The Sights

Last weekend we went to Lake Travis [located in Western Austin] & ate at The Oasis.

Here is the front side of the restaurant...

& this is what the backside looks like...

It is a very popular spot to watch this...
The views were incredible.
A few days before we ate here, Jordan got to spend a day at Lake Travis with all the Dell interns. I was jealous I was not invited, but he deserved the break. Anyway, that is how he found out about The Oasis & really wanted to take me there. I did my favorite thing ever - people watching. I love people watching. Next to us was a couple on their first date. The guy was committing date suicide by talking non-stop, cutting his date off when she finally did get a word in, & bringing up subjects such as religion, politics, and ex-girlfriends. He was clueless to her starring off longingly into space, texting her friends on how much she wanted to jump off the balcony {I assume that is what she was texting}, & rolling her eyes. It was amusing from where we were sitting. I am so glad I don't have to suffer through dating anymore, thank you my love.
The following day we went golfing. Well, Jordan & two of the interns he works with went golfing, I drove the cart.

I am a horrible golfer...very bad depth perception...quite embarrassing.

The three of them had a pretty good game & I think everyone had a good time. It was fun to get to know Claire & Jaared some more.

It was a beautiful day. Check out those clouds. We were pretty hungry by the end of it so we headed over to Rudy's BBQ to fill our empty bellies with some delicious food. Mmmm. Not too shabby of a weekend.

Generosity

"Love is when the other person's happiness is more important than your own."

--H. Jackson Brown Jr.

My immensely generous husband allowed me a trip back to Arizona for Father's Day. I was thrilled to be able to surprise my dad. Surprise him, I did. He even blushed when he found out I flew over

just. for. him.

I have a very deep love for my dad. I have always adored him. One example is that I cannot watch a movie where the father dies & not cry uncontrollably. I think I have done okay with being away from my family this summer. The only time I get homesick is when I start to think about my dad. Even when I was little [& sort of bratty, I hear] I could never be consoled by my mom, I always wanted my dad. Major daddy's girl.

My dad, like my husband, is also very generous. He & my mom are very service oriented. He is the "fix it" guy in the neighborhood & often comes to the rescue of many a broken items requiring patience & skill. I was sitting in my parents sacrament meeting a year or two ago when I heard the following story told by Sis. Wright (Jordan & my Sunday School teacher for many years).

Bro. Shill was working in his yard when I pulled around the corner in my car. I had remembered some of the neighbors saying how skilled he was at repairing things. I had a lamp that had been broken for quite some time & hoped he would be able to fix it for me. I rolled down my window and asked if he would come over when he had a minute and take a look at the lamp for me. I had no sooner parked the car and walked into the house when I heard his knock on the door. With great care and patience he took apart the broken lamp, examined it, & put it back together. I plugged it into the wall & it worked as good as new. I offered to pay him for his time and he refused payment & said "It was nothing." I said, "Oh, it isn't nothing. What you have done for me today can never be repaid. This lamp was my mothers and means quite a lot to me. I thought it would never work again, but you have fixed it and now I can be reminded of my mother everytime I walk by it."

"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal."

--Albert Pike

I am so blessed to have my dad's example in my life. He loves being able to serve others & I am grateful I learned some of this valuable skill from him.I got to do lots of fun stuff while I was in Arizona.

Some of the family went early one morning to see Toy Story 3.
I got to sit next to 2 very cute little girlies.Aren't we looking fabulous?!There were several birthdays while I was there as well. Laynee-bug (far right on picture above) had a swimming party that was loads of fun. It was there that I was introduced to Fruity Pebble Treats [like Rice Krispy Treats only with Fruity Pebbles...GENIUS]!!!
We stole Heather (middle) from the crazy farm she calls home (5 kids under the age of 4 is the crazy farm I am referring to), to go to lunch for her birthday.

Sidenote: Did you know Olive Garden does not give any complimentary dessert for birthdays?!? Lame!It was a nice trip filled with lots of time with family which is always good.

Jordan suffered through kind of a hard week at work while I was gone, but managed to find this beautiful lake on his day off.

I felt kind of bad for not being there to support him through his struggles, but am grateful for his sacrifice to let me go. Wish I could have been in 2 places at once. I definitely would have been feeding the duckies.

Confessions of an Addict

My name is Megan & I am a pancake addict.

♥ Flapjack

♥ Battercake

♥ Flannel-Cake

♥ Flap Cake

♥ Griddlecake

♥ Hotcake

Whatever name you put to it, I ♥ them.

Not just any old pancakes...MY pancakes.

I don't mean to brag, but seriously, yum!

I started making these made from scratch pancakes in Jr. High & from then through getting married, I made them probably twice a week.

Not for breakfast either. For dinner!

I made these a couple nights ago & now that I am forced to talk about them & look at the pictures, my mouth is salivating.

My sister makes some delicious buttermilk pancakes, & for a while I was making that recipe.

They never turned out very well. I can't make them like she can.

So I went back to my trusty recipe & man alive was I missing out.

Now I can't stop thinking about them & I am glad Jordan likes them enough for dinner at least once a week.

My love for them has even gone as far as to think up a name for a future pancake house:

♦ ♦ ♦ Griddle Me This ♦ ♦ ♦

What do you think?!?

Pancake Song

Mix a pancake,

Stir a pancake,

Pop it in the pan.

