Good Times with Good People!

A couple of weeks ago, Josh & I decided it was time for a good 'ole fashion date night! We decided we wanted to do something fun, something we hadn't done before. Neither one of us had played laser tag but we've always wanted to try it out, so we hit up Joe & Angie to see if they wanted to join us. We ended up having a blast! We played with a group of 8-10 year old boys and they were hilarious! One of the boys kept telling Angie & I to stay behind him so he could protect us, it was sooo cute!

Here we are with our score cards! I look excited, but the truth is...those little boys whoooped our butts!



















Joe & Angie! I think Joe had the highest score for our team!





















Nothing like laser tag to bring out the kid in you!

Fool Proof Cake Mix Cookies

I have been inspired by the Pioneer Woman's blog to write more about what I love - FOOD! The Pioneer Woman has a great sense of humor, and I find her blog to be very entertaining and inspiring. She also writes about photography, homeschooling, gardening, and her life's journey living on a ranch in TX. If you love food (especially southern food) as much as I do - you should check out her blog! I will definitely be trying some of the Pioneer Woman's recipes out soon, but for now I'll just post about some of my favorites!

So, I'll start with my favorite cookie recipe. It is just as easy as buying pre-made cookie mix or pre-made cookie dough, but they have a wonderful 'homemade' taste! This recipe is one that my mom has passed along in her Melanie's Favorite Recipe's cookbook that she made for my sister and I as a Christmas gift last year.


Here's what you'll need:

1 box yellow cake mix (use the yellow butter cake mix for a yummy, buttery flavor!)
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 bag of chocolate chips


Here's what you'll do:

Mix ingredients together. Spoon cookies onto cookie sheet and bake @ 350 for 7-9 minutes.

(You can add chopped pecans or any kind of nut that you'd like. You can also try different variations with different chocolate chips - I made them last night with half a bag of chocolate chips and half a bag of peanut butter chips, they were mmm mmm good!)

Where to start???

I've been neglecting my blog, but I'm not sure there are any readers out there anyways (unless my sister counts)...so I don't feel terribly bad about it. But, I do miss it! I enjoy blogging, and have plenty of things to share, but it's difficult to find the time because a.) Josh and I have yet to get internet installed at our house b.) with no internet at home, I am left to blog on my lunch break at work and c.) I've been busy at work and rarely take a lunch break. I am however, taking a lunch break today to enjoy a turkey and pimento cheese sandwich! Thanks to Me-Me for homemade pimento cheese!!...yummy! So here I am, blogging between bites of deliciousness!!

The past few weeks have been filled with so many great times shared with great people. There's been

**MOVIES**

My Mom, Aunt Nancy and myself had a 'girls day' which consisted of lunch, shopping, and a great movie! We went to the Warren Theater to see Julie and Julia, and it was awesome! I give this movie an A+. It is going on my list of favorite movies and I will be buying it for my home collection as soon as it's out on DVD. It was heartfelt, funny, interesting, and full of charm! Here is a link to a summary of the movie: Julie & Julia. I was so excited after seeing the movie that I had to find the blog that inspired the book that inspired the movie. **WARNING** Do not read this blog if you have not seen the movie, the movie follows the blog fairly close. But to those that have seen the movie and are curious as to the woman who started it all, here ya go: The Julie/Julia Project. And last, but not least.....here are some pictures of our 'girl's day'!

Me-Me & I

Mom, Me-Me, & Aunt Nancy


The Warren is by far the best theater I've been to in OK, definitely check it out!

**A BIRTHDAY**

We celebrated my future brother-in-law's birthday. Billy and his parents came over to my parents house for some dinner, cake & presents!

Billy is a huge Patriots fan!

Lesha & Billy, aren't they the cutest?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILLY!

**GRILLING ON THE PATIO**

One of our favorite things to do is sit on the patio and grill some good food, and who better to join us than two of our favorite people - Patrick & Jennifer!

The Grill Master!

The Guests!

The Puppy!

The BFF's

The Sweetie!

Weekend Recap

Josh and I had a really great weekend......except for one small part (see Saturday morning).

Friday night we met my brother-in-law Patrick and his girlfriend Jennifer (who also happens to be my dear friend) for dinner at Half-Time. We pigged out on "bad for you" food! We had chicken nachos, fried jalapenos, cajun chicken tenders, chicken fried steak sandwiches and a pitcher of beer......talk about loaded with calories!! But it was totally worth it! Every now and then you just need to eat some good "fried stuff" and drink some cold beers! : )

Saturday morning Josh had to go to Newcastle to get pepper sprayed. As part of his certification to carry the pepper spray, he had to get sprayed with it himself. They use your own spray on you - and of course, he got the strongest, most potent kind they have! I went to the grocery store and did my bi-weekly grocery shopping while he was getting sprayed. He called me when he was done and asked if I would get him some baby shampoo....that is what they recommended to wash with when you're finished. When I got home to him (about 45 min-1 hr later), his eyes were still red and he said his skin was still burning. I felt so bad for him : ( He took a shower and used his baby shampoo, laid down and rested, and after about an hour he felt fine. He said it was the worst pain he's ever felt.....and he's a pretty tough guy!

After all of this, we went to OKC and met my grandparents for dinner. Then they took us to some furniture stores to look around - they wanted to get us some bar stools as a house warming gift. After looking at several stores, we finally found some bar stools that we thought would suit us......they are beautiful! Paw Paw & Nana left and we decided to stay and look around Rooms Today some more. I bet you we sat in every chair they had in the showroom! We actually stayed until the store closed....it was so much fun picking out furniture that we liked and disliked and imagining it in our house! When we got home, we put our barstools together right away (which turned into quite a project).

