a little life update.

a little life update.

April 8, 2014

I have way more that I'd like to share, but will have to wait until the end of the school year to talk about it.

As far as my Dad and cancer goes... we finally got a diagnosis.

Stage 3 Non Specific Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck

From what I gather from talking to Mom is that it is mainly lingering in the lymph nodes of his neck. We were really expecting the doctors to come back and say lung cancer, so this was actually on some level a relief.

He is having a port put in today, and will start Chemo very soon, and radiation sometime afterwards.

I haven't been able to go home since Mardi Gras, and since then I am hearing that Dad's neck is much more obviously swollen from the cancer. According to his doctor though that should all go down as treatment progresses.

I'm just really happy that the doctor thinks he will still feel well enough to do his regular activities during treatment. I was the most excited that he can still go to Puerto Rico.

After this spring... we are all going to need a nice little vacay.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I'm going back to school starting this summer to get certified in Special Education. 

After 5 years as a classroom teacher I am looking for a nice change and I think being a Resource teacher would give me what I'm looking for. 

My main complaint in the classroom is that if I don't have children that have "minutes" I am essentially working alone all year. The years I've definitely enjoyed the most have been where I was able to work together with another teacher and team teach. 

I live by the idea that two heads are better than one, and that someone has done it longer than I have and knows better. 

I want to be able to go into a classroom and not only work with the Special Ed. students, but take the opportunity to work with the teachers. It really frees the teacher up when someone else is in their taking a small group. 

Behavior is better.

Grouping is better. 

All around, two teachers are better than one. 

Plus I like the idea of pull children out to work specifically on their school needs. Since I haven't done this I definitely don't have a clear picture of what it looks like, but I'm excited to learn. 

Here's the only kicker with Sped....are you ready?

I have to take 3 Praxis tests.  

As of now I haven't seen a timeline on it like I did when I was getting my Master's, so I am hoping to take them when I am nearly done with all of my courses. 

Now for the long term, shot in the dark, dreaming side of this Sped certification >>> if we are thinking solely long term I would like to eventually get certified as an Educational Diagnostician and/or get a Specialist in Special Education. 

Something tells me kids might get in the way of that, or even better I might like being in Resource so much that I never want to leave it. 

So that's a little bit of an update, that isn't a weekly recap type of update. I feel like where life is right now deserves a little more talking posts, it'll be good to write where I'm at and look back at it ages from now. 

God has definitely been answering some prayer requests on the job front and by my father not having some insanely hard to treat and recover from cancer. We know that what he has is a reoccurring type, but it's treatable and that's what matters. Plus, in the event he ever decides he's done with treatment I'll just move back in with my parents and force some good ole bossy Emily guilt on the man. 

Read More

Random Facts About Me On A Wednesday

Random Facts About Me On A Wednesday

January 29, 2014

With it being the 3rd snow day in a 7 day period, (holy sleet-pocalypse Louisiana!) I thought I'd do a little "things you may not know about Louisiana Bride" post.

We have some new friends around here, so pour yourself some coffee and let's chat.

Little Known Facts About Emily

1. It's well known in the family... but I am deathly afraid of lizards and snakes. I have grown to tolerate frogs, but I can't for the life of me touch them. Something about the way snakes and lizards move is just unnatural and being bitten by a snake is a huge fear. Not due to the pain, but the way they look when they bite. No ones jaw should unhinge like that.

2. I had an emergency appendectomy when I was 5. Good ole fashion scar to prove it, none of those tiny dots people sport these days. It basically came about because of my love for wandering around barefoot, home girl got pinworms. My appendix was absolutely full of the little boogers according to the doctor. You might ask yourself how I could possibly remember it at such a young age? There is absolutely no way anyone could forget how they check for that problem. Hence my vivid memory of my entire hospital stay.

3. My immediate family and really close friends (growing up) never called me Emily. I wasn't Emily until I got to college. I was known as Emma. Truth be told, I've never heard my father or sister call me Emily. I was called Tyrone for a stint, but never Emily. I did recently hear my father calling my nephew Tyrone as well, apparently it's how he shows love. (I'm guessing lol)

4. I love cold weather. The colder the better. Seriously. Blame it on the fact that I fight sweating like a man during the Spring/Summer months. Either way, I love some freezing temps.

5. I sleep with 5 pillows, 3 blankets, and an eye mask every night. If Jeremy isn't home I sleep with 6 pillows. I basically have to be in a cocoon to sleep well, something has to be touching me on all sides and I need a heavy weighted feeling from blankets. This behavior isn't new, my mother claims I did this within minutes of exiting the womb. I have a scar on both big toes that I created trying to move to the end of the incubator as soon as they stuck me in there. There are pictures to prove this weird baby behavior too.

6. I do squats in the bathroom while taking off my makeup. Jeremy doesn't know this, he just always asks what's taking me so long. I think it's weird to admit, so I just haven't.

