Relaxing Evening

I had a great day & night yesterday! Work went pretty good and went by quickly. Adam went to bed pretty much right when I got home. I made dinner/lunches, cleaned up the kitchen, then watched SYTYCD & worked on my cross stitch.

Some of my favs from last night's show:

Eric "Silky" Moore ~ Tapped to Thriller (AWESOME!)
Megan & Caitlin Kenny (I think that was their names) ~ Awesome sisters that made it to Vegas
Fred & Brian ~ Brothers that both made it to Vegas. Awesome as well

There were some weird people on there last night. Like the dreadlock dude. What was up with that?! As soon as he was done dancing he was like "Ya whatever I'm done, I don't care what you think"... weirdo!

Some of the people that come on here I feel so bad for. Are they serious? Do they REALLY think they can dance? I guess it's the same as American Idol and people thinking they can sing. If I had a friend that wanted to go on a reality show and I knew they were bad I would definately say something. I would hope somebody would smack me if I wanted to go on one of those shows!

Anyways I had a great night doing what I wanted to do and not worrying about anybody but myself :). I got quite a bit accomplished on the cross stitch. Can't wait until it actually starts looking like something other than a big blue blog!

Happy Wednesday!

Yesterday was a really crummy day! I was just in an all around bad mood for no reason. Well actually I think I know the reason and it's all my fault.

As I may have mentioned before I take birth control pills since we are waiting a couple more years to start a family. Well in all the party planning, holiday weekend, excitement I forgot to pick up my new month's prescription on Friday, that I was supposed to have started on Sunday. Well guess when I remembered! Last night around 1AM when I couldn't figure out why my stomach was hurting so bad and felt like cramps. Yep my body is way ahead of my brain!

So now I gotta wait until this coming sunday to start a new pack. Hopefully the hormones won't get too outta control by then.

Now that I know what was the problem I feel that I'm in control again and today will be an excellent day!

Today is Wednesday so that means SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!!! Super Excited!!! I wonder if they are announcing the top 20 tonight or tomorrow? I love how the auditions for this show don't go on and on and on like some others out there. They show the funny stuff for a couple of days and then get on with the good stuff.

Have a great wednesday!!

Long Weekend!

The weekend was so long I cannot even remember what we did Friday!

Saturday we did some errands around town with my SIL & her husband. We came back to our house and played Phase 10. Adam won of course... he always does.

Sunday I spent most of the day cleaning my house and getting ready for the party that night. We had a blast! I can't believe everybody actually showed up! We boiled crawfish, had hot dogs, chips, dips, and drinks. I got about 50 mosquito bites on my legs and even a couple on my bottom. I swear Texas mosquito's are like freakin birds around here. I've been putting on anti-itch cream since! I didn't have any drinks Sunday when everybody was there because I wasn't feeling well from all the mosquito bites. (I'm allergic to ants and now I think I may be allergic to mosquito's).

After everyone left Adam & I were still at my MIL's house with my SIL & her husband. While we were sitting around talking Adam made us some hurricanes. I got completely DRUNK from this one drink. I mean like stumbling around, not understanding the words that were coming out of my own mouth drunk. I normally have one drink and I'm good. Not quite tipsy but enough to know I actually drank alcohol. Well not that night! Adam finally walked led me home and once I went to sleep I slept like a baby! Gotta love the rum!

Yesterday (Monday) we didn't do too much. Adam went to Lowe's with his dad and I sat in front of the TV watching movies & working on my cross stitch. After he got home he was doing some work outside with the tractor and somehow twisted his ankle when he stepped off of it. I think he stepped in a hole that was hidden by the grass. Anyways we thought it was sprained since it was so swollen but I think it was just a bad twist since he's doing good today. I know first hand that sprains don't' go away nearly that fast!

Well today it's back to work. I'm praying that I can get over whatever is wrong today. I'm in a very irritated mood and it's not meshing well with my boss. Our phone lines were cut this morning from the construction going on next to us so the lines are transferred to her cell. Constant ringing!! Well I better get back to work.

Hallelujah for a short week!

TGIF

SYTYCD was great last night! I can't remember anybodies names yet but my favs are definately the two that almost made it last season. There was a lot of the contemporary girls that were really good too!

