There Is No Such Thing As Perfect...Well...

Well well, my friends, it has been WAY too long since I have written.  I have a lot of catching up to do...especially with me not writing ANYTHING in October.  My first post back is dedicated to a new little life that made a huge difference in our family.

I understand what is said about there is no such thing as a perfect human...but I have to share with you the most perfect little thing...

Baby Aubrey Grace!

My brother and his wife, my sister-in-law :) (Danielle), had a precious little girl on August 20, 2011.  My mom and I were able to get down there a couple of weekends ago and visit her.  This was the first visit I had made, but Mom went down previously during Labor Day weekend.  I was so excited and could not wait to see and hold her.  I think I have shared with you guys about my fear about newborns and just feeling like I was going to do something wrong with them, ask some of my friends with babies...but that was not the case with Aubrey Grace.  I walked through the door and she was handed to me and it seems like the weekend passed by too quickly and I never put her down.  :)

Here are some pictures to give you an idea of how beautiful she is, but these pictures do her no justice.

I hope you enjoyed my post and pics about/of Aubrey Grace!  There will be lots more of her in the future...

I hope everyone has had a great week and had a great October!  I promise I will do better about writing...

WAR EAGLE!!!

Divine Intervention

Good Monday Morning!  I have had an interesting week and I wanted to share it with you.

It amazes me everyday at how God plans and works in our lives.  If you do not believe that, then listen to my story.

As most of you know, I interviewed for a nanny position here in Newnan.  After about a month of not hearing anything, I tossed it aside and began seeking other opportunities.  Then, I get a phone call from the mom explaining that she was still interested and wanted to see if I was still wanting to possibly see if the nanny position would work out (this was two Wednesdays ago).  I met the little girl on Thursday and then began on Friday.  I left on Friday unsure of what was expected of me the following week, but knew that I would hear from them and wasn't too worried about it.  Monday rolls around and I work, the same for Tuesday and Wednesday, but then on Thursday plans began to fade out and on Friday my day was canceled.  Let me back up to Tuesday afternoon and tell you that I was feeling like I wasn't sure if the position was going to work out.  I called my Mom and spoke with her about it and told her honestly that things were not going as expected, do they ever, and that I wasn't sure if this was the position for me for this school year.  I felt in my heart that it would get taken care of one way or the other, and had a great day on Wednesday.

Just a side note, I have bills to pay, and those sometimes weigh heavy on my shoulders.  There are some bills that I am able to put to the side right now, but as far as my car payment goes, I was beginnng to stress out a little bit.  Please remember, I have not had a steady paycheck since the end of May.  I saved enough money to get me through three months of bills, so you can see my urgency for steady work.

Back to my week.  On Friday, I went to my Mom's work, since my nanny day was canceled and was just talking with her about what I needed to do and how I needed to approach the questions I had about the job.  I left there and headed home and when I got home I recieved a phone call explaining that my hours had been calculated for the week and I could pick up my check.  This phone call came as a complete surprise to me, because I was under the impression I wouldn't get paid until around the 1st, so you can imagine I didn't know what to expect when I went to pick up my check.  I opened the envelope and the check amount was more than I had ever hopped for and well enough to get me through one more month of paying my car payment.  I felt a HUGE weight lift off of my shoulders and could feel God's presence with me saying that he will take care of me, just trust him.  It was amazing and gave me chills just to think how He works in our lives.  I called my Mom right away to tell her and she said it was divine intervention.   

With that being taken care of, I enjoyed my relaxing weekend, and knew that I was going to have some questions that would have to answered about my job.  Yesterday, I talked with the mom and we both came to the agreement that it was not working, and that what she was needing would not be fair to my schedule and to what I had expected from the position.  She needs someone with a real flexible schedule, and not that mine couldn't be, she just needs someone who can stay later and it may not be consistent.  She was grateful for my hard work and I was grateful for a week's worth of work and pay.  Now, I know that may sound weird, but I honestly knew in my heart that this was not the position for me, and I was fine with not moving forward.  I only hoped that I was able to get put back on the sub list and get things straightened out there.

