Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: DFF Swan Edition

I work with some amazing ladies, and for that I am seriously thankful.

Almost 4 years ago (WOW, I can't believe that its been that long!) I started working full time at Dallas Fan Fares. We have about 15 girls that work in our Operations Department that I interact with daily... we have a whole sales division that travel with us sometimes, and then we have about 60 part-time employees who travel on our programs with us. Some of them we see quite often... That would be our Hildes, Nans and Temarras...
As the years have gone by, I have had many friends come and go. Most recently my last "pledge sister" Lorin left me. Not only did she leave me at DFF, but she even left the state... but thankfully an Altanta program is in my near future and we will be reunited at least for a day! Clearly, I'm excited.. and side-tracking.

Back to topic... I can honestly say that the dynamics in the office right now are the best they have ever been. We all get along personally and professionally. There isn't that person I dont want to work with in the office; not that there ever has been, but most people cant say that about their workplace. When we are on program, we are up to all hours of the night... working and sometimes just chatting it up.. as if we don't spend enough time together already.
When problems or hiccups arise.. we help each other get things done. The president of our company likes to call us her swans - we do everything others can see gracefully, but under the water we are fast and furiously paddling to make us float. Its actually a quite true metaphor... A lot of people dont have the luxury of true teamwork, but I really do.

We do happy hour, that almost always turns into happy hours. When I tell J that I have a HH with the girls, he often teases me by asking if he will need to pick me up, which I quickly retort with a "NO!"... and more than likely thats a lie.

When thinking about writing this post, I went to my pictures, facebook, even our work server to show you these fabulous girls... and well.. I have very few? Is it a little ridiculous to you that I spend probably equal or more time with these ladies, between in the office, on the road and for fun as my husband and a barely have any pictures? I think it is...the below are mostly old, but now I know that we need to take more pictures when were all together!

A little bit old school - Debbie, Haley and Myself on a Dallas Program

Mandy, Jennifer, & I - San Francisco Trolly Ride

HAHA! I stole this from Jenna.. Jenna, Christine & Kasey J Orlando

((& if you are wondering, yes, we wear these on a normal basis))

Amy, Jaclyn, Kasey H & I on our Duck Tape Cannon

I am super thankful for these ladies.. especially this week! What are you thankful for?

Love is...

On program in Dallas until next Wednesday - enjoy your weekend & drink one for me!

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Kitchen Gadgets

I live in our kitchen. Its what I look forward to doing after work... well most days. Here are a few items I l.o.v.e. in my kitchen cabinets & drawers...

1. Kitchenaid Mixer - It is helping me learn to bake. Anything that can assist with this process is a winner in my book!

2. Salad Dressing Mixer - I just so happen to make my own Caesar Salad Dressing (a healthier version) and this little guy makes topping our salads so much easier.. I liiiiiike!

 3. Avacado Slicer - Although not used daily, when avacado is on my menu, this guy is ugh-mazing. The top part helps remove the pit and the bottom is the slicer. Yum!

 4. Lemon Squeezer - I use this constantly! I love lemons in lots of things, and this optimizes how much juice I get out of each one! ((clearly this is also used for limes.. I have even used it for small oranges while making Sangria!))

 5. Wine Pourer - Ah, and who can forget about this little one... Not only does he help pour and aerate my wine, he also helps save it. The lever on the side closes off and keeps the wine for round 2!

I have plenty more goodies in my cabinets and drawers.. and I am sure you will hear about them at some point, but these are just some current favs that I am thankful for making my kitchen life a little easier.

((& yes, if you are wondering why I used guy and he in this blog; it is literally how J&I talk about our kitchen gadgets. I'll ask for the 'lemon guy' or 'that guy'.. so, we're weird. But at least we're on the same page!)) 

Oh, Baking...

We meet again!

