Blogger ate Britney Spears

A letter to Blogger:

Dear Blogger, 

You suck! (Well today at least, you know I love you)

How am I supposed to entice my readers with my funny stories and random anecdotes when you eat them?  I hope my pictures were a nice little bite of dessert to satisfy your appetite.   

I just typed out the cutest little blog, but you ate it. No, devoured it and didn't even save me a copy.  I mean seriously, you save a draft every 15 seconds, yet in the entire 15 minute I spent typing that blog, you didn't manage to save once?  Awesome!

Now, I shall continue.

A letter to Britney:

Dear Britney Jean Spears,

I love you.  Yes you lean a bit towards the white trashy side, but who doesn't have a little trash hidden under they nicely buttoned cardigans and yellow box flip flops.  I know I do.  It seems that you are getting your life back on track and I am really excited about that.  I know you derailed for a while, what with the failed marriage, the second failed marriage, a psych hold, the drugs and alcohol, and the like, but I also know deep down you were still that sweet little mickey mouse club and Justin Timberlake loving girl that we all grew up loving.  Now, you may be the punch line of jokes, but I think secretly everyone pulls for you...I do.  The new boyfriend, recording new music, letting your dad help steer you in the right direction are all signs that the little girl from Louisiana is still in there somewhere.  But Britney dear there is still one area of your life that I am uncertain of and frankly I am quite embarrassed for you...your hair.  (I hang my hair in shame for you).  I already acknowledged the tough times you when through back in 2007 that led you from this:

( "Y'all look at my beautiful hair" )

To this:

( "Look y'all I ain't got a hur on my head" )

It has been over two years since that unfortunate incident and while the rest of your life seems to have recovered, your hair...not so much.  There is no excuse for you to still have locks that look like they got caught in a meat grinder.

One word:  Unacceptable

This look isn't even appropriate for a Halloween costume.  I urge you Brit Brit to work on it.  Call your stylist. No wait, fire your stylist and hire a new one, because if your current one let you leave the house like this (and fairly often I might add) then they are no friend of yours.  Do you even have real hair?  I am beginning to wonder...  Until you get it figured out I will be rooting (pun intended) for you.  You got your life in order, now just you just need to get to salon, until then take those extensions out, let your scalp breath girlfriend.

Love ya,

Chelle L

I became an Ironman today...what did you do?

Okay, not literally me, but my dad did.  Today was the culmination of a years worth of training.  He became an Ironman today.  It has been a crazy, sweaty, long, emotional day, but we are very proud of him.

Go Dad!

I know something of this magnitude deserves more of a blip on the blog, trust me it will...but until then, have a goodnight!

Dawn

So this is what Dawn looks like?  Only kidding, I am all to familiar with what the world looks like before 5 am.  I am headed to Louisville, Kentucky for a long weekend.  This weekend my dad is competing in an Ironman Triathlon on Sunday.  Check back periodically this weekend for updates and pictures.  I am pretty sure I will have internet access, if not, I will be back on Monday!

Have a great weekend all!

What A Girl Wants Wednesday

Its a new feature!  Aren't you excited?  I have been wanting to add a feature to my blog for a while now, but really couldn't think of anything that I wanted to spotlight.  Well, I have decided that today is the perfect day to introduce, What A Girl Wants Wednesdays.

  It will be chance for me to talk about things I need...or want, no definitely need. Sure you are thinking...isn't this just a clever way for you to send hints to your husband and family?  Well, of course not, you should be ashamed for even suggesting it.  I am purely doing this out of my desire to share with the world all of the wonderful things that I dream about having...and if in the meantime some of you want to take cues from this feature on future gift purchases, then I will not deny you that opportunity.  

So without further ado, I introduce you to the

 Dymo LabelWriter 400 Turbo

 

Lenny LabelMaker:  Hello Chelle

Me:  Hello cutie

Lenny LabelMaker:  I will be your best friend

Me:  That sounds delightful Lenny.

I would like a label maker.  I have come to this realization over the last week while I have been organizing and  and packing up stuff for my upcoming move.  I have so many rubber containers that would just look so cute with a little pristine white label.  They would all have uniform font, size, and color.  Wouldn't that look cute. 

