Fish, Sprouts, and Rice

Recently I came across a few recipes that were just TOO GOOD to keep to myself.  These puppies were immediately transferred from my Recipes I Want to Try board to my Recipe Favorites board after I made them which is kind of a big deal because sifting through 75 recipes is a lot easier than wading through nearly 1,000....I'm a serial recipe pinner-what can I say?

I give you Sunday night's dinner:

The main dish was grilled Amberjack that Eric and his brother caught earlier that weekend.  There is absolutely nothing better than some fresh grilled fish in my humble opinion...and that's coming from a girl whose fish eating experience consisted of nibbling at fried catfish before I met my husband.  Don't worry, I've seen the error of my ways and I am a fish fan now...let's face it, I would have gone hungry many many nights if I hadn't learned to love it. Our sides were pinterest finds that got two thumbs up from everyone.

Grilled Amberjack

What You Need: 

Amberjack fillets or fish fillets of your choice

olive oil

Greek Seasoning....our favorite is from Penzey's 

How to Make It:

Drizzle olive oil on a piece of aluminum foil (make your piece big enough so you can fold it over and make a packets).  Place fish on aluminum foil and sprinkle with Greek Seasoning.  Fold aluminum over fish to close packet and place on grill for 5-10 minutes, until fish is cooked through.  Grill time will depend on the thickness of your fish.  I promise you can't go wrong with this combo.  We've done this with several different types of fish and it's delicious every time.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Garlic Aioli

adapted from this recipe

What You Need:

1-lb Brussels Sprouts, chopped into wedges (I halved the small ones and quartered the large ones)

2-3 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

For Aioli:

6 Tbsp Mayonnaise

1/2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp fresh cilantro, chopped

1/2 tsp dried parsley

How to Make It:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil (makes clean up super easy).  Place Brussels Sprouts on foil, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix sprouts around on pan to ensure even coating.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, flipping a few times with a spatula, until sprouts are golden brown.

While sprouts are baking mix aioli ingredients together in a small bowl. Cover and store in the fridge until ready to serve. This can be done well in advance.

When sprouts are done, serve on a plate with aioli for dipping.

These babies are amazing. If someone told me 6 months ago I would love Brussels Sprouts I would have laughed at them....does this mean I am growing up?

Pecan Pilaf

adapted from this recipe

What You Need:

3 cups water

3 bullion cubes

1 cup uncooked brown rice

1 Tbsp dried minced onion flakes

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp dried thyme

1/8 tsp pepper

2 Tbsp dried parsley

3 Tbsp butter, divided

1/2 cup chopped pecans

How to Make It:

Place bullion in water in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Stir to make sure bullion has completely dissolved. You can skip this step and just buy 2 1/2 cups chicken broth if you would like.  I never have any chicken broth on hand, but I always keep bullion.

In a rice cooker, combine 2 1/2 cups chicken broth, rice, onion flakes, salt, thyme, pepper and dried parsley. Place lid on top and let the rice cooker do it's thing.  You can do this on the stove in a large pan, but I have never had any success cooking rice on the stove so I let my rice cooker do what it's made to do.

While the rice is cooking, toast chopped pecans in a pan with 1 Tbsp of butter until they are fragrant.

When the rice is done, stir in 2 Tbsp of butter and toasted pecans.  Serve immediately.

Note: if you are using white rice, you only need 2 cups of chicken broth.

I have decided that this is my new go-to non-Tex-Mex rice recipe. It's so tasty! The blog it comes from is one of my favorite cooking blogs called Plain Chicken.  Many of my recipe favorites come from there.

I was going to continue with dessert but I've decided it deserves it's own post....because it's just that good.  Plus it will make it easier for me to go back and find when I am searching for it.  =)

An Amazing Weekend Recap

I am so thankful to report that we are still here and unscathed.  We had some crazy storms come through last night and spent from 2am-3am tracking the weather and trying to decide whether or not to hunker down in the closet with the pups.  Thankfully the rotation in the storms fell apart before they got to our area so we just had strong thunderstorms, but I had everything in the closet ready to go.  We are out of the woods for now but we have another round of storms coming this afternoon/evening.

