You know you're a nurse when...

This week was my mother-in-law's birthday, so I wanted to put together a beautiful basket for her full of "herb" stuff - a salad dressing mixer, some olive oil, scissors to cut the herbs she grows in her backyard, and some delicious recipes. I very carefully stamped some herb-themed recipe cards, then began to write out a recipe for salad dressing. Read very carefully...

"Mix basil, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic together in small bowel..." Yum! You know you're a nurse when "small bowel" is such a common phrase in your vocabulary that you subconciously write it in places that might not be so appropriate (or appetizing!)

This isn't the first time I've done this. Once after writing down some info for an upcoming flight, I meant to write DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth). Later, I noticed I had written D5W (a type of IV fluid)!

Backyard Weekend

We spent lots of time out in the backyard this last weekend. I've been inspired by one of the blogs I follow, Just A Girl, to find cheap stuff and turn it into awesome things for my house!

I found this metal decorative basket on clearance at Hobby Lobby, spray painted it, added some 50% off silk flowers and...voila! A beautiful decoration for my front door! I think my total cost was somewhere around $20!

David got a little excited with the spray paint, too...

We've also recently planted a lemon and a lime tree in pots on the back deck! I love citrus trees! The fruit takes WAY too long to ripen on the tree, and I'm a very impatient person, but I will just have to wait. The lemons in the picture are still very green, but in a few months it should turn yellow.


And in my last act as Domestic Goddess this weekend, I made a yummy Buttermilk Blueberry Cake!

Gunnery Sgt. John Fry Post Office

I'm a few months late in posting these pictures (yes, big surprise), but it was a very important day back in March. As most of you know, Byron was the first Fallen Hero back in 2005 to have a Post Office dedicated in his name. Since then, many other heroes who gave their life in service to our nation have received this same honor. A few months ago, my good friend and fellow Gold Star sister, Laura, was able to see the Post Office in their small town of Lorena, TX named for her brother, John. He was an Explosive Ordinance Device tech and was KIA in Iraq in March of 2006 while attempting to disarm an IED. Here are a few pictures from the day that the post office was dedicated.

John's wife and children helping to unveil the sign

Laura and John's daughter next to the photo of him inside the Post Office

This was the Marine who was standing behind John when the bomb went off. Though he was severely injured, he said that John's position in front of him literally saved his life.

I Basically Love Basil

I love trying to grow my own herbs - note the word trying. I've tried many times to grow things in pots - some are successful and other plants bear a sad resemblance to the herb I thought was growing. Then, one glorious day, I discovered the Aero Garden! It cost way too much money that I didn't really need to spend, but the joy it brings me is priceless! I can grow my own herbs indoors with this hydroponic system, then use them in countless ways in my cooking. We've tried the multi-herb packs with dill, mint, thyme, etc, but our very favorite was basil. It grows so well and the flavor is awesome! So, you can imagine my total excitement when the geniuses at AeroGarden came out with a kit that grows 7 different kinds of basil!!! Ah, you didn't realize that so many kinds of basil existed? Well, life is good, my basil-loving friends. There is zippy lemon basil that is awesome in my water, Globe basil that has a licorice flavor, and 5 other yummy kinds that make my heart sing.

I decided tonight to give all my basil plants a good clipping (which just stimulates further growth!) and make my own pesto. It turned out awesome! I had great satisfaction from eating my yummy pesto pasta!

Happy Birthday, Roger!

What better way to celebrate your 60th birthday than with a little Guitar Hero?!?!?!? Roger and Jerry Lynn came over for a birthday dinner, and we thought we'd introduce Roger to the thrill of being a rock star.

This is "Honey," the character I created for myself. Don't make fun - don't we all have some kind of rock star goddess alter ego in our hearts???

