Belated Father's Day Post

This past Sunday was Father's Day and we had a great weekend! On Saturday, we headed up to my grandparent's house in Haynesville to celebrate my Papaw's birthday. Our extended family is so big and so spread out that we usually can't get everyone together in one place, except for Thanksgiving and the crawfish boil. A few of the families were able to make it out Saturday, though, and we really enjoyed our time together. We grilled hamburgers and Chip fried zucchini for everyone. It was a really fun night!

On Sunday, Ryan and I went to church with my parents and had lunch at Luigi's in Arcadia afterwards. When we got back to their house, Dad made some homemade peach ice cream to go with a pound cake that Mom made. They were both delicious! We swam all afternoon and enjoyed the beautiful weather!

Ryan and I are so very blessed to have such wonderful men at the head of our families. I know that I speak for both of us when I say that we would be nowhere near where we are now if it hadn't been for such loving, kind fathers who have made our lives so sweet! So, Dad and Mr. Ed, thank you for all of your love, support, and guidance through the years! We love you!

June Birchbox!

On Saturday, Ryan and I went out to my parents' house to swim and cookout. We had a great time! When we got home, I had a Birchbox awaiting me! Hooray! I just love seeing that pink box in my mailbox! I'm pretty pleased with this month's box. It is all centered around traveling, and as you probably know, I'm a huge fan of that! I'll be tossing a few of these goodies into my bag when we go on vacation in a few weeks.

Here's what my box contained: (sorry for the terrible picture!)

• Apothederm- stretch mark cream. I'm putting this in the back of the drawer, because I don't need it yet! :)
• CleanWell- Individual Hand Sanitizing Wipes. The little OCD part of me just squeeled with delight!
• Scalisi Skincare- Anti-Aging Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 30. Because who doesn't need an anti-aging SPF lotion??
• theBalm cosmetics- Stainiac in Beauty Queen. This is a two-in-one lip and cheek stain that actually is cute and not overly bright and obnoxious.
• Band-Aid- Cynthia Rowley Dress Up Band-Aids. These are too cute and contain an entire box of Band-Aids!
• John Varvatos-Star USA. This is a "Birchbox Man" Extra just in time for Father's Day. Smells great!

If you haven't already, you really need to sign up for Birchbox! It is a great surprise every month and prevents me from over-indulging in Ulta or Sephora goodies!

What I've Been Reading...(part 1)

Since we are halfway through with 2012, I thought I'd make a list of the books that I've been reading up to this point. One of my 12 in 2012  was to make a reading list and complete it. It is no surprise that I'm an avid reader, but to actually make the time to read had proven to be a challenge in the past. Not this year, my friends! I've been reading non-stop and loving every second of it! I highly recommend taking some time out of your busy day to open up a good book and get lost in it for a while.

Several of the books I have read so far this year have been from the Amazon Kindle "free" store, so they haven't been spectacular, but have been fun to read. These books are listed in no particular order. And of course, I am always, always up for some good book suggestions!

1. Cocktails for Three- Madeline Wickham (also known as Sophie Kinsella)

2. Three Girls and a Baby- Rachel Schurig

3. Little Earthquakes- Jennifer Weiner

The Hunger Games Trilogy- Suzanne Collins
4.The Hunger Games

5.Catching Fire

6.Mockingjay

7. The Best of Me- Nicholas Sparks

8. A Week at the Beach- Virginia Jewel

9. Barefoot- Elin Hilderbrand

10. The Girls Weekend- Jaci Byrne

11. Always the Last to Know- Crystal Bowling

12. The Rockstar's Daughter- Caitlyn Duffy

13. Fifty Shades of Grey- E.L. James

14. Sleeping Tigers- Holly Robinson

15. The Island- Elin Hilderbrand 

May Madness

I can't believe we're already in JUNE! May flew by so quickly and we were so, so busy! This will be somewhat of a hodgepodge post for the past month.

Sewing Projects:

I made myself this blue and white seersucker skirt. I can't wait to wear it for our beach pictures in about a month!

