My Sweet Life

My Dream Spaces

2010-01-02T05:57:00.000-08:00

HGTV's "Rate My Space", blogs and leafing through home magazines are a weaknesses of mine. I love seeing how others decorate their homes.

Kitchens are the heart & soul of a home, so no matter how big or small, it should fit your personality and your families needs.

This kitchen is a favorite of mine.

I love the sink, island and that amazing stove.

The light fixtures are amazing too.

This next kitchen is a favorite, because of the great floors.

I love would love to have floors like that in my kitchen. Oh and check out that back-splash...awesome!

One word...WOW!

Some people might think mixing two different cabinet colors is a "no no", but I love it!

I love the stove top and back-splash in this kitchen.

All these photos are from the 2009 Parade of Homes.

New Blog

2009-12-31T08:46:00.000-08:00

I have created a new blog for Alex, so if you would like to follow me here is the link.

It has been a while...

2009-05-16T17:22:00.001-07:00

I kind of let my blog die towards the end of my pregnancy and now that Alex is here, I hope to update it more.

Alexander David was born on February 2nd, 2009 and my life couldn't be filled with more love. He brings me so much joy and happiness to me. If you want to read all about my life as a mother so far, then check out my babysite.

I plan to blog about Alex, life, love, food and everything else between. When Alex gets old enough for baby food, I plan on blogging about that too.

I don't know how often I will post on here, but I hope to do it at least once a week or so.

A bit late, but....

2008-11-30T11:59:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving has come and gone, but I still want to list the things I am thankful for.

1. First of all, I am thankful for God. I don't go to church like I used too, but I still believe in Him and thank Him for all He has done.
2. My husband!!! I am so blessed to have Patrick in my life. He is the greatest man to ever come into my life and I thank God for him every single day.
3. My family! My family is so special to me. I don't get to see them often, but I want them to know they all mean the world to me.
4. I am so thankful for Xavier, Alexia, Kamille, Cameron, Melanie, Trevor, Triston and Audrey. They are my nieces and nephews and my life is so much greater since they all came into my life.
5. I am thankful for my three sweet little dogs. They brighten my day and they love me unconditionally.
6. My house! My house is not too big and not too small, it is just right for my little family. I am so grateful to have it.
7. I am thankful for our vehicles.
8. My job! Without my job, I would not have my house or cars.
9. I am thankful for my health. With the exception of some extra weight (not counting baby weight), I am a pretty healthy lady.
10. USA!!! I am so proud to live in a great country and am thankful for the freedom's I have.
11. I am thankful for all the soldiers fighting for our freedom.
12. Last, but not least...I am sooooo thankful for my son Alexander David! He isn't here yet, but I thank God every day for allowing me to finely get pregnant and giving Patrick and me a little boy!

Baby Stuff

2008-11-22T21:20:00.000-08:00

My husband's best and his wife have been so generous towards us, since finding out we were pregnant. They have two small children and are pretty much finished in the baby making department, so they have decided to pass along most of their baby items that they no longer need. All I can say is WOW!!! I can't believe all the stuff they have given us. Here is a list of the items that they have graciously given us:

High Chair
Pack n Play
Tons of bottles (About 12 Dr. Brown brand bottles)
Mobile for the crib
Two bottle drying racks
Mirror for the back seat, so I can see Alex in the rear view mirror
Bouncy Seat
Swing
Doorway Jumper (aka Johnny Jumper)
Activity Mat
Bumbo Chair (with tray)
Boppy Pillow

I am so thankful for their generosity, because I know this stuff cost money and they didn't ask for any money in return, they just gave it all to us. Pretty much all of the "big ticket" items are now marked off my registry list. I am so excited and thankful for all that we have been given.

Thanksgiving Day Menu

2008-11-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

This year, Patrick and I are having Thanksgiving at our house and we are having a very small gathering of family, so it shouldn’t get to crazy at our house. Patrick’s parents and brother are coming up from Missouri and this will be his parents first time at our house, so we are pretty excited to have them up.

The menu we are fixing is a little crazy, because Patrick’s parents are pretty picky eaters, so we have to make double batches of some side dishes, to accommodate their likes. lol For instance, when it comes to making mashed potatoes, we have to make two batches, one with garlic (for Patrick, his mom, brother and myself) and one without garlic (for his dad). Also, I want to make a few dishes that are typically, traditional side dishes for a Thanksgiving meal, but not am not going to make them, because I don’t want to have to make two of everything, so I am going to compromise…just a tad. Lol

Here is what we have so far…

Prime Rib - We aren't doing a turkey this year, because we want to be different.
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Plain Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans with Shallots and Pancetta
Stuffing - I haven't ever made homemade stuffing before, so we are going to stick to Stove Top.
Deviled Eggs - I have always had deviled eggs for Thanksgiving, so I am definitely making them.
Corn - Plain old frozen corn
Whiskey-Glazed Carrots - These look so yummy, so I am going to try them.
Dinner Rolls
Salad - Just because we want to try and add more veggies to the meal.
Veggie Tray - (carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower, cucumbers, etc.) I like snacking on stuff like this while cooking.
Cranberry Sauce (from the can) - LOL!!! I don't like cranberry sauce, but Patrick's parents do. I would love to make fresh cranberry sauce, but they like the can version.
Homemade Veggie Dip - I still need to find a recipe I want to use.

Dessert
Chocolate Sheet Cake - Patrick's mom is making this. He isn't a huge chocolate eater, but this is his all time favorite cake.
Cheesecake - We aren't pumpkin pie fans, so some sort of cheesecake will do for us.

It looks like that is about it. I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and if you are traveling, please stay safe!

Saving Money

2008-10-09T10:50:00.000-07:00

I’m sad to say that Patrick and I decided last night to get rid of our DVR and home phone. I am actually pretty sad about this, since I love watching TV, but life goes on. From now on, we are going to watch the majority of our shows online. Just by doing this, we are going to save over $150.00 a month, so we are crazy for not doing this. The money that we are going to be saving is going straight into our savings account.

Speaking of savings accounts, we opened up an ING savings account recently and the majority of my paycheck goes into savings and we don’t touch it. We are trying to live on Patrick’s income alone, so by socking away my check (with the exception of $200.00 a pay period), we will have a ton of money saved up by the end of the year. We also opened up another savings account at a local facility and Patrick is going to put $100.00 or so each check in there just for unexpected trips home to our families, house repairs, etc.

Patrick and I don’t really have a lot of “debt”, so that is why we are able to save so much each month. We have our house, both vehicles, Patrick’s motorcycle, Patrick has one credit card that is from his prior marriage (but the card is closed and it should be paid off next year), we have one credit card to Nebraska Furniture Mart and my student loan. So, we (in my book) are doing pretty well.

Hopefully by the end of next year, we will be free of both credit cards and most of my student loan.

Kicking...

2008-09-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

My little guy is a kicking machine. I feel him all the time now and I am loving every minute of it. I feel him more at night while in bed and when I do feel him, I just start laughing. I am so anxious to get to meet him, hold him and give him tons of kisses!

I Miss My Mom

2008-09-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

My mother died 15 years ago today and it doesn’t get any easier for me. I still feel like that 17 year old, junior in high school and feeling so alone and angry about her not being with me anymore. I think of my mom every single day. Sometimes it is for a brief moment and then other times I try to remember everything I can about her, so I don’t ever forget her. I have a great memory of her, but sometimes I feel the memories are getting a little hazy. I know it must be harder on my younger brother and sister, because they were 12 & 13 when she died.

I think about all the things that she has missed out on and I get so angry about it. She missed out on three weddings, and five (soon to be six) of her grandchildren’s births. She missed out on everything! That is the part that makes me the break down and cry, because my nieces, nephews and child will never get to know how much of a silly and loving grandma they had.

I love and miss my mom so much. She will always be in my heart and my thoughts.

Our To Do List

2008-09-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

Patricn and I have a never ending list of things we want/need to do around the house. Some of the items on the list are things we want to do over the next year or so, but the majority of the list are things that we want completed before our son arrives.

Kitchen

- Clean out cabinets
- Scrub kitchen floor
- Create a designated space for baby items (bottles, feeding supplies, etc.)
- Clean inside of oven
- Clean under the refrigerator
- Clean out medicine cabinet
- Clean mini-blinds
- Clean window
- Buy and install new blinds
- Paint cabinets
- Get new countertops

Hall Bathroom

- Finish hanging bead board and trim
- Clean out closet
- Scrub tile
- Scrub tub and shower
- Install new countertop and faucet
- Paint vanity white
- Frame out mirror
- Buy and install new electric outlet & light switch covers
- Clean out vanity

Guestroom

- Buy paint and paint walls
- Buy new bed frame
- Paint shelf
- Make desk
- Buy and hang curtains
- Get décor for room
- Get a new desk chair

Living Room, Dining Room & Hall

- Clean couch & loveseat
- Clean hardwood floors
- Dust thoroughly
- Buy some décor
- Buy a rug for living room
- Clean sliding glass door

Master Bedroom & Bathroom

- Clean hardwood floor
- Clean out bedroom closets
- Clean out bathroom closet
- Scrub bathroom tile
- Frame out bathroom mirror
- Clean shower, toilet and sink
- Clean out vanity
- Fix screen
- Clean windows
- Buy décor for room

Man Cave

- Get carpet and stairs professionally cleaned
- Pitch futon and buy a new couch/sectional
- Clean out fireplace
- Clean entry floor
- Clean and organized desk
- Shred important documents & papers we don’t need
- Clean windows
- Paint walls

Laundry Room

- Hang drywall
- Paint walls
- Clean concrete floor
- Purchase two small rugs
- Shorten clothing rod
- Hang shelf
- Purchase laundry sorting system

Garage

- Clean off and go through shelves
- Take refrigerator to the dump
- Sweep out garage
- Paint garage walls

Outside

- Get trees and bushes dug out
- Trim trees & bushes we are keeping
- Purchase a storage shed for lawn equipment
- Build new deck
- Install a new patio
- Get lawn treated
- Clean all the outside windows
- Paint house
- Get a new driveway poured
- Install a railing for front entry steps
- Change out house numbers and lighting (I want a more up-to-date look)

Alexander's Room

- Purchase Bedding
- Hang and paint bead board
- Paint room (blue)
- Take out closet doors
- Purchase curtains for windows and closet doors
- Purchase rug
- Purchase furniture (crib, dresser/changing table, chair & ottoman)
- Purchase a new ceiling fan
- Paint back of door in chalkboard paint
- Get closet organized
- Have Grandpa Sutton build quilt holder
- Purchase an iPod/MP3 Player & TV/DVD player for Alex's room

Items to be completed before Alexander arrives

Completed

We Are Having a Boy!!!

