Month of Thankfulness

Wow! Where has this year gone?!? I can't believe it is already November. Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and I have so many wonderful things to be thankful for.

On Facebook, the trend this month is to each day list a thing to be thankful for. Last year I did not jump on the "bandwagon" but this year I have, and I enjoy it. Some people complain and say "we should be thankful everyday and not just during November. I completely agree, but we usually don't take the time to say out loud or so public on Facebook the things we are in fact thankful for (and that includes the people that are spouting off that thankfulness isn't limited to November lol).

So I would like to make a short list of the things I'm thankful for on here.

• My sweet AJ. lol. We argue like an old married couple, bicker like siblings, love like soul mates, and share so many memories that I cherish. Our house may not always be clean. We may have dishes and laundry piled up for days, but the love we share brings me true happiness. I love that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with him. I love that I get to show him true love forever. I love that I get to share more memories with him in the future. 
• My loving family. I am so very thankful to get to have such a large loving family. I love that it may not be blood that bonds us all together, but it is love.
• My friends. It seems like the older we get the more we realize how few friends we have. lol. I love that I don't have to see or talk to some of my special friends every day or even week to know which ones I can count on through thick and thin no matter what. It warms my heart to know they are there for me through it all--good times as well as bad. 
• My job. I'm so thankful to be employed when so many are not. I am so thankful that in turn I have a reliable car, a beautiful home, and all the things I need in life. I may not always have the things I "want" in life, but I am thankful to always have the things I need. 
• My health. I am so thankful that I have my health. I may not be "in shape" or have the figure that everyone thinks I should--even myself lol, but I am thankful for my health as well as my family's health.

Thank you for letting me share my little slice of heaven--also known as my life--with you. I wish you all the best as the holidays are upon us... only 49 shopping days left til Christmas...

A Summer Full of Memories

My family has always meant the world to me. I have always known that I have a wonderful family. I have always known that we can count on each other during the good times and the bad. Thankfully up until 2012 almost all of the times I've been with my family have been good times and the happiest of memories. It's not even September yet and 2012 has been the biggest year of loss my family has experienced in the almost 26 years of my life. In April, we lost my Aunt Wanda (follow link to previous post), and it devastated me that the world lost such a free spirit.

Now, I want to share with the world what a wonderful, Godly man my Pawpaw was, how great my family is and how difficult this journey was on us all...

 (my Pawpaw and me a long, long time ago)

September 2010 the doctors found an extremely rare tumor in the direct center of my Pawpaw's brain. He was 70 years old, and they decided the best course of treatment would be radiation to keep the tumor from growing instead of removing it due to its location and his age. Radiation was not a permanent fix though, and July 9, 2012 he was admitted into ICU because this rapid growing tumor had started growing again. A new doctor had seen his case since 2010 and was willing to try surgery because the tumor was now terminal and radiation was no longer an option. There were great risks with this surgery. My Pawpaw knew them all and as a preacher of God's word for the last 35+ years, he had already made his "peace" with God and knew whatever the outcome, it would be better than what he was experiencing. Surgery was scheduled for Friday, July 13, 2012. I was supposed to start 13 days of vacation the next day. Thankfully my employer and coworkers worked it out so that I was able to join my family during the surgery. I arrived at the hospital that morning prior to them taking him back. We were able to pray with him and each other. He told us he loved us (a memory I will cherish for a lifetime). We cried. We held one another. They came to take him and wheel him to the operating room and we followed him until we weren't allowed any farther. The aching in my chest that he may not make it out of that surgery was one of the most real emotions I've had in my life.



Something I'm not sure we are ever ready for is to see the people we've looked up to our whole life in tears. It is an awful feeling in your core when you see your Daddy holding onto his sisters and mother as his Daddy is being wheeled away to a risky surgery on a terminal brain tumor. It is heart wrenching to think about the worry in their souls, and to see the sorrow on their faces because it is out of their hands. Seeing the strongest people I know at their breaking points was quite possibly the most humbling experience of my life.

