Lynda Lou

Cioppino

2008-04-30T07:31:00.000-07:00

I made this last night, it's also know as Italian Fish Stew. It's very good!! This is my version and I'm gonna assume you have cooking experience. Feel free to improvise with this one, it can be made in so many "oh so good" ways. Also, this is made in the slow cooker...so set it on low and come home to a fantastic soup.1 large onion, chopped3 to 4 stalks of celery, sliced4 cloves garlic,

2008-04-23T06:55:00.000-07:00

Just for Moni am I doing this tag thing. :-)Here are the rules:1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.3. At the end of the post, the player tags 5 people and posts their name, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. <----gonna skip this part as I

Update on Nerves...

2008-04-22T11:37:00.000-07:00

Turns out, I had nothing to be nervous about. After driving to the interview appt., which was a 30 min drive to Keller, TX., my interviewer was gone. He apparently was called out to another office for some reason or the other. So, ugh...frustrating. Now, I'm wondering about this position. The office was nice and the few staff members I talked to were pleasant. However, a job interview is a

Nerves, Nerves and more Nerves!

2008-04-22T07:01:00.000-07:00

I have a job interview today. My first real job interview since my externship 3 years ago. I am seriously nervous about it!Another thing....I was all set to get a babysitter, but they said bring my little guy to the office, they love kids and wouldn't mind at all. Ok, now I'm nervous about that! Perhaps I should have gotten a babysitter!!!So, I'll post an update with how it goes.....sheesh...

Ahhh, weather...

2008-04-04T15:33:00.000-07:00

Spring here in Ft. Worth is so very different from the desert! There's such variety, such vividness of color...it's hard to explain except to another person who's lived in a brown world where it never rains. I think it's wonderful that I have to get up at 3am to close the window because of a sudden thunderstorm. Yes, spring in a place that spring actually comes to is a fantastic season...even

Bag Borrow or Steal

2008-03-27T07:17:00.000-07:00

I have a confession...I love handbags. I love to find a new one that is irresistible to me. I enjoy all different styles too, from the sedate to the really girlish. However, my budget doesn't love handbags so I've never felt free to really indulge this desire of mine. I do love going to thrift stores, however, and the first thing I look at are the handbags. Just recently I found a cute,

New Beginnings

2008-02-28T07:08:00.000-08:00

New city, new place...new pillows...hehe. We're all moved now to Ft. Worth, TX. It's been a real challenge, but time will tell if our gamble will pay off. The best part for me is being away from our previous town. I enjoyed the different aspects of the desert (NOT the summer heat!), but I did like the sunsets and sunrises and the mountains. But the town....I feel sorry for those suckered

Free Rice

2007-12-05T09:54:00.000-08:00

Test your vocabulary and donate free rice at the same time. A little warning tho, if you love words, this can become a big time sink although for a good cause.http://www.freerice.com/

Moving....

2007-11-29T09:20:00.000-08:00

Yep, we're moving to Ft. Worth, TX! Owen starts his new job on Jan 7th, I've got tons and tons and tons of stuff to do to get ready for this move. It's my hope to get rid of 95% of the stuff in the garage and keep the 5% that we will use. Needless to say, this is going to take the entire month of Dec. to accomplish! Why, oh why, are we packrats???And, yes, I'm happy about this move and sad at

The latest news...

2007-11-08T10:17:00.000-08:00

First, our family is driving to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving! Yay! :) We'll leave CA on the 16th and hopefully will arrive late the next day on the 17h. We have to leave again (boo :( ) on the 24th and drive back so Owen can go to work and Ethan to school. I'm really excited about getting to see my family and friends and give them all big hugs! Also, my younger bro Jason will be there and his

Right Brain v. Left Brain?

2007-10-16T15:49:00.000-07:00

Click this LinkI thought this was pretty interesting! At first I could only see the dancer moving clockwise and nothing I did such as refreshing the page or looking away and back again would work to make her dance counter-clockwise. Then after staring at her for about 15 secs, I looked at her legs and thought, ok, go the other way now...and she did! Does that make my mind ambidextrous?

Couple of New things!

