The Best Valentine's Day Ever

Yesterday I got to spend the day with my girlfriend celebrating Valentine’s Day. I know that yesterday was not Valentine’s Day but for both of us, we believe that we should serve and love one another every day as if it were Valentines each day. Yea we may buy some presents for each other to celebrate a fun day but that is all it really means to us. Here is a recap of all we got to do.

I went and picked Beth up at 9 in the morning from her place and we headed to Round Rock Texas. On the way, we listened to her favorite songs and were dancing the whole way there. The first place we stopped at was Round Rock Donuts. If you ever get the chance to stop by there, it is a must! The line was out the door and wrapped around the inside of the store 3 times. But it was totally worth the wait. The most unique thing about Round Rock Donuts is the massive Texas Donut that they have. Beth and I got one to split and it took us all day of munching to finally finish it. 

After that we headed to the Round Rock Outlet Malls and spent the day just looking around and finding fun little things to get each other. The highlight of that part was stopping in the Disney store for 30 minutes and reliving our childhood. We ended up getting 4 coffee mugs and small toys of the 100 acre woods. It was so fun to remember that you are never too old to be a kid even if it is for just 30 minutes.

After the mall, we had some time to kill before heading to dinner so we stopped by a random coffee shop in Round Rock. While we were there, Beth and I played spades and it was nice just to relax for a bit. After a while we decided to walk around downtown Round Rock and see what all it had to offer. While walking, we randomly decided to go into the Round Rock Library and see what it had. This turned out to be my favorite part of the day. After walking in, we saw that they were selling hardback books for a dollar, paperback books for 50 cents, and CDs/DVD/Computer games for a dollar. We ended up buying 14 items for just 12 bucks. It was one of those random, spontaneous things that I have always wanted to do but never ended up doing. 

After our time in downtown Round Rock, we headed to Salt Lick BBQ. We had heard about it on Man v Food and even though we went to a different one than he actually was at, it was still some of the best BBQ I have ever eaten. We shared a combo plate of ribs, brisket, and sausage and got a few more ribs on the side (now you know one of Beth and my favorite foods). It was so amazing. The flavor of the meat was spectacular and the BBQ sauce was incredible. We were so full by the end of the meal but it was totally worth it. After the meal, we headed back home and watched some Big Bang Theory before finally calling it a night.

One of the best things about this day was the fact that nothing was forced. We wanted to spend time together and we wanted to serve each other by buying each other gifts at the mall so that is what we did. To many times Valentine’s day can be something that is forced upon each other and you go out to dinner or do something nice just because it’s February 14^th. But not this day. On February 12, 2011, Beth and I spent time learning more about one another, drawing closer to each other, and finding new ways to love and serve one another. I cannot wait to see what is to come in the future with this amazing woman. 

So to everyone out there reading this, remember that each day is Valentine’s day for you and the one you love. That doesn’t mean you need to go out and buy presents for them. It means you need to spend quality time getting to know them and loving on them in the way that most blesses them. My prayer is that all of you take this to heart and make it happen this year. Have a wonderful day everyone.

Carpe Diem

My last week of studying and baking

In honor of Today’s Letter posting a link to this blog, I am going to put a new post. Over the past week, I have been studying my butt off for my Finance test. I am not oriented to think that way and it was a challenge. After making a 90 on the practice test, I did less than stellar on the actual test. But I know that I tried my hardest and that is all I could ask for.

One of the best things that came out of studying was it allowed me to spend some time baking. One of my dream jobs is opening my own coffee shop/bakery. I would love to have a place like that I could call my own and spend time every day talking to people and baking tasty treats that everyone will love. To help me start pursuing that dream, I have worked in a coffee shop for the past 3 years during the summer and winter breaks. But now I need to start learning how to bake. Whenever I needed to take a break from studying, I would find an hour or so to whip something up. So here is the first thing I have made and maybe you can try it yourself. (I found both of the recipes online but tweeked them to make them my own. Not big changes but enough. The original recipe was found at allrecipes.com)

CHOCOLATE CHIP SCONES

 

1 ¾ cups of all-purpose flower

1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 stick of butter (let it melt for a bit before putting it in)

½ cup of chocolate chips (I used a swirl chocolate chip of white chocolate and semi sweet chocolate)

4 tablespoons water

Directions

            1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. 

                                  2.  In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Put the butter in and mix with your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Put the chocolate chips in and continue to mix. Put the water in. It is going to seem that there is not near enough water but this makes the scones taste like scones and not just big cookies. It gives it more of a biscuit texture. 

            3.  Turn out the dough on a floured surface. Pat or roll into a 9 inch circle about 1/2 inch thick. The hardest part is getting the “dough” to look like scones. I just continued to pat it together until it looked like scones and it finally worked. It takes a bunch of patience but it is totally worth it. 

            4.  Bake in preheated oven about 12 minutes. Move to a plate to let them cool.

This is one of my favorite things that I have ever cooked. They are amazing with a good cup of coffee (I recommend Texas Pecan if you can find it) or a big glass of milk.

Later I will post my recipe for Blueberry Banana Muffins. They are absolutely delicious and I hope you can enjoy them too. 

