I got their album this week and have been listening to it a lot this week. Black Stone Cherry hails from all over the U.S., from Louisiana, to California, to the Midwest and their sound is reflected in it. The lead singer, Chris Robertson, has a voice like no one I have ever heard, deep, soulful and amazing! Here are a few video's from the band.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Weight loss update
Its been almost a month since I started "trying" to take better care of myself. I have been walking almost daily, give or take a day here and there. I have even started running. We bought a treadmill about a week ago, and the addiction to run on it is ridiculous!!! I don't like running outside on the track across from my house, to much bouncing for the public eye, but the running is getting so much easier. I used to tell people "I don't run unless I am being chased!" HA! Running is so much fun, though. It reminds me of being young and running for the hell of it.
So, for the first time in a while, I finally got on the scale this morning. Now, I am still not comfortable saying exactly what my weight its, but I am happy to report that I have officially lost 25 pounds! YEAH!!!! Go ME!!! I should post a picture, but I will get to that on the next one. Just so excited for myself.
I came to the realization, with this weight loss and energy I now have, that age really is a state of mind. I am only 33 but until I started exercising and eating right, I felt more like 43. Now, I know I am not old. I have to remind myself of that constantly. It doesn't help that I live in College Station, home to A&M and 50,000 energetic college kids. I think living here has made me want to be a better, fit person. These kids are always running. I can't drive home from work without seeing multiple co-eds in nothing but a sports bra and shorts running their butt off. It used to piss me off, now its a motivator. I am looking better and feeling better and have the experience of my age to back me up. I am better than them. I am better with my kids, my husband, everything is better now that I feel good. So, wish me luck. I am going to be looking for some kind of race or walk to enter. I want a goal, not just my weight loss, to complete.
So, for the first time in a while, I finally got on the scale this morning. Now, I am still not comfortable saying exactly what my weight its, but I am happy to report that I have officially lost 25 pounds! YEAH!!!! Go ME!!! I should post a picture, but I will get to that on the next one. Just so excited for myself.
I came to the realization, with this weight loss and energy I now have, that age really is a state of mind. I am only 33 but until I started exercising and eating right, I felt more like 43. Now, I know I am not old. I have to remind myself of that constantly. It doesn't help that I live in College Station, home to A&M and 50,000 energetic college kids. I think living here has made me want to be a better, fit person. These kids are always running. I can't drive home from work without seeing multiple co-eds in nothing but a sports bra and shorts running their butt off. It used to piss me off, now its a motivator. I am looking better and feeling better and have the experience of my age to back me up. I am better than them. I am better with my kids, my husband, everything is better now that I feel good. So, wish me luck. I am going to be looking for some kind of race or walk to enter. I want a goal, not just my weight loss, to complete.
Wish me luck!
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
The Minions are getting older....
My two oldest, Elena and Kiera, started their first day of school yesterday. Elena started 2nd and Kiera started Kindergarten. I would like to tell you that I cried when Kiera went to kindergarten, but I think I kept it together due to the fact that last year she was in the Pre-K class at school with Elena, who was in 1st grade at the time and I did my "oh my baby is growing up" cry then.
My girls are so different, yet so alike it astounds me. For the first day of school, we made sure to take the two youngest to the babysitters early so we could walk the girls to their classes on the first day. Needless to say, Gabriel was none to thrilled to be going to the sitters without his big sisters, poor guy. Anyway, I took Elena and Fred took Kiera. When we walked into the class, Elena was all smiles and excitement. She seemed like she was ready to kick me out of the class till I actually started to leave. Leave it to my emo-child to immediately yell "Mommy" and come over to hug and cry. I knelt down to look her in the eyes and said, "Baby, it's OK, It's school, you love school. You will make lots of new friends and have lots of fun. Now, take a deep breath and stop the tears. I love you and I will see you when I pick you up from school and you can tell me all about your day." With that, Elena took two big breaths to steady herself, stood up straight, gave me one more hug and went to sit at her table. She has always been my emotional one out of the bunch but oh so brave. This has become such a tradition with the first day of school, I wonder if I will be doing the same thing when she is a senior in high school.
