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! 

Week in Review

This week I headed back to school after being off for Spring Break. What a change a week can make! I was so used to staying up later and waking up later, that it was a challenge each morning to get out of bed! I made it though and enjoyed sleeping in this morning.

I got to have dinner with two of my best friends, Taryn and Molly, on Wednesday night. It was such a fun dinner and we got to catch up on so much! Baby Hutch even joined us and was a perfect gentleman the whole time! It's so crazy to think how much has happened in the last year with the 3 of us.

I've been using my Silhouette Cameo that Ryan got me for my birthday a TON! I love that thing! My first "project" on it was using the vinyl sticky stuff to decorate a travel coffee mug for my teacher friend, Paula. She's leaving me at the end of this school year to open up a formal dress shop with her sister. It's hard to see in the picture, but the mug says the name of their shop, Belle of the bal'.

Doesn't this look yummy? I found a recipe on Pinterest last week that was for homemade granola bars. I've been looking for something similar to this for a long time! Well, I had just about everything to make them, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Boy am I glad I did! We LOVED it! I doubled the recipe so it would last a while, but I ended up having to make more this morning! Also, my first batch never "hardened" so I just scooped it up and put it in an airtight container. We put it in yogurt in the mornings and even snacked on it at random times, too. It was delish!

Granola Bars
1/4 cup  butter
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups oats
1 cup Rice Krispies Cereal
2-3 Tbsp. mini chocolate chips

In a small saucepan, heat up the butter, honey, and brown sugar until the sugar is dissolved. While it is heating, mix the oats and rice krispies together in a medium mixing bowl. Remove sugar mixture from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over the oats and krispies and mix well.

Using an edged baking sheet, lightly sprayed with Pam, empty the mixture onto the baking sheet spreading out evenly as you go. You probably won't fill up the entire baking sheet. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top and let it sit for at least an hour. So easy and so yummy!

Last, but certainly not least, I received my April Birchbox in the mail this week! Hooray! This is always such a fun little surprise to receive each month! I loved my Birchbox this month! It was loaded with fun stuff! Here's what was in this month's box:

• Marula The Leakey Collection- Omega Rich Pure Marula Oil. - fights premature signs of aging. Full size, $78.
• tarte- Lip Surgence lip tint- "Joy" Full size, $24.
• Wonderstruck Taylor Swift- I wasn't sure I would like this, but oh my! It smells sooo good! I just may invest in the full size bottle. Full size, $49.50-59.50
• Yu-Be- Moisturizing Skin Cream- supposedly this heals cracked hands, chapped lips, and all other forms of dryness. Full size, $16.
• MicrodermaMitt- Body Mitt- exfoliates dead skin cells and pore-clogging debris. Full size, $28.50.

Thanks, Birchbox! I'm gonna have fun testing out these products!

We had a great week and we're definitely looking forward to relaxing this weekend!