Quick update from us

Don't you hate it when people just give quick one liner updates on their blog? Yeah, me too.

- Buie got a promotion. Yay for him!
- But it's further away from our house.
- That's okay except that I sold my soul to the devil to pay for the gas to get him there. (jk)
- Harvey aka Joe Joe we THOUGHT had found a forever home... but it looks like he is coming back to us. (more updates on Harvey coming soon)
- It finally rained here in Central Arkansas. Hallelujah.
- Our nephew Landon is turning one. ONE. Seriously where does the time go?
- My favorite holiday is just around the corner. Fourth of July!
- Our 3rd wedding anniversary is coming up! Woo hoo!

There's a super quick update! I'm headed down to Louisiana again this weekend to help celebrate one year of Landon being on this earth! :) The world is a better place because of this little smile.

his cute little party invitations that he helped his momma make for his "Under the Sea" party

My days in Minden: ThFS

downtown Minden

I had such a full week in Minden last week that I had to split it up into 2 posts. These posts are most likely boring to most of my readers. For the purpose of journaling I like to write about what I did with my time in Minden, otherwise I'll forget.

If you missed the first part of my week, click here:

Thursday was all about mom day! I slept in a little late & then ate a yummy chicken salad that my mom made topped with blueberries, strawberries, cranberries and walnuts! I could eat one everyday! After lunch we went downtown for a little antique shopping. We found a couple of pieces on sale!

I helped mom with a little gardening Thursday afternoon. A few of her container gardens needed sprucing up. In return, she took me to her bunko group where I won a prize! Thursday was a good day.

Friday morning I had my third & last shoot of the week in downtown Minden. There are so many neat buildings with old doors & windows; the alleys make for a great shoot location! Late Friday afternoon, my brother, Chris, came into town with his wife, Amanda, and baby Makalan. Chris thinks she looks a little like me when I was a baby. :) This, of course, makes me happy.

Craig, Nicole & Landon joined the fun shortly after they did & for the first time since Christmas our whole family was together...well, almost all of us. Unfortunately Buie didn't make this trip because of his work schedule I'm so glad we got a group pic! When I suggested we go outside for this picture, my vote got vetoed FAST! I was 100 degrees!

Saturday we celebrated the dads of the family: Chris, Craig, Charlie and Dad. The Lechners came over also to help celebrate. Dad was showered with gifts and kind words and cards. The night ended with a nice serenade by Coleson. I need to take guitar lessons from him. My guitar has been sitting in my closet unused for years. Coleson is the oldest of the Lechner kids and I'm pumped that he has chosen

Ouachita as his college choice. Not only is it our alma matter but he will be so close to us!

I also had a nice visit from an old friend, Brocky! I love seeing my old highschool buddies while I'm in town. I graduated from a class of 20 so we were all pretty close. I think this past week I saw at least 25 % of my class. :) I'm looking forward to our class reunion this fall.

My days in Minden: MTW

downtown Minden

What a busy week it has been! I have been in my hometown of Minden, LA since last Monday - a whole week! Originally I was only going to be in town Friday - Sunday for Father's Day. But I thought I might come in a few days early, so I posted on Facebook to see if I could drum up some photo shoots. I ended up booking three photo shoots for the week so I was happy that at least my gas was paid for and maybe even groceries for next week. :)

my traveling buddy :)

Monday I loaded up my stuff & Conner and drove to Minden Monday afternoon. We got into town about 7pm and drove straight to see the Lechners. Charlie & Angie Lechner have been a part of my life since I can remember. They are basically my brother & sister. I consider them family, along with their 4 kids: Coleson, Will, Luke & Abby. They are missionaries in Mozambique and will be in the United States through January! I have been waiting literally YEARS to see them! The last time I saw all 6 of them was at our wedding in 2008. We actually planned our whole wedding around their schedule because we wanted them to be a part of our special day. Charlie actually married us and Abby was our flower girl. :)

So... back to Monday night... I drove down & surprised them! I don't think they were expecting to see me until the weekend, so it was fun to just pop in on them just hours after they arrived in the USA! We ordered Johnny's Pizza (I ate a gluten free salad) and we sat around a visiting for a few hours before their jet lag took over & they collapsed into their beds.

