Happy WICKED Day!!

Today is national WICKED day!! I am very excited about this! Ever since I was little, I have always loved musicals, and so has Mitch. We have both seen too many musicals to count and this is by far our favorite!! Mitch took me to see it the weekend he proposed and we are going again November 19th! My family has season tickets to all the musicals that come through Tulsa, and we have 2nd row seats, so Mitch and I will be seeing it up close!

In honor of WICKED day, not only have I been listening to the soundtrack all day (which isn't unusual for me...ha) I made my picture green. Ha! You can go to Elphaba Yourself and upload a picture and turn it green! Here is mine....

Pretty cool..huh? Well thats about all I wanted to say for today! I was set on dressing up like Elphaba for Halloween tomorrow, even though I would probably resemble Glenda a little better, but Mitch is working now, so no costume for me and I am just going to be helping out at our church Fall Festival! So I guess I will be saving my costume for next Halloween! 

Hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween! 

Fun Times!

Well it has officially turned cold! We had to turn on our heat yesterday, and glad we did because this morning was in the 20's and we got our first freeze!! I like fall weather, like in the 60's, but I do not like cold weather. I love winter because of the holidays, but I just can't stand the cold. I am hoping it's not cold for good yet and we still get a to enjoy a little more of the fall.
Well, Elizabeth was here all week and it was so much fun to spend time with her! I have not made a ton of friends here yet, but I have the most amazing friends that come and visit me! It seems like I am always preparing for someone to come and visit and I love it!! God had blessed me with some incredible friendships! Well, she got here Monday and we had dinner and just hung out at our house. She has been working nights, and she was on a different schedule so we just relaxed and went to bed early to try and get her on our schedule. Tuesday Mitch had to work, so Elizabeth and I went to Wal-Mart and got groceries (and Taylor Swift's new cd) then had lunch. We were driving by the square, and there are ALWAYS people taking pictures in front of the first Wal-Mart, and so she wanted a picture too. Here is Elizabeth in front of Walton's Five and Dime.

Later that afternoon we went walking with Michelle and then we all went to Hobby Lobby and Lowes. Michelle and I have been wanting a chalkboard easel for our kitchen and she found how to make them so we went to get all the stuff that night.  After Mitch got home, we all made sour cream pancakes, Elizabeth's request, along with eggs and bacon. It was delicious!
Wednesday, we got up and went shopping. Elizabeth tried our new coffee maker and fell in love with it just like we did, so she went and bought one and different kinds of coffee. She also wanted a new razorback shirt, and well she came to the right place! We shopped around, you can buy an Arkansas shirt about anywhere here.

That afternoon, we started making chili...it takes all day to cook and it is so good. It is Mitch's dad's recipe and I know I said I would post it, but there is no written recipe. They just add and eyeball whatever goes in it. I will work on getting the recipe on paper and when I do I will post it.

We cooked a huge pot and are still have a ton of left overs. But with the weather like it is, chili couldn't be more perfect. While the chili cooked all day, Elizabeth and I went and walked our favorite trail. Every time she comes we always go and walk this trail. It is so pretty and it was actually a little chilly. We both had to wear jackets, Elizabeth wore her Northface...she isnt use to this colder weather! We walked about 5 miles and while we were doing that Mitch went and played golf. After we got home, we made chocolate chip cookies and they turned out so good. We have a good friend Shannon, and she makes the best chocolate chip cookies ever! Elizabeth and I always try and make them like her. Ha! This was our best batch we have made and they were very good, but still they didn't quite match up to Shannon's.

I love using my Kitchen-Aid...it makes baking so much easier! 

After we made cookies, Michelle came over to make our chalkboards!! It was a lot of fun and they are going to turn out so cute! They take a couple days to dry, so when they are finished, I will post pictures and instructions on how to make them. I loved them so much that I am making two more for each of my grandmas for Christmas. They are fun and super easy to make! 

We had to have a little help from Mitch cutting the sheet metal :)

Michelle and I had to take it outside to spray the chalkboard paint on the sheet metal. I can't wait until they are finished! 

After we worked on the chalkboards, we finally got to enjoy the chili. It has been cooking all day and our house smelled delicious. We also made cornbread to go with it. You just can't go wrong with cornbread and chili on a day like that. 

After dinner, we made chex mix. Yes we did a lot of cooking that day! It is my all time favorite snack and I doubled the recipe so it would last a while! I would post the recipe, but it is kind of like the chili. My dad has always made it ever since I was little and he just eyeballs everything. So when I get some time to make the recipe, I will post it. 

