La Dolce Vita

I'm Now a Working Woman

2011-12-21T08:05:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't been posting within the last week! It's been really crazy because my schedule just changed completely!

I finally got myself a job! I now work a full-time position at Fort Hood National Bank in the Loan Department. I work Monday thru Friday 830-530. I love my new job because I get to work hands on with customers, but I also love that I have tons of free-time! I have a very free schedule, when we don't have a loan to work on we can get online or read a book, or work on other things. This free schedule is amazing because it allows me to not feel like i'm stuck or that I loose all of my day.

So I am still trying to figure out my schedule, so the blogs may be a little separated for a little while, but i'm working on figuring out how to work everything into my schedule! I'm sure it will all work itself out, but just stay patient with me while I experience all these changes.

Dreams of Many Travels

2011-12-11T18:20:00.001-08:00

Kendall and I have dreamed of travelling for some time now. Tonight we are spending the evening looking at pictures and trying to plan a trip for when he gets out of the Army. We are both complete dreamers (which can get us in trouble sometimes) but we love to talk about where we want to go and what we want to do with our lives.

Sometimes we dream of living in other countries or going backpacking around the world. Other times they are more simple, like simply taking a trip to a country in Europe or Asia. Our dreams will take us to places that we've never heard of or to places we think would be ideal to live in. They can also sometimes get us in trouble, because we will spend so much time planning out this "perfect" trip or life, and then we are disappointed when we discover it isn't really feasible like we wanted it.

However, it's still so important for us to dream like this! It helps pass time while in the military. It also gives us hope and passion towards a free, simple life. Here are some of our recent dreams in pictures. I hope you enjoy it.

These are only a small portion of our many dreams, but I can't wait til we can finally make these dreams a reality! We are going to begin saving as much as we can so that we can really afford some of these places

What are some places you have dreamt of visiting?

Quite Simple Pasta Salad

2011-12-09T21:38:00.000-08:00

Recently, I decided I wanted to try to make some pasta salad from scratch! Kendall and I love pasta salad and I know that whenever we have it in the house it will definitely be eaten quickly!! We will eat it with meals and as a snack! I didn't realize how easy it is to make though!

Pasta Salad

First gather the ingredients that you want in your pasta salad. Here is what I used:

Colored Rotini pasta
yellow and orange peppers
Purple onion
garlic
parmesan cheese
Red Wine vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar
Olive Oil

Step 1: Cook the pasta as directed.
Step 2: Cut up the vegetables and herbs to the size you want them.
Step 3: Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water
Step 4: Add 1-2 Tablespoons of Vinegar
Step 5: Add Olive oil and parmesan cheese to consistency you like
Step 6: Refrigerate or serve immediately! (I like to refrigerate it cause it's really good cold!)

Enjoy! We love to have pasta salad whenever we can, and now that I know it's so easy to make I will definitely be making it more often!! Now, I just want to try to make the pasta from scratch :)

What are some of your favorite side dishes?

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Links I'm Loving Right Now!

2011-12-08T13:25:00.001-08:00

Today's post isn't going to be quite as long as usual, today has been a bit of a weird day for me. Kendall worked a 24 hours shift yesterday and then had all day off today. So it's been a bit of a lazy day for us! However, I wanted to share some of the really cool websites I have come along while surfing the internet!

These are a few of my favorite things...

1. I absolutely love the crafts over at Sweet Verbena. She always posts some really creative sewing tutorials!

2. I know i've already done a post about it, but Pinterest is still one of my favorite websites! I find so many creative things to do for the home and fantastic recipes!!

3. The sixty-one is an amazing place to find some new music that you may not have heard before!

4. If you're looking for any amazing recipes (besides the ones I post, of course!) :) You should check out Food Gawker!

5. TED Talks are a series of talk from inspiring and incredibly smart people from all over the world. The talks range to about anything you would be interested in and they can be 4 minutes or 20 minutes, depending on the talk. LOVE this website! So inspiring!

I hope you all check out some of my recent favorite websites and let me know what you think!!

What are some of your favorite websites? I'd love to check them out!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas...

2011-12-07T15:33:00.000-08:00

Christmas is here! I absolutely love this time of year, the snow, the freezing cold, Chicago... OH WAIT! I'm in Texas now. I do still love this time of year, but it's definitely different this year. It is quite cold here, around the high 30s the past few days (Yes, I know it's much colder in the north right now!). However, I still have so many things that make this holiday really special!

For starters, it means my birthday is here!! This year, I'll be turning 21, which means..... I can finally cook with wine!!! (Yes, I turn 21 and that is what I am MOST excited about!). I also love all the Christmas lights and the Christmas cooking! All of those things I can have no matter where we are!

This year is our first year to actually have a home to decorate. This is really exciting, but I am realizing how little we have. I will definitely be stocking up for next year... AFTER Christmas! Here is a little window into Christmas at the Gilliam's this year.

This Cinnamon Roll Cake was absolutely amazing!! Check out the recipe over at Cookin Up North. Definitely Worth it!!

Doesn't that just look absolutely delicious???

Kendall wasn't the most excited about decorating for Christmas, initially... This was his reaction!

Last year, I decorated an ornament for our family, but this guy was too cute! I just had to keep him for ourselves!!!

I absolutely love Christmas decorations!!

My parents gave me a nativity set a few years ago :) This is the first time I got to set it up!

Playing with Bokeh :)

And the stockings were hung by the Chimney with care...

My recent project!

Homemade snowflakes!

Playing with the reflection :)

Last year, I became an aunt!! What a great gift for that year!

What are some traditions for Christmas in your house?

Easy homemade Macaroni and Cheese

2011-12-06T12:00:00.000-08:00

I am always on Pinterest looking for new recipes, crafts, decoration ideas, etc... Each week, before I go grocery shopping, I will go into my dinner pin board and see what I want to make that specific week. When I saw this recipe for homemade Macaroni and Cheese, I knew I HAD to try it! The recipe I followed was posted on Revolutionary Mac & Cheesecake's blog (however, I believe she got it somewhere else).

I am always looking for new ways to make staple foods completely from scratch! This was definitely a great find. Although, I will tell you right now, if you want it to taste like that lovely box, you will be wildly disappointed. However, this is a FANTASTIC dinner substitute. It's very filling!

OH! and did I mention this is a very easy recipe!

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:

2 cups of shell pasta

2 cups of milk (2% or whole)

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1 spoonful of dijon mustard (If you want)

Step 1: Take 2 cups of shell pasta and cover it with 2 cups of high fat milk. (I used Whole milk, but you can also use 2% milk.)
NOTE: Make sure that you stir frequently as it gets hotter, you don't want the milk to burn.

Step 2: You will know milk and pasta are ready when it becomes very creamy (See above: this takes about 20 mintues)

Step 3: Put 1 cup of freshly shredded cheddar cheese and cover

Step 4: Mix thoroughly once melted. You can also add about a small spoonful of dijon mustard if you want. Although I don't feel it's absolutely necessary.

Step 5: Serve immediately! (If this sits for too long the cheese won't be nice and creamy.)

And as always, Enjoy! We enjoyed this meal alongside some Amazing homemade buttermilk biscuits!

What are some of your favorite foods with Macaroni and Cheese?

Buttermilk Biscuits

2011-12-05T12:00:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I really wanted to make some true buttermilk biscuits. Not just the ones from a package or box, but some that tasted as good, if not better, than the restaurants! So I began my search for a recipe. I watched probably 10 videos and read the same number of blogs. Then I combined everything I learned about how to make them and created my own recipe and they turned out incredibly! They have become a staple in our house!

Warning: This recipe require you to get a little messy. So take off your rings, put on an apron, and let's get to business!

Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

Gather these ingredients:

flour (you'll need a lot of it, so bring the whole bag/container)

baking powder

Salt

1/2 stick of crisco

1 stick of butter

about 1 cup of buttermilk (you can make this by measuring out 1 cup of milk and adding about a tablespoon of vinegar)

Clean hands

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Take a big bowl and combine 2 cups of flour with about 3 palms full of baking powder (about 3-4Tablespoons)

Step 2: add salt to taste: If you want to not taste the salt; about 1-2 pinches. If you want them to be a little salty, 3-4 pinches.

Step 3: Mix dry ingredients thoroughly as you want to everything to be mixed evenly. I use my hands for this, you can also use a spoon if you want to...but your hand WILL get messy! So you might as well get over it now. :)

Step 4: Add the butter to the dry mixture. Take your hands you want to combine the butter and the flour. You want it to get to the point where there are no chunks of butter left. If will look something like dry cottage cheese (see picture below). You can tell it's ready when you can squeeze it into a ball, but then completely crumble it.

Note: mine weren't quite "crumbly" enough, so I chose to add a little more flour to it.

Step 5: Create/Take your buttermilk. I made a little more than a cup. Add the milk to the flour and butter mixture 1/2 cup at a time. (If it's too dry, add more milk. If it's too liquidy and sticky add more flour) This is where having lots of flour can come in handy as it's easy to put in too much milk. (If you have to put in more than a cup of flour you may want to add in a bit of baking powder so that it rises correctly)

Step 6: kneed it by hand until it no longer sticks to your fingers (you may need to wash your hands in the middle if there is too much stuck to your fingers). You want to kneed it until it is smooth.

Step 7: break off balls of dough the size of biscuits you want.

Note: They will expand, so don't make them too big

Step 8: Put them on the baking stone or cookie sheet and stick in the oven. They will cook for anywhere from 15-30 minutes depending on the size. Make sure you check them frequently. You can tell they are done when the tops are golden brown and they aren't too gooey on the inside. Bake to your liking :)

Step 9: Let them cool a few minutes and then ENJOY! We tend to make more than enough and then put them in a baggie in the fridge. They will keep for at least a week (although ours NEVER make it that long!)

What do you usually serve biscuits with?

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Another Successful Couponing Trip!

2011-12-04T18:17:00.001-08:00

So I posted on facebook the other day that I had made $3 at walgreens and I wanted to share with all of you how I did this. It was actually pretty easy and only required 3 transactions. I was also really happy because I got a chance to get some things that we can really use on a daily basis! So here we go:

Here are the items I got: Airwick air freshener, 2 chewy packages, 1 9oz Dawn.

NOTE: I did go into this trip having $4 Register Rewards from a previous trip. So this is how I made so much money. I tend to save one from the week before so that I can apply it to the next trip. It saves me more in the end. You can also spend them on other items you need, however I prefer to use them on sale items the following week.

Transaction #1: Air Wick Freshmatic Odor Detect

Sale Price: $7.99
Register Rewards: - $4.00 (from the week prior)
Total out of pocket: $4.38
THEN I got $5.00 Register Rewards back:

Total price: $0.67 made back

Transaction #2: 2 8ct. Quaker Chewy Bars

Sale Price: 2 for $5.00
Register Rewards: -$5.00 (From previous transaction)
Total out of pocket: $0.00!!!
THEN I got $2.00 Register Rewards back!

I MADE $2.00!!

Total Price: $2.00 made back

Transaction #3: 9oz. Dawn Liquid Soap

I've written previously about how even though sometimes the really good deals are on the small sizes, that it's still a good deal!! I have about 6 of these 9 oz containers of dawn that I've spent maybe a total of $2 out of pocket on. They may be small, but they are mighty savings!

Original Price: $1.19
In-store coupon: $0.99 for one
Manufacturer's coupon: -$0.50
Total out of pocket: $0.49! That is a really good deal for dawn!

I love when I can stack store coupons and Manufacturer's coupons, that can give you some great saving!

Altogether I paid $4.38 out of pocket, but I ended up making $3.00 from Register Rewards! That definitely made this trip completely worth it!

Have you ever gotten a great deal on a product? I'd love to hear about it!

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Our First Military Ball

2011-12-02T08:33:00.001-08:00

Last night, Kendall and I attended our first Military Ball. I was so excited to be able to dress up as that is something we don't do often (We should do more though!). The Ball itself was fine, although we ended up leaving early ha. In our defense, we sat at a table with people we didn't know and by 8:30 they weren't even halfway done with the ceremony part. So the dancing wouldn't have begun until probably 10! We just don't stay up late anymore, so we ended up heading home.

It was really fun to get some pictures and just to have this time with Kendall :) We invited our friend Elizabeth May from Soldier's Hospitality House to come take our pictures. Here is a highlight from that night!

Love this one!

Outtake :)

I wore this dress for homecoming my junior year of high school. I'm so glad I got to wear it again!

Don't mind the trash in the yard. For some reason everyone's trash blows into our backyard. I picked it all up, but missed that one piece ha.

Love this one too!!

Sitting at the Ball... can you tell I was slightly bored?

The ceremony hall

They had a video playing before the ceremony started

Our salads (These were sitting out for probably 4-5 hours before we got there... kinda gross)

mmmm desert! (These were sitting out as well)

My name card. I know i'm a Mrs. But it's always weird when I see it in writing! I definitely kept these :)

Overall the entire night was a fun evening with friends! (We all ended up leaving early) I definitely want to find more reasons to dress up like this.

What are some of your favorite events to dress up for?

{...MMMMMMM...} Strawberry Jam

2011-12-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things to do this fall is to can jams and butters! There is just something about making something from scratch and having it last you for the next several months. I also love the idea of using the foods that the Lord has given us and using them in more creative ways.

I have posted before that I've made strawberry jam, however I didn't actually post HOW I make jam. So I wanted to share this really easy recipe with you!

Strawberry jam is actually one of the easiest things to make. It only requires a few ingredients and (in comparison to other jams and butters i've made) it doesn't take too long.

Strawberry Jam

6 packages of Strawberries

4-7 cups of white sugar

2 package of no-sugar pectin

3 Lemons

Large stock pot

Water bath canner (These aren't terribly expensive. I got mine at Target for about $30 and it came with a kit with everything you need. You can invest more in a canner if you want, but mine works just fine for me.)

about 8-9 1/2-pint jars with fresh lids (If you have old jars around you can definitely use those! Just make sure to purchase fresh flat lids for each can. You don't want to reuse those because it won't seal properly.)

Step 1: Fill your water bath canner with water (enough that it will be about 1-2 inches above the jars) and put it on high heat, it will take a while to get hot enough.

Step 2: Cut the strawberries into small pieces.

Step 3: Take a potato masher or meat masher and mash up the strawberries as much as possible. Then pour the strawberries into the large stock pot.

Step 4: cut 3 lemons in half and squeeze out as much juice as you can. You can squeeze them into a strainer to avoid the seeds from going into the juice. Mine made about 1/3 of a cup.