I can't wait for next week to see who is in the top 20!

~*~

I'm so ready to be home for my 3 day weekend! I'm hoping to get some things done around the house tomorrow. I have a back bedroom that has been a catch all and it really really needs organization!

Sunday we'll be having a party for Memorial Day. We are boiling crawfish, grilling hot dogs & corn on the cob, Pecan pie, Chocolate Pie, Cookies, Chips & Dip, and some yummy drinks. I'M SO EXCITED! I'm praying that it doesn't rain because I was hoping to do some things outside. Even if it doesn't rain though it may be too muggy. Gotta love the E. Texas humidity!

~*~

I did try taking a pic of the owl with my camera but as soon as I snapped the picture my battery went dead and I didn't have time to get the plug since I was running late this morning. I'll get one over the weekend.

~*~

HAVE A FUN AND SAFE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!!!

So You Think You Can Dance!

Ok so tonight is the premier of So You Think You Can Dance. Excited is not a strong enough word for me right now! This is MY show. I mean Grey is awesome and so is Biggest Loser & Ghost Whisperer. But SYTYCD is TOTALLY FREAKIN AWESOME.

Adam tolerates my obsession but I know he's dreading the overtake of the TV on Wednesday & Thursdays!

~*~

In other non TV news I'm about to go pick up a cross stitch I had framed for Adam. I had made him an owl like 2 yrs ago and it's been rolled up and tucked away since. I don't have my camera with me at the office so if I can't get a good pic with my camera phone then I'll post pics tomorrow. I'm so excited and can't wait to show it off!

EDIT: PICTURES!

Pic from my camera phone (I'll take another with my regular camera tonight)

This is the other one I did several years ago for my MIL's boss.

Random post

I feel so much better today after having slept for 9 hours last night! I was so exhausted yesterday. I don't remember Adam's alarm going off or him even leaving for work. My alarm went off at 5am but I don't remember actually hearing it until 6am (Must have hit snooze at least 10 times). This morning was rushed to get out the door but it was worth it!

I feel like all my prayers are helping so much in our lives. Adam has been so happy and even when he's grumpy about his job he still smiles at me and remembers that I'm another human with feelings. Amazing!

Not much new going on. I'm sad that some of my TV shows are ending.

• Lost is over for the year. I cannot believe that next year will be the last season! I'm so sad!
• Grey's Anatomy. Not sure when that new season starts. It seems like they just sprinkle new episodes throughout the whole year.
• The Biggest Loser. I'm hoping that they do two seasons per year again!
• Dancing With The Stars. This is the first year I've religiously watched since I really liked the cast. I'm STUNNED that Shawn one! I really thought it was gonna be Melissa or Gilles would win.
• Private Practice. I still have the last two episodes on my DVR to watch from like forever ago!

A HUGE SPIDER JUST RAN ACROSS MY DESK! I SQUASHED IT WITH MY STICKY NOTE PAD! EWWWW!

Sorry about that! Gave me the heeby jeebies.

Anyways......

I did go to the dentist yesterday morning and got my filling. It wasn't near as bad as I thought it was gonna be. My jaw is hurting pretty bad today and the corner of my mouth. The filling was at the top on the very back tooth so they had to stretch my face and I have a little bit of a sore on my cheek where the drill was. Other than that it was a pretty good experience. I have to go back for a cleaning in June... not looking forward to that but I'm not gonna worry about it.

I know this post is long enough but here is a quick recipe that was given to me by my SIL several years ago. I made it the other night for one of Adam's co-workers birthday.

Quick Cheesecake

Ingredients:
8oz cream cheese (softened but still cold)
1 1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 1/3 cup cool whip
1 can cheery pie filling
1 graham cracker crust (or I use shortbread actually) - the small size

Blend cream cheese, powdered sugar, & cool whip until creamy. Pour into crust. Top with cherries. (Personally I only use the goo part of the cherry pie filling then put two or three cherries in the middle for decoration).
Refrigerate overnight.

A Note To God

Yesterday my hubby saw that Oprah was having another show about amazing kids and DVRed it for me.