Thursday morning, Elizabeth and I got up early and went to Kennedy. Even thought it was cold, we both got iced drinks, but they were worth it. We sat and and talked there for a while, then we went and shopped at some of my favorite local boutiques. Later that afternoon Elizabeth had to head back to Texas  :(  I didn't like saying goodbye, but with Michelle getting ready to move down there, I am sure we will be visiting Dallas quite often. 

After she left, Mitch and I decided to start thinking about Christmas gifts. We made our list of everyone we have to buy for and with this financial class, we already have all our gift money saved up and we just need to shop now! So thats what we did! I love shopping for Christmas, and I like to get ahead start. We bought our grandmas gifts, and I got my good friend Natalie's gift!

Mitch is working in the yard today, then we are going to try and shop some more. We also created and ordered our Christmas cards yesterday and they were ready within an hour! We went and picked them up and I can't wait to send them out! We are starting early, but the holidays get so busy its nice to get started. 

Last night for dinner we fried fish! My brother caught a bunch of fish about 2 weeks ago at the lake and brought us some! It was a mess, but worth it. 

After dinner, we went and got ice cream and watched our Thursday night shows! 

Sorry I don't have any recipes....We have made so many good things this week, and I will try and include all the recipes next time! We are making chicken spaghetti tonight and I am pretty sure I posted the recipe a long time ago..we make it a lot! Ha! 

Enjoy the weekend and have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! 

Weekend with family!

Hello! I hope its been a good weekend for everyone. Mitch and I had a great weekend!
On Friday, Mitch had to work, so I spend the day applying for more jobs and cleaning house.  It was a very productive day. For dinner that night we made fajitas...they were delicious.
Saturday morning was my tennis class I teach. Mitch went with me this time, because I had to leave early since my parents were coming in town, and he covered my last class for me. For lunch we went to the Station Cafe on the square. It is a local burger place and we love it! After lunch, we shopped all day. It was so nice to be able to shop with my mom! We went to mostly local stores and had a great time. My dad, brother, and Mitch went and did their own thing. Ha! All of the stores have their Christmas stuff out and there is this one store that has the most and the cutest Christmas stuff I have ever seen! I was in heaven! My mom and I spent about and hour and a half just in that one store and we got so much stuff!!

We have been looking for lamps for our living room since July, and my mom found some and they look great! 

Later that evening we took my parents to Kennedy.  My parents liked it a lot and I tried a new kind of coffee and loved it! It is such a fun coffee shop and we love going there.
Also, my mom brought me our Tuscany Storybook from our wedding. Our photographer has been working on it since the wedding and we finally got it! It is the coolest thing and the perfect way to remember our special day. It is a thick cardboard type book and it is awesome!! I was able to help our photographer pick out all our favorite pictures and so it is just what we wanted! These pictures aren't the best, but here is the front cover...

Here is the back....

And here is my favorite page...sorry for the glare...

My parents ended up going home that evening because my brother was really sick, but we enjoyed spending the day with them.  Later that night, we went over to Mitch's parents house and had dinner and watched the ou/missouri game...and Missouri won!!!

Sunday we went to church and out to eat with Mitch's family. We went to a new BBQ place called Dinks and it was so good! It was our first time and we will definitely be going back! We just spent the majority of the afternoon watching football. Before our financial peace class we went to Dairy Queen and got ice cream. Yum! When we were at our class, we realized we only have 3 classes left! This has been such a long and challenging program, but we have come so far. Mitch and I were talking after class and it is crazy to think of all the possibilities we have learning all this information at such a young age and it is crazy to think where we would be if we didn't learn all of this. It has changed us so much and even though it has been and will continue to be hard, it is so nice to go through it together.

After our class, we went see a movie. We have both been wanting to see The Social Network, so we finally went. It was a lot of fun and both really enjoyed the movie! We go out a lot, but don't go to movies much, so it was nice to do something different.

After the movie, I got a call from my mom and their had been a bad car wreck in Sand Springs. There were 4 girls in the car and one had passed away. I did not know these girls personally, but they were my brothers age and he did. My heart hurts for the families and everyone that has been effected. One of the other girls is brain dead and was recently taken off life support, she will be in a better place soon. Please pray for these girls, their families, and everyone effected. This is an extremely tough time for many and they need prayer for strength, mercy, and comfort.

Sorry to end on such a sad note, but the more prayers the better...right!
On a brighter note, Elizabeth is on her way to visit!! I am so glad I am going to get to spend this week with her. I know now, more than ever, to cherish every moment. So I am really looking forward to this week!
I don't have any good recipes to post, but we are making Mitch's dads chili this week!! I will be sure to post it next time...you will want to make it :)

October is my new favorite month...

