• Recipes - Sides

    Microwave Mac & Cheese

    August 10, 2015 - By 

    Recently when we were out of town, I was looking for a microwavable meal. I scrounged together these few ingredients and decided to attempt it in the microwave. Since I was taking this side dish and making it into a meal, I needed to add something to it. I had some thick cut ham, so I chopped it into cubes and threw it in to make it more filling. Servings: 4 Prep Time: 0 minutes Cooking Time: 6 minutes Ingredients: 8 oz. of macaroni noodles 1 cup water 1/2 cup half & half 1/2 cup of butter 1 cup of…

  • Life

    Back to School {2015}

    August 7, 2015 - By 

    To my dismay, school is back in session as of yesterday. With a Senior and the other one starting first year in middle school for 6th grade, it’s a big year for us. I have to confess that my stomach has been in knots the last couple weeks with the reality of this. I’ve honestly been in denial. In fact, I didn’t want to shop for school supplies or go school clothes shopping. I had hard enough time dragging myself to schedule a time to take Drew out for his Senior pictures. For Drew, I just can’t believe he’s entering…

  • Beef - Dinner - Mexican - Recipes

    One-Pot Tamale Pie

    August 6, 2015 - By 

    I am constantly on the lookout for new Mexican dishes. I found this recipe for Tamale Pie and knew I had to try it. I decided to adapt it a bit and make into a One-Pot Tamale Pie. This recipe brought me back to the days when my Granddad would crack open a can of tamales, throw them in a pan, and heat them up. Yes, that wasn’t the healthiest of meals, but regardless its a memory and a flavor that I cherish. I’ve never tried making tamales on my own, which would be better for you than from a…

  • Beef - Dinner - Recipes

    Italian Chili {Crockpot}

    August 5, 2015 - By 

    I know it’s been awhile since I’ve posted a recipe. That doesn’t mean haven’t been cooking. In fact, I have such a long list of recipes that I’ve made that I wasn’t even sure where to start. Posting this Italian Chili seemed like a good choice, because with kids starting back to school tomorrow I’m frazzled and when I put dinner in the crockpot that’s once less thing to worry about after work! Who doesn’t love that? Servings: 6-8 Prep Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 6 hours Ingredients: 1 lb. ground beef 1/2 lb. Italian sausage 1 can (28 oz.)…

  • Life

    Memories of the Month {7.2015}

    August 4, 2015 - By 

    This month I was happy about: getting a new camera and lens!! Rating system for books & movies: ♥ ♥ = Love it! A must read/see! ♥ = Really good! Highly recommend. ✓ ✓ = Good, not great. ✓ = Not much to talk about. X = Awful. Total waste of time. Movies I watched were: Standing Up based on the book called The Goats by Brock Cole ♥ Step Dogs ♥ TV Shows I watched were: Chasing Life (Netflix – Season 1) ♥ ♥ The Bachelorette (belch) – X – glad it’s over! Friday Night Lights (watching again for…

  • Travel

    Bahia Honda State Park

    July 24, 2015 - By 

    One of the things on our to-do-list while in the keys was to go to Bahia Honda State Park. The afternoon after spending our morning at sea, we had a few hours to spare. We decided to go check out this highly regarded state park. After entering the park we turned and headed to the Eastern side of the park, which is where you’ll find a mile long beach called Sandspur Beach. It’s a very narrow beach covered with seaweed the day we were there. There’s restrooms and pavilions there. However, we decided to check out the Calusa Beach that’s…

  • Travel

    Burdines Waterfront Restaurant

    July 23, 2015 - By 

    Burdines Waterfront ChikiTiki Bar & Grill is located on Boot Key Harbor on Marathon Key. We actually passed by it earlier that day in the boat. This place was packed, but we managed to get a table inside. If you go there, I highly recommend eating outside. The inside is small and shares space with the kitchen. It was noisy, and hot. Rob and Drew got the Bacon Wrapped BBQ Shrimp, which looked amazing. I had the fish sandwich, which was also quite flavorful. Nothing was better than our dessert, which was the Deep Fried Key Lime Pie. O.M.G!!! I…

  • Drew_Eagle_Scout_Project_Day2SQ
    Life

    Drew’s Eagle Scout Project

    July 21, 2015 - By 

    Back in March, Drew wrote his plan for his Eagle Scout Project Proposal and it was approved with flying colors. He had to get through ACT prep class and the end of his junior year. Summer rolled around and he was finally able to get the plan written, materials purchased, and dates arranged. He had large contingent of guys from his troop come out to help. Day 1 pics: Here’s the Scoutmaster’s daughter along with Drew’s girlfriend. They were so sweet to give up half of their Saturday to sweat and help Drew with his project. Here’s the Scoutmaster working…

  • Spreading My Dad's Ashes
    Life

    Spreading My Dad’s Ashes

    July 16, 2015 - By 

    Never in a million years did I imagine that I would be spreading my Dad’s ashes before I even turned 40! You can read all about his journey with ALS, which was a quick one actually. On my last visit to see him, he expressed to Rob and me that he wanted to be “blowing in the wind.” Well on January 1st, 2015 that’s exactly what he was doing before his ashes finally met the salty ocean waters just off the coast of Marathon Key. You’ll see in the video, me just standing there after the ashes are poured out.…

  • Morning at Sea near Marathon Key
    Travel

    Morning at Sea off Marathon Key

    July 15, 2015 - By 

    On New Year’s Day, we woke up early and stopped in at McDonald’s for a quick breakfast before hopping on a charter boat for a half day on the open seas. Yes, that loose end of spreading Dad’s ashes had finally come and I’ll have to say I was a mess while eating breakfast. We arrived at the marina a little before 8 am and Captain Dave was busy rinsing off the deck of the boat. When he was done, we discussed plans for the morning. I made sure he was aware that the main purpose of the trip was…

  • Life

    Happy 40th!

