What I'm Loving

I'm LOVING that, despite all the rain and storms that have hit our area (we're talking 16+ inches in a week) we and our home are still safe. I was able to ride through a flooded area with voluntary evacuations yesterday, and saw it could be a lot worse than what I have. It is devastating here in Southeast Missouri.

I'm LOVING that I have great family and friends helping us clean up the little mess we have. Since the water table is so high, a bit of water seeped into the basement. Yesterday, my parents came out to help clean up and dig trenches/expose some tubing that the previous homeowners covered up. 


I'm LOVING that the rain is supposed to end today!


I'm LOVING that we have a ton of leftovers from Easter that we've been eating on. We decided to just BBQ because it would be easier, so we've been having hamburgers/hot dogs for dinner every night. Love.


I'm LOVING Kendra's awesome dance on DWTS Monday night. That's the Kendra I know and love :) I was seriously clapping for her the entire performance. Yes, sitting on my living room couch.

I'm LOVING that I get to hit up a citywide yard sale this weekend. *SQUEAL*


I'm LOVING my sweet man, whose been working even harder than I have at cleaning up the mess :)

What I'm Loving

{1} I'm LOVING my boys. They give me a million or so reasons to smile every day. 

{2} I'm LOVING that I got to sleep in today, get to watch soap operas and will hopefully attack the mountain of laundry (I swear it's a never-ending pile!)


{3} I'm LOVING that I've gone since Ash Wednesday (so more than 40 days) without soda. I want a big 'ole Sprite on Sunday, but I think I've really cut the cravings. 


{4} I'm LOVING that Easter is on Sunday. Mostly because I'm craving my mom's chicken and dressing, ha!


{5} I'm LOVING that I have a leadership class tomorrow. Yay for getting paid to network and learn more about the community. 


{6} I'm LOVING that we had a pretty day on Sunday. Especially since it's supposed to rain/storm here every day for the next week. 


HAPPY WEDNESDAY, Y'ALL!

Building project: Shelves

I sorta alluded to this building project back in January/February. Well, we've been done for about two months, but I kept forgetting to blog about it until I was going through my camera and found the images. 


Anywho. We have a large basement that is mostly finished, so I try to keep all of my "storage" contained to one room, where the pump/hot water heater/furnace and all that fun stuff is. Well, I didn't have shelves for all of my canned goods or a great place to stack things, so it was a holy mess. Which lead to the great shelf-building project of 2011. I'm still sweeping sawdust out of our basement, haha. 


We bought all the supplies at Lowes for about $150, which I consider a steal compared to the cost of the ready-to-assemble shelves. 


J actually got the project started when a friend stayed with us one weekend. As we still plan to hook up the plumbing in our basement bathroom that shares a wall with the storage room, we decided to build the shelf along the back wall in two pieces, so we could just move half of it. 


The next couple weekends, I helped and we finished up. Believe me, I learned a TON about measuring, using saws, etc. 

Safety first, haha. 

Measuring :)

Hank gave a lot of good advice and pointers. (Please excuse the mess stacked against the back wall! It's what came out of the room)

He also took naps and declared us the most boring parents ever. Broke my heart.  


And finally, the finished project!

I was only slightly excited. 


Now the shelves are filled, but I can find everything I need. And I love it. 


Thanks, honey, for helping me build these. And making sure I still have all of my fingers :)

Weekend wrap-up

This was a fun-filled, busy but relaxing weekend!


Friday night we didn't do much. J and I have both been battling horrible sinus/allergy infections and felt pretty bad, so we actually took a nap once we got home from work! NOTHING sounded good for supper, so we ended up with tomato soup and grilled cheese. YUM! It was soooo good, I ended up having two sandwiches :) We also made a late-night run into town for some ice cream and after a little reading, I called it an early night. 


I had to work Saturday morning :( Got home and took another nap (you would too if you had to get up at 5 a.m.!) then we watched some TV and I did a little cleaning. Since it was SO COLD outside (50s, but cold compared to what we've been having) I was able to coax J into helping me clean up the office. It's only fair, considering at least half, if not more, of the mess is his! Guys, I'm not kidding when I call it a mess — we were in there for three hours and filled up an entire trash bag! I was in a very trash-happy mood I suppose, ha! Later that night, we got cleaned up and went to a friend's house (they had a keg and had been bothering us to come) only to find they had left! So I happily told J to just take me home, where we watched movies in bed. After stopping for more ice cream, of course :)


There is a dogwood azalea festival in a nearby town, and Sunday was the last day. J and I went and had a lot of fun! Last year we went on Saturday night, but I definitely liked it better in the day. We bought a few plants to put on the side of the house, where what we transplanted last year died. There is a big arts/crafts fair, and we found a glider we LOVE for $65. They were all sold, but we plan to go to the man's shop to buy one soon. We also got to take advantage of yummy carnival food --- I had the best corn dog ever and nachos. 
This is the 5K race we were supposed to run, but since we've both been sick we didn't feel ready, so we just watched. It was crazy how fast some people can finish those things!


They're calling for a bunch of rain here this week, so we decided to do some yard work once we got home. J mowed while I tilled the garden spot and planted lettuce. 
Hopefully the sunshine returns soon so I can get the rest of it planted. I.Can't.Wait for fresh food out of my backyard again. 

Fill in the blank ...

1.   My favorite daily responsibility is,    cooking dinner! Although sometimes I have no idea what to make, I LOVE LOVE LOVE to cook. My second favorite? Letting Hank out of the garage in the morning. Love his lovins.

2.  My least favorite daily responsibility is,  doing the dishes. HATE it. And although it isn't daily, I don't like folding/putting away laundry either.

3.  My favorite cuisine to eat when going out is  Chicken tenders or hamburgers. Burgers here lately though. Oh, and I LOVE mexican! 

4.  My favorite cuisine to prepare at home is    Down-home cookin, like fried potatoes, ham and beans, tators with beef and gravy. The good stuff, haha.

5.  Andy Warhol said that everyone is famous for 15 minutes. My claim to fame is   Nothing comes to mind .... other than when I introduce myself to people and they're like "Oh, you work at the newspaper. I read your articles all the time."

6.  If I could have 3 wishes I would wish    to live debt-free, to have a safe world in which to raise my children, and to just be happy the rest of my life!

7.  My biggest pet peeve is    Today ---- people who change lanes and don't use their turn signal. SO RUDE! 

Happy Friday, y'all!

Ban on homemade lunches?

One of my facebook fans posted a link to this article on her wall. 


Say what? 


I think that lots of times, children (even high schoolers) won't eat unless it is something they enjoyed. I know I went to a rural high school where eating in the cafeteria wasn't required, but I doubt I would have had a daily lunch had I been forced to have the school option. 


In my four years of high school, I'd bet I only spent about $50 on school lunches. I was blessed to have a stay-at-home mom who packed my lunch every day, but that was mostly to ensure that I would have something to eat.


Does anyone else have thoughts on schools banning kids from bringing food from home? 

Wedding weekend

This weekend was the much-anticipated bachelorette party/bridal shower for my good friend, Jessica! I am a bridesmaid in her wedding. 


I didn't take my camera out on Friday night, because I only have a work one and was just taking a small clutch. So I stole a few from friends and have a couple of iPhone ones. 


You may remember, we did an 80s theme. We went to a brewery in Cape Girardeau (Buckners for any local readers) and had a great time! Jess said she wanted a burger and a place where we could have a private room,and this place fit both requirements. Plus, it was within walking distance of several other bars with dance floors. Also, we had the party close to home instead of going to St. Louis or Memphis, since it was such a hectic weekend, and a couple of the girls with babies preferred to come home that night!


Here are all the gals who dressed up (we had a few Debbie Downers!)

Jess is the one in the black/gold dress and sash. She looked like an 80s Barbie!

My friend Christine and I. I can't decide if I like the bow on my head or my dress better!

J took a picture of just me, but I don't have it yet. But I think you can get the idea from the above picture. 


A couple pictures from later that night...

I've missed that redhead!

The shower was on Sunday. And I am just thinking, Thank God it's over! It went well, but when you have several leaders/dominant minds, it gets tough.


The wedding colors are navy and silver, so that was the basis for our decor. 

The cakes were a big point of contention for us, so we ended up letting the bride pick them out. Jess had shown these to me before, and I totally love them!

We also got a few group shots. Here is the bride and her maids:

And here I am with her:

Hurry up, May 28!

