That’s right, it’s that time again… Blog Share!   As you may already know, Blog Share gives bloggers a chance to share something anonymously on someone else’s blog (genious idea!) Thanks a million to the lovely -R- at And You Know What Else for organizing the Blog Share! 

So without further delay, show some love to today’s anonymous Blog Share blogger. (And be sure to check out the other Blog Share posts which I’ve linked at the end of the post.)

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You know what irritates me? A lot of things, actually, but this particular thing seems to be standing on my last damn nerve lately.

Helplessness.

I’m not talking about the helplessness of the very young, the very old or the infirm. The helpless state is normal for those individuals and is completely beyond their control. Such individuals should be protected and done for – it’s part of our obligation to other human beings, and the deepest pits of hell are reserved for those who abandon those who cannot do for themselves.

What I’m talking about is individuals who could do for themselves, but won’t.

On a personal basis, such behavior can lead to family and friends feeling like they’re being taken advantage of. While this can certainly cause stress in your interpersonal relationships, I think it’s easier to address such concerns on a personal level than it is on a professional one. If I constantly feel taken advantage of by a friend, it’s a pretty safe bet that they won’t be my friend much longer. If a family member treats me like their servant, I have ways of dealing with that, too.

Professional issues are harder for me. I have to earn a living, and telling others to get bent is not the best way to guarantee future employment.

In my professional life, I am a member of several teams. One team consists of individuals who all have the same skill set as me, and we report to a single manager. But I also belong to functional teams where each member has a different skill set, and we all work together to meet the needs of our customers. In theory, this arrangement is supposed to result in each team member performing tasks that are unique to their skills. What really happens, however, is those members of the team who won’t learn new skills end up pawning off their tasks on members of the team who are not afraid to learn something new. And here’s the part that kills me – when everyone else gets tired of doing their work for them, and tells them so, the pawners actually get offended. Like the other team members have some sort of moral obligation to continue to do their work because the slacker doesn’t want to learn how fend for themselves.

What I want to know is, how do you get there, mentally? How do you convince yourself that “delegating” all of your tasks to other team members translates into you adding value to the process? How do you get to a place where you feel your own learned helplessness somehow obligates others? How do you intentionally put yourself in a position where you cannot succeed on a professional basis without constantly being propped up by others? How can you honestly think that you are competent and successful when you cannot perform even the simplest task associated with your job without help? Such unequivocal dependence would make me insane.

I’m certainly not the perfect employee. Hell, my list of professional faults is as long as my arm, in spite of my best efforts to try and address them. But when someone asks me to perform a task that is within the scope of my job and I don’t know how to do it, I don’t ask someone to do the work for me. I find someone who will teach me how, so that I can be self-sufficient the next time it comes up. Is that such a hard concept?

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Not the Daddy
O is for Olson
Red Red Whine
Rediscovering Me
Reflections in the Snow-covered Hills
The Reluctant Grownup
Sauntering Soul
Serendipity Now
Snarke
So, This Is a Treadmill
Thinking Some More
Time for Change
Together They Come
Wondering and Pondering
And You Know What Else
Andrea Unplugged
Arctic-ulate
Bright Yellow World
Bwildered
Catheroominations
Did I Say That Outloud?
Dispatches from the Failed Mommy Club
Full of Snark
Heidikins
Hot Chicks Dig Smart Men
Just Below 63
The Little Goat

After working on the flowers, we realized it was time to decide where we wanted to go for girls night. I didn’t really have a traditional bachelorette party, and my girls don’t live in the same town, so we thought it would be fun to spend Friday night out on the town.

I called Bess Bistro (it’s owned by Sandra Bullock) and made a reservation. We didn’t have a lot of time so we hurried up and got pretty, then headed out.

The place was really fun and the atmosphere was cool-the place was in the basement of a historical building. There was a DJ playing music.

We shared appetizers of fried artichokes, had delicious wine,

yummy comfort food (macaroni and cheese, croque monsieur, pot pies, garlic shrimp, fish and chips)

and dessert that was just to die for (fruit and chocolate fondue and profiteroles).

