• Life

    2018 Highlights

    December 31, 2018 - By 

    I enjoy reading other’s end of the year posts and well as going back and reading my end of year highlight posts. If you write an end of the year post, please comment below and share your link so I can see your post as well! If you’ve been following me for awhile you know my posts are usually photo heavy, but photos often evoke more memories than words, at least for me. Here’s a run down of the highlights from 2018! [January] The boys and Rob enjoyed a great annual ski trip to Gatlinburg with the Boy Scouts. Here’s…

  • Life

    TBB Asks Christmas Edition

    December 7, 2018 - By 

    Today I’m joining along with The Blended Blog (TBB) for some Christmas fun. I always enjoy writing posts like this so I can look back and see how my answers have changed through the years. 1. Candy Canes? Yes, while I’m not a huge candy cane fanatic, I enjoy one here and there. I like to decorate with them too. Santa usually puts some different flavors in our stockings. 2. Christmas Morning early riser or sleep in? You know when the kids were little we had to be early risers, because they were just too anxious to sleep in. The…

  • December Scripture - A - Week
    Life

    December Scripture-A-Week

    December 3, 2018 - By 

    Once again I’m late getting this post up. So now that its December, here is your December Scripture-A-Week. I have been so busy the last month that I never got to share with you about why I’m so busy. Instead of continuing to say I’ll share it in another post, I’m just going to share it briefly here. I got a new job… It’s actually in the same department that I’m in, but it’s a promotion. It’s a lot more stress, but a lot more job satisfaction. And right now I’m doing 2 jobs, my old job and my new…

  • After Christmas Texas Trip 2017
    Travel

    After Christmas Texas Trip 2017

    January 13, 2018 - By 

    Dec. 26th The day after Christmas we got up, went and got our rental car, and headed to Baton Rouge. We stopped at The Boiling Pot in Mobile, AL. Really great shrimp po-boys, pricy, but overflowing with shrimp so it was worth it. Next stop was Rob’s cousin, Candi’s house in Baton Rouge. We stayed with his other cousin Sara and her husband Phillip. They have 2 of the coolest pets. Dec. 27th Wednesday we hung out back at Candi’s house some more. We ended our visit there with a visit to our good old standby, Brew-bachers. From there we…

  • Christmas Day
    Life

    Christmas Day 2017

    January 5, 2018 - By 

    Now that we’re getting back to normal life, I’ve finally had time to sit and go through these pics. It helps that I didn’t take that many pics. Christmas this year was one of the best we’ve had in a long time. There were lots of surprises. I got the Instax Printer. The boys got a PS4 Pro Star Wars Limited Edition. We enjoyed the morning. This year Caitlyn came over to open presents with us which was nice. Daisy is so funny at Christmas. She wants to open everyone’s presents. As you can see she quickly figured out one…

  • December Little Things 2017
    Life

    December Little Things 2017

    January 2, 2018 - By 

    December is always a busy month full of Christmas parties, concerts, and traveling. Now that January is here, I wanted to a look back our busy month. Alex had his winter concert. Look at him! AU Cappella had their fall concert in December this year, so they featured some Christmas music. We made our annual trip out to Lanett for a Christmas tree. That same day was the Auburn Christmas parade, and while neither of our kids were in it, our 2 nieces were. As you can see they were there with their dance company. The top picture below is…

  • Chocolate Topped Peanut Butter Blondies
    Dessert - Recipes

    Chocolate Topped Peanut Butter Blondies

    December 23, 2017 - By 

    Blondie? No not that Blondie. More like this… You know I’ve heard of the food Blondie, but never really knew what it was. I always kind of thought it was a cookie of some sort. But, for many years I’ve wondered what the yummy peanut butter bars that I used to get at good old Glenview Elementary way back in the 80’s when I was a student there. They were always so yummy with a light chocolate topping. I recently started doing some research and started seeing some recipes that looked and sounded much like what I had looking for.…

  • Easy Spinach Artichoke Dip
    Appetizers & Snacks - Recipes

    Spinach Artichoke Dip

    December 17, 2017 - By 

    One of the very first appetizers that I made was this one. It’s crazy to think that I published this recipe back on my old blog back in 2006! How time flies so quickly. Anyway, this Spinach Artichoke Dip is easy and yummy. It makes a ton, but will be gone in no time. Perfect for the Christmas work parties, church potlucks, and much more. Servings: 5 cups Prep Time: 10 minutes Ingredients: 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained 13.75 oz. can artichoke bottoms, well drained and diced 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened 2 cups…

  • Christmas Day 2016
    Life

    Christmas Day 2016 in Pics

    January 19, 2017 - By 

    Christmas was a little odd this year, since we got back from our cruise on Christmas Eve. Santa must have been hungry! Pics of our tree before opening presents We enjoyed the Christmas Day service at church Drew actually smiled for a photo with gift from Santa! Excited about my gifts! Family pic at church since none of us really in the mood beofre getting to church After church we headed up to Moreland to spend the day with Rob’s family. The calm before the cooking storm… This is Sweetie…she makes me laugh. My nephew staring in to space My…

  • Life

    Memories of the Month {12.2016}

    December 31, 2016 - By 

    This month I was happy about: going on a cruise right before Christmas. Christmas Cruise 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: Rogue One ✓ ✓ Hackshaw Ridge ♥ ♥ Christmas Belle ♥ TV Shows I watched were: Prison Break (Netflix) – finished it! ♥ ♥ One Tree Hill (Netflix) – finished it! ♥ ♥…

