Recipe Poll

Here is the poll as promised. Vote away!

Oh and special thanks to all the BATW people and fellow military spouses that have stopped by and showed their concern for us facing the upcoming hurricane. I appreciate it so much!

Bracing Ourselves

Well, it appears Gustav is well on his way to hitting us. Thank goodness we aren't closer to the coast, I don't know how I would handle 145+ winds. Oh that's right, I wouldn't because I'd be gone. From the maps it appears we are going to experience Gustav as a Catergory 1 hurricane in our area, which still comes with winds of 73-96 mph. No walk in the park folks! Sean and I have been preparing the best we can for what it looks to be a rough ride.

We've stocked up on water, food, car is full of gas, although we still need to get a few extra cans of gas, all our clothes are washed, extra ice for the cooler, our devices like my camera are charged or charging. My grandma is frantic I get out of here, but I told her I'm not leaving now and having to deal with the traffic. I'm just not going to do it.

The news has been running alerts at the bottom since last night advising us schools will be shut down in 30 parishes for Tuesday and Wednesday and basically telling us all to brace ourselves for the upcoming storm. It's so sunny and warm here right now you'd never guess there is a hurricane lurking on the horizon.

Having done what we need to do, Sean and I will be going out for Chinese today and then taking in a movie. I'm sure that's the last of the fun times we'll be having for awhile if the electricity goes out for as long around here as it did with Rita.

I'll be posting the poll for the names of the recipe blog later today so everyone can begin voting. I think with the upcoming storm I might be getting a later start on this blog, but I'm hoping not.

I'll keep you girls updated!

Friday Fun Questions, Volume 4

Well, things around here are getting pretty crazy. Yesterday on-post there were long lines at the gas pumps and after going to Wal-Mart last night with my friend Lauren I realized people around here are pretty much already in panic mode.

I just got some canned items, a few candles and chips, granola bars, etc.

There were hardly any batteries left, no flashlights, no lanterns and no bottled water to be found. I've never seen anything like this in my life!

As of today this is where they are predicting the storm to go:



If it follows that path then we are in for a rough week next week.

Now down to the fun part of the day. Fun Friday Questions!

1. Most unusual job you have had?

2. Describe yourself in three words

3. What's your signature scent?

4. What's a fun family tradition you have?

5. Anything special your hometown is known for?

My answers:

1. I picked grapes for a vineyard one summer. It was hot, tiring work, but it was fun and taste-testing the different kinds of grapes was really fun.

2. Intelligent, bubbly, funny

3. I love to wear Armani Code, I think it's my favorite and I guess that would make it my signature scent.

4. One tradition I love is on Christmas Eve we make all kinds of snacks at my parents home. Bacon wrapped water chestnuts, Mexican pinwheels, Carmel Bars, boiled shrimp, sauteed mushrooms and eat them while we watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. We've done this for a really long time and I love it!

5. My hometown of Bartlesville, OK is where Phillips 66 was headquartered for a long time. We also have the only skyscraper designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It's called Price Tower.



I can't wait to hear your answers and if anyone wants to suggest questions for Friday Fun Questions then just email them to me.

Fall Fashion

So, as we all know I have a really unhealthy addiction to Forever 21. I found two things that I know are going to have to make it into my already overstuffed closet.

Exhibit A:



Exhibit B:


I'm not really a fan of hats, but this cloche hat is too cute. I have a big head though and so I'm wondering if it would look good on me.

I'm also digging on some of the sweaters on that site. However, I'm getting ready to buy a new, expensive camera, SO I know I can't be buying stuff from there right now. After I get my camera paid for, yes. Until then, no.

Oh..and I just had to mention this new website I found. EyesLipsface.com. They have such good deals on makeup. I'm talking $1! Now, I wouldn't buy my foundation there, I use PUR or Bare Minerals, but for nails and lips, I think it's a steal!

Recipes, Hurricanes and Movies

First of all this morning I'd like to thank everyone who weighed in on my makeup dilemmas. All the advice was much appreciated and I'm going to be looking into buying some of the products you mentioned soon. What would I do without you ladies?

Ok, as far as an update on the recipe blog. I've had several people volunteer to help in one way or another, so I really appreciate you ladies doing that! As soon as we get a name chosen I'll be making the account and then Emily has volunteered to do a template for us, so that will help out a lot. I'll also be setting up an email account so that if you don't want to put the recipes in the blog yourself, you can email them to us and we'll put them in for you. I'm still trying to decide the best way to catergorize the recipes. I wasn't sure whether to do it traditionally as in appetizer, main course, dessert, etc. Or do it by the author's blogger name. What do you ladies think?

