saturday adventure day

The realization that this was our last unplanned weekend until Christmas occurred to Benjamin and I when we were at dinner on Friday night.  It's all good stuff that we have going on between now and then - interviews, visitors, weddings, graduations, parties!

While thumbing through my Budget Travel magazine, I read the article Rediscovering Dallas.  In the article it talked about the Bishops Arts District.  Since  we hadn't ever been before, Benjamin and I popped into Blue Barry and headed down to Oakcliff to walk around in the rain.

Our first stop was Fete-ish, a cute little shop stuffed wall to wall with original paintings, knick-knacks, and fun gifty things.  We picked up a cute painting that we are going to get framed.  We ate at Eno's Pizza, which was delish!  We ate Eno's Original complete with tomatoes, salami, garlic and peppers.  It was the most flavorful pizza I have ever eaten.  For dessert we headed to Tillman's and shared their Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookie Tower.  The banana ice cream was outstanding!

Our Saturday adventure wrapped up with Benjamin and I sitting on the couch watching Iron Man 2.  I am thankful for days like these and look forward to the weekends that we have coming up!

Eno's Original Pizza!

Coffee at Tillman's... the milk is in a cow!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookie Tower!!

Everything's up to date in Kansas City!

Kansas City had beautiful weather on Sunday.  We started our day by heading out in search of a Target so that we could see if they had any little Lego men still available.  In our quest for more Lego men, we drove around the Shawnee Mission area which was full of beautiful trees and really cute houses.

After our search for Lego men was complete, we headed back to The Plaza to eat some lunch and walk around.  The highlight of my visit was being at the Hallmark complex!  I read the biography of J.C. Hall, the founder of Hallmark, a couple of years ago and that combined with my love of Hallmark ornaments and Gold Crown Stores led me to geek out when I saw Halls, the Crayola store, and the corporate office.

We a few more hours to before Benjamin needed to be ready for dinner, so we headed to the World War 1 museum.  I was extremely impressed by the exhibits of the museum and the memorial tower that had a panoramic view of Kansas City.

Extreme concentration!

The cow jumped over the moon!

In front of the Hallmark Complex

World War I monument and museum

Happy Couple in KC, MO

Interview Update

Last night Benjamin and I realized that it had only been one week since we dropped Lulu off in Houston to stay with my folks while we traveled around for interviews.

Only one week!

This past week has been quite a busy one for us.  Starting last Thursday...  Benjamin and I drove to Houston so that he could attend his first orthodontic residency interview!  Thursday night's dinner went very well and that momentum carried into Friday's interview with the different panels.  Benjamin felt confident that all went well in Houston and that makes waiting until December 2nd even harder!

Saturday we drove from Houston, to Dallas so that we could pack with enough time to get to the airport to fly to Kansas City, MO.  We were able to have all day Sunday to sightsee and check out some neighborhoods around the school.  I totally geeked out with excitement because we were able to see Hallmark headquarters!

The interview process in Kansas City was insightful.  Not being from there, Benjamin was able to get a good feel of the program and residents that currently attend there.  We left Kansas City with a confirmation of where to rank it in our order of preferences.

We arrived back in Dallas on Monday night late.  Tuesday involved us going to back to work and to patients.  That evening we packed Benjamin so that he could get up and head to San Antonio Wednesday morning.  Things at work were quite hectic so we decided that I would stay home instead of trying to work remotely from a La Quinta.  The interviews at San Antonio also affirmed their position on our list.

Last week God was present in the interview process - giving Benjamin clarity of mind, allowing him to be confident in the answers he gave as well as forming good impressions with the residents and interviewers.  He has blessed us with safe travel, wisdom and restful sleep.

This week Benjamin has his Dallas interview and we will be traveling to New Orleans!

Hello Again!

Doesn't it seem like life just gets away?  I mean, where does time go?  It seems like just yesterday we were home in Houston playing with Lulu in the swimming pool!  
Since that time I attended a wedding shower for Samantha.

We went and saw the Blue Man Group with Beazley in honor of Benjamin's birthday.

My Grandparents came into town.  Mom brought them to visit us in the Big D.  Noah and Salem popped in for dinner.  We went to the Heard Museum and also to the Plano Balloon Festival.

We went to a fancy dinner for a school event.

We saw Shrek.

And we went to the State Fair!

Whew!  I'm tired...  The next few weeks will be crazy but enjoyable as we are heading into interview season for Orthodontic residencies!  We will keep you posted, dear reader on what where we are and how things are going!