What a way to be welcomed back from a 3 day weekend, right?  This one was right on time and boy did I need it.  Don't worry we made the most of it!  The first part was spent here:

That would be the beautiful Gulf Coast aka my happy place.  We decided last minute (of course) to head down to Orange Beach to see my BIL and SIL so the boys could go on another tuna trip.  We could not have asked for a more beautiful day on Saturday, so my SIL and I decided we deserved a day on the beach. The place we usually go was packed so we drove down a little further and found a perfect spot that was nearly empty and spent the entire afternoon lounging and soaking up the sun!

Since not everyone had the luxury of a random Monday holiday, we headed back home Sunday morning and decided on the way home that the pool cover was coming off....if we didn't do it then it would have been at least another week before we could do it, and voila!

Don' t you wish your pool boy was as cute as mine?  =)

It's still a little green but the good news is that it was completely full so we didn't have to fill it up!  Ramon the Pool Boy made his first appearance of the year and promised to have it sparkling in a few days!  Sunday night we grilled up some fresh Amberjack and I found some new favorite recipes that I will be sharing this week because they're too good not to.

Here are a few more pics from the weekend:

1. This is my I'm so excited I am on my way to the beach face...and I'm pretty sure this is my first ever car selfie.
2. My SIL and I decided we needed pedicures on Saturday night so we did. Just because.
3. The deliciousness that was our dinner on Sunday night: Grilled Amberjack, Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Garlic Aioli, and Pecan Pilaf...recipes coming....I promise.
4. Sunday night's dessert that didn't make it to Monday night because we ate the entire 9"x 13" pan in less than 24 hours....Rolo Cake Mix Bars....don't worry this one's coming, too!
5. Pretty spring flowers to brighten up the kitchen.
6. One of my Monday Day-Off projects: shoe organization. I realized the other day a couple of months ago that we had exactly a 1.5 foot by 1.5 foot space in our walk in closet that we could stand in because of the overflow that was our shoes.  It started out with just my side, but Eric's gradually expanded until it mirrored mine. I had no idea how many pairs of shoes I had until I pulled them all out and OMGness.  I had completely forgotten I had about half of them. They have all since been sorted and organized....I even decided to chuck some.
7. Monday's lunch was my favorite BLP: bacon, lettuce, and pickle sandwich.  I figured out how to get Eric to come home for lunch....text him and offer to make him a BLT for lunch.  I got a "be there in 20" text response back almost immediately.
8. My other Monday Day-Off Project: Antiqued Mason Jar Vases. I've seen these floating around pinterest for a couple years and decided I needed some this weekend.  An hour later they were done and sooooo cute!
9. I ending up making two varieties of the mason jar vases.  I saw the American Flag Mason Jar Vases on pinterest this weekend so while I was at the store I picked up some red, white, and blue paint and got a jump on my summer vases. =)

We finished off the evening with a delicious home cooked meal that I failed to take any pictures of because we didn't sit down to eat until 8:45pm and we were both starving which meant we inhaled the meal, but in case you're interested we had Balsamic Marinated Chicken, Yellow Squash and Tomatoes with Parmesan leftover Pecan Pilaf.  It was all deliciously amazing and I am so excited we have leftovers. =)

I will leave you with my new discovery this weekend....our dogs LOVE squash.  I had a yellow squash that was a bit soft and had a few spots on it, so I gave it to Hawk to play with. Next thing I knew he'd chomped the end off of it and was eating it! Gah!  I freaked for a minute and took it away from him.  After a quick google search I learned that yellow squash is actually really good for dogs...it's on several Top Human Foods to Feed your Dog lists. Naturally I sliced that baby up and gave it to them piece by piece.  They LOVED it and made google-eyes at me as I sliced the other two squash up for our dinner.

Nutritious AND delicious!

If you're in the South, stay safe today!

DIY Dreaming: Pallet Furniture

I realized the other day that it's been a while since we've undertaken a new DIY project.  Sure I've made lots of fun recipes, and I done a few quick projects here and there, but I feel like I'm getting the itch to do a new big project.

I've always loved pallet furniture, and have always wanted to do a pallet project, but I just don't know what I want to make.  I don't want something too complicated, just something we could put together in a weekend or two.

