arboretum adventure.

This past Sunday, Stephen and I took advantage of the (tad bit) cooler weather and sunshine and finally made a visit to the Dallas Arboretum. Yay for marking things off the bucket list! I had been wanting to go since last November -- Skye and I almost made it on Thanksgiving, but I remember the food coma hit too fast!

The really fun part about visiting the Arboretum in the fall is to get to see and experience their Pumpkin Town -- literally...I'm talking pumpkin houses. In the small town, there are more than 60,000 pumpkins! Unfortunately, there were large amounts of small children running around in every direction and about 200 moms snapping their Christmas card pictures too. It was hectic, but I did manage to get a few pictures.

The Pumpkin Town was the only part of the Arboretum that wasn't peaceful, haha. Everything else was so pretty and quiet! All of the landscaping was very well kept. Hopefully one day I'll have a green finger...

Louisiana House-Birdhouses! 

Stephen freaked when he saw the sailboats... like a kid in a candy store! Can't wait for those lessons in the future!

It was a perfect day & we both loved seeing every part of the Arboretum -- the pumpkins were my favorite... I don't know if the rocks, trees or sailboats were his:). I'd love to go back when it's even cooler for an outdoor concert and a picnic on the ground!

september highlights.

Ah.....sigh. It's fall, y'all. The season of cool weather, football, gumbos, and pumpkin everything. The season that brings the most joy to my heart! I'm officially done with the most stressful month of work -- and it wasn't half as bad as last year. Praise!

Here are a few highlights from the ninth month of the year:

• I got to spend another fun weekend with my girl Hannah! We went to Dallas and had dinner with the Chabot's, did the usual yoga sesh and had dinner at our favorite Greek place. 
• L Rut invited me to the Women's Conference at American Airlines. There were so many great speakers (Jesus, help me learn a lesson from these wise women) and Matthew West even wrote all 11,000 of us women a song! It was great. 
• Before the conference, I got to go on a sunrise run and it was beautiful. Every morning run is always so freeing for me.
• Stephen and I made a quick trip to Louisiana for my high school friend, Jessika's, wedding! She looked so gorgeous and happy!

Not pictured:

• Stephen took me golfing with him one Sunday evening. And by "took me" I mean he let me ride around in the cart with him. My favorite time of day is the hour before the sun sets so it was fun to be out on the course. If only I could swing a club AND hit the ball....

There are so many things on my fall bucket list! 

Carve pumpkins, 

go to the Arboretum, 

make a good gumbo 

and an apple pie 

maybe even hit the Texas State Fair again...

Oh, I hope we can make it all happen :) 

what's cookin'.

One of my New Year's intentions was to grow and practice in my cooking skillz. I must say I really have stuck to it and have tried a lot of new recipes.

Here are a few recipes I've recently tried, actually succeeded in and liked:

• Cheesy Sweet Potato Chili
• I actually omitted the "cheese" part of this and it was still divine.
•  Pork Loin with Balsamic/Dijon Spread
• This was the easiest and quickest one of all!
• Tex Mex Meatballs with Cauliflower Mash
• You might think the Cauli Mash is weird with a mexican style meatball, but my favorite thing to do is to dip my meat in my "potatoes" so it worked!
• Homemade Paleo Mayo
• This is the one I'm most proud of! For a few reasons...
• It took 4 tries to get it right (it was a real science experiment!)
• It's amazingly delicious
• Now I can eat my chicken salad heart out
• Advice if you're considering making your own: 1. Watch at least 3 youtube videos before attempting. 2. Use all room tempature ingredients. 3. Pour the Light Olive Oil slowly - it should take you at least 10-15 minutes. 4. Do not use an immersion blender.
• The recipe above doesn't explain the process enough so make sure you read other articles. I did follow the ingredients here though.
• Why take the time to make your own mayo? Because every single jar sold on the shelf is loaded with unhealthy oils and chemicals. It's worth the time to make your own!
• Paleo Tortillas (pancake style)
• This recipe was faster and easier than actually having to roll out your dough etc.
• Next time I attempt these I will use less coconut flour. 1/4 C of it makes them a little too sweet, but they still worked for a chicken salad wrap!
• Sweet Potato Mash
• These. Are. Awesome.

Now I realize I have no pictures... click on those lovely links above - all of the foodie bloggers have great pics for ya! :)