Cold Snap #2

Halfway thru bestie weekend the weather went all cold again. Sat was ok, sun was FRIGID, and it continued thru Mon and Tue. I had to order food on mon and go get it. It was cold but worth it for the Greek chicken salad from Storybook. 😁 I got groceries after work so that I could prep my lunches for the rest of the week. I'd just bought some salad Tupperware, so I HAD to try it out, right? Besides, the weather was supposed to warm up on wed. 

Tuesdays lunch was roasted sweet potatoes and brussles sprouts with chicken and balsamic. Wednesday was salad with tuna, hummus, and pita bread. Thursday was salad with Buffalo chicken. For my snackies i had Greek yogurt with blueberries and granola for one day, and apples with babybel and mixed nuts the other 2 days. 😋 I do love my foods. 

All prepped and ready, tasted great the next day, too.

Wednesdays lunch. You can't tell but there is tuna in the salad and not pictured is roasted red pepper hummus to dip the celery and Naan bites in. 

Pre lunch snack, also known as breakfast. 

My older sis was complaining about having to plan dinner all the time now that they are off the truck. I knew she wouldn't appreciate my salad, but I had to share and her reaction made me laugh.

From now on my lunches shall be called "disgustingly sensible." LMAO

I also became a YouTube yoga lady. I wanted to ease back into working out, so I started with a couple short videos. Just one for hips and back cuz, yeah, and one for shoulders and neck. After I was done I found the DVDs that I bought. So yeah, thats a thing now.

I took this pic and all i can focus on is my tummy... it's peeking out! Since I did just have surgery a little bit ago I'm gonna take the ab work slow, methinks, but my goal for the year is 40lbs lost.

Something else that's a thing now is Aces favorite toy.

He found the side table... specifically the blankets piled in the bottom of the end table. Now he likes to hide and attack! Lol.

Thursdays lunch, Buffalo chicken salad. 😁

It's funny to me that to eat healthy all I have to do is come up with recipes that would severely depress my older sister. Lol.

I did tell a friend at work what my eventual weight loss goals are... she said she can't see where I have it to lose. Sweet, but I do. Lol. 

Friday was super productive. The DMV canceled my appt because "they don't do title transfers" so it was back to the interwebs to try to figure out where I need to go to get the paperwork to send to the lein company to update my damn name. After a frustrating time, I finally found a # that connected me to a PERSON and that person connected me to THIS person who KNEW. She knew all the things. What I needed, where to get it, and said have the office you go to send the info to me and I'll handle it from there. She was INCREDIBLE. So I went to place 1 which was the wrong court house, went to place 2 which was the right courthouse, filled out the paperwork, they made a copy of my DL, and all those documents are on their way to my angel to help with this. Thank. GOD! Then it was back home to refresh my noggin for my test that was rescheduled due to ice 2 weeks ago. I left at 12:20ish for my appt at 1:15, ran into a car wreck that sent me on a detour, and got to the testing center at 1:00 for my 1:15 appt. Checked in, proved I had no cheating materials on me, they locked my purse in a bag to hang on the back of my chair, and the test commenced. Two hours later, I finished the test, 15ish mins later i finished the 2 surveys after the test, and got the notification that... I passed! The testing center printed off my score with all my scores on the 8 domains, and I... almost did a happy dance in the parking lot. Instead I waited until I got in the car to scream my relief. I now am a certified professional of Healthcare quality! I can put "CPHQ" after my name on my professional emails. 😁 when I got home, hubbs and I went to cocina frescoes for celebratory margaritas, tacos, and queso. Then we stopped by nothing bundt cakes for a snickerdoodle for me and a white chocolates raspberry for him. We came home, I had about half my cake, Ace enjoyed some frosting, I had some wine and hubbs went to unwind. I'm so glad this is done. It's a huge weight off my shoulders. 

SO GOOD!!! 

Sunday is my usual meal prepping and week preparation day. I'm making a salady-like chili bacon wrap (my fav in korea) and broccoli ramen salad for 2 days, and a wonton soup with mushrooms and spinach for the other 2 days, and for hubbs' lunches if he wants them. It's going to be SO GOOD!! I'm hoping the wrap will taste as good cold as it did hot back when J(korea) and i would grab lunch before work. 😁 miss you, J! So I feel prepares for work next week, I have all my clothes layed out for the whole time, and plans for margaritas with A on thurs night! A semi-delayed celebration of what she calls my smarty pants-ness. 😊 

So I hope all of you have a lovely week, stay warm and dry and be sure to tell your people you love them. Tell them a lot. Make it weird. Also, please continue to pray for my special intention. Someone we love is currently on hospice. They and their family could really use your prayers. Thank you in advance. I keep reminding myself that grief is the price of love, tho that's a small consolation, really. So, to my friends and family, I love you, I miss you, and I hope life is being kind to you. ❤️❤️ Take care of each other. Hugs!!! 

