NETFLIX BINGING

I love Netflix and I love being able to watch just about any show that I want within a few minutes, but what I hate is when we finish up a series and I'm searching the internet for another good one to start. With it getting dark out so early now and the weather is finally starting to cool down, I find myself just wanting to curl up on the couch after a long day and binge watch a good show with Matthew. So here is a list of some shows that are binge worthy (the bold ones I've already watched):

1. Gilmore Girls

2. Lost 

3. Nashville

4. The Office

5. Once Upon a Time

6. How I Met Your Mother

7. Friends

8. Game of Thrones

9. Modern Family

10. One Tree Hill

11. Sons of Anarchy 

12. Walking Dead

13. Vampire Diaries

14. Breaking Bad

15. House of Cards

16. Grays Anatomy 

17. Friday Night Lights

18. West Wing

19. How to Get Away with Murder

20. Parenthood 

I really want to watch Nashville and How to Get Away with Murder soon! Those two are definitely next on my list. I've watched a good bit of Friends but never in order so I want to start that one from the beginning and watch it all the way through. Also, if you have been around here for any length of time I'm sure you have heard me talk about How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) it just happens to be one of our favorite shows. If you haven't watched it yet I would definitely recommend it! So fix your favorite soup/chili in the crock pot and pick a new show to start!

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NETFLIX BINGING

WINTER DATE IDEAS

It's that time of the year again, the temps are starting to drop, people are docking their boats and putting up their bathing suits until next year, and pulling out their sweaters, leggings and boots.

 I am beyond ready for some cozy nights at home with my husband and our fire place.

Here are some fun winter date ideas that y'all can do this year!

ONE | Drive around and look at Christmas lights

TWO | Take pictures at a Christmas tree farm

THREE | Go shopping for an angle tree child or fill a shoebox.

FOUR | Have a progressive dinner in your town.

FIVE | Pull out the air mattress or sleeping bags and have a sleepover in front of the fireplace 

SIX | Go on a hike

SEVEN | Make dinner together at home - this cookbook is perfect

EIGHT | Go to a local Christmas play

NINE | Go get hot chocolate and walk around your town square

TEN | Decorate Christmas cookies

ELEVEN | Have another couple over and build gingerbread houses and have soup night - this soup is incredible!

TWELVE | Set up the self timer and take a couple of Christmas pictures in front of your Christmas tree

THIRTEEN | Go to a few football games and grab hot chocolate while you're there to warm up

FOURTEEN | Have a cheesy Christmas movie marathon and make these

FIFTEEN | DIY your tacky Christmas sweaters

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WINTER DATE IDEAS

FRIENDSGIVING | 2016

Another friendsgiving in the books and it was a good one! Friendsgiving is one of our favorite events to host and we always enjoy having everyone together for the day. I sent our invites out a few weeks ago and got more and more excited the closer it got. We decided to try out a Snap Chat filter this year and it worked out great! It was my first time designing one and getting it all setup and it wasn't bad at all. Get ready because this post will be picture heavy...

I decided to keep my tablescape very simple this year, and I used a lot of things I already had on hand!

One of the best things I ever discovered...premium disposable dinnerware! 

Disposable plates = less time in the kitchen and more time with our friends while they are over.

 Simple.Simple.Simple.

Gold chargers / dinner plates / appetizer plates / burgundy napkins

 I picked these foil round pans at dollar tree and let our guests use them as a leftover container. Right before I clean up in the kitchen and start putting away food I let everyone come in and fill their pans up, that way we aren't left with a ton of leftovers and our guests can enjoy another meal after Friendsgiving. I found burgundy washi tape at Wal-Mart and it matched our color perfectly!

 Football watching

Group picture!

I loved seeing everyone's snaps with our filter on it

The girls!

It was another great Friendsgiving and we are so grateful for all of these sweet friendships!

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FRIENDSGIVING | 2016

THANKSGIVING PLAYLIST + RECIPES

I still haven't gotten around to posting about our friendsgiving because it's been so hectic, but I will post about that next week!