I hope everyone is having a great week! I have realized that I love October. The weather is perfect, there's football and the best food, and there are just so many fun things to do this time of year. Not to mention, the holidays are right around the corner!!
Mitch has been off all week so we have had a pretty good past couple of days. It has been a lazy week for us. On Monday, we just hung around the house and we had to teach a tennis class Monday afternoon. We had a break for about an hour in between classes, so we went to the track that is outside the fitness center. Our last class ended at 6:30 and I do not like it getting dark so early. It was dark by the time we got home! For dinner we made mexican chicken. My good friend Katie would make it in college and I always loved it. I didn't have her exact recipe, but it tasted the same and was delicious!
Tuesday was the perfect day. It was rainy in the morning and overcast and cool all day! I had a second interview for the same company I had already decided wasn't for me, but I went anyway. And just as I thought, I do not see myself working there. It was good to go and it just reassured me it was not the job for me, but I am just being patient and trusting God. I was back by 8:45 and Mitch and I watched movies the rest of the morning. It was so nice to just relax!
That afternoon we cooked homemade french onion soup! It had to cook all day in the crock pot, and it made our house smell so good! After we got it started, we decided to go for a run. We both love to run and haven't went on a run together outside in a while. It was cool and the perfect day for it. We have only been working out inside since we moved here and I forget how much different it is running outside. It made me miss it so much and I am excited to start running outside again. My running buddy, Elizabeth, and I ran almost everyday together in college and I miss her company. I would always motivate her when she didn't want to and she would do the same for me. It's hard to get motivated by yourself.
That afternoon, we decided to carve our pumpkin. We made apple cider and went outside on our back porch.

It was messy, but a lot of fun! Our first thought was to carve a razorback or an "A" for Arkansas, but neither of us are very creative, so we stuck with the simple jack-o-lantern. We may try that on a different pumpkin since we have had some practice now :)

It turned out pretty good and it adds a little halloween spirt to our front porch. 

One of my favorite things about carving pumpkins is to bake the pumpkin seeds!! Mitch doesn't like them, but they are one of my favorite snacks! 

Wednesday morning, Mitch was craving donuts...so we got up at 7:30 to go look for a donut shop! We found one, enjoyed our donuts and went back to bed ha! We didn't sleep for too long though because we wanted to go golfing. Everyone else must have had the same idea because the course was packed!  But we still enjoyed it!
That evening Mitch and I headed to Fayetteville. Mitch had a staff meeting at 6 so we went down around 3 and went shopping and had dinner. I dropped him off at the hospital and had an hour or so to spare, so I did a little shopping and had a great idea. There is a bakery called Ricks in Fayetteville and if you live in the NW Arkansas area and have never been...it's a must! It is so good!! So I went to get Mitch and I some dessert and when I got there is was closed!! I was so upset :(

Since we didn't get to go to Ricks, we decided to stop at Kennedy on our way home. Mitch got his usual the velvet elvis and I have never had one of their smoothies so I thought I would give it a try! I got Blueberry Banana and it was so good! We hung out there while we enjoyed our drinks and headed home.
That night Hocus Pocus was on tv. It is my favorite halloween movie, so I was excited :)
I am not doing much today...I do have a hair appt this afternoon. I love getting my hair done!

Well we are sad because we didn't get the Arkansas tickets. Some of our friends have two sets of tickets, one set inside and one outside. They were not going to be able to go to the game and they already told their grandparents they could have one set of tickets and we were going to get the other. Well we have been waiting on them to decide what ones they want, and since it is a big possibility for rain on Saturday we thought for sure they would want to be inside. Well they chose the outside tickets and the inside ones are over $100 a piece, so we had to pass. And of course after we figured out we couldn't get the tickets and already made plans for Saturday,we were offered more tickets. I just don't think it is meant for us to go to a game this year. Ha! I love going to razorback games and I am sure we will have many other opportunities to go. It is still a lot of fun living in NW Arkansas during football season, there is so much going on and it is such a fun atmosphere. Here is a picture of all of us tailgating before the Arkansas/Auburn game last year. It was so much fun!

But on another note, since we aren't going to the game, my parents and brother are coming to visit for the weekend! I am so excited to spend time with them.
This weekend is also OSU's homecoming! Go Pokes! It has always been tradition for my family to go down friday for the walk around and go to the game on Saturday. I miss doing this and hopefully we can make it next year.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and here are a few recipes...

