"Mind Your Biscuits" Texas

Restoring Galveston

June 12, 2021 admin

One of the interesting things in particular about this trip… We arrived at our AirBnB to find the street in front almost completely clogged with parked cars and construction crews. There was a lady standing almost in front of the house we were staying in so I hopped out of the car to see if there was any issue with yup parking there.

I learned from talking with her throughout the weekend that they were actually filming a show at one of the houses across the street!! The show was originally called “Big Texas Fix” for the first season, and was showing on HGTV! Seasons 2 and 3 were rebranded “Restoring Galveston” and is airing on the DIY Network.

The little house across the street is one of EIGHT they’re working on throughout the island right now, and they were finishing up this one over the few days we were staying here! According to the owner of OUR house that we were staying in, before they started this house was considered “unsalvageable” – so the transformation has been amazing to say the least!!

Today they’re working on shooting the BIG REVEAL, and it’s been interesting to watch the stars of the show, Michael and Ashley, and their multiple takes from different angles. My dad in particular has been fascinated by the progress and the flurry of activity going on all day and night.

The house is TINY, but it’s super cute! Looking at it now it’s hard to believe it was scheduled to be demolished! My crew member (remember the lady from the first day?) “insider” was telling me they specifically buy houses scheduled to be demolished and completely redo them. Can’t wait to see this air on the show, which of course we have to watch now!! She said this will be Season 3, probably episode 2-3, and it’ll air sometime in the fall, so that’ll give me plenty of time to catch up on the seasons I didn’t know existed! 😉

Road Trippin’

June 9, 2021June 9, 2021 admin

This is the year I officially hit middle age… the big 4-0. A couple months ago I decided there was no way I was turning 40 just sitting in my living room so I planned a trip to Galveston Island with hubs, the kids, and my parents. Fast forward to today and we’re in the car, road trippin’ for the next 4-5 hours with a 6 year old and a freshly potty trained, almost 4 year old, and I’m wondering WTAF was I thinking?

We had a few blissful moments of the youngest sleeping, but of course he knocked off about 10 minutes before we stopped for lunch so that was short-lived. After lunch we endured about 30 mins of arguing, an hour of ridiculousness, a stop at Bucees, 10 more minutes of cranky fussing, and now I have this mean-mug burning a hole in my from behind.

Pray for us, we are not ok…. 🤣🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Road Trippin’

June 9, 2021 admin

Pray for us, we are not ok…. 🤣🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️

What the whatttt?? Air Fryer Madness!

June 8, 2021June 8, 2021 admin

Two posts, two days in a row? I’m killing it. LOL

I was thinking last night that I needed to start to “review” some of the awesome crap I’ve been collecting during my year’s worth of COVID shopping spree….. I mean, if I can’t leave the house then the excitement of packages showing up daily will have to do….. LOL! (I mean, in all fairness, I leave the house, but it’s still a viable excuse for lots of packages….)

Affiliate link included below, or just click the image!!

This thing right here ^ is freaking awesome. Now, let me preface this with saying I already own two air fryers. I have a Cuisinart toaster oven style one and a GoWise, both of which I use a TON (sometimes at the same time) and that do an amazing job, but this little gem showed up for an Amazon Treasure Truck a week or so ago and it had 5 stars, and I’d been looking to replace my GoWise as the basket was getting quite worn so I decided to give it a shot!

I…. freaking….. LOVE IT! The basket is really easy to clean, it looks sleek and sexy sitting on my counter, and it really cooks VERY evenly, a noticeable difference from my other two. My first test was garlic parmesan zucchini fries, and they call came out very crisp and delicious with minimal effort, shaking, or checking!

It was on sale for Treasure Truck for about $40 less than it is now, but even at $119 it’s a great investment! I feel like with the coating the basket has it will last a very long time, even with regular use and cleaning. If you’re an air fryer beginner, or even pro, you can’t go wrong with this one – plus…. how many products on Amazon do you know that actually achieve FIVE STARS? This one has earned it! <3

You win some, you lose some…

June 8, 2021June 8, 2021 admin

Apparently I’m really lame at this whole blogging regularly thing, but I feel like the “Mom Blogger” title still fits me, because when do Moms have the time to do anything, much less actually post a blog regularly. So I am still going to call myself a blogger, even though I suck at it. LOL!

This little monkey had his first ENT visit this morning, which considering he’s almost 4 and his sister had ear tubes by the time she was 18 months old, I consider this a win! He was WIRED FOR SOUND in the waiting room, but once we hit the doctor’s exam room he had settled considerably. He was UBER interested in the buttons on the side of this chair, and kept asking the nurse how to make the chair fly. When she told him he had to “use his imagination” he retorted “Well, I don’t have one of those.” ha! I love things kids say!