Other than that I just need a few more suggestions for names and then I'll be putting up a poll for that. I think it's safe to say we should have this blog up and running in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully....

In other news, everyone it seems in Louisiana is watching Gustav and just where it plans on going. The news around here is filled with predictions of where it will track to and New Orleans news is abuzz with evacuation plans. Sean told me last night there is word that if it hits somewhere near here and is bad enough that his unit will be sent out. For some reason during Rita and Katrina units from Ft. Polk weren't sent. Odd is it not? They were 5 hours away from New Orleans, yet the 82nd was sent in. I'll never understand our government and how it works. However, I'm actually glad that we decided not to go on that Elvis cruise that I tried to convince Sean to go on. Looks like now with this hurricane it would have been cancelled anyway.

Anyway, not much else on the agenda today. Sean has CQ duty tonight from 5:30 until 6:30 tomorrow morning, so it will just be another quiet night for Boomer and I. I am going to the gym tonight since I've neglected to go the past few evenings. I've been bad about going lately, I'm not sure what my problem is. I'm never going to lose those 10 more lbs by the end of October if I don't get with the program ASAP! I say that and then I go and eat a mini-country ice cream cone for a mid-morning snack. Guess I'm hopeless!

Anyone have any good suggestions for movies they've seen lately? It doesn't have to be a new release, but I'd like some more movies to add to my Netflix list. I have a bout 20 some on there right now, but I'd like some more good suggestions. I prefer comedies and I'm not really a fan of horror, if that helps any!

Gustav on his way?

I've already posted once today, so see the next post down if you haven't already read my important annoucement regarding the military recipe blog that I'm going to attempt to start.

It appears as if Hurricane Gustav might be headed in my direction. I'm not too worried about it since I'm so far inland, but I of course don't really want it to hit Louisiana at all. I told Sean that if it hits New Orleans that I'm going to be really mad because I've only been there once and didn't get to experience everything I wanted to see. My boss and co-worker already informed me that if heads this way they are leaving. I guess Hurricane Rita had some nasty effects around here last time and the parish was out of electricity for about a week. I told my mom today that I'm going to stay here no matter what, since I'm not concerned about my safety being way up here.

That's probably the most exciting thing going on around here right now. Sean and I went to the steakhouse last night, but there was no chicken fried steak to be found! How is that possible? So, instead I settled for a grilled chicken salad and some of their heavenly rolls. I think I ate about 2.5 rolls. You can't understand just how good they are until you bite into one. Makes my mouth water just thinking about them.

Sean has a jump today. He's jumped a lot in the last few months. Last year he only jumped maybe four times. I told him to text me as soon as he landed to tell me he's safe. The last few times he's jumped it's been in full combat gear and his gun came up and hit him in the head knocking him unconcious. I consider that to be lucky though since almost everytime they jump at least one person ends up with a concussion or with something broken. They are having a family day next Friday when spouses can watch them jump, but I don't think Sean is doing that one. I'm kind of disappointed, I've never seen him jump and I think it would be a neat experience.

Ok, I've got a few questions for all you make-up gurus out there.

Question 1: Is there a good concealer you've found to combat under eye-circles? I've tried a ton of things. Foundation with powder on top. A few different concealers, so far nothing really hides my under-eye circles.

Question 2: How do you keep your eyeliner from running and creating raccoon eyes? No matter what I do I always end up with this in the mid-morning. I've tried putting powder under my lower lids to keep my eyeliner from running, I've tried different kinds of eyeliner and so far nothing has worked. I prefer to use a pencil, as I've tried liquid eyeliner and not had good results.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Important Announcement

OK ladies, it looks as though I am going to be making separate blog for all of our recipes to be housed at and hopefully in the near future we can make them all into a big cookbook.

Here's what I've decided so far. As Lindsay suggested, I'm going to make it a multi-user blog so others can get into the blog and edit, add recipes, etc. That way you won't have to wait for me to do that.

Next, I'm not limiting this to just spouses, if you are a military girlfriend,sister, mom, fiance you are welcome to contribute. The more recipes the better!

Also I'd like to have a catchy name for the blog. I think we should take suggestions and then perhaps have a vote on it.

I think this one website is going to be so much better than having to go back and look through past posts and archives trying to find delicious recipes that you girls have posted over the last few months and in some cases years.

So, start gathering the recipes you want to contribute and start thinking of a catchy name for this website! Also if anyone wants to help setting up the blog I'd be grateful!

True Southern Girl?

