Day 8-A place you've traveled to

Travel...well, I do love to travel. 

I guess today I'll follow the rules. A Place I've traveled to...my dream vacation that Heath took me on? Italy!?!?

My picture on the side bar is of us in Assissi. 

Heath promised me, when we were in college, that he'd take me to Italy, and 15+ years later he did! We went in April...and I loved it! Here are a few pictures of our trip...

 The Colosseum

 Lucca

 Pisa

 The Pope

 The Spanish Steps

 Trevvi Fountain

 The Vatican

 Assissi

 Florence

 Venice

Day 7-Favorite movies

I love movies. Heath and I play movie trivia with songs and quotes. We watch at least a movie a day through Netflix, Directv, or iTunes! ha!?!? And, of course, I have a handful of favorite movies. I like nearly every type of movie, but NO scary movies in our house! I just don't get why people like to be scared.) And to actually name and identify them is a bit harder for me!

I'll start with movies that came to my brain immediately..because I watch them over and over again with no hesitation:

The Holiday (I own this movie and watched it at least 5 times over the Xmas holiday season. Kate Winslet is one of my favorites!)

Sense and Sensibility (I think it has something to do with a love story with three sister...and guess who plays the middle sister?!?! LOL)

And, I have to include Disney Movies!?!?

Sleeping Beauty

But, I REALLY fell in love with Princess and the Frog and it's music! LOVE!

The Blindside (I just love this story!)

Remember the Titans (I told you I love football!) 

Giant (My mom was in this movie as a little girl and I've always loved watching it!?!) 

And, the last one I'll pick is...

Fried Green Tomatoes

I really do not like having to pick favorite movies...because I like a lot of movies. It might depend on my mood!?!? If I posted this tomorrow, it might be a different list! Heath and I just saw "No Strings Attached" and I laughed till my sides hurt-great movie, not suitable for kids tho! I also like mystery type movies...I watched Sixth Sense again the other night and forgot what a great movie it was!?!? So, please know...these movies just scratch the service on my love of movies!?!?

Day 6-A picture of something that makes you happy

A picture? A PICTURE!?!? I'm gonna have to have more than one b/c I love pictures. I take tons of pictures and can't just pick one!?!? That's insane!

I have limited myself...I really could do so many more, but I used my Photo Cluster template and chose 7 photos! these are the first seven that I came across from the past year and thought...oh I LOVE that picture!Please note, I needed about 30 more just from the past year!

(Going from top to bottom, left to right)
1. The kids waiting on Mom and Dad's stairs to see what Santa brought them Christmas morning 2010.
2. My nephew LG at the Christmas Eve service...he wanted to collect the candles and light them all.
3. Mac eye shadow (taken my SIL Holly). I LOVE Mac. This picture makes my heart go pitter-patter.
4. Heath, H, and M skiing in Crested Butte last Spring Break. Love this picture!
5. Lucca, Italy...I loved these bikes lined up in the street.
6. M and LG at the Suspension Bridge horse sculptures in Waco. I love this photo, especially with this photo action!
7. H and M taking pics in their Rangers jersey. We did a special photo shoot after they made it to the World Series. So fun!

LG made it twice...he took some great photos for me this Christmas. Sorry to my other nieces and nephews...I probably had some, just had to limit myself! See, and now I'm feeling guilty...please refer back to #13 in Day 1!?!? LOL

And now since I'm feeling guilty, I've decided to post two of my favorite pics from each side of the family from the past year. Jeez, I'm ridiculous!

Lee family at Disney minus Heath and my BIL Jay.

Nay family at Downtown Disney minus Sam and Molly!

Until tomorrow...

Day 5-Your favorite recipes

Oh jeez, this is hard. I cook a lot. I love to cook, and I love to try new recipes!

Since we are working on eating healthier, should I post healthy recipes? Should I post family favorites? Easy ones? The pressure of a recipe!


I'm starting with my mom's trash...Texas Trash! I'm not sure why this went to my brain first, but it did.   Here is a picture of it...when I made it for Xmas. (M took this picture!?!?)

So, I guess you'd like the recipe.

1 box each: wheat, rice, and corn chex cereal, cheerios
1 bag of straight pretzels
mixed nuts (these can be left out b/c of allergies or hatred of nuts)

mix all of this together in two large pans. (this is my turkey roaster.)

Sauce:
1 lb. margarine (yes that is POUND)
1 c Crisco oil
3 teaspoons Worcestershire
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon red pepper
1/2 box accent
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon of seasoning salt
2 teaspoon Tabasco

Mix and heat sauce until margarine melts. Pour over cereal and stir well.
Put in oven heated to 220 degrees. Cook for 2 hours, stir every 20 minutes!

YUM!?!?

Heather's Famous Chicken (well, not so famous, but my family totally loves it and ALWAYS eats it. It's my go-to recipe in a pinch.)

chicken tenderloins (frozen or fresh)--not breaded.
Olive Oil (or grapeseed)
Balsamic Vinegar

In a nonstick skillet, drizzle olive or grapeseed oil. Place chicken in pan and drizzle balsamic vinegar over it. Cook on medium heat, turning chicken so ask not to burn.

I serve it with a wide array of green veggies and even mac and cheese.