(my daddy and his mama)

I learned a lot about myself and my family that day. It seemed like he was in surgery for an eternity.  We sat in silence a lot. Mostly though, we enjoyed each others' company--despite the circumstances. We laughed more than we probably ever thought we would. We laughed til we cried.Then, we cried til we laughed again. I know that God had his hand on us that day (as He does every day) because He was preparing us for the longest journey we've ever endured as a family.

My Pawpaw made it out of surgery 8+ hours later. They were able to remove most of the tumor, but he never really woke up from it. He was barely conscious for the next 13 days. Then, on July 26th, they took him down to insert a drain tube in his head--he already had a shunt, it wasn't working, it was not supposed to be a major event. Most of the family wasn't even in town (he was in the hospital 2+ hours away from where we live), let alone at the hospital when this was taking place. While they were performing this mildly routine procedure, he had a hemorrhage in his brain which sent him into a deep coma, and he was placed on a ventilator. After running tests that weekend and letting him rest, it was determined that next Monday, July 30, 2012 that there was nothing else medically that could be done. We were able to have him transferred back to our home town, they removed the ventilator between 5 and 6 pm that day, and we waited. And we waited. And we waited. We had just thought the previous 3-4 weeks had been exhausting, but nothing could've prepared us for this.

Something I had never honestly thought about in my whole entire life was what happens after "life support" is removed. On TV they make it seem so sudden. They remove the ventilator and then the crying starts, then the flat line and then they raise up the sheet and call "time of death". Well, I'm a television medical drama professional--House and Grey's are my favorites--but this was nothing like that. It was on the verge of torture sitting at his bedside or in the hallway because at times you can't bare to sit and watch him struggle for each breath.

 (guess this is proof we got a little sleep in the hospital lol)

It was emotionally draining to pray and beg God to either let him stand up and walk out of the hospital or go to heaven to meet Him. It was gut-wrenching to watch my grandmother--his wife for 47 years--sleep in a hospital "recliner" next to his bed every nite.

 (my mom-o and pawpaw's last pic together...I'll cherish it for the rest of my life)

It was torture to have to go to work and be on edge all day because at any moment you could get a phone call telling you to leave and come back to the hospital because "it's time". Well, after the longest week of our lives a little after midnight on the morning of Monday, August 6, 2012, my Pawpaw finally got his peace. The fight was over. He met our God and has been dancing on the streets of gold ever since.

The funeral was a beautiful remembrance of his life. It was a celebration because of his 2 favorite things--God and his family. A close 3rd was his love for Yankees Baseball though lol.

This experience through the loss of my Pawpaw has taught me several things:

• Family will always stand by my side no matter what.
• I have wonderful supportive friends that held me up when I didn't feel I could stand.
• My employers are great because they gave me all the time I needed with my family--no questions asked.
• Love does exist--my grandparents were living proof of that.
• I need to get back in church because that's where God and my Pawpaw want me to be
• AJ is one of the most supportive, loving men I've ever met in my life and I am thankful for him.
• Sometimes it's okay to laugh even when all you want to do is cry.
• Sometimes strong people feel weak too--and that's okay.
• God has a plan through it all... even when we can't see it. 

Thank you for letting me share my journey with you all. God Bless! :-)

White Girl Homemade Broccoli Beef

So I made some Broccoli Beef and white rice one night a week or so ago. It was DELICIOUS if I might say so myself, but my favorite part about the night was that Cousin (no his name is not "cousin" but that's what I call him--not sure if I've ever mentioned him on here, but he's our "roommate" and my cousin) had a buddy over that night, and I told them that there were leftovers in the kitchen if they wanted some. Cousin loves when I cook. First of all, because he moved from living with our grandma to living with me, so he loves a good home cooked meal. Second, because he's not the most independent guy so cooking is kind of outta the question for him (haha if he sees this he will NOT agree). Well, anyway back to my story, Cousin was glad I cooked and got a big plate, however, his friend whom I've never cooked for before said (and I quote) "No offense, but I'm kind of afraid of a white girl in Oklahoma making Chinese food at home." haha I've never laughed so hard in my life, but long story short, he ate it and so I guess this small town white girl is a better cook than I thought. :-)

 

Now after all that bragging here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

Vegetable Oil

Cornstarch

Baking soda

Low-sodium soy sauce

Brown sugar

Head of Broccoli

Sugar

Flour

White Rice

Flank steak

First you must marinade the meat. I purchased about 1 3/4 lbs of flank steak from the grocery store. 

