Forever and a Day

Baby Buggy Cake

2013-05-09T12:45:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago my boss asked me to make the cake for a party she was having to show off her new grandbabies. In January her son welcomed twins and this was the first time they were in town to meet all of their family and friends.

She sent me this picture as inspiration for what she wanted to do. I had no instructions other than this photo.

After studying it I felt like I wouldn’t have any problems with it because it’s all things I learned in my cake classes a few years ago.

So the party was this past weekend and I have to say I was very pleased with the results!

I left out the baby in the buggy because I couldn’t get the flesh color just right but I still think they turned out very cute.

What do you think?

Back From a Break

2013-05-02T12:35:00.001-05:00

Hi Friends! Remember me? I have been MIA from all social media lately. I would love to say that I was getting knocked up or something as exciting as that but the simple fact is that life has just been a bit crazy lately.

Adam’s work officially closed the doors mid-April so he is currently trying to get his upholstery business going and really just taking a much needed break. He’s been doing a lot of work around/in the house as well as working in his shop helping his dad. He is looking for something new but he’s at a point that he can pause and figure out a new path that he may want to take in life. I know God has big plans for him and us! **Deep breaths, lots of faith**

My work is going good. I have a lot more responsibility at work and I will be working to get more licenses in the near future. This is one of the big reasons I’ve been absent online. I’ve been doing a lot of training with people higher up in our company and will be doing even more in the next few months before I take my license test. My Thirty-One business has been on the back burner for the past couple of months but I hope I can get going on that again soon.

We have had a couple of band gigs lately. It’s always nice to go have fun, listen to great music, and get paid :). Adam and I DJ’d a wedding a couple of weeks ago. That was a new and overwhelming experience. I was so afraid our computer would malfunction while the bride was walking down the aisle. Thankfully everything went perfect!

I hope to get back in to blogging at least 2 or 3 times a week. I have a couple of ideas for regularly weekly posts and I look forward to doing some movie reviews again. So far recently we have seen The Host (LOVED IT!), Oblivion (Good), and The Company You Keep (Very good).

I have a lot of catching up to do in blog reading but I hope you haven’t forgotten me!! I’ve missed my blog friends!!

Olympus Has Fallen ~ Movie Review

2013-03-25T15:45:00.001-05:00

This weekend seemed to fly by. I think because we did a lot of running around. Saturday we decided to go to Joe’s Crab Shack for dinner. Sounds great until you realize the closest one is an hour and a half away. Boo! So we made the journey to Shreveport, ate, and walked around the boardwalk for about an hour. It was fun other than the fact that we had to drive in heavy rain all the way there and back.

Sunday I talked Adam into seeing the movie Olympus Has Fallen.

I’m really not sure why this movie didn’t appeal to him from the beginning. I think he sees Gerard Butler as a romantic comedy type of actor and so he thought this was going to be a bit corny. Well let me just tell ya that Mr McCoy thought this was an awesome movie. I of course knew it would be because to me Gerard Butler kicks ass and Morgan Freeman wouldn’t dare be in subpar movie.

IMDb synopsis:
”Disgraced former Presidential guard Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) finds himself trapped inside the White House in the wake of a terrorist attack; using his inside knowledge, Banning works with national security to rescue the President from his kidnappers.”

This movie scared the crap out of me. My heart was pounding from the very beginning and I think I may have burned off all of the calories from my popcorn. The way the movie creators designed this overthrow of the Whitehouse was so perfect that I hope the people in charge of this great nation have taken some notes. There was no part that I was like … Oh that would never happen. When the rebels threw the tattered remains of the American flag off of the Whitehouse roof I almost cried. It was scary to think that people could hide in plain site and overthrow all of our security measures so effortlessly and be 10 steps ahead of where we were.

Gerard Butler was at his best in this movie. He was funny when the mood needed it and he was dead serious when he needed to kick some major rebel ass. There is A LOT of violence in this movie, the real kind, not the fake bloody stuff. Duh you say … but I always feel the need to warn people.

Morgan Freeman is ever the cool and calm leader in the face of such tragedy as acting President. The rest of the cast including Aaron Eckhart, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, Melissa Leo, Dylan McDermott were great too but Gerard Butler steals the show.

I would give this movie 5 out of 5 stars because it was heart pounding from beginning to end. The movie is seamless in how it moves from scene to scene without a bunch of confusion and jumping around. It gets to the point quickly and takes everyone on a wild ride. Love the cast, love this movie!

A Great Book

2013-03-19T10:32:00.001-05:00

I had a couple of great posts in the works for Friday and Monday but unfortunately I didn’t have them scheduled and I ended up sick. So much for planning ahead! Adam was sick the first part of the week and I woke up Thursday morning and knew that it had me too. We are pretty sure it was just allergies because EVERYTHING is coated in yellow from the billion pine trees around us. But allergies or not … fever is fever and a horrible runny nose is impossible to deal with sometimes. Neither one of us missed a day of work but I know my boss knew not to give me anything too difficult when all I really wanted to do is sleep. We are both on the mend now and I’m starting to be able to taste food again. How much I miss the taste of good food when I’m sick!

One thing I did get accomplished this weekend was finding a great new book to share with you. I was starting to feel better and I was desperate for something to read that would make me feel happy. So I went in search of free Nook Books. I love that I can shop for books from my couch for FREE. Best thing ever!

I came across this book … Discovering You by Melissa Kean.

