Gobble Gobble and Jingle Bells

I have been so pre-occupied with trying to get recipes on here that I have neglected my blogging duties. Writing a descriptive recipe is a lot harder than I foresaw it to be. I am somewhat of a perfectionist, so between my limited computer skills and being very new to cooking, it is a challenge to satisfy my "need to get it just right" tick. Over the weekend I started to get a little burned out from this thing, so I put it down and didn't allow myself to think about it for a day or so. Monday is now here, the boys are being very good and I feel like I can take a quiet moment to put a few thoughts in writing.

Well Nate's days at community college are coming to a close, 3 days and counting. As of last night he still has a 4.0, but is a little worried about the Chemistry final, but I'm not….that man can pull an A out of you know where and I have no idea how he does it. Still waiting on something to happen job wise, but we have a few back-up plans in place, just in case. Cross your fingers.

Thanksgiving is almost upon us. A time where you will probably travel at least a little, consume more food in a few days than you would normally in a whole week and see people you haven't seen all year. Turkey (baked, smoked or fried…my family in Texas usually has one of each), ham and pies galore….ooey gooey sweet potatoes and beloved green bean casserole…stuffing, giblet gravy (no wait, that's probably just something we did, sounds gross but oh so good, just can't think too hard about what you are consuming : ) and warm rolls...creamy mashed potatoes, cookies, cranberries, and all things pumpkin, I could go on like this all day. I believe I have 3 dinners to go to this year…I know what my New Year's resolution will have to be after all that wonderful food. This will be my first Thanksgiving in years not spent with my giant family back home, which is going to be very hard; but on the flip side, it means this is the first time in years we are spending it with my husband's family. The change in traditions will be nice to revisit and I'm glad the boys have a chance to spend the holidays here. We may still have to bring the Texas spirit to Iowa and throw something on the pit, preferably a turkey or brisket. One of the biggest differences from here to there will be the weather. We have no snow on the ground yet, but I'm sure there will be by the time turkey day rolls around. I think it would be really fun if the first snowman or sled ride of the year was spent with lots of family stuffed with food. I haven't found those extra special dishes I am going to contribute to the festivities yet, but I am still looking. I think I want to try to find a twist on a classic pie, some kind of melt in your mouth bread and a great veggie something.

For the 1^st time in my entire life, I am kind of wanting to go and experience Black Friday. The thought of a gazillion people pushing and fighting over merchandise…suffocating body heat, the deafening hum of all the voices and tight crowded spaces has always made me a little nervous. For some reason, probably the fact we have been so broke for a while, I am craving the granddaddy of all shopping fixes. So if anyone has a few hundred dollars they would like to donate to my retail therapy, by all means :). Christmas shopping in general up here has always had a special feel to it for me. Maybe it's the snow….but there is nothing like braving the weather, making the hour drive to Des Moines, fighting the crowds and finishing with a good meal at a nice restaurant. Money or not, I still want to at least go window shopping this season.

Pretty soon, we will be busting out the Christmas décor. We managed to bring my 10 or so boxes of decorations in the move. I think my mother-in-law is going to let me decorate the tree this year….it's one of my favorite things to do during the holidays. At one of my floral jobs that was a big part of the business. We would professionally decorate Christmas trees for hotels, restaurants, large businesses and fancy parties. There is actually an art to it….and I love it. I would love to start a business during the holidays doing just that, which I briefly tried a few years ago, however it was a short lived due to a small disaster. I learned that unlike businesses who just want something to look beautiful, people in their homes usually want it to be sentimental as well. I was doing a tree for a lady in a huge and beautiful house. She had most of her own stuff that was high quality and actually matched, all I really had to buy to make a masterpiece was lots of beautiful ribbon. The disaster came when she pulled out a huge box of heirloom ornaments passed down from a grandmother…yeah, I broke one and needless to say, she didn't call me to do it again the following year. Lesson learned. Even though I am usually very careful with my work, I am still gun shy to try again for people I don't know. So I will relish in the opportunity to do a tree for my mother-in-law, especially since I will probably be doing it with all my own decorations. I've always dreamed of someone asking me to do a tree from scratch; giving me an unlimited budget and allowing me to go and buy everything new…that would be amazing. No worries of breaking anything irreplaceable, plus getting to pick out what I want to work with. Yeah buddy, that would be awesome.

