My Hometown

Well it turns out that we never blogged about our trip to Texas during the holidays in December. Well, guess it's never too late...better late than never huh.

Well again...being that we are not huge picture takers (we always forget we have a camera) we do not have a lot of pictures to show everyone. But the pictures we do have come from Saturday the 29th when Amy got schooled on how to make tamales. We were in Rosenburg for the last part of our trip in Texas and we had made plans to have mom teach us how to make them. It is a long and drown out process , for those of you who do not know. Since we spent the first part of our trip ith Amy's family we missed tamales over at my grandmother's house so mom put aside that day to teach us to make them, let them cook all day, and enjoy them for dinner.
This is the part I got so frustrated with b/c no matter how I tried spreading the corn maiz onto the corn husk leaf...I could not get it to be as awesome as my mom and dad's. I was so irritated with that corn maiz...I got up and left a few times.

Amy then moved on to stuffing the leaves with the pork. BTW, the pork cooked all night, when I saw it is a long drawn out ordeal...i'm not exaggerating. My grandmothers does it for days with her daughters to have them all ready for Christmas Eve's dinner.

Then Mom placed all of the stuffed tamales into the pot where they are cooked for another few hours. I don't rememebr eactly how long it took for them to cook, but it was awhile.

So we got to enjoy them that night and they were soo good. I didn't get pictures of the finished product but trust me, you wouldn't want me to tempt you with that.


I don't know that we retained all of the info to make them at our house just yet...but we have a good head start. And hopefully we can soon be able to make them ourselves and have our friends in TN get a good taste of good home cooked tamales. And my grandmother's receipe is not one to be messed with...it'll stand up to anyone else's...hands down.

good thing I just ate lunch and i'm not hungry.

Substitute

Ok, ladies and germs...I have added another awesome feature to the already awesome Llanes blog. When you scroll down, on the menu's to the right of the blog there is a new widget. And this widget allows you to input your email address and it will email you an update when we have posted a new blog entry.

So no more visiting the blog every 5 minutes to see if we have posted something new (as I am sure all of our readers do). ;)

I just did this...so hopefully I did it write and it will work correctly. But as it is a Google application I'm sure it'll take over the world sooner rather than later.

Well enjoy the good news and subscribe to the blog!

Put Me In My Place

When Amy, my better half, is gone i am really put into my place. I am useless to myself. what?
yea...exactly.

As I was leaving work yesterday...this is what I saw the to West.
It's not the best picture, but it was taken with my phone. So when I state that it was taken by my phone, in essence it is a pretty good picture. but not really...but it is.

Well since Amy was out of town starting yesterday I took the opportunity and invited some guys over to hang out and just be guys. So there were 10 guys there at one time but a few left early and others hung out at the house till 1:30 this morning! We played guitar hero 3 on a PS2 that Adam brought over and playing ping pong in the garage. It was a great night.

But I had to get up for a group meeting this morning for church so that was no so great. meh.

So I got home and me and the dogs jut laid around...like this...
...but I was not on the floor in the sun...I was on the couch with a blanket.


Well I guess I should go find something productive to do here at the house. Washing and folding laundry, do the dishes...something like that...I know"the better half" would really appreciate it. plus I need to earn my allowance! cha-ching!

Real Love

January 3rd was wedding anniversary number 4 for The Llanes.

It has been 4 years now? We've lived in middle Tennessee for 3 years now? We've owned a house for 1 and a half years now? We have 2 dogs now? We're suburbanites? GULP!
double gulp actually...i mean just the suburbanite part (needed to clarify for all kinds of safe measures).


But we don't have kids yet...

but guess what...?!??!


we're still waiting to have some later on
...did I get ya?!!?
ha! OK...I won't ever do that again...promise.

Yea, a lot has happened since we have been married and when we got married we would have never imagined we would be where we are now back then. It's been a whirlwind, but one that has been great and keeps us wanting to see what is in store for us next. It's been great to see how we have been blessed so far in our marriage. We thank the Father all the time for all He has provided us with and what He has given us to be responsible with. We know we still have a long way to go and we hope that we can only make Him proud.
Also making our parents proud of their children. And I hope our children will some day be proud of us too.

OK...so we were given a gift certificate to The Palm for X-mas...so we thought what better way to spend it than to use it for an anniversary dinner! So we made reservations and told them it as our anniversary and we went to dnner last Saturday night. Oh man...it was sooo good. But what made it the best dinner (also most expensive dinner) ever was that our waiter was so kind and caring. He made suggestions on all of the dishes, cleaned the table after every plate that was picked up with some little scrapper tool, and he even folded our napkins into standing triangles everytime one of us went to the restroom!
Since we had old them when we made the reservations that it was our anniversary I don't know if he went over the top b/c of that and or also b/c it was our first time at the the Palm? Either way we were very impressed with the service and we want to go back. The food was really good too...that was almost just a bonus. He even asked us how we met and truly seemed interested then he asked us if we both liked chocolate and since I, Isaac, don't too much he asked Amy what was my sweet tooth and she told him...cheesecake. Then out of nowhere he comes out with the biggest piece of chocolate cake either one of us has ever seen!!! It ws about the size of amy's head..no joke, and a piece of cheesecake. If the cheesecake would have been as big at that chocolate cake piece...I would have been sick...b/c I would have eaten it all that night. The chocolate cak lasted us till Monday night after snacking on it all day on Sunday and then finishing it up on Monday...and yes I helped. Anyway those desserts were free...yea...it was an awesome anniversary dinner and we only paid $5.
Thank you Spivey's for the gift certificate!!!

