Random before the real

I’m a bit behind on blogging. I have so much to write about and decided instead of one huge post, I would break it up. I still haven’t posted about my best friend Jacky’s awesome birthday shindig either. That is to come along with our super fun beach weekend down in Gulf Shores this past weekend.

Today is Monday, nothing fancy. I get to work and my friend Suzanne steps over with her hands behind her back and said she saw something at Fresh Market and thought about me. Then she whips out these!

In case you haven’t read some of my past posts about Chill, the best yogurt place in the world, I love to put chocolate covered sunflower seeds on my yogurt. It’s one of their toppings and is absolutely wonderful. Suzanne remembered I said I had not been able to find these in-store. So today I got to sit at my desk and enjoy my Monday to the tune of my tasty chocolate covered sunflower seeds.

Then, I get home from work and from visiting my parents for a bit and this is what I find from my sweet boyfriend on the kitchen table.

The artificial flowers I keep in there regularly were removed and replaced with these. See, I’m not a “OMGosh I need flowers” kind of girl, and he’s not an “OMGosh I have to give flowers” kind of guy, so when something random like this does happen it means all that much more to me. I love my Michael!

It’s moments like this that really hit me and make me realize how lucky I am to have the fantastic friends and great boyfriend I do have. Cherish every day because you never know what comes next.

Dinner in a flash

With all of our fun DIY projects around the house, cooking has been the last thing on my mind. I have found one alternative that doesn't taste like it was whipped up in 7-8 minutes.

These little Celentano beef raviolis are quite tasty! They're in the freezer section of Winn-Dixie and are usually a steal at 3/$10. They also have cheese ravioli. These guys boil up in about 8 minutes on the stove and while they're cooking I heat up the sauce in the microwave. I found this new Prego Veggie Smart sauce, also at Winn-Dixie, and I don't know what it is but I like it so much better than traditional Prego.

Serve it with a side salad and you wouldn't know you weren't at Olive Garden! Or, you can bring Olive Garden to your house by purchasing their dressing at your local restaurant. It's a definite staple at my house. For only $5 you get to enjoy the best salad dressing on Earth, AND the bottle makes the cutest flower vase once it's all gone! Win-win!

Flashback to the 90s

We're going back, way back!

Today at work my team (or a few members of my team) pulled out our old 90s gear and wore it to work. Talk about hilarious! And no, this wasn't just a random thing we randomly decided to do. We are trying to show the TeleVox sprit of our company for a 'Pass the Camera' contest. Our company was founded in 1992, so what a better way to show the spirit than dress like it's '92, right?

I didn't know which way I wanted to go with my 90s look - flannel grunge, windsuits, "mom" jeans with a baggy t-shirt tied to the side with side pony and Keds, Clueless, Hanson (Ok, stop laughing)...

The winner was - 90s, Clueless! Uh, as if!
I turned the movie on and instantly knew which clothes to put together to get the look I wanted. Funny thing is I wore my get-up in to work and several people on another team who had no idea we were dressing up 90s complimented my outfit saying I looked very cute today. I found this SUPER funny! See I don't wear a dress with tights, heels, headband and choker necklace very often or never, more less to work. We are a 'casual Friday and every other day of the week that ends in Y' company, so it's jeans and flip flops for me, every day.

Here is a picture of my team. I loved how 90s everyone looked! Suzanne, Bobbi and I can't get enough and are already planning our themed wear-to-work Halloween costumes. Bobbi and Suzanne are the flannel wearing grungies in the photo, or as Cher in Cluess would say, the loaders.

It's a great day at TeleVox!

DIY

The time has finally come for replacing the flooring in our master bedroom and bathroom!

The carpet is out, ready for hardwood to go in. We're going with the same 5-inch Brazilian walnut that we have in the rest of the house.

For the bathroom we are replacing the vinyl with porcelain tile. We found some tile at Lowe's and it was love at first sight. It is a light white with bits of cream and baby blue. The blue is very subtle an really ties in great with the baby blue/powder blue walls.

