SNOW!

Y'all, it has gone & done something here in MS that it only does once every blue moon...or once every 3 years...you choose. It snowed! It was 70+ degrees on Sunday, rained all day Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday & then this morning, hello Winter Wonderland! Only in MS is it about 70 one day & below 30 just a couple days later. This place is crazy. Crazy weather leads to crazy sickness, but that is for a later post.

I was largely skeptical that it was actually going to snow. My Mom text me on Tuesday & said "the Weather Channel is predicting snow for you guys on Thursday." I text her back telling her that it would never happen. I even had one of those weird moments last night where you wake from a dead sleep for no reason; once that happened I turned over & peeked out of the blinds - nothing. Still & quiet, not a flake of snow in sight. I mumbled to myself as I turned over to go back to sleep "see, it's so not going to snow. Well, I was wrong.

The rest of this post is pictures - so enjoy! I'm sure there won't be anymore because even though it isn't even noon yet, all the snow at the office has already completely melted. You'd never even know it was snowing two hours ago...

Not what I'm used to seeing outside my windows...but it was nice to see. :)

Hello snow! My porch was totally covered...

Watson was completely confused - he just sat & watched the snow fall for 10 minutes.

This is how big the flakes were - about the size of a quarter or a little bit bigger. Huge!

Off he goes, into the snow!

I have to interject here & say that Watson was really apprehensive about all the white stuff at first. He came up the hall & did this long stare out the front door like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was hilarious. He sat at the front door & just watched the snow fall for about 10 minutes, like he was trying to sort out what he was seeing. I put his coat on him so I could walk him to my Grandma's house - I don't normally walk him over there, but I wanted to see his reaction - and off we went. At first, he tried to find the spots on the ground that didn't have snow on them...but after a few seconds, he just took off at a run through the snow & the trees...like he had momentarily gone wild. It was too funny, but I think all he needed was a minute or two & he was done.

I think the 3 on my 2013 looks a little wobbly...oh well, it was cold.

So pretty!

My bottle tree looks extra bright in the snow!

The water from all the rain....frozen solid.

The backyard....

I don't think this plane is ready for take-off quite yet...

My car was in my "garage" but I stopped at my Nanny's house for 15 minutes...and this much snow accumulated while I was inside. Yikes!

Oh the joys of driving on slippery, snowy roads. I'd rather not do it again.

Trees on the roadside...so pretty.

I saw these across the highway while I was getting gas. Too pretty not to take a pic of.

The porch railings once I arrived at the office.



It's almost 3 now...& you'd never know it had snowed a single drop. The snow finally stopped around 10:15 & by the time noon rolled around, you would have thought that we'd gotten a lot of rain, sure...but snow? You'd never guess it. The sun is out (after 5 days, finally!) & the skies are blueish. Only is MS does the weather act this crazy.

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

Today I don't have a thousand words. I don't really have words in general. What I do have is a sore throat, a slightly throbby head & a cough that is absolutely driving me insane. So I'll leave you with pictures from my week, because sometimes pictures are better than words.

My Toms finally came on Monday...now if it will quit raining, I'll wear them!

Discovered this was the best yogurt flavor ever invented - I need to stock up!

My final "Christmas" present - the first season of Dallas. It's a genetic love I guess, the theme song has been ingrained in my brain since I was a baby.

The weather has been schizophrenic this week...40s one day, 75 the next....

But it sure makes for some pretty sunsets...

The sweetest critter to watch a movie with on Friday night

Out & about on Saturday morning...I promised him I'd take him on a walk.

Exploring the flooded campground...

Wet puppy feet on the front porch steps!

New canvas for the guest bedroom - it seems fitting.

Sunday afternoon nap...my blanket isn't long enough...

Watson hates the rain - no playing outside for him.

Here comes all the rain. Blah.

The Kindness of Strangers....

Oh - what a weekend! You absolutely never know what life is going to throw at you, sometimes you get all shook up, spun around & still manage to come out at the end intact. Granted, you may have shot nerves, muddy boots & tear stained cheeks...but you're still intact. I'll get to that later though...

I do love the weekends, so very much. I love knowing that I have almost two days of time stretching out before me that are completely mine to do what I want. I like knowing that if that means I sit on the couch drinking multiple cups of coffee & watching old episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" until eleven in the morning it is completely okay & no one will complain. That is bliss.

Doing his best "give me some coffee now" face...it didn't work.

Coconut Mocha coffee - I think I have a new favorite!

Found 2 more crosses I didn't remember I had, loving how this looks!

I still cannot figure out for the life of me why this silly blog skips such a huge amount of space when I post pictures - maybe the blog is trying to insert a sense of anticipation, making you scroll to see what comes next? I don't know...but it pesters the fire out of me. Oh well, life goes on.

I was completely lazy on Saturday, I promise. I've tried to be completely lazy & it never really works out so well. I always end up washing clothes, cleaning off counters...something. I can't stand to just really be a completely bummy. What a burden! It rained all day on Saturday & that just made things so dreary. At one point in the day I was contemplating a nap but couldn't fall asleep. I came to the realization that I just wanted to lay there & not do anything but look out the window & watch it rain. So I did. After all that, I set about completely destroying my bathroom while I got ready to go out. Why I curled my hair when it was raining I can't tell you...but I did. I met David in town, we went to get supper & go see "This is 40". Supper was a big hit; the movie not as much. I liked it, thought most of it was funny but David...he hated it. Oh well, can't win em all, right?