Can't wait for the holiday ball to get rolling. The boys are finally old enough to start getting excited about the approaching festivities.  I remember that feeling when I was a kid.  That magical feeling.  I'm so glad I get to watch my kids experience that.  Santa Clause and presents, special church services, family and friends, decorations and music....the whole works. I loved Christmas time then, and I love it now.  Ho Ho Ho let's get this party started!

This time of year is fattening, exhausting, fun and heart-warming. It creeps up so fast and is gone before you know it…leaving you feeling like another year is gone. Make every moment count this year; stop and appreciate the time spent with people you don't get to see often and take pleasure in all the small things that make the holidays special. Try not to stress, material grandeur is not nearly as important and love, laughter, good food and great company.

My Flower Girls

Hey there again…

It’s 11:53 pm (soon to be an hour less due to the time change) and I am eating dinner finally.  Smoked garlic-lime beef shishkabobs (a marinade you definitely have to try...I've posted the recipe under my page: "A little of This and That") and garlic mashed potatoes.  I started dinner at a respectable 5 o’clock, but with just about anything cooked on the pit you have to give yourself at least an hour grace period, especially when you have to marinate, then let the meat rest and  smoke till tender.  Supper wasn’t edible till around 9:30…but even then, I wasn’t ready to eat.

I am eating so late because I had a wonderful phone date with my girls back home.  This is a perfect opportunity to let you meet them.  I will change their names for sake of privacy...but just to let them know, their names will be changed to something else that starts with the first letter of their actual name…

My “girls” are a collaboration of cousins and wives of cousins.  The main group consists of me plus 4….Gerber, Aster, Daisy, and Rose (remember...made up and I am a florist a heart, so I went with flowers. For this entry I am Juniper : ).  Growing up and on into adulthood, I didn’t really ever have a big group of girlfriends. Right before we had our first child, my husband and I moved out to the country near (actually right on top) of a bunch of my family.  I quickly became very good friends with a circle of girls.  Even though we are all very much different, it's easy, maybe because we are all family of sorts.  Whatever it may be, it works.  Sure there’s the occasional drama that inevitably comes from a bunch of women, but at the end of the day (and maybe a bottle or 2 of wine) we come together and love one another for every fault, quality, talent and whatever else that makes us who we are. 

When I was moving from Texas to Iowa, they threw me one last little hurrah and gave me a beautiful James Avery butterfly ring.  I was wearing it when my husband and I went out with one of his high school buddies during the first month we were back in Iowa. On the ride to the resturaunt, Nate and his friend sat up front and I wedged myself between the boys carseats in the back.  When we arrived and I was crawling over one of the carseats, I didn’t realize I was holding the front door’s frame.  When our guest slammed his door shut, my entire right hand was slammed in with it.  I thought for sure all 4 of my fingers were broken.  I didn’t feel anything, but I figured it was shock numbing me.  The guy had no idea what had happened until I finally found my voice and as calmly as I could, asked him to open the door.  Not wanting to asess the damage…I slowly moved my fingers.  It appeared everything was still intact, all but one little nick from where the butterfly’s wing on the ring had been pushed into my skin…it had saved my hand.  Not only that, but it wasn’t the least bit bent…now that’s some Guardian Angel stuff.  I feel like even a 1000 miles away, my girls still have my back.