7. I have a life goal to eat McDonald's in every country I ever visit. So far I've hit up England and Italy, Italy being the better. When we go to Puerto Rico I plan to hit up some Micky Dee's there too. I've always loved McDonald's though, as a kid I told my mother I wanted to work there so I could give people Happy Meals and make them happy. No lie though, their fries make me happy.

8. On the line of the Golden Arches... I thew up in a urinal in the men's bathroom at McDonald's in Trafalgar Square in London when I was 14. I couldn't quit puking though, every time I looked up I would see the nasty urinal and it would make me gag again. Air sickness is an issue for me. Now that I know it I wear Sea Bands when I fly.

9. We cut our honeymoon short because I was sick of riding in the car. It was a big road trip, mainly because we were supposed to be going to Florida for a wedding the week after ours and they cancelled it after we paid for everything. After a few days I was done and didn't make it to Savannah for the last few days of the trip. I still want to eat at Paula Dean's restaurant.

10. In line with wedding things, the chef that owns the plantation home we were married at and catered the wedding use to cater for the Rolling Stones when she lived in L.A.. Her son's God-Father is actually my favorite actor ever (Tim Curry) and when he and my sister were dating I bugged the tar out of her all the time to find out who was over there! She's friends with a ton of big name celebrities though has has lived my dream life of being a chef and going to cooking school in France though.

What's something random about you? Share and let's chat in the comments today:)

Read More

900th post :: just a chatty coffee blogger date

900th post :: just a chatty coffee blogger date

March 26, 2013

Today is my 900th post. Four and a half years, 900 posts. That's a lot of typing, especially for someone who blogged at a minimum for so long. I really feel like I've just gotten into this in the past two years, and have learned so much about editing, html, social media, and networking because of it. After 900 posts, let's just have a little coffee date, or a blate (blogger date) as I've seen a bunch of bloggers jokingly call it. I'll share my hopes and dreams, and you can share yours. 

Let me preface this with this...after hearing what Lisa Leonard spoke on at Blissdom, I want to blog what I feel and not appologize for it. If I can say what I feel, then what is the point of this whole online journal of mine. 

Lately I've hit that point where more IRL people read my URL. It's weird to say the least. For years I've blogged openly, but never really told people I knew that I was blogging. People look at it weird. Yes, I admit, it is weird to have tons of friends that you constatly talk to over Twitter and IG but have met very few in person. But it's a good writing release, I can get things off my chest and at the same time see that others have gone through, or are going through what I'm dealing with. In the most psych major way possible, it's like therapy to me. 

On the same side of that, sometimes I think bloggers get me more than some IRL people. Sometimes it seems that bloggers know that everything shared isn't everything. There is more to me, more to my views, more to the relationship with my husband. Just because they aren't discussed on a daily basis doesn't mean they aren't a part of me. I don't share a lot of personal stuff every week, I do share...but not every single week. 

For instance, the pending move/not move is weighing on me massively. This is the first year I've taught that I didn't move. I absolutely loved walking into a classroom I'd been in, a teaching environment I was familiar with, and lesson plans I had already written. It was a sense of ease that I hadn't experience before. Now with the potential move I could be anywhere teaching anything. I'm honestly fine either way, on a non-work level I would like the excitement of a different city. Especially a few of the ones we are looking into. Where we are is just too small town with not much to offer, but if we stay I'm fine with that too. I just know that where we are now is a "the world is my oyster" situation, so to not dream and think about living elsewhere seems kind of dull. When we walked into this situation 2 years ago I vividly recall standing in the kitchen with Jeremy and him placing his whole graduate school decision on me and saying that if I didn't think I was up to it we wouldn't do it. I agreed, I know just how smart and determined he is and I didn't want to take a chance from him. At the same time, I wanted excitement, and no matter how miserable getting settled somewhere else is, it's new and exciting to some extent. 

I really didn't think I'd be where I am now. I really saw late 20's as more of a settled down with kids thing. Jeremy always tells me I'm much more nostalgic than he is about the whole 5 year plan idea. I seriously had a 5 year plan though. Parts of where we are now were present in that plan, others not so much. I'm with him though, and that is the roller coaster ride I signed up for. The man saw me through grad school and now I'll support him through as well. 

Honestly though, having a husband a year out of thirty is weird at times. Not for me necessarily, but the way people view him is weird to me. I see a man who came a long way and conquered a lot to get where he is, yes he is almost 30 and finishing school, but that is because he had zero support from anyone and had to do it alone. I laugh when people try to tell me things about a man I know so well. I laugh, because it is funny to me that other people think that things that are so normal for us are something to make a deal out of.

I don't know, it's just weird how people treat us like children...because we don't have any. When we've focused on our education and being settled before adding extras in, on purpose. Nothing with Jeremy surprises me, but that doesn't mean I'm not proud of him. I just don't gloat about it. The only person I care to know how I feel about Jeremy is Jeremy. The only people who actually would understand why I would be proud of him would be me, and maybe a few others who know what he came from. Guess the problem here is that I am not impressed with common occurrences because, well, I wouldn't expect any less of the man. I know what he is capable of, and his determination makes me look like the laziest human on earth. 