2007-09-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

First...I have new glasses! Yay! I can see again. My glasses broke last Sunday, broke so badly that they were no longer wearable. So, new glasses for me and yes, it's a blessing to be able to see clearly! And, two, I have a new blog. I know, I know...I'm not exactly a success at this blogging thing. But, this one is for a really good reason! Visit http://ten-percent-loss.blogspot.com/ if you are

Time has flown!

2007-09-13T09:48:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that's I haven't blogged since June. I suppose that makes me the worst on updating my blog and now I'm wondering if anyone even checks it any longer. :) Well, I'm not going to promise to update it regularly because obviously I don't! And now that the weather has cooled a bit, I'd like to spend more time outside with my kids.So, my news: Ethan's gone back to school as a

Kinetic Sculptures

2007-06-20T14:34:00.000-07:00

http://www.glumbert.com/media/kineticsculptureLovely to watch, innovative and fresh! Plus...I want to be on that beach! :)

Some new art...

2007-06-20T01:49:00.000-07:00

This is Lady Morgaine, with a bit of the fae thrown in for fun. :-)

Summer news...and a bit of the absurd!

2007-06-19T13:59:00.000-07:00

Summer is shaping up to be hot and busy! Swimming lessons will commence soon (next week) and we're spending a couple of hours each day working on math and reading skills. Devin enjoys listening! :) He's now walking like a little pro and I keep telling myself to pause to take pictures and a video of him! Perhaps typing this will make it happen!On my agenda this week is the huge task of going

Much Needed Update!!

2007-06-01T08:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry I made ya'll wait so long! Ok, in a nutshell, the last couple of weeks went as follows: spent 2 weeks sick with bronchitis, got pinkeye as well, Ethan got ringworm (now is pretty much gone), Devin started walking a lot!! Owen found out last week that his last day on the job was May 31st...somehow, he managed to get a new job at the same company on the same day he found out that his

Happy Thursday!

2007-05-17T08:08:00.000-07:00

No new news yet, just thought I'd share a couple of things of interest.First, a great healthy food/cooking website that I recently discovered:http://whfoods.org/index.htmlSecond, a delicious hummus recipe...very yummy!http://www.recipezaar.com/38846Have a great weekend! :-)

Ramblin'

2007-05-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

I saw the coolest thing today! A coyote was chasing a jack rabbit down the dirt road...it was like a national geographic special very nearly in my front yard!! :D Poor guy didn't catch it tho. And I'm going to have to reinforce my warning to my son about what to do if he sees a coyote, which is run inside!! I've heard stories around here of children being attacked and I definitely don't want that

After Convention thoughts...

2007-05-14T11:34:00.000-07:00

Really not sure how to begin this blog. It's my intention to show a little picture of the power of the Spirit and the miracle of convention for myself, a beleaguered mother of a one-year-old. By Thursday, both boys were no longer contagious with pinkeye so we made it to the grounds before the first meeting. The weather was gorgeous, the walnut trees beautiful, and the air was soft and clean

The News

2007-05-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

We had a normal weekend...just spent time together as a family, doing laundry and various odds and ends around the house. Supremely normal and relaxing weekend. Those are nice to have in my opinion! :) Then Monday morning strikes...ring goes the telephone, I answer it and was told by my darling husband that he has 2 weeks of work left before he is on lay-off status...which means no more work

Quick sketch

2007-05-03T13:13:00.000-07:00

Quick sketch for a member of an art board that I enjoy visiting. Took me about 20 minutes and I had to find a reference for the shoulders...to try and get the angle right. Since my scanner is being wonky and won't scan full pics in (keeps cropping them) I took a picture of this with my camera and then adjusted the levels in photoshop elements. I like how it came out...no plans to color it however

It's May Day!

2007-05-01T10:20:00.000-07:00

Happy May Day everyone!Our weekend news: we had lots of fun celebrating Ethan's birthday...he said he had a great day full of things that he likes! We kept it pretty simple: went to the park to run around like crazy loons with water guns and this neat propeller flying thing...you pull a rip cord and wheee...it spins off to quite a distance! Then we went to Ethan's favorite restaurant, came home

Finished!

2007-04-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

I finished my art project, "A friend is just a cookie away". I'm really happy with the way it turned out...not so much realistic as cartoony. Sorry about the large writing on it...a lot of people think digital art posted on the web is free game although it's copyrighted as soon as you produce it much like traditional art. If you are interested in seeing a version that is not watermaked, just

The news came in..

