Wifey Wednesday

Normally sports isn't a main topic of Life as a Wife (obvi), but tonight we make an exception for my favorite home team, the Texas Rangers! Sometimes being a wife means being a sports fan, but in my case, I would much consider this to be my sports treat for the season.

In case you live in outer space, the Rangers are currently playing the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series. This series is particularly special because it is the Rangers' first trip ever to the series! We just couldn't be more proud of our team :)

Some of my best childhood memories involve going to Rangers' games as a kid with my Dad, sitting in our same seats behind the on-deck circle, and even wearing my T-ball team cap and bringing my glove to catch foul balls. To this day our game ball stash sits proudly on a bookshelf in the living room and overflow is stored in my old room amidst concert tickets and high school homecoming mums. Long and patient we've waited for this day to come, and here it is!

There's not much else to say, but: go Rangers... it's time!

Thanks to atssportsblog.com and footballfanatics.com for the images :)

How to Get a Husband

It's simple, really. And Jane Austen's Mrs. Bennett would be proud, I think, of the scheme I'm going to show you. I'm certainly not in the market for a husband, but if I were, I'd make this. Hubby pretty much melted out of his chair when he ate this last night (and then again tonight).





















It is the ultimate love recipe - slow braised beef, creamy mashed potatoes, savory-smelling kitchen... all things good.

My brother and sister-in-law and their three sweet kiddos gave me an excellent birthday gift, which was really so generous - it was such a treat to receive.  Without further ado, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Since September, I haven't put this cookbook down. If you're not familiar with the Pioneer Woman (PW), I highly recommend you click immediately over to her blog, which is awesome, I must say.

This weekend, the temperatures were a little bit cooler, which left Hubby and me feeling a little cold and sorry for ourselves. But no fear, pot roast and mashed potatoes were on the way. The Pioneer Woman's pot roast and mashed potatoes, to be accurate.

You can see the recipes I used from her here and here. I could not recommend this dish more highly for a satisfying and cozy treat on a crisp fall day. Plus... pot roast atop mashed potatoes? Need I say more?

We bought a 3 lb. chuck, and it heartily fed us for two dinners, and I still get to bring a little to the office for lunch tomorrow (did I mention how much Hubby eats? This is saying something).

Happy cooking!

Yankee Foliage

Yes, it is Maine again. Though I've never been to Maine in my life prior to being a Texas-transplant-in-New-England, I had the great pleasure to visit the state twice over the past month.

The first visit, I just shared - we saw miles of sunny beaches, cheery cottages and overflowing ice cream cones! In my laundry I even found sand and sunscreen slathered t-shirts.

Now, seasons have changed. Our second trip to Maine showed us a side of the state we had not yet seen. This time, we were greeted by a sea of color unlike anything we'd ever seen.

















So this is true fall, I suppose! I hope you enjoy. I'm told the foliage will only get more beautiful as the month of October continues. Just pretty-please don't remind me what comes after this picture-perfect fall.

A simple thought, yes, but as my fellow southern friends can attest, we grew up hearing about Northeastern "fall." We were told that even though we went back to school in August when the thermometer read 106, it was still kosher to call this time "fall." So if you're sitting at home sweating today in Dallas, Austin or El Paso, you can totally relate to my state of awe that there is a season after all, happily squished in between scorching summer and frigid winter :)





















































Hopefully we'll be able to venture up to Vermont in the next couple of weeks for what yankeefoliage.com predicts to be the weeks of "peak foliage" for the region (I know what you're thinking... yankee? foliage? But it's a pretty great site, you have to admit).