Gerber is married to one of my closest cousins.  My cousin and I are only 3 months apart and were best friends growing up.  We always said it would be neat to have our kids be as close in age so they could have what we had.  Sure enough, Gerber and I got pregnant a month a part (to the day)  with each of our first children.  Up until we moved, our kids were great playmates.   That has been one of the hardest things about moving….I know toddlers forget so quickly.
From the first time I met Gerber, I knew it was BFF’s for life.  We have been through a lot together and time only brings us closer.  I did the flowers for her wedding, she was there for the birth of my 2^nd son.  We lived together for a hot minute and have spent countless days sitting and drinking coffee on her front porch visiting.  Man I miss those days.

Aster is the only one out of the girls that is my blood.  We are first cousins, 4 years apart and she has always been my hero.  As a little girl I looked up to her and secretly pretended she was my big sister.  I am so grateful that as adults we have become such wonderful friends.  We may not talk often (even when I was still in Texas), but when we do it’s like no time has passed.  She has one little girl that reminds me a little of myself when I was young...totally ok with not having a girl of my own, I will just live vicariously through her.   Our husbands (I  have also known her husband  since I was a kid) get along great and it’s always a hoot and a holler when the 4 of us get together, let loose, enjoy some good tequila or wine, great food and fine cigars (well the guys anyway).   

Daisy (that’s cool daisy works for her name, it’s her favorite flower) is a married in, but if she isn’t family I don’t know what is.  She is some kind of super glue that binds us all.  She is a wonderful woman full of layers.  We have been friends since her kids were in my wedding years ago.  I hardly knew her then, but that didn’t stop her from staying up till all hours of the night before my big day, helping me get all the flowers done.  We became closer over the years…she witnessed the birth of my first son (and then some in that delivery room...apparently the baby wasn’t crowning) and I witnessed her last.  She has pulled me through one crisis after another and snapped me out of many emotional spirals and back into reality on more than one occasion (my 2 and 3 year old are less than 13 months apart…I’m allowed to be a little nuts).  After the birth of her 3^rd child and becoming a stay at home like me, we spent many days carting around kids, shopping for unnecessary things and eating lots of oh so missed Mexican food.  Mmmmm….Chuy’s.

Rose and I have kind of a quiet friendship.  She’s a sweet but strong one. We are very similar in so many ways… but sometimes those are the things that make us go for long periods of time without hearing from each other.  I’m horrible keeping in touch and getting wrapped up in whatever I am doing at the moment.  She has boys like me (but one more, I can’t even imagine) and is in school, so she stays plenty busy.  Her boys are so great with my boys…again, hard to move away from that.  Her and her husband (my cousin, are you getting all this straight?) are another couple we get along with great.  Football season is here again and I miss getting together, firing up the grill and yelling obscenities at the game.

Tonight was Daisy’s son’s birthday slumber party.  This means the husbands and the sons all gather at someone’s house. The boys do boy things and the husbands have a few beers and probably play music (that’s my family). The women take the itty bitty babies and daughters and go to another house to drink wine and be a little silly.  This is how I got my phone date. Knowing they would all be together, I called to crash the party.  I had a nice long chitchat with each of them (minus Rose, she couldn’t make it : (
and it almost felt like I was there with them, hanging out in the backyard, sipping the wine and laughing about anything and everything.

It is so bittersweet…I miss them all terribly.  However it is such needed therapy to hear all their voices having such a great time enjoying one another.

So it’s now much later then when I started…I am going to finish my wonderful food and call it a night.  I just had to give props and credit for my survival to the fabulous women back in Texas that are awaiting my return.

True Friendship is the key to a great deal of sanity. It takes a real friend to understand your crazies and make you feel "normal". I have 4. I am a very, very lucky woman.

It's All BUSY-ness

Do you ever look forward to Monday just so you can recover from the weekend?  I feel like that has been me just about every weekend since we moved to Iowa.  Life is so busy up here, which is strange to me, you would think coming from a big city, here would seem simple and slow….but absolutely not.  It’s like every moment must be filled with one chore, obligation, function or SOMEthing after another. I’m not complaining about all of it, staying busy has probably kept the homesick monster at bay a little.  However, I am an island kind of girl at heart.  The vision of a perfect moment is kicking back in a hammock somewhere warm, sipping a drink and watching the world move just a little slower. 

