WOW!!!! Already?!?!?!

Holy Moly y'all I can't believe the Christmas season is over already!!

That was like a whirl wind of craziness and it was over! 

It makes me very sad to think it is over so fast but I was SO BLESSED this year!!!

So many great things to tell y'all about..............where do I start!?!?!?!?

Well, of course the family get together last weekend was a GREAT graze feast as promised!!  I am pretty sure I put on a good 10 pounds by just walking into the room y'all!!  We all spent time talking and laughing and I even got to see some old pictures my Grams found of when my aunt did a project in high school and used us cousins to help!!  It was great!!

The week at work was crazy because it was so short with Christmas being in the middle it really threw things off!  I worked Monday and part of the day Tuesday as Big B's school was letting out early for the holiday.  I had to run to the grocery store first before picking him up.  Who wants to take a toddler to the store on Christmas Eve?!?!?!?  Not this mama!!! 

Since Big B is getting older now and starting to understand things a little more we decided to start our own "traditions" for Christmas.  The plan was to go to church for Christmas Eve service and then go to Iowa Beef Steak House for dinner.  We love eating there and who doesn't like a good steak and potato y'all!?

Of course the best laid plans..................I wasn't feeling very well by the end of the afternoon and this just didn't work out very well.  So we decided to just head to dinner.  It is LITERALLY three blocks from our house so we didn't have to go very far!!  If y'all have never been to this place you should go at least once!!  We usually split our meal and still leave miserably stuffed!!!  Big B loved his pork chop and baked potato!!

After "waddling" out the door we headed home to see about opening just one present!  Big B has been tortured by all the presents under the tree this past week!!  He wants to open them every day and I kept telling him he had to wait for Santa to come!  So we decided he could open one the night before!! (this we preplanned on our part of course!!)

He opened his jammies and Smurfs The Christmas Carol movie.  The plan was to watch the movie but again, the best laid plans and all!!

Christmas morning was AMAZBALLS y'all!!!  I can remember getting up at 5 in the morning so excited to see what Santa brought!!!  Well our little man isn't too far behind his mama!!!  He was up at 5:15 and bouncing off the walls!!!! 

Still not all that into the Santa thing yet but SUPER EXCITED about presents and to see he got new stuff!!!!  Santa brought him his VERY OWN chair to sit in that has cars on it so he was excited about that!! 

Unwrapping presents is SO much fun to watch when a 2 year old is doing it!!!  I could have wrapped a pair of socks and he would have been excited about it!! Watching his face light up every time was all the presents I needed this year!!!

I leave you with a picture of my little Santa himself!!  How cute is he!?!?!?!

Happy New Year Y'all!!! 

What is Tradition Anyway?!?!

Who makes the rules of what you HAVE to do for the holidays?!?!? 

Don't get me wrong I LOVE the holidays more than anything!!  I am secretly like a little kid every year for Christmas!  I love opening presents and looking in my stocking still! Yes y'all we still get stockings at my parents house.......don't judge me!

I just HATE all the planning and travel and STRESS of it all!

So I ask you my deal blogging friends................who says you HAVE to do "this" for the holidays. 

Someday before I die I am going to be sitting on a beach, sipping on my fruity drink, soaking up the sun during the holidays instead of freezing my ASS off driving all over to a million places for the holidays.

BUT that time hasn't come and I really shouldn't be complaining.  There are plenty of people that don't have anywhere to go for the holidays.

This year my parents won't have anything to do on Christmas and this makes me very sad for them!  We have decided to have our Christmas on New Year's Eve so myself and my sibling can have Christmas morning with our kids at our own homes.

So I ask you this................what is your tradition that you do for Christmas? 

We are just getting started with Big B and this will be his first "real" Christmas.  He was SO MUCH fun to watch opening his birthday gifts I can't wait for Christmas this year!!  He thinks the tree is pretty cool already and he even helped me decorate it!!  SO CUTE!!

Am I the only person that can't believe Christmas is a week from TODAY!?!?!?  WOW that year went by SUPER FAST!!!! 

So we start our first round of the HOLIDAY CHEER this weekend.  Big B is going to be staying with Gramma and Papa Friday night so mommy and daddy can get some gifts wrapped FINALLY!

Then it is off to my Grams and Gramps for an ALL DAY EATING FRENZY y'all!!!!  I am telling you it is like cattle grazing in a pasture!!!!  We just set it out and eat all afternoon and into the evening. 

At some point Grams will bring out the GOOD stuff of home made noodles and you are so full you can't even think straight but you HAVE to eat them because they are GRAMS HOME MADE NOODLES!!!!!  It is always a great time of eating food and good stories with a great family!

That night we will be staying in a hotel with my parents separate rooms of course but fun for all the cousins to play and then on to my other Grandma's for the next Christmas.

This one is less grazing but still A LOT OF FOOD y'all!!  It is so fun to see all of us cousins having children of our own and see them play together.  We do a grab bag at this one and that is fun to see the "big kids" fight over what gift they want! :)

I will let y'all know how many POUNDS I gain after the two day EATING FRENZY and I am sure there will be some great stories!!! 

