Chicken Update

Well I must say I do miss these crazy birds! I miss the fresh eggs too! I miss going outside to take care of them. My Dad emailed me the other day and told me that one of those crazy birds hopped the fence from the garden to the back yard. Little did she know Ash the dog was going to be waiting for her. Nick awoke to a ruckus and ran outside but wasn't there in enough time. Ash had done enough damage to the chicken that she died a couple days later. :( So now I am down to 10 birds, well I guess Dad has 10 chickens now. :) 

Silly birds.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Well we are starting to get settled into our "rental", I say it like that cause it doesn't feel like home yet. :) But it is close! Since the kitchen isn't a huge mess any more and I gave it a much need scrub down I decided it was time to make some dinner. Since we've both been sick I decided a good soup was needed. In the cookbook I made (Did I ever tell you I made a cookbook? It's just a collaboration of family, friends and food blog recipes that I have collected.) I found this easy recipe for broccoli cheese soup! It was delicious!! A must try! I found it on the Real Mom Kitchen website.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 can chicken broth

1 small onion, diced

1/3 cup flour

1/4 cup butter

Pepper to taste

2 cup milk

1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (the sharper the better for the flavor - I just used medium cause I had it.)

1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese

2 1/2 to 3 cups broccoli, chopped

Steamed chopped broccoli. Simmer chicken broth and chopped onion for 15 to 20 minutes in a covered small saucepan, until onions are soft. Heat milk in microwave for 1-2 minutes. In a separate medium-sized stockpot, melt butter then add flour and pepper. Cook together for a couple of minutes, then whisk in warmed milk. Stir and heat together on medium-high heat until soups starts to thicken. Next add chicken broth and continue to stir until well blended. Add cheeses and steamed broccoli. Serve immediately. Makes approximately 4 servings.

I used just all cheddar cause that is what I had, and I would either cook the onion broth mixture a little longer or saute the onions a bit mine weren't as soft as I would have wanted them. Still delicious though!!

Rudy's

Sorry I don't haven't anything too exciting to post, Dave and I have come down with the flu. But we did eat at a good place called Rudy's last Friday, they had some delicious brisket and smoked turkey!

This is Rudy's, it is also a gas station

My delicious brisket sandwich, Dave's tender smoked turkey and some potato salad (I still like homemade better)

Dave ready to dig in!

This is definitely something I want to learn how to cook, gonna have to invest in a smoker.
Now when ya'll come visit us we at least have one good place for you to try!

Our Home In Lubbock

Well we finally moved into the duplex last night, well we aren't done moving into it but at least we aren't at the Extended Stay any more!

Here are some pictures of the place,

Our garage, you walk through the gate to the left to get to our front door.

The gate you will walk through and our front door.

And this little furball will be waiting right here for you so he can get in his daily barking.

Half of the living room and a closet

Other half of the living room we have a fireplace, which kind of baffles me cause isn't Texas suppose to be too hot for an indoor fire?

Our kitchen, I have come to the sad realization that my Kitchen Aid mixer won't fit under those cupboards :(! I don't know where to keep it yet.

Our dining area with a little counter, not sure what do with the counter my chairs are too tall for it, maybe I can put them on the other side.

Area for the washer and dryer that we left back home. :) Anyone in Salt Lake in need of a washer and gas dryer???? Let me know!

The hallway to the master bedroom, and off to the left is a spare bedroom, and just as you enter the hallway to the right is one of the sinks for the Jack and Jill bathroom.

The spare bedroom, I hope to keep this clear of clutter and put a bed in it for those guests that come to visit! :)

The master bedroom, we haven't gotten the bed frame out of the storage unit yet.

Our closet (I have much to learn about photography I left the blinds open thats why that spot is blinding you :). )

The sink off of the master bedroom

The shower and the commode between the two sink stations.

I think that covers everything, oh I didn't take a picture of the inside of the garage. It looks like a normal one car garage. So we think the house will work out well for us, we have to sell our couches though as they are too wide to fit through the door...hmmm probably should have just sold most of our furniture before we left. Oh well. A

I have met one of the Texas natives today.....this morning I got up to make Dave a lunch before he went to work, I flipped on the light and found a cockroach right in the middler of our dinning floor! Yuck! It was a pretty big sucker, well at least to me I have never seen one before. They are hard to kill, it took Dave a few good whaps with his shoe. Needless to say we are calling the landlord to get this place sprayed though I have a feeling I will probably see another one before our stay is over. 

100th Post!

Wow my 100th post! I didn't think I had this many post yet, time sure does fly!

