Phase 3 begins tomorrow....

We begin phase 3 of the "Fat Smash Diet" tomorrow. That means we get to keep eating everything we have been allowed up to this point, but now we are allowed a little more.

For instance, instead of 3 oz. of meat a day we now get 5 oz. of meat.

Instead of 1 oz of low fat cheese a day we now get 1.3 oz.

2 whole eggs, as well as 2 egg whites

We now get 1 cup of whole wheat pasta a day OR 4 thin slices of whole wheat/whole grain bread. (or combination thereof)

And...... are you ready for this?.....

COOKIES!!!!! OH Yes Ma'am we are allowed cookies!! :-) I am doing the happy dance. :-)

We can have EITHER 3 chocolate chip cookies

4 gingersnaps

2 oatmeal raisin cookies

2 peanut butter cookies

2 whole graham crackers

OR

1 scoop of low fat ice cream.

The cookies should be the size of an Oreo, and you get ONE serving a day. I can taste the gingersnaps now people. I swear I can. ;-)

We still have to watch portion control, and add more exercise time, but I don't care. I GET COOKIES!!! WOO HOO!!

Love,

Wendy Darling

Weigh-in #3.....

We just came back from our 10 day weigh in. In the last 10 days the nephew lost exactly 2 lbs. bringing is overall weight loss to 10 lbs, so far. :-)

I lost 5.2 lbs in the last 10 days, bringing my overall weight loss to 20.8 lbs. so far. :-) WOO HOO!!! :-)

Again, I have to thank you ALL for your support and encouragement. :-)

On Wednesday we begin phase 3 of the "Fat Smash Diet". I'll update you on what all that entails soon. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

I've been tagged, again..... :-)

Kwizgiver from over at "as good as it gets" tagged me for the Career Meme.

Here is how to play: If you had the opportunity to do a 1-year internship in a company or field completely unrelated to your current career or specialty, what would be your top 5 choices?

1. Assistant to a professional photographer
2. Personal assistant to Beth Moore or Lisa Whelchel
3. Christian book publishing company
4. ANYTHING on the Food Network, especially with Alton Brown or Duff
5. Travel company

And now I have to tag five people to do this meme. So, I'm tagging , Cleggy, Laslo, QueenB, and anyone else who would like to do it. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Thomas Kinkade rocks!

I purchased this curriculum a couple of months ago. I have really liked this curriculum since the first time I viewed it, but today was the first day the nephew used it. Let me tell you, it is AMAZING. He totally got it from the first thing. He was so excited about drawing, and when I pointed out to him that letters were just straight lines and curved lines his handwriting IMMEDIATELY improved. :-)

I love the way Thomas Kinkade, the "Painter of Light", reassures the students that "God has given each of us many talents, and each of us were blessed with different levels of talent to draw. If you can draw a straight line and a curved line than you can draw ANYTHING."

The box says it is recommended for K-8 grades, and it is written for the young reader as well. It really awakened a desire to draw in my nephew, one who never really cared for that. :-) I am just so excited, and so satisfied with this program I had to share it with you.

OH, he also includes Bible devotionals in the teacher guide for the end of each unit. :-)

Love,

Wendy Darling

I need an indoor pool.....

I LOVE WATER AEROBICS!! There, I said it. I really do. Tonight I joined the nephew at the city pool. IN PUBLIC. IN SHORTS. Ya'll just do not know how much I had to overcome to do that. It took some MAJOR courage. Seriously. But, I am SO glad I did. It is so much fun! And, I have not hurt like this in a long time. But, it is a good hurt. :-)

I get up and exercise at least 5 mornings a week. For at least 45 minutes. I have been known to also do a shorter session at night as well. But, this really worked EVERYTHING. :-) I can't believe how great I feel.

When I first signed him up the instructor tried to get me to join too. I have known her for years. She is a wonderful woman, and was my aerobics instructor for two years in college. But, all I could picture was a bunch of skinny college girls in bikinis. NO WAY was I going in there in shorts.

