spring chickens

we baked. we iced. we conquered.

had a little project this weekend.

Remember the cake balls incident? And then the disaster of the Christmas crafts?

well this weekend, i must say, the cake balls were CONQUERED.

I laugh in the face of cake baking trying to defeat me!

more pictures of the process later, but in the meantime, let me share with you a few of the spring chickens that we made. (These are from my phone, so please excuse the quality.)

SAUCiness

that's right! lil' ole me is SAUCY this week. As if you didn't know... I woke up to the wonderful surprise that my little bloggy blog was chosen by the SITs girls as a "Saucy Blog". YAY!!

So welcome friends. Come one, come all. Read up, read down. Lots of exciting things going on around here. Imagine you and me, sitting down with a cup of java and a crumpet, just chatting away. I actually don't really know what a crumpet is, it just sounded good...

For my new friends, let's get to know each other. and let's get together, yea yea yea? sure... Here are a few of my favorite recent posts:
Ever been hungry? Sheesh...

I have some exciting news!

All the stories you never wanted to know about me...

People just look funny playing Wii...

My favorite Past time...
there are MANY more. feel free to poke around and leave me lots and lots of love today. After all, it is a Monday. :)

be saucy today! Forget the weather and work...

went canoeing and i need a tan

we went canoeing on the Harpeth river this weekend with two of our favorite people. It was PERFECT weather for it and we had such a great time. I did MOST of the paddling and Matt fished the whole time from the back of the canoe. He said that was his attempt to let me exercise since i said i wanted a "FIT PREGNANCY". HA! What a punkin he is to let me do the work for the sake of a healthy body and baby.

unfortunately, despite my attempts and best efforts, i didn't get a tan. hopefully with lots of outside time coming, so will my olive skin come back to me...

i really have no idea what i am doing here. FLYING to the canoe? sure...

just taking one for the team and fishing...that's my boy...

ewwww Katelyn...

sea shells on the river? sure...

10 weeks and at a loss for words

everyday i have tried to think of something really great and cool and interesting and witty to write about, but i come up empty! I could talk about my exhaustion...doesn't that sound fun? please...read on. What can i say? I am boring these days! But luckily, I am 10 weeks PREGNATO, which means my mountain is almost over! :)

I could tell you how i feel just fine and dandy and then all of a sudden it is like i am a narcoleptic who passes out and I either wake up at 3am to go to the bathroom and i am on the couch in the dark or mysteriously i made it to my bed with no bumps or bruises where my husband is comfortably sleeping...couldn't tell you how or why i got there.

Or i fall asleep at my friends' house. which is just as awesome and not embarrassing!

butthatdoesntsoundlikeafunsubjecttotalkabout.

I could continue to tell you all that i have been eating (and how 15 minutes after I am done snacking, it is like i haven't eaten in 8 hours...) and how a healthy pregnancy you gain 15-25 pounds and i am sure i am halfway there...at 10 weeks...but that doesn't sound fun either.

instead, i will resort to showing you another picture of my growing baby and how cool it was it see little one MOVING!!!! It was SO CRAZY looking at this picture of a life that is growing inside of me and see little legs and hands moving and then the HEAD TURN! WHOA.

that was nuts & crazy.

that is going to be one sweet, adorable little booger...

carrying a trunk up this mountain

I am literally hungry all day. I can’t stop I tell you. If I am eating I am happy and if I am not, I am sick. Let me give you a run down of what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast before work: low fat yogurt with strawberries and blueberries and a cup of OJ
Water all morning.
At work mid morning snack: 2 pieces of whole grain toast with apple butter on them
(Maybe a Reese’s peanut butter cup here or there…it was a small one)
Water.
Home for lunch: wheat thins and pimento cheese, carrot sticks and broccoli florets, and two (whoops!) corn dogs
(and maybe a 2 Hershey kisses for dessert)
Water.
Apple slices for a mid afternoon snack
Fresh strawberries for a pre-work out snack.
More carrots when I got home from working out
A turkey sandwich with cheese and reduced fat wheat thins for dinner, plus those yummy yummy pirouette thingies. (You know they are long, and waffery and have chocolate in the middle and you are suppose to put them with ice cream or coffee or something and they are the width of your pinky but as long as a new pencil. I think I ate about 6 of those. Don’t judge me…i don't normally eat this much. it's all new to me)
OJ before bed and saltines by the bedside.

