Imogene Jackson

This week, Matt's grandmother passed away. It's been a tough week for everyone and tonight we're flying to OK to celebrate her life on Monday. Thankfully, we spent time with her over Thanksgiving and Christmas. When we found out she wasn't doing so well, Matt was fortunate enough to go home and spend a few days with her and say his goodbyes. I got a text from him telling me that she whispered that she loved me and I can't even tell you how much that meant to me. Grandma was an amazing lady. She treated me as one of her own grandchildren from day one and always made me feel loved and welcome. She was a stubborn, tough firecracker too! Fiercely loyal to those she loved most and she always spoke her mind. I remember going to Landon's high school basketball games and if she didn't agree with the referee, she would let him have it! For the conflict avoider {me}, I was terrified! haha! And then there was politics...whew, she could really get going! :) She would give everyone a lecture at every Christmas and birthday b/c she told us time and again not to buy her anything. Of course we never listened and she would give us that look like we were in trouble.

She loved Steve Spurrier - the South Carolina football coach. To my knowledge, there are no ties to the school, but she just liked him so we would watch and cheer for them when they were on TV. She was famous for her homemade peanut brittle, pickles, noodles and strawberry preserves. I heard rumors that her freezers were stocked full with left overs or food that she refused to waste. She knew how to do so many things and experienced so much throughout her lifetime - sadly, most of which is a lost art with each passing generation. I don't think she ever drove a car, but ironically, had a cell phone the last couple of years in case of emergency. She was her grandkids biggest fan. She was so proud of her kids and grandkids and really left an amazing legacy for all of us.


Liz, Chris, me, Matt, Beth, Grandma, Landon and Jeana - May 2008

Grandma looked so beautiful on our wedding day!

At her birthday lunch last year! 91 wonderful, love-filled years! June 2010

Grandma,
We love you and we're so thankful for all you taught us over the years. I feel so blessed that I was fortunate enough to know you for 5 years. You have raised an amazing family and I know you were so proud of us. Thanks for all your prayers over us and our lives. I know that's why we are where we are now, because you prayed for each of our dreams to come true. I'm sure you don't want us to make a fuss over you, but we're going to brag on you and celebrate you anyway because, well, we never listened to you anyway when you told us not to do something! :) You enriched so many lives and Heaven has gained an amazing lady. Thank you again for your love, encouragement, and values you have passed along to us. We love you now and forever.

Rude.

This is a random story {like most of my posts I guess} but I can't stop thinking about it.

Last night, I took the train to see my friends out in the burbs. It was a rush hour train so I knew it would be packed with commuters. I spotted an open seat and wedged myself next to the window with my purse and bag in my lap. Soon after, a man sat next to me and I said hello but it's just kind of an unspoken rule that you keep to yourself unless y'all both want to chat. Everyone's had a long day at work and you just want to relax. So I had my Kindle out and he was working on his computer when I hear, "EXCUSE ME." People are still trying to find seats and the train is about to leave so I just thought this lady needed someone to move their foot or elbow so she could get down the aisle. I kind of turn around as she says "I WANNA SIT HERE." to the guy right behind us. Her tone was just real hateful and short. The guy behind me had already put his earbuds in and his bag was sitting next to him {a no, no on a packed train}. He was automatically defensive which I could TOTALLY understand b/c she was being a real...well...you know...not nice lady. He said "You could've said excuse me" and her reply "I did!" and then she went on to lecture him about how he can't have his bag on the seat b/c it's a rush hour train. His reply "I didn't know you worked for Metra" ... it was totally awkward and my heart was pounding just being near the conflict, but I really wanted to turn around and tell her... "Look lady, maybe you had a horrible day, but you can't treat people like that. You should apologize." along with something else I'm sure would've sounded profound. But, I wanted to live to see my friends so I didn't say anything.

Really though, I was so taken aback by the way she acted. She was in her late 40's or early 50's and she just stopped next to his seat and demanded to sit next to him. It was obvious he couldn't hear her when she said excuse me and instead of catching his attention and asking again or simply saying "May I sit next to you?" or asking to move his bag, she just went off on him! Most people would become defensive and react the way he did so I can't blame him. I don't know what I would've done if I were him, but it definitely would've ruined a part of my night and there's no need for that!

