Random Things that Make Me Happy

We are all stuck in the house. Oklahoma is in a "state of emergency." I cannot study for my exams as Hubby and Miss Mia are home with me and are not exactly "study friendly" companions. But that's OK.. With snow drifts in our back yard over 3 feet high already and more to come, I thought I would stop cleaning and just write out a few random things that make me happy. (OK, if you want to know the true thought process...watching snow fall, snow flakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes, me possibly twirling as if on an Austrian mountaintop...and alas, this post came into being. Please no judging!)

1. lemons (smell, zest, cooking, in pie...all good)
2. Bravo Tv (again, no judging)
3. Butterscotch fondue
4. funny text messages
5. Clean Sheets
6. Smell of Mia's shampoo
7. Fabulous sunglasses
8. Dark chocolate
9. Great boots
10. Degas artwork
11. Yankee Cotton Candles
12. Smart water
13. Body pillows
14. Leather journals
15. Sonic diet cherry limeades (oh, darn you snow, now I really want one)
16. Re-writing notes (no judgment)
17. Anderson Cooper reporting in Armani t-shirts (they grant me crazy chuckles!)
18. Honeycrisp apples
19. Smell of pine-sol
20. Singling Taylor Swift songs in the car with Miss Mia (we can do a mean 15 and You Belong with Me)

Calling all Crafters..Or Buyers of Crafts!

The fabulous ladies at Craft Hope are getting together to raise money for the people of Haiti. They are asking those who craft, or even have fun accessories to give to donate them to the Craft Hope Etsy shop. ALL proceeds will be given to Doctor's Without Borders going to Haiti.

For all details go here.


So if you love to craft, please help, or if you're not a crafter and more of a buyer...then this is a great way to help too!!

Introducing Daniela Alexandra

Although I woke up extremely early yesterday, I could not sleep last night. I watched Anderson Cooper (an entire post could be dedicated to my love for his fabulousness) and cried at the devastation and sadness surrounding Haiti. Feeling like we just had to do something, Hubby and I talked for a bit last night, slept on our decision, & woke up knowing that we needed to take action.

As most of you know, I love two kinds of people, old (85 and above) and young (all under 10). I find both endlessly fascinating. I worked all through my undergraduate with underprivileged pre-school children. The last few years, Hubby and I sponsored a child from Kentucky. That experience has been beyond fascinating. We are even more lucky, that the child we sponsored, his family has rebounded so well that he no longer is in the program. In fact, both of his parents have good jobs. It is truly an amazing story.

So without a child to sponsor, we decided to go international this time. We chose Honduras for various reasons, and then I saw this little girl. Daniela Alexandra. Is she not precious??

Just look at her adorable dress and that pose. I knew she was the little for us! I am so excited about this new journey and working with Compassion International. I just had to share our picture of this lovely little girl.


In case you want to check out Compassion, you can go here. You can also watch this video:

Julie & Julia

I've been awake since 4 a.m., so please forgive me if this post does not make the most sense. But after a week-long battle with our mail-carrier, I finally got my latest shipment from Netflix, including Julie and Julia. I knew I would love it, I just knew. Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, cooking, Nora Ephron...perfect girl movie, right?

After a truly horrendous day, Hubby came in the door with my Netflix and first issue from my Cooking Light subscription, that I nabbed off Amazon a few weeks ago for $5. (That's right, $5 for an entire year!!) We ate a quick dinner, and I made us lovely hot chocolates, and I sat down with a comfy blanket to enjoy the movie. As it turns out, I did love it. Meryl is so charming as Julia, whom I have always loved.

I remember the first time I ever saw Julia Child on TV. I was maybe 5 and I thought her voice was really cool. I tried to copy it, but with my West Texas twang, even my sweet mother could not suppress her giggles. (For the record, I have not tried it again, and my mother has no recollection of my attempt.)

When I was in high school, I really began to look at cooking differently, travel outside of West Texas and think of differnt cuisines. Julia came back into the picture. I read an article about her and was astonished to learn that she was 6'2! Being an over 6 foot female myself, we have to stick together! My adoration of Julia has only continued.

So, the movie..it really was great. Since I have been up since 4, I decded to see if I can find the blog that became the basic for the movie, which basically involved a google search. Read the blog, read Julie Powell's new blog. Was not really that found of the new one, but liked much of the original.

Then I got to thinking, what cookbook would I be willing to cook my way through? I would really love to attempt to cook all of the Paula Deen recipes. I feel that if I could survive the endeavor however, the next few YEARS would be cooking my way through Weight Watchers cookbooks and Heart-wise, repair the damage after a year of butter. So I think I'm leaning more towards Nigella, although Martha would be fun too. I'm not planning on doing this anytime soon, but it is an interesting notion.

