Saturday, December 31, 2011

Cheese cake brownies. YUM!

I had a chocolate craving a few days ago and this is what resulted from it:


It was DELICIOUS!  I recommend a glass of crisp, cold milk to wash it down with as it is a little on the rich side! I haven't found a homemade brownie recipe that I really like yet.  So I used a boxed brand.  It still needs a few adjustments like using less liquid than the box calls for to make up for the cheese cake part.  I'm still working on it but in the meantime here's how it happened:


Prepare 1 box of brownie mix (any brand will do) according to directions on package.  Pour into greased (I sprayed it with cooking spray) 9x13 cake pan ( I used glass).   Pour cheese cake (recipe below) slowly over the brownie mix.

 Cheesecake deliciousness:
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla


 I used my magic bullet (I know, I know, but that thing is FANTASTIC!).  If you don't have one you are going to want to use some sort of blending device for this recipe.  I tried using my mixer once and it DID NOT turn out!  It definitely needs to be pureed!


Take a butter knife and swirl the brownie and cheese cake batter together.  Bake according to the brownie box, cool, and enjoy!!  YUMMY!

Friday, December 30, 2011

High Five Friday!!

 It's the last Friday of 2011! HIGH FIVE!  I'm linking up with From My Grey Desk blog again.  I love her blog!

1.Spending time with my family for Christmas.  Hubby and I were living in Louisiana and this is the first year in over 3 years that we've been able to see everybody!

2. Getting a new blow dryer!  Mine blew up the first year we were in Louisiana and I never bought another one.  I have no idea how I survived that long!

3.  OUR JACKETS CAME IN!  I didn't think that our coats would be in before Christmas.  Huge surprise when we opened them at Dad's house on Sunday.  LOVE IT!


4.  Playing with my niece Dayton.  She is so much fun!

5. Watching CJ and Ella open the toothbrush gifts we got them and needing to IMMEDIATELY brush their teeth.  Priceless!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Brown paper packages tied up with string...

These are a few of my favorite things...on Pinterest!!

#1. This CRACKED me up! Pinned here.



#2.  Love these!  Pinned here.



#3. Made these on Christmas Eve Eve and they were FABULOUS!  Pinned here.



#4. Shag rug made of T-shirts?  YUP!  Pinned here.



#5. LOVE LOVE LOVE this dress.  Pinned here.




When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Who's ready for a two day nap?!

Christmas 2011 has officially come and gone!  Hubby and I are exhausted!  This was the first Christmas that we've been able to spend with family in three years so EVERYBODY wanted us to be at their house.  We managed to spread it out over three days so we had more time to spend with our loved ones.

It all began on Christmas Eve morning.  Hubby's dad woke us all up at 6am ( I know, right?) to have some family time and drink coffee before our niece Lailah woke up.  He ended up waking HER up at about 7:45.


the left side


...and the right side

Hubby was not happy with the early morning wake up!


Hennessy and her stocking full of treats ;)

Ms. Lailah opening gifts

trying to further open Lailah's gifts  haha!

the duct tape gun was a success!!



After all the gifts were opened, breakfast was had, and naps were taken (except me and one of my BIL's ...we played with Lailah and her new toys!), Hubby and I ventured out to a friend of ours and helped them execute a huge Santa gift.  Santa brought their kids a new TV, new bed sets, and wall clingies to match.  It was fun getting it all set up!


I wish santa was this awesome when we were little!

We had a wonderful dinner of Jet's pizza with our friends  then headed off to Hubby's  Aunt and Uncle's home for their traditional Christmas Eve Party.   Their home is always full of friends, family, food, and loud music on Christmas Eve!


Isn't he a cutie?!


On Christmas morning we went to my Dad's house.  My brother spent a good chunk of the night and the morning smoking a turkey.  It was DELICIOUS!  We got my brothers kids sleds and they were having a ball with them.  I wish we would have had snow :(   I was super stoked when we opened our gifts.  I didn't think that our jackets would be done in time for Christmas! 

My sister, myself, and my brother.