Lulu and the pool

Lulu absolutely love the pool.  She is a terrific water dog!  Most of her long weekend was spent either waiting to go into the pool, enjoying swimming laps, or floating on a raft in the pool!  I am amazed how much she loves being in the water!

Corporate Challenge

It's the time of year when a good dose of healthy competition takes over PFS as we compete in the Richardson Corporate Challenge and raise money for Special Olympics.

This year I signed up again to play horseshoes.  I was put on the co-ed team and played with David from our accounting department.  The first game we lost and the second game we won thanks to my four ringers!  The third game was very competitive and in the end we lost.  We came placed 4th in the co-ed division, 5th place in the women's and the men's team earned a bronze medal placing us 4th over all.

So far PFSweb is in 4th place in our division.  We have plenty more sports to compete in as the whole event lasts until October!

Happy Rangers Game!

Friday nights are spent on the couch snuggled up with Lulu watching a movie after having a low-key dinner to wind down from a hectic week.

This Friday we broke out of the the box and headed out to our first Ranger's game in Arlington.  We were invited to go as a wedding shower for Samantha and Ben where we sat in the all you can eat seats and enjoyed the game.  By the time we arrived the Rangers were winning and continued their lead through the end of the game!

Ben and Samantha in their cute matching jerseys!

Proof that we were there!  :)

Grape Stomping!

When Benjamin and I first moved to Dallas we started looking for free, fun events that we could do together.  In my search I found Delaney Vineyards in Grapevine.  Each year they host a community event where people can come to help them harvest their grapes and then have an old fashioned grape stomp!

I have always wanted to do grape stomping ever since I watched "A Walk in the Clouds" and that famous I Love Lucy episode where she gets recruited to work in the wine vat to squish the grapes.  Can I just say that I totally have a better understand of the first expression Lucy gives after stepping into vat - them's some squishy grapes!

Back to the vineyards:  We have been trying to go for the past two years, however every time harvest weekend rolled around I was laid up in bed sick.  This year we were going even if Benjamin had to pick me up, carry me to the vat, and dump me in it!

Thankfully, I was fit and able to walk myself.

After a short mini-lesson on how to use the miniature sickle to cut the grapes off of the vine, I went to town filling up my bucket.  Can I just tell you, I loved harvesting the grapes!  I enjoyed the game of hunting for them beneath the masses of green leaves, choosing the ones that were ripe for the picking and leaving the ones that were scorched by the sun.  All the time I was harvesting, John 15 kept running through my mind.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.  If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.  This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."


A few Sundays ago the sermon series was over John 15.  One thing I remember Gary explaining was that sometimes vines start to grow on the ground and lay sucker roots.  Every once in a while the gardner will come by and tear that root out of the ground and wrap it back onto the apparatus that holds the vine off of the ground.  For Christians, there are times when we fall to the ground and start laying roots.  God comes around and prunes those roots from us, pulling us out of the ground and putting us back where we are supposed to be in order to bear much fruit.  The process can be painful, but the end result is rewarding.  Being in the vineyard and seeing firsthand the rows and rows of vines brought this chapter to life for me.   


Between the two of us, Benjamin and I harvested 4 buckets of grapes!   As the grape collecting bins filled up with the cute, purple fruit the Delaney workers were dumping them into the de-stemer.  Then the grapes would get pushed through a tube into the wine vat as they awaited the moment where little feet would start squishing the juice out of them!  All of the children went first, followed by couples who had married at the vineyard, followed by everyone else.


The sensation of stepping into the squishy mess was a strange one.  My feet were met by a cool, gummy, wet substance followed by goo squishing up through my toes!  I could actually feel the grapes popping beneath the weight of my feet and received better mushing when I picked my legs up high out of the mixture under me.  I was in heaven!  It was so fantastically fun to be covered in grape juice from the calves down and not have a care in the world.  Forgetting I was 27, I pranced around in the grapes with Benjamin for quite a few minutes.  When was the next time we would do this again?  I was enjoying it!  

We decided that our time at Delaney Vineyards was an awesome experience and we would without a doubt go back!

Monday Meal Planning

It's another whirl wind week at the Cozad's!

Monday: Cook out at the Cozad's with our Vintage ABF
Tuesday: Something on the go; Sara is competing in Corporate Challenge Horseshoes!
Wednesday: Fend for yourself night
Thursday: Pan fried pork chops, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies
Friday: Dinner at the Ranger's Game
Saturday breakfast: Cinnamon Rolls
Saturday lunch: Carr P. Collins luncheon
Saturday dinner: cereal