home

My trip to Florida was awesome!  It was nice to spend time with my parents and siblings eating, goofing off, eating, beaching, eating, and laughing.  However.  Because of the weather our flight home was interrupted, re-routed, cancelled, rescheduled, and thrice-delayed, resulting in a 20 hour wait.  My sister and I spent way too much time in the Killeen-Fort Hood military airport where apparently this happened but Eric decided to keep mum about it until we were safely home.  We were also generously offered an overnight stay at the Bates Motel single-star Fort Hood LaQuinta Inn where probably more murders happened (I asked them, anyway), and we requested 3 different rooms because 1) the first room was uber-dirty, 2) the second room's door was ajar and let's face it, that's where killers lurk, and 3) because we are divas. 

But back to the trip: Eric is a prince for encouraging me to go, to spend several days away from him and the kids so that I could relax, take a break, and have fun with my family.  I decided NOT to miss him and the kids like crazy and instead fully enjoyed the trip as to not do his awesomeness a disservice by being miserable the whole time.  My oldest sister and I took a flight while the rest of the family drove and I am forever grateful for her company. 

What I looked forward to the most was the thought of sitting on the beach for hours on end with nothing but a book, a chair, and the sound of the ocean, as well as the prospect of getting superfat on seafood.  But what I ended up enjoying the most (besides the crab cakes and fried green tomatoes) was sitting around the patio table with them each morning and evening, listening to my parents share stories from their past and engaging in lots and lots of small, small-ish, and not-so-small talk.  I was my usual hilarious self and they all ate it up like candy.  Go ahead and ask them, they couldn't get enough of me!  They made a nickname for me and everything.

What I will not miss is 4 uninterrupted days of countless opportunities to take what we call "sister pictures."  OMG I never want to take another "sister picture" again, as our vanity has reached new extremes and we just might explode from our own awesomeness.  Becki and Allie, it's a good thing you weren't there as your prettiness would've killed us all.  We'll photoshop you into the photos, don't worry.


omgsisterpicture!

meal list thursday

As you're aware by now, I tend to make my meal list for the upcoming week each Thursday, usually after daydreaming during meetings and/or pestering Eric mercilessly for new ideas.  Mind you, I have a database (or something like it), but my mind still runs blank each week:

The other night I asked him if he had any ideas for this week's meal list.  To which he replied, "Yeah, actually I came across this new blog that posts new meals every week.  You may have heard of it.  It's called www.thenonsensationalist.blogspot.com."

Touché.


Here is this week's meal list:

Italian Roasted Sausage and Squash (borrowed from BHG)
Meatball Subs and Salad
Pasta Con Broccoli

Recipes, here.  Remember, these recipes will make enough of each meal to last for two dinners!

meal list thursday & more

Do you ever have one of those moments where you have this nagging feeling that you screwed up royally on something and there's nothing you can do to remedy the situation?  Maybe you have felt like someone's perception of you was totally off-base, but now you're wondering if maybe your perception of that person is totally off and you're all, "Ohcrap, am I the one who's in the wrong here?" 


Sometimes I feel this tug-and-pull in life, my outlook shuttling back and forth between authenticity and cynicism, sympathy and apathy, patience and frustration.  One minute I am near tears thinking about all of the blessings in my life, the beauty in my children's faces, how I see God in all of the tiny and perfect details in the world around me.  Then literally the next minute I find myself thinking: "So-and-so's attitude is totally annoying and why the H can't they see how RUDE they are being?!?  As-freaking-IF!" 


I think I am having one of those weeks.  And what I am trying to make myself remember this time is to not dust off my pants, throw my hands in the air and say, "Ah well, lesson learned, I'll move on now." Then five minutes later forget the lesson because A) I was interrupted by my child, B) some ridiculous driver on the highway is actin' a fool, or C) there is a wicked song playing on KDHX right now. 


Luckily, I'm hopping a plane come Saturday and parking my butt on the beach for 4 days, sans hubby and kids.  I think it'll be a great opportunity rest my brain, eyes, and bones, and catch up on "me" time.  (As if FBing for 2 hrs/night doesn't count as "me" time.)  At any rate, I'm looking forward to backing out of the rat race for a few days, disconnecting myself from the day-to-day, and hopefully reflecting on a few things as well, like figuring out how to get off my dang high horse.  In between reading, tanning, shopping, and parasailing, obviously.


At any rate, I realize that this is a bit heavy-handed for a weeknight, so I'll stop being a buzzkill.  Please return next week for regularly scheduled hilarity.  Y'all are awesome for listening.  Here is this week's menu:


Pizza with Bacon, Tomatoes, Spinach, and Mushrooms
Grilled Veggie Sandwiches and Sweet Potato Fries
Chili Mac (I don't care if it's 90 degrees outside, I DIG chili)


Recipes, here.

what husband sows, wife shall reap

My husband rocks.  He rocks because:  I talk, and he listens.  I point, and he buys.  I pick, and he plants. I'm selfish, and he's amazing.  I'm ugly, and he is nice looking.