These are the last rooms in the house to be touched besides a coat of paint.

Meanwhile, as fun projects go on at home my poor car is at the hospital. Her transmission is sick. I am morbid. I replaced the transmission in old my Accord at 67k miles, now possibly my XC90 at 92k miles. I'm praying for a miracle and it not need to be replaced. Please Lord, I beg. Beg.

PEEK on my porch

Yeah, so there's always time in the future to have the long front porch with the rocking chairs, right? Ok good.

Here is our little porch - at least the rest of the house is pretty spacious. If you only knew how difficult it was to find the curtains for those little side windows. I liked the look of the house without them, but always felt like I was being watched.

Want to participate in a different PEEK theme each week? Visit The B Keeps Us Honest to meet Jessica and check out her awesome blog! Next week she will have us peeking at each other's Internet browser bookmarks.

When the cat is away, the mouse will...

Have girl's night!

Michael has been in Athens, Georgia since Sunday. He's coming back today! Yay! I missed him a lot, but what better way to pass the time than girl's night.

Last night Rachel and Kristen came over for dinner. I made lasagna and they were kind enough to actually eat it. I at least had enough lettuce, Olive Garden salad dressing and bread sticks in the event the lasagna was not edible. It was great, if I do say so myself. We had a blast! I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Kristen and I have been friends since 7th grade, and Rachel and me since 8th grade. We all went to BHS and were best friends.

We talked about our lives currently, their super cute kiddos and laughed and laughed about some things of the past. Last night was good for my soul!

Cruise in retrospect - one year later

Wow, I can't believe a year ago today this was the view I had for a whole week.

On August 7th, 2010 I embarked on my first cruise with my best friend Stephanie, her mom Darlene and step dad Marty. We had an AMAZING time on board the Oasis of the Seas.

Cruises are awesome! I think it's the best way to take a vacation. You don't have to cook, clean, iron, work, or make the bed. The only time the alarm clock is set is for a fun excursion of the last day of the adventure. Oh, how nice!

Also, spending so much time with Stephanie is wonderful. She lives in Williamson, GA (close to Atlanta) a whopping five hours from Mobile. We make the most out of our visits. I'm so glad she introduced me to cruising! Since this cruise last year, we went on the Navigator of the Seas back in March. I think I need at least one cruise per year in my life.

Aside from going to Labadee, Haiti; Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico...we had a ton of fun on the ship. Marty and I took our chances up against the FlowRider. It was there on the ship. It was free. Why not?

Ouch!

I got the hang of it as well. They compare it to surfing. I have surfed out in the Atlantic Ocean and it was WAY easier than the FlowRider. August 10th this year will mark one year since I broke my coccyx (tailbone) on the FlowRider. Still waiting for that to be 100 percent better.

With water rushing at you at however many miles per hour (a lot), I couldn't take any chances of rinsing my brain with that much water shooting at me. Nose plugged - check!

Crash and burn

I had better luck on land with Freida, the Albino Burmese Python in Costa Maya, Mexico

They are so sweet!

We loved our wait staff, but Mesut was hilarious. He waited on the table next to ours, but we kept stealing him away. "Two sour dough for me, please."

The Quest = hilarious! Adult game show on the ship. My split demanded a replay on the big screen.

Dinner fun!

Another thing I miss about cruises are the towel animals. I need to learn how to make these!

Until next time!

Dinner on a dime

With Michael being on this juice diet, it's hard to want to whip up a big dinner only for myself.

I was trying to think of something quick and easy to have for dinner. I didn't want to just get frozen dinners, and knew cereal would get old fast.

I saw Bagel Bites in the freezer section and decided I wanted to make my own, homemade.

I grabbed a bag of 12 smaller bagels there at Target, pizza sauce and mozzerella cheese. I toast the bagel in the toaster while heating the sauce in the microwave, top with cheese then pop in the microwave to melt the cheese.