 I convinced myself that I could make do with the $21.99 version of a Dymo that Wal-mart carries.  But after standing in the school supply aisle for 15 minute agonizing over the decision, I left home empty handed.  I need one that is more my style, and trust me when I say the LabelWriter 400 Turbo is exactly my style.  Don't be fooled by Lenny's small package, this cutie packs quite the punch.  According to the website Lenny's  "tiny printer fits anywhere on your desk, and makes labels for envelopes, packages, files, name badges and more in seconds from your PC or Mac via USB Connection. Prints over 40 styles and sizes of paper labels. Supports DYMO Stamps, the easy way to print postage from your computer. Included label software integrates easily with most software applications. Up to 55 labels/minute."

You can't tell me that isn't special.  And yes, in case you were wondering I would use it to put a cute label on my KitchenAide Mixer and on my Dyson Vacuum. The label would read, "Chelle's tools for making tastier food and a cleaner house for Matt".

I'll be seeing you Lenny Labelwriter 400 Turbo...

And now you know,

10 months

Yesterday Matt and I "celebrated", and I use the term celebrate loosely, 10 months checked off of our deployment countdown.  I can't believe that it has already been 10 months.  Right now, time seems to be going fast, other times it seemed to move slower than a 90 year old granny driving to the beauty salon.  I can't wait for the next couple of months to pass, so that Matt and I can have another moment like this: 

(A very happy flashback, circa July 2008)

I am very thankful that our 2nd deployment was easier than our first.  I am thankful that we rely on each other and are still sweet to each other even though we aren't next to each other on the couch or in bed with each other every night.  I think we have a mutual respect for what the other is going through, and that understanding is so important.  I think about how happy I am now and then I smile, because I know I will be exponentially happier when he is home with me again.

Now, I just need to get my DeLorean up and running. 

 Get me to November pronto Doc!

Rocker Revamp

 As I am sure you know, because I have told you a thousand times, that my niece Avery's 1st birthday was this weekend.  I am still in love with the gift I got her.  I didn't want to share it on here before I gave it to her, but now that the festivities have passed, all systems are a go. I have been dying to share this revamp with all of you! 

I started out looking for a child sized rocker that could be turned into a rocker that a little girl could be proud of. 

That is how this:

Became this: 

There really wasn't anything wrong with the before picture, but it sure wasn't special.  It was just a run of the mill wooden rocker with a woven seat.  I wanted to transform it to something whimsical, girly, and special for my very special Avery.  I chose pink paint and brown/pink/green paisley print fabric.  I started by sanding down some of the rough spots.  Then I put on a couple layers of paint.  Finally I covered the woven seat with a cotton pad and upholstered it with the fun print fabric.

Hopefully the rocker will bring many years of fun for Avery.  

I think she liked it: 

I want to give a special thanks to Lindsay at Better After.  She features amazing transformations of run down furniture, light fixtures, laundry rooms, and everything else in between.  Every time I visit her blog I am excited about something I see!

What a Saturday!

Busy busy day today.  It was my niece's first birthday, the first Petal football game of the season, and my good friends Kim Napier and Jim Andrew's 50th birthday party tonight to wrap it up.

All three of these "celebrations" had one thing in common, HOT HOT HOT.  I swear, I could have taken 3 showers today and I still wouldn't have been fresh or clean.  It was very special to be there for all of those things.  I learned something at each of these events:

1.  I love my nieces so much, I love being an aunt.  I am really going to miss living close to them when I move back to Georgia.  I always wanted to be the cool aunt and have that friendship with my nieces as they grow older, I hope that even though I might live a few states away that I will always be there for them.

2.  Petal Football is ridiculous, and not in a good way.  The way the town acted today you would have thought that ESPN was coming to film the football game.  I have never seen high school football taken to that level.  It would be one thing if the team were good, but alas they just aren't, they lost tonight 38 to 0.  On the plus side, that means my husband covered the 17 point spread to beat his dad and win 5 bags of corn for hunting (yes it is as redneck as it sounds).  Was the stadium nice?  Of couse.  Was it necessary?  No, it wasn't.

3.  I love stale chips.  All kinds.  After eating some chips that had been sitting out at my niece's party and then some more chips that had been out at the evening birthday party, I just can't deny it anymore, I love them.  Esp, cheetos.  I have even put cheetos in the microwave before for a short time and it just stales them right up.  Thank you humidity for speeding along the process so that I might enjoy my un-crisp, stale chips.