At the beginning of last week, I had emailed the county I was subbing for and told them that I would not be subbing any longer this school year, and so I needed to undo that.  I sent an email to them last night, so they would get it first thing this morning, and I am now back on the sub list.  I was also signed up to attend another counties sub training class that I had canceled TWICE due to my nanny job, so I needed to get in touch with them as well.  I sent my email to that county and they are having another training class TOMORROW MORNING!  Isn't that amazing?  Oh, and this week my Mom's work is holding a book fair and I was going to run, but because of my job I wasn't able to be there, but this week is the perfect week for me to do it, so I will be running a book fair this week as well.  

It really is amazing how God's plans are never what we have planned for.  I have learned over the past year, and I'm still learning, that anything I plan for goes the complete opposite way.  Even though it's not what I planned, it always turns out BETTER!  The only thing I can tell you is that I pray for guidance and for Him to "do His thang"...do you think He is?  I definitely do...

J.O.B Status

Happy Sunday to everyone!  I hope everyone has had a great weekend.  I was unable to watch the Auburn game due to having to be in a training class for a new tutoring position I got, but did keep up to date with the game on my Mom's phone, and was so sad for the outcome!  I knew we would have to loose sooner or later, but it is still one of those things you hope you don't have to do sooner.  :)  I still believe in Auburn and LOVE it...WAR EAGLE!!

On to other news...I filled you all in on the interview that I had about a month ago for the nanny position here in Newnan, and I started on Friday!  I met the little girl, Lexie, who is 6, on Thursday and then began on Friday.  We had such a great two days together and I am so excited to be working with her.  I am a HUGE fan of Pinterest and can't wait to do some of those activities with her.  Lexie's mom wants me to challenge Lexie with activites and crafts and things after school.  Lexie is so smart and very indepedent and I can't wait to share more things with you guys.  We took some great pictures at the Kid's Castle (a big playground here in Newnan) on Friday and I am going to have her make a book using her sight words and the pictures tomorrow, but I will share some of those pics with you another day.  :) 

Thank you guys for all the prayers and thoughts!  I am so excited about this opportunity and will continue to keep you posted on fun things that we do.  If anyone has any fun things for us to do, please let me know.

I hope everyone has a great Monday!  Bye!

Happy Labor Day!

I hope everyone has had a great weekend and had a great Sunday!  Many of you will have a long weekend and that is always nice! 

I have been dog sitting this weekend and it has been so nice to not have any obligations except football watching all day yesterday (WAR EAGLE!!!) and relaxing.  My allergies have been in full effect as of yesterday and it is a blessing to get a little rain today.  I hope that we get a little more so I can feel better!  :)

This morning I was excited to get to church because it has been a couple of weeks since I have been able to attend.  The last month has been crazy with traveling.  The month of September is looking pretty vacant, which I'm actually excited about.  Anyway, this morning was communion (first Sunday of the month) and our pastor read from Romans 12:1-2.  While he was reading, I read on a little and probably should not do this (because I should be listening to him), but today as I read on this jumped out at me and I want to share it with you.  I am not preaching or anything of the sort...I am simply sharing with you what spoke to me today and I want you to read it and take what you want from it. 

"Let your love be sincere (a real thing); hate what is evil [loathe all ungodliness, turn in horror from wickedness], but hold fast to that which is good.  Love one another with brotherly affection [as members of one family], giving precedence and showing honor to one another.  Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord.  Rejoice and exult in hope; be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation; be constant in prayer.  Contribute to the needs of God's people [sharing in the necessities of the saints]; pursue the practice of hospitatlity.  Bless those who persecute you [who are cruel in their attitude toward you]; bless and do not curse them.  Rejoice with those who rejoice [sharing others' joy], and weep with those who weep [sharing others' grief].  Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty (snobbish, highminded, exclusive), but readily adjust yourself to [people, things] and give yourselves to humble tasks.  Never overestimate yourself or be wise in your own conceits.  Repay no evil for evil, but take thought for what is honest and proper and noble [aiming to be above reproach] in the sight of everyone.  If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for [God's] wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay [requite], says the Lord.  But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.  Do not let yourself be overcome by evil, but overcome (master) evil with good."  (Romans 12:9-21)

I think that this is something I need to read everyday and remind myself of how I should act/behave.  I cannot change others, but I can do my part to be a better person and to continue living my life becoming better everyday and building my relationship with the Lord.  