Today I am sharing a few playlists and a couple of my favorite holiday recipes. It's tradition for my family to listen to Christmas music while we cook Thanksgiving dinner and of course, it's one I love. So here are a couple of Christmas playlists that I will be listening too over the next few days...

And now for the recipes!

Sausage Balls...these are great for snacking on while you cook all day!

Garlic-cheesy pull apart rolls

Dumplins

Red Cinnamon Apples

These are just a few of my favorite recipes for the holidays!

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THANKSGIVING PLAYLIST + RECIPES

SAUSAGE BALLS RECIPE | BREAKFAST

As soon as I get time to upload all of our pictures from Friendsgiving I will share. We had the best time with everyone and I am happy to report that there were no fires like last year and our table was finished and ready in time...yay!

Today I'm going to share one of my favorite recipes. This also happens to be one of my husband's favorites, too! I usually only make these around the holidays and then maybe once or twice throughout the rest of the year for special occasions. There are a few different ways to make sausage balls, but this is by far our favorite...and it's really simple!

What you'll need:

1lb of sausage (we like Tennessee Pride sausage the best!)

2 cups Bisquick

4 cups sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

**Set the cheese and sausage out about 15-20 minutes before you start so that it is at room temperature when it's time to start mixing everything. This will help when mixing it together and keep your hands from freezing!**

- Preheat oven to 350

- Mix all the ingredients together by hand, this usually takes a good 5 minutes or so. You will want to make sure everything is in one big ball. If you still have cheese or bisquick at the bottom of your bowl then you need to keep mixing! It should look like the picture below once you are done mixing everything together.

- Once it is mixed together well, then spray your pan with some cooking spray, and start rolling them into balls and place on the pan. 

- Depending on your oven, they should bake anywhere from 25-30 minutes. Just watch them, once they start turning brown you'll know they are done!

And that's it! Very simple and they are even great reheated. Growing up we always made a big batch the day we decorated for Christmas and I have carried that over to my own little family. It's such a fun tradition! 

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SAUSAGE BALLS RECIPE | BREAKFAST

BATH ESSENTIALS

I love taking a hot bath, especially this time of the year. The weather is starting to cool down, I can feel my skin getting dry and itchy, and our never ending busy schedule has me craving hot bubble baths and lots of lotion around this time of the year. Here are some of my favorite bath essentials and a few things I am adding to my wish list!

Stria Bath Towels

Waffle Knit Robe (the best robe I have ever owned!)

Bath Caddy (adding this to my Christmas wish list)

Luxury Spa Bath Pillow (this is also being added to my wish list)

Epsom Salt Soaking Solution (I seriously can't take a bath without this)

Foaming Bath

Pure White Cotton Candle

Lavender Vanilla Candle (smells amazing)

Aromatherapy Luxury Bath (my fav!)

Not only does this help me relax and feel refreshed, but it's great for my skin. I love taking a hot bath after dinner is over and a couple of hours before bed. I swear I always sleep better when I have had a hot bath a couple of hours before. 

So tonight after dinner is over and the dishes are put away, forget about any chores you need to be doing, light a candle and take a hot bath!

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BATH ESSENTIALS

ONE MONTH WITH REAGAN

Today marks one month of having Reagan at home with us! Matthew and I can't get over how much it seems like we've had her for longer than a month, but it's only been a month....crazy!!

I'll be honest, puppies are a lot of work and require a good bit of responsibility, but we knew that when we decided to adopt a puppy and were fully prepared for it! The first couple of weeks were FULL of potty breaks during the middle of the night. Again, we were prepared for this! I remember the first night we put her in her crate to go to sleep (it's about 5 feet away from my side of the bed lol) and then we both dozed off, but we kept waking up because we were waiting on her to whimper of whine to go to the bathroom, but she never did and we dozed back off (we were expecting to have to take her out every hour or so the first few weeks) and woke up around 2:00 and immediately we both jumped out of bed to make sure she was still breathing (LOL) and there she was, just laying there, awake, all calm and looking at us like we were crazy. We finally had to tell ourselves that she will whimper or whine when she needs to go to the bathroom, and that we don't have to wake her up or take her out on our own...let her alert us.

