As You Can See...

I deleted my last post about that great trip to see my mom and some friends this weekend in Houston, cause once again I am stuck in Tyler. Keith is still at work and we decided to postpone the trip for 2 weeks because of some things going on at his office.

OH well, hopefully I can maybe get some things done around here this weekend and maybe get a little sun!

Trying Something New...

Well not exactly new as I have had it since 2004 but well I finally decided to try again. And what is this new thing you ask...

WINDSOR PILATE'S!!!

Now let me tell you a little story about this nice set of DVDs cause there is a really good story as to why I own these. You see back in 2004 when I was living in a 4 bedroom apartment with 3 other girls in Baton Rouge and was doing way more partying and drinking then one human being really should, I had seen this infomercial about 4000 times. Well one night at about 2 AM, I came back from a great night at either Bogie's, or Fred's, or some other bar near LSU and on came that infomercial. In my drunken state, I decided that the 3 payments of 19.99 was a great deal for something that would make me fabulously thin and beautiful. So out came that credit card at 2 AM and the phone call was made to that wonderful 1-800 number.

A bit of advice... don't try that one...let's be honest, the DVDs have been used about 5 times in the 5 years that I have had them, but this time I am going to do my best to stick with it. Well at least stick with it about 2 times a week or so. Especially since we got some great news... well, not really news, but we made a decision. What is that decision you ask...

We are going on a CRUISE!!!!! I am so excited and can't wait until those luxurious five days that I will spend on a boat with a drink in my hand and the sun shining down on me! More to come on that when the reservations are made!!!! And until then I must get back to my reality of cleaning and TV watching.

Why Can't Holiday Weekends Last Even Longer???

Boy I could use another few days just to recuperate from the holiday weekend and I didn't even do anything. Keith was gone until Monday morning against his own will (Thanks BJ Services) so I did a lot of sitting around the house watching Lifetime Movies. I did do some baking and made a Peach Cobbler for my supper club on Sunday night and Banana Bread for a treat for Keith, but I haven't had time to type up the recipes but maybe one day soon I will get a chance to share them.

Yesterday after Keith finally made it home, we took a little trip out to the Lake for a beer run... the joy of living in a dry county... and then came home and BBQ'd ribs. They were so delicious and Keith got lucky and there was enough left for him to take them to work today. I know the guys were so jealous!

Today I had a late day of training at work, so I decided to hit the gym at 6:30 cause I knew there was no way I was going to go at 2:00 when I got off. Besides the fact that by 2:00 I knew I was going to be about to pass out due to starvation, my afternoon energy for the gym, DOES NOT exist! I am amazed by how many people are at the gym at 6:30 on a Tuesday morning... honestly I was surprised I was able to even get a treadmill!

Well I must go and get my afternoon chores done. Lots of laundry still to catch up on from Keith being out of town for work and even more laundry to iron! Oh the rough life of a part time worker...

Seriously I didn't need the help...

Can I just say that this doesn't work! No matter what he may think, he can not help with the laundry.

That has been the story of my weekend. Saban has been sick so he follows me around everywhere and has to try to get into everything that I am doing, so needless to say I haven't gotten much done.

Keith comes homes tonight... hopefully... and I am so glad! Maybe Saban can follow him around for a little while. I plan on heading to church here in a little while then I have to come home and work on my peach cobbler for my supper club tonight. Hopefully I will remember to take some pictures and I can share the recipe with you if it is any good.

Just a little update...

Well not much has been going on over here... I have been keeping myself busy training with work and staying very busy in the afternoon keeping the house organized, getting errands ran, and trying to run a few miles a day or at least get into the gym for something! I worked too hard to stop hitting the gym now!

Work has been going great! I am almost done with my training and should be up and running by myself by next week. The people have been great. The bank is pretty small, so there are only 11 of us total and everyone has been so nice! They have already invited me out for drinks on Thursday after our monthly meeting! It is so nice to be able to get out of the house for a few hours a day and have face to face conversations with people!

This weekend will be pretty slow around here. It is looking like Keith will be working all weekend, so I will be alone during the day. I am still trying to decide if I might take a drive up to see the little guy over the weekend since my parents will be up there. We have our supper club on Sunday night and I am in charge of the dessert, so I am just not sure if I want to get up really early and drive back Sunday morning in order to have enough time to make it. Guess I should just save my trip up there until the 4th of July when Keith can do the driving!