This past weekend was no exception.  Of course there were all the Halloween festivities…which btw, we will be trick or treating on a much different scale next year.  30 kids in the wind and cold getting on and off a trailer is just a little more chaos than I care to voluntarily expose myself to.  I would take much more delight in watching just my 2 boys running from house to house excitedly trying to fill their bag.   The neighborhood that we are in right now does a block Halloween party every year.  A couple months ago, they had a neighborhood potluck.  At this party we were told Halloween was off the hook and so much fun.  Everyone got into it.   SO...last minute my husband and I threw together cave man and women costumes, complete with ragged clothing, teased hair and dirty faces to go along with the boys dinosaur costumes. We set off up the driveway with my cute little T-Rex and Triceratops roaring a loud and constant roar behind us (yeah, that wasn’t a costume choice I regret…sarcasm.  I think their roar started Wednesday when they got the costumes and didn’t stop until Sunday). We headed to the party thrown by bunch of people we don’t really know. We walk in and of course we are the only adults out of 30 or more that dressed up.  Needless to say, once food was ate (I made these really cute white chocolate covered strawberries that looked like ghost and crème filled pumpkin cupcakes….yummy) and the trailer ride was done, we headed home early.  It actually worked out that we didn’t have that want to stay and play, we had our biggest BBQ order to date. 

Guess now is a good time to explain our little income supplement (that really hasn’t supplemented anything).  While living in Texas, my dad taught my husband the way around a BBQ pit…not these gas or dinky charcoal grills, but a real Texas smoker.  Ribs to brisket to beer-butt chicken, fish, oysters, and pork…you name it, we have probably smoked it (on the pit…not rolled up in paper : ).  Not such a big deal living in the Lone Star State, but up here is the land of the gas grill, so we thought we might be able to market some good ole Texas brisket with southern sides.  We take orders during the week for the following weekend.  We smoke the briskets the night before and have it cut, packaged and to your door by 11:30 either Saturday or Sunday. It hasn’t really taken off how we would have liked, but we get a few orders here and there that basically pays for whatever we decide to do on Sunday while watching the football game (BIG Texans fans, and they definitely don’t air the games on local channels up here….we usually head to a bar with Sunday Ticket at noon on Sundays, classy).

When we first started, it was just the meat…but people kept asking if we had sides.  So we expanded to potato salad, coleslaw, pies, sausage and my personal favorite, jalapeno poppers.  I have been in such a “learning how to cook” kick, that I am even making the buns that go with the brisket from scratch. I'm still trying to nail a couple recipes to perfection, but it will come.  I made my very first, from scratch pie just a month or so ago, and already they aren’t bad.   We have our own seasoning rub that I make in bulk as well as a secret BBQ sauce.   I’m pretty proud of how our culinary skills have blossomed.

Well this particular weekend we managed to get orders for 2 ½ briskets (and they take about 10-12 hours to cook), coleslaw, potato salad (my dad’s recipe), a pecan pie, sausage, 2 dozen jalapeno poppers and 2 batches of homemade bread.  I stepped in the kitchen around noon on Thursday and felt like I didn’t step out until Sunday morning.   Along with the things I HAD to make, for some reason, felt the urge to try two new recipes, Pecan Tassies and a variation of the poppers.  Cooking and trying new techniques in the kitchen has become one of my favorite new pastimes, so it’s not like I am complaining.   Yesterday I tried my hand at jalapeno cheddar challah bread (from scratch of course….one day it occurred to me that anything you can buy frozen or pre-made in a store or restaurant, can be built from the ground up at home, and I think that is pretty cool.) Today was garlicky spaghetti with meatballs, a French loaf turned into the best garlic bread I have ever put in my mouth, and a variation of my apple pie.  Some other from scratch recipes I have tried…chicken pot pie, Ragu Bolognese, caramel apple cheesecake, baked potato soup, smothered pork chops and several kinds cookies, just to name a few.  If you would ever like a recipe for one thing or another…I will be happy to share, just ask.

