Here's to 2016

With 2015 behind us (thank goodness) 

I am looking forward to a year of change!

My husband has recently gotten a well deserved promotion & my best friend of 35 years got engaged over the holidays.  And I am looking to start a new business venture that I am very excited about. So needless to say, we have lots to look forward to.

At the beginning of 2015 I vowed to myself that I would blog EVERY week.  

HA! Easier said than done.

This year I am going to just concentrate on taking time for myself.  With my almost 5 year old in pre-school 3 days a week for a few hours, I should be able to find a few minutes to myself.  Whether I am writing a blog or taking a walk, I need some time for me.  

I also am going to attempt to have better eating habits for my family.  My husband schedule has always been all over the place.  Now we will actually be able to sit down & have dinner together by 6 o'clock.  I have started to make a list of things that I would like to make & good ol Pinterest  is there to help.

My best friends wedding is something I am EXTREMELY excited about!  

We have been friends almost as long as we've been alive.  Charity lived 6 doors down from me growing up.  We are closing in on our 40's & still like sisters!  She is marring her childhood crush and it is the cutest thing in the world.  After being married before & having 2 kids that are now almost adults, it's finally HER time. 

 I couldn't be happier for her. 

These are a few pictures of us over the years

on vacation.

(Luckily I my scanner broke & I couldn't find the really embarrassing ones, lol)

And now I will go have some real fun...laundry & dishes.

Happy New Year & here is to 2016 being awesome!

Surviving my life as Mom...

It has been waaaaaay too long since I have taken the time to sit down & unload my brain a bit.

Real life has a times become quite real the last few months.  Being a stay-at-home mom already makes me very happy, but it has put my family on a very fixed income the last few years.  But through all of this we have gotten ourselves in a much better position for the upcoming year.  My husband works very hard to accomplish this for us & we are hoping to see the light at the end of the tunnel very soon.  We have been riding the struggle bus so long, but we always make it through.  Having the support of friends & family definitely helps!

Ok, enough about my struggles...

We all have them!

The last 6 months have been quite busy.  LOTS of weddings...
(I will be posting pictures in upcoming posts)

• A good friend got married & had a destination wedding.  (At the same beach I did 2 years ago.  What can I say, we love Sandbridge) I did her flowers & decor for the wedding.
• My brother-in-law got married to an awesome gal I am honored to call my sister.  I spent a week in Ohio helping them get ready before the wedding.  All hands on deck & the brides vision came together beautifully.
• I also got to do my first order for artificial wedding bouquets!  I was VERY excited & loved doing it.  More importantly, the bride loved them.

I have also started to do some custom decorations.   

Here are a few of my creations

Fall Centerpiece

I couldn't resist that cute little Scarecrow

Door Wreath

I must say, I am loving that sprig of orange & red!

I have a few orders for Christmas that will keep me busy the next couple weeks.  I really enjoy decorating.  I am OBSESSED with re-using jars right now! Feeling very ambitious this holiday season, so stay tuned for some DIY ideas to get your home ready for the holidays.

Have a super day!

Quick Chicken with Roasted Red Peppers, Basil & Mozzarella

A few weeks ago I pulled out chicken on a Tuesday & by Thursday I was still trying to figure out what to do with it.   Everything I wanted to do, I was missing some key ingredient.

• Peanut Butter, No Jelly
• Cereal, No Milk
• Ham, No Burger

I know you feel my pain. We've all been there. 

Time for fridge inventory!

Besides the already thawed out chicken, I found

* Mozzarella

* Basil 

* Roasted Red Peppers

You will also need:

* Italian Seasoning

* Olive Oil

First I cooked the Chicken

I put some Olive Oil in the pan

Seasoned the Chicken with Italian Seasoning

Cook on Medium heat for about 10 minutes or until cooked

(Mine were cut pretty thin so it didn't take long)

I put the cooked chicken on a cookie sheet

Then put the Roasted Red Peppers on

Next I put on the Basil, but only on 3 pieces.  

My son is not a fan of Basil, AKA-Green Feathers 

LOL...kids

Finally I top it with Mozzarella

I would have preferred fresh, but all I had was shredded

Cook at 350 degrees until the cheese is melted

Wah La!

I served it with a side of 

Butter Garlic Pesto Angel Hair pasta

The meal probably took about 30-40 minues

Perfect meal for those hectic days

When you are doing the most.

Enjoy & have a great weekend!

2015 Weddings

Wedding season will be here before we know it.  This year I have 2 weddings.  One is a really good friend of mine that loved the idea of my wedding so much, she is having her own beach wedding!  The second wedding is my Brother In Law & his wonderful fiance.  Me, being the lover of all things party related, is helping out in both weddings.