On a different note, tonight Mama (my grandmother) made a really yummy dinner and it was a recipe that I shared with her and I wanted to share it with you guys.  It is below.  We paired it with a yummy salad and it was delicious!

Chicken Spaghetti
Ingredients-
A whole chicken, cooked and chopped
1 package of spaghetti
1 bell pepper
1 oinion
1 can of rotel
1 can of cream of mushroom soup (Healthy Request has no MSG)
1 thing of Velvetta cheese cut in cubes
1 Tbsp margarine
1 1/2 cups of chicken broth

Directions
Oven 350 degrees.  Spray 3 qt. rectangle baking dish with Pam.  Cook spaghetti in the chicken broth from earlier.  Saute onion and pepper in butter in a large pot.  Add rotel, cheese, soup, and broth to big pot.  Cook and stir over low heat until cheese melts.  Stir in chicken.  Add drained spaghetti to chicken mixture.  Toss and coat.  Spread in prepared rect. pan.  Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes.  Cover and let sit for about 15 minutes after taking out of oven before serving. 

Please share with me if you make this...feel free to add or take out any ingredients. 

I have begun a new book, The Shack, which I borrowed from one of my good friends Michelle.  I will admit this is the first book I have begun reading since being home from Panama.  It is amazing how much time I had there compared to when I'm home and I'm able to run around town.  I just began the book today and I'm excited to hopefully get some time to read a little. 

On the job front,  I am still speaking with the woman who I interviewed with about the Nanny position here in Newnan.  She was trying her best to get in touch with the family from Panama.  The little girl also doesn't begin school until after Labor Day...so that explains a lot.  I will continue to keep everyone updated on any new news.  Keep those thoughts and prayers coming...thank you so much!!

I think that is all for now.  I hope everyone has a relaxing day tomorrow and has a great week. 

Auburn plays Miss St. this weekend and I'm looking forwards to another great day of watching football!  :)

Bye for now!

Baby Fever

Happy Monday!  I hope everyone is having a great day so far and had a great weekend! 

I want to share with everyone the new baby girl that is in our family now...Aubrey Grace.  I am officially an Aunt and I'm so excited!  I won't be able to get down to see her until October, but I just love looking at all of her pictures and can't wait to hold her (even though new born baby's scare me a little).  Alright, I will explain that one...I am afraid that I will hurt a new born baby...it scares me to hold them.  Once they get out of that newborn stage I'm fine, but for some reason I'm so afraid I'm going to do something wrong when I'm holding them.  Maybe since I will be holding Aubrey Grace a lot, I will get over that.  :)  Here are some pictures...

 Precious Baby!  This was right after she was born.

Brother Joe with his little girl!  They look just a like in this picture to me.

Some more baby news...this weekend we celebrated Danielle and Pauline's new babies.  They are both having boys and we had a great baby shower for them.  I can't get over the fact that it is time for my friends to have babies and many of them already have babies.  This is just so crazy to me, because I don't feel like we are that old.  :)  

I am so excited for Danielle and Kyle and can not wait until Cameron Kyle Meadows is here...he will be arriving mid-December!  YAY!  Here are just a few pictures from the shower. 

 Can't wait to see Baby Cam!

I decided last week that I wanted to do something extra special for Dan.  I decided to make a blanket.  I picked out some really cute cowboy fabric and this extra soft brown fabric and went to sewing.  It was so easy and will be something she can use for Baby Cam forever!  Here we are with the finished product.

 The blanket I made for Dan and Baby Cam!

 Love her!

 Mumma and Dan!

 Kissing bellies picture!

It's been a long time since we were all together!

That's all for now.  I hope everyone has a great day and I will be back soon! 

5 DAYS UNTIL FOOTBALL!!  YAY!!!

Spring Cleaning...NOPE...Fall Cleaning

Good morning everyone!  I am posting twice in a week!  Can you believe it?  HAHA!

