life lately - some pics

first of all - this here blog is in love with her new face!
all thanks to miss andrea!
{and to miss alexa, for sending me her way}
didn't she do a fabtabulous job?!
it's like fresh white paper and perfectly sharpened pencils on the first day of school!!
go check them out!
Oh - annnnd, the blog has a facebook page now! Please do holla!
________

well.
friday, i went to the mall.
may i just mention that i would rather scrub toilets?
i got way too hot, way too irritated, and way too hungry -
and ended up grubbin in my car in the chicfila parkin lot.
and i only got two things marked off my list.

did get the christmas cards mailed out.
whoop! whoop!

we consumed some crack from starbucks.
i don't think they can ever, ever top the pumpkin spice latte.
i just don't.

discovered the most awesome thing everrrrrrrr.
maybe they have been around, but i ain't seen em.
diet mt. dew IN A CAN ... a 24 OUNCE CAN!
ta.
dow!
i hate soft drinks out of a bottle. they get hotter and flatter, faster.

our gingerbread man has become like a real deal holyfield christmas guest.
like elf on the shelf, except he don't do a damn thing except take up too much space.
look at his over-caffeinated smile and crazed eyes.
but his rick rack and cheeks are so cute!! and, i'm a sucker for tiny polka dots, so he gets to stay.

we ate yummy food & opened some christmas presents at meemaw's house.

we shopped some more and got a disturbing, yet hilarious peek into the sex lives of deer.
this would be a great gag gift for some dude's bachelor party, no?
please, read the bullets below. hilar.
receptive posture? submissive ears? rear leg accepts what?

went a lil cray cray while buying stocking stuffers and decided to treat myself to this 1 lb. bag of dubble bubble. what, what.

wrapped some prizes.

{go here and make your to/from tags out of old christmas cards so you don't have to put on a bra and run to walgreen's when you've run out.}

i made some of these treats for some shugpies in my family.
i may have also eaten exactly four of them, and then paid the consequences of gluten consumption.
but it was still worth it.

i have also been thinking a lot about the victims in Newtown, CT and their families.
i don't have children, but i used to teach elementary school, and i just cannot begin to imagine living through something like that.

may God be with them during this time, and may he help those who are mentally ill to get the help that they clearly, desperately need.

i must say, i am ashamed of our media, however. reporting what happened so that we can be informed and pray for those victims was absolutely appropriate.

however, i think that flooding the networks for days on end, and requesting "interviews" from 7 year olds and their families about the absolute horrors that they witnessed that day is absolutely inappropriate. they are {perhaps inadvertently} making the individual who committed these heinous acts a celebrity.

there is a fine line between reporting what happened, and digging too deeply into people who are in great pain, and making a legend out of a murderer for the sake of ratings.
maybe these things wouldn't be quite so prevalent if legends weren't made out of people who shoot up school buildings.
i'm choosing to remember the victims.

the image below was taken by Pumpkin Pie Photography

i hope you all have a WONDERFUL week!

off to visit the doctor, ugh. y'all please pray he gives me somethin to fix me up.
whatch'all been doin recently, huh?
are you done shoppin?
 better get on that.

photo dump

1. Manpower needed to move the camper shell from one truck to another // we bought a new mattress!
2. Gluten-free livin = peanut butter & jelly rice cake
3. LL Beans (pre-chewed by BrAdy - not BrOdy - good story if you haven't read it yet) and a seriously altered Randarita (more details below).
4. Love ranch.

1. Mr. Wuf
2. Supa Tasty
3. True Story - my SIL had this made for her hubs' truck
4. Mmm. Hot chocolate with LOTS of whipped cream

1. brew
2. geese at the store
3. anniversary flowers
4. dilated eye via diabetic eye exam

1. velodrome
2. Charlotte
3. alteration of Miranda Lambert's Randarita (I used regular Crystal Light Lemonade instead of Raspberry)
4. too cold outside for plants all of a sudden :(

Tha's all for now ...

weekend ... better late than never.

my friday night started off right with this delicious husband-made chicken marsala with GLUTEN FREE noodles! whoop! whoop!

and some of this.

Anj (and I) devoured some homemade salsa my Aunt Weezie gave him for his upcoming bday.

Anj's 10 year HS reunion ...

Of course Anj won this child-sized t-shirt. I tried it on but I will spare y'all.

Then he won ANOTHER t-shirt. This one was for grown ups.

We got a wild hair and decided to start spring cleaning and throwin shiz out.

(see Anj's creepy reflection below?)

While we were cleaning, I found the meerkat. Anj hid him in the closet because I always go here to get my most favoritest blanket during movie time. Read here if you are wondering what the deuce I am talking about regarding the meerkat's hiding spot.

Finally hung these.

We got our Cracker Barrel on.

Yummay!

Otherwise, we did a lot of loungin. 

Imagine that. 

Hope your weekend was mag, and have a super rest of this week, shugs!

crunkleton, wings and a trip to walmart

Aren't you impressed with that creative post title? 

Hello Shugpies. 

Hope y'all's weekend was splendid. And that you haven't frozen to death. It is cold as a witch's tatas in these parts. And we're not used to it. So it seems even worse.

Friday, Anj Pie walked in with these:

What a snookie pie. They smell mmmm.

Saturday morning, we met up with my aunt, uncle and cousin for breakfast at the State Farmer's Market Restaurant. Holla! Good eatin, my frands. (Didn't take pics. Sorry. Too busy feedin my face). Then, we totally went to one of the four photography classes that came with our camera. I did learn some stuff. :)

After our class, we scoured the town in search of some shoes and luggage for Anj's upcoming bday. (Homeboy is picky for realz).

