8.31.2010

Five

Five years with this face
Five years of adventure
Five years of learning and growing
Five years of feeling defeated by someone much smaller than myself
Five years of early mornings, and late nights
Five years of little socks
Happy Big #5 to Miss Neely!

8.30.2010

Spend your Latte $ on this:

Go here to Scotti's blog HERE and please help. It's a great cause...and you get some free loot too.

8.10.2010

Too cute:

Today at the office the M. D. Anderson Holiday 2010 Card catalog came.
I love how we order our holiday cards from them and a portion of the funds go towards the research. Plus who doesn't love kids drawings?!

Well in the back of the book they had these:

8.09.2010

If it's less than $1, it probably suxs

and my weekend in bullets:

Fri after work:
*go home and begin the great gear up for fall scrub down- I deep cleaned my house starting with the kid room, her bathroom, hands and knees on the floors here, laundry, and then hours upon hours in my bathroom with a toothbrush and a bottle of CLR.
*work on washing clothes and all the decor pillows and towels between scrubs
* love my hubby for mowing the lawn and finishing laying the rocks for my patio/ rock garden
*poop the heck out

Saturday:
*Hubby worked so I got up and went to Wal-mart to buy spray paint
I very quickly learned my lesson upon returning to my house and attempting to spray paint my outdoor furniture, and some picture frames. If the can of spray paint is $.94 a can it will NOT stick to the surface you are painting, no matter what that surface is unless it is your skin. Awful. At this point I'm dripping it sweat and looking a hot mess from the stinking humidity, so I had to abandon that project and suck up the fact that I had three cans of useless spray paint on my hands.
*head back inside and scrub away at the main living parts of the house. hands and knees again in the kitchen.
*go outside and pick weeds from the dying flower bed just so I feel like I've got an excuse to hold off on getting out the vacuum for a little while longer.
*hang really great champagne colored sheer curtains all around my second patio to create an "intimate" space/ faux screened porch look.
*sweep forever said patio
*return to the indoors to hang my empty frame collage on the big blank wall we've been looking at for three years now. I'm satisfied with the results, they always look so cute online, but I'm afraid in life mine looks cheesy perhaps? I'm afraid I just like it because I put all that work into it.
*finally vacuum the floors
*dishes and folding laundry at various times of the day
*go to the movies with my husband to see Dinner for Schmucks...laughed sooo much
*come home and crashed!

Sunday:
*are you bored yet with my weekend? Well I must say I was pooped out.
*wake up real early, and go paint all that stinking half painted outdoor furniture sitting in the back yard.
*joined weight watcher, and started counting points right away.
*think about how thankful I am that my husband went to get me some Krylon Fusion paint. Worth the extra dollars!
* chill out and watch Crazy Heart- fairly lame movie, but it had Ryan Bingham in it, and we really like him.
*go have lunch at the small time farmers market/ grocery store
* go to ikea and battle the crowd for crappy bar stools because they were out of stock of the ones I wanted
* work on my window covering for the kitchen window
* put the dried furniture on my new patio/ rock garden, and feel a bit of joy
* go to our friends for dinner, movie and game night
*cut husbands hair- he's so handsome now
*crash again.

Thank goodness it's Monday now and I got to spend my day at the office catching up on my rest! I wish.

What did you accomplish this weekend?

7.30.2010

Oh Martha

I feel that I missed out on my true calling- Party Planning and Decorating
I'd love to own my own "Event Planning" company, and have my fab friends do the food and catering, and pics, 'cause I've got some crazy talented friends. Sadly times are tough, bills have to be paid.
I avoid the Martha site, who's got time to be that awesome and live up to her? But since I'm wasting some time, slow day at the job, I found some great things that are inspiring on the party front. I love mason jars, candles, glass, and who doesn't love some vodka coctails? Have a look...you know want to. 

7.26.2010

No more picturless posts,

because this is the new man in my life! (Insert: Big cheesy smile) Now I just have to learn to use it. I'm very excited at the potential of taking great pics of everything, and the hassle that comes with uploading and editing.