2008-09-12T14:43:00.000-07:00

We found out today that we are having a boy and apparently he is a big boy already. He is measuring in at 13 ounces and is in the 97 percentile. They also said that he is measuring a week ahead, so we might be having this baby a little earlier than February 2nd. I will keep you posted on how the rest of my pregnancy goes.

Oh, we decided on Alexander Scott Sutton as our little guy's name!

I Haven't Been Tagged, but...

2008-09-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

I see these little tags on some of the blogs I read, so I thought I would answer them and then tag a few friends. So here goes...

What was I doing ten years ago?

I was 22, living in St. Louis and engaged to who I thought was the "love of my life".

What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today?

1. Going to my doctor's appointment. We are finding out if we are having a girl or a boy today.
2. Going to the DMV to get a new copy of my driver's license, as mine was stolen.
3. Pick up a wedding card for the reception we are attending tomorrow.
4. Find something satisfying to eat.
5. Relax and catch up on some TV.

Five snacks I enjoy:
1. Chips & Salsa
2. Cookies
3. Ice Cream
4. Pickles
5. Cereal (Frosted Flakes)

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

1. Pay off our house.
2. Buy a vacation home in either Hawaii or Dominican Republic.
3. Pay off both our parents houses, cars and debt.
4. Pay off both our siblings houses, cars and debt.
5. Donate money to a charity.
6. Travel all over the world!
7. Buy some land in Wyoming and build a small log cabin close to a creek and have horses and a ton of dogs running around.

Places I’ve lived:

1. Mexico, Missouri
2. Kansas City, Missouri
3. St. Louis, Missouri
4. Birmingham, Alabama
5. Omaha, Nebraska

Jobs I’ve had:

1. Wal-Mart (in high school)
2. Car dealership cashier (in college)
3. Car dealership - Sales Women
4. Customer Service (now)

I am tagging...

Sleepless Sabra

Roust Abouts

Rae -My Life

The Stewart Family

Roots and Wings

Audrey's 1st Birthday Party

2008-08-31T12:21:00.000-07:00

We celebrated my niece Audrey's first birthday party in June (her b-day is in March) and I am just now getting around to blogging about it.

We had a nice family gathering for the party and Audrey had so much fun!

Leland, Jennifer & Audrey
Here is the beautiful little birthday girl.

Audrey's cakes that I made for her.

I think I did a pretty good job on Audre's cake.

This is Audrey's personal cake that I made for her and when I decorated the cake, I didn't even realize that the cake would match her pretty little dress.

The birthday girl and her beautiful mom, Jennifer.

Singing "Happy Birthday"!

Digging in!

So cute!

Our little princess!

Audrey was so tuckered. This is Audrey and her daddy.

Precious little moments!

Cake Wrecks

2008-08-29T14:21:00.001-07:00

I came across this blog today and I don't think I have ever laughed harder! These cakes are hilarious. Have fun checking them out.

I Miss My Gucci!!!

2008-08-26T11:42:00.001-07:00

I am a bit crabby and confused today. This morning I realized that my purse…my wonderful Gucci purse and wallet was missing. Me, being the trusting person that I am always leaving my purse and my car keys inside my car, when it is parked inside my garage. Well, Friday night after work I drove straight home, pulled into the garage and went inside. I didn’t get into my car again until this morning (I was sick Monday, so I didn’t notice anything missing until today) and that is when I noticed that my purse was gone!! I only left the house once over the weekend and that was going to a furniture store with Patrick and we took his truck. I also didn’t take my purse, because I never ever take my purse with me, because I know Patrick has money and will buy anything that we might need, so the purse (I assumed) was still in my car.

There are times during the weekends that we might leave our garage door opened during the day, but never really thought that anyone would just waltz right in and have the balls to open my car and steal something that didn’t belong to them. I mean come on…we have very nice tools in the garage, an over flow shelf full of movies & CD’s, we have some computer parts and also both our vehicles in the garage, so why would someone just focus in on MY car. Also, why didn’t they take my freaking car too? I am thankful that they didn’t, but my keys were right there on my dashboard and in plain sight. I also have a lot of CD’s and an iPod in my car that wasn’t even touched. So, I am thinking that is was some idiotic teenager who knew we were both home and just happened to see our garage door open, snuck in and noticed that I have my purse sitting there on the front seat and took it. Grrr!!! I am so upset!!

Thankfully, I didn’t have any cash (which I never carry) and I don’t have any credit cards or carry checks at all, so that is good. I already called and canceled my debit card, I am in the process of getting a new drivers license, insurance cards and social security card, so I am good to go there. So, the only thing that I am really upset about is the fact that this person took my Gucci purse & wallet. I am more upset about that than anything. My sister bought me that purse from a Gucci store in Italy and I LOVED that purse!!!! All I can say is thank God for homeowners insurance, because I am going to turn this into our insurance company, because my sister (bless her little heart) kept all the receipts from her purchases while in Italy.

So there is my “not so exciting” adventure for the day. Oh, since I didn’t have any money on me or my debit card, my wonderful husband took me to lunch today. That was very sweet of him!

I LOVE TV!!!!

2008-08-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, so a fellow friend/blogger posted about what TV shows she is planning on watching during the upcoming season. Like my friend, I too have a DVR. I honestly believe that the DVR is the GREATEST invention ever!!! I probably could live without mine, but I would be one cranky person. I am going to list below my favorite shows and any new shows that I am planning on watching. So, if you care to read it, go ahead. Lol Yes, I am addicted to TV!!!!!

Sunday

7:00 Time Slot
“America’s Funniest Home Videos” (ABC) – I love the animal, baby and wedding clips.

8:00 Time Slot
“Amazing Race” (CBS) – WOOHOO!!!

9:00 Time Slot
“Family Guy” (FOX) – Thanks to my husband, I like this show. lol

Monday

7:00 Time Slot
“Dancing with the Stars” (ABC) – I love watching this show. I so wish I could dance like those chicks and I would love to have their bodies!

“Chuck” (NBC) – I LOVE LOVE LOVE this show! I think the guy who plays the Chuck character is so cute!

8:00 Time Slot
“One Tree Hill” (The CW) – This is a cheesy show, but I still won’t miss an episode.

“Prison Break” (FOX) – Wentworth Miller…that is all I am going to say!

8:30 Time Slot
“Samantha Who? (ABC) – LOVE

“Worst Week (CBS) – I hope this new show is good. The commercials look funny.

9:00 Time Slot
“CSI: Miami (CBS) – I will always love watching this show.

Tuesday

7:00 Time Slot
“NCIS” (CBS) – I love this show and Mark Harmon (Gibbs) & Michael Weatherly (Dinozzo) aren’t bad to look at either.

“90210” (FOX) – I am going to try and watch this, but I doubt it will be as good as the original.

“The Biggest Loser: Families” (NBC) – I will not miss an episode.

8:00 Time Slot
“Dancing with the Stars” results show (ABC) – I will sometimes miss the results show, to watch another show.

“Fringe” (FOX) – This is a new show coming out and it has the yummy Joshua Jackson (Pacey from Dawson’s Creek…I have every season on DVD). This show looks like my kind of show.

9:00 Time Slot
“Eli Stone” (ABC) – This is one of my favorite new shows of last season. Did you know that the main character, Jonny Lee Miller (Eli) was married to Angelina Jolie?

“Law & Order: SVU” (NBC) – This is the only “Law & Order” show that I like to watch.

Wednesday

7:00 Time Slot
“America’s Next Top Model” (The CW) – I love all the drama!

7:30 Time Slot
“Gary Unmarried” (NBC) – I really like Jay Mohr, so I’m sure I will like this.

8:00 Time Slot
“Private Practice” (ABC) – This is a spin-off of Gray’s Anatomy, but I never watched that show. I like this show, because of Tim Daly and Taye Diggs.

9:00 Time Slot
“CSI: NY” (CBS) – This is my favorite out of the three CSI shows.

“Lipstick Jungle” (NBC) – Great show about powerful women.

Thursday

7:00 Time Slot
“Survivor: Gabon” (CBS) – I am a HUGE Reality TV junkie!

8:00 Time Slot
“CSI” (CBS) – I am so mad that Warrick got shot!!!

9:00 Time Slot
“ER” (NBC) – This is the final season, so I don’t want to miss this.

Friday

7:00 Time Slot
“Ghost Whisperer” (CBS) – I think Jennifer Love Hewitt is so stinking cute and I love her character’s wardrobe.

My Winter & Midseason Shows
“The Bachelor” and “American Idol”

During the day, I also record “Days of Our Lives”, “Ellen”, “Oprah” and sometimes “Martha Stewart”.

I am sure there will be other shows that I will record/watch, but I will have to see what else I like.

Two Polls Added

2008-08-19T09:15:00.000-07:00

I have added a few polls to the left side of my blog. Our big (gender day) ultrasound is set for 09/12/08, so I thought it would be fun to see what you all think I am going to have. The next poll is for the baby names that we like. Feel free to vote on your favorites.

The Things Kids Say…

2008-08-15T10:46:00.000-07:00

Last night I informed my niece, Melanie (who will be six in October) that I adopted a cat and this is how the conversation went down.

