Twenty-Twelve

Happy New Year, everyone!!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season.  Skyler and I had a great time!  For me, I believe I had the best Christmas that I have ever had.  Usually, Thanksgiving and Christmas totally stress me out- I have about a million places to visit within a very short period of time and there is ALWAYS someone who gets upset because we didn't spend enough time with them which, in turn, makes me feel terrible.  But not this year!!  Everyone was happy and excited and it was just wonderful!  Mr. Foster and I did not exchange gifts, but instead we made a trip to Taos, New Mexico with a few friends to go skiing/snowboarding.  We had a wonderful time.  Taos was a bit of a culture shock for us, but, nonetheless tons of fun.

Skyler and I are pretty darn excited about 2012.  We have decided to do a bit of traveling :)  Our next trip, we hope to take in February or early March.  We are thinking about Nashville or Memphis- so excited!!!  In April we are making the quick trip down to Austin for the Country Living Fair.  I cannot express the excitement I am experiencing about this particular trip!!!  If you don't subscribe to that magazine, please do!  It's great.  In June we hope to take a trip for Skyler's birthday and in August we hope to take a trip for mine.  That's all we have planned for now but I sure hope that we can tack a few more on to the list. 

One thing before I go, here is a sweet picture of our little baby boy! 

He is such a lazy bum!!  But we wouldn't want him any other way :)  This may sound strange... but I really believe that Rocky was brought into our lives to make us happier.  That little boy is just such a joy!!  He is so funny and terribly sweet.  Ahh, I love him!

Love,
Amber

Chili

Hello everyone-

The weather is absolutely wonderful right now!  I've dug out all of my boots and I'm putting them to work.  Thanksgiving, which is my favorite holiday, is right around the corner and I am so excited to see family!  We have been in Fort Worth for nearly 4 months now and we've seen family multiple times but it sure will be nice to spend an extended period of time with them.  Our nieces and nephews are all growing way too fast :( 

Something else that is right around the corner- OUR ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!  I'm pretty excited about it :)  Of course, I knew it would happen but it has come so soon!  This past year has been full of change and I love it.  We don't have any extravagant plans so we'll probably just have dinner at a fancy restaurant and spend the day together, which is rare nowadays with these new careers and all.

I don't have alot of time so I will leave you with a recipe for this amazing chili that I made!  I've never made it before (until yesterday) and for some reason I was under the impression that it would be really really hard...  This was extremely easy!  Plus, you really can't mess it up...  Enjoy.

1 lb. hamburger meat
1/4 lb. pork sausage (the kind that comes in a tube)
2 c. white onion
2 jalapeno peppers (or more), seeded and finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg. McCormick's chili seasoning
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 little can tomato sauce
1 18 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 cans kidney beans
1/2 c. frozen corn

On medium heat, brown hamburger meat and pork in large pot, drain grease.  Add onion, jalapeno peppers and garlic; let cook for about 5 minutes.  Add McCormick's seasoning and let cook about 3 minutes, until fragrant.  Stir in cans of tomato sauce, add small amounts of water if needed.  Drain juice from diced tomatoes and disregard, add diced tomatoes to pot.  Drain juice from kidney beans and slightly smash one can of beans- add to pot.  Stir in corn and cover.  Let simmer for as long as you like, stirring occasionally.   Top with shredded cheese, sour cream, crackers or corn chips.  NOTE:  I added cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper, chili powder and cumin for extra flavoring and hotness.  You can add whatever you like to make it your own.

This turned out more perfect than I could ever imagine!!  It was divine, really.  I suggest you make it to keep warm this Winter.

Love,
Amber

Super Hot Summer

We are settled into our new place (for the most part)! 

So far we are really enjoying Fort Worth and are trying to get out and do as much as possible :) A couple of weeks ago we went to an independent minor league baseball game, the Fort Worth Cats!  I can't remember who they played but it was a lot of fun to get out and feel like a local.  Skyler actually played at their field during his old USAO days, pretty cool!

We also had the opportunity to visit my brother, Matthew and my Uncle Shawn and Uncle Bob in Dallas.  We stayed a night with them and I so much enjoyed it!!  I have been missing familiar faces.  Dallas is amazing and much different than Fort Worth, that's for sure.  But Fort Worth is still pretty darn great.

I have been working quite a bit on getting the house decorated, which has not been easy.  I am coming to the realization that I don't have very good taste!!  I need help- desperately.  However, while moving things around and whatnot, we have found a total of FOUR lizards in our house and only one outside!  I googled it and they are actually gecko's.  Kinda cool.  My Mom is insisting that I catch the next one and bring it back to Oklahoma to be one of Saydi's pets.  I just hope it doesn't become food to her most recent addition, Mackie the mockingbird...

