Reading Detour

I am still reading Decision Points by George W. Bush but I had to take a temporary detour and read Patti Stanger's Become Your Own Matchmaker: 8 Easy Steps for Attracting Your Perfect Mate. The book recommend came from a very sweet high school friend that sent me a very thoughtful message. Anyway, it was a very good book. Most of it was obvious information, but it was helpful for getting me in the mindset of dating again.

The thing about dating after a divorce that I think will be weird is not bringing up the past. Granted, I know that it wouldn't be healthy or productive to dredge up old relationship issues and discuss those on the first (or second, or third) date. BUT, how do I let someone get to know me without occasionally mentioning the past 10 years of my life. Seems weird. I'm sure I'll figure it out. On a funny note, a co-worker told me the other day that I am a real catch. Wanna know why he thinks I am a catch? I come fully equipped with health insurance. ha! So, if my cheery personality doesn't reel them in I guess I have something else to sweeten the pot. Nice.

Still boycotting all things domestic, in a happy non-bitter way.

It's so weird that I still haven't cooked. I did fry an egg the other day and I'll make a piece of toast every few days, but that's as far as I've taken it. I have been following the Zone Diet (when not dining out, which I need to stop doing so much of) and my protein is usually deli meat, my carbs are fruits and veggies (uncooked), and my fat is almonds. Sounds kind of boring, but when I stick to it I end up feeling like a million bucks. It is by far the best way to eat...it's not really a diet, just how we all should be eating in the first place.

Even though I am watching what I eat, I am still getting excited about my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving (although I will be forced to make sweet potato casserole to take to our family dinner, which totally breaks my non-cooking trend). I am normally thinking about my Christmas shopping now, making my list and checking it twice. I am usually already itching to get my Christmas decor/tree up (which I have no interest in this year). I haven't really thought about it much. Funny though, I am not dreading the holidays like people may expect. Maybe this new single lifestyle that I am getting used to is helping me relax a little bit. My future is unknown and I can't really be the annoying list-making planner that I've always been. Plus, after Christmas is the best thing ever...a brand new year! I am definitely not wishing my holidays away but I am looking forward to an exciting 2011. Bring on the turkey and dressin', the Christmas music, and a festive cocktail to start the new year!

Now currently reading...

Decision Points by President George W. Bush. It is a really good read so far and I like the structure of the book. Whether or not you agree with his political decisions, he is a likable guy (and actually pretty funny). I think history will be kind to him.

The Blessings of Friendship

Sometimes when one is going through a major life change, it is easy to focus on the negative and scary aspects of transition. While I have my moments, it is really hard for me to have a pity party because I am surrounded by so many wonderful friends. Sometimes I wonder how I got so lucky.

Friendships come in varying degrees of closeness and purpose, but all are meaningful in their own way. Some friends are great if you need a good cry and want to show vulnerability. Some friends tell it like it is, force you to realize your worth (and even tell you when you are dead wrong). Some friends are great for a good time...when you don't really want to have a deep talk. Some come out of the woodwork to share a similar experience just so you know you aren't alone and offer some encouragement. Some just pray for you.

There are people in my life that represent the above descriptions. A few of my friends have many or all of these qualities. So, I am thankful for all of the dear friendships I share.

What am I reading?

Ok, since I now only have 2 hobbies (working out and reading), I thought I would post what I am currently reading and make updates every time I start a new book.

So, I am now reading Jen Lancaster's Bitter is the New Black : Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass,Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office. It is hilarious and I recommend Jen Lancaster to any girl wanting to read a funny chick-lit type book. I have also read Lancaster's My Fair Lazy: One Reality Television Addict's Attempt to Discover If Not Being A Dumb Ass Is the New Black, or, a Culture-Up Manifesto, which is my absolute favorite, and Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly, Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me? . I think this lady is my soul sister as I often read and wonder if I wrote the book myself.

You may be going through a divorce if....

