Harvest Home

my first skinny recipe

2012-01-22T18:23:00.000-06:00

I'm not really sure how I haven't come across www.skinnytaste.com before, but now that I know about Gina's recipes I won't miss any of them! I especially love that her recipe posts list how many Weight Watchers points the recipe is.

This past week I attempted to make my first "skinny" recipe - Skinny Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy and Skinny Garlic Mashed Potatoes. I loved the mashed potatoes, which is hard to believe since they didn't have but a tablespoon of butter in them! Our small town grocery store didn't have lean turkey as the recipe calls for so I had to use two pounds of lean ground beef. I followed the recipe exaclty as it called for, but next time I make this I will probably cook the patties completely through instead of just browing the sides before adding to sauce. I browned the sides of the patties and then set them aside and they still needed some cooking time. I sauteed the mushrooms, added the patties back to the skillet, and added the sauce, but by the time my patties were fully cooked my mushrooms were starting to burn and my sauce was becoming less! It turned out to be very tasty and I will definitely make this again - but maybe with a little more sauce - the farmer loves lots of sauce, but then of course, the point value of this recipe may increase :)

If you need a good meal to add to your menu lineup this week, try this one!

Here's the links to the recipes on Gina's website.

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/01/skinny-salisbury-steak-with-mushroom.html

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/03/garlic-mashed-potatoes-3-ww-points.html

Christmas Update - just a little late :)

2012-01-16T12:41:00.004-06:00

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, but in the past two years it has become a little more entertaining. With the birth of our nephew and niece our Christmas has been anything other than quiet! Michael turned two right before Christmas this year so he was all into helping pass out gifts, ripping paper off of his gift and everyone else's, and playing with ALL his gifts at the same time. He was a little overwhelmed!

The farmer's grandmother - she could hold that baby all day long.

The little entertainer!

The farmer's sister and her husband

The farmer and I :)

The boy's got a redneck wine glass - they loved it!

My MIL looooves Christmas fairies. They creep me out, but I add one to her collection every year.

One of Michael's gifts from Aunt Whit and Uncle Matt - a landscaping set! He loves to work outside with his dad in the yard.

and the best gift of the whole night....

a DRUM SET! We HAD to get him one! :)

Papaw and Granna got him a John Deere Tractor. He was a little overwhelmed by big gifts. He put his landscaping set in the back of his tractor and would run back and forth driving his tractor and playing his drum set.

The house got pretty loud with Michael and Uncle Matt playing the drums, but it didn't phase little Mia one bit! She was just taking it all in :)

Michael managed to find my boots in all the Christmas mess. He was quite a ham trying to walk in them :)

I leave you with a video of Michael playing his drums, he loved them! Papaw and Granna were glad to send them back home with Michael :)

I know I'm a little late on the Christmas update, but I hope everyone had a good holiday season :)

santa fe salad with chili-lime dressing

2012-01-04T19:30:00.002-06:00

Well I decided the week before Christmas to start Weight Watchers. Probably not such a great idea! I did lose 2 1/2 pounds the first week, 1/2 pound the second week, but lo and behold I gained a pound the third week, which doesn't seem that horrible considering we had two huge Christmas dinners plus munching with family the whole week between Christmas and New Years. I'm trying to get back on track this week. Breakfast and lunch aren't too hard for me, but dinner on the other hand gets a little tough since the farmer usually has a large appetite :)

Thanks to the wonderful world of Pinterest I found a Weight Watchers recipe for Santa Fe Salad with Chili-Lime Dressing for a whopping 3 points! That is a Weight Watchers dream come true :) Well, in true Whitney fashion, I turn a healthy recipe into a not as healthy recipe! Ha! But not too terribly bad. In all honesty, this salad was quite delicious!

A few notes about how I prepared the salad:

*Our small town grocery store must have had a large demand for reduced-calorie mayonnaise because there was none, zero, zilch. So, I had to resort to regular mayonnaise.

*I left out the cilantro. Those that know me well know I HATE cilantro!

*Back to that small town grocery store - no scallions so I substituted substituted chopped green onions.

*The farmer hates beans just about as much as I hate cilantro. He will not even touch a bean, unless it's a green bean. I'm not a big fan of black beans so I opted for Ranch Style Beans, washed well, and only added to my salad to give it a little extra flavor.

*I made one batch of dressing and thought it was a little extra "limey". I made a second batch to add to the first (wanted some extra for lunch tomorrow) and left out the lime. It was just the perfect hint of lime. I'm not so big on lime either :)

*OH, and I added a few tortilla chips - see, I started turning it into a not so healthy recipe! And added some fajita chicken. Ha!

I had made Tortilla Soup on Monday night so we had some leftover. This salad paired with a little bowl of tortilla soup was quite a tasty meal!

Santa Fe Salad with Chili Lime Dressing

6 Tbsp reduced-calorie mayonnaise

3 Tbsp cilantro, finely chopped

3 Tbsp water

1 medium uncooked scallion(s), minced

1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp chili powder

15 oz canned black beans, rinsed and drained

1 1/2 cups cooked corn kernels, fresh or frozen

2 cups grade tomatoes

1 medium sweet red peppers, cut into thin strips

8 cups romaine lettuce

To make dressing, in a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, cilantro, water, scallion, lime juice, sugar, and chili powder until smooth. Transfer to a jar or a plastic container wiht a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate until ready to use.

In a large bowl or food storage container, layer remaining ingredients in order listed; cover and refrigerate.

To serve, spoon salad ingredients into a bowl. Shake dressing and then drizzle dressing over salad; toss well to coat.

introducing mia margaret :)

2011-12-27T19:10:00.005-06:00

I'll go ahead and warn you now that this post is FULL of pictures! All cute of course :)

Better late than never that I introduce my precious niece, Mia Margaret Spingola! She was born on October 17 and is doing great. Little Mia and her brother Michael are here this week for Christmas and we are having so much fun with them!

We arrived in Dallas the day before Mia's birthday and were greeted with a home cooked meal by Michael himself! He was serving us all kinds of food he cooked in his new kitchen.

It was such a beautiful day outside so we went outside to play and do boy things and give him our undivided attention as an only child one more day :)

The farmer and his sister, Ashley looking very good considering she was soon to give birth!

the day had arrived!

Uncle Matt kept him entertained!

Dad came out to let us know she had arrived :)

Michael finally got to meet his little sister! He was a little unsure at first, but loves her now!

Welcome to the world Mia Margaret Spingola!

Uncle Matt had one job - to entertain big brother :)

Well, I'm glad you got to meet the cutest little addition to our family! We are so happy to have them home for the holidays. Christmas hasn't happened yet with the farmer's family - our brother in law was on call during Christmas so he'll be in Friday for Christmas so we have more fun to come!

wishing you a merry christmas

2011-12-23T15:20:00.000-06:00

The farmer and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. May you be blessed during this most wonderful time of the year!

a new direction but a fun one!

2011-12-05T17:27:00.001-06:00

About two years ago, as most of you know, the physical doors of Park Street Market closed as I had finished my Masters Degree and my mother-in-law was about to have her first grand baby that was six hours away - long story short...life happened. I couldn't fathom closing it completely and never having anything else to do with it. I opened up an online boutique, but didn't dedicate a whole lot of time to it because I was trying to figure out a new direction. I was doing quite a bit of custom home decor ordering, doing a little bit of invitation ordering, but ultimately not keeping up with the website. I've kind of been in limbo on what direction to take next.

Fast forward four months ago when my mom and I began talking about vinyl design and purchased my first vinyl machine. It took me a while to get my creative juices flowing again and I now absolutely love it! I decided maybe I had finally found a new direction for my little home based business :)

It's been fun coming up with new ideas and business has picked up through Facebook and word of mouth. I am getting all the details worked out on what I'll be offering as far as colors, etc and plan to update my website finally!

I will still offer other personalized items as needed such as personalized stamps, etc. and I am still doing some custom decor ordering for people wanting to remodel their house or just need a home makeover. I still love that aspect, but refocusing :)

Now I have a challenge for you! I am throwing around the idea of renaming Park Street Market since I am no longer on Park Street and am doing more personalized items. If you have a great idea for a new name and I use your idea or part of your idea I'll send a free personalized tumbler your way :) A win win for both of us!

You can email your ideas to whitneylkelly@gmail.com.

how do you know you are a teacher?

2011-11-30T21:32:00.001-06:00

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TEACHER?

Jeff Foxworthy

1. You can hear 25 voices behind you and know exactly which one
belongs to the child out of line.

2. You get a secret thrill out of laminating something.

(I do love laminating!)

3. You walk into a store and hear the words "It's Ms/Mr. _________" and know you have been spotted.

4. You have 25 people that accidentally call you Mom/Dad at one
time or another.

(I just got called Mom yesterday :) )

5. You can eat a multi-course meal in under twenty-five minutes.

(and you eat lunch at 10:35 AM - practically breakfast!)

6. You've trained yourself to go to the bathroom at two distinct
times of the day: lunch and prep period.

7. You start saving other people's trash, because most likely, you
can use that toilet paper tube or plastic butter tub for something in
the classroom.

(I did use paper towel tubes and toilet paper tubes last year!)

8. You believe the teachers' lounge should be equipped with a margarita machine.

9. You want to slap the next person who says "Must be nice to
work 7 to 3 and have summers off."

(It's NOT an easy job!)

10. You believe chocolate is a food group.

11. You can tell if it's a full moon without ever looking outside.

(SOOO TRUE! Goodness gracious!)

12. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone
says "Boy, the kids sure are mellow today."

13. You feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct their behavior when you are out in public.

14. You believe in aerial spraying of Ritalin.

15. You think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.

16. You spend more money on school stuff than you do on your own
children.

17. You can't pass the school supply aisle without getting at least five
items!

18. You ask your friends if the left hand turn he just made was
a "good choice or a bad choice."

(I ask if that was a good choice or bad choice ALL THE TIME.)

19. You find true beauty in a can full of perfectly sharpened pencils.

20. You are secretly addicted to hand sanitizer and finally,

21. You understand instantaneously why a child behaves a certain
way after meeting his or her parents.

(Couldn't be more true!!!)

my birthday gift

2011-11-17T18:30:00.001-06:00

I am so excited to be posting from my new iPhone 4s! It arrived today and was my birthday gift from the farmer. I was so excited to get the delivery confirmation email and rushed home after school to get it!

So far I'm liking it and finally introduced myself to Siri. She is pretty amazing! Matt was amazed when he said "call Matt" and it started dialing his number! I'm not sure how often I will use her services, but it's nice to know she's available at all times!

In this weird way I feel sorry for computers...like they have feelings, ha. But I have decreased my time on my laptop tremendously since I got an iPhone several years ago. Yes I will always need and use it to edit photos, do vinyl design work (a new venture!), manage websites, etc. but I can count on my hand how many times I've used my computer for "social networking" and Internet searching in the past few months. I guess it's a good thing that it doesn't understand that it has somewhat been replaced! :)

And I can't believe I just wrote a whole blog post about my phone.

Oh me!

old woman here.

2011-11-14T21:18:00.001-06:00

Oh, do I have so much to blog about! The farmer and I have a new niece, Mia, who is just adorable, my birthday, new offerings from Park Street Market, some photography updates, and more!

So why haven't I blogged about them yet? Good question! This time change has KICKED MY BUTT and I have found myself in bed around 8:00 every night during the week! Old woman here. This old woman will be back this week, I PROMISE, to update you all....just in case ya'll are interested! :)

a friendly reminder

2011-10-22T13:27:00.000-05:00

I have never met Lenzi, but we have several mutual friends, and although I've never met her in real life, I think she is so sweet :) I started following her blog several months ago. Several days ago she posted a blog about Andy Rooney's final commentary on 60 minutes. I loved what she had to say about it so I thought I'd share. Sometimes I need to be reminded of this myself.

My favorite line was "I've done a lot of complaining here, but of all the things I've complained about, my life isn't one of them."

So here's a friendly reminder to me and to you:

Create a life for yourself that you'll never have to complain about.

Relax. Take chances. Go places. Have lots of fun.

Be kind. Do what you love to do.

The rest always takes care of itself.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

2011-10-20T18:25:00.001-05:00

Who jumped up and down this morning because it was cold outside??? ME! I have on long sleeves, skinny jeans, and boots today and it feels soooo good! I hope this weather is here to stay, but I am sure warm days will come again soon.

Since fall weather has made an appearance today it was the perfect chance to make a pot of soup...just something about cold weather and pulling out the soup pot! One of my best friends shared this recipe with me for Broccoli Cheese Soup. We made it for a soup lunch we were working and it was the first soup to sell out. I'm sure there are other good recipes out there, but this one is yummy and EASY!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

4 chicken bouillon cubes
1 1/2 quarts water
2 1/2 cups diced potatoes
1 cup diced celery (optional)
1/2 cup diced onion
1 20 oz. frozen chopped broccoli
2 cans cream of chicken
1 lb. Velveeta, diced

Bring cubes, water, potatoes, celery, and onion to a boil. Turn down and cook for 20 minutes. Add broccoli and cook 10 minutes. Add soup and cheese. Turn to low and stir until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

By the way, I have a new niece :) Mia Margaret was born Monday morning at 8:19 AM. She was 8 lbs, 10 oz and is just adorable! She gets a post dedicated to herself soon!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

cute classroom inspiration feature!

2011-10-11T18:08:00.005-05:00

About a month ago I "met" Melanie Ralbusky, designer and creator of Schoolgirl Style. I like to say that we have a lot in common. Melanie is a teacher and self-taught decorator who "has a passion for decorating and all things pretty". We both came from a building background so we appreciate good design! Because of her love of all things teaching and decorating she created a classroom decorating site.

"While searching the web, Melanie came across several blogs related to party decorating and this instantly gave Melanie an idea…she needed to create a classroom decorating site for teachers! Melanie would use her talents to create classroom themes that were cute, trendy and stylish, as well as design her own coordinated tags, nameplates, and banners to give classrooms a designer look. This seemed to balance Melanie’s two loves; teaching and decorating, thus the creation of Schoolgirl Style! Melanie believes that your classroom should reflect who you are as an individual and a teacher. A thoughtful, organized, and “put together” classroom exudes excitement and enthusiasm for your profession. It is important to create a learning environment where children feel celebrated and enjoy coming each day. Melanie is excited to help teachers with their decorating dilemmas and offer classroom decorating inspiration to teachers everywhere!"

Now to those of you that aren't teachers and don't follow teaching blogs, this doesn't mean much to you, but I have a confession to make. I AM ADDICTED TO TEACHING BLOGS. Within the past few months I have subscribed to at least 20 teaching blogs - they are such a great resource for teachers! And Melanie's blog is one of those :) Such cute inspiration!

So, the point of introducing you to Melanie...

This sweet lady featured my classroom on her blog today as one of her "Cute Classroom Inspirations"! I was so excited that she chose mine as one to feature and of course I want to share the news with you! Just click on the button below :)

football and chocolate.

2011-09-26T21:04:00.002-05:00

Before I share a very delicious, very tempting chocolate recipe with you I must comment on the current status of my beloved Texas Aggies. This Aggie had high hopes that they would pull out a win this weekend against Oklahoma State, but it seems that we get a little cocky and can't seem to play in the second half. And end up throwing the freaking game AWAY. Even though we only lost by one point (thanks to OSU's intentional (I think) safety in the last few seconds) a loss is a loss, but I will stay true to my team.

