Looking forward to....This Week

Hello all! Hope everyone had a great Easter! It was a beautiful day here in South MS and we enjoyed a very relaxing day after church and finished the day off with a delicious Easter supper consisting of: Baked ham with some yummy glaze, Mama Jean's (Bens awesome grandmother) crockpot mac & cheese, asparagus, and cheddar biscuits. Oh, we can't forget dessert! We had a oh so yummy and rich peanut butter brownie trifile made by yours truely.



I thought I would share some things that I am looking forward too over the next 7 days.



1. Trivia Night. It's happens at a Mexican restaurant not far from our house on Thursday nights. Mr. Goober and I loved trivia nights at Two Stick in Oxford every Tuesday so now we get to feel like we're back in college again one night a week. Play is free and there is a monetary prize for the teams that place 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Also, 2 for 1 beer and margaritas make me say OLE!



2. Yard Sale. We're having a yard sale on Saturday and yes I'm looking forward to it! There are 8 of us in my doctoral program at USM and most of us are moving in the next month to start our externship so we are having a massive yard sale at our house to (hopefully) make the moving load much lighter. I'm looking forward to saying goodbye to items that left home with me 7 years ago when I started college and hopefully fattening up my wallet just a little bit. I know its going to be a great time because the 8 of us never have a dull moment together.

The AuD girls at my wedding

3. Fajita Night. We LOVE fajitas and we love them the most when we make them ourselves. Friday or Saturday night will be fajita night at our house. Ben will fire up the grill and well I'll just relax on the back porch and enjoy the awesome spring night that we love here in South MS. Also, we like to serve our fajitas in lettuce leaves. It makes us feel a little healthier and the crunch of the lettuce is a great contrast to the tender chicken & veggies.


4. Season Ticket renewal. Well I'm not so excited about writing out that check, but I am just a little giddy knowing that since its time to renew season tickets, football season is just a few short months away. Football season is our favorite time of the year; we had our first date at an Ole Miss football game and planned our wedding around an away weekend for Ole Miss. There is nothing like a Saturday in the Grove and the sheer excitement of SEC football.


5. Lazy Sunday. A little time worshiping time with God and a yummy lunch are all I really want on Sundays. The rest of the time will be spent laying around on the couch or sitting on the backporch listening to the Rebels play baseball.


Hope everyone has a fabulous week and please share what you are looking forward to this week!

My First Blog Award!

I am honored to announce that I have received my first blog award. Boy, do I feel special! The award came from one of my favorite bloggers who also happens to be in one of my favorite families. After you finish reading this post, you should go check her blog out: a gal and her dog.

I won the Master of Karate and Friendship Award!! For this award, I have to list 6 things that I master in and then pass it on to 6 bloggers who I think are masters at friendship and making blogging awesome.

Well obviously I am a master in many things so it will be quite the challenge to to only pick 6.

1.) I am a master of cleaning up muddy paw prints. Spring is officially here and that means plenty of rain here in South MS. This results in a muddy mess in the backyard. Having a doggy door is a wonderful convenience a majority of the time. However, not when it rains. The dogs can come and go as they please leaving muddy paw prints EVERYWHERE. I am a master of removing them from the floors, countertops (Yes, Faulkner thinks anything on the countertops is fair game for him), the walls (when they shake) and even my couch. Tried and true soapy hot water and an old dishrag are the tools this master uses.

2.) I am a master at collecting wine bottles. I should also extend this mastery to many of my dear friends who help me in collecting wine bottles. I collect wine bottles for a project I have planned for the future when we finally get settled somewhere we plan to stay a long time. Most of you reading this blog already know the project, but I will not share for those who do not know. I will tell you that it will be outside and will require the bottom 2-3 inches of the wine bottle that my loving husband cuts off for me with his manly wet tile saw every few months when we start looking like alcoholics with all the wine bottles sitting around.

3.) I am a master at grocery shopping. I HATE going to the grocery store. Theres nothing I enjoy more than trying to weave through aisles full of screaming kids, motorized wheelchairs driven by morbidly obese people filling up their cart with ding dongs and doritos and little old women who can't see well enough to tell a box of oatmeal apart from a bottle of calcium supplements. Yes, I realize I will one day probably have a basket full of screaming kids and eventually will probably be that old lady buying a box of condoms because I thought it was a box of Depends but for now these individuals make the grocery store horrendous. Because of this, I have learned the aisles of the store we frequent and write my list according to the the store layout. Starting with produce, going down the meat aisle that leads to the dairy, and then back down maneuvering through the aisles. I am in my determined and focused vibe at the grocery store. If you see me on your aisle, you better turn around and get out of the way.

