Ron Weasley Syndrome

 [image via omgharrypotter]

I would like to share a term I have coined called Ron Weasley Syndrome.

What is it? Ron Weasley Syndrome is a treatable condition in which a person is in a considerably grumpy or grouchy state of being due to a lack of food. Sometimes referred to as low blood sugar.

How to treat: Get some food to the person immediately.

Why RWS? All awesome people will remember the epic Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, where the beloved Harry, Ron, and Hermoine are on a quest to find Voldemort's horcruxes. Never staying in the same place for long, the three are forced to hunt for food to provide for themselves. Ron became extremely irritable or moody when food was scarce, leading to the term Ron Weasley Syndrome.

September is (almost) here!

I can feel the fall in the air! Especially last Friday...did you go outside? The humidity must have dropped to 50% or something; it was amazing! Oh Houston weather.

So this weekend Tyson, Brody, and I were in Cypress to celebrate my birthday. I think Tyson was a little surprised how big we celebrate birthdays, because in my family, you have a birthday week. Friday night we went to Carino's (might or might not have been craving that delicious roasted garlic stuff with bread) and came home to eat Sprinkles cupcakes (!) and open presents. I received two cardigans from J.Crew, a few gift cards, a Vera Bradley tote bag, and a dutch oven! My family was very sweet to me. :) Saturday consisted of eye doctor appointments and a trip to Barnes and Noble to spend my gift card. I didn't find the book I wanted, but Tyson got this book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, and has been driving me crazy telling me what are and are not considered assets. He is really liking it so far though. And I guess I am benefiting by getting the cliff notes.

I feel like dinner this week is going to be pretty lame (pretty much chicken and pasta it seems!), but Tyson is excited so I guess that's what matters. All I care about is how easy it's going to be...which it is this week!

Monday: Baked Potato Night! Tyson will get leftover delicious Central Market steak as his protein (he is obsessed with his protein intake for marathon training)
Tuesday: Crispy Deviled Chicken + pasta with marinara sauce (Again. Tyson loved it last week and I forgot to use the fresh thyme I bought for the recipe so he requested it again this week. Oh well. It was pretty tasty!)
Wednesday: Baked Ziti with Italian Sausage (but I might use penne because I already have that.)
Thursday: Firecracker Chicken Stir-Fry
Friday: out of town

Have a great week!

Random Photo Wednesday

Tyson grilled me a heart-shaped burger on Sunday :)

I was mean again this week. I'm (still) unpacking my craft closet and found this bow that was the perfect size to put around his neck.

Here's to a lack of a Manic Monday...

Another Monday, another week! Next week I will be able to sign up to be a sub and (hopefully) things pick up a bit for me. :) My laptop crashed this weekend (so annoying), so for now I am using Tyson's. The only thing we could potentially lose (besides about 20% of my music, but it's on my iPod which can be extracted--I think?) is our honeymoon pictures...which makes me super sad. But we posted most of them on facebook, so at least we can look at them--even if they are too small to print.

We finally took Brody to the dog park! It was a really nice one, and we all had a good time despite the heat. Next time I will bring my camera to share how cute he is. He loved playing in the lakes and meeting two other goldens!

Other than that, the weekend was a super lazy one--we stayed here and watched movies (HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban, some of Air Force One, exactly 26 minutes of Minority Report--Tyson hated it, and a James Bond), cooked, and went to church. We are thinking we are going to start visiting Grace Fellowship exclusively (as opposed to dating around, which we had been doing) and join a "recently married/engaged" small group.

And for dinner...
Monday: Baked Potato Night
Tuesday: BLRs + french fries (we never had them last week because I went with Tyson to Austin for work and stopped by my parents for dinner on the way back)
Wednesday: Crispy Deviled Chicken, rice, steamed broccoli
Thursday: Sautéed Tequila Lime Shrimp Tacos with mango and pineapple salsa + spicy black beans
Friday: Cypress to visit friends & family for my birthday! :)

Bad Mommy.

Yesterday, while watching Flipping Out, Brody was intrigued by a few barking dogs. Naturally, I replayed it 5 times on the DVR. I love technology!

Monday is for Menu Planning!

