Longhorn Lucy

Signs

2009-11-11T09:39:00.004-06:00

I was going through some photo's and thought I would share a few from post wedding/honeymoon that I meant to share but never got out.

We took this picture the day after we got married. We stayed an extra night in our wedding suite because we had to be at the airport so stinkin early on Monday morning to fly out for honeymoon, so we had some time to wonder around downtown St. Paul and came across this sign. I had good intentions to crop it and send it with our thank you notes, but it honestly slipped my mind.

This was on our honeymoon. We were walking down Duval St and came across this sign and I just thought it was hilarious. We went to the Florida Key's where we found Jake Key with a sign that says Life is Good. Get it??? Jake Key, Good? Jake Good?? Alas, I thought it was clever and when your on your honeymoon, you better believe Life is Good.

This and that

2009-11-08T21:32:00.004-06:00

In an attempt to blog more, I'm just gonna post a few things I've come across tonight.

My laffy taffy jokes.....

Why was the police officer in bed?

Where do cows go for fun?

Answers at the end.

A couple of really cool websites Family Circle shared with me in their latest issue.

http://www.greenraising.com/

This website sells fair trade and recyclable goods that give back to the community. If anyone wants to give me this necklace for Christmas that would be fantastic.

http://www.localharvest.org/

It's a website that helps you find locally produced fruit, veggies, and meats.

And finally a couple of really cool websites from my friends.

http://kindboutique.com/

My friend Erin just started this website. She is selling Vintage and eco-friendly items. Jake got me this for my birthday. LOVE IT! You can feel free to get my pretty much anything from here for Christmas.

And finally, I've mentioned my friend Andie a couple of times, it finally dawned on me that I should like to her artwork. She is very talented, I am having her make something for me as a keepsake from my wedding and I recently purchased something for a birthday gift for a friend.

http://artsieandie.blogspot.com/

All of the proceeds from her artwork go to support her families upcoming adoption.

Finally the answers to the jokes.

why was the police officer in bed? Because he was undercover!

where do cows go for fun? The MOO-vies!

Not to be such a Nancy

2009-11-06T10:31:00.005-06:00

I wanted to post something that makes me happy.

There is this space in our living room that I have been trying to fill since we moved here two years ago. First I filled it with a bookshelf, but the bookshelf didn't fit and was re purposed in another room. Then I put a table thingy but it was something my mom got at a garage sale and I never really like it that much and have since sold it at another garage sale.

I have finally pulled this together. I love the space because it looks cool and because everything in it has a lot of meaning.

The table is something that was originally made by a relative, it was either my grandpa rollins or Kelm or even maybe a great grandpa. I forget, my mom could tell me. My parents had it in their house for a while, and then my sister did. When my sister was moving to CO she didn't want it anymore so I took it. I love that it was made by a family member, and has been used by serveral of my immediate family.

The sewing machine was my grandma Rollin's and I think when my mom gave it to my she was hoping I would use it. Alas I tried once but it has one of the footpeddle things and it kinda went crazy even when I didn't have my foot on the peddle so I decided it would make a better decoration. The photo above the desk was given to us by my dear friends Andie and Andrew as a wedding present. I love it for that reason AND because they bought it from someone who is trying to raise money for an adoption.

I'm not sure if the glass on the desk will stay or not, it's their for now, but it too has a story. I am a theif. I stole that glass from TGI Fridays after I had consumed the contents of the glass. It was just so cool and in my tipsy state I couldn't resist. It goes well with our red rug!

Here is a little better picture of the space so it doesn't look quite so isolated.

Oh I almost forgot, the red cloth that the sewing machine is sitting on was given to me by my friend Mary. It was something she got when she traveled to Spain while we were roommates! It's actually got a really cool pattern on it that you can't see from the pics.

I'm sure I have a lot to say

2009-11-06T07:29:00.002-06:00

but for some reason lately I feel like I have nothing. I don't want to post all kinds of negative crap, but I also don't want to be all Mary sunshine when I'm not feeling Mary Sunshine. That's not to say I'm feeling negative all the time. I sometimes want to curse on my blog, but my dear uncle the mister reads my blog, and while I know he is a terrific guy and not a judgy pants at all, I can't get over the feeling that my uncle would be none too please to read his dear niece curse on the interwebs.

