Thursday, December 31, 2009

GOOD-BYE 2009!

It is with great excitement that I type this blog...This time tomorrow I'll be waking up in a new year. A new decade. The last 10 years have been filled with so many ups and downs. Immense joys and deep, heartbreaking sorrows. This past year has been especially trying, and I am over-joyed to see it drift off into the sunset. Instead of dwelling on the past, I'd like to focus on the future. I've set many goals for my self [and Ryan, even though he doesn't know it yet] and I hope that at least half of them will happen. But, that's another blog post.

Happy New Year to you all! See ya in 2010!!! :D

Christmas, through pictures


















Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve and I am overwhelmed with the miracles of Christmas. It's been a rough year for us, but as I sit here and type this, I feel optimistic anyway.

For me, Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year. I love shopping for just the right gift for all of my loved ones, I love seeing everything decorated, I LOVE the treats and eats, and I love how *most* people are filled with cheer and good-will. I love getting Christmas cards, especially those with pictures. I love Christmas music, and how certain songs make me cry every time I listen to them. I love the days off work! But, it's not really about all of that. Regardless of your religious views, Christmas is about family. [In MY family, it's also about Baby Jesus. Ü]

So, I leave you with this, as I think Linus Van Pelt says it best:
"Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about. 'And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"


Merry Christmas!! Love to you all!!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Boring

That's what we are. Boring.

I haven't updated my blog in two weeks because, frankly, we have nothing to report. But to keep up appearances, here is a quick update.

I have been at my new job for one month now. Things are going well! I still dream of going back to school and dream the same for Ryan [even more], but I am so very grateful for this job and the people I work with! Ryan is still doing contract work, but is hoping to find something more permanent and stable after the holidays. We also plan to move at the first of the year, and it will be great to get all of our stuff out of storage!

And, honestly, that is about it. We wake up, work, come home, eat, sleep, occasionally see our friends - rinse, lather, repeat!

See. Told ya. Boring. :)

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Winter

It's officially upon us!!

I love Winter. Really, I do. I LOVE the cold weather, and the cold weather clothing. Sweaters, coats and scarves are pretty much my favorite things. Oh, and the hot cocoa! Who could forget the hot cocoa?! I anxiously await fall/winter during spring and summer, and mourn the loss when May rolls around. My entire life, or at least as long as I can remember, I've said "I'm not meant for Texas". I loathe anything over 85*.

That being said, when you DO live in Texas and winter hits, expect the unexpected. It snowed this morning. Maybe snow is an exaggeration. It flurried for about an hour, maybe two. Nothing stuck to the roads, yet people can't figure out how the drive in the stuff. Here's a hint - its the same as driving in the rain. Just drive, slightly slower and further away from the car in front of you. It's not ice. [For the record, I HATE driving in ice.] Also, I don't think my lovely Jetta has figured me out yet. I don't like the heat on full blast in my car. When I leave the house, I'm dressed appropriately for the cold, therefore, I don't need uber-heat. However, the windshield and windows in my car fog up like no other. I had to drive to work with the heat/defrost setting on full blast the whole ride just to keep a patch the size of my head clear. By the time I arrived at my office, I was actually sweating. Not cool Jetta. Not cool.

Monday, November 23, 2009

New Job

Well, last week was my first week at my new job. I am now working for a food brokering company. It's a tedious, time consuming job, but I actually think I'll like it once I get used to it. [Its a LOT of paperwork.] But almost more important than the work, I love the people I work with. One of them is one of my best friends, Kim, who I've known since I was, like, 12. In fact, I owe her, BIG TIME, because she sent me the lead for this job! Anyway, everyone is super nice, and its a really laid back, fun work environment. So, just in time for Thanksgiving, I am SO thankful for this job. :)

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Rest in Peace Josh


Joshua Abide
May 9, 1989-November 15, 2009

Josh passed away over night. I'm lacking for the words right now. Please keep his parents, John & Debbie, and his brother, Hunter, in your thoughts and prayers as they grieve the loss of this wonderful young man. *The service is Wednesday. Please say an extra prayer for his family on this difficult day.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Prayers for Josh


I just realized that I had used every mode of communication except for my blog to ask for prayers for my 20 year old second cousin, Josh. He was involved in a terrible car accident last weekend, and is clinging to life. Please keep him in your prayers, so that he may make a full recovery. Thank you.

If you'd like to be updated on his progress, click here.

Monday, November 9, 2009

My 1st Anniversary Weekend!

