Who is Beef?

happy BEEF day to BEEF!

I just watched P.S. I love you.  Tragically wonderful and sad and beautiful all the same moment.  It made me think about celebrating life, and what better day to celebrate on BEEF day, the day of Beth's birth.  I just wanted to take this moment and sing her praises, because it is afterall her birthday, and as she is one of my few and faithful followers I decided she deserved a shout out.  Plus I figured I could embarass her a little bit, and since my bachelorette party is coming up, I figured I owe her some in advance. ;)

Beef Watson, born Susan we mean Sarah Elizabeth Watson, on March 9th 1988 to her wonderful parents Susan and William Watson and was soon followed by her sister Mallary Clara Watson a few years later (MCW is wearing a shirt that reads 'I love BEEF.')  Beth as she was known in her growing up years, enjoyed such activities as traveling to Belzoni to visit sweet Mimi, making up silly names for herself, and all-together being quite wonderful and adorable.  She became very interested in schooling and getting things done on time and properly, was voted 'Most Dependable' at Collierville Highschool as well as most Beautiful Beth there is in TN.  She currently lives in the 'glorious' Oxford with her room-mates, as well as all her millions of best friends.  She is quite popular, doesn't meet a stranger, and likes to have a good time...always.  Whether its laughing at youtube videos, old movies, American Idol or Jenty, Beef is having a good time and making life especially joyful for all around her.  She was recently accepted into grad school at Washington University, and we enjoy the phrase 'Washu Watchout' for Beef.  Find her in St. Louis next year, being very desirable-cooking brownies and pizza quesadillas, hanging out at Blueberry Hill and attending class in the front row.   Most of all, tell her happy birthday on this day, because it is sure to be a better Beef day because of you.

We love you! :) xoxo You know you love me, and you are reading this instead of studying.

heyyy soul sister

This is my sister Colleen and today is her birthday, March 8th.  Isn't she beautiful? I think so too. These are her ABCs:

Artistic Beautiful Colleeny Daughter Exciting Friend Gorgeous Honest Intelligent Joking Kind Lovable Modcloth Neat Outstanding Photographer Q-ute Real Stylish Tough Unique Verytalented Wild Xtrasmall YesterdaysFavorite Zesty

When I grow up I want to be my sisters:

Amy, Colly, Emily

Until that time I will just tell her I love her and give her these really cute shoes that are JUST her size.

Curtesy of My Favorite Shoes off the square--black and shiny, peep-toe pumps. Colleen they (and me) are cuter in person.

I love you and WISH I WAS THERE! Happy Birthday soul sister.

wish list

So I went online today to try and find dresses for various upcoming occassions from modcloth.com.  If you don't know modcloth you should.  It is a wonderful website, with the cutest clothes.  My (practically) 16 year old sis found it last year and she is a dedicated modcloth stalker.  She knows when new dresses go up and when they come down.  We love modcloth at my house.

Here are two dresses that I absolutely love.  I think they say fun and flirty as well as cute and classy.  I would like to think my style is like that too...wishful thinking since as I wrtie I am in pj pants and a long sleeve blue t-shirt.  Ah well...I wouldn't trade my lazy Saturday in sunny Oxford for all the dresses in the world.  Maybe for all the modcloth dresses in the world though. 

L is for the way Life looks at me.

cookies from girls only v-day party, courtesy of MKG, aka Martha Stewart

its difficult not to talk about LOVE on Valentines Day. 

And then again, as mushy as it is, I might as well just talk about LOVE in a few different forms. 

I have seen it in a lot of places today, some have been obvious and some not quite so.

the little girl in front of me at church today, probably three years old, sang every song at the top of her lungs.

she didn't know the words, but she definitely knew she wanted to sing.

her mom and dad held her real close, despite the bright green bow that smashed up against their faces

every time she took a deep breath to belt out another bright note.

friend feet

friend fun is always a good example of LOVE

i mean its fun and its there to make you laugh, but its also there when you lock your keys in the car or

when you refuse to take out the trash, and your friend does it for you.

friend love is in a conversation about nothing but makes you feel understood none the less.

friend love means you apologize when you don't have to and laugh about it later.

beth prays for a snow day.

best of all is the love of life, and the comfort of not one day wasted and every day lived with the joy of  a snow day.

