Some pictures...

Until I can figure out this layout business, here are some photos of the major things in my life...

This is me and my sweet fiance Bip (his real name is Josh)... Love him so and am so grateful for him...



More pics of us....









My sweet little house...



My bestie and roomie Jamie, the King and me...



My sweet boys, Jorge and Julio...



Hope this worked!

The Brown Rice Brouhaha/ Tender Mercies, Brown Rice Edition

I've been changing my eating habits these last few weeks... Yes, New Years Resolutions had to be made, and "losing weight/eating healthier/exercising" seems to always be at the top of everyone's list. While I was blessed for most of my life with a stick-thin frame that required little to no maintenance, the times, they are a-changin.

In addition to wanting to feel better about myself (and hell, just FEEL BETTER in general), I am going to marry the greatest fella in the world in September and dammit, I wanna look good (especially frolicking in a bikini on my honeymoon)!

Needless to say, there has been a lot of chicken, fish, rice & veggies in my world lately. I was VERY excited to find brown minute rice that can be microwaved in no time at all... great as a side for dinner, and so fast. I love brown rice! And they are individually packaged. Perfect, right?

I made some fish and broccoli as well, topped the rice with a little chili garlic sauce and we dug in. Wonderful dinner.

Later on, I was trying to add up the amount of calories I have been eating in a day. Bip was saying he thought dinner had been 500-600 calories, I insisted it was more in the 300-400 range, so I started going through the garbage and reading labels to do the adding. The fish had been 100 calories per fillet, the broccoli was next to nothing, and the rice was 230 calories... but wait, each of those little cups contain two servings? I ate two servings worth? Nearly 500 calories of BROWN RICE?

I started to panic. I've been trying SO HARD. I've been exercising, pushing fruit and veggies, and damn,I had really ENJOYED that dang brown rice. I was looking forward to making it a regular on my dinner plate. But being satisfied with HALF of the portion I had enjoyed? Yeah, right. I may be a woman, but I enjoy eating man-size portions of certain things, by God!

My Bip, always the voice of reason, encouraged me to chalk it up as a lesson learned and not panic. Even if I had eaten 500 calories of brown rice, I was still close to my target calorie intake. All was not lost, tomorrow was another day, etc. Heart heavy with my rice disgrace, I went to bed. Tried to forget. But it ate at me... just didn't seem RIGHT that such a moderate amount of rice should have so many calories.

So, this morning I woke up and looked at it again. And I rejoiced in my wrongness. There are two servings per CARTON (meaning two cups per package), but one CUP is indeed 230 calories. I had not had an un-ladylike grain binge after all. I was doing a body good.

Brown rice, I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow.

First post....

Ok, this thing is not officially up and running yet, but I did want to put up this little survey by way of introduction....

1. What is your name and what's your blog name if you have one?
My name is Shawna, and currently my blog is called The Bip and Bloon... unsure if I will keep that name. I also have a livejournal, but that's mostly private and for real-life friends.

2. Where do you live? City, State? if you could live anywhere, where would it be?
I live just outside of Nashville, TN. There is nowhere else I want to be.

3. Where do you work? What's your job title? Do you love your job?
I work for a Real Estate association. I love who I work with.

4. If you could work anywhere or do anything what would it be? I'd love to be a kickass housewife (and mom) that does volunteer work.

5. What are you reading right now?
The first book in the Aurora Teagarden series by Charlaine Harris. It's a fun read. It's not going to change the world, but I love to read and I blow through books pretty quickly. Light reading is good.

6. What are you listening to?
Just the little heater under my desk at the moment.

7. Guilty pleasures?
It doesn't really make me feel guilty, but I buy a copy of People magazine every Friday!

8. Name your TV shows
True Blood, Intervention, Hoarders... I used to watch a lot of crime shows (The Mentalist, CSI, Criminal Minds) but I haven't lately. Maybe when I get the tv moved in my room... I really prefer to relax on my bed after work!

9. What are things you do everyday?
Eat, Laugh, Facebook, kiss my Bip and my dogs

10. How did you find our blog?
I saw this survey on many of the blogs I read. One just kinds of leads to another... I just keep clicking!

11. What do you like to do for fun?I like to do a lot of things, but the only one I do much of is read. I love entertaining (planning a party, menu, decor, favors), but I don't get to do that much, either. Another thing I rarely get to do is head downtown to the honky tonks on Broadway... it's fun to have a drink and sing along with some George Jones covers.


13. What was your favorite item that you received for Christmas?
I don't know that I have a favorite... I got a lot of stuff I needed and wanted. Truth be told, I am probably most excited about my fluffy new white towels (saving them until bathroom is painted and redecorated).

14. What's on your bedside table?
Books... nail polish.... ambien... and a baby picture of Bippy