Wanted: Gold Coins & Diet Dr Pepper

Ok, so as of last week I have endeavored to drop a habit in my life - drinking diet sodas. (or any sodas but diets are my poison of choice)

We never really drank sodas growing up but I got into the habit on my internship about 6 years ago - just drinking them for the fizz, the flavor and for an afternoon pick me up. So over the last 6 years that habit has turned into having at least one or two (three if I'm honest about how much I drink in refills at a restaurant) a day. I've wanted to quit for a while now - but just haven't been able to find that angle that made me really want to do it.

I'll never be a true "whole food" eater (ie no processed foods) but I can try to take steps in that direction. I mean, let's face it - every really good recipe in life calls for a can of cream of mushroom soup - which has the essence of a vegetable but I'm not convinced the rest of the ingredients aren't the same things as elmer's glue. That being said, being a true "whole foody" isn't for me. But I'm convinced that nothing that could rot a steak after a couple of days or be used to clean an engine (we've all seen those forwards) is good for your insides.

Also, I've been getting these "erosions" on my teeth that my dentist says are caused by acids. I usually just give him my best confused face and act like I can't imagine what could be causing that even though I know good and well that my "grownup pacifier" in the form of Diet Dr Pepper can't be helping.

And finally, they took away our free sodas at work due to "cut backs" and now we have to pay 75 cents for them. :) I know, why not just bring a 12 pack every couple of weeks? (does that scream ADDICT or what?!)

So my plan of attack is to give myself a "gold coin" ( a penny) for each day I make it with no soda and when I get 30 in there, I get a prize. Prize is to be determined. I started last Wednesday and have three gold coins - so it's a work in progress. :)

And for those of you that drink sodas - please don't feel judged by this endeavor - I truly understand the love for bubbly deliciousness. I just want to get to the point where it's a treat to have one and not "if I don't have one it feels like there is a death jam concert in my head" because of the headache. :)

Now, I may be noble but I'm not crazy - I'm still having caffeine in tea or whatever else comes my way. Giving up sodas AND caffeine would be too much for this girl to handle at once. :)

Wish me luck or tell me I'm a worry wart - whichever you like. I'll continue to work towards my prize for now.

The Price of Pancakes

The pioneer woman may have her Marlboro Man but I have Marathon Man.

Congrats to Michael on finishing his 7th marathon yesterday in Ft Worth!!

Some pictures of him in his most serious mode. :) In case you can't tell he's sticking his tongue out and waving his arms around. Who has the energy to do that while running a marathon, anyway?



We went for our traditional pancakes post race - it's his reward for running 26.2 miles and my reward for getting up at 5 am to chase him around and shout "Way to Go Michael" every so often!

Plus watching all those runners really makes ya hungry. :)

Go Wildcats!

Last weekend we flew down south for my ten year high school reunion!

It's hard to believe it's been ten years -but in some ways it feels like a million years ago that I lived there. So much has happened and changed in my life in those ten years! My grandparents, parents and myself grew up and spent our entire lives in Carrizo Springs. My parents moved a couple of years after I graduated so I haven't been back very often at all since I graduated.

Funny but I got out my old high school scrapbook a couple of months ago and it had one of those pages that said "where I'll be in ten years" and I'd put the following:

1) I'd be a CPA
2) Live in Dallas
3) Married
4) 1-2 kids
5) Driving a Mazda

4 out of 5 ain't bad. Somehow I knew where I wanted to go then but had no idea the awesome road it would take to get there.

And don't ask me why I wanted to drive a Mazda. I guess I just wanted an upgrade from my white Ford stick shift truck! :)

We did the reunion up right including the football game Friday night and I was in the parade Saturday morning. It was great to see old friends and teachers that have known me my whole life (and some have known my parents their whole lives!).

I was a little disappointed by the turn out from out of town classmates - maybe another 10 years will inspire them to become nostalgic. Out of about 150 I graduated with, maybe 50 came to the reunion and only 10 or so of us were from out of town.

Cindy and Bill spoiled us with great food and let us stay with them. Michael was a trooper - smiled and chatted like a gentleman - but I could tell he was ready to go when it was all over.

I certainly miss the life of the small town - but also like my life as it is now! Maybe someday I'll split the difference between a town with 5,000 people and one with 2 million. :)

I forgot my camera - so the only documentation of this momentous occasion is a picture Michael snapped with his phone of our float in the parade. Bet you can't even find me. :)

Yes, I lost my appetizer

So last week was a doozie for me - spent an entire 5 days in bed with the flu! I woke up Monday (after my great weekend) feeling really bad and decided to stay home from work. Little did I know I wouldn't return until today! I had the whole nine yards - fever, body aches, cough, runny nose, no energy. It was pretty pathetic. I laid in our guest bed with a bottle of Tylenol in one hand and the remote in the other for five days and never left the house except to go to the doctor!

