Last Weekend in April…Where Did It Go?

The time is flying by it seems! I can't believe we just had our last weekend in April. What better way to end the last weekend of the month than spending time with friends you haven't seen in 4 years!

FRIDAY
Got my hair did! I just love going to my hair dressers and getting beautified. No more dark roots! What, you think this blonde is natural? Kinda. It is more of a dishwater blonde. As I age it gets darker and darker, so we go lighter and lighter!

The key to keeping your hair healthy when coloring it…Moroccan Oil and Keratin shampoo. I always use Moroccan oil, but change up my keratin shampoo. Another key is not to always use keratin shampoo. You need to give your hair a break and use your normal shampoo in between. Here are some I have been known to rock.

Moroccan oil, Suave, Keratin Complex

SATURDAY

Ahhh, a day of relaxing…until Gavin found Mr. Bill. Ohhhh  Noooo! I can't believe LT bought this for Gavin. We have been having fun playing with it. Gavin gets all excited when he hears Mr. Bill. Heck, that dog even found where the "squeaker" is. Now, out of nowhere, we will here "Oh Noooo!' and just start laughing! Gavin even had to sleep with him!

Spoiled rotton is what he is!

SUNDAY

We had threatening weather all weekend and then BOOM! It went north and east of us! It made for a perfect outdoor concert. I feel bad for the nasty storms that blew up tornados in the states east of us, but at the same time thankful it passed us.

LT and I went to Fort Worth to meet up with a high school buddy of his that has a band and was playing in Ft Worth. It was a blues fest with all day music. Of course we just went to see Rob. I have to give a shout out to Rob. He is a phenomenal guitarist and plays rock blues. My favorite is "Weight of Lies" and "Blind Man". If you want to check him out, go to Robert Johnson's Soul at rjsoul.com

Love the Flying V guitar!

Robert Johnson's Soul @ JJ Blues Bar, Ft Worth, TX

The best thing about Sunday was LT got to catch up with Robert! They knew each other in high school and had a blast reminiscing. It gave me a glimpse into what LT was like growing up. Yikes! All I can say is boys will be boys.

Even though we really didn't do much, it was an awesome weekend. It was great to get out, see old friends, meet new ones and enjoy time together. 

Now if the time could slow down just a little, well, maybe after school is out then it can slow down during the summer (even thought I will be working summer school)!

Just like last week, I am linking up with Dateless in Dallas and Showered with Design.

I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar…Meow!

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If you have been following me you know I pick out a word every year to focus on instead of resolutions. If you are new and are like, what?? you can read about it and this years word "BRAVE" here.

So now that you are caught up on me being brave and what that all means. Fast forward a little bit. I am on a committee for the 2014 Dallas 9-11 Memorial Stair Climb. This is an amazing committee and I am proud to be serving as their Legacy Coordinator. The Dallas Memorial Stair Climb is about remembering, preserving, and honoring the men and women of the NY Fire and Police Departments who gave their lives at the Trade Towers on 9-11. Dallas, surrounding cities and states, has 343 firefighters and 70 police officers climb 110 flights of stairs in the name of someone who gave their life that day. It is amazing and emotional tribute.

To go to the meetings I have to go to downtown Dallas. You can read about my feelings and freak out moments about my first time doing that here. I am now able to drive to my building without navigation AND without wanting to throw up when I get to down town.

So yesterday I did two other things…being brave and all that. First I parked in the parking garage. Stupid I know. Basically I am a big sissy and have a hard time trying new things. See, I wasn't sure how to get into the garage because there are 4 different entrances on two different streets. Then, how do I get out of that place? Oh, and then stress about how to get home! But tonight was the night and I did it! All went well and I made my way home. Stressed out, but not crying or wanting to throw up. I say success!!

Second thing is I carried this huge tub of display items to the car. No big deal you say. Well, let me tell you, there was a fire extinguisher in there and I swear it was still full! Plus books and all sorts of heavy things. I wanted to act all "I am a woman, I don't need help" and carried it to the elevators. Went down 50 floors and then carried it across the street to the parking garage to those elevators. Took that up to the 5th floor and then to the car. OMG! I thought my arms were going to fall off and I had to make multiple, MULTIPLE, stops before arriving at the car. How stupid was I!? I should have let the big strong man carry it out the door then to my car.

