Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hey y'all!! 

I hope you all are having a wonderful Thanksgiving!! AND, I hope you all are counting your blessings and remembering the true meaning behind this holiday. :) I woke up this morning and made a mental list that seemed to last forever of all the things I am thankful for. It made me so happy... if only I would start every day off just this way.

Mike and I are spending Thanksgiving together here in Jacksonville. Its just the 2 of us this year... Well and the dog... and the cats, cant leave them out ;)

 Although we wish we could be with the fam on this holiday, just us has been VERY relaxing. We have spent the entire day in our p.j.'s = AUUUHHMAZING.

We slept in till about 10, and still managed to catch some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Once that was over... it was turkey time. I have only made a turkey once before... and although I ended up cooking ours today with the gizzards still inside (my bad) lol... it still turned out great and really moist. (Another thing I was grateful for today)

Mike helped me prepare the turkey by injecting it with some yummy buttery spice mixture....

I did the rest... oiled up the top, s&p'd, pulled most of the stuff out of the turkey cavity, but like I said somehow I missed those DAMN gizzards... Hopefully the turkey was still okay to eat considering those darn things were still stuffed inside. I still feel okay now, so hopefully we're good.

After dinner...

My lil sister Chloe aka. my best friend, my therapist, my life coach -and my nephew River surprised me with a skype visit!!! I was so excited!! I miss Chloe so much and although I have yet to meet River in person, I miss him too! It HURTS not being able to be a bigger part of his life....  One of those negatives when you have to live far from close family. :(

Anyhow... Thank god for skype!! I at the very least get to interact a bit with him through the computer. Another thing to add to my "I am thankful for..." list.

Next month I will FINALLY get to meet the lil guy in person!! I might just have to kidnap him and take him back to North Carolina with me :) 

Today was so relaxing and definitely much needed!!

 Tomorrow... Ugh, back to my reality.

Yep, STUDYING like a mad person. 11 days till finals. YIKES!

OH, and I discovered yesterday that my 4.0 will no longer continue after this semester. I have a 91 in pre-clinic... and we are on a 7 point scale... with only one more assignment left, the highest I can make is a 92... a point shy from an A- so frustrating. But, I did my best... and I should be happy with that.

My study session will come to a screeching halt tomorrow at about 2:30 BECAUSE my HOGS (#3) Arkansas Razorbacks are playing their biggest game of the year- against the #1 team- LSU. It is going to be a TOUGH game. I'm not gonna lie, I am nervous! LSU is good (UGH, that hurts to type). To make this game even more interesting- I hate LSU with a passion. I have always hated LSU.... I have my reasons, I'll spare you because that rant could go on forever! To see them at #1 beats me up inside.

 PLLLLEEAASSEEE hogs, win tomorrow... please!!??

 Y'all have a goodnight... Oh, and for those of you that are insane aka. black Friday shoppers... good luck tomorrow and be careful! :)

Baby Showers Aren't Just For The Ladies :)

Over the weekend we hosted a guy/girl baby shower for my girlfriend Amanda and her husband Cory. In working up the plans for it, we decided to put a cookout spin to it… You know, make it more appealing to the guys…. We were a little worried that none of the guys would show up, leaving only Mike and Cory with a ton of chicks, BUT we ended up having great turn out… It was such a good time.

PLUS: I got to try out some more Pinterest ideas. Yay!

When I say I got to try out some Pinterest ideas… I really mean that practically everything about this shower was in one way or another Pinterest inspired. Thank you Pinterest! #seriously addicted

I made the tissue poms from tissue paper, and I also made the decals on the onsies. There is a one month, two month, three month… and so on. (so cute) If you are interested in trying out these ideas for yourself, you can find the tutorial for the poms here, and the printable decals here. Both were surprisingly easy to do. As for the printable decals, some printers have a setting to flip the image for iron on transfer paper, if yours doesn’t… just print off the backwards #’s.

And yet another awesome idea inspired by Pinterest…. Bubble Bath Punch. My only problem with this was that I couldn’t find blue Kool-Aid anywhere. I ended up having to go with purple which kinda defeated the bubble bath idea… looked more like dingy bath water, but it still turned out okay. The punch itself was delicious… great recipe, it can be found here. 

And as for our guest of honor… Alexis.

Yea, you can’t see her…. She’s hiding in Amanda’s belly, but we’ll see her soon! :)

And some more random shots from the party….

