Military Spouse Appreciation Day

We are the Heroes of the Homefront!

For those of you who are military spouses, I want you to know that I appreciate and celebrate you today. I know first hand the sacrifices you have to make...most of them being your sanity...but in the end, those are the sacrifices that matter most!!


Yes, we make a big difference in the lives of our husbands, wives and children but we also make a big difference in the lives of other military spouses! Our compassion, our listening ears, our understanding, our ability to potluck anywhere, and our friendships are the only things that have kept us from falling apart on most days. For all of you who have helped me get through the tough times (and I don't have your email address), thank you for all that you do and have done in my life.


A few military spouse favorites:

-The Misadventures of a Military Wife - Excellent book and I think we can all relate in more ways than you would ever think or admit on most days.

-Milspouse Magazine - I just starting getting this a few months back and have really enjoyed reading the ones that Maggie didn't eat! Lots of good information and tips and resources as well as articles related specifically to us as loyal spouses.



-I was going to find my favorite place to get military T-shirts because I have have bad experiences in the past but I think I have it saved at home. I don't recommend Cafe-Press though. They print the decal on an iron-transferrable sheet of paper and then attach it to the shirts. VERY STIFF and very cheap looking for $20 bucks plus shipping per shirt!

-Dr. Laura - She is a hillarious talk show host who helps people solve their personal (common sense) problems. She is also the "proud mother of an American Paratrooper!"

-Seaworld and Busch Gardens - Both theme parks are still allowing military members and their families into their facilities for free. We took advantage of Busch Gardens last year and it was So much fun. We need to hurry up and hit Sea World before they change their minds and want to start charging again.

Happy Military Spouse Appreciation Day!

Bad Days...Good Apple Dumplings!

Well folks, hopefully I will have more time next week. This week I feel like a superhero in a post apocolyptic universe. So busy and so tired. We have hosted 2 conferences this week at work and those always make for incredibly long days. I also finished planting my front flower beds since we have company coming this weekend. Tonight, we are hosting a crawfish boil at our house for our Sunday School class so I wanted to get the front yard ready and the garage cleaned out (and of course the house cleaned) before everyone started stopping in. So the days are mashing together. With my right hand in the air, "I do so solemnly swear to purpose to be a better blogger in the coming weeks."

However, I will leave you with this since I gypped you all on What's Cooking Wednesday. I had my pictures and recipe all ready but can't seem to find the camera. This recipe is SO GOOD! I have more requests for this one than anything else I make. When I was in college, I worked at our church part time. One day the piano player called to say that she was going to bring the office staff lunch. This recipe was one of the things she brought and I immediately got the recipe from her and make it all of the time.

Apple Dumplings

At our house, we make it for dessert, breakfast, and if E had his choice, he would have it for lunch and dinner too. I don't have a picture of the end result...Sorry...I just got so darn excited about eating them that all other thoughts were shunned from my mind! But I do have a few pics of the process. Enjoy!

Boring Day! Interesting Site!

Have you ever had one of those days where nothing interesting is happening? I have had several of those days. Mostly because I live, eat and sleep work lately. However, I do want to share a website with you. I added it to my favorites list for you all yesterday.

Hulu.com

With this website, you can watch lots of television episodes and clips as well as movies online. They do put a few commercials in there but it's FREE!!!

P.S. I forgot the picture of my Wednesday recipe and will have that tomorrow once I find the camera!

Getting Pumped

Now that life "seems" to be calming down a bit and I am finally feeling better, it's time to hit the roads again. Running is not about keeping fit and trim...it's about staying mentally stable. Whenever I am stressed out about things at work or at home...I run until I don't remember what was bothering me. I was able to get out of the house once last week and get a small run in with Maggie and boy did that feel good. But I can feel my blood pressure starting to creep up and it's time to detox in a pair of running shoes. So for all of your that live in town and have been consistantly telling me that you want to run in these races with me, here's your chance.

The Searim Striders are having a Summer Series of 5K race around town and I would like to hit a few of them. But they aren't as fun by yourself so check your calendars and come out in full force. It's seems that almost every Monday night during the summer, there is something going on!

