i heart long weekends

Wow! A three-day weekend! I know a lot of people were probably off work yesterday but I must say, Bank Holidays has got to be my favorite part about working for a banking institute! Bret and I haven't been on a vacation since February so it was nice to have an extra long weekend. Thank goodness we did too because my word we were busy!

Friday after work Bret and I headed to HEB to buy ingredients to make lasagna. We decided earlier in the week that we were going to make a pan to take to Aaron and Claire that way they wouldn't have to stress over cooking while trying to get settled with little Avery. Since we haven't cooked ourselves lasagna in a while we decided to make two pans - One for them, one for us. Side Note: When I say "we" in reference to cooking, I mean Bret. I did grate some cheese though. But needless to say our kitchen was a lasagna sweatshop with all the noodles, meats and cheeses going every where. It was awesome! While Bret was slaving away in the kitchen I completed Shred 20. Only 10 more to go before I actually reach the 30 day goal. Since I have been doing a thousand other things it is taking me longer to get there then I originally thought it would. Oh well! So, we got the lasagna made, sat down with a glass of wine and watched True Blood. As much as I like this show I have decided I can only watch it is small doses. Some of the blood is a little too much for me - I am a baby. No getting around that.

Lasagna Cooking Galore!

Mathis Lasagna

12 oz. can Tomato Juice

10 3/4 oz. can Tomato Soup

6 oz. can Tomato Paste

8 oz. can Tomato Sauce

1 lb. block of cheddar cheese

1 box of lasagna noodles (I believe it is the smaller box of 12-13 noodles)

2 lbs. hamburger meat

1 tsp. ground Oregano

Brown meat, mix in tomato products and oregano. Cook noodles in boiling water. Once done, put 1 layer of noodles in pan covering the bottom. Then put layer of meat sauce. Then put layer of grated cheese. Repeat. Typically makes 3 layers depending on the size of the pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until top layer of cheese looks done.

I (Bret) recommend that you don't buy the grated cheese. Buy the block and grate yourself. Grated cheese has flour mixed in and changes the flavor of the lasagna. It also cooks a little differently.

My body I am assuming has decided that it does not care to sleep in any more so Saturday, bright and early, I got up and did about 30 minutes worth of pilates and did the exciting running in place on Wii Fit. The whole running in place thing really cracks me up for some reason. For those of you who have Wii Fit, did you know that on the island you run around there are hidden Mario icons from the original Mario Bros. game? It's fun to look for them. Or sad. Sad and Fun.

After my workout it was time to get ready to head to Houston for the Texas Rangers game - They were playing the Houston Astros in Houston. BUT, we still refer to it as a Rangers game. Can you guess what team we were pulling for?! On the way out of town Bret and I swung by Traci's house, a girl we work with, to see her and her fiance's new place, new puppy and to check out their garage sale. It was fun getting to see all her new furniture and everything she has been doing to the place since her and Keith moved in a few weeks ago. They have an AMAZING kitchen and it really made me want a house more than ever. Although, I am very much in love with mine and Bret's apartment, pool and gym - I am spoiled, it will be hard to leave one day!!

Me and Traci from Jennifer's shower:

Bret and I really enjoy getting books on tape for when we are having to drive long distances. It really makes the time fly by and plus we love books so it is a win-win. For this trip to Houston we decided to buy Beyond Band of Brothers - The War Memoirs of Dick Winters. We still have not finished it yet but it is thoroughly enjoyable thus far. If anyone has seen or read Band of Brothers then you should know who Major Winters is and in this book it is him talking about everything he went through when we decided to join the army after college and how he moved up in rank and just all the amazing battles, fights and losses he went through. So far it really is fantastic and if you are a fan of war stories then I really think you should read/listen to his story.

Thanks to our wonderful book, Bret and I were at Minute Maid ballpark in no time and to our luck, it was POURING! We parked about two blocks away so by the time we got into the field we were soaked from about the chest down! The rain was coming at an angle so the umbrellas we had really did not do much for us. The good news though, everyone was soaked so we did not look completely silly! No fear though, nothing a big ole hot dog couldn't fix! Bret and I got to the game early enough to where the Rangers were still having batting practice so we were able to go down to the field and talk to Chris Davis for a few minutes. I went to high school with Chris who plays first base for the Rangers so it was crazy being able to see him playing for them and getting to introduce him to Bret was kind of fun too. It was a very fun game with good seats and bonus, the Rangers won! These tickets were part of the anniversary gift I gave to Bret so it was nice getting to celebrate our anniversary all over again with a good game of baseball!

