Woo Pig Sooie!!

Well Thanksgiving break is coming to an end. I hope you all have had a wonderful time with family and safe travels. The highlight of our weekend was ARKANSAS BEAT LSU!!! But more on that later. Thursday night after Mitch got off we headed to Tulsa. We got there pretty late and just headed to bed. Friday morning we got up early and started cooking. All of my family was coming over around noon and we had a lot to cook!  Cooking for Thanksgiving with my family was always one of my favorite things about the holidays. That afternoon, we ate way to much and hung out with family. It was a nice day! Its always tradition in my family to play games on Thanksgiving, so we played Phase 10 and Farkel. They are both a lot of fun and I enjoyed seeing my family that I only get to see once a year.
Later that night we had planned on going to Starbucks with Katie and Tommy, and it ended up Taylor and Jamie were able to join us too. It was nice to see and catch up with everyone.
Saturday morning, my mom, grandma and I went shopping. There were such good deals on clothes!!! All of the black friday sales last until saturday at 1, and since we were going for any electronics or anything like that...they still had a ton of clothes on sale! I got a cute sweater for only $9!
On our way home we stopped at an Amish store. They have one in downtown Jenks and my mom and I have been getting a lot of food their lately and it is actually really good!! I am huge chip person, but I hate eating them a lot since they are so bad for you and at this store they make these Amish Veggie Chips and I have fallen in love with them!!

They are really good and aren't quite as bad for you as a regular bag of chips.
My mom also got this dip their that she made for Thanksgiving and Mitch loved it!! So I picked him up a package of it too.

It calls for cream cheese and sour cream and makes quite a bit!
We made it back shopping by two so that we could watch the Arkansas game... which was awesome!! We watched the first half at my house and then had to head back home to b'vill, so we listened to the second half on the way home. It was such an exciting second half. People probably thought we were crazy, because anytime Arkansas did anything good, we went crazy and Mitch would lay on the horn!! We were so excited!!! We were both so happy they won!! We always cheered for the Razorbacks when we lived in OK, but the atmosphere here is so different and it has been so fun to experience it as an Arkansas resident! It is definitely a fun time to be living in Arkansas!

We made it home just in time for Bedlam.. which was a different story :( Later that night Mitch's aunt, uncle and cousins come over. They were staying in Arkansas before they headed back to Memphis the next morning. It was nice to get to spend some time with them and of course see Lindi and Emma! Since I couldn't go skiing with them this year, they made me the cutest bracelet while they were in Colorado.

