moo.

FIFO. have you heard of it? do you do it? i love it.

first in. first out. it's a term i learned in culinary school and it applies to proper food storage. say you have so many jars of peanut butter in your pantry that you can't keep track of which you bought first. you organize them putting the "first one" you purchased in the front so that it can be used and be the "first out." i FIFO mostly everything in my house when i restock. even toilet paper. again, rare breed.

i was organizing the stored breast milk that i have in my freezer and most definitely putting them in correct FIFO order since they are only good for 12 months. i was curious as to how much i've been stocking so i decided to count the bags and calculate the amount of ounces in each bag. that brings it to a grand total of about 5 gallons of breast milk. hence we are in the market for a deep freeze.

vera eats 5 times a day now, usually about 5 oz. at a time. let's do some math.

128oz. = 1 gal.

she needs 25oz. of food for a 24-hr. period.

128/25= roughly 5 days of food for her.

i could almost take a week vacation.

thinking back to my shared thoughts of selling my bodily fluid as liquid gold, let's do some more math.

i've read that you can make $1-$3 per ounce.

128 oz. * $1= $128.00
128 oz. * $3= $384.00

i currently could cash in for $128-$384. not very impressive.

let's say my goal is to devote 15oz. a day to sell (that's on top of breast feeding vera) and i do it for 6 months.

$15/day * 180 days = $2,700
$45/day * 180 days = $8,100

if i keep it up for 6 months, i could cash in for $2,700-$8,100.
impressive.

if i keep it up for 1 year, that's $5,400-$16,200.
now that's a lot of mulah. or should i say moo-lah.

the chronicles of carey: january 31st

1995 (I was in 5th grade.)
I like to play with my doll house. I actually think it's too babyish, but I still think it's fun.

2000 (Classic boy troubles.)
I called him and told him my feelings. He seemed confused. He said he has feelings for me but that he doesn't know what that means. He said he doesn't want a long term relationship and that he's hesitant with the whole commitment thing. We decided that being friends for now is best.

2002
I am officially in the United States Army National Guard. I swore in today.

2003
Help me to understand how much You really love me. I know that You went to the greatest length possible to win me into Your kingdom. I feel like I see You as a God who only wants to get justice and unleash Your wrath to those who have sinned against You. But the cross shows that there is an abundance of grace and mercy extended to us, too. Forgive me for doubting it. I don't mean to discount what You did for me. I just want to understand.

2005
I've been hanging out every Monday night with a friend and we watch 'The Bachelorette' together. I can't think of a more useless show to watch, but it's a good excuse to spend time getting to know her better.

2006
I don't think I believe that God has given us only one perfect mate. I don't like considering it though, that there are others out there with whom Chris or I could have married and been just as happy. I always tell Chris that if I die someday, he should remarry because he is incredible and any woman would be lucky to have him. God really blessed me with a great man.

breakfast for dinner.

i know i've said it before, but i'll say it again. i get so much satisfaction out of using up everything in my fridge. granted, there will be plenty of condiments in the door, but not much else will be hanging out in there by the end of the week.

most weeks i plan out creative, colorful meals for my solid food eating family of 2. some weeks, however, i am in the mood to clean out. this was one of them. i bought a handful of ingredients at the market to complete menus for what i wanted to use up in the fridge, pantry, and freezer.

i have to give a shout out to my husband here. he loves to eat anything and everything and i love that about him. he also loves to snack. (who doesn't?) i appreciate him sticking it out on these weeks when there ain't much else to snack on besides our costco sized bag of dried cranberries and the ever-present, always-stocked jar of peanut butter, as well as some nuts in the freezer. most of the time he's about to conjur up something to satisfy his craving.

by the end of the week, i usually run out of ideas for dinner, so my go-to meal is usually breakfast for dinner; pancakes and eggs. i LOVE me some pancakes! i've got some sour cream to get rid of, so sour cream pancakes it is. whisk some eggs, throw in the leftover cheddar, scramble it up and dinner is served. (you'll notice the absence of vegetables and fruits, but it's all about getting by at this point and not spending money.)

