It's the little things...

I love my husband. He is my apple pie, my expensive perfume, my sunshine, and my armor. He is who I want to see every morning and every night for the rest of my life. He is who I want to raise my baby boy and all of my other future children with. I've made a list of 25 reasons why I love my hubby:

1. He is a hard, hard worker. It doesn't matter if he's working for his employer or just helping a friend, his whole heart goes into his work.

2. He is protective. He gets MAD if anyone does me wrong or looks at me in Walmart. He wants me to himself and I can dig that ;).

3. He is an amazing daddy to Connor. One look at his face when he sees Connor and you just know how much he loves him. He's been changing diapers and making bottles since day 1. He also doesn't care that he has to carry a Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag when him and little man go somewhere.

4. He smells good. I mean REALLY good.

5. His teeth are so beautiful. I could state all day.

6. He is super athletic. He excels at every sport EVER! It's really weird.

7. He takes care of me. He will use his last penny to make sure my needs are met.

8. He knows how important being a woman is to me. He let's me cook, get dolled up, and craft.... Even if that means he doesn't get to watch his favorite tv show because he's feeding our baby.

9. He offers to get me pedicures. I don't have to ask. He offers!

10. He let's me be me. If I need to cry, he let's me.

11. He makes me feel pretty. I don't have to be dressed up to feel good around him.

12. He is extremely faithful. I trust him with my heart.

13. He is open about my religious beliefs. He let's me talk about my prayers, my Jesus, my fears.... And never makes me feel wrong.

14. He is steady. He doesn't make fast changes, yet he is impulsive enough to still be spontaneous.

15. His family. I love his family. MY new family.

16. He only eats meat and cheese. So if we order fajitas for one, I get all the yummy guacamole and pico de gallo ;).

17. Dr. Peppers and Mountain Dews make him happy.

18. He is serious about his television shows. As am I....

19. He supports my dreams. He is letting me finish my education before he starts going after his own dreams.

20. His eyes are really reallllllly blue!

21. He has big dreams! And he knows how to fulfill them!

22. He is country! He likes guns, sports, big trucks, horses, and boots... But he still wears flip flops.

23. He watches Grey's Anatomy with me. This is huge. Actually, he watches anything with me.

24. He is handy! He can fix anything!

And last.... But most importantly ;)

25. He is undeniably the hottest, most gorgeous man I've ever laid my eyes on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hehehe

Cool summer treat for babies :)

I was trying to decide if Connor would rather have a bottle of ice water or some cold peaches in his little mesh pacifier thingy so I decided to give him....

ICE WATER WITH PEACHES IN IT!!!!

I know, I know.... Genius right?? Well, regardless, he loves it! He's been going to town on it for a while now. It's a good way to help him get the nutrients from fresh fruit and the hydration from water!

I think I'll try strawberries or blackberries next :)

Pink lemonade pie

I got this recipe off of Creations by Kara's blog and since I'm the type of person who sees a recipe and IMMEDIATELY has to try it, I did. Except I ran into lots of issues when trying to get the ingredients lol...

My beater is in storage, so I had to buy a $10 beater from Family Dollar. When I got there to buy it, I realized I left my wallet at home so my dear husband had to bring it to me. Then I go to Kroger to get my ingredients but I forgot to get the whip cream until I got all the way to my aunt's house in Bangs. I go to their little store to get some and there is a big sign on the door that says, "Not accepting debit/credit cards right now." I only took my debit card. I go back to the car and find $1.50 in pennies and am able to buy the stinkin whip cream.

Anywho... Here is the recipe:

-1 Graham cracker pie crust
-8 oz of cream cheese
-14 oz (1 can) sweetened condensed milk
-6 oz of concentrated pink lemonade juice mix (half of a container)
-4 oz (half of a container) of whip cream

The steps:
1. Beat the whip cream until light and fluffy
2. Slowly add in the sweetened condenses milk and then the pink lemonade concentrate.
3. Fold in the whip cream
4. Pour into pie crust and chill for 4 hours or until hardened.

UPDATE:

Freeze the pie overnight for an absolute splendid flavor/texture!!!!!!!!

The unanswerables, to me.