And while I am very excited about the official announcement tonight about the Aggies joining the SEC, I dread the first game against Alabama. Until then I hope we beat the mess outta Arkansas in five days! I've been informed that if we beat Arkansas this year that the farmer is moving to the farm trailer for a week. I've also been asked to not rub it in. Although the Razorbacks got their backside kicked by Alabama on Saturday, that doesn't mean they will get it kicked this week. Just sayin'.

I don't really care about football. Can you tell?

Moving right along to a very delicious chocolate cake recipe. The occasion was my mother-in-law's birthday and while I could have made a half recipe for just her I failed to resist temptation and made one to keep for myself. The farmer can't stay away either so needless to say our half of the cake was gone two days later.

There are no cutting calories in this recipe so just suck it up and forget about eating healthy.

In a saucepan, combine margarine, water, and cocoa.

While the margarine and cocoa mixture is boiling, sift together flour and sugar.

Once it starts to boil, mix with the flour and sugar mixture and beat until well blended.

At this point you will get too caught up in cooking to remember you are taking pictures. Add buttermilk, eggs, soda, and vanilla. Beat until all ingredients are mixed well. Pour into your pan and bake for 20 minutes.

While the cake is baking, bring margarine, cooca, and milk to a boil.

Remove from heat and add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat with mixer until creamy.

Pour over the cake which is resting on your desk because your kitchen is an absolute disaster and there is not one single piece of counter space available until you clean up your mess.

(I really had NO counter space for the cake to sit and I have quite a bit of counter space! I had utensils, pots, mixer, flour, sugar, etc. EVERYWHERE. Quite embarrasing. In my defense I was cooking Poppy Seed Chicken at the same time.)

Once the icing hardens just a little, get you a fork and dig in. But try to stop after the first bite.

It's hard my friend, trust me, it's hard.

Chocolate Sheath Cake

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 sticks margarine
1 cup water
4 teaspoons cocoa
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Sift flour and sugar together. In sauce pan, bring to boil margarine, water, and cocoa. After it is boiling, add to flour and sugar mixture and beat until blended. Add buttermilk, eggs, soda, and vanilla. Continue beating until all ingredients are mixed well. Pour into 11x15 pan and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

While baking, start the icing.

Icing:
1 stick margarine
4 teaspoons cocoa
6 tablespoons milk
1 box (16 oz) powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Bring margarine, cocoa, and milk to a boil. Mix well. Remove from heat and add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat with mixer until creamy. Pour over cake as soon as it is removed from oven.

Food Finds

2011-09-17T14:21:00.001-05:00

This girl must have needed sleep. I woke up at 10:15 this morning and it felt wonderful! Just in time for Pioneer Woman on Food Network. She made strip steak sandwiches, which I have made for the farmer and I. They are delicious if you are a steak sandwich kinda gal. I added some Swiss cheese which made them a little more fattening, but great. Here's a link to the recipe :)

The Marlboro Man Sandwich

In other food news, I made two new discoveries this week that I love!

This little bag of red potatoes is so cute and it's just enough for the farmer and I. You can boil them or microwave them (I microwaved) and you don't have to buy a large bag of potatoes.

I saw these in Walmart this week and took them for lunch this week and loved them! I bought Apple Cinnamon, but other flavors include Apple Pear and Pineapple Mango. You heat up the fruit bowl and then add the crisp and you have a quick little fruit crisp! I will definitely add these to my grocery list again :)

I must get back to a day of productiveness! Sprayed the weed infested flower beds and have worked on a wreath for a friend...now to clean out for a garage sale. Not sure what's wrong with my lazy Saturday self!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Family Beach Pictures

2011-09-07T20:57:00.000-05:00

I blogged a few months ago about our family beach trip to Destin. We had thought about taking family photos while on the beach and all took clothes for pictures, but didn't really have a plan except my camera and a tripod. Ultimately I wanted another photographer to take our pictures! My wish was granted when we were touring other condos to stay at next year and we saw a flyer for Pure 7 Studios. Lindsay, at the studio, was so prompt and accommodating! We called on a Wednesday and had pictures taken Friday night. The photographer was so personable. It started raining the minute we got in the car to head to the beach location, but the good Lord stopped the rain for 30 minutes - just enough time to get our family portraits taken :) My nephew was sick while we were taking the pictures, but he was such a trooper!

Once you see the pictures you will see why we are all in love!

sweet words from a sweet friend

2011-09-04T21:30:00.001-05:00

One of my oldest and dearest friends, Ashlea, blogs over at Somewhere Down in Texas about life with her husband Drew and their precious dogs, cooking, and their new life in Savannah, GA.

Her family and my family were very close friends growing up and used to take Christmas vacations together every year of our childhood until we got to high school when life seemed to stay busy with extracurricular activities. (I think I could do a whole blog on stories from our vacations!) Her oldest sister Alison was a year older than me and Ashlea a year younger and we were three of a kind back in the day. Some of my fondest memories are with Alison and Ashlea and I'm pretty sure our parents got tired of us singing for them and putting on our own little shows for them!

While our families are still good friends we don't get to see each other very often, but with Facebook and now Ashlea's blog, it's a little easier to keep up with their life and the new set of twins in their family. Alison has a new set of twins - Will and Kate - they are precious! Ashlea is a fellow Aggie so that makes her extra special ;) Crossing my fingers that her little sis Ashton is an Aggie soon too!

Ashlea is all about cooking lately and her latest blog featured a bread recipe that I shared a while back. She had the sweetest words to say about my blog!

"I was also craving some homemade bread and remembered my lifelong friend, Whitney, blogging about an easy and tasty recipe a while back. You can find the recipe here at her super cute blog. Even if you're not interested in the bread you should check out her blog Harvest Home, she's a real life farmer's wife and shares great recipes and cooking tips! She's also a great photographer, an elementary school teacher,a pampered chef consultant,
and runs her own online boutique, Park Street Market. She's also an Aggie, but that's neither here nor there ;) The bread turned out scrumptious just as she promised; I made several little loaves to share with my co-workers."

Thanks Ashlea for the sweet words! Good luck in your cooking adventures - I have complete faith in you! :)

If you want a new blog to read go check hers out!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

through the eyes of my iphone

2011-08-31T21:19:00.001-05:00

I have thought about blogging every day since my last post, but I have been too tired to turn on the computer! Who would have known that 14 5 year olds could wear you down so quickly??? I finally downloaded an app on my phone last night where I can blog from my phone so maybe I'll frequent the blog a little more :) I sure don't have a problem frequenting all your blogs because my Google Reader has plenty of reading waiting on me each night!

My mom was up for a doctor's appointment a few weeks ago and we decided to stop in on a flea market here in town that I had passed everyday, but never stopped in. Glad we did because I found this cute chair! My plan right now is to paint it orange and antique it...we will see how it turns out.

September is a huge month for Pampered Chef because there is a whole line of new products available tomorrow! One of the new products is the Simple Slicer - and it truly is SIMPLE! Look for a product highlight soon! I love it!

One of my students is in love with all things owls. Owl bedspread at home, owl backpack, owl lunchbox. When she walked in my room and saw owls she was sooo happy! She had surgery on the second day of school and was out for a week and when she returned she had these two happys for me :) Her mom said she wanted to buy me something to remember her by if she is ever sick again! So thoughtful!

Please forgive me for posting a picture of a picture because you will not be able to fully see the wonderfulness in the photo below. This, my friends, is a 20x40 canvas that my mother-in-law ordered from our family photo session on the beach and I AM IN LOVE! I am convinced that this is the best photo our family has taken together and for sure one of the best pictures of the farmer I've seen. He must have been enjoying his vacation :) I am anticipating the arrival of the photo CD so I can order prints for my own home. The only dilemma with this huge photo is now finding a wall in my in-laws house to hang it!

heath bar cake

2011-08-21T18:14:00.000-05:00

Heath Bar Cake = suuuuper delicious.

The first time I made this cake was for my father-in-law's birthday several years ago and he fell in love. I hadn't made it in a while and needed to make a cake for a church fundraiser and my mom suggested I do the Heath Bar Cake. If you want to make the church folk happy just make a good cake! I was in a time crunch that day so I didn't snap a picture of it, but I snagged this one online and it looks identical to mine :)

via acesfavoritedishes.blogspot.com

Heath Bar Cake

1 pkg. German Chocolate cake mix
1 can Eagle Brand Milk
1 jar Hot Fudge Sundae Sauce, heated
6 Heath Bars, crushed
1 8 oz. Cool Whip

Prepare cake mix according to package. Bake in a 9x13 pan. Let cool 10 minutes.

Poke holes over entire cake. Pour condensed milk into all holes and then top with heated fudge sauce. Make sure fudge gets into all the holes.

Mix crushed Heath bars with Cool Whip. When cake has completely cooled, spread Cool Whip mixture over cake.

Serve and enjoy!

starting school and pinning madness!

2011-08-14T17:53:00.000-05:00

Well, this day has come sooner than later - school starts TOMORROW! Our school had open house Thursday night so I have met several of my students and am excited about the upcoming year ;) I am very lucky to only have 13 students so I foresee lots of FUN!

I have spent days and days getting my room and things ready for tomorrow, but today I'm taking a break from thinking about work. Instead I have found myself on the couch catching up on blogs, Facebook, and spending some time browsing Pinterest. I've never really spent much time on Pinterest, but people keep talking about it, so I gave in! It is a good source for creative ideas - for the home, for school, yummy recipes, and DIY. Here are a few of my favorites so far!

This is a DIY at the top of my list for the holidays :) I may opt for hanging it inside due to the insanly windy thunderstorms we have.

Source: bluecricketdesign.net via Whitney on Pinterest

I wish I had seen these earlier and I would have made them in time for the first day of school for my little owls!

Source: stampinconnection.com via Whitney on Pinterest

I'm waiting for the next family gathering to try out this Easy Pecan Pie. Nothing quite so great as a good southern pecan pie.

Source: elizabethannsrecipebox.com via Whitney on Pinterest

And one day this will be my child's nursery. Oh my goodness! I am in LOVE!

Since school does start tomorrow the housework hanging over my head should probably get done today (dirty dishes and laundry - yuck) because tomorrow I will be beat! My mother-in-law must think so too because she's already planning to have dinner here ready for us :)

Good luck to everyone starting school tomorrow!

smoky chicken fettuccini

2011-07-30T12:55:00.002-05:00

I've prepared this recipe at two Pampered Chef parties and it is yummy! It's an easy fix and there are a few shortcuts to make it a super quick recipe. If you've been to a Pampered Chef party you will know there is no time for taking pictures so no pictures for this recipe, but when I make it at home I'll be sure to document it with the camera!

For this recipe I used the Pampered Chef Manual Food Processor and Professional Shears and both products were ordered at the party. These are two kitchen neccessities!

The Pampered Chef exclusive heavy-duty shears are perfect for kitchen prep and other household tasks: cutting through chicken bones, trimming meats and veggies, snipping herbs, cutting twine and fresh flowers...the list goes on and on! The springloaded design and ergonomic soft-grip handles help you do it all comfortably. Includes a protective storage cover. Dishwasher safe.

Just drop in ingredients and pump the handle! Our unique curved blades chop, slice, and blend ingredients in seconds. The more you pump, the finer the cuts. Includes a handle lock for convenient storage, measure marks for easy measuring, and nonskid base for stability. 3 cups. Vessel and blade post are dishwasher safe.

To purchase these items and much more, visit my Pampered Chef website at www.pamperedchef.biz/whitneykelly.

Smoky Chicken Fettuccini

8 oz fettuccini, broken in half
1 cup frozen peas
6 slices bacon
6 garlic cloves
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 coarsely chopped bell pepper
2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 cup half and half
2 oz grated smoked Provolone cheese
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp snipped fresh parsley

Cook pasta according to package directions. Add peas to pasta; drain.

Cut bacon into 1/2 inch pieces. Cook bacon in skillet over medium heat 8-10 minutes or until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet; drain on paper towels. Drain grease from skillet. Do not wipe out.

Thinly slice garlic. Add garlic, onion, and bell pepper to skillet. Cook over medium heat 2-3 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add pasta, peas, bacon, chicken, half and half, cheese, black pepper, and salt to skillet; toss well to coat. Cook and stir over medium heat 8-10 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened and mixture is hot. Sprinkle with parsley; serve immediately.

Yield: 6 servings

a few recipe notes :)

*This recipe is just as yummy if you don't use peas. If you are like me, green peas are not tasty!
*The professional shears are great for dicing the chicken and bacon. The manual food processor is a quick tool to use to dice the onion and bell pepper.
*The past two times I've made this recipe we haven't been able to fine grated smoked Provolone cheese so you will have to grate or thinly slice your cheese.
*I use minced garlic ;)

beach bum

2011-07-26T20:41:00.000-05:00

I have a little confession. The reason I haven't posted in a while is because:

1. I have started reading blogs on Google Reader and I can't stop! Too busy reading to post.

2. I have discovered the world of teaching blogs and one leads to another which leads to another, etc. and that's ALL I do! Have gotten some great ideas and considering starting one and/or selling teaching products online.

3. I was in Destin for a week laying on the white sandy beaches playing and reading "The Help" and while I loved the sun, I also loved umbrella life. I have been given the name "beach bum" by my family because when no one else would be on the beach, I would be!

Which brings me to my picture overload :)

the view outside our condo.

the farmer and our nephew who LOVES his uncle matt. and loved looking at the water during breakfast each morning!

the kid was in LOVE with the water! uncle matt got a workout dipping him in and out of the water. just try to overlook the farmer's "farmer tan" - such a true depiction of the phrase.

dinner at "the back porch"

we were total beach bums!

captain michael in his boat!

my WONDERFUL in-laws who took us to Florida!

my brother-in-law had to work all week (short notice trip!) so he flew down on Friday to spend the weekend. weather was not so great on Saturday, but we got some beach time in!

our last dinner was at McGuire's Irish Pub and was the best meal by far!

home of "the grand burger" that cost...

$100! That was not ordered at our table!

guess we could have borrowed some money from the ceiling ;)

Poor little Michael had fever most of the week, but it was still a great vacation! Condo is already booked for next year :) I probably shouldn't start counting down the days. It might be a long year. But, I CAN'T WAIT!

I have a Pampered Chef party Thursday night - stay tuned for a YUMMY new recipe!

the dukan diet

2011-07-09T20:36:00.000-05:00

Well, hello there. It's been a while. I'm back and 8 1/2 pounds lighter all thanks to The Dukan Diet.

This, my friends, is how the French stay skinny and how Kate Middleton's mom lost her weight before the royal wedding. It's been around a little while, but I just started hearing about it the past few weeks and one of my best friends had been successfully losing weight on it, so I figured I'd give it a try. Plus I've gained a considerable amount of weight since my wedding, and well, I'd like to be back down closer to that weight. Turns out my mother-in-law was thinking about doing it too so off to Barnes and Noble we went and bought the book and got started two days later. Surprisingly, the farmer and his father are doing it too so it's a family affair.

It didn't sound too bad. The first 5 days is protein, non-fat dairy, and eggs only. You also have to incorporate 1 1/2 tbsp of oat bran a day so we add it in to vanilla yogurt and it's not bad...and it fills you up!

