Monday Minute 1/31/11

Well, we're officially already 1/12th through 2011.  That's pretty nuts people.  You know what else is nuts and awesome?  It's time for a Monday Minute!

For newbies: PLEASE link up and play along!  It's so fun.  Just take the Monday Minute button and link up below.  And guys, I'm kinda running out of inspiration ... I've only got about 3 weeks left of questions, so if you wanna give me some questions, I'd thank you much.  Just email me (lilianateachesus@gmail.com).




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Questions

(1) What's your favorite time of day?

(2) Do you and your significant other send sexy texts?

(3) If you got your dream job anywhere in the US, where would you choose to move to?

(4) What are you wearing?

(5) If given a choice to skip work for a day, how would you spend the entire day?

Answers

(1) On weekends, I just LOVE our mornings.  Since Liliana is such an amazing sleeper, we wake up in peace and cuddle for a little while.  Then, when she does wake up, we all stay in our PJ's for a couple hours and play.  During the week, I like the after dinner/ before baby goes to sleep time.  We just watch Liliana crawl/ roll around everywhere and have a great time together as a family.  It's pretty splendid.

(2) SURE DO!  ; )  It's important to let each other know we're thinking of one another throughout the day! We do have to be careful though because my kiddos see my phone all the time and Evan's around doctors all day either in the OR or when he's rounding.  Don't want anybody to see something they shouldn't be seeing! 

(3) Believe it or not ... thanks to my brilliant husband, we're moving to our top choice, Little Rock!  A little adventure is exactly what Evan and I love.  I say little though because our moving to Little Rock will still be a relatively short plane ride for my parents to come see us and we have tons of Evan's family in Little Rock to hang out with all the time.  I know I should say some awesome place like San Francisco, but it's too damn expensive to live there and it's too far from any family.  

 (4) Workout clothes: Texas Tech School of law T-shirt, workout spandex pants that I bought at TJMaxx yesterday, and my tennis shoes.  I still haven't showered.  EWWW.  

(5) Well, right now, I'd say I'd continue packing up the house.  That is pretty much the ONLY THING we did this weekend.  We even had some amazing friends come help and I feel like we BARELY made a dent.  NORMALLY though, I'd take some spa time if I don't mind.  I haven't had a pedicure, haircut, or eyebrow wax since my Mom was here after Liliana was born.  She's 8 months.  Oh and a massage.  Can I add that to the list?

Link up now ya hear?

"Liliana teaching the docs of the house"

When I changed the name of my blog from "Happily a Law Mama" to "Is there a Doctor in the house?" someone suggested my little tag line be something about Liliana teaching the docs of the house.  They told me that children would end up teaching you so much.  I put it there, mainly because I thought it sounded cute.  I didn't know how true it would be.

Yesterday was a very stressful day.  I have so many things going on and feel like a failure for not completing them all immediately.  I have a full time job, I have a daughter, I have a house to prepare for sale, I need to buy a new house, and I have a job to look for.  God forbid I would want to include some other things in there such as spending time with my husband, working out, and reading.  But I do want to include those things.  I have always made time for at least the first two and I refuse to give them up.   However, I was stressed beyond belief yesterday.  We had a realtor come to the house and while we don't have to make any HUGE changes to it, there are of course a million little things that need to get done.  Ok, maybe not a million, but there are honest to god about 100.  Packing everything after work is tough when all I want to do is spend time with Liliana and Evan.  Not to mention I come home exhausted from work (those 8th graders have tons of energy in case you didn't know) and after work I usually workout which only leads to my being more tired.

So yesterday, I came home and was talking a million miles a minute to Evan.  I was telling him all my concerns and expressing my exhaustion.  When I got home, Liliana had just gone down for a nap.  I kept being stressed and talking about it was just making me worry more.  Then, Liliana woke up.  Evan brought her to see Mommy and all of the sudden, I smiled.  My daughter taught me that I need to CALM DOWN.  My daughter taught me to SMILE.  She is so beautiful and so delightful.  How could I have forgotten all the beautiful things in life?

Then later in the evening, the stress started piling up again.  We started packing up our DVDs and our board games and I realized that only those two things took over 20 minutes.  How would we accomplish the rest before we put the house on the market in 3 weeks?  As I was thinking this, Liliana was sitting down and went on to all fours.  She hadn't done this on her own yet, so naturally, I let out a squeal!  Then ... she CRAWLED a couple movements to try and get my cell phone.  I started hugging Evan immediately.  We both saw her first crawl and it was SUCH a special moment!

I can't believe my baby girl is already crawling.  What a big big girl!  And in those two moments I realized, it'll all get done.  The other stuff isn't what's important.  The important thing is having family moments such as what we had last night where we both catch Liliana's firsts and proclaim with joy about her wonderful she is, because she truly is wonderful.

P.S. Isn't it hilarious that she didn't crawl for one of the THOUSAND toys that people have bought her?  Nope, she crawled to a PHONE!  Kids ...

