Happy New Day!

'Tis the last night of 2014, which of course leads one to reflect upon the past 365 days and look with anticipation toward the start of a new year. Funny how that happens every year, huh? With the new year comes new beginnings, new challenges, and--all together now--new resolutions. I think it's probably harder to NOT make a New Year's Resolution than it is to make one. Even if we don't do it out loud, most of us have some sort of idea of how we want the next year to be better than the last, right? I'm all about being positive and planning for the future, so don't take me wrong when I say: There's nothing magical about tomorrow. Not trying to bust any bubbles here, but January 1st is no different than any other day on the calendar.
Before you go to getting defensive on me, please hear me out. EVERY day is a new day, a new chance to get it right! We don't have to wait for January to roll around to make a positive change in our lives. And if we mess up on January 21st, there's no reason we can't start fresh on January 22nd, or February 11th, or whatever. Every day that the good Lord wakes you up is a new opportunity to be awesome! I'm not making a resolution this year, but I do have some goals that I will be working on. I have confidence that I will be able to accomplish them, even though they will require time, effort, and determination. Pretty much anything that's worth anything does. But oh, isn't the reward so much sweeter when you've worked hard for it?!

I spent the last day of this year shopping with my sister, and I had a BLAST. Mainly because I was with my sister, who is hands-down one of my most very favorite people on this earth. Really, she's the best. We went to spend my Christmas money/gift cards on some much-needed new clothes. I cannot tell you the last time I enjoyed shopping for clothes. Literally, I can't even remember such a time. I fought back tears the whole way home, not because I'm in a tiny size or that I'm even close to where I want to be. It was because of how far I've come. Because I've worked my butt off, made sacrifices, and kept going even when I wanted to quit. When I started this part of my "journey", I was wearing an XL shirt, and even those were getting a little too tight. Today, I bought these:

Now that may not be a big deal for some, but it is HUGE for me! 2 sizes-top and bottom-since September. I'm not bragging, but I am proud. Nobody made me get fat, I did that. (Well, my kids helped, but you know what I mean.) By the same token, nobody can make me lose weight. It has to be my decision, my effort, my choices. I am the only one responsible for me. I had to make up my mind, and honestly, that was the hardest part. Once I got my mind made up, can't nobody stop me! There is no magic pill, no secret formula, no special plan. Hard work and determination. You get out of it what you put in. Simple as that. And that medium shirt feels so good! I'm about halfway to my goal (size-wize). You catch that--halfway. As in, not the whole way. As in, getting it done. All today did was make me more determined to meet my goal. Progress is progress, however slow it is. And I'm proud of my progress!

Whatever your goals or plans for the new year are, do something that makes you feel good about YOU! Nobody can nor will do it for you. Whatever it is, make up your mind and DO IT. It may not be easy, but it will definitely be worth it!! 

Happy New Year, Y'all! 