And so we did, and it started being only 2-3 bathroom breaks through the night instead of 4-5...and then, one night, after having her home for a little over a week, we woke up and it was 4:00 in the morning and we both looked at each other and asked if the other had taken her out, and when we realized she hadn't been out since right before we went to bed we jumped back out of the bed to make sure she was breathing (seriously, we are going to be THOSE parents one day) and there she was, just laying there, awake, all calm and looking at us AGAIN like we were crazy (at this point we realized that we were). And every since then she has been sleeping through the night, for the most part! The time change has messed with her a little, but that just means extra play time with our girl before we leave for work....even if it is 4:30 in the morning play time ;)

I'll be honest, I was never a dog person....animal person really. Of course I thought they were cute, but I wasn't crazy about them. So I was a little worried before we got her that I might not ever be the type of person who just really loves dogs. Well about two hours after we got her that all changed! I couldn't believe how attached to her I was after just a few short hours, even Matthew was a little shocked lol.

In Reagan's first month with us she has...

- Gotten a tour of her new home (the night we brought her home)

- Had her first bath! (post to come soon)

- Explored her new backyard and LOVES it. We have to chase her around the backyard sometimes to get her to come in because she loves being outside so much!

- Taken a road trip to Chattanooga and got to meet her cousin, Darcy.

- Taken a road trip to Murfreesboro and got to meet her aunts.

- Celebrated her first holiday...Halloween.

- Had two vet visits and got great reports!

- Has been to PetSmart for new toys and treats, because she's perfect!

- Taken tons of car rides. 

- Learned to "sit" when she know we have a treat in our hand.

- Had a ton of pictures taken of her #puppymompaparazzi

- Had to take a little bit of medicine for a few days for an upset stomach from trying to transition to a new puppy food. (We went back to her old food and will try to transition again in a few months once she gets bigger, per the vet's recommendation) 

- Learned that if she climbs in mom's lap then mom will hand feed her #spoiled

- Discovered leaves and LOVES rolling around in them.

- Mastered the back door step...jumping down to go outside and jumping up to come inside.

- Gotten so many cute new toys because her mom and dad can't go out without feeling bad for leaving her, so they always bring her home a new toy to make up for it. #spoiled

- Learned how to go up the stairs (but can't come down them yet!) 

- Watched the Presidential election with her parents.

- Met all of her neighbors and melted their hearts.

- Watched tons of Preds games with her parents.

- Started wearing her new harness some...still trying to figure out what it is!

- US COMPLETELY WRAPPED AROUND HER LITTLE PAW!

Here are some of our favorite pictures of our girl over the past month!

 Road trip to Chattanooga!

Halloween

First vet visit

Watching for dad to get home from work

Snug as a bug in a rug!

Greeting dad after work one afternoon

  

Sleepy puppy 

10 weeks old as of 11/10/2016

We love our girl and we love being puppy parents! 

To say we are completely crazy about her would be an understatement. We can't imagine not having her follow us around the house, biting at our toes, or those sweet puppy cuddles when she gets worn out each night. Who would have ever thought that this (almost) 3lb ball of fur would have us wrapped around her little paw so quickly?! 

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ONE MONTH WITH REAGAN

FRIDAY NO. 38

With respect, honor, and gratitude, thank you and Happy Veterans Day to all the men and women who have, and are still currently serving our nation. There will never be enough words to express our gratitude for your willingness to serve, and for the sacrifices you have made. It is because of you that freedom rings today.

- We are finally having our pictures made tomorrow for our Christmas cards!! Things just kept coming up and we had to keep rescheduling, but tomorrow is the day....yay. I already have our cards picked out, I just need to add the picture and then place my order.

- Target put their Christmas stuff out in the dollar section this week, and I have to say, compared to their fall stuff I was pretty disappointed!! They had a few cute pieces, but I was definitely hoping for more. Hopefully they'll add more as it gets closer to Christmas.

