I'm a Guest Blogger!

I am guest blogging today for a blog my sister-in-law, Alicia, participates in each week. It is called "Today's Housewife." It is a blog written by four friends that share their four opinions about a variety of topics as they try to follow Proverbs 14:1 which says, "The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down." It is a great blog with valuable information about family, relationships, and women!

Check out what I had to share here.

Call me a nerd (wouldn't be the first time I have been called that!), but I am so excited about being a guest blogger today! I am so grateful Alicia asked me to participate and thankful she is my sister-in-law. I couldn't have asked for a better one!!! Plus, I learned how to hyperlink...wow, it is a big day!

Question of the Day....

I am doing progress testing at school so I do LOTS and LOTS of testing from now until the end of the year with kids ages 3 to 9. Kids say and ask funny things and today, I was asked two questions in a row, both by the same child:

1. What is your name?
2. What land are you from?

Hmmm......

Christmas Spirit

Mark and I decorated our house for Christmas. I was so excited to do this considering it is our first Christmas as a married couple and our first Christmas in our house! Mark bought an 8' tree from the guy on the corner by our house. It is a beautiful tree. We decorated it with his ornaments and my ornaments from childhood along with a few fillers we bought. Mark did all the lights. He is so good at putting together random things and making them look pretty. I look at it and think, "what should I do with all this stuff?" Thank goodness he is creative!

Here are pictures of our bits and pieces of Christmas!
Becky and I had our second craft night on Saturday evening. I made this Christmas wreath and Becky made an adorable Christmas dress for Charlotte. We always have fun these nights because our husbands walk down the street to watch football and guy shows at our house and Becky and I stay and watch girl tv, talk, and craft at her house! Thanks to Mark's mom who gave me her Christmas odds and ends, I was able to put together a cute wreath. I am pleased with how my second wreath turned out! You can't tell from the picture, but there is a little bird and a horn buried in there...

I also decided to make a different Christmas cookie each weekend. I figured this would be a good way to try out new cookie recipes I have been collecting without overdoing it calorie wise. We do Secret Santa at work so I thought I would give my person a tin full of Christmas cookies on Monday. I decided to try Rocky Road Shortbread cookies. They look and taste fine but I will not be repeating this recipe. It took two attempts to get it right and they weren't worth the work. After burning the "Easy Toffee" in the oven and messing up the first batch of these cookies, I was not in the best mood Sunday afternoon. Here is the final result:
And, of course, Miss Dixie in front of our tree....

Merry Christmas to all!

A Weekend Home

Our Dixie came home for the weekend and wow, did I have fun with her!!! I think I spent hours petting her and telling her what a great dog she is - I think it is safe to say, if she understands English, she is returning to her trainer with great confidence and assurance that her "Mom" loves her!

Dixie worked on retrieving with Mark, got to play with her neighbor friend Cali, and slept A LOT. She is so used to the outdoors now, she really wanted to sleep on the outside bench more than she did her bed.
Dixie and Cali played together Friday and Saturday night while we spent time with Doug and Becky. Here they are waiting to come inside. They love one another, so much so, that when Mark lost track of Dixie outside (it was dark), he looked down the street and she was headed to Cali's house. Guess she wanted to see if Cali could play! This is not the first time this has happened either. Cali ran away a few weeks ago and Becky found her at our doorstep. Guess we know where to locate our dogs when they are missing!
Overall, I had a WONDERFUL weekend with Mark (he was home all weekend since they are on a break from hunting) and Dixie. I have really missed having a dog around the house - that is for sure! I can't wait for Dixie to return to us in a few short weeks!

It snowed!

Last week we had a short morning filled with snow. It was beautiful!

I walked to the door to leave for work and had no idea it had snowed. I had to re-think the coat I chose to wear. This isn't a great picture - perhaps because I took them from the warmth of my car. I just had to document our little house's first snow (with us as owners, that is)!

Miss Dixie is BIG!!!

We took a trip to see Miss Dixie at her trainer's house this weekend. She was so BIG!!!

Mark had warned me that she may not remember us but I was sure she would...and she did! She could not get enough of me and she was equally as excited to see Mark. She rubbed her entire body on us, flipped on her back, and stuck her head through our legs and wagged her tail. I was thrilled and it made me feel so happy! I just love her so much!