A Word of Encouragement

I know that this blog is mainly about the girls and what all mess they are into, but I've had something on my mind and heart for awhile now, and this is pretty much the best (only) place to blurt it out. I just want to offer a little encouragement to my momma friends (and friends who aren't mommas) who may be in the same boat as I've been.  We work so hard taking care of everyone around us, almost always at our own expense. Not that we mind~we love our people~but we are often the last ones who are taken care of.  That needs to change. Easier said than done, I know. Let me just share a little of my heart with you, and please don't judge.
As some of you know, I've had a pretty major career change in the last couple of years. I hadn't realized how completely burned out and exhausted (mentally and physically) I had been until after I left my old job. I had an AMAZING first year of teaching and began to feel that burden that I had been carrying ease up. Towards the end of last summer, maybe because of my impending 35th birthday, I really started thinking a lot about getting older. Slowly, I came to the realization that if I didn't start taking better care of myself, I was going to be in a place I didn't want to be. So I started using night cream on my face and treated myself to a pedicure every now and then.  Sounds dumb, I know, but this was the starting point.
It's no secret that I'm a big ol' girl. I have never liked being overweight, but I've never not liked it enough to do anything serious about it. I think I got to the point where I just resigned myself to being about this size for the rest of my life. Deep down, I think that I didn't believe that I actually could lose the weight and look/feel better. I'd tried various things here and there and nothing really did much good, so I got caught up in the let's just focus on everybody else and maybe nobody will notice that I'm still fat thing. Except I noticed. I always noticed. And probably you did, too, but were too nice to say anything. (Thanks.) Maybe it was "one day I woke up and realized" or maybe it happened a little bit at a time. Either way, I decided to start making some small changes. Drink more water. Cut out cokes. Cut down on portion sizes. Walking after work. Little things, nothing too major. Then early one Saturday morning, I was grading papers while watching TV and an exercise infomercial came on. Without thinking too hard, I bought it. (How crazy is that? I never do stuff like that!) When the box came in the mail, I read the book and got started. Figured I'd spent the money, might as well give it a shot and see what happens. And, lo and behold, stuff started happening. Not right away, and not without effort. Apparently, I'm not one of those people that the weight will just fall off of.  Go figure. My fat must really love me, 'cause that stuff's hangin' on for dear life. But I started feeling better and became more determined to stick with it. I realized that just maybe I could actually lose the weight and not be embarrassed by how I look anymore. I don't want to be the momma that sits and watches my kids play all the time. I want to be running around with them without worrying that stuff is jiggling everywhere or that I'll get winded in 2 minutes. And that's another thing. Being the momma of 2 girls, I have to be thinking about the example that I'm showing them. I want them to have good self-esteem, to be healthy but not be constantly worried about their weight or appearance. It's hard being a girl these days, and getting tougher by the minute. They do what they see me do. If they see me playing on my phone, that's what they want to do. When they see me working out, then that's what they want do, too. (Their favorite part is the "cooldown" and Ab gives me a high-5 after every workout! I love my cheerleaders!) I can't teach them about being healthy if I'm not being healthy and taking care of myself.
It hasn't been easy. It hasn't always been fun. But I know that it's necessary for me to take better care of myself so that I can take better care of others. (Yes, that's cliche', but it's also true.) It has been an adjustment for our whole family. Instead of me coming in from work and plopping in the chair for a while, I immediately change into my workout clothes and get started. The girls know that they need to occupy themselves for a little while so Momma can get her "exasizes" done. I've also started getting up earlier in the morning, so that I can workout without taking any time away from my family. No, I don't always loooove getting out of bed at 4:30am, but I never regret it when I do. I just had to find what works for me AND STICK WITH IT. That's the main thing. I really believe that making up my mind was the hardest part. Now that it's a habit, it's much easier than it was when I started. If I know we'll be busy in the evening, I make sure to work out in the morning, I cook and prep my meals for the week on Sunday afternoons so that I have clean, healthy lunches for the whole week. We keep fruits and veggies for snacks. (I actually have to fight JuJu for the bananas.) I'm not saying that I eat perfectly all the time, or that I'll never have bacon again (let's be real, folks), I just had to learn to be smart about it, watch my portions and MOVE MY BUTT. I'm not saying any of this to brag or be all "Hey, look at me!". Cuz I ain't all that, y'all. I say it because if I can do it, anybody can. I didn't think I could. But I am. Yes, I have lost a little weight. No, I'm not done yet. If you want more info on what program I used, I'll be happy to tell you, but that's not the point of this post. I'm not trying to sell you anything except the belief that you CAN make a change in your life. It will require effort on your part and you may have to make some difficult changes, but it can absolutely be done. You will never have more time than you do right now. You will never be any younger than you are right now. It will never be any easier than it is right now. I know all the excuses, I've used them all myself. "I work full-time, have a husband and kids to take care of, no time, live in the woods and can't go to the gym, no babysitter, too tired, too fat, etc." It may all be true, but it's also bull. You have to make the time, the family will (eventually) understand, work out at home (I do), send the kids outside to play,etc. It's okay to do something for yourself. Where did we ever get the idea that taking care of ourselves is a bad thing?
Innnneeeway.  I've rambled on for long enough. If you need encouragment or accountability, give me a call. I just think that maybe I'm not the only one of my friends/family who has had this struggle. It wasn't easy to throw all this out there, but if it may help someone else, then I don't mind to swallow my pride.

