Day 9

"Day 09 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most"

Since we are talking person [physical terms] ... I really can't put them in a specific order - but the people who have been there to help get me through, especially when things just seemed to fall apart are my family [and that inclues Danny]! They are there to lend emotional support whenever necessary. I love them!

 My sister Audrey

My Dad

And Danny

Day 8

"Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh"

I knew I couldn't just pick one picture!! lol. So here are a few:

***Warning: This may be just a bit of a picture overload hehe

This headless snowman cookie is from Christmas '09. This was my cousin Victoria's craftywork. The cookie had broken, and she wasn't going to just throw it away or eat it before she had a chance to "fix" it. This was the end product. lol.

This picture of the masa snowman is from Christmas '10. Every once in awhile my sister, cousins and I will help my grandma make tamales. Because hands down, hers are way better than any store bought ones and if I have to help to get some, I'm there!

At this point the tamale filling was all gone and we were stuck with a little left over masa. So what do you get with leftovers and silly cousins --> a masa snowman.

 This is Bella. The picture doesn't really need an explanation, lol. Silly dog!

This is Bella again. She really wanted something to lay on besides the hard floor. The doggie bed belongs to my sisters Chihuahua. lol

This was at my high school senior band concert. [I'm in the very middle] They made a presentation of all the seniors for the year. Just when they thought they'd announced everyone, one of our classmates yells from the audience: "You forgot me!" At this point we were all laughing and cheering on our friend to join us on stage.

Mother's Day 2008 - Weslaco, TX. This is me and my cousin Anthony from Fort Worth. Funny picture first, normal picture later. lol.

MY BFF!! Danny Saldana. This was my freshman year in college Fall 2006. I was going to UTSA and he was going to UT in Austin. I went up for a random weekend visit just to visit!

Halloween weekend 2008. Mount Bonnell. Me and my BFF :)

This is Danny [my husband, lol] We all tried on a pair of these glasses at the mall, but this picture is my favorite.

This is Danny trying to ride our nephew Jack's bike! lol. He was just a little too big for it.

Mr. Jack! Halloween .... I don't remember. But it was before they made the move to Illinois and were still in Helotes, TX. He loved that costume, running around the house with just the cape and mask on - too funny!



Day 7

"Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item"


I'm not sure how this will come across ... but my most treasured item is my iPhone! lol
 

Yep, even with that mess of a screen protector!

I left it in the car one time we went shopping in downtown McAllen ... I looked like a nut going through my purse trying to find it! I litterally couldn't do anything but worry about it. Crazy huh?!

It's an expensive phone but I don't regret spending the money to buy it - it does everything I need it to and then some! I knew if I lost it that would be it, I wouldn't be able to get another one. Thank goodness Hubby went to the car to calm my worries and see if it was there it was, safe and sound!

Crisis averted. lol.

Day 6

Late again! I know! But I'm here!!


"Day 06 - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day"

I had the hardest time trying to decide on who I would want to trade places with .. It even came to the point where my little sister was telling me "BLOG FAIL!" I told her I couldn't decide who I'd want to trade places with and she didn't even hesitate for a second before she said "A Chef"

Um hello!! I had a duh moment! lol.

I would love to trade with a pastry chef. No one in particular, just anybody.

I would have a blast! :)

Day 5

"Day 05 - A picture of your favorite memory"

Right now, hands down my favorite memory to this day would be the day that Danny and I got married.

Best day ever. Enough said :-) It was a beautiful wedding!
 
We'd been together for the majority of about 7 years before we got married. High school sweethearts I guess you could say. Right now we're still adjusting to being semi-newlyweds and getting ready for our 1st year anniversary in less than 2 weeks! No kids right now, not in the near future - although, when we are ready to start our family I've already claimed that I want at least 4. I know I say that now, we'll see what happens when we actually start trying. lol.

Day 4

"Day 04 - A picture of your night"

I couldn't do this post yesterday because I knew that I was going to be out and about so I would post today.

Last night Danny had his end of the semester Jazz Concert.

^^^ Hubby is in the last row, far right corner ^^^

It wasn't bad. I thought it was going to be worse than what it was.

LOL. That sounds bad doesn't it? Its not the group that makes the concerts bad or boring -- It's the music that the directors choose for the groups to play. They are poor selectors.

But yes, that's where I was last night. I saw Hubby's Jazz concert :)

After the concert we went with a few friends to Irish Pub to munch out and have some laughs. All in all, a good night!

Day 3

I realize I'm a little late for this post [Yes, Audrey "Blog fail. lol] ... but unfortunately I had some stuff to deal with yesterday and then when I did have a chance Hubby was using the laptop to study for an exam he had this morning.