Erin: Melanie, guess what?
Melanie: What?
Erin: I adopted a cat yesterday.
Melanie: How in the world are you and Patrick going to afford three dogs, one cat and a baby?
(After a few moments of laughter)
Erin: Honey, we will be ok? I have a job and I will be able to take care of the three dogs, one cat and my baby.
Melanie: Are you sure? That is a lot to take care of.
Erin: Yes, honey I am sure.

She just made my day with that little conversation!! I also I love how concerned she was for me. I love her so much!

Check My Baby Website

2008-08-13T14:22:00.001-07:00

Some of my friendly bloggers, might not be aware of the baby website that I started when I first found out I was going to be a mom. I pretty much have dedicated that site to weekly updates during my pregnancy. After the baby is born, I will also be update it (when I get a chance) with all the fun and exciting things Baby Sutton will be doing and learning.

If you would like to go check it out, click here and you will be directed to the website.

Inspiration Ideas for Baby Room

2008-08-13T09:42:00.000-07:00

I recently received the latest Pottery Barn Kids/Baby catalog in the mail the other day and I am in love with their room décor. I don’t know if we will be purchasing our baby’s bedding from Pottery Barn, as they are so expensive, but I love turning to them for design ideas. Here are a few of my most favorite designs.

Room Ideas for a Girl

This bedding is my FAVORITE!!! I love the design, the colors and the little pink birdies. If we were go with this choice, we are going to put bead board up on the lower half of the walls and the bead board will be painted the light green color and the upper part of the walls in the light pink color.

If we have a girl, I really want her room to be girlie. This is a little like the above picture, but the design is different.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these colors!! I recently just painted our guest room/my office that same exact yellow. So, if we go with these colors, we will change the room for the baby all together. This would be the new nursery and the other room will be our guest room/office. These colors are so unique, but I'm afraid that I would be limited in décor choices. I am still keeping this on the list.

Room Ideas for a Boy

Patrick and I hate clowns, so when I came across this circus theme and didn't see one clown, I thought WooHoo, I can use this for a boy and not have my child get freaked out by those scary looking clowns. Haha!! I love the blue striped walls, but I don't have the patience to try that on my own. If we chose this bedding for a boy, orange and blue would look great in the room.

I love the colors of this next room & bedding and the monkeys are pretty cute too. This would be such a cute room for a little boy.

I like the brightness of these colors. That blue and green color is what I wanted to use originally in the baby room if we have a boy, but after looking at all the other options, I am confused. lol I still love these two colors and I love the ABC/block theme. This is very cute for a boy.

Making Changes for Baby!!

2008-08-13T09:34:00.001-07:00

This blog was originally created as a food/baking blog, but things are now changing! I am still going to blog about food, but the purpose of this blog is now focused more on my baby-to-be. I also have a baby website, but I find it easier to post pictures on here, so feel free to check that one out as well. The website is http://www.babysites.com/sites/babysutton2009/. I hope you enjoy!

I am going to have a baby!!

2008-07-14T08:15:00.000-07:00

To those of you who don’t know, I am expecting my first child and mommy & daddy are so excited!! I am 11 weeks along and I don’t really feel pregnant at all. I haven’t had any morning sickness, but the smell of food being cooked makes me feel a little sick to my stomach, but other than that I am fine.

We have a lot of planning to do and I already have a few check lists started. One is a check list of all the necessities and wants we plan to buy for the baby and for the nursery. There are a few items that I want to get for the nursery that the baby really doesn’t “need”, but mommy just has to have them. We are blessed to have some great friends who have two small children and they have given us a lot of items that we had on our list and now we can mark them off. They gave us (all of the stuff is still in great condition too) a baby swing, bouncy seat, doorway jumper, a Boppy pillow, a Bumbo chair and one of those activity floor mats. They also mentioned that they have more to give, but just need to go through it all first. I am very thankful for all of these items, because I know this stuff is expensive and having these things will help us get other things we are going to need.

Our next list is a list of house projects that need to be completed before February. The first is to finish painting and putting up trim in the guest bedroom. We need to take the wallpaper down in the main bathroom and then paint, put bead board up and install a new counter top for the vanity. Oh, I also want to paint the vanity white. In September we will start working on the nursery (September is the month we find out the gender). We are also planning on pulling up the carpet in the lower level and putting in laminate flooring. Once those projects are completed, I believe we will be pretty much finished with the inside of our house. We have a few outdoor projects we want to accomplish, but they will have to be left until next spring.

In the past, this blog was dedicated to food, but I am going to change it up a bit. I am going to start using this blog for anything and everything. It will cover a little about food, baby, life, and just about everything else in between.

I also have a baby website that will be totally about baby. The website is http://www.babysites.com/sites/babysutton2009/. I will post baby pictures, videos and journal entries, so be sure to check it out.

Dinner Menu for 06/1-6/7

2008-06-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

Sunday - Grilled Bratwurst

Monday - Cheeseburger Pockets - recipe from Taste of Home
Oven Fries
Salad

Tuesday - Crumb-Coated Ranch Chicken - recipe from Taste of Home
New Potatoes
Salad

Wednesday - Maple-Glazed Chicken - recipe from Taste of Home
Cucumber & Tomato Salad
White Rice

Thursday - Spaghetti & Meat Sauce
Garlic Bread
Salad

Friday - Patrick's grilled steaks
Homemade baked beans
Cucumber & Tomato Salad

Saturday - ???

More Cookbooks

2008-06-01T16:24:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the new cookbooks that I have added to my collection.

Great for a Sunday Morning Breakfast

2008-06-01T16:08:00.001-07:00

The other day I felt like making some waffles and so I did. I just used a boxed mix, but cut up fresh strawberries to the batter.

We got this waffle iron as a wedding gift and I have used it only a few times, but I plan on using it more often.

I love adding fresh berries to my waffles.

Then a little powdered sugar to top it all off.

Meal Planning - 05/27-05/31

2008-06-01T15:38:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, Patrick and I sat down at our dining room table and went through a few of my cookbook magazines and created a menu for the following week. Well, the week started out great, but then When Wednesday came, we didn't feel like turning the grill or the oven on, so we just ate sandwiches and salads, which was still so yummy.

The reason we want to start planning our meals is to cut down on food waste, cut down on over spending at the grocery store and to help us from going out to eat, because we don't want to thaw something out.

Monday Memorial Day
We didn't plan a meal for this day, since we grilled and had friends over. However, we did grill some garlic chicken, portabella mushrooms & eggplant. We had baked potatoes, my famous tomato & cucumber salad and fruit.

Tuesday
Sweet 'n' Sour Pork Chops
Rice
Salad

Wednesday
Greek Lemon Chicken
Rice
Salad

Thursday, Friday and Saturday we didn't fix anything from our menu, because we didn't want to turn on the oven or grill.

Greek Lemon Chicken - (Wednesday 5/28/08)

2008-06-01T15:18:00.000-07:00

Greek Lemon Chicken

Simple & Delicious

SERVINGS: 4

CATEGORY: Low Carb

METHOD: Grill (gas or charcoal)

TIME: Prep: 10 min. + marinating Grill: 10 min.

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cups Greek vinaigrette, divided
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (5 ounces each)
1 medium lemon, quartered - (I forgot to add this)
3 tablespoons sliced oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions:

Pour 3/4 cup vinaigrette into a large resealable plastic bag; add chicken.

Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for up to 4 hours. Cover and refrigerate remaining vinaigrette for basting. Drain and discard marinade.

Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat for 4 minutes. Turn and baste with some of the reserved vinaigrette.

Grill 4-5 minutes longer or until chicken juices run clear, basting occasionally.

Squeeze lemon wedges over chicken. Sprinkle with tomatoes and cheese.

Yield: 4 servings.

Nutrition Facts

One serving:
1 chicken breast half
Calories: 366
Fat: 23 g
Saturated Fat: 4 g
Cholesterol: 82 mg
Sodium: 679 mg
Carbohydrate: 6 g
Fiber: 1 g
Protein: 30 g

We also had brown rice, cooked in chicken broth and a garden salad with sun-dried tomatoes dressing.

Sweet 'n' Sour Pork Chops

2008-06-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

Sweet 'n' Sour Pork Chops - Tuesday (5/27/08)

Simple & Delicious

SERVINGS: 6

CATEGORY: Lower Fat

METHOD: Other stove top

TIME: Prep/Total Time: 25 min.

Ingredients:

6 boneless pork loin chops (4 ounces each) - (we only cooked two, but kept the recipe the same and used the extra sauce to pour over rice)
3/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water

Directions:

Sprinkle pork chops with pepper. In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook pork over medium heat for 4-6 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Remove and keep warm.

Add the water, vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce to skillet; stir to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil.

Combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth; stir into skillet. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Return chops to the pan. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 4-5 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160°.

Yield: 6 servings.

Nutrition Facts

One serving:
1 pork chop with 3 tablespoons sauce
Calories: 198
Fat: 6 g
Saturated Fat: 2 g
Cholesterol: 55 mg
Sodium: 265 mg
Carbohydrate: 12 g
Fiber: 0 g
Protein: 22 g
Diabetic Exchange: 3 lean meat, 1/2 starch.

Along with the pork chops, we had white rice cooked in chicken broth. I also had a tomatoes & cucumber salad. Patrick doesn't like tomatoes or cucumbers, so he had broccoli florets, with three-cheese ranch dressing.

Woohoo!! I got it

2008-06-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, Patrick gave me my birthday present early (my bday isn't until June 18th) and it was a KitchenAid mixer!! I love love love it!!!!! I have been wanting one of these mixers for a long time and now I finely have one of my own.

I am looking forward to using my new mixer, everytime I bake.

Again...Nothing

2008-04-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

I have been such a slacker this month. I haven't cooked or baked anything blog worthy, so I haven't been in the mood to post anything. I promise, I will get back to blogging soon.

