tagged

Well, I was in desperate need for an update and it seems at least three of my dear friends agreed and thus tagged me in this game of Crazy 8's. Here goes:

8 Shows I Watch:
- Project Runway
- Ugly Betty
- Private Practice
- Grey's Anatomy
- Jon and Kate Plus 8
- What Not to Wear
- various hunting and fishing shows with Mark
- a few minutes of the Today Show before I leave for work

8 Favorite Restaurants:
- Texas Roadhouse
- Macaroni Grill
- McAlister's
- Panera Bread
- Formosa Garden
- Olive Garden
- Boston's
- Chick-Fil-A

8 Things That Happened Today:
- Woke up groggy, snoozed multiple times
- Arrived at work later than anticipated
- Lunch with a sweet friend and two of her kiddos
- Made the secretaries happy by turning in petty cash receipts
- Made a to-do list, accidentally threw it in the trash, decided it was Divine Intervention
- Heard the "low battery" beep on my cell phone, lamented not charging it all week
- Packed up all the Breakfast With Santa stuff in my office and took it to the storage room
- Successfully ordered 3 new glider/ottoman sets for the church nursery

8 Things I Look Forward To:
- Not setting an alarm tomorrow!
- Finishing the paint job in the laundry room
- YF Class progressive dinner on Friday
- Finding time to see Twilight
- The big 3-0 next week
- Nothing scheduled on Saturday
- Getting my side mirror glass replaced
- Heaven

8 Things I Wish For:
- A long, happy, healthy marriage
- Being a mom who raises godly children
- All my scattered girlfriends to move to Texas
- A relaxing vacation
- To quote Dara and Miss Congeniality, "world peace"
- Restful sleep
- A phenomenal new book series I can throw myself into
- A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

8 People I Tag:
- Arwen
- Kim
- Jill
- Jaime
- Kristie
- Charity
- Lisa
- Shannon

Drum Roll Please....

For all of you who have heard me say something along the lines of needing to start, write, work on, or finish my thesis (which should be everyone I've met in the last 5 years, give or take) -- the time has come for me to defend that silly thing and be done with it for good!

I'll be in Edmond on Monday and Tuesday to defend, finalize, and print the official documents to send off to the bindery. I will return to SA a free woman! And sometime around late January, I'll receive my hardbound copy and my Master's degree in the mail. Wahooooo!!!

Wish me luck, say a prayer, and see y'all soon!

changes

So I am trying to figure out how to make a cute header picture thing. This is a so-so first attempt; I will keep revising it. But I wanted at least something to put up when I changed the template for Thanksgiving. What can I say...I'm a sucker for a cute turkey.

In other news, for those who are on Thesis Watch: I finished my rough draft last Friday at approximately 6:08 p.m. CST, at which time I sent it on to my committee members for review. I'm awaiting their feedback so I can make edits this week. So far, I know I need to add 8 sources. Hopefully there won't be a whole lot more. (What are the odds?) And also hopefully, my defense will get scheduled for sometime in the next couple weeks. Oklahoma, here I come!

truth hurts

Tamra: Look, Mark -- I've done SIX tables!
Mark: That's one for each year you've been working on your paper!

Ouch.

did you know?

I'm sure most Americans already know this fascinating little tidbit. But in case you were on the political "short bus" with me: You can vote early at any early voting place in town -- and all you need is your driver's license!

So if you're thinking about voting and you're not sure you have time to go on Tuesday, or you're not sure where to go on Tuesday, or you have no idea where that ever-elusive voter's registration card is -- early voting might be just what you need. Early voting is through Friday this week, and locations are open 8am-8pm.

Who knew voting could be so easy?!

more faves

No pictures or links this time, but here are some favorites in the beauty department....

Hair Care:
- BedHead's Self-Absorbed shampoo and conditioner
- Pantene's Beautiful Lengths shampoo and conditioner
- Herbal Essence's Hello Hydration shampoo and conditioner
- BedHead's Curls Rock (for curly girls) and Hard Head (hairspray)

Nails:
- OPI polishes
- Toenail clippers (I use them even on my fingernails)
- Cuticle nippers
- Sally Hanson Natural Shine (dries almost instantly!)

Makeup:
- I'm a MAC girl and use their foundation, concealer, blush, powder, mascara, liner, lip gloss, lipstick, eye shadow....
- Some of my brushes come from MAC, some from Smashbox, some from BeautiControl (which are supposedly the same as Bobbi Brown brushes but loads cheaper)
- This isn't really makeup, but I also can't live without plain ol' Chapstick

Facial and Skin Care:
- I use BeautiControl's Gold line for cleanser, tonic, scrub, moisturizer, and face/neck lotion (this is Jaime's fault after hosting a "spa" years ago)
- Aveeno's Daily Moisturizer Lotion is fantastic and I highly recommend it
- I love Neutragena's eye makeup remover
- Dove soap (the original white bar)
- Another BeautiControl product I love is the Warming Trend Mask that heats up when you rub it in and never gets hard and cracky

Other Stuff:
- I recently got a BedHead blow-dryer and it really has impressed me with how quickly it dries my hair and with much less frizz
- Lighted, magnifying mirror
- Tweezerman slanted tweezers

Alright. What are some of your faves?

just one of the boys...