Step 5: Pour the lemon juice into the strawberries and mix thoroughly (This is to help the strawberries to avoid changing colors after being canned)

Step 6: Turn the heat on medium and add the package of pectin. Mix thoroughly and bring to a full boil (The kind of boil you can't stir out)

Step 7: Begin to add the sugar. Begin with 3 cups and allow to simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Spoon out some jam, allow it to cool and if it stiffens up and becomes the consistency you want, then it is finished. (Also taste it, if it isn't sweet enough add more sugar and allow to cook in a few minutes) (You can also skim off the foam from the top as it boils. But put it in a bowl, you can still use it as jam on bread! It's really yummy!)

Note: If the jam isn't thick enough, add more sugar, allow to cook a few minutes and spoon some out again. You want it to become almost like a gel consistency.

Step 8: While the jam is cooking, take your 1/2 pint jars and you want to sterilize them. I found a really easy way to do this while searching the internet one day. Take the jars, take off the lids, and put them on a baking sheet. Put them in the oven at 250 degrees for at least 10 minutes. Once you are ready for them, pull them out of the oven and fill immediately.

Step 9: Take the flat lids and place them in very warm water to soak until ready to use. (I put mine on the oven and put it on low)

Step 10: Once the jam is of the correct consistency, take your jars out of the oven and begin to fill them. Make sure to use the jar "funnel" so you don't make too much of a mess. Fill the jars so that there is about 1/2 inch at the top for what is called "head" space. This allows the jar to seal properly.

Step 11: Use the magnetic lid lifter to take the flat lids out of the very warm water and put them on the jars and close them with the screw on top. This will hold the lid in place til it seals.

Step 12: Place your jars into the water in the canner. Place the lid on top and allow them to sit in the boiling water for about 7 minutes. (You don't start counting the time UNTIL the water begins to boil)

Step 13: When the time is up, use a hot pad (I prefer the full gloves) and pull out the jars with the handles and hook them over the sides so the bottom of the jars are slightly in the water. Take the jar gripper and pull out each jar and place it on a towel to cool

There are two ways to tell that they have sealed properly.
1. You will hear it make a popping sound. That means that the top has popped down and it is sealed.

2. After it has completely cooled, touch the middle of the lid and if it makes the popping sound it didn't seal. In this case, you can either sterilize a new jar, and re-can it. Or just stick it in the fridge and eat it right away!! (I like the second option :)

You now have yummy homemade jam!! If you have ANY questions let me know and I will do my best to answer them for you!

What are some of your favorite kinds of jam?

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

2011-11-30T12:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I posted a recipe for homemade Alfredo Sauce. The other day I really wanted to use this fantastic recipe for some thing new! So I decided to make a Chicken Alfredo Pizza. I had never made this type of pizza before, so I wasn't completely sure how it would turn out. However, we were pleasantly surprised at how amazing it is! So I wanted to make sure to share this fantastic recipe with all of you.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Pizza Crust (I cheated a little bit and used pre-made crust. We have several packages that we got on sale when I first moved and I am trying to get rid of them, however I will be posting a pizza crust recipe in the near future)

1 block of Mozzarella Cheese

Alfredo Sauce

1 Chicken breast

Garlic

Any herbs you enjoy: We used basil and a little rosemary.

Step 1: Take a medium sized sauce pan and boil some salted water with the chicken already in it. (You want to boil the chicken slowly so that it isn't dry)

Step 2: If you are making Alfredo Sauce from scratch begin cooking that. If not, skip this step.

Step 3: Once the chicken has been boiling for a few minutes take a knife or some scissors and make sure that it is done in the middle. Once it is cooked through take it off heat.

Step 4: Begin Making the Pizza Crust (if you are making it from scratch you should make this at the same time as step 2)

Step 5: Cut the chicken into small chunks

Step 6: Spoon some Alfredo Sauce onto the pizza (The quantity will depend on the size of your pizza. You want to leave about 1 inch on the sides to make sure it doesn't spread off the pizza). Then add the chunks of chicken on top of that.

Step 7: chop up some garlic (you can always choose to omit this step if you aren't a garlic fan. I though, put garlic in nearly everything!)
Step 8: Sprinkle the cut garlic on top of the chicken and alfredo sauce

Step 9: Grate your cheese. You can make as much cheese as you want. We like really cheesy pizza so we use at least 1/2 block of cheese if not a whole block.

Step 10: Place your cheese on top of the pizza and put in the oven a 375 (unless your pizza crust says otherwise).
Step 11: Watch the pizza, you want to take it out when the cheese starts to brown ever-so-slightly.

Note: If you are making a thin crust pizza, like I did, really want the time it cooks. Mine took less than 10 minutes until it started to brown. You don't want things to get over-cooked.

Enjoy!! As you can see, we were so excited I forgot to take a picture of the whole pizza! So here are the last 2 pieces.

What is your favorite kind of pizza to eat?

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Homemade Alfredo Sauce

2011-11-29T12:36:00.001-08:00

I'm always looking for new recipes to try and new ways that I can use recipes that I already know really well. One of my favorite (and easiest) recipes I know is for Alfredo Sauce. Kendall and I are HUGE pasta fans and since we have decided to make most everything from scratch (as opposed to buying it in the store) this was one of the first recipes we had to try.

The first time I made this I wasn't really sure if Kendall would really enjoy it. We had eaten the stuff from the store for so long, so I wasn't so sure about the taste of it. However, he absolutely devoured it! And since then It has definitely become a staple food in our home. I always have some made in the fridge that we can heat up!

Homemade Alfredo Sauce

1 cup of Heavy Whipping Cream (I don't recommend you use anything lighter as that fat helps it thicken a bit, otherwise it will be really "soupy")
6 Tablespoons of Parmesan Cheese
4 Tablespoons of Butter
Salt, Pepper, Basil, etc...

That's it! This will make enough for between 3-4 people depending on how much you eat. This can also easily be doubled. I like to make very large quantities and then put it in the fridge for the next few weeks.

Step 1: Melt the butter completely on the stove.
Step 2: Add in the Heavy Whipping Cream to the melted butter. Heat on low-medium until it is warm to the touch. (You want it on a low temperature so the cream doesn't burn)
Step 3: Add the Parmesan Cheese and use a whisk to get all the "chunks" of cheese out.
Step 4: Add salt and pepper (to taste). I also usually add basil, rosemary, oregano, garlic or whatever else I feel like. (If you want exact measurements of that, I would guess about 1/2 Tablespoon of Salt, 1 Teaspoon of Pepper, 1-2 Tablespoons of Basil, etc... but you really can just guess, it won't turn out bad!)
Step 5: Allow it to cook for about 15-20 minutes on low to let all the flavors cook in.

Note: If it's too "soupy" for your liking, add about a 1-2 Tablespoons of flour and allow to thicken. REMEMBER you can always add more, so add a little at a time.

Put any leftovers in jar (or tupperware) and stick in the fridge. It will last for a couple of weeks.

Most of all, Enjoy!

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Pinterest || My Latest Addiction

2011-11-16T08:20:00.000-08:00

If you haven't had a chance to get onto Pinterest yet, you definitely should check it out!

Pinterest is basically a method of "bookmarking" but with pictures. You can create different "boards" (or folders) and you "pin" things onto those boards depending on what they are of. I have boards with recipes, decoration ideas, organization, fashion, etc... It is an amazing way to find out creative ways to do every day things or to find a new way to look at the spaces around you! I have tried some recipes that have become staples in our home and found some great deserts that I will never forget!!

Another amazing part of Pinterest is that you aren't limited to the things that other people pin. You can add a small icon on your bookmark bar and click it to pin anything from another website! Here is a little tour of Pinterest :)

When you first get onto the Pinterest website you will see a page that looks like this:

1. The Everything Button: This button allows you to see a random group of everything that anyone on pinterest has pinned. You can also choose based based upon your interests as well.

2. Pinners You Follow: This will take you back to the current screen. This shows you all the pins from anyone that you have chosen to follow.

3. These are the actual "pins" that people have chosen to pin.

4. See side image, when you click on your name it will bring up this drop-down menu. If you click boards it will take you to a list of all the boards you have chosen to make. If you click Pins, it will take you to a list of your pins, etc...

The Boards

The above image is what you see when you click "boards" on your drop-down menu. This shows you all the boards that you have chosen to create. As of right now, I have 30 different boards containing 1240 different pins.

If you click on a specific board this is what you will see. It will show you all the Pins that are included within that Board. These are just two examples of the boards that I have.

Pinning on Pinterest

There are two ways to pin something: On Pinterest and Anywhere else on the web. We'll do On Pinterest first.

This is the "pin" screen. This basically gives you more information on the pin as well as a chance to do more with that pin.

1. This is the website that this specific pin came from. If you click that link it will take you to the blog post or website that is specific to this pin. So in this case, it would take you to the link for that specific recipe.

2. This is the board that it is currently under, this could be a board you made (if you have pinned this item) or a board that someone else has made. If you click that area it will take you to that entire board.

3. If it's a board someone else has made and you really like it you can chose to "follow" that board. That will make any pins put into that board appear on the "People you follow" page.

4. If this is something you really like and want to "repin" you can click that button and a menu will appear. This menu gives you the option to chose what board you want to put it on and to describe the pin. (see bellow)

5. If you don't want to repin something but you do want to show that you like it, you can click the like button. This will simply put it on a like page and show the other person that you like it, very similarly to facebook.

This is the Repin screen where you can choose what board it will go into and how you want to describe it.

Pinning Everywhere Else!

This is the best feature I think. If you are on a food blog and you really want to remember this recipe or you see a picture and you want to save that picture to see later, simply click the little world icon in the red square above (you have to download this from pinterest).

Once you click the world icon you will see a page that brings up every (recognizable) image on this website. Simply choose the one you like the most and then hit "Pin This"

This screen is very similar to the one on e website. You will pick your board and describe the pin and it will automatically put it on pinterest for you!

This is definitely one of my favorite websites out there right now!!
If you are already on it, what are some of your favorite pins? Please share them below!

How to refill the Swiffer Wet Jet!

2011-11-15T13:59:00.001-08:00

So I was on pinterest the other day and I found this awesome video on how to open the bottle of a Swiffer Wet Jet so that you don't have to always buy a new one! This is a great thing because it will save significant amounts of money in the future! I filled mine with homemade lysol solution.

Do you have any creative ways that you save money on a daily basis? Leave some in the comments!

The Power of Snail Mail

2011-11-03T11:46:00.000-07:00

You know that moment when you go check your mail and you realize that among all those bills that there is a card, for YOU! Think of that excitement when you see that you see that someone took the time to send you a card just to say they were thinking of you that day or hoping that you get better soon. There is just something about having something tangible that shows that you were on that persons mind.

The internet is a wonderful thing! Social Networking websites help people stay in touch and keep connected with old friends. Emails are a great way to make plans, conduct business, and share things with family and friends. However, it should never replace taking the time to handwrite a card to someone and sticking a 45cent stamp on it. That act is something that is timeless and should never be forgotten.

When I was raised, my mom always taught us that we should always take the time to send someone a thank you card after we receive a gift for Christmas or our Birthday. This small act wasn't simply to say "Thank you" to someone, it was deeper than that. This taught us that we invest in people and relationships. It taught us that people are important enough that we take the time to personally thank them. This has carried on to my adulthood. When I moved down here to Texas, I sent personal Thank you notes to the families that helped us in the process. I know that if my mom was raising us up in today's internet world she would still make us send out a personal thank you note, not just say it on facebook.

Now I know what you may be thinking, you can send a thank you message on facebook and it's the same thing, right? Wrong! A message on facebook or twitter is not the same thing as taking a few moments to write out a thank you and stick it in the mail for that person.

Recently, I was invited to a baby shower via an online website that people send out invitations. Honestly, my first thought when I received it was, "did they just click everyone on a giant list of people to send this to me?". I didn't really feel invited. Instead, I simply felt like they were trying to find people to ask to come. I didn't attend this baby shower. However, if I had received a personal invitation in the mail I probably would have gone because that invitation would have told me, "hey, I want you to come to this event so badly that I'm going to take the time to personally invite you!"

Ever wonder why people still send out wedding invitations? Because that event is so important to them that they want YOU to be there, not just a list of people random people on facebook to be there.

But I don't have people's addresses! Then ask them for it. You can easily send out a facebook message saying "hey, I'm inviting you to this event. Can I get your address?". But follow this up with the actual invitation, because that's the important part. Then make sure you save their address so you don't have to ask for it again.

But I'm tight on money! Do you ever hit up Starbucks when you're out, or grab fast food before work or class? Well for the price of a cup and a half of Starbucks coffee you can buy 20 stamps! I would say that relationships are more important than a cup of overpriced coffee (I'm not hating on starbucks, I'm sitting here now).

But it's really last minute! I completely understand last minute plans, I think that happens all the time. In this case, at least take the time to call them, not just send out a mass facebook message or email. It's not the same!

All of this is not to say there is anything wrong with using the internet to connect with people, but I just think that our generations have lost touch with that importance of investing time and energy into people and relationships.

My challenge to you today, send your friend a card. It may simply say "I'm thinking of you!" But it shows you care enough to take that time. It may seem small, but just like we are always taught "Actions speak louder than words!" I promise you, these actions are huge.

October fun!

2011-10-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

October has been a fun month for Kendall and I so far! We've gotten a chance to spend time together, time with our families, and time with friends. Here are some highlights from the last month!

It's been a crazy month!

2011-10-17T04:36:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry I haven't posted over the last month! It's been really crazy. I'm back from vacation though and ready to get back to blogging :)

A few highlights from the last month: (Expect posts about these in the next few weeks)

1. Kendall and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary!! It was our first anniversary that we were actually together for, which was really fun!

2. We went to FLORIDA! It was amazing! We got to stay at my grand-parents condo for free! So we really got to enjoy the area and that time away from everything together, haven't had that in a long time!

3. We went HOME! After we went to Florida we drove up to Illinois and visited our friends and family. That was fantastic and much needed!

4. We bought a new car! Since Kendall has the car everyday for work, we decided to go ahead and purchase a second car for him. He got a 2002 MR2 Spyder. Basically, a 2 seater convertible! :) It's been really fun AND great on gas mileage. We love it!

Overall the last month as been a pretty good month! It's good to finally be home from vacation and to get a chance to just kinda settle back into a normal schedule.

A Texas Drought

2011-09-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

This drought has been a little crazy this summer and I wanted to show a little bit of what the results of the drought have been in our area. I will be trying to post more as they happen.

Another couponing trip :)

2011-09-15T19:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I made another trip over to Walgreens and got some more AMAZING deals! I wanted to share those with you. If you ever have any questions about couponing, beginning doing it, or how to find deals, let me know and I will definitely help you the best I can!

So here is everything I purchased today:

I spent a total of $4.32 for everything!

TRANSACTION #1: AIR WICK AIR FRESHENER

Original Price: $7.99
Coupon: -$4.00
Total Price paid: $4.32
THEN received $3.00 Register Rewards!

