Perfect Sundays (Kinda)

This Sunday has been particularly amazing.  It started off with seeing a great advertising campaign on the way to Church this morning.  I know.  Me.  Church.  Scientist.  Church.  Mexican.  Baptist.  HAHAHA.  That's a whole 'nother thing though.  Anyways, the window of this jeweler in "downtown" Sulphur Springs says, "Build Your Own Bling."  Holy crap.  This little hick town of 14K people with lots of dairies and truckers has a jeweler that said "bling."  Jackpot.  That's how you know that your day will start off amazingly.  When you walk past that.  I laughed for about, 10 minutes.  No joke.

Anyways, afterwards, my mom decided that we should go eat at one of the quaint little delis in downtown.  The church is right off the square so, so the walk to the "sandwich shoppe" was minimal.  The weather is so ridiculously amazing that it was great.  Little towns always have the weirdest stuff on the square like jewelers that use the word "bling."  My barber is even on the square.  (Not to jump too far off subject, but I've been getting my hair cut by the same barber for 20 years, so I am a "regular" ^_^).  Anyways, I had an avocado split in half with scoops of chicken salad on top.  Yum-o (thanks Rachel Ray).  I haven't had that in forever.  We even ate outside and people-watched.  It has been such a great day!

The only damper is that Sunday afternoons in Sulphur Springs means that your historic house has to be amazing because strangers love to stop in to tour houses.  The sign in our yard pretty much tells everyone, "hey, this is a really old house, come look at it!"  Oh well.  We knew that when we bought it.  all the houses on our street are old.  It's also convenient because we're only a block from the square, so everyone goes to church, eats, and then comes over, haha.  The plus side is that my mom gets to make lots of mint sweet tea.  It is quite delicious.  I like sitting outside on the porch on Sundays drinking sweet tea.  How typical small-town-Southerner, huh?  On a side note: our house is going to be 100 in 2010!!!  ^_^  Not that it really matters.  Maybe we'll throw it a party!?

I also WANTED to go to the library, but it's Sunday.  Grr.  I know, a 23 year old that uses the library!?  I like to read!  Get off my back about it!  I pretty much just go through the aisles and pick books out randomly.  It's pretty great.  I really like the inside of our library anyways.  It's got a lot of really neat art and old stuff from the city's history.  We live in a pretty historic town.  It's also the dairy capital.  I mean, we have a dairy festival complete with the naming of a dairy queen.  HAHAHA.  I love/hate it.  Moral of the story: today has been such a beautiful, leisurely day.  Woot.  I love days like this.  I must now go pour tea for strangers and wave at passersby!  HAHAHA.

Southwest Airlines Kicks Butt

That's my savior [on the left] in a land of aerial lame asses.

Alright.  I've basically had the most ridiculous 3 days of all time.  Okay, maybe just in the last couple of years.  It all started on Wednesday.  I was supposed to be on my way to Las Vegas in about 2 hours, but instead, I am not going anywhere awesome this weekend.  Oh well.

Wednesday, I get the news that one of my very best friends is having her baby (it wasn't due for about 3 more weeks) and I have to fly to Colorado Springs immediately.  Whelp.  This is where it gets tough.  I called US Airways (don't ask me why I didn't fly Southwest in the first place -- oh wait, it's Travelocity's fault), to see if I could change my flight for the next one out of DFW airport.  Apparently, US Airways doesn't have much of a presence at DFW because the next flight out to Denver was at 12:30p on Thursday.  I needed to be in Denver by, oh, as soon as possible.  Didn't work.  After about 50 minutes oh hold, I was told that I could take the next flight to Phoenix and fly from there to Denver.  The only problem is that it put me in Denver at 12:15p.  Seriously?  At least the lady was nice, the on hold music certainly wasn't.

That's another thing, who the heck comes up with music for people on hold?  They need new jobs.  The music always sucks.  It really put me into the mood to be a bitch, especially after 50 minutes of it.  I wasn't though -- happy day for the reservations agent -- trust me.

