It's time to talk Thursday....

Well Jodi Picoult has done it again....

I finished this book just this morning and found myself gasping, my eyes widening, and asking "whhhaatttt?" out loud.  This author takes so many twists and turns in her books during the exact moment that you think you have it all figured out and I absolutely love that.  Her books are always around 350-400 pages, but you would never realize they were once you crack them open.  You are drawn in from the very first paragraph!

Today is my friend's birthday and I am wishing her the very happiest of days and hoping she gets to celebrate every single minute of the day!  I am so glad her co-workers took the time to decorate her cube and make a cake for her :)   We celebrated this past weekend and I was able to eat dinner with her and give her gifts to her, but "the day of" always feels more real than an early celebration.  You know I'd be there if I could!

Happy Birthday to you!  Love you girl!

I am anxiously awaiting this friend's bundle of joy!  Little Parker can't get here fast enough....and after her last ultrasound, she saw a closeup of his little face, which really resembles her and that made my anticipation jump even higher!  We were talking just the other night about how next summer we will need to take a beach vacation.  I envision us kicking back with our toes in the sand, complaining about how ridiculously hot it is outside (but we will continue to lay there as the sweat pours!!), and we'll have an ice cold beverage chilling in our hand without a care in the world.  Here's a picture from July of '08 when we were at the beach together. Ahh, those were the days!  For some reason that summer felt like there weren't bills to pay or countless errands to run...and I think when this picture was taken, she was told earlier that day by male Hale that he was gonna pop the question while we were at the beach...she kept a tight lid on that secret!

Stay classy Florida!  We'll be back....

I never get tired of looking at the clock on Thursday evenings and noticing it's 8:59.  I hurry to the couch, grab the remote, change the channel, pile up with a blanket, and hear that theme music that lets me know I'm about to laugh for the next half hour with these characters....

I never become bored with Stanley's obsession with pretzels, Dwight's analogies of life and beets, Michael's horrible jokes, Angela's bitterness towards everything, or that same look Jim always gives the camera.  I would have never become a fan of The Office if it hadn't been for this friend!  She let me borrow all of her seasons on DVD and when I caught up, I was hooked!  I throughly enjoy having a friend and someone in my actual office who loves The Office just as much as I do!

I will close with a picture taken of me and my goddaughter just this past weekend.

I worship the ground this little girl walks on!  She has the ability of making me smile when I'm sad, feel on top of the world when I feel 2 inches tall, and hugging me with little arms that feel like they love me oh so much!  She is 6 now and growing by the minute.  I was going through a rough time in my life with a horrible roommate that pushed me to the point of moving out, breaking my lease and putting all of my possessions in storage.  My goddaughter's mom (my friend & lifesaver Katie) welcomed me into her home with open arms until I could figure out what I was going to do or finally find a house that I was ready to buy and call home.  Nothing could ever top this little angel coming in the room I was staying in on a Saturday morning with sleepy eyes and a mess of hair, crawling up on the bed and saying, "morning!!"  She melts my heart and the time I lived with Katie was so special because I saw so much of this little lady and grew even closer to her.  People often mistake her for my daughter which, in my eyes, is the biggest compliment in the world!

Pandora Princess & Tuning In....

And that is just what I am.  I am HUGE fan of Pandora.com.  I just plug my headphones in my computer and work away while listening to whatever I want to!  You type in an artist's name and it will play songs by that artist and anything similar.  It's almost like I slip into my own little toe-tapping world and tackle files like nobody's business!  Everything is blocked out except you and your jams....

Also, I found this site today.  Tasty Kitchen Recipes.  Looks like I will have to try several of the soups because the Hales are all about some good soups during chilly fall weather!

Today is TV Tuesday!  I am, without question, a HUGE fan of The Biggest Loser!

I tune in to see these faces and witness them sweat, struggle, prevail, cry, yell, and of course, have the occasional drama sessions!  Danny, Shay, & Rudy are my predictions for a winner right now.

The male Hale loves that wild gang on...

I've read lots of reviews on this show in which people said they would have never tuned in from reading the synopsis of the show, but once they started watching, they were hooked!  It's most definitely an action packed drama.  Jax, one of the main characters, is pretty easy on the eyes too!!  Who can resist a bunch of guys who don't take crap from anyone while cruising around on bikes and going through all the trials and tribulations of life?!

Hope everyone has a great day!!

(Found this quote today and it's just how I feel sometimes)

"My life has a superb cast, but I can't figure out the plot."  ~Ashleigh Brilliant

I did the doo-doo....

Doo-doo cookies that is!  Not an appealing recipe title...but man are they scrumptious!

I'm sure you have had these before, but if not, here's the recipe.  You won't regret making them!!

2 cups of sugar

1/2 cup of milk

3 or 4 tsp. of cocoa (based upon how much you love chocolate!)

1/2 cup of margarine

Bring these ingredients to a rapid boil and boil for about a minute.

