Oh baby!

What to talk about? I have a baby so of course that's the only thing I'm capable of talking about; Austin consumes my thoughts (that was funny when he climbed on Brutus today),

actions (remember to put the cord up so he can't pull the hair dryer down),

prayers (Father in Heaven please help me to not let Austin get killed, that he will be able to grow up and live a happy healthy life despite my stupidity)- obviously prayers are answered because he's made it 10 months- miracles happen every day!

A little background on me; I've never really liked kids, I never wanted to have any, I never had the desire to have them, the only reason why we decided to have kids was because we felt like it was time (if I feel like I need to do something, I do it, I've learned the hard way that it's easier to go forward and trust God to begin with- He knows best!). And I'm just going to add an additional amen (yes I'm agreeing with myself) to my last comment. What I have learned from becoming a mom is this: God knows what's best for me and my life. Until I had this epiphany I just had to trust (which I didn't do very well this time, and never do as well as I should- because this isn't the first time I've thought I've learned this principal (since Bryan never reads my blog I can say this: it's like when we got married I loved him but it was like superficial chick flick love- now it's completely indescribable how much love  I have for him- the word "love" doesn't do it justice [so mushy right] --> my understanding just gets deeper and deeper each time I "learn" this lesson)). I love (and hate - when I'm going through it) how each person has to come to that conclusion on their own. Whether it's through having kids, not being able to have kids, getting married, not getting married, working, not finding work - the conclusion is the same: God knows what's best for us and our lives! I guess the moral of the story is that I love Jesus... And Austin... And Bryan... And life is good ;)

Self Construction

I've been thinking I haven't posted in a long time (so why not at 5am) and well the reason is I haven't had too many rants and really my only rave is my awesome husband and adorable baby. Seriously nothing else seems to matter that much to me right now. So cheesy right?! So this got me thinking why am I not more annoyed by getting up in the middle of the night or my husband talking to me in "herros"? Well duh because I love them. Why am I annoyed by other people all the time? Well duh because I don't love them. I was listening to the always wise Carol Tuttle and she said (in talking about kids) not to tie your emotions to other people's actions (saying things like you're driving me crazy etc). I have more control in other aspects of my life why not in my emotions too? Just because I don't like someone or something I don't have to give up my power or self control to them. I had never thought of emotions in that regard until I met my little Austin, and saw how un-annoyed Bryan was with my lack of mobility (honestly I was really annoyed by it). I realized that I chose to think everyone else is annoying - even if they are - I don't need to tie my emotions to them. Granted though I do know my child is the best/cutest/sweetest/etc (definitely not biased at all) he is mine forever so I need to make sure ours is a good relationship. I don't have to make every other relationship awesome because mainly I don't care, and secondly ain't nobody got time for that, but I don't need to tie my emotions to what they are doing. I choose to be happy or angry (because those are basically the only emotions I feel), nobody else can have a say unless I let them. Anyway so instead of the self destructive ways I have been living (letting other's actions control my emotions) I'm working on self constructive ways (see that little play on words- I'm so smart) to have more control in every aspect of my life. So in the future being angry can just be a hobby instead of who I am (because let's face it I do anger well).

Well well well, we meet again. I haven't blogged in a while because I'm trying to work out my rage and it doesn't make anyone better by getting mad about usless things, if I can't change
them (of which there is a very small amount of things that I can't change). So my solution is to resolve the conflict right then and there and then it's not an issue. As far as being passionate about anything to blog about, well the only thing I've been passionate about lately is a book. "These Is My Words." HOLY CRAP I LOVE THIS BOOK! I've yet to finish it but I dream about it and think about it all the time- I think it's love. I mean for real this is the best book and I think I might explode. [just to add to this- that book broke my heart into a million pieces (I think I might cry thinking about it now), it took a month before I could talk about the book without breaking into tears; anyway, Bryan has irrevocably FORBIDDEN me from reading that book ever again.] In other news I'm having a baby, which also leads to even more passion and rage than a normal sane person should have - but what's the point in writing about a pregnant woman's emotions?? They have horror movies for that (poor Bryan). So as far as being pregnant there is not much to say, I'm due in November (15th) and I'm getting huge, I wouldn't say bump, I would say Everest is more accurate. But I've had a spurt of energy this week so I've been able to work out again! WOOT! What else.... Well I think that's it but check out this beautiful cupcake cake Bryan made me for my birthday!

It was cherry chip cake with cherry chip frosting which happens to be my absolute favorite. You can't get it in stores anymore (here at least) so he had to order in bulk online so now we have 12 boxes of cake mix and frosting! You've gotta love that devotion! He also got me a new maternity shirt (bleh - not a huge fan of buying clothes that are only good for 9 months) and some jewelries. I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

PORK!

