South Beach Here I Come...

You might be thinking...oh I'm jealous...she's going to Florida. Well...you'd be wrong. I assure you no jealousy is deserved. Today is my Day 1 of the South Beach Diet. I've known for some months now that I need to do something...but I was lacking motivation I suppose. Then in the last week I had decided to do the South Beach, but wasn't really going to follow it exactly what it said...but I woke up this morning with a fresh attitude, so I'm going for it 100%. For those of you unfamiliar, Phase I is the initial 2 week "cleansing" period. For 2 weeks, I will not have Dr.Pepper (or any other soda), bread, pasta, potato, fruit or sugar. Yes...you heard me right...even fruit! But that's only for 2 weeks so my body can reset how it digests food. After that in Phase II, I can have as much fruit as I want and a balance of the other things... South Beach is all about the glycemic index and wants you to focus on eating food with a good protein/carb balance and foods that take longer to break down, etc. Anyway...so I am guessing, I'm in for a VERY long day...I can't remember a day without D.P...that is going to be the hardest for sure.

Thanks to Jackie...although she doesn't realize that after lunch with her last week and her sharing how it's worked so well for Jeff...it gave me that final push of motivation I needed!

If anyone has any yummy recipes they want to share with me consisting of only meat & veggies...I'd love them. I'll be making Asian Lettuce Wraps tonight...

So...may the power be with me!

Annie's Wedding

Well this past weekend was a wet, chilly, a "wake-up" call and full of LOVE, FRIENDSHIP & MARRIAGE. Back in the day, while I was in college God put the Moore Family in my life. I, not only, got to babysit there kids, but gained a home away from home while I was there. My love for them is still just as strong although the physical distance has made it hard seeing each other often. So...when I was started, there were 2 children...Annie was 8 and "Bear" was 5 and little Luke was still in the womb. I babysat them my sophmore through senior year and then passed on the baton to my close friend Sheridan from Tulsa, then she passed on the baton to her sister Kelcy later on. All that to say is this....Annie's all grown up, well they all are, but sweet Annie with a smile like noone else I've ever known who can light up the darkest room got married.

Let me explain my first sentence up there...

wet= ridiculous amounts of rain that caused flash flooding warnings and turned an sweet outdoor wedding into a lovely indoor wedding

chilly= well compared to Texas it was chilly, I think mostly in the 60s maybe and I did not pack a jacket or anything!

wake-up call= just a reminder of my ever increasing age...seems I get older year after year!

LOVE, FRIENDSHIP & MARRIAGE= Annie & Caleb committing themselves to each, my love for the entire Moore clan as they each played a significant role in my college years...Jeff, Dea, Annie, Bear & Luke, my love for Sheridan who has been a friend since 7th grade who has always been a solid rock in my life & who her family I will always love & cherish all of them

Okay...enough of all the blubbering...unfortunately when I downloaded my pictures I realized the setting somehow got changed and the photos were terrible...but I did find 3 that was decent enough to share.

A Little Nature

It's been so beautiful outside these days, so Dexter & I have really been taking advantage of it when we can. Yesterday, I was inspired to take some nature shots, God's beauty surrounds us in every direction and I've been much more aware of it lately. I love these little wild purple flowers that grow..technically, I believe they are a weed, but even weeds can be beautiful. The other day I mowed the lawn and took extra special care to go around all the purple flowers that were in the yard! I also tried to capture a beautiful butterfly, but you'll see by the pic, I wasn't able to get very close to get a good shot. And I'm throwing in a great shot of my Dex too.

Easter Sunday

Well this year, I decided to make a bunny cake. My mom made this a few times when Shell & I were kids and I believe she's made it a few times when Wes was younger. Anyway...it was fun and the way I did took way too much icing!

Sunday was also Dexter's 3rd birthday so I tried to give him some cake, but he wanted nothing to do with it!

Instead of doing a "fancy" or traditional meal this year, we went with a true brunch and had a breakfast type casserole, waffles & fruit! Very yummy!

Then it was time for the great outdoors and some egg hunting. Along with a very obnoxious squirrel who just wanted some bird seed.

My Little Fella

Could he be any cuter in our new pics! Love sweet Dexter! Hope you enjoy the new blog header!

Never Use an ATM Near an Alley

Okay people out there! I had something happen to me today for the first time ever. First of all I went to this little independent ATM, that is not like normal bank ones. I needed to get some cash out and it's right by my office building downtown.

So...I put in my amount to get...and as it's starting to spit out my bills, I can tell something has gone wrong...well I count my money and it shorted me $60!!!!! I'm thinking well great...now what in the world do I do?! It spit out my receipt and said it gave me all my money...but NO SIR, it did NOT!

Okay, so I take 2 deep breaths...one was not quite enough...I call the first # I can find on the machine and of course, they are just the manufacturer of this ATM...not the owner. So I press on and find a local # on it. I can it...the lady was really sweet, but said they couldn't get a tech out there right then and just to have my bank file a dispute...of course I'm telling her...but it says it gave me all my cash...so why would you believe me?! She assured me it's not the first time this has happened...and they would believe me!

So this machine's rollers that the money comes out is on the front of this one with a plastic cover in such a way that your hands can't get to the rollers...but here I am downtown, bent over looking up at the rollers and seeing my money all jammed in them. I'm really not one to leave well enough alone...so...I start digging in my purse and first try a pen...hmm...WOW...lookie there, there's one more $20 for me! But when I was not having any further luck...I started digging in my purse again....I KNOW...my comb! Hmm....my hands are killing me...I am cold and scraping them on the plastic trying to get up there as far as I can...all the while, wondering when the police are going to show up b/c it looks like I'm trying to dig out and steal money from this ATM....hmm...still working with the comb...AHA! there's another 20...just one more to go....after about 20 minutes...I finally gave up, $20 short.

I've called my bank, but I have to wait 24 hours to file the dispute! So the moral of this story...do not use ATM's downtown...not the skinny little standalone, non bank owned ones b/c they are rigged so that all the drunk downtown people don't realize they aren't getting all their money!

That's my lesson for the day!

Friday Night Family Fun

These aren't great shots as apparently I'm not at all good at getting action shots. But I took pics while MiMi, Shell, Wes & Dexter played a little soccer!

All the family came over to celebrate the fact that yes...I am a year older! But it was good company, good food & fun times!

And, thanks Nancy for the gorgeous flowers...did you even know that tulips are my absolute favorite?!