Thursday, June 30, 2011

What I'm Loving Wednesdays (Semi) Wordless Style











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I'm Loving... that I finally got to go to the pool today!



I'm Loving... that I'm going to a bible study with sista D tmrw morning!

I'm Loving... that 'm going to pick my niece at camp on Friday.
I wish I was 9 and could go back to Camp Glisson!



I'm Loving... that I had the great idea to leave a package at Glisson as a surprise for my "baby" cousin who will be there for a week starting this coming Sunday.



I'm Loving... that hubby promised to spend all day Saturday just the two of us :-)



I'm Loving... that I have some great MK ideas for July. Best month ever!



I'm Loving... that Friday at 12:01am if not before I will be getting a text from my Director that she has won her first Caddy!




I'm Loving... I made $50 bucks tonight doing what I love to do... Hair!

I'm Loving... that I hopefully will get to go to the lake and my old neighborhood this weekend for the 4th!
Going to the lake with friends is the only way L will get out of Saturday alone time. (see above)



And as always... I'm Loving... My loving husband

This was my 24th birthday, don't you just love the curly mohawk?

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

What's For Dinner Tuesday

What's For Dinner Tonight 6-28-11



Once again Hubby got to it before I could take a picture.


If you like me you've always wanted to try this but you thought it was too complicated and cost too much. Well earlier today I decided I was finally going to go for it, I had a coupon for beef tenderloin when I went shopping last week so I picked one up so it was perfect timing. I knew I wasn't going to be able to afford the pate that most recipes call for (and I've never had it so I wasn't sure if I would like it). So I searched for a recipe on Foodnetwork that didn't call for the pate. And I found this one, I decided to make a few changes to it like add cream cheese to kind of give it that creaminess that the pate would have. My tenderloin was a prepackaged one that was already had a peppercorn marinade on it. And I added roasted garlic to the onion/mushroom mix.




Beef Wellington

Ingredients

  • 1 beef tenderloin (2 to 2 1/2 pounds)
  • Ground black pepper (optional)
  • 1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet), thawed
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 cups finely chopped mushrooms
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
  • 1 clove roasted garlic
  • 1 tbsp of cream cheese

Directions

Heat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Heat the butter and 1/2 of oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, garlic and onion and cook until the mushrooms are tender and all the liquid is evaporated, stirring often. Set aside in separate bowl and allow to cool.
Season the tenderloin with pepper. In the same skillet pan, heat remaining olive oil. When the oil is hot, sear the tenderloin for 2 to 3 minutes on all sides. Remove from the pan and cool.
Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork or whisk.
Heat the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and onion and cook until the mushrooms are tender and all the liquid is evaporated, stirring often.
Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a rectangle 4 inches longer and 6 inches wider than the beef. Brush the pastry sheet with the egg mixture. Spoon the mushroom mixture onto the pastry sheet to within 1-inch of the edges. Thinly slice the cream cheese and lay out on mixture. Place the beef in the center of the mushroom mixture. Fold the pastry over the beef and press to seal. Place seam-side down onto a baking sheet. Tuck the ends under to seal. Brush the pastry with the egg mixture.
Bake for 25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and a meat thermometer reads 140 degrees F.

I served it with mash potatoes and green beans; and used the liquid from the beef left in the pan as a sauce. It was really good, I was very proud of myself. I will definitely be trying this again, I think it would make a great entertaining center piece! :-)




What I Learned:
For next time I think I will bring stainless steel pan out to get a better sear on the beef  and that might help the beef be less cooked through (I was hoping for med-rare and it was more med-well) and add more cream cheese or maybe even get up the nerve and extra money to try the pate.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

The Voice of Truth

Tuesday night at my MK success meeting, we had our newest directors debut party. It was amazing to see that huge goal achieved and I got to be a part of it. There was one part of the ceremony that I truly enjoyed, KB was telling us the story about how she heard this song one day and she fell in love with it and it was here inspiration, to give her the drive to make director in a year. KB invited her college friend to sing and share this amazing song with us. I started getting goosebumps right from the start and about half way through i was tearing up :)

It's called The Voice of Truth by Casting Crowns



Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out my name
And he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them lookin' down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

I hope y'all get goosebumps just like I did. This is definitely going on my ipod and the lyrics KB printed out are being framed and going in my office.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

It's Ok Thursday

I got this idea from my friend LBP, who got the idea from her "Big" , who got the idea from Airing My Dirty Laundry who got it from Glamour. Did you follow that?
***Warning*** maybe a little depressing sorry, I'm in a funk!

