Never Forget

I won't be able to. The images are still so numbing.




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Slow Down!!

Is it really the second week of September?!? While I'm always excited to get closer to my birthday (It's the 24th. Have you gotten my present yet?) I cannot believe this year is almost over!
It seem like I'm always busy, but I never get anything done. I wonder how to remedy that...

We took our 2012 vacation 2 weeks ago to San Diego. We got to visit a state we've never seen, a city where his parents honeymooned over 30 years ago, and a friend that I haven't had a face-to-face chat with in at least a year.
I tend to plan vacations around baseball game availability. Oh! The Braves are playing the Padres near the end of August! It's Chipper's last year! Done. This is for my husband's benefit, of course. But I must admit that I enjoy anything where I get to throw peanut shells on the floor and see fit men in tight pants. To my dismay Tim Hudson pitched a couple of nights prior to our game, but we got to see him a bit during batting practice. Speaking of BP!!



Matt and I made a very joint effort to get our first Official MLB ball. It was our last night in town and definitely the cherry to our vacation sundae.

We also:
Walked alllll over downtown SD
Saw bums
Ate an actual sundae at a ghirardelli shop
Got lost on the public transit
Saw bums
Went to the zoo
Stopped at a bar b/c their sign stated $3 bloody Mary's and bubbles
Had fried bar apps for dinner
Saw bums
Went to Sea World


Went to Hash House A-Go-Go
Purchased and ate the largest pancake I've ever laid eyes on
Missed our stadium tour at PETCO Park due to crappy listing
Saw bums
Had a tour of the greater SD narrated by my good pal Lynda
Saw the whole city from really high


Learned how to pronounce La Jolla
Rode the ferry to Coronado Island
Took a walking tour of the Hotel del Coronado (The Del)
Mastered the public transit
Saw bums


Apparently downtown SD has a very high homeless population. And a Lynda said "Where would you want to live if you were homeless? Where it very seldom rains and has nearly perfect temperature year around?" Makes sense.

I wouldn't mind another vacation ASAP, but there are big international plans in the works for 2013!!

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Week One

Monday, May 7th I gave up all meat, animal products, and most processed/refined food in an effort to enjoy the health benefits of a whole foods, plant based life style. I don't really like using the term "diet" because everyone associates it with a short term attempt to lose weight. This is a life change.
Week 1 went really well. I spent some time in the weeks leading up to the big switch looking on vegan blogs and bookmarking recipes that looked delicious. Then I went to Fresh (Brookshire's version of a Whole Foods) and bought a lot of stuff from their health food bins and I went to Walmart to finish up shopping for the week's meals.
I've been eating grits and oatmeal for breakfast. Not completely whole foods yet, because I want to use the rest of my quick oats and grit packets. But still a move in the right direction. Lunches have been leftovers from the night before with the exception of Monday. We had pork loin Sunday night - again, trying to use it up. So I had a peanut butter and banana sandwich on whole wheat bread. I have to say I didn't really like the banana on there, and I'll just do pb next time. I haven't given up honey yet, so I've had that in my oatmeal. I didn't plan my snacks before going to the store Sunday, so I ended up eating the same things throughout the days. It was fine for a week, I just know I can't do that long term. I've had oranges, apples, one yucky banana, mini carrots, and a bag of unsalted peanuts, raisins, and plain corn nuts. I've enjoyed that, but would like some variety. I think I'll try to make some things this weekend to have throughout the week. Our dinners have been, and will continue to be, very experimental. I always like to try new recipes, so this is nothing new. The challenge has been all mental. Matt is being very supportive. He does pretty much whatever he wants all day, but eats what I cook for dinner. So I'm trying to find recipes that aren't too hard, or full of too many weird ingredients, that I feel like will satisfy him without the meat. And so it was...
Monday - Mujadarrah - Rice & Lentils w/pan fried onion. I left off the yogurt/sour cream. We added some leftover corn on the cob and it was great! Not hard at all and really inexpensive. Matt said he would have liked more vegetables than just the onion in it. And I actually agree. It is pretty one dimensional with the rice/lentil texture. But the cool part is that you can season with anything to completely change the taste. We used our favorite spice mix, Soumas, that we've bought from the Revel a couple of times.
Tuesday - Enchiladas - Sweet potato, black beans, spinach, onion, bell pepper, plenty of spices. Topped with an avocado cilantro sauce.