It was exactly what I was looking for. A historical romance set in the 1800s. Oh but it’s so much more than that. This is now one of my favorites of favorites. It is like someone read all of my favorite books, topics, themes, and put them all together to make the sweetest love story.

It’s about a girl named Lucy that has been hired to refurbish the library of the very mysterious Nicholas Davenport. She is intrigued by his mystery and soon learns he is a troubled man with a troubled past and very dark secrets. He has put himself in exile for the past 5 years after his late wife’s death. When Lucy comes in to his life she brings a light that he just can’t resist. There are obstacles to overcome, villains to vanquish, a mystery to solve, and a love worth fighting for.

Their story is not rushed but rather well thought out and explored. I love the journey that this author went on with these two characters and I feel like I’m still living in their world of happiness. This wasn’t a trashy romance as I usually call them. Most books like this have sex on every other page. Not this one … not even once. It is super romantic and very sweet. Love it!

Oh did I mention it’s FREE? Even if you don’t own a Nook you can download Nook for PC (or ipad, iphone, whatever) so you can read this book. Worth it!

Meet Sheree

2013-03-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

Today I'm turning my blog over to Sheree from The Hartungs. She recently won my 30th Birthday giveaway and is now featured on my sidebar! I asked her if she would like to do a guest post to introduce herself to my great readers and she gladly agreed. Take a minute to visit her blog please and leave her some love!

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Hey everyone! I'm Sheree from The Hartungs Blog. Today I'm going to tell you a little bit about myself :)

When and why did you start your blog? I started my blog last fall. I'm from BC, and my husband and I live in Alberta. With all of my friends and family back home in Vancouver, I started the blog as a way to keep in touch with them. I found that I'd forget to tell them small details about our lives and our marriage, so I wanted a place where I could write about the little details of our lives. I thought a lot about starting a blog last year, and I decided to jump right in in November! I never thought that it would become a hobby of mine. I write about the dates Cade and I go on, or evenings with friends, or new recipes I'm trying. I think that months/years from now, I'll be able to look back and remember the daily lives of our newlywed years.

Describe yourself in three words: organized, genuine, chocoholic (haha)

How long have you been married? Tell us a bit about your husband, Cade: My hubby and I have been married for two years this August. He is determined, hard-working, and sincerely kind-hearted. But my favorite thing about him is his sense of humour! More often than not, he has me doubled over with laughter. I can't believe how fast the past two years have gone! I'm stilling calling ourselves newlyweds...how long should a couple be considered newlyweds? Who knows!

What is your favorite thing to do in your spare time? What spare time, haha. My hubby and I are both full-time students, so we're always very busy! If I do have a moment to myself, you'll probably find me baking. I love trying new recipes and experimenting (like mini meatloaves, or mini mint chocolate fudge cheesecakes). But I don't like keeping my baking in my house - otherwise I'll eat it all! Haha. So my friends and family usually get yummy gifts :)

A big thank you to Jessica for letting me guest post! Hopefully you stop my blog and say hello :)

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Thank you so much Sheree for guest posting today!!

Things I Want To Do & See in Texas

2013-03-12T04:00:00.000-05:00

Today I am co-hosting this great link up!

This is a great Texas link up about all things Texas. I love reading all the Texas related posts each week and I’m glad that now I get to actually be a part of it! Thank you Crystal & Amanda for letting me join the party!

When I first agreed to be a co-host I didn’t have any idea what I would talk about. I haven’t been to many places and I don’t have any specialties that are related to TX. But there is so much I want to do and see in this great state that I thought I would share some of those things I hope to do. I also want to share a little bit about the town that I live in.

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One of these days I will visit the Alamo. Texas history was one of my favorite subjects in school. I loved learning about the Alamo and the people involved. It would be so amazing to stand where they stood and to be in the presence of so much history.

I want to party on 6th St in Austin! We went to Austin in 2006 but didn’t know anyone there or really know where to go so we didn’t even go down to 6th St. This is a must!

I have always wanted to visit the river walk in San Antonio. It seems so romantic to me.

We’ve been invited to float Guadalupe River before but we never could make it for whatever reason. This looks like so much fun!

Then there are things I want to SEE in Texas.

Big Bend has interested me and I wish it wasn’t so far away. I think it’s amazing how many different types of terrain we have in one state. Mountains have always fascinated me and one day I want to stand on top of one and look at a view like this,

or this …

Have you heard of Jacob’s well? This is one of the coolest things to me! It’s about 12ft in diameter and about 30ft deep before it branches in to various underground / underwater caverns. It seems like it would be very scary to swim across but I would at least peak over the edge.

This is something that I have actually done but I want to go again. This is a picture of Inner Space Caverns near Georgetown. Adam and I went on our honeymoon and it was so cool. I would love to explore more of these.

Isn’t this the most beautiful site? I want to lay in this field of bluebonnets and watch the clouds go by. So peaceful looking.

Something else that I want to see is the plains of TX. I imagine you feel very small when you are looking out at this vast expanse of sky and you know just how big this world is.

Now to share a little bit about where I live. I live in Tyler, TX … the rose capital of the world. We have the largest rose garden in America! We even have a Rose Queen.

As if roses weren’t enough we also have Azalea Trails. People travel from all over the country to see these amazing lawns and gardens on the trails during the spring. This particular one was feature in Southern Living magazine.

