The Blizzard of 2013

So yes, we had a Blizzard in the Texas Panhandle the end of February 2013.  I was supposed to work that Monday, but I work on a Semi-Mobile MRI Rig.  We don't usually travel in bad weather with that rig.  So I was pretty sure if the weather man got it right that I wouldn't be working.... I was right, we had two snow days off in fact!! So the night before the blizzard, I whipped up some sweet roll dough to make Tyler his favorite rolls.  I went ahead and got up early like I was going to work.  But I got the call, so I got the Orange Rolls ready for breakfast.  They were delish.

The morning of the blizzard...it was cray cray...crazy is what I mean!!

Wouldn't ya know it, we are watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!

Pepto jumping the drifts in the front yard

Snow White Beauty

Tyler actually took the day off during the blizzard.  He thought he was good to go.  All of his wheat pasture cattle were on barb wire pastures.  Ahem.....NOT...those cattle of course traveled south as far as they could go and then pushed on one another and it busted the gate open.  So he had 1200 head out all over the country.  Thank goodness the other 1800 didn't get out.  The last 3 weeks have been busy, they found all of the cattle and only had 5 deads out of those set of cattle. 

Bronc and I went out and played after the snow quit blowing.  He loved it.  I laughed and laughed at him.  He was so funny.  He would jump up in the air and land face first in the snow and make reverse snow angels.  Crazy boy. 

The drifts through out our wind break of trees was so cool.  It blew in mounds, up and down.  That was fun playing in.  Tyler said when he was little he used to dig tunnels through them.  We will have to try that next time we get a major snow. 

The snow drifted in our arena.  It made the coolest shapes and forms.  Kinda cave like on some of the drifts. 

5 foot drifts.  The pipe here is 5 ft tall. 

The snow was the perfect snowman buidling type of snow.  So we
built a snowman...I mean snow-Grandma!! LOL!!

See the hair do.  I tried to make Tyler's Mom into a snow-Grandma!

Of course Bronc wanted to ride her.  He said Momma, I want to ride it.  So this is what we got done!

This is in Amarillo.  I can't figure out how all these people were dumb enough to drive in the snow.  Its like all of a sudden it was to late and they all got stuck. 

Bronc cooking up some grub..pretend grub that is

 

We got 8 inches, while other places got close to 2 feet of snow!! Blessed for the moisture.  My grass is greening up!!

Life's Happenings

Here is another recipe that is really delicious!!  The carrot and potatoe mash is so good.  My baby Tuck loved it!

 

Excuse the dirty oven

 

Cattle in the Fog

Playing blocks with Daddy

 

Beer Bread.  So simple and so delicious. 

3 Cups Self-rising Flour (I never have this so I make my own)
1/2 cup Sugar
12oz of Beer (your choice) I used Bud Light

Mix ingredients and let sit for 10 minutes.
Melt 1/2 stick butter and put half in the bottom of a loaf pan.
Pour in batter and pour remaining butter on top.
Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.  Thats it!!  You dont knead this bread just dump it in the pan.

 

Roar!! Playing with the Lion

Amen to this sunset on my way home.  It made me wanna talk to God!! 

The Usual...Our Kids

Sorry I haven't gotten to my blog in a while. As usual I am playing catch up and my life is busy with raising a family, working and much more. I was successful in my juice cleanse...ahem...for three days instead of seven. I think that was a feat in itself. Not getting to chew food was really my craving during my cleanse. Isn't that a funny craving??!!

I continue to juice and have incorporated it into part of my life. It is so healthy and good for you. I do struggle with my sweets but I am working on that!! I am also making better eating choices.

Not much new is happening in our lives.  Just the usual that goes on with raising a family.  HOUSE UPDATE.  They are saying they may be done with Tyler's Moms house by the end of April.  They haven't really made it a priority to finish it.  The builder is trying to finish his bigger projects.  I sure hope that their time frame is accurate.  I'm ready to be moved, have our space and privacy and be settled.

The Boys napping. 

Bronc giving Woody a haircut

Just wanted to share a recipe that I found on a fellow bloggers site. It it is so delicious and healthy.

I am considering making my blog private. I was looking at the traffic and have had some strange sites visiting. So if I do please continue to follow. I just will have to grant access to you. My blog is for friends and family. I am not a professional blogger. So I am thinking I don't want the random Joe just looking at my family and our happenings!!

Happy Birthday

Our sweet Tucker turned one in February. I have more pictures that I need to load off my computer. This is just a glimpse of part of our great 1st Bday!!

These were his Bday cookies in the works. The second picture is the finished Mickey faces. Wait until you see the cake. Thanks to my great doula and friend Ashley for hooking Tucker up with tasty treats!!

Tucker loves, I mean loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. We call him Toodle Tuck for those of you that are familiar with the show. It is a really great cartoon. It is constantly teaching throughout the show. Colors, counting, numbers, animals, shapes, manners, etc. That is the only TV program they get to watch. And the occasional Disney movie.

I will post the Bday party pictures soon!