TRANSACTION #2: TOOTHPASTE AND DAWN

Toothpaste Original Price: $4.29
Sale Price: $3.99
Coupon: -$1.50
Total Price: $2.50

Dawn Original Price: $1.50
Sale Price: $0.99
Coupon:-$0.50
Total Price: $0.50

GRAND TOTAL: $3.00 paid with $3.00 register rewards from previous transaction.
THEN received $2.00 Register Rewards from the Toothpaste :)

Total paid: $0.00

TRANSACTION #3: DAWN AND SHAVING CREAM

Dawn Original Price: $1.50
Sale Price: $0.99
No coupon on this transaction but I didn't need one.
Total: $0.99

Shaving cream Original Price: $2.00
Store Coupon Price: $0.99
Total: $0.99

GRAND TOTAL: $2.00 paid with $2.00 register rewards from previous transaction :)

Ultimately I only paid for the first transaction and then used the register rewards for the rest of the purchases! It's like I got the Air Wick thing for $4.00 and everything else was FREE!
Pretty awesome I'm not going to lie. Definitely going to keep this up!

Quick side note: If you notice, I get the really good deals on the smaller sizes of things like dawn and toothpaste. Although this is not always the case, it is most commonly what is the best deal. However, right now I have 3 things of 4 oz. toothpaste (the expensive kinds) and I have paid maybe $0.50 total. So the small things add up. I just have more quantities of the small items and we won't run out of toothpaste or dawn for a long time!

Couponing is definitely worth it :)

Now Let's Jam!

2011-09-14T16:29:00.000-07:00

Recently I made the decision that I would try my hand a making my own jam and canning it. First of all, I had never canned anything before or even remotely used a canner. Second of all, I had never made homemade jam before or even remotely seen someone make homemade jam. So this was definitely going to be an adventure. But i was very excited for this challenge. I have loved making my own homemade bread and wanted to start making even more things from scratch!

I'm not going to post the entire step by step of what I did, because I don't feel like i'm really any kind of expert right now, BUT i will link you to the site that I followed: http://www.pickyourown.org/jam.htm It made things pretty easy to follow :)

It turned out GREAT! It tastes amazing and the canning process was actually pretty easy as a whole. I'm going to start really trying to making more kinds of jams and canning more things! I absolutely love it!

Next time, I'm thinking Apple Butter :)

We love to cook!

2011-09-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

Kendall and I have always loved cooking together! We always want to make new things and we love to make things completely from scratch. Dinner is usually the meal that we really go all out for. It is not uncommon for us to make a really nice meal, typically containing pasta of some kind, and we will sit down and enjoy what we have just made.

That always make the day worth it, sitting down with the man I love, eating food that we prepared together. Already this week we have made 2 big meals! I almost forgot to take pictures of the first meal (I was just so excited!), but Kendall reminded me that I may want to blog about it! haha. I love him!

Meal #1: Asparagus with fresh salad and cheesy garlic bread.

We cooked the Asparagus on the stove with a little butter and oil and some miscellaneous spices. He then covered it to allow it to cook in the steam.

Next we took the homemade bread I prepared (see yesterday's post) and cut a few slices. I then shredded fresh mozzarella cheese and took some fresh dried basil and fresh cut garlic and added that to the top. I put them on my stone and placed them in the oven at 400 until the cheese was melted (If you want soft bread, place on a stone or cookie sheet, If you want crispier bread, place them directly on the rack)

Finally, we made a homemade salad. we took organic romaine salad and cut up some fresh strawberries, shredded some fresh gouda cheese, cut some fresh tomatoes and topped it with a red wine vinaigrette. It was excellent!

Meal #2: Homemade alfredo sauce on whole wheat spaghetti

First I made the Alfredo sauce (One of the easiest recipes to make!!).

This will make enough for 2 people, you can double it for more. I took 4T of organic butter, 1/2 cup of heavy cream and 6T of parmesan cheese. Keep the temperature on low because you don't want it to boil, you just want everything to slowly melt into each other and thicken a bit. I then added 3 small cloves of garlic, some freshly dried basil, and salt and pepper for taste.

I then cooked the pasta as you normally would. I spooned the sauce on top of the pasta and topped with a little tomato and 2 fresh basil leaves from my garden. :) Favoloso

Fantastic Honey Whole Wheat Bread!

2011-09-02T20:25:00.000-07:00

Here is my recipe for homemade whole wheat bread. This is the bread that Kendall and I use for our everyday bread. We love the taste of it! The first time I made it I followed the recipe I had found to a T, however I want to change a few things, so i will post this recipe with those changes :)

This recipe will make 4-5 loaves of bread. What you do is freeze it until you are ready to make more! It makes things so easy. I recommend using a stand mixer, if you have one, however I do not and I did it by hand. It's hard, but it CAN be done by hand!

You will also want to start this recipe in the evening as it will soak overnight and then you will finish it in the morning.

Ingredients:
6 cups of unbleached whole wheat flour
2/3 cup of honey
1/2 cup of organic butter
2T salt
1/2 cup of buttermilk
3T active dry yeast
4 cups of very warm water
1/2 cup of very warm water
2 cups of Spelt or bread flour
4 to 5 cups of all-purpose flour

First, combine the butter and 4 cups of water in a saucepan. Heat on low until the butter is melted.

Next combine the whole wheat flour and the salt in a bowl.

Combine the water and butter mixture with the flour mixer and 1/2 cup of buttermilk and allow to soak overnight. I covered mine with foil just to protect it and left it sitting on the counter.

The reason you soak it is to allow the wheat grains to fully open up.

Next, combine the yeast, 1/2 cup of warm water and 2/3 cup of honey together.

Combine, the yeast mixture and the wheat flour mixture. Add the bread flour and the all-purpose flour. I added it 1/2 cup at a time and I alternated the flours. You will know it's done when the dough is no longer sticky. It may take a while.

Remove the dough and butter the inside of the bowl all the way to the top. Replace dough and allow to rise for about an hour. You will want it to double in size (it will probably be almost overflowing on the top.

Once it has risen, dump the dough out on a board and "punch" down the excess air. Break the dough into 5 equal portions (my original recipe said 4, but i felt that it would rise better as 5 loaves instead of 4). Take a section of the dough and roll it out

Roll up the dough and pinch the edges so it stays together

Fold the edges down so they sit underneath the roll of dough

Place the dough in a completely buttered bread pan

Here is where you can choose to freeze them. I made one loaf and froze the other ones, You can also make all the loaves and freeze the already made loaf until you want to use it. Depends on if you want to eat fresh bread or want the ease of just pulling it out of the freezer.

To freeze the bread:

Place the dough in the buttered pan and cover the pan with foil

Place the loaves in the freezer. Once you are ready to bake them, pull them out and allow them to thaw and rise to your liking.

Note: Only freeze for about a month. I discovered that if frozen longer than that, they will no longer rise. I lost a whole batch due to that. So just make sure to use it within about a month.

To Bake the bread:

Place the bread in the buttered pan, leave out the loaves you want to bake and cover with a clean towel. Allow them to rise for about 30-45 minutes (You will know they are ready when the top of the loaf looks like a nice dome.

Cook at 350 for about 30 minutes. You will know they are done when you tap the top and it sounds hollow.

Remove from the pan and allow to cool until you're ready to eat :)

Slice your bread with a cerated knife and enjoy!! I store my bread in a ziploc bag in the fridge. I then take it out when I want a slice :)

Pin It

He's finally home!

2011-09-01T09:59:00.000-07:00

After waiting an entire year to see my husband, he is finally home from Iraq! I can't describe how amazing it feels to finally have him back here with me. So many times this week I have looked at him and just said, "you're here!" haha. It almost feels surreal!

The ceremony for their return was very cool! everyone was sitting in the bleacher on a field on post. At about 2:30 am they announced that the busses were coming (We had been waiting since midnight, so you can imagine how excited everyone got!). The buses lined up at the end of the field and then the DJ had us all yell, "MOVE THAT BUS!" haha As the buses moved, you saw that all the soldiers were in formation on the other side of the busses. Then they are marched forward until they were right in front of us. They said a few words and then they told the families to "CHARGE!" everyone ran forward to find their loved one! It was a really neat experience, but i have to say, i hope i don't have to participate in another one :)

I have been thanking the Lord daily that I finally have him home!

A Little Glass Work

2011-08-27T09:03:00.000-07:00

Today I spent my day working on a new glass mosaic. This is what it looks like from my eyes.

Joplin: A community with a need

2011-08-26T07:48:00.000-07:00

About 2 months ago, my mom and I made a trip down to Joplin to assist in cleanup from the tornado on May 22, 2011. The devastation was greater than anything I could even have conceived. However, the Lord is definitely at work in that community. The church we worked with, Grace Baptist Church, was definitely getting things done. They were very organized and really had a successful system of getting things done/finding new things that needed to be done. They are such a great blessing to their neighborhoods. There are also other churches in the area that are doing great work as well! If you haven't already, I would definitely recommend a trip over there. We only served for half a day as we were passing through and it was totally worth the experience!!

here are a few images from that trip:

Please continue to pray that the Lord will bless and provide for the families that have lost their homes.

La Dolche Vita

2011-08-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

As you can see I have recently changed the layout of my blog site. For a while I've wanted something really simple but could never really find what I was looking for. Then I realized that I would have to create it. So after spending about 6 hours last night I finally found a way to make my blog more me.

I want to tell you a little more about my new title "La Dolche Vita." La Dolche Vita is "The Good(sweet) Life" in Italian. This important to me for several reason so I wanted to break it down. :)

First, the Italian part. I have had a passion for Italy for as long as I can remember. I have always wanted to go there, I have been fascinated by the people and the way of life, and intrigued by the simple beauty. They have a phrase, that many of you may have heard, but it is "L’arte di non fare niente" or "The art of doing nothing." In a society where staying busy is people's number one goal and where ADD is prescribed like it's nothing, this has really interested me. The fact that people are content with doing nothing and taking the time to just enjoy life. That sounds like life to me.

La Dolche Vita, the good life, that is what I aim for. Not just going throughout the day just to get by, but really enjoying every minute of it. Not just wasting time, but using time to it's fullest, even if that is simply doing nothing. I want to experience all the beauty this world has to offer. I want to travel, I want to meet people, I want to sit and listen to nature, and I want to see the world through simple and peaceful eyes.

That is my goal.

This will be a place where I share those adventures, those experiences. And where I share my story with those I meet along the way.

so hopefully there will be a little change in the future, but a good one of course :)

Vivere la Dolche Vita, Live the Good Life.

My very first couponing Money-Maker!!

2011-08-24T15:39:00.000-07:00

So today I went couponing at Walgreens and actually MADE MONEY from one of the transactions!! It was pretty exciting because it was my first time couponing on my own, so i was a little nervous going into it. However, it ended up being very successful and I wanted to share it with all of you :)

So here is what I bought today:

By mixing manufacturer's coupons with store coupons as well as coupons with store promotions I was able to make out with some great deals! Altogether today I paid $6.71!!! for all the stuff above! Here's how I did it!

I broke everything into 3 purchases so I could use the coupons most effectively.

TRANSACTION #1: Colgate toothpaste
In the walgreen add it showed that if you buy this toothpaste for $4.99 you will get $4 in register rewards (money to use at walgreens). So it's like you paid only $0.99. However, I had a coupon for $1.50 off that same toothpaste! So:

Original Price: $5.49
Sale Price: $4.99
- $1.50 with the coupon
Price I paid: $3.14

THEN: $4 register rewards
Ultimate Price: -$0.86

I MADE $0.86 just by purchasing toothpaste!

TRANSACTION #2: Dial Body Wash
In the same add it showed Dial body wash on sale for $3.99 and you will get $3 in register rewards. I also had a coupon for $1 off 2 of those soaps.

Original Price: around $5.00
Sale Price: $3.99
-$1.00 off 2
-$4.00 register rewards from prior purchase
Price I paid: $ 3.47

THEN: $3 register rewards
Ultimate Price: $0.47 for 2

TRANSACTION #3: Dawn, baking soda, salt
Since I had those $3 register rewards I wanted to use from the previous purchase I chose to get items around that price: Here is what I got:

Dawn:
Original Price: $1.99
Store Coupon Price: $0.99 (in Sunday's Walgreen's ad)
-$0.50 manufacturer's coupon
FINAL PRICE: $0.49

Baking Soda:
Original Price: 2/$2.00
Store Coupon Price: 2/$1.00 (Sunday's ad)
FINAL PRICE: $0.50 ea.

Salt:
Original Price: 2/$2.00
Store Coupon Price: 2/$1.00 (Sunday's ad)
FINAL PRICE: $0.50 ea.

SO:
$0.49 dawn
$1 baking Soda
$1 salt
Total: $2.49
- $3 register rewards

FINAL PRICE: $0.00

I would have to say that today was really successful! and now I don't need to buy body wash, baking soda, OR salt for a little while!! can't wait to see what my next great purchase is.

What kind of couponing deals have you gotten?

I'm finally home.

2011-08-16T15:03:00.000-07:00

It's so amazing to finally have a chance to feel "at home" in my new place! I have spent so much time cleaning and i would say i'm only partially the way there! BUT things are getting more and more like home!! So I wanted to share my new home with all of you. Enjoy! (so sorry some of them are turned the wrong way, i couldn't figure out how to rotate them)

I absolutely love it! :)

Also, today i have been scrubbing the grout in between the tiles in the kitchen with bleach water. Here is the difference:

Before

After

It has made such a difference!! I love how much nicer it all works!

Erica

I'm in Texas!

2011-08-14T11:26:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I am finally here and settled! I absolutely love my new home! It is absolutely beautiful and my family completely blessed me by helping me unpack nearly everything! They helped it truly become a home! I will be posting pictures within the next few days :)

So this week I dealt with confusion, frustration, and exhaustion. However, I also got the chance to feel blessed, content, and true joy. It was an amazing week and i wouldn't have traded anything that happened!

On Monday morning, we packed up the moving truck! My dad had two guys come over and that was such a help! I don't know what we would have done without them! Everything was so heavy! haha However, the sky was amazing!

A few weeks ago, my mom met a woman at an event she was speaking at and she gave her the name of a woman here in Killeen who I needed to connect with. Her name is Elizabeth May, and she and her husband, Chris, are working to become the new leaders of the Hospitality House here in Killeen, TX . The Hospitality House is a place that is made to bless the people of the military. Right now they have dinner and bible studies every Friday night and they open up their home to soldiers on the weekends so that they can get out of the barracks and into a positive environment. Check out the hospitality house here: http://www.soldiershospitalityhouse.org/

I got into contact with Elizabeth before I came down here simply to hear about her organization and then I asked her if she knew any guys who could help us move a piano (We only had my dad and 2 brothers). She ended up sending 7 people!! They had a youth group from Kansas working with them for the week on a missions trip. They showed up at my house and had the ENTIRE moving truck emptied in about 20minutes!!! It was incredible! THEN, if that wasn't enough, she sent over homemade dinner for us so that we didn't have to cook! Overall, the Lord was definitely there to bless us that day!