It's OK...

That I said I was going to make dinner every night this week but then proceed to tell L to get Steak & Shake for dinner.

To use my bummed knee as an excuse to not work out.
 (not really cause it probably wouldn't hurt as much if I lost a few lbs)

To be a little irritated at the Mr. for promising me a day full of him tmrw but then forgot his little brother has to stay the night.

To not be excited about a bridal show I'm doing on Sunday,
I'm a little fearful of failure after the last one I did was a bust.

To want things in life right now opposed to waiting or putting in the work sometimes.

That I have a wedding shower to go to Saturday and I haven't gotten a gift yet.

That my tan is slowly fading because of the cloudy weather we've had, but I plan to make up for the no pool time lately next week and on the 4th.

To be over this week!

To keep reading my post from yesterday,
 to remind myself about all the good things to be thankful for.


Sorry again for the depressing post, I needed to get that out.
Looking forward to a better day tmrw and a great weekend celebrating friends!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Semi Wordless Wednesday





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I figured since I'm still kinda new to this whole blogging thing, I would do Wordless Wednesday as kind of an introduction to me and my family/ friends.


The most amazing man in the whole world!


The two most amazing people who raised me, my parents!


Sisters being Sistas!


MO and D
niece and sister



M and J. My twin and brother in law


L and his brother P :)



This crazy group is some of my oldest and dearest friends.
We're like a little "family"



I refer to these people as The Creek Crew! They are full of love and no judgement.


Two of my best friends, they were there at the beginning of L and Mine relationship,
we have grown up but not apart! BBB



Fairy, one of our really good friends, and V, L's best friend.


 C and B, You'll probably hear alot about them.
K's sorority sisters who have become apart of our little "family"



Just a handful of some of my favorite gals from MacGrill.
It still amazes me after 5 years we are still close friends.
N, C,A, N, me and T


me, C,W,T,K,and A


Hope y'all enjoy getting to know some of the important people in my life!


Whats For Dinner Tuesday

What's For Dinner Tonight 6-21-2011

So I decided that this week I'm going to make every meal in the crockpot. This works out perfectly cause like I've said money is a little tight this month so I haven't done much grocery shopping. Instead I emptied my mom's freezers of frozen meat  (she's one of those people who buys meat never uses it and freezers it with intention of using one day but never does, so she calls me over every 3 months or so and I clean her out and save myself money! plus frozen meats are great for the crockpot) Yesterday was Italian sausage and ravioli. So today I'm making chicken again! It's getting closer to the end of the month and food is dwindling down but I did happen to have a box of Rice-A-Roni Mexican rice and a can of Chipotle chilies in adobe sauce left, and it sounded like a good combo.

2 Tbsp butter
1 box of Rice-a-Roni Mexican rice
3-4 Chicken breast
1 can Chiplote Chillies
1 clove Roasted garlic
2 cups of water
4oz Sour Cream

I simply added butter, the rice, then the seasoning mix, placed the chicken breast on top of that, then took about 4-5 chilies (depending on how spicy you like it) and put then randomly in the pot along with some roasted garlic I made the day before. I then added water (you can use chicken stock if you have it) and covered and cooked on low for 6 hrs. I cut the chicken up in to bit size pieces and added some sour cream to help cut some of the spice.

Again sorry no pictures, it wasn't done before I left for my meeting and hubby had already eaten when I got home.

So what are you having for dinner tonight?



Sunday, June 19, 2011

Want To Make God Laugh...

So have you heard the saying... "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans" I'm beginning to think it's true. This weekend was full of plans to hang out and spend some quality time alone together. This is what really happened

 Saturday got off to a late start because neither one of us got up in time. We ended up showing up to the re-grand opening of the bakery that did our wedding cake an hour and a half late and missing most of the events. Then had to rush off to the bank because yet again we were having problems with the accounts. We were at the bank for nearly 2 hrs and by the time we made it back to Sugar Kneads everything was over, but I did get my cupcake I wanted. We were supposed to have a cook out with some friends but they had to cancel so we went to another friends house who we hadn't seen in a while. We planned to just say a little while but then we had to wait out the crazy storm we had. We were about to head home when L got invited to go fishing the following day, He asked me if he could go (it being Father's Day he wanted to make sure I didn't mind if he missed church and lunch). He had been wanting to go fishing for a couple of weeks now and he had worked hard last week, putting in a few 12 hr shifts, so I told him it was fine.

