Run-On's, Rants, and Christmas Spirit

You know that feeling where it's 80 degrees one day and the very next day you wake up and it's 20 degrees with frigid winds and snow on the ground and you have to wear ear protecters and gloves with the fingers cut out to take the dogs on their walk, just in case you get poop on your hands by accident you wont ruin your good gloves, but you start to regret that decision becuase you think you may have got frost bite on your fingers, and then you break a sweat working out in your living room but are still so cold that when you go upstairs to take a shower its like replaying that shower fantacy everyone has that never quite works out as good as the theroy becuase someone is always left out of the water and freezing, except in this scenerio it's one side of your own body who is pissed it got left out of the shower, and the water feels normal to everything but your fingers to which it feels like scolding lava, solidfiying the fear the some sort of nerve damage may have been caused by saving a pair of gloves from possible poop soiling.

I don't know which is worse: a cold ass, cold boobs, or that run on sentence I just wrote that totally made perfect sense???

And then it was 80 again......but after the the 50mph winds, another cold front has come to stay for a couple days. Mother Nature is such a drama queen these days!

I'm obviously easily entertained when driving home exhuasted from work and couldn't help but laugh at this very sad looking hind-windshield wiper.

I finally got around to decorating the window box in our coffee table with fabric scraps and love love love the way it turned out. It adds that perfect extra pizzaz of detail to our living room.

On note of our living room turned green room, most our plants are loving their window space. I've got blooms and babies growing out my wazoo.

You can't see them yet, but my Christmas cactus is totally catching up to the rest of the world now.....and here I was worring it was a dud....

When Shawn T. wasn't kicking my ass, I found time to rest and recover with my fur babies.

Even Lucie wanted in on the action, bad enough she was willing to lay on the same pillow Callie rested her head on, which is some kind of miracle in itsself.

On the note of miracles, we finished the kpLOVE Christmas CD just in the nick of time to mail out before the big day. I had a major technology set back with the cd cover program, which took me days of frustration to figure out, but after prevailing I anxiously braved the afternoon post office line of people squooshed from front desk to back door. When it was finally my turn I asked for the evelope to be weighed so I knew how many stamps to buy. The person behind the counter got a little touchy with my package and then asked if I was mailing CD's. 

"Yes," I replied.......Why should I lie? I can't deny the thought breifly crossed my mind. Afterall, if it didn't matter, why would she ask?

"You're not allowed to mail CD's this way. They have to be in a special package becuase they are a 'do not bend'. It costs $1.94 for each one."

"What? Oh my! This has never been a problem before. I do this every year, and actually also about a month ago; no one has ever said anything about it before. I don't care about the risk of damage; there's no way I can afford the alternative way."

"Well things are changing, and it's not legal anymore," she reinforced. 

I think she could see the utter sadness and disappointment in my face, and knowing all my evelopes were Christmas related, started to feel a bit sorry for me. She then whispered, "I tell you what.....I have NO IDEA what is in these evelopes"...wink wink..."I didn't ask you any questions. And whatever you do, don't give this to a post office person; just drop them in the self drop-box. Okay? I know nothing of what you're doing."

And THAT, my friends, is an act of kindness in the spirit of spreading holiday joy from the nicest post office lady I ever met and what Christmas is all about.

I got so excited about mastering the program that I made covers for our mixed CD from past years also!! (I even learned how to take a snap shot of our computer screen using the computer just to show this as evidence!........How's that for fancy?)

Do me a favor, would ya?? No matter what happens over the next few days (becuase it's definitely not the end of the world), do something extra nice for someone in the spirit of spreading Christmas cheer. It's too easy to get caught up in our busy lives and forget to make a positive difference in other's.  

Partly Proud. Equally Embarrassed.

It seriously feels like just a couple of months ago we went to How the Edge Stole Christmas, but people who aren't as bad with dates as yours truly, inform me it was actually 12 months ago to be exact.

The line-up was fantastic (The Joy Formidable, Passion Pit, Group Love, Metric, Fun, Silversun Pickups), Group Love winning my favoritism with their eclectic energy and versatility. (I chose this blurry photo of them because all my photos of them were blurry. They literally never stopped moving.)

I'd like to share a story about true love.

