Project 366: Day 25 [March 12th]

You know how the weekends are right? You don't do anything around the house... or is that just me? haha! Seriously-- Ethan is home all weekend and I just detest doing housework when he's here. So, I neglect the dishes... the laundry... the bottles. It's a bit ridiculous, but hey, it works for us. That is until Monday rolls around! Then I had mounds of laundry to get through and a pile of dishes I couldn't see over. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but you believed it, right? ;) So, I said all of that to say that I spent all morning getting caught up!

And honestly, that must have worn Tayler out...

Poor baby. But isn't she just the most adorable thing ever when she sleeps? :) I just love her!

While I was cleaning and doing all of that fun stuff, I decided to throw dinner in the crockpot. I got this recipe from here. It's called 'Crock Pot Peperocini Beef Sandwiches.' It is really simple. Just purchase 1-2 lbs of beef chuck roast and a jar of peperocini peppers. Dump all of that into your crock pot and cook on high. She cooked hers on high for 8 hours, but mine was falling a part after about 6. It shredded so wonderfully! I absolutely loved getting this prepared for Ethan. 

She used pepperjack cheese over her steak hoagies. I bought the Fiesta Nacho Cheese because it is our absolute favorite! And I purchased Italian style buns!

And this was the final product. I served ours with french fries and the cheese sauce on the side!

Ethan absolutely ADORED it. I'm sure he'll eat the entire thing, haha! I on the other hand was not a huge fan of the peppers. I think if I hadn't included those, I would have enjoyed it more. I'm just not a 'pepper' fan, but I will say it smelled amazing! It was a wonderful dinner. Ethan ate 2 sandwiches, haha and wanted to take more to work with him. I'd say it was a hit! :) 

After that, we took Tayler outside for a little bit. It was just in our front yard because it had been a rainy day and we didn't want to get caught at the park in that, but she still had a blast! Here's a picture of her and her Daddy singing:

I am such a blessed woman. These two people are my entire world! :) Aren't they the cutest together?? ;) 

We came inside, Ethan worked out with his new exercise buddy (hence my FB status update last night: Dear Lord, Thank You for sending Ethan an exercise buddy so it doesn't have to be me... Amen ;)) Tayler got bathed and ready for bed and I cooked some Banana Nut bread. Ethan came upstairs from his 'exercise room' as I was looking the spoon and he said, 'What the heck is this? I downstairs working my butt off to lose weight and you look perfect sitting there licking that spoon...' haha! He just knows how to make me laugh! But the Banana Nut bread tasted amazing! 

That's my favorite 'dessert' I think ;)

After everyone else got ready for bed, we cuddled up on the couch for two of our favorite TV shows:

Pretty Little Liars and Awake. Have any of you been keeping up with these?? Oh my, we have and it's so addicting! Alright, so first of all-- Pretty Little Liars. I am SO anxious to find out who 'A' is it is absolutely ridiculous! I know that everything seemed to work out that it would be Melissa being 'A' but I think that's too simple. When that young boy said it was a couple, I thought it could be her and Garrett. Then I thought it could be her and her dad. But what if it's Spencer's Mom and Dad? It's so confusing! Also, how about Jenna?? SHE CAN SEE! That really shocked me. I'm just so confused right now and ready to know what's going on, haha!

And as for Awake. How amazing is this new show? It's only in the 2nd episode, but Ethan and I are both very intrigued. It's a mind-bender and we enjoy that kind of stuff. One thing that really hit me at the end of this episode was the fact that the Police chief meets up with a man that I believe we have not seen before. She questions him about how he set up the accident and took away Mike's family..... that makes me ponder the question... Are they both dead and when he dreams, he sees them and they are helping him piece together what exactly happened during the accident? GAH! Confusing!

What are your thoughts?

And now for our prayer today since the lessons are over! :)

Pray that your husband will choose his friends wisely. Pray that God will bring him men who will encourage his accountability before God, and will not lead him into sin. (Prov. 13:20; Prov. 27:17)
(Source)

And the Bible verses that go along with this are as follows:

Proverbs 13:20 (The Message) Become wise by walking with the wise;
   hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces. 

Proverbs 27:17 (The Message) You use steel to sharpen steel,
   and one friend sharpens another. 

Dear Jesus, thank You for Ethan. Please continue to bless him with friends that will help his being, not tear it down. He has such a sweet heart and is such a kind individual. Bring him friends that will appreciate that. Help him have friends that encourage him to be like You. He is a good man and deserves to have other men in his life that help him. Thank You for Your blessings! We love You! Amen!

God bless you all

and on a side note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DADDY TODAY!!!! 

and cheers to Project 366!

Project 366: Day 24 [March 11th]

I woke up this morning with the determination to make 'Cinnamon Roll Pancakes.' I've had the ingredients forever, but just never had the guts to actually try and make them. I will be honest. This is a recipe that DID NOT turn out like the blog I found it from, haha! But hey-- I tried, right? And I guess I should say it didn't turn out LOOKS wise... TASTE wise it was wonderful! But... my design has something to be desired, haha!

