Fashion Friday: Fall In Texas

Happy Friday everyone! Here in Texas it is getting cool enough (for now) to actually wear jeans, but not quite cool enough for long sleeves. I put together this little outfit, although it's about to warm back up. The joy of living in Texas.

Fall in Texas by jastevenson

I couldn't decide which shoes to put with it, a problem I frequently have. I'll be putting together some colder weather outfits soon since our weather guy (Pete Delkus) has been talking about SNOOOWWW this winter! Speaking of snow, is it sad that I've only had one white Christmas? Anywho...

That's my Southern Soapbox!!! I hope you liked my outfit!

Fashion Friday: A Turquoise Affair

Good morning everyone! Fashion Friday is BACK (sorry I'm a day late)! Take a look. I hope you enjoy!

Turquoise on the Beach by jastevenson

I absolutely love this outfit! I know, it's fall but here in Texas, and most of the south, we are still having 90 degree days so it might be a while before I start posting outfits with long sleeve shirts (and it's possible that we never get cold enough for long sleeves this year. Welcome to Texas). Since all of these outfits resemble things that I would actually wear, I won't start posting cold weather outfits until I am actually wearing them, or about to start wearing them, unless I decide to change my mind and conform to the rest of the countries climate :P. Anywho, back to the outfit! It's simple, light (very important in Texas), and comfy (very important for me)! The long maxi skirt means you don't have to shave your legs that night although with those strappy sandals you better not have gnarly toes!

Well that's my Southern Soapbox! I hope you enjoyed!

Wonky and Woot-tastic Wednesday

I'm sorry I've been MIA! Between school starting up and begging for a new addition to the family (will explain more in a minute) I've been a little preoccupied! I apologize!

Wonky:
   - waking up at 7am. Yes, I realize for "normal" people that is a "normal" time to wake up. I am not a normal people and it is not a normal time for me. I hate mornings things just look so much more optimistic after 9:00am.
   - I was making hard boiled eggs Monday night so I could eat them for breakfast on Tuesday morning (the morning I had to wake up at 7am). I put the eggs in the pot, turned to water on high to boil and walked away, because a watched pot never boils. Mostly because I didn't want to stand there for 5 minutes waiting for the water to boil. I was going to come back and check them in 15 minutes, 5 minutes for the water to come to a boil and 10 minutes for the eggs to cook. I started watching Harry Potter and got sidetracked. I think the eggs cooked for an extra 20-30 minutes. Long enough for about half an inch of water to evaporate. Thankfully hard boiled eggs are very forgiving and they were still edible.
   - Speaking of Harry Potter... I really do love the HP movies but Goblet of Fire has to be my least favorite. Simply because Robert Pattinson is in it. I really really don't like R-Pats. Please don't write hate mail for that comment.
   - I got some really crummy professors this year. My history professor is ok... his lectures can be hard to follow. My math professor is pretty much useless. I do better going home and teaching myself. My government professor drives me NUTS! First of all, she's very obviously a liberal and makes her opinions about EVERYTHING known, to the point that it seems opposing opinions would be unwelcome. Also, she can be a little hard to follow because she's ADHD and goes off on these long random rants that have nothing to do with anything.... like fantasy football (which I do not understand at all except some guy picked Tony Romo so he's going to loose :D. Cowboys fans please don't hang me).

Woot-tastic:

   - Well, obviously my new hedgehog! I got my sweet little Primrose this past Wednesday. Meet Prim!
   - I'm going to be 21 in less than a month!!! WOOT!
   - I gave Prim a bath AND clipped her nails without her even puffing up! She's awesome.
All I can think of for woot-tastic stuff is Prim-related. I'll spare you all my rants about how completely amazingly adorable she is.

Well, that's my Wonky and Woot-tastic Southern Soapbox! I hope you enjoyed!