There once was a girl who woke up too late to have time to eat before the earliest Friday concert in history. She snuck in her own Smores and Caramel vodka by the grace of her husband's socks, mixed it with coke, and almost died over the fact it tasted so good one might mistakenly try to chew it......but the heavenly drink was still no substitute for food of substance.

 This same girl, the one who refused to waste good money on over priced concert drinks, grew weary over her choices of awful overpriced mediocre tasting concert food.

Wait......what's that??? To what before her wondering eyes should appear?? Was that a delicious looking chicken wrap heartily grasped between the greedy hands of the man sitting in front of her who probably wasn't as hungry as she??

Her mouth began to water and the effects of fasting was starting to take it's toll on her patience. She immediately begged her handsome knight in cotton armor to brave the hostile crowd in efforts of fetching this aromatic feast.

As soon as the next band started playing he dashed away with pride to please his ghostly colored to the point of transparency  fair lady.

Determined make her proud he eagerly waited in 3 separate lines to grant her request......only to be told by every concession tender they had sold out of wraps.

 Heartbroken and defeated, he returned to his starving madam. Not only did he miss Group Love's entire

performance, but in his hands he ashamedly boar chicken strips and french fries, a far fetch from her original request. His anger and frustration soon vanished when he saw what joy this brought her as she devoured the fried feast before her, only sharing but a few bites here and there.

Then the two rocked on amongst friends and strangers alike, for it's the effort derived from love that counts the most when it comes down to a wrap's weight on happiness and the knight's selfless generosity left the fair lady feeling like a queen of the highest stature. 

I have to be honest, I wasn't stoked about Fun, since the radio had completely burned me out by overplaying their most recently popular songs, but their feel-good vibe and talent made me forget all about those negative thoughts while they were on stage. They had me dancing and singing along in no time.

There isn't a bad seat in the house of Verizon Theater, but this year our seats rocked my socks off, which is serious, because I was wearing knee highs. Tim got our tickets on presale, and by the time the concert sold out, they were selling for triple the cost we paid.

But anyone who knows me is aware that breaking the rules is my kind of excitement and when a girl I just met suggested we try to sneak past the guard to stand at the stage for Silversun Pickups' performance, I was just plain giddy.

When security started making their rounds and checking armbands for access, we were conveniently unavailable, deep in conversation, hoping to get overseen. So we got to stay!! (Yes, I left my husband in the dust for this excursion.....but at least he had our other friends to keep him company while I got my mini-adrenaline kick.)

How often does one have the opportunity to take a picture of the band taking your picture???

Seeing this, overcomes me with equal parts pride and embarrassment. I can't believe I got to hang out so close, but I also can't believe I didn't know the difference between the "rock and roll hand sign" and "hook 'em horns hand sign".........(sigh).....anyone who knows my husband understands this is a big deal.   

And so, this fairly tale concert date night ended happily ever after (minus my accidental salute to UT).


How well do you know your hand signs? Are you a fan of concert food?

Do What's Right

Let's forget the villain and lift up the victims and heros of such a tragic loss. 

If Only......

Patrick and I really wanted a fun Christmas inspired picture for the CD cover this year, but we could never coordinate our schedules with friends in the limited daylight. So we I busted out the tripod, balanced it on a 5 gallon bucket stacked on a chair in the middle of our yard, and got busy with the self timer.........10 seconds doesn't leave much room for creativity, but I think we did okay. 

This was actually genuine laughter caused by my stomach making some crazy noises just before the shutter did it's magic. 

The day was majorly overcast with lots of grey clouds, so I had to do a lot of exposure experimentation to lighten and brighten in place of the sun. 

Lots of people don't know this about me (or maybe they do if they went to my junior high and saw me fall flat on my face as the most un-nimble cheerleader in the world when trying to do a jump but everyone thought I was actually attempting a cartwheel for the first time and I never lived it down).......but I can't do a hand stand or a cart wheel. 

My lack of coordination strongly influences my non-existant abilities in step class or my hip-hop cardio video to follow instruction. And in these pictures, Patrick literally had to grab me by the leg and pull me up....then hold me up, because I really suck at it that bad. 

There's a first time for everything, and on this day it was making a kiss mark. I was never one of those girls that kissed the mirror or a piece of paper (for whatever reason it is girls do that). I actually always refused to wear lipstick until a couple of years ago, so imagine my ecstatic excitement when we only had to try once to get the perfect one!

