Filled with CHEER

I hope you all (all 3 of you who read this hahaha) had an amazing Thanksgiving!! I definitely did!!1 I just can't say enough how grateful I am to have the Del Rio's and the whole gang in my life!!! We are grateful for them taking us as their own family and truly loving us and wanting to share memories with us! Thanks guys!!

Well, I did my black fri shopping! It was actually a lot more fun this year!! I am glad!! We were not in stores for ever and that helped! The longest wait we had was in Walmart and that was only an hour! Then I came home and slept for 6 hours and was up by 12 to watch Christmas movies. Then we started decorating the front of our house... please imagine my mother, sister and I hanging Christmas lights... I am sooo sure it was beyond hysterical to anyone who drove by!! Then it was dark time so we ate dinner and went to get our tree!!

my perty tree (minus ornaments and angel)

  Things I am thankful for:
- best friends
- Christmas movies
- Christmas music
- dog sweaters that have hoods on them
- Walmart's black Friday movies on sale for $1.96
- turkey sandwiches
- hot coffee with peppermint mocha creamer
- healthy animals
- COLD weather... and I don't mean in the 50's I mean in the 30's!!!!
- a roof over my head
- the job that I WILL have
- and last but definitely not least and should have been first, the Lord and his faithfulness and love!!!!

Have a good long weekend everyone!!!

I would love it if... haha

Well where to start...

Why does family have to be so frustrating! You know when people ask you to leave and THEN ask you not to come to a holiday it is kid of sad and yet my feelings aren't allowed to be hurt. WHo knows?? I just know it's frustrating!! But I have learned that when and if I get married I will definitely want our families to be together so we don't have to choose... never fun hurting people's feelings!!

Now onto the fun stuff:

I am excited for black friday shopping. I would have loved for it to be the usual black friday I usually have but it's still going to be fun because I won't have to cater to anyone elses needs, I'll jsut get to shop till my heart's content!! I plan on hitting up walmart, target, forever21, and even disney store. What are all of your plans? Favorite stores to go to?

My house is almost finished being decorated... just waiting on the tree and the outside lights! Pics to follow when everything is done!!!

Holiday traditions:

Today I would like to rant on family/holiday traditions!! haha

Usually for Thanksgiving we will go to our cousin's and spend most the day making our delicious foods (except for one year when everyone was on South Beach diet and they decided to make mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes... did not make me happy!! don't mess with a girl's potatoes!). Then we will all sit around the table and stuff our faces. After we have eaten till we can eat no more we will go sit on the couches and half of us (my mom, Brian, and Amy) will pass out! haha Then we will, if we haven't already had one going, light a fire and watch a movie. We all usually go to sleep decently early because the next day is the biggest part of Thanksgiving! haha We then wake up around 4-5 and head out to walmart to hit the black Friday sales. Then we hit up Target and Old Navy. Black Friday is such a great Christmas shopping day!!! I will miss all of this this Thanksgiving! Unfortunately my cousin's are having the in laws over and I guess that means we are not invited :(!! Makes me sad because I look forward to that every year!

So, then we have Christmas... for me Christmas is not just a day... it is a season! lol I make it start and soon as possible and last as long as I can!!! lol We have a "family" Christmas with all of our cousin's and aunt and grandma. Where it is usually just like thanksgiving except each person draws names (about a month or so before) and buys them a present! I LOVE presents!! On Christmas day we usually will open presents at our house... I LOVE to sleep in as long as I can so I make everyone else wait haha... and then we will gather the troops and head to my cousin's again! My cousin's are like brothers and sisters because of them moving in with us when we were younger so it just feels like the way it should be!

  My traditions for Christmas are to get the tree ASAP and then put up my Christmas village! I love setting up the Christmas village... mostly because it grows every year and I used to love seeing people have them up in their windows! It's my fav!

what are some of your traditions??

Watching the tides go by...

Not sure why I titiled this that but sounded cool! lol

My ribs are feeling better, can I get a hallelujah?? I still have pain when bending over, sneezing, coughing, laughing, or hiccuping haha but over all I can move and breathe!! I am very thankful for that!


I have been listening to Christmas music every day and it is making me so happy! We are supposed to decorate our house this week but we'll see how that goes! My family is not the motivated type and it is , most of the time, AGGRIVATING!!!! Especially when it comes to Christmas stuff haha!

I made beef stew tonight in the crock pot. Recipe for Al:
        Browned beef stew meat with whole wheat flour, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and italian seasoning mix (I LOVE this mix from trader joe's) in some EVOO (extra virign olive oil). Then I dumped onion, carrots, red potatoes, 2 cloves garlic, and meat in the crock pot with a half cup water. In the pan I browned the meat I then added a mccormick beef stew mix with some water and just soaked up all the goodies from the browned meat and dumped it in the crock pot. Let it cook for 7 hours stirring every so often. And serve over white rice! It was delish!! It really made my night SPECTACULAR!!! lol

 Thinking about life tonight and how much I enjoy it! I am grateful to be able to live freely with no one forcing me to do things their way, because we all know that wouldn't happen haha. And I love that I can be my self and the Lord STILL uses me! It's great!!!