How do you combat the impossible? Why do people love one child more than the other? What makes people fall out of love? What does "beautiful" really mean? Why are certain actions acceptable by some people but not by other people? How is it that one person notices something so seemingly obvious but to someone else it is absolutely invisible? Why is it that nice people are treated unfairly? How can being nice make a person feel weak inside? Why does another person's thoughts and opinions matter so incredibly much? Why does a college degree make a person "smarter?" Why do people cheat on their spouses, the one person THEY chose to give their entire life to? Why does only one side of the story ever [really] prosper? Why is discipline so hard to acquire? Why do stomach aches result from being stressed or upset? How can someone abuse a child? What does it mean to have succeeded, especially when there is certainly going to be more hurdles? Does a person ever really succeed?

Blah blah blah

The last couple of weeks have been so rough.... I really just want to cry.

But then I think about how blessed we are to have a healthy baby boy and a healthy family and how we have a car and cell phones and lots of love. Many people don't have the simple luxuries that we have. It's hard to remember to give thanks for the easily overlooked things, such as food in the refrigerator (even if it's not something that sounds good today), running water, lights, air conditioner, and clean clothing.

I am thankful for my privileged life.

Chocolate surprise cookies!!!!

GeoTagged, [N31.54993, E99.11944]

I made the most amazing cookies today!!!!! I saw them in a cook book and I added my own little funk to them!!

These were extremely easy!!! Well, except for the part where I had to use my hand mixer outside so I wouldn't wake up the sleeping baby :)!

Here are the ingredients:

-3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
-1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
-1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)
-1 1/2 cups flour
-1/8 tsp cinnamon
-25 Hershey kisses (or your choice of candy)
-extra white sugar for later ;)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine butter and brown sugar in medium bowl and beat with electric mixer on medium heat until light and fluffy.
3. Add the vanilla and almond extracts
4. Combine flour and cinnamon in another medium bowl.
5. Add the flour to the butter mixture gradually and mix well.
6. Put wax paper on your cookie sheet. Shape the dough into however many 1 inch balls you can make and then flatten until balls are a 2 inch round.
7. Place one chocolate candy in the center of each round and enclose the candy with the dough, making sure none of the candy is showing. The candy needs to be completely sealed in dough!
8. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.
9. Sprinkle extra white sugar on top of cookies as soon as they are out of the oven.

Ta-da! Fantastico!

My husband was amazed as to how the chocolate centers didn't melt. It is pretty awesome :)

I hope you enjoy these little cones of goodness as much as we did!

Suitcase chair... Successful!

I have NO clue who came up with this. I saw it on the iPhone ap Recyclart and had to recreate it, although I feel like mine is wayyy better ;) heheh

My poor poor husband..... I feel so bad for him. He spent hours and hours helping me put my ideas into reality with nothing but wood and screws... Oh, and a little rose printed fabric. To say the least.... He was miserable doing this. BUT he was such a good sport and didn't stop until he finished!

He's so great at supporting my ideas, even if he knows they won't work out. And even though it always ends with, "I told you so!", he still goes right along with me. He has helped me create a masterpiece!

And thanks to my wonderful Papa, we had all the tools and other random-things-we-didn't-know-we-needed at the wave of our wand. Papa even gave me my very own blue staple gun!!! Seriously! Who else would just GIVE me a blue staple gun? AND a hammer thats the perfect size for me! Gosh he is my hero! I love him :)

We want to make more of these, but we may need an actual plan next time. This was fun but I know Trey was stressed to the max. Lol poor guy!

We were able to repurpose and old recliner's cushions, which makes me so so happy! Trey helped me go get a recliner by a dumpster and I ripped all the old fabric off and sliced up the foam with nana's bread knife (shhh she doesn't know! What?! I asked her for a knife and she ignored me lol).

All I gotta say is.... I LOVE UPHOLSTERING! Now I see why everyone on HGTV does it on like every episode!!!

I had that trunk for sooo long. It's moved from town to town with me during my gypsy first-college days and it's been used as a bedside table and a coffee table and a computer desk.....
So I figured it was time to give it a permanent use.

The legs were given to me by a nice man at a local antique shop and I spruced them up with some white spray paint (donated by none other than Papa himself).

Gosh, I love it. It's going in my new guest bedroom that's decorated in green and pink hummingbirds and other beautiful happy things :)

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!'n

I am so unbelievably blessed

I've known my entire life that there was something very special about the world I lived in. I've always felt happy and fortunate and thankfully I had parents who taught me that those feelings were what BLESSED people felt.