MEXICAN CHICKEN
4 chicken breasts
1 lb velveeta cheese
1 can rotel
1 chopped onion
2 tbsp margarine
1/2 c chicken broth
1 can cream of celery soup
*Boil chicken until tender and take it apart.  Saute onion in margarine until soft and tender. Mix together left over ingredients. Crumple chips on the bottom of a 9x13 pan and pour chicken mixture over them.
Heat to a bubble at 450 degrees.

CROCK POT FRENCH ONION SOUP
3 large onions, sliced
3 tbsp melted butter
3 tbsp flour
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 14oz cans beef broth
*Cook onions and butter on low in the crock pot. In a mixing bowl, mix the next four ingredients until smooth and stir into onions. Add broth and cover and cook on high for 8-9 hours. Top with provolone cheese, croutons and french bread.

PUMPKIN SEEDS

I hope y'all have a good weekend and enjoy this beautiful weather!

Fall fun!!!

I hope you all had a great weekend! I love Sundays, they are just so relaxing. Mitch is working today, so his Sunday isn't as quite relaxing as mine :) I have had a really good weekend! Mitch had to work all weekend, so he has been really busy and tired, but he gets off the next several days!

On Friday, I was very excited because my good friend Tayler came to spend the weekend with me. I haven't seen her in a while and it was so good to spend some time together. We just hung around the house and relaxed all afternoon. We had to wait until Mitch got off work to go to dinner, so Tayler, Michelle, and I met him in Springdale.  We went to dinner at Marketplace since Tayler had never been there...and well since it is Mitch and I's favorite restaurant :) We weren't thinking and we got there around 7:30 on a Friday night...so of course we had about an hour wait. Well this week in nwa is craft fair week and there are craft fairs all over! Its a huge deal! Ha! Some of them are pretty interesting, but there are some that are a lot of fun to go to. There was a hotel that was having a smaller craft fair next to the Marketplace, so we decided to walk through as since we had an hour to spare.  Well...as we were walking around, Mitch taps me and says "look over there". When I looked it was the Duggar Family...all of them! Ha! It was so crazy to see them in person. It seemed that no one noticed them, they were just doing their own thing and no on was bothering them, so we decided no to ask for a picture...even though we really wanted to. Crazy! Well dinner was delicious as usual and you can't go to Marketplace and not get their famous dessert....the chocolate mess! Even though you are stuffed, there seems to always be room for one!

On Saturday, Tayler and I got up and she wanted to see Bentonville since it was her first time here. So we made our pumpkin spice lattes and headed up to the square. The farmers market was going on..they have it every Saturday morning. Mitch and I went our first time right after we moved in and enjoy going.  Tayler wanted to go walk around, and it was such cool, beautiful morning. I then showed her around... walking trails, our church, etc. She loved Bentonville and fell in love with it just like I did. She has heard Mitch and I talk about Pinnacle, so I drove her through it and showed her the golf course/tennis courts and we spend a lot of time just driving around looking at all the houses! They are so beautiful. Mitch and I always go to drive around at Christmas time, it is the most beautiful place to look at Christmas lights an how they have their houses decorated. 

After we went and had lunch and she had to head back to Tulsa. She has a big test Monday and I know that feeling of needing to study...not fun. 

Later that afternoon, I went with Michelle to one of the larger craft fairs. It is an outside one and it reminded me of like a mini fair. It was so much fun and there was lots of yummy food! They had hayrides to get to your car since parking was so far away. It was really cool!

We had a great time. There were so many things to see, but we started out with the food! Michelle got a jumbo corn dog and I wanted roasted corn on the cob. I had been craving it since the Tulsa fair. I went to buy it and they ran out! I was bummed but did enjoy my corn dog :) We then moved on and looked through several of the tents sampling so many different types of food and drinks. We couldn't pass up the roasted nuts...they always smell so good and they had roasted cashews this year along with the usual almonds and pecans. I got a mixture for Mitch and I to share. And another thing we couldn't pass up was their kettle corn!! They were making it fresh in one of the biggest kettles and it looked delicious! 

We spent all day out there and it was the perfect day for it. We didn't come home with any crafts but lots of food...that seems about right :)

On another note.....guess who we ran into again??? Yes....the Duggars! We couldn't believe it! Once again they were all there and this time we saw a lady talking with them. It looked like a fan, so we decided we would ask for a picture..ha! Well Michelle and I ended up talking with Mrs. Duggar, she was really sweet and we got a picture with her and two of her daughters! We told her how we loved their show and she gave us a picture of their whole family and signed it for us! She was so nice and it made our day :) I am bummed Elizabeth was not with us, but I did get her a picture and an autograph as well. Next year she will have to join us at the craft fairs ha! 

