Halloween Flashback

As most kids do, I LOVED Halloween. I still love Halloween. It's a wonderful time to get dressed up and beg people for candy without getting in trouble! I was a hardcore trick or treater.

Every Halloween I would get dressed up, long before it was time to go trick or treat. I ran around the house in my costume in anticipation of the nights events. As dusk crept closer I would gather my pillow case (because a regular trick or treat bucket wouldn't be nearly big enough) and my grocery sack and headed over to my Aunt Emily's house. Her neighbor hood was always the best place to trick or treat. Everyone decorated and gave out really good candy. It's all about learning the good locations! My mom, dad, sister and I would get to my aunt's house, eat supper and head out! My mom, sister, aunt and I would walk while my dad followed in the car. The car was necessary because after I would fill my grocery back it would start getting too heavy for me to carry. Most kids would stop at that point but not me! I'm hardcore! I would go empty my load into the pillow case and keep going! My candy would last me for an entire year. No joke. An entire year. After I made all my rounds and spent several hours of my evening chanting "trick or treat smell my feet give me something good to eat".
After all the rounds had been made and I simply couldn't go anymore We headed back home where I sorted my candy. All the Snickers went in a pile, all the Jolly Ranchers, Twix, Tootsie Rolls and whatever else I got. I always gave my mom most of my tootsie rolls and my dad some of my Recces Peanut Butter cups and they would also "shop" around in my pile and take what they wanted. I had plenty to share (we were a socialist household when it came to Halloween). I would have a few pieces, then go to bed. Every day after Halloween my mom would put a piece of candy in my lunch box. I never really gorged myself on it, as a matter of fact, I really didn't eat that much of it. It was still fun to go gather the candy and then share it with my family.
Now that I'm older I don't trick or treat but I do go walk with  my cousin, Mollie, and her friends and this year is the first time we are taking my nephew, AJ. I love seeing all the kids costumes. The little princesses, angels, cowboys and cowgirls, ballerinas, bumble bees. It's adorable to see kids so excited just to dress up!

Well, that's my Halloween Southern Soapbox. I hope y'all make lots of fun memories this year!

Wonky and Woot-tastic Wednesday

Wonky:

   - My sinuses have been total crap! I'm pretty sure my ears have hurt every day since forever...

   - Having to go to a class that really is completely pointless to attend. I'm referring to my math class. I'm better off going home and teaching myself than actually paying attention and listening to my professor. He confuses me.

   - It always weirds me out when I see shoes or other various articles of clothing in the middle of the street.

   - Hurricane Sandy. That sucked.

   - My poor Rebel got SO sick Sunday night. He was throwing up all day Sunday and all night Sunday night. He would just lay on the floor, wouldn't even come to bed (he sleeps with me and goes to bed every night at 9pm). I finally decided enough is enough so we went to the vet. He barely wagged his tail when I got the leash out and once we got to the vet he just laid on the floor. He was pathetic. They did xrays and drew blood and finally decided that he had pancreatitis. The only thing you can do for that is with hold food and water and administer fluids through an IV. So Rebel spent the night at the vet, making me very sad and lonely. Our wonderful vet tech, Leslie, called me the next morning and said that he was feeling MUCH better and if he kept his breakfast down we could bring him home. So Rebel is home now feeling MUCH MUCH better. We are still having to limit his food intake. He can only have a few spoonfuls of canned dog food a few times a day, which we will gradually increase. Hopefully it doesn't flare back up.

Woot-tastic:

   - My little Prim asleep in my lap. She's so cute! Also, I discovered that she looovvveeesss Granny Smith Apples!

   - It's still really weird for me to actually drink in public. Ryan and I went out to eat at Chili's the other day and had margaritas, and I had ribs. YUM.

   - Ryan got a new car. Like new new,not new to him new. This is a cross between woot-tastic and wonky. While the new car is REALLY cool and has a lot of buttons.. it also comes with a lovely car payment which basically means that trip to Chili's that I mentioned before... was our last date EVER. Well.. we can go have a date and sit in his new car. We just can't go anywhere because that would cost money.

  

   - Jixer is cute and I love him but I love him more when his daddy is home. Otherwise, Jixer is a bit annoying. He's clingy and mopey and won't be still. But he's cute so WOOT

   - I used to hate buffalo wings but at some point in the last year or so I've started liking them. So much that I will actually request them. Weird but yummy.
   - I am so looking forward to seeing my monkey (AJ) in his costume tonight!

