{1} I'm training and running for a half-marathon in January. Please read this post and help me raise money for The Epilepsy Foundation. It's a great cause and I'm willing to do stupid stuff for money. If you have idears send them my way.
{2}I posted this photo yesterday to twitter/facebook that we've named the cat we found last week, Catface.
Seems appropriate right? I mean, it is a cat. It has a face. Catface. [Genius, aren't we?] But the name has been changed, courtesy of our daughter. You see the cat is a male. A male that is not neutered. Which means his uhhh, balls, are on display for the world to see if he raises his tail. And once Lillie caught sight of them, well, she called it like she saw it - Bubbles.Yep. Name changed instantly. Once we finished laughing of course. So, Catface is out. Bubbles is in. Welcome to your new home!
{3}Someone asked me if I'd lost like 25 lbs. Uh, no, but hot damn did it make me feel good. I'm nearly done with my first month of Insanity [I've cut back some since I've started running again] and expect sometime next week an update.
{4}Because I would not be a real woman if I didn't mention this at some point in my life.
Magic Mike. Magic Mike. Magic Mike.
{5}Dudes, someone just donated - seriously, I just got an email, like right now - $50! WHAT?! People are amazing. Simply, freaking amazing. I was [am] nervous about asking for money, that's just not the type of person I am, but I am so much more excited to be helping out with such a great cause!
Get out there and do something amazing, my friends!
Yeah, I know. Not the good kind of lottery. Well, not the good kind for my wallet anyway. But yep. I did it. On January 13, 2013 I will run [and probably walk some, we will see] 13.1 miles. And it will be glorious. [Or at the very least amusing if I happen to crap my pants.]
I mean, what are the odds that the first time I attempt to get into a half-marathon [that is capped] I'd actually be chosen? Guess it was just in the fates that I suck it up and git-r-done. I've done a number of 5k's (3.1 miles) in the past few years, but never ventured beyond that. And to be brutally honest here, it was because I was terrified.
I was terrified I wouldn't know how to train properly.
I was terrified of giving up my free time to [ugh] exercise.
I was terrified of failing.
I'm sure you've all felt it. That little voice in the back of your mind that tells you your just not good enough. Ugh, I hate that voice. If I could figure out how to punch that voice in the vagina I would be completely and utterly happy for the remainder of my years.But I've been working on finding that voice this year by focusing a little more on what makes me happy. [Part of my 2012 resolutions.]
Not only what makes my husband happy. Not only what makes my job happy. Not only what makes my family/friends happy. And as horrible as this sounds [and as guilty as it makes me feel] on not only what makes Lillie happy.
I can honestly and openly tell every single one of you reading this - it has made me a better person.
I feel more connected with people because I am focusing on them when I am with them. I am not focusing on how I should sit to look thinner, on what I should say to sound smarter or on what I should do to appear better. It's still a work in process, but we all are at any given moment. I am proud of where I am going mentally and physically.
Also, I am incredibly proud to say that not only am I running a half-marathon, I am Running For A Reason. I have decided & committed to help raise money for The Epilepsy Foundation. Here's a link that you can read a little more about what the program does on the Houston Marathon page Click Here.
And this is where you guys come in. Yes, can you feel it? I'm about to ask you to donate. I'm about to ask you to help me, help those who need it. All donations are tax-deductible. All donations are a new hope from those that suffer from seizures.
I've committed to raise $1000 by January 2013.
Also, I'll do stupid stuff for money. Seriously. I have no shame.
Do you want to see me noodle? I'll do it. Even though the thought of having a fish BITE me freaks me the hell out. [My heart started racing just typing that]
Do you want me to dress up in costume for my 5k on July 21st? I'll do it. [Provided it's not ridiculously hot costume and going to force me to pass out, because well, let's face it - it's Texas and all week we've been in the 100s]
What would cause you to pay money for a good cause to see some ridiculously average white girl do? You tell me. We will work this shiz out. | Post in the comments, reply in facebook, email me, twitter me [that sounds so pervy. I love it].
We can work out how much money for each once I have a slew of great [or scary or fun or holy hell what kind of person even thinks of that] ideas.
