life on the ranch

Good afternoon! I keep thinking that today is Monday, come to find out it's actually Tuesday, and I get SUPER excited because that means only 3 1/2 more days until the weekend! Can you tell what I'm living for these days?!
If you've been reading, then you remember that the boyfriend and I packed up and hauled our butts to Brownwood, Texas to spend the weekend with his family. We had high hopes of getting away, kicking our feet up, and relaxing the weekend away. Well, that's just what we got- sort of.

We departed from Austin on Saturday afternoon, foot to the metal and the music blasting. I absolutely love going on trips with Raymond for the sole fact that I get to throw my feet up on the dash board to bask in the sun and sing to the blaring music as loud as I can, just to serenade annoy him. How could you not just love me???

The drive is only about 2+ hours, but we always make sure that we leave on an empty stomach, just so that we can stop in Lampasas at Storm's Burgers. The actual restaurant is similar to a Sonic, with the curb side ordering layout, just a wee-bit butt load older and slightly falling apart. You know, no biggie. You know what they say-- "good things come in small ugly packages!" A lot of people like to believe that Storm's is highly overrated, but I beg to differ. While I don't think that they are the best burger that I'll ever eat, they definitely are at the top of the list. Besides, I don't think the Food Network would feature somewhere that totally sucked, now would they? Take that haters.

Our first stop after getting into town, was to pick up Raymond's son... Raymond III! I absolutely love spending time with these two together. To see how happy they are around each other is awesome. To watch my man smile from ear to ear for 2 days straight just because his boy is asleep in the next room gives me the best feeling in the world. Aint it just the shweetest!?

Another 10 minute drive and we arrived at the El Rancho!... to an empty house. We were expecting to be greeted by his parents, the sisters, nephews, etc. But nope, nothing... no one. While waiting for everyone's arrival, we unloaded our things from the truck and the boys decided to start playin' around. A short while later everyone arrived home, and the fun began!

Knife Throwing

Sweet Tea Drinkin'

Rabbit Hunting

Cheesin'

With a full house of boys ranging from ages 2-15, the thoughts of relaxation were becoming more and more sparse! Looked like we were in for a looooong noisy few days!

The rest of the weekend was spent with an outing to the mall (which is the size of a Wal Mart) to see Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D. This was my first time to see a 3D movie, and it definitely took some getting used to. For some reason, those glasses were rather weird at first. After a good 15 minutes I felt like I was finally adjusted enough to where I could kick back and enjoy. I'm not sure if my expectations for a 3D movie were set too high, but I can only remember a good 2 or 3 times when I really felt like I was there in the movie. Maybe it's because it was a cartoon? Or maybe that's just how 3D movies are. I guess I'll just have to go watch more to find out! As for the actual movie itself, it was fantastic! We were a big fan of the first Kung Fu Panda, so we had high hopes for the second, and it sure did deliver. It was cute, touching, and funny, and I definitely would recommend it! Also while at the mall, we did a tiny bit of shopping and purchased some new running shorts. I wasn't planning on buying anything, but I got 2 pair of Adidas tempo shorts for $30. Couldn't pass that deal up. I also almost purchased (twice) a new pair of running shoes but decided to wait and browse a bit more here in town. I have a feeling that purchase will be happening soon, and I can't wait!

After the mall we headed over to wally world where we bought a small pool for the little ones to play in since it was about 103 degrees outside and the wind was blowing so insanely strong it felt like we were standing in front of a burning building. You know it's hot when you stand outside for .2 seconds and your back is drenched in sweat. Attractive, I know.

Playing Life Guard

The food we eat on the ranch never ceases to amaze me. I always end up trying something I've never had, and never even knew people ate. I wont lie, when I discovered what we would be eating for dinner the first night, I got a little bit nervous. On the menu? Mollejas (moy-e-has). Other wise known as cow pancreas. GET OUT OF TOWN! I seriously cringed just a little bit at the thought, and decided that some chicken better be cooked for backup. Now, I've tried menudo (soup made with cow stomach), and lengua tacos (cow tongue) and have not been a fan of either. But, I am frightened pleased to say that the mollejas were rather tasty in that it tasted just like fried meat. A few pieces were consumed and then I moved on to the chicken.

Frying Mollejas

Another not-so-tasty treat consumed this weekend? Rabbit. I watched Raymond shoot, kill, skin, wash, and cook a rabbit in 10 minutes. Not only was I sad, but rather disgusted. I tried to muster up the courage to take a picture of the boys with their catch, but upon doing so I almost died at the sight of the eyeballs dangling from the head. Seriously, worst thing ever. Not only was I not too thrilled about tasting it, when I did take a tiny bite, it was awful. (I pretended to enjoy it for Raymond's sake.) It clearly was fresh, and tasted much too gamy for my liking. Not a fan of the bunny. RIP Bugs.

The boys with their catch

I quickly got over my bunny depression and we spent the rest of the weekend listening to stories and sippin' on cold beers. I had a fantastic time and was really upset to have to return to reality. I could live the rest of my life out on a ranch under the stars (coughraymondcough)! But, we're back and it's time to move on with the usual routine and the usual foods. I must admit, I am a bit excited to eat vegetables again!
Off I go to eat some green stuff!