Lessons learned...

You are never too old to learn a lesson. I feel like I have been told this my entire life. It is so true. This year has already had its up and downs. Ups being all things related to wedding planning and spending time with Kyle, my family, and friends. The downs had a lot to do with stress, school, and sickness. Those 3 terrible S's have worn me down and at times taken over my life. I am not typically a debbie downer, but recently I just feel like I am drowning with only a small lifejacket and my head is barely above water. Anyways here are the lessons that I have learned....

1. No matter if you are terrified of needles or think you won't get sick.....Please...I beg of you to get a flu shot EVERY year.
-I made the terrible mistake of not getting a flu shot. I thought that since it wasn't "cold" outside anymore that the flu had magically gone away. WRONG. My symptoms hit me like a brick and I was down and in bed for days. I have never been more tired and sick feeling than what I felt with the flu. TERRIBLE. Today I got out of bed to go to class. Its the small victories...

2. Stress physically affects my body. That statement might not make a lot of sense to you....but it makes perfect sense to me. Stress attacks my body and give me wonderful presents like fever blisters. I honestly think I got the flu because of stress. My immune system is so low because of the stress.

3. Comps terrify me like no other thing has before. I am so afraid of not passing that it is making it hard for me to study. I have slight test anxiety on a regular basis, but preparing for this test has been insane. How am I supposed to review my last 10 classes that I have taken. Seems impossible. I will do the impossible and I will conquer these stupid comps. My future depends on it. Scary...huh?

Catching up.

Whew, so much has happened since I last blogged in November. I will do a quick catch up on what has been going on...

November:



Kyle planned a perfect proposal. If you want to hear the whole story then I would happy to tell you! :) Wedding date: 11/17/12
Christmas was wonderful. I have the best family in the world and I can't wait to be joining Kyle's family this year.

New Years:



We spent New Years celebrating the wedding of our friends Eric and Ashley. We loved dressing up and spending some time with our sweet friends.

I have been doing a lot of crafting lately. This is my latest thing that I made from pinterest.


Recent picture:



This was taken before our friend's wedding this past weekend.



I have been keeping my sweet niece for the past week. Love my Dolce.

Goals

So I have decided that I needed to make goals for the end of the year. The holidays are full of family, fun, and food. I love sweets and recently I have been saying "yes" more and "no" less. With Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner, I have to decided to say "no" more. I want to enjoy a few sweets, but not eat the whole batch of cookies or pie.

1. Say yes to just a few special sweets and cook healthy
2. continue exercising
3. study more
4. give more
5. soak in family time

I have a lot of fun things coming up and I can't wait to enjoy them to the fullest. :)

Happy Fall Yall!

Busy Busy Busy

I can't blame all my lack of blogging on the fact that my iphoto is all messed up. So I am going to try and post more.

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. I have found a new love for pumpkins. Pumpkin spiced lattes and all the yummy smelling candles are my favorite. I love seeing all the leaves changing colors. The cooler weather sure helps too.

Looking forward to:

-This weekend Kyle and I are going to a Saints game. I surprised him with the game for an early Christmas present. He has always said that he wanted to go to a game so I decided this year would be the perfect time. We are staying the night with some dear friends. :)

-Thanksgiving preparations and having my sister and brother in law in town for a few days.

-Decorating for Christmas and spending time with my family.

-Excited for New Years that will be spent celebrating a college friends wedding in TN! :)

I can't believe there is only 8 weeks left in 2011.

So I have so many things to blog about and they are all on hold because my photo thing on my computer is being dumb. I can't get my pictures to load and it won't let me open my photos either. So this is the reason I have not blogged.

Coming soon.
-Pics of my pinterest goodies
-photos of the past month
-update on life
-fall (hopefully I will get to carve a pumpkin next week)
-recipes that I have been making (Im loving me some pumpkin sweets)

Beach and what-not.

Tropical storm Lee did not stop us from going to the beach. We found other ways to have fun. Bethany and I enjoyed a relaxing Spa day while the boys watched football. Bethany and I layed out for a grand total of 45 minutes the whole time and we actually got burned. Lol. Here are some pics.


Sweet Bethany!


I bet you can't tell what football game was about to be on. ;) Eating at Cobalt. The boys FAVORITE restaurant.


Little kid smiles. Eating at Mikees. We look sunburned.


In other news:


This little man (Ryder) has my heart.


