Happy #6

Finding a stash of gift cards people gave us for our wedding over a year ago!!! Yea!!! Let's go shopping!

Thursday Thoughts... on a Friday

I should probably be concerned that things are this slow for me with work today that I have now blogged twice, however, I'm just not going to think about it...

What I AM thinking about is this...
- I SERIOUSLY don't understand why the woman who lives upstairs vacuums EVERY SINGLE DAY! I mean, there's cleanliness and then there's OCD.

- I love Elvis Presley.

- I can't wait to use my new Sizzix machine and make super cute tags for Christmas presents this year!

- I don't really understand how our apartment gets chillier throughout the day. I mean it's getting warmer outside and the thermostat has the same temp on it... life's mysteries...

- I'm super pumped about what Mama is getting Matt for Christmas. I keep saying that to him too, so I hope I haven't overdone it... even though it is going to be really exciting!

- I think I'm choosing to write this as I am really so overwhelmed I don't know rather to scratch my watch or wind my butt (yes, stolen from Steel Magnolias). Here's what all I should be doing and have to get done within the next 24 hours before I get on a plane to Bama.
* Vacuum my own apartment... I may just asked the lady from upstairs to come visit us...
* Empty the dishwasher
* Finish the laundry that's been in the machines for the past 2 days
* Bake cookies, lemon squares and bark
* Organize and box all Christmas present for their correct location - Alabama or Massachusetts
* Wrap the presents that have to go to Massachusetts
* Pack all work clothes that I will need for my trip to Bama in one suitcase...
* Pack all other clothes that I will need for hanging around the house for Matt to bring when he comes down to Bama
* Organize two weeks worth of work stuff to take with me
* Address Christmas cards!! I forgot about that one til just now!
* Oh yeah, and I'm in the middle of a work day...
* Hmm... this is a long checklist for the day... I should get going...

Mer Crimmus, Elvis

This year I was a little bummed because Matt and I were unable to decorate for Christmas. We literally travel so much around this time of year, it just wasn't feasible to do all the work for the few days we were actually going to be home... sad, I know.

So, I'm not really a fan of Christmas music... I mean I have to be IN THE MOOD for it. Which basically means, don't start playing it in October, ok? But this morning, as I sit here surrounded with everyone's Christmas presents (well, maybe not everyone, I still have a lot to do), I was like... hmm... I'm feeling kinda Christmassy. I think I will download some Christmas itunage.

And what better Christmas tunage to download than... Elvis Presley! Gosh, I love him. So, folks, if you want to get into the Christmas spirit, may I suggest a little Elvis Presley Christmas Duets. It will put a smile on your face!

Serious Issues

So, I know I haven't blogged in a while, so it is probably rather odd that this is what I choose to blog about... but it is consuming my brain so much (literally) that I can't really think about much else right now. So why not blog about it.

I woke up this morning with what I have now given the official name (for me anyway) as a sinugraine.

Sinus headache + Migraine = Sinugraine

It is the worst feeling your head/brain has ever experienced. Let me see if I can describe it...

Somehow in the middle of the night, while I was sleeping peacefully, someone punched my face right above my nose, in between my eyes, leaving my face feeling... bruised. Then, they took a long, sharp object... let's say a kabob stick... and stuck it in my right eye socket, right in the corner next to my nose and pushed it through my brain up to the top of my head. And then they (let's give this person a name... how about Satan?) took another and pushed it through the base of my brain. Oh yeah, and how about the light shining in my eyes that makes me want to just cry. And let's not forget my poor husband, whom I asked to please just stop moving in bed because it makes me feel like I'm on board with the Deadliest Catch guys and an going to lose control of my sea sickness any moment.

Maybe that can kinda put into words how I am feeling this morning...

Thank you, Jesus, for Real Coca-Cola, ice packs and Excedrine Migraine to help me get over my sickness... now can you help them create Excedrine Sinus?

Happy Thanksgiving

I love Alabama...

Target Conversations

At Target today....

H - "Ok, I think that's all I need. You need anything else?"
M - "Yeah, I need some shampoo."
- thinking -
"Why do they call it shampoo?"
H - "Well, I don't know, hun."
M - "Poo??"

He does make a good point...

I love country music...

You want to know why? Cause you just can't help but smile when you hear a song with lyrics like:

'Cause there ain't nothin' like the sound of a cooler slushin' on the bed of yer truck

Don't it sound so good?

What in the ?!

We got up early this morning... gotta take Dixie to pass her over to Brooke for the next couple weeks since Matt and I will be in Vegas (woohoo) and then Boston for Thanksgiving.

