Welcome Fall!

I am so excited that Fall is here. I am pretty sure Fall is my favorite time of year... usually I don't notice seasons changing as much as I have recently. I have been so excited about cooler weather, fall clothes, and the holidays that are quickly approaching. Fall makes me think of when Jared and I got married and we were settling into our house together. I was learning so much about how to be a wife and I enjoyed learning to cook with all of our new fabulous items that we received as gifts. It felt so much like a slumber party every night (still kind of does) and this time of year reminds me of all that. I feel like making a big pot of soup and cuddling up at the house! I know it is still like 85 degrees out there but soon enough it will be time for that warm soup.

I cant take credit for this wonderful recipe below... my friend, Michelle, gave it to me and I love it!! It is so easy and definitely tasty. Yall should try it on one of the chilly nights that will be here soon (hopefully).

Potato Soup:

32oz frozen hashbrowns (the little square ones without onions)

6 cups of milk

2 sticks of butter

1 chopped onion

One block of Velveeta (the smaller one)

3 cans of Cream of celery soup

Thaw the potatoes, I put them in the microwave for probably 7 minutes at a time until they were soft. Saute the onions in the butter. Add all of the ingredients except for the cheese. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Add the Velveeta and stir it while it melts (this makes it good and thick). Add salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Enjoy!

Good Friends, Bad Football

Mo, me, Anna and Effie
Mo and Jo- such a good pic of them- maybe my best :)
Jared and I at Jose's
Effie and I

Our friend's little boy, Riggs- how cute is he?

Angela and Mark's twin boys with Charlie

Dillon, Charlie and Tyler

It's safe to say that I am glad I didn't spend my Saturday watching the football game! This weekend, the girls (plus Charlie) decided to go shopping and send the boys to the game. What a great idea! We had a lovely time browsing around town and listening to the game on the radio between stores... although it kept getting worse and worse the longer we shopped. After the game we had friends and family over for a BBQ. It was so good to see everyone and we had such a great time. Afterwards, we went to Dickson with Mo and Jo for a couple hours, then came home to get some sleep. Today I have been doing laundry and picking up the house. I am wanting to take the dogs to the park, but I just peeked into the bedroom and Jared is sound asleep! Maybe later this afternoon..
Here are some pics from the weekend, with the new camera!
Hope y'all have a great Sunday!
slg

Happy Anniversary Baby!

Jared and I have been married two years today!! I honestly can't believe it has been two years and I know everyone says that, but really, two years?! It has just gone by so fast, too fast! We have had such a great time together and I look forward to many more to come! I love you sweetie, thanks for being my best friend! Here are some pics from our wedding day. Hope y'all are having a good week!

A Great Surprise!

So I have been wanting a new fancy camera for a long, long time. I frequently go by Best Buy and look at them and I read about them a lot on the Internet. My brother in law, Mark, got one for Christmas a few years back and I have thought they were so cool ever since. SO... to start it out, Jared had class all day on Saturday and in the midst of running errands, I went by Best Buy to see if they were having any specials. I honestly thought about just buying it (without telling Jared) but then I remembered that we always consult each other before making big purchases, his idea :) So, I played with the camera for a bit then decided to leave, sans the camera. Coincidentally, that afternoon, my parents said they had a surprise for me and to meet them at Highroller Bike shop. I went to the shop and they told me they were buying Jess a new bike and me my new camera!!! YAY! So, Jess picked out her new bike, which is fabulous and then we went and got my camera, memory card and case. I am so excited about it, Thanks Mom and Dad! What a wonderful surprise! I got the Nikon D60 and a memory card that holds around 1,000 pics. Now I just need to learn how to use it! My mom recently got the Nikon D80, so we are planning on taking a class together to learn all the ins and outs. I told Jared and Louie that I hope they like being photographed because my picture taking just went up a notch!

King Louie and Baby Charlie!

What a sweetheart!
Charlie and I

Charlie wearing Louie's Crown!

He is dressed as a duck!
Jared and Louie, Halloween 2007

He knew it was coming!
His full costume, crown and all!
What a funny face, he is so mad at me here!

