Our First (not second) Thanksgiving

Taylor and I have had a tradition from our first year of marriage called Second Thanksgiving. Since we always spent Thanksgiving with family or traveling, the following weekend we would buy a turkey on clearance and cook a whole Thanksgiving feast for the two of us. This way we could enjoy the leftovers every day for a week or two. But this 6 year long tradition has also been preparing us for our first time hosting Thanksgiving this year. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday, so I was so excited this year to finally host. I started grocery shopping two weeks in advance to prepare. However, we still ended up at the store 4 times the night before and the morning of Thanksgiving. I had failed to calculate the number of dishes I would need to cook all of the sides I wanted to, which led to the first trip to Target. Then came the dreadful over salting of the yams which required another trip to start that dish over, and then somehow we ran out of marshmallows! When all was said and done we had such an amazing meal with good friends and family and I can't wait to do it again.

We made the BEST mable, bacon turkey, courtesy of this recipe (here). And the gravy was even better. 

Couldn't have done it without my sous chef! 

Moby was so tired after attacking my poor sister's chihuahua all day.

Murphy hiding from the evil cat

We went to the park after dinner

And then enjoyed the Christmas lights

Confessions of a Bookworm

Being the bookworm that I am, last weekend was my 3rd trip to the Texas Book Festival in Austin. I look forward every year to going to hear authors speak about their book in the capital, and then getting to meet and have them sign my book. I am developing quite the book collection. (nerd alert!) It sometimes can be a double edged sword when you go to hear an author speak and they turn out to be real dud or jerk but it is still worth it when you find new great authors and books to read.

"But is it a true first edition, first printing?"

If you love all things books, you must visit The Book People in Austin.

 Team Vonnegut on the way to the book festival, yes that is a suitcase of books.

Standing room only.

Sexist bingo at the lit crawl.

We always have such a good time!

If you are looking for a book to read I highly recommend The Son by Phillip Meyer, he was at the book festival this year. The book was incredible and it was a finalist for the Pulitzer prize this year. It is an epic that spans 3 generations of family and 200 years in south Texas on the great frontier and subsequent oil boom. The book is very well written and has cowboys, Indians, even the Germans in Fredricksburg.  It was so fun to read about the characters drinking pearl beer when my grammie used to be their bookkeeper at the brewery in San Antonio. I can safely say I learned more about Texas history in this book than I did in my 12 years of Texas history in grade school and I could not put it down! (I must warn you there are a couple gory scenes between the Indians and Texan that stayed true to the history.)

Untouched Thailand

After visiting Cambodia, we flew to Chiang Mai where we began our three day guided tour through Northern Thailand. The tour company we used is called Untouched Thailand and specialized in taking you to sites tourists don't usually visits, including visiting two hill tribes.

Our first stop and the highlight of our trip was to an elephant sanctuary. First we were introduced to the elephants and fed them bananas. I had no idea elephants loved them so much, they would skip the hand you held one banana in and go for the whole bunch.

Next we rode the elephant down the hillside with some incredible views. 

 Bath time!

After the elephant sanctuary, we went to go visit the tigers. (I should add visiting tiger kingdom is optional, this was definitely not "untouched" as this is a major tourist attraction.)

Loved the babies but the big kitties were terrifying!

Next we explored a huge cave that also served as a Buddhist temple

Next we visited "no man's land" which is on on the border of Thialand and Myanmar. There are hill tribes with refugees from Myanmar, since they are not Thai citizens, the children cannot attend schools and they have no access to health care. We stopped on our way and bought lots of candy for the village kids. First they all lined up and then it turned into a frenzy, reminded me of a pinata.

We finished our day visiting a temple with a great view of the border. Here's the panoramic view from the temple. The view was so great, I did not even take one picture of the actual temple.

This was all just on day one of our three day tour. I'm tired just writing about it! I'll post the rest soon.

Wonder of the World - Siem Reap, Cambodia

I've had some requests to share the itinerary of our trip to Thailand and Cambodia. I did not use a travel agent and instead spent months of researching and planning to make the most of our 17 day trip. After we spent two days in Bangkok, recovering from the jet leg, we flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia. The trip was an inexpensive 1 hr flight (I recommend air asia). We spent two nights there which worked out well if you are willing to put in a FULL day of sight seeing. Siem Reap is home to hundreds of ancient temples, some dating back to the 9th century. It was probably my favorite part of the trip and I recommend it for anyone's bucket list. Even though this incredible place is not on the 7 wonders of the world list, it should be. It was definitely more amazing than any other world wonder I have visited. (Also, if you are planning to visit, they are very strict about knees and shoulders showing around certain parts of the temples that are still used for worship, wear long shorts, a dress or skirt you can cover up with if it's too hot for pants.)

