Samson & Harris!

The weather was so beautiful outside today so I wanted to try and spend as much time outside as possible since it's my day off. I sat outside while the dogs played fetch this morning and I got my camera out and took some pictures of them. While I was uploading the picture onto my computer I came across some older pictures of them when they were puppies and it made me wish that they could still be so little and innocent, haha. Don't get me wrong they are both very well behaved dogs, but it can be hard sometimes living with two huge dogs indoors, especially since they both shed. I love having them around and they are like my little shadows. Everywhere I go, they are close behind.

Here is Samson the day I got him. Samson was a gift from my Aunt Jan on my 20th birthday. She got him for free from a friend at work. He is a full blood golden retriever, but he looked like a little polar bear when he was little because he was so white and furry.

That is Samson now!! He's such a sweet dog and loves to have all the attention on him. I love him so much!

Here is baby Harris (Trevor's dog). My mom's friend from work gave Harris to Trevor for free as well. He is also a full blood black lab (obviously). Harris is such a well behaved dog and he LOVES to play fetch.

Here is Harris now! Trevor and I will both have to get a new dog when we no longer live in the same house because they are both so used to having eachother and they are such great companions....they do everything together and they love to wrestle and play non stop!

Projects and Garage Sale Finds!

I got this idea from a fun blog that I frequent called Little Birdie Secrets (http://www.littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/). You should check it out, they have tons of fun crafts and ideas. I've been looking for an old shutter for a while and I finally found one for $5 at the fair grounds flea market. I sanded it and spray painted it red, then I sanded over the top again to make it look distressed. Then I flipped it upside down and bought some fun clips and viola....I now have a fun bulletin board to hang invitations and pictures on instead of covering my fridge.

I also found this lamp at the flea market for $12. It is a huge, heavy duty lamp and I love the detail in the bottom of it. Its kind of funny because our living room wall color almost matches the color in the lamp perfectly. I'm planning on covering the lamp shade with a fun fabric, but I haven't found the fabric I like yet and i'm not so sure how to cover a lamp shade without making it look bad!

My mom found this fun candle holder at a garage sale. I matched the color of the candles to the couch pillows which are burnt orange and red.

I found this candle holder at the flea market as well! It was a great day for me at the flea market. I'm going to hang this piece in the hallway above our book shelf.

Baby Onesies

I made this one for my friend's husband because he is a big hunter. For those of you who don't know this is the Browning symbol and it's basically a hunting symbol.

S is for baby Sawyer!

J is for baby Jack!

This one is by far my favorite!

So these are the baby onesies I've been making for my friends who are expecting. They are so fun and easy to make. I just cut out the fabric and iron on adhesive and then iron and steam them onto the onesies. Then I take them over to my mom's house and she does all the stitching around the outer edges (thanks mom!) If you know someone who is expecting and you'd like me to make you some onesies, I would be more than happy to!

OVER THE HILL!!

HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY AUNT JAN!!!!

Today is my aunt Jan's 50th birthday....WOW, that's really old!! Just kidding. I hope you have a very very happy birthday Jan. You're such a special part of my life and I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful aunt. There are so many fun memories I can think of that involve you. May the next half of your life be just as great as the first, if not better! I love you!

Cooking Class #1

Here is the recipe for the wonderful meal that we made last week during our cooking night! It was absolutely delicious and very filling. We made bread crisps and dip, jumbo stuffed pasta shells with marinara, and a spinach leaf salad.

Dip
3-4 slices of bacon
2T brown sugar
chipotle peppers
2T cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
salt & pepper

Mix the brown sugar with the chipotle pepper sauce (about 1 tablespoon). Rub the sauce on the bacon and cook @ 400 degrees for about 15 mins, or until it's crispy. Then, chop up the bacon and mix it in with the remaining ingredients.

For the bread, we cut up pieces of the garlic bread loaves you buy at the store and we soaked it in olive oil and butter and then cooked it so that it was very crispy. Spread the dip on the top of the bread crisps and enjoy!

Marinara Sauce
1/2 red onion
1-2 garlic cloves
2-3T olive oil
red pepper flakes
canned tomatoes
2 tablespoons sugar or brown sugar (we used brown sugar)
assorted herbs (we used rosemary, oregano, and basil)
salt & pepper

Mix all together and spread over the top of the pasta shells.