Carpe Diem

I'm Back!

I am finally back after a Christmas break. Over the break, I took a break from writing anything because I did not want to take any time away from hanging out with the family and I honestly just got so busy. Once I got the freedom from school to do whatever I wanted, I dropped all of the good habits that I had gained. But now I'm back and we shall see what happens.

I have this blog not to write for anyone else but to have a place to post my thoughts and that's truly it. I know that writing is a lot easier for me when it's on the computer so it allows me to put my thoughts down easier. It also allows me to put down moments and things in my life that I do not want to forget. So here comes some memories from my past month.

This Christmas had to be on of the best that I can remember. Christmas Eve my parents drove my brother, sister, and I to the AT&T store where my grandparents were waiting for us. The grandparents got us all iPhones for Christmas and I was so surprised. I am so grateful for grandparents who are so willing to get things like that for us grand kids. Christmas morning, I woke up and received from my parents a new coffee maker and a coffee grinder. Exactly what I wanted and I am so blessed that I have such wonderful parents. But the best part about Christmas was being able to spend it with the whole family. The picture below is taken from my new phone of my new toys.

One of my favorite expereinces over the break was a run with my brother. Austin and I started the run by going and putting 20 lbs of rocks in his backpack and I have a backpack with waters, wallets, keys, and phones. We were planning on going a short distance but we ended up talking which helped us not realize how far we had gone. Over 2 hours later, my brother and I finished running over 13 miles. It was awesome just getting the chance to catch up with him and hear about how everything at the Naval Academy was going. It's crazy to see my brother grow up. Here is a picture after finishing all our run.

All in all it was a wonderful break and I am going to miss the relaxation that happened. But now I am entering my finally semester of college. I have no clue what is in store for me after this but I cannot wait to see what happens.

Carpe Diem

Sky Sailing - Brielle

I absolutely love this song especially right before bed. It can put me to sleep at almost any point. It came up on my iPod while driving home today and I instantly felt sleepy. Also, I love the artwork of this video. My roommate is a visualization major so he can do things like this but the artwork in this video is just wonderful. I hope you enjoy.

Carpe Diem

Study Study School's Your Buddy

Being a college student the past week has been so difficult. It's that time of year when finals are here and all we can do is study till our brains can't take it anymore. And, if you're like me, even that doesn't do enough to get you the grades you want. Thankfully, grades are not the end all, be all in this world. We have been put here on this earth to love and serve others and while we need to make the most out of every opportunity (such as doing as well as we possibly can in school), we also need to realize that school is not all that we have to focus on. It breaks my heart to hear of people who have committed suicide because of grades. Grades are not what our lives are ultimately about. Do you need good grades to get into certain schools? Yea, but if you work your hardest and don't get those grades, then that's not where you were supposed to be in the first place. So sit back tonight and think how great your life really is. Yea you may have bombed that final but you still have friends around you and a place to call home.

Thanks for listening to me in that last paragraph. I needed to remind myself of that and hopefully remind you of that as well. So after that nice little pick me up, here are a few pictures from this past week. To keep me awake while studying I drank somewhere around 13 cups of coffee at Mugwalls. If you don't know, Mugwalls is the best coffee shop in College Station Texas especially if you are looking for a good drip coffee. Get a bottomless mug because you will definately want a refill and to try all the different flavors of coffee they have. I wish I could say I have a favorite but I truly love them all. The reason it is called Mugwalls is because they have mugs hanging from walls all around the store and you get to pick out which mug you want to drink out of. I feel I picked two of the best mugs in the store and I hope you agree.

Well everyone, as this semester heads to a close, I will be heading back home tomorrow and get to see my family and my friends up at Watermark. I am so thankful to have family and friends excited to see me when I get back and I am so pumped to see them too. Have a very Merry Christmas!

Carpe Diem

Coldplay - Christmas Lights

For all of you studying for finals, here is a little song so you can be distracted for just a few minutes. I find that music is such a wonderful distraction because you can listen to it while studying. Have a wonderful day studying.

Carpe Diem

Half Marathon Numero Uno

I finally have a second to sit down and write another post. Thank goodness! This past weekend I got the opportunity to run in my first half marathon. For a while now I have been training and getting ready for this race. When December 4th hit, I was beyond excited to go pick up my packet and have a huge dinner with friends for the race the next day. The half that I ran was the White Rock half and I totally recommend it to anyone. It is great for beginners because there are so many people along the course cheering you on and it is just really well put together. So on the morning of the 5th, I woke up at 5:15 to meet with friends at 6 to drive to the race together. It took us literally an hour and a half to get there because so many people were running which was stressful but once we parked my nerves calmed down. Running that race may be on the of the hardest things I have every done. I did not want to walk away from this race thinking I could have gone faster so I pushed myself the whole race. I was able to finish in 1 hour and 54 minutes. One of the greatest blessings about this race was having friends and family there to greet me at the end. Seeing them so excited for me and being able to be excited with my friends who ran with me just made the experience that much more amazing. I cannot wait to do another one.

I hope all of you readers had a great week and for all of us college students, get ready for finals! Study, study, schools your buddy! Have a blessed day!

Carpe Diem