I was wrong. There were women of all shapes and sizes. One lady, God bless her, was about my size. I said to myself, "If she can do it, I can do it!" And I let the instructor know that next time, I would be joining them.

Once I got the balance down, to where I wasn't trying to "float away" I did great!! :-) I would love to be able to do it at least 2-3 times a week. But, unfortunately the city pool closes on August 12th. So, my love of water aerobics is short lived. But, next year I will be skinnier, and ya'll, I will be out there the FIRST DAY! :-)

If you have never done water aerobics you really should try it. It will be the best workout you every had. You really don't feel like you're doing a lot, because you're underwater so it is so much easier on your joints. But, when you get out OH MY! You definitely feel it. :-)

I sure wish there was a YWCA or something around here. :-) LOL.. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Weigh-in #2

We had our second weigh-in this morning. I lost 1.2 lbs. in the last 10 days. It's not as much as my first weigh-in, and I have to admit that I was bummed at first. Of course, I had to show excitement when I weighed, because the nephew was there and he lost 1.8 lbs. I didn't want him to be discouraged, so I couldn't show discouragement either.

I have worked through it, and I feel good about it now. Many friends have been very encouraging, reminding me that all of the exercise builds muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat. It could also be hormones. I remember the exact same thing happened to that guy, Ross, on Celebrity Fit Club. He lost 15 lbs. the first week and NOTHING the second weigh in, even though they knew he had stuck to the diet and exercised everyday. Dr. Ian told him he had "shocked" his system, and to keep doing what he was doing and it would pick up again, so I am heeding the same advice. :-)

I will not give up. :-) As one dear friend reminded me, I didn't "pile it on" overnight, and it isn't going to come off overnight. :-) Babysteps..... :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

My Childhood home....





Owlhaven is having a carnival. :-) Blog about your childhood home, and then head on over to owlhaven and sign the linky thing. :-) Have fun. :-)





Well, I actually have a couple of childhood homes, but I really liked one home. We lived in this home in La Porte, Tx from my 3rd grade year to 7th grade. We lived 3 or 4 blocks from the school, so I was able to ride my bicycle to school. This house was BIG. It was white with black trim. It had 3 front doors, and a BIG porch with a swing. :-) The door on the left lead into my bedroom, the middle (which we actually used as THE front door) opened into the living room, and the third led into Mom's office/family room. (Mom sold AVON, and therefore got an "office") I remember that it had blue, shag carpet. And the kitchen had that UGLY 60s/70s yellow wall paper that had huge yellow and white flowers. You just have to see it to appreciate how hideous the wallpaper was.



Mom and Daddy's bedroom was on the other side of the house from the "kids rooms". I started off with my own room, which connected to my sisters room. It was really big, and cool. :-) Unfortunately, I was afraid of the dark, and a "scaredy cat". The attic was in the bathroom! The bathroom was "centered" to my room, my brother's room and the kitchen. There were 3 doors that entered to the bathroom ya'll. 3. They all had latch hooks, and if you had to go BAD they didn't all get locked. Know what I'm saying?



SO, since I was so scared I ended up sharing a room with my sister "Queen B". We are very close in age, and it made it easier to share things, like the stereo. :-) We would go to sleep listening to "Mystery theater" on the radio. :-) Which was okay, because she was sleeping with me. :-) I'm brave when I'm not alone. :-)



We had a big kitchen, and 1 bathroom, that had 3 doors leading into it. I remember that after we moved there we started having the family get togethers at our house. :-) We lived on a nice street. We skated on the porch, and Queen B broke her arm skating OFF the porch.

We had these steps that led up the porch, and they had these HUGE orange flowers on either side. We called them "elephant ears". There were white columns all around the front porch. At Christmas Daddy would wrap them with green garland. I thought it was beautiful. :-) I really loved that house. We went back to see it a few years ago, and I just about cried. The people living there now painted it, and let everything grow up. It looked like a jungle. :-(



We also had GREAT neighbors. Our next door neighbors were a very nice elderly couple, the Adam's. Mr. Adams made chairs from coke cans. He was so nice. We would go sit on his screened in porch, drink coffee, shell peas and talk politics. I was about 9 or 10 years old. :-)



Down the street was an older lady, Mrs. Lafores, who was a former school teacher. She painted, and made pictures from seeds and jewelry. She was my introduction into arts and crafts. I loved visiting her.



