Jess is back

Hi everyone,

I have finally returned from a long period of no blogging. A period of time where I did not have any good excuses for not blogging other than it was the holidays and for some reason my blogger took off from Thanksgiving to Christmas without telling me. Thankfully I have wrestled that blogger of mine back into commitment with reality and she is finally ready to share her life, heart, ramblings, and what-not with the world.

Really, what I think happened was that I had several really deep blogs in late October / early November that I really wanted to write, and then I chickened out and convinced myself that I should not share such things on the inter-webs. For some reason that one decision made my blogger go on vacation. I think it has something to do with the fact that God has called me to be vulnerable with the world, and when I refuse to be vulnerable He shuts off all my creativity.

Do you like how I started off explaining why I didn't really know why I stopped blogging and then ended up just really telling you? I think the part of me that wants to be real is starting to get stronger than the part of me that wants to be politically correct. Mmm...

Well regardless, here I am and today I want to talk about PIZZA.

The first meal Chris ever bought me, when he sternly sat me down and told me he just wanted to be friends until God forced us to date, was pizza. Brick oven made pizza at Blue Baker in College Station. I can remember it like it was yesterday. Mmmm....

That whole story of me and Chris shall be saved for a different time, because today I want to talk about how Pizza is one of the foundations of our relationship.

Neither of us can resist pizza. We have no checks and balances on pizza at all. I want Mexican all the time, but Chris doesn't. Chris wants fried chicken strips all the time, and I don't. I could go on, but you get the point. Pizza is the one thing that neither of us has any restraint on whatsoever. We love it. It emotionally bonds us together every time we eat it. We know we should feel guilty about it, but we absolutely do not.

We love gourmet pizza like organic Pizza Fusion. We love frozen pizza like Digiorno's. We love take out pizza like Papa John's. Finally, we love homemade pizza that I make :).

There is just something about that crispy and chewy crust, and the stringy cheese, and the sauce, and the toppings. MMM..... For us Hill's it just completely revitalizes us and strengthens our relationship. It is safe and comfortable. Pizza creates that atmosphere that you are both escaping from life for just a moment to enjoy something both you love.

For Christmas I got a pizza stone from Williams & Sonoma and last night I tried it out.

That's it right there in all it's new glory. I must tell you people that the pizza stone made the crust of our pizza SO crispy on bottom and SO soft and chewy in the middle. Chris was in heaven.

During the first football season of our marriage when the Cowboys played I would make homemade pizza, and Chris and I would sit on the couch and snuggle and I would inevitably fall asleep. It was awesome - except for the fact that my crust was always soggy. That problem has been solved with this awesome new pizza stone!!!

This is the sauce that I use for make pizzas with. Usually I get the "pizza sauce" but our HEB was out. It is awesome and totally makes a difference.

Here is the pizza pre baking. MMMM.....

And, finally here is the pizza after it is done. Chris likes his crispy on top. I have to say this was the best pizza I have made yet, and let me tell you I have made lots!

Here is our sweet Giada girl sleeping during the Pizza making process. She loves pizza because she sometimes gets to eat the crust!

Last night we were babysitting Jack the Great Dane, Luke and Mikala's dog, and I found these two sleeping on the same bed. They are super silly but they love each other and they love pizza, even though one is much bigger than the other - kind of like me and Chris.