My New Find

After hearing Ingrid Michaelson's "Maybe" a few times on the radio when I was back in TX, I became slightly obsessed with her. I'm pretty picky about female singers' voices (I can't stand that over the top, Mariah Carey sort of stuff). Ingrid, however, is a breath of fresh air and her lyrics are really deep and meaningful (and catchy)!

Anyway, this paying for music on iTunes stuff is a new concept for me. In college, I was the queen of downloading illegal music (gasp!) Once my computer finally crashed from the thousands of viruses brought on by said glorious, yet illegal music, I now walk the line and pay for my music. So when I actually dish out a buck to pay for a song on iTunes, I've gotta really love it.

Now, for your listening pleasure...


This is another of my favorite songs of hers...


I also bought "Disturbia" by Rihanna and "Can't Tell me Nothin" by Kanye. Freakin love those songs!

On another note, I hope everyone's having a great start to their weekend. J and I went to an event with his squadron and he not only participated in, but tied for first place in the chili eating contest! Poor guy was literally crying afterwards, but after drinking much milk and eating crazy amounts of bread, he's feeling better. Plus, we're $45 richer from the contest. Score!

Love,


E.

Best Damn Recipe EVER

My sister made this when I went to visit her (and the rest of my family & friends) in Austin a couple of weeks ago. Post to come of my trip back home (including pictures!) soon.

In the meantime, do yourself and the folks you love a big a$s favor and make this. You won't regret it.

Turkey with Walnut Parmesan Sauce (from Food and Wine)

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/turkey-with-walnut-parmesan-sauce

And as if that recipe wasn't yummy enough, here's another of my favorites (that I made last night in fact). Your tummy will thank me!

Tuscan Soup (from Allrecipes.com)

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tuscan-Soup/Detail.aspx

*Note- I wouldn't advise putting carrots in this soup (like the picture did). I suggest following the recipe on the link exactly, except for adding in a few shakes of red pepper flakes if you're a spiceaholic like the hubs and me.

Happy Cooking!

Love,

E.

Back from a L-O-N-G Hiatus

Happy New Year! Sorry for the crazy long break in between posts. J and I have finally settled down to life over in Germany and gotten into the groove of things. As beautiful as Europe is...I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I am so freakin' homesick for Texas! Let's just say that after living here, I'll never take Target, the San Marcos Outlets and Whataburger/Chick-Fil-A for granted again!

The holidays were really hard being away from family (we missed last Christmas too because we were on our honeymoon in St Lucia and Chicago). Also, I haven't made many good girlfriends (true friends you know, not just people you catch up with at parties) so, being the social butterfly I am, that's been kinda rough. I'm trying to be patient and remember that it just takes time.

On a brighter note, J and I have gotten to travel quite a bit in the few months we've been here, so here are some picture recaps. Enjoy!

Above: Bernakstel-Kues Wine Fest (my favorite little German town so far)

Bad Durkheim Wine Fest

Oktoberfest of course!

Bacharach: Werner-Kappelle open-air cathedral

More Bacharach

Rudesheim: Riding in the cable car over the vineyards

J and me!

More Rudesheim

*Side note- J and I discovered on the trip to Bacharach/Rudesheim that we are just not hostel people. Sharing a bathroom with a whole floor (complete with see-through shower doors and bedding that hadn't been washed in who knows when) is just not for us. Especially when the hostel costs the same or more as cute little nearby hotels/B&Bs. Lesson learned!

More travel posts to come later- we've been to a few more places, including Bruges, Belgium for my birthday (my fav trip so far!)

Love,

E.

Blah...

I'm sorry I haven't posted lately, and I promise to give a full recap of Oktoberfest, but I've been sick in bed since Sunday. And until we move into our absolutely gorgeous and fantastic (I may be a little biased) house this weekend, we're staying at one of J's coworker's houses with no (gasp!) internet. So I'm typing this at a library, which is just not a lot of fun.

By the way, here's a little random German fact of the day for you. In the bigger cities and towns it's not such a problem, but if you choose to live in a small village there's a strong chance you won't have high-speed internet. Over here, unlike in the States, there are only a certain number of slots for DSL in each town. So, if you fall in love with a quaint little house in the countryside and all the slots are full, you're stuck with dial-up forever. For us, internet was muy importante, and we made sure our house had a slot.

Anyway, I need to scoot, but I'll be back this weekend with pics of the house and Oktoberfest- fun!

Love,


E.

Hurry Up Saturday

In just two short days, J and I will be boarding a bus to Munich and are headed here! While there, we will drink many liters of these.

Totally random fact of the day- I've heard Germans just love this song and that they sing it every ten minutes or so in the beer tents. Who woulda thunk they love cheesy 80's music totally rad 80's music?

Can't wait.

Prost (Cheers)!

Love,

E.

Meet... Mi Familia

So before I get too ahead of myself, I wanted to introduce you to my family.

First, there's my sweet husband, J. He's a pilot in the Air Force, and he just loves his job. I so admire him for that- wouldn't it be my nice if everyone got to make money doing what they love the most?!

We first met right before I graduated high school, then we started dating in college at Texas State University our senior years and got married last December. I know it sounds corny and cliche, but nothing's better than being married to your best friend.

Then there are our two sweet kitties, Bridget and Baxter. Bridget's a little momma's girl and the cuddliest cat I've ever had. Baxter is a little more skittish, but incredibly soft when you get a cuddle in. They get along great with each other and add so much to our lives.

In case you were wondering, we have no plans for babies anytime soon. We're just having a blast being newlyweds and enjoying our time with each other.

So that's my family. Couldn't love 'em more if I tried!

Love,

E.

Ewwww... TMI!

One thing you should know about me is that I'm addicted to celebrity gossip. Perez Hilton is just about my favorite site ever, and my brain holds more useless celebrity trivia that I care to admit. Oops, I guess I just did.

Anyway, have you been keeping up with the whole Jon and Kate Gosselin drama? If so, Jon's pretty much proved himself to be the biggest d-bag ever. I feel so sorry for those kids when they get older and start realizing what's going on.

To get to my point, PH (Perez Hilton) just posted this juicy (and gross!) tidbit about Jon. Now I don't believe everything I read about at PH, but c'mon- I wouldn't put it past him.

So that's the gross part. On a brighter note, let me leave you with some delicious eye-candy. My only celeb crush. You're welcome :)

                                                          Courtesy of buddytv.com

Love,

E.