Things that make me smile............

No school for 3 days......time to play on the computer!

Hope you're enjoying your Labor Day weekend, too!

~Allie

Question..........

How does one go about living a creative life in the chaos of every day life?
~Allie

And it starts again....................

The beginning of another school year starts tomorrow. We had Howdy Night this past Friday night, cooking hot dog dinners for everyone who joined PTA (even though it was over 100 degrees!), teachers meeting their students, school supplies being purchased and brought to the classroom, laughing, and just trying to enjoy the fact that school starts on Monday. I feel just like one of the kids.....have my first day of school outfit picked out, ironed, and hanging on the back of the closet door. Hopefully I'll sleep tonight! Do you remember those back-to-school jitters?

~Allie

(and no.....that's not me in the dancing dolphin get-up. It's one of my teachers who has more energy than the energizer bunny!!!)

The tastes of summer..........

It may be the 3rd week for me to be back at school, but I can still drift off into "memory land" and taste all of the flavors of our New Orleans summer vacation...........

Boiled crawfish and shrimp.
The best shrimp po-boys ever!

A bowl of gumbo. The roux is the perfect carmel brown color.

Don't forget the hot sauce, cher!!

And a little piece of fudge to end the day!

It don't get any betta' than this, y'all!!

~Allie

The Dog Days of Summer

Summer in Texas is always HOT! This year is no exception with 100+ degrees hitting the thermometer every day. And poor Prince Pippen just loves being outside, even with all that fur!

While at my parents house at the lake, we are outside alot and Pippen kept trying to "swim" in his water bowl. We didn't have a doggie pool for him so the next closest thing we could find for him was a roasting pan. He LOVED it!!

He became our summer "roasting turkey". He was SO happy with his "pool" that on a a return visit this summer, he knew exactly what to do when he got hot. Momma's got to buy him a swimming pool next year.

You just gotta love him!!

~Allie

Summer Vacation

We took a week off and headed to the Big Easy for a week of vacation and fun. I took a ton of pictures and have all kinds of ideas for posts on my blog but am struggling to get the time and the creative muse to be happening at the same time. One day at a time, right?

Gators are so ugly that they can be cute, no? This charming little man just looked liked he was in need of a hug from another sweaty tourist.

And chocolate gators are so tasty. With 3 styles of chocolates to choose from, what's a girl to do? Why.....try all 3 of course! Visions of the my favorite movie, Chocolat, came to mind.

What a fantastic way to earn a living......being creative with the delicious flavors of chocolate. Mmmmmm!

Gotta run take care of every day life expectations, but have so much more to share. Back soon!

~Allie

Sisters in the Bloggerette Sorority and more..........

So this past year, I've been WAY too busy with my new position as an Assistant Principal at an elementary school. Too busy that I don't think I took care of myself either physically or spiritually. In February, I came down with what they thought was a bad case of bronchitis, but as I am just now getting rid of the last of whatever it was (now they think it might have been Whooping Cough!), I am beginning to think that I let my body down by not being at it's full strength to fight off whatever it was I had. Stress, no exercise, no sunshine on my body, and not a lot of sleep, I'm sure, lowered my defenses.

That's the physical part, but there's also a spiritual part, a part that I never really paid much attention to until recently. The part of you that needs some quiet meditation, some time for silence and deep thought, some time to let the creative side of you rise to the surface. This past year I did nothing but work, eat, and sleep.......oh, and clean the house, do the laundry, get the groceries for my mother-in-law (whenever she wasn't in the hospital with heart issues and then a broken hip from falling.....that's another story all-together!), and take care of my other job of being wife and mom (not that the mom job was constant since my one and only went to college for her first year and did "swimmingly".......that's another post, too!).

Anyway, back to the Sisters In The Bloggerette Sorority..............Karen, over at Some Days Are Diamonds , has started a wonderful group that anyone can join. Realizing that I haven't done much at all this past year on my blog but use it as a lame attempt at journaling, I think that this is a fantastic idea and it has ignited my creative spirit to try to take my blog up a notch, meet more people, not only be inspired by others but try to be an inspiration as well. Not being one who usually joins things too quickly, thinking that I don't have what it takes to be a part of some things, I'm going to step out of my comfort zone and give it a try!

Since I began my blog, I have developed some new friendships with some wonderful people. People like Alisa from Life Is A Beautiful Place To Be, who actually lives about 30 minutes away from me. Not only is she a creator of beautiful things, she is warm, friendly and helpful. She gave me a quick tutorial on how to make links on my blog site through an email! Alisa is a wonderful photographer and has a talent for needlework which has inspired me to give it a try this summer. And then there's Merisi from Merisi's Vienna For Beginners, who lives in Vienna, Austria, a VERY special place for my husband and me (that's ANOTHER post for later!). She is the most FANTASTIC photographer I've ever seen!! Everyday her blog is a little photo essay of her excursions around her town of Vienna. Her speciality seems to be photos of coffee and coffee houses, but there are plenty of photos from all over town to the country side all the way to Venice, where she visits regularly. I call her the Queen of Roses because she takes the most BEAUTIFUL photos of roses almost all year round. The rose photo in this post is one of hers. And then there's the beautiful Constance of Rochambeau. When I "met" her through her blog a few years ago, she was living on the East Coast. She has since moved to East Texas to be near her mother. She is probably one of the most artistic and loving souls I have ever met! ONE OF THESE DAYS, I'm going to drive over to her town and have lunch with her!!! I have trouble choosing the right words to describe her blog site. Constance is an intelectual, romantic, joyous, TRUE creative spririt. Just know that I go there every day to just escape, get centered for a moment, and enjoy the beauty that she shares. She throws the best parties and always shares her photos and memories. She's also a FABULOUS seamstress! The handbags, the jackets, the dolls she makes........oh my! These dolls are called Floralinas and they are one of a kind works of art! There's so much more I could add, but that might make for an additional post as well.

There are many more people who have touched my life through blogging. I guess I should save that for another post, too. :D So.......to wrap up this rambling of a post, I've joined the Sisters in the Bloggerette Sorority. Check it out. Join us. Maybe it's something that you might be interested in, too. I'm looking forward to stretching my horizons, enjoying the camaraderie of like-minded souls, and trying to take part in some of the events instead of sitting back on the "side lines" and watching. This next school year is going to be different. I plan to nourish my body, my soul, and my creative spirit that has been buried deep for a while.

If you made it all the way to here, thank you for sticking with my ramblings. Being on vacation has allowed me to slow down and reflect. Wishing you quiet moments for reflection........it's good for your soul.

~Allie