This has been a pretty long week so far. Probably because my sinus infection is hanging on. Davy has been on call twice this week, but we have the weekend to explore our surroundings. We want to check out the Pinson Mounds, an Indian burial and ceremonial site a few minutes up the road. Very exciting! Hope the weather stays clear.

Sorry it has been so long!

I just discovered the best product ever! Well, one of them. Demeter's pure soap fragrance is my new favorite perfume. I bought a 1 oz bottle at TJ Maxx for $6. Their website sells the 1 oz for $20! I would still pay that price though. This perfume is clean, simple, and fresh. It isn't too sweet, so I don't get sick of wearing it.

Find some! Now!

http://www.demeterfragrance.com

Cooking bacon wrapped pork tenderloin medallions dredged in the same spicy brown sugar seasoning from the chicken wrap recipe. Yams and cous cous sides! Yummmm.

Pretty soon I won't have to blog from my Blackberry. Internet will be turned on in a day or so. Very excited about that.

This week is dragging by so far. I don't feel well, and that probably contributes. The change in weather has brought on a little upper respiratory thing. Hope that blows over soon so I can get back to breathing through my nose effectively!

We had a busy weekend full of visits from friends and trips to places around West Tn. Davy was on call, so much of our weekend was spent with him dashing out to a patient's house. Bless him. He plays such an important role in these people's lives that it makes me want to be a better person.
Two years since mom passed away. Still miss you, Mama. Still trying to be the person you raised me to be. And still trying to figure out what the hell you put in your taco recipe! Blessings to everyone this week.

New favorite things:

1. Hard candy plumping serum volumizing lip gloss- You can buy this at Walmart for about $6. It makes your lips tingle, and it does seem to plump them up a bit.

2. Clinique's different lipstick in Spiced Apple- This lipstick is sheer and flattering on everyone. I usually hate lipsticks, and I can't get enough of this one. It's currently part of a gift with purchase.

3. Brushlab's hairbrush mirror combo- Pink hairbrush with a big round mirror back. Nuff said. Find it at Walgreens for about $7

4. Casio exilim 10.1 mp camera- Great for throwing in your purse. Walmart has great deals on this camera. I still use my big kodak for really important stuff, but this camera has a rechargeable battery.

5. Clinique superpowder double face makeup- Great coverage that doesn't look cakey. I'm usually an all mineral girl, but I'm being won over hard core.

Just tried this Paula Deen recipe for sweety and spicy chicken wraps:
I played around a bit with the ingredients.
About 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsps bbq seasoning
1 tsp onion powder
Do all this to taste, of course.
Cut a chicken breast into cubes and wrap with slice of bacon. Skewer and then roll in the spices.
Bake in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes. Yum!!!

If you have trouble sleeping, I'd suggest trying melatonin. It helps regulate your circadian rhythms and really gets those Zzzz's flowin'. I have been taking it for about a week and a half now, and I'm sleeping so much better. Thanks to my brother-in-law for the information! Mikey, you rock!

So far we have caught 4 mice in the new house. 2 lived to see another day (outside). 2 dead. The kitchen terrifies me! I refuse to open cabinets. The end.

Just got back from grocery shopping at our little country store and farmer's market. Among my best finds: fresh organic mozzarella, chocolate fudge, homemade soy candles, HUGE yams, organic pasta, and an owl salt and pepper shaker set for .50! A successful day.

Headed home. We are about 4 miles out. Very glad to be headed to our house in the country. We had a wonderful time celebrating my dad's birthday in Wahalak with grandmother, Rachel, and Lindsey. Only sad I didn't get to stay long enough to see Lukas! Always missing each other!
Picked up some shrimp and french bread for po'boys and going to sit back and enjoy tv for a change. Blessings to everyone.

I love the TN lottery. 27 bucks off of 5! Woot!

Discovered a great addition to regular brownie mix: add one or two tbl spoons of smuckers hot fudge sauce, heated for 45 seconds on high. Take a skewer and drag the hot fudge through the batter for a marbelized effect. This will make your brownies nice and gooey!

Yesterday, we explored an old country store down the road from our house called "the unusual country store." They sell homemade hoop cheese, bread, candy, herbal remedies, cookbooks, and a million other things! If you are in the neighborhood of Finger or Selmer, check it out. So worth it.

Had an OMG today. "Odd message from God." He works in mysterious and powerful ways.

Frustrated.

Too much to do and too little time to do it in.

This weekend's itinerary:

Friday- Work on packing until David gets home from work. Pick up u-haul. Deposit u-haul at house. Drive two hours north-west (?) to Lambert (In the Delta, for you non-Mississippians).

Saturday- Wedding shower at Lambert Methodist in the morning. Pack presents (yay!). Load fridge (We're getting the in-law's old one for the new house!) into truck. Drive to Tupelo. Finish packing. Load fridge and washer+dryer into the u-haul along with copious amounts of furniture and junk. Possibly drive to Selmer to unload copious amounts of junk.

