H5F....

1. GIRLS RULE - I play a friendly wagering game with some of my favorite people during the football season....son's, husband, brother, friends of brother, co-workers, co-workers son, daughter-in-law, father out-law....it's a friendly game until the winner is declared. Then, not so much. I took the lead early and never looked back.......this year - yours truly BEAT ALL THE BOYS...who knows her football - this girl !!

$240.00 smack a roooooosss ! Can't wait for next year !

2. PURPLE is my favorite color. I found this polish and it rocks...had my toes done yesterday

 OH YEAH !!

3. TOMS shoes - love them! Got my first pair couple of years ago from my kids - a red pair! Love, love, love them! Soooooooooooooo - when I saw where TOMS was coming out with a BALLET FLAT - I got so excited. Ordered a black pair - basic - goes with everything.

 Got them in the mail Weds.,

wore them to work Thursday,

returning them on Friday.

So disappointed. They rub 4 blisters on my feet....so I will be going back to the classic.......

4. New office.....finally settled in - and well worth the wait

5. And the kitchen remodel continues...my husband is doing a fantastic job.......NEW SINK and faucet.....

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE  !!







I've earned this...

I have been in my current job for 23+ years. I have had 3 different positions, currently I am the police dispatcher and I LOVE IT ! I am on my 4th boss....so far he is the best! This office has moved to 3 different buildings and within those buildings I moved 7 times.
The last move was a week ago. This is my 8th desk/office/space/cubby hole.....and this is where I hope to spend my last remaining time. Techinically I can retire next August - that is a scary thought.

Haven't really decided if that is what I will do.

There are lots of  "if, ands or butts" to think about.

My husband won't be retiring - but in his profession, he pretty much can work anywhere in the great state of Texas and we have plans on moving down to the hill country.

time will tell....

This is my forner office...I lived here for 6 years.....Number 7 of  8 offices

Note the pink cabinets....no window and I could only turn my chair in one direction.

I am sure had the fire department come by they would have declared it a public hazard!!

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This is my new office. It is beautiful, twice as big, has a HUGE window with a view of downtown

.......and if I so desire - I can spin in all different direction in my chair.

Of course, I am way to busy to be playing.....

This is where I hope to spend my last years.........keeping my fingers crossed !!

5 things I love about ME...

Taking a great idea from another of my fav bloggers, http://www.lovelylittlethingsblog.com/ to stop and smell the roses and to write down 5 things "I love me because"
.......simple, right? NOT............but here goes...

1. I love me because I am incredibly loyal. If you are my friend, I will stick by you, I will support you, I will be there for you. I might not agree with a decision you make, but if you feel strongly - I'm there.

2. I love me because I have a huge heart. I tend to want to help anyone, human and animal.

3. I love me because I am a Texan, through and through. I love everything about Texas and being a Texan. Don't mess with Texas and don't mess with me.

4. I love me because I love the little things. I am not a materialistic person. I don't need fancy cars, houses, clothes, etc. to be happy. I don't require gifts to be your friend. I just want people to be themselves and take me for who I am.

5. Maybe last but not least.......I love me because I love my amazing family. They are the best and God has blessed me with them.

What are 5 things you love about you?

High Five for Friday

It's Friday....................

1. I love black and white...it goes with everything. I found these at Wal-Mart. I know...paper plates, really??????.....but with just my husband and myself......enough said.

2. This makes a body feel so good! (gotta love the background !!)









              
  Progress in the kitchen.................looking good !!
                                                                                    

                           3.                                                                                          

.........Before 

After......

5. I am not much of a reader, but I discovered this book from another bloggers H5F. I downloaded to my IPad......and it is such a good read...can't wait to finish it and for the next book....

                                                     

LoVe iS In ThE AiR !!

Feb. 1...I "love" the month of February. I love the color red ! I love that my oldest son, Chad and my oldest grandaughter, Jaycee (his oldest too) were both born in February! A month of love...
These are from one of my daily blog reads....   http://www.lovelylittlethingsblog.com/

Here are few things I will be doing this month....

 Yum Yum

Now this is the kind of sushi I am talking about........

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How cute is this??? I read this blog daily too and she has amazing ideas.....

looks like a great family project......check out her blog for a tutorial

http://blissfulanddomestic.blogspot.com/

Happy February Everyone !!

High Five Friday

It's that time again....
1. First of all....A big thank you to God...we were blessed with much needed rain this week, according to our rain guage, 7 inches.....today, the sun is shining and in the low the mid 60's....what a beautiful day in the neighborhood

2. Several months ago we had a water leak from our dishwasher that leaked under our floors....needless to say, the floor has to be replaced and while we are in the process of tearing the floor up I decided to remodel and replace (my husband just loves it when I come up with this great things for him to do on his days off!!)
.....this is the beginning...wish me - well my husband - good luck..he works so hard and does such an amazing job...love love love him!!!