Here are some of my favorites:

 The Corner Shelf

via

I love this idea for inside the home for plants.  I don't have any real plants inside because I am paranoid and I am afraid that the dogs will try to eat them and get sick.  This would be a great way to incorporate them into the decor without the monsters getting into them.

The Hutch

via

I really love this idea.  I want a hutch for our kitchen so bad I can't stand it.  Unfortunately the current furniture arrangement in our kitchen won't allow for one space-wise.  We will have to replace the kitchen table (which I have been ready to do for a while now) and we can't seem to come to an agreement on what kind of a table to get.

The Outdoor Garden

via

Another item I would love to have at our home.  I want a vegetable garden like 3 years ago.  I have tried growing veggies in pots on the back porch which yielded about 20 jalapeno peppers and one small tomato a few summers ago. I can grow herbs in pots no problem, but other veggies need a little more room.  Something like this would keep them all together and keep us from having to dig up the yard to put in another bed.

The Vertical Garden

via

 I really like this idea for an herb garden.  As I said I have several planters full of herbs, but they're all currently sitting under our tea olive tree, which I am pretty sure Eric likes because it means he doesn't have to mow right up under it.  I really like the idea of being able to display them, though, because they are pretty plants.

The High Table and Stools

via

This might be my favorite idea of all of them.  It would certainly be the most involved, but I can already picture one of these babies on our back porch.  I love love love a high table (my dream kitchen table would be this way). Maybe because I am tall?  Plus I could totally imagine the table top and stools covered in bottle tops!  How cool would that be?!

An Evening on the Plains

...at Plainsman Park that is!

Last night we got to go see Eric's "little brother" play baseball.  He plays for the University of South Alabama and they had a game against Auburn last night.  We have not been able to see him play since he was in high school so we jumped at the chance.  What made this game even more special was that his BFF from high school plays for Auburn.  They grew up playing together; BFF was a pitcher and he was his catcher.  Last night was the first time they'd faced each other in a college game.  We had a pretty rowdy crew of family, friends, and former coaches that came out to support both of them and the game was lots of fun.  He was the lead-off batter and scored the only run through 5 1/2 innings, but Auburn got hot in the late innings, scored a few runs and ended up winning 6-1.

Aubie came by to say hello.

This happened, plus peanuts, plus popcorn, plus hot dogs...I am a sucker for ball park food!

Any night out with his guy is a fun one in my book!

The highlight of the game came in the top of the 8th inning.  Since BFF is a relief pitcher we weren't sure if he'd pitch.  I am not sure if the Auburn coaches knew the situation or who was in the crowd, but they called him up to pitch and little bro was on deck.  I can't imagine how anxious the two of them were because all of us were freaking out that not only were their teams playing each other, but they would actually get to face each other! It didn't last long because little bro hit the first pitch BFF threw right back at him.  BFF barely deflected it and the 3rd baseman ended up throwing him out at first (barely). It might have only been a few seconds worth of action but for about 50 people in the stands it was a VERY exciting few seconds.

The stare-down...

The Pitch!

My only complaint was that I didn't get to see Bruce Pearl (Auburn's recent men's basketball head coach hire) in person. I was really hoping I would get to see him in the flesh since I've heard he's been around campus lately.  I have already decided I am going to see a few games this year and I recruited a few friends to go with me since basketball is not Eric's favorite sport to go watch.  =)

Weekend Recap

These Mondays are really starting to cramp my style. Just when I get into the flow of the weekend Monday rolls around and I have to abandon my tank tops, shorts, and tennis shoes and go back to work....ugh.  The good news is once we get through the next 5 days we have a really fun extended weekend coming up!