Whew...this day has gone by fast!

I guess today has seemed shorter because I didn't come in until 10:30 at work, due to me taking Boomer to his vet appointment today. He's fine, he just had a little bump on his belly that we were concerned about and wanted to get checked out. The vet told me it was nothing to worry about, just kind of a leftover of his navel cord. I wasn't aware dogs had those, but whatever. I got him some medicine too, since he was running out of his heartworm and flea meds. Overall he was a good boy. He growled a bit at the vet when she tried to touch him and when she stuck the thermometer in somewhere he didn't want it, but I kind of expected that.

You know, I was noticing today how many people that are military spouse bloggers have such wonderful recipes on their websites. I mentioned this to Army Doctor's Wife after reading her delish recipe for the cream cheese brick. Seriously ladies I see how many of you are great cooks, we should seriously put together a cookbook! Think about that and get back to me.

I've decided in the last few years that I must not be a true southern gal. Yes, I consider Oklahoma to be a Southern state. Anyway, why you ask am I not a true southern gal? Well, most of it has to do with food. I don't like gravy. Never have. Even as a baby I hated it. True southerns love gravy. On mashed potatoes, on biscuits, on chicken fried steak. Blech. I also don't like iced tea. Actually the only tea I drink is Tazo iced chai tea from Starbucks. Tea tastes like dirty water to me. Another southern staple for a picnic or get-togethers is watermelon. Again...I hate watermelon. I actually don't like any kind of melon. The flavor just isn't there for me. There are some southern favorites I really love. Fried chicken (white meat only) fried okra, ok basically anything fried (even pickles) chicken fried steak...are we noticing a trend here? Amazingly though I love all the traditional Louisiana favorites. Maybe I'm a true Cajun at heart? Nothing like some etouffee or some jambalaya. Both are delish in my book!

Today I saw something that really bothers me. Women who are pregnant that smoke. I mean, that really bothers me and honestly it's really hard for me not to say anything. There are times when Sean and I go out to the bar and there are pregnant women there just inhaling all the smoke. I'm not trying to judge anyone who has done that, but I could never do that. I don't even want people who smoke around me when I'm pregnant. Several of Sean's friends wives smoked during most if not all of their pregnancy. I just can't understand why women continue to do it. If you still want to smoke can you not put it off for 9 months?

Anyway, Sean and I are craving some chicken friend steak tonight so instead of me laboring over a hot stove, I think we're going to go to the local steakhouse and enjoy some fatty food. Do you know how long it's been since I've had a good chicken fried steak? Too long my friends, too long.

Ooh la...my husband's back!

I just wanted to thank everyone for their concern and ideas of what might have been wrong with me. I'm thinking that it was either vertigo or low blood sugar. I've never experienced vertigo, but reading the symptoms of it online makes me believe that might indeed have been it. I've been fine ever since that morning, but if it happens again I will definetly be having the doctor check it out.

Other than that my weekend was pretty good, although slightly boring. Sean didn't get home from Mississippi until about 6:30 last night, but boy were Boomer and I glad to have him home! Luckily for him he has the day off today so he can rest and relax and catch up on his sleep.

I tried to keep myself busy this weekend by cleaning, taking Boomer for walks and other things. I wanted to watch Sex and the City Season 2 on Saturday night, but when I opened it I realized that it had two disc twos in it and no disc one, so I had to go to Wal-Mart Sunday and get that taken care of. They didn't have any seasons in stock, but they gave me a giftcard for the full amount.

It's cloudy here today, which I'm guessing is a result of Fay aftermath. It's not raining here, but who knows? I guess it could later today.

I got an email from one of my FRG contact women today about meeting to discuss upcoming events and also about the fact that due to a rotation for JRTC, the men will not be having a four day Thanksgiving holiday. They will just be having Thanksgiving day off. Needless to say I'm a tad bit disappointed. The plan was to go to Oklahoma for both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year since we will be moving soon. I still want to go and see my family, but I don't want to leave Sean here by himself for the Thanksgiving holiday. Perhaps I'll spend Thanksgiving day here and then go home for the next few days. This rotation though is supposed to be extend well into the first week of December, so I'm a little bit iffy about that. Sean was planning on starting clearing way before that, so I guess we'll see how that goes.

Anyway, back to the FRG meeting. It's on a Thursday at 10:00 a.m. I'd really like to go since quite honestly our FRG never does anything. They've had one meeting since I've been here and I was the only one to attend, but I'm not going on a weekday in the morning. They are also having our battalion family day on a Friday. My question is why cannot they not have something like that on a weekend. I'd like to go, but I'm not sure I want to take off a day of work for it. I told Sean though if he really wants to go then I'll take off half a day, I'm not sure how jazzed he is about going though. I'd really like to go though and meet people I haven't met, I like people being able to put a face to "Payne's wife".

