Faster than a speeding bullet....

When I was a little girl, I was in love with Superman. Seriously. He saved people all the time, could fly, had that totally awesome single curl of hair, and was just downright *sigh* amazing. My brother, Daniel, also liked Superman and loved to dress up like him, even down to wearing Superman underwear over his blue sweatpants. (I have pictures if anyone needs some blackmail). He even had a little pinstripe suit that he'd wear over his costume so he could rip it off like Clark Kent to reveal his superman costume.

I used to dress up in what I believed to be "demure office attire" and pretend to be Lois Lane. Superman was always saving me, er, I mean Lois from the perils of the lava river (Or, the floor below the couch I was standing on). The only difference in us and the REAL Clark and Lois was that when it was time for Clark to turn into Superman, Lois would have to help him get his suit off because he wasn't strong enough to do it himself. Oh and the fact that we were actually brother and sister and NOT two people who were secretly in love with each other. While that may fly in Kentucky or Arkansas, it doesn't here. In fact, I think I just threw up a little in my mouth thinking about it.

Luckily, years later, I got to marry Superman! No, not my brother, remember, I said that doesn't fly here.. I married a different Superman. His alter-ego name is Josh instead of Clark though. He's the best thing to ever happy to me! Just over three years of marriage and he's still sweeping me off my feet and rescuing me from dangers everyday! Though, the dangers are more like wasp nests in the backyard and cleaning the cat box instead of lava rivers, but rescuing me nonetheless! The only downside is that he can't pick me up and fly me off into the sunset.. which brings me to the point of this incredibly long, pointless, post...

I have forgotten how expensive airfare is these days!!! Most of you know I used to work at American Airlines. While there, I had to do my fair share of business travel, all of which was company paid of course, plus, anytime I wanted to fly for leisure, I only had to pay the taxes... so like $30 round trip was all I'd pay. Not to mention the fact that if there was an empty seat in first class, I could take that for no additional charge. LOVED IT. I also grew up getting stand-by tickets from my Nana anytime I wanted to fly so, needless to say, I got a little spoiled! I resigned from that position in June of 2006 and I don't believe Josh and I have flown anywhere since then so I hadn't thought about what a real airline ticket costs.

After a 3 year hiatus on air travel, we're planning several trips this year. The first one will be at the end of July. We're hopefully going up to Long Beach Island, NJ for a week. My dad's side of the family has a house up there on the island.. two block from the beach, two blocks from the bay. It's a little patch of heaven if I do say so myself! I've spent many a vacation up there, lived up there for an entire summer (where I had my FIRST job!) and it's also where Josh proposed to me...on the sand...overlooking the bay...at sunset...Go ahead, say "Awwww!!!" really loud. You know you want to! :)

Anyway, we haven't been up there since we got engaged because of finances and the ever popular "busy" excuse... so we're doing everything possible to get there this year(Thanks government stimulus check!!)

I've been researching flights and fares over the past few days and OH EM GEE (that's "gosh" for all you people who actually think I'd use the Lord's name in vain!!) it's WAY more expensive than I ever remember!! I'm starting to get creative with my flight planning. Luckily, we have several airports to choose from.. JFK, LGA, EWR, and PHL... All are approximately 2 hours from the shore so we're in good shape in we can just decide which one! Still, a minimum of $700 for two people to fly to NJ?! Holy cow!! I'm about to start mixing and matching airports to see where I can get the best deal. Maybe, just maybe, if I stand on one leg, rub my tummy and pat my head while inputting my searches, I'll get lucky and get a good deal. So many decisions, so little money. Or maybe I'm just a cheapskate!

I guess I'll have to tell Josh to keep practicing his flying!

French jokes

I love the French.. simply because they provide so many opportunities for jokes. Seriously, it's just so darn easy!


Go to www.google.com and type in French Victories. Click on the "I'm feeling lucky" button. You'll love it. Unless you're French that is.. ;)


Q: Why do French naval ships have glass bottoms?
A: To see all their other ships.

Q: How many Frenchmen does it take to defend Paris?
A: Nobody knows, it's never been tried.

Q. Why don't they have fireworks at Euro Disney?
A. Because every time they shoot them off, the French try to surrender.

Q: How many gears does a French tank have?
A: 4 reverse and 1 forward, in case the enemy attacks from the rear.

Q: How can you identify a French Infantryman?
A: Sunburned armpits.

Q. What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up?
A. The Army.

A: What do you get if you see a Frenchman up to his neck in sand?
Q: More sand.

