Weekend Recap 7.16.17 … A Good Book, Friends in Town, The Ryman, and Brunch

July 19, 2017July 18, 2017 ~ Tasty Trials and Travels ~ 4 Comments

Hey guys!! I hope you week is going well!! We have made it to the halfway point!! Today is actually my Friday because we have a long weekend at the lake planned with our friends that starts tomorrow. I am SO excited!

I am not usually a fan of week night plans because after a long day at work all I want to do is kick my feet up and catch up on my shows or read a book. But, last week was a little bit different. A couple weeks ago my mom gave me a book and told me to read it so that we could go see the author speak at Vanderbilt the following week. Read a book in one week?? Eeek.. I barely have time to walk my dogs these days, but I obliged and am so glad I did. Last Thursday night we had plans to see Roxanne Gay speak at Vanderbilt. She has written many books, but this discussion focused around her book, Hunger. To say this book is an easy read is an understatement. Roxanne uses simple language and the chapters are just a couple pages long, which I love!

The interview was pretty good, but she definitely discussed the book tour more than the book, which I guess was to be expected since she was on her second to last stop of 30 cities.

I don’t want to give away any details, but the book tells Roxane’s story of dealing with weight gain in an unforgiving society. She details her family’s never-ending support and her rebellion against conforming to society’s ideals. It is an easy, yet really interesting read. We stayed afterwards to have her sign the book.

Afterwards, my mom, her friend, and I went to Caviar & Bananas for dinner. My mom suggested we try it and it definitely did not disappoint. I did the create your own salad and LOVED it. There are different “stations” with lots of options and we all really enjoyed our meals.

My mom got Jon a brownie and he didn’t waste any time digging in. 😉

Jonny and I made sure to get our pampering in later that night. 🙂

You guys!! I have a new nephew!!!! Otis gained a brother last weekend. His name is Murphy. He is 4 pounds of perfection!! I booked my flight last night to go meet him!! I can’t wait to hold that sweet baby boy!!! 🙂

Friday night our friends from Cincinnati came into town. We had a late dinner at home before walking to a nearby local bar to listen to some live music. We stayed for a few songs, then called it a night.

Saturday morning we woke up to thunderstorms so we decided to nix our hiking plans and head downtown to tour the Ryman.

I have seen several concerts at the Ryman over the years, but I never knew the history behind the Ryman. It was actually really interesting and I am really glad we did the tour. We learned lots of neat facts about our favorite country stars… especially my favorite, Miranda Lambert! I just love her and her music and her iconic pink guitars!

After the tour, we headed to 12th South for a late lunch at 12th South Taproom & Grill. I got a delicious salad with salmon!

Afterwards we walked around and stopped in a few of the local shops. We even took a peak into Reese Witherspoon’s store. When the boys saw the price tags…. they headed straight for the door. (That dress was over $500) 🙂

Later than evening we got a yummy sushi dinner at Run Sans then headed to a couple local bars for some games and drinks. (Clydes and Neighbors). This is what most of my pictures of Jon and I look like. 🙂

Sunday morning we headed to brunch at Fin & Pearl with one of Jon’s mom’s friends and her kids and their significant others.

We have been to Fin & Pearl once for dinner, but the brunch menu was to die for. It was SO hard to choose what to get. I ended up getting a salad and adding shrimp and Jon got the lobster and crab omelet. All of our food was SO delicious!

Sunday evening my mom and stepdad came over for dinner. We had such an amazing time eating, catching up, and playing ping pong, but ofcourse I forgot to take any pictures!!! That just means we were having a great time. 🙂

I found Callie like this that evening. Poor girl was exhausted… but really, is that position comfortable? 😉

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week and a relaxing and enjoyable weekend!!

Questions:

Have you read any good books lately?
Do you like to try new restaurants or are you a creature of habit?
What is your favorite city you have ever visited?

And the Lake Fun Continues

July 8, 2017July 6, 2017 ~ Tasty Trials and Travels ~ Leave a comment

Good morning! Whew, the weekend has arrived!! We don’t have a ton of plans this weekend, which is nice after being away last weekend. I’m hoping to get in a few trips to the park with the pups, a couple workouts, some pool time with my momma and some cleaning around the house.

When we were at the lake, we took a couple rides on the Jetskis (I always drive… I do not trust my husband not to go too fast…:)). Well when I came outside the other day… I saw this…. I’m not sure exactly what I said to my husband, but I let him know that nothing better happen to my girl. And what do ya know… she actually enjoyed the ride! He was very cautious with her and went pretty slow, but she seemed to like it.