As most of you know, Ryan & I celebrated our first wedding anniversary this weekend, and it was a WONDERFUL weekend!! Here's the recap:

Starting Friday, Ryan told me "don't plan anything". I knew that meant he was. My mind immediately started going in a million directions. So, I asked him later what kind of outfit I needed. He told me jeans, nice shirt and nice shoes. Ok. Cool. Then, several hours later he also tells me I'm going to need comfy clothes. What? Now I'm thrown. Now, sometimes Ryan does this. When he's planning a surprise for me he likes to throw me off. Like, when we got engaged he was down right MEAN to me the whole week before he popped the question because he didn't want any part of me to suspect he was days away from asking me to be his wife.

Moving on to Saturday, I babysat for Holly's 3 boys and Shauna's son from 6:30am until around noon while they went to a BurbMom event at Texas Motor Speedway. So, I headed home and Ryan was here waiting, with my gift. [Luckily,I had his too.] We decide to open presents then. Wow, did my husband out-do himself! He got me the most beautiful necklace!!!! Here is a blurry picture...

So then, Ryan tells me I need to pack a bag. I am super excited at this point. He won't tell me anything more than that. So, I hurriedly pack a bag and pretty myself up and we head out. He then tells me that my generous in-laws have booked us a room at the Renaissance Hotel in Dallas!! And that he is taking me to Gloria's [one of my all time favorite restaurants] for dinner! The hotel was BEAUTIFUL!!!! Dinner was DELICIOUS! And after dinner he took me to my new favorite place, Eatzi's, to grab some dessert. We got champagne and 3 mini desserts, Pots de Creme, cheesecake and cannoli, to take back to the hotel.


[By the way, that's Ryan's new watch, his anniversary gift from me, on the table!]
It was an amazing night, and the cherry on top was the amazing view we had of Dallas from our room. This picture is blurry too...

And just for fun, a trip down wedding memory lane...a few of my favorite wedding pictures!
[click to enlarge]

Thursday, November 5, 2009

It's time to CELEBRATE!!

'Cause I GOT A JOB!!!!! :)

I am so very excited to start my new job at Lakeland Marketing! I will be a CSR, but not in the usual sense of the word. I will pretty much handle everything except for sales for our accounts! One of my best friends, Kim, has worked there for several years and really loves it, so I am excited to jump right in! I'll post more details as I get them, but really I just want to thank all of you for your continued prayers, support and love through all of this! Now it's Ryan's turn so that we can get our life back!! ;)

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Overdue

I've done it again. Gone too long without a post. I am overdue! Partially because I have been battling a nasty cold for the past week, so there was nothing much to report.

My Mom is home from the hospital and doing much better. She goes back to work part-time starting this afternoon!

We will be house/dog sitting for one of our best friend's [Jennye & Gavin] next week, which will be fun and then house/teenager sitting for my step-brother the week after while my Dad & Donna are out of town. I think we are going to take Chloe with us, assuming she can tolerate the pups!

Other than that, we are just keeping up the search for full-time jobs. We are looking forward to a fun weekend with friends and good music, and then our 1st wedding anniversary next weekend!

xoxo

Monday, October 19, 2009

What a Weekend!

This was an awesome weekend! It was jam-packed with old friends from out of town, parties and "the State Fair"! Here is a recap in picture form:

Saturday we went to an awesome Halloween party with our group of close friends. This is the only picture I have so far, so I will post more as they come!
Obviously, we were the Chapman's - Bounty Hunters extraordinaire! (click on the picture to make it larger)

Sunday we loaded in our cars and headed to the State Fair of Texas...or so we thought. We left at 1:30pm. We sat in bumper to bumper traffic until almost 4:30pm, only to reach the gates and find they were full and no one else could get in. We were directed back to the end of the line [which was about 2 hours of waiting] and decided to turn around and head home. We decided to have our OWN fair, aptly named the State Fair of AWESOMENESS featuring the Fried Food Wonderland!


Jennye & Gavin, still optimistic at this point


Kim & Jason and Brittany were in the car behind us. Note all the traffic.
Soon after we headed home.

Homemade corn dogs!! They were SO GOOD!


Fried pickles and jalapeno poppers!

Kim & Jason enjoying the fried goodness

Gavin and his corn dog

Ryan, taking a break from the fryer

My personal favorite of the night! PB & J fried in funnel cake batter!

The plate of fried PB & J

Another fav! Fried s'mores!

And of course, what fair is complete without caramel apples?!

