Whew....Monday, Already?! Weekend Recap

Happy Monday my peeps!  How was your weekend? Awesome, I hope!  Mine was FAR from Awesome, but was a nice weekend off and on.  Friday night started out with the visitation for our co-worker who died a week ago today.  Saturday morning the hubby and I got up and started our normal house chores, etc., before we had to go to the funeral.  The funeral was on Saturday at 2 p.m. and then after that we went back to catch up and finish some more chores. It was a nice memorial for our co-worker and he will be greatly missed, but man am I so happy it's over - it's so hard attending these things.  On Sunday we got up early and started again around the house getting things done.  Since my daughter and her husband have moved to live with his family in Missouri, we needed to clean out their room and get their stuff packed up and in the garage so when they have time after the shower to come back and get their things, then they will all be ready for them.  Why does it seem like there is never enough hours in a day on the weekend to get things done but the weekdays just seem to DRAG by??!! Sheesh... is it just me???

After that, we left and ran some errands for me to try and gather the rest of the supplies and decorations needed for me to put on the baby shower this coming weekend.  I've still got one more stop to go to Hobby Lobby and then I should have everything I need - finally.  Then this Thursday night, the hubby and I are leaving and heading home for the weekend.  He will drop me off at my mom's and he will head on up to Little Rock to hang out with his brother while I put the final touches on the shower stuff.... cupcake baking, etc.... those sorts of things.  

Once the shower is over, we are just going to kind of "wing" it from there for the next 2 days and relax with friends and family before heading back home.  So.... how about your weekend?  What did you do this past weekend and what are your plans for the last summer weekend of the year?  I can't wait to hear all about it!  

Okay guys and dolls, have a fabulous Monday and please let me know you were here.  :)

Lots of love and hugs,

Happy Happy TGIF

Well, happy happy Friday peeps!  Hope you've had a wonderful week so far.  We have FINALLY made it to the weekend - WHOOP WHOOP!!!!  We learned yesterday that the wife of our co-worker wants everyone to wear the Texans or Astros sports jerseys or fishing gear to the visitation tonight after work, as that's how our co-worker was - very laid back, a huge sports and fishing fanatic.  He would have loved it! So... today we are all wearing our favorite sports attire to the office and then heading to the visitation tomorrow after that.  Even as sad as the occasion is, it will be a fun time at the office today - I wish we did that more often relating to wearing our favorite sports shirts on Fridays instead of the bank shirts.  But, hey, the fact that we actually get to wear jeans every Friday makes me happy. HA! 

So what's on your agenda this weekend?  Anything fun and exciting?  We have the funeral tomorrow, but other than that we are doing tons of house work and yard work and getting stuff ready for the baby shower next weekend.  I still can't get over it being here this quickly - this month has just flown for sure.  Hard to believe September is so close around the corner. My little grandson will be here before we know it.  He's due around Thanksgiving.  

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed day and weekend ahead.  Thanks for stopping by and please let me know you were here.  :)

Lots of love and hugs,

Three Things Thursday

Happy Thursday guys and dolls!  Hope you're having a fabulous week so far.  Only one more day until the weekend.  Though my weekend is going to really suck again due to having to attend the funeral of our co-worker on Saturday afternoon, I am still ready for the weekend to be here.  I didn't realize until just yesterday morning that we leave a week from today for Arkansas aka "home" to visit with family and give our daughter a baby shower with our friends and family.  Anywho.... without further adieu - here are my Three Things Thursday today.  Please play along! I'd love to see yours as well. :)

1.  Is SO thankful for these cooler temperatures we have been having the past 2 or 3 days - there is literally NO humidity - it almost feels Fall like and I can't wait!

2.  Still has stuff to gather and make to take for the baby shower next weekend.  It has literally crept upon me where I had better get my butt on the ball to get things accomplished.

3.  I am truly dreading this weekend and the funeral of our co-worker.  Though I didn't know him as well as everyone else does, he was a very nice man and easy to work with and a very funny person.

And because you know me and how I hate doing a post without a picture of some sort, I'm not going to leave you hanging.  Here are just a few ideas for my daughter's baby shower next weekend.  She is doing a whale theme and I'm having a blast gathering everything up to make for it.