I got to watch Charlie a few times this week while Jess got some things done and I took some cute pics of him in his dipie! I unbuttoned his onesie when Jess dropped him off because I wanted to see his "Big Boy Diaper" that he is in now, a Pampers Cruiser. Then I took a few pics of him sporting his new look. I love the way babies look in just a diaper, you can really see how cute they are and how soft their skin is! He seems to really like the camera lately. Enjoy!

Now on to our baby Louie. I always dress him up for Halloween for the kids that come to the door to see. Since Jared and I are usually not dressed up and we don't have children to dress up, poor Louie gets the raw end of the deal. I couldn't wait until Halloween to post how funny he looks in his King Louie costume that I found today! I also posted one from last year when he was a duck! HA! When I first got him, three years ago, I had the cute and trendy Juicy dog carrier and all kinds of clothes for him. Quickly after that, the carrier went into the closet and he typically sports his birthday suit (unless its cold out and he is going on his daily walk). In that case, he wears a turtleneck :)

You can see how happy sweet Louie is about his King Louie costume. I don't think he feels like royalty in it, but it sure is cute!

This year, our good friends, Allison and Andrew are having a Halloween party so Louie might get out of wearing his costume on the actual night. Now, we just need to find costumes for Jared and I. I want to go all out this year since it is on a Friday and we actually get to celebrate. I'll keep you posted on ideas!

slg

Back Home... For good!

I got back from my work trip late last night and it felt so good to unpack and know I would be home for a while. I was finished with my meeting at 4:00 yesterday and I had nothing to do but stare at the wall in the airport, by myself, until 8:25! How depressing! Oh well, seemed terrible then, not so bad looking back. Isnt that always the case?
Anyway, I went to the doctor on Monday to find out that I am totally healthy! She said my blood work was "disgusting" it was so good! And that I must work out and have a great family history to have the numbers I do...that would be nice, however, neither are the case. I guess I am just blessed with healthy genes! Anyway, she recommended that I not go totally veggie and replace it with cheese and carbs (which I should have figured wasn't going to cut it), but rather, I should eat lean white meat and avoid red meat and do it all in moderation. Also, she recommended that I start a work out plan to continue to stay healthy :( There is something about your doctor telling you to do it that makes you feel guilty if you don't, like you don't care about your health or something. So.. I need advice from all of you out there on a good routine that works for women who have a career, family, friends etc.. because nothing has worked for me in the past! (at least not for more than two weeks anyway). The problem is that I am not a morning person, but I don't want to go after work either, HA! Don't know where that leaves me! But let me know if any of y'all have a routine that is manageable, I would appreciate it! Also, I have been looking on the Internet at "Pre Pregnancy" care, just because I want to have my body in good condition when the day comes, (probably a while from now) and all the checklists say that I should first visit a doctor. She said that since my blood work was great, just to take a prenatal vitamin and that's it. Now that that's over, I just need to talk Jared into getting pregnant!! He is starting to soften up on the issue more and more, especially that Charlie is around. He just needs to finish his masters because it is a lot for him to have to work full time and go to school, and I totally get that. The best things in life are worth waiting for, right? I think so!

This weekend Jared is heading to Austin for the game and a bachelor party, assuming hurricane Ike stays away. I am planning on walking in the Memory Walk on Saturday. This is last minute and I hadnt planned on doing it since Jared is going to be gone, but one of my doctors asked me to do it today and I hope that it is not too late.. I'll find out tomorrow.

We are off to have dinner with Mark, Jess and Charlie!

Hope yall are having a good hump day!

slg

Little Rock Football, Friends and Diet Blues!