Sunday, Josh had to work. I got up and did my Sunday cleaning and got everything spic and span for company that night. We had my parents and Paw Paw & Nana over for dinner. I made baked spaghetti, salad, & texas toast and mom brought over a wonderful truffle for dessert. This was the first time to have company over for dinner in the new house, and it turned out great! In fact, I want to share the recipe I made that night.

Baked Spaghetti from Paula Deen's The Lady & Sons Too

2 cups canned diced tomatoes
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup water
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced green bell peppers
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 1/2 tsp The Lady's House Seasoning
1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
2 small bay leaves
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
8 oz angelhair pasta
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup grated monteray jack cheese

To make the sauce, in a stockpot, combine the tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, onions, peppers, garlic, parsley, seasoning mixtures, sugar, and bay leaves. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour. Crumble the grond beef in saucepan. Cook until no pink remains, then drain off the fat. Add the ground beef to the stockpot. Simmer for another 20 minutes. While the sauce simmers, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Cover the bottom of a 13x9 pan with sauce. Add a layer of pasta, then half of the cheese; repeat the layers, ending with the sauce. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Top with the remaining cheese, return to the oven and continue to cook until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Cut into squares before serving.


This recipe is great because it combines a little bit of two great pasta dishes, spaghetti & lasagna! If you don't have the time to make the sauce from scratch, you can always use your favorite jar/canned spaghetti sauce. Also, I think next time I make it, I will use mozerella cheese instead of the cheddar and monterey jack.

As you see, the recipe calls for "The Lady's House Seasoning". This is a seasoning that Paula Deen is known for and sells. It is easy to make this up yourself and is a great seasoning staple to keep in the pantry! I use it all the time.......instead of seasoning with salt and pepper, I grab my "Paula Deen's Seasoning"!

House Seasoning

1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder

Stir the ingredients together. Keep the seasoning in a shaker near the stove for convenience. It's as easy as that!!

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Thank you mom, dad, Paw Paw, and Nana for joining us for dinner! Thanks mom for the dessert, and thanks to Paw Paw & Glenda for the gorgeous bar stools!

Moving In!!

We are officially moved in! We closed on the house Friday, July 10th. We painted over the weekend and moved the things that we had at my parents house. We spent our first night in the house the following Wednesday....our furniture was delivered from the military storage on Thursday....and our refrigerator was delivered on Friday. Since then, we've been slowly unpacking and getting everything put up....which has been exhausting! I hope we don't do this again for a long, long time! Other than that, we've just been watering the heck out of the lawn/dirt. We don't have much grass due to all the construction, so we planted some seed and are keeping our fingers crossed that it fills in quick! Anyways, I know I said I would share some pictures so here ya go!

Living Room


Living Room from other side

Kitchen!


This is my favorite room!


Dining Room


Pantry


Another kitchen pic! Built in hutch!


Not my favorite room, but we all have to have one, right ladies?...the laundry room...


Office/Guest Room (don't know why this pic is so dark)


Guest Room #2


Guest Bath


Master BR


Master Bath


I LOVE the tile!


Master bath has his & her walk-ins!!

So there's a tour of our little home! I will post some "after" pics once I get everything all decorated and "homey" feeling. Until then, have a great weekend!!

2nd Anniversary!

This post is long overdue, but better late than never, right? Josh and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary on June 30, 2009! This one really felt like our first anniversary because Josh was in Iraq during our real 1 year anniversary. I had a massage right after work and when I got home to my parents house afterwards, Josh had a romantic dinner set up (it was just the 2 of us, the rest of the family went to the movies). We had hoped to be in our new house to celebrate our anniversary but we didn't quite make it. But Josh still found a way to bring a little bit of our house to the dinner....he got up in the attic and got down my china that I've had stored away for when we bought our first house. I thought that was super sweet and thoughtful for him to think of that! We also had a very special dessert! The baker that we used for our wedding re-bakes the top part of your cake so that you don't have to eat thawed out 1 year old wedding cake on your 1st anniversary (I think this is a great idea!). My mom called the baker last year and explained that my husband was overseas and she offered to make the cake for our 2nd anniversary so that we could both enjoy it together! So, when this year rolled around, we gave her a call and sure enough, she remembered my story and got to baking away so that we could have a special cake to celebrate! This anniversary was so special to me. I am so thankful that God has blessed me with such a wonderful husband and friend!

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Josh,

Thank you for 2 of the best years of my life! I know we've had some tough times to get through, but it was worth it! Being away from each other has made a strong foundation for our relationship to grow on. Our love has grown from day one and will continue to grow through God's grace! I couldn't ask for a better husband and I look forward to spending many many more years by your side!

Love,

Your Wife

The beautiful set up

He used my china (wedding gift) and the candelabra that was used in our wedding.


Sweet red wine!


Our wedding cake!



My sweet sweet husband! He's the best!

CLEET Graduation

Josh graduated from CLEET! We are so excited that he is finished, and I can't tell you how proud I am of him! This should be the last time he has to be gone for an extended amount of time, and I am soooo thankful for that! We have spent a lot of time apart over the last few years, so we are both really looking forward to being able to see each other everyday! Josh is an amazing person and will make an amazing police officer as well! He was in the military police in the Air Force, so he already has a head-start going in. He is so smart, level-headed and is the most ethical person I know. He really is made for this job!

Mom, Ellis and I met Patti, Patrick and Jennifer in Ada for the graduation. Here are some pics to share!!

This is the room he shared with Joe for 3 months.

Josh & Ellis


The Bagpiper


Getting ready to walk the stage.


He's done!


Taking oath!


Roomies!