Long answer to ABB's comment on my last post...

No visitation. He's being cremated. The funeral will be tues or wed. I'll call Sam tonight and find out the deets. Then this Saturday there will be another get together at Sam's house so all the people that couldn't come yesterday can come and pay their respects.

Sam and Jeff got married in Oct of 2006. They dated for at least a year before that. And, of course, we were all friends in college.

Another awful thing...Sam's a widow at 30 y/o. Her sister was also a widow at 30!! It's been almost 6 years since Jennifer's husband died. Can you believe it happened twice in ONE FAMILY. They're just wrecked.

I'm dealing by not dealing. Yesterday I was in shock. Then I was drinking and trying to catch up with old friends. This morning I woke up and my mind wouldn't quit! I didn't even shower... I just got dressed and left for work. The drive here was awful. I couldn't stop thinking about little things... like Jeff's laugh. I'll never hear his infectious laugh again. I'll never hear him call me "Corn Dawg" again. Weird little things. So, now...to not think about things, I'm just working. Zoning out. The day of the funeral will be the worst.

We'll Miss You Jeffro!

Court, Sam, Dave, Jeff

It was always the four of us in college. Years later Sam and Jeff got married. It was no surprise to us because even back then we knew that Jeff was in love with Sam. Jeff had the best laugh. He was the life of the party. He was so nice and everybody wanted to be his friend. He was an amazing stepfather to Sam's daughter, Kara. He was just freaking awesome. =)

Jeff died on Saturday. He was driving home from work and a woman going the other direction somehow lost control of her car, crossed the median and hit him head on. She walked away with scratches.

I found out yesterday about noon. I was in shock. I couldn't even fathom this world without Jeff in it. Last night we went to Razorback Pizza (where Jeff and Sam both worked part time) and celebrated Jeff's life. Basically...we all got drunk. It was bitter sweet. Our college pals came up to join us. Most of us hadn't seen each other in years. Everyone was saying, "It's so great to see you! Wait...it actually sucks to see you right now."

Please pray for Samantha. The funeral should be tomorrow or Wednesday.

Bittersweet reunion.

Photobucket Fun...

I've been slacking on the Project 365 photos...

Pop art fun on photobucket.

Family pic. Sam didn't find this as fun as I did.

Too Cute For Words!

OMG! SHE'S HERE!!!

BAYLEY ELIZABETH TARVER IS HERE! YAY!

(The next two pics are going to be my Project 365 pics Day 6 & 7)

Project 365 - Day 5

My KK...being a silly gal!

Jiff Update...

Just came from visiting her... They were supposed to let her check out today, but it turns out she does have a "touch" of preeclampsia. They're worried about her high blood pressure (although she doesn't have high blood pressure today) and the protein in her urine. They also mentioned that she'll have to be on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy.

Pray for Jiff and Bayley!

*Just saw her again. She's so freaking bored. =) She's still having contractions, but she's not in labor. Eh?! She's in "pre-term" labor. Whatever that is. I've never had a baby, so it's all foreign to me! Jenn had an u/s today. They're saying that she's measuring 35 weeks. She'll have to be on bed rest and hopefully she can keep the bun in the oven for another couple weeks. I saw the u/s pics...so freaking cute. I saw a close up pic of Bayley's face. Her eyes were open and she has the chubbiest cheeks! Another pic showed her sucking her thumb and another showed a close up of her vajayjay! Tee hee. Jenn hopes to be discharged tomorrow, but I guess that all depends on her lab results.

**Just talked to her. THEY'RE LETTING HER GO HOME! It's all over my head. One min they're saying she can't go home...the next they're discharging her. Oh well. At least she'll get to go home and be comfy! Yay!

