Tuesday, December 30, 2008

God's Perfect Timing

See this house? That's gonna be our house at the end of January! Ya that's right we bought a house!

It hasn't quite sunk in yet... I mean we just started looking a couple of weeks ago! It's all fallen into place perfectly so far. We still have surveys and home inspections to go through but it all looks good.

It's a 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bath house w/ 2 car garage. It's more house than we know what to do with.... I mean we don't even have enough furniture for the blessed dang thang! (notice I say that with total affection)

As a result of this whirlwind week or two we have to return to Fort Worth from Kerrville earlier than planned. But it worked out great because Greg has the rest of the week off so that we are able to be around for the inspection.

Just a few months ago we (not God) were set dead against purchasing a home at the time. We wanted to rent because it seemed to be the better option at the time. Of course God had other plans. He usually does. So we close on the house the DAY BEFORE our lease is up on our apartment! Thank you Jesus! Any of you that have been involved in apartment leases of any kind know how hard it is to get out of them, we were very blessed that God provided this house for us at exactly the same time that our lease was ending.

To top it all off I accepted a job offer this week (actually today). Yes, me! I am now officially a work from home mom with a home based business! It's doing transcription. Anyways, more on that later. I'm a busy gal!

More pictures to come soon of the new digs! Thanks for all the prayers that I know were sent our way!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Merry Christmas

















Luke 2:15-20
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

1 John 5:11
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.



Let's remember what Christmas is all about, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! He blesses my socks off every day and I pray he does the same for all of our loved ones. Merry Christmas and God Bless!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Sheesh!



Leave me alone! Ugh... now she has 2 cameras to torture me with!








Alright.... now I'm mad!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Christmas lights

Last night we took Adom to see the Christmas lights in Arlington. There is a neighborhood that sections off one side of the street just for people that are driving through to see the lights! It was amazing... I've never seen a neighborhood that did as much as this did. It took us a good hour or more just to see them all. Adom was sooo excited. His new favorite word is "Awesome!"












* note: These pictures were taken with my new totally rad Canon Powershot XS110IS camera. Greg and I both got our Christmas presents from each other early this year so that we can use them at Christmas.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Adom's girlfriend

Adoms favorite person by far is our best friends Ryan and Aprils daughter Brook.

AKA Brookie.

He even announced to Greg, "Daddy, Brookie girlfriend!"

We didn't teach him that.

While we were in Kerrville we got to spend a lot of time with them.

It was wonderful.

Although I must say, my son needs more guy friends.

All of his friends are little girls, who love High School Musical and dress him up and do all sorts of girly stuff with him.

The only thing he's been doing since we got home?

Playing with dinosaurs, tractors, machines, fire hats and swords(thanks Uncle Ryan) I think he desperately craved "boy stuff".

Simpsons, we love ya'll and miss you terribly!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

I'm Hip....




I'm Cool....

















I'm with it...

Monday, December 8, 2008

technical difficulties

More like mental difficulties...!

I can't figure out what I want my blog to look like right now so please be patient with me while I work on making it look as good as I want it to look!

Ugh...

Christmas Tag

I was tagged my my SIL Amanda...



1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift bags I hate wrapping!
2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial because of allergies
3. When do you put up the tree? The day after Thanksgiving preferably or when we get a chance.
4. When do you take the tree down? Until Greg begs me to take it down.
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes but I always end up regretting it... it's so rich!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I got a beautiful babydoll carriage when I was around 7 or 8( I wonder whatever happened to that)
7. Hardest person to buy for? My Dad
8. Easiest person to buy for? Adom and Verna
9. Do you have a nativity scene? yes my Dad got us the Willow Tree collection I LOVE it!
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I'm gonna try to mail some this year :)
11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I don't know
12.Favorite Christmas Movie? Of course theres Christmas Story... You'll shoot your eye out! And Miracle on 34th Street.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I tell myself I'm gonna do shopping early every year but I always end up shopping at the last minute...
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? probably but nothing big
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Fried Turkey and my moms turkey dressing
16. Lights on the tree? white and multicolored
17. Favorite Christmas song? Jingle Bell Rock among many...
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? home on Christmas morning then go see family
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Uh, Rudolph, Blitzen, Conor.....
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? star! Adom helped put it on this year!
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? My parents always let me open 1 on Christmas Eve then the rest on Christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? People going nuts at malls!
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I have little wooden carved piano ornament that my Grandfather carved, its very special.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? My Uncle always brought over Ribeye Steaks! Yum!
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A digital camera that I can carry in my purse :)

Merry Christmas!

I tag Lisa & Marissa!

Tardiness...