I don't remember when in life I figured out I was just one of the boys, but...I did. And I am. Or, more accurately, I can be.

This past Saturday was our K-5th grade Dudes & Dads Day. The Branches let us enjoy their ranch. We cooked out, had a devo and dude/dad quiet time, enjoyed a hay ride, and did a little fishing. We didn't expect much in the fishing department since the tanks were low. But Mrs. Tamra knocked the socks off all the fellas by catching THREE fish in about 15 minutes. Quite frankly, I knocked my own socks off too. :)

Mark tells me the fish I caught were a small bass, horse-something-or-other, and a red gilled sunfish. Impressive, huh?

I can't remember who I was telling about my "mom sunglasses" -- but these are them. Not because these are mommish in particular, but because they make me look even more like my own mom, who has a pinchant for gigantic shades. Can you imagine if I had a baseball cap on too? TWINS!

some household faves

Okay, so it's a big job to list all of my favorites and apparently I've kept you, my loyal readers, waiting too long! In the name of "chewing the elephant in bites," I'm breaking it down into categories. Up first, household favorites:

-cookware by GreenPan (we got a set as a wedding gift and I have to say, this stuff is FAB!)
-Easy Read Measuring Cups by Pampered Chef
- Mix-N-Scraper by Pampered Chef
- Huggable Hangers by Joy Mangano (my grandma hooked me on these years ago, and now they're available at Target!)
- cleaning products in the form of wipes (Windex, Pledge, Clorox, you name it)
- candles by Yankee or Circle E
- Wallflowers by Bath & Body Works
- Tide detergent is a must, and I love Downy but Mark does not -- so I sneak it where I can ;)

Now it's your turn to share your favorite household products! More to come....

Quick Update

Wow -- that last post sure prompted some feedback. For all of those concerned about the fire potential, please know that I do clean the lint trap every other load and always after towels. I think we're safe. :)

Also, I finished Chapter 3 of my thesis over the weekend. Woohoo! I really want to have most of 4 done this week. Welcome to my Thursday....

And Mark and I celebrated 6 months of marriage on Monday. Time flies! We've had a lot of transition in these past 6 months, but God is gracious and good. I am looking forward to what the next 6 months hold.

I think I'm going to do a post on some of my favorite products. Yes?

Be honest...

How often do you clean out the lint thing in your dryer? I mean really. My mom raised me with the "clean it with every load" approach -- which I firmly bucked in my adulthood on sheer principle. But I'm beginning to wonder, what's normal?

Part 4

Here's a final batch of pictures from our honeymoon. These are from El Valle in Panama. It was beautiful!

And the WINNER is...

...Julie! Congrats!!!

Book Contest!

Alright, everyone. I'm long overdue for an update. But first...

It's a book contest! I won Skizzer from Jill's contest and it was a quick, easy read. Now it's my turn to pass it along to someone else. Just leave a comment if you'd like to enter the drawing. I will pick a winner this Wednesday, August 27th, at 5:00 p.m. and put the book in the mail (or deliver it if you're local) on Thursday.

To learn more about how the book contest began, go here.

part 3

More from Isla San Jose....

part 2

These pictures all come from Isla San Jose, just off the coast of Panama on the Carribbean side.

(Makes it seem like I know what I'm talking about, huh?)

shootin' the moon...in pictures (part 1)

Mark and I after dinner on our wedding night; downtown SA. The rest are from our walking tour in the historic part of Panama City on our honeymoon. Mark did most of the photography on the trip, and I've taken the liberty to edit a smidge. Go team!

lions and tigers and bears!

I have to start this post by apologizing for the funky formatting. There are some battles I am just not cut out to fight!

Things have been busy lately, even more so than the "busy" that makes up my new "norm." But now that Day Camp is over, I hope things will settle down a smidge.

For your viewing pleasure, animals galore!

We almost didn't get to go due to the threat of rain, but after checking and rechecking every radar map and forecast this side of the Rio Grande (literally), we made an 11th-hour decision to go ahead and try it out. I'm so glad we did, and that God graciously held off the rain till after we'd had our fun.


A benefit to going to the zoo on a cloudy day is that most of the animals were out. I didn't get to see everything, but a few favorites included the tiger, kangaroos and their joeys (who I saw in June when they were still small enough to hang out in their pouches), and the elephant who ironically enough was being fed behind the big sign that instructs folks not to feed him or her.

Happy 4th on the 7th!

I hope y'all (which would be the grammatically correct way to spell it, in case you were wondering) had a wonderful long weekend!

Mark and I went down to the coast for a couple of days. Thanks to Roger and Beth for opening their home to us, and Laura and Colten for sharing a room so we could have Laura's. We had such a great time with everyone!

On Friday, Roger took us all out into the Corpus Christi bay on his boat...in the rain. I was concerned, but all turned out well. I joined my husband for a little wade fishing, which means we were standing out in the middle of the water rather than fishing off a pier or the coastline. (Yes, I was wearing my life jacket in 4-feet-deep water.) I couldn't do much fishing for a number of reasons, including the fact that I don't have a pole, so I opted to provide an exciting color commentary as Mark fished.