In the meantime, let me know your ideas. AND share this post. Let's help find a cure. And let's embarrass the shiz outta this girl.
Donate by going here - Sponsor Tamara0827
and clicking on the Click Here To Sponsor Me. You'll be directed to a form. You can donate anonymously if you prefer. It's up to you.
I've mentioned before that we're kind of redneck-y. I have no shame in it. We love the outdoors, we shoot guns, we ride 4 wheelers, we have farmer's tans, we love all things camo and well, if those things classify us as rednecks - we're proud of that fact. We don't have to answer to anyone other than the big man upstairs when the end of the day comes. People are going to pass judgement on us whether we want them to or not. We just try our best to ignore it and live our life how we see fit.
Now, with all that said and done let's get into the meaty part of this post.
You know, the part where I prove to just how much this is true.
I mean, I guess, I could write about it. But really, why do that when I could just show you...
Yes, that's right my friends - the husband, his husband {aka Justin, our best friend} and some friends all went noodling this past weekend.
Wait, what is that? You didn't know what noodling was? You thought it was making spaghetti? Oh, silly you.
According to wikipedia - 'Noodling is fishing for catfish using only bare hands'...'Flathead catfish live in holes or under brush in rivers and lakes and
thus are easier to capture due to the static nature of their dwelling.
To begin, a noodler goes underwater to depths ranging from only a few
feet to up to twenty feet and places his hand inside a discovered
catfish hole. If all goes as planned, the catfish will swim forward and
latch onto the fisherman's hand, usually as a defensive maneuver, in
order to try to escape the hole.'
Yeah, put your hand in that.
Yes, you read that right - they go UNDERWATER to catch a fish by letting it BITE their hand. These fish can be huge, upwards of 50lbs. Seriously. It's ridiculous.
These two guys (husband on the left - what what!) are 6'5"ish. Those fish come up to their waists.
They've only gone a few times, but they are hooked.{Pun totally intended.} They caught 8 this time. But really only 2 of them were, as Alfred said, worth it.
Bigger than our 19 month old.
This is the reason why I had to buy stock in Aloe Vera. Because we are rednecks. And we love it.
Anyone else out there have any redneck tendencies?
If you don't, come on out yonder to the ol' house and we'll fix ya up right on good there, ya hear.
Dear Monday, I've been patiently waiting for this particular Monday for a few weeks now. Why? Because today was the day fate would determine if I'd win the lottery or not.
Good news - I won! Bad news - it actually cost me money. The race isn't until January, so I have time to make up for the cost. And train, I guess...{eek!} More info to come soon.
Dear Sun, I understand that you're bright. And you like to burn people. Why are you such a bully? I mean, why can't you be like facebook and if we 'block' someone, they can no longer see any part of us? Lathering aloe vera on a husband who insists he wore sunblock from his noodling adventure this weekend {more on that soon too!} is just no fun for all parties involved. It's sticky. And green. And the kid tries to eat it. Sigh.
Dear Cat-Noggin, I don't know where you came from. Or how you managed to survive out in the boonies, but you've decided to make us your home. As a lover of cats, I am ecstatic. My husband, however, refuses to believe I didn't have anything to do with your visit and keeps giving you the evil eye. Don't worry about it though. It's too late, I've already bought cat food. You are now stuck with us forever. (Unless of course someone recognizes him.) He showed up Friday evening snooping around for food - let me know at Tamara0827[at]gmail.com if he's yours! Very friendly and Lillie actually drug him about a food by the tail and he just went with it. Can't be mad at that.
Dear Husband-face, I just bought stock in Aloe Vera. You're welcome.
Dear Lillie-head, I caught you red-handed getting into mom's groceries this weekend before we even made it home. You're lucky you're cute, kid. Real lucky.
{1}I am nervous. But in a good way I think. You see, I signed up for a lottery. I just don't know if I've won yet.
