Ten on Tuesday

Kristin and Grace had the idea to make a list of ten things on Tuesdays. It is a fun alliteration and a good way to blog at least once a week. I am joining in this week!

10 Things An Unemployed Girl Does On Monday

Okay actually this is just 10 things THIS semi-employed girl did yesterday. I work at the coffee shop on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Sometimes Monday can feel a little anti-climactic because Sunday is all "oh get ready for the week, so busy, must prepare, soak up the time" out of habit and then Monday comes and "oh, I have nothing to do." So here we go!

1) Went to yoga at my new favorite studio. Murn's go-to teacher told me about it because she used to teach there and I love it because it is donation based. Plus, this week is the first week of the new schedule so all the classes are free! Not only is the cost (or lack of) something to love, I also enjoy the teachers and feel of the place. No mirrors, very genuine teachers, so nice. 

2) This could really be 1a but I'm making it number 2. I achieved a forearm stand! I have been practicing this for a few months now but have been nervous to work on it in our new, smaller living room. During class she said to pick an inversion and go for it. I felt comfortable enough to try it and while I did flop around some, I definitely gained control and held it for a breath. Doing it in class empowered me to try it at home and it went even better! It's the little things that make your day when your under-employed. 

You may think I am bragging. You would be correct. Gimme a break, I'm unemployed!

3) Subjected myself to the weekly torture of grocery shopping. I usually love this but without HEB it doesn't have the same appeal. In order to get everything and at a price comparable to HEB I would have to go to Walmart, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. Yes, I shouldn't gripe b/c we have a Whole Foods and Trader Joe's but the principle of it just slays me. So mostly I just shop at Walmart and go to Trader Joe's for a few things every couple of weeks. Whole Foods' bulk section isn't as great as they want you to think it is anyway so I just stick it to the environment on that one and get it at Walmart, sue me. 

4) Bought a whole coconut. Just because every girl needs a $2 project.  

5) Applied for two new jobs that were posted for County Social Services. Another one in Foster Care and one to work at the juvenile detention center, hullo, perfect for me. 

6) Checked my online account for jobs in the neighboring County Social Services. I have applied for 5 so far and under the "status" section two of them say Eligible. I'll take that as good news and probably start harassing them for an interview. 

7) Made this bread for Kev

8) Made this soup for dinner with a few adjustments. It was amazing. Red lentils are the jam, way better than the brown kind. 

9) Caught up on Becky's blog and you should too. She's writing a book!

10) Finished the day the way I always do. Hula hooping in front of Parks and Rec. Season 4 may be one of the best seasons of television ever created. My current favorite line= "Clear alcohols are for rich women on diets." If you're not watching it, you should be! 

And that's Monday! (Friends, anyone?) What'd you do yesterday? Do you know anybody hiring in the triangle area?

*I had written in the names of the counties I've applied for but then I thought WHAT IF someone googles that or something. So just in case...number 5 is the county I live in and number 6 is the county where the best basketball program in the history of college basketball is.*

The Hilarious/Heart Stopping Story of Tuesday

Earlier this week I made dinner to take to a couple that just had a baby. I made a little card to take too (and by "made" I mean I folded card stock in half and wrote on it with a sharpie) and the front said "Welcome Baby Zoe". I left this card on top of my computer which was on our bed.

I was in the living room when Kevin came home from school and did his usual lap around the house. The next thing I know he barrels into the room kind of huffing and says, "I thought that card said Welcome to the Baby Zone and that was your way of telling me something!" Hahaha

Nope. But I'm definitely keeping it in mind for someday.

Don't worry. I ended up trashing the sharpie card.

The First Anniversary

This was a year ago? I can't believe it. This is right as we're about to walk out, which I think turned into a run and a squeal. Our wedding was amazingly fun but the past year has really given it a run for its money.  I have compiled a list of a few highlights from the first year as well as some of my favorite things about Kevin and being married to him.

This year we have:

1) Had many awesome meals, both restaurant and homemade. Some worth mentioning are the Greek feast Kevin made for my birthday, the Meddlesome Moth meal for Kevin's birthday, all of the chickens Kevin roasted or grilled in his quest for the perfect chicken, some homemade mac and cheese that I knocked out of the park, shrimp and grits, jambalaya, and the list could go on and on.