So moving on, "Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show"

I don't know that I have an absolute favorite, but I have a few that I aboslutely hate to miss.

1. GLEE

I can't help it. I LOVE this show! I DVR it, and even then sometimes I'll start watching when it's about 20 minutes in just so I can skip the commercials.
 
 
2. Top Chef
 
 

Remember in my last post I said I loved anything food related?? Well he's proof to that. lol. I love this show. This season was an All Stars one. Hands down, one of the best seasons. It just wrapped up last week and this Wednesday wil be the reunion show. My DVR is already set!!

Day 2

Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest

This is me [left] and my little sister Audrey in September 2009.

I've known her for 21 years! lol. We are only 2 years apart and for the most part almost inseperable.

I remember saying that I would've love to have a little brother, but having a little sister - I would not trade that for the world.

We are so in sync sometimes it's just funny. We look alike, people ask often ask us if we're twins. And then when we break the news that sadly no, we are not twins just sisters - they feel even more let down because they think that Audrey is the older sister. lol.

We are so alike in many ways and at the same time extremely different.

I share everything with her.

I love her :-)



Day 1

I decided to hop on the bandwagon here and participate in the 30 Day Blog Challenge :-) I've been neglecting my blog and have just been reading all the ones I follow.

Anyway ....

Here are the details for the blog challenge:


Day 01 - A picture of yourself with ten facts


Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest


Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show


Day 04 - A picture of your night


Day 05 - A picture of your favorite memory


Day 06 - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day


Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item


Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh


Day 09 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most


Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the most crazy things with


Day 11 - A picture of something you hate


Day 12 - A picture of something you love


Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist


Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without


Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die


Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you


Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently


Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity


Day 19 - A picture and a letter


Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel


Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget


Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at


Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book


Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change


Day 25 - A picture of your day


Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you


Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member


Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of


Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile


Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss






DAY 1
 

1. I love anything food related.

Talk. Tv shows.  I even take my time in the produce section at the grocery store because I like to see everything thats available.

2. I didn't really choose my major, I think I let it choose me.

I don't really enjoy what I do, but I'm good at it. I was too scared to really go for it, to do what I really wanted to. I'm a firm believer in that it's never too late to do what you really want to in life. And so I plan to enroll in some type of culinary program. Eventually :)

3. I hate my hair and get very jealous at other girls with a particular type of hair.

The thin, never poofs out type. Yeah I would love to have that. My hair is THICK. Super THICK. Everytime I go in for a trim the stylists go nuts when they touch my hair and say I have beautiful hair, because it's so thick. Where we live, because of the humidity - I am litterally limited to 2 hairstyles. Ponytailed up. Or bunned :( I tried to straighten it and make it all pretty to go out one night, and within 5 minutes (I kid you not!) it got ugly.

4. I am suffering from baby fever. And I want it to go away NOW.

5. I love to wash dishes

 ... now. LOL And I think I'm a little OCD about having a clean kitchen. I litterally can not cook in my kitchen unless it's clean and organized. Ever since my husband bought me an under-the-counter radio/iPod thing I do no

 
6. I still watch Greek on ABC Family. Yes, I know - it's lame. Yet, I still watch.
 
7. As much as I would like to be crafty, and often try to be - I'm just not. My skills are better served in the kitchen. lol.
 
8. I <3 GLEE. And I'm not afraid to admit it!
 
9. I HATE Katy Perry with a passion. That girl just can't sing. Everytime I hear her I think she sounds like she's struggling to hit the higher notes.
 
10. I'm Hispanic and grew up in deep South Texas, but I cannot carry out a decent conversation in Spanish. My knowledge of the Spanish language is close to minimal.
 
Most of the time when I speak Spanish - I practice out what I'm about to say. It's getting a lot better, I'm learning a lot ... at work especially.

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy 21st Birthday to my little sister Audrey!!!

She's one of the most amazing people I know. She really senstive, but she's stronger than she knows. She's super smart even though sometimes she may not think so. She's always putting everyone in front of herself - her giving has [almost] no limits. She's one of the most kind people I know, even though she may not consider herself to be. She's my baby sister, and I love her to pieces!!

Here's an old picture of us when I was taller than she was! :-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUDREY!!!

Cheesecake

So I'm a big believer in that desserts taste better when they're homemade. I don't buy store bought desserts. I'll only buy ice cream because Hubby hasn't gotten me the ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid Mixer ... but that's another story.

A co-worker brought us ladies in the office a cheescake one Friday. And I'll tell you it looked delicious! He brought it on a Friday, and for some reason we just didn't get around to eating it. So I took it home with me seeing as I was the last one in the office and we hate to leave food in the office over the weekend.