    July 10, 2015 - By 

    My other half turns 40 today! I wanted to write a special post to wish Rob a very happy birthday. Dear Rob, I hope you have the best birthday today. After all, it is a milestone. 😉 The BIG 4-0! WOW! I know I can’t give you too hard of a time about it, because mine’s soon to follow. Anyway, I wanted you know that am so very glad to have you in my life. I can’t imagine sharing life with anyone other than you. I’m so proud of all the things you’ve accomplished in your 40 years and I…

  • Morning in Key West
    Travel

    Morning in Key West

    July 8, 2015 - By 

    Key West is such an interesting place with so much character, history, and uniqueness to experience. When we were in the Keys, we spent New Year’s Eve morning in Key West. This post is just to highlight the 4-5 hours we spent exploring this alluring city. I plan to come back and write a few more posts about some of the cool places we came across. We got up at the crack of dawn, before the sun had even begun to rise. We wanted to beat the crowds and didn’t want to have to wait in a long line at…

  • Life

    Memories of the Month {6.2015}

    July 7, 2015 - By 

    This month I was happy about: it being summer and just being able to have some downtime. This year I’m going to rate the books & movies. Here’s my rating system: ♥ ♥ = Love it! A must read/see! ♥ = Really good! Highly recommend. ✓ ✓ = Good, not great ✓ = Not much to talk about X = Awful. Total waste of time Movies I watched were: The Best of Me – ♥ ♥♥ ♥ TV Shows I watched were: Grace & Frankie (Netflix) – watched the first episode and the first few minutes of the 2nd episode,…

  • Life

    Being Real

    July 6, 2015 - By 

    Hey y’all. I gotta get real with ya for a second. You may or may not have noticed I haven’t blogged the much the last month. I am a bit burnt out with blogging. Since re-branding and slowly moving old blog posts over while trying to crank out a daily blog post, I’m just kind of over it. I love blogging, don’t get me wrong but for the longest time (even before moving over to this new blog home) I feel like I’ve been trying to go in too many directions with this thing. All the while being miserable while…

  • Travel

    Noccalula Falls {Gadsden, Alabama}

    June 30, 2015 - By 

    A few weeks ago, we were near Gadsden, Al looking for something to do, so I went old fashion and pulled out the atlas. I found a place called Noccalula Falls and wondered what that was, so we pulled out our phones and Googled it, where we found this link: Noccalula Falls Park We decided to head that way and check it out. If you view the falls from the top, it’s free. However, I highly recommend paying the park fee to go inside the park. When you enter the park, you’ll see the Pioneer Homestead which is comprised of…

  • Travel

    Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge

    June 28, 2015 - By 

    Another must see and do while in the Florida Keys is to visit the The National Key Deer Refuge, which is located on Big Pine Key and No Name Key. We made a stop on Big Pine Key on our way back up to Marathon from Key West. click on map to enlarge click on map to enlarge The National Key Deer Refuge is a 9,200-acre National Wildlife Refuge that is inhabited by about 800 animals. This refuge was established in 1957 as a haven for Key deer as well as other wildlife in the Florida Keys. Many of the…

  • Travel

    Everglades National Park

    June 16, 2015 - By 

    After an exhilarating airboat tour in Everglades City, we headed towards Shark Valley, which has an observation tower that provides amazing panoramic views of the heart of the Everglades. click on map to enlarge Right before arriving at Shark Valley (Stop #1), we stopped at Miccosukee Restaurant for lunch. This is a restaurant on the Miccosukee Reservation. The restaurant menu provided lots of variety, which included some traditional Native American dishes, like Frybread, alligator nuggets, and Indian tacos. I’m still kicking myself for not trying their tacos, but I was a bit concerned about having that sit on my stomach…

  • Life

    Water Skiing on Lake Martin 2015

    June 9, 2015 - By 

    Over the Memorial Day weekend, we continued our tradition of going up to the lake with our friends. Last year they added boat riding and tubing to the fun. This year they got water skis. Drew tried water skiing a couple years ago with some other friends, but was limited to just a few tries, none of which were successful. He was anxious to try it again. Joe’s Dad, Ben, gave Drew some advise about what to do. However, Drew’s 1st attempt was short lived as you can see from this picture. The 2nd attempt was more of a success.…

  • Travel

    Lake Martin Memorial Day Weekend 2015

    June 7, 2015 - By 

    This past weekend we enjoyed another great weekend at the Farrow’s Lake House. We didn’t go Friday night like usual because Caitlyn’s Graduation Party, so didn’t get to the lake till Saturday morning. Even with a shorter trip, we still had lots of fun and made more memories with some of our favorite folks. Swimming Playing in the yard Boating and Tubing Caitlyn got to tube for the first time And a family selfie to wrap up the weekend Already looking forward to next year! Click the link below to read more about the weekend. Water Skiing on Lake Martin

  • Life

    James Baird Honor Scout Award

    June 5, 2015 - By 

    Last night the boys’ Scout Troop held their end of the school year court of honor. Many merit badges nad rank advancements were handed out, as well as the swearing in of new leadership. The final presentation of the evening was the troop’s inaugural presentation of the James J. Baird Jr. Honor Scout Award, which was awarded to Drew! This is an award that will be given out every year at the spring court of honor to the troop’s “top Scout” based on participation in troop activities, demonstration of Scout skills, continuing advancement success, and a vote of his peers.…