Cupcake Week

2008-04-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

This past week on Martha Stewart was Cupcake Week!! I love cupcakes!!! I love to bake them and eat them. For those of you out there who like to bake, I thought I would share a few of my favorite cupcake blogs and maybe by viewing them, you will be inspired to bake a few of your own.

Bakerella - I am going to try and bake some of her cupcake pops for my nieces birthday. I'm sure the kids will get a kick out of them.

Cupcakes Take the Cake - These three ladies just blog about what they love, which is cupcakes. I like scrolling through their blog for inspiration.

Cupcake D'lights - This is another blog that has just amazing cupcakes. I only wish I had a smidg of her talent.

Also, here are a few "how to" videos regarding some of the cupcakes that were featured on Martha Stewart this week. I sooooo want to try that marshmallowy cupcake!!! It looks so good!

Enjoy!

I started a new collection...

2008-03-31T09:06:00.000-07:00

Cookbooks are a new passion of mine. I love reading them, looking at all the yummy pictures and actually learning about food that I have never had before, but now want to try. I recently joined a cookbook club, you know the ones where you buy the first four books for $1.00...I know, I know, but I wanted to join. Anyway, I ordered four books and then got the fifth half off, which is really cool. Here are the books I ordered and I can not wait to get them in the mail. I am so looking forward to reading them and trying all the new recipes.

The first cookbook I ordered is Food Network Favorites. It has all the great Food Network cooks/chefs sharing their recipes.

The next one is Vegetables by The Culinary Institute of America. I ordered this one, because I love eating vegetables, but I only like a small portion on them like: carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes (some call it a fruit, but I still call it a veggie), lettuce, peppers, corn and potatoes. I would like to broaden my taste buds, so by buying this book, I hope I can find yummy recipes that will help me out.

The next one I bought for Patrick, mainly because he is the "grill master" in the family. It is called Bobby Flay's Grilling for Life. I would love to learn how to grill, so I will still read this cookbook. I also LOVE Bobby Flay. I think his shows are great and his recipes look so good.

Although, I am already a married women and I don't have to worry about my wedding cake anymore, I still thought this book would be a great cookbook to have. Martha Stewart's Wedding Cakes, is a book that I have been wanting to buy for a while now, only because I love to bake and wouldn't mind "someday" to bake for a living.

This last book is one that I have wanted ever since I started reading food blogs, Baking by Dori Greenspan. My mouth just waters every time I read a post about her baking. The cake on the front cover is one recipe that I will try first, once I get my order.

There you have it. I will be a cooking/baking queen once they all come in. I am so looking forward to reading them.

Oh, just for future reference...I would love to keep adding to my collection (I have about 10 cookbook, not counting the ones above), so to my family who reads my blog...this is a hint. :-)

I am still alive...

2008-03-14T19:22:00.001-07:00

I haven't been cooking, baking or pretty much of anything lately, because I got a job (finally). Well, it is only a three to four month temporary position, but it is better then what I did have...and that what a big fat NOTHING. It is actually really nice getting back out in the real world and not living my life on my couch in front of my TV. I promise I will get back to posting on here soon. I just need to get back into a schedule, so until then...Love Ya

Peeps, Cadbury, Hershey's Oh My

2008-03-06T15:54:00.000-08:00

I totally forgot Easter was right around the corner, until I was browsing through Target the other day and smelled the yummy (but bad for you) aroma of chocolate. And as soon as I smelt the yummy goodness, I automatically picked up two of my all time favorite bags of candy, and they are...

and

I also love...
I can only have about one or two of these and then I am about to get sick. ;-)

I love these!!

of course.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries = Happy Erin

2008-03-04T13:30:00.000-08:00

I know it might sound strange, but I didn't always like strawberries. When I was younger, I would even try them, but thank God I saw the light!! I now LOVE LOVE LOVE them, especially covered in yummy chocolate. I have been craving chocolate covered strawberries for some time now (I have been craving strawberries in general), but I haven't been to crazy about the selection at the local Super Wal-Mart or HyVee stores we frequent, so we decided to try a new store. Thanks to a guy Patty Boy works with, he turned us on to a store called Fareway. He said that Fareway has the freshest produce he has ever seen, so we wanted to check for ourselves. Fareway reminds me of a "mom & pop" style store and a farmer's market all rolled into one and the food is so cheaply priced and it is all so good. One of the best parts about Fareway, is that they walk you out and load your bags into your car. I didn't even think grocery stores still did that. :-) Anyway, they had these HUGE, bright red strawberries that I just had to buy.

Today I was crazing something sweet, but wasn't in the mood to bake, so I decided to melt some chocolate chips, a little bit of butter & milk and then I dipped these beautiful strawberries into the chocolate for a yummy snack.

Don't they look amazing?!?

What is a "meme?"

2008-03-03T17:38:00.000-08:00

A meme is something I came across, while reading one of my favorite blogs and I thought it would be a fun little "survey" I could fill out and post here on my blog. After you read/see mine, you should do your own and let me know so I can go check your meme out.

This is a meme with picture answers. The plan is to Google (image) your answer and then pick one of the pictures from the first page of results. Here we go....

1. What age will you be at your next birthday?

2. Where would you like to travel?

3. Where is your favorite place?

4. What are your favorite pastimes?

5. What is your favorite food?

6. What is your favorite animal?

7. What is your favorite color?

8. Where were you born?

9. What town do you live in?

10. What is the name of a past pet?

11. What is your best friend's nickname?

12. What is your nickname?

13. What is your first name?

14. What is a bad habit you have?

15. What was your first job?

16. What was your favorite job?

17. What is your grandmother's name?

18. What was your college major?

My niece Audrey

2008-03-03T08:27:00.001-08:00

I was so happy to spend some time with my youngest niece, while I was home last week. Audrey is getting so big!! She is such a happy baby.

This is Audrey looking out the front door of my parents house. She is so cute!

I guess she is trying clean the window for my mom. lol

Look at that face.

Where have I been?

2008-03-03T07:21:00.000-08:00

I haven't been blogging a lot lately, due to me being in Mexico, Missouri for a week. I drove down to visit my family and attend my best buddies baby shower in St. Louis. I had a great visit. I was able to see all eight nieces and nephews and all my brothers and sisters. I also spent a short time with my in-laws, went to a funeral (very sad), met up with long lost friends (whom I haven't seen in over 15 years) and spent time with my parents.

While I was gone, Patrick took back our 50" Philips, Plasma TV (we bought it at Costco over a year ago), because it had blue "snow" down in the left hand corner and it was driving Patrick NUTS!!!!! Anyway, he took it back and they put the money back onto a gift card. Then he turned back around and bought a 47" Vizio, flat panel TV. The TV is so nice!!! After buying the TV, he had about $900.00 left on the card, so he bought me a new Kodak EasyShare 12.0 Mega Pixels camera (now we have three digital cameras, but we are giving one of them to Patrick's mom).

I was really excited to get a new camera too!!

On Sunday, we both went back to Costco and spent more of the gift card. We bought these great cups (they are so colorful).

This is a very nice, red vase that we purchased for our dining room. I don't know if we are going to keep it on the hutch, but it will stay there for now. I want to make some sort of flower arrangement, but that will have to wait.

I love displaying fruit, so when I saw this fruit basket, I had to get it. It is very tall, so I think it will look great near the window on the counter.

I am going to start preparing (well, I am going to try) some meals ahead of time, so I have been wanting some food storage containers and this is what we found. They are called Oso* Fresh™ 36-Piece Food Container Set.

We also bought these wicker baskets that I am going to put in our bathroom closet.

Since I love to cook, we bought these two cookbooks.

We also bought these apothecary jars, for my bathroom. I am decorating the bathroom in a beach scene and I am going to put sand, beach glass and shells in them. I don't have a picture of them yet, but here is a picture I found online of the same exact set that I bought.

I think after buying all this, the TV and the camera...we still have about $200.00 left, so I told Patrick that he could just use the remainder for himself, since I pretty much got what I wanted. :-)

So today is Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T14:17:00.000-08:00

I'm not into the whole flower and stuffed animal giving on Valentine's Day. I would rather have a nice dinner at home and save the money for something big for our house. Tonight, Patty Boy and I are going to have a nice Italian (spaghetti and vodka marinara sauce) dinner and for dessert, we are going to have my homemade chocolate chip cookies that I made. Then on Saturday night, we are going out to one of my favorite restaurants, The Cheesecake Factory. We didn't buy each other flowers, candy or stuffed animals, but we did purchase brand new living room, bedroom and a futon for the "man cave". So, I guess out furniture is our gift to each other.

Honestly, I HATE getting flowers for Valentine's Day. I would rather get them, say August 2nd, because that seems more spontaneous...and I LOVE spontaneity. Also, when I do receive flowers, Patrick knows that I dislike roses, so he should get me wild or exotic flowers. I love birds of paradise, tulips, daisies and daffodils. I would rather get a single daffodil, than get a dozen red (which are the worse) roses. Now, I don't really dislike all roses, I just dislike red and pink, because they are so boring. I don't mind dark purple, yellow, white, green and I even like black...yes, black.

Anyway, I know it sounds like I am dissing on V Day, but I'm not. I just think that you should express your love to your spouse, partner or friends all year round and not just on one very "commercialized" day.

Now that being said, "Happy Valentine's Day" everyone. :-)

Honey-Soy Glazed Pork Chops

2008-02-14T10:15:00.000-08:00

Last night I cooked this incredible recipe I found, while searching through the Good Housekeeping website. I love cooking with honey and soy sauce, so this was a real treat. Patrick loved this recipe too.

Honey-Soy Glazed Pork Chops

Ingredients

4 boneless pork loin chops
¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
½ teaspoon cornstarch
1 garlic clove, minced
2 green onions, sliced for garnish

Directions

Sprinkle 1 side of each pork chop with black pepper

Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Spray pan with cooking oil. Add pork chops, pepper side down and cook about 4 minutes or until browned. Reduce heat and continue to cook chops until they just lose their pink color throughout. Transfer chops to platter, cover with foil to keep warm.

