Flashback Friday

(9/20/2007)

When your child has an radiant smile and eyes that speak to your soul, it's so hard to get mad at them. Even though at times our Cody Bear can be Dennis The Menace, his unconditional love and pure heart makes up for all his mischievous ways.

10 on 10 ~ March 2011

Ten on Ten: 10 snapshots, 10 consecutive hours, on the 10th day of the month!

Other then 3 little smiling faces, this is the only way to start a morning.

Don't EVER ask a 2 year old if they need help getting dressed! At least not mine, anyways.

Only 2 tantrums and 30 minutes later...

What was I thinking going down the shoe aisle?

"Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggety dog. Now we got ears, it's time for cheers."

 

Blessed to have these little boogers in my life!

Lunch time: Mac and cheese, asparagus, and pears. Yum!

6 hours later my family will have a yummy dinner and I'll be at work wishing I could be at home. :(

HYDRATE! 2 days till Shamrock'n Half.



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What A Day!

Why is it when I have my day perfectly planned all hell breaks loose? And by "all hell" I mean my family. :p

So last night while I was at work I get a call from my husband telling me our house (we are almost done with a VERY LONG refi) is getting appraised between 9:30/10:00 the next day. Awesome, there goes my plans to run in the morning and now cleaning when I get home from work instead of working on a birthday present. Then my BCF (best cousins forever) texts me that I'm wrong on my dates and the JBF drop off is actually Wednesday (today) and not Thursday. Even better! Now I get to clean, finish tagging items, and work on a birthday present after getting home from work at midnight!

I'm not trying to complain because my days are pretty much always like this. Run, run. Go, go. All before 2pm when I leave for work. But the story doesn't stop there. Taylor wakes up this morning with a fever and is cranky; telling me her ear hurts. Not only do I have 2 school drop offs, 1 pick up, an appraiser coming over; load my car with all the JBF sale items, and JBF drop off. Now I have a sick kid who needs to go to the doctors on top of all that. PULLING MY HAIR OUT!

You would think it couldn't get any worse, but you're wrong. Here's the kicker... So while I am dropping my JBF things off, my mother in-law is watching my 2 younger ones (thank you deena) and Taylor gets super tired. Naturally she lays her down for a rest. I get back and go to wake her for the appointment and of course, she has had an accident! My first thought, not a problem. My mother in-law loves to shop, she'll have something. I really need to stop thinking...

Yes, that would be my daughter in Spiderman undies standing outside of the hospital with no pants. Because that's all we had! Today was the first time I was actually happy we still go to a hospital that isn't in such a great neighborhood. We fit right in today!

Red Beans and Rice

Happy Fat Tuesday!

1 lb dry small red beans
4 cups chicken broth
1 can of beer (if you don't want beer use 2 cups of water)
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
2 or 3 celery stalks, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 bunch of green onions, sliced (split in half)
2 1/2 tsp creole seasoning
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 lb smoked sausage, sliced
Cayenne pepper, to taste
Cooked rice

~ Rinse dry beans in a colander and remove any deformed ones. In your crock pot combined; chicken broth, beer (or water), tomato sauce, onion, celery, bell pepper, green onions, creole seasoning, and garlic. Next pour in the dry beans and stir. Toss in the bay leaves and cover. Add the sausage and cayenne pepper an hour or 2 before you are ready to eat. Cook on slow for 8 hours or until the beans are done. Once you are ready to eat, mash some of the beans along the side of the pot and stir. This will give it a creamy texture. Serve over cooked rice and garnish with green onions.

Side Note: Start by using 6 cups of liquid and if more is needed then add a small amount at a time. If you end up with to much liquid at the end of the cook time then remove some. All crock pots cook differently so adjust accordingly. Just remember the "sauce" is the best part about this dish so don't make it to "dry". Now go find your happy medium! :)

Lent 2011

Tomorrow we'll be celebrating Fat Tuesday, which means Red Beans and Rice for dinner and hopefully a Kings Cake if I get a chance to bake one before work. It also means the following day is Lent. And even though my family does not belong to a certain church, or go to church on a regular basis; I still like to participate in the Lent tradition.

Each year I have tried to give up something different. Last year I gave up online shopping, the year before that it was carbonated drinks, and the year before that I gave up chocolate. So to do something different for 2011 I've decided to give up Facebook. Yes, roll your eyes. But Facebook really does help pass the time while I'm at work. Of course that’s once my work is done. :)

What are you giving up for Lent?

Flashback Friday

(11/1998)

OMG! How young did we look? And what were we thinking when it came to our hairstyle choice? I can't believe it has already been 12 years since I feel in love with my wonderful husband. Grant it, we haven't been together all 12 of those years, but we have for 8. Actually, it's more like 8 1/2 years if you count the 6 months we "dated" when we first meet back in 98'.

Sometimes I wonder what would it be like if we had stayed together since the beginning. Would we still be together? Would we still be as happy as we were the day we got married? Would we still be in love? The more I think about it, the more I know the answer would be... No.

We needed that time to find ourselves; to grow. Not only as individuals, but also as friends. We needed the sadness and heartache that came along with that growth to understand what we really wanted in life. What true love really meant to one another. That you must be true to yourself before you can be true to someone else.

But most of all, to know the best way to begin a relationship is through a friendship. And the best way to begin a marriage is by marrying your best friend. Which is exactly what we did! :)