(Not) Sticking to the Plan

When I started blogging, my intention was to have some sort of pattern or plan. Something that people who read it could come to expect. You know, recipes on Monday, pictures on Wednesday, funny stories on Friday...that sort of thing. What I have come to learn, however, is that much like my life, not a whole lot can be planned. There are a few structured things here and there, but for the most part, I have to be open to things as they come. But now that I think about it, reflecting my/our life as it happens is more what this blog is about than any plan...so, I suppose my miscellaneous posts don't come as that much of a surprise. 

So, here we go.

Do you get excited about food? I do, and I'm really excited for dinner tonight. We're going to eat dinner at Ruth's Chris to celebrate the birthday of one of Kyle's family friends. Yummy steak, that's all that needs to be said. Everything else there is great too...but man the steaks are awesome! The first time I ate at a Ruth's Chris was after my brother's college graduation in North Carolina. I had never eaten so much in my life...seriously, I felt like if I opened my mouth too wide and leaned over a little, that I would throw up. But even the uncomfortable fullness was glorious. 

I saw a headline today that Whitney Houston showed signs of chronic cocaine use. Wow, I wonder where they came up with that one! {seriously need a sarcasm font} Yes, I am sorry that such a talented woman is no longer with us, but her talent doesn't trump the fact that she wasted and abused her God given talent for other highs. Her last album she put out wasn't that great because her voice had been ruined by all of her drug and alcohol use. I think we like to remember her in Body Guard and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" days...but that was a long time ago. 

How do you handle stress? I have learned that I don't see stress approaching...I figure it out when I'm smack dab in the middle of it! Not a good thing. Yesterday was one of those days for me. I woke up worrying about something in the house we're building (I couldn't remember if one of the counter-tops was set correctly and it would be a major pain to get fixed if it wasn't). There are some things with work that aren't necessarily bad in nature, but change in general (good or bad) can make anyone a bit anxious. And then just throw on some general life stressors, and it makes for a pretty anxiety-filled day. 

After work, we went by the house, and my fears were not only relieved, but the counter-top was installed in a better fashion than I had imagined. Also, we realized that they are a lot further along than we had assumed...hopefully moving up our closing date!! Afterwards, I went to work out. I knew, in part, that I needed a physical release...so I took it out on an elliptical machine and some free weights. I'll take a bench and some free weights or kettlebells over machines any day of the week.

Today feels like a brand new day. There's a hymn from Lamentations 3..."The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are NEW EVERY MORNING. Great is Thy faithfulness". That's the song that popped in my head today. Thank God for new days!! 

I totally forgot to tell you about last weekend! Kyle's parents, brother and sister-in-law and niece all came down for a visit. We didn't get to go see as much stuff as we wanted to, but we had a great time none the less. Funny enough...it all revolved around food. It's crawfish season here, so we bought a bunch and did a big crawfish boil. It was rather fantastic if I do say so myself. It's so much fun watching our nieces grow and learn. During their visit, Landry developed another name for Gus...Gussy. I guess "gus" is a relatively easy word for tots to say, so she felt pretty comfortable doing a little ad-libbing. The only bad thing about her and Gus's relationship, is that when she puts her footie pajamas on, her whole lower half suddenly becomes a giant, moving stuffed toy. We quickly put an end to that. Otherwise, he's been really great with kids, which we're so thankful for!

Gus vs. the Crawfish

We went to Kyle's new customer's restaurant to celebrate Landry's birthday, as we're not going to be able to go up for her party. Kyle mentioned to the chef earlier in the week that we were coming and it was for his niece's birthday...the chef had his sous chef make this awesome chocolate tres leches cake! This picture doesn't really do it justice. It was beautiful and super tasty too. 

Well, it's a beautiful day today, and looks to be an awesome weekend. Hopefully we can get outside and enjoy it a little. 

Hope you all have a great weekend as well!