BUT…I did it! I conquered more fears, pulled up my big girl panties and tried new things, and flexed some muscles, to boot! I felt sassy! And tired. I hope I can still use my arms.

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Wordless Wednesday: Teachers Be Like...

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Earth Day 2014

Today is Earth Day. But what does that mean? We don't get off work for this observation day.

Earth Day is aimed awareness and appreciation of our planet, our home. There is no other place for us to go when The Earth is inhabitable, so we need to keep this one clean and productive and beautiful.

I have been blessed to be able to travel and explore nature. From the White Mountains in New Hampshire to the Redwood Forest in California, I have experienced nature, thrived on it, enthralled by it. It is amazing what nature can do, how we all connect and work together. I want the places I have seen to be around for others to ohhh and ahhh over for years to come.

There are many projects out there to help keep Earth around as long was possible. I challenge everyone to do SOMETHING for Earth Day. The easiest would be don't litter, pick up after yourself or to pick up litter if you see it. Here are some other ideas:

1. Plant a tree
2. Organize a trash pick up day along a road or walking trail
3. Recycle!
4. Take your own bag to the grocery store instead of using plastic
5.  Plan a swap night in which you swap clothes (adults or kids), toys, books, etc

Go out in nature. Look around you. Breathe in the air. Smell life around you. Be amazed at what you see. Soak up the wonder and freshness. Get renewed and rejuvenated.

Here are some things I do to help the environment: I always pick up trash that I see in the environment. I am getting together with some ladies to pick up trash along a walking trail (hope I don't get poison ivy!) and we recycle at our house and my job.

What is your plan for preserving the Earth?

via Pinterst

Weekend Recap: Easter Fun!

What a great weekend! And what a better way to start it off than to have Friday off and get a 3 day weekend!

Friday
The bro-in-law gave the mower to Lt to try to resurrect. Lt worked hard draining the gas, replacing spark plugs, etc only to find out the mower STILL won't start. So what does any man do? He ropes me in to helping. Now, I am not mechanically inclined and sometimes most times I end up getting injured. You see where I am going with this? Yep. Long story short, while trying to start the mower, I whip my arm around hard and fast and smash it into the corner of the chimney. Just a little bruise, he said. LOL

Ouchie!!

Saturday
The sister, D, and I go out to do the Texas bluebonnets down in Ennis, Tx. while Lt was a work. There is a map of the bluebonnet trails for you to drive and can get out and take pictures. People along the trail planted bluebonnet seeds, and then they multiply, and there are fields and fields of bluebonnets. On a side note, it is illegal to destroy, mow, etc bluebonnets. Most had their bluebonnets behind a fence, but some welcomed you to take your pictures. I have been in Texas for almost 20 years and this is the first time I have done the bluebonnet thing. Yeah, I see them on the side of the interstate and highway, but never purposefully gone looking and taking pictures. Here are a few pix. And yes, I am a character and most of my pictures are goofy.

Best of the best photos! Such fun!

Sister kept saying "open your eyes!" while I was looking directly in the sun.
Good thing I can still see from burring my retinas! She just makes me laugh!

Sister got a little camera happy and I always end up with a weird photo!
Gotta not take yourself so serious and just laugh!

Sunday
Easter dinner with the family. Great home cooking with wonderful desserts that made us go home and take a nap! What a lazy day it was but great to be with family. My sister found this Pinterest post about dying your eggs for deviled eggs. They were yummy!!

This Easter weekend I learned not to worry about what people think of me. I am me, goofiness and all. I just want to go out and enjoy life and savor the moment. I don't want to miss a moment of life because I am worry what other people think or even because I stayed inside my box and "followed the rules". Sometimes you have to get off the track to get just the right picture.

I went off the path into someone's yard to get this shot.

Hope you all had a wonderful, fun and loving weekend. I am linking up with Showered By Design and Dateless in Dallas to share my weekend fun!

Adventure: Black and White Theater

Yes, this is a real live actor from the Pegasus Theatre!

I am always looking out for the next adventure. Don't start reading into this that I am a daredevil or enjoy extreme sports. Oh no, not me! I just like to try new things, broaden my horizons a little.

One of the coolest things I have ever done was attend a black and white theater. What is that you ask? Well, let me enlighten you people (I stole that from the great movie "Twister", but I digress).

