Guess who graduated from puppy class last night!
One dog out of the class gets voted as “Most Improved” and receives a ribbon. Guess who won! :o)
Sigh. We are SO proud.
Our little guy on the far left. Haha, how cute is he in his little hat?!
My INSANELY, crazy-busy work projects are almost finished! Next week I should be back to my normal blogging routine. So excited to catch up with everyone!
I hope you are having an awesome week!
Blessings/XOXO
Hellooooo, Lovely Loves! I’m still here! I hope you will excuse my absence and MAJOR lack of posting. Ohhh my goodness, things are CrAzY over in our neck of the woods! I’m in the process of creating and finishing a huge product catalog for our company. I love designing and am always so thrilled to be a part of something so big and fun, but MAN, it’s a LOT of work! In addition, Hubsy and I have had something going on EVERY.SINGLE.NIGHT after work and I have even had commitments BEFORE work! Seriously, who does THAT? Commitments in the wee morning hours? I think I need to make sure I don’t commit to pre-work events any more. WHEW! Tonight we are having sweet friends over for dinner and I made a Chocolate Cream Silk Pie last night from a recipe my mom gave me. Ohhhhhhhhhhhh MYYYYYYYYY goshhhhhhh. I couldn’t stop “testing” the batter just so I could get in another taste. Hubsy and I think it is A-MAZING!!! I can’t wait to share the recipe! Oh, and it is SUPER easy! Next weekend we’re going to Baltimore to visit friends and participate in a fundraiser. AND….oh my goodness….AND……..in only a few weeks I will be in LAS VEGAS!!!! I am SO pumped! I used to travel there quite a bit for my last job and I am SO pleased that I have been asked by my new boss to take on a conference there. My boss, an intern of ours and I will be traveling together. We will be working during the day and doing some pretty exciting things in the evenings! We have tickets to see Cirque du Soleil’s O the first night we’re there!! EEEEK! The second night, we’re seeing Santana. I mean, REALLLLLY, how fun is that?! I have been so blessed to travel for work and stay at such awesome places. Next time, however, HUBBY will HAVE to come with me. It’s not nearly as fun traveling and seeing cool things without my manly main squeeze. I’ll be in Las Vegas over Valentine’s Day so Hubby and I have something special planned for before I leave. BUSY BUSY! I hope you are all having a WONDERFUL week! I will be back SOON, as soon as I can get this crazy schedule of mine under control. Thanks for all of the love below, it is SO encouraging and helpful when life seems to be whirling by at times. Ya’ll are pretty amazing. :o)
Happy Thursday!!
Blessings/XOXO
This makes me SMILE.
My beautiful lovie, Michelle, snapped this picture on her phone and sent it to me a few weeks ago. She was on her way to a charity ball…
Isn’t she beautiful!!?!
Guess where else she donned this important piece of clothing...
Picture taken on 9.29.07 (Aka: The greatest day in the history of my life.)
They really CAN wear them again. :o)
Makes me SMILEEEE for a mile!
I hope you all had a WONDERFUL weekend! Ours was a complete joy – I’m getting a little spoiled by my weekends lately. I wish so badly I could write all about it, but unfortunately, this week at work is BUSYYY BUSYYY for me and Hubsy and I have our evenings packed full right now. So much to do! As soon as I am able, I will be back to posting. Lots of exciting things happening!
Have an INCREDIBLE week!
Blessings/XOXO
PRAYING for the people of Haiti and those impacted by the depths of this tragedy. Here is an article you may be interested in reading – it is a response to Pat Robertson from Don Miller. It is mind boggling to me that I am sitting at my desk talking about my fabulous life and the changes I am excited to make, when others are experiencing a heartache I can’t even fathom. It is a wake up call. I know how blessed I am. I pray that the people in and around Haiti will feel the Lord’s faithfulness and goodness, even amongst a tragedy such as this. I pray for HEALING. And I thank God for this life that He has given me, one that I know I did nothing to deserve. His love is truly amazing, all the time. It doesn’t feel like we’re doing much, but I know every little bit counts, even prayers. :o)
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Original Post:
I.can’t.find.my.camera.ANYWHERE. A little pixie came and took it, I just know it. I stated in my previous post that I was going to show pictures and give more detailed recipes from our day of Sunday Cooking – well, unfortunately, those pictures are now MIA. Still interested in the recipes? Feel free to shoot me an e-mail! pocketfullofpink{at}gmail{dot}com
Let’s chat for a minute.
