resolution time!

time for the new year's resolution. a couple of years ago, i vowed to start accessorizing more. and it worked!! i am now the proud owner of countless earrings, necklaces, and even bracelets! last year, i failed miserably at my goals. i guess i did exercise fairly regularly, so maybe i wasn't a complete failure. but this year is gonna be tough. i'm going to try (i have to be real and put the TRY in there) to keep groceries in my fridge and cook at least once or twice a week. so, to some that may not be a big deal...especially the grocery part. but check it out:

here is my fridge. it's what it typically looks like every. single. day. unless i've had people over and there are leftovers. and occasionally there will be diet coke and sprite zero.

i always have ketchup and pickles. not sure why. i guess because when i have cookouts, people bring it and just leave it.

lima beans and broccoli. and obviously ice trays. every once in a while, there will be some frozen dinners (smart ones), but i haven't had any of those in months.

frozen peas and 2 chicken breasts wrapped in foil. i actually do always keep chicken. it's the only thing i really know how to cook. just put it in a dish, pour some cream of mushroom soup or bbq sauce on it, and throw it in the oven.

i'm super serious that this is what my fridge ALWAYS looks like. i'm getting close to 30 so it's time to start keeping a full fridge. i need help. what do i buy at the store?? and better yet, how do i cook what i bought at the store? if you have any fun recipes, send them my way! i'll keep you posted on my progress. the cooking starts next week!!

the year mom ruined christmas

okay, not really. but we laughed about because she's crazy. here's why: we started a new tradition last year where the grown ups draw names for christmas and then we just buy stuff for the kids. we usually draw around thanksgiving and we all have to email the group 5 items that we want. there's a $50 limit so your list can be 5 big things and you get 1 or a bunch of small things. but that's really beside the point. christmas eve we're all sitting around and the gifts had been handed out. we were just waiting to open them, one at a time. but before we did that, we went around to announce who's name we drew. i had dad. dad had julie. julie had chris. chris had mark. mark had lindsey. lindsey had me. and.......MOM HAD HERSELF!!!!!! that's right. she drew her own name and KEPT IT!!!! she laughed and laughed and thought it was hilarious. the rest of us were somewhat mad because you can't let your mom buy her own christmas present!! at that point, i guess there was really nothing we could do about it. that was #1.

#2 - it's still christmas eve and we are getting ready to leave for the candlelight service at church. mom is wearing a long coat down to her ankles. i had just been outside and she asked me if it was really cold. i told her i didn't think it was cold enough for the coat she had on. she sat there for a second and said "maybe i should get a lighter coat." she looked at dad and he said "well do you know where you might could find a lighter coat?" and she said "i certainly do." she waltzes over to the christmas tree, picks up a present, and opens it RIGHT THERE!!!! it's a coat. she puts it on and wears it!!! i couldn't believe it!! i guess really she's a grown adult and can do what she wants, but it just made me laugh. she's crazy sometimes, but i sure do love her!

sweeeeeeet!!!

for those of you who know me......

know that THIS is the best christmas present ever!!!!!!

merry christmas to you

i had good intentions on doing a christmas card this year. i just never got around to it. and i guess just a picture of me by myself is kinda funny. i thought about using the pic of me and gene chizik. or the one of me with aubie (but that wasn't a good pic of me). but, to be honest, just waiting too late. so i was at my parents last weekend to celebrate my mom's

60th birthday and all the kids were there. they were sitting up in my lap just chattin' away and i decided to try to get a pic of me with all 3 of them (which as all of you know is an

extremely difficult task). i was trying to coerce them into smiling when mallory asked me if i had done my christmas cards yet. i told her no and she said "well if we make this a good one, it can be your card!" so here it is.... merry christmas to all of you, from me and my 3 favorite little people to you!

nightmare before christmas

i had a dream the other night. it was Christmas eve. 3pm. i was out and about with my brother doing some grocery shopping. and then it hit me. i had not bought the first christmas present! church started in an hour and the stores were about to close. i didn’t have my car and my brother wouldn’t take me home!! i panicked. i had nothing for my niece and nephews. nothing for my family. nothing at all!!! i decided i would just draw pictures of what i wanted to give everyone as an IOU. i woke up still in a panic realizing that i really haven’t bought any christmas presents. my mind started racing with a mental list of those i have to buy for. it’s not a long list, but i’ve still yet to get started on it. i guess i’ll get going on it this week. luckily for me, my office is in a mall so lunch breaks and snack time can be spent getting things done!