I apologize for my tardiness. Adom and I were in Kerrville for the last 2 weeks! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and got to visit with all of our friends and family. I will be posting pictures of our trip throughout the next couple of days, even though I didn't get a whole lot of them. Oops.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

As soon as we got home on Saturday I started decorating the apartment for Christmas. Then last night we had our friends Dustin and Jessica over for apple cider (thanks kelli!) and Christmas tree decorating! Pictures to come soon.



Me around 2 yrs old



I truly love this time of year. This is the first year that Adom is really enjoying Christmas as well. It's so neat to see and hear him when he sees Christmas lights. He says, "Wow, Mommy look!" He even got to help Daddy put the star on top of the Christmas tree last night. I can't believe he's so big so soon.



Adom Christmas 07'


When I was little teachers would always tell us to write about our favorite holiday ( I swear I wrote 20 of these kinds of papers). Everyone would write about Christmas and although I did and do love Christmas I always wrote about the 4th of July being my favorite. There was always a big get together with my mom's family in Leakey and I just loved being with all my Aunt's Uncle's and cousins. I guess being an only child, anything where lots of people got together was special to me.



Adom with GiGi and PopPop Christmas 06'
This years Christmas will be a little different, we will be spending it here in Fort Worth. Just the 3 of us. I don't mind though. I'm going to attempt to make a small yet very fancy Christmas dinner and I will be able to totally focus on my little family. I also want to find a book for Adom that tells the story of Jesus' birth to read to him on Christmas Eve. If you have any suggestions send them my way.


Me around 3 yrs old


These next couple of months are going to be very busy. Going to visit friends, amusment parks, Christmas, New years in Kerrville, and thats just December. We'll be packing in January. Our lease is up here at the apartment January 30th so please be praying that we will be able to find the perfect house (with a nice yard!) by then.

Happy Holidays!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Husband Tag







What is your husbands name? Gregory Charles Richards



How long have you been married? Little over 3 years






How long did you date? we dated 4 months and were engaged for 2 months before we got married!
How old is he? 27 years old



Who eats more sweets? ME
Who said "I love you" first? I think we both blurted it out
Who is taller? uh.... let me think.... me ;)
How tall is he? 6 ft
Who is smarter? Tricky very tricky


Who can sing the best? He can even though he won't
Who does the laundry? I do






Who does the dishes? We both do
Who pays the bills? Greg but I do it if he tells me to
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does... maybe I do guess it depends on how your looking at the bed



Who mows the lawn? He does (when we have one)
Who cooks dinner? I do! But he does breakfast on the weekends
Who drives?Both of us, I don't do well on long car rides unless I do the driving.
Who kissed who first? We both kissed each other first



Who's the first to admit they are wrong? Me definitely
Who asked who out first? Greg emailed me and awkwardly offered to buy me dinner haha (love you honey!)
Who wears the pants? He does. I like it that way :)


What are his hobbies? Playing the drums, playing the mandolin, disc-golf, computer stuff, playing with Adom, annoying me. They didn't call him "the mosquito" for nothing when he was little.
Favorite Food? Steak and barbequed ribs, cream corn, fried catfish
Favorite Dessert? Leah's cookies from the Peach Tree
Favorite Movie? Dumb and Dumber (Same as Carl haha)
Favorite Kid? So far Adom ;)
Dream Vehicle? The car that Matthew McConaughey drives in "Failure to Launch" it's a classic porsch.


Favorite Place to Visit? Colorado... Oregon too.








I tag Kelli G., Amber, Kristi, and Susan!

Kitchen Ramblings- Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies


I was in the mood for baking today... that's been happening more frequently lately. hmmm I hope my new jeans fit after Christmas :(
Oh well.
These turned out really yummy!
*tip* I put parchment paper on my cookie sheets to prevent the cookies from sticking. Worked really well!



1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 2/3 cups butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl beat the butter or margarine, white sugar and brown sugar together. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well.
Stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until blended. Stir in the oats and the butterscotch chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 8-9 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges begin to brown.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Cloud Comfy

I've always had this saying, "Cloud Comfy." Its what I say when I'm oh so comfy in my bed... you know that feeling when you just DO NOT want to get out of bed because you could not possibly get any comfier (I dont think thats a word) than this!


I think this picture of one week old Adom and his GiGi perfectly portrays my description of "cloud comfy".


A day doesn't go by that I don't miss this wonderful woman. When I married Greg I got two best friends and I'm very blessed to say that my mother-in-law is one of them (Greg is the other haha).


Am I not the luckiest gal? :)


And this is me in all my chubby cheek glory... I look like I was attacked by bees!

I love my mom we've always been the best of friends and I know I can talk to her about anything and everything. We've been through a lot together and I like to think that we're both strong women because of one another.