But for purposes of this post, we'll stick with gardening.  Check it out, yo!  Seven different kinds of tomatoes!  Three varieties of peppers!  Sweet onion, basil, spinach, And More! 

We (he) started gardening a few years ago, and each year is a learning experience.  We've learned not to overcrowd the beds and we've set more realistic expectations on the fruits of our labor, i.e., one tomato plant is NOT going to provide enough fruit to save for the winter and save us hundreds off our grocery bill.  Especially because squirrels eat flipping EVERYTHING.  I keep telling Eric he needs to wrap each of the beds in chicken wire to keep the squirrels out but every year he blows me off.  I swear if any God-blessed squirrels eat my tomatoes this year I'm going to L-O-S-E it.

Here are our fun little raised garden beds.  Pay no mind to the leaves in the beds or the uncut grass.  Priorities, people.  We also got a couple of large galvanized tubs from Eric's grandmother's auction which we'll use to plant annuals and herbs.  They are just the thing I've wanted for our patio.  (Tangent: the tubs are awesome and I kind of think it would be cute to put a baby in one and take its picture.  Not to get all Anne Geddes on you, because you know, I would not be so contrived as to put a lettuce leaf on its head or anything.  Now gimme your baby.)

My main objective here to reap such a magnitude of tomatoes that I would then be forced to learn how to can and preserve them and horde them under my bed for late night snax.  But that never happens because I eat them up the day I pull them off the vine.  Have I mentioned I luuuuuuuv tomatoes?

I can't wait until our garden grows!  Come on, Summer!

meal list thursday

...posted on a Friday.  Sorry, y'all. 

I have never been so happy for a week to end.  It wasn't awful or stressful in any way, but it has been busy and I am just tired.  It seems like every night is committed to one shenanigan or the other: running, gardening, laundry night, guitar practice, etc.  It's been so busy, in fact, that I deemed it acceptable to skip HousecleaningThursday last week, and GroceryStoreFriday tonight.  It's practically unheard of.  However, I am thankful that we have the ability to fit our hobbies into our schedules and still have time to live the dream.  So I'll stop squawking.

The other night I said to Eric in a bout of mid-evening exhaustion that I want nothing more than to have his babies, cook his dinner, and clean his house.  He said, "Is that it?"  No, it's not.  I definitely would want to include naps and ice cream, too.  Being a SAHM would be the sweetest gig ever. 

Man, if I stayed home I would be all:

But I would tell Eric I would be:

But in reality it would probably be something more like:

So I guess I better stick with what I got for the time being.  Without further adieu, the menu:

Spicy Caprese Pasta
Top Sirloin Steak, Sweet Potatoes and Asparagus
Bleu Cheese Turkey Burgers with Oven Fries

Recipes, here.

mustard greens: fail

mommy couldn't choke it down either.

meal list thursday

This week we had to keep it simple, and keep it quick.  We have a busy weekend and several commitments throughout the week, and I created my meal plan accordingly.  I'll admit the list is a bit sausage-heavy, but that's how I roll sometimes.  Besides, we already had dogs & brats in the freezer (hotdogs and bratwurst, not domestic animals and snotty children) from last week when Eric played grillmaster at a corporate fundraiser. 

Keep in mind, these recipes list quantities which will make enough food for 2 nights' worth of dinners if you're cooking for yourself, your partner, and/or have 1-2 small kids. 

Recipes, here.

Campfire Delite (lame name, awesome dish)
Hotdogs, Brats, and Salad (I hope you're not expecting an actual recipe for this)
Crockpot Beef Stew

a weekend in the country II

We headed to the country this past weekend for our second trip in a month, this time to attend Eric’s grandmother’s estate auction.  Many family members came in from various parts of the country to attend, and Eric’s brother also made it in from Arkansas(!!!!!).  It was an event we weren’t going to miss, come hell or high water.  (As it turned out we definitely had water, thanks to major flooding in the southern part of the state.) 

The house was auctioned off to a sweet young couple and the land broken into separate lots and sold.  A lifetime of housewares, furniture, tools, and treasures which will hopefully bring happiness to someone else’s life.  It was a bittersweet day for most of the family, myself included. 

The farm was in his family for 75 years, and on this farm Eric spent his upbringing fishing, camping, hunting, and bonding with his siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.  I remember asking Eric once if he had ever been a boy scout as a child.  He looked at me and said, “Are you kidding?  I lived my whole life as a boy scout.  I didn’t have to join them.”  I think that statement sums things up nicely.

I’m a little sad that we won’t see the house and farm again, and I’m sad that our kids will never fish in their great-grandfather’s pond.  But I suppose that’s why work so hard to instill memories while we have the chance, and create new ones when we don’t.

Here is our weekend, in photos:

watching her dad and uncle play wiffleball

this picture just makes me laugh a little.

he sat here for the longest time examining a dead beetle.  "It's so squashy."

any guess as to what this is?  hint: it's not a dressmaker's mannequin.

this one's for you, Bud Aaron.