High Five for Friday!

I'm linking up with this blog for her High Five for Friday link party! I love this idea of reflecting on your week and picking out the top five highlights. Makes me think of that quote "Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day." Love it! Anyway, here's my top 5:

1. Crawfish Boil 2012- It was probably the best one yet. I can't even remember how long we've been celebrating our family's March birthdays with a crawfish boil, but it's been a long time. This year did not disappoint. To sum it up in a few words:  crawfish. band. Abita Strawberry. family. friends. stage 5 clingers. (yes, you read that part right) gorgeous weather.

 Clawson grands and great-grands(We missed you, Ben!)

 Uncle Tim and I celebrating our March birthdays.

Great weather for a crawfish boil! 

2. Ryan and I celebrated our first anniversary on Monday! Woo Hoo! Can't believe it's already been a year! We've had a lot of fun this year and I know that each year will get better and better. We cooked dinner and ate our wedding cake topper. Surprisingly, it was good! :)

3. I celebrated 27! Am I really 27? Surely not...

4. Ryan surprised me with a Silhouette Cameo for my birthday! Eeeeeeeek!! I am sooo excited and can't wait to get started crafting with it!

5. I'm officially out for Spring Break! This school year has flown by! I'm not so ready to let my sweet sixth graders move up into the dreaded junior high years, where they will no doubt become "too cool" to say hi to me. So sad!

It's been a great week and should be a pretty fantastic weekend too! Happy Friday! 

March Birchbox

It's here! My March Birchbox was delivered this week and it just might be my favorite one so far! It totally makes up for the one in February.

There were lots of goodies in this month's box and I can't wait to try them all out! Here's what was inside:

• Color Club Nail Lacquer in Age of Aquarius.
• Harvey Prince Yogini perfume
• Juice Beauty Blemish Clearing Cleanser
• Lulu Organics Lavender + Clary Sage Hair Powder
• stila Smoky Eye Card
• Tea Forte' skin-smart Teas

Sign up for Birchbox here if you already haven't. You won't be sorry! :)

When it rains, try the falafel.

This week has been so much more laid back than the last several. What a welcomed relief! Both of our Lent diets have been going really well and we're learning to supplement healthier options every day.

Thursday night, we were planning on going out on a date, but some bad weather halted our plans. Instead, Ryan brought home some Greek food from our favorite little Greek restaurant in Bossier. He gets to eat there a lot during the week with my brother, but I can't even remember the last time I ate there. I was so excited because after watching "Man vs. Food," I have been really craving a falafel. I've never had one, but they sounded delicious!

So that's what I had. A falafel sandwich and hummus. It was so yummy! I can't really describe the flavors, but it definitely tasted similar to something I've had before. Not sure what, but something. Ryan had some lamb and a huge Greek salad. It was good, too. I wasn't a huge fan, but it wasn't bad.



  Friday night, after work, I decided to make some taco salads using things that I had on hand. They actually turned out really good and really simple to make! I'm posting the recipe under the picture. You can certainly add different ingredients or change anything up according to your preference, but this is just what I had on hand.

Easy Taco Salad
1 lb. ground beef
Salt and Pepper
Cumin
Garlic Powder/Minced Garlic
1/4 of a large white or yellow onion
1/2 yellow bell pepper
1/2 red bell pepper
1 can black beans
grated cheese
lettuce (shredded)
Hidden Valley Southwest Chipotle dressing (or dressing of your choice)
1 corn tortilla (cut into strips, sprayed with Pam, and toasted)

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef using seasonings of your choice. I used garlic powder, salt, pepper, and cumin. After it has browned, remove from heat and drain. Set beef aside. In the same skillet, add in bell peppers and onions. Sprinkle with cumin and add a dash of minced garlic. Let the peppers and onions caramalize. Add in the beef again and mix well. While your meat and peppers simmer, heat the black beans in a small pan. Put everything in a bowl on top of the lettuce and sprinkle cheese, tortilla strips, and a small amount of dressing. Enjoy!

We are enjoying a super lazy Saturday today! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Things You're Probably Better Off Not Knowing...

Since it has been several days since my last blog, I'm giving you several posts in one! You're welcome.

1. Lent is here and is in full swing at the Porter house! Do you know how incredibly difficult not eating sweets is? Let me just explain...
I have the absolute best students/former students and Ryan and I always try to support whatever they are doing outside of school. This includes softball/baseball games, basketball games, buying raffle tickets, supporting fundraisers, etc. And a few months back, Ryan was stopped by one of my former first graders and was asked to buy Girl Scout cookies. Since he didn't have the heart to say no, he told her to go visit me the next day at school and I would surely buy some. Well guess who was at my classroom door at 8:00 the next morning? The sweet, precious Girl Scout with her order form in hand. So I caved in and bought some. So fast forward about a month...it's the second week of Lent and I get a visit from that precious Girl Scout's mom WITH GIRL SCOUT COOKIES. Geez. Rule #1 of Lent: think things through before giving up something so yummy.