Bestie Weekend

It's really cool to be able to spend a weekend with my bestie and my hubby. Bestie came in on thurs night, and i had a misadventure to get to her. 

So my original plan was to take myself to dinner at 54th street in Mansfield. I got there at like 630 and when I tell you there was no parking... there was NO parking. Nada, people were in a spillover parking lot. So I decided since i was getting fuzzys for my hubbs, I'd just eat something there. So I got carnitas nachos for me, and a chicken quesadilla with chips and queso for him.

So good. I dropped off hubbs' food and got to spend some time with him when we were both awake, which was nice! So then I put "love field" in the GPS and off i went. Well... turns out I have to keep the phone open in order for the GPS to work right. Also, the "love field" my GPS took me to was in a RESIDENTIAL area! What the H E Double hockey sticks?? So I had to pull over, put in "love field airport" and I was able to find the darn place. I did one pass, then bestie called to say she was outside. I was behind a black escalade, and she was able to find me. I scooped her up and headed back to home. We came in and went to sleep. Hubbs came home late and also went to bed. 

The weather called for warm on fri, colder on sat, and COLD on sun. So we planned for outdoor activities on fri. We headed to cocina frescoes for lunch so she could try the black pearl margarita. She was a fan. 😁 then we tried happy hour at Eagle Point. It was good, and their food looks good, too! Then we went to Geek Out and had a great time wandering around. Bestie mentioned how much she missed Cool Keg in Arlington, so we figured why not head north?? We get to Cool Keg and... it's closed for renovations. So we went to hooligans instead. When I tell you that their cinnamon apple margarita was one of the BEST things I have EVER had in my LIFE, I'm not exaggerating. It was DELICIOUS.

Hubbs got an old fashioned, then my marg, and bestie got a Tuscan pear cocktail. All were amazing. Hubbs and bestie had fun playing DJ with the jukebox app. It was a great time. 

After that we got peckish and decided to go to division brewery for a pizza. They had my favorite beer (sin, repent, repeat), and bestie had to try one of their pizzas with pistachios on it. We tried the Roy, it had white sauce, ground beef, extra garlic, and pistachios. Jury is still out for her on how she feels about the pizza. It was really good tho!! 

It's weird but good, I promise. 

So after the brewery we went back out to Free Play. I don't think we've been back since our reception. We got some drinks and played the arcade games until about 11! We had SUCH a late night!! Lol. We got home late and a certain void kitty was happy to see us. He seemed annoyed we had been gone so long. Lol. 

Saturday was a lazy day, with some element of recuperating. Bestie and I went out for lunch to Station 330 while hubbs stayed home and painted his Warhammer stuffs. 

Deviled eggs for appetizer

My avocado and cheese enchiladas with chicken, rice, and beans.

Besties wings and fries.

We came home and continued our lazy day. A little Red One and jungle cruise. Somehow it turned into a The Rock marathon day. Lol. We ended with pacific rim. Just a fun, brain candy type day. 

Our buddy

Hubbs new phone takes some GREAT pix.

Sunday hubbs had to work so bestie and I took ourselves to Anamias after a detour to Lush where I stocked up on shampoo bars and got a new face wash bar. 

yummy

Upside down pic, but pechuga Primavera was AMAZING.

Then I took her to her hotel cuz she's flying out on Monday. Our plan from here is to watch the bills game, then I'll head home. All in all, a good bestie weekend 😁

If you are a praying person, please pray for a special intention. Don't want to get into it on here, but someone is very sick and needs prayers. Thank you. I hope you are all well and that you also had a good weekend with loved ones. It warmed my heart to see bestie and Ace becoming friends and it was really amazing to spend time with 2 people that I love so very much. We are headed into a new week, which will be cold 2.0, so everyone bundle up, stay warm, and I'm sending you love and warm hugs! ❤️🥰😘 MUAH!

Cold Snap

I love that I have gotten more snow days as an adult in TX than I ever did as a kid in WY. Yes, it's understandable. TX doesn't have the resources due to the fact that you don't want a huge fleet of snow plows rotting in a shed for most of the year on the SLIGHT chance they'll be needed for a day or 2. Much better to pre treat the roads, tell everyone to stay home (cuz most can't drive in sunny weather, either), and avoid all the craziness. Now the fact that someone in my apt complex has their truck plugged in... well thats just silly. In sub zero temps, sure, but it's been 20s and 30s. No need for drastic measures. My car has started just fine. A little sluggish perhaps, and I can't really blame her, but no issues with starting. Sigh. Truck person is officially drama Llama. 

Starting with freezing rain, sleet...

Overnight became snow and ice. 

We talked about getting food out on Friday, then I decided I didn't want to contribute to other people having to be out in this mess. So instead we stayed home and watched movies and played video games. We also gave Ace his final Christmas present... a ball made of catnip.