John, the trainer, sure has taught our Dixie a lot involving both obedience and hunting skills. She can walk on a leash (thank goodness!), she heals, she isn't scared when a gun is fired, she fetches and releases, and she listens. She still has LOTS of puppy in her but John was very pleased with how far she had come for being such a young dog.
I think John really likes Dixie. He said he and his daughter call her "Baby Girl" so that makes me think Dixie is getting a little extra loving now and again which is just fine by me!

The best news...Dixie gets to come visit our house this weekend! John is going on a hunting trip and needs to drop her off. I am beyond thrilled!

Party with Friends

This is a week old as far as news goes but it was so much fun, I had to blog about it! Mark and I decided to have people over to our house last Saturday night since Mark was staying in town and not doing an overnight hunt. We had 16 people at our house! Mark made duck gumbo and we had plenty to much on and drink. We loved opening our house to friends and family!

Here is an adorable picture of Charlotte (our neighbor's baby) and Michael (Jenn and Tim's son). Charlotte took him out in order to get that football which was pretty funny.
This is a picture of our neighbor Doug. He is growing a moustache for Movember - he doesn't always have a moustache. Becky can't wait for it to go away! So funny.....
The next morning, the house was a disaster. I did find it pretty funny that I was not only cleaning up beer bottles and cigar ashes but also baby toys and bottles. Guess we are getting older now that babies come along with the beer when it comes to having fun!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Although this is written a day early, what I am thankful for isn't going to change in a matte of 24 hours so here I go!

I have A LOT to be thankful for this year, here are just a few of the most important:

1. Marrying Mark. I am BEYOND thankful for him.
2. Having 2 wonderful, supportive families. I have always been thankful and grateful for my parents and brother but now I have an additional family who I love! Each member plays an important role in my daily life. Plus, now I have a brother AND a sister (in-law)!
3. Living a healthy, happy, stable life. This one may sound silly or strange, but many people don't have these three things.
4. I am thankful for all the new friendships I have made this year and of course, for all the ones I have had for many years. I have a great group of new girl friends, I have amazing girl friends that I have known since 2nd grade (can't wait to see you all in December!!!), I love my friends from work, I am thankful for Mark's friends and hunting buddies (and their wonderful wives), I don't know what I would do without my Vandy friends, and I am so happy that our neighbors, Doug, Becky, and Charlotte moved to Dallas and are now a part of our lives.
5. I am thankful that I have a job where I am allowed to do what I have wanted to do since I was in 2nd grade.
5. And lastly, I think I am allowed to be thankful that my Dixie comes home in a month, right?!?!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Love,
Meghan

Dixie!!!!

We have been without our Miss Dixie for almost 2 months and I miss her tremendously (on a daily basis). I even bought a Lab for the Cure t-shirt and wear in when I am missing her. One of Mark's very kind friends sent me some pictures of Dixie while he was helping train her at the hunting camp. I couldn't believe how much she had grown! She is no longer holding a puppy bumper in her mouth, but moved on to the real deal. I am so proud of her! One more month and she can come home!!! She is still as cute as ever.

Gobble Hobble

After a late night at Winstar watching Ron White the comedian with Mark and some friends from work, I woke up early and met Chloe, Mark's cousin, for the 5K Gobble Hobble in Richardson. Luckily it wasn't as cold as it had been other mornings so I just needed a fleece and a long sleeve t-shirt to keep warm. Tyler and Kaitlyn walked too. We finished in 56 minutes which we thought was pretty good considering we weren't last place and we walked the entire way (Chloe was sick). A fun time was had by all!

My Accident

I had a car accident Monday morning on the way to work. It was scary - the air bags went off - but luckily no one was hurt. I collided with an SUV so my little car went under the rear bumper of his car.

Needless to say, the car is totaled. I got a check from the insurance company so Mark and I have to buy a new-to-me car in the next week. It is the best possible result for a bad situation so we are thankful for that.

Gotta say, my husband was wonderful to me!!! I got lots of hugs and support throughout the day. He even took the rest of the day off from work. We spent the day together at home which was a gift that meant the world to me. I also heard from my brother, my parents, Mark's parents, and Mark's sister. I am so lucky to be part of two wonderful, supportive, loving families!!!

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers! It may be difficult to get a good, safe car for a minimal price.