Damn my obsession with watch the Food Network ... and on this day in particular, Damn the show Cupcake Wars. They make it look so easy - cupcakes with jalapenos? No problem. Cupcakes with bacon? No problem. Cupcakes with tobacco? EW but it was done. This got my creative juices flowing, I wanted to do something exciting. I saw an Elvis Cupcakes, and all sorts of other creations, but my sweet husband reminded me that I am not a Cupcake Wars Professional and I should keep it simple. So I did.

I found a simple Vanilla, Vanilla Cupcake Recipe on Martha Stewart  .

Yes, from scratch... no box for me this go around!

Lookin good so far!

Since I was told I would only be able to do a simple cuppycake, I spiced them up with candy toppings: Snickers, Butterfinger, Twix, Oreo Candy Bar and Reese's... yum!

Could this be success?

In case you're wondering what hubby is doing during baking date night... here you go...

I even made from scratch frosting - it was yums! At least I had one thing right for sure!

Finished Masterpieces... now the question is do they taste good?

I got hubby approval! Woot Woot!

I feel like I can officially say that I have cupcakes under my belt - now maybe I can get crazy with flavors... Lemon Cupcake with Raspberry filling/frosting?! Quite possibly my next attempt... YAYAYAYAYAYAYA - Baking Success!

Looking Forward...

To no longer seeing these types of posts on FB..

Or the good old dashboard reading over 100... Looking forward to this sweltering heat to disappear ((yes, I am the same girl welcoming the heat when coming home from my California trip just over a week ago))

Looking forward to - Football Season

My Aggies

And of course our 'Boys

 Especially looking forward to these 2...

 Looking forward to these 2 getting married (I know, I say it often.. but its exciting!)

Looking forward to nights in and a fire going in the background

Looking forward to putting this bad boy to work with some chili or other yummy slow cooker recipes

Looking forward to the holidays starting

Looking forward to patio Happy Hours and Dinners... Red Wine nights.. Hot Chocolate mornings....

Come on Fall - let's get a move on... I am O.V.E.R. sum-sum-summa time!

Love is..

Double Date night with the Masseys! Happy Weekend!

Thankful Thursday

Per usual, the bestie has inspired me.. I read her "Thankful Thursday" blog over a month ago, and it got me to thinking. Right away I knew I wanted to jump on her bandwagon.. I literally text her that I would be stealing the idea as I finished reading.

And then my crazy, all over the place life got to moving again and blogging has been put to the way-side. BUT as I am sitting here on a Wednesday Night with not all that much to do, except watch re-runs of NCIS (not that I'm complaining) and cook the hubs dinner, I have decided to make my first post..

Thankful Thursday: Family Edition

First things, first - those are some damn sexy people in that photo. And luckily for us each one of them is a huge part of our lives. Our families have made each of us who we are, and clearly our families are absolutely amazing, how else would have turned out this outstanding?!

Ok - I'll cut the sarcasm (although all statements above are true) and get to the knitty-gritty of it all.

Justin & Jordan: We are so blessed to have J&J just a hop, jump and skip away from us. We all get along so well, and its always refreshing to just hang out with them and not really have to worry about "entertaining" our guests. Justin and Jarrett have a crazy close bond, and Justin has started talking constantly around me, therefore our relationship is fab. Jordan is going to be an amazing sister. We already make quite the duo, and its so, so great to have someone completely relate to any and all situations that we are going through.

Zaky: With Zak living in Houston, every time we see him, its a reminder of how much we miss him! He is someone tha constantly keeps us laughing and someone who can also just hang out and not need to be entertained. Zaky's laugh is contagious and we love spending time with him.

Our Parents: Both sets of our parents are ridiculously supportive, and somehow that is an understatement. We are both extremely close to our parents. They support us just through the day to day of life. They support us when random things come up.. this week in particular, J had a fender bender and Marianne was able to come pick him up and take him back to work while I was in a meeting.. Bobby & Marianne gave up a car so J has one to drive while his is in the shop. Also this week, I complained to my mom about how RUDE the lady at the dentist office was to me, and my Dad took care of her for me. HAHA! Yes - we are both approaching 30, and yes, we are married. And yes, our parents will forever help/protect us. And for that we will constantly be thankful.

