Mr. Postman Look and See, Is There a Letter In Your Bag for Me??

I'm sure it's a simple glitch really. It could be the President's Day Holiday mail delay. The Royal staff may have goofed and left off the stamp. They're going to feel silly when it's returned for postage! I hope they ordered a few extra envelopes. Come to think of it, Kate was one number off on our house number on our Christmas card. Shoot. I knew I should have e-mailed her and let her know.

But I'll tell you one thing, if my postman is holding my invite hostage just so he can show all of his friends I'm going to be really disappointed. I mean, I don't want the Queen to think my mama didn't teach me the importance of RSVPing!

Yes please! 2 please! :) And for your convenience, we don't HAVE to sit by Posh and Becks, though it would be nice to be seated among friends. ~ Sincerely, Tiffany and Dave (He'll go by David on the event date since he'll be in uniform attire. We keep it real)

I'm Alive and Well! Well....I'm Alive.

At the risk of stating the absolute obvious, the blog has been neglected lately. I never intended for it to happen. We just grew apart for a few weeks. I needed some space. I was dealing with the flu, a sinus infection, helping throw a baby shower, 2 surprise parties, and the grandaddy of them all....my conference is in 9 days.

For the last 5 days I have been struggling to stay awake let alone spend time making my head hurt worse by thinking of something to blog about. I have about 300 unread blog posts in my Google Reader...it's a bit overwhelming. But today I feel rejuvenated...

Today marks the first day I feel almost well. Today my sister comes into town. And today....today is OPENING DAY! Bring on college baseball baby! Tomorrow, barring total absense of my sinus infection, Kristen and I will be enjoying a double header here:

We've spent many, many, many a day (and night) at the ball fields. I love everything about a day at the park, and It always makes me think of my very favorite ball player...

Who in 13 days will be doing what he does best...

Yes, my friends....it's baseball season!!

"This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains. Think about that for a while." ~Ebby Calvin LaLoosh

Oh the Weather Outside Is Frightful...

But the fire is so delightful...

But since there's no place to go...

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I realize the rest of the country is dealing with blizzard like conditions but we hadn't had so much as a flurry here in Austin, TX. Until last night...we woke up to a very pretty scene! And I got a snow day! Rookie and I went outside for a few photos and we had so much fun watching the kids play. They were making snow men, having snow ball fights and just giggling away. It doesn't come very often (hardly EVER) around these parts, but we'll take it! Happy snow day, friends!

Thoughts on Giving...

Giving is good for the soul, right? It's fun to give your husband, friends, parents, siblings that perfect gift that you saw and knew just who to give it to. The conversation napkins with the perfect saying for the Loj...the owl salt and pepper shakers that my sister would die over...anything leopard print or with fur that is right up my mom's alley...the pack of Twizzlers I know Dave will love "just because". Giving is fun.

Giving the Girl Scouts extra cookie money as part of "Operation Cookie" so one of our soldiers will receive a hand written note and a box of Thin Mints as a small token of appreciation for their remarkable sacrifice. It feels good. It makes a difference. A little goes a long way.

A little goes a long way...I've been thinking about that one little part of giving for a little over a week now. Our church is building a church. We are a new congregation and we have been meeting in a commercial building for going on 3 years now. We recently purchased land and will begin building our new church. It is an exciting time, but it's also a time of need. Our church needs THE church, the individuals that are the church, to support this campaign and raise the funds to build our new building that will hopefully stand for generations and reach people in Austin, TX for generations.

Dave and I have been talking about and praying about what we can give. And we hear wonderful praise stories about the amount of money already raised for the campaign and it seems so grand in comparison with what we can give. Until last Sunday when our pastor told us the story of 2 little girls in our church. 6 and 8 years old. They wanted to give to help build our church but they didn't have any money so their mom told them they could go ask the neighbors if they could do any work for them. One of their neighbors told them they could brush his Golden Retriever and he would give them $10 each. So they spent a good amount of time brushing his dog. They made sure she looked really good and then they asked for approval from their neighbor. When he deemed their job had been done well he gave them each the $10 they had earned. They were beaming! And they were ready to give everything they had just earned! Their mom took them up to the church and they were elated as they handed over their earnings to the pastor as their offering.

I cried as he recounted the story Sunday a week ago. I cried because of their joy in giving. I cried because their mom, who I have the privilege to know and be in Sunday School with is raising children who are Kingdom Focused. She's teaching them to work hard, give generously, live selflessly. It's a lesson for me too.

I may not be able to give enough to meet the entire need but I can give something. I can give of my time, my energy, and my resources...and that's exactly what God asks of me. Giving from the heart really is good for the soul. I'm glad a 6 year old and an 8 year old could remind me of that this week. I hope I won't soon forget the lesson they taught me.

Rags to Richest Reunion...

Today, in honor of my slumber party tonight with some of my besties, I'm reliving our Decade of Friendship trip to Mexico. I can offer no beach and no cabana boys, but Casa Mendenhall will have taco salads, Pioneer Woman Cinnamon rolls for breakfast and plenty of vino. :) Is it 5:00pm yet?