He was being shy..

and she was being silly!


After getting stuffed with delicious turkey we went to another one of Hubby's Aunt and Uncle's house to stuff our faces some more!  Then his Grandpa read "The Elephant's Child" to us.  He would read that story to the family every year on Christmas.   A cousin brought the book so we all had the joy of listening to Grandpa read us a story!


The day after Christmas, after Hubby got home from work, we went to my Mom's house for more food stuffing and gifts.  I'm pretty sure that we've gained 20 pounds from all the food we've been eating!   It was fun to watch Ella and CJ open more gifts.  I think that was my favorite part about this holiday season.  We got to watch our some of our nieces and nephew open gifts.  It brings me so much joy to see their little faces light up when they open an awesome gift!
Ella got a kitchen! 

One of the many "Little People" sets that CJ opened!


I hope that your Holiday season was a cheerful and heartwarming as ours was!  I'm going to go take a nap now!!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Viva la Mexico!

Some friends of ours took us to a tiny, new to us restaurant the other night called El Adobe.  



It's a really small Mexican restaurant with YUMMY food!   All four of us got the Baja Chimichanga.

Delicious!

1 new restaurant down, 3 more to go!



***My pictures didn't turn out so I Googled the restaurant and used these pics from Eating Flint.*** Thanks :)

Friday, December 23, 2011

High Five Friday!!

In the spirit of Christmas, I've decided to mix it up a tad and also include things that I'm grateful for this week :)


#1. My Pinterest invite!  WOOP!  Thanks to a good pal I didn't have to wait it out on their waiting list.   I've spent only a few hours browsing so my boards are still a little bare but I'm sure that won't last long!


#2. Getting to play with one of my nieces. I absolutely LOVE when I get to see my siblings kids.  Makes my day!




#3. It's Hubby's payday!  And two days before Christmas!  Coincidence?  I think not!

#4. Being able to spend the Holidays with family.  Hubby and I had been living in Louisiana so this will be the first Christmas in 3 years that we get to be with family!

#5. I'm grateful for Hubby.  He is an amazing man!  I'm so glad that he came into my life and has made me feel complete.  I can't imagine a world without him. 

That's Hubby and I.  We'd only been dating about a month in this pic :)


Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves. ~Eric Sevareid


The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~Burton Hillis


One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly. ~Andy Rooney


Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home! ~Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers, 1836


There has been only one Christmas - the rest are anniversaries. ~W.J. Cameron



Thanks to From My Grey Desk Blog for the link!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Pin a Rose on your...board!

Thanks to a fantastic friend, I got an invite to Pinterest.  Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes. Plus you can browse other peoples boards, too.   I couldn't sleep the other night and spent a few hours browsing and pinning.  I must say it's quite addicting!  Here are my top 5 items I've pinned this week.

I LOVE this back and white bedroom! Pinned here.



I want my toes to look this glamorous!  Pinned here.



Hubby needs a copy of this!  Pinned here.





My laundry room dream.  Pinned here.


These are fantastic! I think I'll be making them sometime in the future!  Pinned here.

It's fun to stay at the YMCA!

Another on bites the dust!  Number 75 is now complete thanks to my MIL (mother-in-law).  She got Hubby and I a membership to the local Y for Christmas!  We were pretty dedicated the first week we had it and we've slowly stop going.  I'm thinking that after the holiday hoopla has dimmed down a little we'll be going a lot more.  Hopefully I'll have some before and after photos to share soon!!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Duck Tape, Duct Tape, TomAto, Tomato.....

Every year for Christmas Hubby's Grandma (Gammy) takes her grand and great grandchildren to the dollar store.  We each get to spend $5 each on the other family members.  So in our family that translates to $40 per grandchild and great grandchild.  It's a tradition that has been going on for quite some time.  Another tradition is to get my father-in-law nothing but duct tape with our allotted money for him.  That's roughly 35 rolls if everyone got him 5 rolls which we didn't.  He got about 25 rolls this year.  And here's what we did with them...

