Phillip Phillips, Football & a New Recipe

There haven't been many dull moments lately- between traveling to Mississippi and enjoying some events here in College Station- it's been a busy, but fun few weeks.

On Wednesday, Jacob and I went to the Phillip Phillips concert hosted my Texas A&M's MSC OPAS. Phillip Phillips is quite the entertainer and it was a great show. Lots of screaming girls and "I love you"'s yelled from the crowd.

Friday night was a late one but very fun. I had the honor of helping put on the 2014 Distinguished Alumni Gala where The Association of Former Students recognizes former students who have gone above in beyond by giving back to the university and their community. This year, 12 were honored at a beautiful ceremony and I had the honor of coordinating the student volunteers that make the event extra special. It was a lot of work and a late night, but it was so fun! :)

Now THAT is a fancy dessert!

On Saturday morning, we woke up early to watch some pre-game football analysis. We also took advantage of the time to do some prep for our Sunday crock pot meal- seasoning our pork!

In the early afternoon we headed to campus to tailgate before the Aggie football game. It rained earlier in the day, so Spence Park was one giant mud pit. Yuck!

The Aggie game was a late one, starting at 8pm. It was another rough game. The Aggies just didn't seem to have it together and the quarterback's inexperience definitely showed, giving up 14 points off of turnovers. Just not a good game all together. Ags ended up losing their second in a row 20-35. They're now 5-2 (2-2 in the SEC). Here's to hoping they can get it together when they head to Alabama next weekend so we don't end up 2-3 in the conference.

The only fun thing about the game is that Texas A&M set a new record for attendance at a football game for the SEC and the state of Texas with 110,633 people at Kyle Field. And it was a loud one... here and there. It was also the Maroon Out game of the season- a tradition put on by Class Councils- so lots and lots of maroon were in the stands and lots of white towels waving.

On Sunday morning, when I woke up, I threw our meal in the crock pot and we got comfortable to watch some NFL and keep an eye on our fantasy football teams. I found this recipe  on Pinterest and wanted to give it a try. Perfect meal for a football-watching Sunday and plenty of leftovers to eat throughout the week. :)
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Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Ingredients
2 lbs boneless pork (I used pork tenderloin)
2 medium green apples, sliced
1 large onion, sliced or diced
1 12oz. beer
Dry rub seasonings:
-2 tbsp smoked paprika
-2 tbsp brown sugar
-2 tbsp garlic powder
-2 tbsp ground cumin
-1 tbsp salt
-1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

The day before you want to make your pulled pork, you've got to season it with a dry rub. In a small bowl, mix together all of the dry rub spices. Coat the pork in rub. Wrap it up in aluminum foil and throw it in the fridge for 12-24 hours.

Dry rub ingredients.

When you're ready to start cooking in your slow cooker, throw in apple and onion slices. Put pork on top and pour beer over top. I always use a crock pot liner when I've got one on hand. It makes clean-up a breeze.

I used Shiner. It's a favorite if Jacob's, so we had some in the fridge.

Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

When pork is done cooking, use two forks to shred pork- this should be really easy to do if the pork is cooked through. Mix meat together with apples and onions in the bottom of the slow cooker.

Serve on its own or put on a bun. We made sandwiches out of our pulled pork with whole wheat buns. Can you say "yum"? We have a lot of leftovers, so I see a few pulled pork lunches in my future. ;)

Now... time to root my fantasy players on. Until next time... 

Mississippi Roadtrip

It was another fun, yet busy weekend! 

Jacob and I have made an effort to go to at least one away Aggie football game these past few years. Since we've been in the SEC (now the third season), we've been to games at Auburn, Ole Miss, and now Mississippi State. As always, we had a wonderful time and even managed not to kill each other on the 9.5 hour drive ;). We jammed to some mixed CDs, scoped out the potential sites we wanted to see, and on the way home kept a close eye on the NFL games with our fantasy football players. 