Meanwhile, in a cup, mix honey, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and cornstarch until smooth.

Add garlic to skillet, cook for 30 seconds. Stir honey mixture into skillet (mixture will boil) and cook for 1 minute (stirring constantly). Spoon sauce over pork chops and sprinkle with green onions for garnish if you like.

We paired the pork chops with garlic & oil noodles.

Patrick's streak is the BEST

2008-02-14T10:06:00.001-08:00

My husband is the grill master in the family. He can grill anything, where I can't, or should I say, I don't know how to grill a single thing. It doesn't matter how cold it gets outside, if Patrick is craving a streak, then he will just bundle up and start up the grill.

Just like the other night, Patrick and I were hungry for steak & potatoes, so we headed to Costco (they have the BEST steak) and bought a few packages and headed home. When we got home, Patrick started up the grill and I was in charge of the "baked" potatoes...I use the microwave, because it is much faster and they taste the same. Anyway, it was like15 or 20 below zero and poor Patty Boy was out in the cold grilling away. Even in this cold, crazy weather...grilled steaks are so yummy.

Now that is some yummy goodness.

My new favorite color is ORANGE

2008-02-14T09:56:00.000-08:00

It has been a very cold winter here in Omaha. Thankfully it hasn't snowed "yet" this week, but I'm sure more is on its way. The other day, during our grocery shopping, I spotted some bright oranges and I just had to buy them. When I got home I placed them in a glass bowl and all of a sudden I started craving spring.

These oranges are such a bright addition to my kitchen and they help me beat the winter blues.

My pantry is stocked...now what?

2008-02-14T07:55:00.000-08:00

I get a little silly when it comes to my pantry and refrigerator, everything has its own shelf and place, so I thought I would welcome you to my crazy little world. lol

Let's start with my amazing pantry system. The doors pull out, giving us a ton of storage space. I love that the shelves are adjustable too. :-)

This is where we keep the vinegars, garlic sauces, soy sauce and the Worcestershire sauce and the other side of the shelf is for the larger spice containers.

The next shelf is for some of my baking items.

Here is all of our spices and powdered mixes, such as chili and taco seasoning.

Here is another shelf of baking items. This is where I keep my powdered sugar, cocoa powder, cake mixes, etc.

The oil, cooking spray and more baking items are on this shelf. Pretty much this whole cabinet is full of everything you might need for baking...and I do a TON of baking.

This last shelf (in this cabinet, there are two shelves total) is where I keep all my cake decorating items. I have all sorts of food coloring, cupcake cups, sprinkles and my cake decorating set.

Now on to the next cabinet. This cabinet is for all of our dry, not perishable foods.

One side is for the BBQ sauces, marinara sauces, dressings and syrup. The other side, on the top shelf is for drink mixes, bread mixes and there are two bags of candy that has been up there since we moved in...I hardly ever eat candy and most of it is sugar free.

The next shelf is for all of our pasta. We try to keep our pantry stocked full of many different variety of pasta.

The next shelf is for our caned goods, such as soup, tomato sauce & paste, chicken broth, beans, caned vegetables (which we hardly ever buy, because they aren't as good for you as fresh).

The next shelf is for rice, peanut butter, popcorn and the great stand-by...Ramen Noodles. I found a cool website where all the recipes have Ramen Noodles in them.

The next shelf is for all our boxed crackers and cookies. I love Nabisco's 100 Calorie Pack items. My favorite is the cheese nips.

The bottom shelf is for our chips and cereal.

Now on to my beautiful refrigerator.

We have a ton of salad dressings (my favorite is Trader Joe's Balsamic Vinegar), BBQ sauces and marinades and the top shelf is where they all are kept.

The butter, jellies, yogurt, eggs, etc are kept on these two shelves.

Patrick drinks a ton of Kool-Aid (it has to be black cherry flavored) and I drink all the juice and soy milk.

This is my favorite drawer in our refrigerator...the veggie drawer. My taste buds have matured as I have gotten older. I didn't used to like bell pepers and now I LOVE them, but they have to either be the red, yellow or orange, because I don't like the green ones.

The cheese drawer. We love cheese, so we try to keep a wide variety of cheese on hand.

Our butter compartment.

It's strange...I hate regular milk (I will only have it in my cereal), but I LOVE soymilk. Chocolate soymilk is the BEST!!! I just started drinking it and I drink it almost everyday.

I love me some pickles, so it only makes sense, that I have dill and sweet pickles in my refrigerator. I don't like mustard, but we keep it on hand for marinades.

More dressing, sauces, mustard and of course the baking soda.

As you can see, we don't have a whole lot in the freezer, just ice cream (of course), hot dog buns and chicken. We keep most of the freezer items in our deep freeze in the garage. Patrick is a "meat & potatoes" kind of guy, so our freezer is stocked full of steak, roast, brisket, chicken, pork chops, pasta.

We also have another refrigerator in the garage, but that is mainly for our root beer (when we buy it).

This last photo is of our spice rack and our extra virgin olive oil (this stuff is so good) and a bottle of unopened wine.

Go ahead...call me a slacker

2008-02-04T12:35:00.000-08:00

I have been slacking when it comes to blogging about the food I have cooked, but I'm sure everyone will live. :-) Anyway, I will get back on the ball soon.

Even though I haven't been adding posts about what I have cook, that doesn't mean that my oven hasn't been getting used. Over the past couple of weeks, Patrick and I have cooked or baked a variety of things.

Patrick grilled his famous steaks for our Super Bowl party. We also had roasted potatoes, two different dips for the veggies and chips, Patrick fixed this "fly by the seat of his pants" chili & cheese dip for dipping as well. I baked some Hershey's chocolate chip cookies, Rice Krispie treats and some mini chocolate chip & cream cheese dip. Everything was a great big hit.

I will post more later.

Not food related, but oh well...

2008-01-28T18:45:00.000-08:00

Tonight, Patrick and I went to Nebraska Furniture Mart (a very cool store) in search of a new living room set and we ended up purchasing a couch, loveseat, queen bed & a new pillow top mattress, dresser w/ mirror, two nightstands, chest of drawers and new bedding. I love our new furniture.

This is our new bedroom set, minus the tall, narrow dresser to the far left and the bench (we will eventually buy the bench).

This is our new bedding.

This is our couch and our loveseat matches. I don't like the throw pillows, so I will be buying new pillows.

I love our new furniture.

I have been added to the blogroll....

2008-01-21T12:18:00.000-08:00

I am so stoked about being added to the foodie blogroll. I have been trolling around the blogroll for a few months now and now I am apart of it. There are a ton of great food blogs, with great posts about FOOD!! My day has been made. :-)

Go check it out. :-)

My Kitchen Wish List...

2008-01-20T13:57:00.000-08:00

My kitchen is my favorite room in our house. We spend a lot of time in there cooking, so it just makes sense to me to have the necessary bake and cookware available to us. Here are some of the things that are on our wish list.

We don't really have a "theme" for our kitchen, but we want sort of a Tuscan feel. We like the orange, green, red and yellow colors and we think they will go well.

This beautiful piece of machinery is top on my wish list for my kitchen. I have been wanting one of these even before I liked to bake. I really want the orange one, because it will match the decor that I want for my kitchen.

KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer

I also would love to have a couple of casserole dishes like this.

Rachael Ray 3.5-qt. Round Cast Iron Casserole Dish

What is with me and orange? I never really like the color before and now all of a sudden I LOVE it!!

This set cookware set is a set that I have been wanting for a long time. Every time Patrick and I go to Kohl's I spend a while browsing the kitchen section and I alwasys head straight for this set.

Rachael Ray 10-pc. Porcelain Enamel Cookware Set

This is great for cooking spaghetti.

Rachael Ray 5-qt. Oval Saute' Pan

I love this...

2008-01-20T13:47:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention that I bought this with our gift card to Williams-Sonoma.

Williams-Sonoma ~ Mesh Sugar Shaker ~ $18.00

I think this is so cute. I can't wait to use this on brownies and cakes. It is such a cute little novelty.

Hershey’s ”Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake

2008-01-17T23:19:00.000-08:00

If I had to pick between chocolate or white cake, I will always pick white cake, but when I found this recipe, I just had to make it. Now you see...I am on a "diet" and I really shouldn't be baking stuff like this, but the recipe looked so good and I had all the ingredients, so I went ahead and baked it. I ate one piece and sent the rest to work with Patrick. He said that everyone had a piece and they loved it!!! I am getting so good. :-)

(source: That Sweet Ang)

Hershey’s ”Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely and frost. 10 to 12 servings.

I made the icing from scratch too. The icing recipe is the same recipe that Patrick's aunt put on our wedding cake.

Very simple ingredients:

1 cup of shortening - I use Crisco.
1 bag of powdered sugar - I use C&H
A few drops of clear vanilla flavoring.
Milk - I don't usually measure the milk. I just add it as I am mixing. You don't want it to stiff or to runny.
Food coloring of your choice.

Simple Balsamic BBQ Sauce

2008-01-17T23:01:00.000-08:00

I am a big fan of balsamic vinegar, so when I watched an Everyday Italian episode on how to a BBQ sauce with it, I was so happy.

Giada's recipe is for chicken or steak, but I used it on pork chops.

For the Balsamic BBQ sauce:
1 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

I paired the pork chops with white rice, cooked in chicken stock instead of water. This was a very good dinner.

Linguine and Prosciutto Frittatas

2008-01-17T22:42:00.000-08:00

Patrick and I watch a lot of shows on the Food Network. There are some really talented chef's/cook's that we love and we have even tried some of their recipes. Giada De Laurentiis, from Everyday Italian is so cute and she makes such beautiful food. She uses a lot of food that I don't particularly care for, such as mushrooms, zucchini, shrimp, olives. Even though she uses foods that I don't like, I still love watching her. Anyway, Patrick actually cooked this next recipe and it was really good.