I came home and did just what I thought I would, watch a movie and go to bed early. The guys had planned on getting up around 9 and heading to the lake, but ended up not leaving til after noon. And L didn't get home til after 9 tonight and pretty much went straight to bed. So all hope was out the window of spending anytime together

Looking back I wish I hadn't told him he could go. I'm not one of those wives who doesn't let her husband do things with out me or give him a hard time if he wants to spend time with his friends, but I was really looking forward to spending some time together. It's not like he missed much however it still made me kinda sad :(

So all in all we spent about 30-45 mins alone this weekend, pretty much all of which was in the car driving from one place to another.

The irony of it all... the sermon at church today was on the 5 Love Languages, the fifth one being... quality time.

Do y'all ever make plans and then they just get ruined for one reason or another?

Friday, June 17, 2011

Fugal Fridays

My First Fugal Friday!

So this is a new series I'm going to do about every other Friday. That's when I go to lunch with my mom and my Granny's best friend Mrs. Jo. Usually after lunch Mom and I will either go shopping, so these post will consist of new clothes, accessories, home decor, or anything else I get a good deal. And there is always a good deal involved when I go shopping cause trying to save up money for a house, to start a family and one year anniversary trip, there's not always extra shopping money lying around.

I've been wanting a new bathing for this summer so last Friday after lunch I talked Mom into going to Belk with me. I ended up walking out with a cute new black dress and a pair of black shorts. I haven't worn the shorts yet but I've worn the dress a couple of times. I absolutely love it!

The dress was originally $86, it was on sale for 40% off and then I had another 20% coupon. So I got it for $41.28!


I don't have a pic of me in it but hopefully this weekend cause I'm wearing it again tmrw!

(Plus it was the only one in the store that I found and it just so happened to be my size... meant to be!)

The shorts were originally $48. It was already marked down 50% plus my coupon for an additional 20%. So I got the shorts for $19.20!

They are super comfy and will work well with pretty much any top. Plus I know I will get alot of use out of them this summer cause it's so hot!

And on top of all those sales, I actually returned two shirts for $60, so technically I only spent $4! That's something the hubby will appreciate :-)

Hope y'all enjoy my new series. And happy bargain hunting to you!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

What I'm Loving Wednesdays



This is going to be hard for me today, because I've had a rough day, it's a long story but the gist of it is that at about 1'oclock last night I checked the bank account and one was negative without any explanation.  So almost all day was trying to take care of that!

Anyway...
I'm Loving... hanging out at the pool with K and B

I'm Loving... the great tan I've got and it's only June 15th

I'm Loving... that I found a new way to wear my bathing suit straps (do get rid of my tan line), so I don't have to buy a new one! ($50+ saved)

I'm Loving... finally got through the first book of Eat, Pray, Love
(it's only taken me 6 months)

I'm Loving... that I finally got rid of that mess of coupons I had lying around.

I'm Loving... that I've made dinner every night this week so far

I'm Loving... that I get to hang out with Ms. JP tmrw (by the pool of course)

And as always... I'm Loving... my incredible Hubby!



Hope y'all had a great Wednesday!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

What's For Dinner Tuesday

What's For Dinner Tonight 6-14-11
A day late and a dollar short... I think that describes today perfectly!

Monday night I had planned on laying out by the pool pretty much all day with my sister Katie, so I threw a couple a chicken breast, a little oil, about a cup of chicken stock, the juice from one lime and a packet of McCormick's Grill Mates Mexican Fiesta Marinate into the crock pot and cooked in on low for 6 hrs. I then shredded it, added about 2 tbsp of cream cheese and served along side Mexican rice.

Tuesday I got home from work around 3, accidentally took a nap waiting on L to get home, so I had about an 1 to get dinner together and get ready for my meeting. Luckily I had some chicken leftover from Monday night. So I put some pasta on to cook (you can use whatever you prefer, I used egg noddle because it's what I had on hand) and I then checked out the fridge to see what I had to put in the pasta. I'm known to do this, just take whatever I have in my fridge or pantry and make some amazing meals. I found some cream cheese, mushrooms, and pepper jack cheese.
Once the pasta was done, about 15 mins, I drained it, reserving about a cup of pasta water to keep thin out the sauce. I then added the chicken, cheese and mushrooms, along with some chili and garlic powder to the pot til warm. This is a pretty easy meal and I love it cause you can just change it up and add whatever you want. I usually serve it with garlic bread cause the hubby loves bread.

