What the HAIL???

Last week we had a hail storm! If any of you, reading this, live in the Austin area, you might have had it too! It came as fast as it went...after work, we started out w/sunny skies, then it turned gray, w/some thunder and lightning, and finally, kaboom - hail was hitting all over the place! Scott rushed outside to get at least one of our cars in our already packed garage! I laughed so hard when he came running back into the house, through the hail, w/his motorcycle helmet on (unfortunately, no pics of that!). All I could do was just stand in the middle of our living room and try to console Dog - she hates storms!

Scott snapped some great photos and recorded a little footage as it all was coming down! Thankfully, nothing was damaged, except maybe a light in one of our trees! It got pretty crazy for about 5 minutes! Scott says it was "HAILacious!!!" That is Texas for ya, everyone says the weather can change in an instant!

San Antone

A couple weekends ago we drove to San Antonio to visit w/Scott's Mom and Meemaw! We also were able to spend more time w/our newest niece Haylie, Scott's two sisters Lisa and Michelle, their husbands Chad and Steve, and Katie and Macee (we missed you Chris)!

What a great time we had - as we always do! Our time spent together usually includes eating yummy food and partaking in great converstaions, w/maybe a little shopping thrown in for good measure!!!

Thank you, Susan and Meemaw, for always being so hospitable and making our stay fun! We love and miss ya'll and can't wait to visit again!

Here is a look at some pics taken that weekend...

Macee at mealtime!

Our two nieces - Macee...

...and, baby Haylie! She is so cuddly!

Some fun w/Meemaw's wheelchair!

Lisa and Haylie - love her sleeping pose!

Katie and #2 on the way -- will it be a boy or a girl?

We have to wait until June to meet him or her!

What a great surprise!

Michelle w/the newest addition on the way in Aug. -- we just found out yesterday that she and Steve are expecting a girl!!!

How about all these nieces we are going to have!!!

Precious Meemaw!

Scott and our brother-in-law, Steve

our other bro-in-law, "Chad-ler"!!!

We love ya'll!!!

And, the next weekend...

we drove back up to the DFW area (Cleburne, to be exact) so that I could go to my friend Lauri's baby shower. She is due, very soon, w/Payton Harper Allen! Lauri got a lot of really cute things for little Payton and it was a fun time to see and visit with some of the gals I used to teach w/in Burleson! I sure do miss them!

While I was doing these "girly" things, Scott was able to hang out w/Lauri's husband, Chad! I love that they enjoy each other's company so much!

We all had a great dinner on Sat. night at a fabo place, out in the boondocks, called The Loco Coyote! Think sawdust on the floors, picnic tables to sit at, and abundant amounts of fried foods and burgers! Yummmmy! We waited for almost 2 hrs to get a seat - that's how great this place is! Thank you, Lauri and Chad, for having us that weekend! We are so anxious to meet Miss Payton and witness ya'll interact as her mommy and daddy!

Not too much longer to go!

Payton's room is lookin' cute and ready to go!

All that's missing now is Payton!

Cute decorations at the shower!

And, some cute gifts!

Some of my dear friends I used to teach with:

Candi, me, Lauri, Eunice, and Ashley!

I miss ya'll!

Scott regulated and had some words w/the hostess at the Loco Coyote b/c we had to wait so long to sit down. This sign on the outside of the restaurant was fitting, don't ya think???

Some late night setting up of the new pack-n-play for Payton!

This baby (aka: Ferris, the schnauzer) is not going to be excited about the

newest addition to the Allen family/household!

Busy with Birthdays, Best Friends, and Babies!

(how about that for a little alliteration?!?) hahaha!

I am so glad to now be able to post these pics from the end of Feb.! We had a fantastic whirlwind of a weekend in the metroplex...a 30th birthday bash for my college friend at the Glass Cactus (the club that is part of the Gaylord Texan Hotel in Grapevine) to see the M80s play; visiting w/my very best friend and her family in Grand Prairie; and my old roommate's couples' baby shower in Frisco!

It was so fun to catch up w/so many of our friends that we haven't seen in a long time! Here a quite a few pics to journal our shenanigans!!!!!!

Friday night started the fun - me and Parker on her 30th "birfday" at the Glass Cactus!

My sweet Texas Tech gals! I love ya'll!