Day 3

Day 3 Update of Cleanse

I had to make a run to the Big City for errands and such yesterday.  Started off juicing and met a friend at Chipotle for lunch.  I did indulge in brown rice w/veggies, chicken and avocado.  It was delish.  Bronc enjoyed it to.  So I didn't stick to my juicing completely yesterday.  I went to Keva Juice and picked up a healthy juice.

After lunch Bronc had to chaise the geese.  He thought that was pretty cool.

Watch out!! Customer in Training LOL!!

I thought these were cool.  They were bigger than Bronc, so we had to take a photo or two.

And guess what.  I fell off the bandwagon last night.  I tell you what.  My husband is a junk food junkie...so of course their are cookies in the house.  I did indulge in some cookies last night. 
Shame on me.  I thought this message was appropriate.  It is how I felt after I ate the cookies.  Dang it.  Breaking an addiction to sweets is not all that easy.  I am working on it, day by day.  Back to juicing today.  The only bad thing is we were invited to go to a Roping Dummy Superbowl Party and I am sure their will be delicious food.  Oh food, why do you have to haunt me. 

That's right, baby steps!!!

Day 2 of my Cleanse

Breaking News!! I made it through my first day of completely juicing fresh fruits and veggies.  I did have some major moments through my day, but I prevailed!!  The morning time was the most difficult for me.  I am a breakfast eater, and I wake up hungry ready to fuel my body with food.  I decided I would allow myself one egg with my breakfast juice of choice.  That way I get to munch on something.  They are so high in protein and good for you!!  Did you know that eggs increase brain function, reduce inflammation, aid in muscle recovery and growth, protect against macular degeneration and cataracts.  They can also aid in weight loss.  Just a little knowledge from research and The Earth Diet Book. 

So my journey yesterday consisted of this...preparing fruits and veggies for my juice or smoothie. Taking care of my kids. We squeezed in a two mile walk with the dogs, kiddos carted in the double stroller!!  It is time consuming doing this juicing thing, but worth it.  If you are strong enough to do this along with me you will need a juicer and a blender.  I had bought a juicer years ago, just a cheapo one.  But I have been impressed with it.  It does a great job providing me my juice. Oh, since I work one week on, one week off..I decided it would be best to do this on my week off.  It has worked well. 

Look at the wholesome glass of Fresh Orange Juice.  It really tasted so much better than store bought juice.  It was frothy and delightfully delicious.

The aftermath of our bumpy ride in the stroller.  Got to love Dirt Roads!!

My sweet Tucker looking out the front door.  Oh by the way...Painting of the ugly brass door is one of my upcoming projects...hmmmm what color to paint????

Brothers playing!! I love this, seeing my children develop a lifetime relationship.  It starts so early!

Motivation for my brain

So this is the beet juice ingredients.  Carrots, celery, red apple, lemon, beet and a small piece of ginger.  I was concerned about the taste as I dislike celery and have no idea what a beet tastes like. But to my surprise it is very tasty.  It is a sweet juice.  I can't even taste the celery. 

Isn't that gorgeous.  This is the trash that my juicer spits out.  The colors are so refreshing!

Hello Beet Juice!!  FYI:  Juicing is good for detoxifying, cleansing, to heal from illness, to boost immunity and to receive nutrients and vitamins at a cellular level.  When you juice the nutrition goes straight into our system just from drinking it.  Our bodies are not working hard to digest this juice, so the energy is distributed to our entire body almost effortlessly.

I want to share just a few things.  I COULD NOT BELIEVE THIS...when I got on the scale I was 4lbs lighter just from yesterday.  CRAZY!! But of course I jumped for joy and talk about a huge motivator to complete my 7 Day Journey of Cleansing.

 

Here is my experience from yesterday: 

• First off...this is what I told myself yesterday - I am on a journey to improve my health.  Starting with my cleanse and here on out.  Not just these 7 days.
• Time consuming washing produce and juicing.  Maybe if I didn't have two kids under the age of 3 it would be a bit easier.  There were times I felt like I neglected them more than I should because it seemed I was in the kitchen alot yesterday.
• This might be TMI (to much information) lol.  But I had 3 bowel movements before lunch time.  CRAAAAZZZYYY. My body is eliminating wastes for sure.
• Frequent Urination...well duh...liquids all day long
• My tongue tasted gross alot through out the day and I had dry mouth....hmm toxins coming out of me....that is what I think
• My family benefits...they were always chowing down on my produce as I prepared it. 
• Healthier me, Happier me, Happier Family!!

Day 2:

• Woke up feeling well rested and not hungry.  Strange for me.
• Had B.M. immediately
• 4lbs lighter...can I get a Whoop Whoop.

Ok...I am a dork..but have you ever heard that song from Snoop Dogg - Sippin on Gin and Juice...Well I be sipping on my Green Juice!!  I was singing that alot yesterday and I actually sung it to my friend Julie.  I will introduce you to her soon.  We have become each others motivators to become Healthy and Fit!!  Peace out!