Tuesday I had two photo shoots in Shreveport: one head shot session in the morning & one maternity session in the evening. The afternoon was spent visiting friends that live & work in Shreveport. I went to visit my cousin Lauren at her workplace and one of my best friends, Andrea, at her workplace!

Wednesday I hung around the house, had brunch on the patio of my parent's home, visited with mom, went to visit my grandmother, then headed to dinner with friends in Shreveport. I met my childhood friend Melissa, my cousin Lauren and my college friend Andrea for dinner at Superior Bar & Grill, one of my favorites places to eat in Shreveport.

the patio at Superior Bar & Grill

My days here in Minden have been full & happy! I always love coming back home except that Buie can't come with me because of his work schedule. It's hard to be away from each other because neither one of us can sleep well when we are apart. I never realized it as much as I did this week. After the second night of no sleep, I finally wised up and took a couple of Tylenol PM.

I'll finish up my week in Minden tomorrow. Must sleep for now. Me & Conner are headed back to Arkansas tomorrow to see the other half of my family: Buie, Scooter & Hazel! I miss them all so much!

I love you dad because...

This year for Father's Day, my 2 brothers and I made a list of things we love about our dad and shared it with him yesterday - his 2 daughter in laws contributed as well. I thought I'd share this list with y'all.

I love you, dad, because...

I love dad because... he never questioned his love for mom.

I love dad because... he is an honest businessman.

I love dad because... he’s always even keel... except for the time we stepped on his foot after surgery. :)

I love dad because... he coached me in baseball.

I love dad because... he never allowed us to wear shorts on Sunday nights. -

He taught us how to dress respectably.

I love dad because... he never bought a new car. (we buy 'em used in our family!)

I love dad because... he has always been there for me & I know he always will be.

I love dad because... he led our family in devotionals at breakfast every morning.

I love dad because... he is a hardworker.

I love dad because... he is always happy to see us.

I love dad because... he set a wonderful example of a loving, kind, and godly husband & father that my husband now imitates.

I love dad because... he is “Mr. Safety Man” - He taught me the importance of driving safely.

I love dad because.. he is a great father in law & a great Pop.

I love dad because.. of his kind eyes & how they light up when he sees his children & grandchildren.

I love dad because... he gets excited over the “simple” things.

I love dad because... he is loyal to his family & also to his sports teams.

I love dad because... of his contagious laugh. :)

I love you, dad, just because.

One thing I realized that I left off the list (among many other things) is my dad's great sense of humor. I love you, dad because... you send me great text messages like this one:

And because of that great sense of humor, I'm posting this video I found today while surfing the web. I think he'll appreciate it. :)

Also, I have to give a shout out to my two brothers who both became fathers this year. It is a truly neat thing to watch my brothers become dads. The way they protect and love their children is amazing to watch. I love you Chris & Craig and I LOVE being an aunt to Landon & Makaylan. I can't wait to watch them grow into amazing people! :)

And to the daddy of our furry animals & the future father of our children, I love you! You are the best daddy to Scooter, Conner & Hazel. I can't wait to see you as a daddy to our human children one day. I know you will be the best dad ever!

Harvey's still here

Our foster dog arrived at our home about a month or so ago as Joe Joe from C.A.R.E. We renamed him Harvey because we think that names fits him better. After weighing the pros and cons we decided not to keep little Harvey even though he is just as cute as can be. He is up for adoption through the local organization Central Arkansas Rescue Effort (C.A.R.E.) and we are so surprised that he has not been adopted yet. Harvey is smart, handsome and energetic.