The M80's - an 80's cover band and they also perform as Le Freak - a disco cover band! They rocked! I danced and sang all night long to some great music!

Me and the birthday gal again!

Scott and I after a loooong night!

We treated ourselves and decided to stay the night at the Gaylord Texan!

It's a beautiful hotel!

The next day, it was off to see my BFF, Jessica, and her family! I love these folks dearly! Her older sister, Stephanie, was prego w/their twin girls in this picture. She just delivered them earlier this week! They are truly miraculous little girls - ask me to tell you the story about them sometime!

All I can say is GOD IS GOOD!!!

Me and my bestest bud, Jessica Baker!

Jessica's stylin' and profilin' little girl, Isabella!

I mean, how cute is this pic?!?

The BFFs and tiny girl!

Mother and daughter...I adore this pic!

On Saturday night we celebrated my college roomate Ryann and her husband Gant at their couples' baby shower! It was so fun! They are expecting their son, Parker Gant Bills, very soon!

This pic is of Charlie Walker, Jessica and Seth's little guy

(and, not to mention our godson - what an honor)!

Scott and Seth hanging outside

Watch out world - the 3 roomies are together again - me, Ryann, & Jessica! I can't tell you how many fun memories I have of living w/these two ladies in Lubbock at Tech!

I love ya'll!

Me and the soon-to-be-mama, Ryann! I can't wait to meet Parker soon!

Life is good!

-T

Funny Faces

Here is a picture that I just couldn't resist posting! This was taken a couple weeks ago and was completely not staged! I pointed the camera at Scott and Macee and this is exactly what I got! They play off one another so much!

What the Heck

For whatever reason, we are having some computer difficulties here at home. It's been very hard to upload pictures and our computer seems to be moving much slower than usual. So, "what the heck" is what I have to say, for now, b/c I am really anxious to get some posting done!

There is not much going on here in the world of the Chessher's! We are praising God for some much-needed rain down here (Scott's actually out fertilizing the yard, in the rain, as I type)! We have another softball game tomorrow night which I am secretly dreading if the rain and cold weather continues - not a good combo for me and the game is at 9:00pm!!! OH, and, we are pumped to go see our 'ol friend Seth play Gruene Hall on Friday night! Look him up if you haven't heard of him -- his new website is apparently up and running now...it is: www.sethjames.com
We always enjoy ourselves at his show and look forward to seeing both he and Jessica sing! And, come on, you just can't beat a night out in Gruene, TX baby!!!

That's about it for now! I am doing this as a sort of "test run" to even see if our computer will let me blog just words (w/o pictures)! Toodles!
-T

p.s. I am kind of tired of my Valentine's background, but "the cutest blog on the block" is telling me I have to update something on our computer in order for me to change it...is this true and legit? Give me your two cents...

Beef! It's What's for Dinner!

The other day, my friend Traci sent out a recipe exchange, via email. I love, love, love getting new recipes, especially ones that are quick to prepare, don't ask for too many "exotic" ingredients, and are super yummy!

So, the recipe I shared in the email exchange is now posted on our blog! Try this one on for size - you won't be disappointed!

We are eating this meal tonight and I will prepare it for some friends, next week, who just had their first baby! Enjoy!!!

(For those of you who mostly look at blogs for the pictures, like I do, there will be a new post coming soon of our last two weekends in the metroplex...just so much going on right now and no time to blog - ahhh!)

Easy Slow Cooker French Dip

Ingredients:
- 3-4 lb beef roast
- 14 oz can beef broth
- 10 1/2 oz can condensed French onion soup
- 12 oz can beer (I use a dark beer like Shiner Bock Black)
- 8 French rolls
- sliced provolone cheese
- butter

Trim excess fat from roast and place in a slow cooker. Add the beef broth, onion soup, and beer. Cook on low setting for 8 hrs. Preheat oven to 350. Split the French rolls and spread with butter. Place a slice, or two, of provolone cheese on each roll. Bake 5-10 mins or until heated through. Slice the meat on the diagonal and place on the rolls. Serve the sauce for dipping. This is also good w/sauteed onions thrown on each sandwich! Enjoy!

p.s. Scott LOVES this easy meal -- he said it's as good, if not better, than the one at Jason's Deli!