Whimsical September

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Getting out of a Ticket: Army Wife Style & other Monday Musings

A couple days ago, I was on my way to Lowes with Hadley in tow to get some flowers for my front porch pots (that a mystery animal already ate half of, but I digress…), when blue lights started flashing behind.

Crap. I don’t even know what I did!

I put my blinker on to signal that I would be turning right into the aquatic center (1/10th of a mile away) since the road I was on has zero shoulder, turned into the parking lot, and got ready for what I assumed would be my first ticket.

The officer begins to talk.

“Ma’am, I clocked you going 48 in a 35 right in front of the police station.”

Awesome.

“You also broke Arizona law by not pulling over immediately when I put my lights on. I knew what you were signaling to do, but you still broke the law.”

Winning.

“Are you aware that you also didn’t come to a complete stop when you made a right on red?”

I’m toast.

“License, registration, insurance.”

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is how I accidentally got out of a hefty ticket.

“I see that all of these are still valid, but your license is from Alabama, your registration is from Tennessee, and your insurance is from Arizona. You’re not from around here, are you? Are you military?”

Yes!

And I drove away with a warning instead of a $210 ticket. He chalked up my first two offenses to what I call “no kids probs” and gave me a five minute lecture about all kinds of city and state laws because “next time you won’t be getting away with just a warning”.

Weeeee! Thank you, officer. Off to get my flowers. 🙂

{Not pictured are my beautiful zinnias and tomato plant that were eaten Saturday night}


Our weekend didn’t consist of anything too fancy, but it was a good one. Dinner with friends Friday night, relaxed at home all day Saturday, and then church and chores yesterday. The highlight of the weekend was probably just loving on our half-birthday princess.

Saturday afternoon we decided to make some black bean burgers (recommended from my sister), and they were great. Jamie enjoyed them so much that he whispered in my ear during the Sunday morning sermon that he was craving a leftover burger. Bad Jamie! Listen to the preacher.

We also caramelized an onion. mmmmm MMM!

As mentioned last week, we got our slate of potential places that we may get stationed at next, and nearly every single conversation this weekend surrounded the list. We were very surprised at what didn’t show up on the list, and we were also pleasantly surprised that a couple options did show up on the list.
Jamie has his interview tomorrow afternoon to “plead our case” for why we want our #1 pick. I didn’t think I’d get my hopes up about any place in particular, but we really want our #1. I’m worried that it’s a long shot and have accepted that our chances of going somewhere else are pretty high, but I’m still hopeful. We are also trying to remind ourselves that we always seem to end up exactly where we should be exactly when we should be and that our next post is no different. I fully understand and believe that God’s plans are way better than my own, but finding total peace in that is definitely easier said than done at times (like this one).
We should know something in the next couple of weeks.
Here are the recipes for the black beans burgers and carmelized onions. Like a few other recipes I’ve posted, you likely have many of the ingredients already around your home. Enjoy!
Black Bean Burgers
Ingredients:
30 oz black beans (two cans)
2 eggs
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp. tomato sauce
1/2 c. breadcrumbs
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 c. of corn
olive oil
dash of salt and pepper
In a food processor pulse half of rinsed black beans, garlic, salt, and pepper. In separate large mixing bowl, mix together remaining black beans, eggs, breadcrumbs, sauce, and corn. Add pulsed black bean mixture to mixing bowl and stir all together. Form into burger patties. Heat grill to 400 degrees, line with tin foil, coat with thin layer of olive oil, and cook patties for approx. 12 minutes (six minutes on each side). Enjoy!
Caramelized Onions
Turn stovetop heat to low. Heat two tablespoons on olive oil in skillet and add sliced onions. Stir every 15 minutes until they reach the desired result (close to two hours). Even if you’re tempted to turn it up, keep the setting on low. You won’t see much of a change during the first hour, but they’ll get there!
I’ll end with my cleanse results since several of you have asked! I ended the 10 day cleanse 3.5 pounds lighter (even with the weekend “off”), which got me over a four-week plateau. I also measured my bust, waist, butt, arms, and thighs, and lost a total of 5.5 inches. I’ll take it!

Erica

Hi! I’m Erica, and I absolutely adore sharing my life on this website with you! I come here almost daily to blab about all of the things related to being a regular wife and mother in today’s ever-evolving society. I share about our new home, what’s on our kitchen table, what we’re hanging in our closets, where we’re traveling to next, my crazy 5 a.m. work outs, how I make time for girlfriends, our faith, and much more. We always have a lot of balls in the air and somewhat thrive on the chaos. I believe in the power of story-telling as a form of inspiration and entertainment, so I’m here to do both! I was born and raised in north Alabama and recently re-planted roots here again after my husband transitioned out of the Army (he is now in the Reserve and it’s going so well!) I’m a super proud mom to two little girls (ages 5 and 2) who seem to be the stars of the show around here (for good reason – they’re pretty great!) I’m so glad you found me and are here reading! I hope we can get to know each other here on the blog as well as Facebook and/or Instagram. xoxo

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