On Friday, my family and I went down to Austin in the afternoon for a fun day in the city. We went to the history museum there, and then we went to the Congress Avenue Bridge and watched 1.5 MILLION bats wake up and fly out of under the bridge! It was one of the coolest things I have seen in a long time! If you haven't been there to experience that, next time you're in the Austin, TX area, stay in the city until about 730 and go over to the bridge. They will fly right before the sun sets!

Overall, we had an amazing week! I can't wait to continue to get settled in and then have Kendall come home!! It's all coming up so quickly! But God has been blessing us, and we are so thankful for that!! :)

Erica

Wow, time has flown!

2011-08-01T11:22:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already August! There are so many good things that August means.

August means that I move down to Texas
I actually move in a WEEK! I can't believe that it's already here. I have been so excited about my new place since I signed the lease a month ago! Our new place is a HOUSE, not an apartment or duplex, but separate home! I'm really excited about that because it means i don't have to worry about neighbors and we have a little bit more freedom with that. This place is exactly what i was looking for. It has 4 bedrooms (more than we originally thought, but we will use them all!) and it has 2 bathrooms as well as a nice sized back yard. It also has a 2 car garage and it comes WITH a lawn mower and a washer and dryer! Such a blessing!

Here are a few pictures of our new place!

The view from the front room

Our laundry/mud room

The 2 extra bedrooms

The guest bathroom

The master bedroom

Dual sinks!

My HUGE garden tub :) Can't express how excited i am about this!

Our bathroom!

The front room, which will probably be my art room!

The backyard, with a slab so that we can put our outdoor furniture and grill. We will also be able to entertain as well!

My new kitchen :)

This is what you see when you walk in the front door!

August means that Kendall comes home!
I can't wait for Kendall to come home! We don't have a specific date or anything, but i know it will be this month sometime and that is so exciting! I have decided to move down to Texas before he comes home because I want him to have a HOME to come to rather than a hotel or boxes. I have missed him so much this past year and I can't believe it's almost going to be over soon!

August means that my last class before my associates begins!
I'm really excited because I only have ONE class left before I have my associates degree. I was supposed to be done at the end of this summer, but i struggled with one of my classes and ended up dropping it. So i only have to take Music appreciation, which will be really easy. I am so ready to finally have this part of my degree!

Needless to say, i'm really excited about this month because so many good things are happening now! I have lots to do, but i'm ready for it! Can't wait to see what they lord brings next!

Erica

Some photos that I really needed to edit!

2011-05-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

I have had images sitting in my external hard-drive that I haven't even looked at for over a year! It's not that I didn't want to, but I just never really got around to them. Well this past week I purchased a new photo editing program called Adobe Lightroom 3 and LET ME TELL YOU! it's incredible. It really helps everything become more efficient and allows me to view more images at once. I absolutely love it!

Well, tonight I spent most of my evening editing pictures and I wanted to share them with you today! Hope you enjoy them!

Let me know what you think :)
Erica

My new ride!

2011-05-28T17:57:00.000-07:00

So I recently purchased a new bike that I have been riding in place of driving, mostly just to save gas (although the workout aspect is pretty sweet too!)

I even wear my helmet each time i ride! Which is a total first because in the past I would never wear a helmet. But i very much enjoy the safety and assurance knowing I have a bit more protection. As of right now I have ridden a total of about 80 miles in the last 2 weeks and I have already saved almost 5 gallons of gas simply from riding my bike. My goal this month is to only have to fill up my gas tank once!

Another thing I am really beginning to appreciate is the beauties I see from waking up at 5 am everyday for work. I get to experience a world that I previously had rarely seen. Since I work at 6am several days a week I have to get up at about 4:45 am. Although many feel this is incredibly early (and it is!) I am very used to getting up at this time. I absolutely love the opportunity I get each day to see the paintings the Lord provides for us! Here are a few examples:

Now I know these aren't the best quality images or anything as they were taken on my phone, but I do feel that they can capture a bit of those moments in the early morning. However, I really do recommend trying it a few times. Allow yourself to get up about 5:20-5:30 and sit outside on a nice morning with a cup of tea (or coffee) and just revel in the Lords blessings and beauty.

Erica

A few exciting things!

2011-04-10T15:58:00.000-07:00

So I move back to Texas in almost exactly 4 months! I'm very very excited to finally be back there and to have my husband home!! Kendall has been doing pretty well. He has been rather homesick lately, which is hard. And I have been missing him more and more each day. However, Some really neat things have happened lately for him, which is very exciting!

A few months ago I did a post of how Kendall received "Soldier of the Month." Well after that he also received "Soldier of the Quarter." I am so proud of him!! That is very cool and he will hopefully be promoted in the next month or so!

This past week, Kendall got the chance to meet the Secretary of Defense as well as Katie Couric! Very cool!

Not too much more has been happening with Kendall recently...

I am still doing school, going to graduate at the end of the summer. I am also still working at Bed Bath and Beyond and hoping to transfer to the store in Texas after my move. :)

Overall things are going really well right now. It's really hard feeling like we are just waiting to get our lives back, but I fight that everyday and try to make the most of the time! I very much enjoy getting this chance to be home with my family again! I will miss everyone so much when I leave!

Well have a great night, sorry for such a short post.

Erica

Things I'm absolutely loving right now.

2011-04-07T16:51:00.000-07:00

There are a few things that I have been almost completely obsessed with/loving lately! I wanted to share those with you today :)

#1. My newest pair of TOMS shoes.

If you don't know about TOMS check out their website HERE. For every pair of TOMS you purchase, they donate a pair to a child who needs shoes. :) They are incredibly comfortable and they have several different styles of shoes depending on your need! I pretty much live in mine lately, they are definitely a favorite!

#2. Mumford & Sons!

I seriously listen to them almost every day. I absolutely love them!

#3. Hot Tea and TeaGschwender

TeaGschwender is a German tea retailer located mostly in other countries but they have stores in Chicago, New York, and Ann Arbor Michigan. You can also shop online HERE However, if you are in the Chicago area (or any other location) definitely stop in! It's an experience of it's own. You just need to be there and experience the smells and tastes!

#4. StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon is a website that can keep my interested for hours! You put in your interests which range from art to sciences to architecture to travel and much much more! Then you simply click the STUMBLE button and they find websites within your interests! It's amazing the things I have find on the internet that are inspiring and so creative! Definitely check it out HERE.

#5. Yoga

Now this isn't a new interest for me, as I have loved yoga for a long time, however I am just now starting to get back into it. Not only is it incredibly relaxing, but it has so many benefits for the body as well! I did an entire post on it a few months back. Check it out HERE!

#6. Running

When I started running it was such a chore! But lately it has really become so much more than that! I feel so alive when I'm outside simply running. It has been great as my body as gotten stronger and I can run farther and farther. If you can't run, just walk or be outside, not only is great exercise but it's also amazing just to get outside and be surrounded by our beautiful world!

There are so many more, but i'll save those for another post :)

Have a great day!
Erica

3 minutes to 3 miles!

2011-03-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

About 8 months ago I began running. When i began i could run about 3 minutes (and THAT was pushing it!) I would do about 20 minutes on the treadmill and I would run 3 minutes then walk 5, then run 1 minutes, and walk another 5, etc... for between 20-30 minutes. That was such a hard thing for me to do. I dreaded getting on that treadmill because i felt like i wasn't successful. It continued that way for several months. By about month 3 I could only run about 5 minutes.

But I kept pushing! and thank the Lord I did :) Just this week, about 7 months later, I ran 3 miles. It took me about 30 minutes, which is a steady 10 minute mile (at the beginning I was running a 12-ish minutes mile). It felt incredible being able to run so far and so long!

I know so many people feel like they can't run, and at first maybe they can't, but it truly is worth the wait and effort! Every week or so I tried to push myself a little more. Once I ran so far/long I would always make sure to run that far again. So when I could run a mile, I would always run a mile after that.

At first I got really bored when running. about 5 minutes would go by and I would just want to quit. But i have pushed through that and now 30 minutes doesn't feel too bad.

I can honestly say it is so worth it! The way I feel after a run is incredible. I feel happier and more energetic. I feel like my body simply works better.

So what are you waiting for! Even if you can only run for 30 seconds, Who knows what 30 seconds could become!

Erica

Honey Whole Wheat Bread and Cookies :)

2011-03-08T09:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a really good day! I am now on Spring break from school. It's crazy that I'm already halfway done with this semester! It feels like it shouldn't even be close to there!! But i won't complain :) I am going to spend most of my spring break trying to get ahead in a few of my online classes. Some of my teachers have posted lessons and such ahead of time, so i will take full advantage of that!

So yesterday I decided that I wanted to bake something. Baking is an absolutely love of mine! So first I decided to make some peanut butter cookies for the boys. They turned out great! One of my favorite things to use when making several batches of cookies are my Wilton Stackable Cooling Racks (You can find those HERE) They are really nice when you have several cookies and you don't want to take up too much counter space.

I also made some Homemade Honey Whole Wheat Bread, which tasted fantastic! My family devoured a huge loaf in less than 24 hours!

To make it you need to make sure you have these ingredient in your home:

1 1/2 teaspoons: Highly Active Yeast
1 can: Evaporated milk
1/4 cup: Shortening
1/4 cup: Honey
2 teaspoons: Salt
2 cups: Whole Wheat Flour
3 cups: Bread Flour
Butter

1. Take the Yeast and place it in 1/2 Cup of warm water. You will want to mix this until the yeast begins to dissolve.
2. Melt the Shortening
3. In a bowl, combine milk, 1/4 Cup of water, melted shortening, Honey, salt, and wheat flour. (You can also do this in a food processor if you have one)
4. Add in Yeast mixture and let rest for 15 minutes.

5. Add Bread flour to the mixture. Mix this until a ball forms
6. Knead the bread for 10 minutes (or 80 seconds in the processor) or until the bread becomes a cohesive ball
7. Get out a bowl and spread butter around the inside of the bowl. Place your ball of dough in the bowl and roll the ball around the edges of the bowl to lightly coat it with butter.
8. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 1 hour or until the ball of dough has about doubled in size.

9. After the dough has risen for about an hour, gently push on the ball of dough to release any extra gasses (You don't want to flatten the dough, So keep the shape of the ball just add pressure around it).
10. Place on baking stone or baking sheet (Depending on what you use) and spread a little melted butter over the top of the bread (This keeps the outside of the bread softer)
11. Gently cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise another hour. You want the bread to almost double in size again.

12. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
13. Cut an X in the top of the dough with a serrated knife to allow gas to escape while cooking.
14. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown.*

*For a Harder Crust: Spritz the sides of the oven with water occasionally throughout cooking

My family absolutely loved my bread! I didn't let mine rise quite long enough (I adjusted the rising time in the recipe to what it should be) and mine was a little soft in the middle, but i like doughy bread so it didn't bother me a bit!

I hope you enjoy this bread recipe as much as we did! I will definitely be making this one again!

Erica

A day of beginnings

2011-02-19T06:58:00.000-08:00

So today I learned a few things about myself and how to be successful over the next few weeks. This morning I woke up around 8 (set my alarm for 7:30... hit snooze for 30 minutes. OOPS) As I was enjoying my morning off work I began realizing how tired my body was from yesterday's workouts. Yesterday I ran 2 miles in the morning and took a kick boxing class at night, busy day! I so badly wanted to just stay in bed and NOT run today. Some things that went through my head were:

'I can always run tomorrow.' 'I had a great workout yesterday, no need to do it again today.' 'But i'm le tired.' 'No one will ever know if I don't run today.'

All of those were words from the Devil trying to push me away from what I am working on. That's one of the hardest things about this journey... He is always trying to discourage me and distract me. I need to listen to the Lord's truths that I can do this and he will always be with me. One of my favorite verses (Joshua 1:9) says, "This is my command- Be STRONG and COURAGEOUS! do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you WHEREVER you go."

I absolutely love the truth in that verse. For me, sometimes that is a physical location. We move a lot with the Army, so something I need to remember he is with me in Illinois and in Georgia and in Texas. But sometimes I think that is also a journey you go on. Right now I am on this journey to finding new beginnings, new habits, and new truths. He is holding my hand through the entire thing.

This morning I ran for 20 minutes. My body was exhausted from yesterday and all I wanted to do the entire time was walk, but i didn't! Yes, I only jogged today, but that slower pace is what allowed me to be able to do this in the first place. Sometimes it's not about how quickly you do something, or how you do it in general, it's just that you do it! I'm not going to always run this slow pace, but for today it was all I had. And that is okay!

Today I begin reading Made to Crave, which I am very excited about! I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow!

OH! and i forgot one item on my list from yesterday:
9. Get into the Word daily.
You can see how much a habit that one is.... I didn't even remember to put it on the list! :-/

What are some habits that you want to begin working towards?

Erica

21 days make a habit

2011-02-18T21:23:00.001-08:00

So it's been a little over a week since I posted, sorry about that! It's been crazy lately. A few weeks ago I chose to switch two of my classes to online. It was already 4 weeks into the classes so I have had tons of homework to catch up on! However, I am almost completely caught up! All I have left is 1 paper in my English class. so after this weekend I will be totally caught up! I can't wait! :)

Have any of you heard that it takes 21 days to make a habit? Research has shown that it typically takes 21 days to create a new habit. So starting tomorrow I am going to put that into action. Here is my plan:

1. Run 5 days a week adding 5-10 minutes to my run each week
2. Do toning workouts 2-3 days a week such as situps, crunches, and lunges
3. Keep calories around 1200 each day and try to avoid processed foods when possible
4. Put make up on each day and do my hair
5. Read "Made to Crave" by Lysa TerKeurst
6. Do yoga each day
7. Do homework each day
8. Pick up my room daily

The entire goal of this is for me to make new habits and begin taking even better care of myself. If anyone would like to join me you are welcome to! You can change everything to fit your lifestyle and needs. Hopefully, I can begin to really make some changes towards a better lifestyle!

What are some simple changes you make towards a healthier lifestyle?

Erica

Yoga, Yoga, Yoga.

2011-02-07T10:52:00.000-08:00

So one of my favorite things to do during my "me" time is yoga. Not only does it help your flexibility, but also your balance, focus, and relaxation.

Flexibility: Yoga helps you begin to stretch your body. Each pose can stretch a different part of your body from your legs to your arms, to your back. Not only does stretching like this feel amazing, but it will also help your body move more easily throughout the day.