Sunday- Unload stuff. Unpack for the next 6 months.

Monday- Pay visits to electric company, gas, and water. Separate places and possible towns. No joke here. Obtain new TN driver's license. :(

David may or may not be able to take off on Monday or Tuesday. The original plan was to take some paid days off to work on the move, but instead of moving next week, we're moving this weekend. He's already working in Selmer, so at $20 to $30 a day in gas, we can't wait.

Pray that we're able to make this move efficiently and quickly. Pray that we'll be able to make what money we have last until next payday when reimbursement comes in.

Okay. That is enough complaining. Positive thinking!

Wedding photos!

Our wedding photos are finally in from our ever-amazing photographer Amanda Morris!

The moving process

So after a terrible night of no sleep and a restless nap, I started the packing process again only to discover, "Oh my God. This isn't nearly as hard as it used to be."

To explain, my husband and I have moved about 5 times since we've been together. Maybe more. He helped me move out of the dorm twice and into the dorm once. (I returned the favor.) We moved out of the dorm and into a small one bedroom apartment together, and then we moved into a larger apartment in the same complex around a year later. We lived there for awhile, and I got transferred to a bigger store in a bigger town an hour away, meaning another move to a duplex. Now, we are moving from a duplex to a very nice house another hour north of where it all began. So you see, moving has become a bit of a hobby for us. We started out rocky, but we're getting better at it every day. ;)

Our tips:

• Number each box you pack as you pack it. List on the box the contents. You don't have to be too detailed, but if you have a particular item you don't want to lose track of, this will help. I usually write stuff like, "Living room decor - two vases, glass picture frame, lion statue."
• Write this information, box numbers and general contents, in a "moving" notebook. Use the same notebook throughout the move. Keep it with you! When you get ready to drive off to the new house, put this in your purse
• Start with one room and stay with it. By this I don't mean pack EVERY single item in the room, because chances are you'll need some of it before the big day. We pack in themes. In our guest room, we packed all of the books, and now we are packing decorative items. Because the rest of the room was heavy work, I moved on to the decorative items in the living room and our bedroom. When you're done with a theme, stack all of those boxes together by room.
• Put on some music. Packing is about as dull as dirt. We don't have cable at our house, so I put on music to pass the time. I try to keep it to upbeat tunes, so I can get my heart rate up. It keeps me motivated. If you have to stop for frequent breaks, try to last at least two full songs of packing.
• Take water breaks. This sounds silly, I know. It is just packing, but when you get moving around and in a groove, it is hard to remind yourself to take a break. If you don't take small breaks, you'll be dead at the end of the day. No bueno!
• Recruit! For several of our moves, we have had the generous help of David's fraternity, my social club sisters (read: sorority type thing), family members, and even work friends! It doesn't hurt to ask for a little help, but be sure to repay in kind. Or if they don't need your help moving, offer to make a big dinner. Our first big move included a chili dinner with homemade tortillas. :)

Hope these tips help you! If you are frequent movers like we are, remember to weed things out. If you haven't even thought of using an item since your last move or in the last few months, give it away. If it isn't give-able, trash it/recycle it. Seriously. Do NOT cart junk to your new place.

To Walk on Fertile Ground

Having trouble sleeping tonight. My stomach just keeps turning over and over. I keep thinking about all of the packing I need to be doing and the throwing away of old things that are unnecessary in our new life. I decided to get up and run a hot bath, and as usual...I had to hunt for a book to read. Since we packed up all of our "Books to keep" last night, this was a predicament.

I came across a book I had been given by a local author named Kristi Brown while I was working as a manager in a chain bookstore. On the back cover of the book it described a spiritual journey through the difficulties of infertility and cancer, two subjects near to my heart. My mother died of cancer what will be two years ago this month. Hard to believe. And I have always had an irrational fear of infertility. Difficulty conceiving runs in my family, and I have always desperately wanted a baby of my own. For those reasons, I have been putting off reading this little book.

Tonight, feeling reflective and restless, I gave it a chance.

I can't describe to you, whoever you are, the emotions that I went through reading it from cover to cover in my hot to lukewarm bath. This woman, Kristi Brown, imparted wisdom and spiritual nuggets of gold on almost every page. Being a somewhat lapsed Methodist who became a lapsed Catholic, I found new reasons in this book to begin to open my heart up again to God. If one person can endure, or rather, overcome such momentous life hurdles through the help of God, who am I to say, "Well, yeah, but what can he do for ME?" The question posed to me by Ms. Brown is, "What can I do for me THROUGH him?"

This book is available through amazon.com for $14.99. I encourage you to buy it and read it and pass it on. I only wish I had really taken the time to get to know this woman when she approached me in my store.