I Was Born a Ramblin' Woman

Your out-pouring of love and support regarding the Is-Macaroni-and-Cheese-a-Dinner-or-a-Side-Item issue has been so amazing. Whether you texted me, emailed me, left a comment, or communicated with me via Facebook or the Twitter, you've all made it very clear to me that:

#1. Macaroni and Cheese is a meal in itself.

#2. We like to eat this when our husbands aren't home.

It's situations like this that make me so so grateful to have a blog. I can rub all the proof in Grant's face and be like EVERYONE THINKS IT IS A DINNER!!!! and he can get over himself :) :) :)

On an unrelated topic, I've lost 5 lbs.

I think these "Just Eat Right and Exercise" people may be onto something. I think their little strategy may be working.

Tomorrow is an exciting day for many reasons:

1. I am taking a class at UofH... some additional training for work. Happy, happy, joy, joy. Back to college I go! But only for 3 hours. Yippee!!

2. I have my employee review tomorrow. I actually like getting a review because I'd rather people say something to my face than be irritated behind my back, but still, I GET ALL KINDS OF NERVOUS.

3. My kids' choir starts back up tomorrow night! I am so excited about this semester. I've really gotta be on my "A-Game" because my partner is very pregnant and will be leaving mid-way through the semester to have herself a darling baby boy so I have alot to manage on my own!

So I'm gonna head on in to bed! Love you, people :)

Fresh

HAPPY 2011!!

As we begin the new year, I find it very helpful to have a fresh start. A clean slate.

Which is why on New Year's Eve I went ahead and started my fresh start with a pedicure and an eyebrow wax.

One of the attorneys at my office gave me $50 for Christmas and I felt that I should put it towards something that makes me feel good. And nothing makes me feel like a new woman more than pretty toes and well-groomed eyebrows.

It has been a busy, productive weekend here at the house. On Saturday we had something we like to call "Purge Day" here which is where we GET STUFF THE HECK OUT OF THE HOUSE. I cleaned out the fridge, the pantry, our closet, the drawers..... bags and bags are ready to go to Goodwill. LESS IS MORE, PEOPLE. And, to be honest, I have a deep, dark fear that I am going to end up on the show "Hoarders".

THAT SHOW IS CRAZY TOWN.

We spent most of today cleaning. And I mean the real thing. Cleaning for real. Lysol, Febreeze, 409, The-toilet-water-is-now-blue kind of cleaning.

And then I went to the grocery store and then I came home and then I cooked dinner and then I watched some funny shows with my husband and now I am relaxed and chill and my home is clean and pretty.

For the record, the Christmas tree is in the garage until we decide what to do with it.

Well, It's Over

The big Christmas-thing is over.

I'm sad.

And happy.

And sad.

And happy.

And my voice is gone.

And it was so much fun.

And I am SO TIRED.

It was a HUGE success.

We sold out FIVE shows.

(That's over 15,000 people, folks).

And then I came and cleaned my kitchen.

And then I went grocery shopping.

And then I cooked my first homemade meal in over a week.

And then I ate my first homemade meal in over a week.

And then I cuddled up on the couch with my husband.

And I haven't seen him in a week, pretty much.

And I decided that it's now time for me to start enjoying the Christmas season.

And now this blog is over.

Since Wednesday

I last blogged to you on Wednesday.

Today is Sunday.

Since then, I have...

Shopped.

Watched a few movies.

Slept past 9:00am twice.

Eaten some food. Just a little bit.

Decorated my house for Christmas.

Put up the Christmas tree.

Did 3 loads of laundry.

Cleaned the house from top to bottom.

Hung out with family members that I haven't seen in years.

Hugged on some precious kiddos.

MASHED POTATOES.

Had 2 great days at my mom's house.

Lunch with Lindsee... Chinese food.

Spent a whole day with my college roommate and her husband.

Grocery shopped.

Laughed REALLY hard.

Played piano.

BEST STAY-CATION EVER.

But, all good things must come to an end. Back to work tomorrow. Blah.

But it's okay... cause this is what I'm looking at right now :)

A Very Sicky Tuesday

Last night I had the intention to get home from work and write the most amazing blog post you've ever read in all of your life.

And then something happened called "Sneezing 47 Times in 3 Minutes" and I sneezed out all of my good ideas. Plus, the sneezing and the nose-blowing and the misery didn't really put me in the mood to write a life-changing blog and so I ended up just swimming in kleenex all night and making joyful noises to the Lord with my nasal congestion.

I'm quite certain that Grant has never been more attracted to me.