He would be great in a household with children who have time to play fetch with him. Harvey will do well in a home with other dogs too. He loves to play and wrestle with our Scooter. He doesn't particularly care for our cat Hazel but he doesn't chase her. He mainly ignores her so if he were to go to a home with a cat it wouldn't be horrible. His perfect home would be a home with a big back yard to run and play...or even a home in the country with a pond. He loves playing in the water when I am watering the yard and our flowerbeds. :)

Do you need a new puppy in your life or know someone who does? Please contact C.A.R.E. and apply to adopt Harvey. But remember, his "official" name is Joe Joe. He won't be listed as Harvey on the C.A.R.E. website. That is only his name here at the Buie household. Hopefully he won't be too confused when he does get adopted.

Go check out his page and spread the word that Harvey needs a forever home.

Weight Watchers

Yes. It's that time of year when everyone is shedding the clothes and breakin' out those swimsuits. If you're like me, you're regretting that second (or third) bowl of chili during those many snow days we had this winter. Sigh. So... I'm getting back on track. I have RE-activated my Weight Watchers account. I am almost at my heaviest I've ever been. Almost. I was heavier right before I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in February of 2007. I was ALWAYS hungry and couldn't figure out why. I learned later that I was actually malnourished because of the Celiac Disease, but I was gaining weight because I had an undiagnosed Thyroid Disease that greatly affected my metabolism. So, I started on a gluten free diet in that February. Between February of 2007 and July 2008, I lost 40 pounds!! yay for me! I was the right size for my height, age. I felt healthy and looked great!

Over the last three years that Buie & I have been married the weight has been creeping back on. I'm saddened to say that I have successfully (or should I say unsuccessfully) put back on about 99% of the weight that I lost before our wedding. :(

For the purpose of comparison, I have put together a simple montage of how my weight has fluctuated over the last 5 years. Because I don't like taking pictures of my entire body I couldn't come up with three pictures showing anything below my waist. It wasn't at all surpring that I found PLENTY of below the waist pictures in the year of 2008 - my skinny year - the year of our wedding. Therefore we will just compare faces. :) If I gain weight, my face is one of the first places that shows. I am currently sportin' the "fat face look" shown here in 2006 and again in 2011. Can you tell how much slimmer and healthier my face looks in 2008? This is the goal. Slimmer face = slimmer body = able to fit into my skinny jeans! :)

I have been a member of Weight Watchers off an on for the last 5 years. Last year I found that I wasn't using it and felt that I was wasting the monthly fee, so I canceled it. Big mistake! Since canceling it I have pretty much been eating whatever & whenever I want. Bad idea. But I told myself enough is enough; I have gained all the weight I will gain (until pregnancy, of course). So, I reinstated my WW account and I'm positive this time around. I'm positive that I will lose weight. I'm positive that I can fit in my wedding dress again (not that I really NEED to, but it's the principal). I'm positive that by Christmas I will get into my "skinny jeans."

So for the purpose of journaling, I will update my progress here on our blog. Are you

trying to shed some pounds too? Have a pair of jeans you would love to wear again? Leave me a comment and we can struggle through this together! Maybe we'll end up looking like Jennifer Hudson! Wouldn't that be nice! Wish me luck! I'm off to take the dogs for a quick run!

babysitting

Last week I babysit the kids of some of our dear friends, Ryan & Christen. They have three adorable kids: Lucy, Olive & Max. It is a rare occasion that I get to babysit them but I see them every week at church. Ryan is our pastor and leader at Eikon church. Random fact: Ryan & Christen were actually our photographers at our wedding, too!

The last time we babysat, Max wasn't even around yet: we just kept the two girls. But this time I just had Olive & Max. Lucy went to her grandmom's house for the evening.

