Life is always "on the rocks" here for someone...
and Roxboro is like it's own planet.
Embrace living here..if you must,
accept that change is well...inevitable,
and enjoy life On The Rox!
Is it weird that I always send my Daddy a card on Groundhog's day? It's his favorite holiday of the whole year. I think it's because his name is Phil too. For real. And he's a woods man, and he LOVES animals and trees and things. He actually just called to tell me Happy Groundhogs Day as I was typing this. Friday night he plans to celebrate this with the grandchildren and all kinds of groundhog-ish activities. I love my life.
So it looks like we have 6 more weeks of winter on the way according to
It has been coming for quite some time now. Yes, it's a new year, a fresh start, WHATEVER. Remember when I shared my Not-so-Resolutions here? Well, I have not been doing real good so far on some of those "making life better plans." Passout. I blame my attention span.
Anywho, my biggest challenge has been weight loss / exercise etc. Yeah, I know, another passout moment. And by Passout I mean Big Surprise (for you who may not catch my sarcasm). So, it was tonight when I dropped a generous chunk of my red-velvet pudding cupcakes on to the floor, and proceeded to call the 5-second rule (on to perfectly and recently mopped floors) that I realized....what am I doing? Can I not actually miss out on that chunk and spare myslef those few calories??? I think yes. hello reality check.
So here is my dilemma; when I am exercising I feel GrEaT! I even want to eat better. BUT, once I stop for a while it's kinda hard to start back. Kinda like missing church for a few Sundays to sleep in, and then it's so hard to get back in the grove. Same thing for me in exercising. I am off track and unfocused and I have been since October. So, I'm pulling out the reinforcements. Meet Stormie...
CIRCA 1980's
Me and Stormie go waaaaaayyyyyyyy back...Like to my middle school days. I lost like 20 pounds when I met her back-in-the-day. I know. Now, Where has she been? In the attic....chillin!
Now, let's get down to the brass tax. Stormie can come over whenever I want her to. ZUMBA and JAZZERCISE are off limits right now due to Sean working ALL THE TIME and I can't get home and to exercise class and get all my chores done. I know you moms out there are feeling me!
And as an added bonus, her and her spandex-drenched posse, 80's bangs, and leg-warmer friends get their workout on to some Jesus tunes for the perfect blend of aerobic worship. Ahhhhhhh heaven. Only problem is, I gots to go buy a blasted VCR. It is not available on DVD. You will not believe that there are 4 available as "used" on amazon starting at $36. So, you know it is good when the price is inflated!
Wouldn't that be fun with a group of church ladies on the big screen in the fellowship hall? I'm gonna say - YES!
Just for fun I you-tubed it for you- for a little preview. Some idiot added in his own "clips" of some other crap but you get the point when you see Stormie and the girls. In middle school, I always wanted to be the girl in the blue and pink with the banana clip ;) Just sayin......
Just in case you are wondering: Here is how I made those little red velvet babies:
- One Box red velvet Cake Mix
- One box Cook & Serve Jello Instant Pudding (Vanilla) - Sugar FREE and Fat FREE - 2 cups milk for pudding mix
- One small package of chocolate chips
- Whipped Cream Cheese Icing (whipped is the best!)
- Sprinkles :)
By using the pudding you can eliminate the oil and eggs completely from the directions on the cake mix. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Begin by Mixing the 2 cups milk (2%) and the package of pudding mix. Blend well with a whisk and cook in the microwave for 2 minutes (just enough to get warm).
Then add the red velvet cake mix and stir until lumps have dissolved.
Place about 1/8 cup of cake mixture into baking cups / muffin pan. Then add a FEW chocolate chips into the batter in the cups. Then, add more cake mix into the baking cups/muffin pan until they are about 2/3 full.
Bake at 350 degrees for 19-22 minutes!
Cool completely and then ice and sprinkle! You save calories and fat by using pudding and they are super moist. They are my new fave treat. Good snack for Valentines Day parties! :)
Life altering resolutions are NOT for me. I am NOT a consistent person. Resolutions and promises are rarely kept and rarely are they sincere. I don't really believe in I'm sorry's, or a "do-over" for mistakes. Chances are it's gonna happen again. Just pick up and move forward. This is such a bad quality. I know this (to all of you passing judgment and psychoanalyzing me). Admitting is the first step right???? It is entirely too stressful to commit yourself to something for an entire year. As with most of my projects, I lose steam half-way through anyway. However, here is what I plan to do in order to make my life better in 2012:
{1}
Read More Books and Magazines: I really want to do more than look at the pictures and spread them out nicely on my coffee table. Books are also spread throughout my house in nice piles and I keep imagining myslef coming home at night curling up with a good book...yeah right.
