Hello Again!

I didn't disappear, I swear. Only from the blog. Here is exactly what happened:
I got so busy living my life I just stopped taking the time to write about it. 

It's a good thing to have happen, really. A very good thing. But I've missed blogging. So here I am, trying to get back to it.

A few updates:

Being in your 30s is AWESOME! 

Seriously, it is. I love it. A switch really does flip in your brain and you care less- about looking perfect, acting perfect, living the perfect life. You sit back and just enjoy more. Sure, you want more. You still strive. But it's easier; more care free. I highly suggest skipping 29 and going straight to 30.

This is NOT old!

So not old. Not even a little bit. Everyone giggled at us when I first relocated to Texas and said we'd get used to having each other there all the time. Nope- not true. People are still giggling at us, but because we are still completely, ridiculously happy together and they just don't know what else to do. We still love going to the grocery together, we still love going for walks, we still talk at least 3 times a day regardless of whether or not we see each other, we still drive her husband crazy. It doesn't get old, people! Move to live with your best friend now.

This happened!

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a boyfriend! A real, live boyfriend. You never thought you'd see the day did you? Me either. But he just followed me home one night. Seriously. That's how it happened. His name is German (Her-Mon), he's Colombian (sexy, I know) and he's adorable. :)

This is gone...

No, I really am not OK. I'm better, but not OK. I miss her desperately! But her hip gave out completely and there was no chance of her walking again. So, as much as it killed me, I let her go. It was the right thing- but it was awful. It's been almost five months and I still cry, I still reach for her. She's buried at home in Florida under the same tree where my horse is buried. And yes, I buried her with a tennis ball. 

It's almost football season!

Not technically an update, but very pertinent information none the less! 39 days, people. 39 days until LSU kicks off the 2013 season. I...AM...READY!

Being an Aunt is still completely amazing!

It truly is. My friend Sally said to me the other day (about her nephew), "I never knew I could love someone so much." That explains it perfectly. I had no idea that my heart could contain so much love and joy surrounding four little people. Holy Moly- they are awesome! 

He Loves Me

Seeing as the title of this blog is "I'm the Auntie" I decided to make an actual Auntie post. The general gist of this blog is being 30 (almost) and single and what that lifestyle is about (Thus "I'm the Auntie" and not a Mommy blog). It's also about my general need to hash things out- and writing it down helps. But I also happen to completely adore my nieces and nephews. And I believe them to be the most adorable and hilarious children on the planet. It's kind of sad. I can just sit and watch them do whatever for hours.

Nathan and I when he was 2. I take great pride in my responsibility for his love of mud.

So anywhoo... when I was talking to Niki on my drive to work this morning and she told me this story I decided I wanted to share.

The conversation began with, "Nathan is telling stories about you." This stopped me short for a minute because I was thinking he'd finally decided to tell him mom I let him jump off of the sofa onto a mattress on the floor when he isn't allowed to jump on the sofa. Then I remembered I sent her a picture message documenting the naughty event, so I let that thought go. Then I assumed I was going to get a story about how the last time I babysat I refused to let him play his video game because he didn't eat his supper. I got this idea because when I told him no for the umpteenth time he could not play and to go sit DOWN, he told me he was telling his Mommy what I did to him.

My actual response: "OK, Nathan. You can do that. But until she gets home I make the decisions."

Response I wanted to use: "That will be fine, Nathan, because she is MY best friend and she is obliged by law to agree with me and support my video game wielding authority."

But the actual story she told me was much better. Apparently, he has taken to telling her stories about me. I find this adorable- the child is interjecting me into his real and pretend life! The fact that the stories have no truth to them means nothing, because in each story I am arriving to save him, ie- Mommy, I was walking in the woods and I hit my head on a tree, but Auntie came and made it all OK." Priceless. This is in addition to a few weeks ago when he told his friend that when his AUNTIE comes over he gets to ride his bike.

That's right, folks, I am cool in the eyes of a four year old. I am ingrained in his world and he loves it. Sometimes, that's really all you need in the world.

Cheater Chicken & Sausage Gumbo

I swiped this recipe from Cooking Light, then changed it a bit. I can not follow recipes. It's a bad habit. Their recipe is called Chicken and Sausage Stew, but says it's gumbo inspired. It does start with a roux. Personally, I do not put tomatoes in my gumbo. But some people do and I've had it great both ways. At any rate, a really good gumbo takes at least a day to make. This is much, much faster and a good substitute for a quicker fix.So give it a whirl if you like.

Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons Flour
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 large onion
1 large bell pepper
3 celery stalks
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon oregano (more if you're me)
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
12+ ounces chickens thighs
1 package sausage (turkey if you want to keep it light)
1 can of corn
1 can stewed tomatoes (diced works well)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce OR can 1/2 tomato paste plus 1 cup water or broth
Cooked rice

Process:
To make your roux put the olive oil and flour in a pot over medium heat and stir until browned and the color of a cafe au lait. Add chopped onions, bell pepper and celery and cook until soft. Sprinkle with herbs, red pepper and garlic. (side note: I like to put my herbs and spices in a soup or stew onto the sauteed veggies. They stick to them and then cook into the stew better) Add chicken and sausage and cook until chicken is white on the outside and the sausage is beginning to brown. Add cans of tomatoes and corn, then broth and marinara or tomato paste. Simmer at least half an hour. Serve over rice.

As will all soups and stews (and any self respecting gumbo) it's best if it sits overnight.

Original Recipe
How you make REAL gumbo

In other news, Niki and I took Lorelei for ice cream last night and she proceeded to COVER herself in it by eating it with her fingers rather than her spoon. Good times. In a good faith effort to keep her child seat and the car clean, I just took all her clothes off. She proceeded to yell, "Naked TIME!" in front of TCBY. Love her.

It's Started

There is some bridge that children cross when they step into two-year-old territory that turns them, on occasion, into screaming, spitting, scratching monsters. I was pretty convinced that my little Lorelei angel would skip this phase due to the fact that she has always been an adorable, peaceful, easy little thing.


I was wrong. 


Today, Niki and Lorelei picked me up at the VW dealership so I didn't have to wait for them to service my car. This is what best friends do (see this post for explanation). When they arrived, Niki asked me to check out Lorelei's hair bow. It was quite a piece of work made up of pink and brown ribbon piled about 4 inches off the top of Lorelei's head. Turns out it was two hair bows. Niki clipped the pink one on this morning to hold her hair back while she ate breakfast. When she changed her for the day she put in a brown bow and Lorelei had a fit. The pink one was a must. Unfortunately, by that point the brown one was also a must. When they picked me up she was wearing the brown bow with the pink bow clipped on top of it. It was quite lovely. 


You are probably asking yourself: Why didn't Niki just put her foot down and let Lorelei know what was what. Right? Wrong. Let me just describe a Lorelei fit for you: 20-something pounds of adorable falls to the floor with a screech, and arms and legs begin flying in all directions so quickly that you are pretty sure the child has sprouted three to five extra limbs for the sake of her fit. All of this flailing is accompanied by screams and sobs the decibel of a KISS concert... if you are sitting directly next to the refrigerator-sized speakers. No human being can tolerate this for more than about 60 seconds. But then an arched back and shrieks are added, her face turns a strange shade of purplish red, and razor blades sprout from her finger tips while demon possessed smoke begins pouring from her ears. No joke. So if all of this can be prevented with a double-decker hair bow, that's what is done. 


Moving on- We headed for a couple of thrift stores to kill some time. This started out very well with Lorelei pulling things off the rack and holding them up while exclaiming, "Cute!" But she got bored rather quickly. At the next store she refused a ride in the buggy, but also refused to be held. A two year old roaming loose in a grungy second hand store littered with random glass items from who knows where is not acceptable. So Niki put Lorelei up on her shoulders so she could browse. I turned around a minute later to find Lorelei perched precariously on Niki's right shoulder in a Superman pose. That store didn't last too long either(although it lasted long enough for us to purchase a cashmere sweater, a Calvin Klein top, two books and a Star Wars sleeping bag for $9. Not bad.).


After that, we made the only logical decision and went to lunch. Lunched started off odd, but cute:

In an Auntie-induced stroke of genius, I told her she could bring "Bear" to lunch. Bear, who by this point was sporting the pink half of the double-decker hair bow, got her own chair and everything. Bear had lemonade, some bread and colored. All was going swimmingly until the food arrived. Food is no longer a sign of sustenance to Lorelei, it is a sign of attention being divided between her and something else for all those around her. Not good. Let the melt down commence. After a few minutes of trying to convince Lorelei to eat in her high chair, which only ended in Lorelei being balanced on her stomach on the table with her feet on the chair that was now a foot behind her, Niki just let her eat in her lap. Except she didn't want to eat. So she ended up again perched in the Superman pose on Niki's shoulder while Niki tried to eat a calzone.  I finished off my food quickly and took her to wander around the restaurant. We packed our traveling freak show up and headed to pick up my car. Too bad putting Lorelei into her car seat brought back the screaming banshee. Our conversation to calm her went something like this:

Lorelei, do you want Bear?

