Wedding Bells

This past weekend we were in Dallas for what was a quick weekend "shopping trip." Although there was not as much shopping involved as I would have hoped (ha), we were actually there to be a part of my sister's surprise engagement (ok, ok - that's better than shopping).

It all went as planned (she said 'yes'), and now she is an engaged woman. I am thankful Paul (fiancé) let us in on the plan and that we got to be there. It was important to me that she have pictures of it.

I'll spare you on all the details, but the main part of the "plan" was for Paul and Allie to go to lunch and to a movie, come back to the hotel where everyone had planned to lounge around the pool that day, and direct her attention to a banner (he had made) hanging on the side of the hotel. She turned to look at the banner, then turned back around to Paul on one knee. There were a ton of people out at the pool that day, and once the banner was hung, they were all sort of in on the plan. So when she said 'yes,' the crowd went wild! Here are some pictures of the event.

Congrats to Paul and Allie!

The Creek

We spend a lot of time at the pool (big pool at my parents' and the little pool in our back yard), we spend time at the lake in Tyler's parents' boat, we spend a lot of time at our new park and splash pad, and last week we spent some time at a new place - the river (it's actually the creek). It's about 35 minutes from our house - but totally worth the drive. Tyler and I both grew up going out here to swim (and float trips), and this particular place we went is called the "Boy Scout Hole" (this is where my dad used to bring us to swim...and tell stories about how he camped out there for months at a time, swam hundreds of miles at a time, and canoed 8 million miles down the river there - all true, of course). 

There are lots of trees (shade) and the water is COLD. It's a perfect place for 100-degree weather. We went out on Saturday and had a lot of fun, so we went back Sunday afternoon. The water is shallow enough that Levi can roam freely and watch all the fish. We will definitely be going back soon and often!

Oven-Roasted Okra

I got this idea from Lesley @ Recipe for Crazy. She posted a picture on Instagram of roasted okra from her garden and I asked her to post a "recipe" or how she made it.
I declared my love for okra back in this post, and there just aren't many things that beat fried okra. I'm going to go ahead and venture to say, I like it roasted JUST AS MUCH. Shocking, I know. Keep in mind two things: my "fried" okra is really just sautéed. I don't make it with breading very often unless I get a really special request, because I just think it takes away from the flavor of the greatest vegetable ever. Roasting it seems to bring out the natural flavor even more. It was really that good.

Thanks to Lesley for the idea!

There isn't really an ingredient list or recipe because it's too simple.

Instructions:
I cut the ends off the okra, sliced them in half (long way), placed them open-face down on a sprayed cookie sheet, brushed some olive oil on top, sprinkled with season salt and black pepper, and plopped them in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

The Evolution of a Plate of Watermelon