Pasta Shells and Stuffing
1. Boil Shells
2. Cook chicken breasts @ 350 degrees w/ olive oil and salt & pepper, for about 20 mins
3. Mix 1 egg, 1 cup ricotta cheese, 3/4 cup shredded italian cheese, chopped up chicken, salt & pepper, and herbs (this will be the stuffing inside the shells)

Stuff shells, smother the shells in marinara and sprinkle with cheese, cook for about 20-30 mins.

I forgot to bring my camera and take pictures of what the meal looked like, but I will make sure and do that tonight when we cook.

It's Been A While!

Sorry i've been MIA for a while, I'm sure not many people have missed my blog anyway, but oh well. I figured I'd give friends and family an update on what's been going on in my life the past few months.


#1: I GRADUATED COLLEGE!!!! I had a great graduation weekend, celebrating with my friends and family who were able to come. Here are a few pics from graduation.

#2: I MOVED BACK TO NORMAN AND I AM LIVING WITH TREVOR AND HIS FRIEND BEN IN TREVOR'S NEW HOUSE! In the last three weeks that I've been living in his house, I've painted the walls and woodwork in my bedroom, painted the walls in the hallway, living room, and kitchen. Next, we will paint all the woodwork in the whole house white. I absolutely love living where I do. I love that we have a garden..My mom planted the flowers, but I love watering them and enjoying them. My dog Samson lives with me now and it makes me so happy! He's so sweet and he follows me everywhere. Each of us have our own dog so we are very busy sweeping and vacuuming up all the hair. Once the woodwork is all finished, I will post before and after pictures of the house.

#3: I GOT A JOB AT THE JCPENNEY'S HAIR SALON! I decided after much thought that I wanted to do hair. I applied at a couple of salons in Norman and OKC, but I decided to accept the job at JCPenney's. There are a few reasons for this......A. They pay hourly plus commission on services and product sales. This is a huge plus for me because I don't have a big enough clientele for booth rent, plus I will be getting a paycheck whether or not I have clients in my chair. B. It's located in the Norman mall so there will hopefully be lots of traffic and walk-ins. C. They offer benefits like health and dental insurance, 401K plan, and paid vacations. D. Everyone I talked to there loved it and some of the ladies have been there for over 10 years. My first day of work will be on Aug. 2nd! If you need your hair done, PLEASE come see me, I would love it!

#4: I'M LEARNING HOW TO COOK! My good friend Stephanie attended culinary school for a while and she works as a chef at a catering company in Norman now. Once a week, a group of my friends get together and cook. Stephanie plans what we're going to make and she teaches us how. We've only done it once, but I learned so much and I can't wait for next week! I've always wanted to learn how to cook so I'm very excited about it. Hopefully I will have time to start blogging about what we cook and I'll post pictures of the food and the recipes :)

#5: MY MOM AND I ARE TRAINING FOR THE YMCA TRIATHLON IN SEPTEMBER. Two years ago Trevor and I did the triathlon at the YMCA and I loved it. This year my mom will be doing it with both Trevor and I. We've been training for about a month now. I try to run and swim about four times a week. The triathlon includes 500 meters swimming, 12 miles biking, and a 5k run. I thoroughly enjoying swimming....I think it is so relaxing and such a great full body workout.

Other than that, I'm just enjoying having the month of July off from work. It's really spoiled me, although I haven't had a lot of time to just sit and relax. However, I do get to sleep in everyday :) I can't wait to start doing hair in a salon again and I'm really excited about working hard to build my clientele. Hope you are all doing well, I'd love for you to e-mail me and let me know how your life's going.

There Is A God- Lee Ann Womack

I absolutely love this song! I heard it in the car the other day and the lyrics are SO good and true!! You should all go and listen to it, it's beautiful!

Try and put your arms around
a hundred year old tree.
Climb up on a horse,
and let him run full speed.
Take a look down at the earth
from thiry thousand feet
on your next flight.

Watch a flock of birds
against the morning sun.
Close your eyes and listen,
to the river run.
Catch a firefly in your hand,
or a rain drop on your tongue,
yeah that's right....

There is a God,
There is a God,
There is a God,
how much proof do you need?

Plant a seed and see,
what comes out of the ground.
Find the heartbeat
on your baby's ultrasound.
In a few years hear him laughin',
and don't it sound like a song?

Stop and think about
what you don't understand.
Things like life and love
and how the world began.
Hear the doctor's sayin,
"He can't explain it,
but the cancer's gone."

(Chorus)

Science says its all just cicumstance,
like this whole world's just an accident.
But if you wanna shoot the theory down,
look around, just look around.

There is a God.
There is a God.
There is a God.
How much proof do you need?