I know I have said this many times before but I am SERIOUS this time y'all!!!  I am GOING ON A DIET as soon as this Christmas season is over y'all!!!  I am OUT OF CONTROL on this weight thing!

Piece and Chicken Grease Y'all!!!!

Big B turns 2!!

WOW y'all I can't even believe my baby boy turned two!!  Sorry this is a little late but things have been BAT SHIT CRAZY around here for the last two weeks!!!

Big B turned two on December 3rd.  He was born on 12/3/11 at 12:03!!  I just think that is SO CUTE!!

Okay back to the good stuff.  I can't believe how much he has grown even in the last couple of months! He has turned into quite the little man!

It is always hard to plan a party in December because you never know what the weather is going to be like.  Once day it is nice and sunny and the next..............well it is cold and shit and snowing like CRAZY!!!!  Like it was on Sunday when Big B's birthday party was! :(

So on his big day he got the GREAT PRIVILEGE of going to the ENT for a check-up on his tubes that were put in the middle of November.  Everything looks great and he hasn't had ear infection since so that is always a great sign!

His appointment was first thing in the morning so we decided to have some breakfast in the hospital cafeteria!  Doesn't everybody get to eat breakfast for their birthday at the hospital cafeteria?!?!?! 

B eating breakfast with mommy for his birthday!

Since Big B's birthday was on a Tuesday we decided to wait for his birthday party with family until the weekend.  The weather was TERRIBLE but everyone made it and B couldn't have been more excited!!! 

B "cheesing" for his picture.  This is his "Birthday" shirt too.  It has his name embroidered on it with skull and cross bones in the number two.

He got to play with is cousins and eat cake and ice cream! What more could you ask for at the age of two!?!?!

These are his cakes.  The little one was just for him but he is just to neat of an eater and had to have a fork to eat it!!  LOL 


The Hubs got B the best gift of all!! His new best friend!!!  He LOVES this thing y'all and it is SO cute to watch him play with it!!!!

This is B's new best friend!! At first he was scared of him but now he LOVES his Elmo!!!

Sorry the blogs have been few and far between lately!! I am working on changing that!!!  Things are getting back to whatever normal is around here and I for one couldn't be happier!!!  I will be filling y'all in as soon as I can!!

Piece and Chicken Grease Y'all!!

What's Cookin Y'all?

Sorry this is late y'all but is has been NUTS'O crazy around here!! 

Here is just a short recap of all the FUN activities we did last weekend.  Of course there are some pictures for y'all too!!

Saturday morning we finished emptying the storage that we had ALL of our junk in!!  There wasn't much left so it didn't take long thank goodness cause it was COLD as SHIT out y'all!!!  Big B was THRILLED to be outside cold or not!! He was SO mad at me for making him go in the house!

Big B braving the cold weather!

Next up was a trip to the store to buy all the great stuff to make for either my Grandma's Thanksgiving on Sunday or or AMAZBALL Hot Apple Pie drink!!

We had never made the drink before but just bought some at the craft show a couple weeks back.  After buying it we thought we could make it just as easily!!  So to Pintrest I go for a good recipe to try and here are the "fruits" of our labor!!  (I know y'all I should have been a comedian!!)

If you would like the recipe we used you can find it here.  We didn't put the Everclear in it since we aren't big drinkers but it tastes AMAZBALLS without so I can't even imagine how it would taste with it!!

Hot Apple Pie Drink jarred and ready for the fridge

Next up was some pie baking!  I had Big B help me with this.  He is becoming such a big helper in the kitchen!!  I am sure is because when he was a little baby I used to plop him in his bouncy seat and set him in the kitchen while I cooked supper and talked to him like I had my own cooking show!  Yep, y'all I am weird and damn proud of it!!!

Two home made pecan pies from my Great Grandma James' recipe

 

I took one of these to my Grandma's Thanksgiving on Sunday.  I will say this, it wasn't the best one I have made but it was still pretty good.  Pecan pies aren't the easiest pie to make.  It is very hard to tell if the inside is done and mine wasn't all the way done.  But that is how you get better, by making more!!

Terrible picture, but these are pilgrim hats I made for Big B to take to school

After we got home on Sunday, I put these cute little things together.  They are so simple to make and all his friends loved them at school. 

I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving tomorrow and try not to eat TOO much food!!  I will be back to fill y'all in on my BLACK FRIDAY shopping experience!!!!!  I already have plans to be at a store bright and early tomorrow morning at 5 AM!!!

Piece and TURKEY Grease Y'all!!!!

NOT a FAN!!!!

So this will be a short and sweet blog for y'all today!!  I am NOT a fan of this SHITTY cold ASS weather we have in Iowa!!!  Someday I will live on a beach that has a view like this!

From our trip to Kauai HI in October of 2010

Don't get me wrong, sledding and riding a 4-wheeler in the snow is a good time but to live in it for the next 2-4 months??!?!?!  HELL NO!!!  The only time I like to see snow is on Christmas morning and then it can stay around long enough to go sledding for a while and that is it!

I have about an hour drive to work on a sunny and 75 degree day so after it took me an hour and 20 minutes to get home last night I figured I better leave early this morning.  I headed out in PLENTY of time, knowing the roads would not be great.

