miscellany monday

It's Monday again and depending on how well you like reading random stuff, it could be a good or bad thing. I have lots of random things floating in my head this morning.  So off I go....

ONE  My husband has been bitten by the bug.  The boating bug.  Growing up very close to water in KY we both practically grew up on a boat, a lake and we haven't had a boat since we moved to Nashville almost 7 years ago.  We're both itching pretty bad.  We're about to load up and go look at a couple of boats.  It will be interesting to see if we come home with one.  It's quite possible. 

TWO  My closet as well as a couple of other closets in the house desperately need to be cleaned out and I keep putting it off.  I can't say I enjoy cleaning out closets, though I'm always glad when it's done and closets are organized.  This brings me to my next random thought....

THREE  We need to have a yard sale - soon.  But I don't want to go through the process of dragging stuff out and actually go through with it.  Can we say laziness has set in?

FOUR  Seems there are a lot of people lately that seem to think their opinion is the only opinion that matters.  Everyone has an opinion about something.  Everyone.  The difference is not everyone feels the need to share it with people they don't really know.  I'm finding the older I get, the less time I have for rude, opinionated people.  Nor do I have any tolerance for drama.  Let's get back to basics:  If you can't say anything nice, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT.

FIVE  Please remember what Memorial Day is really about.  Remember that too many men and women have died serving our country so that we may enjoy the freedoms we do today.  Please keep them all in our thoughts and prayers and be thankful.

Thanks for letting me rant a bit and purge some random thoughts.  I will apologize in advance.  We'll be out (looking for boats) and I will be away from the computer most of the day.  I will try to get by everyone's blogs tonight or tomorrow.  I hope everyone is having a great holiday!

If you'd like to link up your own random thoughts, head over to Carissa's blog, lowercase letters by clicking the logo above.  

A Touch of Spirituality

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  1 John 1:9

Saturday Morning Comedy

Blogger doesn't want me to size this properly.  Just click on it and it will allow you to read it better.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

Give Me Your Best Shot!

It's Friday before a 3 day weekend and I'm feeling particularly on the lazy side.  I had not prepared a post for today.  So while sipping my morning coffee, I began uploading an insane amount of pictures and reading through some of the blogs I follow.  When I got to Lolli's blog, Better in Bulk, I was reminded of her  blog hop, Give Me Your Best Shot.  You link up your favorite photo from the week.  Perfect... I thought, while I watched all the pictures slowly upload to my computer and I quickly picked out a favorite.  

Keep in mind, I said I was little on the lazy side this morning so this is my favorite from the week with just a tad bit of editing.  I, personally, think I have two of the cutest kids ever.  But then what mother doesn't think that?

Head over to Better in Bulk by clicking the logo above and share your favorite photo of the week.  Give it  your best shot!  ;)

TGIF, y'all and have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Before & After

I have been using Monica's Before & After blog hop to experiment a little with my photo editing but admit that I fell back into the familiar this week. I'm not terribly original, but I did enjoy changing up the photo of my baby girl a bit. And you guys are lucky - this is one of my precious vacation photos that has yet to be posted on my family blog. So you're getting a sneak peek!

Here is my SOOC (straight out of camera) shot:

I took this in NC while we were on the beach with my Canon PowerShot SX110 IS.  LOVE the floppy hat on my little princess.

Here is my edited photo:

I applied a colored filter (can't remember which one) and changed the opacity.  Then I messed with the lighting a little, added a soft focus layer and added the vignette.  Of course, the rounded corners which I'm addicted to.  I like the simple, vintage feel of the photo which I think goes nicely with the floppy hat. I used Photoshop Elements 8 for my editing.

To see more before and after photos or to link up one of your own, head over to Monica's Pixel Perfect blog by clicking the logo above.  Have a great one and thanks for stopping by!

See What's Cookin' - Enchiladas

Hey y'all! If you haven't already grabbed this recipe from Jes's blog, Exposing the Drapes to My 20's (I guest posted there today) then grab it now.  You don't want to be without this one!   Enchiladas are something that my family makes when we want to treat ourselves. They are a little time consuming but easy to make with only a few key ingredients.  So let's get cooking!

So here's what you'll need:





2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion
2 pkgs shredded cheese
2 cans enchilada sauce
1 pkg corn tortillas
Vegetable oil

These amounts are what I used to make 20 enchiladas. Adjust accordingly, but you'll want leftovers. I promise. And, of course, you can use chicken instead of beef, leave out the onions, whatever your preference is. Make it yours. First, dice up your onion.

Brown your ground beef. Be sure to drain off the grease and set aside to cool.






Then I usually set myself up a station that looks like this to make things easier...

