Visitors, Art Festivals, Weddings, Road trips and all around good news =)

Sorry for the lack of updates! We have been out having too much fun. =)

The semester is in full swing and I am getting bogged down with teaching, writing publications and preparing for scientific meetings. Dan is also busy paying his dues at work with overtime and other such excitement. BUT! He got a pretty awesome RAISE today!! And got recognized by his parent company for all his hard work. I'm so proud of him! I'm so thankful he has been able to find a job in Texas where he can excel, do meaningful work and continue to grow professionally.

In other news.. My mother came to visit us for an extended weekend early this month. We did a lot of adventurous cooking and became utterly addicted to our new favorite card game: Dou Di Zhu. (Taught to us at our community game night by some Chinese grad student friends). Warning: If you come over to our house, we will probably make you play with us!

Sadly, the weekend after she left, Waco held a Cultural Arts Fair complete with potters and folk singers. You would have loved it, Mom. We had some great conversations with artists and finally got the scoop on the best pottery shows to attend throughout the year. We even picked up a new piece for our living room.

Dan especially enjoyed the closing folk group, Trout Fishing in America. Apparently his High School choir warmed up every class to some of their songs. It was a fun walk down memory lane.

This weekend's adventure was our 6 hour road trip to Lubbock, Texas to celebrate the marriage of one of my lab-mates. Of course, no road trip is complete without some road trip snacks! We found these local treasures (both made in small Texas towns) at one of our first gas stations.

Chick-o-Stick. The name alone begged for the purchase. It was a very strange crispy, then excessively chewy peanut butter and coconut creation. The bright orange color and the.. texture.. were a bit alarming. But not too bad. (We were really hungry..)

Let me warn you to STAY AWAY from the Super Peanut Pattie!! Smushy peanuts sunk into a bright red bed of corn syrup. Yuck yuck yuck! When we were desperate for protein during the drive, we took to excavating peanuts for this semi-hard red puddle. Never again!

The wedding was very low-key and intimate -- and for the reception we all met at a cowboy bar to hear some live country and watch brave souls dance the two-step. (Hopefully before we leave, we can learn how!). Instead of turning around and driving straight back to Waco the next morning, Dan and I decided to pick some apples at an orchard just outside of town.

That 5 gallon bucket was very deceptive. We thought we were picking in moderation -- until we weighed our haul. 8+ lbs for two people. Yikes! Anyone have good apple recipes?

And lastly, a few pictures from the drive home. It was a gorgeous drive. I especially enjoyed watching the oil rich scrub land surrounding Lubbock gradually gain more trees and hills and we approached the Waco hill country.

Right outside of Lubbock. No trees, plenty of oil rigs.
A few hours east -- Sweetwater, Texas. World's biggest wind farm area. Starting to see a few squat little trees.
Green grass, beautiful green trees.
Welcome to hill country! This is our new dream house.

Almost home! If you are lucky, maybe we will take you to the Burger N Wok when you visit ;) -- We don't really want to go, but aren't you even the least bit curious?

Paint Ball and Such

So Paint-ball is actually really fun. I wasn't sure how Kristin and I would take to it, not being the angry, shoot-things-with-guns sort of people, but we ended up enjoying it overall.

So you are probably wondering what the 'hey' I'm talking about at this point, so I'll try to cover the W's.

Who?

Kristin's lab and the neighboring Chem lab all know each other and are not only very scientific but also very competitive...

Why?

The idea of a paint-ball game sparked the interest of the labs initially. When Dr. Brooks jumped on the 'bandwagon' all of the interested parties followed suit, and a date was set...

When?

A large group of scientists and significant others' used carbon dioxide powered rifles to batter each other with hard, breakable, pellets over the labor day weekend. The competition lasted from about 3pm till, oh, say about 7pm. Or there about. And it was held at...

Where?

Guru Paint-Ball. Not the best named place we'd ever heard of, but we played on a course/field that was well set up for ducking, hiding, and generally avoiding the shots from ones opponents. To get there, just follow University Parks west of campus (past the Ferrel Center) for about 10 miles. Not quite the boonies, but certainly out of town.

...

ok, I know I'm missing a W...

Oh Right!

What?

Paint-Ball. We set the teams based on lab affiliation and shot at each other with little breakable pellets that left a visible mark to indicate if one had been hit or not. We played with elimination as the goal. Last team to have one or more players without a hit won the round. I had a good time trying to scope out new vantage points, but I also got hit a lot. Movement seemed to be key, though and it proved to be an excellent use of an evening.

So yeah.

The actual, 'getting hit' part was something that, yes, did hurt. But I think because so many people had always said that it would hurt, I was almost too ready to take a shot to the leg/torso. It really doesn't hurt that bad. I mean it stings, leaves a welt, and bruises after a spell, but it is not disabling or anything. I didn't ever want to sit out a round because I had been shot.

In Sum,

I know Kristin and I had a great time, and I'm pretty sure everybody else did too. It was fun to finally try paint ball, and I'm sad that I never played it sooner. It was really fun trying to guess where your opponents were, trying to figure out how to get the best shot off, and trying to keep yourself paint free. And, even though we were sore for a few days afterwards, it was fun being reminded of the weird/exciting activity that is Paint-ball.

Ultimate grilled cheese

For those of you that know me well, you probably know that my favorite comfort food.. my biggest vice.. is the grilled cheese sandwich.

Over the past year, I have created two new twists that can make my toes curl. 1) Thick slices of fresh mozzarella with a little dash of herbs. Served along side a big bowl of french onion soup. 2) Sharp horseradish white cheddar cheese, with the occasional slice of corned beef. Mmmmm..

Yes, I realize my favorite treat has wheat in it. Yes, I get sick within 30 minutes of eating my sandwich. No, it by no means diminishes my love of gooey cheese and crunchy, toasty bread. And no, I won't be giving up this vice anytime soon.

As a self-proclaimed NPR junkie, when I saw that the Wait Wait Don't Tell Me guys had discovered the ultimate grilled cheese.. I knew I had to find my way to Denny's. Yes, Denny's. I know. And please, don't talk about the calorie content or mention how my arteries must be doing. I know. But Oh. My. God.

Imagine and perfectly amazing grilled cheese sandwich that just happens to have 4 mozzarella sticks hidden inside. Don't judge me! It was sooooo good!

Behold! http://www.npr.org/blogs/waitwait/2010/08/30/129529771/sandwich-monday-the-denny-s-fried-cheese-melt

Less than 48 hours after telling Dan about this sandwich -- we found ourselves sitting in a Denny's diner. Was it grilled cheese overkill? Almost. Did we both get sick? Absolutely. Would I do it again? Not sure... but man was it good!