I didn't get 2 miles from the house...................and my day went from not bad to ARE YOU F'ING KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????

I was driving all of about 40 miles per hour and I hit a patch of ice (I thought the whole road was a sheet of ice but that is just me!) and it sent me into a 360 spin in the MIDDLE of the road y'all!!!!  Oh and did I forget to tell you there was a car coming from the other direction!!!!!!!!!  AWWWWW HELLLLLL NAW!!!!

What could I do?  Nothing! I bump it into neutral and just start praying!  The car that was coming from the other direction must have slowed down because after doing about 3-5 full spins in the road I hit more than likely the ONLY dry spot on the road y'all and it sent the car straight into the ditch!

Thank you JESUS my baby boy wasn't in the car with me!  I wasn't hurt and the car was completely fine! It was running fine just sitting in a ditch............and stuck! So after I stopped shaking hard enough to pick up the phone I called my daddy to come and pull me out of the ditch. 

I must say, it is nice to know that there are some nice people left in the world.  I had three people stop to make sure I was okay and didn't need a ride anywhere.  It was only about 20 minutes for my dad to come to the rescue and pull me out. 

I was out of the ditch in about 5 minutes and headed to work.  The roads got a little bit better the closer to work I got but they weren't that great the whole way in.  Lets just say this, it is going to be a LONG ASS WINTER if I go by how things went this morning!

However, I will say this................I am kinda looking forward to seeing Big B outside in his Carhartt bibbies and snow boots playing in the snow for the first time this year!! He has been putting his Carhartts on in the house and he thinks he is pretty big stuff!! :)

Try to stay warm out there!!!  I have found a new canning recipe I will be trying hopefully this weekend so stay tuned for that!!!  Warm Apple Pie!!! 

Piece & Chicken Grease Y'all!! 

8 inches..........WHAT?!?!?!?

So most of you know me as a person that DOES NOT make quick decisions.  I take my time and think things through for a while and then decide what I am going to do.  Well last Tuesday I called my very good friend up who does an amazing job on my hair and asked if she had time to get me in for a cut and color.

Of course she is AMAZBALLS and fit me right in that afternoon!!!!  That is just how she rolls y'all!!  She asked what color I wanted in my hair and of course my response was..........."Whatever you feel like putting in there!" I am not that hung up on my hair color.  I trust her fully with that stuff and she always does a great job so I leave all that stuff up to the professional!!

So when I get there she says to me........."Are we going to do it this time?"  I look at her and said, "if it is long enough then yes, cut it off!"

I have been thinking about cutting my hair for a while and she knew this but I wanted to donate it to Children with Hair Loss so it had to be at least 8 inches long.  She measured it and it was long enough y'all!!  So we put it in a pony tail and she got out the scissors! 

This is how long my hair was to start with.......................

me and my mini me!!

He is the pony tail before cutting

this is the end product!

Here is the REALLY bad selfie for the new cut!

The new cut and color

You can't see the color very well but it is AMAZBALLS as usual as well as the cut!!!!  I couldn't be happier with it and it is all for a GREAT cause!!!!! 

So I finally made a sort of rash decision and it was great!

Now onto the next topic that I am sure is on a lot of your minds. I am not going to get into detail about this matter as it is a personal matter and this is my blog.  I know I get pretty personal on here but there are just somethings I must say are Nuna Damn Business y'all.  So here it is.

I am sure most of y'all got to see the beautiful pictures that I have on my facebook page of the family.  I am also sure y'all noticed there is one person missing from those pictures.  My husband and I are separated.  That is all I am going to say about the matter and that is really all y'all need to know.  I don't mean to be rude about this but it really is no ones business but ours. So the next question out of your mouths will be, then what the hell are you talking about it on here for?  Well, to answer your question is, I am not.  I just wanted to clear up the rumors and gossip that I KNOW goes on in small towns when NOT EVERYONE knows what is going on. The people that need to know do know and that is all that matters. 

Now, onto happier things.....................how did I ever get so lucky to have such an ADORABLE little boy?!?!?!?!

As always, I appreciate all y'all that read my blog!!  I know there aren't many of you but the ones that do really mean a lot to me!

Piece & Chicken Grease Y'all!!!!!

   

Bad Day.......Getting BETTER!

So my week hasn't been the best and my morning was NOT going great!!  But things are starting to LOOK UP~

Let me go back a little bit and let me fill y'all in.  I have REALLY been struggling with some personal issues in which I am not really going to talk about on here.  I know I tend to put it all out on here but there are just some things I am going to keep private.  But I have been trying to deal with them the best I can on my own.  I have made some major decisions in my life that I didn't make lightly y'all.  Some have some over a period of time and others, just in the last couple of weeks.  So I have kinda had a lot on my plate so to speak. 

One of which is to be A LOT more serious about getting my FAT ASS back in shape!!  I am sick of feeling the way I do about myself and seeing what I see when I look in the mirror! So I decided I was going to set my alarm and get up and start the C25K on the treadmill in the mornings before work..........................FAIL!!!!!!  Why is this SO HARD FOR ME?!?!?!!?!?  I REALLY want to do this but I just can not seem to get up in the mornings!!!! 