Just updating everyone on job news.  I did hear yesterday that they were still very interested and were still in the process of getting in touch with my references...so that's good news!!  :)  I will keep you all updated on anything new that comes up.  Thank you to everyone who has been thinking and praying about this...the power of prayer is amazing and I know that God will do what he thinks is best.

Yesterday I was pretty busy de-cluttering my room.  If you don't know, I live at home and living in one room is pretty difficult (well I guess you can say I have taken over about three different rooms...but we won't go there).  My bedroom has not changed since I have moved home after graduating from Auburn, and I guess it's because I have never had any down time to actually do anything.  I have this cute little desk in my room that was covered with junk, so I took some time yesterday to clean it off and now I can use it for my laptop.  I am very happy about this.

I found myself getting a little overwhelmed by the de-cluttering process.  Have you ever began going through something and then realized that you have taken all of this crap out and then you figure out you have to do something with it all?  Well that's what happened to me yesterday, but I got pretty much everything cleaned before I was able to relax and watch Bachelor Pad.  HA!

I'm really excited about being able to have some time to get all of this done and I definitely think it will help to have a clean room that I can relax in and not have anxieties about.  Instead of spring cleaning, I guess I am fall cleaning! 

Speaking of fall cleaning...fall is my ultimate favorite time of the year.  There is just something about the seasons changing over from summer to fall that just makes me so happy!  Not to mention football, Halloween, Thanksgiving, pumpkin patches, leaves changing, Auburn in the fall, jeans, cute little fall clothes and everything else that comes with this amazing time of year.  I am counting down the days and we had a great breeze yesterday that reminded me that fall is coming SOON!!  It was hard to be away from my favorite time of year last year when I was in Panama.  I did not experience any changes in weather except for rainy and sunny...so now you know why I'm looking forward to it!!  Here are some pics to get you ready for fall too!! 

 Looks like a great road trip!

 

 Can't wait to go to the pumpkin patch!

Well, that's all folks.  I hope everyone has a fantastic day!  I will be busy cleaning some more. 

I am leaving you with a quote that was sent to me yesterday...I think it's great!  Ciao!

"Just like the many colors of roses, we may be different nationalities, ethnicities, religions, or race.  But no matter what color a rose may be, it is still a rose, and likewise we are all human beings first."

Great Find!!

Hi everyone!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!  I had a great weekend with some amazing friends!  Katie and Ryan just moved into a new house and they had a little house warming party and it was great!  I was able to catch up with some old friends and meet a lot of new ones, and that is always fun!  :)  Story of my life folks, I didn't take ONE picture!  Sorry I can't share any with you! 

Their new house is in the Brookhaven area, which for people who are unfamiliar is close to Lenox Mall.  So, when I left their house Sunday afternoon I figured I would stop at Lenox and see if there was anything worth getting.  One of my favorite stores, Urban Outfitters, is at Lenox and so I went there and found this...

LEOPARD CARDIGAN!!!

Don't you just love it!?!  I am so excited about it and can't wait to wear it once it gets a little cooler!!  

Alright, fall is almost here which means it's my FAVORITE time of the year, the weather is beautiful, and FOOTBALL SEASON!!!  WOO HOO!!

13 DAYS UNTIL FOOTBALL STARTS!!!!  YAY!!

(Can you tell I'm a little excited?)

Here is a link for SEC East and West football schedule if you want it...I printed three out..HAHA!

Football Schedule 

I hope everyone has a great Monday and I will keep everyone posted on job news!!  Please keep the job situation in your thoughts and prayers...I should hear something tomorrow!  :)

How Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

Alright, it's been a couple of weeks since I have written and time has been going so fast because I've been so busy and having fun!!

The weekend of Megan and Brett's wedding was amazing!  I had such a great time spending time with everyone and it is just so awesome to me how two groups of friends can get together and have such a great time...it never fails!  It is sad to me though, because this was the last Tri-Delta/Farmhouse wedding.  :(  I guess that means we will all just have to get together without celebrating wedding festivities!  :)  Here are just a few pics from the weekend!