So I guess what I'm saying here is that you don't hear me talk about him much, because I talk about him to him. I don't feel the need to yell it to the world, because I've whispered it to him. 

Maybe it's just the situation we live in now. Where we live is vastly different from where we lived and grew up before. The things people judge you on are different, what they care about is so different. At least through it all I have a hubby who is on my side, and knows I am on his side as well. 

......................................................................

In the same way that I think people's view of Jeremy is so different from who I know, I see the same thing with me. I think what caused this is basically the fact that people where we are now only know the past 2 years of us, unlike our hometowns who look at either of us and see the real thing. 

People here see me as brass and outspoken. Most see it as negative. They don't see what made me who I am, or just how toned down I've become. Granted I will speak my mind, I was raised to do so, but at the same time the Emily you get now isn't nearly as much as the Emily you would have seen at 20. I was a tough cookie at 20, heck I spent that year trying to hold my own and hold onto what I thought was mine. Over the years I've mellowed out a lot, a lot. I still have a lot of mellowing to do...but you can't expect perfection overnight. I assume that by the time I'm dead I will have worked out the last few kinks. 

Honestly, sometimes I feel like giving people a taste of colleg Emily, just so they know what they're dealing with ha! I'm a work in progress, everyone else is too. Being home where people actually know me though, that has led to a nice feeling of normal that I haven't had in awhile. 

.....................................................................

On the other hand I think I've devised a way to go to Blissdom next year. I want to focus on what I love doing and do my best to ignore the negative. I want to grow my little blog, and grow myself as a writer. I'd like to guest post more, tweet more, and take more pictures of food. 

If you're still reading and you follow my blog through Reader, Bloglovin, Twitter, FB, or IG I really honestly thank you. If you read be sure to leave a comment letting know who you are, I'd love to visit your blog, or follow you on social media some how. It is so fun to connect with others, so let me know who you are:) 

On the other hand, are there any topics you'd like to see me blog about? Or questoins you have? 

Read More

Please Mister Postman

Please Mister Postman

February 10, 2013

We've lived on this little college infested street for nearly two years and I think, like everywhere else I've lived, that I've learned a few lessons. I've lived in an apartment, a town house, and a rent house aside from the apartment we live in now. I'm not even counting the dorms and what torment that brought on. My first semester of college Lemert (the worst dorm on earth) had a centipede infestation. Glorious! 

This particular month and a half in college land has really got me thinking about the next place we will live. I may, or may not spend time in red shoes tapping my heels together daily in hopes of putting our Monroe house somewhere else. 

Apartment living as a single girl is totally different than as a married chick. Granted my personality hasn't changed at all, I did bang a groom on our ceiling one when the football players who lived upstairs were doing something that sounded a lot like flag football in their living room. The worst I had in my last college infested apartment experience is that in 1 year, from October to October, my car was hit and run no less than 5 times. You think I'm kidding, I know. Seriously, my front bumper was hit 5 stinking time. 

Lessoned learned: College kids can't drive. 

Then there was the time when my roommate moved out and the apartment manager had a opening for a one bedroom loft townhouse closer to campus. There were mostly married couples there so it was extremely peaceful. My biggest worry was that Ellie would get out and run towards the road, we didn't have a real gate...it just looked like one. It was a very peaceful four years, except for that time it was pouring rain and I forgot to lock my car. I managed to leave my entire backpack, brand new engraved iPod, and my purse in the car that night. When I got up I was convinced my boyfriend had surprised me by cleaning my car. It wasn't until I got to campus that I realized my backpack and purse were missing that I knew someone had robbed me blind. They even took the air fresheners out of my air vents. Cleanest my car had ever been. 

Lesson learned: People are constantly waiting to see if the people living in the "nice" townhouses will make a profitable mistake. 

I still think some kid is running around with a purple Aldo bag and a pink backpack. 

Then I got married and we found a house to rent in a nice quiet neighborhood. We were close to campus, close to work, and the setup was ideal for small dog owners. I could have lived there forever, with a few updates and renovations. The carpet and wallpaper was scary. We were the youngest people in this neighborhood and everyone in several houses in any direction were retired. For the first time ever, we were the problem. It only took two times from ole Bob next door having a fit about the girls to get bark collars and begin training for barking. Funny thing is that the neighbor to the right of us hated the dogs, the one on the left loved them. Oh retired neighbors, how I love you. 

Then Jeremy moved and I was left living with two of his guy friends until I graduated and moved to Thibodaux. Not ideal, let me tell you. We all got on each other's nerves like nothing else. Ladies, if you ever you are taking your husband for granted, just go live with some single guys for a hot minute. I'm not a roommate person at all. It was painful for all parties involved (haha). 

Lesson learned: bark collars are needed, and even the best living arrangements can go south.

