Not Even Lions

So, this holiday season I felt very productive because I completed almost all of my Christmas shopping, not only online, but EARLY! It was stress-free... you know, surf the web, add to basket, checkout, and receive goods a couple days later...piece of cake. For most people.

At this point, I had just accepted that those gifts purchased would just be in Jackson by now. Whatever. So Over it.

Well, I had ordered something else through another account that had Matthews stored in it. I caught it right after the order though, so I thought "I'll do ANOTHER address change but just do 'Blythe Matthews' from Jackson back to El Paso. And maybe I can catch this thing before it gets shipped." I thought I had it all figured out. ( I never have anything figured out)

Smarty pants me, did the address change, and none of the other packages had made it back to Mississippi yet that originally were coming to El Paso. So to save you any more confusion, because frankly I'm the only one that understands the mess. My "stress free" shopping has turned into my gifts going back and forth across the country multiple times. I resorted to taping notes to mailboxes saying, "PLEASE DELIVER ANY PACKAGES WITH THE NAME MATTHEWS!!!!!!" Cayce is sick of hearing about it, and just gets so mad. And it's just getting to the point where it's embarrassing...

The most recent debacle was that I ordered something last minute, and concerned if I used my name as the receiver, it would be lost, so I did my sister's name? WHOKNOWSWHY! I had a freak out that she may have done an address change back when she got married. After getting over that, I track the shipment this morning, and I notice i left the R out of the address. It was going to be coming to "108 overbook" instead of "overbRook"... SHIT

Today is my first day of Thanksgiving Break! As always, it could not have come at a more perfect time. The kids needed it. The teachers needed it. It was time!! Only downside is that we are going to be staying in El Paso for Thanksgiving this year. It's my first one away from my family, so I have a whole week to myself of doing absolutely nothing. Well, at least nothing that I have to do. I plan on cleaning and getting a lot of Christmas shopping done. We will see....

I started decorating for Christmas this weekend. I know, I know.. it's not even Thanksgiving, yet. The way I am justifying it is that I am going to be going home to Mississippi on December 16 for Christmas, so that leaves me little time to enjoy my decorations.

Yesterday, I was feeling crafty...Now, when I feel crafty, I am usually quickly reminded 10 minutes into the project that I am NOT the crafty Matthews sister, which results in waste of money, and a stomping, frustrated fit, usually. Well, I am proud to say that my craft went off without a hitch! Sure, it was simple, but even the simplest crafts I get frustrated with, ADD kicks in, and I'm done.

So, here is what I did....I absolutely love a banner. I have a "trick or treat" banner for Halloween and  a "happy holidays" for Christmas. Well, as I was decorating my mantle yesterday, the top needed something, but I'm not really into wreaths, so I thought... A BANNER! I didn't know where to find another holiday banner (especially in El Paso- didn't want it to say Feliz Navidad...) I didn't want to order one online... I wanted one NOW! So, I came to the conclusion that I was just going to have to make one.

Everyone is obsessed with Pinterest. Me? I'm slowly, but surely getting into it. I hardly search the internet with my computer, and the Pinterest app on my phone seems to always be on the fritz... so it's been hard for me to get in to.

My favorite thing to do is look for ideas for my "Dream Home", which is exciting, but strange for me, since I haven't always had an interest in it...

Growing up, my family would drive around every Sunday afternoon looking at houses or going to Open Houses, whether we were in the market or not. I was so bored. Nap time for Blythe. My mother and sister are designers, so they would get really into it. I didn't care. They were good at it, passionate about it, even.  I was apathetic.

Since I've gotten older, my interests have grown. I care a little bit more. Mostly, it's because I bought my first house, and I was able to decorate it however I wanted, with the help of my designer mother, of course. She had to motivate me and steer me in the right directions. Now that Cayce and I are in our own house, it was fun finding our decorating style together. Something new. Something fresh. Something ours.

But, being a girl, you're never satisfied, and always looking towards the future. So, while I have my current house decorated how I love, I can't help but make folders of pictures I find on the internet about my future "Dream House" that I will one day find the perfect spot and either build or remodel. Until then, I'll keep pinning

Here are some of the things that I have found on Pinterest that I absolutely love.

