10 years ago

Someone's facebook status got me thinking about 10 years ago, because I am seriously in shock that it has been a decade already.

So 10 years ago... was Y2K if I am thinking right, right? Because wow.... that one didn't turn out as expected. So, 10 years ago, I was at my mom's house, because she wouldn't let me go out in the event of Y2K. However, my brothers AND my parents were not home, they were out. (we have a lot of double standards.) I was with my best friend, her boyfriend and mine.... 3 people that today I do not speak to any more, at all. Weird the way things end up.

10 years ago, I was 16. I was a junior in high school.

10 years ago I drove a gold 4-door Saturn and loved it!

10 years ago, I thought I was fat. (I'd love to be that size now!)

10 years ago I had a bunny, named Baby.

Anyways, what were you doing 10 years ago??

Happy New Year's Eve!!!

I've had this problem for a few days now... five to be exact. Its my eye... it has been twitching for FIVE days!!!!!

There are a few days of the year that I prefer to not be at work (even though I'm SO thankful to have a job) and New Year's Eve is one of them, so today is a vacation day!!! WOOP! Last night on my way home from work I thought about how I was going to stay up late! finish everything on my To-Do list! watch a movie! read one of the 700 books on my list! etc. In between eye twitches, I cooked my Mexican Chili, opened the mail and turned on reruns of Glee! The next thing I know it's..... 7am!! What tha?!

Yes... I got 12 hours of sleep last night and don't even remember going to sleep, the best part: no more eye twitch!!!!

Anywho - Happy New Year's Eve! I hope today is super fun for you and tomorrow is very restful! I will have no problem staying up until midnight now, since I've had enough sleep for a week!

Wordless Wednesday

Does this count?

Petapotty?

I was reading someone's blog who had the google ads activated and saw this Petapotty.

Between this and the Chia Obama.... I'm speechless. Would you put one of these in your house?

Honest Scrap

My friend Jeris sent me this fabulous 'Honest Scrap' award/chain-blog/thing. THANKS!!!!! So I've been working on it for a little long while now. Here it goes:

Rules for the award:

1. Must thank the person who gave you the award and list their blog and link it.

2. Share "10 Honest things" about yourself.

3. Present this award to 7 others whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged you.

4. Tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving the award.

10 Honest Things:

1. I have never a single time in my entire life seen a 3-D image in those 3-D posters that were so cool in the 90s.

In fact, when I was about 10 or so, my Aunt Barb sent me a whole calendar of these posters (talk about torture). So for one entire year I had different 3-D posters on my wall and I tried and tried....crossed my eyes, uncrossed my eyes, stared until my eyes watered, blinked a million times.... tried everything to try and see the image. But nope.... nothin'. The most irritating is inviting someone over and they'd be all like,"Ooh, look at those dolphins in that calendar! That is so cool." And I'm all like, "Whatever, you just made that up, there aren't dolphins in there..... psshh."

I apologize if there is something obscene in this 3-D image. See reference above.

2. I love salt-water taffy. It reminds me of going to the Jersey shore when I was a kid w/ my bff Kim. I love it and I don't encounter it very often.

3. I prefer to know the ending to a movie BEFORE I watch it.

(Ben has a horrible time with this) I am NOT a fan of horror, scary, or just plain mean/uncomfortable movies, so I want to be sure I know what I'm getting myself into. The turning point of this was when Ben and I were dating and he 'romantically' planned a movie date for us to watch 'Hurricane'. I then cried for HOURS after this movie was over and thought it was the worst movie I'd ever seen. Ben didn't understand all the tears and blubbering, he said he thought it ended well: the guy got out of prison..... my point: he was in prison his ENTIRE life and got out when he was like 70. So sad! Sorry.... rambling.... hope you weren't going to watch this one soon.

4. Because of #3 above, I can watch Elf 7500 times in one month. A few others that are always on my DVR: Sex and the City, Remember the Titans, 27 Dresses.

5. This one is very hard to admit.... I think I'm too old for roller-coasters. (gasp!....*tears*) The last time I went to an amusement park was with my fabulous cousin Annie..... I almost threw up on a child. It was a very, very sad moment/hours. I used to LOVE rollercoasters. Is there a pill you can take for this? Dramamine maybe?

