Mustard Blog

This would be a shout out to Mrs. Freeman, my pre-cal teacher at Boswell. Periodically during the semester she would declare a "Mustard Day." "Hey!" She would say, "All the other teachers get to have Catch-Up days! Why can't I have a Mustard Day?!" hahaha.

The reason I need a catch-up day is because - just like Corrie - I felt like I couldn't blog about anything else until I blogged about our camping trip. And that was in October. So, for those of you that don't frequent facebook, here are some of my favorite pictures from our camping trip over fall break!Our Campsite: Lakefront view, firepit, No electricity or running water = $8!

gorgeous East Texas Pine Trees

One of my favorites: brushing teeth in the morning

NOT so much one of my favorites...


Beautiful fog on the water early in the morning. Robert was awake for this; I was not. ;)

Robert made awesome pancakes right over the fire! Echo & Daisy liked them too. :D

Stew! I was very proud of my stew. I brought the vegetables, knife, cutting board & all!

Us looking cute on the trail to our campsite.

Whew! I have now fulfilled my blogging duty. That wasn't so bad afterall! Especially since I really only photo-blogged, instead of really writing....

The newest news is that Robert is graduating in 19 days! (well that's not new, that's background information.) The EXCITING news is that he got heavily pursued and then offered a job by Rockwell Collins. (And he accepted it!) So, we will be moving in January. Oh my!
Lots of LeTourneau grads go there, and it is a great company! The scary part is it's in Iowa! Well, this is not scary per say, but more daunting for a sun-baked Texan like myself.
Haha just kidding. That's not Iowa. That's Mongolia. In a snowy desert. Gotta love Google Images.... Although this is where I feel like I'm moving. I was informed by a friend at LeTU that my "Texan hoodies" weren't gonna cut it, much to my surprise. But then I was re-encouraged by my friend in Rhode Island (hmmm wonder who that could be?) that a hoody + a pea coat IS sufficient. Hmph. I thought so.

Well, THIS is Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and now that I think about it, the first picture I've actually seen of Cedar Rapids. Robert says there's a big mall too. Man after my own heart. :D

And THIS is Iowa in the winter! Post card perfect! I'm thinking Robert and I should take next year's Christmas pictures this February or something....

Well, I love you all, and I hope this photo-blog was ADD friendly!

Midterms Already?!

Well. SO much for having tons to write about during the semester. "My blog's just gonna take off" I thought to myself.
I thought wrong. I guess the problem is more that I have too much going on in real life to write about it... I don't know what that says about my summer - hmmmm. Not the kinds of things that are interesting enough to be etched into cyberspace at least.

Let's see...
This week is midterms. I actually only have 1 midterm and 1 test. And 2 more tests after fall break. This weekend + Monday + Tuesday is Fall Break. FINALLY! Although, I have way too many things that need to get done over fall break.

I have discovered (prepare yourself for vast philosophical wisdom) that I am only good at refilling the toilet paper roll when the toilet paper is kept in the under the sink RIGHT NEXT to the toilet. I have prided myself on this self-discipline for years. But apparently, if the toilet paper is farther than I can reach while ... occupied... my mental facilities are not strong enough to remember what I meant to do until after I am done washing my hands. Maybe I just get distracted by making faces at myself in the mirror. Much to Robert's frustration though, my mental facilities ARE witty enough to put the empty springy-toiletpaper-tube on top of the toilet seat (in an attempt to remind myself what I was up to) before I wash my hands. As a result, most of the time Robert just comes in and finds a springy-toiletpaper-tube placed neatly on the toilet seat. Like, "look Honey, we're out of toilet paper, but I didn't put a new one on. Have a nice day!"
On the topic of toilet paper, girls apparently have a lot higher overall toilet paper consumption (not to eat) than boys. Not my fault. I'm a girl. Tough.

Who knew marriage could be so enlightening? ;)We are having a lot of fun though.
Robert is counting down the days until graduation. I like to bake whenever I don't want to do homework. (Tasty habits do not always equal healthy habits.)
Daisy and Echo are doing really well. Daisy is growing crazy fast, and Echo loves always having somebody around to play with, even if she is a bit more... touchy feely, than he is.
We used to put Daisy on top of Echo in "his chair" when she was real little, but she did this all by herself. Echo wasn't incredibly happy, but he puts up with her.
Mostly, I can't wait till Thanksgiving and Christmas! Luckily for me (but unluckily for my school stress), after Thanksgiving we only have 1 week of class + 1 week of finals - then it's graduation and Christmas break!

Wahoo!

Compassion International

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Compassion – Make a Donation – Sponsor a Child

I am going to a Compassion event tonight to help run a table (I think?) and pass out sponsorship packets. I am so excited!

