Walkin' in Memphis

Yep, that's right. This past weekend I finally got to be a tourist in Memphis! After living here for almost 6 months, can you believe it took this long? I must say I was pretty excited to have a reason to see the sights when my cousin Carissa came to visit for a long weekend to kick off her pharmacy school spring break. We both decided that we'd work in a little relaxation, but definitely took full advantage of all that this great city has to offer...which is actually quite a bit, much to my surprise!

On Saturday evening, Cody and I took Carissa to the famous Peabody hotel downtown to watch the duck march. I won't even begin to explain this, but you should just Google it or look it up on You Tube if you've never heard of it. I know I sound like I'm off my rocker, but after living here I've learned that people really come from far and wide to see these famous ducks. Who knew? Not to mention that the hotel is incredible--gorgeous historic architecture, the whole nine yards. So first important lesson of this post: ducks are celebrities in Tennessee (insert witty comment about Texas being superior once again here). :)

After we watched the ducks, we ate at BB King's on Beale Street, which is like Austin's 6th street on a smaller scale, and with a little more soul. Apparently the bars stay open until 6 AM and things get a little dirty down thurr (yes that was intentional Mom), so we opted for an early entrance and departure. Back to the dinner though--not only did we feast on good 'ol southern ribs and barbeque nachos (quickly becoming one of my new favorite foods...I suppose you could call it our Mexican food standby), but we listened to some really good, legit live jazz music. The band that we saw had a lead singer who was approached by American Idol's Randy Jackson for a record deal--at age 16. He had quite the Justin Bieber swoop to boot, and was very talented. After dinner, we visited a couple more "hot spots", including the famous Coyote Ugly. It was pretty tame at 7:00, and the Coyote girls just didn't understand why Carissa and I didn't want to join in their boot scootin' routine on the bar. We remain classy Texas girls. :) Plus, we didn't want to take away any attention from the cougars that had staked their claim on the bar and were already busting a move.

After church on Sunday, Carissa and I put on our blue suede shoes and ventured to Graceland to visit with the King of Rock and Roll. We had our doubts, but it was actually really cool, and now we can say that we've been to Elvis' crib, which is definitely something you should add to your bucket list. The decorator in me found an appreciation for the extravagance of the interior design, and I even fell in love with the couch in the billiard room--it was surprisingly Anthropologie-esque! Just another example of how trends in fashion and design are so cyclical. Flashes weren't allowed in the house, so the few pictures that I got of the inside are on my phone. When I figure out how to get those to upload, I certainly will--but you may have to check Facebook for those. (I am trying to utilize all social networking outlets to keep you as updated as possible you know.)

The rest of the weekend brought lots of hanging out, relaxation, movie watching, and eating dessert (what we do best). I absolutely loved having Carissa here and can't wait for our next get together. It was wonderful to have some one-on-one bonding time outside of the crazy holidays! The only thing missing was our third musketeer, Jeffy. We missed you cousin!

Here's a little photo documentation of our fun weekend...

 Dinner at BB King's--check out those BBQ nachos. Makes me hungry just thinking about them.

 The famous Beale Street, pre-party animal hours...I mean, it was hard to control ourselves but somehow we managed.

 My handsome husband's Elvis face, in preparation for the visit to Graceland. What a hottie.

 BB King's

 I'll give you one guess. I'm thinking this is a great idea for decorating our next home... 

Keep it classy Memphis. :)

 This rule pretty much ruined Cody's evening...

 The classiest Texas ladies on Beale Street. Making our mommas proud. :)

 Cody and Carissa having some quality bonding time, which may have included a weekend of trash talking thanks to the NCAA tournament...

 Hello Graceland!

 Is it what you expected? Purchased for just over $100,000 when Elvis was 24 (I think that's accurate, but don't quote me those of you who are real Elvis followers). Wonder what it's worth now?

 The famous pink Cadillac. We could totally pimp this thing.

Elvis' private jet, which just happens to be the size of a real passenger airplane. It has 5 bedrooms and 2 baths too, no big deal.

Clearly I've becoming the blogging queen these days. Either that or our life is just really exciting...or I have too much time on my hands... I'm going to go with the second option. Until next time, we'll be ballin' hard in Memphis...

"Woke up this morning, Texas on my mind..."

