We celebrated Mandy's birthday over the weekend and it was so much fun!
Big Steve and I don't really do much together, but we did discover that staying up until 5am is for the birds; he spent the entire day Sunday sleeping and I spent it counting down until Stevie's bedtime.
The weekend was so worth it, though!
Good friends and good food - what more could you ask for?!
[me and the birthday girl! at some point, i decided a fire hat was necessary and made this face...also necessary.]
[JULIA GULIA! on a side note, she's finally going to be living with her horse and i am so happy for her!]
[the birthday lady and her maaaaaaaaan.]
[BOBBY! somehow we also decided to talk about ghosts which gave me incredible nightmares last night, btw.]
Well, Mandy can't eat Oreos or chocolate (which makes me really depressed), so I tried Vanilla Truffles for the first time - just as easy and just as delicious!
Vanilla Truffles (aka The Mandy Truffle)
1 package WhoNu Vanilla Cookies (or generic brand)
1 8oz package of Cream Cheese - softened
White Chocolate for Piping
Festive Sprinkles!
Crush up your cookies (I use a food processor, but you can just as easily crush them using your hands) - add you Cream Cheese and mix it all together. I use my hands because I'm not scurred.
Melt your white chocolate. Cut a small slit in the corner of a plastic baggie and decorate your balls (a joke can be made here somewhere). Then add sprinkles of your choice and serve!
You know the deal - mix dry ingredients (Pancake Mix, Brown Sugar, Cinnamon, Baking Powder) in one bowl and the remaining ingredients in another, large bowl. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the others, mixing constantly.
Pour batter into muffin cups and sprinkle with cinnamon mixture!
Bake 14-18 minutes.
Bonus points for having reusable muffin cups. Thanks, Mama!
Thinking a lot about my childhood and how fun it was.
My mom was SO strict and we weren't allowed out if she or my step dad weren't home.
Considering they both worked all the time to provide for 4 kids, we spent a LOT of time together.
I attribute our closeness to the amount time my siblings and I spent together growing up.
I also attribute my oddities to that time.
We have inside jokes that, even if they were explained to you, you'd still wonder why we're laughing. Essentially, this post may or may not be written specifically for their/my enjoyment.
Here goes:
"What happened to the bread? I dunno what happened to the bread."
"Wendy, that's not what Marlaina did."
"Push pops. Comes in Chewwy and Gwape."
"Susan, you made me cuss!"
Hits in head with frozen burritos.
Drinking coca-cola as fast as we can, passing around in a circle, microwaving so it doesn't feel cold, then putting the evidence of the soda drinking in the trash can out back. When we were in high school...
Breaking into our house with credit cards and/or pool pass.
Singing "When You Say Nothing At All" to posters - here's to you, Devin Sawa, Leo DiCaprio, Rider Strong, and JTT.
And last, but certainly not least, the 'Going to Daddy's Song:'
Ever since Steven proposed to me, I've been thinking about our future - naturally.
I don't have a single, teeny weeny doubt about marrying Steven; I know he's the person I want to spend the rest of my life with.
I worry about my own little self-sabotage sometimes, though. I worry about that silly little divorce rate and I worry about the odds.
Truth is, Steven and I have been through a whole bunch together. Lots of those things I have chosen to keep private and will likely continue to keep them private.
But, we made it.
[circa 2008]
We made it through an accidental pregnancy that not everyone was totally stoked about.
We made it through nearly 7 months of a colicky baby; I'm talking little more than 2 hours of consecutive sleep...for 7 STINKIN' MONTHS!
Not to mention the 9 months of dirty looks I gave him pre-baby. Seriously, Steven, did you HAVE to breath so loudly?
We made it through ex-girlfriends/ex-boyfriends showing their pretty little heads back up in our lives.
We made it through fights with the other person's family members - physical and verbal.
We made it through a fight that caused us to miss the Cowboys v. Redskins game. THAT IS HUGE!
We made it through our own personal vices.
Seriously, though, there's very little that can shake us at this point.