My husband giving me a heart attack one day at a time… #overlyconcerneddoggiemomma

The cutest little family there ever was.

I mentioned before that we go out on the boat to see the fireworks show every year. Well this year I was voted to be the statue of liberty….

I tried to get out of this duty… with no success. 😉

Last night at the lake with my sweet sister!

So happy these two made the trip to join us!

Otis looking calming while planning his next escape. 😉

I got pretty dang lucky in the spouse department. 🙂 My husband may disagree… 😉

My husband and I with his parents. We just love these two.

The whole gang minus my in-laws’ friends!

We had such a great Fourth of July weekend with our friends and family and are so thankful to all the men and women who sacrifice each day to allow us these special moments. And a very special Happy Birthday to my momma whose birthday was on the 4th!!!

Questions:

What does freedom mean to you?
What are you up to this weekend?
Do your siblings live near you?

The Fourth of July Lake Burton Tradition Continues

July 7, 2017July 6, 2017 ~ Tasty Trials and Travels ~ 2 Comments

Hey guys! I hope you all had a wonderful, long holiday weekend. We got back from Georgia on Tuesday and I sure was happy when I realized it was Wednesday and not Monday when I got back to work the next day. 🙂

We left for Lake Burton on Thursday after work and arrived late Thursday night. The rest of the crew arrived Friday so we planned to just hang around on Friday. It was a good thing we didn’t have plans outdoors because it poured rain all day on Friday. We eventually got in a nice little evening cruise a little later on when some guests arrived.

Sweet Riley in his element.

My sister and her boyfriend arrived late Friday night and we had quite an early wake up call on Saturday morning for the Lake Burton Fun Run. It is just a 2 mile run along the lake, but it sure is hilly. We finished in around 18:30, but I’m sure that was because of me. This little lady was running like it was no big deal and I was over here huffing and puffing up the hills. 😉

There was quite the celebration at the marina afterwards.

After we got home and changed we took the boat to a nearby island so the pups could run around. Riley was in absolute heaven. I have never met another little dog that loves water as much as Riley does.

We brought the hillbilly golf game down to the lake and we had so much fun playing it.

Throughout the long weekend, we had a few thunderstorms, which were welcomed after bouts of extreme heat! There is something so peaceful about listening to the rain.

This was Callie’s first trip to the lake!! We haven’t been able to bring her to Georgia because when we lived in Dallas, we always flew to the lake. Now that we can drive, it is so nice to be able to bring our sweet girl. She actually really enjoyed the lake (she usually does not do well in new places) with the one exception being the fireworks!! Each year we go out on the boat to watch the fireworks show and we leave the dogs at home. When we got back this year, we couldn’t find Callie. After lots of searching, we found her under a bed (that I thought she couldn’t possibly fit under) shaking uncontrollably. She finally calmed down, but it was a pretty rough night for her.

We did lots of lounging, played many games of cards, did lots of yummy cooking, played cornhole at the marina, and just relaxed, which was SO very needed for all of us.

My husband bought all the “kids” festive shirts. Yep, my doggie nephew, Otis, made the trip from Dallas. He only escaped once this trip. 😉

We celebrated my mother-in-law’s birthday in style! 🙂 .. with a few cakes.

I think the pups were pretty happy with all the walks, runs, and cuddles they got throughout the weekend. 🙂

I will be back tomorrow to finish up my fourth of July recap!! Have a wonderful day, friends!!!

Questions:

Did you travel over the holiday weekend?
What did you do for the 4th of July?
If you have a dog, does you dog hate fireworks like Callie?

Weekend Recap 2.6.17… Lots of Sports!

February 6, 2017February 5, 2017 ~ Tasty Trials and Travels ~ 7 Comments

Hey guys! How was your weekend? This weekend flew by for me, but I will say that I am excited this week has begun because my husband has been out of town since last Wednesday and I am ready for him to come home! He will be home tomorrow so needless to say, the dogs and I are just a little excited! He goes on an annual boys ski trip with a few guys from college and now that we live so far from the mountains, I know how much he looks forward to it each year. They go to a different ski town each year and this year they went to Sun Valley, Idaho.

While the boys are out west freezing, we are here in Nashville, also freezing!!!! It has been quite chilly around here. Thursday night, my dad, brother, and I went to the Predators game. They won 2 to 0! It was a great game! We went to the giftshop and had to model some Preds hats. 🙂

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I love this kiddo!