To me it’s a tad bit crazy that people love our flowers so much but I guess growing up here your whole life seeing roses for sale on every street corner just becomes a natural thing. There really is nothing like a beautiful Tyler roses though.

**All photos from Google Images unless otherwise noted above.

A Weekend of Downtime

2013-03-11T09:10:00.001-05:00

The past 4 days or so I have taken a break from technology. I haven’t read any blogs, haven’t checked facebook (much), haven’t read one tweet. Last week I felt that things were getting a little out of balance and out of my control.

At work I found out that I had missed something that I normally wouldn’t have missed. Was facebook or blogging to blame? Who knows but I do know that sometimes I get so caught up in this world inside of my computer screen that things in the world I’m actually living in get a little bit crazy.

So Friday I got caught up on some things at work and didn’t even log in to blogger once and left facebook closed for most of the day. This weekend I left my phone on silent and in my purse. Saturday we had some YUMMY Denny’s for breakfast and ran errands early in the day. Then we came home and got caught up on the DVR. Adam has been working every evening for the past week until around 9pm on a seat he was upholstering, so it was nice to have some US time. Then we headed over to his parents (next door) to chat and play with our niece that they were babysitting for the evening. She is growing up SO fast!

Sunday was our wedding anniversary. I can’t believe that we have been married 7 years already! We’ve now been married half the time we have been together. Crazy! We didn’t have big plans other than continuing our weekend of just being together. We decided to go see the movie Oz and then had some TCBY. Oz was good. I’m not going to use a whole post for a review because it was pretty much what you expect it to be. No surprises for me really but very much worth seeing.

Adam started not feeling good about half way through the movie but we’re pretty sure it’s just allergies. I’ve been feeling bad for the past week and so far it hasn’t turned in to any kind of cold or flu so hopefully the same will go for him.

Overall we had a pretty laid back weekend and I just feel so much better having gotten to spend time with Adam. I feel so thankful to have the life that I do.

Today I’m jumping in to work with a coke zero (or three) to keep me awake because 4:30 sure felt like 3:30 this morning! I’m hoping to get caught up on blog reading and get a few posts scheduled too.

Happy Monday!

Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

2013-03-06T11:02:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite things to have for dinner is Chicken Pot Pie. I just LOVE everything about it … especially the flaky pie crust. YUM! Well I haven’t made it in a long time because the recipe I had just got old and I was a bit intimidated by other recipes that I found. A couple of weekends ago I finally just decided to try out a recipe that I found on allrecipes.com. They are my go to site when I’m trying to find something new.

Here is the original recipe for Chicken Pot Pie IX that I based mine off of.

And here is my recipe:

Ingredients:
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast
3 – 4 medium new potatoes
1 can of whole kernal corn
1 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup milk
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 box Pillsbury pie crust (2 crusts)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Cook your chicken in whatever method you like. I cook my chicken breast in EVOO in a large skillet until it’s done (seasoned with a little salt and pepper). Then shred into various bite size pieces.

While the chicken is cooking, cut up the new potatoes into bite size pieces and boil in water and salt in a medium sauce pan until they are just barely done. You want them to be a little firm so that they don’t get overcooked in the baking. Drain and set aside for now.

In a large sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. Add in flour, stir, and let cook for a few minutes to make a roux, stirring continuously. Slowly add in milk and chicken broth. Stir continuously until roux is dissolved in the liquid. Add in salt, pepper, celery seed, and poultry seasoning. When this mixture is hot add in chicken, corn, peas, and stir to combine. Add the potatoes last so that they don’t get smashed. Move this mixture off of the heat.

Place bottom pie crust in a pie pan and spread out so that it’s even all the way around. Switch oven over to broil (same temp) and put pie crust in the oven to cook the bottom only. Keep a very close on eye on it so that it doesn’t burn. Once it’s starting to look flaky and golden remove from the oven.

Pour filling in to the pie crust. Cover with top crust and press around the edges to close the pie (BE SURE NOT TO BURN YOURSELF ON THE HOT PIE DISH!). Cut slits in the top crust to let steam escape. If you have a foil pie ring put that on your pot pie before baking to keep the edges from overbrowning. If you don’t have one use regular foil to wrap around the edges only. Or get you a pie ring! So worth it.

Remember to switch the back over to bake! Bake for about 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and flaky. The insides is already cooked so you are just looking for the crust to be done.

Let cool after removing from the oven for about 10 minutes. This gives the insides time to meld together well. Then slice it up like a pie and enjoy!!

** My notes **

I increased my chicken broth a little bit from the original recipe (from 1 3/4 cup to 2 cups) because the reviews all said it was too dry. More chicken broth was a MUST. My pie turned out great but I think the next time I make it I will do a little more roux, chicken broth, and milk just to give it even more of a creamy texture. Too much chicken broth without increasing the roux (flour and butter) would possibly make it runny.

Our Weekend and a Movie Review

2013-03-04T10:11:00.001-06:00

Spring is in the air today and I’m so glad that it’s March. February was a FABULOUS month but I’m kind of glad all the birthday fuss is over and it’s just a normal day.

Adam had his first Upholstery job this weekend so he spent the majority of his time out the shop working. I honestly can’t remember what I really did Saturday, during the day, other than my normal house cleaning routines. Saturday evening we went to a friend of mines wedding at a place called the Villa De Felicita. It is so gorgeous and romantic. This picture is not the wedding we attended but rather one from the Villa’s website.