My stove works

Even though I pretend that it doesn't. I don't enjoy the "art" of cooking. Nothing about it is fun to me. I tried. Food Network is the devil for making me believe that anyone can do it. However....I'm pleased to announce that the domestic goddess in me has come out lately. I might will her to go hide, or I might allow her to stick around a little while longer. (We'll see).
I'm going to share with you some of the recent things I've cooked up.
1) I made breakfast cups. With me on the go in the mornings, and Dallas and Neely waking up hungry mid-morning...it seemed like a good idea.
I took a pie crust and lined my huge muffin tin. Filled with eggs, rotell, cooked sausage and bacon, and a little salt and pepper. Topped with cheese, and baked. They worked out well in the fridge for several days to be reheated in the cancer machine.
2) I whipped up a batch of chicken spaghetti. We like this bit of cheese goodness. Toss it in the oven and heat up some rolls and it's dinner.
I make mine with Velveeta, rotell, I cheat with can chicken, and noodles, that's it. Yeah I know it was hard. My goddess got tired.
3) I made hamburger steaks. I hate hate hate the word hamburger steak, but my hubby loves it. I have never once made this. It was easy I just went all "meatloaf" on my ground beef. Seasonings, one egg, some bacon, some left over breakfast sausage (cooked) and pan fried. Then I mixed a package, 'cause I can not make real, brown gravy and simmered my patties in the gravy with onion slices for a while. I was impressed. Seriously tasted sooo good. Probably helps I made meat on meat patties. A few sides and we had a nice dinner at home.
4) I made my brother in law a red velvet cake from a box. Yes Duncan Hines was my inspiration.
5) Sunday morning included some TV time with pancakes (Bisquick don't get too excited) eggs, and bacon. Point is, I messed up dishes!
6) And I'm very excited to announce that I have dinner cooking right now. Yeah mid-day while I'm at work. Crock-Pot, you're awesome, 'til I have to clean you. Tonight's dinner will feature a pork loin simmered in Jamaican jerk sauce and pineapple juice (all night and day). I went home for lunch to check it, and it's sooo tender. I can't wait. I'll boil some corn on the cob, and make some ranch flavored new potatoes, and corn bread per a request.
So there you have it folks, I know how to do some cooking, and I have. It's been nice not having the "where do you want to eat" talk every single night this week.

What have you cooked up lately?

7.19.2010

A little help- for the kids!

So here's the deal. I hate hate hate mosquito's. I live in Houston, and they are the worst part about living here. I hate it because of them.

Kids in Africa...I can't imagine what it's like for them.

Check this out, buy a net, and you can possibly win a beautiful quilt. I mean I hope I win it, but I want those babies to get a net to sleep under more importantly.

And mad props to Little Bit Funky- she's awesome!

Seiously folks, it's $10. That's one trip to Starbucks.

6.30.2010

Lately

I just don't stay home. I can't remember the last weekend I was home. Ever. Seriously. I've had my new car for a month and a half now, and it's already rolled 3500 miles with me. Poor thing needs an oil change. Anyhow, that is my excuse for not blogging, for not crafting, for not giving a crap all around. I have tons of things I'd love to be doing, I have a million ideas I'd love to execute... but all in all, I'm pooped! I'd share pics of where we've been and what we've been doing...but my camera fell victim to the water. Yeah I'm a little bitter about that.
Things I have done:
I jazzed up a vintage suitcase for all my travels, no pics to share.
I've been working (already) on Neely's birthday party. Sept. 25th, save the date.
Worrying about buying her school clothes...not actually shopping - did I mention I'm too pooped to battle the targets and outlet malls?!
Made several trips west, several trips northeast, lots and lots of eating out.
Work.
Suffer mosquito bites, and sweat from all the heat.
Swim, attempt to get a tan. I don't fully understand why I have to be super white girl?!
Reading, and my husband even paid my library fine so I can read more. By the way, Kindle is now a lower price...just saying if anyone is dying to get me an awesome gift.
Feel terrible from all the food I've been eating.

So that pretty much sums it up for me, 'cause I'm too tired to finish this post!

6.14.2010

Karters Bows of Faith

I'm going to make this one quick, since it's my lunch break...but there are some great people I went to school with, who have a beautiful baby girl, Karter. Well Karter has a story...and you can read about it at her mommy's blog here.
Karter spends a lot of her time at Texas Children's Dallas, wearing a lot of tubes. Well her amazing mommy feels like when Karter wears a bow she looks more like a sweet baby rather than a tube covered sick baby. And she's RIGHT!
So in Honor of Karter she has started a little charity. Bows for girls and Bennies for boys. So crafty people, help them out! Here is a copy of her post from her blog: Karter's Bow of Faith


Okay ladies listen up! I am starting up a collection in HONOR of Karter for the little girls here at Children’s Medical Center. Upon walking into Karter’s room yesterday all I could see were machines, tubes, and lines hooked up to my precious angel. However, last night she was given another bow to put onto one of her wires….This changed everything!!! You would not even imagine the difference seeing a bow made on my little girl. Instead of seeing the wires and tubes I just saw a sleeping beauty. The bow made all the difference in the world to me and made me realize that she is still my baby girl!
So with this discovery I have decided to start up a collection in Honor of Karter called Karter’s Bow of Faith. I am asking for all donation of bows of any size, shape, and color! These bows will be given to the girls at Children’s Medical Center. You can mail them to me or we will pick them up. I will be attaching a little prayer to each bow and will even attach your name if you would like. Please help me help other families see their sleeping beauties amidst all of their medical problems. I know that by receiving these bows we will be lighting up the life of lots of little girls. Please pass the word and contact me with any questions here on our blog or on Facebook!
Thank you so much for your time and consideration! With your help I know Karter’s Bow of Faith will be a great success!
Love,
Tara McHam
P.S. We will have a P.O. Box for you to send all bows to! Thanks!

