Stating the Obvious

The Bleacher Report put out an article today announcing LSU has the best fans in the country... thank you captain obvious!!!

You KNOW I loved the article! Every line of it was quotable, so here it is:

The Tigers come in at No. 1 because they are loud, passionate and just down right crazy. Football is their life in Baton Rouge and they let you know it. They travel well and the tailgating is outstanding.

LSU fans terrorize their opponents, which is why Tiger Stadium is one of the toughest places to play in, especially at night. If you have to face the Tigers in a night game, more times than not, it will be a loss for you. There's a reason it's called "Death Valley." The atmosphere at LSU is out of this world.

They party hard, eat well and win. What could be better?

Little Purple Flowers

There are these trees here with these beautiful purple flowers blooming on them. I've been telling Niki for a week that I wanted some of the branches for my apartment. I've seen on HGTV where they put sticks and things in vases and it's beautiful. If it's good enough for HGTV, it's good enough for me!

I just love them! Does anyone know what they are?

Bonus pics:

Display I did of my sisters and I. "A chord of three strands is not quickly broken..."

Laurelei getting her wine on! Don't worry- it was empty.

An Inspiring Post

I read this post by Jenni on Sarah Tucker's blog, Fairy Tales are True, today and all I wanted to do was repost.

What profound points. Apropos to my life, I believe!

Heart Murmurs and Dating

I have dating issues. Not ones where I go crazy, or freak out, or lose it on guys or anything. Just, basically, that I don't date. Pretty much ever. Honestly- two serious boyfriends in 28 years. And just dates that I've gone out on? Maybe 5 total, if you're generous.

And it's not that I don't want to date, or that I want to be alone forever (Heaven forbid!). I just get attached very easily and take it really seriously and I can't tell myself to just relax and see where things go. It doesn't work. So I don't date because it's so stressful and upsetting to me. For years I have tried to figure out why in the world I do this. Turns out, that traumatic doctor appointment I has a few weeks ago solves the issue.

I have a heart murmur.

The easy explanation here is that my heart has a hole in it. Two, actually. And so rather than pumping from chamber to chamber in the correct order, the blood in my heart leaks into the other chambers and spreads around. So the proper oxygen levels aren't in the right locations and all of that fun stuff. This has a multitude of repercussions most likely ending in heart surgery to repair the holes so that my heart doesn't fail (eventually- not immediately. Don't panic.)

How does this relate to my dating? Very simple. When that blood seeps into the wrong chambers, so do my emotions. So when I should be just getting to know someone, the emotion has already gone past that chamber and onto worrying about commitment. And when it should be in commitment, it's already into worrying about how we will get along long term and if we're compatible and if he will break my heart. All of this takes every ounce of fun out of dating and causes me to stay away from it.

Think about it- it's the perfect answer to why I can't separate things in my life: my job is who I am, my dog is my child, my bffs are my life, my nephews and nieces are my own children... this list goes on and on.

Explanation Accepted. Now... on to problem solved?

Duvet Cover

I ordered a duvet cover for my bed!
Remember I said I needed one because my room was too white (see below)?

Well, to fix that problem, I ordered this (with the 2 shams) from Overstock.com. SO EXCITED!

Also, one of the reviews literally said it was durable and stood up to the lady's Golden Retriever. Hello!

Outside

Constant quote from Nathan: "I want to go outside!"
Me too, Nate! The weather here (Spring, Texas) has been glorious for the past two weeks. And thankfully, when the planners designed The Woodlands, of which I live less than a mile outside of and Niki lives in, they left tons of parks and wlaking trails. Van and I have been taking major advantage of this. We walk almost daily and Van gets to swim often. The other day I sat by a little lake while she swan, listened to my iPod (whose name is "Cash Money" per AC's Hubbs), and just soaked up the afternoon. Glorious!

Some Apartment Pics

These are a few pics of the apartment- mostly decorated! The bedroom is still a little "white" for me. I must locate a duvet cover, so in need!

Bedroom

Bed! My beautiful, amazing, comfy sleigh bed! And, please note my freaking awesome vintage cowgirl lamp from Katie. 

Corner table with one of my fave pics- the barn girl (also bought at a flea market). Old books are my love, so these are a few farm books with an old print of a Percheron Sally gave me and a frame Katie painted for pictures of Little Man and I. 

Bookshelf that Mama and I bought at a flea market when I was in college and my drawing of my horse Katie did. Loaded with books, of course. I need more bookshelves in addition to a duvet. I have tons of books. 

Fave pic of my grandparents!

Shelf of my knick knacks (and another picture of Little Man)

Kitchen

Van's cookie area and the awesome pink margarita flowers AC sent!

Kitchen counter

More kitchen counter (I love my kitchen!)

Fridge. This pic is for AC- she gets it. :)

Big kitchen shot- roomy, isn't it??

Dining room bookshelf. There are more books to put on it, but I tried to limit it to cook books. This leaves many books homeless.

Dining area. If we need to eat, the table pulls out and the leaves fold up. The other side of the dining room holds the one unpacked box left and Little Brown Noser's house.

Living room and bathroom to come soon. Speaking of my bathroom, I'm off to my huge tub!!