SHEESH!!!!! This pregnancy stuff is hard! Hopefully it will be better come 2nd trimester.
My girlfriend Katelyn said that the first trimester is similar to climbing a mountain. A mountain with a backpack of snacks I would say which makes it even harder.
It seems like I am carrying a trunk up this mountain!
I summit on March 19th…

I am the little engine that could. Ithinkican, Ithinkican, i thinkican, ithinkican, I KNOW I CAN!
did i mention i am tired?

please tell me you have watched Flight of the Concords

this show is so funny. this one was on last night and made me giggle.

i hate laundry

i hate doing laundry. i really really really do. This is the view of my bed on Saturday from all the clean clothes that i had to put up. Happy Valentine's Day to me huh? OHMIGOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!

i need a laundry-putter-upper.

i would rather scrub a toilet.

ok, seriously, it is time to come clean

so, i have been so busy at work these days that i have had next to ZERO time to talk to you. how i have missed you friend.
How are you?
What is new with you?
what is going on in your life?


Oh! right! By the way, I am PREGO!!! my bad. did i forget to say that?
Our little booger is 8 weeks along and is due to enter the Cox world on October 1!
Yay for babies!
And remember this? Nashville told me something...

i love love

i must admit that i don't care too much about Valentine's Day as far as spending money, dressing up and going out and getting presents go. Although, i ALWAYS love the cheesy valentine cards that you would hand out in grade school....and candy...lots and lots of it.

In my belief, i should get presents at least once a WEEK, so Valentine's day in my opinion is just another ploy to get us to spend money. who is with me on the lots of presents swing?

BUT, i have to say, i have forever the best Valentine. He is great and sweet and wonderful and adorable and loving and caring and awesome and a great cuddle buddy. This is all i want to do today with him:

and this:

and this:

I will never forget one of my college roommates saying "i LOVE love!" the whole thought of being in love and sharing that with another person, and i have to say, today i am filled with love for my love!
So today, I honor him:
I LOVE YOU MATTHEW RYAN COX!

And here is my question for you, faithful blog reader:
what are your valentine traditions that i should steal and incorporate?

i heart revolution

this just might rock you to the core.



and i hope it does

sometimes i dont know what to tell you

i am at a loss for words.

i turned 26 on Sunday.

Is this what i have to look forward to?

Forgetting? Can't think of what to say?

I will share with you this:

i hugged Billy Graham. Well, sorta.

Birthday, Superbowl Party and weekend with BFF coming later. stay tuned.

fine. I will do it. I have been tagged.

Tag you're it.
(you read it, now you are suckered into it...)

Thank you Brooke. You have made me do this. :) I always forget to do these and it is hard to take the time once i am home. I figured i would start it with good intentions to actually post it. The rules are...

Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design.
Show the 7 winners names and links on your blog, and leave a comment informing them that they were tagged...
List at least 10 honest things about yourself.
And in no particular order:
10 HONEST things about myself

1) I went to a live taping of FRIENDS in 2003. That is right people. Season 9, the One with the Days of our Lives Cast Party. It was beautiful and i loved every second of it and L.A. Plus not to mention, i was a sophomore in college, skipped class and spent what was a cold day in Texas on the BEACH in California. Not to0 shabby for Jenna...

2) I can fall asleep at the drop of a hat. Jealous? Truly. I am one of the lucky ones. Gimme 5 minutes and i am out. You just get me comfy and i am done.
Thank you Mother for that quality.

