Taken This Weekend

Continuing with this week's photo themes, Saturday's was drink.

It's been well established on my blog that I love to drink coffee. And I love to try different flavors of coffee. I also like my coffee strong and sweet (cream and sugar are a must). The holidays are a great time to try new flavors, and now I have a new one!

I love the cinnamon dolce latte at Starbucks. It's probably the one I get most often when I want something like that. They will be seeing a lot less of me now that I've found this, which is good news for the pocketbook and my waistline! The Cinnamon Creme is fantastic! I'm extremely sad that it's a limited edition though. Why must my favorites be limited?!?

Sunday's prompt was one of my favorite types of photography... black and white! Here are a few favorites...

Photo a Day Catchup

We went out of town to the lake this weekend. Otherwise known as the land of little internet service. So... I wasn't able to post much and I certainly couldn't blog. However, it's nice to have a break from technology once in a while. It was a great weekend with family and friends.

May 25. Us

This sums up a big part of my family. The M stands for Marks, our last name, but can also stand for Mizzou! My in-laws, my husband's brother and his wife, my husband's sister and her husband, and of course Pat and I are ALL Mizzou graduates. My Mom is also a Mizzou graduate. You could say we all bleed black and gold.

May 26. Fave thing to do on a Sunday

Sundays are a time to kick back and relax which is best done at the lake. I had a great Sunday with a good book and lots of sunshine. 

May 27. Can't Live Without

My family agrees... I can't live without my morning cup of coffee. I probably could, but it wouldn't be pretty. A close second would be my phone (but I was using it to take the photo.)

05.04.13 In My Cup

Take a wild guess what's in my cup in the morning...

The kids slept in late this morning. I was able to enjoy two cups of coffee this morning before anyone was awake! I love lazy Saturday mornings when we have no place to go. Enjoyed bacon and eggs for breakfast and a little time on Facebook.

Enjoy your weekend. 

May the 4th be with you.

05.02.13 Morning Ritual

It always starts with coffee. Before I do anything at all... for your own benefit... I have a cup of coffee.

The cereal varies to keep life interesting. This morning it was Honey Bunches of Oats. And I'm usually logged into Facebook while enjoying my breakfast.

Following that... a little exercise (really trying to make this a morning habit), shower, make-up, get dressed, fix my hair, and then out the door...

Exciting, huh? But I do love routine. The morning ritual doesn't vary much from day to day.

Edited to add... Notice the coffee mug? I talked about it here.

02.15.13 In Your Fridge

We all have those certain things that are regulars in the fridge. The necessary items, the staples, the must haves... they vary from person to person. If you were to open my fridge, you would definitely see skim milk, butter, salad dressing of various flavors, Sweet Baby Ray's sauce, ketchup (debatable location among my family, but I think it belongs in the fridge), and this...

This is a MUST have for me. It may not always be Vanilla, but there will be some flavor of Coffee-mate in my fridge. My favorite is Warm Cinnamon Sugar Cookie. It tastes just like a snicker-doodle in my coffee! It's a crying shame that it's only out around Christmas time. I seriously stock up on it when I find it.

What's a staple in your fridge?

More Photo a Day Catch Up

I have been crazy, insanely BUSY! Just got back from an overnight trip to Washington, DC. So it's time for another photo a day catch up...

January 23. "Electric" - the first thing that came to mind (besides all of my electronic equipment) was this guitar. And The Electric Company. I could have posted a picture of Morgan Freeman, but I went for this...

January 24. "Stripes" - my Mizzou scarf with black and gold stripes. What else?

And a bonus photo for you... I went looking for that crappy coffee maker in my hotel room and found THIS!

That was a nice surprise! It makes total sense though, doesn't it? All hotels should move to the pod machines for coffee. Less mess and much easier. I never make a comment to the hotel staff, but I did on this. Well done!!

I think my life will get back to the normal routine for a while. I shall enjoy it while it lasts.