Amanda’s Shower VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Thank goodness for our friends letting us borrow this blow up jump house… The kidos had a blast jumping around in it. I was sort of shocked to see how this picture turned out- no one occupying it at the time. WOAH, definitely a rare moment.

As for the menu….we had tons of sweets… cake, cup cakes, pink rice crispy treats and these cute lil’ sandwiches… (the kids loved, LOVED these!)

Mini vanilla wafers with peanut butter, banana slices, and sprinkles! Here is the recipe for those.

Along with the sweets… we had barbeque chicken skewers, fruit skewers, brats, hamburgers, pasta salad, and a few various casseroles. Delicious! Mike and I have been feasting on leftovers since Saturday. Today, I finally caved and through out any sweet stuff we had left... I couldn’t quit eating it. Note to self: Never keep that stuff in the house!

Anyhow, I was so excited how everything turned out and couldn't wait to share the details with y’all. I think it was a perfect shower for Amanda, Cory, and Alexis. SUCCESS!

Well that’s it for today guys, gotta hit the books till I crash out. Hope all of you had a wonderful weekend!

CIAO

A Little Thought on Happiness

I’ve noticed lately that many people

think…

If I lived somewhere else, I would be happy

or

If I only had more money, I would be happy

or

If I had this item, then I would be happy

or

If my significant other would just do this, then I would be happy

or….

Well the list could go on for days.

Sometimes I think people put up barriers against happiness. Its like they make up any and every excuse to be miserable…. almost as if their ultimate goal is to be unhappy and make others have sympathy for them.

I started noticing this as people around me were telling me how miserable they are living where they live… How miserable they are because they’ve gained weight… How miserable they are with their spouse, because they no longer do something they used to do… 

Blah, Blah, Blah….

Do I sound a little insensitive? Well, I kind of am. You see, I am a little sick of seeing the people I love be unhappy because they would rather seek sympathy and blame everything around them for their unhappiness. Is this easier? :/

I realize everyone has their ups and downs, I know I do…  For many its a struggle to find that happy place within… I’ve struggled. But through all the ups, downs, and struggles… I have learned one thing…

 Happiness is a choice. Its found within yourself… not in others, or money, or location…

Yes, those things may contribute to your happiness at times, but real consistent happiness is found within.

So if you are one of those people that keep making every excuse under the sun to not be happy. STOP!! Make changes, and smile.

Life’s to short to be miserable all the time.

 

OK, I’ve said my peace. Hopefully those around me that really need to read this post, do!

Hope you all are having a fabulous Sunday! Off to clean my car with a smile… haha… CIAO!

We’re Going to MIAMI!!

I have to brag a bit… BECAUSE I am so EXCITED!!!!

Since my husband is an amazing driver and won 1st place in The NASCAR Simulation Race, we won the grand prize : An all expense paid trip to MIAMI and tickets to the NASCAR championship race!!! WOOO HOOO!!!!!

I have never won anything before…. and well- technically it was Mike that won, I still consider it was the both of us- we are married!! What's his is mine right!? hehe

We are so excited!!

 

Crazy BUSY Life!

Hey guys, sorry I have totally NEGLECTED my blog lately... :(

Since school started, life for me has been non-stop! Dental Hygiene school..... Study, STUDY, study!

Although it seems like I have done nothing BUT studying... I have been up to a lil more than just that. I'm glad I finally found some time to catch y'all up on what's been going down! :)

First off...

Last weekend was RACE weekend for me. My first ever 1/2 marathon!:)

Although waking up at 4am to run 13.1 miles does not sound like fun, it really was! I cant wait to do another one! And then eventually be able to scratch off "Run a full marathon" off my bucket list.

Here's some shots from the trip...

Day 1… Pick up our numbers and everything we need for the race, and then go SHOPPING!!

Unfortunately, shopping didn't turn out how I had wanted it to!! I got to the point that I was just looking for the most hideous outfit to try on for a laugh… Jessica and I definitely got a laugh out of this jumper thingy? YUCK! What is going on with the trends this season???…

Day 2… RACE DAY!! starting at 4 a.m. YIKES!

My running buddy Jessica and I- still 1/2 asleep- trying to wake the HELL up!! You cant run asleep people!

Running, running, running…. Are we there yet???

WE MADE IT!!

I finished in 2 hours and 9 minutes… I was shooting for under 2 but I was satisfied with 9 over.

