Onward to Christmas!

This is the ham that we had for Thanksgiving, and for the second year in a row we used The Pioneer Woman's recipe.  We also decided that if you add pineapple rings and maraschino cherries, it makes it look fancier.  Wink! Wink!

Since we are newly weds, we did have both families and 3 dogs, and several friends together under one roof. It's wasn't all bad, everyone left happy and with full bellies. 

This ornament was a gift from my mother on mine and Steph's first Christmas together.  If was from Cher's Signs by Design. We have ordered several things from here over the last several years, and couldn't be happier with them. 

This has been our moments up until now, so tag along if you want, and subscribe to the blog.  

Merry Christmas!!, and we will talk soon...

How we made Sun Tea!

This might be a little late in the season for this, so you might want to wait for warmer weather.  This is how we made our peach tea similar to that of Sonic. 

You will need about 3 peaches cut into slices.  You could really use any type of fruit you want...we chose peaches. 

Create you own simple syrup with equal parts sugar and water, drop in the slices, and bring to a boil. 

Once everything in nice and bubbly, dump everything in your tea jug.  

Fill your tea jug to the top with water, and drop in 4 tea bags.  Take it out back, and just set it in the sun and wait.  The best time to do this is in the morning so that the tea has all day to sit in the sun and marinate. -  (For a more adult version you can add 1 cup vodka) 

You can also subscribe to this blog, if you would like to follow along. 

Now that we are moved!

Now that we are all moved in with MOST everything unpacked, hung on the walls, and rooms painted...we tried these.

I found the recipe online, so we decided to put our own twist on them. 

2 oz Vodka

3 oz Ginger beer

3 oz Limeade, our you can use just lime juice

Ice

Of course it does help to use the moscow mule mugs!

In this one we tried Cherry flavored vodka

        2 oz  Cherry Vodka

3 oz Ginger beer

2 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice 

3 oz Limeade, our you can use just lime juice

Drop in 2 cherries and lime wedge

Ice

In either case you can double the recipe, but please drink RESPONSIBLY!!

Out for awhile...

Most of you that know us on a more personal level know that we are moving.  Just like most newly wed couples we have bought our first house.  So we will be away for a while, but we will have plenty to share once we return. 

Food shoot!

This was my first attempt to photograph some sort of food. Of course like most people I have taken Instagram pictures of my food, but somehow it isn't same. The picture below was some chicken tacos that we made awhile back, and not bad either. This was taken with my phone in what I would call a food tent. I will post a review later after I have had more chances to use it. 

Photo by Travis 

This one was also taken with my phone, but I used just natural light coming from the kitchen window.  I seem to find that the natural light route is the best way to go when photographing food.  

OH! and I used these to make tea with - something I might share later. 

Photo by Travis 

I'm going to continue on this food journey to see where it can takes me, and if you want you are free to tag along. 

My new Food!

This is what I decide to throw on the grill this last weekend. 

I took just 3 normal sized pork chops, a little salt and pepper on both sides, and put them in a bowl.  

The seasoning below is what I am most partial too, so that is what I used. I hit all sides with the powered seasoning, then I mixed a few tablespoons of the spicy brown mustard and some Sprite, until they were all swimming. Put them in the fridge, and let them marinate about 6 hours or so. 

I took the chops out at about 4 hours, and injected some Jack Daniels in all three and put them back in the fridge for the next two hours.  

After the chops were done, I mixed about 1 cup of BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's) 1 cup of brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons of spicy brown mustard (I do love the Spicy brown mustard). Lastly I brought that to a boil until it was nice and caramelized and poured it over the chops! And done!

It was super easy and super simple.  Next time I will share a drink recipe that my wife found. 

Bogle Park

As much as I have told myself that I would like to get away from taking pictures of everyday people, I broke down last weekend.  However it was a nice change of pace, but there are still other options in the photography field that I would like to pursue. 