6. I have a huge pet peeve. You know when people write their own vows (mostly in movies) and they say things like, "You are the love of my life, you are amazing, you are the wind beneath my wings....." well they totally miss the VOW part. While that is all nice and good, a vow, according to Wikipedia is: a promise or oath. So I interpret that as what you are going to do. For instance, I promise to be faithful, kind, loving, etc. until death do us part. That is a promise. (PS - the faithful part is my favorite part of Ben and I's vows. Not only do we mean we will forever be faithful as in not to cheat, but also to be full of faith, we vow to have faith in God forever for each other as well.)

7. Honestly....I like the show Big Love. This show is awful I tell you. Awful. However, it just sucks me in. I think because I like Ginnifer Goodwin so much. Isn't she fun? I also am slightly fascinated by people who have multitudes of kids. Ben and I don't get HBO though, so I may not get to see the new season.

8. I think I could probably gain 10lbs today if I didn't try really hard not to. I'm really trying the motto "Eating to live, not living to eat." I love food. Love it! :)

9. I also love all things cactus (aka - Succulent Plants). I have a black thumb. So these plants can stand up to my hardest attempts to kill them. (I really don't want things to die, I have a very hard time throwing away a plant that isn't completely dead, it almost feels like I'm giving up on it.) I was once told that 'plants really do want to live' but sometimes I feel like once they get into my possession they don't really want to live any longer. Succulents though do well in my care. On my kitchen counter right now are the following:

Jade Plant (also known as a money tree)
Cow Tongue (do not google this one w/o PLANT after it)
Some sort of Hen and Chicks

Winter Cactus (this one isn't mine, I borrowed it from google)

All given to me as gifts - so they are that much more fun!

10. I am blessed daily by God's love and grace. His many blessings are always amazing and I'm so thankful to be His child. I am so thankful he sticks with me every single day and continues to mold me into the person, wife, counselor he wants me to be. It is amazing to be a part of and I've really never been happier in my life. I love the marriage, home and church family God has provided me with and I pray that I do his will daily.

Now, here are the seven people to whom I pass this lovely activity, in no particular order:

1. Ivy - encouraged me to start this blog and introduces me to very fun things in the blog world.
2. Annie - is the hardest working blogger I know.
3. Emily - because I hope one day she will get more followers than just me! :)
4. Ellen - I love her blog and how she and Nick are raising money for sweet Isabelle. Glad she shared their blog with me!
5. Haley - is new to the blogging world and cracks me up when I get to work with her, so she deserves an award. :)
6. Cassie - I love reading her blogs even if they are a few months behind real time.
7. Mandy - is catching back up in blogging and has been doing quite well since her re-commitment to blogging just a few weeks ago. :)

Now have fun! :)

Getting to Know YOU Sunday

Keely at Mann Land 5 is hosting a blog carnival today!
Today's question is:
What was your favorite gift you received for Christmas??

RED FIESTAWARE! See the struggles of picking a color over here.
Well, I finally made a decision (with the help of many people) and I love it.

I only have the dinner plates right now and thought I was getting the salad plates too, but my mom ordered these square-bottom bowls instead.But, they don't stack up together! With my itty-bitty kitchen, I just don't have enough cabinet space to have 8 to 10 bowls lined up side-by-side in the cabinet. So those went back and I think she's ordered these 'Fiestaware small bowls' instead, which are super cute.I went to Macy's.com to find you guys some pictures and guess what, Fiestaware is buy one get one free! Guess that means I'll have to scrape together some after-Christmas cash to get a plate or two. :)

Merry Christmas

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

It began with a beautiful Christmas Eve service at our home church. Our pastor's wife sang one of my favorite songs, that I think it amazing in itself, but she sings it so beautifully!

If you've never heard this song, just listen to the words.... VERY powerful.

Next we did Christmas with Ben's mom at our house. It was so wonderful to wake up in our own bed and be at home! Here is Ben opening his gift from Logan and Sierra. He did not think I was as funny as I did.

Logan was very pleased though.

We cooked breakfast, opened gifts and lounged around for a bit before heading to my moms and playing a very bitter game of monopoly.

Austin (the nephew) trying to round up everyone so he can finally open gifts. With a child who had 6 or 7 Christmases, he sure was eager!