My little girl, Tasya from Indonesia, is 9 years old and just started the 4th grade. Her grades are improving and she has been healthy. We write tons of letters back and forth, and she is very sweet. It is very humbling to know a little girl is so incredibly thankful that I write her letters.

If you can handle skipping a few meals out to eat every month, or buy generic brand groceries (Be a Generic Hero!), it is only $38 a month. That sounds like a decent chunk to most of us, but compared to restaurant prices or the cost of the newest name brand chips (Sour Cream & Chive Wheat Thins anyone?), we blow $38 on things much less important.
MUCH less important than education, basic health care, and a Christian involvement for an underprivileged child.

There's my plug. But don't give your excuses to me. You know who. ;)

Last Drop of Summer

Robert and I have been having a great time squeezing out our last drop of summer. Actually, we haven't been squeezing that hard for summer fun. We've just been laying around enjoying NOT planning a wedding and NOT having homework! So, in contrast to our relaxation, we had a blast this weekend!

The daycare where I worked was closed all week, and Robert took off Thursday AND Friday, so we were beside ourselves with the endless possibilities for fun.
On Friday we went to see the new GI Joe movie - which will be our last non-dollar-theater movie viewing for a while. It was lots of fun in the cheesey swashbuckling hero, scary villain kind of way. Plus we love action movies.

***Note: I do NOT approve this movie for children. The beginning is really scary (I covered my eyes) and lots of people die in various ways. The deaths aren't gory, but the inject-and-mutate-your-face scenes would probably be disturbing for kids.***

Just in case you wanted to know. :D

On Saturday, we threw together a trip to Martin Lake State Park. I've really been wanting to go (that's where I was going to take the Waxlers if it hadn't've rained) since I went there in February with my floor (D1) and our brother floor (Quad 3) for a Valentine's Day picnic.
This time is was hot-but-not-too-hot beautiful weather, and the water was swim-worthy.

PS. I didn't take this picture, so there weren't actually wild flowers this time, but it was still very pretty and not overcrowded!

We took Echo and Daisy for their first water experience. I certainly wish we owned a camera to capture it! Robert threw the tennis ball increasingly farther into the water and Echo and Daisy kept up! The lake was nice squishy mud (not "Keep your shoes on so you don't get cut with mystery items!"), and got deeper very gradually. I really have to take families with little kids there! Daisy (pointer puppy) didn't hesitate to start swimming when the water quickly got to deep for her to wade or leap over it. Echo was determined not to swim if he didn't absolutely have to. When it got to deep to run, he would bound over the water and looked absurd. If he still couldn't reach the tennis ball, he would look back at us like, "Does this look like fun to you?"

It was a truly wonderful day, and it felt like pure summer. We didn't even stay too long because it's only 40 minutes away. We could actually go back during the semester! HA!

I'll save Sunday's events for my post after school starts. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

It might be time for school to start if...

You can't help but drift towards the fresh and brightly colored school supplies.
Anyone else craving bouquets of newly sharpened pencils?

The most exciting thing that happened today was receiving your new drivers license (Rebecca Whiting, thankyouverymuch) and your new student parking sticker (Commuter).

You got spit up on every day this week. And we wonder why I wear flip-flops? Because they can be cleaned in the sink at work.

You cleaned up throw up today AND you got peed on. Kind of. Also daycare. Need I say more?



I really do love my job, honest. But I have a nasty cough (which mysteriously matches one of the 9 mo. olds), which makes the 3rd time I've been sick since I got married. And judging by the list above, I'm really ready to be taking 18 hours of college courses. Whether or not you choose to remind me of that in a month is up to your discretion. :)

So, not much EXCITING or amusing has been going on in my life lately, but hopefully (like say, after August 24) I will have plenty of collegiate anecdotes to share. Just as long as my professors don't find out about my blog!

Ta ta for now!
Becca


Oh yah, a word...
witzelsucht - a feeble attempt at humour
capernoited - slightly intoxicated or tipsy

Find other unusual words here.

Vegetable Beef Stew

Hello Everybody!

Lissa asked me for the soup recipe that I made on Friday night, and I'd been wanting to share it to the rest of you anyway. AND it's gluten free, unless I missed something really obvious.

According to the cookbook: "Hearty Hamburger Stew," but I call it "Vegetable Beef Stew" because that's more self explanatory.

1/4 lb. ground beef
1/4 c. onion
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 16 oz. can (diced) tomatoes
2 1/2 c. water
2 small carrots, diced
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1/4 c. green pepper, chopped
1/4 c. uncooked rice
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Brown hamburger in a large skillet.
Stir in [everything else].
Simmer, covered, for about 25 min., or until vegetables and rice are tender.

