So Grey's Anatomy was finally back last night!!! WhooHoo!!! I was so excited that Grey's was coming back on because it is truly on of my favorites! But in all honesty - it was an "ok" season opener - not the GREAT one I was anticipating. The story line was definitely interesting, but the whole icicle falling on Christina was almost ridiculous (in my opinion). My biggest issue is "Callica" - this is that the Grey's Anatomy website is calling the relationship between Callie and Erica. As a Christian, I firmly believe the Word of God when it says that homosexuality is a sin, and therefore, I do not to see this lifestyle. I think that by adding this matter to the show, the writer's made a big mistake and could in turn lose several viewers - possibly me. But tell me what you thought of this episode...did you like it, or did is disappoint you as well?

A Career in TV?

Well, not really a new career...but if you were watching the 9:00 news on Fox 4 News last night, then you might have seen a familiar face! That's right - Brant was on TV being interviewed regarding a magazine taken off the shelves at Lifeway Christian Store. The controversy is that the covers is 5 women who are pastors. The Southern Baptist Convention, who owns LifeWay, does not believe that pastoring a church is a role that woman should have...so they pulled the magazine. Brant happened to be at the store when the camera crew was there and ended up on the news! Take a look here!!!

Greatest Invention

So, I think I definitely need one of these - A Treadmill desk!!!!

The New York Times reported this story today in their Health Section, and I have decided I need one! I wonder if this could be expensed to the office???

Cardboard Testimony

Grab a tissue and take a few moments to watch this video that I stole from Caroline's blog. Then tell me, What is your cardboard testimony?

Weekend Makeover!

We had a originally planned for a somewhat normal weekend, but it soon became anything but. As any Texan knows, we were preparing for Hurricane Ike, although not in the direct path, we knew that North Texas would have a large amount of rain and high winds. Well Kristie (Brant's sister) was having an open house on Sunday, she she called early Saturday and asked if she and Aeson could come for a slumber party. She knew that Aeson was sure to wreck her clean house...so they came over Saturday afternoon. Here are a few pictures of Aeson playing.

Please notice his feet...yes, he found a pair of my Brighton heels and thought they sounded funny on the hardwood floor!

The major event of the weekend was thatI finally gave our guest bathroom makeover! Our guest bathroom is the one room we haven't done anything to since we moved in over a year ago. We had tried to take off the wallpaper, but it never came off easily without pulling off the drywall, so we just left it...we actually tried to see what a textured paint would do to it, but that didn't work so well.

The original wallpaper was cream with orange and blue stripes...I felt like I was a Florida Gators fan...no offense Patrick Family!

This is the random paint splotch we did when we originally bought the house and it has stayed there...in the very center of the bathroom wall...ever since.

After a lot of thought, I decided to use a wallpaper called Paper Illusions. The paper itself has a textured-paint feel, but you tear it into pieces before pasting it on the wall. The final thing looks great!

AND THE FINISHED PRODUCT!!!!!

This was my favorite find of the weekend. This was a crystal candle holder with crystal beads for decoration. I found this piece for only $12.99 at Home Goods! Add a little popurie and voila!

Believable Dream

Have you ever had one of those dreams that is so believable that you wake up and think it was real? That was me last night...a dream so vivid and possible that I thought it was real.

Last night, I dreamed that Brant and I adopted a baby from Honduras, a country that I have a passion for. This was an adorable little girl, 9 months old with dark curly hair. She was beautiful, and she was ours. Well, she became ours. The dream started with me flying to Honduras to bring her back to the states just for the weekend to see how she "took" to Brant and I...and she adored us as much as we adored her. Throughout the dream, I had to take her back to the orphanage from our trial weekend and finish all the paperwork in order to bring her home for good...and in fact we did.

When I woke up, I actually listened to hear the coo of a baby in the other room, but soon realized that this was only a dream. But it almost brought me to tears - to think of the children in Honduras who long for a mother and father to love them.

Some of you may not know that for three months after I graduated from DBU, I went to Orphanage Emmanuel in Guaimaca, Honduras. The faces of the children I grew to love have been imprinted on my heart, and this "baby' was one of the faces - the face of Carole. When I got to the orphanage, my "place" was in the toddler house working with all the babies and just loving on them. Carole was just a year old when I got there and I fell in love with this angel. She had the cutest little cheeks and these beautiful brown eyes. I cherished this little girl and her face is so vivid in my memories of my time there. I went to the orphanage website and this is the most current picture of Carole...Yes, it is still hard for me to look at this face and not burst into tears..oh how I long to hold this baby again. She should be 4 now - Kate's age. Here are some of the other faces I fell in love with...