They are so sweet and I hope we get to see them for Christmas!
Mitch had to work today and whenever he is off for a few days then goes back on a Sunday, It always feels so much like a Monday. I am thrown off and think its Monday all day...it happens every time he goes back to work on a Sunday. So today I slept through church and everything. I am disappointed because I think they were starting the Christmas music today and I was so excited!
I am meeting Mitch at the gym when he gets off work and we are going running. It is hard to wait until this late to work out, but we like going together.
Mitch's grandparents are in town for the night and they are taking us to dinner after our run. Nothing like a big mexican dinner after a hard workout.. ha!
I hope y'all have a good week.... not too much longer until Christmas!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am sure you all are wondering why I am blogging and not spending time with family and of course... eating? Well Mitch had to work today, so we are not heading to Tulsa until tonight after he gets off. We are celebrating Thanksgiving with ALL of my family tomorrow! So today doesn't really feel much like Thanksgiving to me. It stinks he had to work, but he gets off Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years Eve and day!! So it works out perfect! He is buddy-buddy with the lady who makes the schedules, and somehow that doesn't surprise me :) Well we have had a pretty relaxing week. On Tuesday, I started feeling bad. I had a bad sore throat and the aches...no fun! But I'm starting to feel better. That night we went to On The Border for dinner, then walked around the mall. We also went to Best Buy and their have been these two guys that are camping for black Friday since last Sunday!! Thats a little much for me!
Yesterday Mitch had to work, and I still wasn't feeling that great so I just hung around the house an did some cooking for this weekend.
We are headed to Tulsa tonight and I am so excited to see all of my family! Since August, we have been in that Dave Ramsey class on Sundays from 4-6pm, and now that we don't have it it is so nice to stay the whole weekend and not have to hurry up and get back. We have been out of the class for 2 weeks now and we are still doing really good. It is so easy to slip away and not follow the principles we learned, but we are still right on track. I think after we really saw how if we stick with this after beginning it at such a young age, it will pay off! Everyone in our class tells us how lucky that we are to have this class at the age of 22. It is tough, but looking back it has been the biggest blessing for us. I just can't even imagine if we would have passed it up. Our church offers this class twice a year and the next session is starting in January and once you pay for the class, you can go to any class forever. We had people in our class going through it for the second time. It will be nice if we need a refresher or later on in life we can take our children through it. At the beginning of each session they have a speaker that has went through it before come and talk to class about how much it has impacted their life and Mitch and I were asked to speak to the next class. I feel like I have so much to say and I am so excited to be able to share with others how much this has and will continue to impact our lives. I am not the biggest public speaker, but being able to share what God is doing in our lives through this class will be easy and it is such an awesome opportunity.
Well the weather here is crazy!! Yesterday it was warm and now it is 30 degrees!! I hate cold weather!! On days we go to Tulsa, I get up and drive Mitch to work and then go pick him up because his hospital is right by the highway to Tulsa and it just saves a lot of time and gas. I got home this morning around 6:45 and it has been pouring ever since!! I fell asleep for a little bit and I guess I was unaware the rain had changed to sleet. About a hour ago I looked outside and our back porch and all the trees are covered in ice and it looks like no sign of stopping. So Mitch told me to come to the hospital before it gets dark since the roads are suppose to get bad. So here in about an hour or two I am headed to hang out at the hospital until he gets off!  Pretty fun way to spend your Thanksgiving... don't be too jealous of me :)
Well I hope you all are enjoying time with family and friends!! I just love this time of year!

WICKED, football, and family...

I hope you all had a great weekend! Mitch and I were in Tulsa again. We drove down Thursday after Mitch got off work. On Friday, we just relaxed around the house and that night we went to WICKED!! I was so excited all day. Before every play, we love to try new places to eat. Friday night we went to the Garlic Rose. It is a small, but very nice restaurant on Brookside. It was so good...and of all the restaurants we have went before plays, this one was by far the best. It is a little expensive, but worth the money. It is very cozy and we got lucky and got a table right by the fire place! We will definitely be going back and highly recommend it if you are looking for a nice place to eat on a special occasion!
After dinner, we headed over to the PAC to see Wicked! My parents have season tickets, which is so nice, but we only have two seats. The couple that sat in the two seats next to ours decided not to renew their tickets, so we bought their seats! So now we have 4 seats all together and it is so nice not to have to decide who goes to which play now. And since we have four, my brother and his girlfriend came with us. It was a lot of fun and of course the show was amazing!!

Saturday morning, we got up and had breakfast with one of my best friends, Tayler. It is always so good to spend time with her. We went to First Watch and it was so good. Whenever I was still in school and came home to visit, we would always meet for breakfast. Well we have tried to get into this place every time and it is always too busy, so we usually end up going to ihop. Well we got their early enough and got in!  It was so good and I can't believe I have never been there.

After breakfast, we headed home and watched the OSU game with my parents. Later that day, we went shopping with my parents, and came home and grilled out steaks and watched the Arkansas game. It was so nice to spend some quality time with my family. Usually when we go back to Tulsa, we are so busy, but this weekend, it was nice to relax at home.
At half-time of the game, we went over to Scott's house and finished the game. It was a crazy game!! I think Mitch and I about had a heart attack, but luckily Arkansas pulled it out!! We also watched the Thunder play after the AR game was over. Mitch and I have always loved watching Thunder games and were worried when we moved to AR, we would not get to watch the games on TV anymore. But we have AT&T Uverse and we get to watch all the games!
Sunday, Mitch and I went shopping with my mom. We tried to get the last of our Christmas presents bought. We also went to try and find me some new jeans and I just love shopping with my mom! She bought me a new pair of MissMe jeans! I love getting new jeans! For lunch we went to a sub restaurant. It is called Mr. Goodscents and their sub sandwiches are amazing!
While we were out, we also had to make a Starbucks trip. It was the last day for the buy one get one special. I usually get the same thing every time I go, but I thought I would try something different and I got the Gingerbread Frappuccino and it was delicious! If you are a frappuccino fan, go get one! They are so good!