This girl was on the show last year and in between then and now has gotten some backers and this is her first single. Check it out! I couldn't imagine listening to her live. I bawled my eyes out last night! This girl is going to be amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QfJMcKxBrs

(Still not sure how to put in the video, because it won't let me paste the embedded link. It lets me paste it everywhere but here!)

Happy Monday

Sorry I was out of the loop last week. I really didn't have much to say.

Things have been going pretty good around my house. We actually had a great week up until Thursday. Adam was not in a good mood because he hates his job and hates management. Plus it's been like 95 degrees with 100% humidity and with no AC at his job. Which sucks but it's even worse that he has to wear a heavy uniform that is pants & long sleeves. I honestly don't know how he does it! I know he gets sick of it and wants to find a new job. I'm just trying to be supportive of him because it's all I can do. I can't really tell him to be happy with what he has and that he's blessed to even have a job. All the major manufacturing plants around here have layed off hundreds of people. The company that he works for has shut down a few plants across the US because they filed bankruptcy earlier this year but so far no lay offs around here. I just keep praying that he will find some satisfaction in his job and that we can both keep our jobs.

We didn't do much exciting this weekend. Just the normal around the house and running a few errands in town. Somehow I got all my cleaning done in 45 minutes Saturday! I still don't know how that happened but it did. Must have been my new diet pills. I started taking Slim Quick again. Last year around this time I took the same brand but with the Hoodia. They really work great but I've heard bad things about Hoodia so I decided to get just the regular ones. These are the ones with the really cute commercials of the lady that is a drawing and she says "This is what happens when my husband exercises" and he gets all buff. The she says "This is what happens when I exercise" and her boobs deflate. My favorite commercial! Anyways these really helped me last year loose more in my waist, hips, tummy, & thighs, which I was thankful for since I had to fit into a bridesmaid dress! (BTW today is my SIL's 1 yr Wedding Anniversary! LOVE YOU!).

I've been drinking tons of water. I cut out all my cokes except one Cherry Coke Zero at lunch. (must have some caffeine). I do drink Tea with dinner but I'm hoping to eventually cut that out also. This week I'm hoping to implement exercises somewhere. Hopefully Adam is gonna be going to work early a few times a week, (This NO overtime is tough) and I can do some exercising before work.

I did have a dentist appt this morning at 10 but a lady from the office called me last night to let me know that my dentist's wife had to be taken to the hospital. I'm not sure what is going on but hopefully she will be OK. So as of right now I'm rescheduled for June 10th. Hopefully my teeth will stop hurting a little bit!

Hope everyone has a great Monday!!!

Quick IQ Test

I got this from friend's bulletin on Myspace and wanted to share :)

~*~


Here's a one-question IQ Test to help you decide how you should spend the rest of your day......


There is a mute who wants to buy a toothbrush. By imitating the action of brushing one's teeth, he successfully expresses himself to the shopkeeper and the purchase is done.

Now, if there is a blind man who wishes to buy a pair of sunglasses, how should he express himself?

Think about it first before scrolling down for the answer...











He opens his mouth and says. 'I would like to buy a pair of Sunglasses'

If you got this wrong, please turn off your computer and call it a day.


TOO FUNNY! I seriously thought to myself "Why would a blind man need a pair of sunglasses" Oh goodness!

Flowers

Yesterday when I came home Adam was working outside in the vegetable garden and then putting out some grass seed. Well this is what I came in to the house to....




I have the best husband in the world! I absolutely LOVE wildflowers, especially of the daisy variety. The sides of our roads and the center of the interstate is completely yellow right now with these. But I do know that we don't have them growing down our little road nor on our property. So that means he stopped on his way home from work or the chiropractor and picked flowers for me on the side of the road. So sweet!




These are the Daisy Gardenias that we planted Sunday. (Again with the daisies). We actually got to bushes but this one looks the best. The smell sorta like a honeysuckle.

Close up

This is my beautiful crepe myrtle that hasn't bloomed yet. We got it two years ago. Last year it bloomed a little at the top but this year it looks like it's gonna be gorgeous!

This is our back door (main entrance). Adam planted those little bushes Saturday. I have no idea what the name of them are. Something funny sounding that starts with a B I think. (Oh and that's Pepper!)