Then we got a text from the Sis & Bro in law - they were in Chapel Hill (I know, right. I figure, if we're going there for beverages, then it should be tolerable, right?) ... so we decided to check out a bar that was featured recently in Garden & Gun, The Crunkleton. (PS - Garden & Gun is the shiz magazine - order a subscription for any southern guy you know - young or old. Check it out, seriously!)

Anj & I continued with some wings once we got back from Chapel Thrill.

We had an hour long conversation/piecing together of random lyrics until I FINALLY (with the help of my facebook friend) was able to think of this song. (Don't you haaaate that? When it's riiiight there, but you just can't think of it. Ugh!)

Today started with getting up at nearly 11am, eating of course. Laying around. More eating. Then - a trip to Wally World for the essentials. I love shopping with gift cards because it's like free stuff. I HATE washing my face. Especially if I took my shower in the morning, then I reallllly don't wanna go through the whole face wash routine before bed. I'm hopin these wipes will make me be nicer to my face.
#lazymess

What'd y'all do this weekend?

I hope y'all's upcoming week is fast and thrilling.

Ha. Tune in on Tuesday for the How I Met Anj love story.

Also - I linked up with Jenni. She's magical. Go check her out.

week{end} in pics

(linked up with Jenni)

Here it is folks.

{attempted to start fire with skinny, wet wood .... a bit of a challenge}

{did my part to help the hubs by mutilating this oatmeal cookie candle using a cake server and a spoon so we could use the wax}

{cheered on the Pack in the comfort of our own hizzle. red/white/wolf-like fur items/prissy nc stizzle colored koozie did not help. ONE POINT. and a shot RIGHT AFTER THE BUZZER. changing the subject. feel blood pressure going up}

{beverages. cold brewed ones. hot decaf whipped creamy ones.}

{more beverages. this time, chocolate with whipped cream. we love whipped cream. big deal.}

{and chili. we also love chili. especially the kind Anj makes}

I love weekends where we stay holed up in the hizzle and only leave to buy more food and beverages.

Life ... with some pictures

First - Random bits of my week in pictures (great idea, Jenni!!!) ... followed by an epiphany.

{one}

A friend of mine has animals because she and her husband have a farm. I LOVE animals. I think they are so calming to be around and they just bring my heart joy. They don't bitch, gossip, complain, nag (except Brody and his tennis ball obsession). They don't have opinions. They don't judge you. They don't expect a lot. I think they are much cuter than human babies. I used to worry that this made me a weirdo. I don't care.

{two}

My doctor suggested adding rice cakes to my gluten-free lifestyle. I totally forgot about these. So, hubs bought some and I make them taste better by adding fattening ingredients such as peanut butter and cream cheese. (The plain-looking one is coated in an artificially-flavored powder that's supposed to be white cheddar. They are pretty good.)

{three}

I have also been adding cream cheese to these tasty gluten-free bunnies.

{four}

I love my dog. He keeps me sane on say, 6 out of the 7 days a week. See #1 for more explanation.

{five}

I broke out the crate again, thinking it would take me a good month to get Brody really trained on how to sleep in this thing without whining and crying. (He usually sleeps on the bed with me, but his ass is too big and he tries to hog it up by gettin right in the center. NO thanks.) So, I'm all prepared with treats and my speech, and, surprisingly, he just walks right in there. And, he is fine - all through the night {!!!!} - as long as I go ahead and turn the light off. Thank you, Lord.

{six}

I came across this verse on a post from A Day in the Life. It really spoke to me. I read the post on January 3, and I thought to myself, "Wow." It's amazing to me how all of a sudden, just a few words can mean so much.

"In his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."

Proverbs 16:9

Then, a few weeks after that, I just felt like God had answered a prayer that I've been praying for over 3 years. I felt like a zillion tons were on my chest and constantly wondered if my decisions were the right ones. I analyzed those decisions every single day. But, the thing about God is, He will answer in His time. He works through many different means - our hearts, our minds, our instincts, our situations, including pain, tears, fear, road blocks. Although, the fear is a result of a lack of trust in Him. But, I knew He would answer. Sometimes that answer might come in a series of hurdles and "what ifs". But one day, after over three and a half years. I just knew what to do. I still don't know exactly what the future holds, obviously. But, I can say that I feel more at peace about it than I ever have before. And I feel like it's what's best. Not just that - I feel EXCITED! The situation did not change. But my heart did.

I'm not really ready to share the whole story with the world wide web, but maybe someday. And, I wanted to tell you all out there, that He will answer. Just never stop believing. And be careful when you pray for patience. ;) I am really excited and eager for something that used to cause me anxiety and dread. Isn't it amazing? And the thing is, I'm glad I went through all the yuck, because I know that if I hadn't have gone through all the yuck, I wouldn't appreciate this good part. I wouldn't see it for the gift that it is. 

Praying for God to give me the desires of my heart is one of the best things I've ever done. This doesn't mean, "God, give me what I want." Instead, it means, "God, please have me want what you want (and know is best anyway) for me. Make me want for myself what you already want and know is good for me." I feel so grateful. And ready. I've said it a million times, but thank God that I'm not really in charge.

I kind of feel like a whole new me. Or, actually, more like I've found myself - the self that I used to be before I let worry take over my life. It's easy to get caught up in what you are "supposed" to be. According to your family, your friends, your boss, your church, your co-workers, your spouse, your kids, whatever. And, it may not even be that they are telling you what you are supposed to be, but it's kind of a self-imposed pressure. It's like that for me anyway. I think women especially, feel guilty for being who they want to be. It's confusing. That's why I pray for God to show me who He wants me to be. And, ironically, after praying on that for months and months and months and months ... I feel more like myself, and comfortable in my own skin than I ever have. And I wake up each day, feeling like I am twice as in love with my husband than I was the day before. And I see how much I have to be grateful for.

What a beautiful thing.