White Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

On Christmas Eve, North Texas experienced "blizzard like" conditions! It snowed hard almost all day. The wind blew hard and when I was driving home from work, I saw snow drifts, yes, snow drifts in Texas. Ha. It was great...a white Christmas. I cannot remember the last time we had one! This is what the newspaper had to say:


More than 2 inches of snow was recorded at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport on Thursday, according to the weather service. Areas to the northwest were walloped, with 8 inches falling in Nocona in Montague County and 5 to 6 inches in Wichita Falls.

Gusts of 50 mph caused blizzard conditions rarely seen in North Texas.

"It’s extremely rare," said Daniel Huckaby, a weather service meteorologist in Fort Worth. "To get both the heavy snow and high winds that cause a blizzard is a very unique event here in Texas."

Dallas-Fort Worth last flirted with a snowy Christmas in 2004 and 1997.

But the last time the Metroplex was socked with a true, New England-style dose of snow on Christmas Day was Dec. 25, 1926.

"I think it’s more in the Christmas spirit. It is beautiful," said Connie Smith, 41, of Fort Worth, who loaded groceries from Central Market into her car during the snowstorm. "I can’t believe it was 70 yesterday and snowing today."

When I woke up Christmas morning, made the bed, and pulled open the blinds, I saw little foot prints in the snow. I knew that Jeff and I had not been out walking in the yard so I figured it was one of the neighborhood kids, they love playing in our yard for some reason. I like to watch them play so I don't mind. So, I looked to the left of the foot prints and saw the cutest little snow angel! I was a rather perfect looking snow angel and I loved that one of the kids made it in my yard. It put a smile on my face. They must have thought that would have been a good spot for a snow angel. Ha! I meant to take a picture of it, forgot, and then by the time I remembered, it had melted.

The dogs love playing in the snow too!






I made the King Arthur biscuits again. They turned out better this time, probably because I did not have the same distraction I had last time, thank goodness!






I also made marshmallows. Again, another second attempt and they turned out better! Marshmallows are fun to make and honestly not that difficult to make. They are great in coffee. I sprinkled toasted coconut on top of them.





Jeff and I met my parents this afternoon for lunch. It was yummy! I brought over a few of the biscuits. My mom made the annual Sunday Brunch Casserole, this is just too good for words! We also had tamales, cranberry jello, and roasted veggies. It was delicious! After a nice long visit and gift exchanging, Jeff and I came home and had a movie marathon at home. We were going to watch the new Sherlock Holmes movie but it was sold out! It was a lovely Christmas day. Now, I am anticipating the arrival of my sister, brother-in-law and niece. I can't wait!

Cheers and Happy Holidays!

eLr

So, I received my first new initials in the mail today. "eLr". That stands for Elizabeth Reeves Lucas. Unfortunately, I cannot really elaborate on this topic because it would give something away. So, you will just have to wait until a few days before 10/16/10 to find out what it is!

Cheers!

I Will Huff And I Will Puff And I will Blow Your Gingerbread House Down!

Someone, please huff and puff and blow my lowly little gingerbread house down. I tried, oh I tried. But, for some reason the stars were not aligned and this poor little pathetic excuse of a ginger bread house...oh...I tried.

To begin my festive evening of gingerbread house making, I had a glass of wine and watched Julie and Julia, a Christmas gift from my future Mother and Brother-In-Law. The movie was really cute and made me terribly hungry. Good thing I had plenty of gum drops and sweet tarts to decorate the gingerbread house with!

It took a few tries to get the darn frosting down. Then when I got that down, it dried so fast I could not get the gum drops and sweet tarts on quick enough. But, I did complete a goal I have been after for years. I made a gingerbread house! Maybe next year my gingerbread house making skills will improve. Or, maybe I should just stick to making gingerbread men, seems like that would be a tad bit easier. I did however, have a ton of fun making it!

Oh, and my roving arrived! Oh, how I love to open a package of roving and take a big whiff, it smells so gooooooooooood! The colors are fantastic. I received a postcard from Martie herself, she has a bit more of this roving and will post it on her Etsy site soon!