Anywho... we got up early this morning.
I peeked out the window...
WHAT THE?!
There's snow on the cars and the roofs!!
It's November 16th!!
I'm not ready for this...

Smile

Thoughts from the Hampton

It's Thursday...
Here's my thoughts as I sit in my hotel room in Albemarle, NC.

- I am thankful for Hampton Inns... and being a Diamond VIP. Not only do they have the best hotel beds of any other hotel chain, but with the VIP status, I get a bottle of water, something salty and something sweet. Peerfect!

- I love whoever invented Downy Wrinkle Releaser and then thought to sell it in a travel size bottle.

- I love my husband for doing the dishes, laundry and cleaning the apartment so I can come home to a clean home and relax! He really is the most amazing man I've ever met.

- It should be illegal for hotels to not have adequate Coke machines... second night in a row. This is a problem, people... I have needs.

- The old bachelor's "The Drs" talk show is a little odd to me...

- I think I might grow my hair out. I tried this once before and it drove me nuts, but maybe I can make it this time!

- Sometimes, you just have to stop everything even though it's only 4pm and crawl into bed with a good book. I think I need to do that now...

Kentucky Fun

So Mama, Brooke and Grandmama all came up last weekend, wait... weekend before last (whoa, I'm behind) and we did some exciting Kentucky fun things!

Let Me Be Clear

You Can Vote However You Like...

Spread the Wealth?

So, I just saw this on some random guy's Facebook page. I don't know him, so I don't know if this is really something he did or if it's just a "story" he's telling. But either way, I like it...

Yesterday on my way to lunch I passed one of the homeless guys in that area, with a sign that read "Vote Obama, I need the money."

My waiter had on a "Obama 08" tee shirt.When the bill came, I decided not to tip the waiter and explained to him while he had given me exceptional service, that his tee shirt made me feel he obviously believes in Senator Obama's plan to redistribute the wealth. I told him I was going to redistribute his tip to someone that I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. He stood there in disbelief and angrily stormed away.

I went outside, gave the homeless guy $3 and told him to thank the waiter inside, as I had decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy looked at me in disbelief but seemed grateful.

As I got in my truck, I realized this rather unscientific redistribution experiment had left the homeless guy quite happy for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn.

Well, I guess this redistribution of wealth is going to take a while to catch on, with those doing the work. It looks good in principle but not in practice.

Read My Lipstick

Sarah Palin is having a rally in Jeffersonville, Indiana tonight and we're going! I'm so pumped, I even bought a t-shirt!

Pumpkins are done!

So last week, (yes, behind in blog, blah blah) we finished up our pumpkins!! All three - one for Matt, me and Dixie! Here's the rundown...

I mean, can you really have too many pumpkin gut pictures. That's the "best part", right?

I never have been a huge fan of "getting my hands dirty"....

Even the mini-me has guts!

Dixie checking out "her" pumpkin... she wasn't too sure about it at first!

Then she was amazed by it!

And here it is! The final result of our hard work... Matt's Bat, Hope's Spider, and Dixie's paw!

Too bad we did this just a little too early and they are now all out by the trash full of mold... Oh well, it was fun and we learned our lesson for next year!

Dixie Gives Up on Auburn

What? I was bored...

Thursday Thoughts

So I was reading another blog and saw what I thought was a GREAT idea. Jennifer had "Celebrate Tuesday"... so I have decided to start Thursday Thoughts. I too will not commit to doing this once a week... I can only do so much, you know...

I was just thinking this morning, it's so much easier to be in a good mood than a bad one. You just feel better! So here's what I'm thankful for today...

• I love this Fall weather in Kentucky right now. It's 43 degrees outside and I have a couple windows cracked open in the apartment. It's 63 inside! I LOVE it!
• The cooler weather also means Dixie get to wear her "sweaters" that she loves so much. I love watching her stick her neck out and hold up her paws to get dressed!
• Waking up at 6am to work out and being excited about it!
• The Chi hairdryer - Mama and Brooke gave it to my for my birthday. As a matter of fact, I love it so much, you may see it in a "happy" later.
• Sugarland concert on Saturday with my husband!
• Mama, Brooke, and Grandmama coming for a "surprise" birthday visit to Kentucky! Louisville Slugger Museum, Kentucky Hot Browns and Churchill Downs, here we come!

My Birthday Presents!