You can find the people to give credit to here, here and here.  Hope you all have a lovely day. Thanks for stopping by to say hello.  Please let me know you were here! :)

Lots of love and hugs,

Happy Wednesday

Sorry I've not been around the past couple of days, but we received some very bad news on Monday at the office and things have been really sad since then.  One of our co-workers, who had been there for many years and blue moons, and who was only in his mid-50's, passed away on Monday morning at 5:15.  He had been battling cancer that just appeared about 6 months ago.  He was one of the main employees and very well loved, so it's been a huge shock to everyone, because he had started rallying and everyone thought he was going to be able to continue to fight it off and that his latest treatment was working.  Anyway, the visitation is Friday night and the funeral is Saturday afternoon. He was also a pillar in the community, so that means both of these are going to be extremely crowded.  I only had the pleasure of working with him for about 6 months before he fell ill, so it's not like I know him that well, but feel I need to pay my respects to him and his family for sure on both days, no matter how bad I hate going to funerals.  He was a very nice man and always real pleasant around the office and will be greatly missed.

Anyway, time to get off the sad part of the morning. How has your week been so far?  Are your kiddos all back in school officially now? Things are hopping here in Texas and kids are everywhere again.  I know I've said this before, but I really miss being "in" school - in some form at least.  I think my favorite profession would be a school secretary - I think that would be perfect, because I could be a part of the school year and still enjoy my summers off. :) 

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by to say hello.  Please let me know you were here.  

Lots of love and hugs,

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday one and all!  Hope you had a fantastic weekend.  I don't know why, but it sure seems like this weekend flew past like crazy! My weekend consisted of a LOT of tears, and laughter both. It's a long story, but I will give you just the recap and am keeping it real.  As you know, my daughter and her husband were living with us for the past 3 1/2 months.  Her husband had moved back to Arkansas to attend his last 2 semesters at home so he can graduate next May and our daughter stayed here.  Needless to say, it's been a bad situation for a while with him, but even worse now that he left her here 7 months pregnant.  She finally reached her breaking point after only a week and a half and couldn't take being apart from him, so she left on Saturday morning to be with him back home.  I don't blame her at all, that's where she should have been anyway, but he wouldn't let her go and said she needed to stay with us until after the baby was born.  Long story short,...he and a friend ended up driving overnight to get here and made it at 8:30 Saturday morning, and they were gone by 9:30 that same morning.  I'm not quite sure why, but it hit me SO hard that she was leaving the nest AGAIN. She NEEDS to be with her husband - that is her place, but I was really looking forward to having her AND the grandbaby here for the next 8 months, so I have shed a lot of tears since Friday and got very little sleep as well.  If things weren't  tense with her husband and us, it wouldn't have been so hard, perhaps, but that definitely doesn't help the situation at all. Now, depending on WHEN she has the baby, and if it ends up being a scheduled c-section or not, will determine if we make it there before the baby is born and if I still get to cut the umbillicle cord, much less get to spend quality time with her and our new grandson. :(

After they left (and I couldn't quit crying), my husband decided we needed a road trip and STAT. There was no way I could stay in our house that day and night with my daughter being gone.  It was hard enough not having her here when we got back yesterday, but, I couldn't even walk by their room without breaking down and sobbing uncontrollably. So, we took off and headed to Dallas to see my cousin and his family and hang out for the night with them.  It was JUST what the dr. ordered for sure.  I laughed and laughed and laughed.  And we ate awesome food, listened to music and enjoyed a few drinks.  It.was.perfect..... We even ended up at an old timey record store picking out "albums" from the good old days. :)

So.... there you go... my weekend in a nutshell.  Some of it was good, and some of it was awful, but either way I survived and that was most important I guess.  They made it back home safely and that's what matters most - they are together as they should be.  Hope you had an awesome weekend - back to school begins here today and the traffic is going to be a nightmare again - sigh.....

Have a great day lovies and thanks for stopping by.  Can't wait to hear all about your weekend and how you spent it.

Lots of love and hugs,

Thank God it's finally Friday!!!

