Often imitated . . .

. . . but never duplicated.

That's right. I'm talking about the Chipotle burrito.


I have blogged about my love for all that is Chipotle on several occasions. Like the story of my elation over FINALLY getting a Chipotle in Iowa. (which was convenient when we lived in Iowa. Now that we live in Germany, not so much!) When we were giving thanks alphabetically, Chipotle made my "C" list. It even made the list of my top 5 loves!

So, there is no doubt that I love Chipotle; however, the last couple of times that we have been in the States, friends and family alike have been trying to convince me that there are other burrito joints that are just as good - if not better than the original - the burrito that has had my heart since I was just a teenager!

At this point I'm pretty sure we've tried them all, and I've got to say that a lot of them were pretty good.

Qdoba makes a mean queso sauce and in the summer time their mango salsa is to die for. They also have a loyalty card program which is a bit of a perk. And they're my parents' favorite of the many burrito options in their area.


Bullritos are the fan favorite in the Houston area. They have a fun ordering system where you check what you want on their printed bags (a lot like Which-Wich) and turn it in at the beginning of the line. They assemble it and at the end of the line the cashier calls your name, or whatever name you wrote on the bag during the ordering process - the boys have a lot of fun with this ;). One of their distinctions is a delicious Cilantro Ranch sauce. Yummmm!

Most recently, we were introduced to Moe's in Charleston, SC. Moe's has a pretty wide selection with funny names like "The Homewrecker" and the "Joey Junior." They also do free chips and salsa with every order, and the location we went to had a soda machine that looked like it was straight out of an episode of Star Trek - complete with a touch screen and several different flavor variations for each soda option.


But I've got to say, while I'd never be one to turn down a burrito - any burrito (especially living in Germany where good Mexican food is VERY hard to come by), Chipotle is still my favorite. By a landslide! I don't know if it's just that it was my first burrito love, or the delicious combination of their steak and rice and salsa and sour cream and guacamole that no one else will every be able to fully duplicate!

Not that I haven't tried. I mean the closest Chipotle to us is in London, which is an eight hour drive, so it may as well be in the States with as often as we get there, so I've tried my hand at recreating Carnitas and Cilantro-Lime Rice, but it just isn't the same. There were rumors at one point that Chipotle may be opening a new location in Munich, which is much closer, but alas we have not seen any movement on that for awhile, so . . . We will have to make due with our homemade version and our memories of the real thing!

Do you have a food item or a restaurant that you have to struggle to do without? Or someplace you can't imagine moving away from?

Hope you're having a great week!

Shop at Amazon.com?

Hello Everyone!

Hope you are having a great week!

I have recently discovered the wonderful world of Amazon Associates. I have used it periodically when I do book reviews, but in the past couple of weeks Austin and I have been learning about all the ways that the program actually works. It's pretty awesome.

Hence, the beautiful new widget over there --------->

Under the dog tags in the sidebar.

One of the books catch your eye? Looking for some yummy, healthy freeze-dried fruit? How about some fragrant Senseo coffee pods? Just click on the image when it scrolls by and you'll be taken directly there! Have some shopping to do on Amazon.com for something you don't see there? Click any of the pictures, then navigate around as you normally would! Or, you can click HERE or HERE or HERE!


Happy shopping! :)

I am a bad blogger . . .

I love blogging.

I really do.

Well, I like the idea of blogging.

And I like trolling for "blog inspiration."

I just have no blogging groove.

But I do love this blog. I love everything about ~ My Husband Rocks! ~ Fridays, and I have a pretty amazing life, and TONS of stories to tell. I just need to get back on the horse.

Baby steps.

Awesome stuff from the past ten days:

*Spectacular 7 (minus 3 :( ) reunion Pancakes & Pajamas Party at our place was pretty fantastic. (The Spectacular Seven was the name of my small group at Winter Blitz).

*Getting to hang out with one of my favorite high school students, "K" for nearly the entire weekend :)

*Amazing prayer breakfast on post with a lot of wonderful officers and chaplains!

Some stuff I'm looking forward to, and that I might blog about in the future:

*Going to Colorado - We have our Youth For Christ MidWinter conference in Denver this week, so we fly tomorrow morning! Also super excited that we get to see family and friends who conveniently live very close by, and CRAZY excited about our extended layover to visit Mike & Julia in SC! :)

*The Whole30 - After we get home, Austin and I will be embarking on a nutritional adventure of epic proportions! Click here for all the details.

*The In-Laws are coming! And I'm super excited (really!)!!! Austin's parents are scheduled to come and visit us in May, and they already have plane tickets and passports, so it's really happening! We have a pretty awesome couple of weeks mapped out while they're here, and we are so excited for them to see where we live all the way across the ocean!

Well, that's life in a nutshell for now.

Later,

December 2011 Newsletter

December 2011 Newsletter

To see this newsletter on the Scribd website, click the link at the top of the post :)

If you would like to become a part of our support team, please visit www.yfc.org/give. There are several different ways to give which you can select by clicking on the appropriate link. When you get to the "Donation Information" section, please be sure that you select "VanWyk, Austin & Katy" from the "Designation" drop-down menu.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to receive our newsletters in hard copy, please shoot us an e-mail at hossandkatylin{at}gmail{dot}com

His,

October 2011 Newsletter

October 2011 Newsletter

To see this newsletter on the Scribd website, click the link at the top of the post :)

If you would like to become a part of our support team, please visit www.yfc.org/give. There are several different ways to give which you can select by clicking on the appropriate link. When you get to the "Donation Information" section, please be sure that you select "VanWyk, Austin & Katy" from the "Designation" drop-down menu.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to receive our newsletters in hard copy, please shoot us an e-mail at hossandkatylin{at}gmail{dot}com

His,

August 2011 Newsletter

August 2011 Newsletter


To see this newsletter on the Scribd website, click the link at the top of the post :)

If you would like to become a part of our support team, please visit www.yfc.org/give. There are several different ways to give which you can select by clicking on the appropriate link. When you get to the "Donation Information" section, please be sure that you select "VanWyk, Austin & Katy" from the "Designation" drop-down menu.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to receive our newsletters in hard copy, please shoot us an e-mail at hossandkatylin{at}gmail{dot}com

His,