What I'm Loving Wednesday!

It's the first What I'm Loving Wednesday of 2018! Here's to many more posts from me this year. I'm looking for blogging motivation. :)

I'm loving...

My new One Year Bible that folks gave to me for Christmas. It has sections that you can color in- I love to color (I will never grow out of it). :)

I'm loving...

That I completed my 365 thankful challenge last year. Every day in 2017 I wrote down something I was thankful for (or something of significance that happened that day). I look forward to reading through these soon.

I'm loving...

That I'm slowly working through my 40 by 40 list. Five months to go- I need to step it up! I can finally cross another item off my list though. Number 18- try sushi (non seafood kind since I don't eat seafood). I can't say I'm now a sushi lover. Or ever liker. Maybe if I was starving to death and sushi was the only option would I ever eat it again. I wasn't a fan of the cold rice. And this sushi had avocado in it (I can't stand avocado). Oh well. I at least tried it!

I'm loving...

That even though I was sick in bed on New Year's Eve, I still stayed awake until midnight to ring in the new year (it was looking iffy for a while, about 9:30 I started to doze off). I celebrated with a glass of sparkling grape juice. 

I'm loving...

My Best Nine Instagram posts from 2017. I like that they will tell you your top nine photos of the year- it's fun to look back and see which pictures people liked the most. :) If you don't follow me already- my handle on Instagram is Averyfan! :) That's also my handle on Twitter. :)

I'm loving...

After Christmas sales. I got these items for about $3 each. The Norman Rockwell book was normally $27. I need to get a table so I can work on the Star Wars puzzle. :)

What are YOU loving today??

XOXO!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Sorry for missing last week, work has been crazy busy. I clocked 31 hours of OVERTIME last week. This is my 11th straight day to be at work, I'm just glad I remembered it was Wednesday!

I'm loving...

That despite my insane schedule the past few weeks, I've been able to find a few spare moments to see some friends! Seeing friends and getting hugs has helped me stay sane during this crazy time at work. Lol.

 

I'm loving...

That I was able to make the Rangers game last Saturday night to see Michael Young inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame (I got off work by mid-afternoon that day). Even though I should have stayed home to rest on my one night off, nothing was going to keep me from being there! And I also got to see some friends. And I got hugs. Yes, I love hugs. :)

I'm loving...

That I got this in the mail this week. It's no secret I'm a Spurs fan (much to the dismay of my Dallas Mavericks friends). Or maybe it is a secret, it seems people are shocked when they find out. Lol. I do like the Mavericks too, but Spurs are number one in my heart. I was raised in Austin by parents who are both from San Antonio, so naturally I was raised as a Spurs fan. I think a lot of people forget I'm not originally from Dallas. :) Anyway, Tim Duncan retired last month and the San Antonio newspaper had these items available for sale on their website, so of course I had to purchase them. Yes, I HAD to, there was no other option. :)

Yes, my hair was once very blonde. I seem to get a shocked reaction anytime I post an old picture. Lol.

I'm loving...

This set of gel pens my friend bought me. Yes, I'm a nerd. I like to have my day planner color coordinated if I can (yes, day planner, I can't get used to using the calendar in my phone, I like seeing everything I have to do written out). :) It's the little things in life that make me happy. :)

I'm loving...

Bobbleheads (again people, it's the little things in life that make me happy). I got the Franchise Four bobblehead on Saturday night at the Michael Young Hall of Fame game. My sweet friend Eric got me the green dot bobblehead on Sunday afternoon. I had to work all day Sunday and couldn't go to the Rangers game, so he sat 50 feet from the sun (his words) at the game to get me the green dot. Yes, I have a bobblehead obsession- I'm well aware of it. 

I'm loving...

That I'm TRYING to eat healthier (despite the three pictures posted above of me eating at fast food places). Lol. I keep fruits and veggies in my freezer to put in my morning smoothies. I also buy a lot of frozen veggies to cook for supper. Roasted broccoli and roasted cauliflower are two of my favorite sides! I also love me some corn on the cob.

In all honesty, there are two pints of Blue Bell ice cream in the door of my freezer, but hey, baby steps. 

I LOVE these ziplock bags. My smoothies usually call for a half a cup or cup of various fruits or veggies. I put them in these bags, that way I know how much is in each one. It eliminates me having to measure the fruits/veggies out each morning. I also put ice in some of them (some of my smoothies require a cup of ice). It takes me less than 3 minutes to make a smoothie this way. 

I'm loving...

When I see a rainbow. It's a reminder to me of God's promise to us. I love when I see one during an, "Are you there God, it's me, Rachel" moment. It just makes me feel that my life isn't as out of control as I think it is.

I'm loving...

That in two weeks, I'll be in Chicago visiting my lovely friend Harrie! We have lots of fun stuff planned, including a Cubs game (I will finally cross Wrigley Field off my baseball list!) Yes, I'll do a Chicago blog post recap (but you know my track record, it will probably take me two months to get it posted). Speaking of which, I hope to wrap up my last road trip recap soon. My goal is to have a road trip post up tomorrow. We will see how that goes! :)

Last time I saw Harrie was two years ago when I was in Chicago for about five hours. She came over to the White Sox part of town and met me for dinner after I went to a White Sox game. :) 

What are YOU loving today?

XOXO!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

WE ARE BACK! After a few weeks off, I'm happy to bring back the What I'm Loving Wednesday link up! :) Please link up below, we love reading your posts!! :)

I'm loving...

That I actually blogged on a day that WASN'T a Wednesday. Okay, it was yesterday. Lol. But still, that's progress. If you missed my post, it was the third installment of my road trip recap. Check it out here.

I'm loving...

This bracelet that my sweet coworker gave me as a late birthday present. I LOVE it. She made it especially for me. :)

I'm loving...

That I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried Korean BBQ a few weeks ago. I'm NOT a fan of spicy food, so I really only liked the rice and the teriyaki chicken. The other stuff would have been okay, if it didn't cause my mouth to feel like it was on fire. I drank about 10 glasses of water (no lie). BUT, I can add OMI Korean Grill and Bar to my 1001 in 101 list- #50: restaurants in Dallas I've never been to before.

I know, I don't look that excited...

I got concerned when the menu was only in Korean (they had another menu in English)

I'm loving...

That I got to hang out with my friend Glenn before he left me and moved far, far away (okay, like six hours away, but still...) We had a blast walking around Koreatown in North Dallas (I didn't know it existed until then). At one point I was convinced we were going to be abducted by the Korean Mafia (and either sold as slaves or for body parts), but alas, we made it out alive (and NOT legally married under Korean law-long story). :) I'm still convinced illegal things were going on in the karaoke/billiards room, but I don't have hard proof (again, long story). :)

I'm loving...

My friend's dog Dobby. Last Monday I was having a bad day until this little furball smothered me with kisses. Hey- glad someone wants to smother me in kisses. Lol. One day I'll get a better picture of him, he's so hyper and constantly moves around.

I'm loving...
That Netflix has the TV show Roswell on instant streaming. I used to watch this show when I was in college. Future Max is still my favorite episode (that is not the title of the episode, but if you watched the series, you'll know what episode I'm talking about). :)

I'm loving...
My new haircut. It was an impulse decision. My hair had been driving me crazy for a few weeks so after work Monday I went in and told the girl at the salon to chop it. She cut about 6 inches off. I wasn't sure what I thought about it at first, but since it doesn't take as long to dry and straighten now, I'm learning to like it. :)

What are you loving today?

XOXO!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Is it just me, or are the days flying by this year? I can't believe it's JUNE! Good grief, time needs to slow down some. Thanks again for stopping by for What I'm Loving Wednesday! :)

I'm loving...

That I got to see my favorite T-ball player last week. The hour and a half drive was worth it to see him play a great game. And I also got hugs from both him and his dad (my bestie). :)

I'm loving...

Meeting up with friends that I don't see that often. Last week my friend Joe and I celebrated our friend Becky's birthday with her! :) It was great to see both of them! We usually keep up with each other via Facebook. We promised to get together again soon.

I'm loving...

Late birthday lunches. My team took me out last week for a very late birthday lunch (better late than never). :) As you can tell, I was a little piggy. I have no regrets, it was all amazing. Yes, three pickles. I love pickles. And yes, I did get Jell-O too. Lol.

I'm loving...

The newest addition to my Dick Van Dyke movie collection. I used to LOVE this movie when I was a kid. I had some Best Buy reward points that were expiring, so I used them on this gem. :)

I'm loving...

Going to the movies by myself. I used to think it was crazy to go to the movies alone, but lately, I kind of enjoy it. I usually have Friday afternoons off work, so I can catch an early afternoon show. Last week I saw Love and Mercy (the film about Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys). It was a great movie. John Cusack did an amazing job. As did Paul Dano (the guy who played the younger Brian Wilson).

I didn't have time to eat lunch before going to the movies, so I was forced to get popcorn so I didn't starve. Remind me never to do that again. It cost $6.50 for this bag. That's ridiculous. Next time I'll be sure to leave enough time to get food beforehand.

I'm loving...

Two hour trips at Half Price Books. I got some gift cards for my birthday, and decided last Saturday to go put them to good use. I roamed around for basically two hours. I like when I go by myself and can just take my time looking at all of the selections. I ended up using only one gift card (which means I have to go back- darn). :)

The top left book is a Russian play that was recently translated into English. I've started it, it's...interesting. Also, I'm not a Jane Austen fan, so I thought if I read about zombies in Pride and Prejudice, I could actually finish it. Lol. And yes, I bought my first graphic novel. It was based on The Babysitters Club (my favorite childhood series- I had to get it). And the other one was only $1 and a mystery novel, so of course I had to pick it up.

I'm loving...

Road trips. I am taking one soon. I can't wait!

What are you loving today??

XOXO!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I know, it's been a week since I last posted! Sorry about that- just blame laziness. And I was out of town over the weekend, but mainly it was due to laziness. :) And Netflix. Blast you Netflix. 

It's time once again to link up with yours truly, and Jodi, for What I'm Loving Wednesday! Be sure to tell your friends and followers about the link up, we would love to have more blogs to check out! :) As always, please be sure to link your post back to our link up (feel free to grab our nifty button located on the sidebar). Also, check out and leave a comment on the blog listed ahead of yours. 

I'm loving...

That I got to see my best friend Mandy over the weekend. If you are new to my blog, this is my best friend I've known almost 27 years. She lives in Austin so we don't get to see each other as much as we would like, so we make the most of any time we have with each other. Sadly my time on Saturday was just about six hours, but we had fun. Yes, I drove (round trip) 7.5 hours to spend six hours with a friend. Totally worth it! :)

I'm loving...
The sweet hugs and kisses I got from these adorable kiddos (Mandy's kids). It was Miss E's birthday the other day, and she invited me to her party last Saturday (that was the main reason I made the drive to Austin, but spending time with Mandy was a bonus!) :)

I can't believe Aunt Rachel's sweet girl is already 4!! I love our "duck lips" picture in the right upper corner. She's slowly perfecting it. Lol. 

It was harder to get pictures with A, but we managed a few good ones! :)

I'm loving...
My sweet Twitter friends Will and Brandon for talking me off the ledge when I wanted to throw my laptop out the window last night. I was working on my blog post when my computer just shut down (no warning). I got a message that it was updating (which lasted about 30 minutes). Then I got another message that said the update didn't work and it was undoing all changes (that took almost an hour). At the 45 minutes mark, my laptop was in danger of taking a flying leap out my apartment window. Now it's almost midnight and I'm trying to get this blog post done before I go to bed. I know, it's my fault for procrastinating.

I'm loving...
Free steak dinners. I mean, who doesn't? Well, besides vegans and vegetarians. A friend of mine was invited to a seminar (she's in the medical field) that included a free dinner at Chamberlain's Steak House. She was allowed to bring a guest. Technically the guest was supposed to be in the medical field as well, but we overlooked that part.

The steak was not that dark, I know it looks burnt here, but it wasn't. I think it was the lighting in the room. Trust me, it was just perfect. As were the mashed potatoes. I'm getting hungry looking at this picture.

I'm loving...
This picture of my sweet little great-niece, Miss L. I can't wait to meet her!!