How can you not pull out the ribbon and yarn and get to crafting for those sweet babies?! Please visit her blog and help her out, and above all pray for Karter and her family.

6.11.2010

Accountability

is something that has been heavy on my mind lately. As I grow I realize more and more that more of our problems in life and in our relationships stem from a lack of accountability. Be it stubbornness, or just the never ending cycle of it's always someone else's fault that "my life turned out this way", "so and so did this to me", or "my job this and that". Well I hate to go all Dr. Phil on ya, but you really do teach people how to treat you. Lately I have noticed more and more people who whine all the time, and take no responsibility for their actions and the unwanted reactions that they get, well those people just get on my nerves! I guess I must say my "Give a darn is busted" when it comes to them. I'll be the first to admit I can get in a funk just as quickly as the next person, and the easiest thing to do at that time is blame everyone else for the way my life is not in sync. But lets face it, grow a pair, and own up to what you did or didn't do that got you in that place. Make some changes, stop pointing the fingers and grow up. I also find that the people that lack accountability are also the fastest to lie to defer that accountability from themselves. Is that how you want to be perceived? As a lying cry baby that can't take responsibility? I know I don't! And I know I want to keep reminding myself to admit my failures, my short comings, and my wrong doings to people and most importantly model that for my child and the people around me. I have a feeling that it'll yield a happier lifestyle for me in the long run, and it just might you too. Here is a list of quotes about accountability:
"Some favorite expressions of small children: "It's not my fault... They made me do it... I forgot." Some favorite expressions of adults: "It's not my job... No one told me... It couldn't be helped." True freedom begins and ends with personal accountability."

- Dan Zadra
Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant."

- Robert Louis Stevenson
"Everyone sooner or later sits down to a banquet of consequences."

- Robert Louis Stevenson
"No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible."

- George Burns
"Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes real happiness. It is not obtained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose."

- Helen Keller
"You don't choose the day you enter the world and you don't chose the day you leave. It's what you do in between that makes all the difference."

- Anita Septimus
"Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done."

- Stowe
"Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should."

- Psalm 990: 12 TLB

5.27.2010

So a few weekends back

We went to Austin for the craft fair, and to celebrate our anniversary.
Dallas reserved us a cool new hotel, I can't remember what it's called right now. Not important.
We went to a Bob Schneider show on Friday night, then Saturday we got to the craft fair right when it was opening. AMAZING!
I met Chirstine Haynes, who wrote Chic and Simple Sewing...an awesome book that I'd like to work my way though. She's totally cool...and was a lot of fun to talk to. I was too jazzed to even think about getting a pic. I did buy a cute tote, and she signed it for me. I'd have loved to buy some of her clothes, but lets face it I'm no size two. If you sew, her book is a must buy.
Later I got to meet Jennifer Perkins. Huge inspiration. She inspires me to spend my lunch hour dreaming up crafts to create. I stumbled upon her blog one day last year and told Husband "I want to move to Austin and I want her to be my best friend, because she's the coolest person ever!" Well neither of those are gonna happen any time soon, but it was a huge life high point to meet her. I bought a jar of her goodies to bring home and use to make my own Naughty inspired stuff. Sadly that was a huge chunk of my craft supply allowance...so lately I've been coveting fabric I can't afford.
Anyhow, I also scored some cute buttons, and lots of cards so I can do some online shopping later.
We went to Norm McDonald's stand up act on Saturday night, and it was sooo funny. I'm a dork for Norm, like I get excited when he's on a show and shout out "I heart Norm!" Good thing my husband knows me soo well.  I just noticed I like to use sooo a lot.
We managed some lake time, bluegrass brunch and checked out old town Bastrop on our way home. So here are some pics

5.24.2010

I'm Sorry

that I've really sucked at blogging lately.

1) our internet at home is the worst- husband is working on getting it fixed
2) we've been very busy lately, almost never home
3) I've actually been crafting (some)
4) if you aint got nothing nice to say don't say nothing at all tends to apply to me lately
5) and the technology that it involves to update my music on my car is enough to set me over the edge lately so uploading pics, and all that jazz, haven't been feeling it.