I didn't put as much cilantro as the recipe called for and I loved it! Matt just kept saying "this is delicious!" I really couldn't disagree.
Wednesday - Mac n' Cheeze w/ Rhodes Multi Grain Rolls - whole wheat elbow noodles and a cheese sauce made of almond milk, Earth Balance, Dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, spices, and...... Roasted Butternut Squash!! Matt was amazed by it. Honestly, so was I. So stinking tasty. The recipe said to use any mix-ins. I put spinach, chopped up cherry tomatoes, and some unsalted sunflower seeds for a little crunch. I'd definitely say success, even though the rolls weren't completely unrefined. I know it's better than cheesy, buttery, garlic bread.
Thursday - Zucchini Soup w/ leftover Rhodes rolls - I learned that I want/need an immersion blender. The soup was very good. I froze the rest of the soup to wait until winter. I'm just too hot to be eating hot soup. And me and Matt both agreed that it should go with something. Like maybe I big veggie sandwich!
Friday - leftover night and I was super excited to sample everything again!
Saturday Matt made 27! I love birthdays, and no reason to minimize it just because I don't eat meat! Matt loves biscuits and gravy and spice cake. So I found vegan recipes for both. Breakfast and dessert - check! Putting the biscuit dough in a muffin tin is genius and I may never roll out & cut biscuits again. They were good and I doubled the recipe so that I'd have a bunch of leftovers. The gravy had a lot of spices and I think it ended up too salty, but the flavor was awesome. Matt even liked it. We finished off the leftovers for lunch and had a tiny piece of cake. It was a little more dense than usual, but still very moist. And not too dense, just enough to notice. I doubled that recipe also, because I wanted to make a 9x13. Worked like a charm.
It's become something of a tradition for Matt and I to have Chinese food on his birthday. So we tried out a place that was recommended months ago. I got a vegetable dish with brown rice and didn't worry about the sauce too much. I also got a side of the sautéed green beans. It was good and I didn't feel slighted at all.
Sunday - We went to Ghengis Grill with the Troxclairs b/c they couldn't go with us Saturday night. Again I got veggies with brown rice. But I think this place will easily become a favorite. They had so many vegetables and sauces to build a tasty bowl! I even had more for lunch today. After dinner Deni & Cala came over for cake (Sean had to work). She said the cake was good!

Overall, I think my first meatless week was an enjoyable success. I'm already looking forward to the meals planned for this week!

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This is the Voice!

Beaubouef family singalong tonight? Genie in a Bottle. Thank you Xtina for inspiring this household.

(I'm behind and haven't seen this week's results. Surprise move and Juliet and Jamar are both in the bottom 4?! One can only hope.)


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Delayed Reaction

I intended to post this on Monday, but never did. So now that it's almost the next weekend I suppose it's time.
Matt and I had a very good & productive weekend! Friday night we went to Lowe's to get weed (read: evil poison plant) killer. My backyard is a war zone that I cannot enter.


Poison!!
Anyway! While at Lowe's I decided to be Betty Homemaker and bought some potting soil, pots, and plants - basil, rosemary, and patio tomatoes. I planted them and watered them and talked sweetly to them. Now I hope they don't die.


Saturday I got up and "ran." I wouldn't go so far as to call that successful. But I did leave the house in running attire.
Also Saturday I FINALLY painted the backs of my book shelves. I was seriously talking about before we moved. Since they were completed I could unpack all of the book boxes and set up that display in my bedroom. I kind of love it!


Saturday night Sean, Deni, and Cala came over for steaks, roasted vegetable orzo, dill pickle french fries, and homemade snickers. Yes - it was a very Pinterest meal.


Deni also brought some of the best brioche rolls ever from Fresh. We are a little obsessed with them. So is Cala.


And just because I know you want to see a few more of that bundle of cuteness...


Uncle Matt getting some love!


Giving handouts to her favorite furry cousin.


And this was from Tuesday, but I couldn't deprive anyone of this fabulous-ness!!

And now it's about time for another weekend!!

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It all started with a big bang.