Next, add vegetable oil or canola oil to a pan and heat it up. Do the same for the enchilada sauce in a separate pan. You'll want the oil fairly hot because you want the tortilla to cook quickly; however, you only want the enchilada sauce warm because you'll be rolling the tortillas by hand and you don't want them scorching hot. Once your oil is heated up slide your tortilla into the pan. When you see it start to bubble up, give it a couple of more seconds. You'll actually hear the sizzle begin to slow down. Then pull it out, draining the excess oil.

Then slide same tortilla into your enchilada sauce. You simply want to coat the tortilla.

So when the tortilla is good and coated, transfer it to your rolling plate. I usually stack up about 5 or 6 of these at a time.   Once you start filling and rolling your hands will be really messy and washing them between each tortilla is just too much.  But if you stack up too many then the tortillas will start to stick together.

Then start filling your tortillas. Be sure to not over fill them or you'll never be able to roll them or transfer them to your casserole dish.

So I couldn't exactly take a picture of me rolling them up but once you roll them up individually, place them into your casserole dish side by side.

Once you've filled your pan, spoon a little enchilada sauce on top to keep them from being dry. And then with cheese and any remaining ingredients - don't waste it!

Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees just until the cheese on top is melted. Remember, all of your ingredients are already cooked. You just want to melt the cheese. Now, I owe you an apology because in all of my excitement of pulling these babies out of the oven I totally forgot to take a picture of the finished product. You're just going to have to trust me, they look, smell and taste delish!   Enjoy y'all!

To print or save this recipe, click HERE.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

See What's Cookin' - Guacamole

Guacamole is one of my all time favorite things in the whole wide world.  If I had it my way, I'd have it available to me for constant snacking all day long, every day.  And because I love it so much, I thought I'd share my family's recipe.  You know, share the love and all that jazz.  It's super simple to make and pretty healthy as long as you don't eat a whole bowl at a time like I do.  It never lasts very long in our house.  Even my kids love it.  

Let's start with our ingredients:

     Roma Tomatoes

     Avocados

     Green Onions

     Sour Cream

     Tabasco Sauce

     Salt

Start by slicing your avocados in half.  Ripe avocados will be more brown than green on the outside and have a slight give to them when you squeeze them but still somewhat firm.  If they are mushy then they are just about rotten.  Don't buy those.  

I'll show you a trick for removing the pit.  With some pressure and for lack of a better word, WHACK your knife into the pit and then twist.  It should slide right out.  Forgive the photography error - terrible picture but wanted you to see what I was talking about.  Just have good aim and don't whack off a finger.

And here's another trick - I score the avocado before scooping it out.

With a spoon, scoop out the yummy goodness into a bowl.  This will make mixing up the dip much easier.

Now dice up your green onions....

... and your tomatoes.

Add your onions and tomatoes to your bowl of diced up avocados.  

Now, I usually only add a tablespoon or two of sour cream to the mix.  I like the creaminess that the sour cream gives but I don't want to really taste the sour cream.  I want to taste the avocados.  But you can add as much or as little as you like.  Also, same with the tabasco sauce.  If you like to spice it up then go for it.  And salt to taste as well.  Mix well.

Grab those chips and start munching!

I hope you make it and love it!  Enjoy, y'all!

To print or save this recipe, click HERE.  

I'm guest posting over at Exposing the Drapes to My 20's today.  You can head over there now and grab my enchilada recipe or come back here later today.  I'll post it here as well so that I can link it to my recipe page.  Goes great with the guacamole!  

Some News About Around the Town Tuesday

Several weeks ago my bloggy pal, Jes and I rolled out a new blog hop called Around the Town Tuesday.  We were very excited about it and thought it would be something unique and somewhat encouraging to bloggers to get out into their communities as well as learn about fellow bloggers' communities, especially since warm weather is upon us.  We got lots of positive responses on our blog posts about it, in our BlogFrog communities, Twitter, etc. and we still get great emails and comments about it.  However, the linking up has been pretty scarce and it's an awful lot of work on our part to prepare the posts, the schedule, post reminders, promote.... you get the picture.  So for now, Jes and I have decided to put it on hold and re-evaluate the blog hop.  We're going to talk about it, maybe change it up a bit, marinate in our thoughts and could very possibly bring it back - if there's any interest.  So if you are interested in participating in this blog hop in the future, please leave a comment or shoot us an email.  Constructive criticism is certainly welcome.  We'd definitely love to hear from you about how we could improve it, change it up, whatever.  But if there's no feedback, it will most likely be discontinued.   

Have a great day y'all and thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions!

