Eight adults. (10 on Saturday)
Three kiddos.
One baby.
One lake house.
It was FUN.
It was CHAOTIC.
It was EXHAUSTING.
It was SPECIAL.
7.28.2011
Brier Lake Weekend 2011
Each year, I try to get my side of the family together at Miles' family's lake house. It's always a blast. This year, we begged Joanie and Jacob to drive 6 hours to join us, and they did! It was wonderful and rare to have everyone together, sleeping under one roof, for the whole weekend. Here's the breakdown...
Eight adults. (10 on Saturday)
Three kiddos.
One baby.
One lake house.
It was FUN.
It was CHAOTIC.
It was EXHAUSTING.
It was SPECIAL.
Eight adults. (10 on Saturday)
Three kiddos.
One baby.
One lake house.
It was FUN.
It was CHAOTIC.
It was EXHAUSTING.
It was SPECIAL.
7.26.2011
It Began with Wham
The moment I discovered I was locked out of my house at 8:40 a.m. was when I tried to walk through the door. But, I just walked into the door pretty hard instead. Wham!
I hit it hard because I was excited to go get back in bed, and proud of myself for getting up to start a load of laundry and do some dishes, so I was moving quick. (That sentence makes me laugh because it's true.)
Anyway, once I discovered that the door leading from the garage (where my washer/dryer is located) to the kitchen was not going to open, I checked our other doors. They were all good and locked up because we live in crazy days, y'all. We don't hide a key outside because... we live in crazy days, y'all.
I assessed my options, and decided to take the following steps:
1. Try to pick the lock. Nope, not happening.
2. Think I'm going to be able to take the door knob off, since I do have all of Miles' tools here in the garage. Nope, the door manufacturers know their stuff. That wouldn't be smart.
3. Realized how I looked at the moment, since it was becoming apparent that I was going to have to involve some one else in this drama (Miles had left for work as I went into the garage to start some laundry. I won't say that any of this was his fault. ...see?). I looked like morning blah-ness, with no shoes and my really comfy, even if slightly falling apart, sleepwear. Ugh.
4. Made the perfect choice in who to go to for help - Wilda. My sweet, elderly neighbor. She proffered coffee, bananas, a phone book, a phone, air conditioning.
5. I needed the phone book because Miles' phone is on the fritz (another saga), and without my phone I didn't know his work number by heart. They weren't listed. Awesome.
6. Realized that of all the people who have a key to our house, Sarina and Matt would be my best bet (since they live the closest). I only knew Sarina's number by heart. Lo and behold, she and Matt were both off work, and I'd caught them right as they were leaving home. Thank goodness!
7. Thought about how I used to know everyone's number by heart, no problem, and how, now a days, I am not smart. But, that's okay, because my smart phone is. Unless I'm locked out of a house where my smart phone is. It would really be a smart phone if it unlocked the doors!
8. Sat on the porch with Wilda, eating my banana, and talking about the history of our neighborhood until Matt and Sarina arrived.
Thankfully, they let me in. But, I never did go back to bed...
I hit it hard because I was excited to go get back in bed, and proud of myself for getting up to start a load of laundry and do some dishes, so I was moving quick. (That sentence makes me laugh because it's true.)
Anyway, once I discovered that the door leading from the garage (where my washer/dryer is located) to the kitchen was not going to open, I checked our other doors. They were all good and locked up because we live in crazy days, y'all. We don't hide a key outside because... we live in crazy days, y'all.
I assessed my options, and decided to take the following steps:
1. Try to pick the lock. Nope, not happening.
2. Think I'm going to be able to take the door knob off, since I do have all of Miles' tools here in the garage. Nope, the door manufacturers know their stuff. That wouldn't be smart.
3. Realized how I looked at the moment, since it was becoming apparent that I was going to have to involve some one else in this drama (Miles had left for work as I went into the garage to start some laundry. I won't say that any of this was his fault. ...see?). I looked like morning blah-ness, with no shoes and my really comfy, even if slightly falling apart, sleepwear. Ugh.
4. Made the perfect choice in who to go to for help - Wilda. My sweet, elderly neighbor. She proffered coffee, bananas, a phone book, a phone, air conditioning.
5. I needed the phone book because Miles' phone is on the fritz (another saga), and without my phone I didn't know his work number by heart. They weren't listed. Awesome.
6. Realized that of all the people who have a key to our house, Sarina and Matt would be my best bet (since they live the closest). I only knew Sarina's number by heart. Lo and behold, she and Matt were both off work, and I'd caught them right as they were leaving home. Thank goodness!
7. Thought about how I used to know everyone's number by heart, no problem, and how, now a days, I am not smart. But, that's okay, because my smart phone is. Unless I'm locked out of a house where my smart phone is. It would really be a smart phone if it unlocked the doors!
8. Sat on the porch with Wilda, eating my banana, and talking about the history of our neighborhood until Matt and Sarina arrived.
Thankfully, they let me in. But, I never did go back to bed...
7.12.2011
Thank you!
My birthday was Monday and made extra special by the people I love! So, thank you to everyone who thought of me and sent me birthday wishes.
I've been away at student council camp, since last Wednesday (post coming soon?). I got home on Sunday to a clean house, stocked fridge and pantry, and a new awning over the back porch. Happy birthday to me :). Miles, you are awesome!
My parents, Brett, Shannon, Ben, and Scarlett came over Monday night. I loved getting to celebrate with family and, of course, good food.
Thanks, Mom, for the wonderful meal. I will always treasure the fact that rain, sleet, or FIRE you will bring me BBQ chicken on my birthday.