4.) I am a master in squeezing toothpaste out of the very bottom, far away corner of the tube. This drives Ben crazy. He doesn't understand why I can't just throw away the tube and open a new one. However, he doesn't realize how much toothpaste is hiding in those corners at the bottom of the tube just waiting for the opportunity to clean my pearly whites. However, he is starting to see how many extra toothbrushing sessions you can get out of tube if just use those hand muscles. I should thank my mom for helping me acquire this mastery.

5.) I am a master at falling asleep while watching a movie. Now, this doesn't include every movie. This only applies to movies that we view at home, I never fall asleep in the theatre, except that time I agreed to go watch one of the Star Wars/Star Trek movies (um, who is Darth Vader?) It always happens if we decide to watch a movie late at night. It doesn't mater if we're watching it on the couch or lying in bed. I. Always. Fall. Asleep. But its always that light sleep, so if Ben laughs at something I can laugh too so he doesn't know I have surrendered to my exhaustion. I eventually have to confess and let him know that I missed part (well most of) the movie and we have to start the whole process again the next day.

6.) I am a master in picking the yummier entree when Ben and I eat out. This occurs almost every time we try out a new restaurant or if we are both trying out new dishes at the restaurants we know and love. Choosing my meal is like choosing between a fabulous handbag on sale or an even more fabulous pair of shoes not on sale. It is a big decision. I love food and love meal times so choosing my meal is a pretty big deal, I always have to tell the waiter that we need several more minutes so I can make this important decision. Because of the great thought that goes into my decision, Ben is always jealous he didn't choose the entree I chose. I feel he should be grateful for my ability to choose yummy meal because not only does he get to try mine, he always gets to finish off what I can't finish. I think its a win-win situation for him.

So now that I have shared a few of my many masteries, I must now pass this award on to my fellow bloggers. My winners are:

1. Anna & Corrie at my first friend and me

2. Jessica at Jessica Lee

3. Jessica at Beginnings as Mrs. B

4. Alison at Ross Ramblings

5. Holly at The Lunsford Family

Spring Break Finally!!

Spring break for me is next week and I am super excited. However, it is somewhat bittersweet because this might be the last official spring break I ever have :( Making it even sadder, I have nothing too exciting planned. I am excited that my mom is coming down the first half of the week and then I am going home to North MS with her for the last part of the week. I am looking forward to seeing my niece and my friends (wine night ladies?)

Spring break growing up was something that I always looked forward too. My mom always took the week off to spend it with her girls. It always involved a shopping trip, to Limited Too or Old Navy. I also remember a several year stretch where we went to the Hunt-Phelan home, a historical antebellum home on Beale St., during spring break with Jessica and Ms. Goldie (our sister & Mom whom we do not share DNA) Apparently, we were fascinated by this huge, old, gorgeous house. There were trips to the zoo, the Children's Museum, and the Pink Palace. These weeks were filled with eating out and lots of virgin strawberry daquiris. It is fun to think back to all the memories that were created during spring break. It is also ironic that I was married in one of these spots that were so frequented in my childhood.
As we got older, more and more time during spring break was spent with friends. Spring break my senior year of high school was one of the most memorable. I had a week full of fun with the women who I still consider my very best friends. We didn't go anywhere, we spent every minute of it in the Memphis area but we still reference this week when discussing our funnest times.

Zoo Dance Senior Year

So as next week approaches, I look forward spending the week with none other than my Mom, sister, and niece and also all the ladies who have made Spring Break one of my favorite times of the year!

Please share your favorite Spring break memories!

ABC's of Mr. Goober

Who is this guy posting on the blog? I thought it was only for Mrs. Magnolia.

Well, I've gotten busy getting our house fixed up and trying to transition from one job to another. Don't like that excuse? Yeah, me either. I'd rather be writing about sitting in the sun listening to Ole Miss baseball with my wife whilst enjoying an ice cold Coca-Cola.

However, I thought I'd throw down on the ABC's action, since all I had to do was copy and paste most of it.