Last Weekend

It has taken me a whole week to post these pictures from last weekend. Not that I was super busy or anything, it just slipped my mind!

Here is my shopping trip to Walgreens and CVS on Sunday. Pretty good for spending $5. I was quite pleased!
Mark and I also agreed to help our dear neighbors, Doug and Becky, by taking care of their Labradoodle, Cali, while they made a quick trip back home to visit Doug's mother. I was so excited since we are dog-less right now!!! Cali is so easy and much less hyper than Dixie so she was fun to have around. One thing we learned about Cali...she is LAZY!!!
As much as we love Cali, Mark decided she should be named after the flying dog in "The Never Ending Story" so Mark started calling her Falkor. Cali ignored him (as she should have). We also decided she had more Poodle than Lab in her so we now refer to her as a Doodleador. Haha!

The Latest Walgreens Deal

I know, TOTAL NERD, that I keep posting pictures about my shopping savings, but honestly, it is such a rush and SO MUCH FUN, I really can't help it. There is just something about surrounding myself with coupons, store ads, a pair of sharp scissors, a pen and a pad of paper for 2 hours that is so exciting to me. Ask poor Mark, he has to live with me every Sunday afternoon....

This Sunday's shopping was different. It is the end of the month so our grocery money was low so I had to figure out how to get the essential fruit, fresh veggies, and lunch stuff along with any other purchases without going over $23. Luckily, I had stocked up on meats at Market Street earlier in the month so we had plenty of choices for dinner - just had to grab from the freezer.

Thank goodness for Walgreens!!! I got 2 - 15 packs of water, a ChapStick, 4 packs of Trident gum, a Softsoap starter pack and a refill, and a canister of Mentos for $2.05. A single pack of Trident gum usually costs $1.70 by itself....wow, was I pleased!
Mark didn't arrive home until later Sunday evening so I left my Walgreens display up for him to see. He was surprised and excited about my deals and savings, but also gave me the "I love you, but you are nuts" look.

Until next Sunday...... :)

Friday

This past Friday, Mark left for a hunting trip so that meant I was in no real rush to go home after work. So, what did I do instead? SHOP!

I went to Crate and Barrel and used a portion of our gift cards from our wedding and bought some place mats for our new kitchen table. I just had to get some napkins to go with them so I bought these adorable fall leaf napkins (on sale). It makes the table look pretty cute for October! The great thing about the place mats is that they are so neutral, I will be able to use them year round and just switch out the napkins.
Next I went to the Vera Bradley store in Allen. Good golly, how I LOVE Vera Bradley. I controlled myself and walked in with a mission: Franny Purple Punch sunglasses. I have been thinking about these glasses since my mom and I went to a launch party over the summer. I saved up and found a coupon (that was the true selling point) and decided this was a gift to myself for the start of hunting season (if that isn't justification, I don't know what is!!!). I love my new glasses!
After that I was spent, literally and figuratively, so I went home, had dinner, and went for yummy J'Adore yogurt with Doug, Becky, and Charlotte.

Free Goodies

As part of my couponing obsession, I have signed myself up to get free samples of products mailed to me....as long as I promise to write a review of them on my blog and share the coupons with my friends.So....three items arrived recently. First Sprinkles Pop Tarts. I gave this sample to Mark for he likes eating something on the run (and I have never been a fan of Pop Tarts). Plus, they were blueberry flavored, how could he say no? According to Mark, they were too sugary so they must have been since he has a decent sweet tooth (nothing in comparison to mine, of course). I don't think we will be buying these at the store, even with the great coupons they sent me. I dropped the coupons off at school and they were quickly grabbed up!

Second item that appeared is a 28 day supply of wrinkle cream. I am planning on using this freebie starting Nov. 1 so I will review this product later. I will say, it is going to be tough to beat my obsession with my DHC cream, so we shall see!
Third, a full serving of Go Lean Crunch from Kashi which I love. This tastes as good as granola without the high fat and calorie content. It is so yummy mixed with yogurt in the morning, yum yum! Kashi also gave me a full packet of coupons - some as high as $3 off a box (almost FREE!) - which I have shared with other known Kashi lovers.

Duck Hunting Season Has Arrived

Well, it is time again for duck hunting. It feels like the season just ended though I am sure Mark would disagree. Mark is BEYOND excited for this weekend in Oklahoma. He has been gearing up by watching his TiVoed duck shows, is making a trip to Cabella's to pick up some gear this evening, and even finished his duck butt project (sounds bad, but it is the tail end of a decoy that sticks up and splashes water to make it look like a duck looking for food underwater).

