Wooooot Woooot!

Does anyone know what these are??? They are numbers... why am I posting them? Because I finished that book of the Bible today... woo hoo!

That is all... because I have to be at work by 5am, so I better sleep.

Also, I need a serious attitude adjustment - I need to be a happier more grateful person and I would like for God to just "magically" make this happen and not through any sort of loss or pain, so if you could pray for that and be specific, that would be great! haha =)  

Dance Party

My friend Mary and I are two of the only people I know who have "Dance Party" (well I think one of you does, but you only do it in stand up tanning booths???). Any time I'm really low, or really happy, I like to bust a move... I'm serious and I have a point, so hang with me. I've ALWAYS done this in the privacy of my own home. Usually at the end of a stressful day or when I am really happy (I danced every day for 4 straight days after my first date with GI Joe)-- I just turn up the radio or put in a CD and dance!!! DANCE!!! DaNcE!!! My taste in dance party sound tracks is eclectic - especially since no one can see me so it doesn't matter. Well, I told Mary about this a long long long time ago and she was all about takin' it to the streets... whoa tiger, was my response... but alas, many months ago I caved and went to a dance club. I wouldn't say I've been a public dancer since, but I would say that I've been exposed to more varied music if you will. Why am I telling you this??? So you'll understand why I would know any lyrics to a song we're about to talk about... 

... so picture it, Mary and I are out - she's dancing, I'm watching her back (if you don't believe me ask her- this is how it goes 99% of the time)... anyway, a "new" song had just come out which blew up on the club scene... I promise you it is called Stanky Legg. Whatever you do, DO NOT Google this song. Don't listen to it, don't read the lyrics, it makes me feel dirty to know I ever heard it. Anyway... Mary and I exchange equally confused glances and then we hear this set of lyrics:

Now you can lean wit it,
now you can drop wit it.
You can switch to the other leg and you can stop wit it.
Now get it, get it (4x)
Now hit the booty do, hit the booty do (2x)
Now you can get wit it, you can get wit it. (2x)

Now, I don't honestly know what any of it means, but when I heard the phrase "booty do" I laughed so hard I cried. I literally wept right there in public because this was so ridiculous! Ever since then Mary and I joke about this.

Now, pan ahead to today... Mary and I both have BlackBerries, so we have a sort of Instant Messenger feature on them allowing us to communicate in real time. We mostly just abuse this to share meaningless garbage with each other, but today, today I was in fine form. Here is the log from that conversation, Enjoy!! (and yes I did laugh at my own joke - I know I'm pathetic)

Mary!: OMG. I just saw a woman eating a chicken wing finish it and then throw it down in the parking lot!

Haley: She was just walking around eating a chicken wing???

Mary!: Yes.

Mary!: Well, leaving the store.

Haley: That is far more horrifying to me than her throwing it down

Mary!: All bad and horrifying

Haley: She's probably the one person in the world who actually knows what the expression "do the booty do" means. Maybe you should try to interview her.

I told you I was in fine form today! 

Rain, Numbers, and Fruits

It rained today. A lot. But only for a little while. I decided to sit on my "porch" (I say porch like it is allegedly a porch because it is really just a 4 foot wide chunk of concrete in front of my apartment) and read some Numbers. I'm half-way through it... woot! I took this picture of the rain during a Coca-Cola break. Does a day really get better than God and Coke? I think not. As someone who loves baths and showers I often wonder if the Earth feels the same renewal that we do when we are washed clean... it's a nice thought anyway. 

One of my good friends keeps a Haley quote list (I'm dead serious)... anyway, after telling her I was giving up men, this conversation happened, and I thought you might enjoy:

M: H, you act like you're addicted to crack

H: At least I would have known crack was bad for me, men, toxic men that is, don't come with warning labels you know! 

M: That's going in your quote list

H: It should go in everyone's quote list! 

I'm just a giant ball of sunshine aren't I??? Haha! 