I left work early yesterday since I was feeling so yucky. I'm back at work this morning in what some people may call a "heavily medicated state" so I'm sure that I will do a fantastic job today in all things that I do and also I will act totally normal and not at all drowsy.

The only thing that has peaked my interest this morning is the fact that Prince William and Kate Middleton are now engaged and plan to be married in 2011.

You know what I love? WEDDINGS.

You know what else I find fascinating? THE ROYALS.

A Royal Wedding?! It's like combining the Oscar's, the Miss American Pageant, and Disney Princesses all in one :) I'm excited about this. Very excited.

You know what else I'm excited about? The fact that I'm going to eat soup for lunch. Because I'm sicky and cold. And soup will make me feel better.

I'm ending this post now because it is pathetic.

I'm fully expecting for one of you to leave a comment that says "You're pathetic".

Since We Last Spoke...

There is just so much that I have to say that I have to do the thing I always do and put them into numbered paragraphs. There's just no way to make this flow as a narrative so it has to be in list format.

I feel like I need to apologize to all of you for the lack of creativity that has been going on around here. I'm sorry. I'm working on it. But, for now, you get numbered paragraphs.

1. Thursday night Grant came home with a present for me. A Sprint Evo 4G. It is leaps and bounds beyond my blackberry and I'm so happy. And addicted. And I can't put it down. Grant is so sweet and I squealed like a 9 year old girl getting to meet Justin Bieber.

2. Friday we went out to my parent's house for burgers. It was so much fun. Lindsee came out for a visit. When she left, my niece Grace shut the door behind her and said "She was very very nice". I agree. Lindsee is very very nice.

I had to take a picture of this moment. Grant (in the beautiful hunting hat) was giving fishing tips to Grace. Grace is using a pink fishing pole. In my parent's swimming pool. Wearing a party dress. And heels.


3. Saturday I slept in (holla!) and then drove up to church for the "Band and Singers" retreat. We ate yummy bagels from Panera, worshipped, workshopped, played "Minute to Win It" games, ate Mission Buritto for lunch, and then played this crazy game that my partner and I WON. And what did we win? WE WON A $25 GIFT CARD TO TARGET THANK YOU VERY MUCH. The options. The choices. The decisions. I've decided on Christmas decor for my home. Bless.

4. Saturday afternoon I slept for a long long time and watched "The Millionaire Matchmaker" which is a train wreck that you can't look away from. It's shocking and horrible and I have so many opinions for all of these people that I can't even begin to write them all out. I could start an entire new blog and fill it up for three years full of opinions I have for the entire cast of characters of that show. At the end of each post I would have a 5 second video clip of me sitting on my couch, shaking my head and saying "What is wrong with people?".

5. My ankle is not as healed as I originally thought and I may or may not have taken a step backwards with the cute boots I wore Saturday night. Oops.

6. Saturday night was date night. Sadly, we were both a little bit snappy and didn't really enjoy our evening till about 3/4 way through when we both decided to start over and smile at one another. We saw "Due Date" which I don't really recommend. It had funny moments but definitely was not my favorite.

7. AND THEN WE DID SOMETHING CALLED DAYLIGHT SAVINGS FALL BACK DAY AND THAT MEANS WE GET AN EXTRA HOUR OF SLEEP AND JESUS LOVES ME THIS I KNOW.

8. Church was so nice this morning. We got to class early and visited with a new couple. We had an excellent teacher who taught us all about being patient. I am sooooo good at being patient. Then we went to church where Pastor Gregg taught a sermon titled "He Must Become Greater, I Must Become Less" which I totally don't need to hear because I am super good at humility and submitting to His will. Or, truthfully speaking, the sermon (nail) was very timely for me (hit me on the ever-loving head).

9. Immediately after church I had a parent meeting for the Kids' Choir. Just in case you haven't been here to read in awhile and are thinking "Holy Moly, did Jen the Newlywed have a baby that is now in the 1st-5th grade that she is going to parent meetings for and I totally missed it?!?". No, no you didn't miss it. I have no babies. I am, however, a co-director of the kids choir and we had a parent meeting today. In a room that was freezing cold. And the people in the hallway had pizza that smelled so good that I almost ate my notes.

10. Grant and I decided to go home for lunch and see what we could whip up. Grant grilled hot dogs. We had no hotdog buns. So I toasted some bread and we had a hot dog sandwich. With Fritos. PURE CLASS.

