Windy escape...

So as most of you know... we are coming up on our 1st anniversary!

As an escape and celebration of our 1st year of marriage we are planning a trip to Chicago.  It won't be on our anniversary... but that is what we will be celebrating!  We will spend a few days there, and a few days visiting family in Indy.  We are so excited!

We Pricelined our hotel... so we are staying in a really nice place... close to all the action.  So, do you guys have any tips on what we should see... or where to eat... or what we should leave off?

It all seems a little overwhelming... so any tips would be greatly appreciated!  I will certainly update with pictures and stories when we get back!

Happy Wednesday!

Foodie Friday: Mini Monkey Bread

Welcome back to Foodie Friday!  I got this recipe from Kim's blog "Grin and Barrett".  She took the basic monkey bread that makes a HUGE cake and broke it down for individual servings!  It is the perfect way to make this delicious treat a tad bit more healthy... because it helps you keep your munching to one serving instead of the whole cake.

Ingredients:

-1 can refrigerated biscuits
-Butter, melted
-Cinnamon
-Sugar

Place the melted butter in a small bowl.  Place the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

Cut each biscuit into quarters... dip each piece in butter then cinnamon sugar mix.

Place the pieces into large muffin tins... I used a mini bundt pan... I put about 8 pieces (2 whole biscuits) in each cup.

Bake for 14-17 minutes... or according to directions on the biscuit can.

Enjoy!

Pinable Success...

Have you guys tried Pinterest?  It is such a neat site!  I love that I can "pin" stuff I find all over the internet in one place!  My inbox is so much cleaner... I no longer have to email myself random links all the time.

I have pinned lots and lots of different things... today I want to show you a few of the ideas I have gotten the opportunity to try already...

First... this is not really a craft, but a fantastic video I saw a few days ago.  If only I had known about this method when I took ballet or even when I was doing Auxiliaries in high school and college.  This is so easy... and it stays put with only a few pins... I love it!

Second, these precious cupcakes.  We decided to try them a few weeks ago for bridal shower.  They took a little while to put together, but, overall the process was pretty easy.  

They turned out so cute!  I will definitely make them again!

Third (and last for now)... I made this cake for the 4th of July.  I was so pleased with how it turned out!  I used a cake mix... and store bought icing.  

The recipe shows you a few simple tricks to make it look very fancy!

(Sorry for the poor picture quality... most of the pictures are from my camera phone.)

I will update when I have tried some more of my "pins"... Happy Pinning everyone!

Tuesday Tidbits...

We have had a pretty relaxed few days...

-Saturday morning I made us "Mini Monkey Bread" for breakfast (Foodie Friday this week).  Then Patrick worked on his resume most of the day and I worked on a sewing project...

-Speaking of a sewing project... look what I mailed to my precious nieces today...

-Of course all good sun dresses need a matching hair bow...

-I have had so much fun learning to sew.  I will try to post some more of my creations soon.

-Lastly, our phones were out ALL weekend!  Apparently, AT&T was doing work on the towers in the Atlanta area.  They say they were "upgrading" the towers... but it didn't feel too much like an upgrade when we had no service whatsoever this weekend!  It looks like we are finally back up, thank goodness! When the service was out it reminded me of apartment 214 and how spotty our service was there!  Only there, it was that spotty all the time... the image of standing out on the front porch in the freezing cold rain to make a phone call comes to mind...

Hope you guys are having a great week so far!

Everything I need to know...

Everything I need to know about politics I learned on The West Wing.  Patrick introduced me to the show while we were dating.  We now own the complete series!  It is such an interesting show, I feel like I can watch each episode multiple times... and get something new out of it each time.

As crazy as it sounds... they explain the complexities as well as the pomp and circumstance of the events behind the closed doors or the White House.  I never knew the Speaker of the House had to deliver an invitation to the President before he can give the State of the Union.  Or what about our current state of affairs... the debt ceiling as explained by The West Wing...

I know, it is a fictional television show... but what can I say... a great teacher as well.

Anybody out there...

So apparently I decided to take a hiatus from blogging.  It was completely unintentional... one day turned into one week... turned into a month... and so on.  I got overwhelmed with how much time had passed and instead of facing the blog (or lack there of) head on... I threw myself into other projects.

Patrick says I go on project binges... I do something new and it takes up all my free time... he is totally right!  I get started on something new and I can't get enough.  It is somewhat comical to look back on; mostly I think, because at the time I don't even realize it!

So, all that being said, I am working to make my hobbies more balanced.  I am hoping to get back to blogging... but please bear with me while I ease back into it... it may take me a little bit to fully integrate all my new hobbies... so none are neglected.