But to be honest this semester has been really hard. I don't like either of my classes, my boss at my "student assistant" job is asking way to much of me and I feel like I'm being taken advantage of by her and the entire department. She needs a full time assistant, so I don't think she is purposely taking advantage of me she's just really busy fuckin busy, I do however think maybe the office is taking advantage of me and using me instead of getting her the real assistant that she wants. Being super busy at my paid job, makes it a little difficult to get hours in at my not paid internship, (especially when the boss at my paid job keeps asking me to skip the internship and come work for her). Each week I start out thinking this week will be better and each week something comes up. For example I was thrilled to end daylight savings. I was having a lot of trouble getting out of bed in the morning because it was so dark and because I don't have much to look forward to during the day, and I thought ohh daylights savings will end, and it will not be so dark in the mornings, and my body will be used to getting up earlier, and going to bed earlier and form good habits and the rest of the semester will be good.... well monday started out that way, but by monday night I'd picked up a cold from my husband and I was feeling pretty crummy so tuesday I slept in a little more and then Tuesday was just a cluster fuck and the rest of the week was sort of weird.

I did have a really great day on Thursday and I have the day off today so it's not like everything is crappy.

My new husband and I seem to be fighting a lot lately and I'm not sure if I should even share that, but how does one have a blog when they feel like they can't share stuff. I feel like the fighting is all my fault because I know I'm just not that happy of a person right now and I'm taking it out on him, but then I get kinda pissy because I don't think it's all my fault.... it's a vicious circle.

I feel guilty because I feel like I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off, but when I really site down and think about it, I'm not actually that busy, and Jake gets up every day and goes to work, and works and he's probably busier than I am.

I'm just not sure what the deal is, I just can't seem to get it together. For a while I thought it was the weather, it just didn't seem like it would ever stop raining, but then it did stop raining and I'm still cranky.

Again don't get me wrong it's not like I'm always craky, I've had some really great days. Last weekend for example was great. Jake and I went out and threw the football around for a while on Friday, we took the dogs for a great walk on the Trinity Trails and then Sunday I got to watch the Vikes give it to the Packers, and make some really yummy food.

But overall, it just seems like I can't get my shit together, and without my shit together, I feel like I don't have anything to blog about except another instance of not having my shit together, and how I almost missed my appointment with my trainer last night because I didn't leave where I was supposed to be until 5:35 and because I didn't know exactly where I was I turned the wrong way and had to wait at two stupid lights.... blah blah blah.

So here is what I've decided. I'm going to blog more, or at least attempt to. It might be because I'm crabby and I might curse. This blog was intended to be an outlet for me so my friends and family could feel like they were still a part of my life even though I'm thousands of miles away from most of them. My life like most peoples is not always happy and this semester just seems to be a struggle. Of course I will try to post some of the nice things too.

So if you are still following my blog, or this post for that matter, I hope you stick around, I'll try to write more.

Delectable Delights

2009-10-07T18:15:00.002-05:00

It's been a while, but this was really good tonight. Perfect for a chilly evening. We added some bread we got from central market and heated in the oven.... yuuuuuummmy

Vegetable Beef Barley Soup.

2 cups chopped onion
1 pound chuck steak, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I bought precut stew meat)
1 1/2 cups chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup uncooked pearl barley
5 cups fat-free, less sodium beef broth
2 cups cups water
1/2 cup tomato puree
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 bay leaves

1 Heat large dutch oven over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chopped onion and beef to pan; cook 10 minutes or until onion is tender and beef is browned, stirring occasionally. Add chopped carrot and chopped celery to pan; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in garlic; cook 30 seconds. Stir in barley and remaining ingredients and bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 40 minutes or untiol the barley is done and vegetables are tender.

We made the soup a day ahead so the flavors could all blend overnight. It was delicious. I'll be adding this to my regular fall/winter repertoire.