This breakfast is still on repeat around here. I love switching up the toppings each day. My favorites are strawberries, blueberries, bananas, peanut butter, almond butter, and shredded coconut.

So earlier in the week, I came home from work to find my slippers in a different place than I left them. I always put them in the same place so I know where they are. Well, Friday when I came home from work, I found both slippers on the bed. On Saturday I found one on the bed and one by my laundry basket. There is a little slipper thief in my house right now… The funny thing is that I really don’t know which dog did it. I would assume Riley because he likes toys, but these slippers are a little heavy so I am not sure if he could/would have put them on the bed…but Callie doesn’t like toys/picking up anything soo I would be shocked if it was her. I really want to put a camera on and leave it in my room while I am at work to see who is moving my slippers!! It has become like a game when I come home and have to search for my slippers each day. 🙂

Friday night we went to dinner at Carrabbas and I got a delicious salad with shrimp and this kid got spaghetti!

My friend Rachael and I hit up an 8 am Body Pump class on Saturday morning! It was a struggle to get up early on a Saturday, but it was so nice to get a workout in early.

After our workout, we went food shopping and spent a few hours baking (!!!) some yummy recipes. I will share them all with you later this week!

Once I got home, my dad, brother, and I took the pups on a long walk to the park. They were in heaven. Afterwards, I had plans to go meet up with Rachael and some friends, but wasn’t feeling the best so opted for some rest.

A few hours later we headed to Target for a few things… well, you know how that goes. It ended with a new wardrobe for my favorite little guy. He will definitely be the most styling little 9 year old on the block. 😉

Saturday night we cooked some dinner and watched the Predators game (they lost). Sunday morning I took the dogs on a quick walk before I did some yoga with my dad and brother at home. We are all working on our flexibility. 🙂

Afterwards I worked on some meal prepping for the week. I made a overnight oats, salads, hard boiled eggs, and washed and chopped fruit and veggies.

After lunch we took a walk in the park. It was 60 in Nashville yesterday!

Then we came home and got ready for our Super Bowl party!

My little brother loves to entertain and make decorations for parties. Even though it was only 5 of us at our “party” he wanted to make little flags for our food. How cute are these? Straws, scrapbook paper, and cut out logos of each team.

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The dogs are loving my little brother. So adorable. 🙂

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Have a great week!!!

Questions:

Did you watch the Super Bowl?
Who did you want to win?
Did you like Lady Gaga’s halftime performance?

New Year’s Eve.. We Went Out… Kinda

January 4, 2017January 3, 2017 ~ Tasty Trials and Travels ~ 12 Comments

Hi guys! How is your week going? I keep forgetting what day it is this week. 🙂 Back to where I left off yesterday…

On Saturday night we headed to my sister’s apartment before taking a short walk to her friend’s place.

All the cool kids (at the party) were heading out to the bars for the night, but we just stopped in for a drink. Hey, at least I got out of my workout clothes for a bit…

After about an hour, we headed back to my sister’s apartment where we met a few more of their friends for some games and munchies!

This guy has been my NYE kiss for the past 7 years! I sure do love him. 🙂

Otis needed some loving!

My sister bought me a new curling iron for Christmas and I am in love! The one I have been using is a smaller wand and the new one is much bigger and takes less time for loose waves!

And a few pictures from Friday night that I meant to add to the last post!

He loves me, I swear. 😉

Jon got Max golfclubs for his birthday and he was pretty pumped!

After ringing in the new year, we headed home and went to bed. The next morning my husband asked for all the fixings for breakfast. I delivered. He is so lucky to have me. 😉

I did quite a few treadmill miles over the week. The best ones were spent watching Bridesmaids. I have probably seen this movie at least 50 times and it still makes me laugh out loud every time. Yes, my treadmill is currently in the garage… my husband said that a treadmill does not belong in the office especially when trying to sell the house… I disagree, I mean maybe a buyer is a runner and will appreciate my love for exercise? 😉 I lost the battle. The treadmill is definitely going front and center in our new house.

This is the view I had after my run. One husband and three dogs. 🙂

Lunch on Sunday was leftover wild rice, broiled tofu, sauteed kale, and avocado. Mmmm!

That is all I have for today! Enjoy your Wednesday!

Questions:

Favorite board game?
Do you like to take naps?
Did you make it up until midnight on NYE?

Christmas in Indiana Part 2

December 29, 2016 ~ Tasty Trials and Travels ~ 7 Comments

Good morning!! I hope your Wednesday is off to a good start! I just got back from an early class at the gym so I am feeling great! Exercising will always be my favorite way to start the day. It just sets me up to make healthier choices throughout the day and puts my mind in a good place.