what's your go-to meal when your refrigerator is nearly bare?

loving the hard-to-love.

i stink at it. i've really been convicted lately about how i rarely hang out with people like that. as christians, we are not called to always remain in our comfort zones. i want to be better at loving people who drain me emotionally, those who are so self-absorbed they make me want to scream my head off, those who put down others to raise themselves, and those who annoy the crap out of me.

any advice on how to do that? i don't even know where to start.

chris turns 30.

i asked chris what he wanted to do for his birthday
and his response was, "wine and games."

we had a fun day together celebrating his 30th birthday yesterday. we hung out with several friends at crú wine bar downtown for happy hour. they gave us a lovely private room in the back where we got to catch up with a lot of really good friends. the appetizers and wine were good and vera did great being social, too. :) we were home around 7pm and i put her down for the night soon after that. then more friends came and met us at our house for cake, ice cream, and games! it was really fun and i hope he felt extra loved on his birthday.

chris harvey & matt simmons

lessa & jennybrandy & jim routhlessa had the touch!scott & lydia hekmanjenny & bekah30 candlesnewlyweds: joe & daisy, and andrea

today we went to the greenbelt and it is absolutely beautiful! the water is back and barton creek is full with rushing currents. marlow was in heaven. it'd been quite awhile since we'd been back, and it was so much fun. it was a little difficult hiking some of the trails with vera in the carrier, but we just took it slow and easy and it reminded me of being 42 weeks pregnant. :)

i love living in austin!

makes my heart melt.

we seat her with us when we eat dinner. she boycotted the nap today and therefore fell asleep at the table. too funny!

over the moon.

i am SO excited that karen will officially and permanently be a part of our family. cousin sammy proposed and she didn't say no.think you jumped the gun though, sam? it's been only 8 years. geesh. (jab, jab)

tradition.

i love traditions. they are something to look forward to in different seasons of each year. one of ours that we started our first year of dating is writing in a journal together at the start of each new year. we start off by telling a story in both of our perspectives that we want to remember later on. it usually signifies a big event from our year. year one it was how we met, year two was our wedding day, year three was my experience in culinary school, year four was losing and finding marlow, and year five was the pregnancy and birth of our daughter. we record random memories that we don't want to forget, then make a list of dreams/goals for the next year. it is a very special time of reflection for us where we can look back and see how God provided perfectly. it has chronicled our marriage. and i'm pretty sure it'd be one of the first things to grab if our house was burning down. besides marlow, of course. oops! and vera. and chris. :)

vivaldi to ludacris.

last saturday chris and i drove up to ft. worth, dropped off the baby with the grandparents, and went on another date. i could get used to this! he bought us tickets to the ft. worth symphony for my christmas gift, and since i'm a quality time person, it was perfect. we got dressed up and since we were running late, decided to grab dinner afterwards.

the symphony was beautiful!--my first time. we heard vivaldi's four seasons. there were four sections (i don't know the musical lingo) to the piece and each represented a different season. there was a sonnet that was printed in the program that vivaldi had written to coincide with the music. for spring, the orchestra made the music sound like birds chirping, wind, and rain. for fall, it sounded like leaves were blowing and horses galloping for hunting season. winter and summer, too. it was really cool. i left feeling cultured and enriched.

it was late when the symphony got out and there weren't many restaurants open still, but we did find an upscale tex-mex place on sundance square. we had been to the same chain in austin and it was really nice when we'd went before. this time, however, it was somewhat of a different experience.

it was blistery cold that night--i even got to wear my down coat--and the place was packed out probably because it was one of the few places still serving food and drink. immediately when we walked in, decked out in suit and dress, we realized it wasn't as polished as the austin location. tons of high school and college-aged kids (did i just say kids?) packed out the place and filled the dance floor where a d.j. provided less than tasteful music.