An Overdue Thanks

Last week, I received the Versatile Blogger Award from Amy at The Adventures of JAMC.  I have failed miserably at thanking her properly for bestowing it up on me as well as upholding the terms of the award.  So first of all THANK YOU, AMY!  I am honored to accept it and will uphold at least part of the terms.

Now I am supposed to tell you 7 things about myself.  Some of these may be repeaters.  I can't remember what I've said or haven't said about myself.  You know I like to talk.  :)  These are in no particular order.

ONE  I love a good glass of wine.  I don't consider myself a big drinker but a good glass of wine can calm my nerves in an instant.

TWO  I have serious texture issues with my food.  Most foods I don't like have a weird texture to them and trigger my gag reflex the instant it hits my mouth.  However, I LOVE sushi.

THREE  I love to fish.  I grew up fishing in Kentucky and can catch 'em with the very best.  This leads to my next bit of quirkiness...

FOUR  I have a phobia of worms.  I think I may have learned this from my grandmother.  I remember sitting on the back porch with her as a child and shucking corn.  If she found any sign of a grub worm, that ear of corn would get chucked in the trash so fast you never knew what happened, tied off and taken far away from the house.  Still, they gross me out completely.  I fish with other bait.

FIVE  I boast often on my blog, Facebook and Twitter about needing my morning coffee and how much I love coffee.  Confession time:  It's usually decaf.  I gave up caffeine prior to conceiving my first child because of articles I had read about caffeine and the affects it could have on a fetus.  And I breastfed both of my kiddos and didn't think they needed any help in the ADHD department.  After the withdrawals I felt so much better I hardly drink it anymore because it makes my body crazy and I feel horrible.  But the psychological benefits are still pretty powerful and I do so love the taste of a good cup of joe.

SIX  I come from a very musical family.  My grandmother taught herself to play piano and played beautifully.  She also played the clarinet in her high school band.  My mom sings like an angel.  I play flute, piccolo and also taught myself to play a little piano, though I do not play as well as my grandmother did.  But my strength is vocals.  I love to sing and wish American Idol had come a long a little earlier.  I'd have TOTALLY rocked that show.  ;)

SEVEN  I.  LOVE.  TO.  READ.  I can totally get lost in a good book and all my stress, troubles, anxiety melt away.  Suddenly, I am somewhere else experiencing something completely new.  However, I am on the computer blogging way too much to read these days.  I miss it and need to get it back.  

Thanks again, Amy!  Head over and show Amy some love!

miscellany monday

I had planned on working on some posts over the weekend but that didn't happen. So thank goodness for Carissa at lowercase letters and her miscellany monday.  Otherwise, I'd be struggling for a post this Monday morning.  And I'm already struggling to keep my eyes open.  No more struggles.  Please.  By the way, loving the new button, Carrisa!  ;)

The idea is to post 5 completely random things in no particular order and then head over and link up at lowercase letters.  Off we go...

     1.  I didn't get any posts prepared this weekend because after Keegan's soccer game on Saturday      morning, we got all frisky and spontaneous and packed up the family and headed to Hot Springs, AR for an overnight trip.  We took the kids to Magic Springs a theme/water park all day yesterday and it was exhausting but SO fun!  THEY.  LOVED.  IT.  I love that we can still fly by the seat of our pants upon occasion.

     2.  I know that too much sun is not good for your skin but I secretly love it when I have tan hands and feet.  Jewelry and sandals of any kind always look better on tan hands and feet.  And fat.  I need to hop back on the workout train.

     3.  I gained new Twitter followers over the weekend which is always exciting.  New followers of any kind excite me.  I usually check out their profile, their site if it's listed and decide whether or not to follow back.  When trying to check out one profile, I got a message from Twitter telling me this account had been suspended.  You have to wonder what this person did to get his/her account suspended by Twitter and if I should be concerned that he/she is now following me.

     4.  Monday = laundry day.  I still hate laundry.  That hasn't changed and probably never will.  I will probably be 80 years old and still complaining about laundry on miscellany monday.

     5.  I really want to find time to be crafty this week.  I am itching to create something, though I'm not sure what.  Don't worry, though.  If it happens, there'll be a post.

To add your own randoms, head over to Carissa's blog by clicking the logo at the top and link up!  Have a great day, y'all!

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”- Romans 15:5-6

Saturday Morning Comedy

Vacation {Take Three} - Wrightsville Beach, NC Day 1

I took so many pictures while we were on vacation that I'm having to break them up even more than I had originally planned.  And because I keep up with two blogs and post as many pictures as I can of the kids on the family blog, I'm cutting it back a little here but wanted to post a few of my favorites from our first day at Wrightsville Beach, NC.  Feel free to click on over to my family blog to see lots more pictures of our first day.