For breakfast we started eating eggs or omelets and yogurt with oat bran. For lunch we'd have some lunch meat and cheese and if I was feeling super energetic I'd grill hamburger patties or chicken at 10:30 AM so it'd be ready for lunch. We've eaten a lot of steaks for dinner, which gets absolutely no complaints, shrimp, or grilled fish. The first week I was down 6 pounds.

Starting on the sixth day you can add vegetables in with your proteins, but no corn, potatoes, or anything starchy. Mom came in town that day and she was very happy it was a vegetable day so she didn't have to eat meat only! We've eaten a lot of green beans and grilled squash, onion, and zuchinni. As of today I am down 8 1/2 pounds and have been doing the diet since Sunday, June 26.

You are supposed to alternate 5 days of protein only with 5 days of protein and vegetables until you meet your goal weight. I'd like to lose about 15 more pounds so I'll be doing this a while! The next stage you can add in two slices of bread a day and fruit and you can also have two celebration meals a week.

It's worked out pretty well, but I have to admit that I'm getting a little tired of snacking on reduced fat string cheese and yogurt. I'd like to at least have some fruit or something! We splurged on 4th of July and had a great meal with some friends, but it didn't hurt us too bad. I also had two workshops this week and we ate out for lunch, but I ate a healthy food option and had protein only for dinner.

Vacation is coming up and I'm not quite sure how we will do while we are gone, but we are going to try to choose healthier options to keep our weight loss going! Or that's what we say at least :)

Of course, with any diet, you are supposed to exercise. This diet calls for a daily 30 minute walk. I haven't been too good with that part of the diet, but the days I have walked I lost about a half pound more than usual.

I can't really tell that I've lost 8 1/2 pounds when I look at myself, but my pants do feel a little looser today so I guess that's a good sign.

Another note about the diet - it's been pretty easy to do since I'm off of school for the summer, but it may be a little trickier to do when I am back at school. Guess I will cross that bridge when it comes - if I'm still on the diet! I'm hoping by that time I am just used to eating healthier and smaller portions and can control it without a strict diet.

Here's to heatlhier eating!

kreativ blogger award

2011-06-29T22:16:00.000-05:00

Super sweet Elizabeth Ann of Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box recently gave me the Kreative Blogger Award! I've been reading her blog for a while - she is one of my main go to blogs for new and yummy recipes. The farmer always compliments the recipes I make of hers and wants to know what Food Network show I got them off of, HA!

After receiving these awards, the rules are as follows:

1. Link back to the giver of the award

2. Pass on the love by awarding 10 blogs (if you want)...I only did 4 due to my bedtime!

3. Contact those blogs to give them the good news!

4. Share 10 random things about yourself (or 4 things!)

Here are my award recipients!

Allison from Syliva Rose Design

Allison is one of my best friends (one of the Fab Five) and is the epitome of creative! She has her own graphic design business and has so many great creative ideas. Plus, she's hilarious and beautiful!

Ashley from him & her, plus four

Ashley and I grew up in the same school and hometown and while she was a year older than me, she was always such a sweet friend - sweet as pie! Ashley is a mom of four - three of those being triplets! This girl is one creative party planner for her friends and family :)

Lenzi of Homemade Happiness

Lenzi went to college with one of my best friends, Katie, and although I have never met her I feel like I know her from reading her fun blog! Several of her recipes are on my list to try and I can't wait to see the wreaths she is in the process of making!

Katie from Modern Day Family

Speaking of Katie...Katie is another of the Fab Five, one of my best friends. She has two beautiful girls - Molly who is 2 today (Happy Birthday!) and Chloe is 2 months. Katie is quite the creative party planner these days and has done some super cute craft projects!

And my 4 random facts:

**I still wear my Aggie ring. If you ever meet an Aggie, check out their right hand!

**I used to hate the rain when I was younger because it put a halt on my plans, but now I love the rain so the farmer will get a break!

**I'm now obsessed with homemade bread after my first successful batch.

**I love honey roasted peanuts and apple juice as a snack.

pork chops with apples and onions

2011-06-18T18:57:00.001-05:00

These summer days have been nice, but I decided today I was kind of tired of doing nothing. The farmer came home for lunch and started listing off all these things I could be doing. He then proceeded to tell me that I could do a whole blog on the 100 things to do when you are bored and have nothing to do. I'll save you from the boredom and post a new yummy recipe instead :)

(He told me to go shopping (he never tells me that!) because he was home and wanted to nap. I opted for Dillards to buy a new swimsuit and Target where a old in a hurry man backed into me...thankfully my new car isn't damaged except for a little scraped paint! See if he ever tells me to go shopping again!)

I got this recipe from Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box, where I tend to get a lot of my recipes these days...love a fellow Aggie who can cook! The farmer asked me which Food Network show I had gotten the recipe from that day and I told him I hadn't, but that it had come from a blog. He then informed me that it was one of the better blog recipes I had cooked. Way to go!

He loves onions and I love apples. Perfect!

Pork Chops with Apples and Onions

4 bone in pork chops (I used boneless pork chops)
3 tbs olive oil
2 large onions, sliced
4 sliced and cored apples (I peeled them and then sliced and cored them)
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large pan over medium high heat. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper to taste. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil and fry the pork chops for about 5 minutes on each side (I did longer) until well cooked and browned.

Set the pork chops aside, reduce the heat to medium low, add the other tablespoon of olive oil and add the onions and apple slices. Cook for about 4 minutes until the onions are slightly soft.

Serve the pork chops with the apple and onion topping.

*There was something about the apples and onions together that was so yummy!

scrumptious homemade bread

2011-06-17T18:05:00.005-05:00

*Seriously Blogger? I can't get spacing right for the life of me! Anyone else having problems??

Let me start by saying, oh, say 5 years ago, it would never cross my mind to even attempt to make homemade bread, much less be successful at it. I have come along way when it comes to cooking considering growing up I never cooked, college was fast food, ramen noodles, or something easy peasy, and single girl life was eat out, go to mom and dad's, or lean cuisines. Life threw me a huge curve ball when I moved to small town Arkansas to a town with a pizza restaurant, a BBQ restaurant, and Sonic. Pizza and BBQ got old real quick so I had to teach myself had to cook - with hundreds of phone calls to my momma!

My experience with homemade bread was in highschool when I would get lucky and get my hands on some homemade bread made by Mrs. Mary Dell, a mom of a friend and classmate who would often bring grilled cheeses for breakfast to school our senior year and when he didn't want it he'd share with the girls in Mr. Kirk's government class. Her bread was to.die.for. Scrumptious! I always wished she would bake some up and sell it. I also get a pinch of homemade bread at communion one Sunday a month and even though I've begged for Mrs. Pat at church to make me some, I always get shot down.

Fast forward to now.

I spent the weekend in West Texas with my parents at my dad's family reunion. My cousin's wife, Shana (love her!), had made homemade bread and I was in love! It was so moist and yummy and reminded me why I like homemade bread so much. I returned home on Monday and on Tuesday I was making me some bread!

In a mixer, combine yeast, sugar, salt, oil, egg, and water. Add flour and beat.

Slowly add more flour until dough starts coming clean from inside of bowl and looks "doughy".

Put dough in large container or bowl greased with Crisco.

The recipe calls to cover with plastic wrap sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and a dish cloth to prevent air drafts, but I left it uncovered and put it in the oven, turned OFF, and turned on the oven lights. Let dough rise until about double. It takes about 3 hours.

You'll need 3 loaf pans greased with Crisco. Don't use glass. That loaf didin't turn out as good and took longer to cook. Plus, my glass one was a little smaller. I will be making a trip to Target for another dark pan.

Punch down the dough and then separate it equally in three loaf pans.

Stick it back in the turned OFF oven and let it rise for about 3 or 4 more hours.

Once it is up to the top of the pans, bake for 14 minutes uncovered at 350 degrees. Cover with foil and bake 14 more minutes.

Rub a stick of butter over the top until it's good and buttery!

Turn onto a cooling rack. Let cool and refrigerate or ummm....EAT!

Doesn't that just look so incredibly yummy?

Lou Chumney's Loaf Bread

1 pkg yeast or 1 T instant yeast

1 T sugar plus 1/2 cup sugar

1 T salt

1/2 cup oil

1 egg

2 1/2 cups warm water (if you let rise overnight use cold water)

6-8 cups flour

Mix all except flour in mixer (I used my KitchenAid mixer). Add 3 cups flour and beat until smooth looking. Slowly add flour until the dough starts coming clean from the inside of the bowl.

Put the dough into a large greased container or bowl (greased with Crisco). Cover with plastic wrap sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and a dish cloth. (I left uncovered and put in my oven, turned OFF, with lights on. Make sure it's OFF!) Let rise until about double. Punch down.

Divide dough into three equal sections. Put into 3 loaf pans greased with Crisco. Let rise until just over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 14 minutes. Cover with foil and bake 14 minutes longer. Rub a stick of butter over the top and turn onto cooling racks.

Let cool and refrigerate.

Or EAT! :)

the most divine cupcake ever.

2011-06-08T19:48:00.001-05:00

Summer vacation is in full swing and I'm loving it! My first weekend of my break I took a little road trip to Shreveport to visit Scott, Amy, and little Zoe. I had so much fun! We spent the weekend shopping, eating, and playing with Zoe with emphasis on the playing :) I couldn't keep my hands off that little girl...well, until I came down with the stomach bug. Life was all fun until Sunday night when I might as well have just made a pallet on the bathroom floor. My trip was extended a day, but not with fun things, instead I was laid up in Amy's guest bedroom all day Monday. But, who really wants to hear about being sick?

A highlight of my trip was Saturday lunch at Superior Mexican Grill, a well-known, popular restaurant in Shreveport. No trip to Shreveport is complete without lunch or dinner at Superior. We met our friend Emily - that was a special treat! Emily was Katie's best friend at LSU and it's always so fun to see and hang out with her.

Another treat was our pit stop at Buttercups Cupcakes, the cutest little cupcake shop.

I had the most.divine.cupcake.ever.

I introduce you to the banana pudding cupcake.

If I could box it up and send it I'd mail one to all of you.

Your mouth is watering right?

I asked for the recipe, but they wouldn't share it with me.

If you ever find yourself in Shreveport or Bossier City don't pass up Buttercups.

You won't be disappointed.

camera in hand

2011-06-02T16:03:00.001-05:00

I spent an afternoon of Memorial Day Weekend with these two sisters at their house on the farm with a camera in hand. I took six months photos of little sister and one of her photos is my all time favorite. These turned out pretty cute. I know, it looks like I've confused myself and that I should be posting these on my photography blog, but these two are too cute not to share with the blogging world that visits me here :)

I introduce you to Hayden and Presley.

just a glimpse

2011-05-31T20:35:00.001-05:00

I have wanted to blog for a few days, but my brain isn't really working with the end of school happening plus allergies/sinus issues so I haven't come up with anything good. So, lucky you, you get to glimpse into random photos from my phone.

my new hair - some subtle highlights

loving them!

my nephew.

no words really for this picture. just look at that handsome little man.

nephew again. loves his sheriff hat and wears it everywhere.

he is also madly in love with his uncle matt.

baby weston's birthday. him and sister lily.

these two are the closest thing i have to kids.

my first strawberry pie. delish.

missing you.

2011-05-22T19:20:00.000-05:00

Really missing these four today.

newly discovered website that i love.

2011-05-16T21:39:00.002-05:00

If you've seen pictures of my classroom at school you know that it's filled with owls. My room has an outdoors/camping theme so owls fit right in. I have an owl pillow, owl tin wall hanging, owl job cards, and an owl themed decal on the wall. And they are all so cute!

I came across the cutest website today.

I, of course, found several things I wanted, but there were two things I had to have!

Personalized Owl Deskpad

Set of 4 Personalized Owl Notepads

I.am.in.love! I kind of have a paper product fetish. I can't wait to get them in my hands!

You can visit the website at www.erincondren.com, like them on Facebook here, or on Twitter here!

ham and cheese calzone

2011-05-14T15:24:00.001-05:00

This morning I did a Pampered Chef party for a dear friend of our family at her church. The party was a fundraiser for their women's group to raise money for the church. She decided on the Ham and Cheese Calzone and it was a big hit with all the ladies! It's a new twist on hot ham and cheese.

Ham and Cheese Calzone

2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 cup fresh broccoli florets
1 8 oz. sliced smoked deli ham, diced
1/2 small onion, diced
8 oz. Swiss cheese, grated
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 pkg refrigerated pizza crust
1 oz Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Combine mayonnaise, mustard, broccoli, ham, onion, and half of Swiss cheese. Mix well. Lightly brush Large Bar Pan with 1 tsp of vegetable oil. Unroll one package of dough onto bottom of pan, gently stretching and pressing dough to cover bottom. Sprinkle with remaining Swiss cheese. Spoon ham mixture over cheese. Unroll remaining dough directly over filling, matching edges of dough and shaping to fit as dough is unrolled. Press edges to seal. Brush remaining oil over dough. Make 12 slits in three rows of four each into top crust.

Bake 14-16 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and return calzone to oven. Bake 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is deep golden brown. Slice and serve.

**The Large Bar Pan is a Pampered Chef Stoneware product. You can use a baking sheet if you don't have the bar pan. Good time for you to order one :)
**The recipe serving size is 8 servings, but that is with large pieces. I cut the calzone in smaller pieces and it served more.

gobble gobble

2011-05-02T21:29:00.003-05:00

**Update: So, I left out an important ingredient - water. For the coating mixture you need 1 egg, 1/2 flour, and 1/2 water and some salt and pepper.

There once was a farmer who decided he was going to go look for a turkey. His wife didn't even know there were turkeys to be found anywhere near. Boy was she wrong.

It's beauty is not easily seen in this picture nor with my eye, but apparently it's a pretty enough turkey to soon be making his presence in my house in the man cave. Standing up, kind of like this. Nevermind, I can't find one that I find remotely good looking. (Remind me to one day show you the zoo that the farmer calls his man cave - or maybe I have already?)

Apparently wild turkey is a delicious wild game. And I was the lucky one who got to cook it! I was stumped on what to take to Easter dinner at the farmer's grandmother's house. Mom and Dad were up and Mom was making four pies so I was just going to show up with her and the four pies - it would look like I helped right? The farmer had other plans. We were taking fried turkey to Easter dinner!

First I diced the turkey up into bite sized pieces and seasoned them with some Cavenders and Pampered Chef Southwestern Seasoning Mix.

I used my Pampered Chef Coating Trays and Tool to coat the turkey.

For the coating I used eggs,

flour,

and Smokehouse Black Pepper.

I mixed it all together in my Pampered Chef Stainless Mixing Bowl.

I used a recipe that my mom gave me for chicken nuggets to coat the turkey. Instead of putting the flour and eggs in different trays, you mix them together in one tray. I put the turkey in one tray, coated it good, and then let it drain in the next tray.

Add some salt and pepper before it goes in the deep fryer.

Add turkey to deep fryer in a single layer. Cook for approximately 8 minutes.

Remove from deep fryer.

These look PERFECT! But you may like them a little crispier. Cook to your liking of course :)

I was pretty skeptical about trying the turkey, but it was surprisingly good. The farmer and dad loved it and it was a hit at Easter dinner because there were only two or three pieces left.

So, if your husband ever comes home with a turkey, don't fear! Even this city girl could fry up some turkey.
I think Pioneer Woman would be impressed.