- Speaking of Christmas, I don't know what has gotten into me this year, but I have already started listening to Christmas music!!!! I seriously always wait to listen to Christmas music until the day of Thanksgiving, but for some reason this year I just couldn't wait. I don't even know who I am anymore. Who knows, I might just break out Home Alone this weekend...kidding, kind of ; )

- Reagan is 10 weeks old (as of yesterday) and Monday will mark a whole month of having her home with us. It honestly feels a lot longer than a month, in the best way, that is! The picture below is from right after we got her...I didn't realize how big she has gotten...excuse me while I go cry now. 

- We are THIS close to finishing our farmhouse table, and since Friendsgiving is in EIGHT days, I am determined for us to finish it this weekend!!

- The weather has been soooo nice lately! It finally feels like fall, cool and crisp mornings and nights- I'm loving it!! We have had the fire on a couple of times this year and I'm excited to use it even more!

- A couple of weeks I reached out to you all regarding our Christmas tree search, and a lot of you sent me tons of suggestions and some of you were even so kind to send me deals on them that different stores were running at that time. I can't tell you how thankful I was for you all and all your help, I really appreciated them all!! We actually ended up finding a really good deal on a tree on Amazon! Gotta love Amazon's deal of the day AND same day, free shipping!

- I go home everyday on my lunch break to take Reagan out and I always send Matthew a bunch of snaps of her and he loves them lol. He also gets a snap of his girls everyday ;)

I am in love with this clock, I am on the hunt for a good deal on one this size and style! I think it would look perfect in our living room.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!! 

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FRIDAY NO. 38

WEEKEND RECAP

I really need to get out of the habit of sharing about our weekend on Thursdays!! ;)

Last weekend we got a lot done around the house. Matthew had to work some Saturday, so I woke up and got started on the guest bathroom upstairs. We decided to paint it the same color as our kitchen, and we have leftover paint - woo hoo! There was awful wallpaper in there and I tried to peel it off, but it just wasn't going to come off, so I painted over it! Thankfully we had them add primer to the paint when we bought it so it was thicker. I'll share a before of the bathroom and then share next week what it looks like now. To say I am thrilled with it would be an understatement! 

This picture is from our home tour.

Fall finally arrived in Nashville over the weekend, and we actually had our first frost last night! Saturday was a cool and crisp morning and I was loving every second of it.

Matthew worked on our farmhouse table a little more and then we had to stop everything and get ready for dinner with my family. We were celebrating my mema's birthday, and it was so good to see everyone again! Sadly, I didn't get any pictures 

If you follow along on Snapchat (shelbycoats) then you probably saw the video of Reagan in her new harness we got her. It was hilarious and I was almost in tears from laughing so hard, watching her run around in circles and literally rolling all over the living room floor in it. We bought her an XS before we even brought her home, but it is still too big so we had to go back and get an XXS and it is just the cutest thing! Here is a side view, I need to get a better picture of it, because there is an adorable pink bow on the back.

Sunday, we went to church and then to Olive Garden because when we walked out of our classroom at church I smelled spaghetti (another class at church was having a lunch after church) and instantly had a craving for it. So off to Olive Garden we went! It was delicious and we both agreed that we need to go there more often. After church we went back home and started working on a few things around the house and the table again. Our best friends, Ethan and Rachel came to visit for the afternoon and to meet Reagan! We spent the afternoon working on the table and playing with Reagan, and then went to church and to Blue Coast for dinner. 

It was a great weekend and we were able to get a lot done around the house! We are marking off our to-do list left and right, and it's making us so happy!!!! 

And because this is just too cute of a picture not to share, here is Reagan sleeping the other night on the couch. Don't let her fool you- she had the whole couch to herself, yet this is how she chose to sleep....and it was adorable!!

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WEEKEND RECAP

TUESDAY FUNNIES

I thought since there is so much negative talk on most of my newsfeeds today (and has been for months...yay for it almost being over, hopefully!) then I would share some funnies to get you through the day!

THIS IS SO TRUE. I HATE DST.

We take Reagan's food and water up every night at 8 so she won't go to the bathroom all night and I definitely did this the other night...I thought it was 8 or after and when I looked at the clock I realized it was only 6:45...blah!

If it's going to be dark when I get home you better believe I'm going straight upstairs and putting my Christmas pj pants on!

 The one and only thing I will say related to this election though, GO VOTE!! 

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TUESDAY FUNNIES