We made UGLY COOKIES!!!

All of the Supplies

 Kelly's Cookies

 Vanessa's Cookies

My Cookies

Where has the time gone...

Well, blog fans, here are our favorite shots from our wedding!  I finally got the book finished, I hope you enjoy!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Sneak Peek...

Mr. & Mrs.

...The Good Life

We made it!  Back home after 22 hours of driving from North Carolina.  We have just a few more days before the wedding and there is TONS of stuff to take care of.  I will definitely be posting after the wedding to share our day with you all.

Hello blog world...

I've been hit or miss as far as posting on this blog.  This seems to happen every time I start blogging.  I get after it really good for a few months and then...I'm bored with it.  Maybe that mean's I'm just not truly meant to be a blogger.  But, I will keep this site up, and post on it whenever I feel the urge.  I'm glad to have a couple of followers, and for whatever reason brought you to my site, thanks!  I'll try to get back to my link parties, I'll try to post more than just random rants about my disrespectful neighbors, I'll try to put up something with a point to it!

So here's a little recap on where I'm at in life.  I feel like someone put my brain in a blender and threw everything into total chaos.  The wedding is is just over a month, students returned to campus and we're now back to our full time schedule (and that is chaotic in itself), I was doing a great job with a couple devotionals but I haven't touched either of them in over a month, my healthy eating habits have been taking a back seat...things are just all over the place.  And on top of that, I have a to-do list about 10 miles long...ugh.

So to give this post more of  a point today, I'm going to talk about my weight loss.  I started that journey in August 2009, over 2 years ago, and weighed in at a whopping 247lbs.  Today, after getting down to 201lbs about a month ago, I am back to 205lbs.  I have been eating too much junk (example: lots and lots of cookies) and not enough good fruits & veggies.  And the weird thing is I like fruits & veggies...a lot actually...I'm just not eating them right now.  I ate a breakfast this morning that consisted of about 450 calories, hopefully that will tide me over until about 11:00a when I can eat a healthy snack (yogurt or dried fruit).  Today was my last "bad" breakfast, and ooooooooh was it ever good.  I made a turkey sausage patty & 1 egg, added a slice of 2% cheese and ate it as a sandwich with two frozen waffles.  Now, it could have been worse, I could have used full fat cheese and a pork sausage, but it still wasn't a great choice.

Somebody please help hold me accountable today for making better choices and actually getting my but to the gym for a workout!

Pick Up Your Poop!

This is the best description of my morning that I can give.  A man & his dog that live in the apartment building next to ours don't like to clean up their poop.  We have witnessed it on  multiple occasions. 

What frustrates me so much is that it is a LUXURY for us to be able to have our 4-legged friends living with us in a rental.  Many apartments have weight restrictions, and we were lucky enough to find one that took our 115lb mastiff.  But it is people like this who don't respect that luxury and run the risk of ruining it for all of us.  On average our leasing office sends out reminders to leash & clean up after your dog 5 or 6 times a year.  They even go so far as to provide poop stations within close walking distance to each & every building in the complex.  Their is on just across the parking area from his apartment too, no more than 100 feet away.  Each station has a trash can and...wait for it...BAGS! provided free of cost to our residents and anyone who may be walking their pooch through our complex.  As you can see on my sign, he is just being LAZY! 

So there is my rant for today, hopefully he gets the hint!

And it begins...

Thank goodness that wasn't our car!

Bracing for Irene

Here on the North Carolina Coast we're bracing for Irene.  Please keep us and everyone in the storm's path in your prayers.  Right now we have a major calm before the storm...eerily calm.

Taking a break...

I've been really busy getting ready for the upcoming school year.  The students move back to campus this weekend and a new routine will take over.  Hopefully I'll get back in the swing of things soon!

Oh How Pinteresting...

Well normally I would be linking up with What I Wore Wednesday over at the Pleated Poppy.  But, alas, even though I have been dressing a bit better, I haven't been taking pictures.

But, I have been spending plenty of time over at Pinterest!  So here's what I've been pinning, and I'm linking up with The Vintage Apple for her link party Oh, How Pinteresting

I may have 13 boards already.  Is that too much? NEVER! 

 

Source: naturallymeashley.tumblr.com via jeni on Pinterest

Source: mousechirpy-polkadotpineapple.blogspot.com via jeni on Pinterest

Source: shannonbrown.typepad.com via jeni on Pinterest

Source: polyvore.com via jeni on Pinterest

My tiny kitchen cabinet...

...gets a tiny makeover.

I've been on kind of an organizing binge lately, and its a good binge to be on!  I did a clean out & reorganization of our linen closet almost a month ago and decided to take "before" pictures of all of my storage spaces while I was at it.  So, slowly, I have been tackling different spaces.  An easy evening project was our smallest cabinet in the kitchen that had become a catchall and the snack area that is on the counter below it.  So here are the results:

See...I told ya its tiny!

