Friday Favorites: Ry’s Birthday Edition!

It’s Friday Morning and while i’m at work right now I am so excited because….vacaaaation is coming!!! That makes this Friday a favorite!

Link up with Andrea, Erika, and Narci and share your Friday Favorites with me!

Birthday Shenanigans

Yesterday, my favorite Ryan turned 14. That means, 1 year from yesterday the youngest kid in my family will have a learner’s permit. That also means…OLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We’re all old. I probably just gained another wrinkle in the time it took me to write that 😉

I worked all day yesterday and Ry had a baseball game. So as a family we all went to our favorite place as kids. Dave and Busters!! I mean, we went there at least once a month. Our trip back yesterday just wasn’t the same. Well maybe it was for Ryan, because he was sure rolling in the dough tickets

 

Awww three of my most favorite people squeezed into one side of a tiny 4 person booth.

Ryan’s least favorite thing is being sung to (none of my family is very keen on that). But they brought out a birthday dessert, so he obliged.

Because blowing out the candle wasn’t soooooo bad.

We love you, little Ray Ray!

Heaven

For people like me, this is what they call heaven in a pint. SERIOUSLY, DAIRY FREE AND GLUTEN FREE COOKIE DOUGH???? I never thought i’d live to see the day. I kind of remember trying this before. It’s not the best ice-cream in the world. But let’s be honest, lactose free ice-cream isn’t awesome. I have found a new favorite dessert and feel like it is going to be a little dangerous 😉

July’s Goal

 

If you read my goals for July you might remember me telling you that I want to read a book this month. This is my current read…in my favorite spot cuddled under a blanket with rain hitting the window. It doesn’t get much better than that!

And soaking in the tub after a long day with my favorite Aromatherapy bubble bath soap. So far it’s a really slow book. But i’m hopeful that it will turn around!

Yum

You might have also read that I wanted to make 5 new recipes. I worked on that a little bit Wednesday afternoon when I made Mix and Match Mama’s Sweet Corn Chili. I love chili with a side of cornbread and a rainy afternoon. It was my favorite lunch this week.

Favorite Holiday

Y’all know my favorite holiday just passed. This was not me taking mirror selfies this was me sending 2 necklace options to my mom and sister for them to decide. And we decided on this one.

Two of my favorite friends were going to come pick me up to go into Dallas – you know Tyler and Emily. I sent them this picture, because it’s SO TRUE. 3893 hours later and they finally picked me up.

We went to a place in Dallas that I had heard of before but never been to. I snapped a pic of this little mural made out of my favorite flag. I mean SO CREATIVE.

And then Emily and I shared this drink, and let’s talk about how this is our new favorite. Because it was delicious and Emily licked that popsicle up like it was 110 degrees in Texas, y’all!

Tyler said this was written about him. #K

And this is a selfie I took of me and T because he was being a brat and texting in a group text off Emily’s phone with me and another girl and I had to prove to her it was him. I mean…I can’t even get rid of Tyler ’cause he’s not my boyfriend, you know? Like they’re a packaged deal!!! 😉 Just kidding, he’s my favorite.

Climb on The Magic School Bus!

I just want you to know that The Magic School Bus is on Netflix and I may or may not have spent the rest of my Saturday night watching it with Ryan before bed. I don’t know, that’s not a proven fact. But this was our favorite show as youngsters.

WomAn Tell All!

No, sadly this isn’t some fancy way of me telling you I was invited to the Men Tell All. I wish. This is just me using a blog post idea from a sweet commenter, Randi on Monday’s post. So here’s what i’m doing: i’m asking each of you (my favorite readers) to comment 1 or 38 questions you want me to answer! Whatever you want, whatever topic you want, however deep you want to get. I’m ready to tell all!! *Insert me hoping someone wants to know more about me* Hahaha!

Grab a cup of coffee! Ready? GO! Have a fun weekend, you guys!

1st Snow Day of 2015

Down here in Texas, this is what we call a snow day. Yes….you can see the ground but you’re suppose to be looking at the white!!! That’s snow!

Actually, it was really icy out today, so even if everything wasn’t cancelled I doubt I would have gone out to work. I should’ve spent the day studying and while I did a little bit there was a lot of this in my day…

I made momma’s french toast for breakfast (i’m putting the recipe up tomorrow!)