Chicken Georgia

2011-04-20T18:57:00.000-05:00

When I see or hear about a Paula Deen recipe, I don't have a doubt in my mind that it will be yummy - anything with a stick of butter or more can't be bad! I read about this dish on Tiffany's blog and it sounded easy enough for me on a quick meal night. That night was last night and it was pretty good!

via

Chicken Georgia

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 ounce grated mozerella cheese

Melt butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and shallots and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook 10 minutes. Remove vegetables with slotted spoon. Add chicken to pan and cook 10 minutes on each side, or until tender. Transfer chicken to platter and sprinkle with grated cheese. Top with mushroom mixture. Let stand 5 minutes before serving or just until the cheese has melted.

**I'm not sure our small town grocery store even knows what shallots are! I used onions instead.
**I have to admit that I read the recipe wrong on my phone as I glanced down and used more than 1/2 stick of butter! No wonder it was so good ;)
**The recipe doesn't call for seasoning the chicken, but I was a seasoning queen while it was cooking. The tastier the better!

sweet zoe

2011-04-09T11:09:00.003-05:00

A week after little Zoe was born the farmer and I went to Texas to visit and see Scott and Amy. While the boys talked about farming and sports, Amy and I spent some time putting Zoe through a little photo shoot. Birth announcements were ordered today! I've been a little sad that they moved to Shreveport, LA, but now every trip I make back home I will have to fit in a little road trip to get my Zoe time :) Love this girl like she's my own!

Summer Tea

2011-04-05T20:36:00.002-05:00

My mom gets all the credit for this recipe. She has made it at showers and I snagged the recipe. Summer Tea has gotten nothing but good reviews. I am not a big tea drinker, but I love this! I have a friend that always requests the leftovers because she loves it so much!

Summer Tea

2 quarts boiling water
8 small tea bags or 4 large tea bags
8 large mint leaves
2 cups sugar
1 (6 ounce) can frozen orange juice, undiluted
1 (6 ounce) can frozen lemonade, undiluted

Bring water to a boil. Add tea bags and boil one minute. Add mint leaves and steep 15 minutes. Add sugar to dissolve. Add orange juice and lemonade. Mix well. Add water to make 1 gallon.

Yields: 18 Servings

**I omit the mint leaves (not a mint person!) and it is wonderful!

30 minute chicken - in the microwave!

2011-04-02T16:38:00.001-05:00

Like I don't have enough to do - teaching, photography, the shop, and life - I decided to add something else to my list! You are looking at the newest....

I am excited about becoming a Pampered Chef consultant! There are a few perks such as tons of new kitchen products and recipes, but I also get to travel around and cook while showing off some really neat kitchen products - it's a pretty fun job! I was slightly worried when I became a consultant because you must have $1250 in guest sales in your first 3 months or you have to pay that amount back - yikes! Well, that worry has faded because my first party did over $1250 in guest sales!

Throughout my Pampered Chef journey I will share with you some of my favorite products and recipes. Lucky you! If anyone is ever interested in hosting a Pampered Chef cooking show party or catalog party, please let me know! Pampered Chef is now available as a fundraiser so keep me in mind when your business or organization is looking to do a fundraiser. If you are the host, you get lots of free product which is a huge perk for you!

Speaking of recipes, this one might be too good to be true, but I cooked it last night and yes, you are reading right - a whole chicken cooked in the microwave in 30 minutes! You may want a Deep Covered Baker after you read this recipe! You can eat the chicken as is or use the chicken for tacos, enchiladas, salad - the options are endless :)

30 Minute Chicken
Our Deep Covered Baker and a flavorful seasoning mixture make this chicken easy and irresistable. Unglazed on the inside for perfect baking, glazed on the outside for perfect presentation. A member of the Pampered Chef Stoneware collection.

Chicken
1 whole chicken (3 1/2-4 lb)
1 tbsp olive oil

Seasoning Mixture
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves

For chicken, lightly spray Deep Covered Baker with oil. Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken cavity. Rinse chicken with cold water; pat dry with paper towels. Trim excess fat if necessary. Tie ends of legs with cotton string. Lift wings up towards neck, then tuck under back of chicken. Place chicken on cutting board; brush with oil.

For seasoning mixture, combine ingredients in prep bowl. Mix well. Completely coat outside of chicken with seasoning mixture. Place chicken, breast side up, in baker.

Microwave, uncovered, on high for 25-30 minutes or until thermometer registers at 165 degrees in thickest part of breast and juices run clear. Remove from microwave. Cover with lid and let rest 10 minutes.

yard art they are not

2011-03-22T10:21:00.001-05:00

My first day of Spring Break I found myself in the spring spirit and headed to Lowe's to buy a few plants. My planters on my back porch needed some tender loving care. I did come home with some plants, but oh.my.goodness! these came home with me too. Mom laughed because I bought yard art, but they are not yard ornaments in my front yard. I haven't turned redneck even though I live in small town Arkansas; they are on my cute little planter cart on my backporch. How could you pass up these cute little friends?

While I was on my little day outing, I had to finally put gas in my new car for the first time since we purchased it. And while I do love my new Yukon, I'm not loving the $80 I paid to fill it up today! I had a Tahoe so I'm used to higher than normal gas bills so it hasn't been a huge shock. I'm not confident it will last me long this week since I'm heading to Texarkana tomorrow, but hopefully on a normal week the gas will last a while. But, I do do love it and am still so happy we decided on the Yukon! Thankfully I drive less than 10 miles to work and live in a very small town so the grocery store, bank, post office are a very itty bitty short drive :)

Isn't she beautiful??

strawberry coconut tres leches trifle. YUM!

2011-03-20T20:02:00.001-05:00

Two posts in one day. What's wrong with me?

On Monday night I hosted a Pampered Chef party at my house and it was so much fun! The food was delicious too. I loved it so much that Tuesday I will sign the contract and become a Pampered Chef consultant! So excited :) Let me know if you need anything or would like to host a catalog party! You can shop at http://www.pamperedchef.com/.

The dessert that we had at the party was too delicious not to share with you! It was a HUGE hit with everyone at the party. You can make this dessert in any trifle bowl, but Pampered Chef has one if you don't have one - and it has a removable stand which is a perk!

Strawberry- Cocunut Tres Leches Trifle

1 lb fresh strawberries, divided
3 pkg (3 oz each) soft ladyfingers (pound cake can be used)
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk, divided
1 can (14 oz) unsweetened coconut milk, divided
1 container (8 oz) sour cream
1 container (12 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 pkg (3.3 oz) vanilla instant pudding and pie filling
1 tsp cinnamon

Set aside one strawberry for garnish. Hull remaining strawberries and slice. Cut ladyfingers into 1 inch pieces; set aside.

Whisk together 1/2 cup of condensed milk, 2/3 cup of coconut milk, and sour cream in large bowl. Add ladyfingers and toss gently.

If you have the Pampered Chef Easy Accent Decorator (so cool!) or any, fill with 1 cup of whipped topping. Combine pudding mix and remaining coconut milk in mixing bowl; whisk until thickened. Add remaining condensed milk and cinnamon; whisk until incorporated. Fold in remaining whipped topping.

To assemble, place half of ladyfinger mixture into trifle bowl; top with half of strawberries. Spread half of pudding mixture over strawberries. Repeat layers one at a time. Pipe whipped topping over top; garnish with strawberry fan.

Enjoy!

**On a side note - I am in love with Secret Millionaire. I cry every.single.show.

harvest home

2011-03-20T14:24:00.000-05:00

What do you think of my new look? I'm loving it! Thanks to Allison at Sylvia Rose Design for the new look :) I decided to change it up a bit and have the blog relate a little more to my "new" life - although it's almost four years old!

Harvest is a literal part of my life - we live for harvest season. During harvest the land is beautiful and a beautiful crop symbolizes all the hard work the farmers have put in all season. A good crop means success and happiness! And of course it means I get to spend a little more time with the farmer because the harvest is complete and work is done until planting begins the following Spring.

"They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest" - Psalm 107:37

Farming has been a hard life for me to adjust to, but while it's been difficult, I thank God that I have the most dedicated farmer ever. I have never known anyone so dedicated and motivated to something they love so much - his mind is always churning on how to better his land. As the busy planting season is approaching, we pray, just as we do every year that we have a "fruitful harvest".

"The Lord will indeed give what is good and our land will yield its harvest" - Psalm 85:12

zoe elizabeth wenzel

2011-03-06T21:48:00.002-06:00

Little miss Zoe was expected to arrive in the world on March 4, but on Sunday morning, February 27, I got the text that she was coming early! I had to play piano at church that morning for a special service (one time thing - I don't always play) so I knew it was going to be hard for me to be there. After church baby Zoe was still not here so I decided there was no way I could stay home and not be there. The farmer agreed. I packed my bags in 10 minutes and was on the road. This girl has never driven down I-30 so fast and thankfully no state troopers were out that day. I told my mom I was coming and texted Amy's mom, but I told them not to tell Amy - I wanted to surprise her :) My heart was beating 100 miles an hour the whole trip - my best friend was in labor! As soon as I stepped off the escalator I spotted Amy's mom, my second mother my whole life, and lost it! She told me I had to pull myself together for Amy and that I did - until I saw it her - she looked so beautiful and was about to give birth to the tiniest little angel I've ever seen!

I stayed the night in Texarkana that night and Mom and I were able to spend a few hours with Amy, Scott, and Zoe at the hospital on Monday. She is just the tiniest, most precious baby. Zoe weighed 5 lbs, 12 oz and was 19 inches long.

The farmer and I went back to Texarkana this weekend to spend some time with the Wenzels on Saturday. The farmer seemed a little more comfortable holding her than normal - maybe we are making progress?

Amy and I had fun dressing little Zoe up for a quick photo shoot. Photos coming soon! I was sad to leave since Amy, Scott, and Zoe are in the process of moving to Shreveport - I foresee several weekend trips to Louisiana in the next few months. We have already semi-planned a weekend for an Easter photo shoot. Can't come soon enough :)

mexican corn dip

2011-02-13T19:59:00.001-06:00

I discovered this dip at a club meeting this past week and I've already made it! The farmer and I went to a "wild game cookout" on Friday night and I was asked to bring a dip. I was sure to make it a good one because I knew I'd be eating more appetizers than wild game. I did eat a piece of duck and venison, but passed on rattlesnake, squirrel, turtle, and rabbit. No thank you. Only in Arkansas you may say?

I made the farmer taste it Friday night and he said it was good, but it wasn't his favorite. Come Saturday night before his birthday dinner when we had some before our meal he loved it - and his dad - and my dad. Matt never believed me that it was the same from the night before so maybe the next day it's better. I loved it just the same.

I meant to take a picture, but forgot - sorry! Use your imagination :)

Mexican Corn Dip

8 oz. Sour Cream
8 oz. Mayonnaise
1 tbsp. Accent
2 cans Mexicorn
1 tbsp. Garlic Powder
1/4 to 1/2 cup Jalepeno Juice (as desired)
10 oz. Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Drain corn. Mix all ingredients. Serve with tortilla chips.

*A little bit of the garlic powder goes a long ways in this recipe! Next time I may use a little less garlic powder. Also, you can add more cheese to your liking.

*If you haven't ever cooked with Accent, it's in the spice section. It is a flavor enhancer.

the magic 'e'

2011-01-23T20:00:00.000-06:00

School is in session! I am currently hosting a series on Grammar 101 - a refresher course! You are sure to learn something...I did!

....one of my favorite lessons!

GRAMMAR 101: Lesson 4 - Magic "E"

If two vowels are close together in a word, usually the first vowel says it's name (long sound) and the second vowel is silent. This is call the "Magic E".

For example, /m/ /a/ /d/ is mad, but add an e and it becomes made and the a turns into a long a rather than a short a.

mad : made

mat : mate

rod : rode

slim : slime

cap : cape

You say words with this rule on a daily basis, but have you ever sat down and really thought about the phonics rule it follows? Probably not! And no, I don't either, but it never hurts to be reminded. If you are teaching your child to read you can share these rules with them and their reading will be that much better!

I've had a request to do several lessons on punctuation so I'll be working on that.

Did I ever think I would be sharing grammar lessons on my blog? No, probably not, but I was reminded why I do what I do in church this morning. The sermon was on "fishers of men" and after the sermon our pastor held a "text-back time" where we respond to a question and text him answers that he shares with the congregation. Today he wanted us to text him what the Lord would tell us to be based on our careers in relation to "being fishers of men". Mine wasn't hard - "teach the people" - so I look at my grammar lessons as one of my callings - I'm teaching the people.

Although I think my lessons are geared a little more towards little people :)

the miracle birth

2011-01-16T20:52:00.002-06:00

I've always been a big fan of Oprah. Since I got my DVR I have recorded her shows daily. Some of her shows I could really care less about and automatically delete, but others I really enjoy and there have been some great stories shared.

One in particular really got to me this week.

The story is about the Coble family - Chris, Lori, Kyle, Emma, and Katie. On the day after their sons' fifth birthday, the family went to a mall that had a ferris wheel, which the son was excited to ride, and a pet store. As nap time neared, the family got back in the van and headed home. Lori, the mom, came upon a line of backed up traffic as she tried to exit the highway. While stopped, she turned around to check on her children, and as she did a big rig loaded with 40,000 pounds of cargo going 55 miles an hour slammed into the back of her minivan and demolished it. The two daughters passed away and soon later the doctor's told Chris and Lori that Kyle's brain had not been receiving any oxygen. They recommended taking Kyle off life support.

Three months after the accident, Chris and Lori decided to have more children. For medical reasons, they tried in vitro fertilization. On their first try they started with 10 eggs - three were succesfully fertilized - two girls and one boy. "We were only going to put two back in, but once we found out that it was two girls and a boy, we took that as a sign from above," said Lori.

Almost exactly a year after Kyle, Emma, and Katie died, Lori gave birth to triplets - Ashley, Ellie, and Jake. Lori says, "They'll never replace Kyle, Emma, and Katie, but the joy is back in the house. It's back in our hearts. They fill our lives again with love and happiness and laughter."

Isn't God so good? Only God could take a tragedy like the Coble's and create a miracle. Three little blonde haired miracles that have three beautiful siblings in heaven.

Whatever your tragedy may be, just remember that God can turn that tragedy into a miracle. He works in miraculous ways.

The full story can be accessed at http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Coble-Family-Miracle/.

christmas morning

2011-01-08T21:15:00.002-06:00

On Christmas morning, the farmer and I (please excuse the double chin, awful angle)

and seeester and brother-in-law

were getting ready to open all kinds of goodies

but the life of the party was sound asleep!

But it didn't take him long to see he was missing out on all kinds of Christmas fun!

This little man had quite the time at Christmas! He managed to stay asleep during breakfast and gift opening on Christmas morning, but as soon as we were done he was wide eyed and bushy tailed and had a wild time with his new goodies!

The farmer and I had a wonderful Christmas - way too many gifts! Here are some of my favorites:

I fell in love with this reindeer when my MIL and I spotted it in a store. So happy she went back and picked it up :)

Wii. It is so much fun! And Wii Fit, which is actually not too bad either. Nice way to exercise when it's freezing outside and on my Couch to 5K off days.

The farmer won major brownie points. This, my friends, is the Tano purse I have been wanting so bad, thanks to his little elf, my mother. I am in love! He also gave me a gift certificate for a manicure/pedicure as well as money for a spa massage...he did well.

The farmer came home from Texas with one of these...