The older couple at the end of the street, the Cole's, new my mother for years. Mrs. Cole made my Mama's wedding dress. :-) It was just that kind of place ya'll. :-)



I will never forget Sundays at that house. Sunday was "family day." After breakfast the entire family would clean the house, and it had to be finished by NOON, because that is when the Oilers played. :-)



I can still picture all of the boxes of Girl Scout cookies stacked by the front door, the year we sold over 400 boxes. I can picture the Christmas tree in the Office/Den. I remember that is where I made my first cake by myself, and attempted my first decorating venture. It was a small heart layed on top of a large ya'll. I was gifted, I'm telling you. :-) That is also the house we lived in the first year I stayed home by myself on Halloween. I stayed to hand out candy. It was only about an hour, but hey, it was big time to me. :-) I remember we had a huge back porch, screened in. Most of my best memories happened while living in that house. :-)



Well, I guess that is a long enough walk down memory lane. Thank you for joining me. :-)



Love,

Wendy Darling

#100 WOO HOO!!

Strike up the band, ya'll. This is my 100th post! :-) OK, so it took over a year to get to, but I MADE IT! :-) And let me tell you, it has been FUN. :-) I have learned so much over this last year. And to think, I almost didn't keep it, because I thought I was lame. :-) I'm glad I did. I am glad I have learned how to put pictures on here, how to link, how to put video links on here, etc.... And I learned it all from ya'll. :-) So, let me say "THANK YOU!!" :-)

Ok, now on to other news. Awhile back my dear BIL bought a new camera. I was/am guilty of the sin of "coveting" said camera. It does THIS ya'll:

I hope you don't mind that I took that from your blog, Laslo. :-)

Anyway, this camera is SO COOL. In my opinion it is the KING of camera's. :-) I do have my own digital camera that my family got me for my birthday last year, and I have LOVED it. I am very happy with it, believe me. I am VERY grateful for it. But, I did covet Laslo's camera. It does so much more! :-)

Well, Laslo is getting a NEW camera, and is selling me his! :-) So, come October this baby is MINE. :-)

I can't believe it. :-) I will be even more of a "picture taking fool" than I already am. :-) Can you tell I am excited?!) I am definitely going to need more albums from Creative Memories. LOL....

Love,

Wendy Darling

Come to the carnival!!!

There will be clowns, cotton candy..... OK, OK. There won't be clowns or cotton candy, but it will still be a lot of fun. :-)

Just click on the little button (see the button with the cute little house? Yeah, that one) and go on over to owlhaven to see all of the details. It's all about our childhood homes. :-) Sounds like a lot of fun. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

I have seen the future, and it just drove through East Texas....

I was driving back through town, and driving very slowly on the shoulder was a truck that had a sign saying "CAUTION: Solar Car ahead." Just in front of this truck was indeed THIS:

I was so shocked, ya'll. We just don't see things like this. Yes, every other "hick" was doing the same double take I was doing. :-) At first I didn't even see a driver.

I immediately thought, "I wish the nephew was here to see this. This is a homeschool lesson waiting to be taught." I then remembered I have my digital camera. :-) SO, I drove about a mile or so ahead, and pulled over into a parking lot. I parked parallel to the highway. I watched out my side mirror for about 5 or 6 minutes, and then I saw the "front car" with its flashers on. I turned on my camera and got it ready. I clicked at just the right time to take this picture. :-) Isn't it cool? (Yes, we have already established that I am a hick) :-) I swear ya'll, that thing doesn't stand more than 2 1/2 feet high. I didn't even know there was a driver in it until I took the picture. :-) And now I have the theme to "The Jetson's" running through my head for some reason. :-)

Love,

Wendy Darling

I have to have music!! :-)

I actually created an "exercise CD". OK, so it started out as my "homemade Flylady cleaning CD." That's a mouthful isn't it? :-)

I have to have music when I am cleaning, or exercising....well, most of the time really. I love music. Most kinds of music. I can live without Heavy Metal, most rap, Old School, things like that. But, for the most part I would consider myself eclectic when it comes to music. :-)

I have often said that I could make a soundtrack of my life. A lot of time when I hear a song from my past I can tell you where I was living when it was popular, around how old I was, and the "highlights" of what was going on in my life. I know, I'm weird....