My sweet friend, Molly, wanted some maternity clothes. Isn't she the cutest little pregnant girl?!

Our friends, Bobby and Tori, just welcomed their first little girl into the world. Bobby is a football coach, so we wanted to make something "manly" that he would use and of course, I had to make her a cute dress. Welcome to the world, sweet Brylee!

Other Crafty Projects:

Bella:

The week that I got out of school, we had some not-so-good news hit us. Our sweet Bella got diagnosed with diabetes. So sad! She's only 7, but is now on a very strict diet and gets an insulin shot every morning. So far, she's lost about a half of a pound and has about 2 more to go! She's feeling MUCH better now that we've gotten her regulated. Poor thing!

New Car!:

My wonderful husband bought me a new ride a few weeks ago! I'm in love!

For Memorial Day, we went out to my parents' house to swim and relax. We enjoyed an awesome shrimp boil, too!

So there was the last part of May in a nutshell. I've really been enjoying my summer and I've been able to get a lot of things done around the house. I'm working on reorganizing our pantry, bathroom closet, and under our sinks. Happy June!

May Birchbox!

Well my May Birchbox arrived today and I am one happy girl! I always love the big surprise of opening the box to see what kind of goodies are inside. This month has some pretty fun things to try out!

I think Birchbox had to make some substitutions in my box, but that is perfectly fine with me, because the substitutions look pretty good.

Here's what my box contained:

• Kerastase- Cristalliste Lumiere Liquide (supposedly helps split ends)
• stila- sparkle waterproof liquid eye liner (in "flash"-a gorgeous mossy green color)
• Notecards and an envelope for a good 'ol handwritten note (which I love!)
• Kiehl's- Abyssine Cream+ (anti-wrinkle defense cream)
• BVLGARI- Omnia Crystaline (perfume that smells lovely)
• Caudalie Paris- Hand and Nail Cream (perfect purse size!)

May's lookin' good so far! Happy Wednesday! Only three days of school left!

Happy Mother's Day!

We both have wonderful mothers that mean the world to us, so here's to you...Moms! Thanks for all of your love, support, guidance, and prayers! We love you both very much and couldn't be more blessed to have you as our moms.

Happy Mother's Day! 

A New Recipe!

There's nothing better than coming home to a homemade meal already fixed and waiting on you to enjoy. The crockpot. It's truly a God-send during the school year. I never really grew up eating too many crockpot meals because I was blessed enough to have a mom that stayed home. We had home cooked meals every night and we ate really well. I guess I just never really knew how handy a crockpot could be, until lately.

I love being able to cook for Ryan and myself, but there are some days that I just need a little break from the kitchen. These are the days that I whip out the crockpot and try out a new recipe. Thanks to Pinterest, I've been able to find some really tasty crockpot recipes to experiment with. And I have not been disappointed yet!

Last week I made Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken that I found here. It's seriously yummy! It had a good bit of flavor, so I opted to serve it over steamed rice and made some skillet Asian green beans.

Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken:

recipe form: Baby Center

serves approximately 4 people

• 2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thighs would be fine too)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons diced onion
• 4 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 6 Tablespoons water
• Sesame seeds

Season both sides of chicken with lightly with salt and pepper, put into crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours, or just until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from crock pot, leave sauce. Dissolve 4 teaspoons of cornstarch in 6 tablespoons of water and pour into crock pot. Stir to combine with sauce. Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened. Cut chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce before serving. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice or noodles.

Asian Green Beans:
1 bag fresh whole green beans
Pam spray
About 1 1/2- 2 tsp. lite soy sauce
2 tsp. minced garlic
small handful of brown sugar
1/4 of a purple onion sliced
almonds

Spray skillet with Pam to coat bottom and edges. Add in green beans, soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar and onion. Mix all ingredients well and simmer on low for 10-15 minutes, tossing around occasionally. The green beans should soften a bit, but still need to have some "crunch" to them. About 5 minutes before serving, sprinkle almonds on top and mix well.