I've always had a love for words and colors and imagination and I feel like after years of traveling through life I have finally reached my gold pot!

My parents make everything so much easier for me than it should be. They also put an infinite amount of love into everything they do. I'm always so amazed by them. Being a young mother (I say young but 23 really isn't that young...), a new wife, and a full time college student, should scare me but it doesn't. My parents have taught me to have faith in everything and to NOT WORRY because God takes care of everything in the end. I am so fortunate to have had that kind of wisdom drilled into my head at such an early age.

But they haven't only blessed me with wisdom. I've lived like a princess my whole life and I get more and more thankful everyday.

Just this weekend they have blessed my husband and me with a new bed, couch, and tools for our new house! I'm so blessed. Can I say that too much?!

Just sharing the love I have for life. I really can't help but express it!!!!!

PS
And just when life can't get any more happier, I look down and see my gorgeous son sleeping next to me. Ahhhhhh I love it :)

My husband is my new carpenter

A few months ago my husband brought home a ton of random wood pieces and told me he was going to build baby Connor a toy chest. Well, today he did it!!!! Him and my Papa worked on it for about 6 hours! Wow I have never seen this side of him before. Yeah yeah he's a great electrician and yeah yeah he makes delicious steaks... But he is an outstanding carpenter!!!!! I have so many projects lined up for him now. I'm not saying I ever doubted his abilities, I just never knew so many talents could be compiled in one person. He does it all...

I've been reading this book about becoming a perfect help meet for my husband (by Debi Pearl) and I've learned so much. I have learned that times when our marriage seemed hard and bad were the times that I was sinning against God. I have learned that once I truly opened my heart our love would grow so fast. I'm blessed to have a husband who would stick by me through so much. We never have and never will have a problem with lying or cheating, but things such as getting mad at him for leaving a doritos bag in the living room is still a sin.

This book is changing my life. If any wives are reading this and want to learn how to become a better helper for your husband, read this book!!! It brings the bible into the content. It's real!

Off to bed! With my family by my side :) Sooo blessed!

PB&J ice cream sundae

I looooooove the show Cooking for Real with Sunny Anderson. The other day she made a PB&J ice cream sundae. I know.... WOW why have I never thought of that?!?! Well, I recreated it, and let me just say that the "Oos" and "Mmmms" that she did on the show were NOT an exaggeration. I literally couldn't speak! Here are the ingredients you will need (or the ingredients I used):

Ice cream part:
1/2 big jar of grape/strawberry/whatever kind of jelly you like
1 pint of vanilla ice cream

Sauce part:
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1/2 cup brown sugar, light or dark
Hefty scoop of peanut butter (I used creamy, Sunny used crunchy)

Sandwich part:
2-4 pieces old bread, the stale-er the better
3 tbsp of butter
White sugar, as much as you like

Here's whatcha do...

1. FIRST (do this HOURS) ahead of time..
Take all of the ice cream out of the pint container and put in large mixing bowl.

2. Mix your jelly into the ice cream. Your ice cream will get really runny and melty but that's okay.

3. Once your jelly is mixed in WELL, pour mixture back into pint container.

4. Freeze ice cream mixture until completely frozen again. This is so beautiful when finished!!!!

Once the ice cream is in the freezer...

1. Combine the heavy cream and brown sugar in a medium saucepan and cook on medium heat.

2. Bring to a rolling boil.

3. Once boiling, remove from heat and add your peanut butter. The heated mix will melt the peanut butter perfectly.

Okay, while the brown sugar and heavy cream are getting to that boiling point....

1. Put your butter in a medium skillet.

2. While butter is melting, cut your bread into little cubes, about the size of a crouton.

3. Ad bread to buttered skillet and cook until golden brown on all sides. This took a little while.

4. Once golden brown, remove from skillet and sprinkle with that delicious white sugar :)!!!!

You're done!!! Get a pretty bowl and scoop out some of your jelly ice cream and top with the peanut butter sauce!!! Then add as many croutons as you want! Yummmmo!!!

The sauce will stay in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks if jarred properly :) Makes a great gift! Also makes a great addition to chocolate cake and plain toast!