Speaking of hobbies... I have started doing a few very fun things since I last posted...

-I started sewing... I have made a few pillowcase dresses for our nieces and friends... and even a skirt for me!

-I visited Indiana for the first time... we went to visit Patrick's brother Sid, his sweet wife Libby, and our wonderful niece Catherine!  We had such a great time visiting with them and exploring Indianapolis.  We visited right about the time it started to get hot here... and it was still in 70's there... almost made me want to move!

-We traveled to the Shoals to visit Patrick's parents and grandparents.  His parents graciously let us have their deep freezer that they are not using anymore!  I LOVE IT!  I feel like such a grown-up because I now have my very own deep freezer.  I know I am a huge dork!

-I needed something to put in the new freezer... right?  So, I started making homemade freezer jam!  It is so yummy!  I have made both peach and strawberry.  Our freezer is pretty well stocked with jam at this point... I am so excited that we will have fresh, sweet, Georgia peach jam all year long!

Now... last but not least... Foodie Friday.  Today, I am making dinner for a sweet friend who had a baby girl a few weeks ago.  We are also hosting a dinner for our Care Group at church... and I am in charge of the main dish... so here is a link to what I am cooking today...

-Chicken Spaghetti

-CrockPot Barbeque

Whew, I did it.  First post out of the way... thanks for bearing with me during my absence!  I'm glad to be back!

I'm back... with Groceries

I know it has been a while... to say the least!  I was planning to post some pictures of our new apartment last week... the only snag, we could not find where we packed the camera cord.  Alas, we found it recently, so a new apartment tour coming shortly.

But first, I wanted to share my Publix shopping trip today.  I am no where near a pro at playing the coupon game, however, I have so much fun doing what I can to save our little family money.  So here is my trip from today.  It was a good sale, so I was able to stock up on some things that we use all the time.

2 Whole Fruit Sorbets: Normally $2.99 each; On sale B1G1 free, had 2 $.50/1 coupons (which doubled) - Total $1 for both


1 Philly Cooking Creme: Normally $2.99; On sale for $2, had a $1.50/1 coupon - Total $.50


1 Watermelon (quarter): Normally $.69lb; On sale for $.59lb - Total $2.48


2 Ghirardelli brownie mixes: Normally $2.79; On sale B1G1 free - Total $2.79 for both


2 Kellogg's Crunchy Nut Ceareals: Normally $3.99; On sale B1G1 free, had 2 $.70/1 - Total $2.59 for both


1 Box Glad trash bags: Normally $7.29; On sale for $5.49, had a $1/1 coupon - $4.49 total


2 Smart Ones frozen dinners: Normally $2.17 - $4.34


2 Eggo Waffles: Normally $2.55 each; On sale 2/$4, had a $.75/2 coupon - Total $3.25 for both


1 Salad mix: Normally $3.99; On sale B1G1 free - Total $1.99


1 Package frozen dinner rolls: Normally $3; On sale B1G1 free, had a $1/1 coupon - Total $.50


4 Bags 8 O'Clock Coffee: Normally $7.89 each; On sale B1G1 free, had 2 $2/2 coupons - Total $11.78 for all four


1 Yoplait Smoothie Kit: Normally $3.19; On sale B1G1 free, had a $1/1 coupon - Total $.60


1 Package Kraft Cheese: Normally $2.99; Had a $1/1 coupon - Total $1.99


2 Bottles Pop Secret popping corn: Normally $4.69 each; On sale B1G1 free, had a $1/2 coupon - Total $3.69 for both


1 Six Pack Diet Coke: Normally $3.99; On sale B1G1 free - Total $2.00


1 Bottle Olive Oil: Normally $10.99; On sale B1G1 free, had a $1/1 coupon - Total $4.50


1 Edward's pie for two: Normally $2.95; On sale B1G1 free, had a $1/1 coupon - Total $.48


2 Zatarain's frozen dinners: Normally $2.99; Had a coupon for $1/2 - Total  $4.98


2 Jars Kraft Mayo: Normally $4.39 each; On sale B1G1 free, had a $1/2 - Total $3.39 for both


1 $50 American Express Gift Card: Normally $50+$4.95 activation fee; Had a Publix coupon for $10 off - Total $44.95 for a $50 gift card!!


1 $50 BP Gas Card: Normally $50; Had a $10 off coupon with a $25 grocery purchase - Total $40 for a $50 gas card!!!


Plus $10 donation to Tornado Relief

So for $243.64 in groceries/cards I paid $151.09 (pre-tax) that is a 62% savings