bird day

Today is Tuesday January 10th.  That means there are 26 days until I turn the big 2-3.  THAT means it's about time I made my bird day wish list.

I've always felt very lucky that my birthday falls where it does.  It's not SO close to Christmas that I get the dreaded combination "Christmas/Bday present" or have my birthday gifts wrapped in red and green, but it's close ENOUGH to Christmas that if there's something I didn't get from Santa/forgot to ask for, I can request it for my birthday, and I don't have to wait until July to receive it! 

**Note: this birthday theory has been years in the making...I've spent many a day/night perfecting the ideas behind it.  Just like Rome, this concept was not built in a day.

Ok, now that you all understand the ideology behind February 5th, 1989, I can start my list. 

1. Shoes

Now that I am out in the "real world" the sperrys, toms, and flip flops that used to grace my tootsies aren't really cutting it anymore.  I own a decent amount of "dress shoes", but they are all high heels.  High heels are fine, and they make my legs look pretty, but they are not necessarily my shoe of choice whilst rangling a bunch of students.  So, college shoes aren't professional and big girl shoes aren't practical.  Whatever is a teacher in training to do?



Flats.  I need flats.  They're dressy enough that my feet don't scream "teenager", and they're comfortable enough that my feet don't scream.  I did own a few pairs of flats, but over the past few months my collection has dwindled for various reasons.  I had a pretty black pair, but those were deemed my "Carrabba's shoes" and discarded aprroximately 12 minutes after my last shift.  I also had a gold pair that looked just like ballerina slippers, but the sole came off sometime last semester in the middle of a lesson on how to write a thesis statement.  I'm sure this had nothing to do with the fact that these shoes were purchased in October of 2004 for my Sophomore year homecoming dance.  Finally, I have a white pair that are still in excellent condition and have both soles intact, but they are wildly uncomfortable.  Bummer.  So, all of that being siad, here are a few pairs of flats that I think would be just dandy to own in size 8 1/2: 

  



Available at: Target.com







Also from: Target.com 




Target.com baby





And you guessed it: Target.com



2. A Bookcase

In our dining room, we have a blank wall that needs something.  Also, I have started to build quite the collection of cookbooks, and I need somewhere to put them.  Solution?  Put a bookcase on the blank wall that can hold my books! 

I like how these are kind of modern and trendy:

Overstock.com

And I just like this one in general:

Target.com

3. Cookbooks

Here are a few that I've got my eye on:

The Gourmet Cookbook

Amazon.com

Make It Fast, Cook It Slow

Amazon.com

Barefoot Contessa at Home

Amazon.com

4. Money/Giftcards

You can never go wrong with these two things, ya know?  I'd love a gift card from the following places:



Kroger

Banana Republic

The Gap

Target

Wal-mart

Alright, there we have it.  The two things I want most are shoes and that bookcase.  That's why they're at the top, yo.  I'll report back after the big day and let y'all know about my loot!

project 365 vol. 1

Project 365 is something that I've always thought would be cool to do.  Basically, you take a picture every day for a year.  Some people do 365 self portraits, but I figured there's only so many ways I could capture my ugly mug until people got tired of seeing it.  So, I decided to take pictures of anything that can describe my entire day, a moment from that day, or just something random.  Here are my shots from week one:

January 1, 2012

Happy new year!  I rang in 2012 with Austin, Austin's best friend, Blake, and his fiance, Terra Laine, at our apartment.  Cheers to 2012!

January 2, 2012

Monday night football with the bf.  I made him a deal: I would watch football if he let me take this cheesy picture of us for my blog.  Cool socks, huh?

January 3, 2012

This was the day that I started working out again!  I worked out a lot this past summer, but I had to take a break during my "working three jobs" period because I was short on that whole time thing.  Now that I'm down to two paychecks every two weeks, I have more time to work it out.

January 4, 2012

My first day as a substitute! Also known as the first time I actually got paid to teach!  I started my professional sub career teaching high school horticulture, aka floral design. High school students are funny.  Some of them were the nicest, coolest kids, and some were just punks.  Teaching these seniors made me miss my sweet little 7th graders :(

January 5, 2012

New year, new license plate!  I guess I'll have to come up with a new nickname for my car... 

(My old license plate was 680 BVY, so I called my car Bevy.  I haven't thought of anything for this newbie plate yet.)