Balance: Yoga is amazing for your balance. At first, it may be really hard to hold a pose more than a few seconds, however, the more you do it you will be able to hold each pose longer without needed to use something to balance. This will help you feel more centered throughout the day.

Focus: It takes a lot of focus to do yoga. When balancing, you need to use your focus to be able to hold the pose. It also causes you to focus on your body as you do the poses. This will help you be able to focus better during the day.

Relaxation: Yoga is very relaxing in nature. It gives you a chance to focus on yourself and your body. The longer you do it, the more relaxing each pose can become. You begin to find new ways to calm your body and relax your mind.

Here are a few realistic, everyday examples of where yoga can be beneficial:

1. If you work at a job that requires you to be on your feet all day, try this pose:

Find a area of the wall with nothing on it. Lay on your back with your butt as close to the wall as possible and your legs tucked into your body. begin to straighten your legs up against the wall so that your body creates an "L" shape against the wall. Scoot your butt as close to wall and lay back and allow your legs to rest against the wall.

How this helps: By putting your legs up against the wall, you allow the blood to flow from your feet throughout your body. When standing on your feet all day it's harder for your body to circulate the blood that flows down to your feet. This pose will help take some of the pressure off your feet and ease some pain and discomfort you may experience.

Add a little challenge: You can add a bit of a challenge to this pose by adding a blanket under your lower back.

2. Here is a pose that not only helps with balance, but is also a great stretch for your thighs:

Stand with your legs together and put your arms our parallel to the floor, hands facing down. step your right foot forward so that your legs create a "V" shape and face your right leg. Point your right food towards the front. While remaining standing flat on your left foot, begin to slowly turn your foot so your toes point between 90 and 45 degrees of the front. (you want to turn your foot inward towards your body to avoid injury, however, it may take a few times to get used to this foot positioning). Once your feet are in place, begin to lean into your right leg working towards making your thigh parallel with the floor (don't be alarmed if you can't get there right away, you will with time). Point your right arm towards your right foot and your left arm towards your left foot. Hold then repeat with the left leg.

How this helps: This pose not only help with balance, but it also helps stretch and strengthen the ankles and provides support for your back. It is also a great stretch for sore thigh and calf muscles.

Add a little challenge: You can make this pose more challenging my raising your arms above your head holding them next to your ears parallel to eachother.

3. The Final pose is a little more tricky but it's great if you want a bit of a challenge and you want more balance (one of my favorites poses):

Begin by standing with your legs together and your hands to your side. Take a few deep breaths and try to really focus your mind. If you need to find an item in front of you to focus on. Bring your right foot up near left knee. Place the bottom of your foot on the side of your knee. Bring your palms together near your heart. Focus on the item in front of you, take a deep breath and (if you can) begin to slowly raise your hands above your head. Repeat with left leg. Don't be alarmed if you can't do this pose right away. It took me several tries to be able to hold this pose.

How this helps: This a great pose to help create more balance in your body. It also helps with focus because you have to focus inward to find the balance.

Add a little challenge: If you feel you can do this pose easily, begin to pull your leg up each time you do it, holding it closer to your thigh. Eventually you will be able to immediately pull your foot and rest it on your thigh rather than your knee.

These are a few of my favorite poses. :) Let me know what you think or if you have some other poses you enjoy or would like to try!

Take some time for yourself tonight.
Erica

Decently uneventful weekend

2011-02-06T10:13:00.000-08:00

So not too much has happened this weekend. I recently transfered two of my classes into Online courses. So i have spent most of my time studying. I'm only like halfway done with catch up too. :) So I get to spend my super bowl sunday studying.

Recently I began doing workout classes. They make working out so much fun!! If you haven't taken any workout classes before you should look around your town and see if they offer any you can take. You should definitely check them out! My favorites are step class, kick class, and ride class. Kick is a GREAT upper body workout! Step and Ride are great lower body workouts. They all are really good Cardio workouts.

It has been wonderful getting my eating and working out in order. I feel so much better and healthier. Here are a few things I have recently learned to look for when grocery shopping:

1. When buying bread items - look for no enriched flours or bleached flours
2. Try to avoid items with Sugar in the first few ingredients listed.
3. Avoid hydrogenated oil in the ingredients

Try these simple changes when buying your groceries and it can help change the way your body feels. Every little change you can make to your diet is an amazing change for your health!

Erica

That Blizzard was Crazy

2011-02-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

So yesterday we got an insane blizzard here in Normal! School was cancelled yesterday and today! It was wonderful!!! This morning there was so much snow covering our driveway, you couldn't even see that we had one. Some of the snow drifts were upwards of 8 feet tall! I couldn't go to work this morning simply because i couldn't leave the house. Although some people were getting stir-crazy being cooped up in their houses for 2 days, I rather enjoyed the time away from regular life. Being somewhat of a homebody, getting time to just stay home was wonderfully needed.

Of course, I took the time to make a fantastic dinner! (although i forgot to take pictures this time, so sorry about that)
However, here is my wonderful (and original) dinner recipe.
I made grilled chicken with a cheese sauce, potato wedges, steamed veggies and fruit salad. It was tasty and all healthy!

Erica's scrumptious cheesy sauce (Makes enough for about 6 pieces of chicken)

Ingredients:
1 c. fat free skim milk
3-4 T. flour
1 c. shredded swiss cheese
1/4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
2 spoonfulls ricotta cheese
1 T. parmesan cheese
1/2 T. chives
1/2 T. parsley
salt
pepper

Preparation:
pour the milk in a 8-10 in. skillet (either size will work). Add 2 tablespoons of flour and mix thoroughly. Once it begins to bubble begin to add the cheeses. First add the swiss cheese and allow it to begin to melt. Then follow with the mozzarella, ricotta, and finally the parmesan. As the cheese is melting mix in about 1/2 T of chives and parsley. Sprinkle with salt and pepper for taste. For a thicker sauce add another 1-2 T. of flour until desired consistency. For a thinner, runnier sauce add another 1-2 T. milk until desired consistency.

Serving:
Serve over grilled chicken.

Erica's Homemade healthy potato wedges (serves 6)

Ingredients:
6 potatoes
olive oil
salt
pepper

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash the potato then cut each potato in half, then cut each half into 3 pieces, cutting towards the center (You will create a "wedge" shape or a triangle). Place in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Take a large spoon and begin to mix the potatoes allowing the olive oil to get on each potato. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix again allowing each piece to get an even coating of salt and pepper. Then place in the oven for about 25 minutes, turn each potato wedge over about halfway through. (If you are short on time you can also broil them for about 5 or so minutes on each side. Just keep an eye on them so they don't burn.)

Serving:
Serve along side your chicken and cheese sauce.

Tonight's dinner was fantastic! I love getting a chance to create new recipes and try new things!!! Again, i'm so sorry I didn't have pictures from the dinner, however, you should still definitely try this recipe! The whole family enjoyed it!

Have a great day!
Erica

My Soldier of the Month!

2011-02-01T07:00:00.000-08:00

So this past Friday, Kendall went in front of the Soldier of the Month board. He has to study a ton of information ahead of time. I was so proud of him though. he put so much time in studying the potential information he needed to know! and it all paid off!!

Kendall won Soldier of the Month. and I am so proud of him!!! This should include a promotion here in the next few months :) He most definitely deserved this honor! So here's to you honey!
I am beyond proud of you!

However, Kendall is not only Soldier of the Month, but he is also Husband of the Month to me :) Since Valentine's Day is 14 days away here are 14 things I love about my hubby!

1. I love how he always takes time out of his day to spend with me, even if he's exhausted.
2. I love how he shows an interest in my life and the things I do.
3. I love how he always pushes me to work towards being a better Me.
4. I loves how Kendall is always trying to grow as a man and a husband and I respect that so much!
5. I love how he has WAY more patience than i do.
6. I love how he balance me perfectly. Where i struggle he is strong and where he struggles I am strong.
7. I love how his passion is every present and he is always working towards the things he loves.
8. I love when we love to dream together. Dream of our life together, dream of the places we are going to go, dream of our family, etc...
9. I love that he loves doing nothing, as do i.
10. I love the way he looks at me.
11. I love that he is my best friend!
12. I love how we can talk about absolutely anything together.
13. I love how handsome he is :)
14. and I love that he loves me back!

I love you Kendall! :) Thanks for being such an incredible husband and best friend!
Erica

Healthy Whole-Wheat Pizza

2011-01-31T03:34:00.000-08:00

So my dad and I have been doing this body detox together since last Wednesday. It has gone really well so far (although i slightly slipped up once or twice) that's okay though! It's been fantastic. We have taken several things out of the diet including:

processed foods
most dairy (occasional cheese)
caffeine (although my dad cut his intake to 2 cups of coffee)
breads

Basically we can eat fruits and veggies and fish. We also added chicken(grilled only), peanuts and a few other things here and there. We feel great! It took my dad some time to adjust to it since it was such a dramatic change to what he has been used to, but now that he is he feels so much better!

Last night when my little brothers asked to order delivery, we decided to make a healthy pizza for us to eat instead of what they were having. So here is what i made and it tasted fantastic!

I made homemade, whole-wheat crust that was very tasty and very filling. :)
I started with these ingredients:

1 1/2 c. white flour
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 tbsp. active dry yeast (you can also use 1 pkg of dry yeast)
3/4 tsp. salt
1 c. warm water
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. honey

Combine everything in a big bowl. Dry ingredients first, then begin to add the liquid ingredients.

Kneed the dough for about 6 minutes or until a full/stiff ball of dough. You may need to add a bit of water if too dry, or flour if too sticky.

Cover with a moist cloth and let rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Put pizza sauce on the rust and then begin to add your veggies and meat. We added cooked chicken, bacon, and ground turkey. We then added onions, garlic, and mushrooms. You can add any veggies or meat you enjoy!

Cook for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and the cheese is melted.

We covered it with a little bit of sauce to the top :)

Enjoy!

I'm back!

2011-01-30T17:46:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've been on here. I haven't really been up to updating for a little bit simply because I felt i had very little to update on. However, i am going to begin changing that :)

Here is a little update on our lives lately:
As many of you may know, Kendall was deployed to Iraq in September 2010. He has now been there for about 5 months. Although it is really hard having him gone things like skype, facebook, and gmail chat have been amazing! I love getting to talk to Kendall. We talk daily, which is such a blessing (Many people don't get that luxury). Kendall's job in the Army required him to fix and work with communication items such as radios and computers. However, while he's in Iraq he basically just has to wait for things to break and then he can fix them. :) I love that he is not out in the midst of everything going on over there. It gives me just a little piece of mind!

Kendall got to take his R&R right before Christmas which was amazing to see him! He was home from Dec. 5-Dec. 21st. I loved the chance to get to spend the holidays and my birthday with him! :) These were taken while he was home:

I absolutely loved having him home! it was amazing to get to spend that time with my best friend again.

Since then I have started going back to school at heartland. I am trying to finish my degree there so that I can then transfer to an online program in August. This fall I decided (after hours of researching school programs) that i needed to change my degree from Art to something more general that I can do online. So i decided that I am going to be a Business major. Probably with a focus on business management. Although this has very little to do with my interest and love for art, it is a good major that is practical and useful in almost any field (even art) so I am definitely ready to take it on! As of right now I have As in all my classes and it's my goal to keep it that way.

I also started working at Bed Bath and Beyond again. I love working there. I love the people and the environment :) Plus it transfers to Texas when I move back there in August when he comes back, which will be wonderful!

Overall everything is going very smoothly lately. I am living at home and we are saving as much money as we possibly can over the next few years!

Thank you all for your love and support!
Have a great day!
Erica

its been almost 2 weeks...

2010-09-28T08:37:00.001-07:00

So Kendall has been gone for almost two weeks... unfortunately it feels like it has been longer. Time is definitely not going as fast as I would like it to be going.

Today I am going to be going out and trying to get a job.. I will probably also go out and take some new pictures... idk. I will be updating my photography website within the next few days so when it is up I'll let you know so everyone can check it out!!!

Well i don't have too much to write right now but I will probably update later.

Its been one year.

2010-09-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

A year ago today Kendall and I promised our lives to each other. This has been the most amazing year! Although I didn't get to actually live with him except for about 3 or so months, the times we have spent together and the ways we have grown have been incredible. Kendall and I have such a special relationship.

Recently, through conversations with my parents, I discovered that not everyone marries their best friend. Yes, they are friends, but not truly best friends. That that is rare in today's society. That had never occurred to Kendall or I. Kendall is my best friend. I have other good friendships, but none of them are like my friendship with my husband. I literally tell him everything and he is incredible enough to listen even when it's not necessarily the most interesting stories.

So babe, here is to you, my best friend...

-Thank you for always listening when I make a story that could be told in 2 minutes into a 20 minute thing.
-Thank you for always wanting me to go for the things I want to, even if they are unconventional and maybe a little unrealistic.
-Thank you for supporting me in everything, even if the decision isn't always the easiest, I know that you will back me no matter what.
-Thank you for wanting to much to care for me and provide for me. That means more than I could ever put in words.
-Thank you for a year full of fun, laughs, hugs, and new experiences. Things are are never dull when we are together.
-Thank you for encouraging me to always do my best at everything I do. That always keeps me going.
-Thank you for being there to talk when I need to.
-Thank you for being patient with me, I know I need that often :)
-and Thank you for loving me. That alone makes my day better.

I know that I could keep going a lot longer, but that would take incredibly too long. I know that God worked out our lives so that we would meet our junior year of high school and I can never thank him enough for that. I can honestly say my life is better because of Kendall.

Here are a few pictures to highlight our last year together!

Happy anniversary babe! Can't wait to have more!!!

It's good to be home.

2010-09-20T17:44:00.000-07:00

When Dorthy says "There's no place like home" she has a lot of wisdom in that. Whatever home is for you, there is no place that that one when things are rough. It's also just as amazing when things are good too :)

I know, even from only a few days, that it's so good that I'm home during this time apart from Kendall. I would be struggling so much had I decided to stay at Fort Hood. That would have been a really hard things to deal with. Its wonderful to be home around my family, friends and just in a town I know and love. This place is truly my home, from the endless horizon to coffee shops. I absolutely love it here. Although I wish Kendall could be here with me.

Here is a little picture highlight of the past few months. Most of these pictures I finally got off my camera and some of these are very recent from the last few days.

Not too long ago we went boating with some friends. While we were there we went tubing! Here are Kendall and I tubing.

This was taken while we were at SeaWorld in July, waiting in a long line.

a few miles south of Austin, TX is this area with some hiking and waterfalls that people swim in! It was so much fun swimming in it.

Kendall's formation before he left for his deployment

The boys carrying Kendall's bags to drop them off

Well this is just a small preview of some of the pictures i've taken recently. I will do another post like this soon with some pictures that are more recent.

