Easter Sunday

This post is WAY overdue, and I apologize. I typed up the post, but didn't have the time to upload the photos from my camera and get them ready to share. This past week has been a little crazy. (More on that later):

He is Risen! Isn't it absolutely awesome to know our Savior has conquered death and washed us clean and will come again for us one day?!  Man, what a day that will be.  I love Easter because it's a time of year where the world's focus is turned toward Jesus and his sacrifice for each of us.  Of course, we should remember this every day, but it's a humbling time of year when all Christians are celebrating it together.

An Easter weekend would not be complete without family and food.  We started our weekend relaxing at Gene & Marilyn's , then went to church with my parents at Northside.  I didn't do any special shopping for an Easter dress this year, and haven't really for the past few years.  I remember as a kid, though, it was a HUGE deal to go pick out a new dress for Easter Sunday, and then see what pretty new spring dresses all the other girls and ladies wore to church. Here we are in our Sunday best:

Then we were off to Aunt Emily's house to fill our bellies and hunt eggs.  In our family everyone hunts eggs.  The little kids get to go first, but even us big kids and the adults get in on the fun!

I got in my share of baby holding with this beautiful little girl!

Thanks to my new handy tripod, we were able to take a family photo (with everyone that was there/left).

Happy (Belated) Easter!  Hope you all had a day as great as we did!

Happy Birthday to Me

Yesterday was my birthday, and it turned out to be a pretty awesome day!  Here are the highlights:

1. I got to dig into this cake from the lovely ladies at work.  I could tell you that I'm super special and the only one to receive a birthday cake, but the truth is that we all love something sweet, so we celebrate with a cake when at all possible.  :)

2.  My wonderful husband took me out to eat for my birthday dinner - at none other than our favorite local Italian restaurant, Provino's.  I'm quite sure that we have celebrated our last several birthdays there, because you get an entire free meal on your b'day!  (Who says you can't be cheap on your birthday?!)  Provino's is delicious.  They give you a little bowl full of rolls that are covered in butter and minced garlic.  I'm sure I ate a heart attack's work of those last night.... but we won't go there. 

3.  My wonderful husband also had a surprise for me when we got home!

A set of tripods!  I can't wait to use these babies!

What's for Dinner? - Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

I've been wanting to share this recipe for quite a while now, but each time I make it, it's nearly on our plates before I think about taking any pictures.  This time I have remembered your hungry bellies and can finally give you insight into what's on our plates nearly once a week.  Seriously.  It's that good.

Once again, I found this on Pinterest.  If you couldn't tell, that website has changed my life.

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

(click the photo above to take you to the original recipe; below is my version)

These are a great, quick meal that we usually have everything on hand to make.  They are the perfect combination of chicken, rice, beans, cheese, and sour cream all wrapped up in a soft tortilla, toasted to gooey, yummy perfection.  (Now I know you want to try them!)

Ingredients:

1 cup shredded chicken

1 cup cook rice

1 can black beans, rinsed

sour cream (optional not optional)

freshly shredded cheese  (fresh cheese is much better than pre-shredded, especially in these wraps)

1/2 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp garlic salt

a squirt of lime juice, if you have it

salsa for dipping

Cook, then shred your chicken.  Get your rice going too (or use leftover rice).

Shred your cheese. (Try not to eat it all before it makes it into the wraps... or shred extra for pre-dinner grazing like I did...)

Rinse your black beans.

Sprinkle cumin, garlic salt, and chili powder onto rice, then mix well.

Add the chicken and beans to your rice mixture, and mix well.

Now you're ready to assemble!

Spread sour cream on your tortilla, sprinkle with lots of cheese, then add a few spoonfuls of chicken mixture.

Fold each side over, then spray with a light coating of PAM.  Place folded side down into a warm pan, and cook until crispy.

Flip, and crisp other side, then enjoy in all of their melted cheesy goodness!  

They are best enjoyed dipped in salsa.

This makes several wraps, so we refrigerate the mixture and fix the wraps as wanted for lunch or another dinner. 

Weekend Round-up

This weekend was a pretty laid back and lazy one. (Can't complain about that!)  

Friday night we tended to a smoothie fix - Kiwi Quencher this time. (Told you Tropical Smoothie was going to be addicting...)

This is not a very clear picture, but the necklace I'm wearing is the one I purchased at the Premier Designs party.  It was my first time wearing it, and I loved it!  