So we are still at the Extended Stay America, but hopefully that will all change tomorrow or Friday. We found a little duplex with a garage to rent so hopefully everything goes well that we can move into it. I will post pictures as soon a I can. I must say that the Extended Stay is.....well pretty boring! :) Dave is off to work till 1 in the afternoon so I just hang out here till he gets back since we only have one car. We haven't done a lot of site seeing mainly because most of our time is driving around looking at the houses. Not that we don't see anything when we drive we just haven't stopped to see any sites. Here are a few pictures I haven't been too good at taking pictures either so there isn't much.

Dave and Cosmo hanging out in the hotel room

I just love how Cosmo's legs are folded 

Yep! Thats right! We came all the way to Texas to eat at the Texas Roadhouse. (Not really it was right across the parking lot from our hotel, and the Realtor suggested eating here. :) It was just as delicious as the one back home.)

The Lubbock, Texas Temple

Dave and Me

So that is what we have been up to lately. I will say one thing about West Texas....

Their sunsets are BEAUTIFUL!!! This picture doesn't do justice whatsoever, they are just amazing!

The Drive To Lubbock, Texas

Well we made it! The drive down was good, long, but good! My brother Blake was very kind in offering his time and his truck to pull a trailer down. My Uncle Bruce was also very generous in letting us borrow a trailer he owns.  My Mom and Dad drove with Blake so he wasn't driving by himself and so they could check out where we are planning to live for the next while. We left Salt Lake at about 9:30 and arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico at midnight. 

Getting all hooked up to Blake's truck.

Loaded and ready to go, we built up the sides of Bruce's trailer to fit more stuff in and to enclose it.

Cosmo and Dave

This was Cosmo's position pretty much the entire time, he slept 90 % of the way.

Left from Albuquerque at about 8:30 and got to Lubbock 4:30 their time.

We parked the trailers on the side of the road behind the hotel, I woke up every half hour to make sure no one stole anything :)

My Mom and Dad at breakfast

Us ready to hit the road

This was the scenery for miles, nice and flat!

  It was getting late, so we decided to eat at Joe's Crab Shack and call it a night. We spent a night at the Arbor Inn, and spent the time looking up places to rent. Saturday we spent the day looking at places and calling all over the place. So we are now at an Extended Stay America for a week till we can get a hold of people renting places or look at apartments. Maybe not the best idea, but that is where we are at for now. 

My family left this morning :(

They are headed back home, I hope the drive goes smoothly for them. I will be nervous until I know they are home safe and sound. I am so grateful for them for taking the time to come with us. I am truly glad they are a part of my life! Man am I gonna miss them, I am going to miss everyone we left back in Salt Lake! Dave starts work today, I hope he likes his new work environment.  This move is truly an adventure and a life changing experience. :)

Time To Say Goodbye....But Only For A While

So, here we are, down to final days before the big move. My stuff is pretty much packed and ready to go. I just have to seal some boxes and find a box for a few more items. Then I need to go help Dave finish packing what is at his parents house. :) I would love moving if someone packed for me. 

I can't believe that we are leaving in pretty much a day! Crazy! The time has flown by so fast. I did get the time to see friends and family before I left. I didn't get pictures of every outing, but here are a few where I did.

My friends that I grew up with, Julie with daughter Afton, Ranie, Lindsey and Meg. We watch an old movie at Julie's house. I sure do love these gals!

My work took me out to lunch my last week there. I will definitely miss the friends I made there.

My Aunt Jane and cousins Charie and Maddy had me over at Jane's house to play X Box Kinect. It was so much fun! I love having such a great family. I will miss them terribly.

We celebrate our friend Kip's birthday with a good old tournament game of Bumper Pool! Grady won.

We had a delicious dinner with my family at the Texas Rhode house.

We also had a going away BBQ at Dave's parents house on Sunday, here are some pictures from that. And a big thanks to my father in law Stan, for manning the grill in 12 degree weather!

Nomani, Liam, Tracy and Bonnie

They would only let me take a picture of "their better side"

Nick, Alya, and Dave

My Father :)

Mike and Shelly in their Cowboy Shirts in honor of us moving to Texas

Robyn and Blake

Josh, Spencer, Nick, Robin, Robyn and Blake

Ian and Shelly

My Mom and Liam

I asked the Howells if I could take a family photo before they left, Kip, Garrett,  Easton and Shannon.

I also made one last trip to Leatherby's for cheese fries and ice cream with my friends. 

I also went to dinner, lunch and watch the Jazz game with some friends. I am so glad we have taken the time to be with the people we love. We have such wonderful families and friends. We are truly going to miss each and every one of you! We will stay in touch! We love you all! 

This is my last post till I get internet at our new home, I will post as soon as I can!