I bought it home and sliced it thin AGAINST the grain into strips like this:

 Here in this pic I am mixing the beef with the marinade. 

The marinade recipe goes as follows:

• 1 1/2 - 2 lbs flank steak
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce (if not using low sodium I would use more sugar to counter ALL the salt)
• 1 Tbsp water
• 2 Tbsp Vegetable oil

Whisk together the ingredients then toss in beef. Marinade COVERED in the refrigerator for 45 minutes or longer.

While waiting on the meat to marinade, start preparing the head of broccoli by cutting into florets.

I used "boil in the bag" rice because it's quick and easy. I started boiling the water in a pot for the rice.

Then I started making the sauce:

 Sauce recipe (I prepared in a 2 cup measuring cup for easy pouring and less dishes) whisked together:

• 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar (pictured above)
• 4 cloves of garlic minced (pictured below)
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (original recipe called for sherry. I did not have any on hand so I used an acid I had instead, and it was delicious)
• 3 Tbsp Vegetable oil

While the rice is boiling and now that the sauce is ready I started heating up 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil in a large skillet over HIGH heat. (Asian food is very quick cooking so all this prep needs to be done ahead of time so that it can be thrown together quickly to be prepared correctly.)

When the oil is hot and "shiny" or shimmering, put in broccoli florets. Saute about 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Broccoli will start to brown on edges quickly.

 

After 3 minutes it will not be "done", but remove it from the pan, and add another Tbsp of vegetable oil to pan and then add marinaded beef. 

Cook the beef with 1/2 of the sauce mixture and saute for 3-4 minutes or until beef is cooked through and no longer pink.

 Then, add the broccoli and the rest of the sauce mixture. Cook another 1 minute.

I then poured the rice into the bottom of a serving dish and topped it with the broccoli beef.

 It was THAT easy. Hope you all enjoy!

Busy, Busy Weekend

Did so much to our house this weekend, and I am one proud woman. AJ and a bunch of other helpers put a new roof on our house. Then I put a few helpers to work on some other exterior things. We took the ugly carpet off of our front porch, pulled weeds out/cleaned up the flower beds, painted the brick on the front of the house, painted the shutters, and then painted the front door. SUCCESS! I love how everything turned out. I am so proud of our house. I have been proud of the inside for awhile but never really loved the "curb appeal", but now that has all changed. Still indecisive about the front door color though. It turned out "Tiffany Blue" which wasn't exactly what I was going for, but it's some $5 clearance paint I found at Lowe's so I can't really complain. Going to post a few pics for you to enjoy then headed to bed for some much needed rest... hope you all enjoyed your Holiday Weekend and didn't work nearly as hard as we did. :-)

 The white trim on the door around the window is now black to match the doorknob. I haven't taken an updated pic yet...

Tie Dye Cupcakes

I made some baked goodies for a bake sale my friend had a couple weeks ago. She is raising money to go on a mission trip to Haiti this summer. Among these things, I made some Tie Dyed Cupcakes, and they turned out wonderful. I hope you enjoy them too.

I used a white box cake mix per the instructions and split it up into 5 different bowls with 5 different food coloring like this:

Then I poured the batter one scoop of each color into cupcake lined muffin tins until all 5 colored batters are in the the cups.

Then bake for recommended time according to the box. Let cool and ice and top with sprinkles...

Choosing My Battles

A life lesson I have not thought much about in the past is "choosing my battles". I am one of those people that practices this valuable caution, but I'd never really thought about the importance of it until recently; it seems like every time I turn around lately I want to look so many people in the face and scream "Choose your battles! This is not worth it!"