The puppies were all up in our business, wondering why in the world I was running back and forth in the yard, so we brought them in on the action. 

But getting a family shot with no one to help pose the critters posed it's own set of obstacles. 

Callie required bribes of treats in order to not look like she was being tortured. 

And now that we have all these pictures finished, the CD produced and burned, even the addresses on the envelops made out...........things are at a standstill. 

It's a week before Christmas and I can't friggin' figure out how to get the pictures to print out properly on the stickers for the CD's!!!!! Last year it was smooth like butter, easy-peasy, so why would I ever think in a millions years it would go easy for me again? 

Sigh. If only I was good......not even good, I'd be happy with decent......with technology; it would make my life so much easier.

Here it is.....incase you never get to see it..... because I must be a complete retard. 

Rules Shmules

In Weight Watchers they preach to make life and social gatherings about other things than food and drink. "Focus on something else," they say. 

I say, "What's the point of living without good food and drink?" If I haven't made myself clear to those who would choose my fate when the day comes I can't speak for myself, I know plead, "If I'll never be able to have food or drink again, pull the plug. No hesitation, no exceptions."

I love going to World Market and browsing all the different types of beer, and even better, getting to pick out an eccentric six-pack to satisfy my curiosity without having to make any commitments.I also thoroughly enjoy walking through Costco, trying all their samples, and then buying everything I see in the store......until I have to pay for it all.

Back when Patrick and I traveled and had to count pennies, on days when we were bored and hungry we would go on a day-date to the H-E-B down the road. It was the biggest one in San Antonio, the mecca of H-E-B's, and they had the most amazing display of sample foods. We were like the greedy kids in Willy Wonka, going around and tasting all the sushi and pizza like we'd never had it before, then moving on to all the breads, dips, and cold pasta's. Something about it felt a little devious, which always increases my fun-factor-rating, and we'd leave feeling satisfied without having to spend a dime.

In Weight Watchers they also have a 3 bite rule for things thought to be irresistible. Bite 1: Hello, I've missed you. Bite 2: It's so nice to have you again. Bite 3: Goodbye, see ya later.

This week I decided to adhere to this challenge, but had to bend the rules a bit. My brother apparently specializes in making buttermilk pies from scratch and brought me one. It was so delicious I tried to send it back home with him, but he insisted I keep it. It become imperative I develop a plan of action. Piece 1: Hello. Piece 2: It's so nice to have you again. Piece 3: Goodbye.....

Source: fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net via Melissa on Pinterest

It took great deal of self control to bring the rest to work for sharing, but now I can sleep well knowing a did my good deed for the week, right?
By the way.....today is 12/12/12. How weird is that?!?! (Lots of babies scheduled to be born today!)

Are you a sample fiend? Do you have a method for preventing over-indulgence?

Irony Doesn't Cure Cravings

Patrick decided he needed Chilli's to revitalize his week, so after hearing him whine about it for 2 days I finally gave in. He mapped it from home, we drove to the destination, and then we kept driving.......because it wasn't there. Apparently that location had closed. Frantic to find another location and pressured by evening traffic, we decided to explore cute little downtown Plano. I'd been itching for the opportunity anyway. 

We settled on the Fillmore Pub. It was lit up inside with pretty twinkling lights in every corner, and had tons of specialty beers.....but I didn't order any. I still can't believe I ordered a salad instead of Fish & Chips!!!! But the blackened chicken Cesar was to die for, and luckily I married a man that isn't too stingy to offer a few bites of his own meal to crack a smile on his wife's face.

We left happy, went home to watch a movie on Netflix, and curled up on the couch with a warm mug of spice tea, enjoying our own sparkling lights dazzling around us.

As nice as that sounds, I still got to hear, "I can't believe I didn't get to eat at Chilli's. That's all I asked for, and I couldn't even get that."

I'm sure he was just kidding, in a not so kidding kind of way. It's difficult satisfying a craving with something completely different. The funny part happened the next day, when I found the Chilli's he was looking for (but didn't tell him because I knew he would be mad.....in a not so mad sort of way) just up the road from where we looked the night before. The funnier part, is he the look he'll probably be wearing on his face after reading this, that I'd die to see. The funniest part is.......me waiting to break the news to him this way, the conversation we'll probably have about it, and the fact that we will probably end up going there now, just for closure of the craving.
And just to drive you crazy (since I'm on a roll):

Source: psychofactz.com via Sarah on Pinterest

I've Said It Once, and I'll Say It Again

Source: Uploaded by user via Lucy on Pinterest

The man I married loves sandwiches......probably more than anyone has ever loved any kind of food in their entire lives.