Well, that's my Southern Soapbox. I hope you enjoyed and I hope you have a great Halloween. BTW, you are entitled to at least some of your kids/cousins/nieces/nephews candy that they gather tonight.

Fashion Friday: Fall Fashion Don'ts

It's Fashion Friday! It's starting to get chilly, even here in Texas, which means there are about to be some REALLY interesting fall fashion (or not so fashionable) choices out there. Hopefully we can eliminate some of those with my "Fall Fashion Don't" list.

Fall Fashion Don'ts by jastevenson

Number 1: Leggings do NOT replace pants! Wearing leggings with a sweater or t-shirt that does not at least cover your butt is actually kind of disturbing.  

Number 2: Uggs are named Uggs for a reason. Because they're ugly. Wear them in your house... but not in public. 

Number 3: Tights with open toed shoes is just weird. If it's too cold to wear open toed shoes... don't wear them! It just looks weird.

Number 4: There is such thing as too much bling! Limit your bling ladies... and I suppose I should go ahead and include men in that too.

Number 5: High waisted jeans are not ok. They died several decades ago, let them stay dead please.

Number 6: Tacky or unseasonable purses... no. 

Number 7: Chunky heels are bad. They make short people look shorter and not stick people look like fat cows. So unless you have a body like a model (I hate you... ok just kidding you can stay...) you shouldn't be wearing these shoes.

Well, that's my Southern Soapbox for today! I hope you all stay fashionable this fall... and don't let me catch you breaking any of these rules!

Menu Monday October 15, 2012 - October 22, 2012

Menu Monday

Keep in mind that I don't necessarily make my menu in the order that I am going to cook in. I will not be making chicken enchiladas and mexican pizza back to back. 

Photo courtesy of Google

Lasagna Soup

      French Bread

Lemon Pepper Chicken

      Roasted potatoes and carrots

      Salad

Baked Ziti

      French Bread

      Salad

Pot Roast

      Roasted veggies

      Mashed potatoes

Chicken Enchiladas

      Refried Beans

      Rice

Mexican Pizza

      Refried Beans

      Rice

Tortellini Vegetable Soup

Chicken Picata

      Angel hair pasta

      Steamed Veggies

Giant Salads

Loaded Potatoes

Pork Chops

      Mac n Cheese

      Green beans

Crock Pot French Dip

      Salt and pepper potato chips

I considered putting the grocery list below here too but then decided not to. Would y'all like me to start doing this? Also, sometimes when I post a link to the recipe, it's not necessarily the exact recipe I use. Example: the french dip. I actually use my sister's recipe but the one on the website is similar. If you want the recipe I use, or a recipe that I don't have a link to just let me know and I will post it. I'll try to get around to posting the recipes on my blog too.

Well, that's my Southern Soapbox! Happy eating!

Wonky and Woot-tastic Wednesday

Hey y'all! Wonky and Woot-tastic Wednesday is back!!! So here we go!

Wonky:

   - The Stupid Spider from Hell. Excuse my French... but that's what it was. First of all you should know that I am not a fan of spiders. Especially when they're in my house, even less of a fan when they're in my room, and well... when they decide to make their new home under my bed.... the thing officially must die. SO I spent 3 hours killing this *#$@%* *@!%$* thing. THREE HOURS. About 10 of which were spent trying to get my two dogs and cat to kill it for me... then about 10 more yelling at them because they gave up after like 2 minutes of trying.. probably thinking that it was food and giving up when they realized that mommy is just crazy. About 2 hours of the time was spent with me laying on my stomach hanging off my bed trying to find this stupid thing. So I found it the first time, tried to squish it with the Swiffer sweeper and the %$#*@ thing moved! UGH. I found it again, this time by having my nose about 2 inches away from it. I screamed a lot. It didn't move at all. I finally was doing some homework when I saw its legs poking out from behind a box. I grabbed my bug spray and SOAKED that thing! I probably used about half the can on this one spider. It kept moving its legs, so I sprayed it some more. I also slept with the spray on my night stand... just in case. 

- My government professor's unrelenting obsession with bashing Mit Romney and Paul Ryan... seriously move on
- I miss my kids at the church I used to work at :(

Woot-tastic:

   - I'M 21!!! Yay.
   - The Voice is really an amazing show with a lot of talent. You should watch it. Plus, Adam Levine is hot.

