At 25, It's Time to Eat Like a Big Girl

If you were following this blog for our honeymoon, you know that I ate my first half salad at a restaurant on the beach during the trip because we were the only ones at the restaurant and I didn't want to send the salad back.

It may sound crazy, but in watching me eat the salad on our honeymoon, my new husband realized that I was eating it wrong.  I've always had a severe texture aversion to eating leafy vegetables, but we discovered that's partly because I was chewing it with my front teeth.  (When I was a kid my back teeth didn't line up right until my second set of braces, so it's not as crazy as it sounds that I didn't chew with my back teeth correctly.)

Well, ever since my adventure on the beach, I've been wondering if I might actually enjoy a salad that's better than the pre-dinner beach restaurant side salad.  Today, I final got up the nerve to give it a try.  I ordered a salad at Cotton Patch that had lettuce, cucumber, tomato, cheese, bacon, and chicken with Ranch dressing.

My Dinner Tonight

I took the before picture because I wanted to show off that I ate the whole thing... but it was huge... and I got full.

I was too full to eat the whole thing, but there's just as much chicken as lettuce left... that proves that I was actually full and didn't give up.

I don't think it was my favorite dinner ever, but it was pretty decent... I'd do it again.

So, I'm official a big girl now.  I ate salad for dinner, of my own choosing, and I enjoyed it.  :)

I'm Thankful for...

It seems a bit cliche to write a thanks list on Thanksgiving Day, but it's a good cliche, I think.  I feel very blessed in my life and I think it's important not to lose sight of the many things there are to be thankful for.

So here I go; I'm thankful for:

• 26 (almost) years of good health
• Loving parents that encouraged me to be the best that I could be
• A solid faith community that not only taught me about God conceptually but also showed the love of Christ in their daily lives.
• A school system that allowed me to cultivate a love of the arts, gave me an opportunity to experience the classics, and challenged me to grow while giving me the educational foundation to build upon the rest of my life.
• A brother who knows and loves me deeply, and who, despite some sibling rivalry growing up, I cherish as my childhood companion.
• Sisters who welcomed me just as I am into the fold of Alpha Delta Pi.
• A culture where, as a woman, I am encouraged to go far in my career without giving up who I am as a woman.
• Baylor University, of which I have many fond memories.
• A great young career where I am both challenged and respected for my contributions
• My extended family that I love dearly... and all of their beautiful children (my brother and I are the only cousins who have yet to add little munchkins to group)
• The many friends and family who supported, encouraged, attended, and/or thought of us from a far during our wedding this year.
• The ability to own our own home despite economic turmoil around the world.
• Many close friends that join us for basketball games, Hot Springs trips, tailgating, poker nights, and any other general merriment.
• The best in-laws one could hope for.  I look forward to many new memories I'll make with the Hansen family.
• A great Thanksgiving dinner... and Chocolate Pie!

And I cannot summarize in short bullet the many ways that I'm thankful for the man who changed my name this year... he is my rock and my right hand.  I often joke that he must be psychic because he knows what I'm thinking before I say it.  When I was young, I often dreamed about getting married, but I never imagined how much I would love the man I married or how much fun it would be.  So, I am thankful for Mr. John Hansen, my husband (still not tired of saying that... "my husband"... he's my husband... sorry everybody else, he's taken).

I am truly blessed, and I cannot say thanks enough to "deserve" any of it... Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I'm glad to take a moment to be thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving All!

Getting Crafty

Since discovering and introducing me to Pinterest, several of the football wives* have decided to have craft days to actually do some of the things we've found on Pinterest.

*Football Wives - The wives that come with their husbands to North Texas Football Games, including pre-game tailgating.  Several of us may never have met each other if our husbands had not been football buddies.  We've all gotten to know each other pretty well from Saturdays out in the heat for the last 3 football seasons, and we're now excited to do something outside of tailgating... and without our husbands. :)

Our first craft weekend was in October, and we made flower necklaces from a Necklace Tutorial that Kim found on Pinterest.