Allow me to be more clear by transcribing our pillow talk one night this week:

Me: If someone offered you a million dollars, but to take it meant you could never eat a sandwich in ANY form EVER again, would you make the deal?

Pat: Well......Whew..........(takes a deep breath in contemplation)......It's not like someone would always be watching me......

Me: That's not the deal. You could NEVER have another sandwich anywhere, in any form, no matter what, no matter if anyone is watching you or not.

Pat: Well......Hmmmm.......Yeah.......I guess I would take the money. I'd just eat a lot of pizza and hamburgers instead. (Pauses)........Is a hamburger considered a sandwich?

Me: If it's between two pieces of bread, it's off limits.

Pat: Man.......(Sigh) What about a chicken sandwich? Could I have a chicken sandwich?

Me: You mean a chicken SANDWICH?!?!? (Throws arms up for emphasis) Are you being serious right now?? No!!!!

Pat: Oh crap. I got so focused on hamburgers, I forgot we were talking about sandwiches!

Me: We just established a hamburger IS a sandwich!

Pat: Are wraps off limits?

Then we both laughed hysterically about just how ridiculous the entire last 3.5 minutes of our lives had become.

And two days later, he sent me this text message: Was in the elevator. This guy asked Mirna bout her baby and how old. She said 14 months. He said oh ok, almost 2. Left me scratching me head.
(Oops....not that one; that's off the subject.)
.....This message: Watering mouth. I want a huge mouth burger. I don't think I could give up sandwiches. I would take a sandwich over a steak.

See what I mean, Jelly Bean? (I've always hated Jelly Beans, by the way.)

Source: comicsidontunderstand.com via kpLOVE on Pinterest

Is there any one object in the world you wouldn't give up for a million dollars?

Chicken Tortilla Soup: Wal-lah

When I say I've outdone myself, I really mean it. 

I've always liked tortilla soup, but rarely ever ordered it at restaurants and have never tried to make it.........but when my Hunny was feeling under the weather it became my immediate mission to make him a nutritious and heart warming soup.......I think it will now be applied to my "craving list". 

(Sorry for the messy bowl. I couldn't get it into the living room fast enough to devour, and kept sloshing it all over the place in the process!!)

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

Chicken Breast
Mesquite Seasoning
Chilli Powder
Ground Cumin

1 Red Bell Pepper, Chopped

1/2 Onion, Chopped

1 Jalapeno, Chopped
1 Tablespoon fresh minced Garlic
Montreal Steak Seasoning
Olive Oil

6 cups (give or take) Chicken Broth (I use this stuff for all my soup bases, because it has the best flavor and isn't salty)

1 can Black Beans, drained and rinsed

1 can Pinto Beans with Jalapenos, drained

1 can Fire Roasted Tomatoes with Red pepper

Cilantro, Chopped

Tomatoes, Chopped

Firm Avocado, Chopped

Chives

Mexican Cheese
Canola Oil

White Corn Tortillas (You can use yellow corn also, but I prefer white because it's more of a light crunch.)
Sea Salt

 

Directions:

Heat oven to Broil. Season each side of chicken breast with Mesquite, chili powder, and cumin. Place on pan covered in foil (for convenient clean up) on middle rack. Flip chicken when top side is white, remove when opposing side is white. 

Drizzle olive oil over bell pepper, onion, jalapeno, and garlic. Season with Montreal Seasoning, and saute until onion is clear. Add chicken broth, black beans, pinto beans, fire roasted tomatoes and bring to boil. 

Heat canola oil to 350-400 degrees F. Stack tortillas, cut into strips, and cook in oil until golden brown/floating/crispy. Drain on paper towels. Lightly salt. 

Spoon desired amount of soup/broth into bowl (you want it to be really hot, just like with Pho, since you will add cold ingredients which will cool the soup), throw in desired amount of cut chicken, cilantro, tomatoes, avocado, and chives. Sprinkle with cheese, then top with tortilla strips. 

Wal-lah!!!

Now all you need is a spoon, because I guarantee an appetite after smelling this cook!

