TheJavaMama

THANK YOU & Hatch Chile Enchiladas

August 25, 2011

First of all I want to say thank you to everyone for all the responses I had on yesterday’s post. I had no idea that so many other people felt that way! I don’t consider myself to be the best writer, so a lot of times it’s hard for me to let my guard down and write how I feel. I just wanted to be honest. I know I’m not perfect, I am a sinner and my life is so far from perfection you have no idea! I have a great life, but some days I do get frazzled, Terence and I do fight, everything is not always sunshine and rainbows! There is only so much people will let you in on a computer screen.

In the end it’s not going to be the “stuff” we have in life…it’s going to be the time and special moments we share with those that matter, so with that said, there is no reason to feel jealousy about anyone else. If you feel like something is not going your way, that is okay! It will get better. Trust.

So…I am going to live my life and this is my blog & I’m taking ownership of that!

Amen & Amen!

I’ve contemplated doing giveaways from time to time because I have felt judged for it. I don’t do them for me….I love to win free stuff on other blogs and I love to give away stuff too! I’ve always been a big gift giver and it brings me joy to light up someone else’s life in some way. I’m not doing it to gain followers or any of that! I’m doing it to spread the love, if it’s something I like and enjoy I want to tell all of you too! If you don’t want to enter then you don’t have to! Nobody is forcing ya….

Also-I know I have a “Starbucks donate” button on my sidebar where some of you may be thinking….geesh “So that’s how she pays for all the coffee she drinks!” TRUTH – I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ONE SINGLE DIME!!! It started out as an inside joke with someone to put it there, so I should probably take it down….but it’s my blog so who cares! I may just leave it up 😛

I am aware I have a horrid coffee habit that is equivalent to a crack head. But I work hard & it’s my treat 😛

Enough venting.

Obviously I’ve been holding a lot in for awhile! And I so enjoy reading about all of your lives, even though I can’t comment because of pop up issues I do read and will comment back via twitter or email if you let me! I am not trying to be rude 🙁
Live your life to the fullest and stop worrying what everyone else around you has or does because in the end it doesn’t freaking matter. That.is.all.
xoxo Becky

OKAY
Now onto the bomb diggidy hatch chile enchiladas I made last night!
This here is a “hatch chile” It tastes GOOD! Not too hot at all!

We cooked our chicken in a crock pot and shredded

I cheated a bit and bought a lot of the ingredients pre-made

It’s hatch chile week at Central Market & they were everywhere!

For the topping I mixed sour cream and the hatch chile con queso together 🙂

Top with more hatch chiles

Bake at 350 for about 30 mins

YUMMERS!!!!

My lil stud

I bought these cute trouser jeans at Gap for like 8 bucks! Score!

We order our diapers on Amazon Mom

Love it!

Free 2 day shipping and 192 diapers for $35 bucks

AWESOME DEAL!

We are ready for college football season!

I got this TCU flag for our front flower bed 🙂

Ahhhhh!!!!!

An escapeeeeee

“Come back here!!!!!”

And because I am being honest and all….
There won’t be any new little Branches running around this house anytime soon. I feel so blessed to have a baby at all when some people are still struggling to have one. We are way cool with our one perfect angel. If we were gonna consider it he’d have to be in kindergarten because I can’t afford two kiddos in daycare & I’m gonna enjoy every.single.second. with my boo boo!

Love yuns!

Oh tomorrow’s Friday! Holla!

I’m random…..can you tell?

I love FREE stuff!

August 25, 2011

Remember last week how I posted about a promotion I was doing with

Deals in DFW ???

They were giving away 5,000 FREE Starbucks cards?

Well….I got mine & so did Ter-Bear and a lot of other folks 🙂

Today they are doing another fabulous promotion & this is one of the best DEAL sites in the DFW area ya’ll!

This is what you have to do :

• Participants must “like” Deals in DFW

• Participants must complete the entry form
• if outside Texas they will be offered a 50% discount coupon code

TODAY ONLY!!!

IF YOU SIGN UP FOR DEALS DFW YOU CAN ALSO RECIEVE THIS FREE T-SHIRT!

GREAT HUH?

Fine Print:

Available to the first 2,000 registrants or while supplies last. Offer valid for Texas residents only. Limit one per person, not valid for previous registrants of DealsinDFW.com. You must “Like” Deals in DFW on Facebook before Midnight on August 25, 2011 to be eligible for this offer. Winners will be notified by email no later than August 30, 2011. Please allow 2-3 weeks for shipping and handling.

Kitchen Evolution-The American Dream

August 24, 2011

I was going to post another chapter to our love story, but instead I wanted to go a different direction today.

Terence and I were married really young. We were barely 20. I mean we couldn’t even rent a hotel room alone or drink an alcoholic beverage when we got married! ha! We’ve been through some tough times over the years and things have not always been easy.

I know a lot of people who don’t own a home and still live in a one bedroom apartment. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. Our generation is so eager to live the American dream. What is the American Dream? Is it worth putting yourself under so much financial stress you don’t have the ability to do anything else in life?

Terence and I have always been goal setters. We set goals and do the best we can to reach them. In our early years of marriage we had friends who had really nice homes and I was jealous. I wanted that too….I wanted the American dream. It seemed like some had it handed to them with a silver spoon. Life is not always going to be fair, but if you set reasonable goals then you can attain the things your heart desires.

