Bethenny Ever After

Back in my good ole college days (you know, 5 months ago) when I had all the time in the world to watch whatever I wanted on tv, I found out who Bethenny Frankel was. I first watched her on The Real Housewives of New York. My two favorites were, of course, Bethenny and then the Countess. Theeeeen the Countess got on my nerves because she was so pompous, so that left Bethenny. After she left the show and I found out that she was doing her own reality series, I knew I had to watch.

She named her show Bethenny Getting Married and I LOVED every episode. She was so funny and realistic and down to earth! If any of you didn't watch, Bethenny ended up getting pregnant by her boyfriend and decided to marry him--while pregnant--and then the season finale was when the baby was born.

Now she's got her 2nd season starting TOMORROW and it will be called Bethenny Ever After. I'm super excited about this show. Bethenny got her start on Martha Stewart's apprentice-like show as an all natural chef. (I've cooked a few of her recipes before and they are really good!!!)

So, if anyone is interested in watching tomorrow night, it's on Bravo at 9pm central!!!!!

FANTASTIC/WONDERFUL/AMAZING NEWS!!!!!!!

As of 6 pm last night, I was officially approved by the board of education as an employee of the school system as a TEACHER!!!!! Even though I've been doing the "teacher" duties since the beginning of the semester, the teacher I was replacing was waiting on the board to officially grant her retirement. Then I had to wait for the next board meeting--in the next month--before I was officially hired.

Boy, am I so blessed by the Lord!!!!!!!! Why am I still amazed at how well God has planned out my life?? He definitely already told me that he had: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Since I have been asking for prayers and y'all have been reading about my struggles with the job market/economy, I wanted to share the news!!! Thank you for your prayers!!!!!!!!!

It's almost that time..you know, Lent!

Well it's technically the start of the Lenton (Lenten??) season, but since it's in a few weeks I thought I'd let you in on a very funny memory I have of the start of Lent.



Flashback to the day before Lent in 2008, I was a college sophomore and my bff Janie was a college freshman. We were great friends with a girl who went to the BCM with us (we actually met her there) but she was Methodist. We're Baptists--we don't do Lent--but we thought "Why not?" I decided to give up pizza since I ate it pretty much everyday in our school cafeterias, our friend decided to give up french fries, and Janie--after much thought--decided to give up walking. This lasted about 10 minutes because after that she was tired of running everywhere in our dorm. We all laughed about it and then Janie said she was really going to give up chocolate.

Well fastforward to the next day. Janie wakes up and her foot hurts. Hmmm what did she do to hurt it?? Well, it ended up hurting so bad when she walked that on the 3 days each week where we had class together, Janie would have to leave our dorm 10 minutes BEFORE me for class and then I would catch up with her!!!!! Halfway into Lent, her other foot started hurting!!!!! Can I just say that her feet were healed on Easter--thus teaching Janie and me a lesson--don't joke with God on matters that are holy, and if you do, be prepared because He definitely has a sense of humor!!

One Month From Today.....

I will be here!!!!!!!! Tampa, Florida, get ready because I am coming!!!!!!!!!
A little night-time view of the city.

My dear friend, Kelley, just moved to Tampa this past August and is graciously allowing me to stay with her! I can't wait to lay out on the beach in the 80 degree weather while everyone in Alabama is experiencing weather in the 50s-60s.

a YUUUUUUUUUUM, but healthy supper!!!

I cooked a really really good supper tonight that is most definitely Weight Watchers friendly (which is what my life revolves around right now!!)! I didn't cook this last night because I wasn't feeling well and even though I'm still not feeling well, I was ready for a good dinner!! Plus, cooking is a stress reliever for me--isn't it like that for most women??

So for my supper I cooked homemade chicken nuggets and homemade baked sweet potato fries. Take notes as I try to walk you through this!!

Pictures aren't great quality--they are from my Droid.

1. Peel a fresh sweet potato and cut into strips like fries. Toss in extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake in a 425 degree oven until done.

2. Cut chicken strips into nugget sized pieces.

3. Coat the chicken strips in light Miracle Whip. Then coat in plain bread crumbs that you've already salted and peppered. Put a cooling rack on your baking sheet so that your chicken nuggets don't get soggy on the bottom. Lightly spray with olive oil spray to brown them. These should also be cooked at 425 for about 12 minutes or until done--depends on the size of your chicken.