It was a hard not to get a hot drink in November, but it is in the upper 60's!! This weather is crazy, but I love it. I am so not ready for cold weather, so I am going to enjoy these last couple of days actually being warm! Thursday, it is suppose to get really cold and although I am looking forward to it being Thanksgiving, I am not looking forward to the cold!
Since we have been going out of town and are usually only home for three days out of the week, we haven't been to the grocery store and are just eating up all of what we already have. So that means no new recipes for a while...sorry :( But tonight we are making our favorite chicken parm pizza! I randomly came across this recipe and it was the first meal we made together in our new house.  I have given this recipe to many of our friends and they all love it. You just can't go wrong with it! It is easy and delicious! If you don't have the recipe, I put it on one of my first blog posts. You should try it!
I hope you all have had a great start to this week!! I can't believe it's already Thanksgiving... I love this time of year!

Christmas decorations!!

Well, over the past few days, Mitch and I have been decorating our house for Christmas! We are going to Tulsa so much over the next month and we wanted to get it all up before things get too hectic. And now it as all done and we can enjoy it!! I love love love Christmas, so I have a lot of fun decorating. Sunday we put up the tree, but thats all we did due to Mitch's surprise. On Monday, Mitch put up some more of the lights on the house (all of our neighbors already have their lights up...I think  am going to like this neighborhood) and we worked a little but more on the tree. Over the past month, whenever we go shopping, I have seen so many new and cool things to put on your tree. So we have so much stuff to put on our tree and it took me a lot longer than I thought. Yesterday, Mitch was off work, so we spend ALL day decorating. I didn't realize how much stuff I had and how long it really takes! But we really enjoyed it and I just love having our house all decorated! It is crazy to think this is our first Christmas married and in our own house! These past 5 months have been such a blessing and I couldn't picture it any other way. Here are a few pictures of our house!

Our front door with the wreath I made! I will post more pics of the outside of our house later. I still have some decorating to do outside :)

 Nativity set on our entry table.

My pink tree...thankful that I have a husband that lets me have this in our house :)

Kitchen table...

I love the top of our tree!! And yes, that it is a top hat. No joke...every store, here and in Tulsa, had top hats on their trees...and I thought they were so cute and unique, so I just had to get one! 

Well, not much has been going on here...just wanted to share our Christmas pictures with you! I had my interview Tuesday, and it went really well....so  am just keeping my fingers crossed! 

Mitch and I are headed to tulsa tonight....it feels like we just got back ha! But like I said, I think we are making a trip to Tulsa every weekend until Christmas because of all the holidays and both of my parents birthdays. And tomorrow we are seeing WICKED!!! I have been waiting for this for the past 6 months and it's finally here!

On another note, we are bummed because Mitch's family are all leaving for Colorado on Saturday and will be gone for a week. Because of his work schedule, we can't go this year. But we go every year, so we can just look forward to next year ha! We also have out trip to Nashville in about a month, so we can't complain too much :)

Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend!! 

"I've got it circled red on the calendar, you told me tonight's the night".

Well the secrets finally out......we are going to see Garth Brooks in concert!!!!! Keeping this from Mitch was one of the hardest things I've done! For those of you you who don't know, Mitch might be the biggest Garth fan on this planet! He has never seen him in concert and it's the one thing he has always wanted to do. I saw him in concert when I was younger and I always give him a hard time...so I guess I can't do that anymore :)

