Wednesday, August 31, 2011

What I'm Loving/Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday, y'all!! One day closer to a holiday weekend!

It's my favorite [work] day of the week! I'm linking up today with Jamie from This Kind of Love for What I'm Loving Wednesday and with Michelle from The Vintage Apple for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesdays!





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{i'm loving} that tomorrow is September 1st! {seriously though, what happened to July and August?} BUT with September comes Fall - my favorite season! And with September comes pumpkins!! YAY! And cooler weather is supposed to come along with September and Fall, but that doesn't really happen in Texas. Regardless, I love this time of year! Pumpkin spice lattes, here I come!


{i'm loving} that football season starts THIS WEEKEND! Sooo excited! This means tailgates, reunions with friends, home sweet College Station, Northgate and of course Aggie Football!! Whoop! Which brings me to my next point....



{i'm loving} that Texas A&M is officially leaving the Big 12 Conference!! It's been a long time coming. Texas A&M has officially notified the Big 12 that they will submit an application to join another athletic conference. Should this application be accepted, Texas A&M will end its membership with the Big 12 effective June 30, 2012. A&M has not yet applied for another conference, but it's looking like... SEC here we come!!!



{i'm loving} that I get to see all of my family next week. I am NOT loving that the reason we are all getting together is for my daddy's surgery.

{i'm loving} this new recipe that I tried last night. Southwestern egg rolls! They were delicious!

You can find the recipe here.
 {i'm loving} my best friend and partner in life... As always :)

Excuse the photo quality, this was taken with my iPhone.


And of course I'm still completely obsessed loving Pinterest. So here are my Pinteresting finds of the week.


Love this headboard and the touches of purple.

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I'm not a teacher, but I love everything about this outfit.

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This vanity is fantastic. Love the chair, the mirror, everything! Wish I had something like this in my house.



This is so true. If only more people realized this....

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This is a great piece of furniture. The color is amazing!

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I want a baby pom! How can anyone say these little guys aren't the cutest?!

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That's all for today! Don't forget to link up!


Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Weekend Recap

Happy Tuesday!! I thought I'd recap our weekend. Overall, it was uneventful, but sometimes it's good to have uneventful weekends!

Friday night, Corby and I watched Something Borrowed.


What are your thoughts on this movie? I have mixed feelings... I loved the cast: Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, John Krasinski (swoon) and Colin Egglesfield... Love them all!

I thought some parts were funny...

But the actual story... I'm not a fan. I don't like all the cheating. I did not read the book, so I only semi-knew what I was getting myself into. Call me crazy... I'm probably the only girl in the world that doesn't really care for this movie. It made me feel uncomfortable to watch them cheat on each other. Maybe it's because it just hits too close to home...

Anyhoo... Enough of that...

On Saturday, Corby and I slept in. WOO HOO!!!! First time in a while. And it was wonderful! We went to eat a late lunch at the newest restaurant in town...


pardon the iPhone picture

We are excited to welcome In-N-Out Burger to Fort Worth, TX! Yumm!

We were pretty lazy the rest of the weekend. I decided to give Corby a break from watching Friends (I swear... it's like my drug)... So we decided to rewatch all eight seasons of 24! (If you haven't watched any of that show, do it. It's amazing) We got about halfway through the first season. This will take a while. Eight seasons, twenty-four episodes each! Whew!

LOVE me some Jack Bauer!

I was able to get some painting done this weekend! I have 4 orders to complete and I got two of them done!! I'll be posting them soon on my business blog. :)

Yesterday, since I had the day off, I did some cleaning (boo) and some shopping (yay!)!!
I also did some cooking and baking yesterday. I made homemade pizza yesterday.. And a homemade peach pie... YUM!! If you're looking to make a peach pie, I found the recipe from one of my fellow bloggers (Thanks to Meg from Henning Love) and it was delicious!!


again, excuse the iPhone picture

That's all for today! I've got to get back to work :) I have a fun recipe to share later this week! Stay tuned!!


Friday, August 26, 2011

Friday's Fancies - Wedding Style

Happppyyyy Fridayy!!! I can't tell you how happy I am that today is Friday!! :) I'm linking up today with Long Distance Loving for the first time for today's Wedding Edition of Friday's Fancies!!




Who doesn't love weddings? When it comes to wedding style, as a guest at weddings, I try to keep it simple but classy. Typically a solid color dress (somehow, I usually end up in a black dress... but I'm trying to add more color to my closet!) with fun shoes and accessories! I just bought some nude colored pumps and they are my absolute favorite pair of heels. They go with everything! And I love ruffles on just about everything! This dress is so my style and it would be perfect for a wedding!