Oh I made a happy discovery today!!! You know I love Beth Moore, and you know God uses her to speak to so many of us... I was at a Lifeway store today and I saw this:

It's like she's inside my head!!! It is an entire study based on Galations 5:22-23... which I assume you all know is SO close to my heart!!! I didn't buy it, but I will soon. I'm almost done with 90 Days with the One and Only. Anyway, I was VERY excited. Each fruit has it's own week in this study and since I usually devote a month to each, I'll probably just do the study the first week of each month, sounds good right? Yay! =) 

Halicious, Party of One

After many suggestions to make my own blog background from my photos, etc. I did it! I used my new favorite photo and some of my favorite quotes. I hope it shows up correctly on your monitors! I added this photo because I like it and I hope you will too. 

Now on to today's topic (oh, and one of my friends calls me Halicious- that's where that came from): 

I'm a firm believer in the fact that if we all spent as much time becoming the right person as we do looking for the right person, the world would be a better place. I would probably have been Mother Theresa years ago, actually. Anyway, it's time for me to put my money where my mouth is (there is actually an emoticon for this saying =$, weird right? also weird is that it sometimes translates to the "embarrassed" face, like on BlackBerries) ... I mentioned to a friend that I was swearing off men (dating, talking to (obviously this doesn't include family and co-workers), flirting with, or thinking about) for a period of time. I feel like I've dated a lot lately... I really haven't by most peoples' standards, but I am worn slap out from it! Plus, it hasn't gone that well... and it appears that I haven't really liked at least one of them (uh, never a good sign)... so, it is time for some reprioritization and a chance to gain perspective. What is an appropriate amount of time to take a dating sabbatical?? Originally, I decided something between 30-90 days... because let's be honest, it is pretty hard to not even think about the opposite sex for very long, so 30-90 days seems fair. 

Well guess what? Life isn't about fair now is it... so let's step up the game. Make the stakes a little higher shall we??? You regular followers know that I'm reading through the Bible from cover to cover in that order (it will sadly be the first time I've read through in that order). So, that's my goal - not 30 days, not 60 days, not 90 days, because it isn't about time, it's about fulfillment. So, I'm not dating or thinking about dating, or talking about dating, or thinking about talking about dating until I've read the Good Book cover to cover. If you'll look at my previous posts I just finished Leviticus (book 3... of 56) and I've been reading an average of a book per month... in other words... I either commit, or I'll start dating again in November of 2013... I'll be 30.5 years old then. If I devote the time I spend thinking about or talking to men to becoming a better person, I think this will work out. I'll let you know how it goes... 

For your enjoyment, and because when I can laugh at myself I'm all about sharing it, you should know Amy Winehouse was piping out these words as I typed this blog entry...

"They tried to make me go to rehab... and I said no, no, no... " 

I. LOVE. Irony. 

Leviticus

This is really my Bible (in case you were wondering). Perhaps a better title for this post would have been something like, "Wheeeww, thank you Lord, I am free at last!" I know some things don't seem ok to say, but I am firm believer in the fact that the Lord knows my heart and can sometimes use my shortcomings to help others. 

Most of what I learned happens to coincide with this month's fruit... for those who don't know, I am an avid lover of Galations 5:22-23:

"but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

a long time ago I decided to pick a "fruit of the month" and really pray about it for an entire month. It should be noted, rather humorously I might add, the last one I prayed about was patience-- I'm still waiting. This month's fruit was self-control, or self-discipline. The good Lord tested my self-discipline this month by making sure I committed to the commitment of finishing this book. I will say that Old Testament customs are quite different, but it gives a great basis to understand what will happen next. 

After all, who can really understand where they're going without fully understanding where they've been??? Plus, those who don't understand history are doomed to repeat it. 

Vacation ????

Where do I start friends... I should be in Miami... I should be, but I'm not. I flew out of San Antonio to see a certain someone, and that's where the trouble began. My flight from SA was late, so I missed my connection in New Orleans and would miss the connection in Atlanta as well. No problem, United assured me... so I flew to New Orleans... where I got trapped for some 36 hours before someone was kind enough to tell me that this was a sinking ship. So I decide to head back home. As I am at the ticket counter my cell phone tweets indicating a text message. Knowing me as most of you do, and consequently knowing that while I am very blessed I am the least lucky human being ever, just what do you think this text message said??? 