Now, Kiera on the other hand, she has always been the fearless one. I don't know where she gets it from. Fred took her to her class, she walked in, hung her backpack where the teacher told her to. Gave her a butterfly entrance (they have to do some kind of greeting every time they walk in, there is a list to pick from, she chose butterfly) and walked into the class. She had seen the class already at the "Meet the teacher" night, but she was still a little hesitant, mainly because there was a lot going on for the first day. But as soon as the teacher gave her some options on what to do till school started, she headed to the book area and sat down to read a book. She barely even looked at Fred and Me (I went to find him after dropping off Elena). Kiera had this look when she finally did look up that basically said "Get lost, Mom and Dad!" I suspect I will see this look many times from her when she is a teenager. So, we said goodbye, more confident that Kiera was going to be better than Elena will be. Like I said, two totally different creatures.
When I got off work, and picked them up from the Babysitters, they didn't stop talking for like an hour and it wasn't easy to listen. Both of them are talking Ninety miles an hour at the same time. I couldn't keep it straight. A little tip for any mothers out there, when this happens the best thing to do, just cause you don't want to kill their excitement, listen and even if you don't catch everything, repeat back a few words they say every now and then while nodding. I do this constantly. I get most of what they are saying and they feel satisfied that they were heard. It was a great first day at school and they passed smooth out when it was lights out that evening. I love school as much as they do!!!!
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| Aren't they cute!! They even match (not intentional!) |
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| They have come a long way from here!!! |
My girls are so different, yet so alike it astounds me. For the first day of school, we made sure to take the two youngest to the babysitters early so we could walk the girls to their classes on the first day. Needless to say, Gabriel was none to thrilled to be going to the sitters without his big sisters, poor guy. Anyway, I took Elena and Fred took Kiera. When we walked into the class, Elena was all smiles and excitement. She seemed like she was ready to kick me out of the class till I actually started to leave. Leave it to my emo-child to immediately yell "Mommy" and come over to hug and cry. I knelt down to look her in the eyes and said, "Baby, it's OK, It's school, you love school. You will make lots of new friends and have lots of fun. Now, take a deep breath and stop the tears. I love you and I will see you when I pick you up from school and you can tell me all about your day." With that, Elena took two big breaths to steady herself, stood up straight, gave me one more hug and went to sit at her table. She has always been my emotional one out of the bunch but oh so brave. This has become such a tradition with the first day of school, I wonder if I will be doing the same thing when she is a senior in high school.
Now, Kiera on the other hand, she has always been the fearless one. I don't know where she gets it from. Fred took her to her class, she walked in, hung her backpack where the teacher told her to. Gave her a butterfly entrance (they have to do some kind of greeting every time they walk in, there is a list to pick from, she chose butterfly) and walked into the class. She had seen the class already at the "Meet the teacher" night, but she was still a little hesitant, mainly because there was a lot going on for the first day. But as soon as the teacher gave her some options on what to do till school started, she headed to the book area and sat down to read a book. She barely even looked at Fred and Me (I went to find him after dropping off Elena). Kiera had this look when she finally did look up that basically said "Get lost, Mom and Dad!" I suspect I will see this look many times from her when she is a teenager. So, we said goodbye, more confident that Kiera was going to be better than Elena will be. Like I said, two totally different creatures.
When I got off work, and picked them up from the Babysitters, they didn't stop talking for like an hour and it wasn't easy to listen. Both of them are talking Ninety miles an hour at the same time. I couldn't keep it straight. A little tip for any mothers out there, when this happens the best thing to do, just cause you don't want to kill their excitement, listen and even if you don't catch everything, repeat back a few words they say every now and then while nodding. I do this constantly. I get most of what they are saying and they feel satisfied that they were heard. It was a great first day at school and they passed smooth out when it was lights out that evening. I love school as much as they do!!!!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Home is where your heart is, I hope.
Well, this weekend was a sad one. My childhood home that I grew up in is being sold and today they are closing on it. I had to drive to Houston to help my mother get the last bits of things out of the house on Sunday. It was so weird walking around the house. It was so empty. That house held 28 years (or so) of stuff, My dads, My moms, My sister and My stuff. No one ever really moves out of their parents house. There is always residual "stuff" from your past. I guess what makes me sad is my parents home that I could always run to when I needed my mommy, is gone.
My parent divorced a few years ago, separated close to 6, and put the house on the market soon after separating. It finally sold after many years on the market and walking through the house was definitely surreal. I don't think it has really hit me. I want to cry but don't have the energy to, to much other stuff going on. Walking through my old bedroom that was now completely empty made me sad. I have great memories in this house. I had my first sleep over here. I learned to do lots of the crafty stuff I do here with my Mom and Sister. You don't realize how much impact a piece of property can have till its gone. I have many wonderful Christmas memories, birthdays, first dates, Homecoming, and prom. Not to mention the wedding we had for my aunt that I was a flower girl for. I will miss this house. I am sad that my kids, although some will have memories of it, will not have Christmas here ever again.