Wait, is it winning if you have to pay money and run 13.1 miles
I should know something by Monday. I don't know if I want you to wish me luck or just call me crazy. I go back and forth between the "Oh, shit yes, I can do that!" and the "Holy effing sweet baby Jesus Christ what if I poop my pants in mile 4 and have to run in poopy pants for 9 miles! I will be so chafed!" {Yes, I think these things.}
{2} I know I've said it before, but I'll keep on saying it. I'm so grateful for this amazing family I married into. Yesterday while I was trucking away at work {maybe it was more like trucking away on twitter..po-tay-toe, pah-tah-toe} I received a wonderful email from my MIL letting me know Lillie was cooking up a really wonderful mud pie for dinner.
Chef Lillie has a nice ring to it, don't ya think?
{3} Have y'all heard of the 68 year old bus monitor that was bullied by some 13 year old boys? The whole situation is just cruel and uncalled for. . I remember [one of many incidents] from this boy in 4th grade who squirted a packet of hot sauce on my shirt during recess in front of everyone for no other reason than he and his friends thought it was funny. It was my 2nd day of class. At a new school. I had no friends. And it was my favorite shirt. He probably doesn't remember, but I do. His name. How he looks. How I felt. [How I still feel about it.] How I cried. How I refused to go to school after that. It was my first indication that people weren't always nice. Looking back now, I see how much it broke my heart to learn that.
So as someone who has been bullied before {I'm sure we all have at one
point in time}, I just can't imagine actually purposefully doing
something like that to a person - regardless of sex, age, weight, race,
etc. So, please, if you see something happening - stop it. Show people through your actions how you'd like to be treated. Just be fricking nice for pete's sake. It's really not that damn hard.
{4}I am not looking forward to my Insanity workout tonight. I've also been running to prepare for a devil 5k in July in Texas that I will surely die in, so I'm doubly exhausted. However, I am nearly done with the first month (so what if it's taken me nearly 6 weeks - oops!) so once that happens I'll update you with how that situation has been going. And also, that only means one more month of it to go! What what!
Last weekend we took our first family vacation. Now, we've gone places since the kiddo {mostly just Galveston}but never as an intentional family-only kind of thing. There's always been an ulterior motive - like celebrating our anniversary or going to see Reba {and crying like a little school girl because of it}. So, since we only planned on us 3 going {the husband, the kiddo and the me}and us 3 spending time together and us 3 sharing the cost of the hotel {Wait, what? You mean that's all the same bank account? Shit.} So, as the mother I am proclaiming it our first family vacation. And my word is final. Just don't tell the husband.
My job offers discounted tickets once a year to Sea World San Antonio. We've never partook in it, because well, if we wanted to see fish we'd just go down the road and fish.
{Yes, I work in Biology so I know dolphins are mammals,
but they swim...so, uh, fish. I've never claimed to be smart, people. I just work with smart people.}
Dance moves courtesy of Bud Light.
We also were too busy being preoccupied with drinking too much and just being our kind of 20-something stupid. Good times, my friends, good times.
It's nearly a 4 hour drive from our home, so I was concerned about the Lillie-kins, but as she gets older she's able to withstand her carseat for longer periods of time. Provided we make a lot of silly faces and distract her with Goldfish crackers, we're usually golden. I was worried about Alfred as well, but I just let him touch my boob every so often and he was fine. Men.So Easy.
We finally made it to the gates and of course, we had to pay for parking. I was all about the cheaper $15 parking that's a good 20 miles away from the gate but Alfred said, "No, my beautiful wife, we shall park as close as possible. You deserve only the best!" ...
Fine, that's a lie. We did buy the closer parking permit for $10 more despite my protests we could just walk and save the money, but the husband really just did it for himself. But at the end of the day - totally worth it. I was done walking. Done. We were back and forth trying to catch this show or watch that thing or trying to find somewhere shaded to sit down, I nearly wore the bottoms of my flip flops through. So, once again, I have to admit that he was right and I was wrong. Sometimes marriage sucks. Unless I'm right. Then, it is amazing.
Dad showing off Lillie's Baylor Bears tat. She's such a badass, didn't cry or nothing.
It was really hot. Like, just standing there and you could feel the sweat dripping down your back to your crack. {I'm pretty sure I just made up a new rap song with those lyrics y'all.}Not sexy at all..
Never fails that when you want a good family memory, 2 out 3 people aren't looking at the camera.
