My Mom is now officially a ZIPPERHEAD!

I just wanted to take a second to thank everyone for your love, support, and prayers for my mom and my family over the past few weeks and especially today.

Her brain surgery started at 12:30p and it only lasted about an hour and half which is a pretty good sign. She is doing well although she is in a lot of pain. She told me in a slur that she has a headache from H-E-double hockey sticks. I can imagine so. There is an insicion about four inches long that starts at the base of her neck and goes straight up.

She will be in ICU for at least the next 24 hours but most likely for 48 and she will not be released until Friday.

Zipperhead: (as defined by urbandictionary.com)

A person who has undergone decompression surgery to relieve pressure on the brain stem and to allow the cerebral spinal fluid to flow properly. Ususally as a result of trama or a condition known as Arnold Chiari Malformation in which the brain can become herniated down the spinal cord. The resulting scar looks like a zipper up the back of the head.

Now you can imagine what her scar is going to look like.
Mom- I know it will be awhile before you get back on to the blog but I LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU and cannot imagine a day without you in my life. P.S.- they had a tshirt on zazzle.com that says "If you think my boobs are big you should see my brain!!" I think you need it!

But seriously thanks again everyone and now we pray for recovery.

Yum-O!

By request I have decided to go ahead and post my first recipe.

I found it on pickypalate.com (a blog that I follow, the blogger is always on the food network winning contests and stuff so I figured anything from her site would be good.)

Chicken Sausage, Broccoli and Parmesan Brown Rice Dinner

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 lb cheese filled chicken sausages, thinly sliced

4 Cups broccoli florets, steamed until fork tender

4 Cups cooked brown rice

1/4 Cup grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil into a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté bell pepper for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in garlic; cook for 1 minute then add chicken slices. Cook for 5 minutes or until chicken is browned on both sides. Add broccoli, rice and parmesan cheese. Cook for 2 minutes or so, then season with salt and pepper to your liking. Serve and enjoy!

6 Servings

I changed it up a tiny bit and used 2 cloves of garlic, "Boil in a Bag" brown rice because I can't seem to cook rice just right, and frozen broccoli florets. You can really use any vegetables that your crowd likes (squash instead of broccoli).

The only problem with this recipe is that a lot of local grocers don't carry chicken sausage so instead of buying one pound at HEB I ended up having to buy THREE pounds at Costco. Which is fine I guess because I froze the rest so we can use it later since it is hard to find.

Other than that it was DE-LISH-OUS, well to me at least!

[disclaimer: this dish was not Chris approved- he had a cold and could not taste it 100%, he said it was bland but I forgot to salt and pepper to taste- so be sure to do that at the end.]

Pretty Pretty Princess

Well at least that's what I feel like sitting at my vanity.

The chair is on loan from the dining room until I can get my Lucite (clear) chair replaced from work. I special ordered one and when I got it home it was missing hardware and there was a scratch on it. Boo. I'll re post the true final product once it gets there.

Those are snazzy placemats from tar-jay that I put together to create a protective "desk pad".

I scored that little jewelry tree from Marshall's a looooong time ago and had forgotten all about it.

It was like Christmas unwrapping it.

My very own makeup aisle in a drawer. I love it.

Macy was pretty impressed, that counts for something.

Once again, the other side of the room is still "under construction". Hope to have the finalized sometime in the near future.

The Graduate

Chris finally graduated from his apprenticeship program!

"WHOO HOO, I hate that cheezer shirt."-Chris

I'm so proud of him.

[Poor guy dropped his diploma in front of everyone. They had to retake his picture. Haha. Chris is standing over me as I type this so I have his permission so we can laugh with him, not at him.]

For all the ladies

I am FINALLY able to park in the garage! Whoo Hoo! I never thought it would happen. We still need to get an actual garage door opener so we are having to use the good ole' elbow grease method but other than that it's pretty much the bee's knees.

Ta - daaaaa...

In case you are wondering what the little red octagon on a stick is it is my blinking STOP sign. So clever. When I pull into the garage I drive all the way up to it and it blinks when I "tap" it. Tap is probably not the right term for my type of driving but that's what it said on the box. I was sold. As I'm sure you have already figured out the only problem with this genius invention is that it is light and not screwed into the ground. I will need to get Chris to figure out how to make it a more permanent fixture otherwise I might just "tap" it all the way to the front.

My little "sky-on" safely tucked into the garage.

My vacant spot in the driveway. So exciting.

You're probably wondering what I meant by the title of this blog...isn't it every woman's dream to be able to park in the garage? So when it's raining your hair has a slight chance of still looking decent by the time you get to the office OR when its freezing outside you don't have to scrape ice off of your windshield with chattering teeth?

So if there are any guys reading this-- do everything in your power to let your favorite lady park in the garage. It is probably the highlight of the month for me at least.

Just a little to tide you over...

So it all started with a little pillow that I came across at the local tar-jay. [Well to tell the the truth it all started when Chris put his foot down and said it would not be smart to sand down our orange peel textured walls to apply wallpaper. sigh.] That however is a story for a different day.

So back to the business- I found this pillow and told Chris that I wanted to try and paint the same pattern in the office. He happily helped me tape off the wall. We of course had to use his version of measuring and leveling instead of my normal "eyeballing it" technique that he does not particularly care for.

After a few hours of taping, a few hours of painting, and a few hours of entertaining spectators (cody and rachel) we were left with the final product at 3:30am on saturday night, well sunday morning that is. The top left hand corner matches the pillow and the rest is our own little flavor.

I still need to get two matching chairs (that do not have rollers because having rollers on this THICK carpet is completely pointless) and figure out some type of cord management so our feet will quit getting tangled up under the desk. So what do you think? Pretty close or what?

It's so weird how little that desk looks since it is actually very large in person. I have to share the computer with Chris on Sundays due to the ever exciting creation of Fantasy Football Leagues and figured I would need extra space to do real work, like homework for example.

The computer and printer took up much more space than I had planned for but I am still pleased with my $70 steal at IKEA (aKa Home Depot for girls).

The other side of the office is still "under construction". I hope to have it completed by the end of this weekend, but Chris' graduation ceremony is tomorrow so I don't know how much I will get done before or after that exciting event! (no sarcasm, I am very proud of him)

If I do finish, I promise to post the finale on Sunday.

Home Sweet Home

As many of you know Chris and I closed on our first home on August 28, 2009- which means we have officially been living here for THREE whole weeks now. It seems like yesterday- I know that sounds cheesy- but I feel like I haven't been able to even enjoy our new pad since we have been on the move (no pun intended) since we moved in!

Between work, school, and homework it is hard to make sure that Chris is keeping up with his to do list that I have made for him. ;)

Anyway- I wanted to create this blog so that all of my out of town friends and family will be able to see everything my in town friends and family get to see in person (and mostly so that Nana and Grampy can stay up to date).

I will post pictures and such soon.