11. We went to the gym and I worked out my abs and they are now abs of steel. A really loose, cushy steel.

12. Grocery shopping trip to Randall's. (Your Remarkable Store). We got lots of fruits and veggies. When we went down the macaroni and cheese aisle I touched all of the beautiful boxes and told my babies that I missed them and that I think of them every day.

13. Grant made us dinner. Whole Wheat Penne pasta with grilled chicken, broccoli, carrots, garlic, and olive oil. And I made Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, because, as previously stated, I AM A CLASSY GAL.

14. I did two loads of laundry. Well, 3 loads of laundry if you count the sheets. We love sleeping in freshly washed sheets. They smell so good.

15. We took the puppy dog on a long walk because it could not be more beautiful outside.

This blog post must end now before I start telling you all the meals I will be eating this week and how they compare to all the meals I wish I was going to be eating this week.

Long live carbohydrates.

I Have Blog Problems

In the last 48 hours I have started and deleted no less than 7 blog posts.

I get 3 paragraphs in and then I think to myself, "Self, this is stupid and no one wants to read it. Not even yourself, self".

Sometimes I worry about myself.

So now I'm just typing. Typing aimlessly.

Let's just start with what I've done since I left work:

1. Spent an hour and $63 in the HEB.

2. Finished singing "In My Arms" by Plumb on the radio before I got out of my car. I had a really good harmony that I wanted to sing.

3. Made red beans and rice with sausage.

4. Opened the lid to some "Cornbread Made From Scratch" (that's what it says on the label) that I purchased from the good people at HEB. Usually I make my own cornbread (and by "make my own cornbread" I mean "follow directions on the Jiffy box") but I was what I like to call FAMISHED and felt that cooking cornbread would take far too long. (And by "far too long" I mean "9 to 13 minutes").

5. Watched Oprah to see Jerry Seinfeld's wife (random) share some easy recipes "for normal people" which involved stuffing a whole chicken with lemon and rosemary and then tying the chicken's legs together with string. Guess I'm not normal.

6. Ate the food with my husband while watching Biggest Loser.

7. Did some Pilates while watching the Biggest Loser.

8. Talked to my friend Liz on gmail chat.

9. Sent out the weekly prayer request mass email for our Sunday School class.

10. Attempted to write a blog post.

11. Deleted the above-referenced blog post.

12. Hit the "Wrinkle Care" button on my dryer to take care of the clothing I failed to remove from the dryer last night.

13. Folded and put away the above-referenced clothing.

14. Dishes, yo.

15. Cleaned the countertops.

16. Sat my booty down on the couch and decided to stop trying to be creative with the blog and just start typing and see what happens.

17. Blogged while watching the news.

18. I am not at peace with leaving a list on an odd number so this is number 18 just because.

I do hope you enjoyed this post since it took 8 tries to come to fruition.

Also, Jennifer, I saw your comment in my last post. Tim Crane is... well that's a different story for a different day. Perhaps I'll write a blog about it. But for now, it's a mystery...

On My Plate

Let me first say that your love and support of Matthew McConaughey has been overwhelming. From your texts, emails, tweets, comments, and stopping me in real life to share your love for Matthew McConaughey... I have just been bombarded with the passion we share for MM.

The next time we vacation together, I will let him know.

So here is what is up with me:

For the next two nights, I will be helping record the "guide vocals" for the Christmas CD that our choir is distributing at the Christmas Celebration performances in December. The entire choir is recording this weekend, but a few of us are spending tonight and tomorrow night singing the guide vocals so the choir will have that in their ears when they record. It will be a very late night and will include very much coffee.

Also, I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS PART, the family is coming in this weekend! Grant's parents, brother, sister-in-law, and the three kiddos are coming to spend the weekend with us! Chase, Ronda and the babies are staying at our house and I am so excited. Olivia is 4 months old now which is one of my very most favorite ages and I will snuggle her all weekend! Being that I will have been at church till 11:00 Wednesday and Thursday of this week, I am certain that when the family arrives Grant and I will look like this:

Because that is pretty much how we look all the time. I don't see why this week would look any different.

Last night was also super fun. I went to the Beth Moore Bible study and learned some amazing stuff... and Christy Nockels sang which was phenomenal.... AND i got to see these lovely ladies

(as well as about 60 other people that I love dearly) and I came home very happy.

And hungry.

Which is why breakfast tacos are on my plate.

I'm Feeling Chatty Which Is A Totally New Experience For Me

As referenced in my previous post, I'm feeling sicky lately.

However, I have far too much to do so I'm just ignoring the sickness and powering through.

I'd also like to mention that this nightly thing that's been happening where I wake up at 4:17am has got to stop. There is no reason for me to be awake at that hour and I'd like for it to not happen anymore.