My mom is the youngest of 8 children! 6 girls and 2 boys in her family... so you can imagine how spoiled I was by all of my aunts! I had many amazing women in my life that contributed to the woman I am today.

Ya I think I am a lucky gal :)

Kitchen Ramblings- Caramelized Baked Chicken



This recipe is extremely easy and VERY tasty! Just remember to thaw the chicken out the night before and marinade the chicken all day before cooking it. Also, when the chicken is done baking I take the sauce that is in the baking dish put it in a saucepan and thicken it with a little cornstarch to make a gravy for dipping the chicken! It's a lot better when you make the gravy to go with it. :) ENJOY!

I usually use 3-4 large chicken breasts with skin and bone for this recipe. You can also use chicken wings (about 3 pounds for this recipe) or chicken thighs with bone and skin.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 cup honey
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste


Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Place chicken in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Mix together the oil, soy sauce, ketchup, honey, garlic, salt and pepper. Pour over the chicken. Let chicken marinate for AT LEAST 2-3 hours, all day is better:)
Bake in preheated oven for one hour, or until sauce is caramelized.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Tagged

I was tagged by my friend Jodi...

So I went to the sixth picture file and the sixth picture in that file was....


Ya he's had a rough day.

This picture was taken at the Fort Worth Zoo (which rocks!) right after we moved to Fort Worth.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Where was I?

I was tagged by my friend Susan...



1 minute ago: I was thinking, "crap my computer screen is breaking".



1 day ago: I was at church.



1 week ago: I was looking forward to library time with new friends.



1 month ago: I was in Kerrville with my Dad during his knee surgery.



3 years ago: I was a newlywed AND we were about to find out that we were pregnant with Adom! CRAZY!



5 years ago: I was a junior in high school. Taking all my junior plus senior classes so I could get the heck out of Camp Wood!



7 years ago: I was a freshman in high school and getting into all sorts of trouble...

10 years ago: 1998? I was in sixth grade I think completely hating school as usual.



I tag Kelli, Jodi, Cari, & Amanda.



The only thing I liked about school was being on the flag corp.
Big bows and all! HAHA!

All Better


Today my baby boy is sick :(


I hate it when he is sick... I've mentioned this before I'm sure.


He is being such a trooper though, just chillin on the couch watching "carcoons".


He thinks when I give him Medicine (he calls it Memes) he should automatically be better. He says, "All Better" and gives me a big grin.... Only to be dissapointed when the "memes" don't work right away.


I have to say though it melts my heart on days like this when all he wants to do is hold onto his momma. Sometimes I think my heart will literally burst with love when he looks up at me with tears in those big brown eyes.


On another note...

This past weekend we went to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, it was breathakingly beautiful! The pictures are on our family web album. Here's the link

http://picasaweb.google.com/therichardsalbum

Friday, November 7, 2008

Happy Birthday Bella!


Happy Birthday Beautiful Bella! We love you!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

October













































I'm terribly behind in posting... sorry. Seems to be the case lately :)






So these are pictures from the month of October. It was a very busy month. It was mine and Greg's third anniversary, we went to Kerrville for a week for my Dad's knee replacement surgery, we went to Adom's cousin Savannah's 4th birthday party at a pumpkin patch, I had my wisdom teeth pulled, and it was Halloween. Whew!
So my brain isn't working right today sooo....
To explain some of the pictures, Adom was scared when we carved our longhorn pumpkin. He's a major scardy cat! Or as Sam (Jodi's son) used to say, he's a little chicky baby! hahaha! We still use that one.
The little girl with the butterfly is Adom's cousin Savannah and her party was at the pumpkin patch.
And the last one is when we were in Ktown. Adom LOVES sitting on PopPop's stool in his office and chatting with PopPop.
Sorry about the choppy post Just wanted to get some pics up here :)

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Please Vote

Please vote today! If you don't vote you don't have the right to complain!

You owe it to your future generations...

Pray for a rightous leader for our country!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Egg Drop Soup

Just wanted to say that the Egg Drop Soup that I made the other day turned out good.

If you would like the recipe please let me know and I'll post it.... to be honest I'm so sick of Egg Drop Soup right now! I instructed Greg yesterday on how to make some twice baked mashed potatoes and thats what I've been eating. They are really yummy! But I'm tiring of those quickly as well.

The only thing I can think about right now is Fried Chicken :( Oh man I would love me some fried chicken right about now. Oh well, bring on the mushy stuff! ugh....

Thursday, October 30, 2008

A little fuzzy

Hi all!

Glad to report that everything went really well, didn't feel a thing during the procedure.

