thank you thursday for all my blessings

Not going to lie people - I have a lot of things to be thankful for - Sooo I have decided to brag share!

one.

i have been cooking things, homemade mind you, successfully!

cooking with katie for today

Baked Potato Soup

ingredients

12 slices of bacon (i use turkey bacon)

2/3 cup flour

4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

4 large green onions, chopped

1 1/4 cup shredded cheddar (low fat)

1 cup sour cream (you guessed it, lite kind!)

2/3 cup margarine

7 cups milk (and yes, i used skim)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

directions

cook bacon, crumble

melt margarine over medium heat

whisk in flour until smooth (like making homemade gravy)

gradually stir in milk, whisking constantly till thick

stir in potatoes and onions

bring to a boil

reduce heat, simmer 10 minutes

mix bacon, cheese, sour cream, salt and pepper

continue cooking till potatoes are soft and cheese is melted

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two.

After a gun scare on the Texas A&M University campus today, I am glad everyone is safe 

The embarrassing part?

fake.gun.

But hey, at least Aggies were on alert!

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three.

my dear girlfriend, Cassie, who had the most natural color blond hair I have ever seen on a person has decided to go a little darker

i am soooo thankful she loves it because i think she looks FABULOUS!!

before:

annnnd after!!

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four.

my manuscript that i submitted for the Academy of Human Resource Development conference in the Americas has been accepted!

YAY!

So I will be heading to Chicago in February to present my paper titled:

Cultural Influences on Individual Career Development

i am so thankful to have a professor who believed in me and i am so thankful to have a husband who was ever so proud of me.

look! he sent me flowers! 

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Lastly.

for now that is...

even though I have felt crummy for the past two weeks - I am thankful i was still able to get some pumpkin carving time in

Yay Halloween! 

Our group

me & bret

our cousin hannah and her man, shane

my dear friends Andrea and Cassie.

One bummer is we normally carve with the Cabezas every year but I was too scared of getting little Maddie sick since she is only 19 months old!

mine & the Mr.'s pumpkins

his = bat

mine = own on branch with a Texas Rangers "T" carved into the tree 

my other little pumpkin - I painted!

Andrea's pumpkin = freaky face

Shane & Hannah's pumpkin = Texas Rangers

Ta-dah!!

Happy Thursday you kiddos!