Not Me Monday

It is not me who last week broke the rules writing her previous "not me monday" post. It is not me who pushed the "publish post" button on blogger at 11:50pm and thought that she would have no problem getting her post submitted by the midnight deadline. And certainly, it was not me who underestimated the tortoise-like speed of our stolen wireless signal (i guess it is not stealing if they gave us the password...thanks, sanks!). therefore, I am not the one who did not link back up with mckmamma's website and failed to have the proper banner heading thingy over last monday's post.

I totally did not nearly bawl my eyes out today while reading a naptime story to young K because I found the message of the story to be so touching. And it is not me who now has a favorite children's book titled Small One. And I most certainly am not getting a little teary-eyed this moment just from thinking about the sweet, sweet story.

The husband and I have NOT been rewatching all the seasons of the office for the past several weeks. We are by no means addicted. I, for one, DO NOT dream about any of the characters, especially Jim, Pam, and Kelly. And, for the record, I do not think season 3 is the best season and i do not think the Jim/Pam storyline is the best!

No matter what our neighbors might tell you, do not believe them when they tell you how we missed our trash pick up on wednesday morning by mere seconds. It was not us who drug their garbage can to the street even after the truck had passed our house, in hopes we could get it taken when the city truck came back for the other side of the street (turns out they got both sides at the same time). Even if we had missed the truck, it is not like we missed the previous week either! So, rest assured that our bin is not STILL on the street, nearly one week later, and is ABSOLUTELY NOT crammed so full and overflowing that one is unable to put the lid on. Since we did none of that, we are NOT worried that the garbage trucks will not run on this wednesday which is Christmas eve.

I do not currently have a laundry hamper piled higher than said garbage can filled with dirty clothes. It is not me because I do not have a broken washing machine. So, of course I will not be the one who is packing DIRTY clothes (including underwear) in her suitcase tomorrow in hopes that she can wash them when she gets to either set of parents house. Also, this is not a sore subject!

I am not so proud of myself for keeping a nearly spotless house all week last week. I most certainly did not MAKE OUR BED EVERY MORNING! That would be ridiculous! also, I did not enjoy the serenity that a clean house can bring and seriously contemplate putting much more effort into housework.

it is NOT ME who waited to Christmas shop until yesterday, today, and tomorrow! I did not have to push and shove my way through hoards of people just to walk down the crowded mall. and i most certainly did not swear in my head because i was so impatient with certain other last-minute shoppers who were taking their sweet time.

And last, it is NOT me who came upon a pair of boots at dillards and seriously entertained the idea of paying the $300 price tag. i did not suddenly snap back into reality and calculate all that could be bought with that amount of money.

not me monday

For several months, thanks to tracy, i have been addicted to checking mckmama's blog. she has an incredible story involving a miracle named stellan. you should check it out. anyway, she is the one who came up with not me mondays, and this is my first one....so here goes!

i most certainly have not been sick with some sort of ailment for nearly 6 weeks. it is not me who had a sore throat for almost a month, and not me who is currently so snotty that i have not been able to sleep for two nights. also, if this had been me, of course i would have gone to a doctor. it would be ridiculous not too!

it is not me who is an awful housekeeper. i am definitely not the one who finally swept her kitchen floor for the first time in months saturday morning! also, not me who only cleaned her house because she had major company coming over for a progressive dinner party on saturday night. and while we are at it, it is not me who got so stuffy and whose voice turned froggy due to all the dust she was cleaning (probably more like just spreading the dust around).

it wasn't me who tried to be clever when trying a new recipe for said party saturday night. i most certainly did not ruin my first batch of chocolate fondue and have to rush to the store an hour before the party started to buy more ingredients for fondue attempt number 2. and i absolutely was not a half hour late for the party either because of the recipe mishap. also, in an attempt to hurriedly clean up a messy kitchen, i DID NOT just store the ruined pot of fondue in the stove to deal with later. and i was certainly not trying to give off the appearance of "having it all together" for the benefit of my girlfriends attending the party.

and last, i am not the one who has a wonderful bff named meredith...actually, i think i will own up to that part! but, it was not me who wrote an email from mer's email account telling another friend that mer was getting on my nerves. and no, this was not after our sophomore year in college. and no, mer did not just confess to me that i did such a thing 8 yrs ago while she was in my kitchen saturday graciously helping me prepare for the impending party. and i was not humiliated in the least that i did such an atrocious act of betrayal! and even if i had done what she said, of course i would have remembered it!!

