Texas Eats: State Fair Edition

We wouldn't be getting the true Texas experience if we didn't try out the state fair (If only to say that we went once!) It was a fun time walking around with our friends, people-watching, and of course, fried-food watching.

You would not believe some of the things they fry here! I was truly amazed. There was fried brownies, a variety of fried candy bars, fried oreos, and fried coke and lemonade. How do you fry liquids?! Still a little confused about that one. Moving on to the savory; we saw fried pizza, spaghetti and meatballs, fried hot dogs, and the winner of the fried food contest for 2015: fried lobster tail!

I don't care how gross it is, it all looked delicious. We were laughing that just that week in med school they had talked about high cholesterol rates and the obesity epidemic in America. ha. We debated our choices for a while, but finally decided on fried pollo queso, one of the runner-ups for the fried food contest. Basically, it was a mixture of chicken, spicy cheese, and jalepenos fried in a pretzel batter. Yum!

And of course, we had to do the obligatory picture under creepy Big Tex.

Thanks to our awesome friends for checking out the fair with us!

And so it begins...

Our Med school journey has begun! Ty is in his 8th week of school and so far has had...like 8 tests, so pretty much one big test a week. Needles to say it is a ton of work, but he does love what he is studying. I tease him that he complained more about one semester of Spanish history than he has complained about Medical School so far!

First day of school...rocking the t-shirt tan line!



One cool thing that UT Southwestern did before they officially started school was to have a retreat for all the students, and they let "significant others" come! We got to go to a family owned camp and stay in cabins. We played at the lake, did a super terrifying zip line (the whole tower was shaking as we walked to the top), and ate some good meals. Tyler's med school class is super diverse, and it was awesome to meet so many cool people from all over the world.

At the camp, the med students were sorted into their "houses," which they will stay in for their years here as a med student. I was geeking out over this (imagining that there would be a sorting hat, and they would put it on each student), and although it wasn't quite as awesome as Harry Potter, it was still pretty cool. They had all the students line up and brought them into a big amphitheater while a drum banged ominously, "bum, bum, bum," over and over until everyone was seated. Then, one by one they got called down and given their house (Yay free t-shirt!)

Mostly it is just a formality, but it still made us feel excited about the school and how they try to get everyone included so quickly. It was fun to meet some of the other significant others, and to hear all sorts of advice on how to help our marriage survive medical school.

So far Ty is loving it and we couldn't be happier about our decision to be at UT Southwestern here in Dallas. I am excited to continue to see Tyler loving what he has chosen to do, as long as he keeps practicing the immunizations on the oranges, and not my arms. :)

Texas Eats #1

One thing that Texas is very well known for it it's food! Did you know that Texas has the most restaurants per capita than any other city in the U.S.? It makes sense though because they are everywhere!

Although we are living on a pretty tight medical school budget, both Tyler and I love to go out to dinner, so we do set aside some money to go on dates. We have found two places that we have been super impressed with so far!

We consulted yelp to find the best Thai Restaurant around us, and were led to Thai Noodle. All of the reviews warned that it wasn't much to look at, but that it was a hidden gem so we were excited to try it. It did not disappoint!

We were the only people there on a Saturday night which made us a little worried...until they brought out the food. We ordered the pad thai (our favorite) and it was a huge portion. Normally in a restaurant you pay 10-15 dollars for what we got for 7! It was very authentic, just the right amount of lime and peanuts mixed with rich spices.

If you know me, you know that I like my food spicy. Like, really hot. This restaurant had a rating system from 1-4, with 4 being the most spicy. I ordered the 3, which I have done before and been just fine. This place knows how to spice their food! It was a little much, even for me. The next time we went back, I got a 2. Tyler got the massaman curry the second time around, and loved the creamy coconut flavor! This may look like a dive, but it is a definite must try if you are ever in Euless and love some good Thai food.

The other place we found that we loved is Twisted Root Burger company. You can read about it more here because it was featured on the Food Network! So naturally, being food network junkies, we had to give it a try.

They had the coolest burgers!! Really unique and specialty burgers that I had never heard of before. I tried the "Enough said." It's a burger with aged cheddar, bacon-ranch sauce, and crispy potato chips on top. Ty had the "Sexy Hawaiian," with jalepeno jack cheese, terryaki sauce, pineapple salsa, and prosciutto. When we went back, (how could we not?!) I got the freshman 15, complete with french fries on top, cheddar cheese, an egg and 2 pieces of bacon. I know, disgusting. My dad, the health expert, will probably disown me, but it was oh so good!!

So far, we are loving the food in Texas. Now to find some authentic Texas barbeque!

A good beginning

It's about time I get to documenting our first few months here in Texas!

After road tripping all the way from Utah we were very excited (and nervous!) to finally reach Dallas. (Nervous because we would be seeing our new apartment for the first time-ha!) But, as it turned out, it is a HUGE step up from our Provo apartment.

This is a small look, I'll post more when it's a little more decorated. Andddd a littler cleaner. It's small, but it has beautiful paint, a new dishwasher and oven (wahoo!) and a little patio perfect for growing some plants. Oh, and of course a fireplace for when it drops below 90 degrees over here! 

We moved here with literally only a mattress and a little card table as furniture, so one of the first places we visited was IKEA. I could walk around that store all day! We ended up buying a dresser, a bookshelf (to store my huge book collection because I couldn't part with hardly any of the books from my classroom library), and a desk for Ty. We spent a lot of time putting it all together....and had fun for the first 10 hours! 

And the final product....

When we first moved here in July, I thought there was no way I could live here for one more Texas summer! It was over 100 degrees every day, and it that sticky, overbearing kind of hot. Ty and I went to try out the beautiful pool at our complex during the middle of the day our first week here (big mistake)! We quickly realized if we didn't want to be boiled alive we would have to swim in the mornings. 

We drove to the Dallas Texas temple in our first couple of weeks here, and I was surprised by how different it is from other temples I have visited. It is not a big temple, and not very tall at all. It's a temple that can't be seen from a distance; you pull around the corner of a subdivision or houses and there it is! 

It was a good feeling to see the full parking lot and to realize we aren't alone here. We had a good couple of weeks relaxing and getting settled in before Ty started Medical School. In the last few days the temperature has dropped to around 80, and I finally get why people decide (of their own free will) to live here permanently. Keep it coming with the beautiful weather Texas!