NO!

Do you want Tutu Baby?

NO!

Do you want juice?

NO! 

Do you want a snack?

NO!

Do you want to go to Disney World?

NO!

Do you want to continue to breathe?

NO!

Do you want a bowl full of M&Ms?

NO!

Do you want our eternal love and devotion?

NO!

Do you want a life-size dancing talking pink bear of your own?

NO!

We gave up and drove to the dealership with a small, screaming, attacking alien in the back seat. I got out of the car and got ready to head for the safety of my own with Niki and I being very careful not to look at Lorelei- both because she was calming down and we didn't want to start her off again, and also because we were afraid if we made eye contact she would turn our brains to mush with her x-ray vision. At that point, I did what an Auntie does. I got out of the car and left Niki alone with the beast. Because at the end of the day, some times you've just got to play the Auntie card. Not the mama!!!

The best part? Lorelei won't be 2 until next month. It's ON!

My Little Flashers

As an Auntie, you hope to make an impression on your nieces and nephews. You want so much to be a part of their lives and teach them things. You want to leave them with something.

Well, today I find I may have overdone things. Niki sent me a message this morning after letting the kids decorate their Mardi Gras trees for their rooms. She went to take their picture and asked for smiles and "cheeses." Instead she got this.

They pulled up their shirts and flashed her. Unprompted. I mean- check out Lorlelei. That is a straight up, "Throw Me something Mister!!" pose if I ever saw one. 

Niki and Jade are pretty low key. And Niki would never in her life flash anyone (except maybe Jade on occasion) for beads. There is no way they learned this from their parents. And so, it makes me wonder... Am I really just the Auntie? Or are they actually MY children???

So, Maybe I'm Back...

I fell off of the blog wagon. I know; it's true. Here's what happened: I started living my life and got so caught up in enjoying it that I stopped taking the time to write about it! And let's be honest, who really reads this? It's not a blog about fashion or pop culture or weddings- so who cares? Well, I just decided that I did again.

Here is who inspired me:

Her name is Melanie Notkin, and she is the original Savvy Auntie. She realized that there is more in children's lives than just a mom, dad and grandparents. There are others that adore these children, interact with them, and mold their daily lives. Aunties unite!! But what really inspired me to blog again was an article she published in the Huffington Post about how women are defined by marriage and children. It's true; even now in good ole modern 2012. Now, I want marriage and children. Believe me- if someone will just point out where all the sexy, Christian, land-owning cowboys are I will go find me one! But until then, I am making another life for myself. Because I'm not just going to sit around pining for what I don't have when I can live in what I do have. And hear me right- I love my life! 

That being said, I do live quite the different life from most Southern women my age (and even from most Yankee women, I think). I have very few friends who aren't married with kids. Very, very few. And seeing as my best friends are all married, two with kids, and I don't plan on ceasing our friendships because we now have different lives- my life begins to form around those children too. Thus creates Auntie! And I love this Auntie person I have become. She's cool and fun and relaxed and settled! She has found a role she loves, and she's happy in it. But she is also lonely and sad at times. And she struggles to find a balance with being single surrounded by married, parental friends. 

So as I prepare to enter my 30s (in May!) as an unmarried, not even dating, childless Auntie... I think I'll blog about it! And maybe you'll even find it interesting now and again... 

4th of July - Take 1

Of course, when I got to the airport to catch my 8:30 flight Friday night it was delayed until 11:15! Can I tell you why? They didn't have a stewardess! Both pilots were ready to go, but no stewardess. Look- it's an hour and 15 minute flight. I can do without my beverage- just get me out.

Luckily, I have the greatest best friend alive (seriously, Katie calls her Niki-Jesus) who came and picked me up for the 2 hours before my flight. Nathan wanted ice cream, but there is a surprising lack of food around Bush Intercontinental. So here is where we ended up:

Yes, we gave a 3 year old ice cream and lemonade at 9:30pm.

R2D2 Drawing. Nathan is obsessed with Star Wars.

Ice cream and fried cheese. Disregard Nate's face.

My cutie nephew

Mmmm. Nasty breakfast food at night! And coffee, seeing as my flight wasn't scheduled to arrive in P'cola until 1am.

Eventually I did get on the plane and we landed at midnight. I was greeted by my Daddy, Amanda, Lucas, 2 chihuahuas and Krispy Kreme Donuts. 