Dang

2009-10-06T09:43:00.002-05:00

I forget my veggie for breakfast this morning. I was going to cut on some cucumber, but I just plum forgot. Now I'm trying to decide if I should just claim the loss or make up for it by having two veggies for lunch or dinner tonight. Other than that the veg up challenge has been going well. I made cooked carrots for the first time in my life on Sunday night. Still not my fav, but I think I overcooked them, maybe need to try again. Tonight we're going out to dinner, so I am a bit stuck at the mercy of what's available on the menu!

Veg Up Challenge

2009-10-02T12:24:00.003-05:00

I want to eat more veggies. The problem is, they just aren't something I feel like I cook well, or enjoy enough to make the effort to learn to cook them. You can easily get full with just a main course, so I often forget to add the side.

So I created something for myself called the Veg Up Challenge. I am challenging myself to eat a veggie for all three meals a day, for 10 days straight. I found a pretty cool new blog that I hope will help me. A Veggie Venture appears to have a lot of good ideas. I also welcome anyone's favorite recipes. I am trying to do this to feel better about what I eat. I don't think I'm overweight, but I also think that as I get older my metabolism continues to slow down I am not eating the right things to maintain.

Lastly I could use everyone's support. I have never been happy with my eating habits and have always wanted to make a change, but have never been successful. I'm hoping that if I put it out there the universe will support me and I'll be able to make this change for good.

I'll post any recipes that I find that are particularly tasty, and give credit where credit is due. So I'm off. For starters, a spinach salad for lunch!

Organic Food

2009-09-29T09:38:00.002-05:00

I have been trying to decide for awhile now if I'm going to make the complete switch to organic food. I go back and forth. Is it more important to make sure the food is locally produced, or organic. It's not that I necessarily have a problem with the way that cows are raised, I just trust organic food more. Funny enough it's mostly when it comes to prepackaged products. I just feel like the organic food companies are not trying to "pass off" their food as good for you, but that it actually IS good for you.

I feel like the people who have decided to produce their food in an organic way really care about what goes into it. This is another reason I really don't like that traditional food companies are coming out with organic products. I lose that trust level when I find out my organic yogurt was produced by Kraft**...

This rambling actually has a question attached. As I continue to weigh the pros and cons of buying organic, I want to know if I'm being too naive in assuming that organic food companies actually care about their product as much as they care about their bottom line?

** not really I'm just using them as an example.

On health care

2009-09-03T09:15:00.004-05:00

I have been talking quite a bit about universal health care lately. I've been emailing with my dad, and posting comments on other peoples blogs. But I try not to start this super long diatribes about it... but this is my blog, and I have a lot to say, so here goes.

When I was in college, I worked for a daycare that was privately owned, ( good job, realizing the american dream and starting your own business) unlike corporation daycare's like Kindercare. I know for a fact that the full time employees didn't get health insurance because Amy* the owner wanted to keep prices competitive. She had a tough choice to make, keep costs down in areas where parents could see, and might complain ( I mean honestly who wants their kid to go to daycare with no playground equipment), OR keep costs down in an area where parents can't see, and hope you get loyal employees who enjoy their job so much they are willing to go without healthcare.

Now Amy could have made a different choice and raised the prices of the day care to make sure that her employees could have access to health insurance, but again at what cost.

We're american's we're fickle, we have no problem going down the street to find a better deal even if it's just by a dollar or two. Are parents willing to take their kids out of one daycare in order to pay $5 less per week? I think they are, and in a capitalist society more power to them.

Now let's talk about Sue, who worked for Amy. Sue could have gone to work for a large corporation and probably had health insurance. She might not have liked her job as much as she did at Amy's, but who care's about liking your job as long as you have health insurance ( Oh wait that is one of those American dreams we are supposed to care about) She could have taken a job just to get health insurance and been a cog in the wheel and made the corporation richer. (making the corporations richer, YES that is what the american dream is about! Oh wait it's not)

Sidebar: My mom worked for a large corporation for a part of my 20's, but the company decided to downsize, and my mom was layed off. As to be expected my parents were upset, and my dad whom I trust tells me to be careful at my current job which was at another large company because those companies don't care about me, and I'm just a number, a sentiment I think a lot of other american's share.