Q: What is the most useful thing in the French Army?
A: A rearview mirror, so they can see the war.

Donald Rumsfeld was being heckled by a French anti-war weenie when he suddenly turned and asked the Frenchman: "Excuse me. Do you speak German?" The Frenchman replied "No." Rumsfeld looked him in the eyes and said "You're welcome."

Anyone see the French Military Rifle on eBay? It's never been shot and only dropped once!

"Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your accordion." —Norman Schwartzkopf

Ramblings of a simple mind

I don't really have anything exciting to post about today so far. I've spent the majority of my morning reading the Word looking for descriptions of the Antichrist. Why, you ask? Because of Barack Obama. Am I saying he IS the Antichrist? No, not necessarily. I am just reading up on it because the more and more I hear about this man, the more disturbing it seems to get. There seem to be some parallels between Obama and the Antichrist. These times are scary for us. Obama has so many people fooled. Even some of my good, strong Christian friends are being fooled by this man and it sickens me. He is a smooth talking, relatively good looking, "christian", is from Muslim descent, came from nothing, and is just downright chilling. I get an uneasy feeling every time I hear the man speak.

I never in my life thought I would say this, but I would rather have Hillary as President over Obama. Josh and I continually joke that if the Dems win the election, we're moving to Australia! :) Anyone else in? Kidding, of course, but the election this year is really frightening. We don't even have a Republican candidate I fully support. Anyway, back to Barack..

I can't put a finger on it exactly, but he just scares me. Is anyone else with me? I have no idea if I am right or wrong and wouldn't claim to be either because I cannot read the Almighty's mind, but I think it's all the more reason to study the Word and strive to be more and more firmly grounded in his Truths.

I would love to do a study on Revelation in the near future. I haven't done one since 8th grade I think so, of course, much of what I learned has been blown off in the wind. Who am I (or any of us) to even think we know the mind of God well enough to know if the end of time and return of Christ is near, but the Word tells us to ready ourselves. I figure if he told those in Biblical times to be ready, when the "end" wasn't going to happen in their lifetime, he definitely means it even moreso for us too!

So that's what's I've been up to since 7:30 am this morning when I arrived at work. With the exception of a few highly important scheduling calls and yes, one game of spider solitaire ;)

Oh and never fear, the lunch order went very smoothly yesterday and the VIPs will be dining on Jason's Deli paninis today. Extravagant, no?

The Pressures of Fame

So now that I have more than 2 people reading my blog, I feel the need to at least ATTEMPT to update it more often. Ready for a snoozefest? Here's my day so far:

7:30 am - Arrive at work and start checking email
7:45 am - Done checking emails and replying to important ones
7:46 am - Go to company info site and look at headlines
7:47 am - Done with that..
7:49 am - Play spider solitaire
8:15 am - cover phones for other admin while she goes and gets more coffee cups. Only one call and it was a personal call for the other admin. Visit People.com, foxnews.com, and thenest.com while waiting for her to come back
8:30am - Wondering why it's taking the other admin so long just to get coffee cups from the break room.
8:40 am- Play yet another game of spider solitaire (I'm slightly addicted if you can't tell)
8:55 am - Order someone some business cards and a cell phone.
9:00 am - Do today's jigsaw puzzle on msnbc.com
9:10 am - Save the day by calling a manager to see where the heck he is and why he's not in a meeting.
9:20 am - break down and go get a Red Bull because I am bored and tired.
9:33 am - Here I sit, updating this blog and drinking a disgusting Red Bull.

That's it so far. I think the highlight of my day will come when I get to decide what I'm ordering for lunch for a group of folks for tomorrow. YIPPEE!!!! Jason's? Chick-Fil-A? Olive Garden? Railhead? Oh the choices! What fun! I'm pretty sure the rest of my day will just be a repeat of 7:30am - 9:30am. I'm saving the world, one catering order at a time. Just another day in the life of.. dun dun dun.. SUPER ADMIN!!!!!!!!!

Awesomeness

Ok, if you haven't check this site out, you simply must. It's stinkin' awesome!

http://www.icanhascheezburger.com

Here is a sampling of what you'll find there....

Seriously, does it get any funnier than that?!

They also have a sister site for all you dog lovers. - www.ihasahotdog.com

Let the craziness begin!

May is an insane month for me. It has been that way since the beginning of time. In fact, I don't recall a single May that wasn't ridiculously busy. Between weddings, graduations, festivals, and other random craziness, I don't know how we stay sane! Anyway, Josh and I just enjoyed our very last weekend of freedom for the month and now we're buckling up and ready to go!

