Diva Diaries is moving!!  Pink Divas doesn't really fit "me" anymore, and I decided it was time for a change.  I have a new cute blog set up, and everything on here is moved on over there!  Expect new posts and more of them.  :)  So follow me on over and visit Sweet Tea and Tacos!

Menu Mondays: Key Lime Pound Cake

I love to cook!  Rarely do we have the same thing twice in our house, because I am always trying new recipes.  On Monday night, we have our annual Schola family dinner, and usually I throw together a boring pasta salad, but this year, I planned ahead. 

Now, cooking with me is not for the light of heart.  Everything is typically covered in flour, I typically burn myself, cut myself, or otherwise injure something, and there is a lot of swearing.  I'm pretty sure that's how my great-grandma did it, so I'm just keeping her memory alive.

I haven't gotten to taste this yet, but if it's as good as it looks, oh my gosh.  So, straight from Southern Living, here it is!  And make sure you add the lime juice before you put it in the oven.  Don't ask how I know this. 

Key Lime Pound Cake

Key Lime Glaze

Enjoy!  I'll let you know how it is on this end!

Eating Roanoke: Outlaw Burgers

We've now lived in Trophy Club for a YEAR!  It's gone really fast, and we've really enjoyed living in our new little town.  The neighboring town, Roanoke, is known as The Unique Dining Capital of Texas.  We've eaten at a lot of the little places around there, but definitely not all of them. 

Since I've been trying to find anything and everything to fill my time lately, I decided to do just that:  eat at all of them.  And of course, that means you have to hear about them! 

First up?  Outlaw Burgers.  I love this place.  It's in a little strip center two doors down from where the church used to office.  Nice clothes are definitely not required, and be prepared to sop up some grease.  The menu is full of, you guessed it, burgers, and every side is fried in some form or fashion. 

I ordered a bacon cheese burger and fries, and Kyle ordered a blue cheese bacon burger and fried mushrooms.  The burger was perfectly cooked for me, and although the fries weren't as crisp as I'd like, they looked like they were cut straight from the potato.  Kyle's burger had a little bit too much blue cheese for his taste, but he's had other things he's liked better in the past.  The fried mushrooms were heaven.  They are chicken fried and served with ranch dressing, which are a country girl's dream words. 

All in all, I think everything is reasonably priced, it's a nice casual atmosphere, and we'll definitely keep eating there! 

If you want some Outlaw Burger goodness, check it out here:  www.outlawburgers.com.

Did ya miss me?

My friend Morgan got on to me a little about blogging.  Apparently it's been awhile.  To be perfectly honest, things have been so rough at our house, I haven't felt like blogging.  We've been taking a break on the baby front to allow me to heal emotionally and physically, and I had nothing interesting to say, and nothing positive to say, so I've kept to myself.  This grief thing is harder than it sounds.

Anyway, there's some big things coming to the Gibson house!  Let me fill you in:

1. I resigned from my job.  Due to budget restrictions, my job hours and pay were going to get drastically cut come July.  This wasn't something we could do or were willing to do, so I resigned effective at the end of May.  We're going to miss the people at church so much, but gotta pay those bills!

2. Resigning from one job, means a new job!  And here's the big one - I'm going to be self-employed.  Like, totally.  Yikes.  I'll be taking on more piano and voice students at home, and working with a middle school in Flower Mound to teach voice lessons during the day starting in the fall.  I'll still be accompanying and doing various other music stuff.  It's actually really a good thing for me, and I'm looking forward to making my own schedule! 

3. I finished writing my book, and it's coming out in a month!!  It's taken almost 2 years of writing, editing, swearing, more writing, researching, copyright permissioning, etc., but it is almost finished.  Copyrights are secured, final edits are in the works, and then it's off to the publisher!  I'm so excited to have this done - I feel like it's part of my new start in life. 

All this change means a very free summer for me, so look for the blogging to start picking up in June...

The Master Bath: My garden

I've done two very odd things in a bathroom today:  garden and record for a competition.  Let's talk about number 1.

It's no secret that I'm terrible at gardening.  I love plants, I love homemade vegetables, but I just suck at keeping stuff alive. So when I saw this idea on pinterest about regrowing green onions, I thought, hmmm.  I'd like to try this, and if it doesn't work, green onions are like 69 cents, so I think I'm safe. 

Last Saturday I cleaned out the fridge, and found an old jar of horseradish sauce and an old package of green onions.  I washed out the tiny jar, cut off the bulbs of the green onions (the white part) and put them in water.  Next to figure out where to put it. 

