It's Been a YEAR?!

Holy Moly.  Today officially marks the day that one year ago, I packed up my life and moved to Dallas, Texas.  If you bet me all the money I had that I would ever move from Tulsa, I would have bet every. single. penny.

In the past year, so much has changed but luckily some things have stayed the same:

1.  I'm still in love with this guy:

2.  I still REALLY miss these girls and my fam:

3.  I MISS Pinterest Parties!!!

4.  I MISS ALL MY FRIENDS.... I still think Tulsa girls are WAY cooler...

Here's to many more happy years in the Big D!

Dad Does Dallas

Well, my dad finally decided to make a trip to the Big D!  It's the first time he's made the trip so I had to make sure he had so much fun that he would want to come back all the time.  He's not a big traveler so it's quite hard to talk him into leaving Tulsa.  

The first night, we headed to the Rangers game with Blake.

 It was a last minute trip so we were happy to find three good seats on the lower level.  Once the sun went down below the stadium (which was only about 30 minutes into the game), it didn't feel that hot at all thank goodness!

Dad and I headed to the JFK museum the next day and did that whole thing- it was actually really interesting and crazy that he got shot so close to where I live.  Later that afternoon, Blake swooped us up and we headed to do a little bowling.

I came out of the gate pretty strong, but my dad ended up beating us both the first 3 games.  I actually beat Blake once and I went to take a picture and he reset it before I had a chance to snap the picture- rude.

The last game was the closest game in the history of close games:

We finished the night at Javier's for some great food and the cigar bar.

Mission Fun with Dad accomplished- he's already planning another trip at the end of September!

A Mexico Wedding

For our final wedding in June, we took off to the Riviera Maya to celebrate Jon and Elizabeth's wedding!  

Jon is one of Blake's fraternity brothers, but I actually became friends with him my freshman year so I consider him one of my friends too.  : )  

We left on Saturday morning as the wedding wasn't until that Monday.  A lot of people went down Friday morning, but with all the weddings we just couldn't justify another day off work.  And let's be honest... we are too old for more than 3 nights of pretending we're back in college.  

We got there and headed straight to the pool where everyone was already having their fun!  We made sure to jump right in...

One of the group members had an underwater camera... how fun is that?  Since I have to hold my nose, we decided it would be more fun if someone did it for me.

The next night was the rehearsal dinner on the beach- it had the most amazing views and the most awesome slideshow.  The couple tried their hardest to find pictures of everyone who made a trip to Mexico and incorporated it in the slideshow- no telling how long that took them but it was very sweet!

The next night was the wedding and it was GORGEOUS.  It was actually the first Jewish wedding I've ever attended- it was awesome.  There are so many rituals they incorporate that it really makes it special.  One of them that I LOVED: before the wedding, the wedding party all watches the bride and groom sign a piece of paper with all their vows.  It is framed and put in their house so their commitment will always be top of mind.  

And of course, the reception was AWESOME.  Once the speeches were over, the special song came on (not sure what it's called) and everyone ran onto the dance floor to start the party, complete with throwing the bride and groom up and down in their chairs.  

Talk about the best party starter ever.  Don't be surprised if I incorporate some of these rituals whenever I get married.  : )

Wedding Season In Full Effect!

Holy Moly... this is the first weekend of no weddings for the first time in a month.  It has been so fun and we still have three more to go over the next month- wow!

The first wedding we attended was one of Blake's fraternity brother's (Jerry) and it was here in Dallas at Lee Park at Arlington Hall... it was a BEAUTIFUL wedding and actually the same set-up as Tony Romo.  It was good to have so many people together and meet some new friends.  For some reason, I don't have one picture from the wedding, but here's some of us at the hotel afterwards having a bit of fun:

This is Morgan, Josh Taton's girlfriend- sweet girl! 

Someone thought it would be funny to throw Blake's jacket on his head to ruin our picture with his sister, Lori. 

Blake has some serious "Party Hair" here... 

The next wedding we headed down to Oklahoma City for Blake's friend Shawn's wedding.  Unfortunately, we had a flat on the way there.  After hearing a loud noise, we pulled over and found the flat... I looked at Blake and said "You have no idea what to do, huh?"  And sure enough, I was right.  : )  We called Triple A and were waiting patiently playing Family Feud when a nice man stopped and changed it for us- it's so nice to know people like that are still out there!  

We ended up having to change in the car and were only about 30 minutes late for the Rehearsal Dinner.  Luckily, if it were going to happen at any wedding, this would be the one as the bride and groom are VERY laid back!

After the Rehearsal Dinner, we headed to this place called Speak Easy (I'm probably spelling that the correct way and I doubt it's spelled that way, but whatever...)

 Blake with all his high school and some college buddies!

 After the wedding (where I again failed to take pictures), the locals insisted on going to this bar in Bricktown called Candy Bar.  We should have known that this wouldn't be our type of place for two reasons: 

1.  We are way too old for Bricktown.

2.  It was a club... a serious, trashy club.

So, when in Rome, we decided to fit the part...

