Very Married

I've been going through a lot in the last month or so.  It's been a challenge but I'm so lucky to have someone in my life that cares enough to see through my 'I'm OKs' and 'I't's All Good's'.  That's my husband.  Before him I would have sworn up and down that no man can really know when something is off about their woman.  That no man pays that much attention or puts much thought into what his woman does.

My guy is an observer. He watches, he waits, he listens and then acts. Sometimes it irks me that he doesn't respond to my questions right away or he doesn't act immediately upon seeing me slam a door.  But after two years of marriage I get it.  I'm getting the hang of this marriage thing and am learning new things about him/us everyday.  This is not to say I'm figuring this all out through my own genius.  No...we've had some long nights that began with me saying, 'Let's talk about...'  God bless him, he sighs and then tries to give me what I want.  A lot of times those talks are me jabbering on and on and him nodding and saying nothing more than 'uh-huh'.  If I get frustrated with his lack of response I stop talking.  Several minutes can go by with neither of us saying a thing.  This usually ruffles my feathers a bit more before he launches into comments about most everything I've said.  Some comments are not what I want to hear but if I'm patient (and quiet) I get to the part where I appreciate that he listened, commented and was honest about it all.

Because of who he is, I've become comfortable sharing things with him.  It was with a heavy heart and head that I finally sat down and shared my thoughts with him.  It's been a month of thinking about my Mom and how I miss being able to talk over my problems with her.  I've recently had four friends announce their pregnancy this month alone.  While happy for them, it brought me down just a bit.  Our budget recently took a big hit and I'm staring at the dent it made as the month draws to a close.  He listened and was quiet after I finished.  Then he pulled me into a hug and let me cry.  He stayed with me that way until I cried myself to sleep.  He didn't have to say a word.  He was just there for me.  It's moments like this that let's me know I chose the right man for me.

I woke the next morning with a lighter heart and head and a smile to boot.  On my way out he hugged me and said, 'Have a good day.  Concentrate on work and think about me if you need to smile.  Don't play at the gym; go there and make a difference.  When you are done, I'll be here waiting for you.'  When I got to work I received a text saying, 'God loves you.  I love you.  Let the heavy things go.  We are there for you.'  Now tell me I didn't choose a great guy!  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Being single was great. I enjoyed it and learned a lot about myself. Being married is nothing I expected and everything I wanted.  I always referred to Ms. Hepburn's quote when me and my girls talked of marriage.

“If I get married, I want to be very married.” ― Audrey Hepburn.

I feel very  married.  Goodnight!

***Hopefully I'll get back in the groove of posting and try not to have them all about my gym experience (although I enjoy talking about the struggle). I have some half finished drafts and several pics of my food experience that I think deserves to be posted.  

Saying Goodbye

This past weekend I got up off my butt and actually made it to a friends going away party.  It was so good to see her and I finally got to see the new baby.  It's a girl!  Yay! Anyway, they're Australia bound but I'm hoping social media proves that miles don't make a difference in a friendship.  So at this shindig I learned a lot.  I discovered that boxed wine is not half bad.  Not that I would have known the difference between good wine or bad.  Generally I look for over top sweet and a pretty label.  I'm not too thrilled with the actual taste of alcohol.  Anyway, this boxed wine knowledge was dropped on me by Aussie Bound's mother  (who was quite funny). So yeah...blushing boxed wine is OK by me.

I also learned I have no problem eating a hot dog if there are no vegetarian options.  Seems the vegetarian sister rekindled her love of beef.  There went the veggie burgers.  No problem...I adapt well.  Now I know the serious veggies will gasp at this idea.  Well, I'm no vegetarian.  I'm just not fond of the texture or taste of ground hamburger and I generally just don't do beef.  I will however eat it in a mechanically separated, gristle, ground bone and additive filled form.  Go figure.  And for the record, potato buns make all the difference.  I will also go ahead and mention this hot dog moment was not a time to be watching what I ate. No...I planned well for that day.  I even had Cheetos for the first time in months and they were fantastic.  Oh and the baked beans (prepared by a guy) were awesome.  Did I ever tell you how much I love a bean?  Well I do. And I'm a tough judge when it comes to beans.  He did a great job.

And one more thing since I'm blurting out random....Central Texas flies are not afraid of clear jugs of water.  I hear it works to keep them away when placed near food.  Well it was decided the flies that were wanting to feast on this food had to be either blind or dumb because a few kept coming back.  I really dislike flies but I'm sure they must serve some purpose.  Oh and I also learned that a little bit of nature goes a long way when entertaining a 2 year old (or maybe he's 3 now...I don't know).  The little big man was so excited by chinaberries, sticks and ants.  He was fun to watch but I don't know how she handles that energy all the time and still look rested.

