Category Archives: Uncategorized

Mar17

Wine tour, anyone? Yes, please!!

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Jacob bought me a wine tour package for my birthday this year. We had the opportunity to pick any tour so we decided on one celebrating St. Patty’s Day. The tour was yesterday, March 16th, and we were all supposed to wear green to celebrate. Other than knowing brunch was included and we would visit three wineries, I had no idea what to expect.

This Sunday fell at the end of a long week of celebrating SXSW so when it was time to head to the tour, I thought it would be best to pick up some Dramamine to help with any nausea that may occur from drinking and driving around the hill country. Dramamine can make me very loopy and tired so after eating I decided to only take one pill instead of the recommended two. We quickly met new friends at the brunch and on the bus but, I wasn’t myself. The Dramamine was kicking my butt and I just wanted to fall asleep.

Jacob and I shared a bottle of wine on the way to our first winery. We then tasted five different samples with our new friends and I was becoming very silly and giggly. I felt like I had been drinking for hours. We got back on the bus to head to the second winery and I closed my eyes. Jacob told me to rest up because we still had a couple of hours left. About 20 minutes later, we arrived at the second winery.

As we’re pulling up the drive, our tour guide reminds us that this winery is “celebrating their 2nd anniversary and oh look, they have roosters!” Then, as if it had been scripted for me, I yell, “I LOVE COCKS!” just as everyone was quietly listening to the tour guide. No one said a word.

I looked at Jacob for fear of being in trouble and he smiled, gave me a high five, and said “She’s awake!” The tour guide and rest of the people on the bus just start laughing. From there, the jokes just keep coming.

We had an absolute great time on the tour. If you’re ever in Austin or want to do a wine or brewery tour, you should visit http://www.texaswinos.com. Richard was a great guide. He loved to entertain us and make sure we had a great time. And! He didn’t even yell at me when I broke my souvenir wine glass on the bus 15 minutes before the tour was over!!

Our new friends!

texas winos

Feeling the love…and the wine.

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Photo Bomb!

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Dec21

Turn on your lights!

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Over the last 4 months or so, I’ve seen several cars at night driving without their lights on!! Some of them had daytime running lights so there was a little bit of help but then there’s no tail lights. Others simply didn’t have any lights on at all. I think the new technology of xenon headlights spanning over a large area of space make these other people believe their headlights are on. Here’s what bothers me. I’ve tried to “alert” these people by flashing my own headlights or tapping on my brakes. Nothing. When people flash lights at me I at least look at my dash. What am I missing? Is there a system that I’m not aware of? Do they teach these things in driving school or driver’s ed? Why can’t three flashes or three taps of the brakes get people to think about this?

Nov30

Christmas decorating ideas

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Home Depot is offering a quick guide to make a monogram garland wreath. I couldn’t help but laugh and then I couldn’t stop laughing. My last name begins with O…traditional wreaths are circles!!  I really, really want to walk into Home Depot and ask for their advice on how to make a wreath with my initial. In the future I’m just going to say my wreaths aren’t wreaths, they’re really our family initial.

wreath

 

 

 

 

 

 

To make your own monogramed wreath, click here. Read the rest of this entry →

Jun10

Thalassotherapy

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So I’m watching this documentary on HDNet about the Baltic Coast (it comes on every Sunday morning and I’m a complete nerd for it). Anyways, they started talking about a spa treatment popular in Europe called Thalassotherapy. It uses red, green, and brown algae and they put a coating all over your body and then wrap you up in a heat blanket for 20 minutes.  The seawater mixed with the algae is supposed to flush out all the toxins and pollutants in your body and reduce cellulite and tiredness in your body.  The woman they interviewed about it believes in the healing of the sea and became a Thalassotherapist once she experienced the treatment herself.

I can’t freaking find this treatment anywhere except for Lake Austin Spa and that’s almost $200!!  So I’m on a mission. Maybe Lake Austin Spa wouldn’t be so bad because it is in town and if I head out of town then I will still pay the same amount to travel.

Here is some more information about Thalassotherapy if you’re interested:

http://www.traveltowellness.com/thalassotherapy

http://www.epigee.org/thalassotherapy.html

http://www.wellness.com/reference/health-and-wellness/thalassotherapy

http://www.seaweedbathco.com/thalassotherapy-and-balneotherapy

Jan26

More ways to save!

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I have mentioned in some of my recent entries that I love reading a blog called Daily Worth.  It a special blog designed for women who want to save for the future, whether it’s for their kids or for a trip to Italy.  I can’t remember how I stumbled upon it but you can sign up to receive blog posts, which come once or twice a day.

