Oh, The Blackyard! If you have ever been there, you know what I'm talking about! A place to relax, drink a cold one, play outdoor games, and listen to music. Not a worry in the world. It is decorated with a lovely rustic theme including: stars, metal chairs, a barn, outdoor speakers, a wooden deck under a corrugated metal roof, Texas license plates throughout, beautiful foliage, barbed wire, whiskey barrels, windmill, old fashion wash boards, wheel barrows, pampa filled, LB's post (left boot), and white Christmas lights for when it gets dark.
The ambiance is perfect for any good ol' Texan. It's definitely not suited for the high maintence need to spend $7 dollars on a drink, pay for cover and parking kind of person. This is the place you bring your beverage then ice and a cooler is provided for you as well as a bottle opener where your cap can fall into a galvanized bucket. Classy I know! No cover charge. Oh, and parking is ALWAYS free!
It does have it's upkeep with picking up the mounds of 'Jake Dumps', mowing, edging, a little fertilizer, and a dash of water from the sprinkler system a couple times a week. Other than that-cake! This place should be on the map!
It's January 29th people. I'm convinced God gives us these beautiful days in the winter to keep us from going into a winter depression. It was a taste of what our summers are like around here. There's not a weekend that goes by that we are not in The Blackyard in the summers. Today, we grilled some meat for fajitas, made some pico de gallo, guacamole, refried beans, and they were delicious!! I mean really really good! Bailey played on her swingset,rolled around on the grass and basically entertained herself, which is always nice for the adults. This was the best day of winter ever!
I dare anybody to say they haven't had a great time in The Blackyard, unless you accidently get stung by a bee of course.
These are the Friday nights I love! Love Love Love.
I don't like eating out during the week and that includes Fridays! I hate wasting the money and fighting the crowds. Believe it or not, this family has only 'eatin' out' two times this year and one of those meals was bought for us. It's just something we don't do. Eating out is such a waste of money and for a family to eat it's at least a 20 dollar bill. It's kinda my goal to make meals cheap and healthy. I love to make casseroles that can be used for two meals and a lunch for both Jerry and I, and it cost no more than $10 bucks! I make this mean chicken spaghetti with all these vegetables in it and I call it 'Momma's Spaghetti Pot Pie'. I like being called Momma for some reason. It's weird. Unfortunately Bailey doesn't eat one single vegetable in it, but she does pick out all the vegetable and eat the noodles. Don't ask for the recipe, because there isn't one, I just throw whatever we have in the pantry and refrigerater in the pot! Oh, and I LOVE my slow cooker. I'm usually not home for Monday meals, but I like slow cooker Tuesday's and pasta Thursday's. Generally I don't like pasta very much but I like a carb overload before a long weekend run.
Anyway, we didn't even have that tonight for crying out loud! Although, I should make it this week. We had corny dogs and french fries with no calories at all. That's my kinda of Friday night meal. Sadly, we ran out of ketchup. I alone can eat half the bottle of ketchup in one meal. I did surprise Bailey with a cookie cake that I got from the mall today. (I have to admit it but I bought another pair of skinny jeans, I hate being like those youngsters, I'm old, I'm 30 for crying out loud!)
We always have 'Country Hits' playing on our TV during dinner and every song, Bailey asks, "is this a country song?" She mumbles to the song as if she knows the words and it makes me laugh. Very cute.
We finished the night with a MOOOVIE! We stream movies form our XBox360 to view newer movies (Jerry's intelligence there) and tonight we watched Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. The movie was really cute and Bailey really enjoy it.
Staying home with your family and watching movies is the best!
There are 31 days until the Cowtown Marathon and honestly I get a little more scared with each day. I mean what's the big deal Brandi? If you tucker out, just walk. Anybody can walk. Who cares? WRONG. People that run never think about walking. That's their worst fear. They try to beat their mile time or win their age division, I'm convinced runners have the worst OCD, but I'm not trying to do either of those.
First, I don't want to die. Second, I would really like to not freeze to death, since I hate cold weather with a passion. Last, I don't want to give up and start walking. Last year, I did the half marathon (13.1 miles) for many reasons. I didn't think I had time to train for a full, I didn't want to fail and have an awful time. I did very well at the half marathon even getting first in my division. So I decided I would do the full marathon this year. I decided this year was the year to do it because I'm 30 dangit and I'm not getting any younger/faster, and because Jerry and I are considering trying for another rug rat this summer after our river trip. So, this very well could be my first and last marathon.