Isn't that great? It's a lot of chopping, but once you dump it all in, you can walk away. It really drives me nuts when recipes have you putting in another ingredient every 5 or 10 minutes. Once, I made this potato soup with chicken where you had to make a white sauce (which is several steps), while cooking the chicken and vegetables (which I put in one pot. How big do they think my stove is anyway?) and then add it all together to cook, then later add the cheese. *Sigh* Too much work. In fact, today I tried a new recipe for potato soup that was a good chop-it-up, dump-it-in-the crockpot, ready-when-you-get-home-from-work recipe. AND it involved 2 cans of potato soup (+ real potatoes), instead of persnickety white sauce.

Well I am utterly blithering. I really am enjoying learning to cook though. I'm actually gaining the confidence to exchange ingredients for what I have, or for stuff I prefer to use up first. The other day I actually just looked at several different recipes and just made something up! It tasted good, but I always forget that I do not like baked chicken & rice in crockpot because the result is rice that is pretty much the consistency of rice pudding. Not okay.
Robert loved it though; he'll eat anything with rice. (Yay MKs!)

Okay, I wanna go find a book to read until Robert finishes the book I want to read next (Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card). Unfortunately, he still has 300+ pages left, and since I just read Ender's Game, nothing else can satisfy me but more Orson Scott Card.


Word of the Day?
What do you call the body of words/thought that one blithers? For example, ("I was blithering") "That paragraph is all blither." Or maybe blather? "Blithness" just sound like business with a serious lisp. hehehhehe.

5 Sure Fire Ways to Scare Your Husband

1. Gasp and exclaim "Oh no!" after a clash of breaking glass.
(I knocked over one of our Nice Glasses in the sink while washing dishes, and it broke. Robert was just glad I didn't get hurt. I am just really sad that we now have an odd number of glasses.)

2. Gasp while he's driving.
(This is not a specific example; I do this all the time when I remember something - in perfect Mema style.)

Do you see a pattern developing?

3. Say things like "I have a confession to make." in your first month of marriage. Or the week before the wedding. Or right after he swiped his credit card to buy our wedding bands last year. Any of these will do the trick.
(I clearly have a habit of over-dramatization. Usually this particular phrase is followed by something like, "I forgot to put on deodorant this morning.")

4. Scream hysterically from the bathroom at 11:00 at night.
(While getting ready for bed, there was a bug-that-shall-not-be-named. Robert said he thought I was being attacked by mutant rats. I made him check the perimeter of the bathroom for several visits before I would go in.)

5. Scream hysterically from just about anywhere.

Can you tell I'm learning a lot? Poor Robert.

Oh! I almost forgot! Wouldn't you be sad? ;)

The Word of the Day:
Euphobia- Fear of hearing good news.
Bummer. That's bad.
Zemmiphobia- Fear of the great mole rat.
Is this some reference to some secret folklore that I have missed?
For more interesting phobias, visit The Phobia List.

Fireworks, Drugs, & a Puppy

A lot has happened since I last posted!

We had a lovely July 4th - complete with fireworks (the night before) in Longview, Dairy Queen, and good friends. Upon arriving at the good-view parking lot I received a tip about, Robert and I were the only people set up there. So, we called around our friends to let them know that the fireworks were indeed on July 3rd in case you haven't heard, would you like to come watch with us? The only biters we had were my friends Rebekah and Ryne who are married too. It helped that they were excited to be spontaneous because Bekah's mom was keeping their two kids for the week. It was so fun to to have friends to watch the fireworks with - even if we didn't play spoons for 4 hours on a hillside. ;)

The next day I got my first migraine ever. Happy Indepence Day. Fortunately(?), Robert has had chronic migraines his whole life (since he got a concussion when he was 6ish - another good story), so he knew exactly what to do, and took wonderful care of me. We were both exhausted by Sunday morning and skipped church. HOWEVER, by Sunday afternoon my eyes were feeling less-sore enough to go see Transformers with Robert. Amazing!

Last but not least, Robert and I have been talking about getting a friend for Echo. Preferrably a little sister, since I have grown up with girl dogs and wanted a friend too. During the school year, when finals loom near and finances are bleak - one feels as if he or she will never have enough money to afford anything. Ever. So we planned on getting a puppy after Robert graduated - the ray of sunlight in the clouds.
But NOW it's summer! Anything is possible! The sun is shining; the birds are singing; we have lots of wedding money; let's buy a puppy! Atleast that's about how it went in my head. Robert is in charge of the Knowing Whether or Not This Is a Wise Decision or Just a Whim Department. Not me. :D
So on Tuesday, we bought a puppy. She is 6-8 weeks old, a "pointer mix" according to the Humane Society, and a fuzzy, roly poly little adorable bundle! Based on my educated Google browsing, she is an English Pointer. We wanted a really girly name, but a not-too-human/not-too-dog name. After another question to the great Google, we came up with Daisy. Too cute.
Here she is.Unfortunately she has had a rough little life since we got her. AND her constant droopy "Why are you doing this to me?" eyes do not help. For more information about Daisy's miserable week - read Robert's blog.