 In the Before shot:  The top & middle shelves housed assorted drink mixes & vitamins and the bottom was my shot glass collection.  I've been picking them up everywhere we travel for years and it might be getting a bit out of control.  I felt like they were taking up valuable real estate so they were put in a box and stored in a cabinet that isn't easily accessible. 

In the After shot:  The top shelf houses our tea and the drink mixes that don't get used on a regular basis.  The middle shelf & bottom shelf are now dedicated to getting ready to leave the house in the morning.  The middle shelf has a box of MixiStixx (individual crystal light type drink mixes) and fiber powder so I can whip up a quick morning drink to take to work.  The bottom shelf has our Shaklee Vitalizer packs & my Glucosamine and A's gatorade powder.  If you haven't figured it out...we don't drink much plain water :)

Under the cabinet on the counter top

In the Before shot:  Everything was cluttered in this space.  The bulky canisters don't really fit on our counters.  I actually have 4 of them, but at most have 2 or 3 actually in use, the others get thrown in our coat closet for storage.  The box of MixiStixx is just sitting out behind the canisters taking up valuable counter space.

In the After shot:  I have 3 canisters filled and lined up against the backsplash.  They house 2 varieties of trail mix and a mixture of goldfish crackers.  The 3-tiered boxes have cookies/crackers on the bottom, snack & fiber bars in the middle and assorted snack items on top.  The counter space has greatly increased!

I hope to get some more cabinets finished this week, although none of them were as chaotic as this one!

I'm linking up today with:
A Bowl Full of Lemons: One Project at a Time Linky Party & House of Grace: Organize your Life

Yummy in my Tummy...

 Inspired by THIS POST that I saw via Pinterest, when my future hubby decided we should make a pizza for dinner, I suggested a calzone.  Now, this isn't the first time we'd made a calzone, but I really wanted to try this braided technique mainly because it looked neat.  What a pleasant surprise it was that it also cooked more evenly.

As we were braiding the dough

 We bought a $.44 packet of pizza dough mix from the Wal*Mart.  We then filled it with ground beef, mini turkey pepperoni, black olives, onions, red sauce & mozzarella.  Bake according to directions on the packet and you're done!

Two suggestions:

1. Place the dough on your pan before filling and braiding it.  It took two of us using 2 spatulas to slide it off the counter top onto the baking sheet

2. Bake it on your broiler ban or a crisper sheet.  The added air circulation helps crisp up the bottom of the calzone as well.

Since making our first braid last week we have made 2 more with different fillings.  Here are our suggestions and I'd love for you to comment and give me your ideas as well!

Chicken, ranch, grated parm cheese, red/yellow/orange bell peppers & onions (also shredded cheese if you desire)

The "Runza" knock off (you'd have to be from Nebraska to get this reference, but even if you're not I would suggest trying it!)  Brown ground turkey/beef with onion, black pepper & minced garlic; Drain any fat;  Add a bag of shredded cabbage to the top of the pan; cover & cook until it all wilts down.  Season with salt or season-all to taste.  Place mixture into calzone and top with shredded cheese or cheese slices.  Braid it up and bake.  One of my all time favorites!

I've also seen this done with pie crust & pie fillings, but I haven't tried that...YET!

And now for dessert...

Cracklin Oat Bran, Banana, SF Chocolate Puddin, RediWhip

 Layer in  a mug or bowl Cracklin Oat Bran (or crushed graham crackers), Sliced bananas, Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding (or any flavor of your choice), more Cracklin Oat Bran, more bananas and top with Redi Whip!  

Easy Peasy!

What is your favorite quick & easy dessert for that evening sugar fix?

Good Morning Lord...

"He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep...The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul"

-Psalm 121: 3-4, 7

A quick recipe...

I REALLY need to go to the grocery store!  So what do you cook for dinner on a night like tonight? when there is NO food in the house?  Well, first you raid the leftovers, then you raid the pantry.

• 1 very large cooked chicken breast
• Handful of red/yellow/orange pepper slices (we always have these on hand for snacks & sandwiches)
• Some sliced onion (again, usually a staple in our fridge)
• Salsa & Taco Seasoning to taste
• Shredded cheese (found a package in the back of the freezer! yay!)
• Macaroni or any kind of noodles you keep on hand

 Put the noodles on to boil and heat some olive oil in a skillet.  Saute the peppers & onions until softened to your desire.  While those are cooking slice or cube your chicken breast.  I like to slice it thinly like you would get with fajitas.  My chicken was preseasoned with a bunch of garlic & black pepper.  Sprinkle your taco seasoning over the sauteed veggies and add a little bit of water to dissolve the powder.  At this point add your chicken to the pan and mix it all together.  Add some salsa on top and leave it covered on low until your pasta is done.  Drain pasta & add to skillet and toss to coat with the sauce you've created.  Portion on to plates and top with cheese and any other taco type toppings you may have on hand!  Easy as that :)

I wish I had a picture to show you how pretty the peppers made it look.  I love a good multi colored meal :)

Oh wedding registry...

