Blog Namin'

I wanted to start the new year off right regarding my blog.  After wishing my brother a Happy Birthday, I knew what my next topic would be--telling you why my blog is called Safe in the Arms of Love.  It's about time, right?!

Have you ever wondered why people name their blogs the way they do?  One of my friends has a blog called "Chase Simplicity".  She's often quoted Leonardo Da Vinci's "Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication."  Although I've not confirmed with her, I believe she titled her blog Chase Simplicity because she is seeking happiness in the simplest form.  Perhaps it's a reminder that you don't need extravagance to have sophistication. 

Source: favim.com via Boya on Pinterest

Another of my friends blog is called "Miyan-Overseas".  She started the blog when she decided to travel back to her roots (Israel) to study Hebrew.  When she first left, she thought she'd only be over there as a "study abroad" type adventure. 

She still lives there, and has since changed the header of her blog to read Fly Far.  I believe she re-labeled her blog Fly Far because that's what she's done and perhaps she uses that motto as encouragement to not run home so quickly.  She left Texas to venture out to learn more, flew far from her safety net, and in the process, re-discovered herself. 

Source: weheartit.com via Emily on Pinterest

Truth be told, I had a little difficulty finding a name for my blog.  At first, I tried "Finance Chic" because I work in finance.  But, I thought it was dumb, so I moved on rather quickly. 

Below is the story of how my blog came to be.

Back during my freshman year of college, I went through a particularly bad break-up.  (Sorry Honey, you can skip over this part if you want.  I hadn't met you yet!)  I lived in the dorms with my best friend from High School, Chase Simplicity.  She was the one who helped me recover.  But you know when you are heartbroken and somehow music helps?  Well, each night, I would set my Itunes to our "sleep" play list, and we'd fall asleep to an assortment of songs.  There was a Pat Green tune, a Honey Brown song, a Sara Evans hit, and among others, a Martina McBride favorite. 

Martina McBride's song "Safe in the Arms of Love" put me to sleep over and over again.  As the days after the breakup went by, I constantly had this song playing in my head. 

In my quite time, I'd find myself singing over and over again these lyrics:

I want arms that know how to rock me
Safe in the arms of love
I wanna fall and know that love has caught me
Safe in the arms of love
I want a heart to be forever mine
Want eyes to see me satisfied
Gonna hang my heartaches out to dry
Some day I'm gonna be safe in the arms of love

It helped me heal.  It reminded me that this breakup wasn't going to leave me alone and single forever.  One day, I was going to be safe in the arms of love.  It gave me hope and a peace in my heart that I'd one day fall in love with the man I was supposed to truly love. 

So, the years of college flew by (way too fast), I forgot all about that breakup, lost touch with my college roommate, found my prince charming, and got married.

About 6 months after I was married, I got a facebook message from Chase Simplicity.  It read:

Safe in the Arms of Love:
I heard that song on the way home from the gym this morning.  Of course it made me think of you playing it every night before you went to bed in the dorm.  Random, I know.  So glad you found your safe-ness.

I started crying (at my desk at work) when I read this.  I'd forgotten about how much that song helped me!  I hadn't listened to it in quite a while. 

As I sat there processing all of this, I realized why I'd forgotten about the song.  At some point, I didn't need it to encourage me any more, I knew it to be true.  And then, at another point, I found those safe arms.  I guess those words became etched in my mind, because as I thought about the man I married, I realized he was all of those things in that song that I'd longed for all those years ago.  Years before I met my husband, I made it my mantra to find the guy would would love me, hug me, and see me satisfied.  Divine prophesy?  Maybe, but I just believe every girl should find the man that matches up to Martina's lyrics. 

So, after scratching the original, stupid, lame title of "Finance Chic" and reaching deeper into my heart, it dawned on my that I was, at that moment, Safe in the Arms of Love. 

What does the name of your blog stand for?  What does it mean to you?

Happy Birthday Bub!

For those of you who don't know, my brother is a New Year's baby.  That's right, his claim to fame is that he was "the first baby born in Winkler County" in 1980. 

Pat, you are the best brother a girl could ask for.  I'll never forget the time I got the brand new keyboard for Christmas, then you locked me in my closet and let Tara play it.  I'll also never forget the time we decided it was a good idea to bike around White Rock Lake on the HOTTEST day of the year, without any water, right after we ate at the Cici's buffet.  (Man, that really sucked.) 

I love you so much and am so excited for all of the great things going on in your life.  When you're Mayor of Midland, don't forget about your favorite sister (and all the great childhood photos I could blackmail you with).  I'd be great at holding the Key to the City. 

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Blog Update:

Have you ever tried to "Follow" my blog by email?  Like, in the area on my blog page that says "Follow by Email"?  And after you typed in your email address, did you NEVER receive an email?

Well, I was just playing around with my site and realized an error with that feature!  If you ever put your email address in there, it was signing you up for another blog that I never post too. 

So, I just fixed it!  If you want to follow my blog by email, go ahead, enter your email address.  I promise it will work this time!

And, I promise to bring more posts on my Italy Trip.  I am just holding off until the New Year!

I hope you all have an amazing New Year!  Don't forget to eat your black eye peas!

Speaking of black eyed peas, every year, I make Black Eyed Pea Salsa.  It's the perfect dish to snack on while you try to cure your hangover.  You can make it a day in advance, so all you have to do on New Year's day is warm it up in the microwave!  I've included the recipe below, so try it out and let me what you think!