Happy TGIF peeps!! I don't know about you, but personally, I am beyond THRILLED that today is FINALLY FRIDAY!!!  Even though the week has flown by, it has still been a VERY LONG one to say the least.  Work and home have both been crazy and have left me completely exhausted! Blah... This is going to be short and sweet and to the point this morning, as I am still trying to wake up.  HA!

What are your weekend plans?  Anything fun and exciting by chance? Thankfully, our weekend is going to consist of relaxing around the house and catching up on some much needed sleep, doing some cooking and normal chores - sounds like a perfect weekend to me!  

Well, I told you this would be short and sweet.  I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and can't wait to hear what your plans are.  Please let me know you stopped by and be sure and say hello.

Lots of love and hugs,

Three Things Thursday

Happy Thursday friends!  Just wanted to say hello and see how your week is going so far?  Ours is going good but still crazy busy at work for both me and my husband.  I don't know about you, but I am SO ready for Friday and the weekend - LOL

I have a friend on Facebook who posts a Three Things Thursday on her page every week and I thought this was a great idea, so I decided to borrow it and start doing the same here.  Feel free to play along if you'd like - would love to see your Three Things as well.

1.  Yesterday afternoon at 4:30 when I got off of work, it was a blustery 79 whopping degrees here in Houston. Considering that this time last week it was already over 103 degrees, this made me extremely happy.  I am a HUGE Fall person and living in Houston Texas does not allow me to enjoy the Fall season until December when the temps actually begin dropping - it was over 80 degrees for Thanksgiving a couple of years back - talk about miserable! Blah....  Bring me this any day:

2.  There is just a little over 2 weeks until my most favorite time of the year begins - Arkansas Razorback Football season - woo hoo!!!

3.  Also, the same day the first game of the football season begins, just also happens to be the day that we are having my daughter's baby shower - talk about poor planning on my part - or should I say, my husband's part, as it was his idea since it was Labor Day weekend - we just forgot to look at the football schedule first.  Can you tell we are ready for football?! HA!  Too bad the baby shower isn't going to be football themed - rats! But, here is another picture of my beautiful daughter and grandson to be - can't wait until he gets here and I get to hold him and love all over him - he is going to be SO spoiled.... :)

Well, thanks for stopping by to say hello and please let me know you were here.  I miss hearing from all of you.  Have a wonderful day and lookout - we are finally on the downhill side of the week - woo hoo!!! Have an awesome day peeps!

Lots of love and hugs,

Back to School

Good morning and Happy Hump Day friends.  How has your week been so far?  Great, I hope! Mine has been out of control at work - just SO CRAZY BUSY that it's unreal!  How many of you are out there getting ready for your babies to all start school again or have actually already gone back to school?  I have a confession, I am one of those moms who MISS my babies actually being young and being in school.  My two babies are grown already - my son is a junior in college and my daughter is married with a baby on the way.  I always enjoyed taking them back to school clothes shopping and school supply shopping and even loved labeling all of their stuff and putting it in their backpacks, and making their lunches, etc.  Yes, I am weird, I know, but I.LOVED.IT so much and really miss those special days with my kids - they've grown up so fast and it hurts this mommy's heart. :(

As a kid growing up and all through college, I LOVED SCHOOL.  I lived and breathed school.  My mother always joked that I should have been a professional student, that's how much I loved being a part of school.  I guess I chose the wrong profession, as I should have been a teacher so that I could attend school every day of the year, and have my summers off.  LOL  I think the only reason I didn't become a teacher is because back home in Arkansas teachers made very little money - I'm talking, MAYBE $18,000 a YEAR, if that.  It was awful!!!  Teachers do SO much to shape the minds of our children and deserve so much more of a pay raise and I just couldn't stomach making so little for my future.  

So do you and your kids have any back to school traditions? I would love to hear all about them! I've enjoyed getting to see my friend's kids pictures on their first day back to school and would love to see yours as well!  

I'm going to leave you with one of my favorite quotes, from one of my all-time favorite movies:

"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms." Joe Fox

I know, I'm a weirdo, but that is truly one of my most favorite all-time movies, and one of my favorite quotes in the movie.  I actually happen to LOVE New York in the Fall - it.is.breathtaking! So, please share with me your favorite back to school traditions - I would love to hear all about them! 