Okay, back to the story at hand.  I then decided that since Delta, US Airways, and United love each other, that I would try to get on a Delta flight.  Oh wait, Delta hates DFW because American Airlines rules DFWlandia.  That turned out to be a flub because they basically wanted to put me onto the same flight to Phoenix then Denver.  United ... pfft.  Don't even get me started.  They're extra lame.  I think they have 4 flights daily from DFW.  Really?  DFW is only one of the busiest, largest airports in all the world.  C'mon.

That's when I decided to cancel all my flights (the one to Vegas and then back home).  I then booked a flight over the phone with Southwest from Dallas-Love Field to Denver.  I was on a plane in 4 hours after getting off the phone and for only $114 round trip!!!  STEAL!!!  This bring me to my title: Southwest Airlines kicks butt!  Ahhhh.  I'm now back home (thanks be to now having to work this weekend to be able to go to Colorado Springs).

Side note: I hate how Dallas-Love Field is being reduced to 20 gates and a smaller terminal.  Thanks a lot Fart Worth for being the jealous sibling.  Fart Worth: I'm sorry, but you will always be Dallas' largest suburb. Basically Fart Worth forced Dallas into agreeing to the Wright Amendment because Meacham got 1% of Texas air traffic while Love Field got 51% back in the 40s-70s.  Look which airport is STILL more important.  It's still Dallas.  You.  Lose.  Plus, everyone (except those from FW) refers to the whole of the Metroplex as "Dallas."  Fort Worth is kind of like San Jose is to San Fransisco.  SJ is WAAAAY bigger than SF, but not as important.  Ft. Worth is WAAAY smaller than Dallas, but not as important.  Sorry Dango, Ft. Worth is the western, older version of cosmopolitan, sleek Dallas.

On a super great side bonus, I got to go through downtown Dallas (I'm just a little obsessed with Dallas) and scope out the new Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge construction.  It's definitely going to be a LOT huger than I thought.  And of course, Dallas has a gorgeous skyline.  Of which there are many pictures.

Yum.

OH!  I almost forgot.  On my travels, I acquired some great things: vanilla beans, New Mexico chili powder, cinnamon (you know, the real kind -- that being Ceylon Cinnamon), aaaaaand my favorite white wine (sparking Spanish white -- Muscado).  I pretty much love going to Dallas because I can find the rarer of things that I like to cook.  Like true saffron.  Not dyed saffron from Wal-Mart.  Real.  Yay for being forced to go to Dallas when I didn't want to!  :D

3 Minute Meals

This is not actually a three minute meal bit.  I mean, what meal can you really make in three minutes?  Well.  A sandwich.  That doesn't count.  Anyways, I felt that I should share this video with whomever.  It's basically the best video of all time.  I don't know why, but I laugh so hard EVERY time.  I love Rachel Ray (of course it's a parody of her 30 Minute Meals) and this just makes it better.



On a side note, it has been gorgeous outside ALL day.  My morning run was so nice.  I wish the weather were like this more than one month a year.  Dear Mother Nature, please continue being nice.  I might even go camping early this year if the weather keeps being awesome!!!  WOOT.

Also, I hate my life.  Just kidding.  But my phone did die.  I have to wait till MONDAY to get my new one!!! WHY!?!?!?!  How does one live without an iPhone?  I feel like I'm living in 1984.  Geez.

Edit:  Whelp.  Upon checking on the weather, I have discovered that it's supposed to storm today and tomorrow, get colder, and snow tuesday.  Thanks a bunch Nature.  Jerk.

North Texas Received Record-Breaking Snow After All.

I just want to start off by saying, what a great stinking way to wake up on my birthday!  Snow, and lots of it!  I can already tell you that today will be amazing.  No school, going to work later, and still enough fresh snow for more snow ice cream.  Amazing.

