Today



Today I choose to embrace my life and experience complete joy. I am richly abundant, healthy, creative, brilliant, peaceful, and happy!!
I am so blessed.



I don't remember where I saw the above quote.
I do believe we should embrace life, and embrace it with confidence!
It is truly a blessing.


The Pioneer Woman Cooks

I know almost everyone {in the blog world} knows The Pioneer Woman. I love her site! I love reading about life on the ranch. I love her photography. I love her recipes. Oh, how I love her recipes. She makes cooking look so easy. So, I guess you heard about her cookbook? I bought it soon after it came out. I've bookmarked over half of the recipes. My favorite thing about the Pioneer Woman's recipes is the step-by-step photos. They are so handy. In the last two weeks I've made three of her recipes. I plan on making more in the coming weeks!

Egg-in-a-Hole
These are so simple, yet very delicious....and convenient. When I eat fried eggs, I eat just the yolk. It's my favorite part! With these, I eat the entire egg. No more wasting!

Buttered Rosemary Rolls
DELICIOUS! That's the only word to describe these rolls. I baked them at 11 p.m. one night. The house smelled delicious!

Chocolate Sheet Cake
Ree calls this "The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever." This cake didn't last long around our place. It really is the best. I've been looking for a good chocolate cake recipe, and I think I finally found it! I'm glad I finally tried this recipe.

Two Videos


I just wanted to share two videos that touched me today.
The first made my cry; the second made me smile.
They are both worth the few minutes it takes to watch.






Oh, Deer!

I have this little dear that was on my brother-in-law's birthday cake last year. Lately I've become enamored with deer and moose {more on that later}. The other night I decided to take some pictures of this little girl {yes, girl. I came to the conclusion that she is indeed a girl} with a string of Christmas lights. I like them! It almost looks like she's in the spotlight...







Luke 2:14

Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace, good will toward men.


Give Thanks with a grateful heart for all of the many blessings in your life.
May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!


Giving Thanks...


On November 10th I posted this on Twitter & Facebook:

In honor of Thanksgiving, a friend had this idea.
Every day this month think of one thing that you are thankful for and post it.

Here are a few of the things I'm thankful for:


♥ Today I am thankful for...my sisters. My sisters are my best friends, and I love them all! {Nov 25}

♥ Today I am thankful for...God's blessings on me. {A roof over my head, a warm bed at night, food on the table, shoes on my feet & clothes on my back.} {Nov 24th}

♥ Today I am thankful for...life. Everyday is a blessing from God. I thank God for every breath and every opportunity that He gives me. {Nov 23rd}

♥ Today I am thankful for...friends. Old friends, new friends, getting reacquainted with friends, seeing friends you haven't seen in a while. {Nov 22nd}

♥ Today I am thankful for...life and God's healing power! {Nov 21st}

♥ Today I am thankful for...the simple things in life, the little things that make me smile =] {Nov 19th}

♥ Today I am thankful for...pretty flowers that smell good & make me smile! {Nov 18th}

♥ Today I am thankful for...God's protecting hand. He watches over us wherever we go and keeps His hand on us through everything! {Nov 17th}

♥ Today I am thankful for my boyfriend, Shawn. Today's our "dating anniversary". 1 year, 10 months. WOW!! {Nov 16th}

♥ Today I'm thankful for...forgiveness. {Nov. 15th}

♥ Was on the road on this day. Did not get on the computer. {Nov 14th}

♥ Today I am thankful for the little people in my life {nieces & nephews}. They are rowdy, silly & rambunctious, but I love them tremendously! {Nov 13th}

♥ Today I am thankful for...a beautiful day. It's gorgeous outside! {Nov 12th}

♥ Today I am thankful for....all of our veterans, both old & young. {Nov 11th}

♥ Today I am thankful for...the sunshine! {Nov 10th}


♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥



On another note, during this time each year, St. Jude has their Thanks and Giving campaign. Anyone that knows me knows that St. Jude is a cause that I support with all of my heart. The Thanks and Giving campaign urges everyone to "Give thanks for the healthy kids in your life, and give to those who are not." This past Friday night I watched My Sister's Keeper with a young friend of mine. I am now more than ever thankful for the healthy kids in my life. And I will keep giving to those who are not in hopes that my little bit will help make a difference.





