Friday, May 26, 2017

FRIDAY VOL. 21

Happy Friday and happy loooong weekend! 

I saw a video on how to make these the other day and now I want to make them ASAP. I'm almost positive mine would not look anything like those though lol.

I mentioned on Monday that I was making these garlic parmesan chicken tenders for dinner this week. I wasn't too hopeful they would turn out good, but much to my surprise they turned out really well, and they were pretty easy to make!

The stairs in our house is Reagan's favorite spot. Matthew worked from home one day this week and he said she laid there most of the day. Sweet girl!

She's definitely not a morning puppy anymore! When we first got her she would wake us up, but know we have to wake her up.

Matthew didn't realize that he had someone watching him mow the yard yesterday...

She watched and waited for him by the front door the whole time
Okay, last picture of her today, but look at this crazy face!
One of my favorite times of the day is when I first get home from work. I let Reagan play outside and I sit out on our patio and just decompress from the day. I usually only spend 20-30 minutes out there before I start dinner but, it's the best time to unwind from the day. I love our backyard, you can't really see our neighbors and it's pretty private, I love it!

My sister came over one night this week and we made a much needed trip to Target! They had a Coke display up front and for the first time they had both of our names on a bottle!
 Cheesy, I know, but I still loved it.

It's a half day for us today and then we get to start our long weekend. My family is coming over tonight to help with some projects around the house that I am really excited about, and for dinner! And we are spending the rest of the weekend organizing some things around the house, cleaning out our garage, and then a cookout at my cousin's house....maybe some pool time in between since our neighborhood pool is opening this weekend- woo hoo!

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Wednesday, May 24, 2017

CHEESEBURGER PIZZA | DINNER RECIPE

I cheated and bought the pre-made pizza crusts, and they were just as good! The good thing about them is that they come two to a pack at Aldi and are very cheap, and I already had all the other ingredients on hand which made this easy meal even easier. I decided not to drizzle the ketchup and mustard over my pizza, but to just dip it in them and that worked for me. Play around with the recipe and make it fit your cheeseburger needs ;)

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. ground beef
1 Tbsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 cup mayo
4 Tbsp ketchup, divided
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup sliced dill pickle chips, drained
Mustard (for topping, if desired)

Directions:
1. Brown the hamburger in a skillet over medium heat with the seasoned salt, black pepper and diced onion. Cook until no longer pink and drain any excess fat.

2. Meanwhile, combine the mayo, 3 Tbsp ketchup, garlic powder, and onion powder together and whisk until smooth. Spread this mixture over the base of the pizza dough with the back of a spoon. 

3. Top with the cooked ground beef.

4. Spread the shredded cheese over the top. Drizzle the remaining ketchup and mustard over the top of the pizza, followed by the dill pickle chips.

5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until center is bubbly and crust is golden brown. Let it cool for 5 minutes before slicing. 

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Tuesday, May 23, 2017

HOW WE MET

I always love reading about how other bloggers met their husbands, and with the end of this month marking 7 years of togetherness with Matthew I thought it would be fun to share about how we met. 
We actually met when we were almost five years old. We played on the same coach pitch baseball team at the ball park in our town. We don't remember each other, but our parents do, and it's fun having this picture to look back on. Here is our team picture from that season.
We actually crossed paths almost every summer growing up when I would attend his church's VBS. My best friends also attended his church so I would go with them one week out of the summer every year, but it wasn't until spring of 2010 when we really met. 
February of 2010 my best friend invited me to start going to church with her on Wednesday nights. I knew a few people in the youth group there and got along with all of them very well. By time March rolled around I was finding my place in the youth group and starting to get to know more people at their church. Matthew's 18th birthday (March 11th) came and he and his twin brother invited the youth group to dinner one night. We all met at their house and piled in cars to go to the Mexican restaurant. For some reason, we still can't remember, I ended up in Matthew's car riding shotgun. Their birthday dinner was really fun and we all had a good time and when we all got back to their house we got our cars and headed out our separate ways, it was a school night so we all had to be home. I remember my best friend calling and asking if I liked Matthew, because we were kids in high school and that what you do when you're in high school, ha! Well with all the hustle of everyone trying to get their cars and go I forgot to give the boys their birthday card and 11 days later Matthew text me about it and the rest is history! Matthew told me later that he was really glad I forgot to give them their card because it gave him a reason to text me without seeming too obvious. He started coming to my softball games and then on May 29th, in my parents driveway, he asked me to be his girlfriend.

 Sweet sweet memories. 
Growing up in school and high school I had "boyfriends" but it was nothing more than sitting together at lunch or walking to classes together, so I'd like to think that Matthew was my first real boyfriend. And same for Matthew, I was his first real girlfriend! I have loved growing up and growing older with my sweet man. 


Here are some pictures of us from way back when ;)

This was from when we were in the "talking stage" he met us at the ball fields for one of my sisters games...aka just an excuse for us to hangout! Also, please notice his shirt, we ALL still get this biggest kick out of it lol.

May 29th, the day he asked me to be his girlfriend

Not sure why the date stamp shows February, but this was in the summer after one of my softball games.