Ava (the niece) found her tongue for Christmas.
Ben caught red-handed talking to the baby. He quickly sat back in his chair when he saw that I took his picture. Ben tries SO hard to pretend he doesn't love babies.... and puppies....

Twinks

My mother-in-law called me today (Hi D!) and kept asking about what sizes Ben and I wore and how we liked our pants and shirts, etc. This went on for quite awhile until finally she asked me very honestly & nicely, "If I bought you and Ben matching outfits, would you wear them?"












I hope this was her subtle way of asking for grandchildren.......

My LAST NCE Update

I PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ben JUST checked the mail and it was in there. WAHOO!
(Just in case you missed my 740 other posts about the NCE, it stands for National Counselor Exam. Once I graduate, I can begin my licensure process now that I've passed this monster of an exam!) I was even above average! It hasn't hit my heart yet that I can stop being a nervous bumbling wreck.... This is one HUGE weight off my shoulders.... I know God was holding out on this one because he probably figured I needed a better way to remember this weekend. :) I'm so thankful He is always right.

What a blessing!

Update

Well the brother and the dogs are doing okay. Chris has about a trillion stitches in his head, but other than resembling Frankenstein, he's good (I asked him politely if I could take his picture for my blog and when I came back with the camera he was locked in his room). He even went to work yesterday which I was a little shocked about. He really does look like he was run over by a truck and he is a server! Yikes... I would pay someone that looked like that NOT to wait on me.

The dogs are okay, and we're still completly shocked at their fight. We will never be keeping them alone together again. (Even though before Friday night, they absolutely loved and adored each other for 3 years.) Logan now has on the 'Cone of Shame' and is very angry about it. She thinks when you put the cone on her it means she can't move. I try to show her she can still move, but she doesn't believe me. Its quite pitiful.

The exam also went okay. It was pretty simple, except very unrealistic. One part of it played 'voicemail' type messages and then you had 2 minutes to write a message as if you were delivering it to all your co-workers (very dumb) and all the people who left 'voice mails' had super accents from anywhere but the south. Apparently, not only do southerners talk slow, but I think I hear slow too... It was quite strange and considering a I rarely hand write anything now, let alone in under 2 minutes, my arm and hand did cramp up and turn into a claw for a few hours after I was finished.

Anywho... after this weekend, I'm not feeling a Not Me Monday other than it was Not Me who had a horrible, no good, very bad weekend. Bring on Tuesday!

'twas the night before my exam

I'm not responsible for what I blog after 3 hours of sleep:



'Twas the night before my exam, when all through the house

Two creatures were stirring, probably b/c of a mouse;

The dogs had bitten each other, had blood in their hair,

In hopes that one of them would kill the other right there;

The child went home with Nana, and then straight to bed,

While visions of death danced in the dogs heads;

And Ben in his north face, and I in my cap,

stumbled upon this scene and thought, oh snap!

When out in the kitchen there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the garage to see what was the matter.

Away to the livingroom I flew like a flash,

saw blood all over everything and knew there was a gash.

Ben said, don't worry, I'll handle this now.

You have an exam tomorrow, close your eyes if you know how,

zzzz....

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature cell phone, and a song bringing cheer,

With eyes so tired and wondering what the fliss,

I knew in a moment it must be the brother Chris.

More strange were his sentences as they rambled and came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and told me his name;

"I've been in an accident, I have stitches times seven,

Come to the hospital I think I just saw Blitzen!

To the top of the bed, I sat straight up and tall,

"What the heck are you talking about, goodness to all?!"

As whimpers and moans reminded me my poor Logan was hurt,

Could it be 4am and Chris has blood on his shirt?!

So up to the hospital the family they flew,

With the head full of worry, and stress filled them too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard the alarm,

With dread and panic, the exam would do much harm.

As I fumbled to get out of bed, and was turning around,

Down the road then the interstate, I went with a bound.

I nearly passed out, from my head to my feet,

And my clothes were all tarnished, I wish I could cheat!

A bundle of worries I had on my back,

I looked like a peddler that had taken a whack.

My eyes -- how they burned! my hair, how scary!

My cheeks were like roses, but yet still so wary!

3 hours of sleep, and wondering how,

I was about to take an exam, it starts right now.....