And then spent the rest of what little morning I had left sleeping/cuddling with my giant bear, magazine reading, and coffee/tea drinking.

Sometimes we all deserve a day off of life to do nothing. By 2:00pm Ryan and I went out to walk around because we started getting tired of being cooped up all day. And this is what it looked like haha. We Texans look like a bunch of amateurs to you northerners, don’t we?

But we still  had to watch where we were stepping. That criminal in my picture is just a 13 year old that wanted to stay warm in this weather 🙂

And because it really wasn’t snow, it was just ice, we couldn’t make snowballs to throw at each other, so we had to use sticks. I know….what we do to keep ourselves entertained when stuck inside all day.

And then we came back inside and decided to eat while watching Air Bud because #bestmovieever

Later that night, momma and I watched The Bachelor and The Voice.

(minus Gwen 😦 )

And then around 8:00 last night the four of us went walking in the streets. Morgan in her boot and all. The roads are super icy and Ryan actually fell….I didn’t laugh at all….lies. But, school is cancelled tomorrow too! SO HALLELUJAH I DON’T HAVE TO SIT IN CLASS!!!!!

So, that is what a snow day looks like. Nothing exciting, nothing to write home about, but a day off work/school…so I guess you can’t complain! But I might be having to write home about not having to be in classes from 8:30am-7:00pm 🙂 Whoop!

My Life Be Like…

All over the place. I feel like I live in my car #commuterprobz #livinganhourawayfrommyworkprobz

The more i’m in my car the worse my road rage gets.

The more i’m in my car the more I despise red lights. But I need to chill out because guess what? I got a freaking red light camera ticket. Is that even constitutional? Yeah so there went a day’s worth of work to the city for running a red light. THANKS CITY OF PLANO! NOW I CAN’T PAY MY TUITION BECAUSE OF YOU!

So other than red light tickets and whining, let’s get you up to speed on what has been happenin’ in my neck of the woods?
I’m going to have to ask you contain your excitement over there…. 😉

This week…..I wake up at 6:15, get littlest bro up, breakfast, and kick him out of the house in time to catch the bus. The other two are on their own because ain’t nobody got time for that. And then i’ll go to work looking OLD? Maybe it’s just me but when did I get old….?

And then I come home from work or school (i’m saving you from early morning school pictures) and take littlest brother to baseball practice at 8. Seriously…who has baseball practice from 8-10 on a Tuesday night? Sitting in classes and at the office all day during the week makes me want to run 10 marathons on the weekends. I’m not used to sitting all the time. So, Tuesday night I thew on my running shoes and power walked around the baseball diamond. Haha…..one of those! And in case you were wondering, no I didn’t have my arms pumping like propellers about to take off.

Tuesday night I ended up at the ER at 11:00pm. God bless my EXHAUSTED soul (pity party for Molly) haha. Morg texted me “I have some bad news.” Then I asked what it was and she said “I hurt my ankle during my game and they told me I might have to get x-rays”. And she wouldn’t go without me because she didn’t know what to do! Hahaha

She wasn’t kidding. Look at how gross that thing is! Even the doctor goes “wow…”

The doc was worried about a little part of her ankle after she took the x-rays, but the Radiologist told her it wasn’t what she was thinking and it turned out all it was is a sprain and some major swelling. So guess who gets to bring ice, motrin, and snacks to homegirl up in her room this week???

#sisteroftheyear

I’m kidding. I’d sit there for her until 11:30 any day of the week.

That night, I was #sisteroftheyear again and picked up Sonic for the brothers. I kept saying no to both brothers, but when I finally realized they actually needed to eat dinner and I was about to take homegirl to the ER I decided I should probably just pick them up some food. So, I caved. Even though fast food grosses me out. Sacrifices!

And on another totally random note…i’m lifting again! Because I miss being active and doing things…like I already said. (yoga every other week isn’t cutting it for me!) I decided to lift some weights while I watched the Bachelor on Monday because Rick got me these for Christmas and you can’t let a good thing just collect dust.

I see a lot of this in my future today.

Because while you were sleeping……

I picked up MOM AND DAD FROM THE AIRPORT. HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH AMEN!

And finished my paper that’s due at 8:30 this morning. #procrastinationatitsfinest

And packed my lunch for today. #foodallergyprobz

And was on time for school today….. #hahahafirsttimeforeverything

Booyah! What have you done?!?!?!?

