• Life

    The Weekly [6.28-7.4.2020]

    July 5, 2020 - By 

    I haven’t done a “The Weekly” post since last year. I thought that maybe since we’re half way done through this year, I’d start doing these posts every week again. It’s a good way to quickly rundown things that are happening and share some pics. Not sure how that will affect my end of the month posts >>>> Memories of the Month & What’s Up Wednesday PICS In my Friday Favorites post last week I shared most of the pics that I would have shared here. Here’s 2 pics I didn’t share. 1:Here’s Katniss in the chair under our kitchen…

  • Life

    Friday Favorites 7.3.2020

    July 3, 2020 - By 

    Linking up with Momfessionals & a Little Bit of Everything Blog I can’t believe I didn’t do a Friday Favorites posts at all during the month of June! I mean time just flies by so quickly. So here we are it’s July! I just got an email from the school system about Fall Learning Models. We have the option to keep kids home during the Fall and do online school with strict guidelines or they can return to school for the Fall and must wear a mask, yadda, yadda, yadda. I think he and I are both ready for him…

  • Life

    Memories of the Month {6.2020}

    July 2, 2020 - By 

    This month I was happy about: getting some time away on a week long vacay! Our new neighbors are just lovely! I am so so excited and thankful to have good neighbors again. This month I was sad about: 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: TV Shows I watched were: The Baker and the…

  • Life

    What’s Up Wednesday ~ June 2020

    July 1, 2020 - By 

    Today I’m linking up with Shay and Sheaffer for What’s Up Wednesday a week late, because last week I was on vacation. What We’re Eating This last month we learned how to cook Spare Ribs. The university has a meat lab, and ever since the Pandemic we’ve been ordering from them more often. After cooking ribs on Memorial Day weekend, I found more ribs and Publix for really cheap, so we got a few racks. They are so yummy. Next time we make them I need to take pics, so I can share the recipe. What I’m Reminiscing About Lots…

  • Life

    Currently – July 2020

    June 30, 2020 - By 

    I blinked and June is over. Here’s my Currently post for July! Hope you’re having a great Summer so far. I’m cooking… several shrimp recipes that I did back in Summer 2017 that I never shared. I need to make the recipes again and write everything down so I can share them with you. I’m photographing… my garden. We were on vacation last week and my sis-in-law took care of our cat and my garden while we were gone. It rained a lot, so when we got back my garden has exploded with tomatoes! Peppers are bigger. I’m sharing… a…

  • Travel

    Mountain West Trip: Denver, CO

    June 23, 2020 - By 

    Thank you for following along on our Mountain West Trip. This is the last post for this trip. Today I am talking about what we did the last day in half, all of which was spent in and around Denver, CO. We had a few things on our list for Denver. First two things were Denver Mint and Coors Brewing Company. The Denver Mint wasn’t doing tours that day for some reason, so we headed over to Coors Brewing Company for a tour. It’s $10 for non-Colorado residents ($5 if you live in CO) and it includes a full tour,…

  • Travel

    Mountain West Trip: Roadtrip from Vernal, UT to Denver, CO

    June 16, 2020 - By 

    Today we’re continuing on our Mountain West Trip that I’ve been sharing. Click >>> Mountain West Trip 2019 Posts to see more from this trip. As we drove through Vernal, I snapped a few more pics as we headed to Jenson, UT. Our first stop was Dinosaur National Monument. Since the boys are older, they weren’t super thrilled about it. I enjoyed it, because the teacher in me still geeks out over this kind of fun stuff. Exhibits at the Quarry Visitor Center introduce the variety of resources and places to explore within the monument. The Quarry Visitor Center is…

  • Travel

    Mountain West Trip: Roadtrip from Jackson, WY to Vernal, UT

    June 9, 2020 - By 

    Today we’re continuing on our Mountain West Trip that I’ve been sharing. Click >>> Mountain West Trip 2019 Posts to see more about this trip. We got up, loaded the car, grabbed some hotel breakfast, and headed out for more open road! Not long after that we passed this sign that said Auburn, WY. Since we’re from Auburn, AL, we’re always interested when we see other states with towns called Auburn. It was hardly a town with a population of less that 400 people in the 2010 census. The first settlement in Auburn, WY was made in 1879. The bottom…

  • Travel

    Mountain West Trip:Grand Tetons & Jackson Hole

    June 2, 2020 - By 

    Today I’m continuing on with another post about our Mountain West Trip. If you remember we left off on our Part 2 from Yellowstone. That night we stayed at the Head Waters Lodge at Flagstaff. This was a cabin like room with all the amenities you need except TV and internet. We did have a little bit of a walk from our car to our cabin, but there are sidewalks and luggage carts to help you lug all your stuff to your cabin. After a very hard sleep, we woke up and loaded the car back up and walked over…

  • Travel

    Mountain West Trip:Day in Yellowstone-Part 2

    May 3, 2020 - By 

    If you missed my 1st post about Yellowstone click>>>>Mountain West Trip:Day in Yellowstone-Part 1 Part 1 is highlighted in Yellow. Part 2 is in Blue. Click map to see larger view. You can click again to zoom in even more. (Original Map Courtesy of https://yellowstone.net/) The next area we hit was Fountain Paint Pots Trail (map). This boardwalk is about a half mile (.8 km) walking loop. Some of the highlights of this area include: Silex Spring Silex is Latin for silica, which is a major component of rhyolite (extrusive igneous rock), Yellowstone’s most common volcanic rock. The clear blue…

