Try-It Tuesday: Hawaiian Pulled Pork Sandwiches and Hasselback Potatoes.

Word got back to me that my dad says that I make "foo-foo" meals. That I can't just do meat and potatoes. And that all of my meals include green peppers or some fruit on top... Part of me was offended at first. I can do meat and potatoes! I'm not a foo-foo cook! And then I thought about it... and yes, I do use green peppers in just about every meal that I cook. And yes, I do like to add random fruit to things. But I decided to prove my dad wrong... Well, kind of. So I give to you... Foo-Foo Meat and Potatoes Tuesday! Hawaiian Pulled Pork Sandwiches (they technically have fruit in them... pineapple juice) and Hasselback Red Potatoes! And of course, I served fruit and veggies (green peppers, even) on the side...

The verdict?

Hawaiian Pulled Pork Sandwiches: The Hawaiian sauce made the meal! But the pork was great, too. We all agreed next time we will get a better cut of meat than a pork shoulder like the recipe called for. And more heavy duty buns than hamburger buns (because no one likes a soggy bun...)

Hasselback Red Potatoes: We all liked the potatoes, too! The looked fancy and were fun to eat!Although, the recipe said to cook them 40-45 minutes and they were not quite as done as I'd prefer so you could go 60-70 minutes and they were probably be better.

Definitely a do over we all agreed... And my dad got his meat and potatoes... kind of.

P.S. We finished off the meal with leftover Triple-Chocolate Cheesecake that I made for our Memorial Day get together. The cheesecake was pretty great, if I do say so myself.

Back in the states... and glad to be here.

Is it obvious that I was in America, or what?

I'm back in the states! And boy does it feel good... Spain was amazing. Really amazing. I loved the sights I saw, the people I was with, the experience that I had... But by the end of the week, I was ready to be home.

Long story short, I had a rough trip home. I flew by myself and one of my flight times was changed which made me miss all of my connecting flights once I arrived in the states. Long story short, I had to stay the night in Boston, find my own hotel (it was graduation weekend, I called 12 hotels, they were all booked), take a cab ride there and back (I've been in maybe one or two cabs in my life, and never by myself), and try again the next day. I eventually made it home. )And my travel home wasn't near as crazy as this guy's.) But I made it. And I'm glad to be here.

Now I'm excited for a lazy Memorial weekend at home. Happy Friday!

This Red Roof Inn saved the day. Majorly. Yes, I had two beds for one person.

I have never been so excited to have American food. McDonald's breakfast... thank you.

I took this excited that I was finally close to home... Turns out my flight was delayed after all, but whatev.

Made it to KC and was greeted by this lovely lady. And we had Chipotle. It was perfect.

Julie brought USA gear. Here's me looking good (or absolutely gross... whatev.)

A little bit more Spain.

Ronda. My favorite day of the trip.

I've been a bit busy for the past couple of days, but I'm finally getting around to posting the last set of some of my favorite pictures of my time in Spain. I'm back in the states now (more on that later) but I still can't believe some of the things that I saw while in Sevilla...

El Rinconcillo. A bar established in the 1600s... we ate pig jaw there. No lies.

An area called Triana. Or it may be just outside of Triana. Yo no se. (Translation: I don't know.)

One of my favorite things about Spain was the abundance of outdoor eating.

A statue outside the cathedral in Sevilla.

Looking down from La Giralda; a courtyard area in the cathedral. 

Las Setas. Apparently this is currently the world's largest wooden structure.

Más de España...

La Plaza de Espana...

Hello from Spain! Things are still going well... I have never seen more sights, walked more miles, tried more new food, heard more languages, or taken more pictures on any trip in my life. It's my last day here, so I'm going to go live it up. (Did she just say "live it up?" Who says that...? Yes, yes I did.)

Brad's favorite guitar player.

 A colorful street. Brad gets the props for this photo because he told me to take it.

 We have a fountain like this in Kansas City, except for it's outside of a 

PF Chang's rather than thousand year old cathedral.

I can't really get enough of these flower boxes...

These cute little Spanish boys inside the garden/palace/thing 
that I can't remember the name of.

Spain so far...

The streets of Sevilla.

I made it to Spain... and it's incredible. So far I have done lots of things: toured a cathedral, climbed up a tower, eaten ice cream 3 times, walked a lot, took a bus ride through the mountains, seen the most beautiful sights of my life, spoken a bit of Spanish, eaten lots of tapas, slept like a rock, admired the beautiful Spanish people, and Instagrammed way too much... To name a few.

Here are a few pictures of the trip so far...

Spanish guitar player, Ronda, Andalucia, Spain.

 La Giralda, the tower on the left, can also be found on the Plaza in Kansas City.

 The view from the top of La Giralda.

 Ronda. The most beautiful place I've ever see.

Everyone has flower boxes here. I want to have flower boxes when I grow up.

Spain.

(Of course, I packed the essentials...)

So... I'm headed to Spain tomorrow! I can't believe that the time has come. It seems like just yesterday that I was dreaming about going... then I bought the ticket and it became a reality... and that reality is now!

I've got a full day of travel all by myself. A tiny part of me is a bit afraid to travel internationally all by my lonesome... But more of me is excited for the adventure, the "me-time", the people watching, the music listening... It'll be a good day.

Don't you worry. I'll keep you posted on what's going on... Hope you have a great week!

Retreat.

I went on a retreat with the ladies from my church this weekend. The place where we stayed was a lodge that was basically in the middle of nowhere... and man was it beautiful!

