Ch-ch-ch-changes.

First of all - big thanks to Crystal for redoing my blog!! Totally loving the header and everything!

Second of all, let me just say this. I realize it's been nearly two months since I repledged to blog regularly. However, if you knew what had gone on the past two months, you'd cut me some slack, so we'll just go with that and yall forgive me, k? K.

Now that we've got that taken care of...

Have you ever wanted everything to change, while wanting everything to go back the way it was or just stay the same? Confused? Me, too. I think sometimes we long for the way things were because we know how to handle those life situations. We long for the comfort of a daily routine we know and understand and don't want to rock the boat. However, if we truly look at it, with the knowledge we know have, would we go back?

Some days I long for my early married days - steady paychecks, tons of shopping money, fun trips to take every month, eating at yummy fun restaurants, and always a good time to be had. However, knowing what I know now, I wouldn't go back. I wasn't using my full potential, I didn't love my job, I worked for my hubby, which induced a tense environment, both at work and at home, and there was always a pretense to keep up.

What about the now? Paychecks aren't always steady, but my bills are paid. I have a job that I actually enjoy going to most days. I can't even remember the last time I got to buy a pair of shoes, and I don't really eat out very often, but my husband and I's relationship is better than ever.

Some would say the now isn't so hot, but I realize as I sit here snuggled on the couch, drinking pumpkin tea in my house that's up for sale, that the things that are changing are a fresh start. It's a chance to hit the reset button on life. Yes, I'm selling the first house we ever bought, but moving means getting out of debt. It means moving to a community where my friends are, and back to my small town roots. It means Kyle and I get to experience some new foods that we make with our own hands - some good, and some not so good, but we try. It means getting eventually to starting a family and moving forward after several very hard years.

And this pumpkin tea will taste just as good in any home where my hubby is watching baseball on the couch, and my puppies are snuggled up by my feet. Those things will stay exactly the same.

Be Still...

I'm thinking a lot of my friend today. She's had turmoil after turmoil after turmoil. After being in the hospital on and off for over a year, right now, she's back in.

I arranged a hymn for our worship team to do on Sunday, and I've had it stuck in my head since rehearsal. It's a hymn I had stuck in my head a lot when we were going through all of our struggles two years ago, and I just love it. So, I'm going to post it here, and hopefully it will help some of you today - and hopefully it will comfort my dear Tish. Lift up a prayer for her today, please.

Be Still My Soul

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last.

Foodie Monday - You be the blogger!

So really, I intended to start a mostly everyday blog a couple of weeks ago, but then we moved at my job, and the thought of sleep was way better than getting a post up here, so that's what I did. I slept. And moved. And that was about it!

So, now it's foodie Monday! I got a new netbook today, which means I'm blogging from my brand new computer, but now I have no foodie pics on this computer!

With fall quickly approaching, I absolutely love all things pumpkin! Tonight I'm going to be whipping up some pumpkin spread (low cal!) which will get posted next week. But for now - what's your favorite pumpkin thing? Feel free to share the recipe, too, and I'll add them to the blog!

Foodie Monday: Banana Fritters

Let's see if I can keep some themes going!

I've been very into cooking new things lately. I was extremely bored with all of my "normal" meals, and since my hubby is actually a better cook than I am, I needed to step it up. I'm also trying to cook a little healthier, since most of what I eat is not considered normal adult food.

Breakfast for dinner is always one of my favorites, but pancakes just don't make the healthy food list! So tonight, we tried something new: banana fritters! I got this recipe off one of my favorite blogs, just changed it up a little. You can view the recipe here. Instead of ice cream, I served it with a little (lite!) syrup, scrambled eggs, and low fat turkey sausage!

These banana fritters were very low cal, and they were super tasty! We love all things banana around here, and this was no exception! They were so good!

New Blog Title

Since I'm not really doing as much Mary Kay, and my life is going in all different directions, I really can't say this is a "rambling of a Mary Kay Diva" blog! So, this will now be the diva diaries - my life in an all around way! Stay tuned for more!

And then there were three...

Ever since I can remember, there have been 4. 4 generations. 4 women. There was Nanny, the queen bee, the "elder." My great-grandma Nanny was full of spunk, energy, always adorned in leopard print, and the queen of crazy. There was Mema, my grandmother, who had only a portion of the energy and crazy that my Nanny had, but always ready for fun and some baking. There's my Mom, the quietest of them all, much more subdued - like the crazy skipped a step, but one of my very best friends. Then there's me. The baby in the 4 generation tree. Even though I'm quickly approaching 30 *shudder*, I'm still the youngest. The crazy train definitely came back with me!
The 4 of us were a wild set to begin with! Our close group would go to lunch together, sometimes the three of us traveling to see Nanny in Waco, or when Nanny lived here, we'd visit various places around the Metroplex. Hilarity always ensued, as Nanny would say a word I'm not sure sailors even knew, Mema would be shocked, and Mom and I would die laughing. Or maybe we just had girl talk over some chocolate, talked about upcoming weddings (that would have been mine several years ago), or just chatted about what was going on in our lives.
And the pictures, there were always the pictures! We took them at every event! Any holiday, birthday, lunch, or whatever we were all together for, a picture documented it. How lucky was I to have that much family!In early April this year, we lost my Nanny. She was a couple weeks short of 95, and although she lived a long good life, it doesn't always make a loss easier. As we gathered that warm April day to honor the life of my Nanny (all dressed in leopard, I might add), I had the sad realization that there would no longer be the 4. We wouldn't meet for lunch and talk about Nanny's latest leopard bra purchase, or talk about the silly things our husbands did, or just be there to love on each other. There were three.

Today, two months later, we had our first outing as "the three." Mema, Mom, and I met for lunch (and yes, pictures were taken) and shopping. We talked a lot about my Nanny today. It was as if the table was missing a person. We talked about things at the stores that she would have liked, talked about antiques that looked like would have been in her house, mostely just reminisced with each other. Is it different? Yes. We miss our Nanny, but I'm so thankful to still have two wonderful women that I can be with as part of my family.

Who says water parks are for kids?

Today my friend Shasta from college came to visit! We had a great night last night with a fun dinner and some shopping, and today we decided to go to NRH2O. We used to go to water parks when we traveled, and loved roller coasters, so we figured, why not? It was a blast! From the wave pool to the slides, and my favorite, the water coaster, we had a great day!

I have to give some props to NRH2O. First of all, it's only about 15 minutes from my house, so it gets extra points just for that. Second, two words: Free. Parking. Third, tickets are only about $20. The park is fairly small, meaning you don't spend your entire day walking around the park. Even though it's small, it's action packed! There's a huge kid area, tons of slides, a beach, a wave pool, a lazy river, and the water coaster. Let's get back to that!

The water coaster is the best of both worlds! You get in an inner tube, there are tons of drops, you shoot up and come flying back down, there are tunnels and waterfalls - it was a blast!

So if you are looking for something fun to do this summer, I definitely recommend NRH2O!