Obviously, this Pat Green song has become the theme song for Cody and me lately. Literally, everytime that we depart for the Lone Star State it seems to be the background theme playing constantly in my mind. (Thus the Facebook status posts, blaring of the iPod, etc.) I suppose it's time to expand a little and find a few more Texas-themed tunes to add to the soundtrack...I'll get to work on that stat, although it may be a little late as I'm not sure when the next time we'll grace our homeland with our presence will be, sadly. :( Our goal for the near future is to explore the mid-south and all it has to offer, and I must say I've never been so excited! We've got big plans for the next few weekends, which means lots of blog material (and the family rejoices!). I know you're on the edge of your seat with anticipation for our upcoming adventures, but I don't believe in spoilers. So in the meantime, you'll just have to settle for a recap of our weekend in the big D (and I do mean Dallas), which was so full of fun I'm afraid I'm going to miss some of the very important details!

My good friend Rachel got married the weekend of March 12, and when we learned that the drive to Dallas was only 7 hours, we decided to take full advantage of the opportunity to celebrate with her and her wonderful hubby Joe. The ceremony was absolutely perfect and Rachel was absolutely one of the most gorgeous brides I've ever seen. I was also able to reunite with some great girlfriends from Swift, and had so much fun catching up and seeing them. You should also know that I was the dancing queen and between the moves that Cody and I displayed that night, it's quite surprising that we weren't asked to audition for Usher's next music video. I mean, we were on fire. Luckily, there's no photographic documentation because you'd probably feel really threatened by our mad skills... I did get a few pics of the event though, not to worry!

 Wouldn't have missed this for the world. Love my Rach!

 Absolutely stunning! Pre-ceremony

 Look at my handsome hubby :)

 Mr. and Mrs. Joe Martin

 Miss you girlfriends!

 Come to Tennessee!!!

 Just a glimpse of the mad dance skills exhibited at the reception...

As if partying Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn style at the wedding wasn't fun enough, Cody and I also got to stay with our good friends Wes and Nicole for the weekend, which brought a trip to the Greenville St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday morning. We had so much fun celebrating our Irish (some of us authentic and others honorary) heritage and enjoying the gorgeous WARM weather. I think I may have even gotten a little sun...for which now I'm completely starving... but that's another story, and another rant, as you know. :) Getting back to the parade though--it was wonderful to see old friends from high school, including my college roomie, Carrie. We also got the chance to meet some of Wes and Nicole's awesome Dallas friends who I had so much fun getting to know (shout out to Jodee, you're awesome girl!) After a quick breakfast with Carrie in Arlington, we headed to Boyd/Decatur to visit with Uncle Brian, Aunt Stacey, and Karsyn. I was super excited to spend some extra time with them, and even got to feast on some tasty homemade chocolate chip cookies--which we all know are a total luxury to me because of the mere fact that my crazy husband refuses to eat chocolate and there's no point in making a huge batch of these from scratch for myself (or is there?). Obviously, it was a fun and busy weekend filled with so many activities! I must say I also enjoyed the bonding time with my hubs that came from 14 hours on the road. Sometimes you just need that kind of togetherness, filled with old school rap CD's and Texas Country music.

Here's a few pictures for your viewing pleasure, then I promise I'll wrap up this novel for the evening...

 Love this girl!

 Wes and Nicole--fabulous hosts, and can't wait for their wedding!

 My roo! Caroliiiiiine

 Alejandro/Roberto we miss you!

 Hey boys...Cody's an honorary WC alum for this one.

 Amazing girls :)

 Showing a little Irish spirit. Note the sweet belt.

 Jodee! Love this girl.

 Miss Karsyn, post lip gloss sampling and Cheeto eating. This girl has my heart!!

Being fabulous clearly runs in the family...

Now get pumped because you're about to see a lot of blog action in the next few weeks, and this time I mean business. :)

To whet your appetite...figuratively and literally.

So, I know I've been a bit of a blog slacker lately. I like to think that's a good thing and shows you how super exciting life has been for Cody and me. :) I have, however, been guilted into an update by my fabulous sis-in-law, Katie, who has been kicking my butt at this lately...

While I must warn that this won't be the most lengthy of posts, I can assure you that it will satiate your appetite (both literally and figuratively) until the monster post that is under construction and should make its debut before another month passes.

