Weekend of Celebrations

This weekend was a busy one...but a busy one for good reasons. It started on Friday with Shane's graduation from Firefighter School. My parents, my sister Clarissa and my nephews Tyson and Tucker all came for it. I am so excited for Shane and for what his future holds. He has worked so hard the last year on this Firefighter Academy. Studying way more than I have ever seen him do ;-) I knew he did well in his classes, but little did I know how good he really did. There are two awards that they give at the graduation. One is an academic award for the student with the highest average and the other is an Espirit De Corps award that is voted on by all of the students. They vote for the person they feel has been the best leader. Someone they would want to someday work beside in the Fire Department. I knew Shane had a great shot at the Academic award because he had worked so hard, but I was so excited when they announced he had recieved BOTH awards! Man, I was one proud wife. Now we wait for them to start hiring here in Abilene. Hopefully he can get a spot here!

 

Right after graduation and a celebratory dinner we headed to Coppell for my nephew Joshua's 2nd birthday party that was taking place the next day. We got in around 11 pm. It had been one long day! The party was adorable, just like all the rest of the parties my sister Marci plans. She seriously needs to go into the party planning business! I would post all the pictures from the party on here but there are tons! So if you are interested in taking a peek look this blog post my sister put up about it. Here is a few of my favorite pictures though..

 

 

As soon as the party ended I hit the road and headed back to Abilene. Yeah, that drive was no fun when you are exhausted and driving alone! Right as I got home I was in cleaning/setting up mode for our own little party at our house. Shane invited over all the Firefighter Academy guys to have a little celebration dinner. Even though I felt rushed and somewhat out of it, the dinner went well and I really enjoyed getting to know some of the guys!

We ended the weekend with another birthday party. It was our good friend Eric's birthday so a few of us met at Abuelos to celebrate. Abuelos never lets me down. Side note... is it just me or is there TONS of August birthdays? I feel like I know so many people that are having birthdays this month and lots of people that are having babies this month. I guess it's just a special month...I mean I am an August baby as well :)

It was a busy weekend and come Monday morning I was pretty worn out, but it was so nice to see all my family and get to celebrate such special times!

Mini Vacay to Fredericksburg

You know those days when you desperately need a vacation but you don't have the money nor enough vacation days to take a long fancy trip? Well, that was my predictament not too long ago. So, I did the next best thing to taking a beach trip to the bahamas :)

I took a mini vacation to Fredericksburg! My mom had been talking about how she very much needed a vacation as well. I didn't have enough vacation days to take off and head to San Antonio for a few days, so instead I took off one day and me, my mother in law Jackie and her close friend Kim met my mom in Fredericksburg for a day trip.

We ate lunch at the amazing Herb Farm. I highly recommend it! And also recommend the Summer Sangria and Chicken Pot Pie...mm soo good. After lunch we headed to Grape Creek Vineyards. We did a wine tasting and had a wonderful tour of their vineyard and winery and learned so much about making wine. We ended the day with some shopping, of course. It was such a nice mini vacation and I absolutely loved getting to spend time with my two mamas and bascially my third mom Kim :) Love those ladies so much!

Had to share this...at the end of the day we went into a candy/fudge shop. They had chocolate covered everything bascially. These four things grossed me out the most though...chocolate covered bacon, jalepenos, pickles and chips. I know some people actually like this stuff, but I just.don't.understand... EW!

Greek Isle Salad Recipe

I have fallen in love with a salad. Yeah, you read that right. Sorry Shane :) This salad is one that they make at the Abilene Country Club and it has become a weekly staple for me. I literally want it all the time. So I decided, why not make it at my house? It seemed like it would be pretty easy. And good news, it is! And it tasted just as good. I just had to share it with you all..

-Spinach Lettuce

-Sliced Cucumbers

-Sliced Red Onions

-Feta Cheese (my favorite part of it)

-Kalamata Olives

-Sliced Sirloin or any type of beef 

And then top it off when some type of Balsamic Vinaigrette. 

Yep, it's amazing. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Girl's Beach Trip 2012

So remember last year when I went to Fredericksburg with three of my best friends for a girls weekend? Well, we decided this girls weekend needed to happen once every year. So there year we went to Erin's beach condo in Port Aransas! The weather was beautiful and it was so nice to be with my girls.

