Eggs a la Jennifer

So, I never blog because I either can't seem to find anything to blog about, I can't seem to find the time to actually write a blog, or I really just don't want to. Nonetheless, I have now found something to blog about and I have the time to do so......so here goes.
The other day I watched the Martha Stewart show and was quite intrigued by a meal that a chef cooked on her show. The chef was a mother of three boys and did not have anything planned for dinner one night, so she came up with something. It looked very simple to make (unlike most things on her show), so I decided to try it out myself....and it came out great!! Scott and I both enjoyed it and it will definitely go on our "things we make for dinner" list. Below is the recipe and pictures.

Ingredients:
olive oil
2 cloves garlic
pinch of red pepper
1 can whole tomatoes
6-8 eggs
bread of choice (we used sourdough)
Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Pour olive oil in saucepan. Pulse tomatoes and pour into saucepan. Add garlic and red pepper. Cook for about 20 minutes. Crack eggs and drop them in tomato mixture. Simmer COVERED for about 5 minutes (until eggs are white). Meanwhile toast bread. Scoop out eggs and place on bread. Serve with side of steamed fresh spinach.....YUM!




FYI...this is the only place you can get this recipe (besides Martha Stewart's website) because it is unpublished! I highly recommend that you try it.

A Biter

So we took Blue and Sarah to the vet yesterday to get their annual shots and to get their heartworm and flea preventative. Besides the vet bill coming in at $585 (ouch!), we also had a unique experience with Blue. For those who haven't met Blue, he is a 6-yr old Weimaraner and quite possible the biggest softy you'll ever meet. He is a tall, athletic dog (weighs 70 lbs) but has never had the capacity to hurt anything, even a flea. Which brings us to the episode at the vet.

While they were getting a fecal sample, one nurse was holding Blue down by the head while the other inserted a plastic swab into his anus. Not very enjoyable for Blue as you might guess, but he has endured such many times before. The nurse must have poked him because all of a sudden he was trying to get loose to see what was going on near his rear end. Because the nurse was holding him by the head, he growled/barked trying to get free. She immediately jumped up and said, "He bit me!" We of course apologized all over ourselves, but it was too late. She ran out of the room and alerted the whole office that a "biter" was on the premise. Even more, they stamped his chart in bright red in 4 places reading "Muzzle Needed/Bites." Our Blue, who would never hurt a flea, is now labeled as a biter. So, when the vet came in to do his exam, first he put Blue in a muzzle, and then he whisked him away to a "bigger table" in the back, which I'm sure was equipped with straps to restrain an uncooperative dog. I understand that the vet office probably has standard protocol for such situations, but I'm not so sure that Blue ever bit the nurse. I think that maybe his mouth came open while he was trying to get out of the headlock she had him in because I've literally never seem him bite anything except for our other dog Sarah while they are playing. The other complication to the situation is that we happen to be friends with the vet and go to church with him, so I hated to do anything to insult him. Either way, we couldn't do much about it, so I guess we'll just have to live with a "biter" from now on. The bottom line here, beware visitors to our home, a biter lives here (so says the vet).

Grand Teton National Park

A few weeks ago I got the chance to have a weekend in the mountains with my good friends Nate Clements and Jason Harp. We all went to high school and college together, so it was a nice reunion. It was a quick weekend trip, so we packed as much as possible into it. I took a flight from DFW to Jackson Hole on Friday morning, and we hit the trail pretty much right when I got off the plane. We were completelly exhausted by Sunday. I was extremely grateful for the opportunity to be out in God's creation for a few days with some good friends. I've included some pictures below for your viewing pleasure.

Nashville

We had a great time in Nashville earlier this month. Anne got to meet several stars, and we got a full dose of country music. Some of the acts we saw include: Alan Jackson, Faith Hill, Dwight Yoakum, Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Josh Turner, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift, and more. I've included some pictures below.