2. My craft table is finished! My craft table is finished! Hooray! I spent President's Day out at Mom and Dad's painting the final coat on the table and it took a few weeks to get Ryan to slow down enough to help me get it loaded and delivered to our house. My craft room is a bit small, so it's pretty huge in there, but I'm certainly not complaining! I love it! My dad is the sweetest daddy in the whole world and I am so thankful that he is so talented and can make me cool things like this!

3. Mom and I traveled up to Little Rock two weeks ago to see my precious cousin, Wyatt, swim in the Arkansas State Swim Meet. He raced in the 500 freestyle and did a fantastic job! He's only a freshman, so what an awesome accomplishment! So proud of you, Wyatt! We had so much fun spending time with Landy, Cathy, and Wyatt! Lots of laughs! I can't wait for the Bahamas this summer!

4. I had the chance to give a new sewing pattern a shot. I ordered some super cute fabric online and ended up making this adorble tunic shirt for Lindy. The picture really doesn't do it justice. I'll have to try to get a shot of her wearing it one day. It's kinda long and is sleeveless, which makes it a perfect little outfit for summer!

5. The weather here has been GORGEOUS the last several weeks which made me start my summer countdown sooner. A girl can dream, right? I've been trying to get outside a lot more and enjoy the beautiful weather with sweet Bella. Come on, Spring Break!

Happy Wednesday, y'all!  

Fat Tuesday and Lent

Today is Fat Tuesday, which mean C-R-A-Z-Y kids at school! We have a Mardi Gras program and parade each year that is put on by the 2nd graders. It's always lots of fun for everyone. I took a homemade king cake for my 4th grade homeroom class to enjoy this afternoon. I think it only wired them more...

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and even though we aren't Catholic, but Ryan and I usually try to "give up" something for Lent each year. Since getting married, we've both put on a few extra pounds that we'd like to get rid of. In an attempt to drop a few pounds and to also give up something that we tend to have a weakness to, we've decided to give up "big" carbs like breads, pastas, etc. (Ryan) and sweets (Emily). We'll see how this goes! Hopefully it will deter our cravings and also help us lose some weight!

I'm going to try to post here and there about some of the things we are eating throughout this journey. Maybe it will trigger some ideas for me, and possibly give you some meal ideas, too. If you would like a recipe for one of these meals, leave me a comment with your email address and I'll get one sent to you. Also, feel free to suggest meals for us!

This is what we ate last night. It was tuna salad with almond slices. So yummy, but not very filling! Next time, I'll have to have some fruit with it.

Tonight, we're grillling Jerk Shrimp with zuccini and squash. This is my go-to springtime dish! I also threw some chicken breasts on the grill to use in my lunches this week. :)

So that's it! Happy Lent!

Morning View

I was just emailing out my daily devotion to some of my friends and family when I realized what a great view I have this morning. I had to snap a picture, because I think we all need to stop and enjoy the little things sometimes. :) So here's my view this morning....complete with a yummy cup of coffee! Happy Monday!

President's Day Ramblings...

I'm out of school today for President's Day, so I'm playing catch-up with the blog.

Bella and I are going to head out to Athens today to work on a little project that my sweet, sweet daddy has been helping me with for 2 weeks now. I called him a while back to see if he'd be interested in building me a craft table for my craft room. It is just too hard to do some of the crafts that I'd like to do laying or sitting on the floor. He agreed and asked that I find him a few pictures to go by. Well, thanks to Ana White's tutorial (found here) I was able to show dad exactly what I wanted, complete with measurements and a step-by-step tutorial! We made a few changes to the original design...we shortened the width by about 10 inches, we added backing to the shelves, and we added two wooden dowels to hang ribbon on. Much to my surprise, dad went home, inventoried his supplies, and headed to Lowe's to get what he needed. He finished the construction in ONE DAY! Is my dad the best or what?!? He got it sanded and primed and now it is ready for me to paint it. Here's a "before" paint shot that my mom texted to me the other day. I'll add a "finished with paint" picture later.

In other Porter news...
we celebrated our very first married Valentine's Day! We're not much on making a big deal out of Valentine's Day, but we do like to cook a good meal! This year was no different! I made some "heart" cinnamon rolls for breakfast and they were delish!

That night, we grilled lobster tails and made some skillet green beans with mashed potatoes. Oh my goodness! They were devine!!

Excuse the sideways picture...it wouldn't let me change it.

I love my sweet Valentine and am so glad that we have the opportunity to celebrate Valentine's Day everyday!