With our tickets, lunch was provided so we got our free meal, looked over the show scheduling and scadaddled our way out of there. Of course, only after filling up our free water bottles and trying to cool our daughter down by throwing her as close to the shade as possible.
Dad is 6'5", so technically all he has to do is raise her above his head. No need to throw her up. She's already touching the sky. Sheesh.
Watching Azul.
The 'dork' who was trying to ski like the big dogs.
We enjoyed a lot of the shows. I definitely recommend Sea World as a destination for families. And it's geared that way. There are plenty of places to park your strollers (yes, you can bring your own) while watching a show and they even have a water area to cool off. We didn't really pack for that, but no matter, it was so dang hot (Hello Texas weather!) we didn't care. We were dry by the time we got back to our vehicle anyhow. And we'll know better for when we go back in the future.
Lillie even managed to convince us to buy her her own fan (above left). It didn't take much convincing though, have you seen her eyelashes? We should have just named her Bambi. We filled the fan up with ice water and once she found the button to spray herself, she was golden for the rest of our trek through fish country.
First time trying Dipping Dots!
Our last show for the day was...you guessed it - Shamu! We had tried to go earlier in the day but it was already closed. And even when we made it back for the later showing, we had to sit in the splash zone. And seriously, it was a splash zone. Lillie was not impressed with the amount of water that managed to get on her and how little dad got on him. {I can't be for certain, but using your baby as a water shield isn't illegal, is it?}
It was a good little getaway for us and we were both pleasantly surprised at how Lillie survived the day. She had a small 30 minute nap on the way up to San Antonio at around 10am and then kept on trucking until we left Sea World around 5pm. She didn't even have enough time to snooze in the car ride to the hotel because I booked at one that was only about 2 miles away. It was the Hilton Sea World if anyone is interested in it. It was really nice, I only booked there because they took our points from our credit card. The restaurant sucked balls {totally not worth the price}, but it did have 2 larger pools and small one specifically for young children.
We'll definitely adventure out that way in the future (but make an actual weekend of it, so we can enjoy some of the sites San Antonio offers) and the fact that Lillie was so well-behaved in the hotel and for the 3 1/2 hour car ride really helped. I was seriously worried that something would just be ape-shit crazy and for the next 20 years anytime I brought up going on a vacation I'd hear, "Well, remember that one time when Lillie screamed like a banshee for 4 straight hours and then somehow pooped on the ceiling and it dripped in my mouth??" But, luckily, I won't. At least not this family vacation. We'll see how the next one goes...
Who's ever had themselves a memorable family vacation?
Dear Monday, when did you sprout wings? Because girl, you have seriously flown by. [ba-dah-bing ba-dah-boom!]
Dear Red Mustang, I am sorry that an 18 year old boy with no drivers license drove you into the rear-end of my truck on Friday night. I am not sorry that my daughter wasn't with me. If that were the case, I would have gone white-girl crazy on you. I would like to say thank you to the 2 people who stopped and asked if they needed to stay with me while I waited on the police. (I was alone, but the mustang had 3 young men flipping out at the scene.) Sometimes it's hard to remember that there are really great people out in the world when the news always seems to show otherwise.Also, a huge thank you to the best friend who came as soon as I called her. You are amazeballs my Emilie.
Dear Camping, I had so much fun at the lake this weekend. Even though I had to lay in the bed for like 2 hours with a cold washrag on my forehead because I was sure I had come down with brain-eating bug that was forcing me to simultaneously want to throw-up and poop. Turns out, that was just a cause of the hanging out with 20 year olds who stay up until 4am and drink way more than should be physically possible. I can't hang. They are beasts. I am a small kitten who needs to be put to bed at 10pm every night in order to function properly.
Dear Pap Paw & Granny's Boot Camp, I am grateful every day for the family I was blessed to marry into. You take care of not 1, not 2 but seven grand kids for a full week to give your kids a parenting break that we don't even realize we need. Thank you for allowing the husband and I to have some much needed adult time together. It's so easy to forget that before we were parents, we were simply husband and wife. And without that foundation, a family can easily fall to the wayside.