Here is a picture of the whole Duggar family buying ice cream...haha yes we did stalk them a little :)

We spent the rest of the day shopping and we were worn out!  It was a lot of fun. I know I won't like when Mitch works weekends after I get a job, but it is kind of nice now since everyone else is off on the weekend and it gives me something to do and people to hang out with while he's at work. While we were out I found this sign for Halloween and fell in love with it...so I had to buy it! Mitch and I are seeing Wicked again next month in Tulsa!! We can't wait!!!!

Well while we were out shopping, the Arkansas game was going on. We kept up with it on our phones, but I am so glad I chose to record it and not miss out on a great day of shopping AND meeting the Duggars ha! That would have been the most miserable game to watch! Even though we didn't watch it....we still supported our razorbacks!

That night after Mitch got home he took me to dinner at a sushi place right down the road. I had been there before, but never got their sushi and he had never been there. Well it is one of our new favorite places! The waiters were so nice, gave us so many free samples, and the sushi was amazing!! In the Raw in Tulsa has always been my favorite, but this place tops it! The pieces of sushi were huge!! I had four and was absolutely stuffed!! We ordered way to much, but it was worth it to try different rolls! 

Today I have just been relaxing. Mitch and I both woke up with sore throats :( Hoping it goes away soon! So before I went to our financial peace class, I went to Starbucks and got a caramel apple spice! Yum! Mitch gets off here in about an hour and we are grilling out tonight. He is off for the next few days so I am excited to spend some time with him! We are looking forward to this coming weekend...we are suppose to go to the Arkansas vs. Old Miss game, but the people we were getting tickets from are re-thinking and so we should find out this week if we get them! We have been looking forward to going to this game for about a month, so I hope it all works out!!

I hope y'all had a wonderful weekend! 

Pretty trees and pumpkin patches...

I hope you all have had a great week. I am very glad its almost Friday, but I do love Thursday's. We are currently watching The Office, followed by Grey's, then Private Practice. Such a good night for tv shows. 

This has been a good week for me. When we got back from Tulsa on Sunday, it was like all the sudden the trees were all beautiful colors, and there were leaves all over the ground.  We were just talking about how we need to purchase a rake very soon. The weather has been in the 60's and all we want to do is be outside.  

On Tuesday, Mitch worked so I spent the day hanging around the house. I have had a few more leads on jobs, and have another interview next week, but I still don't think this is something I want to do. I guess we'll see...

On Wednesday, Mitch and I had lunch at one of our favorite local mexican restaurants and went shopping. Later that afternoon, we went over to Michelle's house. Since Will is already down in Dallas, Mitch cut his grass for him. While he was doing that, I took Peanut for a walk. Once again, the weather here is just perfect and I love that I can wear sweatpants, hoodies, and open up all the windows in the house. This time of year is gorgeous and I think October is my new favorite month! 

When we got home, we tried making a new dessert. I found this recipe on my friend Elizabeth's facebook. Thank you...it was delicious! It was Oreo Cookies and Cream Cheesecake cupcakes...yes it taste as good as it sounds! I used the orange Halloween oreos to get in the Halloween spirit :) Here is a picture...mine didn't turn out quite like the picture, but they were good!

That night we made chicken lasagna. It is my friend Summer's family recipe and it is so good! We made a ton, so we have left over for the rest of the week! It is difficult to make...we started cooking at 4 that afternoon and didn't eat until around 6:30...but it was so worth it. 

Last week was Mitch's mom and Michelle's birthday so we had everyone over for our oreo dessert last night. It was nice to visit with family. 

Today we got up early to a cold house! It has been so nice because this past month we have not had to turn on our air since it is so nice outside, but at night and in the morning when it gets into the 30's and 40's our house gets a little chilly. Since we were up, we made some hot coffee and thought we would go to the pumpkin patch. 

There is a church that has a pumpkin patch right down the road and every time we pass it, we always talk about how we are going to stop...so we fianlly did. It was a lot of fun and we picked out some pumpkins, but there was no one out there to take our money....so I guess we will have to go back :)

After lunch, we headed to play golf. I was afraid it was going to be too cold, but it ended up being a nice day. The course was beautiful and I am sad we won't get to play much longer. 

Since it was such a cool day, we just drove around downtown Bentonville and admired all the beautiful trees. While we were driving, we found a new walking trail...well it is actually an old one. Bentonville has got so many new walking trails in the last year and this one is older so we had never seen it before. So tonight we went and walked it. It was sooo long, we only walked a little bit of it.