2007-04-27T08:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had tons of errands to run and when I finally got home I find an ominous message on the answering machine. "Call me at work, bad news." So, I called and found out that Owen has 2 months left at his job, that the lay-off is a sure-fire thing. Neither one of us has been called in to do any interviews yet. I applied at a fairly nearby hospital and Owen within the company that he's

The Inner Life of a Cell

2007-04-25T10:48:00.000-07:00

Just thought this was really cool to watch! :)

Little White Lies

2007-04-25T08:40:00.000-07:00

A lot of people don't even realize when they tell them. Not me, however. My nose doesn't grow like Pinnochio, but I do get a physiological response that just doesn't make it worth it! My stomach ties in knots, my hands get all sweaty and I start to feel ill...not fun. But, that isn't really what I want to talk about, it's little white lies that are told by a person, X, about me! How do I

Our Weekend

2007-04-23T11:28:00.000-07:00

Mmmmm, spaghetti! He had so much fun eating this all by himself! I hope his aim improves soon...And this may be mean of the rest of his family, but we had to laugh when he sneezed spaghetti out of his nose! Reminds me of the time when Amy A. snorted Dr. Pepper out of her nose!We started off our weekend with a lazy Sat. morning playing with the kids and doing laundry. Then, Sat. afternoon, we went

Signature Scent

2007-04-18T16:08:00.000-07:00

I love the smell of lavender. I love it so much that it's become my scent of choice. My fabric softener and sheets are lavender, lavender satchet in my undie drawer, lavender body soap and lavender lotion, lavender hand soap, lavender body spritz, lavender candles...and I'm probably leaving something out in that list. So, lavender has become "my" scent. When my boys smell it, it will remind

New drawring

2007-04-17T15:50:00.000-07:00

Pretty sure I will be painting this one, digitally, since the original is in graphite..."A Friend is Just a Cookie Away".

Pictures!!

2007-04-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

My cuties! :D

After a fun Spring Break...

2007-04-16T22:26:00.000-07:00

Things are settling back to normal. :-) Ethan had a fun week of seeing friends, grandparents and doing lots of art projects. He had me fascinated by a very interesting story about an otter who saved the sun...the best part was he made props using construction paper. He constantly amazes me with his creativity, I really think he's a budding artist/writer! Devin is now standing up by himself and

My Weekend

2007-04-09T10:09:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Owen and I took the boys to the local park to hunt eggs at 10:00am, got there at 10:01 and every last egg was already gone!! There were around 100 or so folks out there and someone let the kids start early so a lot of egg hunters were disappointed. :-( Luckily, it didn't bother Ethan too much and soon he was racing off for the big bouncy thingy and then a pony ride. I could kick

Update

2007-04-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

We haven't heard any more news on the lay-off front. The waiting is always the hard part. The good news is that I'm feeling better about it and Owen and I are really communicating about where our next move will be. No, not going to reveal any details until we know what is happening for sure! :) Of course, there's a possibility that we stay here for a few more years too. It's always been our plan

Frustrated sadness

2007-04-02T10:01:00.000-07:00

The title above says it all pretty much. This is the problem, every time we get settled into a new place and things are going well, something comes along to upset the applecart. Actually, it's always the same thing, Owen getting laid off a job. This time it's congress's fault for cutting the program he's working on out of the budget and putting the jets in the hangar instead of using them.

Hello!

2007-03-23T00:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I really didn't mean for so much time to go by before I blogged! :) But, I've been busy with the normal day to day stuff and the spare time I've had I've been playing with some art projects. All digital, for some reason I'm terrified of all the cool watercolors, pastels, pencils, inks and acrylics that I have in my possession. Some day, I'm going to just have to go crazy with them and see

Quick sketches

2007-03-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while I break out my pencil and do some fast sketches...generally of faces, most often female. This time, my son Ethan had some suggestions...he wanted me to draw a fairy so I did. I'm contemplating painting her with Painter 8 for fun. I enjoy drawing, wished I did more of it so I could improve and I definitely need to do some basics for exercises...I just wish I could jump in

She's Alive!