The brisket business might be in danger of sputtering out before it even really gets started….Nate is done with his fall semester on the 17^th and will almost definitely be going to work full time. Depending on the hours he gets, it may be too much to do both.  He has had a phone interview for a safety position at a hospital (Methodist), which is phenomenal because it’s kind of middle of the road in the leap from Physical Therapy to Occupational Safety.  From what it sounds like, it went well.  He is 1 of 4 out of over 50 candidates for the position.  We should be finding out soon if he made it to the next round…a face to face interview with the guy that called him.  From there, he will get interviewed by a panel of 4 or 5, plus background checks.  You would think he was going into the secret service or something.  Even if he does score the position, it doesn’t start until January.  So we are still in the process of figuring out what to do in the meantime.

We have found an online school that offers a Masters program in Safety that he is looking into.  If it is recognized by all the places that matter (employers, Board of Certified Safety Professionals, ect.) then that is awesome and he will be starting that in January.  Right now he is taking Abnormal Psych, Behavioral Psych, General Chemistry and Physics….and acing them all.  Genius. I am so proud of my husband.

So that’s kind of an update of our life at the moment.  I’ve got to throw a few of these out every once in a while to let you know just where we stand on the path to our future. 

Right now, I’m going to kick back, drink some wine and relax.

Tomorrow brings a new day and with it unpredictable directions.  So close your eyes, take a deep breath and embrace what may come your way.



Green, Gold, Snow and Cold.

The air feels different here.  I’m not sure how to explain it.  I know it can probably be broken down scientifically to humidity and what knot, but to me it’s something that is more of a feeling than an equation of meteorology of some sort.  I snuck outside for a bit tonight to just sit and enjoy a really beautiful night.  The wind is blowing through the trees making all sorts of spooky noises, getting me excited for this weekend.  I’m definitely in a Halloweenie kind of mood.  It is surprisingly warm for late October.  With all of my cold weather climate expectations, I halfway thought there would be 2 feet of snow on the ground by now.  Certainly didn’t think I would be kicking back outside in short pajama bottoms and a T-shirt at 10pm.  

Watching the seasons actually change has been something I have really enjoyed this year.  I’ve been in Iowa for a full calendar year before, but now I think I am finally stopping to appreciate it.  Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely going to miss my 50 degree Texas Januarys, but to witness nature as it is intended to be is something really special.  I have watched the green slowly change to all sorts of reds, yellows, oranges, tans and browns.  The vast acres of tall kelly green corn and carpets of rich emerald green soy beans have all been harvested and the fields are left in shades of tans and browns as far as you can see.  The trees now have either lost their leaves or are hanging on to vibrant mixes of warm colors.  I’m sure after tonight’s gustiness, the majority of the trees clothing will be left on the ground for some poor kid to earn his allowance.  I’m mad at myself for putting off taking pictures around town…it has been so pretty for the last couple of weeks.  We still have flowers here and there and that makes me happy, I need those as long as I can to get me through till spring.  One good frost and they are history, which I’m sure is only days away.

The squirrels (that could eat Texas ones for lunch, they are hefty and huge) and the chipmunks are all very busy scurrying and burying for the long cold months ahead.   We have had all sorts of migratory birds hanging around in massive flocks.  There was some sort of beautiful white crane in the hundreds that called the treetops behind the house home for a while.  It was so strange to walk outside around 6pm and it sounding a lot like a tropical island.   Now it’s mostly small black birds swooping and diving in swarms.  Soon they will all be gone as well, leaving deer the only wildlife to really watch for. 