There are some rose bushes down the road from us and Sunday Adam and I took the 4-wheeler down to steal some of limbs ... Shhhh. The big one is some kind of climbing roses and the little one is those little bitty pink roses.

Close up

I love flowers!

~*~

Today at 2pm I'll be at the dentist. This is one of my worst totally irrational fears. As a kid I NEVER pulled my own teeth and have maybe been to the dentist 4 times in my life. (3 for cleanings and once for the removal of my wisdom teeth). Teeth gross me out like nothing else for some reason. So keep me in your prayers as I think I'll have to have some fillings done :(.

Since my last post I've done a lot of praying and thinking. I honestly feel so much better just getting my feelings out there and working them out within myself. Thursday after I got home from work I started dinner and Adam said "Lets do something different. Let's go to IHOP for dinner." I can't explain how not normal this is especially since we live about 20 minutes from town. On work nights I run home make dinner, throw clothes in the washer, eat, clean up, change over the laundry, then it's time for bed. I'm not sure where my time goes but that's what the routine is. We go to be early since he is usually exhausted from his job and we get up so early. Trust me I understand, especially now that it's almost summer time and he works without AC in long sleeves and pants everyday.

Anyways, I threw the chicken I was cooking (which just happened to be done) in a bowl and put it in the fridge and we were outta there. We had a great dinner/breakfast at IHOP then went to Hastings. I've been wanting to go for the past couple of weeks to get the book "Power of a Praying Wife". That has been in my heart to get that book since I first heard about it. So they had one copy left which is now mine. So far I've only gotten through Chapter 1 but if the rest is as amazing as the first then I know why I was meant to find this book. I honestly feel that God is back where he needs to be in my life. He's back in the #1 position. This weekend I've done a lot of praying for myself as well as Adam, our marriage, our routines, and our lives.

We had a great weekend of laughter, happiness, and flower planting. I cannot explain in words my happiness right now! (Pics coming soon of our new Daisy Gardenias that are amazing)

Here is my favorite section of Chapter 1:

"When you are praying for yourself -his wife- remember this model of a good wife from the Bible. It says she takes care of her home and runs it well. She knows how to buy and sell and make wise investments. She keeps herself healthy and strong and dresses attractively. She works diligently and has skills which are marketable. She is giving and conscientiously prepares for the future. She contributes to her husband's good reputation. She is strong, solid, honorable, and not afraid of growing older. She speaks wisely and kindly. She doesn't sit around doing nothing, but carefully watches what goes on in her home. Her children and her husband praise her. She doesn't rely on charm and beauty but knows that the fear of the Lord is what is most attractive. She supports her husband and still has a fruitful life of her own which speaks loudly for itself (Proverbs 31).
This is an amazing woman, the kind of woman we can become only through God's enablement and our own surrendering. The bottom line is that she is a woman whose husband trusts her because "she does him good and not evil all the days of her life." I believe the most important "good" a wife can do for her husband is pray."

Very Personal (and long)

Last year around the first week in May I became a little melancholy. I'm still not sure why. At the time I assumed it was because my husband's sister was getting married (Who is also one of my best friends and we were each others maid/matron of honor). I just assumed that I was missing all the fun of being the center of attention and being the bride. Maybe a touch of jealousy. So I ignored it. It wasn't really a big deal.

Then about a week before the wedding (3rd wk in May) I started having some troubles with my period and I assumed it was just stress. After having my period for 3 weeks I decided it was time to go to a Dr. My gyno (who was great) had moved away to the big city the previous year so I hadn't found a new one by this time. I did end up finding a new one who is even better than the original. Anyways back to my point. I saw this Dr. once a month for about 4 months to figure out what was wrong. He changed up my birth control pills, I had to monitor my blood pressure, blood test, etc. Nothing that he could SEE was wrong.

During all that time I was just blah. Not really happy not really sad. Just present. I finally figured out that maybe I'm depressed. I talked to the Dr. about it and we had a great talk and I felt a lot better. He suggested actively finding things that make me happy, excerising more, and just enjoy life. Honestly I felt better just talking to someone other than my husband or mom. Sure they were sympathetic and did everything could to help me but it just took someone saying "Look this is the way it is and this is what you need to do". I don't know why I was depressed. I had a great life, great family, great friends, and a wonderful husband. It still doesn't make sense to me.