It all started a couple weeks ago on facebook. I am a very firm believer in keeping drama out of social media sites. I also think that some things honestly are not the business of the world and shouldn't be shared so publicly. A "friend" on facebook (I use quotes because she's an acquaintance) decided that her status was the best place to discuss her relationship issues. Someone pointed out (nicely in my opinion) that facebook wasn't the place to discuss such a private issue--the war was on! It turned into a giant issue between everyone posting comments as it will do on social media sites. Everyone was either defending the boyfriend or defending her and bashing the boyfriend or telling her that facebook wasn't the place to address it.

This situation made me realize that I have way more respect for AJ than that. I strongly believe that if you have an issue with your "other half" then it should remain between the two of you. Whether it's venting to a friend, mentioning to my mom an issue I have with him, or putting him on blast on facebook-it is not for me. I realize that I love him so much that even though I may be frustrated with him at the time, but I will forgive him. We will be okay because I love him, but my friends/family will always have the thoughts in the back of their minds of when he hurt me. Even if I'm over it, it may change their view of him, and that is not my desire. I also have more respect for him as a man to not put something that I think he "did wrong" all over facebook. He, as the love of my life, does not deserve to be treated that way by anyone--especially me.

The next situation that taught me this important lesson was my employees. It seems like the story of my life at work is choosing my battles. I realize that my staff is not perfect and there are thousands of little things I might do differently or would change about the way things happen, but that does not mean that every single thing every single time will get pointed out by me. I've realized that there is "more than one way to skin at cat" and as long as they are properly doing their job there are a few things that can be overlooked in order to keep up morale. So, I choose carefully which battles I choose to fight... which I as the manager will win. haha.

Just a little rambling that's been on my mind lately...

Joys of Adulthood

First of all, I want to give a quick update on my pawpaw... he went back to the doctor yesterday for his follow-up appointment after surgery last week and we got a wonderful report. The mass they removed last week was superficial so when they removed it they definitely got it all so no chemo and after monday no more catheter!!! Thank you so much for your prayers!

Other than that exciting news let's see... what has been going on in my world?!?! I have been a busy busy woman lately it seems. I had a three day weekend last weekend which I couldn't have been more excited about, and I have another one this weekend--talk about a lucky girl! (I traded shifts with another manager because he is going to Vegas in a week and then I will be working 11 days straight without a day off so I will be less excited then haha.)

We went to the Full Moon Cafe in Tulsa last Saturday night with another couple and had so much fun! I didn't know the place even existed. For those of you that enjoy a casual drink and dueling pianos this is the place to go! I used to go to piano bars all the time when I lived in Florida and I LOVE them, but I didn't even know there was one so close to home. I will definitely be dragging AJ back there soon.

Then Sunday my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew came over for dinner. They came over so my brother could try to fix my dryer that decided to DIE last week--one of the not so fun things about being an adult, but oh, how I love spending time with them. Let me take this opportunity to tell you my favorite part about being a "grown-up". I love that my brother and I (who are only 17.5 months apart) can be so close. I consider him and his wife to be some of my very best friends. In high school, I never would've guessed I could say that about him, but it's true. I love that we've grown up and learned to appreciate and love one another. I love my sister-in-law not only because of the great friend she is to me, but also, the wonderful wife she is to my brother and mother she is to my nephew. I hope that when my younger siblings (they are 18, 15, and 12) grow up we can all be as close and that they have as amazing spouses as well--being the oldest of 5 I want lots and lots of nieces and nephews and bunches of in-laws. :-)

Showing off a pic of my nephew and his cool tricks... or maybe he was "saving it for later" either way he's pretty impressive in my opinion lol.