So thankful for sunshine and girlfriends :)

Spencer

Today is a sad day...

If you know me very well, you know how obsessed I am with pugs. This obessession started back in middle school and I was constantly talking about how much I wanted one. So my freshman year of High School I was given a pug as a Valentines gift from a boy I liked at the time. I came home from school with the cutest little smushed face thing. I showed my mom and she immediately said. "Oh Jordana, you are going to have to make sure this is okay with your dad." I was so nervous to tell him. I just had a gut feeling he would make me give him back. My dad was napping at the time, so I decided to wake him up by putting the puppy by his head. He did wake up and to my surprise he told me I could keep him, on one condition..... That he could name him. My dad has this thing with naming dogs after authors. Of course I was okay with this, as long as I could keep him. He named him Spencer and I think it was the perfect name for him..

Spencer has been such a wonderful dog throughout the years. He let's all the kids play/mess with him and he never tries to bite. He will always lay right next you, basically cuddling with your leg. He loves attention and loves people. But the thing that has been the best about Spencer is that he has been the best companion to my sweet dad and mom through the years. He is definitely a man's best friend.

Spencer hasn't been himself lately so my parents took him in the the vet on Tuesday. The vet took blood work and said they would get back to my parents when the results came him. Wednesday they called with the bad news. Spencer has diabetes....bad. So bad that the only way he could live is to have a serious treatment that would keep him at the Vet for weeks and then he would be dependent on insulin shots everyday. As much as we all love Spencer, it comes to a point where you have to make a decision for what's best for everyone. Including Spencer. He isn't himself. You can tell he is in pain. And he is an older dog. So they made the painful and devastating decision to put Spencer down today. My heart is breaking. Partly because I loved Spencer sooo much, but mostly because I hate that my parents are having to go through this. I know some people might think we are crazy for being so attached to our dogs and that's okay. But for us, they are family. I won't ever forget our crazy sweet pug Spencer and all the happiness he brought me.

We will miss you so much Spencer!

Coconut Berry Smoothie

Since the summer started there have been two things I have been a little obsessed with, Coconut flavored things (Coconut Water, Pina Coladas etc.) and smoothies. Luckily I'm married to someone who enjoys smoothies as much as I do. I have been searching for some new smoothie recipes and came across this one from Jillian Harris. (The Bachelorette from a while back!) And what do you know, it's a smoothie that calls for Coconut Water! I immediately wanted to try it. So I headed to the store to get all the ingredients so I could whip it up. But when I got to the grocery store I quickly realized that I would probably need to go to a Natural Grocers type store to find Organic Coconut Yogurt and the "Healthy Skin with Greens Plus" (Which I am guessing is a supplement to blend into the smoothie so that you are getting greens)

BUT I figured I could still make this smoothie tasty and still nutritious if I changed the recipe up a little bit with what my grocery store did have. And I was right! It was delicious! And Shane loved it too! Double bonus.

Here is the recipe:

-1 frozen banana 

(mine was not frozen because I had just bought them, but I froze the rest of them so they will be for next time I make this!)

-3/4 cup of frozen blueberries 

-2 tablespoons of Vanilla Greek Yogurt 

(If you are not a big fan of the Yogurt taste you could put 1-1 1/2 tablespoons instead)

-1 cup of Coconut water

And blend it all up! So yummy.

What is great about this smoothie is that it is combining to super beneficial ingredients. Coconut Water contains antioxidants and important electrolytes, such as potassium. It is a great drink to have after a workout! I actually made this right after I got done working out. And blueberries are basically a superfood. They are not only a good source of antioxidants but are rich in Vitamin A & C as well as Fiber. Yeah, basically they are the greatest little things ever.

Another tip I got from Jillian Harris's Recipe is to freeze your bananas. I can never buy bananas because we seem to never be able to eat them quick enough before they go bad. This will fix the problem! 

Happy Hump Day!