Anyways...

Here are the ingredients that you are going to need:
(Source of recipe here)

CINNAMON FILLING:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, just melted (not boiling)
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

CREAM CHEESE GLAZE:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2-ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

PANCAKES:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil

Now, I'm not going to pretend like I got this accurate, but I'll explain what I did. I obviously have a little tweaking to do with whatever it is that I did wrong. I'll figure it out next time I make them... hopefully. 

For the cinnamon filling, take the 4 tablespoons of butter and melt that. Add the 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of packed light brown sugar, and the 1/2 tablespoon of ground cinnamon. Stir all of this together and add to a plastic bag:

Now the cream cheese glaze is where I did something wrong. So, hopefully you get this right! In a small pan, heat the butter over low heat until melted. Turn off the heat and then whisk in the 2 ounces of cream cheese. Sift in the 3/4 cup of powdered sugar, stir all of that together, and then add the 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Set that aside until you have finished the pancakes.

For the pancakes, take a medium bowl and whisk together the 1 cup of flour, the 2 teaspoons of baking powder, the 1 egg, and the 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. 

 

I took this picture just because I was trying out my new camera this morning while cooking, haha!

It takes much better pictures in the kitchen than my old camera did! I love it! :) 

After the batter is made, take a skillet and spray it with spray. These things will stick if you do not do this, haha! I used a 1/3 cup measuring cup for the batter and poured it on in the skillet:

 

(Yes., my laptop was in the room with us, haha! That's how I read the recipes ANDDDD, that's how I play me some 'Adele!')

And once you pour the batter into the skillet, wait until the pancakes start bubbling up and take the bag of cinnamon filling, cut a TINY slit in the plastic bag corner, and make a 'cinnamon roll' circle. The lady's blog I linked above has a much better picture of what it should look like. Mine was rough, haha! But hey-- I tried and you'll never know until you try, right?? :)

And the final product looked like this. As I said, it tasted wonderfully, but the glaze was not near white enough. Oh well... next time.

And, for those that have some humor ;) While I was cooking, I had music playing, and I'll be honest... I was in my own world trying to get this right. I heard Tayler playing behind me, but I didn't hear her getting into any 'trouble.' Every time I looked back, she was sitting on the floor playing. Well, guess what? She moved and the next thing I heard was thousands (okay not thousands) of things hitting the floor...

Yes, she spilled all of her puffs all over the floor, haha! Even the 'powder' that sits along the bottom of it. It was quite the mess, but she just kept eating it off the floor. Silly, silly girl! 

Then, Gigi came over and we went over to watch Ethan and Tayler's Papaw play some softball. It was a gorgeous day here today, so we were definitely taking advantage of it! Tayler absolutely loves being outside! 

Isn't that picture of her and her Papaw absolutely adorable?? :) She's so precious! I love being outside with her because she is an extremely happy baby! She still hasn't quite mastered walking in the grass though, haha! Too bumpy for her, haha!

We were starving by the end of their games though, so we headed over to Wendys! I had been craving some fries with cheese sauce. Yum! So Tayler and I split fries and chicken nuggets and we may or may not have had an Oreo Parfait ;)

Yes, she was super sleepy, haha! She looks just exhausted here!

Once we got home, I of course, got the camera back out so I could try things out again and I took a few pictures of Tayler playing in her play room :) 

Isn't she adorable? She absolutely adores that room and I am so glad that she does!! We even put her Yo Gabba Gabba friends on her window sill so she could see them all of the time, hehe! She loves it! She just looks up at them and giggles. Warms this mommy's heart! And guess what? We added a new addition to her room:

Isn't that cute? A little TV mounted to her wall and yes-- Yo Gabba Gabba is on, haha! It has a DVD player installed on the side, so she can watch all of her DVDs! She has a few that are just heres: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 'Big Splash,' Little Einsteins 'Race to Space' and two others, Yo Gabba Gabba 'Meet My Parents', Berenstain Bear's Christmas, and Dive Ollie Dive! :) She LOVES all of them and I'm so excited and thankful that we had the means to do this for her. She just thinks her play room is the coolest, haha!

So that was our busy day! We ended the night with bath time and cuddling up to watch 'Once Upon a Time.' SUCH a good show! I'm already anxious to see next week's episode. I didn't think for a second that those finger prints were going to be Mary Margaret's. Did you??

And now for the lesson and prayer. It's the last day of lessons! Crazy, right? I can't believe it's been two weeks already!

 

Lesson #14- Say to him, "I was thinking today about all of the things about you that I respect, & I want you to know that I really respect you." Exit the room. When he asks, if he asks, be prepared to give him at least three things.
(Source)

And the prayer that goes along with it is:

Pray that your husband will speak words that build you and your family, and reflect a heart of love. Pray that he will not use filthy language. (Prov. 18:21; Eph. 4:29)
(Source)

And the Bible scriptures that go along with this are as follows: 

Proverbs 18:21 (The Message) Words kill, words give life;
   they're either poison or fruit—you choose.