Around here on Friday it rained and rained and rained a little more.  It was raining when I left for work at 6:15am, it poured while I ran errands at lunchtime, it poured on my way home, and it was still raining when we went to bed.  After fishing a tournament Friday morning (in the pouring rain) Eric was exhausted and soaked to the bone.  Needless to say we opted for dinner and a movie at the house Friday night.  We rented Grudge Match, which was a pretty funny movie-and I tried out a Papa John's copy cat recipe.  We loved the sauce, but the crust was just alright. I think we'll go back to the Mellow Mushroom crust recipe next time. We called it a night pretty early and slept in on Saturday.  Somehow I ended up spending the majority of the day in the kitchen getting things ready for the cookout we had Saturday night.  I whipped up a couple more buttermilk pies, some pimento cheese (which we will have in the form a grilled cheese tonight-FINALLY!), and some Buffalo Chicken Dip-per Eric's request. The conversation went like this:

Eric: Can you make some kind of a dip for tonight?

Me: Sure. I can put something together.  What kind do you want?

Eric: Whatever you want to make.

Me: I think I have everything for some spinach dip like a made last weekend.

Eric: (halfheartedly) Yeah, whatever you want to make.

Me: Is there a certain dip you want me to make?

Eric: Just make whatever kind you want to make.

Me: Do you want me to make some Buffalo Chicken Dip?

Eric: (excitedly) Oh yeah that'd be great!  

Me: Stop by the store and get me some cream cheese, some ranch dressing, and some boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  You better be glad I picked up a bottle of Budweiser Wing Sauce the other day.  

That boy LOVES some Buffalo Chicken Dip!  He told me that night that he was pretty sure he could eat the entire 9" x 13" pan by himself in one sitting....I think it's safe to say he has a mild obsession with the stuff.  The cookout was a success.  We had deer burgers, deer tenderloin, plus everything else I made that morning-except for the pimento cheese which we hid in the back of the fridge because we're food hoarders.  =)

Easter morning we slept in and then headed to Eric's grandma's for lunch.  She had an amazing spread for lunch, of course.  When we got home I played in the flower beds. During my grocery store excursion on Saturday I drove by the store that has the best plants in town and had 2 flats of flowers jump into my car.  It's amazing how that happens. I decided to do some flower borders this year since I lost several plants due to the cold winter we had. I ended up planting 42 baby plants Sunday afternoon and I could not be happier with the result.  We finished off our Easter with dinner with Eric's parents and a puppy dog walk....the perfect ending to what ended up being a gorgeous weekend!

1. Our trash can on Friday night...It started out on the other side of the driveway and it was upright.
2. Papa John's copy cat pizza; it's whats for dinner.
3. Eric getting a guitar lesson on Saturday night.
4. No we didn't adopt another pup.  This sweet face belongs to Eric's Dad.  Her name is Lady Belle and she is precious!  It's a miracle that I got a decently clear picture of her because she is a ball of energy and does NOT like to sit still!
5. My haul of garden pretties that I put in the ground on Sunday.
6. One of the borders I did with the flowers....this one is Sun Coleus and Salvia.  Because of the trees and how our house is situated I have to abandon my symmetry obsession when it come to flower beds because one half of the house gets shade most of the day and the other half gets sun, which means I have to use different flowers on different sides.
7. I realized Sunday night that I need to spend more time relaxing outside. So far this year I have been either working in the garden or walking the boys which means I am wearing socks and tennis shoes.  This has resulted in quite the farmer's tan on my feet. Hopefully the weather will stay warm from now on so we can open the pool and I can get some sun on these babies!

Here's to a quick-paced week (which will never happened now that I said that).  Bring it on Monday!

High Five for Friday

Let's jump right to it, shall we?

1

Needless to say, we skipped dinner this night.

On Wednesday Eric was in town around lunchtime, so we met up for lunch at one of our favorite places when we were in college called Derk's (It's official name is Derk's Filet and Vine, but we've always called it Derk's). It's a tiny local place that has THE BEST meat and three lunch I've ever had.  I am not a huge fan of meat and three places because they almost always have a choice of fried/smothered meats and very traditional southern veggies (cabbage, greens, sweet potato casserole-basically things I don't like), but Derk's is totally different.  They always have a selection of grilled meats...I had Chicken Marsala the other day, and I get so overwhelmed when we get to their veggie selection that I have to pick super quick before I have too much time to think about it.  I am really hoping that since Eric will be in town once a week due to their new store opening that we will get to do a weekly lunch date!