I am still in shock I was even able to get tickets. I happened to be on Facebook one day and saw someone's status about wanting to see Garth. It got me curious if he was going to be doing a concert series, so I googled it and found out he was doing 9 benefit concerts in Nashville, TN. My first reaction was oh man, it  is in TN. So I put it off for about an hour and during that hour, that was the only thing I could think about. I know he doesn't hardly tour at all, and well he is about to be 50, so I thought what the heck, let's do it!!!
By the time I decided to buy them, there were not many seats available, and some of them were going for $5,000!! I saw that price and about gave up, but I did find two tickets together at a decent prince. So I ordered them, and then the only thing I was worried about was his work schedule (and well all the tennis lessons I have to teach to pay for these tickets, but it will be so worth it..ha). He was suppose to be getting it soon, but I just figured we would work something out if he happened to work.
Well on Wednesday when we left for Tulsa, I picked him up and he had his schedule, and of course, he was off four days before the concert, but worked the day of the concert and the day after...the only 2 days he actually needed off. So I knew I needed to tell him about it soon, because he was going to have to find someone to switch days with him.
So Sunday night, we were putting up Christmas decorations and when we were done, I told him I had a surprise for him. I gave him a card, and inside was a calendar. On the front it had a note that said, "I think you might find this useful to start your countdown....check out December 19". He flipped it open and there it was in "red on the calendar". He was in shock!! We spent the rest of the night looking at hotels in Nashville and planning our trip!!

When I first got the tickets, I kept thinking I hope this works out since it is in Nashville! And now, I am super excited, neither one of us has ever been to Nashville and not only are we seeing Garth, but we are seeing him at the home of country music!!! Also, we have heard that Christmas time in Nashville is gorgeous!! We are so excited!!!
Mitch's grandparent's live in Memphis, and so we are going to go spend a few days with them and then from their house it is only 3 hours, so it works out perfect!! The concert is on Sunday, so we are going to spend a couple days before that in Nashville!
This was so hard to keep a secret! Last week we were watching the Country Music Awards and it took all that I had in me, not to tell him we were going to be in that arena in a month!!

Well I hope you all had a good Monday and have a great rest of the week!! Mitch and I are going to our favorite mexican restaurant for dinner! Oh and please keep me in your prayers tomorrow...I have another interview!

Tulsa!!

Hi! I hope you all had a great weekend! Mitch and I spent the last several days in Tulsa visiting my family. This is the first of many Tulsa trips over the next 2 months. Next weekend we are going back for WICKED!! Can't wait! We left Wednesday when Mitch got off work and headed to OK. Thursday my parents had to work, so we did some more Christmas shopping.  I think we are pretty much finished buying gifts and it's not even December! It's so nice to have that out of the way. That night my mom made homemade chicken soup and we decorated their house for Christmas. Mitch and I did the tree and it looks awesome! I can't wait to do ours now!

Friday, Mitch got up early and played golf with Peter and Scott. It was too cold for me and it was raining off and on all morning. So my mom and I went shopping! It is always so nice to shop with my mom. That night we went to Osaka, it is just like a Shogun...and it was delicious! The cook the Japanese food in front of you and it is my favorite place to eat, it is such a fun atmosphere.
Saturday was one of my best friends grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. It was so nice to see Natalie and her family.

After the party, my parents, brother, Tori (his girlfriend) and Mitch and I went to Bartlesville for dinner. My dad is the king of finding the little hole-in-the wall places and this was one of them. This place was known for their "hot" hamburger, and that means is a patty covered in fries and brown gravy. It was interesting, but surprisingly good.

Mitch loved it and I think it is more of a guys place, but I would go back too :) And of course, we had to stop for ice cream after dinner. There is a new frozen yogurt place like 2 minutes from my house and so we decided to try it. We usually go to Peachwave, but this one is even closer to my house. It is called CherryBerry and it is the best one by far!! It was sooo good!

We came back home at watched to OSU game with my family! It was such a good game!
This morning, we got up early and headed back home to B'ville. Will and Michelle are officially moving to Dallas today, so we all had lunch at Dinks BBQ and then went and got frozen yogurt..again! You can never have to much!

