out!
p.s. Do you see how big the 'puppy' is?!?! He sure has a mind of his own lately!