Then we moved to south Louisiana. I didn't look around for an apartment much after we were told we wouldn't have to pay a dog fee here. I jumped on like I had found the end of the rainbow, most apartments I had talked to wanted upwards of $1000 for pet fees since we had two pups. 

Then our neighbors, whom I loved more than any other neighbor I've had, made the biggest apartment dwelling mistake one can make. They set us on fire. We were literally minutes from losing everything we had when the firemen showed up. Our attic took a huge beating and we didn't have electricity for quite some time in our bedroom and the hallway. We still don't have electricity in the hallway. Good thing though it that the dogs survived the terrible smoke and we escaped with easy to handle smoke damage. It took very little effort to clean the smell out. We had dodged a close one. 

That incident turned me into what our friends on this street joking refer to as "the fire marshall." I can't stand the sight of fire pits, and I don't mind telling off every 20 something on our street because of it. Our new neighbors actually got one and set it aflame in the same spot the one was the caught us on fire. I marched outside in my polka dot rain boots and demanded they put it out. At first they disagreed, but once I assured them life would be much easier if they never lit it again...and gave a full run down of the damage while pointing out all the new wood and siding...they ended up complying while nodding and repeatedly saying "yes mam." 

It doesn't take much for the teacher voice to crawl back out. 

Now many of you are aware that it is Mardi Gras, as we speak. This means two things are happening on our little street. 

1) There has been a mass exodous to New Orleans for the weekend. 

And...

2) Those who stayed are less than sober. 

Which leads me to that picture above...some drunk kid took out the mail boxes. I was cracking up with I saw it and ran in to grab the camera. This just further proves my point to Jeremy that we need to move and get a house to rent. While I was sitting outside on the pavement trying to get a good shot I found a possible culprit. The guy driving that black truck seemed a little taken back that I was photographing the mailbox conundrum. He started to back out, then stopped, came forward, then backed out super quick and high tailed it off the street. Considering how I police the ridiculously immature kids that live around us, and under the same land lord, he probably thought I was going to rat them out. 

But I'm not, while I think they are incredibly stupid, I'm just going to sit outside next to my slowly dying rosemary bush (that's another story) and wait on the fun to unravel. Nothing makes our little ( literally) land lord more irritated than property damage. 

There are two lessons to learn from this:

1) Don't drink and park, I'd hate to see how they were driving at that point.

2) No one seems to be getting their deposit back this year...except the few of us who havent driven into anything or burned it down. 

How do you like where you live? 

Read More

Catch-up & my favorite breakfast dessert

Catch-up & my favorite breakfast dessert

November 9, 2012

This isn't the most in-order post ever, but whatever! It is Friday finally, and praise God for it! Needless to say being off for election day totally threw me off. I am perfectly fine going to work everyday, but when I get off work I start fantasizing about not working...quitting...being fired...which then turns into me looking for ways I can work somewhere with more freedom. Needless to say nothing pays someone with a Masters in Teaching quite as well as being a teacher...there are no other jobs for me. 

See what an odd day off does to me? Ruins the whole week. I am the opposite of productive when I have a random day off. 

........................................

Last weekend we took Joshua to see Sesame Street Live. Quite the interesting experience. I don't think he slept well the night before, and was in need of more napping the day of. He started off great, but we all know how quickly the tides turn with 2 year olds. 

He is so funny how he thinks Jeremy and I are so great, mainly because he doesn't see us much which makes us a bit of a hot commodity, but still fun none the less. He follows Jeremy around and wants to do whatever he does. Friday night Jeremy helped himself to some ice cream...and Joshua helped himself to Jeremy's bowl. I was cracking up when Laura tried to get some and Joshua wouldn't let her because "it was his and Jeremy's ice cream." 

Saturday we headed out for Sesame Street sans Jeremy, he was at the church helping with the Fall Festival. Can you tell how excited little dude was about seeing Big Bird?

See all those Elmo ballons? Parents were nearly running to get one at intermission...10 bucks per mylar Elmo head. Needless to say we did not purchase one. I nearly fainted when the guy said the price. 

Cracker Barrell was also on the list, I was in desperate need of another pumpkin custard, sadly I have to report the wait was far too long. I think I may die without my pumpkin custard soon. Instead we headed across the street to Whataburger. While Laura was ordering Josh came and sat across from me, folded his arms and said "Hi Mimi, I'm Joshua." Too cute! 

..............................................

I tried out Megan's curl down method the other day and it worked out pretty well. I need more practice, seriously I haven't curled my hair in years and I think I forgot how!

....................................................

Today we went to speak at the local high school's FCA meeting, and when I say "we" I mean that I looked cute while our friend Luke did all the talking. I am not much for public speaking and actually had a panic attack last year when I was supposed to talk at FCA. Yeah I know, I'm a hot mess. 

Just so happened before I left I found a cute outfit pic and decided to try it out. 

me:

Pinterest:

 Source: thepleatedpoppy.com via Ashley on Pinterest

...........................................

Last but not least here is my favorite healthy dessert/breakfast recipe. When I am really wanting sweets this hits the spot.