I’m still plugging away at the planning and bullet journaling – my current setup includes my beloved B6 Bullet Journal that is my “daily catch-all” for my desk and memory keeping. I generally have my daily tasks and hourly setup on the left side page and do a little journaling about my day on the right hand side. Other than that I carry a Hobonichi A6 Techo in my purse, and there’s a HP Mini sitting on my personal desk for weekly and other crap. 😉

There’s been some interesting things going on in the garden as of late – the rain has been EPIC and never-ending, so much so that a she turtle from the pond down the street has decided our landscaping is probably the driest place for her to make her nest and lay her eggs. She dug herself a nice muddy hole and has been “populating” her nest all evening. I hope it’s not too wet/muddy for the eggs to survive. We’ll have to be really careful not to disturb the nest or let the kids bother it. It’s been getting super “National Geographic” over here!

The plants are still struggling between recovering from SNOVID (the freak snow/ice/blizzard event back in February, which wiped out my entire succulent collection and I had to start from scratch) and the ridiculous 10+ inches of rain a week we’ve been having for months. Truth be told, it’s getting old out there Mother Nature, so cut us some slack, m’kay?

In other news, I turn 40 on Thursday, FORTY. I feel so freakin’ old. I’ve been going through my mid-life crisis since about November, and apparently it’s been my “thing” to collect tattoos, which I’ve gotten three new ones in that time. (That’s a post for a different day, for sure) I guess at least I haven’t bought a convertible or run off with a dude half my age. Probably a good thing I don’t even care for millenials that much. ha ha ha! Just kidding, my hubby is the best – even if he IS a year older than me. 😉

SNOVID-21

February 22, 2021 admin

Well, it officially happened last week…. Hell froze over.

A small lake near my home in Texas, TEXAS y’all, that froze over so thick you could walk on it (not that I’d recommend that, of course.)

The snow started last Sunday evening and it all went to heck in a handbasket from there. SO MANY lost power and water, including my In-laws who finally gave up after three sleepless nights of below 40 degrees in their condo and braved the roads to make it here where we were lucky enough to have not lost power. The lakes froze over so thick people were actually ice skating on them. Stores, if they were open, quickly ran completely out of milk, eggs, water, bread, and meat. Maybe y’all think we’re a bunch of weenies if you live up north but the fact of the matter is Texas is, as a whole, completely unprepared for this kind of disaster. Tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, fires, we have the resources to deal with those. -2 degrees and a snowmaggedon? Nope. It just never happens down here, until now.

Wildly enough, the snow began to melt Friday after over a week of sub-freezing temperatures and by Saturday afternoon is was mostly gone… leaving behind a path of destruction in the form of previously frozen water pipes bursting like balloons. It’s not good…. so many homes and businesses are still without water, or have had to shut it off to minimize the destruction. It’s insane. Also insane? It hit 73 degrees here today.

Can’t go -2 degrees to 73 in one week, you say? Texas says: “Hold my beer.”

In the meantime I entertained myself by working a 60+ hour work week completely in panic mode alongside my team (also in panic mode), arguing with my kids who were batshit crazy from being cooped up, and taking pictures of the cats snuggled up together for warmth.

But today it was positively decent outside, and we started to assess my succulent gardens, which I’m super sad to say did not survive. I’m going to have to completely redo them this year. Honestly though, in the grand scheme of things we’re extremely lucky to have had heat and water the entire week, so there’s no way I’m going to complain.

And now I’m back to planning a normal week full of grocery runs and swim / art lessons and it’s weird, honestly, after the cluster that was last week but here we are, and it’s Texas, and like they always say….

“If you don’t like the weather here, wait 5 minutes…”

An exercise in self-control.

November 9, 2020November 9, 2020 admin

I’ve been doing this Keto thing faithfully since October 15th now. What do I mean by “faithfully” – I mean low carb, no sugar, pretty strict, NO STARBUCKS. Seriously, that last one is a BIGGIE because I adore starbucks.

The low carb thing I’m doing pretty good at – you’re allowed 20g of net carbs a day, and it’s rare that I even make it that high. I’ve never been a crazy bread eater, but I’ve found low/no carb substitutes for just about everything including No Carb Bagels, Bread, “Tortilla Chips”, and even a Pizza Crust by Thin Slim Foods – I’ve tried them all and most I can’t even tell the difference!

The no sugar aspect has been a little more difficult. Halloween was rough, but I was able to resist ALL THE CANDY the kids brought home this year. I guess you could say their “parent tax” was cut in half. At the suggestion of a friend I tried Russell Stovers Sugar Free Chocolates and they’re actually VERY good so that helps curb the chocolate cravings. I especially love the Pecan Delights! Taste just like turtles! YUM!

Finally that Starbucks problem… That was super hard, but I finally managed to put something together that was Keto friendly at home that tasted so very similar that I no longer even really think about Starbucks anymore! I knew I needed to get some MCT Oil/Collagen Powder so on a recommendation I tried the Bean Envy Vanilla and I use it similar to a powdered creamer with a little heavy whipping cream and my “Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea” and I have to tell you it’s freakin delicious! Like pumpkin pie in a cup!

It’s been a little difficult to find things at restaurants to eat, but with a little creativity it’s possible to go out to eat, not be super difficult with the waiter/waitress, and still enjoy myself and my food. I feel like the hardest generally is Tex Mex, because I constantly forget to bring my own low carb tortilla chips and pretty much everything has a taco shell or tortilla involved, but it’s still possible.