When I realized I was pregnant, there was a series of events that occured:
1. Uncontrollable sobbing.
2. Visions of my Granny's disappointment.
3. Told my Step Dad, still sobbing, whose response was "THIS IS AWESOME!!! Does the pink line mean it's a girl?"
4. Called my Mama, whose response was "It's gonna be okay, I'm always here for you."
5. Called Steven, whose response was "So does that mean you're coming back over?!"
6. Drove back to Steven's house.
7. Prayed. For hours and hours and hours.
I'd never felt so close to God and never felt so much forgiveness in all of my life. You see, some people think that being a Christian means not making mistakes, being perfect, and following all the 'rules.'
Maya Angelou said it best when she said:
"I am not claming to be perfect, My flaws are far too visible But, God believes I'm worth it."
Ever since then, God has been kinda whispering for me to be something more. Those whispers have gotten louder over the last couple of years; I'm not sure if it's because I've chosen to be more and more obedient to Him or because He's straight up yelling, but my heart is longing for more.
I had great plans to make my big debut back at church on Sunday, then was knocked off my feet with whateverthatwas.
So, I thought I'd tune into good 'ol Joel Osteen (who, per my sister's request, I will not be spiritually fed by on a regular basis) and his sermon was about God's voice.
Wellllllll, isn't that a coincidence? I've been half-way listening for God's voice for a couple years now!
He was talking about how God always gives us little warnings, little 'signs' if you will, but we have to be open to seeing them.
I know that without God and without obedience to Him, Steven and I will either crumble or go up in flames.
I SUCK at arguing. I cry, I bring up seemingly moot points, I even *gasp* instigate.
None of these are intentional, but they still occur.
I know that these two subjects - marriage and God - seem totally unrelated to a lot of people and I am probably a little scatter-brained this morning from an occurance on the homefront, but I guess my point is that crying out to God works and God makes things work.
I know that having a baby when I did may not have been what God wanted me to do, but He sure did make it work. He made it work better than this guy:
If you're still reading, HEY THANKS and color-me-shocked!
And if something in your life feels off, I'll leave you with this:
Unfortunately, some sort of stomach bug paired with my cold had me on my butt, literally, from 7 pm Saturday night until this morning.
BUT, I had a really fun weekend, despite the fact that I didn't do everything I'd hoped.
I went out with some ladies to Nick's Nightclub, which was super fun.
My new goal: YouTube line dancing and become a pro.
[different strokes for different folks.]
[good ol' deb.]
[hands out = off center, but <3 these gals.]
Saturday morning, I could feel the yuckies setting in, but I had a date with my main man to Disney on Ice. He LOVED it; I wasn't expecting his response, but he was just in awe of the entire show.
[he LOVES mickey!]
[aunt Dede loves mickey more, though.]
Sunday basically looked like this:
[special thanks to my love for taking care of me and taking on all my usual duties.]
Today, I got my ring back and re sized to perfection! Best part of my weekend.
I feel like a real taken lady now.
[perfecto!]
And a HUGE, special shout out to Mandy on her special day!
My little guy has taken it upon himself to find his way to my bed every morning between the hours of 5-6 am.
We (and by 'we,' I mean 'Big Steve') used to have this very strict rule about Stevie being in our bed, but that rule has since been changed:
Old Rule: He sleeps in his own bed.
Modified Rule: He sleeps in his own bed except some nap times.
New Rule: He sleeps in his own bed except when he wakes up (must be after 5am or else he needs to go back to bed in his own bed) and he can sleep in our bed at nap times when he's at home.
He is the best cuddler early in the morning and he is quite the morning person - definitely gets that from Daddy. He speaks so sweetly and softly in the morning, I could just die.
Some of my favorite early morning Stevie words:
- "good morning, mama."
- "how you today?"
- "pound it." (accompanied by the fist)
- "choc milk please."
- when asked if he wants cereal, he says, "how 'bout donut?"
- when i say no to the donut, he says, "owight, i like cereal."
- "daddy workin'?"
- "i miss you, daddy."
- when asked if he wants to go somewhere, he responds "not today."
- "BLANKIES!"
-"BLANKIE TAG!"
- "hi Bella gull (girl)."
There are many others and he generally cracks me up.
[dear mandy - i know you hate these energy drinks because they're bad for my heart, but i just love em.]