4. These are the chicken nuggets ready to be put in the oven!!!

5. Finished meal!!! Ok, please ignore the paper plate...by then I was tired of washing dishes and I didn't feel well so I was ready to be able to throw something away. Also, ignore the burnt fries. I was too busy with the chicken and forgot about the fries--this is why it's important to check the fries!! Learn from my mistake!! :)

I hope that everyone had a great Valentine's Day! I spent mine sick and in bed at 8pm--which caused me to wake up at 4am this morning but that's another story!!!! Stay tuned for more posts tomorrow because I am staying home from school and will be going to the doctor so I'll have some free time!!!

Warming Up

After our recent bout of snowstorms, I have been begging the good Lord for some warmer weather!! I don't know if I can take looking at any more snow. Well looks like He answered my prayers for a week of nice weather! Today it's in the lower 60s and supposed to be like that for the rest of the week! Hopefully spring will come early since the groundhog DID see his shadow!!



Speaking of warmer weather, I will be treking down to Tampa, Florida, during my Spring Break to stay with my friend Kelley! God may have opened up some doors for me in Tampa so I just pray that the path I take stays in the center of His will. Oh, and the temp in Tampa in mid-March is in the 80s--just heaven!!!



Since we had to miss another day of school this week due to snow, the school system has chosen SATURDAY, FEB 26 as our make up day.....SATURDAY?!?! It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't have to be the WHOLE, ENTIRE day!! Students are only required to attend school for half a day and eat lunch there so if they asked me, I could definitely devise a plan where all students eat lunch by 11:26am....(bag lunches in classrooms!).



Is anyone counting down the days until the royal wedding on April 29?? Which, by the way, was a snow day but now we have to go because of the snow so thank goodness for DVR!! Kate/Catherine Middleton will be 29 when she marries Prince William (that's 6 years away for me). I saw this yesterday morning while shopping at Belk with my sister and had to buy!

After looking at my hand close up, I realize that I may just have to treat myself to a manicure tomorrrow!

New Workout Wear = Spring Hurry Up and Get Here!!!

I went to Academy and bought a new workout outfit plus new tennis shoes yesterday. Don't judge, but the last time I bought tennis shoes was my freshman year in HIGH SCHOOL. Everytime I thought I needed new shoes, I would just find something else to buy instead. Well, let me tell you that will never happen again. Now that I workout at least 3 times a week, I cannot go without good tennis shoes ever again.



I thought I might buy the same gray New Balances that I had already but then I saw that they were ON SALE for $109. No thank you. I'll stick to something much cheaper. I'm also pretty picky when it comes to things like that--I don't want tennis shoes with lots of colors on them but I don't want them white either. I finally found a pair on the Nike display that I liked and went out to search for them. Lo and behold, they were only $39.99!! Score!! And they also happened to match perfectly to my new outfit (not on purpose, promise!)



Here is a picture of me post-workout ready to watch the Super Bowl halftime show. (Am I the only one who liked the Black Eyed Peas??)

Also, the last time I update yall, I had lost 25 point something pounds. Hey, the ounces matter here!! Now, I've lost 32.6 pounds!!!!!! Yeah!!!!

WHY I HATE TAXES/ GROWING UP

I grew up a little bit today. For the first time in my life, this 23 year old went and had her taxes done. My parents have theirs done by their accountant and since I don't have an accountant and would probably have to wait a while to get into one, I decided to get it done myself. My mom suggested H & R Block because it couldn't cost more than 40 bucks right??? WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!

First, I had to wait forever while this woman tried to figure out my taxes...it's not that hard, lady. I had a summer job, my job now, and my tithing balance--no receipts, nothing extra to figure in. After an hour and having lots of people come help us, my total balance showed up on the screen. $170!!!!!!!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?!?!?!?!!?!?!? After they picked me up off the floor, I paid that money and ran out of there. Thank goodness I had the money in my account, however, this only means that I won't be doing anything fun until my next paycheck or until my return comes in.

What lesson did this teach me?? Either learn how to do your taxes yourself or marry an accountant.