P.P.S. I can't believe that my email box wasn't FLOODED with emails yesterday for people wanting to win my giveaway.  Guys, it is an awesome one if I may say so myself and so far, only 10 people are in the running.  Your chances of winning at that rate are ridiculously awesome. Click HERE to read about it and enter for a chance to win!  The giveaway ends on February 2nd, so you still have plenty of time.

GIVEAWAY time!! Trust me, you'll want to win this one.

I ordered Evan's Christmas gift in October.  I had known for MONTHS what I wanted to give him.  I found an etsy shop from Growing Sweet Pea.  Her blog is the CUTEST.  What this etsy shop is all about is the sweetest custom cartoons you've ever seen.  For such a reasonable price (ranging from $15 to $35), you get a one of a kind gift such as:

How about a sweet adorable picture of you and your sweet someone?

 Or how about a picture of Daddy with his new bundle of joy?

Not a fan of black and white?  She does color too!

So, for Christmas I told her I wanted a picture of Evan swimming with Liliana.  As you guys know, Evan is an amazing swimmer (All-American), so swimming with Liliana has already become very important to him.  She looked at quite a few pictures of Evan and Liliana and within a couple weeks look what I got in the mail: 

Isn't this possibly the most ADORABLE thing you've EVER seen?  Needless to say, Evan LOVED it.  In fact, he told me it was quite possibly the best gift I've ever given him.  He has been SO protective of it and immediately went to buy a frame so it wouldn't get bent in anyway.  

Want another view?

Isn't this sweet?  LOVE IT!

After Christmas, I contacted the artist just to tell her how pleased I was and you know what she did?

She is doing a GIVEAWAY just for you guys! 

It is worth $25 towards any thing you want her to draw for you guys, whether it be a sport, a sweet portrait, or well ... anything!  I am SO excited for whomever wins this giveaway.  If you send her pictures, she will customize it JUST FOR YOU.

I just think these kinds of gifts are THE BEST: personal, sweet, custom, and PERFECT.

SO, how do you win?

For 1 entry, visit either her ETSY SHOP or HER BLOG and tell me what you would have her draw for you.

For 2 entries, follow this blog!


For 4 entries, blog about this giveaway and post the link in a comment below.

This giveaway will last until February 2nd at 5 when I'll do the drawing and announce the winner!  Make sure you give me an email address in which to contact you if you're the lucky winner!

The Verdict is IN!

I can FINALLY come clean about everything that's been on my mind the past few months.  I feel like I was a horrbile blogger the last couple months because I had to stay completely mum as to what we were up to, but honestly, 99% of my mind was occupied by what happened this morning.

For MONTHS, we were hoping Evan would get in to a Urology residency.  He LOVES Urology.  It has clinic and surgery.  It has the serious (prostate and testicular cancer) to the not quite AS serious (helping someone have sex again...wait...that is pretty damn serious!).

However, unfortunately, my husband chose one of the most competitive residencies out there.  Urology is competitive because of the relatively awesome lifestyle after residency.  Evan has known he wanted to be a Urologist since he was a sophomore in college.  He was THE ONLY person that said he wanted to practice Urology the first week of medical school when everybody was filmed making their predictions.

Since he's known this goal for quite a while now, he studied his BOOTY off for his first USMLE.  Medical students have a set of two USMLE's that they have to take before applying for residencies.  Unfortunately though, Evan didn't do nearly as well as we had hoped.  His practice tests were off the charts, and I guess nerves got to him, because when we got the results, we weren't smiling.

He kept his head up though.  He went and talked to everybody at the program and said "What do I have to do?  How can I let people know I still want to do this?  I don't want ONE test to crush my dream."

And he kept truckin.  He did MUCH better on his second USMLE and wrote quite a few papers to show his dedication.  He did two rotations in Urology and then came the interviews.  He was granted NINE interviews, which we were really surprised by.  Some of these interviews though ... oy ... they were in places that were simply too damn cold for us.  Ex: Syracuse.  So, he only went on 4 of them.

And we BY FAR knew which one was our first choice: Little Rock, Arkansas.  He has SO much family there and they couldn't have been more excited for the possibility of our being there.

That was a long shot though.  We let the program know that we would rank it first, but what were the chances?

Turns out ... they were pretty damn good.

Guys, this blogger will be moving to LITTLE ROCK in May and is SO PROUD of her soon to be Urologist!  He got his FIRST CHOICE (only person from Texas Tech that got their first choice today) and the program seems REALLY excited to have him.  They should be.  He's awesome and he'll be an AMAZING doctor in a short 3 1/2 months.

YES, this means I have to pack up the entire house, put it for sale, keep working, apply for a job, and find a new house, but we'll worry about that tomorrow.  Today, we've just had FUN and enjoyed our SUCCESS. YAY!

The Weekend of Distraction

Ladies and gentleman,

I regret to inform you that tomorrow I will not be posting a Monday Minute.  However, there is a reason behind this...tomorrow is a BIG day for us.  Tomorrow, at approximately 8 am, both Evan's and my cell phone will make a noise informing us of a potentially life changing event.