Sorry I didn't take any pictures, but I'm making more crockpot chicken tonight so that means I'll probably make some other pasta Friday (in case you don't know I love pasta). So I'll take pictures of that meal.

So what are you having for dinner tonight?

Monday, June 13, 2011

Weekend Whereabouts!

Ok so I've been slacking just a little, haven't posted since Wednesday, and it makes me nerves for the future. But this weekend has been very hectic.

Friday started off with a little crazy with 2 huge cockroaches and a lizard loose in my aunts house at about 1am. L killed the roaches but we couldn't find the lizard and I couldn't sleep so I drove to the apartment to sleep that night. I went to lunch with my mom and Mrs. M (my Granny's best friend) then shopping with Mom. I went to buy a new bathing suit and a bra and I walked out with a dress and a pair of shorts! lol (which will be featured on Friday's post) I then went back to my aunts house and had dinner with L hung out for a bit then headed home and he headed to a friends house for the night.
I had to be up Saturday morning at 5:00 to meet some girls to head to ATL for our MK event. However didn't go to bed until after 4 so I got about an hour of sleep and was so tired! I got up a little late and had to stop to get a cup of coffee so I was a little late, oh well, we made it in plenty of time.
 My MK Senior Director CJ invited Robert Jones a well known professional make-up artist to come to ATL to do a workshop for us and teach us make-up techniques hands on. It was fabulous, I learned so much and I'm so glad I went since I originally sold my ticket. He has worked with MK for years and was very much a part of the new face of MK. He does amazing make-overs. He is really funny and has a great sense of humor, I can see him and JCV getting along very well.

When we walked into the workshop we got to have a personal one on one little moment with Robert himself. He gave us a packet and marked on the cover what eye shape we had, which we were going to go over later.



We then went over the basics of make-up application before lunch, I won't go though it all because if your not interested in make-up it will bore you. And then after lunch we washed our face all but one eye so we can have a before and after. The sad thing is I did my best make-up that morning to impress Robert but once you look at the before and after, I can honestly say I was doing eye makeup wrong! We went through all the eye shapes and where to but the three shades on each eye, if you think it doesn't make a difference believe me it does. 

Here are some of the pics...

pictures aren't working for me so hopefully I'll have them posted soon!

I got home around 7 that night (did I mention it was 8 hrs long and in ATL) waited about an hr for L to get home cause he was at his niece's birthday party. I pretty much said hey to him told him I was taking a nap and didn't wake up for 13 hrs. I was definitely tired.

Sunday I got up and went to church by myself because L wasn't feeling good. Went to lunch with my parents and hung out at their house for about an hr then headed back home. Because L and I didn't spend much time together this weekend I wanted to get home early and watch a movie, have dinner and hang out. We watched "The Killers"  which was a pretty cute movie, good chick flick but has the action scenes for the guys. It was nice to finally spend some quality time together.
All in all it was a pretty good/successful weekend. I feel restful in general, regenerated in my business, and recharged/loved in my personal life.

Hope your weekend was as good as mine!

Love Y'all

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Semi Wordless Wednesday

Ok so I'm posting Wednesday a day late because being at my Aunts house I didn't get to upload my new photos to do Wednesdays post which I've been dying to do. So since I'm back at my place for the day because I was hanging out at the pool with Katie and Beth, I decided to go ahead and post.

Semi Wordless Wednesday







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Well my birthday was Tuesday so these pictures are my presents from L and my niece MO's birthday party on Saturday.

MO's Birthday Party


The birthday girl


K and my cousin L


MO messing with K


L dropping my cousin H in the pool



MO being goofy


pretty girl


Mom and my cousin Mike eating cake


Sister and our favorite niece!

My Birthday


My Sugar Kneads cupcakes and my Open Heart necklace from Kay.
L is so good to me. He drove all the way to Loganville after a rough day at work and having issues with the car tags to get me these cupcakes! Love him :)



We were at my Aunt's house and this is the only candle I could find! lol



 This is the White Chocolate Strawberry cupcake, my new favorite!


If any of you are ever in the Loganville, GA area you need to stop at Sugar Kneads Cakery. They are truely the best. They mase our wedding cake, and from that day forward I told L I wasn't going to any other bakery. They made his birthday cake this year too.