What's for dinner?

Shrimp Grits, of course! I do not know what shrimp grits, or shrimp and grits is supposed to be, but several months ago i came up with my own version. And, as always, each outcome is different since i never make it the same way twice. Tonight i added bacon and pickapeppa sauce (b/c i was out of tabasco) for the first time and it was great! so, for anyone interested, here is a basic recipe that you can manipulate any way you see fit for your tastes!

*1lb frozen, small deveined and tails off shrimp (thaw and pat dry)
*quick cooking grits (i use the great value brand), follow instructions for either 4 or 6 servings depending on how much you want to make
*3 carrots, peeled and chopped into small pieces
*1 to 2 celery stalks (to personal preference), cleaned and chopped
*1/4 of an onion, chopped
*garlic (personal preference on how much), chopped
*6 oz cream cheese
*2 tbsp sour cream (this is a recent addition, since i had some leftover...feel free to omit!)
*1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
*1 bay leaf (i always have these on hand b/c i make soup often, no worries if you don't!)
*salt and pepper to taste
*oregano
*basil
*tony chacheres to taste (creole seasoning for anyone unfamiliar)
*tabasco or pickapeppa sauce, or any sauce or seasoning you have on hand to give it a bit of zip
*evoo
*large rectangular baking dish, i use a pyrex, sprayed with cooking spray

Preheat oven to about 400 degrees F.

In a large skillet on medium heat, add a little evoo, then add carrots. While carrots are cooking, start cooking the grits according to the directions in a large pot. Add celery and onions to skillet along with seasonings and bay leaf. When onions are translucent and carrots are tender, add the thawed and dried shrimp to veggie mixture, let cook for a couple of minutes. Don't forget to stir the grits!
When grits are finished cooking, turn off heat, remove bay leaf, garlic, and add shrimp/veggie mixture to grits. Stir in cream cheese, sour cream, and a tablespoon (more or less depending on you) of the sauce of your choice. Top with shredded cheddar and bake about 20-25 mins...until cheese is melted.
If this is dished immediately following removal from oven, it will have a soupy consistency, but will still taste great! As it cools, it will begin to set up and become stiffer.
Enjoy!

Resist. The. Urge.

For a couple of weeks now, I have been resisting the urge to decorate for Christmas! It does not help that many stores, restaurants, and even my hair salon have begun playing Christmas music. Yesterday I took about three hours of my afternoon and dedicated it to looking at Christmas decorations at some of my favorite stores. Luckily, for the pocketbook, I fought the urge and did not buy anything. The down side is that the diesire to pull down my own decorations from the attic is even stronger. I told myself i can do it next week before we leave to visit family for Thanksgiving. Also, i have a feeling that Meg would make fun of me if she popped in and caught me in the act of decorating. One more week, one more week...

It's your turn!

Both wife and husband perry have voted. Have you? will you??
you should!


*I am wife perry and i approve this message!

disgustingness

i hate mayo. and so does the husband. i hate it so much that it is not worth the effort to type out it's full and proper name. I know that i am not alone in this...but i am also aware of the mayo lovers. i am the minority in my family. although, from my understanding, even within mayo-loving circles there are taste preferences. my mom uses hellman's and my dad is a miracle whip kinda guy. i choose to abstain. that is right, i am mayo celibate.

it really ticks me off when i order a sandwich or burger when dining out, only to find that they RUINED my food by violating it with that disgustingness known as mayo. it has become second nature for me to say "with NO mayo" when ordering such items.

the problem with hating mayo is that i really like many foods that involve mayo as an ingredient...one in particular is chicken salad. In an attempt to enjoy usually mayo-laden foods, i have started substituting the mayo for more perry-friendly ingredients. Last night for supper i made a mayo-free chicken salad for sandwiches that would accompany our homemade veggie soup. I thought it was very delicious and would like to share it with you. Feel free to modify to your personal preference, because after all, that is one of the many joys of cooking!