Alright well I must get back to the housework so I don't waste the whole afternoon sitting here watching the Food Network and reading blogs which I have been known to do!

Recap from the Weekend!

Well we are back in Texas after way to long of a drive, but we did have a wonderful time!!! I am so full of wonderful LA food and we had such a blast visiting with friends and family!

Friday when we arrived after almost 7 hours in the car, Keith's mom had homemade red beans and rice and some Popeye's Fried Chicken waiting for us! Oh it was soooo good! It had been almost 11 months since I had either of those and it was such a treat. After such a great dinner, we decided to do a little driving around town as we had not seen much of the Covington/Mandeville area as Keith's parents have only been living there about 2 months and are last trip was such a quick one. Keith's parents live near both the Tchefuncte River and the northshore of Lake Ponchartrain so there are great views and lakefront restaurants all over! It was so nice to see such a wonderful area of LA and the weather was so wonderful that it made it even better!

Saturday while the boys played golf, myself and the MIL did a little shopping at where else, Ann Taylor Loft! I found a dress that I just love, but I am hoping it is going to go on sale soon and I can get it a little cheaper. Unfortunately a $70 dress is not exactly in the budget right now :(. Saturday afternoon, we went to a wonderful restaurant right on the Tchefuncte River called Friends Coastal Cafe. The food was great and with the wonderful weather, we were able to sit outside on the patio and watch all the boats go by.
This is Keith after a great meal of some wonderful LA fried seafood. He was a very happy camper! Can you see the nice view of the River back behind him??? There are some huge houses back there and supposedly one of them belongs to John Goodman! We couldn't figure out which one, but any of them are definitely fit for a movie star. After dinner, we headed to a bar on Lake Ponchartrain called The Barley Oak. It had 50 beers on tap, which basically made Keith look like a kid in a candy store! Oh how he loves trying different beers!

Sunday after a trip to church, it was time for brunch for the MIL's 50th birthday! All of the family but one of her brother's who lives in TN were able to attend and we went to a great restaurant right on Lake Ponchartrain called Rip's on the Lake. The food was just amazing, and I wish I would have taken a picture of it! I had Eggs Champagne which was Eggs Benedict, but instead of hollandaise sauce it was covered with Crawfish Ettoufee!!! Soooo GOOD! Keith had Shrimp and Grits which is another LA classic dish. You know I couldn't help but stick my fork into his dish just a few times! Here are a few pictures from brunch

The Birthday Girl with her birthday Bread Pudding (delicious by the way... we all got to try some!) You can't see them, but she is wearing our present to her which were a set of Mignon Faget Fleur De Lis earrings and the Mignon Faget linking Fleur de Lis bracelet (two of my favorites that are currently also on my wish list!)

The FIL and MIL after brunch. It was raining so we weren't able to take any pictures on the Lake.

Me and the Hubs after eating such a great meal!

Here is the view we had from the restaurant. Can you see those dark clouds on the horizon??? They got some heavy rain shortly after we left. But still it was just so nice out there I couldn't help but take a picture.

I had an early day at work today and had to be there for 7:30! It was not easy getting up after so many hours in the car in only a few short days, but I did it. I went straight to the gym after work cause I knew if I didn't I would probably never get there. It was such a nice day that after doing a little stretching and warming up, I hit the trail right by the gym and enjoyed the beautiful day!

Now I am off to take care of a few things around the house... the one drawback from being out of town, so much laundry and household chores to take care of once you return!!

Just A Note...

Well I have been having a great week at the new job and am really enjoying it! I have enjoyed the people I have met there and all that I have already learned in my training. I can't wait to actually get started at the job! There will be more updates to come on it!

Tomorrow we are going to be leaving for the weekend in LA and I can't wait for a little bit of the great food! It is my MIL's 50th birthday this weekend, so I will hopefully have a few new pictures to share from the events.


But until I have those pictures, how about a nice little picture of my favorite smiling little guy!