Watch the individual PSA's:
Jennifer Aniston {love her!}
Reggie Bush {adorable}
Antonio Banderas {also adorable}
Robin Williams {funny}


Glee



The Glee Guys made People's Sexiest Men Alive list for 2009!
Cory Monteith (Finn), Matthew Morrison (Mr. Schuester) and Mark Salling (Puck)
Image Credit



I love, love, love this show.
Image Credit


I wasn't all that interested in watching Glee when it first came out. Then one day I watched a clip from the show of the football team dancing on the field, during a football game to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" {Episode 4}. Great! So, I tracked back to watch from the beginning, and I've been watching ever since.

Fox, Wednesdays 9/8c


Lauren's Piano Cake


My friend, Lauren, celebrated her 16th birthday last week. She asked me about a month ago to recommend some cake sites so she could find a cake that she liked. I pointed her to Pink Cake Box because they make some of the greatest cakes. She liked this one, flat instead of topsy turvy.

Here's my version.




{Lauren's a BIG Elvis fan!}







Happy Veteran's Day


To all of the men and women, old and young,
who have served our country and to the ones still serving our country...
THANK YOU!



{My nephew, Ian, at 3 months old}
He's "wrapped in freedom" because of our Veterans.


Book + Shelves= Home Library


Books are wonderful! Books feed your imagination. They can open your eyes to so many things, things you never even knew existed. They can take you to places you've never been before, places you'll probably never go. Books can transport you back in time and give you new adventures everyday.

There is nothing as wonderful as a shelf full of books. That's what makes the library such a wonderful place...row after row of books. What more could you ask for?

How about your own personal library? How wonderful to have so many books, so many stories at your fingertips. In an instant you can reach up, pick a book and begin a new adventure. Oh, yes! There's nothing quite as wonderful as a shelf full of books, especially when those books make up your personal home library!

Design*Sponge


Apartment Therapy


The Lovely List


Making It Lovely


My Favorite Things


Recycled Crafts


And My Most Favorite...

My Favorite Things







Beauty

Find beauty in the little things.
It's there...you just have to look for it.


Mom's Birthday Cake

My Mom's birthday was the weekend before Halloween, but we celebrated at church on Halloween night. We already had a gathering planned, so we did it all together.

Friday night I asked Mom what her favorite color was. {{Pink}} I didn't know this. Does that make me a bad daughter?!?

I used this tutorial to make the flower. I love it!


Oh, and I don't have a picture of Mom with the cake because she's very impatient. She was ready to get the cake cut and distributed lest the ghosts and goblins got too restless! At least I got the cake.




Color Everywhere



{My MawMaw gave all of her grandkids one of these for Christmas when we were younger. I have yet to find a box of 72 crayons to fill it. They have boxes of 8, 16, 24, 48, 64, 96 & 120...but no 72. Why not? It makes no sense!}


I love color! Color is everywhere.
When people ask me what my favorite color is, I usually respond,
"Every color of the rainbow!"



♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

{Post-it notes}


I love these things.
They are so colorful (and pretty).


{Sharpies!!!}


Colorful Sharpies are a favorite!



White Collar


To solve the hardest crimes, hire the smartest criminal.

{Neal Caffrey, the criminal}

{Peter Burke, the FBI agent}

I've got a new favorite show. Well, I suppose it's a little early to say since there's only been one episode. It is a USA original series, though, and 3 of my other favorite shows are USA original series {Burn Notice, Royal Pains & Monk}. This new one was quite entertaining. I look forward to many more great episodes. It plays on USA Fridays 10/9C. Check it out!



Image Credits


Kindergarten

My thought for the day: I wish work was like kindergarten.....naptime anyone?

{I got this wooden car from a classmate of mine in kindergarten, Karla Brudi. Her dad made everyone in our class one for Christmas. It's amazing how you can hold on to something for so long.}

Shawn's Fish Cake


Shawn celebrated his birthday in September.
A group of us went to Cracker Barrel to celebrate.
{He loves that place; so do I}.


I saw this cake and decided to try to make one like it.
It didn't come out exacly the same, but everyone thought it was cute.



I like round cakes.
I especially like round cakes that have not so smooth icing.



Who am I kidding?
I just love cake!


{Me & the Birthday Boy}


Zebra Cake

My friend, Lauren, and I made this cake for her Mom, Debby.
Debby loves zebra print, and red is her favorite color.


This was put together really quickly, so of course it didn't come out exactly how I wanted. I think it's cute, though. Next time we'll make it look more like a zebra. Debby liked it, though, & it tasted delicious, so I guess it was perfect!