Chicken salad (clever name to come later)

mine made enough for 4 good size sandwiches

*chicken...i used all but the breast meat of a rotisserie chicken from walmart. roasted chicken without the work of cooking it! i personally do not like canned chicken, but it would work fine here.

*celery...i finely chopped one stalk

*onion, finely chopped...to your personal taste

*grapes...i quartered about 12-15 green grapes

*walnuts...these are very good for you and add good crunch! i used a handful.

*dried cranberries...i chopped a handful

*1 ounce of cream cheese...i used weight watchers pre-portioned 1 oz cups that come 8 to a box. only 1 pt per cup for anyone counting!

*4 ounces of fat free plain yogurt, or half a small container.

*a couple of large spoonfuls of sour cream, i used light.

*a few squirts of yellow mustard

*a couple shots of tabasco...i used the smoked chipotle flavor

*salt

*pepper

*tony chachere's (creole seasoning for anyone not in the know!)

not much has been happening with the perry's lately and i do not have anything to get on a soapbox about either. since i last posted, we have gained the sanks as neighbors, welcomed the newest perry into the world (austin's brother and sis-in-law had a girl!), and had a temporary house guest for two months (austin's sis, amanda).

we are getting ready for a mini-vacation in november to mexico. it is a mini-vacay because we are going for austin's work. there is a conference there that he must attend and i am tagging along. it is in merida, so it is not on the beach. hopefully i will be bold enough to go out and explore on my own. the last "vacation" we had was our honeymoon two and a half years ago.

i am also thinking about giving up the blog. in the beginning...5.5 yrs ago!...i had many interesting things to blog about, but not so much aymore. we'll see........

Principles of Solubility

Due to Austin's new job, he is not permited to take vacation until his 6 month mark, which is at the end of August. As you can imagine, the start of a fall semester is the busiest time of year for a university. Therefore, it is unlikely that he will be able to get away until at least October or maybe even later. Although we have been "stuck" here, we have had many over night visitors during the last couple of months...which we really enjoyed! The latest occupants in room #2 of the Perry B&B were the Garner's of Houston. Bob and Austin were roomies for most of college and both studied chemical engineering at Tech. I mention the chemical engineering part to set up the best quote all weekend, which came from Bob, while dining at Mellow Mushroom. He asked for sweet tea, but the waitress told him they were currently brewing up a fresh batch. She suggested that she could bring him a glass of unsweet and he could use the sugar packets at the table to sweeten it himself. With a very straight look on his face and in a very deadpan voice he said something to the effect of, "I don't have time to explain the principles of solubility to you, I'll have a coke." Obviously, the waitress was not sure what to do with that comment so she smiled and went about her business.
It was great to see the Garner's! Their children are adorable and little miniatures of them. We are now planning a visit to Houston in the future.

Celebrity Morph by MyHeritage

MyHeritage: Celebrity Morph - Vintage photographs - Genealogy software

Hootie and Billy Bob's

Saturday night, Austin and I were finally able to check off an item of our "must-do-while-living-in-Fort-Worth list." We went to Billy Bob's Texas. Wednesday, I was surfing the net while waiting for the children to finish their naps, and I discovered that one of Austin's favorite bands, Hootie and the Blowfish, was performing during the weekend. So, we went and braved the loooong line at the door. The performance was great, but I must confess that the atmosphere was not to my liking. I am 28, I like to SIT and enjoy my music and Darius Rucker. Afterall, Billy Bob's is just a really big overgrown bar...or honky tonk (the world's largest). I do not appreciate being herded like cattle and having to swallow my rage towards the 300lb drunk college student who is knocking me over while dancing like Carlton from the Fresh Prince, all the while with a full cup of alcohol (I am guessing it was beer) in hand. Also, to add to that point, I do not reccommend wearing sandals or any other open toe shoe to Billy Bob's. If your feet do not get alcohol spilled on them, they will most definitely get smushed by all the other cattle!!! When leaving BB I had to apologize to Austin for getting on to him earlier for wearing his 15 year old worn out Doc Martin's in public. At first I thought he was trying to re-live the mid-nineties by wearing them and listening to Hootie simultaneously. But, alas, my husband has more sense than I give him credit for (don't tell him I said that).