I also love to make CDs. My brother likes to make fun of me, because I HATE to waste space on a CD. I think it is a waste of money not to use every second of available space. For me, if I like the song, and there is space available, it's on there baby. I can have Carman come right after George Strait or Harry Connik Jr. and I am one happy girl. :-) Actually, I have a CD like that. I believe Ella Fitzgerald follows the Carman song. See, told you I like all types. :-)

My brother is the KING of mixed CDs. He can make one like nobody's business. The way he chooses what songs go together, etc. He has a system, and it works! And, he doesn't mind wasted space. :-) Anytime we take a vacation he always puts travel CDs together for us. On our last vacation to Oklahoma he made special ones that had only songs from our childhood. There was no track listing, so we would be surprised by every song that came on. It was a lot of fun, and I think really made the trip special.

SO, to get back to my original thought, the cleaning/exercise CD. Here is what I listen to every morning at 5:45 AM when I begin my exercise routine.

"That Thing you Do" - from the movie soundtrack
"Fly Me to the Moon" - by Frank Sinatra
"Rock Around the Clock" - by Bill Haley and the Comets
"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy..." by Bette Midler
"Shine" - by the Newsboys
"Breaking Free" - from the High School Musical Soundtrack
"Dance With Me Tonight" - from the That Thing You Do soundtrack
"Celebration" - by Kool and the Gang
"Twistin' the Night Away" - by Sam Cooke
"Under the Boardwalk" - by The Drifters
"Joy to the World" - by Three Dog Night
"Chantilly Lace" - The Big Bopper
"Dancing Queen" by Abba
"At the Hop" - by Danny and the Juniors
"Makin' It" - by David Naughton
"Flight of the Bumblebee" - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov he wrote it. I am not sure who is performing it.
"I'm Free " - from the Footloose Soundtrack
" Footloose" - from the Footloose Soundtrack
" Wind Beneath My Wings" - by Bette Midler
"Do I Make You Proud" - by Taylor Hicks

Now, I ask you, aside from "flying" what do these have in common? NOTHING. :-) But, they sure get me through the hour of exercise. :-) I am now up to 1.8 miles on the cycle machine each morning, not to mention the stretching and floor exercises. BUT, the last song, that's just for me. During that song I do NOTHING. NADA. ZILCH. I just sit, relax, and thank God that I got through the hour. :-)

SO, what do you like to listen to? What gets you going to clean or exercise? If you could make the "perfect" CD what would be on it? Be sure to comment and let me know. :-) (Yes, this is a shameless way to get you to leave comments. :-) )

Love,
Wendy Darling

I have the best family in the world!!!!

My family decided to surprise me with a reward for having such a great first weigh-in. :-) They pre-ordered the new Eric Dodge CD for me. :-) It comes out August 1st. and can be pre-ordered at Amazon. If you would like to listen to a sample of the new album just visit Eric at his myspace page. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Happy early birthday.....

Today we had an early birthday party for the youngest nephew. He will be 5 in a couple of weeks. As I have stated in a previous post he is obsessed with Spiderman. So, I made him a Spiderman cake. He watched me decorate about 85% of it, to make sure I did it just right. :-)

I also had to make another doll cake. This one was requested by someone my sister

works with. I agreed to meet her in town to deliver it. I waited at the designated spot for about 45 minutes. She never showed. So this lovely darling is now in my freezer.