Once we were stuffed, we headed out to 6th street for a little more fun.  The first club we went into was empty, we were literally the only people in there besides the bartender and the DJ. They wouldn’t even play the songs we wanted to hear so we left.

The next place we went ended up being where we stayed the rest of the night - Pete’s Piano bar.

We had a couple drinks, and were lucky enough to snag a table, so we spent the rest of the night singing and dancing along to the dueling pianos, people watching and taking pictures. Not long after I danced on the stage (with other people, and only very briefly, not even worth the photographic evidence) we decided to call it a night. We headed back to the hotel and crashed.

The night was really even better than I could have ever hoped for…it was so much fun! And I’m so lucky to have such great friends.

You haven’t missed too much yet. Catch up on the rest of the wedding weekend here.
Simply Perfect – Pre-Wedding Weekend

Simply Perfect – Friday in Austin

On Friday of the wedding weekend, we woke up pretty early because we planned to leave around 8AM to meet my parents in Houston. We loaded all our luggage and any decorations in both mine and Taylor’s cars.  Linsi and Cherrye got here, and after stopping for breakfast at McDonald’s and to fill up, we hit the road. 

The trip to Mom & Dad’s was easy and we got there by 10AM, which left us a little time to say hi to the grandparents who had arrived the previous couple of days.  We quickly packed the rest of our stuff in my parents’ vehicle, argued about who would sit where and if there would be enough room for everyone and hit the road before my 11AM estimated time of departure. 

Once in Austin, we ate a quick lunch while waiting on everyone else to get to the hotel. After quickly moving in to the hotel, Taylor and I rushed off for a 3PM meeting with our wedding minister, which went smoothly and we were back at the hotel in no time.

Back at the hotel, it was time to start assembling flower arrangements for the restaurant (the fake flowers). The girls painstakingly arranged the flowers in the vases and the guys helped out by watching Cash Cab and breaking the stems to the length we needed. 

Here you can see the painstaking work Jane, Cherrye, and Linsi were doing.  The guys, Nathan (Jane’s Husband) and Taylor were also working hard doing something.

Up next, Girls Night Out!!!

You haven’t missed too much yet. Catch up on the rest of the wedding weekend here.
Simply Perfect – Pre-Wedding Weekend

As an unofficial challenge to myself, I’ve been trying to cook a new recipe each week.  You saw my Chicken, Biscuits n Gravy Casserole  a couple weeks ago. I’ve actually cooked it again since then. (Don’t cook it in the toaster oven for this one, the biscuits burned pretty fast.)

And last weekend I found a Cooking Light Bacon Mac and Cheese  that was pretty tasty and was a hit with Taylor…double bonus!! Again, I’ve put my comments in italics at the end of the original directions.

Ingredients

Preparation

1. Preheat broiler. (I used the toaster oven and it worked out just fine.)

2. Bring 6 quarts water and 1 tablespoon salt to a boil. Add pasta; cook 8 minutes or until al dente; drain. (I used mini fusilli pasta.)

3. Combine flour and 1/2 cup milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add 1 cup milk; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; let stand 4 minutes or until it cools to 155°. Stir in 1 1/2 cups cheese. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, onions, hot sauce, pepper, and bacon; stir. Add pasta; toss. Spoon into a 2-quart broiler-safe dish coated with cooking spray; top with 1/2 cup cheese. Broil 7 minutes. (I used Cholula hot sauce. Oscar Mayer Fully Cooked Bacon worked great, and I like it extra crispy, so I cooked it in the microwave for about 45 seconds before crumbling it. Feel free to use more bacon than the recipe asks for, I think I used 5-6 slices.)

I really liked learning to make the sauce with the flour, milk and cheese…it was so easy.  I also wasn’t sure about the green onions, but both Taylor and I really liked that part.  I also added shredded rotisserie chicken meat when I was mixing up all the ingredients in the last step, which added some additional protein, and tasted delicious. (Thanks Brooke for introducing me to the rotisserie chicken!) This made about 6 servings, which re-heated up nicely for lunches.

One thing I promise, is that most of the recipes I try aren’t too complicated. If you try any of the recipes I’ve made, let me know how they turn out.  I’ve got another recipe to share from today, but am going to wait a little bit to share.