These came out great.  They're just felt, fabric, a chain, and hot glue.

After our first success, we got back together today for Craft Day Take 2.  This time we tackled 2 projects.

1. Washer necklaces.  Randi found this Washer Tutorial on Pinterest.  I think they make cute necklackes.

Take a washer, glue on paper (like scrapbook paper), trim off excess, and paint with a clear coat.  Once they dry, I'll tie a cord on it, and viola: simple, unique necklace.

2. Decorative Letter.  This is probably my favorite craft yet.  Mine is going on my front door once I get a wreath hanger.

Letter (from Hobby Lobby), twine (190 ft for $3 from Lowe's), ribbon, fabric flowers, and hot glue.

I found this Letter S Inspiration on Pinterest.  The S is from Esty, so unlike the other crafts we've done, there was no tutorial.  It was still pretty simple though.  And I found this Fabric Flower Tutorial that made a nice adornment for my 'H', and I think I like these flowers better than the paper flowers on the S from Etsy.

We've had a Ton 'O Fun being crafty.  I'm looking for Craft Day #3, but that's probably not until after Christmas.

Homecoming

I love Baylor University.  It makes me giddy just to be on campus.  I have many fond memories of my time there, including many great people I met and the first few months of dating the man that is now my husband.

Last weekend, we had the pleasure of returning to Baylor for Homecoming.  John and I rolled into Waco around 6pm Friday and took a stroll around campus.  We met up with friends for dinner in the sub and spent some time taking in the pre-bonfire festivities.  Before the bonfire was lit, we came across several other friends... we enjoyed getting to see everyone, but ironically, most of the people we found on Friday night live near us in Dallas and we see more frequently than just at Baylor Homecoming.

Saturday morning, we were up bright and early at the Alpha Delta Pi tent along the parade.  Poor John got abandoned with another ADPi husband, and I had a blast catching up with many of my wonderful sisters! 

The ADPi float was the Mad Hatter Tea Party. Each of the 10 schools currently in the Big 12 was represented by a chair.

The Baylor chair was, of course, at the head of the table... and the A&M chair was appropriately placed.

After the parade, we had about 7 hours to kill before the football game, so we took in a few Waco favorites:

• A visit to the Alpha Delta Pi chapter room - I had a great time talking with some alumnae who were ADPi's before I was born and hearing about their experience in the sorority.
• Lunch at Fazoli's - Yes, I know it's fast food, but the Waco Fazoli's is still the closest location to my house even though we now live in Lewisville.  We don't have much of a fast-food Italian option in the Dallas area. :)
• Drive around Cameron Park
• Cameron Park Zoo - We went with some friends and their 7 month old daughter - who fell asleep somewhere between the lions and the reptiles.

The Homecoming game was a nice experience.  I was a student at Baylor for the 2004-2007 football seasons, during which Baylor football resulted in the following:

• 2004: 3-8 record on the year, including a 26-25 Loss to Iowa State for Homecoming
• 2005: 5-6 record on the year, including a 28-0 Loss to Texas Tech for Homecoming
• 2006: 4-8 record on the year, including a 36-35 Win over Kansas for Homecoming
• 2007: 3-9 record on the year, including a 38-7 Loss to Texas Tech for Homecoming 

That brings the overall record while I was in school to 15 wins and 31 losses, no winning seasons, and only 1, very close, Homecoming win.  Anytime I can go to a Baylor game and see a win is a good game in my opinion, but a homecoming win is all the sweeter. (It was a 42-39 Win over Missouri, bringing Baylor to 5-3 so far for 2011)

John modeling the give-away foam helmet at the game.

To all the friends I saw: It was great to see you!
To anyone who was there and I missed: Boo!  We need to coordinate next year!
To Kristen and Nick: Thanks for being our homecoming buddies again!  We had a great time... also, Clare was definitely the cutest little Baylor fan and ADPi legacy! :)