I set the alarm and even put it on the other side of the room so I can't just it snooze.................so what do I do?????  Get my FAT ASS up and hit snooze and take my alarm to bed with me and go back to sleep!!!  (My alarm is my cell phone by the way!)  I know, I am the most pathetic person ALIVE! 

So for three days in a row I have NOT gotten up to do the C25k or anything for that matter!  Yesterday I hardly made it up in time to shower and get myself and B dressed and out the door.  I dropped B off at school and made it just in time to work!!!  I thought I hit snooze and I really turned OFF my alarm!!!

And here we are to this morning and once again, LAZINESS hit me and I didn't get out of bed.  I did get up in time to actually pack a lunch and get B dressed and myself and not be totally rushed this morning.  However, on my way to work I almost had a MAJOR accident because PEOPLE DON'T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE!!!  I was cruising along on the road on my way to work and went around someone in so I was in the fast lane.  Well an IDIOT turned out in front of me and was going about 30 miles per hour and continued to go that speed!!!!!!!!!!  I had to SLAM on my brakes and so did everyone behind me! It was ridiculous!  Everyone went in the "slow" lane to pass me and the idiot in front of me and that took a good 5 minutes off my time.  I know, I know, what is 5 minutes but when you cut it as close as I do it is a HUGE difference! 

Moving along to the next part of my journey I have another person that thought they should just pull RIGHT OUT infront of me too! I must have had a sign on my car this morning or something, I don't know!

Now on to the better part of my day!!  I FINALLY got B dropped off at school safe and sound mind you! As I am pulling into the parking lot of work I am waiting to hear a prize give away on one of my favorite radio stations. I never win anything y'all but I just had a feeling this morning for some reason they were going to say my name!

I am a HUGE country music fan, incase you didn't know..............I might be a little bit of a redneck y'all!!!  The prize was two tickets to the Rascal Flatts concert this Friday night and I WON y'all!!!!!  I am SOOOOOO EXCITED!!! Now, who should I take to the concert..........................stay tuned for pictures and a recap!!!  Super excited!

On a side note.............B got his second hair cut last night and it went WAY better than the first one!  If you don't remember how that went you can read it here.  He looks like such a little man when he gets it cut!  They are doing school pictures tomorrow so he had to look "fresh"!!  Here is a picture of my gangsta for y'all.  He is just so adorable I could eat him up!!! Not the best picture but I haven't had one on here for a while.

If I wanted him to have his hood up, he wouldn't! But I didn't care I guess so he wanted it on!!

 

 

 

 

Piece & Chicken Grease Y'all!!!

Getting Old!

I must be getting old.........things that never really bothered me, or I felt were that big of a deal, are REALLY starting to bother me!!

Now I know being a mom changes you but I am REALLY starting to he my MOTHER come out of my mouth more and more these days!!!!  LOL

I can remember when I was going up when we would go out to eat at a restaurant that was a pretty big deal.  I am not talking about McDonald's or  something like that, although that didn't happen that much either!  I mean like a sit down and eat type of place. 

I am telling y'all, people are just rude these days!!  Customer service is a thing of the past I think!!  Went to eat at the Village Inn around the corner from the house.  The tables were not full and when we walked into the place there were people waiting to be seated. This I have NEVER seen in the almost 10 years I have lived here!!  VI is never that busy!! 

The hostess takes FOREVER to come up to see how many and then tells us there will be a 7-10 minute wait.  I look around and see plenty of empty tables.  She says her waitress are a little overwhelmed and she is giving them time to breathe.  I have NEVER heard of this in ALL my life!!  I have worked in food service since I was about 15 years old.  If it is busy and you are overwhelmed you just keep going!! Not at this VI location! Their manager/hostess likes to make other people wait while they get a chance to "breathe" and get caught up. 

Let me take a step back here.  I should have known better than to go here in the first place anyway.  I have went to this location several times and always TERRIBLE service EVERY TIME!!  So I really should not be surprised by this happening. But I thought I would give them another chance.  WRONG!!  I won't be making that mistake again!

After waiting there for about 7 minutes and the 3 other tables ahead of us had not been seated I decided I wasn't going to wait any longer.  So we headed up the street to Perkins.  I was in the mood for breakfast food.  We get there and I think there were 3 cars in the parking lot.  Great we will be in and out in no time................or so I thought!!

One of my pet peeves is when you walk into a restaurant and they have a host stand, they should greet you right away and be pleasant!  Well the manager was talking to one of the staff members behind the counter and just glanced at us and said "I will be with you in a sec."  OH that drives me NUTS!!!!  NOT professional at all!!

Once we got seated our waiter came over for our drink order.  We just got water so that was pretty simple. Then he came back to get our food order and that went pretty smooth also.

Here is where things went down hill!  It took FOREVER for our food to get there.  Now when you have a little one it seems like YEARS when they are hungry and it takes a long time to get their food.  And remember, there wasn't very many people in there at all!  Then when he did finally bring our food out, he dumped my glass of water all over the table and wasn't really apologetic about it.  Or very quick to clean it up to be right honest with you! 