My mom is a gem. She is on her way over here right now to bring me an extra crock pot since I'm having a party. She's also bringing me some fall decor since I've only been a home owner for 10 months and I don't own much in the autumn category. She knows that it's important for a fall party to have fall decor. She's a good woman.

I'm watching Biggest Loser right now and therefore I hold my 5lb dumbbells in my hand while I sit here on the couch. It makes me feel better.

Today someone in the office was taking a video of me with their cellphone and I thought she was taking a picture so I just sat there frozen with this goofy look on my face for a good ten seconds until I realized that she was taking a video. I felt super cool.

We celebrated bosses day at the office today since the bosses will be out of town on actual bosses day. We gave them a chocolate cake with a cherry on top. The girls and I wrote "Please Don't Fire Us" on the cake.

Today Grant emailed me and asked me to let him know what weekends are free in the next few weeks. I went through my calendar from now till the end of 2010. Not one free weekend between now and then. And as the year comes to a close, my weekdays get busier and busier as well. It is realizations like this that make me want to crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head and stay there for a few hours or months.

Bob from the Biggest Loser just told the contestants that he thinks that the food in your home should have a shelf life of no longer than two weeks. Um, what about my rice and pasta and fritos and cereal and velveeta? WHAT ABOUT THE VELVEETA, BOB!? And the girl scout cookies?! Girl, please. He also just said that you need to have color on your plate. Um, yeah. I do. Macaroni and cheese is YELLOW. There's your color. Boo-yah.

Okay I'm gonna wrap this up.

Peace out. Eat something yellow or beige. That's my health tip for the day. You're welcome.

My Eyebrows Need Waxing

My hair needs trimming

The floor needs sweeping

The weather needs cooling

My legs need tanning

My sheets need washing

My arms need toning

My toes need painting

Lady Gaga needs helping

My stomach needs crunching

My toilets need scrubbing

Grey's Anatomy needs returning

My nieces and nephews need holding

Christmas music needs listening

My laundry needs folding

My lips need balming

My soul needs calming

A Collection of Unrelated Things

When reviewing my previous post, I want to make 2 things clear:

1. I am very appreciative of my job and I do not dread going there. I simply dread getting out of bed and putting on nice clothes and wearing high heels.

2. My husband is not lazy, quite the contrary. He is a VERY hard worker and he just has a job that doesn't require him to be there quite as early as I do.

Just wanted to clear those things up!

I made a new meal the other night and it was a huge hit.

I made my homemade mashed red potatoes which continues to be a favorite in our household. I also got some yummy organic carrots and organic broccoli from the produce section and steamed them, then tossed them in butter and olive oil to make them less healthy. And finally, I rubbed pepper, seasoning salt and dry mustard on a flank steak and cooked it in a skillet, then cut it into strips and served them on a romaine lettuce salad.

DELICIOUS and the husband also greatly enjoyed it :) Ever since we've been in our house (9 months now, can you believe it?!?) I've really started to enjoy cooking. I think it has something to do with having cabinet space and counter space that I never had in our apartment. Perhaps I don't want to collapse into a heap on the floor and cry now that I don't feel so claustrophobic!

By the way, I'm MEGA proud of my husband. You know how he plays golf ALL THE TIME? Well, I guess it paid off for him a bit. He played in a tournament yesterday that is a qualifier tournament for the Houston City Amateur. And you know what? He made the cut! He got 8th place! It was a goal for him to make the cut for the City Am and he acheived it! SO proud of him.


To close this post that is ever-so interesting, I will leave you with a quote from my 3 year old niece, Grace Parker:

"Jesus can protect us, even though He is an itty bitty baby".

I Just Started Typing and This is What Came Out

I have a heck of alot going on right now and I love it.

Kids' Choir started again last night at church! Oh my goodness... we had SO many kids... I was overwhelmed and excited and tired when it was all over. One little one ran to me and hugged me and said "Mrs. Judy, I missed you sooooooooooo much!". She called me Judy all year last year. Fine by me ;)

I'm also singing with the "big choir" for the big Christmas program in December. We've already started rehearsals and y'all I am having so much fun. I've always known I was a nerd but it was confirmed to me again when I got home from rehearsal on Saturday and Grant asked me if I had fun... my response was "YES! I had SO MUCH FUN! I LOVE to SIGHTREAD!!". Grant just stared at me and said "Wow, babe....". The big choir taps into a musical part of me that has been buried for a long time but I am just having a ball! I'm always up for spending the day singing Christmas music!