"I know you're on vacation and I hate to do this, but I don't think we should see each other any more." 

Hahaha! I just laughed and said, "you know what, you are absolutely right". Needless to say there was much responding about my greatness and how it was a distance issue and nothing more, etc. etc. But it really made me laugh. So, I flew back, jumped in my car and was Waco bound (some vacation right?) but decided to stop along the way and just take some pictures and enjoy the time off. 

Before I let you enjoy the pictures you have to know something that happened later... a friend who felt particularly sympathetic decides to take me to our favorite place so I can wallow in self pity for about 5 minutes, and then get on with my life... we walk through the door and who stands just feet in front of me? My own personal G.I. Joe... you guess it ladies and gents, Mr. Brown himself! Who could make that up? I smiled and kept walking, but eventually we sat and talked for a bit. In case you want to know how it went, read on, if not enjoy the great picture I snapped below!

::after a lot of talking::

Me: So then I got a text message that said ___ 

Brown: He said that on a text message? Like a text... message... ? 

Me: Are YOU really judging???

Brown: Point taken. 

Me: What the heck is wrong with all of you?!?! 

Brown: There's only one of you Wester, there are a million of us.

Me: What the freak does that mean? There's one you. There's one me. That's what it means to be an individual.

Brown: No, see that's what YOU don't understand about this. It's not that you're funny, really funny actually, or smart, or outgoing, or that you love to make people happy, or that you're beautiful... it's that you are all of those things and they're not even the best things about you... like how you love the Lord more than anyone or anything, or how you did the hardest thing at the worst time (I'll assume he's talking about offering someone a ride home there- good grief), or that you would do anything for anyone - even a stranger, or that you would stand here and talk to me of all people, it's that you do all of those things all of the time. He wasn't special, I'm not special, we (pointing around the room) are all the same, but you're different, and why someone like you would be interested in one of us, is something we can't understand.

Now ladies, I'm talking to you here, what do you think should be my reaction to this??? Wait for it... wait for my eloquent reply...

Me: I hate you. 

Brown: (utter disbelief) What?!

Me: I. Hate. You. 

Brown: You're serious, aren't you.

Me: You know what? Maybe I am. How dare you! How dare you look at me like that... and, and how dare you say that to me... and how dare you NOT get that if I'm so great - which I am! - then I wouldn't have wasted my time with you if you weren't! Good grief, where are the Band of Brothers, men!!! 

Yes, that actually happened, but this is where it gets funny...

Brown: Band of Brothers, Wester? 

Me: OH YOU HEARD ME! 

and then we both just look at each other and cracked up laughing... and laughed... and laughed. It is the most I've laughed in the longest time! Then I decided to leave... 

Brown: H, if anyone deserved a vacation it was you. You deserve for good things to happen to you. I don't understand why they aren't right now, but you deserve it more than anyone. 

Me: Thanks. It's really okay now... now that it is funny! I mean really... this will make a top notch chapter in my memoir one day. Hey, you know I forgive you right? 

Brown: Yeah I know.

Me: Good- I forgot that we were good friends. I don't hate you by the way.

Brown: I knew you already felt bad about that. You could hate me if you wanted. 

Me: Nah. Good-bye

So now that that is over, let's get optimistic shall we??? I took this lovely picture on my way back to Waco. Don't you just love it? You can feel the sunshine, and the heat, and most importantly... the promise of a new day! A better day!!! (Today is a better day, FYI)

Domestic Diva...

I love to cook... and to clean... and to garden... and to farm (no seriously)... and to spend time in the Word... and to enjoy the people I care about... well today, had to be one of the best days ever! Of course, part of that is because after tomorrow I am on vacation until next Tuesday (I've never actually really taken a vacation without having to work while I was there - isn't that odd???). 

The following two posts are about what I cooked and why ;) but I wanted to give a shout out to Natalie and Rebecca and tell you both that I picked this apron (and wore it while cooking tonight):

I LOVE it - don't you? I also replaced the knobs on my night stands from plain ones to these:

I'm packed (shorts- which I didn't own until this weekend, swimsuits, books, sunscreen, and a "don't hit on me" stare), my toes are painted - probably the most critical task to accomplish before embarking on ANY beach vacation:

and I am ready to go!!! 