P.s. I apologize for the excessive use of hashtags. I may or may not be delirious right now from lack of sleep.

Weekend Recap: Home Alone edition

Mom and dad are in Hawaii for their Anniversary (a couple months early). I’m so glad they went!! This week i’m holding down the fort with Rugrat 1, Rugrat 2, and Rugrat 3.

Thursday night I finally saw Reeana since she’s been home from her graduation in December. We went to Mi Cocina and hung out for 2 hours. We talked about being old with jobs, graduation, law school, and all that big kid stuff. It was so fun!! Love spending time with this friend 🙂 And how cute is she in this picture???

And what’s good ol’ Mexican food without some Bud and lime?

Friday morning I went in to the office and was super productive. Because always.

After I got home from work I had a couple hours before Ry had to be at his baseball practice. So I did some dishes. Morgan was at her soccer game and after we left I got a call from Rick saying he was locked out of the house. HAHA! He whinned and complained for 2 hours….however I got them Little Caesers breadsticks and pizza and when we got home the four of us sat around the table and laughed about Rick acting like he was #OMGSOFREEZING from being outside that long. Drama!

Saturday morning I slept until 11. HALLELUJAH. And I “connected over a cup” of vanilla coffee with cinnamon and watched my Hart of Dixie recording. Best. Show. Y’all.

And then to get the siblings to stop whining about how there is no food in our house. (Wrong, there were just no bagel bites) I had to go to the grocery store. But look at this weather!!!! February in TX means sunny and 70. No complaints 🙂

And Saturday afternoon I got a much-needed haircut. Hey, thanks for buying dad 😉

Saturday night I babysat this little cutie and we multi-tasked while playing Mario Kart and eating Doritos.

Sunday morning I went to Yoga as per the every other week usual.

And Rugrat 3 had practice Sunday afternoon, so Morg and I drove to pick him up. Not gonna lie..I almost broke a sweat out there! Beautiful sunshine!

They begged me for Subway, so being the awesome big sis in charge that I am, I obliged so they could get sandwiches. And definitely not so I could get sweet tea or anything 🙂

And I just want to leave you with this picture before we wrap up here, so we can all hate on my parents for being in beautiful Hawaii while each of us are at work/school/the gym/wherever this Monday morning.

Yes. I know.

21 part one

Yes, the infamous 21st birthday weekend has come and gone. I feel like I took a jillion and a half pictures this weekend, so i’m going to split it up into two different days.

“EEP, I’m almost 21”

Just kidding, the Emily’s both texted me and asked what I was wearing to the basketball game we were going to later that night and when I said probably what I wore to work they MADE ME stop what I was doing, take a selfie, and send it to them. How needy….am I right? But let’s not act like it was that big of a problem for me 🙂

Through my work, the employees got to request tickets for the Texas Legends basketball game because it was Miracle League night and we sponsor The Miracle League. I requested the max (10) and brought along Emily #1 and Emily #2 and then told my siblings there was 2 tickets left, so I let them argue who got it. Morg and Ryan won.

I had to take pictures of us. You know, to document that we are in fact friends. It worked out perfectly because they both knew of each other from the restaurant we all worked at.

And that picture above was apparently “too awkward” (thank you Morgan) so we had to take another.

And then strike a pose (we got to the game a little early, can you tell?)

And I didn’t like any of them so Morgan had to get it at a different angle.

And then after still not liking any, I gave up. Here’s a quick snap of the boys! All photos by MorgMiddPhotog because i’m sure you’ll be asking 😉

And this is our motley crew!!!! Nice selfie taking skills Morg, you do a sister proud!

We were serenaded by an elementary school choir singing God Bless America (so cute!) before the game.

     

And then we moved seats because ours sucked. And we watched the game from there.

The Emily’s had a little one crushing on them and making faces at them. He obviously did not want to be there but he was seriously giving us a good laugh! At one point I winked at him to see what he would do and he just stared at me and turned around. Too bad I creep little kids out 😉

Hey girl, you single?

This game was suuuuuuuuuuuuper boring and I would have been disappointed had we paid for these tickets. There was too much going on, it was loud, kids were playing games on the sidelines, people were talking on the mic during the game, someone smelled like illegal substance. It was just all around bad. Nobody said they wanted to leave because they wanted to stay there for me, which is super sweet!!! Finally I was the one that said we should go because everyone was pretty much hating themselves at this point! Haha. So we left at half.