Well, I hope everyone has an enjoyable Monday!

My Head is Spinning

I woke up Saturday morning bright and early, unfortunately for me I was also very dizzy and naseous. I've never been more dizzy in my life. I got up to let Boomer out and thought I was going to have to sit down in the kitchen, I also sat in front of the toilet for quite awhile thinking I was going to throw up. Even when I laid in bed, I had to lay on my right side or else the room kept on spinning. Needless to say I was scared.

I've never experienced dizziness like that. I texted Sean and I could tell he was worried about me. He kept telling me to go to the emergency room, but I didn't really think there was anything they could do for me.

I'm not sure what caused this. I know dizziness and naseua are both side effects of my birth control, but this is the fifth month I've been on it, I couldn't imagine that those effects would just now be kicking in. I called my mom and told her about it and she said my dad and grandma have experienced dizzy spells like that. I guess the other option was that something was up with my inner-ear, but I have no infection or anything like that in it, so I'm actually clueless as to what caused it.

I ended up laying around most of yesterday, even though I did clean a bit. I just didn't feel like myself. I really needed to go to the gym, but the thought of me getting dizzy on a treadmill and injurying myself was less than appealing.

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? I am happy to report that today when I woke up there was no dizziness.

A New Picture

I took some new pictures tonight since I was bored and I also needed some new pics for my Facebook and MySpace profiles.

I think this is my favorite

Friday Fun Questions, Volume 3

So before we get to the questions I have to share a small frustration. The second part of the month is when we pay most of our bills, I looked at our bank account today and noticed after paying most of the bills we are getting down to small digits in our bank account. This wouldn't be such a problem if there weren't a couple of people that owed us money. Sean loaned two of his friends some money for a grand total of $110. Granted, I appreciate the fact he's a generous guy, but we aren't in any sort of position to loan people that much money, especially since it's been several weeks and we have yet to be paid back. I finally told him today that when he gets back from Mississippi, that he HAD to collect the money. No ifs, ands or buts. Anyone else have any issues with their SO's doing that?

Ok, but down to the fun part of the day. Friday fun questions! I'm eager to read your responses.

1. What is your earliest memory?

2. What is your ancestry?

3. Who has been the biggest influence in your life?

4. Favorite meal/dish to cook/bake?

5. If you could go back to a particular period in history what would it be and why?

My answers:

1. One of my earliest memories would be of a huge, scary goat that our neighbors had. It would come into our pasture and chase our cows and I remember being terrified of it. This was no normal goat either, I'm serious when I say it was the size of a cow.

2. I'm German, Native American and Norweigan. My great-great grandma came to America from Norway when she was 6.

3. Biggest influence in my life would be my mom. I would not be where I am today if it hadn't been for her. She's a very honorable woman I hope to be the kind of mom someday that she was to me.

4. My favorite dish to make is potato casserole. It's a family favorite. My mom makes it for holidays and Sean loves to eat it too and often requests I make it. It's easy and delicious.

5. If I could go back in time I think it would be neat to go back to the 1800's. Especially when people were moving across the nation on the Oregon Trail. I would have loved to have seen the huge prairies with nothing but the sky and the grass.

What a Morning!

This did not start off being a good morning at all! Today was the day I was taking my car to the dealership for them to investigate the source of the odd noise my car has been making.

I get there bright and early around 8:15, the mechanic decides to ride around with me to listen to the noise. He proceeds to tell me the entire time on this drive that he hears nothing but normal engine noises. Ok..I'm hearing the sound loud and clear, it's NOT normal engine noises!

I've drove my car for two years, I know when it's making an unusual sound, I'm not a complete idiot. Even Sean noticed the noise when it first started making it.

We go back to the dealership and the shop manager proceeds to tell me that the mechanic didn't hear anything out of the ordinary, blah blah blah, maybe I need to get my oil changed.

WHATEVER! I finally just told him to forget it and drove to work. I was so frustrated I called Sean and my mom in tears. I could tell the dealership thought I was stupid for bringing it in there, which is what really burnt me up. Just because you are too stupid to hear the noise doesn't mean there's not anything wrong.

Thank goodness I was the only one at the office today so nobody could see my mascara streaked face!

I do feel a little bit better though. I got an award today from Small Town Louisiana Girl which totally made my day. It's the first blogging award I've ever gotten.



