Book - Shadow of the Wind

With more time on my hands lately, I have been reading more. The latest book that I finished is called Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafon. The novel is about a young boy who discovers a book by an unknown author, falls in love with it and tries to find out WHO the author is and why all of his other works have been intentionally destroyed. Along with his answers, he unravels an old love story and tragedy.

The read was exhilarating, the author's words were poignant, powerful. This book was given to me by a friend last Christmas and I am ashamed that it took me almost a year to indulge in it. It is a marvelous read.

2011 - The Bad and the Ugly

2011 has been a really bleak year for me. I don't usually like to come on here and flaunt the negatives in my life, but I feel so completely unstable right now that I might as well.

Our troubles started at the end of May...two weeks into my daughter's summer vacation. She fell off of her bike into an embankment of rocks resulting in a broken arm that not only needed a cast, but surgery that included pins in her elbows. The hour and a half that her father and I waited for her to get out of surgery was tense, but despite a summer spent on the couch, everything turned out okay.

Here is Jadyn in the emergency room right after it happened:



Here is Jadyn with her cast:



Here is one of the pins that Jadyn had lodged in her arms for four weeks:



The next ugly event that happened in my life...well, I don't want to talk about it still. But it's a big one and it makes me very, very sad...and recovery from it will take years and maybe therapy.

Finally, this past weekend, I got rear ended on the highway and my car, that was 7 months away from being paid off, was badly injured. I think that dealing with the insurance company of the person that hit me has been the most stressful situation of my entire life. I don't know why they think it is okay for a person--who is not at fault in the matter--to go days (I'm on day 5 now) without transportation. I have a 15 mile drive to and from work daily. I have errands to run, shopping to do, a kid to cart around. I am going to have to take on a brand new car payment eventually--and we can't even get the ball rolling until the responsible party admits fault. They will not answer their telephone calls and they will not call in and file a claim. The police report won't be ready for 30 days, according to the trooper who is to file it. I am beyond stressed out, I cry all the time, it is all so overwhelming and I feel so...alone.

To top it off, my body shop says they think it will be totaled; HOWEVER, they cannot even look at the car until the insurance company contacts them...and the insurance company will not contact them until they have "proof" that their client was at fault.

My Car:





So...maybe...now that I've gotten that all out there...I will feel better about it. Writing it out doesn't seem as bad as it does in my head...nobody died and everything will be fixed in due time (just like Jade's arm)...but why can't I keep from crying every second of the day?

Turkey Day 2011

This is how I started Thanksgiving 2011:



2011 Turkey Trot 5K

My time: 28:19

I felt really good about stuffing my face after slaughtering my previous 5K record!

So Much Change...

Wow would you look at that. It's been one year, one month and two days since my last post...I'm actually surprised I remember the password to this whole blogger.com thing!

So much has changed since October 2010. Some good, some bad...all different.

On the plus side? I've lost quite a bit of weight--which was a constant struggle that I wrote about often...and I run all the freaking time now.

...and i'm old now...

My favorite part of having kept a blog oh-so-long ago? It's when I make new friends...and they discover it (some having known about it for awhile, but waiting for the perfect time to pounce with the information)...and make comments to me about it. That's awesome. So, thank you for that and you know who you are.

So...Happy Thanksgiving 2011...Merry Christmas and have a Brilliant New Year!



LOVE,

Book Club - The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Our book club book is reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett this month--and I'm jumping the gun by posting this so early since we don't meet until mid-November, but I have to pimp this book out. It is amazing. It is a story told in three points of view about African American maids in the early 1960's. I couldn't put this book down--it was amazing and I hope everybody in the world reads it and enjoys it as much as I did!!!

Let's Play Catch Up!

The past four months have been filled with work, kickball, soccer, 5K's, tennis, book club, new school year, birthdays, friends and babies! With all of that on my plate, I have found it hard to sit down and blog, although I miss it dearly.

Important Lopez points are below:

Our Summer Kickball team had our best season yet, even getting 2nd place in the league tournament. Go Balls!

Hubs and I ran the 5K Midnight Streak and were pretty pleased with our times, considering we went in blind, without training for months!

Hubs and I ran the Tulsa Race for the Cure--and I got my best time ever in a 5K, which was a very big deal for me.

One of my besties had a baby girl that I adore and a month and a half later, my sister-in-law had her second son who I lurve sooo much!

Hubs and I spent hours and hours playing tennis--during the extreme summer temperatures, we played around 10pm - midnight and that was much fun.

After quite the hiatus, I finally picked up the leisurely art of reading again and have read many books--having just finished the trilogy by Steig Larsson, who wrote The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Oh…and best of all I have lost 12 pounds!!! Hard core diet and exercise--no pills, no boot camp and no bucket list to aide in my progress.