1-800-Goog-411

I called a free directory service today in hopes of getting a phone number and this is what took place:

Recorded Operator: "Please say your city and state."
Me: "Hoooover, Alaabamma"

Recorded Operator: "Please say your city and state."
Me: 'HOOOOOOVVVEERR, ALLLAAAAABBBAAAMMMAAA"

Recorded Operator: Da-ding.... "Hannah Montana! What city and state?"




Seriously? I quickly said no!, but then it made me wonder.... would it have actually given me a telephone number?! and WHY is hannah montana even an option?!

5 Question Friday

"Questions for Friday, December 18th: (Thanks to Kyrsten, Liz, Brianne, and Keely for their question suggestions!! Wanna be linked on a future 5QF? Offer up some questions on the thread in my community!)"

1. Which boygroup did you like most in your teens?

Funny question, I just posted a video of them a few days ago. Go visit here. It was probably a rivalry b/w them and Backstreet Boys.

2. Do you do Christmas cards, letters, photos, nuthin', all of the above?

We have sent out Christmas cards for 2 years now of our wonderful selves and our two pups. I LOVE photo cards. Here is this year's picture we put on the card (that is Ben's 1949 Chevy that he and his dad rebuilt. It was his dad's main means of transportation in the 70's):

3. If you could meet one celebrity who would it be and why?

I'm not a very good celebrity-meeter. I act like an idiot, stutter and turn bright red. BUT, if I could control myself like a normal person I'd love to meet.....(thinking long and hard about this one)......Dolly Parton.

Seriously. She just seems so nice and fun!!

4. Favorite thing to cook with (i.e. stainless, non-stick, Dutch oven, microwave, debit card...or, perhaps, a cauldron, etc.)?

We cook nearly every night at home. We're a stove-top/oven-using family mostly. I just got a set of American Cookware. They are based out of Birmingham and I'd put the link up, but when I clicked on it, my anti-virus popped up saying it was a potential virus????? Anyways... its the stainless steel, waterless cooking stuff. Very easy to clean and you supposedly don't need to use anything other than the meat's own juices (that grosses me out to type) to cook with. Its a nice set. My mom has had them for at least 15 years and still using them. I also love all the new steam packages that frozen veggies come in too.

5. What is the one thing you wear the most, besides your unmentionables?

Clothing? My black pants from New York & Co. They are my favorite... and cheap!

Go visit Mama M and join in the fun!

Red, Cream, Turquoise, Brown???

There are many things I wish I knew when I was getting married, but one particular one is:

1. Register for Fiestaware b/c it is microwave safe, oven safe, and dishwasher safe.

Instead I registered for these:

Laurie Gates "Anna" - I think they are beautiful, BUT they were NOT chip resistant or microwave safe. (They can tolerate a few seconds of microwave, but after a bit they tend to send lines crackling through them as if they are going to break). I had the black dinner plates, white salad plates and black bowls. Love the salad plates... the dinner plates are all chipped and cracked though.

I had no idea that one day I would really wish I'd registered for Fiestaware. Well, I'm asking for some for Christmas from our family, but I can't make up my mind on a color! My mom says, white.... because that is what she likes and thinks that any color would be crazy. I loved my black plates and I also have a very bright green individual salad bowl that is wonderful and wish I had a ton more of. So to color or not to color?

Round or Square?

I like square... but I like the colors of the round ones.
I like the red or turquoise.... my house is very gray, black/white, some reds/purples.

So what do you think??

My version of chili

I was once told that chili was supposed to be made from everything left over in your fridge - beans, various meats, veggies, etc.

Most of my meals are really not from recipes and I have a hard time making them again, and this one is not any different... But I wanted to inspire you to create something out of nothing and share it with me b/c I do need actual recipes with lots of specifics for things to turn out right.... even sometimes that doesn't work.

Since I came home from my momentous grocery trip I had to use up any leftovers that were moments from spoiling...yum.

Here is what ended up getting cooked:

1 to 2 green bell peppers - chopped

1 random quantity of black beans (we always have these in the fridge for such an occasion)

1.5 or so cups of brown rice

1/2 a container of sour cream

shredded cheese

I stirred this all together and cooked it in the oven for about 30 or so minutes and it was amazing! I'm sure there is a specific recipe to add a few more things to make it better, but I loved it. It was wonderful with corn chips. Ben wished it was 'hotter' but from the man who eats habañero peppers in everything I let that go in one ear and out the other. I love new recipes so anything you would like to leave as a comment is greatly appreciated!