In a separate bowl, have these ingredients waiting:

3 cups of oatmeal

2/3 cup of peanut butter

1 tsp. of vanilla extract

Stir until it's all blended and drop them as small or as big as you'd like on wax paper and let them cool!  I can't resist them with a big, cold glass of milk!  Enjoy!

Saturdays

It's crazy to think when you were little, you always made sure you were up early on Saturdays to watch those cartoons you had waited all week for.  I remember my mom would always make muffins or pancakes and we would pile up on the couch and tune in.  Then you go through that stage where you don't make a peep until noon.  You always hear everyone say, "you're wasting so much of the day!", but you could care less, and you wouldn't give up the opportunity to sleep in for anything!  Now I am somewhere in between.  I love thinking I can get up at 9 instead of 6:45.  I don't ever see noon, but that's fine, because now as I have gotten older, I see what I can accomplish...even if they are just little things.  For example, this morning I got up and put taco soup in the crock-pot for us to enjoy while watching football....I folded some laundry and had some breakfast while watching a little TV while the hubby still snoozed, and it was nice.  (nice to not have to watch Sportscenter first thing in the morning, hehe)

This weekend my friend Skye will celebrate her 23rd birthday!  We'll go out downtown tonight and then enjoy good food and great company tomorrow at Big River while celebrating & watching some football.  I finally was able to finish her birthday present...she had simple requests, but I was struggling to put it all together!

My mom has been soaking up the rays in Destin since Wednesday.  I have been running back and forth from my house to hers taking care of this little angel that my mom would NOT know what to do without.

This is Blossom.  She and my mom and inseparable and we have had her for FIFTEEN years! Bless her heart, she can barely hear now and her vision is going, but with it being just her and my mom, this little rascal keeps a smile on Mom's face!

Well I will close with a big ROLL TIDE!!  Today is the Tennessee vs. Alabama game and this is a game that my husband looks so forward to every year.  We went last year and had a blast even though we froze to death!  We look warm here, but I know he's glad his beard is back for chilly days like today.

HAPPY WEEKEND!

Can't get enough...

If there's one type of food I never grow tired of, it is hands down, MEXICAN!

I can have Mexican for dinner on Tuesday night and wake up on Wednesday morning already craving it for lunch!  Crazy, I know, but that's how my qwerky little brain functions!  I want to know what the one type of food or even one food item is that YOU never get sick of!  Leave me a comment with your answer.  Hey you never know, I could send some your way, post a recipe, or try my hand at making something new!

I would highly recommend....

I am on page 220 of this 447 page book and have not been able to put it down. If you haven't heard of it, here's what it's about:

-- Freelance carpenter Shay Bourne was sentenced to death for killing a little girl, Elizabeth Nealon, and her cop stepfather. Eleven years after the murders, Elizabeth's sister, Claire, needs a heart transplant, and Shay volunteers, which complicates the state's execution plans. Meanwhile, death row has been the scene of some odd events since Shay's arrival—an AIDS victim goes into remission, an inmate's pet bird dies and is brought back to life, wine flows from the water faucets. The author brings other compelling elements to an already complex plot line: the priest who serves as Shay's spiritual adviser was on the jury that sentenced him; Shay's ACLU representative, Maggie Bloom, balances her professional moxie with her negative self-image and difficult relationship with her mother. Picoult moves the story along with lively debates about prisoner rights and religion, while plumbing the depths of mother-daughter relationships and examining the literal and metaphorical meanings of having heart. --


If anyone is looking for a good book right now, I would definitely pick this one up. I ordered it off of amazon.com for around $4. I have become quite the bookworm and LOVE it! My friend and I constantly have our noses in books and are always telling one another "don't even waste your time...." or "you have GOT to read this, no seriously....". Set aside some time every now and then for yourself to curl up on the couch with your favorite blanket in those pair of PJ pants you refuse to throw away and get lost in some pages!

Who you calling a jack-o-lantern??

I spent my Sunday with two great friends carefully selecting, cleaning, & carving these lovely fellows!  I don't know what it is about cleaning out a pumpkin, but I always laugh and have the best time while I'm doing it!   I never get tired of rolling up my sleeves and pulling out all that goo & seeds...kinda therapeutic if you think about it.  I never stray from the traditional pumpkin face.  Probably because I could never do anything close to what my friend Jacqueline accomplished on the middle pumpkin.  (mine is on the left).  See...here's one from 2 years ago.  Classic face, haha!

Our carving activities were accompanied with pizza and football...who could ask for a better Sunday??  So disappointed in the Tennessee Titans this year, but we won't go there...

Maybe I should stick to things like this like I made with friends last year...

I love going to festivals and fairs in the fall and eating kettle corn and chicken on a stick.  I love deliberating over which color mums to buy for the porch.  I love, love, love, decorating and yes, I still dress up for Halloween and love trying to figure out a couple to be...like last year, we were Mario and Princess.....

I'll spare you of any more pictures and just say Happy Fall Ya'll!!!