I spent most of Saturday morning trying to curl my hair.  My hair has never held much curl, but after this weekend, I think I am going to blame that on the weight of my hair.  It was a success with my short do and held up well.  I took tips from Kate @ thesmallthingsblog.com - she is a hair stylist who has uploaded tons of hair tutorials to her blog (you might recognized her from Pinterest).  Now that I know what I am doing, I think I can accomplish it in a more timely fashion next time. :)  Here's what it looked like:

And to enjoy our beautiful weather, we had Sunday lunch picnic-style by the pond.

Love is in the Air

Our friends Kyle and Michelle finally made the big leap and got engaged several weeks ago, and they are now in the full force of wedding planning. Much like Jesse and me, they had dated for years before Kyle popped the question, so this is a very exciting time for them!  We are thrilled that they will be tying the knot soon (very soon), and we are privileged enough to be part of their big day as members of the bridal party.

Monday I did an engagement "photo shoot" for them, and I had a blast doing it.  It was so fun posing them and directing the "shoot" I almost felt like a real photographer. :)  And they were such troopers with all my ideas.  I'm so glad I could capture a few moments for them to represent their time at Auburn together.  I just wanted to share a couple of them, because frankly I impressed myself.  :)  Now, by no means do I claim to be professional, but for my first time I thought they weren't too shabby.

(Check out that bling!)

Congrats Kyle and Michelle!

Replacements

I don't know about you, but I have a thing against the makeup aisle. There are way too many products staring back at me, and it becomes a little overwhelming when you have no idea what that shade in the bottle is going to wind up looking on you.  And in case y'all didn't know, I am white. And just because they call the color of foundation "fair" doesn't mean it is light enough for my skin tone.

What I look for in a foundation is good coverage.  I like a thicker liquid foundation that I know will cover my blemishes and even out my skin tone. For some reason my skin seems to absorb most foundations, so I've searched for one that will last pretty much all day without reapplication. These requirements left me at the department store makeup counter, and I walked away with a fabulous foundation from Estee Lauder (shade: Bone).

It really does stay in place all day and I loved that it has a little SPF.  The staying power of this foundation led me to also purchase the Double Wear eyeliner (in Coffee), and it was just as wonderful.  It goes on so smoothly and doesn't smudge or run during the day.

I love these two products, but their price tag (foundation $35, eyeliner $20!) made me feel like I left a little piece of myself at the makeup counter. So I've been on the hunt to find a more budget-friendly option, and I'm glad to announce I've finally found replacements for both!

 (insert drum roll here)

Revlon Colorstay Foundation (in Ivory) for $10 and CoverGirl's Liquiline Blast Eyeliner (in Brown Blaze) for $7.50.

The foundation lasts for approximately the same amount of time as the Double Wear with equal coverage, and the CG Eyeliner is amazing.  It goes on smooth and easy- you barely have to touch your lid to apply it!

So, if you are in the market for new makeup, I highly recommend these!

What are your favorite makeup products?

DIY Laundry Detergent

...or show I say washing powders?  

Whatever you call 'em, I made some today, and I think it's gonna work out pretty well!

Since my dishwasher detergent failed, I have some of the basic ingredients for laundry detergent leftover, so I thought I'd try my hand at it and see how it goes.  I found a few recipes through Pinterest and decided that most of them have pretty simple ratios, so I just decided to wing it and combine my favorite recipes. 

Here's what I used:

(all of these items can be found on the laundry aisle)

Cost?

Washing Soda $3.24, Borax $3.38, Fels-Naptha bar &0.97, OxyClean $6.99 (I got mine for 2.99 with Register Rewards at Walgreens)

You are only supposed to only use 2 tablespoons of this stuff per load (!!!), so each batch can wash 40+ loads of laundry.

I spent a little over 10 bucks, and can probably make at least 5 batches from the powdered ingredients.

So with a few additional bars of Fels-Naptha, that's around $14 for 200 loads of laundry!

It will not suds up like "normal" detergent, and it doesn't have a strong scent.  If you want extra scent, you can add Purex Crystals (which will also be a bonus fabric softener) or Downy Unstopables. I probably will do this - just didn't have it on hand today.

First, I grated the bar of Fels-Naptha.

(Jesse paid me no attention while I was in the process of grating. He only saw the end result, and thought it was cheese. Good thing he didn't taste it!)

Then, I added a cup off all three other ingredients.

Stirred to combine.

I've used it twice so far today and it seems to work great. It even removed stains that I was a little skeptical of.

Today has been a cleaning day.

I love Saturday cleaning.

Clean sheets.

Clean comforter.

Clean kitchen.

Clean dog bed.

Clean floors.

Clean bathroom.

Soon to be clean clothes.

:)