When Mark and I first got engaged, many people asked me, "how do you handle Mark being gone for the majority of 3 months during duck season?" or made the statement to Mark, "looks like you won't be duck hunting as much now that you have a wife." Quite honestly, I am happy that Mark has something he is passionate about, looks forward to, and allows him some man time. It isn't like golf that takes up an entire day and is played year round. Duck hunting is a hobby that he does in the wee-hours of the morning and still allows him time with me in the afternoon or evenings, it isn't year round, and he has made some amazing friendships with great guys (who also have great wives!). Hunting will never be something that we share together (except for enjoying the meat he brings home!) - it is Mark's thing and I am happy about that.

So what do I do while Mark is away? Girl stuff!!! I go to dinner and movies with friends, do facials at home, go shopping with my Mom, read A LOT, work on projects at home, and have girl's night with Bandera (she loves to curl up on the couch with me and watch tv then go to bed super early!).

As much as I miss Mark during hunting season (and I do miss him A LOT!), he always returns tired and dirty but over-the-top happy....and happy to see me. He even is thoughtful enough to bring me presents sometimes! Who could ask for anything more than that???

The Great State Fair of Texas

Mark and I spent our Sunday at the State Fair of Texas. It was the fair's last day so we figured it wouldn't be too crowded which it wasn't until the last hour we were there. The weather in Dallas was AMAZING so it couldn't have been a better day for walking around eating, eating and eating some more....oh, and people watching in between.

We went to the dog show where we saw the Jack Russell's race (we thought Bandera would LOVE to be in the show and wear a glittery vest) and the Labrador's do the frisbee catch into a pool of water (Dixie would LOVE this). The Lab's could barely contain their excitement while waiting for the trainer to throw the frisbee. I could only get a picture of the pool but Mark got some video of the Jack Russell race.

I told Mark we could have our own fair show since we own 2 out of the 4 dogs they had in the act - we thought we could supplement with Doug and Becky's Labradoodle, Cali. I am sure she has some tricks that would entertain a crowd!!!

We each had our favorite foods at the fair. I love my Tornado Tators (this is a terrible picture Mark took of me but just focus on the Tators) and Mark loves his Fletcher Corny Dogs (he was much happier eating them than his face appears in this picture). We both ate corny dogs first....yum, yum.

We also both had Pineapple Whips. Mark got an order of fried bacon, fried butter (he wished he had gotten 2 orders he loved it so much), and some beer. On the beer note, I have never seen Mark get so excited about getting "a deal" than I have over his scoring a great ticket price on his beer. He knows that if you go in the Craft Tent, you get beer for 6 tickets rather than the 10 they cost outside in the tents. He was hysterical.

We found our favorite soup mix stand and bought enough soup mixes to last us until next year, went through the Embarcadero, checked out cars we couldn't afford, and, oh yes, left with 3 bags of cotton candy on our way out of the fair. Overall, it was a great day together!

My First Craft Project!

Saturday was a busy day for me. Mark had to work so I kept myself busy doing other things. First, I went to a difficult but great workout class with my neighbor friend, Becky. She is much better at kick boxing moves than I am but I made it through the hour-long class which I was happy about. I am sore today but am thinking I will attend the class on a regular basis. It is good to be a little sore, right?

Then, my mother-in-law came over to help me strip the dining room table in order to refinish it. After 3 hours of circular motions, a quick trip to Lowe's, and some more scrubbing, we got it all off. I so appreciate her helping me with this project. I have to sand it down a bit more this week and then we will be able to stain it.

Saturday night, Becky and I left her (adorable) baby, Charlotte, with Mark and Doug and hit up Michael's for some crafting materials. We decided to make holiday wreaths for our door. I was very unsure of myself, but after lots of help and good advice from Becky, we had our materials and returned home to a yummy pasta dinner that Doug made and Mark oversaw while he played Guitar Hero. Becky and I had so much fun spending nearly three hours making our wreaths, talking, watching "Toddlers and Tiaras" and eating some ice cream with Magic Shell! I am pretty happy with the final product and so thankful Becky is my friend!