{2}
Craft Inexpensively - I want to use more reusable or recycled materials when I'm crafting and I am going to try more of all those "pins" and "likes" on pinterest!
{3} Learn to take the time to actually watch television. Random I know. I watch about 1/2 an hour to 0 hours of television per week. Not even kidding. I am always busy on some project, or gone somewhere, or just focusing on cleaning or organizing something that never gets finished anyway. I want more time to rest. To enjoy actually sitting and doing absolutely nothing. Is there anyone out there who watches less TV than I do? I think not.
{4} Garden Planning - I want to plan more for my garden to make the most from my space and resources. I also want to plant more variety. Gardening gives me such peace of mind and joy. But right now there are some major winter weeds taking over. I just picked the last of my brocolli today and started pulling weeds...Just look what I found chilling amongst the pile of weeds....
{5} Take a time out for a better daily devotional - not just the email kind. I also want to keep a gratitude list that is a daily reminder of all my blessings and how lucky I am. I am stealing this from the Best Boss Ever (who shared an old devotional with me in which she had done the same). I know God has great things in store for the Austin family this year!
{6} Yea Yea...eat more vegetables and exercise. I'm gonna go with ZUMBA once a week. How's that?
What are your "making-life-better" plans?
PS. Can't wait to share what I got into @ Daddy's today - NC Stizzle fans will LOVE! Promise!
Can someone please pass the Holiday Cheer? Don't lose that Christmas spark! Not yet anyways....Let me just serve you up a little Holiday Cheer via The Austin house! This is a collection of my favorite Christmas decor and Christmas traditions. I know it's a little late but hey, the Stizzle had a bowl game to win!
Anywho, I couldn't wait to share a bit of my Christmas!
These are a few of my favorite {Christmas} things:
(which have disappeared back into storage so I can reclaim my house and breath from the claustrophobia):
- I replace pictures throughout the house at Christmas. It's impossible to keep everything up all year long and I always get excited to see them when I pull them from storage.
I also LOVE old ornaments - most of these were mine or Sean's when we were little ....awwwwwww
My mama gave us an ornament every year so that when we left home we would have our own. Sean's granny also gave him one and wrote the year on the back! We also had an ornament that was just alike with our names - Fate...don't you think?
The third one my dear friend Alisha made with our wedding invitation cut into swirls on the inside. Isn't that just precious? Thank you Alisha and Pinterest!
Last but not least, here are a few of my fave Christmas shots! It was a great Christmas weekend, spending time with family and friends. Hope you had a great one too!
Roasting hot-dogs and Marshmallows in the fireplace at Daddy's - hey, it's tradition.
Next year, complete vintage decor, etc. for the entire house.... It's on!
Happy New Year if I don't get checked back in before!
Ever since I was a little girls I have LOVED the parades. From the days of riding with Smokey when I was younger, to dance studio performance, cheerleading for PHS, and not to forget Jr. Miss, I have always loved being in parades. ESPECIALLY the Christmas parade! In case you have not gotten this by now...I LOVE me some Christmas. Hey, I get it from my mama.
Well, when GA was born, I made it perfectly clear that she would in fact LOVE parades too. This may quite possibly be my first parenting success documentation. GA LOVES the parades too!
This year, we didn't just watch..it was her first parade participation (with mommy of course!) - Back on the float with Smokey in more than 15-18 years (trying not to reveal any ages), there I was with my baby; handing out candy, waving, freezing, and getting my Christmas spirit on. I really thought that I would miss watching the parade and seeing GA's excitement. HOWEVER, participating is so much better!
She thought it was soooooo cool to throw candy out to her friends (while she ate her weight in it too), and to wave at complete strangers. Pageant material????? I think yes.
Stellar waving skills lesson in progress....
I so enjoyed spending that time with her. All of Roxboro was out. The largest crowds I've seen in years. EVERYONE was happy....smiles all around (and a few Pall Mall's here and there and koozies with beverage cans of a questionable nature.)
Much to my disappointment we did not make the front page of the Courier Times in the parade section. Oh well , there is always next year! Here is a somewhat lengthy recap in parade photography anyway :) - You gotta see what it is really like here On the Rox -
We let our children get dirty -
Future construction worker or pageant professional?
We <3 Bojangles and friends from back-in-the-day.
lovely ladies from Jaycee's - and longtime friends of mine from PHS and middle school!
Some people abandon their horse drawn carriages to socialize-
We support our parents!
We force our children to smile for numerous photos.
Kayla & Kelbie with GA
We love our babies!
We will ride anything with wheels in order to be in the parade....
This is what "shootin' the breeze" looks like..... They (fire departments and such) also call my daddy "Booty" - weird.