My friend Missy, who is getting married at the beach is not one for crafting & she is quite frugal when it comes to certain things.  Spending money on things like fresh flowers that will be dead in a few days is one thing she is not interested in.  So I will be making her bouquets for her wedding.  I have been making "Throw Away" bouquets for about a year now & quite enjoy it.

Here is one that I made awhile back.  

Her's will have different flowers.

I will also be making a lot of her decorations for the reception dinner, which will be catered at her rental home.  We've been brainstorming to come up with ways to cut corners.  Recycling & re-using everyday household items is something I always try to do. We came up with a great way to re-use jars & empty oatmeal containers.  

Luckily Missy's BF owns a daycare center 

& has been saving us baby food jars.  

They are PERFECT tealight holders.  

I had a few packs of stencils left from

 mine & Grace's weddings

*Note my awesome "Craft"tote from Thirty-One

Think I am going to need a bigger one, lol.

I took the heart stencil traced it on extra large labels that my Mother In Law gave me.
I knew I would find something to do with them.

I used a paint brush & applied the Mod Podge.

(Oops, forgot to take a picture of that step.  Sorry!)

Last week I made some myself 

by mixing regular old glue & water.

Next I took sand & sprinkled it on to the glue on the jar.

Once I peeled the sticker off, I noticed the heart needed reshaped a bit.

I just simply used the end of my paint brush to fix it.  

It was really easy since the glue was still wet.

They turned out adorable!

And even better, the Bride loved them!

For future jars, I am going to make the heart a bit smaller so you can see the top of the hearts a little better.  

My next project will be covering more jars & few very large oatmeal containers. Only next time I will be using twine.

Stay tuned!

This Christmas

We had a bit of an odd Christmas this year.

We kept our tradition of breakfast, gifts & Bloody Mary's.  My best friend & her 2 teenagers have been coming here 3 years now for Christmas morning. Teenagers can take innocence out of Christmas, so they come here to enjoy my, almost 4 year old, son open presents.  Of course each year, we have more people join us.  We were up to 8 of us this year!

We had an awesome breakfast casserole I found on Pinterest!  My hubby made his modifications, of course more meat.  Everyone loved it, despite all their faces when I made it in front of them.  It's perfect for a crowd.  I am planning on making this in Deep Creek next month.

Here is the link to the recipe

My first time putting someone else's recipe on my page. 

 Hope I did it right :)

http://www.budgetsavvydiva.com/2014/11/cheesy-sausage-breakfast-casserole-recipe/



As for rest of our Christmas day, it was just odd.  My mom was the only one of my family members to come over.  She works retail & had to be a work super early so she didn't stay super long. Not that we had a bad Christmas, it was just not the norm.

I think next year I need to go away for the holiday.

Bring on 2015!

2014 has been a roller coaster, lots of highs & lows.
And a lot of self realization.

I have realized that life has turned out to be a lot differently than I thought it would be 10 years ago.

• Friends you thought you would have forever, have become acquaintances. And making new friendships that are "less complicated".
• Living in the same place for years, dreaming of owning our own home with a yard & no more neighbors below us.  
• Not being as financially stable as I had hoped, although we are close to the light at the end of that tunnel.
• After 16 years of working, becoming a stay at home mom & not making a real paycheck. Something I would never change. Being a part of my child growing up is priceless.

Life is a learning experience.  

2015 will be different!  I know, everyone says that every year. But I feel that next year will be filled with change...hopefully good change. I better hurry & get a New Years Pretzel!

My Burlap Obsession

Ever since my wedding last September, I have a growing obsession for burlap.

Every time I go to a craft store, I look for it on sale.  Burlap can be a bit pricey at times, so any deal I can find I make sure I grab it up!  And I am not picky about the color.  I am more drawn to the light brown burlap, but any color will do.

My wedding was beach themed & burlap fit in quite well!

 My sister, the thriftiest shopper I know, found some great colored burlap for my shower centerpieces.

They were so cute

  We ended up using them for the wedding reception too!

Please don't mind my "before" the party picutres. 

Somehow we didn't get too many pictures from our reception party.

And these were our favor

They were filled with salt water taffy from the beach

I bought them from a shipping supply company called Uline.

I got 200 bags for $70, such an amazing deal!

I had quite a bit left over so I decided that 

I can re-use them for party of my friends wedding.

I took the seams out of the bags and cut the "P" off.

Then I painted on the blank side

and created a cute banner for their card box.

I totally love how this turned out!

My love of burlap showed a bit more in the planning & creating of the Thomas Wedding. 

I covered 2 bulletin boards for the seating/name chart.  

Til this day, mine is still covered & I actually just re-used it for a collage for an Anniversary party we threw for my In-Laws.  It's amazing how some burlap & thumbtacks can make a regular old cork board really stand out!

So next time your are out at the craft store, check out the clearance.  

You never know what great little treasure of burlap you can find!