I'm not sure what changed for me. Nothing that I can remember significantly different but things just got better. I felt better and became happy again. Things have been great for me mentally since November. I felt a little sad after Christmas because it just didn't feel like Christams to me last year so that's why I created this blog. I just wanted a place to talk. I didn't care if anyone ever read it. I just wanted to talk.

The point to all this rambling is that I have been sad all week. I have no clue why. There is no reason. I have slacked off on the things I should be doing around the house. (simple stuff like folding the laundry). I haven't planned my weeks menu in about a month. Every day I'm scrambling at 4pm to figure out what we are having so I can run to the store after work. I can't explain how I feel other than to say I just feel like I'm just here present and accounted for but that's about it. I come to work and wait for 5. I go home and wait until bedtime. Then start all over the next day.

To top it all off I'm having some of the same problems I had last year that I had to go to the Dr. for. I don't want to start this all over again. I hadn't really thought about all this until I realized that it was the same time last year that this began. Why? What is similar? I don't know. There is nothing bad about the month of May. May has always been a good month. In fact 5 is my favorite number. haha.

I feel like I just need someone to shake me and say "WAKE UP". How crazy is that?

When watching Tuesday's biggest loser yesterday the situation with Helen is sorta how I feel. She was just all over the place trying to be perfect but not balancing all aspects of her life. I also thought about something that a speaker talked about during a MK event I went to last year. She was talking about how women have boxes: Wife box, Christian box, Career box, Mom box, Friend box, and on and on. She said that we jump from one box to other trying to perfect one aspect and then something in another box starts falling behind and so we jump over to that box to catch up. Then something else starts falling apart so we jump over yet again. There is no balance.

That's how I feel. Maybe it's not depression or sadness, maybe I'm just overwhelmed. That happens very easily for me because I'm a box jumper. I get all gung how about this thing or another and I start slacking in off in something else. I constantly feel like I'm one step behind, running around try to catch up on something or making sure everyone else is happy.

I had said a few posts ago that I was giving things over to God and I haven't done that. Sure I told God that I was leaving it up to him and putting him first but like an idiot I've been sitting around doing nothing expecting God to just "handle" it for me. Who am I to have "TOLD" God anything. I've been lazy and just waiting around, "Ok God, here I am bless me. Make me skinny, make me a better wife, etc" IS HE A MAGIC GENIE IN A LAMP? NO! Maybe I should have "ASKED" for guidance in my life and then "ACTIVELY" sought it instead of sitting around pigging out and being lazy.

I'm not asking for sympathy but I am asking for help in the form prayer. I don't care if I get any comments but if you run across this post, wethere you are a follower or not, just say a little prayer for me. That I don't go down this road again and that I realize how great things are in my life and how very fortunate that I am. That I put God first and remember to keep him there where I need him.

Taco Pie

Here is a recipe that I got from my mom and changed it around to be my own. Enjoy!

Taco Pie

Ingredients:

• 1lb Ground Beef
• 1 small jar of Taco Bell Mild Sauce
• 2-3 cups of fritos
• 1 pie crust (I use the box that comes with 2 rolled up)
• 1 can Refried Beans (I like the Taco Bell brand)
• Grated Cheddar Cheese
• Sour Cream (optional)
• Jalapenos (optional)

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.

Brown Ground Beef and drain any fat. Add Taco Sauce to beef and simmer on medium/low for a few minutes. (I also add about 1/2 packet of Taco Seasoning but I like it really seasoned).

While this is simmering put the pie crust into a pie plate and poke holes around the bottom and sides. Now I have a stone pie plate so I always put my pie crusts in the oven empty and turn on the broiler until the pie crust is sorta dry. This helps the bottoms not be gooey and speeds up my bake time. If you have a metal pan then it should cook just fine after stuff is added.

Crush up enough fritos to cover the bottom of the crust. Don't crush too fine. Just enough to break them up.

Heat up beans in the microwave and pour over the fritos. (I usually only use about 3/4 of the can.)

