Finding Our Home

After being pre-approved, we have been working with a realtor for a bit over two weeks now to find a home that suits us - this is NO easy feat! We went through probably hundreds of houses online to find ones that stick out to us and limited it down to seeing eight before this weekend. On Saturday morning, we received an e-mail from our realtor asking us to check out a select few that she found. We went to go see the house in person and fell in love with it! We even sent in our offer on the home and are now playing the waiting game again to see if we won the bid. Pretty, please!

Strides and Struggles

I did it! After about two to three weeks of not working out, I still completed my week 8, phase 1 run of 5 minutes of walking + 28 minutes of jogging. I'm not going to lie, having Scandal playing on Netflix helped me take my mind off of what a drag it was to run that long.

As for my struggles, we've been in the market of buying a home and it seriously is such a headache. I always think I know what I'm doing because of all the research I've done but then I get put back in square one. Still excited to keep on looking for the house that's just really us! Good news? We're moving forward with having been pre-approved. Now it's just the next steps that feel difficult.

We'll also be working on a video to win money to a furniture store!!

Grad School

If there's one thing I love about grad school, it's my ability to continue learning about the things I'm passionate about. Sure, we have to follow certain articles and provide some cut and dry feedback, but we are also allowed to pick our own path with our projects and presentations. One of my favorite courses at UT was Philosophy - Contemporary Moral Problems. The whole idea behind this class was to pick a side in each of the four controversial topics and support your reasoning while considering what arguments on the opposing side would be. When it comes to working and studying in higher education, I'm constantly in an environment where I'm learning facts and more importantly how I can support students through their academic and career goals. Fun stuff!

BBQ Pork Fried Rice

Ingredients:
2 sticks of carrots
1 lb. of BBQ pork (or deli ham or Chinese sausage)
1 shallot
1 cup of green peas
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups of white rice

1. Chop carrots into small cubes or pieces and try to keep the rest of the ingredients chopped to the same size (just my mom's suggestion to make it prettier). Boil carrots first to let it soften before the rest of the ingredients.
2. Chop one whole shallot and set aside (can be replaced by onion if preferred)
3. Chop BBQ pork - we bought it from the Chinese grocery store in Houston. Gotta find a good place to get more in Dallas! Set aside.
                                            
4. Add green peas to the boiling carrots for about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

5. Scramble eggs with a pinch of salt. Set aside.
6. In a deep pan or wok, add 2 tbsp. of oil and sauté the shallots
7. Stir in the BBQ pork and then the vegetables
8. Pour 1 tbsp. of soy sauce around the edge of of the pan
9. Add 1 tbsp. of salt and peper
10. Drizzle about 1 and 1/2 tbsp. of ketchup or sweet and sour sauce and mix well
11. Optional: Add a pinch of mushroom bouillon and stir

ENJOY! 

Run Baby Run

I did it! I finished week 7 of the C25K program which consisted of walking for 5 minutes to warm up and then jog for an entire 25 minutes (3x over the week). It was hard to get the first day started but once I knew that I could handle it, the other two times just happened. The third go around I actually managed to run 2 miles within the given time period. Bring it on week 8!

Stuffed Bell Peppers and Tomatoes

Recipe from Mrs. Anderson

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 4 cups water
• ~15 tomatoes and/or bell peppers
• 1 large yellow onion
• 3 large cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 half tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups white rice (could be substituted with brown rice)
• 1 1/2 cups parsley (preferably Italian)
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1 tsp. pepper flakes (optional)
• olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Brown ground beef in pan, drain, and set aside
3. Sautee onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until translucent 
4. Sprinkle in salt and black pepper
5. Mix in rice, water, ground beef, parsley, and tomato paste
6. Sprinkle in pepper flakes if desired
7. Remove stuffing from heat until cool enough to handle
8. In about a 2" deep baking pan, place tomatoes and/or bell peppers standing upright
9. Stuff bell peppers and tomatoes with stuffing
10. Pour remaining stuffing into the pan around the bell peppers 
    
11. Drizzle olive oil over the top
12. Cover pan with aluminum foil to steam for 15 minutes
13. Continue baking at 375 degrees