Sooo...with that said, I hope to find time to post a few soon, share those pics I don't want to upload, and finish updating my car's sync...too bad I have a ton of projects I'd rather spend my time on.

5.15.2010

Quick Update

*driving in the rain
*cool hotel
*bob schneider show
*liked opening band smile smile
*touched a cool white guy fro
*renegade homemade craft show
*met two ppl i idolize
*baby a's for lunch
*bookstore
*got signed book
*had good pop, changed life
*about to hit the lake
*can't wait for norm's comedy act tonight
*will have shaddy grove for dinner
*tomorrow is bluegrass brunch
*dorky as it is i love bluegrass
*more craft fair on my list
= best weekend ever!

5.11.2010

Post it Note Tuesday


I'm lazy, and in a hurry to write the directions and such. Visit Scotti and get the scoop. Here are my notes:


5.10.2010

May 15-16


I'll be there will you?

5.06.2010

Oh May oh May

It's May! Yeah!
May is probably my favorite month of the whole year. It's like New Years to me. It's a time of new beginnings, new life, and oh the sunshine! How I love the sun!
I have so many things to look forward to this month, and more things to try to accomplish on my projects list.

Things I'm looking forward to:

Mother's Day this weekend. I can't wait to spend the weekend with my mom. She's awesome, and deserves to be honored for all her mom work she's done for me and my brother. In addition to being with my mom, my brother, Justin will be here home from San Diego. I'm so excited to see him, and I'm already dreading leaving and saying good bye. (I'm so very glad this is his last time to go underway.) Anyhow, we've got a little surprise planned for her.

The following weekend will be my very anticipated trip to Austin (yeah I know we go to Austin every other weekend, but this time it's for something great.) The Renegade Craft Fair will be going on, and I plan on being there when the doors open. There are so many cool crafters I'm dying to meet, things to learn, and lots of ideas to get...and hopefully some awesome items to purchase. I hope to meet this person, because I pretty much envy her. And well anytime in Austin is a good time to me. Sixth Street? We'll see. Depends on if Kid is in tow. I'll be letting you know how it goes!

Miss Neely will be out of town for the second half of the month...so that's always nice. Grown up time. Means hopeful crafting time for me.

We're planning another trip to the river with some friends for Memorial Day Weekend.

May 26th will be the THREE year anniversary with Wonderful Husband!

School will be out, meaning Wonderful Husband will be home and relaxed, and on top of the piles of laundry and mowing *wish*

Projects I plan to finish this month:
Make a cute strapless dress from the lovely black fabrics I purchased
Make outdoor pillows for the furniture
Paint the outdoor furniture
Buy a new umbrella for the deck
Treat myself to nice undergarments
Make myself a camera strap

Projects I hope to start:
Pull up the deck
Paint the kitchen cabinets
Saving my allowance for Fathers Day gifts
Purge Neely's closet and clothes
Make Neely's quilt from her old baby clothes

5.05.2010

THANK YOU

TO THE BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD FOR BUYING ME A NEW CAR LAST NIGHT!

5.04.2010

Texas Thang (#3)

Guadalupe State Park - Sunday 5-2-10


5.03.2010

Texas Thang (#2)

More of what we did:
We ate lunch at the

then we headed to the Lazy L&L campground
where we sat up camp, and hit the river

then this happened

then we went to eat dinner at Lucky's
and this is what we had

and it was awesome.
Then we spent the rest of the night awake from noisy campers, then followed by rain, and then because it was just cold, but not Neely, she slept like a rock.

5.02.2010

It's a Texas Thang Y'all (Part 1)

This summer will be like the previous summers, filled with random trips. We (as a family) try to enjoy as much as we can...as often as we can, and I must say as silly as it may be I'm a true Texan girl, and I also find many of the things about Texas and Texans to be equally as awful as they can be awesome...there for you may find more posts on TX stuff to come too.

This weekend we finally got around to "floating the river."
Some friends of ours had mentioned partaking in this Texas pass time on Memorial Day weekend. So...Amazing Husband having learned his lesson on taking me on unpleasant trips, decided we should 1) check it out beforehand 2) know what the heck we're doing before we get there on the biggest weekend of the season 3) let the kid cash in on the camping trip he's been promising her.

We packed up real early on Saturday, and headed West. Heading West almost always means we get to stop at Shobels in Columbus. The breakfast is great, but my very favorite is their buttermilk pie. After breakfast we just kept on trucking West, and ended up here:

And if you're from Texas you've heard about this little place. It's sorta famous. If you've never been, it's really neat, and you can read the history here: http://www.gruenetexas.com/

And for more great Southern fun, enter the contest going on at my friend's blog here: http://findinginspirationinfood.blogspot.com/2010/04/giveaway-time-and-sausage-stuffed-pork.html