I'm thinking Arby's for lunch. There's nothing like a roast beef sandwhich with a cold Pepsi to make the day better!

Tough Question

My best friend and I were talking today about this and I wanted to know your thoughts.

Would you want your son to be in the military? Why or why not?

On one hand I do, it's an honor, you are serving your country. I think it's a very honorable profession.

On the other hand I worry about Sean and how his body is already broken down more than it should be for a man his age, mostly because of his training and his jumps he does. Also I worry now about future deployments. Will we still be fighting a large, ongoing war when my sons are old enough to be in the military? Can I handle that many more years of worry? Selfishly I want to say no.

I'm on the fence though. Ultimately it wouldn't be up to me or Sean. It would be up to my child.

Let's hear your thoughts ladies!

Just the Two of Us

Well it looks as though Sean will be gone until Sunday. He's on funeral detail and they are doing the funeral of a soldier who happens to be with the 101st out of Ft. Campbell. So, Sean and his fellow funeral detail people left today for Mississippi (not sure on the exact location) to do the funeral. This is the first young soldier they've had to do, the rest of been older gentlemen. Actually in the last couple of weeks they've done the funerals for several WWII vets. Yesterday they did one for a soldier that had been at the Battle of the Bulge. I am very interested in WWII and I think those men have such a story to tell.

Anyway, enough of the depressing talk.

Last night I was taking Boomer for a walk down to the mailboxes. He LOVES walks. As soon as I get the leash he begins jumping around and runs to me to attach it to his collar. So we are heading back from the mailboxes and we happen upon one of our neighbors down the street who has 2 Min-Pins. One is about Boomers size and the other is just a puppy. He had the puppy on a leash and it was darling! He was so little! Probably 7 inches long at the most. We chatted about the dog while the puppy tried to play with Boomer. Boomer wasn't having any of it though. He seemed wary of this little pup. I guess the puppy is 12 weeks old, but they are wanting to sell it. I didn't inquire why, but I have to say I'm curious as to why they are selling him after only having him for about 6 weeks. I'm not going to lie. I REALLY want this little dog, but he's $300. Sure we could afford him, but I can't justify spending that on a dog. Especially since I don't think he's fixed yet and I'm not sure about the micro-chipping, which obviously is going to cost a chunk. He was just too cute though! I told Sean about the puppy as soon as we got home, but he seemed unmoved to the cuteness factor of this particular dog. He loves Boomer, but I'm not sure he's ready for another naughty addition to our family. Guess we shall see.

It's been really rainy here the last few days. Not that I'm complaining. I'll take cooler weather over the heat anyday. It just seems so weird for August. Boomer is not a fan of the rain though. Perhaps I should look into buying him a doggie raincoat? Our family Chihuahua used to have one because he hated the rain too.

I have to take our car in tomorrow to the repair shop. I think it's just something minor that is wrong with it, but there's a $40 diagnostic fee from the very start! The plan was just to have Sean's mechanically inclined friend take a look at it, but he's on funeral detail with Sean and I didn't want to run the chance of something happening to it while they were gone and me being without a car, so I decided to buck up and just shell out the money for the dealership to look at it. Let's hope it doesn't cost me too much!

Shrimp Festival Adventure

So....Saturday I was up bright and early for the highly anticipated shrimp festival that I've been talking about since I found out about it back in February. Sean wasn't quite as thrilled to get up early since he'd gotten in from the field in the early a.m. He was a sport though and got ready to go without much prodding from yours truly.

We start out on the Great Shrimp Journey and it takes us about 3 hours to get to Delcambre. We had to deal with idiot drivers, lots of heavy rain and a wrong turn or two before we make it there.

I'm envisioning the shrimp festival to be a buffet of my favorite shrimp dishes, I literally have the voice of Bubba from Forrest Gump in my mind naming things off: shrimp creole, fried shrimp, boiled shrimp, shrimp jambalaya. Shrimp is obviously a favorite of mine. My immediate family loves it, in fact, at almost every holiday we have a big platter of boiled shrimp and it's gone within no time.

Imagine my disappointment when walking around the festival and seeing none of this great spectacle that I'd imagined in my mind for the past six months. It was a collection of kiddie rides/ midway games, a few local bands, some beer tents and then a large pavillion with boothes underneath it selling various shrimp dishes. I'll give them the fact they had boiled shrimp, shrimp jambalaya, shrimp po' boys and a few others, but not nearly what I expected. I was all about getting me some boiled shrimp until I realize they didn't serve it with cocktail sauce. Instead it was served with ketchup. Ketchup! Ok...I'm sorry shrimp unless fried cannot be enjoyed with ketchup. I require coctail sauce. So I immediately nixed the idea of eating boiled shrimp. Instead I settled on some jambalya and a cold pina colada that wasn't half bad. Seeing the shrimp boats was neat though. I even got a picture of one.