Day 14. Something Yellow

Raise your hand if you know this song!

Bananas unite (place arms over head) 
Bananas split (open arms and place at sides) 
Peel banana, peel, peel banana (move to left) 
Peel banana, peel, peel banana (move to the right) 
Bananas to the left (circle arms to the left) 
Bananas to the right (circle arms to the right) 
Peel it down the middle and (UH!) take a bite (grab and pull from out in front of you)
Go bananas, go, go bananas (do a sort of dance in a small circle, look like a fool)

Day 6. Mine

Mine. ALL mine.

Which isn't much of a problem around here because I'm the only coffee drinker, but still....

It's mine.

Something You Held

My dearest Angel Coffee Cup, I know I don't say this often enough because well, we only see each other at Christmas time. So, I will say this to you now... 

You freaking rock!

Your rock because you hold 18 wonderful ounces of caffeinated goodness which makes you my favorite. You know you are my favorite, but you don't boast. You are unassuming and just smile. Waiting for the Christmas season to be here. Waiting to be chosen. Waiting to be held once again.

You rock because you are safe in the dishwasher. I don't have to hand wash you, but sometimes I do. I'd hate for your cheerful design to fade away. I love your red candy stripes and green edging. The blue checkerboard background sets off your simple red dress with that cute yellow star. And those wings! Sigh...

You rock because I can heat you up in the microwave. My coffee is heated, but not you. No, not you. I can safely hold you right out of the microwave. Yes, Angel Coffee Cup. You so seriously rock.

It's December now, and we finally meet again. It's not easy to make me smile in the morning, but you do. I smile because you smile. Even on a Monday. Your dedication will not go unnoticed! Thank you for having my back and seeing me through this busy Christmas season.

I can't wait to hold you again tomorrow.

Can't (Won't) Live Without

Coffee. Gotta have my morning cup of coffee. And my Keurig makes it very easy.

Best. Thing. Ever.

I also love my Tiger travel mug. I carry it to work every morning.

Good thing I had my coffee this morning! My Mizzou Tigers just pulled out a victory against Tennessee. At Rocky Top. In Quadruple overtime!!! What? Are you kidding me? Total nail biter. And I now have no voice. I love college football.

Now I'm getting ready to watch the basketball team season opener. Fun day for Mizzou Sports!

MIZ!!!

Breakfast

My favorite meal of the day! Today I had an early meeting, so I stopped at Starbucks located in the hotel lobby for my breakfast. Their perfect oatmeal really is perfect. It's the right consistency, plus you can add brown sugar, mixed nuts and dried fruit. DELISH! It's so filling and incredibly good.

To wash it all down... I had a Gingerbread Latte (no whip). I'm not even ready to think about Christmas yet, but I will enjoy the taste of gingerbread.

Perfect start to the day!

day 6. Every Day

Coffee.  Every day it's in my cup.

Do you know what's great about this time of year? Cool nights, football, fall colors, and Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks! And yesterday, Living Social was offering a $10 Starbucks gift card for $5. What?!? Heckuva deal! I took advantage of that in a hurry. I will be enjoying my first Pumpkin Spice Latte very soon.

Quite possibly tomorrow.

I've written about my love for coffee on here before. Ode to the Bean is a poem dedicated to my daily cup of joe. And in Coffee Morning, I wrote about a tragic morning when my electricity went out just when I was about to brew my first cup... not good. I made a necessary trip to Starbucks. Because not only do I love the smell and taste of coffee, I really do have trouble functioning without it.

So every day, I stay caffeinated for your own protection.  You're welcome.

day 28. cup

Today was a long day.

I got up this morning and knew exactly which cup I would fill with coffee. I reached for it on the top shelf, brewed my Green Mountain coffee, and went to the back deck to do some reflection. You see, today is the day my grandmother would be laid to rest.

