Sunday Night TexMex Meal

Chef Beazley (my nickname for my husband John) is always so creative at making a fantastic meal from the crazy items in our fridge and cupboards! I’ve been wanting to start a series called something like What’s In The Kitchen?for a long time.

As John and I enjoyed preparing our dinner tonight, I decided to put the video camera on my digital camera to use!

This episode of What’s In The Kitchen? is inspired by:

A pot of cooked beans!


Before my husband went away for work a couple days ago, he slow cooked a pot of pinto beans. Then…they were moved to the fridge and have been waiting to be refried. I was tired of looking at them AND the bacon grease that was left in the pan on the stove BECAUSE I was dreaming about the most incredible refried beans that Chef Beazley made a few weeks ago. He got the recipe from the Homesick Texan blog! I proposed we make a TexMex meal and recreate the amazing beans (that’s almost an oxymoron – amazing & beans in the same sentence – but seriously they are fantastic!).

Success…

Have an amazing week!

Live Inspired,
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Weekend in Vancouver

Our adventure to Vancouver last weekend for a getaway & charity auction was fabulous!

We took the Canada Line SkyTrain to our downtown hotel – it was super easy to navigate.

View Vancouver, BC Canada Line, SkyTrain

My lovely suitcase (the burgundy one) has 4 wheels, so John was really smart and cornered it so it wouldn’t roll all over!

The Fairmont Waterfront was our home for 2 nights – it was a fantastic hotel.

View Fairmont Waterfront, Vancouver, BC

I packed a few pairs of shoes for our adventure – this picture amuses me.

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On Friday afternoon, we explored Vancouver by walking the sea board.

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With the Vancouver 2010 Olympic caldron and the Vancouver Convention Center (with the living roof).

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We walked down and through Stanley Park – so gorgeous and peaceful!

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View Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC

My hubby and I had both been to Vancouver before separately – so we just walked parts of Granville Street & Robson Street.

View Vancouver, BC

We found an amazing Mexican Restaurant further down Robson Street called Don Guacamole. John actually said, “This is the best Mexican food I’ve had in Canada” – this is almost an oxymoron – as nothing is comparable north of the Red River (river that divides Texas & Oklahoma). It was a fabulous experience and satisfied our cravings for our favorite food.

View Don Guacamole Mexican Restaurant , Robson St, Vancouver, BC

On Saturday, we relaxed, read, and walked more!

P.S. For our US/International friends – Tim Horton’s is a rival coffee shop to Starbucks in Canada – these 2 were literally 10 steps apart in an open air building – I thought it was cute.

We got all dressed up for the fancy Charity Auction that were out for.

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I was feeling sassy and decided to take a selfie while waiting for John to finish getting ready (just had to rub that in).

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Recall me telling you there was a Shoe Raffle – well it was a Christian Louboutin ($$) Shoe Raffle!! The winner was awarded the pair of pumps on display with the option to exchange at Holt Renfrew for another pair up to $800! (Stacy – I trust that could have gone nicely towards the boots on your wish list!)

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John did an amazing job conducting the Live Auction & Tele-a-therapy of the evening. I LOVE listening to him auctioneer ;)

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Hope your weekend is “amazing”!

Happy Travels,
Robyn

P.S. REMEMBER to enter the Hide Your Straps contest NOW – the deadline is tonight (Friday) at 11:59pm MST!!


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10: Swept off my feet by a Texan

To read the previous chapter OR the whole love story.

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Gentleman – I quickly questioned in my mind. Have I ever met a man like this before? WOW! Our definition of "gentleman" clearly differs. When I think of the word, the following thoughts come to my mind, kind, caring, sweet, charming, manners, open the door, yes ma’am – not the action of sleeping on the couch of a very expensive penthouse.

Without batting an eye, as a very naive young Alberta woman, I blurted out,

"This is a gorgeous room and a huge bed. There is lots of room for two of us to share. Nothing has to happen, but you may as well enjoy this amazing sleep!"

John crawled in…and nothing happened.

I am not just saying that just to keep this PG Rated. I already told you John was very innocent…there was nothing wrong with that!

I woke up in the middle of the night, to a leg thrown over me, and I was being completely spooned in the fetal position. This is when I first discovered that John was a cuddler! I laid really still, trying not to laugh, and pretend not to be awake. A few Pretty Woman scenes ran through my mind and I quickly gave my head a shake. I drifted back asleep.

As the sun peaked through the curtains on Saturday morning, I woke up, convinced I was in a dream or a fairy tale.

I decided to make a dash for the restroom. As I tiptoed there – a piece of paper caught my attention that had been slid under the door.

The receipt!

Mmm…I really wanted to peek – but what if John is awake and catches me. I refrained and went into the bathroom.

On my way back out, the idea of looking at the “total” got me excited again…

Right about then…I heard a snore…YES – Tex was still sound asleep.

I peeked inside and my eyes could have popped out of my head!

$374!

AHHHH – that is REALLY over my $60 budget. I had a minor freak out, Julia Roberts quickly flashed through my mind again – were there expectations last night, that I didn’t meet? Then I calmed myself down, this Texan just showed me a fabulous evening, like nothing I had ever experienced before, just enjoy.

Once John woke up, he suggested we go for a swim. We changed and put on the complimentary white plush robes. I felt like a princess. I’m a dork I realize, however I was a mere 20 years old, living 3000 miles from home!

Then we set out to explore San Antonio. We walked down the Riverwalk and enjoyed lunch at a fabulous The Original Mexican Restaurant with wonderful ambience. It’s the famous one with all the colorful umbrellas that gets featured in travel pictures lots.

As much as I love taking pictures, for whatever reason, I have none from this trip!