 All of us beautiful ladies right before the ceremony!

 Tri-Deltas!

More beautiful ladies at the reception.

Mr. and Mrs. Brett Johnson!

Last week I was able to catch up with some girlfriends for dinner.  It was great being able to cook dinner with them and catching up on everything.  Girl time is so crucial and I'm so blessed with amazing friendships.  To me, there's nothing better!  I have been in and out of relationships, all of us have gone through some hard times, and those girls have been there every step of the way.  :)

This past Sunday, we went the Braves game to celebrate a friend's birthday!  I LOVE going to Braves games even though EVERY time I go they lose!!  I swear if the Braves could pay me a million dollars to NEVER go to another game, I think I would take that offer up because then they might not lose so often (HAHA!).

This week I subbed yesterday for the first half of the day for a Kindergarten class and then today I'm heading to a 3rd grade class around 11:00.  I'm excited about going into different rooms and just being back in the classroom!  Since I have spent most of my time in first grade it is exciting to go into different grades because I think I would really like to teach 3-5 grade.  :)  I guess we will see how it goes!  I also have an interview this afternoon for a possible after-school nanny position.  Which would be great if it works with my sub schedule!

I also have been helping Mom with her Pre-K the last couple of weeks.  She moved classrooms and her new classroom is so much bigger and such a great space.  It was nice to have a week to de-clutter and go through boxes and get everything ready.  She started school this past Monday so wish her luck with her new kiddies!

I think that is all the new news on what has been happening in my life.  I promised that I would share the recipe for some Mint Chocolate Chip cookies.  These were so amazing and I'm making them for Katie and Ryan's House Warming Party this weekend!!  YUM!!

There are so easy to make and so delicious!!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
6 to 8 drops green food color
1 egg
1 cup creme de menthe baking chips (like Andes Candies)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, butter, extract, food color and egg until soft dough forms. Stir in creme de menthe baking chips and chocolate chunks. 2. Using small cookie scoop or teaspoon, drop dough 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. 3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool 3 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Serve warm or cool completely. Store tightly covered at room temperature.

YUM YUM!

Last thing to share...Mom and I are selling Thirty One bags now! We have bought so many that we had to sign ourselves up to help people host parties.  Katie is hosting a party this Saturday before their House Warming Party.  Please check out the website and if you are interested in ordering anything or hosting a party (which is so easy) just contact me!  These bags are so cute!  Check out the catalog!  If you order in August you will get 15% off your entire order!  :)

Fall/Winter Catalog

Alright, I think that's all!!  I hope everyone has a great day!  Bye!

What's Been Happening

It has been a while since I have blogged and I figured today would be a good day to catch everyone up. 

I first want to tell you to keep one of my best friends, Mallory, in your prayers.  Her older brother, Chris, passed away.  He was such an amazing person and an incredible brother and father.  Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers. 

Then, I want to share with you that I went through my substitute training for Coweta County and I'm really excited because that means I can begin subbing as soon as school begins.  YAY!!!  Thank you for prayers and thoughts, this is a start which can hopefully get me a teaching job!  :)

Next, this weekend coming up is going to be AMAZING!!  One of my best friends, Megan is getting married to an AWESOME guy, Brett!!  It has been so fun being with them in Auburn when they first began dating and all the things that have lead up to them beginning the rest of their lives together!  I will be heading to Mobile on Thursday for the festivities and I CAN'T WAIT!! 

This was a night in December we were celebrating their engagement!

Lastly, another best friend, Danielle, came to spend the weekend with me last weekend.  We had such a great weekend and the most amazing part is that she is pregnant and I got to see how much her belly has changed since seeing her last in December (she is about 20 weeks).  The baby is due in December and they just found out last week that it is going to be a BOY!!  I am so excited for my Dan and can't wait to share that special time with her and Kyle!  

This is picture of me and Dan from her rehearsal dinner a couple of years ago.

Alright, I think that is all for now.  I hope you enjoyed reading about all the amazing things that have been going on and the amazing things I have coming up.  I am truly blessed with great friendships and I think I am one of the luckiest people in the world!  :) 

I hope everyone has a great week!  Bye!!