LOLSam/Project 365 - Day 4

Jiff news/Project 365 - Day 3

Yesterday was "Day 3". I don't have a picture. BUT, I have a good reason. My pal, Jenn, ended up going to the hospital for preterm labor. So, I went to see her and then ended up keeping her stepson, Z, overnight. I never had the chance to whip out my camera. So, how 'bout a little Project 365 - Day 3 Convo instead? This convo took place between me and Z (he's 5) on the way home from the hospital last night.

Me: You're so silly!
Z: I try.
Me: You try to be silly?!
Z: I practice.

Now, that's my kinda man! He's suprisingly hilarious for a 5 year old! I hope he never loses that silliness...

As for Jenn, she's okay now. I don't know all the deets. I'm sure she'll treat us to a detailed blog when she's back to work. All I know is that since at least last Thursday, she was complaining of feeling weird. And Saturday morning she noticed some spotting. She put it off for a while, but when she noticed it again she decided to call her doc. Good thing! Turns out she was in labor. Also, her blood pressure was pretty high. Preeclampsia was mentioned as a possibility, but they think it was prob just an infection. This morning when I talked to her she was feeling much better. BP is down. Labor is stopped for now and they expect her to be able to go to 37 weeks. She has to stay one more night in the hospital for observation, but she'll be coming home tomorrow. She said that Bayley has been fine thru this whole ordeal. Yay! Stay tuned for the whole story on Jenn's blog.

Death By Sausageball. No really...

So, Rach and I are having our regular Fri night movie night...only we haven't watched a movie yet. =) We are DYING from all the sausage and cheese we have consumed. We had a little sausage ball cookoff. A couple of weeks ago we discovered we had two different ways to make them. So, tonight...for lack of something better to do (and eat), we made both of our versions of sausage balls. OMG. Soooo sick!

Rach's version of sausage balls:

Her Recipe:

2 c. bisquick
1 lb sausage
12 oz cheddar cheese
2/3 c milk

Preheat oven to 400. Mix milk and bisquick until doughy. Add cheese and uncooked sausage. Squish it all together. Then roll into walnut sized balls. Bake for about 20 minutes. It's different with each oven, so just make sure to keep an eye on them.

Court's version of sausage balls:

My Recipe:

3 c. bisquick

1 lb sausage (I prefer hot...)

16 oz bag cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Cook sausage and drain. Mix sausage, cheese and bisquick together. Roll into walnut size balls. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 20 - 30 minutes.

Winner: MINE! Hehe. I kinda cheat on mine. To make them extra tasty, I don't drain all the sausage grease and I use extra cheese. They're gut busters, but OH SO YUMMY! =)

Here's some pics of me & Rach tonight.

Court's balls are better than mine?!

Trying to get the dogs into the pic with us...

Our "Olan Mills" photo shoot. =)

Babysitting Kidneys/Project 365 - Day 2

ABB's always asking me about babysitting the kidneys... =)

I don't actually babysit kidneys for a living. I work for the Liver Transplant team and sometimes help out the Kidney team. Today we have a kidney in the office. We're "taking care" of it until it's time for the surgery. It goes on a perfusion machine...I'd explain it to you, but I have no idea how it works!

Anyhoo, I took this pic to show ABB the kidney and also...to use for Project 365! Enjoy!

Project 365 - Day 1

I'm a little nervous about this project now. I thought about it all day and couldn't figure out what to take a picture of! I am so not a photographer. I just point and shoot. I use my camera to catch "Kodak Moments" with me, my dogs and my pals. =) Anyhoo, I was worried about not having a good enough, cool enough pic. It's just my insecurity showing thru, I guess. Anyhoo, I ended up choosing the very last pic I took...on the shuttle bus! So, from now on I'm not going to stress it. I'm just going to catch a random moment of my day. No pressure!

Riding to the parking lot...

Project 365

So, I was just making my nightly rounds of all my favorite blogs and came upon the subject of Project 365 on Bliss In Bloom. That sounds like something I'd like to do. For those of you who don't know what it is, I'm guessing it's just taking a pic and posting it for 365 consecutive days. Cool. I carry my camera with me everyday anyway, so why not?! I'm gonna do it!