I did not like it! I thought it was way too sweet and it didn't really have that cheesecake taste. At least I didn't think so. Hubby on the other hand, claimed it was delicous and better than any one I'd made.

O.o

?! I could not believe those words that came out of his mouth. But now that I think about it, he probably only said that so that I would make another one ....

We'd only had a piece or two at the time and the rest just stayed in the fridge for a few days.

Then we had a BBQ and our guests finished that store bought ickyness. lol. They also said it was delicious! So right then and there I claimed I could make a better chessecake and that I would .. the next day.

lol. I kept my word! Here is my cheesecake:

The verdict?

AWESOME!

I could've been a bigger badass and made the strawberry topping from scratch - but nah. lol. Those I bought canned.

:-)

Smokey *TMI - warning!*

This is Smokey:

 

Smokey has problems:

LOL.

Bella

I miss my pooch.

I'm allergic to sweat!

... Or am I?


I've been meaning to get healthy and lose some weight for some time now. But there was always something to excuse myself from actually getting out and exercising. So we [hubby and I] finally made it a point to go out and get some vitamins and weight loss additives [<-- I might be wrong on that word] ....

So we re-started our walking/jogging in the mornings around where we live. I enjoy it for the most part. Waking up early is the part I'm not too crazy about. So maybe a little less than halfway through our path, my thighs start to feel itchy. And then I notice that the my waist starts to feel itchy too - from the elastic on my shorts. When I look down I see that my thighs they're red and splotchy. The sweat irritates my legs! Would you believe that? Yea my husband doesn't buy it either. lol.

No but seriously, I think it's just because my body is not used to sweating .. at all. I'm sure that it won't happen all the time. At least I hope not. We'll see how tomorrow goes!

Debbie Downer

I've been kinda bummed lately. And for the mere fact that I really miss my pooch!

We are currently leasing in an apartment and their policy on dogs is that they're allowed with a $400.00 non-refundable pet deposit, and max weight of 25 lbs. Our Bella is right around 50 lbs! So needless to say, someone would've definitely noticed her and we would've gotten in trouble. Right now we have Smokey in the apartment, illegally. lol. But he's been really good in the apartment surprisingly enough.

But Smokey is a cat. He's not a cuddler like Bella is :( I miss her like crazy. I've had a dog since I was a kid. I had Chachi [chihuahua] through middle school, high school and college. Then we got our cocker spaniel Bonnie. I had her the shortest, but she was a good dog! She liked to chase cars :( And while we had Bonnie we adopted Bella. This March will mark 2 years with Bella. I miss her terribly. I tried to facetime with her last week, and she was so fascinated with herself she didn't pay me any attention.

Lucky for me, we are heading to visit my dad this weekend and the next since the husband has a practice and a performance in the upper valley. So I'll get to spend some quality time with Bella - and do my laundry. lol. Until then I'll just miss her.

I'm going ....

... to see JOSH [FREAKING] GROBAN in Dallas on May 16th!!!

I'm going to the concert with my little sister! We are so stinkin' excited. We've LOVE him and have been waiting for him to go on tour for what seems like forever. The last tour he had included a stop in San Antonio but we were not able to go. So the second we found out he was going on tour again, we stalked the site only to find out he was going to have a performance in Dallas. We WERE going to go, no matter what. She even managed to get pre-sale packaged tickets! Awesome deal, awesome seats!!! I cannot wait!!

This is why ...

... I can't lose weight.

Well not that I can't. But it definitely doesn't make it any easier.

By the way - this cake was absolutely delicious!

Dont' judge.

A good memory

I went to visit my mom this past Sunday. She was having technical difficulties getting music onto her mp3 player and called me asking if I could go and help her out. We got it all worked out and then we just sat around and talked for a bit. Out of nowhere she asks me about a particular book she had. She asked if I remembered when/where she got it. I couldn't. I remembered the book but I couldn't remember anything about it. Before I was about to leave she hands me some papers. They were pages taken out of one of her old journals. Later I showed my husband the pages and he suggested that maybe that's where I got my desire to blog from.

So I'm going to share her pages here.

After I read this - I remembered, almost clearly. And I teared up a bit. It was a good memory, and I'm glad that my mom wrote it down.

My Return to the Blog World!

So last night I mentioned to my husband how I hadn’t blogged in long time! His response: “Uh I know!”



Point taken. Lol.


So here I am, trying to ease my way back into blogging. The truth is I’ve missed it. It was a way of documenting what has been going on in my life; regardless of how many followers I had or comments I received. I enjoyed it for myself.