Pegasus Theatre is a non-profit theatre started in 1987 and is based out of Dallas, Texas. They write their own plays and specialize in "living black and white" plays which pokes fun at old 1930s and 1940s movies. All the actors/actress and the set itself looks like a black and white picture. It is the wildest thing! At first it is hard to adjust your eyes and then…bam! It is amazing! You just get sucked right in to the action.

My sister and I have been to TWO living black and white productions. The play centers around a bumbling PI, Henry Hunsacker and his brilliant assistant, Nigel Grouse, pitting themselves against the local police detective. There is mystery and humor. I must say it is a brilliant premise and well written and acted. Please remember, I am not a critic or even very knowledgeable about plays and theaters but I know what I like!

When something new presents itself, jump on board and try it. You never know what you will find. There may be a new restaurant, activity, group, or hang out that you have added to your life!

Have you tried a new adventure that turned out to be sup rising or amazing and you were thankful you took that chance and did it?

New Recipe Alert!

Ok. I thought I would make my lunch today (for once) and did this combination thingy of almond butter and sriracha sauce with a little honey to taste. You could substitute the honey for vegetable glycerin if you wanted to be totally healthy.

1. You just combine all three to taste.
2. Get some romaine hearts to use as your "bread"

3. Spread the almond butter/sriracha sauce spread on the lettuce and add your favorite meat. It is really good with sliced turkey.
4. You could add some slivered almonds or some slivered carrots for some crunch. I didn't have any almonds today so it is plain jane.
5. Add some fresh fruit slices to make a meal
6. Enjoy!!

I usually eat four leaves, but it's healthy. Live a little and have five leaves!

That Snake Was Where?!

Freakiest thing EVER happened! Check this out…On Friday night I was coming home and it was around 9:30. When I opened the garage door it did this cur-thunk thing and looked to have gotten off it's roller.

I did what any woman would do…go inside and tell LT there is something wrong with the garage door and he needed to come fix it.

I am standing in front of the car looking at the garage door when I see LT walking towards me. All of a sudden he started backing up! I am thinking what the heck and walk the few steps it took for me to see a SNAKE! hanging from the garage door track. I said "That's a snake!" (It may have been in a girly-I-am-freaking-out-because-OMG-there-is-a-snake voice) LT responds just like a manly man "No Crap!" (Well, he didn't really say crap, but trying to keep it clean here).

Long story short, he finally cut the head off of this chicken snake (or rat snake…dead snake to me!) and then had to wind the cable back around the wheel where the dead snake was hanging from! I will confess I got the willies!

We manually lowered the door in which the snake spun around and around the wheel until it finally came unwound and dropped. LT laid the snake out so I can show how long and huge and ferocious it was!

Now I am VERY thankful LT was home to take care of this situation. Because let me tell you, if I was home alone when this happened, that snake would have just hung around until he died on his own and I got someone to dispose of him and fix the door.

 I do not like snakes and a snake that climbs is one of the worst kinds there is. Let this be a lesson to everyone. 1) snakes climb and 2) you never know where you will find one…they are EVERYWHERE!

Have you had something freaky like this happen to you? Share with me. Please don't let me be the only one!

Also, I am linking up with Showered With Design and Dateless in Dallas!

Throw Back Thursday: Gotta Have Some Fun

A picture is not necessarily worth a thousand words, but it is worth a thousand memories!

I love to look through old photographs. As I look at the pictures, memories comes rushing at me. I start to giggle or down right laugh out loud. I can get sad but rarely do I cry, even of those who have passed on and went to heaven. I guess I always try to see the positives. It doesn't always happen, but I do try.

So today I thought of doing a TBT. I do not have a lot of photos of me growing up. They are still housed in mom's old photo albums that used to line the book shelf but are now collecting dust in the basement (and if she knew I said there was dust in the basement, I would be toast!)

Here is me and my bad self as a freshman in high school at the Jr/Sr Prom. My date was the ever handsome, captain of the basketball team, David. I was a cheerleader (only my freshman year). I look at this picture and remember almost everything that happened my freshman year: meeting David, dating as much as my parents allowed (mostly snuck around but I am sure the parents knew), freshman hazing (I hated walking the couple of miles outside of town I was dropped off), prom, the break up.

Ah the memories. I may need to write about some of them. Go back and revisit some of the good and not so good times and try to figure out a lesson (remember, I am always looking for a positive). Pictures really do bring up memories, and most of them I want to revisit! Be prepared!