Dear Catalonia,

It was fun while it lasted. The poolside chats, the 2 hour dinners, the poolside drink service, the lazy days spent sunbathing and reading, the sound of the Loj's best friend from Chicago talking to us incessantly (I think she wanted a t-shirt)...I had hoped it would never end. I'm not even sure how I've made it through the last 36 hours without a Miami Vice, guacamole and my afternoon Chocolate Lovers Crepe. I suppose it's possible to survive without it, but why would anyone want to??

You have also given me a new appreciation for well-lit hallways, running water and upgrades. I had severely underestimated those things but thanks to you I’m giving “thanks” where thanks is due!

You were good to us, Catalonia. I’ll never forget you.

XOXO,
T-Rog

Cast of Characters:

Liz/ The Loj- Director of Transportation: The DOT duties include transportation to/from Dallas and the airport, passport reminders, setting up transfers to/from airport to hotel and directions.

Laura/ L-Merc- Director of Food Services: DOFS duties include making dinner reservations each evening

Robyn/ Reams- Director of Wellness: The DOWs duties include, but are not limited to: sunscreen application and re-application, distributor of Imodium, and providing snacks during long, weary travel days (this duty could be perceived as a responsibility of the DOFS, but the DOW came prepared so realignment of that duty was necessary).

Allison A./ Lynch- Director of Spirit and Director of Interpretation/Communication: The DOS’s direct duty was t-shirt design and development. On site duties shifted to the DOI as it became critical that her Spanish skills be used. Her fluent tongue helped us negotiate that upgrade and also made sure that our baked potatoes came with butter and cheese.

Allison L./ Bradley- Director of Photography: Do you really need me to explain this one?

Me/ T-Rog- Director of Documentation: DOD duties include documentation of quotes and events as they took place. The DOD also works closely with the DOP to ensure accurate preservation of all events.

Our book swap the night before we left. The majority of them were the Loj's....

“Do you want to sit by the window? ‘Cause if you puke on me it’ll ruin my day.” Bradley to Lynch on our way to the airport at 4:40am

Room #1...aka "the dungeon". You can tell how we feel about it by the picture above. The picture below is how we felt immediately after we made our decision to upgrade....we decided to toast to that fantastic decision while our bags were being "relocated". :)

~ Bradley "It's only sixty dollars. I think I'll just tell James we just didn't feel safe."
~ Reams "I don't!!"

Room #2....

" It is astonishing what sixty dollars will get you! Rags to Riches!" ~Bradley

&

"I just don't think we're that high maintenance. I just don't!" ~ also Bradley....

These were taken at dinner each night. The dinners were amazing!

I love these next 2....our DOP was trying to get fancy and take artsy pictures. These pictures were taken about 5 seconds apart...oops!

"I'm pretty sure they're going to hand us one of these when we get to Heaven." ~ Lynch...stone cold serious.

Yes...the camera was on a timer....and yes, Bradley had flung herself into the pool a nano-second before the photo took. The things you have to do to be the DOP....

"You'll notice I'm in my workout clothes...not because I just LOVE to workout and even have to workout on vacation...although it made the director of wellness happy...but really I was getting in my 5 mile training walk! What you can't tell from this picture is that we were at the crepe/milkshake place....so I was rewarding myself with the lovely object shown about 4 photos above...

Special thanks to the Director of Spirit for our t-shirts...

I love y'all and had so much fun! I think this needs to be an annual trip...who's with me?? We should have no trouble talking our husbands into it ;)

“Does having snacks make me a better director of wellness?” ~ Reams

“Are y’all going to a CPA convention?” ~ the joker on the plane who read Reams’ “occupation” section of her customs form. We informed him that we most certainly were NOT!

“There are 2 guaranteed times I cry: 1. When a soldier comes home. 2. Extreme Makeover Home Edition. ‘Move that BUS!’ I’m done!” ~ Lynch

"Do you have Karaoke?" ~ Bradley
"No, but I can play the drums and you can sing." ~ The bartender
"Do you know Fancy by Reba?" ~ Bradley

*Originally posted June 30th, 2009

Cookbook Swap!

Ok ladies, it's a new year...I don't know about you, but I think it's time for me to shake things up and add a few new recipes to my repertoire! I have been looking for new cookbooks and I always find myself loving Junior League cookbooks. I have several from Dallas, Austin, Houston, Boston, etc and they always have the best recipes.

In deciding which cookbook would be my next purchase I decided it would be fun to have a JL cookbook from another state that someone else just loves! So, why not do a swap?? I'm sure you'd all love a new cookbook too!

Here's the 411...

• Put your name, e-mail address and where you live in the comment section. EX: Tiffany- lifeisglamandfab@gmail.com - Austin, TX
• I'll take names until Monday, January 24th @ midnight CST
• On Tuesday, I will pair everyone up and e-mail you your partner's e-mail info so you can get in touch and swap addresses.
• You will buy a local Junior League Cookbook and mail it to your partner and they will do the same!
• I will pair you with someone in a different area so you get a cookbook from somewhere fun!
• Please have all cookbooks mailed by February 15th so your partner can have their new cookbook in good time!
• Update: Someone e-mailed me and said they do not have a local JL chapter...so my suggestion would be Amazon. :) You can pick one that is closest to you or most closely matches food in your part of the country. I sure don't want that to stop you from playing.