Today when I got back to work my sweet Chinese co-worker Wendy asked me, "Did you lose your appetizer also?" (appetite) I told her yes. :)

Luckily Michael hasn't gotten it! Keep your fingers crossed.

And now go sanitize your hands after reading this - just in case!

Fried Oprah

So this weekend was just great!

It started with breakfast with Libby and Grace Saturday morning followed by a (quiet and peaceful) trip to Wal-Mart. (I live just far enough from a Wal-Mart that I only go every couple of months and really enjoy it when I do!) Then I came home and changed for pilates at the gym. My first time do to pilates - I loved it. Granted, I can barely raise my arm to brush my teeth today but that's neither here nor there. :)

Saturday evening I made Belinda's family recipe of homemade spaghetti sauce (the best I've ever had) and we ate spaghetti while watching the Tech game (and Texas game in part).

Sunday after church we headed to the State Fair of Texas. My first (gasp) time in 5 years of living here. We did it up right with corny dogs and fried Reese's. Ok, well I ate the Reese's. Michael did have a corny dog which those of you that know him know that getting him to eat something fried is like pulling teeth so I was pretty surprised. We spent a couple of hours there. It was enjoyable - but not something I probably feel the need to do every year. I will say that I've never been to a paved carnival/fair and that makes a world of difference when you aren't inhaling 2 pounds of dirt in addition to fried food. :)

Oh, and as a bonus, we saw Oprah eating a corn dog! She's evidently here to tape a portion of her show here at the Fair tomorrow. I just caught a glimpse of her from the side - but it was her in the flesh!

The famous Ferris Wheel

Howdy from Big Tex

View of the Midway from the gondola ride

Here she is - the fried Reese's cup and a glob of ice cream. I know! (whatever you're thinking - cool, sick, yum, gross, etc) :)

Visit to the real Stars Hollow

So last weekend my mom and I took a little girl's trip up to New England to look at leaves! It was a trip we'd planned a while back to celebrate her graduation from RN school and we finally picked a time/place and headed north!

We flew into New Hampshire and drove over to the coast of Maine and spent the night in a town called Old Orchard Beach. We ate lobster at a cafe literally at a lobster boat dock! I'm not the hugest seafood eater but even I liked it. I will say that the effort of getting the meat off a whole lobster is kinda a pain and somewhat gross. I'll stick to the tails!

The next day we drove across New Hampshire and into Vermont. We spent our second night in Waterbury, Vermont - home of Ben & Jerry's. Oddly, the couple that ran the inn we stayed at were named "Von Trapp" and it turns out that the husband's father was one of the Von Trapp children from the Sound of Music! There is an inn there called the "Trapp Family Lodge" (it's in Stowe, VT just down the road) which was run by Maria at some point in the 50's. Interesting, huh?

We hit the Ben and Jerry's factory tour. It was pretty cool - and included free ice cream! We also went to a creamery out in the country in Vermont and saw how they make white cheddar (Cabot cheese). That same day we visited a maple sugar shack - and learned about the process of making maple sugar and learned that almost all the syrups we buy are less than 10% pure maple syrup! We bought some to bring home - so come visit me and I'll make you waffles with real maple syrup!

We spent our final night in Dorset, Vermont down in a valley between two mountains. We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast in a tiny town which reminded me of being on the set of Gilmore Girls. (I liked pretending I was in Stars Hollow the whole time we were in New England because the towns really do look like that!)

Overall we were amazed at how small the states in the Northeast are - or rather just how BIG Texas is! We all know that it's a big state but when you cross three states in about 2 hours you really realize it!

Here's some pictures! An awesome waterfall we hiked to see.

Notice the wet ground - we hiked in the rain to see that waterfall. It rained on us some of our time which was unfortunate. But we made the best of it.


Wet hair from hiking in the rain but smiling.

Covered bridges everywhere!

The Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth Maine. Supposedly one of the most photographed light houses in America. Too bad it was raining and gloomy.

Congrats Jacksons!

I'm bubbling with excitement for our great friends Michael and Melissa who got engaged Friday night. Saturday night her mom had planned a surprise 30th birthday party with 40 or more of her best friends so they also got to announce their engagement that night too!

So happy for you friends!!