And to wrap up some pictures from the 1st birthday girl's b-day party:

(Avery loved playing in the water)

(Delicious Icing on the birthday cake)

The cake was chocolate, and I don't eat chocolate, but I did taste the icing and it was good.

(Avery on the other hand...)

Juiceheads

Yes, Jersery Shore.  You can't escape it, it is everywhere!  I don't watch religiously, but I do admit when I catch a re-run I tune in.  Nothing liking watching a bunch of twenty somethings "creep" at the club, show off their abs, spill food, gym, tan, and laundry.

And apparently my Jersey Shore nickname is...C Pop.  Wow.

It rained again today practically all day and really put a damper on a project I have been working on.  My friend Pauly D described it perfectly when he said, "Can’t stand this weather, ya can’t get tanned in this weather, ya can’t creep in this weather, you can’t do anything… girls don’t come out in this weather, they stay in the house."  This girl my definitely didn't go out in the weather today.

Don't forget to GTL people!

Netflix, Oh how you tease me...

I have a love to hate relationship with Netflix.  

Right now I am leaning towards hate, which really sucks for me because that means not only am I not happy but they are still getting my money every month like clockwork.  Okay, maybe hate is a strong word to use, because it does provide me with a source of entertainment.

Why does Chelle have a strong dislike for Netflix at this moment...my long queues.  Simple as that.  Everything I have on my queue says, "Long Wait".  I don't want to wait.  Let's see if Netflix can work some of it's DVD magic over the weekend.

I feel like Veruca Salt, the annoying brat from Willy Wonka (the original and best).

She wanted her golden goose egg and I want my Dexter DVD.

I was turned onto the Showtime show Dexter, the world's most moral serial killer, about a year ago.  Thanks to the nice "watch instantly" feature I was able to watch seasons 1, 2, and 3 fairly quickly.  Upon finishing season 3, I immediately checked on season 4 and put it on my queue over 9 months ago in anticipation for it's release date Aug 17, yesterday.  I excitedly woke up to check and see when it would ship to me.  I have been waiting on it for 9 months and now I have a long wait.  What do they call the 9 months I have already been waiting.  Apparently that was just a trial period to make sure I had it in me to wait.

If those queue watchers over at the Netflix headquarters aren't careful, I will not be responsible for what happens to them...

(Thank you Dexter, I will get back with you)

I am pretty close to just breaking down and buying it that way I can watch at my leisure.  I already broke down and bought Gossip Girl because I am sure that i will have a long a$$ wait for that too. Sigh.  I will just stick to getting random movies on my netflix that no one else could possibly interested in watching, like Curly Sue or movies that I am to embarrassed to admit that I want to watch *coughHighSchoolMusicalcough*.  Heck, by the time my DVD's are "available now" I will be able to find them in the 2 for $5 bin at Wal-Mart.  

Cheers and Chili

What redneck thing did you do today?  

I enjoyed a glass of wine with a Ward's Chili Cheese Dog.  

Doesn't get much classier than that people.

A special thanks to Niki S. for hosting!

And for your viewing pleasure a close up of the chili cheese dog in all of it's greasy goodness.

Did you hear that?  Oh, well it was all of my bodies arteries and pipes just clogging right up.

Briner Anyone?

Yes please!


I just love having breakfast for dinner.  It is always a good go-to meal when you don't have anything else to cook, or in our case, when the power goes out.  We had a small thunderstorm come through this afternoon and our power went off.  Usually it comes right back on, but after an hour or so with no power, we decided that we would cook Briner (breakfast for dinner).  Pancakes, eggs, and turkey bacon are all things that we could make on the gas stove so it sounded like a plan to me. Fortunately the power came back on right before the sun started to go down, but my stomach was still telling me it wanted the sweet and savory combo of pancakes and eggs.  

At the last minute, now that we weren't electrically challenged, my mom suggested waffles.  So in honor of my friend Shannon over at Why Not On A Tuesday, we had waffles!  In an effort to be fun and creative I suggested adding food coloring to them, so we did.  Purple in fact.

(purple waffle batter)

I like to think of fun things like this, I hope that one day my future children will appreciate my creativity.  My family is a good sport though, so everyone ate it without questioning me.

