Debbie

So last week ( Wednesday)  I had another funeral. This time it was a member of my family.  I lost my Aunt Debbie.  She passed very unexpectedly and a day before her 72 birthday.  She leaves behind my 3 cousins and their kids as well as her husband.  I have so so many fun and awesome memories with her. Growing up she was my favorite aunt because I spent a lot of time at her house. My cousin is only 10 months younger than me so we pretty much grew up together.  Unfortunately over the years, we didn’t see eye to eye on so many things and we were estranged.  I can tell you that it’s a very weird and strange feeling to lose someone that you once were So close to and then not.  I grieve and miss the aunt I had with the fond memories I have.  I hurt for my cousins that lost their mom.   My cousins daughters were very very close to their grandmother and my heart goes out to them .   I am at 3 funerals this year and still only in February. 

The only good part of funerals is seeing your family and one of my cousins lives in London. He just flew home today but obviously we don’t get to see him often and I love every minute I can spend with him.  I got to have dinner with him and family last night and I’ll take what I can get.
Friday is Valentines so of course i'm not looking forward to that AT ALL!! Still going thru many "firsts" as a divorced woman.   Joy to the World!!

Ups and Downs

Happy Hump Day.  I tell ya, I am plugging along staying busy prepping for my Junk Show in 3 weeks and the big Gala for Refuge for Women event the same weekend.

I am sanding and painting and getting things together. I’ll post pics of some of my things I repainted another day . I had a meeting last night with RFW making centerpieces and getting handouts and stuff ready. We have one more meeting next week to tie up all loose ends before the event. Its going to be so great because we have a wonderful guest speaker and an auction with some awesome things. There are spa packages, hotel rooms, jewelry, and even a  few guns ( hey we’re in Texas and the gala is in rural area) , some purses, all kinds of stuff for the auction.  I can’t wait!  Yall will hear all about it after the event.

So this past weekend was filled with a lot of emotions. The lowest of low and the highest of highs and it really messed with my body and mind.  A very dear friend of mine was in a horrific car accident last Thursday night/Friday am. She and her husband were hit by a car driving 100 MPH.  For all of Friday, it was 50/50 on whether she would survive.  I was drained from holding my breath literally for hours. Slowly she is showing improvement. They were finally able to wean her off the ventilator yesterday. She’s still sedated and will be in ICU for a while.  She broke her arm – a bone popped through her skin and they operated on that and put in a plate, she broke her neck but is not paralyzed, almost all her ribs are broke on right side and some on the left, and fractured pelvis.  We don’t know how much brain damage she may have.  Her husband was driving and has stitches on his mouth from the air bag and is just beat up and sore from the impact.  They were driving her old BMW and she was T-boned on passenger side after he hit them from behind and spun them around.

My friend and I have been friends for over 30 years.  We were Hooters girls together when I was in college.  She caught my bouquet at our wedding. The thought of losing her was crushing.  I am an empath. I absorb others pain and sadness as well as happiness.  I woke up Saturday morning after  really not sleeping at all just a weight around my neck waiting for any signs of good news from Dr updates.

On the opposite side of spectrum, my cousin adopted a precious beautiful baby girl that was born early Saturday am and that was what we so needed.  I didn’t ask permission to post pic of baby so maybe another day for that.  The baby was such a special gift. My cousin Lauren and her husband Chris ,adopted a sweet baby boy (Amos) 2 years and it was a wonderful occasion. We knew about the whole process and knew when the baby was due, etc.  Literally seconds after Amos was born, they drove to the hospital and got to hold him just hours later.  Our new baby Evie was a different story.  They actually got to be at the hospital during birth and Lauren even got to cut the umbilical cord.  I know being there during the birth will be a memory so special for them. The adoption process came very quick and with only a few weeks’ notice but it all worked out perfectly.

My friend has a very long painful road ahead of her but she survived and she’s a fighter. I can breathe again just knowing that.