I'm not a coffee drinker so it doesn't excite me too well although I think I may try a few of his K-Cups to see if I can acquire the taste. For now I'll stick to hot cocoa and apple cider :)

His big gift from me was this super roomy Eddie Bauer rolling duffle. Please tell me that you agree that it is wrong for him to carry a extra long camoflauge duffle everywhere we go.

All the farmers other gifts were pretty much hunting related. It's usually a very common theme with him and nothing makes him happier.

All in all we had a very plentiful Christmas. We seem to come home with way more than we ever need. We are very blessed and thankful that we could spend the holidays with our Arkansas and Texas families.

Christmas came way too fast this year and left just as quick. The new year has come just as quick too!

I'm very curious what 2011 holds for this little family. Hoping it's a good year :)

merry christmas

2010-12-24T16:03:00.000-06:00

lessons two and three

2010-12-20T10:28:00.001-06:00

School is in session! I am currently hosting a series on Grammar 101 - a refresher course! You are sure to learn something...I did!

GRAMMER 101: Lesson 2 - Copy Cat "G"

"G" usually copies "j" when it is followed by "e", "i", or "y".

gem      gentle      ginger

gym      page       edge

GRAMMER 101: Lesson 3 - Copy Cat "S"

"S" copies "z" when it is surrounded by vowels or at the end of a word, except after "f", "k", "o", or "t".

nose      rise      caves

sags      cabs      rose

fuse      use       hose

plays    pledges

Next Lesson: The Untouchables

the first lesson.

2010-12-16T20:34:00.000-06:00

School is in session! I am currently hosting a series on Grammar 101 - a refresher course! You are sure to learn something...I did!

Every grammar lesson has a basic foundation. I think it's safe to say that if you are reading this, you have a pretty solid foundation :) but here is a little refresher:

Sixteen letters make only ONE sound.

b, d, f, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, t, v, x, z.

Ten letters make more than one sounds.

Five vowels - a, e, i, o, u
Three copy cats - c, g, s
Two sometimes vowels - y, w

GRAMMAR 101: Lesson 1 - Copy Cat "c"

The sound of the letter "c" copies "k" or "s". It copies "s" when the letter after it is "e", "i", or "y".

Here are a few examples:

cent          city          cycle

faces        dance       glance

ice           chance      lace

race         cell          cinder

Next Lesson: Copy Cat "G"

Did you learn something in today's lesson? Buzz with your partner and share what you learned :)

class has been postponed.

2010-12-13T19:15:00.000-06:00

Grammar 101 can not begin until I start remembering to bring my "cheat folder" home. So, class is postponed until tomorrow. Aren't I the best teacher?

Grammar 101

2010-12-06T17:44:00.000-06:00

How smart are you when it comes to grammar rules? Do you remember all those little grammer clutches you learned in elementary school like:

"i before e except after c"

That's pretty much the only one that ever stuck with me. Until now.

Teaching Kindergarten doesn't require you to know and teach a lot of grammar rules...or so I thought. Kindergarten is the new first grade. Lucky for me I teach with Mrs. Lisko, a teacher who has taught for umpteen hundred years. She's such a gem and knows grammar like the back of her hand! I was given her grammar rule book and I have been so impressed that I feel like I have no choice, but to share with you.

"GRAMMAR 101" is coming to a blog near you.

Stay tuned for Lesson #1.

Sit back, relax, and better your education without moving off your couch!

count your blessings

2010-11-25T16:00:00.000-06:00

Count your blessings instead of your crosses.

Count your gains instead of your losses.

Count your joys instead of your woes.

Count your friends instead of your foes.

Count your smiles instead of your tears.

Count your courage instead of your fears.

Count your full years instead of your lean.

Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.

Count your health instead of your wealth.

Count on God instead of yourself.

- Author Unknown -

happy turkey day

2010-11-24T22:25:00.002-06:00

I'm a little behind on blogging. Imagine that.

I've had several things to blog about since my last post like girls weekend, my birthday, opening weekend of deer hunting (don't worry, no hunting for me!), gender reveals for all my prego friends, and now Thanksgiving so it looks like I better get busy!

During my last post I was getting ready to head to Tulsa for girls weekend, which also happened to be my birthday! I took a "mental health" day on Friday and spent the day shopping with my mom and mother-in-law and then I headed to Fayetteville to meet up with Allison and then we made the last leg to Tulsa together. The weekend was spent doing lots of catching up, late night talking, laughing, picture taking, pedicures, and of course eating. We were five best friends just happy to be together :)

On Saturday night after dinner the girls had a little birthday party for me...it was so sweet!

Don't look at my socks. I'm so embarrased. Not at the socks...they are super cute and Megan gave them to me, but how I have them rolled down. Oh geesh. Allison had the perfect idea for one of my gifts. My pedicure girl was Awful with a capital A. She didn't even use the little nippers! Come on, when you get a pedicure they have to do some clean up with the little nippers...I was so disappointed...so, I got nippers! I use them alllll the time :)

I spent the majority of my birthday driving back home, but the weekend was totally worth it. When I got home I had several gifts and cake waiting on me. It was sweet :)

In case you are wondering, my house is completely ready for the holidays! Finished decorating for Christmas today and will be up early in the morning cooking for Thanksgiving. Love the holidays! We will be spending Thanksgiving day with Matt's family and will head to Texas on Friday for Thanksgiving with my family....and Christmas card pics...you can probably guess how thrilled the farmer is about that!

I am so thankful for so much this year - life with the farmer, a great family, the best friends a girl could ask for - old friends and new friends, a wonderful home, a great job, and much more. I am truly blessed.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving - be sure to send a little word up to God on how thankful you are!

fab five. three more days.

2010-11-02T21:03:00.000-05:00

I predict that this weekend is going to be a FAB weekend. Not only is it my birthday on Sunday (Happy Birthday to me!), but it's another girls weekend with the fab five. The last time we were all together was in June when we gathered in Dallas to meet precious Cohen.

We were all itching for another girls weekend. We start to have withdrawals. Between the five of us we live in three states so all five of us being together has to be a planned event. So, I'm pretty excited that we are getting together.

I remind myself dailly how blessed I am that we are all still so close. I am an only child so these girls are the closest thing I ever had to a sister. When a major event or a not so major event happens in our lives the fab five are the first to know - well, along with our family. The Lord knew what he was doing when he put us all together.

It boils down to that we pretty much can't live without each other.

Can't wait to see you girls!

And maybe a FAB five birthday cake????

double delicious

2010-10-26T21:36:00.001-05:00

So I was glued to the TV when I watched my DVR recording of Oprah today - "America's Worst Cooks Get Rescued by Jessica Seinfield". What really hooked me was the lasagna that she made in the crock pot. Maybe because last night for dinner the farmer and I had a frozen lasagna...the Stouffer's kind that you just put in the oven and cook, pull the plastic cover off, and serve. Easy peasy. The farmer made the comment afterwards, "nothing like a good ol' frozen lasagna" to which I replied "next time I'll make it homemade" and then he ever so kindly reminded me that the last time I made homemade lasagna it was pretty much a disaster with a capital D.

I was back and forth doing laundry and watching so I didn't pay as close of attention to the rest of the show, but I have it saved on DVR to get some more cooking tips. I saw her first episode on Oprah, but wasn't too interested in her cookbook because it was more focused on children and pureeing food and as it is that I do not have children I didn't think I'd really benefit, but I think I'll try this one. I may ask for it for my birthday - surely I can wait twelve days. Don't think I will be making a trip to a bookstore between now and then.

A funny about the show - Oprah had viewers send in videos convincing Oprah's staff that they were the worst cooks in America. I was relating to several of them and then one was just a little much. The woman uses her oven for storage! She had all kinds of crap stuffed in her oven. And even better? Her crock pot lived on top of her refrigerator and in her crock pot? Hair products! Poor woman.

Speaking of cooking, Pioneer Woman had a recipe for scalloped sweet potatoes on the Tasty Kitchen blog. I'm not a big sweet potato eater, well, unless they have lots of butter and cinnamon on them, but these seem pretty tasty.

I also have a few dip recipes I'm going to share soon. They are YUM-O.

Doesn't all this food just make you want to eat? Too bad it's going to make me gain a few pounds. Good thing I walked/ran 2 miles tonight.

Now if I can just stay motivated. You can eat all that crap if you exercise right???? :)

family wedding

2010-10-16T18:54:00.001-05:00

Two weekends ago, on October 2, we had the last Kelly cousin wedding. The farmer's cousin got married and all the farmer could think about was how he had to give a best man speech - one of his fears - at the top of a 30 story building standing against huge windows - another fear. Fortunately, he survived.

In case you haven't realized yet - maybe you are new to my blog - I am a farm widow, which basically means the majority of my year I lose my husband to the farm. Well, so does this lovely lady and thank goodness her and Chad moved back to Carlisle...so he could farm again....it's made my life a little easier. She has officially become part of the "talk on the phone daily" list.

The farmer and I.

Sidenote: How can you look totally different in two pictures taken within 10 minutes of each other. Beyond me. I prefer the Whitney above.

This precious little thing has made the farmer and I an aunt and uncle. We love him. He has been here for two weeks since the wedding and we miss him since he left this week.

The little man's grandpa, aka, my father-in-law. Doesn't he look like a little man?? Michael, not grandpa.

My sister-in-law and her cute family.

Our other half. Chad and Brea.

We found our last night they are expecting baby number two!

(See sidenote about pregnant friends at end of post)

It's a rare occurence to see a picture of the farmer and I on the blog this time of year because well, it's farming season and there are no outings for us two normally that is picture worthy. Two pictures in one post in October. This must be a record! Definitely hating the stray hair.

Love her. Brea and I at the wedding. There is that stray hair again.

Ash and me.

The in-laws. Such a cute family.

You can spot mom behind Jerry's head. That's the closest thing to a picture of her I could get. She stays away from the camera. Dad on the other hand...well, he loves you taking pictures of him.

My second in-laws. The Bennetts.

Kellys+Bennetts = Griswalds.

Jerry & Janet are best friends with Billy & LaQuita.

Matt & Whitney are best friends with Chad & Brea.

Will our kids continue the tradition????

And, oh my. Is he just not the most precious blonde you've ever seen?

The farmer's cousin makes beautiful children.

I'm not sure I've ever typed captions for every single picture. Makes me sound so chatty.

And the sidenote I mentioned above:

I felt like you should be aware of my pregnancy calendar I have started. I will be in full baby mode from March 4 - May 10.

March 4 - Amy

Another fab five babe!

March 27 - Jill

Classroom next door neighbor is having her second.

April 20 - Kristin

Kristin and Steven are responsible for the farmer and I.

We met at their wedding.

April 26 - Katie

Another fab five babe!

May 10 - Brea

Last, but not least!

I'm just tired thinking about it.

fall happiness

2010-10-03T20:07:00.000-05:00

Like I said in my last post, I loooove fall! Here's a sneak peek into the fall happiness at the Kellys house :)

I went to a pumpkin patch yesterday morning and got a few pumpkins because the outside of my house just wasn't looking fallish yet. I got them all loaded in the car and one of my friends working the patch convinced me to get a hay bale and I'm sooo happy! I love the hay bale on the front porch.

It's hard to believe that fall is here and Halloween and Thanksgiving are right around the corner.

Oh, and my birthday! But that's not important is it? :)

mmmmm fall!

2010-09-26T17:19:00.000-05:00

Fall is my favorite time of year! This weekend the weather has been so cool and it just makes me so happy thinking about the fall season approaching. Last weekend I pulled out the fall decorations, bought mums for my front porch, been spending my weekends watching college football, fall shows are back, and even today I put on a sweatshirt. Ok, I know it's not THAT cold, but my house is always freezing so I have kept myself warm with a sweatshirt on and maybe I'm just getting myself ready to wear warm clothes.

Speaking of warm clothes I got a super cute jacket, two sweater dresses, and a sweater at LOFT yesterday. I tried to share all my fabulous items with you, but the website wouldn't let me save pictures....stooopid. Seems like all of my clothes these days come from LOFT, Gap, or Target...I'm really thinking outside of the box, but come on, I looooooove LOFT!

Last week was my mother-in-law's birthday. I worked on a little project for her for her birthday.

Since my mother-in-law is a somewhat newish grandmother, she's all about showing off her grandbaby. Grizz and Granna are what my mother and father-in-law call themselves so I made them a personalized magnetic board for their laundry room to give them another opportunity to show off their grandchildren to people when they walk in the back door.

Another great part of fall is that it's a wonderful season for photography! My session from last weekend was so precious! You can see the pictures here. I'll be gearing up for Christams cards soon and a new photography blog is in the works!

college football!

2010-09-04T10:59:00.000-05:00

I aboslutely LOVE this time of the year. There is just nothing like cooler weather and COLLEGE FOOTBALL!

I'll be the first to admit that my team is not one in the run for the national championship....yet at least....but I am a loyal fan and love the Aggies even when they let me down. Something about being an Aggie. I'm hoping and praying for the best for this season :) They play Stephen F. Austin tonight and I'm pulling for a win!

As much as I hate to admit it, I will also be following this team.

It doesn't really help that I live in the dead center of Razorback land or that I married into a Razorback obsessed family or that I am surrounded by friends that breathe Razorback football. So, I'm pretty much forced to watch them, but do not get me wrong, I am an AGGIE! I try to like the Razorbacks so I keep an open mind.

Now, come October 9 when these two teams play each other, it's a no brainer who I'll cheer for even though they got demolished last year. When you are an Aggie you don't give up on your team and I certainly will not this year. I'll just be praying for a better outcome!

Wish I could stick around to watch some college football today - ESPN College Gameday is getting me pretty excited! But, I'm off to the zoo with Brea and Brooke and their little munchkins. The weather outside is soooo nice. It should be a fun afternoon.

Wait, today is really not much different than any other day of my life.

I work in a zoo everyday!

butt kicking

2010-08-30T18:54:00.000-05:00

Kindergarten has kicked my butt.

You would think that I could handle fifteen five year olds. I mean, I'm 26 years old, I taught a wild insane class last year, and come on...they are FIVE.

Puuuuuhhhlease. Exactly...THEY ARE FIVE. And there are fifteen of them.

The Thursday that we started I came home, plopped on the couch, and didn't rise until 9 PM and that was to go to bed. Friday I was a little better. Saturday morning comes and you would have thought I had gotten run over by ten trains. HOLY MOLY. I'm not sure I've ever been so tired in my life.

Don't get me wrong, they are all sweet, but they keep me on my toes. One student had to go to the bathroom. I walk in the bathroom and he is standing at the light switch flipping it on and off with his shorts around his ankles. He was having the time of his life. Another decided it would be cool to stand on top of the lunch table Friday.

I wish I had a story for today, but unfortunately I missed today due to illness...believe me, I'd rather have been at school. I spent most of my afternoon yesterday in the ER because I had severe severe severe ear pain. Couldn't handle it. Come to find out I have an external canal infection in both ears, closed ear holes, and scarring on my ear drum. I was feeling GREAT. Got some drops, but it didn't seem to do the trick. I took Motrin PM last night and went to bed with heating pads on both ears. Woke up this morning in extreme pain...no way I could go to work. I went back to the doctor today and got some steroid pills to ease the pain. Thank you Lord. The last time I had an ear infection was when I was 4 and honestly I really just don't remember, but I will now sympathize with all those little children with ear infections. I FEEL YOUR PAIN! The farmer has been good in taking care of me...and my dear friend Liz who drove me to the hospital. Much love.