Cheers!

Potato Soup For The Viral Pharyngitis Soul

So, I went to the MD today because my throat has been insanely inflamed. I get strep throat about once every other year so I tend to be hyper sensitive when I get a sore throat. But, the MD just told me that I have Viral Pharyngitis. No, treatment, just some Ibuprofen and Mucinex...and a little potato soup will fix it right up! Well, I added in the potato soup but what can't potato soup cure, right? This was the easiest recipe ever.

After my MD appointment I went home and got back in bed, watched the holiday, and worked on a bit of Christmas knitting. I wish I could do this everyday, without the sick part.

This little knitting project is for a certain someone that probably does not read this blog often so I bet it is safe to post a picture.

After I finished up the mitts, I started working on a "Man Scarf" for the DH. I think I may needle felt then ends with some of the roving I have from my huge roving stash! Ziggy joined me and my tissues in bed with me today. He loves to take naps...so do I and that is exactly what I did after I worked on this for a bit.

So, previously I mentioned roving stash. I bought some more. My name is Elizabeth and I am addicted to roving. Is roving hoarding a proper medical diagnosis? Well, anyway, a few years ago, when I was in New Mexico, I stopped in the most fantastic yarn store in Arroyo Seco called the Taos Sunflower. I purchased the best Corriedale wool there and have been looking for more like it. I happened upon her Etsy store and sure enough, there it was.....and on sale! So, I snatched up as much as I could and now it is on it's way to may house! I can't wait! Merry Christmas to me! So, that roving stash just got even bigger. I need to start spinning to make room for more roving!

I think I am going to get back in bed and cozy up with Ziggy and watch another movie.

Cheers!

Vintage Ornaments At My Door!

When I came home today, there they were! All nicely wrapped up in brown paper. Straight from Montreal! They are so pretty! Even more so than I had imagined and so perfectly vintage. I can't wait to decorate with them. I kind of just want to keep them displayed in this vintage cardboard box!

Up close pictures of a few of my favorites:

Happy Holidays!

Deck The Halls

Well, to get in the holiday spirit, I did a little decorating, crafting, gift wrapping, herb harvesting, and pecan picking. My neighbor has a HUGE pecan tree. It can be a little high maintenance with all the leaf raking and limb maintaining. So, since there is a plethora of pecans that fall into my yard every other year, it is only fitting that I help myself right? Well, I think so anyway. From my garden, I also harvested a bit of Rosemary, Dusty Miller, and Daisy's to put in vases in my house for a sweet little decoration.

In the herb/flower arranging process, I found a friend!

Apparently he likes to eat flowers because about 24 hours later, there were holes all in this pretty little yellow daisy and that squirmy little thing was no where to be found!

So, while I was outside picking up pecans from the ground, I met a neighbor I have never met before. He was walking his dog and I am sure was wondering that that crazy lady was doing digging around in the leaves. But, after I explained what I was doing, pecan scavenging, we had a nice conversation over my neighbor directly across the street digging up his yard and putting in astro turf. Yes, astro turf! This baffled us both but it looks so real and the yard will be green year round! Jeff is very jealous because they don't have to mow their yard anymore.

The neighbor that I met is a retired police officer and his wife is a potter! She has her own home pottery studio fully equipped with firing kilns! She also teaches classes. So, it was meant to be that I was out there crazily picking up pecans out of the dirt. I think I may have to go ring their bell and take a class or 2! He told me what house they lived in. It is the sweetest house up the street with the most fabulous herb garden out front that I have always admired. I think I really like them already!

Ok, so...I can't believe that I actually have a few gifts wrapped and under the tree! I am getting a handle on things early this year. Come to think of it I do not have a whole lot of shopping left to do but I have major craft time to put in! All this wedding planning put me behind in the Christmas crafting area. Anyone want to join me for a crafting day? Maybe a glass of wine, appetizers, a Christmas movie; ie: "The Holiday", and some fun time crafting by the tree?? It will be too much fun! But for some reason, I feel this holiday season flying by so much quicker than in the past. I wish I could stop time just for a little while.