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by to say hello.  Please let me know you were here. :)

Lots of love and hugs,

T G I F!!!!

Happy TGIF my peeps!  I don't know about ya'll, but man am I glad it is FINALLY FRIDAY!! Sheesh, talk about a longggg week - it has been nuts to say the least! I work in the banking business now and we have booked more loans this week at one time than we have in the 10 months I have been working there.  I am pooped for sure and ready for a break!  This is how NUTS it has been lately at work and home:

So do you have any big weekend plans?  Maybe you have small children who are starting back to school on Monday or maybe started today or earlier this week?  Our school here isn't starting back until the 24th, which seems really late to me.  Oh well, my children are grown and one is in college and the other is married, pregnant and works full time.  

That's right... I'm going to be a grandmother!!!!  My grandson is due in November around Thanksgiving this year and I can NOT wait.  Talk about a wonderful blessing.  With any luck, he will be born on his mommy's birthday.  She was also a born around Thanksgiving baby too.  Here is a picture of my sweet girl and her baby boy to be:

Isn't she beautiful!? Of course, I could just be biased, but I still think she makes a beautiful mommy to be and not just because she's my baby. :)  I can't wait to update you as the next few months transpire.  She just got her baby bed up a few days ago in their room (oh.... I forgot to mention she and her husband are currently staying with us for a while here in Texas too - WOO HOO - SO happy!!) and she is even more excited now that the baby bed is up and things are starting to come together.

Anyway, I hope all of you have a fantastic Friday and an even better weekend.  I hope after this week that I can catch up on your blogs even more.  I'm slowly getting back into blogging - I have missed it and all of you so much and it's so great to be back!! 

Happy TGIF my peeps and thanks for stopping by!  Please let me know you were here. :)  And just one more picture for good measure:

Lots of love and hugs,

Happy Hump Day

Happy Hump Day, guys and dolls! Hope you are having a fabulous week so far.  Our weather has been the hottest all year, this week, and OMG we are all sweating to death down here in the State of Texas.  Sheesh.  We actually broke the temperature record yesterday.  It got up to 103 but felt like 112 with the humidity they said.  It was STILL 106 at 5 p.m. when I left the day before.  However, yesterday we were blessed with a good downpouring of rain at work and then a good thunderstorm at home later that night - it was SO refreshing!!!  I don't know about you but I am SO ready for Fall and we don't really get cool temps here in Houston until early part of November, so I'm ready for a getaway at the very least to someplace  cool. 

I have so much to fill you in on that has been happening in our world since January and I can't wait to share with all of you.  In the meantime, however, it is getting late here in my neck of the woods and I need to get ready for work.  I hope you have a wonderful day and will catch up with you later.  Oh, and because you know how I hate to have a post without a picture, here is one for good measure:

Thanks for stopping by and please let me know you were here. :)

Lots of love and hugs,

Double Dark Chocolate Muffins - Paleo Style

Hello friends. I'm back!  I switched over to Wordpress last year and did not like it at all, so I've officially switched back to Blogger and it feels so good to be reunited. :). Anyway, here is a recipe I posted on Wordpress for Valentine's Day, and instead of deleting it I thought I would leave it here for you to enjoy for anytime of the year. :).You can find the link here from Paleo Plan.  I can't wait to catch back up on all of your blogs.  Have a great rest of your weekend. :)

Double Dark Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients

1 cup almond flour
2 tablespoons tapioca flour
1/2 cup raw honey
1/2 cup raw cacao, powdered
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup full fat coconut milk, chilled
2 tablespoons almond milk
1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened
2 tablespoons raw cacao nibs
4 drops liquid stevia

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Using a whisk, mix thoroughly together until combined.
3. Place muffin liners in a muffin pan and spoon the mix into each cup, dividing evenly. Bake for 22-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. They will still feel a little soft in the center when they’re done. Don’t overcook or they will get dry.
4. Top with strawberries and serve warm! Or place in a bowl and top with coconut whipped cream, coconut ice cream, almond butter, bananas, or eat them drenched in almond or coconut milk (Amish pudding, as my ancestors call it!). The topping options are endless!

Thanks for stopping by to say hello.  Please let me know you were here. :)

Love and hugs,
Trac~ :)