It was definitely weird pouring purple batter in to the waffle maker.  It kinda of looked like blueberry batter.  I really like the fact that you could make them virtually any color you wanted.  Pancakes would have also worked the same way.

The Verdict:

The purple kinda looked grey after they were cooked, but you could really see the color when you cut into them.

Yummy in my Tummy.

It would have been fun to cook by candle light, so I will admit was a little disappointed when the power came back on.  My mom had even gotten out her old kerosene lamps.  I love the kerosene lamps.  They are so much more fun than candles.  I can remember these lamps as far back as my memory goes.  They always come out during power outages to keep my family company.  One time when I was little I even dropped on of these lamps on my mom and dad's bed, spilling kerosene all over their mattress, oops.  I was their daughter though so they had to keep me.

Have fun with your food and have a good night!

What would you do for the one you love?

Today is an example of what I would do for love.  I came to McDonald's to use the Wi-Fi so I could talk to Matt.  

Everyone is scared of something

In honor of the only Friday the 13th of the year:

My dog is scared of his dad in a gas mask.

I can't put to much thought into it being a "scary" day or I won't be able to go to bed tonight...ha (no serioulsy).  

I doubt it

I hate...doubt.  You know, that nagging voice  that says you forgot to do something that could have potentially damaging effects on your life.  Did I lock the door?  Did I close the garage?  Did I leave Duece his water?  Did I turn the iron off?  What if I didn't and it falls over and catches the house on fire?  Is my straightener still on (that little booger gets really hot).

Today it was the oven.  I woke up this morning craving monkey-bread.  Actually I started craving it at some point in the middle of the night (inception anyone?) so when I woke up I got to work.  I decided that I had just enough time to make it before work.  Well, maybe not enough because I was late by 15 min, but when you are bringing breakfast to share everyone kind of over looks that.  We were all sitting down to enjoy when that voice said, "Chelle, did you turn off the oven?"  And that was all she wrote folks.

At that point it didn't matter if I distinctly remembered turning it off or not, I had the doubt.  I hate to trek back out to the hizzy and double check if the oven was on.  Waste of time and life.  Please tell me that it has happened to you.

On another note, I had a totally awesome "date" with Matt today, he made me laugh more than I have laughed in a while.  We have something pretty special.  Okay, gag, I know...how sweet!  Get over it, I can gush every now and then.

Guess Who

Don't you just love that classic childhood game? 

Guess who.  

Does your guy wear a cap?  Does your guy have funny eyebrows?  Does your person wear glasses?

All are normal questions when playing this game with the ultimate goal of guessing your opponent's character. You know you got mad when you drew one of the peeps with red hair, cause there were only like 5, so all your opponent had to do was say, "Does your person have red hair?"  And BAM, they got to flip down all of the other cards.  It was always such a buzzkill.

I figured that we could play our own little game of Guess Who today!

Who is this?

Take a guess and leave a comment!

This should be easy. :)

Okay, Game Over...y'all weren't too excited to play. 

The cutie is... Matt Langford!!!

How about a cute kid for good measure?

I knew you all would be in agreement!
This is my cute niece Avery and she is coming up on her 1st birthday!

I can't wait for Matt to get home so he can see how much she has changed!

You don't have to go home but you can't stay here...

Well I will go home, thank you very much! As a part of my trip this past weekend I told y'all that I had accomplished my two missions, one of those being finding a house.  Well I did it.

The Langford's will now be able to call this charming little house home in the next few weeks.  

(The Langford Casa)

The rental market in Hinesville definitely leaves a lot to be desired, but I was able to snag this little cutie.

There are several things that I don't like about it, but hey, it is a rental, and you aren't going to find everything you like.  So as an exercise to remind myself how lucky I was that I was able to rent this house I will share 10 reasons why I like our new home:

1.  We are very close to post.  No more long commute for Matt back and forth in the mornings and evenings.

2.  Came with a washer and dryer, so we will not have to purchase another dryer to replace the one we sold.

3.  The carpets were clean

4.  The kitchen has been outfitted with new stainless appliances.

5.  I will be right around the corner from my friend Cari, and really really close to some of my other friends.

6.  Wood burning fireplace which means during the cooler months of GA's winter (all two of them) we can cozy up to a fire.

7.  They love pets and Duece was even included on the lease, ha!

8.  It has a front porch.

9.  The house has great water pressure.  Nothing worse than trying to wash your hair or flush a toilet with water pressure equivalent to a squirt gun.