Tomorrow, we finally found out what specialty Evan will do for the rest of his life.  Tomorrow is his Match Day. To make this email even MORE important, we find out where we'll be living for the next few years.

Tonight, as Evan laid Liliana down in to her crib to sleep, he told her "tomorrow when I wake you up, I'll tell you where you'll be growing up."

It had hit me that tomorrow was big, but when he told her that, it REALLY hit me.

We've been waiting for tomorrow for over 5 years.  Evan's known about his dream for YEARS now and I just hope, pray, and desire SO much that he gets what he so rightfully deserves.  I honestly don't care much about the location.  I just want him to be happy.

This weekend has been dubbed our "weekend of distraction."  We wrote down a BILLION things that we wanted to get done.  We purposefully didn't put any pressure on ourselves as to whether or not it got done, but we wanted a million options so that we couldn't get bored and think about the importance that is tomorrow.  So far, we've accomplished quite a few of them: we watched Karate Kid (which can you believe it, my husband had NEVER seen), we worked out, we cleaned the house, we went grocery shopping, we went out to dinner with Friends, we played a bunch with Liliana, we bought some gifts for friends, I finished the last Harry Potter book, I've worked on a family photo album, and now we're left with this evening.

Personally, I want to stay up LATE so that I don't start waking up at 4 and looking at the clock every 5 minutes.  I plan on drinking some glasses of wine in a couple hours so that they lull me to sleep (the effect alcohol has on me, sexy I know) and hopefully falling in to the best sleep ... until 8.  However, what will probably happen?  No matter how many glasses of wine I have, I'll stay up hoping my husband is happy with tomorrow's results, whatever they may be.  Then at 4, I'll be awake and check my phone multiple times.  I'll think maybe my phone is malfunctioning and pull out the laptop and check his email there too.  Then, I'll repeat this process approximately 2,000 times.

Throughout the entire weekend, Evan has told me it's been on his mind every 10 - 15 minutes.  Hopefully, tomorrow, he'll be calling or texting AT LEAST that many people to tell them he has some good news to share.

If that's not the case, we'll deal with it as it comes.  His "back-up" is a GREAT option and we'd be happy with that too.  But, let's not get ahead of ourselves.  For now, let's just focus on tomorrow.

Now if you don't mind, this post has only made me more nervous.  I think I'll go back to my weekend of distraction. Good night, and wish him luck.

Happy 8 Month Birthday Liliana!

Dear Liliana:

Happy 8 Month Birthday my darling!  What a month it has been: your first Christmas, your first New Years, AND your first Three Kings Day!  You, of course, were a complete joy throughout it all.

 You put grass in the shoe box for Three Kings and they brought you some books in Spanish!

Let me see, what kind of things can I tell you about this month?  Well, you still don't have ONE tooth!  Silly girl, you're just like Mommy who didn't get her first tooth until she was 11 months.  You still aren't crawling, which I must admit, has Mommy concerned everyday while Daddy continues to say that you still have a few MONTHS before we would have to worry, haha.  You still are EXTREMELY mobile though.  You army crawl in circles and ROLL EVERYWHERE.  You can roll from one side of the room to the other in less than a minute, it's pretty impressive actually.  The thing that has you army crawling the most?  Your nasal aspirator!  I don't know what it is with that thing, but you'll do just about anything to get to play with it.  Nope, not the billions of toys that you have, but your nasal aspirator.

 Mommy became VERY attached to you over the 2 weeks she was off for Christmas break.  She CRIED the entire night before going back to work.  She just knew she'd miss that smile all day.

But, Mommy LOVES work and soon remembered that she still gets to share SO many special memories with you.  You'll be a little Beethoven before we know it.

Everybody over Christmas had SO much fun with you.  They all said you were the sweetest and most easy going baby they had ever met, and I truly think they meant it.  You also got some comments on how ... well ... BIG you are!  Not just necessarily fat, but BIG.  You're a big baby, just like your Daddy was.  You're weighing 20 pounds already, and for a girl, that's pretty large.  You're in all 9 month clothing, 6 - 9 month stuff looks hilariously small to us.  You're still in size 3 diapers, and, I gather you'll remain in those for a while.

Grammy made sure to spoil you with love and gifts over Christmas!

And by the looks of this picture, I think you like being with Padrino just as much as he loves being with you!

You're eating pretty much every single fruit or veggie under the sun.  You get one helping of each every day and eat 6 ounces every four hours otherwise.  Somehow, your sleep got EVEN BETTER this month: 13 or 14 hours straight at night sometimes.  Usually, WE have to wake you up on our way to work so we can take you to daycare.

You love your jumperoo and go NUTS jumping up and down in it.  You also move forwards and backwards in your walker very easily.  You LOVE playing peek a boo with people too. Your favorite activity though? TALKING!  You now say Mama and Dada regularly.  Today you said Daddy, so now we have three real words that you're repeating. 

