Death at Downton

*Warning: This post talks vaguely about the concept of characters dying on the TV show Downton Abbey from Seasons 1-3. There are no spoilers, I promise.*

Downton Abbey. I started watching this TV show about a year ago at the recommendation of a friend. Season 1 was on Netflix, and right away, I fell in love with the quality and the detail and the costumes and the stories. I didn't love the characters, not at first, but I learned to love all of their little quirks, well, except for the characters I loved to hate. I also wasn't particularly drawn to the time period, but I so love historical fiction that I found it fascinating anyway. To me, the show was about the house and the people that happened to live in it. People would come and go, the house would be altered, but in the end, if the walls could talk, Downton Abbey would tell these stories.

It didn't take long for me to notice that time skipped ahead very quickly as the show went along, and each season of 7-8 episodes covered about 3 years. The family and staff dealt with major issues of the time period and national and world events, and it was written and filmed in such a way that it wasn't hard to follow or stay interested because you noticed the costumes, hairstyles, and other things changing from one episode to the next. As I watched Season 2 and later, Season 3, I had already decided that if I wasn't emotionally detached from the characters, I would later be devastated. I knew they would have to start "killing off" the current generation of characters soon, simply because time had progressed, characters had aged, and potentially actors would want to move on from the show. In addition, death is a natural part of life, and people in history seemed to have to deal with the loss of loved ones a lot more often than we do now. I knew that to be true, and if Downton is to portray an accurate representation of history, I figured the characters would eventually experience it. And they do. I quickly learned to love the show without minding what happened to anyone in it...that is, except my personal favorite character, well, characters . . . John Bates and Anna . . . and of course the Dowager Countess.

I suppose the show hasn't struck others in the same way. I've been told that Downton is a soap opera. Well, soap opera or not, life happens. People die and some move in and out of our lives. It doesn't feel like a stretch to me when and if it happens on a TV show. Just this month, I had two people I know pass away. One died quite suddenly at a young age and the other died suddenly as well, but of old age as she was 96. To have people die on a fictional show is sad too, albeit in a superficial way seeing as the characters aren't real. But because it happens more often on a show than we would like it too doesn't make it terrible writing, especially considering the time period. I know dozens of stories in my family history when someone died suddenly or unexpectedly. To me, it's life.

That being said, the only character on Downton that I actually expect to die soon is the one I can't imagine the show without: the Dowager Countess. The show is great on its own merit, but her personality and wit take it to a new level of excellence. I am afraid the fact that her character was quite old already (when the show began), it would be a stretch for her to live much longer. This makes me sad. I fear the show will lose ratings and popularity when they lose her unless they are able to replace her with someone of equal caliber. I hope they can as I should love to see what happens to Downton in many more seasons and in later decades.

Holy Yoga

I just attended a Holy Yoga class at a nearby church. I first heard of Holy Yoga from another blog I well, used to read. Anyway, I know Christians are really weird about yoga. A lot of people think that just because it is part of a mystical, eastern religion that it's somehow inherently "bad" itself. A Christian singer that I follow on Twitter and Facebook posted recently (about a year ago) about how she was so stiff and she needed to do yoga, and people totally FREAKED OUT. I felt so sorry for her that as part of being in the public eye that she had to stand up to such scrutiny. from. other. Christians. Oy.

My opinion, in a nutshell, is that yoga, like anything else, is more about how you do something than what you do. Attending church and having your heart not in it is an example. Another is money. Money isn't good or bad itself, but how it is used can be good or bad. Yoga is just a fantastic form of stretching and exercise, and it so happens to lend itself well to meditation. Meditating on the Bible is, well, scriptural. It's not evil or creepy or mystical. My advice? If doing yoga, meditating on Scripture, and praying in a public setting is uncomfortable to you, then don't do it. If doing the above together in one setting sounds fantastic to you, like it did to me, try Holy Yoga.

Ok I will get off my little soapbox now. I don't want to offend anyone, but since this is my blog, I figured I should probably explain what I believe and people can take it or leave it. :o)

My sister-in-law and I really enjoyed it, but we can't go regularly because we work on Friday and Saturday mornings when the classes are. I am hoping that we can get a Gateway Pink group to pick it up and offer it more times in the week because I'd love to attend all the time. I am definitely needing to be more flexible. But I felt so fabulous when we were done. A great way to start the weekend, for sure.

My DIY Christmas Wreath

I've been doing so many crafty projects lately that I am dying to share. I love decorating, and so right after Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of the year because that's when we start decorating for Christmas! I want to share one of such projects, but first, the back story.