On Thursday evening, we packed up and drove to my parent's house with Tucker in tow. My parents, the wonderful people that they are, agreed to keep my four-legged baby for the weekend while Jacob and I drove across the southern states. He absolutely loves playing with my dad's dog, very appropriately named Aggie, and they even got to enjoy racing around the newly redone grassy yard. Mom even managed to snag a picture of them in one of the few moments that they sat still all weekend. 

Aggie (left) and Tucker enjoying a moment of calm in the backyard.

We set out on our road trip early on Friday morning- it was still dark! Which was a feat considering that neither of us really just me are not morning people- at all! We hit the Mississippi - Louisiana state line around 2:30pm. And, of course, when you're on a road trip, it only counts when you take a picture at the state line/state welcome center. 

Almost there!

Cannon on the bank of the Mississippi River.

Braving the chilly and windy weather at the state welcome center to snag a few pictures. It was truly a beautiful day.

We arrived in West Point, a small town close to Starkville where we were staying, around 5:30 or 6:00pm. We got settled, managed to pass out and take a nap, and then headed out to grab dinner in downtown Starkville. Lots of people were out and about and walking around the small town headed towards Bulldog Bash, an annual free music event put on by the Mississippi State University's student alumni association. It was interesting and somewhat strange to see so much maroon and white in another town and it continued to be difficult to tell who was an Aggie fan and who was a Mississippi State fan- everyone was wearing the same colors!

Since the game was way too early on Saturday morning (11am), we left the hotel around 8:30 so we'd have plenty of time to snag a good parking spot and do some campus exploration before the game began. The Mississippi State University campus is beautiful!

Student Union.

Funny, old mascot picture in student union. That is one ugly "dawg."

Can't go wrong with a pre-football game selfie.

We even managed to stop by and see where SEC Network was filming their pre-game show. This is where the cowbell madness really began in our day. So many cowbells.

The stadium was full, loud, and covered in maroon and white. Although the Aggies ended up losing, it really was a fun game. 

Panorama of the stadium.

Coinflip and Mississippi State mascot.

Kick-off.

Picture with field (post game).
We definitely should have snagged this one before the game started. It was hard to muster a smile.

This is what we found when we exited the stadium- a FLEET of golf carts. Apparently it's a thing to bring your own golf cart to campus on game days here. Kind of ridiculous, but that's just me. The Aggies definitely don't have this happening- and our campus is significantly larger than MSU's. Just something I thought was funny/interesting. 

The rest of our Saturday was relatively uneventful- watching lots of college football (including several more upsets #2, #3, & #4) and grabbing dinner. 

The following morning, before we left town we checked out the Waverly Planation that we'd been seeing signs about while in West Point. We didn't know if it'd be open, but wanted to check it out since we were there. We definitely didn't regret it. The mansion that still stood on the property was beautiful and we met a very kind woman and her father who own and had restored the house over the past fifty years. 

Waverly Mansion from the road/entrance. 

View of the front yard from the front balcony on the second floor.

Beautifully restored by the Snow family. You can really tell that they've put their life into this house.

One of the eight ante rooms that were all the same exact size.

Jacob made friends with some kittens that we happened upon.

Mansion even came with their own peacock coop!

The mansion was built in the 1840's and 50's on a 50,000 acre plot of land that produced cotton. The kind owners of the home glossed over some of the less savory facts- like the slave labor employed on the plantation before the Civil War. She also didn't share with us that the mansion is said to be haunted- most frequently by a small girl calling for her mother. Jacob and I both did our fair share of Googling following the tour. Very interesting place full of history. The family was incredibly nice and welcoming. We also ran into another Aggie couple that toured right after us. How random!

After finishing our tour, we hit the road and headed back to Texas! 

Crossing the Mississippi River.

We're already looking forward to our next road trip! Alabama anyone...?

Big thanks to my wonderful parents who watched Tucker while I was gone. As always, he returned home exhausted and has been full of puppy cuddles and naps this evening.

Tucker likes to claim my dad while he's visiting. Poor Aggie puts up with so much. 

Can you tell he's spoiled? Always wanted the best seat in the house.