Mitch is out putting up our Christmas lights right now!!! I can't wait to see them! We have our last financial peace class tonight and we are having dinner at the church. After class, we are coming home and putting up the tree! I am so excited. Helping my mom this weekend, made me want to put all of our decorations up! Some people think it is too early, but we have so many decorations, and it is so much work to just have them up for a short period of time, so we get it done early and get to enjoy it!
I hope you have a great week!

Holiday Recipes!

Well it is that time of year where we all have family get togethers for the holidays. I know I love cooking food for this time of year and I thought with Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner, it would be nice to share some of my favorite holiday recipes. I hope you find this useful when looking for fun recipes for the holidays!

APPETIZERS/DIPS


Cheese Ball
1/3 lb Virginia baked ham
I bunch green onions, chopped
2 pkgs cream cheese
*Finely chop onions and ham. Mix into cream cheese that has been softened. Form into a ball and refrigerate overnight. Serve with Ritz crackers.

Spinach Dip
1 envelope of Lipton vegetable recipe soup mix
1 (16 oz) sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
*In medium bowl, mix soup mix, sour cream, mayo, and lemon juice. Stir in spinach and water chestnuts. Chill.

Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball
I (8oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter
1/4 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
Chocolate graham crackers (broken into pieces)
*In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until fluffy. Gradually add sugars, beat just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Place cream cheese mixture on a large piece of plastic wrap, shape into a ball. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Before serving roll cheese ball in pecans. Serve with graham crackers.

Creamy Nog Punch
1 gallon vanilla ice cream
1/2 gallon egg nog
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
16 oz cool whip, thawed
*Scoop ice cram into a punch bowl. Pour eggnog over ice cream and sprinkle with nutmeg and cinnamon. Gently stir in whipped topping. Serve immediately. Sit as needed. Makes 1 1/2 gallon.

Pinwheels
Medium size tortillas
3 green onions
3/4 cup celery
Small can chopped black olives
Chopped ham
Small can chopped green chilies
*Soften cream cheese and add all the ingredients and mix together. Spread on tortillas and roll up. Wrap the rolls in plastic wrap and refrigerate. When ready to serve, unwrap and slice.

CASSEROLES/SIDES

Cheesy Potato Casserole
1 bag country style hash browns
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups sour cream
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups corn flakes, crushed
3 green onion tops, and most of the green part, chopped
1/4 cup butter, melted
*Mix soup, sour cream, salt, pepper, green onions and cheese in a large mixing bowl. Add hash browns and stir to combine. Place in greased 13x9 pan. Top with butter and corn flakes mixed together. Bake 350 for 45 minutes until bubbly around the edges.

Sweet Potato Bake
3 large sweet potatoes
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temp.
1 cup sugar
Salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
* 1). In a large pot cover sweet potatoes in cold water. Bring to a boil over med-high heat. Cook until potatoes are tender and can be easily pierced with a knife, about 30 minutes. Using tongs, remove potatoes and set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, peel and thoroughly mash potatoes in a bowl.
2). Cut one stick of butter into equal pieces and place in bowl with warm mashed potatoes. Add sugar, salt and vanilla, mix together well. Whisk in eggs until mixture is combined and smooth. Stir in milk adding 1 tbsp at a time, just until mixture in moist ans no longer stiff (you might not use all the milk).
3). Pre-heat oven to 350 and mist a 7x11 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Pour sweet potato mixture in baking dish and spread evenly. Melt second stick of butter. In a bowl mix walnuts, flour and brown sugar. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over the potatoes, then drizzle melted butter on top.
4). Bake until topping in brown and crispy and sweet potato mixture in cooked through, 35-40 minutes.

Broccoli-Mushroom Casserole
Salt and Pepper
5 cups broccoli florets
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, minced
1.4 tsp crushed red pepper
3 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 1/ cups low fat milk
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
2 tbsp grated parmesan
* 1). Pre-heat oven to 350. Mist a 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook broccoli for 4 minutes. Drain, rinse, pat dry and transfer to dish.
2). Warm oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and garlic, saute for 3 more minutes. Add to dish, season with salt, pepper and red pepper.
3). Wipe out skillet, return to medium heat. Melt 2 tbsp butter and flour. Cook stirring until smooth, about 2 minutes. Whisk in milk and bring to a boil. Whisk until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add mustard; season with salt and pepper. Drizzle over broccoli.
4). Melt remaining 1 tbsp butter. Mix bread crumbs and parmesan. Stir into butter. Sprinkle over casserole. Bake until bubbly and golden brown, 30-35 minutes. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Green Bean Casserole
1 can green beans
1 Can french fried onions
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cur grated cheddar cheese
*Alternate layers of green beans and onions in baking dish. Mix mushroom soup and pour over vegetables. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, until heated through.