You should do it too! (Jenn, I'm looking at you right now!)

The Great Shoe Debate

In the end...MONEY TALKS! =)

I've been trying to decide what type of shoe to buy for working out. My workouts are mostly: walking outside, recumbant bike and sometimes a DVD. I hope to eventually run, but that's a long way off.

Anyhoo, I went to the only shoe source I had: ABB! She gave me a lot of great advice. I started researching all the shoes she suggested. My roommate mentioned she'd read a lot of good reviews about Ryka. So, we decided to check those out too. Aaaaand, she just happened to have two 30% coupons to The Foot Locker. Woot! So, we headed to The Lady Foot Locker today to check out the shoes. I looked at all the Asics and Adidas, but they were all so freaking expensive! Why is it so expensive to be healthy?! That's a whole 'nuther blog...

After checking out the first two brands on my list, I headed to the Rykas. THEY WERE ON SALE! Some were "two for $89.99" and one pair was on sale for $49.99 (originally $89.99). Hello! $49.99 plus a 30% off coupon?! You can't beat that ladies! I tried on the 9 1/2 and they felt really great...except for the fact that my feet are ginormous and I really need a 10! Of course they didn't have any 10's, so I ended up having to order a pair. Sigh. But they ship them to your house for free! Yay! These are the ones I ended up with: Ryka Women's MC2 Run.

So, in the end folks...money talks. Maybe another pair would have been better for my feet, but the Ryka's were DEFINATELY better for my bank acct!

Birthdays, Pals, Movies...

This weekend I went to a bday party for one of "my kids". It was Shaebaby's 9th! Sigh. My kiddos are growning up. Instead of a big blowout, they had a small family get together at Shae's g-parents house. The big sleepover will probably be in a couple weeks. Yay!

The Birthday Girl.

Tate wouldn't let us (KK and I) get a pic of his face. Only his butt...

He attacked me with his butt. Ouch!

Shae and her best pal.

KK and I

After Shae's b-day party, I headed to my pal, Angie's, house to hang with her and Flossie (a.k.a Presley Rae). We just hung out...chatting and playing with my Flossie Bear. We also watched a movie. Fun times!

Presley Rae.

Presley and I

Here are some of the movies I've watched in the last few weeks:

Gone Baby Gone - loved it!

Margot At The Wedding - Sucked big time. Didn't even finish it.

Sydney White - This was really cute. I'm a Amanda Bynes fan. =)

Across The Universe - Brilliant! Beautiful!

Rendition - Very good. Sad.

The Martian Child - Sweet movie. I heart John Cusack.

Good Luck Chuck - Very funny!

Mr. Woodcock - Meh.

We Own The Night - Intense! Slow at first...

The Darjeeling Limited - Funny movie. Gotta appreciate Wes Anderson's style though.

More of that white stuff!!

Wow. Two snow days in ONE WEEK. That's unheard of here... Today my company declared the inclement weather policy, so I only had to work four hours! Yay! Then I rushed home to pick up Rach and go to the store. Tonight Steph, Rach and I (and the doggies, of course) are going to actually USE the fireplace, lounge around in our pj's and fuzzy socks, watch movies and eat homemade taco soup. Fun times!




Here are some pics of my snow day:

Had to dig out...hahaha!

Rach and I

My "child"! Loves her!

Rach's Snow Dance!

BTW, she'd kill me if she knew I'd posted this!!! Also, you might want to mute the video cause it's just loud wind and me laughing. =)

Taco Soup Recipe

1 large can diced tomatoes
2 cans rotel
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 can chili beans
1 lb lean ground beef or turkey
1 package ranch dressing mix
1 package taco seasoning
1 large onion, chopped

Brown meat and drain. Stir taco and ranch seasoning into meat. Then stir in chili beans. Add black beans and corn. Then Rotel and tomatoes. You may need to add water for a soupier consistency. Cook on medium heat until soup is hot. Optional: Serve with tortilla chips, Mexican blend shredded cheese and sour cream.