I am taking a new approach on decorating this year. Yes I am using the same decorations but, I am trying to change things up a bit. I have also decided that I am decorating the kitchen with a retro Christmas theme. I purchased some vintage ornaments from ebay that are heading my direction soon. I have a 2 foot silver tree that I put on top of the fridge. Once those Vintage ornaments come in I am going to hang them in the kitchen from the window I think. I also picked up these cute little vintage elves at an estate sale with my sister when she was visiting...

She has the 3rd one with the little deer. I also scooped up this great hand made tree skirt! Can you find Cedella? She loves creeping in my pictures just when I hit the button!





It goes so well with my handmade tree theme. I am working on making some cookie cutter ornaments for the tree that I saw the the recent Martha Stewart mag. I picked up a 40 pack of cookie cutters on sale at Joann's the Saturday after Thanksgiving for only 6 bucks!

It is going to get chilly tonight! A cold front is blowing in. You can already feel it and I can't wait. I love this cold weather! Fa la la la la la la la la! (O.K. that was a bit too much)

Cheers!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! I woke up bright and early this morning to the enchanting sound of the on-call pager (do you sense my sarcasm?). But, during a full morning of problem solving, I was also able to juggle in a little biscuit making. I stumbled across this recipe a few months ago and have been wanting to make it ever since! They just looked so darn delicious!

Oh, and they were so darn delicious too if I do say so myself. I actually altered it just a bit. I used maple sausage links and extra sharp cheddar cheese. They were surprisingly very easy to make, even when highly distracted! I am planning to make them again for Christmas and, since I will not be on call for Christmas think I may pair it with a little holiday mimosa. :-)

Happy Turkey Day. Gobble Gobble!

Cheers!

Seasons of Color

Fall is my favorite season. There are so many beautiful colors! I enjoy looking out the windows of my house because every angle is full of fall colors, so many colors!

This past weekend I worked on the usual house cleaning but also on getting ahead in my Christmas shopping. I refuse this year to be stuck in traffic trying to shop! I live in a highly populated area. Soon, the access road to the major highway next to my house will be barricaded off because there will be too much traffic. I love the area I live in because it is close to everything but I despise living in this area this time of year. Several years ago, when I was in high school, I had an immature moment and went shopping at the mall on Christmas Eve and got stuck in parking lot traffic for an hour, never again! So this year, in my older...more mature 30 year old state, I am getting a handle on this shopping stuff early. Yes...there is a possibility this may be all talk because there is a part of me that likes shopping when all the decorations are up and the Christmas music is playing but...we will see. I think online shopping is going to be my best friend this season! Amazon.com here I come!

Crafting is also back in action! I have picked up the sticks again and am also going to get out the wheel, Christmas crafting here I come! Oh, and there will be more blog entries for sure. I have neglected my poor little blog recently because, you know, I have had wedding magazines to look at. But, since I have looked at about every wedding magazine there is this season, I can now be preoccupied with blogging and crafting once again!


Cheers!

I Hope Everyone Had A Happy Halloween Weekend!

This past Halloween weekend flew by! For me it was very busy. On Halloween morning we met up with Jeff's mother, brother, aunt, second cousin, and my mother for brunch at Joe T. Garcia's. It is a local hot spot here in Fort Worth. It was Jeff's mother's idea to have our wedding rehearsal at Joe T.'s and a mighty fine idea at that if I do say so myself. So, we went to test out the food and secure the deposit. Oh, the food was fantastic. I completely forgot to bring my camera, otherwise I would have taken a picture of it!

The outside patio of the restaurant is absolutely beautiful! There is a pool/fountain and it is completely lavish with flowers and vines. We are going to have the rehearsal dinner in the "Villa". So, after a nice brunch we went home and hung out with Jeff's brother and then some friends came over for a little Halloween evening excitement.