I have started to see customer service go down hill and it really makes me sad!  I remember when it was important to treat your customers with respect and they were always right.  Remember if it wasn't for me being there you wouldn't have a job.  Now, everyone feels entitled to having a job and owed something rather than needing to earn it!  It just makes me sick!!

I am not one to talk about religion or politics on here.  It is just a MESSY topic either way.  However, I am glad the BIG BABIES in Washington took their heads out of their ASSES long enough to get something figured out!!!  Not that it matters, it sounds like it will happen again in January if they don't get their shit figured out! I am just tired of the little man in middle America doing all the hard work being the ones that have to feel the pain of the ASSHOLES that CONTINUE to get paid and don't feel ANYTHING from what they are doing to everyone else!!!  If I was doing what they do at my job......................I WOULD BE FIRED!!!!  Maybe they all should be FIRED too!!!!!!!

Well there is my soap box for the day y'all!!

Piece & Chicken Grease Y'all!!!!

P.S. Drive thru at Subway is the BEST invention EVER!!!!!  I love that I don't have it get out of my car to eat something semi-healthy!!!!!  LOVE SUBWAY!!!

PUMPKINS!!!

Well yesterday was the day that B got to go to Howell's Pumpkin Patch and he had a BLAST!!! 

Of course this mama forgot to make sure the camera was charged so didn't get much for pictures but there will be many more chances for that!!

At first when we got there B wasn't sure about getting down and seeing what all there was to look at there.  But once he got used to everything, he was on the go!

Howell's has so much for kids to do.  If you live in the area and are looking for a good pumpkin patch you should check it out!!  They have a corn box that B LOVED playing in! Then we just had to check out the pedal tractors of course!! 

Then it was off to the REAL tractor ride out through their pumpkin patch and flower garden.  This place is amazing! They have so many acres of things to look at.  They have a HUGE corn maze out there too.  We decided not to go through that as I am TERRIFIED that I will get lost in those things and not be able to get out!!  The tractor ride took us out through all the fields and back to the barn. 






Now was the time to pick out the "Great Pumpkin".  We got a wagon and off we went to find the best ones we could find!  We got two really big ones and one "just right" for B.  I truly think he enjoyed riding in the wagon more than picking out the pumpkins!!

All in all it was a GREAT trip!!  B had a wonderful time and I believe this will be our yearly destination for pumpkins! 

I will make sure to get pictures of our carvings once we get those completed!  I am SO excited to see how B does with that......................should be interesting!!!

Piece and Chicken Grease Y'all!!

The Bucket List

So how many of y'all have a "real" bucket list?  

I have always had one but not that I had written down or kept track of.  So with all the strange and new things going on in my life I decided to start one.  A REAL one.  I don't know how much of it I will actually do but we shall see!

Don't laugh y'all...........some things might sound silly to you but this is my list remember!  What is yours?!
The Bucket List:

( )Go to Canada
(X) Go to Mexico
(X) Go to Florida
(X) Go to Hawaii
(X) Swim in the ocean
( ) Go to New Orleans
( ) Kiss in the rain
( ) Stay up all night on the beach and watch the sunrise
( ) Visit every state in the United States
( ) Go sky diving
(X) Go Disneyland/ Disney World
( ) Own my own motercycle
( ) Own a farm
( ) Attend the NCAA Finals
( ) Watch my son grow up to be a man!


This isn't finished by any means but I will have to think on some of the things I want to do.  I heard some sad news last night about someone who was taken from his family way to soon.  We really never know if we have tomorrow y'all so live each day to the fullest!! 

Kiss your babies every chance you get and never have any regrets!

I will leave you with the lyrics to my new FAVORITE song! It is my motto right now y'all! Life is too short to hold your tongue!

"Brave"

You can be amazing
You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug
You can be the outcast
Or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love
Or you can start speaking up
Nothing’s gonna hurt you the way that words do
When they settle ‘neath your skin
Kept on the inside and no sunlight
Sometimes a shadow wins
But I wonder what would happen if you

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave

Everybody’s been there,
Everybody’s been stared down by the enemy
Fallen for the fear
And done some disappearing,
Bow down to the mighty
Don’t run, stop holding your tongue
Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live
Maybe one of these days you can let the light in
Show me how big your brave is

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

And since your history of silence
Won’t do you any good,
Did you think it would?
Let your words be anything but empty
Why don’t you tell them the truth?

Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
See you be brave

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you

I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you

Shut the FRONT Door!!!!!!!!!!!

I am starting to have a bit of a panic attack y'all!!!

Did you know it is 98 DAYS until Christmas!!!!  98 DAYS!!  Where has this year gone?!?!?!?  This is just craziness to me y'all!

That means it is just 76 days until my SWEET BABY B turns 2!!!  Those 2 years went by in the blink of an eye y'all!!  He is turning into such a little man!

Now, back to this Christmas stuff y'all...............are you one of those people that wait until December 24th to get your shopping done?  Or maybe, you are the person that shops all year long, and REMEMBERS where you hide things, to help spread out your spending.  Or maybe, just maybe, you are one of those NUTS like myself that LOVES shopping on BLACK FRIDAY!!!!