Even though I should be finishing up some homework for my class in just over 2 hours.  I’ve got one assignment completed, and just need to finish one more, a short journal entry.  My professor knows I’m a slacker, but am not the most slackery in the class. 

The past two weeks have been brutal.  I’ve worked through lunch nearly every day, had days booked solid with interviews for our program. Thankfully I’m not having to interview for staff positions. I also had my performance evaluation which turned out better than I expected, not that I thought it was bad, but the ultimate score was more than 20 points higher than last year, and I got several 5s which are the top rating. Some of the stressors of the past year actually helped me get such good ratings (think trouble maker, unsubstantiated complaints, countless meetings with the boss, 2 hour meeting with HR…thank heavens for my novels of documentation!)

Things look like they might calm down by the end of the semester, right after I have to submit a grant proposal and annual report to the government.

Part of every bride’s journey to the altar includes finding THE DRESS.  Everyone kept telling me I would find THE ONE and that I’d just know it when I put it on. Some people even recounted stories of crying when they found their wedding dress.  In many ways I think I put too much pressure on myself based on what everyone had told me.  You’ll recall I tried on many, many, many dresses but my dress ended up being on I’d never seen in person, and didn’t even try on before I decided to buy it.  You’ve seen my dress in the teaser photos, but she deserves a proper introduction.

My dress is a custom made dress by Dolly Couture.  The design is called Milan.  And I love this dress.  I originally saw Dolly Couture featured in a post here on Wedding Chicks, and really loved the uniqueness of the designs. 

Photo by an unknown family member.

When I received the dress, it was everything I hoped it would be.  The organza and tulle detailing was so beautiful.  It didn’t need any alterations, though I did make sure to add a little extra padding in the bust area since I’m not that well endowed. 

Photo by Michelle Loconto.

I received many compliments on the dress.  It was 100+ degrees the day of the wedding, so a short dress definitely was a perfect pick.  And even though I didn’t ever have the feeling of finding THE ONE, I did find it in the end. 

Did you have a “THE ONE” feeling when you found your dress?

I know you’ve been saying “come on Andrea, start recapping the wedding already!”  Your patience has paid off….so sit back and enjoy, while I share the story of our wedding weekend.  

Thursday, June 18th.  I took the day off so I could get a few things done since we were leaving the next day for Austin. I really wish I could have taken off earlier, but my administrative assistant had just returned from maternity leave, so I needed to be in the office on her first day back.   On Thursday, I had a last minute facial.  Facials are always great and super relaxing.  Any of you in the Beaumont, Texas area should check out the Skin Salon & Day Spa in Nederland, Texas.  My esthetician Ashley did a great job whipping my skin into shape during the months leading up to the wedding. 

After my facial, I ate lunch with a friend at my favorite little lunch place in town, Katharine & Company.  Then after pondering giving myself a manicure and pedicure, I opted to swing by a local nail place and have my nails done. 

I think honestly through the whole process, I was the calmest bride-to-be.  There were some things I just wasn’t stressed about.  I didn’t HAVE to have my nails done (thus the last minute pro-mani & pedi).  However, I will admit I did have a mini breakdown on Thursday night.  I was sobbing in Taylor’s arms because the cute birdcage veil I’d so carefully chosen hadn’t arrived, even though I had checked on it several times in the weeks prior and the Etsy vendor promised it would be here in time (despite her shipping it late).  Ultimately, the veil wasn’t THAT big of a deal, but I was disappointed I hadn’t received it (and was kind of mad at the vendor) and that somehow snowballed into a sobbing session. After a few minutes, I was done, and ready to get on with the weekend.  Luckily, I had my tiny breakdown before the weekend kicked off, and everything else was smooth sailing. 

Here’s my veil.  I haven’t quite decided what to do with it yet, since I didn’t get to wear it.  I’m willing to sell it if anyone is interested. 

Last week I received our wedding photos in the mail. It’s been about 10 weeks since our wedding, and we actually got the DVDs about 1 month after the wedding. See, we opted to purchase digital rights to the photos as opposed to buying a photo package from our AWESOME photographer, Michelle Loconto in Austin.  (I’ll blog more about  her specifically later, but if you have questions, send me a message and I’ll be happy to answer them for you.)

