Text Maniac

My relationship with my daughter has changed

since getting my iPhone, I'm a bit of a text maniac.

Yet I can still share my motherly pearls of wisdom with her.

I thought I'd start showing you some of the interesting text

messages that pass between us.

This one occured after she injured her back.

My texts are the ones in blue.

Holly

xxx-ooo

A Most Glorious Day

Had a great time with my kids yesterday.

We did Daniel's taxes.

Actually he did them while I sat by and gave him a little help.

Katie wanted me to take some pictures of her

so that her boyfriend, Travis, would be able to have them with him

when he goes back to Afghanistan.

He had asked her for a wallet size photo so he could carry it in his helmet.

**Sigh**

I used PicMonkey to edit these.

I actually like PicMonkey better than Picnik

and it's very easy to use.

What are you using for your photo editing?

After the photog session

we all went out to lunch.

Off to the grocery.

Have a great day!

Holly

xxx-ooo

Things I'm Lovin

When I woke up this morning,

the first thought in my head was,

"Tomato Bisque!!!"

Which is really strange

because usually my first thought is

"I gotta pee!"

Then I think about tomato bisque.

I love this warm, comforting, creamy soup.

My hips do not.

Sometimes I don't care what my hips think

and I throw caution to the wind

and just spoon mouthful after mouthful

of this yummy goodness down my gullet.

So this morning I awoke with a desire to find

a much more hip pleasing recipe for my favorite soup.

I used this recipe from SkinnyTaste and tweaked it just a bit.

I used 5 large Virtuoso tomatoes

and 1 1/2 cups of canned crushed tomatoes.

The only fat in this recipe is the one Tablespoon of butter

that I used to saute the vegetables.

I used fat free chicken broth

and fat free sour cream.

Here's what it looks like before I mixed it up

and added the sour cream.

(note the pepper spilled all over the stove)

Now, enter stage left,

the star of the show.

Do you have one of these?

Let me tell you,

I've been thinking about getting one

for the past couple of months.

Would it be worth it?

Would I actually use it?

And then Genn went and bought one

and showed it off all pretty

and I knew that in my desire to be all things Genn,

I had to have one too.

I had $20 in Kohls cash and this was on sale for $29.99.

I swooped in and grabbed the aqua one.

She is so pretty.

If you don't have one,

let me just answer the question for you,

YES!!!

You Need One!

And you need it today!

After adding the sour cream

I used my new immersion blender to make this.

It's creamy and luscious and it kinda made me tear up a little.

And it's only 1.5 points plus per cup

on Weight Watchers.

Which means that I can eat 18 cups of this soup

a day and still stay within my points.

What?  Too Much?

I found that the best way to eat this

is with one of these.

Mini spinach flatbread pizzas

from Trader Joe's.

I love you Trader Joe's!

I also grabbed this while I was there.

A pot of herbs.

This one has oregano, thyme and rosemary.

So excited to get some basil and get these

planted in a pot on my patio.

Have you had enough yet?

One more thing.

New couches are finally being delivered tomorrow.

We've been looking for new couches for over a year.

I wanted pretty and reasonably priced,

Brian wanted comfy.

We compromised.

We got kinda pretty and really comfy.

We DID NOT get reasonably priced.

We finally bit the bullet

and went with La-Z-Boy.

Because you just really can't beat their

comfort and their warranty.

They had a President's Sale going on but

we still paid more that we wanted to.

My daughter, Katie, is coming over for lunch tomorrow.

This, I look forward to more than anything else.

Love you Puddums!

Holly

Love and Crisco

I've been a horrible blog poster.

My daughter needed her camera back

and I can't find the cord

for my poor little camera

so I can't download any pics.

 

You know how I hate to post without pictures.

So I will be posting random pictures

for your viewing pleasure.

 

 

(Like this one)
Stolen from the interwebs.
No idea who that is.

Today is our 5th Anniversary.
We are planning a day of
lunch at Applebees
(Oriental Chicken salad for me)
A movie,
(either War Horse or Joyful Noise)
and

Wait for it......

A trip to Sprouts.
I love Sprouts.
Fresh fruits and veggies and turkey cutlets
and Popchips and Greek Yogurt.

I know!

I am assuming that I am your most
exciting friend right now.

But seriously, I am so happy to be in
love with this man of mine.
Happy Anniversary Bubby!

(Not my cat)

I've been doing Weight Watchers
since the first of the year.
I have a girl crush on Jennifer Hudson.
Have you seen her?
Man, oh man!
Now that's a real woman's body.

(Notice how that pictures relates to my story?)

I'm loving the WW program.
It's so easy to follow.
At my last weigh in on Wednesday I had lost 4.5 lbs.
I wasn't super excited about my weight loss
until I realized that this was equivalent to
 one and a half large cans of Crisco.

(Another relevant picture)

That puts it into perspective for me.

Ohhh, those peanut butter cookies on that can of Crisco
look really good, don't they?

My daughter Katie has moved out and is living
with a girlfriend.
I'm really trying not to take this personally.
I miss the heck out of her but she seems to be
having a great time and is settling in nicely.
Her place is just so cute.
And I am so proud of her.
She's all grown up just like her Momma.

(I don't know what that spot is on my neck,
I don't have a mole there, it's probably a chocolate chip.)

The other news is that she has a wonderful man in her life.
She's known him since high school.
I love the heck out of this kid.
He's in the Marines and has been stationed in California
since he got back from Afghanistan.

Don't you just want to squeeze him?

He's all "Yes Ma'am this, and "Yes Ma'am that".

One last thing,

Daddy is on another round of chemo and it's hitting him pretty hard.

Please pray for him if you will.

And that's all I've got.

xxx-ooo

Holly

Excuse me Ma'am, My Friend Wants to Know if You'll Skate With Him.

What do you do when your best friend from Jr. High comes to town?

And you feel like doing something silly?

Kate and Heather

Well, obviously, you dress up like roller derby queens.

And head to the roller skating rink

where you spent endless hours in Jr. High.

And hope with all your 23 year old hearts

that some 13 year old boy

will finally ask you to slow skate with him

to "Open Arms".

I love this kid.

And have no idea where she gets

her weirdo personality.

Holly

xxx-ooo

Quite Possibly the Only Serious Post I'll Ever Write

Every member of my family has battled cancer in one form or another.

I lost my mother to cancer.

My sister is a breast cancer survivor.

My father is fighting for his life right now.

My daughter, Katie, has joined up with the American Cancer Society with Relay for Life.

She will be running/walking to help raise money for cancer research on

April 30 - May 1st.

If anyone would be interested in making a donation it would be greatly appreciated.

You can go here to donate.

Click on "Donate to Participant".

Type in her name, Katherine May.

Her team is called "Coffee Lovers for a Cure".

Even if you can't donate, please leave her a comment here so she'll know she has your support.

Also, I know many of you have been praying for my Dad, please continue to keep him in your prayers.

Thank you 

Holly

xxx-ooo