I am SURE there is a good explanation for why she never showed, and I am sure I will find out about it tomorrow. If nothing else, I am getting lots of practice doing doll cakes. :-)

Love,

Wendy Darling

By request.... Black Bean Salad

I have had a request for the Black Bean Salad recipe. :-) This is GREAT for the summer time, because there is NO cooking. :-)

Ingredients:

1 can of black beans
1 can of Fiesta Corn
1 green bell pepper; chopped
1 small jar of roasted red pepper; chopped
1 small onion; chopped
1/2 C of black olives; sliced
2 cloves of garlic; minced
2 T cilantro; chopped
1 small lime
chili powder
red pepper
salt

Drain the beans and corn together in a colander, put in large bowl. Add all other ingredients. Squeeze the lime juice into the bowl. I really don't measure the spices, so add to taste. :-) Stir together real well. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes. You can also add a small tomato, chopped or some ROTEL, drained. :-) Enjoy. It is wonderful on a tortilla! :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Phase 2.....

Okay, the "official" number lost is 14 lbs. and 9 oz. :-) I am still in shock. :-)

I told ya'll last week that when Phase 2 came around I would let you know what I'm allowed. :-) I am now allowed MEAT!! WOO HOO, I am doing the Happy Dance!! :-) Basically I can now have 3 oz. of meat a day. I know, not much. But, after the last 9 days of no meat, I'll take what I can get. :-) That "meat" is chicken, turkey, ground sirloin or extra lean beef, and lamb. OR I could have seafood. 3 oz. of tuna, Halibut, Salmon, Snapper or Striped Bass. ALL of this meat is either baked, grilled or broiled. NO FRIED.

I can also have cereal. Well, certain cereals. I get 1 1/2 C a day of cold cereal and 1/2 a C of hot. I am now allowed 4 tsp. of sugar or sugar substitute. (This will drastically improve the taste of the oatmeal, believe me.)

I can also have 2 T of Fat Free Mayo, and ICED TEA!! Ya'll just do not know how hard it has been to live in TEXAS in the SUMMER and not drink iced tea. Fresh squeezed fruit juice and fresh squeezed lemonade. :-) I am in HEAVEN over all of the food I am allowed now. :-)

For breakfast I ate 1 1/2 C of Chex rice cereal, 8 oz. of skim milk on the cereal, and strawberries.

For lunch today I ate a 3 oz. Grilled Chicken breast with a little tomatillo sauce, because I am now allowed 1/2 of an avocado. Believe me, I didn't eat near 1/2 of the avocado, but it was wonderful on the chicken. :-) I can also have 1 oz. of low fat cheese now. I had that on my salad, and drank a glass of the aforementioned iced tea.

Afternoon snack was a Very Cherry Yogurt.

For dinner I tried a new green bean recipe that I got straight from the "Fat Smash Diet" book.

Here is the recipe:

Teriyaki Green Beans

Serves 4

1 1 lb. bag of frozen green beans

2 T olive oil

1/4 C of McCormick Grill Mates Teriyaki grilling sauce

1 C Kikkoman stir-fry sauce

3T of House of Tsang classic stir-fry sauce

2 shakes of Worcestershire sauce

2 shakes of soy sauce

2 shakes of Kikkoman teriyaki sauce

Heat oil until very hot.

Drop frozen beans into oil and turn immediately to coat beans with oil.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir until well coated.

Cook on low until tender, approximately 15 minutes.

Season to taste.

I intended to only make a 1/2 recipe, so I combined all of my sauces into a bowl to put with the beans. Then I accidentally put in the whole pound of beans. I still only used the 1/2 stuff of the sauces, and it was perfect!! :-) It really curbed my craving I've been having for Chinese food.

I also had the Seasoned Sweet Potato Fries that Boo Mama told us about, and a spring salad.

I weigh again July 20th. :-) I PRAY it goes as well as this morning. :-) Thank you all again for your support!!