While going through our boxes of Christmas decorations, I came across the wreath box. I opened it and went, "ughhhhhh." I'm not a DIY blogger, obviously, so I forgot to take a before picture, but I haphazardly put the wreath back together so you'd get the idea. Sorry the picture is not so great.

It's not the ugliest wreath on the block (you should see my neighbor's!), but let's be honest, it looks like something circa 1994. My mom is one of the best bargain shoppers I've ever met, and she knows a find when she sees one. A year or two ago, she knew I didn't have a wreath and found this one for me probably thinking it was better than nothing, as I used to be into collecting bears when I was little (that's a story for another day). So, I paid nothing for this wreath, but I wasn't really feeling it this year. But, since there's no money in the budget for a new wreath, I ended up hanging it up anyway thinking I might find a way to modify it to my liking later. I'm a little ashamed to admit that. As an aside, after hanging it, I discovered the bears covered the little peephole in the front door, which I felt like was kind of a safety-hazard.

I did do some shopping around the next day to see if I could find something I liked better, or at least inspiration to make mine better. Have you seen prices on wreaths? Unless you get the yucky, fake looking ones, they cost anywhere from $20-50 dollars!!!!! Even if I did have money for it, I am wayyyy too cheap to pay that much for a wreath. Well, I might pay $20, but after this project, no way. What I did notice is that grapevine wreaths are still in style (or are again?). I knew there was something I liked about this wreath!!! I also saw that Hobby Lobby was selling plain grapevine wreath bases exactly like mine for $10. Score!

So when I was out shopping yesterday, I picked up two branches/bunches of the cranberry-looking floral embellishments. I'm sorry I don't know what they are called. I have never done this before! They were $1.27 each, but I got them for half price. Score again!

Last night, I sat down with my pliers and ripped the bears and little sign off the wreath. I noticed the twine on it was old, weathered, and had broken and been tied back together in places. Thankfully I already had the heavy duty jute twine to replace it, so I took off the old twine, added the berries and new twine, and ta-da! The result:

A brand new, contemporary, natural, gorgeous-looking wreath that only cost me about $1. :o) And while I am pretty excited about the low cost, what I am even more proud of is that I did it myself. Pinterest actually had nothing to do with this project! I've never done anything like this before, and I had no help. This is so not like me: I didn't even look at any pictures for inspiration or how-tos. *gasp* I just kind of sat down and did it. And bonus, it doesn't cover the peephole anymore! So yay for craftiness. The end.

Learning to Enjoy Grocery Shopping

I found my new favorite place to grocery shop: Walmart Neighborhood Market. The ambiance is like a high-end grocery store such as the local Tom Thumb, but with the exact same prices as Walmart SuperCenter. LOVE. No seriously, if you can be in love with a Walmart, I am. This seemingly very minor discovery totally changes my world when it comes to grocery shopping because I hate grocery shopping.
I actually love shopping in general, and I don't particularly mind cooking. I do hate spending money, especially when there is the issue of fluctuating grocery prices and determining what a good price is on a gazillion products in a grocery store. This is a potentially stressful process for a frugal woman like myself. A frugal woman who has a teeny-tiny grocery budget to stick to. When I say teeny, I mean less than $50 a week (and our eating-out budget is even smaller, FYI).

Enter EMEALZ. Since cooking isn't my favorite thing to do, meal planning feels like homework. I dread it. I put it off. I don't mind scouring the internet (ie. Pinterest) and cookbooks for fun things to make or even for food to make for special events, but for weekly meals? Yuck. Not on this budget. It's no fun for me. Emealz takes care of this for me. I've been using Emealz for almost a year now, and we've absolutely loved like 90% of the meals we've made with it. The 10% we didn't love were mostly because we aren't big fish eaters, but you can swap the fish out for chicken in just about every instance. It is so worth the $1.25 a week if you are like me and hate meal planning. TOTALLY.

BUT, I still dreaded grocery shopping. We're on the Walmart plan (because overall it's cheaper than the others) with Emealz, but I've never been able to enjoy the shopping. It's the overall experience that I hate. It is generally better if I have a drink with me, but the overcrowded aisles, the ridiculously long check-out lines, the hike to and from the parking lot, and even the ultra-bright white fluorescent lighting in the store make it a miserable experience. This Walmart Neighborhood Market is a grocery store only. It's much smaller than even a basic Walmart. The parking lot is smaller. It's the middle of a mostly residential area, which means the store is less congested. The lighting in it is more subdued and indirect. This week, I spent less money on a week's worth of groceries than I normally would and was in and out of the store in record time. I have been shopping there for several weeks, and now I look forward to grocery shopping. What a difference shopping in a decent store makes!