Finally Finished

So here's some pictures of my new home! I think I'm finally done with it! Ready to move on to other projects!

The newest additions to our family - we call them Bert & Ernie. (when you don't have kids or dogs you tend to name things for fun). Our lovely new (huge) table and sideboard. The table has two more leaves which won't fit in our dining room for now. But I think it's beautiful and we'll grow into it. And the sideboard is my special toy for putting all my dishes, serving platters and placemats! (they are the same color but the pictures made them look different)

The platter on the back wall is a really cool platter my sister in law and her fiance brought us from Mexico.

This is the guest room:

A cute plaque my dad gave me

(if you click on the pic you should be able to see the details better)

The pictures hanging over the guest bed are of my Grandma Ouida - taken in 1949!

This is our room:

That's my craigslist chair I acquired last week!

So there's the mini-tour! Hope you enjoyed! Now come visit us for real!

Tasty Findings

So last night I tried a new recipe and wanted to share it. It's called "Stir Fry Beef with Three Vegetables". My sweet cousin Meg inspired me to try something Asian so I did. This was my first time to make any Asian food. And it happened to be a week where Michael did the grocery shopping so you can imagine how hacked he was that he had to locate bok choy, sesame oil and ginger root! haha I got several annoyed phone calls from the grocery store going "what is this?! Is this a joke?!.

Overall the recipe is very tasty and worth a shot if you are wanting to try something new. I'll warn that it involves alot of chopping but still only took me about an hour start to finish to make the meal. I don't think my kitchen has ever smelled better than when I was cooking the garlic, ginger and onion in the pan, though!

I was going to post a cool picture of the dish like Meg & Kellie do but I was so hungry by the time I finished it, there was no photo op - only chomping down.

Have a great day!

Bursting At the Seams

Well, it's amazing how time flies when you are having a ball. We have officially been married 2 months, 1 week and 5 days - and I'm soaking up each moment in this precious time! What I've been up to:

Cooking - Michael is a major eater which I love and anyone that knows me knows that I've just been waiting for someone to unleash all this cooking on. :) I've made casseroles, breads, sweets, pulled pork, enchiladas, granola, salads, you name it. Sometimes I find recipes that look good - and sometimes I just want to use one of my new kitchen gadgets like my mixer or processor so I head to the kitchen and play. My cousin gave me an awesome Southern Living Comfort Food cookbook as a wedding gift and it has been the source of many of my creations. We don't eat out much - maybe once a week for dinner so I do plenty of cooking throughout the week and weekend to keep plenty of leftovers for us.

It's definitely taking some getting used to planning my evenings around cooking dinner. I used to eat anything from a Lean Cuisine to a salad I threw together when I was single and I used my evenings to work out, shop, etc. Well now that hungry hungry hippo is waiting on me to eat dinner, I am having to work on rearranging my schedule a bit and working out in the morning and using my lunch time to run errands. I am still working that part out - trying to figure out the best plan that works for me but doesn't make me feel like a (grumpy) chicken with my head cut off.

Arranging & Organizing - After we got home from the honeymoon we had all our wedding gifts sitting in our guest room (wish I'd taken a picture of it!) so I spent the first month of our marriage sorting through the gifts, making exchanges/returns and then finding homes for all of it. It took a long time! I had to go through all the closets and cabinets and sort through his/mine/new stuff. I'm glad that chore is over with. There are still two closets plaguing me that have stuff shoved in there out of sight but are far from organized - someday projects!

Decorating - I promise to get some pictures up soon of the guest room and our room. Both are close to done - but not quite. I did brown/lime green in our room and red/cream/black in the guest room (my same toile bedspread that I've had a couple of years). I'm hoping to get an armchair for our room this weekend and then that room will be complete! The downstairs hasn't changed much - we are shopping for a new dining room table so I'll post pictures when we get one!

Visiting - We went to a wedding the first of August in San Antonio with Michael's parents. It was good to see them and fun to go our first "outing" as a married couple. I couldn't help beam from ear to ear when Mrs H introduced me as "her new daughter". :) Side note: I've been to SA a million times in my life but this was my first time to ever spend the night there - it was fun to play the tourist on the river walk!

This last weekend we went to Brenham to visit my dad - we had fun on the lake and hanging out on the ranch. Makes me miss home - I don't always realize how city-fied my life is till I visit down there and drive the tractor for dad. :)

Not Sleeping - Well I'm guess the adjustment to sleeping well with a bed buddy takes more than 2 months, 1 week and 5 days because I'm still not able to sleep through the night without waking up and realizing there is someone in my bed or having to elbow that someone to get them off my side! We also had two very different sleep schedules (Michael is an early riser since he gets up to run while I prefer to sleep as late as humanly possible before going to work). So this area is still a work in progress. It's been one of the only struggles we've faced - and I can't say I wasn't expecting it based on sleeping/waking alone for 28+ years!