(Source: Giada De Laurentiis/Food Network)

1/2 pound linguine pasta
7 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup cream
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
6 ounces diced prosciutto
5 ounces smoked mozzarella cheese, diced (1 cup diced)
1/2 cup grated Asiago cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Special equipment: 1 regular-sized muffin tin for 12 muffins

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta in a colander. While the pasta is still in the colander, use kitchen sheers to cut the linguine into smaller pieces. The pasta should measure about 3 cups.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease the muffin tin.

In a blender combine the eggs, milk, cream, and mascarpone cheese. Blend until well combined. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add the cut pasta, prosciutto, mozzarella cheese, Asiago cheese, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir until the ingredients are combined.

Using a 1/3 cup measure, fill each of the muffin tins until both the pasta and liquid are at the top. Bake until firm and cooked through, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool for 3 minutes before removing from the tin. Arrange on a serving platter and serve.

Ooey Goodness

2008-01-17T22:28:00.000-08:00

Pasta is so good, especially with a ton of cheese on it. I baked this wonderful, yummy baked ziti the other night and Patty Boy loved it! I found this recipe while browsing the great food blogs that I frequent on a daily basis. I am definitely going to keep this in my recipe book.

This picture is a little blurry, but it still looks good.

(Source: Amber's Delectable Delights)

Ingredients:
1 box (16 oz) Ziti pasta
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb pork sausage
Salt, black pepper, garlic, red pepper flakes (all to taste)
12 oz cottage cheese (or ricotta if you prefer) - I didn't add this, as Patrick and I don't like either.
1/2 cup (4 oz) mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
8 slices provolone cheese

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 and grease the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 casserole dish.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, season water with salt, boil pasta till al dente (firm but not hard); drain and set aside.

- Meanwhile brown sausage and ground beef in skillet and season with desired amounts of salt, black pepper, garlic and red pepper flakes. Drain excess grease away from meats and return back to skillet. Add the jar of spaghetti sauce and let simmer until you are ready to assemble the dish.

- Place enough sauce mixture on the bottom of the pan so the noodles won't stick. Then assemble the rest of the dish- half of the cooked noodles, all of the cottage cheese, 4 slices of provolone cheese, 1/2 of the remaining sauce, remaining noodles, half of the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, remaining sauce, remaining cheese.

- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Let set 10 minutes to cool before serving.

Chewy Cocoa Brownies

2008-01-17T21:25:00.000-08:00

I absolutly love chocolate and when I came across this recipe, I was so excited to try it. I have never made brownies from scratch, so I was a little nervous and I prayed that they would turn out OK. When I took the brownies out of my oven, I didn't let them cool (I was drooling) and when I took my first bite, I was like "Oh My Gosh". Those brownies were the best and I will never go back to boxed brownie mix ever again. :-)

(original recipe from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 tablespoons water
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder - I used Hershey's cocoa powder.
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chopped nuts - I omitted this ingredient
Chocolate chips - the original recipe doesn't call for chocolate chips, but I had them and I decided to add them to the mix. I can't remember how much I added, but I know it was at least a cup. (Like I said, I love chocolate)

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 13x9-inch baking pan.
COMBINE sugar, butter and water in large bowl. Stir in eggs and vanilla extract. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in medium bowl; stir into sugar mixture. Stir in nuts. Spread into prepared baking pan.
BAKE for 18 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out slightly sticky. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Yummy Calzone Recipe I Found

2008-01-17T20:38:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure where I got this recipe, but oh was it good. This is probably one of the easiest meals I have ever cooked...and that isn't saying much, since I only started to enjoy cooking over the past few months. Anyway, this is very easy to make and only has six ingredients.

Ingredients:

One roll of refrigerated French bread dough. I used a Pillsbury dough.
Pepperoni or any other type of meat that you like.
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
Egg wash (One egg white, mixed with a little water)
Cornmeal

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.
Sprinkle a little cornmeal on a pizza pan or pizza stone and then roll out bread dough.
On one side of the dough, sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, place pepperoni (as much as desired) on top of the cheese.
Carefully fold the other side of the dough onto the other side, making a cylinder shape.
Pinch ends and sides to seal. Brush top and sides of loaf with egg wash.
Make a few diagonal slices in the top of the loaf for air to escape while cooking.

If desired, top loaf with extra cheese, pepperoni, and/or Italian seasoning.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minuets before slicing.

Balsamic and Honey Glazed Pork Chops....YUMMY

2008-01-09T12:37:00.000-08:00

The other night I tried out a new recipe I found and it was so good. I love trying new things and I haven't ever cook with balsamic vinegar before and it was really fun.

Balsamic Glazed Pork Chops
4 thin cut, boneless pork chops
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp honey
salt and pepper to taste

Spray a pan with non stick spray. Salt and pepper both sides of the pork chops. Cook for four minutes on each side or until done. In a small bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar and honey. Remove pork chops from the pan and set aside. Pour the vinegar and honey mixture in the pan and whisk to combine the pork chop drippings with the sauce. Let simmer a couple minutes until the sauce thickens. Add the pork chops back to the pan. Spoon the sauce over the chops when serving.

*I got the idea for this simple recipe from Cooking Light.

I also cooked a box of Orzo/Pilaf, which I have never tried before. The whole dinner was pretty easy and Patrick loved it!!

Food is Good

2008-01-09T12:21:00.000-08:00

I never thought of myself as a cook and honestly, I only just began to enjoy it. In my 20's (did I just say that?) I hated to cook. The closest thing to a "home cooked" meal was tuna casserole and lasagna and they were both from a box.
Now that I am 31 and hopefully one day becoming a mother, I need to start cooking healthy and fun homemade meals. I hope by entering the world of food blogging, I will come across some great recipes that are good for me and one day my children will enjoy.

As I begin my journey on becoming a "foodie", I hope my family and friends snag a few, if not all of the recipes on my blog and try them out for themselves.

Enjoy!

Cake Cake and More Cake

2008-01-09T12:18:00.000-08:00

Over the past year, I started a new hobby...cake decorating. I began decorating cakes for my nieces and nephews for their birthdays. Here are a few of the cakes that I have baked and decorated.

The first cake I made was for Alexia's 5th birthday and it was all about Hello Kitty. This cake was very tricky, because I couldn't find a Hello Kitty cake pan, so I had to cut the face out by hand. Lucky for me, Alexia loved it.

The second cake was for Cameron's 5th birthday and he wanted a Spider-Man, so that is what he got. I think I used a little to much milk in the icing mixture, but the kids all loved it. I just loved watching Cameron's face light up when he saw his cake for the first time.

The next Spider-Man cake was for Kamille's 5th birthday and it actually wasn't a cake...it was cup cakes. I baked about 40 cup cakes and formed placed them on the board in a Spider-Man pattern and just covered the entire cakes in red icing. This is the coolest "cake" I have made so far. Kamille LOVED it!!

This next cake wasn't my favorite, but it sure tasted good. Melanie wanted a Barbie cake for her 4th birthday and I just had to bake it for her. I originally wanted a Barbie cake mold, where you stick the Barbie down the center of the cake, so the top half was the real and the bottom portion was all cake, but I couldn't find a mold. So, low and behold this is what I came up with. I don't really like the colors, but Melanie really loved it and that's all the matters.

My nephew Trevor absolutely LOVES Sponge Bob!! He loves him so much; Sponge Bob was actually in my wedding. :-) I thought this cake turned out pretty good, but I just could not get the black outlining right around his mouth, so poor Sponge Bob ended up having a mustache. Trevor was so excited about his cake!!

Xavier was a little stinker, when it came to him deciding what he wanted. First he wanted Thomas the Tank, so I bought a really cool train cake mold, but he had changed his mind...and I don't blame him, because after all he was turning the big age 6!! Then he wanted Monster Trucks, but I couldn't find a cake mold anywhere. Finely, he (more like we) decided to have a race car cake and that is what he got. The car turned out to be really cute too.

The last cake I made was another Sponge Bob cake, but this time I did this one in cup cakes. I make enough cup cakes to make his body and then used Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls for his legs and shoes. Then I just piped the entire cake with icing. I thought the cake turned out to be a hit and it was a great 2nd birthday cake.

I spent very long hours baking and icing those cakes, but all the hard work paid off once they saw their cakes for the first time.

I also bought each of the kids a sleeping bag that coordinated with the theme of their cakes. I take that back, even though Melanie wanted a Barbie cake, she wanted me to buy her a Spider-Man sleeping bag. I was able to find on eBay, a very cool Monster Truck sleeping back for Xavier, so I bought it to try and make up for me not finding a Monster Truck cake mold.

Those kids are so very spoiled and I love being the aunt who gets to do it. :-)

Fluffy Cream Puffs

2008-01-09T12:10:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I had my first attempt to bake cream puffs or some would say profiterole puffs (I'm not that fancy, so I say cream puffs). Anyway, I think they turned out deliciously! I am very proud of myself and Patrick liked them and he isn't a huge fan of sweets.

This is my artsy photo of my cream puffs. I was having a bit of fun with my camera. lol

The melted semi-sweet chocolate chips, filling and the yummy puffs.

Eating one of these is like tasting a little piece of Heaven.

(Modified from: Pampered Chef Season's Best Spring/Summer 07)

Puffs:
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Filling and topping:
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbls chopped pistachios or almonds (I omitted the nuts)
1/4 cup prepared chocolate frosting, melted (I melted about a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips over a double boiler for my topping.

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375. For puffs, in small saucepan combine water, butter and salt; bring to a boil over high heat. Add flour all at once. Stir mixture vigorously about one minute or until mixture leaves sides of pan and forms into a ball. Remove from heat; place dough into bowl and. Add eggs and mix until smooth and very thick.

2) Lightly spray mini muffin pan with oil. Using slightly mounded tablespoon, scoop batter into cups. Bake 22-25 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove from oven and make a small cut into side of each puff to release excess steam. Remove puffs from pan and allow to cool completely.