This coming weekend is Mother's Day/Glen Rose festival. My dad started the festival in... 1980 or 1979 or something like that and I've gone every single year of my life so I couldn't possibly imagine NOT going. I personally think it's a lot of fun, but I may just be biased. If anyone else is going/has gone and thought it sucked.. well... you're just wrong! :) Anyway, we'll be spending the weekend camping, listening to music, swimming in the river, and just plain hanging out. I'm just looking forward to a weekend away even though we'll be surrounded by friends and family. It's also Mother's Day so we'll likely be chillin' with the mamas down there too. I love that our families live nearby.. it makes combining holidays and stuff SO much easier!

The next weekend is also busy! My brother and his wonderful girlfriend are both graduating on Friday morning from DBU so we're headed up there to watch and hopefully embarass them by yelling as they walk the stage. Yippee!! We're such trouble makers. Ok, really, there is NO way Josh will actually yell... he doesn't do embarassing stuff, but I'm sure my dad and/or my sister will happily participate with me!

Later that night, we're finally going to join our church after being there for over 4 years. I guess we're just lazy. In fact, I think my official membership is still with FBCA which I haven't attended since I was a sophomore in high school. Wow, I'm bad at this! Oh well.

THEN Saturday afternoon, we're going to my uncle's wedding. Actually he's my great uncle... and he's in his 80s.. and I didn't even know he had a "girlfriend". I asked my mom about it when I got the invitation (after going "Wait, is this MY Uncle James? Or is this another guy, with the same name, inviting us to his wedding to someone I've never heard of?" for about 20 minutes) and she told me that apparently, since his wife died a few years ago, he's been quite the ladies man. Um. Weird. He was totally devoted to my Aunt Marian, but I guess he just didn't like being alone once she was gone. Ain't no thang, it's just weird!

So that is the first part of our hectic month!

That's all the randomness I can muster up for right now.

I seeeeeriously suck!

I haven't posted since November. How pathetic am I? I'm sure all....two of you...who read my blog were missing it. HA! Let's see...and update over the past almost 6 months:

1. After we ran the Pumpkin Run, we basically quit running and working out. Whoops!
2. I have had serious issues with anxiety since about November, but I think things are finally getting better. I'm going off the meds they put me on and I'm feeling much better. I couldn't have done it without all the prayers from my wonderful friends though. God is good!
3 I lost all interest in cooking for a while because of # 3, so I have no new yummy recipes really.
4. I am still on the job hunt...sort of. I am just passively looking.

I think that's about it as far as updates.

I ran in the Zoo Run Run this past Saturday and my time SUCKED something major! I'm so not even posting it in here! In my defense though, I walked most of it since I haven't done squat since November. Regardless, I am so incredibly sore right now it's not even funny! I swear, I must look like a duck when I'm walking or something because it hurts to bend anything. Oh well. I am hoping this was the swift kick in the pants I needed to get me back into exercise gear!

Hmm.. what else can I post about. Ohh. I heard something interesting on KCBI the other day! They were talking about Paul in Acts 18 where he got so fed up with the Jews that he shook his coat at them and said he was going to the Gentiles from then on. What I didn't know is that apparently this is something the Jews did to the Gentiles out of disgust (shaking their coats at them). I guess it's the equivalent of flipping someone off in modern times (though I do NOT condone doing that!!) So, the fact that Paul did this to them was REALLY a slap in the face! I thought it was greatness. Now, I do not think that means that God wants us to go flipping off those who bring us to our wits end, but I thought it was interesting.

So, that's a recap on me. I am going to tryyyyyy try try to update this more often! I mean, it's not like I have much else occupying my days! Plus, a girl can only play solitaire so many times a day. :)

Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

I was home sick last Friday and was watching the Food Network All star Thanksgiving show. Alton Brown made this recipe for mashed potatoes and it looked sooo yummy that I had to try it this week. The recipe did not let me down! It was phenomenal and probably one of my favorite ways to make taters now! I'm sure it's probably no healthy, but.... oh well :) Sometimes it's worth it!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_29148,00.html

Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

3 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
16 fluid ounces (2 cups) half-and-half
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons kosher salt
6 ounces grated Parmesan

1. Peel and dice potatoes, making sure all are relatively the same size.

2. Place in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce heat to maintain a rolling boil.

3. Cook until potatoes fall apart when poked with a fork.

4. Heat the half-and-half and the garlic in a medium saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove from heat and set aside.