*You may want to use chopped tomatoes (do those exist?) instead of diced. The diced tomatoes were too big for Steph.

*I used a bag of frozen onion instead of chopping an onion. I hate chopping onions. It always makes me cry.

*My mom says the key to great taste is to cook in “layers”. So that’s why, in my directions, I don’t just dump everything in at the same time. Take your time to stir the seasonings into the meat before adding the chili beans. Then do the same with those. I didn’t drain the chili beans because I wanted to make sure and get the full flavor in there.

*For those of you who aren’t into really spicy soups, use mild Rotel and kidney beans instead of chili beans.

This is my favorite soup! So yummy! Enjoy!

MIM

Okay. I haven't been to MIM in YEARS b/c they usually have a pretty lame line up. But this year...CAT POWER WILL BE THERE! OMG! Want to go please!! =) I'm currently putting feelers out to my pals...PRAYING that someone will want to make the road trip with me.

Cat Power people!!

Sigh.

I'm sad that onetruth.com is shutting down. I love their whole message/concept. I just bought a t-shirt from them called Beloved. Here's the product description:

our focus as a society feeds on beauty. it has become a goal and obsession. as girls we entangle ourselves in the latest fashion trends and the smallest sizes. however, deep down what we really want is to feel loved... to be loved. we've bought into the lie that looking beautiful will make us happier and bring us fulfilling love. but what we really need is the unconditional love of jesus. He is the one who makes us beautiful, the one who paid the price for our beauty and we need to see ourselves as He sees us. it's not as much about what we do or how we look, but who we are...and we are His beloved.

Go check out the stuff they have left.

What IS this stuff?

This pic was taken this morning. I need to fix the date stamp on my camera.

This morning when I let Sam out, I was SHOCKED to see this stuff all over the ground. WHAT IS IT?! I can't recall ever seeing it before. As you can see...it's white...and it's wet and kinda powdery at the same time. I stopped short of tasting it just in case. It didn't seem to bother Sambo.



If you know what it is...please leave me a comment!!!

(wo)Manly Work

I was so productive this Saturday! Yay me! I got up early to spend some time with my new brother and then headed home for some yard work. My baby, Sam, has been a bad boy since we moved. He was so used to running wild in the country, that he had to find things to occupy his time when I moved him to town. He has decided to dig lots of little holes around the yard. Steph (roommie) HATES that. So, I bought a bunch of top soil and filled in the holes. Fun times! Also, Steph thinks that Sam has been chewing on the air conditioner wires (I'm not convinced), so I'm going to put a little fence around the concrete slab.

Here's a small example of Sam's handy work. At this point, I've actually started digging so I could smooth out the holes. What you CAN'T see is the tons of tiny holes along the house to the right of the air conditioner. Sigh.

While I was digging up, smoothing out and filling holes with dirt, I put Abi (Steph's daughter) to work. The yard is HUGE and covered with sticks. I had her pick up all the sticks and put them in the burn pile. I was excited about burning stuff. I had never done it before. I talked to my dad before hand so I would know the proper way to burn. He told me to have a water hose nearby, to stay away from the house and fence, and to start with a small burn pile. Sounds easy enough, right? Hehe. Well, Steph already had a huge pile of stuff to burn and when I tried to make a small pile...the stuff didn't want to move. So, I decided to go for it. I put a match to the dry brush like stuff and OMG! that fire started blazing!! We were kinda scared at first. I watered down the grass around the burn pile in hopes that the fire wouldn't spread. =) Anyhoo, I was amazed at how quickly that pile burned down.



This is after the pile had burned down a bit. I would have gotten a pic of the huge blaze, but I was too busy trying not to burn the whole yard!!

So, that was my weekend of (wo)manly work! It wasn't bad and I felt good when the day was over. Next on the agenda...find some fencing to put around the air conditioner.