2

I thought this year was going to be the year that the wedding rush really slowed down for us.  Most of our college friends are married now, so I was thinking we'd have one maybe two tops this summer to attend.  Boy was I mistaken.  We aren't even through with April and we've already been to one and have three, possibly four more to go to before the end of May!  It's a good thing we're wedding fans because we will be celebrating a good bit in the next few weeks...and I will be plate-making like a crazy person this weekend.

3

This is how you know you're loved. 

Speaking of weddings, my friend who got married a few weeks ago got back from her Honeymoon this past week so my friends and I decided to welcome her back in style by decorating her cubie for her.  We might have gotten a little too into it but it was so much fun!  I think my favorite part was her desk key.  She is a HUGE Bama fan so we took down all of her Bama memoribilia and put it in her cabinet, then we taped her desk key underneath her desk. It took her a day to realize that it was all missing, but we were all gone when she realized it.  The next morning I put an Auburn football trivia word jumble on her desk which she had to solve in order to find the key.  It was hilarious!

4

Quite possibly the prettiest dinner I've ever made.  You can find the recipe here.

I got creative in the kitchen this week and made my first Stromboli.  To be honest I didn't realize what I was getting into really until I was assembling everything.  Thankfully it all turned out amazing!  I stuffed them with BBQ chicken, caramelized onions, broccoli, spinach, cheddar, and Gouda cheese and they were HUGE...like so huge we have yet to eat more than half of one each in a single sitting.  I already have had requests for Stromboli with pizza stuffing, which will happen soon!

5

I am pretty sure this has been one of the longest weeks I have had in a while and I am looking forward to a lazy, relaxing weekend. Eric was up early fishing a tournament this morning...in the pouring rain...so I am almost positive we will be doing next to nothing this evening....I can't wait!  After our full weekend last weekend we deserve an easy weekend.

I Like My Muffins English Style

I've made no secret that my newest food obsession is none other than the simple, delicious English Muffin.  Over the past month they have become a staple in our refrigerator and the main bread product in our house.  I never realized how versatile these little buggers were until I started experimenting.  I have adapted several sandwich recipes to incorporate them, which is great because they are a lot smaller than your typical sandwich bread so you end up not eating as much.

Today I've decided to share a few of our favorite concoctions:

The Traditional Bacon Egg and Cheese

What you need: 

1 English Muffin

2 slices of bacon, cooked (thick cut is the best)

1 egg, cooked to your liking (Eric likes fried eggs on his, while I opt for fried egg whites on mine)

2-3 slices cheddar cheese

How to make it:

Cut muffin in half and toast in a toaster.  When it's done assemble sandwich with bacon, egg, and cheese.  Super easy and super delicious.  We've substituted Gouda for cheddar, used turkey bacon, and Eric has even requested that I double the fried egg on his (like in the one above).  You really can't go wrong with this traditional breakfast combo.

The English Muffin Turkey Sandwich

What you need: 

1 English Muffin

2-3 slices of turkey

1-2 slices of cheese (my favorite is provolone for this one)

mayo

How to make it:

Cut muffin in half and toast in a toaster.  When it's done assemble sandwich with mayo, turkey, and cheese.  Eric likes to add a fried egg to this one, too.  We probably eat these for dinner a couple of nights per week and at least once on the weekends.  You could change out any of the ingredients for your favorite sandwich ingredients.

The English Muffin Pizza

What you need: 

1 English Muffin

1-2 TBSP pizza sauce

a handful of shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 tsp pizza seasoning

any of your favorite pizza toppings

How to make it:

Cut muffin in half and toast in a toaster.  When it's done layer both slices with pizza sauce, cheese, pizza seasoning, and any other toppings you would like (I kept mine just cheese since it was a Friday during Lent and I was being a good little Catholic).  Place pizzas in a toaster oven or a real oven at 350 degrees until the cheese has melted.  It should not take more than a few minutes. Once again the English muffin saved me from eating twice as much as I needed, because y'all know how much I love a good pizza!