The temples are fairly close together, making a day trip convenient. There are plenty of tuk tuk tours but seeing as it was June and incredibly hot, we opted for an air conditioned van to travel between the sights. It is difficulty to put into words the charm of Siem Reap. The people are so kind and friendly. Because Siem Reap is a worldwide attraction, lots of internationals (primarily Europeans) have migrated here and English seemed to be the unofficial language of Siem Reap. Oddly enough, the dollar is the currency. But the most surprising thing about Siem Reap is the food! My husband and I love to travel but first and foremost we travel with our stomachs.  We love to eat our way through whatever country  or region we are in. It is not surprising that with all the walking, hiking, swimming we do on vacation, I still manage to gain a couple pounds, as it should be on vacation. Want an authentic Tuscan pizza? You'll find it in Cambodia, a french creperie? Even a tex mex restaurant! It is such a wonderful hodgepodge of people, culture, history, art and food. Before we could even return home, my sister already started researching how she could move there. Go visit and you will understand the allure.

At sunrise we started out at Angkor Wat, this is a must see at sunrise! Not only was it infinitely cooler but the views of the sun rising over this ancient temple is breathtaking.

We enjoyed breakfast outside the temple gates and then made our way to the reflection pool

I was very surprised to see monkeys all over the temple. I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie.

Our tour guide came well stocked with bananas.

 This is a site you definitely want to visit with a tour guide. Every inch of every wall is lined with beautiful carvings telling stories of ancient Hindu mythology. There are so many details I would have missed without a guide there to point them out.

View from the top.

Second stop was Bayon temple, or the temple of the smiling Buddhas in Angkor Thom.

Next door was Baphoun which I insisted we climb to the top of.

The view was worth it.

Then we visited Ta Prohm, or nowadays everyone refers to it as Tomb Raider, as it was the set for the movie. This ancient temple is overgrown by trees and seemed to be the star attraction of Siem Reap.

 The trees are very much damaging the integrity of the structure but it is just so beautiful.

You can see the face of a Buddah statue peeking through the tree roots.

We visited several more wats or temples but at this point we were "watted out". Either from heat exhaustion or just seeing so much in one day, I couldn't tell you anything about these last couple temples we visited, but I did manage to snap some more pics.

There were lots of chickens and cows grazing in the ruins.

Some other must do's in Siem Reap:

1. Visit Artisans d'Angkor: It's a social entrepreneurship business that trains locals in nearby rural areas to sculpt and make repairs to the ruins, you can buy their sculptures, carvings and hand made silks. You can even watch them at work. If you miss visiting one of their workshops, they also have a small store in the airport.

2. Stay at the Golden Temple Villa: for $20 a night, you will have 5 star service (truly the best service we have ever experienced at a hotel) And the price includes a free one hour massage and cold towels every time you return from the heat. Artisans d' Angkor is right across the street from the hotel.

3. Visit pub street, the night market is nearby and there are lots of great restaurants, shops and bars. 

I wasn't joking about the Tuscan pizza, we met the nice Italian owners of this great joint, il forno, on pub street.

4. Another amazing dining experience is at Haven Training Restaurant

A couple from Switzerland opened the restaurant after visiting Cambodia and volunteering at the orphanages. The restaurant is actually a training restaurant for young adults from orphanages, shelters and poor rural areas. They are trained in working, cooking and life skills workshops, the restaurant takes full financial responsibility by providing housing, meals, medical care and a monthly allowance. All the tips that the trainees receive are put into a savings account and given to the trainees upon graduation and are set up with a job and a new life. The trainees also learn English and computer skills. It is social entrepreneurship at it's best. And the food is INCREDIBLE. They have a great menu featuring authentic Cambodian dishes and plenty of German/Swiss menu items from the owner. Be sure to make a reservation because it is a very popular restaurant.

Breakfast on our last morning, banana mango pancakes, an omelette and fresh squeezed watermelon juice. Did I mention the food?