I am telling y'all there is nothing like it!!!  The rush of a good sale...............the exhaustion for days later............the LACK of Christmas spirit!!!!  I mean really............who wouldn't want to do it?!?!?!!?  LOL

No, honestly, I do enjoy Black Friday shopping but there for a while the fun was gone.  But now that B is here and kids toys ARE NOT CHEAP.......you do what you can to get things on sale!! 

I am not one of those people that goes to the store and "camps out" on the sidewalk until the stores open.  I am not THAT NUTS!  I just try to get some sleep and then wake up really early (around 3 am) and head out to find the good deals!! 

I shop until about 3-4 in the afternoon and try to get everyone on my list done and then I am DONE with all my shopping!!!  There have been a couple of years that I have said, I will be done shopping by Halloween so I don't have to fight the crowd and worry about all this. But that NEVER happens and frankly I don't think it ever will!!!

With B's birthday the first part of December it is hard to do his shopping too far ahead anyway because I always just want to give it to him right away!!!  So it is better for me to just shop closer to the event!!!

Back to the present time, I am LOVING this weather we are having right now!! It finally feels like fall y'all!!!!  That means pumpkin patches and hot chocolate and hay rack rides and football season is in full swing!!! 

Going to try to take B to the Howell's Pumpkin Patch pretty soon before it gets too cold out and get him a great pumpkin!!!  Not sure if he will be trick or treating this year.............I certainly don't need to be eating the candy and neither does he!!!!!  I love going to their place for pumpkins!!!  They are really nice people and very family oriented!

I will get pictures posted as soon as we get that accomplished!!!  As always, don't forget to stop by and say hi at Breakfast Delights this Saturday for Market!!  This is the best time to head down for Saturday mornings.  The weather is PERFECT and it isn't too crowded!!!

Piece & Chicken Grease Y'all!!!!

P. S.  New adventure......................Trying water fitness this week as a workout..........I will keep y'all posted as to how that is going!!!! 

FRUSTRATED!!!

As I sit here tonight getting this post ready for y'all, I can't tell you how frustrated I am about so many things in my life!!

There are some things that you just don't have any control over and worrying and stewing over them isn't going to make anything better.  So, I am really trying to just let it go..............well the best I can anyway!!

But somethings I feel like I am not doing enough or there should be something I can do..........but what?!?! 

Our house has been for sale for what feels like FOREVER!!!!!!!!  I bought this house before I even got married or had B.  It was perfect for a single gal starting out in her first home.  But having a little one around, it just isn't working out anymore!

Now, I am telling y'all we have done what feels like EVERYTHING to try to get this house sold.  We even buried a St. Joseph statue in the back yard (a patron saint of workers and carpenters in the Catholic church).  I know what y'all are going to say.....................but the believe is that if you bury St. Joseph in your back yard, and pray over it, your house will sell quickly.

Well, I am here to tell y'all................IT DOES NOT HAPPEN!!!!!!!!  We did that two years ago and I am not sure what time frame we are working on here but my quickly is a little bit sooner that that!!

Here is a picture of our beautiful house.  I pray every night that someone will just come along and want to buy it right away and it will be the house they have been looking for all their life!!! 

I pray about this, I put flyers out, I put it on Facebook, craigslist, it is out on the internet..............so now I am asking you, my AMAZBALLS readers...........PLEASE help us sell our house!!!

If you know ANYONE that is looking for a house to buy send them this link! House for Sale

Like I said earlier, there are many frustrations in my life right now that I can't really do much about.  The way other people act, I can't do anything about that.  But this is something I can do something about. 

I can also so something about the way I look and feel, and I am going to change that as well!  I have the Brew Mile race coming up in a couple of weeks and I am going to be walking to get ready for that.  No running right now, but walking is better than sitting on the couch, right?  If y'all haven't gotten signed up for the Brew Mile please do so!!! It is going to be AMAZBALLS!!!

Piece & Chicken Grease Y'all!!

This and alota THAT!!

Well y'all it was another BUSY weekend for Mama Nellie!

I started out by going to see a very good movie on Friday night.  It is called the Butler and it has Oprah in it.  She does a very good job and it is based off a true story.  If you have time to go see it, you should!!

Then Saturday was the big day y'all!!  FOOTBALL SATURDAY! It was a little bit hot but I was there with my daddy and we were watching football!  What more could you ask for!??

I even got a tan line from my sunglasses.....that looks so nice y'all!

We left the house at about 6:15 a.m. and got home about 6:30 p.m. and I was one tired mama!!  But it was totally worth it y'all!

Sunday was another new adventure for me! I went to an auction with my parents in Adel and had A BLAST!!!

I got some VERY cool stuff y'all and it was DIRT CHEAP!!!  If y'all haven't been to one of these lately you should go!  Here are just a few things I found:

This little gem was a STEAL!!  The bowl and pitcher was $30 and the buffet was $30.  I looked online and the bowl and pitcher alone are being sold for $325 right now!!

This mirror and dresser piece cost me all of $10!!

This cost me all of $10 as well!!

I got a few more odds and ends as well.  I got a couple of quilts one that was all pieced together just needs quilted is all for $10!!  Talk about BARGAIN SHOPPING!!!  There were a couple of other things that I really wanted but they went a little higher than I wanted to spend.

