Art From the Streets

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This morning I went to the Thin Line Film Festival in Denton and saw Art From the Streets a documentary film by Layton Blayloc.

"Art From the Streets is a feature length documentary about homelessness, art,
community service, courage and hope. The film tells the story of an
extraordinary, grassroots program in Austin, TX for homeless artists."

I am the type of person that always gives the homeless person on the side of the road, holding a sign, some money. People always say to me, "Why give them money? They are just going to buy booze or drugs with it."

You know, maybe that is true. Maybe it's not. I don't really care what they do with those couple of bucks I give them. I figure anyone having to stand on the side of the street asking for money needs those couple of dollars more than I do. I really do feel for anyone who lives out on the streets. I always wonder what went wrong in their life? How did they end up here? How difficult it must be to "get back on your feet" when you have lost everything.

I remember as a child, my father having a soft heart for the homeless. One story in particular, we were on our way out to California and had stopped to fill up with gas. A homeless man came up to him and sold him a beaded necklace for $10.00. My Dad gave me the necklace (which I still have to this day) and told me that man needed that $10.00 more than he did.

Witnessing my father give, even small amounts, unselfishly to homeless people has taught me a few things. One, to also give to the homeless. Two, to be tolerant and non-judgmental towards them. Three, to want to instill these ethical values into my children.

This year's art show is coming up in November. I think I am going to have to plan a trip to see my sister in Austin.

http://www.artfromthestreets.com/

10 year class reunion

So we are headed to K-town this weekend. Abe and I cannot believe our 10 year class reunion is this weekend. I am excited. It will be great to see so many people we have not seen since we graduated. We are meeting up with David and Lori at Kaufman's Homecoming game tomorrow night. I haven't been to a homecoming game in probably 8 years. Our reunion is Sat. night.

Just for fun (since I'm reminiscing) here is a picture of Abe and I going to our Junior prom. Wow, we have been together forever! We celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary Wednesday. I just love him so much. Abe is such a wonderful husband and an amazing father. I am so blessed.

My attempts at cooking Vegetarian

Since I have been trying eat less meat or no meat for that matter, I have been having a great time trying out vegetarian recipes. I love taking pictures of food, so for fun, I thought I would post some.

The picture below is vegetarian tacos. They are soooooo good and very easy to make. It is basically sauteed zucchini, onion and corn. You add black beans and then toppings of your choice. We love guacamole, cheese and sour cream. To make it vegan you can easily cut out the cheese and sour cream or use a cheese substitute (haven't found one I like yet).
For the life of me I cannot remember the name of this salad. When I get home I'll have to look it up and update. It has tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, black beans, Great Northern beans, cucumbers and fresh basil in it. The dressing was olive oil and red wine vinegar. I served it with some warm, toasty, whole grain bread. Yummy!
We love to make our own pizza at home. For this one we just used pizza sauce, cheese, bell peppers and onions. I actually made the crust. A friend at church gave me the recipe and it was so easy. I know the pizza looks a little funny. I forgot to take the picture before we cut into it, so I put it back together for a quick picture. Ha ha.
Okay, I know this picture does not look the least bit appetizing but it really was a great meal. The picture just does not do it justice. I made Feta crusted salmon, corn on the cob and sauteed eggplant, onions and garlic.

Overall it has been pretty easy for me to avoid eating meat and let me say it has done wonders for our grocery bill. I could not believe how much we were actually spending on meat each month. We use to spend on average $60 a month, now it is about $20 a month.

Labor Day Weekend

Last week we had a fun Labor Day weekend. Sunday the entire Rodriguez family got together at Mario and Mari's house. All the kids (13 of them!) had a blast playing together.


Miss Dylan
Alyssa

Abe, Sam and Nick playing a board game.

Julian, Gabe and Abe
Dylan and me playing Guitar Hero. (I really don't understand how people are addicted to that game.)

Abe trying to be a rock star.
Miss Paisley and Miss Dylan
JT and Valerie

Miss Maya
Great-Grandma, Raquel and Valerie
Gregory and Angel
Miss Victoria showing off her new braces.
I did not do as good with taking pictures as I thought. I did not get a picture of Cole, Ellie or Mateo. I'll have to chase them down next time. Let's see I guess our next big get together will be Thanksgiving or my Birthday, October 21st (don't forget!)