Well, I am off to work soon, and to give some pain meds to Daisy. (Really, you should read his blog.)

Have a wonderful day!

Daycare Disease

I'b sick. Danks to daycare. It habbens every subber. I washed by hads idcessantly. Especially with the sticky babies. I don' dow why I'b always so addoyed. Thus, I'b drinkig lots of water and popping vitabid C whedever I rebebber.

But THIS year I have a husband. *sigh* Yesterday he looked all over the house for my medicine tin (retro Barbie tin, Thanks to Lissa) that I just KNEW that I packed to move to Longview. I followed him pathetically from room to room as he moved around boxes, checked up-high cabinets, and tried to help me remember where I last remembered it, etcetera, etcetera.
He also went with me to Walmart to compare prices per pill and symptoms addressed and I-don't-want-liquid-only-pill factors. We decided on nasal spray (I now know why my grandmother was addicted) and WalMart brand cold medicine (non-drowsy, congestion, cough, fever reducer, and pain reliever).
Above all this is the wonderful fact that because we're married, we have declared it an inevitable fact that he will get sick or not get sick regardless of whether or not I kiss him and cuddle up to him (which I am extra prone to when I'm sick).
I know this is all really mind-blowing. Being married with a cold. (Not to be confused with "married with a kid".) But for a 2 week and 2 day newlywed, it is! I don't have to go back to a dorm room and be pathetic. I get to be with my husband and be pathetic! Ha!

All of this startling revelation aside - I really like my new job. I do in fact miss daycare by the end of the school year. In August, or in 2 weeks, I will not miss daycare. I will be ready for school to start, leaving me accountable for noone's runny nose, dirty diaper, snack, take-home papers, field trips, or tattle tales.
See? I do love my job. Because right now (2nd work week), I still welcome all those things as familiar territory. It is wonderful to start a new job and already know the ropes. I even have friends! Then again, teachers tend to make friends fast in kind of a "band together or lose your sanity" sort of way.

Sorry so long again. You wonder why I have trouble falling asleep at night. This is how my mind works. (Not to mention the mental background music of a particularly catchy song about lamas.)

Until next time,
get yourself some legal inhalants. They really clear up your sinuses!

Today's word: grommet
grom-met [GRAHM-it]
1. any of various rings or eyelets of metal or the like.
2. a metal-bound eyelet in cloth, sometimes used decoratively, as on a garment.

Thank you Balderdash.

First Blog

Okay, let's get the first blog out of the way.

The eyebrow-raising does-she-have-any-potential-worth-subscribing-to? blog. So my great aspiration is only that I get a decent "hmph" (Let's wait until her second blog).

I also now appreciate the thought that goes into choosing a blog name. Having only been part of one name choosing (I can't remember who exactly suggested "musings"), I was dubious about choosing a name for myself.

After deciding on "linguaphile," (I know this is all just SO riveting), I wasn't sure if I was worthy of sucha lofty boast. After all, it has been 2 years since I was on the Spelling Team - yah that's right - and I haven't been purposefully incorporating new 3+ syllable words into my working vocabulary. (Spontaneic was a tricky week.) But at this point in the train of thought, it occured to me that I was not only searching for words in Dictionary.com, but I was typing ambiguous phrases that only Google could handle like "adjectives that begin with the lettler L."
So maybe I am a linguaphile.
Upon arriving at the helpful L list, I lingered fondly on "lackadaisical" - my old favorite word, confident that that url would not be taken. However, "loopy" and "lemony" roll off the tongue quite nicely (Please try it out loud - Please?) I felt that "lapdancer" and "lousy," although comical, probably wouldn't make good hello-here-I-am! titles.

I'm much more interested in making a cutesy title banner like my inspiration boggers. They are the true reason I have climbed on to the wagon. I just want to be able to comment on their posts! This would be my 2 sisters and my sister-in-law-once-removed. (And the boys of course...)

So, World! (however small and inattentive to my blog)
I hope to come up with something witty soon. And I hope you do not grow tiresome of my writing; I promise that my brain and conversation really are this punctuated with hyphenated phrases and parenthetical remarks.

Until next time,
Good night Neverland!

Today's word is: calipash
This one has been my favorite for several years.
cal⋅i⋅pash kal-uh-pash
noun: the part of a turtle next to the upper shield, consisting of a greenish gelatinous substance, considered a delicacy.