3) I met my hubby thru coaching basketball, which i cannot play...

4) While i really like my job, i wish i could be a photographer and events coordinator. And sew. And craft all the time. And be a really good painter...and take cooking classes...

5) We made fun of our friend Katie for years (actually, we still are) because of an incident in high school where she was making out with her boyfriend under a blanket while we were all sitting on the couch together. 3 couples: 1 couch...SHEESH GET A ROOM! THEN she went outside for an hour to make out with him more and out of our delirium and frustration we sang our version of Christina Aguilara's "Oh Holy Night".

6) One Christmas Day, back in 2000, the entire city of Texarkana, TX was blacked out b/c of a HUGE ice storm that came thru. After piling on layers upon layers of clothes and inviting friends over to sit in front of the fire, i ended up spending the night huddled around a small candlestick in my upstairs bedroom playing scrabble and drinking hot cocoa with Emily. We played until we were spelling in our sleep.

7) I have a weird fascination about what pregnant people look like. Curiosity? sure...

8) My favorite past time is sitting in Barnes&Noble with Emily and looking at tabloid magazines, drinking coffee and judging celebrities...

9) I really like to make random videos (dancing, singing, acting like animals, whatever really...) to usually embarrass me to the core if people were to see them, but at the same time i am ok with public humiliation. stay tuned

10) I have all 5 of my children's names picked out and i don't have any children.

I tag these 7 people:
Holly Wynne, Emily, Blaire, Christie, Stephanie, Anita J, Ali,
...and hubby
and anyone else reading this!

I also tag this crazy cracker b/c she has been MIA!
Lindsey Arita

Here are the rules:
1. Say one nice thing to the man in your life:
You Matthew Ryan Cox are the missing piece to my puzzle.

List at least 6 ways you measure success in your life.

1. I am successful when i immediately put up the dishes that i put in the sink.

2. I am successful when i get to work right at 8:15 and not 5 minutes late.

3. I am successful when I walk into Target and don't buy something .

4. I am successful if i check my voicemail on my cell phone once a week.

5. I am successful when I get out of bed 30 minutes after my 3 alarms go off.

6. I am successful when I even just think about working out.

Assign 5 other blogs this award:

Happy Tuesday.

loving me some Keurig

Have you seen these?

They are so cool and i WANT one, mainly a free one.

go to this blogsite and sign up for a free giveaway and then pray that little ole ME gets it for my 26th birthday on the 1st of Feb. EEEEk

http://thesecretisinthesauce.blogspot.com/2008/12/win-keurig-platinum-brewing-system-and.html

while you are at it, sign up for SITs. Great BLOG!!!!!

and do we need to talk about how i am about to turn 26? It sounds so much more grown up...

what do people who play Wii really look like?

if you cant rat out family, where is the fun in life?

atta girl...bowl it out.


we mean business...it's business time some would say.

come on Gloria! Work it out girl

workin it hard, huh?

keep going! keeeeep going!!!

keep them hands up giiiirl

wait a second, are you boxing with your eyes closed?

HAHAHA

dont forget to check out a few other posts up today:
http://quirkiebird.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-does-one-do-with-deer-meat.html
and
http://quirkiebird.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-will-resolute.html

what DOES one do with deer meat?

A week or so ago, Matt and I went to Georgia to his hometown. It was the last weekend of deer and dove hunting until October-ish. I told him he could go and play in the woods all weekend. Grunt, spit, burp, fart, shoot guns, be smelly, do fraternity chants, be manly, sit in trees, pee in the woods, be whatever, or all of the above.
Aren't I a good wife?
Apparently i am the only person in the world who has never eaten venison. How dare I?
this is what we made tonite:

Red Deer Medallions

1 lb. Tenderloin
(Marinade)
¼ cup red-wine vinegar

2 cloves garlic,minced

1 Tbsp. Dried tarragon

¼ tsp. Freshly ground black pepper

To prepare the marinade, in a small glass bowl, combine the vinegar, garlic, tarragon, and pepper. Mix well. Place medallions in a shallow glass dish, pour marinade over medallions: turn to coat. Cover dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. (or longer)

Preheat broiler on high. Line a broiler pan with foil. Remove medallions from marinade: place on prepared pan. Pour remaining marinade over meat. Broil medallion 6 inches from heat, turning once, about 7-8 minutes per side for medium. Place medallions on a serving platter, cover for 8 minutes in a warm place, 150-degree oven, before serving. Serves 4.