10.  The fenced in backyard with a deck, my favorite feature.  I am so glad that Duece is gonna have a back yard to run around in.

(Duece's playground)

I am extending an open invite to all of our friends who want to come and help me move in in a few weeks, or even those of you that just want to come and see us!  

I am not lost

I am not lost, although for a little while yesterday I sure thought I was!  Interstates were made for a reason, because they are the quicker route and usually there are no detours.  So when you and your travel partner decide it would be a good idea to ignore the GPS and take road less traveled, don't be surprised when you end up adding almost 2 hours to your travel time, oy!  However, I made it back from Georgia with my two missions accomplished.

1.  I found a rent house!  (more on that in another blog)
2.  I got my fresh Georgia grown peaches that I wanted.

Today I explored one of the most domestic tasks a woman can tackle...canning fruit.  I made peach preserves!  That was my intention with the peaches the entire time but I was nervous about how they would work out because the recipe was seemingly too simple and I had never canned anything before.  But I doubted it for no reason.  It took me about two hours, but now I have eight beautiful jars of peachy goodness ready to share with everyone (or hog all for myself, I haven't decided).

They were the perfect ripeness for making preserves.

12 chopped peaches leave a very fresh aroma in the kitchen

After boiling them down, adding sugar, and the magic canning powder I put the peaches in their own cute quilted jar.

Boiling the jars left me feeling a little apprehensive.

But about 45 min later as the jars cooled, I could hear them popping to let me know that their peachy goodness was sealed in.

I don't know where my sudden obsession with peaches came from, I guess it stemmed from me wanting to can something coinciding with my trip to Georgia.  I am thinking about using some of the preserve that wouldn't fit into all my jars and spooning it over some vanilla ice cream tonight!

I am in a peachy mood

Another weekend away from Mississippi, headed to the peach state, so I need my beauty sleep, um I mean rest to drive in the morning.  I am pretty excited about my trip to Hinesville, GA this weekend. The mission is to find a rent house for Matt and I for when he comes home in a couple of months, and for me to move into in Sept.  All of these things mean that we are getting very very close to one of the most fabulous events in a army wife's life....Homecoming!!  Okay, slow your roll Chelle, you aren't quite there yet...

So I am leaving on a 5:30 am train to Georgia with my baby brother in tow.  He was gracious enough to let me drag him along for moral support, fun games on the road (maybe if I can talk him into it), and shared driving time (that is the best part).

I always want to bring back some fresh picked Georgia peaches, and this time I am going to make myself do it!  There is just something so special about stopping and buying them off the back of a farmer's truck.  That means next week I should have some peachy delicious recipe to share with you all!

I can't wait to be a Georgia peach again!

Fail Day

This blog is dedicated to Shannon Sumrall at Why Not on A Tuesday who is frustrated with me because I haven't blogged in a few days.

Today was my day full of Fail.

My day went something like this...

5 am Fail:

Thursdays are my day off and therefore the day that I get to sleep in, esp now that my summer classes are over, I have nothing to be up for.  Well we have a trainer visiting from Louisville, KY to run the workouts in a program I participate it.  I go on MWF, so I figured that tomorrow morning I would get an opportunity to meet the trainer.  My dad apparently wanted me to go today, and proved that by calling me at 5 am to see if I was going.  "NO", I told him then  rolled back over to go to sleep.  Then after about 3 min, just long enough to back to sleep...he called again.  At that point I was up so I went to work out.  

6:15 Fail:

Workout + New Trainer + Weak Muscles = A very pale Chelle with even weaker muscles.  It is not even 9:15 and I can barely move, and I am expected to be there again in the morning...um, we will see about that.

8:30 Fail:

I had an eye exam today

Turns out that I will need glasses, and I am a likely candidate for cataracts in the future.  Doesn't that sound like fun.  Dr. Ted told me that I should pick up some reading glass and get used to using them when I will be reading or sitting in front of the computer for any long length of time.  But that it will probably be 5 to 6 years before I will really really need them.  Still...now I can't stop worrying about the cataracts.