Its removable.

At Amber's surprise party, my friend Beth and I were in the restroom washing our hands when Beth says, "Your hair looks fabulous tonight!" I was a little shocked.

I then proceeded to take my hair off and hand it to her. Her eyes started to water a little and her mouth dropped to the floor. Yes.... my hair was bought at a kiosk at the mall.


Here she is after making me take it off for our table. I bought this hair piece 3 years ago as a backup for Ben and I's wedding day. My hair stylist was not worth a fourth of what she charged and couldn't get my hair up to do anything. So I went to the oriental lady at the mall and bought a hair piece that matches my hair color perfectly! I actually don't wear it too often unless my hair is a disaster and needs to look decent in about .5 seconds.

Not Me Monday

It was NOT me who gained back all my 4 pounds and maybe more.... or maybe not. It is not me who had to eat Kashi Go Lean 40% fiber cardboard cereal this morning because of not gaining back 4lbs. And it is not me who had to eat lettuce for lunch and not me who will continue to do so all week. I told you the treats of Christmas would not get to me. No more baking for me.

A reenactment

Operator at NBCC: "National Board for Certified Counselors, how may I direct your call?"

Me: "Well, I'm not sure really since I'm calling to find out if my results have been sent in the mail for the exam I took 8 whole weeks and 2 days ago back in October. Can you help me with that?"

Operator at NBCC: "The department that handles that request is running on a 2-week delay due to an illness. Your results will be mailed out as soon as possible, thank you for understanding."

Me: "UGH..... Well, is there anyway to tell which results have been sent out?"

Operator: "Your results will be mailed out as soon as possible and no further information is available."

Me: "Are you sure there is no..."

Operator: "Yes ma'am, I am sure, you will have to wait for your results they should be mailed within the next 2 weeks if they haven't already."

Me: "Ooookkkaaaayyy...... thanks."

Happy Birthday Amber!!!

My great friend Amber has been contemplating starting a blog for sometime and I hope she will comment to this post w/ her new blog site that I know we'd all love to read!!!

It is her birthday today so some of us from the counselor education program at UAB tried to plan a surprise dinner party for her (which was much harder to plan w/ adults). Well, Amber was the second person to show up, so as she and I walked to our 10-top and she asked if anyone else was coming, I said, "Maybe! Surprise!" HA! I didn't tell her exactly who was coming though, but I think she had a great night anyways.

Happy Birthday Amber, we're all waiting eagerly on your new blog.

PS - isn't this cake amazing?!
It is from a local bakery, Edgar's, it tasted just as good as it looked. Yum!

I need a pantry.

While waiting for Ben to turn the power back on in our den, I thought I'd update with my LONG overdue trip to CVS & Publix this morning. It was reported that the Publix Penny item was hot chocolate, but when I got there it was Kraft BBQ sauce (that I already have 2 or 3 of in my 'pantry', ugh...) Which brings me to WHY I need a pantry.


I had not grocery shopped in 3 to 4 weeks, we were completely out of butter..... try planning dinner by starting with, "what doesn't need butter...." Ben was out of all his lunch supplies.... the poor guy has eaten turkey sandwiches and a yogurt every day for over 3 years and is still keeping on.... so I can't complain that all he asks for is some cheap-o turkey and a yogurt a day. Well, you'd think my shelves would be bare after that, but that is just the problem. I have no room!!!! My shelves are full. They're full of spices and cereal and sugar, flour, corn meal, cream of mushroom soup. So there is no room for the real food we actually eat daily


I thought about where this was all going to go on my way home from Publix and almost convinced myself that Ben needed to go out as soon as I got home to buy the 8' x 12" pantry cabinet at Lowe's. One look at the budget and that thought was squashed. Maybe I'll ask for it for Christmas. (I never dreamed the day would come that I would ask for a cabinet for Christmas)...

So the totals for today are.......
Spent: $172 - yikes... however I think I bought over a months worth of food, a ton of toiletries, Christmas wrapping supplies, candles and kitchen necessities.
Saved: $160 - wahoo! AND I still have $6 extra bucks to CVS. So I nearly spent as much as I saved, but if I didn't put off my shopping for over a month I should have done better.