Tracy Byrd

Will and "Abe"

Taylor Swift

Bad News

We found out today that my sister Anne's tumor is starting to grow again. For those of you who don't know the whole story, I'll summarize. Anne was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in the summer of 2005. She had brain surgery in August 2005 that partially removed the tumor. Since then, she has been receiving antineoplastin therapy from the Burzynski Clinic in Houston. It has successfully kept her tumor from growing for nearly 2.5 years. So, this definitely comes as a shock to our family, especially since I personally had become acclimated to receiving the results of the latest MRI to hear "no change." Although lately, Anne has been having some memory problems so we thought something could be going on. Anne had had some other health complications this spring that have kept her from receiving as much treatment as normal, so I'm hoping the new activity can be directly attributed to the increased time "off the pump" as we call it, referring to the pump she carries around 24-7 that sends the medicine into her body. Either way, it is definitely a point in time where several questions are being raised and your prayers are appreciated. Please pray both for Anne's healing and protection and for our family to trust that the situation is in God's hands. The good news is that we have a family vacation scheduled from June 4-9 when we can spend some quality time together.

Marathon Post

So, we've been neglecting our blog lately. If it were a child, CPS would probably have been taken it away by now just like the FLDS polygamists in Eldorado. In an effort to make good, we've compiled a marathon post to document the most exciting things that have happened to us in the last few weeks. We'll take a straw poll later to see if it was a good idea or not.

1. 04/26: Anne's Birthday Party
We traveled to Canyon the weekend of Anne's 27th Birthday. We had a great time seeing the family, and Anne partied like it was 1999. Before the party, Anne took care of all the normal party preparations: compiling CD's for the listening pleasure of the guests and arranging the chairs in the most efficient way possible. Then she blew out her candles. Afterwards, we played guitar hero. We even got to see a dog, a cat, and a guinea fowl eating from the same pile of dog food. What a great birthday. Pictures below.






2. 04/29: A&M-TCU Baseball Game
We were able to attend the A&M-TCU baseball game in Ft Worth. It was a beautiful evening, and we were just glad to be part of the record-setting 4,294 fans (mostly Aggies) watch A&M win in the 9th inning 3-2.

3. 05/07: Jennifer has 2 bulged discs in her back
As some of you may know, Jennifer had back surgery in high school to correct the effects of a cheerleading accident. We had basically a "check-up MRI" because her back had been bothering her more than normal only to find out that she has 2 more bulged discs. The doctor immediately referred us to a neurosurgeon, which we want to avoid if at all possible. So we are going to see Sally and Bill (Scott's aunt and uncle) in Colorado over the Memorial Day weekend so they can work on Jennifer's back. They specialize in neuromuscular therapy. In the short term, this basically means that Jennifer needs to stop running and rely on swimming, biking, and walking for exercise.

4. 05/08: Water Main Burst
We were driving home to find the main road in our area basically flooding, but it wasn't raining. Apparently, a 16" water main burst, and being a good civil engineer, I grabbed my camera and took a couple of pictures to document our nation's aging infrastructure.


5. 05/10: Amber is engaged
We found out that Jennifer's sister Amber is getting hitched! We are not sure when the wedding is happening, but we are eager to meet Chris at our nephew's first birthday next weekend in Evadale.

The Latest

We don't really have anything interesting to share right now, but I just wanted to post something or else this blog would officially become "inactive" in my mind......

We haven't been up too much lately, just working and enjoying Fort Worth. We've been trying to get our house and yard in order before the busy summer season gets here. Jennifer has been training for her 1st triathlon (Iron Girl in Irving, July 20th), and I've been trying to help her along with her biking and running (I'm no help with the swimming). That has been fun running and biking together along the Trinity River, especially with the beautiful spring weather.

My sister bought us some outdoor speakers for our backyard, and we finally got those hooked up. Introducing Jennifer to the wonderland that is the attic crawl space made the whole experience worth it. If you've ever done it, you'll appreciate the image of crawling through a superheated space that is a maximum of 30 inches high, with nails pointed at your head from above, fiberglass insulation all around that is irritating your skin, eyes, and nasal passages while trying to balance on the narrow end of widely spaced 2"x6"s. Priceless.

We've also got some family birthdays coming up. My sister Anne is turning 27 on April 26, so we are making the trip to Canyon for her party. Our nephew Sam is turning 1 on May 31, so we will be heading down to Evadale for his party as well. Also, Christina Whitaker (May 7) and Christi Fling (May 31) are having birthdays soon.

It's Sunday afternoon now, and Jennifer is taking a nap. We went to church this morning, and then stopped by Central Market on the way home. We had a great lunch on the back porch. All things considered, life is pretty good right now for us. I hope you can say the same for you.