Don't Just Wish

Don't just wish for something and wait for it to happen...Pray for something, believe in it with all your heart, then you and God MAKE it happen! A wish is gone in one gusty breath but a prayer is always there.

Lights, Ornaments, & Christmas Trees

If you know me then you know I am a total weirdo and get great joy out of the smallest and simplest things in life. One of these joys is Christmas time and the hassle of putting up all the decorations, lights on the house, and cooking tons of holiday goodies. This year I won't be home to make the holiday goodies or put lights up on the house but I did put up the tree. I couldn't wait another minute after Thanksgiving to get a little holiday cheer so Thanksgiving night Tee and I put up the tree. Well actually, I put of the tree and Tee hung our stockings (socks) with care on the book shelf. LOL Hey when you are in a war zone you make do sooo.... check out our pictures below. Tonight I have to go home and wrap presents, another great but simple joy!!!
Tee hanging our socks with care.I am fixing all the branches and getting ready to install the decorations.TAAAA DDDAAAAA!!!!

#1 God's Love

Without his love none of my other blessings would be possible. I thank him daily for helping me through tough times and keeping me strong.

I also recognize a pattern in most people's blessings....a lot of us have the same line of thinking. LOL

Happy Thanksgiving- I was away from my computer on the actual day.

#2 Tee

I am most grateful and thankful that God sent me someone to love that is so amazing. I thank him daily for sending me the greatest man in the world to be my best friend and partner. (I may be a bit biased) I have grown so much in the past 2 years and a lot,...well most, of it has to do with Tee, the love of my life. Even though it is so cliche to say he is truly my better half and makes me a better person. I am thankful to have him in my life. I love you baBe you are my SUPER TEE! :)

#3 Family

Something else that I am thankful for is family. I remember as I grew up my grandma would always tell me to not turn my back on my family because in the end they are the only ones who will ALWAYS be there and the ones you can ALWAYS count on. As I grow older and go through a lot of "live and learn" times in my life I see now that what I used to roll my eyes at I close my eyes and thank God.....and that is my family. No matter what happens I can always count on them and I always know that they support me. I am thankful for the family that I have had since birth and all the family I have acquired over my young life.

#4 Friends

My number 4 item that I give thanks to is friends. I have a few very close friends that would probably fall under family but either way I love all my friends. Sometimes there are things that friends can do that family can't. I don't know an example right off the bat but all I do know is that I am so lucky to have so many great friends. Along with my family, my friends are my safety net and are always there to help me when I need it and they are there helping me when I think I don't need them too. :) I am truly blessed and am grateful for such companionship.

#5 Chances

Well I noticed that a few bloggers were doing the top 10 things they were thankful for and so on so I decided since we have 5 days until Thanksgiving that I should hop on that wagon. (it is a good wagon to be on :)) So....

#5
I am thankful for chances. Hopefully on really important things or even non-important things you don't need too many chances but as I know, very well, no one is perfect and sometimes people need second, third, fourth, etc....chances. I am thankful that people acknowledge other's imperfections and are patient and loving enough to help us succeed and become better at whatever we are getting another chance at.

Twi-Hard

Unless you have been living in a hole over the past couple of years you are sure to have heard about the TWILIGHT SAGA. After months of Rachael pestering all of us to read the books because they were to die for, I finally gave in and bought them on my Kindle. I read them all in about 2 months I think. The Twilight movie was out already but I had heard that is wasn't as good as the book. I wanted to finish reading the book before I watched the movie so I could really see the difference (if there was any). I haven't ever been much of a reader but now I really am. I am usually the person who has seen the movie but never read the book. This occasion was different and in a GREAT way. The books are the BEST EVER and the movies in my opinion will never do the book justice but I am a TWI-HARD fan, book and movie. After I saw the movie I couldn't wait for all the new movies to keep coming. Now that the countdown is almost over for NEW MOON to hit theaters I had to get all worked up. I am right in the middle of "The Lost Symbol" or I would be re-reading the saga, instead I have been watching Twilight, getting my hands on every magazine that has to do with it and all over the Internet keeping up with all the Robert/Kristen gossip and all that goes with it so....................back to my original post-

I was on the Internet looking for the books in PDF format to download to my work computer so I could read them at my desk in between task. In the process I found a link that said download all 5 Twilight books...I thought when did another one come out without me knowing so I started frantically researching this unknown fact. I got my answer on the Stephanie Meyers website. You can click here to read the post and at the end you can download a partial manuscript to a 5th installment which is called Midnight Sun. It is Edwards version of what happened as the first 4 are from Bella's point of view. Either way I downloaded it and read it all at work on Sunday. We were really slow and I couldn't put it down. I can not wait for the Iraqi shops to get a copy of "New Moon" and I am sure all of you are going to see it in the movies so eat some popcorn and drink a coke for me. Let me know how it is. I am sure it will be bloody brilliant! (the pun was totally intended) LOL

Burr!