Overall, I really enjoyed Hootie....and the 40 year old couple who was grinding to Hootie's golden oldies right beside us (it was too ridiculous to expound upon!!). They played some of their new country stuff and a lot of their hits with a few covers mixed in..."champagne supernova" and David Alan Coe's, "You never even called me by my name" had the crowd going.

We are glad we saw them!

The Modern

Sunday, we ate at our favorite after-church-lunch-place in Fort Worth, Cafe Modern. It is the restaurant inside the Modern Art Museum. The menu changes four times a year to go along with the four seasons. As of yesterday, we have experienced all four seasons/menus. Hold on to your hats, because Austin got the TIRAMISU PANCAKES and I got the modern omelet with fresh friut. Both dishes were very delicious, but Austin's took the (pan)cake!! There are no words for how ridiculously good they were. They were so sweet and rich that he could not power through and finish them off. Good thing for him I was there to pick up the slack! To see the Sunday brunch menu, click here. The menu describes the pancakes. We love the atmosphere at the Cafe Modern and have never had to wait for a table, even on a Sunday after church. Also, it is GREAT for summer because the restaurant is always cold (so bring a sweater)!!
We have taken the Sankses's'ss (I have no idea how to write the plural of Sanks) to eat there before, but I believe it was an off experience and it did not impress. I hope they will give it another try because it is well worth it!
On a side note, the Cafe Modern has THE BEST strawberry-white chocolate scones on the face of the earth! I asked if the chef gives out her recipe, and sadly she does not. But, I do not blame her, I would not either! The bad news is the scones are not for sale either...they are only available in your bread basket (and they only bring one!).
So, there ya go. Go enjoy the Cafe Modern!!!

The Business of Being Born

Today I (Ashley) watched a documentary called The Business of Being Born. Since watching it, I am unable to think of anything else...it was truly thought-provoking in my opinion. I'd like for some of my friends (mainly the females) to watch it so I can discuss it with someone. Austin is scheduled to watch it sometime this week, but I am assuming his view might be limited since he is unable to give birth. We picked the dvd up (free!!) from the library, but I am assuming you can get it at Blockbuster or through Netflix. Be warned, there is real footage of women giving birth, but the footage isn't gratuitous though...also, there is female nudity, but not in a sexy way. Now, run out and get your hands on a copy!
Oh, yeah, Ricki Lake was involved in this project...At first I thought this was going to be all about her, but it totally is not. Personally, I think this was done very well!

Nap Time

Again, a pictureless post.....
It is currently 2:45pm at the J household, which is gloriously known as "nap"time to S (3.5yrs) and "rest"time to G (5.5yrs). No matter what you call it, Miss A calls it her favorite time of the day! G could totally do without it, but I cannot! This is one of the biggest perks of my job...a 2 hour block of silence, or mindless t.v., whichever I am in the mood for. Today, there are painters in the house so I banished myself to the guestroom with the computer. I am across the hall from G and can hear him playing out some sort of good-guy action hero scenario. He is such an imaginative fella. I can also hear the not-so-quiet painters as they drop buckets on the hardwood floors and it echoes up the open stairway and into S's room. They are also yelling to each other in Spanish. Good thing S is a hard sleeper, but for everyone's sake, I hope they do not wake her up. Oh, no....I hear them stomping up the loud creaky stairs!!! I swear, I become an angry mama bear when it comes to nap time and someone waking up the kids.
Not much is going on in the life of the Perry's. Austin is still enjoying his new job at UTA. We are crossing our fingers that he will be selected to go to a Regional meeting in Mexico in the fall. And along with crossed fingers, we are hoping that I will be able to tag along with him! More to come on that if he/we get to go! I (ashley) am getting excited the closer we get to July, August, and September. In July, my friends from Zambia, Tommy and Stephanie (my roomie in Zambia), will be moving to Ft. Worth...along with their cutie-pie daughter, Claire. I am excited that so many of my good friends will be in such a close proximity. I would like to go ahead and extend a SingStar challenge to the Knighten's!
In August, Michael and Meg will be moving back to this side of the metroplex with baby Naomi in tow! Now, if we can only get the house next door to come up for rent soon and have all the renovations completed!

