Southwest Chicken Soup, Chocolate Mousse, and a fullll tummy =)

Today was just a lazy day. I LOVE lazy days. I laid around, read books, and read blogs the whole afternoon. My brother came over for a nice visit and we had some good laughs. I finally got off the couch at 3 o'clock! Wow- I can't believe I just admitted that. I went to the gym for a little jog (can't do the 100 degree thing) and went to the grocery store to prepare for the dinner I have been looking forward to cooking. After going to THREE different grocery stores I finally found Salsa Verde at Food World. Who knew that would be so hard to find? After such anticipation... dinner was DELICIOUS.

Recipe for Southwest Chicken Soup:

1 large 49 oz. box of Chicken Broth

1 Rotisserie Chicken

1/2 can Pinto Beans

1/2 can Black Beans

1/2 can Corn

1/2 to 1 jar of Salsa Verde

Mix all ingredients together in a large pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Top with Cheese, Sour Cream, and Tortilla Strips and you get...

YUM! (a little too much sour cream hehe)

I was still feeling adventurous in the kitchen so I decided to have my first experience with the Sunbeam making some Five-Minute Mousse. SO easy.

First step: Whip 1.5 cups of Heavy Whipping Cream for about five minutes

Second step: Mix a small box (4 and a half servings) of Instant Chocolate Pudding (or White Chocolate) with 1.5 cups of milk.

Third step: Fold the whipping cream into the Instant Pudding and refrigerate for a few minutes.

Fourth step: Eat with your favorite treat! We tried Strawberries and Oreos =)

YUM again

I am SO glad that I am proving my mom and dad wrong with my domestic skills =)

This weekend me, Pat, Alex, and hopefully Andrew are going to Mimi's for some relaxation on the farm. Hopefully it will be beautiful and we can hang out on the river, do fireworks, and eat some delicious Mimi food. I need to eat some Mimi food so I can keep my cooking skills from getting to my head. Haha. Be looking for pictures from Mimis and my "101 Things To Do In 1001 Days" list. Excited! You should be too =)

Best Dinner EVER

SO, we have officially found our favorite dinner ever. I got the recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Fly Through Our Window. It is called "Chicken Delight". Here is it guys... you should DEFINITELY try it.

The first step is to get a square of foil and place a piece of raw chicken in the middle.

Season the chicken with Jane's Crazy Mixed Up Salt.

Cut up raw squash and zucchini and place it on top of the chicken.

Pour marinara sauce on top (I recommend Classico Tomato & Basil)

COVER with shredded cheese (I recommend a Six Cheese Italian Blend)

This is what it should look like before...

Make a pocket out of the foil and be careful not to make it too tight (don't wanna lose that cheese!!) Like so:

Cook at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes and you will get this...

YUM

Side with the rest of your squash and zucchini sauteed in some olive oil with onion...

And you will have one happy husband =)

And some cleeean plates =)

Happy Cooking!!!

Weekend, teaching, and more =)

I usually get on this blog with a purpose... I have something I want to blog about, I have great pictures I want to share, etc. But today I just feel like writing and I do not even know what I am going to write about. I'm going to surprise myself =)

I'll start out by sharing about our weekend. I am amazed when we crawl into bed on Sunday nights that the weekend is already over. It is something I treasure so much and I dread the days of having to wait to see my hubby until 6 o'clock =(

Friday night we had a great time with family. Pat's little brother, David, turned 21! The Ryans cooked dinner for us all and when the boys went to play indoor soccer- me, my mother in law, and my sister in law (that is still SO weird to say!) sat outside on the back porch and talked for hours. I love being with two ladies that will be a part of my life forever and just talking. We talked about life, health, babies (not yet guys sorry =) and more. When the boys returned hot and sweaty and looking like they just played in the World Cup, we headed back to our house for a little sleepover party! It has been awhile since I have hosted or attended a sleepover, so it was a blast! Matt (Pat's older brother), Lindsay (Matt's wife), David (Pat's little brother), and Andrew (my older brother) all spent the night. After some serious Wii competition, we hit the sack ready for a morning of adventure at Trade Day.

Now if you guys have never heard of Trade Day, you are out of luck because there is NO possible way I can describe it accurately. It is in Collinsville, Alabama and is a giant outdoor flee market. It is a place where you can get pigs, chickens, goats, baby toys, knives, food, old tools, PURE junk, all within a few hundred yards of each other. I LITERALLY walked around with my jaw on the ground for the first hour we were there. The people were unbelievable! I had my camera but it was too hard to watch and take pictures at the same time. I have never seen so many mullets, awesome outfits, sweat, and junk in one place. It was QUITE entertaining. 

When we returned we were exhausted and took it easy for the rest of the day. Sunday we overslept and missed church =( We watched movies, did school work, and just hung out together. I love those days. 