The main observation I made about you this month was how darn observant you are.  You're such a wiggle worm and love to touch anything in sight, especially if it's something I'm messing with: the computer, remote, phone, or even a piece of paper.  You could sit and watch people all day if we let you.  At the grocery store, you love sitting in the shopping cart up front.  You look like such a big girl!  Your ability to sit in the front of the cart has made shopping MUCH easier, so thank you.

Thanks for giving us so many laughs and for being such an easy going beautiful, intelligent baby girl.  We can't believe you're already 8 months old.  I love you Liliana.  I really simply do.   You are my sunshine.  Daddy and I love nothing more than to sit in your little playroom (that used to be the dining room) and play with you for hours.  It's BY FAR our favorite past time.

 You are GORGEOUS by the way.  We can't go 5 feet without being stopped by people commenting on your eyes.  They sure do shine. 

Love, Mommy

Baby Reviews: Part I

Since Liliana was born, I've wanted to review some baby products and give other Moms (or future Moms) my opinion on the best of the best.  Some products I was sure would be fine ended up being pretty horrbile and some that I thought were rather silly were quite helpful.  I know she's already eight months old nearly, but I wanted to be able to make really informed recommendations...plus, better late than never right?

I'll review the baby products by category: essentials, clothing, fun stuff, and the big stuff.  I want to add a couple disclaimers (sorry, the lawyer in me) that these are MY opinions based on my ONE child.  I'm completely aware that other children like things that Liliana might not like. HOWEVER, Liliana is pretty much the most kick ass baby alive, so you might want to read this pretty thoroughly. Second, NO company has given me any money or are even aware I'm reviewing these products.  These are entirely my own opinions.

You can click on each product and it should take you to a website where you can purchase if you want to. 


Today, I'll be giving the BEST of the

BABY ESSENTIALS

(1) Best Bibs: Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Bibs.
                      Price: $5.99 for a pack of two.

 I realize these bibs are expensive.  Trust me, there are bibs I've bought for 50 cents each, as opposed to three dollars each.  However, these bibs became my favorite when we started introducing veggies and fruits in to her diet.  Liliana is ADAMANT about feeding herself.  She hates when we try to feed her (she's independent, and perhaps, a bit stubborn ok?) so naturally food gets everywhere.  These bibs have a cushion around the neck so that the food doesn't slither down on to her clothes!  Plus, they wash BEAUTIFULLY.  They are just as great quality as the day I received them at the baby shower.  My last thing I love: the size.  So many bibs are too small for big eaters. 

They might look cute, but with bibs look for food going around the neck, good thick quality for those big spit ups, and big size for all those sweet potatoes that will be all over them.

(2) Best Diapers: Target Up and Up (for the price)
                          Price: $19.99 for 144

I've used my fair share of brands already: Pampers, Luvs, Up and Up, and Kirkland (Cost Co).  My overall favorite, if price wasn't a factor, would probably be Luvs.  However, I've done the math (you'll just have to trust me on this) and it's about $150 cheaper each year to get Target.  The Target ones perhaps aren't as absorbent as Luvs, but I'd rather change an outfit once a month (because literally that's how infrequent it is) than spend an extra $150.  As for the Kirland brand, they're BY FAR my least favorite.  Lots of leakage the entire time.

The big thing with diapers: absorbency and size.  We thought our Target brand was starting to disappoint us when we realized that Liliana just needed to move up a size.  That was a month ago.  She's only leaked out once since.

(3) Best Diaper Rash Cream: Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Diaper Rash Cream.
                                     Price: $5.94 for 3.7 oz.

I've used four types of creams: Aveeno, Butt Paste, Arbonne, and Vaseline.  I must admit that Liliana has never really had a bad rash AT ALL.  Whenever she's a little red, I put a dab of cream and that helps.  However, when she has had small rashes, the only one that I've noticed has done a DARN THING is the Aveeno one.  Therefore, it's the only one I'll use.  I have the other kinds in my diaper bags in case I'm in an emergency, but I know that once I get home, I have something that will get rid of the bumps and redness once and for all.

(4) Best Baby Oil: Arbonne Baby Care Body Oil
                            Price: $11.49

I must admit that this is probably my least educated recommendation today.  Liliana has VERY dry skin (she gets that from her Mommy) so on her face we use Vaseline and LOVE that.  But for her body, I didn't want something quite as heavy.  We had a HUGE thing of Johnson and Johnson Oil, but I didn't like it.  It was SO runny and made a mess every single time I got it out.  This Arbonne product was given to me for free as a baby gift, so of course I can recommend something that's rather costly.  HOWEVER, this would last at least a couple years so then does $11 sound so painful?  It's not runny, doesn't have a scent (good for babies with sensitive skin) and my favorite part?  You can literally get two drops of the stuff if you want to!  The whole bottle doesn't come out as it did with Johnson and Johnson.

Next part of the series will be BABY CLOTHING; the cute stuff (especially for baby girls)!