My finished rose cake....

GeoTagged, [N31.67825, E98.95800]

I think it looks okay???

The idea came from:

http://iammommy.typepad.com :) try it!

Pork and root beer. Yum!

This is THE easiest most amazing meat I have ever tasted in my life. Pork tenderloins are amazing pretty much any way, but this way.... Wow. So easy and so delicious!

Ingredients:

1 (2 lb) pork tenderloin (plain)
1 (12 oz) can of your favorite root beer
*NOTHING else is needed for this! Not even salt and pepper!!!*

Put the pork tenderloin into a medium to big crock pot. Pour the root beer over the top of the pork loin. Cover, turn on medium, and cook 5/6 hours. I checked on the pork every hour or so and kept flipping it to help it absorb all the juices of the root beer!

Once completely tender, drain the root beer and be creative with the pork!!! Pulled pork sandwiches are a great way to use the pork, just add a bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce. Pulled pork tacos are also quite yummy! But my favorite way to eat it is right out of the crock pot!!!!! :)

Simple additions to boring foods

I love ways to spice up food without adding tons of sugar and fat!!! Here are some of my favorite ingredients to add to boring and bland foods...

1. Dijon mustard

Dijon mustard is good in almost anything!!! My favorite foods to add it to are scrambled eggs and fish, such as red snapper and tilapia. Adding 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard to scrambled eggs is amazing! I have no idea why! Here's a simple recipe that serves 2:

4 eggs
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Splash of low fat milk
Salt & pepper to taste
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Mix eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and Dijon mustard in a bowl. Pour into heated and buttered skillet. Scramble. Top with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Ahhh it's amazing!

2. Minced garlic (from the jar)

This stuff is so easy. Ad it to toast and you'll swear you put butter on it too. Put on meats instead of lots of salt.

3. Pancetta

Pancetta is similar to bacon, except it's WAY stronger in flavor. Substitute it in recipes that call for a lot of bacon and you'll save a lot of calories! I love it in pastas and I love using the grease it creates to cook vegetables in. Here's a good way to make a more updated BLT:

What you'll need:
Whole wheat bread
Fresh baby spinach
One tomato
Pancetta
Mayonnaise
Cayenne pepper
Heat a medium skillet and add pancetta. Once the pancetta is crispy like bacon, remove pancetta. Add a few slices of tomatoes and cook them in the pancetta grease for about 2 minutes on each side. Put the tomatoes on whole wheat bread with a little spicy mayo and some fresh spinach and you'll never know the bacon isn't there!!!

Spicy mayo recipe:
2 tablespoons mayo
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Butter almond wedding cake! Wow

This cake is absolutely amazing!!!!! The texture is awesome. It's so fluffy and SOOO moist. Here is the recipe:

1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
5 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon Almond Extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
Makes: About 7 1/2 cups cake batter.

Instructions:

Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray pans with vegetable pan spray, or use Cake Release.

Step 2
In mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla and almond flavor. Mix flour with baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, starting with the flour; mix well. Pour into prepared pans. *WARNING* only fill pans 1/4 inch because they expand!!!!

Step 3
Refer to baking chart, for baking times and temperatures for specific pans.

Step 4
Cool 10 minutes in pan. Loosen sides and remove. Cool completely before decorating.

Seriously.... DELICIOUS!

I have two AMAZING recipes that go well with either mascarpone or cream cheese. The first one is a bread and butter jalepeno and onion recipe that you can pour over the mascarpone or cream cheese and serve with crackers. The second one is a smoked salmon dip that is spread on crackers! Happy dipping :)

Bread & Butter Jalepenos and Onions
-2 lbs jalepenos, deseeded, deveined, and sliced into rings
-2 white onions
-3 cups vinegar
-2 cups sugar
-2 teaspoons celery seed
-2 teaspoons turmeric
-2 tablespoons mustard seed
-1 tsp ginger

This recipe may be doubled, tripled, whatever depending on how many jars you want to make. I make 2-4 at a time so this works perfectly for me.

After deseeding, deveining, and slicing the jalepenos and dicing the onions, fill up however many jars you have.

Put the remaining ingredients into a large pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn off heat and ladle mixture into jars, leaving 3/4 inch space from the top. Close jars and put in a hot water bath for 10-15 minutes until jars seal.