Then my Monday off was pretty un-eventful. I relaxed at home all day and did some dishes and picked up the house a little (which now on Friday you can't tell I did anything--oh well, another one of the things I DON'T love about being a grown-up lol). Tuesday it was back to work then dinner with a good friend--and the borrowing of the washer and dryer so I could have clean clothes for work because my brother was not successful at fixing my dryer on Sunday :-(

Wednesday I got to see my sweet nephew again. Wednesdays are our days together and I cherish that time with him so much--I've been babysitting him at least one day a week since he was 5 weeks old and I wouldn't trade that time with him for anything in the whole wide world, but this Wednesday his mommy was sick so she was going to drop him off and then go back home to be sickly. Plans changed and she ended up sickly on my couch all morning then taking him home early. I was sad to see him leave early and sad to see her sick but so glad to spend one on one time with her--that doesn't happen nearly often enough.

Thursday boring except the part where we got the good report on my pawpaw! I passed out Pampered Chef catalogs to potential customers then went to work. Today I went and got my nails done--two and half hours later they are super cute. I've had a pretty great night at work. I found out my nephew started walking--can't wait to see it for myself. I'm going to try and get some sleep tonight because I have some exciting super secret plans for this weekend (more details on monday after I get back from my trip and the secret will be over and I can explain how exciting it is)...

Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend! God Bless! :-)

Appalled

Sorry Folks, but I need to do a little venting because I am in shock of something that happened this evening. (There is a little graphic language in this because it is dialouge in the story so please keep that in mind when reading.)

A little backstory...

A few months ago it was kind of getting late in the night, and I was at work--there weren't many customers in the restuarant at the time. One of my servers came into the kitchen crying because a man was being rude to her. She said he was angry and rude because there was lettuce on his burger and was apologizing to me because she didn't remember him asking for no lettuce. I calmed down my employee and fixed the man's burger and walked into the dining room (took a total of about 3 minutes to fix). I found the man angrily standing in front of the entrance to the kitchen--waiting to speak to me. I smiled and told him I had fixed his burger, and while holding it in my hand, he continued to belittle and scream at me about how incompetent he thought my employee was for putting lettuce on his burger. (Does any one else see a problem with anyone getting this angry at a stranger over lettuce?!?)

He refused to eat the burger or even take it to go--even though it was IN MY HAND and fixed. He left angry and swore he'd never be back; however, the next day he returned when I wasn't there and joked with the staff and manager on duty at the time laughing while saying "I was an asshole to those girls last night."

Since then he's been in a couple times, always speaks and is genuinely pleasant to me, and I try not to hold it against him. BUT we still fondly refer to him as "the burger guy" haha...

Then tonight....

A friend and I went to a local restaurant for her to have a late dinner, and I was going to have dessert and sit with her so she didn't have to eat alone. We were seated at a booth in the back--there were only about 3 other tables in the restaurant including a couple at one booth right behind us and then a couple guys at the bar--one of which happens to be one of my employees.

My friend was texting and receiving messages while we sat and waited on the server to bring our drinks and take our order. The woman at the booth behind us said something (I'm assuming asking what the noise was) I didn't understand and he loudly said "I guess it's someone's f***ing phone going off!" I asked her if she heard him--she hadn't and then she put her phone on silent so it wouldn't disturb anyone including them.

The server brought our drinks and there was a piece of ice stuck to the side of the glass. I was talking to my friend while trying to get it unstuck with my straw and knocked my glass over! It was embarrassing because I hadn't even taken a drink out of it yet, and it almost went all over my friend. The woman from the next booth again yelled "That's what you get you stupid bitch!" I was shocked. Then my employee joked from the bar "Hey, Kristen! Do you need a lid?" I joked back "I think I need a sippie cup!" We laughed and the man then said loudly "I think you need a f***ing babysitter too!"

I am a 25 year old adult professional woman in a nearly empty restaurant being treated so horribly by a stranger that I nearly LOST it. I was angry I needed to walk away. So I went to the restroom to get away and chatted with my employee and his friend at the bar briefly and walked back to the table...having to walk past the angry booth to get back to my seat. Apparently while I was in the bathroom, the couple was still angrily speaking loudly about us and my friend turned around and said to them calmly "Didn't your mother ever teach you that if you don't have anything nice to say then you probably shouldn't say it?" The woman yelled back something about jumping over the booth to get at my friend.

