11.28.2010

Oh-La-la

Here are some things I am LOVIN' from Pier 1 Imports-
Lime pillow for my leather couch (it's actually a fairly big pillow)
velvet chocolate brown pillow for the recliner
Modern Lace Doily plates....but I want them in lime green or citrus
Last, but not least my favorite!
I've been watching these antique white chargers for awhile now. I'm just not willing to pay $12+ bucks a piece for 6= $70 bucks......waiting on a sale!

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving my brother came home from South Carolina....with the turkey in hand! We deep fry the turkey--it's the best thing ever! No, it is not crunchy like KFC, the skin is cooked and the inside is moist, tender, and perfectly protected due to the frying on the outside. You do have to inject it with your favorite spices. Delish! These are the only pictures I have on my camera.
Steven looks funny... Me and Justin (nope, I didn't dress up, it's only my family and it was 74 out)
Dutch Apple Pie--I made it! Yummy cinnamon, sugar, crumble topping!

...and for the first time ever in our 5+ years we did not go to any of the H side of the family because the times coincided

And I did not do black Friday shopping because I am not on the hunt for any goodies.




11.26.2010

Why I Rock!

You know me well if you answered yes or nodded to 15 or more of these...
* I don't eat at Cracker Barrel.
* Green has always been my favorite color.
* I say CAR-mel for caramel, PEE-can for pecan, and BAGE for bag (amongst a whole bunch of other funny ones). That's just how I roll, err my my mouth rolls.
* I have never colored my hair and don't plan on it anytime soon!
* The numbers 17 and 22 pop up in my daily life and are my favorite numbers. I go a few steps beyond that when booking hotels/cruises/flight numbers I try to get those numbers somehow.
* I love cheese. (take that Sister Sarah)
* Bodily functions don't scare me or gross me out except when it's thick, green, nasty snot from a kids nose and then I start to dry heave uncontrollably.
* I've bungee jumped!
* I enjoy wiping down my kitchen counter tops in the morning and before bed.
* When I was little I asked to be sent to Amish camp instead of summer camp. (Dad let me down when he told me there was no such thing) These people fascinate me!
* I drive by sight/memory and once I go somewhere I can always find my way again.
* I do not write anything down. No stick notes, journals, notebooks, calendars, nothing! It's all in my head.
* I'm not a fan of musicals.
* In middle school I paid to get ONE fake finger nail put on only so I could see what it feels like and bite it off!
* I'm horrible at filing papers and important mail.
* I have my boy/girl nurseries picked out and they do not involve pink or blue!
* Antiques make me so happy! I love anything made out of wood.
* I have NO real talents.
* I'm totally content to people watch ( like at the mall) and observe how people interact when they think nobody is watching.
* I never wear a watch but am always aware of the time.
* I'm a huge fan of family traditions!
*I turned 25 in Paris which was amazing!
(You're super smart if you realized I got stumped on the 22nd * haha)
What makes you rock???

11.25.2010

Thankful for the Nouns in my life!!

In no particular order...these are some of the people, places and things I am SO thankful for! I realize I left a whole lotta pictures out but you get the idea! Hope you all have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving with your families!

My hubs and all the places we go

GREEN--in every form!
my wonderful kitchen
My family and friends




our little monster

traveling the world

anything related to Europe

the ocean, cruises and my sister

old barns and architecture



the place I call home


having fun outdoors


family

oldtime friends

swimming and my Goddaughter


co-workers a.k.a. my best friends
sisters!


baby showers, friends coming together, laughing




11.21.2010

A Gift for you and your wallet!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! What better way to celebrate the holiday than to send snail mail to all your friends and family!? Right now Shutterfly has an awesome deal for you, your family, and your wallet! I've used Shutterfly with great success in years past to create my Christmas cards. What you see is what you get! No glossed over images, wonky pixels, or blurred fonts. They have an awesome selection this year to put you in the holiday spirit! Wanna hear the best part? Right now Shutterfly is offering 50 FREE Holiday cards if you blog about them! No joke! We took our Christmas pictures today and have narrowed our photos down to 2. I'm so excited to get started! Here are a few of my personal contenders this holiday season:


Oh What Fun

Full of Love
What are you waiting for? Go check them out, you won't be sorry! Click me for the holiday promo deal! Don't forget to stock up on labels and gift tags too!


Hanging with Rice and Beans

On Wednesday night Esther and I trucked it to the boro to hit up Old Time Pottery! They were having a sale that ended at closing and her dream lanterns were on sale- the large one was only $13.99. They are equally as cute as the Pottery Barn ones for 75% of the price. (large one at Pottery Barn was $99.00)
We had fun shopping! Since Steven is an avid hunter we thought it was only appropriate to take a picture with the tacky $39.99 large buck and $29.99 small one. Hideous!!! The caption was going to read "if I can get a buck so can you" but he did get his 8 point buck early Saturday morning. Timing fail! It was only fair that Beans hold the tiniest deer!

We spent 2.5 hours in the store....walking and shopping!


We tossed the girls into the giant pillow display....multiple times!






So happy that her momma got her Pottery Barn look-a-like lanterns!


I got a few miscellaneous things....still couldn't find any cute dining room Christmas chargers. Sadly, we did not see Beeeeeeeently either! :o)

11.19.2010

Happy Friday from the ATL

A friend of mine takes funny pictures of grammatical errors she finds outside of Atlanta and posts them on her FB. This one made me giggle so I am passing it on to you. Apparently, someone else decided to respond to Riley in a humorous way!! HAPPY FRIDAY!

11.15.2010

D-I-N-N-E-R!

