Mind Blown

Have you ever borrowed your spouses/parents/friends car or been in a rental and gone to fill up the tank only to discover you have no idea what side it's on? Ford. All Fords are on the drivers side, right? Or is that Toyotas? Ultimately you pull in, park and have to immediately get back in and pull around to the other side because you chose wrong. Turns out you don't have to guess. Most cars will tell you. Have you ever noticed the little arrow on the gas gauge? Cause I never had...

PS- Pay no mind to the fact that my gas gage tells me I have absolutely no gas....I like to live dangerously.

Drink Coupons

These came in the mail the other day. I literally whooped out loud! I don't know why I was so excited , I don't even drink on planes, but something about it just made me feel like we'd arrived.

Companions

Last year we got a credit card that got us miles for one of the major airlines. We got a huge bonus for signing up and then spent way more money than we needed too. But, long story short, we we qualified for the airline "companion pass." Which means for a whole year if the hubby buys a plane ticket his companion can fly for free (well, applicable taxes and fees apply). We spent months agonizing over whether we'd get enough points to achieve this status. And then we did! And then the hubby called to tell me and asked who his companion should be. 

Popcorn

We were on a trip last fall with my sister and brother-in-law and she asked him to make popcorn for the group. "Wait til you try this popcorn," she said "it will blow your mind." Of course I questioned her. "What's so special about his popcorn?" Well, I was informed, he makes it on the stove. And he only adds salt. And it was supposedly soooo good and so much better than the microwavable, possible cancer-causing, trans fats infused, "movie theater butter" kind. Blech. There was no way I was going to like this popcorn. I like my trans fats. And my fake movie theater butter. Well, the popcorn was okay, but (don't tell them) far from the best popcorn ever. Fast forward a few months later to my birthday party and he makes another HUGE batch. I'll give almost anything a second try (although, I frequently refuse to give things a third try) and I have to say this batch was soooo delicious. Maybe it was my taste buds were altered due to the fact that I had imbibed a bit more than normal. Maybe it was my body subconsciously telling me 'You're thirty now, get your diet together,' but whatever the reason I thoroughly enjoyed it the second go-round. And this week I found myself craving it. I read an article on "healthy" carbs and found that popcorn made the list and that got me thinking about it. I didn't want the microwavable kind that was stocked in my pantry. I wanted the real deal. The old fashioned, cook on the stove top actually corn kernels kind. And so I made it. This was the first time in my life I have ever personally popped popcorn on the stove and I have to say it went quite swimmingly (that's an expression, right?). I wasn't sure how much to make. The instructions didn't specify. So, as you can see, I made a bit too much.

You've got to get used to the flavor, it definitely isn't the movie theater variety, but I found I actually like the taste of popcorn and not just the taste of butter. Plus, the whole cancer-causing thing kinda has me scared of microwavable. And my now thirty-year-old body is asking me to stop filling it with trans fats and empty calories. 

This Dog Sleeps like a Human

This is Jackson. 

He likes pillows. He sleeps like a human. He thinks he's entitled.      

                                             











And he has crazy ears. They amuse me.

Boyd-O

This is Boyd. He was a stray that we adopted from the Humane Society. When we got him we figured he had a name that he was used to, but we (obviously) didn't know what it was. So we named him Boyd because it sounded like "boy" and we figured every dog responds to "come here, boy(d)."

He loves bones, looks good in glasses, is a great road trip partner and only plays with toys when someone else takes them.

He's kinda crazy and has an uber sensitive stomach, but it's hard not to love him.

Favorite Photos from 2014

The year started sooooo COLD!

We adopted this dude.

JD in church! Shhh....

   

Celebrated some cool weddings!

Took some really cool trips

Grand Ole Opry

Chicken picnic!

Went to the playoffs!

Added a couple roommates

Celebrated Christmas in sunny Charlotte

Turned 30! yikes : /

Bed Bands

 These are more benign than they sound. But they have changed my life! I am a secure sleeper. Meaning I need to have two to three layers of covers, I need them securely and tightly tucked in, and, ideally, when I wake up in the morning the bed should look as if it was made around me.  My husband is the opposite. He pulls and bunches and untucks

everything so as not to feel "confined." And so his covers end up untucked, bunched up and pushed to my side. And since we're both tossers and turners not only does the top sheet get rumpled, but the bottom sheet corners are constantly popping off. That is until I broke down and bought these little babies. They were hard to put on and I have to admit I kinda half assed it. I didn't feel like breaking my back lifting the king sized mattress. But even in my poor effort these have kept the bottom sheet securely on for two full months without needing any adjustments, other than reclipping with sheet changes. We could barely keep it the sheet in place for two hours before. These guys have made my bed a happy place again. And my mornings are a lot less frustrating when I don't have to completely remake the bed from scratch. Now that my bottom sheet is anchored down, I have to figure out how to win the top sheet battle.

Resolutions

My January resolution (notice I say January, and not New Year's) is to floss everyday.  And so I had to buy more floss. My gums are thanking me. 

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone enjoyed ringing in 2015! I hope you are cozy and warm and recovering nicely from your overindulgences last night. I hope your heads feel right. And your hearts feel light. And your New Year's are looking happy and bright!

I, myself, am spending this holiday pulling a 12 hour shift at the hospital. My first in over two weeks! Vacation is over, the holiday season has passed and I've jumped right into 2015! Twenty fifteen! How did that happen!?! It seems like only yesterday we were partying "like it's 1999!" (I know you all sang along with that in your heads and for that I thank you. If you didn't sing along you're making me feel old).

Despite the fact that I have to ring in the new year at work, I wanted to make sure I posted for everyone (or mostly for myself). I wanted to prove I would come back after my blogging vacation. I wanted to prove that 2015 is going to be a year of achieving goals and following through on plans. And I wanted to share with you my New Year's resolutions. I'm so excited for them this year that I wrote a whole article about them! But what I'm really excited about is the project I wrote the article for...the launch of BE. Magazine! Please peruse. Add your email to follow us. And share with your friends! And many thanks to all our friends and family who helped make this launch happen (and happen on time--we're such procrastinators)!