The Long and Winding Road

Somehow every bit of my life can be summed up by a Beatles song.  Seriously, it is true. Hey Jude could have just as easily been Hey Laura.  My marriage is All You Need is Love. When my triplet nieces were born, I use to sing out of tune (See there, With a little help from my friends!) Yesterday. The kids loved it, until they didn't.  I will never forget the day when the triplets and I were playing with their Elmo doll and there I was singing away when one of them said "Shhh, Lala, Shhhhh!"   Broke my heart.  The triplets are 12 now and my nephew is in high school but they still call me Lala.

Anyway,  this blog is a sad but exciting blog.  You see, today closes a chapter of my life that started almost 14 years ago.  For the last year, I have been keeping a secret from almost all of you,  my dear friends.  The company that I have been working for is in liquidation and today is my last day at work.

For months I been searching for a new job.  I have 18 years of experience in my industry and this job search was the completely miserable.  Apparently, experience means little or nothing if you can't pass assessment exams and I have what is known as Test Anxiety.   So bad in fact that when I was in high school, I would ace the SAT and ACT practice tests but when it came to doing the actual test, I bombed both.   It takes real skill to be this bad at testing and I am.  Sadly, most of the job assessments I failed didn't even seem hard.  I even failed a personality test.  HOW do you fail a personality test anyway?  I apparently, have none.   My nerves were shot and my confidence was in the crapper after all the interviews, assessments, and stress.  I cried sometimes and wanted to cry a lot more.

Cinnamon-Not just a boss, a friend!

So for months I have been hunting and searching for a new job, terrified that the one I had would disappear and we would lose our house.  My husband has been incredibly supportive through this job hunt.  He told me I was smart and to ignore the assessments.  He told me to keep fighting.

Finally, 2 weeks ago the opportunity of a lifetime showed up.   I went to an interview and was hired on the spot with a brand new and I mean brand new company with only about a year of history but built by owners with proven track records.   The job starts tomorrow!   I am going to be so incredibly busy helping this new company grow and develop.

2010 watching Rangers World Series with Trish, Cinnamon, and Michelle

Lots of going away lunches lately!  Mary and Robert

Last Christmas 

Some of my blog friends may have noticed for the last few weeks I have been able to post a lot of blogs, comment on a lot of blogs, and redo basically my entire blog.  I even went back and edited some old blogs that had pictures that once were there but are now gone.  I have had a lot of free time on my hands at work.  That time is about to end but I am really thrilled.  It has been a struggle to pass the time when there is so little to do and my hands are tied.   Still, I have been in it together with some amazing people who I love.

Jerod and Rachel

L-R Mario, Mark, Janie, Jamal, Mary, & Russel one of my all time favorite teams of many!

All that being said, I am going to miss my old company.  I have been here nearly 14 years and through that time, I have made some incredible friends, not just co-workers.  I have been blessed to have some of the most incredible people work for me and I have had an amazing boss.   I know this word is thrown around a lot but we truly have become a family.

So to all of my team members, former team members, co-managers, and my boss, thank  you for 14 years of memories and fun.   I learned so much from each and every one of you.  I appreciate the role you have played in my life.  I will miss this place.

Baseball Talk: Playoff Baseball in Arlington

It's Baseball Time in Texas!

Ready for baseball!

So I am a girl who loves baseball.  I grew up in Northern Indiana as a Chicago Cubs fan.  My first baseball game was at Wrigley Field.  When we moved to Texas I was 10.  I quickly came to love my Texas Rangers. (That doesn't mean I completely turned my back on the Cubs, I am cheering them in the post season too but head to head I bleed Rangers Red!)

Twitter Tailgates are the best!

We managed to score tickets to the first home game of the playoffs.  It helps when you are some sort of season ticket holder because you get options on post season play.   So we met up with a bunch of our Rangers friends from Twitter.   I am lucky enough to call a lot of Rangers fans, friends in real life and a lot of them showed up for the game!   These are some of my favorite people and I was lucky enough to spend the pregame with my friends Janice and her new man, Ronnie, Monica, and Julie and see some of my favorite friends who I don't see much anymore like Eric!  Plus I got to hang with so many of our Twitter friends who we only tend to see, basically during the season.    I have to give a shout out to Darren for organizing the whole tailgate and bringing the ice for my drink. :) 

Going into this game, I have been feeling icky for over two weeks.  Last week I was so sick Sunday-Wednesday that I was running a fever, in bed, and barely alive.  I always seem to get sick during the playoffs so when I finally saw my doctor, she said "You aren't feeling good.  Of course you are sick, the Rangers are in the playoffs!"  She knows me so well.   Usually I get bronchitis but this year I was lucky enough to get some killer stomach virus that will not end. (Yes, I am still suffering though not as bad as last week.)  On the bright side, I have lost about 10 pounds thanks to not being able to eat much of anything and my wedding set is so lose it is driving me crazy twirling on my finger.  I will take the weigh loss, thank you very much!  I could live without the stomach bug but at least it has its perks.