Monday Minute 1/17/11

Welcome to another edition of the Monday Minute!  Hope you guys link up and play along!

I've been running low on inspiration for questions as of late, so please email me some if you've got them!  Also, if anybody wants to co-host one week, please email me!  Trust me, I wouldn't mind a break.  ; )




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Questions

When you were a child, how many kids did you say you would have as a grown up?
Do you wish you would have had more siblings?
Name two things that you consider yourself to be very good at.
What's your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?
What TV show do you NOT MISS every week.

Answers

(1) I always said I wanted a bunch of kids, probably four.  I must admit that my number has changed after having kids!  Funny thing is, it isn't because I had a difficult child.  I actually have the easiest baby ever.  It's just that my life would be so chaotic...more than I think I could handle.  Plus, if I do go back to practicing law instead of teaching, that would be WAY too many for the legal world to handle, haha.  Naturally, my husband still wants the four we had agreed upon prior to marriage.  Unfortunately for him, I'm the one that has to get pregnant, so I think I'll win!

(2) This is SO hypocritical since above I'm saying I don't want four...but YES I do.  I wish I had a bunch of siblings...BIG families at get togethers are lots of fun.  That being said, I understand why it's hard to fit it all in.  Both of my parents had jobs and focused on their education.  I'm so proud of them for that.  The three kiddos was a perfect number, but hey, if they had wanted to add more in the mix (which they did, but life just got too busy) I wouldn't have complained.

(3) This one was tough to think about, but I'll just mention the first two that came to mind.  I'm good at baking.  People always get excited when they hear I'm baking or bringing something over.   That's something I take a lot of pride in.  I'm also pretty good at following through on things.  If I ever give my word on something, I follow through whole heartedly.  If anyone ever gives me a task, you can bet it will get done, and I'll take the initiative to make sure it's better than what was required of me.

Side note: speaking of baking, I've had the ITCH to make this once again.  I couldn't stop eating it after the first time. HERE is the link.  Best pound cake I've ever had.

(4) I like breakfast food a lot, but I'm always really satisfied by some delicious pancakes.  In particular, my absolute favorite are from Magnolia Pancake Haus in San Antonio.  I order their Bananas Foster pancakes.  If you're ever visiting, you HAVE to go there...they were voted sixth best pancakes in the freaking UNITED STATES.  Sigh ...

(5) Normally, I'd put Glee but they're not back on TV just yet.  So other than Glee...Modern Family (on ABC on Wednesdays).  It's HILARIOUS.  My husband in particular is in love with this show.  I get half of my enjoyment from watching him laugh at it so much.  If you haven't started watching, rent the first season.  I promise you your sides will hurt from laughing so much.

That's it for this week!  Now link up!

Book #1: The Lincoln Lawyer

Approximately 2 weeks ago, I blogged about my three New Years Resolutions.  I'm doing remarkably well with two of them: I've been cooking and baking up a storm and have been reading pretty consistently. Admittedly, I have done a pretty horrbile job on my third resolution, but if you guys only knew the kind of anticipation I have building up for a Monday not too far from now you'd understand why I'm a worry wart as of late.

Anyway, as promised, I am going to do a little book review for every book I read.  I also promised to post some of the recipes I've made and those posts are coming ... PROMISE.

Want your mouth to salivate a little in anticipation though?

Cornmeal cheddar waffles with chicken a la king on top.  DELICIOUS. 

Even my husband said he was full because he ate so much of it.  You guys don't technically KNOW Evan, but the fact that he said he was full is beyond amazing.  I think it's the first time he's said it in the nearly 9 years that we've been together.

On to my first book review of the year:

Book Review: the Lincoln Lawyer

Grade: B

How Long Did it Take to Read: I read the Lincoln Lawyer over a span of about two weeks.  It's a relatively quick read and could easily be done in a long weekend if you had the time.

Why I Read It: I wanted to read this book for a few reasons: (1) they're making a movie about it (starring Matthew McConaughey) that will be released on March 18th.  I wanted to read it before seeing the movie.  That way I could be the typical movie goer and say "the book is SO much better."  (2) I'm obviously a sucker for lawyer books.  I always have been. It's part of the reason I wanted to go to law school.  They were always my favorite books to read. (3) I've had the book for YEARS and never read it.  It was time.

First Thoughts: The book starts off pretty typical for lawyer books: theatrical.  This is probably my biggest complaint about it.  I almost feel as though Connelly wrote it with the INTENTION of it being a movie a few years later.  I read it and think to myself "Goodness, I hope others that read this don't think all lawyers are like this."

Plot: The plot of the book is as follows: An Attorney, Mickey Haller, is notorious for being the son of a very famous attorney that passed when Mickey was young.  Mickey tries to be the great attorney in his father's footsteps, however, he usually goes about this in the most unusual of ways by defending drug dealers and gangsters.  In fact, he drives in a Lincoln because it was a fee payment from one of his clients (get the title now?).  The main client in the book however is a very wealthy real estate guru who is wanted for rape and attempted murder.  Pretty quickly in the book (so NO this isn't a spoiler alert) you realize that this rich real estate guru is in fact a pretty messed up man who isn't innocent in the slightest.  In fact, Mickey starts realizing that his client probably was related to past murders he had dealt with.  The main dilemma and plot of the book question how Mickey will handle it all.  Will he still get his client off even though he knows of his guilt?  How will he ensure that his family is safe?  etc.