So, it's my birthday.... yea! When I got up this morning, Matt and Dixie were sitting in the living room waiting for me with presents from both of them sitting on the coffee table. Matt's taking me to see my FAVORITE band, Sugarland, on Saturday! I love them so much! He's also made reservations for us at PF Chang's - yumm yumm! So Matt asked a couple weeks ago what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday, so I told him a cookie cake - with LOTS of white icing! - thinking it would be something easy he could just order from the Cookie Company (and I do love them too!). But no, he decided to bake a double doozie white chocolate macadamia nut cookie cake - with lots of white icing! And let me tell you, folks, it's delish! And how about the Republican napkins and the cute dog hats? Dixie has to be involved in any way possible, you know...

So here was my present from Dixie. I LOVE it! Matt had been spending alot of time doing random things over the past couple weeks... now I see what it was! I've recently decided I'm gonna start scrapbooking. So I've been telling Matt everything I've been learning, the places to get things in Louisville, etc. And ladies, he was LISTENING! So with all of his new found knowledge, he decided that he would create a scrapbook calendar for me from Dixie's perspective... I just HAD to share the whole thing with everyone so you can know how amazing my husband is! I laughed and cried my eyeballs out at the same time!

Here is January.... please note the pictures form three paws! The G in the middle is baseballs on the grass. And yes, we did have Dixie in some of our engagement pics - she's part of the family!

February - You may recognize the peanut butter M&Ms from my "happies". If you look closely, they are now M,H&Ds (Matt, Hope & Dixie). The green heart is from the when he had the grounds crew guys cut "M heart H" in the outfield! The towel is from our honeymoon in Jamaica and the baseballs are from our rehearsal dinner!

March - I love the one of Dixie "driving" Matt's car... and you can't see it very well, but the pic up top with Dixie's tongue hanging out is priceless! And the road signs are all the states we go through on our journeys to and from each of our homes!

April - Opening Day of baseball season! The bats are what we had people sign at the wedding! And the Dixie on the right is what she looks like after a bath! So funny...

May - The month of Derby! In case you don't know, I love Barbaro. The race when he got hurt was the first horse race I had ever seen... and I haven't gotten over it yet! Here's Dixie in her racing garb...

June - this just cracks me up. My favorite is how Dixie's teeth stick out on the left on one and the right on the other. The just don't fit in there the way they're supposed to all the time!

July - These are Dixie's "I've just been groomed, I'm exhausted, and I have stupid bows in my hair" pics. So funny....

August - Matt's favorite. Can you guess why? That's all I'm going to say...

September - Another one of Matt's faves. This is a golf ball on a tee we gave the guys when they went golfing before the wedding. Then there's all of my teams logos and then the logos of the teams Troy plays next year...

October - You can't see it, but the pic on the left is one of my favorites. One day I was packing up the car to leave for a work trip and Dixie was sad. She used her paw to push down the blinds so she could see me. I cried....

November - our anniversary. This is one of my favorite pages!! Dixie couldn't come to the wedding, but Matt managed to get her in the middle of things! She's walking up the road with us, looking at the cake and driving off to go to our honeymoon! Love it!

December - Dixie even got her hand in our ring picture from the wedding! Not to mention her talent of giving Matt "the rock".... that one is real.

So there you have it! The coolest birthday present ever....

Vote... Republican!

Or this fierce dog will come after you!

Happy #5

Just look at the faces on EVERYONE! Even I've got the eyebrow action going. But the ladies in the background... oh, and the moms... love it!
I have this picture posted on my bulletin board (yes, next to the Q-Tip - see Happy #2) just because it brings a smile to my face!

Pumpkin Carving - Day 1

So, Matt and I went to this cool little pumpkin "stand" a few days ago - ok like a week and and a half ago. And we got two pumpkins. One for us and one for Dixie. And then we went to Kroger and they had these adorable little mini-me pumpkins. So Matt decided that we needed to get one of those for her instead and the others could be his and mine. So here's what our cute little pumpkin family looked like...

Last night, we decided... it was time. The carving had to begin! So, having the best husband in the world, he suggested that we do mine first. Although now, I'm wondering if MAYBE it wasn't because we needed to do trial and error first? I don't know... So here's some picks of the events of the evening. Enjoy!

Matt hard at work cleaning out the guts!

Such attention to detail! Although I do have to say that he just did the first little part and I finished it off.... It was my pumpkin and my responsibility, after all! Matt did check on me occassionally, however, by asking, "How ya doin', pumpkin?" Gotta love him, really.

And there we have it - Hope's jack-o-lantern. It's a spider - duh?! So yeah, I have some cleaning up to do still, but I'll get there.