Broccoli-Rice Casserole
1 cup white rice
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chipped onion
1 (12)oz pkg frozen broccoli
1/4 cup butter
1 (8oz) jar cheese whiz
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can mushrooms, sliced
*Cook rice; saute onion and celery in butter. Add cheese, soup and broccoli to rice. Then add it all to the onion/celery. Mix together and then put in greased 9x13 casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

DESSERTS


Caramel Corn
2 cups brown sugar
2 sticks margarine
1/2 cup Karo
1 tsp salt
1 tsp butter flavoring
*Boil 5 minutes and add 1 tsp baking soda. Pour over 8qt popped popcorn( not bags) Bake at 250 for 1 hour.

Caramel Heath Bar Cake -This is my moms recipe and it is Mitch and I's all time favorite cake...it is delicious!! 
1 box chocolate cake mix (devils food)
1 can eagle brand milk
1 bottle caramel topping
Small carton of cool whip
Heath Bars, chopped up (or any candy topping you prefer)
*Bake cake mix according to directions in a 9x13 pan. When cake is finished, let sit until slightly warm, and poke holes throughout the cake with the end of a wooden spoon. Pour eagle brand over cake, then pour caramel topping over cake. When cool, frost with cool whip and sprinkle heath bars over top.

Chocolate Chip Cake
1 yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup melted butter
1 cup sour cream
1 small pkg of chocolate instant pudding
1/2 bag milk chocolate chips
*Mix all ingredients together. Pour in a greased bunt pan. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Cherry Dump Cake- this is super easy and so good! 
1 can cherry pie filling
1 can crushed pineapple (drained, but leave a little juice)
1 yellow cake mix
Pecans, chopped (optional)
2 sticks of margarine
*Mix cherry pie filling and pineapple together. Then put them in a 9x13 pan. Pour the yellow cake mix over the top. Put nuts over the cake mix. Slice the 2 sticks of butter and place all over the top of the cake mix. Bake @ 325 for 1 hr. and 15 min.

Peach Cobbler
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup milk
1 3/4 cup sliced peaches
1 cup sugar
*Melt butter in a 9x13 pan. Mix one cup sugar, flour, baking powder, milk and pour on butter. Dont stir. Add peaches on top. Add remaining sugar over this. Bake @350 for 30 min.

Apple Pie
5 granny green apples
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour-self rising
2 tbsp cinnamon
3/4 stick butter, melted
1/8 cup sugar
2 deep pic crusts - one inverted
*Preheat oven to 400. Mix ingredients, sprinkle sugar on top of filling. Place 2nd crust on top. Bake for 45-50 min.


These are just a few of our favorite holiday recipes, but I hope you can enjoy them as much as we do!

Update!

Hi! I hope you all are doing well. It has been a busy few days for Mitch and I. He has been working a lot and I have just been looking for more jobs. I have a few leads I am really excited about.  One of them is a job at the Wal-Mart Visitors Center that is just right up on the square. It is a job working with planning and organizing the events or anything that Wal-Mart sponsors, which is mainly anything in Bentonville. I had lunch with a lady about the job last week and I am really interested in this job. It is the first job I am actually excited about. So I am just praying everything works out.