The month of March has brought lots of Texas time for us, including a real, authentic Texas Independence Day celebration, Tennessee style. While living in God's country, I was always aware of the fact that this "holiday" fell on March 2nd, I of course understood it's significance, but this year I appreciated it tons more due to the mere fact that I wasn't in the Lone Star State to celebrate it. It's true what they say--you don't know what you've got til it's gone. Not to worry though, Cody and I are always looking for a reason to party, so along with our good friends the Riddle's and a group of Bayer Crop Science Texas natives (and honorary Texans), we got together for a good 'ol Texas Independence Day celebration. Everyone brought food that reminded us of our homeland, including brisket and all the fixins', chips and queso, some authentic Johnson margaritas and Spanish rice, Texas sized sugar cookies, and my very own soapapilla cheesecake. I definitely brought my Texas-sized appetite for this fiesta, and don't regret one second of indulgence!

And now the moment you've all been waiting for... the soapapilla cheesecake recipe. If you haven't tried this, you should probably get off the couch and whip it up--it's super easy and quite possibly one of my favorite desserts EVER. And those of you that know me know that's a bold statement, considering my sweet tooth is absolutely out of control. Let the walk to the kitchen be your cardio, because when that first bite melts in your mouth you'll forget every calorie and escape to a Mexican paradise, trust me.

Soapapilla Cheesecake

2 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 8 oz. cans refrigerated crescent rolls (come in dough sheets now, it's fool proof!)
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, room temp.
1/4 cup honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 9X13" baking pan. (Aluminum foil pans work best for this.) Beat cream cheese with 1 cup sugar and vanilla extract. Unroll crescent rolls and press 1 can into bottom of pan. Spread cream cheese on top and top with other can of crescent rolls.

Stir together 3/4 cup sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Dot mixture on top of cheesecake. Bake about 30 minutes until puffy and golden brown. Remove and drizzle with honey. Cool completely and cut into squares.

Until next time, adios mis amigos!

Two months of snow days?

Let me begin this post by saying, cold weather and I do not get along. I suppose it was a blessing for me to spend most of my life in south Texas, where the coldest time of year is associated with baseball and softball season, and even then Mom always pulled out the game bags and a couple of coats from the car's trunk and we were fine. Or I had the luxury of adorning the super comfy school sweats that were always coveted by high school athletes... nonetheless, the only glimpse of snow I can really claim to have gotten during my extensive lifetime may have been a few harmless flurries with no chance of sticking to the ground (except for that fluke in Houston last year, and the time I visited Colorado). That was, until we moved to Tennessee.

The Memphis natives continue to tell me that they've never seen a winter this cold, but I'm beginning to wonder...and run out of cute cold weather outfits. I kid you not, I've lost count of the snow and ice days, and the amount of times that Cody has jumped up and down in the living room in shear joy because he gets to accompany his coworkers and their children on another sledding excursion. Don't get me wrong, I love the snow and appreciate it's whimsical beauty just as much as the next person, but after a month and a half of it, I've decided it's time for it to go back to its Arctic homeland. After all, I signed up to continue my life in the South for a reason...not to include snowshoes and windshield scraping on a daily basis.

Fortunately, my sister Kirby was able to experience the arrival of the white wonderland before the novelty wore off in my mind. We did have quite a blast playing in the snow and building a snowman that day, and were sure to chronicle this momentous occassion (that we thought would be rare) with lots of pics...

Before the snow storm's arrival, just enjoying our fabulous cold weather outfits

 

  Hey Mom and Dad! 

 Kirby's winter wonderland

 Naturally, an Aggie snowman

 At peace...for a moment...

 Perfectly normal sign of brotherly/sisterly affection...throw her in the snow with no mercy.

 Check out that technique

Putting that softball arm to use

Post snowball fight #2

Kirby got to stay for about 5 days, during which we had lots of fun seeing movies, shopping, eating cupcakes, drinking hot tea, and watching Sex and the City dvd's for hours on end. It was the perfect long weekend for both of us and I can't wait for her to come visit again. My parents were even able to join us for a couple of days, which was a fantastic surprise, too! After Sister's departure, I was certain that the cold weather wouldn't stick around much longer...boy was I wrong. The following week I was sent home from work due to my lack of ability to drive in cold weather conditions. I guess I have my south TX roots to thank for that one, too... Not one to complain when I'm forced home into my cozy clothes and an afternoon of book reading and movie watching, imagine my surprise when I am greeted by my very sophisticated, mature husband conducting a very important conference call with a couple of his work buddies. I'm not sure I've had the pleasure of experiencing a three-way call, live, since middle school, but this was happening. I mean, what better way for a couple of grown men to plan their next sledding adventure, right? Here's a little photographic documentation of Cody enjoying the finer things in life, on a sled:

 Post-conference call, while still appearing to be an adult :)

 Let the fun begin!