...how I love thee!

I have finally decided up on the colors of dishes I want from Fiesta that will inspire the decor of the new kitchen that lives in my dreams.  Hey, c'mon now, if you can't have the whole thing at least you can fill your kitchen with pretty dishes, right?

So here is my color scheme:

source: www.fiestafactorydirect.com

I was inspired by these two rooms found via Apartment Therapy & the blog Hi Sugarplum! (see the very last picture of the kitchen).  I have been trying and trying to actually add the pictures in but blogger keeps crashing when I do, so you'll just have to do with the links.

Grama has my dream kitchen...

Well, not entirely, but my dream cupboards at least!  They built this house a few years ago and she got to have a lot of say in just how the kitchen was done, and did she ever make some great decisions!  And she looked at me a little funny when I asked if I could take pictures of her cabinets, but when I told her I wanted them for inspiration in my own home someday she smiled and said SURE!

She had to get 2 different sized pullout mechanisms to fit her cabinets perfectly.  But it makes the back of them so much more useful!

This one is set up for deeper items.

And who wouldn't want a custom spice rack built right onto the cabinet door?

The builder cut down the shelves inside of the cabinet to make sure it would close properly.

Now there is a place for everything and everything in its place!  Gramas are so smart.  I'm linking up with House of Grace on Organize my life to share my Grama inspiration!  Go check her out for some great cleaning & organizing tips.

What I did on my summer vacation Part 3 of 3: All the Random Stuff

Just to tie up loose ends, here are a few of the random pictures from the rest of our summer trip:

I had a hair appointment to get my lovely red hair back and to do a trial run of my wedding day style.  So here's a sneak peek just for you!

I visited my old High School where they have done some major renovations and was able to see my name up on the record boards still

They have also just began the Hall of Fame.  It would be such an honor to get inducted some day!

 

An impromptu dinner with whatever girls from my wedding could make it.  This is Beth, one of my bridesmaids.  We met in 4th grade in the Excel program and have been friends ever since.  We went to the same college and lived together for a few months before I took my job in NC

My maid of honor Amber also made it.  We met in college during Calculus II and it was the death of us, lol.  What can I say, she's my bestie :)

Also along for the day was my cousin Sam.  She had flown in from AZ for our family vacation and stayed a couple weeks with my grandparents.  She is 8 years younger than me, but the closest cousin in age that I have on that side of the family.  I'm so excited she will be able to make it back again in October for the wedding!

Back Story: Last year for Christmas my mom bought our 115lb. mastiff a bumble bee pillow pet for Christmas.  He loves it.  My mom, has a Yorkie.  So of course when I saw that they  now have pillow pet pee-wees I had to buy one for her!

What can I say, she loves it!

We ate dinner one night at Reg's 7 Mile Restaurant.  It is a great little restaurant inside a gas station.  You pay for your dinner at the gas station cash register which is surrounded by the bar.  Its great!  They also have much love for their local Husker players and my Dad's jersey is among those hanging from the ceiling!  Now to convince them they need my track uniform up there too!

Mom & I decorated a plain white pillow for my ringbearer...

...and a matching basket for my flowergirl!

We gave Bella a bath

She was less than thrilled

Chocolate chip cookie plus whipped cream? Yes, please.

What I did on my summer vacation Part 2 of 3: Tubing Down the Niobrara

As our summer vacation continued our next stop was home to Nebraska to visit family & friends.  It was my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary & they wanted to celebrate with a full family vacation.

 Awwwww.  Look at the happy couple!

So they decided that they wanted to take the family tubing down the Niobrara River in Northern Nebraska.  I was a bit nervous, not being a water person, but after a minor freak out when we first got on the tubes everything went well.  We rented out a cabin from Friday through Sunday and enjoyed every minute of our cramped living situations.

 Oak Cabin - Capacity 24

When they tell you a cabin will sleep 24 they do not mean comfortably.  We had 17 and while there were free beds we were definitely squished in.

Hanging out on the river.  Does that hat look familiar!

Those hats came in very handy with the heat and sun

A hung out in the water most of the day

Mom will probably beat me for posting this pic of her :)

Dad didn't want to tube so he brought his kayak from home and paddled along with us

Family Pic at Smith Falls, Nebraska's largest waterfall.  I bet you didn't know Nebraska even had waterfalls did ya?

Before we left for home.  One last pic with the amazing view from our cabin.

For the rest of our pictures check out our slideshow here: