Addiction at it's finest!

So I work very hard every week to look at the HEB adds, plan my shopping list around them, while also trying to budget my shopping trip.  (New Year's Resolution). 

I make list after list. 

I make sure that everything we eat is healthy, gluten free, and I completely stay away from the center aisles in the grocery store.  (Except for lentil chips-we love hummus and get tired of always eating it with raw veggies).

I read 100 Days of Real Food religiously, and I try to follow it as best as I can. 

I read articles about food- how it is so bad for you, and I work to cook meals that are the healthiest as possible.  If I know that we are going to have a busy week, I make sure to get some My Fit Foods at HEB to avoid driving through a drive-thru for a rushed meal. 

Needless to say, when I pass this- I cannot resist. 

I crave the whole nine yards.

I crave the chicken strips, the french fries, the bread, the sauce, and the root-beer.  I crave every last calorie. 

I can't resist and I find myself sneaking to Cane's so my husband does not notice.  For 1) I do not want to share.

2) We are trying to budget for the new year, so I do not want him to think that if I get Cane's he can go do something else- no thanks.

3)  I have learned that if I go to Cane's on Tuesday night before or after my class in the Woodland's, I can sneak it in the trash that my husband has already put on the curb for the trash-man to come on Wednesday morning.  I throw it in there, it gets hauled away, and nobody notices! :)

I think I am going to need to implement a self-management program to reduce my Cane's eating, but then again I am not too sure that I want to decrease it... Hmmm... 

Big City Livin'

Good Morning All!

So, I have probably mentioned just a few times, that I am NOT a morning person.  After letting my husband know multiple times this morning that he needs to stop making noise and turning on lights because I am sick and needed my sleep, he barged in insisting that I come look at his truck.  

I don't know what I was expecting, but I was not expecting this...

All four tires on the truck... GONE...  Instead, his truck is just on two cement blocks.

As soon as I saw this I thought of my dad.   He thinks Houston and Dallas are the crime-pits of America.  Needless to say, we have had multiple conversations where I nicely inform him that we live in a nice suburb of Houston and these kinds of things don't really happen in the 'burbs.  You know he is one of those guys that talks about his big city livin' friends and how this happens to the entire neighborhood in one night.  Yes, he tells me that this happens to hundreds of houses, in the same night, and nobody notices.  I just politely let him know that this kind of stuff would never happen in our neighborhood because we live in a great neighborhood in Cypress, and we are safe.

Hence, when I walked outside and saw that this happened to us, I dreaded his response.  I texted our parents this morning to wake them up with good tidings and a picture, and my dad's response... "Welcome to Houston".  

The fight is over.  I will no longer attempt to convince him that it is safe here, because I myself am ready to move.

Good thing we are renting a house.  Makes me want to just text our landlord "Moving out today- Thanks & Gig' Em".  I wonder if my husband will support that.. Hmmmm... I have some thinking to do! Ha!

Norwegian Cruises

Okay guys, so we have been on quite a lot of cruises lately (Joe & I have been on 4 in the last 18 months), so many of the travel posts will probably be about cruises.  Forgive me. 

Me, joe, my mom, dad, brother Ty, sister Chelsea, Aunt Heidi, and Uncle John went on an Alaskan cruise this summer, and it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

The cruise was amazing, like them all, but I definitely have a list of recommendations and another list of things that I would skip if we cruised again with Norwegian.

10 Recommendations for Norwegian Cruises

1.  Do not get a set dinner time.  It is so easy to free-style cruise, and we hardly ever waited for a table even though there was 8 of us.

2.  The more stops and the longer stops the cruise boat has, the worse the shows are.  Plan accordingly. 

3.  Don't play Bingo.  Don't get the "Show Me The Money" Package, because it does not show you the money.  Bingo is expensive, and there are a lot of better options out there.

4.  Do not plan excursions from the boat.  It is much cheaper to plan them before you go, or you can just get off the boat and wing it in most places.  Unless you want to be pushed into lines with name tags on and off the boat and shuttle buses, do not do the boat excursions.  It will be like a 4th grade field trip all over again.  

