2014 Planners and Pens, Oh My!

I'm going to admit right now what an office supply nerd I am. I might need any intervention. It's bad. Really bad. Nothing makes me happier than going to Office Depot and looking through all the awesome pens, pencils, planners. I'm not a fan of New Year's Eve but love the New Year because it's new day planner time. Ha! Last year I listened to the blogs and ordered an Erin Condren planner. I loved the monogrammed cover I ordered but something about the planner just didn't appeal to me. Some of the months were colors I didn't like at all. I didn't write anything in November because the orange and brown color was hideous. I felt like I wasted $65 on a book I never used. I used the cruddy Walmart one I bought for work more than the Erin Condren. I didn't like the pen quality of the pens that came with the EC planner either. For $65, I thought they should have been LePen quality pens. This year, I'm debating on the Whitney English planner or the Simplified Life Planner. The Whitney English is more professional for work but I adore the color of the Simplified Life Planner. I also can't wait to order the Simplified Life binders. Who doesn't love stripes?! I'm ordering the LePens from Amazon as soon as I decide on the planner. Seriously - cannot wait!

Sugar Bowl Champs! Boomer Sooner

We are Sooner fans in our house and we couldn't be more ecstatic about the game last night when our Oklahoma Sooners whooped up on The Alabama Crimson Tide!!!

We were really expecting to get killed by Alabama so it was stunning that Oklahoma stepped up to the plate and did work!

We had my brother-in-law Josh over and his kids, Madi and Josh.  It was so much fun!  We were hooping and hollering like crazy! 

 

Can you see the intense concentration?  Except my hubby is probably googling a players stats or something like that. Ha!

 

Now he's concentrating.  Wait - that's the girls in the audience on the screen.  Is that what gets his attention?

 

We had to post a pic to Facebook!

 

The funniest thing about this game is that my brother and sister-in-law actually graduated from the University of Alabama.  When Bear Bryant was the football coach.  Talk about a time to go to Alabama.

 

My brother was so ticked off last night, I'm sure of it.  He lives in Atlanta so we didn't have the pleasure of watching him squirm when Bama was stinking.  Ha!

 

My Mom and her entire side of the family all live in Alabama too so the ribbing about them losing is really just fun.  I love Alabama.  We have one dog named Alabama Tide and another one named Boomer. 

 

I know, real original, huh?!

Happy New Year!

We had a low key New Year this year.  I hadn't been feeling that hot so we just hung around the house and watched football, which is my favorite activity anyway.

I've never been a huge New Year fan. I've always thought it was sad.  An ending.  After New Years Eve, you take down all the pretty Christmas decorations. Boo.

New Year's Day, we went to the assisted living and picked up Mom so she could eat Black-Eyed Peas and Cabbage with us. 

 

Black-Eyed Peas are so easy.  All you need are a bag of dried black-eyed peas that you soak overnight and remove the impurities. Cubed ham, an onion, chopped into rough dice, seasoning salt, a little Slap Ya Mama seasoning, and Cavender's Greek seasoning.  I start with little seasoning and then when the peas are almost done, add to our taste.

I always cook the ham in olive oil first, then add the onions and sauté those as well.

 

Our New Year's good luck feast - sautéed cabbage for wealth, white rice, black-eyed peas for good luck and good ol' Southern cornbread