Some of the blogs I like to read share their menu plans for the week on Mondays. Menu planning has helped me stay in budget so far, so I'm going to try my best to share my plans/recipes on my blog at the beginning of the week. :)

I had a really hard time deciding what to make this week, probably because Tyson said I had my best week of cooking last week, and I wanted to continue my streak! Oh well. Here's what I ended up going with:

Monday: baked potatoes, black beans, leftover taco meat to top Tyson's
Tuesday: chicken spaghetti, salad
Wednesday: BLR's, sautéed zucchini
Thursday: parmesan garlic chicken, steamed broccoli
Friday: moo-shu style pork wraps + rice

This weekend was so relaxing! We spent time with both of our families and enjoyed some delicious cooking all weekend long. :) Brody and I drove to Cypress on Friday afternoon and Tyson came over after work. We had some yummy tortilla soup and watched a movie. Then on Saturday we drove over to the ranch after a quick stop in College Station for a haircut at Tyson's favorite barber shop and lunch on Northgate--Freebird's for me and Antonio's Pizza for Tyson. We pretty much just relaxed all day at the ranch...Brody was the only one who tolerated the heat to play. But he was also in the lake. :)

We got to see Heather and John's new place in College Station (which is super cute!) before heading back to Cypress--we have to stop at my parents' after we visit the ranch so Brody can get a bath because we can't at our apartment. Tyson watched the end of the golf tournament while I finished a book I've been reading, The King's Daughter by Sandra Worth. It was really good...I haven't read a historical novel just for fun before, and I really liked it. It's about Elizabeth of York, the first Tudor queen and mother of Henry VIII. Afterwords I wanted to research my genealogy to see if I had any crazy relatives, but apparently it takes a lot of effort and can't be done in an afternoon. I was kind of sad I didn't have any English in my background. I found Tyson's family's crest (on his paternal grandmother's side) and motto though, which was pretty neat.

That's enough rambling for now. Time to get caught up on cleaning and errands!

I love pretty much everything by Alex Goot. He even has free downloads on his site!

Bring on the Fall!

I am really looking forward for some cooler weather. Cardigans, cute boots, scarves...I'm getting more excited just thinking about it. Now that I'm cooking more, I'm also really looking forward to the cold weather-type meals. Soup and chili just aren't as good in summer months. And who wants to eat a meatloaf when it's hot outside? I'm making red beans and rice tonight though--Tyson suggested it because he knew I've been craving it. I think we might have to crank the AC down though to enjoy it. Not really. But I would like to.

How do you mix it up with leftovers? Last week we had quite a few--chicken, steak, and pork chops--that I needed to dress up so it didn't feel like a warmed up piece of meat with random sides. I ended up shredding the chicken and made a homemade barbecue sauce for sandwiches, this fun pasta and summer veggies with the pork and a little sauce, and then we made steak paninis. We actually had so much steak that we had a "panini-off" and Tyson made a cheese steak version on Tuesday and then I found a recipe that we tried Saturday night. I won. :) I used this recipe and made it with shredded mozzarella cheese, and then Sunday after church Tyson wanted it again so we split one with a slice of provolone. We definitely love our panini press!

Random side note: I love it when dogs bark on tv and Brody freaks out. It happens at least once a day. He really loses it when cows moo. That doesn't happen a lot, though.

July Recap

I've kind of slacked off on blogging the last part of this month. Mostly because not that much has been going on! I've been staying home with Bro Bro, and Tyson's been working a lot. Here are a few highlights:

• We celebrated the 4th of July at the ranch with the Hanns and Heather's future in-laws. It was really hot!
• Brody is getting acclimated to Katy and has liked his doggie dates so far. We're planning to go to the dog park soon, which I know he will love.
• I have had several interviews, but the right position has not presented itself yet. I have an interview with a school district next Monday, so prayers for that would be greatly appreciated! I started Beth Moore's Stepping Up study through the Psalms of Ascent, which has been perfect for this season of my life. 
• My current obsession? Sarah's House on HGTV. It is in it's third season in Canada, and they've picked it here and show seasons 2 & 3. So much inspiration! I love it! I have all of the episodes on my DVR, so you should come over and catch up.
• Tyson started his training for the Dallas White Rock marathon in December. It will be his first full marathon! I do not think I will run the corresponding 5k though, because it's held the day before. Boo.
• Lots of friends moving! One of my best friends moved back to Houston, and Lesley informed me she is moving back in December!! Wahoo! Val moved away to Abilene though, which was bittersweet.
• I also had some bridal pictures taken by Valerie Millard Studios! You can see a few here!

Sadly, I cannot type very much longer because I lifted weights for the first time since before the wedding this morning and am already super sore. Seriously, why are my biceps hurting from typing??