The Best French Toast

French Toast

Courtesy of Alton Brown C/O FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients
1 cup half-and-half
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons honey, warmed in microwave for 20 seconds
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 (1/2-inch) slices day-old or stale country loaf, brioche or challah bread
4 tablespoons butter

Directions
In medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the half-and-half, eggs, honey, and salt. You may do this the night before. When ready to cook, pour custard mixture into a pie pan and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Dip bread into mixture, allow to soak for 30 seconds on each side, and then remove to a cooling rack that is sitting in a sheet pan, and allow to sit for 1 to 2 minutes.

Over medium-low heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a 10-inch nonstick saute pan. Place 2 slices of bread at a time into the pan and cook until golden brown, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from pan and place on rack in oven for 5 minutes. Repeat with all 8 slices. Serve immediately with maple syrup, whipped cream or fruit

Last Day...

Of unemployment that is! Tomorrow morning I will start my training at the bank and am very excited to have a reason to get dressed in the morning and to get out of this house. I don't have much planned for the day so it should be nice and relaxing.

I have already taken the weekly trip to the grocery store and I must say that I am very proud of myself! I only spend 65 bucks and I saved 39.09 which was a savings of around 35%! I shop at Brookshire's and they have really good loyalty savings, so if you shop the sales you can really save some money. My best purchase today was 4 for $12 coke zero and Oscar Meyer lunch meat 2 for $4 and I had 2 75 cent coupons! So I guess I am getting better at my coupon and deal shopping abilities!

Tonight we are having "Brinner" or breakfast for dinner for all of you non-Scrub watching readers! I will be using my favorite french toast recipe and I will definitely be sharing it tomorrow IF I remember to take pictures! I try my best to not post recipes without pictures, but sometimes we are just too hungry for me to take the time!

Happy Mother's Day and Happy Birthday!!

I just wanted to wish a Happy Mother's Day to both my mom and to Keith's mom. They are two of the most wonderful women I have ever met and raised some wonderful children if I do say so myself! Personally I don't know how my mom put up with me and my brother and I definitely don't know how Keith's mom put up with two boys!!!!!

If you know my mom, this picture sums her up completely! She is CRAZY! My mom teaches kindergarten and has for about the last 17 years. After being around those kindergartner's she definitely doesn't act her age! There is never a dull moment if my mom is around as she can't sit still for more than 5 minutes. Love you Mom!

Here is Keith with his Mom and Dad (I couldn't find a picture of just her or him and her). Keith's mom has lived in a house full of boys since Keith was born 26 years ago! I don't know how she has done it, but she is definitely a great woman for putting up with all of those boys for so long. Maybe one day, she will have a little granddaughter to spoil rotten, I know she would love that! Love you Ms Ronda!

Today is also my Big Brother's birthday! Today Shawn turns 29! Man, he's getting old!!! My brother and I have a great relationship and are pretty close. He is a physical therapist and loves his job, his family, Cane's and Nebraska Football! I love going up to his house and not only hanging out with him and his wife, but also his little guy! Love you Shawn and Happy Birthday!!!

This is him with his little guy. As you can see the little guy likes to match his daddy with his collared shirt.

Just Another Day...

Well it is my last weekend unemployed and it looks like I will be spending it stuck in the bed... cause once again I am sick! Seriously can someone fix my health issues. I actually think I am fine now, but my lovely husband has confined me to the bed for the time being as I stupidly said "I felt fine while laying in the bed." So that is where I stay! Oh well at least I have a TV and internet in here, oh and did I mention I have a husband that is happily waiting on my hand and foot! Maybe I should just pretend to stay sick!

I had a get together for AAUW (American Association of University Women) on Thursday night and I forgot to talk about it. I have only been a member since January, but have really enjoyed the group and the women that I have met. It is really the only thing I am involved with here besides the church. I have done my best to get invovled quickly in the group and am actually the chair for the Holiday Home Tour and also for the Academic Spelling Bee! Guess it is a good thing I only took a part time job, both of those events are going to keep me really busy through the end of the year!

Our event on Thursday was a Salad Supper which honored our scholarship receipients. We give out 6 scholarships to the local highschools, junior college, and college here and it was really neat meeting the young women who received these scholarships. I actually had one at my table and she was great to speak with! We also did our induction ceremony and had some awards given out. I actually won a Women of Worth award for jumping in and getting involved so quickly which was neat! I wish I would have had some pictures but as usual I forgot my camera! I really have to get better at that!

Alright I am off to continue to lay in the confines of my bed... enjoy your weekends... and go do something fun for me!