3) For filling, combine whipped topping, powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix gently until well blended. Attach small holed tip to pastry bag, fill with filling and pipe into center of each puff. For topping, chop nuts and microwave frosting on high 5-10 seconds or until melted. Drizzle frosting over puffs and sprinkle with pistachios (I drizzled my melted chocolate chips over the top of my puffs).

Yield: 24 puffs

Never to late for CAKE

2008-01-09T12:01:00.000-08:00

This past October, I baked two cakes for Cameron, Kamille and Melanie's birthday party. The three had a combined Halloween themed party and I baked two cakes for the three of them. I started out making a third cake, which was supposed to be a ghost, but it ended up looking like a tooth, so I tossed it.

I thought these two caked turned out great. I especially loved the spider cake.

The pumpkin cake was made out of cupcakes.

The kids loved the cakes and they love me even more for baking them for their birthday.

Gift Cards...Aren't They Great?!

2008-01-09T11:53:00.000-08:00

Patrick's friend/boss gave us a gift card to Williams-Sonoma for Christmas this year and WOW were we ever shocked.

I actually love getting gift cards, because I get to buy items I normally drool over when I am surfing the Internet. Williams-Sonoma is one of the many websites that I frequent. They have a huge variety of items for the cook, baker and entertainer. Williams-Sonoma is one of those stores that I want to buy everything up, but they are just way to expensive to justify even one small purchase.

So, now that we had a gift card to spend, I thought I would have a blast finding all sorts of things to buy, but that wasn't the case. I think Patrick and I spent a good 20 minutes looking over the store and we couldn't find anything to buy. I found a lot of stuff that we wanted, but even though we had "free money" to spend, I just didn't couldn't spend $30.00 on one single spatula.

We did (after a long look over the store) find a few things that we wanted. I found a great set of green mixing bowls on sale for $19.99.

The set that we bought looks just like this yellow set, but we bought the set in green. I told Patrick that I loved these bowls so much, that we are probably going to go back this weekend and get the yellow set. I hope they still have them.

We also bought this great rolling pin for $18.00. I never thought in a million years that I would pay that much for a rolling pin, but oh well, I need one.

I haven't ever made biscuits before, but I just had to have these cute little biscuit cutters. They were $14.95 and they were nested neatly inside one another with a cute green bow holding them together. I hope to some day soon bake some biscuits and when I do I will use these cutters and then post about the finished product.

Spoonula is such a strange, but enjoyable word. We bought just one little tangerine spoonula for $7.00. I don't know why we only bought one, but it was on sale and we needed to find something to add to our list, so we could meet our gift card amount.

The spoonula we bought is the one at the far right.

Patrick loves to buy specialty dipping oils. We buy oils all the time and Williams-Sonoma has many to choose from. Patrick bought the extra-virgin olive oil with Parmesan and I can't wait to try it. The oil we bought was $14.50.

We also bought some BBQ sauce, but the website doesn't list the sauces we bought. BBQ sauce is another condiment that we buy often. We love trying new sauces from restaurants and specialty stores.

Like my title says...gift cards are great!!

I lost 5 pounds!!!

2008-01-09T09:44:00.000-08:00

Well, so far I have lost 5 whole pounds and I didn't even workout during the first week.

This is what I did during the first week to help jump-start my weight loss.

1. Drink a ton of water. I have a 12 oz water bottle that I fill up constantly throughout the day. Water has helped me stay full and it is actually making my skin feel softer.

2. I LOVE root beer, so what I have done is not drink it when I am at home. I only drink one to two glasses of root beer or caffeine free soda when Patrick and I go out to eat. And now that we have a house, we don't eat out near as often as we used too, so that means that I don't drink soda as much.

3. Patrick and I used to eat a lot of processed/boxed food, not because it was something that we wanted, but because the food was quick and easy to fix. Eating boxed food was also easy on me, because when we lived in St. Charles, Patrick traveled every week and I hated fixing a nice meal just for me, so mac and cheese it was. Now that we have a house and Patrick has a normal 9-5 job, making healthy meals is a cinch for us. Eating more healthy meals at home has really helped us.

4. Eating healthy is pretty expensive and it doesn't help much that Patrick and I love gourmet cheeses, extra virgin olive oils, breads and meats. Our grocery bill is very high and we can't ever stick to a budget when it comes to shopping. In some way I think this actually helps us in the weight loss department, because we don't eat as much.

5. I eat a ton of fruit and veggies throughout the day. I love eating fruit!!! I also bought some vanilla soy milk and I mix in a blender the fruit that I love and that makes a great and healthy drink.

6. I am a huge Food Network fan and I am always watching the chefs I love. When I see a recipe that I want to try, I just print it off and stick it in my little homemade cookbook. lol

I know that some of my ideas aren't what some would call "healthy", like us loving the gourmet food, but I think all of this has helped me lose weight.

Patrick and I did start working out this week. We are taking it easy this first week, because we don't want to over do it and then get burnt out.

Monday, we both walked 40 minutes on the treadmill.

Tuesday, we both did 40 minutes on the elliptical trainer.

Wednesday's we aren't going to go to the gym, because Patrick has guitar lessons. I am still going to workout, but I am going to do it at home.

Well, this is it for now. I will keep you all posted on my accomplishments.

This is the year too.......

2008-01-01T17:55:00.000-08:00

LOSE 100 POUNDS

Yes, I said 100 big ones!!! I can't believe I let myself gain all this extra weight. Some might think I am nuts for telling the world how much I need to lose, but I believe it will help me meet my goal.

At the end of each week, I plan to post how much weight I have lost and how I feel. I will also post what food I have been eating to help me lose the weight.

I really pray that I stick to this, because I want to be healthy, happy and I want to have a baby. I want to have a baby so bad, but I don't want to be a fat mom, so I am going to lose this weight before I get pregnant.

This is my life and I want to have a great one!!

Testing out the snow

2007-12-13T08:15:00.001-08:00

Cinnamon and Riley really like the snow. Cinnamon is actually a huge fan of it, because she just runs all over our yard and isn't even bothered by the cold. We have a hard time getting her to come in.

Cinnamon is so beautiful.

Riley just likes to explore everything.

He is so cute!

And of course, Cody is in her bed. She doesn't really like the cold and I don't blame her.

Winter Wonderland

2007-12-13T07:39:00.000-08:00

It has been pretty cold up here in Omaha. A few weeks ago, we had ice and this past week we have had a little of both ice and snow. Since I don't have a job "yet", I have become quite the little house wife. lol I have shoveled our driveway and sidewalks about four times so far in the the past two weeks. I am getting pretty sore doing it too.

I never really liked snow, but for some strange reason I am beginning to love it. I think it has to do with owning a house. Everything is different when you have a house. I think God everyday for what He has given to us.

Monday, I stood on our front porch and took a couple of pictures of our street and front yard. This is looking up our street.

White snow as far as the eye can see...

These our our backyard "Christmas trees". They look so pretty all covered with snow.

Our Humble Abode

2007-12-04T07:19:00.000-08:00

This is our house.

We have three bedrooms and three bathrooms. There is a family room and a living room.

We thank God for giving us such a great house.

This is the back of our house. We are going to do some major work in the spring. We are planning on taking our the existing deck and building one double the size in length and adding a few more feet in depth. We are also planning on putting in a patio underneath, just to add more room for entertaining. The bushes by the AC unit are also going to be dug up.

This is part of our backyard. This picture was taken right after we moved in. The tree still had green leaves.

This is that same tree now, but with beautiful orange leaves. I'm not sure if you can see it all that well, but there is a bricked off area to the right of the picture. We are going to pull out the brick, lay down dome sod and then put a small shed back in the corner for our lawn mower and my gardening supplies.

Our grass is still that green, even after snow and ice.

This is our view from our deck. When it is dark outside, we can see downtown and all the lights. We can also see all the way into Iowa. I love our view. Our neighbors said that on July 4th, we can sit on our deck and watch all the fireworks from all the surrounding towns. I am so looking forward to that.

This our gorgeous window above our sink. The previous owners left that little TV, which is kind of nice to have while cooking or cleaning. I hope to get a flat panel TV, just so it doesn't look so "clunky" there on the stand.

The sink and faucet are great. Our sink is a KitchenAid (I didn't even know KitchenAid made sinks) and it is very nice.

Our countertops are a blueish/white and they are OK for now, but we are planning on having granite installed. The kitchen (other than the counters) is in perfect condition. There is plenty of cabinet and prep area. The flooring is ceramic tile and all the appliances (except the dishwasher) are stainless steel. Everything is state of the art and we are so lucky that the previous owners took such great care of the house.

This is our Jenn-Air refrigerator. Patrick is so excited to have an ice maker and water in the door. He is pleased by the smallest things. :-)

This is our pride and joy. We both have been dreaming of a gas stove and now we have one. When we were looking for homes with our realtor, we told her that a gas stove was a key buying point in our search and when we found this home, we fell in love. The stove is a Jenn-Air and I believe the microwave is a Frigidaire.

This is an overview shot of our kitchen.

Our house has beautiful lighting fixtures. We are blessed to not have to add them in ourselves. At first I didn't really like that opening above the doorway, but now I love it. I think it opens up the kitchen.

The paint color looks a little pink in this picture, but it is actually a light tan. We are thinking about painting one of the walls an accent color. We don't really have a "theme", but we like Italian/Tuscan and wine decor. So, we might paint the wall with the appliances either a greenish or reddish color.

This is a very unique pantry system the previous owners installed. This part of the cabinet is great for all of our small appliances. I don't like having a large amount of appliances on the counters, so this is a great way to hide them all and they are still easily accessible.

These two cabinets pull out and have shelves located inside. This is where we store all of our nonperishable food items, my baking items and our spices.

This is a great little nook where we store our cookbooks, our phone, keys and our cell phones. There is also a very ugly, but very used radio/intercom system. At first, Patrick wanted to rip the intercom system out, but then found out that it is actually really nice to have it and to have the radio piped in throughout the house.