3. I love bracelets and love silver...this I found at ABC distributing, they stretch and are so comfortable.  I wear them ALOT....

4. To help me stay motivated to walk daily...these are so comfy from OLD NAVY.



5.  Travel plans for trips to see my sons', daughter in laws and those precious g-babies have been made and finalized. Can't wait. San Antonio in February and Maryland in March....

Have a Great Weekend !!

Make a gift on the 25th....

I got this idea from a blog that I read daily...this girl has got it going on. What a great idea to start now, making gifts for December 25th....a gift on the 25th for the 25th....

here is her link......you won't be sorry you checked her out!

http://blissfulanddomestic.blogspot.com/

I am off to shop for Christmas socks....

The Girls

Sam and Cappy

MY "animal" Girls......love these precious girls and they love me back - unconditionally!!

Cappy

Sam (short for Samantha)

She isn't spoiled much.......

She is very relaxed.....she snores too! LOUD !!

And last, but not least...Stoney, she is so lovable.......

Where to begin....

These past several weeks have been a whirl wind. I was off from work for two weeks(Thank you very much). The first week I spent cleaning and cleaning and cleaning.....in preparation for the upcoming holiday.  Let's see what was it again, oh yeah - CHRISTMAS.
Chad, Jaycee,Cody (from south Texas, Jenn had to work and go to school and wasn't able to make it) were due in along with Corey, Robyn, Jaxson and Annabelle (from Maryland). Christmas Day is traditionally held at my house. I invite all the family. We have a Chinese gift exchange, play a few games, eat a LOT of food and enjoy much needed time together. In the past, this has occurred in the morning. I changed it this year to the evening to accomodate some of the family that was not available till the evening. I wanted as many people as possible to be together. We had a great time and here are some pics to show how the evening went....


Annabelle








Cody and Jaxson

Jaycee

My brothers, Bill, Pat, Ray and myself....
Love these guys!!

Me, Corey and Robyn



Chad



Chad, Corey and Craig



Boo (me) and Pops (gary)


After Christmas, Chad had to go back to work, so Jaycee and Cody stayed behind to spend time with the rest of the family. WE had so much fun. We played, we ate, got haircuts, laughed, cried, went roller skating, watched football (ALOT of football) played the Wii, had sleep overs, played outside (the weather was BEEEEE U TI FULLLL) ate some more, went to the movies......


Jaycee cut about 3 inches off.....





AB got ALOT cut off...now she looks just like mommy!!



Robyn's birthday was on Monday and we told her we would do whatever she wanted. Who knew it would be to go ROLLER SKATING.......



Belle was content to watch TV between Sam and Cappy.....they love her so much!!!



I got all the kids sleeping bags with their names on, so we made a pallet on the living room floor and had a sleep over !

All nestled, all snug in their beds.....

Wii Fun - Just dance.....Go Corey, go Corey

Unforunately all good things must come to an end....

Finished up on Friday night with dinner at BJ's Brewhouse...

And to all - A GOOD NIGHT !!

HiGh FIve FrIDaY

Again, the blogs have taken over. I continue to find so much and yet so little time. Where were all these things when my boys were little....oh the things I could have done!

My first High Five Friday is CROCK POT LASAGNA:

This is no ordinary lasagna and let me tell you, "it don't get no easier than this". It is to die for.

2 lbs ground beef, browned. Add a large jar of your favorite spagetti sauce.

(Gary likes a lot of sauce so I added a small can of tomato sauce also)

2 cups cottage cheese and 2 cups shredded mozarella cheese (mixed together)

(reserve a handful for top of lasgana)

Box Lasagna noodles (uncooked)

In crock pot, first layer -  beef mixture, second layer 

noodles,

third layer - cheese mixture.

Continue to alternate layers and end with meat sauce mixture on top

(sprinkle with remainng cheese mixture) 

Turn on crock pot on HIGH, cook for hour - then reduce to low and continue for 4-5 hours.

Second HFF: Maxine

She is such a DOLL !!!

Third HFF: Tea Cookies

My husand's mom was a wonderful COOK and one of the best cookies I ever placed in my mouth were HER tea cookies (sometimes known as Mexican Wedding Cookies) I had this idea that this were some kind of time consuming, lots of ingredients, blah blah blah cookies to make. They simply melted in my mouth. In my grueling and hard work of reading blogs this week, I came across this recipe in BLISSFUL AND DOMESTIC blog (PICTURED BELOW)
OMGosh.....I couldn't belive how easy. In fact, when I made them -  I had to stop and see what I left out. I couldn't believe it was that simple, but it was and they are good. (not as good as MAMMAWS) but pretty darn close.