The approaching cold is something I am bracing for.  I think there is nothing more beautiful and picturesque than fresh fallen snow. The way it collects on bare tree branches and rooftops, outlining in clean lines of white is stunning.  One of my favorite things during winter is when a gentle snow begins to fall during the dark hours…everything is relatively still except the large flakes finding their individual paths to the ground.  If you stand really still and listen really hard, you can actually hear them resting on the surface of the Earth…it’s kind of a tinkling sound.  Along with the visual majesty, there is also all the fun things you can do when it’s not toooo cold that make snow worth experiencing.  Sledding and snowman building are my 2 of my favorites.  I cannot wait to take the boys out this winter to do all those things with them for the first time.  I was here for 2 winters before someone (my husband) took me out and showed me how a snowman was built.

 The cold however, after a few months wears on you.  The endless days of heavy skies battle with the surreal sunny days that fool the mind and spirit.  Those are the worst.  You just want to finally get outside…the sun is blinding bright, but when you step out, the snot freezes on your nose and your chin goes numb (which is a very strange feeling).  That’s when you run back inside and curse the 2 more months of below freezing temperatures.  

Everything however is a cycle and I’m sure I will take comfort in those long winter months that spring has to eventually show her face once again, and spring is absolutely breathtaking up here.  With the melting snow, budding trees, thunderstorms, and don’t forget all those amazing tulips…that’s when I will; once again take delight in the fact that the air feels different here.  If you have to struggle through something, you appreciate the change all that much more.  This is my way of having a positive twist on something that I am not all together looking forward to.  I’m sure that my friend homesickness will come knocking a little more while I am holed up with the boys listening to the wind howl and the temperatures drop.  I am determined to stay positive and not sink into a dark place. 

Everything is a cycle and everything is ever changing.  I will take comfort in that.

Beer in a Cup

So I have come to the conclusion I CANNOT drink beer in a cup…or shouldn't anyway, it's an automatic death sentence for the following day of my life. What's beer in a cup? Beer in a cup is more commonly known as keg beer.

 My husband and I decided to go out and celebrate his membership to the Dirty 30 club a little early. It was supposed to just be a couple games of pool and a pitcher of beer to split between us. The night quickly escalated to 3 pitchers plus a few glasses of beer in a cup that I scored from my first ever round of beer pong, which I am completely awesome at.  Our simple night out ended up being 4 hours of way too much beer in a cup.

After finally making it home and sleeping it off for a few hours, my husband asks how I am. I grab my head and reply, "It was the beer in a cup." Then I roll over wanting to just end it all. Approximately 12 hours later, I am finally human again, almost.

I have known for a while that I cannot handle keg beer. I have only acquired the taste for beer in the last 2 years, so I am still as new and experienced as most people were in high school. Until a wonderful trip to Mexico I thought it tasted like camel urine (and no, I don't ACTUALLY know what camel urine taste like, but I thought for sure it had to be close…why camel, I have no idea) and smelled worse. I choked down my first Corona in Cozumel and have slowly come to really like the stuff. However it wasn't till this last summer I had my first experience with beer in a cup. We went to ZacFest, a party thrown in my late brother-in-laws honor every May. The beer in a cup was plentiful and everyone was having a great time. It was our first weekend back in Iowa so not only was it a great time to remember a great guy (who LOVED beer in a cup), it was also a reunion for my husband and I and a bunch of great friends. The next day was the worst day of my life. Have you ever had food poisoning? That's what this was like…only worse. I still think there might be a slight chance it was food poisoning (I vaguely remember making a pulled pork sandwich before we left and who knows how long it sat out), but after my last experience with beer in a cup, I'm not so sure.

If you are thinking, why the hell would you drink beer in a cup again at the bar, good question.  I thought, "I can do a pitcher of beer…it's on tap, a lot of people prefer that right?  It MUST be better than in the bottle."  Wrong.  It's keg beer, AKA beer in a cup.  I didn't find this out until about halfway through the night.  I went up to order our 3^rd and last pitcher, the keg ran out and they had to switch it.  When I saw them wheeling that large silver barrel to the back room, the realization slowly set in and I knew I was doomed.