Love,

Wendy Darling

Doing my happy dance, and it is good exercise...... :-)

Today was our first weigh in. :-) The nephew lost 6 lbs. in the last 10 days. :-) I am SO proud of him. :-)

I lost "roughly" 15 lbs. :-) That's right people, 15. That's a 1 and a 5. :-) I am so excited I could bust, but that wouldn't be very pretty. :-)

I say roughly 15, because I can't figure it up correctly. (math is NOT my strong suit) and when I did it on the calculator it came up so close to 15 I didn't know how to convert it. I'll get some help with that later. :-)

I don't mind telling you that the last 9 days have been HARD. But, I have a lot of support, and I am SO GRATEFUL for it. :-)

I know that rest will not come off this quickly, but I sure hope it stays steady. :-) Thank ya'll for your encouraging words and prayers. They have really helped, especially these last few days when I really wanted to quit. :-)

Love,

Wendy Darling

I've been convicted....

OK, I was checking out some new blogs, like people do, and I came across Deedra's blog. She had been tagged to do the " 5 Things I love about Jesus meme". She then said, " if you are reading this, consider yourself tagged! ....I'll do it on the honor system, ...WWJD?....Let me know when you post yours, I'd love to read it!!" I started not to do it, but, as my brother says, "I am letting a total stranger guilt me into blogging." LOL... Just kidding, Deedra. :-)

So, here goes: :-)

1. He paid the debt that I, literally, could never pay. And that just amazes me. To know that we can be saved through GRACE, and not by anything we DO.

2. He is THE example of love. He truly defines love as a verb by His actions.

3. I could not get through a single day if I did not KNOW He was there guiding me.

4. HE LIVES!!

5. It always amazed me that He ate with the "sinners". He didn't just talk to, or eat with, the Pharisees or religous leaders of the time. He was with the "common" people, because THEY were the ones who needed Him, but more importantly who would listen. It really teaches us about ministry, and how we should treat one another. You don't send a doctor to the people who are well, rich and beautiful. You go to the very ones who are ill, poor, and truly in need. It may not be pretty, but it is more effective, and it is exactly what we should do.

OK, if you just read this then consider yourself tagged. :-) Please leave me a comment, so I can stop by and read it. ;-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

How far we have come.....

Isn't technology wonderful? We can contact people in so many different ways now. Cell phones, pagers, e-mail, text messaging, IM.... it never ends. We make friends we have never met, and maybe never will. We are always in a position to be in contact with someone, usually.

It's great. But, sometimes I have to wonder, "is it too much?" I know I'm not the first to ask this question, or have this thought. :-) My "epiphany" came this morning in church. I have recently joined the church that my family started attending about 7 months ago. It is big. Before the services start they have a "slide show" on the big screens. The slide show is basically the announcements to remind you of upcoming church events, etc. I think it is great. Really cuts down on time to allow more worship music. Anyway, one of the slides was a reminder to turn off all cell phones, pagers, etc... Just like the kind you see at the movies.

It was then that it hit me. Maybe we are little too accessible. :-) I don't know. I do know that I went from a person who used to say, "I don't want a cell phone." to one who won't leave the house now without it. I have LOVED having it. :-) It is very handy in all situations, not just emergencies. If I am at the grocery store it really saves time, and sometimes money, if I need to call home and ask "Do we need....?"

I just thought I would share this with you. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

I got tagged by Kwizgiver....

The Straight Eight:Here are 8 random things about me and/or my life.....

1. When I was little I had to eat the M&Ms one color group at a time. Yeah, I think I was a little OCD.

2. I love scrapbooking/faithbooking

3. I have homeschooled my nephew for the last 7 years.

4. I love George Strait. That man has the best smile. :-)

5. I was almost expelled once from school, when I participated in a "walk out" to get prayer back in school. Yeah, I was a little rebel. :-)

6. I went to college on a homemaking scholarship and a choir scholarship.

7. I used to walk in my sleep. When I was in high school I had a job at Dairy Queen. I would dream I was at work, and would always wake up at the same time, and in the same spot of my room. I would reach for the handle on the ice cream machine, and couldn't grasp it. That is when I would slowly come out of it. I would then have to find my way to the light switch and turn it on, which would wake my sister. She was NOT a happy camper. :-(

8. I love to bake. Which doesn't really help when I am on a diet. :-)

Participants:1. Make a list of 8 random things about yourself and/or your life on your own blog.2. Tag 8 other bloggers leaving a comment on their blog with a link to your post.