Since it's been so long since I've blogged, a few things.

#1 Mom called one day. She had been to buy her some TOMS. Guess she took advice from her daughter...smart lady. She bought red, burlap, and black. I need black, but she said they didn't have them in my size...always thinking of me...how thoughtful :) Since there were no black she bought me plum. Can't wait for my plum shoes!

#2 I bought myself a "starting back to school, you are now teaching Kindergarten" gift.

Loved the bracelet when I spotted it at The Full Moon, the cutest little shop in LR. And yes, I did buy the W instead of the M, but no pictures have a W...never...W is odd.

#3 I loooved Megan's new iphone cover that she bought. I bought a new one too, but it's not as cute. I find myself always dropping my phone...bad Whitney...and I always thought I needed an Otter Box, but always hated how they were so bulky. Well, they have a slim one now! It should arrive tomorrow :)

Just got a text that my kids were angels for the sub today....ahh, that makes my day! Love my little owls :)

Ear is starting to hurt...think it's time for more meds and a little bonding with the heating pad.

Hopefully I won't stay gone too long this time...gotta suck it up...those kiddos aren't going to kick my butt!

dear toms shoes, i love you.

2010-08-13T10:56:00.004-05:00

My first encounter with TOMS shoes was when the farmer's best friend, Steven, came to hunt one weekend and walked in with TOMS on. I had heard of them, but hadn't ever considered getting any. I'll let you imagine what the farmer thought of them, not a big fan.

Fast forward ohhh let's say about two years. I saw a girl wearing the burlap ones and thought to myself, "wow, those are really cute". I then spotted them again in Warren's shoe store and decided then and there they were a must have. Of course, then they didn't have my size. Fortunately for me I know the owner of Warren's from when I lived in Texarkana and sent him a facebook message to let me know when they got my size...talk about great customer service...I got a message a few days later and the next day they were mine! LOVE.THEM.

And then I spotted these when a few teachers and I were shopping after a workshop one day. RED! My love of red comes honestly from my mother because I do believe she would have dressed me in red everyday of my childhood if she could. I remember all kinds of clothes in red and big red bows that used to sit on top of my head.

And I suppose this for sure is a sign I'm a teacher. Don't you think of red when you think Kindergarten teacher? I do, but I don't know why? Apples maybe.

I wore them for the first time two days ago to a workshop at school with some cute black shorts and white top. Like any new pair of shoes they started to rub the back of my ankle, hate that, but UNLIKE any other pair of new shoes I've ever owned after wearing them the first day they quit rubbing by the afternoon and became so comfortable! I now love these just as much as my burlap ones...and I just looove the pop of color (sound like HGTV) they give an outfit.

I have a feeling both pair will be worth the $40 I spent because when you teach Kindergarten you need comfort...no high heels or stiletto's on these feet. And they keep my little toesies warm in our super freezing school.

Oh, and for the two pair I bought two pairs were donated to a child in need. Can't beat that.

On a side note, just posted an engagement session over at Whitney Kelly Photography! Cute photo session at the farm that ended with a tick takeover.

don't you want to?

2010-08-03T20:01:00.000-05:00

A new little blog called Park Street Market has launched.

Don't you want to become a follower?

and the winner is...

2010-07-29T18:58:00.001-05:00

I am soooo excited to be announcing the winner to my first giveaway! But, it will not be my last :) I have a few super cute items that will be up for a giveaway soon...doesn't that make you excited???

So, without prolonging the wait...

The winner of the $40 CSN gift card is Maria at Starr Stationery!

Congratulations Maria! I will be emailing you with the information.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who entered for the giveaway, I was so giddy every time I'd see your comment pop up in my email!

still time!

2010-07-28T21:31:00.000-05:00

It's Wednesday which means at midnight tonight my first giveaway ends! You still have 2 1/2 hours to sign up so if you haven't you need to!

I'll announce the winner tomorrow so stay tuned :)

Pioneer Woman gets two thumbs up tonight for sharing a yummy chicken recipe that the farmer and I had tonight. You will have to let your mouth water a bit and then come back to find out.

I'd share tonight, but I'm posting from my phone while laying in bed watching Law and Order Special Victims Unit (loving this show lately!) and have been here since 9. Old woman didn't set her alarm last night so she woke up at 7:25 this morning and had to leave at 7:50 for a workshop!

bulletin board frenzy

2010-07-24T16:26:00.000-05:00

Doing bulletin boards in a classroom is a creative soul's dream! But they take lots of time. Well, if you are me at least. Thanks to Jill for the wonderful tissue paper idea...it's a HUGE hit with the teachers. I already have two wondering when I'm coming to do their boards!

My "themed" board for my camping/outdoorsy themed room. The blue bookshelf desperately needs to be re-painted, but the farmer is a little sentimental about the shelf...it was in his bedroom when he was a tot and didn't want it re-painted. Navy doesn't really fit my color scheme, but it'll do.

In our Kindergarten classroom we live by Dr. Seuss's rules!

My mom bought me these magnetic passes without knowing that pretty much nothing in our old building is a magnetic surface. So, my good dad drilled some holes for me, which turned into a blistered foot disaster for my mom when buying the ribbon. But, they are done and hanging and cute!

My board in the hallway that welcomes everyone to my outdoorsy owly paradise!

I'm taking the weekend off from working at the school. I needed a little break and shall return Monday and then workshopping it for three days.

Don't forget to sign up for my giveaway. You have until Wednesday. See the details HERE.

first giveaway!

2010-07-21T21:17:00.000-05:00

I was contacted a couple of months ago about doing a giveaway with CSN Stores. I am pretty excited because this kicks off the wonderful thing called giveaways on my blog! I searched and searched for hours trying to find the perfect item, but with over 200 stores that's pretty much impossible.

So, since I couldn't narrow it down I decided to give away a $40 gift card! Just think of all the possibilities! The giveaway will close next Wednesday, July 28.

To enter the giveaway, become a follower to my blog and leave a comment. Just say hello!

If you would like extra entries:

*Become a follower of Whitney Kelly Photography on Facebook
*Become a follower of Park Street Market on Facebook
*Mention my giveaway on your blog and leave me a comment telling me

Danielle at The Design Girl has a giveaway going for a gift card as well so hop on over and try for another chance...you could win $80 credit...even better!

school, mosquitos, and gus.

2010-07-20T22:39:00.002-05:00

I lay on the couch every night and read all these fabulous blogs and love what they have to say...and then I open mine to write a post and I'm absolutely brain dead. I have no philosophical words of wisdom to leave with my readers. I apologize for that. Maybe one day my journalistic ability will return.

My only words of wisdom tonight are: "STAY AWAY FROM MOSQUITOS." I killed two at school today, one while cooking dinner, and I have another swarming me as I type. I swear they follow me. Why can't they hang out in the guest bedroom? Why the living room at the couch where I am laying? These aren't little baby mosquitos, these are huge killer mosquitos and they pretty much have no purpose to be on Earth. I do question God daily on why he created them...they piss me off daily. Living in Central Arkansas surrounded by rice fields is torturous during mosquito season. I have become a pro skin slapping mosquito killer.

Speaking of my classroom, please don't fret over how horrific this sight is. It looks a little better by now. This was taken a week ago when I first got moved in to my classroom...I've made a little progress. Would it bother anyone else that I start workshops on August 9 which means no classroom work and school starts on August 19 and I didn't get moved into my classroom until July 13?

This year I'm doing an outdoorsy/camping theme. Thank you to my wonderful mother who bought me this super cute tent. Wouldn't you love reading in this when you were in Kindergarten?

You may have noticed the cute animal chair in the tent. Here are his two friends. I'll go ahead and tell you now that these chairs were such a deal! $6! Oh wait, not really if you count the gas money my mother spent driving 45 miles away to get them because the local store was out of them. That's love.

I should have invented wall decals. The green frog on the bookshelf has been named Augustus McRae (the farmer's favorite character from Lonesome Dove...Mom named it) and will be called Auggie the Froggie. The kids will feed him everyday. My mother is so creative.

On a sidenote: So, the farmer is OBSESSED with Lonesome Dove...he got my dad hooked on it. If you've never watched it, be prepared because it's a six hour long movie. Anyways, one of my college friends got a new dog and named him Augustus McRae to pay homage to Gus from LD. The conversation with the farmer went a little like this:

Me: "A friend of mine from college got a new labrodoodle and she named him Augustus McRae."

Farmer: Completely fascianted with a huge smile, "Are you serious? That is awesome!"

Me: "Guess it's time for you to get a new dog so you can name him Gus."

a few minutes pass.

Farmer: "When we have a child we are going to name him Jace Augustus McRae Kelly."

Me: "Ha, ummm Jace? Where did that come from?"

Farmer: "Jace is the Duck Commander! Duck Commander and Gus!"

We are going to have problems when it comes to naming our children one day. I've watched Duck Commander once and I was not impressed with Jace. At all.

(mosquito is back. if it wasn't dark he'd be toast.)

Obviously this classroom is pretty much consuming my life at the moment. I can't believe I'm saying it, but I think I am ready for school to start just so I can be done setting up the new room. It's driving me crazy and makes me tiiiiiired.

Of course when school starts I will no longer be able to sleep until 8:00, mosey to the couch and watch the Today Show until 10:00 while having a bowl of cereal and Diet Dr. Pepper.

Boy, don't I sound lazy! Oh well. That's the real reason I became a teacher anyways. The summers. Wait! Did I say that? It's really about being a positive influence to the new generation and doing my part to change the world.

Ahh, who am I kidding!

you need this!

2010-07-09T19:07:00.000-05:00

I have been excited for a few weeks about a new program that I am offering through Park Street Market, my gift shop turned online shop. I am working with a company to offer some new products and they will be drop shipped to your front door!

Here is a sample of some of the furniture items available. Let me know if you like what you see!

first giveaway soon!

2010-07-07T21:08:00.001-05:00

Drum roll please.....

duh duh duh duh duh (that is my drum roll sound, lame I know.)

keeping up with the kellys is hosting my first ever giveaway!

CSN Stores contacted me about hosting a giveaway and hello, who wouldn't want to give their readers the opportunity to win something fun from one of 200 stores. They have furniture, home decor, housewares, home improvement, outdoor living items, health and fitness equipment, office and school supplies, things for your pet. The list goes on. They even sell a cute bathroom sink!

I'm excited and you should be too! So tell all your friends :)

feels like forever

2010-07-05T20:45:00.001-05:00

I think Katie said it best when she told me one day, "I've been having Cohen weeks of silence". Seems like most of us have done the same. I returned home from my trip to Tulsa for Cohen's memorial service feeling blessed for being given the opportunity to be there for his birth and knowing him the eleven precious days that he was in our lives. He will never be forgotten. I am completely amazed how his story touched so many people's lives and how it helped bring faith in God and prayer back to those who may have unfortunately lost that part of their life.

If in the odd case you are reading my blog and don't know of baby Cohen's story you can catch up at http://www.inthiswonderfullife.com/, Megan's blog, or http://www.sendlovetocohen.blogspot.com/.

Looking back over the past month and a half I feel like my blog has missed out! A highlight of May was a weekend trip to Hot Springs with Amy. We met up on Saturday morning, shopped around downtown, and had lunch at a little local Italian food restaruant. That afternoon we checked in at the spa at the Arlington Hotel and had a hot bath and massage...my first time to experience the hot bath...quite an adventure! I felt like I was in an old war movie in a hospital with the nurses in white walking around everywhere. The bath was relaxing, but I enjoyed being wrapped in warm towels a little more, it was a little more relaxing to me, except of course when they threw the towels on...umm, can we say ouch? We ate at an AMAZING restaurant on Saturday night, Central Park Fusion, and while it was a little pricey, it was completely worth it. Sunday we headed out to Garvan Gardens and then decided next time we should probably visit the gardens in March...come May it's not as bloomy. We had such a great time that we decided to make it an annual trip...already looking forward to next year's weekend visit :)

Amy's fancy dinner Saturday night with the largest asparagus EVER.

The.best.steak.ever...and those mashed potatoes were delish!

Sunday morning we had breakfast at The Pancake Shop. It was a packed house and delicious!

Amy at Garvan Woodland Gardens :)

and this poor lady, she must not have checked her pants for tags before putting them on.

In her defense, later when we saw her the tag was gone.

Hope everyone had a happy 4th of July holiday! Ours was pretty laid back, spent around the house...the farmer hasn't been feeling too well. I did get some entertainment from the kids across the street and their fireworks. I'm pretty sure there was a neighborhood firework show competition between our street and the one next to us...let's just say that they kicked our butts.

Maybe next year.

Moment of Silence

2010-07-01T00:01:00.004-05:00

precious Cohen

2010-06-13T13:53:00.000-05:00

I am so behind on blogging. I have a trip to Hot Springs with Amy and our new beautiful yard to post about, but this post has been heavy on my heart. It is dedicated to the birth of precious Cohen Marshall. I'm pretty sure that anyone that reads this blog already knows about baby Cohen, but just incase I have some new visitors you need to click over to Megan at http://www.inthiswonderfullife.com/ to read Cohen's story.

The birth of baby Cohen was the latest gathering of the Fab Five. Megan had temporarily moved to Dallas a few weeks before and the rest of us met in Dallas on Sunday, June 6 for Cohen's arrival on Monday, June 7.

When I was uploading pictures I kept getting so frustrated because this picture would not go to the bottom where it was supposed to be. I tried several times and then I realized that maybe the top is where it needed to be because this picture symbolizes a lot about the weekend - five best friends...and we all needed to be there to support Megan.

Katie and I rode to Dallas together because we both happened to be in Texarkana. When we arrived in Dallas we met Megan and Brent at Northpark Mall for lunch at PF Changs. Yum!

All of our feet had been neglected so we headed upstairs to the Avalon Spa for a pre-baby pedicure.

All but Allison. She takes care of her toes, but she needed a mani.

We had a nice surprise from our dear friend from highschool, James, who came by the hotel to give his love and support to Megan and Brent.

After dinner the fab five spent a little time with Megan. Along with our parents, we created a "shower in a box" to shower Megan with a few things before Cohen's arrival.

Monday morning. It's time!

Amy, Allison, Katie, and I were there. And there was no where else we would have rather been :)

The tiny private waiting room for Cohen's supporters!

Finally! Welcome to the world Cohen :) Born at 8:55AM, he was 7 lbs. 6 oz. and 20 inches long. Such a cutie with a head full of hair!

This little boy is a fighter! He is six days old and has had four surgeries in five days and is having more surgery today. He needs all of our prayers. Today he is about to have another heart cath to locate a collatoral, an artery that is producing excess blood that does not need to be there. This is CRITICAL so if you are reading this blog post, please send a little prayer up to the ultimate healer.

I'll be heading back to Dallas in two weeks to go to market with mom, but more importantly to go see baby Cohen and Megan. Can't wait until that day!

Megan, Brent, and Cohen - the Kellys love you and are praying for you :)

spring tablescape

2010-05-25T19:43:00.001-05:00

In April I had a bridal shower for a good family friend which prompted me to move the candlesticks I love so dearly off of my kitchen table so I would be able to decorate for the shower. I moved the one of a kind candlesticks to my bathroom on my tub deck and I actually kind of like what it adds to the decor in there. Since Spring was in full bloom I wanted something a little more springy for my table. I didn't want something overkill, just simple.