This is all you buy on a shopping trip to Target.



These items in their individual form represent nothing, but when grouped together they scream divorce. Of all the things I left with my soon to be ex-husband, the scale shouldn't have been one of them. I am in the weight loss mindset so I need the scale to keep me on track. I needed the wine to help me unwind, and don't even get me started on the skin firming lotion...just know it's needed (and I am crazy enough right now to go get liposuction...I'm trying to stop the madness by buying some cheapie lotion). So, there you have it.

Happy Monday!

Turning the page

During 2010, I have done so many new things in the homemaking realm.  I've sewn, gardened, cooked, baked, made jelly, tried my hand at a fully decorated cake with fondant icing, and the list goes on.  I am so thankful that I now know I can do all these activities.  I definitely hope to pick it back up someday.  Unfortunately, Kevin and I are divorcing...I am soon going to be a single girl on my own (and with my sweet dog Stoli of course).  I need to do what the single girls do.  Know what?  I have no flippin' clue what single girls do.  I guess that is what happens when you meet your husband at age 20, get married at 23, and divorce at age 30.  I've spent the last 10 years in a committed relationship and to say I am a little lost is an understatement.  I'm just going to do what I always do...I'm going to figure it out.

Here's what I do know:

1. I'm done being Suzy Homemaker.  I have no desire to do anything domestic right now.  I don't even feel like making Kraft Dinner.  

2.  Laundry for one is something I am currently enjoying.

3.  Moving from a 2600 sq ft house to a 755 sq ft apartment is scary and liberating.  

4. I'm going to miss my garden grown tomatoes.

5. My new activities are reading and working out.  I've always enjoyed reading...now I'll just do more of it.  Working out is important because I need to take care of me.  Dating is not even close to being on my mind right now, but one day it probably will be (eek!) and of course I would like to look good.

6.  I am blessed with the best family and friends a girl could ask for.  Everyone has shown me so much support, it is truly amazing.

7.  I am thankful for a friendly divorce (if that is possible).  Kevin and I have been so kind to each other throughout this process.  I wish more people would try to have civil divorces.

I guess that is it.  Life, even when it is really sucky, is pretty awesome.  I am going to get through this (that is what I keep telling myself) and come out on the other side a stronger person.  Clearly, my blog theme will be changing a little but I still hope to keep things interesting.  Much love to all!

What's going on?

This is a pretty random blog post of what I've been doing lately.  I've realized an unintentional benefit of blogging, photo recovery.  My hard drive crashed recently and I lost all of my pictures from this year, or so I thought.  All of my important pictures are on my blog, so all is well in the world.  This blog entry isn't very interesting and may seem a little self-indulgent, but I really want to blog about my life...that way, if/when the hard drive crashes again I'm covered.  So this is what I've been up to:

One of my favorite happenings as of late is our (Kevin and I) idea to get out and go walking on Sunday.  So far, we've done the Wade Mountain Greenway, the Indian Creek Greenway, and the Green Mountain Nature Trail.

Kevin on the Indian Creek Greenway:


Pictures of Kevin and I on the Green Mountain Nature Trail:




My friends and I continue to participate in Extreme Sports (ha!)...this week was a fun kayak trip down the Flint River:

My $7 CVS river shows make another appearance


Group shot in the dark with freaky eyes


The funniest thing happened while we were on the river.  Us semi-uncoordinated ladies made an accidental dam with our kayaks.  Kari, trying to avoid the mayhem created her own incident...she got stuck in a tree.  It was HILARIOUS!  Maybe you just had to be there (I got a picture of the action in between violent laughter).


A couple of weeks ago, I hosted a Scentsy party at my house.  It was a lot of fun to hang out with friends (some of which I hadn't seen in ages).  This is the smelling station.  It was so much fun to compare what other noses liked and disliked.


Back to the kitchen.  I recently made my first lattice top pie.  This is a picture of the pre-oven pie.  It was peachy and tasty!


