I'm Sorry!

Hey y'all!  I am SO sorry I went missing without any explanation!  Oh.My.Word.  I have had a crazy few weeks.  First of all, I am now a 4th grade teacher!  YAY!!  Can I just go on the record AGAIN and say that God hears our prayers.  He knows every desire of our heart.  And when HIS timing is right, it all works out just the way HE planned. 

I am so so so excited and absolutely love my job.  I love coming to work and interacting with my kiddos all day.  But this came as a big surprise and I was thrown right in a week before school started back.  So, to say the least, I have been insanely busy.  I like to joke that I only stop working to sleep and eat (sometimes I work while I eat), but this is a pretty true statement.  I have a big learning curve ahead of me and I want to do the best that I can possibly do.  If that means putting in tons of extra time, so be it.  I want my kids to receive the best education possible.  More to blog about on this aspect of my life.

The same day I found out about my job, J and I also learned that we would soon be homeowners!  WHAT A DAY.  I fell asleep at 7:30 that Friday night - ha!  I was mentally drained. 

With all the craziness that's going on in my life right now, I do not have a lot of time to devote to my blog (I'm sorry!) but I'll be back in the swing of things eventually.  Until then, be blessed!

I Missed My Calling

I feel like I missed my calling to go to culinary school.  I just absolutely love to cook and bake.  I think about it constantly.  I rather read a cookbook than anything else and I'm looking up recipes daily.  I wish I could stay at home and cook/bake all day.  You're probably making fun of me right now, ha!  But that's okay - this is my blog and I can post my random thoughts.

Cooking/baking is more of a stress relief to me than anything, I guess.  Some might consider it a hobby.  But when I'm in the kitchen focusing on the dish I'm preparing, I don't think about anything else (except maybe for the song that's playing on my Pandora radio).  It's so relaxing to me and the finished product usually always makes me happy.  I get to be inventive & imaginative.  It also takes strategy.  Understanding how different chemical reactions occur to get you to the end result fascinates me.  Thanks, mom and dad, for instilling the love in science in me.

I love to take a recipe and make it my own - Tweak it to get the end result that I prefer after experimenting with the original.  I also love recreating recipes from my favorite restaurants.  I can make Fettuccine Alfredo that's better than most Italian restaurants thanks to this.  My current focus is Bonefish Grill's Lily's Chicken.  I'll be trying this one out soon.

What I love most about cooking is having people eat what I cook.  And actually enjoy it.  There are few things that make me happier than seeing someone enjoy what I've made.

I am my father's daughter.  I totally get it now.  I guess it was bound to happen to one of us.  His parents were amazing cooks and owned a 24 hour diner in a small town in Mississippi.  Oh how I wish I could have met them.  I'm so thankful I have their recipes to continue making and pass down to my kids.  Here's to hoping a child of mine will inherit this love for cooking and baking like I have.

Happy Monday

It's Monday - might as well make it happy, right?!  This weekend was so great.  It was relaxing and we got to spend some time with our favorite people.  Jared's best friend was in town with his family for a week long vacation so we spent Friday night and all day Saturday with them lounging at the beach and their condo's pool.  I made some Chocolate Buttercream Frosted Brownies and took them over to them Friday night.  By Saturday afternoon they were all gone...yes!  I love that!  Doesn't it make you feel so good when people love what you cook?  Service is definitely one of my love languages.  I love to do for others and it makes me feel so good when it's appreciated.

Saturday evening we all went down for the shark tournament weigh-in.  Can we say disturbing...I mean, it's so fascinating and cool to see them, but when I think about that 875 lb tiger shark I see being brought up to the stand swimming around in the water I swim in, it makes me never want to stick a toe in the ocean again.  But it was fun and our friends don't get to see or do that kind of stuff often.  If you want to see pictures, you can click here.  Afterwards, we all went to dinner at the Fish House, one of our favorites.  Grits A Ya Ya were phenomenal as always. 

Sunday morning we went to Sunday School and listened to a great lesson.  One of the things I love the most about our class is not only can I apply everything I learn to my marriage, I can apply it to every aspect of my life.  It is so helpful & we are so blessed to be a part of this class.  I can't believe we've been in there for over a year already - time flies!

Speaking of time flying, we spent Sunday evening at my parents' house celebrating my little brother's 21st Birthday.  WHERE did the time go?  I can remember when he was about 6 months old (I was 4), I was holding him looking at him and closing my eyes trying to imagine what he'd look like as a teenager.  Ha!  So funny that I have a vivid memory of that.  We've always been close.  He was a best friend of mine growing up and we got along exceptionally well compared to most siblings.  We had our moments when we got into late teens/early twenties but I am so proud of the young man, father, and husband he has become.  He has a great heart and I love him very much.  This picture is us to a T - ha!