I'm loving...
The features on PicMonkey. I'm so addicted to this website. I make a lot of my picture collages for my blog on this website. It's also how I put the watermark on my pictures. They just added a new feature that allows you to make pictures into comic books. I had too much fun with that! Lol.

I'm loving...
That I can update my 101 in 1001 list. I made a tater tot casserole the other day. My sister makes this sometime, but I followed a recipe on this blog here (because I couldn't find the recipe my sister sent me). The only thing I changed is that I used broccoli instead of green peas. I also altered the cooking time to 25 minutes instead of 30 minutes (my oven seems to cook faster than what most recipes call for). While the broccoli was okay in it, I think next time I'll just leave it out and have it as a side dish. :)

101 in 1001 List. #49. Learn to cook 10 new meals. I am now at 5/10. :)

I embraced my inner Baptist and made a casserole... :)

Thanks to everyone who links up with us!! If you didn't get a chance to link up today, we do this every Wednesday, be sure to come back next week!! If you didn't do a What I'm Loving Wednesday post, but want to comment below with what you are loving, I'd love to hear it! :)

XOXO!!

So Glad It's Friday and Blog Journal Day 24!

I'm so glad that it's Friday. It's my half day at work, so I'm outta here at 11:30. Besides a doctor's appointment at 1:30, I can relax at home and do absolutely nothing for the rest of the day/evening. Yippee! I'm looking forward to the weekend and hoping it can erase this awful week that I've had.

1. If you could speak with a different accent, what would it be? (British, Australian, Scottish, etc?)

I've never thought about it. I like the Australian accent (I could listen to Hugh Jackman talk all day long. Okay, I could also look at him talk all day long). ;) Maybe I would go with that one!

2. Can you fall asleep anywhere? 

Yes. When I was working for a newspaper, I had to cover city council meetings. Anyone who has ever been to a city council meeting knows how boring those can get. One time I fell asleep in my chair. THANKFULLY, I was sitting in the back, so I don't think anyone really noticed. I was maybe asleep 15 or 20 minutes before I woke up. Also, one time when I was younger, I was at my best friend Mandy's house and I fell asleep on her floor.

3. Do you use public restrooms?

Obviously there are times when I have to use them (especially since I go to a lot of sporting events). But I'm very picky about ones I will use. The ones at The Ballpark and the American Airlines Center (home of the Dallas Stars and Dallas Mavericks) are pretty clean (for a public restroom). If I'm on a road trip, I prefer to stop at a fast food place instead of a gas station. I just feel that fast food places clean their restrooms more often than a gas station. I am a firm believer in never touching the door handle of a public bathroom though. I've seen too many people walk out without washing their hands (I know, it's gross). I always use a paper towel to open it!

4. If you were stuck in an elevator for 24 hours, what celebrity would you most want to be stuck with?

Oh my. I would say Shemar Moore, but I can't swear that I would behave myself! ;)

I think I'll go with Zachary Levi. Maybe 24 hours would be enough time to convince him he's my soul mate. If all else fails, at least he could make me laugh and forget that I was stuck on an elevator!

5. Where did you and your significant other go on your first date?

Since I'm single right now, this doesn't apply to me. But if I ever get stuck on an elevator with Zachary Levi, I might have a more interesting answer next time! ;)

Day 24: Where I live

I live in Dallas, Texas. I LOVE it here. I've only been here for 6 years and feel more at "home" here than where I grew up. No matter what your interests are (sports, art, theater, history, good food, etc), we have it all!! :) We are also home to the great State Fair of Texas (which kicked off today!) :) 

The Ballpark in Arlington, home of the Texas Rangers

The American Airlines Center (aka the AAC), home of the Dallas Stars and Dallas Mavericks

A view of downtown

Dallas Museum of Art

The Dallas Aquarium

The Ferris Wheel at the State Fair is the largest one in North America!

Fair Park Music Hall

Winspear Opera House

House of Blues

Hard Rock Cafe (the new one)

The Dallas Zoo

The Sixth Floor Museum (formerly the Texas School Book Depository)

This Italian restaurant is so good! I ate there for the first time on Tuesday!

The salsa here is pretty awesome!!

Serving Dallas for almost 30 years!

 Hope everyone has a great weekend!! Happy Friday!!

:)