I didn’t take any photos myself and didn’t feel right stealing others off of facebook to post here. Isn’t this a gorgeous view though!?! The reception was just as beautiful in the ball room and the food was delicious.

One of these days I will remember to actually take photos of things!

Sunday I spent the day working on our taxes while Adam continued to work. Why did I put this off? It’s not any better than if I had just done it a month ago. I have vowed to keep monthly records for our businesses rather than going through this headache at the end of the year.

We did decide to go see a movie last night and decided to see Jack the Giant Slayer.

I’m sure you have seen the previews for this movie at least 100 times because it’s been on every other commercial. In case you haven’t seen it here is the quick summary. Jack is a lowly farm boy that comes across some magic beans. By accident one of them grows in to a giant beanstalk and he realizes that the legends of beanstalks and giants are true. He joins the mission to rescue the princess that he has fallen in love with from the giants and save the kingdom from destruction.

Was the movie good? Yes. Was it great? Eh. It was enjoyable and I loved the cast. The main issue I had was that it seemed like they tried too hard to make it witty and get a laugh. Like when someone is telling a joke that they think is hilarious and there is that awkward moment when nobody really laughs? That’s sort of how I felt. It’s not that the movie wasn’t cute or even funny it just seemed a bit forced to me.

Another issue I had is that the movie was so dark. By dark and mean literal darkness. I’m not sure if it was the 3D effects but even when the characters were in full sunshine the lighting was very muted. When there was a scene where the characters were in a darker room it was very hard to see the surroundings which was a distraction to me.

Maybe I’m being way to critical of it though. Adam enjoyed it even though he felt that it was a bit hokey and kiddy. For me it was an average movie. It didn’t wow me or make me excited. It’s not one that I would purchase but I also don’t feel cheated out of the $10 it cost to see it in 3D (I had a free movie ticket). There were a lot of kids in the theater and they seemed to really enjoy all of the bodily functions, booger picking, and eyeball poking, scenes. :)

(this is my 600th post!! Wow!)

Follow Friday

2013-03-01T11:45:00.001-06:00

It’s Friday!! Yay! Today I’m sharing some of the really great ladies that I have met recently! I’m so glad that these ladies are sponsoring my blog this month and that I was able to meet them and make new friends. Check out their blogs so that you can meet them too!

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Lindsey @ Country Roots City Living

Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest

Hi my name is Lindsey but most everyone just calls me Lins. I am a midwestern girl turn southern belle. I am a stay at home mom of two boys, three fur babies, and a husband. My blog is a lifestyle blog and you will find recipes, DIY, adventures of raising two outgoing boys, and just our life in general as we get used to a new state away from our family and friends.

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Jennifer @ Busy Being Jennifer

Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest ~ Shop

Hi Friends! I'm Jennifer, the Jennifer behind Busy Being Jennifer. I'm just a small town Texas blogger making my way in the world and having a lot of fun, and being a little blonde along the way :) I love coffee, my puppy, reading, chocolate, my Hubby, shopping and anything crafty! Oh, and I have a shop!

Homespun Happiness is the place where I send the things that I make and love and want to share! Through my shop I help support a small ministry in Romania that helps rescue women that have been forced into slavery. So when you purchase from Homespun Happiness you get a lovely, handmade something, and you help make a difference!

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Kenzie @ My Life and Lemons

Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest

Hey, I'm Kenzie! I'm a part-time-stay-at-home mom, fitness instructor, and house cleaner. I love to ride horses, cook, do crafts, and go on adventures. I blog over at Life & Lemons about my random everyday life. I love participating in fun link ups and memes, as well as post a ton of fun pictures.

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Demi @ {Country} Life With a Front Porch View

Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Pinterest ~ Google

My name is Demi. I'm a 29 year old stay at home mom, wife and avid blogger. I'm a southern "firecracker" who loves to have fun and enjoys helping others. I live in a small town in Western Tennessee with my husband, son, our basset hound Chloe and our 13 pound house cat Precious. I blog over at {Country} Life with a Front Porch View. My blog is about all the adventures in the life of a small town country mom. I love to post craft projects, good ole southern recipes and anything else that sparks my interest! I currently run two weekly linkups: Inspire Me! Thursdays and Southern Sundays. I hope y'all will stop by my front porch real soon for an afternoon visit -- feel free to bring your friends as well! I look forward to seeing everyone there! Have a great day from my front porch to yours!!

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Gayle @ Grace for Gayle

Blog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram

Hey, y'all, I'm Gayle, and I write over at Grace for Gayle. Contrary to some emails I've been getting, my name isn't Grace (seems worth mentioning). My day job is in Human Resources as a Compensation Analyst, so I ~~spend all day looking at salaries and trying not to laugh and/or cry~~ analyze compensation. I live in Dallas with my two dogs and two cats. I love peanut butter, animal memes, chips and salsa, scary movies, working out, borrowing people's kids, and I have an unusually difficult time describing myself without just listing stuff (no autobiography for me, unless a 500-page list counts). Jessica has awesome readers, so I hope y'all come visit me, too--I guarantee my blog content is more entertaining than this paragraph has been. While you're there, be sure to add yourself to my map, and sign up to receive some G-Mail!

Have a great weekend!!

Giveaway Hot Spot

2013-02-26T10:47:00.001-06:00

Today I wanted to highlight all of the great giveaways that I’m either involved in or that my friends are involved in. This way you can have direct access from this one page without having to hunt all over the blog world for those great giveaways!