The Hoodlums.
Dear Husband, the fact that when Lillie gave you her Father's Day present you almost teared up {even if you refuse to admit it} made me just love you that much more. Watching you grow into such a great dad these past 19 months has been one of the most awesome things I've ever witnessed.
Dear Lillie, how are you so amazing? Oh, wait, because you're related to me. Love you little girl.
I adapted this to fit my needs {aka what I had in the fridge/cabinet} from this recipe. The original recipe (from Weight Watchers) is actually really good, too (My husband prefers the turkey & wild rice combo to my adapted ground beef recipe. You win some. You lose some, eh?)
The pictures are kind of crappy because I used my phone. I couldn't find my actual camera at the time and then I just became frustrated taking horrible pictures so I stopped. Also, the husband was laughing at me for taking pictures for a 'blog'. Don't worry, I told him he doesn't know what cool is. Luckily though, Lillie does.
And cool is squishing through squash seeds - also, great sensory exercise for kids! Double win!
Ingredients:
2 medium acorn squash {es..or is it 'ises' or is it..oh hell, I don't know. Just get two.}
1 lb ground beef. {I used lean beef because I like to pretend I'm healthy}
small chopped onion
1/2 cup rice {I used instant white rice, because I needed to balance out the healthy lean beef with unhealthy white carbs}
a few million garlic cloves - minced {okay, maybe not a million, but I use a lot of garlic so I'm guessing 10 or so. Just change it to your preference, problem solved!}
an array of spices {again, your preference} I used sea salt, Cajun seasoning, pepper, garlic powder {I told you I liked garlic}onion powder and cinnamon. I know it may sound odd, but acorn squash and cinnamon are absolutely made for each other. I also suck at measuring so, your guess is as good as mine where amounts come in.
cheese. Without cheese I could not survive. And neither shall this recipe.
water.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.
I suggest cooking the rice. I didn't cook it, I just threw it in with the ground beef mixture and some of the rice{s, or is it 'ises' or is it...shit, I did it again}were a little crunchy. Wasn't bad, just wasn't ideal.
Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. {Allow children to play with seeds, laugh hysterically when they taste the squash and spit it right out immediately.}
Place halved squash face down in pan. {I had to use two}
Fill pan with...oh, I'd say a 1/4 cup water to 1/2 cup. Again, I'm a guess-timator kind of cooker.
Place in oven for about 30 minutes, or until you can poke the outside with a fork and it pops right in there, good buddy.
While you're waiting, go ahead and throw your onions & millions of garlic in a pan to saute. I used real butter to do this, but whatever floats your boat. You know me, unbalancing the healthiness of lean beef.
Once you start to smell the garlicky goodness, throw your ground beef in there, with your spices and cook until done.
When that's done, add your rice and mix all together. *TASTE TEST*
If the taste test is a success, stop adding spices and stop adding more to your spoon to 'taste'. I know how that game plays out - you end up at the table already stuffed but you can't let anyone know that you've already eaten so much, so you continue to eat and then you gain 25 damn lbs in one year. {not that I know or anything.}
Ding!Ding! Squash is done. Pull it out, let it cool for 5-10 minutes, flip it over and fill up with ground beef mixture. I actually think you can get away with doing 3 because the mixture makes a lot.
Add cheese. Glorious, glorious cheese.
Throw {not literally, you strong-armed freak, sheesh}it in the oven for another 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and filling is hot.
Then pull it out and enjoy an awesome meal!
Let me know if you try it - whether you love it or hate it or have a better adaption than I do. I am in no way a cook. I just do enough to impress my husband on occasion so he continues to think I am the most amazingly awesome human being he has ever come into contact with {ha!}
You guys. I am so pumped {even if it did take me a week to respond, dang life!}because Adrienne over at Laughing, Living, Forgiving nominated me for an award.
Yes, little ol' me! How cool is that? I actually have friends in the blogosphere (is it cool to say that? I don't really know) that read about my life because they like me (I'm assuming, but we all know what happens when we assume) And not just real-life friends that I force to read by saying "Oh, yeah, I posted that on my blog the other day, duhhhhh" (Hi, Emilie).