Fair Fun!

You know Fall is here when the Beauregard Parish Fair rolls around.  It's the first weekend in October every year, which always perfectly coincides with Abigail's birthday. Thus, she thinks that the fair is her own personal little celebration each year. (I guess all the fireworks on July 4th are really in celebration of Jul's birthday. That's what we'll tell her.) Here are a few snapshots from our fun little night at the fair:

Ab loves the hobby horses, but Julianne wasn't quite ready to hop on just yet.

She did, however, LOVE the "zoo bus"!

It was a bright (bright), bright (bright) sunshiny day!

Gone fishin'!

Julianne is more into the "stab 'em til they give up" kinda thing.

They love ol' Elsa!

Getting ready to get her face painted.  

Here's that beautiful butterfly smile!

Abigail chose to be a tiger!

Getting some fair food!

The girls loved petting the goats. Their daddy preferred talking to the pigs.

Somebody got into their cotton candy on the way home...it was EVERYWHERE.

Ab must've partied too hardy at the fair, because she woke up the next morning sick at her stomach. Thankfully, she's feeling much better today and is looking forward to her birthday party tomorrow!

Deep thoughts from the dirt...

Today we were FINALLY able to get our fall garden planted! Between the rain and the rain and the more rain, we were later than we wanted to be getting it in, but we had a perfect little window this morning and we took advantage of it!  Our squash, zucchini, and cucumbers decided to hang on after they were tilled under, and we already have a bunch of blooms on those plants.  Today we added broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, greens, butternut squash, and pattypan squash. (If you have a recipe for that, please let me know--we have no idea what to do with it.  So it's a surefire bet that we'll have a ton.) Digging around in the garden is good for thinking, so I thought I'd share a few of my random thoughts while weeding and planting. Prepare to be (almost) amazed.  Some of these are really deep. ;)

     

It's better to sweat when you're actually doing something than sweat when you're just sitting around.

"Amarillo By Morning" is much better live than recorded. 

No matter how dirty you get, you can always get clean again.

Gloves are for sissies.

I forgot to put coffee on the grocery list.

• Ants are freakishly strong. They can hold on after being shaken, flung, wiped, and rinsed.
• No matter how pretty your plants are, sometimes you just hafta thin some out so that the others can grow. Pruning hurts, but it's necessary. 
• Apparently broccoli leaves make Copper puke.
• I hope that's just sweat and not something crawling down my leg.
• Thank you, Pandora, for playing lots of George today.
• I'm gonna need the hose before I go in the house.

• Cucumbers are like children. You have to point them the way that you want them to grow, give them something to climb on, and keep easing them along until they can do it on their own. 
• I really need to get some gloves. 
• Sometimes you just gotta pull in every direction before those weeds will give it up. 
• I'm glad there's not a lot of traffic this morning since my behind has been up in the air for all to see.
• Don't hold onto the weeds too long, that's when the ants bite.
• I will never get all this dirt out of my fingernails. 

• I can't wait to take a shower with the hose before I go inside and take a for real shower.
• What can I do with those random squash that we got? 
• Weeds sometimes look a lot like the real thing. Be careful what you pull, and be careful what you don't.
• How come we can grow grass in the garden but not in the front yard? Wonder if we can transplant it?
• Music while you work makes it feel (slightly) less like work.
• I hope those aren't Justin's good jeans.

Like I said, random. Lots of time to think about all sorts of things. Funny how your mind wanders when it doesn't have to focus too hard on something. It sure was nice being outside working with my Honey. We make a pretty good team, I must say! I can't wait to see how things turn out.  