Show Us Your House Friday - Living Room!

Well it is time for another edition of Show Us Where You Live Friday over at Kelly's Korner. I was not going to participate in this week's living room showcase A) because even though this is one of my favorite rooms to hang out in, it is one of my least favorite decorated rooms because our furniture is too big and when we got it, we were too lazy to rehang the art work to fit better with it B) because it is the room that is usually the catch all for all the junk and is usually way to messy to take pictures of and C) I wasn't really in the mood. Well yesterday just happened to be Living Room cleaning day over here so the room was clean, I got over the fact that it needs better decorating, and I had nothing else to do yesterday, so here is my Living Room to share with the blog world!!!!Here is the living room as you enter it. Our sofa is actually a sectional, but the room is not big enough for us to fit all of the peices, so the connector peice sits in a corner awaiting the day we have a hour big enough for it to join the sofa crowd. We got the rug at a sidewalk art and rug sale and we love it! The end table at the bottom of the table was actually made by Keith in his highschool shop class. I actually have a matching one of the other side that was made by his brother a few years after and he didn't want it, so now we have a matching set! As you can see, Saban is try to escape out of the door. Here is the room from behind the sofa's. We bought the TV stands at Target and I can't wait for the day we can buy a TV that isn't that large and I can buy the bottom peice to put it on. The container that is on the right stand, holds all of Keith's junk when he comes home. It was the best purchase I ever made! This way I the top of my cabinent is not covered in change, wallet, watch, keys and all of that nonsense that comes out of his pockets. Thank you Bed Bath and Beyond!Here is another picture of the TV stand area. That basket to the left holds the cat toys, and about 5 minutes after this picture was taken, all of those toys were back on my floor! The pictures above the TV stand are wedding pictures and a picture of my parents with the little guy. The pictures in the stand are a mix of wedding pictures, pictures of the nephew, and a picture from my friends wedding. One day there will be somewhere else for the electronics to go and I can get my other stand back for decorating!Here is a close-up of the right TV stand. The peices on top and the cross are from Hobby Lobby OF COURSE!!!

These pictures hang beind our sofa and are my favorite thing in the room. My dad got me these on one of his many trips to France, and I actually have two more that I am yet to frame. I really need to get on that!

Well that is our Living Room! I hope you enjoyed it. Please take the time to visit Kelly's Korner and check out all of the other living rooms over there!

Seriously How Do Other's Do This...

I don't understand how people can survive being unemployed for an extensive amount of time. I mean I know some people can't fix that as there is not a vast selection of jobs out there, but still, I have never been so bored in my entire life! It is especially not fun cause I can't spend any money as we took almost a 50% cut in pay with my layoff and it will still be another month until the unemployment check starts coming in. Thank GOD I start my part time job next week! At least I will be able to get out of the house for a few hours a day. I think I can control my boredom in the afternoon if I at least have something to do in the morning, but right now 10 hours of being alone in this house makes the day go by ridiculously slow and I just run out of things to do.

So yeah, nothing else to write about unless you all want me to talk about how I can sit here and watch 8 hours of tv a day... which really is just SICK!

My First CVS Couponing Trip!

As I am sure many of you have read, CVS is one of the best places for a bargain shopper. As I am really starting to get into this couponing thing with all that spare time thanks to the job having been so slow and now my 1 week of unemployment before the part time job starts on the 12th, I decided to try it out today. Let's just say I was pretty impressed with myself!

So here is what I got and the breakdown...

Special K:
Regular Price $4.49
3/$10 price 3.34
Had $1 off coupon
PAID: $2.34

Frosted Flakes:
Regular Price $5.19
3/10 price 3.34 (*2 $6.64)
Had $1 off coupon
PAID: $5.64
Cereal:$10.00 and received $5 in Extra Care bucks so REALLY only paid $5!

Listerine Total Care:

Regular Price $6.49

CVS Price $3.49
Had $2 off coupon
PAID: $1.49 (That's almost 80% off!!!!)

Renu Contact Solution:
Regular Price: $8.99
CVS Price $7.99
Had $1 off coupon
PAID: $6.99 and received $2 in Extra Care bucks so REALLY only paid $4.99

Colgate Maxfresh Toothpaste:
Regular Price: $3.39
CVS Price $2.99 (*2) 5.98
Had $1 off 2 coupon
PAID: 4.98 and received $4 in Extra Care bucks so REALLY only paid $.98!