Have a great day!
Erica

You can't wear shorts and a tank top in September here...

2010-09-17T10:07:00.000-07:00

It's really weird not having Kendall around to talk to all the time and stuff. it just feels like something is missing. But i know that as time goes on things will begin to feel normal again. Plus getting to talk to him helps so much!! even if it's just for a few minutes.

He said that where he is in Kuwait is really enjoyable. There are lots of things to do and everything is pretty nice, so he doesn't mind being there. Which is really good to hear. I like to know that he isn't miserable being there.

Right now i'm taking a little break before I begin putting everything away. I have so many things that need to be put away. I have clothes that either need to go in a plastic tub or a drawer, items that need to be repacked and things that need to searched out and found. Plus I want to get most of this stuff put away today so that A. I don't have to deal with it anymore and B. so that it's out of my family's way.

I am still not used to living at home again. it's kind of weird. I have a new bedroom and it just feels different. But i know that it's going to be a good change :) Plus, i really missed my family so i'm excited to get to see everyone a lot more often!!

OH! and in regards to my title... this morning I was not thinking and went outside in short and a tank top (this is very typical clothing in texas however.... not in the fall in Illinois). Definitely was not thinking about the temperature difference... Needless to say, it was quite cold! I now need to dig out my fall/winter clothes which i'm excited to get to wear them again. Fall is my favorite season!

Tonight i will putting tons of pictures from my camera and phone onto the computer, so tomorrow I should have a post with lots of pictures and such :)

How has your day been today?
Erica

A day to say goodbye... at least for now.

2010-09-15T21:43:00.000-07:00

So today I had to say goodbye to my hubby as he is leaving for Iraq. My dad flew into town and we spent a majority of the day hanging and getting things ready for him. These goodbyes are definitely hard as I know they are for a while.

Here's a few things that make it hard:
1. that sinking feeling that this isn't the first time i'll miss him for the next year.
2. knowing that my best friend is across the world kinda sucks...
3. i mean, come on... who likes to say goodbye to anyone...not me! :)

But there are several things that make things a little bit better for me.
1. Knowing he will be back soon
2. knowing that we will be able to skype and such really helps
3. knowing that no matter what our relationship will not change and we will still be best friends regardless of where in the world we are.
4. going home to be with family and friends
5. knowing that in a year we will get to go apartment hunting and such is exciting haha.
6. and finally... Knowing that he loves me no matter what makes it all better.

So although I will miss him every day, and want to talk to him constantly (ha), I know that things will be okay.

My best friend is still my best friend no matter what is what keeps me going definitely!

Erica

Been a long weekend (which is a good thing)

2010-09-12T17:01:00.001-07:00

This weekend has seemed like it's been extra long because Kendall had all day on Friday off work. It's been really nice to get all this time to hang out. although we haven't really done much these last two days the time together is irreplaceable. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend so much time with him. In 13 days we will have been married for a year. it's crazy that it's already been that long:)

Here are a few lessons in marriage I've learned over the last year:

1. Sometimes you have to take the time for your marriage even if it means you have to put something like school off til later. Had I not stayed here for this month with my hubby and had gone home earlier to go to school, I would have missed out of so much in my relationship with my husband.

2. A regular date night is very important, not only for yourself, but also for your spouse. If you take the time together away from the usual not only rekindles things, but it also gives you a chance to be alone. Make sure you turn your phones on silent and truly enjoy the time together! :)

3. Don't forget to have fun!

4. The little things make a bigger deal to your spouse than you realize. From making dinner for when your spouse gets home from work, to picking things up, to giving them a simple back rub. It all makes a difference.

5. Don't feel like you always have to be DOING something. Sometimes doing absolutely nothing together is perfect time spent together. If you are always doing something you can end up burnt out and not truly enjoying all your time together.

Well those are just a few of the many lessons I've learned, and I know there are so many more to come!

A Day at a State Park

2010-09-10T15:54:00.000-07:00

Today, Kendall and I went to Colorado Bend State Park here in Texas. It was a little over an hour of a drive and it was gorgeous!! They had a waterfall call Gorman Falls. We had to hike a mile and half to get to this really pretty waterfall (so altogether a 3 mile walk there and back). The entire hike was mostly in the sun which wasn't too bad when we were walking downhill on the first mile and a half... However, when you have to go back up the hill and only have hot water with you its a lot harder.

I did realize the importance of working out though. About 2 months ago Kendall and I went hiking in Austin, TX and altogether it was probably about a mile at the most, not too bad. however I was really struggling on the way back up. About a month ago I started working out regularly which has made so many differences in my energy levels! One of the differences was today. The way back was really hard for me, but i went a lot farther than I had in the past.

If I didn't work out, I wouldn't have been able to make it to see this gorgeous waterfall!! So Here are some pictures so you can enjoy this, however if you are in this area ever, you should just go see it yourself.

This is Gorman Falls!

The View on the way down the hill

a lone flower on the trail

What most of trail looked like

On the way there I saw a turtle in the road, luckily I caught it so that I didn't hit it. We then stopped the car and took the turtle off the road so that he didn't get hit by a car :)

Overall it was a really good day! Hope everyone else had a great day as well.
Erica

Also, my hubby just started his own blog that he is going to keep while he's in Iraq, so you should check that out HERE

Hey blog! it's been a while

2010-09-09T17:38:00.000-07:00

Hey blog world, it's been a while. i've been really bad about this lately. I'm going to try to get better about it but i won't promise anything. :)

I will be moving back to Illinois next week which i am very excited about. I'm not so excited about the reason in which i'm going, but that's okay. I don't really feel like i have too much to blog about lately so i'm just going to post a bunch of pictures i've taken lately. Tomorrow kendall and I are going to this really cool state park with waterfall's so i will post all about that then!!

so as for now... Here is some of my photography :)

Not too much going on

2010-08-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been too much going on lately, which is why I haven't posted much... so sorry about that ha.

Two weeks ago Kendall and I headed home for a week :) It was wonderful to be able to go home. I very much miss it! Neither of us wanted to leave when the week finished. But it was okay. Kendall had almost the entire week off last week which was really nice! We have gotten lots of time to spend together over the last two weeks. I have loved it!

Well That's really all i can think of at the moment. Hopefully i will be able to write more soon.

Kendall and I have a marriage retreat this weekend so i'm sure I'll have lots to write after that!

6 days til we are home!

2010-08-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

Kendall and I can not WAIT til we get to go home on this coming Monday. We are very excited to see everyone. I'm also very excited to move home next month, however it's not going to be the same without my best friend there... But it'll be okay :) I'm going to try lots of new things and take advantage of the time.

Today has been an amazing day. I've been really productive and I feel great! I made a list last night of what my morning needed to look like and it made everything go really well. I started my morning off by getting out of bed, opening all the blinds, and eating a healthy breakfast :) After some time in the Word, I went and had a great workout. And then had a healthy lunch. It's amazing the difference the food you eat and exercise makes on your day, your attitude, and just overall happiness. Its been a really good day!

Have a great day as well!!

Erica

Going to bed is like having a sleepover with my best friend!

2010-07-31T06:57:00.000-07:00

Last night when going to bed Kendall, who was exhausted, asked jokingly if we could have a night where we just go to bed. On several occasions I have wished for the same thing, just to get in bed and go to sleep. However, i wouldn't trade that time just hanging out with my best friend for anything! We will lay in bed for over an hour and joke with each other and just laugh about things that aren't really funny at all.

I LOVE that time with my hubby. Since he's at work from 5 in the morning til sometimes as late at 8pm I don't get the same amount of time together during the day as we used to. This isn't a bad thing, it just makes those times just hanging out with my best friend having a little sleep over so much fun! I am sure gonna miss that over the next year.

Today Kendall and I are going to be having a date day of sorts :) We are going to shopping with our spending money for this pay period and then we are going to go play putt-putt and go go-carting! I'm quite excited for it!! Here is us this morning while getting ready for the day!

It's going to be a great day!
Erica

This week is going by very fast

2010-07-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

Currently listening: Sufjan Stevens - Come on! Feel the Illinoise!

Man, it's already Thursday!! I totally thought it was Wednesday! I was so surprised when Kendall told me it was Thursday lol. definitely a good thing though. That means the weekend is here a lot sooner. Which mean Kendall doesn't have to work!! YAY
haha.

I'm very excited because in about a week and a half we get to go home for a week! I can't wait to see my family and everyone again. I miss everybody so much!! However, going home also means that Kendall is leaving soon, which isn't as exciting. However, its all a part of this life, so i'm okay with it. I just want to get it over with. Thank God i'm moving home to be around my family, I would go crazy if I stayed here!!! There is very little to do here. When I actually move home i'll be looking for a full-time job to keep my busy and to help us save some more money.

Kendall and I have decided that for the next 3 years we are going to save money like crazy and we will hopefully be able to put somewhere around 100,000 dollars down on a house in Bloomington!! If we play our cards right we will have our house totally paid off before we are 25. and then we will be completely debt free for the rest of our lives! With no mortgage think of how much money we can save!! I'm very excited. I'm also very glad to finally have some focus with our money.

Budgeting money is such a pain in the butt, but i've started to realize the benefit of keeping track of it. When you have a successful budget (which can take several months to truly be successful) you really have control over where your money goes. About 2 weeks ago I finally started actually writing all our expenses down in a checkbook register on excel. It has amazed me how much money we spend that isn't budgeted in! Fast food, extra items at walmart, even extra groceries, It has all totally surprised me. I didn't realize how far off our budget we actually went. Needless to say, we will be doing a lot better in the future! (of course in a little over a month Kendall leaves and our budget changes again! ha)

well have a great day!
Erica

A trip to Sea World!!

2010-07-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

Currently drinking: Starbucks Peppermint, white mocha with soy :)
Currently listening: Matt Wertz - Heartbreaker

This weekend Kendall and I made a spur of the moment trip to Sea World. It was so much fun!! It is about 3 hours south of us, a bit of a drive, but we loved the time we got to spend together. It's always fun to do different things with our time together. I have never been to Sea World before, so i absolutely loved getting to go!! We went on a few water rides and a roller coaster which was very fun. We also saw all kinds of animals, the penguins were fun :) Unfortunately all the pictures I took that day are on my camera, which i don't have a cord for... so i can't get any of them off of it to post on here. At the end of the day we spent the most time in the water park portion of Sea World, which was by far our favorite! Overall it was a great trip, much worth it.

This morning I had some extra time so I decided to make my first homemade pie!!! It was cherry!

I was quite impressed with how it turned out!!! and it tasted fabulous! I took a few freedoms with the recipe and it turned out quite tasty. Kendall really enjoyed it. :) I was really proud that it turned out so well.

Well that's all for now!
Erica

Family Day

2010-07-23T14:57:00.000-07:00

Currently Drinking: McAlister's half sweet-half unsweet tea

Yesterday Kendall's battalion had a family fun day at the Fort Hood Recreation Area. We didn't know this place existed, but it was gorgeous.

It is located on a Belton Lake, about 30 minutes from our house, on base. There are tons of hills and a beautiful lake. It was very fun. There was a water slide and an area where you could go swimming in the lake.

Last night I also made a fabulous homemade pizza. I'm quite proud of it. It was really healthy and a huge hit with Kendall!

I bought a pizza crust that you just added water to (I would have made it from scratch but i didn't have all the needed ingredients). I then just piled on tons of fresh veggies we both enjoy: Green onions, red peppers, yellow onions, rosemary, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Then I just topped it with fresh cut mozzarella cheese :)
It was quite tasty! I will be making it again soon!

Have a great day!
Erica

Starbucks now has FREE wifi!!!!

2010-07-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

I believe my life just got so much better!! Starbucks is one of my favorite places to just sit and hang out and now they offer FREE WIFI!! I'm so excited. because i can just come and sit here whenever I want and I don't necessarily have to buy anything. Which makes me very happy.

Currently Drinking: Soy Strawberry and Creme Frapp (it's very very tasty!)
Currently listening to: Wakey!Wakey!

Today I have the car again, which is really nice. I love being able to actually leave the house. It's so frustrating when you have to sit in a house with only 1 room of furniture ALL day. haha. Things are really good right now. I exercised today, which i haven't done much lately, and I feel so refreshed. Everything is looking so positive. I love this feeling. So i will definitely be working out more often. Even if it's just for a little bit of time.

So for those of you in Bloomington reading this, we are trying to get Kendall some leave around August 9th so he can come home and say goodbye to everyone before he leaves. But we will only be home for a week. Just trying to give you all a heads up. We aren't for sure on the dates yet though cause he has to put in for leave. We will keep you updated!!

So I've decided to add a new section to my blog, my things I want but probably will never get. :)

For right now the things I'm wanting lately.

Degree 6 clothing. completely eco friendly.

TOMS shoes. if you don't know about them go to www.toms.com. For every shoe you buy they give a shoe to a child who doesn't have any.

well that's all i have time for today!!

Erica

A good week so far

2010-07-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

This has been a wonderful week so far and I just see it getting better as it goes on. It started off with giving Max an amazing new home!! We found another military family that was PERFECT for Max. He now has other dogs to play with and she has been giving me updates of how everything has been going. It's so nice to get to hear how everything is going and get the occasional picture of him :) like this one!

it definitely makes me miss him. but we were still blessed that he has a wonderful new home.

I have also gotten a lot accomplished this week. I have our money budgeted, balanced, and already planned. By having our money planned out like this it helps me feel a lot more secure about how we spend our money. PLUS we almost have our emergency fund rebuild, which makes me happy!

Many of you have asked for pictures of our current place of living. So i finally cleaned the house and feel comfortable enough to show it off a little haha. Here are those much awaited pictures.

This is our kitchen

Our living room, we only have furniture for one room. So all we have is the rug...

bathroom

Our entertainment area. My favorite part: The colored baskets, I can hide all kinds of things in those and it looks super cute!!!

We use two different comforters cause we can't seem to share in the night.

Well this is our home for the next two months. It's nice, a little smaller than we are used to, but we like it. Plus, we really don't NEED that much space for just the two of us.

Well, have a great day!!
Erica

Deployments, Dogs, and 99 cent tea.

2010-07-18T09:30:00.000-07:00

Life has been so crazy lately. But definitely a good crazy. We're planning for a lot of new coming up! As I believe I said in my last blog post, Kendall is deploying within the next few months. We are trying our best to look at it as a positive rather than a negative. He's getting to visit some new places and I get to go home for a while. Plus thanks to the new forms of technology, we have email. so conversation isn't too far away while apart.

I was originally thinking I was going to move home mid August to go to school, however I realized that by making the decision to leave early I was saying that school was more important than my time with my husband. Not what I was thinking at all!!! So I have now decided to stay until he deploys, giving us more time together! We are really going to try to take advantage of this time together and visit new places and just have a lot of fun!! I think this week we are going putt-putting and to the batting cages on our date night!!