It was such a fun day, with great friends. :)

Friday, October 16, 2009

Update on my Mom

She is slowly improving, thankfully. They may let her come home Monday is she continues improving. She has to be off oxygen completely before they will release her and right now she can't go more than 30 minutes without it. Thanks to all who have prayed and thought of her over the past week!!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Beef Stronganoff

I am Swedish. 1/4 Swedish, to be exact, from my Dad's Mom. Generally speaking, my Gram's Swedish recipes were a little over my head, but I loved what I can remember of them - although my Dad will tell you his Mom cooked with too much sour cream [stereotypical for Swedish recipes]. One of my favorites was always Beef Stroganoff. So, I attempted it...and it turned out well! My Gram passed away in 1994, when I was only in 4th grade, so I never got the chance to "learn the ways" with her but I think she'd be proud of this dish. After posting a few pictures on Facebook, I was flooded with messages asking for the recipe. Well, here you go!

Rachel's Beef Stroganoff
[I can call it that because I tweaked it and added my own touch]

*6 cloves garlic; 4 roughly chopped, 2 [keep them separate]
*Kosher/sea salt and black pepper
*EVOO
*1 T Rosemary
*1 T Thyme
*1 t oregano
*1 t basil
*1-1 1/2 lbs skirt steak
*1 pkg mushrooms, sliced
*1/2 c shallots
*1/4 c cognac or cooking sherry
*2 c heavy whipping cream [hey, I never said this was low-fat!]
*1 T dijon mustard
*1/2 c sour cream [Just for you Gram!]
*1 12oz bag of egg noodles
*4 T butter
*Parmesan cheese, to taste
*2 T green onions, garnish, optional

FIRST: Place the chopped garlic, salt and pepper into a bowl. Add enough EVOO to create a "paste" to cover the meat. Add the rosemary, thyme, oregano and basil and stir well. [I also added a few shakes of red pepper flake.] Coat skirt steak with the mixture and bake at 300* F until cooked through. [We like our meat very tender so after it was cooked through, we chopped ours and placed it in some boiling beef broth until the rest of the meal was ready. Drain before eating.]

ONCE the meat is done/in the beef broth: Heat a large saute pan over high heat and add apprx. a 3-4 count of EVOO. Add mushrooms and cook until brown. Add shallots and minced garlic and combine. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until garlic and shallots become fragrant. Remove pan from the heat and deglaze with cognac/sherry. Return to heat and slowly add the cream, while whisking. Reduce the heat and simmer until reduced by about half, whisking occasionally. Turn off the heat and stir in dijon mustard and sour cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cook egg noodles according to package. Drain when done [cooked fully, NOT al dente] and toss with butter.



Serving is up to you. You can mix the drained beef into the sauce and then mix it into the noodles, or you can place the noodles on your plate, then top with sauce, then top with beef. Either way, sprinkle Parmesan on top just before serving...and enjoy!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Prayers please

Most of you know, but for those who don't; My Mom was hospitalized Friday for complications with pneumonia. She seemed to improve Saturday then took a nose dive yesterday. Her right lung is where the pneumonia originated but it has now started to develop in her left as well. On top of that, her white count is very low, which is preventing her from fighting the pneumonia. They have her in isolation right now and have specialists coming in to try to figure out what is happening. Its been very scary and we would appreciate all the prayers and good thoughts we can get. Thank you.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Back on the WW Wagon

I fell off the wagon...back in July. Oops. You know, eating like crap is a hard habit to break. I did great May-July, then my birthday came. Then I lost my job. Then Ryan lost his. I'll be honest, I started eating emotionally again. After being around all my skinny in-laws all weekend in St. Louis, I realized just how far off the wagon I had actually fallen. I'm not back to my original starting weight, but I've definitely put some pounds back on. So, today I am back on Weight Watchers. Wish me luck...!

xoxo

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Frankie @ Bill's Records & Tapes!

Frankie will be playing @ Bill's Records & Tapes in Dallas on October 3rd @ 4:45pm.


If anyone is in the area that afternoon, come support Frankie Wylie Music!!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Weekend Update!

Yes, I know how long its been since I last blogged. I am been feeling less than inspired so, I just haven't done it. But, its been a great weekend, so I thought I'd update.

I am still loving BurbMom, and have been doing pretty well with it, I think. Ryan is still searching for a new job everyday. Its tough out there. He is bored at home, so if any of you need any work done on your homes, cars, electronics...he's your man! ;)

Back to this weekend. Friday night was the CD Release for my favorite local band, Oso Closo. If were are very close, you've heard me talk about them. My good friend, Daniel Garcia, plays guitar in the band, which is why I first came to see them play. Now, I am hooked because they are just so good. Anyway, the lovely Mandy meet us there and it was so awesome to share the music with her! For fun, here is a pic of us there!