On Saturday afternoon we visited the Alamo and took an open air, train car ride to a Mexican flea market. I got to barter for “junk”, for which I just love!  Then we walked through a mall and that is John went into a store – I took the opportunity to call my parents & Laura. 

I squealed the details to Laura and my parents (who I’m lucky to also call friends!) about the weekend adventure!

John and I enjoyed dinner on the Riverwalk and spent one more night in the exquisite Marriott. Nothing happened…just sleeping. We were both exhausted and collapsed after a jam packed day of sightseeing and shopping.

On Sunday morning we headed back to “reality”.

As we arrived back to our college city, John requested that we keep our weekend adventure a secret. I was a bit confused…

Happily Married and Living With Passion,
Robyn

If you’ve missed a chapter of this love story

CopperTexas


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Leaving on a Jet Plane

I not only survived the Calgary Stampede – I’m feeling fantastic. I often get quite exhausted and the stress takes a toll on me from an intense short term contract. However, I came into this 12 day contract with a different attitude. I had a blast and am excited to escape with my amazing husband for a few days.

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We’re Texas bound this morning! John and I are headed south for a hot summer visit. We’ll see family, friends, and soak in the rays. John has been reading lots the last couple weeks…

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Today, he was enjoying The Starbucks Experience. It seemed rather fitting because I won a bet and he bought me Starbucks for breakfast!!

We normally fly to DFW directly, however this trip - we tried Continental Airlines. They were fantastic! You actually get meals included for free – so we were offered breakfast. You also get FREE movies. We would highly recommend this airline.

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We connected in Houston and enjoyed Mexican food!! Surprise, surprise ;)

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Pappasitos, true authentic Tex Mex - love Texas fast food experiences. (You may recall that we ate at another location last trip).   PappasitosHouston

We picked up our car and the temperature gage said 41C (105F) – yikes!

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Despite having a fabulous week at the Calgary Stampede, we crashed when we arrived at our hotel and caught up on some much needed sleep. Tonight we met up with my girlfriend Kattie from University.

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Our preference for dinner – Mexican of course ;) We had a fantastic feast at On The Border.

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After stuffing ourselves with amazing cuisine, we went to Wal Mart to walk our dinner off. I love that its open 24 hours a day. Can you believe that it is still 38C (100F) at 10pm at night?

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Night time – big day tomorrow at the waterpark!!


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Texas Wishes

Before I left for Texas, just over a month ago – I ran a contest for photo ideas in my Texas Bound post! I am going to debut a few more pictures from our trip and hopefully satisfy a few requests. Thanks ladies for your input and for following my blog!

1. Lacy Rowan “pics of nature blossoming”

This is probably one of my favorite pictures from our trip – I love Bluebonnets (official Texas flower)! Have a fabulous time in Texas Lacy – showing off Zane!

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2. Deanne  ”I suggest that you start taking creative pictures….John at his old school playground, rustic ranch pictures, A day in the life of the Beazley Family (Texas Style). ”

Fabulous idea Deanne, thanks for the tips! I tried a couple of your setting ideas, but picked this one to report back to you ;) John loves to cook and is all about presentation in everything he prepares. This quaint store was full of condiments that you could try and was decorated with a country, western flair! John was so much fun to watch explore and he kept saying – oh, try this one or oh, look at this!

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3. Kattie  ”happy couple in a special way. Like taking a picture of the groom when everyone is looking at the bride or taking a picture during a special moment in their new life together.”

I had a lot of fun with this one! I tried to get their faces when the bride was coming down the aisle and the groom’s reaction, but that didn’t turn out. However – a memory that will stay with me forever was the fact that my sister-in-love wanted the getaway truck as dirty as my brother-in-love could get it – they both love to go “mudding”! As they left the wedding, this picture pulled all of the elements of the day together – off to spend the rest of their lives with one another!

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4. Michelle  ”I’ve never been to Texas so take plenty of pictures so I can live vicariously through you! How about the Alamo?”

I hope you’ll get the chance to explore Texas one day Michelle! There is so much to see and do! Texans are so patriotic and paint anything they can with their flag or the shape of their state. We weren’t in San Antonio this trip capture the Alamo, but the Fort Worth Stockyards are a must see, as well as a visit to Billy Bob’s, a famous country bar. I also encourage you to attend a Trades Day, huge outdoor flea market with fabulous finds! More pictures about these different areas still to come.

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5. Shelagh “some green, green grass, leaves, something…we’re dying for it here. So sick of this snow.”

Spring is near Shelagh!! It was raining, but I really appreciated the bright green ditches and fields!

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6. Crystal “The table settings!”

Each table was decorated different with western/country decor and candles from my mother-in-loves home! I was trying to be as cool as you with my shots and capture some of the background with this picture… I’ll keep practicing!!

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7. stacey “bride and bridemaid’s hair please. I have no idea how I want my hair for my wedding.”

Stacey – all of the bridesmaid’s hair was worn down and they wore jeans! I thought my sister-in-love looked gorgeous with her veil, you don’t see that much anymore. Hope your wedding plans are going awesome!

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9. laura ” but please take some eye candy pics! I know, it’s selfish and slightly immature, but there are few things as beautiful as a good looking man in a nice hat, button up, starched jeans and cool boots. And these specimens are plentiful in Te-has!”

Well Laura, on any given day, I would agree there would be an abundance of your description. However, I was around a lot of “rednecks” at the wedding, if I was at a cattle show or bar, there may have been more “eye candy”! I thought you’d appreciate some American country dancing – arm straight out & the woman practically getting chocked by her partners arm! There is a well dressed man in the background of the picture! The lead singer in the band was cute; you know he could sing the Texas country & red dirt tunes!

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More pictures and tales to come from our trip to Texas! I think I need to do a whole entry on food, because I took lots of pictures while we were enjoying our favorite foods when we travel south!

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