Greek Yogurt Parfait:

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

1 banana, sliced

few dashes of cinnamon

1-2 tbsp honey

Combine ingredients in bowl and enjoy! 

I also like to add berries, granola, nuts, 

or dried fruit depending on what I have on hand. 

Read More

Carb Cycling - something has to eventually work

Carb Cycling - something has to eventually work

November 7, 2012

Let me start this by saying I am not a nutritionist or doctor and don't profess to be, I am just sharing my little food journey in hopes of helping another woman in my boat out. 

So yesterday I alluded to why I was having low carb and high carb days. Well let me digress a bit and then we will get back to that.

You see, women in my family are just not naturally thin. Weight is easily controlled until your mid-twenties and then it is all down hill from there. I am only 5'3'' almost 5'4'' and 120lbs is a good weight for me. I spent most of high school and college bouncing between 118 and 125. Totally normal for me. Then something happened, due to anxiety I quit working out like I was supposed to. I suppressed my aloneness with a the one pint of Ben & Jerry's I allowed myself every week and toasted marshmallows in the toaster oven constantly. I pushed negative emotions down with food. I still do it. 

If I have a bad day all I want is chocolate. I have spent many a teacher meeting with a pocket full of chocolate snacking away to relieve stress. 

Quite the opposite of healthy, mentally & physically. 

All those little stressful changes over the years has made it that much harder for me to control my weight. I haven't hit the 150lbs that I gained freshmen year of high school again, but I have been nearly 10lbs over my goal weight for most of the time I've been married. 

At one point in college I began the Ab's Diet and really watched what I ate, I had 5 meals a day and worked out like a beast. Somewhere it escaped me and I started having what I thought were "blood sugar" problems, which were really "You aren't eating often enough problems." 

There are times when I actually have the time to workout heavily again but while I feel great and look toned I haven't  lost an ounce. That ticks me off honestly. 

About 2 months ago my step-grandmother-in-law (that's a mouth full) told me she was taking Saffron Extract and she has lost 19 lbs in 3 months with it. I was amazed and immediately started researching it. Needless to say I jumped on the band wagon. I was exactly 10lbs over my "happy weight" max and couldn't lose anything to save my sanity. 

My pretty little 88.5 mg Pure Saffron Extract pills came in the mail (totally vegan and they only contain the herb by the way) and my appetite went down and I began losing weight. I actually made it to 2.2lbs from my "happy weight" max goal#1 and had the worst girl time of the month that shot me back up to 3lbs from my start weight. 

My body knows how to make fat. 

I am had been creeping back down to where I was and it is taking a lot more time than I hoped for when I saw a episode of Dr. Oz the other day that didn't seem so hokey. 

And we all know Dr. Oz can be hokey pokey!

It had Chris Powell on (a personal trainer) talking about carb cycling and it all clicked in my head. He said that high carb days give your body energy and low carb days right after burn it all off, that allows for better weight loss. Holy smokes it all made sense. 

Some weeks are very carb heavy here, while others are very low carb. I tend to get sick of carbs and want veggies after a heavy carb week. It is a "weekly" cycle. It suddenly clicked as to why I lose more weight after I have had a low carb few days and then one heavy carb day. Cycling! 

Now had the foods he listed not been what I normally eat, and had he suggested some wacky stuff I probably wouldn't have bought on to the idea. But when he showed an example of  high and low carb day meals I was totally on, literally they were what I ate when I did the 5 meals a day in college. Only difference was that he changed them up. 

I am guilty of making pasta and we eat that pasta until it is gone, or grilling chicken and eating that until it is gone too. With the carb cycling I am still going to cook the same large meals to prevent from constantly cooking, but I am going to interchange them with high or low carb days. Below I'll give you my week's meals for an example and a link to Chris Powell's grocery store list (which happens to be the only things I buy - aside from Jeremy's ice cream)

Carb Cycling Week:
Monday - High Carb
Tuesday - Low Carb
Wednesday - High Carb
Thursday - Low Carb
Friday - High Carb
Saturday - Low Carb
Sunday - Cheat Day

*eat all the low carb veggies you want
*muscle tone on low carb days
*Do a shred workout 6 days a week (I am using my 30 Day Shred DVD)
*you can have 1 cheat meal on high carb days (I'll probably only use it if I am dying for chocolate or ice cream)
*high carb days are 1500 calories and low carb are 1200 calories (for women)
* eat breakfast 30 minutes after waking up and then every 3 hours after that. 