Ok, I am not a fan of scary movies and refuse to subject myself to complete and total terror, not my idea of a bang up good time so, the boy's went to see Paranormal Activity and the girls hung back at the house and made dinner. We had a total of 3 trick or treaters!! Now, you see my exclamation? This is actually an increase from our one that we got last year. This neighborhood I live in is full of kids but they all go to Elizabeth Blvd. All the kids in town know that is where you go trick or treating. You need 2 trick or treat bags to hold all the loot you get over there! This is bit of a disappointment for me because I love trick or treaters! But, none the less, it was still a good time and the kids that came to my house hit the mother load. Oh, and there was a bit of extra candy left over for me!

Then on Sunday my sister, niece and brother-in-law came into town! I have been looking forward to their visit for a while! I always have so much fun when they come into town. Violet said that she was a tiger for Halloween. I am sure she made the cutest tiger ever! Jeff and I got her the Fancy Nancy Halloween book and shipped it to her before Halloween so she could enjoy it. My sister said that Violet liked the book so much she called herself a "fancy tiger."

You know, the best gifts are handmade gifts...especially hand made gifts from your favorite little niece! Violet made me a pumpkin house with a chimney and smoke! What a creative mind the little one has! She made it out of a paper bag. She stuffed the bag and then twisted it at the top to make the stem. She painted it with orange paint and glitter and drew a little house on the front with the marker. She said that the stem was a chimney and it needed "smoke" so, she glued cotton to the top of it!!

I hope all the little witches, wizards, and goblins had fun this weekend!

Cheers!

Another Lovely Weekend

The weather here has been so nice the past few weekends. We have gotten a lot of rain lately but the weekends have been nice. The rain has been very nice for my gardens. I was able to clip a few of my herbs and flowers to bring in and enjoy while the sun shines through my windows!

On Saturday, my mom, a family friend, and I did a bit of wedding stuff. The family friend is going to be our flower arranger. Not to worry, I do not plan turn into bridezilla and only talk about the wedding until the wedding day. :-) We went to a local wholesale florist to get ideas for what kinds of flowers are going to be available for this time next year. I told my mom before we got there that I wanted pumpkins for part of the decorations. When we got to the florist, we saw the cutest tiny pumpkins that were hollowed out and had flowers in them. So, I plan to incorporate that in my decor! It was better than the pumpkins that I had imagined! We had a lot of fun there. There is a pumpkin making demo there this Wednesday, if I am not to tired after work, it would be fun to go.

After the flower market we grabed lunch and talked about deorations and flower arrangements. Then, my mom and I headed to Southlake for more shopping. We stopped over at Nordstrom Rack, my new favoriate shopping venue!

We had dinner at Mi Chula's again since we loved it so much the last time. Go, you must go there! They have the best prickly pear margarita and their salsa is fantastic!

Last time my mom had tamales. They were so good and I was starving so that is what I had this time.

After Mi Chula's, we headed over to Crate and Barrel. I really love this store and am considering registering there. My mom thought it would be a good idea to go in to see if I really do want to resiger there. So, after looking around, it was confirmed. Registration at Crate and Barrel will take place.

We did a bit more shopping and after a long long...but fun...day, I came home and crashed.

Today I continued my shopping spree and went shopping at DSW for winter shoes. I hate closed toe shoes but in winter it is a necessity for your toes to be warm so open toed will not do! I had great luck! I love DSW.

Jeff had a buddy over for the Cowboys game. He vacuumed the couch to help me clean a bit. Come to find out, Cedella likes to be vacuumed.

Eventually I will stop shopping and wedding investigating and start crafting againg so, no worries. Crafting blogging is in store for the near future. I gotta kick it up a notch and get this Christmas crafting underway! I can't believe it is almost November!

Cheers!

ACL 2009!