A-Age: 25
B- Bed size: Queen.
C- Chore you hate: Laundry, it's unending and makes me want to own enough clothes to just throw the worn clothes away rather than wash them.
D- Dogs' names: Layla & Faulkner
E- Essential start your day item: Sportscenter and coffee
F- Favorite color: Probably blue of a darker hue
G- Gold or Silver or Platinum: Platinum for my rims, gold for my teeth and silver for my spoons. Yeah, I know it only makes sense/or is funny to me.
H- Height: 5'9ish
I- Instruments you play: Piano
J- Juice: I've been getting down with some spicy V-8 lately. Maybe I'll explore prune juice next and start hanging out with guys who play dominoes.
K- Kids: I'd like to have some, and I probably don't like yours if we aren't related...sorry.
L- Living arrangements: Wife, dogs. Two bedroom house with one small bathroom.
M- Mom's name: Hedy
N- Nickname: Pipes, not really sure how it started.
O- Overnight hospital stay other than birth: None. I'm a superhero.
P- Pet Peeve: People who bite their fingernails.
Q- Quote: "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." -Mark Twain

R- Right handed or left handed: Right
S- Siblings: Three older sisters, Natalie, Allison and Katie, and a whole host of in-laws.
T- Time you wake up: Now that we have two dogs, generally between 6 and 6:30 a.m.
U- Underwear: Overrated
V- Vegtable you dislike: Rutabegas
W- Ways you run late: playing Xbox, forgetting a chore I promised I would do, BLOGGING!!!1!!!!11
X- X-rays you've had: dental
Y- Yummy food you make: I think I'm a fairly good griller. I make some really good chicken
Z- Zoo favorite: The smell. Nothing truly wakes you up like the doodoo of 235 varieties of animals.

ABC's of Me.

I have done these several times through forwarded e-mails but after seeing it on one of my favorite blogs I thought I should share with all of my blog followers.

A-Age: 25
B- Bed size: Queen.
C- Chore you hate: All of them really, but especially mopping. It seems as soon as I get the floors clean they are nasty again.
D- Dogs' names: Layla & Faulkner
E- Essential start your day item: Coffee
F- Favorite color: Yellow or Red. Depending on the shade and my mood.
G- Gold or Silver or Platinum: Gold, white & yellow
H- Height: 5'6 ish
I- Instruments you play: Hahahaha, none. I do not have a musical bone in my body. I would like to learn how to play the piano someday.
J- Juice: I drink orange regularly but apple is my favorite.
K- Kids: are great, but glad I do not have any for the time being.
L- Living arrangements: In a bright yellow house that was built in 1927 with Ben, Layla, and Faulkner
M- Mom's name: Jan
N- Nickname: Bug is what my mom calls me. LuLu is what my Nana has called me all of my life and now others have started calling me that, including Kinsley.
O- Overnight hospital stay other than birth: I had Meningitis when I was 18 months old that required a 3 month hospital stay
P- Pet Peeve: Smacking while you chew, driving slow in the fast lane
Q- Quote: "We are all of us stars and we all deserve to twinkle" Marilyn Monroe
R- Right handed or left handed: Right
S- Siblings: Only one younger sister, Heather, but I have 3 amazing sister in laws!!
T- Time you wake up: Depends on the day, 6:45 is the latest during the week.
U- Underwear: Odd one, but yes.
V- Vegtable you dislike: Beets
W- Ways you run late: Forgetting to set alarm the night before, Forgetting to do something the night before (make lunch, iron clothes, etc.)
X- X-rays you've had: Dental and MRI's on my head if that counts
Y- Yummy food you make: All of my food is yummy. Its hard for me to pick a favorite.
Z- Zoo favorite: Penguins!

Spring Fever!

Sorry for the delay in posting. It has been a crazy busy couple of weeks with school, work, and clinic. Daylights saving time and the first day of Spring are just a copule of weeks away and I have SPRING FEVER! I am so ready for the weather to warm up and to get outside.

We've been doing a lot of work on our house the past couple of weeks. We touched up all the white baseboards and doors inside, did yardwork in the back (it still looks like a yard terrorized by 2 dogs), had a leaky spot on our roof repaired, and cleaned the backporch. We have bought a new porchlight and I am hoping it will be hung when I get home from work today since Ben is off work today (HINT HINT). Our next big project is getting our back "bonus" room retiled and beadboard ceiling replaced...we will leave that job to professionals. Our "To Do" list still has many items to be crossed off before we list the house and our time is ticking away....

We had a good week last week. We finally parted ways with my old car. My first car. The car that hasn't run since August and has been sitting in our driveway. We put that baby on Craigslist and some nice young man from Louisiana (most of you know what I really wanted to say) came and picked up the car for a very nice price. It was bittersweet seeing old "Candy" go but now our driveway doesn't look like a used car lot. Last weekend we went up to Jackson to spend the day with our good friends, Anna and Nathan. They took us to a yummy Mexican restaurant where we ate 2 bowls of cheese dip and then went to their place and played Spades. Not surprisingly, Anna & I kicked their butts!