5. Remove the potatoes from the heat and drain off the water.

6. Mash and add the garlic-cream mixture, salt, and Parmesan; stir to combine.

7. Let stand for 5 minutes so that mixture thickens and then serve.


We ate this with some baked Ranch chicken (dry packet of ranch dressing mixed with a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil and water then just pour over chicken breasts and bake for 20-30 minutes) and some peas. Delish! I'll definitely be making this recipe again and again and again!

Baked chicken secrets

Since being married and having to cook every night (while working full time!) I've discovered "shortcut meals". These are things you basically make up and throw together in a matter of minutes because you've had a long day and don't feel like cooking. One of these tricks of the trade is to pour salad dressing on chicken breasts and bake it. We've tried all sorts of different dressings and I've yet to find one that's not good! Ranch and Italian are great, but our absolute favorite is 'Mater Chicken.. I highly recommend this!! Here's the recipe!

'Mater Chicken

Ingredients:
2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thawed)
bottle of Good Seasons "Sun Dried Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper" salad dressing

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Put chicken in baking dish
3. Coat with dressing (use as much or as little as you like!)
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes

Seriously, that's all there is to it and it's absolutely divine! I promise! We usually have several veggies with it and occasionally some mashed taters. Speaking of veggies...another "on the run tip" ....I LOVE those SteamFresh things...you just pop it into the microwave for 5 minutes and voila! Fresh veggies!!

All that said, this is not what we're having tonight :) We're actually having pecan crusted mahi-mahi. I despise fish, but I actually *gasp* like this meal! I'll post the recipe one of these days along with pictures maybe :)

Let the search begin!

I....can't....take...it...anymore!!!! I have officially decided to start scoping out the job market. I realize I have only been in this position for about 1 yr and 5months, but I hate it. It's the most unfulfilling job I've ever had! I don't think I'll ever be fully happy in a job, but I am just miserable here. Sad thing is, I probably have someone's dream job! I get paid to do....NOTHING!! I hate it though. I need to do something. I need to accomplish something.. I need to feel like what I am doing is making a difference. Here, I don't even know what they're talking about sometimes!!

The communication is awful, the training (or lack thereof) sucks, and I'm just downright miserable! I've been torn on this for awhile though because they offer good benefits! Medical and dental is great, plus I get every other Friday off, plus 3 weeks vacation, PLUS the week between Christmas and New Years off! It's hard to beat that! But... I think I've finally realized that I'd rather work somewhere and enjoy it than hate it like this.

So, last night I put in an application at the Northwest ISD for an HR job! I would be so incredibly happy if they would call me. I have my doubts though because I just don't think online applications are all that suave. I think I may run up to the administration offices tomorrow and drop off a resume. It may go straight to a trashcan, but at least I'll feel better about it! It would be super nice to at least get a phone call for an interview... It would be SO nice...

Anyway, keep the prayers coming because I am nervous!!!!

This weekend we're going camping with another couple and I can't wait! It's been far too long since we last camped. I'm totally looking forward to the Hot Dogs and S'mores, but most of all.. I can't wait to have Eclairs!!! YUM. If you've never made these, you're seriously missing out! Here's the "recipe":

You'll need:
A campfire
Large dowel rods
Bucket of water
Foil
Canned raw biscuits (Pillsbury or whatever)
Pudding (handi-snacks or you can just make up a batch of instant)
Whipped cream

What you do:
Soak the dowel rods in a bucket of water for several hours. This helps keep them from catching on fire when you use them! When you're ready, cover the end you're sticking in the fire with foil. Take the biscuits and wrap several of them around the end of the stick with the foil. You'll have to stretch and pull them! I like to use between 2-3 biscuits. *Note: the thinner you make the dough, the less time it takes to cook through, but dont' make it too flimsy!*

After you've prepared your dowel rod, you just roast it over the fire like you were roasting a marshmallow or a hot dog, until it's cooked. Usually takes anywhere from 5-10 minutes (or longer.. but trust me, they're worth it!) When your dough has reached the desired cookedness, slowly and careful pull it off the dowel rod... Careful! It'll be hot! Fill the bread with pudding them top with a squirt of whipped cream. Indulge and go back for seconds :)

I can pretty much guarantee I won't eat well this weekend, but oh well! The menu consists of Hot dogs, Fajitas, hamburgers, more hotdogs, s'mores and eclairs. Yum! See y'all on the flip side!