I love that Kevin appreciates a really decadent gourmet meal, but will also eat WHATEVER I put in front of him. I pride myself on being able to pull together a meal out of the barest pantry or fridge and Kevin will love it. I also love that Kevin and I have put value on mealtime in our first year as a family. We celebrate with a big fancy meal, we make meals with friends that turn into celebrations because the food is so good, we show love with food (we are Southern after all) and we make time to eat at our table. Sitting at the dinner table, even if its just the two of us, feels special every time we do it. I can count on one hand the number of times we've eaten dinner in front of the TV and I feel like we are building an important tradition that we will continue for years to come as the family grows (hopefully).

2) Driven a lot of miles. We drove home from New Jersey in the (new to us) party Saab, drove to South Carolina and back for Thanksgiving, drove to Hayley's house multiple times, drove to OKC, Dallas, Austin countless times, drove to Colorado for a senior trip and drove to San Antonio for our anniversary!

I love road trips with Kevin because we (almost) never get bored! A little tired or sick of being in the car? Yes. But bored of each other? Never. We just talk, laugh, sing real or made up songs, snack and generally enjoy each other's company. Listening to Bossypants was particularly fun. I most definitely never fall asleep while Kevin is driving through the night. :)

3) Reached a happy medium on the state of "laundry" in our house. Kevin contains his mess to one pile in the general vicinity of his hamper and I don't gripe about it (seriously if you saw his old room when he lived with boys you'd know the VAST improvement). If Kevin's pile starts to push the limits, I'll fold some of his clothes myself. On the other hand, I do laundry about once every 8 weeks and Kevin doesn't gripe about it.

I love that Kevin and I have found a groove of not picking on each other's tactics when it comes to housekeeping. There are bigger fish to fry than the "proper way" to wash dishes. There are way too many things to love about Kevin to get hung up on his pile. There are (I hope) way too many things to love about me to get hung up on my general demeanor before my first cup of coffee.

Which brings me to the most important thing that I love about Kevin. It may not be the most profound thing but it is the one thing everyday that reminds me that Kevin just gets me: Kevin makes the coffee everyday. Before I wake up. It is hot and ready for me to pour as soon as I get out of bed. Now THAT is my love language.

So this post about our first anniversary turned into a post about our first year. I'll leave you with pics of our celebration in San Antonio that you probably saw on Facebook and then the feast that we made last night at home. We couldn't decide on anniversary traditions to start so we did them all. We watched the video from the rehearsal dinner, watched our wedding video, read the story Kevin wrote me, looked at wedding pictures AND danced to Beauty and the Beast. I think our anniversary might be my new favorite holiday*!

Do you have any traditions you are proud of in your home? What's the state of your laundry? :) 

*Tied with Christmas of course

The Latest in a Long List

My beef with the online community-social media-whatever you want to call it could go on for days. But lately, I have been especially perturbed by one aspect in particular.

Whatever happened to reading something, disagreeing, and moving on with your life? Or better yet, whatever happened to common sense? People say things online that they would NEVER say to someone's face (I should hope). That's still a person. Some individual is going to read your comment and probably have their feelings hurt. If your mom heard you say that (or saw you type that) she'd knock you to next Tuesday.

Some examples:

Dear old Pinterest provides many ideas for new ways to do your hair. Apparently, if you see a picture, read a two sentence description, and then try it, it should work on every head of hair ever created. If for some reason it goes awry, the person who posted it is clearly a moron who can't teach and deserves to go bald.

Some websites (blogs, Pinterest, you name it) have cute little tips for turning a muffin tin upside down and making cookie cups, taco salad bowls, cute little party hats...anything under the sun. If yours don't turn out perfectly? No possible way your oven is different, your muffin tin is different, you read wrong, it was a fluke, you live in the high humidity constant summer hell of Texas, you had a momentary attack of stupid. Nope, it's the idea person's fault. The only acceptable course of action is to berate him/her online.

Let me be clear, I know that investing in a craft or project and it failing is FRUSTRATING. My best bud and I tried to make a paint handprint Christmas ornament thing of her infant son's hand and it was a massive failure. Was it the little lady's fault who posted the idea on Pinterest? No. We only have ourselves to blame. We forgot that infants cannot be commanded to spread out their fingers. We didn't think about how the feel of a foreign substance all over an infants' hand would prompt a clenching reaction. We didn't consider that maybe the crafty idea is best tried with a sedated two year old. That's on us. Our bad. BUT did we go online and tear that little old lady a new one? Nope. We had a good laugh and put the poor infant in the bath.