What's For Dinner Tonight

I'm getting rid of my page What's For Dinner Tuesday and turning into a weekly post instead so I'm posting my past post so they won't get deleted. Hope you enjoy!

June 7, 2010
It's my BIRTHDAY! I can't believe I'm 25, but thats another post, another day. Since it's my birthday I refuse to make dinner so I don't know what's for dinner tonight!



May 31, 2010



I found this recipe on Tyler's Taste Tests, the moment I read it I knew L was going to love it. It's another quick and easy meal for Tuesday nights since I have my MK meetings. Today was technically my Monday since it was a holiday weekend so it was manic on top of being the usual crazy day. I left for work this afternoon and forgot to put dinner on so I had to rush home after work and put it on high for 3 hours instead of the usual low for 6 hours. However it still came out wonderful. I added my own flare to it: I added a little cream cheese at the end to give it a little extra creaminess (is that even a word??) and then sprinkled it with pepper jack cheese, and I had some leftover biscuits from breakfast so I served the chicken over that instead of regular bread. This is defiently a new family favorite.  Thanks Tyler!



L got into it before I could make it home


Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Sandwich
4 boneless, skinless chicken breats
1 (17.5 fluid oz) bottle buffalo wing sauce
1 oz package dry ranch salad dressing mix
2 tbsp butter
6 hoagie rolls, split lengthwise (or sandwich bread of your choice)

Place the chicken breast in the crockpot along with 3/4 of the wing sauce and the ranch dressing mix. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours.

Once the chicken has cooked, add the butter and shred with two forks. Add the meat to your bread and splash with remaining buffalo wing sauce. Enjoy!







May 25, 2010
This recipe comes from my sister Carrie,(which is ironic cause she doesn't eat red meat anymore) I don't remember when or how it came about in my house but every since my mom started making it it's been a family favorite. I remember the first time I made it for my husband, he loved it, well then again he loves everything I make. Or so he says he usually adds hot sauce to it anyway.
This is a quick and easy meal I usually make on Tuesdays since I have my MaryKay meetings at 7pm, I can throw this together as I'm getting ready and all L has to do is add the sour cream right before he makes his plate.

Gooey Stuff:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1 (16oz) can tomato sauce
7-8 oz Elbow Macaroni
1 med Green Bell Pepper
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 (2oz) jar Pimiento, diced
2 T Sugar
2tsp Chili Powder
2 tsp Salt
1 (8oz) ctn Sour Cream

Brown meat in large skillet. Drain off all the fat as it collects. Stir in remaining ingredients except sour cream. Heat to boiling. Cover and simmer 20 minutes or until macaroni is tender; stir frequently. Add more tomato sauce or a small portion of water if necessary. after reaching the right consistency stir in sour cream; heat through but not do not boil.

I usually leave out the onions cause I'm not a fan.This also make great leftovers.
That's what's for dinner tonight, hope you enjoy!

If you know my husband, you know which bowl is his!






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Monday, June 6, 2011

Not So Manic Monday!

I love Not So Manic Mondays:

Today I slept in til 11 when Katie finally called to tell me she was headed to by apartment so we could lay out by the pool. I got ready and headed over there (since I'm still at my aunts)
We laid out from about 12 til 4:30, got alot of sun, it was pretty hot today, nice breeze most of the time but I still couldn't lay out more than 20 mins at a time without getting in the water. I did remember my sunscreen today but for some reason my thighs still burned a little. I made L come out to the pool when he got home to translate for us cause I knew these Bosnians were talking about K. 
I got a couple of chapters of Eat, Pray, Love under my belt, maybe one day I will actually finish it (I've been trying to for 6 months but keep putting it down and forgetting)
K and I ran up to Sears to look for a fridge for Megan then went to the gas station.
Didn't make it to the bank in time to cash some checks.
And now for the rest of the day I will be watching Nate Berkus for inspiration and some online shopping.
Then desperately need to do my roots tonight.
And then maybe going to bed early so I can get up and go pay the taxes for the cars and try not to spend all day at the tag office. I have to go to two different counties. :( What a nice birthday present to myself, right?
But I do have the day off work for my birthday :)

Happy Manic Monday, y'all!

*Happy 9th Birthday to my beautiful and favorite (not just cause she's my only one) niece MO!*
This was at my bridal shower and K &M had stolen my camera and was driving MO crazy!