LOADED BAKED POTATO DIP - APPETIZER

For our Summer Soiree I made a couple of appetizers for all of our guests to snack on a couple of hours before we had dinner, and this is one of them. This was a hit and I will most definitely be making this appetizer again in the future!

It was very easy to throw together and had so much flavor. I actually made this the night before and just popped it back in the oven, covered, to warm up right before everyone got there. 

Loaded Baked Potato Dip Adapted from Carolina Charm

Ingredients: 1 cup  instant potato flakes 1 cup  milk 1 cup Light Sour Cream 1 tub (8 oz) Chive & Onion Cream Cheese Spread 2  green onions, sliced, divided 2 cups Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese, divided 2 Tbsp. Real Bacon Bits  Ritz Toasted Chips Original or Wheat Thins   Directions: Heat oven to 350ºF. Mix potato flakes and milk in large bowl; until milk is absorbed. Add sour cream, cream cheese spread, 1 cup of shredded cheese,1 Tbsp of bacon bits, and half the onions; mix well. Spoon into baking dish; sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese and bacon bits. Bake 15 to 20 min. or until shredded cheese is melted and dip is heated through. Sprinkle with remaining onions. Serve with chips.

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LOADED BAKED POTATO DIP - APPETIZER

WEEKENDING

Friday I left the office early to get my hair cut. I just got it trimmed and had some long layers put in it, nothing too crazy, but I can tell a huge difference. My hair is so thick and once it starts getting longer I have to have layers or it will just be too much to deal with. My hair dresser told me that it would look really good curled with all the layers, so as soon as I got home I started curling it. Matthew got home a little after that and I was finishing up my hair when our door bell rang. It was our neighbor, and they asked if we wanted to see a fawn that was born a few hours earlier in their backyard. So of course we said yes and went over to check it out! Sadly I didn't grab my phone, but it was the sweetest little fawn just hanging out under their trampoline. The mom had given birth in their backyard, but our neighbor informed us that she has been hanging out in our backyard all week, so sweet!

After our wildlife adventure we headed out for a quick dinner at Sonic and to drive around since it was so nice outside. I looooove driving around in the afternoon as it's getting dark in the summer.

Saturday we woke up and my SIL and her friend were still there so we all lounged around watching Gilmore Girls while Matthew was at his chiropractor appointment. He brought home donuts for breakfast. After a few more episodes, my SIL and her friend left to head back home, Matthew had some work to do so I headed to the pool. I got there early and got a good chair. I stayed for a little over an hour and then our friends, Ethan and Rachel came over to hang out.

We tried a new place for lunch and really liked it. It was very similar to Genghis Grill if you are familiar with that.

After lunch we came back to the house and Ethan and Rachel helped us move all the wood and tools into the house so that Matthew could make all the measurements for our farmhouse table!!

We hung out for awhile and then got ready and headed to a church in Brentwood where we were having a singing night. Our college campus ministry was going to it, so it was good to see everyone again!

We came back to the house and ended up all going for a night swim since no one was at the pool. It was spontaneous and ended up being a lot of fun! I love those kind of nights.

Later that night my mom sent me a picture....of their new puppy!!!! They named her Ellie Mae and I am so excited to meet her!!!! They have been looking for one for a few weeks now and my mom asked if they found one before they left for vacation would we dog sit for them while they were gone for a few days. Matthew and I quickly responded with a YESSS! So we get to dog puppy sit for them in a few weeks and we are really excited. I already know having a puppy around the house is going to add to our puppy fever we have, but hopefully we can stay strong...lol.

Sunday we went to church, picked up groceries, cleaned and did laundry, worked on the farmhouse table a little bit, I got more tanning time, and watched a good bit of New Girl. We started it last Wednesday night and we are obsessed with it. It is absolutely hilarious!! 

Here is another picture from our farmhouse table makin'! I am so excited about out table and can't wait to see it completely finished soon.