So, to that rude lady, I hope you're having a better day today and I hope I am never in the path of your crazy wrath! Good grief.

Would you like cream with your coffee?

Ok...this would only happen to me and of course it happened while I was home alone with no witnesses!

The other night, I decided I wanted some coffee cake and coffee. I go to brew a pot and in the meantime, Matt calls me. Well he was in OK at his parent's house and his cell phone reception was pretty poor. So it takes us about 6 dropped calls before we get a good connection. What does this have to do with having coffee??? I know...I'm getting to that. So, between answering the phone every few minutes and getting my coffee poured/prepped for drinking, I was just not paying much attention. I had taken the lid off the liquid creamer b/c I had to remove the seal. Then, as I answered Matt's trillionth call, I placed the lid back on the creamer. The call dropped again, so I grab the creamer to give it a good shake...

CREAMER. EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just stood in disbelief at what just happened in my kitchen. I couldn't move, I couldn't cuss, I just stared! It was on the cabinets, the counters, the floor, the fridge, the coffee maker...you get the idea. And then, I laughed. Only me! I didn't even know where to start. I had JUST mopped my floors to make way for my cute new rug which somehow, by the grace of God {yes, I said it, He knew I would be heartbroken if my new rug was ruined!}, the creamer missed the rug except for a tiny bit on the edge!

Matt calls me back as I'm cleaning up the mess and it was finally a good connection so I hated to tell him I had to go b/c of my creamer fiasco! So we chat while I'm on my hands and knees re-mopping with those little swiffer wet cloths!

And...today (2 days later) I noticed that the coffee maker button was stuck - b/c some of the creamer dried around the button! I have a feeling I'm going to see the effects of this for months to come!

New Rug!

The latest addition to the apartment...a new rug for the kitchen. I was over the old one - red & khaki stripes with nasty stains all over. yuck. Lauren helped me find this one, and I think it looks FAB! Yes, it's floating between the sink and stove, but if I've learned one thing from all the Nate Berkus shows I record during the week it's that home decor rules are meant to be broken! :)

*I also bought some Euro pillow forms for the bedroom and I have my eye on some fabric to make pillow cases for them! I'm excited about that little project...but that's for another day!

I love OPI and I love Texas!

Two of my loves have teamed up to make some MUST HAVE nail polishes! OPI and Texas! You can take a girl out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of the girl! Although I haven't lived in the Lone Star State since high school {let's not talk about the fact that high school was roughly 9 years ago...} I will always, always have a soft spot for that wonderful place. I loved my time in Oklahoma and I'm loving my time in Illinois, but there is just something about Texas.

I'm a bit of an OPI snob. I always use OPI when I get a mani/pedi so when I saw an ad for a Texas Collection, I was pumped! The best part of course... the names of the polishes. That's half the fun when I'm trying to choose a color to wear, I just get a kick out of the names! I know...it's the little things that make me happy. :)


photo courtesy of http://www.chicprofile.com/2010/10/opi-texas-collection-for-spring-summer-2011-promo-swatches.html

Here's the official OPI link . I'll be trying...

*It's Totally Fort Worth It - lavender grey sounds like a fun way to welcome spring!
*San Tan-tonio - I'm pretty obsessed with gunmetal greys and blacks so why not try tans & browns?
*Suzi Loves Cowboys
*Y'all Come Back Ya Hear? - For football season, GO POKES!
*Big Hair...Big Nails - Maybe sporting this color on my nails will help me learn to tease my hair?!? It's worth a shot.
*Do You Think I'm Tex-y?

Ok...so maybe I should just buy them all! :)

Brownies 1 - Beth 0

So... Friday night I was feeling SUPER productive! I cooked a full dinner and did 4 loads of laundry before Matt got home! Let me just say that laundry flies by when you're trying to chop onions/potatoes/prep dinner. All of a sudden I noticed it had already been 30 mins and it was time to rush down to the 7th floor to move our clothes to the dryer. :)

Anyway, we had fresh green beans {I'd only cooked canned green beans so this was new to me}, garlic& red onion oven roasted potatoes, and meatloaf. It was pretty darn delicious if you ask me! But...I wasn't done there. I noticed we had a box of brownies in the pantry and my sweet tooth was craving them big time! So I baked those and we had brownies and ice cream for dessert.