Now, just because I love weddings and I feel like reminiscing about my own wedding, I'm going to share my style from my wedding as the bride!

When I tried on wedding dresses, I tried on a total of three dresses. I knew that I wanted a dress with a lace overlay... I had a picture in my head of what kind of dress I wanted, and I found my dream dress. I loved the detail in my dress.




One of my bridal portraits!


My momma helping me get dressed. You can also see my hair here. I opted for flowers in my hair instead of a veil.

I absolutely loved my shoes from my wedding! Although, I wore them for the ceremony and then put on flip flops :) I was going for comfort during the reception!!



And here are a few other details from our wedding!

My bouquet. I opted for artificial flowers so I can keep my bouquet forever! And you can barely see it, but my "Something Old" was my aunt's ring. She passed away my senior year in high school and my uncle gave me her ring. And it's something I will treasure forever.

My bridesmaid dresses! I loved them!


And my cake!

That's all for today! Happy Friday! Anyone have big plans this weekend? I have big plans to do a whole lot of nothing!! Also, I have Monday off! YAY! :) Three day weekend, here I come!


Thursday, August 25, 2011

New Recipes to Try

I have some new recipes to share!  :)

Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls




Yield: 8-12 large cinnamon rolls or 12-16 smaller rolls
Ingredients:
For the cinnamon rolls:
6½ tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
5½ tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp. lemon zest
3½ cups bread flour
2 tsp. instant (rapid rise) yeast
1 cup plus 2-4 tbsp. whole milk or buttermilk, at room temperature

For the filling:
3 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. sugar
¾ tsp. ground cinnamon
1½ cups fresh blueberries

For the glaze:
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
6-7 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. lemon zest

Directions:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the sugar, salt and butter on medium-high speed until smooth.  Mix in the egg and lemon zest until incorporated.  Mix in the flour, yeast and milk until a dough forms.  Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed, about 8 minutes until the dough is silky and supple, tacky but not sticky.  (You may need to add a little extra flour or liquid to achieve this texture.)  Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, turning once to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.

Mist a work surface with spray oil.  Roll it out into a rectangle with a rolling pin, lightly dusting the dough with flour if needed to keep it from sticking (about 12 x 14 inches for larger rolls or 9 x 18 inches for smaller rolls).  Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix to blend.  Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the surface of the dough.  Sprinkle the berries over the top evenly of the dough.  Starting with the wide edge, roll up the dough into a cigar-shaped log, creating a cinnamon sugar spiral as you roll.  Pinch the seam shut, and with the seam side down, slice the log into your desired number of rolls.  Transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, placing the rolls about ½-1 inch apart.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 75-90 minutes, until the rolls have grown into each other and have nearly doubled in size.  At this point, the rolls can also be covered and retarded in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.  Pull the pan out of the refrigerator 3-4 hours before baking to let the dough proof.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown.  Let cool in the baking about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.  Whisk together the glaze ingredients in a medium bowl until smooth and then swirl over the top of the cinnamon rolls.  Let cool at least 15-20 minutes before serving.

Recipe and photo from Annies Eats.



Shrimp Enchiladas (my fav!)




Ingredients:
3 tbsp. butter, divided
1 lb. medium-size shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 red bell pepper, diced
¾ cup onion, diced
¼ tsp. oregano
¼ tsp. salt
Dash garlic powder
Dash cayenne pepper
2 tsp. all-purpose flour
6 tbsp. heavy cream or half-and-half
¼ cup sour cream
6 oz. shredded cheese (such as Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack, etc.), divided
1 cup tomatoes, seeded and diced
8-10 (8-inch) flour tortillas
Cooking spray

Directions:
In a large sauté pan, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat.  Add the shrimp to the pan in an even layer and let cook without moving, about 1 minute.  Flip the shrimp over and continue to cook until just pink and opaque, 30-60 seconds longer.  Remove to a plate with a slotted spoon and set aside.  When the shrimp is cool enough to handle, roughly chop into bite sized pieces, if desired.