  • Family Date Night at the Columbus Cottonmouths
    Life

    Columbus Cottonmouth Fun

    December 8, 2016 - By 

    Back in January we got a killer deal for Cottonmouths Hockey game. They did the same deal earlier this month and its fun to take a quick drive to Columbus for some hockey and Waffle House. Our seats this time were even better, just behind the visiting team bench. Yeah, the Cottonmouth’s mascot, Boomer is really cool. It was also Super Mario Night, so the team wore special jerseys that they auctioned off after the game. It was Boy Scout Day. We sat right behind the Peoria Rivermen, the visiting team’s bench. We won in a sudden death overtime! Here’s…

  • Christmas Tree Shopping 2016
    Life

    Christmas Tree Shopping 2016

    December 6, 2016 - By 

    Rob got up early Saturday morning and went to help a scout with his Eagle Scout project. The boys and I got up and cleared the spot in front of our living room for the tree and pulled all the Christmas decorations down from the attic. Last year the tree had to get was a little too tall because they didn’t have any decent ones that were shorter. This year they opened up a new lot with a little bit shorter ones. With the drought I was happy that they had trees, but especially Virginia Pines. Are we sure this…

  • Banana Oatmeal Cookies - These cookies are a nice change to the everyday oatmeal or chocolate chip cookies.
    Cookies - Dessert - Recipes

    Banana Oatmeal Cookies

    December 3, 2016 - By 

    Servings: about 2 dozen Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 30 minutes Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3 cups quick-cooking oats 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. nutmeg 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 cup butter, softened not melted 1 cup granulated sugar 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed 1 large egg 1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 large overripe bananas) Optional: add your favorite cookie add-ins like chocolate chips, fruit, etc. Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350°. 2. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray. I like Bakers Joy Cake Pan Spray. 3. In…

  • Life

    Memories of the Month {12.2015}

    December 31, 2015 - By 

    This month I was happy about: getting rid of a rash that I’ve had on my leg for nearly 2 years. (joys of getting old!) 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: Christmas with the Kranks Other Christmas movies TV Shows I watched were: NCIS NCIS LA NCIS NO CSI Cyber Hawaii 50 The Pioneer…

  • Life

    Christmas Tree Tradition 2015

    December 18, 2015 - By 

    The last couple years for our Christmas tree shopping adventure we’ve been going to Gilbert Tree Farm. The place we used to go is just become super expensive and it would take us over an hour to get there. We love Virginia Pines, but those don’t seem to be selling like they used to, so less farms in our area our growing them. We’re really glad that Gilbert Farms still has them. It’s also been raining the last few years when we’ve gone, so that’s why you haven’t seen a post about it in a while. The weekend we went…

  • RBD Library is Growing!
    Life

    RBD Library is Growing!

    December 11, 2015 - By 

    Now that the university is closed for Christmas break, construction on RBD to add the new Mell Commons Building will begin over the holidays. The staff of the library took a picture today infront of our building since it will never look like this again. Photo above by Jayson Hill – AUL libraries (Flickr) I also got some shots to remember what it looked like from different angles. See all the pics I took here. To see progress on the new building see this link: Mell Commons

  • Dessert - Recipes

    Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies

    December 10, 2015 - By 

    It’s that time of year again, when we get back in the kitchen to whip up yummy treats. Cookies, candies, cakes, pies, and brownies! Brownies? Yes, these Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies are a great alternative to your typical brownies. Servings: 18 Prep Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 30 minutes Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter 8 oz. coarsely chopped semi-sweet chocolate 3/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar 3 large eggs 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1/2 cup + 2 tbs. all-purpose flour 2 tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder 1/4 tsp. salt Peanut Butter Part: 3/4 cup Reese’s Spreads Peanut Butter Chocolate…

  • Travel

    Thanksgiving Weekend 2015

    December 5, 2015 - By 

    This year for Thanksgiving we drove down to Spring Hill, Florida for a family visit. Rob’s Mom, brother, Nick, and adopted sister, Rachael as well as Rob’s sister Maria and her entire family came as well. We rented a home on VRBO.com. We split our time between the rental home and Gramma’s house. It was nice to catch up with my sis-in-law and her family since we don’t get to see them much. They live in Texas now and the last time we saw them was a little over a year ago. Seeing the cousins hang out made my heart…

  • Travel

    Winter Gatlinburg Trip

    December 5, 2015 - By 

    Last year was the first Annual Ski Trip for our Boy Scout (and family can come too so we get the group rate) trip. You can read about that trip here: —Boy Scout Ski Trip 2014::Gatlinburg, TN {Day 1 & 2} —Boy Scout Ski Trip 2014::Gatlinburg, TN {Day 3 & 4} This year the boys wanted to do it again. We ended up at the Days Inn again. It’s not the nicest of places, in fact some of the parents opted to stay somewhere else this year. We like it for the price and the location. It’s in the same…

  • Chicken - Pork - Recipes

    Hawaiian Chicken Marinade

    December 4, 2015 - By 

    Growing up, one of my favorite places to eat was Steak & Ale. Anybody remember that restaurant? I even had one of my birthday parties there and invited a bunch of my girlfriends back in elementary school. We all go dressed up in nice dresses and had a lovely dinner at Steak & Ale. My favorite thing to order was their Hawaiian Chicken. This Hawaiian Chicken Marinade takes me back in time. So flavorful whether you cook it outside on the grill or inside. Servings: 4 cups Prep Time: 2-3 days to marinade Cooking Time: 25 minutes Ingredients: 1/2 cup…