Back to Sue. She has decided to go work for some big company to get benefits, but she doesn't like her job, and she is always worried that she's just a number to them, and some day her number will be up and she'll be layed off (unlike back at Amy's where she liked her job, had input in the curriculum and Amy valued her opinion and she felt like she made a difference, and she knew Amy personally and felt that Amy would do everything in her power to keep from laying Sue off)

So what is the point of this long diatribe??

1. I believe health care shouldn't have to be something you make a choice about.

2. It's not just people who are lazy and don't want to get jobs or who are undocumented who have trouble with health care.

3. Sue had kids, her kids come to school sick because she can't afford to take them to the doctor, and then Jen's* kids get sick. Jen has to miss a couple of days of work to take care of her sick kids, using her vacation time for something other than vacation or maybe just to be dramatic, let's just say Jen doesn't get paid if she isn't at work. (yet another sentiment that pisses off the american public)

4. We all impact each other, let's do some things that take care of one another.

5. I'm not a socialist, I think each person has the right to make thier own decisions about what they buy, whom they buy it from, and what price they pay for it.

6. People like me who have had a pretty easy life so far, good health insurance, parents who loved me and could afford to take care of me, a husband who is successful enough to afford me to go back to school, have a social and moral responsibility to help those who haven't had the same advantages as we have.

7. Did I already say we're all connected? Oh I did? Well here it is again.

8. If we're being good christians who follow god's rules, don't those rules involve helping those are less fortunately then ourselves?

9. Most of us don't like big corporations... they make it hard to get your cell phone fixed, or your cable turned on, they can charge whatever they want because they've run the other companies out of business, why make it so we all have to work for them, because they are the only one's who can afford private health insurance.

10. I didn't get into how much it would have cost Sue to get private health insurance, or that she would have had to qualify and god forbid she have a pre-existing condition like diabetes that she got becuase she loves her some cheap hot McDonalds. (don't judge her, you know you all have your weaknesses, we're bread to by Ronald McDonald, and Joe Camel) So now now can't get her diabetes medication, so she goes into a diabetic coma on her way home from work and rams into the back of your car.

Did I already say we are all connected?

That's all I've got to say.

* The people are real, I knew them, worked with them, and have thought about them on and off for the past 10 years, but the names have been changed. Chances are they won't find out, but why risk it.

So Proud

2009-08-26T09:39:00.002-05:00

I'm a few days late on this post, but on Monday, Jake's company drop.io was listed as one Times Magazines 50 Best Websites for 2009. The site has gotten a ton of press on tech websites, and whatnot, but I would say this is their first or biggest mainstream press event.

We used drop.io to have our friends and family post pictures from our wedding which has been great because we've been able to see so many more pictures than we would have.

You can check out the pictures here

When you are the wife of a big computer geek, and a touch of a geek yourself this is a pretty big accomplishment. I swooned! Jake was part of drop.io from the very beginning and I see how hard he works, and how strongly he believes in Sam and his ideas.

Congrats to him and the whole drop.io team!

Kiva

2009-08-22T18:55:00.001-05:00

Our friends and family where so kind to us at our wedding that we wanted to pay it forward and do some good work for others. We have decided to donate some of the money we received to different charities/giving organizations.

One of those organizations is called Kiva. Here is the explanation from their website as I think they'll explain it better than I.

Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs around the globe.

Jake has done his homework and researched this organization. Basically the borrower typically pays the loan back in 6-12 months, the payback rate is about 98%, at which point we can decided to lend to another person, donate to Kiva for administrative expenses, or withdraw our funds. We plan to continue to lend for as long as we can.

We are just starting the process, but I am excited to participate.

Most romantic moment

2009-08-21T18:53:00.000-05:00

For sure saying our vows. I didn’t expect to get so choked up. I hadn’t gotten choked up during the rehearsal, but during the ceremony, wow, I was just so happy, and couldn’t believe that I was finally after all the years of heartbreaking relationships, and bad dates, and people who just weren’t that into me, that finally I had found this great man, and was standing there telling everyone that I loved him so much I was willing to committee my life to him. Needless to say it all hit me in a good way.