Here is what October 2010 has in store for us [in order]: Saturday football for Hubs, weekly kickball, Daughter's birthday, another 5K, trip to Six Flags, Hubs birthday, Halloween Party, Stepson's birthday, Halloween! Hopefully I'll be a good blogger and update as the events occur, rather than four months later…

I mean, I must, though, if you are going to see my Halloween costume, right? The first time I've REALLY dressed up in YEARS!

And if you missed my birthday party post, please see below!

***My 30th Birthday***

It is amazing to me that I spent an entire year counting down to my big 3-0 and stop blogging 3 days before the big day. That's dedication, right?

The Lopez life is a crazy one and it has been go-go-go since then...but I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I didn't write about the best birthday party I've ever had! I love my friends and family for making it beyond special.

And now, the deets...four months later...[please be sure to check out the entertainment section!]

Food/Beverage
My parents supplied the alcohol in the form of a keg--that we totally floated, which may have had help with all of the beer pong that was played! And my Jell-O shots were amazing--we even put little plastic babies in the virgin Jell-O shots for the pregnant girls--one of the girls being a whore who sleeps with other women's husbands while she is married to their husbands best friend! Hubs smoked brisket and we got the best Mac 'n Cheese in OKC from Iron Starr BBQ. mmmmm! Rum soaked melon balls and delicious brownies topped off the birthday feast!

Jell-O Shots:

And here is my pretty cake, made by my mother-in-law and all about MOI!:


Entertainment
One of my besties [Racy Lace!] ordered a moonwalk for my party and the man delivered it at 1pm that Saturday and didn't pick it up until the next morning, so we had a lot of fun with that [as you can see in the pictures!]



The highlight of my entertainment was a stripper. A female stripper. I got a female because I knew that girls would stick around to watch another girl strip, but guys would hightail it out of there so fast! ha ha. Men. I will say that this was the first time I ever got a lap dance, and thank goodness I was too drunk to remember it! Oh...and the stripper loved the moonbounce!  also below, sitting next to me is a dirty whore who slept with my husband and is pregnant with his kid...in this picture...at MY birthday party...and then proceeds to pass the baby off as her husbands for the next two years.  A lovely piece of white trash, this girl.


Party Favors
My party favors were little champagne bottles with my picture--an idea I actually stole from a highschool classmate from facebook!

It was a wonderful night...with wonderful people...at least, from what I can remember it was!

T-minus-5 Days and Counting...

I like to blame the Gemini in me for my capricious personality. It basically gives me a valid excuse for getting bored of things easily--and makes me feel better about not completing my Bucket List...oh I came so close. In five days, I will have crossed that threshold to 30 and I'm quite excited about it. (Okay...so I'm mostly excited about the party!) I don't know where the time went, but it's here and I'm lovin' every bit of it.

The Lopezes have been so busy these past months--so much of which I would ordinarily post on here, but haven't...I'd like to blame the Gemini for that fail as well. We had a fantastic ski trip with our friends in March and we had an entire kickball season where we had our best season yet! My stepson ran a track meet this month and graduated into middle school! My daughter got numerous awards at her assembly and was promoted to the fourth grade.

The biggest 'away' thing has been the fact that we spent 3.5 months renovating our house...Andy did it all on his own...and I have before and after pictures that I can't wait to post!

The most exciting time I spent away from blogland was the weekend of April 17th. I fulfilled three Bucket List items that weekend and had one of the most glorious times ever with my BFF. I went to Dallas to have my girls weekend (check!) and we went to an AMAZING drag show (check!) at the Rose Room. I am now obsessed with drag queens--I LOVE THEM! The next night, I had a whole lotta shots and got my ass up on stage and sang karaoke (check!) with the girls! I can't put into words how fun this weekend was (although I tried!) and how much it meant to me. My BFF is amazing. She has been such a big part of my life...for almost 20 years...and I love her til death do us part.

Below are a few fun pictures of our weekend...and below that are the *FINAL* results of My 30 before 30 bucket list...

Here is a pic of my BFF:

Here is a pic of my favorite Dallas drag queen:

This drag queen had a killer bod:

This drag queen danced to really fun 70's music and it made me like him/her a lot!:

and *PROOF* that I really did get up and sing some karaoke. Four Non-Blondes "What's Up":