Introducing Primrose Stevenson-Bonney

That is Prim, the hedgehog. Yes, hedgehog. I got her this past Wednesday! She is absolutely adorable and I am totally in love and obsessed with my little Prim. She is very very sweet. She will let anyone hold her without "puffing up" and putting her quills up. She loves to explore. I have to put a sheet over my bad so she doesn't get any Prim poo on my blankets. She will take you down for some popcorn. She is about 100 grams (4 ounces, so 1/4 of a pound) and about the length of my hand when she's all stretched out, so about 4.5 inches...ish. She is so well mannered. I was clipping her nails and she actually fell asleep while I was doing it!

Why a hedgehog you ask? Well first of all, look at that face! She's adorable! Also, they are very easy to care for and very very sweet. Surprisingly, hedgies are not related to the porcupine and they are not considered rodents. They are actually classified as a shrew, along with moles. Unlike the porcupine, hedgies quills are not barbed and they cannot "shoot" their quills. When they are scared or feel threatened hedgies curl up in a little ball, similar to the picture above except when they feel threatened the tuck their little heads in too and put all their quills up (she has her quills down in the picture). It is still possible to pick them up when they have all their quills up but it does hurt. Imagine picking up a bunch of very sharp toothpicks. But when she has her quills down, which is most of the time (unless the cat or dog are trying to eat her) it feels like petting a bunch of drinking straws. Unlike rodents, they do not smell and their teeth do not continually grow, so they don't chew on everything like a gerbil or hamster would. Also unlike gerbils, hedgies are much more social with people. However, they do not like other hediges. At all. Often times if you house two hedgies together they will kill each other (which makes me wondering how the whole breeding thing works... I guess they put aside their differences for the sake of the species, I don't know).

I am sure you will all hear more stories about Prim in the near future! I will, hopefully, be taking her to class with me on Friday. She pretty much goes everywhere with me. Except work and food places.

Asleep on the way home from the pet store

Well that's my Southern Soapbox! I hope you enjoyed meeting the newest edition to my family!

Wonky and Woot-tastic Wednesday

Hey y'all! I know, it's not Wednesday. Sorry, I got side tracked. I'll do better next week [maybe]. Anywho, I'm still working on my "Why I was missing" blog post. I'll get it done eventually. Until then, enjoy Wonky and Woot-tastic. 

Wonky:

    - Working out in the gym and then having a flood of younger guys (seniors in HS or youngins in college) come in to "work out". I'm pretty sure when guys say they're going to work out it actually means they're going to go up to the gym, stand near the equipment and watch one guy work out while the other 6 stand there talking and pointing out his mistakes. Sounds like city workers to me. They also like to YELL across the gym to each other.

   - My pink eye is back. Again. For the third time. THIRD!!!!! AGH

   - The college I USED to go to took FOREVER getting my transcripts to my new school (I'm changing because the admissions department at my old school is horrible, as you can tell from this story). They forgot to send them two or three times THEN when they finally did send them the admissions dept put in my test scores wrong so I couldn't register for classes at my new school. I then had to call the school I am leaving to find out what they heck is going on and can they send the correct scores. After being transferred 500 gajillion times (seriously, that's exactly how many) I finally was sent back to the place I started and was told to tell my new school that it is, and this is a direct quote, "just how they do it at Collin". Thankfully, my new school made it work some how.

   - The bank I bank at changed their website and reset everyone's passwords. I am now locked out of my account and will have to call my friend that works there because I have no clue what my member or account numbers are.

   - Maizy (my car) failed the emissions part of the state inspection. The NO2 was too high :( Sad day.

   - I was sitting in the living room the other night and George was sitting on the floor in front of me. We both saw a spider crawl in front of him, and like a good kitty he went to attack. Unfortunately the spider was able to scuttle under our entertainment center. George, trying to insure that this spider would not jump out when I walk by starts to look for it, which is great. Except he was looking for it around the fireplace... which is not really near the entertainment center. While George had his back turned the spider, of course, starts to scurry across the floor TOWARDS ME! And like any normal female, I'm yelling at George, "Look George! Here it is!" "Turn around Kitty! Get him!" and when none of those worked I got my flip flop and beat the crap out of the spider and muttered "Stupid, worthless cat." Seriously, how did he manage to catch a bird and 2 bunnies when he can't even get a stupid spider.