This is Ricardo, Jose, and Yenny (who I had a very special bond with)


Dinoldo, Jenifer and Nohemy Sophia.

A new look...

...So, I thought that since fall is just around the corner, that I should decorate my blog accordingly...just as I should decorate my house. I have to be honest that I really do find designing blogs quite fun, so I decided to re-do my own. This is from a beautiful kit by Raspberry Road Designs called Boho.

So I had a great new purchase...a Mouse Rug! I had never heard of them before but a co-worker has one and I fell in love. It is literally a mouse pad that looks just like a rug.



This is my desk...plain, old desk.

And this is my desk with my beautiful MouseRug!!!

I love the fact that it has fringe and everything!

Another Full Meal

After things turned out well in my crockpot on Friday, I decided that I was going to experiment. I put some bone-in pork chops (frozen) in the bottom of my crockpot and seasoned them with salt and pepper. Then I poured about a cup of dry white wine in the crockpot. I washed and foiled two large sweet potatoes and put them on top of the pork chops. I cooked on low for 7 hours.

This was AWESOME! I can honestly say that I have never had pork chops that were so juicy...and so soft that they literally fell off the bone. The potatoes were perfect, especially when we added some cinnamon butter and marshmallows.

What kind of other full meals do you think I could try in the crockpot???

A Busy Holiday

I'm so sorry its been awhile since I posted...last week was busy and this weekend even busier!!! First of all, let me tell you about the wonderful dinner I made Friday night...a recipe from Crockpot365 of course! It was an entire meal in the crockpot. I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical from the beginning, but everything turned out very nicely. I used a sirloin steak and smothered it in a steak rub, then added potatoes and corn on the cob. Cooked on low for 7 hours...and VOILA! An entire steak dinner ready and cooked to perfection when I returned home. Go check out the recipe here.

On Saturday, I worked from home for several hours while Brant was working too...then I trimmed the hedges in our front yard and did some yard work...I actually have the blisters to prove it! We ordered fajitas for 2 from Chili's to go and had a nice, quiet dinner at home. Then we watched "Ghosts of Mississippi", a true story about the assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers in 1963. It was a good movie.

Sunday, Brant's parents came into town and went to church with us. Unfortunately, our Pastor threw his back out, so we had a guest speaking. I wish they could have heard Bro. David because he is so wonderful. Then we all went to Plano to have lunch with Kristie and Aeson, and then headed back to Kristie's house to make some delicious homemade ice cream. We really enjoyed getting to spend some time with everyone.

Yesterday, we were lazy and laid around the house all morning. Then we went to Home Depot for an office plant...I decided my desk needed a little greenery. After grocery shopping, I headed over to Sister's house to swim and play with the kiddos. We had so much fun. It was so nice to have a day just to play and hang out with them - they are growing up so darn fast. Can you believe that Ethan is about to be one?!?!?!?! I cannot fathom how quickly each of these babies has grown...I still remember the day Mason was born like it was yesterday.

Well I hope everyone had a fabulous Labor Day holiday...and just think...it means a short week!!! WooHoo!!!

Give Me Your Eyes

Work has been incredibly busy...let's just say that I dove in head first and I have not come back up... but I love it! I really needed to stay late yesterday, but I didn't becasue it was my coveted Bunco night! So, I decided to head into the office early this morning and was listening to 90.9 KCBI. I heard a song that I had enver heard before by Brandon Heath...and song that almost had me in awe..."Give Me Your Eyes" (click on the link and it will take you to the music video).

I started thinking about how there is so much in this world that we do not see and we do not know, but that there is Someone who knows it all. So what if we had His eyes, His arms and His love for even just one day? Would we be a kinder and gentler people? How would we be changed? It makes you think, doesn't it.

Starting my new job, I have made many new friends and I am so thankful for that. So after hearing this song it made me wonder if I had the Lord's eyes for a day, what would I see? What are in the hearts of the people that I work with? What is going on in their lives that they hide? So today, I am asking the Father, "What is my purpose here?" I believe that I am at B&B for a very specific reason, and not just to have a job. So today I pray that the Lord uses me however He sees fit, and that I might have His eyes for a time to see the hearts of these people...to know them and love them.

Great new recipe!

So, like I said yesterday, I am back to using my beloved crockpot on a daily basis. And today, I discovered a tasty and simple new recipe. It is in my favorite crockpot cookbook...
This book is excellent and has a ton of great recipes...from simple "2-3 ingredient" stuff, to exquisite and challenging dishes...everything from drinks, to soups, to dips, to side dishes, entrees and desserts!

Today, I made Cheesy Crockpot Chicken. Now, so of you may remember my several attempts to make chicken in the crockpot and their terrible outcomes, but I finally found a trick (thanks to Crockpot 365)...I PUT THE CHICKEN IN COMPLETELY FROZEN!!!

Yes, this is the picture from the book...only because I didn't take pictures of mine and I wanted you to see how tasty it looks!

This is so simple to make. You need:
4-6 chicken breasts - FROZEN
2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
salt and pepper
Garlic powder

First mix your cream of chicken soup and cheddar cheese soup together in a bowl. Then place your chicken breasts in the bottom of your crockpot and sprinkle with salt and pepper and pinch of garlic powder. Then pour your mixed soups over the chicken. Let this cook for 8-9 hours on low ( I cooked it for 8 and the chicken was still nice and juicy...not dry). Then you serve over pasta or rice.

This was really, really good and so simple. Brant really liked this and he is actually quite picky with his chicken...he hates dry chicken! I will definitely make this again...and I hope you will too!!!

The First Week

Well, I can honestly say that I am loving my job. I actually look forward to going to work everyday...imagine that! Today, I was actually assigned to a case manager, which means that I have actually been "assigned" to certain cases. So tomorrow I am spending most of the day researching and learning about them...which is fun for me!

The only adjustment so far are the hours. Although I love not having traffic, I am an "early to bed early to rise" kind of girl, so I feel like half my "home-time" in the evenings is already gone by the time I get home. I used to beating Brant home and having dinner started by the time he gets home around 5:30, but now, either I: cook in the crockpot, made a 30 minute meal, pick it up on my way home, or we don't eat until 8:00. So, like I said, its just an adjustment, but we're beginning to get used to it.

Our weekend was good...I went shopping and got 2 new suites, as well as several new blouses. Saturday evening, we went to have a homemade pizza dinner party with friends and that was a great blast! Then Sunday, we went to church, had lunch, then I went to see my dear friend Mary. She had a precious baby girl on Thursday morning...Mallory Elyse. I took over some dinner and held that sweet baby for over an hour...but don't worry...I'm not going through a spout of baby-fever right now. Sunday night, Brant and I just relaxed together and watched "The Kingdom." It is a great movie!

Well I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and is having a great start to their week!

Going Private

Hello blogging friends,
Well, I've decided to make my blog private because of several reasons, but I wanted to make sure everyone had ample warning! I'll begin being private on Monday, so if you would like to be added as a reader, please either email me or leave me a comment so I can make sure and put you on the list !

Thanks

God is so Good

Isn't amazing what the Lord does...all in His time. It's amazing the people that He puts in your path to achieve His goals, never your own.

About a month ago, I received an email from Jessica...it was from a friend of a friend who was a friend of a recruiter named Derek. Derek was looking for a Intellectual -Property paralegal for a law firm in Dallas and asked for anyone knowing any paralegals to forward his email. Well this email randomly got forwarded to Jessica, who immediately emailed it to me! Although I had absolutely no IP experience, I decided that I should at least network with Derek if he was recruiting for legal positions. So I called Derek and we met about a week later. He helped me with several interviews, and today, I received a job offer! Amazing that this job offer came from meeting a man through an email forward by a friend, who's friend was a friend of a recruiter! Now, you tell me the Lord did not plan every step of this!

The whole story to say that I am very excited to announce that I start my job as a litigation paralegal on Monday. The firm that I will be working for is very prestigious, housing some of the best named lawyers in Dallas. The opportunity is so great and I know that I will be living my dream of being a paralegal.

Thank you to all of my prayers warriors! The Lord has provided so much more than I ever thought possible!

A good Weekend...

But it was very busy! Brant's parents came into town Thursday night, so we spent the weekend with them. Friday, we (myself, Brant's sister Krisite, and Brant's parents) took a drive over to Dallas where Bob, Brant's dad, ordered a Smart Car!!!Then we went to lunch at Bread Winners and spent the afternoon shopping around uptown. That night, we went to the Rangers game and had tons of fun!!! Judy and I went to the Brighton store Saturday morning because she wanted to buy her first Brighton purse...and I might had found one myself. Brighton was having the Handbag trade-in event...which is where you take in any old handbag and you can receive up to $50 off a new bag! The old bags are donated to a women's shelter. So, I called Brant and asked if I could buy the bag. I persuaded him by promising to sell two of the my other Brighton handbags on ebay to make up for the cost of the new bag...if you want to take a look, click on the picture and it will take you to the auction.


But here is a picture of my new purse...
Today I am cleaning house and getting ready for a few interviews I have this week. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!