THIS RECIPE IS AMAZING! And it only gets better over time. I prefer more onions in my jars so you can alter the amount of onions and jalepenos you need to cut up.

The second recipe....

Smoked Salmon Dip (by Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa)
-8 oz cream/mascarpone cheese at room temperature
-1/2 cup sour cream
-1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
-1 tablespoon fresh minced dill
-1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
-1/2 teaspoon black pepper
-4 oz. smoked salmon

Combie all ingredients, chill, and serve with crackers!

I used mascarpone cheese in the batch I made, but I bet cream cheese would be even better since it is more tangy.

I hope you love these recipes!

Connor Connor Connor.....

At 6 months old, Connor is sitting up perfectly, rolling over, and....THROWING FITS! I just went to eat at the cafe with Papa and him and I let Connor suck on a french fry. It started getting soggy and his two little teeth kept tearing pieces off, so I took it from him. Bad idea. He started SCREAMING. I tested my hypothesis of him already being spoiled by putting the french fry back in his mouth.... Yep. He stopped screaming. My hypothesis was definitely supported. Absolutely crazy lol. I did this a few more times to test the reliability of this study.... and my hypothesis was supported over and over and over again.

I came home and fed him some sweet potatoes and chicken (the kind appropriate for babies), bathed him, and now he is sleeping soundly. He is cracking me up lately. I never expected to see such a big personality in such a small person. I am so in love.

Last night he was fighting his sleep so hard. He would calm down, close his eyes, and then throw his fist at the bed and wake himself up. This was a continuous cycle for about an hour.... Finally around midnight (two hours past his bedtime), he fell asleep.... Only to wake back up at 2:00 am, like always. And then again at 4:40 am..... But then slept until 10:00 am. Wow I feel so refreshed today.

I have been babysitting my cousin for the past two weeks and I've had to wake up between 6:30-8:00 am everyday, which is not what I am used to... So it felt very nice sleeping in this morning.

I'm spending the rest of my day playing with my new handheld sewing machine, attempting to make a massive baby bow, and maybe watching tv in my old bedroom, since I'm out at my parents' house.

What a good life!

Church, fathers, and good cookin'!

Today my husband, son, and I went to church with one set of my grandparents. The church was a very cozy and intimate Baptist church, far from what I am used to! The churches I have recently been a part of are very large and of a nondenominational practice. I felt good at this little church and plan on returning in a couple of weeks. My grandmother and I have decided to go on a women’s trip in July with the church and I am very excited about it!
After church my husband, son, and I came to my parent’s house to eat and spend time with my dad for father’s day. I always enjoy days like these because they are full of family, food, laughter, and LOTS of love!
Tomorrow I am going to start on some little girl headbands! I have some really good ideas and I’m so excited to get started!
On another awesome note, my grandmother gave me a really neat device to help in my efforts of sewing a straight line on my sewing machine! I cannot wait to try this out!

Newfound Glory and Aspiring Inspirations

Hello! I’ve been wanting to create a blog for some time now so I finally did it! I always revert back to my Xanga days and I always remember how exciting those times were…. Expressing every little thought on my mind, finding myself through words, and rationalizing any thought or worry I had at the time through the art of word arrangement.
This blog may be a tad more mature than my old Xanga since I am no longer interested in the latest hardcore band and being straightedge but instead interested in crafting, cooking, and the design of life created by our heavenly God. Oh…. And I am no longer a bright-eyed teenager but now a “wiser-than-I-once-was” new bride and mother.
I really just want a place that I can write about my experiences in the kitchen or with my hot glue gun. I also want to share the wonders of being a new wife, mother, Christian, daughter, sister, niece, and ALMOST college graduate.
I have literally filled about 50 different note pages on my iPhone with random sayings, thoughts, recipes, bible verses, song lyrics, etc. And… Since my #1 goal right now is to become Mrs. Organized (I think I’m allowed to be two different Mrs. in these circumstances…. Right??) I’ve decided I should probably begin organizing my thoughts first.
This introduction of my intentions has to be cut short because I’m certain my darling 6 month old son is hungry…. And I have to wake up early for my first time visiting a new baptist church with a set of grandparents I have recently reconnected with.
Goodnight to anyone interested in this. I feel great!