I will blame some of the craziness in our life on the addition of a 2nd dog. Faulkner, formerly known as Sippi has been a joy. He is a total sweetheart and I still can't believe those people wanted to part ways with such a sweet dog. He is finally starting to adjust to crazy Layla and is acting more comfortable around us. Apparently his last owners let him sleep in the bed and this is a habit that we have had trouble breaking. There are times when we walk in the bedrom and hes hanging out napping in there! Our ivory comforter has turned to a gray color, nonetheless, I'm in the market for new bedding. We are happy that Faulkner has become part of the family!

Layla has the bone in her mouth. Faulkner is giving her loving

Sweet boy

Layla and Faulkner

The pictures are from my cellphone so they are not the clearest!

Hope everyone has a great humpday!

Admit Us.

Into the nuthouse. We have lost our minds. We need psychiatric evaluations. We need the blot picture test. We're probably going to need Prozac, Valum, or possibly a tranquilizer tonight. All because we got another dog. Not just any dog, but another weimaraner.

Last week we debated on whether or not to travel up to North MS to visit my family for the long weekend that we had. The possible winter weather was what was holding us back. Finally, we decided to put on the snow tires and head north. This meant we had to board Layla (our 3 year old weimaraner). We had an awesome weekend at home. We saw some friends, visited family, and ate ALOT. Monday, we roll back into town just in time to pick up Layla from the kennel. While we were waiting, we checked out the bullentin board full of lost cat flyers, puppies for sale ads, etc. But one flyer just happened to stand out. It was a flyer advertising a 14 month old weimaraner for sale. It included 2 pictures (He's quite the stud) and all the good things potential new owners would want to hear (He's housetrained, He can sit, rollover, etc.) What do I do? Write both of the listed numbers down.

The following morning, Ben called. He found out that 'Sippi (short for Mississippi) was a great family dog but his owners just could not offer the proper care. They did not have a fenced in yard and weimaraners require lots of exercise. The owners also travel a lot forcing Sippi to be boarded almost every weekend, which was becoming quite an expense. Ben agreed to come meet Sippi the next day and see how it went. Well needless to say, the meeting went well and Ben left with Sippi and all of his belongings. Ben found out that the flyer had been posted for quite some time and he had been the only one to inquire about Sippi. The owners had made their mind up that if no one had called by week's end, Sippi was going to the pound.

Ben took Sippi home and introduced him to Layla. At first, things were a little odd. A lot of sniffing and even some growling. But it wasn't long before they were outside running around like old friends.

If I had my way, we would already have 5 or 6 dogs. I'm a sucker for them. Ben has told me no (with good reason) since I began asking for another dog about a year ago. But when its feels right, Ben can be a sucker too :)

Life is about to get very interesting.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNA!!!

Today, February 09, 2010, Mrs. Anna A. Rucker joined the quarter of a century club. I know she feels extremely honored to join me in such a prestigious club. Anna and I go way back, we were Gators together at Greenbrook Elementary. We became super close in high school and were roomates together at Ole Miss. We have experienced so much together, life's great blessings, heartaches, accomplishments, mistakes, and times we'd probably rather forget. We became who we are in part because of each other. I feel honored and blessed that she is such a huge part of my life. She is one of my dearest friends and and I am super excited she is celebrating another year.

Anna & I at Ole Miss

Anna & I at her rehearsal dinner

Let me tell you about Anna. Anna is incredibly smart and has the looks to match. She is a beautiful woman with a beautiful soul. She loves Jesus with all her heart and her Christian faith makes her a very strong woman. She has wonderful taste and is the perfect person to ask for help in doing anything (related to fashion or decorating that is ;) ) She loves her diet coke and Junior Mints. She can argue like no other, you might as well hang it up! She is a amazing wife, daughter, sister, and birdie. She claimes to be a Alabama fan, but I think its just an act she puts up in front of her Daddy. She gets a little tipsy after one glass of wine. She feels womanly when she bakes a loaf of homemade bread. She holds her coffee mug with 2 hands. She loves her dog Bella. But she is best at being a best friend. I am so happy to call Anna my best friend. So heres to 25 more years together dear friend! The best is yet to come!

I love you Anna Banana!

He saw his shadow..