Enjoy!

Spur-of-the-Moment Trip

This past Thursday, Ryan and I decided on a whim to drive down to Mobile for the weekend to hang out with our friends, Bernard and Jenny. We always have so much fun with them and this weekend was no exception! We drove down after I got finished with school on Friday and stopped along the way to have dinner with one of Ryan's coaching buddies, Kenny. We had a great time!

We ended up getting to Mobile a little later than we planned, but oh well! On Saturday morning, we were treated to crab omlets made by Bernard's precious mom, Mrs. Anna. She is such a great cook/host! We love going down to their house on the bay and getting our bellies full! After our brunch, we loaded up Bernard's boat and drove 45 minutes into Orange Beach. We got the boat launched and we may our way over to the Flora-Bama where they were having the annual Mullet Toss. Two years ago, Ryan, Bernard, Ryan's dad, and Jenny's dad all competed in the Mullet Man Triathlon there. We haven't been back since, so it was fun to make our way back to "the Bama."

Having the boat was a MAJOR bonus! There were thousands of people on the beach  and we got to hang out on our own and people watch. And let me be the first to say that there were some very interesting creatures lurking the beaches this weekend! Wow!

 When we did finally manage to make it in to the Flora Bama, I ran into some of my brother's good friends. Chip was supposed to be on the bachelor trip with them, but ended up having to stay and work on their house. Bummer. Anthony seemed to be having a great time on his bachelor trip, though! It was great to see them!

When we had enough of fighting the crowds, we headed back to the boat and rode over to Tacky Jacks for some dinner. We had a great dinner and headed back to Mobile after a long day in the sun.

 Sunday morning, Jenny made everyone some very yummy pancakes that we all devoured. They were awesome! Ryan and I loaded up and headed towards home, but not before making a pit stop in Long Beach, MS to eat lunch. I can't remember the exact name of the place, but it was in the harbor and was "Steve's something..." Our lunch was divine! We got the hot crab dip for an appetizer (which was even complete with a few shells.) So fresh! So yummy!

 Ryan got the soft shell crab poboy and it was huge!

 I ordered the blackened shrimp that came served over a pineapple rum sauce. I've never eaten blackened shrimp that good before!

We finished our Long Beach pit stop with a snow ball and headed out on our merry little way. We had a wonderful time and it was a much needed getaway for the both of us! We look forward to going back soon!
Thanks Jenny and Bernard for your hospitality!

A Week Behind...

Last weekend was super busy around our house! Ryan got a ton of housework/yardwork finished and I had two showers to attend. The first shower was on Saturday morning and was a wedding shower for my cousin, Carli. It was out on Lake Claiborne, which made for a beautiful setting! For her gift, I used my Silhouette (duh!) and made her a glass-etched bowl with her new initial on it. The picture is from my phone (surprise, surprise) and isn't very good but gives you an idea.

Sunday, we hosted a baby shower at Mom and Dad's house for my cousin's wife, Stephanie. I made the cake and cookies for the shower and was pretty pleased at how they came out. For her gift, I used my Silhouette again (I know, shocker!) and made an appliqued onesie. I also made her a blanket that I forgot to take a picture of.

On a side note, Jen sent me these pictures of Lindy wearing her new outfit last week! She looks so cute in it!

 

A Case of the Mondays

I've seriously been in a rut today. It was so very hard to get out of bed this morning and get ready for work. We had a big storm last night that made it pretty tough to get to sleep because of all of the lightning. It was crazy! So a lack of sleep played a big part in my Monday blues.

On top of that, this week we're continuing with our Stanford testing at school. Bummer. We test from 8-10, then have an abbreviated schedule for the rest of the day. It's really hard to get in a lesson with each of my classes because of the shortened time schedule, but we're making it!

What else? Oh, I finished Lindy's new outfit that I experimented on my Silhouette with. It's pretty much adorable.

 Little cupcake applique

 The back of the capris/long shorts

The whole outfit put together

I can't wait to see her in it!

Happy Monday, y'all!