However, there are some disappointments with these changes as well. A month ago, Kendall and I rushed into buying an incredible puppy! We were so excited to get one and didn't think about the consequences of that decision. Now, you might be thinking "didn't that happen a few months ago with the puppy Addie?" Addie was a totally different situation we would have definitely kept her had she not been too aggressive for us. She wasn't a bad dog, but more aggressive than I could handle. Max, our new husky, is an AMAZING dog!!! I'm actually mourning the idea of having to give him away, however we know it's the right decision and here's why:

When I move home, I have decided to move back into my parents house to save money while Kendall is gone. Not only will this help up save TONS of money (i'll get to that in a second) but it will also help me not live alone for a year. Not only is living alone not safe, but it will also remind me everyday that I miss Kendall and I don't think that will be healthy for me.

As for saving money, We did that math and if I lived with my parents as opposed to living on my own for that year by the time it's over we can have our car totally paid off AND have almost $30,000 in the bank!!!! That's really hard to pass up! Think of the down payment on a house we can have when kendall is out of the Army!!!

The only negative of moving into my parents house is the "no dogs" rule. They considered letting Max be an outdoor dog but they really don't want to deal with having a dog again. So then the choices were either keep Max and live on my own and therefore basically pay $30,000 to keep the dog (Cause we wouldn't be able to save that much money.) or Give Max to another loving home, live with my parents, save that money, and once Kendall is out of the Army settle down in Normal and get a dog then.

We want to make the best decision for us and our situation. We feel that with this decision we will being making the most responsible. So, Dave Ramsey, you would be proud!

OH! and the 99 cent tea, McAlister's deli has this deal where you can buy this cup for 5.99 and you get 99 cent tea the rest of the year! it's great cause this is where we come for internet and you have to buy something for the internet. So it'll save us LOTS of money!

Erica

Lots of changes

2010-07-13T03:49:00.000-07:00

Our little family of 2 plus our new puppy Max have had several changes lately. And we only have more to come!! Haha recently we moved down to Fort Hood Texas. I love the area down here. The landscape reminds me of home except that there are little peaks everywhere. I love that you can see the entire sky here again unlike Georgia. It's quite pretty.

We hit a few snags along the way with this move. Kendall had received orders for hometown recruiting. So we were going to be home for 3 weeks before our move!! And then he got there and was told his orders were wrong. So instead of 3 weeks we got almost a week. But we are very thankful for the little time home we got.

After Kendall in-processed he received his unit and was told he is deploying in September. So a lot more changes are to come. I will be moving home during his year away. I will be returning to school while I'm home and taking care of our new husky puppy Max. Please continue to pray for us as the transitions continue!

Oh My! How time flies.

2010-06-05T22:57:00.000-07:00

It's crazy to think that almost 5 months ago I moved down here to Georgia. I felt like the time here was going to be so long, but it was flown. Kendall got his orders yesterday and we should be out of here within the next two weeks!! Kendall got what is called A-Trap or hometown Recruiting. which means we will be home for about 3 weeks! YAY. 2 of these weeks kendall will work with the local recruiting office during the day. We are so excited to be going back home. and leaving the Georgia humidity!

After these few weeks at home we will be heading to Texas! We are praying that we can get on-post housing because not only will that allow us more time together, but it will also save us the hassle of having to find a new place (something i am not looking forward to doing if we have to.)

We can not wait to see our family and friends and to be HOME again. For years I always wanted to leave Bloomington, and once I do, I can't WAIT to go back!!!

2010-05-18T08:15:00.000-07:00

Life has been really crazy but exciting lately. We no longer have Internet at the house so my blog posts may be longer in between. Although I do now have an iPhone. Which definitely helps me with being able to get online :)

So I'm an aunt! My sister had Rilyn at the beginning of this month. It was very exciting! She's beautiful. I would post a picture but idk how to from my phone. She is now only waking up once during the night. Which I'm sure is a blessing to my sister.

Kendall will be done with all his training in 3 and a half weeks. We are very excited. He is hoping to get something called atrap aka hometown recruiting. Basically we would go home for 2 weeks and he would work with the recruiters before we move. Please pray for this as it would mean we'd get a chance to spend some time at home before our next move.

Speaking of moving. After all of this we will be moving down to Texas. It will be a little stressful as we won't know where we will live til we get there because we want to see the place before we move in. The army will put us up in a hotel for ten days. So hopefully we can settle everything within those ten days! :) so please please pray that everything will get figured out and go smoothely.

Well that's all for now.
Have a great day!
Erica

the unfortunate life of not having a computer

2010-05-07T11:53:00.000-07:00

Okay the pictures will be up soon, because they aren't working right now!

So this past few weeks I have not had the opportunity to have a computer. My charger broke and we had to wait to order another one. Today I had a wonderful surprise when I went to get the mail, my charger was in there! I was not expecting it until this coming Tuesday. Needless to say i'm ecstatic. It has been way too long since I have been able to get on my computer. I didn't even have my music, it was terrible. haha So here is yet another giant update. Hopefully now they will start being more regular again.

Today is Kendall's birthday. He turned 19 today. :) Happy birthday, baby!!! Here is the wonderful cake I made for him.

two weeks ago Kendall's mom and brother came and stayed with us. Although the weekend didn't quite work out the way we wanted it to, it was still fun. Kendall's company had gotten in a lot of trouble and he wasn't allowed the usual amount of time home. However, we all stayed in high spirits even with the many hours of waiting til he could come home. During that time we took a little bit of time to tour fort Gordon.

Last weekend a few friends and I went to a fair that they were having at Fort Gordon. Although it was really fun, one of the rides definitely made us feel sick. it spun in circles WAY too quickly. Here are some pictures from that :)

As for now that is all that i can think of that are big updates.
Have a great day!

Erica

another little catch up

2010-04-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

   I keep having things in mind for posts that I need to do, and sometimes I even start the post. ha but i've been pretty bad about actually putting them up. So here is another little update and hopefully i'll be better from now on :)

   This past week I spent a lot of time in my yard making everything look a lot nicer! On Friday, I weed-eated the yard, sprayed the weeds with weed killer (which i need to do again.) and then trimmed my shrubs in my front yard. Lots of hard work. Also got very sunburned! haha. but it was well worth it! My yard is starting to look amazing! This week I want to treat the grass so that it starts to turn green... cause right now it's still dead from winter. and i don't like that. plus i think i'm going to get pots and some flowers and have big pots of flowers in my back and front porch things. ha I don't know if i can actually plant in the ground, plus this way when we move in June i can move my flowers with me!!!

   So yesterday kendall got his early birthday present :) A new guitar amp. He's been really excited and playing more than usual. Hopefully now this will get him to start actually writing songs again and stuff. Maybe do a few shows in the future and such. We're really excited because we found out Austin, tx has a really big indie music scene! so I'm really hoping to get involved in that, since we won't be too far away from there. I really miss going to shows and such!

Well that's all for now. I'm sure more will come up.

Have a great day!
Erica

a little softball for ya.

2010-04-18T13:38:00.000-07:00

So Kendall has joined the softball team for his company (the group of soldiers he's a part of: Echo company). I love this because he has games every Tuesday and Thursday and I really enjoy going and watching him. Plus it gets me out of the house for a bit :) Kendall plays right field, I believe, and also bats. I'm always so proud of him! ha so Tuesday they beat a navy team :) and then Thursday they beat another army team. I love being able to go to see him everyday for practice and games. It makes the day go by a little quicker. :)

Kendall in the outfield. It was hard to get a good picture of him cause my little camera sucks.

running to first base :)

Well, have a great day!!!

Erica

Golf and such

2010-04-13T19:33:00.000-07:00

So this weekend Kendall and I and a few of his buddies went golfing at Fort Gordon's golf course. I didn't really golf, just one hole, but It was really fun to watch and be a part of. Although i can't wait til my friend is here so i'm no longer the only female hanging out with them haha. The course was beautiful though! and It was an gorgeous day, so that helped a lot. Here are some pictures that encompass the day :)

My first time golfing :)

Me and my hubby :)

This cool rainbow cloud.

look at that form! haha.

Overall the day was really fun! I got a little sunburnt. but it was a really good Saturday. I can't wait to see what the next few weeks will bring!

Erica

We're going to Fort Hood!

2010-04-06T18:11:00.000-07:00

Today we got our orders. We are going to Fort Hood, Texas. We are both really excited about it and really terrified at the same time (at least I am!) :) I feel like although we have 3 months, that we have a lot to do to get there. We have discovered that this is totally a God thing though. Although we wanted Korea (because it counts as a deployment and I can go) this is a good place. We have a family that we are really good friends with that are also stationed there which is a huge blessing. And we found of the deployments won't be as bad as we thought, so that is also good.

So basically, we are moving to Texas. How crazy is that! We wanted to get AWAY from this heat and we got stuck with the south again haha. :) It'll be okay though. We can't wait!

Have a great day!

Erica

a wonderful weekend!

2010-04-05T16:27:00.001-07:00

This weekend was the best I've had in a while. :) Kendall really made a point to make it all about me. We always have good weekends, but this one was REALLY good. I got to pick Kendall up while it was still light out, which was really nice for a change. ha. When we got home we went for a walk (he usually doesn't like to go on walks, I always want to go for walks... haha) so that was nice. and then we went and got tons of junk food and movies and we watched a movie and ate yummy food haha. On saturday we just had a really nice day together. just kinda hung out. and Sunday we got extra time together because it was Easter so it was really nice!

I can't wait for this coming weekend. :) Kendall said we can go walk downtown together! and the following weekend I think we are going to Savannah for the day! YAY

Have a great day!

Erica

Many Posts in One

2010-03-30T10:48:00.000-07:00

So I meant to put all these things in several different blog posts this weekend, but since we had Addie that didn't happen. So here it all is :)

Addie update: Kendall and I decided Addie was too aggressive of a puppy. More than just puppy play, she would growl and bark at us and bite us and we didn't feel like she was playing. So yesterday we made the hard decision to give her back... It was hard, but I know it was the right one. As of right now, we aren't going to get another puppy for a while. We'll wait til our situation is a little different.

She was too cute :( But it's for the better.

So this weekend Kendall and I got a $30 weed wacker from walmart to cut our backyard. (It's honestly a really crappy one...) :) But we officially cut our yard for the first time!

While he was cutting the yard we found a little visitor who was staying in our backyard

Welcome to the south! Wouldn't find one of these sitting around back home.

This weekend I also learned the difference between cook and defrost on the microwave after causing this to happen...

I had put the beef in on defrost for 9 minutes. but it wasn't enough so I wanted to add another 2 minutes. So i just did the cook thing for 2 minutes.... OOPS

On another note, before we moved we were given a table with 6 chairs. Such a blessing! However, the chairs for the table look like they may not have been fixed since the 70s :) (Might be a slight exaggeration) But here is a picture of the chairs before.

under the seats.

So I decided I wanted to refinish them since they weren't the best looking chairs we could have. So yesterday I found this amazing fabric and I started the project. One of my biggest curses when it comes to art is that once I start a project I don't like to stop. I don't want to stop because later I might not be in the same mood and when i'm in a different mood my art looks different. So needless to say, I started the chairs yesterday evening and I finished them at 5am. That's right! 5 in the morning. I actually could text Kendall when I was done because he was getting up for his day then. ha

So here are the finished chairs! (I only finished 5 chairs, one was too rusted and such to fix.)

Its been a few days

2010-03-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

i know I haven't updated in a few days. Its kind of been one of those weeks. ha. Yesterday Kendall and I got a puppy named Addy. :) I absolutely love her, but she definitely drives me nuts sometimes. Like when she bites me (we're working on that) or when she chews everything. I definitely have to watch her at all times right now. But its a good learning experience for me for sure. Just learning to be firm with her.

So Kendall and I have been married for 6 months :) Its really exciting! So tonight he gets to come home and I'm making a really big dinner. I'm making a cheesy potato soup in the crockpot. and I'm going to make us steaks and some veggies :) I'm really excited for it!! I just wish I wasn't so stinkin tired! lol

Have a great day!

Erica

oh what a day

2010-03-20T20:06:00.000-07:00

Today has been a really good day overall! I had some of the most interesting experiences I've had in a while and made some new friends :) Today Kendall's buddy got married. This whole thing was kind of decided a few days ago that they were going to do this so everything got put together really fast. So one of his buddies ordered a cake from Publix. ha (it was really good!) and before the service kendall and I had to go pick it up. Thinking that the publix by my house was the only one on Washington Street(big mistake because washington street is a REALLY long street) Kendall and I headed there to pick up the cake. needless to say, we had to run all the way to the other side of town (driving across town takes a good 30 minutes) to pick up this cake.

After that we went to the chapel where they were having the ceremony. This place was definitely interesting. The woman who owned the place was very eccentric. Really nice, but kind of not all there. In the house was all these different things for all these different religions. Clutter galore! Luckily she had a pretty little gazebo in the backyard where we had the ceremony. I can't really explain this service to you except that the only way I can even remotely explain it to you is this: When she was saying how they were getting married in the state of Georgia she threw in (rather loudly) "How 'bout them bulldogs!" But it was still good and we all left laughing and still excited :)

Love's Wedding Chapel

Love of "Love's wedding Chapel"

The gazebo they had the ceremony in.

This was in the backyard

clutter.

I believe this is baby Jesus.

One of their sergeants hooked them up with a limo service. So we had a white stretch limo to ride to dinner in. That was really fun. He also told them of this really nice restaurant (one of the nicest in Georgia) that we should go to. And I must say, this place was DEFINITELY the nicest restaurant I've been in. It was in downtown Augusta in an old victorian house.

Our limo :)

You open the door and there is a beautiful grand staircase and chandeliers everywhere! The whole feel of the place was amazing. There were 7 of us (3 couples and one couple's daughter). Our table was very nicely set and we had a very fun waiter (He could tell we were a pretty fun bunch so he let go a little and wasn't uptight like he was supposed to be). There were so many things about this place that were just so nice. Like how in the bathroom you could use either paper towels to dry your hands or an actual cloth. and they actually have a bottle of wine on their HUGE wine list that is $6500! He was telling us how he's actually not allowed to card anyone who comes in because it's considered rude. The average price for meals was around $30 although they had meals as expensive at $60.