Ready or not.....I started boot camp this morning. I will be a new woman (hopefully) come December! :)

Pictures...

Birthday cinnamon roll from my sweet boys.


Dinner with my sweet Holly at the Cheesecake Factory! :)


Luke....my silly cousin.


Sammi...my sweet cousin.


Love me some kettle corn.

Day 20-28

So I am behind on my picture a day for a month thing. Its a lot harder than I thought. The past few days have been filled with fun and family. I had a surprise birthday party which was so much fun. :) I also went with my mom to Texas for some family fun. I also re-connected with my dear friend Holly. Here are pics from the last few days! :)

And now my picture uploader is being crazy. Pics will be posted soon. I promise.

Day 19

Day 19

Ryder Brooks Walpole was born on August 19th. He is perfect and we are so excited that he is finally here. Proud parents are Blair and J Walpole! :)

Days 16-18

Day 16

Homemade lip gloss with Miss Emily. You just mix vaseline and koolaid. Heat it up and then pour it into a container. It hardens when it cools. :)

Day 17

Painting with a Twist.

Day 18


Homemade bubble bath paint
-1 cup clear bubble bath
-4 TBS cornstarch
-food coloring
small containers with lids

1. In a mixing bowl combine bubble bath and cornstarch.
2. pour the mixture into 4 containers
3. put a few drops of food coloring in each container and stir.
4. let the children paint their bathtub.

12, 13, 14 and 15

Day 12

Fun day with my precious cousins. We painted, played "crack the egg" on the trampoline, and gave the barbie dolls a bath. :)

Day 13

I got my birthday present early! I love my new cricut. I have been making cards and scrapbooking like crazy! :)

Day 14

I love a good Dr. Pepper ICEE!!!

Day 15

I made a taco salad for lunch using a shell crust. It was yummy.

Day 9, 10, 11

Day 9

Sweet little hands playing with homemade play dough.

Day 10

What Kyle got yesterday. He is curious, but I am determined to keep it a secret. :)

Day 11

Dad brought this Bearcat savings card home today and we have already used it to get Buy one burger get one free at Sonic. :)

Day 6, 7, and 8

This updating once a day is getting a little harder than I thought. Ill do my best (no promises) to post daily. If not...you get to see a few pics in one post! :)

Day 6.

Precious visitor....Dolce. My sis, her hubby and their pooch came in for the weekend.

Day 7

Mom, Dad, Laura, Aaron, Kyle and I all played this game. Things got competitive fast.

Day 8

My grandparents (dad's parents) celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary yesterday. Children, Grandchildren and great-grandchildren met them at church and then ate lunch together. I love my family and am so thankful for my grandparents.

Other highlights of the weekend:
-Some of the 708 boys were re-united this weekend and it was such a fun time. Eric came in town and shared about his experience as a journeyman. He brought along his future wife, Ashley. We loved meeting her and sharing stories of our college years.
-My sweet friend Jessica passed her comps and so she can start her internships in the fall. She worked so hard and I am so proud of her. Hopefully this will be me in a few months. :)

Day 4 and 5-Celebration continued...

Day 4-Discovery
The celebrating of Kyle's new job has continued. Yesterday I got to see Kyle's very own office. Its a big deal, folks. While he was finishing up on some things I took a spin in his new comfy office chair. As I was leaning back (almost put my feet on the desk..ha but thought it was not appropriate) I noticed something odd......



Kyle's explanation "I needed to eat my breakfast....then i didn't know what to do with the bowl." So under the table it went. Mr. Professional (I have taught him well) :)

Day 5-Treat
Mom and I decided to make Kyle something for his office. We needed something woodsy and manly. This is what mom came up with. Hopefully he doesn't see this before we give it to him tomorrow. ;)

Day 3-Homemade yogurt parfait

I have been making a yogurt parfait for a while and thought I would share it with yall since I made one today.

-1 cup of yogurt (I used french vanilla, you can use any kind you want)
-a few strawberries and blueberries (can use any fruit)
-1/4 cup of granola (of however much you want) or honey bunches of oats cereal (what I used today)
-a drizzle of honey
Mix together and enjoy! :)
Basically you can make it however you want. I change it up and add different fruits. It is a nice treat for a hot summer day.

Day 2-Shark Week and Birthdays

The 2nd day of August called for 2 pictures.