This last pic is my hand after being rinsed at least twice with the hose. 

Just so you didn't think that I was just the photographer on this little project. 

(And I did get all the dirt out, yay!!)

Kindergarten Girl!

And just like that, we have a Kindergartner! I don't know how that happened, since it was just yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital. She was (is) less than excited about the getting up early part, but she really likes school! Her teacher is very sweet and all of her classmates from last year were very excited to be back together again. 

Here are a few pictures from that first morning! She's not normally so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed so early in the morning. The smile was a tad forced, to say the least.  :)

She perked up a little when we got to school, but was nervous to be in a different hall than last year.  Her Pre-K classroom was right across the hall from my room.  

Abigail and Ms. Pop!  

Back to School!!

It's that time of year again...time for SCHOOL!!!!  I don't know about you, but I'm SO EXCITED!!!  (Hence the all caps and excessive punctuation.  Not yelling, just PUMPED!!!)  For the past few weeks, I've been getting ready for my new 1st graders: cleaning and straightening and painting and organizing and planning and pinning.  Whew.  I was very blessed last year to walk into an organized and "student-ready" classroom, and for that I'm very thankful.  But being a first year teacher, I had no idea what to do with half of the stuff in my room and no time to figure it out! It was nice to have the time to sort through and organize things in a way that works best for me and my students.  I went back and forth on the painting thing, but my girl Staci got her room looking all cute, so I couldn't just leave my walls that dusty, dingy blah yellow.  It was a lot of work, but I'm so glad I painted!!  It looks so much cleaner and brighter and fresher and 1st grade-ier!  I hope my kiddos will like it!  Here are a some pics of the room redo:

Before:

I love yellow, but this was just past due for a facelift.  

You could see all the dust and dings and scrapes and gunk.  

SO much stuff on those back shelves, old books, manuals, papers that came over on the the Mayflower.  Time to clean out and get things straight!

During:

I made an even bigger mess while painting, but it was SO worth it!  

I even had a little help one day!  My man is a natural artist. ;)

After:

I don't think I'll ever be completely done, there's still so many things I want to do!  And of course we'll add to the "decor" throughout the year with student work, anchor charts, etc.  But overall, I'm really pleased with how it turned out.  It finally feels like My room!  

I hope my students are as ready as I am!  Meet and Greet is tonight and the first day of school is Friday!!  WOOHOO!!!

I'm looking forward to another AWESOME year at OBES!  

Zucchini Bread, Times 2

As I've mentioned before, our little garden has been very fruitful (or vegetableful) this year, for which we are very grateful!  We have had some possibly record-setting zucchinis, size-wise.  Those things somehow manage to hide under those massive leaves, and it's hard to see them sometimes until they get humongous! At which point they're also almost inedible.  Unless you make Zucchini Bread, that is!  I've made umpteen zillion loaves of the sweet bread this summer, which freezes and keeps really well.  If you've never had this kind of zucchini bread, you really oughta try it!  If you didn't know it had zucchini in it, you'd never know it had zucchini in it.  (As in, my kids eat it.  We call it cake.  Don't judge me, they need their veggies.)  It's kinda like banana bread, without the bananas.  Super simple to make, and a big ol' zucchini will make about 4-6 loaves!  Here's the recipe: 

Zucchini Bread (one recipe makes 2 loaves)

3 cups all-purpose flour      
 1 teaspoon salt
 1 teaspoon baking soda
 1 teaspoon baking powder
 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
 3 eggs
 1 cup vegetable oil
 2 1/4 cups white sugar
 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
 2 cups grated zucchini
 1 cup chopped walnuts (I don't always add nuts, it's good either way.)

Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

After baking this kind of zucchini bread a bazillion times, I decided to search for something new and different.  Thanks to Google and Common Sense Homesteading, I found "Cheesy Garlic Zucchini Bread".  Yes, please.  I made it today, and I'm not sure what was better, the way it tasted or the way it made my house smell.  I brought it to the church for lunch and only got a couple bites, but I will definitely be making it again soon!  It kinda reminds me of broccoli cornbread, except there's no broccoli and it's not made with cornmeal.  So it's totally different, but kinda the same.
Clear as mud, right?  Whatever, here's the recipe.  You should make it!

Cheesy Garlic Zucchini Bread

3 cups grated zucchini or summer squash (I peel and seed my overgrown zucchini.)

2 teaspoons salt

1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 medium onion, diced

2 cups grated cheddar (I used Monterey Jack, it was great!)

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon black pepper

½ cup butter, melted

3 large chicken eggs, preferably at room temperature

(I also added a little Cavender's Greek Seasoning, but you don't have to.  But you should.  Just saying.)

Combine the zucchini and salt in a colander and toss to mix. Set aside to drain for 30 minutes. Squeeze out the excess water. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 7×11 inch baking dish with butter or lard. (You can also use a 9×9 inch Pyrex dish and reduce the heat to 330.) Stir together the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl. Add the onion, zucchini, cheese, garlic powder and pepper. Mix well with a fork, breaking up any clumps of zucchini. Whisk together eggs and butter in a small bowl. Pour into the zucchini mixture and mix well. Spread evenly in the baking dish. Bake for about 35 minutes, until golden.  You want the whole top golden and the entire pan cooked through, so don’t be afraid to give it some extra time if needed.  The batter is very thick and moist.  

Y'all, this stuff is good.  You know I wouldn't lie to you about groceries.  You should really try it.  

Or come to our house and I'll make it for you. Either way, yum. 

Lake Livingston

We just got back from our little Brown/Copes/Rhodes/Hennigan/Slaydon family vacation this year, and boy did we have fun!!  It's always a good time when we all get together, just wish it wouldn't go by so fast!  This year we rented a house on Lake Livingston, and it was so nice.  Nice porch overlooking a big backyard and the lake, huge dock for fishing, and only slightly uncomfortable beds. ;)  The kids had so much fun playing on the beach (and by kids, I'm talking Julianne to Granny).  We fished, swam, splashed, cooked, ate, napped, dominoed, and visited.  It was a great weekend!  I wish we lived closer so we could see each other more, but I love that we've started this little tradition so that we can all get together and play for a few days in the summer.  :)

Swimming in the hottest lake water EVER!

They fished their little hearts out!

I love these people!  Makes my heart happy!

This would've been when Granny developed her random foot sunburn!  

Poor thing.  She had fun, though!

Got the fire started and then everybody went fishing.  These kids aren't big on s'mores anyway.

We had several intense rounds of Mexican Train.  People cheated.  I'm not saying who, but they're in this picture.  And another one who gave birth to the person in the middle of this picture.  But no names, please.  Wouldn't want to embarrass the cheaters.  

Such a fun weekend!  Time to start planning for next year!  

How does your garden grow?

Ever since Justin and I got married (7 years ago, in case you missed the last post), we have had a garden in the summer.  They started out small: a few tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, and things grew (no pun intended) from there.  We've tried all sorts of things, but we generally stick with the basics.  In our red clay, some things just won't grow.  (Like my beloved purple hulls.:( ) Some years we've had good results, some years not so much.  We have been very fortunate this year, in that we've gotten plenty of rain along with ample sunshine, and we've had a pretty awesome harvest this year.  By no means are we Doomsday Preppers, nor are we overly concerned with that zombie apocalypse the kids are talking about these days.  We just think it's kind of a smart idea, for a lot of reasons.  We know where our food comes from and what is (and isn't) in it.  We can pick things when they're ripe and ready.  We can put up what can't immediately eat for later.  The list goes on.  We've been very blessed with plenty of veggies this year, so we've been able to share the extras with family and friends, which we love to do.  It's also great for trading: salsa for berries to make jelly, cucumbers for pickles (we've not had much luck making our own).  Plus, homegrown and homemade stuff just tastes better than the stuff you find at the grocery store.  We have fresh eggs every day, our beef traveled less than 5 miles round trip before it got to our freezer, the girls love their "deer meat" as much as we do, and we make our own sausage that, in my opinion, is better than any you could buy at the store.  I would encourage anyone who doesn't grow or raise at least some of their own food to try it.  It is a lot of work, but the benefits are totally worth it! Here are a few pics from this year:

