Wordless Wednesday, 11.30.11

Isla of Roatan - Cruise 2011

 Happy Wednesday!

It's finally "cold" here (in the 60's) - it's beautiful!

Again - anyone want to do a Holiday Ornament Gift Exchange?
 





Tasty Tuesday - Eggplant Pizza

It's TUESDAY - TASTY TUESDAY TIME









I've had 2 eggplants in the fridge and didn't have any homemade sauce to make eggplant parm. (That's the only way V will eat it - with homemade sauce!)

So, it was time for a new eggplant recipe!


Eggplant Pizza

Ingredients:
-1 eggplant  (3 inches in diameter, peeled and cut into 4 half-inch thick slices)
-4 teaspoons olive oil
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
-1/4 cup pasta sauce-1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1-Preheat the oven or toaster oven to 425 degrees F. 
2-Brush both sides of the eggplant with the oil and season with the salt and pepper. Arrange on a baking sheet and bake until browned and almost tender, 6 to 8 minutes, turning once. 
3-Spread 1 tablespoon of pasta sauce on each eggplant slice. Top with the shredded cheese. 
4-Bake until the cheese melts, 3 to 5 minutes. 
5-Serve hot.
6-Thank me for your delicious meal idea. ;)


P.S. If I did a Holiday Ornament Gift Exchange, would you participate?!

Thanksgiving Weekend!

I hope you all had an absolutely blessed weekend, as I did!

I'd love to share some of my weekend with you!

Beautiful walk on Thanksgiving day!

During our walk, we came across this poor little guy...he had a fish but looked like he was having trouble getting it down...
Poor guy.
 V went to go check on him...lo & behold that fish was STUCK in his mouth. The poor bird was CHOKING.


I started to freak out...V went up to someone to ask for help. The other gentleman held the bird down as V carefully got the fish out of the bird's mouth. The fish was stone-cold dead which means the bird was choking for a while - fish take a while to die.
Poor birdy.
 V was a hero! Got this sucker out...
Look how big!

Thanksgiving day hero!
 After our fantastic walk, it was time for DINNER! I went to my parent's house. There were about 10 of us. (Usually there are about 25...oh, gotta love family drama. NOT.)
Turkey & baked zita.

Food, food, food!

Lovely table.

Yum. Yum. Yum.

DESSERT!

My lovely little cousin singing...she's killer!
 V and I have a tradition now...Christmas tree set up the day after Thanksgiving. I love our new tradition. :)
Perfect for us!
 An old college friend got married over the weekend...the best man sent me this photo from the west coast...
Beauty!
 Football Sunday turned into arts & crafts Sunday (at least for the gals!)
Super fun colors!

These little guys are what we made!
 And this, I suppose...is a real tree...
Gorgeous, right? So fun decorating!

How was your Thanksgiving holiday? Mine was fantastic. Lots of family time. Lots of V time. Lots of relaxing time. Couldn't have gotten much better.


Now, tell me how yours was!



Internetless

We've been internetless for the past few days!! Ahh! Not cool. I guess it's not the worst thing in the world since it was perfectly timing - right on Thanksgiving.

It's so interesting how much it really affects your life when you're so dependent on it - especially for work.

I hope you all had a blessed and amazing Thanksgiving! I'll share some photos with you tomorrow.


Until then - I just wanted to say that I miss you guys! I haven't opened up my laptop since Thursday morning. (Not sure how I've lasted so long...haha, just kidding!)


I wanted to share this with you -

"I don't think the Lord wants any pompous proclamation of thanks on one Thursday in November as much as He wants a little humble service from us every day in the year."
-Burton Hills


May your Sunday be blessed and your football team win! ;)



Happy Thanksgiving!

I adore that Thankful Thursday this week is Thanksgiving!