This post probably doesn't interest anyone too much, but it was too exciting for me not to share!

Mrs. Piatt's Log. Stardate: -311347.8

So I'm a Star Trek fan. Not a closet Star Trek fan. A full-fledged, seen-almost-every-episode-of-every-show, geek-speaking fan. I don't hide this fact. I mean, my external hard drive is named The Defiant, and my flash drives are all named after runabouts. I am totally okay with my geeky-ness. I've been watching TNG* since I was probably about nine years old with my dad and my brothers. Admittedly, I used to hate it. I'd complain when my dad and brothers were watching it, but they would just tell me I could go do something else if I didn't like it. So, I sucked it up, and got sucked in as a result. Over the years, my mom has even learned to enjoy the show.

This works out perfectly because my husband is also a Trekkie. (Great, you're thinking, their future kids are doomed.) Nate watched the show Star Trek: The Next Generation religiously on TV when it first aired. We're geeks. It's true. It's one of our favorite things to watch together. Because without our geek shows, we'd have a hard time finding shows we both enjoy. Generally I like period dramas, and he prefers action/comedy. It's hard impossible to find a show that fits both of those categories! So Sci-Fi it is.

A year or two ago, we borrowed TNG* on DVD from my younger brother and watched all seven seasons. We own the subsequent movies, and we watched them as well. Then we borrowed DS9* on DVD (also seven seasons) from my dad. Now that we have discovered Star Trek: Voyager on Netflix, we are excitedly watching it. Yep. You guessed it. Seven seasons. We're currently on season four.

Anyway, after all of that useless knowledge to amuse and entertain you, I was recently struck by something one of the characters said on an episode of Voyager that I recently watched. Bear with me: it pertains to this blog entry. ;o)

One of the characters was chattering on incessantly, and the other said, "You know, you really should keep a personal log. Why bore others needlessly?"

It was meant as a humorous quip, but it really struck me. I've been reevaluating my use of social networking sites lately, and I have discovered at a time in my life when social networking is my virtual circle of friends, I probably "chatter on" too much with constant posts about unnecessary things – things only a select few care about. Sites, such as Facebook, serve their purpose and I'm thankful to have them, but I think my time is probably better spent writing in a blog. I used to journal several times a week on actual paper as well as online blogs, and at certain times in my life, I have kept daily journals, such as my trip to England and Scotland in 2005. I cherish those journals as they help me remember significant events, but more importantly to me, how I was feeling and what I was thinking at the time.

That being said, I hope to keep up on this blog a little better than I have in the past few months. No promises, but it's worth a shot. Besides, this way, if I bore others, I'll be able to say that it's my personal blog, and if they are bored, they can just stop reading. :o)

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*Common Star Trek abbreviations as follows: TOS = The Original Series, TNG = The Next Generation, DS9 = Deep Space 9, VOY = Voyager

Frosty Cappuccino

I originally wrote this blog entry in my live journal in July 2008, but I figured it was worth reposting in blogger as a refresher for me. I have edited it to make the costs more applicable to prices now since apparently some prices, such as the cost of milk, have gone down since 2008.
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I love Frappuccinos from Starbucks or even the McDonald's Mocha Frappe version. They are soooo good, but I hate to spend $3-5 on a drink! So, naturally I was so excited to find a recipe on how to make a homemade version for about an eighth the cost! I have modified it quite a bit to fit my tastes, preferred serving size, and to make it lower in fat and calories. 

MODIFIED FROSTY CAPPUCCINO:
Makes 2 - 8 oz. servings
Approximate Cost Per Serving: $.47
Approximate Calories Per Serving:  118


1/2 cup - fat free half & half
1/2 cup - fat free milk 
1 1/2 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon - chocolate or caramel syrup
1 teaspoons - instant espresso powder or instant coffee
4-5 ice cubes
2 Tablespoons - Light ReddiWhip whipped cream


1. In the bowl of a food processor or blender, blend the ice cubes and combine the half-and-half and milk until ice cubes are sufficiently blended.
2. Add caramel/chocolate syrup, espresso/coffee, and ice cubes. Cover and whirl until the mixture is smooth.
3. Pour the mixture into two glasses. Top with whipped cream and drizzle the remaining 1 teaspoon of caramel/ chocolate sauce. Serve immediately.