So I now have a golden rule about the golden brew:

Unless I am the one pouring the beer from the bottle or can into a wonderfully frosted mug, I will, under no circumstances, ever drink beer in a cup again...even if it's free.

It’s ALL About the Hair.

Before too much time passes and it is old news, I have to tell the story of my youngest son's hair-loss….or haircut to put it a little less dramatically.

To understand this story, you have to know what beautiful hair my son had. (I will see if I can figure out how to post pictures on here, bear with me...I am still learning). It was the prettiest shade of honey blonde, highlighted from playing outside this summer, soft curls that were my own little humidity detector (the more humid, the more curl). It was about to the middle of his back and when you pulled it into a ponytail he looked like the cutest little surfer, musician……..or little girl. Yes, even I, his mother, fan of the long hair and all, could not deny any longer he looked more like a sweet little girl than the rough and tumble boy he is. It went quickly from little old ladies at the grocery store mistaking his gender, to all ages….children to grandmas telling me what a pretty little girl I had. I knew it was time, but I also knew that the curls were history the first time he got it cut.

The last straw started getting weak when I was picking my 3 year old up at preschool. I was standing in line, waiting to get my kid when another mom looked at my 2 year old and said to me, "She has the prettiest hair." I smile politely and reply as I always do, "Thank you, but that's my little boy." The poor woman looks at me very confused and says, "Oh is she a tomboy, that's so cute!" I again smile and firmly reiterate that the child at my feet is in fact an actual BOY with all the right parts and everything. She of course is very apologetic and we have a great laugh. Everyday stuff for the mother of a boy with the best locks on the block : ). Then the classroom door opens and it's our turn to step up and get my other son. It just so happens that on this particular day, I dressed my boys like they were twins down to their shoes in very boy-looking clothes. Cheesy I know, but some mornings, in a mad dash out the door, grabbing identical outfits requires a little less brain power. When the teacher sees the boys together she says to my oldest who has just been in her class, "Awe, your little sister is dressed just like you today." …………I mean, seriously?

However, this is not the day I come home thinking, "Ok, today is the day, enough is enough." Oh no, this was actually all still a very typical occurrence. The day his hair was doomed was 2 days later when I took them to a park and the SAME lady that thought my child was the cute tomboy with beautiful hair just 2 days prior made the SAME mistake when we ran into her at the playground. I thought, if my kiddo looks so much like a girl people can forget within days, maybe it's time to stop torturing the kid.

A few weeks before that, I took a trip home to see my family. I thought it would be funny to make my son a light blue shirt with dark blue letters that read 'I'm a Boy' on it. While walking through the airport, we pass an employee and I hear them say to whoever they were standing next to "That ain't no boy." I thought it was hilarious, but it didn't help the not-to-cut side of the 'To-cut or not-to-cut' debate.

The night it happened was very much not planned. We had just gotten done with dinner and my sister-in-law was cutting her fiancés hair (which my son's hair wasn't the only one on this night to suffer a tragic hair loss, but that's another story and I'm not sure if I have the right to tell it). For some reason, (and maybe a glass of white wine…I'm not used to it, I'm more of a red drinker) I get it in my head I am going to finally do it.

Sucker in hand and watching Blue's Clues (FYI, a sucker is NOT a good idea when you're getting a haircut)…..my son is clueless he is about to lose his hair. My goal was to just cut to his shoulders and see what it looked like. Snip 1 was right on. Snip 2 however, not so much. Just as I was about to cut, something catches his attention and he jerks his head around. The 2 inches I was going for turned into like 4 or 5….so it was all over. The long hair was history. My husband, I swear, had a little mix of rage and sorrow in his eyes for a moment. Everyone else (especially my mother-in-law…the long hair I think was slowly killing her) pretended it was a great look on him. In actuality it was really, really REALLY bad. With his hair wet, be looked like a bad version on Bon Jovi, with it dry he looked like a cast member of Oliver Twist. It was kind of painful to look at. So needless to say, I took him the 1^st chance I had to a salon and he got a cute little shaggy boy hair cut.