I am about to spend some time in the Word (yay!) and then hit the hay. I got to talk to some of my FAVORITE people today: Natalie, Emily, Brad, Cort, Clay, my new friend who wrote me a sweet email and talked to me after work for a long time today (she and I have had a long road to friendship, but I'm so glad it has finally happened!), and of course CC (I need a more inventive nickname for him - I'll work on that... I'm disappointed in my lack of creativity now). I had dinner with Mary at my favorite place (before I did all the insane cooking). 

For those of you who have never seen Band of Brothers - you are really missing something. I've always loved that series, but because Mary watched it recently and we talked about it a lot I decided to watch it again. I finished the last one last night - INCREDIBLE! There is a quote that really means a lot to me, I'll share it and say goodnight everyone!! 

"That night, I took time to thank God for seeing me through that Day of Days . . . and prayed that I would make it through D plus one.  And if somehow, I managed to get home again, I promised God and myself, that I would find a quiet piece of land someplace and spend the rest of my life in peace."  

–Major Richard Winters

I promise you, that in no uncertain terms, if I heard a man say that I would marry him, no questions asked - haha! After all, it would fulfill the requirements: loves the Lord, works hard, intelligent, likes the country, and has an attitude of gratitude! 

Crawfish Etouffee

It is hard to believe, but there are people alive who have never eaten crawfish. I won't name names, but I can't imagine how CC has made it -- number of years on this planet (it is really more for my benefit than his that I blocked the age - haha! Also, it should be noted that I was originally going to put XX as the year filler but realized that is the roman numeral for 20 and didn't want ANYONE to think that was the case, funny nevertheless), lived in the South, and never eaten a crawfish. So, since I'm visiting this person tomorrow (before heading to Miami with Emily) I decided to make crawfish etouffee. Here's what I started with (*Please note this is ALL of the counter space in my kitchen - I promise I am not exaggerating or being dramatic. I'll post a picture of my kitchen sometime and you'll understand why it's amazing that I can turn, let alone cook in there):

I melted 1/2 stick of butter in my pot then chopped up bell peppers (1/4 c. of red and 1/4c. of green), 1/2 c of onions, and 1/4 c. of celery and added them in:

Then, add 1/2 c. of tomatoes (without any juice), 2 bay leaves, and 3 cloves of garlic:

Cook on medium-high for about 7 minutes (until the vegetables are tender), stirring constantly so nothing burns or sticks:

Slowly mix in 3/4 c. of white flour to make a roux. It should have a "sticky" consistency: 

Add 1 lb. of crawfish tails (with fat and juice - healthy right?) and 2 Tablespoons of tomato paste:

Slowly add 3-4 c. of stock (chicken is ok, but seafood is preferred) until the consistency is that of a thick sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and stir occasionally for about 25-30 minutes, adding stock as necessary to keep the thickness:

Finally, add 1/4 c. parsley and 1/4 c. green onions:

Stir it all together:

While your etouffee is cooking you should make some plain white rice. When that is done, scoop the rice into a bowl and serve the etouffee on top:

...and it tastes even better than it looks! 

Natalie's Famous Brownie-Cookie-Extravaganza

This is the dessert portion of my cooking extravaganza. I got this recipe from Natalie. I have to say- I have the smallest, almost non-existent, sweet tooth you will ever find, but this- this is a good recipe. I ate one bite and divided the rest up... most of it goes to the office, but a few brownies go to San Antonio ;) where they belong. 

First, start with brownie mix, chocolate chip cookie dough, and chocolate icing - and possible a paramedic in case you slip into a sugar coma.
This entire dessert costs about $4 to make. Natalie made her own cookie dough, but I cheated because I was also going to be making the crawfish etouffee and felt I deserved it. 

Mix the brownies according to the box, spread in a pan and add cookie dough (I used a clear pan so you could see the magic happen!) 

Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees (while you're making dinner) and voila:

Finally, ice the brownie/cookies and enjoy:

Louisiana Weekend

I posted new pictures from my weekend trip to Louisiana, you can find them here. It was a great time - I helped Dad put new shocks on the truck. I know this doesn't sound like a particularly fun thing to do, buuuutttt I love hard work and it was great to spend some quality time with dear ole Dad. For those of you who don't know - my Dad is very witty, and consequently hilarious at times. Let me share an example of this... 

Haley (at the same time Dad says the next statement): "The rubber gasket is squished"

Dad (at the same time I said the previous statement): "The rubber gasket is compressed" 

::Dad snickers::

::Haley looks clueless::

Dad: "Suddenly it's hard to tell who here has had the benefit of 7 years of higher education, isn't it?" 

Now that's funny!!! We laughed about it all weekend. I mays nots speaks soo goods, but I can take pictures, so get to looking!!! 

Never Lost in Translation

God has bestowed many blessings on this little body, and I am VERY grateful for them. Even the ones I had to learn the hard way. His ways are bigger and better than mine, so I don't think I should ever was "why" but rather "how" as in how do You want me to use this lesson??? 

The point of today is that one of the blessings the good Lord bestowed on me was a brain. A pretty good one too I might add. I feel more blessed by this than almost anything else He's given me (except the people in my life of course). A long long long time ago I heard a story about Albert Einstein that has always stuck with me. Basically, Einstein so much wanted to share knowledge (not just his own, but all knowledge, which I think is SO important and says a great deal about the man) with others that he always made sure everyone understood concepts. For instance, in this particularly story it sited a time that Einstein was present for a lecture and the speakers was discussing material beyond the intellectual grasp of everyone in the room, except Einstein. Seeing the looks of confusion on the faces around him Einstein began asking leading questions in simple ways to draw out the ideas from the lecturer to the audience in a way everyone could understand. Genius!!! To me, this is what made him a genius, not relativity theory - synthesis of information and dispersion of knowledge in A MEANINGFUL AND SIMPLE WAY. 

Don't let that bold statement pass you by... why on Earth would God have ever chosen to bless some people with the ability to understand or solve complex things without also intending for this information to be shared. Think wayyyy back to the book of Acts... would God have given someone the gift of tongues without also giving someone the gift of interpretation??? No! Because it would be pointless... and God is the God of many things, but never pointless things. If something is pointless and you're involved you better step back and ask why, because Satan is the master of distraction. 

All of this is to say... I have an unnatural ability to take complex and make it simple. ((I really enjoy doing this when I get to teach Econ classes! I LOVE the look of recognition when someone understands something they've been struggling with - when it all just falls into place!!!)) I may not be the developer of the complex idea, but I can darn sure restate it in a simple and concise manner (I'm focusing on this because it seems to be what I do at work all day, which is mostly amazing, but I'm annoyed when people hoard information) By the way, I wasn't born with this gift, or maybe I was and God chose to bring it out in a weird way... I am HORRIBLE at all things verbal. I'm a bad writer (funny side note - I misspelled that the first time I typed it!), I'm a bad speller, I have a limited vocabulary, and you could teach me a new "fun" word and I would forget it in a matter of minutes. It is NOT NOT NOT my gift. I've always been really self-conscious about this (and vow to never marry a word person) so imagine the delight and wonder when I figured out that all big words are always defined by smaller words!!! It really set the stage for a life long pursuit of explaining big things in little ways! 

ALSO, I think this is why Jesus had 12 apostles. I don't think He had a particular affinity for the number 12, although he seems to like 7 and 3.... I really and truly believe if anyone knows how complex and diverse we are, it's the Creator!!! I firmly believe that He wanted everyone to understand His life and His ways... so he had 12 different people with 12 differing views and backgrounds come together for one purpose. There is something for everyone... there could have been one gospel, but there are 4... there didn't even have to be 12 disciples, there could have just been Jesus, believe me He is enough... He breaks things down in a way so that we can all understand... so that we may all know! He is truly good to us.

Oh, and while you're thinking about the 12... which one do you identify with??? I think I'm a lot like my boy Matthew (not particularly proud of that)... and the gospels, got a "favorite"? I like the beginning of John (everyone says that) but I'm a Luke girl mostly.