I love change. I adore it. Some people are scared of change and not necessarily eager to embrace it. I, however, thrive off of it. I am at a point where I am CRAVING it. A particular change I have in mind has to do with my dear ol’ blogging world. Ch-ch-ch-CHANGES. I have SO many ideas looming in my head! I want to change my posting style, change my color scheme, change my layout, even ----- possibly ----- change my URL. I know, I know, this is shocking news. No worries, if this happens, it will be subtle and painless. :o) So I am in the process of cooking up a few ideas that will be able to incorporate ALL my passions, loves, and things in general that make my heart sparkle – without limiting myself, to say, the color PINK. And a theme that will easily transfer into several other stages in our lives that my precious Hubby and I will be experiencing over the next several years! These blog changes may not happen for months still, but this has been on my heart and I wanted to share it with you, my sweet readers. A place to still (and always) dote on my incredible husband, dish about our fondness for cooking, love of restaurants and food, inspiring tidbits I find on the web, photographs, quotes, novels, training for my first 15k --- I get excited just thinking about all of these things. My goal will be to post more and write less. I have never been a shy girl, I’m always talking away at any given time, so the idea of having a place where my expressions can be thorough while staying minimal – sounds so relaxing and endearing. Really, the main reason to change things up a bit is simply because my heart and creative juices are ready.
Stay tuned. :o)
And in the mean time, have a WONDERFUL weekend! My lovely-lovie ‘Neene is coming into town tomorrow morning. We have such a fun day planned full of little surprises I have cooked up for her birthday. What would we do in a world without girlfriends? GASP! I don’t even want to think about it.
These girls are the reason I made it out of college a better woman than when I went in to college. Christine is in the middle with me. LOVE.THEM.SO.SO.SOOO.MUCH.
Blessings/XOXO
So, here’s the scoop. I have a TON of pictures on my camera from our fabulous, full day of Sunday cooking, BUT, I don’t have my camera with me. Boo. Below are short-version recipes. Tomorrow (or Wednesday or Thursday, let’s be honest) I’ll come back and re-post more specific recipes with the pictures I took. Sound good? Awesome. Double the fun. :o)
Behold my rather lengthy post recapping our weekend sans pics…
What a fabulous weekend! I feel refreshed and invigorated, le BEST feeling in the world.
Friday night hubby and I picked up some Thai food and went home to eat, sip wine and watch Julie and Julia. HEAVEN. The fact that my Hubster wanted to watch it with me meant the WORLD. I kept looking over at him saying, “Ohhh I’m going to make that. Oh, let’s make THAT!” Beef Bourguignon? I am FOR SURE attempting to tackle this some day. My mom and I have a French/Julie and Julia date night coming up soon. On the agenda: drink lots of French wine, make tasty French food and watch, of course, Julie and Julia. My mom is pretty much the greatest chef I have ever known, so I am super excited to see what will be on our menu for the night. Will DEFINITELY post tons of pics from our evening, but it’s still a few weeks out. More on that later!
Saturday morning Hubby and I went and played racquetball. Ohhhhh yes, racquetball. I used to play a lot in college and have been dying to start up again, so Saturday was the day! It was so much fun. Hubby was nice enough to not hit the ball as hard as I know he wanted to, I get SO SCARED when that ball ricochets off the wall at what seems 100mph. After we were finished, I officially had four new bruises adorning my body – I was a diving MACHINE! SO.MUCH.FUN. And a little painful the next day. My muscles are STILL feeling the heat.
Saturday night we had a date night with some fabulous friends. We went and had margaritas, FRIED AVOCADO (Seriously? Fried avocado stuffed with ground beef and cheese? YES, PLEASE.), tamales, enchiladas and tacos. Oh my goodness….HEAVEN. After we were finished gorging ourselves, everyone was ready to go bowling when I realized I didn’t have any socks with me. Socks with stilettos aren’t exactly my thing. So instead, we went back to our house and did what anyone in our situation would do – go bowling via Wii. I can’t remember the last time we’ve had ppl over just to play Wii. It was a blast! And not to toot our own horns or anything, but hubby-licious and I pretty much OWNED guitar hero afterwards. Thankyouverymuch.