I realize I'm the odd ball on this one but I do not like pig (bacon, sausage, ham, etc BLEH GROSS! :P (the face with the tongue hanging out is for added emphasis on the yuck)). However, there is one thing I can not get enough of; SHREDDED PORK!! Like the pork barbacoa salad (or burrito) from Cafe Rio. It's soo sooooooo good. Fortunately, for those of us not lucky enough to have one close by, there are tons of recipes on-line that mimic the goodness of the DELICIOUS shredded pork.

So today is the day of the pig. I had a shredded pork sandwich from Willies which is delicious (in case you're in Texas and want something good. In which case you have to (HAVE TO!) get their fried jalapenos as well, they're life changing good), and last night I put some pork roast in the crock pot (it actually said "pork butt" on the package, LOL HILARIOUS!), my fantastic husband got the rest of the ingredients, and so we are having shredded pork salads (Cafe Rio style) TONIGHT!! After all of this I will turn into a little porker myself :D I'M SO EXCITED!!!

In case you don't have a recipe, here's the one I use and it's delicious (I got it from my Aunt Marla who lives in Utah so she's able to compare to the original)!

Pork:
5-6 lb pork roast
1 Tbsp cumin
1 cup brown sugar
12 oz. bottle La Victoria Taco sauce
20 oz. bottle Coke
Cook roast on low for 12 hours in crock pot with water added half way up roast. After 12 hours, drain water off roast and add remaining ingredients and continue cooking for 4 more hours. Then shred the meat and cook for 2 more hours. (you can also cooks it on HIGH for 3-4 hours in water, drain the water out, shred it, add ingredients, and cook on HIGH for another 2-3 hours.)

Rice:
4 tsp chicken bouillon
4 tsp garlic minced
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 tsp cumin
1 can green chili
3/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 onion
Blend ingredients in blender then put pan on stove and add 3 cups water and bring to a boil. then add 3 cups minute rice and simmer for 30 min.

Tomatillo Dressing:

1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix

1 C buttermilk

1 C Mayo

1-2 Tomatillos

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

1/2 t lime juice

1/2 to 1 small jalapeno, seeds removed

Blend all together in a blender or food processor.

Missing Hubcaps

... I'm not sure where to start.... perhaps at the beginning.... It started one day when Bryan came in to tell me one of my hubcaps was missing. What?! Where did it go? Did you take it? Well apparently they fall off all the time. At which point I began to notice the hubcaps on the side of the road. "Well awesome," I thought, "this means I just need to find a new hubcap and all will be well." This led to me picking up hubcaps on my runs and bringing them home to try them on (I got some weird looks as I was running with hubcaps, but it was because they didn't have the same great idea I had). I grabbed a Mitubishi one and thought it was a winner, but it was broken... They were all broken --> plan fail! So then the new plan was to get some new hubcaps, not a big deal right? WRONG! I've never cared about what hubcaps look like, ever! But all of sudden I'm left with the decision of shiny vs. flat, thick or thin spoke thingies, bling vs normal. Ugh I hate making dumb decisions - I save all of my energy for big decisions; anyway I couldn't handle it so I didn't get any hubcaps. I had forgotten about the dilemma until yesterday, when I came back from lunch, TWO of my hubcaps were missing!!! (They were replaced by paper taped on that said "hubcaps" thanks Don). So now I'm left with a car that is screaming ghettolicious and I'm starting to think that those hubcaps didn't just fall off. x-(

Pillow Stealers

It's not fair. It's simply not fair to be the victim of such an atrocious crime! As I was dreaming about Salvatore Something or Other (a 1920s obstacle illusionist used for war propaganda; ever heard of him? me neither he's probably fake but that's not the point) I was ripped into reality by the fact that my pillow was snatched from under my head! To which I responded "why did you take my pillow?!" Came the response "it's my pillow" (Oh really? I'm sleeping against the wall haven't moved all night and suddenly I'm sleeping on your pillow? Seriously why didn't you bring this to my attention before I was sleeping? This could have been easily remedied.) "no it's not..." at which point I'm thrown the rejected pillow that has fallen on the floor. Truth be known I hate that pillow, I HATE it!. It's flat, life-less I might as well be pillow-less. In fact, when ever I make the bed, I make every effort to avoid putting that pillow on my side. If its on my side it must be switched! IT MUST! So as I'm lying on this dumb pillow, wide awake and traumatized I might add because having lived through said crime, I decided to start a blog. Why? Why Not?! Because this kind of crap happens all the time and the Corporate Office of Life has to know!