Today, I am preparing to go to my last day of June class. I am amazed as I sit here and think about how fast this month has gone by. It sometimes blows my mind to think that after one more class in July and a semester of student teaching, I will FINALLY be ready to start my career and my dream. I wish I could put into words how excited I am to teach children. It is so obviously my passion and calling in life it isn't even funny! I literally stay up at night sometimes thinking and dreaming about my future classroom. Ask my husband! I have talked his head off until 2 a.m talking about discipline plans, procedure ideas, classroom themes, etc. It is kinda silly actually, but I am THAT excited. I am excited to walk into my classroom every morning and see children that are ready to learn. I am excited to see them progressing. I am excited to find ways to help students learn that are having trouble. I am excited to provide procedures and consistency for children who may not have that at home. I am excited to be a role model to children who may not have one at home. Mostly, I am excited that I am going to be able to have an impact on the lives of our future generation at the same time that they have a HUGE impact on me. 

Yayyy for graduating in December and yayyy for teaching!

Tears for tragedy

Yesterday, I cried.

I cried because the beautiful beaches that I spent a LOT of time on for the first 19 years of my life are being trashed with oil right now. I cried because God's beautiful creation is being covered with sludge. I cried because animals are dying on the shores of Pensacola Beach because they can't breathe due to the oil. I cried because something that was once so beautiful and provided me with a sense of peace and tranquility is now so ugly and provides me with a sense of anxiety and sadness.

THEN, I cried because I realized this is SO MUCH LIKE OUR LIVES! This may be hard to follow but I promise it makes perfect sense in my head.

When we were born we were pure and innocent children of God.

Sin began to infiltrate our life. Sometimes we clean it up and sometimes we let it build up until it covers us with a thick layer of sludge.

Some people are so covered in sin that they DIE because they literally cannot breathe anymore.

A body that used to be pure and beautiful becomes ugly and filled with sadness.

The cleanup crew comes (God, church, someone who reminds you who you really are. etc.) ... Are you going to complain and say you can do it all yourself? Or are you going to let them clean up?

You can be THIS:

Or you can be THIS:

It's your choice!!

GOD BLESS PENSACOLA!

Our favorite pastime...

One of our absolute favorite things to do is play music together. We actually discovered this the VERY first time we met and it has been a constant in our relationship ever since. I decided to be brave and put a couple of our videos up from our music sesh last night:

This is "Little House" by Amanda Seyfried. You may have heard it in Dear John =)

(awesome face, I know =)

"I Never Told You" by Colbie Caillat. I love everything she does! Great artist

Never done this before so I hope it works! Hope you guys enjoy.

I DID IT!

I can't believe I actually went through with it but...

MY HAIR IS NOW DARK BROWN! (I think it's my natural color?) haha

It is going to take some getting used to but I'm not going to lie... I felt pretty fierce today =)

Daddy's Day

Words cannot even express how much I love this man. I am going to give it a shot though...

He is my biggest role model in life for many reasons...

- He is the spiritual leader of our family with faith like no other

- He puts the Lord first, then our family. NO MATTER WHAT.

- He loves my mom with all his heart

- He is incredibly smart is sooo many ways- business, law, people, etc.

- He is the easiest person to talk to in all circumstances, even hard ones

- He gives me incredible and useful advice for life

- He knows everything! (atleast I feel like he does!)

- He gave up a life of money and success to help children in need

- He followed God's call and came to the ranch to be a father to boys that don't have one

- He set the bar high when I began dating. I had some HIGH expectations because of him and now I have married someone that has a lot of his great qualities

- He loves me unconditionally and I will always be his little girl

Thanks Daddy-O for being the BEST in the world.

I LOVE YOU!!

Vintage bliss

I cannot BELIEVE the vintage Flora Kung dress that I found at the Gadsden thrift store today for 1 dollar!! Oh my gosh... it makes me melt.

1 dollar folks! Wow!

Found some other awesome things as well including pink Ralph Lauren shorts, a precious plaid top, and a comfy little red dress I can wear with my previous thrift purchase, the Sumo belt =)

2 bucks for these shorts

Don't remember the price.. 2 bucks I think

1 dollar

I'm still in shock over the Flora Kung dress. I already removed the shoulder pads and everything =)

I also discovered this little vintage online shop called Nelda's Vintage Clothing today. I wish I could have found some of these today at the thrift store.

Here are some of my favorites on her site:

Eyelet dress- 1950's

Striped shirtdress- 1960's

Nylon minidress- 1960's

Mad men dress- 1960's

Vintage sundress- 1970's

Laurence Kazar cocktail dress- 1980

I could keep going for hours but we are about to give Avatar a shot. Until tomorrow!