Some pictures from the game:

The only reason I go to baseball games:

Mr. Chris Davis:

My man! Supporting the Rangers:

I really liked this picture of a church outside Minute Maid when we were leaving the game:

After the game we headed to Chick-fil-a to grab some dinner - That's right, I am a fatty. I ate that big hot dog and could still eat Chick-fil-a. Deal with it! Once we were fed again we headed to Katy to see our friend Ray's new house. He had been away on vacation all week so it was fun getting catch up with him and check out his new crib. By the time we got back to College Station it was about 10:00pm, I was exhausted so to bed I went!

Sunday morning, bright and early again, I headed to the gym to work out. I would really appreciate it if my body learned to let me sleep till at least 9:00am but, oh well, I got an hour work out in so I guess that is just as good. After the work out and getting ready, Bret, myself and the lasagna were off to Austin to meet little Avery. The drive again went by super quick despite the rain thanks to our book! I was so excited, anxious and thrilled to get to see Avery and was amazed by how small she was! She is the most precious little girl I have ever seen!

Me getting to hold Avery for the first time:

Bret getting to meet his new niece:

I took a quick break to eat some lunch and play with the puppy, Parsons:

Avery and her daddy enjoying some couch time:

The whole family!:

Bret and I didn't stay in Austin too long so when we got home we still had some of the afternoon left to relax, which was nice. So after warming me up some left over lasagna we sat down to watch Bride Wars and Madagascar 2. I don't know if I am losing my love for chick flicks or if Bride Wars just really didn't appeal to me because I wasn't a crazy, hectic, everything had to be one way type of bride but, I didn't really care too much for Bride Wars. It was cute, yes, but let's just say it wasn't one that I burned to keep. Madagascar 2 however was super fun and cute! If you thought the first one was cute then there really shouldn't be any reason for you to not like the second one. Very fun and funny!

Monday, good ole Memorial Day, I decided to take a break from working out since it was suppose to be my day off and just enjoy sitting around being lazy! Bret made us waffles for breakfast which were fantastic, we watched a little bit of True Blood and then him and I headed out to the pool for a little early morning tanning time. Bret and I are the whitest people I know so we cannot be out in the sun for too long so about an hour later we came back in. I spent a good portion of the early afternoon watching a Bones marathon on t.v. I adore this show and I could watch it every day, all day and probably still not get tired of the episodes. Good, Good show.

Monday afternoon Bret and I grabbed our cooler, our friend Jonathan and headed back out to the pool. By this time there were considerable more people out by the pool. Apartment pools in a college town are intense. There were a group of kids out there with an entire bar set up with all kinds of liquor, mixers, margaritas, beers, etc. Intense I tell you. Intense.

Mr. Mathis giving me that look of "why are you taking my picture?!"

Even with putting on sunscreen every 30 minutes or so, Bret and I both got pretty burned. Attempting to slee last night was pretty pointless because I kept waking up when the back of my legs moved against the sheets - Sigh, oh well. It will tan and then I will be good to go!

After the pool Bret made him and I some yummy steaks while I made us organic Mac and Cheese and Ranch Style Beans. That's right parentals, no greens and we were happy! Then, Bret decided to turn off my Bones marathon (GASP) and make me watch John Wayne in The Fighting Seabees. It is pretty much a requirement for you to like John Wayne if you are a Mathis but, I did my dues when we were first engaged. I watched four, count them, four, John Wayne movies so I thought I was done for life. Apparently not. AND, turns out Bret has another John Wayne movie set to record. Oh gracious me.

After John Wayne and some more True Blood we decided to call our very long, action pack filled weekend to an end and hit the hay! I hope everyone had a GREAT weekend filled with lots of fun times!

I got to work this morning and these adorable pictures of Avery were waiting for me! I love her!

It's Tuesday people! We are closer to next weekend than we have been all week!