I've been in some pain since I got home but the pain killers are helping in that department ;)
My mind is kind of fuzzy (can't put thoughts together) but I don't mind.

Thanks again for all the prayers I know they worked!

Love and Blessings!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone for your comments! I'm so blessed to have such wonderful friends!





I've decided to make Egg Drop Soup, I'll let you know next week if it was blog worthy. My mom used to make it for me when I was younger and Verna has made in the past before also. So I figured I could have broth and eggs... Egg Drop Soup!





Thanks again for all the prayers, just knowing so many people are praying for me helps me to know that I'm going to be just fine.





God Bless!





On another note...





My good friend Jodi who I've recently added to my fellow bloggers list (Handprints on the Window) started doing pictures of the day. Well sorry Jodi but I'm stealing your idea! I also have sooo many pictures on my computer that no one ever sees that I would love to share with you! They may be old or new but they will be ones that I really like.



Greg took this picture of Adom while I was out of the house one day.
I think it captured "little Boy" perfectly.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Need your help


I need recipe suggestions!


This Wednesday I'm having my wisdom teeth removed... ugh!


I know I'll make a soup but I'm having a hard time deciding on what kind of soup to make. Also if you have a good pudding or chocolate mousse recipe that would be great.


I can't eat anything with small pieces in it (nuts, oats, rice, etc.) so anything mushy, brothy, and yummy!


Also, if you've gone through this and you have any suggestions about the healing process and what to do and what not to do would be greatly appreciated as well.


Hmmm.... can you tell I'm nervous?! I had a really bad experience with a dentist when I was a kid and it traumatized me. I'm having conscious sedation performed because all 4 of my wisdom teeth have broken through the skin therefore, I don't need actual surgery. They say you don't remember the procedure at all but it still makes me nervous when I think about being awake during this. *breath*

Send your yummy recipes my way!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Pray

I just wanted to ask everyone to be praying for my mother-in-law Verna for the next 10 or so days. She and a friend are in Indonesia for a women's leadership conference in Bali.

She told me that everytime Adom whines I should remember to pray for her.

I've been praying a lot haha!

Thanks and God Bless!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Nope

The Pumpkin Soup was not blog worthy.

I don't think it was the recipe so much as the cook :(

Oh well I've got a Pork Chop Feta recipe thats really good.

Recipe coming soon....

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Stay tuned...


For I am making Pumpkin Soup tonight for dinner!
I'll let you know how it goes and if it is blog worthy.
Happy Fall!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

"Home Again"

So here we are "Home Again" I say that in quotes because I'm still working on seeing Fort Worth as our home.

I'm trying I really am.

I'm sure any of you that have been through this similar transition know what I'm talking about, it takes time.

I'm just trusting in God that He will help me to see this place as home and not constantly want to be back in Kerrville.

Anyways, enough about that.

Our trip to Kerrville was a whirlwind, I feel like I didn't get to see or visit hardly anyone, sorry. But the trip was much needed and I'm so so so glad that I was there for my Daddy.

The knee replacement surgery turned out to be a much bigger deal than we had anticipated and he needed my help a lot while I was there. I am so happy to report that he is doing great! He is well on the road to recovery and the pain is pretty much not there!

I am so grateful for my family, Verna and my mom kept Adom for me a lot while we were there. I ended up having to stay the night at the hospital a few times and I don't know what I would have done without these wonderful women. Thank you both soooo much! I can't even express in words how thankful I am!

So we're back and it's always hard getting back into the swing of things but we'll get there. I didn't take one single picture the entire time I was there. I know shame shame! I think Verna did get a couple of pics and I think Greg got a few with Adom and PopPop at the computer haha! I'll try to get my hands on those, but like I said it was a whirlwind trip and I'm so glad we were able to go.

Now I'm going to go collapse on the couch with my son and my coffee and try to get my bearings again! God Bless!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Daddy update

Well my Dad had his surgery yesterday afternoon and everything went great. I spent the night last night with him up at the hospital *yawn* and he is doing really well. I Will let everyone know more when we know more. Thanks for all the prayers! God Bless!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

My Daddy


Adom and I are leaving today to stay a week in Kerrville. My Dad is having knee replacement surgery on Tuesday so please keep him in your prayers.
Can you tell from this picture that I love him so much?
I thought so.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Future Linebacker

Game Day

Pictures of Adom during the UT Longhorns game in which they BEAT the OU Sooners! I think I mentioned that before... He wasn't as into it as we were so he found things to entertain himself. But we're thinking with the way he is growing certain friends and family members will have him on the Longhorn football team in no time! :) Happy weekend everybody!




O WHO?!


Thats right my Longhorns beat the Sooners! Oh ya! Pics and video to come soon of our future Longhorn linebacker!