That's right, folks, the fire department had to come to my parents house, when the alarms sounded from grilling outside. Hilarious! She also got me Luby's macaroni and cheese as a side because she knows it's my favorite.
What? Macaroni and cheese is a vegetable. Cotton Patch said so.
I'll believe it.
Anyway, she's the sweetest - even if she did take the opportunity to make fun of me to the Luby's employee by pointing out that "she's actually 27, haha."
Not haha.
Before everyone came over, I went to lunch with Britney and Miles and had a massage in the afternoon. A pretty posh birthday, if I do say so myself! The masseuse found some knot in my shoulder and went to town. Super sore today. This is only my third massage ever, and I've heard that it's all normal, but...ow.
I have to say that that's my only complaint at the moment, and that's pretty much nothing. So, here comes the big thank you.
The reason that I am so lucky is because of all of my family and friends. They make me lucky. Thank you!
I've been away at student council camp, since last Wednesday (post coming soon?). I got home on Sunday to a clean house, stocked fridge and pantry, and a new awning over the back porch. Happy birthday to me :). Miles, you are awesome!
My parents, Brett, Shannon, Ben, and Scarlett came over Monday night. I loved getting to celebrate with family and, of course, good food.
Thanks, Mom, for the wonderful meal. I will always treasure the fact that rain, sleet, or FIRE you will bring me BBQ chicken on my birthday.
That's right, folks, the fire department had to come to my parents house, when the alarms sounded from grilling outside. Hilarious! She also got me Luby's macaroni and cheese as a side because she knows it's my favorite.
What? Macaroni and cheese is a vegetable. Cotton Patch said so.
I'll believe it.
Anyway, she's the sweetest - even if she did take the opportunity to make fun of me to the Luby's employee by pointing out that "she's actually 27, haha."
Not haha.
Before everyone came over, I went to lunch with Britney and Miles and had a massage in the afternoon. A pretty posh birthday, if I do say so myself! The masseuse found some knot in my shoulder and went to town. Super sore today. This is only my third massage ever, and I've heard that it's all normal, but...ow.
I have to say that that's my only complaint at the moment, and that's pretty much nothing. So, here comes the big thank you.
The reason that I am so lucky is because of all of my family and friends. They make me lucky. Thank you!
7.05.2011
It was not easy, but it was worth it.
Cake balls are awesome, and if you've never had them, stop what you're doing and bake or buy some NOW. If you can, get them from my mom's bestie, Becky. Hers are the BEST.
So, when I wanted to make some for Miles' birthday, I asked Becky for her recipe. She gave me a folder of articles and told me I could copy it all and return it. Thanks, Becky!
The recipe for cake balls is pretty simple, but what I really wanted to know was if she made her own cream cheese icing to mix in or used ready-made. So, I skimmed all of the articles and decided I was good to go, except I still didn't know if I should make my own icing...
Her email account saw through me and sent me to junk mail, so I didn't have the answer on that until after I'd had to make them (I just used ready-made and they were fine, but probably would have been better with homemade icing).
But, I really think junk mail, my mom, and Becky are all in together with my grandma's old theory that you never give the next generation ALL of the info and steps to a favorite recipe right away -because then what would they need you for!?
Cake balls are only simple with the right preparation/time. You need to plan ahead and not think it's a start in the morning and finish in the afternoon type of baking job. Luckily, I had at least gotten this information from skimming the articles and finished mine with a whopping 30 minutes left before we needed to leave for family bday festivities. (I've grown so much in my adult years, in regards to my procrastination!)
Luckily, I also had Miles who is VERY detail oriented. When I was on day two of the process (you know, a few hours before the party), I was having a melt down (or not having the right type of melt down - hehe), when I couldn't get the right consistency in my white chocolate for the dipping of the cake balls. Miles read the back of the package, which said to add vegetable shortening. I would have tried it with only that info, but he, being who is through and through, also checked in my super-informative test kitchen cookbook to confirm this method. And, it worked! Those details do come in handy sometimes, I guess.
Now, go eat some cake balls!
7.03.2011
Happy Birthday, Ben and Britney!
Today is my BEST FRIEND and BEST NEPHEW'S birthdays. :)
What do you need to know about Ben?
He's adventurous, so sweet, hilarious, fun, happy, and seven!
(Sidenote: Holy cow, Ben, you cannot be seven, can you!?)
What do you need to know about Britney?
She's beautiful, loyal, hard working, fun, funny, sweet, happy, and twenty-seven!
(Sidenote: Holy cow, Brit, we cannot be turning twenty-seven, can we!?)
Since I'm out of town, I don't have my computer with pics of Britney, but I recently took a couple of Ben on my phone. I promise to post pictures of Brit running through sprinklers asap...
Happy Birthday to two of my favorite Bs!!!
7.02.2011
What I did on Tuesday!
Tuesday I went somewhere I've always wanted to go...
Somewhere that mixes food, smoke headaches, drinks, all classes of people (mainly old people), and a lot of busy hands...
That's right - I went to Winstar!
I love to gamble, always have, and it was easy to know the answer when asked if I'd be interested in playing in a slot tournament - for sure!
Did I know what a slot tournament entailed? Of course not. Was I sure that the strategy involved wouldn't be over my head? Of course so.
And it wasn't over my head. A slot tournament involves tapping a button over and over, as quick as you can, for three minutes straight. Your adrenaline gets all hyped up and you are in a slot mania, but it is a simple task. I'm not going to lie, though, my arms hurt afterwards. :)
I lost in the slot tournament, won big on penny slots, had a blast with two coworkers, and I definitely plan on returning!
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