Wednesday, October 8, 2014

What I'm Loving Wednesday...

In an attempt to blog more than once a month (I know, it's been a long time since I've done that), I decided to go back to my "What I'm Loving Wednesday" posts. I want to try and focus on happy things these days. :)

I'm loving...

That I finally spent some time working on a craft project. Last Friday night I opted to stay home and have a little "me" time, so I figured it was the perfect time to work on a fall wreath idea I found on Pinterest (the idea is courtesy of this blogger here). Her directions are super easy to follow. The only thing I did differently was cut the burlap strips eight inches long instead of six. The materials were super cheap (courtesy of Michael's and their wonderful coupons). It took me about three hours to complete, but that was because I was catching up on some DVR watching, and I stopped to eat dinner. If I had been working distraction free, that time would have been cut in half.

I opted not to use the red burlap in this wreath. I'll save it for another one.
I found these flowers I had bought for another project, so I just tied them on to give it a little decoration 

I'm loving...

That I got to see this guy play in a T-ball game last weekend (and that I got TWO hugs from him). Look out Steve Avery, I think I have a new favorite baseball player. :)

This is C, the son of one of my best friends
I'm loving...

That I got to hang out with this awesome group of friends last weekend. We went to college together, many moons ago. I hadn't seen some of them in a long time!

No, we aren't being photo-bombed. We know that guy! ;)
I'm loving...

The State Fair of Texas. A few friends and I went yesterday afternoon (it's only $5 on Tuesdays if you bring a Dr Pepper can to the front gate, so we took off work to go). It was a lot of fun, but exhausting. I'm still tired today from walking around all day (and from getting home late). So worth it though!

My yearly pictures with Big Tex
Fun at the Fair
Some of the Texas Sports Legends exhibit

My Mavs friends won't like this picture, but I'm sorry, we've been over this- I was raised a Spurs fan (my folks are from San Antonio). I actually don't know why I even bother defending myself, it's my blog. Lol. :) 
Some of the animals at the petting zoo. I will not confirm or deny that I starting humming the Aggie War Hymn as I walked by the Longhorn (my sister went to Texas A&M). I also will not confirm or deny that I told the chicken it looked delicious. I possibly had Chick Fil-A before arriving at the Fair
I'm loving...

That I got to see my nephew and his family last weekend. They moved to Hawaii almost three years ago and I hadn't seen them since then. Their kiddos are getting so big!

My nephew Greg and his lovely wife Jennifer (yes, he is older than me)

My great-nephews B and G
Thanks for reading (well, looking at my pictures). Happy halfway through the work week!!

XOXO!!

Monday, October 6, 2014

Another 101 in 1001 Update!

I want to thank everyone for their emails, tweets, and texts regarding my last post (click here). I'm doing a little better. I've been working at getting things better for myself (it's hard for me to put myself first, but I'm learning that I have to do that sometime). This has included making some changes in my life, but they are for the best. I really do appreciate all the concern and prayers, they mean the world to me. XOXO.

I decided to give another update to my 101 in 1001 list (since my last update was three months ago).

5. Visit three Presidential Libraries that I've never seen before (1/3)
I can finally add to this goal. I went to Kansas City last week and while I was there I forced bribed begged asked my friend that I went with if he wouldn't mind going to the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library while we were in town. He was very sweet and agreed that we could go. It was very interesting. I learned a lot about Truman, it was fascinating. I'm now in the process of reading a biography about him. 

The biography that I'm currently reading. It's interesting so far! The author was very thorough. 
Just a few pictures I took at the museum (we won't mention how many I took in total- it's a lot)
A replica of what the Oval Office looked like when Truman was president. Truman was still alive when the library was built, so there is a recording of him speaking to you when you enter this room. I thought that was kinda cool.
Outside the museum 
9. Visit five states I've never been to before (5/5)
I'm now done with this one! My trip to Kansas City took me to Missouri, which was my first trip there. I went to Kansas City to see my friend Brian, we went to the Monday Night Football game between the Chiefs and the Patriots (yes, I flew hundreds of miles to see a football game that wasn't even being played by my team, don't judge me). I have to say, I'll be a Cowboys fan until I die, but Chiefs fans were amazing. They were energetic, friendly, and very loud. We stood the entire game. It was awesome.

Our view

A Dolphins fan and a Cowboys fan cheering for the Chiefs
49. Learn to cook ten new meals (2/10)
I tried a recipe for roasted cauliflower that was AMAZING. I never had cauliflower before, I now love it. For those wondering, I basically used the same recipe as the roasted broccoli I posted about in July, I just substituted cauliflower. Oh, and I only cook it about 13 minutes instead of 15. I noticed 15 minutes was a little too long. Click here for the recipe

50. Try out ten restaurants that I've never been to before (6/10)
Last Saturday some friends and I went to The Social House in Uptown (making new restaurant number six for my challenge). It was really good and the prices weren't outrageous (I've been to places in Uptown that were a little pricey). The atmosphere was really nice too. And there were TVs showing college football games (which my friend Aaron and I enjoyed). We saw Ole Miss take down Alabama and TCU take down OU. It was awesome. :) Except for the OU fan at the table next to ours, he didn't appreciate me getting really excited when TCU won. :)

Birthday dinner at The Social House for my friend Mel
68. Spend the day at the Dallas Art Museum
I did that this past Saturday (my friends and I did that before we went to dinner).   

I don't get modern art (the top two pictures), but I did like the bottom two pieces, especially the Van Gogh (bottom right). He is my favorite artist. :)
No joke, this was a piece of art at the museum. I was like, this is the part of the horror movie where the museum pieces come to life and kill everyone. We quickly walked away from this exhibit.
76. Make a monetary donation twice a year to a charity (doesn't have to be same charity) (1/6)
I did this back in August towards a friend's charity. I plan to make another donation before the end of the year to another one.

91. Buy myself a nice gift twice a year (1/6)
Last month I finally broke down and bought myself an iPad. I love it. 

I use my iPad a lot for the Kindle app and social media. BUT I also use it to multi-task and watch a football game while I'm recording multiple movies on my DVR. :)

98. Decide about getting an iPad.
I think we just covered that one! :)

That's all for now!! Thanks for keeping up with me! :)
XOXO!!