First, I fed Max dinner. He pretty much eats what my nephew Landon eats - mashed up goodness. Olive can feed herself - such a big girl! We played in their playroom, tried on princess outfits, and went swimming! Olive insisted that she was a mermaid all evening and worked on her mermaid pose. ;)

This week I will be babysitting for my nephew, Landon. I'm very much looking forward to it! I am loving all of this babysitting time I'm getting! Maybe one day when we do decide to have children I won't be COMPLETELY overwhelmed... but somehow I think I still will be. :)

Stubbornness pays off. (sometimes)

I am stubborn, to put it nicely. I do things my way but in a nice way. I am not rude & don't back talk, unless we're talking about my teens years. There was plenty of back talkin' going on between the ages of 13 and well around 23. That's 10 good years of talking back to mainly my mom. (sorry, mom) I was grounded at least 6 of those years. I'm 27 now and I would like to think that I've matured... maybe a little? But my stubbornness is inherit. Both my parents are a little on the stubborn side.

Stubborn. but in a nice way.

I have always learned my lessons the hard way. You know that saying "Learn from example" Well, that phrase was invented by people who don't have any fun in life. I mean, how much fun is it just watch someone else experience life? NOT MUCH FUN AT ALL. You tell me NOT to do something, I want to know why. It's dangerous. I want to know why it's dangerous. I can't just take your word for it... well, because that would be too easy.

So, when I'm sick and my mom & my husband tell me to go to the doctor because well, that's what they're there for... I can't just get up off the couch and go immediately. I have to wait until I feel like I'm dying before I even try to get an appointment to see the doctor. Maybe by the time I actually get in to see the doctor, I will in fact be dead. Then I would have learned my lesson the hard way as I always do.

Stubborn.

But when I hurt my arm while floating the river last Saturday and my mom & husband tell me to go get it checked out, CERTAINLY I learned my lesson and I made an appointment right way. The fact that I couldn't move my arm in any direction passed about a 10 degree angle should have been a sign that there was something seriously wrong with my arm, right?

After icing it and resting it for one week I can finally say that my arm feels much better. I can put on a shirt without screaming in pain. I can now brush my teeth with my right arm instead of looking like some sort of zombie and brushing with my left arm.

So you see sometimes stubbornness pays off. And sometimes stubbornness saves you a $50 co pay at the doctor's office. :)

Cheesy Bake Pasta

I found this recipe on Pinterest and immediately I had to try it! So let me clarify, this is not MY recipe but I did come up with the name "Cheesy Bake Pasta" because well, frankly it's better than the name it did have. I made this recipe tonight and we both loved it! So here is the yummy cheesy bake pasta! If you try it out, let me know how you like it!

ingredients:

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed

2-14 oz. cans diced Italian plum tomatoes

1 tsp. dried oregano

S&P

1 lb. pasta (tubes)

8 oz. mozzarella cheese, cubed

2/3 c. parmesan

Directions:
Heat oil in skillet. Add garlic and cook over medium high heat, 1 min. Add tomatoes and oregano and simmer rapidly, stirring occasionally until thickened, 15 min. Add S&P. Meanwhile, cook pasta. Toss pasta with sauce.Place half of pasta in an oiled 9×13” dish. Cover with half parmesan and half mozzarella. Top with remaining pasta, then parmesan and mozzarella. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes.

* I used gluten free pasta for mine (obviously) and I didn't have enough of the tube pasta so I threw some gf shells in there. I'm pretty crafty like that! I also used some spinach in mine. It gave it a little extra color and maybe a few extra vitamins. :) Enjoy!

Memorial Day weekend recap

Memorial Day weekend is one weekend we always look forward to. Three years ago, we started a tradition with some of our dear friends, David and Melissa. We have a standing date with David & Melissa that weekend. The first year we had our house warming party and invited over many of our closest friends for a cookout. Then we took David & Melissa to Riverfest. We loved having them come up to visit so much that we decided to do it again the next year. We did not, however, enjoy Riverfest, so we changed the plans.