My parent divorced a few years ago, separated close to 6, and put the house on the market soon after separating. It finally sold after many years on the market and walking through the house was definitely surreal. I don't think it has really hit me. I want to cry but don't have the energy to, to much other stuff going on. Walking through my old bedroom that was now completely empty made me sad. I have great memories in this house. I had my first sleep over here. I learned to do lots of the crafty stuff I do here with my Mom and Sister. You don't realize how much impact a piece of property can have till its gone. I have many wonderful Christmas memories, birthdays, first dates, Homecoming, and prom. Not to mention the wedding we had for my aunt that I was a flower girl for. I will miss this house. I am sad that my kids, although some will have memories of it, will not have Christmas here ever again.
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| My beautiful mom, and me in front of the house, excuse our appearance, we were sweaty from moving furniture! |
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| My and the hubby, again, sweaty from moving furniture. |
When my parents separated, my family (my husband and kids) moved in with her to help Mom out (of course it was to help us as well through a tough time). My kids consider that house their home as much as I did and still do. The pool in the backyard was their play toy as much as it was my moms relaxation pool. My swing set, which is a huge industrial metal pipe structure cemented into the ground, is still there. I am sorry my kids were never really old enough to play on it. OK, now I am crying. I guess it took writing about it to spring the tears... Oh well, I need to focus on the great times we had. I had a wonderful childhood here!!
Friday, August 24, 2012
Friday Music of the Week: Lacuna Coil
I love these guys. They are an Italian goth band. I have yet to hear any of their songs that don't speak to me or at least get my head bobbing. I don't know much about them except what I found on Wikipedia, which to be honest may not be the most accurate resource, but the lead singer's Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro are a great duo. His voice is deep and harsh contrasting her angelic voice. I love any band that can incorporate hard alternative rock with a female voice. I think it springs back to my delusions of wanting to sing in a rock band, I told you I was a choir nerd in high school, right? Anyway, enjoy these videos I found on you tube!!!
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Pickled Peppers
I am proud to say that we actually have a working vegetable garden. We have banana peppers, green peppers and tomatoes. We planted them a little late in the season, so we don't have any tomatoes yet and I am starting to wonder if we will get any at all.
Thankfully, peppers are really, really, really easy to grow and banana peppers grow the fastest in mass quantities. So, what do you do with banana peppers, we pickle them.
Not long ago, in a Kroger coupon book (believe it or not), I found a refrigerator pickle recipe. So easy and quick.
You need lots of peppers, at least we did, our peppers wear small.
Chop them up.
Place them in a clean mason jar (does not have to be sterilized)
and fill the jar with the following:
equal parts vinegar and water
I added a little salt
and a bunch of fennel
Leave it in the Fridge for 48 hours, and Voila! You have your very own pickled peppers. I don't know how long they are supposed to last, but mine have been in the fridge for over a week and still taste amazing!!
Friday, August 10, 2012
Music of the week: Crossfade
Hello everyone. I have been stuck in my world and not done much in the blogging world this week. I don't' know what it is but music has always soothed the savage beast in me and this week it has been Crossfade that is my therapy. The song "So far away" has been my friend this week (meaning I am wearing out the mp3 on my player) so i want to share it with you. I can't find an actual video which is a shame. But at least you get to hear it.
Here are a few more that have been in rotation this week by crossfade.
"Colors"
"Cold"
Enjoy.
I will be announcing the winner of the giveaway this weekend. And I will have more posts on some projects I have been working on.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Birthday Month Giveaway
My birthday is here, I thought I would celebrate by giving away some great stuff. Almost seems a little backwards but hey, I love birthdays. Not the getting older part, but the presents and the time with my family. For my birthday I want to go to the beach.
But, around here, we are limited to Galveston or South Padre Island. And as SPI is about 7 hours away and my idea of vacation is not 7 hours in the car with my four children, I think I will settle for Galveston.
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| Galveston beach |
Not necessarily a tropical paradise, but its close and I feel like we need to support Galveston. After hurricane ike ravaged the area a few years ago, Galveston has taken great strides to renew and revamp the town and beach for tourists. Can't wait to take the kids. Sadly, they have never been to the beach. So, wish us luck.
Now for the giveaway! I have some amazing bloggers (and/or sponsors) who were kind enough to join in the giveaway.