The Roast Beef, Gouda, and Caramelized Onion English Muffin

adapted from this recipe

What you need: 

1 English Muffin

1/2 onion sliced very thin

2 TBSP butter

1 tsp brown sugar

a handful of shredded Gouda cheese

2-3 slices roast beef

mayo/mustard

How to make it:

1) Melt butter in a pan on medium heat. Add onions and saute until tender (about 20 minutes).  Add brown sugar and saute until it's mixed in with onions. You will have enough caramelized onions for 2-3 muffins.
2) Cut muffin in half and toast in a toaster.  When it's done layer roast beef, a few caramelized onions, Gouda Cheese, and mayo or mustard on muffin.  (I did Mayo, Eric did both.)  Place sandwich in microwave for 30 seconds until cheese starts to melt.  Let it cool for a minute and then enjoy!  This one is super savory and so delicious!

The Roasted Tomato and Guacamole 

English Muffin

adapted from this recipe

What you need: 

1 English Muffin

1 large tomato

1/4 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp olive oil

salt and pepper

1/2 cup guacamole  

*you can find my homemade guac recipe here

How to make it:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2) Slice tomato and place on a small greased baking sheet. Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with cumin, salt and pepper.  Roast tomatoes for 15 minutes. Remove from oven to let cool.
3) Cut muffin in half and toast in a toaster.  When it's done, spread a thick layer of guacamole on each side.
4). Place a roasted tomato on top of  guacamole on each muffin and serve immediately.
This one is more of an appetizer than a dinner, but it's really delicious.  The guacamole and tomato go together really well.

These are just a few of our favorites we've come across in just a month of eating these. I am hoping that I keep finding new uses for them, especially since I just found out Costco sells 18 packs for $5.49...I've been paying as much as $4 for 6 packs at the regular grocery store.

Are there any other brilliant English muffin concoctions out there that I am missing out on?

A Crazy Busy Weekend Recap

I really hope that your weekend was a pretty as ours was.  If it wasn't I feel sorry for you.  We had probably one of the most beautiful fun weekends we've had in a while. It started off Friday with house cleaning--but don't worry it only got better from there!

Any weekend I can spend with this guy is a great weekend in my book!  P.S. Check out the cutest photobomber ever in the background!

Saturday morning we hosted my PEO group for a meeting and lunch.  I say we because Eric, being the sweet, wonderful man that he is fried fish for us. We put out a spread of fish and grits, coleslaw, spinach dip, buttermilk pie, and pecan pie.  The only thing left was a little bit of coleslaw (which was understandable considering Eric made a triple batch), and a small container of spinach dip. The ladies loved it and said they could not wait to come back again! But brunch was just the beginning of our day because an hour after we had everything cleaned up we headed down the road (literally) to a "Good Ole Southern Style Hitchin'" according to the invitation, and that's exactly what it was.  The wedding was in the middle of a field and the seats were rocking chairs, gliders, stools, and Adirondack chairs that were all made by the groom's dad. Eric opted to dress down for the wedding and wear just khakis and a polo and ended up being one of the nicest dressed guys there, we figured that out pretty quick when we realized the groom was wearing shorts. It was a short and sweet ceremony and then everyone rode the tractor across the street to the reception that was in their front yard.  Eric got to see several friends from high school that he had not seen in 10 years and we had a great time.  Next up was Eric's Dad's 60th birthday celebration.  We left the wedding and headed to a restaurant that had some of the best seafood I've had around here.  I got one of the biggest and most delicious grilled grouper filets I've had, while Eric tore up some oysters.  I think his dad had a great time with friends and family.  With everything he's had going on health wise for the past year I know he was glad to see 60.  He's been on the mend for the last couple of months and I think things are only going up from here for him!

The wedding ceremony set-up. I mean how gorgeous is this!?

Sunday I was up early while Eric's night fishing marathon finally caught up with him and he slept in.  I had to time to go to church, walk the dogs, play in my flower gardens for a little while before he poked his head out the back door.  We then proceeded to spend the entire day outside and it was glorious!  We started off with a traditional Brazilian lunch cooked by our friend (who is from Brazil) and his Mom who is visiting from Brazil.  It was amazing!  Brazilians definitely know how to eat! I think my favorite part is that they put pico de gallo on almost everything! The Master's was up next, I wish we'd actually been there, but sitting in the carport watching it outside was the next best thing.  We spent the rest of the afternoon fishing with some friends in the pond in our neighborhood, and ended the evening with a grilled chicken and Saturday brunch leftovers for dinner on the back porch. I told Eric I didn't think we could have packed anything else into the weekend if we'd tried.  I am so glad that spring is here for real and we can start doing this ever weekend!