It goes all through downtown Bentonville and by all the old historic houses. I am very excited we found it...it is going to become my new favorite running trail, especially during this time of year. Here is a picture of one of the trees along the trail. The picture doesn't show it well, but it is bright red!! So pretty! 

So I have realized it is a bad idea to write this while we watch our shows, it has taken me twice as long...so I am going to wait and post some of our dinner recipes next time, but will post the link to the Oreo Cream Cheesecake.

Oreo Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes

Well I hope all of you have a fantastic Friday and enjoy your weekend! I am looking forward to this weekend, I have a very special friend coming to visit :) 

Fair and Friends :)

Hello! I hope y'all had a good weekend. Mitch and I left early Saturday morning and went straight to the fair!! I love absolutely love the fair and Mitch had never been to the Tulsa State Fair. We went to the Oklahoma City fair a couple times when we were in school, but I just love the Tulsa one!

We got there at 10am and spend most of the morning with my parents and brother. It was a lot of fun! We, of course, ate too much...but fair food only comes once a year, so we enjoyed it :) We had heard a lot of people talk about the indian tacos and that was probably the one thing at the fair both of us had never tried. So we got one and I'm glad we did!! It was sooo delicious! We split one and we were stuffed!

We had other yummy fair food, but this was our favorite! Later that afternoon, we met up with Katie, Tommy, and Summer. It was so good to spend time with them and it was fun to spend the day at the fair together.

Since the fair only comes once a year and we don't get to go much, we skipped watching the razorback game. But we did keep up with it on our phones all afternoon. And we did get to catch some of the 4th quarter at the restaurant where we had dinner. Mitch, Katie, Tommy, and I went to Texas Roadhouse after the fair. I had not been there in so long and it was soooo good. After we finished our meal, we just stayed at our table and sat and talked a for awhile. I'm sure our waiter was ready for us to leave, but after being at the fair for 7 1/2 hours, we were exhausted! After dinner, we headed to Starbucks, the trip wouldn't have been complete if Katie and I didn't at least make one trip to Starbucks :)
Peter joined us there and it made me miss being able to be with my friends. I loved every minute of talking and catching up with them. I didn't want to say goodbye.
Sunday we spend the morning with my family looking at cars. My mom is looking for a new car and we are looking for my brother a car...crazy! We had to leave early afternoon in order to make it back to our financial peace class. I love the class, but I don't like it cutting our weekends short. Before we headed out of town we went by Scott's house and visited with him for a little bit. We made it back just in time for our class. Then since we had been out of town all weekend, we went to Wal-Mart that evening. We usually don't like going on Sundays, but it wasn't bad. We have a Neighborhood Market about 2 minutes away from our house and I love going there over the Wal-Mart supercenter.
I am very excited to cook this week, because one of my good friends Summer gave me her chicken lasagna recipe. It is my favorite meal! I don't want to talk too much about how good it is because it is a secret family recipe and her mom made me promise not to give it to anyone....Sorry :(  Now you will just have to come visit and I can make it for you.
Today, Mitch is at work so I am just hanging around the house. I am very excited because we got a late wedding gift today (yes we are still getting wedding gifts...its crazy). It is a Keurig Coffee Maker. Most of you know my obsession with coffee, so thats why it is so exciting to me.  My parents have one and I am obsessed with it, so I am beyond happy to finally have one! It makes all kinds of different flavors, iced coffee, hot/cold tea...really anything ha! I absolutely love it and I am sure a day won't go by when we don't put it to good use :)

We don't have a lot planned for this week, Mitch is off a lot, so thats nice. We are going to the doctor Wednesday for a post check-up after being in the hospital and I also have ringworm on my leg...gross I know...so hopefully they can get that cleared up!

Well tonight I am making Cranberry Chicken. I am pretty sure I have already posted the recipe, we have made it a few times :) The Event comes on tonight, but the Vikings also play this evening, so I am guessing our show will have to wait until tomorrow. We have to cheer on Brett Favre :)
Hope its been a magnificent Monday!

Happy Birthday Michelle!

First off, I want to say Happy birthday to my sister-in-law Michelle! She is in Dallas visiting Will this weekend and they are going to the razorback game at the cowboys stadium tomorrow. Mitch and I are very jealous!
This week has been pretty uneventful. I have been looking for more jobs to apply for and really thats about it! On Wednesday, we just hung around the house and relaxed.  That morning we cleaned out all our cookbooks from our pantry. We received cookbooks from Mitch's side of the family, my side of the family, and we started our own cookbook in college of all our favorite recipes. So we decided to put all of them together and start our own cookbook of family favorites that hopefully one day I can pass on. It literally took all morning, but it is so neat that we have combine all of our family's recipes and now we have our own family cookbook to add our new recipes to!