The moment I have been waiting for all year...well...the second moment I have been waiting for all year. ACL! This year we drove down and met some friends who stayed with us in the La Quinta Oltorf. Ah, gotta love the La Quinta Oltorf. A great location and a shuttle to and from the music fest. Thanks to our hustler Frank. He got us there and back every time! Unfortunately, due to the over populated horrific traffic in Austin, while driving in from Fort Worth, we were delayed and did not get to see K'naan. This seems to be the going thing for us. We tried to see K'naan in May but he pulled out of the concert. But, we will see K'naan like it or not!

Friday was a beautiful day. We all had a great time. When we arrived, the gate people had a symbol on their shirts that look like the sign for Pi. Jeff started mouthing off the number for Pi, 3.14159265, and asked the gate person if that number had any meaning to them. Well, this got him a free 3 day pass, we all had single day tickets. Of course, those kinds of things happen to Jeff all the time!

On Friday the weather was cool and breezy and the newly laid grass was so green and soft. It looked like a golf course, very different than the hard ground, dirt, and little grass from years past.

Then, on Saturday the clouds came.....

Now, I love the rain...I love being outside (when it is not sweltering)...I even love being in the rain outside. But, being in the rain allllllll day long? Hmmm, but I coped and had fun. It rained all day. It would stop for a minute, and then pour down! I knew there was a chance of rain before we left on Friday. We even had a stop to get ponchos on our list of things to do before we left. But, since we were running late we scratched that and figured we could just get ponchos when we got there. Well, come to find out, all the ponchos in the entire Austin area were sold out! Not a poncho to be found! Why you wonder, well, there are people that bought all the ponchos up and were selling them for like $10.00 at the festival!! Price gougers! Ugh. So, we knew that we did not want to spend $10.00 on a poncho because we wanted to spend that on food and booze while in the fest (the food was fantastic!) :-). So, what would any clever person do? Go to the dollar store and purchase plastic table cloths! The table cloths were festive colors of red and green, I found them in the Christmas section. So...once we got into the festival, we just tied that table cloth around our necks and popped open our umbrellas. Did we look like superhero's? Yes, yes we did. Did we feel ridiculous? Well, honestly we were having so much fun we did not care.

Then, there was Sunday, the aftermath.....

On Sunday we had lunch at Kerbey Lane Cafe with a friend who moved to Austin a few years back. This place is to DIE for. If you are ever in Austin, I highly recommend it. There are so many fantastic places to eat in Austin and this was one of them. I had a baked potato omelet and french toast. They even have pumpkin french toast there!

After lunch we made it into the festival. I should have heeded the warning signs as we were walking to the festival entrance, people were covered in mud up to their knees. I thought, surely it is not that bad. As we were getting closer and closer to the entrance, I could hear the Toadies...oh, excitement kicked in. Then, there was a smell, a very horrible smell. The smell of well...to keep it politely, feces. We just brushed it off to the porta potties needing to be cleaned. But surprisingly, they were usually nice and clean....well except for Friday when people were using them as trashcans and they were full of toilet paper and beer cans.

So, we get through the gates, I had a melt down for about 30 minutes (If you ask Jeff it was longer). Why did I have a melt down? Well, all that green grass from Friday and Saturday was gone. Completely gone and all that was left was mud about 3 inches deep. I was confused when I saw this, almost as if I were at Woodstock and not ACL.

After struggling to keep my flip flops on, I gave in and walked barefoot, yes barefoot in the mud trying to maintain my balance so I would not slip and fall. Mud started to build up between my toes, and it only got worse, way worse! Like, to the point mud was almost up to my knees.

(This is actually one of the only somewhat grassy spots that we could find!)

Then...there was a moment of complete bliss....Ben Harper!!!

A little Ben Harper snippet, remember this is armature video! :-) :

I fully, well, I would be lying if I said fully...none the less, I recovered (for a moment)! Mud, what mud? This is Ben Harper! Melt.......

Then, we squished our way over the see Michael Franti and he put on a fantastic show! I am actually glad that we even made it to his stage. I had to foot ski down a hill and then walk over a piece of ply wood to get there.