Also I have been teaching a lot of tennis. It is been keeping me busy and I love the little kids. They brighten my day and they make it fun! I don't want to teach forever, but for now it is something I enjoy and is an easy way to make some quick cash. I have also met some people through teaching. There are many tennis tournaments throughout the year, and I got asked to play doubles with a girl I teach with. It isn't until December so I have a few weeks to get some practice in :)

Well in out last post I talked about our project with our Christmas lights. We got through three of our strands and two of them didn't work. So we finally decided to take all of them back and get the more expensive ones. We figured it would pay off in the long run. So Mitch and I changed out all the lights and they work perfectly!! I am so excited and can't wait to get them on our house! With Christmas lights also brings colder weather, so we actually got to light our fireplace this weekend!! We have kept it on for the past several days because it is so warm and cozy!

On Friday, Mitch was off, so we spend the day Christmas shopping...we are so close to done buying for everyone! We also made a huge pot of stew. It has to cook all day, so we didn't eat it Friday, but we did grill out steaks and baked potatoes! Yum! The stew turned out good and we are still eating it today!

Since this was the first Friday in November, on the square they had their "First Friday". Mitch and I went up and walked around. It was so packed. They had all the toy vendors there to advertise for Christmas. They also had Pony rides. It was so cute and all the little kids loved it!

Later that night on the square, they had bmx bikers doing tricks and it was crazy. We stayed and watched for a little bit, but it was so cold outside, we didn't last long. 

 They rode their bikes on these logs and never touched the ground..it was insane!

Saturday morning, I went and taught my tennis class until 12 and when I got home Mitch had cleaned the whole house...he vacumed, swiffered, did laundry, even cleaned the bathrooms! It was such a nice surprise. He also finished switching all the Christmas lights for me!

After we had lunch, we went and watched Will's bike race. The weather was beautiful and it was on a really pretty trail, so it was nice to be outside!
After the race, some of the local boutiques were having their Christmas open houses. So Michelle and I did a little shopping :) Also, Will and Michelle bought me an Arkansas Snuggie!! I know I have always made fun of them, but I have been wanting an Arkansas one and they are actually very useful. Here is a picture of Michelle and I in our new snuggies...

That night we went all went over to Mitch's parents house to watch the Arkansas game. Mitch's grandparents were in town and they smoked chicken and ribs! Ribs are one of my favorite things and I ate one too many that night! And the razorbacks beat South Carolina!! Go Hogs!
On Sunday after church, Mitch and I went and played tennis with Tony and Jordan. We all have been wanting to play and it finally worked out! It was so much fun and I am sure we will be doing it more.
After tennis, we went to our financial peace class. We only have one more...next Sunday is graduation!! Looking back we have learned so much and I am so thankful we went through this class. I know we would've been fine without it, but now we are so ahead and know so much for our age. It is crazy to see the older people in our class, like mid 40's, and where they are financially right now and then where we  will be when we get that age all because of this class. It was such a blessing and I would recommend it to anyone, but mainly younger couples. I honestly didn't think Mitch and I needed and it proved me wrong. Anyone that goes through this class will learn so much more than they expected.

This morning, I headed to the gym for an early workout. I thought going in the morning it would be less crowded, well I was wrong. There was not a treadmill open! So I did a circuit room with a bunch of machines and I loved it. I will definitely be doing that more!

Well I hope everyone has had a great Monday! Again, I apologize for slacking on the stew and chili recipes. We have made so many good family recipes that aren't on paper so it is hard for me to put them on here. Tonight we are making potato chip chicken. This is my grandma's recipe and it is super easy!! Also, I did make popcorn balls the other day, and here is the recipe for them...they are easy, but very messy!!

POTATO CHIP CHICKEN
2 pounds chicken breast
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup crushed potato chip
(we sometimes chop up onions and add them to the potato chips)
*Melt butter and drizzle over chicken, season with salt and pepper, and let set overnight if possible...if not a few hours is fine.
Roll chicken in potato chip/onion mixture until well coated and place in a greased baking dish.
Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.

POPCORN BALLS
3/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup margarine
2 tablespoons water
1 cup marshmallow cream
2 cups powdered sugar
2 bags popcorn
*Combine corn syrup. margarine and water in a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high until margarine is melted, stirring frequently. Stir in the marshmallow cream; microwave on high, stirring frequently, until well blended. Add the powdered sugar; microwave on high until well blended. Pour some of the popcorn in a large bowl, filling about 1/3 full. Ladle hot syrup onto popcorn, stir with a spatula to coat the popcorn. Place sandwich bags on your hands, lightly spay butter Pam on baggies. Shape the hot popcorn with syrup into balls. Place on wax paper. Makes about 25.

