Fallen...

...and I can't get up! lol

Just kidding! I haven't fallen off the blogging world... I have just been so busy you can't imagine! :-) I promise I'll be back... just give me a few more days to get cheer settled, end of school year settled, best friend's baby delivered, other best friend's baby-mama-drama settled, and all the 1,001 other things out of the way and I'll be back! :-) Don't give up on me! I don't want to lose my entire readership, lol! :-) Life is just getting in the way!

...and I promise I will catch up on all of your blogs too!!!!!! :-)

Catching up...

After reading this post I *think* everyone will understand why I had to take a little blogging break! :-) I have been one busy, busy girl!





Let's see... where to start...





Last weekend I had girls night on Friday night! We got together at my house for some yoga-pan-wearing, Mexican-food-eating, laugh-so-hard-you-can't-breath fun! Somehow we managed to go the night without a single picture, but that is just because were were enjoying ourselves so much! It was a much shorter girls night than usual do to some other things going on, but it wonderful nonetheless.

On Saturday My mom came up to celebrate Mother's Day in the 'boro! We had so much fun!!! We kicked things off with Lunch at Toots, we shopped til we almost dropped, then we hit Fuji for some dinner and then went to paint pottery - first time I have EVER done this! I think I have found a new hobby! It is so fun I am actually going back this week! lol. Here are Mom and I painting...

We had a blast doing this, but most of all we just enjoyed being together. We always have SO.MUCH.FUN!

Sunday, Mom and I slept in and then she hit the road so that she could spend the rest of the day with my dad and my brother, sister-in-law, and niece. I hated to see her go, but I enjoyed the rest of the day relaxing. I tried to REALLY enjoy myself, because I already knew what a doozy of a week this was going to be! SO... I hit the golf course for a little while and then went to see...

It was CUTE! Nothing phenomenal or anything, but a cute little movie to see when you don't have anything else going on and the mood strikes! :-)

Monday was somewhat uneventful (thank goodness) other than gearing up for my best friend Chris' Dad's brain surgery to remove a tumor...

On Tuesday morning at 7:00 AM the opened Mr. Hooper brain and found... well... not much of anything! Some flaky blood from his concussion but NO TUMOR!!! He has now been cancer free for over a year and his family is celebrating and very relieved after the scare they have had thinking this was another tumor!! Praise GOD! He is SO good!!

Tuesday also brought the cheer clinic.... and Wednesday more cheer clinic... and Thursday tryouts! It was exhausting, but worth it! I took on 9 more girls to make a team of 12. I am very excited to get busy working this summer and plan to have a great football and basketball season with my girls! You'll find us the gym 2 days a week starting the first of June! :-)

Other happenings this week....

A visit to the Rain Forest Cafe... have you ever been there? It's such a fun and neat place to eat with little ones! And it just so happened I had a little one with me when I went! :-)

I also stole a moment to hit one of my favorite downtown Nashville hot spots - the Big Bang piano bar! This place is so much fun! The guys that play are FUNNY and you can request anything from classical to rap and they can jam it out on their pianos and sing! :-)

I got the chance Friday night to go with this guy....

and Chris to see this....

... um, yeah. Don't fall out of your seat. Those of you who know me, know that this is totally out of my comfort zone, but Scott wanted to see it so bad and I just couldn't resist going with two of my favorite men to a late night showing of a movie! We had fun and they loved the movie... and, although I wouldn't have picked it, I can say it was a good movie and I enjoyed myself!

This weekend I had planned to work a tournament ALL WEEKEND, but it got cancelled! :-) That freed me up to have some fun so I hit the golf course...

...but about the time we arrived it started storming so we sat in the clubhouse, had a cold one, and watched it rain. Probably doesn't sound like too much fun for most, but after the week I had, it was a welcome break and rather enjoyable! :-)

This weekend I also managed to....

grill some steaks - SO getting ready for summer!!!!!!!!!!!

And played a little...

... and kicked some boy booty while I was at it! ;-)

This was a wild, wacky, and VERY busy week, but in the end it was A LOT of fun!

Blogging Break...

I don't have any profound reason for my blogging break...

I'm busy! lol.

I will be back this weekend, I have had cheer stuff going on all week and a lot of other stuff too (all good)!

BUT... I had a WONDERFUL weekend with my mom and friends and I am having a wonderful week, just (again) busy!

See you in a few days!

Photo Shoot Sneak Peak...

and my favorite so far...

Click here for Krista's blog (the photographer), because she is Ahhhhh-mazing! (and so fun too!)

Satisfying Sunday...

I have kind of been in a funk over the past few days, but this weekend I seemed to shake it and enjoy some (healthy) me-time.

I have been reading Widow of the South (as some of you have seen on my sidebar) and I reached the, "can't put it down" stage this weekend.

I cleaned quite a bit and that always gives me a healthy feeling of accomplishment.

I completely de-germed my house. I had done this already, but after being sick I have to really deep clean and sterilize and air out to feel comfortable again.

Today (Sunday) was the most satisfying of the weekend though. I didn't go to church this morning, but I certainly did my share of praising my God. I made a new play list on my ipod titled "praise" and I listened to it over and over and over (practically all morning and much of the afternoon) singing and crying and smiling and praying and praising my amazing Lord and Savior. Music moves me to the core.

I put the finishing touches on my clean home, and enjoyed being here thoroughly.

And I read my book, drank a good Chardonnay, and tried a new recipe which I will now share (it was really good! and really easy!!!)

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 chicken thighs, skinless
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoons pepper
1 medium onion, sliced
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
1 (14.5-ounce) can crushed tomatoes in thick puree
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 tablespoon lemon-pepper
Hot buttered rice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions:
Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat.
Pat chicken dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Brown the chicken, meat-side down first, and turning once, about 4 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate to reserve.
Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of oil from the pan.
Add onion to the pan and saute until tender, roughly 3 minutes. Add the stock and wine and stir, scrapping any brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Turn heat to high and reduce by half, about 3 minutes. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and add the dried herbs and lemon pepper. Add the chicken thighs back into the pan.Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 40 minutes.
Remove chicken from liquid and serve on hot buttered rice. Ladle the sauce on top and garnish with fresh chopped parsley.

Basically, it takes less than 10 minutes to get this going and then it simmers on the stove by its self while you... um... drink good wine and read a great book! lol. YUM.

Hope your weekend was wonderful and I hope your Sunday was as satisfying as mine!

rain, rain, go away...

Today it rained...

and rained...

and rained.



This was similar to the view I enjoyed on my way home from work and depicts perfectly my mind today. Crowded, messy, and sluggish. Sometimes I wonder how much the weather contributes. It's funny... sometimes the rain feels so refreshing, cleansing... a renewal. Then other times, more like today, it's dreary, almost sad.

I have had much on my plate and much on my mind lately. After being sick, having personal stress, and watching those dear to me go through tremendous stress and family misfortune, I am "rainy" myself.

But after the rain, always comes the sunshine. Fresh, new life. So I am hopeful, prayerful.... that the rain will bring forth newness, freshness, joy, and peace.

How does the rain make you feel?