These little gecko's really are cute.  But if they grow I think I will change my mind...

Robbie and Steve and maybe Grandma are coming to spend this weekend with us.  Skyler and I are really excited!! We have never had the opportunity to entertain before so our heads have been spinning with ideas.  I will post a post (haha) after their visit to fill everyone in :)  My mission before they arrive is to find a dining table... wish me luck.

Skyler and Rocky "skyped" with Edwin, Caitlin, Gibs and Dax a couple of days ago and he LOVED it!  Sky said that it's nice to see faces!  He also said that at one point Gibs kissed Rocky (the computer screen) and that it was the cutest thing ever.  I don't doubt it!

Rocky is acting like a whole new little boy since we've moved to Texas; I think he finally feels at home :)  He has been the BEST dog and his personality is shining through more and more.  We love him a lot.

See how happy he looks!!

On another note: Skyler has been at his new job for over a month and is enjoying it.  The company hired 2 new employees that he has been a part of training and to give them even more experience, Skyler has been moved to the night shift for about a month and a half :(  I'm not very happy about that but I am thankful that it is temporary.  Speaking of temporary, my job is coming to an end and I'm excited about my next adventure!  This experience has been good for me but I am ready to move on.  Nothing bad has happened, I'm just ready for a long-term position!

Skyler and I will be visiting Oklahoma twice in the next few weeks.  For our first visit we are coming up so that we can see family and also so that I can finish some things at UCO and USAO, I'll be taking 9 hours this Fall, eeee!!  I'm in the transition period of being an official resident of Texas so I'm taking my courses online in Oklahoma.  We will also be celebrating the August birthdays for my side of the family: John, Allyson, Matthew, Brittany and myself.  Mom is cooking two of my favorite dishes: chicken casserole and chocolate CAKE!  I cannot wait!!  For our second visit we will be attending a dear friend's wedding.  I love weddings!  And wedding cake...

Other than that everything else is pretty much the same in our lives.  We miss everyone, everyday!!!  I hope you enjoyed the post.  I'm going to give my Dad and Step-Mom a call now :)

Love,
Amber

(Insert Catchy Title Here...)

My first post!! Don't get too excited people, I'm not as creative as I thought I was (notice the post title)...  I created this blog to keep in touch with family and friends and also to show off some creative ideas I have planned for our new life in Fort Worth.  Most of those ideas are related to furniture projects but we'll get to that later. 

The drive to Fort Worth from Guthrie wasn't too bad.  I had Rocky by my side and he enjoyed the scenery.  Skyler followed us in his truck and kept an eye on my driving.  Thank goodness.  Below is a picture of Rocky during our drive.

I have spent a whopping 5 days in this hotel room and I am more than ready to GET OUT!  Ugh.  However, in those 5 days, I have found us a beautiful home, taken Rocky for numerous walks, changed our mailing address on all bills and correspondences (that is not a fun thing to do btw), and I am caught up on my Summer class homework!  I have also applied to several jobs, one of which is at Chesapeake so please say a prayer or 2 for me! 

Enough about me :)

Skyler has worked a full 2 weeks at Chesapeake and seems pretty happy with it!  He likes all of the guys that he works with and most of them are close to our age, which we are excited about (Hellloooo friends!).  He wakes up every morning around 6 a.m. and irons his clothes while I sleep in.  I like that.  He spends all day at work, doesn't even leave for lunch, and gets back to our "castle" around 5:30 or so.  We spend our evenings watching excessive amounts of quality television.

We are trying to pinch a few pennies so we've been eating in quite a bit.  That's hard to do when you move to a new town and like food as much as I... errr WE do.  Today we decided that we deserved a treat and ventured on over to Chef's Point Cafe in Watauga.  Oh. My. Gosh.  It was sooooo soooo sooo GOOD!! Chef's Point was featured on one of my favorite shows: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  Skyler ordered the Bacon Cheddar Burger with french fries- quite delightful!!  It had barbecue sauce on it and it was so big, he only ate half of it.  I ordered the Blackened Chicken stuffed with Crab.  Heaven on a plate!  I should have taken a picture... We ended with the Bread Pudding in cognac sauce and I ate almost all of it.  We left miserable but very satisfied and agreed that it was one of the best meals we'd ever eaten.

I wonder if this blog will turn more towards food than furniture... We shall see :)

Oh yeah, one more thing- we miss everyone back home very much!

Love,
Amber