Not a Crazy Cat Lady

Okay - I am not a crazy cat lady just yet, but here is some of the fun we had this weekend:







My parents have a cat that had kittens a week or so ago. The black and white one falls asleep whenever he/she stands still. They are all adorable! But there are six of them and they already have two cats and a stray that has taken up residence in the back yard. So they can't keep them. My parents are coming to Austin next weekend, so if anybody wants one, let me know and they can deliver it in a few days.

Also while we were in Jasper we went to my cousin, Justin's, graduation. This is Justin:



When we arrived at his graduation, there were hundreds of cars at the rodeo arena. (Oh heck yes, we do have graduation at the rodeo arena.) The mayor happens to live right next to it and he waved us into his yard. He was wearing a wifebeater and cargo shorts. Then later, the valedictorian ended her speech with, "Sic 'em dawgs and git her done!" This town is our town - this town is so glamorous - bet you'd live here if you could ...

Yummy

I always let bananas go bad. We never eat as many bananas as I buy. They're just so cheap! This time, I had 6 bananas sitting in the fruit basket turning black. Gross, right? Not if you like banana bread! I found a recipe without any weird ingredients; I actually had everything on hand! So yesterday, I made some banana bread. This is what it looked like:



This is what Michael looks like when he's eating banana bread:



Like, "Awww! It's so good!" And a little blurry because he's eating it so fast.

Also, I edited the first photo with my free trial of Photoshop Lightroom. Lightroom is waaay cheaper than Photoshop CS4 or CS5 or whatever CS they're on. So I'm trying to decide if it will be sufficient for me. I really liked this photo okay straight out of the camera, but I like it just a little better with some (hopefully) subtle edits. Hope it makes you hungry!

The cookbook I used is called Necessities and Temptations. I'm pretty sure they'd rather you go buy the book than for me to give the recipe away for free on my blog, so I'm gonna honor that. You can buy it at Borders and also at the Cottage in Jasper. Or you can come to my house and copy it out of my cookbook, I guess. I wouldn't wrestle it away from you.

Oh No They Di'int!

So I'm looking for a dress to wear to summer stuff. I've looked at like 5 stores already, so last night I decided to do some research online to see where I should spend my time. I like this one from Ann Taylor Loft:



But I really can't decide between it and this one from the Gap:



HAHAHAHA HOHOHOHOHOHO!!! I was in the kitchen and Michael was making me nachos for dinner and I said, "OH...NO...THEY...DI'INT!!" I know I haven't seen one of those since middle school and I'm pretty sure it should've just stayed back there in the 90s. I wonder if they will sell any of those at all. I hope American women have better taste than that! What was Gap THINKING?!

V.I.B. (Very Important Blog)

So I know there are only, like, three people that read this and one of you is Michael. However, I'm going to blog about this anyway. Cuz that's what I do.

This is about how God loves a cheerful giver, and is, as it turns out, a cheerful giver himself.

Yesterday morning, I got an email about how the Austin Pregnancy Resource Center (APRC)has a gift matching offer - they raise $25K and this other organization will match that $25K. So they end up with $50K toward their ministry. I knew right away that I wanted to give something toward it - it wasn't really like a powerful message from God or anything, I just like this particular ministry. I do think God wanted me to do it, though, because about ten minutes later, one of our managers asked me to deliver supplies to an office right down the road from APRC. So I made the delivery and drove down the road to write a check.

So I felt really good about it and was in a really good mood. That's pretty much the end of that story.

BUT - it's not.

You'll remember last week that my car got hit while we were at Michael's aunt's house. Well, we were pretty sure that it must've been someone backing out of the driveway across the street, so Michael went over there just to ask if it was them or maybe a scared teenage son/daughter. We didn't expect to get results really, but we had to try. Just like we thought, the lady Michael talked to said, "Wasn't me." And that was that.

BUT - it wasn't!

After the softball game that night Michael had two voicemails. One from his aunt saying her neighbor had come over to verify that it was, indeed, her nephew and a second from the neighbor himself saying that it was him and he was more than willing to pay for the damage. So now we have his insurance information and we can take my car in to get fixed and we won't have to pay a dime. (except maybe a rental car? I'm not sure how that works yet.)

So - I really think that God blessed us with that because we gave cheerfully earlier that day and he liked it. What's crazy is that I gave nowhere near what it was going to cost us to get the car fixed. Mom said, "You can't out-give God."

In conclusion, if you would also like to receive a blessing you can help APRC meet their goal of $25K (by May 31st, by the way) here:

www.austinprc.org

or mail it here:

APRC
P.O. Box 202882
Austin, TX 78720

It will make them and God both happy. And then maybe God will pay for your car repairs. I mean, I can't say for sure - I'm just speaking from experience.