We went to Chili’s because Jowers was starving, the other girls wanted a milkshake, and I didn’t want to go home. We attempted another picture, but I again didn’t like it. Ugh!

There were fries involved…’nuff said. Plenty of grease. Plenty of smiles around the table.

We drove through steak ‘n shake so everyone could get a shake because chili’s doesn’t make them anymore. And then we all went to our separate places and fell asleep.

Saturday morning I slept until 11:00, so yes I wasted the entire morning. But no worries I ran some errands for my momma, including a run by the grocery store for her.

Then we took some furniture to dad’s office. So here I am in the back with lamps, pictures, and a table.

I swear my mom has been there every day for the last I don’t know how long trying to get his office set up for him, everything in it’s place, pictures hung, etc. It sounds hard being a wife 😉

When we got home it was late in the afternoon so I made some food and caught up on Parenthood.

And after that I decided to go to the Saturday night service at my Church because I knew I wasn’t going to get up early to go Sunday if I was heading out to brunch at 10:30.

The message was good and challenged me a little for this upcoming year, so i’m glad I made it. I came home and sat by the fire and blogged a little for part of the night.

UPDATE: Check out part 2 here

Friday Favorites: Because I Can

Mornin’ friends. We made it through the first week of 2015. 51 weeks until it’s 2016. AHHHHH! We’re going to blink and it’ll be December again. But we don’t have time to think about that right now because i’m linking up with Andrea at Momfessionals, Erika at A Little Bit Of Everything, and Narci at Grace and Love blog for Friday Favorites.

You in????

Friday morning I babysat for these three sweet kids. Their parents went to Vegas for the weekend to celebrate a friend’s 40th birthday. I went over there at 8:00am and we watched tv to wake us up. I took them (in the pouring rain no less) to Urban Air to jump on the trampolines for two hours and while we were there I let them have ice-cream & chocolate…yes, early in the morning. Yes, because I can 😉 #bestbabysitter. We grabbed lunch at Subway and then made puzzles until their grandma came over to stay with them the rest of the weekend. It was fun. I always enjoy these crazies.

Saturday night Em 1‘s mom and her boyfriend wanted their kids + significant others to meet. So, I was her little brothers +1. Just kidding, I went because I was invited. We ate BBQ, beans, and there was Mac ‘n Cheese and SWEET TEA! I’m kinda mad at her momma for not making puppy chow. (Don’t worry she knows i’m mad at her) After dinner we all played Scattergories and Em and I KILLED IT! Why? Because we can!!! That’s what you get when you’re the only team with all girls.

(Thanks for the pics Ms. Vickie!!)

Sunday funday with my family. Around 7:30 Ryan came in my room to wake me up so I could go to Starbucks with him and my dad. Look at me drinking that hot coffee again! Ryan was allowed to get a Venti because he got up. I however, obviously didn’t shake on that deal.

Later that morning, Ryan, Morgan and I went to see Annie in theaters. Our consensus: Morgan and I didn’t like it and we thought that it doesn’t compare to the old Annie. Probably because we grew up watching that version. However, Ry not having seen any of them really liked this Annie. He’s younger too so maybe that plays into it a little bit. Have you seen it yet? Are you on me and Morg’s side? Or Ry’s?

I was selfie ready for work bright and early Monday morning. I was bundled up in my scarf and peacoat why???????? No. Wrong. It’s not because I can. It’s because it was like -12 with a windchill of -12 so that’s probably -24, right? It’s a good thing i’m not a meteorology major. I was ready to hit the office for some good old fashioned adult-like working’. Growing up is hard to do, man. or woman. whoever you are 😉

Because classes don’t start until Monday, I worked every day this week. Normally i’ll be at school Tuesday/Thursday. We didn’t know we were going to have to work late Tuesday until about 1:00, so I went on a coffee run to the Starbucks downstairs for the three of us in HR. I’ve noticed that with 2 jobs, a social life, school, and what not that my phone is buzzing and alerting me 24/7. How on Earth do people live without phones these days?

Remember this….because YOU can. It was part of my new years resolutions on Tuesday’s post. If you missed that be sure to check it out HERE.

Yesterday my boss gave me the day off of work so I ran around with mom, because I could. While we were at the mall, I had to stop at Starbucks and get some hot coffee. Who am I?? Starbucks? Hot coffee?