The best part of Rock & Roll 1/2 Marathon’s…. the concert!! Brett Michaels- not bad.

As for this weekend…

Mike was chosen to race the NASCAR simulator for a chance to win a trip to Miami. We woke up early this A.M. and went to check it out.

He got 1st place!!! So far no one has beat him yet!!! YAY!

As long as no one beats his time by 6p.m. tonight that trip is OURS!!! How awesome would that be??!! Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Then it was time to take Mike’s new toy out for a spin.

But first, I NEEDED a helmet! Mike already made it clear to me that I was not allowed to get a pink one. Damn, he knows me to well!!! And there were some nice pink ones. He wins… I ended up getting a shiny black one. I was so excited to get my very own helmet, I wore the thing all the way back home….

I am a dork. OH!…but I do have a plan…. As I said, Mike stated that I could NOT get a pink helmet …. BUT he never said I couldn’t put hot pink stickers all over it (my plan)… and maybe I win! HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Tonight we will be stuck to the TV as we get to watch our HOGS play! For those of you that don’t already know…. We are HUGE Arkansas Razorback FANS!!

WOOOOO PIG WOOOIE!!

 

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!!

Toddles!

OH... Back to SCHOOL.

Today was my first day of Dental Hygiene school!!! :)

 

Rockin' scrubs and tennis shoes all day really AIN'T BAD y'all! :)

But carrying all this crap around was... I think I am going to have to become an official dork and purchase a rolly...

On second thought, I might just have to break my back before I can resort to that ... yuk!

The weekend before last... [gosh, I'm jus catchin up...] The class of 2012 threw all of us newbies a Dental Hygiene School Welcome BBQ. Below is my "big sister" Jennifer and I. She will be like my mentor throughout the first year.... She's super sweet and I've known her for a while. Jennifer works as a dental assistant at the dentist I go to, and we have taken a few classes together in the past. Glad she got assigned to me!

And here are some of my fellow newbies... It was quite hilarious when the instructors were calling us Freshman's today. Freshman? Are you kidding me? We have all been busting out 4.0's to get into this program! Craziness I TELL YOU!

There are 22 students in my class and somehow there are 3 Amy's. Why couldn't my mom have given me my sisters "cool" name.... Chloe Grace Isabelle.... she even got a second middle name!! I've always been a little jealous. Amy is so mainstream.

I have a feeling Dental Hygiene school will be a lot different from what I have been doing. It almost feels like a sorority... I will be spending A LOT of time with these 22 people over the next 2 years. Everyone seems so nice; I cant wait to really get to know all of them!

OH...

I also got back to work today... even though I'll only be working 12 hours a week, I am glad I didn't quit entirely. I don't want to feel guilty for spending a little cheese here and there. So this is my remedy... 12 hours a week = no guilt. LOL.

Off to study.... Hope you all had an amazing weekend!! CIAO.

Meal Planning... Do you do it?

It may seem a bit boring, but if you want to...

a. save money

b. take out the guess work on "whats for dinner?"

c. save time

d. impress your husband

&

e. have more QT with your fam

...then you should be planning out weekly meals.

  

[from: Google images]

At our house, we try to stick to a budget of $100 weekly for groceries. And we try to eat healthy, always...

Without meal planning our budget + healthy eating goes out the window pretty quickly... Since we, well maybe I should say I :)... started planning out our weekly meals we have had no problems staying within budget & have even avoided the fast food joints for the most part.

 Plus, its so nice to wake up and already know what you will be having for dinner- with no grocery pit stops on the agenda. :)

There are probably tons of ways to get a plan together... mine is pretty simple and to the point.

I first dig through my cookbooks, or browse for recipes online. A few sites I love...
www.allrecipes.com
www.kraftfoods.com
www.delish.com
www.realsimple.com

I pick 6 recipes that I know my husband and I will both like, then compile a list of ingredients minus the items I already have. I add in a few snack items, breakfast stuff, lunch stuff, toiletry stuff... and I'm off to the grocery store.

Couponing prior would be wonderful as well... but I just haven't found time to clip or search. Maybe someday!

I then post up a little list on the fridge so the hubby knows whats up, and I'm done.

I get to come home, have everything I need to prepare dinner, make dinner, and enjoy it with my man!


[from: Google images]

Try it out if you aren't already on board. I think you will be pleasantly surprised how simple planning can be such an incredible time and stress saver.
CIAO luvs.