Now I don't know about you, but when I bake brownies, I usually bake them in a 9x13 pan. For no particular reason other than I'm too impatient to wait for them to bake in a 8x8 pan. {My impatience is a recurring theme in the kitchen, if you haven't already noticed.}

Well, as I write this, it's 10 am on a Monday morning and there is maybe, MAYBE a small corner section of the pan of brownies left. And guess who ate a vast majority of those brownies??? Your's truly. I'm not proud, and I can't say I wouldn't do it all over again if given the chance. Ugh! I have no self control. They're my weakness. I think I saw Matt digging into the brownies maybe once since having dessert on Friday night. That's just terrible on my part!

In my defense, I woke up this morning and did a workout session on my 30-day shred DVD!

...and I've already had a brownie with my coffee at my desk this morning...

Brownies: 1 - Beth: ZERO

Happy Monday everyone!

JENGA!!!!

This weekend we met up with my co-worker and her husband for a little double date! Karee & I get along great at work and have become great friends! We talk about our boys often so we decided they needed to meet. I give Karee a hard time b/c they're quite the social butterflies. They always have something going on and they seem to know all about the great restaurants in town. So, after a trying to schedule around the holidays and their social calendar {they have an impressive Google calendar they both maintain & coordinate}, the Wilson's were FINALLY penciled in for Saturday night dinner! :)

We had a GREAT time! The boys totally hit it off with sports talk and humor and Karee & I gave each other a high five for our match-making skills! So after dinner, we decided to continue the fun! We wound up at one of their favorite bars by their place and played the best bar game ever invented...LIFE SIZE JENGA! The pieces are made of 2x4's and they had a few of them around the bar for people to play. Obviously, we went girls vs boys and it was truly a battle! I think the game lasted about an hour and by the time it finally crumbled, it was as tall as me! It started out about 2 or 3 ft tall. Towards the end, there were people around us cheering/clapping/taking pictures of our game! As much as it pains me to say it, the boys ended up winning {of course Matt was in our ears constantly trying to mess us up throughout the game and gloating up a storm when they won}, but it was a fight to the finish!


Obviously, this isn't a picture of us, but I didn't have my camera. Thanks Google Images! :)

Resolutions...

I've never been one to make a big point of making/keeping New Year's Resolutions each year, but here are a couple of things I'd like to do and I'm looking forward to this year.

-Pay off the student loan!
Thanks to some hard work, we're on track to have it paid off by spring and We. Are. Pumped! I'm already fantasizing the call into the Dave Ramsey show to scream "WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!" but I'm sure I'll chicken out. Still, we'll scream it from the balcony of our apartment. :)

-Take better care of my skin.
I need to find a good skin care regimen. I'm open to suggestions and tips! Last summer I was better about using sunscreen moisturizer for my face and I try to remember to use my eye cream at night but I would like to get into the habit of taking better care of this mug. :)

-Travel!
We're going skiing in Aspen with Matt's company in February and I've got a girls trip with some sorority sisters in the works for July. I'm looking forward to both and hopefully some little weekend trips and visits home this year too!

-Be a better friend...
I like to think I'm a good friend, but I know I use facebook and texts way too much and actual letters and phone calls too little. Matt & I neither one are huge phone talkers which makes it tough to keep in touch with good friends.

-Learn to curl my hair...
Yes, I am TERRIBLE at this skill. I resolve to improve...

And of course...exercise more, eat healthier, be more organized...

What are your goals/resolutions for 2011?

Wicked

One of my Christmas gifts from Matt was a date to see Wicked. He's good to me! I had been talking about it since the fall when I found out it would be in Chicago. So that was our big NYE excitement! We went to dinner at a yummy Italian food restaurant and then went to see Wicked! It was GREAT! I had heard good things about it from Mama and all my friends who had seen it and they were right! Thanks Matt! I loved it!


The Chicago Christmas tree! :)