Also funny story from this adventure: The tax lady sent me out to my car to get my tag info so I could claim my tax (I mean, sure, I didn't pay for the tag but I'll take the money. Sorry, mom....this money's mine) Did I mention that it's also like a wind tunnel outside???? Picture this: I'm on the phone to my mom telling her how stressful this is because this lady is asking me so many questions, "Do you have any money in a Swiss Bank account?" What?! When all of a sudden, the wind tears my tag info from my hand. Picture me screaming, running around the parking lot in my (faux) fur coat chasing after this slip of paper that my mom tells me is so important, trying to catch it on the grill of a truck, then on the top of a tire, then I finally caught it on the ground before it flew out into the busy highway. Believe me, if it would have done that, I would have run out into that highway to get that super important paper--thank goodness I didn't have to!

Room Update

I had a friend recently ask about my room since she knew I had talked a lot about how I was going to re-do it. I remembered that I had done a post in November of 2 "finished" pictures (meaning as finished as it's ever going to be until I get my own place). In case you didn't get to see what I created, then click here.

I literally obsessed about (dreamt about, I bored my friends with my constant talk of redoing my room, I even bored anyone that would listen to me talk about decorating) how I was going to create a "grown-up" bedroom without all of the things you think about in your parents room--ugly, flowered comforters, dark colors, dated decor, etc. At least that's what I see on HGTV haha.

What I've learned since my room has been redone:

• I hate Valspar paint. It's from Lowe's and it's cheap....quality that is, not in price. Behr from Home Depot is much better.
• I like hardwood floors, but not how cold they are in the am and my room is too small for a rug.

Tell me about your experiences with re-decorating!!

Updates and Prayer Requests

I have a lot going on right now so this post is just going to be done in a short, bulleted list.

• Tonight I joined a new bible study and I LOVE IT!! It is, however, not at my home church, and for a lot of reasons, I'm happy about that. Ever since the beginning of my senior year in high school I've been unhappy with the leadership in my church. But I stuck around because in a year I was moving off to college, and I was involved in a really strong youth group that pretty much consisted of all my friends. But now that I've moved home and matured in my faith, I'm starting to get agitated at the way my church leadership is being run and the content of the sermons. I think I was spoiled in Tuscaloosa because even though I went to 3 churches down there, all 3 had amazing pastors who were willing to tell the truth whether it hurt or not. Now, I feel that the only thing I'm being fed each Sunday is a bunch of FLUFF. Fluff that fits into note sheets where the first letter all start with "P" or the first letters all spell out "faith." Please. The Word of God does not fit into a mold. Sooo I've joined a new bible study at a different church in town and will be visiting that church on Sunday morning. Please pray that we go where the Lord is leading and not because of our emotions.
• Okay, back to the bible study. It's Beth Moore's book So Long, Insecurity. Before I started reading this book I felt pretty confident. I mean, I used to be extremely insecure about my looks and even after losing over 30 pounds, I still battle those demons but my thoughts were "What woman doesn't??" Well, let me tell yall, Beth has showed me more insecurities in my life that I didn't even know existed because I had just been living with them. First is my job. The board of education finally granted retirement to the teacher I replaced. Now because of legal reasons, the job is open to anyone who wants to apply. Of course I applied but now I'm worried that a million other people who are much better at teaching than me also applied. I'm also worried about not hearing anything about my job. What is this?? Insecurity!! Please pray that I allow the Lord to work in my life the way He intends, and also that I give my worries to Him.
• Quick sidenote, before I started writing this I had no idea this would turn out into a list of prayer requests. I just love what God does in my life!
• Tomorrow my team and I weigh in after finishing our first week participating in Scale Back Alabama!! My goal is to have lost 2 pounds this week and hopefully I lost over 1!! I have a possibility to win $1000 in this competition so I'm definitely taking it seriously!
• I had a teacher moment yesterday where I just had to be honest with my students. I was writng the answers on the board after they would call them out. We were in the middle of describing the human characteristics of an animal character when a student called out a word that I have no idea how to spell!!! Now as a teacher--as an English teacher--what do you do??? Well, I thought about it for a minute and said, "Okay, you can put that on your paper but I have no idea how to spell it so I'm not even going to try to write it on the board." That just blew their 7th grade minds! A teacher not knowing how to spell a word?!?! (See, I can't even spell it on my blog to tell yall about it ha) So then a student said, "Let's try to come up with big words that she can't spell!!" And someone yelled out "hippopotomus" to which I laughed very hard. I love these kids!