as of lately

baby boy cupcakes. 
  to remember when paying off student loans.
             he is old(er). thirty-one to be exact.
return of the turtle hunter.
posers.
grilling season.
long live the church potluck.

life is good.

spring break plans

 
a baby shower
drink lots of coffee
go junkin’ at least 3 times 
bridal portraits *
  finish projects
some gardening
soak up some sun

but i’m most excited about friday night’s events. two college buddies are meeting here and we are road tripping for an overnight get together with our college girlfriends. yep, we are having a good ole fashioned slumber party.

i can’t wait.

*dress pictured is not actual dress purchased :)

stressed and pouty

i just want to cry today.
work has been extremely stressful this week.
the kids have been especially disobedient and other work circumstances have gotten much worse.

maybe this is God’s way of making me fully appreciate next week – it’s spring break.

yeah, yeah, I know, most people don’t get a spring break or any kind of break at a much needed, high stress period of time. so, to those of you thinking that…..bring it on, i’ll trade jobs with you for a week and see how it goes.

see? i’m crabby. and i just want to cry. 

three days. i just need to survive three more days.

some days I really do love my job. just not today.

but I should leave you with a positive thought instead.

spring

it’s official even though the weather isn’t cooperating with the calendar today.  

the next few weeks will be packed with buds and blooms. sun and showers. warmth and soft breezes.
 
ah, and our street will look like this again soon.
 

i hope your first week of spring is wonderful!  

new addition

we’ve been moving some things around to make some room for a very life-changing addition to our household.

a dishwasher.

yes, life changing.

we found an unused apartment sized dishwasher on craigslist for cheap. 

jacob (kind of) rebuilt a 9” wide cabinet and drawer from the previous 28” cabinet and drawer. he wired the dishwasher and reworked the plumbing. he rocks!

now, i just have to make a little curtain until we can get a door fixed up and recaulk the base boards. and that’s okay.

because i am one happy wife!
 
now, we have less of this.

which leaves me more time for 30Rock.

it’s on now, gotta go!

school lunches

do you remember what you took for lunch when you were in school?

i do. a turkey sandwich, usually some chips (cheetos if we were lucky) and a fruit (green grapes were my favorite). i think i must have had that meal every day in high school save the occasional pizza fridays that were a special treat to our household.

i had intended on writing a post on something else completely but will save that for another day. i found a new blog and i am hooked.

she is a teacher who has made a commitment to eat school lunch every day for this year. wow! that’s all i can say. wow!

you must go and read. it’s called fed up with school lunch.

paging Mrs. Obama, paging Mrs. Obama

monkey bread

i make this every once in a while for our Bible class breakfast. we had something similar on Christmas morning when growing up. it is pure cinnamony, sugary, buttery deliciousness.  oh, and easy too.

first, you cut canned biscuits into quarters.

then, let them go for a swim in butter.

next, toss them in the cinnamonny, sugary mix.

finally, you pile them in a bundt or tube pan.

it’s SO good. not that good for you but SO good. 

monkey bread:
2 cans of pillsbury Grands! refrigerated biscuits
1 cup white sugar
2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a bundt or tube pan.
2. Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a plastic bag. Cut biscuits into quarters. Shake a few biscuit pieces at a time in the sugar cinnamon mix. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the prepared pan.  Arrange pecans in with the biscuits pieces as they are placed in the pan. 
3. Melt margarine and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Let boil for 1 minute. Then pour over biscuits.
4. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes and turn over onto serving plate.

Enjoy!

oh, and this week is really kicking my rearend. is this the lion part of March?

30 before 30

inspired by several others in blogland, i set out a couple of months ago compiling my list.  this project is about living life more intentionally. i think i am up for this adventure and a final who-rah of my 20’s.

quick birthday recap and winner

how’s that for original titles?

today has been a good day. breakfast cooked by jacob, shopping with free reign of the debit card (within our budget, of course), lunch with my best friend, a free dinner with good people, and hubby getting recognized at and NBA game. there were no cupcakes but a crepe instead. busy and fun!


anyway, what you are probably really wondering about is….the winner.

i asked jacob earlier today to choose a number. real scientific, i know, but he had no idea the reason behind the question.  he chose #4. Congratulations Mitzi!

birthday giveaway

Saturday is my birthday. Have I mentioned that yet? I’m turning 29. Yep, only one more year until the big 3-0!  **Yikes, bikes!**

In honor of my birthday, I’ve been doing a little coveting.  Here are a few things that I just thought were cute and might look even cuter on me or near me.  Ha! I mean maybe they will make me look cuter – okay, whatever it’s just good eye-candy.

 

and the only probable option (and the most exciting one)……. a cupcake with sprinkles from here.

And here is my gift to you, an anthropologie initial mug of your own ….just leave a comment telling me the best birthday present you have ever received.

I will randomly choose and announce a winner on Saturday!

top three images from anthropologie

for wednesday

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
                                                                  James 3:17

curry schmurry

I don’t know why but in college we often added “sch” to the beginning of words after saying the original word. For instance, my name became Candace Schmandace.

That snippet is totally unrelated to the post save the fact that it further explains the title. Now, to explain the curry part of the title……

 

Our recipe is adapted from Paula Deen’s Curry Chicken Salad but tweaked because I can’t leave well enough alone.

Here is our version:
2 lbs of chicken breast, boiled and chopped
1/4 purple onion, finely chopped
1 cup of green grapes, measure then cut in fourths
3/4 cup of mayonnaise
2 T soy sauce
1 T lemon juice
2 t curry
1/4 cup pecans, chopped (optional)

Mix together and love every bite! We are on our second batch in a week.