It will be so fun and I hope you'll all participate! Feel free to twitter, e-mail, post about this swap, etc. The more the merrier! Bon appetite!!

Here are a few of the JL cookbooks from Texas cities. These are 3 of my favorites...Just think...maybe you'll get paired with a Texas gal and get one of these!

If it's not one thing, it's your mother!

Y'all, 2011 has been a bit of a cluster for us so far. I mean, it could be worse. I'm totally aware of that and trust me that I am thankful it hasn't been. But I do kind of feel like it's almost laughable that each week is something new.

Just before the new year we realized that we had a water spot on our bathroom ceiling and when Dave touched it, the entire area of sheet rock came down. YAY! So we called out some helpers and realized we had not one but TWO leaks and the only way to properly fix it would be to tear up the flooring and basically re-do the bathroom. We opted for the permanent fix instead of the quick fix and it was a 2 week project. We spent some dinero on a bathroom we never see...so I'm going to the bathroom upstairs now just so I can spend a little time in our investment. :)

This weekend we finally got the new light fixture up in there and after turning back on our power we realized that the outlet in our laundry room wasn't working. Stellar. So last night we had an electrician out and 30 minutes and another $check$ later we had a new breaker box which had burnt out.

Tomorrow we will drop David's truck off to have the back end repaired after being rear-ended last week on I-30 in Dallas. We were there for the Cotton Bowl....very fun. We were not hyped about being rear-ended by LSU students who had had way too much to drink...bad. But I do know it could have been MUCH worse than it was. Thankfully we were in Dave's truck which was basically a tank and repelled the Chevy trailblazer to the best of it's steel ability.

They say things happen in 3's...so 1-2-3...I hope we're done! Here's to February! :)

Here's a little picture from our Cotton Bowl fun. We had a great time with our friends Lynch and Ryan. Those LSU fans are C-R-A-Z-Y! But thankfully they have insurance. :)

Rise and Shine!

I'm not a fan of getting up and going to work. In fact, I tend to pout in the morning. And my 45 minute to 1 hour commute doesn't help very much, but the last couple of months we have just had gorgeous sunrises and sunsets to court me on my way to work. This morning the sunrise was absolutely breathtaking. I just praised God that in the midst of my pouting and wishing I could "call in COLD" He gave me this amazing "good morning, Tiffany!" moment.

Have a great day today!

*Please forgive the poor photo quality as I took these with my phone...while driving...I won't tell you how fast. (Mom, you didn't read that...)

Winner, Winner, Pork chop Dinner...

I figured 4 good years of marriage was as good of an excuse as any to break the taco/spaghetti/pizza mold, so I consulted the experts. I found an intriguing recipe from trusty Cooking Light and I was so pleased! It was good, it was pretty and it was EASY! It's a spiced pork chop with mango-mint salsa and Dave and I both gave it a thumbs up.

Spiced Chops with Mango-Mint Salsa

Cooking Light April 2007

Ingredients
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops, trimmed
Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups finely chopped peeled mango
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper


Preparation
Combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl; sprinkle evenly over pork.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork; cook 4 minutes on each side or until done.

Combine mango, mint, lemon rind, lemon juice, sugar, and red pepper in a medium bowl. Serve with pork.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 pork chop and about 1/3 cup salsa)

The mango and mint may sound random but it was perfect with the pork! I served it with sweet potatoes that I diced and mixed with a tiny bit of olive oil, rosemary, and salt and pepper and then fresh green beans. Outside of the potatoes which take about 45 minutes to cook the preparation and cooking of the meal took about 20 minutes! It's a winner and will be on the table again at the Mendenhall house. Enjoy! (PS...an added bonus is that it is really low in calories. My entire plate was about 425 calories...happy new year's resolution!)

I Got You Babe...

They say we're young and we don't know
We won't find out until we grow

Well I don't know if all that's true
'Cause you got me, and baby I got you

Babe... I got you babe
They say our love won't pay the rent
Before it's earned, our money's all been spent
I guess that's so, we don't have a pot
But at least I'm sure of all the things we got

Babe... I got you babe

I got flowers in the spring
I got you to wear my ring

And when I'm sad, you're a clown
And if I get scared, you're always around

Don't let them say your hair's too long
'Cause I don't care, with you I can't go wrong

Then put your little hand in mine
There ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb

Babe... I got you babe

I got you to talk with me

I got you to kiss goodnight

I got you to hold me tight

I got you, I won't let go

I got you to love me so

I got YOU babe

Happy anniversary to the love of my life. 365 days ago I wrote this post about our wedding day and how it changed me for the better. How you changed me for the better. I continue to count my blessings and thank God that he chose me to be your wife.

4 down...and however many years God blesses us with to go...I Love you.