Then we went to Hobbs because we were looking for lamps and mirrors for my dad’s new office, so I snapped a selfie because I can. And then mom gave me the look. But it’s fine.

Next time I talk to you, my friends, i’ll be ANOTHER YEAR OLDER. Cue the tears. Birthdays are bittersweet. However, I will accept gift cards and money, you know, to make me feel better about getting old.

See you Monday!

Meet My Peeps: Ryan

So this week let’s meet…….

Ryan

How do I know Ryan?
Ry has been my youngest sibling for the past 13 years.

What do I love about Ryan?
Ryan has just about the sweetest heart known to mankind. I know a lot of people say this about their children and family. But really and truly he does. Ry loves animals like nobody i’ve ever seen. He almost teared up when my mom came close to running over a squirrel. While Rick made fun of him, I thought it was the cutest thing.

(We found this Starfish and he did not want to leave it. It took him forever to finally say his goodbyes because he thought Starfish was dead.)
Ryan and I are probably the closest out of all of us siblings. I call him “Roo” because his names for video games are usually “RudyRyan24”. Don’t know how he came up with it, but ever since then I started to call him Roo. or RubyTuesday. And sometimes the rest of the family calls him that, too. It just kind of stuck. Oh, and he looooves sports. So for sure we get along. He played every sport offered at school last year, and is now taking up fishing. He thinks he can do it all and I love it!

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Ryan?
FAST FOOD! Haha kid loves fast food. If he was allowed, mozzarella sticks and french fries would be dinner every night. Or maybe a hotdog. And actually as i’m writing…this is happening

And I also think of video games because that’s all he ever does…my dad calls our family room tv “Ryan’s tv” because he’s always in front of it. Ryan’s little like me, he’s actually two years behind in growth; we just have a lot in common. And I named him…after our neighbor two years older than me. (I was 7, okay!!!) Oh, and he’s a dare-devil. Hence the attempts below at frog legs and snail.

What do I think is one fun fact about Ryan?
This kid is google when it comes to sports. We can think of any question possible to ask him, and he knows the answer! A random player off an NFL team? Knows where they went to college. Any team, any sport, any person. It’s kind of freaky, but maybe it’s from those video games???

  

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Okay, here with go with his interview!!

What is your name? Age?
“My name is Ryan Middleton and i’m 12—-I mean 13 years old.”

1. If money weren’t an object, what would you do with your life?
“I’d play video games.”

2. List 3 of your favorite things.
“Sports, Video games, Swimming.”
(Are you finally catching on to something now??)

3. If you were another person would you be friends with you?
*Sits there pondering* Maybe because I don’t know what I am.
(I think he means to other people?)

4. What annoys you most about me?
“About who?” Me: “Me.” Ryan: “You try to sing with The Voice and you’re not good.” *Plays with his phone.*

5. Do you like taking this?
“Yes!”

6. Who’s the first person you’d call if you had a bad day?
“Mom, no no no Morgan, then mom.”

7. What’s one thing I don’t know about you?
“hmm, I take baths every night.” Rick: “YOU TAKE BATHS???”

8. What is your favorite Bible verse?
“First Johns 3:16”
(haha we will work on that name of the book!)

9. What is one thing you hid from your parents?
“I stole a league of legends card off mom’s desk and she didn’t know.” Mom: “Yes I did, I knew when they weren’t there anymore.”

10. What would you rather be doing than this right now?
“I’d rather be laying on the couch sleeping or if mom lets me play video games-or eat—flaming hot funyans.”
(This kid can eat flaming hot anything without water. And he is addicted, he tells mom to take them away from him sometimes)

11. Who is the funniest person you know?
“Funniest person I know…probably be Jake.” *Rick punches Ryan*
(Hmmm someone’s a little jealous)

12. What is a “color of your life”?
“Color of my life…blue because blue is my favorite color and color of my life because when I was a baby I got a blue pillow” Me: “Ryan you don’t know that.” Ryan: “Well, those people don’t know.”

13. What is your favorite holiday? Why?
“Favorite holiday has to be Christmas because I get a lot of new things for free.”

Yep, just your average 13 year old. Thank you for participating, Ry!!

Glad you all got to meet my Roo today. Come back next week to meet another one of my peeps 🙂
If you missed any of my previous people, check it out HERE!