Unfortunately, the groundhog saw his shadow last week. I say unfortunately, because I am not a fan of cold weather. There's nothing worse than the feeling of your internal organs shutting down because you have stepped outside into the frigid air. I also do not like putting on layer upon layer of clothing to stay warm while I'm outside (which in the winter is usually only to walk to and from the car) only to be miserably warm the rest of the day. There is one, and only one positive that can come from six more weeks of winter weather. More time to enjoy delicious soups! We have tried 2 new soups this winter and have loved them, so naturally I thought I would share.

The first one is not for someone who is trying to watch their wasteline :) We love cheese tortellini and it is something we usually pick up every week or so for those nights where we get in late and are not in the mood to cook. This is a great alternative to the tortellini and canned tomato sauce.

Tomato Tortellini Soup

1 pkg. refrigerated cheese tortellini
2 cans reduced-sodium tomato soup
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups 2% milk
2 cups half and half
1/2 cup chopped oil packed sun-dried tomatoes
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup crushed parmesan cheese

Cook tortellini according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a dutch oven (a large soup pot works just as well) combine the soup, broth, milk, half and half, tomatoes, and seasonings. Heat through, stirring frequently. Drain tortellini; carefully add to soup. Stir in cheese. Sprinkle each serving with additional cheese if desired.


We both grew up on vegtables and cabbage is by far one of our favorites. We love it cooked just about anyway. I love my Nana's boiled cabbage while Ben is a huge fan of fried cabbage. When I came across this recipe I knew we had to try it!

Hearty Cabbage Soup

1lb. ground beef (we use ground turkey)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 1/2 cups shredded cabbage ( I think more is better)
1 medium zucchini, halved & thinly sliced
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 carton ready-to-serve sweet red pepper soup (see note at bottom)
1 can Rotel
1/4 tsp. hot pepper sauce (we love Frank's)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan, cook meat & onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the cabbage, zucchini, and mushrooms; cook and stir 8 minutes longer. Stir in the soup. rotel, pepper sauce, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle each serving with cheese.

Ready-to-serve sweet red pepper soup. I assumed this meant those "fancy" soups that V8 has come out with that comes in the cartons with the canned soup. Either I assumed wrong or the dirty burg's fine grocery stores do not carry such a soup. So I had to come up with my own soup. I chopped 2 red bell peppers and pureed the peppers with about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of whipping cream. I also added about a cup of vegetable broth to give it a soupy consistency. Now, I have no idea if this is what the sweet red pepper soup was supposed to be like, but the hearty cabbage soup turned out delicious.

Hope y'all enjoy!

Plumber please!

Life has been pretty tame down in the 'burg. Classes are in full swing and I am in clinic 2 full days a week and Ben has been as busy as usual reporting all the happenings in the "friendly city." Yep, things have been pretty normal. However, what is not normal is our bathroom. You see, we live in an 84 year old house with only 1 bathroom. That means only one toilet and one bathtub. This has not been a problem in our 467 days of marriage...until recently. Our house is going on the market in a month or so, which means we (ok really just me) has gone all HGTV'd! Where to start? The bathroom. Apparently, that is a main selling point in a home according to Lisa LaPorta

We got the brillant idea of retiling the bathtub/shower area which still had its original BRIGHT WHITE tile. YUCK! We hired a handyman so to speak, bought all the supplies and in 2 1/2 ish days with no bath OR shower we now have a beautiful modern shower. Pictures to come soon. The handyman did a wonderful job with the tilework, however, he didn't do such a wonderful job when he covered up the bathtub drain. What do you mean you ask? Well after one shower is complete, water is up to your ankles. After 2 showers, water is halfway up your calves. Everytime you take a trip to the restroom, you take a little peek behind the curtain to see if the water has subsided. At night, you say a little prayer that all the water is finally gone so you can take a shower and not have to stand in the Artic Ocean to shower. Most people would call their handyman to have him take care of this problem. Oh no, Handyman decided to get married and is currently on his honeymoon! Ben has tried everything. Plungers, wire hangers, hot boiling water, some contraption called a Snake, he even offered to crawl under the house. We gave up hope of correcting this problem ourselves and reached for the YellowBook. We called plumbers Monday morning and we found one who could be there Wednesday morning, as in today. Well its 2:02 p.m. and still no plumber. No offense to anyone who uses their "hands" to make their living, but we live in Mississippi where college degrees are far and in between so why are we having such a hard time finding a someone who can solve our problem. We have guests coming this weekend and we might be a house full of stinky folks or have an overflowing tub if help doesn't come. The end to come...