My Giveaways:

30th Birthday Giveaway $200+ in prizes! ~ Ends midnight on Feb 28th.

Lindsey is having a February Sponsor Giveaway for ad space and gift cards
~ Ends TONIGHT!

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Other Giveaways you need to check out:

Janette is featuring 5 of her sorority sisters this week and their businesses. There will be a giveaway for over $200 worth of prizes at the end of the week to one lucky reader.

Kenzie is giving away some MAJOR Ad space for her February Sponsor Giveaway!

Gayle is participating in a $250 Visa Giveaway!

Beth from Living a Goddess Life is having a giveaway for 5 Kindle eBooks of The Grimm Chronicles Volume 1. Stephanie is giving away a beautiful Chunky Necklace! Marla with Saving U Green is giving away 3 Packages of Field Trip Jerky (3 flavors) on her blog. Today I’m also linking up with Seriously Shawn & Impulsive Addict for Talk To Us Tuesday! Best link party there is!

Oscars .. My Take

2013-02-25T10:38:00.001-06:00

The Oscars have finally been awarded! I just loved this years show and that I predicted 10 our 23 correctly! Ok so that’s not saying much but the ones that I completely guessed on I knew I was probably going to get them wrong anyways. I got most of the big ones right!

Here are the winners and my original predictions from my post a few weeks ago:

BEST PICTURE ~ Argo
My Prediction – Lincoln

BEST ACTRESS ~ Jennifer Lawrence
My Prediction - Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook

BEST ACTOR ~ Daniel Day-Lewis
My Prediction - Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS ~ Anne Hathaway
My Prediction - Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR ~ Christoph Waltz
My Prediction - Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln

BEST DIRECTOR ~ Ang Lee for Life of Pi
My Prediction - Steven Spielberg for Lincoln

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY ~ Argo
My Prediction - Life of Pi

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY ~ Django Unchained
My Prediction - Django Unchained

BEST ANIMATED FILM ~ Brave
My Prediction - Brave

BEST FOREIGN FEATURE ~ Amour
My Prediction - Amour

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS ~ Life of Pi
My Prediction - Life of Pi

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY ~ Life of Pi
My Prediction - Life Of Pi

BEST COSTUME DESIGN ~ Anna Karenina
My Prediction - Lincoln

BEST DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE) ~ Searching for Sugar Man
My Prediction - The Gatekeepers

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT) ~ Inocente
My Prediction – Redemption

BEST FILM EDITING ~ Argo
My Prediction - Life of Pi

BEST MAKEUP ~ Les Mis
My Prediction - The Hobbit

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE) ~ Mychael Danna for Life of Pi
My Prediction - Mychael Danna for Life of Pi

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG) ~ Skyfall
My Prediction - Suddenly from Les Mis

BEST SOUND EDITING ~ Skyfall & Zero Dark Thirty (Has there ever been a tie before?)
My Prediction - Life of Pi

BEST SOUND MIXING ~ Les Mis
My Prediction - Les Mis

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION) ~ Curfew
My Prediction - Death of a Shadow

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED) ~ Paperman
My Prediction - Adam and Dog

Favorite Moments:
Jennifer Hudson’s performance! If you didn’t see it go HERE to see the video.

Jennifer Lawrence winning best actress and falling up the stairs. Thank you for making us clumsy people feel a lot better. I just love her! I also LOVED her dress and that necklace.

The cast of Les Mis singing. This brought tears to my eyes for some reason. It was so good. See that video HERE.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Daniel Radcliffe, and Seth McFarlane’s routine. Loved it!

Channing Tatum & Charlize Theron dancing.

The boobs song!

The gorgeous decor on stage.

Least Favorite Moments:
While I loved that Seth McFarlane was the host did he really need to laugh after EVERY single joke he did?

Kristen Chenoweth … period

Argo winning best picture … should have been Lincoln or Les Mis.

Overall it was a great show! My DVR cut off even though I had it set to record an extra hour so unfortunately I had to get caught up when I got to work to see all of the acceptances speeches.

What was your favorite part of the show? Least favorite?

Movie Review ~ Beautiful Creatures

2013-02-22T14:19:00.001-06:00

I haven’t had much of an opportunity to blog this week so I feel a little out of touch. I have been trying to visit blogs and comment so hopefully I have made it to your little piece of the blog world at some point this week.

Don’t forget to enter my 30th Birthday Giveaway if you haven’t already!

I am so excited that the Oscars are this Sunday!! We finally get to see who wins all the big awards. To see my predictions check out THIS POST that I wrote last month. At that time I hadn’t seen Lincoln or Silver Linings Playbook but now I have and I’m completely standing by my original predictions. (To see my movie reviews of these two click the movie title)

This past weekend we saw Beautiful Creatures.

Beautiful Creatures is about a boy named Ethan that is living in a small town where everyone knows way to much about their neighbor’s business. He dreams of getting out of this town and never looking back. He keeps having mysterious dreams about a girl that he can’t see her face but he knows that he has to save her. One day his world is shaken up when Lena Duchannes moves to town. She is the niece of the town recluse and is immediately labeled an outsider. He is drawn to her and realizes that she is the girl from his dreams. Lena is dealing with her own problems. She is a Caster, aka a witch, and on her 16th birthday she will be claimed for either the light or the dark. Together Ethan and Lena try to discover a way that she can choose to be good and break the curse that has claimed generations of Duchannes women to a life they didn’t chose to live.