My New Love

I have a new love...no, Hubby has no need to worry, my new love's name is Netflix. Have you discovered this most glorious creation? I got a coupon in the mail a few weeks ago for 2 free months. So I thought what's the harm in trying. Ordered my first movie, two days later it arrived. It was fabulous..and so on! But here is the best part, the instant watch. We have our Mac computer hooked up to our big screen TV in the living room. With the help of our wireless keyboard and mouse, I can access so many movies, including TV seasons, and documentaries.

This week I have been watching fabulous movies on the American Revolution, British Empire, and Jane Austen. Oh, its just glorious!

One of the other fun features, is you can see what other people in your area are watching. I must admit that it did break my heart a little to hear that the top movies requested in our area were Bill Engvall Comedy special's and Where the Red Fern Grows. In Manhattan, they like to watch Second Chance Harvey and Mad Men. (I think I might be living in the wrong area!) = )

2009 In Pictures

Can you tell I am stuck at the house today? Miss Mia's school was canceled due to the weather, and thus we are at home. I've already completed all my other "to-dos" for the day. I have been seeing these "Year in Pictures" everywhere, and basically had to do it as well. A follower, I usually am not, but on this one, yes!

January
We took Miss Mia to Fort Worth and to the zoo. She loved it all, especially the birds! EEk! I just know they want to peck my eyes out! = )
February
In February, Miss Mia played with all her new toys and her grandparents that came to visit her!
March
Learned in March that a toddler cannot be expected to help with grading, but can be expected to disorganize their Type-A mommy's alphabetized stack of blue book exams.
April
Hubby & I spent our first night away from Mia in a train..the Santa Fe Caboose at the Woodrow House in Lubbock while I delivered a paper at the West Texas Historical Association Conference.
May
Miss Mia became Mommy's Little Helper. She "helped" with cleaning and the general running of the house
June
With temperatures going into the triple digits, we decided to take Miss Mia out on the lake for the first time. She loved the canoe, the water and most of all the sand on the beach.
July
In July we drove 16 hours in one day to Michigan. We took Miss Mia to meet many of Hubby's "Yankee" relatives. She met her 3 cousin Charlie (above.) They actually liked each other!
August
More triple digit days. So Miss Mia & I hopped on an airplane and headed for..Houston. (Wait, trying to escape the heat?!) Hubby's parents had a new pool that Miss Mia & I graciously tried out for them! Miss Mia also got to experience her first airplane ride and turbulence, which she ended up loving.
September
I got a new camera for my birthday! Pictures of Miss Mia went into overdrive!
October
Hubby & I went to see U2. What a memorable night!! I hope I never forget it!
November
Miss Mia turned 2 in November and to celebrate Auntie K got married! (Well, that's what Mia thinks at least!) She got to be the cutest flower girl EVER!

December
December brought many exchanges of gifts, helping Mommy bake and helping Daddy build, decorate and landscape (of course) a gingerbread house.

What a year! How fabulous it has been!

Christmas Part II

We celebrated Christmas with Hubby's family over the New Years holiday. We had only been home for 2 days after being in Texas and thus I ran around the house like a mad chicken as I tried to finish laundry and cleaning the house before their arrival. Hubby and I went out and did some last minute shopping, hoping to find some good deals after Christmas and came across a Mary, Joseph & Baby Jesus for $2. OK, so some back story. I grew up Church of Christ and we never had a Nativity set since we don't celebrate Christmas as a "religious" holiday. Since we don't know the exact date of Christ's birth, etc etc. I have never really wanted a nativity set, but this one, was so funny. The baby Jesus is at least 5 years old. It was too funny not to buy.
Since Hubby's family is Baptist and have many nativity sets, we decided to use some of Miss Mia's toys and create one. (I hope this doesn't offend any of you. It was meant as a joke!) As you can see, there are cows and horses and a "stable." The smurf on the top has wings and is the guardian angel. Some lego men are the wise men. Hubby really got into this! = )
So the family got here, we exchanged presents, made ridiculously fabulous appetizers for New Years Eve. Oh, it was such a feast. Then we decided to play Hubby's Wii Ski that he had gotten from his parents. Even Miss Mia took a turn!
The next day we went to Myriad Gardens in OKC. Miss Mia loved it, especially the fish.
Here we are making fish faces at her grandparents!!

The holidays were so great this year. It amazes me how much more fun the holidays are with a little one. Since the holidays and turning 2, Miss Mia is talking more and more everyday. Sometimes in entire paragraphs. She has memorized two books, and quotes them so beautifully. Every night we read a book before bed and then she grabs her book, "Night Night moon, night night chair and rev (that's red) loom (that's balloon!)" Precious, precious memories!