5.  The comedy shows are HILARIOUS typically.  Go to them.

6.  The game shows are lots of fun.  Norwegian definitely has the better game shows than other cruise lines.  

7.  Order as many appetizers, dinners, and desserts as you would like.  It is vacation- you can work off the calories when you get home.

8.  If your boat has a Spa Pass, get it.  You pay ~$120, and you get unlimited access to a spa lounge with jacuzzis, saunas, lounge chairs, cold/hot tubs, and much more.  Also you get the best views on the boat.  So whether you want to just lounge in silence and read a book or you want to relax in a non-crowded jacuzzi, the spa pass is for you.  You have to be 16 or 18 to get a pass, and they only sell a limited number for each cruise, so it does not get overcrowded.  The size of the spa varies per cruise, and some of the boats do not have one, so just check it out on the first day.

9.  Go on a spa/massage tour on the first day, but do NOT purchase a massage.  Take note which ones that you like, because throughout the week they will bring massage special papers to your room.  Do one of those- you get the best deal and a lot of them are combinations that they do not regularly offer. 

10.  Have fun- it is vacation.  Volunteer to go on stage.  Wave your napkin during the dinner chef parade.  Cry during the last day when you go to the Norwegian finale.  & most of all continue to say "Washy Washy" to everybody even when you get off the boat. Do it.  You won't regret it! :)

Norwegian Peal-July 2012.  Alaskan Cruise

Stay tuned for more details about this cruise and all of our amazing stops. 

Taylor

Horse Races

Last year we discovered that we had some pretty cheap and very fun entertainment right in our backyard.  We decided to go to Sam Houston Race Park, and I just have to say that it is loads of fun and a great way to spend an evening with friends.  

So, you pay $7 per person to get in (However, they have Groupons all the time for cheaper entrance fees), and then you can bet as little or as much as you want.

I am no pro-horse-race-better by any means, but we usually leave up a little or at least breaking even.  The minimum bet is $2 per race, and we usually bet $2 per person.

This time we brought our great friends, Andy and Kourtney, with us to join in on the fun.  

So once you arrive, you can buy a book that will tell you all about the horses that are going to race.  You can pick your horse to WIN (1st place), PLACE (1st or 2nd place), or SHOW (1st, 2nd, or 3rd place).  There are some other bets that you can do, but these are the easiest and what we usually stick to.

So back to these books.  You can pick what horses you like by how much money they have made, what number they are, what color the jockey is wearing, or what their name is (my personal favorite way of picking).  So you pick the horse, pick whether you think it will win, show, or place, and then you place the bets.

Well, usually the boys place the bets, and the girls take pictures and gulp down the $2 wine or $1 beers.

So once the boys get back, we get these cool little cards, we watch the race, we yell at the top of our lungs for an anorexic guy on a horse, and then we either cheer or whine about how we almost picked the horse that ended up winning.

Regardless, it is a fun, entertaining night, that can end up relatively cheap if you choose, and it is a great way to spend a night with some great friends!

Taylor

Traveling Tuesday-Progresso Newbies

Out of all 6 of us, none of us had ever been to Progresso before.  Therefore, we had no idea what to do.  None of the tours that we found online looked good, so we decided we were going to wing it.  We took the bus down the 4-mile pier that the boat was docked on, and we decided to walk around and see what we could find to do.  We ended up walking back to the bus station and taking a guy up on his offer to take us to an all inclusive beach for the day, and I would highly recommend this option.  

I failed at the picture taking this day, but I do have a few to share.  Moral of the story:  much food was eaten, yummy frozen drinks were consumed, massages were had, and we had lots of family fun relaxing on the beach all day. 

The bar & buffet area. 

My hubby & I.

I sure have a cute husband.

My mother-in-law, Dawn, and I.