Sean was a good sport about driving all that way for really not much to do and we only stayed about an hour before we high-tailed it out of there (not without my souviner t-shirt though!)

We decided to head back up I-49 to Alexandria where we did some shopping and ate at an Applebees. It wasn't the perfect day I thought it would be, but any day that I get to hang out with Sean is pretty superb in my book.

I was thinking about hitting the Natchitoches Meat Pie Festival in September, but after this festival experience I may have to think twice....

Preserving Memories

I first of all would like to apologize any of the Blog Around the World visitors that are stopping by today. I feel like a bad hostess who didn't clean her house! I completely forgot about Louisiana being spotlighted today and didn't even write a fresh post for everyone to check out. So..I apologize.

Anyway, there is a website that I read about in the New York Times that you must check out if you have masses of old photos sitting around that you'd love to have on your computer, but just can't find the time to scan them or like me, you just don't want to take the time to scan them.

There is a service now that does all of that for you! ScanMyPhotos.com will scan 1,000 photos for $50.00 for you and put it on a disk for you. The turn-around time on the service is supposed to be very quick. They'll even scan negatives, slides, etc. for you, although the pricing is different on that. I'm really thinking of getting that done to my pictures before I move in a few months. I'd love to have all my loose photos on a disk so I can have them on my computer rather than just laying in my desk drawer. I told my mom about it this weekend and she was just as excited as I was. We have TONS of pictures at home that I know she'd really like to be scanned.

So if you are like my family and have tons of photos lying around, do yourself a favor and check out the website. It's my find of the year!

Friday Fun Questions, Volume 2

Ok everyone, time for Friday Fun Questions again! I've got five new questions for you all to answer.

1. What is your worst habit?

2. If you could have any gift/ability/talent what would it be?

3. Who is your favorite literary character?

4. When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up?

5. What is a goal you have for yourself this year?

My answers:

1. Worst habit is trying on clothes and then leaving them all over the floor/dresser/bed.
2.I'd choose to be able to sing and to be able to sew. I can do neither.
3. Favorite literary character is going to have to be Nancy Drew. She was smart, pretty, had great friends and got to travel all over!
4. I wanted to be a trapeze girl for the circus.
5. My goal this year is to lose 10-12 more lbs.

Sweet Revenge

So, yesterday Sean picked me up from work, we get home, decide we are going straight to the gym to work out before dinner. Boomer is not happy with this. Even though Sean had been home with him for a couple of hours he wanted attention NOW! The fact we were leaving didn't sit well with him. When we got home I knew there would be something torn up as retalition on his part. Sure enough we get home from the gym, not even an hour later and he's clearly shown his displeasure with us. Bathroom trash torn up, my shoe box torn to shreds, my bedroom slippers drug out of the closet and wet from him chewing on them. The worst part was he somehow got the ornament that I was sending my friend off of my desk. Drug it out of the closed box, unwrapped the bubble wrap around it and proceeded to chew it up. Completely destroyed it. To say I was mad was an understatement. I was furious! He got several spankings and I made it well-known that I was not happy with him. He tried to make-up to me after that by coming to lay up by my neck and resting his head on my chest, he makes it very difficult to stay mad at him.

And to think Sean and I were considering last week whether to get another Min-Pin to be a companion for Boomer. Ha! No chance of that now! One naughty Min-Pin is enough! I cannot imagine two!



I was thinking this morning about books I read as a child and which ones were my favorite. One of my all time favorites was The Little House books. I really enjoyed all of them even though the books about Laura when she was younger were by far my favorite. This one was my very favorite.



My mom started off reading those books to me and by the time we got to that book I was reading ahead by myself, I know she was proud of me, but also a little sad I didn't need her to read to me anymore.

Here are some of my other favorites as a girl:

1. Nancy Drew
2. Trixie Belden
3. American Girl series
4. Little Women
5. Eight Cousins
6. I loved the abriged classics like Robinson Carusoe, Treasure Island, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
7. Island of Blue Dolphins
8. The Ramona series
9.Anne of Green Gables
10.Charlotte's Web

What were your favorites as a child?

No Wordless Wednesday for me today

I had every intention in participating in WWWAT today. I had decided to do the theme, A Different View, from the eyes of Boomer, our Min-Pin. I had my shots picked out of what I was going to do and then I just...forgot. I didn't remember until this morning around 7:00a.m. and by then it was too late.