I had won a copy of this book from Beth @ Living A Goddess Life a while back in a giveaway that she did. I put off reading it because the last book in the series wasn’t out yet. There is nothing I hate more than starting a series without having all of the books, I’m way to impatient for that. So I got the rest of the series for Christmas and immediately dove right in. I loved the story but there was a lot of things about the book that just didn’t click with me. I had some issues with the writing and just how the characters moved through the story. So I was a little apprehensive about seeing the movie. I read several articles last week that said the screen writer and producers did not go strictly by the book when making this movie. In fact some of the actors had not even read the book when they played their parts. This excited me!

After seeing the movie I can say that this is the first time ever I have loved the movie more than the book. Like I said I really LOVE the story of Ethan and Lena. I love that she is a strong woman and he is just a normal boy. How often we see that reversed and it’s a weak girl and a strong man (example: Twilight … not saying I don’t love twilight). To me the movie brought out more of their passion for each other. It’s not about sex but more about that their lives were destined to intertwine and that they will in the end save each other. I just cannot WAIT for the next three movies to see exactly where this story is going to go even though I do know the ending.

For those that are SUPER fans of these books I think there will be some disappointments. There are characters that have been removed completely and other character roles that have been changed. The screenwriters were pretty heavy handed with their decisions. However give the movie a chance and see it as a movie ADAPTATION rather than just a carbon copy of the original story. It really is a fantastic movie!

Birthday Goodies

2013-02-20T10:34:00.001-06:00

Hello to all of my new followers!!! I’m so excited that I have so many new readers and I really appreciate YOU! I hope that you will comment so that we can chat and get to know each other. :)

I had the BEST birthday yesterday! The best EVER!! Why was I ever hung up about turning 30. I learned yesterday that it’s called the Dirty Thirty. Hmm that makes 30 seem a whole lot more fun.

My day started with a gift from Adam. He got me a beautiful necklace that matches my BLOG and includes my monogram! How awesome is he?!

Then when I got to work I discovered that my boss and co-worker had conspired and gotten me balloons and my favorite cake, red velvet. YUM! Then my boss treated us to lunch at Olive Garden where I ate entirely too much and still had leftovers. My co-worker gave me a gift card to Cracker Barrel and my boss gave me a little bonus money that is truly appreciated.

Before lunch I got a surprise from FedEx in the form of a box FULL of gifts from Janette!! Thirty gifts each wrapped up for my 30th birthday! Don’t I have such an amazing friend?

After an unwrapping SPREE this is what all I got!!

Wall canvas, diamond cleaner, friendship sign, reese’s heart, a glass for work, 3 nail polishes, lotto ticket, 2 wine stoppers, cookie press, scarf, cell phone glass cleaner, chocolate, cute tissues, hand warmer, JcPenney gift card, a cute owl keychain, 2 head bands, 7 bracelts, and a paper weight and mouse pad in the design of my blog! Holy cow!

In the afternoon my friend Liz stopped by and gave me some fabulous wall art for my office!! Love it and can’t wait to get it hung up!

Then when I got home I got the best gift of all. Adam had come home from work around 9am, ripped up the carpet in our bathroom, put down new sub flooring, and started putting down tile! He said he had about 9 hours worth of work in to it when I got home and should be finished in a day or so. I can’t tell you how glad I am that I don’t have to have that ugly carpet in my bathroom anymore … It’s still in the bedroom though … hmm Christmas present? :)

I will take better photos once it’s done. I ran in and snapped this one last night before he got in the shower so it wasn’t the most planned thing.

I feel like I was Queen for a day and I’m so blessed to have such amazing friends and family. Thank you EVERYONE for the sweet birthday comments!!

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway me and 11 other bloggers are having to celebrate my big day!!

My 30th Birthday Giveaway!

2013-02-19T04:00:00.000-06:00

Today is the day!! The day that I leave my 20s behind and begin my journey in my 30s. To me being 30 means that you are officially an adult. I can’t really say that I FEEL like an adult most of the time though. Wasn’t I JUST 18? Being 30 is a little bit of a scary thing. In 10 years I will be 40!! Ok let’s not think about that … :)

I wanted to make my birthday a celebration and one of my favorite things to do is make other people happy. So I’m making one of my lucky readers very happy by joining up with some fabulous ladies and having a HUGE giveaway!!

I issued out a request for Sponsors for this giveaway and I have been so blessed to have had such a great response. I am so thankful for these ladies and that they wanted to celebrate with me!! I am also very thankful for each of YOU that read my blog, whether you are new follower or you have been around since the beginning I really appreciate you.

So let’s get to the GOOD STUFF! Please check out each of these lovely ladies’ blogs, show them some love, and help us spread the word about this giveaway.

Forever and a Day ~ 1 Month Large Ad Space & a Thirty-One Surprise

The Johanson Journey ~ $25 Etsy Gift Card

Grace For Gayle ~ $10 Starbucks Gift Card & Guest Post

Life and Lemons ~ 2 Months Large Ad Space

Insanity Rules ~ 2 Pieces of Subway Art

The Vintage Modern Wife ~ $10 Starbucks Gift Card

Happy Joyful Day ~ $30 Starbucks Gift Card

Football and Rainbows ~ 3 Months Large Ad Space & $10 Hobby Lobby Gift Card

Blended With Love ~ $20 Target Gift Card

Busy Being Jennifer ~ $20 Shop Credit to Homespun Happiness

Charm & Sass ~ 1 Month Premium Ad Space

Country Roots City Living ~ 1 Month Large Ad Space

I wish I could enter this myself because these are some GREAT prizes!!