Some times I can't trust everything I read online. Sometimes people are different than me. Sometimes I should just shut my mouth.

How did I learn this and not the rest of the general online public?

A Recap in Pictures

So it's been awhile. I'm over my oppositional streak now and am feeling motivated to get back to the blog. Plus, I noticed that Murn had written on hers again and figured if she can do it, I can do it.

Here's the lowdown on what's happened since my last post:

I went to Florida for Allison's BIG 3-0 birthday and had a great time with this chunky dunk-
                                                                               

         

and these nonchunky dunks-

We got to spend a weekend in Fort Worth with awesome friends and all their babes-

                                    

I attended my second annual National Adoption Day celebration. It is always one of the happiest days of the year! Not a dry eye in the house. 

Kev and I loaded up to drive to South Carolina for Thanksgiving with (most of) my family where we did lots of eating, lounging, game playing, hot tubbing, etc at this wilderness wonderland- 

                                   

Hayley, Mom, Mary Beth and I went to the Natchitoches, Louisiana Christmas festival which is famous world wide for being featured in a little movie called Steel Magnolias! So maybe just Steeleworld wide but we had a great time. 

Kevin and I spent Christmas with his family and got to see Les Miserables on Christmas Eve! Other than that lots of lounging and eating of course :)

                                               

When Kevin headed off to Turkey to visit his friend, I went to Oklahoma to spend New Years with my family. I enjoyed the tail end of Haven's first Christmas 

and celebrated New Years Eve with Mama and Hayley (taking the picture). 

Next came the Senior Trip chaperoning for Kevin's school. Drove to Pagosa Springs, CO with 9 high school seniors. Cooked dinner, dropped them off at the ski mountain, wandered the little town, saw beautiful scenes such as this, 

and went DOGSLEDDING. That's right, it was one of the coolest things ever. 

Last but certainly not least, I went with Grace, Jaron and Emmitt out to Tennessee to see Kristin and Eli! We had the best week ever. Eli is precious,

 Emmitt is precious, 

they were both less-than-pleased about their car seats 

and they held hands (we died).

So what have you been up to? 

What a Weekend

We had the kind of weekend that leaves you exhausted and energized at the same time, overwhelmed by the greatness of your friends. Friday kicked it off with this: 

100 cupcakes for Kate's opening reception at the Croft Gallery! Applesauce spice cupcakes with brown sugar cream cheese frosting and champagne cupcakes with strawberry buttercream. Not to mention the homemade bread, hummus, prosciutto and goodness flatbreads and more that other friends made! Kate's paintings...wow. I don't even have the words to describe her gift. If you are in Waco before October 28 you MUST go see her show. The reception was from 6-9 and we all hung out, mingled, snacked and such until everyone else had left. Then, since the Sterchi parents and Kate's mom were in town we took the party to the pub for continued revelry.

Saturday was a wonderful Waco Saturday of shopping and lunching at Newk's (what the heck kind of name is that?!) with the ladies and Moms. Then surprise of all surprises, I go with Emily to get her haircut and they're giving away free chair massages! Best chair massage I've ever had, even before you consider the freeness. Saturday evening was the big birthday celebration at the Meddlesome Moth in Dallas. Lots of Waco people piled into cars to caravan to the Moth where we were joined by Kevin's parents and some Dallas friends.

Before we left. Funny to have a picture of us in the background of a picture of us.

Everyone who hasn't been, take a moment to google that restaurant. Such delicious food, family style, endless options some of which included mussels, risotto, tandoori lamb skewers, cheese and cured meat platters (I'm sold) and much more! After the four hour feast we rolled ourselves home to Waco.

Sunday was the day the Sterchi parents had to leave so we went to lunch after church before their flight. AND especially for Kevin's (real) birthday, we woke up to rain. Steady, pouring rain. What a day. FSIL (favorite sister-in-law) Kaitlyn and her friend Emily visiting from California came over to celebrate Kevin slash sleep on the couches for four hours in our sweatpants. It was Kevin's favorite kind of day. 