**Interruption** I am trying to keep from losing my religion with the punk teenage kid from across the street who came and rang the super-loud doorbell TWICE within the span of 15 SECONDS!!!!! He needed me to move my car so their U-haul can stick out into the road about 10 feet. Needless to say, I think he sensed my displeasure with him after he caught my evil eye and finger sushing when coming to answer the door. I did not know if I wanted to rip his head off or punch him in the face!!! Okay, I think the blood pressure is starting to come back down.****

Finally, in September, the first Perry Grandchild will be born!!! Nate and Stacy will be welcoming baby Emma into the world. Good thing I have been practicing my Auntee skills with Sawyer and Jax! I LOVE buying pink stuff!
Only about 30 more mins left in naptime. So, I guess I am off to surf more blogs. Happy reading to all!!

What's the deal?

So for the past several months (four or five!) I have had trouble staying under my 900 verizon wireless minutes. WOW! How in the world is that possible?? NINE HUNDRED minutes is a lot of talk time! I attribute it to not having a land line, although we have never had a land line and the problem did not exist before. In fact, many tmes in the past I had minutes to spare....but greedy verizon does not do roll-over minutes, which I think is such a scam! Hopefully the situation will change in the fall when Austin and I can finally be on the same network. Now the only choice is AT&T or Verizon.....AT&T does have roll-over minutes!

Here Kitty, Kitty

For those who do not know, we have a cat. She showed up at our seminary house last spring and never left (thanks in part to saucers of milk left by Ashley on the back steps). We were not allowed pets, so we never could officially call her "our" cat...even though she slept inside most nights and we saw her through her first litter of kittens at that house. Many people in the neighborhood left food for her and even let her in as well. Austin named her "Meri," after the street we lived on, Merida. When the time came for us to move, I could not bear the thought of leaving her behind...so she came with us...although, the harlot was great with child. After a drama-filled Easter night and a 4am visit to the emergency vet, she delivered litter #2. We have finally found homes for all the kittens and decided to prevent any future offspring. Well, today Meri had her appointment with destiny. I (Ashley) picked her up this afternoon and brought her back to the house. When I let her out of the carrier, she very gingerly crept out. She looked almost as if they removed her stomach, because she appeared sooo skinny. Her back legs seemed a bit wobbly and at first I thought maybe they were numb from the surgery, but then I saw her belly and realized that she got a serious tummy tuck and was probably in pain! Poor kitty! I cannot recall being around a female cat that was recently spayed before. I feel so bad for her, because she is so pitiful!

Tag

Well, seems as though I was tagged by Melissa and my sister, who is new to the blogging community, is demanding I put up some new info. So, here are seven things you may not know about me.

*I have been secretly wanting, wishing, and waiting for someone to tag me with this specific "tag". For a while now I have been trying to keep a mental list of fun facts about myself...and now I cannot think of a single one!!!

*I confess, I like The View. I would actually like very much to be a co-host. I do not see eye to eye with any single co-host, but the two I most identify with are Sherri and Elisabeth. My husband hates the show and considers it to be one of the levels of hell.

*In kindergarten I got checked out of school to stomp cotton. We lived in rural Lake Providence, La and my parents owned the John Deere store. Stomping cotton is fun! My sis and I crawled into the trailer that contained all the freshly harvested cotton and started jumping like we were on a trampoline. Thanks, mom and dad for the fun memories!

*I lived in Zambia for two years. Sometimes I feel guilty because I got back more from that experience than I gave.