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WEEKENDING

FRIDAY NO. 20

Friday, we made it! Monday flew by for me but the rest of the days went by very slowly. We don't have any "real" plans this weekend other than waiting around for the repair man to come fix our ice maker. Yep, our brand new refrigerator that we have only had for around 3 or 4 months (I can't remember!) I do plan on making it to the pool this weekend though!

I love sitting on our back patio (after the sun goes down some) and either read or browse Pinterest on my tablet. It's so peaceful!

I made My crock pot made creamy ranch chicken this past week. It was a new recipe and Matthew and I really liked it! The leftovers were even better for our lunches.

I am loving my June playlist on Spotify! I may have already made my July playlist and listen to it at work, too... ;)

Do y'all remember Emily Ley's Simplicity Challenge? I followed it pretty closely back in January when she did the challenge, but I'm thinking it's time to do some of them again!

I had to go home on Monday for lunch because I forgot something and the weather was absolutely incredible! Sunny, warm and low humidity. It made driving by the pool on the way out of our neighborhood to go back to work very, very hard!

I posted about our Summer Soiree at the beginning of this week and had a lot of people ask about the labels I made for all of the food. I will be sharing those next week so you can print them for your summer celebrations.

It is supposed to be H-O-T here this weekend. Hoping everyone at the CMA fest and Bonnaroo stays well hydrated this weekend!

My SIL and one of her friends have been staying with us since Wednesday night because they have a PT conference they are attending here in Nashville, so it's been nice to catch up with them and hear all about school and their clinicals they just finished up. PT school keeps them very busy, so it's been fun having them over for a few days! 

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FRIDAY NO. 20

JUNE | GOALS

Although I didn't mark everything off like I wanted to we still accomplished a lot this past month.

Here are my May goals.

1. Work on my office. I am going to mark this on off. However, it is still a work in progress, and probably will be for the next couple of years, we got a lot done in there! One Saturday I went in there and just cleaned the whole room out. It did look like this...

Matthew got my computer, desk, and chair all set up and we got Matthew's twin bed from his college apartment set up in there for guests! 

2. Yard sale prep. I am going to mark this one off, because I have a few totes full of stuff for the yard sale that our neighborhood hosted, but the morning of the yard sale we woke up and it was raining and no one was participating! So although we didn't have a yard sale I went though our stuff and decided on what we need to get rid of. Now to just get it to Goodwill ;) 

3. Create a 'House to-do list'. We did this and these past few weeks we have been marking things off. We still have a lot to do but it will all happen over time!

4. Video Tour. I didn't even attempt this one. Once we got the paint we started painting and our house has looked like a construction zone for the past couple of weeks. Seriously, painters tape, drop cloths, you name it. Once we get all of that up I will attempt to make a video!

5. Landscaping. We took out one bush and plan on taking the other one down as well. We also found these beautiful planter at Target and placed them on each side of our front door. I absolutely love pulling up and seeing them each day.

6. Print pictures. Didn't attempt this one either. Painting kinda took over this past month for 'house projects.'

1. Continue painting. I'm not going to say finish because I know that's a lot to get done. I would like to finish the dining room, do the second (& hopefully final) coat on the study and kitchen. Then I would LOVE to start on our living room...that will be tricky since we have so much furniture in there. 

2. Try 3 new meals. One new meal each week. There are so many recipes I want to try!

3. Keep nails manicured. I know this was a goal a couple of months ago, but I need to keep it up!

4. Take advantage of our neighborhood pool! It has been open and I haven't been there yet. So crazy of me! I'm just ready to get some vitamin d.

5. Video Tour. Hopefully I'll get to it this month!!

6. Get ready for my girls trip and nail down all the details. Our girls trip is this month and I am so excited! We met a couple of weeks ago to discuss our trip but we need to have dinner again soon to nail down all the details of what we want to do and see. If you missed it, we're going to Hilton Head for a long weekend. It's our first time there so if you have any tips and "must see/do" activities please let me know!

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JUNE | GOALS