At the End: The last ten or so pages of the book are the ones that have you go "oh shit."  There's a little twist that while not completely shocking at least left you saying "huh, shoulda seen that one coming!"  I really did enjoy the book.  I recommend it to someone that wants a legal thriller.  Once I was about 200 pages in, I didn't really put it down until I finished.

Why a B: I didn't give it an A grade because it was simply good, not great.  It certainly wasn't life altering.  I just thought it was an enjoyable read.  The main reason I went as high as a B?  The romance component of the book is endearing.  Mickey has been married twice and one of his ex-wives obviously holds the key to his heart.  The book focuses quite a lot on their relationship and leaves the conclusion of this relationship  unfinished, but in an uplifting way.  I hope they don't leave that out of the movie.  Even though the romance wasn't nearly the most important part, I thought that part of the story contained the most creative writing in the entire book.

Conclusion: Give the Lincoln Lawyer a read when you have a lazy weekend.  I promise you'll be glad you read it.  You won't say to yourself "GOOD GOLLY I'm glad I read that book,"  but you'll definitely say "now that was a fine way to spend a weekend."

Monday Minute 1/10/11

Well I hope everyone's beginning of 2011 has been great. Ours has been pretty good so far! But just incase yours wasn't so fabulous I know just the thing to make it better: THE MONDAY MINUTE! 






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SO, answer the questions and link up below. Also, don't forget to grab the button above.

Questions

(1) What is your favorite TV show of all time?
(2) What is the worst job you've ever had?
(3) Name one toy that, according to your parents, you loved as a child.
(4) Bert or Ernie?
(5) If you could have lunch with any person, who would it be?

Answers

(1) I have two favorites that are REALLY close...Gilmore Girls and Sex and the City. BUT, if I have to take one over the other I'd have to say Sex and the City. There are some episodes of that show that are truly remarkable. The messages can be inspiring which is saying something for a little 30 minute show. The acting is great, the story line and characters are perfectly developed, and it's so well written. Love it. I own every season on DVD.

 

Oh, and I forgot to mention, some of the lines are HILARIOUS (some would say crude, but I find them so funny.  I don't get easily offended, so maybe that's why).  Case in point:  “I’m dating skid-marks guy. When your boyfriend is so comfortable that he cannot be bothered to wipe his ass, there’s a problem.” Miranda Hobbes.

(2) You know I must say I'm quite lucky ... I've never had a HORRIBLE job.  Also I'm not that picky.  As long as I made some form of money, I didn't care that much.  I suppose I'm nearly forced to say my worst one was waitressing at IHOP, but to be honest, I kinda liked it.  I made GREAT money (well for 16 year old standards).  The downsides however: I worked holidays, I smelled like syrup CONSTANTLY (even after multiple showers), and I had to serve plenty of drunk morons.

(3) Guys, I didn't even have to ASK my parents.  I know what toy I was obsessed with: a Fisher Price tape recorder.  I carried it around constantly and would record my own radio shows.  I was the host, singer, advertisement girl...I ran the show! haha.  I found a tape of it a few years back and it was hilarious.  SO embarrassing.  Oh, did I mention that I wrote my own songs too?  For instance, I remember the title of one song in particular: "It's raining cats and dogs."  Quite inspiring lyrics for a 7 year old let me tell ya ...I just sang the title OVER and OVER again.  I didn't even write any verses!!

 I was so excited when I found this on Google...it was EXACTLY like this one!  

(4) Ernie for sure.  Bert's CREEPIE!  Seriously he creeps me the heck out.  Also, Ernie likes duckies.  Who doesn't like rubber duckies?

(5) OOOOPRAH!!  I would have lunch with her and throughout the lunch she would say "look under your seat, it's a brand new CAAAAAR!"  (p.s. Oprah, I like Infiniti's a bunch) It would be amazing.  Plus, I'm hoping that by the end of lunch, she'd offer me a new job to be the CEO of her company.  I think I'd be willing to move for that.

OK now you guys link up! Have a great week!

Dada

Guess who said Dada yesterday?

We were doing some grocery shopping at market street.  Liliana has been sitting in the front of the cart for a couple weeks now and LOVES it.  She smiles and gets friendly with just about everybody.  She also likes to talk to everyone.  So, in the produce section she started trying to have conversations with just about anybody that was willing to listen.

She started her typical "blah ba ba ba ba" and before I knew it, she looked at me and said "Da da."

I am completely aware this wasn't intentional.  I am completely aware that she has no idea that Evan is in fact the "Dada" she speaks of.

But at that moment, I put a HUGE smile on my face and kissed her a million times.

