Let's get this party started!

This weekend has been interesting. Normally Josh and I are homebodies, so we don't venture out much unless it involves eating out or buying food. This weekend we both had holiday parties - an annual recognition dinner at work for me - and a law school class party for him.

The food was great at both. At the dinner, we ate at Jasper's in the Woodlands and I now need to add mascarpone polenta and homemade butterfinger to my list of recipes to try.

I go on another business trip tomorrow. The day after I return, Josh will be done with finals. We then plan on cooking more. We've realized we both enjoy cooking a lot more when we do it together. On Thursday we ended up cooking our favorite meal -
adapted from a Giada de Laurentiis recipe - Fusilli with Sausage, Artichokes, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes. Over time, we've changed it a bit - we always use fresh mozzarella and whole wheat penne. We swap the sausage for lean ground turkey, use canned artichokes and replace the fresh herbs with dried italian seasoning. That way, we almost always have all the ingredients in our kitchen. The last time I picked up sun-dried tomatoes from HEB, they only had them julienned, not whole. It actually makes a big difference in the taste, so I know need to be sure I find whole sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil.

Now that the sun sets earlier, I don't get home until after dark. That means that we cannot take the dogs to the Kingwood Dog Park unless there is a day on the weekend where the ground won't be soaking wet and muddy (We've already given the dogs two baths this week, so this weekend the drier ground was a strict requirement.). Here are the dogs in my CR-V after another visit to the dog park. No matter how much time I spend with them, the dog park is what really calms them down.

Now that Josh and I are settled in the house, we're finding it hard to think of things we'd like for Christmas. After visiting the very swanky (not to mention HUGE - three apartments rolled into one) Galleria-area condo of his law school professor, we agreed that it is finally time to start painting the house. We will likely start with the bedroom - and I'm thinking about using the color scheme associated with Martha Stewart Colors paint MS234 - Cake Stand Blue. This means that we'll move all of our Texas A&M wall hangings to the main area (the walls are looking a bit bare - they could stand to be utilized a bit more) and we get to replace the bedding. I'm particularly excited about the bedding replacement. Since our dogs do run and jump on the bed (which we do allow), it just means that the bedding does wear more quickly than under other circumstances.

I'm thankful for... Christmas time - and a renewed perspective

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose.
Dr. Seuss