Yesterday (that being February 11th, 2010) broke the previous record of snowiest calendar day of all time by more than 4 inches!!!  We had 11.2 inches fall yesterday beating the previous record of 7.8 inches.  DANG!  We also broke the record for most snow in a 24-hour period with 12.4 inches (.3 more than the '78 record).  I won't lie, it's pretty sweet.  If we get 2 more inches this month, we will have the snowiest winter on record for this area as well as the snowiest February of all time.  As much as I complain about not getting enough snow in North Texas, Mother Nature goes and punches me in the face.  I love it.  Not actual physical pain, but the Mother Nature being awesome part.

I also have to add that yesterday was such a great day.  I felt like such a little kid all day.  Thankfully my little cousin Wesley was around so that I didn't feel like such a loser!  We made a pretty great snowman, had snow ice cream, made snow angels, and had a snowball fight.  It's not that I haven't done these things before in my life, it's that I've never done them in Texas.  The last time I remember it snowing enough to make a snowman I was 3 and it wasn't even but an inch, maybe two.

Our snowman was pretty great.  We made his nose from a half-eaten pickle and his eyes and mouth out of marbles!  Notice our great attention to detail with the scarf, hat, and carefully selected stick arms.  Also notice the bowls in the background collecting snow for our snow ice cream!

That would be Wesley making a snow angel while making only the most hilarious faces because of the snow falling on his face.  Ahhhh.  Great.  He's never seen this much Texas snow in his life.  In fact, I guess no one has.  He also had never made snow angels, a snow man, or ice cream.  I'm definitely glad I got to make his February 2010 Snowstorm memorable!

Wesley decided that since I dusted off the satellite the first time, that he would try the second time.  Notice his general lack of height.  Haha.

This is the beginning of our snow ice cream.  Condensed milk, some fake vanilla extract (the real stuff is expensive and I didn't have vanilla beans on hand to make any, so there!), some almond (also fake I'm sure), and tons of sugar.  I don't think there are many better things on the earth.  There are not pictures of the finished product, because we ate it all.  Very quickly. You'll just have to know that it tasted awesome.












And I leave my blog with this, Jack the snowman, hungover -- possibly a sign of things to come?  And also, SUCKS TO YOUR ASS-MAR VANCOUVER!!!  Okay, so I do find it ever so funny that North Texas has been getting more snow (at the moment) than historically snowy places ... ... ... like Alaska and B.C. [read: Vancouver]!!!  I couldn't help but say it!

North Texas Is Getting (Almost) Record Snow!

I am pretty much super sporadic with this whole blogging thing, but I don't even care.  Today is awesome.  It's snowing so hard (for North Texas).  So hard (for North Texas), in fact, that I don't have to go to work and I won't be going to school!  The last part being by choice of course.  According to the Dallas Morning News,

"Snow continues to fall and will only grow heavier across North Texas today, contributing to what is expected to be the snowiest winter in 25 years."

The rest of the article is HERE.

I am so excited.  Not only is there snow, there's a lot of it and it's gorgeous.  It's even snowing hard enough to knock the satellite out giving me yet more reason to be outside!  I'll be making snow ice cream if it snows enough (which it should).  I have NEVER made snow ice cream in Texas.  I always have to wait till we go to the ranch in Red River, NM during the winter break for that.  This makes me very happy.  The last time it snowed this much in North Texas was when I was 3 (1990).  That was such a magical time in my childhood.

It's made even more awesome because I'm still young enough to act like a little kid and get away with it!!!  I will be using that excuse all day.  Off to the park for me!!!  I wonder if there's water in the waterfall(s) today?  That would be even more magical.  As per Dango, I'll be trying my hand at cross-country skiing with regular skis at Coleman Lake Park.  Off to the white outdoors for me!

Notice how cute the gazebo and trees in the yard look.  Also notice the snow on the cactus to the right!  I wish I had a dedicated photographer to take cute pictures of me in said gazebo or frolicking, hahaha.  Today will be such a great day (since we're expecting something like 6 inches of snow!), even sans sunshine.

I hope it's apparent how excited I am.

I'm such a kid!  ^_^