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Valentine Swap ~ The Reveal

2013-02-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I joined a Valentine Swap hosted by Erin from Love, Fun, & Football and I was paired up with two lovely ladies.

Robin from The Sunshine Diary sent me a Valentine gift …

My gift came in pink packing peanuts! I had no idea they made these in pink! So awesome!

Robin did such a great job of getting my personality and picking out things that I love!

~ Dove Raspberry & Dark Chocolate Candy
~ Smooth & Mintes candies (My favorite!)
~ A yummy smelling candle
~ EOS Lip Balm
~ Essie nail polish in Mod Square … which I have officially renamed Barbie Pink. Love it!

Thank you SO much Robin!! I love my gifts!

The person that was chosen to receive a gift from me is Tiffany at My Smile Saga. Hopefully she was just as happy with her gifts as I was with mine. :)

Thanks Erin for pairing me up with some great ladies!

A Valentine Song

2013-02-14T09:52:00.001-06:00

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Today I wanted to share a song that I’m really loving! I just love Chris Young’s voice and his new song is one of my favs!

We Want To Know Wednesday ~ Valentine’s

2013-02-13T06:00:00.000-06:00

I’m linking up with Kenzie from Life & Lemons Make Lemonade for We Want To Know Wednesday!! I love these Q&A type of posts! Today’s topic is Valentine’s which is one of my favorite holidays.

1. What is your favorite flower?
My favorite flowers are Gerber Daisies and Peonies. I can’t chose just one favorite.

2. Tell us about your favorite Valentine's Day:
One of my favorite Valentine’s was just a very simple one. Adam and I decided to pick up a couple of bottles of wine to have with/after dinner. We lit a fire in our fire pit and just hung out together. We drank wine, laughed, and talked. It even started raining so we grabbed our huge umbrella that’s on a stand and put it over us. It was a very romantic night. :)

Yes that’s a trash can … we are a bit hillbilly sometimes. ;)

3. Was Valentine's Day a big deal when you were a kid?
Of course! I had to pick out the cutest cards to give all of my friends at school! I loved writing out all of my cards.

4. If you could have any one thing for Valentine's Day what would it be?
Adam always buys me flowers and I love that. Sometimes he does a fancy bouquet but my favorites are the ones he gets from the grocery store and arranges himself. I would love to have some chocolate covered strawberries this year. I’ve been seeing these commercials everywhere for Shari’s Berries and they look SO good!

5. Do you have any special plans for Valentine's Day?
Yep but I can’t give them away yet just in case the Mr decides to blog stalk me or something. :)

Nice Weekends

2013-02-12T11:29:00.001-06:00

This past weekend I had every intention of getting started on my taxes. It didn’t happen but I’m completely fine with that because we had a very nice weekend. We spent Saturday running errands and watching Identity Thief (Read my review HERE). Sunday was a great day that Adam and I spent just being us.

I made french toast and bacon for breakfast then we hung out catching up on DVR shows. Sometime around noon I got busy in the kitchen and he headed outside to work in the shop. I got soup on to cook for dinner and then started baking cookies for his work. They are slowly coming to a close with his job and there is about 10 guys left. He said that they’ve all been bringing food and desserts each week so I thought I would make my best cookies for him to take.

Monday he took a huge container of my TX Ranger Cookies and my Chocolate Chip Cookies and he said they were completely gone by 10am. This morning he took the rest of them and they were gone just as quick. I just love when my cooking is gobbled up!

In the evening we had dinner and snuggled up on the couch to watch the Grammys. I can’t say that it was my favorite one. I think I’m getting old because I’m no longer a fan of the popular bands. Gotye for Record of the Year? My favorite performances though were Maroon 5 & Alicia Keys, Taylor Swift, Rhianna, and Carry Underwood. I’m STARTING to kind of like the new Justin Timberlake / Jay Z song … barely though.

Today I am meeting up with some ladies for lunch that I met in a TX Bloggers Facebook group! Nervous!!

Have you entered the GIVEAWAY for my favorite Etsy shop Barberry and Lace yet? It ends soon!

Today I’m linking up with Seriously Shawn & Impulsive Addict for Talk To Us Tuesday and you should too!

Movie Review ~ Identity Thief

2013-02-11T11:00:00.001-06:00

Adam and I have been looking forward to this weekend for a while because we finally got to see the movie Identity Thief (It’s THEIF not THEFT … let’s get it right). ;)

In case you have been living under a rock and haven’t seen one of the 5 million trailers on TV let me give you the run down of what this movie is all about. There is a guy name Sandy Patterson that is living the normal American life in Denver Colorado. He has a wife, 2 kids, a baby one the way and a job that barely gets the bills paid. Suddenly his world is turned upside down when he gets arrested for missing a court date for a felony arrest in FL. He learns that his identity has been stolen by a harmless looking lady in Florida. He is on the verge of losing a great new job so he makes a deal with his new boss. He will go down to FL and bring this imposter to CO for the police to arrest and he will get to keep his job.

He soon discovers that the other Sandy Patterson has no intention of coming quietly. She has been living a fun life on his credit cards and doesn’t want to give that up. He does finally convince her to come back to CO with the story of just talking to his boss and not the policy. Their journey then takes many hilarious twists and turns.