And my grandma's Chili

1.5 pounds of ground beef or turkey
28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
5 Tablespoons flour (if turkey, only 2)
3 Tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt

Cook meat, drain fat, then add dry ingredients. Stir well. Add tomatoes and sauce, plus one can (tomato sauce size) of water. Simmer till warm.

Serve with fritos, rice, sour cream, cheese, or anything else you want. It's not spicy, if you like spice, add cayenne pepper or Tabasco!


Let's see...another one that is way more healthy. And, you may have already seen it on here.

Cilantro Lime Chicken

I guess I'll stop here, though I could go on and on!?!?

Day 4-Your parents

My Parents: Ronnie and Kreta

This picture is from our trip to DisneyWorld in December. It was so cold!?!? We were at Rope Drop at Epcot on the first morning!

What can I say about my parents? I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell you about who they are or just about how great they are!?!?

I gave a couple of hints about my parents in Day 1's 15 interesting facts. I'm more like my dad in my overall personality. When a situation is tough or stressful, we both decide joke telling is the best solution! My dad was the perfect daddy for 3 girls. He's sweet and understanding, and a cuddler. I love a good hug from my daddy. He taught us all about sports, maybe to his annoyance now!?!?

My mom and I are both middle daughters of 3...which brings certain "birth order" resemblances. My two sisters are more like her in personality traits, but I get my stubbornness from her!?!? And, my "I only like to follow rules if I don't think they are stupid." She has an incredible work ethic...has the #1 consignment store, Another Season, in Waco!?!? (voted by the readers of the Waco Trib) She's also a perfectionist, me not so much!

Anyway, there are some awesome lessons that I learned from my parents.
1. Live by the fruits of the spirit. If you live with love, gentleness, kindness, patience, peace, self-control, etc. you will be living like Christ. And, people will be drawn to you...and that will be your witness. Not that I am good at any of these, patience is a weakness for me...and I'm not always gentle! But, I do try.
2. Love unconditionally. period.
3. You CHOOSE to love your spouse everyday. There will be days you don't like them very much, but you can choose to love them.
4. Family first...you sacrifice whatever you need to for your family. Family time together is the most important to build relationships (even if it's just lying on the bed laughing together!).

Thanks Mom and Dad for all you've done for me and how much you've loved me! So thankful you are MY parents!

Day 3-Your first love

This is an easy one!?!?

My first love is my only love...I know I'm lucky.

Heath and I in Italy (our dream vacation) in April

At the age of 18, I had just graduated from high school, was getting ready to go off to college at Baylor. That summer, my family headed to DisneyWorld for a family vacation...it was a great summer! In August, like 2 weeks before going to school (I can't say off to school b/c Baylor was 10 whole miles from my parents.), I met Heath! You won't believe where...well, I say where, we knew each other in high school--or knew who the other was. We were country dancing...you know Texas 2-stepping, good stuff. We ended up talking most of the night. I can't even remember is we danced, but I'm sure we did. We met at Elk Hall. I dare you to go look up Elk, Texas. ha!

And, I swear, it was within a week, that I knew I would spend my life with him.

We were married 4 years later, not out of college yet. Yes, we were young! We've gone through half of our lives together and wouldn't change that fact! We've gone through ups and downs....moved all over the place, etc. But, I can honestly say, I love him more now than ever! I was blessed the day I met you, Heath!?!? (i hope you are reading this since I just spoke to you directly! LOL)

5 reasons I love Heath...
1. He loves me no matter what I do. He has unconditional love.
2. He modeled one of the most important character qualities to our children...perserverance. He has shown them an incredible work ethic and commitment through medical school and residency.
3. He loves to have fun and get silly with me and the kids. We love to laugh together.
4. He wants everyone around him to be happy, and usually makes sure they are, before he worries about himself being happy.
5. He helps me reach my full potential and ready my dreams and goals.

Day 2-Meaning behind your blog name

Yikes!!!
I should start off that I am ever-evolving. So, in order to tell you the meaning behind my blog name, I need to tell you the story of How I got here!?!

First, my design name is Haynay. That name came from teaching 2nd grade. I had this sweet student, William. One Spring day, he was standing in the bus line, and I was walking by. He yells at me "Hey Nay!" I turn around and say "Hey William!" He looked completely astonished, like you could push him over with a feather! "Why are you surprised?" I asked. "I've wanted to say that to you all year! I love that your names rhymes with HEY! But, I thought you'd be mad." was his response. Needless to say, he said it to me every single morning for the remainder of the school year. It stuck for so much longer than that school year--my sister-in-law, Holly, actually calls me Haynay as opposed to Heather most days of the week. I will remember him always for courage. (I did change the spelling for more continuity!)

So, my first blog was haynay...but it turned into my design blog, where I didn't really want to SHARE personal information.

Last year, 2010, I desired to start a new blog for my P365..which obviously didn't make it through the year. That blog then turned into to me just sharing personal stories and events. I've been wanting to revamp "2010 with the Nays" or "The Nays in 2010" to something different b/c it's obviously not 2010 anymore!?!?!

I left the URL the same, but changed the "title" of the blog to "Nay-sayers!" HA!?!? What would you put with Nay...it's so negative and depressing of a word--not a name!?!? I decided to go with Nay-sayers to represent what I am saying to the world.

Jeez, I talk way too much!