Daily Worth was also one of the places I had heard about www.mint.com.  More recently, they announced a $1,000 sweepstakes for those using mint.com to set goals and budgets.  All you have to do is to set a goal to save $1,000 using Mint’s goal features and send a print screen of the goal to dailyworth.  You’ll immediately get entries into the drawing.  Then, if you actually save $1,000 you could be one of three winners who will win $1,000.  You double your savings!!

To sign up for the Daily Worth, go to www.dailyworth.com.  To read more about the sweepstakes, go to here.

Jan22

Dollar bills, y’all!!

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We all want more money and sometimes the best way to get more of it is by changing our spending habits and paying off debt so we have more cash.  I wanted to share a couple of financial websites that are easy to use and will help you with any financial goals whether it’s paying off credit card debt, saving for a trip, or just budgeting better each month.  Both sites are free to use.

The first one is www.mint.com.  Mint.com has been promoted by TurboTax and another blog I read called Daily Worth.  When you sign up it will ask you some basic questions and then you provide all of your financial information.  You have to have  online access to your financial institutions in order for this to work.  It will also pull any savings including your 401k and if you own your home it will put a value on it, too.  It will pull every single transaction made on your checking account and credit cards and then itemize it.  You have the opportunity to change the itemized category the way you want and then it will put them in pie graphs or bar charts, whatever you want.  There is an opportunity to have your credit report run but I did not do that because you have to pay for both the experian and transunion reports each month.  The site will also give you credit card offers that may have a lower APR% or offer rewards.  One last piece is you can set your own budgets and goals for the month, year, or whatever you want.  Check it out!

The other website is www.creditsesame.com.  I signed up for Credit Sesame about two months ago and it does the same thing as mint.com but not as well.  It shows you ways on saving money on mortgages and credit cards and you can do some budgeting.  What I love about this site is it monitors my credit score for free and sends me notice once a month so I can see if there have been any changes.  My score went down one point this month thanks to the Christmas shopping so I paid off the debt quicker than I probably would have in hopes it will go back up next month.

If you decide to use these sites, or already are, comment back on your two-cents when using these websites.

Jan18

What? A new year?!

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Oh man!  My last post was before the Thanksgiving holiday.  How time flies when you’re working overtime, finishing projects for school, shopping for the holidays, and taking care of your broken husband.  I can’t even believe we’re more than half way through January already.  So, HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my followers.

This year I will be talking about weddings (and all that comes with that), scuba diving (a current fear of mine), school, and new goals and changes.  I’m not making any new year’s resolutions this year.  Instead, I’m making goals that are reasonable.  The first is paying off debt. I even applied to write about my story to a financial blog that helps women get ahead in their finances.  They only need 2 and over 1,000 applied, fingers are crossed.

The second goal is to watch my weight, not focus on losing.  That said, I want to figure out how to get my mind motivated to run or at least workout.  I have to stop using every excuse in the book.

The third goal is to just be happy.  With every decision I make and choose to do, I want to make sure I’m still happy.  Nothing too hard about that but I’m a pro at letting the little things get to me.  No more!

And now, my first thought for the blog this new year:

I am going to just be a social drinker this year.  This includes: when I talk to myself, talk to the dogs, and read facebook posts.  Cheers!!

Nov18

Drivers Wanted

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I’m on the road…a lot.  I’m always travelling through the state to visit clients or driving an hour to school.  Why is it that people, at least in Austin, cannot drive the speed limit?  Last Friday, Veteran’s Day, there was no morning traffic and yet everyone was driving 50!  Hello?!  The speed limit on Mopac is 65!  Here are a few excuses I have for this ridiculous driving:

1.  People were still sleeping while driving.

2.  The drivers aren’t sure what the speed limit actually is because they’re never able to drive that speed during “rush hour.”

3.  The drivers were enjoying Veteran’s Day by saluting other drivers, which only allowed them to have one hand on the wheel.

Whatever the reason is, it’s still annoying.  Every day, every time I’m on the road, there is someone in the “fast lane” going under the speed limit, or worse, going the speed limit and thinking it’s okay.

Remember folks, while you’re driving be aware of your surroundings.  I could very well be behind you flashing my lights and honking my horn for you to get out of my way.

Happy Trails!!

Oct31

Happy Halloween!

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Here are some halloween funnies!

Why can’t the boy ghost make babies?

Because he has a hallow-weenie!!
 

Happy Halloween!

 

Why do demons and ghouls hang out together?

Because a demon is a ghouls best friend!

 

Why did the ghost go into the bar?

For the boos!

 

Why didn’t the skeleton dance at the party?

Because he had no body to dance with!

 

 

Why couldn’t Dracula’s wife get to sleep?

Because of his coffin!