One of my favorite parts:

I loved that all the funny parts of this movie weren’t just what was in the trailer. There were several other hilarious parts that had me laughing so hard I was in tears! Also I loved that it wasn’t just a comedy with no store line. It had a great story and I just loved the ending. Great date movie for Valentines!!

This is a must see if you are fan of good comedy movies! Just be aware that is rated R so watch without the kiddos. :)

Giveaway ~ $20 Barberry & Lace Etsy Shop

2013-02-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

Today I have another great giveaway for you. This time I’m sharing my favorite Etsy store!
I am so honored that Leigh from Barberry & Lace is offering $20 in store credit to one lucky winner to help me celebrate my birthday month!!

Barberry & Lace is the very first etsy shop that I ever ordered from so it will always be special to me. I was also lucky enough to win a $100 gift card to her store through a giveaway just like this! I have about 13 pieces myself that I have absolutely loved!!

These are some of the items from her shop that I either have or I’m currently loving!

Every time I go in to Leigh’s shop I see something new that I add to my favorites list. I just love how she always has new and trendy items for sale.

Go have a look around Barberry & Lace and then be sure to enter my giveaway!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Birthday Party & A Movie

2013-02-06T11:46:00.001-06:00

I logged on to blogger this morning and was so surprised to see that I have officially hit 200 followers!! Thank YOU so much!! I can’t believe how much this blog has grown in just the past year.

This week has been crazy. My boss is out of town this week so I’m being two people at the office. For some reason my days are mixed up and it feels like it should be Thursday .. I’m glad it’s not though … too much TO DO!

Last weekend we celebrated my niece’s first birthday with a cheetah print themed party …

She had a blast and we all had so much fun seeing her open all her presents and get cake EVERYWHERE!

Saturday night we saw the movie Warm Bodies. It was a cute date night type of movie. It did have scary skeleton guys called “Bonies” and brain eating zombies but overall it was funny, cute, heart warming, and lacking in plot. Adam didn’t enjoy it because he felt that there wasn’t much point to it but I thought it was pretty great. I laughed a lot through the movie. It’s for sure more on the chick flick side of things but worth seeing.

Don’t forget to enter my GIVEAWAY for a Custom May Book from May Designs! It will end tonight at midnight!

Custom May Book Giveaway

2013-02-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

Today I am starting off my birthday month in a BIG way by partnering with my FAVORITE company that sells my FAVORITE thing! That company is May Designs. I am absolutely in love with their products and I’m so happy that I get to give a lucky winner a book for FREE! Yay!

May Designs was created by Mica May, a logo designer, pretty much overnight. She couldn’t find what she wanted in a great notebook on a store shelf so she started making them for herself. Quickly they started getting noticed by clients who were asking for custom books of their own. She sat down with her husband and they planned out a strategy to sell these fabulous books to the world.

I am SO glad that she decided to share her creation with the world. I love this company because each book is hand made and eco-friendly. The books are bound with a sewing machine so that it’s basically indestructible! Your pages won’t tear out and the cover won’t fall off. The covers are Green-e Certified Canvas which makes them resilient, durable, and water resistant.

I also love that everything is SO simple. It’s easy to design and there are SO many options. I just love everything about this company!

Last year I ordered my first book as a calendar:

I’ve already started planning my NEXT book that I will order as well! This one will be a calorie & exercise tracker … maybe a birthday gift?

I love that May Designs has so many cover options to chose from and then you can chose several different ways to personalize the outside! These are a couple more of my favorite prints:

There are so many ways to customize the inside of each book. You can do a Meal Planner, Bump Diary, Wedding Diary, Baby Diary, Just lines, Grid, Dots … there is something for EVERYONE!

May Designs isn’t JUST books though. You can also order custom notes to match!

View Full Album

I can’t wait to pick a winner!! Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sports Superstitions

2013-01-31T09:25:00.001-06:00

Today on Good Morning America they were talking about Superstitions that people have about football games, namely the Super Bowl, crossing over in to OCD tendencies. I’m not a sports fan and neither is my husband so we don’t practice any of these crazy routines that people go through to insure that their team wins. But I got to wondering just what are some of the craziest things that people do?

In the movie Silver Linings Playbook Pat’s dad (played by Robert De Niro) is obsessed with his rituals that he does to insure that his beloved Eagles win the game. The remote controls must be held or stacked a certain way and he must always have his lucky handkerchief. Also his son is his good luck charm.

Some people wear lucky underwear, sit in the same seat, eat the same food, watch with the same people, or wear their lucky jersey. I think the weirdest thing for me though is the people that don’t wash their lucky clothes. Especially underwear … gross! I mean will the juju really wash off?

Players have their own traditions like putting on their pads and uniforms the exact same way. Put the sock on the right foot instead of the left first and the whole game has been lost before they’ve even stepped on the field.

I am poking a bit of fun at this because I don’t personally understand it. I’m not judging though, you do whatever works for you. :)

Do you have game day traditions that ensure your team wins? What are some of the craziest you have heard of people doing?

~ Come back tomorrow for the KICKOFF giveaway for my birthday month! (do you like that sports reference there? HAHA)

A Song to Give You a Chuckle

2013-01-30T10:57:00.001-06:00

A couple of days ago I heard a song on the radio that just made me laugh so I wanted to share it with y’all. I don’t THINK it’s out on local radio stations because according to the DJ I was listening to it was something that they found online. Let me know if you have heard it and what you think.