Here is my week with times as an example:
High Carb
6:30 - whole wheat english muffin with poached egg and cheese 
9:30 - 1 c Greek yogurt, 1/2 c berries, 1/2 banana, 2 tbsp granola
12:30 - 2 quesadillas on corn tortillas with beans, salsa, and 2 tbsp shredded cheese
3:30 - Protein Shake
6:30 - Lasagna Soup (or some sort of pasta)

Low Carb
6:30 - whole wheat english muffin with poached egg and cheese 

9:30 - Peanut Butter & celery
12:30 - Salad with veggies & EVOO and balsamic dressing (homemade)
3:30 - Protein Shake
6:30 - Grilled Chicken and veggies (or any lean meat)

Chris Powell also mentioned that breakfast should always be high carb because we need the carb boost first thing to help with energy for the day. Here is a link to his shopping list, it tells what foods are veggie-high carb and what not. I watched the episode last Thursday by the way and tried it out on Friday, I didn't snack once and was full the whole day. When it came to that 3 hr mark though I was ready to eat again. 

After I am done with my first week I will let y'all know how it went. Between the 5 meals a day, being aware of my high and low carb days, and the saffron extract I think I should be able to get over this plateau. I really hate that he calls this a diet. I have eaten these foods for years now and don't consider it one. Yes I have my cheat meals and hormonal days when I can't control myself, but overall I eat well. I don't eat this way just to lose weight, because I don't have much to lose. I do this mainly to prevent health problems, I am from a family with a high rate of cancer and heart disease. We also have high blood pressure and if you become overweight for long you are diagnosed with Diabetes. I don't want that if I can stand to prevent it. Eating these foods is more of a lifestyle, plus I feel better when I do it. Fried foods just make me feel gross, that doesn't keep me from eating them...I just limit how much I eat. The only thing that I am really doing different is instead of eating all that food between 3 meals like usual I am spreading it out to 5 and alternating high carb days. 

If you have any questions about it just email me at labrideblog@gmail.com or contact me on Twitter @LABride. 

Read More

the difference 5 minutes can make

the difference 5 minutes can make

June 25, 2012

You'd be surprised at what can happen in five minutes. Especially with fire in this south LA heat. But let me digress, I'll get back to the end of this later. 

So as usual on a Sunday afternoon we went to the church to workout, and made a pit stop at the BCM to pick up some music equipment. We were gone a total of an hour and a half tops. I was planning on leaving for Vidalia that night so I was pushing Jeremy to hurry up so I could come home and pack, because let's face it I do not like to drive through Baton Rouge in the dark. When we got home some guy had parked his huge truck behind my car, which immediately made me go on an on to Jeremy about how I had 10 minutes to hit the road and he had to move. Ha! Was I ever wrong.


Our neighbor's brother immediately runs to our can in a total panic saying how he needs in our attic and can barely spit out why, he just wanted our dogs our and in the attic. Something about a fire. And that right there is where the 2 hour delay of fun began. 


I walked into our house to fetch the dogs and was immediately hit with an overwhelming smoke smell. But I couldn't see anything so I assumed it was all out. We took the dogs out and our neighbor went for the attic. 

The was the scene in the backyard before the fire department arrived. Funny thing is I text this pic to one of our good friends and before I had the chance to explain what happened Gerard called and said he was coming over. Nothing makes a sucky situation light hearted like having friends around that you can joke with. 

I initially thought nothing was that bad because the firemen went in wearing nothing, however they immediately came out and put on full gear with oxygen tanks. That is about where I mentally lost it. My biggest irrational fear as a child was a fireman waking me up and being carried out of a smoke filled house. 

Apparently the whole thing got started because the guys next door had a fire going in their fire pit and they thought it was out, but some ash hit cardboard & a couch and went wild. It torched the couch and immediately spread into our attics. Luckily attic damage was restricted to the back of the house and all my antique and irreplaceable items are in the front. I would have died had something I couldn't replace had been lost. Died! 

I really couldn't say enough nice things about our pastor & his family, but to add to just had genuine and kind they are I had posted this on Twitter and within minutes our pastor had called Jeremy and his wife text me that we could stay with them. Most people would probably say sorry, but in a sucks to be you sort of way. But no we have honest to goodness good people as friends. I was very overwhelmed at the thought that people cared about us. We are really blessed with a great church family that cares about people and wants to live out the gospel and spread the word among nations. Of course I knew all this before a couch caught my attic on fire, but doesn't hurt to reiterate it myself. 

When we were talking to the fire chief after it was all said and done he told us that 5 more minutes and we would have been burned to the ground. Attic fires apparently eat your house up quick. 5 more minutes and I would have lost my furbabies, my antique Lincoln rocker that I cherish because my Nanny finished re-upholstering it hours before she died, wedding pictures, and a table that my parents had made for us when we were married. The dogs were in the back of the house, had the fire been in the front I would not have been able to get in and get them out. It just blows my mind. We got home just at the right time, the fire was put out just at the right time. 

God seriously protected us and my sanity. 

However with the sanity I did walk away with I am not sure what I packed, I know I grabbed a swimsuit and my wedding albums, and a few hair products. I have a sports bra and some shorts...but we will check and see just how much I am living out of my sister's closet for the rest of the week. Let's just be glad I was calmed down mentally enough to not take picture off the wall and strap a couple hundred pound table to the top of my car. 

Coping mechanisms for me apparently include but are not limited to eating string cheese and beef jerky I got at a gas station while blaring Hillsong all the way home. I did get home to find a box of homemade chocolate chip cookies, and we won't talk about the fact that I had four while I watched Dilbert on my iPad. I think I deserve the late night carb load after that though haha. 

Read More

on kissing toads...

on kissing toads...

September 17, 2011

Source: theyallhateus.com via Emily on Pinterest

I saw this quote this AM on Pinterest and just HAD to share, because it is so true. At least for my life. Now I haven't spoken much about my man past on here out of respect for the permanent one, but I figured this would make a good excuse. 


I hear single girls all the time complaining about not being married, not having a baby, not having _________. We all forget that at some point everyone was "single", we weren't born married. Furthermore, my parents sure didn't arrange my marriage. I may have been married a few short years, but before that I was in the "dating" scene for years. I dated frogs in addition to a few wolves. I went so far to give the month, date, and year to guys you shouldn't bother telling the time of day. It was all rebellion though, but not from anyone in particular. I was rebelling from myself. 


For years I had dated a really great guy, until we got to college. Then suddenly, everything we knew about each other changed. Our values went in such separate directions. I was dumped. But not really dumped. We still saw each other every chance we got...we just fought about it, and of course held the statement "well we're not dating" whenever something was being done that the other didn't agree with. We should have walked away sooner, but we dallied around until we had not been "dating" but something still "dating" for a solid 6 years. By then we were ready to set the other on fire and haul butt. 


Looking back now, he was a great person and we helped each other survive high school. However, we should have just stayed friends. We were best friends, and we ruined it. 


Next was the charmer, aka the wolf. He could charm you right into any situation your gut was screaming no at. Bad I tell you, bad bad bad! When I finally got the guts to break it off he would essentially stalk the mess out of me. 


Sadly I met J in the middle of that mess. I was as far out as I could get. Be that as it may, I still deep in my guy torn mind saw that J was the good guy. We went for walks and talked about what we wanted to do with our lives, all the while I was constantly reminding him I wanted nothing to do with dating. That worked out well didn't it. Do you have any clue how odd it is to date a "good Christian guy" after dating the nut bags I had followed around during college? When we first met he was living at the BCM and preparing to leave for Africa for 3 weeks on a mission trip. I on the other hand had been out doing the complete opposite. Yet he still wanted to talk to me. He eventually conned me into marrying him, I had nothing better to do so I went with it (Ha, if you heard how he tells how we started dating you would understand why I get my blows in while I can). 


All that being said to make this point to single girls. When I was least expecting it I met a good guy, fell in love, and got married. I am 100% convinced I didn't meet him sooner because if I had I would not have appreciated him. I would have thought he was weird. It took "dating" a whole bunch of substandard nuts to even think "well this may work".  


So date. Just because Mr. Right Now isn't Mr. Right doesn't mean you shouldn't test the water. The idiot you'd never go on another date with just got you one step closer to the right guy and gave you another thing on your long list of likes and don't likes for your one day husband. Also, don't obsess over not being with someone. Enjoy your singleness. Some of the happiest days of my life were spent in my 1-bedroom townhouse as an undergrad student  with my dog. Doing things "my way". 


I didn't meet the right guy until I had decided that I didn't care if I ever met him. 

Read More

What your husband doesn't tell you.

What your husband doesn't tell you.

August 14, 2011

Secrets.

You may claim your relationship has none, but I promise you this, I learned quite differently this weekend.

While we were at the local waterpark sitting at a table, taking a break and sipping our water some ladies walked behind me and made an odd comment. "Is that a rat or a hamster?" They then proceeded to carry on about this so I turned to look, then looked at Jeremy and he of course gave me the reassuring look of "they are just crazy". So I continued to sit ans sip my water. Suddenly movement caught my eye and I looked down to see (I swear on my life) the largest rat/mouse I have ever encountered in person. It sat there   next to me like it was business as usual, in the midst of a super busy waterpark mind you. It sat so long I had a chance to examine its beady eyes, brown fur with highlights of several colors, and its disgustingly long tail. The little monster had to be close to a pound total. Unlike my usual scream, I gasped and picked up my legs.

At this point I knew something was up.

Jeremy did not even look around, he simply threw his bottle directly at the rat...which was behind him. Odd. How did he know where it was without looking? So I asked.

Turned out the black plague carrying monster had been sitting next to me for some time. He was the monster the ladies though was a large hamster. Jeremy, however, when questioned thought it was best not to alert me to the great dane of a rodent sitting next to me so as to keep me from creating a scene.

Aw thanks dear, so glad you were looking out for others at the park by trying to keep my crazy to a minimum.

This then led to questioning of course. I asked what else he had scene in the past 3 years that he hadn't told me about. Turns out...everything. Short from a moose in the living room, he has kept every critter in a mile radius a secret from me.