Stupid towel!

I wonder why they chose to name their fast food joint "Jack In The Box"?? Is it something like being in the closet? Or have they been keeping Jack in his box his whole life and so now he knows no better?? I don't know why I am pondering this but it was bothering me today... guess I should not eat it anymore because it OBVIOUSLY messes with my mind!!


  Watched the CMA's last night and I was sooooo beyond impressed!!! There are some country artists who love them some Jesus!!! There were a few times when Sette and I felt some Holy Ghost moving through the tv!!! LOVED it!
   I have always loved country music but I think I have more of a respect for country artists after watching that last night!! In fact in made me want to start a country band... don't judge me!!! I was having some issues with some of the outfits... Miranda Lambert's first dress was AWFUL!! Reminded me of the gladiators!! And her second one wasn't much better but at least the top looked cute!! But I tell you what, them male country singers, oh goodness, they are some hotties!!!!! WOOT WOOT


This one's for you Shig:
    So, I have been taking hot showers everyday to help ease the pain of my ribs. Well the day before last I went to get in the shower and I screwed up my ritual of shower taking... what is that you wonder?? well here is my ritual: 1) place my towel on top of the toilet, 2) remove bath mat from where it hangs to dry and place it in front of shower, 3) remove my mother's towel from hanging over the shower and place in bathroom sink, 4) turn shower on to heat up, 5) use the restroom, 6) flush and CLOSE toilet lid, 7) get in shower!!
   You may have noticed how I capitalized and bolded close... that's because that is what I FORGOT to do and regretted it when I got out of the shower!! I went to reach for my towel because water was in my eyes and it was not where I had placed it. So I wiped my eyes, looked down and darned if it wasn't sitting in the toilet bowl!!! Dear Lord, why did this have to happen?? haha So I ran through my house naked to get to my room where I proceeded to cuss out my towel and ask it why it jumped... I was, again, obviously not in my right mind! lol Stupid towel!!!

Confined

Last I wrote I told you I had hurt my side somehow... well I am pretty sure I bruised my ribs! This has been one of THE most painful things ever. I am hoping the heal up quicker though because I don't know how much more I can take of being in bed or sitting all day long! DRIVING ME CRAZYYYYYY lol

I didn't go to church yesterday and this was the third week of not going because last week we went to our cousin's and then the week before that I got sick... blah blah blah! I feel so yucky when I haven't gone to church! I remember living in Cleveland I never went to church on Sundays but I didn't feel bad because I was connected in other services and ministries throughout the week. Although I LOVED being in White House, TN on Sundays because I just loved worshipping the Lord with all of my McGregor family! I do miss them so!!


AT&T (who is our cable providing, whom you read me ranting about earlier) decided that we needed HGTV and FOOD network taken away! I almost went ballistic. Those are the 2 channels I watch the most!!! I LOVE me some Paula Dean and House Hunters... I usually watch House Hunters while falling asleep at night!! So of course I,  being the bossy one that I am, told my mother we needed to switch cable providers ASAP! lol Luckily for AT&T they decided to give us back our shows or else there might have been some blood on my hands! lol

Well, I have to clean my room but I can't bend over or walk that much and so I sit here in a mess! I also have to do laundry but I can't do that either! BOOHOO Anyone want to come be my maid for the day?? I'll give you some gold fish crackers! ha ha

I'm so boring today! sorry... I've been confined and thus nothing exciting is happening! lol

Life, but a speck of dust in the wind!

This blog might be a little sad at first but I'll pick it up in the end:

Death just seems to be everywhere right now! I hate these times in life where people pass away and all you can do is sit around and think of how short life really is. A friend of mine lost her husband yesterday in a car accident! They have been married for a year and have a beautiful baby boy together! I cannot even imagine going through that as a newly wed let alone with a baby! My heart breaks for her every time I think about it. However, it causes me to sit and think about all the people I know in my life and whether or not they know the Lord. It stirs up an urgency in me to reach my family and friends.


Ok , ok enough of that I know!