Pour beef mixture over the beans. Sprinkle cheese heavily over the beef. Add another layer of crushed fritos on top.

Bake covered on 350 for about 15 minutes. Remove cover and bake until golden and cheese is completely melted.

**Options**

• Add chopped jalapenos to beef mixture when adding the taco sauce.
• Spread sour cream over the beef mixture then add the cheese.

Weekend + Cooking From Scratch

Well another Monday is here! I really do love Mondays, except today I'm so sleepy. So far the caffeine isn't kicking in yet.

The weekend was good except that Adam was really sick. No he doesn't have swine flu (Thank you God). He does have a pretty bad sinus infection though. Why do guys turn in to big babies when they are sick? Man talk about Mr. Grumpy all weekend!

Saturday we went to Direct Care just to make sure that he wasn't contagious and that it was only his sinuses or allergies. The Dr said that it was. She went ahead and gave him a broad spectrum antibiotic. Those are some HUGE pills! He has to take 2 each day for 10 days! There were so many people in there coughing and sneezing I really considered going back to the car but didn't.

After that we went out to eat with my mom, step dad, and siblings (There is 5 of us plus all of our husband, wives, or significant others + 2 grandbabies). Adam felt like crap so we didn't stay too long.

Sunday he didn't feel any better so I called the Dr to see if they would call in a steriod pack. I wished we would have thought to ask on Saturday but didn't. He felt a lot better last night and went to work this morning.

The only other significant thing that happened was that I actually made a cake & frosting from scratch! I broke out my stand mixer my Southern Living Cakes book (well magazine but for $11 I'm calling it a book). It turned out pretty good but I did learn a few things.

1. For instance softened butter does not mean heated in the microwave until it is liquid.
2. 16oz of brown suger is 1/2 of the bag not the whole thing.
3. When you screw up the ratio of softened melted butter to brown suger it makes the cake sticky and when you try to take it out of the pan it breakes in to at least 4 pieces.
4. More softened melted butter makes frosting very runny and causes you to call all your neighbors begging for 32oz of powdered sugar to start over on the frosting.
5. Softened butter makes frosting very fluffy.
6. Powdered Sugar travels further through the air than the swine flu virus.
7. Some recipes lie. Sometimes 2/3 a cup of milk should really only be like 1/4 or else your frosting may not stay on TOP of the cake.

Definately some valuable lessons I'll keep with me in my future baking adventures. The cake did turn out very very good but the wasn't as light and fluffy since the butter had been melted. The frosting was good but a little to thin. I'm glad I only put in about 1/2 of the required milk.

The day has gotten much better (Especially now that it's pretty much over).

Just wanted to THANK YOU to Kylie at Random Thoughts for her sweet words today on her blog. You made my day so much better! Go check out her blog if you are not already a follower!

I'm about to be on my way home to my hunny. I think we are eating out tonight..... Cotton Patch Cafe is sounding so good right now!

Have a great weekend!

Ugh

I've been at work for about 30 minutes and I've already pissed somebody off.

Maybe I shouldn't be this way but it really irks me when we try so hard to make sure that our customers know what coverage they have and what coverage they don't. This morning I had a guy got his toolbox broken into on his truck. Well a personal auto policy only covers factory installed equipment and does not cover anything that is aftermarket unless it has been added. He even admitted that we had talked to him about this but he still thought he had coverage. Why? Why would "This is not covered" translate into "This is absolutely covered"?

It kills me when I have to tell a customer that something isn't covered. Seriously I take this so personally and I feel like I didn't do my job good enough. I should have called him every day until he brought in the info I needed to add the toolbox. But that's not realistic. I service over 1000 customers constantly. Me. Not an office full of people. Me!

I believe that our office has some of the greatest customers. But if they forget to do something or forget that we talked about something then it's all our faults.

I have been seriously contemplating doing a total overhaul of our customers and next week I'm going to start it. Basically calling each customer and setting up a time for them to come in to the office to go over all of their policies. This is going to be so much work but I don't care. I hate feeling like I've let my customers down. I want to be able to say "Of course that it is covered, don't worry about a thing". Isn't that what we are here for?