So I said goodbye to a pretty good person and wish she and her family all the luck with this big move.  I'm so excited for the adventure and hope when they return to Texas her kids have the cute little accents and have developed a taste for Vegemite.  Should be interesting.  Good luck Amanda!  

Slim, Skinny and Straight

The husband told me that I needed to go shopping and get something that actually fits my body.  I don't know that I've said it enough but I am no fan of shopping.  He seems to have forgotten this.  Besides this, I told him I didn't want to spend money on something that will be just as baggy in another couple of months (fingers crossed).  He reminded me that I can have them altered the same way I did my work clothes.  Score for the hubs.  So I gave in.

While we were shopping I saw this setup.  I laughed and told him it reminded me of a few comments I've heard at work lately.  Someone said, 'You are getting so skinny!'  Believe me when I say I am as far away from that word as possible.  Looking at it I can say that some words do describe me well.  I think I'm fairly original and relaxed.  Loose I am not!  Lol.  I'm working on standing next to slim and I vaguely remember being called 'straight ' by my Mom when I was little.  I wasn't 'blessed' with the curvy hips my sisters inherited from my Dad's side of the family.  I got it from my Mama. Though I guess since I prefer men that's another kind of straight.  My how times can change the meaning of a word. Ha!

We left this store empty handed.  My husband said he finds it interesting that I can go in a store and leave with only a few pictures on my phone.  In any case, it was a fun trip and he got to hear some funny stories about my childhood so I don't think he complained too much.

Have a day!

Quote of the Day: “Hanging onto a bad buy will not redeem the purchase.” ~Terence Conran

Melvin's Meditation Mantra

This is Melvin.  It was a gift from a coworker.  He is to be used in times of stress.  In fact, most everyone in the office has one though they all have different names.  Some are used more than others.  In my case I rarely find use for him at my desk.  I've used it a couple of time to remind someone else to 'Calm down, relax, take it easy...' because that's what he says when you squeeze him.  Since I'm usually calm, relaxed and taking it easy already, I wasn't using him that often.

But one particularly harsh rush hour moment helped me decide he would serve me better in the car. I fear that he will either stop working because I'm squeezing the hell out of him so often or he will start cursing me.  At that point I will of course have lost my mind.  In any case, I highly recommend everyone putting one of these little gems in their cars.

Happy squeezing!

Doggy Destruction

I love my dogs.  They can be sweet, obedient, and show unconditional love.  See how sweet they looked on our morning walk. Well, Baxter was a little annoyed by it all.  Especially since he had to pose in damp bluebonnets for this shot.  Sofie didn't know what was going on.  Either way, I was proud of their behavior that morning so I finally brought out the new toys.  They totally forgot I was in the room, ignored every command and proceeded to show all kinds of disrespect to the toys I just spent good money on.  Dogs...

Dishing it Up

This weekend the husband was suffering from allergy symptoms so he was in no condition to be cooking.  Unfortunately because he was up most of the night coughing, sneezing, blowing and spraying, I didn't get much sleep either.  This made for both of us being fairly tired.  We spend most of the day dozing on the couch.  When dinnertime came around, it was my responsibility to come up with something to eat.  

I didn't want to do much of anything to tell you the truth.  I'd be lying if I said I didn't consider going out and getting something cheesy, beanie and full of fat.  Yep...I was craving Mexican.  Luckily, I glanced at my workout calendar above my desk and figured there was no sense in working that hard in a week and then fill my body with a fast, high fat fix.  So, I made my way to the fridge and pulled out the veggies that needed to be eaten soon.  I found precooked turkey Italian sausage and chicken tenders in the freezer.  I decided tossing these together should result in something edible.  I was right.

Sliced carrots, bell peppers, red peppers, onions, zucchini, sausage, chicken, chopped canned potatoes, and seasoning.  

I chopped the tenders before getting started.

I sauteed the sliced carrots in a little olive oil to soften them a bit.

Stir in the onion and peppers.

Once they are softened, add the zucchini.

Then the potatoes.

Then the sausage.

...and the chicken.

I decided to toss in a quarter can of diced tomatoes and a half cube bouillon cube.  I only use a half cube because I find a whole one to be too salty.

Voila!  Some kind of veggie/meat stir-fry!

So, I'm not good at naming these creations but it was pretty darned tasty.  The husband agreed and I trust he wasn't lying. :-)

Have a great weekend!

Quote of the Day: “The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.” ~ Julia Child