9:00 Fail

I needed an oil change, I was actually only 1 mile over my 3000 miles when I pulled up.  Since my eye appointment was at Walmart, I decided I would just have my oil changed while I was having my appt.  Well, I got my car back, try to drive off in the parking lot and my car starts stuttering (only way to describe it) and burning smoke.  WHAT?!?!  This can't be happening, I turned around and drove it back to the service center.  Thank goodness the little dimwits at Walmart had just put to much oil in and my car was trying to burn it off, that is what was causing the weird driving and smoke.  So I got my second oil change in 45 min.  I should have some really really clean oil now.  I also got a $25 gift card for my troubles.

Oh hey, are you laughing or feeling sorry for me yet?  Don't there is more to come...

11:00 Fail

I need a new military id card.  Mine expired back in June. About 3 weeks ago I tried to go down to Camp Shelby, a local national guard base, and have a new one made.  I got there but didn't bring the proper paperwork with me.  Sometimes they have the weirdest requirments.  So I went back today with the right paperwork...so I thought.  Nope, Chelle failed and picked up the wrong piece of paper and drove the 30 min down there for nothing!  I was determined to get that card, so I drove back to the house, layed down on the couch for 20 min and rested my poor poor muscles, got the right POA, and drove back.  I was called into the little office, and I was sure she was going to tell me that in addition to my POA, my driver's license, that I was going to need the hair of black cat .  Thankfully I was successful and I left with a new ID that has a much better picture.  

I had a short reprieve from failing because I decided to take a nap, and since I was sleeping nothing really could have gone wrong.

5:30 Fail

I went to Matt's mom and dad's for supper tonight.  It was his sister's 30th birthday and we grilled out.  I decided to take Matt's new truck and show it to his family.  However when I pulled it out of the drive way I noticed that a flock of birds had diarrhea all over the side of it.  I thought I would be nice and take it through the car wash to clean it up.  Please refrain from laughing at me, but during the middle of the wash I got worried that the driver side mirror was going to get hit, so I quickly rolled the window down to turn it in.  Alas...as I am sure you figured, I wasn't quick enough.  I was coated in nasty greasy carwash soap.  The entire left side of my face and body.  

No Matt, by the grace of God it didn't get on the interior of your truck, just me...all over me.  My body shielded your truck, I took one for the team.  

I am all failed out for the day.

Things that make me laugh

It is Tuesday night and I don't have anything witty to say, so I thought I would share something funny.

This picture just cracks me up,

Have a great night y'all!

Priority Mail / Handle with Care

Two for one Monday, tonight we are going to close don't the night with a guest blog from none other than Duece Langford himself!

We have a package going direct to Iraq, shipped priority!

This isn't any ordinary package...

Is that Duece? I am headed to see my dad...

On my way dad...

Can't wait to play with you in your CHU!

Get your hugs and loves in while you can cause I am pretty sure that mom is gonna miss me.

You can send me back in the same box I came in.

P.S.  Yes some of you may consider this a form of dog torture, but to me this is just another ordinary day doing crazy things with mom.  Want to know for sure, here is some proof.

I am already curled up next to her again.  

We love and miss you dad!

Chuck Liddell is that you?

Here is a funny story...

Yesterday on our adventure home from Louisville/Nashville, we stopped for lunch.  After passing the exit and missing the Krystal's (Dad and I were dying for a sackful), we decided to stop at Ruby Tuesday's.  I am really not a fan of anything on their menu, but there salad bar CAN NOT be beat.  It is always fresh, and has so many options for salad lovers like me.

After enjoying a sweet little lunch to satisfy us on the road home, we get ready to leave the restaurant.  To my dad's surprise he opened the glass door and his jaw dropped, eyes lit up, and head spun around.  There, in the Ruby Tuesday's parking lot in Cullman, Alabama was none other than....
Chuck Liddell!!!  The Iceman himself...

PSYCH!!!

It was a complete fake out.  Almost as soon as the thought passed through my dad's head, it left it, he realized that he had been faked out by a Chuck Liddell look alike.  It was a slight disappointment, but seriously what were the chances of actually running into the Iceman in a Ruby Tuesday's parking lot in Cullman, AL.  Slim to none.  So, what does my dad do?  He tells the guy... "Hey man, when I really thought you were Chuck Liddell."  The guy wasn't impressed, I don't even think he knew who we were talking about.

Oh, well the excitement was worth it.  And now we can say that we had an almost had a run in with a celebrity, almost.