 Cody's partners in crime, the Wilhelm and Riddle kids

Definitely a pro.

Well, I think I've expressed what really grinds my gears about snow and constant cold weather enough for one post. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful that we got to experience a "real" winter during our time in TN, but I would be lying if I said I'm not ready for some 70 and 80 degree, sunshine filled days. Bring on the south TX heat, I'm ready!!



It's the most wonderful time of the year...

As I attempt to catch the blog world up on the events of Johnson life over the past couple of months, I realize how quickly time has flown. When I was little, my parents always told me that every year of my life would seem to go by faster than the one before it, and I do remember my 8 year old self reflecting on a tremendously quick year of third grade at its dramatic conclusion... but Mom and Dad, you were right. The last 4 months have come and gone quicker than last season's oversized slouchy purses. So, I find it only appropriate to begin the review of our first holiday season as a married couple...

It all began with my first Thanksgiving as a Johnson. Since we had just moved, Cody's parents decided to make the journey to the Volunteer State for Turkey day. We had lots of fun shopping (of course), going out to eat (Cody adored Paula Dean's restaurant and its full stock of deep fried deliciousness), visiting Graceland, attending a Memphis Grizzlies NBA game baller-style (thanks to fabulous courtside seats provided by Bayer), watching the ducks march at the historic Peabody hotel (random I know, but Google it because it was hilarious), and walking up and down the famous Beale Street. Cody and Lynn even fit in a golf game, and Cody's skills continue to improve, which is highly beneficial to everyone within a 5 mile radius of him while he's holding his clubs. :) Thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law, Tami, we had an amazing Thanksgiving lunch that made me feel right at home, and for dessert we got to watch the Aggies beat TU in football! For that we were very, very thankful.

 Tami and me with the duck trainer at the Peabody Hotel

 Cody and Lynn before the golf game

 

 In front of the gorgeous Christmas tree at the Peabody Hotel

After the Turkey Day festivities, I was so excited to decorate for Christmas. The new crib was definitely a great host to my ever-growing collection of holiday accent items. Yes, I admit, I have a problem...I am slightly obsessed with anything remotely related to Christmas decor, and if it were up to me, it would be perfectly appropriate to deck the halls with garland and holly year round. Here's some of my work for you to enjoy:



A couple of days before Christmas, Cody and I departed for San Antonio and began our "Tour of Texas" to celebrate the holiday with my family. We arrived in San Antonio on the 23rd, just in time for a return to our roots with a lunch at Alamo Cafe. Cody's parents and brother Cale drove over to SA for the evening to have a mini-Christmas with us, and on Christmas Eve we did the traditional Brown family thing--got our nails done, watched movies (particularly The Christmas Story), went to the candlelight church service, looked at Christmas lights while Kirby complained, and finally, feasted on tamales and chocolate cake to celebrate my birthday. The next morning, I said hello to 24 years old (ouch) and we opened presents just the 5 of us before beginning our holiday road trip through the Hill Country and into the scenic lands of West Texas. We arrived in San Angelo Christmas afternoon and had a great night with my dad's family, then got up the next morning in order to make it to Comanche for the first celebration at lunchtime. But as if you thought 4 Christmases were enough...we finished it all off with the grand finale at Grandma and Grandad's house on the night of the 26th, just my mom's part of the Johnston clan. Cody definitely discovered the fast and furiousness of Christmas with my family, and I think we were all ready for a nap when we got back to SA on the 27th. We definitely loved seeing all of the family though, and it reminds me again why Christmas is by far my favorite time of year. I'll miss everyone next year but am super excited for my first Christmas with the entire Johnson family!

The Brown Family

 Aren't we good lookin'? :)

Though it went by way too fast, we were so blessed to have a great time during our first holiday season as old married folks. Here's to many more holiday memories in the future! Now brace yourself, because we may not have had a white Christmas, but it's most certainly been a white January and February...