I know I harp on this at least every Thursday, but we have so much to be thankful for. For me...family, friends, our health, a job, finances for a Thanksgiving dinner, salvation, delicious food, good moods, bonds being built at Thanksgiving dinner, board games, smiles, laughs, Black Friday deals, Macy's Day parade, Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving, an excuse to take a day off from your diet, having the ability to help those less fortunate, God always providing finances necessary to bless others, hugs, delicious smells in the house, pure happiness, blog friends who mean so much, feeling loved.

Today, I am making a yummy breakfast that will consist of eggs, bacon, and cinnamon rolls (I told you, no diet for a day!;) for V and I while we watch the Macy's Day Parade. Hopefully shortly after that, my sister will come by to see my place...she hasn't seen my new place yet! Then, between 2-3 it's time to go to my parent's house...dinner is at 4! After dessert and things are cleaned up, like I've said before, we'll play board and/or card games. Best of all - the day will be full of love!

I look forward to hearing all about your Thanksgiving day plans and seeing photos! ox.

May it be a blessed day and don't forget to tell those in your life who you are thankful for - that you are thankful for them!

    

Time to gooooo...

Seriously. Family drama is just nonsense. I won't get into it because my Blog Family would probably go kill someone for me. ;) Haha. Seriously though - love you guys! You're always so full of support and love.

With real family, though - drama is always going to follow and be there. Feelings are going to get hurt. People are going to say things they don't mean.

It saddens me, though. Why do people have to say things they don't mean? Just because you're family, doesn't give you a right to just be plain rude and mean. No right - at all.

I really just want to go somewhere. Just hop on a plane and go somewhere. Just to de-stress. (And of course, because traveling is amazing!)

I know I need to stop talking about it, and be about it! I know God will bless me with the finances necessary to do so - soon, too.

I looked at some flights to Malta - I've heard so many wonderful things about Malta.

Especially how gorgeous it is! Goodness gracious. What I wouldn't give to be there - right now. Look at how much history there is, too!

V has some clients based out of Malta and they adore it. Why wouldn't they?? (Especially because it is pretty close to Italy...woohoo!!)

If I start giving some history of cities I potentially want to go to, would you read it and appreciate it? Let me know! I would love to get a series of posts going - maybe once a week? 



  

Wordless Wednesday, 11.23.11

I've been trying to figure out what photo I want to share with you all - figured I'd share one of me...a candid one!

I don't look the best, but I was a very happy gal...this was taken last Saturday at my Gobble Trot Benefit Walk event...happy camper!



Happy Thanksgiving Eve! ;)

 

Tasty Tuesday - Apple Pie

Join me this week for Tasty Tuesday! Would love for you to put up your Holiday Recipes, if you can!

This apple pie recipe is the apple pie that I am requested to make every year! :)






Apple Pie



Ingredients:

Crust: 1 box Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts
Filling:
-6 cups thinly sliced, peeled apples (6 medium...I usually do 4-5 red and 1-2 greens)
-3/4 cup sugar
-2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
-3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
-1 tablespoon lemon juice
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 425°F. Place 1 pie crust in ungreased 9-inch glass pie plate. Press firmly against side and bottom.  
2. In large bowl, gently mix filling ingredients; spoon into crust-lined pie plate. Top with second crust. Wrap excess top crust under bottom crust edge, pressing edges together to seal; flute. Cut slits or shapes in several places in top crust. 
3. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Cover edge of crust with 2- to 3-inch wide strips of foil after first 15 to 20 minutes of baking to prevent excessive browning. Cool on cooling rack at least 2 hours before serving.
Happy Baking!:)
 

Weekend, 11.21.11

What a beautiful weekend it was! (For me!) How about for you?

Friday night, I saw Happy Feet 2 with a friend. (Such a CUTE movie...I highly recommend it!) Had me laughing & smiling for most, if not all, of the movie. Then my friend + I had a slumber party. (Seems like I'm having a lot of those lately..haha!)