I will think of her with every bite!

Preheat oven to 350*
Cream 1 cup butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar until smooth. Add remaining ingredients. 2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 cup chopped pecans. Roll into balls about the size of a small walnut. Bake for 12 15 minutes. Roll in powdered sugar while still warm.

At last but not least

Number 5 HFF:

 

It's Friday and I have one more week before I get two weeks off.

All my kids and my g-babies will be here!

I am so excited - I can hardly wait!!

High Five Friday

In looking and searching this week - the many blogs I am now addicted too - I discovered one that I can't stop reading, http://www.thesmallthingsblog.com/ - this girl has got it going on. I have already discovered new ways to do my do. Her sister has a blog, http://www.frommygreydeskblog.com/ she rocks it too. Then to top it off, they have a Etsy website (and if you don't know what that is, you are way behind times) Their Etsy website is Elisabeth Ashlie Jewerly. Another of my addiction. (maybe I should check into a 12-step program) From these blogs, I have expanded waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay beyond the galaxy. I have discovered
HIGH FIVE FRIDAY...it's where - on Friday- (duh) you list the HIGH FIVE things for the week. Of course, I have way more than five, but these are things I have been working on and completed or that brought a smile to my face.

My first  edition of HIGH FIVE FRIDAY:

The newly discoverd blogs are my first/second HIGH FIVE...thank you girls.

My third HIGH FIVE is MAXINE:
I was visited by very own Elf on the Shelf. If you aren't familiar with the book, run out right now and get it. Especially if you have kids. Of course my KIDS are grown and gone...but I am sure that my elf came along to be with Boo and Pops and help them with the Christmas season.

 

My fourth HIGH FIVE is my other vice "PINTEREST" A must know about for anyone. I love crafts and especially love doing crafts for others. My g-babies are first in line. This I found for my girls, Jaycee and Annabelle. I mailed them today- can't wait to see how they like them.

And then number five HIGH FIVE - something new for the Christmas season. I will be putting this on my front porch this year. Simple - yet festive!!

You too can have your HIGH FIVE FRIDAY'S !!

Amen..

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, one can only reflect on all the things we have to be thankful for. We do this, because this time of year is all anyone thinks about - Thank you, thanks, give thanks, get thanks, want thanks, THANK YOU, NO THANK YOU (Gary and the boys will understand). We all have plenty to be thankful for. Some days - more than others.
I have the obvious to be thankful for....my loving and amazing husband of 37+ years. My two wonderful sons. What fine gentlemen they have grown to be. They make a mom very proud. My two daughter-in-laws. They are true blessings in my life. And of course, the ever precious g-babies. Being a grandparent is a GRAND thing to be thankful for. I have good health, I have a job, I have friends and I have the Lord above looking down on me everyday.

I was searching the internet - no really - I was working....and came across a few notable Thanksgiving quotes:

What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?
- Erma Bombeck

Thanksgiving, when the Indians said, "Well, this has been fun, but we know you have a long voyage back to England”. - Jay Leno

*It took me three weeks to stuff the turkey. I stuffed it through the beak.
- Phyllis Diller

Thanksgiving is an emotional time. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover once a year is way too often.
- Johnny Carson

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With all that said, one of my favorite presidents was

John F.Kennedy.

This is a quote by him. It speaks volumes, as he did.

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words,

but to live by them.  "      

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone !!

TaiLgAtInG 101......

As alumni of the University of Texas at Austin (well, at least Gary is, altho I did earn a P.H.T. (PUSHY HUBBY THROUGH) we continue to show love for OUR LONGHORNS. On average we try to make at least one football game and tailgate every year. We have a great group of alumni's that have opened up their tailgate to us and made us feel very welcome.

This past weekend, we made Austin and the Texas Tech vs UT game. It was beautiful weather and an amazing crowd.

Chad, Jenn, Cody and Jaycee joined us for the fun !

The "boys" went to game and the girls + Cody went to explore more of Austin.

What a grand city - I can't wait to get back down there on a permanent basis

(retirement is just around the corner)

We went to the Children's Museum,

made the movie - PUSS IN BOOTS (3D-awesome!)

Had some great burgers at BIG DADDY'S and finished up the night watching more football !

We never go to Austin without getting our cupcake fix. This time we made the Burnet location....

If you have never had a HEY CUPCAKE, you are missing out...they are to die for!

Jaycee and Cody visited the airstream in the back.....

What a great weekend, family, fun, football and the GREAT UT LONGHORNS !!

Hook 'em !!