They have instilled values, morals and a great amount of love in each of us, and all we can hope is that we are able to show the same love and support to our ::someday:: children. And hopefully by that time they can stop worrying about us and just spoil the grandbabies rotten.
During the planning of our wedding - our parents were just purely amazing. They gave us a perfect day, that we will always remember. So Mom & Dad, Lally and Dunaway here's a little thank you for that in case we didn't express it enough -

We are also truly grateful for all the help and moral support you have given us over the last year. The run up to the wedding was a hectic time, however, you were always there for us when we needed you. You gave advice, supported us and calmed our last minute nerves, put up with our stressful attitudes (clearly that was ME in particular!) and you all provided us with a wedding that everyone still talks about and will talk about for a long long time - thanks a million for all of your love and support!

Most Important: Our families all get along. We do holidays. We do BBQs. They do things on their own. It is so awesome. And we are truly blessed because there are a lot of couples out there that do not have this luxury!

Family is what we are MOST thankful for... what are you thankful for?

Love is...

Happy Friday!

National S'More Day?!

For those of you who know my husband, you know that he jumped for joy when I told him about this "holiday" that is officially today... He will have a s'more over an open fire, over the grill... and by evidence of my sticky stove top, right over the burner. Right after dinner, for dinner, or randomly at 2am..

I found this Blog about the holiday, with lots of spins on what you can do to celebrate! We'll be celebrating with our Supper Club friends on Friday.... just wait for deets!

Sweet Baby Jaxx is Here!

Jaxx Jaiden Stancil

8.9.2011

6lbs. 13oz.

Jaxx is an absolutely perfect baby boy with a full head of hair! He literally did NOT make one peep while I was there!  (6 hours old below)

On my way to the hospital, I started thinking about the night I drove to meet Kai.. and how it DOES NOT seem like almost 2 years ago (yes, this may be denial of how time is passing by). Then I walked into the room and met Jaxx and it was a serious case of De Ja Vu!

Jaxx is on the left and Kai on the right... if they weren't 2 years apart, they could have been twins!





Me with the beautiful babies!

One thing that we know for sure is Daniel & Kelly make some beautiful babies - look at this precious 1st brother pic! I have a feeling these two will be trouble!



Congratualtions Stancil Family! We love you guys!

What's Been Happenin'

With the Dunaways for about the past... oooohhh 16 days?!


1. I made it to Terranea. Although it was a long program with not so much down time.. this was my view daily... can't complain, right?

And on the plus side, being on central time in Cali, allows for little hikes in the mornings withmy friends!

2. Do you remember Molly and Jason from the Bachelor?? You know... Shady McShady who traded his choice?! Well this is where the rainfall wedding took place! ((Or so they say))

 3. My main squeeze made week 2 cheerful for me! Everyone knows my love for tulips...

And YELLOW!

4. J had a work event... think he missed me?! ((& yes, there is no surprise in picture #3))

5. JoJo's Bachelorette Invites came in! EEEK! So fun!

6. I came home to my momma's pasta... in my own home! First point... this means your always your momma's baby, even if youre approaching 30 and married. Second point... Debs didnt have the confidence in J... she had him put out the crock pot... came over today (her day off) put the sauce and meatballs in, took out a pot placed pasta she brought over in it.. set out bread she brought... and asked J if we had wine... almost positive she would have provided us some had he said we didnt have any.. haha! ((By the way this is a favorite meal for me.. extra points debbie, extra points!))

7. On Saturday, Boog turned 4. She has a bad Daddy... he forgot... but we made up for it tonight... although she clearly is hating the hat..

She did get some fab cupcakes though!

It was a busy 2 weeks... I am so happy to be home... and crazily I am welcoming the heat. The coast was a little chilly for this Texas girl! Looking forward to this week - Meeting Mr. Jaxx Stancil, Supper Club, the Circus.... :)

Have a fab week!!!