2008 Summer Series

June 9 - Orange Northway
June 16 - Pt Neches Park
June 23 - Claiborne Park
June 30 - Beaumont Tyrrell Park
July 21 - Claiborne Park
July 28 - Beaumont Tyrrell Park
August 4 - Orange Northway Park
August 11 - Pt Neches Park
August 18 - Claiborne Park

E, I, and Maggiepie

Since I have a rough week coming up next week with lots of long hours, and since I have been sick this week, I stayed home a few days to rest up. Here are a few pics from my quality time spent with Maggie!

While I napped on the couch, she took a seat in the back den and curled up for a nap!

I think all dogs have a born desire to take off with their owners undies. E thought he would take it one step further and actually put them on her. She was so confused.

Then we taught her how to catch the ball in the air last night. She repeatedly jumped up into the air after the ball until she was too tired to move. I never did get a good picture of her catching it but this one was rather funny.

E had just cut the grass when we started playing with her so everytime the ball hit the ground, a few more grass blades stuck to it. By the end of the night, this was what Maggie's tongue looked like.

Hot Springs

Don't you love it when you end up with a swanky room at a super hotel that you didn't have to pay for? I know I do! I had a suite all to myself with a king size bed and 36 inch LCD TV with a separate living room/kitchen area that looked out onto the Hot Springs National Park. It was so nice. And for breakfast, none of that skimpy continental fruit. It was the big daddy. There was a cook-to-order chef who would make you pancakes, omelets, fresh bacon or sausage... MmmmMmmmMmmm. So good. But do you think I was able to partake in any of that? Ah...NO!! And that's a big fat NO! I was barely in my room long enough to enjoy it. And as for breakfast, they didn't open until 7am and we had to be out the door by 6:30. So much for getting all of the perks!!

We used the Hots Springs Convention Center for 2 of our sessions and another hotel in town for the third session. The convention center was very classy. Lots of art, photography, and modern furniture everywhere. However, the hotel we used for the last day did not compare to the convention center one bit! When we first met with the event managers, they scrambled desperately to find our file, and then notified us that they had to squeeze our event into a smaller room because the air conditioner in the building broke. The room they moved us to had A/C though. Their new A/C wasn't going to arrive for another 3 weeks. They were in the middle of renovations. Stained wallpaper, faded carpet, broken lights, dusty old chandeliers, holes in the walls, oh yeah...and this...

Luckily, the duct tape was only there for our preliminary tour and not the conference. But the stained carpet and walls weren't going anywhere.

Here's Viki performing "Delta Dawn" in front of our INCREDIBLY chipped podium.

This is me posing with some guys I met that let me go fishing with them. Look at that big fish I brought home!!

Here I am with Shannon, another conference helper, at the Hot Springs National Park.

In this picture, I am retrieving my purse that I dropped off of a cliff. After making my way down the mountain in flip-flops, I finally found it resting in a holly bush. OUCH!

I Promise I am not Dead!!

Well, I spent all weekend in Hot Springs Arkansas and then the next few days curled up in bed, sick with a cold. However, I am functioning almost as good as new but forgot to bring my pics today to share with all of you! So check back tomorrow and I will have lots of good stuff for you! However, I already had What's Cooking Wednesday ready so you will get that today!

Thanks for checking in. It's good to be back!!

What's Cooking Wednesday - Balsamic Artichokes

Growing up, I don't recall eating that many vegetables, mostly because my Mom didn't like them. Sometimes she would put vegetables on the plates of me and my sisters that she had no intention of eating herself. Now that I am a little more health conscience than I was was in elementary school, I am currently working very hard to make myself enjoy certain vegetables, especially raw ones. I have just mastered carrots and celery, and I think I am ready to move on to broccoli and bell peppers.

However, one of the few vegetables that my Mom would eat was artichokes. They just looked suspicious to me...like nothing I cared to try. I think I finally tried artichokes in college inside of an artichoke/crab dip appetizer. So good. And ever since then I have tried to find new ways to cook them.

One of the advantages of living in Texas is our grocery store called HEB Plus. I love that store and they have so many unique items. As it turns out, frozen artichokes are one of those unique items. So I tried to find a way to cook with them and this is what I came up with.

Balsamic Artichokes

Just a small note...the store was out of frozen artichokes when my mom came for Easter so we used canned ones that had been drained. They turned out just as good but didn't need as long of a cook time.