I sat on the back deck with my coffee and reminisced about visiting her as a child. I thought about the long car drive and watching for the blue house (that's when I knew we were there). I thought about playing with Fischer Price toys with my sister in the back room. I thought about the "big box" at Christmas full of little presents. I remembered dressing up in her old dresses and trying to twirl like her... It's also National Dance Day today. So appropriate! She loved to dance.

We drove to the tiny town of Mercer this morning. The drive is a little bit longer, the blue house is no longer blue, and the town seems to get smaller with each visit. We drove by Grandma's house, and I immediately remembered her making a clothesline tent out of a sheet in the back yard. My sister and I would play in that tent with our dolls for hours. On the drive home, I remembered taking that same road back to Columbia as a college student. I was grateful for every weekend spent with her. Now I'm not too sure when I'll be back to Mercer.

So, I knew exactly which cup I would fill with coffee and photograph today. This cup was in her coffee mug collection given to her by me. I'm pretty sure I gave it to her when I was a freshman at Mizzou. I was proud to be a Mizzou Tiger then and even more so today. But now the cup holds a whole different meaning for me. It's a cup overflowing with wonderful memories of Grandma.

day 17. your addiction

Ode to the Bean

Your aroma wakes me from my bed.
Though a few more winks I'd much like instead.
But I'm no longer tired
In fact, I'm quite wired
When that lovely brew goes to my head.

Oh, coffee bean, I am astounded.

 Especially when you are grounded.
In this I do trust
A flavor robust
My need for you is fairly well-founded.

With sugar and cream, you're delightful.
My mornings without you are frightful.
For me there's no choice
How I find my voice
In a few cups I'll be more insightful.

by Cheri Marks

Coffee Morning

What a morning!  First, I made myself get up early and go for a run. Weatherbug sent me a heat advisory alert on my phone for today, so I knew I had to get out there this morning.  I felt slow and sluggish, but a slow run is better than no run.  But before that, my daughter had come into my room complaining, crying actually, with ear pain.  Poor thing.  I hate it when my kids are hurting.  So I had already made the decision to stay at home from work. Armed with the knowledge of a long and relaxed morning ahead of me, I was pokey when I got home after my run.  Too pokey apparently because just as I was about to turn on my precious Keurig for my necessary cup of morning coffee... the power goes out.

Folks, this could be classified as a state of emergency in my house.  Momma must have her coffee!  It isn't a good morning until after I have had at least one cup.  Raise your hand if you're with me here.  Now the long and relaxed morning has been replaced with a long, irritated and cranky kind of morning.  Daughter with ear pain and Momma with coffee withdrawal.  My son and husband are wisely nowhere in sight.  Time ticks on....

Not much time ticks when I give up.  I announce that a trip to Starbucks is in definite order.  I still have a balance on my gift card that I received for my birthday.  I'm going to put it to good use.  I could be there and back with my hot cup of Joe in less than 30 minutes.  And everyone will be much happier. Because when Momma's happy... everyone's happy.

Then my husband says... "how are you going to get your car out of the garage?"

Oh, no you didn't!!!  Did he just ask his caffeine deficient wife that question?  I groan...  No power = no door opener. Well, that will not keep Momma Bear from her coffee.  With determination swelling inside of me, I march downstairs to the garage.  With all the strength I can muster in one hand and my cell phone acting as a flashlight in the other, the door is raised.  And a choir of angels sing.... Ahhhh!

The drive-through line is extremely long, of course, but I will not be stepping out of my car. I'm still in my workout clothes, you see. I've had no shower and am wearing no make up. Patience, I must have. After the longest ten minutes ever, I place my order. Relief is near. And as I pull up to the delivery window... a text arrives from my husband letting me know the power is back on. Perfect.

Well, that's OK. It takes my Keurig at least a couple of minutes to brew a cup, and the nice lady at Starbucks has just handed me my skinny vanilla latte.  The drive home was long and relaxing.  And now it's a coffee morning.