He got high, took a bath, and then took a nap. Hehe, funny kitty.

My breakfast 😋 so good

Ace playing with his toys while I started a LOTR marathon.

Mulled wine 😊

Eggs in purgatory 😁😋

We ended up eating a new place in burleson. Station 303. It was SO GOOD! The food, the atmosphere, the drinks. All great! We're going to have to add it to our rotation. 😁 we had the skillet queso, then I had shrimp tacos and a margarita, j had the bbq burger and pecan old fashioned. All was yummy! I forgot my phone tho, so no pix for you.

I did go grocery shopping on Sunday and got stuff to make sushi bowls for the week. I'm hoping to prep the bowls once the avocados ripen. Hehe. 

2nd day of eggs in purgatory, to finish off the loaf of bread. 

Anyway, I have the follow up with my surgeon on Monday, the glue on my incisions has started to come off, so I'm thinking I'm probably mostly healed. No digestive issues, which is AMAZING. Otherwise it's a normal week that ends with bestie time!! Happy end of the cold snap, everyone! 🥰 much love to all!!

Looking Ahead

Man, 2024 was a friggin whirlwind of changes, moving, medical crap, adjusting to new 'normals' all over the place! Not gonna lie, I'm ok with putting that year to bed. Don't get me wrong, getting married was wonderful, I love my hubby so much and it's so fun to say 'hubby' or 'hubbster.' But the preparation for the wedding, the classes we had to take, making the choices for everything, and facing the scrutiny of friends and family made for a SUPER stressful first half of the year. Yes, I know we got married in April but I seriously didn't feel like myself again until July. By then we were living together in our new apt, my job had stabilized, I was taking some classes for work, and J and I had settled into something of a routine. We are still adjusting to living together after years of living alone. Its an adventure. Ace has gotten used to it and seems to like the new place and all his new hidey holes. He's a stinker and a lover bug ham sandwich. So cute.

Medical stuff was a roller coaster as well. Weird migraine that mimicked a stroke, dx of chiari malformation, then told not a chiari but there is a cyst on my pituitary gland and we'll get that checked out in 2025. Trying meds to keep the weird migraines away, then going off of them cuz they made my fingertips go numb. Gallbladder was finally tested for functionality (thats on me, i delayed the HIDA scan) and came back as malfunctioning, so that eviction went down. I feel like I'm gonna be a 'secret shopper' only in this case it would be 'secret patient' which isn't possible cuz they all know me! Lol. The eviction went well. No complaint, no complications. J was awesome. Driving like a champion, and put me to bed when we got home. 

I was stylish! Lol

The last half of the year was preparing for Italy and all that entailed, went by myself until i met up with the fam. While the Italy trip was great, it was also stressful. Then D&C got married in Nov, and then all the holiday festivities and craziness! Not to mention the other things that we don't mention... lol... mostly life stuff, you understand. After this crazy year, I'm planning on 2025 being chill... some shenanigans, but for sure we are not getting married again and no plans (or funds) for an international trip. Just taking my CPHQ test (so I'll officially know how to do my job), hopefully moving up at work, paying down my car loan (goal is pay it off in 2026), and navigating whatever unexpected stuff life has to offer. I think we can handle that.

NYE dinner

Midnight drinks

Ace got his midnight treats to ring in 2025

Recuperating from surgery is weird. My stomach feels like I just did a TON of sit ups. The anti-nausea thing they put behind my ear seems to be working. I've slept quite a lot, and the SCDs they sent me home with feels like a calf massage! No DVT for me, please. I do see why people like our surgery dept so well. They all did a wonderful job. And my doc was great, too. But let me tell you, the 'margarita' they gave me before wheeling me back was AWESOME. I don't even remember hitting the doors to the OR. J was able to be with me before i got wheeled back, and then he sat with me in PACU while they kept an eye on me after the IV anti-nausea medicine. What's interesting is that apparently my O2 stats were low a few times cuz they kept telling me to breathe. Then they had to help me get dressed. It was strange, but good. I don't think I said anything weird on the way home. I was just exhausted. I've been sleeping a LOT. Had my first real meal after surgery on Friday. Bibibop from rice master here in burleson. Not gonna lie, had some stomach cramping after that, but I was ok after a bit. 

So the new year is off to a pretty good start. We got a lazy weekend of me recuperating, and I only had to take one day off of work. The next doc I have to see is the endocrinologist to make sure my pituitary glad isn't doing anything, then the follow up with my neurologist. Hopefully that will all be good, too. We have a trip planned for the end of April, and nothing else really in the works. This year is for relaxing, paying off debt, and being even more lovey dovey! Hehe. I hope all of you enjoyed your holidays, and sending all my love to you! 🥰🥰

Me and my void nurse

Isn't he handsome??

Snuggle butt

I hope all of you are having a good start to your 2025 and I'm sending all my love to you and yours. 🥰🥰❤️❤️❤️ take care!!