A Columbus Day Bake-athon and Cook-off

I did not have to go to work on Monday. We had Columbus Day off in order to go to the great State Fair of Texas. Mark had to work so I had a dog-less house all to myself so I decided to bake and cook all day long. It started off by being a Pumpkin Day after reading my sister-in-law's blog about her holiday decorating but quickly changed to make what I want that was fall-ish! Plus, after my mom spoiled Mark by sending him and his hunting friend, Luke, with a homemade baked good almost every hunting trip while we were dating, I had to step up and keep up the baking tradition! So, I wanted to have a few tasty treats ready to pull out of the freezer come hunting season.

I started at 7:30am after a work out at the gym and did not finish until shortly after 7pm. I was exhausted!!! I made 6 recipes that I had been wanting to try. Here is what I made:

1. Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins : I shared a few and froze the rest for Mark to take on his hunting trips. The batter was DELICIOUS, though, don't ask how I know that ;)
2. Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting: These cookies were AMAZING. I made them to take to a co-workers birthday party and everyone, including me, loved them. I am making these again, for sure!!!
3. Easy Meatloaf: This was a super easy crockpot recipe. It was a Weight Watchers recipe which I made and froze. Hope it is good (it looked better after coming out of the pot, just fyi)!
4. Quinoa Stuffed Red Bell Peppers: I made this as part of our dinner. It was a bit more work than I usually do for dinner preparation but I thought, what the heck, I will try it. They were alright, but I won't make them again.
5. Cranberry Applesauce Bread: Another delicious tasting batter..... I don't know about the actual bread though for I cut the loaf in half and froze it for Mark. Sure looks yummy though!
6. White Bean and Pumpkin Soup: Another Weight Watchers recipe that was quite tasty and so easy to make! It would be so yummy on a cold night with some corn bread. I have been eating for lunch each day this week and it is quite filling!
Will I do this bake-athon and cook-off again? Maybe come Christmas time.... The worst part was the clean up after each recipe. I have a whole new respect for chefs and parents who cook everyday for their families!!! I will say, I didn't mess up once (As far as I know) so practice does make perfect.

I also thought I would put out one holiday decoration. Here it is....nothing fancy, but I am trying!

Trip to Nashville

I decided to take a short trip to Nashville last week. I love Nashville. I love the food, I love that it is a big city with a small town feel, and I love my friends who live there. I lived there for a total of 7 years which seems like a long time but considering I spent 4 years in college and taught for 3, it went by pretty fast! I have wonderful friends who still live there so my time spent with them is always special to me.

I spent two nights with Jodi, Chad and Sophie. Sophie and I are good friends now. She even took her first two steps while I was there! I think she loves her Aunt Meghan!
It rained the whole time but we managed to still eat, eat and eat some more before going home to crash on the couches and talk. Jodi and I talk just about every morning on the way to work so we had no problem at all spending an entire afternoon chatting away while we watched Sophie play. I even got a nap! Here is a picture of "the girls" after our yummy black bean salads at Calypso....
And a picture of the Princess Cupcake from GiGi's that I was dreaming for two days before arriving in Nashville. This has to be the most delicious cupcake I have ever eaten. Jodi has brought these on an airplane to Dallas the past two times she has visited. Look at the frosting, wow!!!
The next day I spent with my dear friend, Megan. She and I have been friends since teaching 2nd grade together at Ensworth in Nashville. We met and shopped in Hillsboro Village and in Green Hills before hitting up Baja Burrito for lunch and Tasti Dlight for some yogurt. She was also kind enough to drop me off at the airport.

I had such a wonderful time. Of course I missed Mark and Dixie so I was happy to arrive home on Saturday!

And, on a side note, our Miss Dixie went off to "school" (or training) this past Saturday. She will be gone for 3 months in order to learn how to be a great duck dog for Mark. I had to say my goodbyes to her before I left on my trip. I told her Macy (my first lab who now lives with my parents) graduated with a diploma from her school so I expected the same out of her. If she is anything like her human mom (me), she will study hard, be excited about learning, and try to perform well. If she is anything like her human dad (Mark), she will have tons of fun, make lots of friends, and be known around the kennels as cool. Hopefully she does a little bit of both while she is gone. I miss her tremendously already so here is a cute baby picture of our Miss Dixie shortly after she arrived in Dallas. My how she has grown!!!