My mom and I will be hitting another auction this Sunday!!  They don't have as much furniture but you never know! We just might find something we can't live without!! :)

Piece & Chicken Grease Y'all!!

Football.......Not just for Men

As y'all know I am a HUGE fan of college football!!

My favorite season of the year is fall because that is when college football is in full swing and I love the weather outside.  I am not a huge fan of it getting darker outside earlier but I love the leaves turning and the crisp air!!

Well Saturday morning I get the PRIVILEGE of going to my first game of the season with one of my FAVORITE men EVER!!!!  MY DADDY!!!

We are going to the Iowa vs. Missouri State game at Kinnick Stadium and I am as giddie as a kid on Christmas morning!! My daddy doesn't drink so there won't be much tailgateing for us but we love to walk around and take in all the sites of the tailgaters! 

My favorite part before the game even starts is watching the players get off the bus and go into the stadium.  It just gets me SO excited for the game and I usually get teary eyed!! I know...........I'm such a girl!!!

As soon as we go inside and find our seats (we don't have season tickets so usually don't have the same seats every time) I have butterflies the whole time watching the boys warm up!!

Now that I have been to the Ladies Football Academy I feel like I have a better understanding of what those boys go through on Saturday's before the game.  Don't get me wrong y'all, I have NO IDEA what they really go through as far as playing in a game but, I was getting nervous, and I don't play!!!

Now let me help you understand a little bit of how things go for those of you who have never gotten the privilage of going to Kinnick!

The stadium starts pounding and is SO loud you can't even hear your own heart beating!!!  AC/DC starts playing Back in Black and up on the big screen..................The boys in Black and Gold are coming down the tunnel! 

I have goosebumps and butterflies in my stomach!

There they are.................just outside the tunnel waiting to swarm the field!  My FAVORITE part.......the video on the big screen.  The semi truck driving down I-80 runs over the mascot of the opposing team! 

The crowd goes NUTS!!! 

The whole team runs out onto the field and IT IS GAME TIME BABY!!!!!!!!!!!

Even if I am not able to make it to Kinnick I LOVE watching college football in general.  This year, we decided to make some cutbacks and don't have cable tv.  So with that being said, football is limited to about 1 game and that is all.  Unless, going to a bar to watch is in the agenda! 

My other team of choice to watch are the Oregon Ducks!  I just love watching them play because they have such a fast team and a hurry up offense.  Now that there head coach went to the NFL, things might be different.  Chip Kelly, you will be missed by me anyway!   

Anyway, y'all have a safe and happy weekend! Be safe and enjoy some FOOTBALL!!!! 

GO HAWKS!!

Piece and Chicken Grease Y'all!!!

Hello Laaaaddddyyyy!!!!

Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought to yourself............GROSS!!!!!!!!  Who the HELL is that and when did she get here!?!?!?!

As y'all know I have always struggled with my weight but it seems to be worse now then ever! I went to the doctor today for a check up and I was the heaviest I have been in a very long time! I did really well when I was on Medifast (weight loss meals) but I just can't stick with them.  For one thing they are expensive to stay on. For another, I LOVE FOOD!!! 

I was watching a show tonight on T.V. that really got me thinking.  It was called Extreme Makeover Weight loss and it was a HUGE eye opener for me.  It isn't just about the food that you eat.  It has to be about the exercise you do as well. It takes hard work to lose the weight and keep it off.  I just don't know if I have the will power to do that! 

When I was in school I hated running but now that I am older it is a HUGE release for me mentally and emotionally.  However, the heavier I get, the harder it is to run.  So I try to keep my weight down but I seem to be under a LARGE amount of stress these days and me plus stress equals weight! Yes I am using that as an excuse and by putting it in this blog I hope it will MAKE me do something about it!

I looked back at some of the pictures that were taken just from the State Fair and I am disgusted at what I see.  I need a change in my life but I am not sure how to go about it.  I try to keep my portions to the correct sizes and not eat fast foods but I know stress is a HUGE issue for me.   

Stress does a lot of crazy things to your body.  I don't usually talk much about it and I like everyone to think that I am doing good, or as I like to say, "I am doing fine."  But the truth of the matter is I am not doing fine.  I am in a deep whole of stress and worry all the time and that does terrible things to your body! 

When you are under a lot of stress and worry you don't sleep well, eat well, or think well.  All three of these things are not good for you or the people around you.  I always try to put on the face that I am handling things well but lets be honest y'all.........................no one can handle everything all the time!! 

So I have decided to search deep within myself and come up with a routine that will work best for me.  I need something that I can do as a mommy with limited time, but still something that will help my mind, body and soul be healthy again!! 

I am not sure what all that means but I will let y'all know when I figure it out.  Like I said before, changing my food habits alone isn't going to cut it! I have to do something else!

Sorry this is kind of a downer post tonight but it is amazing what watching one show on T.V. can do for you!

Piece and Chicken Grease Y'all!!!

Canning.........New Adventure

Y'all know by now that I am a farm girl and I love to try new things.  Well, I tried something new for me but something my mom and dad used to do all the time but haven't done for a couple of years.