Michale Franti looks teeny tiny!

More ameture video, Michael Franti:

While enjoying Michael Franti, the smell of, well what I mentioned earlier, kept lingering and this is when I had the realization that ultimately, we were squishing through cow manure all day because that is what was under the top layer of soil. Mmmm, good times. Nothing a bit of hand sanitizer can handle. Yes, there was lots of hand sanitizer used on this trip.

Oh, and then the moment have been waiting for the minute I purchased my tickets....Eddie Vedder! Oh. He practically sang every song from Ten and I felt like 14 again. It was wonderful. I was melting the more and more he sang with a huge smile on my face...and then I realized I was really just sinking deeper and deeper into the mud. I was so in awe, I did not get a good shot, but I took just a fragment of footage on my camera.

Our friends had to leave right after the fest on Sunday. So, Sunday night Jeff and I recuperated from the fest. On Monday we took it easy and before we headed back to Austin, we stopped over to Torchy's Tacos for lunch, yum! It was a very fun end to a very fun weekend. I love Austin. It is a fantastic place.

Cheers!

And I Thought This Weekend Would Not Get Any Better....

So, on Friday I had a nice quiet evening at home. I watched movies and made my to-do list to get ready for ACL. Oh, I can't wait for it! Eddie Vedder and Ben Harper, here I come!! I know I have said this a thousand times before in blogs past but...I can't help but say it again!

On Saturday my mom and I went to Southlake for SHOPPING!! Now, Southlake really does have some great shopping. There is just about everything you can think of there. But, our destination this time was Nordstrom Rack. Neither one of us have been before but my mom's co-worker has told her time and time again how fabulous this place is so, we went. Oh...and was it fabulous! We did the ultimate time warp in there. I am the kind of shopper that does not dilly dally around. I know what I want, I get it, try it on, and then get the heck out. But, this time was a different experience. It was so happily overwhelming and I had to check out everything. We got there about 11:30 am and meandered over to the check out line about 2:30! I am going back a.s.a.p, or at least when my bank account manages to recover from this excursion. My recommendation is GO! You must go and shop there. The deals are outrageous. O.k., I am going to reel it back in now.

So, after our most fantastic shopping experience, we were famished. Right across the shopping center is MiChula's. Good Mexican! We actually drove around a bit looking for a place to eat and kept coming back to MiChula's. So, that is where we went. We walked in and were greeted by the owner, MiChula himself!

He was very nice and proud of his restaurant, which he should be. He gave us a few recommendations and a sample of his prickly pear margarita! This was less like a sample and more like a whole margarita, he was very generous. The food was fantastic.

I had the Southwest Salad, yum!

And my mom had Tamales. The tamales were great, probably the best we have had in some time.

So....all in all, this little Mexican place in Southlake is probably the best Mexican food you will find there.

To continue my gorge fest, Jeff was off on a Saturday for once. This never happens. I often spend my weekends on the couch watching girlie movies and having a drink! So, after I recovered from my shopping trip, Jeff and I went to The Italian Inn. This place has been around for years and is a lot of fun and not to mention has the best Chianti in Fort Worth! They have booths that close up for extra privacy.

You can write on the walls too. Most people write love notes on the wall but Jeff and I found this proclamation of love hilarious!

"Coco Butta and Black Thunda Forever"

We stuffed ourselves and headed back home.


And I thought this weekend could not get any better.........

We pulled in the driveway...walked up to the front door. I noticed a candle burning through a crack in the mini blinds. I said to Jeff "Is that a candle burning? I did not light any candles. What?" He responded with, "Just open the door!". So I did. I walked in and found the house full of red and white balloons. The red balloons had little white hearts on them. I thought to myself, "It is not Valentine's Day...no...its not...it is not even February."

Then I turned round and saw the dining room table fully decorated with champagne and champagne glasses waiting for us!