Yesterday Mitch was off, so we went Christmas tree shopping! That was the highlight of my week :) We noticed all the stores have been putting Christmas stuff out these past couple of weeks, so we thought we would get one while we could get a good deal. We got a 9ft pine and I love it! I cant wait to start decorating! That night we grilled out a pork tenderloin...very delicious! My parents got us this grill and it has been put to good use. We grill out so much!

Thursday night is a big night for our tv shows as well. We have The Office, Greys, and Private Practice! We usually dont make it through private practice, so we save it for friday night.
Last night we tried a new cookie recipe. I have been hooked on shortbread cookies, they are my favorite! So I found a recipe that my grandma gave me for butter cookies. They were a mess to make but it was fun...and they turned out pretty good!

Also, we have some exciting news.....we have decided to get a dog!!! Well kinda....it is going to be a long process, but so worth it! We both have always wanted a dog, but were going to wait, since in two years we will move to wherever Mitch goes to school. He will be in school for another two years. So we originally thought we would wait 4 years until we were all done moving around. But, that was when we wanted a larger dog. About a month ago we saw a west highland terrier (westie) and I fell in love! Since this is not a big dog we decided we could get it and it would not be hard for it to move around with us. Why I say it is going to be a long process is because we are going to completely save up for it, from purchasing it, shots, toys, etc, before buying it. Going through this financial peace class has taught us a lot and even though we have money to get one now, we have learned that if you want something, especially a big purchase, to make and envelope for it and every month a little bit of our paychecks will go in the envelope towards the dog. That way we are not taking a large amount of money out at one time, and still saving money as we go. So we are hoping by this time next year we will have a dog :) We are both excited and already picked out a name. We wanted to name it after something we both liked and we went through so many names. Mitch actually came up with two that we really liked, both having to do with golf, Caddie and Bunker. Since we are getting a girl, we decided on Caddie for this dog, but Mitch wants to get a male dog in a couple more years, so he can name it Bunker. Ha! Per the request of some readers here is is a picture of a Westie! If you can't tell, I am extremely excited!

Well tomorrow we are headed to Tulsa!! We are leaving early in the morning and are spending the day at the fair! I can't wait! I am also having dinner with one my good friends, Katie! It is going to be a great weekend :)

Here are a few recipes that we tried this week. Hope you enjoy!

EASY SLOW COOKER POT ROAST
Prep time: 20 min
Cook Time: 8-10 hours
Serves: 6-8

Ingredients
4 pounds of chick roast
Salt and pepper to taste
1 package of dry onion soup mix
1 cup water
3 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
*Take chuck roast and season with salt and pepper to taste. Put in a large skillet and brown on all sides over high heat.
Then place in the slow cooker, and add onion soup mix, water, carrots, onion, and potatoes.
Cover and cook on low setting for 8-10 hours.

GARLIC CHEESE BISCUITS
Ingredients
2 cups Bisquick original baking mix
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2/3 cup milk
1 tablespoons of butter, melted
1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder
*Heat oven to 450. Stir baking mix, cheese, and milk until soft dough forms. Drop by spoonful on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 min or until golden brown.
Mix melted butter and garlic powder. Brush over warm biscuits.

BUTTER COOKIES (we usually half this recipe)
Ingredients
2 cups (4 sticks) of butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
*Preheat oven to 375. Cream butter and sugar in large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In a separate mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. gradually add to the butter mixture. Mix well.
Divide dough into fourths (or in half, if you half the recipe). Roll out sections of dough one at a time on lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness. Keep remaining dough refrigerated. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. Place 1inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 6-8 min or until lightly browned. Transfer cookies to wire rack; cool completely. Decorate as desired.

We hope y'all have a great weekend!

I love fall...especially in Arkansas!

Hello! I hope you all are having a great start to this beautiful week! Mitch and I had a very fun weekend. Friday morning we went golfing again. The weather is just to nice here not to take advantage of it and be outside. Later in that afternoon we went to check out Bentonville's new self-serve frozen yogurt place. We have been wondering for the past several months when Bentonville was going to get one. It seems like they are popping up all over the place and we finally got one. It is called YumYos and it is very good!! It is very different than the ones in Tulsa, like Peachwave or Orangeleaf. It has very unique flavors and the biggest topping bar I have ever seen!