 On a side note, from the looks on my face, Blake's friends were scaring me...

I have no idea....

So that covers the first two weddings!  This post is getting long and I feel like the next wedding should get its very own!

Monday Meals- Baked Tilapia w/ Parmesan Crust

I finally made my first recipe from the cooking class I went to and it was a huge hit! I'm not a big fan of fish, but Blake is and convinces me to make it occasionally because "it's good for me". With that being said, I ate EVERY. SINGLE. BITE of this.

I forgot to take a picture, so this is the one from the cooking class- I promise I didn't make this much for two people. How wasteful would that be?

Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

1/2 Japanese breadcrumbs (panko)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 green onions, very thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire

1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)

1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

4 (6 ounce) tilapia (about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick)

Preheat oven to 425. 

In a medium bowl, mix together the cheese, breadcrumbs, butter, mayonnaise, green onions, Worcestershire, hot pepper sauce and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Pat the tilapia completely dry with paper towels; season generously with salt and pepper. Lightly butter a rimmed sheet pan and place each fillet on it. Pour the cheese mixture over the filets and bake until cooked through, about 10-12 minutes.

*** The tilapia can be substituted with any sustainable fish like catfish, whitefish, striped bass, haddock or cod. 

On the side, I served an awesome recipe I pinned the other day for Spicy Broccoli Saute- it was extremely easy and very good. I also made an oldie but goodie that Amy made at a Pinterest party a while back- Sweet corn with Cilantro Lime Butter. I left off the cheese on this because I didn't have any and it's already so good, it really doesn't need it. 

You all need to make this meal immediately- easy and delicious. Perfect for a dinner party when I find friends! ; )

Vail Vacation

We just got back from an awesome trip to Denver and Vail- Amanda's husband's (Rory) family owns an AMAZING house down there with AMAZING views.  We decided to spend a few days there, then head to Denver to visit one of Blake's good friends and his wife, Tori (who is awesome, by the way).  Rory went ahead and invited Jon and Tori down to Vail so everyone could make friends- the trip couldn't have gone any better.  

Remember that view I was telling you about?  Here it is:

We spent quite a bit of time at the house, which was great- so fun and so relaxing.  And cooked a great dinner one night of ribs, roasted corn, cheesy potatoes, and tons of other goodness, including 14 bottles of wine- wow.

We went into Beaver Creek one night planning to go to a 4th of July festival and unfortunately, the rain stopped us so we hung out at a friend of the family's house.  We ended up making it fun!

There was quite a bit of rain while we were there which was great because Colorado needed it so badly.  We went on a hike one day... let's just say that out-of-shape Kristin , the altitude, and hiking didn't mix too well.  It was fun but hard work!

On the way back down from the hike, it started thundering quite a bit... unfortunately, we didn't make it back to the car before the rain hit and we were all running down the mountain getting drenched in rain. We looked like a bunch of drowned rats- too funny.

The next night, Jon, Tori, Blake and I headed back to Denver to spend a night there.  We went to dinner at an awesome restaurant called linger.  I highly recommend it not only for the great view, but the food was delicious.

We were all pretty tired so called it a night pretty early that night.  We woke up the next morning (Saturday) and headed to meet the rest of the crew (who came back from Vail that morning) for a Mimosa breakfast.

We went to a fun brewery after breakfast and heading back to the house and got caught in another downpour... so back to looking like drowned rats.

Blake and I headed to the airport and had the craziest/ most awful flying experience ever.  Our flight left on time despite the rain and we were almost back to Dallas when the captain came on and had a "little announcement"- DFW had shut down so they turned our flight back around to Denver.  We got off the plane and they let us know that we would take off again at 11:00pm.  We hung around at the airport, went to board again when they let us know the flight was canceled for the night and we would leave at 7:30am.  We started looking for a hotel close to the airport then as we were heading out, another passenger let us know that they were giving us hotel rooms.  We went to stand in line to get that, when they decided to fly out AGAIN at around midnight.  After waiting and waiting, our flight finally took off and we got home at 4:00 in the morning.  

Although it wasn't the most pleasant ending to our trip, I can say it was way worth the fun we had!

Our Music Video

Haha... didn't think you would ever see that title on my blog, right?  Well, I can honestly say that I never thought Blake, our friends and myself would be featured in a video... especially one with Blake and me dancing.

We were out celebrating Blake's good friend's (Josh) 30th birthday at this hole in the wall bar in Dallas called Adair's.  Obviously, I was in heaven and have insisted on going back there at least once a month... live country music and a mix between country and city... it was awesome.

Anyway, there was this band playing and after a few drinks, we decided to hit the dance floor and show them who's the boss.  I completely blurred the fact that there was a man going around with a camera and I can't tell you how shocked when someone posted this on facebook:




Autographs later...