When you receive your food it is covered. They then reveal everyone's food at the same time. Kendall ordered a meal that had several different kinds of meat on it. All of which I tried (go me.) He had quail, ostrich, and buffalo... The quail was really good. the Ostrich was not so good. He liked it, but I did not. I had this incredible chicken which rice, gravy and apples. It was fantastic. We were then served the wedding cake as our desert which was very tasty. All-together we had a really great time! I had the chance to become friend's with two new ladies both of which are very nice! And we are hoping that our hubbies get stationed at the same bases so that we will get to move together! Our new friend's are a story in and of themselves, but long story short we are all Christian families and all have close family ties to the church which is awesome. I'm really hoping God has a lot planned for our families!

our table

Our place setting

The chandeliers

The wine we had with dinner

The complementary appetizer. Don't ask my what it was I don't know. lol

This was definitely a night I will remember :)

Well have a great day!

Erica.

Can't sleep...

2010-03-17T19:46:00.000-07:00

I want so badly to sleep right now, but i finally have given up on it... I laid in bed for over an hour tonight but I just could not fall asleep for the life of me. My mind just won't stop thinking! I am truly envious of a males capability to literally think nothing at all. I have never, not thought anything. that would be wonderful sometimes!!

I'm such a planner, I love to be able to figure things out and plan how they are going to go. Things like where we are going, what we are going to do, etc... I love that feeling of knowing how things will turn out. Well in this season of my life I don't get that luxury anymore. We literally can't plan anything and it sucks. So it puts me in a little bit of place where I don't really know what to do. Like I would spend so much time planning things and now i have nothing to plan... so I do it with other things: money, my day, dinner, my weekend (although even my weekends I can't really plan out cause we never know what they will look like...) and occasionally I try to plan life AFTER the army... but that's just as much unknown as life right now... It's just so hard for me feeling so helpless in that area. Definitely takes lots of trust that's for sure.

I know everything will work out and it will all be fine, but sometimes I just can't see it. I feel like i'm walking blindly through life, not by choice but by necessity. I can honestly say that even the smallest bit of information would feel amazing right now. even if that information was simply his graduation date or when we will move. something. but no. not now. I must wait more. waiting is my new norm. and that's just how it is...

Have a good day

Erica

Kinda busy week

2010-03-16T10:42:00.000-07:00

I finally have my kitchen back!! since we had a cookout and a bunch of people over this weekend my kitchen was a MESS!!! so it's SOO nice to finally have it back to normal. So yesterday I went grocery shopping for my new diet. It took so long cause I didn't know what half the stuff in the recipes were and I didn't organize the stuff I just went with the recipes. So i'm sure I forgot something. But i've done really well the last two days! Not only have I eaten really well but I've also worked out the last two days. Last night I could barely sleep because of how bad my body hurt! haha. Muscles I didn't even know I had hurt!! But I'm really excited for it. I already feel better!

So Kendall is now on the Echo company track team :) He's so excited to finally get to do track again and I'm really excited to get to go to his track meets! I believe he's going to be the long jumper. Pretty exciting, I must say.

Well I'm off, I'll update more later!

Have a great day!

Erica

Wonderful Monday Morning

2010-03-15T09:52:00.000-07:00

Most people dread Monday morning, as do I usually. However, it's only 1pm and I have already had a great Monday. This weekend I decided I was finally going to start a diet and workout program. Then my husband so loving pointed out that I never finish anything... So i'm now determined to finish this simply to show him he's wrong :) Plus I really need to get in shape and such. So I started this 4 week plan from Fitness Magazine. :)

So this morning I made eggs, which lots of cheese and salsa :) It was SOOO yummy! Great way to start my morning! then I did the workouts they have on the plan and went for a 20-30 minute walk/run. it was beautiful so I really enjoyed it. And now i'm getting ready to head out to the store to buy healthy food, since I have pretty much no healthy food.... ha.

Oh and did I mention its a great monday cause it's like almost 60 degrees and sooo nice out!!

This weekend we had a bunch of Kendall's buddies over which was really fun. At first only 4 guys came over. and we had a cookout and such. But then like 6? more people came. It was definitely fun to meet his friends, although I had met most of these people before. But regardless, I enjoyed it. It was the first time we've had company since we moved in (besides move in weekend when my family was helping us move.) I believe next weekend one of Kendall's friend's wife and daughter are coming into town (they'll be moving here later.) So we're probably going to have them over for a bit which will be fun.

Well, have a great day! I know I will :)

Erica

Today is the day!

2010-03-12T10:20:00.000-08:00

Today is the day I get to go pick up Kendall to spend the weekend with him. it's so exciting!! Time is NOT going fast enough though. I just want it to be 6:00ish already! cause then I can go get him. But that's okay. I'll probably end up taking a nap and then making cookies or something like that to help the time go a little faster. Although I want to eat better and such... cookies aren't really on that diet. but idk...

this one's short I know, but I'll write more again soon,

Have a great day!

Erica

spiders and calamari

2010-03-10T23:05:00.000-08:00

Several things have been really exciting the last few days. Today Kendall phased up to a phase 5+. Now he gets to come home on the weekends for the entire weekend. Tonight we went out to dinner with a bunch of his friends and we all ordered WAY too much pizza. actually for 6 of us we ordered 1 personal pan pizza, 1 large pizza, 2 medium pizzas, 2 desert pizzas, 2 things of garlic bread, and 25 hot wings..... Needless to say, I have 3 boxes FULL of leftover pizza and wings (since the guys couldn't take food back to the barracks I had to take it all.)

I'm so proud of Kendall. He tried so hard to get the 304 on his pt test. One of his friends has been a great help these last few days. When he saw that Kendall was struggling running in the heat, his friend left his formation and ran with Kendall to help him keep pace. and when Kendall needed a haircut in order to phase up, his friend cut his hair in 3 minutes right before they did so. We are very grateful for his help! We are now praying that Kendall's sergeant will be able to help Kendall find a way to live with me.

A few nights ago I went out with a friend for a late dinner. While we were there I decided to try my first dose of seafood (although it was super fried, so I still don't completely count it on my list of things I need to try. I want to try much more than this.). Anyways, So I tried Calamari. It actually was pretty good! A little chewy, but still good. I was so proud of myself!!! First bit of seafood in YEARS! seriously. The reason I don't eat seafood is really unknown, I just always haven't. I think I didn't like fish and apparently all seafood came with that. And I just would never eat any of it.

I have faced another fear of mine lately too: Spiders. So I have a nice house here in Georgia which is usually bug free... EXCEPT after it rains... I get these giant, quarter sized spiders... So today It was raining (It's supposed to rain for the next 2 days.... i'm kinda freaking out.) But anyways, it was raining so I knew there was a possibility of big spiders again. Since the last one crawled right up next to me I have been scared ever since. Its so dumb to be scared of something that is around the size of my big toe, but hey, I am. Terrified actually. But I live alone, so either I have giant spiders, or i get over it and kill them (Most times it takes me a few minutes to get up the fear though. I can kill the little ones no problem, but the big ones are GROSS!).

So today I knew there were probably going to be big spiders again, so I asked God if he would at least show them to me. Have them crawl across the floor or something so I see them before they crawl on me, and he came through once again! Tonight at 1:45 I decided I needed to write something down when I turned the lights back on after going to bed. I then saw in the corner something big and black in the corner, it was then that I knew... there was another one. So I put on my bath robe and some big winter boots and mustered up the courage and ran to the corner to kill it. It took two stomps to kill, but i got it!!! Then I went on a spider searching spree! I asked God to continue to show me them and I found one more (much smaller though) behind my couch. So I literally moved the couch to kill it. ha.

my amazing spider killing wardrobe!

The dead spider's remnants (however, a lot were on my shoe too...)

The big nasty thing against my wall. I didn't want to get any closer...

It has definitely been an eventful last few days that's for sure!!! And although my plans were ruined when I found out I could no longer go home for the weekend, I'm sure this weekend still have lots of fun things in store.

Well have a good day!

Erica

Exciting day!

2010-03-09T12:49:00.000-08:00

So today Kendall took a pt test and he got a 300! Which means that he gets to skip phase 5 and now he is a phase 5+. so on the weekends he gets to come home the whole weekend!! I am sooo stinking excited! And I'm soo proud of my hubby! It's not easy to get a 300 on your pt test. He did 72 pushups in 2 min., 78 situps in 2 minutes, and ran 2 miles in 12:45. I'm a little bummed i'm going out of town this weekend. lol cause he hasn't been home for 2 weeks. But that's okay. Next weekend will be incredible!

Have a great day!!

Erica

Dear John and such

2010-03-06T20:43:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderfully calm day. This morning I woke up at 8:30 because I need to stop sleeping until noon. And I went on base to help Kendall and his friend move their stuff to their new barracks (They threw everything into my car and I drove across base with the stuff while the had to walk there. I just saved them from carrying everything). As I was waiting for them to get there to get their stuff I started to read Dear John. All that said, I have basically spent my entire day reading. It was beautiful outside so I opened the windows and everything. It was really nice. The only breaks from reading I took were to take some pictures and to have a lovely dinner with my hubby on base.

I finished the book a few minutes ago (Yes, I read it in one day). It was really good. I love when books and stuff inspire me to be a better person.

When I used to read love stories I would always fall in love with the character. I would want to know that guy because he was perfect. And I was always so sad when I reminded myself, he doesn't exist. However, that has all changed. Now when I read stories like that It just makes me love and miss my hubby even more. I no longer fall in love with the guy from the book, I have my guy from the book. As cheesy as that sounds, its true. Kendall has always been one to open the door for me, even before the Army (now he just does it even more) And he has always made sure to balance my needs with those of his own. Before he left he made sure to make time for the things that were important to me (although they are cheesy I'm such a hopeless romantic. So I've always wanted the big date nights, the drives through the country, and the cheesy things they did in A Walk to Remember (I see a theme, Nicholas Sparks is a genius)). However, whenever Kendall was home he made sure that he made time for those things in between his video games and playing guitar. That has always meant so much to me.

I'm not really sure why i'm writing this on here for all to read, but I wanted to write it somewhere ha. So here we are.

I guess I'm just saying I don't need that guy from the love story anymore, because I have my own story right here, although it's not even close to being finished. I'm aware there will be those struggles, I mean come on, what story doesn't have them? Everything is perfect and then things happen and they have to work through it. But in the end it was always worth whatever work it took to get there. I know to some that may seem naive or a foolish way of thought, and maybe it is. But i would much rather live my life naively yet intensely happy, then so realistic you can't see the magic in anything.

So I've decided I'm going to live my life with that magic. I'm starting a list of things that I want to do (Note new addition to the sidebar). Most of them pretty simple, some more complex. Although my ultimate goal is to do them before I die, we're going to say I want to do them before Kendall deploys (We'll do a short-term goal here :)). Now, I don't know when Kendall is going to deploy. It could be as soon as 4 months from now, it could be in a year, or it could not happen, we don't know. But i think that's the fun in it. I don't know. We're in this situation now, whether we want to be here or not, so why not make the most of it? Why not live the life we've always wanted, even if it's in a little more of an unconventional way?

Now how I got to my goals from talking about my husband i'm not really sure ha. I guess that has to be due with me being spaghetti (if you're wondering what that means just ask). So sorry for those of you who are waffles (again, you can just ask) and didn't quite follow... :)

Well I guess all I can say is Have a nice day!

Erica

An overall good day

2010-03-05T18:21:00.000-08:00

Today had a bit of a rough beginning. I was really discouraged because I don't really know what I want to do with my life and such. and I don't use my time the best way I could and I need to start doing some things differently. But it's just been really hard figuring all that out. Plus I haven't really gotten to spend much time with Kendall lately and I won't be able to until probably March 19 or 20. which i know isn't too bad in comparison to other things, but it still sucks.

However, tonight I at least got to have dinner with him :) which was great! I went and got us McDonalds and we ate it outside his barracks (although it got really chilly at night. so it wasn't the most comfortable thing). It's always hard visiting him on base cause when he's in his uniform we can't have any form of pda at all. No holding hands, no kisses goodbye, no hugs... So whenever we leave it's just like well... bye. It's a little weird, but i won't complain. :) I get to see him that's all that matters!

Tomorrow morning Kendall is moving barracks again. Right now he's actually in barracks for another company, but they didn't have room in his company's barracks for everyone. So tomorrow morn they are moving. Kendall is a little bummed because right now he has a room with only 3 other guys and when he moves he won't have separate rooms anymore. It's just one big open room. But he'll be closer to everything which will be nice. Right now he has to walk like 20 minutes to each of his formations and stuff. So that will save him a lot of time in the future.

Tomorrow I am supposed to be taking pictures for 2 different families. I'm really excited for it! I'm really starting to get more pictures for the portfolio I lost. So soon I will be able to get my new website up and running and get my name out there! My goal is that by the time we get to our duty station I can get my name out while we are there. :) Hopefully everything will turn out alright!

Well, have a great day!

Erica

sick.

2010-03-04T09:48:00.000-08:00

I've been sick the last 2 days. It's really sucked cause it was my first time being sick without anyone being able to be there for me. My hubby couldn't come home and my mom lives almost a thousand miles away. There is nothing like having your mom there when you are sick. It really made me miss home. so last night I did a walmart run and i got myself Nyquil, daytime sinus meds and advil pm. ha. I was really hoping to sleep. I took the Nyquil around 6, but by midnight I was awake again... I was up til 4 in the morning when i finally fell back to sleep and slept til 11:30. so altogether i got like 13 and a half hours of sleep, but it just got broken into pieces.

Well that's all the energy I have to write right now, but i'll update more later :)

Have a great day!

Erica

Finally

2010-03-01T19:40:00.000-08:00

So we finally got paid yesterday. which was great because i had very little in my house to eat. So I finally got food to cook with. I'm so excited because I get to make all kinds of new things! Tonight I made a bunch of my stuffed shells that I'm going to freeze and then I can cook them whenever I want one :) (Thanks to my sister for this idea!) and I'm also making this really yummy corn and pea salad thing. It's amazing. And tomorrow I'm going to make awesome homemade tacos! Hopefully Kendall will be planning on eating at his regular chow hall so i can tell him not to and bring him homemade food :) Otherwise I guess I'll take them to him another time.

Kendall has been working really hard on getting everything ready to phase up. And we are praying that he will have everything done by Wednesday. He has to write out by hand a 20ish page thing that has all their rules and stuff. (no joke, twenty pages!) and so that would be the only thing we aren't sure if he will have done by Wednesday. But even if he can't get it done he can always phase up the following wednesday. So it's not a huge deal.

Well have a great night!

Erica

Its been a few days

2010-02-28T16:27:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been very busy. But they've been amazing! On Thursday and Friday I spent most of the day with my new friends :) it was really fun. I love actually having friends down here now. and yesterday I spent the whole day with my hubby! It was great.

Kendall's regular sergeant came back and now he gets the chance to actually phase up and stuff! I'm so excited because that means we will get to spend more time together!!! I can not wait!!!

Today I went grocery shopping :) It was fun I can't wait to cook things!! YAY!! Well now i'm off to find a new layout for my blog!

Have a great day!

Erica