Back in the Hub City

I am back in Lubbock and I brought my camera. Let me know if you want any pictures taken. You can email me or leave a comment.

Also, please pray for my sweet Ann. She needs all the prayers she can get right now.

Happy Birthday Papa

Today is James' grandfather's birthday. He is 80 today.

Papa is one of the funniest people I have ever meet. You would never think he is 80. He is like a 13 year old boy in a 60 year old body. He is very young at heart.

We are in Corpus today to celebrate. We wanted to be able to have dinner with him on his 80th birthday. 80 only comes around once. We are going to the local Chinese buffet. Not my favorite, but it is Papa's birthday. If he wants to eat the Chinese buffet for his birthday he should be able to.

James and I are just looking forward to spending time with him on his birthday. Happy Birthday Papa!

Mud Room

***UPDATED - I took down the pictures and just added links. I don't know what is up with blogger. I can see the pictures, why can't you? So frustrating!

My new favorite thing about brand new houses is mud rooms. I want a mud room so bad, but I don't think it is a good idea to try to sell our house and buy a new house all for a mud room. I want a mud room like this.

I love mud rooms basically for all the great storage. I would love somewhere to hang coats for a short period of time. Neither James nor I are very good at hanging up our jacket at night. Mostly because we are going to need it in the morning. I am so tired of jackets hanging on the back of bar stools. That is the biggest problem right now. I would also just like some general storage. I don't have anything in mind that I need to store, but I am sure I will find something.

Instead of buying a new house I am trying to turn our laundry room into a mud room/laundry room. I am not sure how that is going to work out since our laundry room isn't that big to start with. I do have a little room to add some type storage unit. I have been looking for a couple of months, but just can't decide.

I had almost decided on THIS storage unit, but then I had an "I'm not sure moment." This piece fits, but I am afraid it is going to make the laundry room feel closed in. I think it might be too much for a small space.

Now I am thinking about using THIS bench and just adding THIS row of hooks. I like that the bench has some storage and I love all the hooks. Perfect for all the jackets and the bar chairs can go back to bar chairs instead of coat racks. I think this will solve my problem, but not make it feel so closed in.

I think I will go with a white bench to help with it not feel so crowded. All the base boards and doors are white as well as my washer and dryer. I am also thinking about painting the laundry room RED! I want a red room so bad. I figured I spend a lot of time in the laundry room why not make it red so I can enjoy it.

Here is where you come in. I need help with some of these decisions. What do you think about all of this? Should I forget about this storage unit and find another one? Should I paint the laundry room red? Please help me.

Happy Valentine's

We made a quick trip to Lubbock Saturday morning. James made me drive a little over an hour of the six hour trip there. So not nice. I was board after 20 minutes. I don't like driving.

It was totally worth it to see my family. I love my family! We had a great Valentine's day and got to eat lunch with Caroline and John. They are so cute!

James drove all the way home because he loves me tons. We didn't leave Lubbock till late yesterday afternoon. It was a great quick trip!

I think the best part of the trip may have been these two. I can't get enough of them!

Grandma's Soup

I miss Grandma's meals. She was a really good cook. I would give anything for some Chicken Fried Steak with Gravy. YUM!!! Unfortunately, I will never get it. If you asked her she would probably tell you she has never cooked.

Growing up we had soup a lot in the winter. It was basically a bunch of leftovers made into soup. I didn't really like it when I was little mostly because it was leftovers. I thought leftovers were boring. Now I think leftovers are the greatest. James doesn't really like the leftovers. If I offer up leftovers for dinner he says no thanks and makes himself some sandwiches. It works out.

I have been craving some of Grandma's leftover soup for awhile now, but had no idea how to make it. Ann took the plunge a couple of months ago and figured out the recipe. She said it tasted just like Grandma's.

I was so excited! I tried a few days later to make Grandma's soup. It starts with roast, potatoes and carrots. Ann made Pioneer Woman's roast and said it was delicious. I decided to nix my normal roast recipe and try PW's as well. Mine did not turn our well. It was actually horrible. I think I got a bad piece of meet because I followed the recipe and my meet was tough as nails. Needless to say I didn't have the opportunity to make Grandma's soup.

Monday I went back to my trusty roast recipe and we had delicious roast with potatoes and carrots for dinner. Tonight I attempted to make Grandma's soup.

It was perfect!!! It tasted just like Grandma's. It brought back so many memories and I ended up crying through part of dinner. I am so happy Ann figured out the recipe. I will be making the soup more often and thinking about Grandma.

Here is the recipe if you are interested.

Leftover roast, potatoes and carrots cut up

Can of corn drained

Can of beef broth

2 cans of diced tomatoes

Heat on medium heat for about 30 minutes.

That's all I put in mine. Grandma would add green beans, celery and beans. She would put anything in the soup that she wanted to clean out of the refrigerator. The soup was never the same from time to time.

James must have liked this version -- he had three bowls.

Lauren and Kenton

Lauren is a member of Champions Cheer Gym. Instead of wearing her cheer uniform she dressed in her warm winter clothes. I know the other girls were wishing they would have had a fur vest to keep them warm.

Lauren's brother, Kenton, came along as well. We got some really good pictures of them together and individually.

I am now finally done with Champion cheer pictures. It feels like I have been working on them forever, but I loved it. Thanks girls for letting me take some great pictures.

Audi - Champions Cheer Gym

Next up is Audi. She is really outgoing and tons of fun. She was so easy to work with. She has a great smile and gave me lots of great images.

Madison

Madison also cheers for Champions. She didn't want to wear her uniform for her pictures. Instead she wore this cute skirt that reminded me of Spring. Now I can't wait for Spring and bright colors.

Champions had a cheer competition here in San Antonio over the weekend. The girls came in second place. Congratulations girls!

Lindsey

Lindsey also cheers at Champions, but she decided she didn't want to wear her uniform for pictures. Instead she wore this totally stylish outfit. Lindsey was also a lot warmer than the other girls.

I loved her zebra print gloves. Actually, they are probably not gloves since they really don't cover the hand, but I don't know the real name for them. They were still totally cute. She looks so ready for Valentine's day in this outfit. It was fun to throw her cute outfit into the mix of cheerleading uniforms.

Taylor - Champions Cheer Gym

Next up in the freezing cold was Taylor. She is so cute. Taylor was a little quiet and shy when we started, but by the end her personality was really coming out. She looked totally comfortable in front of the camera and her pictures turned out super cute.