Things are rolling right along in all aspects. I finished my temporary period here at work in January and after the first week, I became an official employee! Danny is back in school for the spring semester, he has his senior recital this April!! Smokey has gained a significant amount of weight during his transition into being domesticated! I know Danny will rarely if at all admit, but we both love that pudgy, little punk to pieces. Bella is still being a goofball over at my dad’s. Just the other day I was over there and I noticed how all the other dogs were missing their whiskers! And then Bella came up to me and she has all of hers! Bella has been nibbling all the other dogs’ whiskers off! Ridiculous, right?! Next time I go to my dad’s I will be sure to photograph them so that I can share them on here.


We renewed our lease in our apartment for another year. Hopefully by December we will be moving into a house. The only downside to being more than 20 minutes away from family is – just that. We are farther away so it takes just that much more to visit.


I celebrated my 23rd birthday this past January [17th]. We had a nice dinner with a couple of our friends at our apartment. The day before, Danny and I had gone to my dad’s and celebrated early with him and my sister. They got me a cake and a beautiful charm bracelet.

The cake was delicious!!

I have 3 charms: L-R: A kitchen utensil container thing, a heart that reads "Middle Sister", and a cross.

Danny gave the ok to get iPhone 4’s! I was like a kid in a candy store. I was ecstatic! He got one too since we weren’t able to do anything for his birthday. So now we both have awesome phones! The not so awesome part was closing our Sprint account. Our bill is only about $20 more with AT&T – and I have a phone I love!


Valentine’s Day is coming up just around the corner! I have no idea what we’re going to do. We don’t do presents, it’s usually just out to dinner. And even then. What aggravates me is that no matter where you go it’s packed! Maybe we’ll stay in this year. …. I guess we shall see what happens. Danny got a postcard thing from the florist we used for our wedding. She’s so thoughtful! She reminded him that Valentine’s Day fell on a Monday and she mentioned how it was going to be our first Valentines as husband and wife. And then she said she was going to be calling him, I guess to see if he wanted to put in an order! That would be awesome! I loved her arrangements, and not only is she thoughtful – but she’s very to the point. She asks you what you like and gives it to you. She doesn’t make her own arrangements based on what she thinks looks good. In one word – she’s “awesome”!

Just for fun: here's a recent picture of Smokey and Bella:

***I think I want to change my headline/title. But I haven't quite figured out what I'd like to change it to. For now it's just a thought.

A mini-update

Here are some little updates ... not much has happened but these bullets mostly summarize a lot of what's happened.

• I got a new job! It's still through the temp agency, but its a job. The probationary period is 3 months and then we'll see what happens. But as of right now, it looks very promising. I'm an office clerk/payroll manager at a scrap metal shredding company. It's a pretty dirty environment, but the job is good and I really like it. I came in just after their office manager quit.  The office was a mess and we spent most of October straightening everything out! Now everything seems to be moving a lot more smoothly. Now we have a new office manager, and I'm still working here :) It's all good.

Some scrap metal finds:
Carousel Horse and a tricycle.

• Danny and I decided to renew our lease in our current apartment. We tried looking for a new place to live, but after several unsucessful attempts at finding anything new, we just threw in the towel and didn't want to stress it anymore. So we're renewing for another year. It's not permanent, it's not forever. And it's a pretty good apartment so its all good.
• Smokey is doing great! He's definitely gained some weight since moving inside. He's really funny, especially when I get home from work. He likes to sunbathe inbetween the blinds and the window. And he likes to look at my reflection rather than me, even though I can be staring right at him.
• I haven't been putting much thought into my cooking/baking. We're more on a day by day basis when it comes to dinner these days. Although I am always sure to cook enough for an extra plate so I can take it for lunch at work. 

Day after Thanksgiving Means ...

Well besides black Friday shopping, time to put up Christmas decorations!!

We went nuts at Hobby Lobby yesterday! Not completely, but we bought a lot of stuff! But for now, I'm just going to showcase the wreath that we bought. Hanging it on the door was one of the first things that we did when we got back to Brownsville.

Please forgive the dark picture .. it was after 10 o'clock at night! lol.

Turkey Day [Desserts]

This Thanksgiving I only baked 3 things :( It was a little something to adjust to, since in years past I've made more than a handful of things for dessert. I still slept the same amount of hours the night before Thanksgiving. But alas, I only baked:

A lemon meringue pie

A Pumpkin Pie and a double layered carrot cake.

