Team Twilight

The long wait is over! New Moon finally opened..... Eeeeek! My mom, sister, and I took off from work Friday to see it early in the afternoon- without the hundreds of screaming teens. My mom and sis came over early that morning with breakfast so we could watch Twilight before heading to our movie :) After that we went to have lunch at Chick-fil-a and wait for the movie to start. Our movie started at 1:15 and we thought we were smart by going to see it at that time. People would be at work and at school. Well, everyone else had the same idea as us. I would say the theater was 90% full. And, every teenager seemed to want to sit in our row. Ha ha! We laughed a little before the movie looking at everyone that was there. I mean, I have no room to talk considering I was wearing a Team Edward shirt. But, some people went all out. The girls that sat in front of us brought their copies of New Moon with them to look at during the movie. Die Hard fans there! Over all, we LOVED the movie. There were some awkward parts, but we expected that much. The movie stayed pretty true to the book and had better character development than Twilight had.

I have always thought I was Team Edward, but I'm not so sure anymore. Jacob was definitely making me rethink my stance. So, I'm Team Twilight now :)

Here we are eating Chick-fil-a in the mall. I think they were a tiny bit annoyed at that fact that I wanted to take pictures and document this wonderful occasion :)

Carly and I before the movie. Ya, I might be wearing a twilight shirt! You only live once :)

If you haven't been sucked in by the twilight phenomenon, I suggest you do. The books are the easiest reads and are so good. Probably one of the best romance stories :)

"Don't make me choose, because it will be him. It's always been him." - Bella Swan

Yummy....

I had been planning on making these pumpkin bars for my dinner club this Thursday night, but needed to have a trial run before serving these to my friends. So, I made some last night for "practice" and brought them to our bible study. They turned out really good and made our house smell delicious. Here is the recipe courtesy of Paula Deen ( pic from Food Network- I forgot to take a picture).

Ingredients
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
15-ounce can pumpkin
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

I used store bought Cream Cheese Icing. It was okay, but really just tasted like regular vanilla icing. I'm feeling courageous so I'll make the Cream cheese icing myself for dinner club. I love pumpkin anything... Do y'all have any good pumpkin recipes?

Crazy Week!!

This week has started off with a bang!I compiled my list of things I need to do this week:

side note: I'm pretty proud of myself for making a list of things to do. Usually I just fly by the seat of my pants and then realize I did things I WANT to do and not NEED to do :)

It seems like we have something to do every night this week, on top of a long list of things to do. I'm not complaining, because it's all really fun stuff! Bible Study, Dinner Club at our house, Counselors meeting, and need I remind you: NEW MOON! I will devote a whole post to New Moon for all you TwiFans :)

Have a good week!

Choose Hope

When I first went away to college, I went through rush. If you have never gone through sorority rush, let me just tell you, it is an experience unlike any other. You go from house to house, meeting girls that seem to already know everything about you. Your name, hometown, what activities you were in in high school, if you have any siblings,, which dorm you live in. At first, it's a little scary. But, then you just can't help but feel special. These girls took the time to "study" up on basic facts about you before you even walked in the front door. At SFA, there are 5 sororities, so the decision is a little easier than some universities where there are many more to chose from. I was torn between two sororities through out the whole process. Each house had girls that made me feel like I was home, that reminded me of my best friends from home. and who had similar values to mine. How was I going to decide between the two? Each sorority has a philanthropy that they raise money for. Well, that is what helped me make my decision. Tri Delta's philanthropy is St.Jude. I have always loved children. I knew at a young age that I wanted to be a teacher and change the lives of children in a positive way. So, as I learned more about St.Jude during rush and all that St.Jude does to help children, I knew my decision was becoming more clear. I rushed Tri Delta, which was by far the best sorority :), and grew to love St.Jude even more.

Every year, St.Jude treats children from all over the country who are battling cancer. Patients are never turned away because they can't afford treatment. How awesome is that? I can't begin to imagine how terrible it would be to have a child diagnosed with cancer. On top of that, how stressful it would be to have to struggle financially with how to pay! Because of donations , St.Jude is able to help these families. Each year, I buy things from the St.Jude shop which donates a portion of the proceeds to helping these families. Combining two of my favorite things: shopping and philanthropy. They have so many cute things to buy this year. Here are some of my favorites :

Really? Can you ever have too many candles? This one is $10.

I love my pair of Nike shorts, and will be getting these pair in black. $28

This pullover is perfect for Texas weather. It is lightweight so you could wear it from October-March. I love the purple one :)

These pajama pants say " I Love St.Jude " on them. They would be perfect for snuggling up and watching Twilight in :)

I posted the things that caught my eye that I will be asking for this Christmas. But, they have tons of stuff for guys on their site. You really should check it out :

http://www.tg.stjude.org/giftshop/

Their theme this year is Choose Hope. What a wonderful message for everyone out there. I really HOPE everyone has a philanthropy that they care about. We are all so blessed and need to give back to others. Whether it's St.Jude or some other organization, please consider making a contribution!

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

RIP Mums!

Here is the latest casualty in my quest to have a pretty yard! I honestly don't know what happend. I watered, placed where it will get sunlight, and showed lots of love to my mums. And, a little over a month later, they are dead! Any suggestions or tips on how I can make these last?! So sad :(

How I spent my afternoon....

I had a long list of things I wanted to accomplish this afternoon when I got off work. It looked a little something like this:
1. Fold the million loads of laundry that have been stacking up on the couch.
2. Unload the dishwasher
3. Paint my nails
4. Hide evidence from my husband that I went shopping ( I had bags on the kitchen table)
5. Call people back that have called me this week and I haven't had time to call back
6. Clean the pool.

So, I decide to start with #6 first. Clean the pool. A simple task. I open the door to our backyard, close it behind me, and realize that the knob is locked, therefore I am locked out. AHH!!! I can't believe I did this! We just got new hardware for the doors a couple weeks ago and it has been raining outside so much lately that I haven't gone out to the backyard in FOREVER.
So, Chloe and I are sitting outside. For a while. Staring at the door like it might open. And it doesn't for TWO hours! I wasted TWO hours of my Friday!
Well, it wasn't exactly wasted. I did get some much needed Vitamin D and some major bonding time with my favorite pug. I am trying to be more "glass half full" these days, so I thought about how lucky I was. Lucky that it wasn't raining. Lucky that it was such a gorgeous day out. Lucky that I didn't have a pot of water boiling in the house. Or a baby in the house. Lucky that I went to the bathroom before locking myself out of the house.
After all was said and done, it was kind of funny. Ryan came home at 6:20 to find Chloe and I sitting in a chair right in front of the door. I don't think he was all that surprised that I did something like this. Unfortunately, this will probably happen to me again in the future. I guess I should devise a plan if it does happen again :)
Have a Happy Weekend!

Snoooze....

6:30 a.m. rolls around earlier and earlier every morning! It has been so hard for me to wake up for work these past couple weeks ( months really). I usually stroll into work around 7:40ish which is when I am supposed to me here. But, I spend the day playing catch up! Why oh Why can't I be a morning person?! The picture above just about sums up how I feel most mornings... And as for my sleep problems I posted about earlier... I am doing MUCH better! Sleeping more, just not enough :) I'm off to get some more coffee!!

In case you missed it...

My good friends, Jim and Pam, had a wonderful wedding! This was pretty much the greatest t.v. moment!


"...a lot of people told me that I was crazy to wait this long, but I think that even then I knew that I was waiting on my wife." - Jim Halpert

Thanks to my nose

“For the sense of smell, almost more than any other, has the power to recall memories and it is a pity that we use it so little.” Rachel Carson

The nose is a powerful thing. It can make you feel happy.... the smell of an orange vanilla candle makes me think of Home. It can make you feel hungry.... that goes without saying. It can make you feel annoyed.... like when I realize I left something in the oven and know I have to start all over! The nose can help us to remember places, moments in time, and most importantly, people!

Today I walked into a first grade class at school to talk to the substitute. Bless her heart! She was struggling with getting the kids quiet and looked like she wanted to leave! She is probably in her 70's and can remember a time when children behaved. ha! She was very soft spoken and kind. But, the thing I noticed about her first was how she smelled. She smelled like rose perfume! The same perfume that my grandmother wore. It's amazing to me that after my sweet grandmother, Mary, has been dead for five years, I CLEARLY remember how sweet she always smelled. I desperately wanted to give this substitute a hug for helping me to remember my grandmother. The truth is... I REALLY miss her! She is one of the most incredible people I have ever known ( besides my mama). She raised three kids on her own after losing her husband way too early in life. She was a spanish teacher and is one of the main reasons I became a teacher. She L.O.V.E.D watching the Golden Girls and I can't help but think of her when I hear, "Thank you for being a friend". She was always there for us when we needed her! My parents got divorced when I was in second grade, and she was always there to give us comfort. When I say us, I mean myself, sister, mom, and dad. She didn't pick sides and continued to treat my mother like her very own daughter up until she passed away.

It makes me sad that I can't talk to her anymore. But, l have so many wonderful memories of her. Memories that have flooded me today! Thank you nose for helping me remember her!!

Isn't she beautiful! This is my favorite picture of her! I love you Gang Gang!!