2007-03-07T09:08:00.000-08:00

I made it through my week of crazyness and midway through my week of I don't wanna do nuthin! Today, is a perfect day for doing nuthin!--it's 61 degrees and overcast...not raining, just soothing relief from the constant sunshine. Ahhhh....I love it, this reminds me of Seattle at it's best when the drizzle stops and the sun plays peek a boo with the clouds.Excuse me now...I'm gonna go curl up in

Title change

2007-02-26T21:51:00.000-08:00

Yes, the title changed. I realized that there is no way to separate the mom from myself. I'm forever more, irrevocably, a mom. That has become part of my make-up and my identity. And I'm quite happy and content with that title of mother and the responsibilities that go with it. However, the premise of this blog has not changed. It's still about me and who I am and who I will become.

A reminder

2007-02-22T10:19:00.000-08:00

Thank you for emailing me this reminder. Too often, I find it too easy to get swept away in things that are better left behind. I have a desperate need to be very careful with what and who I invite inside, and a prayer that only Christ would abide in me. I would like to share this with anyone who may come to read this blog. It's my hope that it may help another as it has helped me.LET CHRIST

Busy as a Bee

2007-02-22T09:42:00.000-08:00

Just a short post to show that I haven't forgotten my blog. I am going to be sooo busy in the next weeks and some days. Our family is going to N. Cali to visit Owen's folks in honor of Devin's 1st birthday this coming weekend! Yes, it's been that long already and I don't know how that's possible! Then, coming home, I will be scrubbing my house top to bottom and preparing for a lovely visit

Photos

2007-02-16T15:51:00.000-08:00

As requested, this is my orange kitchen. The blue in the corner is going bye-bye, I found out that I don't want to live with it. I'm leaning towards just keeping that entire wall section white. This magazine cover is the color that I think I would like my living room walls to be...I have a brown sofa, black leather chair, and lots of black accents in there and I think all of that would play well

In love with this painting!!!

2007-02-16T13:02:00.000-08:00

My current desktop image and my current favorite painting is a CG painting by Levi Szilárd Péterfi. If I could magicly transport myself somewhere, this would be the place!http://features.cgsociety.org/gallerycrits/209606/209606_1171459196_large.jpg

Homeschooling

2007-02-16T11:15:00.000-08:00

Finally! I have more energy today, and no headache! Maybe, I was tired from the kids and hubs being sick...Owen had mastoiditis of all things from an ear infection that he let go too long. Why are most men too stubborn to go to the doctor? Anyway, I'm researching homeschooling today. The only reason I mention here on my blog where I'm not suppose to be mentioning children is I wonder how it will

Sigh

2007-02-15T19:17:00.000-08:00

I am tired...which really sucks. I've been tired for three days now and headachey as well. I'm pretty sure I know what is causing it which sucks as well. Honestly, if I could have just one wish it would be that I no longer had hypothyroidism. Actually, if I could change one thing that happened to me then I would change making the choice to have the radioactive iodine treatment that fried my

Bonus!

2007-02-14T16:15:00.000-08:00

I initially started my first blog, http://desertbears.blogspot.com/ , just as a way to share pics and news with family and friends. And, this, more personal blog, was started as an outlet for me. But, an unexpected bonus came about...a childhood friend emailed me to reconnect! I think that's the best suprise that's come about in a while. If anyone else knows me...even remotely, send a line my

too funny!

2007-02-13T21:50:00.000-08:00

My sides hurt from laughter after reading this one...http://elaughs.blogspot.com/2007/02/actual-statements-found-on-insurance.html

V-day Madness

2007-02-13T20:40:00.000-08:00

We live in a small town, one without a major grocery store. The best store in town is the Rite-Aid (pharmacy). Tonight, I had to go to the said Rite-Aid to pick up valentine day supplies for a school party. It was a descent into madness. People in these tiny aisles picking over the remains of chocolate candies and big red paper hearts. Something interesting to note...this made up holiday has

Just Me

2007-02-13T11:00:00.000-08:00

Yes, the title of the blog says it all. I was talking to a dear one, my stepmom Gerry, about blogging on my family site and she said (I'm paraphrasing): that is great honey, but where is Lynda in all of that?Where indeed is Lynda in all of that? I've spent 6 years (april 28th will mark the beginning of the 7th) as a stay at home mom and wife. Hmm...how to explain what that means. 6 years of