We had a great time in Little Rock this weekend, thanks Brita for letting us stay! It was a fun time tailgating, as it always is down there and the game was pretty exciting! Another close call!! On Friday night, we got into town and went to Pizza Cafe with all my girl friends down there. I think there was eight of us total, seven girls and Jared! Ha! Sorry sweetie. All my friend's boyfriends/husbands were out of town hunting. Then Saturday we met up with Mo and Jo and tailgated all day. We started at Effie and Anna's then made our way to the stadium. We got home this afternoon and I didn't even unpack because I have to fly to Memphis tomorrow for a meeting. I just switched out the clothing in my bag and I am ready to go!
We went to Flying Burrito tonight then over to see Charlie (and Mark and Jess :)). I missed him this weekend!! I got to help with his bath tonight, it is the cutest thing I have ever seen!
This is totally unrelated, but I am already struggling with this new "diet." First of all, it is more like a lifestyle change than a diet change. I have found that I have replaced chicken with cheese and I don't think that was exactly what the book had in mind :) Also, I have gained weight in the three weeks I have been doing it!!?? So, 10 more days and I will have reached my goal of 30 days, then I am reevaluating things! I do feel great, but maybe that's just my mind telling me it's the diet, when really I would feel that way regardless?!? I go to the doctor for my physical tomorrow so I am going to talk to her about all of it. I'll let you know what I find out about her diet recommendations.
Hope yall have a great week!
slg

I'm Obsessed

Don't worry moms out there, I sat there with him and watched him sleep.

I know feather pillows

are not allowed!! He slept so peacefully until Louie started

barking, then it was play time!

All wrapped up! So funny!
Sweet Boy!
This one is so cute because he is making

a rotten face! He loves his washcloths!

I know that I write about my nephew, Charlie, a lot on this blog, but he is the closest thing I have to my own baby and will be until the day we have our own. Besides, our family has never been the typical family, we are very close and spend a ton of time together. My family is the most important thing to me and always has been! I am so lucky to have found such a great husband that loves my family the way I do! Anyway, I see this baby every day, but this week I have been able to babysit more than normal (which I love)!! I took a lot of pics of him this week so I thought I would share with you all. There is one of him swaddled up in my baby blanket, it is so funny because he is way too big for that now but I wish he wasnt growing up so fast!

Enjoy the pics, he's a cutie!!

We hope you all have a great weekend, we are heading south for the football game tomorrow after work. Go Hogs!!

slg

Skinny Woman!

OK, I know it's been almost forever since I said I would write about the book I read on my trip. So... here it goes. I read the book Skinny Bitch by Kim Barnouin and Rory Freedman. For those of you that don't know me, I rarely read books, my mom had given me this one a few days before we left for Detroit. I have found that reading books helps with my enormous fear of flying (which I must say, has not been as bad lately). Anyway, it was sort of a fluke thing that I came across this book and actually read it.

What I learned from it: if you believe everything they say, you will only eat/drink about 5 different things from here on out. However, they do give good advice on simply thinking about what you put in your body. I knew I was in trouble at the beginning when she says "beer is for frat boys, not skinny bitches, give it up!" No, I am not an alcoholic, yes, I do like to have a beer here and there so that is not something I am giving up! So, after reading all the food/drinks/habits that they say that we should give up in order to be healthy, I decided to give up a couple that would be fairly easy for me. I have given up diet sodas (I didn't drink the real thing anyway) and all meat. Surprisingly, the sodas have been harder than the meat, I miss Diet Dr. Pepper so bad!!! I am not doing this to lose weight, but more for the health benefits that they stress in the book. I understand that some people have EXTREMELY opposing views to this and that's just fine- I am not saying that others cannot drink sodas and eat meat. I also understand that this book in it's entirety is not based on all facts, it is however, very similar to The China Study that has made a lot of people nationwide concerned with nutrition in America. Something has to be causing all this disease, right?? Anyway, I am not certain that I will stick to this for eternity, you may see me with a Hot Dog and a Diet DP in a few months :) !! I am just giving it a shot for 30 days and seeing if I feel any real benefit. If you are interested in knowing more about the things we eat and drink, read the book! It's a super easy read and quite funny!

Quick funny story that will explain the title for this post: the other day I was visiting with one of my physicians that I call on (who is so sweet and soft spoken) and we were discussing the diet he has done for the past several years and he was asking me about the things I have given up, etc, etc .... toward the end of our conversation he said, "So, you said you read a book that inspired all this, what book did you read?" I couldn't imagine myself saying the word "bitch" to him so I fumbled around and spit out, "Uhh, the Skinny Woman." Ha! He will probably see the book on a shelf and realize that I was just too embarrassed to cuss!!

Hope everyone is having a great week! Aren't four day weeks the best?!?

slg