Although, I had a very embarassing situation on Saturday during rehearsal that involves a horrifying experience that took place when I unexpectedly had to change clothes in the same room as 9 women who were 65 and older. It is a bit "blog inappropriate" but let's just say that these women probably have now labeled me the hussy of the choir. I told Grant about it and he had another classic Grant response. "Nice, babe...."

Work is going well. For awhile there it was going not so well.. but things are on the upswing and I'm very happy. We have alot going on and I am busier than I've ever been but all in a good way.

Also on the horizon is the fall television season. For those of you that have been reading my blog since the early days, you know that television in our household is practically an event. However, this summer we have had nothing to watch except for "Bachelor Pad" and we all know that that is quality television. Elizabeth is a wack-a-doo. Straight up crazy. But I am greatly looking forward to the return of The Office, Grey's Anatomy, Community, Ellen, Oprah and How I Met Your Mother. This is going to be a good year for my shows, I can just feel it!!

I am also currently watching "Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta" and that just makes me laugh so hard I can hardly stand it. I love Southern women. We just have a different way of saying things. "I can't believe I just found my dress, y'all. This is a big moment". Cracks me up.

God is good. He's been showing off lately. Our sweet Olivia Claire, our niece who is just over 2 months old, was hospitalized this weekend with Viral Meningitis. Poor baby girl.... thankfully the Lord has healed her and our prayers were answered. She left the hospital on Monday night and we are so thankful.

Alright this blog doesn't seem to have a direction or a purpose so I'm just gonna cut it off here. This was not one of my bests, y'all. Not one of my bests.

I leave you today with this nugget of ever-important wisdom from Jerry Seinfeld:

"Where lipstick is concerned, the important thing is not color, but to accept God's final word on where your lips end".

Chew on that. Memorize it. Hide it in your heart.

You May Never See Paragraphs Again

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time for another edition of "Jen the Newlywed: Random Thoughts That Are Not Connected or Related in Any Form Whatsoever". What can I say, I am a literary genius that writes masterpieces for your reading pleasure every 2 to 3 days.

My breakfast lately has consisted of 2 Honey Maid Graham Crackers and one big ol' cup of coffee. I'm using the "Skinny Vanilla Latte" creamer from International Delight. It's my favorite.

I'm also on a big kick of snacking on kettle cooked chips. I feel like I'm being healthier or something. I have no idea if that is true or not but it makes me feel better when eating them by the handfulls.

My niece Grace Parker really loves wearing dresses and kinda refuses to wear anything else. Scarlett and Juliet are like that too. Very feminine little ladies. Anyhoo, my sister Jaclyn bought Grace a t-shirt that is pink and has sparkles and bedazzles all over it and it says "Preschool Princess" or something to that effect. Even though it wasn't a dress, Jaclyn thought Grace might wear it due to all the sparklies on it.... but when Jaclyn presented the shirt to 3 year old Grace, Grace looked at it and said "Mommy? Do you know what that shirt says? It says "Grace Will Not Wear That Shirt".

I wish she had opinions.

Sometimes when my husband is playing Call of Duty on the XBox and talking to all his buddies via headset, I like to run into the room and start singing and dancing, Vaudeville style. HE LOVES THAT.

So, I'm still all up in the ancestry.com and learning about my family lineage, as well as Grant's. I was able to trace my mom's paternal grandfather's line back to the early 1100's. They were all nobles and lords and earls in England. Just like we are here in Texas.

Grant has a great great grandfather named Duardo. He also has a great great grandfather named Joaquimo. Keep in mind that my husband was born with blond hair and still has the clearest blue eyes. I was all confused.

I feel like this is the 3rd time that I've blogged about this, but if you haven't had the macaroni and cheese at Panera, you need to do that.

I washed the sheets. Grant got in bed and wouldn't shut up about how they feel so good and "they smell like a summer breeze". He then proceeded to sing "Summer Breeze... makes me feel fine....blowing through the jasmine in my mind".

I feel like I should probably wash the sheets more often than I do.

When I turned on the closet light this morning, it flickered about 30 times and then went off. The whole time it was flickering, I was saying "No no no no no no" and then went it went out I had to go get our really bright flashlight and pick out my clothes holding this giant light. I felt like I was camping.

Today's heat index is 109 degrees. I heard the weather man say something about taking care of your plants because this heat is "cruel and brutal" to plants. Um, it is cruel and brutal to humans. Thanks.

I'm done for today. Now go ponder for the next 24 hours on all the insightful, profound wisdom I have shared with you.