And now, cuz I hate it when there are no pictures:



This is my daddy. He's the one who came up with the bean soup recipe I posted. He's also the one who named me Jifferdoodle. (I much prefer this nickname to Pasquale, which he often says they considered if I was a boy. It's lies. Don't listen to him.)

Two Followers?!

I just noticed that I have two followers! Thanks to whoever you are! I think I might have a guess, but leave me a comment and let me know! This is so fun!

So I put up the Pottery Barn color and it looked like this:



If you look really closely in between the two doors, you can see a little yellow. Turns out the trim needs to be a much brighter white for Sandy Beaches to come out yellow. I really don't want to paint the trim or the ceiling or the doors, so I am going with a third and final color which I tried out today. I'll post a picture when it's done. (even though almost everyone who reads this has already seen it!) I'm pretty sure about this color, though. I think it's gonna be good!

So a lot of you have heard me laugh (while I'm crying inside) about how boring my job is.* But yesterday I noticed this on the bottom on my box of floss,:



and it made me think, That was made in Ireland. That means someone in Ireland made that. That means there is someone in Ireland (maybe a red-headed 26 year-old?) who answers, "I make floss," when people ask her what she does. And I thought, Hm. Copiers-not so bad.

And lastly: a recipe. Cuz I think that's what bloggers do. That's what the Pioneer Woman does anyway, and if she does it then it can't be wrong, right? Right. So, my dad came up with this recipe based on a soup he liked at a restaurant. I looove it. I think I make it a little differently than my parents do because I don't have a very high tolerance for spice. But it is one of my favorite things to eat. Michael said the picture of it is gross, but I'm going to post it anyway. It is what it is. Plus I never buy a cookbook that doesn't have pictures of the food, so I wouldn't give you a recipe without a picture. Now, I'm also putting some specific measurements, but you should know Daddy never measures anything. So once you've made it, you can kind-of figure out how you like it. Okay so here it is:

Rio Rita Mexican Bean Soup:
1 20 oz. can of Bush's Best Pinto Beans
1 14.5 oz. can Rotel tomatos (whatever spicyness you like)
1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
1 white onion chopped in big chunks
1/2 tspn. garlic (or more if you like garlic)
1 tbsp. bacon drippings (yes, you have to save your bacon drippings for this one)
salt
pepper

Mix it all together. Let it simmer until the onions become translucent and tender. As the juice cooks off, add a little water until it looks like a thick soup. (About the amount of the Rotel can.)

And that's it. It's so easy. I love it! I always serve cornbread with it. My mom always makes it when she makes enchiladas. It goes with lots of stuff. I hope you like it! Here is what it will look like. And remember, it's soup. It's not supposed to be terribly pretty:



*I love my company and I'm grateful for my job!

That's bait! & It's on!

Wednesday night we went out with our friend Lee for her birthday. Lee likes sushi. So do all her friends. Except me. I had teriyaki chicken and some delicious cheesecake. Here's what Jessica (Lee's sister) and Todd ate:



It at least looked pretty. That's the "bait" portion of this blog.

On to the "It's On!" portion. I decided pretty quick after we painted our bathroom the first time that I did not like it. This weekend I finally started to do something about it. Actually, I really started this past week. I put up a sample of the yellow I thought I wanted. This is it:



This yellow will not do. It's much too yellow. In fact, it is called Pooh Bear yellow. it's from Home Depot's Disney collection. I thought it was pretty. I would not be surprised if it is the exact pantone they use for Winnie the Pooh. Much too yellow. So then I found a picture in the Pottery Barn catalog that I liked. So I went to the Benjamin Moore store and bought a sample. It's not up on my wall yet, but I will put a picture up as soon as it is. Here's a before shot for you:



Here's an in progress shot. Remember, everything looks worse before it looks better. That's my tidbit of wisdom for the day.



The "after" shot is just a little something for you to look forward to.

A Blustery Softball Game

Last night I took my friend, Camry, to Michael's softball game. They lost, but she said she still had a good time. It was her first softball game to ever go to. She had also eaten Chinese food for the first time ever that day. She reports that both experiences were good ones. I'm glad to have been part of that day! This is Cam:



I left my 50mm lens on my camera for the game, and I'm so glad I did! It doesn't zoom, but I was just taking pictures of the spectators anyway, so it wasn't that big a deal. The (very slightly) fancier lens makes such a huuuge difference! Makes me want to buy more! Yikes! Here are some of the shots I got:






Hmm. They're almost all of Ellie. It's hard to stop taking pictures of her. She smiles ALL the time!

Also, I got these really cute individual casserole thingies on Monday night.