They were packing up to go boxes and about to leave when I walked past them, but I got a good enough look at him to realize he was "The Burger Guy" and it ALL made sense.

Although when this all happened his back had been toward me, so there was no way he knew it was me before I went to the restroom, but the attitude made sense. It is clear that he/they do not care who you are or if there is a reason--they will be rude. I am still in shock at the way this situation unfolded (over a cell phone getting text messages at 10pm in a nearly empty restaurant). Some people have ZERO respect for people or know how to behave appropriately....

"New" Friendship

I have been doing a lot of heavy thinking tonight. I'm not sure what the deal is, but I'm sitting up late tonight with so much swirling through my head. This quote reminds me of one of my dear friends. So thankful to have her back into my life. We were the best of friends for so long in high school and immediately after. Some heartache happened, and we lost mostly all contact for about seven years. Life went on. We grew up. Things still reminded me of her from time to time, and it made me smile sometimes, cry sometimes, but mostly it made me remember.

I would remember all the good times we shared. I would remember all the tears we shed. I would remember all the laughs.

After all this time, through more heartache, we have come back to a place of friendship again. I know that things will never be the same again. I am not going to be unrealistic and think that all this time can pass and things will just "go back to normal" because normal isn't the same anymore. I guess the best way to explain this is that I don't want to "fix" our old friendship, but rather, I'd like to enjoy our whole new friendship that is currently developing. I am enjoying re-learning things about each other. I'm enjoying becoming friends as we are now--as adults. She's now a mother of two beautiful children, and I am a grown-up on the verge of engagement.

It's wonderful because I get to share new experiences with her. We get to share the things we "missed" in the seven years we weren't friends, and I'm enjoying the new "normal" in our lives. So far it was worth the seven year wait, and it is an exciting journey of "re-knowing" each other. So thankful for this opportunity in our lives. I know that we needed that time apart to become who we are today in order to have the friendship now that I do so very much cherish.

Thank you for letting me share a little of my heart with you tonight. Hopefully next time I write I will be a little less sad and heartfelt and a little more cheerful and entertaining instead.

Hope you all have a great week!

Success--or my version of it...

Another wonderful day in my life has me sitting here pondering life's most deepest thoughts. I ran across this quote on Pinterest, and it has me thinking... 

I love Reba--she's a good Oklahoma girl, and I love this quote.

My "wishbone" has me dreaming all the time. I think I've always kind of been a dreamer. When I was younger I wanted to be an editor for some big fashion magazine--wouldn't that be cool. Then, I wanted to write a book--still think it'd be fun. I got a little more realistic and decided it'd be exciting to own my own restaurant--by the way, I have since thought about it and realized it would be a whole lot of work and not realistic being a woman that would like to start a family...just have to have priorities I guess (and the older I get the more those priorities change). I would like to own my own business someday, but I guess that will be a bridge I will cross when I get to that point in my life.

My "backbone" is something I'm not sure I had for the first 20 years of my life. I was so nice (not that I think I'm a jerk now), but I was nice to a fault. I let people walk all over me. I would do anything anyone wanted/needed me to do without getting anything in return. I'm not saying that you shouldn't do things for people because I think I'm still pretty good at helping people, but I think if you are doing for others so much more than for yourself, you start getting taken advantage of and no one really respects you. There is nothing worse than not being respected in my opinion. It is an awful feeling when you realize that people will do or say anything to you because they know they can "get away with it", and you will still be there for them the next day because you don't stand up for yourself.

I'm not sure the exact moment that I found my backbone, but I remember the slow process of finding it. It was a rough battle that included a lot of heartache. I don't think I've cried so much in my life, before or after, than I did when I realized that no one was standing up for me--including myself. I found my self-respect and picked myself up off the floor and decided then and there that I would not be treated the way I had been treated most of my life anymore. I would not let my sweet spirit come across as a push-over any longer. I am much better at that now than I was then. I think working in restaurants has helped me a lot with getting thicker skin and being a stronger person in general. Waiting tables was something that really showed me people's true colors. It showed me that not everyone is nice, not everyone has good intentions, and not everyone is honest. I am thankful of everything I have learned, and that I have come out on top.

