Weekend Wrap-Up

I went to DC this past weekend for the first time. It was a wonderful trip, and I made some fun new friends! It was great to finally meet the Kirchners who relocated just before we promoted into our SS Department. They are excellent tour guides. I saw tons of the sights in the city, as well as watched Dr. Dean run the Marine Corps Marathon. Both of these experiences will have their own posts as soon as I have a little more time.

Yesterday I got in around 1 PM and spent time catching up with Brad, napping, and overall avoiding cleaning the house. Today was a day of working, grocery shopping, and starting the laundry. No fun!

I will empty my suitcase today only to pack it back up again for a business trip on Saturday. I'd feel sorry for myself except for the fact that it's in Vegas, and I'm staying somewhere really fun.

More details and pics from DC later!

Dinner Saturday Night

Fiesta Night at the Gentrys'

This weekend we had a nice relaxing time in town doing some of our favorite things--hanging out just the two of us and entertaining our friends.

Friday night we had some of our Fort Worth friends over for Fiesta Night. I tried a new recipe my mom gave me which went over pretty well! She told me that it makes a lot of food, which might have been the understatement of the year. We'll be eating leftovers through the middle of the week, and that was after feeding 8 people! Below is the recipe...we'll call it Fiesta Casserole.



Fiesta Casserole

2 lbs. ground beef (I used about 1.5 lbs...was afraid it wouldn't all fit in my dish!)
1 onion
2 cans Ranch Style Beans (don't drain!)
2 cans mushroom soup
2 lbs. shredded cheese (I bought the Mexican blend pre-shredded)
1 can Rotel (don't drain)
2 T. chili powder
1 t. garlic powder
corn tortillas, cut into strips - enough for two layers

Spray a deep casserole dish with Pam (I used my 9x13 corningware). Brown the ground beef with the onion and drain the grease. Combine all the other ingredients with the beef. Place a layer of the corn tortilla strips in the bottom of the casserole dish. Add a layer of the beef mixture on top of the tortilla strips and top with 1 lb of cheese. Repeat with tortillas, beef mixture, then cheese.

Bake on 325 for 1 hour, and you and Santa Anna's army are ready to eat.

We added a salad and some of the Lipton's Mexican rice (boil the water, add the pre-mixed packet) to the meal, and rounded it out with a sopapilla cheesecake. Oh, and let's not forget the pre-meal salsa and guacamole. Leave your calorie counting at the door!

Friday Fave Five - Halloween Candy

As I shopped in my neighborhood grocery store last night, I was inspired for this Friday Fave Five. Hope you have a great day, and feel free to add your own Halloween candy in the comments!

1. Candy Corn Pumpkins (aka Mallowcreme Pumpkins). These are delicious and remind me of my childhood. My mom introduced me to them at a very young age. If you stop by my house during this season, you will most likely find a bowl of candy corn pumpkins sitting around.

2. Reese's Fast Break. This is a hard one to find sometimes (but I found them last night!) I might be the only person in the world that counts this as their very favorite candy bar.

3. Double Bubble Gum. I loved finding pieces of this in my plastic pumpkin at the end of the night!

4. Hershey's Milk Chocolate bars in the shape of some Halloween character. Why this makes it taste even better I'm not really sure.

5. The old standard Three Musketeers. I'm a fan of tradition, and it's so good!

Ode to My iPhone

Oh my dear iPhone,
How did I communicate before thee?
With your screen so clear and amazingly button free!
Your features so intuitive,
Your internet abilities so sprightly,
I fear my husband might try and steal you
So I will lock you up nightly.
Steve Jobs, I do appreciate
the keen insight and R&D
You Apple folks put into
making this lifestyle device for me.
I can check my e-mail anytime!
I can know the weather too!
I can look for directions when I'm lost on the road,
And you double as my iPod too!
You're my fun camera.
You're my favorite alarm clock.
You're my kickin' new gadget.
In short, dear iPhone, I think you rock.

Shout Out to Discount Tire

It was another quiet week at the Gentry house so this post is about a whole lot of nothing. I am getting back to normal (well), and this week I'm going back to the gym and considering getting in shape. If nothing else, I at least need some more energy. We'll see how it all works out.

Last Friday when I got out of my car at work, I thought my tire looked a little low. I had a Co-Worker come out and check it for me (Brad was at school), and he confirmed that not only was it low, it had a nail in it. That makes two tires with nails in a month. Ah, the joys of living in a construction zone. Here is where my shout out to Discount Tire comes in though: I bought the road hazard warranty on my full set of tires ($14 per tire), and they either fix the flat or replace the tire if not fixable, for free. So I got a new tire. Thanks DT!

Tomorrow I head to College Station to do some recruiting of new grads for The Place That I Work. Can't wait! While I am there, I am going to drop off some of our leftover moving boxes at Coach Fran's. Good thing we held onto those. Dear Aggies!

Family, Food, Fellowship, & Football

And that, dear friends, was our weekend.

It seems like we had the quietest couple of days. Friday night we drove over to Southlake Town Square for a date night and some shopping. I bet you can guess who planned the date night...not Brad. But he definitely was a good sport. Is shopping a love language? It would have to be mine. I guess it's considered quality time.

Saturday, my parents brought my grandparents into town to see our house. For the most part though I think it was so the girls could go shopping. So we left Mr. G, my dad, and Pop with a freshly baked cake and lots of football and headed to the mall.

After church on Sunday, our whole SS class went to Babe's Chicken in Burleson. If it can be fried, they are frying it up at Babe's, and it is GOOD.

Brad worked all Sunday afternoon on homework. He has a midterm next weekend, and then there's the tiny matter of the master's report he has to write...only 8 more weeks! I think I will make him a countdown for the fridge.

And mark it down. This week the Aggies are leading the Big 12 South. We'll take it. Whoop!

Friday Fave Five - Old Movies

OK, today's Friday Fave Five is my top 5 favorite older movies. I do not claim to know anything about them other than I have seen them and enjoy watching them.

1. Splendor in the Grass starring Natalie Wood. This is a very depressing movie, but so good! It's set right before the Great Depression, and the theme is about loving and losing love, going nuts, and then finding love again.

2. Pillow Talk starring Doris Day. I love, love, love this movie! You should see if you haven't. It's romantic comedy gold!

3. A Summer Place with Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee. Ah, young love. The music is enough to make me want to watch it. It was just released on DVD too!

4. Sabrina with Audrey Hepburn. You've probably seen it. Just a great story.

5. Where Angels Go Trouble Follows. I have no idea who is in this movie, but it's funny and has a catchy theme song. It's about a young nun with new ideas colliding with the Mother Superior at an all girls school. Hilarity ensues.

What are your favorites?

Birthday Shout Out

Today is Ashley's birthday!

I hope you have a fabulous day filled with lots of cake and presents!

Thursdays in Cowtown

These are my Bible study girls! We are studying the Patriarchs as I said earlier, and it's really interesting. Right now we've gone back to when God first called Abram, and I'm learning so much about this "Bible story" that I never even realized was there. Take for example, Melchizedek. Have you studied him? If so, please leave me a comment because I'm interested! Where did he come from if he had no father or mother? (Heb. 7:3) What is the significance? A foreshadowing of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who came to save us from sin? I am definitely going to do some more research!

Anyway, we are having a good time studying God's Word. His promises are a precious gift. Can't wait for this week's homework to see what God is going to show us!