Ya know I am NOT a baker but I do love to cook new dinner recipes. We eat a lot of fish/seafood at my house. It's not unusual to eat tilapia, salmon (my fav.) grouper, shrimp, crab cakes, etc. Lately, I've been searching for some EASY more meaty recipes. I've followed Amanda at Our Oklahoma Nest ( http://www.ouroklahomanest.com/) for awhile. Who knew, she also has a recipe blog! So, I jotted down the ingredients I needed and boom! I followed 3 of her recipes last week and spoke with her over email. Of course I had to tweak them to our needs but click the link for her yummy recipe blog. www.pieceofcakerecipes.blogspot.com
1. Hobo Dinner --this is the EASIEST meal and it's yummy too.
1 lb. of beef (we use organic turkey)
1 bag of sliced carrots
1 bag of tiny yellow potatoes that are already peeled. It's worth the $4.65 a bag to not have to peel
1 whole onion sliced into rings
salt and pepper to taste
drizzle with olive oil
aluminum foil and wrap
**ours made 4 Hobo meals
bake at 400 for 45 minutes
the meat patties are on the bottom and NO you do not have to cook them beforehand so it's so easy. The whole meals is steamed and delish!


4 little hobo meals.....steamed to perfection!

ta-da

I made homemade cornbread with this too and Steven loved it.

2. Pepperoni Poppers
2 packages of crescent rolls (following baking directions)
pepperoni (or topping of choice)
shredded cheese of choice
Again, super easy!



3. Jumbo Stuffed Italian Shells

1 lb ground beef (I use organic turkey as we do not eat much hamburger meat) On this one you DO have to cook the meat beforehand
1 lb cottage cheese
Jumbo shells (ya do have to cook these like the box says)
6 oz. of shredded spinach leaf lettuce
fresh pepper to taste
salt to taste
1 cup onion diced teeny tiny
1 cup Parmesan cheese
drizzle olive oil
grated Parmesan or mozzarella cheese
1 large spaghetti sauce of choice
**** I had to change a few things but these are all the ingredients I used.
bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes

meat and ingredients before loading the shells
promise, these are the jumbo shells



row 1 down

every row done, sauce on, little cheese on top

Voila! This dish made a lot so we'll eat on it twice. I'd make garlic bread and a side salad too!
So, there you have it.Three yummy meals. This week I am also making my stuffed tilapia and a new chicken recipe.
If you want specifics click Amanda's recipe blog or email me. Thanks for sharing Amanda!

11.14.2010

Road Trip Anyone?

Do you ever wonder what the airlines do with all the left over luggage and items? Well at the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Alabama they stock 7,000 unclaimed items DAILY according to the website www.unclaimedbaggage.com . Oprah called it one of the best kept secrets! I totally want to road trip one weekend to Scottsboro, Alabama and hit up the airport goodies left behind. They say you can purchase lost treasures from around the world and have great stories of amazing finds such as emerald diamonds found in a pocket and $500 cash found in a Barbie head! Of course, they have sunglasses, clothing, cameras, jewelry, and junk too! You know how much I love rummaging through junk! Anyone up for a Saturday trip?

On a side note OKLAHOMA I will post my pictures and dinner recipes later....giving you full credit of course! I am just too lazy to load pictures. :o)

11.08.2010

Christmas-- how do you give?

Are you sitting down? I hope so because this year we're totally revamping Christmas! Yep, we are not spending money on every.single.person like we do every.single.year. I think my list of people consisted of 18 last year. That is sick! Why? Because I have no family in TN and I have no family to spend money on so who does it go to? Too many people. Little gifts here and there add up. So, we're not doing it. We aren't spending as much money on postal fees as we do the gifts. It's a vicious cycle of you bought me a gift, now I hunt for a gift for you and so on. You have to admit, you do it too. This is very hard to say:

We're not giving Christmas gifts in the form of money gifts.
(insert gasps, comments, sighs, screams, disgusted faces)
We're giving our TIME!!!
Yep, my husband is totally down for this too. Not just any time but quality time. We're giving of our self instead of our wallet. We feel it's one of the greatest gifts.

We're going to donate our time to a food pantry, Christmas fundraisers, Room at the Inn and things of that nature that benefit people and make a difference.

This is where you come in. We need your help and suggestions! Is there a volunteer group, charity, or special holiday event that needs help? WE NEED DETAILS! So far, I haven't heard anything at church but if you know, please email me at Kristy(dot)Hicks(at)hotmail(dot)com


Wanna take the challenge? Let us know, we can do it together!

11.07.2010

Holiday Freebies!

You read it right,
yes it's true,
Shutterfly is giving away 50 free Christmas cards to Bloggers like you!
Just fill out a survey and wait for your reply. In the meantime, shop their Holiday collection!
Woo-hooo....there is so much to chose from!
Click me below:

11.04.2010

Thursday Thought

"The path to enlightenment is not a path at all.
It's actually a metaphor for the time it takes for you to allow yourself to be happy with
who you already are,
where you're already at,
and what you already have- no matter what."
~~~ Stole this from Jeanna with permission, don't know who truly said it but WOW!

11.03.2010

LOVE this book!

Today I read my FAVORITE book Bats at the Beach by Brian Lies. I love this book...and love teaching anything about bats. Why? Because it is my pet peeve that the only thing kids think they know about bats is "they suck your blood." Hate, hate, hate when they say that. So, I force this wonderful book on them because I love it! I mean, come on moon-tan lotion and bugmellows? How can you not enjoy the wonderful words and awesome illustrations!
Quick, call out! Tell all you can reach: the night is just perfect for bats at the beach! ( I love how it all rhymes too)

Another good one is Bats at the Library! Well, I'm so excited because now the 2010 book is Bats at the Ballgame. So, if you see it scoop it up for me! I have many more books that I hoard...and may share at a later date.