1. Friday night's dinner...Shrimp Tacos. I picked up the shrimp at Costco Friday afternoon, it's already cooked and marinated in cilantro-lime marinade....so good!
2. A close up of the ceremony space...check out the chairs!
3. The super creative, hilarious groom's cake. If that's not country, I don't know what is.
4. Our birthday boy blowing out the candles on his cake.  The cake was some kind of pound cake with cream cheese icing and was sooooo good!
5. Peanut "helping" with the flower beds.
6. After the birthday celebration on Saturday night we stopped by the local watering hole so Eric could play a little pool.
7. I love love love swings, so while we were waiting on lunch to get ready on Sunday I took advantage of the kids' swing set behind the house.
8. Our traditional Brazilian lunch: boneless chicken thighs stuffed with ham and mozzarella cheese, rice, Brazilian Potato Salad with carrots and peas in it, pico de gallo, and a root filler topping. It was all so good!  I am usually a pretty picky eater, but I am so glad I just decided to go for it and get a little bit of everything.
9. I got in on the kids' fishing action and caught 3 blue gills on 3 casts.  When you're good, you're good.  What can I say?

Needless to say I crashed quite early last night after all of the fun we had. It's supposed to thunderstorm all day here and get cold tomorrow which made going back to work a little bit easier this morning.  I might have had to extend my weekend if it had stayed nice!

Currently

• Wishing I'd picked a different K-Cup for my coffee this morning.  I had high hopes for Starbucks Caramel flavored coffee. Unfortunately it tastes like dirt, despite the massive amount of vanilla creamer I added to it.
• Excited about hosting brunch at our house this weekend for my PEO group!  Fish and grits anyone?!
• Thinking my office needs to have a bring your dog to work day.  I think I would work more efficiently with Peanut's company....or he might completely distract me and anyone who walks by my desk with his adorableness. Either way it's a win.

He might even peek around corners and scare the crap out of people, too!

• Anxiously anticipating the arrival of the palazzo pants I bought from Jane.com yesterday. I saw them yesterday morning and dismissed the idea because I figured they'd be too short. The story of my life. I went back later to check to see if another order I placed last week had shipped and read the description on the pants....it said they had a 34"-35" inseam! They also have a 14 day return policy which I am crossing my fingers I won't have to use.
• Thanking the Internet for giving me Pandora Radio.  A little music makes the work day so much better! I think I seriously have the most eclectic Quick Mix Stations: 90's Pop, Danielle Bradbury, Hunter Hayes, Smash (the tv show), Glee, Summer Hits of the 90s, Summer Hits of the 2000's, P!nk, Rent, High School Musical, Disney Channel, Miranda Lambert, Miley Cyrus, Omigod You Guys (from Legally Blonde the Musical), OAR, Carrie Underwood, Ingram Hill, and Colbie Caillat. Whatever keeps you going through the day, right?

Happy Hump Day!

Weekend Recap

If there was ever a Monday I wanted to stay in bed it was this morning.  I woke up this morning to the sound of a thunderstorm...talk about wanting to roll back over and go to bed!  Alas I did not.  I was delayed a bit because of stubborn puppies who had no desire to go out in the rain this morning, but after 2 tries I got them to go out. I can only imagine what the house would have looked like when I got home had I not coaxed them outside.

We did get a bit of sunshine Friday evening.  It was gorgeous outside!