Oh, I did make some YUMMY Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies this weekend and I will share that recipe with you guys within the next few days.  :)

Good Job Hunting...

Happy Thursday!  I hope everyone is having a great day.  I am posting before midnight which tells you that I am home and messing around on the computer!  :)

In my email daily I get a daily devotional and yesterday I was sent this one...

But Jesus said, "You feed them." "But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered. "Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?" For there were about 5,000 men there.

Luke 9:13-14, NLT

When the disciples expressed concern about where the crowd of thousands would eat, Jesus offered a surprising solution--"You give them something to eat." The disciples protested, focusing their attention on what they didn't have (food and money).

Do you think God would ask you to do something that you and he together couldn't handle? Don't let your lack of resources blind you to seeing God's power.  

This spoke to me because right now I have been going through the job search, looking for teaching jobs in my county and the one next to us, and this week I found myself frustrated and not having as much patience as I have had because I'm beginning to see the bills come up in August that I don't have a lot of money saved for.  But then this was sent to me as my daily devotional for yesterday and it spoke volumes to me. I am asking for prayers from everyone.  

Please pray that I keep having patience and trust what God has planned for me.  I have full faith in that God knows what is best for me and will take care of it, but sometimes you just have to reach out to others to help you in your prayers and that is what I'm doing now.  God will never give us anything that we can't handle and I truly believe that and I'm excited to have that peace of mind.  :)  It is amazing to me how when I need a piece of advice or something of the sort these things present themselves to me.  That is no coincidence.  :) 

One thing I did today was plant my rosemary.  I took a picture to show you my amazing planting skills.  This will be the first plant I have planted from seed and it is an herb, so I guess we will see how well it goes.  :)  I will keep taking pics to update you.  

 The beginning...

 I had some cute company!

 More cute company!

 I think that is all for now!  Going to enjoy lunch and then a dinner date with Ilie and Anna!!  :)  Bye!!

Fabulous Weekend

It is amazing how difficult it is to post since being home!  I need to post more and get some projects going.  Things have been a little crazy because I have been so busy!  This past weekend was such an awesome weekend with Megan's Bachlorette Party at Navarre Beach!

I haven't been to Navarre since high school and I forgot how beautiful it was down there.  We had such a great weekend laughing, sharing stories and catching up, and I can't wait to share more special moments with Megan and Brett in Mobile for their wedding and with all the girls!!  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend.

 Having a blast on the beach!!

 Lovely ladies on the beach!

  Me and the beautiful bachlorette!

 Balcony pic...Ready to go!!

Beautiful setting with beautiful girls!

On Sunday, when all the girls left to go back home, my brother Joseph picked me up and we headed to Ft. Walton to Danielle's baby shower for Aubrey Grace!!  It was such an awesome afternoon meeting Danielle's friends and family and getting ready and excited for Aubrey!!  August 19th is when Danielle is due and we can't wait!!  :)

 

The fam!

I am sad that my exciting weekend is over, but so thankful to have such amazing friends and family and making great memories!!  I hope everyone had a great weekend and I will post again soon!! 

Sharing is Caring!

Three things to share with you today!  Oh by the way Happy Monday!  :) 

1. I hung some new pics above my bed, well Dede did!  :)  I love them and I think they look so much better than what was up there.  I wanted to take a before and after but I didn't...I will get better at that!  :)  Here is the after...

Ok, I may be a little obsessed with...Ohhh I don't know...  :)

2.  I, well Dede, also hung my flat on the wall as well!  This I am obsessed with because I LOVE a hung tv! I still have some things to do with this...like the wires.  I am just excited about some change!  :)

 

3.  I am sharing something with you that one of my besties, Mallory, shared with me...it's called Pinterest!  Go on their website and join...I am addicted!  :)  Here is the link...ENJOY!!

Link for Pinterest

I hope everyone had a great Monday!  Later alligator!!

Two Recipes

Happy Sunday!  I hope everyone is having a relaxing Sunday!  I went to a Sunday School class this morning and loved it!  I hope that I can become a regular with going to Sunday School.  We also got a new pastor this week at our church and he did a wonderful job!  It is such an exciting time at out church right now because of these changes and I look forward to seeing how God uses Pastor Rick in our church. 