Last weekend we canned some green beans, tomato juice, and salsa.  About a month ago they did a HUGE batch of lime pickles (they are AMAZBALLS by the way) and some green beans and decided since they had so many tomatoes ready at once, why not make salsa!

Well we LOVE black bean and corn salsa so why not try to make that!?  Where else do you find a starting point for a recipe than good old Google!  I am telling y'all...........there are a MILLION and one ways to make this stuff and it is all the same thing!!!

So we started the process of canning, first with the green beans.  12 quart was what we finished with and those are really the quickest to can.  Pressure cooker for 20 minutes and you are good to go. 

Now, when it comes to making salsa you first have to get a mix.  So we started with Mrs. Wages.  It is a medium blend that already has some of the spices and things in it that you need for canning salsa.  Then we just decided what we were going to put in the salsa itself.  We opted to used sweet corn on the cob so we had to cook it first.

Let me tell y'all................deciding to do this when it is about 97 degrees outside wasn't one of our brighter moves!!  It gets pretty hot in the kitchen when you have ALL 4 BURNERS going!!!

I got this sweet new slicer/cutter that my parents bought me at the fair so we decided to try it out for our canning adventure!  It is called the Miracle Kitchen Plus and it works like a CHAMP!!

My mom wanted to try to make some corn relish.  This is the stuff you usually find on the salad bar at a restaurant. I LOVE it and so does my dad so we thought SURE!  So........to GOOGLE we go and found a simple recipe to try.  Again this one called for corn on the cob so it was going to use some of he same ingredients.  So I started getting all the veggies going, my mom started blanching the tomatoes, and my dad started cutting the corn off the cob to get everything going!

We had quite the assembly line y'all and all I can say is thank goodness B wasn't there to help us! We were pretty good at making our own mess!!!   

So first on the list was the corn relish.  It called for some onion, red pepper, green pepper, cucumber, corn and of course tomatoes. Get all those cut up and mixed together then there is a mix that you put over it while it cooks down for an hour to thicken up.

With the corn already cooked we started in on the black bean and salsa side.  This is the one that has the package of Mrs. Wages medium salsa and the tomatoes.  In goes the other ingredients and onto the stove it goes!

Remember y'all we have two things cook'n AND beans canning!! It was a hot mamma jamma in the kitchen!!

The beans were done and out of the pressure cooker they came to cool.  The corn and black bean salsa (cbb for short) was cooked down and thickened up by now so we could put it in pint jars and hot water bath it!  This is when you just put it in a BIG pot with LOTS of water for 40 minutes or so to let the jar seal and VIOLA you are DONE!!

Two batches later the CBB is done and the corn relish is ready to jar up and go!  Now this didn't turn out like we thought it would.  It doesn't look anything like it does on the salad bar but let me tell you, there truly are such things as a HAPPY ACCIDENT!!! This stuff is AMAZBALLS!!!

Both batches of corn relish are done and we think........What the heck, all the stuff is out, why not just keep going! SO, we decided to make some tomato juice for this winter for chili while we were at it!

Once we were finished we had 14 quarts 2 pints of tomato juice and 10 of each of the corn salsa's. 

  It was a blast and I can't wait to do it again!! We are trying to change up our corn relish recipe and will be doing a little different recipe for the CBB this next time!! We also decided to try taking it to the State Fair and see how we do next year! So to make sure it is good.......we are going to keep making it until we run out of tomatoes!!

Happy canning y'all!!

Piece and Chicken Grease Y'all!!

B's Hair Cut!!!

Well we did it y'all. B got his first hair cut EVER!!!  Man did my little boy age in about 10 minutes flat!!

I must say............that was one of the WORST 10 minutes of my life!!  Now, B has had some rough times in his life but it just breaks my heart to hear him cry, ever!  I know what y'all are going to say.  Kids cry that is just part of being a mom, but when it is one of those SCREAMING cries.............this mama doesn't deal well!!

A HUGE thank you to my friend Bridgette for cutting his hair for us!!  She did an amazing job of trying to make it fun and not scary for him but he just wasn't having it!  She had cartoons on for him when we got there and a cute little cape for him and everything.  B didn't think ANY of it was fun from the beginning!  She cut while he screamed and threw his head around and I was impressed she could do that while he was moving so much!!

Once he got sorta used to the whole cutting of the hair thing, she got out the trimmers and that totally freaked him out again!!  So then it was back to the screaming again!  Let me tell ya 10 minutes seems like FOREVER y'all when your son is screaming and crying!!

Good news, he got his first hair cut out of the way and it is done.  Bad news, mommy misses his curls and his hair will NEVER be that way again!! I never used to like my curly hair but now that I am older I love it!!  My daddy has curly hair, I have it and that was always something B had of mine!  Now it is gone!!!

I must tell y'all I cried almost the whole way home but I know it is just hair and there are worse things in life, right?  So I got it out of my system and I am fine now.  I just can't believe how fast my baby boy is growing up!!  He does have a little bit of wave and curl to his hair still but I would doubt there will ever be a day that his hair will be long enough to see it!

So here y'all go.............the new ADORABLE B!!

Not the best pictures but he was DONE with everyone by the time we were finished!