Saturday morning, was my event for Baby Pickel - the 2nd Annual Gobble Trot. It was a great success! Was able to raise over $1,000 to purchase Thanksgiving food baskets for those in need. I can't wait to share the photos with you! As soon as I get them from the photographer, I will! Wednesday night, we'll be delivering the food baskets...can't wait!

Saturday night, I had a total "me night." I did a mud face mask, gave myself a pedicure and made this delicious soup:

YUM. Vegetable chicken soup. So healthy, so good!

Sunday, Vin + I went to church. After church, I took some family portrait-type of photos. Here is one from the day:


Such a little cutie pie...what a ham! Minus the husband being grumpy...it was fun!

Then Vin + I had date night...we went to a Japanese place for some delicious food. We haven't had a date night in quite a while. It was so...perfect.
He usually takes much better photos...haha...my camera's light is SO bright!

We must have had some spontaneity juice at the restaurant because then we randomly decided to see a movie - Breaking Dawn was the only one playing. I'm not a huge fan of it. I've seen the other 2 movies and read the first 2 books...then it just got too mushy gushy...unrealistic for me. I couldn't get into it. Neither of us were digging the movie...at all. The acting, I don't think, is that great. The actual lines from the movie were just...silly. I was bored...a lot. At least I can say I've seen it...I guess?

What a truly wonderful weekend! 

I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving. Here in FL, it's going to be hot. Which makes me sad. :( I want some cold weather for the holidays! 

I still haven't decided on a second desert. Nothing has really caught my eye. I'm making an apple pie since it is expected of me...wanted to do something different for a second desert...any ideas?

Love you all! Blessings to you! ox

   

Fantasy Friday 11.18.11

& no...not "that" kind of fantasy! Get your head out of the gutter. ;)

Our lives will never be so perfect where we won't have any type of fantasy. We're humans, after all...isn't the grass always greener on the other side? Sadly, I think so!


There are so many things that would be nice...

     no work (or work from home!)

               no acne (or even no cravings when that time of the 
               month comes long)

     or how about no mood swings, either?

               a day to just sit and read...ALL day.

     a fashion expert (I'm in serious need of a wardrobe change)
Being somewhere (Europe) this beautiful!
     tons of Twitter followers (@firstdayofmylif)   

               only nice people who come into work. (all you grumpy 
               heads - stay home! thanks!;)

     no humidity (humidity LOVES to mess up hair.)

               more muscle (odd request, i know. but...i'd be nice. i'm 
               tired of people asking if i eat. UM yes i eat every two hours 
               like a newborn baby)

Having a digital SLR like this...
     
Hope this post doesn't come off as complaining...just so many thoughts going through my mind lately!

Love you! Hope your weekend is amazingly blessed <3

  
    

Scrubs, Scrubs, Scrubs!

As most of you know, I work at a gym. That means a see a whole lot of people - all shapes, all sizes, all colors. Most of all, I see people wearing all KINDS of outfits. Not only do I see people wearing whatever it is they decide to wear while they workout, but also people come in on a consistent basis to learn more about the facility. There are also people who come in just to tan.

Would you believe that this particular lady who comes in to tan is in the nursing field? She is always in her burnt orange scrubs.


As someone in the medical field, it surprises me that she tans regularly. (That's a whole different story though, isn't it?) As you can tell, I'm not a big fan of tanning. I personally do not think it's very healthy - especially on a regular, consistent basis. (To each their own!) I only give my two cents if someone asks for it.


ANYWHO - these scrubs this lady was wearing were just TOO neat. I'd never seen anything like that. She said she ordered them online from: http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/Scrubs-for-Women/Original-Scrubs/

This might make a great gift for someone in the medical field. I think I might get some for my cousin who draws blood at a local hospital.

Have you ladies started Christmas shopping yet? I haven't...I should...but not yet! Ick. It's all so overwhelming! I never write out a list - I should. It would make things easier...