it was kind of funny. we heard music from both ends of the spectrum that night.

more pics of the patio.

he finished up the roof. then scrubbed the wood and will seal it later. he washed down the inside. next we'll install an outdoor fan and wiring for electricity. speakers and lights to come. and new screens.

chicken poop.

this was by far one of my favorite stocking stuffers. my mom is catching onto the type of humor i enjoy, apparently. :) i love the quote on the top right that says: " grandpa says, if ya got dry lips, put chicken poop on 'em and you won't lick em." that's great.
from now on, whenever i refer to chap stick, i call it chicken poop. i need me some chicken poop.

our little bug.

in dots.

ready for church.

am i a mean momma for this? hil-ar-ious.

the human cow project.

chris is always trying to come up with an original invention. most of the time they are really great ideas and we've found that most are already patented. his most recent money-making idea was to create a website market where those interested can buy and sell breast milk. well, many websites already exist for that. isn't that funny? i guess someone would be interested in buying breast milk if you weren't able to produce on your own or were adopting and didn't want to use formula. we also found an additional use that some adults drink it for homeopathic purposes. gross. but that's not to say i haven't jokingly threatened before to disguise some in a smoothie for chris to drink. i know. if only you were a fly on the wall in our house. we try to act our age and not let people see how truly weird we are...rather, how weird i am!

when reading up on the milk bank sites, we discovered that the buyers will pay for the shipping costs and that you can make up to $32,000/year by pumping only about 10 oz./day. fo shizzle. you may think i am the craziest person ever for this, but i am actually considering it. either i might breast feed vera until she's 6 months old, then pump and sell for another 6 months, buying us a car and helping us save the money we were planning on using for it. how awesome is that? or i might breast feed vera closer to a year and continue pumping after that to sell. but that's less appealing since i am not a fan of breast feeding anyway.

regardless, i think it's flippin awesome that i could make that much money by devoting only 30 minutes a day to pumping.

but i would have to file them on our income taxes. what would you put for occupation though? human cow? mammary factory? milk donor? wet nurse, i guess...but that's not nearly as funny.

don't worry, i got permission to post this story.

i have always enjoyed taking care of the domestic duties around the home; dishes, cooking, making beds, straightening up, and laundry. i have my system and would consider myself rather efficient. there is a specific place for most things and always before going to bed, the kitchen has to be clean and the pillows on the couch fluffed. no joke. some might say i am anal retentive or at best OCD, but i know that i function better in life when there is order. i know, i know, i am a rare breed. i should be very thankful that my husband has kept me around this long!

all that to say, while i was up to my neck with things to do this afternoon, my lovely husband was leisurely enjoying his book in the living room. we try not to judge how each other spends our time, but sometimes, i must admit, it is not easy for me to be the wife, the housekeeper, the mom, the dogmom, the errand-runner, grocery-shopper, etc. i really do try not to nag. and i think he'd say i don't do it that much. but i was holding my tongue today.

he finishes up reading and comes into that kitchen and asks what he should do with his time. i ask him to do the laundry that is piled up in the laundry room--though probably not the response he was looking for. as he begins to throw in a load, i peek out of the corner of my eye and once again, hold my tongue. he may not be doing it the way i would do it, but the goal is for the clothes to be cleaned, right? so what could go wrong?

he's had a little rough patch in the past the one other time i asked him to help with laundry and the result was slightly pinkish clothes. but we've moved past that.

no big deal.

while unloading the first load into the dryer, he asks when i do laundry why it comes out dirty. i didn't understand so i went over to check out the situation and found that two rugs had frolicked in wet merriment with soft baby clothes among other delicates. and dirty they were.

we had a good laugh together. i'm not sure if he really doesn't know how to do laundry or if this is part of his grand scheme so that i don't ask him again. :) regardless, i love him and enjoy moments like this when i can pick on the smarty pants engineer that he is.

the end.