Now if that's not news I don't know what is.

What the What?! and Eeyore's favorite place in Texas

Okay - I'm going to try to put text in between my photos. I'm not sure how to do this. The first picture is what happened today. When? I don't know. It wasn't while I was in the car and, for the life of me, I cannot think of when I was parked in a space that would've allowed for someone to hit my car this way. I think someone must've kicked it. Tha's rude.

Okay, okay! I think I've got it. There's probably an easier way than editing my HTML every time I add a picture, but that's what's gonna work for tonight. Okay, but seriously though - never once got hit in the truck in TEN years! What the what?!

Now for some more pictures. Michael and I went to scout out lavendar farms yesterday. My mom and grandma want to come see one, but there are several and I wanted to make sure we find a pretty one. I'm glad I went, because the first one was disappointing and that's where I would've taken them based on website alone. Here's the very best picture I could get out of it:

And that's only okay because it's a close up and doesn't show the rest of the dried up field. I'm sure it was very pretty a couple of weeks ago when all the plants looked like this one. But it wasn't yesterday and wasn't likely to be in two weeks when my family comes. (We did end up finding another place with a different type of plant that is getting ready to bloom in the next couple of weeks. Perfect! I'll take pictures!)

We did, however, drive on into Fredericksburg for lunch. I didn't make Michael shop - partly because we were having a pleasant time and that would've made it unpleasant because he would've hated it. Also partly because I didn't have any money to spend on anything you can buy in Fredericksburg anyway. BUT we did go to Rather Sweet for lunch. I was very hungry so I forgot to take pictures of the food before we started eating, but the light coming through the window next to us was so pretty that I did go ahead and take this picture:

Sorry if it grosses you out. It was a good burger. Michael doesn't like raw onions.

Also - Michael was sweet to go with me in the first place, but then on the way back I said, "I want to get off the highway!" And he said, "Let's go to Albert," rather than the, "What? Why?" that I was expecting. So we did. We had our GPS with us and we just told it we wanted to go to Albert, Texas and it told us where to go. It was the prettiest drive I've been on in a long time! Also, we passed by this field completely covered in these huge, tall thistles. Hundreds of them - it would've made Eeyore smile. I said, "Look at all those thistles!" And Michael said, in what was at least his second stroke of brilliance for the day, "You want to stop and take pictures?" My reaction was to say, Nah, and drive on, but I couldn't actually think of a good reason why not. So we did. And this is what we got:


Nice, huh? So the moral of the story is: Michael is sweet, and when life gives you thistles (even though you were looking for lavender) take a pretty picture.

Changed My Mind!

This is my new favorite. Just look at sweet Hudson!

Tuesday Night

I'm laying in bed with my laptop right now as Michael is riding with the Hoggs (all three of them) to the softball game. I'd rather be with them, but I've got a sore tummy. I've barely even eaten anything since lunch - if you know me well at all, you know it hurts if I don't even feel like eating. Odds are I'll feel just fine in the morning. I never get a sick day. Maybe my doctor will make me update another vaccination this year. That's the last time I had a sick day - almost exactly a year ago when I had my tetanus vaccine updated. I was really sick though. I'm not sure it's worth that. Sure could use a day off, though.

This set of pics is from last week's softball practice. Last week's game was kind of awesome. Sunday was the first time they'd practiced together and it made a HUGE difference. Go figure! They won by one point and they didn't even have the last bat. They really looked great out there. Wish I was watching them tonight! Michael's mom is there tonight, though, so I'm not worried about them lacking a cheering section. My fingers are crossed for them!

Also - for the past, like, 2 hours (not to mention about an hour yesterday) I've been reading the Pioneer Woman's love story. It is soooo great! I'm loving it. It's really long! I think I'm only a little over half finished with it, but you should definitely read it! http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/ then choose Confessions and then choose Black Heels and just start at chpt. 1. So much fun! I will admit that I snuck a few chapters in at work. I can count that as my smoke break, right Boss? Yikes.

Also...

Something is wrong with my background. I'm not sure what I did. I could use some help if anyone knows how to fix it!

Music Together

My friends Heather and Laura have the best job in the world! They are both piano teachers, but they also teach a class called Music Together. The class is for kids from 0-4 and pretty much all they do is sing songs and have a good time. (The songs all have different musical elements in them that they are introducing to the kids.) They were sweet enough to let me come and take pictures one Saturday while they taught their class. I was a little worried that the camera would make the kids shy, but I think it was really the opposite. They all seemed to be very familiar with having their picture taken! They just sang and danced, and yes, Miss Presley is wearing a blue and green tutu that - get this - her granddad picked out for her. How cute is that?