I always seem to find the best things with my momma. After graduation a few weeks ago we sent the men back home and we stayed in Little Rock to do some shopping. I was giving up hope of finding anything and then we walked in Vesta's and there was adorable fat round somewhat bubbled glass vase. Fell in love. We bought the vase and were going to stop at Hobby Lobby to get some flowers for it, but strangely enough found this neat bamboo at Hallmark when we ran in to get a candle and Mother's Day card for the mother-in-law.

And here it is! I took this picture with my phone once we got it set up. I just love the simplicity of it.

Please take notice of the two new chairs on the ends too. Thanks to momma for buying us the chairs for my graduation present :) We've had the table since we got married....it was a steal as a display at Pottery Barn and bought the four chairs at Target, but if I was smart I would have bought six chairs. Six chairs wouldn't probably fit in my last dining room actually, but lately we've been in desperate need of two end chairs. Coming to the rescue...I O Metro, oh how I love you. And oddly enough, they are comfortable!

I'm working on a giveaway (can't believe I am doing a giveaway!)...coming soon!

stick a fork in me. i'm done.

2010-05-12T22:18:00.001-05:00

I am finally done! With graduate school that is. I started back in January of 2008 with a few pre-requisites for Arkansas that I needed and last Saturday, May 8, I graduated with a 3.917 GPA :) A 4.0 would have been nice, but I'll take what I can get.

My parents came up for graduation and stayed the night since Sunday was Mother's Day. I'm so glad I got to spend the day with my dear momma. Here's a play by play of the weekend :)

My dear friend Leslie came to graduation...so happy to have her there! She graduates in December and I'll be there to cheer her on. We are crossing our fingers she gets a teaching job this summer.

Well, you can barely see me, but I'm there in the middle of the picture getting hooded. I wasn't quite sure what "hooding" was, but that's the tradition of graduating with a Masters. It didn't go on my head like a hood, which is what I was imagining, ha! Just around my neck.

There's me after graduation. Big smile because I have noooo more homework!

The farmer and I after graduation.

The farmer was happy about the pay raise that was coming with this new degree!

Leslie and I...I look like a cow in the black gown.

My family :)

Mom and Dad need to learn how to smile for pictures...they should have a big smile on their face because they get a pay raise too...no more paying for school! Dad asked about my doctorate and I'm opting out at this moment in time.

So, for graduation from Matt and his parents I got two oak trees. May seem strange to some, but it's a very unique gift and I love my trees! Since we have a new house we have no trees and they are a long lasting gift. My father-in-law said that one of my mother-in-law's students gave her a tree years ago and it's still in their yard. To me it kind of symbolizes the life of a student...they start out small with just a few leaves and they grow up and gain new leaves or knowledge the older they get. Oh me getting all philosophical...on with the playbook.

Anyways, the farmer and I with one of the trees :) and his dirty farm truck. A little photo shoot on Mothers Day before heading over to the grandparents to eat.

the other tree. please take a moment to imagine how grand it will be when I retire...all the leaves will represent all my little kiddos!

the diggers. thanks to dad and the farmer for planting the trees while mom and I were shopping.

Stratton, the farmer's cousin, and his fiance, Sarah at Mothers Day lunch

And we're finally home and relaxing.

The weekend was fun, but went by way to fast! It was back to the grind on Monday, but only a few more weeks left. We've still got some work to do in class and then I'll be packing up my room and heading to Kindergarten :) Yay for little people!

acceptance

2010-05-05T21:42:00.001-05:00

I have been a church goer for 26 years and I've sang (or is it sung? Yes, I should know this, I'm a teacher, but we don't know everything...ha!) a bajillion hymns throughout my lifetime. I know most of them by heart and often find myself humming them or singing them to myself in my car while driving...while no one is listening of course. Oddly enough it's usually Amazing Grace. There is just something about an old hymn that makes me feel good.

For the most part the Baptist and Methodist hymnals are the same...or so I assume...I haven't studied them next to each other, but a lot of the songs from the Methodist church are the same as the Baptist church, which is what I grew up in. But, in my 26 years of Sunday morning worship services I've never heard this particular song...and it really set with me for some reason.

Help us accept each other as Christ accepted us,

teach us as sister, brother, each person to embrace.

Be present God among us and bring us to believe

we are ourselves accepted and meant to love and live.

Teach us, O God, your lessons,

as in our daily life we struggle to be human

and search for hope and faith.

Teach us to care for people

for all, not just some,

to love them as we find them or as they may become.

Let your acceptance change us,

so that we may be moved in living situations

to do the truth in love, to practice your acceptance

until we know by heart the table of forgiveness

and laughter's healing art.

God, for today's encounters with all who are in need,

who hunger for acceptance, for righteousness, and bread.

We need new eyes for seeing, new hands for holding on,

renew us with your Spirit, and free us, make us one.

You don't have to be a Christian or believe in God to understand what these words guide us to do. I think in today's world we need all the reminding we can get. Often we don't even realize that we lose sight on acceptance of others and need to be reminded how God accepts us as we are.

Man, I should have remembered this before I had a student parent encounter today, HA. Maybe I should post it in my new classroom next year!

personalized magnet boards

2010-04-25T18:02:00.003-05:00

Are any of you like me who have this brand new awesome stainless refrigerator that magnets won't stick to? How do you post up invitations, birth announcements, fun pictures on your refrigerator if it won't stick....you create yourself a magnetic board.

A few weeks ago when I was in Texas at my parents house my mom and I worked on a new project...then life got busy, we had testing at school, trying to finish up my masters, and I hosted a huge bridal shower at my house. Hopefully with graduation in two weeks life will slow down and I'll have more time for my new project/hobby and be able to create for you and your friends.

The idea came about because I needed a new cute magnetic board for our desk area at our new house. Mom and I searched and searched and couldn't find a cute one so we decided "why not make one ourselves???" So we did.

We have a good friend who has a sheet metal business so I have a good source for cut sheet metal. Ken cut the magnetic metal for us and put holes in the top. You can get the metal at a local home improvement store if you don't have an awesome Ken. We spray painted the board and then let our creativity juices flow and voila! my new magnetic board. You would be amazed at how many things you can find at Michaels, Hobby Lobby, etc to make your board to fit your style...and spray adhesive...a new discovery and I love it!

While I was in Texas I found these super cute silver letter magnets so I picked up a K, E, L, L, and Y to use for magnets. I also have turned buttons into magnets, but don't them on the board in this picture.

Like what you see? Need a cute, personalized magnetic board? Let me know!

I have several blank boards in stock that I can make to your liking. Think how great these boards would be for birthday or Christmas gifts? Or just a gift for yourself :) I also plan to create a few framed ones too if that's more your style.

The board looks super cute in our mini "office" desk area in the kitchen. Now we can post the million birth announcements we are getting these days and pin up invitations so we won't be so forgetful :)

{Linking to Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Night Special}

lose the glitter

2010-04-18T21:43:00.002-05:00

The title is referring to Reba on the Academy of Country Music awards tonight. The woman took a glitter pen to her arms. And it's just a tad bit much.

I feel like I've been disconnected from the blog world because as it turns out our good ol' six year computer has bitten the dust. Well, not technically. It still works fine, but there is a short where the electrical adapter plugs into the computer...or so I think...I've done a self diagnosis. We've had our fair share of batteries and just purchased a new power cord and neither one seems to do the trick. You have to wiggle and wiggle to get the green charging light to come on and it only stays on for point five seconds before disappearing again. The farmer wasn't too much for getting a new one, but I frankly see no point in spending $100 over and over to buy replacement parts to spend just as much as we could get a new one for....so, I ordered one last week ;) Don't get me wrong, if the farmer hadn't just begun to farm I do believe he'd be far more interested so he could find new tractors or combines or browse rivals.com so he could check out the new football starts. Instead he sits on a tractor all day and crashes when he gets home with no thought of the world wide web. I on the other hand am quite addicted.

I pulled out the farmer's old laptop, but it takes a little less than an hour to load one webpage so that just wasn't going to work. And it's not wireless and hellllllo, why have a laptop if you can't use it on the couch? Pure laziness, ha! I've had to resort to doing a lot of blog stalking on a tiny little screen on my iphone, but I haven't really wanted to do the whole iphone blog posting business and I'm not even sure how.

So, I'm so anxious to get my new computer in my hands. I check the status on it daily even though I already know what it's going to say...expected arrival the beginning of May. I sure hope it doesn't take that long.

It's such a beautiful day outside. I went to Walmart and bought a cart for my water hose. We finally got a flower bed this week so that means I've got to water flowers. We seem to be having a drought at the moment. I can't let the farmer think I'm really going to let all those flowers die. Brea and I took Lily to the playground at the school today to run around...and we walked there...got a little exercise in today, but this week I've gotta get back on the couch to 5k bandwagon...as long as it's not 95 degrees outside.

Speaking of beautiful....my new front door wreath is beaaaaaautiful. Take a look for yourself.

Krista at The Gathering Place Design made it for me and I'm in love. Mom came across it one night while she was checking out Funky Junk's Saturday Night Special do it yourself-ers (I think that's where she found her??). I immediately fell in love, emailed Krista, and she had it to me within the week! I smile everytime I pull in my driveway and look at my front door. It's just so unique ;) I have searched and searched for a Spring wreath and had no such luck, but thank to Gathering Place the search is over. Check her out if you need a new wreath!

By the way, I'm watching the Academy of Country Music awards and may I say that it is so sad that the end of Brooks and Dunn is near.

I'm not good with change.

green thumb

2010-04-04T21:17:00.000-05:00

This week I suppose I got a green thumb and decided to make the outside of our house look a little more cheerful and Springy :) We are in the process of getting flower beds put in, but since it's rained all we have is the green metal edging and tilled up dirt.

Mom and I found this rocker at a consignment store for $70. I wasn't sure if the farmer would like it for the porch, but all he had to hear was "mom bought us..." and he's perfectly fine with it! I'd really like more than one rocker on the porch, but I think I want them all to be unique so they will have to come as we find them. The rocker was a little awkward sitting by itself so I added this super cute planter next to it that I picked up at market a few months ago. Bringing out the planter started my green thumb shopping spree!

I had no clue what coconut liner was, but alas, I do now! It worked perfect as a liner for the planter. Word to the wise - don't try cutting it. It was super tough to cut and then I realized you can just tear it apart. Geesh louise. While at Lowe's I also picked up an impatia? and a few english ivy plants to use as filler. I used leftover brick stacked up to sit the hanging basket on for height, but after my second project today I have quite a bit of potting soil left so this week I plan to take the plants out of the baskets and re-plant them in soil in the pretty iron coconut lined planter.

The green thumb extended to today. The farmer and I went over to his parents house for Easter lunch and our Easter baskets were sitting in the garage...two Easter geranium baskets! I thought it was a pretty clever idea. She thought our new house needed some new pretty plants. Love the plants, but these pretty Easter baskets ended up costing me $85 after another trip to Lowe's! I came home with two pots, two trays to sit the pots on, a bag of potting soil, and a bag of gravel...apparently you need the gravel in the bottom to help drain...sure didn't know that beforehand!

I had the cute little cart at the shop as one of our display pieces and since the shop closed it has been sitting in storage so with my Mom's brillant idea I loaded it up and brought it home to use on my backporch. Mom's really a smart lady because look how cute it looks on my backporch!

The other day I was shopping at The Full Moon, just about my FAVORITE store in Little Rock and they had the cutest made of rock gardeny looking pig. I've decided the pig needs a new home and that new home is on my porch cart. Can't wait to shop for cute gardeny outdoorsy things to finish this project. I know you can't wait to see what I have up my sleeve...truth is, me either! HA.

I've never been one to be excited about flowers or my yard. I guess it's because I've never really had flowers or a yard that I've cared about too much. Just as I was starting to like it at my house in Texarkana I met the farmer, sold my house, and moved. Moved to a pink house that had an over abundance of plants and flowers, I'm talking way out of control insanely crazy green yard. Poor old lady that lived there before us must have spent millions on plants and flowers for her yard, but it was just a little too much for me. So, I ignored it.

Today it was so beautiful outside and I had so much fun fixing up my little pots! The farmer laughed at me and wanted to criticize my techniques, but I told him to come do it himself or let me do it how I want to do it! I told him that I am no farmer, I'm just married to one!

Now the big question is.....can Whitney keep these three plants alive? Guess we'll see. Although I'm doing a pretty good job so far. Granted one is just two days old and the other not even a day old. The farmer is shocked I haven't killed them yet. Ye of little faith.

He also told me that I need to "water these plants because these are our plants and we have to be responsible and keep them alive".

Are these plants or kids?

mayonnaise

2010-03-30T22:04:00.000-05:00

I know I know, your life has been a total trainwreck for the past 13 days because my blog has not shown up in your blog list or google reader with an updated post.

Well, I'm back so your life will return back to normalcy :)

Ha, ok, who am I kidding...wait, myself!

My mom emailed me this link to an article on pauladeen.com and the subject title of the email read "reminded me of you". And even I have to admit that it reminds myself of me. I started to share with all of you why and then thought "I think I've already told this story". Or maybe I didn't want to embarrass myself again. And while I had this long post written which consisted of absolutely nothing at all I decided that I'd just share this story instead. Mainly because I found it rather amusing.

The Deviled Egg Went Down to Georgia
by Andrea Goto
http://www.pauladeen.com/

In my world eggs have three uses; they're good for scrambling, dyeing, or throwing. Which is why every Easter I'm faced with the same dilemma: what to do with the three-dozen hardboiled eggs I painstakingly dyed with my daughter?

Mom suggested deviled eggs.

You can't eat an egg that's been sitting on freshly fertilized grass, steaming under the Savannah sun for three hours after some runny-nosed kid drops it into a basket that's been collecting dust in an attic for twelve months. I am, after all, the girl who puts liquid hand sanitizer at every entrance into my home (my daughter calls it "magic soap" but my husband calls it "paper cut finder"). Which is why we dye three-dozen eggs, but hide plastic ones for the Easter egg hunt. Let's face it, there's no incentive to find hardboiled eggs. No kid wants to crack open an egg and suck down a warm, pasty ball of yolk. But you fill your yard with hermetically sealed plastic eggs holding individually wrapped Tootsie Rolls and you have yourself a salmonella-free cage fight.

Even if you aren't concerned about the salmonella factor, you may question the old schoolishness of deviled eggs. Like shag carpet and green bean casserole (yes, the one topped with tater tots), deviled eggs are so 1970s. The urbanites who bring crostini and proscuitto-wrapped melon to the cocktail parties snicker at my mom's potlucky deviled eggs. But while their crostini stales and proscuitto dries, Mom's empty egg plate spins like a 45.

So I take Mom's advice and pull up Paula's recipe for Traditional Southern Deviled Eggs, which only calls for six ingredients and takes 15 minutes to prepare. With my eggs already hardboiled, I'm halfway there.

That is, until I realize that Brad and Angelina could buy five more kids in the time it takes me to peel 36 eggs.

One hour and 48 minutes later (I timed it) my hands are so torn up from peeling that I can barely mash the yolks. Then comes my first deviled-egg dilemma: Miracle Whip or mayonnaise? Where you stand on the issue says as much about you as your political affiliation. I converted to Miracle Whip when I got married, but my parents have remained staunch followers of mayonnaise. When they came to visit, they purchased a squeezable off-brand vat of the stuff and it has remained untouched in my fridge ever since. I'm a practical girl, so I opt to make my army of eggs from the cast-off mayo.