Who Was That Masked Woman in my Kitchen?

Yesterday, I was still flying high from my decision to be healthier. So I whipped out some bowls and fixin's and began to make a meal. OMG! Unbelievable…right?!!

Yes, I actually put together a meal to bring to work for lunch. I found a great salad recipe called the Kitchen Sink Salad from Everyday Paleo. I have made it before and remember how amazing it tastes! The premise is to put whatever you want or have on hand in the salad. Ever the rule monger, don't go outside the box person that I am, I just follow her recipe. Except I don't use parsley or dill. But be inventive!! I would love to hear what you did with your recipe!

Salad in the making minus the hard boiled eggs and the dressing

Here is the recipe. My comments are in pink:

The Kitchen Sink Salad

4 Chicken breasts, cooked and diced.  I just get a rotisserie chicken and use all the meat

4 hard boiled eggs, cooled and diced. I buy a package of six and boil all of them having 2 extra for a snack!

1/2 head of purple cabbage, diced

1 English cucumber, diced

1/2 head of broccoli, finely chopped. Sometimes I will buy the pre cut package so I don't have to chop so much

Handful of slice almonds. Let's be honest. A handful is not enough. I throw a whole package in!

1/4 cup of flat leaf Italian parsley, diced. I did not add any

Dressing, combine all in a bowl and mix together then spread over salad:

Lots of olive oil

Splash of balsamic vinegar

Squirt of spicy brown mustard

A few shakes of dried dill. I always forget to put this in the dressing

Lots of black pepper 

A bit of sea salt

Toss all ingredients together and eat!

This makes a big salad and you can eat on it for a couple of days! Usually I share with a co worker and we will both eat on it for about 3 lunches. This recipe is easy and delicious. By buying a rotisserie chicken, there is no cooking involved except the hard boiled eggs and that can be done prior to making the salad. What a great meal for the summer! Also, it tastes even better the second day so I make mine the night before and let it marinade in the fridge.

The finish product sitting on my desk. I have already enjoyed a bite or two at 9:30 am!!

I would love to hear some of your easy, healthy, delicious meals to prepare especially with summer around the corner!

What the Heck Has Happened to Me?

Life has a way of spinning out of control and sometimes you notice and correct the situation and other times you just go along with the ride being blissfully ignorant. Well, since the beginning of the year, I was not necessarily blissfully ignorant, but just ignoring the fact my life was somewhat spinning out of control.

You see, I had been gluten free for over a year and the last few months at the end of 2013, I was eating healthy and I mean healthy. I had even lost 10 pounds at last look. Then the first of the year hit and that is when life started to tilt. There are things I can not go in to, but let's just say some bad drama unfolded that LT and I are still trying to recover from even to this day. We are thankful we have each other to lean on and support each other. It has been an emotional roller coaster….hence life spinning out of control.

You know, I am not much for Six Flags and roller coasters and I really hated the Tea Cup rides that spin around (maybe it was all the carnivals in the parking lots I went to when I was a teenager and there may have been some help getting sick involved). So to have my life reflect a roller coaster is not a good thing.

Here I am, spinning out of control through my eating mostly. When I am stressed I eat. Heck, let's be honest, I am an emotional eater. Give me an emotion, good or bad, and I will eat. So to have stress and our lives flipping upside down and all around does not help my eating habits. Needless to say I have been eating terribly! And I feel like I can't stop!

Lately have been feeling sick and icky both physically and mentally. So today I have decided to take control of my life. I am cutting out all bread and gluten products; getting back to being gluten free. I am also cutting out all soda, except Zevia which is made with stevia. I am still drinking a cup of Creme Brûlée coffee in the morning occasionally but will be phasing it out eventually.

I am really excited about my decision and feel like I am taking control and have a positive outlook. Really, it took me laying in bed last night literally feeling sick to my stomach to realizing I do not like how I am feeling and I need to change.

It is funny how I think daily about eating healthy but not doing anything to change. I just kept on sitting on that ride going around and around. Today, I have jumped off the Tea Cup ride and am a little shaky. I feel like I am still spinning and can fall down at any moment. I am hoping to get my legs under me and make the right decisions regarding my health.

I will take one step at a time and get back up if I do happen to stumble. I am resolving to commit to better eating, better health.

...OMG, does this mean I have to cook? Stay tune and find out!