Have you ever noticed that tv sitcoms are NEVER as funny when you're explaining them to someone or having them explained to you? I am guilty of being the deliverer of the unfunny and this morning was the innocent bystanding victim. The 4 other people in my office are loud and unconcerned about disturbing each other. Or me. I just heard one tell a short snippet from a Big Bang rerun last night. I know that had I seen the show I would undoubtedly laugh aloud. But no. Not even an inner chuckle. It's just not the same taken out of context and spoken by anyone other than Sheldon.
As an aside - I am slightly obsessed with Big Bang. Really - who has seen the show and can honestly say they don't love it? I would wager to guess those people love the devil.

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2012 Goal #4

I'm making myself a quilt. Last year I ventured into the wide world of quilting and ended with Christmas gifts for my nieces. I really enjoyed it. So I picked quilt and bought fabric.


I'm really excited to say that I have actually started making it!


It will definitely be a while until it is finished.


But the cutting is done!

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My Health is Deteriorating

In the past two weeks I've had pink eye and a stomach virus. Also there was a failed 18 mile run.
Results: I'm out of sick time at work and I'm not running the full in OKC.
Pity accepted in all forms.


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(ab)normal

These are boxes still siting in our living room.


These are boxes still unpacked in our garage.


We moved into our house on January 14th. Who am I?!

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Tweet Tweet

We left Walter home when we went to Fort Worth last Friday night & left the pet door open. Our concern while we were gone was that Walter would somehow get out of the back yard and be lost and gone forever. Little did we know that there was a completely different problem we should have been worrying over. We got in Saturday night and were so pleased to see Walter running up to the door to greet us. During our quick walk-through of the house to assure everything was in its right place Matt saw a more than average amount of crap in the carpet along the walkway from the back door/pet door. Upon closer inspection we realized it wasn't the usual leaves. It was bird feathers. *cue freak out * So 15 pound Walter somehow came in contact with a bird. *cue search for bird remains* The doors were closed to all of the rooms, so the only places to look we're the living room, kitchen, and halls. No bird found. So we unload the car. Walking through the kitchen with an armload of stuff I hear a flutter above my head.


The bird was still alive and in my house!! "Matt! I found the bird!!" and the commenced the 30 minutes of watching the bird fly back and forth across our kitchen until he finally flew through the doorway into the hall and was encouraged out the front door. It was more excitement than I was expecting that evening for sure.


I may have been more concerned with capturing pictures than the actual bird.

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Birthdays Galore!

This past week was jam packed with birthdays. My mom and my pup shared another birthday on Tuesday (2/7). Ellis turned 6 and enjoyed a couple of treats throughout the day. Deni, Cala, and I went to Shreveport Tuesday to celebrate with mom.


We ate Macaroni Grill & Julie Anne's king cake and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.


It's nice to be so close to be able to go to Shreveport for an evening.
Elise turned 1 on Thursday. I can't believe this past year has flown by so fast. Luckily we are also close enough to drive over to Fort Worth for her big birthday party. It was such a fun time and a blessing to get to be there. I forgot my camera. But thank God for Facebook, I pulled a few that were taken at the party.


Jen did such an awesome job with a plethora of DIY decorations.


The birthday girl in her hat and owl outfit.


The happy family!


So glad we got to be there!!

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Slightly Offensive

*WARNING*
If you are easily offended please do not read any more of this post. But if you want to laugh (hard and uncontrollably) - read on.
I love those things that you can read, hear, see, or even think about over and over and laugh every time. I receive an email in March 2010 that made me laugh until I cried. And has done so repeatedly since then. Last night I resurrected this email (thanks to Deni for finding it quickly) and was in pain from laughing so much. Matt laughed along as I read the email to him, though I'm sure he was mostly laughing at me. Enjoy
Mexican Words Of The Day
1. *Cheese*
The teacher told Pepito to use the word cheese in a sentence. Pepito replies: Maria likes me, but cheese ugly.
2. *Mushroom*
When all my family get in the car There's not mushroom.
3. *Shoulder*
My fren wants 2 become a citizen, but che didn't know how to read, so I, shoulder.
4. * Texas*
When I'm not home, my fren always Texas me. Che wonders where I am!
5. *Herpes*
Me and my fren ordered pizza. I got mine piece. Then che got herpes.
6. *July*
Ju told me ju were going to tha store, but ju went to see sum guy. July to me! Julyer!
7. *Rectum*
I had 2 cars, but my wife rectum! 8. *Chicken*
I was going to go to the store with my wife, but che said chicken go herself.
9. *Wheelchair*
We only have one enchilada left, but don't worry wheelchair
10. *Chicken* *wing*
My wife plays the lottery so chicken wing.
11. *Harassment*
My wife caught me in bed with another women. I told her, "Honey, harassment nothen to me.
12. *Bishop*
My wife fell down the stair, so I had to pick the bishop.
13. *Body wash*
I want to go to the club, but no body wash my kids.
14. *Budweiser*
That women has a nice body, Budweiser face so ugly?
You're welcome. Feel free to bookmark this blog post for a rainy day.
Oh! I wouldn't want to deprive you of this gem! I saw the following on Pinterest last night. It's what prompted me to find the above email.