The only downside of it all?  Evan was by the tomatoes ... we were by the mushrooms ... he didn't hear it!  Maybe next time he will.

On a completely unrelated note...Texas Aggies v. LSU Tigers tonight!  I have EVERYTHING Aggie today (even maroon undies and bra if you must know).  I have been thinking about this game all week long.

As you can see, Liliana is a BIG sports fan, so she's in her Aggie gear today too. 

Gig 'em Aggies!

A Christmas Tradition for the Ages

All families have really neat traditions for Christmas.  For instance, in my family, we watch Muppet Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve and exchange a homemade gift for our "Secret Santa."  Evan's family has two traditions that we'll definitely be using in our household: they have a pizza party dinner on Christmas Eve (which to me sounds much less stressful than the woman having to stress over a dinner the entire day) AND his Mom has given each child an ornament every single year of their life.  When they get married, she gives them their collection of ornaments.  So on our tree, we have 22 ornaments that she bought him: one for each year of his life before the wedding.  We definitely plan on doing this with our children.  She already bought Liliana one last year (an ornament for when she was still in Mommy's belly) and this year for her first Christmas.

This tradition had me thinking about how much our Christmas tree means to me.  We have so many ornaments on there that make me laugh, cry, remember, and rejoice.  For this blog post, I've decided to show our favorite 10 ornaments on the tree.  I had Evan choose his favorite 5 and then I chose my favorite 5.  One of them happened to overlap, but I suppose that's to be expected.

 Our tree.  I like our snowman tree topper.  

Normally when we're not taking pictures, we open the windows so people can see the lights!

Cristina's Favorite Five (in no particular order)

 Someone wrapped our wedding present with this ornament tied up top.  It has the date of our wedding. 

It's such a gorgeous ornament!

That picture is of me when I was 15 months old with my Daddy.  

I want to take a picture of Evan with Liliana next to poinsettias next year.

This ornament brings tears to my eyes.  It fits on our tree perfectly. 

This is my brother Carlos that passed when I was 7.

This is the ornament that Evan's Mom bought for Liliana last year when she was in my belly.

As you guys know, I LOVE Texas A&M (Class of 2007! WHOOP!).  

We have about 30 Aggie ornaments on the tree, so I HAD to put one of them on the top 5.

 

Evan's Favorite Five Ornaments (in no particular order)

 This is Evan's first ornament that his Mom bought him.  It's so cute.

Evan chose the wedding one too.  Can't blame him.

Last year, I made Evan a homemade ornament for every year we had been together.  In this ornament, I wrote the lyrics to the Spirit of Aggieland (one of the many fabulous songs we sing at Aggie football games).

Evan's Mom has given them quite a few Santas as their yearly ornament over the years and he loves them all, but settled on including this one in to the top 5.

Sigh...yes...he chose this one. 

It's supposed to be the antenna topper on your car but he wanted it to be an ornament.  Boys...

Remember, the holiday season isn't over until Three Kings Day (we celebrate that big time in Puerto Rico), so ...

Happy Holidays!

Monday Minute 1/3/2011!

Well guys, the first Monday Minute of the year 2011 is here!  I cant' believe it!  2010 was a great year for us because our beautiful Liliana was born.  I hope it was a fabulous year for you guys too.

Just in case we have any newcomers with the new year ... the rules are:

(1) link up to the linky, grab the button,  and answer the 5 questions below.  If you don't want to link up, just answer them in the comments, 
(2) if you have any suggestions for questions, just email me or write them in the comment, AND
(3) if you ever want to host a Monday Minute one week, just email me and we'll arrange it!






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Questions

(1) If you could go on a road trip with any person (dead or alive) who would you go with and where would you go to?

(2) If you knew you had 24 hours left to live, name three things you would do in the time you had left.

(3) When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

(4) Out of the last five years of your life, which was the worst and why?

(5) Out of the last five years of your life, which was the best and why?

Answers

(1) Honestly, this one was an EASY answer: Evan.  Evan and I have taken quite a few road trips together...ESPECIALLY this last semester.   And even with a brand new baby in tow for all of it, we always manage to have a good time. We don't let things stress us out: forget something? That's ok.  Baby crying?  We'll climb over the seats.  We're a damn good team.  As to where we'd go...that's tough.  Maybe San Francisco?  We've both been there, but separately, so I'd LOVE to go with him and spend a few days there.

 SEE?  We don't stress on road trips.  Just smile!

(2) These are definitely in order of priority: (1) "alone time" (wink wink) with the hubby.  HEY, don't judge.  If I only have 24 hours left, you bet I'd want some of that for lovey dovey time and cuddling just us two. (2) Just flat out family time.  We'd get together, eat, laugh, maybe watch some movies, and just enjoy the time left. AND (3) something daring: swimming with sharks maybe.  And since my brother and husband are deathly afraid, I'd guilt trip them in to doing it with me.  One thing I KNOW I wouldn't do: sleep.  I'll have plenty of time to do that once I'm gone.

