A new section

I'm so excited for my new section. You see I love all things food. Well except for diary b/c I am lactose intolerant, but I like dairy in small quantities and always with Lactaid!

I'm starting a new section called Food Whiz, or something really clever!

I want to blog about the food and restaurants I love. I also want you to be able to comment on my blog about your favorite eats. Of course a lot of the restaurants will be downtown and the greenwood area, but I may just surprise you.

My ultimate dream job would be something like working with The Food Network station or Bravo. I love cooking, baking, and eating. I'm sure that makes me qualified. :)

Anyway I can't wait to get my new section started. And I can't wait to see what you all think.

xoxo

No internet

It's not that I don't have the Internet at my house, it's that I don't even have a computer. :( I'm so terribly sad, and so is the hubby. It's so sad. We practically keep reaching for the laptop only to remember it's gone. Apparently the motherboard went out. So now we are waiting on a check to get our new computer. Seriously I am missing it. I miss checking my facebook, my email, and most important my blog. I also miss you all. I miss reading your blog. Danny made me laugh last night. He said that people were probably worried about me. How sweet! He truly realizes how much I love blogging to you! :)

The good news is that I passed all of my classes A-, B+ and one I still not willing to accept. It's posted but I am contesting it. I want a better grade. I feel I deserve a better grade. Plus there are 3 quizzes that aren't even posted. :) OK well I did well and I know my mommy and fellow classmate will be happy for me! Did I mention we are almost done. I have just 1 quarter left. that's Just 3 classes. In 11 short weeks I will be FINISHED! ( I'm a little excited)

Well Easter is this weekend and I'm really looking forward to it. If I don't blog before then Have a Happy and wonderful Easter weekend.

This is from last Easter. Yes Gracie was crying and Yes Lilly was Frightened.

A crazy couple of days

I don't even have the energy to put into words everything I have been through this last week in a half. I will tell you that my computer broke while preparing my HUGE 12 page paper and 13 slide power point presentation, so then I tried renting one from my school. That didn't work. So then I called my dad to use his laptop. He hadn't yet installed windows on his new computer. So then I took a trip to my mom's house once again to try to complete my project. Well before I know it, it's time to leave for the March Birthday party. So during my in-laws bday celebration I then some how managed to put the finishing touches onto my project. At 10pm I submitted my work. (this is late for me, even on a weekend) This morning I checked my portal and there it was. A perfect 200/200! My instructor even wrote a nice little note. I couldn't believe it. Actually I could, I put a lot of effort into the project b/c it is weighted and worth 20% of my grade. Since I am not a good test taker I knew I needed a good grade on the project to get a good grade in the class. Any way, I'm sorry to my husband and girls for being a total wreck. I think Danny might actually be a little scared of me now. I don't function well without a computer. And lastly to my family members, I'm sorry for doing homework during our birthday celebration. Good news, I graduate in 13 weeks!

New Workout

Wow,

I just watched this link and now feeling really pumped up to do my exercise routine tonight.
My youngest maybe 19mths but I still need to loose my baby weight (10lbs). This is the hardest 10 lbs I have ever had to loose. I'm getting slimmer but I really want a tummy like this girl! Or at least something better than I have. :)

Plus this looks like something I could do and not look like a fool.

Enjoy.
http://www.self.com/fitness/workouts/2007/07/fast-ab-toning-video

I promise to never....

Never again will I yell at my daughter when she comes to the bottom of their stairs, yelling for me in a frantic voice. Although it's highly unlikely that the ladybug she swears is under her bed and is going to eat her toes, actually exist, I will do my best to have compassion on her.

You see I might have slightly, freaked out the other night when I "heard" something coming from one of our unfinished closets. So my husband and I recently moved our bedroom to the upstairs loft. It's an awesome room which we actually titled the sanctuary. There are three closets upstairs, one of which is unfinished. So the other night lying in bed and watching TV I heard to noise. Danny muted the TV. It was obviously coming from our unfinished closet. Danny tried to dismiss it as our 1910 floors creaking. I'm starting to get a little more freaked out. Then the noise gets louder and more intense. Immediately I am thinking a mouse. Although tiny, they scare me like no other. I am now sitting straight up in bed looking at him with fear in my eyes. Then the noise gets even louder and much more intent. I start screaming, "I can't handle this I can't handle this!" Danny is yelling " Bree, calm down, just sit down, Bree calm down."

Calm down, Calm down? isn't this like rule #1 when trying to calm a crazy person down, you don't tell them to calm down. Well Sorry Mister. I am not going to let a mouse trample all over me at night and leave disgusting little traces of him. No way, not this girl.

Yes I did run downstairs like a little girl. Yes we did "camp out on the couch"

So back to my original point. Just because I think it's silly Gracie is afraid of the ladybug doesn't mean that she isn't truly scared.