If I had my Life to live over...

I'd dare to make more mistakes next time.

I'd relax, I would limber up.

I would be sillier than I have been this trip.

I would take fewer things seriously.

I would take more chances.

I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers.

I would eat more ice cream and less beans.

I would perhaps have more actual troubles,

but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I'm one of those people who live

sensibly and sanely hour after hour,

day after day.

Oh, I've had my moments,

And if I had it to do over again,

I'd have more of them.

In fact, I'd try to have nothing else.

Just moments, one after another,

instead of living so many years ahead of each day.

I've been one of those people who never goes anywhere

without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat

and a parachute.

If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over,

I would start barefoot earlier in the spring

and stay that way later in the fall.

I would go to more dances.

I would ride more merry-go-rounds.

I would pick more daisies.

Nadine Stair,

85 years old.

domesticity and such things

after aproximately one week in our new lifestyle, life at "the go" we are happily cooking dinner.  making the three roomies of "the go" both domestic and desirable.  as you can see in the following pictures, that my roomate Beth, also known as "beef" is quite the cook.  she does not get her nick name from only her good looks-- no, instead, it is because she is a fabulous chef.  beef. she is the new chicken. 

first let me show you around the kitchen. please make yourself at home.

muffins!

Muffins we made, blueberry.  Also a snickerdoodle candle that smells like cookies just came out of the oven! beef's birthday present to me!

also, hartress brought nice bottles of some sort from home.  good decoration from hobby lobby, along with the biggest twinkle lights known to man, one of which i accidentally broke while hanging by the mantle.  oops!

beef making the chicken.  caption entitled "i have never touched raw meat before."

my pasta pot, entitled "a watched pot never boils...or does it?"

finished product! crunchy noodle salad, pasta & parmesan cheese, and chicken

fin.

And that's all she ate, folks.  more blogging from the grand ole "go" soon enough!

SNOW day

today was a snow day, which never to rarely happens in the sunny south.  i took some pictures in honor of allthatjoyful hart, because she is not around to enjoy the snow and i thought she would appreciate it espeically because of a song she loaned to me. "The Last Snowfall" by Vienna Teng--a beautiful song!

If this were the last snowfall

No more halos on evergreen
If this were the last glimpse of winter
What would these eyes see?

If this were the last slow curling
Of your fingers in my palm
If this were the last I felt you breathing
How would I carry on?


This is not the last snowfall
Not our last embrace
But if I were that kind of grateful
What would I try to say?

i hope that i never grow too old for snowflakes.

Snow day means no school.
Snow day means being lazy and not regretting it.
Snow day means all bets are off.
Snow day means a holiday, a break, a miracle.
Snow day means snowballs and hot chocolate.
Snow day means soup galore.
Snow day means too much sibling time.
Snow day means fireplaces.
Snow day means pictures in the snow.
Snow angels.
Snowball fights.
Snow day means being a kid.

im not gonna write you a love song

but i will write you a letter.

writing letters is a lost art that is well, under-rated. I sent thank you notes yesterday to my fiance's family, because they were unduely sweet to me this christmas. and i felt like i owed them some thanks. i gave them home made spice tea, in a spice-tea family set. they were cute jars i found at HOBBY LOBBY, which is my version of heaven. (Dicks sporting gooods is my opposite idea of fun...) at any rate, i owed them some thanks. i put them in the mail two days ago, which means most likely they will get them in the mail today. am i a bad person for being extremely excited about this?? knowing that they will open their mailbox and find a letter from me, well, that is just something worth waking up for.

here is a good thought from a book that i just finished, *The Shack* by WM Paul Young. there were many good thoughts in this book and i did enjoy it! the thing about fiction is, that it is true without having happened. as the author points out in the afterword, something can be TRUE without being true. hmm think about it!

"...if anything matters then everything matters. Because you are important, everything you do is important. Every time you forgive, the universe changes; every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes; with every kindness and service, seen or unseen, my purposes are accomoplished and nothing will ever be the same again." pg 235

love from your dedicated letter writer.