 Hey look...it could be my brother and I!  

SMILE! HAHA.

(3) I'm nearly too embarrassed to admit this: a stock broker.  I know, I was a complete and total loser.  What little kid even KNOWS about things like that?  But my Grandpa once told me I was really good at math and that I would make a good stock broker when I grew up, so I was hooked (well, until I was 14 when I decided I was going to law school).

(4) The worst?  I'd probably have to say my first year of law school.  I had just graduated from college where I had had an amazing time graduating as a fightin Texas Aggie.  Those years are something I will never forget.  It was great.  AND THEN, law school hit. I was miserable, unhappy, missed family, and didn't do anything but study.  I studied, slept, and studied once again.  OK, that's maybe an exaggeration, but it sure felt like that.  I have to be honest though: I've had some good years lately.  I feel like a big complainer with this answer.  That year was also one of the best for me: I graduated college with honors, had a full scholarship to a law school, and got married to my highschool sweetheart.  SEE? Not bad actually.

(5) This one would be the year of Liliana's birth.  I would have easily said the year I got married, but as you see from my answer up above, the law school starting thing did stink.  So, I say Liliana's birth.  I was surprised with a pregnancy, had a beautiful baby girl, graduated from law school, and learned to take some time for our family and change career paths for at least this year so I would be home at 5 instead of 8.  And to make things better?  My marriage is BETTER than it was when I started law school because seeing Evan as a father has only made our marriage even stronger.  

ALRIGHTY, that's it!  Now link up!

Sorry that they're tough questions...some of them are mine and some are suggestions from others.  I just randomly chose the next 5 in order and this is what happened...

To Read, Bake, and Be Happy with Today

I never really make New Years Resolutions. But this year, I got to thinking.  I really thought about some things I wanted to do and things I somehow never MAKE the time to do. 

I'm a big believer in that.  I hate when people say "I don't have TIME to work out (or any other activity)."  I believe, for the most part, that we have time to do anything that we really want to do. 

I haven't MADE the time to do some things that I really do enjoy.

I'm posting my resolutions on my blog because I've found it's a wonderful way to hold me accountable.  Through my journey of losing the baby weight, this blog was amazing.  Whenever I felt like eating something that was truly unnecessary, I would think "ugh, I don't want everybody to know I gave in and didn't lose the weight!"  So, I withheld.  Therefore, here are my New Years Resolutions. 

(1) I will read 10 books this year.

I enjoy reading.  I really do.  My husband LOVES to read (he was voted biggest bookworm in highschool...oooo sexy huh?)  and I love when we just lay in bed and read for a while. 

HOWEVER, law school took all the excitement out of reading. That's all I did...all day.  And I would read 30 pages in 3 hours.  It was a slow process reading those cases.  They're tedious and lordy that font was so freaking small!  But I'm finished with law school now...so why the hell haven't I started reading again? 

I know 10 books isn't a lot.  I want to make sure this is a resolution I can keep.  It's a little less than a book a month and that's definitely manageable.  I'll just have to MAKE the time to do it.  After I finish each book, I'll be doing a book review on the blog. 

My first book: the Lincoln Lawyer.  I have number two and three set out too (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Confession by John Grisham).  The next seven are up in the air though...if you guys have some suggestions for a must read, leave me a comment!

 I'm already 140 pages in to it and it's pretty darn good.  A bit theatrical, but then again, it's being made in to a movie so if the lawyer wasn't completely over the top it would've made for a very realistic and therefore boring movie right?

(2) Cook and bake more.

I love cooking and baking and do it often enough,  but I want to have more fun with it and experiment more.  Sometimes it can be stressful when I get home from work and I don't want to eat at 8 o'clock, so we make simple things.  I think that's the way it HAS to be if you work, have kids, etc.  BUT, what's holding me back from taking some time to do neat things on the weekends?

I started my resolution early: Last night for New Years, we ate the most delicious Shrimp Creamy Garlic Gumbo recipe.  On the side, we had Pomegranate Margaritas.  YUMMY.  On the 30th, we made THIS.  Guys, seriously, make this.  This was the most amazing pasta I've had in a really really long time.

And, as with the books, I'll be posting a few of the recipes we make.  I'll try and post the pomegranate margarita sometime this week, because let me tell you...that stuff was delicious and strong. ; )

 The tomato cream sauce we made on the 30th.  I'm about to eat some left overs...yummy.

(3)  Be Happy with Today

Unfortunately, I can't go into this one too much.  Soon, Evan and I will hear about where we'll be for residency.  We don't know WHAT he'll be doing, or WHERE they'll put us, but either way, it'll make for some HUGE changes in our life.  That is stressful enough already, but in the mix of that is ... what will I be doing?  Everything is up in the air.  And I am the type of person that gets very concerned over things being up in the air.  So, I need to be happy with where I am TODAY because that's the best I can do!  This will likely be the most difficult and challenging resolution to keep, but I have to at least try right?

Happy New Years!  Do you guys have any fun resolutions?