26.2 miles is a lot of running! My goal time is 4 hours and 15 minutes. I would love anything under 4 hours! I know what you're thinking- 4 hours of running, are you kidding me?!! It's crazy. I know once I get there and the adrenaline kicks in I will be good to go at least to mile 20 and Jerry and Bailey being at a few mile markers will keep me motivated. The anxiety up til the race is a killer, especially the week of the race. Did I eat enough? Did I eat too much? Did I drink enough water? Did I drink too much water? Did I get enough rest? Training for a marathon is as much mental anguish as it is phyical anguish.
It reminds me of my college volleyball days when I was scared to go to practice, but once it was over I was good. Yeah, it sucked both mentally and physcially during the practice, but it was so rewarding in the end at what you had accomplished. I'm going to compare this race to a drill back in college called "Dig or Die". Am I going to quit and 'die' so I can start back over at zero or am I going to give it everything I have and 'dig' the ball so I can get done with the drill quicker?
The best part of it all, I'm running in this marathon so I can put a 26.2 sticker on my car. I know most untrained eyes don't even notice them, but I can spot them a mile away. Yep, it's all for a sticker.
I have never had those motherly instincts like most women are born with, maybe because they were never bestowed upon me. I never recall playing with dolls or ever pretending to be a mommy. Babysitting was the worst and honestly I was okay with not having kids.
Having Bailey changed me. A lot.
I decided to let the car warm up a little longer this morning so I could go wake up the 'rug rat'. Jerry drops her off at school so I can miss 820 traffic and get to practice early. I am very thankful to be married to Jerry, because coaching takes so much time. I can always count on him to keep her on Saturdays, drop her off at school, pick her up, feed her, give her a bath, and read to her before bed. I only got to say goodnight to her after my basketball game last night, so I made a point to see her this morning. As she was laying there with her hair all over her face, covers on the floor, and drooling on her pillow, I just watched her sleep. I quickly remembered how blessed I am for God giving her to me and this family. I am so thankful that she is a healthy little girl. She is spoiled beyond words and I just hope that I can be the mother to her that I never had. I have very few memories of my mother and the ones I remember are terrible. I want to be that mother that she can always count on and remembers good things about growing up.
Don't get me wrong there are definitely those days where I want to rip her head off because she won't stop whining or crying, but this morning was one of those good times I want to document.
I have a few friends that are pregnant right now, some that are trying really hard to have a baby, some that have just lost their baby, and whatever God has in store for them I hope they are as happy as I am with my little rug rat.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
If you have ever been to the Stock Show and Rodeo of Fort Worth you know what kind of experience it is. It is 23 days of kid friendly fun, including a carnival midway, walking around live music, food, world class live stock, auctions, cattle drives, campfire stories, shows, rodeos, adult beverages and acres of shopping! The shows include cattle, rabbits, horses, lamb, bulls, goats, sheep, llamas, hamsters, TCU's equestrian competion against Baylor, and much more. They even have Cowboy Church on Sundays.
I attended the Mustang Magic Show and it was amazing. These cowboys were given a mustang and had 90 days to train them. Mustang Horses are wild horses so I couldn't imagine trying to break them and then train them to perform in front of thousands of people. The horses were doing all sorts of crazy acts and weren't spooked in the least. One guy did his entire act bareback and with no bridle. He did the entire act with his voice and his legs instructing him. After the show they auction all the horses off. I always question how the trainers don't get attatched to them, but I guess that's just their job. Makes me sad. Not that I would ever want a horse, because I am afraid of them honestly, but I know there are now proud owners to those mustangs. That show was too cool. One horse was name Payton Manning, I thought that was great.
This is really the reason for my blog...