Not counting the nearly two-hour Peelapalooza, the recipe comes together quite nicely. I invite my husband - a lover all things retro, such as Wham! and Carrie Fisher - to take the first bite.

"Holy hell that's hot!" he says:

Surely he's mistaken. I try a bite and my mouth nearly ignites.

But why would Paula do me wrong?

I go back over the ingredients one by one. When I pull the off-brand mayo from the fridge, I discover my error. This mayo is horseradish sauce. Who would buy a 55-gallon drum of horseradish sauce and leave it in my fridge? My parents.

We eat up all 36 eggs with the help of some friends and a big glass of milk to cut the burn. If Paula's eggs are traditionally deviled, mine are downright satanic.

Andrea Goto lives and writes in Savannah, Georgia. Her kitchen experiments (known as "cooking" in more conventional homes) most often end with a mushroom cloud of smoke or a call to Poison Control. In spite of this, she's deeply loved by her husband who prefers neon-colored cereals to all foods homemade, and her 4-year-old daughter who will eat almost anything as long as you call it "chicken". Need more Andrea? Follow her at http://www.andreagoto.com/.

blah blah

2010-03-17T20:53:00.001-05:00

A snippet of life in my classroom yesterday.

Student A (who happens to be a boy): "Is that your husband? He's ugly!"

Suddenly Student B's head turned to Student A and her eyes got big as she responded.

"Nuh uh! He's sexxxxxxy!"

Ohhhh kids say the darndest things. Especially in my class. Trust me, you should come visit.

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I sit and try to think why life has been so busy lately and I really have no idea. I've been spending lots of time at night working on the new Park Street Market website and I'm finally on the downhill slide. Hopefully it will be up soon....stay tuned because don't worry, I will announce it! I'm all about some new and improved advertising. Bloggy style.

I guess I have also been working on homework. Boo. Let me just say that May 8 at 10 AM can not come soon enough. I will be a graduate school graduate and I'm ready...because I am sick of school...as in me attending school, not teaching. That would be bad if I was already sick of school considering I just started teaching in September. Oh and I had to take a killer test on Saturday. Here's the run down.

4 case studies.
3 questions per case study.
2 parts per question
2 other parts to each part to each question to each case study

Oh, and about 20 multiple choice. All in 2 hours. YEAH RIGHT.

Good thing I took 4 pencils because I was definitely on my 4th pencil when time was called...and I literally finished my test let's say ohhhh 20 seconds before time was called. Lovely.

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I am sooooooooooooooooo ready for Spring Break. Friday please come soon. On Saturday I'm heading to Wye Mountain with Brea and baby Lily to take some pictures at the Daffodil Festival. I'm pretty excited about all the pretty flowers...that means Spring! I'm helping a friend her "re-accessorize" her house on Monday afternoon, having lunch/early dinner with a dear friend in Little Rock one day, and have a trip to Texarkana planned to see mom and pops (and hopefully Amy and Jordan and whoever else) which will require a trip to TaMollys to grab some Mexican food and I already have a pedi and mani scheduled with my favorite nail lady for Friday morning.

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This blog clearly has no specific point. Very random.

Whoever this is singing on American Idol is hideous in my opinion. Ke$ha? Why does she have a dollar sign in her name? Guess she likes the money honey. Her backup dancers are wearing TV heads and she has on an Indian headdress. The song is called "blah, blah, blah"....quite frankly that's what I think about her performance.

In case you are wondering, I'm tired.

And blah.

Blah blah.

just a little corn kernel

2010-03-07T19:16:00.005-06:00

If you have good eyes you will notice something in my washing machine.

In case you have bad eyes, here's a little closer look.

This my friends is a corn kernel. I know you are wondering how corn got in my washing machine.

To you, this is just a vegetable you cook at night to feed your family. To me, this means farming season has approached and the farmer will be spending many hours on a tractor or in grain bins and his pockets will now be filled with rice, soybeans, or corn kernels. The farmer and I met in 2006 so this is my fifth farming season and I hope that I've adjusted and will handle it better this year than before. Matt's schedule is changing to the farming schedule where he's up early and home late and spends his days in the field. Sometimes it worries me how much he works, but if there is one thing he is completely passionate about it is his farm.

This past weekend my mom brought me The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook. I've been dying to have it, but haven't ever gotten around to buying it. I'M OBSESSED as is most everyone else I know that has the cookbook. I immediately began reading the stories and ooohing and aaahing over the recipes. While the Oscars are on tonight I plan on finishing the cookbook, reading it from cover to cover. Mom brought the "Angel Sugar Cookies" and they are the best sugar cookies I've ever had.

I feel like The Pioneer Woman and I are somewhat alike. She grew up in a larger town. I grew up in a somewhat large town. She spent her summers at the pool. I spent my summers at the lake. She took trips to New York with her mom. I took trips to New York with my mom. She was "attached to all the wonderful conveniences of a surburban existence: landscaped lawns, manicures, pedicures, facials, take-out food, and lots of shopping". I too was attached to my manicures, pedicures, take-out food, and lots of shopping. (Take-out and shopping is hard to come by...we have pizza, bbq, and Sonic...and the closest Target is 30 minutes away!) She is now married and lives on a cattle ranch. I am now married and live in a farm town. While I don't have cows in my yard daily and piles of horse maure on my porch, I most definitely have a dusty pile of clothes that reaches the ceiling.

Now if only I could cook like her. My farmer would love me even more.

Guess I can at least try.

yummy to my tummy

2010-03-04T19:04:00.002-06:00

Of course when I finally make a new recipe that tasted so yummy I DIDN'T TAKE PICTURES!!!!! That kind of thing always happens to me. Almost like today at school when my precious little Lexi fell asleep with her head on the computer keyboard I was so mad that I didn't have my camera in my purse....but then I remembered I have this fancy piece of technology called an iphone and I whipped it out to snap a picture. So precious. When her momma (my aide) woke lil bit up she had computer key imprints on her cheek.

Back to the recipe...I know you are just dying to hear what it is. I get daily emails from myrecipes.com with recipes and I usually just delete them, but this one caught my eye - Tex Mex Calzones. Sounds yummy to me! Matt said this dinner was the definition of heartburn and sure to keep him up all night....I was konked out all night so can't really verify if this is a true statement or not.

Tex Mex Calzones

8 oz. ground turkey (I used 16 oz because that's all the local store had and it was frozen or I would have halved it :) )
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup red bell pepper
1/2 cup green bell pepper
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder (thought I had this, ended up not, but it was fine without it)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup salsa verde (the green stuff)
1 11oz. can refrigerated thin-crust pizza dough
3/4 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground turkey to pan; cook 3 minutes, stirring to crumble. Add onion and next 5 ingredients (through garlic) to pan; cook 4 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender, stirring mixture occasionally. Remove turkey mixture from heat; stir in salsa.

Unroll dough and divide into four equal portions (I did six smaller portions). Spoon 1/2 of turkey mixture on one side of dough. Top with 3 tbsp cheese; fold dough over turkey mixture and press edges together with a fork to seal. Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining dough and turkey mixture. Bake for 12 minutes or until browned (only took me 10 minutes but my oven is the focus of a re-calibration service call on Tuesday so it's not a very good modification). Serve with sour cream.

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Since I didn't take pictures of this fine meal here's one from the website.

The recipe called for a black bean salad as a side, but since the farmer hates beans (like can't stand the sight of them) I opted for good ol' reliable chips and salsa instead.

I would say that the inside dough was a little mushy, but that was predictable considering my oven. You'd think that when you bought a brand new oven that it would be calibrated right, but only one can hope! It doesn't cook correctly so we have a service call scheduled for Tuesday to get it fixed so our food will cook like it should.

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Mom's coming up tomorrow for the night. Saturday morning we have a Sip and See for my sister-in-law and our new nephew Michael. We haven't seen him since he was born which was over two months ago so I'm pretty excited to get my hands on him!

On Saturday night the farmer and I are headed to Little Rock to see these two greats.

(they won't center and it's driving me NUTS)

I looooove me some George! I've seen him several times. Doesn't he just look so handsome :) I bought Matt tickets for his birthday, but he thinks I had a hidden agenda.

I have no idea why he would think that.

Farmer is home and my sketti's are cooking...easy peesy meal tonight since I slaved over the stove last night :)

The senior boys basketball team is playing in the state tournament tonight. Did I mention we live very close to the new high school that is hosting the tournament? There are a MILLION people there and half of that million is parked on our street.

Awesome.

you can call us the fab five.

2010-03-02T20:49:00.003-06:00

Why?

Because we are FAB. We are the FAB FIVE.

Haha.

I spent the past weekend in my old stomping grounds for fab five girls weekend. Amy hosted us at her house and it was quite enjoyable. But life always is with my four best friends. It was a nice laid back weekend. We try to get together every six months, but since we've had such busy lives it's been a year!

Molly joined us for her first girls weekend! She came over on Saturday and played with us...hopefully we kept her entertained so she'll want to come back next year. Isn't she precious?

Off to lunch at TLC....best. cheeseburger. ever.

a little continuous camera action on the way.

after lunch we took a walk through downtown where Allison had her 2010 senior pictures taken

one of the highlights of our day was a stop to see one of our favorite bloggers (who we just so happened to go to highschool with) jill. Too bad little Sophie wasn't there to grace us with her presence. By the way, she has a super cute house!

We had dinner on Saturday night downtown at our favorite local Mexican restaurant Zapatas. The fab five moms joined us which will come in my next post because this one is on picture overload!

Aren't we cute? These four girls are my absolute best friends ever. And they always will be. I remind myself every day how blessed I am to have such great friends that I can sit around for a whole weekend and do absolutely nothing but talk and eat, eat, eat and enjoy it so much. Having a group of friends that have stayed so close eight years out of highschool is a rare occurrence and I'm so lucky. We are all different, but all alike.

I loooove them.

best. pasta. ever.

2010-02-24T21:20:00.000-06:00

For the best pasta dish ever you will need:

linguine noodles, uncooked
flank steak, cooked in thin strips
red bell pepper
onion
sour cream
milk
onion and chive cream cheese

.......wait, what am I thinking?

I hated it.

I picked up a magazine at the local grocery store that had tonnnns of recipes. I thought it wouldn't hurt...surely there was one good recipe in it. Well, I tore out one page with 4 recipes and I only liked 1 recipe on the page. I made a trip to that same grocery store today to get all the ingredients, came home, got to cooking, and even pulled out my camera to document every step so you would be sure to know exactly how to make this gourmet mushroom and steak linguine.

Then I took one bite. I'll spare you the pictures because I don't want you to put forth the effort for a not so good meal. The farmer said it was okay...he at least cleared his plate. I ate my green beans and salad and called it a night....for about 30 minutes and I needed some Frosted Flakes.

Ohhhh! And that same local grocery store. They have only had the tiny bottles of Diet Dr Pepper the last THREE times I've been there. What's the deal? I need the tall bottles....caffeine people...must have it before school starts. Just ask Jill....something about 'the minis' as she calls them makes you need your DDP.

You've probably noticed a new addition to my blog...the cute little blog button dedicated to baby Cohen. He needs all of our prayers and I know I am no blog with 300 followers, but if even one person sees my button and says a little prayer that helps in so many ways.

I'm headed to Texas this weeked for Fab Five Girls Weekend with Amy, Katie and Molly, Allison, and Megan and Cohen. Amy's hosting us and it'll feel so good to be home with all my girls. This puts a huge smile on my face and makes me so happy. I'm even more excited to finally get to "meet" baby Cohen for the first time :)

rainy sunday

2010-02-21T21:31:00.001-06:00

It's a rainy day in the neighborhood. And I'm still in my pajamas with the fire on, watching Food Network, and blogging. Ahhh, the life. The only thing today missed was church, but the farmer is quite sickly so we didn't make it.

Last night Matt and I went out to Big K's to eat fish. Big K's is a fish restaurant that a local farmer has every Saturday night during the off season in his shop barn. And let me tell you...it's some dannnnng good fish! And homemade biscuits with powdered sugga....oh my, how heavenly. I did limit myself to just one last night. Aren't you proud of me?

fast forward about 5 hours.

In the middle of writing this blog post I was sent to the grocery store to pick up some medicine for the farmer. He has been feeling yucky since Friday. When I got home he told me he couldn't take it any longer...we were heading to the emergency room to see a doctor. Believe it or not, there are no after hours clinics around here...or none that we can find. So, off we go. He was feeling pretty bad last night after we left dinner. We were supposed to go to a fundraiser social that we were having for club and I ended up going with some friends by myself because he felt too sick to go. When I got home at 1 AM (side note: can't remember the last time I was out until 1 AM!) he was on the couch wrapped up and slept until 1:00 today. The doctors did blood tests and stomach x-rays and came up with that he may have the virus that's floating around...so, after 3 hours at the hospital, a fenegran/demerol shot, and two prescriptions later we finally headed home. Poor farmer went straight to bed.

So...back to my original post.

Valentine's Day gifts.

Matt's birthday and Valentine's Day falls two days apart so this year I gave him a "birthentine" gift - tickets to the George Strait concert on March 6. He was excited, but said he knew that's what I had gotten him because I told him we should go a few weeks ago...I guess I'm too predictable! I surprised him with a few things on Valentine's Day for his "man garage" because he wasn't expecting anything more. After church on Sunday we went by his parents house where he was hiding the goodies for me.

The earrings and necklace are reversible...the heart reverses from all silver to wear everyday to glittering crystals for blingy celebrations. I haven't worn the "blingy" side yet...guess I'm a more simple silver kind of girl. He bought them from the Brighton store...aren't you shocked he knows what Brighton is....and even knows where the Brighton store is! He said he almost went in White House Black Market instead....one of my absolute favorite stores. I would have been happy with that too, but I looove my token of love.

Very heartfelt :)

love and prayers.

2010-02-15T21:18:00.000-06:00

Well, here we are again and I am off school! But this time there is no snow. Just a good ol' day to remember our Presidents of the past. Being a President has got to be a tough job....talk about being judged! I prefer to think about past Presidents, not current....and that's where my talk about politics ends :)

This weekend every year turns out to be a busy one. Matt's birthday was the 12th and then lovey dovey Valentine's Day! My parents came up to see Matt for his birthday and of course Mom and I went shopping on Saturday.

Early Sunday morning while Matt was still sleeping I got up and made him these as part of his Valentine's Day gift. They were yummy!

We spent our Valentine's Day at church in the morning, laying around the house, and then just as the slushy rain started to fall we headed to Little Rock for dinner at PF Changs and the movies. Thankfully it was dry when we started to head home and not icy. I went straight to bed with the intentions of sleeping, but couldn't turn off the Olympics! I love them!

Speaking of love....

I love my dear friend Megan.

She is pregnant with sweet baby Cohen. This past week Megan and Brent got some news about little Cohen's heart that could result in surgery when he is born. Please pray for Megan, Brent, and Cohen.. During times like these we must remember that God is in control and to not lose faith.

I've been working on the new website for Park Street Market all day....such a time consuming project! I'm also anxiously awaiting my new logo design. Can't wait to show it off!

Annnnd another week starts....kids are going to be on a sugar high from all their Valentine's Day candy!