I'm enjoying looking at all the participants though. Everyone is so creative! Head on over to American Mum's if you want to join in!

My best friend had her little boy yesterday around 12:30, he was over 8lbs. She said he has a full head of hair and has her husband's coloring. I've yet to see pics though. Today is her birthday, so I'm guessing the arrival of her little boy was a great birthday present.

I'm having a good day today, so in closing I'm going to share a funny picture from my collection.

One of my good friends went to Florida over spring break a few years ago and brought me back an alligator head and an alligator claw on a stick (sort of a backscratcher) A friend of mine were being silly with both and snapped this picture.



It's a family favorite. Hope it makes you smile.

Eating well and a small celebration.

I've been discussing nutrition off and on lately with various friends as there are a few of us who are trying to lose weight.

One of my friends was talking about how she was going to stick to her diet this week, but if she hadn't lost any weight she was cutting out all carbs, sugars and dairy.

Personally? I could never do that. I know a lot of carbs and sugar aren't good for your body, but I could never cut all of that out completley, especially not dairy. I love dairy, even when my body doesn't always take it that well. I'm slightly lactose-intolerant, so usually milk in the mornings doesn't sit too well with me.

I understand where my friend is coming from on losing weight. I had an incident happen earlier this year that finally pushed me to lose the extra weight I had. A doctor here on post point blank asked me if I had a problem with my weight and I had to admit I did. I wasn't happy where I was at that time and didn't feel comfortable with my body. He advised me to go low-carb, cut out dairy, but I tried it for a few days and couldn't do it. I realized I was never going to lose weight forcing myself on an eating plan that I couldn't handle. So, I looked into the low glycemic diet. It's honestly the best thing I've ever tried. I don't stick to it religiously, but I feel that everyone needs wiggle room. If I want to go eat Olive Garden or enjoy some mashed potatoes then I'm going to. I might have to make adjustments to the rest of my eating that day, but I don't like denying myself anything.

I started this new eating plan/more exercise kick back in March. I was 163 lbs that day at the doctor's office and today I am happy to report I am down to 145. I checked my BMI yesterday and according to it I'm no longer overweight. I still have about 10-12 lbs to go until I am down to my goal weight,but being able to wear things I haven't worn since my early college years is fantastic. When I went home last time my mom told me that's the skinnest she's seen me since high school. I'm still at a size 12 jean and I know I'll never be down to a 3/4, but I'm ok with that. My goal wasn't to be tiny, but to be in the best shape I could be.

I'm hoping that by the end of October I'll be down to my goal weight, that will put me at losing about 30 lbs in 7 months, which I think is a realistic goal for me. I'm more than ready to shock my relatives who haven't seen me since my wedding with the new me.

Coolsigns.net

Does anyone ever visit coolsigns.net? I have one of these on my MySpace profile and I think they are so fun!

Made with My Cool Signs.Net

Made with My Cool Signs.Net

Made with My Cool Signs.Net

Neat huh?

Ornaments

Although this weekend got off to a rough start, it ended well. I had a great time yesterday relaxing and just enjoying some quality time with Sean and Boomer. We made tons of food this weekend. Sean grilled chicken and corn yesterday and made some mashed potatos, I made green enchiladas on Saturday night and yesterday afternoon I made spinach dip. Sean is off work today and I think he's already ate most of the spinach dip, I told him he had to leave some for me!

Today is a big day for my best friend. She is going into the hospital tonight for her baby to be induced. To say I'm excited is an understatement! I feel so excited but also so nervous too. I can't wait until she has her little boy! I got her a very cute ornament on Saturday to commemorate the birth of her first baby. I can't wait to send it to her.

Speaking of ornaments, has anyone looked at the Hallmark Ornaments coming out this year? I looked at them online first and then went to Hallmark the other day and picked up my own copy of the Dreambook. Yesterday I sat on the couch while Sean was watching the Olympics, just marking the ornaments I wanted and ones I wanted to buy for others. There are so many cute ones this year!

There are two in particular that I would really like to have.

The first one is the second in a series, called Doorways Around the World. This year is Mexico, last year was Germany (which I picked up on Ebay yesterday)



I love the ornaments that light up and have sound clips. The Grinch one that I like does.



My mom has been getting my brother and I ornaments each year for Christmas for a long time.

This year I've already ordered an ornament for Sean. It's a little apron with grilling tools in the pockets and it says Grill Master on the front of the apron. I think it's a nice tradition to carry over from my family to ours.

So does anyone else have ornament traditions? Any series that you collect? Any that you can't pass up?

Friday Fun Time!

I'm so glad it's Friday! Today has been pretty busy at work, as I have been processing a bunch of new claims and lawsuits, but it's just my boss and I here today so he keeps to himself upstairs and I'm down here by myself.

Sean won't be coming home until tomorrow evening as he has a funeral to do in New Orleans tomorrow, so it will just be Boomer and I tonight and I'm sure after I go work out tonight we will just be veggin out in the bed.

Anyway, since it's Friday I thought I should make this post fun, so I'm going to do Faboulous Friday Questions!

Question 1: What's your fave comfort food?

Question 2: What's your favorite article of clothing you own?

Question 3: What's the best gift you ever gave/received?

Question 4: If you could pack your bags tonight and go anywhere (on a trip), where would you go?

Question 5: What are some things you collect?


My answers:

1. My Grandma's pumpkin pie and her mashed potatoes
2. My Oklahoma State University hoodie, it's so warm and goes perfect with jeans
3. Best gift I ever received would be a book of all of Ansel Adams photography, the best gift I ever gave was my vows to my husband(cheesey I know) but I did mean those fully.
4. I'd go to Greece! I think swimming in the beautiful water there right now sounds heavenly.
5. I collect vintage Barbies and Nancy Drew books as well as picture frames and postcards.

Who's next?

What's In a Name?

So after just realizing my last blog title made no sense whatsoever with an extra My at the front of it I'm extremely embarrassed. I graduated college and actually did quite well in English, I promise! Please excuse my grammar yesterday!

Anyway, I've been thinking of names alot lately. My best friend just told me what she was naming her baby the other day and my friend Theresa and I were talking about names and what we want to name our future children.

So far all my names have been vetoed by Sean for one reason or another. I like unusual names that aren't weird.

My List
Charlotte
Vanessa
Piper
Logan
Bruce
Chloe

My name means honey or honey bee. Sean means god is gracious.

What does your name mean? How about your SO's name? Is it fitting for you or him? I personally think mine is. I can be very sweet, but I also can sting like a bee.

What are some names you want to or have named your children? Is it because the name is in your family? Or does it have some special meaning?

If you don't know what your name means, here's a handy link to find out!

My Few of My Own Guilty Pleasures

A few ladies, Army Doctor's Wife and The Student have been posting their guilty pleasures/indulgences and it looked like such a fun post that I thought I'd share some of my own.

1. Reeses Peanut Butter Cups- I have to limit myself on these or else I'll eat a ton. In the way of candy I also love Sour Patch Kids. I ate a whole bag of these last weekend!

2. A nice, cold Dr. Pepper. Especially a cold 2 liter of Dr. Pepper or Pepsi. Love it! However, I don't buy pop for that reason, just because I know if it's in the house I'll drink it. I do indulge every few weeks or so though and have a can.

3. Supreme Pizza from Pizza Hut. I could eat so many pieces of this stuff! That's why now I have to stick to the personal pan!

4. Asics running shoes. I don't mind putting down a bunch of money for a pair of shoes that I know is going to make working-out a non-painful affair (at least for my feet)

5. Forever21.com. I'm always buying dresses off of here. One of my most recent purchases? Even though it's an indulgence at least I'm not paying alot for it!



6.I can't resist buying Glamour every month and if there's a People cover that catches my eye I get it too!

7. Cameras. I'm getting ready to purchase a new digital camera from Canon. I don't mind spending a lot on it though because I know I'm going to get a lot of use out of it.

8.Olive Garden! I think this is my favorite place to go out to eat. When I go I disregard all calories and feeling guilty and eat until I'm stuffed.

9.Others have mentioned reality tv and I have to admit, although a little shamefully that I'm equally addicted to it. Girls Next Door, America's Next Top Model, America's Got Talent, Nashville Star....and that's just naming a few!

10. Last, but not least....shoes! At my peak shoe buying time I was probably buying a pair a week, of course I was getting a good discount on them too. I have so many shoes in my closet at home and most of them I wear maybe once a month if that. There's just so many cute shoes out there!

Wordless Wednesday-Alaska

A train outside of Skagway

Beautiful Alaska scenery

Outside an old salmon cannery in Icy Strait Point

The Totem Pole and I, outside of the National Historic Park in Sitka

One of the roads we took while in Denali National Park

Beautiful view on a kayak trip outside Sitka

A rare shot of Mt. McKinley

Who knew the flowers in Alaska were so beautiful?