After many, many years of attending VBS at his church, in 2010 we were finally dating. Funny story about VBS. Every year Matthew's church would hold VBS in late July, it was one of the last VBS's going on in town around that time and whenever it rolled around I knew that meant that summer was coming to an end and school would soon be starting up again. Every year since I was in the 4th or 5th grade I would go to their VBS, just with my best friends, and on the last night of VBS I would have my best friends over to spend the night and it was always our last big sleepover of the summer. My best friend's mom always took us all home each night after VBS was over. She was the church secretary and she always helped with cleanup after VBS each night so that meant that we got to stay later and we always played hide and seek...which meant that I was playing hide and seek almost every summer with my future husband and just didn't know it at the time. Sweet sweet memories. 

Again, I don't know why the date stamp was wrong but this was our one month together. The first year we were together we celebrated with a date night each month on or around the 29th, and you better believe I made sure to document each month...people were actually starting to expect our monthly picture on Facebook by the time the end of the year rolled around LOL.

This was the night before he left for college

And this was the day I got to go visit him for the first time and see his dorm!

Our first Christmas together


My high school graduation

I actually recapped our first four dating years at one point too!
You can also read our engagement story, here!

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Monday, May 22, 2017

WHAT WE'RE EATING THIS WEEK

I shared a post few months ago on what we were planning on eating that week and I thought it would be fun to do another post like that. It's a pretty simple week, meal wise. During the summer months I like to keep it simple and have easy dinners that way we can spend more time outside. 


Monday | Garlic Parmesan Chicken Tenders...this is a new recipe that I am trying tonight and I'm pretty excited about it. It doesn't sound too complicated and there is a video on their page...so fingers crossed I don't mess it up and we end up having to go through a drive through ;)

Tuesday | Tacos and rice....I put down tacos and rice but I'm actually making these homemade crunchwraps! I made them a few weeks ago and they were delicious! The tostadas come in a big pack so I want to use the rest of them before they go bad, so crunchwraps it is!

Wednesday | Sausage and Cheese Tortellini Soup...I've said it a million times, but this is one of our favorite meals!

Thursday | Grilled Chicken and Baked Potato...Nothing fancy, but it's easy and delicious!

Friday | Homemade Pizzas....I made a cheeseburger pizza a few weeks ago that was delicious and I will be making that again because it was GOOD. I'll be sharing that recipe soon! Matthew always opts for a classic pepperoni pizza. The pizza crusts that I buy at the store come two to a pack so I make each of us our own pizza and then we have some for dinner and then the leftovers for breakfast or lunch on Saturday...two meals in one and it's cheap and easy to make!

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Friday, May 19, 2017

FRIDAY VOL. 20

I don't know why but I laughed way too hard and for way too long at this meme.

Monday night I went to dinner with my two best friends and I had the best time with them!! You jsut can't beat Mexican with your best friends.
This little bit has been loving the warmer weather lately and whines by the backdoor all the time to go out when we are home. I'll be putting our new patio furniture to good use this summer while I am outside with her that is for sure! I'll share our patio with y'all soon, I still have a few things I want to add!

- I saw the other day that male rompers are now a thing...please no, no, no, no, and NO!

- I found this blog on organizing this past week...obsessed!

Happy Weekend!

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Wednesday, May 17, 2017

HOMEMADE TORTILLA EXPERIENCE

Here recently, I have been trying to make more things homemade. For a couple of different reasons, 1. So I can double up the recipe and then freeze the extra and 2. Because homemade just tastes better!

So last night I decided to try my hand at homemade tortillas. It wasn't a fail like the cauliflower pizza crust, but it also didn't turn out like my homemade biscuits that I made a couple of weeks ago either. I used this recipe, but had to tweak it by A LOT. The tortillas came out better than I had hoped for, but still not as good as I would have liked for them to. Some looked like pancakes and some looked like giant blobs. Here are some pictures that I snapped last night of them.




So would I make homemade tortillas again? Maybe, just when I have more time. I think this is definitely a rainy-Saturday-play-in-the-kitchen kind of thing. I'll probably use another recipe, too, so if any of y'all have a favorite homemade tortilla recipe send it my way, please!

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Tuesday, May 16, 2017

REAGAN'S 1ST PUPPUCCINO

After 8 months, Reagan finally got her first puppuccino this past weekend. 
Not so sure if she liked it or not, but I'll let you decide...


 Literally smiling...



 Definitely hated it...

And since it was free, it looks like we'll have to make this happen more often!

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Monday, May 15, 2017

WEEKEND RECAP

Friday night we loaded up the car and headed to Murfreesboro for the weekend. We got to meet the newest addition to our family...Pumba the Pug! My BIL & SIL picked him up Friday on their way into town so we got to meet him! Reagan wasn't so sure about him and it was so funny to watch her around him!!
We ate dinner and then watched the Pred's win in OT...well Reagan and I went to bed when they went into OT we couldn't make it any longer.

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Saturday after breakfast, I went to my parents house and hung out with them all day. We ran errands, I baked my mom a pink lemonade cake and my MIL a strawberry pie, did things around the house and just got to hang out! It was a fun day and we stopped for a Starbucks trip that morning, too! I picked up this adorable top at Old Navy and a new pair of white skinnies, it was time!

Saturday night we went to my cousin's graduation party and got to see a lot of family! The weather was gorgeous this weekend!

Sunday we went to church and then back to Matthew's house for lunch with his mom and maw maw! Sir Pizza and strawberry pie makes for a good lunch!! We stopped by and saw my mom on the way out to give her, her Mother's Day gift and card. 

Later last night I did a little breakfast prep and made Christina's breakfast sandwiches! Breakfast prep makes the mornings flow so smoothly for the both of us, and these were super easy to make.

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