As I was being the 'people watcher' self that I am, I noticed a variety of folks out there. I noticed some high maintence women, white trash, some real freaks, even a school of gay guys, a lesbian couple, rednecks, shit-kickers, hillbillys, and wanna-be-cowboys as I will call them. When I say wanna-be-cowboys, I mean they are sporting their boots and wearing their ridiculous Hurley shirt. I don't think those two go together. Then I started thinking to myself, what am I? Well, I am a little redneck! Not a Jeff Foxworthy redneck, but a nice redneck. According to the Bellamy Brothers, I have a belt with my name on the back, so I am a redneck girl. I use to like to cruise in daddy's truck. I'm not a hillbilly, I have all my white teeth in good formation, a good job, and live in a house. Redneck all the way. I'm proud of it too. I like to be outside, get dirty in the garage, drink beer, heck drink whisky, party, garden, camp, fish, ride four wheelers, mow the lawn on my tractor, love country dancing, country music, I would change my oil if I knew how. So, my question to you is....what are you?
People travel from all over to come to the Stock Show and I bet you live pretty close to it and have never attended it. Even if you don't own boots or a pearl snap you should still make it out to the Stock Show and Rodeo. Great experience for all.
In closing, I've changed my mind. I no longer want a pot bellied pig named Bacon. They are larger than I expected, their hair is real wirey, and they are unruly. They truly are swine! My new love are cows! I want a cow!
If you know me at all, you know I shake all the time. Tremors is the technical name for it and no it's not Parkinsons. What causes it? Who knows, I've done it my entire life. It gets worst if I'm hungry, stressed, or doing tedious work. Sadly, I stop shaking after a few alcoholic beverages. It's nice to not shake, but I can't drink all the time and quite honestly I'm sick of shaking. I have to use two hands to drink out of a cup, use two hands to put on lip stick, and it just sucks. Well, here lately I have been having some anxiety issues thus making the shaking worst along with chest pains. So I went to the doctor. All the blood work was normal and he put me on a beta blocker for the shaking, which has immediately helped. He also told me, 'no more caffiene.' WHAT?!! I don't drink cokes, but I stop at QT every morning for my 24 ounce of black coffee. I will make a pot of coffee before bed while watching TV. I LOVE my weekends where I sip scalding hot coffee out of my Starbucks Chicago cup on my couch. In the summers I will drink coffee until two in the afternoon. I never really thought it had any effect on me or ever correlated it with my shaking. I just love the taste of coffee! Now, I'm forced to switch to decaffeinated coffee and I have a headache.
Did I mention that while we were building our house in Fort Worth, we were living in our 19 ft camper in Granbury? Yeah, not the most enjoyable time of our marriage. It was cheaper for us to live in that instead of paying rent and storage for the camper, so we killed two birds with one stone. We lived in the gated community where Jerry's parents live. I literally lived on a driving range. I played golf here and there during the most boring summer of my life. I had gone from being overwhelmed with life to laying on a dinette watching TV everyday. It was either sit at the dinette, make the dinette into a bed, or just go lay in the bed. It was awful. The little kitchen was annoying and everything was in storage. Blah!
I guess to make up for the boredom Jerry and I went to see Cooder Graw and Kevin Fowler in concert one week that June of '06. We had a blast as always. I woke up the next morning and felt like death. I told myself NO MORE partying.
My friend, Amber, called me and I told her I didn't feel well and she asked me when my last period was. Good Question. I had no clue. I wasn't hungover, I was pregnant! I knew before I went and bought a test. I took the test, positive as could be and then I just stared at it for about 45 minutes. I was a little freaked out. Okay, I was a lot freaked out! This was not planned and I am a planner in all aspects of my life! I mean I am living in a 19 ft. camper and I am pregnant! Talk about feeling like trash. I was so scared that I called Jerry at work with the news, not quite how I envisioned telling him about the blessed event. He was shocked and really excited surprisingly. Okay, so we're having a baby.
It was hell being pregnant and living in that small camper. The smells of everything made me nauseous. I couldn't stand it when Jerry took a shower because the soap smell would gag me. We cooked tacos in there one night and I couldn't even eat them. It took a year for me to eat tacos again. I told Jerry after the house is built I am NEVER stepping foot in this camper again and I meant it. We sold the camper.
Our house was built in September '06 and our daughter, Bailey Renee arrived March 15, 2007. She was 23" long and was a heavy weight weighing in at 10.5 lbs. Couldn't have been better. She had a beautful nursery and a home, not camper, to come home to.
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Everything happens for a reason.