 I wish I could say that I've had all these really important things going on, since you last heard from me, but it's just not so.

-Halloween is a HUGE deal here. I mean, it's fun, exciting, but I have never experienced Halloween like I have here. It just seems like the Hispanic culture gets way more in to it than it is back home. I could be wrong, but so far, that's my experience. The decorations were ridiculously awesome.. For example: 5 vintage porsches in the front yard with zombies driving them for the "death race", in house DJ's in the front yards, plane crash scene with actual small plane crashed in the yard?... i mean decked out. I'm already brainstorming for next year...

-It's cold here all of the sudden, which means it's FREEZING in my house because I have a swamp cooler. What's that you ask? The worst invention ANYONE has ever come up with. I remember when we were looking at houses to rent, I kept noticing signs on houses advertising "refrigerated air". Didn't really know what it meant, so didn't worry about it. Now I know that there's a reason why they advertise it, because you WANT THAT, not a swamp cooler. Let me explain... I'm not real sure what it is or completely understand it, but somehow it PUTS HUMIDITY/MOISTURE into my air.... WHAT?????? Literally it's a dial and a switch. Switch is "high-off-low" Dial is "9 8 7 6 5" 5 being the coolest. It just runs unless you have it on off.

1) If it's raining, it simply doesn't work because there is too much humidity in the air.

2)You have to vent the air. If I am in the kitchen (the hottest room in our house), i have to either open a window or the back door, so that it will pull all the cold air to that window. You have to give the air an escape! CRAZY! Of course, we were all sealed up for the first month, sweating our asses off, trying to keep all the "cool air" in. Then we learned.

Well, now that it's cold, apparently you can't just flip the switch to turn the heat on. There's a whole process to shutting down your swamp cooler for the season. You have to seal it up and do some kinda switcheroo. Sure, we could go ahead and do it, since the low is in the 30's, but it will randomly get up to 90 again and we will need the wonderful swamp cooler again. So, me, keith, hairless ellie, and olcase will just freeze until the desert decides it's done getting hot.

I'll be honest, I'm not a big meat eater. I'm not a vegetarian, and it's not that I don't care for it, I just don't really have to have it in my life. I can't tell the difference between a steak from Shapley's to Ruth's Chris to Outback to Western Sizzlin. All I can tell is if it is tough or not.

Chicken, I love. I can tell if a piece of chicken is fried good or not.. :) Kind of my weakness..

Now, turkey... I don't really care for much at all. Turkey on Thanksgiving? Eh, could definitely do without for sure. Ground Turkey? I hate how pale it is raw... and the texture is kinda weird to me.

So, when I saw this recipe....Asian Turkey Meatballs with Lime Sesame Dipping Sauce from Skinny Taste a few things jumped out at me. good and bad things.

This is my cute little kitchen. I really love it, minus the old, outdated appliances.  When we first moved in this summer, our dishwasher wasn't working. It was straight from the 80's. I hope to never hand wash another dish for the rest of my life. Absolutely. terrible.

Cute Flea Market table that I repainted. Love it.

Me and Penn, Labor Day 2011

Engagement Pictures, New Orleans, LA 2011

Ellie, El Paso

July 23, 2003.

The day I started my first blog.

My, how things have changed from the first blog to this one.

I have always had a fascination with blogs. The way people open up their lives to the world, the different purposes for having one, or the randomness in having one. It's just really neat. Reading blogs is a way to make you feel not so alone in this crazy world.

You can read about someone else's mess of a life (why they put the mess out there for us to read, is something else fascinating about it all), you can get a fabulous recipe that has been tried by a real person-not just the author of the cookbook, you can read about tremendous victories in someone's life-whether it be getting a new job or surviving an illness, you can share the experiences one has when welcoming a precious baby into this crazy world, or you can simply keep in touch with family and friends that live across the country.

Some people may think, "who wants to read about their life?" That's the beauty of it, you don't care if anyone reads it. It's purely entertainment, a source of venting, a way to hold yourself accountable, a way for others (if they choose to read) to hold you accountable... of course, it all depends on your purpose, if there is one at all.

My purpose?

Entertainment for myself. Therapeutic. Share my El Paso adventures.

Welcome.