My "funnybone" is something I didn't always know that I had either. My brother has always been "the funny one." I don't know how many times in the last 10-15 years I have said "My brother is the funniest person I know" because it is true. He is hilarious. He can tell a story better than anyone I know. He can make me smile on the darkest of days. I love him so very much, but I kind of have him to thank for finding my humor I think--both making people laugh and being able to laugh at my own expense. My brother is only 17.5 months younger than me so we grew up very close, and he has picked on me for years. He cracks jokes about me/to me all of the time! Listening to him used to get to me. It used to hurt my feelings that he'd joke about me all the time--until I learned to "fight back" and learned how to better "take a joke." Now, I can tell one-liners and come-backs like nobody's business. He can pop off a joke, and I'm right there with him--back and forth every time we're together. The best though is when he and I have a mutual target such as a cousin, parent, friend, etc. We can pick on that person together all day long--aren't the funniest jokes at other people's expense (all in good fun of course--we're not bullies).

So, I guess my point in all this is that I feel like a pretty "successful" person these days. I don't see success as wealth or power. I see it as being a good-natured, dreaming, self-respecting person. A person that is an asset to society. I feel like I sometimes help make this world a little easier to live in for some people some days, and I feel like I appreciate and love the people around me. I don't think that's too much to ask for or expect from others--just a little mutual respect and tolerance in today's society is good for us all, in my opinion.

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and enjoy the rest of your week.

"Normal" Weekends

Wow... What a weekend off! I have LOVED it... Starting this weekend I have Saturday AND Sunday's off now... If you know anything about the restaurant industry, then you know that is unheard of, and I couldn't be any happier about this. AJ has "normal" weekends off too so we got to enjoy two full days off together, and it was wonderful.

Yesterday, we went to the pig show (first one I'd ever been to) to watch my brothers and 3 year old nephew (well technically he's my cousin, but my family's kinda special so don't ask me to put the family tree together... just trust me he's more like a nephew because his momma is one of my dearest friends). They did their pig showing things--still not sure how it all works, but I was supportive and pretended I had a clue. I also had an excuse to wear my cowboy boots so I was excited.

This is what my super cute boots look like. LOVE them--bought them for a George Strait concert in 2008 and have only worn them like 10-15 times since so I get pretty excited for any chance I get to wear them. I had so much fun watching them show their pigs--they did so good in my untrained clueless eyes, and I couldn't be any more proud of them...

Then went for a "night on the town" with AJ and one of my bestest friends in the whole world. That was a blast--but one of those "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" kinda nights, so, that's all the details I can give you. Then this morning woke up much too early for a Sunday off of work, and went to a yummy breakfast, took a big ol wonderful Sunday afternoon nap that can't feel nearly as good on any other day of the week, and then some good friends came over for dinner. I made roasted pork loin, rolls, salad with homemade ranch dressing, corn, and roasted/fried potatoes. These potatoes were my demise tonight. I am normally a pretty decent cook and have people over for dinner almost every Sunday night--it's my favorite time of the whole week. I have made roasted red potatoes with butter, salt, pepper, and vegetable seasoning a million times, and they are usually pretty fail-proof. I seemed to forget how long they take in the oven, and it seemed like they would NEVER be finished. The pork loin was done to perfection and waiting on the potatoes (guess I should've started them before the meat instead of the other way around). So, being impatient and surrounded by hungry people, I poured the potatoes in a pan on the stove, cranked the heat up to high, and fried those bad boys in aforementioned butter until they were golden and wonderful (I mean, what wouldn't be wonderful after frying in butter?).

Moral of the story: If all else fails, fry it. Oh, and don't forget that roasting potatoes in the oven takes a very long time so you should probably start cooking them before 8pm!

Hope ya'll have a great week and enjoyed your weekends as much as I did!