 

Celebrating the holidays by watching The Nutcracker

Guest post written by Annie Pearlman

Each year when it comes time for the holidays, I like to try and plan up different things to do with my family to help celebrate Christmastime. I guess that a lot of people try to do that, but I try to do something a little different each year. This year I decided to take everyone to go and see The Nutcracker. We did that years ago when the kids were younger, so I thought that it was about time to go and do it again because they might have a different appreciation as adults.

It feels like it's been so long since we saw The Nutcracker that I forgot where it was that we went and saw it so many years ago. I looked online to find some info on getting tickets for it and while I was doing that, I ran across some information on Miracle Ear and after that I decided to go and get a hearing test. Hearing aids are something I've considered for a while, so we'll see what that test says.

I think that going to see the ballet is going to be downright magical!

Thankful Thursday 11.17.11

God is good...all of the time!

Look around at your life - how beautiful is it? Of course there will be struggles and some things that you wish would be better. Tomorrow is a new day - tomorrow will be better!

I am thankful for...
it being my parent's 26th anniversary today...happy anniversary to you! Love you both very much!
my health. God is MY Healer.
I am learning how to be quick with my mind and slow to speak, more and more. With issues I am faced with, I have learned to be sure the other party knows how much I love them and care about them.
God will always provide another door...another window. It will be in HIS time...but it IS coming.
the fact that I can drink my morning coffee on the beach or looking at it from a nice comfy chair.
that we have found a new church to go to and serve at. :)
another photo gig - to take family portrait photos - this weekend! So excited about it!
making a delicious spinach quiche for breakfast and protein cookie dough bites for desert. YUM!
the delicious vanilla candle that I can smell...right now!
being financially blessed!
have the ability, through a benefit walk Baby Pickel is hosting, to feed the hungry!
being told on a daily basis how pretty or beautiful I look. (Thanks, babe!)
being able to watch a friend's little girl and my goddaughter grow...right before my eyes. So precious.
adding new sea shells to my shell collections every day!
Thanksgiving is so close...that means baking, cooking, family time, board games...can't wait!

You ALL are such a blessing to me, too! <3

                
P.S. If you're a mommy - I need you're help. Shoot me an e-mail...please! :)

Wordless Wednesday, 11.16.11

I love sharing photos with you :)

Beautiful center piece at a luau I was blessed enough to take photos for!

Sunset <3

WOW...look at that moon!!



I'm excited to see your photos for your Wordless Wednesday!
Hope your day is as blessed as you are! ox

Tasty Tuesday - Spinach Dip

It's Tuesday! Time to share some recipes! Link up a recipe with me!








Spinach Dip

(Can you see the trend in these spinach recipes?;)

Ingredients:
  • 1 envelope of Lipton Recipe Secrets Vegetable Soup Mix
  • 8 ounces of sour cream
  • 1 cup of mayonnaise (or if you want it to be healthy - use plain greek yogurt and just a little bit of mayo for flavor)
  • 10 ounces of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry 

Directions: 
  1. Combine all ingredients together. Chill for at least 2 hours.
  2. Serve with vegetable, chips, or bread. 
Make 3 cups. 



Enjoy!  Let me know if you try this + how you like it. :)

Fun with Photos Monday!

Happy Monday!

Hope you all had a fantastic and beautiful weekend!

I'm going to share some photos of my weekend with you! 


Perfect weather!



My first Essie color! Was looking for a "professional" color - hope this worked!

GORGEOUS, amazing camera I got to borrow...I want one ;)

Farmer's Market! (Now in walking distance...woohoo!)

Don't judge me for allowing him to wear that outfit ;)

Hi babe!

My little cousin before the Taylor Swift concert!

My aunt, uncle, mom at T Swift

Sister, cousin, meeee

Cousin & I :)

Her stages were always so beautiful!

Horrible lighting for my camera...but there she is!
"Flying" around

I made this for football Sunday...not a big fan!

Hope ya didn't miss out on 11.11.11 at 11:11! ;)

Can't wait to hear all about your weekend :)