So curly....

Yep - I've become one of those people. I take pictures of my outfits. 

So good. And it was from the lighter selections part of the menu! 

It is so hard to get a good picture in a car. This took about 10 minutes & me continually complaining that "you can't even tell my hair is curled." I'm kind of dramatic. I'm also still not 100% in love with this picture. *sigh*

So, once David & I parted ways in North Hills...my night got very interesting. Not really the kind of interesting that you want. It had been raining all day & the roads were wet, which is never really ideal. A slick road causes you to fishtail, which causes you to feel the need to over-correct...and all of this leads to your car going off the road, spinning through a field & only skidding to a stop once it had dug into the mud level with the opening of the door. Not fun. I discovered quickly just how blessed I am for numerous reasons; had I gone off the road just a couple inches later than I did I probably would have went into a ditch, which very well likely would have flipped my car. That didn't happen - praise the Lord. A wonderful woman stopped to check on me, had a son that was able to bring his truck with a wench & pull my car out of the mud. I could have been alone at 10:30 at night while I waited for help. That didn't happen - praise the Lord. There could have easily been a car in the other lane as I slid across the road; I certainly saw enough pass while I was waiting for my car to be pulled out of the mud. That didn't happen - praise the Lord. I got lucky last night, but I don't think it was really luck. It was the power of prayer; the power of having people that pray for me daily & the Lord hearing & answering those prayers. I was home & in my bed before midnight. Shaken up & little sore? Yes. Seriously hurt? No. 

The kindness of strangers renews my faith in humanity a little bit. I think we all need moments like that from time to time, even if they come about from doing a little unintentional mud riding on a Saturday night. Besides the kindness of strangers, I also feel blessed to have so many people who would call me time & again to ensure that everything was okay, to check up on how the situation was progressing & to have so many people that wanted a text or call to ensure I got home safely. I'm blessed, no doubt about it.

Not good. Not good at all.

Survived the night still looking pretty good. Love my boots!

Here we go with another weirdly long page break - pestered I tell ya, I'm pestered. The size of the text has also shrunk - I mean, what is going on with this weirdness?

Sunday has been so peaceful & calm, I do love my Sundays. I love my church family & spending time with them, I love my sweet babies in the nursery & how they make even the craziest mornings feel better with a smile or a pat. I love taking a nap on the couch & just relaxing... Another week is about to start & Sunday is always get for preparing. I think pictures speak better than words sometimes.

Rainbow start to the morning - because the car was covered in mud & that just wouldn't do.

My two favorite boys!

Snuggling with these little people make things much better.

Reading in the sunlight....

He was glad to see the sun. So was I.

Well, I guess that is about all for now. I think it is time for me to whip up some potato soup & prepare to settle in for a new episode of "Once Upon A Time" in just a bit. Another week is about to start, are you ready for it? 

Goodbye weekend...I'll see you again in a few days.

Auld Lang Syne...

I actually have no clue what Auld Lang Syne means...so thank goodness for Google. I might not know what lots of things mean without the help of Google, but I digress. Auld Lang Syne means times gone by, but the only time gone by that I'm going to blog about tonight is the New Year's Eve party I went to last night.

Up until Sunday, I really had no plans for New Year's Eve beyond spending time with my best friend but then an invitation was extended to come to a party at my friend Hope's house. A party is almost always a great idea, because who doesn't love party food, party games & the general merriment that comes along with a party? So at 9:30 we climbed in the car & headed over to Hope's for some of that aforementioned merriment. There was good conversation, a rousing game of Taboo & great food. It was to David & I's misfortune that we got the seats that were located directly in front of the sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies & a type of cookie that David so eloquently called "something with a Reese's cup that is GOOD". This resulted in sneaking cookies throughout the game & at one point having David whisper to me would I "eat half of one of these cookies, please.." so that he could have just one more. I obliged, because seriously - who can say no to a chocolate chip cookie? There were noisemakers & confetti for the big countdown, as well as numerous sparkling beverages. All in all, it was a ton of fun. Peep the pictures below!

Just playing a little Taboo before midnight!

Making sure this thing works right before the big 1-2-0-0 comes around on the clock.

Happy New Year!

What will 2013 bring for all of us?

I was (blessedly) off work today & so I decided to seize the day & make the red beans & rice that was in my new cookbook. True Blood: Eats, Drinks & Bites from Bon Temps. I love red beans & rice but I'd never gotten my hands on my Mommas recipe, so I thought this was the perfect time to give the recipe in the book a try. These are called All Mixed Up Red Beans & Rice, courtesy of Sam Merlotte - a character played on the show by Sam Trammell. I put my beans in water to soak this morning at around 12:55, right before I fell into bed & my house has smelled delicious all day with this stuff cooking. I realized at about 4:30 that I had no rice, so Watson & I made a run to the Piggly Wiggly to get rice, in the rain. Thank goodness, because it was divine. I'm not posting the recipe since I'm pretty sure that would mean I was violating some kind of copyright law(s)...but I do have pictures of the deliciousness. All in all, I'd say it was a pretty great way to start 2013.

All my ingredients...and my awesome cook book!

All the little beans, just a soakin...

If it has sausage, bacon, bell pepper & onion...it's probably pretty good.

I felt it was only appropriate to drink out of my Merlotte's glass while I cooked...

From this.....

To this! 

Oh yeah - it was delicious. If this is what food in Bon Temps taste like, maybe I should move! ;)