For example, this past week he saw a snake in the back yard (just now telling me this by the way). He was back there with the dogs. They didn't see it. And now that I know they are as worthless as a cat that doesn't chase mice I will be returning them to their place of origin in hope of acquiring a proper dachshund that actually chases away things. They were breed to be badger dogs originally, they should run off varmint.

But my husband didn't tell me. Nope, he just didn't see the need to alert me to things I am oblivious about. And according to him I don't pay attention to much.

Something tell me I need a cat. A large one that will run off all this mess and make up for the useless lap dogs and secret keeping man at this house.

Read More

{the weekend}

{the weekend}

September 26, 2010

Friday- We went to Strauss Theater and watched their production of "Curtains". I was really good, raunchy, but good. I could have done without the large amount of raunchy the play offered.

Saturday- I could no longer take the nearly 2 weeks without furbabies. So after waking up at 5:22am for no apparent reason I decided to call my Dad and have him meet me at our halfway point with my furkiddos. After that much time getting into everything their grandparents offered them it was time for a bath. Usually Maddie is the nut when it come to bath time but they swapped roles. Maddie however, is strange. After washing her off I went to take her out of the tub and noticed she still had soap on her and said "Oops Moopy, we're not done rinsing!" Then she did something really odd. She moaned, not a growl, or a whine...but a very clear "are you serious woman?" moan. 

Ellie was just ticked off that she was blow-dried, but I thought she was a cute little munchkin. 

Then I made a Target run and nearly had a fit over these:

 An adult size hot dog costume!

 And a doggie size one! We could be a family of Weenies!!! {Jeremy vetoed that one btw}

As much as Maddie and Ellie attempt to chase squirrels I think they should be one;)

I also chose to be a nice dog momma and buy the girls new collars and a bone each. Who would have known the chaos that would ensue. I got home, unwrapped them, and handed them off. Then the girls took off in different corners with their bones, then took off into the other dogs corner and stole a bone. Ellie hid her behind a guitar and Maddie left her in the dog bed. Which is why at 11pm we were woke up to the sound of two daschunds growling at each other in the dog bed once the bone was rediscovered. Go figure. 

 She stayed this way for awhile.

I also wen to Sam's and grabbed a few steaks. I have been dying to have steak, baked potatoes, and onion strings for dinner. I should have taken the pic before I butchered the steak with my knife.

Onion String:

Ingredients:

1 Sweet/Vidalia Onion

3/4 c masa harina

1/4 c self rising flour

salt

pepper

red pepper

cumin

milk

vegetable oil

Directions:

Soak thinly sliced onions in milk for 5 mins. Mix all dry ingredients together in a Ziplock bag. Begin heating oil in skillet. Drain onions and toss in bag of dry ingredients. Shake off extra flour and place in oil. Fry until golden brown. 

Sunday- Somehow we woke up crazy early again so we went to the 8am service at church, went to Life Group, then headed home to start school work yet again. The bone drama has yet to end though.

Maddie wanted to take a nap with us while Jer did homework and I caught on my bible study homework. She brought the bone with her of course. She also slept so that she could keep an eye on it. Paranoid much? 

Oh and ignore the grungy pillow. It is my "knee pillow". I have this thing about my knees touching while I sleep. It started with a travel pillow while I was in England years ago and have turned into a full size pillow. Bad habit. You can also see the pink corner of my other bad habit. 

Read More

{the joy of not doing anything}

{the joy of not doing anything}

August 7, 2010

I don't know what has hit me lately, but I have not felt like blogging at all. I actually had a few recipes I did  and really don't feel like putting them up right now. Maybe next week. 


Anyway, last week, as you may have seen on Twitter, the band Jeremy is in played for a benefit concert. Don't ask me what it benefited, the lead singer of the headliner didn't say it clear or slow enough. What I did understand is that the money went to some Christian group that supports pre-term babies. Who knows.

That was last Friday. This past Wednesday was Jeremy's birthday. We ate sushi, I forgot my camera. But I also made a really good Banana's Foster cake. Only problem was that I had never frosted a layer cake before and it was so ugly that I called our friend whose husband was also one of the birthday boys and asked if everyone would just come by out house afterwards for cake. Thank goodness they agreed to it. It was dang ugly.

I forgot to buy candles for the cake so Ethan and Jeremy had to blow out my Creme Brulee candle from Lola's. Notice the ugly leaning cake with the frosting that is sliding off?

 I asked Bekah to serve the hideous cake to everyone. Bekah and her sister make beautiful cakes, they actually made the one for Ethan and Bekah's wedding back in June. I figured if anyone could cut that sliding cake without it falling apart it was her. Side note- I put skewers in it so it wouldn't fall apart...that didn't stop the leaning. 

Happy (late on the blog) 26th Birthday Jeremy! 

Like I told you in your birthday card...only 24 more years until your first colonoscopy. Don't take them for granted. Love you.


........................................


I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Let me fill you in on what I've done.

Nothing!

This is the second weekend of the summer that I haven't gone out of town for something wedding related(except the family reunion). Isn't it glorious to not do anything all day! 

Read More