Sunday we went to church, drank coffee and mingled with fabulous friends, received our packets for Sunday School this year (We’re on the rotating teacher’s list! So excited to serve.) and then went home to C.O.O.K. It was a full day in the kitchen! We had movies going non-stop on the TV (with sporadic intervals of football for Hubs) and just kept on cooking one thing after another. On the menu?
* MckMama's corn and bean salad
* Breakfast muffins inspired by the fabulous Ms. Quite Contrary. Best idea ever! I wanted to make a whole batch for Hubs to have this week. He has to get up sometimes at the crack of dawn, so for him to have something already made and in the fridge to grab and re-heat is the greatest thing ever. I texted him this morning to see how they turned out and he said they were DELISH! SCORE! Just use egg beaters, ground sausage sautéed with onion and garlic (and peppers if you wish), and cheese – put them in cupcake/muffin pans, bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes and VOILA! Done and done.
* Collard greens. Yes, I am on a mission to learn and master the art of collard greens. It takes almost all day for the recipes I’ve been trying so yesterday was perfect. The results? Pretty good, but I’m not there yet. Any recipes I should try?
* Stuffed peppers with quinoa sautéed with onions, garlic and fresh spinach. Baked at 350 for 20 minutes. I made a bunch of these to take into work this week. The quinoa ended up tasting soooo YUMMY! Pretty excited about these. Did you know there is a wrong and right way to cook quinoa? I sure didn’t and now that I do, the results when doing it right are SIGNIFICANTLY different.
* Lastly, we (Hubby) made Tuna on the grill for dinner. AHHHHHHH! My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Usually we would pan sear it, but Hubs put them on the grill for about 2 minutes on each side and the results were PERFECT. Perfect, perfect, perfect. Sushi grade on the inside, grilled on the outside. Now I want tuna again tonight for dinner.
What a fun-filled weekend! I woke up this morning smiling. It was fab. :o) Busy week again! We have a lot going on this week and then on Friday my lovie, Christine, is coming into town to visit. I am super excited! I hope everyone has a great start to their week!
Happy Monday!
Blessings/XOXO
Have you heard this one?
While waiting for her flight to depart, a woman purchased a book to read and a bag of cookies to munch on. Losing herself in her book she noticed a man sitting next to her eating a cookie from the bag between them. It was a bold move on his part, she thought, since SHE had purchased the bag of cookies. Just who does he think he is?
The cookie thief continued to take one cookie after another from the bag, and so did she, becoming more and more irritated. What nerve this man has, she thought to herself. Each time she took a cookie, he took one, too, down to the last one. He was considerate though, offering her half of HER last cookie. That was it. She got up irritated beyond belief and stormed off for the line to board her plane.
When she finally reached her seat, she reached in her bag and found a surprise -- her bag of cookies. The man whose cookies SHE was actually snatching had been so gracious through the ordeal, sharing every one of his cookies with her, down to even splitting the last one. She sat there, numb, realizing what she had done. It was too late for her to even apologize.
I can’t even fathom the amount of times I have been SO sure that I am right. I know this story has been around for a while, but I only first read it the other day and it really struck a cord with me. How would I react in a situation like this? I don’t even think I would stay there long enough to have a stranger keep putting his hands all over my cookies! I am often so quick to think and react. How often am I really ‘eating someone else’s cookies’? On so many levels – patience, grace, mercy, pride – I need HELP. I know I am often a cookie snatcher. A ‘Mrs. Know it all’.
Hubby and I have a fun, relaxing weekend ahead and I am STOKED. Through it all, our every day shenanigans, I want to be mindful of my ‘know it all’ attitude. I bet it gets pretty tiring. I am a work in progress. And I PRAISE GOD that He never gives up on me. YAY GRACE!
Happy Friday, B-LOVES!! Any fun plans ahead?
Blessings/XOXO
PS. LOVED your book suggestions! Thank you SO much for sharing!
Thank you so much for your sweet comments on my outfit for NYE! For those who asked, my top is by Free People and I got it at Nordstrom. :o)
I just finished The Pillars of the Earth last night.