I promised you some recipes and I am about to deliver!  The first one I am going to share with you is a pasta dish that Leslie would fix in Panama and it's one of my favorite dishes.  I am a pasta freak and could eat pasta everyday of the week if it wasn't so bad for me!  Now my estimates for ingredients are going to be based on what I like.  The thing I have found out and LOVE about cooking certain dishes is that you can tailor it to what you enjoy!  I love a lot of garlic and basil so I may put a little more than what someone else likes...that's just me!  Please mess around and tailor this dish to what you prefer.  I hope you try to make this and enjoy it!!

Chicken Pasta with Tomatoes, Feta, Basil and Garlic
Serves 2

Ingredients

- 2-3 boneless chicken breasts
- 3-4 medium sized tomatoes
- about 3 cloves of garlic- minced (I used some extra for some garlic bread)
- 6-7 basil leaves (depending on what you like)
- 1 tub of Feta Cheese
- about 4 tablespoons of butter
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/2 pack of pasta of your choice (I love fettuccine for this dish)

Directions for Cooking

1. Make sure chicken is thawed.  Place chicken in a skillet like dish with the butter cut into 1/2 inch chunks.  Place butter all around the chicken, put the lid on and cover on low for about 30-40 minutes.  Just watch the chicken and see if you need to turn up the heat, but you don't want the chicken to cook too quickly because it will be tough.  
2. While the chicken is cooking you can prepare all of the other ingredients.  Dice the tomatoes (I leave the seeds because it makes the sauce a little more juicy, but you can de-seed if you would like), mince the garlic, and chop basil.  
3. Once the chicken is cooked, wash that pot and place about two tablespoons (I do about two and a half swirls on the outer part of the pan) of olive oil and the garlic in the pan.  Let that cook for just a few minutes, do not overcook the garlic, and then place in the tomatoes and basil.  Stir and place the top back on while it cooks for about 5 minutes on medium heat.  
4. While the tomatoes and stuff is cooking you can dice the chicky and place that in the pan with the tomato mixture.  Let this cook for about 10 minutes just to let all the flavors meld together and get nice and juicy.  
5. While you are waiting for the chicken mixture to get ready you can cook the pasta.  I did not strain the pasta.  I just used tongs to move the pasta along with some pasta water into the tomato mixture.  I stirred it all together and added the feta cheese, stirred some more to mix everything together.

That's it!  Enjoy!  Here are some pictures of me cooking the stuff.  I will have to get better at that!  :)  Please let me know if you cook this dish and how you like it! 

 

 Yum!!

The next recipe I'm going to share with you is for a banana bread.  I have fixed this twice in the last two weeks, once just to try out (which it turned out amazing) and then again on Thursday for Rick when he got home from traveling all week!  I wanted Mom and Rick to be able to enjoy it over the weekend! :)

Banana Banana Bread

Ingredients
- 2 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 cup of butter
- 3/4 cups sugar (I used cane sugar)
- 2 eggs, beaten
- about 3-4 ripen (almost black) bananas

Directions for Cooking

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes.  

This is one of the best banana breads I have had.  This recipe does not have nuts in it, but anything can be added.  :)  Below is a pick of an already eaten B bread!

I hope you will enjoy these recipes and I look forward to sharing more with you within the next week!  :)  Have a great rest of the weekend and Monday! We are off to a Monavie meeting! Bye!

Auburn Fieldtrip!!

Happy Hump Day!  :)

I know I told you that I would share two recipes with you today, but I decided to share my fieldtrip from yesterday!  :)

My Mom and I decided to head to Auburn to take a look at the trees, try to get to the athletic museum, and grab some lunch.  I missed Auburn so much while in Panama and miss it even being just an hour away.  I am thankful that I am only an hour away so I can get there often and especially during football season.