It has slowly grown on me. I never broke down in tears. He is back to being my little rock star.

BEFORE                                                                         AFTER

     

Not Sure What I’m Doing….But Here I Go Anyway

So I have decided to jump on the blog-wagon. I've never kept up with someone's blog or even know how to get whatever I am writing on the internet, but I love to write and so here I am. My name is Jen and I am a wife, mother of 2 boys, a 2 and a 3 year old and a master of picking up random hobbies. I was a floral designer for years until motherhood, now it too is in my catalog of hobbies.

I know that these things (as far as I can tell from various movies) are supposed to have some kind of story line, goal or something like that. Well mine, I suppose, is my journey with my almost 30 year old husband as he goes back to school to complete a degree (of "unknown" as of right now)…but I'm sure unknown is going to be something on the other side of the spectrum from his 1^st degree in Marketing. This journey has taken us from my beloved Texas to his home state of Iowa. All of this came about when day after day he would come home unhappy, overworked, underpaid and unfulfilled (sounds like a lot of husbands, and hell, wives too). One day, very casually I asked, "Hypothetically, if you could do anything in the world, no matter what you would have to do to get there, what would it be….what's your dream job?" He thought about this for a couple of days and came back with response of…wait for it…"Chiropractics". Guess the 'wait for it' was a little unnecessary cause if you don't know my husband, how could that surprise you and if you do know him, well you've already heard our story. Fast forward a few spring and summer months….Iowa fall is upon us, we are snug in our (well really his parent's) basement. My 3 year old is in preschool and loving it, my 2 year old is, well 2 and my husband is a straight A student at a community college, still not 100% positive what he is going for. The Chiropractics turned into Physical Therapy (thanks to some internet research and a lot of skepticism on my part), and that now has done a 180 and we currently looking into a career in Occupational Health and Safety (like OSHA stuff). We shall see where the next fork in the road leads us.

Right now, we have managed to let me continue to stay home with the boys. It kills me to think about a daycare getting to spend more time with them than I do, but we can't live off student loans for much longer. It may do me some good to have a job again though…I haven't had consistent periods of time without children and with adults since my 1^st was born. We shall see….if Nate (my husband) does in fact go the safety route, he may be starting by getting an entry level position then working toward his certificates and degrees at night, money issue solved. I spend a big portion of my day cooking. It has become a slightly surprising passion. I have tried probably over 50 recipes since May and cannot wait to get into the kitchen every day. Everything from Mexican to desserts to comfort and soul food…I just can't get enough. So, with anyone that finds a love of food, my weight has bounced back and forth since the big move from Texas as well….which leads to my next new hobby, I love fad diets. It's silly, I know, but there is something fun about finding a new quick fix and seeing if I have the will power to not cheat for the allotted time and see how the pounds I lose compare to what they promise. Right now it's the infamous Grapefruit Diet from the 70's. It's very similar to the Atkins Diet, which I have done off and on for years. I will probably have a heart attack at a very young age, but hopefully all the red wine I drink will counter some of the damage I have done : ) . This is actually day one and yes, I have cheated...5 jelly beans, 3 saltines and 1 yummy-oh-so-worth-it Dove white chocolate. Maybe tomorrow will be day 1. Very much craving a big ole slice of the caramel apple cheesecake that was one of my projects this last weekend…it's still upstairs in the fridge sweetly calling my name. But not going to give in….not tonight. They say you can lose 10 lbs in 12 days…we shall see. If I could drop 10 from where I'm at now, I would almost be at a before babies weight…..I've always heard it, the last 10 are the hardest to lose.

 

So, with some of the back story done, now the real writing can begin.

My name is Jen, my family is my everything, I love big and try to laugh often….I probably drink too much wine and I am just trying to find happiness in this crazy world. Follow me through my days in Iowa and where ever else we may end up.