I promise to have more compassion for her and her fears. And I promise to never tell her to "calm down"

PS

Danny is now convinced it is a possible raccoon or squirrel that got into the closet. Apparently there is a soft patch on the roof. Sure hope it's nice outside this weekend. Don't won't Danny on the roof in the rain. :)

Bowls

Yesterday I went to Target, which is one of my favorite stores right now. They had so many cute and fun items I wanted to buy. One item that I couldn't resist were their cute children's cups, plates and bowls. They are absolutely adorable. And even better they were $.99-$2.00. Gracie flipped over them as well. I love how they are so cute and funky yet retro!!! Can't wait to go back and buy more.

My hubby treated me....

Last night my wonderful hubby treated me a wonderful night. We went to Olive Garden. Of course I got my raspberry peach tea, and ravioli di portobello. It was absolutely delicious. Then he took me to Best Buy and bought me a flip camera. We have been wanting a new video camera for about 2 years now. We love the flip camera because it is so easy. You turn it on, press record and that's it! no tapes, no finalizing, no charging batteries, nothing. Easy peasy! Can't wait to post videos....coming soon!

The Great Flood...

This is a few hours after the rain had stopped

As I look out my window I see the sun shining bright. Although it's only 42 degrees outside it feels like spring. When I think of spring I think of rain which makes me think of flooding. On June 7, 2008 Franklin flooded. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before. I remember it raining a lot. Our street, Water Street, beginning to fill up with water. Since we don't have a driveway or garage we park on the street. Danny kept moving our car to higher ground. I remember being so worried my car would be flooded. If I only knew what would happen just a few short hours later. The rain kept coming, Danny kept checking our basement to see if our sump pump was still working. It was, but not for long. As I mentioned before, our street was filling up with water & quickly. The city actually put a barricade up to block the entrance. Silly city, that won't stop Franklin people from driving down the closed, water-filled street! As cars rushed by, the water slammed into our basement windows, eventually breaking them. Water began to flood in all four basement windows. It didn't take long for our basement to begin to flood.

I kept asking Danny if we were going to be alright. H reassured me everything would be fine. Well just an hour or so later the water raised so high, that our basement was completely covered. If you were to open to basement door you could only see the top step. Everything else was immersed. Danny told me to pack up. At this time Gracie was 15mths and I was 8mths pregnant. Danny put on his waiters and grabbed Gracie and headed out the door. Thankfully he has a nice truck that is raised, otherwise we might have been stuck. It was then my turn to leave. I rolled my pants as high as they could go, and grabbed a pair of tennis shoes. I remember looking at my house thinking this was the last time I would ever see it. There were so many memories. All I could think about was that my baby who is supposed to be born in just a few short days would have no home to come home to. I said goodbye, and shut the door. I walked down my stairs and was greeted by water that came to almost my knees. Danny was there to help balance me and my big belly. We made it through the water and to the truck. Little did we know that almost every exit out of Franklin was under water. Again, thankful for Danny's truck we some how made it out and headed to my mother's house. There we watched the news and saw our town basically float away. I remember seeing the police station almost completely covered. Well eventually the rain stopped and Danny and I wanted to go home to check out our house, we wondered if it was still there. By the time we got back to Franklin the water had actually let down a little. We were lucky. We only had to replace our windows and Furnace. Some people almost 2 years later are still displaced and still don't have any money from FEMA. We are truly lucky. Although Danny and I now wish our house was destroyed so we could have rebuilt. :) I will have to post a house that was completely rebuilt after the flood. It's gorgeous!

Here Danny is standing in our "alley"

This pic is of our alley, and neighbors driveway

Danny took this pic after the rained stopped. When we left our house it was at the very top step.

Swamp "Chicken"

Here it is, as I promised. Swamp “Chicken”

Prime alligator meat from Fireside Brewhouse. There were two different sauces served. One was similar to a Asian chille sauce the other was a tangy horseradish sauce, which I preferred.

All but one friend tried it, No one hated it, but they weren't loving it either. But I definitely recommend you trying at least once in your life.

This next photo I love. One of my gal pals ordered the nachos. Now let me tell you that this item was underneath the section of “small plates” Doesn't look so small to me! Haha

Alligator….

I’m so excited for tonight. I get to go out with my girls, ( I like to call us the brat pack, more on this later) Every month or so, all my gall pals try to get together for dinner. We usually pick a restaurant on the Southside. This month I suggested Fireside Brewhouse. Now I have only been there once and really can’t remember what I ordered but I do remember the Alligator. It is an appetizer, and if I remember correctly it was popcorn (chicken) sized bites. Maybe they are strips, not too sure, I’ll try to take a picture. All I really remember is that I liked them. I’m mean you don’t eat alligator every day. Well I don’t! I like to consider myself a foodie. So when I hear of such exotic/interesting food I have to try it. So I have really been hyping this up to all my friends because they are known to be picky. I knew my friend W. S. would love to try it because she is my adventurous friend. So here’s looking forward to a good night with friends and a good night of dinner!