Fast, cheap and delicious!

Lunch of champions

I did it! I finally went to Target and bought stuff to make lunch at work.
Today I had a turkey, bacon and lettuce sandwich on these awesome new bread rounds. Anything to make a homemade sandwich more exciting, right?
We'll see how long I can keep this up...

Photo smorgasbord from my phone

When you're at the doctor's office waiting, there's nothing like Blogger to pass the time. Yay for not being tempted to touch that germ-infested People magazine!

Picturing Michael really wearing pants like that makes me giggle

I don't recall if I ever posted a picture of our finished back splash

Key lime cupcakes baking in the oven. I did these for a fundraiser at work. They were a hit!

And with tasty cupcakes come cute cupcake wrappers. LOVE the $1 bins at Michael's!

When Penny and Holly get treats, they have to be on carpet or a rug while eating them

The guy who used to not like cats. I love this picture. Sweet Ceecee.

Beebe loves to swing. She is always out there on it.

Delicious chicken that Michael smoked in his new electric smoker

My crazy burger from BGR

Michael and Patrick at Pirate's Cove in Gulf Shores for Patrick's birthday

So close!

Someone is happy they are not at the groomers anymore!

I was minding my own business eating frozen yogurt on the patio at Chill, then this pulled up. Really??



Cancer - missing Craig Wilson

It is hard to believe that I lost my dear friend, Craig Wilson, to cancer 12 years ago today.

I hate cancer more than anything.

The day is still early and there just seems to be a dark cloud over me today. I try to think positive thoughts going into this new Monday and new week, but the negativity just wants to overpower me. I usually try to block it out. I’m not good with sad news or bad situations and usually try to avoid the thoughts, but today it is hard.

I was 15 when I lost one of my best friends. He was the first friend I made when my parents moved to a totally new area of Mobile when I was in fifth grade. It was on New Year’s Eve. We had moved from Mobile Bay where I had lots of friends. The day we moved to West Mobile my mom told me that she saw someone out riding a go cart and I should go outside and ride my bike and try to make friends. It wasn’t long before Craig stopped and introduced himself. We were instant friends. Turns out we were had met before this. His mom, Mrs. Tonya, had a hair salon across town where we had just moved from and she is who cut my dad’s hair. Craig was nice enough to rally up all of the other neighborhood kids and introduce me to them, making me feel so welcome.

I was quite the tomboy growing up. I liked to do everything that the boys liked to do. We would hang out at the creek, ride bikes, swim and just find the craziest stuff to do using our imaginations.

Once Craig was diagnosed with cancer he was not able to ride his go cart anymore. St. Jude’s was kind enough to replace his go cart with an enclosed golf cart. He could not be outside without a respiratory mask, and the golf cart was perfect because it was equipped with plastic zip-up windows. Oh the fun we had riding on that golf cart. We would fit so many people on it and just ride around the neighborhood. Some days were more daring. Golf cart + ski rope + a skateboard = street boarding. Oh, how fun and skinned knees we had. Life at 15 was just so care free.

Today, I celebrate Craig’s life. I can still hear his voice so well, as if we had just gotten off of the phone. The lyrics of “One Week” by the Barenaked Ladies fill my head. He played that song so many times - I knew every word.

Again, I hate cancer.

My beautiful, sweet, Aunt Kay was diagnosed with esophageal and liver cancer last fall. This is my dad’s sister. I pray for my whole family, especially my cousins Natalie and Robyn as they watch their mother fight this battle. I pray that the Lord watch over my Aunt Kay and heal her body. This is the first time this side of my family has had to deal with and understand how ugly cancer is. Lord, guide my family as we are taken down this unfamiliar path.

Also, I pray for a super sweet little girl named Lindsey who is also battling this ugly thing called cancer. I do not know her personally, but when I read her story here on Blogger, it hit me really hard. She is only six years old and SO STRONG for such a little girl.

Today I celebrate the time I shared with my dear friend, Craig.

Hoping and praying.