Friday night we were planning on going to the BHS football game again, but it ended up getting cold and we remembered we had to be up early the next morning for the golf tournament. We ended up going up to the square for a little. Every first Friday of the month, they have like a mini fair. This month they did an Oktoberfest theme. It was really fun and there was lots of people! 

Saturday was the church golf tournament. We had to get up at 6:00 that morning to be at the golf course by 7:30 and it was freezing outiside!! That morning we had a frost warning and it was in the 30's! Lets just say the warm-up and the first 3 holes, we were pretty cold! It finally warmed up, but only into the 60's, so it was a little on the chilly side, but a beautiful day to play. Mitch, his brother, his dad, and I played on a team together. It was so much fun and we ended up 9 under so we did pretty good! 

We also had an unexpected visitor join us on the golf course. He was huge!!

After the tournament, one of the sunday school classes was having a fishing tournament that morning, and they were have a big cookout for lunch. We were right down the road from it, so we went and had lunch there. It was a lot of fun and the food was delicious! It was shrimp, potatoes, corn, onions all together served cajun style on a big open table. It was soooo good! 

After we got home, we were exhausted! Mitch and I both took a nap and slept form about 2:00 until 4:30. It was a much needed nap. Later that night we made dinner and went out for ice cream with Will, Michelle, and Caleb.
I also received my yearbook in the mail thanks to a very sweet friend, Katie Halbesleben! Thanks so much!

Sunday, Mitch had to work and I wasn't feeling well. My allergies are really bad right now.  Mitch's family was at Will's bike race all morning, so I just slept in and relaxed for the majority of the day. I watched a lot of the Ryder Cup and got to catch up with two of my good friends Summer and Elizabeth. It is always so good to talk with them. That night for dinner I made honey chicken. It is a new recipe that I found. I love looking for new healthy recipes online on the food network and the Mayo clinic websites. It was pretty good! 

Yesterday, Mitch was scheduled to work and we got a call at 5am saying they over-booked the nurses for that day so he got called off. When they hired him, they told him he would be working 3 days a week and lately they have been scheduling him for 4. So they called him off for yesterday and fixed his schedule back to 3! So we spend the morning shopping. We had some birthday presents to buy :) but we also bought us a new cookbook! It looks like it has some great recipes and we can't wait to try them, and of course share them with y'all. 

That afternoon Mitch and I both wanted to do something outside, so we went and picked up Peanut, Michelle's dog, and worked out in the yard. Mitch trimmed a lot of our trees and Peanut thought she would help too! 

Later that afternoon, we went up to the fitness center where I will be teaching tennis. We are familiar with the tennis facility, but we had never been to the workout facility, so we took a tour. It is called the Walton Life Fitness Center and it is just for Wal-Mart employees. It is HUGE and so nice! I know I will love workout out there. I will probably get lost the first couple of times ha. It has 3 pools, two tracks, and so many studios where aerobic type classes will be taught. Then not to mention all their equipment and machines. I am so excited! After the tour, I went and helped teach for a couple of hours to get a feel for what they do. I found out I love teaching the little kids! They are so cute! 

After teaching, we went to one of our favorite mexican resaurants, Acambaro. When we got home Mitch had surprised me and lit our new fire pit in the backyard and got stuff to roast s'mores! It was the perfect night and the perfect surprise! 

After we enjoyed our delicious s'mores, we got caught up on one of our new favorite tv shows, The Event. Mitch started recording it thinking we might like it and he was right...we are addicted! 

Today, we went and worked out at the fitness center then went to academy to try and find me some new tennis shoes. When we moved I threw away all my old tennis shoes because I didn't think I would need them anymore. Well now since I am teaching and Mitch and I are starting to get back into playing tennis, I need shoes that are actually allowed on the courts ha! I never thought I would've had that problem. 

We had a late lunch at one of our favorite Asian restaurants, Mama Fu's. Tonight we are grilling out a pork tenderloin and relaxing around the house! 

Here are a couple of recipes....I have been slacking on posting them....

Honey Crusted Chicken

Pork Tenderloin rolled with Rosemary and Pancetta

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic, minced

11/2 teaspoon rosemary

1oz Pancetta, finely chopped

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

2 pork tenderloins

1 tablespoon olive oil

*Mix garlic, rosemary, pancetta, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Make a long slit in each pork tenderloin. Rub all over with pancetta mixture and coat with olive oil. Heat grill to around 400 and cook for about 8 minutes, turning about half way through. Let set for 10 minutes and serve. 

Hope y'all have a wonderful week!