Last year we drove up to Glenwood, AR, rented a couple of canoes & floated the Caddo River. We loved it! So that's what we did again this year! So much fun! Riverfest is just not our style. Too many people. Too much noise. But put me in a canoe with my man by my side and I'm as happy as a lark! :)

We started out the weekend by cooking dinner for David, Melissa, Alicia and Brian Friday night. Buie grilled steaks and I made roasted asparagus and Pionneer Women's creamy mashed potatoes. Yummy! And as requested I made my sister-in-law's trifle recipe that is a staple dessert in our household. After dinner we played games until after midnight and laughed til we cried.

Saturday morning came quickly. We loaded our coolers and dry bags for the river. We got on the river about 10am this year - about an hour later than last year. I think next year we should definitely get on earlier because there is less traffic on the river at 9. We like floating by ourselves - much more peaceful. :)

We had prepared sandwiches for the river, mine without bread, of course, and chips. We devored our lunch, rested for a bit, then headed back on the river to finish up around 3ish. I actually don't exactly know what time it was when we got out of the river since I wasn't wearing a watch. I just know that I was STARVING!

Buie made a wonderful Mexican fiesta for us that evening and we all turned in early beat by the sun and our muscles sore from paddling.

Sunday morning the guys played golf while Melissa and I met Alicia for brunch at Bravo. They have a great brunch menu there. We shopped for a bit and found some great deals at Anthropologie before heading to Lucy & Max's birthday party.

After the birthday party the 3 girls met back up with our men at P.F. Changs for a nice dinner to wrap up our long weekend. We are lucky to have such wonderful friends. I wish we could have more weekends like this. Can we have a Memorial Day like 3 or 4 times a year? Maybe I should start planning our Labor Day weekend.

Happy June 1st

I can not believe it's June 1st. Summer is here, although *officially* I don't think it's until the 21st or so, but it is summer in my heart. So happy Summer to you, my friends! So many things have been going on in our lives in the past few weeks, both good and not so good.

source: Pinterest

Despite having several autoimmune diseases, I rarely get SICK sick - like I can't get off the couch sick, other than the occasional migraine and weather related fibro flare. The past couple weeks I have been fighting off a sinus & ear infection. No fun whatsoever! I always try to get over illnesses in the most natural way possible. I drank hot tea with honey & lemon. I gargled salt water. I took echinacea & vitamin C like they were candy. After 10 days of misery I broke down and called my doctor in Little Rock. Of course, he was out of the country for the whole month! (must be nice, huh) So I used my "Around Me" app on my iPhone & called the first doc that sounded legit. Lucky for me, my new dr is only 3 miles from my house. Unfortunately for my dr in Little Rock, he lost a patient. I mean, why drive 20 miles when I found a primary care doctor 3 miles from my house? After finding out I had a sinus infection and ear infection too, the new doc loaded me up with antibiotics and steroids. I only take antibiotics when I absolutely HAVE to, but after 10 days of lying on the couch I would have taken a shot of opium probably. Also I found out the hard way that steroids apparently can make fibromyalgia symptoms worse.


So I'm feeling much better and thank goodness! Just in time for Memorial Day weekend this past weekend. We had the most lovely time with our friends. I'll save this for another post though.


I'm still trying to balance life while working at home. It's hard to have a set schedule for work when everyday is different. Before I knew what my schedule would be everyday: 8 am-5 pm: work at the office, 5:30 pm: come home & play with the dogs, 6:30 or so: eat supper, hang out with Buie if he wasn't working late, go to bed and do it all over again. Now I pretty much have a different schedule everyday, so it makes it hard to juggle house work, dog work (not that they are really much work), photography work and time with my husband. As much time as I have now, I still feel like there's never enough time. I have so many projects that are on my to do list - I'm not sure I'll ever get to them...


But for now, I will just enjoy the beginning of SUMMER!


I hope everyone is having a great week! And here's to the most boring and random post ever! ha!