So, here's the rules:
1. I post 7 random facts about me.
When I was in 4th grade, I loved Clarissa Explains It All. Which may explain why I decided to wear tights underneath my shorts to class one day. It was not well received. And I would not wear another pair of tights...ever.
One time I had to pee really bad, so as I ran into work (I worked retail) I shot to the bathroom, dropped my pants and let out a huge sigh of relief. Only to be quickly followed by an 'oh shit'. I had forgot to drop my panties. Yep, peed right through those suckers.
My husband (then boyfriend) dropped the "I love you" bomb before I was ready to admit it. So, being the amazingly mature 16 year old I was I would always respond with "I llllllllllllllike you." He was not amused.
When I put deodorant on in the morning, I pretend to put some on for Lillie. She raises her arms and everything. It is adorables.
Just to piss off the husband I randomly lick the side of his face.
For 5 months every time I'd get my period, I'd cry because I wasn't pregnant yet. And then when the pee stick said yes, and I told the husband we had the most awkward holy shit we did it, we're going to parents hug in the history of ever. He says we didn't hug. That we just stood there. His version is a lie.
I once tried to wax my own nether regions. Much like the Clarissa Explains It All tights with shorts incident - it was not well received and will never happen again.
2. Thank the person who nominated you in your post (Hi Adrienne! She is amazeballs and if you haven't already - go check out her life!)
3. Put the Liebster blog button in your post. (Gosh, I'm so good at ruling.)
4. Nominate your 5 favorite bloggers with less than 200 GFC followers: (I only have 3 because most my others don't quite post regularly like these ladies and/or have more than 200 followers.)
Abbey from Finding My Forever - She is awesome. Also, her mom and I were both bulldog mascots. We were meant to stalk each others blogs.
Megan from Happy Day - She's who I link up with for Dear Monday's. Go congratulate her on her getting her own classroom for the fall. What?!What?!
Megan (another one, what?!) from #runmeganrun - She runs. I *try* to run. She helps motivate my feet when my brain sucks at it.
5. Let them know that you nominated them (on my way to stalk their blogs now and you should too!)
I've been a little MIA lately. Oops.
I don't currently have the internets at the homefront, so the majority of my posts {read: all} are done while I'm on break at work. I have tried posting things from my phone, but I just get frustrated because I have mammoth thumbs that like to double punch letters.
I haven't had a lot of breaks at work lately {although, I believe it's finally coming to a somewhat halt for the summer - score!} and I've been out some due to awesomeness.
Awesomeness at Sea World {more on this later}
I have high hopes to rectify {fun note: every time I see/hear rectify I think of rectum and it makes me laugh}this situation soon. So, cross your fingers {and your legs, you slut} and wish me luck that soon you will be whisked away into another adventure from Lehmann Land. {I know, we're so very exciting it's almost unreal - see below!}
Dear Monday, even though I know I should hate you, I don't. You've made this transition from the weekend into the workweek, pretty dang good. Are you feeling well?
Dear Aunt Flo, I will find you. And I will punch you. In the face.
Dear Sunday Afternoon, our little clan sure did enjoy spending time with you by cruising gravel roads on the four wheelers, pointing to every cow and bird we saw and laughing at Lillie's baby hair blowing in the wind. And ending the night with our besties, Emilie & Justin, was just icing on the cake. Dear I Heart Radio, thank you for playing Baby Got Back just now as I was typing this...at work. I think it's very important to let everyone in the office know that my anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hun!
Dear Myself, stop being lazy and upload those 3 damn blogs that are just sitting in your drafts. Dear Husband-face, I love that we're honest with each other. I do. But just for the future, it's okay if you don't tell me I look bloated and that's how you knew I was going to start hanging with Aunt Flo (the whore) soon. I'd rather you just tell me you like your girls curvy once every 4 weeks, okay?
Dear Lillie, you're doing great with the counting thing. Except that we always start you off with one so you never say one, you just add 'two' & 'trree' on your own. But no worries, because when Dad asked you who the number one parent was and you looked at him and cheesed your adorable smile while saying 'Twooo' - you totes made up for it. Mama's so proud of you. :)
