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The Ringl’s are Pregnant !!!

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and now for a true personality shot:
(a big guess about who has the bigger personality)

I know, it’s pretty awesome & exciting news  :)
So our family count is going from 2 to 3 (currently we are at 2 & 1/4 !)

Something like this:

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I believe everyone of those statements. I also think it’s important to remind ourselves of the small things in life that make us different. When walking down the street I feel a splurge of confidence if I see a woman smiling while she walks or talks. Someone else’s smile has a way of lifting others spirits, and I want to be able to do that.  It’s so easy to live in our bubbles today. We can talk on our phones, text, or the endless games and features when you add in an iPod or Laptop in every scene and scenario of our environment. When I first started college people would sit and talk before class. I met a lot of new people that way. By the end of my college career things had changed. People have 20+ ways to keep themselves distracted and busy. It feels like people are turning to a new way of life where no need of direct communication is necessary. With texting, emailing, facebook, and the endless internet, I wonder how kids are developing the social skills that we made when I was young. When I was a kid we had 1 phone line in the house, and we had a curfew/time limit just to use and share it. In 2008 it was reported that 71% of kids had their own cell phone. That is a HUGE number. Are cell phones a good thing, yes, of course. Is it necessary for over 50% of 7-12 year olds to have their own phone?  Wow, that I’m not sure about. A “household/kids phone”, sure, I can understand that for communication reasons if a parent needs to reach their child.

I don’t know. I guess as strange as it sounds, I miss the days when people would chat in the hallway and on the bus. When people weren’t too “busy” texting and always having headphones in listening to music. It’s crazy how much the world has changed in the past decade. I can’t even imagine how much it’s still going to change in the coming years.

This topic has sparked a lot of conversations between Stephen and myself lately. I’m all for the advancement of technology, I’m just trying to find the balance in living life and “reading life” through a computer. We were discussing how weird it is that we can be so out of touch with people, yet know everything they’ve been up to without speaking to them in years. I think this is one of the reasons I have decided to delete some of my distractions, for example my facebook account. Not only has the company continually crossed the line with dissolving all privacy boundaries, but I’m tired of finding out that someone got married, had a child or lost a parent, without ever speaking to them. I have a cell phone, and I have not been the best at using it (I’m more of a one-on-one meet up and talk person), but i feel it’s time I pushed my own comfort zone and got out from behind the glowing screen of a computer.

So, if you need to reach me in the future drop me a comment here, or shoot me a phone call. I feel it’s long overdue that I get back to the basics of communication for a while. I have gotten way too comfortable keeping my distance from people. I love writing letters and receiving them. Emails are okay, but not as wonderful & personal. Most of all, I love talking over a cup of tea, or a yummy meal.

It’s time to share our smiles with the open world, friends. I hope some of you will join me. Let’s brighten this world up.

Well I am back, and I have an update for you to read and enjoy.

This past weekend we had a friend come and visit us. Her name is Kim, Stephen and I met her at UWF. We have some great memories from our “college years”, and it’s always a blast when we get together. Yes, I just referred to my college years in the past tense, since, well, that was a few years ago now… ya, time flies.

We arranged for Kim to come by Saturday morning just around time for brunch. I may have had ulterior motives in setting up the time frame because some of our most delicious memories are hanging out with Kim and her making her amazing from-scratch pancakes. She uses all fresh ingredients, even the eggs come straight from her parents chickens!  I had never had real syrup until having pancakes with Kim, and Stephen and I have been hooked ever since. It’s amazing and delicious when your syrup has only 1 ingredient: Maple Syrup.

Here’s Kim making up a batch on our griddle.

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here’s a better look at the goods:

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imagine those stacked & covered in butter and syrup… sooo good!

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Before she left we grabbed a group shot. What did we do before camera’s with timers?!?!

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There ya have it. There’s a brief peek into our weekend. We also celebrated my little brother’s 25th Birthday with some delicious BBQ wings and cookie cake. I don’t know about you, but we had a delicious stomach-filling weekend here on the coast.

We went on a road trip to Houston a few weekends ago, so I thought I’d share some of our fun times with you

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Got to visit our friends Kelly & Brian

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Lunch @ Swampy’s
(had some delicious Cajun food)

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Had a girls night with Sarah

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we were in Texas, so the guys wore some boots

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I think this is my favorite pic from the whole weekend

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Our group shots before we left

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a true personality shot

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After Houston we drove to New Orleans to see our friends Matt & Elise. It was great getting to see everybody that’s moved away over the past 2 years. Gotta love a good road trip

–ringl

I pretend not to notice and go back to looking at funny pictures of cats.