Hosting - we are hosting our bible study group (which meets on Mondays) for the month of August so every Sunday night I'm giving the house a spruce and baking sweets. Last night I made homemade shortcake with peaches/strawberries and even whipped my own cream - and people just weren't hungry I guess because they didn't eat much at all. Sad day. The one department where Michael doesn't eat everything I can make as fast as I can make it is sweets - he just doesn't like them that much (I know, WHAT?!?) so I have to find other places to get rid of them. Anyone want to come over for some? :)

Working - you know that little thing I get paid to do 40 hours a week. It's been a struggle in itself as I adjust to my 4th boss in a little over a year that I've been there. We lost the director of the department just a couple of months after I started and had two "temporary" replacements and have finally hired the new one. It's been interesting (like how getting a root canal is interesting) adapting to her style and work habits. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, I guess.

Changing my Name - aye karumba. People always told me what a pain it is to change your name when you get married. "Pain" is an understatement. I think I've finally got all but a couple of things done. For any of you girls out there getting engaged or married, I made a list as I went along of everything I had to change and I'll be happy to share it! From drivers license and social secruity to CPA stuff to banking to health insurance it all had to change!

Smiling - I have hesitated to blog since we got married because I didn't want to come across as one of those sappy "my life is perfect" bloggers. But, right now, my life is pretty close to perfect! Marriage has been even more of a blessing than I could have ever guessed. It's so fun to have your best friend around all the time. I also love the feeling of forever-ness. It's very soothing. (for all of you that have been married many years and are gagging/eyerolling or throwing something at your screen, I'm sorry - give me my honeymoon time!) :)

So that's my wordy (no pictures, sorry) update. I started this blog as a way to talk to the world while I lived in Germany, but now it serves as more of a diary of my thoughts and goings on - hopefully I can look back some day and smile when I think of these first two months of OUR big adventure!

My Weekend

Here is a synopsis of my weekend in one picture. We had my cousin AJ up to visit - he's 7 and so sweet and sooooo full of energy and questions(!). He was Michael's permanent appendage all weekend - it was cute watching them. I think if Michael would have stopped quick, AJ would have bumped into his rump. :)

This was us at the dental section of the kid's museum of nature and science.

Update on the Vase Violation

Well I decided to oblige the aesthetic police squad and get some flowers. They are fall colors but fall is around the corner (and they were on sale at Michael's)!

I have to admit - they don't look all that bad. :)

You Can't Make This Up

So occasionally in life things happen to you that you just can't quite believe - and you need to tell someone. So here goes one of them....

This week we received a call from our landlord that the home owners association had filed a written complaint against us for an "Aesthetic Violation".

Evidently the large ceramic vases (that match the brick) that we have on our balcony out the front of our townhouse are considered an "eye sore" since they don't have any plants or greenery in them and we've been asked to either remove them or put something in them. REALLY?!?!

I'm halfway tempted to write them back and tell them that those vases contain the ashes of some relative that requested to have a view off my balcony. I wonder what they'd say to that! :)

So, here's the picture of the offending vases:

(in case you are wondering the white thing is a flag holder made of PVC pipe - that was there when we moved in - to me that's more aesthetically unpleasing than the vases!)

You can't tell in these pictures but there is a huge oak tree in the front yard with a beautifully landscaped yard around it - so this is really not noticable when you drive by - or even walk by.

Anyway, such is life!

The Wedding Story

My Wedding Story....

See below for the story behind this one!

My great grandmother Dixie's brooch that I placed on my bouquet.

The world's longest staircase when you are wearing a dress that weighs 15 pounds without you in it and heels!

The "both sides" parent shot

The infamous toast

The End!

The story behind the Wyatt Earp looking shot. The boys did skeet shooting the day of the wedding and someone popped off during the guy's pictures and said they should get the guns out for the pictures. Well the photographer (guess he has an eye for these things) got excited about doing something different so they hauled out the guns and voila! (Michael said Matt checked the chambers like 10 times to make sure they were empty before he took this picture - good thing!)

Blog Love

I'm really feeling the blog love from my friends! Check out all these posts about my wedding. Cool to hear it from different perspectives!

Matron of Honor

Church Friend

College Friend

Great Gal Pal

Funny Guy

Travel Buddy