Wrightsville Beach is just outside of Wilmington and it's a great little beach community that we enjoyed very much.  It's not too touristy and the beaches were clean and not overcrowded.  Though, the time of year we went probably had a bit to do with that.  This was the view from our condo.  Simply gorgeous.

The dunes were much higher here as compared to where we usually vacation, Gulf Shores, AL.  

Keegan had a great time on the beach and in the ocean, though the water was very chilly this time of year.  

Presley had a bit of a love/hate relationship with the sand and ocean.  She loved the idea of it but after having sand in every crevice and freezing her toes in the ocean, she'd grow tired of it towards the end of the day and welcomed a warm bath and clean, dry clothes.  It was very windy there, even the locals commented on it.  The wind, salt water and humidity did terrible things to a girl's hair.  I promise, we do brush it.  

This was something I had never seen before.  There were oyster beds EVERYWHERE there was mud.  I had no idea.  Usually you saw them right in front of where the boats docked along the river.  I was extremely intrigued by this and I have no idea why.  

This birdhouse was right next to where we were eating at a restaurant.  I think that was one of the reasons I loved this area.  It just felt very homey no matter where you went.  Little touches here and there reminded you of a small town.  Most of the restaurants along the river had docks where boaters could just pull up, dock their boat and eat.  I loved that.  

Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach is where Dawson's Creek was filmed.  So if you were a Dawson's Creek fan (I certainly was) then you will recognize a lot of the surroundings there.  There were other movies filmed there as well.  This area is actually called Hollywood East.  Just a little fun fact for you.

TGIF!  Hope everyone has a FANTASTIC Weekend!

Before & After Blog Hop

Another round of before and after today from Monica at Pixel Perfect. If you can't tell, I have come to really enjoy Thursdays and learning some new photo editing tricks.  I also love seeing everyone else's edits.  I've learned so much just in the short time I've been linking up!

This photo was taken in Knoxville, TN on our way home from our family vacation.  Knoxville had some really great old buildings that just screamed character and I couldn't help but to snap pics of a few of them.  I took this with my Canon Rebel T1i EOS 500D DSLR - love that camera.  So here it is, my SOOC (straight out of the camera shot):

And here is my edited shot using Photoshop Elements 8:

I first added a texture layer to grunge it up a bit.  I changed the opacity and blending mode and added the vignette.  Finally, I rounded the corners.  I'm getting a little more comfortable with the textures.   But I still have lots to learn and am having a blast trying out new things.  

Now, to see more before and after shots or to add one of your own, hop over to Monica's blog by clicking the button above.  

Thanks for stopping by!

See What's Cookin' - Chicken Lettuce Wraps

This has quickly become one of my family's favorite recipes. It's so quick, easy and adaptable - and HEALTHY.  I just had to share it with my readers.  You can thank me later.  :)  I promise, you'll love this.  Chicken Lettuce Wraps came from Joy Bauer.  You might recognize the name if you watch the Today Show.  She's their health/nutritionist guru.  Let's get cookin'!

Now, remember that I said this recipe is completely adaptable to you and your preferences as well as what you have on hand.  The recipe calls for celery and cashews.  I didn't have celery or cashews on hand so I left it out but it was still DELISH!  So don't worry if you are shy of a few ingredients.  Substitute something else or leave out what you don't like personally.  I used the following:

Yes, I cheated with the garlic.  I ran out of fresh garlic so I used the jarred stuff.  I also used ground turkey instead of chicken this go 'round.  It worked fine.  

Dice up all your veggies, garlic and ginger and throw them into a well-sprayed (keep it healthy and use olive oil) skillet.  You just want the veggies to get a head start so they aren't so crunchy.  So let them hang out there for about 5 minutes stirring often so they don't burn.

Then add your chicken (or turkey) and brown that up, seasoning it with salt and pepper.  The aromas will start to intoxicate you at this point.  Smells amazing!

Once that's browned, reduce the heat to low and add the plum sauce, the rice vinegar, and chili paste and stir to coat.  Simmer until just heated through.  Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the cilantro (and cashews if you have them).  Allow the mixture to cool slightly.

If you haven't cleaned your lettuce already, do that now and break off 12  individual leaves (trimming stems).  Fill each lettuce cup with roughly 1/2 cup of the chicken (turkey) mixture.  

Wrap that baby up and ENJOY, y'all!

To print or save this recipe, click HERE.

On another note, I'm guest posting over at Who Says 8 Is Enough? today while Debi and her family are away on a FAB vacation!  The post is an oldie but a goodie.  Debi is also giving away a prize to her biggest commenter.  Go check it out!