All were delicious! Even my not-completely thickened cream cheese frosting I used on the cake. It still tasted great! And afterall, isn't that all that matters?? hahaha. ;-)

We had Thanksgiving lunch with Danny's family and boy was it delicious! His dad has these famous biscuits that he makes, melt in your mouth biscuits!! Better than Cracker Barrel biscuits!  True story ;) They always go all out for Turkey Day. Everything was delicious. I was so full! I didn't even bother to leave room for when we would meet up with my family later that day. But then again, my family doesn't do Thanksgiving like Danny's does. 

Overall it was a good day :)

I hope everybody had a great day spent with family and friends!

Getting back into the swing of things - "US"

So I've been a bad blogger haven't I?

All for good reason though! I'll have to do an update another day, very soon I hope. Just a lot going on - all good, thanks to God!

So in effort to get back into blogging regularly I thought I'd do this post that I'd seen on other blogs.


1. What are your middle names? Wentworth (lol, yeah I know!) and Renee

2. How long have you been together? Together for 7+ years … Married for 7 months

3. How long did you know each other before you started dating? A couple years ... he was a grade higher than me in school - we knew eachother, but we didn't know eachother. Make sense? We were both in band.   LOL.

4. Who asked who out? He asked me out during a Mariachi trip to Dallas.

5. How old are each of you? He turns 24 in 10 days! I'm 22.

 

6. Did you go to the same school? Same middle school, same high school. Different Universities.

7. Are you from the same home town? Yes, sort of. We're both from the Rio Grande Valley.


8. Who is the smartest? .... Me. lol. JK. We are both smarter than the other in some areas than others. Don't ask me anything about TV's or electronics. Don't ask Danny about payrolls and cooking/baking. hahaha :)

9. Who majored in what? I majored in Accounting. He's going to school for Music Education.

10. Who is the most sensitive? Defnitely me.

11. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Florida - DisneyWorld.

12. Who has the worst temper? I get mad more quickly than he does. But when he gets mad, he's mad.

13. How many children do you want? I want 4-5 right now. Ask me again in a year or two, I may have a different answer.


14. Who does the cooking? I do most of the cooking. Danny has been dabbling with BBQ, so far so good!



15. Who is more social? Defnitely Danny. I'm way more antisocial, but I'm coming out of it - the new job is helping with that!

16. Who is the neat freak? Oooh me. No doubt. I like things put in their place.

17. Who is the most stubborn? We are both very stubborn.

18. Who wakes up earlier? Most days I get up earlier to get ready for work.

19. Where was your first date? ... I can't remember! I know it was in Dallas though. FAIL! I know :(

20. Who has the bigger family? He does. I think we tie with the extended family though.


** What happened to #21?! lol.


22. How do you spend the holidays? In the years before - lunch with his parents, dinner with mine. ... Now it's lunch with his Dad, dinner with mine. Mom's will get worked in there somewhere.

23. Who is more jealous? I don't know. Neither .. ?? lol.

24. How long did it take to get serious? A few weeks.

 

25. Who eats more? HAHA Danny. :)

 

26. What do you do for a living? Right now I'm an office clerk at a scrap metal shredding yard. And I'm in charge of Payroll.

27. Who does the laundry? Sometimes we do laundry together, but then there are a lot of times where Danny will do it.

28. Who's better with the computer? We tie. ;)

29. Who drives when you are together? Danny, he says I'm a careless driver sometimes.

 

30. What is your song? LAME! haha jk. I don't think we have a song. Our first dance song was "Its Your Love - Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.

That was fun!

Potty Training Smokey

I'm a pet lover, and I'm fairly confident in my potty training skills. Now I know I'm no miracle worker, but I have the patience and it turns out right now I have the time! So after weeks of keeping our pets at my dad's house, I talked Danny into letting me bring Smokey to the apartment :)

Smokey has been an inside/outside cat since we found him. Yes, he was initially a stray. But after I saw him, I thought he was too pretty to stay a stray. So I claimed him and dubbed him "Smokey". Clever huh? lol. That was about 4 years ago, and he was already full grown - so that makes him about 6 years old now.

But like I said, he's been inside/outside for his whole life - until now! I knew going into this we'd have a couple of accidents on the carpet to start because he's not used to the litter box. So after the first night (2 accidents) he hadn't had an accident all day and I was getting worried. So I go over to the litter box and start moving the litter around with the pooper scooper and he gets all curious and jumps right in. He sniffed around for a bit before he used it! I was so proud of him! lol. Am I completely lame?

He used it again this morning. I'm a proud mama! lol. Now he's just chilling on the carpet under our bed. He loves the carpet. I thought he'd be a pain and want to go outside all the time. Lucky for us, no whining and he seems to be liking that he's the only pet in this apartment. So far, so good. I hope he keeps up this good behavior.

Here's Smokey in the car on the way to the apartment