Friends, life is so fleeting. As cliché as it is,  hug your loved ones and tell them every day that you love them.  

I haven’t shared a picture lately of my dogs. They bring me great joy as you know if you follow me on IG. LOL I post them a lot!

Here is my handsome Jax. His favorite place is on top of the couch pillow. 

Celebrations and visits

Hello my blogger friends! How was your Labor Day weekend?
My weekend started off with a great celebration of my 5 year wedding anniversary.  Our tradition is to have dinner at the same restaurant that Todd proposed to me at. Its super nice and I always look forward to knowing we'll go there once a year. The restaurant is called 3 Forks https://www.3forks.com/ and the steaks are amazing!!  We both look forward to the 3forks salad which has blue cheese crumbles and a maple pecan vinaigrette that is incredible.  I also always get a side order of lobster mac n cheese which is my favorite. I always end up taking some home and eating the leftovers the next day. 

They always bring a complimentary slice of cake if you tell them you're celebrating a special occasion

 The following day on Saturday, my cousin Monya and her daughter Emma came by to pick me up and we went to East Texas to visit Nanny and my mom.  It was a nice day of just hanging around and we stayed until after 4 which means we didn't get home until around 6:30.   It was nice to see my mom and I look forward to having her back at my house for a visit soon.  Nanny was doing Ok but I am worried about her. I feel like she's declining slowly . She's doing great for 91 but I see some changes.

Mostly on Sunday and yesterday, we were lazy and sat on couch and watched movies. It was great not going and going.  It rained all day yesterday and it was perfect lazy weather!  We also started watching the series Shameless finally. We're only on season 1 episode 6 now but we're liking it.  A bunch of our friends told us we had to watch it so we're way behind. 
Last month was also my 7 year anniversary for blogging. Its been quite a whirlwind with some lengthy stops in between but I am so glad I started this blog and so very grateful for the friends I've met along the way . 

Happy Tuesday yall!!

Family gals and new places

Last night, we had a girls only family dinner. My aunt Tammy lives out of state in California and Idaho ( yes both). She is in town because we had my great aunts funeral this past Saturday. Aunt Edith was my grandma Mimi's older sister.  I suggested us all getting together one night this week so that we could hang out, have a glass of wine, and have fun outside of a funeral.  Last night was best for everyone so we met in Addison which is suburb of Dallas that was in between where we all live.

We had dinner at a great new place that i had never been to before. It was called Ida Claire's.
 On the website, its introduced as  Ida Claire- South of Ordinary... an intriguing, southern inspired destination for relaxing suppers, slow weekend brunching or a meeting hub for business lunches and happy hour.
Instead of happy hour  they have a Vinyl hour. They select a vinyl record and play it in its entirety from 3 to 6 with drink specials and appetizers only available then.  We had vinyl red  ( only 5$) which was their house blend and it was so good!  We asked our waiter to tell us what the label was called and he said Haze.  I'll be on the lookout for that!
The menu was very unique. Everything on it had its own twist of something different . They're most sold item is their homemade  fried chicken that is battered and fried at time of order. They also have chicken and waffles that came with egg sunny side up. Thats what scared me,  LOL- i hate runny eggs.  I had the shrimp and grits with the piquant sauce on the side and i never added it.  The grits were parmesan grits and they were wonderful!
This is just the Supper plate menu: I recommend you clicking on my link above and checking out their appetizers, drinks, and site items.  So good!
Wood Grilled Chicken
AFRICAN SPICED HALF CHICKEN,
COLLARD GREENS, GOLDEN
RAISINS, DELICATA SQUASH,
MASALA TOMATO SAUCE
• 18 •
Shrimp & Grits
TEXAS GULF PRAWNS,
BACON, PARMESAN GRITS,
SAUCE PIQUANT
• 19 •
Wood Grilled Snapper
CAST IRON SEARED OKRA,
CAMPARI TOMATOES, ALMONDS,
MINT, BASIL CHIMMICHURRI
• 19 •
WILD ISLES
SEA TROUT
MOROCCAN SPICED,
ROASTED BEETS, PICKLED
GRAPES, PRALINE PECANS,
FENNEL, LEMON YOGURT
• 22 •
Nashville Hot Fried
Chicken
SPICY CRISP HALF CHICKEN,
PIMENTO CHEESE TOAST, PICKLED
CUCUMBERS AND ONIONS
COOKED TO ORDER. FRESH TAKES TIME.
• 17 •
Pecan Smoked
Pork Chop
ASIAGO GREEN BEANS, FIGS,
BASIL, TASSO BUTTER
• 19 •
Chicken & Waffles
BACON LACED BELGIAN WAFFLE,
SUNNY SIDE UP EGGS, CRISPY
TENDERS, COFFEE MAPLE SYRUP,
BLACK PEPPER GRAVY
• 15 •
Wood Grilled Redfish
ROASTED CAULIFLOWER,
SPICED HAZELNUTS, GOLDEN
RAISINS, SAFFRON AIOLI
• 26 •
Braised Beef Short
Rib
GRILLED BROCCOLINI,
TOMATOES, OYSTER MUSHROOMS,
CORNBREAD CROUTONS


