It's the Weekend Review!

Wow! Is it Sunday already? I am NOT ready for the week to start!

Earlier this week I was heartbroken to hear that a good friend of mine and her husband are divorcing. It hit me especially hard when I think about that they got married exactly one week after my hubby and I. That is 13 1/2 years of marriage! Ugh, makes me sick to my stomach. Anyways, we had her and the three kiddos over for a Fall BBQ. It was sooo much fun, the food was amazing, and the Just Dance 3 was hilarious!

If I have not mentioned it before, I will now, my husband is an AMAZING cook!!! He actually taught me how. So, he made smoked ribs with a dry rub...so good. All I know is he puts cinnamon, cocoa, and coffee in his rubs. He also made a smoked (whole) chicken for the main course and I made a beautiful spinach and romaine salad with tons of fresh veggies and 2 Pinterest side dishes:)

Here they are:
Loaded Baked Potato Salad

Oh My Goodness! This was wonderful! I was very sad when it was gone. This is definitely a go to side dish now:)

And Cinnamon Chile Roasted Sweet Potatoes

This was much better then I anticipated. I actually liked them. (Not much of a sweet potato person, but still had some left from Bountiful Baskets).

These two recipes are definitely worth a try:)

Have a blessed week bloggy friends!

Mold Me

My prayer... I know my husband accepts and loves me for who I am, but I want to be who he needs!!!

Pins for the Day

So I have tried a couple different pins this week, so here are my reviews...

Here is Brynn's Pinterest inspired air for the day

First attempt at a fishtail french braid. Not too bad. Of course, she thought it was fabulous:)

This pin is on my "Hair & Makeup" board.

The other one I tried is from a website that is amazing. She has TONS of master mixes! So, in my attempt to be more frugal AND find great food, I made her brownie mix.

I made the brownies by following her instructions, but was making a HUGE pan for our football party so had to quadruple it! I was very nervous about the way it would turn out.

This is all that was left. Does that tell you how good they were! 

I had to bake them a little longer because the batch was so big. I just did it until the knife came out clean when inserted into the middle of the brownie pan. They were perfect! Warm and chewy in the middle with a crunchy outside! Sooooo yummmmmy!! This is definitely a keeper!

This pin is on my Food Tips & Tricks Board.

Also excellent on this board, is the Hot Chocolate Mix:)

Enjoy and Blessings!

God's Callings

I have a lot to say about adoption! We are, of course, HUGE advocates!!! (Look at the tiny treasure that our awesome God brought our family!) So, I wanted to share this post from a sweet bloggy friend, Linny! If you have not read her story...you need to!!!

http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/2012/09/he-is-not-deadbeat-dad-part-1.html

Absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!!!

New Every Morning!

With every sunrise comes new challenges and new blessings! Open up your hearts to what the Lord has for you today and what new opportunities he will bring, because we never know what will come from it!

One Dish Dinner

I was exhausted tonight and totally uninspired to do anything besides sit on my butt on the couch! I searched through my pins and found very little 'quick and easy'. I wanted something easy and with as few dishes as possible!

We had some Zataran's Red Beans N Rice and frozen shrimp (already peeled and deveined). I thought, why not. I had made this with pork and chicken and hamburger, why not shrimp?

I cooked the rice mix according to the package and when there was 5 minutes left cooking time, added the frozen shrimp. Cooked for about 10 more minutes and Voila...a one dish, very tasty meal that my whole family loved.

 

I also made some Sweet Potato fries to use up some I had left over from my Bountiful Baskets. Here is the pin link that I used: http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/guaranteed-crispy-sweet-potato-fries-sriracha-mayo-dip/
I was skeptical when the title said "guaranteed" but they turned out AWESOME! My husband ate over half of the himself:)

Blessings!

Clean Frig Project

In my intent to become the wife and mom that I think I should be, cleaning and organizing is HIGH on the list of things that need to be done. So, I decided  to get started and the frig was cleaning destination #1.

When I started I was pretty disgusted with myself. I consider our house to be pretty clean, not always picked up, but clean enough. 

(Disclaimer: do not judge me on my frig. There are 5 of us and 4 are avid cooks)

Here are some before:

Then I took EVERYTHING out. Every part I could...food, shelves, baskets,etc. And this is what I found, YUK!!!! (Do not judge me, I have done enough of that by myself!)

I then took all the shelves and baskets and soaked them in HOT water, Dawn dish soap, and some vinegar. I let them soak for a good 30 minutes while I took a bucket and rag and wiped out the shell of the frig.

When it was all clean Teh decided that this was a great play spot:) And look how clean it is.

I then returned to the bathroom with my rag to scrub up my shelves. They came clean very quickly! I pulled them out one by one, rinsing with Hot water to remove all the suds, then put them on towels on the floor to dry. They took about 15 minutes. (I did take another dry towel to thoroughly dry the corners though.)  Then, back to the frig with each of them. I did end up lining each shelf with wipeable, removeable shelf paper.

Voila! The nice, clean, organized frig! WooHoo! Yippee! (Sorry, just a little excited)

I am a "Kept" woman!

I Am a ‘Kept ‘ Woman

You see, there were a few times when I thought I would lose my mind,

But GOD kept me sane. (Isa. 26:3)

There were times when I thought I could go no longer,

But the LORD kept me moving. (Gen 28:15)

At times, I’ve wanted to lash out at those whom I felt had done me wrong,

But the LORD kept my mouth shut.. (Psa. 13)

Sometimes, I think the money just isn’t enough,

But GOD has helped me to keep the lights on, the water on, the car paid, the house paid, etc.., (Matt. 6:25 -34)

When I thought I would fall, HE kept me up.

When I thought I was weak, HE kept me strong! (I Pet. 5:7, Matt. 11:28-30)

I could go on and on and on, but I’m sure you hear me!

I’m blessed to be ‘kept ‘

Do you know a ‘kept ‘ woman?

If so pass it on to her to let her know she is ‘Kept ‘

I’m “Kept” by the Love and Grace of God.

Blessings Today!!!

Baby Emery

I recently took some pictures for a dear friend of mine. She has taken pictures of my kids and actually got me interested in photography. Now, not only can I take quality pictures of my family (in Manual mode) but I don't have to spend $1000 for every session!! WooHoo!

This is the pic I took of her 4 days before she delivered...

And these are sweet Baby Emery, 10 days old (Pre-Photoshop)...

Blessings!

I AM BACK!!!!!!

Hello!

I am back. It has been a year and a half, seriously, I have been so busy! We have been cooking, and decorating, and remodeling, and trying to do tons of things as a family. I am going to "try" to start posting about our adventures.

Here is the lastest decor project:

I found this sign for 50% off and had to find somewhere to use it. With help from my obsession with Pinterest, this is the outcome:)

Our entry way is small and with 5 of us, we need the storage. As winter approaches, our hooks are so crowded with coats and sweatshirts. Now we have a coat tree (left), the 4 new hooks (shown), 3 hooks (right), and 3 Dbl hooks (not shown). So much better.

I also recovered the bench seat with fabric I found at Hobby Lobby for $5.99 a yard.

What do ya think?

Blessings!