Funniest/Craziest Moment

2009-08-20T18:49:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the break ya'll, guess I just had to get back into the grind a bit.

Back to the wedding stories. Next we have the funniest moment.…. my shoes broke.. and not during the dance, or later in the evening, at about 4pm in the afternoon, three hours before the ceremony. I'm walking around in the park taking some pictures, and I notice that my shoe starts feeling a little loose. So I hike up my dress and look down sure enough, two out of the three straps on my right foot, and one out of three on my left had snapped, leaving very little holding my shoe together.

Luckily or thoughtfully, I had asked my sister to bring a pair she had been wearing the night before because they had a very low heel and I was worried about my feet getting sore. So in all honestly, what could have been a big problem was taken care of in less than 5 minutes.

Stay tuned for the most romantic moment... and no, I'm not going there....... you dirty dogs...

Most exciting moment

2009-07-30T10:52:00.003-05:00

I have been waiting for a few of the wedding pictures from the photographer to trickle in before I posted because stories are always better with pictures attached. But I'll go ahead and share a few and maybe add pictures later.

The Dean that I work for did a pretty cool thing when I got back and just asked me a few questions about the wedding, which helped me to give her a couple of good stories from the wedding.

So her first question was, What was the most exciting part of the wedding?

The answer is, seeing Jake for the first time. It was getting to be probably around 2pm and my whole family was in a hotel room, my mom and sisters had gotten dressed, and then helped me get dressed. My dad had come in just to hang out. They were all just kind of dilly dallying and I kept saying get out, get out, I want to see Jake. Finally everyone left, and it was just me and the photogs in the room waiting for Jake. As I waited, my excitement just kept growing.

No one seemed to tell Jake that it was time, and he had been spending the whole day trying not to see me, so he was confused as to what he was supposed to do. I could here him in the hallway talking and finally I shouted, "just come in here".

So he did, and man he looked so handsome, and the way he looked at me, I've never felt more beautiful.

We're back

2009-07-22T10:39:00.002-05:00

We're back, we're married, we are starting to peel from the sunburns we got on our honeymoon.

I wouldn't know where to even begin with the excitement that has occurred over the last three weeks. Over the next week, I'll try to pick out a few of the best stories and share pieces of them.

My blogger friends are nuts

2009-07-02T07:59:00.002-05:00

What's going on today? I'm reading blogs, and I think the internet has gone crazy!

First I read Mrs. Kathy over at mama's losin it, is she really talking about her own funeral? And what's with the picture of Barbie?

Then read Mrs. Muffy over at my friends are sluts, again, what?? is she killing the blog, or worse??

Why are all my friends talking about death?

Next, I go over to my girl at Pugs not Drugs where thankfully she is talking about something other than death. She is discussing the 4th, although not overly happily, and oh, I'll trade you electric bills, Texas, is not cheap in the summer, but then what's with the picture of the kid?? Is that your 4 year out nephew?

Finally, I see Eat this Fort Worth has a new post and I get all excited because we ate dinner with them the other night and I have been impatiently waiting to see my dinner featured on her website, but Noooooo she decided to post about the goings on for the 4th in the Fort.

Come on people help me out here.

And I'm off

2009-06-30T08:32:00.002-05:00

Today I leave for MN for what I'm sure will prove to be a whirlwind three weeks. Jake and I are getting married in 12 days. I'm leaving today and will be preparing some of the last minute details while Jake works for another week, and then joins me a week later.

I am so excited for this. I am excited that I found a great man to marry, and I'm excited to see all of our hard work and planning all put together. I'm excited to wear the dress, and walk down the aisle. I have no idea how I will feel on my wedding day. Will I be nervous, excited? Probably a bit of both.

I am proud of myself for how relatively calm I have been feeling about all of the details and planning. With 12 days to go I believe everything is in place and we will be ready for anything on the big day.

A new low

2009-06-29T11:35:00.002-05:00

So you think it's weird when you e-mail your co-worker who is sitting across the room from you.

I just instant messaged Jake who is sitting not 10 feet away from me because he doesn't like it when I talk to him while he is working.