Jeff leaned over and got something, which was a little velvet box. I hit him and said "Your kidding, no!" He got down on one knee and then it is all a blur. But, after 10 years and 3 months...I am an engaged woman! It was just all absolutely perfect. Apparently my sneaky friends and parents came over to decorate while we were at dinner. They left the house a few minutes before we pulled up and waited at the CVS up the street until Jeff called after he proposed. They all came over and then we celebrated!

Now this is a weekend that no other weekend will be able to possibly top, well, except for the wedding weekend!

So, today, I did what any newly engaged woman would do and bought a few wedding magazines and a wedding planner. I am terribly excited. :-)

Cheers!

Shopping, Cooking, And Mowing Torture

Hello there blog readers. I hope all is well. I cannot believe that September is rapidly coming to an end! We are encroaching on one of my very favorite months! October! Ah, fall is in the air. I love this time of year, pumpkins, leaves, cool weather, and comfort food! I went to Bath and Body Works yesterday because they were having a sale on their Slatkin candles. These candles smell great and last a long time. Since the fall bug has bitten me, I got a warm vanilla sugar candle and a sweet cinnamon pumpkin candle. The pumpkin candle smells great!! I also went to Williams-Sonoma, Kohl's, Central Market, and Double Exposure yesterday too. Seems as though the shopping bug has bit me too! There were some great finds at Double exposure. I picked up 4 new couch pillows at a steal! They are really cute and in great condition. The little rust color pillow I picked up a Kohl's. A set of 2 for next to nothing! 6 pillows total...and if the dogs mess them up, they were cheap and I won't cry!

I also found a brand new Martha Stewart Martini Mixer set at Double Exposure for a fraction of what it would have been in a store. It was still in the box and wrapped in plastic! Double Exposure is my new found place for housewares!

So, I'm busted, I can't not pick up a few bottles of wine at Central Market. That is what you see behind my Martini Set. :-) Central Market is fantastic. My friend Mel came over last night so, we went there to pick up a dinner for 2 and a bunch of other stuff that we did not need. We were there for an hour. But it was worth it! The dinner for 2 was Enchiladas and it was really good!

It has been raining for days here. I love the rain but, when it rains as much at it has....my yard looks awful! Jeff hates mowing. I really never understood until today why he hates it so much. I know it takes a while to mow because our yard is ridiculously huge (we are on a corner lot), but...I always figured it could be way worse and honestly thought he was just being a baby (sorry Jeff, love you!). He has been stressed because it is his last year of school and he has been studying a lot. I have been stressed because our yard is the worst looking yard on the block. I thought I would be nice and offer to help him with the yard today. I figured he could get done faster and then study and then I would be happy because our yard would not be 12 inches tall anymore and random people would stop ringing the bell offering to mow our yard for a "low price". Now, you know that your yard has to look pretty bad when random people are coming by offering to mow your yard for you. So, my bright idea was for him to edge and I would mow. Um...yeah..did I just say bright idea?

There are some things that I am just not meant to do and mowing is one of them.

This is only a very teeny tiny itty bitty small fraction of our yard, the side yard to be exact. It is also the flat part. The rest of the yard is on a hill and I have recently discovered that it is hard to push a mower up a hill. I thought I was going to throw up at one point but...I did not and I am proud! Jeff did finish it up for me after he finished edging but, I could have done it, with the very real possibility of passing out on the last stretch (I think I started hallucinating at one point), BUT...I could have done it! :-) So, the yard looks nice now and I am happy.

After our early morning mow, I made breakfast. I am growing jalapenos in my backyard garden and I happily harvested one.

Of course, our morning breakfast staple is eggs. So I chopped up my little tiny homegrown jalapeno pepper, sauteed it up with some turkey, and made an omelet.

I picked up some whole grain English muffins at Central Market yesterday so, I toasted those and added the most fantastic cheese I have ever eaten (that I also picked up at Central Market, It's called California Sicilian Jack) and toasted it until the cheese melted. I added the omelet to the muffin and viola, egg muffins!

Now I am working on a few little sewing projects which I will blog about later this week!

Cheers everyone!