this is our happily ever after

day of fun

Brian and I celebrated our anniversary yesterday (a few weeks late)  We try to have a "day of fun" about every month or so.  It's a day of just us hanging out together either picnicing, hiking, going to a museum or festival, etc.  Just a day of getting out of the house and away from our things to do list and making memories together.  Yesterday we went to Katy Mills, an indoor outlet mall, so that I could maybe find some clothing that actually fits me.  We were successful as I found a couple of shirts for spring/summer and so did Brian.  Afterwards we went to Central Market, just to browse...of course we bought a few things :)  We had a great dinner in the city before returning home.  We just crashed from a long day out on the town.  Brian watched some basketball while I continued to read my current book, Pillars of the Earth. 

me eating an entire Marble Slab waffle cone all by myself!

another...

why didn't I think of that??...how many times have you asked yourself the same question?!  Well here's my latest "why didn't I think of that" thing that I found via someone's blog.  It's called Super Noots .... and it's a way for kids to keep track of what they eat as well as making sure they are eating healthy things.  Such a great concept and very kid friendly, I think...just wanted to share.

happy birthday Emma and Julie

Happy 4th birthday to my little cousin Emma (photo taken Easter 2007)

and Happy Birthday to my childhood friend Julie.... (photo taken October 2007)

 

Costco

Today I officially was sucked in to the world of Costco.  If you're not familiar with Costco, it's a warehouse store, similar to Sam's Wholesale, but with a MUCH better selection of meats, produce, pantry items, snacks, etc.  I've never been a huge fan of Sam's, but there are two close to me, so I've shopped there for years.  However, now I will make a point to shop at Costco a couple of times a month instead of Sam's.  One very thrilling thing I learned is that they are building one very close to Central Market, which is super, because I do shop there at least once a month.   To me shopping at Costco is like shopping at Super Target...great quality, lots to choose from, good prices, without all of the rif-raf.   I even got my Easter dress at Target....I love a good deal on cute clothes. 

Here are more reasons I love Costco:

*they carry IZZE soda, my new favorite...I began drinking these a few years ago in Colorado and am glad they've made there way to Texas.  Half the fun in drinking them is that the bottle makes me smile (I'm a sucker for good packaging!)

*they carry organic, free-range chicken and organic milk....the only kind I buy anymore

*a great selection of fresh fish

*a super selection of produce; berries, asparagus, pineapple, peppers, spinach, apples, the list goes on

*a nice selection of gourmet cheeses, hummus, gourmet meals to go, tapenade, fresh pasta, etc

*a huge bag of pinenuts (a personal favorite in pasta dishes and salads) for $14!!!!  that's a steal

*a great selection of healthy and organic snacks. 

*An incredible wine selection with high rated wine starting at $9.99 a bottle

The only slight disappointment I had was that their fresh flower selection was not as good as Sam's, so I guess I'll still have to hit Sam's for my weekly gas fill up and fresh flowers.  Other than that I am now officially a Costco girl!

Happy Easter

to all of our friends and family.  We enjoyed a beautiful Easter church service along with a wonderful lunch with family.  A wonderful realization that I had in church was that 5 months ago today I received my new heart.  Hallelujah! 

happy birthday Brian

for the next 3 months and 6 days Brian and I are the same age, 32....it's funny that I'm older than he is, because most people think I'm about 23 and that he's about 33....so it appears that he is a cradle robber!  We had a great day.  He worked in the yard this morning so that I could sleep in and get ready.  We had lunch at Cafe Lili, a family owned lebenese restaurant in the city.  We ended our meal with homemade baklava and Brian had some lebenese coffee, which was similar to espresso with sugar and cardamon.  Afterwards we went to a Christian bookstore to buy him a Greek textbook and workbook, along with a Greek New Testament.  If you know Brian then you understand why this is what he wanted for his birthday.  He loves studying the ancient church fathers, old traditions, architecture of churches, etc.  Basically anything that formed the foundation for the history of Christianity.  He spent about 3 hours this afternoon engrossed in his new books...I took a siesta ;)  If you know me...that makes sense! 

chick-fil-a brown bag concert

Instead of having our regular small group this evening we decided to go to our area Chick-fil-a's brown bag concert featuring Matthew West.  I've heard about these brown bag concerts on the KSBJ many times but we've never gone to one.  We had a great time.  KSBJ (our local Christian radio station, which is incredible) set up this big stage in the chick-fil-a parking lot.  We brought lawn chairs, sat with our small group and enjoyed an hour long concert.  I was going to eat Chick-fil-a, but didn't want to stand in the line...I'm sure tomorrow I'll go get some for lunch since now I'm craving it.   For those of you who don't have Chick-fil-a, I am so sad for you.  It's about the only fast food I will eat.  It's a Christian owned company who uses REAL chicken and they have waffle fries.  It's super!  The only problem is that they are closed on Sundays, but then again that's one reason I support their company quite often.  Here are a few photos from tonights adventure.