But the time has finally come for me to concede and contribute to what is our website.

The trouble is deciding what to write about. In keeping with the overall spirit of the site I decided that I would make something with a “how-to” and “do it on the cheap” flair to it. So I’ll be covering what I know best: computers.

So consider this a teaser. Monday through Friday next week is computer week. Tips, tricks, ways to save money, programs to use, and anything and everything that I consider helpful that I can fit into the space of a week.

I’ve got a couple topics planned, but I also want to get your input on what you’re curious about. So leave a comment below with a question or two and I’ll do my best to address everything I can.

–ringl

The website posts daily before-after pictures that are emailed in from a collection of different people. It’s rather inspiring for people like myself that don’t want to pay high-dollar for good looking items, but instead find something that could look good and give it a lovely makeover.

This was today’s inspiring post that any and everyone that lives in the south could probably appreciate.

Take that not-so-lovely fan you have sitting in several rooms:

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and give it a Pottery Barn makeover with a simple can of spray paint and not spending a crazy high $$ price tag $$ .

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It looks decorative AND has the bonus of  actually being useful!!

I am constantly amazed at the things people transform with a simple can of paint.

I think it’s time I purchased some and got to spraying!!

]]> http://theringls.com/?feed=rss2&p=4415 4 http://theringls.com/?p=4402 http://theringls.com/?p=4402#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 03:34:40 +0000 cassie http://theringls.com/?p=4402 How was everyone’s weekend? Wonderful I hope

We were able to tackle a project we have had on our list since we moved in. We finally got to work on our backyard!

Since Spring it has turned into a bit of a jungle out back, and the last thing we want are our neighbors thinking we’re “those people on the street” that don’t know how to use a mower or hedge clippers.  So we went ahead and took care of that.

Here are some photo’s to give you a better idea:

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Our lovely yard (and this was the beginning of June)

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Most recently:

We have a little “jungle” issue on our premises

Now, for the weekend-work-filled after photo’s…

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We have ground!

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and even more ground!!

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Also, I think I found OJ’s glove with a broken golf club:

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hopefully they don’t need that glove for evidence because it got thrown into the burn pile we’ve started:

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just don’t look behind the burn pile… we’ve only tackled the front 1/3 of the backyard
(what?! we have a really big yard!)

So what did everyone else do this weekend?   Only 4 more days until the weekend

]]> http://theringls.com/?feed=rss2&p=4402 4 http://theringls.com/?p=4396 http://theringls.com/?p=4396#comments Sat, 10 Jul 2010 06:14:38 +0000 cassie http://theringls.com/?p=4396 I don’t know if it’s possible, but I think I get more excited each Friday when it’s time to start the weekend. Even more so when it’s a payday weekend!

We started this weekend off right by trying out a brand new recipe!! It was a beautiful combination of mexican and barbecue. That’s right, delicious cheeses topped with caramelized onions, barbecue sauce, chicken, and MORE cheese. Pure tasteful bliss.

I got the recipe from a site I read called How Sweet It Is. There are a lot of delicious recipes, so if you’re looking for something tasty click over and check out her site.

Here is a picture of what we delighted ourselves with tonight:

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This picture is from the site I mentioned, I was so busy cooking and then stuffing my face that I forgot to take a picture.

Not only was this a new recipe, but I also learned how to caramelize onions for the first time. Turns out it’s really easy (and WAY delicious!)  I wasn’t sure about the combination of cheddar cheese, monterey jack cheese, AND bbq sauce, but turns out it’s a brilliant combination.  That, and cooking the quesadillas on the stovetop so the shell is nice and crispy.

This was my first experience making quesadillas at home, so I am still high on new recipe satisfaction

I think we had ourselves a great start to the weekend!

The website is called Wordle and it’s not only fun, but really easy to use. The basic concept is that you are making personalized art for your home. However, instead of using images and pictures it uses words, phrases, names, letters, etc.

Check out what I made while playing with the site today.

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I was making something with the theme of “Trips”

You simply fill out a list of however many words you want, and then the site compiles them into a collage for you. You can choose the font, color, and layout of the words.

I am not naturally artistic, nor am I able to paint, draw or take awesome photographs. The idea that I was able to sit at home and make something artistic while sitting on the couch was pretty great.

I am very impressed with how easy the site was is to use. Personally, I plan on using this site to personalize our walls here at home.

If you have some time check it out. It’s really easy and fun. There’s a gallery of examples to give you idea’s of what you can do. Or, if you go at it like me, just type in some words that interest you and see what you can make!  Have fun.