Sound pretty good huh? Yup.

Here is the kicker:
we have enough deer meat to last us a year.
that's right. i got back to TN to discover a cooler FULL of different parts of a deer. Yum?
what else can i make???????? I gotta get creative here. This domestic diva will lose it.

dont miss another long lost blog that i posted today. I quess i forgot to post and just saved!
http://quirkiebird.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-will-resolute.html

i know, i've been seriously MIA, but i am back in action...

My goal is to blog ever day again. I have been nuts and had no time at work to even play on here. Before i get back in full action, read this story that i found this morning:

Father John Powell, a professor at Loyola University in Chicago, writes about a student in his Theology of Faith class named Tommy:
Some twelve years ago, I stood watching my university students file into the classroom for our first session in the Theology of Faith.
That was the day I first saw Tommy.
My eyes and my mind both blinked. He was combing his long flaxen hair, which hung six inches below his shoulders. It was the first time I had ever seen a boy with hair that long. I guess it was just coming into fashion then. I know in my mind that it isn't what's on your head but what's in it that counts; but on that day I was unprepared and my emotions flipped. I immediately filed Tommy under "S" for strange... Very strange.
Tommy turned out to be the "atheist in residence" in my Theology of Faith course. He constantly objected to, smirked at, or whined about the possibility of an unconditionally loving Father/God. We lived with each other in relative peace for one semester, although I admit he was for me at times a serious pain in the back pew.
When he came up at the end of the course to turn in his final exam, he asked in a cynical tone, "Do you think I'll ever find God?"
I decided instantly on a little shock therapy. "No!" I said very emphatically.
"Why not," he responded, "I thought that was the product you were pushing."
I let him get five steps from the classroom door and then called out, "Tommy! I don't think you'll ever find Him, but I am absolutely certain that He will find you!" He shrugged a little and left my class and my life.
I felt slightly disappointed at the thought that he had missed my clever line
-- He will find you!
At least I thought it was clever
Later I heard that Tommy had graduated, and I was duly grateful.
Then a sad report came. I heard that Tommy had terminal cancer. Before I could search him out, he came to see me. When he walked into my office, his body was very badly wasted and the long hair had all fallen out as a result of chemotherapy. But his eyes were bright and his voice was firm, for the first time, I believe. "Tommy, I've thought about you so often; I hear you are sick," I blurted out.
"Oh, yes, very sick. I have cancer in both lungs. It's a matter of weeks."
"Can you talk about it, Tom?" I asked.
"Sure, what would you like to know?" he replied
"What's it like to be only twenty-four and dying?
"Well, it could be worse.
"Like what?
"Well, like being fifty and having no values or ideals, like being fifty and thinking that booze, seducing women, and making money are the real biggies in life..
I began to look through my mental file cabinet under "S" where I had filed Tommy as strange. (It seems as though everybody I try to reject by classification, God sends back into my life to educate me.)
"But what I really came to see you about," Tom said, "is something you said to me on the last day of class."
(He remembered!)
He continued, "I asked you if you thought I would ever find God and you said, 'No!' which surprised me Then you said, 'But He will find you.' I thought about that a lot, even though my search for God was hardly intense at that time.
(My clever line. He thought about that a lot!)
"But when the doctors removed a lump from my groin and told me that it was malignant, that's when I got serious about locating God.. And when the malignancy spread into my vital organs, I really began banging bloody fists against the bronze doors of heaven. But God did not come out. In fact, nothing happened. Did you ever try anything for a long time with great effort and with no success? You get psychologically glutted, fed up with trying. And then you quit