And Now...the results of my *BUCKET LIST*:
Read [at least] 30 books in 12 months Made 20/30
Read War and Peace
Create a Self Portrait I tried this...too embarrassing to even publish here
Run a 10K FAIL
Have an impromptu food fight FAIL
Explore Wines [and hopefully find a fav!]
Karaoke [Not just attend, perform]
Spend a Saturday volunteering FAIL
Create a Signature Dish FAIL
Extreme Ironing [any ironing for me is extreme]
Write one letter per month to Jadyn throughout my 30th year.
Have a *girls only* weekend
Make it through 30 days of boot camp [starting June 15! Yikes!]
Watch every episode of The O.C. from start to finish [since sis keeps buggin' about it]
Do a Chinese Fire Drill!
Toilet Paper a house - Mr. Shane was the victim
Run ten 5K's this year [round down to 30 miles! Magic Number: 30!] Made it to 7/10
Lose 25 pounds [I CAN do this] FAIL
Keep a plant alive for a year FAIL
Kill a spider by myself
Find a better alternative to curse words [I'm going to start using terms that I read in G.I. and MLS's blogs to replace my cursing! Bugger!] I am cursing less--but my mind has gotten dirtier. Go figure.
Go to a Drag Show
Family Trip - Just the four of us!
Make New Friends love love love this one!
Read Little Women Currently at page 300/472--so so close
Go Camping - with an actual tent and actual bugs!
Bowl an entire game granny style
Prepare a meal - by myself - and surprise Hubs with it - Jan. 12 turkeyloaf
Every Friday for a month - do not say one thing negative [December]
Play in the mud [Oklahoma Red Dirt] on a rainy day. [Yuck]

Deer Creek Classic 5K - March 6, 2010

With my seventh 5K behind me, I seem to be lacking the motivation to complete my next three by June 2nd. Yesterday's run--with zero training going in--was extremely hard. The course was hellacious...or should I say hillacious, as there were so many uphill battles to conquer. Alas, I did it and am moving forward.

Bucket List: War and Peace

War and Peace
by Leo Tolstoy
This post is a 'twofer', as I get to strike an entire item off of my Bucket List as well as add one more book to my count [however, if I get close to June 2 and my book goal doesn't seem possible, I will be counting this book as '3', since it was 1,256 pages. My list, My rules. Ha!].

I started this book in June, read about 200 pages and stopped. When December rolled around, Hubs asked me about it and then told me to just give up because I was never going to finish the book. Yes, psychological motivation totally works on me…I picked it up mid-December and finished it last night.

The book was amazing and I can see why people would devote their time to reading it more than once. Almost everyone has an opinion of this book, mostly the same: boring and I have since come to the conclusion that those peeps have either not read the book [most likely] or got a crappy translation of the book [possible].

There are so many characters in the book, so many Russian names, but the story was tightly wound around three main families: Rostov, Bolkonsky and Bezukov. Each family is of high society and is connected together through some sort of relations. At first, the characters were so hard to remember and they were constantly called by different names [i.e. Marya, Masha, Marie would be one person], but once the story got flowing, I was hooked.

I would love to know if Natasha Rostov was based on someone that Tolstoy knew. She is described as beautiful, talented and adored, yet her plight and sorrow hit the most in the book leading to a relatively happy ending. Pierre was another favorite character of mine--an bastard child trying to find meaning in life and the true base for happiness. He finds it in the most unlikely place: a prisoner of war camp.

The battle scenes didn't hold my attention as much as the stories surrounding them. The history that Tolstoy threw in there was rather dull, but those bits were few and far between. As a reader 200 years later, it was interesting to see Tolstoy refer to the views of 'historians' about Napoleon, the war, etc. and the numerous books written about the whole debacle.

With over 1,200 pages of material, I could go on and on about how intrigued I was with this book--go over each of my favorite characters, as the list goes on. Had I read War and Peace in highschool or college, I don't think I would have truly appreciated it as much as I did [and I am most certain that going back to read it again wouldn't have been an option and I would have missed out on this magnificent book.]

16/30

Book Review: Reflections in a Golden Eye

Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers was a really dark novel. There were six characters in the novel: The Langdons, The Pendertons, a Filipino servant and a young soldier. Each character was greatly disturbed in his/her own way. Mrs. Penderton was having an affair with Mr. Langdon and even though their spouses knew about it, they ignored it outwardly, but suffered their own demons. Mrs. Langdon was suicidal, caused so much stress to her body that she ended up dying of a heart attack at a young age. Mr. Penderton was extremely angry and took it out on the poor soldier--who was was just a weird character himself. Mr. Penderton actually ended up murdering the young soldier. The little Filipino servant was extremely flamboyant and I could just imagine him dancing around like a fairy. He faithfully served Mrs. Langdon until her death.

And that, there, is pretty much the entire novel in a nutshell. It was short (127 pages!) and the content pretty much surrounded the characters, their interactions and struggles.

Although I didn't love this book, I wouldn't recommend it above two of other McCullers works, which I thoroughly enjoyed: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and The Member of the Wedding.