With instant message he can respond whenever he wants which is RIGHT AWAY most of the time.

Ruler of the Roost

2009-06-25T09:30:00.000-05:00

I swear he didn't pose for this picture. This is Bentley's latest trick. He jumps on his crate and then climbs up onto Lucy's. I think he is trying to be taller than Lucy.

Delectable Delights

2009-06-24T09:02:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since I posted a good recipe we made.

This is nothing fancy but it turned out well.

Jake made up a marinade of garlic, lemon, lemon zest, pepper, and olive oil. Then threw the chicken on the grill.

I made a yummy salad of baby spinach, red lettuce, broccoli, carrots, tomato and avocado.

After the picture was taken, we combined it all and devoured it.

Road Trip Anyone?

2009-06-17T08:25:00.002-05:00

Anyone feel like making a three or four day road trip with Jake and I, and then just me after our wedding?

We are trying to figure out how to get all of our gifts back to TX from MN after the wedding. We were going to rent like a Uhaul van, or something, but the vans don't allow for returns at a different location, and the trucks are super expensive. It just seems like a heck of a lot of money to spend when we don't even know for sure where we will be in a year.

Right now, I'm thinking about asking my dad if we can rent him a car for a few days, and take his SUV full of stuff back to TX, and then I would drive it back to MN and fly home. Anyone wanna come with??

My latest love

2009-06-11T09:54:00.003-05:00

Jake and I make coffee using a French press instead of a coffee maker. I love getting the kettle going on the stove, and mixing it all together. Plus, with only two of us, I think we end up pouring less coffee down the drain.

We used to have a glass French press that lasted about a year before the glass carafe broke.

We recently bought this one, and I am in love.

I love the stainless steal, and the sleek design of it. It didn't cost as much as one of the fancy esspresso/coffee/chai/do your laundry machines either, and besides I get to cheat on Jake with it on a daily basis!

Weekend and the hangover

2009-06-08T10:16:00.002-05:00

This weekend was probably just what I needed to relieve some of the wedding stress I'd be having. We went to Austin with some of our friends and had a great time. We kenneled our dogs, and stayed in a hotel, and stayed out late, and slept in late.

However, now this Monday morning, I am feeling a bit of a weekend hangover. Not of the drinking type, but just of the tired feeling lazy having a hard time getting going.

Plus, and I just need vent for a little bit. We have really been having trouble with the place where we board our dogs. I feel like the bill is always double what we expect it to be. Lucy seems to always have poo problems when she is there so the give her medicine. Now I realize she isn't at home and can't just run outside whenever she has to go, but is it really necessary to give her meds just because she had diarrhea one time? This time although we specifically said we didn't want them to participate in day camp, they did anyway, and charged us a fricken arm and a leg for it.

I think we're going to have to research other kennels in the area, I've done all the internet research I can and haven't found anything better, but I think I'm gonna have to hit up the mom and pop shops that don't have internet and find out their prices.

Not even joking, it cost more to board our dogs this weekend, than it did for Jake and I to stay in a hotel????

Oh wedding, right now I love you AND hate you

2009-06-04T13:41:00.002-05:00

I keep waking up in the middle of the night with this tightening in my chest. I start thinking about all of the things that need to be accomplished in the next 38 days and then I want to cry. I've tried deep breathing, and advil pm, and getting up in the middle of the night and doing yoga.

I waste time, and then I finally fall back to sleep at O say 6 o'clock in the morning and then sleep until 9 or 10. If I could just sleep through the night, I could easily get up at 7 in the morning and start doing all of those things that are waking me up in the middle of the night. But noooo my brain has to start functioning at 3 in the morning....

Be prepared folks you might start receiving e-mails from me anywhere between 2-5 am, but god don't bug me at 8am because I'm sure to be sleeping.

Not complaining, just find it Odd.

2009-06-02T14:33:00.002-05:00

LaQuinta Inn was gonna charge a $20 extra person charge for two adults and one King sized bed?? What exactly is costing them extra money? Were they gonna give me extra shampoo?

Needless to say I ended up booking somewhere else, I just find that extra person fee a little odd.