Last night I made a Blueberry Dream Pie (my mom used to make these when we were growing up and I love it!), and recipe is as follows:

Using homemade or a store-bought roll-out pie crust, line the front and sides of the pie plate, poke all over with a fork, and bake at 425 until golden.  Cool.  Prepare 2 envelopes of Dream Whip (found on the baking isle of the grocery store) according to the directions on the package.  Mix in one 8oz block of cream cheese and a cup of confectioners sugar and blend until creamy.  Put mixture into pie crust and refrigerate for a few hours.  Lastly, add a can of blueberry pie filling on top and spread carefully.  Enjoy!  Yum!


Perhaps the coolest thing I've done is fulfill a jelly destiny (I'm so cheesy and dramatic).  A little brainstorming session with my little sister, Scarlet, gave me the best idea ever...jelly made from Capri Suns!  I would now like to introduce to you, Surfer Cooler Jelly.



Disturbing side note - This is the amount of sugar that went into the pot.  Eek!  Eat Jelly sparingly.


And, the finished product, TA-DA!!!!


Happy Fall Ya'll!

Fun Times Outside of the Garden: Part 2

We left for Chicago on our 7th Anniversary, August 21st, to see the Windy City and a BRAVES/Cubs game at Wrigley Field.  A few things I learned in Chicago:

1.  Hotel Parking is $50 per 24 hour period...are you kidding me?
2.  Public transportation is $5.75/per day for all of the bus and "L" riding your heart can handle...SCORE!
3.  Everyone rides bikes in Chicago (even ladies in heels).  Re: #1, I am not surprised.
4.  Everyone seems skinny in Chicago (with the exception of #5), it made me want to lose weight. Re:  #3.
5. All Chicago Bears fans look like Dick Butkus, even the lady fans.
6. The hot dogs are all I dreamed of and then some.
7. The pizza isn't all that, but I am glad I tried it.
8. Dunkin' Donuts are all over the place.
9. People are pretty nice and I felt completely safe walking around the city.
10. When we go back I want to do a boat tour, see Millennium Park, go to the Sky Deck at the Willis Tower, and eat at many more places.

Here are some pictures of our adventure!

The Midlife Crisis Museum a.k.a The Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY

A cool barn in Indiana

 Crazy Windmill Shot...these things are HUGE!

More Super Freaky Windmills in Indiana

View from our room at the Hyatt Regency Chicago on the Chicago River

Chicago Skyline from the Navy Pier

Chicago River

Kevin and a super tall building

These buildings had really neat parking garages

Headed to the Red Line

Kevin drinking a New Castle at Harry Caray's before the game

View from our seats...not too shabby.  Ending Score:  Braves 16 Cubs 5, such a spanking!

My 2 Favorite Things, Kevin and a HUGE Kraft Dinner noodle.  Amen.

Marking one off the bucket list...Kevin in front of Wrigley Field

View of Chicago from our room at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place

View of Soldier Field from our hotel room

Lake Michigan is so pretty.  I felt like I was at the beach with water as far as the eye can see!

My love.

Awesome (and cheesy) Segway tour of Chicago.

Fun Times Outside of the Garden: Part 1

Remember my friend Cheryl that was trying to steal a watermelon out of my garden (I kid, I kid!)?  We'll her little bundle of joy was born on August 11th...and Miss Mona Catherine is so precious!  This is a picture of me squeezing her tight!

That following weekend I, along with 21 super crazy friends went on a ZIP LINE ADVENTURE and had a blast (a very physically challenging blast!).

All 22 of us!!

Leeann and I

Super Scary Bridge

All for $76

Recently I decided to stock my freezer for the Fall/Winter with soups and casseroles.  For $76 bucks I was able to buy everything I needed to make it happen.