Sunday evening wrapped up with a pizza party and German chocolate birthday cake for all our friends! The original plan was to complement the pizza with the Rangers game but it got rained out so we settled for football and a little Beyonce YouTubing. 

Don't worry. He shared. I almost forgot! Sunday morning began with the pumpkin cinnamon rolls! I did use the recipe I originally mentioned as pull-apart bread but I decided to roll it up instead. Last time I made pull-apart bread it was mush on bottom and dry on top so I switched it up. Since there was so much leftover (and since I'm pretty sure they frown on rum in the morning before church) I used the brown sugar cream cheese frosting on the cinnamon rolls too. Delicious! 

Needless to say, Monday morning was an unwelcome event. Whatever happened to having Columbus Day off? 

For the cake I used this Southern Living recipe from the October issue. The frosting did not set up like I thought it should based on the picture, but I'll forgive them. 

You Know What I Love?

In an effort to keep my momentum up, but without the time to load pictures or try to take pictures of myself again, I'm going to post about some random things that have been making my days lately...

• The commercials for the Lion King re-release. They make me feel so nostalgic and I almost tear up everytime. I picture teeny tiny Murn and Molly. I think of Chimney Hill. I can't even count how.many.times. we held up Trudy like Simba
• Yesterday Kevin and I talked with the pastor of the church we've been going to because I want to help in the baby room. When it came up in the story of how Kevin and I met, he asked where I lived in Macedonia. For a second I thought he was crazy and had misunderstood but then he said he spent a week right down the road from where I lived! Jaw dropped. First person to respond with anything other than the "where's that" blank stare
• Riesling. I "had to" buy some for a recipe I was making and what's a girl to do, let the rest go to waste? I forget about white wine because I never drink it and sometimes think I've outgrown it. Turns out, still delicious
• Pictures of Haven covered in food. Videos of Haven crawling. Pictures of Haven being sassy. Pictures of Haven sleeping. Videos of Haven messing with Simon. I could go on and on
• Anything having to do with baby goats

What makes your day? 

Coming soon...100 cupcakes for the art opening, Pumpkin cinnamon rolls recipe, Kevin's birthday, Yoga 101-Plank, and a quick yoga sequence for runners (inspired by Lisa's no time to stretch)!

Post-Potter Depression

I think a lot of you know how this goes. You've been there. I held out reading the Harry Potter books for so long because 1) I get scared easily (haha) 2) they are so freaking long, who has time for that and 3) the first movie was the only one I saw in the theater (except for the eighth one at midnight) and while I didn't hate it, I didn't like it enough to read 7 epic-length books about that geeky kid.

Oh boy, was I wrong. I will say, I'm glad I wasn't living alone when I read them because I really do scare easier than the average human. But the books are SO much better than the movies! I want to see the movies again knowing all the back story and stuff they don't include! The thing about 7 books averaging about 650 pages each, they cling to your hands, glue your butt to the chair and push pause on the rest of your life so that you have nothing to do but read until they are all finished and your life is over. When I looked up, feeling nauseous from the emotional roller coaster of Dumbledore, Harry, Ginny, 19 years later, I literally did not know what to do with myself. Where is Kevin? Do I have friends? When was the last time I took a shower?

I haven't picked up another book since. It won't be as good. Ron won't be in that book saying hilarious things. It has been enough time that I'm starting to think Harry Potter may have ruined my reading life. I need to rip the band aid off. Admitting you have a problem is the first step...

What should I read next?

Diving Right In

So I started a blog. I'm a blogger. I instantly feel pressure to be funny and quirky and to eat oatmeal for breakfast. While I'd like to think I'm funny sometimes, I'm not quirky and I only eat oatmeal when the fridge is literally empty. Otherwise I'd be fat. I bake a lot of delicious things, which is part of the reason I wanted to start a blog. But let's not get confused, if I don't exert a little self control around the baked goods, I get fat. I won't be one of those bloggers joking about how I made 3 dozen brownie sundae cupcakes with mile high frosting and then ate nothing but said cupcakes for four days straight. I would be so fat. And constipated.

My words to live by: workout hard enough to be able to eat dessert and do what it takes to stay regular.

Aren't you glad I started a blog?