ENJOY!!

52 days 'til Christmas!

Well it's November!! I can not believe October went by so fast. We have had a good couple of days. Mitch worked Saturday, and I spend the morning teaching my tennis class. I got some new tennis shoes, so I was excited to wear them!

Afterwards, I was really tired so I relaxed at the house. Mitch and I have recently started getting netflixs and it is sooo nice!! I was never really that into it and now I can tell I am getting hooked. The only season of One Tree Hill I don't have is season 7 and now I can get it on netflixs! So I spent the majority of the afternoon on Saturday watching One Tree Hill. That evening, we just watched the Razorback game. On Sunday, Mitch had to work again, so I went shopping at target in the morning and found this really cute door mat for only $4!

After that I went to our financial peace class and then went up to the church to help out with the Fall Fest. It was a lot of fun and I saw so many cute little kids and some in very unique costume. Ha! 

After the Fall Fest, Mitch's parents and I went to Gusano's Pizza and Mitch met us there after he got off work. I am not the biggest pizza fan and I love this place. It is delicious! 

When we got home, we passed out candy to the trick-or-treaters! We didn't have a ton because it was later when we got back from dinner. But it was a lot fun to pass out candy! 

Well most of you know I start celebrating Christmas early, but now that Halloween is over, I feel like I can officially start getting ready for it!! So yesterday afternoon, Mitch and I spend the day shopping for Christmas lights for our house! It feels so weird to be putting Christmas lights up on OUR house! I am going to miss helping my family decorate our house, but it is going to be a lot of fun decorating our house for our first Christmas married. So first, we had to measure the house to see how many lights we needed.

After we figured out what all we needed we headed out to Home Depot, Lowes, and Wal-Mart to see who had the best prices. We literally went to each of them twice to see what was going to be the best for us. One of our problems was that we wanted LED lights and they are a little more expensive, and also I have always wanted lights that alternate red and white bulbs and you can't buy those, so you have to buy stands of red and strands of white and change out the light bulb. Ha! So we figured out how to do that and lets just say I have a pretty big project in store for me! We ended up having to buy 16 boxes of lights, 8 red and 8 white, and now I get to interchange the bulbs. But I love anything Christmas so this will actually be fun for me! 

We also bought a smaller white tree for our office. I love the traditional red/green/silver for our big tree, but we bought a 4ft white tree and we are doing pink/blue...lots of brighter colors. So yes we have two trees, but most of you know that I love Christmas! 

This week we it is actually suppose to be getting colder. The highs are in the 50's and so we are making a big pot of stew! It is my dad's recipe and it is so good. We always make a bunch so we can eat on it for about a week! 

Today we had a pretty eventful day! We went to Springfield, MO with Mitch's parents. They were going  to look at buying a car, and their plan was to buy it today, but it didn't go as planned and we came home with no car. But we did get a trip to Lambert's out if it!! You just can't pass up Lambert's when you are in the area!! So even though our trip was pretty unsuccessful, I can't complain.

Next week we are going to Tulsa to visit my parents and I can't wait! My dad had surgery on his vocal cords last week and he is recovering well and doing good, and my mom is getting over bronchitis, but my brother has been really sick for about a week and a half now. He has missed so much school and has a ton of homework to make up and I know that's no fun when your sick. He went to the doctor last week and they thought it was just a virus, gave him some antibiotics and that never helped. He has just got worse, so they went back yesterday and ran more tests and found out today he tested positive for mono and they found some spots on his lungs that they are hoping is pneumonia. You know its bad when they are wanting it to be pneumonia. Today he went back in for a cat-scan and they still can't find out what the spots are. So they are having to bring in an infectious disease doctor tomorrow and run more tests. So please keep him and my family in your prayers. He is really sick and we are just praying the spots aren't anything serious. 

I hope everyone is having a lovely week and a great start to November!