*Plain white milk makes my gag reflex come out in full force!! I even eat my cereal with a fork to make sure I don't swallow a spoonful of milk. But chocolate milk is heaven sent!

*So far in my life, I consider college to be the most fun time in my life....Adult privileges with few adult responsibilities! Rook at 3am anyone??

*I want to be on Oprah's Big Give.

One to grow on......
*Naptime is by far the best perk of my job!

I tag Meredith & Justin, Brandi, Brooke, Michael and Meg, and Kim and Daniel

I cannot resist these

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet, current car): Jeannie Jeep

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME (fave ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe): Cherry Garcia Sandals

3. YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN NAME (favorite color, favorite animal): Blue Cat

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you were born): Brookes Vicksburg

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first name): Peras

6. SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink): Green Coca-Cola

7. NASCAR NAME (the first names of your grandfathers): Jim (Jimmie) Dewey

8. STRIPPER NAME ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent,favorite candy): Heaven M&M

9. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Faust Fairfax

10. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Spring Tulip

11. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing rightnow): Strawberry Sleep Shirt

12. HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree): Bagel Dogwood


Ok, so now everyone else must do this as well!!! This means the three people who still check this site and the 4 people who lurk. Yes, I will be checking up to make sure!

So long, farewell......

We are moving! But, the even better news is we are staying in Fort Worth. Austin accepted a job at the University of Texas in Arlington. We have already found a house and will be moving in this coming week. I am NOT looking forward to packing up and moving this cluttered house we now live in, but I am for sure looking forward to decorating and organizing our new place, which is much bigger than where we are now. And I cannot help but smile when I think about the DISHWASHER in our new house. Yes, folks, looks like my dreams are becoming a reality because not only will I no longer suffer from dish-pan hands, but I will have my own personal laundry room. Another thing we are looking forward to leaving behind is the wall we share with our music major neighbor! Good-bye to those 3am band practices!!! A perk of our new place is it's location, it is behind Central Market. Austin is already predicting that we will have to have a Central Market category in our budget. I am actually quite happy about staying in the DFW area. I was getting a little sad last month when I started thinking about having to move away from the many places I love here in the area.... The Container Store, a variety of shopping malls, Ikea, the Dallas Mavericks, downtown Ft. Worth at night, the stockyards, Central Market, numerous restaurants we love to frequent, and much, much, more! Maybe one of the main reasons we like this area is because of the many friends and family we have in the area. I'd be pretty sad to say goodbye to them! I guess more good news is that all of those many friends and family are MORE THAN welcome to help us move! Hopefully, pictures of our new place to come soon!

The Superbowl, a picnic, and Christmas

This was at my parents house in Arkansas. My dad went to crank the car for a little family outing to visit my grandpa. The car would not start so my dad popped the hood and discovered this...some sort of nest. I was standing beside him when he opened it up and I immediately got freaked out and took off running, it sent shivers down my spine because I was so disgusted. At first I thought it was the remaining fur of something that crawled under the hood and died. Turns out they think it was the home to a rat...yuck!!! Obviously this old car does not get driven very often!
This is the only decent Christmas picture that I got with my camera. It is Grizzly Adams, I mean my brother, Trey, opening a sweet sentimental gift my mother gave all of us...a pic of my dad when he was a little boy dressed up in his cowboy outfit.
Austin had the great idea of taking a picnic today since the weather has been so beautiful here! We grabbed some sandwiches and took off to the botanical gardens. We tried to take a picture without sunglasses but it was just too bright for me. I was all squinty like a mole.
Is there really anything better than a Sonic drink??

Tonight we went to Jason and Melissa's house to watch the Superbowl. No one in attendance was rooting for either team. Austin said his ideal outcome would be for both teams to lose. At least the game was exciting.