   - This face.... seriously. How could you not love this sweet face?

Well that's my Southern Soapbox for today! Hope you enjoyed it!

 

A Birthday Times Two!

Wonky and Woot-tastic Wednesday will be back this week. Today there are more important things to talk about!

Twenty-one years ago I decided to make my appearance into the world a month ahead of schedule, which happened to be my mother's birthday too. I came a month early to come on my mom's birthday. It was a crazy ride right from the word "go". I had all kinds of medical issues and had to be taken to a different hospital. Thankfully everything fixed itself on its own and by the grace of God I was out of the hospital in about three days. Now I am twenty-one, in school to get my teaching degree, dating the love my life, I have an amazingly adorable nephew, and a family that I would trade for the world. I am truly blessed to have the life that I have and the people that are in it. You guys have made these twenty-one years worth it! Without y'all I wouldn't have laughed, loved, or had nearly as many memories as I do now. So, I thank y'all, my family, the love of my life, and my friends for providing me with these great years!

Most of all I want to thank my mom. It's her birthday too! I am honored to have shared my birthday with you, even if you were enjoying having your own day. Every day on our birthday we wake up and great each other with "Happy Birthday!", we blow candles out together (sometimes my candle manages to float in cereal.. my mom is talented that way), and celebrate another year together. My mom is truly the most amazing lady I have ever known. She has the biggest heart, and she seems to know EVERYTHING (when you start getting older you're able to admit that your parents are smarter than you are). I can call her with a cooking question, a construction question... the women knows everything. Obviously, without her I would not be here today, but more importantly she has made me, at least partially, who I am today. She's an amazing lady, wife, mom and grandma and she deserves, at the very least, to be celebrated.

We had a very busy week of celebrating! Wednesday, our actual birthday, Maegan, AJ, and Ryan took me to TGI Fridays for my first legal drinks! I had a Strawberry Rum Punch and an Amaretto Sour. They were both very yummy. Then on Thursday we went to supper at Carrabbas where I had a Bellini, also rather yummy. Friday was more fun than I expected it to be. I had to observe social dance for a paper I have to write, which I was expecting to be incredibly boring but thanks so my Sasterpants (Maegan) it was really fun! We went to Billy Bob's and made a girls night out of it. We ended up getting to see the bull riding for free and we also took a picture together on a "bull" AND as we were walking to the parking lot we saw a mechanical bull and.... we rode it. Yes, there was video taken. No, I am not posting it on here. Finally, Saturday was my birthday party. It was rather cold so we didn't get to do all the stuff I wanted to but I still enjoyed hanging out with everyone and playing Bingo.

Well, that's my Southern Soapbox! It was a great birthday week!

Haiti's Jewels

Hey y'all! Every now and then it is put on my heart to promote some sort of cause. It doesn't happen very often but when it does I want to do all that I can to help out!

I started out a few months ago promoting Project Bring Lila Home to help raise money for some dear friends of mine and their adoption! They have awesome t-shirts (I'm wearing mine right now) that are SUPPPPPERRRR comfy and cute!

Found at Haiti's Jewels

Found at Haiti's Jewels

Anywho, now I am asking you to look at some AWESOME jewelry! Not only is it awesome jewelry but it's for a cause! Haiti is the poorest country in the world and this business helps provide jobs for Haitians AND it helps give them a skill. A marketable skill. A skill that they can pass down and teach to others. Get the drift? On their "about us" page they say that providing ONE person with a job creates about TEN [TEN] more jobs and you can be a part of that process. All of their jewelry is made from things they find laying around. I have a pair of earrings made from broken beer bottles! They also use shells, rocks, and other natural materials, because of that every single piece is one of a kind. My awesome cousin, Katy, knows the Americans that teach the Haitians to make the jewelry so I know this is a good cause!

Please support the poorest nation in the world and check out this store, it's really amazing what we could do for these people just by buying a cute pair of earrings (they also have necklaces and bracelets, ask me about them if you're interested as I don't see any pictures on the site).

That's my Southern Soapbox for today! BTW, if you're not sure what to get me for my birthday, and you want to get me something... buy something from this store AND bonus... you can keep it if you want, you don't have to give me the present.