So Wednesday night my family went to Cheesecake Factory for my mother's birthday! The food was amazing and dessert was even better! Then I came home got in my pajamas and went over to the bff's house and watched "Definitely Maybe". Super cute movie! After the movie was over we just sat and talked for hours... I didn't get home till 3 am... which leads up to my next story. I was driving my corolla (mind you I have not been driving this car because it is so low to the ground) and when I was leaving her house I kind of just through my whole body into the car... wasn't smart! I pulled on to the freeway an immediately started having these horrible pains in my right side... my first thought? Jesus please don't let it be my appendix, I don't have insurance!! haha I got home and got in bed only to wake up every 20 mins in pain! Finally I was able to sleep a bit around 8 am! When I woke up it hurt sooo bad to walk! But it was a throbbing pain not a sharp pain! We assumed that I must have pulled a muscle or something! So I stayed in bed with a heating pad on my side for most of the day/night. Why is stupid stuff always happening to me?? haha

Last night I freaking had call customer service at ATT because our cable and dvr were being absolutely ridiculous... this is not the first time it has happened though, so I finally got fed up and called! Can someone please explain to me why they ask you what the problem is and then proceed to talk to you about something that is completely opposite of the problem? The lady was trying to have us unplug our internet and phone cords... now I am no genius about such topics but I am pretty sure your cable does not come through your internet! haha Finally I had reached my boiling point, I had already missed my Housewives show because it wasn't recording and I was about to miss another show. So I hung up and rebooted the entire system myself... guess I'm smarter than I thought because I got it all to work again! lol

Last but not least, tonight we are going to our family friend's house to have a game night with our crew from the old church. miss these peeps! Glad we get nights like this to remind us why we are all friends!! So off to straighten my freaking hair (it literally takes 2 years!!) and then to get dressed!! Oh btw I made a 4 layer bean dip for tonight! MMMMM

Voting...

As I type my best friend and I are on the phone discussing the ridiculousness of politics!! Of course on this voting day there are a lot of issues at hand to be thought over. I just really despise politics!!! It didn't used to be this way... I remember when I was in Jr High and High school and how into politics I was... but something shifted over the years! I no long find enjoyment in voting simply because I have to vote for the lesser of 2 evils on everything and I don't want to vote in any evil. It makes my heart sad and stirs up my intercessory heart!!!

I was telling Sette about how sad that fact is that what we are voting for now is only temporarily pushing off what is to come in the future. For example: it's bound to happen that people's retirement funds are depleted and abortion is made legal.... why? because then further we move on in life the closer we are to the coming of the Lord and how much harder do you think the enemy is going to fight to tear us down if he knows he's about to lose for eternity? Of course I am not saying we should just give up, roll over and play dead but I know that things are only temporary! Thank the Lord that in the end the Lord has already won the victory and there is no greater peace than that!

OK enough of my ranting on politics/end times ha ha... those are such encouraging things huh? ha ha

So tonight for dinner I am making pork fried rice! I am very excited for it... why? because I love me some rice!!! mmm mmm mmm

Some of my other favorite things to cook are:
-chicken soup from scratch
-mozzarella stuffed chicken breasts with pasta
-enchilada casserole
-garlic chicken
-roasted whole chicken or cornish game hens!!!

What are some of your fav foods to cook?

This and That

Dang, been a few days! haha my bad!

  So, now that October is over my holiday festivities can begin!! I CANNOT wait for Christmas movies to come on tv!!! So excited for it!! And I have alreayd caught the baking bug... today I am going to make mini cheesecakes with a nutella drizzle on top! Cheesecake is my favorite! Speaking of cheesecake... my mom's birthday is on Wednesday and I am hoping we get to go to the cheesecake factory... why? because I LOVE CHEESECAKE!!!! haha

  For Halloween I went to San Jose with my fam to take the cuzzos out trick or treating!! They are the cutests things ever. However, Justing was being a little stinker taking off like a bat out of you know where and trying to cross streets by himself! haha Figures, payback is a b! I used to be like that too... oh wait, I still am! haha

 
  Tonight I am making bbq chicken with couscous and cooked carrots! I love me some coucouse and cooked carrots! I feel as if I am ramblign today, probably because I am but oh well!!! lol
 

  I bought some boots (see below picture) on walmart's website on Saturday. It's starting to get colder here so I wanted some closed toe shoes to wear for rainy days and such! Plus, I really love boots!! lol

except mine are black!

Today I shall list some of my dislikes:
-people being mean to their pets (I can handle training them, actually I am an advocate for teaching them to be good, but I cannot handle them being picked on!)
-cinnamon (unless it is cinnamon rolls, hot cider, or cinnamon swirl french toast! haha)
-snappy people
-selfish people
-FAKE people! (this one REALLY gets me fired up)
-movies with no point
-foreign films
-strawberry milk
-watermelon flavored things (I LOVE watermelon just not the fake watermelon flavor)
-rap music vibrating my car while I am stopped at a light (if that happens I usually roll all of my windows down and turn up my country music really loud! haha)
-allergies (they ruin my life) haha

I think that shall hold you over till tomorrow... I promise to have something good to write about tomorrow haha