Friday, November 28, 2014

5 for Friday

1. Table Runner
I was looking to do something different with my table for Thanksgiving and came across this burlap table runner on Pintrest from The Pinning Mama. It was the easiest and quickest project I have done. I bough the runner from Michael's (with a coupon) for $6 and used my mom's Cricut to cut the W, I already had the sharpie at home. After tracing the letter, it took less than 10 minutes to color it in.



2. Last Night's Dinner - Crockpot White Chicken Chili
This recipe came from a friend of a friend and it was perfect for a cold, rainy day!

2lbs chicken breast, diced (I used chicken thighs)
2 cans great white northern beans
1 can navy beans
1 can cannelloni beans
1 can corn
1 can chicken broth
1 jar salsa
16 oz pepperjack cheese, cubed
Directions: Combine all ingredients except for the cheese in crockpot. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Add cheese to crockpot and let melt. Serve with tortilla chips.

3. Mickey the Elf has returned to keep an eye on Aiden and report back to Santa. Just like last year, he returned with a box to fill with toys to donate. It was hard to get Aiden to pick toys, everything is his "most favorite toy ever", it's going to take us a few days to fill this box! I found this super cute note online that I printed for Mickey to leave with the box. 




4, Cousin Love
Jonathan's sister and her family are here for the weekend. Mason and Aiden are 5 months apart so it's almost like having twin 5 year olds running around. They are followed closely by Liam, whose is almost 3. We are so blessed to watch these kiddos play, make memories, and share this time with family but the noise level is sometimes unbearable and I haven't seen my carpet since Wednesday night.

5. Happy Thanksgiving
I hope you all had a fabulous holiday and stuffed yourself silly with turkey and all the fixins! I am thankful for this amazing life I have and all of you in it!


Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Weekend Recap

In my High 5 Friday last week, I shared that the hubs and I were headed to St Pete Beach for my cousins wedding. I promised lots of pictures for those of you that follow me on Instagram or FB and I didn't disappoint!

It was the first time either of us had been to that part of Florida and we instantly fell in love with the area. We flew into Tampa, a quick drive to St Pete Beach, and got settled at the Grand Plaza
I highly recommend this resort if you are ever in the area. Our room faced the Gulf side of the hotel with this amazing view


We grabbed a drink and took a stroll on the beach.


We headed into downtown St Petersburg for dinner at  Z Grille where we ate pork, pork, and more pork! We started off with the Dr Pepper Fried Ribs and Pig Nachos as our apps. Z Grille is know for the ribs and now I know why, they really are "meat candy" as described on the menu. The Pig Nachos were a special that night ... Chicharron (Mexican pork rinds) covered in chunks of pork and bacon then topped with bits of fried pork. I'm not a huge pork lover but these were AMAZING!!!


I had the Korean Pork Tenderloin with sriracha creamed corn. The creamed corn was my favorite part - I need to find a recipe and try to recreate it! Jonathan had the Foie Gras Steak Burger - Z Style. It was a heart attack on a plate but he was in pork heaven! The burger came with their WTF Fries, as if fries needed any help, these were topped with truffle salt and cheese! Sorry the pictures are a little dark. 


After dinner we met up with the wedding party and family/friends at the Post Card Inn Beach Bar for drinks. Saturday morning we headed to Treasure Island to check out the Sanding Ovations competition after breakfast at Rick's Reef




The wedding was on the beach at sunset and was just amazing. Stacey was a beautiful bride, her and Paul are a perfect match. The reception was a blast, just like any party my family attends! 


Sunday morning we relaxed by the pool before heading to airport and the cold rainy weather in NC. It was a much needed weekend away for us and we are so glad we were able to celebrate with the happy couple!



Friday, November 21, 2014

5 for Friday

#1. Weekend Get-Away
Jonathan and I are headed to St Pete Beach this weekend for a wedding! I'm excited for the time away, to see some of my family, and to celebrate with my cousin and his bride-to-be. If you follow me on FB or Instagram, be prepared for pictures! I BIG huge THANK YOU to Grandma Kay and Mr Darrel for spending the weekend with Lil Man so we could take this trip!


#2 Half Way There
Earlier this week, I celebrated my 2 and a half year Cancerversary ... I'm halfway to the 5 year mark!!! This is big enough to deserve it's own post ... more to come!

#3. Thanksgiving Feast
Lil man had his Thanksgiving Feast at school. Special thanks to Katherine for sending us these adorable pictures since we couldn't make it.

#4. NCAAHPERD =  Beer and Fried Pickles
Since I was in Raleigh for a conference Wednesday and Thursday, I was able to enjoy my 2 favorite items at Raleigh Times. An added bonus, they had Pork Belly Sliders on the menu too!!!



#5. The End is Near ....

Friday, November 14, 2014

5 for Friday

It's finally Friday, the end of another LONG week and I'm drowning in grading. My desk is covered in Lit Reviews, Unit Plans, and edTPA's that are begging for feedback. While my students anxiously wait for grades, here's what got me through the week.....

1. New Christmas Stockings - We have been in desperate need of new stocking for some time now so when I came across these  on Viv&Lou I wasted no time ordering them. We each got a different style, monogrammed, of course! They were reasonably priced, shipped for free, and because I signed up for their newsletter, I got another 15% off - I love a deal!

2. Speaking of Christmas, did you know it's only 40 days away?!?!? This is my favorite time of year and I cannot wait to decorate. Thanks to online shopping and Amazon, I am almost finished purchasing gifts. I love to shop but just can't find the time or energy and the thought of having to take Aiden makes both of us crazy! One of my favorite things is Amazon's Wish List. Just about everyone in my family has one, even Aiden. It makes it super easy to find out what family/friends want or need. The best part is you can add items from other websites to your list. It's one stop shopping!

3. Family Pic Preview - A few weeks ago we had family pictures taken by our sweet friend Erin and I received a text with this preview earlier this week. I am super excited to see the rest!


4. Book Socks - the weather has been a bit crazy here, it was 75 degrees earlier this week but today it was finally cold enough to wear the monogrammed book socks I posted about on my first High 5 Friday post. Please excuse the mess in my room, it was a crazy morning.


5. Free Weekend & Date Night - for the first time in a few weeks we have NOTHING to do this weekend. As much as I love being on the go and doing new things it's nice to just relax and be lazy. Maybe I can get some of that grading done :-) Dinner and a movie with Jonathan tonight while Aiden spends the night with Grandma and Pop-Pop is just what we needed to end this week!

I hope you all had a great week and a fabulous weekend!




Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Last Night's Dinner

If you know us, you know we like food! We are always up to try new things or places. Our vacations center around where we are going to eat, a date night for us is usually a restaurant that isn’t Aiden approved, and we are those annoying people that post lots of pictures of the food we eat!

Back in August, I started meal planning. I was hoping my weekly menus would cut down on the “what should we have tonight” dilemma ,  the mid week trips to the grocery store for just 1 thing that would  end with a $40 receipt, and the urge to just say “let’s go out”.  Each week we try to include at least one new dish, usually something we find on Pintrest.  My goal is post our weekly pick for you to enjoy as well!


This week it was GINGER BEEF, MUSHROOM & KALE STIR-FRY that I came across on Gimme Some Oven. This dish was super easy and quick to make. I served it over some brown rice and it was delicious! We added a little extra kale and mushrooms because we had it and veggies are good for you.