 

maybe someday I'll be normal....

and no one will pick on me....that's my motto for today and this is why.  Before my transplant I carried about 20-25 pound of water weight, primarily in my abdomen and legs.  Most days I looked as if I could be 6 months pregnant.  I wore a tummy shaper attempting to keep everything as tight as possible, but I still looked pregnant.  A day wouldn't go by when I was out and about that someone would comment on "my baby", when it was due, a boy or girl?, did I have a name.  Complete strangers would come up to me and touch my stomach and then predict what I was having (freaks!)  If I didn't know them I'd play along and then roll my eyes when I walked away.  People who did know me, just loved me and knew why I had my tummy.  Well, times are different now and today I heard all about it...from two complete strangers!  One was the lady who did my pedicure and manicure.  You know who I'm talking about...the same questions we all get asked when we go to the spa where you know that Tina isn't their birth name.  Are you married?  Do you have kids?  Every single time I treated myself to a mani/pedi before transplant I always braced myself for the infamous quesiton...."when your baby due?"  (said exactly like that) and sometimes I would tried to explain to the person my medical issue and sometimes I would just say oh...3 months from now.  But today something entirely different happened.  The manicurist/pedicurist asked me if I was dieting.  I said "no, I'm recovering from a big surgery and am actually trying to gain weight."  She seemed to understand and asked me about my doctor's etc.  No big deal, I kept my explanation simple and all was fine.  Then about an hour later I was loading groceries into my car (note:with a sweatshirt and sweatpants on) and a random lady drove up next to me in her car and asked me if I was naturally that little.  I was so caught off guard that I nodded yes, but then said "no, I'm recovering from a heart transplant".  At this point I noticed that she was in scrubs (thus worked in the medial field).  She then basically scolded me and said "well, whatever your excuse is...you need to gain some weight...you're just not healthy!" and proceeded to drive off.  Well that just pissed me off....how dare a person in the medical field basically yell at me for being too skinny after having a heart transplant.  What an absolute idiot!  I mean, if anyone knows that I am underweight it's ME...I'm the one who sees my scrawny arms and bird legs every day...I'm the one who MUST wear a belt or else my pants will fall right off....And don't tell me I'm not healthy!  I might be skinny, but I am healthy.  It's as if she thought I was lying about having a heart transplant as a cover for being anorexic or something.  Normally things like this just slide off my back, I laugh it off....but right after that I was so irritated that I drove straight to McBesity (Brian and my word for McDonald's) and got these

that's right a Large order of french fries!  I thought about a shake with it, but then decided that I didn't want to get sick out of spite.  Granted, I LOVE McDonald's french fries (it's about the only thing I'll eat there) but I never let myself have them, because frankly their not good for my little ticker.  But today I figured what the hell, I deserved them....not because I endured a heart transplant almost 5 months ago, but because some ignorant  lady made an obvious, but very rude comment to me.  Seriously...this is my lfie....by the way I ate all the fries...they were hot and salty...yum!

a new way of scrapbooking...step one

I mentioned in a recent post that I had purchased this book, Photo Freedom, written by another one of my scrapbook icons, Stacy Julian.  I've used her color coordinated system to organize supplies for several years and it works very well with the way I think.  I need some blue letter stickers, then I go straight to my drawer with blue letter stickers, instead of rummaging through all of my letter stickers.  It makes scrapbooking easier for me.  Although I consider myself a relatively organized scrapper I have always struggled with organizing all of my printed photos before I scrap them, after I've made a page with some, what to I do with the extras, etc.  Well, I have finally found a creative and relatively simple syslem that I think will work for me.  It will allow me to not have to scrapbook chonologically which has always left me frustrated and feeling uncreative and in turn will allow me to scrapbook more in a categorical way.  I will explain all of this as I work through the system myself.  I've been working on the first step this weekend.  I must say that this isn't the creative stuff that I love, but it is organizing and reminiscing which can be delightful.

Step one for me includes the the following:

1. Go through all photo boxes, old albums (not scrapbooks), envelopes of photos, boxes of photos, stack of photos, those photos that are randomly hiding in that drawer, etc.  Get all photos out of the boxes, envelopes, albums, drawers, etc and put in one place.  See photo

   

note: I have many childhood photos at my mom's house that i will work with once I get them...this just basically includes college through 2007.

Step Two: write years on sticky notes...I have childhood, highschool, college, 90's, and 2000-2008 seperately down my dining room table.

Step Three: Take each photo and put it in the appropriate place.  I'm in the middle of this now, once I finish I'll share the next step....until then...start thinking about where your photos are, are they at least safe, are they organized in any way???

"you are useful"

Here's a conversation between Brian and I this morning while he was trying to get our 90 lb front door onto a table outside to sand and stain.

A: Brian, would you please go put some shoes on before you start this project.

B:Yea, that would probably be a good idea....but I have to hold the door. (which had already been taken off it's hinges and Brian was balancing it on it's side.)

A: Ummm, I can hold the door.

B: No, you can't it weighs as much as you do (true)

A:Well I can't lift it, but I can hold it and balance it.

B:Oh, well come and let's see.   (so I go hold the door, not hard)

A:Now go put your shoes on.  I'm not really in the mood to make a trip to the ER today.

B: Wow, you are useful.

Glad to know that even though I weigh less than our front door I'm still useful!   Oh, and I even helped him put in on the table....just balancing, no lifting.

10 Minutes later:   I'm openning all the windows in the house (beautiful day here).  Although we have screens in the windows I openned a lizard got in our bedroom which delighted Zoe as she chased it under our dresser.  I ran to the kitchen to grab a container and lid.  Ran back to the bedroom and saved Mr. Lizaard before he learned what happens to all of Zoe's creature friends.  I put him safe and sound in a planter out back where he posed for this photo.  So, I guess I was useful twice today....balancing a door and saving a lizard.  Seriously, this is my life...