I also roasted the seeds. I still can't figure out how to eat them, but I do like the little mixture I baked them up in - 1 tbsp EVOO, 1tbsp salt, 1tbsp butter. At least the outside of them tastes good!

And I couldn't resist... Here's what they looked like pre-baked. :-)

More to come on the Gallant's Get Ready for Halloween....

Salad

For those of you who know me... you know this is huge.

I just thought I would share with you that I have actually had a salad for lunch like 5 days straight. No Kidding!!

I still don't like lettuce - don't get me wrong! However, I have discovered spinach. And it makes an awesome salad!

Now you know...

Roomie's Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Ash! I wish we could share it over some Crowe's Chicken! :-)

A Good Day

So, it was a good day.

• Dixie got a bath - see pics below
• We met Rick Pitino
• We went to the flea market
• We got our pumpkins for Halloween
• I read alot - I'm addicted to the Twilight series like all the teenagers
• I did some baking.
• Matt made his delicious kabobs - yummo!
• Now I'm having a glass of wine...

So, this is how Dixie dries herself off after she's had a bath. She looks like a rabid dog, sprinting from one end of the room to the other, then going in circles until everyone is dizzy.

Funny, huh?

I thought this was cute. Matt took this picture of Dixie giving him "The Rock."

Payday!

Happy #4

I'm talkin' about two different kinds here. Sure everyone loves when their pay day comes along... but have you ever had a Payday candy bar? They're awesome.

And here's a little secret recipe...

1 candy corn

2 peanuts

Put in mouth at same time. Chew. It taste exactly like a Payday candy bar.

Enjoy.

Peanut Butter M & Ms

Happy #3


It's the small things in life.... like the size of an M&M... a peanut butter one.


They have helped get me through alot -
Wedding planning (thanks, Amber!)
Headaches
Travels
Stress
Long waits
A need for Halloween decor for my end table


No, seriously, look at those pretty colors! Don't worry, they're not just sitting on the table. I put them in a bowl with candy corn!


I love them.

You will too when you try 'em.

QTip

AKA - Happy #2


So, if you know me at all, you know I tend to stress out. Whatever...

One thing that I have noticed that causes this -at least in the work arena- is that I take everything on personally. I have to learn that sometimes, business is business and sometimes things are just out of my control!


We had a cheesey speaker come and talk with us a while back with work to tell us how to communicate with each other, with clients, with people in general, yada yada... So, the other day when I was stressed to the max about work mess, I suddenly had a vision of this woman standing in front of us holding a framed QTip.

"She's nutso," I thought.

She said you gotta -
Quit
Taking
It
Personally

She's right. So, here's my QTip... even though it's not in a frame.


It works...

Happy Birthday, my Husband!

Actually, Matt's birthday was October 1st! But I'm slacking on the blog updates...

I tried to stretch his bday out as much as possible. We started the morning by opening his present... a Wii!! I don't think he was expecting it, but I don't know for sure. He loved it. He immediately wanted to go buy some more games, but I suggested maybe he should just rent and try them out before buying anything. Thank goodness, because as soon as he left, the mail man came by with the Tiger Woods Golf game from Brooke and Mama! So needless to say, he has played that non-stop. He's even created a Wii version of himself on that game.. it's pretty funny. Complete with "soul patch" and everything. I'll try to get a picture of that to put on here too!

He requested a red, white and blue yellow and carrot cake... yeah... so that's what he got! It was a little complicated for me to figure out how to accomplish that at first, but this was the end result. And even though it may look funky, it was delicious! So that's how we celebrated mid-day birthday.

Later that evening, we went and hung out with some of his Louisville Bats work buddies and then we went to his favorite restaurant, Outback, for dinner.


And then came home for more Wii!

It was a good day...

Happy #1

Back in college, a friend of mine had a book called "1001 Things to be Happy About". It was nothing but a listing of hundreds of things or situations that made the author happy. So it inspried me back in the day to start a notebook listing the things and everyday occurances that made me happy. I'm not real sure where that notebook is.... I'm sure it's in some crate or box around here somewhere...

My roommate in college, Ashley (Forbes) Knox, was also so good about randomly getting someone a "happy" just to make their day or just to let someone know she was thinking about them.

So, I've decided to make like list of "Happies"... and I can't think of a better #1 than my handsome husband.

Windows Falling Open

One of my favorite things about Fall is being able to open the windows! There's something about sitting here on my couch with the windows open, the cool breeze coming in and football on the tv. It takes me home - to that comfy, life is good, I think I'll just take a nap feeling.

