smiley sunday! things that make you go 'awwwww'

HAPPY SUNDAY!

do any of you follow

this is an awesome community for bloggers!

it's all about the blog love.

sharing comments,

visting new blogs and

making NEW FRIENDS! yay!

who can't use some new

BLENDS??

remember, blends: BLOGS+FRIENDS!

anyway, i normally HATE, DESPISE sundays. many of you have come to know this. i know it's supposed to
be a day of rest.....however, it seldom is. it has become the day before the start of
the wretched work week.
the day to complete the unfinished business around the house.
the day to get chores done....because in the blink of an eye, its monday morning.
blah.
anyway, over here, one of the comments posed a new way to address sundays!

cindy said 'sundays' represent 'new beginnings'......
what a great way to look at it!!! it made me stop for a minute and think, i should be
enjoying every day of the week. regardless of what tomorrow should bring.
what a novel idea! (no sarcasm indicated)
i dwell on tomorrow.....
always. always worried about what will happen next.
boo.
i have been really trying to focus on life and not sweating the small stuff...
very difficult for me.
i am always thinking what if....and what about.
so today i am going to start to 'try' to 'like' sundays.
note: i said "TRY"....big step. it will not happen over night....but
thanks cindy for opening my eyes!

ok, on to smiley sunday!
look at this lil guy!
meet mr. dallas.
the newest addition to our family. well....he belongs to princess # 1.

sleeping beauty....

yes, he has a cage while mama is at work. (sorry all you PETA people)....it's good for training...

look at that face. look at that tongue.

she adopted him and we think he may have been abused....but he is settling in nicely.

what makes you smile on this LOVELY sunday?

AND what's on your to-do list for this upcoming week? something ya wanna finish, accomplish or just

GET DONE?

thanks for reading smiley sunday and enjoy the rest of your day!

xoxo

t

pico de gallo AND guacamole!

i heart saturdays. i heart food. i heart mexican food.

we had a birthday party a couple of weekends back and i made this extremely easy recipe for

pico de gallo and guacomole.

compliments of

the

pioneer woman!!!

do you know who this is? have you ever perused salivated over her recipes? this girl does it all. she

lives on a ranch. she homeschools her children.

she takes awesome photographs.

she wrote a cookbook.

AND

she

cooks. and bakes. amazing. i want to be her. seriously.

anyway, this recipe for the pico and the guac came straight from her blog! her recipes are easy

and she is funny as well. hop on over and take a peek! you will feel

right at home!

pico de gallo

■5 whole Plum (roma) Tomatoes

■½ whole Large (or 1 Small) Onion

■3 whole Jalapeno Peppers

■Cilantro

■Lime Juice

■Salt To Taste

Pico de Gallo:


Chop jalapenos, tomatoes and onions into a very small dice. (Leave seeds in your jalapenos for a hotter pico). Adjust amount of jalapenos to your preferred temperature. Next, chop up a nice-sized bunch of cilantro. Just remove and discard the long leafless stems before chopping. No need to remove the leaves from the stems completely. Place all of these ingredients together in a bowl and give it a good stir.
Squeeze the juice of half of one lime into the bowl. Add salt to taste and stir again.

Guacamole


Start with buttery-soft avocados. Halve them lengthwise and remove the pits. Next, with a spoon scrape the “meat” out onto a large plate. Next, with the bottom of a clean cup (or with a fork) mash the avocados, making sure to leave it relatively chunky. Add just a couple of shakes of salt to taste. Next, add a generous helping of Pico de Gallo. Fold together. Lastly squeeze the juice of half of a lime over the top. Give it one last stir.
 
the pico de gallo:
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
annnd the yummy guacamole:
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
the pics are kind of blurry....i need to work on the photography skills....i bet ree, the pioneer woman
can help me out with that also! she is one amazing lady.
 

everyone gobbled up both of these like nobody's business.

if you love salsa also, you

can throw all of the same ingredients in your

food processor with a little olive oil and process until salsa consistency...

 

um, dont mix the avacados in if you are making salsa. (i am quite sure all of you would

figure that out...but just in case.....)

 

now scurry off doing the mexican hat dance and make some yumminessssss!!!

 

happy saturday~

love and huggies,

t

new friend friday!

fridays! we love them!

we are linking up with the girl creative!!! and the trendy treehouse!!! to bring

you new friend friday. please see the rules at either one of these

way cool blogs to participate!!!

anddddd.....grab this button and start to make more blends! (blog=friends)

soooo there is this really awesome person called donna downey! have you heard of her?

she has this really awesome website/classes/kits/supplies

that are just amazing!

visit her HERE!!

check out some of these adorable prints on sale, super CHEAP!

or how bout this one???

or for all you bakers....how'd ya like to sport this while you bake up your finest???

i would love to attend one of her workshops.....there are NONE, that are even semi-close to me...

so i think i will add this to the bucket list for next year....

i love creative, inspiring people! where do you get your inspiration from??

ohhhh, big news.....i am going to be sponsoring my VERY FIRST giveaway VERY SOON!!

stay tuned for more updates....(happy dance...happy dance.....)

enjoy the start  to your weekend! may it be blessed with love, hugs and good times!

xo

t

are you balanced??

happy thoughts. happy thursday!

while perusing some of my fav blogs, i came across an

amazing post.

not to mention some absolutely amazing photography.....

have i mentioned how much i want a new camera? (side note....)

but back to balance..

teresa over at blooming on bainbridge

has posted some really great points about balance in our life.

i think too many times we go thru life

waiting for happiness,

wishing for dreams,

hoping for 'more'.....instead

of enjoying life to the fullest each day, we always want more.

the days are not long enough, our lists become longer,

we stress over what we feel are our inadequacies.

i am trying to find balance. i want to find that feel good feeling of enjoying

my life to its full capabilities. i want to live with NO regret.

so in 100 years, (because of course i will still be alive, due to

science technology)....

i can look back and reflect.....

saying i lived my life. i did things that made ME and my family happy.

i want to pursue my dreams and put

energy into things that clearly deserve my energies.

hop on over to teresa's amazing blog post

and let me know what you think.

feel free to take her button and show the world you are doing

YOUR best to find balance within!!!

life is a wonderful thing.

enjoy it and be the best you can be!

love and hugs,

t

happy hump day and a glass painting hey day!

normally i would be thrilled the week is 1/2 over...not the case when you are on

vacation!

we have done nothing...but EAT and DRINK.

and be merry.....NOT.

it's hard to be merry when stress takes over your life.....

how do you deal with stress?

i either, a. eat. b. starve. c. try to 'create'

this week i did answer 'C'.

and so i will share with you my

attempt to create a cute lil pressie for my

oldest princess who celebrated her bday on monday.

just a little somethin, somethin to go with her bigger gifts.

i think she appreciated.

you will need some of these:

a wine glass or actually anything you would like to decorate!

oh, make sure you buy ENAMEL paint. very important.

paint brushes.

rubbing alcohol.

small, tiny, crystals for adornaments (i think the spelling is wrong! hey! i am a nurse, not an english major!)

E6000 glue.

toothpicks to attach those sparkly thingys.

oven.

patience.

1. wash and dry your glassware. you can use any type of glassware your little heart desires.
2. wipe down item you will be painting with rubbing alcohol.
3. paint. here is where the patience applies. you will need to let each coat dry before adding another. i dont have a lot of patience. when painting glass, you will find it doesnt adhere, like one would think, and you may see your brush marks. by adding layers, you will build up that thickness.
4. when you are completely done with your 'creation' and it has dried for 24 hours, place your pretty painted object into a COLD oven. turn oven on to 325 and allow to bake for 1/2 hour. turn oven off. allow to cool before removing. danger. glass gets hot. dont burn your pretty little fingers!
5. add your crystal thingys.
6. make sure your recipient knows that you need to HAND WASH. you might want to put a little tag tied to this just so they know!!!
7. admire your work. these make the coolest gifts and are way cheap. i buy my glasses from dollar tree. they cost a dollar. lol. (in case you didnt realize that ALL items at the dollar tree are one dollar!!!)

here is my creation in the works.

fyi. the finished product says, "birthday girl"...i painted a couple candles also.

i started with a base coat of white and then added some polka dots in white to the letters.

of course, i forgot to take a pic of the finished product.

the cool thing about this, is literally ANYONE can make these, AND they are super cheap.

if you are not creative....you can make them with dots...to match a hostess' kitchen...

the ideas are endless.

and that is how i helped alleviate some of the stress in my life right now....

please let me know what you DO!

have a happy hump day.

xo

zucchini houdini!

happy monday!

i, we are on vacation! AGAIN!

with the stress of the last two weeks, i feel like this is much needed.

the problem being, that because of the stress we have endured lately,

we have nothing planned,

and i wasn't excited like i usually

get when it's VACAY time.

i normally am doing the happy dance everyday, the week before....but not so much this time....

we have had company stay with us for a few

nights, so that has kept us busy.

school starts tomorrow for the kiddies, and i am

one

SAD

mama.

the little peanut (well, MY little peanut) is a senior this year.

tomorrow is her first day of the last year of high school.

i want to cry.

seriously.

just wait.....

for all of you who have little ones, or have no babies yet.....

they

GROW

so stinkin

FAST.

so today, i made some peace with myself...(well, baking seems to soothe my soul) so i

BAKED.

zucchini bread AND zucchini casserole.

i had a zucchini we got a couple of weeks ago, calling out to be turned into some

type of deliciousness.

zucchini casserole

2 cups shredded zucchini

4 slices bread

1 large red onion

4 cloves garlic peeled and sliced / chopped

salt

pepper

1 egg. beaten

1/2 cup heavy cream. yes. heavy cream. ( i made no mention this was a healthy recipe, did i???)

2 cups shredded cheddar

1/4 melted butter

preheat oven to 350'. cut bread into cubes and pour into large mixing bowl. add melted butter. combine rest of the ingredients, with the exception of the cheese.  pour into prepared 2 quart casserole. sprinkle with cheese..... bake for approximately 30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted. i let mine get somewhat bubbly on top and brownish.

this is the easiest side dish and actually for being full of a veggie, tastes delish. the smell of the onions and garlic while baking is heaven. no lies, peeps!

this is the picture of the recipe i received on http://www.allrecipes.com/

compliments of DC1. i was lazy and didnt feel like grabbing the camera....sorry. :o(

ok, onto some really fun news.....

i

won

a prize!

compliments of

spice berry cottage!

i won a $25.00 credit to their store.

they

have the most absolutely,  darling fabric for all you

crafters out in blog world.

i cant decide what to pick

but it's sure to

be

fantabulous!

how bout this to make a purse:

and this to line it with:

they have a TON...and so hard to choose.

pop on over and let them know where/how you found them! sign up also for their newsletters!

question of the day:

i see where there are blogger events all over......i would love to meet some of the local bloggers

in my area.....

sooooo,

how do you

'find'

local bloggers?

happy monday everyone.

blessings,

t

chocolate chip banana bread! say WHAT?!?

hi happy blog land! it's monday.one day closer to you know what!!! you all know by now, the LOVE i share in my heart with my weekends!  
first and foremost
thank you, ALL, for your warmest thoughts, prayers and wishes. It means so much to me, that
so many of you have emailed me or posted such sweet comments.
please continue to pray for my sister. (her name is laurie, btw)....

i have had this post waiting in blog land for almost two weeks now, and i started it and never finished.

i BAKED some lovin yumminess! easy on the belly, not so much on the calories....there IS, however a FRUIT in here, so we will say, it's a somewhat healthy choice.....remember......EVERYTHING is GOOD in moderation!

chocolate chip banana bread

2 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 smashed bananas....(i have used 4 before)
1/2 cup oil ( i use canola)
2 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips

preheat oven to 350'. grease bottom of loaf pan. (i use two smaller pans, not the itty bitty size, but not the traditional loaf pan). in a large bowl mix all ingredients except chocolate chips. blend in chips. pour batter into prepared pan. bake about 65 minutes for large loaf, or about 20-25 for two smaller size. my pans are also the dark nonstick, so i do reduce the oven temp to 325', and they do bake quicker. cool, remove from pan and enjoy! i love these when they are warm, ooey and gooey!

my question of the day:

for those of you who have re-designed your blog....was it a difficult process?

i am thinking that the blog needs an overhaul......

just a thought.

i will add it to the terri-do list that is ever so long!

big hugs and thanks so much for keeping my family in your heart and prayers~

t

do you ever question 'why'???

hey bloggies!

i have had a horrible last couple of days.

i just am really questioning god, faith, and so much more.

i believe in the power of prayer, so i hope you can ask god for a miracle for our family.

long story: short version.

my older sister was diagnosed a little over a year ago with kidney cancer. she had a grapefruit

sized tumor on her right kidney. within 7 days of the diagnosis she was minus one kidney.

the good news:  the kidney was confined, no lymph involvement or spread.

fast forward about 15 months.

she just had her most recent CT scan done. sad news.

a very rare kidney cancer has invaded her entire abdominal area and and liver. there is no

form of treatment, other then experimental drugs. it is stage 4, that has spread

everywhere. metastasized from the original site. WTF?

we were told this was a done deal. they got it all. sad part is that she JUST had her

last CT scan 6 months ago: CLEAR. did they miss this? i guess it is very

agressive. we need prayers. i know

this blog is supposed to be happy.

my sister in addition to all of this, was diagnosed 10 yrs ago with MS. so then being hit with

kidney cancer, seizures, etc. she has had a really rough road.

she is one of the SWEETEST people i know. (i know she's my sister)

but she NEVER has a bad word to say about anyone.

please pray for a miracle.

i cant

stop

crying.

and i complain about such small things in life. i am a whiney baby if i dont get my own way. i pout

over

silly

little

things.

go hug your loved ones. i dont know how much time we have with her and it

BREAKS my heart.

why?

life is

NOT

FAIR.

blessings,

love,

t

fun friday!

happy friday bloggies! i am giddy with excitement that

today

is

FRIDAY! 

you all know how much i ADORE my weekends! 

i am hooking up to these fun sites for making new BLENDS=FRIENDS+BLOGS!!!! 

please come see all the FUN, WAY COOL blogs and make some new FRIENDS!





 

every day i am more and more amazed at all of the new friends i meet, the ideas i am consumed with, the overwhelming help with a problem i am having....so on and so forth. you get the point!

i love blogging! i am so happy to have all of you in my life!!!!

xo

now go make some new friends and share the blog love!
happy weekend!

smiley sunday! things that make you go 'awwwww'

hi blog land! happy sunday! i am taking the positive approach to sundays....(a.k.a. the day before the work week starts.....again!)

what....

makes....

you...

smile??

i started smiley sunday a few weeks ago, with the hopes of continuing it every week, but as life goes, i have been a wee bit busy, so back on track, now!

a big sloppy kiss from him! i want one of these puppies so bad....now i have to convince the boy. this my friends, is a GOLDEN DOODLE! LOVE THEM!

MY NEW COACH PURSE~(this is not exactly the picture of the one i am now the proud owner of, but it's the poppy design and SUPER big for all my junk!) it was a sweet little gift from JP and i love it! (thanks honey!)

the beaches of key west.....i need a vacation! BADLY!

a FUN PINK PARTY DRESS!!!

and pink cupcakes of course!!!!

i am off to drink some cinnamon blueberry coffee and relax.....i will fit in laundry and some household chores as well, but i wanted to say HI and remind you to SMILE!

love and huggggs,

t