Laundry Room Etiquette

I am writing this because I am frustrated and the husband thinks I am just over-reacting (I even had to ask him whose side he is on). I am not quite as irritated at the situation since I found out the culprit is a pregnant lady, but still that does not excuse the rudeness that occured this morning. I put some clothes in the washer (all the other machines were empty) and went about my business...I had 38 minutes to do my thing. Apparently I was not standing over my machine anticipating the very second it would stop spinning....and a neighbor (the pragnant lady) thought that was reason enough to remove my clothes. I guess in her defense she did place them in a dryer instead of laying them on the funk-nasty, dusty table in the laundry room like another rude neighbor did last year (now that REALLY got my blood boiling). Of course when I found my clothes in the dryer I was so irrate that I did what anyone else would have....went back to my house and peeked out the window until the guilty party came to get their clothes out of the highly coveted washer. When I saw who had done it I was a little shocked and felt a wee-bit bad for all the mean things I had said to her in my head. I guess she helped her case a bit when I spied her holding her lower back while entering the laundry room....geez, Ash, have a heart! So, now I feel bad for getting so out-of-joint and wonder if people will let me slide a bit when I am pregnant.
I do know that I will feel like we have "made" it when we get a place with a washer and dryer under the same roof that we live under...well, that and a dishwasher. Dream Big!!

No Promises...

No promises that this blogging thing will last, but here's to hope!!! We are still in Fort Worth and in seminary housing, despite the fact that Austin graduated in December (how fitting that as I typed that last sentence, Tom Petty was singing on the radio that "the waiting is the hardest part"). He (Austin, not Tom Petty) has done two phone interviews with one college so we are waiting to hear back from them. We are very excited about this next step in our lives, no matter where God places us. I know one thing for sure, I am not looking forward to packing up our apartment...especially since both of us are sentimental pack-rats! I mean how can I dare part with letters that people I care about sent to me over the years, especially the hysterical ones sent by Meredith and Justin while I was in Zambia.

Apparently tonight I hit my breaking point. For anyone not living in the Fort worth or the metroplex, the rodeo and stockshow is in town. Now this is a big deal, which I did not realize before moving here...they let school out for it and everything! In Louisiana we get out for Mardi Gras, so I suppose that each state has one random holiday that they can assign...hmm, i wonder. Anyway...the hotels and restaurants here are all at capacity because of the influx of people in town. One of the families I work for called me this week to see if I could help out some friends of their's who are in town for the stockshow. They needed a sitter for their two kiddos (2.5 and 1) for a few hours Friday night while they went out to eat. No problem, I can handle that (so I thought)! To be clear, the children were well-behaved and precious, and the family was super-nice! I really liked the mom, she was sweet and country...we could have totally been friends! The problems arose when it was time to eat supper. Well, this could be a long story since it has many deatails but I will save those for a face-to-face conversation. Let's just say that the hotel did not have room service and I had to put a (several, really) call in to my awesome, super-cute husband so he could save the day! I did eventually get the kids feed and put to bed, so I guess I was successful in my job!

I probably know the answer to this question, but does anyone else have blogs they look at all the time? Blogs that you have no idea who the people are but you feel like you do because you are addicted and read it all the time. If Austin's cousin Kendra is reading this, I know she does! Well, I too, am an addict. The two that I read everyday and most days check like two or three times to see if they are updated are www.lotsofscotts.blogspot.com and www.cfhusband.blogspot.com. Both of these blogs are so sweet and precious. The first one is so heart-warming and endearing. It is about a family with TRIPLETS and their journey in life (the itty-bitty's are 3.5!). Definitely read this blog if you love funny anedotes about life through the eyes of a child...and motherhood stories that are easy to identify with (I am not a mom but maybe I can identify since I work with children). The second one is about a young couple with a beautiful premature baby girl trying her best to show God's glory by living and thriving! DO NOT read that blog unless you are prepared to shed a few tears because of the miracle that is happening. The mom has cystic fibrosis and is about to be put on a waiting list for a lung transplant...can we just say wow! You can't not pray for them after reading their story.
Again, I do not know these people and am not even real sure how I stumbled upon their blogs. I thought I would make my confession and share two great sites with those three people who still check my site from time to time. Check them out and let me know so we can talk about them like we know them together! And before signing off, what are your secret obsession blogs (I know, if you tell me then they will not be secret, but who cares, no one reads my blog anyway!)????