Spring Break Update

Well, as I sit here begin this blog entry I am looking at the end of my Spring Break.  As usual it's gone by way too fast!!!  I have to say that I was looking forward to and needing this break even more than Thanksgiving or Christmas breaks combined. 

Lots of stuff has been going on:

First, we've nearly completed the remodel of our house!!!  We have the kitchen and living room to a point where there are only a few little tweaks left and it will be totally done!  My new sofa sleeper came in and it is BEAUTIFUL!  I have to admit it was worth the wait!  The bed is pretty comfortable too.  I do want to add a little temperpedic top and then it will be GREAT!!!

We are waiting for our matching chair/ottoman.  They should all be here by the end of April and I can NOT wait!  I'm waiting until then to post photos.  I want to show what the whole room looks like.  That means no more pictures taken until I have all my furniture in and the walls and stuff decorated the way I want them.  I'm really excited about it.  It's going to be a real grown up house!!!  It's been a little while coming, but I think it will be worth it in the end.

I am glad that my Katie and Beckham came to spend the night with me during Spring Break.  Our breaks were at the same time so that made it nice.  I was so glad to see them both.  I know it hadn't been that long since I had seen them, but it felt like FOREVER!!!

Beckham is growing like a weed.  He's the cutest and smartest little boy I have ever been around.  He is so attentive and observant.  Sometimes it's like I can see the little wheels turning inside his head.  I love watching him try to figure out how to do things.  He has persistence that I think will serve him well as he grows, although it may drive his mommy and daddy crazy!!!

He did he most amazing thing while they were here.  As I said earlier, my house has been a construction zone for a while now.  I have just gotten to the point where I can begin to take out some of the little things I have been gathering over the past years.  One thing that I had taken out was a photo of my parents.  I don't have a whole lot of photos of my mother and this one is a particularly good one. 

Anyway, he was playing in the living room floor and he walked right up to the photo and pointed his little finger and said "Mamaw, Mamaw, Mamaw".  He pointed at my dad and said "Papaw".  I was kinda stunned at first because I knew that he had never seen that picture before.  Katie was telling me that she didn't have any pictures of her out either, but that she knew that they had already met.  It was just one of those situations when all you can do is look up and say "Thanks for that little gift God!"  He definitely knew who he was talking about.  I was so glad to get to witness that. 

I had said that I wanted to "lay up" this whole break, but life happened and so I was a little busier than I had originally planned.  We got a lot done in the house.  The ceilings are painted and the living room is ready for the next round of furniture.  I cooked a huge pot of my mom's spaghetti and meatballs and was able to send some home with Katie.  I put up a couple more bags for my own freezer and will be bringing some to a friend who just recently had surgery.

I also cooked a GIGANTIC pot of sauce piquant to take to an event next weekend.  It is a delicious little spicy stew that we will finish cooking over an open fire with our cowboy cooker.  It's a taste of South Louisiana that always reminds me of home!!!

I made a huge fresh fruit salad that I have eaten on and replenished all week. I love this salad because it is very low in weight watchers points and it always reminds me of my mama!   I am still trying to diet although I haven't been as successful during the break.  Sometimes I wish I didn't know how to cook or enjoy good food.  I will think that to myself and then shake it off and say... "Nah!  What we gonna cook now?"

We got our boat back from Johnnie Richard's and got the new radio in it and are getting it ready to hit the water.  We are all looking forward to a really fun summer!!!

So that's what's going on in my world!

This and That

Well it's been a while since I have sat down and blogged.  So many fun and exciting things have been happening in my world.  The month of February has really been a fun one this year.  I got o see and spend time with a number of people who I love very much!  I was reminded of how things were when I was growing up and I can honestly say that I really needed and appreciated the memories.

I don't know about the rest of the world, but I think I am ready for Spring to get here and STAY here for a while.  That's weird coming from me because I usually really love Fall/Winter.  Maybe my change in attitude has to do with some other changes that are going on in my world. 

Johnnie has finally entered into his semi-retirement.  The only real change that I can see is that he is now working in the house full time instead of a police car.  He's trying to get our remodel completed and I am really excited about it.  I got to thinking the other day about how I don't know if I have ever had a real "grown up" house.  You know the kind where the furniture matches and there is some color scheme or theme in play. 

We've lived a kind of Gypsy life for a while.  For a few years we lived in a Class A motorhome while we tried to find out where our place in the world would be.  It was an adventure for sure.  About 3 years ago we traded in wheels for roots.  We bought our place on the lake.  It was definitely a diamond in the rough, but it's really starting to shine like a diamond now!  As I type this my sweet husband is steadily working at the other end of the house.  He has remodeled the kitchen and made it really nice and super functional!  He installed beautiful French doors in the bedroom so that we can look out over the lake right from our bed.  It's so nice to go to sleep watching the water.  Because of the way that our house if built it almost feels like we live in a tree house. 

We are finally to the point in the remodel where we are choosing color schemes and the style of furnishings we want to have in our home.  It's taken a while to get here, but it's so exciting!!!  I can't wait to share the photos!

I'm also still working on getting healthy.  I am still not smoking.  I have not had a cigarette since August and I have not had a diet Coke in almost a year.  I've really been trying to work on getting healthy.  I think that getting healthy may be an ongoing thing and I am really trying to stick with it. 

I am still trying to diet and be mindful of what I am eating.  I have to be honest and say that some days are better than others.  I have added morning smoothies to my diet starting this past week.  What I can say about smoothies is so far so good.  I like the fact that they are portable.  They are also a good way for me to have some kind of breakfast since I was never really a breakfast kind of person.  I'm hoping that my doctor was right about how eating something within an hour of waking up will help speed metabolism. 

The smoothies I make have fruit and leafy greens and almond milk.  They are really pretty yummy.  I have even bought some frozen smoothie stuff that has chocolate and cookie dough flavors for when I need that little sweet boost.  I can report that I have lost 4 lbs since starting adding the smoothies.  I have a feeling that this may be as slow going as the remodel on my house.  I hope the results are just as beautiful!!!