What I'm Loving

Go HERE to link up/ready more. 


It's easy for me to think of a lot of things that I'm loving on this pretty day.


{1} I'm LOVING that it's finally turned warm and looks like it will stay that way. Hello, sunshine. (And I'm wearing my flip flops today in celebration!)


{2} I'm LOVING that my work week is more than halfway over --- I get a three-day weekend, girls!


{3} I'm LOVING that my good friend's bach party/bridal shower is this weekend, finally! To say this has been a difficult shower to plan would be putting it mildly, due to a couple of people some minor disagreements. I'm usually pretty easygoing, but when the bride tells us not to go too fancy due to her being laid back with the decorations, I'm not going for an all-out cake or anything like that. 
I am super excited about the bach party though! We are doing an 80s prom dress theme, and I can't wait to share my fabulous outfit with y'all. 


{4} I'm LOVING that I got to spend a lot of time with a good friend and fellow bridesmaid last weekend. In college, we were roomies for a year :) This is probably the longest time we've spent together since I've graduated, definitely the longest one-on-one, due to crazy scheduling. We had a little shopping spree and worked on the favors for the shower :)


{5} I'm LOVING the purchases I made. After drooling over it for some time, I finally bought this:

And at Kohls, I bought this dress to wear to the shower and for work in general. I bought it a size smaller than usual (yay!) and it is very slimming :) Plus it was on sale for 50 percent off! 

{5} I'm LOVING Blake Shelton's new song "Honey Bee" that he debuted at the ACMs on Sunday. I told J he is my honey bee, haha. As if he didn't see that coming. 





{6} I'm LOVING that J and I got some time apart last weekend, when he went to a bachelor party. For us, it really helps our relationship when we are able to do our own thing and actually miss one another for a day or so. 

HAPPY WEDNESDAY, Y'ALL!

March goals recap/April goals

OK, so March wasn't the best for me. Here's the recap:

— Work out at least five days a week, journal it and share on the blog on Fridays (so I can keep myself accountable.) This past week is the first that I did five days. It was more like four most weeks.
— Lose 5 pounds. Big fat fail! 
— Run at least twice a week, train for April 5K. I did it! Other than the week I was sick.
— Drink at least 64 ounces of water daily. Er, not so much. Some days I did. And some days I didn't.
— Save something (even if only $25) from each paycheck. FAIL! Planning a shower/bach party is expensive.
— Play with Hank at least once a week. Totally did it! Two or three times some weeks. That little man loves his bird.
— One date night or day, outside of the house. Yup! 
— Order photos for my hall collage and get it hung (I've had the frames for a year!) Still not done. Maybe in April?
— Clean off the desk in the office, throw out papers we don't need! Nope. 
— Only one meal out per week. I did great at this the beginning of the month, but totally blew it in the last week!


Wow, looking at it like that, I sorta feel like a failure. 
Here's what we're looking at for April:


— Host the best wedding shower/bach party EVER.
— Lose 5 lbs. 
— Run the 5K in 33 minutes or less. 
— Don't deplete my savings. 
— Date day/night.
— Finish the damn hall collage.
— Gather and price all items for May garage sale 
— Two meals out per week (giving myself a little more wiggle room)
— Clean the office
— Do laundry every weekend (as long as I have a full load)
— Try at least one new recipe


Here's to a great April!

Fitness Friday

Well, I'm wrapping up my first month of hard-core, gotta get into shape exercise. 
I feel I did pretty well, minus the week that I was on meds that made me incredibly nauseous. 
I'm still down only 1.2 lbs. Which is really frustrating, as I have worked out five times this week and feel like I've been good at watching what goes in my mouth. 
Oh well. I feel a lot better (other than being tired all the time) and I think my tummy is starting to flatten out. 
Here's what I did this week:


Saturday - JM Six Weeks to Six Pack
Monday - 3.2 miles on treadmill (1.5 miles running nonstop)
Tuesday - Intervals that I just made up
Wednesday - 3.5 miles on treadmill (2 miles running nonstop)
Thursday - JM Six Weeks to Six Pack


Hopefully, I'll have better results next week! I'm starting to consider counting calories. Although I hate to be that tedious, I bet it will really open my eyes as to exactly what I am putting in my mouth. 


Are there any good iPhone apps for this?