Radio Silence

When I start something, I tend not to let myself get distracted from finishing.  However, when it comes to writing, I hit the big road block with trying to decide on a topic.  Life gets in the way, and I fall off the bandwagon in terms of keeping the website fresh and current.  Lately, my business is beginning to grow, home improvement projects demand so much time, and a five month old whose grin is too cute to ignore.

So, bear with me.  The radio silence is only temporary.

Speaking of home improvement projects, I had the opportunity to attend a Do-It-Herself workshop at our local Home Depot.  Since we are in the midst of updating our kitchen, I am going to be adding a tile backsplash.  This is a far cry from my fear of tools.  Right now, it is a huge decision between subway tiles and mosaics.  We have finally decided on a new countertop and the paint for the kitchen and master bedroom.  Yay for doing it ourselves!

As for our little man, he is doing well.  We are in the midst of entering the world of teething, and I guess it is time to invest in a couple bottles of red wine to survive this phase.  However, he is amazing us daily with his newly acquired skills of rolling over from his back to his stomach and back again.  Little Man is also enjoying his new activity center too.

In terms of travels in Texas, we headed westward towards Ranger last Saturday after purchasing flowers for our flower bed.  We stopped along the way at Smokestack Restaurant, where my husband indulged in the best Chicken Fried Steak ever, and I had a slice of Pecan Pie, which was awesome.  Forgive me for there are no pictures of our food.  Rather, there is a picture of a remnant of a ghost town (Thurber, Texas).  It was an interesting experience, as there are few ghost towns in Maryland and Virginia.

Waco and Westbound

Valentine’s Day 2015 was a warm and sunny day.  It’s not very often that warm weather is felt during February, but it was a beautiful Texas day.  My husband asked if I wanted to head over to Home Depot for home improvement projects or go on a road trip.  With the beautiful weather, I chose the road trip option.  After getting our son situated in the car seat, we decided to make the journey down to Waco.

Since I have never been to Waco, I wanted to head down to visit Magnolia Market, which is owned by the stars of HGTV’s “Fixer Upper.”  Magnolia Market offers many rustic decorations for the home, and I wanted to add something that emphasized the South and Texas within our home.  While I loved a chandelier that was in the store and with a four month old having a meltdown, I decided to pass on purchasing anything.

After our visit, my husband wanted to visit the Dr. Pepper Museum to learn more about the soft drink’s history and to enjoy something from their soda fountain.  Once we got there, we found out we were too late for the tour of the museum.  However, we decided to have Dr. Pepper floats from the soda fountain instead.  The Dr. Pepper float featured Texas’ own Blue Bell ice cream and soda water that had the Dr. Pepper syrup straight from the pump.  It was really refreshing on such a warm day.  Even our four month old was fascinated by the truck outside the museum.  Of course, we decided to pose for a picture.  Hopefully, we will be back for a tour of the museum in the near future.

Once we were finished with our Dr. Pepper floats, we decided to head back towards Fort Worth.  My husband mentioned that we passed West, Texas along the way.  West, Texas is known for Westfest, which is a Czech Polka festival held every year during Labor Day weekend.  This community along I-35 is a culinary dream, as there are several restaurants along the Main Street corridor and two bakeries along the highway featuring kolaches, which are pastries filled with fruit or meat filling.  We made our first stop at Czech Stop, where we purchased a loaf of Beer Bread and several kolaches (one was a Blueberry Cream Cheese, Very Berry, Pulled Pork, and Sausage and Cheese).  We also stopped at Slovacek’s Market, where we picked up some more kolaches, which were Boudin and a Sauerkraut filling.  On our way out of the market, I caught glimpse of a gorgeous sunset which really added to the beautiful day.

I don’t know about you, but there is something spectacular about a Texas sunset.  It is truly a beautiful sight to enjoy, which really was the icing on the Valentine’s Day trip.

Never Say Never!

Whenever someone says, “Never Say Never,” you might want to take their advice.  Last year, I was pregnant with our first child and pretty frustrated by the way things were going back in the D.C. area.  I told my husband how much I wanted to leave our adopted hometown of four years for some place where we could raise our son without the hustle and bustle of city life.  Little did I know, we would be headed to the Lone Star State.

Why Texas?  Believe me, I received this question from a lot of family and friends.  The answer did not come easily, except to mention it was more affordable than where we were living.  I never imagined I would ever live in Texas, rather I always thought it would be in Central Virginia or in Pennsylvania (central to both families).  However, the move to Texas allowed me to stay at home with our son, and it would provide a different area to grow outside of the hustle and bustle of politics, etc.

While I’m homesick for the Mid-Atlantic region, I am trying to enjoy becoming a registered Texan (supposedly, the DPS/DMV has a great sense of humor, referring to new residents as “registered”).  Texas does have a lot to offer, whether it be friendly people or awesome sunsets.  I hope to share a glimpse of Texas with y’all, whether it would be through my running/fitness journey, travels, or something my son does hysterical.