  • Travel

    Mountain West Trip:Day in Yellowstone-Part 1

    May 2, 2020 - By 

    If you missed my first few posts from our Mountain West Trip you can see those listed here. This post is from the 1st half of our epic day in Yellowstone with so many amazing sights, which means so many pictures to share. From traffic jams caused by bison crossing the road to geysers and hot springs. In this post, I’ve added some GPS coordinates and linked them to Google Maps. I kinda wished I’d done that previous travel posts, but never thought it would be that important. My Canon EOS 6D DSLR Camera has a built in GPS which…

  • Travel

    Mountain West Trip:In & Around Casper, WY

    April 2, 2020 - By 

    This is another post from our Mountain West Trip. Day 3 we got up and Drew was in charge of showing us around Casper. First we drove up to the top of Casper Mountain. We saw this Coyote as we drove. Up on top of Casper Mountain is a small Ski Resort called Hogadon Basin Ski Area. Of course since it was summer it was closed, but it still beautiful up there. Beautiful views Before leaving the mountain we explored the other side, which has an Archery Range. Then Drew showed us where he was living and we got to…

  • Travel

    Mountain West Trip:Wyoming Road Trip

    February 28, 2020 - By 

    This post is continuation of our big Mountain West Trip we did. Here’s the first post in case you missed it>>>Mountain West Trip – Colorado Springs We got up that morning and checked out of our hotel in Castle Rock and headed to Wyoming, with romantic country music sang by a good Romantic country music songwriter playing in our car for a fun trip! Our final destination for that day was Casper, WY, where Drew has been since May. While I was so anxious to see him, I was excited to see more of Wyoming and explore it a little…

  • Travel

    Long Weekend in Louisiana

    August 14, 2018 - By 

    Rob’s sister, Shawna, from Nevada was in Baton Rouge recently and since we haven’t seen her in 14 years, we knew we had to go for a visit. Our new favorite place to stop on the way to Baton Rouge is The Boiling Pot. Drew and I got the Shrimp & Grits. I had Gumbo and Broccoli Cheese rice as my sides. Rob and Alex got the Shrimp Po’Boys. Anyway, so when we go to Baton Rouge, we usually stay with Rob’s cousin’s house; the Lindsey’s. Their 2nd oldest son, Cameron, is about the same age as Alex so they…

  • Vacationing in the Mountains of North Carolina
    Travel

    Vacationing in the North Carolina Mountains

    August 10, 2018 - By 

    Mountains, waterfalls, and serene views were calling our names for 4th of July this year. You may recall that we had an annual 4th of July mountain trip tradition going for a while (2010 2011 2012 2013), but we have done other things the last few years. Saturday We got up early Saturday morning, hit D Square donuts on our way out of town for a little sugar, and then got on the road. Our first planned stop was Tallulah Gorge, but we saw signs for great views at the Tallulah Point Overlook, which is basically a tourist trap. They…

  • Alabama Bucket List
    Travel

    Alabama Bucket List

    July 20, 2018 - By 

    Many travel lovers are always looking where to go next. So often we don’t stop and think about traveling our own state. Each state is unique and has good stuff to offer. I know my state of Alabama is rich in history and technology; from the Edmund Pettus Bridge to the US Space and Rocket Center. It also not lacking in beautiful landscapes from falls to state parks. I’ve gathered up a list of 50+ things (hopefully I didn’t duplicate any of them.) What are your must do’s in Alabama? Did I leave anything off? Nocculula Falls Fort Gaines Monte…

  • French Onion Sliders
    Lunch - Recipes

    French Onion Sliders

    July 13, 2018 - By 

    I think summer is a great time to try new recipes. For us there’s less evening activities and that means I can come home and not have to run here and there before settling in to cook dinner. These French Onion Sliders are so amazing. I’ve seen several other bloggers do similar recipes, so it has been on my recipe bucket list. What I love about these sliders is that you can just use good ole hamburger meat. You don’t have to have the more expensive beef cuts which is great for the wallet. The beefy flavored butter topping that…

  • Life

    {Recap} Spring Bucket List 2018

    July 5, 2018 - By 

    Here’s my list of things that I wanted to accomplish before Spring was over. Take pictures of Cherry Blossoms Yes, here’s a close up of one that I got at Arlington Cemetery in DC Shop at a farmer’s market – didn’t happen Take Daisy for a walk Go to a museum Oh yes, watch for those posts Decorate for Spring – nope Find a four leaf clover – no Go to a Spring Training game See post here. Do something you’ve never done before Visit a new thrift store or consignment shop – didn’t do Skip rocks – didn’t happen…

  • Currently - July 2018
    Life

    Currently – July 2018

    July 4, 2018 - By 

    Happy 4th of July!! /celebrating/ the 4th by driving home. Yeah, having 4th of July on a Wednesday didn’t work well with having to get to Baton Rouge on Thursday. We are leaving the mountains of North Carolina today heading home for the night only to have to get back in the car and drive to Louisiana tomorrow. /visiting/ family in Baton Rouge tomorrow. We will get to see Rob’s older sister, who we haven’t seen in about 15 years. Her and her 3 boys (our nephews) will be there. I’m excited to get the cousins together and see the…

  • Mock Shoe Corn
    Mexican - Recipes - Sides

    Mock Shoe Corn

    July 3, 2018 - By 

    I’ve got another great dish for you today from The Texas Cowboy Cookbook. Ever heard of Mock Shoe Corn or Maque Choux? It’s a spicy version of Indian succutash that became popular with the Cajuns in Lousiana. Well I love Tex-Mex and Cajun food, so I figured I couldn’t go wrong with this recipe. A little more background on the name, Maque is a Choctaw Indian word that means corn. Choux is a French word for cabbage. However, there’s nothing cabbage about this recipe. The book says that in East Texas this dish is often called Corn Pone. I made…