Memorial Day 2009

I don't know that it will ever be easy to make it through Memorial Days every year, but at least there are fewer tears now and more of a celebration in gratitude for the sacrifices made on behalf of men and women throughout history for our freedoms, especially our own special hero. We miss Byron so much, but we're so proud of him for his service and sacrifice. My PawPaw, aunt and uncle and some cousins came into town to spend Memorial Day with us. We started the morning together at the cemetery and placed some roses down with Byron.

Then we headed down through downtown Pflugerville where the city had put up these awesome banners down the street with the names of all the Pflugerville Fallen since WWI. Here is Byron's banner:

So, again, on this Memorial Day, I ask you to remember and honor all the lives that have been sacrificed throughout our nation's history so that we could live in this amazing country. God bless the USA!

Texas Run For the Fallen

Last summer there was a huge event called "Run For the Fallen" where participants ran 1 mile for each of the Fallen Heroes from Iraq and Afghanistan. They ran over 4000 miles from California all the way to Washington, DC. This year, other organizers put together smaller versions of this. The Texas Trail of Heroes was organized to honor all of the fallen from Texas, and they were nice enough to run Byron's mile through Pflugerville. My family all got together to participate - running, walking or driving. We were escorted by the Pflugerville Police Department from Byron's Post Office (OK - so it belongs to the United States, but it has Byron's name on it!) all the way to the Fallen Warrior Memorial in Pfluger Park. That was actually a 2-mile run - 1 mile for Byron and the other for Capt Sean Lyerly. I only walked a portion of it, then cheated and got into a car. I was so proud of Colin, Grayson and David - they ran/walked the entire way!

Mom decorated her car!

This is the flag that they posted for Byron at the entrance of the Post Office.

David, running with Lauren (one of the organizers).

Grayson and Colin


My cousin, Emily, and her dog.


Colin and Jenn

Me and David

Mom, with the statue that was made in Byron's image.

My dad showing Shauna Byron's statue. We were so excited to meet Shauna because she ran Byron's mile in Colorado last year on the original cross-country run. She was so sweet and excited to meet us, too!

Mom, Grayson and I

Hey Cupcake!

I'm not quite sure exactly when I fell to the peer pressure of the latest fad - cupcakes. I've never even really liked cake all that much, but these cute little confections have me drooling. So, despite the pouring rain, we just HAD to stop when we saw this cupcake trailer on the side of the road. Now, mind you, I would NEVER stop for other roadside stands - tacos, BBQ - something about them makes me think they can get around the rules of food safety because they can just drive away from the inspectors. But, cute little cupcakes? In a cute little cupcake trailer? I felt confident that I would be getting quality cupcakes - and the line of people in the pouring rain confirmed my suspicions. Yummmm......

Our New Little Friends

We spent the weekend with David's parents at Palmetto State Park in their RV. I literally spent hours upon hours watching the birds and squirrels eat the nuts and grapes we threw out for them. The little squirrels would take the grapes and turn them really quickly in their hands to peel off the skin, then snack on the yummy sweetness. Once we got home, I found out that grapes can send a dog into kidney failure. Holy cow...does it do that to squirrels, too? I love squirrels! It horrifies me to think that a little family of squirrels is probably going to have to go on dialysis because I kept feeding them grapes!

New Gazebo!

My awesome family, David and David's parents all pitched in for my awesome birthday gift - a backyard makeover! We got a new gazebo from Target, then David repainted our old patio furniture black and we got new cushions. The best bargain was our outdoor chandelier - I had seen it at Target for $129, but found the IDENTICAL one on Craigslist for $50!!! Some poor lady had bought it for her dining room, but didn't realize it had a plug because it's meant for outdoors. Since she couldn't hardwire it into her dining room, she put it up on Craigslist! Yeah for me!!!

David's little helper...

Drum roll please.................

Please forgive the fuzzy picture - I can't get my new little Olympus point and shoot camera to work very well unless it's perfectly bright light. Gotta figure that out.

Oh, and I'll let you enjoy the sunsets we are able to see for our back deck, which we'll now be enjoying from underneath our beautiful gazebo!