That's Hubby holding a duct tape gun complete with scope and silencer.  I can't wait till we give it to him at Christmas!!

I just had to share it because it's fantastic!  And...it was my idea :)

High Five Friday!!

My top 5 super, fantastic things that happened this week!  YAY!!

Here we go..



#1.  My Momma's birthday was on Sunday and I got to spend the morning with her!


#2.  Hubby took me out to dinner on Wednesday night.  Nothing fancy but we got to spend some time together and did a bit of Christmas shopping!  I love shopping for other people!


#3. Hubby and I love the show "How I Met Your Mother".  He got me hooked on it a couple of Valentines Day's ago and now we only watch it a season at a time. It's so much better without commercials!



#4. MY FINANCIAL AID CAME IN!!!!  I am officially going back to school to finish my degree starting Jan. 14!  WOO HOO!

#5.  This hasn't happened yet but, tomorrow Hubby and I are going to order our jackets.  My dad runs a small farm and every couple of years he buys us Carhartt jackets with the farm name embroidered on the back.  This will be Hubby's first jacket!  So excited!!



 Thanks to the FMGD blog for the link!   :)

Monday, December 12, 2011

A bit o happiness :)

I saw these posted on The Small Things Blog and they made me giggle.  I hope you giggle, too!




Thursday, December 8, 2011

Our Lady of 121st Street

Hubby's cousin is a very talented actor.  I got the pleasure of seeing his mad skills in action.  He played a detective (which is hilarious if you know him) in a play called "Our Lady of 121st Street."  When we purchased the tickets we were told that there would be some vulgar language.  They were not kidding.  I think 2 out of the first 3 words were something that would make a sailor blush.  A woman left in the middle of a (very colorful) scene and never came back!   I guess she didn't take the warning seriously? 
I still enjoyed it!  And YAY for Matt for doing such a fantastic job!!


the set



Our Lady of 121st Street by Stephen Adly Guirgis
Mourners have gathered at a Harlem funeral home to pay their respects
to a beloved and feared childhood teacher, Sister Rose. There’s only one
problem – someone’s stolen the body. In a series of sharp vignettes, old
and new friends reminisce about the past and face the reality of whom
they’ve become. As memories are unearthed, vivid shouting matches,
explosive rants and surprisingly touching moments of hope reveal a group
of broken souls and the rough, tumbled neighborhood that formed them.
Raw, gritty and rancorously funny, Our Lady of 121st Street is a deeply
human character study of people in an elusive search for redemption.





Number 34...DONE!

Adventures in the Mailbox!!

Let me first say how stinking hard it is to find postcards!  I think that I went to at least 15 different shops before I finally found one that had them (and they kind of suck).  Also, you should know that it takes 3 postcard stamps + a 10 cent stamp + a 1 cent stamp (or two regular stamps + a 10 cent stamp) to mail a postcard out of the country.  I was unaware of this and stuck just one stamp on my ugly postcards and sent them on their way.  HA!  I'm still waiting for a few of the one stamp postcards to be registered by the addressee....updates to follow! 

So, number 72 on my list is send and receive 20 postcards through Postcrossing.  Postcrossing is simply this: send a postcard and receive a postcard back from a random person somewhere in the world. I don't think I have ever been so excited to get the mail! So far I have received 7 postcards!  In my profile I asked for the random persons favorite quote in their language.  AWESOME!!  So much fun!!!


Finland- "Believe in your dreams, rely on the notes of your heart."

Taiwan- "What I most concern about is not whether I failed in the past but if I can be content with failure."

VanLear, KY-"When something is bothering me, I write a song that tells my feelings." Loretta Lynn

Minst, Belarus- "Keep smiling.  This irritates many people."

Japan- "Dear God, How come you didn't invent any new animals lately? We still have just all the old ones."  From Children's letters to God.

Amsterdam- "Today is a party and tomorrow as well."

Washington- "A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary.  Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."  Albert Einstein


How cool is #72?!?!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

I still have a long way to go....

More operation beautiful sticks have been left!  I still have a long way to go!!