Woot-tastic:

Obviously not us on a walk.
But cute none the less.

   - Going on walks with AJ. Seriously, awesome.

   - Sunflower seeds are one of the best parts about summer. Although, the lady whose car I hit when spitting out a seed probably doesn't agree with me. 

   - The movie Crazy, Stupid, Love is kind of awesome. I love it. It has Ryan Gosling shirtless.

   - Got my hairs did. It's pretty. My favorite part is the scalp massage my hair dude gives me while he's washing my hair.

Well, that's my Wonky and Woot-tastic Southern Soapbox. Sorry if it wasn't very eventful and, again, sorry it was late, Good night!

Menu Monday: August 20th- September 3rd 2012

Yes, I know. Where the heck have I been? Answer: A lot of places. I'll do a separate blog post explaining my absence. For now, Menu Monday. I'm aware that you were probably expecting Maizy Music, or maybe you weren't because you really don't pay that much attention. I noticed that not that many people were as interested in Maizy Music, so I will only be doing that every other week, alternating with Menu Monday. What is Menu Monday, you ask? I'm so glad you did!

Menu Monday will occur every other Monday when I make the menu for my family. In this post I will explain every step by step process that goes into me making my menus so you can start making your own! I have grown up with my mom making a menu every payday and using that to form her grocery list. If you're like me, you hate going to the grocery store, menus make it easier to form a detailed list so you don't have to go to the store every day because you forgot something, or because you didn't have anything to make for supper that night. Make sense? It's not very hard so I'm sure you'll catch on! If I can do it, so can you.

Step 1: Gather your resources.

If you're like me, you're always repeating the same dishes over and over and over. You know how to do them, you know exactly how long it will take and there is no chance that you'll screw up and have to start all over again. All very great points when you're tired and don't want to spend forever in the kitchen. Not so great when you're sick of seeing spaghetti every week. So, let's be brave and get out those cook books we never open and pull up all those recipes you pinned thinking "man, I'm going to cook that some day" but never did. It's ok. We've all done it. I think I've cooked one recipe from my Pinterest. Start going through all those recipes. When you come across one you like, scan it, copy it, save it in a computer database, dog ear it.... however you want to mark it. I use a combination of these. I have some saved in a database on my computer but I usually use those little Post-It tabby thingys. Some of my cookbooks are very colorful.

Step 2: Write your menu.

Now you have to write down what recipes you are going to make. Don't forget to write down the sides too! Some people prefer to assign each recipe a day. Like say "Monday: Maegan's Meatloaf, Tuesday: Green Bean Cassarole" etc. I prefer not to, that way if I have a hankerin' for Beef Stir Fry on Monday, I don't have to worry about changing around the days. It's completely up to you though. Make sure you get every part of the meal written down so you know what you need to buy though. If you're going to make appetizer and/or dessert with a meal, write those down too. Also, if you're trying a new recipe from a cookbook or website go ahead and jot down where you found it so you know where to look up the ingredients and the directions. At the end of the "menu making instructions" I will post my menu for the next two weeks. Mind you, you don't have to make your menu for two weeks. Some people make it for a week, some for a whole month (I'm not that brave). It's all up to you!

Step 3: Make your grocery list.

Now you make your grocery list! I start out by just going through each recipe and writing all the ingredients down. If I know for sure that I have it, I leave that off the list, if I'm not sure, I write it down. I know for sure that I have chicken breast, so I left that off the list but I'm not sure if we have rosemary, so I put it on the list. Before I go to the store I will look through my pantry and fridge and cross off, or add anything if needed. I will also go back later and rearrange my grocery list. You don't have to do this but I just find it easier. I rearrange all the items based on the isles of my grocery store. That way as I head down isle one I can find everything I need at the top of my list for that isle. It makes it harder to forget something and then you're not running back and forth because you forgot to pick up some ketchup that was listed some where between milk and steak.