Tonight was a little more difficult, an exercise in self-control, but I was so proud of myself – I ordered the taco salad, but basically asked for only the mixed greens, picadillo (theirs doesn’t have potato), shredded cheese, and sliced avocado in a regular (not taco shell) bowl.

Aaaaaaand everything came out awesome except the delicious looking fried taco shell bowl it all arrived in. Whoops. I could SMELL the delicious carbs fried into it and I wanted it so bad, but in the end I ate my salad and then turned the bowl over to my hubby and daughter to eat because my goal is more important to me than a few moments of taste bud gloriousness.

Speaking of my goal – I am down almost 11 pounds since I started about 3.5 weeks ago, my energy level is up and I don’t feel so draggy during the day while I’m trying to work! It’s easier to get myself out of bed in the morning, and I’m starting to SEE the difference in my body. I couldn’t be happier!

***As an Amazon Associate, I do get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Thank you for supporting my blog! <3

Random tidbits

October 24, 2020 admin

Still working on the Keto thing, but so far I’m really proud of myself for giving up carbs and sugar. It hasn’t been easy but I’ve stuck it out so far! I’ve been having fun experimenting with different foods and recipes. Last night I made salmon and asparagus foil packs and it turned out really well! I’ve never cooked salmon in my life so I was super pleased I didn’t screw it up!

Tonight I decided to try making a chocolate avocado pudding I saw online and it ended up being pretty good, though still a slight bit avocadoey- I read if you refrigerate it that minimizes that, so we’ll see how it tastes tomorrow. 🤣

Otherwise it’s been kind of a boring week with the exception of a couple things.

1. I got bit by a green anole the other day. I was trying to grab it and save it from the cats (which I’m sure would have been hilarious to watch because those damn heifers are fast) and when I finally grabbed it the dang thing bit me on the arm for my trouble. It’s not like it hurt or anything but it caught me by surprise because it basically grabbed a hunk of skin and shook it like a dog. 🤣🤣 Who knew?!!

Then today my daughter insisted we let the cats nap with us, which is fine if they’re sleeping and not acting like fools. I woke up to see this…

If you look closely you’ll see it’s actually two cats. Beans’s head is down by her hand, and his feet are actually propped up on her face. Look between her face and his legs and you’ll see Raisin, happily sleeping stuffed in there under the covers. Lol!!! I can’t believe it lasted long enough for me to snap a photo!

Monday we start a huge home updating project, Phase 1 – we have a TON of higher end wood paneling and trim in our home straight out of the 80s. I’ll be adding some before pics this weekend and also progress pics through the week! Although it wasn’t my choice to update all this I’m trying to imagine the pretty modern farmhouse look we’re going for and I think I’ll like it in the end. Guess we’ll see!!

I have nothing to call this.

October 20, 2020October 20, 2020 admin

I walked into the gynecologist’s office a little under a week ago for my yearly visit. No big deal, normal stuff, right? She asked me to step on the scale, and granted, I had my clothes on but still…. the number that popped up on that thing kind of threw me for a loop. Yikes….. I’ve really not been very good about healthy habits for sure but that was kind of a slap in the face.

I have friends who have had some success with the Keto diet, and to be honest being able to keep meat, cheese, and dairy sounded pretty fabulous to me, so I decided to check it out! Not entirely sure if I’ll be able to stick with it, but surely it’s a stepping stone to eating a bit healthier, and cutting back the sugar and carbs.

So I jumped in. Chef salad for lunch with my favorite homemade dressing. Keto friendly yogurt for a snack by :ratio foods. I was pleasantly surprised at the taste of the yogurt, I was expecting more of a bitter taste with an unpleasant aftertaste but it didn’t really have any of those things.

I had done some meal planning yesterday and a grocery pickup this morning, so I was pretty prepared for dinner! I made “Taco Stuffed Peppers” and they turned out pretty magical, if I don’t say so myself!

Paired up with some fresh avocado and it was a pretty easy, satisfying, and tasty meal! Even hubby approved!!! (Not kid approved, but my kids don’t approve much of anything edible to be honest)

I’m hoping to document some of this journey here, but don’t worry, I know people don’t like endless weight loss posts coming into their inbox, so I’ll find other things to write about too – like how I got a call from the school nurse on my 6 year old because she thought my daughter was sick but it turned out to be a sweaty crotch…… *sigh* #MomLife

A SECOND POST IN ONE MONTH???

October 10, 2020October 10, 2020 admin

WHO IS THIS PERSON?!

I was going to write a post about cats, and my journey from being a cat person to not being a cat person to OMG CRAZY CAT LADY but maybe that’s a blog post for a different day, because it’s late, and I’m lazy, and the cats are all up in my business anyway so it’s hard to type.

So instead I’ll leave you you some real-time photos of what it looks like when I try to sit down and write a blog about cats….. because, you know, this is my life now. Kids, cats, a husband, and a dog…. constantly something touching me.