Most of the time I forgo the whipped cream and chocolate drizzle to save calories, but I do add other flavors sometimes to vary the recipe, such as dark chocolate syrup instead of regular chocolate or adding mint extract or tiny chocolate chips. It is fun to experiment with this recipe to make a different flavor every time!


*I should note that all prices reflex the price I paid for these items in Texas in 2011 and that the price of milk, especially, varies.


Cheers. Enjoy your 118 calorie, $.47 Frappe. ;o)

Project 31: Day 19: Comfort Food

Day 19.  Write about your favorite comfort food (we are women - we ALL have comfort food!)

I wish my comfort foods were healthy. Alas, they are not.

1. Dr. Pepper. I've said this before, and I'll say it again. I would swear off soda/pop completely if it weren't for Dr. Pepper. The only way Dr. Pepper could be improved is if they came up with a natural sugar version with fewer calories. Pepsi has experimented with this, so it must be possible. A Dr. Pepper free of artificial sugars (including high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, and sucralose [Splenda]) and not so high in calories would be a dream for me. I could do without the caffeine, though that isn't as important to me. This is the part of the show where I show you a slightly an extremely embarrassing but funny picture of me from a trip to England/Scotland, Land of Scarce Dr. Pepper, in 2005.

Call me addicted, but I am just thankful to now live in Texas, Land of ABUNDANT Dr. Pepper. It's everywhere! Seriously, if you don't live in Texas, have you ever seen Dr. Pepper machines anywhere where you live? Pepsi? Yes. Aquafina? Yes. Coke? Yes. Mt. Dew? Yes. Dr. Pepper? NEVER.

2. Snickers Peanut Butter. Have you seen this yet? I was in Target Saturday when they were giving out free samples. Snickers were already my very favorite candy bar, but the only thing that could possibly be better than Snickers would be a Snickers/Reese's Cup combo. That's exactly what this is. To die for. I'm surprised I didn't take the lady's whole stash of samples. My waistline is thankful that I didn't. At 7 g of fat per snack, they aren't even remotely low fat.


Dove Chocolates - dark chocolate - are another favorite.

3. Moose Tracks Ice Cream. I've had it in peanut butter ice cream, mint ice cream, and chocolate ice cream. It doesn't matter. I love them all. My personal favorite has to be low fat chocolate moose tracks ice cream. Same great taste with fewer fat and calories. Whenever I'm in a bad mood or grumpy, this is my first go-to snack food. Healthy? Of course not. Soothing? Oh, yes it is. I usually limit myself to ONE scoop, though, so I don't feel too guilty.

Project 31: Day 17: Three Things

Day 17. Write about 3 things that make you happy.
This question is hard mostly because I am having trouble coming up with only three, so forgive me for turning this into nine things.

Three things that make me happy:
1. Quality Time. Spending quality time with my husband, friends, and family. Traveling, shopping, visiting new places. Makes me feel so happy.
2. Creativity. Using my right brain for anything creative makes me happy.

3. Encouragement. Giving other people encouragement is almost more exciting for me than getting encouraged. I do like to be encouraged. I cherish every word of affirmation given to me. But giving encouragement is a much bigger blessing to me. It makes me happy.

Those are the big ones, but there are a few other categories I wanted to add, just for fun.

Three places that make me happy:
1. Mackinac Island, Michigan. The best trip Nate and I have ever taken, so far. We loved it in Mackinac. It was way too cold when we went (in May 2009), but the rich history, the lack of cars on the island, the abundance of horses, gorgeous scenery, etc. It's just beautiful and relaxing and totally up our alley. If we had the money, we'd rent a house there and visit every summer.
2. Dallas, Texas. My college friends teased me when I returned to college after the summer of 2005. I had an awesome summer. Probably the best summer I've ever had. The first month was spent in England and Scotland (see place #3). The second month was spent in Dallas, Texas with my brother. The third month was spent at camp with horses. All I talked about were Dallas, England, Scotland, and horses. They called it DESH. I loved the cultural experiences I had that summer. I really had a blast and made lots of memories. I really learned about independence that summer. And now I live in Dallas. And for now, it is a place that makes me happy.
3. England and Scotland. I went on my cross-cultural trip to England and Scotland in the summer of 2005. It was amazing. I love the truly deep history of the countries, how proud they are of their heritage, and the lovely landscapes there. And London was amazing. The most exciting city I've ever visited. With Tube (the subway) passes, we felt like we could go anywhere we wanted.