It is officially fall/winter in Iraq. This morning around 1 a.m. I woke up FREEZING so I thought it was because I had my AC on and it was cool outside so I turned it off thinking now I will sleep more comfortably....WRONG it wasn't only the AC it was down right cold this morning. I was too lazy to get up and turn my heater on because seeing it is the first time to turn it on in a long time it would have that burning smell to it and I wouldn't sleep any better that way. SOOOO I just huddled up in my bed and tried not to move. I was enjoying the cooler temperatures and I am sure that I will a bit better now that I am going to start running my heater. That being said being away from home and the comforts of home that most take for granted makes all these little changes wish you were home. For example, as I walked to work in my long sleeve shirt and jacket :) this morning and couldn't help but notice my mind wondering to past cold times like keeping a fire in our fire place constantly. In our house in Mt. Pleasant the fire place really did its job and if we kept a fire going we wouldn't even have to run the central heat because the fire place heated the ENTIRE house. Tee and I would make pallets by the fire and watch movies and cuddle. Those are really good memories to think back on especially when those resources aren't available to you currently. I know that working overseas is going to make my life a lot easier later on so it is worth it but I really can not wait to get back to the real world.

This is in March of 2008 at Toledo Bend at the Louisiana Oilman's Fishing Tournament. It was literally in the 40s and FREEZING. Tee had just gotten back from an afternoon of fishing with his Daddy and was numb all over. Good times.

The Nana Diaries

Check out my mom's blog The Nana Diaries. I see a Pulitzer blog in the making! LOL ;)

FINALLY...Julie & Julia

FINALLY... I have been waiting months for our Iraqi shops to get in the movie Julie & Julia. I bugged the poor man twice a week for so long that eventually I would walk in and he would see me and just shake his head NO! LOL He even promised me that WHEN he did get the movie in that I would get it for free. After watching it the night before last, I can tell you it was wwweeeeellllll worth the wait. I love to cook and lately I have REALLY been missing my kitchen and all that goes with it. After watching the movie I am now so inspired to do a Julie/Julia type project myself. I don't so much need or want to blog about it but I would love to cook my way through a certain cookbook in a set time limit. I might blog every once in a while about a recipe if it really catches my taste buds by surprise or I might blog just updating but it would more than likely NOT be an every day every recipe type deal. I think it would be a great experience trying new and challenging recipes and it would be fun. I would probably gain around 50 lbs! LOL I haven't had a lot of French cuisine that I know of so I don't really think that Julia Child's cookbook is one I would like to do right off the bat. I would prefer Paula Dean or Rachael Ray. They are more my type. I do love trying new things but I want some comforting things that are spun a different way with some totally new techniques and ideas thrown in to mix things up. I would also like to cook from a chef that I am more familiar with because after the project is through I will be more prone to re-cook some, if not all, of the recipes I conquered. Needless to say I loved the movie and if you haven't seen it I HIGHLY recommend it, especially if you are 20 something Betty Homemaker type LOL or just a Betty Homemaker type at any age!!!!

Bon appetit
Megan

"Give all to love; obey thy heart."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

When in Iraq don't....

First see the don'ts...then see the becauses

When in Iraq...

Don't
1. watch Brothers and Sisters
2. subscribe to a cooking magazine
3. watch the movie Julie & Julia
4. text your friends and family constantly to find out the happenings of their day

Because
1. the whole show is about family, cooking, chaos, and home. This isn't good when you are 8,000 miles away from your chaotic family and home. Nora, the mom, reminds me so much of my mom. She is totally consumed with her household, kids, and grand kids and is always in the middle of all their problems whether she wants to be or not. :) Plus all the brothers and sisters makes me miss my own siblings even though most of the time I could just kill them.
2. you get great ideas for recipes but you are constantly tortured because you can't cook any of them!!!! I guess this is my own fault but at least when I get home I am going to have plenty of recipes to try out...about 2 years worth. LOL
3. this movie has now inspired me to do my own Julie/Julia project. I want to find a cookbook that fits me and my style of cooking and try the whole cook a recipe a day for so many months or whatever thing. So if anyone has any good cookbooks that has an ample amount of recipes shoot me the name. I don't want anything Martha Stewart-y I am more of a Paula Dean or Rachael Ray type cook so keep that in mind ;) for Christmas time.
4. then you really start to be even MORE homesick and you are jealous of their overly normal lives. I mean just the idea of running annoying errands like going to the bank, grocery store, and dry cleaners sounds so exciting to me. LOL Which I get great joy from the simplest of things to begin with but it is just the point of not having access to those types of things.