Since I haven't done a meal plan for y'all in a couple of weeks, I'll post one today.  I'm going to start incorporating at least one meal I've "pinned" to my pinterest into my weekly meals.  I like bringing pinterest to life.  So, here we go!

Monday: Blackened Swai with Steamed Asparagus & Salad
Tuesday: Grilled Pork Steaks with Grilled Zucchini & Squash
Wednesday: Crispy Chicken with Creamy Italian Sauce and Bowtie Pasta (from pinterest)
Thursday: Eat Clean Tacos with Fresh Salsa & Chips
Friday: Honey Spiced Glazed Chicken with Steamed Broccoli and Mashed Potatoes (from pinterest)
Saturday: Possibly eating out or eating leftovers
Sunday: Mom & Dad's house or I'll go grocery shopping

Oh, remember how about a week ago I told y'all I was going to make these?

Source: anediblesymphony.blogspot.com

Well I did and they were delish and oh.so.easy.  Go make one and say goodbye to plain ole grilled cheese.

Hope you have a blessed day! XO

Wedding Day Hair

Today I'm linking up with Leslie over at A Blonde Ambition to help her out with wedding hair.  Her wedding is a month away and my one year anniversary is a month away...say WHAT!  WHERE does the time go?!  We'll both have anniversaries just a day apart.  Anywho, she needs ideas and I figured I'd lend a hand.  Not that my wedding hair was the be all, end all of everything.  But it was me & I knew Jared would love it.

I wanted soft curls/waves for my big day.  My hair is naturally wavy so I wanted something that would work with it's natural texture.  I like my hair down & felt like it was more of a romantic look with my dress.  Honestly, I'm just not super comfortable with all of my hair pulled back.  I never wear it like that and didn't want to do something too drastic on my wedding day.  Do what works for you and your taste!

I left my hair down with a few strands pulled back around my face.  Mind you, it was 100 degrees on my wedding day (just let me thank God one more time for no rain or hurricanes!) so I needed to prevent my hair from sticking to sweat.

You can see by the end of the day, my curls had fallen significantly and I was left with loose waves.  Mission accomplished!  Not too bad for 90% humidity.  Here are so more side views (just in case you didn't get enough, ha!)

Cutting our wedding cake.

Cutting J's Razorback Groom's Cake.  Go Hogs!!  (Almost football season!)

Ahh...I love reminiscing about our wedding day.  It was the best day of my life.  

All photos are courtesy of Patsy Brown with A Thousand Words Photography

Indigeaux - Say it Isn't So!

One of my favorite local boutiques is hosting "Back to School Fundraiser Night" on Monday, August 8, 2011.  20% regular priced apparel?!  Sign me up!  I absolutely adore this boutique and the owners - they are some of the sweetest ladies.  They have the cutest clothes and unique jewelry and accessories.

via Indigeaux's facebook page

You can check out their facebook page by clicking here.  Here is all of the information you'll need to show up Monday, August 8th from 5:00-9:00.

INDIGEAUX DENIM BAR & BOUTIQUE

Back-to-School Fundraiser

When: Monday August 8th

Time: 5-9pm

Where: Indigeaux Denim Bar & Boutique

Presold tickets are $5.00 and admits you in for 20% OFF all regular priced apparel, denim, and jewelry!

Tickets may be emailed to friends and family.

Tickets can be prepurchased for $5.00 or presented at the door the night of the event for $5.00

If no ticket is presented at the door, you may still shop for an admission fee of $10.00

All tickets will go in a drawing for a FREE Green&Gold Card to all Catholic High Athletics for the 2011-2012 school year.

For every $100.00 you spend, your name goes in a drawing for a $100.00 SHOPPING SPREE @ Indigeaux!!!

The Secret Item:

There will be a secret item tagged in the store. FIND & PURCHASE the secret item and you'll receive an additional 10% off

ALL ticket proceeds go to the CHS Cheerleading Program

&

30% of sales the night of the event will go to Catholic High Athletics

HAPPY SHOPPING & GOOOOO CRUSADERS!!

       For more information, please contact Amanda Tripoli 

 (I've removed her personal contact info for confidentiality reasons.  If you'd like her contact info, please email me via my email provided on Blogger and I'll get you in touch!)

I hope to see you there!  This is a great deal & I will not be missing out.  Below is a copy of the ticket for purchase. 

*All opinions expressed in this post are my own.  Indigeaux did not pay me to promote their store.