We ordered a slice of their pie of the day which was coconut creme and a slice of their Vice cake ( chocolate cake with bacon in the ganache icing).  All it was so good!!
The decorations were awesome. Yall know that i collect bird cages right? Well i was in Heaven because in one corner of the restuarant, they had at least a dozen of cool vintage birdcages hanging from the ceiling with lights in the them.  I'm already thinking of doing that at my house somewhere!
On the back patio is an airstream decorated so cool. You can actually dine in the car and of course it was always reserved. They had old vintage metal patio chairs outside.  On one of the walls inside they had old plates like hundreds of them hung.  I didnt get pics of everything.

Its always fun to try new places and especially when its good and yummy! I'll definitely be back.

It was nice to visit with my cousins that i really dont get to see very often unless its a funeral or family event.  We all said we would try to do better and get together more often. I hope so!! 

MY Easter weekend.

Yesterday was a good day.  My stepmom Deb and I joined my aunt Brenda at her Catholic Church for Easter service.  I missed my home church but I saw a few of my church friends/ members the night before and told them I wouldn't be there. I do enjoy attending Catholic masses during the holidays. I miss all the traditions that my church doesn't do.

Afterwards , my cousin Dusty hosted the family lunch.  There were tons of people and kids and it's so fun to watch the kiddos on the Easter egg hunt.  As always, there was so much food and it was all delicious. We all brought a side dish / dessert and I took a fiesta ranch corn dip with chips.  

My grandma Mimi was there and we had a nice visit. We both cried together of course thinking about Daddy. This was our first Easter without him and we got through.  Friday had been a hard day. Just randomly , I burst into tears and sobbed my eyes out.  Then I was OK again. 

We could buy Easter lilies and dedicate to someone we've lost so I bought one for daddy. Wendy took pic for me and brought it home for me to get later. 

Todd has been sick and he missed Easter completely. He didn't feel like going to church and he didn't go to his parents house for family lunch.  I felt bad that he was home alone but he napped a lot which was good.  He has zero energy and he was taking a ZPac for a week but he's not sure it helped anything.  We have SO much to do before we move and he needs to feel better.  He even missed the surprise birthday party we had the night before that was for dear friend.  My allergies are killing me and I'm hoping I can keep them under control before they turn into full blown cold. I hate the Spring!! Pollen is everywhere and my truck is coated in green. 