(This was typed on Tuesday, but I couldn't get it to post! I had to remove and reinstall the app from my phone. Love technology)

Small Victories

In January of 2009 I was almost finished training for my first half marathon, New Orleans. 2 months later I ran the Country Music half marathon. It was one of the most fun races ever. I stopped running after Nashville. I guess I was tired, lazy. I ran two more races, but didn't train for either and probably shouldn't have run them. I just quit. And it shows. Here I am three years later back at square one. I've registered for the New Orleans half again and hope to be able to finish it safely. I'm training. It's not going as well as I would like. Taking 2.5 years off and gaining 20 pounds does not help your stride. It's hard not to beat myself up knowing what I've done in the past. It's hard to watch other people excel while I struggle. But today I finished a 7 mile run. I'm thankful for small victories.

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Confession

I read the Twilight books again. They were just as riveting the (ahem) third time. Seriously - they're like crack. And I'm just as addicted to the HP and Hunger Games series. I guess I'm a sucker for children's books.

I meant to blog everyday this week. Friday's the magic day! Not surprising, though. Everything is magical on Jeans Day. This past weekend was blog worthy. So here it goes:
Went to Shreveport. Went to Jean's PWAT for her birthday party. We painted the metal chicken from www.theblogess.com.


I named mine Shakira. And I love him.

I did a lot of the typical running around in Shreveport and went back to Tyler Saturday evening. Sunday was busy busy. Errands all over town. And I introduced myself to spray paint. I have this old book shelf that I'm going to use in my kitchen for cookbooks and a coffee station.


(it's laying on the ground here)

I decided it needed a face lift.


And I love it!!! Unfortunately, I had no prior spray painting experience and it was crazy windy... I ended up using cotton balls and paint thinner on my whole face and in my hair. I was high for hours.
My mom also gave me this lamp from her dad's house.


It's a good lamp, but I wasn't in love with the colors. So I went ahead and sprayed it, too!


All in all, I'm very happy with my first spray painting adventure!!

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Tyler < New Orleans

Seriously. Culturally speaking, children who grow up in East Texas are screwed. Anyone can say that Shreveport is basically East Texas all they want. But we know what king cake is. And we know the purpose of a Mardi Gras parade (to replenish your to go cups, duh). And we know that a fancy stadium does not a football team make. I'm concerned that I'm losing my Louisiana by the minute. But I'll keep properly pronouncing praline and eating red beans on Mondays. I'll wear my black and gold proudly and often (even when our season ends with abundant tears.)
Today I brewed a nice pot of freshly ground Pecan Praline Community Coffee. It was glorious.