This is our dinning area. We are planning on getting a darker and more of a rectangle shaped table, but it isn't a priority.

This is another one of our lights/fans. I love how tall our ceilings are.

This is just another view of our dining room, going into the living room. Our pool little tree looks so small in our house. It was perfect for our apartment, but now it looks a little like Charlie Brown's tree. Next year we want to get a narrow, 10 foot tree.

This is one of two very ugly guest bathrooms. The previous owners didn't put the wallpaper up, but it was the owners before them. Our house was built in 1991 and has three owners and the previous owners did a lot of work in the short two years they were here, but they just didn't get to the bathrooms or the two guest rooms.

We want to put up white beadboard along the lower half of the walls. I am also going to paint the walls above the beadboard a very light turquoise color. I am going for a calming beach theme in here. We bought a very pretty picture from our trip to Hawaii and it is going on the wall near the sink. I am also going to get a white over the toilet shelving unit.

This is beadboard

This bathroom has ceramic tile flooring. We are also going to replace this ugly pink countertop and change out the vanity.

I want to get something like this for the bathroom.

or

I like the above vanity, but I want a white countertop.

This is our bedroom. This room is pretty bare at the moment. We need to buy a dresser and a chest of drawers. We also need to buy new nightstands. We like the color, so that wont be changed.

I love these corner windows. They are brand new and we just think they are very sweet. The previous owners left the curtains. Cinnamon looks sweet looking out the window. She stands there and barks at the huge dog next door.

There is Riley and Cinnamon.

We just love the tray ceiling and the ceiling fan/light.

This is our master bathroom. The only think we want to change is the vanity. We want to add a new double sink vanity and we also want to change the mirror. The floor is also ceramic tile with radiant heating.

Patrick and I hate mirrors like that, so we are going to put two framed oval or rectangle mirrors in or something similar to this.

Here is the light fixture above the front door. We also have a skylight.

This is our fireplace in the family room (I should say "the man cave"). It looks like Riley and Cinnamon got in this picture too. Do you like my Christmas stockings? I haven't bought any stocking holders yes, but this will do for now.

This is our family room. Right now we have these two chairs here, but when I get new furniture for the upstairs living room, we will put the sectional down here. Then we will be able to get rid of that ugly flowery chair. Actually, that chair is so comfortable, we might just put a slipcover on it and put it in our bedroom or one of the other rooms.

Another view of our family room. Those are the stairs leading to the upstairs. That little door under the stairs is a huge storage space. It doesn't look very big, but it is huge. Alexia and Melanie took blankets and pillows in there and pretended it was their little hide out. They loved it.

This is our "smaller" TV. Our 50" Plasma TV is in the shop. Once we get it back, this one will go back upstairs in the living room. I just love Plasmas and flat panel TVs.

Our movies.

This is Patrick's office (part of "the man cave"). He gets full reign on how he wants to decorate these two areas. I think he is going to go for an aviation theme. He loves war planes and helicopters. As you can see, he is a computer nut. He has to have two monitors.

Another view of his office.

His office and guitar again.

Yes, here is another view of his office. I am trying to find a painting of an old military plane to hang on the wall.

This is the ugly blue bathroom downstairs. We are definitely going to pull this wallpaper down. I also want to take those mirrors off too. I want to add something similar to what we want to hang in our master bathroom.

I think we might paint this bathroom either in a light gold color or a light green. We also want to put in a new floor. I hate linoleum, so we might put ceramic tile down.

This is one of two guest bedrooms. This one will eventually be the nursery (no, I am not pregnant). We will first have to take down the blue wallpaper and paint the trim white. The entire upstairs has real hardwood floors, with the exception of the bathrooms and the kitchen, so the floor will stay the same.

Until we have a baby, this is where our furbabies sleep. If you look closely, you can see Cody in her pink sweater.

Oh, we are also going to replace this ceiling fan with a more modern one and we will install a dimmer switch.

This is the hallway. I am going to put a gallery of pictures along both walls and I found a very pretty wrot iron cross that I want to hang at the end of the hall.

I love this cross

or

Well, that is our home. We love it and we are very blessed to have it. I hope you enjoyed looking.

Diamonds Diamonds Diamonds

2007-12-03T16:06:00.001-08:00

My husband is the GREATEST!!! I have been wanting another ring to wear with my engagement/wedding ring and my husband bought one for me. I just love it! I like big and chunky jewelry and this will make my wedding ring look even bigger.

We weren't going to buy each other any gifts for Christmas, so this is a nice surprise.

All about my love...

2007-12-01T23:06:00.000-08:00

1. Who is your man? Jon Patrick Sutton

2. How long have you been together? We have been together for six years and we will be married two years in April of 2008.

3. How long did you date? We dated for five years.

4. How old is your man? Patrick is 39. He turns the BIG 40 on March 18th.

5. Who eats more? Patrick...he eats and snacks more than I do.

6. Who said "I love you" first? Patrick did. It was really sweet too. He was living in Alabama at the time and we were chatting on the phone and via webcam. I was tired, so we both hung up the phone and as I was getting ready to shut the webcam off, he held up a piece of paper and it said "I Love You" on it. That was the sweetest thing ever.

7. Who is taller? Patrick, he is 6'6"

8. Who sings better? Definitely me, I sang to Patrick at our wedding.

9. Who is smarter? I hate to say it, but Patrick is. He knows a ton about everything.

10. Whose temper is worse? Patrick

11. Who does the laundry? I do

12. Who takes out the garbage? Patrick

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you are looking at the bed, standing at the foot of it, I sleep on the left side and Patrick sleeps on the right.

14. Who pays the bills? Patrick...he pays them all online.

15. Who is better with the computer? Hahaha, definitely Patrick. That is what he does for a living.

16. Who mows the lawn? Well, we just moved into our first home and Patrick actually mowed it the first time, but when spring comes...I am going to be doing the mowing. I can't wait!!!!

17. Who cooks dinner? Patrick does most of the time, but I am starting to learn.

18. Who drives when you are together? Usually Patrick, but on occasion I do.

19. Who pays when you go out? Always Patrick.

20. Who is most stubborn? Probably me.

21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Patrick

22. Whose parents do you see the most? Mine

23. Who kissed who first? We kissed each other and it was good!! :-)

24. Who asked who out? Neither, we were set up on a blind date.

25. Who proposed? He did and did a great job.

26. Who is more sensitive? I am absolutely and that is one of the many reasons why Patrick loves me.

27. Who has more friends? I think it is about the same.

28. Who has more siblings? I have two sisters and two brothers. He only has one brother.

29. Who wears the pants in the family? We both do. It is an equal partnership.

The Eight Loves of my Life

2007-07-22T18:48:00.001-07:00

I am the proud aunt of four of the most beautiful nieces and four of the most handsome nephews in the world. Those children are the loves of my life and I would do anything and everything for them. Each and everyone of them are different in their own little way.

Xavier, the oldest (six) is smart, very handsome and reminds me most of his father. He is shy at times, but he has a little rowdy streak in him. Xavier is the first born and will always hold a special place in my heart.

Alexia, my first niece (six), is so talented and smart. She loves to draw, write and she is very much a girlie girl. Alexia is in to High School Musical, Bratz and girlie clothing. She has me wrapped around her little finger.

Kamille (five), it incredibly smart for her age. She is going to be the smartest kid in her kindergarten class this year. Kamille is so stinking cute and I just love it when she climbs up onto my lap and just gives me the biggest hugs ever.

Cameron (five), is hyper, hyper, hyper!!! He is a huge ball of energy and I love it. Cameron starts kindergarten this year and he is totally excited about that. He is my little hyper man.

Melanie (four), what can I say about this little darling? She is completly unpredictable and she always has me laughing. Melanie wants to be a "Rock Star" when she grows up and I believe she just might do it. She dances and sings incredibly well for her being so young. Melanie is my little entertainer.

Trevor (four), is a little bit of his mother and father all rolled up into a sweet little man. He tugs at my heart and just makes me melt when he tells me he misses me and that he loves me. Trevor is my little monkey and I love his so much!

Triston (two), is a little red headed firecracker. He has the most kissable lips EVER!! Triston is a true sweetheart and I just love listening to him talk. He is growing up so fast and I wish I could make him slow down.

Last and I hope not least, Audrey (four months old) the most beautiful little Nelson ever!! She is a little angel and I am love struck. I haven't been able to spend as much time with her as I want too, but she already has my heart.

Those eight kids have inspired me to be the best aunt possible and I sure hope that I never ever let them down. I want them to know that their aunt will always have their back and will drop whatever I am doing and come to their rescue. God has blessed my life with greatness.

Seven Facts About Me!

2007-07-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

1. I love photography! Photography is only a hobby of mine, but I soon hope to make it a side business in the future. I enjoy taking picture's of my nieces & nephews, birds and flowers. I am looking into taking a few photography classes in the near future.

2. I enjoy making scrapbooks of my family. I am a stickler when it comes to preserving the memories of my loved ones. I am completely behind on my scrapbook projects, but I hope that when Patrick and I buy a house (in the new future), I will have my very own scrapbook studio, so I can get caught up.

3. I love music!! Music is my life and I would just die if I wasn't able to listen to it. Listening to music brings back childhood memories and helps me make new ones. Country music is my most favorite type of music to listen too. The stories the artist sing about really hit home and speaks to my heart.

4. I love antique furniture and nic-nacs. I have a few boxes in storage filled with antique hats, purses and nic-nacs from my great grandparents.

5. I am a HUGE family person. I love spending time with my family. I have the best parents and siblings in the world. I also have the most cutest nieces and nephews an aunt could ask for. I would die for my family.

6. I am totally in love with my husband. Patrick makes me feel like a queen and truly respects me. He laughs at my quirkiness and loves my sensitive side. He and I are life partners and friends till the end.

7. God is my #1 love. I don't deserve to be loved unconditionally by Him, because I know I am not worthy. God has stayed by my side through all the trials that have come my way and I love Him for that.