Black Eyed Pea Salsa

Ingredients:

·      1 cup rice

·      2 cans black eyed peas (drained)

·      1 can rotel tomatoes

·      1 tsp cumin

·      Cilantro

·      Lime juice

A word to the wise, I've tried making this recipe with spicy rotel, and it was not good......I love love love spicy food, but save yourself the trouble and go with regular rotel!

Directions:

1.      Cook rice according to instructions.  (I use my rice cooker!)

2.      Combine black eyed peas, rotel and cumin with rice in a saucepan and heat throughout.

3.      Add cilantro and lime juice.  Serve warm.

ARE YOU READY?

Hell, yes! Damn Right!
Hotty Toddy, Gosh almighty
Who the hell are we, Hey!
Flim Flam, Bim Bam
OLE MISS BY DAMN!

Opps, normally, when we go to an OLE MISS football game, I cheer their school chant as loud as I can.  "Ole Miss by Damn". 

But, this year when we head to Oxford, MS, I will NOT be cheering on Ole Miss.  I'll be YELLING for my Aggies!  You see, A&M left the Big 12 Conference for the SEC, which makes the Hubs and me rivals.  I am super excited for next season and will pray every day until then that the Aggies get it together.

Dear Ags,
Please don't embarrass me this year.  Please beat some SEC teams so that all the "haters in Haterville" (thank you NeNe Leaks for that quote) will stop talking about how we are going to get stomped next year.

Also, I will be at the Bowl Game on Saturday.  Please beat Northwestern.  Pretty Please?!

Love,
Me

2012 Texas A&M Football Schedule
Date	Opponent	Location	Time
Sat, Sep 01	McNeese State	College Station	TBA
Sat, Sep 08	Florida *	College Station	TBA
Sat, Sep 15	SMU	Dallas, TX	TBA
Sat, Sep 22	Either open date or non-conference opponent
Sat, Sep 29	Arkansas *	TBA	TBA
Sat, Oct 06	Ole Miss *	Oxford, MS	TBA
Sat, Oct 13	Either open date or non-conference opponent
Sat, Oct 20	LSU *	College Station	TBA
Sat, Oct 27	Auburn *	Auburn, AL	TBA
Sat, Nov 03	Mississippi State *	Starkville, MS	TBA
Sat, Nov 10	Alabama *	Tuscaloosa, AL	TBA
Sat, Nov 17	Either open date or non-conference opponent
Sat, Nov 24	Missouri *	College Station	TBA
*Conference Games

Italia, The ALPS

So, for the first part of our Italian vacation, we flew from Houston to Newark and then Newark to Munich, Germany.  From there, we rented a van and drove 3 hours South, into the Italian Alps, to San Vigilio for a night's stay at the beautiful Hotel Condor.  You see, my father-in-law's mother (my husband's grandmother "OMA"), was born in this small village and lived there until she married OPA and moved to the USA. 

Because the Alps had not yet received any snow, they were
busy making fake snow in order to be ready for the upcoming ski season.

My FIL's aunts and cousins still live there and own the Hotel Condor, which is a ski lodge.  When we arrived, the hotel had not yet opened for the season, so we were the ONLY ones staying there!  It was super cool and scary all at the same time!  The hallways were all dark and cold, but our room was nice and toasty.  The first thing I did was take a bath--which I needed after our long journey to Italy! 

San Vigilio is an incredibly charming town!  In this village, they speak German, Italian, and Ladinish.  (Ladinish is only spoken by about 30,000 people in just a few Northern Italian villages.)  So, when the hubs and I went to the local pub for a glass of vino, we used a lot of hand signs.

Since we landed in San Vigilio on Saturday night, we were able to go to Mass Sunday morning.  I was in awe of the beauty of the town's Chapel.  The service was delivered in Ladinish, so us Americans just spend our time trying not to look lost or fall asleep.  I wish I'd taken pictures of the church, but I decided against it....out of respect for God I guess.

After church, we went back to the Hotel Condor and enjoyed amazing lasagna while we visited with the family.  The family spoke in German (my FIL would translate for us), so I spent a lot of time drinking my wine and talking to the Hubs....and trying to figure out what everyone else was talking about.  I could say I spend 95% of the time doing this since English isn't widely spoken where we were.

My FIL and his cousin Conrad.
Conrad owns the Hotel Condor and will probably
answer the phone when you call!

After church and a quick lunch, we set off on our adventure to TUSCANY!  (Tomorrow, I will tell you all about our drive....it's quite the story!)

Out Sick

I had every intention of beginning to share my Italy trip with you today, but currently, I lool like this:

And I feel like I should be doing this:



But I'm at work, running some essential reports.  As soon as I'm done with these puppies, I plan on leaving and going home, to do this:

All I Want for Christmas

So, the Hubs keeps asking me what I want for Christmas.  Up until today, I didn't really have a list.  But in an effort to give the Mister a break and some solid direction, I've compiled a few of my wants this year! 

1. An Hermes Blanket, because I'm always cold.

2. Tory Burch brown riding boots, because I already have a black pair.

3. A Shoshanna Dress, because I love Shoshanna, it's be perfect for work, and it's on sale! (size 4)

4. A Spoon holder, because I'm tired of having to wipe food off the stove top.

5. A day at the Riviera Spa, because I could use a nice, relaxing break.  (Riviera Spa Escape Package)

6. This fabulous Coat from Cole Hahn, because I've had my eye on it forever--and it's on sale! (size small)

Dear Santa, I promise I've been EXTRA good this year!