"Well, one day I woke up, and instead of throwing a few more futile appeals over that high brick wall to a God who may be or may not be there, I just quit. I decided that I didn't really care about God, about an after life, or anything like that. I decided to spend what time I had left doing something more profitable. I thought about you and your class and I remembered something else you had said:
'The essential sadness is to go through life without loving. But it would be almost equally sad to go through life and leave this world without ever telling those you loved that you had loved them.'
"So, I began with the hardest one, my Dad. He was reading the newspaper when I approached him.
"Dad."
"Yes, what?" he asked without lowering the newspaper.
"Dad, I would like to talk with you."
"Well, talk.
"I mean . It's really important."
The newspaper came down three slow inches. "What is it?"
"Dad, I love you, I just wanted you to know that." Tom smiled at me and said it with obvious satisfaction, as though he felt a warm and secret joy flowing inside of him. "The newspaper fluttered to the floor. Then my father did two things I could never remember him ever doing before. He cried and he hugged me. We talked all night, even though he had to go to work the next morning. It felt so good to be close to my father, to see his tears, to feel his hug, to hear him say that he loved me."
"It was easier with my mother and little brother. They cried with me, too, and we hugged each other, and started saying real nice things to each other. We shared the things we had been keeping secret for so many years.
"I was only sorry about one thing --- that I had waited so long. Here I was, just beginning to open up to all the people I had actually been close to.
"Then, one day I turned around and God was there. He didn't come to me when I pleaded with Him. I guess I was like an animal trainer holding out a hoop, 'C'mon, jump through. C'mon, I'll give you three days, three weeks.'"
"Apparently God does things in His own way and at His own hour. But the important thing is that He was there. He found me! You were right. He found me even after I stopped looking for Him."
"Tommy," I practically gasped, "I think you are saying something very important and much more universal than you realize. To me, at least, you are saying that the surest way to find God is not to make Him a private possession, a problem solver, or an instant consolation in time of need, but rather by opening to love. You know, the Apostle John said that. He said: 'God is love, and anyone who lives in love is living with God and God is living in him.' Tom, could I ask you a favor? You know, when I had you in class you were a real pain. But (laughingly) you can make it all up to me now. Would you come into my present Theology of Faith course and tell them what you have just told me? If I told them the same thing it wouldn't be half as effective as if you were to tell it.
"Oooh.. I was ready for you, but I don't know if I'm ready for your class."
"Tom, think about it. If and when you are ready, give me a call."
In a few days Tom called, said he was ready for the class, that he wanted to do that for God and for me. So we scheduled a date.
However, he never made it. He had another appointment, far more important than the one with me and my class. Of course, his life was not really ended by his death, only changed. He made the great step from faith into vision. He found a life far more beautiful than the eye of man has ever seen or the ear of man has ever heard or the mind of man has ever imagined.
Before he died, we talked one last time.
"I'm not going to make it to your class," he said.
"I know, Tom."
"Will you tell them for me? Will you ... tell the whole world for me?"
I will, Tom. I'll tell them. I'll do my best."
So, to all of you who have been kind enough to read this simple story about God's love, thank you for listening. And to you, Tommy, somewhere in the sunlit, verdant hills of heaven --- I told them, Tommy, as best I could.

I know that story seems a little depressing but at the same time, it reminded me of so much, and truly encouraged me. I hope it does the same for you.
Have a WONDERFUL day!

my favorite subject

he is my favorite subject.
my favorite shot.
my favorite inspiration.

we were in Downtown Nashville the other day beboppin' around and i kept saying "OH! go over there and just look gooooood." HA! Luckily for him, he doesnt have to work hard at that.

Man, i am going to have some good looking kids.
Take a look at this hottie, but dont drool.
He's taken.

which one is your favorite?