It’s hard for me to read blogs sometimes because I still have that jealousy. I don’t know why??? I have a wonderful life and I’m proud of our accomplishments. But it’s still there.

When I desired a child I was jealous of all the Mom bloggers out there. Now that I am a Mom I am jealous of all the stay at home Moms who spend their days getting pedis, having play dates, staying in their jammies all day, and meal planning. (Yes, I know that’s not all you do!) But some blogs out there portray that lifestyle. I don’t have time for these things & I constantly feel like I’m missing out on moments with my son. (cue Mom guilt here)

I think dang…wonder what their husbands do for a living because they can afford to stay at home in their fancy house and carry a Louis Vuitton purse??? Must be nice. Sigh.

I’m just trying to be real here. That is what I feel…and I am not ashamed of what I have, I just feel so much competitiveness…not only in my life, but in the blog world too. I’m tired of it effecting me or make me feel less sufficient as a wife, mom, or woman.

If you feel like you don’t have it all right now it’s okay. You can get there with goals and hard work & I keep reminding myself that!

I thought I would share how Terence and I started out 10 years ago…..

This is our very first kitchen. We lived in a duplex on the Air Force Base. I remember thinking this is so OLD. How am I going to live here? It was definitely a kitchen from the 70’s and it had been well lived in from prior tenants. I was not thrilled about moving into this house at first…..

But you know what? I made that kitchen my own and it was great for 5 years and served us well 🙂

Then we moved into a tiny one bedroom apartment in Arkansas after Terence got out of the service. I then thought “A one bedroom” ??? How are we going to live here???

Again, we made it work and it was a wonderful home for about two years while Terence finished school and I worked 2 jobs. Truth be told we were so busy we just slept there anyway!

Fast forward to 2007

We moved to Texas and lived with my in-laws for what was supposed to be a few months….and actually turned into two years! It saved us a ton of money because he was in an accelerated MBA program where he couldn’t work for a year. We are forever grateful for that time they let us live with them.

When Terence graduated and got a job we moved into another 1 bdrm apartment, again not my ideal home….I thought at this point in life we would already have a home, but it was a step up from previous residences! It was the nicest kitchen I’d had so far and I was beyond excited about having an extra pantry cabinet in particular 🙂

July 2009 – SURPRISE! We have a baby on the way!!! We looked at bigger apartments, but ultimately started looking at homes closer to where Terence’s family lives & my job is. Terence would always be happy living in an apartment and it really is a much more economical decision…but I finally convinced him to start looking at homes! I was so excited! We had never owned a home before and after several searches we found our house…..

This is not my dream kitchen, but it is my DREAM kitchen for now & I am beyond thrilled we have it!
It’s better than anything we’ve had before….and I feel like after all our hard work we have a home of our own and a place to raise our son. God is good. Life is good. Goals are good.

I wanted to show you that not everyone starts out like you think they do…if you work hard and keep at it then you can fulfill your dreams. Life may throw you a few curve balls & someone else will always have something better than you….but the point is you are happy and content with what you have. As Americans we have way more than most people in the world do ya know!

The kitchen pictures are just a metaphor…as the years go by and life moves forward things can get better! Not everything is how you “think” it is on a computer screen…and you don’t know the background of someone else’s life. All you know is what they choose to show you. So don’t be so quick to judge. Trust me…their life is not perfect either!

Find happiness in your situation and others will see that shining within you!

(I hope you don’t all think I am crazy…this is something that has been on my mind for a bit & my thoughts come out jumbled sometimes…but thanks for listening to my rambles)

xoxo Becky

Fall Foodie

August 23, 2011

Connor got his first polo shirt 🙂

Now he officially looks 100% like his Daddy

I had to get some pictures of him of course 😉

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

He is so hilarious!

I’ve been feeling the urge to bake some fall goodness lately. So off to Pinterest I go and I found these cuties! Aren’t they cool? That’s a Halloween oreo in the middle!

Pretzel sticks held together with white chocolate to make a web

This is an adorable idea for candy. It’s “battyful”!

I really want to make these s’more cookies next week

Recipe found HERE & they look super simple

I ordered jewelry last week from Jewel Mint. Groupon was having a deal where you got two pieces for $20 (a $60 value) so I used a credit and basically got these two pieces for free!

I LOVE this necklace

You can wear it two ways

(Not so sure the earrings are my style?….Giveaway maybe?)

AND….

I MUST HAVE THIS CUP

LIKE…..

MUST!!!

A Hiking We Will Go

August 22, 2011

We took Connor on his very first nature hike Saturday. We woke up at the crack of dawn & headed to Starbucks for coffee then to the trails. Poor little Connor was so tired, but he quickly livened up and was ready to go!

We had a good time as a family…here are a few pics of the day:

Getting ready to go!

Connor loved playing with the camel back

Connor loved riding in his kid carrier & it was a great workout for Terence too! ha..ha..

It’s called a Deuter Outdoor Kid Carrier. We got lots of questions about it while we were out, so I thought I would share what kind it was.

HOT! HOT! HOT!

Drinking lots of water

Here I am with my “spider stick”. It was almost comical the amount of spiders we encountered. It seemed like every two steps we would walk through another spider web. Ick! Ick! Ick! We were also attacked by ginormous horse flies. Next time we’ll be covering ourselves in bug spray, but I’d rather just wait until fall to do this again so it’s not so hot and all the buggies are DEAD!