As soon as I get off the exit at Auburn I feel like I'm at home.  I'm  not sure if this is a "normal" feeling for other Auburn alum, but I just love the way I feel when I'm there.  We headed to lunch at my all time favorite restaurant in Auburn and one that I miss sooo much, Amsterdams!  YUM!!  I had an amazing Cobb Salad that ended up being one of the best salads I'd ever had!

After lunch, we headed to Toomer's Corner so that I could see what the trees looked like.  They were very sad looking, but it was neat to see that I wasn't the only one out there taking pics.  While I was taking pics of the trees we saw a group of people walking with a tour guide and realized it was a Camp War Eagle group.  My Mom kept reminiscing about when her and Rick brought me to Camp War Eagle and my college years!  I can't believe that it will be four years this year that I have been graduated!  It seems like yesterday that I was in Auburn enjoying friends and having a great time!   

We left Toomer's Corner and headed to the Athletic Department Building to see the Coaches Trophy and check out the Athletic Museum.  My family gives me a hard time for living in the dorms for two years on "The Hill" and never getting to the Athletic Museum (which was like two blocks away).  I just never thought that was important while I was there, and I usually had something else to do...plus you sometimes don't appreciate things until you are away from them!  Anyway, we got there and Coach Troop walked us to the door!  It was neat to see him!!  My Mom was in the bathroom and heard it when she got out how upset I was because I wanted my pic taken with him!  But it was still cool to see him and talk to him for a few minutes!  :)  I found out that the Athletic Museum is no longer in that building, it is at the new Arena and that the Coaches Trophy is there at the Athletic Building.  There were people taking professional pics of the trophy so I couldn't go in the room to see it.  I did see it through the window and it was MAGNIFICENT!!!  I still can't believe we won a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!  So exciting!!

Here are my pics that I took on my Mom's iPhone.  We had such a great day and how could we not when we were in Auburn!!  :)  WAR EAGLE!

WOO HOO!!

This picture makes me so sad!  

It is going to be crazy to not be able to roll the trees after winning this football season!

This is the big tree at Toomer's...you can see if you split the picture down the middle how sad the right side of the tree looks.  It broke my heart to see them in person!

I was really excited about how these pictures turned out!  I am far from a photographer, but because my Mom's phone is so awesome these pics come out great!  I may be obsessed with the Instagram App!  :)

WAR EAGLE!!

FIELDTRIP #1

Ok my blogging friends...let me explain one of the most amazing things about having summers off...besides being able to go to the pool and enjoy time with family and friends...it's going on fieldtrips around town and GA!!!  :)  Now when I say fieldtrips I am talking about me, my mom, and my grandparents, who I call Mama and Dede (I will refer to them as that from now on...so get used to it!)  :) going on outings to all different places around our hometown and Atlanta.  Over the last few summers we have gone to Stone Mountain (to climb and to watch the laser show), rode on the new rental car transit from the airport to the rental car place (haha!), Zoo Atlanta, Braves games, and probably some other things that I forgot about.

Last Tuesday we went to the Cyclorama, which is next door to Zoo Atlanta, and might have been one of the most AMAZING things I have EVER seen!!  For those of you who aren't familiar with the Cyclorama it is the world's largest oil painting and is a painting depicting a scene from the Civil War.  I have grown up watching Gone with the Wind every Sunday and being taught history about the Civil War and have always had a little bit of a fascination with it...thanks to my Momma. :)  I am not going to share ANY information about the Cyclorama with you because I want you to go see it for yourself!  You will not be disappointed and will have gained some good Southern knowledge while doing so!  :)

Just imagine wearing these WOOL outfits in the middle of July...HOT (literally...haha!!)!!! 

 
After we left the Cyclorama we went to one of mine and my Mom's favorite restaurants, Mary Macs Tea Room.  This is such a great place that I think everyone needs to go try.  They have DELICIOUS Southern food and the BEST pot licker you could ever have!  If you tell them that it is your first time eating there they will give you a sample of their cracklin' corn bread and pot licker!  YUMMY!  :)

We had such a great day gaining Civil War knowledge and eating yummy Southern food!  I hope everyone had a great day!  I am going to post some recipes tomorrow for some Cherry Walnut Muffins and Chicken Tomato and Basil Pasta!  YUM!