oh what was i thinking

i’ve seen several lists in many different places recently about what not to do at an office holiday party. don’t drink too much. don’t talk business. do mingle with other people beside your normal department. don’t dress too festive or inappropriately. you get the drift. the list goes on and on, however i believe they left off 1 key item:

don’t stand up in a bar stool in the middle of the party in front of the CEO and all of the other executives. i know what you’re thinking….. “wow brooke. you really did that?!” yes. i certainly did. but to my defense, i was told to. AND everybody loved it!!! you see, what had happened was it a regional vice president’s birthday that night. he was actually in town and in attendance at the party. the COO was trying to get an HR girl to get everyone’s attention so we could sing happy birthday to him. although he tried, he couldn’t convince her to stand in the barstool and tell everyone to sing. all it took was for her to look at me and say “get up there” and I was kicking my shoes off and up on my feet. i announced the birthday and then started singing. about half way through, i looked down and made eye contact with the CEO and my new big boss, the VP of HR. at that point, not gonna lie, i was a little nervous. what the heck was i thinking??!?! we finished up singing and the birthday boy came over thanking me saying how great that was. my big boss promised that he wouldn’t fire me and that everyone loved it. my old big boss couldn’t believe what he saw because when i reported to him, i was very quiet and shy around him. he congratulated me for “coming out of my shell.” (oh if he only knew!!)

the rest of the night was fun. the party continued and a great time was had by all. i woke up this morning a little nervous about what my day at work would bring. luckily there were no terminations thrown at me!! and no complaints or disciplinary actions. but mental note to self: don’t ever do that again!! happy holidays y'all!!

friends...

friendship is a great and wonderful thing. i'm so lucky and blessed to have the greatest group of friends. i know everyone says that, but for real. mine are the best. tonight, i was looking back on some cards and notes from way back when. and it got me to thinking.....

some of my friends, i've had for a long time. what i love is that i've been through so much with those people. i'm talking stupid times, fun adventures, tears and sadness, happiness and joy, huge fights, not talking (usually because of a stupid boy), road trips, lake trips, beach trips, fights, make ups, break ups, and on and on. we've really been through it all.....well, most of it all anyway. no matter what, those friends never let me down. here i am, over 10 years later, lucky to be surrounded by these folks still love me.

some of my friends are new friends. i guess they're not so new anymore, but relatively speaking, they're new. but these are the kind of people i feel like i've known forever and wish that i had known them forever. they're always there for me. it may be something super stupid, but they're gonna support me. if i'm making a mistake, they're gonna tell me....but in a nice way (because i'm sensitive. and they know that). they're the kind of friends you want for life. and if i'm lucky, they'll be there for that long!

but some of those friends are "friends for a season." sometimes you think you know somebody and hit it off, but then realize personalities are sooooo different. sometimes there's a fight that you can't get over. sometimes you realize you're 2 totally different people and just drift apart. sometimes it makes me sad to think about those that fit in to any of these categories. and sometimes i miss those friendships. but i realize they weren't meant to be, for some reason or another.

i'm glad to have those that have stuck through all the seasons.

oh what fun

thank you to my guest writers from yesterday: mike, jessa, tommy and barrett, mj, the limbaughs, the craigs, wes may, justin, jenn, and anyone else i have inadvertently left out.

and to my readers: i apologize for the wildly inappropriateness from my guest writers from yesterday! that's what happens when we get together for the sec champ game and tacky christmas party!

SEC Party Drinking Game

1) Drink one sip everytime Hal strokes his beard. Drink 2 sips if Hal asks you if anyone has tried a particular dip.
2) When Brooke talks about her obsession with an Auburn coach, immediately drop to the ground, have a partner hold your feet in the air and take one sip. If she goes into specific detail reliving any games that she attended during said coach's tenure, then finish your drink.
3) Everytime the announcer mentions "Tebow"....drink.
4) Every time Verne says "how do you do" shake the person's hand to your left and take a sip.
5) Every time a Bama fan says "well who's playing today and who's not?", slit your wrists.
6) Take a shot everytime Barrett says she wants another kid.
7) When the camera pans by and catches Urban Meyer and Tebow having a moment, drink.
8) Every time you get a text from an obnoxious Bamer fan, violently threaten to cut them. Then, throw your drink into the face of the closest Bama fan.
9) When Maghan begins to tell a story about Winfield, take one sip. If farm land, pasture, or downtown is mentioned anytime during this story, shotgun a beer immediately.
10) Take one drink when you see Brooke sniffing finger nail polish....take two if you see her sniffing a sharpie.
11) Take a drink every time Addison changes hands.
12) Everytime Alabama wins.......instead of a shot, shoot yourself.
13) Whenever Brett Favre says "Real comfortable Jeans.", bark 3 times and do 3 seconds of crazy leg then take 3 sips. Whenever Justin Edwards talks about anything on him being comfortable, grab your keys, sprint to your car, and go home....quickly. Seriously....run redlights.
14) A closeup of any player crying on the sideline just earned you one intimate emotional moment in your life retold outloud to your party. You can't stop telling the story until you have a good old fashioned gasping for air, snorting up snot, panting for more air, silence in the room event. If your moment has anything to do with a summer camp, you must seek counseling first thing Monday morning.
15) Everytime Michael Mullen ignores you when you are trying to talk to him take a shot. If he is talking about "how hot it is because he is wearing polyester" while he is ignoring you make it a double!
16) If you see rudolf, drink.
17) What needs to happen is ..... I give up, drink.
18) revision to number 12...everyone except bama fans are now dead!!! Drink up!!!