Our house faces north, and most of the windows on the south and west sides have solar shades.  Great for the house, not great for growing plants indoors.  There is one window on the south side without a solar screen, however...in the master bathroom.  I placed my jar in the window, and like I do, forgot about it for a week. 

I remembered about it this morning, ran into the bathroom, and to my surprise, I had growth!  It'll be another few weeks before we can actually use it to eat off of, and I'll have to go to the bathroom to cut off what we need for dinner, but hey, I'm ok with it!

My Master Bath Garden

My green onions

Mayberry

I love where we live.  I'm still not up to being really social and all, but tonight I decided to start off small and go to dinner with a friend.  In public.  It sounds silly, but it was a big deal.  I debated about going, and decided that his was a good way to start. 

So off we went with a bottle of wine to our favorite Italian restaurant.  On my way there, I see my neighbor in my rearview mirror.  We have a friendly wave, and I think, "aww, I know the people on the street behind me.  Love that." 

I get to the restaurant, which if you live in the Roanoke area, you've got to go to.  It's called the Italian Bistro, and it used to be an old Dairy Queen.  It's so good!  We walked in, and our favorite waiter greeted us and seated us in his section.  We ordered our usuals without even looking at the menu, and he popped open our wine.  (Love the BYOB!)  Before too long, Sammy, the owner, sat down at our table and chatted with us for awhile.  Love being regulars, love that the owner knows us enough to plop down at our table, and that our favorite waiter makes sure we're in our section. 

Friday nights at the Bistro are even better, because as we call it "Guitar Ray Carlson" plays!  (St. Peter peeps know who I'm talking about!)  As we were leaving, we ran into friends from church. In a big town, you don't just run into people you know. 

On the way home I get a text from my neighbor to tell me to stop by on my way home.  I pulled in their driveway, and out ran all 4 of the neighbor kids with a handmade Valentine in their hands and cookies for me (and 1 for "Mr. Kyle").  Is there anything sweeter? 

I'd say my first outing was a success.  I got to hang out with a friend who loves me in my darkest hours, and felt comfortable the whole way.  There were little reminders my whole time out of people that loved me, and that I wasn't facing all this alone. 

I've always wanted to go back to a small town since I left Cedar Hill.  Somewhere that I'd know the people around town.  I think I finally got there. 

Sometimes it feels like this world
Is spinning faster
Than it did in the old days
So naturally, we have more
Natural disasters
From the strain of a fast pace
Sunday was a day of rest
Now it's one more day for progress
And we can't slow down 'cause
More is best
It's all an endless process

(Well) I miss Mayberry
Sitting on the porch drinking
Ice cold Cherry Coke
Where everything is black and white
Picking on a six string
Where people pass by and you call
Them by their first name
Watching the clouds roll by
Bye, bye 

~Mayberry, Rascal Flatts

What Makes a Mother

Someone shared this poem today - I was in tears.

What Makes a Mother

I thought of you and closed my eyes
And prayed to God today.
I asked what makes a Mother
And I know I heard him say.
A Mother has a baby
This we know is true.'

But God, can you be a Mother
When your baby's not with you?
Yes, you can, He replied
With confidence in His voice
I give many women babies
When they leave is not their choice.
Some I send for a lifetime
And others for a day.
And some I send to feel your womb
But there's no need to stay.

I just don't understand this, God
I want my baby here
He took a breath and cleared His throat
And then I saw a tear.
I wish I could show you
What your child is doing today.
If you could see your child smile
With other children and say:
"We go to earth to learn our lessons
Of love and life and fear.

My Mummy loved me oh so much
I got to come straight here.
I feel so lucky to have a Mom
Who had so much love for me
I learned my lesson very quickly
My Mummy set me free.
I miss my Mummy oh so much
But I visit her each day.
When she goes to sleep
On her pillow's where I lay.
I stroke her hair and kiss her cheek
And whisper in her ear.
"Mummy don't be sad today
I'm your baby and I'm here."

So you see my dear sweet one
Your children are ok
Your babies are here in My home
And this is where they'll stay.
They'll wait for you with Me
Until your lesson is through.
And on the day that you come home
They'll be at the gates for you.

So now you see what makes a Mother
It's the feeling in your heart.
It's the love you had so much of
Right from the very start.
Though some on earth may not realize
You are a Mother until their time is done.
They'll be up here with Me one day
And you know you're the best one!