Saturday, Ryan & I went spent the day in the pool with our friends Brittany, Gavin & Jennye and Kim. It was so much fun! The boys grilled while the girls gabbed. Then we played some Catchphrase. I had no idea I was so competitive! ;) I'll post some pictures soon.

xoxo

Saturday, August 22, 2009

In Loving Memory of my Gramp

Last night, my sweet Gramp passed away peacefully holding my Dad's hand. I am so glad he is now at peace and no longer suffering, but selfishly I will miss him so much. Everyone mourns their grandparents passing, just as I have with my Gram, Granddaddy & Grandmommy when they passed, but Gramp and I had an extremely close and special relationship. I was "his girl", as he often called me and the note he wrote in my birthday card in July summed it all up, but that is a sentiment I will keep to myself. For now.

Although I knew this was coming and although I am still terribly sad, I am still trying my hardest to celebrate his life. Because he lived a really good life. And I find peace knowing Gramp is back with his beloved wife, my Gram.



Jack F. Silverman
8/26/1920-8/21/2009

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Bad Blogger...

That was me, scolding myself for being such a bad blogger! You'd think being home so much, I'd be a bloggin' fool, but alas. So, time for a quick update. I am really enjoying working with Burb Mom although, I had a slow week this past week. BUT-today I have two phone meetings, going with Shauna [my awesome boss] to a meeting tomorrow to learn the finalization procedures, then another phone meeting on Tuesday of next week. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Also, in case anyone hasn't heard yet-which is unlikely-Ryan was laid off on Monday. It was quite a blow. They laid off 95%[!!!!!!] of the company. I'm afraid the future looks grim for them. So, now we have some BIG life decisions to make.

So, that's where we are and what we've been up to. I'll try to better at updating. :)

xoxo

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Do Something You Love

After I lost my job in July, people kept telling me to "find something you love, and do it". Well, the concept is great, but the execution is tough in the job market today. But, I was determined. I knew it was a risk, but I just didn't want to take the first "dead end job" that came along. Been there, done that. So, I started to make a list of the things that I love and that are important to me.
Children, Music, Family, Being a Mommy and Wife [even though I'm not a Mommy yet, its still important to me] and having some flexibility at work were at the top of the list.

Enter the amazing Shauna with BurbMom. If you read my last post, you know a little bit about the site. I have joined the team to work Sales and Marketing, mostly to help them sell more ad space to local businesses. I haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting the other two founders/owners, but if they are friends of Shauna, they must be great. Anyway, I do this job out of my home [although Shauna's home is the HQ] and then of course I will go to places of business as well. I think its going to be an amazing ride, and I am so excited to be involved with this wonderful site that meets so many of my "do something you love" needs.

Of course, paying the bills is important too, so as I build up a client base and start selling some ad deals for BurbMom, my cousin has hired me on with some temporary work [also mostly from home] and I am working a few hours a week at Rock Pointe Church providing childcare.


For your enjoyment [or laughter] here I am working from home...yes that is a blue tooth in my ear. I love it. Get off me. ;)

xoxo

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

burbmom.net

I worked at Rock Pointe Church again this morning. Last Wednesday, I was in the nursery with the babies. Today, I was in a classroom with 6 & 7 year-olds! [Quite a different bunch, to say the least!] But the teacher, Shauna, was so much fun. As we were chatting while the kids were playing on the playground, she mentioned a website she started/runs. It's called BurbMom. I poked around when I got home, and it is a really neat site! Essentially, it is full of reviews from Moms in the area as well as advertisements from local businesses that BurbMom gives their 'seal of approval'.

Since Ryan & I are rapidly approaching the time in our lives when we are growing more and more ready to start a family, I love sites like these. So, for all of you who are already Moms - check it out!!

Monday, August 3, 2009

LONG Overdue Update

Its been weeks since my last blog. I don't have much to update...still looking for a job, Ryan is still out of town every Monday-Friday, Gramp is still slowly declining. BUT we have found an apartment that we both love so that when I DO get a job, we can move back in to our own place soon after. [That was me trying to look on the bright side. ;) ] I'll update again when I have more to update about!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Unemployed & Time With Gramp

Yup. I'm unemployed. Its a long story, but its probably for the better.

This new unemployment has opened up my days to spend time at the hospital with my Gramp. He has taken another turn for the worse, so I am grateful for the time I am now able to spend helping him and being with him.

More later...