January 6, 2012

My second sub job: Pre-AP Biology.  DNA, RNA, mRNA, tRNA...I think I'll stick to English.

January 7, 2012

Feeding the deer at our friend's lake house.  This was SO cool!

christmas

Well, Christmas is over, and we're back in big D, but I had a wonderful time in Houston for the holidays.  I got to see almost all of my relatives, opened too many presents to count, and ate my weight in pecan pie.  It was a wonderful holiday :)

On the Friday before Christmas, Austin and I made the trek down to Houston.  He went on to his mom's house for Christmas eve, and I hung out with my dad's side of the family.  We had a Mexican feast with fajitas, enchiladas, rice, beans, fried plantains, queso, guacamole, and enough desserts to keep even the half ton man happy.  Here's my plate:

And here's my contribution to the feast:

7 Layer Dip

Oreo Balls and Homemade Peppermint Bark

After dinner we opened presents, played games, and ate more desserts.  On Christmas morning, we had one of my favorite things in the world...cinnamon roll pancakes!!

My sou chef, Jimbo Spice, was a big help...

This was the perfect Christmas breakfast.  The only thing I would've wanted more would probably be pecan pie, but I'd already eaten about half a pie the night before, so I thought I'd lighten it up a bit and just have these pancakes with a big side of bacon...

The holidays are all about moderation, folks.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes even make Justin smile for the camera! :)

Ok enough about the pancakes.  After breakfast, Riley helped us open presents:

Then it was off to Trinity, TX to see my Nanaw and Peepaw at the lake!

As soon as we arrived, there was a Christmas lunch waiting on the stove, in the oven, on the table, in the fridge...there was food everywhere.  And I'm a Christmas piggy and ate everything up before I could snap any pictures...oops.  I DID get pictures of the unwrapping of presents though!

I love presents.  I love food.  I love family.  I love Christmas.  

painting with a twist

Yesterday was Austin's company Christmas retreat, and I got to go!  First, we went to lunch at this delicious seafood restaurant in Dallas, and then we went to a place called "painting with a twist".  At "painting with a twist" we all got to paint a picture...here's what went down:

We walked into our private party room...

And saw all of our blank canvases just waiting for some color!

And then I got distracted by these adorable mini paintings:

Then, I collected myself, we tied on our aprons, and got down to business...

Our painting instructor, Victoria, was a hoot.  She is from Sweden, and her accent wasn't the only crazy thing about her.  She had a little bell that she would ring whenever we were "too quiet".  Every time she rang the bell we had to take a drink of our wine.  She told us that our paintings were like the opposite sex..."the more we drink the better they look!" Oh boy...

Here's my painting in three stages:

blank

halfway there

complete!

Austin...

and I...

had a wonderful time with the Ward Group!

7 layers of yum

Today, I would like to tell you guys about the dish I made for Thanksgiving.  It’s simple.  It’s healthy (kind of).  It’s delicious.  It’s 7 layer salad!  My grandma taught me how to make this a couple of years ago on Thanksgiving, and since then I've made it every year...

Here’s what you’ll need for success:

-roughly chopped lettuce

-roughly chopped spinach (uncooked)

-frozen peas

-5-6 hard boiled eggs

-12-14 pieces of bacon

-mayonnaise

-mozzarella cheese 

-salt & pepper

Step 1: boil your eggies and cook your bacon.

I’ve started cooking my bacon in the oven.  It comes out all crispy and delicious, and I don’t have to worry about hot grease flying out of the pan doesn’t pop me anymore.  I did this for about 12 minutes at 400 degrees, and it came out great!  For the eggs, place them in boiling water for 13 minutes, and then cool them down by running them under some cold water.

Step 2: chop up the eggs and crumble the bacon.

Step 3: line the bottom of a 9X13 pyrex dish with your lettuce.

 Step 4: add on the spinach.

Step 5: pour in some peas.

Step 6: sprinkle on the eggs.

Step 7: add the crumbled bacon.

Step 8: spread a thin layer of mayonnaise over the top.

**This step is the hardest part of the whole recipe.  It’s easiest to just make tiny mayonnaise mountains all over the salad, and then spread it out.  If there’s any excess mayo I always just scrape it off and stick it back in the jar.

Step 9: sprinkle the entire bag of cheese over the mayo.

Step 10: finish with a little bit of salt and pepper, and you’re ready to go!

This salad is best served cold, so allow it to refrigerate for a few hours before serving.