Green Delicious little Disks

As I have said before, cooking has become something of interest to me. Baking in particular. Well.... if i'm really honest, it's probably anything to do with making things that taste really good but kick me in the butt later when i'm wearing the extra few pounds.

First of all I must share my new found passion for the heavenly store of T.J.Maxx. Now I know that as a female, i'm almost naturally born with the gift of shopping, but more recently the thought of clothes shopping is a complete turn-off. I like shopping for things, rather than clothes. Ok, that was a lie. By saying I like "shopping", I really mean that I enjoy the act of walking around stores, "ooh-ing" and "ahh-ing" at what I would love to buy. I mentally decorate my future home, oh and believe me, it's gorgeous.

And now you're probably wondering, "What the heck does that have to do with cooking?"

Oh please, calm down, I'm getting there!

At this wonderful store named T.J.Maxx there lived a cookbook. Now, this was no ordinary cook book you see, it was a magical cookbook which held many treasures that Alex would slowly unfold. The title you ask?

Jell-O!

Huh?

How can you have a whole cookbook for just Jell-O! ?

Ah but you see my friends, as I said before, this was no ordinary cookbook! For it's pages were cardboard, and it's height was a mere 6inches tall. All of which included only about 30 recipes.

So as I flipped through this magic book, I came across something that I had never once dreamed of. The combinations of Jell-O! and cookies. OMG! Jell-O! and cookies you say?!?!? How can you combine two so delectable foods into one.

Well let me just tell you something. It's amazing these cookbooks you see, they actually TELL you how those kinds of magnificent things can happen. They even put it in simple terms, like measurements, and step-by-step instructions.

Ta-Da! .. The mixture of :

flour

baking powder

'Berry Blast' Jell-O! mix

an egg

vanilla extract

and an ungodly amount of sugar and butter

.... creates green little morsels of amazingness!

5 Things

So, I am officially home for good now! Phew, that was a crazy summer, and I must say, it was well worth the traveling, because I enjoyed every minute of it.
So instead of going on and on about all the different things that I did while I was away, I have come up with what I like to call my "5 fab fav's". These are the things that simply made my vacationing just that much better.

So lets begin

#5 Dunkin' Donuts

nuf' said

#4 the Zero-Gravity Chair

Many, many hours were spent in this amazing piece of outdoor furniture

I would go outside, sit in my fab chair, and read a book while Abigail would swim in the pool

#3 The Saab

My father, great man, but he is never satisfied with his vehicles. This is his latest trade-in, and although I mostly drove the Ford Excape, sometimes I drove this beast.

#2 the Outdoor Shower

Although this is something that is put on houses near the beach, this should seriously be brought to Tallahassee homes. You just wait, I'll have one at my house, I already made Kyle promise to build me one :)

and last but DEFINITELY not least, coming in at

#1

Whenever I visit my dad, I sleep in Abigail's room because it has a twin bed, with a twin bed that pulls out and pops up with another mattress, she sleeps on the inside, I'm on the outside. Normally she wakes up WAY before I do, but not this particular morning. I turned to my left and said to myself "oh my goodness, she better stay still, cause this is definitely a Kodak moment"

Well, after she had woken up I showed her the picture, and she turned bright red and proclaimed "Don't post this on Facebook or on your blog thing, my underwear is hanging out!"

.............

sorry, like that was gonna happen

I can't help it, it was just TOO cute to pass up

SURPRISE!

So I'm here in Massachusetts visiting some family. Today, actually Andrew is getting back from Mississippi, and then exactly 1 week from now Kyle is coming.

Well... ever since Andrew moved here to live with my dad, they've made some changes to his bedroom. When he first moved here, the bed was a futon and we would just lay it down and 2 people could sleep on it, but for long term, a bed was definitely necessary.

Now let me just give you the low down on Cape Cod...

Basically, anywhere that you are, you are virtually 5-10mins away from a beach. Most of the island is gorgeous and real estate is EXTREMELY expensive.

So.... you're going to pay a hefty price even the smallest house.

So with all things considered, Andrew's bedroom is a good size for 1 person but... 2 people living in there is kinda pushing it, and since he only has a single bed, where is Kyle going to sleep?

My friends, we have come up with a solution!

We bought a single mattress and slid it under Andrew's bed, so that we can pull it out quite comfortably and voila! you can fit 2 people!

My dad, oh so cleverly, came up with a prank [which is quite impressive ;) ]

They say pictures are worth 1,000 words, so I'll let them do the talking

Here is Andrew's room normally

And this is what it looks like while we are accommodating Kyle

Kyle! we can't wait for you to come and visit! we love you lots, and lots, and lots! (obviously)

Busy Busy Busy

Summer is a time for relaxation. "Fun in the sun, not a care in the world". Ha!

Since everyone that used to live here (Mom, Andrew) moved to different places, guess who is the one that is blessed with doing a bunch of traveling?

Any guesses?
oh yes. you're correct.... me!

Not that this is a bad thing by any means, I love to travel, and more than that, I enjoy spending time with those people that mean the most to me. Some of my best memories are made with my family.

But, I have done some math, and the numbers are a little crazy.

In the months of July and August..

• I will be working a total of : 7 days
• I will be home : 11 full days in July & 10 full days in August
• I will be traveling (like, doing the actually traveling, not just being somewhere) : 12 days (11 of which are in July)
• I will be going to (potentially) : 6 different places

So. If you want to hang out and do something, please don't get offended if I can't place you somewhere in my schedule, as you can see, it's already insane, but... I will make every effort I can.

in Conclusion

Kayleigh McHugh
Camryn Zorn
John David Spell
Jack Chichester
Danni Waller
Camden Hill
Kaeden Richards
Zachary Weddington
Garrett Marschka
Jada Moore
Ciara Buddie

.......... These kids know that there is only ONE true God

New Hobby

So. I know I haven't posted anything in a while, but lately I've been having "blogger's block". I've been so busy with work and other things that I've hardly had time to do other things, which I know is good, because I'm getting a lot of hours in at work, but my summer is kinda flying by, waving and laughing at me because I can't really enjoy the relaxation that should be taking place. BUT. There has been something that has sparked my interest lately... and that is
COOKING
... pause for gasp
Ok. so for all of you who know me, you know that I'm no cook. I am clueless when it comes to the kitchen. But as time goes by and I get older, I realize that someday, I'll have to provide food for myself and other people.. that won't kill them, or leave them with eating cereal three times a week.
I only have made a few things, but it's kinda a big deal for me, since my latest record was a big huge 0.

So far my list is :
A delicious breakfast dish
Chocolate covered strawberries
Italian Chicken and turnip greens

Don't laugh, the chocolate covered strawberries were more fun than difficult. All I had to do was wash strawberries and melt chocolate, but the breakfast dish was so delicious that I must share.

The recipe:
12oz cream cheese
1 roll of ground Italian sausage
4-5 eggs
as much shredded cheese as you want
2 containers of crescent rolls

* Roll out the bottom layer of crescent rolls on the bottom of the pan and cook as long as the instructions call for
* Mix cream cheese, eggs, 3/4 Italian sausage and cheese together (easier if you melt the cream cheese) and put on top of cooked bottom layer
* Place rolled out 2nd container of crescent rolls and gently place on top
* Cook as instructed on crescent roll package
(I found that it needs to be cooked longer)

Just another random day

So today Kyle and I went with my mom to her new church here in Picayune, Mississippi. we got there late (of course) and we caught the last half of the worship service. After worship, they took the offering, and then very nonchalantly the pastor gets up to announce the Dove Award Winning artist Kari Jobe to come on stage and sing. I freaked out, not only do I love her music, but I was completely psyched that she was just sitting there on the front row of the church.

So my mother, being the handy woman that she is, whipped out her camera and recorded a part of the song she sang, and then they FORCED me to take a picture with her. (not that I didn't want one, I just didn't want to be the only one freaking out that she was there, because everyone seemed un-phased by it.

So... here's the pic!


and then my mom had Kyle jump in for one,
although he had NO clue who she even was