Getting the ground ready!  Every year he says we're going to downsize, every year he lies. ;)

This pic was taken at the beginning of June.  Our tomato plants were looking great before they turned into a jungle!  Justin is about 6' tall, so this shows how big they were at the time.

These last two pictures were taken yesterday.  Even after the hail storm last week, we were still able to pick 5 gallons of tomatoes, several quarts of peppers, cucumbers, and a monster zucchini which will soon be turned into several loaves of zucchini bread!  Tomorrow we'll be making salsa and chow chow, and maybe just canning some stewed tomatoes if I can convince the hubby. 

7

You know that feeling that you get sometimes, like you can't wipe the smile off your face? Not that everything is perfect and sunshine and rainbows all the time, but just that realization of how blessed you really are?  That's kinda where I'm at right now.  Yesterday marked 7 years that Justin and I have been married.  In some ways, it seems like just yesterday, but (in a good way) it seems like we've been "us" forever.  Like everyone else, our marriage hasn't been perfect, but I can honestly say that there has been WAY more good than bad.  We just kind of fit each other, and I like to think that we usually bring out the best in each other.  Like I've mentioned a trazillion times, we've really had a great time this summer, mostly because we've been able to spend lots of time together as a family.  We've gotten to do things that we usually don't have time for, including just hanging out and relaxing.  Yesterday for our anniversary, we decided to celebrate a little differently.  Nana and PawPaw kept the girls for us overnight, for which we are eternally grateful.  (For all the family time we've been having, that was the first time we've actually gotten to spend some "alone" time this summer. Much needed and appreciated!)  Instead of going out to eat and trying to find a movie to watch or something to do, my sweet husband had an even better idea: let's just stay home.  Who knew I'd have the best seafood dinner I've had in a long time right here in Cole Central?!  Grilled lobster, shrimp, and redfish with fresh squash and zucchini!  It was amazing.  Really.  Got to swim and relax in the pool without throwing the big one in the air or holding the small one because she doesn't want to wear her floaties.  Then we pulled the recliners into the middle of the living room and rented a couple of movies, ate popcorn and held hands.  It really was a perfect night.  My favorite anniversary date so far.  Still smiling.  :) 

Just Fishin'

Have I mentioned lately just how much we are enjoying our summer? I feel as though I may not have said that in a day or two, so let me fix that...we are LOVING our summer!!  From swimming, to working in the garden, to camping, to just hanging out, we are just having a blast this summer!!  Yesterday, it was time to do a little fishing, so we took the girls to the catfish ponds to get some supper.  MeMe met us there and we were able to catch about 21 pounds of fish!  

4/5 of us had a great time!  (Julianne could not give a rip about fishing.  She sat in the truck most of the time, which is why you only barely see her in one picture.)

Abigail is the fishing queen around here!  I think she caught the most and biggest fish AGAIN this time!

   

Fishing is serious business!  

She reeled 'em all the way in with no help this time!  So proud of my big girl!

MeMe got caught some big ones, too!  

She did such a great job!  I think she would've fished all day if we could've afforded it! 

Okay, if you blow this picture up, then squint really hard, you just might be able to see Julianne sitting in MeMe's lap fishing!  She even caught a fish!  About the time they got it reeled in, she decided that she needed to get back in the truck!  She's a country girl, but fishin's just not her thang! Can't wait til this weekend to go again! Have I mentioned what an awesome summer this has been?! ;)