Random Sunday and a Big Bowl of Cheese

Our Sundays usually consist of a little exploration, sweat, and some good food (not necessarily in that order). We usually have a running "wish/to-do list" that we refer to when figuring out our day. For those of you who grew up/worked closely with Jake you know he is the king of lists and anything post-it related. Thankfully Jess is able to rely on him and his trusty post-its to plan something pretty awesome on Sundays.

Today consisted of, well, random things. Aren't those the best days anyways?

We started off the morning with a short hike up to Mt Bonnell, Austin's highest peak.With temperatures expected into the 100's this afternoon we wanted something semi-easy since we got a later start than we originally planned.

Although there weren't nearly as many, this reminded us of THE stars in Santa Monica back home

This is what we found up at the top- overview of Lake Austin


this lovely spot was only 10 minutes from downtown Austin. AMAZING.

think you can find one you like?

After our short hike we decided to drive around the neighborhoods in the area to check out the homes and see if this might be a new neighborhood on our radar. Jake spend his summering growing up going to Bass Lake with his family and has already dreamed of owning a home there as an adult. With many fond memories of good times on the lake we thought it perfect that we might actually be able to own a home of our own someday, yet be so close to the city. Before leaving the neighborhood we knew that this was one that would make our list.

While exploring the neighborhoods we stumbled upon Austin Art museum on Lake Austin and had fun walking around and enjoying the beautiful scenery.






We headed over to S. Congress for some much deserved sno cones (our new obsession!) before finally making it home to eat a big bowl of cheese.

You're not a true Texan if you've never had Queso. That's not a typo. Texans love their dip so much that it needs to be capitalized. It seems like it's served at almost every restaurant here in town, and when we first arrived we always ordered it whenever we went out to eat. Now that we've settled in a bit more, we rarely order is unless we have fam/friends visiting and are giving the "official" Austin tour. Yes, Queso makes the cut for the tour.

While at the market picking up a few other things we saw a display with everything needed for this delicious bite. We think with UT football season around the corner, folks are required to stock up on this stuff- Velveeta cheese and a can of chili diced tomatoes. Funny thing is we found the most organic/healthy tortilla chips to go along with our big bowl-o-cheese. Is this the Texas version is ordering diet coke with your Big Mac supersized meal at Mickey D's?


For those of you who want to try this artery clogging indulgence- cut the cheese into one inch squares and melt together in a saucepan. Pretty easy.



Oh ya. Forgot to mention you need some pretty classy drinks like Bud Ice and a game/Lifetime movie on TV too before you can enjoy this.

We don't mess with Queso.

Happy Sunday!