So back to where I left off yesterday with my recap of our trip to Indiana. Sunday morning we opened presents!! My mother-in-law is the best gift giver ever.

And then we ate some breakfast!

A little later, I had an assortment of goodies for lunch!

And we played a bit of ping pong…my husband has to go easy on me.. he is a lot better than me. 😉

A few hours later, we gathered in the dining room for Christmas dinner.

We had a huge delicious meal of steak, swordfish, mashed potatoes, rice stuffing, green bean casserole, cornbread, and a pear and walnut salad. So delicious!

Christmas cookies!

My brother-in-law got me the game Taboo for Christmas so we decided to play that night. We were laughing hysterically and someone, who I won’t name, may or may not have peed his/her pants. 😉

My mother-in-law’s mom was a huge Cubs fan so my mother-in-law got us all shirts for a picture for her holiday card this year. I know, dad, I told her it was against all my morals to wear a Cubs shirt. 🙂

That wraps up our trip to Indiana for Christmas! We had such a fun and relaxing time with my in-laws over the weekend. I am sad the holidays are coming to an end, but it is always nice to come home and get back into a routine. I am soaking up our time at our house now because it won’t be long until we are officially in Nashville!

Questions:

What is something you cook ever year on Christmas?
Do you open presents or eat first on Christmas morning?
Favorite type of Christmas cookie?

Thanksgiving Week Recap Part 2

November 30, 2016 ~ Tasty Trials and Travels ~ 8 Comments

Good morning!! I hope you all are getting back into the swing of things after the Thanksgiving holiday. I am definitely feeling the earlier wake up calls and really need to work on getting to bed earlier. Always a struggle for me.

Back to the second half of my Thanksgiving week recap! After the race Thursday morning, we went straight home and got cooking. We had friends coming over around 2pm and planned to eat around 4pm.

My sweet Callie girl needed lots of loving in this new-to-her place. She is quite the homebody and takes a while to warm up to new places and new people.

One of the two buffet tables!

I made the chocolate peanut butter pie on the left and our friends made the strawberry trifle!

After dinner we sang happy birthday to my daddy using the pumpkin pie! 🙂

Then we did the dishes and these two knew just where to stand. 😉

The boys and Otis.

Love my little family.

The kids!

Friday morning we met my mom and stepdad for breakfast and then went with my mom to the food closet. My mom runs the food closet at her church and the day after Thanksgiving is a big day of organizing because church attendees bring non-perishable food items to the alter to donate on Thanksgiving. With all 6 of us it only took a little over an hour and we all enjoyed being able to give back!

Friday night we went to another Predators game with my dad. They won again!

Saturday was a lazy day full of movies and naps. That night we had a family dinner with my mom and stepdad at Jimmy Kellys. We got some appetizers to split and all really enjoyed our meals.

Family.

Sunday morning I dropped of my husband, sister, and her boyfriend at the airport to head back to Dallas. I spent a good portion of Sunday making and decorating Christmas cookies with my momma. She makes a bunch of different kinds every year to give to her friends and neighbors. I forgot to snap a picture, but let’s just say that a 5 year old could have decorated them better than I did. 😉

And before I knew it, my alarm was ringing at 3:30am on Monday morning for me (and the dogs) to get up and hit the road for Dallas. These two were not amused.

That wraps up my holiday travels to Nashville for Thanksgiving. It was such a nice week filled with lots of fun activities and rest, which in my opinion, is the best kind of vacation. I am getting pretty excited to live near my parents and little brother and to be able to see them more often!

I hope you all have a great Wednesday!! Stay warm!

Questions:

Did you travel for Thanksgiving?
Did you shop on Black Friday or Cyber Monday?
If you did shop, what was the best deal you got?

Exciting News and A Thanksgiving Week Recap Part 1!

November 29, 2016 ~ Tasty Trials and Travels ~ 6 Comments

Hi guys! I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving and had some time to relax and eat yummy food with loved ones. We sure did. I actually just got back to Dallas yesterday afternoon so I am slowly getting back into the swing of things. I made the 10 hour car ride with the 3 pups and boy was it a long one!