15/30

Book Club: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe is a novel about a young girl who has just taken her stressful qualifying exams and is spending the summer doing research for her dissertation. In addition to her Harvard graduate work, she has also been asked by her mother to go to her grandmother's house--that has been abandoned for over 20 years--and clean it up to put on the market to pay back taxes. While there, the young girl finds a mysterious key that leads her into the past--and she stumbles upon a family history that she knew nothing about. A family history that goes back to 1692, during the Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Her modern life and her roots combine together to form a very well written story.

This book has piqued my interest in witches and I plan to do more reading (non-fiction) on the subject. It has also brought back my longing for a visit up east to where North America (as we know it) began. I suggested a field trip to Book Club, but they didn't bite. Go figure!

Also in book club this week, we had another special event--a shower for Baby Ventura. We each brought our favorite baby story book so mommy has lots of literature to read to baby. Due early next month, although I hardly think she'll make it to the end of this one, I am so excited to meet Baby Ventura!

14/30

Sweetheart 5K - February 13, 2010

Saturday morning, Tulsa hosted a Sweetheart 5K that I eagerly entered. It had been 3 months since my last run with virtually no activity in between and only two proper jogs to train for it--so, needless to say, I was a bit nervous.
This run turned out to be huge for me, as it was the first one that I have done all the way through without stopping to walk. My time wasn't even in the top three of my best times, but my feat has pleased me beyond any other.  I am so excited to have finished my sixth 5K for the Bucket List...and anticipate our next event in two weeks!
6/10

Going through my posts, I realized that I had not posted my November 7, 2009 run. It marked the halfway point through my list.  5/10

Kelly's Kitchen - Pot Roast and BBQ Sammiches

Almost a year after my last Eating on a Budget entry, I am back with two delicious and money saving recipes from my dear friend, Kelly. Both recipes are made in our slow cooker--which gives us a reason to actually use this wedding gift!

The first meal was a Pot Roast:

Potatoes - $0.75
Celery - $0.94
2 Cans Chicken Broth - $2.00
2 Chicken Breasts - $2.66
Cream of Corn - $0.50
Grand Total: $6.85

We made 7 meals from this (2 dinners and 1 lunch) which brings it to around $0.98/meal. We also threw about 2 servings away because we can only eat so much pot roast before becoming completely sick of it. Also, the prices above are based on the quantity used and we were able to use some of the ingredients (celery/potatoes) to make other dishes. And… coupons are amazing. The chicken broth and cream of corn were each purchased with coupons.


The second meal was Barbeque Beef Sandwiches:

1 Rump Roast - $5.95
BBQ Sauce - $1.00
Bread - $0.75
Grand Total: $7.45

We made 6 meals from this (2 dinners) which brings it to about $1.24/meal. This meal was, by far, the easiest to prepare…just stick the roast in a crock pot with 1/2 cup of water, slather BBQ sauce on top of it and let it cook while you are at work! The meat was so yummy and fell apart easily, making delicious sandwiches!

Thank you so much for these amazing recipes, Kel! You are one of my oldest friends and I heart you so much!!!

Super Bowl Sunday: Colts vs. Saints

I loathe football. I would rather spend the few leisure hours I have off of work doing anything I wanted rather than spending 4+ hours on a Saturday watching football. I've tried to enjoy it, but I don't have it in me--even if I am surrounded by people that I love. Last night was no exception. While *the fam* watched the game, I spent some QT with my daughter and a few minutes on the treadmill. That's just how I roll…and I can see the best commercials today, so I missed nothing.

but I digress…

Although I had no intentions of watching the game, Hubs did ask me who I was rooting for, The Colts or The Saints. I quickly replied with the latter, to which Hubs asked why. It's simple. Reggie Bush plays for The Saints and Kim Kardashian dates him, so I know who he is and therefore feel more familiar with that team. After a quick eye roll, Hubs tells me that I know Peyton Manning as well. My reply was this: No, I do not know who Peyton Manning is. What I do know is that his brother is Eli Manning who played in the Super Bowl a couple of years ago against The Patriots, whose quarterback is Tom Brady, who is married to Gisele Bundchen.

So, the moral of this story: If a player graces the pages of Us Weekly or is a regular on TMZ.com, I know who he is and will root for his team.

Below I have listed a few other ways for an NFL team to be noticed by yours truly:

A player falls out of the back of a moving truck during a domestic dispute (Chris Henry, Bengals)

A player is murdered by his mistress (Steve McNair, Titans)

A player is shot in the leg during a home invasion (Sean Taylor, Redskins) -- in this case, the fact that his love was Andy Garcia's niece didn't factor in at all

A player makes a big show of retiring from the NFL and then immediately returns (Brett Favre, Packers/Vikings)

A player graduates from my high school (Wes Welker, Patriots)

A player has the name Adrian Peterson, aka Hubs 'man crush'

I am done impressing you with my vast knowledge of football now.

The End.