Three movies that make me happy:

1. Anne of Green Gables (and the sequel). My favorite movie of all time. Certainly not a movie for everyone, but it is near and dear to my heart. It always puts me in a good mood.

2. Tie between The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings. Both are truly epic film series filled with moral themes that are applicable spiritually. I have so much respect for the creativity of both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. The films are long but exciting to watch and very well made. The quality is worth the length, to me.

3. The Holiday. It has pretty much everything a light-hearted, romantic comedy should have, in my opinion. The four main characters are hilarious and easy-to-relate-to and fun-to-watch. Even though it is technically a Christmas movie, I can watch it any time. Favorite scene: Jack Black and Kate Winslet in Blockbuster. Love that entire scene from Jack Black saying, "Well, hello Big Dollup" to Dustin Hoffman's cameo. It doesn't hurt that Jude Law is a looker and that he and Kate Winslett have awesome British accents.

Project 31: Day 5: Heart Alive

Day 5: Write a blog thanking someone who has made your heart come alive.

I cannot even read this day's title without thinking of a specific individual. I know most people will write this about their husbands or about someone else very close to them. My husband has made my heart come alive, but I did not feel as though I should write this particular blog about him. Instead, I chose someone else who has very much influenced my life. The wording "your heart come alive" instantly puts the song, "Alive" by Rebecca St. James. The following lyrics especially:

You make me come alive
I found the secret
It’s only when I let go of what I want in this life
You make me come alive

Ever since I was about 13 years old, I've been a huge fan of Rebecca St. James. Her music, devotionals, testimony, concerts, etc. have influenced me more than any others. I asked Jesus into my heart and accepted his gift of salvation at a very young age, but it wasn't until I was about 13 that I really came alive. I got baptized at 13, and my spiritual life grew by leaps and bounds. I started prayer journaling, as influenced by her, and my prayer journals are among my most precious possessions.

Though she's not someone I actually "know" or someone who will ever read this, I would like to thank Rebecca St. James for following God's path for her life. She's been singing publicly since she was 14, that's almost 20 years now. She stands for what she believes and holds to that very strongly. It is so inspiring. I wish I could go out for coffee with her sometime and chat with her about life, wedding planning (she just got engaged over Christmas), and God. She is truly an amazing woman of God.

But since I can't sit down with her personally, I will let this blog serve as my thank you. She gave me someone positive to look up to, a beautiful, talented, great role model for my young, impressionable teenage life. She helped me see that a relationship with God is really what makes your heart come alive. But it doesn't stop there. She has emphasized these points so much in the past 15 years that I should have them memorized. 1) Dig into the Bible. 2) Pray. 3) Grab all the Christian friends you can. 4) Get rid of the junk in your life. 5) Get involved in church. I did those things. I'm still doing those things. Or at least learning how to keep doing those things through all of life's twists and turns. I'm so not perfect, but I'm thankful that my Jesus is. He loves me just the way I am. He is the source of my joy and my strength. He makes me come alive. Thank you, Rebecca, for showing me that.

*These are pictures that I have taken of Rebecca and as such are my property. Please do not take them and use them for anything without asking me first. Thank you!

Project 31: Day 4: Style 31

Day 4. Style 31. Post a pic of you in your favorite outfit.

This might not be the favorite, but it is a favorite. I got the shirt on a clearance rack for $3!!! Since I've lost a little weight, I'm glad I can wear a shirt like this without looking pregnant. :o) Oh, please ignore the background and poor quality photos. These were taken at our old house like the week before we moved.

My Pick for Best Dressed at the Oscars

I'm not that into watching the Oscars. We don't watch TV really, period. Nate likes watching some sports, but what we can't get with the antenna, he can watch over at his grandpa's. Mostly we can't justify spending $30-60+ for a service we'd rarely use. So, we watch lots of movies instead.

However, when I saw this post about the Oscars, I was intrigued. I like looking at pretty, fancy dresses, but when I've seen Oscar dresses in the past, they usually are just so weird. And UGLY. This year, there were some weird ones, but overall, I thought most of them were pretty nice. This one, however, was hands-down my favorite.

This is Anna Kendrick. I'd never even heard of her until I saw the aforementioned post. She's beautiful! And so is the dress! The dress is such a soft pink, and so feminine! I love the detailing, such as the lace edging on the slit and the buttons up the back. I like her accessories too.

Visit the blog I mentioned to see lots more dresses and vote on your favorite. Last I checked, this one was winning. Yay. :o)