What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving...

My new iPhone. My old phone was three years old and wasn't holding a charge for too long, so I bought myself a VERY late birthday present. I use my phone to take A LOT of pictures when I travel, so I got an iPhone 7 Plus. I learned from reviews online and personal testimonies from friends that the iPhone 7 Plus camera was the best one anyone had seen on a phone. I've had it less than 24 hours but so far I like it. I'm traveling this weekend so I'll test out the camera a lot then! :) It has a portrait mode which focuses on your subject and kinda blurs out the background (called depth effect). So far I've only tried it out on my Dr Pepper and food, but I kinda like it. I'll try it out on a person eventually (you can tell I like food more than people, right?) Lol.

Yes, I got the red phone! My case is clear. :)

I'm loving...

That I got to hang out with my friend Landon last Friday. We usually only see each other once a year (if that) but this was actually the second time in three months that we've been able to get together. I had Rangers tickets in my company suite so we FINALLY went to see a baseball game together (we've only been talking about doing this for five years). Lol.

Our view

The post-game fireworks show was set to country music. Landon wasn't a fan. Lol

I'm loving...

Going to baseball games with friends. I also went to the Rangers game on Saturday night and Monday night with friends. I'm sure to y'all it seems like I've been to a lot of games, but I really feel like I haven't been to that many this season. Sadly I'm not missing great games when I don't go- it's just not our year. :( 

My friends and I got in line at 3:30 for the bobblehead giveaway on Saturday (gates opened at 5). Yes, we were first in line. I'm glad we did. This was the line by 4:15. We take bobblehead giveaways VERY seriously. :)

My friend Rich and his ADORABLE son came over to say hi to me at the game on Saturday night.

I had to work on Sunday, so my friend Michelle held up my photo during the game so I could be there "in spirit" for Beltre's 3000th career hit. Lol.

On Monday night we had seats close to the field, so we were like "pinkies out" to show how important we felt. Lol.

I hadn't seen my bestie Steph since my birthday in May- it was good to be reunited!

I'm loving...

My coworkers. The past few weeks we've had some company conferences that we've had to work late at, but being around people that you like makes it much more bearable! Especially when you are on your feet anywhere from 7-9 hours.

My friend Alyssa was in town attending the conference so I got to meet up with her for a quick photo!

These sweet lady attended our conference and was so grateful for our help. She kept thanking us for all we did. She was a doll!

I'm loving...

My new purse. A sweet lady in my Sunday School class made it for me- wonder how she knew that I liked the Rangers? :)

I'm loving...

That I finally got a photo with the Rangers manager Jeff Banister. :)

What are YOU loving today?

XOXO!

It's OK...

It's OK...

...that for the first time since 2007, I missed Rangers Fan Fest. It was last weekend and I just wasn't able to make it to Arlington for it. I had other things I had to do and didn't have time. :( I hope they will forgive me!

A picture of me and outfielder Craig Gentry from the 2011 Rangers FanFest. He knew that I was kind of a big deal and wanted a picture with me. I hate disappointing my fans. :)

...that I have an app with a countdown to Opening Day. :)

I can't wait!!

  ...that this is how I've been feeling about exercising the past month. I really need to get off my lazy butt bohiney and start working out again. 

I **heart** bacon.

  ...that since I now have an iPhone 5 (OH yeah, I got an iPhone 5, not sure if I mentioned that), I put Siri to good use and asked this question:

Seems that Siri doesn't know EVERYTHING. Oh well. For the record, I don't think all men are jerks. I was just upset with someone that day, I'm over it now, it's all good. He's off my wrath of Rachel list. :)

...that I was in a meeting and couldn't take this call: 

Yeah, I wish he was calling me! :)

...that I'm back to taking pictures of myself and posting them on Instagram. If you are on Instagram, my handle is averyfan. :) 

This was the morning of the big snow light dusting of snow.

I posted this saying that I cut my hair. While I was packing, I found a wig from a Halloween costume that I had a few years ago. Ah, fun stuff.

...that I have a heart of stone and refused to share my food with my roommate Sadie. 

I know, she's adorable. But puppy dog eyes aren't gonna work on me. I share my food with no one. :)

...that this made me laugh really hard. 

If you only knew... ;)

...that I pinned about 1,874 pins of Luke Bryan yesterday on Pinterest. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration. But I did pin a lot. I've fallen off the wagon and am pinning again. I'm out of control! :) Shameless plug, follow me on Pinterest here. :)

We are almost to the weekend, hang in there my friends!