That’s right, it took 6 more weeks for me to pick which hard copy photos I wanted.  I was able to narrow down from just over 900 photos, to my top 310.  It was so hard to choose!  But it was all worth the wait.  Seeing the photos electronically doesn’t compare to the feeling I felt when I opened the box in the post office parking lot.  Right away the emotions came flooding back, and my eyes welled up with tears just thinking about how happy that day was, how much love I felt and how excited I was to be married to my sweetheart. 

I hope you’ll continue to follow along as I share the stories of our wedding weekend.  In the meantime, another teaser photo!

Photo by Michelle Loconto.

If you know us, you know we like to eat out.  We go out to eat to celebrate – birthdays, hard days, lazy days – they’re all worth celebrating by going out!  But this past week, I’ve made a very, VERY good effort at eating in.  And of course, eating in helps the pocketbook!  The key for us is making something that will last at least two meals, mostly so we can have leftovers for lunch the next day.  The new recipe I tried was a hit with Taylor, and was just perfect for two meals for the two of us.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! (I put my additional comments in italics at the end of the original directions.)

Chicken, Biscuits -n- Gravy Casserole (from Rachael Ray Magazine)

Ingredients:
1 medium to large rotisserie chicken
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the dish
8 ounces white mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon lemon juice
salt and freshly ground pepper
3 garlic cloves
2 cups baking mix, such as Bisquick
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425°. Butter a large casserole dish. Pull the meat off the chicken, shredding it with your fingers or a fork into the baking dish. (Then give the chicken carcass to your husband.  He will think you are awesome and this snack will tide him over until time for dinner.)

In a large skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter over high heat. Add the mushrooms, onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are browned, about 6 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, sprinkle the flour into the skillet and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the chicken broth, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1/3 cup of the milk and simmer for 1 minute more. Remove the skillet from the heat, add the lemon juice, and add salt and pepper to taste. Pour the gravy over the chicken in the baking dish. (I didn’t have lemon juice, and I didn’t think the dish was missing anything)

Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter with the garlic. (Since the stove was on, I put the butter & garlic mixture in a little ceramic dish on the burner that releases the oven heat.  It worked great for melting the butter, and I didn’t really have to do anything.)

Stir together the baking mix, the remaining 2/3 cup of milk and the cheese. Drop tablespoonfuls of the biscuit mixture on top of the casserole and brush with half of the garlic butter. Bake until the biscuits are golden brown, about 25 minutes, brushing them once or twice with the remaining garlic butter. (I used Jiffy baking mix and made the biscuits pretty small – one or two bite sized.  I was also pretty generous with the cheese since I didn’t actually measure it out, probably used an extra 1/4 cup.  2/3 cup of milk wasn’t quite enough to moisten the biscuit mix so I used an extra splash or two. The biscuits were dry and not too gooey with cheese, which worked well for reheating. I did cover the pan with foil after about 15 minutes because my oven was browning the biscuits pretty fast on the top.) 

And here’s a picture of the delicious finished product. If you try it out, let me know what you think.

Since the wedding, we’ve managed to stay busy almost every weekend.  A few weekends ago, Taylor and I went to San Antonio for Cowboys Training Camp.  It was really fun. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt which also happened to be the official Cowboys Training Camp Hotel.  For the package we got reserved seating at practice, free breakfast and parking.  Not to mention, all the players stayed there.  We were less than 10 feet away from Tony Romo as we were came in from dinner on Saturday night. (sorry the picture is a little blurry!)

We also visited the San Antonio Botanical Gardens which was really nice, but very hot.  Here are a few highlights.

The main building/carriage house.

Orchids.

Perch, ready to be fed.

The actual practice was held at the AlamoDome.

They did drills and special teams practiced for about two hours.

And we saw this huge HEB shopping cart outside!

On our way over and back we had to make a stop.  What trip to San Antonio is complete without a stop at Buc-EE’s in Luling?  They really do have the cleanest bathrooms ever!