Miss Mia 2010

A look back at our sweet Miss Mia throughout 2010...from Norman, Ok to Houston, Texas and everywhere in between, she has been the best trooper. No matter where she lived, she rolled with the punches, changed schools, gained new friends, changed churches, and came out of living with Nana for 2 weeks with minimal spoilage! ha!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! Is it just me or did 2010 only comprised of 4 months? This year flew by but in some ways January 2010 seems so long ago. 2010 rocked our family. For the controlling, type A girl that I am, it was quite the learning experience. We lived in 5 different places this year, both changed jobs, changed states--lots of changes. If someone would have told me last January that in one years time, I would be writing from Houston, I would have laughed and told them they were crazy. Living in Houston was always one of my "I'll nevers!" (I.e..The good Lord likes to mess with this type-A girl who has said, "I'll never live in Houston!" Look where I live..For the record I also said "I'll never get married or have kids before I'm 30." Reality, I was married at 20 and had Miss Mia at 24.) One of my resolutions is to stop saying, "I'll never," because I think God is messing with me. ha!

My little, Houston based family spent our New Years Eve together. The in-laws watched Miss Mia most of the day so we could help Hubby's sister install hardware on her kitchen cabinets. Then Hubby & I had a little date to the movies. Then we all came back and stayed up to watch the ball drop and be silly with the late hour.
Today we spent the day again with the in-laws. For lunch we made a sausage and shrimp boil that was beyond fabulous. One of the best parts of living in Houston (yes, I said there are good parts) is fresh seafood and Chapel Hill, Texas sausage!

As for resolutions, which I love making, and kept 3 out of 4 this past year, I have narrowed them down to the following:
1) Make more handmade instead of buying. One of the things we tried to do this past year was make most of our gifts and it was so great. I'm already making my brother's Christmas gift for next year.
2) Finish my book- deadline is this summer, and I have book promotions in April..lots to do
3) Build and strengthen new relationships. With moving to a new city where I knew no one but my in-laws, I am so thankful that we have found a great church with amazing people. We have already made some great friendships, but I am hoping they will grow even more this year!

I also love that some people pick a word for the year and I’m thinking I will go this route too. My word for 2011 is Transform. I am in a new stage in life with many new projects in the year and I hope that I can take on these tasks. (Also helps that I just finished an amazing Bible study called Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed.)

While 2010 was the year that I learned the most about myself and what my little family is made of, I am hoping that 2011 will be a bit more gentle! Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

Wishing that you all had/are having a wonderful Holiday season and a wonderful new year!

2010 held some serious kicks and surprises for our family but they all worked out for the best. here is hoping for a less stressful 2011 but filled with family and lots of laughter!

PS- Kudos to Hubby for updating the look of the blog. I told him that if I am to blog more in the new year that I must have a new backdrop. I love what he came up with!

Cheap Christmas Gifts

Today on Daily Steals you can get the Extra Large Pillow Pets for only $6.99! These are usually $20-$40! Miss Mia has been begging for the lady bug pillow. Now that these are on sale, she will find one under the Christmas tree!

Shipping is $4.95, but that is still 1/2 of what they are in the store! Go HERE to take a look!

I Heart Swagbucks

You all know that I love a frugal find. I have heard about Swagbucks for a long time and finally decided to join. In two weeks, I have earned over $15 in various gift cards. Even better is that using it is really simple. You earn "swagbucks" through searches (like you would use on google), finding codes, referring friends, no obligation surveys. I am totally hooked. So I am using my gift cards to buy birthday and Christmas presents for the family. Today I bought Miss Mia a present on amazon. It was originally $12, then I used $10 of my gift cards, a my free Amazon Prime for no shipping or taxes and paid $2! Soon she will have her new Melissa & Doug set & it only cost me $2!! Pretty great right?

If you would like to join, click here:

A Funny Thing Happened At Walmart

Miss Mia & I were doing a little shopping at Wal-mart Tuesday afternoon. Now, I am not a frequent Wal-mart shopper but I needed a bizarre mix of things. Thus to save us time, I swallowed my pride, and made the trek. We ended up in the kitchen section and Miss Mia spied the Paula Deen cookware. At the top of her little lungs, she began to shout, "Look! My Nana! There's my Nana!" Of course being my daughter, most of the store heard her. A few people looked and smiled. Finally one lady, who had been staring at us for a bit, came up to us. She looked really shy and said, "I am the biggest fan of Paula's. We TiVo all her shows and have all her books. Could I get your autograph?"!! She was almost shaking from nerves that I couldn't laugh at her. I told her I was so sorry but Paula only has two sons and I am not married to either. My daughter is just under the impression that my mother and Paula are one in the same. She laughed and was very sweet about it. We called "our" Nana all about her almost celebrity! = )

So what do you think? Separated at birth?

Nana...aka Not Paula Deen

The "Real" Paula Deen

If only you could her them both speak! Then you would see how Miss Mia could get confused..and watch them both cook..Yumm-O!

Welcome Back....

Welcome back to our NEW Red Raider Home located in Houston, Texas. Our little family has been through much in the last 3 months. We lived apart for a month while I completed a fellowship I won through June. We all rendezvoused at my in-laws house the first of July and lived with them until our house was ready. Last Friday we finally got to move in!! We are basking in the large open spaces and having our own area again. I am basking in cooking again after living in either a hotel or someone's house for over 2 months! Miss Mia is so excited to have her toys back, she is beyond control.

So welcome to our house. Complete with Bentley and Miss Mia playing and watching Toy Story 2!


View from the living room/dining room into the kitchen and entry way.
I love this house's kitchen. The house was built 5 years ago but all the appliances are 1-2 years old because the sweet lady who lived her before us hated all things that weren't Kenmore. Thus, we have all new appliances. The fridge is three weeks old!
View out of the kitchen...and of the best pantry ever. I'll post about it later. Seriously, I have waited so many years for this pantry and kitchen.
Corner view of the kitchen with our green bookshelves. Oh, how I missed our stuff!


Down the hall we go to Miss Mia's room with her new door sign made by a sweet lady I found on Etsy.
Reading area, toy box...all our attempts to control the chaos
Her most beloved bed and even more beloved kitchen and pea pod tent that has to be up at all times for her animals to go camping.


Miss Mia's bathroom complete with picture of her and her Papaw feeding chickens!
Our utility closet. Hubby makes fun of me for decorating it. I loathe folding clothes, so if I can make the process better with some decorations (particularly the Shaq and Chipper Jones bobble-head dolls) then its just that much better.

Down the hall we go into the master bedroom...

My birthday was a few weeks ago and Hubby and my parents collaborated on all new bedding..including 800 thread count sheets!!! Hallelujah!

Other view of the bedroom including doors to the HUGE closet and master bath...

Love this bathroom!
Although you can barely tell from this picture, the thing I love most about this new house is the garden tub with jets! Judge me if you will but after a week of moving, sometime the only thing that gets me through the day is knowing that I have those jets at the end!


More to come...from the right side of the Red River!