It was extremely hot in the park on Saturday, but these two pulled it together so nicely. Even though people might not be my final stop in the photography world, they are still full of inspiration...especially the younger ones. 

Picture by Travis

Beer Can Chicken

It is likely from this post that you have an idea of where this blog might be going, but I will leave that up to you.  Most of our weekends during the summer are spent outside, with the grill, drink in hand...you get the idea.  Last weekend we tried beer can chicken for the first time, and this is how it went. 

We used the normal stand (which was a wedding gift) and some cheap beer.  More often than not I take recipes and make it my own, so this is what we came up with. 

Take a couple of big swigs out of the beer, and leave about 3/4 left.  I took the rest of the space and filled it with Fireball Whiskey, just to see. Not too bad...it had sort of a cinnamon taste.  Of course, there are other things that you can experiment with.  

I cooked it on the grill for about 2-3 hours (until it tempted right) just over the normal coals. Wasn't to bad at all, which gives me some other ideas for future weekends. 

Definitely something try if you enjoy the grill.  So now I am off to see what to come up with something for this weekend.  I''l keep you posted!

The transition...

Now that we are newly weds, I have taken some time to adjust some things on this site. I'm sure the rest of the adjustments will take place over time, but for now I will slowly incorporate the Miss into this blog. 

Not so long ago I enjoyed taking pictures of people, but now I have chosen to take this in a different direction; and I'm bringing someone else along. So you will just have to tag along and see where this blog goes. 

As most newly weds do, we have a large amount of activity going on right now, but we will do our best to keep this up to date.  Or, you can just SUBSCRIBE and follow along. 

Thank You !

Last but not least don't forget to thank your vendors. If for no other reason just send them a small thank you note, or a simple shout-out on social media works too. When I say vendors I mean businesses like your photographer, your caterer, videographer,  event planner, and the others that offered their services.  

Below are some of the shots from our photographer, which by the way was so incredible, that I can't even put into words. 

KD Photography

Photo: KD Photography

Photo: KD Photography

Photo: KD Photography

Photography: KD Photography

Photo:  KD Photography 

Make sure you have a photographer that shoots every little detail.  There was funny story behind this bottle that I remembered only when I saw this photo. - Photo: KD Photography

I also would like to thank our caterer for their extremely dedicated service.  If you are in the Northwest Arkansas sometime swing in and check them out. 

Pit Masters BBQ 

Photo: KD Photography

Photo: KD Photography

So that pretty much sums up our wedding journey, so you can stay tuned to see what might be coming next.... Don't forget you can follow along so you don't miss anything.

The Honeymoon...

Things are starting to settle down after the honeymoon, and we are slowly returning to life as a newly wed couple.   We are still living somewhat out of suitcases and other things but we are enjoying every minute of it. For the honeymoon, we decided on Playa de Carmen, Mexico.  (This might be a rather long post, but well worth a look, especially if you plan on visiting). We did some research an chose to stay at the Viva Wyndam Aztec.....an experience we will never forget.

Inside of the hotel 

Grounds of the Hotel 

More from the hotel.

The lounge at Viva Wyndam Aztec. 

We were on the third floor, with no elevator.  But the climb wasn't that bad. 

Outside the hotel. 

Then there was the food: 

This is something that I could not possibly put into words - 

The above and below was diner one evening.

This was breakfast.

Of course there was more, and I took pictures of pretty much everything, but you get the idea. 

Then there was there entertainment:

Of course, first there was the beach where we spent most of our time -

Looking up to the resort.

And the excursions...

Cenote Ik kil - Yucatan, Mexico

Cenote Ik kil - Yucatan, Mexico

 Valladolid -  Church of Saint Servatius 

The Market in Playa del Carmen. 

 Chichen Itza Mayan Ruins

Chichen Itza

Temple of the Warriors or Temple of the Thousand Columns - Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza

And this was the end.  We were pretty worn out by the time we returned, but it was well worth the trip!