I cooked all night (Melina kept me company) and I made the following:

Baked Spaghetti 

Mexican Casserole

Mulligatawny Soup (recipe link)

Taco Soup

White Chicken Chili

Beef and Lentil Soup (recipe link)

I ended up with 4 casserole pans and 22 quart-sized freezer bags of soup.  Mission accomplished!

My First Year of Gardening: A Summary

It's been a while since I've blogged and I want to talk about my garden...lessons, successes, and bloopers.

First, I'll start with the lessons.  One, I am going to do much less variety next year.  Things I will not plant next year: corn, pole beans, onions, okra, carrots, butternut squash, beets, radishes, spaghetti squash, pumpkins (that sure was a fiasco!), and cantaloupe.  The corn and beans were too bug ridden for me.  The root vegetables just weren't worth it.  The large squash type veggies were just too aggressive.  Secondly, I am going to give a few things another chance even though i didn't have very good luck.  For example, instead of ever-bearing strawberries I will plant June-bearing in my topsy turvy...maybe that will give me a better yield.  Also, I am going to try watermelon again even though it didn't work out (I'll share that story below in the blooper section).  Bell Peppers are another one that I didn't have good luck with, but I think it had to do with crowding so I am going to try again.

On to the successes...tomatoes, squash, zucchini, and cucumbers!  These all did very well in my garden this year.  Next Summer, I would like to do one entire bed of zucchini and squash, another bed of tomatoes of many varieties (especially the German Johnson!) and bell pepper, and a third bed consisting of watermelon and cucumbers.  That's all folks...not much variety, but I'll focus on growing a few items consistently.

Lastly, the bloopers.  I think I covered most of these along the way (the pumpkin fiasco, the corn ants, etc.), but I haven't yet shared my watermelon story.  Bless my husband's heart, men never seem to listen...except when I casually and jokingly say, "Yeah, I'm over the garden this year...it's so hot outside!"  I guess he took me seriously, because he mowed over all my watermelons.  He said, "You told me you were done!"  Just when you think men don't listen...they do.  That is the day my garden ended.

I still have a couple of tomato plants going, but I'll be honest and say they have pretty much crapped out because of my neglect.  We have had a stretch of triple-digit temps and I can't get motivated to do much in heat like that.

Back to the watermelons for a minute...I have a quick story to share.  My watermelons never got big...they looked softball size for a long time.  I was waiting on them to grow and they never got bigger.  They must have been full grown because when Kevin mowed them over they were completely ripe!  I found one that he didn't get with the mower so I opened it up and tasted it...it was perfect!  Next year I will try a different variety.

We had my dad and sister over for dinner in July to celebrate my dad's birthday.  I wanted to share a couple of pictures from that day.  My dad's dog Sugar also makes an appearance...

Put some South in yo' mouth!

Today I went and checked on my garden.  My corn hasn't been looking that great and I decided to take a peek.  As I began to peel back the silk on one corn ear after the other, I became broken-hearted to discover that ants like Silver Queen Corn too.  Chalk it up to another gardening fail.  Check out the little buggers.

No sense in keeping it around...when I get mad, I start ripping stuff out of the ground.  Maybe I need a little gardening anger management.

Refusing to let the corn get me down, I went to the grocery store and purchased 18 ears of corn.  I was determined to put up some corn this year (not sure what happened, but 2 yellow ears wanted to play).

After shucking the corn on my back deck (which totally made me feel like an awesome Southern girl!), I boiled the ears for 10 minutes.

I learned this nifty little trick online.  Using a bundt pan to secure the corn cob while cutting all of the corn off...all the corn falls neatly (well, almost) into the pan.  Nice!

I ended up with 4 quarts...I wish I would have made more!  I will probably get more corn this week.

Tonight for dinner, we had an ultimate Southern meal.  Purple Hull Peas from Smith Farms, greens, creamed corn, macaroni and cheese, and cornbread.  Mmmm Mmmm.

Lastly, I have to show off my cute little dog, Stoli.  He just got a haircut!  Happy Weekend!