Before I start recapping last week in Nashville with my family, I have some very exciting news to share! If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you may have seen my announcement this afternoon. We are officially moving to Nashville, TN in early 2017! We are so excited!!! As I have mentioned before, our long term plan was to hopefully end up in Nashville one day, but this day came a lot sooner than we expected. We had been anticipating a move early next year (for my husband’s career), but we were fully expecting to end up in a different state. In mid October, my husband was presented with an opportunity to move to Nashville and we were both in shock! We started getting excited, but realistically we didn’t think it would really end up happening. Fast forward a couple weeks… and it is official! We are not expecting this move to be permanent, but we are happy to take what time we can get to live near friends and family in Nashville. The one downside is leaving my sister, her boyfriend, and their pup in Dallas. I get teared up just thinking about it. It has been so so so nice getting to spend so much time with them these last two years.

So I hope that helps explain my sporadic blogging these last few weeks… life has been a little hectic. 😉 This also explains my mom deep cleaning our house and my mother-in-law visiting (she helped us paint a lot of our house). Thank the lord for our mommas! We don’t have an exact moving date yet as we will wait for our house to sell in Dallas (in 2017) and then start really looking in Nashville. I will be sure to update you guys along the way!!

Let’s rewind back to a week ago at 4am. This was my view as we began our 10 hour car ride from Dallas to Nashville. The pups were very curious why we woke them up so early.

We arrived early afternoon and my dad and I took the pups to the park for a long walk. We all needed to move after that car ride! At least Riley was looking at the camera…

After our walk we headed to a new-to-me restaurant called Wild Iris. We ran into my dad’s friends and grabbed a drink at the bar with them before sitting down for dinner.

I got the salmon and I can’t even explain how good it was. It came with this kale pesto and a bunch of roasted veggies. Mmmm mmm mmm!

Tuesday morning I headed to the grocery store bright and early to shop for Thanksgiving dinner and avoid the crowds before picking up my husband at the airport. He had to work that day, but later on we headed to the park for another walk with the doggies.

Then we met up with my favorite french fry loving little brother and dad for a quick dinner.

The dogs made themselves right at home. 🙂

Wednesday was spent baking and lounging around before heading to dinner and the Predators (hockey) game!!

How hilarious is my brother’s face in this picture? The guy next to us told him, “Someday soon you will like that!” 😉 We love this boy so much!!

My husband went to grab a drink and came back and said to my brother, “The cameraman wants you to dance for him!!” (Side note: my little brother LOVES to get on the Jumbo-tron at the games so he was SO excited!) They ran up the stairs and waited for the whistle to blow.

The cutest!!!

Thursday morning, Jacob and I woke up super early to get ready for the annual Boulevard Bolt (Thanksgiving Day 5 mile race). We sported our Santa hats for the race too. 🙂

My husband and best friend, Lissa, made signs and cheered us on throughout the race! So fun to see them!

We had a blast, but we were happy when we finally saw the finish line!!! So proud of this boy!

If you made it this far, thank you for reading. 🙂 I will finished up my Thanksgiving week recap tomorrow!!! Have a great night!

Questions:

How was your Thanksgiving?
Did you run a race on Thanksgiving?
What is your favorite Thanksgiving side dish?

Visit From My Favorite Boys

August 17, 2016 ~ Tasty Trials and Travels ~ 2 Comments

Good morning!! I hope your day is off to a good start! This has been a really fun week so far with my dad and little brother in town so I’ll show you what we’ve been up to! The next few weeks should be pretty uneventful so I am hoping to get back in the kitchen soon because I have a few recipes brewing in my head to share with you all!

Monday night after dinner we all headed to the bowling alley for some fun! None of us are very good, but we still had a blast trying!

Tuesday morning was pretty cloudy and rainy so we decided to go play Top Golf (it is covered). If you have a Top golf near you, you must check it out! It is always a blast!

Me, my brother and my sister!

After Top Golf, my dad and little brother played a round of mini golf before we headed home.

We spent the afternoon relaxing a bit before getting ready for the Rangers game! We got a quick dinner at a nearby restaurant then had some fun on snapchat before the game began! These snapchat filters just kill me! 🙂

You can see a little more of our snapchat fun on my youtube page. I posted two new videos this morning.

I sure do love this kiddo!

I guess because the game was on a Tuesday night, it was not crowded at all. We had great seats and had a lot of foul balls near us too!

Then we all decided we needed matching Rangers hats! Love them!

Thanks daddy for such a fun night!

We are just hanging around this morning, but are hoping to go to the Escape Room today followed by some pool time!! Have a great day!!

Questions:

Are you a baseball fan?
Favorite sport to watch?
Favorite food to get at a sporting event? Mine is definitely popcorn, kettle corn, or cinnamon roasted almonds! yum!