Perhaps this is why Mark finally gave me the pole, so I would be distracted from my distraction. And guess what. I CAUGHT A FISH!!! It wasn't a "keeper," but I didn't care. I caught a fish and reeled it in despite Mark's lefthanded reel. I'M AN AMBIDEXTROUS FISHER-WOMAN!!! (Okay...so this might be slight exaggeration but hey...it's my blog. I can exaggerate if I want to.)

The fish I caught was aptly named a lady fish (aka: skipjack, but I prefer the girly name). We didn't have a camera out there in the water and we didn't keep the fish, so I found a picture on the good ol' WWW for you to enjoy.

Hope yous guys (that's for you, Kim!) had a great 4th as well! Happy Birthday, America!

Pop Quiz

Do you spell it....

a) y'all -- a contraction of "you" and "all"
b) ya'll -- a contraction of "ya" and "all"
c) neither, because I don't live in Texas

the long-awaited winner is....

Always look on the bright side!
I don't know how long I've been using the phrase and meaning it, but I truly do. The older I get, the more I realize how many blessings can be wrapped up in the hard times and how many lessons can be learned through the struggle.

6 word memoir

Several of my friends have done the little memoir and I've been thinking for a few weeks about what mine would be. Truly, the title of my blog might say it all -- variety is the spice of life. But since that would be boring, and also not offer any variety, I knew I needed another.

I had a few contenders:
shake it like a Polaroid picture
jump, shake your booty, jump jump
life, laugh, love -- wash, rinse, repeat
you'll never know till you try
always carry your passport...in case...
why do today? why not postpone?

Stay tuned for the next post when I unveil the winner. I'd post it now, but I'm looking for a picture. :)

7 Things

Dara tagged me for a "7 Random Things" post. Since I have posted numerous random things about me in the past, and in the spirit of another ode, I submit to you "7 Random Things About Mark."

1. "Conjuncture" is one of his favorite words. I contend that he means "juncture," but he refuses to yield to my verbal prowess.

2. One word: lefty!

3. He believes expiration dates to be an economic stimulus conspiracy. This could, in all fairness, be true. But I, for one, am happy to spend an additional $4.59 for Benedryl that is in-date.

4. He feeds and waters the deer in the greenbelt, and has taught me to do the same. Unfortunately, I have grown to love these deer as pets. He warns me against naming them anything more than "Venison 1", "Venison 2", and so on. (Okay, so that's not true. But wouldn't it be funny if he did?)

5. He detests paisley. I don't think he's realized yet that the shower curtain he picked out for our guest bath actually has a slight paisley print.

6. For being the avid hunter/fisherman that he is, he actually doesn't like going to Bass Pro.

7. And, last but not least, he has one of the biggest servant hearts around.

Sisters, Sisters....

Well, well, well....my how time flies!

I had a friendly request from my sister-in-law for a blog update. Since it's Mother's Day today -- and I mailed her card late -- and her birthday is Tuesday -- and I haven't sent a card -- I decided to oblige. Arwen, this blog's for you!

I have to tell you, marrying into a great family isn't a guarantee. But God has granted me blessings beyond measure in my new circle of family. One of those blessings is Arwen. If you don't know her, you should. She is so sweet, but has a touch of sass to her, which is endearing to me. She is smart. She can multitask. She is raising two of my favorite cuties (Reedo and Cass) with grace and laughter. And she loves the Lord in a genuine way. There are plenty of other great things about her, and plenty of great things I've yet to learn about her.

So, in conclusion....I'm

Anticipating a
Reunion
With my
Extra-special sister-
N-law, ARWEN!

Oh, and...

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday (a little early), Dear Arwen!
Happy Birthday to you!
And many more....

...and we're back!

It's been a few weeks. I've meant to blog. I've intended to blog. I've planned to blog. But life sometimes gets in the way, as does laziness, exhaustion, and a number of other things.

Of course you handful of loyal readers know I got married, so why I felt I couldn't post anything till I did a wedding post is a mystery to us all....

a quiz!

I saw this quiz on Shannon's blog and decided I needed an update. Plus, I love quizzes. :)

What's Your True Color?

My Result: Yellow

You're yellow, the color of joy and energy — two things you definitely bring to everyone around you. It's hard for anyone to be sad or lonely in your presence; your sunny disposition and cheery outlook just won't allow it. The warmth of your personality shines through in the kindness you show friends and family (and strangers, too). Always ready with a lighthearted joke or heartfelt compliment, you know how to make people feel good about themselves, so they can't get enough of you. Yellow is a warm and inviting color for a warm and inviting person — you!

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=colorogt&c=50652

valentine's came early this year...

I was sitting at my desk, working diligently on about a million projects (or 3) when suddenly, Mark appeared in my doorway with these beautiful roses, chocolates, and the sweetest card ever.

What a delightful surprise!

I thought my flower quota had been met already with the pink roses Mark gave me on Saturday.

Am I raking it in or what?!

There are 30 days to go till THE BIG DAY and I just can't wait to marry this wonderful man. I am blessed beyond measure!