My weekend was a bit out of the ordinary.  Eric was out of town, but instead of my usual stay home and do things around the house I decided to spend my Saturday at a dance competition.  Some of the dancers from the studio I teach at were competing about an hour away from our house so I drove up for the day.  I realize that watching hours upon hours of dancing isn't most peoples' cup-o-tea, but I love it.  Our girls danced really well, and we had a solo and a trio place overall! I also like to pick up ideas for the numbers I choreograph while I am there, but was a bit disappointed with the lack of tap numbers I saw.  I get that hip hop and contemporary pieces are a lot more popular right now, but in my opinion, they can't hold a candle to a well-choreographed tap routine. It was a long day (and night....I didn't get home until 1AM), but I had a blast!  I had plans to be super productive on Sunday, but that was not in the cards. Our power went off for a good 4 hours Sunday afternoon which left me with limited options in rooms where I had a decent amount of natural light that was hampered by cloudy, rainy skies.  At least it stopped raining about an hour before it came back on, so I was able to spend the last part of it walking the boys outside.  After being cooped up all day Saturday and Sunday, we all needed it.

1. Dinner Friday night.  English Muffin Pizzas, wine, and a waffle for dessert...I had a weak moment at Costco after taste-testing the waffles and ended up with a box in my cart.
2. I did a little shopping on Friday night and found myself a new cross-body purse.  I decided it was meant to be after I went to pay for this beauty and it was 70% off, not 30% off like I thought!
3. Chocolate Chip Zucchini muffins that I made on Sunday (finally after the power came back on).  They were delicious!
4. There's something about a stage with marley floor that gets me all excited! I wanted to jump up there and dance myself.
5. I finally found some delicious strawberries while we were at Peach Park on Saturday (the peaches aren't in season yet or I would have gotten some of them, too). Our grocery store in town has had nothing but half rotten cartons so far this year.
6. Saturday's lunch at Peach Park....BBQ sandwich and tater salad!  I you ever find yourself around mile marker 205 in Clanton, Alabama do yourself a favor and stop in at Peach Park. You won't regret it.
7. You can't skip dessert at Peach Park either. I had a scoop of cookie dough ice cream and a scoop of peach cheesecake ice cream (and got a pecan pie for Eric because I am sweet like that).
8. I attempted to do some meal prep for the week in the kitchen on Sunday by candle light, but as pretty as it was it wasn't worth it.
9. Don't let their sweet faces fool you, these two would not leave each other alone all weekend.  They are so brothers!
10. While the other two drove each other crazy, this one opted to cuddle with me as much as he could.  

I hope your Monday is a lot less soggy than mine looks like it will be!

32 Things that Make me Happy

The past few days have been nothing short of absolutely beautiful around here.  I think it's safe to say that spring has officially sprung and we have been taking advantage of every minute of it!  I feel like it's my duty to be outside after work enjoying every possible minute of it with the puppies, and Eric has gone fishing every day this week...I don't see him breaking that streak any time soon.

There's something about beautiful spring weather that puts a smile on my face, so this seemed appropriate....32 things that make me happy!

1. The weather lately...sunny, low 80's, no humidity...can it stay this way forever?!

2. Walks with the puppy dogs.

3. Flower beds that have been weeded.

4. Fresh clean sheets.

5. E-cards that hit the nail on the head.

6. This guy.

7.  These little monsters.

8. English muffin sandwiches.

9. Deals on Jane.com...I have an addiction to that site!

10. Goat cheese....especially on a pizza.

11. March Madness...despite my bracket being completely blown this year...thanks Michigan State.

12.  Spending time with family.

13. Cooking out with friends, especially while watching college football!

14. Making other people smile.

15. Waking up late and still getting out the door on time in the morning...it does happen (about every other week).

16. Tap dancing.

17. Teaching a new step to my dancers and watching their delight when they "get it"

18. Singing at the top of my lungs to the radio in my car.

19. A clean, pollen-free car.

20. Show tunes.

21. Finding a new project or recipe on pinterest, trying it, and having it come out perfectly.

22. Having no unread notifications on my messages/email/facebook/etc.

23. Exploring a new city.

24. Arni's Pizza and a Junior with Ranch on the side.

25. Driving by the houses I grew up in.  I am a total creeper when it comes to this.  I can't help it!

26. Beautiful scenery.

27. Fun walls...seriously you'd think a kid worked in my cubie.

28. Checking off an entire to-do list.

29. Peppermint Mocha Creamer in my coffee.

30. Saving more than I spend at the grocery store...it happens from time to time!

31. Telling old stories with friends you only see a couple of times a year.

32. Did I mention this guy? =)

Happy Thursday!