Maria-Isabel from Mommy Made
is giving away "The Daddy" Ad space
Emily from Insanity Rules
is giving away an awesome 8 by 10 school subway art and this cute hand stamped kitchen towel!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
is giving away an awesome 8 by 10 school subway art and this cute hand stamped kitchen towel!!
Jill from Ernestine Edna and her really BIG ideas
She is giving away an amazing "Lorax" Package full of wonderful goodies, including
Small ruffled pouch from http://www.etsy.com/shop/marineparents
Bonus Market flower from http://www.etsy.com/shop/marineparents
Custom Sign "Unless" sign from http://www.etsy.com/shop/bubblewrappd
"Truffula Tree-O" from Ulta Nail polish
A New copy of The Lorax (2012) 2D on DVD (coming out 8/7/2012)
And
Kassi and Kayli From Truly Lovely
is giving a lucky winner Medium ad space on Truly Lovely,
includes group feature post and option for group giveaway.
This is a ONE winner TAKES all giveaway.
Please use the widget below to enter the giveaway.
Please do the task assigned to the entry (I will check!!)
I will announce the winner in a post after the raffle is over!!!
GOOD LUCK!
Ok, I am a slacker, sort of.
I have been a slacker this week. Well, that's not entirely true. Let me rephrase. I have been a slacker to my blog. I have been in a slump, but I have been exercising every morning, so I have not been a slacker to myself but to my blog. My wifi router went out, so, I didn't have internet for a few days. But that is really just an excuse. I didn't realize how much time blogging really took, I think I was burnt out being a slave to my blog. I was writing and posting and watching my followers climb and really excited about it but not really living life.
I have been getting up, pretty much, every morning at 5 (yes, I said 5 a.m.) to walk/exercise. I have been doing 2 miles every morning and surprisingly, I am not tired of it. I love getting up in the morning and have peace and quiet for the 30-45 minutes I exercise. No one asking me for something, or screaming or saying "Mommy...." I know that probably sounds horrible. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but there are four of them. Its exhausting sometimes and I have realized going for a walk every morning helps me get my head together and it has really helped. I like to think it makes me a better mom or at least I hope it does. I do feel better, I am now down 14 pounds since I started this weight loss journey. Its great that clothes I haven't worn in a while fit better. Hell, I have underwear that fit better now! I felt ridiculous as I typed that, but its true, so sue me!
I think the fact that tomorrow is my birthday and I am turning 33 (ugh, I hated writing that) has helped and hindered me. I am exercising like crazy, but I am still kind of in a funk. I think I need a vacation but when the hell is that ever going to happen. I have four kids, a full time job, a house to run, a blog, and hobby to feed. Ok, that last one probably should be erased, but if I didn't make stuff/craft, I would be way worse off mentally. I tend to think I am the artsy fartsy type, meaning I am moody and emotional and need to create to feel human. I think I am just a raving lunatic in a sane persons body (does that make sense).
Well, I think that is enough from this raving lunatic today. Check back tomorrow when I have my birthday giveaway! I have some really great prizes from some really great bloggers! Laters!
I have been getting up, pretty much, every morning at 5 (yes, I said 5 a.m.) to walk/exercise. I have been doing 2 miles every morning and surprisingly, I am not tired of it. I love getting up in the morning and have peace and quiet for the 30-45 minutes I exercise. No one asking me for something, or screaming or saying "Mommy...." I know that probably sounds horrible. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but there are four of them. Its exhausting sometimes and I have realized going for a walk every morning helps me get my head together and it has really helped. I like to think it makes me a better mom or at least I hope it does. I do feel better, I am now down 14 pounds since I started this weight loss journey. Its great that clothes I haven't worn in a while fit better. Hell, I have underwear that fit better now! I felt ridiculous as I typed that, but its true, so sue me!
I think the fact that tomorrow is my birthday and I am turning 33 (ugh, I hated writing that) has helped and hindered me. I am exercising like crazy, but I am still kind of in a funk. I think I need a vacation but when the hell is that ever going to happen. I have four kids, a full time job, a house to run, a blog, and hobby to feed. Ok, that last one probably should be erased, but if I didn't make stuff/craft, I would be way worse off mentally. I tend to think I am the artsy fartsy type, meaning I am moody and emotional and need to create to feel human. I think I am just a raving lunatic in a sane persons body (does that make sense).
Well, I think that is enough from this raving lunatic today. Check back tomorrow when I have my birthday giveaway! I have some really great prizes from some really great bloggers! Laters!
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