The weekend was a great one... it was filled with awesome ladies, a bunch of wonderful food, some solid heart to hearts, lots of laughter, quite a lot of dancing, some Jazzercise, some game playing, some singing and some quality time with God.

I'm not really blogging just to tell you I had a great weekend. I mainly am posting this is to show you a few pictures I took of the place where we stayed. Jabez Retreat Center. Just absolutely beautiful... Just a great weekend!

Try-It Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan Burger

I'm a little bit late blogging about this, but after a two week hiatus I am back... It's Try-It Tuesday! Last week I had another dentist appointment (all my failures at flossing are finally filled and healthy again...) and the week before that my mom and I did the Chipotle thing. But I'm back!

My brother Cory is home for the summer, so we've got a picky eater back in the house which makes Try-It Tuesday recipe selection a little bit more difficult. But I came across this recipe last week and knew I had to try it... Chicken Parmesan Burgers! Cory loves Chicken Parmesan... And I love fancy burgers! So I tried it! The recipe was easy to make, reasonably healthy, and didn't require a lot of strange ingredients... The verdict? The fam liked it and said that it was a do-over... I thought it was pretty good but not amazing. BUT, it was easy, pretty healthy, and tasty for those who like Chicken Parmesan. So if you like those things... I'd recommend it!

Let's do a list!

I really like blogging. I really do. In my head, I am consistently seeing things and thinking, "Hey, I should blog about that!" But I just have not had/made the time to blog as much lately... Sorry, friends. But it's Sunday night. I'm waiting for my TV shows to play for a bit so I can start them and fast forward through the commercials without catching up. (Do you do that, too?) I've got something hopefully delicious baking in the oven. It's rainy outside. It is the perfect time to sit down and blog. So, here I am. And I'm happy to be here...

One of Joy the Baker's blog post suggestions was to make a list. Any list will do. A few examples of some list-making bloggers out there are: Friday Favorites by Iowa Girl Eats (one of the many reasons I love Fridays) and I Love Lists Fridays by Shutterbean (there must be something about lists and Fridays...) and Joy the Baker has made a few lists, too. So, here is my list. Hope you enjoy.

Things I've Been Loving Lately:

50 People You Wish You Knew In Real Life. I saw this on one of Shutterbean's list and it made me laugh so hard...

All Sons and Daughters. My friend Katie showed this band to me. It's so good. So so good.

Settlers of Catan. This is nothing new... but I play this game pretty regularly and I love it just as much as I always have. I just can't get enough.

TIGI Catwalk Curl Collection Curlesque Curls Rock Curl Amplifier. (That's seriously the whole name of this product.) I've been resenting the fact that the humidity has arrived and that my hair will be frizzy until fall arives. But this product, it gets me through the hard times. If you have curly hair, it's the best thing I've found to tame the wild best.

Sunset pictures. Even though it's frizzy hair season, it is also beautiful sunset season which makes up for the frizziness. There will be a lot more Instagram shots of these babies.

Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookie Bars. I've said it once, and I'm sticking to it, these are probably my favorite thing that I've ever baked.

The fact that I'm leaving for Seville, Spain in 9 days. No big deal.

TasteSpotting.com. This website reminds me of Pinterest but it's just food and it's not blocked at work. It gets me through the day some days. 

The Avengers. Confession: I love super hero movies. And I loved the Avengers. 

I guess I'll leave with you that for now... 

What are you reading?

Oh hey, my name is Slacker. It's really nice to meet you. ... You thought my name was Abby? Nope, it changed. ... When? Sometime within the last couple of weeks when I stopped blogging? ... How come I stopped blogging? One excuse: I've actually been busy. Sometime in the last couple of months I kind of found a life. This is great news! (And actually true...) Another excuse: I'm a slacker. Which is why I changed my name. Anyway... Joy the Baker's blogspot suggestion numero tres (that's number three for all of you non-Spanish majors out there) was a What Are You Reading post? Want to know what I'm reading? Ok... I'll tell you.

A Praying Life by Paul Miller (pictured above). I've mentioned this book before... it's kind of changed my life, no big deal. Transformed my views on God, prayer, and myself. A must read if you love J-E-S-U-S. (I don't know what's gotten into me. I'm in a strange mood today.)

 Practical Theology for Women by Wendy Horger Alsup. (Bet you're jealous you don't have her name.) I have just read the first chapter of this book so far but I have a feeling it's going be a good one. Plus I'm studying it with three other single ladies so it should be pretty great. (Yep, I said "single ladies" instead of "single girls" or "single women" so you'd get the song stuck in your head.)

While We're Far Apart by Lynn Austin. I love me some fiction, especially period piece fiction. (I'm a loser, get over it.) My mom suggested this book to me because I'm pretty sure it was free for Kindle. It's set in Brooklyn during World War II and it's about a girl who nannies for two kids who lost their mother and whose father in his depression from losing his wife decided to fight in the war. There's romance, there's drama, there's period piece-ness. I'm 78% done and it's pretty good. (And apparently you can buy it used for $.91 on Amazon. So you KNOW it has to be good... ?)

(Here's what it looks like on my Kindle...)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling. I am not currently reading this, but this is next on my list. Pretty much any trend like Harry Potter that has every been suggested to me, I've loved: Lost, Friday Night Lights, Twilight (yep, I said it), Hunger Games... I've loved all of those things. So I have a feeling I'll love Harry Potter, too.

Happy Reading!