After I list all the ingredients from my menu, and before I rearrange my list, I also list anything we need for breakfast, lunch or snacks or any personal/household items like deodorant or bleach. THEN I rearrange my list. Sorry if this step is confusing.

Now all you have to do is go to the grocery store with your nice complete list!

My Menu: August 20th- September 3rd, 2012

Maegan's Meatloaf
             Pioneer Woman's Mashed Potatoes
             Salad

Roast
             Green Bean Cassarole
             Wild rice

Cheesy Chicken
              Pioneer Woman's Mashed Potatoes
              Salad (or maybe pasta?)

Chicken Enchiladas
              Refried beans
              Mexican Rice

Pasta with meat sauce
              Salad

CookingLight's Beef Broccoli Stir Fry
              White rice

CookingLight's Italian Seasoned Roast Chicken Breast
               Asparagus
               Russet Potatoes

Sliders
               Homemade fries

Three Cheese Tortellini
               French Bread
               Salad

French Dip

Baked Penne
              Salad


If you want recipes to anything I posted (I linked everything I had online) just leave me a comment and I will gladly post it! Most of these recipes are new to me so I will let you know how everything goes!

That's my Southern Soapbox! I hope you enjoyed and have lots of success with your menus! If you have some yummy recipes send them to me! I'm always looking for new stuff!

Wonky and Woot-tastic Wednesday

Happy Hump Day/ Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day!

Wonky:

   
   - Maegan and I found this leg work out that we did and it was great, but then I came home and did another work out which apparently I shouldn't have done. I spent 2 and a half days waddling everywhere because it hurt to walk. After about 3 days of not working out I was finally better so I did a light work out. They started hurting again. After a lot of ice, they're feeling much much better.
   - The person in the audience of the girls volleyball game that had their US flag upside down. Opps...
   - I am constantly surprised by how little people seem to know about health and human anatomy. Take a health class people.
   - This heat (lower 100's)! What's even more wonky is, it's usually MUCH hotter than this (111 ish).
   - Ryan made a mac n cheese hot dog. He made a hot dog, complete with ketchup and mustard THEN put mac n cheese on it. I almost threw up when he ate it.

   - Do I really need to say anything about this picture? He was sleeping... on my side of the bed...
   - Well, I'm sure you were waiting for this to come up. The Chick-Fil-A "thing". It really saddens me that they are being criticized for their beliefs. I stole this from a guy on Twitter but I really like it so I will post it on here. "I'm eating at Chick-fil-A because the CEO of a private business should enjoy the same level of free speech as a pride parade participant." 


Woot-tastic:

   - Sometimes little things make your day. Like sharing a chocolate smoothie with your nephew and seeing his "chocolate goatee".

 
   - Mom, Mollie (my cousin), Maegan, AJ and I all went to Coo Coo's this past Friday. Coo Coo's is this awesome place with TONS of bounce houses! It's AWESOME! They had so much fun. Mollie was so tired that she fell asleep in the car on our way home.

   - I have started a "diet". I call it a "diet" because, really, all I'm doing is eating healthy and exercising. Like you're supposed to. Does that mean I don't eat ice cream or cake? No. That means I don't eat it every day. Instead of snacking on chips, I snack on blueberries and strawberries. Maegan and I are going to our first work out class tonight!

   - We went to Chick Fil A today. Yummy! The line went out the door and wrapped around the building but we only waited for about 15 minutes. The drive threw wrapped around the building TWICE and went out on the street in front of the other businesses! There was a poor little guy that was flagging traffic for the drive through.

Well, that's my Southern Soapbox! Stay tuned for Fashion Friday. I have a SUPER special post!