Not a Tutorial

I just have to share. I made the baked chicken and spinach flautas pictured above and oh man, they are delicious! Super fast, easy, and healthier than frozen or restaurant flautas. 

I found the recipe on Pinterest, one of my best friends posted it, Mrs. Jessica Henry . Like I said in a previous post, you are not going to find many tutorials on this blog...so here is where you can find a tutorial: http://healthy-delicious.com/2012/03/baked-chicken-and-spinach-flautas/ !!

Jei Jei's Trip to D.C.

My oldest sister, Kristen, came to visit me in D.C. last weekend! We commonly refer to each other as Jei Jei and Mei Mei. We picked these names up when we were in China visiting our other sister, Cassie. Jei Jei means big sister and Mei Mei means little sister in Mandarin. 

I once again did the D.C. tour. I decided I need to start reading books and articles about each site so I can give people more facts about them, and then maybe I can starting charging. 

My big sister the night she arrived. 

Don't we look so much alike?? People have told me our family photo looks like you picked 5 random people from a crowd and put them together.

We began our tour at Mount Vernon. I have now been there 4 times in 4 months, but it still hasn't gotten old. The house tour is never the same and there is always something new growing in the gardens. This time it was huge sunflowers. (This picture is for you Ashley Hatley)

After Mount Vernon we went shopping in Alexandria.

 I love hanging out with my sisters now that I am older and have more in common with them. Since they are 8 and 6 years older than me, I really enjoy talking to them and hearing their great advice.

On Saturday we headed to D.C. to see the sites. We went to the American History Museum, the Air and Space Museum, and my favorite restaurant in D.C., Good Stuff Eatery!

Sam likes to "explore the space" when he take pictures; so enjoy the next 4 photos of Kristen and me at different angles and distances. 

I loved having her visit! 

The next thing I get to look forward to is going to Texas in September! I can't wait! 

Tour de Eastern States: Part 2

Next stop: Gulf Shores, Alabama!! I had never been there before and we were both so excited to spend some time on the beach and in the ocean.

We enjoy looking out at the water and being photographed.

Sam is a beach baby

Our amazing sand castle!! Notice the tunnel I created.

Looking at these pictures makes me want to go back! 

We stayed at Gulf Shores for the night and then headed to Savannah, Georgia. It's about halfway to D.C. and my cousin lives there so it worked out perfectly.

I could kick myself for not getting any pictures with him and his family...but I did get some of downtown Savannah!

Setting up for the farmers market. I love the spanish moss!

We ran through downtown before we began the last leg of our trip. Downtown was to cool and different from anywhere I have ever been. I would love to visit again. 

We found the house from Savannah Nights! One of our favorite trainwrecks shows!

After Savannah we drove through South Carolina and North Carolina, more states I had never been to...and more trees.

Whelp that's our trip! I was not too happy to be headed back to D.C. (the land of no friends, no family, and no church home). I definitely cried about half the drive back; and told Sam, and I quote, "You probably shouldn't let me drive because I don't know where we will end up. You will wake up and we will be in Arkansas or something." BUT God is doing a work in me. I will elaborate about this in an upcoming post. 

Anyway, fortunately, I had something to look forward to when we got home. My sister was coming to visit!

Tour de Eastern States

We escaped Virginia! Sam and I had not left the state (Maryland and D.C. do not count) since we moved here 5 months ago but a couple of weeks ago we headed to Baton Rouge to visit Sam's parents for our summer vacation!

On the way to Baton Rouge we drove through Tenessee, Georgia (for 5 minutes), Alabama, and Mississippi before getting to Louisiana. 

 The days following up to the trip I wholeheartedly committed to the first driving shift...Well, look who's driving by the time 6 a.m. Friday morning rolled around?

 The Blue Ridge Mountains! For some reason I expected most of the trees to disappear once we crossed the Tennessee state line...that did not happen. Turns out the whole eastern side of the U.S. is covered with trees. Who knew??

 We stopped at the first Sonic we came to! I have missed it so much!

18 hours later, at about 1 a.m. we made it to Sam's parents house! 

We spent most of our time in the pool, but when we weren't doing that we watched movies, visited plantations, shopped, ate, and just relaxed. It was amazing! We love going to Baton Rouge, it always feel like a vacation. 

 One of our Texas friends, Stephanie, just happened to be in Baton Rouge when we were there!

 This time we visited the Audubon plantation. It did not look like the typical stately plantation home with the spanish moss tree lined entrance but apparently it was one of the wealthiest in the state. 

(Sam loves these walking pictures)

The house

 We hosted a pool party while we were there and we all donned our Team USA t-shirts, courtesy of JC Penney

Sam with his parents

Me and the in-laws. I don't dread visits with my in-laws...I look forward to them! Not everyone can say that, so I feel extremely blessed to have great in-laws. 

Aren't the t-shirts just fab?

Turd Cat...yes, that is her real name.

We celebrated the one year anniversary of our engagement while we were there...meaning: Sam surprised me (I had no idea what day we got engaged) and bought ring pops for everyone. We then reenacted the proposal. 

 Frozen daiquiris delivered to us poolside! Now can you see why it always feels like a vacation? Just like our honeymoon in Mexico!

We had a great time in Baton Rouge and I can't wait to go back. Once leaving Baton Rouge we slowly made our trek back to D.C. with a few pit stops...

The 4th of July!

We took full advantage of the fact that we live in D.C. and traveled to the capitol to watch the PBS Capitol 4th concert and see the fireworks from the lawn of the capitol!

Our metro ride down to D.C....the ride back was not quite as enjoyable. Trying to get home along with hundreds of thousands of other people was oh so exciting. 

Going through security with the masses in 100 degree heat. That was the first time I would admit it was hot here. 

A Capitol Fourth!!

Look at how close we were to the Capitol?! This is without zoom

Megan Hilty!

Hosted by the one and only Tom Bergeron

Phillip Phillips! 

The concert also included some Olympians, a famous composer, and last but not least Josh Turner!

It was awesome to spend the 4th of July in our nations capitol!