Melt the remaining butter in the pan.  Add the diced bell pepper and onion, and cook until just tender, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the oregano, salt, garlic powder, cayenne and flour to the pan; stir well and cook briefly until fragrant, about 30-60 seconds.  Lower the heat to medium-low and add the heavy cream to the pan, stirring to scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.  Cook just until slightly thickened, 1-2 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat.  Stir in the sour cream, half of the shredded cheese, and the tomatoes.  Return the shrimp to the pan as well, and mix everything together until the sauce is well blended and the cheese is melted.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.  Scoop 1/3 cup of the filling and sauce mixture down the center of a tortilla.  Sprinkle lightly with some of the reserved cheese.  Roll the tortilla tightly around the filling and place seam side-down in the  prepared baking dish.  Repeat with the remaining filling, tortillas and cheese.  Spray the tops of the finished assembled tortillas lightly with cooking spray. Bake uncovered for about 30-35 minutes, until lightly browned.  Let cool at least 5-10 minutes before serving.

Recipe and photo from Annies Eats.


I've made both of these and they're fabulous! I'm just REALLY bad about taking photos while I cook. These shrimp enchiladas are Corby's favorite meal!

Happy almost Friday! :)

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

What I'm Loving/Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday

Happy Wednesday folks! The week is downhill from here! :)

Per usual, I'm linking up with Jamie at This Kind of Love for What I'm Loving Wednesday and Michelle at The Vintage Apple for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesdays.


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{i'm loving} Peanut Butter & Co.'s White Chocolate Wonderful... White chocolate + peanut butter = YUM! If you haven't tried this, you're SOOO missing out! It's like heaven in a jar! (Thanks, Amy, for introducing this to me!)



{i'm loving} that my sweet parents are celebrating their 45th (yes, people, I said FORTY-FIFTH) wedding anniversary on Saturday! They are such a wonderful example to me as to what real love is and what the commitment of marriage means.

My parents and me

{i'm loving} all things pumpkin. I can't wait for fall! I have so many pumpkin recipes that I can't wait to try!

{i'm loving} these looks for fall! Fall is probably my favorite season to shop for! I just love scarves, boots, sweaters, etc....


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{i'm loving} Against the Wall. If you haven't seen this show, please go watch it! It's a new series on Lifetime. I have a slight obsession with crime shows (ya know, the CSIs, Without a Trace, Law & Order, etc. type shows). This show has all of that crime drama that we all love. But Abby, the main character is hilarious! She reminds me so much of me... She's so clumsy!! It's not your typical Lifetime series... Corby actually likes it too! Win!



{i'm loving} this handsome man :)



Now for my Pinteresting finds of the week:


Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies! omg. Cannot wait to make these!
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Take extra wedding invitations and cut into strips (where you can still read lines of text) and put them in a clear, glass ball ornament for your Christmas tree! Love this! Could also work for baby shower invitations or announcements.

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Such a cute and clever idea for a gender reveal photoshoot!! I want to do this... One day!
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Love this piece. Love the color and placement too!

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This is my dream kitchen! Love the creamy colored cabinets. And I want a butcher block island!! Love it all!

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This is the perfect little house! Love everything about it! Just needs a brighter red front door :)

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That's all for today! Only two more full days until the weekend :)

And thank you all for the sweet comments and prayers from yesterday's post! Y'all are amazing!


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Two Weeks from Today

Two weeks from today my daddy is having the biggest surgery of his life.

Before I go on, there's something I must explain...

I am sooo close to my parents. Maybe it comes from being an only child? Maybe it's just the way I was raised? Regardless, my parents are my heroes. I don't know what I'd do without them.

I am THE token daddy's girl. He was the first man in my life. My first love. And he still holds my heart.

My graduation from Texas A&M.

I am literally in tears as I write this post. If you've read back far enough on my blog, then you may already know that my daddy has lung cancer. Two weeks from today, on September 6, my daddy is having his right lung removed.

At this point his prognosis is good. It doesn't make it any easier to watch someone you love so dearly go through something like this. As far as the doctors know, the cancer is contained to two tumors. But one of those tumors is in his lymph nodes. I'm praying that it has not spread.

It breaks my heart seeing my daddy weak, tired, so so thin and scared. He's my daddy. The man who I once thought had to be the strongest man in the world. Sometimes I still think he hung the moon.




Dancing with my daddy at my wedding.


If you have a spare moment, please say a pray for him, for the doctors, for my mom and me. I have to stay positive. I know that God is in control. Our God is a God of miracles. He is the almighty Healer.

...Your unfailing love, LORD,
supported me. When anxiety was great
within me, your consolation
brought me joy. Psalm 94:18-19

Sorry for the serious post today. It's just weighing heavy on my heart. I promise to return tomorrow with my usual upbeat self. :)