So my total after Coupons and discounts I paid $23.46 and received $11 in Extra Care bucks for my next purchase... If I had paid full price for each of the items, my total would have been $37.13 and no Free Money to spend on my next purchase! That is a 37% difference!

I have to say for my first try at CVS I did pretty good! Next time I hope to spend even less, but for 7 items that usually aren't too cheap, I must give myself a pat on the back!

You can read about other bloggers CVS shopping experiences here, here, and here! One day I will get that good!

Jiminey Cricket

When I think of crickets, the little guy above is what I think of. Or those wonderful summer nights sitting outside enjoying the fresh air. Unfortunately now I have a new found memory of crickets. They have decided to take up shop in our back door.

Cricket's are not inside pets... they do not like the inside and when they are inside they like to let out a peircing scream constantly! Let's just say that it has not been pretty around here the past 2 nights! Keith has tried to get rid of that little bug about 5 times now, and he just seems to KEEP COMING BACK! I swear he can regenerate himself no matter how many times I see him on the bottom of a shoe!

Oh and what about that cat we have that is supposed to be a bug catcher and supposed to help out in situations like that... please! When I heard that little cricket singing his song at 5 AM Sunday morning... where was that bug catcher you ask??? Sprawled out on my pillow giving me the death look cause I ever so slightly shifted my body and interrupted his sleep! He is of no bug catching use around here.

So that is how we spent out weekend... fighting a 1 inch invader of my property! Oh the life here in East Texas.

Show Us Where You Live Friday...

Kelly over at Kelly's Korner is doing a virtual home tour and today was kitchen's and I decided to participate as the kitchen is my favorite part of the home as I love to cook and bake. We unfortunately live in a rental home as we are not sure how long we will end up living in Tyler, so I had to do my best in order to make the kitchen my own. If this was a home we bought oh how different it would be!

We will start with the main portion of the kitchen. This is looking in from the breakfast area.

As you can see, we have way to much clutter on the counter tops, but there just is not enough cabinent space for everything we have. It is small but it lets me do what needs to be done in the kitchen!

Here is our breakfast area. The table is a hand me down from Keith's parents, but it works perfect!
Here is my favorite thing in my kitchen/breakfast area. My Baker's Rack! My mom bought this for me when we moved here and I just love it. I love being able to display my accent peices to my dishes, and it also allows a little more storage space!!!
We have two sets of serving dishes. The set that goes with my everyday dishes which are done by Tracy Porter and is her Octavia Hill line (which has been discontinued which I discussed here). The second is a LA themed set, which I am still working on the peices too! It is hard to find as it is only sold in specialty sites or on the tabasco.com website.

Here is some artwork that is on our walls. I love the fleur de lis as you can tell... that's the LA in me!!
And here is a close-up of our dishes. The red one and the print are the Tracy Porter ones, the green accent plates I added and are from JC Penney's. They had to be added as I only bought 8 salad plates in the red and since they are discontinued and I have 12 of almost everything else, it really makes it a little difficult to serve 10 people salads!!! Next time I will know better!

And that is where we live... well more like where I live, Keith really only comes in to find food and doesn't spend nearly as much time in the kitchen as I do! Thanks for visiting!

Wilton Cake 3!!!

I have enjoyed my cake class so much and was kind of sad about it being the last one! But don't worry, I will be attending Class 2 hopefully in July since I can't take it next month and they are not offering in June... So eventually more pictures and cakes will be coming!

For my final cake, I decided on chocolate in honor of my boss. I asked for her suggestion and her favorite cake is a chocolate cake with white icing and even though she won't be able to eat it cause she is in Baton Rouge and I am here, I told her I would make it anyway and take pictures. So here is the recipe for the cake and for icing I will be using the class Wilton Buttercream.


Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake
Hershey's Kitchens


Ingredients:
2 c. sugar
1-3/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 c. milk
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c. boiling water

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 9-inch round baking pans.
-Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
-Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes.
-Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).
-Pour batter into prepared pans.
-Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
-Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks.
-Cool completely.

The cake right out of the oven!

All iced and ready for decorating!

As LSU themed as I can get using roses!! I mean is there any other color that goes as good with yellow as purple????