Catching Up-Nac' Christmas

I have probably failed to mentioned at this point, that I am from a small town called Nacogdoches, Texas.  If you want to get technical, I actually lived in Central Heights, which is outside of Nacogdoches, and I technically did not move there until high school, so I am not actually FROM Texas.

My husband likes to point this out to me a lot.  See, my family lives on land, and my husband is from the city.  So when I let him know that I am more "countrier"than him, he always points out that I didn't live in the country until high school.

Needless to say, I now claim Texas, and I got here as fast as I could, and I win the fight because I at least lived on land for a little bit.  And you ask about him?  Never on land... Always in the CITY...

Anyways, back to the point of this story here... Christmas...2013... Nacogdoches

I absolutely love going to Nacogdoches.  It is a place we can always go to get away from the Houston hustle bustle, all of the traffic, and the best part is that we get to hang out with all of my family.  This is our typical Nac look.  Joseph=ALWAYS in camo.  Taylor=not always in camo, but usually no makeup and hair a mess. Ha!

I did a HORRIBLE job taking pictures in Nac, so sorry for the lack of pictures.  However, after midnight mass, we got a phone call from my Mimi saying "Last one to IHOP is a rotten egg".  Needless to say, my dad made a u-turn and off to IHOP we went at 1:30 am.  

Moral of the story:  We had TONS of fun in Nac.  We loved getting to see everybody, exchanging gifts, eating our weight in food, and laughing until we cried.  

The other great thing about Nac is that our nephew/godson is usually there.  See, he is not technically our nephew, but you see Jordyn is our only cousin on my mom's side, and she has always been our other sister.  And this her gorgeous baby, Houston Ross.  He is 8.5 months old, and he is a gorgeous baby and absolutely PERFECT.  Enough said! :)

& Just a little goofiness! 

Until next time!

Feature Friday-The Judes

I have decided to start a "Feature Friday" on the blog, and I thought it was only appropriate that Judy May would be up first since we are birthday twins, and our birthday was 2 days ago!

So from the beginning, Judes and I met when she became a member of a sophomore leadership program at A&M, LEAD.  She was a sophomore.  I was a junior, and I became her sub-co leader. 

Somewhere in between holiday parties,

bottles of sparkling apple juice,

many nights on the town,

lots of Aggie games,

and ring days.  We became best friends!

And that is why I couldn't imagine not having her stand up there with me during my big day when I said "I do".  

Bachelorette Party-New Orleans.  December 2012. 

I love Judes for so many reasons, but she wouldn't be Judes if every conversation I have with her did not include...

1.  Tay Tay, don't be mad at me.

2.  Agh ugh, I am so sorry, I will stop talking now.

3.  Tay, why can't I find a boy like Joe?

4.  I am going to end up alone... forever....

5.  I am independent.  I do not need anybody.

6.  What is wrong with me? 

7.  I am not going to be able to find a job.

8.  I am stressed.

9.  I am not going to stress about this. 

10.  Tay, what do I do?

11.  F-it.  F-it.  We are going to have fun.

12.  Gah I love you Tay. 

But, that is what I LOVE about her.  

-I love that she can say exactly what she feels no matter how stupid it sounds.

-I love how every time I am with her is an adventure that I never regret.

-I love how she has always been there for me at a drop of a hat if I ever need anything at all.  Whether it is a Sonic drink or I am upset about something and need a shoulder to cry on, she would show up in a split second. 

-She is ambitious.  Did I mention already that she is about to leave to work in London until May?  She is strong, she is courageous, and she is very ambitious.

-Pretty much she is an amazing friend, be jealous that you don't have your own Judes.  

So until she gets back, we will be communicating via SnapChat, and that is okay, because as soon as she gets back a catch-up sleepover is in store with lots of splurge foods and Root Beer! :)

I love you Judes, and I want you to know that although life might sometimes pull us into different directions, and sometimes we do not talk as much as I would like to, I love you, I am so very proud of you, and I am so excited to be able to call you one of my best friends.

Tay Tay