Teacup Trinket

I have an entire board on Pinterest dedicated to half a million projects I'll probably never start, but after ogling over this particular one for a while, I decided to tackle it. 

All hyped up for a new adventure, I gathered some steals at Goodwill, purchased my E-6000 glue, and then did what I do best.......procrastinated.

A few weeks later, after a couple glasses of wine, I got the courage to follow through. 

Warning: this is not a project for relaxation of the mind (that's what wine is for). On the contrary; it is a puzzle, and a frustrating one at that (make sure you have a couple of bottles chilled for this one). 

I decided the best way for the fixture to withstand the stress of wear-and-tear overtime would be for the cups to balance in a way they could stand without glue. I succeeded in the first 5 minutes of trying, to get them all positioned on top of each other sans glue, took a million pictures of the arrangement so I could recreate it, took it apart to apply the glue........and then could never put Humpty back together it again. 

I sat on the floor for about 2 more hours, completely flustered and disappointed in myself, trying to reposition the cups again, never getting it right. Patrick thought he could outdo me, but also failed. I slept on it, and tried again the next day.....still nothing. The earth had shifted on it's axis with no intentions of returning my sanity. 

Eventually I found a compromise, but gluing slippery abstract shapes to another slipper surface is tedious work. If anyone ever asked me to make another, I'd have to charge about $500 for labor and stress. Now I know why Anthropology is so outrageous.......

All in all, I love my finished unique and useful jewelry/coin/junk holder. For a grand total of $6, with glue to spare, I think I came out on top!!!

Have you ever tried to make something from Pinterest? What was it? How did it turn out?

Say it, Don't Spray it

The healing process is complete and I'm thrilled with the results. All the movement and depth is memorizing. 

It's a good thing my husband thinks my tattoos are sexy; I need all the extra help I can get lately. 

This week while laying in bed, just when things were starting to get frisky, he said something that made me laugh resulting in me accidentally spraying an innocently light layer of snot all over his face. Gotta love those December sniffles!!

There's no better technique to get your man awake enough to be in the mood like giving him an excuse to get up and wash his face (as long as he can quickly forgive and forget)!

And thus the saying "Say it, Don't Spray it" now has a much more profound meaning in our household.

Embarrassing sack stories, anyone??

In the Spirit

Our first year of marriage, we moved to California and learned how to live poor. It was through that invigorating experience we decided to gift everyone with the spirit of our presence for the holidays via the media of a homemade Christmas CD. 

We filled it with silliness, fun, and cover songs of our favorite holiday tunes, and called it 

"A kpLOVE Christmas". Since then, it's become a tradition in place of corny Christmas cards (which I love getting, BTW). 

We always say, "Next year let's start super early, like July, so we can have the extra time to make the songs really amazing".......and every year we end up waiting until the last minute. 

The truth is, it's just really hard to infuse a song with the joy of Christmas before it really feels like Christmas.....also most of our creativity is derived from drinking and pulling all-nighters. 

So, as soon as Thanksgiving (I refuse to jip TG, y'all) was over I decked out the house with joyous gear, including the cinnamon stick bundles from our wedding day, and several of my favorites from childhood, like the yarn train that brings back so many fun memories of decorating the house with my mom as a child.........  

Back then, I used to fill up all the compartments with Hershey kisses and pretend the train was hauling them somewhere fun, which always made me so happy, so this year I did just that. I recently discovered this delicious new holiday version of kisses, and splurged......the cool thing is the caboose has little candie canes on it.....like it knew this destiny would one day come true!

Last on the checklist was alcohol. It just so happened I visited my hairdresser and purchased some of his homemade Apple Pie Moonshine. I'll be honest, the dirty water appearance and "moonshine" title had me a little timid......but O.M.G. am I glad I was so brave!! This stuff is like a holiday party in my mouth. 

And so it was time to bring A kpLOVE Christmas 2012 to life.

Patrick: Do you have any ideas for this year?

Me: Nope.....but we never do, and our accidents are always my favorite!!!

Off to the studio we go!!!

Wish us luck, we are trying to use Garage Band to record for the first time and it's been quite a learning curve! 

What's your favorite Christmas song? 

I decided my Tiki man looks so good in his Santa hat that he's going to look naked come January, so I want to start dressing him for every season.....what do you think?