I tag: Cleggy, Laslo, Queen B, Boo Mama, Dee Dee, Big Mama, and anyone else who would like to, consider yourself tagged. :-) Let me know you did it, so I can come and read it. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

It's been 5 days....

And I am so ready for some real food. I have exercised everyday, except yesterday, and I have eaten enough fruits and vegetables to keep a farmers market in business just by myself. And we're not even going to talk about how often I have to go to the bathroom. On the outside I am smiling, eating right, and exercising. Life is great. On the inside I am screaming "I WANT PIZZA!!!"

I feel it is working though. My muscles are sore, I feel my stomach shrinking, and I am eating more than I was. But, it is the stuff I should be eating, and not just "grabbing something small" with a lot of empty calories.

So, I have 4 more days of Phase 1. Next Thursday I can have MEAT, and wheat pasta. I am already dreaming of the boneless, skinless grilled chicken breast I am going to eat, and I'm going to put a little bit of green, tomatillo sauce on it. :-)

I haven't weighed, yet. I do that on July 12th. Please, keep me in your prayers that I don't high jack a Pizza Hut delivery guy in a moment of weakness....

Love,
Wendy Darling

I want to go to Boston...

Our small town does not really have a very good fire works display. And, if it isn't raining it's too hot and humid to sit for hours waiting to watch 10-15 minutes of fireworks. So, the last couple of years we have watched "Boston Pops Orchestra" fireworks display on TV.

Let me just say, this thing is SO COOL. I would LOVE to go to Boston and see this in person. The way they time the fireworks with the music in like a symphony in the air. They even played the theme to "Sesame Street" and the fireworks exploded into geometric shapes and numbers. :-) It is just awesome.

It was so great to see all of the military people there watching it with their families. I prayed for the ones who aren't here tonight, but are fighting elsewhere, and sacrificing their lives for us, and for the freedom of others around the world. God bless them.

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th, and remember those who have fought for our freedom, especially the ones who didn't come home.

Love,
Wendy Darling

Happy 4th of July!!

Restaurant Meme:

I have seen this on several blogs, and today DeeDee at It Coulda Been Worse said if we wanted to "consider ourselves tagged". So, I decided to do so.

I too will "bend" the rules, because I live in a town that has few "original" (shall we say) restaurants. Most of them are the basic burger and pizza chains, and that just isn't "Good Eats" as Alton Brown would say. :-)

Here we go:

1. Larissa House - I absolutely love this place!! It is most definitely a one of kind. It is housed in one of the "original" homes in our town. The Chicken Fried Steak is to die for. I also love the "Texas Toothpicks" and the "Southwest Wrap". It is also very reasonably priced. OH, and you have to have the Blueberry Tea if you ever visit. :-) And be sure to sit in the garden room. Being in that room, drinking Blueberry Iced Tea and listening to Harry Connick Jr. play softly in the background. It is the setting for a great novel set in Texas. :-)

2. Jalepeno Tree- Yes, this is a "chain" mexican restaurant, but it is very good. I especially like their quesadillas.

3. Legends Old Time Burger Cafe- Wonderful, HUGE burgers. Definitely worth the money. :-)

4. King's Wok - It may not be the "greatest", but it is the best around here. I really like this Chinese Buffet. :-) I always get the same thing; crab cakes, fried rice, sauteed mushrooms, and several chicken dishes. :-)

5. In a nearby town there is an AWESOME mexican restaurant called "Mercados". I LOVE their fajitas. It comes with garlic butter ya'll. I swear I could just dip the meat in the butter and eat that all night. :-)

OK, now I'm hungry and because of my new "food program" I can't have ANY of this. Not right now anyway. :-)

Love,
Wendy