Hamlin Family pics tomorrow!

Summer + Weekend Pics

So, who decides when summer officially starts? The sun? The calendar (Memorial Day)?
I'm gonna go ahead and say it was 2 to 3 weeks ago when we started having 100+ degree temps EVERY DAY! I don't care when the summer solstice is or when the sun's rays hit the equator directly - if it's 100 degrees in June, it's summer. End of discussion.

Speaking of summer, we had a rather summery weekend. We loaded up the kids and headed to Galveston on Saturday. (AC, don't judge) Let me just tell ya, Perdido Key it aint! I am accustomed to beautiful, white sandy beaches. Their sand is brown and their water is brown too and their water will turn you brown. I made the mistake of wearing my white bathing suit and it's still soaking in stain remover. I mean, it's not dirty in a trash in the water kind of way. Just in a silty water kind of way.

At any rate, we had a blast regardless. The bonus to Galveston over Perdido is that you can take your dog with you without the risk of a $500 fine. This goes a very long way in my book.

Cutest beach baby ever!

Van and I hitting the surf

We could hardly get Nathan to come out of the water. The same goes for van

Playing fetch with Van

Love her!

Most adorable best friend ever.

This is Van obliging me for about 5 seconds before trying, again, to figure out how to get off of the fishing pier and into the water. 

Most precious nephew

This would be me torturing Nate and Van by making them pose instead of play in the waves. 

All in all it was a great day and we'll head back again (wearing black bathing suits!!)

A Day of Blessings

Birthday Party, Take 1

So the deal is- for the past three years I have had to fly to Texas to spend my birthday with my best friend. This year I was already here! So Niki , the kids and I had a little party after work. It was a ball! There is nothing like celebrating with a three year old to make it really, REALLY feel like your birthday.

Best Friend Ever Reason #1: Niki sprayed Nate's hair with Lime green & glitter. It was completely and utterly awesome!

Purple & Lime Green cake. These are the colors of mine and Niki's room in the sorority house senior year. 

Being the amazing Auntie I am, I just let Nathan dig in.

Cake face!

There's not many things as cute as babies eating cake.

Best Friend Ever Reason #2: She took me to Coldstone to have ice cream for dinner.

Birthday Cake Remix

Birthday girl!!!

Best Friend Ever Reason #3: She also bought Coldstone ice cream for Van, as in her very OWN ice cream.

People inside the store: She's feeding her dog her ice cream!

Niki" Oh no, that's HER OWN ice cream! 

It was a completely great day! I am so completely in my bliss here. 

Tonight Jade is keeping the kids and Niki and I are hitting the town for tapas! Then Monday is indoor bouncy castle fun. Can't wait!

Yes I'm Am!

Nathan says, "Yes I'm am," all the time. As in, "Yes I'm am a robot, Auntie." Or, "Yes, I'm AM your nephew!!" I think it's just so damn cute.

I decided I'm make a Yes I'm Am list today.

Yes I'm Am...

An Auntie! This seems like a logical place to start seeing as I stole the topic of this post from the 3 year old nephew. And I can prove this by my membership at SavvyAuntie.com!

A dog spoiler. I can't help it- look at that face! I was scolding myself for my lack of will power against Van's pleas last night. I almost always lose. And Katie has already submitted a list of no-nos for when I keep June Bug (It may be my fault she sleeps on furniture...)

A wine drinker! If you're reading this blog, I doubt I need to explain this.

An LSU Football fan! I'm also of the crazy, over the top variety.

A horseback rider! I grew up doing it and have not done much since I lost my horse a few years ago. But I want to get back into it. And I live in the land of the cowboys now, so surely this can't be too hard.

A pirate... three hundred years too late...

If you missed the Jimmy Buffet reference here you are fired from reading my blog. Also, I'm not really a pirate. I am just playing one in this picture because AC is a pirate.

A fisherwoman. I freaking love fishing! And I will kick your ass any day.

A sister! There's no better job.

A Mama's girl

Still a child. I sleep with my rabbit every night.

Also a major Daddy's girl!

Refer back to dog spoiler...

A reader! I always have a book with me. If there's no book in my bag, it's probably not me.

A new resident of The Woodlands, Texas and loving it!

A lover of all things margarita!

A massive T Swift fan

And a Jennifer Nettles (but no so much Rhianna) stalker.

Quite possibly certifiable insane. At the very least completely crazy!

OK, that was fun! what "am" you??