Fry the pancake,

Toss the pancake,

Catch it if you can.

- - Christina Rossetti

Mama Said

Mama said there'd be days like this
"They'll be days like this," my Mama said.
(Mama said, Mama said)
Mama said they'll be days like this
"They'll be days like this," my Mama said.
Jordan & I, both, kind of had one of those days. His day = frustration with not knowing exactly how he can be the most helpful at work.
My day = being disappointed because of the thoughtlessness of people. (Mama said, Mama said, hey, hey.)
Don't you worry. (Mama said, Mama said, hey, hey.)

Don't you worry, now.These grumpy faces made me feel better. Especially this one...

Life Is Like A Box of Chocolates

We spent the weekend in San Antonio, Texas.

It was beautiful & green. We stayed at a Bed & Breakfast called The Gardenia Inn. The entire house was so charming. We loved our room. Here is the bathroom - we did not know how we felt about having just a bathtub, but it was actually pretty fun to do something different than hop into a plain old shower.The porch was easily accessible with this floor to ceiling length window, just slide the window up & step out...so neat! Way better than the obvious door.I want a house just like this one [if I can't just have this one]. It was perfect & had so much character.

The cute couple who owns the B & B were friendly & hospitable. They also made delicious breakfast.I already want to plan a trip back to this place. It won my ♥ .The Riverwalk was just a 15 minute walk away. What an inventive use of a river. The Riverwalk was enchanting & I could imagine myself walking along the canals of Venice. Seriously. The river was below the noisy hustle & bustle of the city streets. It is a world of its own.There were tons of these guys swimming around. She really wanted us to share our dinner.There were bridges & tunnels incorporated throughout the entire area for people to easily get to where they need to go. We took a boat tour of the river & learned some neat historic facts about the city. It also helped us to get our bearings, it was easy to get turned around in this place. As nice as it was to stroll around I only had one complaint...it was really humid (even the locals said it was unusually humid) & it made walking all over town pretty tough. It did not stop us though, there was just too much to see. When we decided to enter into reality again we went up the stairs, down the alley, across the street, & ran into this Historic War Memorial...The Alamo.

Fact: Did you know there is a city ordinance that limits how tall hotels or other buildings can be around the Alamo??? No building can be built tall enough to cast a shadow on a war memorial site.

On our way back home we stopped by The Japanese Tea Gardens. I know what you are thinking...the sign says Chinese. Interesting story...the gardens were designed by a Japanese immigrant in 1915. Then after WWII the city changed the name to The Chinese Sunken Garden. In 1983 they changed it back to its original name [they just haven't changed the sign].The tea gardens were built to disguise what otherwise would have been a useless space. In the 1800's limestone was discovered in the area.

This location was the limestone quarry that provided all of the limestone for the State Capital building in Austin.Instead of having a big empty hole, they created the sunken gardens. What an incredible idea - turn something old & used & turn it into something unique & beautiful.

We had a fabulous time & cannot wait to go back.

So why is life like a box of chocolates?!?

Cause "you never know what you're gonna get!"

We went to San Antonio, Texas this weekend & I felt like I was in:

1. Texas - rich with Southern hospitality

2. Venice - the city of love

3. Japan - full of history & culture

P.S. If you are ever in the San Antonio area go to the Tip Top Diner & get yourself some Banana Cream Pie...words cannot even describe.

Cravings

I have had a lot of spare time recently.
I occupy my time with things like:

*laying out

*baking

*working out

*cooking

*annoying close relatives [mostly Elyce] with my phone calls because I need somebody to talk to or I will lose my sanity

*cleaning

*blogging

I have started cooking a lot this week especially.

It has occupied so much of my time that today I was sick of it & decided to give myself a day off. After all, there are plenty of leftovers to feed an army. Jordan wanted to go out rather than experience the exciting aspect of leftovers. Over the weekend we tried to go to

Chuy's Fine Tex Mex

- - it was a one & a half hour wait - - No Thank You!!!
We thought we would give it another try tonight. Our thought process was: It's a Wednesday night so it won't be as busy as a Friday night. I guess we were somewhat right, still a half hour wait, but that just confirmed the rumors that this place must be really tasty.
Since being in Austin, I have been kind of disappointed in where we have gone to eat (excluding The Salt Lick). I have wanted to find that place that I go home & dream about [or write a blog post about]. Someplace I can take family out to when they come to visit & will ensure they will be back. Found it!

Seriously the best tortilla chips - EVER!!! Perfect in every way. Our food was finger lickin' good. Different than Arizona Mexican food, but equally as yummy.I was glad Jordan offered to go out for the night. I needed to get out. I have been cooped up all week. It has been overcast & rainy all week, thus, ruining my routine of working out & then basking in the beautiful sunshine.
I am definitely looking forward to this weekend. We will be temporarily relocating to San Antonio to stay at this cute Bed & Breakfast

that has gotten excellent reviews. I look forward to touring The Alamo, shopping Riverwalk, & maybe even going to the San Antonio Zoo [do you have any idea how much I ♥ going to the zoo!?!]

P.S. Since I taunted you all with pictures of food this entire post I thought I would leave you with a recipe for these...Caramel Apple Muffins

Perfect for breakfast (& does not require a bowl - - you know, if you have a hard time finding bowls around your place, like me).