Last 4 Days

This past Weekend was the first one in what feels like forever that I had nothing to do. No going out of town, no working the firework stand, no babysitting. It was sooo relaxing. Friday we went to a birthday party at the country club. Saturday I cleaned my house, like really cleaned. Swept and mopped the floors. That is really cleaning to me. After cleaning I laid out at the pool with my MIL Jackie. And that evening we had dinner with our friends Eric and Ginna and got to spend time with their sweet little one Madison!  

Sunday after Church we had lunch with all of our friends from our Young Married's Class. We always enjoy being with them. Sunday evening Shane was planning on going to golf with his dad and brother Hunter. But I was really not wanting to spend the evening by myself with nothing to do. So I decided to go with Shane to the golf course. One of the rules of the Country Club golf course is that you have to wear a collared shirt. Do I own a collared/polo type shirt? No. Not even one. So Shane let me borrow one of his. I felt like a boy and wasn't too excited about it, but I ended up having the funnest time. It was the perfect evening to go golfing. We had just had a small rain shower, so it cooled off the evening quite a bit and it was just so relaxing and peaceful out there. Shane let me drive the golf cart and I took score while the boys played. I even got to a hit a few of balls. Yes, I was terrible. But it was my first time to ever hit a golf ball. Well, besides put put, but that doesn't count. 

 Monday, was you know, just blah. It of course was a huge struggle to get out of bed and get to work. But the good thing about Mondays are that out of all the weekday evenings, Monday is my favorite. Why? Because Monday is when I go to Body Pump, my absolute favorite work out class and then I get to come home and watch the Bachelorette. AND to top off my Monday evening, I picked up these at Target for a whopping $5! What a steal! Pretty much all of the shoes were on sale. I could of gotten my self into lots of trouble with this sale, but I had self control and only bought one pair. 

Shane's Monday, was unfortunately not as great as mine. He was working on fixing a mower and hit the motor so hard that it sliced him on his pinkie knuckle. Shane of course was super calm about it. He came by the house and asked me to bring his medical insurance card out. When I did I asked him why he needed it and he said in the most nonchalant way, "Oh, I just cut my hand and need the doctor to clean it." Like it was no big deal. He came home from the doctor with four stitches. So funny how if it was me that got stitches, it would of been a HUGE fiasco. 

My evening tonight will be filled with painting. I am redoing the guest bathroom cabinets. Here is to hoping I can finish them tonight and that they turn out okay! I will post before/after pics when I'm done. Happy Tuesday!

Meet My New Car

Goodbye little blueberry....

Hello pretty!

Okay, so the Denali is not new per-say...but it is new to me! It was actually Shane's parents car. They decided to get a new truck so they asked us if we wanted it! Um, yes! And my little blueberry car is now Hunters (Shane's little brother). That worked out quite nice! So now I am the happy owner of a SUV. I have never had one before. Only have had small cars, so I am a little excited to say the least! But I will say, it is going to take some time to get use to parking this thing! Just a little bit different than parking a small car..

Happy Friday the 13th!

Happy Birthday to my Sweet Daddy!

This past Friday was my dad's birthday. And I got to be with him on his special day! I was so excited to go to San Antonio for the weekend to not only celebrate him but to get to spend some time with all my family! Well everyone except Shane and Scott :( It was a fun weekend filled with laughter, fireworks, lots of swimming, and lots of eating...good eating. We had Rudy's BBQ one night and it reaffirmed my feelings that it is by far the best BBQ place, ever.

Happy Birthday Dad!! We love you so much! So glad I got to spend your 39th birthday with you ;) 

Now for a TON of pictures from our wonderful weekend:

Now for a few funny things that my niece Kate and nephew Tucker said this weekend:

Kate: When I am older, like when I turn five, can I get a belly button ring like Aunt George? ((goodness gracious, I thought Marci was going to kill me after she said this))

Tucker: Mimi, why is your refrigerator so messy? ((His momma is the ultimate organizer and their refrigerator is ridiculously in order. So, he could just not understand why Mimi's wasn't this way))

Tucker talking to me: Can you bring your face a little closer? 

---I bring it closer and then he plants a kiss on my cheek

Tucker after the kiss: Did you just fall in love with me Aunt George? 

((HAHAHA))

Kate: I want to have a little baby sister named Sarah and Aunt George will have a baby girl named Anastasia.

((Anastasia?? Really Kate?))