So yesterday was a big day for Matt and me. It was big for Matt because, well, it's Saturday in the Fall. They're all pretty big to him. I don't really get it, but he can watch any football game, no matter who it is... ALL day... ANY day... It was big for me because Auburn AND Alabama were on tv on the same day! That's not so easily come by up here in Louisville, you know.

So we decided to make a day of it. We went to the grocery store to get our goods for the day. However, I got a little sidetracked at the "Fall station" There were pumpkins and any type of funky looking squash you could think of! So, of course, I was like, these would be awesome in a little setup. So I rummaged through all the different squashes, trying to find the coolest, oddest looking ones... I had to concentrate on this... it took me a minute! So Matt left me and went on to continue with the grocery shopping.

Anywho... I enjoyed making my little decorative addition to the house... The fruit votive candle cutter thingy I got in my stocking at Christmas finally came in handy as well! Here's what I did:

So sometimes, Matt and I decide that we're in the mood to get cookin'! And yesterday was one of those days. We (well mostly Matt) created a feast! He made some of his grandmother's famous meatballs and tomato sauce from scratch for the world's most delicious meatball subs!

But the best had to be his stuffed mushrooms... holy.... moly.... Several months ago, Matt found a recipe for stuffed shrimp that is out of this world! It's become one of our favorite "special menus". And then the other day, a light bulb went off and we thought, "Let's take the shrimp stuffing, but put shrimp pieces in it and then use all of that to make stuffed mushrooms!" As Matt would say.... "Phenomenal."

Ladies, let me tell you... if you haven't ever gone to KraftFoods.com, you need to... right now. I love the recipes on there.. so simple and rarely have I ever had something bad! I've even subscribed to receive the Kraft Foods Magazine with recipes with all sorts of goodies. You should too - it's FREE! As a matter of fact, here's the link - http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/registration/contextualsignuplogin.aspx?registrationactivityid=1237

This is where I got the recipe for the Triple Layer Peanut Butter Brownies... yummo!!

Walk with my Granddaddy...

As you may or may not know, things have been a little stressful for my family lately. My Papa (dad's dad) had a stoke a couple weeks ago.

If there was one thing that we all saw while Papa was in the ICU, it was that he is one of the most loved men you've ever met. Nana had to keep a list of all of visitors who just stopped by to check in on him or called to get the latest update! We joked, but I don't think it was too far from the truth that every member of Dalraida Baptist Church, where he is a deacon, came by or called. Papa may not be a man of many words, but when he speaks, people listen. We spent hours in the waiting room with family, retelling stories we've all heard for year, yet still bring a smile to our face. Our camping trips with Nana and Papa were the highlights of mine and Brooke's (and Nana and Papa's) summers.

We're staying positive that he will get better - he has already shown good signs of improvement! There will be a long road ahead, but we are definitely counting our blessings that he is still with us!

This is one of my favorite pictures from our wedding... Papa sitting and just taking it all in, as always, beforehand.

This past Thursday, Sept 25th was the 24th anniversary of my Granddaddy's death (Mama's daddy). I have always had this marked on my calendar... not because we have any big ceremony, but just so I can make sure I take time to remember this great man. People may think that I shouldn't really remember him, since he passed away just before I turned 4, but I do. I may not have tons of specific memories.... well, other than making tents out of the bedspread and him running underneath me as he pushed me on the swing (I always thought I was going to fall off and land in the pool, even though now I know it was yards away). Maybe it's that I was named after him (David Hope "D.H") that I have this connection, I don't know, but I do know that I had a huge love for this man, even at such a young age.

When Matt and I got married, it broke my heart to think that this man I had loved so much was not there to stand by Grandmama's side, so I wanted in some way to honor his memory and make it feel as though he was right there with us. I asked Uncle Eddy (Mama's brother) to write an arrangement of "It is Well with My Soul" - one of his favorite hymns that was played at his funeral as well - for the cello and violin to play during our ceremony. It was absolutely beautiful! I also had an old hat of Granddaddy's - Auburn of course - that was about to fall apart it was so old. So, I asked Grandmama to do me a favor and cut it up, and sew Aubie into the inside of my dress for my something blue! I think Granddaddy would have gotten a kick out of that.

There's a great song that always makes me think of him and led me to write this blog when I heard it yesterday:

When I get where I'm going,
there'll be only happy tears.
I will shed the sins and struggles,
I have carried all these years.....

I'm gonna walk with my grandaddy
and he'll match me step for step
and I'll tell him how I missed him
every minute since he left.
Then I'll hug his neck.

So, that's my grandfathers... two of the greatest men to ever walk this planet.







Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul.