Europe, Part One: Brussels, Belgium

Let me begin this post first by telling you about our travel experience getting to Belgium.

It was not fun.

Fortunately for us, Jeremy's dad works for American Airlines, which makes traveling a lot easier on the budget. Unfortunately, our seats are not guaranteed.

In the past, this hasn't been a problem. Last year, I flew to Atlanta three separate times and never once didn't make my first choice flight.

The night before heading to Belgium, we checked the flights from DFW to Chicago to Brussels... there was no way we were getting to Chicago. Every single flight was overbooked. So, we rerouted to go to St. Louis, then Chicago and, finally, Brussels. These flights were wide open and it shouldn't have been a problem...

Except, somehow, during our flight from DFW to St. Louis, about 30 people boughts seats on the St. Louis to Chicago flight. There was no way we were getting on.

We missed two flights out of St. Louis, which means we also missed the one flight that goes to Brussels each day from Chicago. After about 934 phone calls and even more web checking, we decided we'd take the late flight from Chicago to London Heathrow. Then, we'd jump on a train to Brussels.

So, to London we went. Unfortunately for us, it was Friday afternoon, so the train to Brussels barely had room for us and we had to throw down $400 which we hadn't budgeted (just a reminder: this trip was very last-minute, so the budget was hardly there to begin with). Yuck.

Anyway, we FINALLY make it to Brussels, except - the train dropped us off in the absolute worst part of Brussels there is. There are few times in my life I have been as scared as I was in that train station, and I'm not scared too easily. I told Jeremy I wanted to come back to America immediately. Fortunately, he didn't let me.

Also, we had originally planned on arriving at Brussels airport and travelling to Jeremy's grandfather's place from there. We didn't know how to get there from a random train station, so we were using the pay phones and calling him over and over with no answer.

Finally, we just jumped in a taxi and were on our way.

So, we get there, and we knock on the door... no answer. We wait and wait and wait and knock again... no answer. The man is 90-years-old, we thought, where could he be?

Eventually, we run into a neighbor and they were gracious enough to allow us to use their cell phone to call another relative. Turns out, his grandfather (or Bompa, as he calls him) was in the hospital. (Mind you, we went to visit his sick grandfather from his mom's side, his Opa, yet this one ended up in the hospital while we were there, too.)

Eventually, we get into his grandfather's and get settled in for the night. We lost our first day to travel, but we weren't going to lose anymore, so we got some rest that night and then began exploring...

Day One: Brussels

This is the view from Bompa's apartment.

We started the day by walking down to the square near Bompa's apartment called Place Keym (pronounced plass-came).

Then, we enjoyed a nice lunch at this restaurant.

After lunch, Jeremy's cousin picked us up and took us to see Bompa in the hospital (pictured: Jacob flirting big time with Celine, Jeremy's cousin's girlfriend).

Then, he dropped us off in the main square of Brussels, called Grand Place. We walked around there for a couple of hours and enjoyed the scenery.

Jacob found some random statue just outside of Grand Place which looks just like a cone: right up his alley.

This is the inside of Grand Place. The buildings are faced in gold and very old. It was absolutely beautiful.

This is the statue of the Brussels Hero (in Grand Place), which Jacob and Jeremy are rubbing for good luck.

This is the renowned statue entitled Manneken Pis. Yes, it is a statue of a young boy peeing.

Jeremy told me the story behind it: Apparently, long ago, a small prince ran away from home. The king sent guards searching for him, and when they found him, he was peeing against a wall. As a result, this statue was made. I have no idea how true this is, but it's funny.

Clearly, we succeeded at exhausting Jacob (you'll notice a trend throughout the pictures from this trip that include Jacob sleeping in random places).

That's all for today. Tomorrow, I'll tell you about Knokke, the town where Jeremy's mom's side of the family lives.

Honey, I'm home!

Well, we're home... a day early and a lot of dollars short.

 I have SO much to blog about and so many photos to share! I'm thinking I'll do one city at a time (Brussels, Knokke, Bruge, London and Paris).

The trip was so many things:

hectic

stressful

chaotic

exciting

sad

happy

depressing

fabulous

wonderful

In the future blog posts talking about each city, I'll let ya know why there is such a plethora of emotions.

Until then, here's some photos to tide you over:

We explored Grand Place in Brussels.

We searched for sea shells and shark teeth on the beach in Knokke.

We walked the streets of [and fell in love with] Brugge.

We took a picture in a toll booth in London (and explored tons of sights).

 We got engaged in Paris.

Be back soon with more!

New Toys & Pancakes

Friends, I sincerely apologize for the lack of blogging here lately. This weekend was chaos. This week has been chaos. We leave in like 36 hours.

Chaos. Chaos. Chaos.

And I have been neglectful to my blog. And I do apologize.

But, the truth is, I shouldn't be blogging right now. I should be making packing list or crossing one of the other 997 things off of my to-do list.

Alas, blogging is more fun. So that's what I'll do!

First, I have a little story for you all: Last week, Jeremy went grocery shopping with me. We were in the always lovely Kroger going down the aisle with all of my beloved baking supplies when I spotted out of the corner of my eye an electric griddle. Actually, I think I spotted the big "SALE" price tag, and then the electric griddle.

Regardless of the order, it was exciting. It was marked down about 50% and was less than $20!