OK...we're out Amy is leaving tomorrow for the weekend to D.C. and we need to pack and spend some time on the couch watching Grey's :)

Albums of 2007

So there are a lot of people blogging about their top lists of the year. And I mean lists of sports games & moments, tv shows, songs, albums, music videos, books, and movies, then movie catergories...like comedies, dramas, etc.

So I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon and state a few of my favorite albums of 2007. I don't think I will rank them b/c I just couldn't and I am not a music critic or snob...ven though some of you out there might think I am...I don't consider myself to be one. Especially not after some of the other blogs that I have read so far.

OK...here wa go!



Well OK...I will say the best album of the year for me was Wilco's Sky Blue Sky. If you really know me as a music fan you would know that Wilco is my favorite band. (BTW this is Isaac blogging, but I will mention some of Amy's favs too) I actually went to a midnight CD release party to purchase this album, I was that ready to get it. This record was mellowed down some compared to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot but it still had some rockin' tunes on it. Favorite tracks Impossible Germany, Either Way, and Hate It Here.



The Snake The Cross The Crown's Cotton Teeth
This is a band that Josh discovered and told me about. They are a great band with a sound that I like that is called Alt-Country. Josh and I got to see them live in Nashville and they put on a great show...just a bit disappointing that they weren't the headliners b/c they deserved it. Favorite tracks include The Great American Smokeout, Gypsy Melodies, Cotton Teeth, and Behold The River.





The Shins Wincing the Night Away
Great Great Great album! First Shins album I bought in it's entirety, I did have the 2 tracks from the Garden State soundtrack from 2004. This is an album I could listen to at any time. What's funny is that you can barely understand what James Russell Mercer is singing half the time but the music just keeps you hooked...it just makes you bob your head along with it. The first track just sets the mood for the album by it's slow start then just builds and builds and the fun never ends. I have played the heck out of this album! Favorite tracks include Sleeping Lessons, Australia, Phantom Limb, and Turn On Me.


Rilo Kiley's Under the Blacklight
I also just started listening to Rilo Kiley this year. I got this album then back tracked and got the album they put out before this one of 2007. I also plan on getting the other earlier albums. The music to this album is jut ridiculously melodic and dynamic. Jenny Lewis' voice is just amazing. The music is what caught me right off the back...it is one of the albums that I actually liked right off the bat after one listen, that is unusual. The music is awesome yet some of the lyrics are not so great, a lot of scandalous talk in the lyrics. Favorite tracks include Silver Lining, Breakin' Up, Under the Blacklight, 15 (love the horns not so much the lyrics), and Give a Little Love.


Jimmy Eat World Chase This Light
I like JEW too much to not include them in what I think is another great album to their already existent catalog.
Always bringing in the rockin' tunes that don't let you down. Many commutes to and from work blaring this album over the speakers. Favorite tracks include Big Casino, Feeling Lucky, Here it Goes, and Carry You.





Derek Webb's The Ringing Bell
Well Derek's album this year was a breathe of fresh air musically. He went to a style that was very reflective of the Beatles sound on their album Revolver. His lyrics, as always, did not disappoint and made you think, yet it asn't as deep as the previous Mockingbird. A great album made by, in my opinion, one of the best songwriters out there today. Favorite tracks include I Wanna Marry You All Over Again, Name (was featured on an epi of Grey's Anatony), and Can't Be Without You.



Brandi Carlile's The Story
Brandi Carlile is a very talented songwriter and singer that Amy and I really like. The rawness of her voice in which she does not hold back on is just so genuine and real. Then the twang of her voice and the music just belong together. It's beautiful. Favorite tracks include Late Morning Lullaby (try listening to this song and NOT liking her!), The Story, My Song, Cannonball, and Downpour.


Well, I only mentioned Amy in the last album but she really likes Rilo Kiley's album a lot and she does like this Wilco album too. I got her hooked on Wilco after we saw them at the Ryman in early 2006...that is still the best concert i have ever been too. The best part, we alreadyhave tickets to see them in March of this year at the Ryman again. Man, am I PUMPED!
OK...I hope some of you who don't know what any of these artist, albums, or songs are that you give them a listen and tell me what you think. And for sure let me know if you buy some!?!?

Well I am anxious to see what 2008 has in store for the music scene!