SUCH a great book! I love the feeling after I finish a book that has captivated my heart and brain, but it’s also a tad sad, because I wonder if the next book I read will be able to meet the new bar that has been set. I find it pretty frustrating when I have spent time reading a book that just didn’t “do it” for me. I really don’t have as much time as I would like these days to read, so it’s always a big decision when I decide what to occupy my precious free time with next. SO, the big question looming in my head right now is….what lucky book will have the privilege of joining my collection next? First, I need to point out that for every fictional book that I read I have about three non-fictional books that I rotate with. I really wish I didn’t do this, it gets a little overwhelming, but I can’t help myself – so, I have accepted the fact that my nightstand will pretty much always hold 4-5 books that I am “currently” reading at any given time. Perhaps this is why I don’t get through books quickly! So really, my “what’s next?” debate, for now, is primarily for fictional reads. I am pretty sure my Hubby will read this and crack up at the fact that most of my reading is done in the bathtub before bed. I don’t think guys will ever really understand just how RELAXING it is to read in the ‘tub! The worries of the world just melt away… ~ Hubby, thank u for allowing me to have ‘tub time. :o)
While pursuing my “what’s next?” options, I stumbled upon the website Goodreads. Have you heard of it? Taken from their website, Goodreads is….
…a free website for book lovers. Imagine it as a large library that you can wander through and see everyone's bookshelves, their reviews, and their ratings. You can also post your own reviews and catalog what you have read, are currently reading, and plan to read in the future. Don’t stop there – join a discussion group, start a book club, contact an author, and even post your own writing.
If you are a member or decide to join, please let me know so I can keep up with your picks! I am a huge fan of the word-of-mouth method when it comes to choosing my next read. Before I go any further and decide what to read next, here is a look at a few books I have read this past year (and a few from before):
The Pillars of the Earth
Three Cups of Tea
Eat Pray Love
The Shack
Shadow of the Wind
More books out of the Kristin Billerbeck series – I am OBSESSED. These are my “beach reads”. Imagine Andrea Sachs from The Devil Wears Prada as a Christian girl trying to make it big while keeping her Faith in tact – with Prada handbag in tow, of course.
And I always, ALWAYS go back to Redeeming Love. No matter how many times I read it, it’s still like the first time. Sigh.
So what’s next?! I would love your help! Here are a few I have been thinking about…
~
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
The Poisonwood Bible
Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl
Lovely Bones (I can’t bring myself to read this! I feel like I will cry the whole time!)
Water for Elephants
~
Do you have any recommendations? Have you read a book recently that you just couldn’t put down?
My nightstand is eager to make a new friend!
HAPPY WEDNESDSAY!
Blessings/XOXO
Happy New Year!!!!!!
Wow, what an awesome time it is right now. I love starting new journeys. I am so excited to see what God has in store for my family in 2010!
How was your NYE? We had a wonderful time! For the last two years we have hosted our friends for NYE, and in fact, last year we had a BIG party for about 25 of our closest friends. It was a BLAST!! After a lot of decision making, we decided to take a little break this year and ring in the new year on a much smaller scale. Oh my goodness, I am SO glad we did! We had a snow storm NYE! I think I would have been so sad if we threw another big party and people weren’t able to come because of the weather. It really turned out to be such a perfect, special night. Here are a few pictures to share…
We started off the evening at an amazing hot spot for dinner – they have the most DELCIOUS guacamole and mojitos.
About to leave!
Hot husband alert.
Our own personal balcony for the experience. :o)
After dinner we headed across the street to another favorite spot of ours for a few cocktails. I just love nights that keep on going!
Then we went home and broke out some of the best champagne I have ever tasted for a kick-off toast before we headed over to a rock’n neighborhood NYE party.
…sipping the amazing champagne out of a wine glass. I looked EVERY WHERE for our champagne glasses and couldn’t find them until, of course, the next morning. Go figure. But, in case you are wondering, champagne in a wine glass is still ever so tasty!
We hit up the party and had a great time with our neighbors and friends. And, of course, we captured my favorite annual picture. The midnight smoocharoo!
Cheers to 2010!
After a few celebratory shenanigans, we headed home and snuggled, drank wine, watched movies and soaked in the Christmas decorations we knew would be leaving our presence in the next day or so.
Sigh. I just loveeee this time of year. And of instead of being sad it’s over, I am thrilled that we get to start new adventures for 2010. I can’t wait for another year with my family, taking risks and living life and seeing what God has provided for us.
HAPPY 2010!!!!
Blessings/XOXO