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Long Time No See

I posted a new entry Tuesday. Then I realized that it has been over 4 months since my previous post. So... I left my job at J Everett Eaves on September 21st. It's such a strange feeling to walk out of something that you put so much of yourself into. It wasn't my dream job, but I worked my ass off. You imagine your exit to be something spectacular - balloons, cake, streamers, tears. At least I can say there was cake. But that was more for my upcoming birthday. It was a pretty anticlimactic exit. 2 days later we left for the beach. Me, Matt, Julie, Deni, Sean, and Cala. They got me a Gambino's wedding cake for my birthday. It was amazing!! We beached and shopped and ate and drank (not too much - there was a baby). Although beaching was an infant isn't the easiest thing ever it was a great way to spend my birthday. 4 days after our return we said goodbye to New Orleans. September 30, 2011 will always be a sad day to look back on. I loved that city and miss it a lot. October 1 brings Dawson Knox Glenn into the world! So awesome that I got to be there the day one of my oldest friends has her first baby. I have since remembered why Jenny and I were such good friends to begin with. I'm so glad to be close to her and Derek. There was a good month of retirement bliss before the wide world of insurance pulled me back in. I can't say I joyfully ran back, but I have to make that dollar. I had interviews at all of the big agencies in Tyler and joined BancorpSouth Insurance Services, Inc on November 7. I've already thoroughly documented my sewing escapades, but the holiday season was stressful and fun. Matt and I really enjoyed being able to be there for Cala and Elise's first Christmas! And we got and gave lots of fantastic gifts. My amazing husband got me a KitchenAid mixer. It's beautiful and might have made me cry a little. Matt and I found a rental house that we like and signed the lease on 12/30. We immediately started painting and cleaning. After lots of work we took a break to eat Sean's gumbo and drink in the New Year. Jenny and Derek left sometime after 10 to put Dawson to bed. Sean and Matt were both asleep shortly thereafter. Deni, Mark, and I rung in the New Year laughing, drinking, and eating grapes.


We've had some hiccups with the new house, but will finally be moving in this weekend! We can't wait to have a whole house and backyard to ourselves!


Feel free to send us mail! PS - I beat Matt in Bowl Mania. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

"Sewing" Novice

I learned something that maybe I should have known before starting out. Sewing has very little to do with actual stitching. It's pretty much all cutting, pinning, and ironing. All of which are very time consuming and immensely important if you want your finished product to even remotely resemble the pattern. I got a sewing machine for Christmas 2010. So of course I set lofty goals without the slightest thought toward feasibility. Having not used a sewing machine since my early teens (maybe even before that) I decided that since both mine and Matt's sisters were having baby girls in 2011 the most appropriate gift for a novice sewer would be baby quilts. Now obviously these won't be ready for the girls' birth. I gave myself plenty (novice...) of time and set out to have two baby quilts completed and under the tree for Christmas. One day I went on an eBay spree and bought some charm sets. I only bought one of a bunch of different fabric lines (novice...). So I settled on making each niece a quilt from a different charm set. Then bought more charm sets, because 1 is pretty much worthless. My friend Lynda turned me onto a patten that I felt I could tackle. Then started the "sewing". Cut. Pin. Iron. Pin. Cut. Iron. Pin. Iron. With a little bit of intermittent sewing. Here are some things to know: 1. You actually need 472842 straight pins. 1 box, or even 2, is never enough. 2. Measure twice, or three times. Cut once. 3. Chain sewing saves a lot of thread. 4. You need a lot of thread. 5. Fill a slew of extra bobbins ahead of time. 6. The seam ripper is your friend. 7. Apparently the backing should be bigger than your quilt top. I did not attempt to quilt these and definitely got some "notes" on my invoice from the quilter. 8. Everything takes longer than you would expect. And then a little longer. 9. A hot bath or back rub should always follow hours of "sewing." With a little blood, a little sweat, a few more tears, and a lot of hours I actually completed my quilts with hours to spare before Christmas.


Front of Elise's quilt.


Back of Elise's quilt.


Front of Cala's quilt.


Back of Cala's quilt. I am very pleased and both sisters seemed very happy with them. Oh but that's not it... I'm the queen of overcommitting myself. I thought that everyone should get a sewn gift this year. For my birthday my friend, Julie, got me a pattern book, One Yard Wonders. Something from a one yard wonder book can't be too complicated right? So I bought various yards of fabric and made a plan for my homemade gift bag/basket this year. (I usually make a bunch of sweet treats to give to family & close friends). For 10 separate households I made: A Loaf of Rosemary Beer Bread A Bottle of Rosemary Olive Oil A Hot Pot Holder & Oven Mitt Set Those holders & mitts were more detailed than I ever imagined. Which leads to the next thing I learned this Christmas season. 10. Always read all the way through (first word to last) instructions before starting a project. And just for a little added self abuse I also made everyone (including my lady coworkers) a set of coasters. -These were tiles bought from Lowe's covered in fabric and then spray painted. Hopefully I learned my lesson?? (Aside: Everyone liked my homemade gifts and appreciated my hard work. It was totally worth it.) - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Old Troup Hwy,Tyler,United States