Saturday night was the party and it was my dear friend Wendy's big Five O.  She's hard to surprise but we were able to pull it off which was great.  Her daughter J planned the party and picked the weekend.  Our friend Mindy and I did the rest. Haha.  Isn't that how it always ends up? We decorated it really cute though and didn't do any of the Over the Hill cheesy stuff.  We had lots of fun helium balloons in red, white and black.  I decorated the tables with white butcher paper and then had a strip of red and white chevron crepe paper down the length center. I decorated mason jars with ribbon and burlap and cut up fresh red roses and white carnations.  I even brought a porch screen to hang a shimmery background for a photo booth. We had some cute props for the booth.  The party was a bar and grill and we reserved the upstairs part.  It was pretty crazy because of March madness basketball.  Add Easter to the mix and many of the invitees couldn't make it but we had around 20 people.  Wendy's birthday is actually next week but she's going to be out of town. 

Busy busy weekend but it was spent with family and friends so nothing better than that. Oh and I got a haircut on Saturday morning and it's shorter than I've had in a loong time.  It's still long but not past my waist long. It's just barely at my bra strap long.  The shorter I go, the curlier it gets and man is it crazy curly now!
I love this song so much and posted it a few years ago but it never gets old around Easter.
My Redeemer lives :

Hope all of you had a blessed Easter!! 

Gotta go back to work now...... 

Vacation blues

Hey yall!! So have you ever been away for a while and then not know how to get started again? That's where I am. A week ago today we arrived home in late evening from our trip.  My vacation was so awesome and It was very hard to leave. Then as my luck (bad) would have it, I have yet ANOTHER bad cold!! Wasn't it just 3 weeks ago that I had the severe sinis infection?! I thought it was just allergies but by Sunday PM I was feeling like poo. I had low grade fever until Wednesday .  I feel like such a whiner and a sickie. Ugh!  Then i kid you not , i had over 6ooo emails to wade through this week at work. I just have not been in mood to blog. I was scared that if I didn't at least post something soon , I may not pick back up for a long time.

I am going to split my vacation up in chunks with start to Idaho and then to Montana. 

My cousin Brad married a lovely young lady Alexis.  Alexis is an extraordinary woman! She started a movement in colleges and wrote a book called I Am That Girl.  It's about treating others , treating ourselves and the world nicely. She also travels around the world talking to Pro and college men's teams about treating women good.  Alexis was on Survivor and Price is Right.  Needless to say, there were a few "who's who" that were at the wedding.  To start , Sophia Bush was a bridesmaid.  Apparently she and Alexis were college roommates. I've only watched Chicago PD once but she's  a main character.  Another bridesmaid was Yael.  Yael founded a group to fight cancer and is married to Scooter Braun.  Scooter Braun is the manager for Justin Beiber and a few others , a producer for TV shows such as Scorpion and is very popular in Hollywood and NYC.  The DJ and photographer were also apparently pretty famous and well known but I don't remember their names.  

The wedding was in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. If you've never been there, i totally recommend you adding that to your vacation bucket list.  It's truly a little hidden town surrounded by gorgeous lakes. My aunt and uncle lived across the lake and there is a boat ferry that would take you across the lake back and forth in less than 30 minutes. If you drove it would take almost 45 mins to an hour.  The downtown was super cute with quaint shops and restaurants.  We arrived Friday afternoon and the rehearsal dinner was that evening in downtown.  We all took the ferry and busses were waiting for us to take us to the cute Bed and Breakfast house where the party was.  It was where the bride and bridal party were staying and it had huge backyard. The caterer had a wine bar set up and our meal were gourmet burgers with salads and lots of fun fixings. 

Saturday afternoon we had brunch at the country club with my cousins and then borrowed my aunt and uncles boat for a whirl. We took it across the lake to downtown and walked around and then just enjoyed being on the lake to relax before the wedding.  

Of course , later on we all went separate ways to get ready for wedding and met up back at the country club where the wedding was outdoors.   The wedding started at 6 and went to 10. It was perfect! The scenery was gorgeous and it was so fun. Dinner and dancing with family is always a great time.  

Now for a gazillion pictures:

The wedding trip was so awesome and I'm so glad that Todd and I went. We got to spend time with my cousins on my dads side that I don't see enough.  We got to experience another part of our country that was breath taking. 

I'll post about Montana next week.  Have a great weekend y'all!!  I missed you .