A Plug

I've been meaning to give a plug to CityPass. I've written about our adventures to the Zoo and the Museum of Natural Science and the Space Center and the Aquarium. All that fun was compliments of the Houston CityPasses we got for Christmas (thanks Dana and Justin!).

These booklets of reduced price admissions are available for various vacation destination cities such as New York City, San Francisco and Toronto. It's a great way to see the popular attractions of the city at a reduced price. The only catch is that you only have 9 days from the day you activate your Pass until it expires. So you just need to make sure you try and work your schedule around the most destinations as possible.

Go check it out before your next trip!

Has Spring Sprung?

So, I was running this morning around the neighborhood and I passed a house with tulips and dafodils in full bloom...the last time I checked the calendar it was still the middle of February...

Things I love

• Trees. I love the way tree trunks twist and turn. I love the way sunlight comes through the leaves. I love the sound of the leaves rustling in the wind. I just love everything about trees.
• Food. Enough said.
• Big family dinners. I love the chaos and the conversation and the feeling of being together with family and eating homecooked food.
• The smell of clean laundry. You know how sometimes when you're walking down the street, you can smell someone doing laundry...the exhaust smell from the dryers? I love that smell.
• Thunderstorms. The pouding rain, the rolls of thunder, the lightening strikes - love it.
• Crossword puzzles. Even if I can only get two or three clues in an entire puzzle, I have to try.
• Cheese.
• Chocolate.
• The smell of winter. Have you ever noticed that smell that comes around in the fall when it's starting to get cold outside...the wood burning smell. That's what I'm talking about.
• Reading. I could read all day, and I have.
• Words. I like looking up words and I like most games that involve words and I like saying words - fun words like bulbous and bouffant and mukluk. Try it, you'll like it.
• My husband.

Animal Cruelty

So, can I just say that I hate, hate cockroaches. And if I find one lying on it's back, flailing it's nasty legs, struggling in vain to turn over and be free, I'm going to leave it just the way it is. I'm going to let it flail and struggle. In fact, I'll even check on it every once in a while and make sure it hasn't managed to right itself and scamper off. And I'm not going to feel bad about it in the least. Go ahead, report me to PETA - I dare you. But don't tell me you wouldn't do the same if you saw this grotesque creature in your bathroom.

p.s. In case you are wondering, this thing was about 2 inches long...eck!

The Zoo Continued....

Daniel did a great job with the last post. But he forgot the hilarious dancing elephants.

So funny huh? And there wasn't even any music.

But I think hands down, my favorite animal at the zoo was the Lemur. Seriously, one of the most fascinating creatures I have ever watched. Next time you're at the zoo, find the Lemur!

Gold Rush Brownies

I love food, Daniel loves food; and I love trying out new recipes. So every once in a while I want to post recipes - old and new - and I hope you share your recipes in return :P

I made some of these treats this week and just can't get over how GOOD they are...even though I've eaten them hundreds of times.

This receipe comes from my mom; these "brownies" are more like a cookie bar than a traditional brownie, but whatever you call them, they are heavenly. So, if you want to try out a super easy, very sweet treat, here you go.



Ingredients:
1 package graham crackers; very finely crushed
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup flaked coconut
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Evaporated milk

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a small baking pan (8x8 or similar size) with foil. Then butter the foil.

In a medium sized bowl combine the crushed crackers through the sweetened milk and stir until all ingredients are wet. Add some evaporated milk if the batter is too dry. Pour the batter into the greased foil-lined pan and bake for about 40 minutes.

Let cool in the pan then turn upside down. Carefully peel back the foil (let's see how well you greased it) and then cut into small squares. Really, cut them however big you want, but beware they are VERY sweet.

The Zoo

Emily says it's my turn to post on the blog so I'll write a bit about the next place on the list of places to visit in Houston: the zoo. Though most of the animals weren't doing much but sleeping, the weekends are always a very welcome break from both of our busy workweeks. Having said that, the monkeys were quite lively. We got a close-up view of the orangutan. I didn't know a primate existed that is hairier than me! At least to me, he looked surprisingly human compared to the other monkeys.

We also went to "Trader's Village." A HUGE flea market about 25 minutes from here. Finding the place was an adventure which is becoming routine for every new place we go. We were drawn there to see the chili and bbq cook off. Turns out cook offs are not big spectator events like we had hoped, but we had fun at the flea market. We had some delicious bbq beef sandwiches and frito pie.

The weather continues to be very nice compared to Utah. Usually between the 50s and 70s. I like the fact that I don't have to shovel any walks or scrape the windows of my car but we would like to see a thunderstorm while we are out here. So far we have had only one day of rain and a weak one at that.