So many good fans!

Rangers fans and Cubs fans have a lot in common.   Namely, a lot of years for fruitless baseball.   That doesn't hurt the fan base it just makes us loyal.   The game started at 7 pm and the Cowboys were playing next door and yet, the parking lot was packed at 3 o'clock on game day.  Rangers fans, true Rangers fans, are some of the best in baseball.   Yes, there are bandwagon fans. There were a lot of Cowboys fans at the ballpark too, dressed head to toe in Cowboys stuff. (No really, the girl in front of me had Dallas Cowboys boots!  I thought I was bad with my Rangers Toms).   I don't mind them. I wish they would have at least bothered to bring a Rangers hat too so they didn't look so stupid sitting there in their Cowboys crap but.... they pay for seats, hats, and shirts (theoretically) and they give the club more money to spend on good players.  I wish they were better fans and cheered for the club and didn't just sit there like bumps on a log because I know a ton of real fans who would have paid for those seats and happily been ROWDY but DFW is a strange sports place.   People like to say it is a football town but I don't believe that.  It is a winners town.  Whichever team is winning, that is the team people show up for even if they show up in stupid Dallas Cowboys jerseys, hats, boots, and sit there looking bored.   Someone remind me to tell you the story of the ALDS playoff shirt controversy.  Only in DFW could a shirt with the Dallas skyline (the recognizable DALLAS skyline) cause fans to cry like little, spoiled babies over a T-shirt!  That's the metroplex but it is home like it or not and sometimes, I don't. 

My honey's first playoff!

But, I digress....


So hubs and I ended up at the Ballpark for his first ever playoff game.  I was nervous. Really nervous. I always get a bad case of the "Oh my GAWD please let them wins" during the playoffs.  I have been known to spend 2 hours at the gym watching from the top of a workout machine of some variety. That was back when I was single though and had time for that!  Hubs was excited.  Baseball madness was about to swoop down on Arlington.  I walked into the Ballpark expecting Toronto to be on their game.  It was do or die for them.  The Rangers have to win 1 game to move on.  It was an elimination game.  The hardest game to close out.   Toronto didn't disappoint, sadly the Rangers just didn't have their offense going last night.   Disappointing but I expected it.  Today we win! Today we move on.  

My handsome nephew was at the game so I got a hug!

I ran into my sweet nephew who was there with his mother and grandma.  He is such a sweet boy and didn't even mind giving his Aunt Lala a hug.  The last time I saw him before the game he walked up to me and said "I always love seeing you.  You make me smile."   What a KID!!

New friends

And I made new friends, even though they wear Kinsler jerseys!  :)  I didn't hold it against her, she is a Tigers fan first.  (Kins was the Rangers 2nd baseman who was traded to Detroit in the Prince Fielder trade.  He said some not so nice things about the Rangers organization after the trade.  Disappointing for a player who came up through the system and seemed to have nothing but sour grapes.  Still, that is who Ian Kinsler is.  He never could keep his mouth shut when he should have.)

Hubs looking all hot an everything! 

My husband has such style.  Our friend Kimberly gave him some new shades and he spent a lot of time goofing off with them.

He likes to look grumpy in photos 

Of course when it was time for couples photos, something I make him do...he put his grumpy face on.

Such a beautiful day!

I love him, even though he pretends to be a big grump.   He is really just a giant kid and a nut.

Goofy Rangers fans!

With all the great friends at the game, we had a blast and the Ballpark...

The Ballpark was all dressed up 

Looked AMAZING all dressed up for the ALDS.   Today we win Rangers!

Rangers and USA pride!

The fans started off really excited and hyped up but as the game went on and Toronto took a 5-0 lead, it was hard to keep up this level of excitement.  No, I am not even going to blame it on the Cowboys bandwagon fans.   All the fans had a tough time keeping positive.   The game just felt off.   That's okay because Today we WIN Rangers!

Rangers Nation getting rowdy!

Game 4 is today and while I won't be there, I have a lot of good friends and great fans who will so I leave it in their capable hands because TODAY WE WIN RANGERS!  Let's move on to the ALCS and bring on whoever wants a piece of this.  (Me, I kinda hope it is the Astros because I would love to have home field advantage and I would love to eliminate THEM!)  

What I'm loving and Have a Pinteresting Day: The one with Game of Thrones and Taquitos

It's time for my favorite blog hop of the week...mine!  What I'm Loving and Have a Pinteresting Wednesday where you get to share all the amazing things you are loving this week and all the great things you pinned!  

What I'm Loving: 

*I finally got my sign made for the chicken coop door.   I used a rainbow selection of Unicorn SPiT on this and totally love it.   Now to be fair, I didn't go crazy customizing it.  I just made sure to water seal it with outdoor sealer and moved on after the writing and a little stencil action.  The chicks seem to love it.  

The Chick Inn

*I have needed a haircut since about a month after my wedding.  For those keeping score at home, I got married 9/13/14.  That's a long time to put of getting a trim.

My new haircut 

*I found this picture of Sadie on the Facebook account I keep saying I am going to delete.  Here is the problem, it has all the great photos.  SIGH.

Sadie Kisses 

*Alright, so my hubby introduced me to Scott and Jennifer about 18 months ago and since that time they have become special friends of mine but more importantly, Scott and Jennifer and I keep each other apprised of the unmarked sales at WINCO.   I am loving the 3/4 inch pork chops we got for 99 cents a pound last weekend.   I wish you could see how beautiful these things are! 

Pig is good 

*Game of Thrones:

The Coldplay Video, It's 12 minutes long but awesome!

Does this show just make everyone go "Oh. My. Gawd!" every single week or is it just me?   I have to admit, I am in total love with John Snow but aside from that....Oh. My. Gawd! 

Bad Lip Reading. 

So I love Game of Thrones so much that I spent lunch yesterday looking at videos. 

And this Seth Meyer video just makes me laugh.   I can't help it. Winter is coming!

*Dancing on my back deck with my husband Saturday night.   Being married to your best friend really is the amazing.  When I feel like I have nobody in the world, he is right there.  (It's only a problem when he is driving me crazy or when I need sensitivity.  He doesn't do heartwarming.)
We had a friend of his and his girlfriend who are really like the son and daughter I never had at this point, spend the weekend with us and we had a great time just dancing and listening to music.   Jake came over to help work on the truck but the hubby and the kid together are like Lucy and Ethel.

Have a Pinteresting Day!


Yesterday I told you how Texas was having a major meltdown over the loss of these:

Source For Whataburger Taquitos

Honestly, I don't get it because I cook better than every fast food place I have ever eaten and my husband makes better hamburgers than pretty much anyone I have ever met....but I promised I would share pins with a recipe so here they are and frankly, I think they all look better than Whataburger, especially that one with the avocado! YUM!!!! 

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Keeping with the food theme here are a few other things I have pinned:

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I am dying to make some pork carnitas.  I mean....oh my!

And for those of you who just can't fathom life without 2am taquitos, put the beer down and pull out a pan of this from the fridge to microwave:

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And if all that doesn't do it, I even have a recipe for this: 

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yep, homemade poptarts! 

Alright it is your turn.  What are you loving and what have you pinned?   Grab the button, click the link your blog and let's have some fun! 

What I'm Loving and Have a Pinteresting Wednesday

Link up below 

It's Wednesday again!  I love this blog hop because it's so fun. 

What I am loving:

-Friend and Family time: 

Not only did I get to hang out with friends  on Saturday but I got to see my nephew and two of my triplet nieces Sunday.  The third was in Houston for a volleyball tourney.  My step-daughter and I hung out at softball practice and had a great time.  I love seeing the kiddos getting along. 

-Mckinney, Tx:

It is constantly in the top 10 of the best place to live in the US.   When I lived in other places nearby I didn't get it.  I do now. There is so much to do and so much always going on.  Last weekend was Mckinney Trade Days and Old Red Lumbaryard (ORLY) Sale.  I only made it to ORLY and plan to make it to Trade Days next month but it is just so fun to have the options and the Old Doentown area is so vibrant and alive with shops and cafes.   I can't get over how small it feels at times, right in the DFW metroplex. 

-Craft time with my step-daughter: 

She had a craft project for me,   This was all her idea so I was just along for the ride.

We made plastic bowls!  They turned out really cute.  

Speaking of my step-daughter she "made" me redo her bathroom countertops.  Kind glad she did. It looks really great and now I want to frame the mirror to give it a finished feel.    

What I am pinning:

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I have made several of the potato receipes on my potato board and I think these fries are the next try.  They are baked, not fried! Healthy is always better.  I love sweet potato fries but my family won't eat them so I am constantly looking for ways to make white potatoes a little better for you.

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I love this and it is made from old pallets.  It is way beyond my carpentry skills which are just short of  "Hello, this is a nail and I can hit it with a hammer".....but I am going to try and make something with some pallets so stay tuned.