(In case you're wondering why I needed one, I have an electric stove, which doesn't heat my pans evenly, which means I can only cook one pancake at a time, which is a super slow process.)

Anyway, I saw it, it was on sale, and I had to have it.

So I can make deliciousness like this!

I've been using the Better Homes & Gardens Buttermilk Pancakes recipe, but substituting like it says for regular pancakes, or "Panpakes," as Jacob would call them.

I've been playing with lots of combinations. Here, I used pecans and bananas. I've also done bananas with chocolate chips.

Both were delicious.

I made Jeremy breakfast for lunch the other day. Pancakes + strawberries = fabulous lunch!

I doubt I'll get another blog in between now and heading to Europe and I haven't a clue if I'll be online at all there, so this is goodbye for now! I'll be back soon with lots of fun pictures!

Vegan Cookies

Over this last weekend, I was feeling very grateful. I'm blessed in a lot of ways that, sometimes, I get overwhelmed and forget about. Things may be stressful a lot of the time and there may not be enough hours in most of my days, but I've got what matter most:

A whole lot of love.

I've got a man that loves me unconditionally.

I've also got a family that would do anything to ensure my success.

And, sometimes, I forget to remind them just how grateful I am.

I decided a great way to show them would be to send a little note with some treats. The problem: My Gramma went vegan about six months ago. She can't eat my treats.

What to do?

I know another vegan, I remembered. She also happens to blog about the vegan dishes she makes... perfect! So, I went through Elizabeth's blog to find the recipe which required me to buy the least amount of weird vegan stuff: Peanut Butter Cup Cookies.

The only special thing I had to buy was a half-gallon of soymilk.

So, I mixed up the cocoa concoction.

And the peanut butter concoction (Jeremy cleaned these dishes for me and politely asked that I never bake with peanut butter again - yeah right).

Then, with the peanut butter mixture, I made these little balls.

And took about a tablespoon of the cocoa and flattened it on my palm.

And set the peanut butter ball inside.

 Wrapped it up.

 Smashed them a little.

 Baked!

The verbatim text I received when my Gramma got them: OMG the cookies are wonderful!!!!!

 And guess what: they were delicious. Jeremy, Jacob and I each tried one and we liked them!

Europe!

Alrighty friends and readers, I need your help!

My favorite boys (and some of Jeremy's family) are heading to Europe in about 8 days! 

While we're there, we'll have three days in Brussels, three days near Bruges and then we're also making one-day trips to Paris and London.

What's your advice for these cities?

After doing some research, I've come up with a few ideas:

For London, I'm thinking of doing the Original Bus Tour. That will provide us with 24 hours of transportation, on-and-off bus stops that go by every stop you can think of (other than Abbey Road), three different bus tours, three different walking tours AND a river tour! Also, Jacob's admission is free. 

As far as Paris, we have found several "one day in Paris" web sites which provide great advice.

So... who has traveled to London, Paris, Brussels and/or Bruges? What's your best advice?

Fajitas

Exciting news: I turned in my notice to my apartments yesterday. 

This means so many things. It means I'm moving in less than 60 days. It means I need to figure out where to move. That means I need to figure out where I'm working in order to figure out where to move. 

It is insane to me that I have no idea where I'll be living or working in a matter of two months.

It also means few (no) projects for the next two months since I'll probably get an early start on packing pretty soon. But, I'll be sure to keep everyone posted on my job and home search and, once I move, Adventures in Domestication will be on project overload with a new place!

Anyway, even though there won't be projects, there will be plenty of eating:

At least twice a month, Jeremy and I have Fajita Night. About a year ago, he randomly made fajitas for me once and since then, it's been a biweekly (at least) tradition. Also since then, I have not ordered fajitas from a restaurant once (okay, okay, maybe at Joe T. Garcia's, but that's it!) because the fajitas my boy makes cannot be outdone. 

In my (not so) humble opinion, they are the best fajitas in Texas.

Watch closely, folks. Here's how it's done: 

You begin by cutting up skirt steak, against the grain.

The fajitas pieces slices look a little like this.

Here are the key ingredients: vegetable oil, one lime, liquid smoke and Fiesta Brand taco seasoning for beef tacos (you will see Fiesta Brand fajita seasoning at the grocery store - don't buy that, buy the taco seasoning).

I'm going to give you some suggested measurements, but please only take them as suggestions. Jeremy has never measured before, so these are mere estimates from him. Simply marinate to taste!

<1 pound skirt steak (feeds 2-2.5 people (by half, I mean Jacob))

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoons taco seasoning

7-10 drops liquid smoke

Jeremy cuts the lime in half, sticks a fork inside and turns to get the most juice from the lime.

Once you've got it all in there, it should look a little something like this.

Then, he throws it all together.

He gets the pan really hot, then greases it with vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot, he adds the meat with all of the juices and everything. Cook until brown and serve!

We serve our fajitas with plain black beans and grated cheese (the boy also adds jalapenos, sour cream and salsa).

This is what one of my fajitas looks like: a homemade corn tortilla, baked beans, cheese and fajita meat (I sandwich the cheese between the hot stuff to melt it a little).

This is what Jeremy's tortillas look like: a mess!

Because I don't make this, I'm not going to do the boys' approvals.

Let's just say, I approve these fajitas!