Keeper of the Flame

What a busy weekend! I took a spur-of-the-moment trip to San Antonio to visit my sister-in-law and her boyfriend on Friday since my husband had to work on Saturday. I was a much needed reunion and we enjoyed hanging out. Our night consisted of grilling, drinking wine, sitting around a fire, music, and hookah... such a great combo! Of course, I took a much needed Starbucks run the next morning since there was one located only 5 miles down the road... 5 miles people! (you have no idea how exiting that is for me, considering the closest one to home is 45 minutes away... so I revere Starbucks as a treat!) We lounged around and I worked on homework on Saturday while watching "Jurassic Park" in between, before later reuniting with my husband that evening in Startzville, TX near Canyon Lake. We wanted to stay in the log cabin we ran away to after our wedding, but it was booked. This turned out to our advantage because we ended up staying in another cabin on the same property called the "Tiny Texas House." The name suits it, but we didn't mind being close... considering we haven't seen much of each other lately. It had its own private hot tub in the back and a loft-style area for the bedroom... which sort-of reminds you of a tree-house or fort from your childhood. We relaxed in the hot tub with the glow of a fire and looked up at the stars. It was just what we needed in order to have some quality time alone together before having to go our separate ways again on Sunday (this property is quickly turning into our go-to getaway destination). Before parting, we met up with his aunt and cousins for some yummy BBQ at Cooper's in New Braunfels, and then we walked around Gruene (one of my most favorite little towns) to try and take in as much of the day together as we could. I made it back home late this afternoon and did some more homework, then headed over to our friends' house down the road for some more grilling and campfire action (a fire three nights in a row? I'm in heaven). I know a play-by-play of what I did this weekend isn't really very exciting, but I'm way too tired to come up with something inspirational or witty... so you just get boring details and pictures instead. Sorry to disappoint... now please enjoy my photos, provided for your viewing pleasure.

Sunset on the road to San Antonio in Gonzales, TX

 Awesome clouds in Shiner, TX

 

Our crows-nest love-nest

 

 Brandon's cousin, Cassidy, giving him a wet-wipe bath (he probably needed it)

So that is what my weekend consisted of. I'm hoping that as I go along and keep up with this blog that it will inspire me to come up with some thoughtful things to say... but for right now, this virtual version of a journal is going to have to suffice. Until I become inspired...  enjoy my meaningless babble, my apologies in advance. :)

Detox: Day One

Who knew giving up a facebook addiction could be so stinkin' HARD?! It's pitiful, I know. I woke up this morning, and in my half-awake stooper, grabbed my phone and was milliseconds away from clicking that little blue square. Seriously, it's the first thing you do when you wake up, Emily? Yup, can't lie to myself this time. There's no escaping it. And of course, to make matters worse, my husband has been staying away for work a lot... which leaves me plenty of time at home alone with the temptation of boredom (don't tell him I told you, because you might be the boogey-man and come hide under my bed or in my closet and wait until I'm asleep to do crazy stalker things to me). And you know what your mamma taught you about an "idle mind"! But, like they say at AA, "One day at a time." Hey, don't judge, this can be a disease too. I call it "facebookitis", or "chronic social networkatrophy"... no no no, "acute postingmegaly". Okay, okay. I'm done.

Anyways, other than making my strong presence known on pinterest, I have decided that every time I find myself wanting to post something totally useless on facebook, I will take a picture and waste your time with it instead. LUCKY YOU! Please enjoy my desperate attempts to distract myself from my moments of "delirium tremens." (oh, just go Google it, you know it's going to bug you.)

Commence Day One of Operation: Misery Loves Company

(Please feel free to click on the photos so you may see them in all their glory.)



I was feeling rather nostalgic for my beloved Houston Rodeo this morning, so I dressed for the occasion and took a commemorative photo while at my desk at work... I know, don't you wish you were as cool as me? Sometimes I'm jealous of myself.

Part of my lunch: apples, fat free cottage cheese, and crushed flax seed. Sounds gross, tastes amazing.

The other half of my luch that I thought was so interesting, I must share it with my avid readers (all three of you). It's a "salad in a jar", look it up on pinterest if you don't know what it is (awesome idea!). I high-jacked this from a coworker, and it's her homemade dressing consiting of EVOO, white vinegar, honey, and stone ground mustard seed. SO GOOD!

Went to my first Gobbler baseball game of the season to watch my #5!

And that concludes day one! Aren't you glad you wasted your time reading that?... I know I enjoyed sharing it with you. Thank you, come again.

P.S. Just in case you ARE the boogey-man, please be aware that I sleep with a S&W .38 Special within arms reach, and I check under the bed. :D

giving up the guilty pleasure

Every year I toil and torment myself over what I should give up for lent. Most of the time, whatever it is I choose doesn't last very long. Occasionally, I'll use it as an excuse to get serious about my New Years Resolution that had, so far, been failing miserably. More often than not, I end up making such a huge deal about what it is I want to "sacrifice" in my mind that I end up giving up before ever going through with it in the first place. Why do I do this to myself? It should be an easy choice to make: give up something that you know you can live without, but simply don't want to.

I had to be brutally honest with myself... what do I depend on as a crutch to get me through the day, when I could be spending my time much more wisely? This year, that "thing" I have come to terms with is my inability to go 30 minutes without checking facebook. Sad, right?

Those of you who know me know I'm not a "super religious" person. However, I do consider myself spiritual, and have felt the lack-there-of in my life lately. So, I'm challenging myself to stay off facebook for the 40 days of lent. Yes, this is a spiritually motivated decision... but I think it has the potential of affecting other aspects of my life:

1. My marriage: Instead of getting into bed and grabbing my phone to "check up" on what Sally had for dinner, I could have a conversation with my husband. It's pretty pitiful when your pillow-talk consists of sitting side-by-side with your mobile devices in hand.

2. My education: Taking four classes online with a full-time job and brand new marriage is very challenging. Throw in a facebook addiction and you tend to be very counterproductive.

3. My job: Do I really need to elaborate? We all know how often we check our fb apps on our phone... Multiply that by 10 for me.

4. My relationships: Ever had that conversation with your friend or family member and they are offended that you didn't tell them something rather important about yourself that recently happened, and you follow by saying, "Well I posted it on facebook, you didn't see?" Woops.You mean you wanted me to, like, CALL you? But that's so much work! I rest my case.

5. My hobbies: There are so many things I would love to start doing with my spare time (because I'm just swimming in it); and giving up facebook will force me to explore other avenues to inspire my creative side and help me to feel connected with the outside world. Like this blog for example... maybe I'll use this as an opportunity to take more time for myself to write... hmmmm, I might be on to something here!

There you have it, I've talked myself into this! Wish me luck!

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