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I actually think with my hubby's help I might be able to pull this off and I would love to do this for our family room.  

We decided to start the carpet removal in family room first because it has concrete floors so we are putting a totally new surface in that room.   Because it is the room with the dog door and the feel of it is much more rustic, we aren't going to try and match anything, we are going with different floors altogether. We can get away with this because the room is on a different level from the rest of the house.  It is an addition, a converted garage and therefore, you have to step down into it.  We are thinking of something along these lines:

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I love the rustic feel, we just have to agree on what we want to put on the floor, since it is going to be the room that gets the most use and the washer and dryer and the garage are both off this room as well as one of the doors to the outside deck.   I love this idea of starting in this room, my husbands not mine.  I have a thought that once this room is done, I will feel better because there will be at least one finished room in the house!

So what are you loving and pinning this week?

Thankful Thursday: All you need is Love: My Valentines Blog

Because Valentines Day is Saturday I thought I should do a Thankful Thursday Valentines Day edition today and share the love that I am thankful for.   Love comes in many forms and from many people in your life.  I am sure if you look around and really think about it, you will be amazed at just how many people you are truly thankful to give and receive love from.  These are just a few of my loves:

He hates that I flash our wedding photos

I am thankful for my husband who is super supportive and loves me with his whole heart. He is the smile on my face. I love coming home at night to his goofy grin.  It's nice to have someone there to help shoulder the load and who has your back.  He drives me crazy, don't get me wrong but he is worth the nuts.  He puts up with me and encourages me and he lets me have too many irons in the fire and he doesn't mind my own personal brand of crazy too much.  Every once in a while he even surprises me.  I can't express in words how much he means to me.  He gave up his hunting weekend this weekend to let me go to a trade and junk show.  Now that is love! 

My mom walked me down the aisle

I am thankful for my mother who worked her bottom off being a single parent to give her kids everything they needed and most things they wanted.  She is brave and honest and she taught her kids to always be truthful and true to themselves.  She gave us wings and she gave us strenth.  She gave us freedom to make mistakes and the ability to make choices.  She never pushed too hard but never boxed us in either.  She was honest with us when she needed to be and told me flat out "you are never going to be a singer so channel your efforts somewhere else, honey" which I am grateful for after watching some really sad audition episodes of American Idol. 

Blessed with an abundance of kids in my life!

I am thankful for the kids in my life who make me grow and love they give me. They teach me to approach life with a sense of humor and to never take things too seriously. They make me laugh and they bless me in so many ways.  They make me worry for their future, each in a little different and unique way and they give me hope.  They have their own special sweetness, hurt, anger, pain, pesonality, good qualities, bad traits (some that need to be squashed) and they are the lights of my life.

Brother and Sister (in-law)

I am thankful for my brother and sister-in-law who raise six kids and I still don't know how they do it. They manage to fit more in during one 24 hour period than most people do all week.  My sister-in-law, Sandie is the best.  She is an amazing woman of God and I could not ask for a better roll model for my nieces and nephew or a wife for my brother.  She is a nurse, an angel, and she puts up with him which makes her a saint.  :) 

Trish was my maid of honor 

Shanna was my honorary Best Woman

I am thankful for girl friends who are there when I need girl time because as much as I love my husband he just doesn't care about hair, handbags, or shoes. Sometimes you just need your girls and I love spending time with mine. I have been especially lucky this week to spend time with Shanna, Robin, Debbie, Jan, Trish, Sharon and I still have Cinnamon and Michelle coming up Saturday.

I can't forget my fur babies Ries and Sadie!  They are the biggest hams and the goofiest dogs but my life wouldn't be half as fun without them and if push came to shove, Joe would tell you he loves them too...if you really held a gun to his head and made him. 

There is a special group on Twitter who makes my life crazy insane fun and I love them in a only can it happen on Twitter sort of way.  They know who they are. 

There are a whole host of people at work who I adore who make me laugh on a daily basis.  I take them for granted and sometimes, I don't even think about them. Sometimes, I forget about some of them for days and weeks on end.  The mail clerks who get the mail to our office everday.  The office assistant who makes sure to log all our work and send all the annoying emails.  The human resource personel who we never see unless we need them but boy when we need them they better be there.  Don't forget about the janitor who always seems to be cleaning the bathroom right at the moment I have to go really, really bad!  Life would go on without them all but there will be a little bitty whole in my heart where they once stood, even the janitor with the amazing timing.  I am thankful for all of these people too.   

Finally, I am amazingly thankful for you all!  Every single one of you who takes 3 minutes out of your day to read the ramblings of my mind!  You are wonderful!  Happy Valentines day!