I don't know if it's the Red Bull, the engagement, the added responsibilities at work, the awesome glasses, this recipe that I will make before the end of the week, or the fact that we're half way through the week - but I am in a GREAT mood.
This next few (or so) days are so full of goodness:
one - it's a 4 day weekend for me!
b - it happens to be super doubles at HT!
tres - i get to go to Nick's with some awesome ladies and dance/sing the night away
4 - Disney on Ice with my boy, his aunt Dede, my Katerina, and other sweet ladies. something about buying a ridiculous light up toy that he will play with about 5 times makes me WILD!
e - my oldest friend (oldest=length of friendship; she's younger than i am), amanda ott, is coming over for a sleepover saturday night; we will eat, watch movies, make wedding plans, etc. just like the good 'ol days.
six- i am going to church for the first time in 7 years. i'm pretty excited because i greatly miss fellowship, but a little nervous at the same time. remembering wise words from my sistah: "your sin is no greater than anyone else who has been redeemed in that church."
siete - did i mention it's a 4 day weekend?!
8 - painting my bedroom a loverly shade of orange. don't judge just yet!
i - SLEEP!
It's going to be a fantastic few days.
SO MAGICAL!
[dear God - please do NOT turn me into a disney-aholic like Aunt Dede. thanks!]
I thought I'd take the less traditional route and use this day to apologize for a few things:
I'm sorry for airing out your biz, but I have noticed great changes that will, ultimately, save our marriage.
I'm sorry for crying and responding "I thought I was gonna have to break up with you" when you asked me to marry you. I meant, "HECKS YES!"
I'm sorry for feeding you Chicken and Dumplings, Shepherd's Pie, and Spaghetti so much the last couple of months; they happen to be easy and inexpensive. I'll do better.
I'm sorry for rolling my eyes at you when you track dirt through the house. I will probably not stop doing that, so sorry x1000.
I'm sorry for waking you up and kicking you when you were on my side of the bed the other night...especially since I give you crap for not cuddling enough.
I'm sorry for the 9 months I was pregnant. The whole 9 months.
I'm sorry that I frequently wear yoga pants and leggings around the house paired with a huge shirt that belongs to you. I don't like the cold.
I'm sorry that I always complain about being cold when you work so hard to keep the fire going.
I'm sorry I make you uncomfortable by regularly telling you how hot and sexy you are. HAHAHHAHA. I'm not really sorry about that one.
I'm sorry I play spades online.
I'm sorry I don't wash my hair every day.
I'm sorry that I sometimes let clothes sit in a hamper for a couple of days to get all wrinkly.
The truth is, I had to take a quick pic because I wanted to eat it up, but I try to eat no/low carb for dinner most nights, so my meal was a bit different.
I remember when weekends used to be a time to relax.
I have a good feeling I will be in bed shortly after the little one tonight.
[beautiful Lake Anna sunrise.]
We went down to Lake Anna on Friday and woke up early Saturday morning to head down to Grandma Schumann's house.
[built by Granddaddy Schumann.]
She has been in and out of the hospital for a couple of months now and, unfortunately, the family has had to make the decision to sell her home to pay for medical care.
It was my first time there and my heart was really sad for the grand kids that went.
I could just feel how many memories had been made there.
I walked in to find pictures EVERYWHERE and beds galore on the upstairs level to accommodate all the grand kids.
I know it's going to be a really sad time for the family, so keep them in your prayers, okay?
I was glad that Stevie got to spend some time there and that all the kids got to hang out.
[big and little.]
[stevie's cousins! he's surrounded by ladies.]
It was such a beautiful place and I feel pretty special that I got to experience
...I don't know what to do for you. And I'm not sure we should be friends.
Listen, at first glance, I know this is really sad and you're probably thinking I'm the meanest mom ever.
BUT, he's not crying because something actually happened to him or he's hurt or even sad; he's crying because he didn't want his picture taken.
It probably didn't help that I was laughing at him or that his Daddy was saying "your Mommy is making fun of you," but it was hysterical.
Disclaimer: I promptly cleaned him off after this picture and gave him lots of love and giggles. In 10 years or so, he'll I'll be so glad I took the picture first.