XOXO!

What I'm Loving Wednesday...

I'm loving...

My Netflix iPhone app. I mentioned yesterday I've discovered the TV show Bones. Thanks to the app I'm able to watch episodes on my commute to work (no, I'm NOT driving the carpool this week) and while I'm at my desk at work. And when I say that, I mean during my break and lunch of course, not DURING working hours. I'm all business during work hours. ;) **insert sarcasm font here**

I'm loving...

That I have $60 in Half Price Books gift cards from Christmas. I shall be visiting one very soon!

I'm loving...

These.

I'm loving...

My friends. They are always there for me. ALWAYS. I am so blessed!!

Have a great day!

XOXO!!

Ramblings of an Angry Bird addict

My name is Rachel, and I have an addiction. It's an addiction I never thought I would have because I've never had a problem with anything like it before. But over the past few months I have found myself unable to stop. My addiction: Angry Birds.

Back story: I follow a lot of great people on Twitter (shameless plug- feel free to follow me on Twitter here.) One of those great people is named Michael Schlact (click on his name to follow him- he is awesome). He is a wonderful professional baseball player- he played with the Rangers minor league team in Frisco. For the longest time I would see him tweet about this game he was playing on his smart phone called Angry Birds. I've never really been that into video games (phone or non phone related), so I didn't pay too much attention. Then one day my curiosity got the better of me, and I downloaded it on my iPhone (it was free). Yeah, since then I have found myself unable to stop playing it.

The object of the game is to use a slingshot to shoot birds at pigs. These pigs are usually "protected" by some sort of structure which you have to knock down in order to kill them (they can be made of stone, ice or boards). Depending on the round, you only get so many birds to shoot. You have to figure out how far back to pull the slingshot so you don't overshoot the structure. Also you have to figure out where to aim the bird so it hits the target. I know it sounds silly, but really, I'm addicted. I might have a problem....I have a good friend at work I just told about this game. She's about to download it on her phone right now. Welcome to the dark side Linds! ;)

For those with iPhones, iPads or iPod touches and are interested in the game, go here to download it. I believe it's 99 cents now to download, but you can search for the Angry Birds Lite version, that is free.

Now, this is my first attempt to do a Tasty Tuesday. Since I've made it clear in past posts that I'm not much of a cook, I want everyone to know this was my Aunt Patsy's recipe (so you can all breathe a sigh of relief!) ;) My mom has been making this my whole life. It's the only time I will eat tuna! It's also the only time I eat green peas. It's really good too!! :)

 

Tuna Casserole:
1 box macaroni and cheese dinner
1/2 cup milk
1- 6 oz can of tuna
1 can green peas
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Several slices of processed cheese

Prepare macaroni and cheese dinner as directed on box. Stir in milk and soup. Gently stir in tuna and peas. Heat and pour into a casserole bowl. Put cheese slices on top. Heat in 350 degree oven until cheese is melted.
Serves 4-6.

I hope you enjoy! This recipe is very simple, even I can make it!! :)

101 in 1001 update!

Part of my 101 in 1001 challenge is to blog at least once a month about my progress. I really need to step it up. :)

Completed challenges: 

-I volunteered to work at my company's annual seminar (it's held in July).
-I became an organ donor for the state of Texas. Here is my donor card as proof!

-I bought a new outfit. (yes, I got it at Kohl's). I got this cute cardigan (okay, I actually got two. One white and one brown- see below for a picture of the white one). I also bought a cute top to go under it. AND I bought a new pair of jeans.* I meant to take a picture of me wearing the outfit and forgot, so for now you can see the picture of the cardigan from the Kohl's website. I'll try and take a picture of me wearing the outfit soon.

I also have a few challenges that are "in process". One of those is to finish Jillian's 30 Day Shred workout video. I've started three times and haven't made it past Day 5. I started it again last night. Here's hoping I can make it to Day 30 without hurting myself giving up getting lazy. A reminder you can check out my progress on the 101 in 1001 list here.

*Okay, a side note about me shopping for jeans at Kohl's last weekend. I recently (okay, 6 months ago), went up a size in my jeans (and all you females out there know this can be a traumatic thing for a woman). I accepted it and am comfortable with my size. I have moved on- I am beautiful no matter what size jeans I wear. I was in the dressing room trying on my clothes when I overheard a girl in the dressing room talking to her friend. She was like, "I'm going to have to get a smaller jeans size. This size **insert jeans size here** is way too big, they practically fall off of me. They are made for someone much bigger than me." Friends, it took every fiber of my being not to jump over the wall to cause bodily harm to that girl. I am that "someone" who wears the size that was "swallowing" this girl, I didn't want to hear about it. Umph! 

