Taylor and Catherine Visit Dallas

Our friends Taylor and Catherine came to visit  us!!!! I am super behind on blogging with all the studying for my Texas teaching certification tests lately but I am pumped to tell you all about this amazing weekend with some great friends. 

Taylor and Catherine came to visit us three weekends ago and it was just beautiful weather, though a bit hotter than normal MN temps this time of year. They were training for Grandma's Half Marathon (and did awesome by the way!!!) so on Friday morning I rode my bike and we went over to White Rock Lake to run around the paths. They agreed it reminded them of Calhoun or Harriet too. :)  This picture is from our run back through a woodsy neighborhood. 

The first half of their weekend we spent in Dallas so we started at the Dallas Zoo after a tour of White Rock Lake.  I'm telling you guys that this zoo is pretty amazing. I took Taylor and Catherine there on Friday afternoon and they agreed it was pretty awesome! Here they checking out the lionesses. :) 

My favorite so I had to take another picture! Doesn't he just look like he's chillin on a beach the way he's sitting like that eating his lettuce?? 

Friday night we met up with Andrew and Steph (who came over from Fort Worth) in the Bishop Arts District and went to Eno's Pizza Tavern and did some window shopping! It was so much fun to have so many friends around us again it felt like old times! :) Happy times for sure. 

The streets were lined with trees decorated with lights and it was kinda magical I'm not gonna lie. So is this girl. :)

Later we made it to The Rustic also in Dallas near Uptown and this was over the bar....Go 'Merica! (Yes those are beer cans - specifically Bud Lite and Budweiser of course)

Outside is a huge outdoor area with picnic tables, large beer goblets, and live music playing on the stage under the sign. It was a fun place to find in the middle of cosmopolitan Dallas to feel so much like a backyard party! 

The photo below is of something we tried that night at The Rustic. This is how they describe the food they serve, "Our menu features seafood from the Texas gulf, steak sourced from Texas ranchers, and dairy and produce grown by local farmers." Awesome!! We were excited! (Side note: Isn't it the Gulf of Mexico??) Andrew and Steph ordered the dish below and said it is "super Texan" and we just have to try it! We asked what is was. They wouldn't tell us but said it tastes like chicken....well it looks like chicken too. We checked the menu and the description says, "If you have to ask..." Hmmmm.....

They are called "Calf Fries" but we have since learned that all over the world they have different names such as "Rocky Mountain Oysters," "Coyboy Caviar," and in Canada "Prairie Oysters." Yes my friends, these are DEEP FRIED COW TESTICLES!!!!! Ahhhh!!!! Apparently it is normal "fair food" down in these parts and is common in rural parts of Texas, Montana, Idaho, Arizona, and other Western states. I could barely try one but my parents always taught me even if I don't like it I should try it....so I did....and I barely got it down. When in Texas, do as the Texans do. Right?

I would rather not describe the texture but the flavor just tasted like any other fried thing dipped in buttermilk ranch dressing....but still. Gack!! I am glad I tried it but sure don't have a desire to do it again. Can anyone else check that off their culinary list? 

The next day it was Andrew and Steph's turn to show us around Fort Worth. We all went boot shopping!! We drove to Justin, TX where they make by hand and sell thousands of pairs of cowboy boots! It was definitely an interesting experience and Andy and I both walked away with new boots! :) Photo to come!

That night we also got some barbecue at a restaurant called Woodshed and it was sooo tasty. Between Cooper's, Pecan Lodge, and Woodshed, I think Woodshed beat them all. Just my opinion though!

Sorry for all the dark pictures...obviously a need a new camera! We finished the night at the Fort Worth Stockyards at a true western bar. This is a picture of the dance floor with a longhorn on the wall and the large "disco spur" rotating above! 

At one point I looked up and saw THIS. Nearly jumped out of my skin!

The weekend ended with a backyard smoked chicken dinner, World Cup soccer, and games of bags in the backyard. We had a blast showing Taylor and Catherine around!

Love you,

Betsy, Andy, and Lincoln :)

Book Review Times Two!

Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver

I absolutely LOVED this book! It's about an adopted Cherokee girl who is figuring out where she belongs, with her adoptive mother who loves her, or with her Cherokee tribe who believes she deserves to know where she came from. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll understand the Cherokee culture a little better. Once I got halfway through I couldn't put it down! After I finished it I realized that Kingsolver had written Bean Trees to be read beforehand...so now I'm going to go back and read that one too! I didn't need to but if you want to read Pigs in Heaven, go ahead and read Bean Trees first. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

The Curious Incident with the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon

THIS book is soooo interesting! It is written in the perspective of a teenage boy with Autism who comes across the scene of a crime and goes about solving it through the rest of the book. You truly get in his head and learn how he thinks and views the world and it is just fascinating! If you are in education, work with kids, or even are curious to learn more about Autism, you will LOVE this book! Children (and adults for that matter) with Autism can be incredibly frustrating or confusing if you don't understand how they think. This books puts you in his head and helps you understand the simple yet complex world that he lives in and needs to navigate.



As I'm studying for my tests for the next few weeks I will not be reading any novels until I am done with them so stay tuned for more later!

Baby James!!

This past weekend I couldn't be happier to have met my new nephew baby James Willis Carraway Dixon! He is such a sweet baby and my sister and brother in law are doing an incredible job as new parents already! I am in love with him and I can't wait to teach him so many things as he gets older!

My brother in law, Mark, was in MN for the weekend for a wedding so I went to hang out with my sister and little James. We had a great weekend filled with a picnic in downtown Princeton, a barbecue with some neighbors, some shopping in town, and lots of cuddles with James. He has many faces, my favorite being the Zoolander-esque ones! We even caught him smiling a bit, even if it was because he tooted, though I like to think he was laughing at my jokes.

Catch the man of the weekend here....

How can you not love that squishy, sweet face?!

Getting some NOLA iced coffees at Small World Coffee in downtown Princeton. 

Chilling on the lawns of Princeton University post feeding. 

So sweet!!

Selfie with Aunt B!

And I'll leave you with this beauty...I melt seeing that smile!!

Memorial Day Weekend in MN

We had such an amazing weekend back home in Minnesota over Memorial Day weekend! Check out that view of downtown....it made our hearts sing!

We started off the weekend on Friday celebrating the wedding of our dear friends, Erin and Nate! They had a gorgeous wedding downtown St. Paul complete with beautiful weather, flowering Spring blossoms, and Irish bagpipes! It was a perfect day to celebrate their love and we couldn't be happier for them! They even had these awesome growlers as centerpieces on their tables!

Here is the happy couple during their first dance! So happy for them!

Andy and I all done up for the night!

All the St. Thomas ladies together again! I missed you all!

We also celebrated our friends Chris and Nicole with a beautiful wedding shower hosted by Andy's parents and other friends of the couple. They had local beer pairings with different appetizers all around the house! It was so good! Think Fulton growler paired with mini brats....yes yum. It was so fun to catch up with friends and enjoy the beautiful summer night outside. We are so excited for their wedding on the Fourth of July! I don't know how I didn't get any pictures of the night...but I have a couple I stole from other people to share with you! :)

The happy couple themselves!! Photo credit to Linda Wegner :) 

Missed you ladies!! Thanks for the picture Kathryn!

We came home just in time for the Spring blooms on my parents' trees! They smelled divine and it has always been a favorite time of year at my parents' house.

During the weekend we also went bike riding to Minnehaha Falls in St. Paul and Minneapolis. Andy's parents, sister Emily, and her kids came along and we had so much fun seeing our old neighborhood again, soaking up the most amazing sight of the falls, and spending sweet time with our nieces and nephew. 

At first we thought that all three would fit comfortably in the Burley....I don't think that this would have lasted very long! We borrowed a second one then we were on our way!

What better than to finish off the weekend at the Flagship (Lifetime) pool just like old times! 

All in all we had a great weekend visiting and catching up with family and friends back in MN where the weather was beautiful and Spring was flourishing! We are looking forward to our friends visiting us this coming weekend down in Dallas! We can't wait to show them around town! :)