Haaaiiirrr

I have been saying for the past two years that I want to color my hair dark. Every time I go to get my hair done I end up doing the exact same thing. Blonde Highlights. I have had blonde highlights since like... 8th grade. SO. Due to the expenses of continuing to get my hair highlighted every 8 weeks now that I am married, I have decided that when I go on Monday I will leave with dark hair. No matter what. I'm DOING IT THIS TIME!

So... here is what you lovelies have to look forward to on Monday:

What do you guys think?? Im scared :(

Seeing someone you know on TV never gets old...

Last night I had the pleasure of watching a girl I went to church with my whole life, cheered with in high school, etc. make her TV debut on MTV's "The City". Smith was a University of Alabama student who started her own fashion line, By Smith. Her line is sold in boutiques all over the United States and she was invited to show it at the "Gen Art's 6th Annual Fresh Faces in Fashion" show in Miami. Whitney Port, the star of The City, was also showing her line at the show and there were several shots of Smith and her line on The City episode last night. Sooo cool! I had major chills. I am so happy for Smith and proud of her for all she has accomplished. Here are some pictures of Smith and her designs:

Smith is on the left, walking down the runway at the end of her show with one of her models

Love this dress... everything is made from Thai silk. Beautiful.

Some of the pieces she showed at the Gen Art Fresh Faces show in Miami

Check out her designs at www.bysmithcollection.com

Gettin' down on the farm

We had SO much fun with our bestest friends in Luverne, Alabama. We went with the intentions of staying for one night and did not return for three days! We are seriously SO blessed with the most amazing group of friends possible.

We four-wheeled, built bonfires, played board games, made up our own games, watched some World Cup, went on an adventure to the river, discovered an old, abandoned trailer park, stayed up and watched the sunrise, and laughed our BUTTS off.

We had a little issue with our Daniel Fast. I am ashamed to admit that we had to take a break. We originally planned to stay only Friday night so we only took a very small amount of food. We took two veggie burger patties, some peanuts, raisins, blueberries, and hummus. We ate that the first night when everyone else tortured us by eating Waffle House! The next day we had decided to stay and realized we were out of food. We just HAD to cave and eat some real food. Being outdoors all day in 100 degree heat with no sleep does not go over well with no protein!

I surprisingly felt like crap after eating real food and very happily started back on the fast this morning. We are planning to add two days to the end of the fast.

Here is a little picture tour of our weekend in Luverne:

This was our meeting place. The Big Cat. lol

Gorgeous sky on the way into camp

This is what they ate on the first night...

And this is what we ate... =(

Three a.m four-wheeler ride to the haunted trailer park

This is how I had to drive the four-wheeler because it was burning my legs so bad

My favorite boys!

Me and my best friend in the world! (check out my outfit haha)

Gorgeous sunset behind the house on night 2...

Me and my awesome cousin, Griffin =)

Our huge fire we built outside. It was a lot bigger than it looks!

Overall, the weekend was a huge success. Nothing is better than good times with good friends.

Fast Update

Just thought I would give a quick update about the Daniel Fast since it has been awhile. We are on Day 9 and are doing great! Hard to believe we are almost half way done.

This weekend is going to be difficult because we are going to a friend's hunting camp for the weekend with 7 friends! It is going to be hard not to eat the delicious burgers and hot dogs they are planning on grilling =(

We are taking our own veggie burgers (which are surprisingly really good!) and praying that the Lord will grant up some serious self control.

The devotions are AMAZING. It is definitely the thing I look forward to the most about the fast everyday. Susan Gregory has some serious writing skills. Her topics are so interesting and really make you think! Last night it was about being politically correct. Not politically correct like we are used to talking about- but being politically correct for the Kingdom of God. Lots of neat metaphors.

The workouts have been killer as well. Last night I attended a kickboxing class at the gym and am so sore today! CJ at Gold's is an AMAZING instructor and I can only imagine what she would be like as a personal trainer. Yikes.

Anyway... heading to Aaron's hunting camp in Luverne, Alabama this afternoon for a weekend of fun with my greatest friends ever =) Me, Pat, Miley, Chris, Aaron, Hannah, and Griffin. Yay!

Will have pics when I get back on Sunday! xo

Blessed beyond words

Sometimes it just hits me how amazingly blessed I am. Today, it hit me. I have a husband, a family, and friends that are by far the most amazing people I have ever met. How is that I get so lucky to have ALL of them when some people have no one? I wish everyone in the world got to experience the love and kindness I receive from these people everyday. Sometimes it brings me to tears that they don't.

Here are some pictures of some people that I have been blessed to have in my life:

These awesome people

My awesome new grandparents

My other awesome new grandma and uncle!

My two new brothers

This sweetie, Andrew

This cutie, Alex

My new mother and father in law

These beautiful girls

This amazing husband

These amazing grandmas (and mom)

And the best parents a girl could ask for

Thank you, Jesus, for giving me these people.