Ephesians 4:29 (The Message) Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.

Aren't those some powerful scriptures? It really makes me think about my own words that I use. 'Each word is a gift.' That was a huge revelation.

Lord, thank You again for my husband. He is such an asset to my life. I love him more than I thought it was possible to love another human being. I just ask that You bless him Lord. Bless his mouth that he will use it to glorify you and encourage others. Guard it against evil speaking whether it is filthy language, gossip, etc. We trust You Lord and we know that You have this power! I love You and thank You for him!! In Your name, Amen!!

God bless you all

And cheers to Project 366!!

Project 366: Day 23 [March 10th]

I've been excited about today for awhile now! We had three birthday parties lined up and we were ready to 'partay!' However first thing I wanted to do was paint my nails. They looked terrible because I hadn't painted them in weeks. I bought some new nail polish at Wal-Mart that was only 97 cents....... 97 cents! 

NYC 105-- Starry Silver Glitter. It so gorgeous! I didn't like it on my nails plain, though, so I put L.A Colors 'Color Craze' on underneath of it.

Then everyone else got ready.... I thought Tayler was absolutely adorable today! I love that little dress!

And then we were off. First stop was the skating rink for my little cousin Chloe's 6th birthday party!

Tayler was having a blast walking around and seeing everyone. They kept saying, "Is she really big enough to be walking??" Yes and Mommy is struggling with that. She is little Miss Independent. I am not allowed to touch her when she is walking.. haha!  But apparently Daddy is ;)

Then we had a Birthday luncheon with all of our immediate family. March is an extremely busy Birthday month! You remember me talking about that yesterday? Well, in our immediate family there's my birthday on the 6th, my dad's on the 12th, my sister's on the 21st, my sister-in-law's on the 27th, and Tayler's on the 31st. So, as opposed to everyone having to meet up multiple times this month, we just decided to have an incredible birthday bash at Steak-N-Shake :) Everyone exchanged gifts and we ate some yummy food!

Above is one of the gifts Marie and Corey purchased for me! How sweet is that?? It even has a place for the chalk so I can write what our meals are each week. PLUS, it matches our kitchen!! :) I definitely need a spot to see the meals each week. Usually I save them on the computer along with my grocery list and I have to check it every day, haha! It is going to be so nice to see it as soon as I walk into the kitchen! :)

And my sweet parents got me a Hobby Lobby gift card! 

You know you're getting old when your parents buy you gift cards to decorate your house.... and you're absolutely ECSTATIC ABOUT IT! I cannot wait to get all of our rooms painted so I can purchase the decorations we want! Thanks Mom and Dad and Corey and Marie! :)

After lunch with everyone, we were off to birthday party #3. Remember a year ago when I posted about my 'preggo pals?' There were 3 of us in our city that were due within weeks of each other. Preggo Pal #1 had her baby boy on March 1st, Preggo Pal #2 had her baby girl on March 15th, and then I had my baby girl on March 31st. Well, today was Preggo Pal #2's baby's birthday party! It was a Princess Leopard theme and was absolutely adorable!

Tayler had a blast in the ball pit they had there. She didn't want to get out.. until Daddy let her walk around, haha!

We had a blast there! Well, Tayler was cranky most of the time, but soon... she fell asleep! :) I think everyone was worn out! We had a loooong day!

Oh and I forgot to share this. My sister-in-law Marie made this treat for all of us yesterday.. It's push-pop cupcakes. Is that not incredible?? You just push it up and keep on eating! A simple treat, but amazing! Thanks for that, Marie! We loved them!

And I messed around with my camera a little bit tonight. I haven't posted any pictures from it just because I'm still learning about it and what not, but I took this picture last night and I thought it was pretty.

We had a wonderful night... we all curled up and watched 'Sweet Genius.' 

And now for the lesson and prayer:

Lesson #13

Initiate sex with your husband. Don't just respond; initiate. We believe that you should have sex on a regular basis. If a husband or a wife is deprived, he or she can be subjected to a satanic attack. Read 1 Corinthians 7:5. When either of you deprives the other, temptation comes. A husband can feel put down for who he is when rejected sexually.

And the prayer for today is:

Pray that your husband use practical skills to build your family and make wise decisions for your welfare. Pray that he will serve unselfishly. (Gal. 5:13; Phil. 2:3-4)

The scriptures that go along with this prayer are as follows:

Galatians 5:13-15 (The Message) It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. For everything we know about God's Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then? 

Philippians 2:1-4 (The Message)  If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Jesus, thank You for everything You do for us. You are sooo good to us! Help my husband make wise decisions in everything that he does. Let him be unselfish (although he is in my eyes.) Bless him in all of his daily dealings.