Happy Birthday Kiley!


What is consuming me this week. LOVE LOVE LOVE

31 days of Pictures- Day 1

I have decided to do the picture a day for the month of August. I'm excited to document the exciting month of my birth! :)

August 1.

I got to hangout with this precious lil girl for a little while today! :)

Update!

Here are some things going on now and in August:

1. Kyle will be starting a new job tomorrow at a local university. :)

2. My birthday is next month!

3. I will finish up another quarter of grad school! :) Im looking forward to my classes in the fall.

4. August is one month closer to fall. (football, cooler weather, and of course decorating)

5. I have a lot of craft ideas that I can't wait to start working on! :) (Pinterest is the coolest website. Check it out when you have a few hours....you will need it)

6. My phone finally went ka-put. I sucked it up and went ahead and got a new phone. I'm now up to date with the I-Phone 4. :)

Recipe I used to make a friend's birthday cake:

Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Lemonade Cream Cheese Icing

Cake Ingredients:
-1 box classic white cake mix
-1 1/4 c water
-3/4 c egg beaters
-3 TBS all natural applesauce
-2-3 TBS lemon juice
-1/2 c sugar free strawberry preserves

Icing ingredients:
-1 (8 oz) container low fat strawberry cream cheese
-1 (8 oz) container sugar free fat free cool whip
-3/4-1 c splenda
-1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, water and egg beaters.
3. With mixer, beat at low to med speed until well incorporated.
4. Add applesauce, lemon juice, and preserves to mix and beat at med speed until smooth.
5. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for 34-38 min.
6. While cake is baking, make the icing by combining all icing ingredients at low-med speed until smooth and creamy.
7. Once cake has baked and cooled, pour icing on top of cake and refrigerate approximately 2-3 hours. Enjoy.

Breaded Chicken Parmesan and Cheesy Hamburger Casserole

Breaded Chicken Parmesan

4 pieces of chicken breast
1 TBSP grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Italian style bread crumbs
1 tsp garlic powder
1 TBSP onions, dried
Crushed red peppers (if desired)

1. Cut the chicken breast horizontally (filet it) so you will end up with 2 thin places.
2. Rub each piece with olive oil
3. Mix dry ingredients together and pat each piece with the crumb mixture until well covered
4. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

I served this on top of marinara sauce and noodles. It turned out great!

Cheesy Hamburger Casserole

1 pound of ground beef (I used deer meat)
2 cups elbow macaroni
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 TBSP oregano
1 TBSP basil
1 TBSP ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cook macaroni according to package and drain.
3. In a skillet, saute onions and peppers until soft. Remove and set aside
4. Brown hamburger meat and drain.
5. Add onions, peppers, meat, tomatoes, oregano, basil, cumin, salt and pepper. Mix together
6, Add mixture to macaroni and pour in a baking dish coated in cooking spray.
7. Heat in oven for 5 minutes.
8. Add cheese to the top and bake until cheese melts and dish is bubbly (around 5-10 min).

i added some shredded cheddar cheese to the top and it turned out pretty good. I really liked the different spices added.

Baked Potato Dip and new workout gear!

I had the most fabulous dip while serving at VBS with my church. I honestly have no clue who made it, but I ended up getting the recipe bc it was so delicious.

Baked Potato Dip

1 8 oz. sour cream
1 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1 pkg. real bacon bits
2 cups shredded colby jack cheese
jalapenos to taste

Mix all ingredients together and bake for 25-30 min @ 350

Serve with Ruffles Potato Chips

B. and I have been working out for a few months now at least once a week. I call her my trainer bc she always pushes me to go the extra mile. She shows me different techniques to use while I am working out the other days of the week. Earlier this week she decided that we should workout in the pool. I thought that we would be just treading water for 30 min. I was terrified bc I literally swim like a dog. I doggie paddle and still feel like Im drowning. I do best with a noodle or raft. I decided that I would give it a shot though and knew that she would save me if I started drowning. (She used to be a lifeguard). Thank goodness. Well I arrived at her house and she had these nifty workout things. She had weights, a kick board, and a water belt. We used all the gear and I really enjoyed it. She gave me different things to do and I really like doing the exercises. I couldn't wait to get these things to do at my pool. I asked her where they came from and she said Academy. Well Tuesday I made a trip to Academy and picked them up.



I worked out using the new water gear by myself yesterday and loved it. :)