Hope everyone is have a fabulous week so far!

Fall, where are you?

For anyone who doesn't believe that we are hitting triple digit highs this week, I did a screen print of the weather app on my iPhone:

 

Oh yeah, you read that right. 101. And that seems to be the coolest "high" of the week (and supposedly we haven't reached the "high" for today yet). It's times like this that I'm so THANKFUL my office has an UNDERGROUND parking garage. 

If you are from Texas (or have ever been in Texas during the summer months), you can appreciate these.

You know you are from Texas when:

-You can say 110 degrees without fainting...
-You can make instant sun tea...
-You learn that a seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron...
-The temperature drops below 95, you feel a bit chilly...
-You discover that in August it takes only 2 fingers to drive your car...
-You discover that you can get a sunburn through your car window...(we call it a "Rush Hour Tan")
-You notice the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance...(so true...)
-You actually burn your hand opening the car door...
-You break a sweat the instant you step outside...at 7:30 a.m. before work...(don't laugh, it's between 80-85 degrees when I leave at 7 a.m. for work!)
-Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"

-You know all four seasons: Almost summer, summer, Still summer, and Christmas...

Happy Dance Time...It's Friday!

I'm so happy it's Friday that if I was still young enough, I might do a back flip (who am I kidding, even when I was young, I couldn't do a back flip). I'm very excited about this weekend. My niece Alice is coming to town for a visit (we are close in age, so it's almost like we are sisters or cousins, instead of niece and aunt). For regular readers of my blog, she is the mother of "C" and "E" (go here for pictures of them). : )

Tonight we have plans to go see the first place Texas Rangers (I love saying that) at The Ballpark and tomorrow night we are going to see Rascal Flatts (insert teenage girl **sigh**, **squeal** and **happy dance** here). We actually saw them together about 4 years ago. I know she is looking forward to a "get away weekend". Her husband is staying home with the kids to have a "guys weekend" (and with a 23 month old and a 9 month old, I'm sure it won't get too out of control!) ;)

Me and Alice at Rascal Flatts in 2006

I don't know how many of you have seen the Youtube videos of Tillman, the skateboarding Bulldog, but I think I've decided along with Pugs, I want a Bulldog. He is too cute!!

It's Five Question Friday Time!! Welcome to all new visitors! Thanks for stopping by!

1. What were your school colors?

I'm assuming you mean high school. They were blue and gray. My junior high colors were purple and gray. Oh, and my college colors were purple, white and gold.

2. What's the best compliment you ever received?

I had someone tell me one time that they could see God's love shining in me by my friendships and the way I treat other people with care and kindness. WOW. The ULTIMATE compliment in my book. :) I'll be honest. I can think of many times where I don't have "love and kindness" in my heart when dealing with people (usually while I'm driving-rush hour is never fun). It makes me want to strive to not only have that kindness all the time, but to be able to show it.

3. Do you buy cheap or expensive toilet paper?

My close friends know that I have no problems going with generic brands of products in order to save some money, but toilet paper is one of those items where that is NOT the case. My freshman year of college I lived in a dorm with a community bathroom. I don't know what kind of toilet paper they had, but I have no doubt it was in the "sandpaper" family. I'm all about the name brands (I'm partial to Angel Soft and Cottonelle). There are some things worth spending a few extra dollars on!

4. Have you ever had a surprise party thrown for you? Or have you had one for someone else?

I have never had a surprise party thrown for me, but I have thrown a few for other people. When my dad turned 60, we threw him a huge surprise birthday party at our church. We were all surprised my mother was able to keep it a secret (she's a terrible liar- I guess that's not a BAD trait to have). But we pulled it off!

5. What is one material possession that you "can't live without"?

I'm guessing my iPhone. It's amazing. I went YEARS without a cell phone (21 to be exact), then after that, NOT having a phone with me felt weird (my family jokes it's surgically attached to my ear or hand, and sometimes, it feels that way). I finally jumped on the "smart phone" wagon last year and broke down and got an iPhone. Now it's like, what did I do before I had this? It's kinda sad. But now with the ability to update Facebook, update Twitter, check my email, check my blog, play games, check sports scores, watch Youtube videos, how did I live without this?

Have a great weekend y'all!!